All Due Respect (20 page)

“Marriage is forever,” he said. “Forgetting that could be unhealthy. For you … and for Jeff.”

Her stomach lurched. Dear God, he knew about Jeff, too? How on earth could he know about Jeff, too? He had to have had some of his cop friends watching her.

What difference does it make how he knows? He knows. He always knows about everything. You know that, Julia.

Impossible.

Oh, really? Well, just when did you tell him you worked in the Black World?

The security breaches and Benedetto. He did know about the breaches and Benedetto.

Uh-huh. So when did you tell him?

She never had. He’d known that she worked for the DoD—but no one outside of high-level Department of Defense personnel and the President of the United States knew she was involved in the Black World. No one else, except the others in it, working alongside her.

So how did Karl know?

She had no idea.

“Jeff’s a cute kid,” Karl said. “Damn shame I’m going to have to use him to keep you in line. Getting a willful woman to toe the line’s a real pain in the ass.”

Use Jeff? Over her dead body. “You leave Jeff alone, Karl. I mean it.”

“Or what?” He rounded on her. “What are you gonna do, little girl?”

“I am not a little girl.” She jerked the restraining order, waving it at him. “I’m a grown woman, and I’m not the same woman you used to terrify.”

He gave her a wicked smile.. “You’re standing there shaking in your shoes, and you’re gonna tell me you’re not scared?” He stepped toward her. “Sugar, let me tell you something. If you’ve got any smarts at all left in your scrambled head, you goddamn well better be scared of me.” He leaned closer, nose to nose, and whispered. “I’m your worst nightmare, and I’m back in your life for good.”

Every instinct in her body warned Julia to run. But she couldn’t run; the world wasn’t big enough to hide her. Not with Karl and his connections. She tried that once and had nearly died three times. Only a fool would try it again.

Dragging up every ounce of courage she possessed, she glared into his eyes. “Leave Jeff alone. His father already makes his life a living hell, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you from making it any worse.”

Surprise flickered through Karl’s eyes. “Well, I’ll be damned. You love the brat. You, Holt, and the brat. Now, isn’t that something? Got you a real little family going here, huh, Julia?”

She held her glare, and said nothing.

“Good. Protect him. Hell, protect them both.” Karl rubbed at his jaw. ” ‘Course, you protected Holt once and that didn’t work out too well for you. But, hey, maybe you learned some tips and this time you’ll do better.”

He stood so close she could smell him; a smell that triggered a memory. The hammer attack. The man who had knocked her off balance, tossed the hammer at Seth. It re

ally had been Karl. His smell. That’s why she had blocked the memory.

The stubble on his unshaven face rustled under his hand, and she sensed the wheels turning inside his mind. He would force her into doing what he wanted, using Jeff and Seth as weapons.

When does it end, Seth? Does it ever end?

It ends, honey. When you choose to make it end, and not a minute before. You have to decide how much power you give the fear …

She couldn’t choose to allow Karl to use force against her, or allow him to use Seth or Jeff as weapons to control her. She had to choose to refuse.

Anticipating Karl’s reaction, she braced. “You have no place in my life anymore. I want you out of my house. Now.”

He punched her.

Reeling from the blow, she lost her footing, stumbled against the back of the sofa and grabbed hold to steady herself. Her jaw throbbed, her teeth ached, her eyes teared, and she couldn’t quite focus.

God, how she regretted not learning to defend herself.

“Don’t give me orders, Julia Hyde.” Cold fury narrowed Karl’s eyes. “Don’t you ever give me orders. You tossed my ass in jail and put me through hell. Well, your hell starts now.”

He shoved her toward the kitchen. “Get me some food.”

She banged a hip and elbow against the cabinet. Pain streaked through her whole left side, hip to shoulder, stole her breath. Tears filmed her eyes and she blinked hard: she was damned if he would get that satisfaction from her, too.

How had this happened? What could she have done differently to have prevented it?

More importantly, what did she do now to get out of it?

Needing comfort so she could think, she grabbed the pasta pot from the cabinet, filled it with water, and then set it on the stove, looking longingly at the phone. If she called the police, she would be dead before they could get here.

She was no match for Karl physically. She had to get out of the house—before he got any more wound up. Already he was pacing. That was his pattern. Get in those verbal digs, slap or punch her, and then pace. After pacing came sitting and brooding, and then the serious cursing. After the serious cursing …

No, she had to get out of here before he got to serious cursing. At the stove, she watched Karl from the corner of her eye. He turned the television on ESPN, cranked back in a recliner and put his feet up, the remote in his hand. Some hockey game blared, and Karl brooded, muttering curses on her head.

She watched. Waited. Worried. And watched some more. When he seemed mesmerized by what was happening on the screen, she made it to the sliding door. Her heart pounded hard, threatening to thud right out of her chest. If he caught her, he’d beat her senseless. Maybe, to death.

Stay or go. Either way, you’re going to get beaten.

No. She stared into the pot of heating water. No, not again. She turned the burner knob. It clicked off.

Then go, Julia. If you go, at least you’ve got a chance. Go, Julia. Run!

She inched the door open, slid through, then softly closed it behind her. As soon as the lock caught, she turned and ran blindly into the night.

Stay away from the street. Watch out for the lights. He’ll see you!

She hugged the houses, hoping to hell someone didn’t mistake her for a prowler and shoot her. Checking behind her, she didn’t see him following her. She didn’t see anyone. Still, she ran. And ran, wishing she knew where to go, what to do.

Seth.

She had no choice. She had to warn him. Get his help. Karl would go after Jeff. Maybe after Seth, too. Karl clearly still believed that they had, and were still having, an affair.

Disappointment warred with a stitch in her side, battling for her attention. She pressed a hand against the ache and

ran on. Not contacting Seth during the past three years had done no good whatsoever. The scary part was that if Karl hadn’t disabused himself of the idea of an affair by now, a TNT blast wouldn’t rid him of the notion. She couldn’t let him blindside Seth, and they had to protect Jeff.

Headlights shone behind her. Julia ducked behind a hedge and dropped flat on her stomach on the muddy ground, breathing hard against a sprinkler head, digging into her ribs and still bubbling water, soaking the hedge. Hearing an engine running, she peeked through the thick, wet leaves. A car crept down the street.

Her car.

JULIA stumbled into a service station.

The young man behind the counter, wearing a baseball cap, gave her a wary look. Winded and muddy from running, sprawling on the ground, and sliding under bushes to avoid Karl, she smiled to assure the clerk she posed no threat. “Where’s the phone?”

“Outside, around the corner.” He motioned left.

“Thanks.” She nodded, then went back outside. The lights were bright, making her an easy target.

What was she going to do about Jeff?

She could go to Matthew, but that still left Seth vulnerable. He deserved to know the truth. He needed to know the truth, and he could call and speak directly to Jeff.

God help her, she had to tell him every dirty detail.

First, you have to get to him.

She dialed the operator.

“May I help you.”

“I need to place a call and charge it to my home phone.”

“Is someone there to accept the charges?”

“No, I’m single.” She stretched to peek around the corner. All clear.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Unless someone at your home number authorizes the call, I can’t connect you.”

Julia stared heavenward. “Obviously, I’m not there or I wouldn’t need to forward charges.”

“Do you have a calling card?”

“Not with me.” She couldn’t say it was an emergency. Karl could have a scanner and intercept the call. He had to be Jeff’s “mean” man. But why involve Jeff? Julia stared out at the street, at the cars passing by. So far, so good. “I can give you whatever information you need, just let me place this call. Please.” Julia reeled off her number.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” The operator paused a moment. “Could you verify your home number, please?”

Julia repeated the number. Checked the street. A gangly kid was walking his dog; a woman was pumping gas into her station wagon.

“This number belongs to a man.”

Seth had put the phone in his name. “Seth Holt. Dr. Seth Holt.”

“Do you have Dr. Holt’s permission to make the call?”

“No, I don’t, but—”

“Sorry, ma’am.” The operator hung up.

Fuming, Julia let her head loll back. You can’t afford more tension.

Okay. Okay. She’d just call Seth collect, then.

She dialed the number. When the operator came on the line, she said, “Collect, please. From Dr. Julia Warner.”

He answered on the second ring. “Holt.”

The operator got authorization for the charge, then hung up, and suddenly it all became too much. Julia slumped against the cinder-block wall. “Seth, I need help.”

“Where are you?” Worry and fear filled his voice.

She sniffled. “At a gas station on the corner of Sandy Hill and Old Murphy Road. Can you come get me?”

“Where’s your car?”

Decision time. Did she tell him the truth, or lie? “Please, just come get me.” She swallowed hard. “Hurry, Seth. I— I’m in trouble.”

“Five minutes.” He hung up the phone.

She set the receiver back on the hook, then stepped back, deeper into the shadows, and watched the cars come and go from the store, praying not to see her own. “Hurry,

Seth,” she whispered, folding her good arm over her chest against the damp night air and the fear. “Please, hurry.”

Hoping Karl was searching in the opposite direction, toward the vault, she again lifted the receiver. She had to try to warn Camden. Dialing the operator, she placed the call.

Camden answered. “Yeah, hello.”

“Will you accept a collect call from Dr. Julia Warner?”

Surprise tinged his voice. “Yeah.”

“Thank you, sir. Go ahead, ma’am.”

Julia swallowed hard. “Mr. Camden, I’m sorry to have to phone collect, but I had to warn you that Jeff may be in danger.”

“What kind of danger?”

God, but this was hard for Julia to say aloud. Until now, she never had. Not once. “My ex-husband is trying to force me back into the marriage. If I don’t agree, he’s threatened to hurt Jeff.”

“A crazy married to a crazy.” Camden guffawed. “I’m sure he’s bluffing, Dr. Hyde.”

Julia gritted her teeth, bore the barb. Where was Camden’s concern? His fear for his son’s safety? “This man doesn’t bluff.” For Jeff’s sake, she had to convince him. “He’s already violated a restraining order.”

“I see.”

Hardly. He sounded haughty, and not at all convinced. What more could she do? “Please take this seriously and keep a close watch on Jeff. You have no idea what this man is capable of doing.” Her voice went thick. “I’m afraid for Jeff, Mr. Camden.” She was terrified for all of them— Jeff, Seth, and herself.

“Okay, Dr. Hyde. Thanks for calling.”

Dr. Hyde. He hadn’t heard a word she’d said. “Mr. Camden, don’t blow this off. I’m telling you, the man is dangerous.”

“I heard you.”

“Please tell Jeff … to be careful.”

“Sure thing.” He muttered something she didn’t catch, then hung up the phone.

The dial tone droned in her ear. Julia slammed the receiver onto its hook. Stupid bastard. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He wouldn’t tell Jeff. Wouldn’t do anything except gloat because she was having domestic difficulties. He was accustomed to domestic difficulties. Hell, he’d perpetrated them in his own family.

The wind whipped her hair into her eyes. Smoothing it back, she brushed against her jaw, and winced. It was already sore. Angry, resentful, scared stiff, she looked around the corner of the building to the street. Still no sign. By now, Karl had to realize she had avoided going to the lab or to Seth’s house. “Damn it, Seth. Hurry!”

SETH swerved into the gas station and slammed on the brakes. A truck and two cars outside—neither was Julia’s. He shoved the gearshift into park and got out of the Lex us.

Julia ran toward him from around the corner. Mud and bits of grass clung to her blue skirt and white blouse—the clothes she had worn to work that day. She stepped into the light. Wet and barefoot? No, she had on stockings. They looked like shredded wheat. “What happened to you?”

She ran around to the passenger’s side of the car. “Were you followed?”

“No.” He stood beside the car.

“Get in, Seth. Please.”

She slammed her door shut, reached for her safety belt.

Seth got back in the car, noticed her left arm lay crooked and limp, braced against her side. “Julia, I’m not moving this car until you tell me what’s going—” He stopped suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and his voice elevated. “Where did you get that bruise?”

“Don’t yell at me.” She buried her face in her right hand. “Just go. Please. I’ll explain in a minute, just get me away from here.”

Seth popped the gearshift into drive and took off, automatically checking his rearview mirror to make sure he wasn’t being followed. “I want to know what happened to your face, Julia.”

“I got mugged.” She wrenched around to look behind them. “He took my car.”

“Did you call the police?” Seth braked for a stop sign.

Julia darted her gaze side to side, front to back. “I couldn’t.”

“Why the hell not?”