She Can Run (28 page)

Her hands began to shake so hard that she could no longer fold her clothes. She stuffed the rest of the pile into the suitcase in a large ball.

“Beth?”

Lost in her panicked thoughts, she whirled.

Jack stood in the doorway. “What are you doing?”

Her heart clenched at the mixture of shock and fear in his deep brown eyes. If he knew the truth, he wouldn’t want her anyway. She’d lied to him from the very beginning. Words began to bubble out of her mouth. “I’m packing. Don’t you see? He’s found us. We have to leave. Now. I can’t believe I’ve pulled you into this mess. He’ll kill you, too.” Aware of the children sleeping in adjacent rooms, she kept her voice to a panicked whisper. She turned away and closed the suitcase, unable to watch the turmoil of emotion on his face. Her hands were shaking so hard she couldn’t zip the bag. “It’s not safe here anymore, not after today.”

She felt Jack cross the room and stop behind her, his body inches from hers. His hands hovered above her shoulders. She wanted to lean against him and absorb his strength. But she couldn’t. It would be one more deception.

“You can’t leave. If you’re right, he’ll follow you. You’ll be completely unprotected. Think of the kids. They’re much safer here. Let me help you. Please.”

“Jack, you don’t want to get any more involved in this, with us. It’s too dangerous. I’ve lied to you. I’ve been lying the whole time.” The pressure in her chest threatened to cleave her in two.

He spoke softly into her ear. “Please don’t go. Sean and his men will be here in the morning to turn this place into Fort Knox. Getting to you here isn’t going to be easy. Let me help. You can’t keep running. I don’t want you to leave, Beth.”

Though he wasn’t touching her, the heat from his body warmed her back. His breath caressed her neck. She was so focused on his strong, solid body that it barely registered that he seemed to know more than she’d told him.

He was right, though. Running wasn’t the ultimate answer, but knowing Richard’s hired killer could be this close filled her with mind-numbing terror. She shivered, took a deep breath, and turned to face Jack.

His face had gone pale and his mouth, tight. His eyes were filled with much more than concern. The prospect of risking her heart one more time was nearly as frightening as Richard. It’d already been shattered twice before. She wouldn’t survive another loss.

“You can trust me.” Jack accurately read the indecision of her face. “Please. Please don’t leave.”

“There are things you don’t know about me.” She searched his eyes for any hint of anger or disappointment. “It’s all been a lie. Everything I’ve told you.”

“There’s nothing you can tell me that would keep me from helping you.” Jack took her hands in his. “I’ve known you were lying since the very beginning. I wouldn’t have been much of a cop if I hadn’t figured
that
out. Doesn’t change the way I feel.”

His eyes held no trace of doubt. It was all or nothing now. There would be no turning back from this decision. But if he was going to accept her, help her, risk his own life for her, then he had to know the truth. The whole truth. Every dirty detail.

“My name is Elizabeth Baker, and I’m married to Richard Baker, Congressman Richard Baker, and I don’t know what to do. You’re right. I can’t run forever.” For once, her eyes sought direct contact with his. “I need help.”

To her amazement, there was neither shock nor condemnation in his eyes, just relief. He gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “I need you to tell me everything.”

Beth nodded, relief making her light-headed.

Jack glanced back at the hallway. “Let’s go downstairs where we can talk.”

Jack chose the study because he could shut the doors. Not wanting space or furniture between them, he ignored the desk.

Beth paced the length of the small room.

Jack moved to the credenza, poured her a splash of scotch, and then guided her to the loveseat against the wall. He pressed the glass into her hand. “First of all, I already knew who you are. Sean figured it out.”

Surprise and suspicion flared in her eyes. “How long have you known?”

“About a half hour.”

Relief passed over her face. “Oh.” Her fingers clutched the glass, but she didn’t drink.

He thought of the thick file in the safe and brushed off the guilt. He’d done what he’d thought was best. No going back now. “I’ve read the official story behind your disappearance. Now you need to tell me what really happened.”

Her eyes shifted to the window as if she were contemplating jumping through the glass. She sighed. Her body deflated, and her gaze dropped to the floor.

“The last night, the night we left, Richard was in his study. A package had come for him, special delivery. I assumed it was important, and he would want it right away. I tried not to make him angry.” She paused and took a minuscule sip of scotch while Jack digested that small, telling statement. Translation: she’d done her best to avoid having the shit kicked out of her. Anger swelled in Jack’s chest and roared in his ears. He tamped it down and struggled to listen.

“I knocked on the door. The latch hadn’t caught and the door swung open. Richard was watching a movie on his flat screen. He was so absorbed he didn’t hear me come in. I just stood there. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing on the TV. It was two men. Two naked men. They were, um…” Beth shook her head and took a healthy swig of scotch. She waved a hand in the air. “You know…”

Holy cannoli
. “Didn’t Baker get elected on a platform of family values? Didn’t he promise to push for a federal ban on same-sex marriage?” Jack asked.

Beth nodded. “It was the center of his whole campaign and the key to most of the contributions he received, but there’s more.” She took a shaky breath and drained her glass without coughing or sputtering. “The film wasn’t professional quality, more like a home movie. At first I couldn’t see the man’s face, but then he turned and I saw…Richard. He was on the DVD with a much younger man I didn’t recognize.”

Smelled like a setup for blackmail. Jack doubted the congressman would have recorded his own transgression.

“I must have made a noise, because Richard’s head snapped around, and he saw me in the doorway. The way he looked at me, I knew he was going to kill me. There was no way he’d let me live after I’d seen…that. Even in the moment, I remember thinking it explained a lot of his behavior, like why he couldn’t…um…perform…with me.”

That information was the best news Jack had had in weeks.

Unable to sit still any longer, Beth shot to her feet and resumed her pacing. “I ran down the hall. He chased me. He had a letter opener in his hand. Managed to cut me once on the side.”

Jack flinched as he remembered the thick scar that snaked across her ribs. Two inches lower and they wouldn’t be having this conversation. She’d be dead. Jack gradually absorbed this new information. Her husband had attacked her with a knife. He hadn’t lost his temper and beat her in fury. His act wasn’t physical punishment for a transgression—but an intent to kill her.

Baker would stop at nothing to silence Beth forever. With vast resources behind him, he could pursue her for as long as it took.

Then Jack, the decorated cop, believer in justice, supporter of the legal system, had a vision. He wanted to kill Baker. Not just kill him, but punish him. Jack could see the knife in his hand, slicing and dicing the congressman like a Japanese hibachi chef. A cut for every time he raised a fist to Beth. Jack’s inner caveman wanted revenge.

Jack’s eyes shifted back to her as she continued her story. He blinked the image from his head and concentrated on what she was saying. The details were important.

“I got as far as the kitchen. Grabbed the big metal flashlight we kept on the wall for emergencies. When he lunged at me, I hit him over the head, and not just once. I hit him a couple of times to make sure he was really out cold. Then I tied him up with duct tape so he couldn’t follow me. I figured if I was lucky, no one would find him until the staff arrived in the morning. I emptied his wallet, grabbed all my jewelry, a few changes of clothes for me and the kids. We were out of there in fifteen minutes. There was no use calling the police. They’d just believe whatever Richard told them. They always did.” She blurted all this out in one breath and raised the empty glass. “Could I have a little bit more?”

He poured a half shot of whisky into her glass. At her body weight, single malt could pack a serious punch, especially for someone who never drank. She took the glass with both hands and tossed it back like a sailor.

Jack lifted the empty glass from her grasp and set it on the desk. Without thinking, he pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him and inhaled in ragged breaths. Several minutes passed before her trembling ceased.

“Did you really try to kill yourself?”

“No!” Beth pushed away from his chest, anger flashing in her eyes. “Shortly after we were married, I told him I was leaving. He said if I did, I’d never see my kids again. He must have slipped something in my food or tea. I don’t remember anything except waking up in the hospital. I was tied to a bed in the psychiatric ward. When I told the doctor I hadn’t taken anything, he said I was delusional and increased the medication. Once a suicide attempt was on record, taking my kids away would be a piece of cake for Richard and his father.”

She spoke into his chest. “When we left, we went straight to my uncle’s house in Virginia.” A deep sigh shuddered through her body. “He took care of everything. He got rid of my car. Got us new identities. Kept us out of sight. For a while I thought I’d be wanted for assault or attempted murder or something, but that never happened.”

“Baker was probably too concerned about his image to go public with the fact that his little wife bested him.” Jack leaned back and cupped his hand under Beth’s chin. Moving slowly, he drew her up to his face until his lips brushed gently against hers. Then he kissed her temple. “I won’t let him hurt you again.” The words came out as a whisper against her hair.

“I know.” Her hands slid around his neck, and he returned to her mouth. When her lips parted under his, that tenuous, tight wire of control snapped. He crushed her soft body against him. A vision of Baker manhandling her flashed through his head, and he suddenly released her. “I’m sorry.”

Her eyes snapped open; her chest heaved. She blinked in confusion. “About what?”

“I don’t want to hurt you. Not after Baker—” Jack swallowed, scanning her eyes for any sign of fear or disgust, any indication she didn’t want him to touch her. He saw only desire.

“I have never been afraid of you, Jack. I was only afraid you’d try to find out who I was and Richard would get wind of it.” She stepped closer and pressed her body against his. Beneath her soft breasts, her heartbeats fluttered against his chest. “I need you.”

Those were the words he’d been wanting to hear. He buried his face in the curve of her neck. She was warm and soft and smelled like strawberries.

“There’s only one problem. I’m still married.”

“Not for long,” Jack said.

Their mouths met. Her soft lips yielded instantly under his, and he swept his tongue between them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Beth leaned into him and closed her eyes as he took her mouth. His woodsy aftershave lingered on his skin and mixed with the musky scent of his arousal. His muscular body was wonderfully hard against hers. Her legs weakened as desire coiled in her belly.

She felt his passion erupting as he devoured her mouth. His hands roamed her body hungrily, cupping her ass and pulling her closer to the hard length that pressed against her belly. He drew his head back and held her against his chest again, his hot breath on her neck making her shiver, but she wasn’t cold. He slid his palms along her body until they rested against her collarbones, the thumbs rubbing the tender hollow at the base of her neck.

“Tell me if you want me to stop.” His rough hand trembled with desire as it reached up to stroke her cheek.

“Please don’t stop.” Her body ached to get closer to his. As close as it could get.

Jack sounded more nervous than she was. He gently cupped her jaw, and she leaned her head into his palm. “Your trust in me is humbling, Beth.”

She pulled her head back and met his gaze. “It’s OK, Jack. I’m not afraid of you. I didn’t think I’d ever want another man, but here you are.”

“Yeah, here I am.” He leaned down and kissed her again. His hands slid down her sides and gripped her hips, molding her body to fit his again. She felt him rock hard against her stomach.

He trailed his lips down the side of her neck. Her skin tingled, and warmth pooled in her belly as her body awakened. After months of being numb, she was suddenly aware of every square inch of skin on her body as it yearned for his touch. Long-dormant feelings burst forth as she came alive under his hands. Her skin lived and breathed for the stroke of his fingers, the whisper of his hot breath against her damp skin.

He ran his mouth along her jaw and nipped lightly on her earlobe, sending tremors racing down her spine.