Crime and Punishment 4: Burning Submission (5 page)

He jumped from the bed and grabbed his pajama pants. Looking out the window wasn’t an option since his bedroom faced the back of the house. Pants on, truck keys and gun in hand, he opened the bedroom door and headed down the hall toward the stairs.

Jennifer threw open her door as well, her eyes wide with fear, her hair mussed from sleep.

“Stay here,” he ordered before rushing down the stairs.

He slipped through the front door and stepped out onto the porch. He glanced around, but the clouds obscured the moon, making it pitch-black and nearly impossible to see ten feet in front of him.

With a sigh, he hit the button on his key fob, silencing the alarm. The headlights flashed briefly, illuminating the area in front of the truck. Josh walked over and checked the doors. All of them were still locked, nothing broken or out of place. He then checked Jennifer’s and decided everything seemed fine with hers.

Turning in a circle, he glanced around the grounds as best he could in the darkness. He didn’t see or hear anything, but that didn’t stop the hairs on his neck from standing on end. When he turned back to the front porch, he spotted Jennifer at the top step. The light from the entry hall outlined her curves but put her facial features in shadow.

He noticed what she wore and his cock twitched in interest. Short shorts showed off long legs. The tight tank hugged her firm breasts, and her nipples poked through the cotton in delectable invitation to suck them.

Frowning at his totally inappropriate thoughts, he snapped, “Didn’t I tell you to stay inside?”

Her chin lifted, and Josh could well imagine the look of stubbornness that probably tightened her features. “You’re here to help me with the house, Josh. You’re not my keeper.”

Josh started to tell her exactly what he was there to do, but he clamped his mouth shut before he said something he shouldn’t.

“What was it?” she asked.

Josh sighed and glanced around the yard one more time. “I think it was an animal. Hazards of living in the middle of nowhere.”

“Did you check the back?”

He started up the stairs of the porch, for the first time noticing the cool bite of the wind as it blew across his bare chest. “If it was a person who set it off and they ran back there, they’re long gone by now,” he said, trying to ease her anxiety.

“So you think it might’ve been a person?”

He stopped at the top and studied her profile as she stared warily into the trees outlining the small yard. “No, Jenn. But the real question is, do
you
?”

She licked her full lips, and Josh’s heart actually skipped a beat. He wanted nothing more than to lick those lips, to smooth those worry lines from her brow. Standing this close to her, that same tingle of electricity that always seemed to spark between them tickled his flesh.

“No.” She lifted her shoulders in an obvious attempt to appear more confident. “If you said it was an animal, then that’s good enough for me.”

“I can check the back if you want me to, Jenn.”

She looked over at him and bit her lip. The light from the entry hall cast a gentle glow over her worry-filled eyes. Josh couldn’t stop himself from wanting to make her feel safe, less scared. He turned and cupped her cheek. Her skin was soft under his touch, warm, enticing him.

He thought she might pull away, but she tilted her cheek into his palm. Her lashes lifted, and her gaze locked on to his. Heat ignited between them and dragged him toward her like a magnet. He used his thumb to tip her chin up, forcing her to meet him as he dipped his head and brushed his mouth across hers.

Her lips parted, but he didn’t devour her like he wanted. Instead, he gently nipped, teasing her with soft bites that had her melting into him. The hard peaks of her nipples were crushed against his chest as she wrapped her arms around his lower back.

Everywhere her fingers touched tingled with electricity, awakening his nerves. He deepened the kiss, and the second her tongue touched his, a spark ignited between them, forcing them both to jump back.

She gasped and put her hand over her mouth, staring at him in shock.

“What the hell?” Josh whispered.

His lips and tongue still stung from the spark, but he wanted to pull her back, experience more of her taste, her firm body in his arms. The sudden loss of her heat was like a splash of cold water against his flesh.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured from behind her hand. “That shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t mean…”

With a shake of her head, she rushed inside and up the stairs to her room.

“Jennifer, wait,” Josh called as he started to run after her but changed his mind.

He turned and slammed the front door shut and then ran his fingers through his hair. What the hell had happened? He’d never felt a spark like that. Sometimes electricity would build up and two people could shock each other, but that had been something different—something way more intense.

Now that he thought about it, that electrical sensation happened every time they were close. He remembered the hot handles of the pot and wondered if the two were related. He stared up the steps at her closed bedroom door.

If he hadn’t known Nathan, if he hadn’t seen and worked with a lot of gifted people over the years through the FBI, he would believe that what he’d felt had been a fluke. Fortunately, he knew weird things existed, and he also knew deep in his gut there was more to Jennifer than met the eye.

JENNIFER SHUT HER door and stumbled to the bed. Every inch of her skin prickled with lingering electrical current. Had she done that? Had her need heated the air around them and caused that spark?

She slowly sat on the bed as a sobering thought ran through her mind. If they’d continued, could she have hurt him? Or both of them?

She had no idea what those people had really done to her or the extent of her abilities. What if they got out of control?

She sobbed and covered her mouth with her hand. Would she have to go the rest of her life and never touch anyone again? Tears escaped and slid down her cheeks. She’d wanted Josh. She still wanted Josh. His chest had felt so good against hers, his lips so… God, she’d wanted that kiss so bad.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

* * * *

Josh secured the last camera to the limb of the tree. Climbing up here had been a tad difficult. Balancing on a limb twenty feet off the ground probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do before even having his first cup of coffee, but the height gave him the best vantage point of the backyard, plus the camera couldn’t be easily seen from the ground.

He readjusted and leaned his back against the tree trunk. He opened the app on his phone and calibrated all four cameras, two in the front and two in the back, and double-checked the angles to make sure they were right. He had been relieved to see he still had these things in the backseat of his truck. It sometimes paid to be a pack rat.

He truly believed an animal had triggered his truck alarm last night, but the look of fear on Jennifer’s face had firmed his belief there was more to her story than what she’d told him. Something scared the shit out of her, and he needed to find out what—for both their sakes.

With a sigh, he looked toward the back of the house. The morning sun had just begun to peek over the mountains in the distance, bathing the backyard in slashes of light. The leaves on the trees had mostly changed, their colors ranging from red to gold to orange. He caught the whiff of smoke in the air, the familiar smell of a fire burning close by.

Fall, with its entire colorful spender, had arrived.

Staring down at his phone screen, where he could see the image from the camera, he caught a movement in the kitchen window. He zoomed in and watched as Jennifer walked to the window and looked out. Her hair was pulled to the side in a braid, and the kitchen light highlighted the streak of white, making it stand out. She lifted her cup and took a sip of coffee.

The fear he’d seen last night had disappeared, but he liked the pensive frown even less. She looked worried. After last night, would she insist he leave? If he did, who would protect her?

His phone dinged, indicating an incoming text, so he closed the app.

Is this her?
appeared on his screen, followed by a picture of a younger Jennifer.

Yes
, Josh replied.

Five seconds later, Nathan called.

“Yeah,” Josh said as he put his phone to his ear. “What did you find out?”

“You know,” Nathan drawled. “You’d be damned surprised just what the hell you can find on Google. That assistant of Connelly’s is a fucking genius when it comes to research.”

“Tell him I owe him.”

Nathan snorted. “You might not want to pay him for this info.”

Josh sighed. “Please tell me it’s not that bad.”

“It’s interesting. Bad is still in question.”

“Great,” Josh mumbled.

“You want to know who else is a genius?” Nathan asked casually.

“Who?” Josh asked warily.

“The woman you’re protecting.”

Josh raised an eyebrow. “Beg your pardon?”

“She graduated high school at fifteen. Started Harvard at sixteen on a scholarship she received for getting perfect scores on her SATs.”

Josh whistled softly. “Wow. That makes me feel stupid. I wasn’t anywhere close to perfect. What was she studying?”

“Neurology.”

What happened to architecture?

“Interesting. Go on.”

“She disappeared six years ago just before she was supposed to start some special fellowship at the University of Tennessee Hospital.”

Josh frowned as he stared toward the house. “Disappeared?”

“According to FBI records, she disappeared and was never found.”

Josh snorted. “Well, apparently Linda found her.”

“Or she found Linda. But there’s more. Her parents died two years ago after working every angle to try and find her. They never gave up and believed she was still out there somewhere, alive. The estate was left to their daughter with our very own Linda Johansson as executor. From what we can find out, she moved the funds somewhere offshore and most definitely out of sight of prying eyes.”

Josh nodded slowly. “So their daughter could access the money without anyone being able to track it. Do we know anything about her disappearance at all?”

“They found out one of her college professors was involved, but he was murdered before they could get any information.”

“They’re sure it was murder?” Josh asked.

“There was no doubt, Josh.”

“Could her disappearance have something to do with her fellowship?”

“Not likely. It was an odd fellowship, though. Something about telekinesis, manipulation of energy, and the brain.”

Josh’s stomach knotted. “Energy? As in electrical energy?”

“Possibly. Why?”

Josh immediately thought of last night and the spark between them when they’d kissed, the way tingles moved along his skin whenever she got close to him. Plus the pot handles and her, at the time, ridiculous explanation. Was it possible she was actually telling him the truth?

“What are you thinking, Josh?” Nathan asked.

Josh harrumphed softly at the trail his thoughts had suddenly taken. “Something stupid. It’s nothing. I’m just trying to process all this. So she disappeared without a trace six years ago, shows back up in Tennessee with a different name and scared shitless. Are you getting anything, Nathan? Other than the sensation that I’m in trouble?”

“Oh, you’re definitely in trouble,” Nathan murmured sarcastically. “So is she, but other than that, I’ve got nothing.”

“Should we move?” Josh asked.

Nathan sighed. “I’m not sure. For all I know, moving is what will draw them to you. That much I can tell. It’s
them
…multiple threats. For now, stay put. I’m going to call Linda and see what I can get out of her.”

“Let me know what you find out. In the meantime, I’m going to see if I can get Jenn to open up.”

Josh ended the call and frowned toward the house. What the hell had Jenn gotten herself into?

Chapter Eight

Jennifer watched with curiosity as Josh jumped from a lower tree limb and began walking toward the house. What on earth had he been doing in the tree?

As he stepped onto the porch, she turned and leaned against the counter and waited for him to enter the kitchen. The sound of his boots on the wooden porch sent an odd ache of longing through her chest. Images of a normal life and a man to fix breakfast for filled her mind. As he walked across the porch and through the back door, a lump formed in her throat. She took a sip of coffee to try and force it down.

If she started crying, Josh would want to know why, and she wasn’t ready to explain. She wasn’t sure she would ever be ready. Look what happened the last time she trusted a man with her secret.

She blinked back tears just as Josh stepped through the back door. He stopped and stared at her, his eyes seeing much deeper into her soul than she felt comfortable with.

Linda had said he was FBI. She should be able to trust them, right? No. They could use her just like that organization had tried to use her. She refused to be anyone’s weapon. Not now, not ever. She’d die first.

Josh’s eyes narrowed. “You okay?” he asked.

She pushed away from the counter and turned to grab more coffee. “Yeah. I’m fine. Want to tell me what you were doing in that tree?”

“I set up a few motion cameras.”

She handed him a cup of coffee. “Motion cameras?”

“They were in the backseat of my truck, left over from a case a few weeks ago. I thought after last night it might not be a bad idea to have some up. I have an app on my phone, so if it detects motion, it will notify me.”

“That’s interesting. Did you just put them in the back?”

“No, they’re in the front too.”

“That’s probably a good idea. At least that way, if the car alarm goes off again, we’ll know what caused it.” Jennifer moved to pull a skillet from the cabinet next to the stove. “Want some breakfast?”

“Sure. Need any help?”

“No. I like to cook. It’s calming.”

She continued to keep her gaze on the skillet and the potatoes she began to cut. All she could seem to think about was that kiss last night and how much she wanted it again. It was too dangerous. That spark had been unexpected and added a complication she didn’t want to have to explain. That had never happened before, and she had no idea if she could control it.