Be on the Lookout (7 page)

“What?” Jonathan felt his muscles tense again. Getting warm, ready to attack. “Why would he do that?”

He looked down at Kate's relaxed face.

“I can only make a few guesses, and that would take up time we don't have.” The warning behind Jake's words amplified the urgency Jonathan had carried moments before. “Text me the hotel address and room number. I need to make some calls on the way over there.”

Jonathan's instinct to protect the privacy of his client flared to life.

“What's going on? Is she going to be okay?”

“No. Not if you play hardball with me,” he spit out. “If you make me go through the trouble of tracing this call, we're going to lose minutes that could save her.”

“Listen, buddy, I don't even know who you are,” Jonathan pointed out.

Jake let out an aggravated sigh of frustration, barely dimmed by the sound of a car door shutting.

“You don't know me, but Kate does,” he said. “She wanted you to call me and not the authorities because I know why she's in New York. I can't imagine she even told you that last part, did she?”

“The convention—” Jonathan started. The man was quick to interrupt.

“Is only the tip of the iceberg.”

Chapter Twelve

Jonathan carefully picked up Kate's naked body and moved her to the bed. In any other situation, that alone would have been exhilarating in its own right. Taking a beautiful woman to bed without a stitch of clothing on her body would be followed by him joining her, also sans clothes.

However, Jonathan wasn't aroused in the least.

Instead, he was close to overwhelmed with concern.

“Don't worry, Kate,” Jonathan whispered as he pulled the sheets and blanket up to her shoulders. “I'm going to fix this. Whatever this is.”

Kate remained as unresponsive as she had been when he'd first found her. A fleeting thought that he should dress her crossed his mind, but he batted it away, afraid that jostling her too much might worsen her condition.

Not that he knew what her condition was, except that someone had injected her with something that had left her unconscious.

He looked once again at her relaxed face—peaceful—and was bowled over by how beautiful she was. The concern he felt for her future ran deep. How had a woman he'd only known for two days gotten so far beneath his skin? Was that even possible?

He watched as the sheets moved up and down as she breathed softly.

Yes, somehow it was possible.

Jonathan didn't leave her side until a knock sounded on the door to his room. He gave her one more quick look before going through the adjoining room—shutting the door behind him—and heading to answer the knock. His body was tense, like a snake readying to strike at the first sign of a threat. He peered through the peephole to see a man standing by himself.

Jonathan pushed aside the lingering fear that he had made a huge mistake in listening to Kate's text and opened the door.

Jonathan placed Jake around the same age as him. He was shorter, around six feet, but lean just like him. Jonathan bet the black blazer that matched his slacks hid toned muscles that worked in tandem with a trained posture. Beneath the blazer was a white button-up and a black-and-dark-blue-striped tie. The outfit was finished off with dress shoes that almost reflected the hallway lights. His hair was also neat, dark blond and cropped short, while his face was cleanly shaven. Even his eyes, a pale blue, seemed to be proper. Jonathan would bet money this guy was some type of law enforcement. Then again, that didn't mean Jonathan trusted him any more in the moment.

“Where is she?” the man greeted, body already angling like he had been invited inside. Even though he didn't introduce himself, his voice matched the one on the phone. But Jonathan had to be sure he could trust him before allowing him anywhere near Kate.

“How do I even know if you're here to help?” Jonathan asked, voice as cold as steel.

The man didn't hide his frustration. It turned his expression into a scowl.

“You don't,” he admitted. “But I swear to you if Kate dies while you're out here trying to be a good bodyguard, then wouldn't that be a kick in the professional ass?”

There was no humor in his words, just sincerity.

It was that sureness that made Jonathan turn around, key card already in hand for the adjoining door.

“If you do
anything
I think is hurting her, I'll kill you,” Jonathan growled.

The man followed him into the room.

“I thought bodyguards protected, not killed.”

“I'd make the exception for her.”

Jake didn't respond as they moved to the other room.

“I moved her off the floor,” Jonathan said, pointing out the obvious just in case it affected whatever magic Jake was supposed to generate to fix the situation. “She had just gotten out of the shower.”

Jake went over to Kate so fast that Jonathan fisted his hands. He kept the man's pace and watched as he bent over her.

“Careful,” Jonathan warned. Jake didn't pause in his actions. He turned her head carefully to the side to look at the mark on her neck himself. It lasted less than a second.

“This paramedic looked her over after the car ran Greg down?” he asked, attention falling away from Kate.

“Yes,” Jonathan answered, surprised. “How did you know about the accident?”

Jake pointed his thumb back at Kate.

“She called me after it happened.” Jonathan connected the dots. So Jake had been the close friend Kate had called to go to the hospital when she couldn't. That eased some of Jonathan's suspicion of the man. But only some. “I'm working on a project with Greg here in New York,” he added, as if that explained anything, but Jonathan was only concerned about one thing.

“So what's wrong with Kate?”

For the first time since the man had walked through the door, he looked Jonathan straight in the eyes.

“How seriously do you take your job as her bodyguard?”

Jonathan squared his shoulders.

“Very.”

“Then we need to leave
now
.” Jake was already walking away, head lowered in an obvious show of determination. But, once again, nothing was being explained.

“Wait, leave?”

Jake turned quick, angry.

“Listen here—” he started, but Jonathan had had enough. He pushed the man until his back slammed into the wall. He didn't stop there, lifting him slightly by the collar of his shirt.

“No, you listen here,” Jonathan fumed. “I don't know you, I don't even know your last name and I don't know where it is you expect me to go. But I'll tell you right now, I'm not one of those people who run on pure faith alone. I need some answers.”

Jonathan's adrenaline was pumping through his veins. He could have done some serious damage to the man—shown him exactly how physical suspicion could be—but Jonathan was letting one fact and one fact alone hold his anger back.

Kate had asked him to call the man.

Jake appeared to be wrangling his own knee-jerk reactions. When he spoke there was a sharp edge to his words.

“My name is Jake Harper and I'm a federal agent. My badge is in my blazer pocket, right side,” he explained. Jonathan lowered the man back to the ground and motioned for him to show said badge. He pulled out the black flip wallet and, just as he said, Jake Harper, FBI, was on it. “I've known Kate since she was eight, and I've worked with Greg for the last five years.”

“You know what she was injected with,” Jonathan stated.

Jake nodded.

“I wouldn't have, had she gone to the hospital, but if she truly asked you to call me instead, then she must know I can help. And there's only one thing I would even guess could make her drop like that.” He put his badge back into his pocket. Jonathan caught a glimpse of the holstered gun beneath his jacket. “If I'm right, and there's a good chance I am, then we need to give her another specific injection from Greg's lab.”

“And if we don't?” Jonathan was almost afraid to ask.

“Then she dies.” Jake didn't pause to let that sink in. “So, bodyguard, you said you were willing to kill for her. Now the question is, are you willing to help steal for her?”

* * *

I
T
WAS
RAINING
.

The pitter-patter of drops hitting the tin roof was an ocean of sound around her, filling the tiny bedroom with comforting white noise. The soft glow of her bedside lamp projected hundreds of tiny stars on the ceiling. She looked up at them from where she'd fallen asleep on the rug and drew a line in the air connecting a cluster, creating Orion's belt with ease. She'd never been able to spot the constellation before, but now she was sure of how its placement looked. It made her happy, though she couldn't figure out why.

The rain got harder and tore her attention away. She heard a distant slam followed by voices. Quickly, she jumped up and crawled into bed. She wasn't supposed to be awake.

The rain got even harder and the stars went out, bathing everything in darkness. Something was wrong. Fear twisted around her heart at the sound of footsteps in the hallway. They weren't heavy like a man's, but softer. Excitement banished all fear. The star lights flashed back on and even the rain quieted as the door to the bedroom cracked open. A woman's face appeared in the space, searching for her.

“Kate, aren't you supposed to be asleep?”

Kate giggled.

“Mom, I was waiting for you,” she said matter-of-factly. “You were gone for a long time!”

Cassandra opened the door wide, already kicking off her boots and throwing her jacket to the floor. She came up to the bed and said, “Scoot!”

Kate did as she was told and soon they were both squeezed into the twin-size bed. Kate didn't mind one bit.

“I told you not to wait up for me,” Cassandra said, putting her arm around Kate and smooshing her into her side. “You have your first day of third grade tomorrow. You're going to be tired.” Cassandra tickled her side a few times until Kate laughed.

The sound became so loud it blocked out all other noises. The stars flickered. A wave of cold wrapped around Kate.

“Don't be scared,” Cassandra whispered.

And then everything felt right in the room.

“I'm not scared,” Kate said, pouting. She didn't want her mother to think she wasn't strong. She slid her hand down to the badge on her belt and ran her finger over the gold. She'd always loved tracing the three letters with her fingertips.

Cassandra kissed the top of Kate's head.

“Just because someone's scared doesn't mean they aren't strong.”

Kate felt her cheeks heat, embarrassed that she'd had to be taught a lesson and hadn't learned it on her own.

“Jake says
he's
not afraid of anything, because his dad gave him a badge like his to carry around,” Kate said. Cassandra laughed, but the sound was off. Like being underwater. Kate tilted her head up to see what the cause was. Cassandra's eyes were closed, lips turned downward like she was sleeping.

“Mom?” Kate whispered.

Cassandra didn't move.

“Is that what you want? A badge?” she asked, and though her lips still didn't move, Kate knew it was her mother asking. Her voice filled the small room like it was coming through a school intercom. She felt a finger press lightly against her temple. It was cold. “Because I believe
this
is your greatest weapon, and you should, too. You're smart and clever and the world will quake beneath your feet if you ever decide to conquer it.”

The frozen Cassandra thawed in a fit of laughter. Kate joined in, liking the way the sounds harmonized.

“If I ruled the world, I'd make everyone have brownies for dinner,” Kate said. “And bedtime would be whenever I wanted.”

“That's my girl.”

She looked up to see if her mother really did approve, but Cassandra was gone. Kate scrambled out of bed, trying to escape the growing feeling that something terrible had happened. Something was horribly wrong. She ran through the doorway, with her parents' room in mind, when suddenly she was no longer in her house.

Where she was now smelled old and weird. Half of it Kate could process, the other half she didn't understand. It was dark, too.

Someone tugged at her hand.

She turned her head to see them.

“Kate?”

Jonathan was staring back at her, blue eyes nearly lost in the darkness around them.

“Where's Jake?” she asked, unease building into panic. “We rode our bikes here.”

Jonathan didn't seem to care. Instead he looked over her head, focusing on something with interest. Kate turned and saw what caught his eye. A figure in the distance, sitting in an open room all alone.

“We shouldn't go in there,” Jake's voice whispered now at her side. There was real fear in it. Fear that coursed through their hands held together. “We need to go get help.”

“Just because we're scared doesn't mean we aren't strong,” Kate chanted. She started forward, slowly moving closer to the person in the chair.

Kate heard Jake follow—heard his footsteps echo in the abandoned building—and felt braver. She could be strong just like her mom. She could find out who the person was. She could help them.

The closer she came, though, the farther away she ended up. The never-ending hallway became darker and darker until the old building, Jake and the person in the chair disappeared altogether.

“Don't worry, Kate,” Jonathan's voice said, now the only thing around her. “I'm going to fix this.”

One by one the stars on the ceiling turned back on. Kate was back in her bedroom, but this time it was different. Sitting on the rug, tears in her eyes, was a little girl dressed in black. Between her small hands was a shiny gold badge.

Jonathan's words continued to echo around the two of them. They were strong and powerful, but Kate knew they were just words.

“You can't fix this,” she whispered. “No one can.”