Sex, Lies and Surveillance (14 page)

He’d been the one to take charge when all she could see was Jimmy lying on the floor. To make sure everything that needed to get done was done.

She touched a fingertip to her aching right temple and closed her eyes.

Mal brushed a hand over the top of her head. “Are you okay? Janey—”

“My God, Janey. We came as soon as we heard. When the police scanner relayed the address to the office, we knew something had happened.”

Janey looked up to find Olive and Stella DeMarco bustling into the waiting room like a pair of bulldogs on the hunt.

Her father’s aunts, at seventy-five and seventy-three respectively, had always reminded Janey of tornados in the form of dowager widows. While age had slowed them, they still had the ability to fell stalwart politicians and hardheaded business executives at fifty paces.

Janey rose, but by the time she’d started to move, her aunts were by her side.

“You didn’t have to make the trip down here from Manayunk.” Janey held out a hand to each aunt. They both grabbed her at the same time and pulled her to them for a group hug. Janey kissed each of their powdered cheeks in turn. “Jimmy’s going to be fine. He knocked himself out with a new explosive. But you know Jimmy. His head’s almost as thick as Nic’s.”

“Oh, we were so worried.” Redheaded Olive patted her cheek and drew her back to the bank of chairs along the wall. “I kind of figured it was Jimmy. He messes around with all that dangerous stuff.”

Black-haired Stella plopped down in the chair on her other side. “Have you seen the doctors? Do you know who’s treating him? Sam’s kid is on staff here, you know. Works in the surgery unit. I think I’ll just go find out who’s the doctor on call.” She popped up again and marched over to the counter.

“Something you need, young man?” Aunt Olive’s gaze shifted to her left.

“How do you do, ma’am?” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Mal Laughlin.”

Janey looked up to see Mal hovering in front of her.

Olive’s eyes narrowed as she looked from Janey to Mal before shaking. “You’re the new guy, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances.”

Olive’s penciled brows rose. “Well now, nobody’s dead. And I’ve been in more than a few emergency rooms before. You’re a former government employee, aren’t you?”

“Um, Mal, I think I could use some water, if you can find some, and maybe some Tylenol.” Janey recognized the look on Olive’s face and jumped in before her aunt could get going on her favorite subject—politics. “I’ve got a headache.”

The relief on his face was almost laughable. “Sure, I’ll ask over at the nurse’s station.”

She tried not to watch him walk away but couldn’t help herself, all the while thinking baggy khakis shouldn’t look that good on anyone.

***

Mal sat with Janey for two hours, watching as she coordinated the visiting DeMarco clan. They had descended en masse, nearly twenty aunts, uncles and cousins in and out of Jimmy’s room.

But when the last one left, a nurse approached Mal and said Jimmy had asked to see him.

“Hey, man. How’s the head?”

Jimmy looked away from the TV, where a CNN anchor droned on about falling stock prices. “I’ve been knocked on my ass more than a few times. I’ll survive.”

“Anything I can do? I need to go back to the office for some files. Anything you need done in the lab?”

“No. The company already had a cleaning crew in to make sure everything’s taken care of.”

Which meant Jimmy’s explosive was government work.

“Thought I had the mix right this time.”

Mal snorted. “Obviously not. You heading home with your parents?”

“As soon as they cut me loose. My mom’s probably not gonna let me out of her sight for a couple days, at least. Hell, I’m thirty-three. She’s treating me like I’m ten. Guess I’ll be getting a few home-cooked meals. There are advantages to being injured. Still…” Jimmy gave Mal a look he’d learned to be wary of around the DeMarcos.

“What?”

“Ah, it’s just a little thing. Never mind. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

Mal stilled, like prey that knew it was being stalked. “What kind of trouble?”

Jimmy grinned. “You wanna learn some of the DeMarco surveillance techniques?”

By the time the doctor released Jimmy, the entire extended DeMarco family had checked in or stopped by.

Hoarse from handling nearly fifty phone calls, Janey wanted nothing more than a hot bath and a quiet night with a book or the TV and a bottle of wine.

Luckily, she found a space only a couple of feet from her front door. By the time she shut off the car, she wasn’t surprised to see Annie heading across the street from her home.

A chill wind bit through her shirt, and she realized she’d forgotten her coat somewhere along the line. Probably back at the office because she didn’t remember grabbing it on her way to the hospital.

“Hey.” Annie rushed over to her. “I got your call, but I was in meetings all day. How’s Jimmy? Everything okay?”

Janey nodded, digging for her keys. At least she’d remembered her purse. “He’s fine. Just another knock on his hard head. You want to come in? I’m going to order Chinese and open a bottle of wine.”

“Count me in. I don’t have plans for tonight.”

Janey feigned shocked surprise as she opened the heavy steel door that led into her building. “Oh my God. You’re dateless?”

Annie gave her a rap on the shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t be a smart-ass. I had a bad day. The women’s shelter has been happy to have me volunteer since I quit but all those meetings drive me crazy. It just sucked dealing with all the bureaucratic bullshit today.”

“Well, mine wasn’t much better.”

After opening the second, original wooden door, she kicked off her shoes and sank her feet into the plush carpet defining the living room.

“So, did you figure out what happened?” Annie fell onto the purple chenille couch.

“Not yet.” Janey headed for the bathroom at the rear of the space, passing by the kitchen area and dropping her purse on the table. A frosted glass wall separated the bathroom, formerly the plant manager’s office, from the rest of the living area. “He thinks he mixed up his bottles. Sometimes I think Jimmy’s missing the common-sense gene.”

When she emerged, she detoured into the kitchen and grabbed one of the many delivery menus from a drawer.

“Are the police going to be all over this?” Annie circled her choice on the menu.

Janey dropped into the chair facing the couch and called in their order before answering. “Oh God, I didn’t even think of that. It took me a week on the phone with the last fire chief to reassure him that Jimmy’s lab wasn’t a threat to the city after he burned a hole through the floor with acid. I had to get the DOD involved in that one. Such a pain in the ass.”

“Were you in the building?”

Janey’s blush bloomed hot and bright. Annie couldn’t miss it.

“Hey, what aren’t you telling me?”

“I was in my office with Mal.”

Annie’s eyebrows lifted. “And what were you doing with Mal?”

“Kissing him.”

Annie’s mouth dropped open. It shouldn’t have been funny, but it was. The whole situation was just one laugh riot after another.

“You kissed him.”

Janey nodded. “And it wasn’t the first time.”

“Oh. My. God.” Annie’s grin bloomed. “I think you’d better start at the beginning, honey. And don’t leave anything out.”

So Janey told Annie about the kisses. By the time she was finished, she needed a drink. She grabbed a bottle of wine out of the fridge and started pouring and, by then, the food had arrived.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this on Saturday? Or call me Sunday?” Annie demanded.

“Because it didn’t come up.”

“Liar,” Annie scoffed. “You were analyzing it, picking it apart. I know you, Janey. So he kissed you. Now what?”

Janey took a bite out of her egg roll to delay. “Now, I don’t have a clue. An office romance seems so cliché. Especially in our office.”

“But what do you
want
, Janey?”

Despite all her questions, despite the fact that it wasn’t a good idea, she wanted him. It must have shown on her face, because Annie’s grin turned sharklike.

“Well, then. We’ll just have to go about getting him for you.”

Janey shook her head. “No, there’s too much I don’t know about him.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you do his background check? What’s the problem? Did you find out some deep, dark secret?”

Janey hesitated and Annie pounced. “All right, what’s going on?”

“I’m really not sure.” Janey set down her fork. “There’s just something about him, something he tries so hard to hide. I can’t figure out what and it’s driving me nuts.”

“Do you think you missed something on his background check?”

“I don’t know. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “I notice the man wants you. That’s obvious.”

“No, not that. Don’t you—”

The doorbell rang. Janey checked the view screen by the door and gasped when she saw Mal standing there, holding her coat.

“He’s here,” she whispered.

Annie jumped up and ran to her side. “Oh baby, this could be interesting.”

Before Janey could stop her, Annie pressed the com button and released the doors. “Come on in, Mal.”

He pushed through like a man on a mission. “You forgot your coat. I’m on my way to Reading. My aunt’s been taken to the hospital. She had another stroke.”

Stunned by the suppressed pain in his voice, Janey reached for him without thought, pulling him to her for a hug. “Oh, God, Mal. I’m so sorry. Just let me get my purse. I’ll drive.” He didn’t look steady enough to navigate the Schuylkill Expressway right now.

He hesitated just long enough. “I don’t want to disrupt your—”

“Mal.” She looked right into his eyes, which were swimming with emotion. “Would you rather go alone?”

He swallowed hard and shook his head. “Thanks.”

Janey had almost forgotten Annie was there until she spoke.

“I’ll lock up, Janey.” Annie handed over her keys and her purse. “I’m so sorry about your aunt, Mal.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything.

Good thing she hadn’t decided to park her car in the garage her parents owned near their house.

Mal was quiet except to give her directions out of the city, north on the Schuylkill Expressway, to King of Prussia and then west to Reading.

After about a half hour, the silence began to get to Janey. She hadn’t turned on the radio but the darkness and his silence was starting to close in.

“How long has your aunt lived in Reading?” She spoke quietly, not wanting to intrude, but unable to keep quiet any longer.

“About two years. She moved in with her sister-in-law Peg when Peg’s Alzheimer’s started to get bad. I kept after them to get live-in help but they wouldn’t agree. Too stubborn. It’s a good thing Peg had a lucid day.”

“You’re very close to your aunt, aren’t you?”

He nodded her way, but his expression had closed down. “My mother didn’t stick around long when I was a kid. Said she couldn’t hack the military life. Aunt Gert was a hard old broad. She was a lot like my dad.”

“They were brother and sister?”

“Yeah. Do you mind if I turn on some music?”

Okay, it seemed he’d had enough personal talk.

“No problem.”

He pushed buttons until he hit a station playing blues. Then he turned to stare out the window again.

Janey forced herself to leave him alone, but it took all her strength. She was so used to bullying her brothers into talking. She didn’t know how to handle Mal.

But she wanted to.

***

When they reached Reading an hour later, Mal’s nerves were rubbed raw.

His aunt could be dying. The nurse who’d called hadn’t been able to give him much information. If he were truthful, he hadn’t called because he didn’t want to know if her condition had worsened.

And he didn’t want to break down in front of Janey.

By the time they found the hospital’s ICU, he felt like he’d been going a hundred miles an hour and he’d just run out of gas.

Janey kept going, though, straight to the nurses’ station.

“Excuse me, can you tell me where to find Gertrude Bramm?”

God, just the sound of her voice soothed.

When she’d asked if he wanted her to come, he’d been torn between keeping his private life private and taking what comfort he could from her presence. Now, he wanted to reach for her, to pull her against him and soak up the warmth of her body.

The nurse at the station checked her computer, murmured something and pointed down the hall. By the time Janey turned toward him, he’d convinced himself Gert was gone. He steeled himself against the pain, shut down as much as he could.

Janey reached for him, her expression transforming with a smile.

“She’s resting comfortably. Apparently it wasn’t as severe as they’d first thought.”

Janey saw tears fill Mal’s eyes and reached for him, putting her arms around his neck and holding on. He didn’t shake, didn’t sob. Just held her.

“She’s in room twelve,” she whispered in his ear. “I’ll wait out here if you want.”

He stepped back, his eyes now dry. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her along with him.

The soft beeping of the machines and the antiseptic smell was enough to make her vow to stay out of hospitals for the next month. Two in one day was enough.

When they stepped into the room, Mal released her hand and continued to the bed. She stopped at the doorway.

“Hey, Aunt Gert.” He pitched his voice low and smooth. “I’m getting a little sick of making these hospital visits.”

That raised Janey’s eyebrows but the frail-looking, white-haired woman in the bed simply raised her eyebrows.

“This is the only time I know for sure that I’ll see you. It takes a landmine under your ass to get you up here.”

Mal laughed, just a slight exhalation of air. “Always complaining about something, aren’t you? Never satisfied.”

“Yes, well, now you know where you get it from.”

Mal sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand with infinite tenderness. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Now, don’t go all sappy on me, boy.” Her gaze shifted toward Janey. “Who’s the babe?”

Janey laughed and Mal motioned her over.

“Aunt Gert, meet Janey DeMarco. Her family owns the firm I’m working for now.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Bramm.” Janey could see the older woman’s eyelids begin to droop. “I’m just going to find a cup of coffee.”

Mal didn’t smile, but his eyes, oh, those eyes. They made her heart race at the emotion brimming in their depths. “Thanks, Janey.”

She nodded and stepped out before she embarrassed herself by crying.