The Family Jewels (11 page)

Sadie shoved it all into her purse and then stood right as Dominic lurched up toward her. She let out a curse and dove a hand into her purse again, this time grabbing a canister of pepper spray. She delivered a full shot of the stuff straight into his face, and thanked god that the wailing of the jukebox was louder than his wail of pain.

She blocked out the gagging and curses that followed her as she stuffed her weapons back into her bag, slipped off her heels and made a mad dash for her car. Her elbow began to throb as she yanked the door open and leapt in, pulse pounding.

It was all okay.

She’d gotten Monica’s stuff back, and she would live to tell the tale. She turned the key in the ignition, shaking with relief. Now, all she had to do was—

The sputtering cough of the engine stopped her thoughts dead.

“No, no, no, no…” She frantically pumped the gas as her throat went tight. When the smell of gas tickled her nose she knew it was over.

Flooded.

Half-dead Fred had really screwed her this time.

She stared out the window sightlessly, the weight on her chest growing with each passing second.

What the hell was she going to do now? She had fifteen minutes before Dom was mobile, if she was lucky. She could run and hail a cab down the block, but that would mean leaving her car behind, giving Dom a chance to get her plate number and registration information.

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath.

And then she reached for the phone and dialed the number of the only person she trusted enough to help her.

J
ake glanced
at the clock on his desk and let his finger hover over the dial button with a muttered oath.

He and Sadie were partners --at least in this…at least for now-- and if they wanted to do it right, it made perfect sense that he’d touch base again before the big day.

Only that's not why you're calling her, is it, ya' stupid git?

Nope, he was calling her because he hadn't been able to get her out of his head since last night and she hadn’t called him yet. Hell, if he was being honest, that had pretty much been the case since he'd first laid eyes on her. He'd been in such a dark place for so long and, as confounding as she'd been the majority of the time, she was also the bright spot in his day. Whether she was leaping from balconies, kneeing him in the balls, or screwing his brains out, he found himself thinking of her after the fact, and smiling.

How twisted was that?

But when she’d gone tear-assing out of his house not ten minutes after they’d had sex, he could only assume she wasn’t on the same page.

What was the old saying, though? No guts, no glory.

He was about to hit the call button when his phone lit up.

Sadie.

“Hello,” he said.

"Jake?" She sounded frazzled and hoarse, and his muscles went tense.

“Is everything all right?”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "Um, not so good right now, actually."

“What’s going on?”

“Can you come down to Scooter’s Bar? I’m in the back parking lot. I’m so sorry to ask but…I need your help. Right away.”

The urgency in her tone had him gripping the phone tighter. “Leaving now.”

He should’ve hesitated, but there was no scenario he could imagine himself saying no, so he opted to save time and ask questions later. Still, he couldn’t deny the sinking feeling in his gut.

There was no question this could all be a set up. After all this time, all he and Sadie had done, he could have been her true mark from the beginning.

He couldn't deny, the thought rankled, settling over him like a black cloud. But the sound of Sadie's voice --on the fine edge of panic-- had him striding toward the front door, car keys in hand.

So he might be a fool. Wouldn't be the first time. And the thought of Sadie in real trouble was far more concerning than the thought that she might get some of his money. He'd never been in this for the money anyway.

He charged out of the house like Satan was on his heels, muttering under his breath the entire way. What if she was hurt? Or in some sort of trouble he couldn't get her out of?

He thrust the negative thoughts aside as he climbed into his car and gunned the engine. It was a ten-minute drive, but he made it in six. By the time he got there, the back of his neck had broken out into a cold sweat.

He pulled into the parking lot of the bar, bypassing the crowded front lot and slowly curled around to the mostly vacant back lot. It was poorly lit in comparison to the garish neon lights that dotted the little dive. He slowed to a crawl, scanning the few cars until his eyes lit on the silhouette of a woman waving him over.

Sadie.

He blew out a harsh breath as relief coursed through him.

Whatever she'd found herself in the middle of, she was still upright and apparently unharmed, which was the best he could have hoped for. Now, if they could both leave the parking lot that way, he'd call this one a win.

He pulled up behind her car and popped the vehicle into park, leaving it running as he stepped out. Gravel crunched beneath his heels as he made his way toward where she stood. She pointed to a large man who was sprawled out flat on his back groaning.

"What happened?” he asked, closing the distance between them until he was just a couple feet away.

She shook her head slowly.

"I fucked up, Jake," she whispered miserably. “I let my feelings get in the way, and I broke the rules.”

He took in her appearance, scanning her from head to toe. She was wearing a long, red wig that would've looked ridiculous on anyone else but only managed to make her look like a Scottish Queen, so far outside her realm in a shithole like this. She'd donned a black, leather skirt, short enough to pass for a napkin, and had topped it off with a tank top that clung to her curves like maple syrup on a spoon. But it wasn't the wig or the clothes that had his blood pressure soaring.

It was the bright red ring around her neck.

"What the fuck did he do to you?" he demanded. The man on the ground wriggled and groaned and Jake made a move toward him, the rage settling over him making his vision go hazy.

"No, no!" Sadie gripped his forearm and he stilled. "He didn't do anything I hadn't expected. He was just faster than I thought and he got the drop on me. It’s fine. We’ve just got to get out of here."

He tried to let her words calm him, but the sight of the welts already starting to form on her graceful neck made him want to commit murder. "So, what? Did he think he was your boyfriend? Or was it a hustle gone bad?"

She shrugged her shoulders and let her gaze flicker away. "Something like that."

Jake ground his teeth together, barely resisting the urge to shout at her. They were in the middle of a parking lot with a guy who had clearly suffered some sort of foul play. He needed to get her out of here, now.

“Get in my car.”

“But I can’t leave my car here, I-”

“I’ll have a flatbed here in ten minutes,” he snarled, unbuttoning his sleeves and rolling them up as he stalked toward the bar. “Just get in the fucking car.”

He didn’t wait to see if she obeyed his command. His attention was locked on the man who was slowly rising to his feet, coughing and spitting.

“Is that your bitch?” he demanded, stumbling toward Jake, tears streaming down his face. “She stole money from me and she ain’t getting away with it.”

His words were slurred, and he was still obviously disoriented, so Jake almost felt bad hitting him.

Almost.

But all he had to do was recall the marks on Sadie’s neck, and the pity evaporated under the heat of his anger.

His fist whipped out in one lightning fast strike, and the bastard toppled like the sack of shit he was. Jake bent low and grabbed the guy by the ankles, dragging him around the side of the building near the dumpster.

By the time he returned to his car, Sadie was sitting inside it, chewing her bottom lip as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she murmured, wheeling around to face him. “I never meant for you to get involved in that. You have to believe me.”

He was silent as he reached for his phone and punched in a number.

“Jake here. I need you to come down to Scooter’s on Lexington and pick up a car. Five hundred bucks if you get here in the next ten minutes.” He rattled off the details, and then turned the key in the ignition as he set down the phone again.

“We should get you to a hospital. Let them check you out.”

“No!” She reached for his arm and gripped it tight. “Please, no. I’m fine. It looks worse than it is and I hate hospitals.”

He opted not to push her on that until he got a closer look at her injury in better light.

“You want to tell me what went down back there?”

She pulled her hand away and moved to buckle her seatbelt. “Do I have a choice?” she asked softly.

“I think, given now that I’ve aided and abetted whatever crime you committed, that no. You don’t have a choice.”

She flinched at the heat in his tone and nodded slowly. “I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you it’s just that, I know when I say it out loud, it’s going to sound even stupider than I thought.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

He listened with growing shock as she filled him in on all the details. Her words came out in one toneless rush, like she was reciting a serial number from a box, but that didn’t make the story any less awful.

By the time she’d gone quiet, he’d run the gamut. First, he’d felt terrible for her friend, then he’d been angry, but the feeling that seemed to stick with him through it all was the fear. How could Sadie have done something so foolhardy?

When he thought of how close she’d come to an unfathomable horror, he wanted to howl in fury.

He pulled into his driveway before turning to face her, every muscle in his body taut. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

He tried so hard to keep his voice level, but he failed miserably as he bit off another round of curses.

“Jesus, Sadie, he almost killed you. Why didn’t you call me
before
you went there? I could’ve at least been there as a back up. This was beyond careless. And what about your sister? Where would she be if something happened to you?” he demanded.

A silence fell over the car and suddenly, she burst into tears.

Jake stared helplessly as Sadie covered her face with her hands, her entire frame shaking with wracking sobs.

"I'm sorry...I d-don't know what's gotten into me," she babbled through her hands brokenly, "I'm not a crier, and I know you’re right. It was stupid. It's just been a really hard few months, and-"

"Shh," he murmured, her tears deflating his anger like a popped balloon. "It's okay. I'm sorry I shouted. Seeing you like that, and imagining what might've happened if you hadn't gotten away from him..." He shut the nausea-inducing thought down and reached out to tug her into his arms, cradling her like she was a child. "You scared the shit out of me," he said, finally.

And he hated it. Hated that this woman had already steeped herself into his world enough that the very thought of something happening to her made his blood run cold. So he'd yelled at her, but now, as she quaked in his arms, he realized how insensitive he'd been. If he'd been scared, what must she have felt like as a man who outweighed her by almost a hundred pounds closed his hands around her neck?

The urge to return to that parking lot and back over that son of a bitch with his car was so strong he fairly shook with it.

But right now, Sadie clearly needed him. All the pressure she'd been facing --from her sister's illness and her financial worries to feeling responsible for this Monica and her trouble-- had finally come to a head. Tough as she was, everyone had a breaking point, and Sadie had reached hers.

"Come inside with me. Let me look at your neck, let me make you some tea." He pulled back and locked gazes with her, his heart squeezing as he took in her tear-stained face. "Let me take care of you, Sadie."

Her sobs had slowed to long, ragged breaths as she searched his face with her big, sad eyes. "I'm the one who takes care of people, Jake. I don't get taken care of. That's not what I do."

For some reason, that simple declaration hit him right in the gut. He leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Tonight, you do. And tomorrow, if you want to go back to being 'I don't need anyone else, I'm an army of one' Sadie, that's fine. I won't argue. But tonight, let me do this. I need to do this."

For a second he thought she was going to insist he take her home but then she nodded. "Okay."

He made his way around to the passenger's side and opened the door, taking in her wince as he helped her out of the car.

"We can bandage up that elbow, too," he said as he led her up the walkway.

"It’s just a scrape. Better to let it air out. And I have to call my apartment once we're settled. I told Monica I would be home later and I don't want her to worry," she said, leaning into him for support as they walked.

Strong, responsible Sadie. Still thinking of others no matter how bad her own shit got.

He wanted to kick himself for even hesitating when she'd called. Sadie was exactly who he thought she was. A fighter who did what she had to do to get by. Same as him.

He pulled away reluctantly to unlock the door and then led her inside. For some reason, he made sure to lock both the door and the deadbolt behind him. Not that there was any chance Dominic would be following them, but he wanted Sadie to feel like she could finally relax. No one was going to hurt her here.

He flipped on the hall light as they passed and headed into the kitchen. He pulled out a chair and gestured to it. "Sit."

She lowered herself onto the chair with a shuddering sigh. "My neck is feeling better already. It was more scary than anything, not being able to get air in." She covered the offending spot with both hands and he gently tugged them away.

When the mottled bruises, already turning from red to an ugly shade of maroon, came into view, he had to close his eyes to collect himself. When he opened them, she was staring at him, her brows drawn together in a frown.

"I'm okay, Jake. Truly. And thanks to you, it looks like everything is going to be okay. He doesn't know who I am, and can't connect me to Monica." She gave his forearm a reassuring squeeze. "It was ugly, but the job is done now."

He nodded and straightened, making his way toward the medicine cabinet.

"Not much we can do for your neck, but we can clean up the elbow and bandage it."

"I'd like to take a bath first, if that's okay?" She cleared her throat and bowed her head. "I feel..."

Dirty.

She didn't have to say it. The word hung in the air between them. And somehow, he knew deep down, that it wasn't just the smoky grime of the bar that she needed to scrub away.

"Absolutely. Use the master bath. It's got a huge soaking tub. I'll make you some tea with honey and get you something to change into."

She pushed herself to her feet and crossed the kitchen toward the hallway, but paused in the doorway. "I appreciate this Jake. More than you could ever know."

She was gone before he could reply, which was probably for the best. His throat felt tight and the way he was feeling right now --emotions so close to the surface after a night of sheer hell-- he might've said something he'd live to regret. He sucked in a steadying breath and focused on the task at hand, moving around the kitchen with quiet efficiency. He made up a small tray with the tea and some oatmeal for her in case she hadn't taken the time to eat.