Tension (30 page)

“Of course. You want to be there when we find her, right?” Jesse’s voice was calm.

“Yes,” he whispered.
Well, aren’t I the asshole.

“Well, then get your ass to the airport.”

He was silent.

“George?” Jesse asked.

“Thanks,” George said softly and disconnected.

Now he was waiting with the rich and famous for a private plane to pick him up. All he could do was wait; he didn’t even know what had happened since Greg contacted him. The lawyer mentioned something about how when they’d made their contingency plans, Stella wanted them to find her and determine whether law enforcement should be involved before calling anyone out of their little group; she wanted anything crazy to be kept secret unless absolutely necessary.

George remembered how she had outlined her emergency plan with him, but he wasn’t really paying attention because he hoped she would never need it.
How could this have happened?
His heart clenched at the thought he may never see her again. Scary scenarios kept running through his mind.

“George?”

George looked up to find an older gentleman, hair trimmed with silver, smiling weakly at him. His eyeglasses were wire rimmed and he was wearing a rumpled grey suit. He grabbed his backpack and threw it over his shoulder, then walked toward the man.

One step closer to Stella.

Jamie pulled into a grassy area right at the water’s edge that looked a makeshift parking lot. The brilliant blue of the ocean distracted her from her situation for a few seconds, but then she noticed that a couple of posts had boats tied to them. Stella was feeling nauseous. Her nose throbbed and she wondered what was next. She knew they were south of Miami, but, by the signs on Highway 1 south, just north of Key West. She couldn’t tell which key they were on.

“I’m going to be sick,” she said softly.

His gaze found hers in the rearview mirror. “Why?”

“I’ve developed some sort of stomach disorder; I have medicine in my bag.” She pulled her heels into her body, knees to her chest, trying to quell the pain. “Where’s my bag?” she asked, hoping she could somehow get her gun in the process of getting her medicine.

Opening the door, Jamie pulled off his sunglasses and wiped his brow. “Get out,” he ordered.

“Jamie, what’re you doing?” Stella uncurled herself and hesitantly opened the door. Everything in her body was telling her to fight now, and not go where he wanted her to go.

“I already told you,” he said, exasperated. “I’m taking you to our house to explain.”

“Let’s just do it here, okay?” Stella’s voice shook even though she willed it not to. She pushed her hair back from her face, the shaking of her hand betraying her fear. Her whole body was shaking and wouldn’t stop. Sweat rolled down her lower back.

Jamie sighed and touched her face. Stella flinched.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” The expression on her face must have told him her thoughts. “Any more than I already have,” he muttered. Putting his hand on the small of her back, he guided her to the back of the car. He opened it and grabbed her bag. He fished around for the prescription bottle and gave it to her. “Here.”

As he threw Stella’s purse back in the trunk, she saw her last chance to get her gun fade and disappear.

He pulled out two duffle bags and shut the door, leaving Stella’s bag and her gun in the trunk of his car. Jamie nodded toward one of the three boats that were tied to docks. Stella hesitated. “Come on, Stella, don’t make me break my promise not to hurt you.”

“You’re good at breaking promises,” she said. Then she started following him down the steps to the docks. Her stomach was churning, her mind reeling with horrible scenarios. “Are you insane?”

His laugh was short and loud. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m hoping one of those rinky-dink boats isn’t ‘our home.’” She made air quotes when she said ‘our home.’

“No, I’m not crazy,” he said, laughing again. It was a familiar laugh, one that used to make her smile.

“Well, how am I supposed to know how crazy you are?” she ranted. “You’re crazy enough to try to kill me! Crazy enough to kidnap me! But not crazy enough to think we could live on a boat?”

Jamie’s voice softened. “I love that you haven’t changed at all.”

Her head snapped in his direction. “You don’t know anything about me anymore.”

“Well, that may be true, but you’re still a smartass.” Jamie threw the bags into the boat and helped her in.

She got in the boat with apprehension, she knew nothing about boats. It looked like a boat you could go fishing on. There were a couple of chairs and a bench at the back. He untied the knots in the rope holding the boat to the dock and they immediately began drifting.

Oh fuck
.
This is it.
Closing her eyes, she said a prayer and thought of all the people she loved.

“Do you remember the first day we met?” Jamie asked out of the blue.

Stella nodded.

“You were so damned hot in that bikini. I wanted to take you home the second I saw you.” He cranked the boat, deftly maneuvering out of the dock area, and gunned the engine.

Stella’s hair flew out and all over. She held it down with her hands. “It didn’t take too long for that, now did it?” she yelled so he could he hear response.

“No, it didn’t.” Jamie took a hat out from a compartment on the boat and put it on. After a minute, he looked at her, softness filling his eyes, and then he handed the hat to her so she could wear it. “Do you remember that night?” he yelled.

Oh, did she remember. That night was blazed in her mind.
Jamie walked her from the pool to the front of the apartment complex to his apartment. He held her hand the entire time and stopped to kiss her at least ten times. When they finally reached his apartment, he led her to his room. His lips were like velvet and his caress something she hadn’t had the luxury of experiencing. She’d had sloppy, learning-how-to-work-things sex before; it was nothing like this. She enjoyed every second of exploring Jamie’s body. They took pleasure in leisurely touching each other and learning what the other person wanted; as if their bodies already knew each other and were in sync. She’d definitely never had toe-curling, back-arching sex before. Jamie was her first of many things.

Her face blushed with the memory.

“Me too,” he said and looked away from her.

Stella had woken up naked, the sheet twisted around her legs. Her head pounded. Rolling on her back, she stared up at the ceiling and had two thoughts simultaneously. First, holy shit, I need to do that more often. Second, holy shit, my first one night stand and he left his own house. She scanned the room for her bathing suit, the only “clothes” she had on the night before. Pulling up her bottoms, she searched the room for her top. It took a few minutes, but she finally found it behind the papasan chair in the corner. She put in on as fast as she could and opened the door quietly. Not knowing the time, she didn’t want to wake anyone. The scent of baking hit her nose and her mouth watered. She lifted her head with dignity; if it was a one night stand it was a good one and she was happy.

Jamie looked around the corner from the kitchen, a goofy smile plastered on his face. “I’m making you pancakes.”

Shocked, she stared at him.

“You said last night you loved pancakes. I’m making some for you.” He grinned and ducked back into the kitchen.

Stunned, she stood there for a minute, not really knowing what to do.

He poked his head back out again. “Come here so I can get a kiss. I don’t want to burn these.”

Stella salivated at the smell. Once she got into the kitchen, she noticed he’d made bacon, too. She wondered if she was still dreaming.

“The secret is the vanilla. At least that’s what my momma says.” He wrapped his arms around her, pushed her back up against the counter, and had his way with her mouth. “Last night...” he trailed off. He dragged his hands down her sides.

“Yeah,” she agreed.

Jamie finally slowed the boat after what seemed like hours and Stella saw their destination. It was a small bungalow house on stilts in the middle of the water. It was totally isolated.
Fuck
. All the tracking devices in the world couldn’t find her here.

Jamie pulled up to the tiny dock that led to the bungalow. “Home sweet home.”

“How did you find this house?” Stella asked as she hopped out of the boat onto the small deck under the house.

While he got the bags off the boat, she assessed her options. First, she knew nothing about boats or even how to start a boat. Second, even if she got the boat running, she wouldn’t know where to go. Third, the realization that she was fucked hit her like a punch to the gut.

It was two steps to the ladder type stairs into the middle of the deck. He forced her to go up the ladder first, which made her push what looked like a trap door open into the house. Just the thought of a house with a trap door creeped her out.

“You know my parents and I used to come to Key West all the time when I was growing up. I had some contacts in the area and they pointed me in this direction. It’s easier to go underground if you pay cash for things.” Jamie threw the two duffels onto the nearby futon. Then he reached down and pulled the trap door shut, closing them in the house.

Once he closed the trap door, she glanced around at the multipurpose room that included the den, kitchen, and dining area. A small hallway led to what appeared to be a bedroom and bath. Everything was painted robin’s egg blue. A table with two chairs, the futon, and a television were situated in the open den area. Stella couldn’t see much of the kitchen from where she was standing and didn’t want to think about going down the hallway; she focused instead on finding anything that could be used as a weapon.

“So,” she said, not moving. “What now?”

“Now, we talk.” Jamie walked to the galley kitchen, pulled two glasses out of a cabinet, and opened a bottle of Honey Jack Whiskey. Pouring them each a tall glass over ice he’d gotten out of a small freezer in the corner of the kitchen, he leaned on the counter and started talking.

“Okay,” he sighed and took a gulp of his whiskey. “About six months before we graduated, Patrick contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in being an agent for the ATF. Because I didn’t get drafted and couldn’t play baseball the way I wanted, I took it as fate. I had no idea what I was doing after graduation. My dad had offered me a job at his company, but you know I didn’t want to do that.” He took another gulp of whiskey and she could tell he’d been drinking it straight for awhile. When they were together, he was a beer guy.

“As you know, I went to DC a couple of times and got the job. They sold me on all the bullshit about how great it would be. One of the things they leave out when they offer you the job is how lonely it is and how you’re separated from everything that you ever cared about.” His eyes looked down. “How you turn into a person you never imagined you would.”

Stella took her drink and sat on the futon, looking out at the serene blue-green ocean that met the absurdly blue sky. Jamie walked over and sat next to her, scrutinizing her face in an attempt to see her thoughts. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t mind his nearness. She’d been wondering what the truth was since she saw him in the conference room.