Retribution Boxed Set (Books One and Two) (30 page)

Paul woke a few hours after his meds had worn
off, fighting the pain so he wouldn’t have to take more meds. After almost two
weeks in the hospital, he was going nuts wondering what was happening in the
outside world. As he’d been dozing in and out of consciousness, an idea had
come to him. He blinked away the fogginess and reached for his phone.

Lou answered on the sixth ring.

“What took you so damn long?”

“I was busy,” Lou said.

“Doing what? His irritation clearly showed in his
voice.

“Maria.”

It took a second for Lou’s reply to sink in. “Fuck
it, Lou. Our business could be in jeopardy. I’m stuck here with a needle in my
arm, and instead of taking care of things, you’re fucking Maria?”

“Don’t worry about it. Things are cool here.”

“No cops have showed?”

“Nah. Everything’s quiet. I don’t think Janie’s
squealed on us. Maybe she ain’t gonna.”

“Yeah. Don’t believe that. Bitch has filed
charges against me. She’s out for blood. I can’t figure out what she’s waiting
for.” That part really bugged him. It was like waiting for a bomb to time out
and explode. “I’ve been thinking about her, about where she’s hiding. I think
that cop Holden has something to do with it. If so, it’s going to be hard to
touch her. We need to draw her out. I had my lawyer charge her ass with assault
and battery, too, which will eventually make her surface, but I need something
sooner. An opportunity before she talks. If she talks before I find her,
Hardy’s going to cut off my balls and fry ‘em. And that’s if he’s having a good
day.”

“What do ya got planned?”

“She’s going to need money to live, right? So,
get somebody watching her old job. She might go for her check. And search the
apartment for a bank statement or something. At some point, she’ll probably go
to the bank, and I want to know which one.”

“You want someone to watch all the ATMs? Are you
serious? There’s like a fucking million of them.”

“Think smart, dumb ass. If she takes out her
money, it will be a large amount. An amount she’ll actually need to go into a
bank to get. Go to my apartment. Rifle through whatever shit she left. Brent
said she only took clothes, so I bet there’s still something there. Look for a
box in the top of the closet toward the back. She doesn’t think I know she
keeps stuff there. I know I saw a bank statement there before, and she had a
nice tidy sum in it. That’ll tell us which bank she goes to. If she ain’t working,
she’ll need cash. Even if that ass-wipe cop’s got her, he ain’t going to pay
for all her shit.” Even if she was putting out.

“I’ll let you know what I find.”

More than anything, the thought of that cop
having his hands on Paul’s property ate at him like a vicious acid.

Both of them needed to pay. But especially Janie.

An hour later, God smiled on him.

“I got it,” Lou said, his voice breathless.

“What did you find?”

“The bank where she keeps her freaking safe
deposit box.”

“Watch it like your life depends on it. ‘Cause it
just might.”
She had a safe deposit box
? What else did she have that he
didn’t know about? Apparently, his quiet, little girlfriend was more than she
led him to believe.

*        *        *

Sunlight filtered through the trees surrounding
Sam’s house, landing on Janie’s face, warming her enough that the light breeze
felt nice. She’d finally gained the courage to venture outside, and she was
grateful she had.

She closed her eyes, leaning back in the chair,
letting nature heal her internal wounds. She’d always found time to run, but
forty-five minutes out of her whole day hadn’t been much time outdoors. Working
and practicing to learn everything she could about cooking had consumed her
life.

The bright blue skies that hovered over endless golden
wheat fields had been the best part of growing up in Kansas. Once the weather
warmed up, she and her friend Holly had spent every available minute outside,
riding their bikes when they were younger and graduating to cruising Main Street
after they’d learned to drive. Her hair would turn the best shade of streaked
blond. She’d loved it.

How did life change so fast?

Her phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts,
and she picked it up.
Cheshire Industries
. Her heart pounded faster. The
operating company who owned the restaurant.

She answered it and listened to the female voice
on the other end notify her they were very interested in hiring her, and she
wondered if she’d be able to come to San Antonio to demonstrate the cooking
selection of her choice.

“Of course.” Her way out of this mess just became
a reality. “I could be there by Friday. Would that be soon enough?”

The woman agreed and gave her a contact number to
call when she arrived. Janie hung up the phone, a mixture of excitement and
trepidation swirling through her.

Friday. That gave her only a few days to pack her
belongings, which was a task that had been mostly completed thanks to Paul. She’d
need to empty her safe deposit box including her birth certificate, social
security card, along with some treasury bonds, her grandma’s watch and
grandpa’s old revolver. After Paul had started allowing his “friends” into
their apartment during all hours of the day, she’d rented the box to keep the
few important and valuable things she had safe.

She’d go tomorrow. She was pretty sure she could
convince Christian to take her. He wouldn’t make a big deal out of it like Sam
would. Sam knew she wanted to leave town, and he’d try to convince her to stay
to ensure Paul paid for what he’d done.

She’d like to see that happen, too. Of course she
would. But she needed to get on with her life, and going over and over what had
happened to her, having her humiliation broadcasted in a courtroom would only
make things more difficult for her. Once she left town, Paul would realize she
wasn’t a threat to his operation, and he’d forget her. If she stayed, he’d
likely kill her if given the opportunity. Out of sight, she felt pretty safe. He
wasn’t going to find her in Texas. He didn’t run that big of a business.

*        *        *

Sam sat at his desk, trying to focus on the file
in front of him with Janie occupying ninety percent of his thoughts. He had
thirty minutes left in his work day. A half hour plus drive time until he could
see her again.

Whatever she had was like heroine to him. He’d
had a taste of her sweet body next to him as they’d practiced self-defense, but
he’d never expected to become addicted so fast. He couldn’t forget the feel of
her ass pressed against him as she tried to fight her way out of his grasp, nor
the overwhelming need to kiss her. The scent of her shampoo haunted him. Every
other second, he swore he could still smell her.

The amount of time he spent thinking about her
was ridiculous.

“Hey.” Noah crashed into the chair opposite him. His
partner had made detective less than a year ago and still carried the
excitement that came with the promotion. “I’ve got some news on the Castell
case.”

That snapped him out of his daydream. “What?”

“The DA charged him this morning now that he’s
stable.”

“Right. I knew that.” Sam only wished they could
haul his ass straight to jail right now. He didn’t care if the guy still had an
I.V. attached to his arm or if there wasn’t any room at the jail.

“He fired a return shot.”

Sam straightened in his chair. “What do you mean?
Not literally, he hoped.

“He’s suing the girl…” Noah stopped and looked at
his notepad. “Janie Singleton, with a civil suit for assault and battery.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” The douche
actually had the nerve to go after her? Was he a complete idiot?

“Nope. I saw her attorney here a few minutes ago,
wanting to double check the address Ms. Singleton left on file. I guess she’s
having some difficulty locating her.”

Shit. “What did she find out?”

“The address is the same one we have. It belongs
to a Xander Secrist. He and his wife were here that night to pick her up after
the questioning. I believe you accompanied Ms. Singleton to her previous
apartment and then escorted her to their house.”

“Yeah, yeah. They were headed off on a honeymoon,
and she was going to stay at their home while they were gone.”

Noah lifted his brows. “I hope nothing’s happened
to her.”

“Me, too.” He paused a moment, carefully planning
his words so as not to disclose any unnecessary information. “Though I guess if
Castell had gotten to her, he wouldn’t be filing a suit.”

“True,” Noah agreed. “Maybe she got spooked.”

“Probably.” He glanced at the file in front of
him trying to convey a lack of interest to his partner, though his blood
pressure had escalated. “I’m sure they’ll locate her eventually.” Like when
she
had to show up for a court date.

“Eliana did leave a message on her phone. Hopefully,
Ms. Singleton will call back when she gets it. I kind of feel bad for the girl.
First her boyfriend tries to maim her, then
he’s
going to take
her
to court for fighting back. That’s messed up if you ask me.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t want Janie to get that call
before he was there to talk her down. He shoved away from his desk. “I have a
personal errand to run and need to get there before five. I’m going to kick out
of here early.”

“Sure.” Noah fired up his computer. “I’m checking
some emails, and then I’m gone, too.”

Sam grabbed his car keys from his desk and headed
out the door. He tried to keep it casual until he was in the parking garage. He
quickly dialed Christian’s number. “Keep Janie away from her phone until I get
home,” he said when his friend answered. “I’ll tell you why when I get there.”

“Sure,” Christian answered. Sam could hear the
concern in his friend’s voice, but Christian didn’t press him for further
information. “We’re working out. Should be done about the time you get home.”

Great. Sam climbed inside his car and slammed the
door. In the space of a few minutes, his day had gone from hurrying home to
spend time with Janie, to hurrying home to find Janie in close contact with one
of his best friends and having to give her some very difficult news.

Hell.

*        *        *

When Sam arrived, he found Christian alone in the
kitchen. The shades were closed, like they usually were when they had someone
staying in the house, and it left the room in muted shadows. “Where’s Janie?”

“Her bedroom.”

“I thought I’d told you to keep her away from her
phone.” Couldn’t anybody do anything right?

“What am I supposed to do when she says she wants
to take a shower before you get home? Hold her down?”

The thought of Christian holding Janie period
didn’t sit well with him.

“She’s in the shower, not on her phone, okay?”

“Shit.” He sat on one of the barstools. “Okay.” He
needed to calm down, especially before he talked to Janie. If he conveyed how
pissed he was, he’d only make her more upset.

Christian sat next to him. “Tell me what’s going
on.”

“Castell filed assault and battery charges
against Janie.”

“What?” The question exploded out of his mouth,
leaving a look of disbelief on his face. “How the hell can he do that?”

“It doesn’t mean she’ll be convicted. What it
does mean is his friends have been looking for her, and they can’t find her. This
is his way of drawing her out.”

“Because she’ll have to show up in court.”

“Yeah, and then all he has to do is have her followed
her to find her and hurt her.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Christian said with
conviction.

“You know as well as I do the judge has ways to
force her.”

The sound of Janie shutting off the shower echoed
through the house. Sam stood. “I’m going to go change out of these clothes. That
should give her enough time to get dressed.”

Sam only gave her five minutes because at any
given time, she could check her phone. If she was like him, checking was an unconscious
routine, especially if he’d been away from his phone for any length of time.

He knocked on her door, a ball of dread churning
in his stomach, growing stronger with every passing second. It took her a few
moments to answer. She’d dressed in a white t-shirt that hugged her curves and
a pair of faded jeans. Pink-polished toes peeked from beneath her jeans, and
her hair had been combed, but still hung wet. He liked that she’d grown it
longer than when he’d first met her. It suited her.

“Hi,” she said, a smile on her face. Even without
makeup, she had a natural beauty that highlighted her blue eyes. He’d been
looking forward to this moment all day, and now it had been spoiled by Castell.

“Hey. Could I talk to you a moment?”

“Sure. Come in. I need to blow dry my hair real
quick so it doesn’t curl funny. Do you mind waiting?”

He shook his head. If her phone should ring while
he was in her room, he could keep her from talking to Eliana until he had a
chance to soften the blow.

He sat on the bottom of her bed while she
returned to the bathroom. A second later, the hairdryer whirred. From his
vantage point, he could watch her as she leaned forward and dried the
underneath of her hair. He couldn’t resist tracing her curves with his gaze,
enjoying the way her lithe body moved as she straightened and began brushing
her hair smooth. The heated air dispersed the scent of her shampoo throughout
the room, and he inhaled, remembering how he’d felt holding her when they’d
tangled.

The sound stopped abruptly, and she appeared back
in the bedroom, looking fresh and sexy at the same time. She smiled at him, but
it quickly disappeared. “Is something wrong? She took a step closer and then
stopped. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” she said before he could answer. “Tell
me.”