Ben low crawled toward the kitchen, his Glock in his hand. He hadn’t heard any voices, but he could tell from the sound of the glass that someone had broken a windowpane in his back door, and the prowler had probably reached in and unlocked and opened the door. Still close to the floor, he glanced quickly around the hallway wall that led to his kitchen. The hall light offered some illumination, but all he could really see was the shadow of a man who was slowly entering his house with his gun drawn. The intruder seemed to be alone, and Ben hoped there was only one man to contend with instead of several. He said a silent prayer for strength and wisdom, secured his pistol in his belt, then took a breath and quickly jumped up and charged the man, reaching for his gun hand and hoping to disarm him.
The element of surprise worked in his favor, and he managed to knock the gun from the man’s hand and it went flying, clattering against the floor several feet away. The trespasser didn’t give up easily, though, and he landed a punch in Ben’s stomach before Ben could block him. Pain radiated throughout his gut. He grimaced and prevented the next punch, then landed one of his own on the man’s chin. The intruder staggered back, but shook off the blow, straightened and came at Ben again. Ben reacted quickly, his law enforcement training immediately sending him into action. Ben was a big man, but this criminal was large, as well—and obviously a well-trained adversary. He took several steps and then launched himself at Ben, tackling him around the shoulders and pushing him back against the kitchen table with the force of his attack. Ben couldn’t stop his momentum, and he heard the table splintering beneath their combined weight as they fell to the floor with the broken wood. The stranger was reaching for his throat in an effort to strangle him, and Ben pushed against his hands.
Not today, Ben thought silently, and he broke the man’s grip and heaved the man to the right. The intruder rolled but grabbed a broken table leg as he did so. Before Ben could stop him, he was on his feet again and threatening Ben with the table leg as if it were a baseball bat.
Ben was done playing games. He pulled out his pistol and pointed it directly at the man’s midriff, even though he was still laying amongst the pieces of the broken table. “Freeze, buddy, or your next move will be your last.”
The stranger stopped, motionless, and Ben tried to take in his features. He was wearing black cargo pants, army boots and a black long-sleeved T-shirt that was just tight enough to show that the man was heavily built and muscular. His eyes were dark, and he had short brown hair cut in a military style. His face was unshaven, and there was a small scar, about half an inch long, under his left eye, that had healed long ago. Ben didn’t recognize the man, but he knew a formidable foe when he saw one. This aggressor wasn’t someone who just happened to be burglarizing his house. If Ben had to guess, he figured the man was a hired gun sent to silence Jordan. Nothing else made sense.
As if on cue, Jordan chose that moment to come into the kitchen. “Are you okay?” she asked. “I heard...” Her voice dropped away as she saw the scene in front of her.
The criminal threw the table leg at Jordan, and it caused the distraction he needed to turn and disappear out the back door he had entered only moments before. Jordan ducked behind the wall, but not before the end of the wood caught her in her injured arm above the elbow. She cried out, and Ben instantly decided to let the man escape. Instead of chasing after him, he quickly secured his weapon in his waistband and stood, then went to Jordan’s side and pulled her into an embrace. For the first time since her return, she welcomed his touch, and Ben reveled in the feel of having her in his arms once again.
“Are you okay?” He ran his fingers lightly over her arm, testing for injury. “I thought I told you to stay in the bedroom.”
Jordan rubbed her wounded arm but nodded at him. “It hurts more than before, but it isn’t broken. I’ll be alright.” She looked up into his eyes. “I heard the noise and got worried. Then when it stopped, I thought it was safe to come out. I’m so sorry—I didn’t mean to cause this kind of problem for you. He must have followed me here.”
“It’s not your fault, Jordan. Anybody who knew even a little bit about you would have figured that you would eventually come knocking on my door. They probably had my house under surveillance, just waiting for you to appear.” He shifted, still holding her close. “Now it’s time to take this to law enforcement for help. I’ll call Frankie, and we’ll...”
“No!” she said quickly. “We can’t go to the police.”
Ben shook his head. “Jordan, I’m a deputy at the Sheriff’s Office. That hasn’t changed since you disappeared. You know that. A crime has been committed. Actually several, including the one that just happened here tonight in my own house. That means we report it. I can’t just let it go.”
Her eyes widened, fear mirrored back at him. She pulled away from him and wrapped her arms around her chest. “I can’t go to the authorities yet,” she said adamantly. “I don’t have any new proof. The US attorney won’t even pursue this if I can’t give him something more than we had before.”
“Then we find proof—the legal way. We get warrants, subpoenas, whatever we need...”
“No!” she said again, this time her voice rising in pitch. She was close to hysterics and she wrapped her arms around herself. “I can’t. They’ll come after all of you. This is big. Really big. Someone else will get hurt.”
He took a step toward her, then another, but she backed away, still unwilling to let him in. He dropped his hands, frustrated. He was a law enforcement officer. He couldn’t just ignore what she’d told him. Her story had to be investigated. If someone at Southeastern had ordered the deaths of two scientists, they had to be held responsible. And if they had indeed created a drug that was harmful to the public and had done illegal human trials, the proper authorities needed to know about that, too, and they had to be stopped. If the Feds didn’t want the case, maybe the state attorney would be willing to take a crack at it. Deciding how to move forward legally went way above his pay grade, but he knew he had a duty to delve into the case, either way. He couldn’t just go on without doing his job. “I don’t understand what you want from me, Jordan. I know you’re scared, but you came to me for help, and I’m offering it now. Let me help you.”
She leaned against the wall, clearly shaking. Without realizing it, she had backed herself into the corner. “I don’t know what I expected, Ben. Maybe I was hoping you’d help investigate Southeastern off the books. It’s a catch-22 situation. I need your help, but if you do, I’m putting you in danger. I’m just so tired. I can’t think straight. I don’t know the right answer here.”
Ben’s chest felt like someone was squeezing it. It hurt to see her suffering like this. She was usually so confident and sure of her choices. She still had dark circles under her eyes, even though she’d slept for a couple of hours, and she looked as if exhaustion was consuming her from the inside out. She was obviously running on fumes and stressed to the maximum. He said a silent prayer.
Dear, God, please convince her that I’m here to help. Let her trust me.
He waited another minute, and the silence stretched between them. Finally, he ran his hand through his hair and spoke again. “I’ve got to call Frank and report the intruder. If Southeastern is behind all of this, they won’t stop now. They’ll assume that we’ve talked and that I know what you know.” He gentled his voice. “We’ll take this one step at a time, okay? First, we deal with what just happened here tonight. Then we’ll figure out our next move.”
“Our next move?” she finally said softly, a question in her voice.
“Yes, our next move,” he answered. “I’m not going to let you face this threat alone, Jordan. Somehow, we’ll get to the bottom of this, and someone is going to be held accountable for those deaths. That much I promise you.”
Jordan had no more patience, endurance or energy left. She moved a chair into a corner of the living room, and watched warily as the Sheriff’s Office personnel stepped around the broken table and swarmed around Ben’s home. Two officers were talking to Ben as they collected evidence from the gun the intruder had left behind, while a woman was dusting the door frame for fingerprints. Jordan recognized them all by sight as colleagues of Ben’s that she had met while they were dating, but the only one she truly knew was Franklin Kennedy, Ben’s partner. They had double-dated several times with Frank and Bailey, Frank’s wife, and she had liked both of them immensely. Still, she couldn’t get past the fear that something horrible would happen to them all now that they knew about Mintax and Southeastern. Her colleagues’ deaths terrified her, pure and simple. In fact, before Samantha and Jeremy had died, she had never even known someone who had been murdered. The deaths had been sudden and tragic. Now she was responsible for putting even more lives at risk. But what else could she have done? She really was out of options. She had limited resources left—very little money and no house or apartment to go to where she even felt safe. Southeastern’s henchmen were closing in, and the intruder tonight would have killed her for sure if Ben hadn’t stopped him.
She looked at her hands and tried to keep them from trembling. What she needed was several days of rest without the stress and fear eating away at her insides. Then maybe she could think straight. She glanced up at Ben, who was still talking to Frank in low tones a few steps away. Had she done the right thing? She knew she had hurt him, but she also knew that he was her best hope of surviving this ordeal. Despite her misgivings, she was finally starting to feel a bit of confidence in her choice to confide in him.
Could he forgive her? Someday he might, but she had shattered his trust. She could see it in his eyes every time he looked at her. He would certainly never want to have a relationship with her again, and if or when this case was closed, she would have to start over somewhere new. There were too many memories in Jacksonville that would assault her every time she thought about Ben and everything she had thrown away. Just driving over the bridges would remind her of all of the walks they had taken by the river, watching the dolphins and just enjoying each other’s company. Seeing the ocean would remind her of the weekends they had spent taking his boat out, fishing in the Atlantic or just jumping the waves as they water-skied.
She shifted uncomfortably.
She might have lost her relationship with a wonderful man, but at least she was still alive. She couldn’t forget that. Her colleagues had paid the ultimate price for their involvement with Mintax. She had to honor their memory by pushing forward and proving Southeastern’s culpability. But could she find the proof she needed to substantiate her claims? The doubt ate her up inside. She was used to doing everything herself and never asking for help, but this time, she recognized that she was in over her head. But perhaps with Ben’s help, it would be possible to stop Southeastern before anyone else got hurt. Then, maybe, she could resume her life somewhere else.
“Jordan?”
Ben’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and she glanced up and met his eyes. “Yes?”
“It’s late, and we’re just about done here. I’m going to take you to a hotel I know where you will be safe, okay? Then tomorrow, we’ll take your statement and start digging into this case.”
“Okay, Ben.” She watched him as he turned and spoke again to Frank and another detective from their team. She had always thought Ben was the most handsome man alive, and that opinion hadn’t changed now that she saw him in action, taking control of this situation with ease. A whisper of attraction swept through her. His dark brown hair was styled in a military cut, and his chocolate-brown eyes were filled with acumen and intelligence. His forehead was broad, his cheekbones high and his features were finely chiseled and very masculine. His size probably intimidated some, but she loved the fact that his shoulders were wide, his legs were long and he was well over six feet tall. Many probably wouldn’t describe him as handsome. His attributes were a bit too strong. But he made her heart flutter with the simplest of looks or touches. He was also a gentle giant, and as sweet as could be on the inside.
Their relationship was over, though. She tamped down the feelings of loss that had suddenly tightened in her chest. She had to keep her focus. Discovering the truth about Mintax—that was the goal. Their quest for the truth was the only thing that mattered.
After a few more verbal exchanges, Ben was ready to go. He led her out the door and to his unmarked sedan, which was parked in front of his house. He helped her get settled in the front seat, then circled the car, threw a duffel bag with a change of clothes and some toiletries in the backseat, and got in the driver’s seat. “Ready?”
“As ready as I can be.”
He started the engine and headed toward the hotel, and she looked cautiously around as they drove. She didn’t see any threats or anyone following them, but somewhere out there, she knew the man who had broken into Ben’s house was watching them—and probably reporting everything that was happening to someone at Southeastern who was plotting her death at this very moment.