12
Adam couldn’t raise Janessa on her earpiece. He frowned. That wasn’t like her. He’d finished up his family obligation and decided to ride over and check on Dani and Janessa.
His gut had hurt all evening as he’d tried to focus on the dinner and the conversation at the table. He’d hoped showing up would help speed up the process when it came to mending fences with his family.
Especially his mother. He hadn’t mentioned her illness and she hadn’t brought up the topic either. He wondered if she even knew Sarah had told him.
Unfortunately, the whole time he’d been eating prime rib and asparagus, he’d been itching to bolt to Dani’s house while wanting to hug his mother and apologize for his uncle’s death. Apologize that it had come to that, not necessarily for his part in exposing the man’s crimes.
“Are you all right, Adam?” his mother had asked. She sat to his left.
“Of course, Mom, I’m fine. Are you all right?”
She lifted a brow and her lips tightened. He’d thought she might say something. Instead, she simply nodded. “Good. Good. I’m fine.” She’d returned to her meal with a quick look at his father, as though expecting him to reprimand her for speaking to him.
Although Adam had to admit, when he’d first walked in, his mother had looked pleased to see him. For a brief moment, he let himself believe she’d forgiven him for being a part of his uncle’s—her brother’s—death.
Adam’s father had given him a tight smile and short nod. It was more than he’d expected and raised his hopes. Friends of his parents stopped by the table to chat and shake hands. Some of the well wishes were genuine, others not so much. Adam couldn’t stand the fakeness but was relieved no one seemed to want to point out his shortcomings.
It appeared his family had accepted him back into the fold. Not that he was terribly concerned about it for himself, but he was glad to see his parents smiling and relaxing.
He just wished he could have given the dinner and his family his full attention.
Instead, Dani and Simon took over his thoughts.
He couldn’t help the feeling that they just needed more security coverage than they’d been assigned. Someone had broken into a neighbor’s house and tried to shoot Dani. However, did that make her the target? Or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
He’d been sitting in the car in front of Dani’s house since he’d pulled to the curb, thinking about the situation and the best way to handle it.
From his position in the car on the curb, the house looked peaceful. Still.
Maybe too still. Just thirty minutes ago, Janessa had checked in with him to let him know everything was fine.
“Janessa, come on, speak to me. If you can’t talk, tap the piece. Let me know you’re there.”
Still nothing. He tried Dani’s cell phone.
And the landline just rang. No voice mail, nothing.
Adam checked his Glock and climbed from the vehicle.
Don’t move, Dani silently begged Simon. Please, don’t move. The nearest phone was in her bedroom. Her cell phone was in the bottom of her purse.
The figure stood in the doorway, listening. Dani shifted her gaze so she wasn’t looking directly at him. How many times had she overheard Kurt, once on the sniper team, talk about how he never looked directly at the enemy. “People can feel you looking at them, Dani.”
So now she used her peripheral vision to keep him in her sights. The ski mask hid his features, but she took note of his height, his build, the way he stood quietly and cocked his head. He took two more steps into the room and Dani’s blood pressure ratcheted up to the point she felt like she might explode. Simon stood rigid just behind her to the left.
And then the figure turned and left the room. She didn’t bother relaxing. With her right hand, Dani kept a tight grip on the baseball bat and counted to thirty. When the intruder didn’t return, she pushed the closet door open. Slowly. So slowly.
The well-oiled hinges didn’t creak. She wrapped her hand around Simon’s sweaty one and gave him a gentle tug, silently telling him to follow her. Pulse pounding, blood rushing, she stepped out of the closet, Simon on her heels.
At the door, she stopped, listened.
Heard nothing.
She peeked around the corner.
Saw nothing.
Dani pulled Simon with her and made a beeline for the steps.
She reached for the front doorknob.
A hard band wrapped around her throat from behind.
Dani cried out and Simon gave a harsh scream.
“Where is it?” the voice hissed in her ear.
She tried to swallow, but he held her too tight. He gave her a shake and she gasped, remembered the bat and swung it backhanded.
A sharp crack and a cry of pain greeted her. She broke loose from his hold and whirled to see Simon swinging the brass lamp from the dining room end table.
The figure ducked and knocked the lamp aside. He planted a fist in Simon’s chest and shoved. Simon screamed and fell back, crashing into the piano.
Discordant notes jangled and sheer desperation swept through her. A wild cry ripped from her throat and she swung the bat again, catching her intruder in the left shoulder. He gave a pained grunt, went to his knees, then recovered. She met his gaze as he came to his feet.
Dani backed up, kept her grip on the bat, and wished she could yell at Simon to run. Everything in her wanted to make sure her son was all right. And that meant keeping this attacker’s attention on her. Dark eyes glittered. “Where is it, Dani?”
She didn’t recognize the voice. Her heart pounded.
“What?” she gasped. “Where is what?”
The door crashed in and Adam, weapon in hand, yelled, “Freeze!”
The intruder moved fast. Before Dani could blink, he’d yanked the bat from her hand and shoved her aside with one hand while bringing the bat around with the other. The wood connected with Adam’s forearm and his gun flew from his fingers.
Adam leapt forward and tackled the man. Both hit the tile floor with harsh grunts. A fist connected with Adam’s jaw. His head snapped back against the floor. The masked attacker jumped up and raced through the open front door.
Dani bolted to Simon, who sat on the floor, hands gripping Adam’s gun. She placed her hand over his and took the weapon from him. He flung himself into her arms. The gun was snatched from her hands and she turned to see Adam’s back as he charged after the escaping intruder.
She moved toward the kitchen, Simon attached to her side like a leech.
Dani snatched the phone handset from the base and dialed 911.
“Are you okay?” Her pulse spiked as she spun to see Adam standing in the doorway of her kitchen. The 911 operator said something, but Dani missed it. Sweat stood out on his face. He dragged a sleeve across his forehead and said, “He got away.”
Dani nodded.
Adam moved closer. “What was he after?”
“I don’t know.” She lifted the phone to her ear and told the dispatcher what had happened. “He’s gone now, but there’s a woman who’s been hurt. Send an ambulance.”
“Where’s Janessa?” Adam demanded.
“Upstairs. I think he shot her,” she whispered.
Adam raced for the stairs.
Simon wilted into the nearest chair at the kitchen table.
Within seconds, Adam was back, his white face and tense jaw said it wasn’t good. “She’s dead.”
Tears flooded Dani’s eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“I am too. I have to call Summer and David. They’ll contact her family.”
“We should have left here. We never should have come back. I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I never dreamed—”
He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t. It’s not your fault.”
“Janessa knew the risks.” He paused. “And we underestimated the danger level.” His jaw hardened. “We won’t make that mistake twice.”
A knock sounded and he turned to answer it. Dani spoke into the phone. “They’re here.” She hung up and went to meet the officers. Simon followed, staying close enough to see her.
Two uniformed officers stepped into her foyer, and when Adam took the lead, Dani let him, grateful to him and yet, at the same time, irritated. She was going to have to learn to handle things by herself now. No more letting a man tell her what to do or push her around.
Then she told herself to stop. This was serious and Adam knew what he was doing. She had enough sense to know he wasn’t being a macho jerk. He’d just saved her life and he was concerned.
Dani swiped the tears still dripping, squared her shoulders, and firmed her jaw. She refused to let her life with Kurt color her perspective of men or cause her to doubt her judgment. Her gut told her Adam was a good man. Nothing like the one she’d been married to. In the end, Kurt had been more of a warden than a husband.
With a heavy heart, she watched the EMTs head up the stairs. Oh Janessa, I’m so sorry.
She looked at the officer nearest her and said, “He was wearing gloves and a mask.”
The officers exchanged a glance. “No sense in checking for prints then.”
“No,” she murmured. “Probably not.”
“Did he speak?”
“Yes, but I didn’t recognize his voice.” She paused. “I don’t think.”
“What do you mean?” Adam asked. He’d come up behind them, silent, watchful.
“He may have sounded a bit like the guy who tried to kill me at Jenny’s house.”
“May have?”
“I don’t know. I was scared and I just . . . I don’t know.”
“It’s all right, just think about it,” Adam said. “I know one thing. He’s skilled at self-defense. He met me move for move.” Adam rubbed the back of his head. “In fact, he might know a few moves I don’t.”
An officer tapped Adam on the arm and he followed him into the kitchen. Dani let out a breath and signed to Simon to follow him.
“Dani?”
She froze, then turned to see Stuart standing in the open front door. “What are you doing here?”
He entered the foyer. “I had about five agents call me and ask me if I knew what was going on here at your house.” He flipped the cover on his badge closed and stuck it in his pocket. No doubt he’d used it to gain access to the scene. Anger stirred. He held his hands out. “I came to help. To be here for you.” He reached to take her into his arms.
Dani suppressed her nausea and dodged him. She stared at him, wishing she had the words to tell him to get out of her life and stay out.
But she couldn’t. Fear of what he might do held her quiet. Dani squared her shoulders. “Stuart, go home. This doesn’t concern you and I don’t need you here.”
His brows drew together in a thunderous frown. “Dani, Kurt would want me to do whatever I could to help. Let me take you up to the lake house. It’s quiet, peaceful, and no one knows about it. You can stay there and be safe.”
Dani shook her head. Did he really think she would go with him after the incident on the road? He may not have meant for the accident to happen, but he sure was the one who caused it. She didn’t trust him any farther than she could throw him.
“You can help by leaving, Stuart.” She softened her tone. “Please. There’s nothing you can do here. Go home. We’ll . . . talk . . . another time.”
She saw the protest forming on his lips and simply stared at him, willing him to leave before Simon came out of the kitchen and saw him. If he refused to leave, she’d have to make a scene and get one of the officers or Adam to help send him on his way. She didn’t want to do that at all.
Stuart’s jaw tightened. He blew out a breath through his nose, flaring his nostrils. “Fine,” he finally said. “But I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you.”
Dani didn’t bother to tell him not to, she simply ushered him from the foyer onto the front porch. “Bye, Stuart.”
She shut the door.
“Ma’am?”
Dani turned, pushing aside the weariness and grief that threatened to turn her into a puddle on the floor. One of the officers—she couldn’t remember his name and her eyes wouldn’t focus on his badge—stood just outside her kitchen tapping his notebook with his pen. “Yes?”
“If you don’t have anything to add, I think we’re done down here.”
Once the officers were satisfied she had nothing else to say, they moved upstairs where other law enforcement personnel had secured the scene.
They were still waiting on the crime scene unit and the ME.
Adam returned to the foyer, causing her to put aside her suspicion that Stuart had been her intruder. “While we’re waiting for the medical examiner and the homicide detectives, I’m going to call David and Summer.”
Adam looked at her. “You realize they may never catch him.”
“I know.”
“Ma’am?” She turned to see one of the officers at the top of the stairs looking down on her. “Your safe is open. Did you open it?”
“No. I mean it was empty to begin with, but I didn’t have it open earlier.” She stared at Adam. “He wanted the stuff from the safe,” she whispered.
“What stuff?”
“The stuff I cleaned out the day I was going to run from Kurt. The day he died.”
“What was in the safe?”
“I’m not sure. Papers and—” she shrugged. “Stuff. And money.”
“It’s been six months since Kurt’s death. You haven’t gone through the contents?”
She shook her head and pressed her fingertips against her lips to keep them from quivering. “I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. I took the money and the will from the bag and put everything else in my end table drawer, intending to put it back in the safe, I just . . . never did. I really haven’t thought of it until now.”
“How much money are we talking about?”
“Several thousand.”
He lifted a brow and made a note of it.
For the next two hours, law enforcement came and went. The crime scene unit arrived and Janessa’s body was finally removed. Dani answered question after question until everyone seemed satisfied with the answers.
Her house was now empty with the exception of Adam and her son.
Adam said, “Pack what you need, including the items from the safe. We’re getting out of here.”
Dani looked at Simon.
He nodded and with fingers splayed like the number five, he tapped his thumb against his chest. Then placed his palm against his chest and moved it in a circular motion.
“What did that mean?” Adam asked.
“They’re the signs for ‘fine’ and ‘please.’”
Adam copied the movement and said, “Fine. Please. Got it.”
Her heart warmed. Kurt hadn’t learned the first sign. Not willingly. He’d picked up a few over the years, but—
Dani cut off the thought and gave a small smile. “Right.”
“What do you think about disappearing?” Adam asked.
She tilted her head and shot a glance at Simon. “As in changing our identities?”
“Yes.”
“I’m very good at being invisible,” she whispered.
Adam flinched, and a look of compassion skittered across his features before he replied. “All right. Then let me get you new IDs, new names, and a new place to live. You’ll go straight there from here and start on your new life. While you’re working on that, we’ll be working on who broke into your house tonight.”
She blinked. “You mean like the Witness Protection Program?”
“Yes. Exactly like that, just not with that title.”
“Oh me. I . . . don’t know . . . I mean, Simon—”
“I know it seems a bit much, but it’s very obvious that someone is after you. There’s no way we can properly do our job until we know what we’re up against. Keeping you safe in your home is not an option now. What if the man who shot at you didn’t make a mistake? What if you were actually the target? After all, you did see a murder. While you say no one knows you saw it except a man who’s dead, how do you know he didn’t tell someone? What if Stuart is going to new lengths to get to you?”
Dani chewed on her lip. “We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”
“I hate to say it, but yes, looks like you’ve got big trouble. Are you ready to disappear yet?”
Dani hesitated, battling their options. One person had already lost her life over whatever reason someone was after her.
Simon said, “Yes, she is. We are.”
Dani blinked to find Simon watching them, his gaze jumping from her to Adam. His hearing aid whistled. She tapped her ear to let him know. He didn’t even roll his eyes this time, simply pressed his mold tighter and the whistling stopped. The brief thought that she really needed to make an appointment with the audiologist fluttered through her mind.
She took a deep breath. “Fine.” She was weary. Beyond exhausted. And grieving for a woman she’d only known a few hours. The audiologist would have to wait. She looked at Adam. “Yes. We’re ready to disappear.”
Simon’s relieved sigh made her heart clench. “Can we get something to eat on the way to disappearing? I’m starving.”
He sounded bone weary and sad. Dani wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. Then she signed, “Go pack. We’ll get some food.”
He nodded and trudged upstairs.
Adam looked at her. “Cheeseburger or chicken?”