Undercover Attraction (29 page)

His partner
. Of all the people he had
thought it was, Dobbs had never crossed his mind. Now, thinking
back on it, he realized he had just missed the signs, ignored the
little circumstances that pointed her out as a dirty cop.

Had he realized it sooner, he could have
taken her down, prevented any of this from happening. Then neither
Jenna nor Amy would have suffered.

He was pacing, like a caged tiger, his fists
clenched in tight fists, aching to punch something, anything, until
they bled. It would make him feel better, even if the pain wouldn't
be anything like what Jenna had gone through.

A hand on his shoulder had his head jerking
up, and he looked at his dad.

"You aren't helping her any by pacing and
cussing at everything you can think of. Sit." His dad pointed to a
chair.

Jacob hadn't realized he had been talking,
but he shook his head. He couldn't sit, had to keep moving.

His father narrowed his eyes. "Sit down,
son. That's an order, one you'll obey or you'll be leaving."

Jacob sat, his legs still bouncing and fists
balled, and narrowed his eyes back at his dad.

His dad sighed, and leaned back. "You know
son, I remember the day you were born."

Oh, god
. His dad was trying to
distract him. "Dad, I-"

"Shut up and listen, Jake."

Jacob sat back, knowing it was useless to
argue with his father.

The Chief continued, "Monica was up here on
the seventh floor, having contractions, in the worst pain I had
ever seen a woman in, and I couldn't take it. I left. I had a
sister, your Aunt Sarah, who died in childbirth before you were
born, and I kept seeing it in my mind. I was afraid that I would
lose both Monica and you just as I lost Sarah." His breath
shuddered, head lowered. "I walked the streets for what seemed like
hours, waiting for the call from the doctors that said you were
gone. I felt helpless, realizing that no matter how much pain she
was in, I couldn't do anything about it, that I had done this to
her, caused her so much pain." He turned to Jacob. "Hours later,
after I had busted my knuckles at any wall I could find, ranting
and raving at God for doing this to us, I got a phone call.

"It was your grandmother, cussing me for
everything I was worth because I had walked away from my wife and
child when they needed me the most. Then she hung up on me, not
even telling me if you were okay, the old bat just hung up on me. I
ran to the hospital, and there you were. Lying so perfectly in your
mother's arms, both of you sleeping."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Jacob
asked, already raw and not needing anything else to abrade his
emotions.

"Shut up and listen," his dad said. "So
there you were, ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes, and as I
leaned over you, you woke up, looking at me with the most trusting
expression in your eyes, automatically forgiving me for not being
there when you fought you way into the world. I promised myself at
that second that I would be there for any and all other fights in
your life. That no matter how hopeless, you would have my
unwavering support, and I would stand at your back for everything
to come." He pat Jacob on the back. "When your mother woke up, I
just knew she would look at me with hatred, blame me for the pain
and suffering she had to go through bringing you into this world.
But she didn't. She forgave me just as easily as you did, with
happiness in her eyes, instead of disgust. I realized that even
though it had been partially my fault that she had been in so much
pain, there was no blame. In fact, it had brought about happiness.
We had a son, who loved us unconditionally, and had never felt so
complete."

He looked hard at Jacob, his eyes sparkling.
"You can't blame yourself. Guilt will destroy you. I understand
that more now since your mother left than anything else. It doesn't
matter who is to blame, if she loves you, she'll forgive you in a
second, and, in fact, probably doesn't blame you to begin with.
What I've seen of that girl is that she loves you, whether she
knows it yet or not. And she's smart, full of hellfire that won't
easily be put out. She'll be fine, but you have to believe that
like you believe nothing else."

Jacob nodded, not trusting himself to speak
while his throat was so tight. After a few deep breaths, he looked
up at his father, "Thank you."
There
. He said it.

His dad smiled, just as the door swung
open.

Jacob jumped to his feet, disappointed to
see it was only Alex. "How's Amy?"

Alex's face was furious, his eyes dark and
swirling with emotion. "She was raped, Jake. Repeatedly. And
beaten."

Jacob nodded, not knowing of anything to say
or do.

Alex looked torn. "Tell me you killed those
fuckers."

"Yeah. They won't touch another girl, ever."
He wished he felt guilty over placing a bullet in each of their
brains, but he didn't. Relieved, in fact, even though he hated
taking a human life.

Alex sat next to him, his face falling into
his hands. "Christ, she's only twenty-three. How does she begin to
even get over something like this?"

Jacob didn't know. Many of the rape victims
they had saved before never recovered. But he wasn't about to tell
Alex that, he already knew. It was a long road of therapy and
rebuilding trust in men. And if he didn't know any better, he would
think his brother had fallen for Jenna's obnoxious little
sister.

A deep shuddering breath went through Alex,
and he looked at Jacob. "They boosted them with drugs also, Jake.
Amy said she didn't know what it was, but that they gave it to
Jenna also. She also said that Jenna kicked Dobbs, and beat the
crap out of her until the guys dragged Amy to her feet and put a
gun to her head. She's fairly certain Jenna saved her life."

"They're both going to be okay." Jacob
didn't know what else to say. He knew Jenna was a hellcat, and that
she had even tried to save her sister while she herself was hurt
and drugged was a testament to her nature.

Alex looked tortured. "She cringed away from
me, Jake. Couldn't even look me in the eye because she was afraid
of me. What do I do for that?"

Another question Jacob couldn't answer,
could only guess at to make his brother feel better. "It will take
time. Just be there for her when she needs you. Show her there is
nothing to be afraid of from you. That's all I know to do."

"You're right," Alex nodded. "It's all I can
do."

Jacob knew Amy was every bit as stubborn and
vivacious as Jenna. This couldn't break her spirit, even though he
hated to think that Amy had been beaten and raped, he knew the
scars would eventually heal with time. Nothing could break these
women. They had strength in spades.

"She kept asking me about Jenna. I didn't
know what to tell her, Jake. I told her you would be in to talk to
her when the doctors told you something. She asked me how bad it
was. I couldn't lie to her."

Jacob nodded, knowing that Amy was afraid
for her sister. Hell, he was afraid for her sister.

Hours went by without any word from the
doctor. Jacob had all of the paperwork filled out for both Amy and
Jenna, the answers he didn't know he left blank for them to fill in
later. His father had brought coffee back to them twice, and Alex
had been in to see Amy three more times, each time returning with a
more tortured look on his face.

He called to check up on Chuckles, knowing
that if the critter died, it would break Jenna's heart. Thankfully,
the hellacious animal was stable and doing fine, despite the limp
he would probably have from now on, because the bullet had
shattered his front shoulder. He could bring him home in a week if
Chuckles healed well enough.

His father had food sent up, but Jacob
couldn't bring himself to eat anything. When his dad ordered him
to, it passed his lips tasting like sawdust, but he was never fully
aware of what he ate.

He could feel every minute, every second
ticking by in an endless despair of waiting. Helplessness weighed
on him, becoming heavier as more time passed by. He refused to give
in to his exhaustion, refused to close his eyes for even a moment,
in case Jenna needed him by her side instantly.

Alex convinced him to go see Amy, and he
did, his chest hurting at the sight of her laying on the bed,
hurting, bruised, violated.

She looked at him with fear in her eyes, and
he instantly knew that she would have a hatred for men for the rest
of her life, that nothing could erase the wrong that had been done
to her at the hands of those fuckers. He wanted to kill them all
over again, slowly this time, making them hurt for every wrong they
had committed in their pathetic lives.

"Anything about Jenna yet?" Her voice
croaked out as a husky whisper, as if it hurt to talk. She rubbed
at her arms as if trying to ward off a chill.

He shook his head, "Not yet."

Her eyes met his for a moment before
shifting away. "She saved me, Jacob. That woman was about to put a
bullet in me right there in front of Jenna to teach her a lesson,
but Jenna…" her voice trailed off, broke on a sob. "She looked so
bad. Covered in blood. I don't blame her if she doesn't want to
come back."

He took a step forward, inwardly shaking
himself as she scooted farther away from on the bed. "Don't you
dare think like that. You're supposed to be all rainbows and
puppies. You can't give up on her like that. She's going to be
fine. Just like you, you are going to be fine."

Amy winced. "I think the rainbows and
puppies have been replaced. She was so much worse than I. What they
did to her- that was torture." Amy sobbed, her head bowing as tears
streamed from her eyes.

Jacob knew how bad Jenna had looked, had
been afraid for her himself after just seeing her. His heart
shattered knowing what they had gone through at the hands of his
partner. He had come to feel affection for Amy, as if she was his
little sister, and hated to even imagine what it had been like for
her. Like she had said- torture.

Alex opened the door then, looked to Amy
with a sad smile, then hitched his head for Jacob to step out, Alex
taking his place cautiously at Amy's side.

The doctors were waiting for Jacob in the
hall.

Jacob found himself holding his breath,
waiting for an awful resolution to be delivered.
No. Happy
thoughts, happy thoughts
, he told himself, trying not to mull
on what he feared most.

The doctor took a steadying breath. "She's
in a precarious condition, but stable for the moment. She has
numerous serious injuries; a shattered leg, three broken ribs, her
spine is fractured, to say nothing of the bruises, concussion, and
various smaller fractures throughout her body. The bullet wounds
weren't as serious as we initially thought. One nicked her kidney,
but not to the point of being fatal. We were able to repair it
without issue. The other bullet passed through her abdomen, and
exited cleanly, without damaging any vital organs. A blood
transfusion was necessary to dilute the drug in her system, as she
kept fighting against our anesthesia, and became restless during
surgery repeatedly. She will be in various casts for quite a while,
but I am fully optimistic about a full recovery."

Jacob's breath rushed out of him in relief,
his knees almost going weak beneath him. He repeated it to himself-
She's okay, she's okay
. "Can we see her?"

The surgeon shook his head. "She's in the
ICU for the moment, and I am going to finish her examination and
see what I can repair before the anesthesia wears off. I will let
you in to see her once I am finished and sure enough that she will
not need any further attention for the moment. A nurse will come
get you then."

Jacob nodded, and even though he wanted to
see her, he knew the doctors had her best interest at heart.

"She's very lucky that the bullet in her
abdomen wasn't an inch lower. It would have caused her to lose the
baby she is carrying."

Jacob didn't hear anything else.
Baby
. He knew it was possible, but up until now had
dismissed it. He found himself smiling uncontrollably, to the
doctor's confusion.

"Did you know she was pregnant?" the doctor
asked him.

He shook his head in answer, trying to wrap
his head around the fact that he was going to be a father.

Understanding dawned in the doctor's eyes.
"Well, it's only about a week, but definitely a positive. We
wouldn't have known it if we hadn't drawn blood before doing
x-rays, which could have harmed the fetus. The drugs could have an
adverse effect despite our carefulness, but she can't be tested for
any abnormalities until her second trimester." He eyed Jacob
carefully. "I guess congratulations are in order."

Jacob thanked him and watched as the
surgeon's gray head disappeared around the corner.

Pregnant
. His Jenna was
pregnant
. He was elated, but
at the same time worried for Jenna.

He knew she was pregnant before she herself
knew. She wasn't getting away from him now. He would put on every
ounce of charm, and seduce her into marrying him. She didn't have
an option. And if she said no, well, she couldn't tell him no.

He smiled. He was going to be a father. And
she was going to be a mother. They would be a family.

A thousand thoughts went through his head.
Things like- would she be happy? Would she ever think of abandoning
her child and husband? Would she let him leave every day, knowing
he was risking his life, letting the stress wear her down a bit at
a time?

He made up his mind to resign from the
force. Hell, he could have done it years ago. He made enough money
testing out the electronic systems sent to him. Even had enough
stock to sell off to make them rich enough that even their kids
wouldn't have to work. Yeah, resignation was definitely in his near
future. He would have the paper on his dad's desk in the morning,
first thing.