And, with a huge debt hanging over his head, he needed the bar to continue to thrive. Even though he’d already been to his first two GA meetings, Josie couldn’t help but double-check that there was no money changing hands on those handshakes, no sly asides about sure things at the track or what slots were running hot at one of the local casinos.
With a sigh, she wiped her hands on her apron and picked up the phone. Satisfied that she could let Robbie safely out of her sight for a few seconds, she pulled the cord through the swinging door to take the call in the hallway where the noise from the main room was slightly muted.
She even gave herself permission to sink back against the wall and close her eyes for a few seconds before putting the receiver to her ear. “Hello?”
“Miss me, Josie?” Her eyes popped open and she pushed away from the wall as a familiar voice greeted her with an eerie charm. “I bet you thought I’d forgotten about you.”
“How did you get this number?” Josie latched on to the wall as her world started to sway.
“Please, it’s in the phone book.” He laughed as if it was mere child’s play to find her name, where she worked, track her down and terrorize her. “I don’t want you to think you and the baby are safe. I’ve just been busy. Coming up with a plan, along with several contingencies. Watching you.”
“Watching?” Josie cupped her hand over her belly and looked up and down the back hallway. She was alone, wasn’t she? Her thoughts raced as panic tried to get inside her head. Robbie’s office was dark. The door to the walk-in refrigerator was shut. The back door window had been replaced; the door was closed.
But how could she be certain it was locked from here? She stretched the telephone cord taut, but she couldn’t reach the door’s push bar to check. She jerked her gaze back to Robbie’s office. What if someone was lurking in the shadows there? Her pulse was pounding now, throbbing beneath her collar. Where was Jake Lonergan? The man hadn’t said ten words to her since she’d introduced herself last weekend. And he had a penchant for ball caps and hiding his eyes, just like the vanishing man at the hospital.
“Josie.” The voice on the phone made a tutting sound, as if any concern he felt for her was real. “I can hear you breathing harder, faster.”
“Shut up,” she said. He laughed. She inched her way back to the wall, toward the noise from the bar. “You don’t scare me,” she lied with a bravado she didn’t feel. “I’ve seen your face. I told the police everything about you.”
“That’s not a very nice way to speak to me.” His tone changed, losing its mocking politeness. It deepened, grew impatient. “I know you’re alone in the back hallway, you stupid woman. You should be nicer when it’s just you and me. And the baby.”
The blood froze in Josie’s veins. “What?”
He was here.
Watching.
I know you’re alone.
“Now that’s an idea.” The burst of temper had passed. The cool tones that followed were even more disturbing. “I could ensure your cooperation permanently if I took the baby from you. You’d do whatever I say then, wouldn’t you? I wouldn’t have to sully my hands around your throat.”
You’re not alone.
Rafe.
Suddenly, her heart pumped with a vengeance, pouring energy into every limb, clearing a path through the fear. She pushed open the swinging door to the assault of sound and lights inside the bar. She looked past Robbie’s broad back and searched the entire bar. Tables were full. Every bar stool was taken. Robbie and Enrico were filling drinks. There were so many people, so many faces. Her eyes went to every ball cap, searched out every face.
Spencer Montgomery and his partner were nowhere to be seen. People were calling out drink orders, shooting pool, flirting with the waitresses, laughing. And she still hadn’t spotted Jake Lonergan.
Or those eyes.
Her gaze stopped on every man who held a phone to his ear. Where was he? Who was watching her?
And then, a tunnel cleared through all the chaos and she locked on to a pair of warm, whiskey-brown eyes. Rafe stood at the table where the rest of SWAT Team One sat. He was watching her, reading her distress. The panther-like energy in him furled up, then uncoiled as he strode across the room. His eyes never left hers and she began to shake. From fear? Anticipation? Relief? Rafe nudged aside a waitress at the end of the bar, braced his hand on either side of the station and vaulted over the top of the bar.
Surprised comments and shouts of concern faded into white noise as the voice whispered its vile threats in her ear. “…is too much fun. But I’m waiting for the right moment. It will come. I promise you, it’s only a matter of time before I—”
Rafe snatched the receiver from her hand. “Who the hell is this?” he demanded. His arm circled around her and tucked her against the unyielding strength of his body. “You coward. You can’t get to her, understand? You show your face and…damn it.” Josie heard the click herself as the caller disconnected. Rafe hung up the phone, spared half a second to assess their surroundings, then pushed open the swinging door and pulled her into the quiet of the hallway with him.
Josie instinctively pushed away. “No. He said he could see me back here.”
“Shh. You’re safe.” She could feel Rafe moving, turning, no doubt peering into every nook and shadow, even as he overpowered her stiff arms and pulled her into his chest. The fear and panic whooshed out in a breathy sigh that left her knees weak and Josie willingly leaned against him, curling her fingers into the starchy crispness of his black cotton shirt. On duty or off, the man radiated an abundance of heat that beckoned her to align her misshapen body tightly against his to absorb the energy and comfort he offered. Rafe didn’t seem to mind, palming the back of her head and turning her cheek into the V of skin at the open collar of his shirt. Josie wound her arms around his waist and nestled beneath his chin. “You’re safe.”
But the reprieve was far too short. The door swung open again and again, startling her each time until she gave up her haven and turned to face the men filing into the hallway.
“Sarge?”
“Is she all right?”
“What’s up?”
“Talk to me.”
In a matter of seconds, Josie was surrounded by her Uncle Robbie and the circle of SWAT Team One.
“What the hell is going on here?” Robbie protested. “Jumping over me bar like some kind of—”
Rafe raised his head and her uncle fell silent.
For a moment. Then Robbie’s thick fingers lightly tapped her arm. “Girlie, what’s wrong?”
But Rafe’s captain, Michael Cutler, knew. “The RGK?”
Rafe nodded. “He called her again. Now that he can’t get to her at her apartment, he’s harassing her here.”
“RGK?” Robbie repeated. “The Rich Girl Killer? The man in all the papers? What does Josie have to do with all that?”
Rafe dropped his arm behind her back, linking her to him, looking down over the jut of his shoulder at her. “What did he say to you?”
“That he’s watching me.” Josie tipped her head back to meet his shrouded gaze, then turned to include the others. “He knew I was alone in the back hallway.”
Rafe’s fingers pinched the side of her waist as he slipped into SWAT cop mode. He pointed to Alex Taylor and Randy Murdock, gesturing them toward the back door. “Fan out. I want this building searched roof to cellar, inside and out.” Then he looked up at Trip Jones. One by one, they were all checking guns, moving their badges to visible locations at their waist or shirt pocket. “We need to shut this bar down.”
“On a Saturday night?” Robbie protested. Josie’s hands slid down to hug her belly through her apron and jeans, trembling at the sounds and sights of the four men and one woman going to war—for her. Robbie put up his hands and surrendered. “I’ll announce last call. Make up some excuse. I don’t want any harm coming to me girl.”
“Go,” Rafe ordered.
Trip grabbed Robbie’s shoulder, silently promising to explain everything later. “I can clear a room.” He caught the door before following Robbie through. “You want me to recruit some help in the search out there?”
“No. Until we put a face on this guy, I don’t know who to trust.” The snap in Rafe’s voice made his meaning clear. He trusted his SWAT team—but everyone else was suspect.
Trip read the message loud and clear, too, giving Rafe a nod. “I’ll take care of it.”
Rafe finally turned to the tall, authoritative man with the shots of silver in his coal black hair. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to overstep my authority by giving orders. I know we’re off the clock.” His hand slid over to pull Josie’s from her stomach and lace their fingers together between them. “I just reacted to the situation. I should have let you—”
“We’re here to keep an eye on her, Sarge, so no apology needed.” Captain Cutler’s blue eyes reflected the respect Rafe clearly felt. “This is your op. We’ve all stepped up when something dangerous hits close to home. As I recall, you totaled your last truck to save Alex Taylor’s life when we first got involved with this RGK mess.”
“Taylor and his fiancée’s lives are worth a lot more than a truck.”
“That’s my point. Don’t think that any one of us would do any less for you.” His dark eyes warmed as he nodded to Josie, and then he was all business again when he turned to Rafe. “Now what do you need from me?”
“This is Montgomery’s case.” Rafe’s hand tightened around hers. “The RGK makes a move the one night he isn’t around pressing Josie for answers. We need to fill him in on the latest threat and get him here.”
“Done. I’ll start a search upstairs while I’m at it.” Rafe’s commanding officer pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number as he strode down the hall. “Dispatch. This is Captain Cutler, SWAT Team One. Put me through to Detective Spencer Montgomery.”
Josie’s shell-shocked emotions shivered back to life as the captain left and the shadows of the bar’s back hallway closed in on her. She was fearful that one of Rafe’s friends would get hurt helping her—angry that there was some loathsome, resourceful, homicidal stalker out there who made these good people have to take up arms in the first place. The smells of spilled alcohol and polished wood, the echoes of protesting customers and curious questions drifted in from the bar, then faded out again when Rafe pressed a kiss to her temple and tugged on her hand to pull her into step beside him.
“Come on. You’re shaking like a leaf. Let’s go into Robbie’s office and get another locked door between you and that bastard.”
Rafe flipped on the light and scanned the room before closing the door behind them and throwing the dead bolt. Then he led her around the desk and pulled out Robbie’s office chair for her to sit while he checked the windows and closed the blinds.
Every movement was precise, every step had purpose. He was tall and masculine, armed, focused… Josie’s topsy-turvy hormones jumped in a decidedly female response to the man who’d leaped to her aid after a single look. Something equally potent stirred in her belly. They were tiny pulses of life moving inside her, the life she’d created with this man.
A life that another man had threatened to take.
Josie wound her arms around the precious heartbeat and sank back into the leather chair, her emotional fatigue making her lightheaded.
“Hey.” Rafe’s sharp eyes didn’t miss a trick. “You feeling okay?” He hurried over to the mini-fridge beside the door and pulled out a bottle of water. He knelt in front of her, unscrewing the top and putting the bottle into her hands. “You’re not going to pass out on me, are you?”
Shaking her head, she took a sip of water, feeling the cool liquid trickle all the way down her throat. Although the drink revived her a bit, it couldn’t penetrate the darkening twist of her thoughts.
Rafe’s eyes narrowed, the sun lines beside them evident with his concern. “Jose?”
Josie plucked the lid from his fingers and closed the bottle. She set it on the desk with an ominous thump. “He talked about our baby, Rafe. He said he would use Junior to shut me up.”
The timbre of his voice roughened with gravel when he spoke. “It’s an idle threat. He’s just trying to get under your skin.”
“It’s working.”
With that failed attempt at humor, Rafe pulled her to her feet and into his arms. He slid one hand down to that vulnerable spot at the small of her back and tunneled the other beneath her ponytail to rub the base of her neck. While Josie wound her arms around his waist, he dipped his head and whispered into her ear. “You’re tough, Josie Nichols. You work harder than anybody I know, smile more than the world deserves. Hell, you put up with me—you have to be tough.” That triggered a wry little laugh and she felt him smiling against her hair. She savored his firm, possessive touch as much as she savored his pep talk. “You can beat this guy. He had no idea what kind of woman he was going up against when he took you on. Aaron would be so proud of you. I’m a little in awe myself.”
The sandpapery stubble of beard growth on his neck tickled Josie’s lips as they curved with a real smile. “You have your finer moments when you’re actually quite…” She swallowed hard and burrowed into his strength. She had to say it. “I love you, Rafe. I know you don’t want to hear that, but I do. You’ve always been there for me—when Dad died, when Patrick needed help and went to prison, now, through all this. You’ve always been my hero.” She brought her hand to rest atop the steady beat of his strong heart. “Just let me say that. I know emotions are hard for you, but that’s what I’m feeling. I don’t want to drive you away, but I’m tired of lying and pretending they’re not there. It’s too much work for me to bottle them all up inside. I need you to know that.”
She held her breath and counted heartbeats, waiting for him to release her or argue the point. Instead, Rafe leaned back to frame her face between his hands and tilt her gaze up to his. “I’m good at one thing, honey. Being a cop. When I lost Aaron, I lost what little bit of sense the world made for me. I lost Calvin Chambers, and it about killed me inside.” His deep breath warmed her cheek. “I am not going to lose you. That’s a promise I can make. He’s not going to hurt you. Or the baby. I need
you
to know that.”
When he wrapped her back in his arms and held her until the members of his team called in with situation reports, Josie didn’t protest. He hadn’t offered a declaration of love or even an acknowledgment of the relationship that had always existed in the background between them. Maybe those were words she was never going to hear from Rafael Delgado.