Black and Shadow (8 page)

“What’s the name of your security
company?”

“Safe and Sound Security.”

“Are they local?”

“Yes. Based right here in
Albuquerque.”

“You understand this will be very
upsetting to Miss Black. I’ll send over people from my company to
go through things and try to clean up. Miss Black will be in the
hospital a couple of days.”

“Oh, dear. Who would do such a thing?
I can certainly understand her being upset. You don’t think she
will blame us do you? I’d like to keep my job, Mr. Running
Bear.”

“If you help me figure out who did
this, I’m sure she’ll look upon you favorably. Could you call the
security company and ask them to let me see the security feeds from
the last couple of days? I might be able to find the
culprits.”

“Of course. Fred always spoke of you
and Isanti. How you take care of your own. Anything I can do to
help.” The man promptly called up the company and told them to give
Joe access to the recordings. “They’ll be waiting for your call,
Mr. Running Bear.”

“Excellent. I believe I hear the
police sirens now. Why don’t we go down to meet them?”

“Yes, I suppose we must. Thank you for
your help, Mr. Running Bear. I don’t want the reputation of Oasis
Apartments to suffer.”

“Please, call me Joe? Don’t worry
about Miss Black, she is very understanding.”

§

“What?” Jessica shrieked. “See? I told
you, didn’t I? I knew something was off.”

Joe grimaced. He didn’t want Dr. Rick
to come in and scold him again. “Honey, calm down. I’m taking care
of it. The doctor said you need to rest.”

“Rest? How can I rest when someone is
rifling through Fred’s things? There were probably clues waiting
for us to find them and now they’re gone.”

“You can be damn sure I’ll find out
who’s behind this, Jessica.”

“I need to get up. I need to take care
of this.” Jessica threw off the covers.

Joe grabbed her waist and kept her
pinned to the bed. “What you need to do, is stay in bed,” he said
through gritted teeth. “And get to feeling better. Let me take care
of this for you. Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course, I trust you. That’s not
the point. Fred was my brother, the only family I had
left.”

Joe looked into Jessica’s panicked
eyes. She didn’t understand what was going on any more than he did.
He caressed her hair before leaning down to gently kiss her. At the
same time he reached for her mind and found a whirling mass of
emotions.

He ran his hands softly
over her, gentling her, as he filled her mind with peace and
safety.
“Whatever is going on, I will
protect you. We’ll figure this out, together. You’re not
alone.”
The tension slowly left her body.
She sighed.
“That’s my girl.”
He nibbled on her lower lip and then kissed her
in earnest. She gripped his shirt in one hand, holding him close.
Before the kiss could get any hotter, he pulled away and kissed
each eye. Already his body demanded more. She let him go and lay
peacefully. He stepped back and covered her again with the
blankets.

“Now. Is there anything I can bring
you?”

“How about the file you have on Fred’s
murder? Come on, Joe. I’ve been shot and Fred’s apartment has been
gone through. Someone thinks I’ll figure out who killed him. Why
else would they try and take me out? Then when they miss me, they
leave a note warning me to leave town. There must be something
we’re missing.”

Joe thought for a moment. The note
could have been left before Jessica arrived. She’d go crazy if she
didn’t have something to occupy her time. “Okay, I’ll bring you the
file, but it doesn’t leave the building. I need to check that
symbol on the warning note. Give me about an hour and I’ll be back.
Hopefully with more information you can pour over. I’ll even bring
you a laptop to use. Just promise me you won’t hack the system
again.”

“I won’t hack the system, unless I
need information.” Jessica smiled prettily.

“Not nice, sweetheart. Careful, or
I’ll turn you over my knee. Your behind isn’t damaged.”

“Don’t threaten me. I’m not afraid of
you, teddy bear.”

“Teddy bear? Honey, I am anything but
a teddy bear. If you knew what I wanted to do to you, well…you
wouldn’t think of me as being soft and cute.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to take you to my bed and keep
you there for a week. Do you need to know more?”

A shiver went through her. Jessica
shook her head. “No, that seems pretty clear.”

§

What Joe didn’t realize was he hadn’t
said anything Jessica didn’t already know. He was seriously hot and
he hadn’t hidden the fact he wanted her.

He kissed her lightly. “Try and get
rest until I get back.”

“Joe, all I’m doing is resting.” It
drove her mad.

“Yeah, but you’ll need your strength
when I get you all to myself.” With a wink, he turned and left the
room.

She smiled. Joe turned out to be a
real nice guy. He didn’t seem to notice the women around him giving
him the eye. He stayed focused, on his work and on her. She
appreciated that. A man like that wouldn’t stray. When he made a
commitment, it would be forever.

Jessica threw off the covers. She
winced as she rolled from the bed. Sitting up felt too painful, so
rolling was the easiest way. She walked into the bathroom, pulling
her IV stand behind her. Once she finished, she found her suitcase
in the cabinet and used her good arm to pull it out. A yawn took
her by surprise. She tired so easily and the pain killers wiped her
out.

After unzipping the bag, she rifled
through her clothes until she found the things Joe had sent her
from Fred. She looked at each piece of paper; nothing, not even a
receipt for the Rattler. She yawned again and then
blinked.

She took out the pictures and checked
the back of each one. Then she pulled out the high school yearbook.
Fred was ahead of her in school, so she didn’t really know many of
his friends, except Dan. Fred and Dan hung out together, forever. A
twinge in her arm told her she should get in bed. She
yawned.

“Are you all right? Can I help you
with anything?” a voice came from the door.

Jessica dropped the items into the
suitcase and zipped it up. She swung around to find a tall,
statuesque woman with hair a slightly darker red than her own. She
held a fruit basket in her hands.

“Uh, hi. I wasn’t exactly expecting
anyone else.” Jessica blushed knowing her backside had hung out on
display. “The only person I know in town is Joe.” She made her way
to bed. It felt good to lie down.

“I’m Katherine Sloane, administrative
assistant to Mr. Darkwood. I brought this for you.” She put the
basket on the rolling tray and then sat. “I wanted to welcome you
and offer you a job. I’ve been told you’re a computer genius. I
know both Joe and Hugh are hoping you will accept a position in the
tech department.”

“I’m trying to find out who murdered
my brother, Miss Sloane.” Jessica yawned and blinked again. It
seemed harder to get her eyes to focus.

“Please call me Kathy. All my friends
do. I know you didn’t come all this way to New Mexico looking for a
job, but I brought down the contract with our salary offer. I think
you’ll find the benefits package appealing. Your wages would
increase by twenty-five percent from what you make with Contel
Security.”

“Look, I don’t want to be rude, but I
think you have me at a disadvantage. I just got shot and I don’t
want to think about a new job right now.” She yawned again. Sleep
might be a good idea.

“I don’t blame you. I told Mr. Thunder
Hoof now wasn’t a good time to approach you, but he insisted. There
is also a non-disclosure agreement we need signed before you leave
the clinic. Think about our offer. When everything calms down, you
can let us know.”

“Uh huh.” Jessica laid her head on the
pillow. To keep it up seemed like too much work at the
moment.

“I can tell you’re tired. I’ll let you
sleep.”

Jessica didn’t bother answering. She
let her mind drift away.

§

Joe walked into his office and pulled
Fred’s file from the cabinet. He placed it on his desk and picked
up the phone.

“Mrs. Hampton, I’d like Sarah Garber
from security to come by my office. Can you let her know,
please?”

“Of course, Mr. Running
Bear.”

It wasn’t long before Sarah walked in
the door. “You asked to see me?”

“Yes. How’s it going down at the
sheriff’s office?”

“Well, things are a little mixed up
right now with the deputy sheriff taking over and everything. Plus
there’s a new drug lord in town. He seems to be taking out the
competition and leaving a lot of bodies for us to clean up. The
mayor wants the man found, but there are very few clues as to who
this person actually is.”

“No informants ready to give up a name
for a few hundred?”

“The one name is ‘Thanatos,’ which I
guess is Greek for death. Oh, and a symbol. A red scythe.” Joe
stiffened.

“You mean like this?” He pulled out
his cell phone and showed Sarah the picture of the warning note
from Fred’s apartment.

“That’s it. Where did you find that?
Does the sheriff’s office know?”

“We made a 911 call. I’m sure a report
is on the deputy sheriff’s desk by now. Thank you for your help,
Sarah. Don’t worry. I’ll call if I find out anything else.” Why did
the new drug lord warn Jessica to get out of town? Joe didn’t want
to believe Fred got mixed up with drugs. It didn’t seem
possible.

§

Jessica came awake slowly. She’d been
dreaming of Fred in high school. How proud he’d been when his
classmates voted him Homecoming king. She sighed and opened her
eyes.

Joe sat in the chair by the bed. “Hey,
beautiful. Did you have a good nap?” He closed the folder he’d been
reading and stood. He kissed her forehead, his lips gentle on her
skin.

“I dreamt of Fred. He was quite the
catch in high school.”

“Yeah? I can see.” Joe brushed her
hair off her face and then wrapped a curl around his finger. “Dr.
Rick came by. He said if you don’t spike a fever between now and
tomorrow morning, he will release you into my care.”

“Your care, huh?” Jessica rolled her
eyes. “You make it sound like I’m a fugitive.”

“No, someone who needs protection. At
least until we find out why the new drug lord warned you to get out
of town.”

“A drug lord? What are you talking
about?” Jessica yanked her hair out of his hand and glared at
him.

“It seems the symbol left on the
warning note in Fred’s apartment is the new drug lord’s calling
card. I have to ask you, Jessica. Was Fred into drugs?” Joe sat in
his chair and sighed.

“Absolutely not!” Jessica frowned. “I
thought Fred was your friend. I can’t believe you’d even think that
way.”

“Easy, honey. I don’t know what to
think. Things have gotten pretty crazy since you came to
town.”

“I guess you think it’d solve
everything if I went home.” Jessica clenched her jaw. She wasn’t
giving up until she knew who killed her brother.

“No! Don’t put words in my mouth. I
want you here, with me. I want to figure this out. I don’t like you
being in danger. I want you safe.”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I
do know Fred didn’t take drugs. He was straight as a road is long.
He’d never even think of using drugs of any kind. Hell, he didn’t
even like to take aspirin.”

“Okay, I believe you. That’s what I
thought, too, but I needed to ask. I knew Fred. He wouldn’t be
mixed up with a drug lord. So what’s the connection?”

“Good question. I wish I knew. Did
your team find anything at Fred’s apartment?”

“I don’t know. Let me
check.”

The sound of someone clearing their
throat brought both of their gazes to the door. A man Jessica
recognized from Dan’s visit stood leaning against the entrance. He
smiled and walked into the room.

“Hi, I’m Hugh Thunder Hoof, head of
the technology department here at Isanti.”

“You’re not here to offer me a job are
you?” Jessica asked with a groan.

“No, I came to speak to Joe. But if
you’re interested I would love to tell you about some of the
projects we have in mind…”

“Hugh, what did you want to tell me?”
Joe asked interrupting.

“Well, uh, maybe we should step
outside?” Hugh looked from Jessica to Joe. He frowned.

“Is this about the clean-up at Fred’s
apartment?” Jessica asked.

Hugh looked at her and gulped before
looking at Joe.

“Spit it out, Hugh. Jessica needs to
know what’s happening as much as I do.”