When She Wasn't Looking (12 page)

“I can think of a few things,” Rich said.

Jonas ignored both of them. “How long have I been in here?”

Rich glanced at his watch before answering. “Most of the day.”

“And you?” Jonas asked Courtney.

“Sitting right here, except when I was next door.”

“I didn’t leave her side when the doctor checked her over.” Rich gave the explanation before Jonas’s furor could explode.

“Except when I showered.”

That was the last thing Jonas wanted to think about. Actually, if he was honest, he had to admit it was near the top of his list. The need to protect her and kiss her had merged until he couldn’t separate one from the other.

He had no idea how he’d ever survive being alone with her, but he didn’t have a choice because he was not going anywhere. “We’ll head back to my house—”

“You should stay here. I’m not leaving, and if for some reason I have to head out, Walt has agreed to stay and watch over Courtney.” Rich raised his voice as Jonas shook his head. “We’re not trusting anyone else to watch over the two of you.”

Jonas pushed down the covers until he realized he wore nothing more than a hospital gown. When he pinned Rich down for some answers, he’d add how he got naked to the list.

“We’re leaving,” Jonas said.

Courtney crossed her arms over her stomach and smiled up at Rich. “Told you he’d say that.”

Jonas glanced at both of them. “What?”

Rich shrugged. “She bet me you’d insist on leaving.”

Jonas choked, this time unrelated to smoke. “You took that bet?”

Rich shrugged. “She’d had a hard day. I threw her one.”

Jonas pressed the buzzer for the nurse. “Hand me my clothes. I have a job and some investigating to do. End of conversation.”

“Guess Walt and I will be taking turns watching your house instead of hanging out here.” Rich pulled a bag out of the closet and placed it on the bed in front of Jonas.

“We’ll be fine.” He unsnapped the top and dumped the contents on the bed. “Where is everything else?”

Courtney stood up and scanned the items. “What do you mean?”

“Wallet. Keys. Gun.” He dropped each item on the mattress as he did the inventory. “Where’s my cell?”

“It probably fell out during the blast.” Courtney moved the things around. “Or when you wrestled with that guy.”

Jonas looked at Rich. “Check the scene.”

“What are you thinking here?” Rich asked.

“I don’t know.” But Jonas’s brain kicked into gear. For everything else to be there except his phone didn’t make sense. Having something personal in the hands of someone who didn’t think twice about tackling a police officer made the nerve in his neck throb.

“Can we get back to the part where you think you’re leaving?” Courtney’s eyebrow lifted as she spoke.

“No. Let’s get you home so I can check on Walt.”

Courtney grumbled something about men being idiots. “I want to be clear that I think this is a bad idea. You should stay here.”

Jonas didn’t necessarily disagree with her. “Noted.”

Chapter Fourteen

His craziness was making her paranoid.

After spending what felt like an hour locking the doors and windows of his house, Jonas picked up the new phone he’d grabbed from work and talked with people about the explosion. He gave instructions and revised work schedules. He’d even lectured the sheriff stationed on the street about how best to conduct surveillance on the house.

Only after Jonas traded texts with Rich about the status of the investigation and any leads did he finally sit. But he didn’t stop. He lectured her about staying away from the windows. She listened, hoping he would wear his brain out and drift off to sleep. He finally did.

Now she sat on one end of the sectional sofa and watched him sprawled across the other. Blankets piled in the middle where their feet met. His chest rose and fell in natural breaths. Dark eyelashes touched against the tops of his cheeks.

Even in sleep he looked ready to pounce. Pillows propped him up and a gun lay in easy reach underneath the couch.

When she touched a foot against his and he didn’t move, she took the opportunity to look around. He’d hustled her in here and ran through the floor plan and identified the exits, telling her to memorize everything. Rich had stayed at her back while Jonas checked every cabinet, every last inch of the place.

Now she could see it was an older two-story farmhouse surrounded by trees. The peeling paint and creaky boards on the porch gave it a rustic look. Inside, the floors were clean and the furnishings minimal and dark. White walls, navy sofa and no clutter, except for the dining room that Jonas had set up as a makeshift wood shop.

He’d explained he was in midrenovation. With his work schedule, she guessed it would take a decade to finish, but it had potential. The rooms were large with built-ins and beautiful trim. The yard was nice and deep.

The perfect family house being occupied by a bachelor. She had no idea if that meant something.

She laid her head against the cushions and closed her eyes. The edges burned and the one would not stop watering. Even without reading and looming over her workstation, the fatigue had set in. She’d have to put on the glasses soon. That would test Jonas’s theory about men making passes.

Not that he’d been all that subtle on the subject. He’d been dropping small hints, a stray comment here and there, that let her know about his interest level. A gentle touch against her shoulder to get her attention or a glance that caressed as it swept over her face, both so in contrast with his size and strength.

The mysterious tough-guy type never appealed to her. Oh, she liked to look because men like that did have the best shoulders, but the idea of a relationship with a guy who could bench-press a car made her feel the exact opposite of safe. Physically strong men could inflict pain. She couldn’t fight back if someone like that used his fists.

Her gaze traveled over Jonas’s hand where it lay on his stomach, just touching his belt. Lean fingers, the same ones he’d spread across her back.

She waited for the fear and disgust to bubble up but it never happened. Jonas’s hands made her think about fingertips brushing over bare skin. About heat and light.

A crash like the sound of metal on metal brought her mind flying back to the present. Her feet hit the floor as she sat up and stared through the doorway to the back of the house.

The police were outside. Jonas had set the alarm. The sound was nothing more than a trash can. She repeated the explanation, trying to convince her mind to accept it, until she heard the noise a second time.

She leaned over with her upper body resting on Jonas’s thighs. “Wake up.”

His hand slipped into her hair as his legs shifted to give her more space.

“Jonas.” Her whisper bordered on frantic now. She couldn’t keep that anxiety from crashing over her and coming out in her voice. “Please, get up.”

His body stilled as his hand dropped to his side. “I’m not sleeping.”

“We have a problem.”

“What?” The sleepiness hadn’t faded from his voice.

“I hear something.”

His eyes popped open as he struggled to sit up despite her weight pushing him into the cushions. “Where?”

“Out back, upstairs. I don’t really know.”

He eased her off of him and sat up, slipping his feet into the sneakers he’d left by the couch. “Describe it.”

“A bang.” She tried to call it up from memory but couldn’t. Fear made her dizzy. “It could have been the wind, but I thought someone was trying to get in.”

“That’s definitely a problem.” He stood up in a fluid movement, feet on the floor and a gun in his hand. No limping or groaning.

No one would ever guess what his body had been through over the past two days. He controlled each muscle with ease.

“Give me a direction,” he said.

She called up a diagram in her head, but locating the source after the fact proved tough. She thought she knew, but wasn’t willing to risk his life on a maybe. “Call for backup. Let someone else skulk around out there in the dark.”

“If someone is in here, the silent alarm has been tripped.” He reached down and swiped his phone off the coffee table.

The tapping of his fingers against the screen screamed like a freight train through the room. She knew it was her imagination, but the walls closed in, anyway.

He tucked the phone into his back pocket. “And now the not-so-silent alarm is going off at the station. They should be here in a minute since the station is right around the corner.”

The idea of carloads of police officers descending on the property actually appealed to her. Since meeting Jonas she welcomed law enforcement into her life. Well, some.

She slipped her fingers under his elbow and prepared for a verbal battle waged in hushed tones. “We should get out of here.”

Instead, he nodded. “Agreed.”

His answer stunned her. He was the race-in-and-solve-it type. Several times since she’d met him, the world fell apart and he worked alone to get it up and spinning again. This time he used common sense.

She was immediately suspicious. “What are you doing?”

He pushed her behind him and covered her as they walked backward to the front door. “Getting you out of here.”

“You’re coming with me?”

“Yes.”

She grabbed on to the back of his shirt. “Why aren’t you fighting me?”

“I’m trying to be realistic.”

“Not what I was expecting.”

“My body is done. Taking this threat on alone could get us both killed.” He stole a quick look out the narrow window that ran parallel to the front door. “And, believe it or not, I’d like to go an hour or two without a homicide on my watch.”

Doubt nibbled at the edges of her brain. “Maybe I imagined it.”

“No.” He slipped an arm by her and turned the knob. “I believe you.”

The door opened and a cool, damp wind pressed against her back. As soon as her feet landed on the porch, Jonas signaled to the guy in the sheriff’s car. The guy shut the door and shot across the lawn toward them.

“What’s wrong?” The man scanned the yard with wide eyes as he walked up the wide front steps.

Jonas tried to set her away from him. “Put Ms. Allen in your car.”

She kept her death grip on his arm. “You promised.”

“I actually didn’t, but I’m not going in alone.” He waved for the sheriff to come closer. “Someone is in the house.”

The guy froze in midstep. “But how—”

Four police cars raced down the street with sirens blaring and lights flashing. The noise was enough to bring every neighbor running. Front doors opened and people spilled out onto their porches and driveways.

The familiar scene had Courtney’s head spinning. People talking and watching. All the judging and questions, and once again much of it aimed in her direction. Her mind spun until it landed on that night years ago.

“This is different.” Jonas whispered the thought against her ear.

“I know.” She swallowed back the choking anxiety and tried to focus on the positive. The show of neighbor support might be a good thing. Anything to scare the intruder away worked for her.

But Jonas didn’t stay calm, either. He exhaled and swore at the same time. “Damn.”

“What is it?”

“The guys were supposed to come in quiet.” Jonas glanced up at his second floor. “We’ll never catch the intruder now.”

Rich jogged up the lawn with two officers right behind. “Now what?”

Jonas whipped around then pressed his hand to the bandage on his forehead. “Potential intruder.”

“Did your alarm go off?” When Jonas gave a short shake of his head, Rich tried again. “Did you see him?”

“I heard him.” She stared at the police and sheriff cars clogging the street. She counted eight. “But you’ll get him, right? I mean, how does he get past all of this?”

“I have a feeling he’s gone.” Jonas blew out a harsh breath then started pointing. “Okay, surround the house. We need to go in hard. Someone is in there.”

Before she could protest, Rich jumped in. “You mean
we
need to. You’re staying here.”

Jonas made a noise that sounded a lot like a growl. “Rich—”

“I’m overruling you on this and you know I’m right.” Rich turned around and motioned for the policemen to gather around.

“Fine,” Jonas said through clenched teeth before he pushed his way into the center of the circle.

He issued clear, short orders in seconds. When he lifted his head again, the men spread out. They all wore vests and carried guns. Groups of two went around each side of the house. Rich and another man she didn’t recognize slipped through the front door, one after the other, all while Jonas talked on police radios about blocking the street and clearing out the neighbors for their safety.

When he looked back at his house, a nerve twitched in his cheek. She knew standing on the sidelines killed him. For a man like Jonas, watching ripped against the grain. He didn’t send in another man to fight his battles. He waded in on his own.

She admired that. Admired almost everything about him, actually.

She heard shouts from inside the house. “I hope I didn’t imagine it.”

He finally glanced at her. “Do you think you did?”

“I honestly don’t know anymore, Jonas. So much has happened in the past two days.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight against his side. With his mouth close to her ear, he whispered, “I trust you.”

The word zinged right to her heart. She searched her mind, tried to remember if anyone had ever said that to her. Not since she turned twenty. She’d spent many years throwing out theories and ideas about her father and people discounted them. Except for her work, where she ruled with a soft hand and no one questioned her, she expected people not to listen to her.

Rich stepped out onto the porch, his boots clomping against the old wood. “Jonas, there’s no one in there.”

Her stomach fell. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Jonas squeezed her shoulder before his arm dropped. “Anything missing?”

“You’ll have to check, but nothing obvious.” Rich marched down the steps, ripping the Velcro on his vest as he went.