Being Chased (23 page)

“Did I hurt you?” he
asked, the concern showing on his face.

She shook her head while she watched him pull
his jeans up, leaving them unbuttoned. He ran his fingers down her cheek, and seeing that she was exhausted, put an arm around her waist and behind her knees, picking her up and carrying her to her bedroom. He lowered her to the bed then grabbed a pair of sleep pants on her chair, sitting on the bed and putting her feet in them, helping her pull them up watching as she re-buttoned her shirt.

He
brushed the hair off her forehead, leaning down to kiss her. "Why don't you rest for a bit, baby? I'll go clean things up, okay?”

As he started to stan
d, she grabbed his hand holding him back, the apprehension clear on her face.

“It’s okay. I’ll be right here.
There's all that fingerprint dust everywhere. I don't think Allen would appreciate things being left like that." He bent and touched his lips to hers.

As she peer
ed up at him, it suddenly hit her. A real friggin' epiphany blasted through her synapses. She knew what she had to do. It all became so clear.

Chas
e walked to the door, stopping to turn back to her and flashing her his crooked grin. Her heart melted at how sweet he looked at that moment.

But
that damned light bulb over her head just wouldn't go out.

“You okay?” he asked
her, the concern never leaving his eyes.

Julia
looked at him—
really
 looked at him—and sighed. So handsome. So caring. She had such deep feelings for him. Hell, she was in love with him. But they were in a shitload of trouble. He'd been right all along. It 
was
 best if they stayed away from each other. Being together just complicated things and it would get in the way of his being safe. No way would she let him be hurt trying to protect her.

No. Way.

But she knew if she said anything to him, he'd just scoff at her, telling her he knew what he was doing, it was his job. So she decided to stay quiet about it, but do everything in her power to keep him separated from her. That was the only thing she knew to keep him from being hurt.

"
I’m fine. Everything’s going to be fine."

Chase
met her gaze, narrowing his eyes wondering what was going on in that head of hers. "I love you, Julia." Her breath hitched at his saying that, her heart racing, then she had to look away. 
Stick to the plan.
 "I'll be in the living room if you need me," he said, leaving her room.

He
'd told her he loved her. Of course he'd say it 
now
. Now that she'd made up her mind to shut him out in an attempt to keep him safe. And those three little words she'd been waiting to hear from him just completely cut her to the quick. She cried herself to sleep feeling more helpless than she'd ever felt before.

"Hey, Brady, that little cunt call yet?" Liam asked.

"Yeah. He called when you were in the can. He's on his way over. Kid doesn't realize he probably saved himself a couple broken kneecaps just now," Brady replied, shaking his head.

Thirty minutes later there was a knock at the back door. Liam answered the door yanking the Kid inside.

"Anyone follow you?"

"No. I drove around and backtracked just like you told me to do. No one was around."

Brady frisked him to make sure he wasn't packing. "C'mon. The Boss wants to see you." The Liam guy didn't scare the Kid too much.
But the Brady dude? Now, that was one scary motherfucker. Guy's eyes were dead. When Brady looked at the Kid, it was as though he looked right through him. Like, if the Kid were to die a horrible, grisly death right in front of the man, it wouldn't have fazed him one damn bit. Kid stayed as far away from Brady as he possibly could.

The Kid was all about acting aloof as if he wasn't scared shitless
, though, which was what he totally was. He knew he was in a helluva mess but had not a clue how to get out of it. Stupid fucking gambling habits. If he'd stayed away from the high-stakes poker games, he wouldn't be balls deep in this shitastic situation in which he now found himself. But he'd needed money, and he'd needed it fast. There weren't too many glamorous options out there to earn a quick buck, or five hundred thousand, as the case might be, and time had been running out. If he'd waited much longer, his body would've been found washed up on the shores of the Hudson. On several different beaches. As it was, if he emerged with all his body parts intact from this current job, he'd count himself lucky.

When he'd first gotten involved, he'd thought they'd been joking about w
hat they wanted him to do. But the joke was now on his stupid ass. He was in this shit now, so following orders was a whole lot of what he'd be doing from here on out.

Liam knocked on the office door. They entered when the Boss told them to come in.

"So, have you made contact yet?"

The K
id looked at the Boss the same way he always did—awestruck. The Boss had an intimidation factor of a googol fucking squared.

"Y-yes. Well, not actual physical contact, but I've spotted her."

The Boss raised an eyebrow which so wasn't a good thing. The young man started blurting, trying to ameliorate things quickly. "But I've got her schedule and pretty much know every move she's going to make. They've been out of town for the past several days, though, but I had the envelope delivered, so I'm waiting to see what happens next."

He'd redeemed himself a little. The Boss was somew
hat pleased. "That's good. You’re to stay in contact with us. If she arrives home, I want to be informed immediately. Now go."

Didn't need to tell him twice. He nodded at the Boss then turned and made his way past the two goons, slipping out of the office and heading toward the back door.

"Have you checked on our recent acquisition lately?" the Boss asked after the Kid had left.

"Yeah. She's asleep. I'll take
her some food later," Liam said.

The Boss nodded.
"Contact with the family has been made. I've informed her father about the transferring of funds to the off-shore account. If they don't come up with it by Sunday, she's dead. Understand?"

"Got it."

****

When
Allen showed up, he was livid, making Chase fill him in on everything, and even calling Detective Jared insisting that he come back to the apartment and asking him to bring the video. Allen had then called the head of his building security cursing him out for not watching things more closely, threatening him with his job. When Detective Jared showed up, they viewed the video of the building.

"All we can tell is that it's a messenger who delivered the package. We're trying to figure out which company it was so we can question them."

"You're saying it was some kid who transported the envelope?"

"That's how it appears,
Mr. Cooke. We're dealing with a pretty savvy group here. They're not stupid enough to walk right up and drop it off themselves. As soon as we get any more information, we'll be sure to let you know."

Allen
talked with Jared about every angle there was, in short, everything Chase had already discussed with him, including whether the FBI had gotten involved yet. Jared explained that they'd had a couple agents come in the week before gathering information. Since the murders had occurred, the FBI had shown more interest, but the NYPD had yet to prove that all the cases were related; therefore, the FBI was reluctant to jump in.

"Related?
Of course, they're related! Jesus! What the hell are they waiting on, the President's kid to be taken? Is that the only thing that'll make them take action? I've got a lot at stake here! I will 
not
let anyone mess with me without a fight!"

Julia
came into the living room then looking a little disheveled. "What the hell, Allen? Can you keep your voice down for five seconds? I think the entire building now knows what's going on." She rolled her eyes then went into the kitchen to get a bottle of water, all three men watching her walk away.

"I'm just making sure that all the bases have been covered,
Julia, that everything's being looked at from every direction."

"Oh, now I'm a 'thing'? That's nice,
Allen," she said as she walked back to the men taking a drink from the bottle.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. You're scared I'll be taken and you'll have to make a payoff to these assholes. You could care less if anything happened to me. It's your precious money that you're concerned with." She shook her head and spun on her heel, going back to her bedroom. She wasn't upset. She just knew the score when it came to her father.

Allen
stood staring after her, his brow furrowed. Surely, she didn't believe that?

Inside her
room she flipped on her TV then sat in her recliner, lying back, staring at the ceiling. Someone knocked softly at her door. Seriously? What now? She told whoever it was to go away.

"Hey,"
Chase said as he came in, shutting the door behind him. God, she needed him to go away, which would make things so much easier. But right now he looked so sexy, especially when he had that intense look on his face, watching her. Damn it. She needed to change her mindset when it came to him. 
Keep him safe
.

"What?" She got up going to sit on her bed, folding a leg underneath her
self.

He walked to the bed.
"Just checking on you. Wanted to know if you're okay?" He knew she was upset and he needed to tread carefully. He sat down on the bed next to her.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
She didn’t look at him.

"Well, I guess it’d be because of all that’
s happened," he said a little sarcastically. Had she checked out, not realizing the seriousness of everything that was occurring around her? He reached to push a piece of her hair behind her ear but she pulled away from him.

"I’m seriously okay. I can get through this by myself just fine,
" she answered coolly. Plan A now commencing into action. Roger that, over and out. She had to smirk a bit at her idiotic thought process.

"By yourself
." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes!
" she snapped.

Hm.
He studied her face from the side but could see no sign of her being upset. “Sure you’re good?”

"Yes! God!
" She rolled her eyes.

"Julia, I’m just trying to help
."

She moved away from him. "Look, I appreciate it,
Chase, but I'm good. You should go home. Check on things there. You haven't been there in a while.”

"
You trying to get rid of me?" He narrowed his eyes knowing something was going on. He stood up, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall, looking down at her.

"No, I just thought you might want to sleep in your own bed for a change."

Still not looking at him. Hm. "Oh, yeah? And why the concern all of a sudden?"

"No reason. I just thought you might like to be home for a change."

"Think I'll stay here and do my job. I mean, things have gotten a little bit crazy, don't you think? Probably be best if I stick around here."

"Do
what you want. I'll be safe. It's not like they're going to break in or anything with that Fort Knox security system Allen had put in," she replied flippantly, rolling her eyes again. She turned away from him to watch TV.

"
Julia, what are you doing? Are you trying to keep me safe by pushing me away? Because if that's what you're doing, you may as well stop because it's not going to work."

God
, he was smart. She was going to have to be a lot more clever if she wanted to outwit him."No, that's not what I'm doing. I've given it some thought, and I think you're right. We, um, we've been stupid for getting involved." She still hadn't looked him in the eye as she picked at some fuzz on her comforter, but she knew this needed to be said. "You told me it's dangerous, and now I think I agree. Plus, things are going pretty fast with us. I mean, how do we even know if we're right for each other? We just jumped into this. For all we know, there's someone else we're supposed to be with." Her voice shook as she made that last pronouncement. This was killing her. But if it kept him safe, then it'd damn well be worth it.

A muscle in
Chase's jaw ticked as he clenched it. What the fuck? God, women were hard to figure out. He'd told her he loved her and now she was telling him they might not be right for each other? Just great. And her mentioning that they were supposed to be with someone else? That made his anger level rise to 
I could fucking shred a grizzly bear apart with my bare hands 
proportions as he stared at her. She kept her head down, not daring to look at him, knowing he was pissed, and she really didn't want to see the look on his face. He stood there for eons it seemed while she nervously pulled away at her bedspread.

"I hope you know what you're saying,
Julia, because this shit can't be reversed." Her head flew up and she saw the enmity flash in his eyes. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest at what he was saying. She almost caved at that moment, but if this meant he'd be safe, then so be it.

"I do." The tears that had been welling up in her eyes now made their way down her blanched cheeks.

"Do you," he challenged, glaring at her, beyond pissed right now. He'd given himself to her, served her his heart on a platter, practically spoon-fed the fucker to her, and this was what he got? And if that didn't just make him sucker of the year.

She was finding it hard to breathe at that
moment as she looked into his eyes, so full of anger… anger aimed at her. She hoped he'd understand once everything was over and the assholes threatening her were caught. But she wouldn't change a thing if it kept him from getting hurt. "Yes, Chase, I do." The ache in her heart was causing her lungs to lock up. Oh, God, don't hyperventilate now. She knew he'd rather watch her asphyxiate than coach her through another of her wheezing bouts right now.

Well, this shit
was just great. He turned and walked out of her room, going right into pro mode. No more extra-curricular for him. Uh uh. Strictly business from here on out. It’s what he’d been trained to do. But damn it if he didn't know he'd left a part of himself behind as he shut her door.

Julia
now knew what real pain was as her heart ripped in two. She heaved out a sob as the tears continued falling. It hurt so bad, but she knew that what she'd done had been right.

****

The next morning was Saturday and Julia walked into the kitchen to see Allen sitting at the bar reading the paper as he ate a cinnamon roll. Peggy had exercised her Pierre Herme powers that be the morning before, preparing the spirals of glazed goodness.

"Where's
Chase?" she asked as nonchalantly as she could. She got a glass and poured herself some milk before sitting next to Allen. She knew she looked like shit, her eyes swollen from crying, her face blotchy. But Allen probably wouldn't even look at her, so it was no biggie.

"He said he needed to go to his apartment. He was really in a bad mood this morning. Something happen?"

"No, why?" She panicked for just a second before she realized Allen didn't know there'd been anything between them.

"No reason. He just seemed to be a little out of sorts is all. Like he was upset about something."

"Probably just worried about all that's going on, I guess."

"
Hm," Allen replied nonchalantly as he continued reading the financial section of the paper. And good to see that he was so concerned. Julia wondered if she taped hundred dollar bills all over her body and walked down the street if he might give a shit about her being snatched then. Probably not unless the total reached at least a couple grand.