ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVENGE (9 page)

“No sir, we have everything under control.”

“What happened?” Jake asked.

“A car went over the side. It happens. People drive too fast, or maybe he fell asleep. We don’t know yet.”

“That’s too bad. I’ll have to be more careful out there.”

“You do that. Now if you’ll please leave.”

“Of course.” He turned, and stumbled, bracing himself against the side of the patrol car. “Sorry,” he said. “Must have tripped on a rock.” He straightened, nodded to the officer and returned to the car, walking briskly. “Someone went over the side,” he said to Anne. “Shows you how dangerous these roads can be.”

She waited until he’d turned the car and headed back toward Telluride before she asked, “What did you do?”

“When I stumbled, I stuck the tracking device on the side of the patrol vehicle.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Instead of tracking us, whoever is after us can track the cops for a while.”

“You don’t think we’re putting the police in danger?”

“If your father sends someone else to follow you, that person will recognize a cop car from a long way off. But chances are the cops will discover the tracking device long before your dad’s thugs show up. Until they do, it buys us time to get settled in Telluride.”

“If my father is there, what then?”

“We make sure he’s there, and contact the authorities.”

So he didn’t intend to go after her father himself. The knowledge flooded her with relief. “There’s a reward for finding him, isn’t there? Patrick mentioned it.”

“Yes. But that’s not why I’m doing this.”

“I know. But I like thinking you’d have the money from the reward to live on after I’m gone.”

“Right.” He looked grim. “While you’re teaching school or working as a secretary in your new life.”

“Teaching was the best part about starting over. I loved my students—I loved making my own way, based on my own merits. That’s something I never had to do as Elizabeth Giardino.”

“Then I hope you get the chance to do that again.”

“What will you do when this is over?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I suppose it depends on how things turn out. Come on. We’ve got to find a place to stay and do some shopping. We’ll play tourists for a few hours, anyway, and worry about your father later.”

“What about Patrick? I promised to contact him today.”

“You can call him from the hotel later. But you’ll need to try to put him off for another day or two, to give us time to look for your father.”

“Patrick isn’t the easiest person to put off.”

“Then wait to call him. Tonight, let’s just try to relax, and worry about the rest tomorrow.”

She nodded. She’d grown used to not thinking much about tomorrow. Knowing, as she did, how things could change in an instant, she’d spent the last year focusing on right now, today. Tomorrow was a luxury she almost felt she couldn’t afford, but for a little while, maybe, she could pretend things were different. Maybe, with Jake by her side, she could even be Elizabeth, a woman without a worry in the world, with the man who loved her more than anyone ever could.

Chapter Ten

The kiss had been a mistake. Jake had known that the moment his lips touched Anne’s. If he was going to pull this off—if he was going to find Sam Giardino and see him locked away for good—he couldn’t afford to make mistakes. He couldn’t let emotion or nostalgia or plain old lust interfere with the job he had to do.

He glanced at the woman walking beside him. Showered and freshly made up, dressed in a fake-fur-trimmed parka, designer jeans and knee-high boots they’d purchased at a thrift store on Telluride’s main drag, Anne looked more like Elizabeth when he’d first met her—polished and fashionable and way out of his league.

“What are you staring at?” she asked.

“I’m not staring.” He turned his attention back to the crowded street in front of them. Men and women filled the sidewalks and spilled out of shops and restaurants, talking and laughing, carrying shopping bags or schlepping skis and snowboards toward the gondola that would take them up to the ski resort above town. Conversations in four languages drifted to him, and he heard accents that identified the speakers as hailing from New York and Texas and half a dozen foreign countries. February was the height of the tourist season in Telluride, and somewhere in all this humanity was one man who’d managed to evade the law for the past year. Jake had to admire Giardino’s cunning; a crowded tourist town with people from all over the world was the perfect place for a fugitive to hide, lost in a crowd of people who didn’t know one another and would likely never see each other again.

Jake and Anne had arrived in town a little after ten in the morning and found lodging at a new hotel that had been built to blend in with the town’s Victorian architecture. He’d booked them into adjoining rooms and they’d agreed to meet later for lunch and shopping. The afternoon should have been a pleasant break from the tension, but the events of the past two days, and the real reason they were here, prevented them from completely relaxing and enjoying their roles as tourists. “I’ve been thinking about how we’re going to find your father,” he said.

“Yes. How are we going to do that?”

“If he’s here to ski, we need to hit the slopes.”

“Do you ski?” she asked.

“Not in a long time. What about you? Do you make it to Telluride much from Rogers?”

“I’ve been a few times. Enough to be fairly familiar with the runs.”

“Good. Then you can take us to the places your father’s likely to hang out.”

“It’s a big mountain, with a lot of people. I don’t think our chances are very good that we’ll see him.”

“You say that because you don’t really want to see him.”

She stiffened, and started to protest; then she clamped her mouth shut and shook her head. “No, I don’t want to see him. Why should I?”

“Help me find him and you’ll never have to see him again.”

She took hold of his arm, stopping him. “Why is this so important to you? You’re retired. You don’t have to do this anymore.”

“I told you—neither one of us will be safe as long as he’s walking around free.”

“This isn’t about safety—it’s about revenge. You want to make him pay because he hurt you.”

“I want to make him pay because he hurt
you
.”

She released his arm as if she’d been burned. “Don’t make this about me. I was happy with my life the way it was.”

This was all about her. If Jake hadn’t fallen in love with her, if he hadn’t let his emotions get the better of his training and common sense, he might not have been so careless and let himself be found out. He wouldn’t have almost died in a hail of bullets and she wouldn’t have been dragged away and persuaded to testify against her father. She wouldn’t have had to hide out in WitSec and she wouldn’t be running from her father’s thugs right now. If he did nothing else with his life, he had to fix this mistake. He couldn’t give her back the life she’d had, or even repair the damage to their own relationship. But he could see that she was safe. Then, even if he had to leave her—and he did have to leave her, she’d made that clear enough—he’d have done what he could to make up for the mistakes of the past.

“Fine. It’s not about you,” he said. “It’s about me. I screwed up and I have to make this right. Your father belongs behind bars. It was my job to put him there and I want to finish the job.”

“You don’t work for the Bureau anymore.”

“No, I don’t. Which makes this both easier and more difficult.”

She looked at him, head tilted slightly to one side, one eyebrow raised. He remembered that look from before, imperious and demanding answers. He almost smiled, seeing her so easily slip back into the role of the pampered princess who was used to getting her way. “Easier, because I don’t have to wait and go through channels, or play by their rules,” he explained. “Harder, because I have no authority, and I don’t have the Bureau’s resources at my fingertips, or a team backing me up.”

“Only me.” She looked away before he could judge the expression in her eyes. “Do you think finding my father will prove they were wrong to dismiss you?” she asked. “Do you think it will get your job back?”

“This isn’t about getting my job back.” He wasn’t a good fit for the Bureau; he was always stepping outside the boundaries of his job description and questioning dictates from higher up the chain of command. Going to Sam Giardino’s warehouse hadn’t been part of his job. He was an accountant, and he was supposed to stay chained to his desk in front of a computer. But his bosses had badly wanted the dirt on the Giardino family, and when they’d learned Jacob had an in, they had been willing to overlook him breaking the rules. Only when his rule-breaking had resulted in a disaster had they been more than happy to let him go. “Though I would have preferred to leave on my own terms, not theirs,” he said. And yes, it would feel good to prove to them they had been wrong to dismiss him so easily.

“You said something before about my father escaping prison with the help of a politician. Do you mean the governor?”

“I don’t know who. I couldn’t find anyone who would admit to being part of the investigation, only that there is an investigation. Someone with power pulled strings so that your father got what he needed to get out of prison. Two guards died during the escape, did you know that?”

“Yes. I know my father is a murderer.” Her expression grew bleak. “I’ve known it for a very long time, but I either ignored the killings or tried to tell myself they were justified. You opened my eyes to the truth of what he’d done, and when he tried to kill you...”

He put his arm around her. “I read the trial transcripts. Your testimony was the key to convicting your father. I know speaking out against him wasn’t an easy thing to do.”

“It wasn’t as hard as you might think. I was so angry. I wanted to hurt him.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m more sad than angry. And tired.” She stifled a yawn.

He patted her shoulder and released her. “You must be dead on your feet. We’ve both hardly slept.”

“I’m too keyed up to sleep.” She shrugged away from him. “Maybe we could get something to eat.”

At the mention of food, his stomach growled. He couldn’t remember his last real meal. “There are plenty of places to choose from. See anything you like?”

“There was a little bistro a few blocks back. Let’s try that.”

They retraced their steps. The sun was sinking fast behind the mountains; with dusk came a deeper cold, and more crowds, as vacationers and locals alike returned from a day on the slopes. Jake kept one hand on Anne’s back to prevent them from being separated, but also because he felt the need to hold on to her. Today he’d glimpsed the vulnerability beneath her strength. He wanted her to know she wasn’t alone in this, that he’d do anything to protect her.

They’d almost reached the restaurant when Anne froze. Tension radiated from her body, like a hunting dog on point—or a rabbit that knew it had been spotted by a dog. Jake moved in close behind her. “What is it?” he asked softly.

“I thought I saw Sammy.”

“Your brother?”

“Yes.” She continued to stare in the direction of the brewpub across the street. “He just went into that restaurant. I’m sure it was Sammy. He’s here in Telluride.”

* * *

A
NNE
HADN
’
T
SEEN
her brother since the trial, but it wasn’t as if he would have changed that much in a year. “Are you sure it was him?” Jake asked.

“Yes.” She’d scarcely glimpsed the dark-haired man who’d entered the restaurant with two burly companions, but something in the set of his shoulders and the back of his head had sparked instant recognition. Her heart had leapt in her chest, blood calling to blood.

“Did he see you?” Jake asked.

“No.”

“Then we’d better not give him the chance.” He took her arm and led her away. She went reluctantly, finding it difficult to move, when all she wanted to do was run toward her brother. She wanted to feel his arms around her and hear him tell her he was glad to see her—that everything would be all right.

She shook her head, as if she could shake out that fantasy. It had been a while since she and Sammy had been really close; he was four years younger and involved in his own life. As the only son he’d been groomed to follow in her father’s footsteps. While she’d been spoiled and pampered and indulged, Sammy had endured lectures and ordeals designed to toughen him up and teach him the ins and outs of the various family “businesses.”

They turned onto the next block. Jake stopped in the shelter of an overhang in front of a boutique and let the crowd flow around them. “I don’t think we were followed,” he said.

“I’m sure he didn’t see me.”

“If your brother is here, that means your father is probably here, too,” Jake said.

“Maybe. Or he could have come here on vacation with his family.” His family and a few spare goons to act as bodyguards and lookouts. The thought made her stomach churn.

“I didn’t see too much of Sammy while I was with your family. He was away a lot.”

“My father had sent him to Atlantic City to learn about the Giardino operation there.”

“Were you close?”

“We were when we were younger. I always looked out for him.” She smiled, remembering the nights she’d sneaked into Sammy’s room with a peanut butter sandwich when he’d been sent to bed without his supper, or the times she’d finished his homework assignments for him. “We were the only kids around most of the time,” she said. “So the two of us would band together to spy on the adults. But as we got older, we kind of grew apart.” Her smile faded. “It’s hard to be close in a family where there are so many secrets and lies.”

He put his hand on her shoulder, a comforting gesture. She fought the urge to lean into him. She was physically and emotionally exhausted, not just from the events of the last few days, but from months of bearing everything alone. WitSec had helped her start over with a new life, but it couldn’t erase the memories of everything that had happened. Figuring out what to do with those memories, how to process and deal with them while not letting them destroy her, was wearing.

“I’m going to ask you a question you may not like, but I want you to answer honestly,” he said. “Your brother is next in line to assume power. Do you think he’d order a hit on you?”

“If you mean is he the one behind everything that’s been happening lately, I don’t know.” She met his gaze and saw her own exhaustion and frustration reflected in her eyes. “Since Sammy is the only son, he was always more involved in the business side of things than I was. I saw more of his wife those last few years than I did him, so I have no idea what he thinks of me these days. I never would have believed my father wanted me dead, and he actually threatened me. I can’t wrap my mind around my brother feeling that way about me.”

“I don’t recall that you and his wife were that close. Stacy—that was her name, right?”

“Yes. I liked her well enough, but she never really fit in well with the rest of the family.” Stacy was neither brash and outspoken, nor meek and compliant, the two models for Giardino women. She held herself aloof, and maintained a slightly disapproving air. “I didn’t understand her at the time, but now that I’m on the outside, I have more sympathy.” Barely nineteen when she’d married Sammy Giardino, Stacy Franklin had been thrust into a world where she didn’t fit. She must have felt trapped in her contentious marriage; divorce was not an option in the Giardino family, since ex-spouses had the potential to reveal family secrets.

“I got the impression she wasn’t very happy in her marriage,” Jake said.

“Probably not. It was more a political move on my father’s part than a love match.”

“You mean your father arranged the marriage? And Sammy went along?”

“Sammy will do anything to please my father.” Even though Sam Senior was almost impossible to please.

“Maybe he resents the control your father has over his life.”

“Maybe.”

“Then maybe we can use that. Maybe he’ll help us get to your father.”

“I doubt that. I mean, he might want to get back at my father, but doing so would mean destroying everything Sammy is supposed to inherit—everything he’s spent his life working toward. I can’t see him giving up all that.”

“If I could arrange for you to talk to him, would you?”

“I don’t know. Yes. But because I want to see him, not because I think it will be of any help.” To spend even a few minutes with someone who knew her—knew her childhood and her relatives, with whom she had shared so many memories and experiences—would be such a gift. Of all the things she’d experienced since going into witness protection, the loneliness of having no family at all had been the most unexpected pain.

She became aware of Jake studying her intently, as if trying to read her mind. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“I don’t feel like braving a restaurant right now,” she said. “Let’s go back to the hotel and order room service.”

“All right.”

They didn’t speak as they walked back to their hotel, though Jake radiated tension. He scanned the crowd, watching for her brother or father, she supposed. She couldn’t help watching, too, but saw no one familiar in the sea of strangers’ faces.