She enjoyed their company almost as much as she would have had they been at Bernie’s and eating Mexican. The only thing missing to the evening was Mike, who had called to talk to Jake. He had retreated from the room while on the phone but had returned, and his compelling blue eyes had sought her out.
“Ladies, since you’re finished eating, why don’t I take you to the library? You can relax and play catch up or whatever it is you girls talk about,” he suggested, and it sounded like a great idea. She hopped up from her seat with her sisters behind her and followed Jake to the Library. She had yet to explore his house like she wanted to.
The library was enormous. The smell of leather and wood assaulted her nose when she walked into the room. Floor-to-ceiling cherry shelves lined the walls around two thirds of the room. An ornate cherry desk sat near the open wall. A fire had been set in the fireplace, and the couches and chairs looked like the kind a person could sink into and fall asleep. Emma was in heaven. She could easily read a book a day and, by the sheer volume, knew she’d never read them all in this lifetime. A rolling ladder attached to a track around the shelves would make the impossible to reach books accessible. Jake stood at the door watching her with a smile on his face. Every time her gaze met his, her heart ached for him again.
“I take it you like what you see, angel?”
“I’m in heaven,” she said as she twirled around with her arms extended.
“I’m glad you like it, Emma.” He sauntered over to her, pulled her in his arms against his chest, and planted a kiss on her lips. Heat pooled in her belly. The need to have him in her again overwhelmed her. When her sisters cleared their throats, he stepped away. She had to fight the overwhelming need to reach for him again and pull his lips to hers.
I’ve got to get a grip.
“Ladies, there are drinks in the minibar sitting over in the corner, and just holler if you need anything else.” He gave her one more kiss and retreated from the room, shutting the door to give them privacy or maybe to keep them corralled in one place. She didn’t care which. Emma walked to the minibar, retrieved a beer, slipped her shoes off, then snuggled down into one of the couches.
Her sisters didn’t waste any time with their questions. She gave them all the details about Ben. It surprised Emma that they agreed with her that she didn’t love him. They’d been shocked about his cheating but knew it was nothing she had done to cause it. Emma and her sisters were closer than most siblings; their secrets had made sure of that. They were best friends who told each other everything, including the truth about what clothing made their butts look big. They had always been open with each other. They were the family she could trust with everything, and so she did.
She told them about Jake and how she felt and what they had already done. Including the detail about forgetting to use protection. Her sisters gave her hell about that one, reminding her that had been how John was conceived. Like she would ever forget. Abby’s mood sobered when John’s conception was brought up.
Claire scanned the walls, looking for something. Her gaze landed in the corner. Emma turned to see what she was looking at, and that was when she noticed the camera mounted on the wall.
“Have you told him what you’re capable of?” Claire must have decided on caution, not using her abilities by name, in case their conversation was being monitored. She wouldn’t have put it past a couple of the guys to listen in just to embarrass them.
“No. I tried, and he said that we would talk tonight after you guys leave.”
“Em, if you truly love this guy, like I think you do, then you need to tell him and clear the air. Who knows? Maybe he will surprise you,” Claire said. Both her sisters made a beeline to the minibar, pulling their own beers out.
“I know. I’m telling him tonight. If it doesn’t go so well and he flips out, I might call one of you to come get me. It would break my heart, but I’m going to need one of you.”
Abby walked to her and put her arm around Emma’s shoulders. “Claire has a fundraiser to go to, but I’ll keep my phone on me all night.”
Emma knew her sister was as good as her word. She didn’t know what she would do without them.
“So, Abby, how goes things with Butch?” Emma asked, trying to keep a straight face. The situation surrounding all of them was a tense one, but she figured, out of all of them, Abby would be the one to give the men a run for their money.
“Are you kidding me? He’s an arrogant ass that keeps getting in my way. He has to keep reminding me this was what you wanted for me; otherwise, I would have tossed him out on his ass when I first met him,” Abby said matter-of-factly.
“Abby, he’s a good man that doesn’t have to be helping me. Please play nice until I find out who’s behind this,” Emma begged. She didn’t want to have to worry about her family while they tried to figure this out.
“I know, I know.” She sighed. “Do you have any idea who’s behind it?”
“If I had to guess, I’d put my money on that scumbag, Roger, after seeing what he did to Vivian. Besides, he matches the description.”
“What about Ben? Do you think he’s capable of something like this?” Abby asked.
Claire spoke up. “I don’t think so. Think about it, Emma, if he wasn’t working, he was with you or at my fundraiser. He’s a big contributor to my charities.”
“Claire, that doesn’t mean he didn’t have motive. Hell, he found time to cheat on me. Not only that, when we were on the phone, he did say that Roger came and threatened him. So he does have access to scumbags. Hell, he represents some of them. Just because he donates money doesn’t make him a good man or give him morals. It could all just be for show.”
Claire sat in silence as she appeared to absorb Emma’s points. “Emma, you need to be careful when you’re not with Jake.”
“I am; I promise. I just wish I would have remembered to get my gun back from Mike. I was so worried about Vivian I ran off without it again.” Her revolver was her baby. The semiautomatic she was now carrying held more bullets, but the amount of bullets wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. She’d rather have the six-shooter she was familiar with on her.
Abby offered to get it and bring it to her the next day.
“Abby, ask Butch to get it. If this crazy guy knows where my café is, I’m pretty sure he probably already knows where I live.”
“Didn’t you stop there before you found Vivian?”
“Shit, I didn’t think about that.” Emma hadn’t thought about that when she and Jake had been there earlier. She needed to remember to mention it to Jake. For all they knew, he could be outside the estate fence monitoring their every move.
“I’ll have to ask Jake if he noticed a tail when we left. I didn’t have any weird feelings, and Momma Mae was scarce, so I didn’t think we were in danger.”
“Still, Emma, he could have followed you. You might not have got any special feelings if he didn’t threaten you or us.”
“I’ll remember that, Abby.
“Maybe I’ll get some feelings as I sort through the evidence from Vivian’s house,” Abby said, tossing her head back and taking another gulp of her beer.
Momma Mae appeared, sitting in the chair behind the desk. “She doesn’t need to, baby girl. This will all be over soon.”
Emma turned toward the desk. “When?”
Claire swung around to see what Emma was staring at. “Is she here again? What is she saying?”
Momma Mae smiled and floated up to the ceiling. It was so unlike her. She was fiddling with the camera before letting herself float down.
“She said Abby didn’t need to go to the trouble, that this would all be over with soon.”
“Did she answer you yet? When is it going to be over?”
Momma Mae came to rest back in the chair behind the desk. “I can’t tell you when, baby girl, just that it’s almost over with. I can tell you that I sure do like that man of yours.”
Emma stood with her hands on her hips. “Well, that doesn’t help, old woman. Why can’t you just tell me?”
“It’s your destiny, Emma. It will all work out.” Momma Mae vanished before giving her an answer that wasn’t cryptic.
“Damn it,” she cursed before turning back to her sisters to tell them what the old woman had said.
Jake took Butch, Briggs, and Jacobs to his office and shut the door. He checked the security on his watch to make sure there hadn’t been a breach. He turned on the nine monitors. Images of the inside of the house pulled up along with some of the surrounding grounds. He studied them to make sure nothing was out of place before he settled on the image of Emma sitting on a couch drinking her beer. Abby threw her arm around Emma, comforting her. Jake looked close to make sure she wasn’t crying before he turned his gaze on Claire, who was pacing. That trait must run in the family.
“Dude, just turn on the sound, and you can quit trying to read their lips.”
“You ass, I wasn’t trying to read their lips. I was making sure her sisters weren’t giving her a hard time.”
“You’re attached to this one. Is it because you gravitate toward the needy women?” Butch asked.
“She isn’t needy. I recall just a few days ago you were getting mighty friendly with the tile in my kitchen when she laid your ass out.” Jake beamed with pride, remembering how strong she truly was. “She’s remarkable.”
“Point taken, so what’s the plan?”
“Give me a status update.” He sat down at his desk and booted up his computer.
“Claire is the worst kind of humanitarian. She’s a damn socialite. You should have assigned Jacobs to her. He fits in her world better than I do.”
“That’s why I didn’t. It would have been too easy for him to get distracted.” There had been a reason for the assignments he had passed out.
“Jacobs, have you found John?”
“Abby got a call from him, and I’m having him followed. He’s worried about his mom and aunt and is on his way back. He’s traveling by car, so it’s going to take him a couple days to get here.”
“Good, keep your man on him. Let me know when he gets into town, and we’ll handle it from there.”
“Do you know what he looks like?” Jake had yet to see a picture of the young man. Would he even recognize him? That had potential disaster written all of it.
“No, Abby talked to my guy and emailed him the pertinent information to his phone.”
He hit speaker and dialed Mike’s number from the desk phone.
“Bennett.”
“How’s Vivian?”
“She’s fine. I’ve placed her with two officers in a safe house until we find the bastard.”
“I need you to email me some information.”
“What do you need?”
“I need Roger’s last name. A picture if you’ve got one. I also need Ben’s information, and I need you to send me a picture of John, so we won’t shoot him when he shows up.”
“Roger has a record, so that should be easy enough…Jake, I suggest you don’t shoot my nephew. You think Emma and my sisters are a handful now, they would all go ballistic if anything happened to John. Even though he’s Abby’s kid, we all practically raised him, and trust me, you don’t want the wrath the Bennett sisters can bring.”
“I was kidding, Mike. Can you send me the info?”
“Sure, I’ll send it in just a few minutes. How is she holding up?” Concern laced his voice.
“Better than a lot of woman would. I need to talk to you away from here. Can you meet me at McCallister’s Pub tonight?” He needed to warn Mike what was going on between him and Emma. It wasn’t just for show anymore. He was playing for keeps, and Mike had a right to know.
“Sure, you going to post someone at the house while you’re gone?”
“You know it. Oh, one more thing. Do you know if Emma has surveillance video at the café?”
“Do you even have to ask? That was one of the first things I installed after the alarms.”
Jake should have known better. If his sister had the chance to grow up, he would have done everything in his power to keep her safe, including house alarms, guns, it didn’t matter. He’d need to thank Mike later for being such a good big brother to Emma. It would make his life much easier, not having to worry so much.
“Mrs. Anderson said Roger was there when we found Vivian. I’d like to see what he was up to.”
“Sure, I’ll get it before I meet you. How does midnight sound?”
“Sounds good, I’ll see you then.” He disconnected the call and walked back to the monitors, checking on Emma again. She was staring directly at the camera. He turned and walked back to the computer and signed in.
While pulling up Mike’s email, he looked at Briggs. “I need all the information you can get me on Roger and Ben. I want to know everything from the number of shoes they have to the name of their first crush. I want to know their cars, their properties, anything owned by them or relatives. I want whatever you can find about police records. This needs to be thorough. I can’t chance anything happening to her. Call in whatever favors you have to, just get me the information as soon as possible.”
“You got it, boss.”
After the email opened, he forwarded it to Briggs before opening the attachment.
He opened the attachment and stared at the screen. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Butch, Briggs, and Jacobs asked at the same time as they walked around to see what was on the computer.
“He’s the spitting image of the FBI guy we worked with a couple of months ago. What’s his name?” He stared at the picture of John, trying to place the face staring back.
“You mean Sam?” Butch asked.
“Yeah, that’s him. There is no way those two aren’t related.”
“Don’t you think if they were related, he’d be here with Abby, or at least be concerned about his son?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll ask Emma about John’s dad to see what I can find out. Everyone know what to do?”
“Yep,” they all replied.
“Good, keep me informed. I’m going to put Emma to bed. Take the girls home and keep them safe. I don’t need my woman getting pissed at me.” He smiled and walked back to the security monitor, checking on Emma once more. The monitor was nothing but snow.