Secret Delivery (12 page)

But that made Jack wonder.

Why hadn’t Agent Parker Howell done more to find her? He had to have suspected that Alana was in trouble. Sean might not have been aware of the diamond deal if
he’d only been after control of her money, but Parker was certainly aware of it. Yet he hadn’t been able to find her.

“I can’t believe my brother might have done this to me,” Alana said. She stood and shook her head. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Jack stood, too, aware that they were too close. Practically toe-to-toe.

She leaned her head against him, her body brushing against his, but then she immediately jerked back.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

So was he. Sorry that she’d backed away. Despite being on the verge of a meltdown, Alana had remembered the dangerous attraction between them. But Jack was suddenly having a hard time following her lead.

Alana looked up at him. And the restraint she’d shown just moments earlier went south.

It happened fast. She leapt to her toes. He swooped down on her. Their mouths met. Man, did they ever! This was no gentle sweet kiss to offer comfort. This was hot and hungry.

Jack grabbed her. Like his kiss, this was no soft embrace. He snapped her to him. Alana didn’t resist. She went willingly and upped the stakes by coiling her arms around his neck. That put their bodies directly against each other.

But he knew he was playing with fire.

He just didn’t care.

He wanted this heat. He wanted Alana. Even if wanting her didn’t make sense. Soon, very soon, they’d battle for custody of Joey, and the memory of this kiss wouldn’t help. But did that make him stop?

No.

Jack only pulled her closer. He slid his hand around the back of her neck and deepened the kiss. That caused the fire inside her to burn even hotter. Her breasts pressed against his chest. Their mouths moved in some frenetic dance to find pleasure.

Her sex brushed against his. There it was. That punch. The reminder of where a good kiss usually led. To sex. In the back of his mind, he knew he couldn’t go there, but that didn’t stop him, either.

Alana voiced a throaty moan of pleasure and shifted her position, moving against him, her body against his erection. She wanted more of that contact, and she shoved him against the wall. It wasn’t gentle. He landed with a thud.

Alana landed against him.

Exactly where he wanted her to be.

Jack trailed the kisses to her neck. It tasted just as good as her mouth and revved his body up another notch. Alana took things even further when her hand trailed down his side and then to his stomach. When her hand started to go even lower, Jack knew he had to do something or he’d end up having sex with her right then, right there.

He spun her around so that it was her back against the wall, and caught her hands, pinning them, so that she couldn’t do any more of that mind-blowing touching. He kissed her one last time, and forced himself to pull back.

Their eyes met. He’d hoped to see some sane, rational regret in the depths of all that blue, but all he saw was the heat no doubt mirrored in his.

“Wow,” she said. Somehow, that said it all.

He’d expected a kiss with Alana to be good, but he hadn’t expected the out-of-control crazy stuff reserved for lust-crazed teenagers.

“We can’t have sex, can we?” she asked.

It was a question his body wanted to answer,
Yes, we can
. But he ignored his body and tried to sound like a responsible adult. “Just an hour ago, we were under attack. This is a reaction to that.”

She stared at him. Her eyes narrowed slightly. That was the only warning he got before she lunged forward. Even though he had her hands still pinned, her mouth landed right on his. No restraint. Nothing held back.

Alana kissed him.

What little composure he’d garnered just washed away, and when she finally pulled back, he knew this wasn’t a reaction to the shooting. It was a human reaction. Pure basic primal attraction. He wanted her naked. He wanted to be inside her. He didn’t care if it was wrong or if it complicated the hell out of things.

They stood there staring at each other, their breaths hot and fast. Not moving. He didn’t dare move. Because if Alana brushed against his erection one more time, he’d lose control.

“We can’t kiss again,” she said.

“I don’t want this to get mixed up with what’s going on with Joey.” Jack wanted it out there in the open.

“Trust me. This had nothing to do with the love I feel for my son.”

Jack could have said the same thing. But was it true? Had parenthood forged some kind of strange bond between them?

He looked at her again. At her hair that he’d mussed when he grabbed her. At her kiss-reddened lips. At the flush of arousal still on her face.

Nope.

This wasn’t about parenthood. And that meant it was a massive problem. Sex with Alana now seemed inevitable. Instead of facing each other as adversaries on the custody issue, they’d face each other as lovers.

That might make them more amicable to a settlement, but it might also cost him full custody of Joey. Because he’d have feelings for her. He’d be sympathetic. He might not fight as hard, and he needed to fight to keep his son.

The phone rang, the sound slicing through the room, and delivering yet another dose of much-needed reality. It was a reminder that he was in the middle of the most important case of his career.

Though she was obviously still shaken from the kiss, Alana reached behind her, located the phone and answered it. “Deidre,” she said. “What did you find?”

Jack moved away from Alana to give them both some breathing room. He wanted her full concentration on the call and the crucial information she was getting from her assistant. While she was doing that, Jack composed himself. What he needed was a cold shower. That might cool him down and bring him back to his senses.

“I see,” Alana commented. “And what about the other investment and business accounts?”

Judging from Alana’s suddenly slack jaw, this wasn’t good news. Jack had expected that. Hopefully, though, it was news that would help them find out what was really going on.

He walked to the window and checked the grounds.
There was a ranch hand out front. The man was armed and standing guard. They wouldn’t get much ranching done, but he needed the security to keep Alana, Tessie and Joey safe.

When Alana ended the call, Jack turned back around to face her. She’d gone pale. “My half of the profits of the jewelry business hasn’t been touched in eight months except to cover normal operating expenses. But my trust fund has been drained, and there’s little money left in any of my investment accounts.”

“How much is missing?”

“Over three million dollars.”

Jack cursed. He’d just found a motive for why someone had wanted Alana locked away.

Alana sank onto the chair and blew out a long, weary breath. “Thankfully, the business account is still there. It’s worth nearly twice that amount.”

“This is the business you share with Sean?”

She nodded. Her eyes questioned their theory about her brother being behind this. If this was solely about money, why hadn’t Sean gone after her business account? That would have been easier than tapping into her trust and investments.

Maybe he hadn’t touched the business money because he needed that in place for his own business ventures.

“Deidre said she has my personal laptop. She took it from the office and brought it home with her,” Alana continued. “She was afraid without anyone around, someone might steal it. She said she’s opening the files now to see if she can find anything about the missing money. If there is, she’ll call me right back.”

It was a long shot. Truth was, the money probably
hadn’t started to disappear until after she was at Sauder, or Alana would have noticed the missing funds.

Jack was about to pull her into his arms for a hug of comfort, but his cell phone rang. He checked the screen and saw that it was Reyes. This could be yet another important call.

“I just talked with the M.E.,” Reyes explained. “He got out here about a half hour ago and has been examining Ted Moore’s body.”

“And?”

“He says there’s no evidence of close-range residue around the wound. No stippling, either. The entrance wound is about .50-caliber size.”

Jack groaned. That meant the gun hadn’t been close enough to Ted’s skin to leave any soot or residue from the unburned gunpowder. The caliber size was an indication that the shot had come from a long-range rifle. A sniper rifle, it was sometimes called.

Ted hadn’t killed himself.

A bullet of that size would have made a much larger hole if Ted had shot himself at point-blank range. So the shooter was some distance away.

“There’s more,” Reyes continued. “I just checked out Ted’s rifle, and I don’t even think it’s been recently fired. I’ll bring it in for testing.”

“Good. Collect any bullet fragments from my SUV,” Jack instructed, knowing that Reyes already had that on his to-do list. “Also, look for shell casings. I’ll be here at the ranch if you need me.”

“Bad news?” Alana asked the moment he hung up.

Jack nodded. “No suicide. Thatcher must have murdered Ted with an assault rifle.”

Alana shook her head. “But Ted had a rifle, too.”

“He had a .22, and Reyes didn’t think it’d been fired.” Jack had noticed that when the man first staggered out of the woods.

She stayed quiet a moment. “Then what was Ted doing out there?”

He shrugged. “We probably won’t know the answer to that until I talk to Thatcher.”

Something he couldn’t do until the man was captured. Jack didn’t doubt that would happen. Thatcher would likely make another attempt to kill them. And Jack would do whatever was necessary to protect Alana and Joey. This wouldn’t end until he put a bullet in Thatcher. He only hoped he would get answers first—he didn’t want Alana to go through her life wondering why she’d been put through hell and back for the past eight months.

The house phone rang, and when Jack went to answer it, he saw on the caller ID that it was from Alana’s assistant, Deidre. He picked up the phone and handed it to Alana.

She looked unsteady. Probably from the news he’d just delivered. But maybe this call would give them something positive.

“December twenty-fourth,” Alana mumbled. “I don’t remember going to work, but there are a lot of things I don’t remember. What did the letter say exactly?” She paused. “Who was to get this letter?” She mumbled something, as if trying to jog her memory. “There was no address information at all?”

Jack heard the woman answer “no.”

“Okay. Maybe that’s in another note somewhere. What did I write in this letter?” Alana asked.

Jack saw Alana’s eyes widen. She drew in a sharp breath and dropped back a step.

“Deidre, could you please repeat that? I want to write it down to make sure I didn’t misunderstand.” Alana’s hands were far from steady when she grabbed the pen and paper next to the phone.

Jack leaned in so he could see what she wrote.

“Special Agent Parker Howell withheld information about the diamond deal he’s investigating. He informed me that the buyer is a man named Eldon Thatcher, but after contacting colleagues, I’ve learned Mr. Thatcher is only one of two interested buyers.”

Buyer, not seller. What was going on?

“The other potential buyer is from Willow Ridge.” Alana wrote what her assistant was reading to her. “And I intend to contact him.”

Jack held his breath and watched as Alana jotted down the name of the person who was ultimately connected to all of this.

“Dr. Keith Bartolo.”

Her life might be far from perfect, but her son certainly was.

Alana tried to read Joey one of the books from a stack in his room but finally gave up. He was far more interested in trying to wrestle with a large stuffed teddy bear. The bear was bright blue, the color of Joey’s shirt and shorts, and was twice his size.

Joey giggled when he and the bear toppled onto the thickly carpeted floor.

Alana giggled, too.

Tessie and Jack looked as if they’d just heard a foreign sound. That wasn’t far from the truth. It’d been months since she’d laughed, and it might be a while before she did it again. This precious time with her son was a too-brief interlude.

Soon, Joey would be leaving.

The packed bags in the hallway were proof of that. Any minute now, a sheriff friend of Jack’s would arrive to whisk Tessie and Joey away. Part of Alana wanted to be whisked away with them. She wanted to get as far from the danger as possible, but going with her son
would ultimately put him right back in the line of fire. He’d be safer away from her.

And her heart would break.

She’d already lost so much time with him. She didn’t want to lose a moment more. But maybe, just maybe, Jack’s deputies and the Texas Rangers could find Thatcher quickly so that her time away from Joey would be very short indeed.

Joey giggled again, and crawling, he tried to drag the bear to Jack, who was in the doorway. Like Alana, he’d changed clothes since the shooting and now wore another pair of those great-fitting jeans and a black shirt. There was no evidence of the struggle on these clothes. No grass stains, no powdery debris from the airbag, no smell of gunshot residue. That didn’t mean, however, she couldn’t see and smell those things.

It would be a long while before that particular nightmare faded, and judging from the stark emotion in Jack’s eyes, he felt the same.

Jack had spent hours making the arrangements for Joey’s safety, all while also trying to contact Dr. Bartolo.

But Dr. Bartolo wasn’t answering his phone, and his nurse said she didn’t know where he was. That didn’t make him look innocent, and Alana had to admit that Bartolo might have had something to do with her disappearance. But then, she hadn’t trusted him and had gotten the willies when he strolled into Jack’s office the night of her arrival.

The doorbell rang, and Alana’s heart clenched. It was probably the sheriff coming for Joey, but she automatically scooped her son into her arms and moved to
the far side of the room, just in case she had to protect him. Jack nodded, turned and went to answer the door.

Joey didn’t fuss about Alana’s tight grip. Perhaps he sensed something was wrong. He stared at her with suddenly intense eyes. Joey had gotten his eye color from her, but his expression was all Jack. Jack might not have been Joey’s biological father, but she could see so much of him in the little boy.

Jack opened the door and she heard voices.
Friendly
voices. Which meant this wasn’t the threat her body had prepared itself for. It was a threat of a different kind. Alana kissed Joey’s cheek and said a quick prayer that he would soon be returned safely to her.

“What’s gonna happen?” Tessie asked.

Alana didn’t think the woman’s question was about the little trip Joey and she were about to take. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

“Jack loves that little boy, you know.”

“I know. I love him, too.”

Tessie walked closer, smiled at Joey and gently rubbed his back. “And how do you feel about Jack?”

Alana opened her mouth. Then she closed it, hoping an acceptable answer would come to mind. It didn’t. She was thankful for Jack. But there was also an attraction between them that had reached the boiling point. Worse, it was probably clouding her feelings for him. She was starting to dream of them being a family.

Thinking of Jack as a lover, as her protector and Joey’s father, made a great package. One she should resist. Because if she did become his lover, she didn’t want these other things playing into the equation. Sex
for her meant making love. It meant a commitment, and neither Jack nor she was ready to go there.

Alana heard footsteps, and a moment later, a lanky brown-haired man appeared in the doorway with Jack.

“This is Sheriff Beck Tanner from LaMesa Springs,” Jack said, making the introductions.

He looked capable and trustworthy enough, but Alana wished that Jack could be the one to protect Joey. Love was a huge motivator, and she knew Jack would put his life on the line for her little boy. Still, Jack couldn’t be in two places at once, and he had to be in Willow Ridge to catch Thatcher.

Tessie reached for Joey, and Alana gave him one last kiss before the woman took him. There was no way she could stop her tears. Alana was more than a little surprised to see tears in Tessie’s eyes, too.

“I’ll take care of him. I promise,” Tessie whispered. “You take care of Jack, okay?”

In that moment Alana no longer felt at odds with the woman, and she pulled both Tessie and Joey into a quick hug. “I will,” she whispered back.

Tessie eased away, and Jack kissed Joey goodbye. There were no tears in Jack’s eyes. Just the look of a man determined to succeed.

“You’ve got the trip mapped out?” Jack asked Sheriff Tanner. He picked up the suitcases, one in each hand, and headed for the door.

“All loaded in the GPS,” Sheriff Tanner assured him. “I’m not taking a direct route. And I’ll make sure no one follows. My deputy is also with me, just in case. I’ll call you the minute we get to the house.”

“Thanks,” Jack said. Alana echoed the same.

Sheriff Tanner opened the door, and Alana saw his white SUV parked outside. The windows had a dark tint, but with the slant of the late afternoon sun, she could see the outline of a man in the backseat. Tanner’s deputy, no doubt.

“Wait inside,” Jack instructed.

Alana did and watched as the others hurried to the vehicle. Within just a few seconds, Jack had the suitcases loaded, Tessie put Joey in the child-restraint seat, got inside the vehicle and the sheriff drove away.

It felt as if someone had stomped on her heart.

Jack hurried back up the steps and caught her arm to pull her back inside. He shut the door and locked it.

“Try not to dwell on it,” he mumbled.

An impossible task, but he was right. She didn’t need to think about her son’s departure.

Or the fact that she and Jack were now alone in the ranch house.

There was only one thing that would speed up her son’s return and that was capturing the person who wanted her dead. To do that, she had to learn the truth.

Jack immediately got to work. He took out his cell phone, called Reyes and asked for an update on Dr. Bartolo while he went into the family room and turned on the laptop. Alana didn’t waste time, either. She looked at the notes she’d made earlier during her phone call with her assistant. The last thing she’d written was Dr. Bartolo’s name. The man could be a key to this investigation.

“Dr. Bartolo still isn’t answering any of his phones,” Jack let her know. He sat down at the computer. “No one’s seen him in the past two hours.”

Bartolo could have disappeared. Maybe he learned
Jack and she were on to him. But how would he have known that? Earlier that morning, he hadn’t shown any signs of concern during her checkup. Of course, the doctor could also be in danger. If the culprit behind all of this wanted to make sure Jack and she didn’t speak to Bartolo, the doctor could have been kidnapped.

Or worse.

That made the situation even more urgent. If Bartolo was in grave danger, in addition to finding him, they needed to figure out how he played into the investigation. And why Parker had lied and said Thatcher was selling instead of buying those illegal diamonds. Had the man just made an honest mistake, or was it more sinister than that?

Alana glanced at her notes again. “Who was this letter to?”

“Maybe you were going to send it to Parker’s boss?” Jack turned, looked up at her. “Maybe to me.”

That made sense. “I might have wanted you involved if I suspected Dr. Bartolo.” And something else made sense. “This could explain why I was in Willow Ridge eight months ago. I probably came to see you about the doctor. Since I was pregnant, I doubt I would have gone to see him on my own.”

He nodded, and scratched his head. “You still don’t remember any of this?”

“Bits and pieces. For instance, I remember sitting at my desk and typing that letter, but I don’t know why I changed my mind about sending it. I don’t know why I decided to come here in person instead of just calling you.”

“Maybe because you thought someone might listen in on your conversation.”

“Sean,” she mumbled. “Or maybe I thought Parker, Thatcher or even Dr. Bartolo had bugged my office.” Alana paused and let that sink in. She drifted back to that day and remembered her feelings. Fear. She’d definitely known she was in danger.

And yes, she’d been on her way to talk to Jack.

Though instead of meeting him at his office, she’d realized someone was following her. Just like that, fear rippled through her. “A dark blue van followed me from San Antonio. I remember it.”

Jack stood and ducked down a little so they’d be eye to eye. He caught her shoulders. “Keep going. What else do you recall?”

“The van bumped into my car.” Her heart started to race, just as it had that day. “I sped up, but there was ice on the road. I skidded, and the van managed to get around me and drive off.”

“Probably because the driver saw me coming,” Jack provided.

Yes. That made sense. The images were no longer fuzzy and clipped. They came at her like gunshots. “I lost control and crashed through the bridge railing.”

She felt the jolt of the impact all over again. The freezing water that gushed into her car. Panicking, she’d fought, first with the airbag and then the seat belt. “I got free, but I couldn’t get out of the car. The door was jammed.”

“It’s okay.” Jack’s voice sounded miles away. So did his touch, even though Alana was aware that he’d pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay,” he repeated.

He was trying to calm her down. With reason. Alana thought she might be on the verge of a panic attack. She
couldn’t catch her breath, and everything was starting to race out of control, just as it had when she was in that water.

“Think back to the van,” Jack instructed, his voice level and reassuring. “I didn’t see it, but I wasn’t exactly looking for it when I spotted your car go off that bridge. Did you see the license plates or get a glimpse of the driver?”

Had she? Though it wasn’t easy, Alana pushed aside her emotions and concentrated. She tried to replay everything that had happened from the moment she realized the van was following her. “I couldn’t see the driver, but I saw the front bumper. It had Texas plates.”

“Good. You remember any of the numbers or letters?”

She shook her head. “No. But it was a rental. I remember seeing a decal for State Rental. Does that help?”

“You bet. I’ll make some calls and see if they have a record of someone renting a dark blue van eight months ago. We might get lucky.”

Finally. A break.

He went to the computer, clicked his way to an official-looking site and typed in some information about the incident and the rental car. “I’m requesting assistance from the San Antonio P.D. State Rental is headquartered there. They’ll send an officer over to check the records.”

Alana blew out a long breath and prayed for the best, even if it led her in the direction of her brother. Right now the truth was the only thing that would bring her little boy back home.

Jack stood again, but instead of moving closer to her, he crammed his hands in his pockets. “What did Tessie whisper to you before she left?”

“Oh.” Alana scratched her head, not because she didn’t remember, but because it took her a moment to switch from the case to more personal matters. “She wanted me to promise to take care of you. I said I would.”

The corner of his mouth lifted, and a dimple flashed in his right cheek. The smile quickly faded, though. “If we get into another situation like we did today, I want you to take cover. I want you behind me.”

She didn’t want to think of another situation like that occurring. Alana was still too raw from the memories she’d just had to relive. “Behind you?” she questioned, tongue-in-cheek. “You’re sure that’d be any safer?” She made sure she punctuated the question with a smile.

His smile didn’t return, but he eased his hand from his pocket, reached out and skimmed his fingers over her cheek. He sent little sparks over her entire body. “I’m the sheriff. It’s my job to protect you.”

There went the sparks and what was left of her smile.

“No,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean it like that.” He pulled back his hand, shook his head and cursed. “I didn’t mean it like that, either.”

Because she totally understood his confused state of mind and because she wanted to feel those sparks again, she came up on her toes and kissed him. Not hot and French, the way she wanted. Alana pressed her mouth to his cheek, right at the corner of his lips. It was an invitation. And then she waited to see what Jack would do next.

He stood there. “If I kiss you, we’ll have sex,” he announced.

“Oh.” She felt a primal tug deep within her belly and
tried to look shocked. She wasn’t, though. She knew what Jack wanted. What she wanted.

They wanted each other.

They stared at each other, both waiting for the other to back away. But it didn’t happen, because Jack’s cell phone rang.

Until that ring, Alana hadn’t realized just how ready she was to be dragged off to bed. Yes, the timing was terrible, but she wanted Jack more than she’d ever wanted another man. Still, she would have to wait.

Jack snatched the phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. “It’s one of the ranch hands.”

A call could mean he’d spotted someone suspicious. Like Thatcher.

Jack hurried across the room and looked out the window. Alana followed, her heart now in her throat. God, how could her emotions rifle so quickly from passion to out-and-out fear?

“What does he want?” Jack asked.