Double Jeopardy (Entangled Select) (19 page)

Chloe was incensed. She advanced on Dave, poking her forefinger in his chest. “You will not! These two are here to relax, not to talk about who had the craziest court case. I’ll tell you one thing, the last thing Lauren and I intend to do is sit at the kitchen table and trade autopsy stories.”

Lauren held up her hands. “All right, you two, back to your corners.” She looked at Josh. “Don’t worry, they do this all the time.”

“Hell, sometimes it’s more fun than television.” Dave winked at Josh. “Come on, I’ll help you get your luggage inside. Bungalow four, Chloe?”

She nodded. “Now, don’t worry, I’ll make sure Dave doesn’t intrude on your weekend,” she assured Josh. “He used to hate to talk about the law. It was a forbidden subject at home. Then he retired, and like an old fire dog, the minute he meets a lawyer, he has to talk shop.”

“She always makes me sound worse than I am.”

“Considering your conviction record, I wouldn’t apologize.”

Chloe playfully clapped a hand over her husband’s mouth and pointed him toward the suitcases. “Make yourself useful. Lauren and I are going on ahead.”

The two women walked down the path with the men following.

Chloe lowered her voice. “Any more problems?” Lauren had explained the situation when she’d called to see if a bungalow would be available.

“No, thank God. But we both feel as if it’s nothing more than the calm before the storm. She’s never been this quiet before. That’s why I wanted us to go away, to force her hand. And I knew there isn’t any way she would know about this place.”

“Well, you’re in luck, because there’s only one other couple here, and they’ll be leaving in the morning,” Chloe said. “We thought it was best not to have anyone else around.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” she protested.

She waved away Lauren’s concerns. “We prefer it this way. Besides, we also thought it would be safer.”

Lauren shook her head. “Dave isn’t going to sit up tonight with his twelve-gauge in his lap, is he?”

“Damn right I’ll have that rifle out!” Dave shouted, obviously overhearing her. “An even better one than the twelve-gauge, too.”

“Now he has an AR-18 locked away that he got from one of his cronies,” Chloe explained. “I expect him to pick up a grenade launcher next.”

“She makes me sound like a crazy survivalist when I only believe in protecting my property,” Dave told Josh, as they entered a bungalow that was a smaller replica of the main house.

“We’ll be serving drinks at the usual time on the patio if you’re interested, and you already know you’re more than welcome to have dinner with us,” Chloe told Lauren, giving her another hug before taking her leave.

“I keep the real stuff somewhere else,” Dave told Josh before following his wife.

Lauren dropped onto the couch. “Feeling a bit overwhelmed?”

He slowly turned in a circle, noting the furniture chosen more for comfort than looks. A bathroom could be seen off to one side and a bedroom beyond that. A tiny kitchen was set in one corner with what he discovered had a refrigerator stocked with wine, beer, juice, and soda along with cheeses and crackers in a cabinet.

Lauren tracked his movements. “The couch pulls out into a bed, if you’re feeling a little nervous.”

He shook his head. “No, I’m just trying to figure out how I got to be so lucky. Unless it’s because it’s all on your terms and it makes you feel more at ease with the situation.”

Lauren looked down at her hands lying in her lap. “I suppose I do tend to control things at times.”
Since the rape
remained unspoken between the two of them.

Josh wanted her to know he understood without voicing it out loud because the last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable.

He sat down beside her. “If I’d known you could come up with a great weekend getaway like this, I’d have wanted you for a travel agent long ago.”

Relief flickered in her eyes as she realized he recognized and understood her reasoning.

“They gave us what I like to call the ‘decadent bungalow.’” She hopped up and grabbed his hand.

“Hey, I was up early today and driving for the past few hours,” he playfully protested.

She walked backward as she pulled him into the bedroom. “Trust me, you won’t mind.”

“Well, sweetheart, I didn’t think you’d be in such a hurry.”

She shook her head. “Keep it tucked in your pants. Counselor.” She allowed him only a glimpse of the king-sized bed with an old-fashioned quilt covering it before she pushed open a patio door and led him outside onto a small walled-in patio. “Voila!” With a dramatic flourish, she gestured to a redwood hot tub. “It’s a great way to relax.”

Josh decided not to remind her he hadn’t brought a bathing suit. With luck she hadn’t brought one, either. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him.

“Yeah, I can definitely handle your vacation ideas.”

…

They spent the balance of the afternoon relaxing and snacking on the refrigerator’s contents before changing their clothes and walking toward the main house. Chloe and Dave were already there, seated at a large table and talking to a young couple. Several open bottles of wine were on a serving cart, along with snacks. Chloe made the introductions, merely saying Lauren and Josh were family friends, and indicated two empty chairs.

“The Parkers are from Oregon and on their honeymoon,” Chloe confided to Lauren.

Lauren soon discovered the new Mrs. Parker was a kindergarten teacher, seemed to possess an incredible amount of energy, and talked nonstop. The foursome were relieved when the young couple left for town and dinner out.

“An excellent reason why we run a bed and breakfast and don’t have to worry about serving dinner,” Chloe chuckled, refilling Lauren’s wineglass.

“You have no idea who the woman is?” Dave’s voice floated across the patio.

“David,” his wife warned. “You promised.”

“Hell, maybe I can come up with something no one else has been able to think of,” he argued, gesturing with his beer bottle.

“Dana’s the expert in that area, not you,” Chloe reminded him.

He shook his head. “She’s a wonderful doctor, but she reads charts and interviews sickos. I’ve dealt with them a hell of a lot longer and on more levels than she has.”

“Josh and I made an agreement that we weren’t going to discuss her this weekend,” Lauren spoke up.

Dave walked over and put an arm around her shoulders. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “If you weren’t like another daughter to me, I’d probably argue that point just for the fun of it. It’s good you came up here to relax and get away from your problems, but deep down, you both know you haven’t forgotten them. You’ve merely shelved them for a while. This is a break you both need very badly. But I also want to help, if I can.”

“You’re right about the break. We thought someone was following us through the mountain pass, and even when we realized they weren’t, it took us a few minutes to relax,” she admitted.

Josh nodded in agreement. “I’m just grateful the stalker law is in full force, which gives us an edge if we can ever get this to court. We already have a number of felony counts against the woman, but few clues.”

Dave opened two more bottles of beer and handed one to Josh. “Fill me in.”

“I give up,” Chloe sighed, rising to her feet. “I’m going to put the finishing touches on dinner. Maybe food will get him to shut up for a while. Although I sincerely doubt it. Not when it’s a subject he can go on for hours about. He’s lucky I love him so much.”

Lauren stood up to follow. “I’ll help. Where would you like me to start?”

Chloe put Lauren to work fixing a salad.

“Is he the one?”

Lauren concentrated on tearing the lettuce. “I think so, but there’s too much going on around us for me to be sure of our feelings for each other. It might be nothing more than heightened emotions because of what’s happened. It’s happened many times with others. Why not with us?”

“Probably because you two are a special case.” Chloe placed her hands on Lauren’s face and forced her around. She gently ran her fingertips across her cheeks and down her jaw line. “All the cuts were superficial?”

Lauren nodded. “They said I was lucky. If the glass pieces had been larger, I could have ended up with some nasty scars requiring plastic surgery.”

“All I can say is, if the two of you manage to survive this, it can only mean you’re meant to be together. He was even willing to go along with your plan, which I think we both know could prove disastrous if this woman falls completely apart once you all face each other. Even Dana said he seemed pretty near to perfect, and we both know she doesn’t say that about any human being!” She chuckled.

“Just please don’t use the word ‘survive’!” Lauren hugged the woman. “Who knows? Maybe Dave is right; maybe he can come up with something we haven’t thought of.”

“If only we could be that lucky.” Josh stood in the kitchen doorway just behind Dave. His eyes immediately sought out Lauren’s and held them in a dark gaze.

“You’ve covered all the bases. I couldn’t have done any better myself,” the older man agreed. “All I can say is, if this plan doesn’t smoke her out, nothing will until she’s good and ready to show herself.”

Lauren turned back to the salad. She tore the lettuce with vicious tugs that almost shredded the greens. “Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel all that secure.”

Chapter Eighteen

“How does one woman get so lucky? I tried for six months to get Josh’s attention, and I couldn’t get more than friendly conversation! Yet Lauren Hunter comes along and he falls for her like a ton of bricks. What does she have that I don’t?”

“Besides Josh, you mean?”

“Someone once said he has some rule that he won’t date anyone he has to work with. Yet he deals with her, doesn’t he?”

“All I know is, I wish I was her this weekend!”

The words she’d heard the day before rang through her head like a taunt. She felt them burning through her skull like an acid destroying what little sanity she still possessed.

It wasn’t fair! Hadn’t she faithfully abided by her plan all this time? She had turned it into a game. Each hour, each day she stayed away from them was a triumph. She wanted them to worry about her, to wonder what she might do next. Whether she’d leave something even more dangerous at Lauren’s house or enter Josh’s house and stay there, awaiting his return. To let him see her. Realize she was the one he really loved.

She drove the streets blindly, unaware of her destination. Uncaring. She was too engrossed in the words searing her brain. Ever since Sophie had talked about Josh and Lauren going away for the weekend, speculation ran high. And people just loved to discuss it. Josh wasn’t known for going away for the weekend with any of his former women. Why her? Was there more going on than anyone assumed? Was Lauren going to be the one to tempt the forever-
single Josh Brandon to the altar?

“No! No, no, no!” She pounded the steering wheel with her fist, so furious she was unaware her car swerved over to the other lane until a car honked. She quickly regained control, whipped her head around, gave him the finger, and sped on. By the time she came to her senses, she realized she was just turning onto Josh’s street. Her lips parted in a smile.

“It’s fate,” she whispered, looking from right to left as she drove slowly down the street until she reached his house. “Fate I intend to take full advantage of. The time has come for him to find out the truth. He needs to know that Celia will only destroy him if he stays with her. Unless I can destroy her first.”

Chapter Nineteen

It wasn’t until they’d returned to the bungalow much later that night that Josh felt a trace of awkwardness coupled with a little tension in Lauren’s demeanor.

“Lauren, nothing has to happen between us just because we came up here,” he said, once they entered the tiny living room. “After all, we’ve slept together before and nothing happened then. Damn.”

She smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood without ruining it.

“I know, Josh, and I thank you for that. I guess the full impact finally just hit me. And while I think we both might want more, the idea of just cuddling sounds very nice right about now.” She looked over her shoulder. “I’m going to take a quick shower first, if you don’t mind.”

“Go for it.”

Josh took his shower next, finding out that a steamy bathroom scented with Lauren’s body wash was pretty taxing to the willpower. When he came out, he found Lauren in bed with a book propped against her drawn-up knees. He was surprised to find her wearing a pair of reading glasses.

“Medical textbook?”

She shook her head. “One of those murder mysteries that has a clever killer only one stubborn cop can find because, in certain ways, he’s as crazy as the killer. It’s pretty good. Want to read it after I’m finished?”

“No thanks, I think I’ll stick to science fiction.” The dimly lit atmosphere was definitely lending itself to the mood. “Want some more wine?”

“I shouldn’t, but since I’m not driving anywhere, I’ll go for it.”

Josh poured the wine and brought the two glasses back into the bedroom. Lauren put the book away and accepted the glass.

“To better times.” He tapped his glass against hers.

“I’ll drink to that.” Lauren took a couple of sips and set the glass on the table. “Josh, we’ve gone through more in a short period of time than many people go through their entire lives.”

He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. “Meaning?”

“Meaning once this is over and we’re back to living normal lives, we could very well feel differently about each other,” she said softly.

“You said that once before, and I told you it was bullshit. I’m saying it again.”

She leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees. “It’s happened before, and it’s perfectly natural. It’s a situation that forces us into intimacy.”

He sat on the end of the bed, resting his back against the bedpost. “I figured we’d be talking about this after things were settled.”

She traced the quilt’s pattern with her fingertip. “You’ve had relationships that are pretty open-ended. I’m not sure that’s what I want. I may have had a lousy marriage, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to drift through one affair after another.”

He leaned down to put his glass on the floor, then crawled across the length of the bed until he reached her. He traced the line of her cheekbone with his thumb. “Good, because I don’t intend for that to happen,” he whispered, just before he kissed her. As before, the heat flared up between them.

“Josh,” she whispered, linking her arms around his neck. “Why don’t we just forget everything I said, and you come to bed and ravish me the way heroes do in novels.”

“You know, Doc, you have some great ideas.” He allowed his weight to propel them backward. Within seconds, Lauren’s silk short gown flew through the air with Josh’s briefs close behind.

Lauren was still warm and sweet-smelling from her shower, her skin lightly scented with the lotion she’d used afterward. Josh’s skin still damp from his own, his hair-rough chest abrasive against her softer skin.

They’d kept their hunger for each other locked up for so long they weren’t able to hold back.

Josh silently urged Lauren to take the initiative. He pulled her over on top of him, settling her in the cradle of his thighs.

It was clear Lauren trusted Josh implicitly. She displayed no fear, no flashbacks to her rape, as she freely touched him.

“What do you like?” she whispered, running her tongue along his collarbone.

He wasn’t sure he could breathe, much less talk. “Everything you’re doing.”

“This?” She brushed her fingertips against his erection. “Or this?”

Josh decided it was better to show rather than to tell. He reversed positions and soon had Lauren writhing under him.

“This might give you an idea.” The moment he thrust into her moist warmth he knew he was well and truly lost.

And the explosion that followed much too quickly for both of them was just as breathtaking as expected.

When Josh finally lay back with Lauren curled up in his arms, he felt completely drained.

“Either we had an earthquake up here, or we created one of our own.”

“I think we created one of our own.” She yawned as she lay in a boneless sprawl over him. “Why, are you complaining?”

“Are you kidding? I’m just wondering if it can happen again.”

“Oh, I think so. Just as soon as you get your energy back.” She nuzzled his ear.

“Then I guess we’re about to find out, because my energy is coming back.”

“And Sophie thinks you’re too old!” she laughed.

…

Lauren and Josh had no trouble forgetting the real world when they spent the next day exploring Solvang. Lauren pulled him through several fudge shops, fed him Aebleskivers, Danish puffed pancakes, and bought him a rainbow-colored crystal castle.

“Our refuge,” she told him. “In this place, no harm will come to us.”

His dark eyes studied her face. “A doctor who’s whimsical. I like the idea, Doc.”

But the weekend passed too quickly in their minds. They again had dinner with Chloe and Dave, but this time nothing was said of the real reason Lauren and Josh were there. Then they retired to their bungalow, where they wanted to recapture the magic of the night before. Afterward, they went outside to make use of the hot tub, sans bathing suits.

“This is just what I needed,” he sighed, resting his head against the rim of the tub.

“We needed,” she corrected from the other side, splashing a bit of water at him. She reached up and grabbed a loose strand of hair that fell from the clips she used to pull it up in a loose topknot.

He opened one eye. “Don’t do that.”

“I want to talk.”

He closed the eye, looking completely peaceful. “So talk.”

She stood up and moved over to the other side until she could sit next to him, her hip bumping against his. She ran her fingers through his hair, brushing the over-long strands back from his face. “I want you to agree to something.”

That got his attention. He opened his eyes and sat up straight. “Setting terms again, Lauren?”

“I don’t want you to think of it that way. You’ve said things that indicated you’re ready to settle down. And you seem to think I’m the one.”

“I didn’t realize it was a crime.”

“It’s not, but I still feel the situation is the catalyst. What I’d like is for us to give ourselves six months when this is over and see if what we feel for each other is real, or just part of the problem.”

Josh stared at her for so long she started to fidget. “Part of the problem? That’s an odd way of putting it. You see, I never thought of the two of us as a problem, Lauren. All I knew was that the first time I saw you at that retirement party, I felt knocked for a loop. And I never felt that way the first time I saw a woman. Sure, I’ve had my share of relationships, but that was because I never found what I was looking for. I thought I was doomed to be alone because that’s what I felt a lot of the time. I’d go back to my house and that’s all it was; a house. Yet I go in yours, and I feel life in there. The colors you used, the way it seems like a real home, even though your hours can be just as crazy as mine at times.” He reached out, cupping the back of her head with his hand. “I was starting to run scared, Lauren. I thought I was doomed to have an unseen woman as a phantom lover. That she wouldn’t allow the woman I’d want to truly love to enter my life. But you somehow got through, and if I sound corny or like something out of a bad movie, I’m sorry. If you put me in front of a jury, I’ll knock your socks off with my oration. Speaking from the soul is a hell of a lot harder, but I’m willing to give it a try if you’re willing to put up with me. You feel you have to set terms, and I’ll put up with them, to a point. Can we consider some of my terms, too?”

“Such as?” she whispered, sounding a bit fearful.

“I want us to live together and be a real couple. Come on, Lauren. It’s the best way for you to find out if I’m the kind of guy you want to have around all the time.”

She considered his proposition. “Six months.”

Josh grinned and held out his hand. “Deal.”

Lauren looked down at his hand and shook her head. “Counselor, you never learn, do you? You seal a business deal with a handshake. Our kind of deal requires a lot more than a handshake.” She climbed onto his lap, fitting onto him perfectly. She rubbed her nose against his, then kissed him. “Now, isn’t this much better?”

“Okay, but don’t think this means you’ll get your way all the time.”

The next morning, they were both unusually quiet as they ate breakfast with Chloe and Dave, then loaded the car with their suitcases.

“Next time, we’ll leave the women behind and take a couple of horses up into the hills, where I don’t have to listen to that old broad tell me what to do,” Dave confided in Josh.

“If you want to sleep in that bed with me tonight, old man, you’ll be careful what you say,” Chloe warned with little heat and lots of affection. She turned to give Lauren a good-bye hug and whispered in her ear, “You fight back, sweetheart. Don’t let her win.”

“I don’t intend to.”

Even the drive back was quiet. It seemed the closer they got to the Riverside County line, the more subdued they felt.

“Do you think we’ll find anything when we get back?” Lauren finally had to break the charged silence. She knew she didn’t have to elaborate.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I’m hoping we won’t. But then, I keep hoping she’ll suddenly disappear from our lives.”

She lightly rubbed his shoulder for comfort and kept her hand there. “Then we’ll hope she’s gotten angry enough this weekend to come out in the open.”

Except even Lauren couldn’t keep up any pretense when Josh pulled into her driveway.

“It looks so quiet on the outside,” she murmured, as she got out of the car. “And deceptive.”

Lauren allowed Josh to enter first. He glanced through all the rooms and found nothing out of place.

“It looks good,” he pronounced.

She still followed him as he headed for the front door. “Call me when you get home.”

“I will.” He kissed her several times as if putting off leaving. “How about I check out my house and come back over with a pizza?”

“No anchovies.”

“Not a one,” he vowed.

“Josh.” She paused a beat. “If you want to move in next weekend, I’m willing to help carry boxes.”

His grim features lightened considerably at her words. “Okay, we’ll make plans this week.”

Lauren didn’t close the door until Josh’s car left her sight. She walked through the house again, unwilling to believe someone hadn’t been here. In her bedroom she found the perfume bottles undisturbed, her bathroom looking the same. She decided to unpack first and put her cosmetics away, then her clothing. It wasn’t until she opened her closet that she realized her fears weren’t imaginary. How she hadn’t noticed the distinctive odor was beyond her. She covered her mouth.

“Oh my God!” she choked, stumbling backward.

She stared at every piece of blood-covered clothing in her closet. When she spun around, she noticed the bedspread was askew. When she pulled it back she found a rose set in the middle of the pillow. A white rose, with two drops of blood marring one of the pristine petals, was the next obscene message.

“This time, you really have gone too far,” she whispered, resisting the urge to grab up the rose and crush the petals. “Now it’s time for you to realize you’re not going to win if I have anything to do with it.”

Lauren rummaged through her nightstand drawer, pulled out her gun, and promptly loaded it. Once it was loaded and comfortably in her hand, she called Kevin.

“It sounds like she didn’t waste any time,” he muttered.

“The blood might be able to give us a clue,” she told him. “But I’d bet my reputation she used animal blood, unless she’s either a vampire or works in a blood bank.”

“At least we can finally cut down the list. Good ole Heather has been boffing her boss for the past two months. He had the hotel receipts and the desk clerk remembered her cleavage and the way the guy couldn’t keep his hands off her. And the ex is out here on the sly, helping Daddy buy a new company or something. I’ll call the crime scene guys and be right over.”

It wasn’t until she hung up and looked at the clock that she realized Josh should have called her by then. A bitter cold washed over her.

“No,” she breathed, grabbing the phone and punching out the numbers. She drummed her fingers against the table until she heard the call picked up. “Josh?”

“Lauren, look, we’ve said it all in the car, okay?” he spoke with the forced patience of a man who had little of it left to give. “This weekend proved we’re not in sync. Let’s just leave it that way.”

The cold in her veins intensified. She spoke carefully as she felt her way through the verbal minefield. “I know we did, but I hoped you’d be willing to talk more. I don’t think we said it all.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. There’s no way we’ll be able to not see each other. We’re both adults, and I’m sure we can handle it. Your cop ex would know about these things, wouldn’t he? Good-bye, Lauren. And please don’t call me again.”

…

Josh pushed the phone away and slowly turned to the woman who had been unashamedly eavesdropping on the conversation. “Now do you believe me that we broke up?”

“It’s for the best, darling,” she cooed in his ear, as she draped her arms around his neck, her spicy scent suffocating him. “You’ll see. We’ll be so happy together.” She smiled as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

No matter how badly he wanted to put his hands around her neck and tighten them, he didn’t. Not when she held that gun so close to his chest.