Willow (23 page)

“
Will you have that ridiculous tattoo removed?” Jared nodded. “Then yes, you can dress my finger.”

After slipping the ring onto her left hand, he kissed her again. He was hers. Smiling, he climbed back into her bed and held her. It wasn’t long before they were both asleep.

~Chapter 24~

Samuel looked down at the couple in the bed. They were so wrapped up around each other it was difficult to tell which limb beneath the covers belonged to which one of them. He was loath to wake them, but needed to get this finished once and for all. He wanted to get back to his own office.

“
Mr. Stone, Jared? Willow?” Neither of them woke, but they did stir. It wasn’t until he said their names twice more that Jared opened his eyes.

“
Hello, Samuel. How’s it going? Is it that late already?” Jared stretched and looked at his watch. Then he woke Willow. “I suppose you’re here to take her statement early, huh?”

“
Yes. Something like that.” Samuel pulled one of the chairs over and sat down. “I was really worried Danny told you who his contact was, his boss I mean. But I guess he didn’t, did he?”

“
Danny? Oh, you mean Daniel Smith. No, he didn’t. I thought you’d already been told I didn’t know.” Willow sat up in bed more.

A little nurse walked in just as he was getting ready to ask them questions. She smiled at him. Samuel loved pretty women and this little nurse was beautiful. She seemed a little startled, but he told her that he wanted to get this over with so that he could get back to work.

“
And if you don’t mind, do you think we could have a couple of hours without any interruptions? I have some questions to ask them and it’s easier if there aren’t people coming in and out disturbing us.”

Nurse Peggy, her tag said. “Sure. Just let us know when you’re all finished in here and we’ll know when to take Miss James to x-ray.”

“
And Talbor didn’t mention anyone’s name,” Willow continued when Peggy was gone. “He didn’t even say Mr. Smith’s name. Did you want to ask me those questions now?”

Samuel grinned. They still didn’t have a clue. Oh well, it was quieter this way, he supposed. He decided to play for a bit longer.

“
No need. I’ve got all the answers already. Danny was a good drug lord, if a bit on the naive side. He should have gotten rid of you when he first found you there. He’d still be alive if he had.” Jared moved to get up. “No, you don’t want to do that. Just wait right there. I’ve got your demises all planned out.”

“
Demises? I don’t under…Jared?” Willow sounded scared. Good, he thought. He liked a little terror with his murder. Otherwise, what was the point?

“
He’s the boss. Samuel Gant is…was Daniel’s boss, and he’s here to kill us. Aren’t you?” Jared was a bright boy.

“
Why? What possible reason could you have to kill us now?” Willow sat up in bed. “You know, this is really shitty. I could have gone my whole entire life without ever knowing who you were and now you decide to kill us.”

Samuel laughed. “And what would be the fun in that, my dear? There—” Willow cut him off.

“
I’m not your ‘dear,’ you fucking prick.” Fire burned from her eyes. Samuel could feel a hard-on coming on. He loved beggars when he murdered, but this woman was proving that he liked them spicy too.

“
Willow, perhaps you shouldn’t piss off the man with the gun. He may shoot us,” Jared warned her.

“
That’s a good boy, calm the girl down. But just so we’re clear, I’m killing you anyway. It’s only fair. She killed my son, and now I get to kill you.” He had their attention now. “Yes, you see Danny Prescott was my son and I had worked very hard to groom him into position. Then you had to come along and murder him. He—”

“
Murder him? In case you missed something, he was planning to kill me after he’d killed Talbor.” Samuel was beginning to hate this woman.

“
Shut up, bitch. Son, you’d better curb your girl there or you won’t know why I have to kill you both.” Samuel sat on the edge of his chair. “Where was I? Oh yeah, grooming. Danny was a good boy, but he lacked discipline. He finally came into his own right after he killed his brother. Nasty business that. Anyway, you killed him.”

He waited for her to say she was sorry. She should, he figured. But when she only glared at him, he decided that he was killing her last. And he was going to make it painful.

“
I went up there to see what was taking him so long. Danny should have been finished with Talbor. When I was about halfway up the stairs, I heard a crash. I couldn’t believe he’d fallen like that. By the time I got to his body, he’d already bled out. I didn’t know you were up there until that fucking bastard Agent Gant showed up. Then by the time I’d gotten rid of his body, the fucking stupid police showed up too. I’m just one lucky bastard that none of the other men had ever seen Gant, only spoken to him on the phone. He told me that before I killed him. One of them cocksuckers that were supposed to be guarding Danny called them.”

“
Your name isn’t Gant. You’re Donald Prescott.” Jared only looked at him. “All this time you’ve been…Christ, you meant to let her die. Before you took me up there, you meant for Willow to die.”

“
You’re a smart boy. Yeah. I told that team of workers not to hurry, that we needed to clear the scene anyway. But you had to volunteer. Nearly had your idea vetoed, but one of the local yokels recognized you and before I knew it, you were cutting her loose.”

Willow started crying. Tears from a woman didn’t faze him at all. All it did was piss him off. Donald pointed the gun at her, but Jared’s next statement made him smile. Donald loved a good adversary.

“
You were going to kill her the other night when my mom was here. She said you were somewhat short with her.” Jared laughed, but there was little humor in it. “My mother said she didn’t trust you at all.”

Donald bristled at that. There was no way she’d known. He was a charmer and he liked women to fawn over him. If he remembered correctly, she had been short with him.

“
Yeah, I was just gonna finish them both off, but that nurse came in too. It’s like fucking Grand Central around here.” Donald stood. “It is time to go now. I only told the nurses I needed a couple of hours. Gotta make my escape.”

He walked to the bed and put his gun toward Jared’s head. He winked at him.

The noise behind him was unexpected. He turned and dropped his gun to his side. Fucking people, didn’t they know—

“
Police. Hands up.”

The first bullet hit him in the chest and knocked him into the little night stand. When the second one hit his shoulder, he dropped the gun. He looked to the doorway and saw that pretty little nurse from earlier. And she had her gun pointed at him.

Donald reached for his fake ID. Pain exploded in his face. Now he couldn’t see anything as he dropped to the floor and onto his knees. He heard screaming and would have told them to shut the fuck up, but couldn’t make his mouth work. Pain seemed to hit him in waves. Before he hit the floor completely, he realized he was dead, as dead as dead could be.

~Chapter 25~

The police were everywhere. Willow just watched them process everything and didn’t say much unless they specifically asked her something.

She’d already figured out a lot. The police had suspected Samuel…Donald would come in and kill her. So they had bugged her room. She looked up to where they had told her the camera had been. Her mind kept going around and around on the fact that she could have gotten someone…namely Jared, killed.

The police officer that had shot Donald Prescott had told her that they’d put it in there when she’d gone down for an x-ray the other morning. Willow hadn’t had any, of course. They’d shuffled her around until she was in so much pain all she wanted them to do was shoot her. She stopped that thought immediately.

Jared had had to put on a gown when they’d let him and her move around. Well, he moved, she was just put into another bed and pushed against the far wall out of the way of the forensic personnel. Now he was in a pair of scrubs. She’d almost gotten him killed. She glanced at the wall that had been splattered with blood, but someone had closed the curtain. It had sprayed the white wall like an abstract painting. She looked up as the doctor came toward her.

“
Miss James, we’re going to move you now. Your parents are there waiting for you.” he was checking her pulse while he talked to her. She could feel his fingers resting there. “I’ve arranged for you to have a sedative when you want it. You’ve had an ordeal today.”

She could only smile at his description. Yeah, it had been an ordeal. This whole month had been an ordeal.

Willow only nodded. She had made her own arrangements. She was moving down the hall toward the other room when two men, Sherman and Thomason, walked up beside her and took the bed she was in from the orderly who was pushing it.

“
You know, Will, I don’t think this is such a good idea. You know that…well, things are gonna hit the fan when someone finds out you has gone missing.” Thomason nodded at Sherman’s statement. “And I’d just as soon not be on the receiving end of that man.”

“
I don’t want you to get into trouble over me, Sherman. You can just take me to the ambulance then I can take it from there. I almost got him killed today and I…I can’t do that to him again.” She had to fight the tears. “This will be better for everyone.”

“
I know you wouldn’t. But you see…well, when you texted me…well, there was…we wasn’t—fuck, Will.”

She closed her eyes, knowing she wasn’t going to like where this was going. “Was Alexander with you?” Sherman nodded and so did Thomason. “And he knows?” Again, they nodded.

She was nearly to the elevator when she saw Sherman stiffen and Thomason step away. With a quick “sorry Will,” both men stepped into the elevator and left her there. She turned to see the man standing next to her and he didn’t look all that happy with her.

“
I can explain. I was just—”

“
Oh I heard what you were just thinking you were going to do. You were going to leave me. Not happening. I’ve fallen in love with you and that is all there is to it.” Jared moved the bed away from the elevator. “And just so there is no confusion later on, I’ve taken steps to make things a bit more interesting for us. Well, permanent anyway. And before you get pissed…see that man there? He’s clergy. So watch your tongue.”

Willow looked to where he had pointed. There was a well-dressed man standing next to her dad and mom. Her mom turned to look when Jared called her name. There were tears in her eyes. As her mom was by the now stopped bed, Jared walked away, but not before kissing her mom on the cheek.

“
You should have told me,” her mom said as she pulled out her makeup case. “I think it’s just wonderful.”

Willow was confused until she remembered the ring Jared had given her. She lifted her hand to show her mom and froze at her next statement.

“
A baby. That’s so wonderful and you dad is over the moon about it. I can’t wait. This is a little rushed but—”

Willow put her hand on her mom’s to stop her. Willow didn’t wear makeup and her mom was an expert. The tiny little brush in her hand was making another pass over her cheeks when she looked at her.

“
Baby? I’m not pregnant. Where would you get…I’m going to kill him.” She found him looking at her and the arrogant ass winked. “I’m not pregnant, Mom. He lied…Christ, the clergy. You think I’m going to marry him.”

“
Well of course you are, dear. You are wearing his ring and nowadays no one cares if there are less months between marriage and baby. Hold still.” The brush was dipping in for more goop and slathered over her face. Willow was too distracted to stop her.

Her dad thought she was pregnant too. She found him talking to Mr. Stone. Damn it all to hell and back. Jared was going to make her a widow before there really was a kid.

A baby. Jared’s and her baby. Willow looked over at him again and wondered what a child of theirs would look like, be like. Beautiful, especially if he looked like his father. She laid her hand over her belly before she could think and heard her mom sniffle. Jerking her hand away, she looked up at her.

“
I’m not…Do you think you could get the daddy for me? I’d like to have a few words with him before this fantasy…wedding occurs.” She smiled, but didn’t fool her mom, apparently.

“
Willow, don’t hurt him. He means well and it is his child too.” She walked away with a huff. Willow thought she heard her say something like she “hoped the baby had his father’s temperament,” but couldn’t be sure.

Jared came toward her after shaking the clergy’s hand. She was going to have to go to prison, she just knew it. The man was nuts if he thought he could tell her family…and his apparently, that she was knocked up.

He kissed her quickly on the mouth. “Before you start, let me wheel you in your new room where we’ll have some privacy. I’m sure you think you have something to say to me.”

She did, but waited. The clergy patted her hand as she went by him and he winked. Was everyone afflicted with something today that made them wink at her? As soon as the door to her room closed, Jared kissed her. And it wasn’t like the one in the hall.

His mouth was hot, hard, and wet. His tongue slid along her lips and she opened for him before she could think not to. His body barely touched hers and she could feel the heat from his chest as it brushed over her bare breasts. Need coiled in her and she knew that if she were to let it out, it would pounce on the man before her like a sensual snake. When he pulled back slightly, she was too dazed to think.