By Starlight (25 page)

“Maddy…,” he gasped. “Your touch is almost more…​than I can bear…”

Jack’s fingers passed over a spot between her legs that made stars dance before her eyes; she knew exactly what he meant.

With her breath coming short and fast, as sweat began to bead on her brow and chest, and as her longing for Jack grew to the point where she believed she could no longer contain it, Maddy spread her legs as he shifted on the bed and rose above her.

“I love you, Maddy,” he said with a glimmer in his eye that reminded her of the boy she’d known years ago.

“And I love you,” she answered. “I always will.”

Slowly and carefully, Jack began to enter her. When a wave of pain momentarily washed over her, she forced herself to relax, and soon began to feel a sensation she’d never known before. She gasped and tossed her head back on the pillow, her chest arched. Pleasure mingled with the last remnants of discomfort as Jack eased himself all of the way inside her. With his face buried in the crook of her neck, he began to dot her skin with kisses, his breath hot in her ear.

“Are you all right?” Jack asked. “If it hurts you too much…”

In answer, Maddy pulled him as close as she could, her hands reaching across his broad back, her fingers digging into the tight, muscled flesh. She knew in her heart that this was the beginning of the future she’d craved for so long, had been wanting ever since Jack had boarded the train for Boston. Now they’d never be apart again.

Jack began to move inside her, slowly at first, his hips sliding up and then back down again, rhythmically. Soon he began to go faster as his own excitement grew, his breathing ragged. Maddy’s hands raced all over him, from his forearms to his shoulders, and then from his hips across his chest. Everything felt so wonderful, so fulfilling, that she didn’t ever want it to stop. In time, her movements began to synchronize with his; when he moved away, she did the same, then came back to meet him, their sweat-slickened bodies meeting together.

As their lovemaking grew more frenzied, Maddy struggled to keep quiet. The pleasure boiled inside her frantic to be released, the pressure building. She turned her head, doing her best to stifle her cries.

On and on, Maddy’s pleasure rose, like a tornado pulling her toward the sky. Finally, Jack’s breathing grew stronger and his movements faster; she knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

“Maddy…,” he managed.

She leaned up to kiss him, and the moment their lips met Jack’s body shuddered, the convulsions rippling across his body, and Maddy felt a warmth fill her, answered by a quivering of her own.

“Jack! Oh, Jack!” she whispered fiercely.

When their ecstasy finally subsided, Jack let his weight down, gently resting on top of her, while Maddy held him tight, never wanting this night to end. Everything that she’d suffered, every night she had spent wondering what could possibly have gone wrong between them, vanished in an instant. This was what she’d desperately wanted, had waited her whole life for: she and Jack together as man and woman.

This
is what love is.

YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING
!”

Maddy laughed out loud, walking beside Jack down the darkened streets toward home. They made their way under a brilliant sky, starlight pouring down all around them, the moon a winking sliver in the east. The breeze rustled branches, kissed her skin and swirled the hem of her skirt, cooled the summer night and caused the dew to shimmer on the grass.

After making love to Jack, Maddy had lain in bed beside him, talking for hours, sharing memories as well as soft kisses. She’d wanted to spend the night nestled beside him, but Jack worried about what people would think if they found out, especially her father, so even though it was almost three o’clock in the morning, he’d insisted on walking her home.

And it was then, walking hand in hand under the stars, that she’d told him a secret of her own…

“I mean it!” Maddy insisted. “I really thought you were a gangster!”

“What in heaven’s name would’ve given you that crazy idea?” Jack asked incredulously, although he
was
smiling.

“It’s because of what you said in the alleyway behind the store,” she explained. “You were being so secretive about why you were back in Colton and wouldn’t give me a straight answer. You’ve got no one to blame but yourself!”

“But why would you leap to such a ridiculous conclusion?”

“Because when you started talking about how you didn’t want to imagine what your boss would do to you if anyone found out the truth, it was the only explanation I could come up with!”

Jack laughed again. “Wouldn’t my lieutenant love to hear that…”

“Considering what you gave me to work with,” Maddy said, joining in the fun, “I think it was a pretty good guess.”

“That’s because you’ve read too many dime novels and go to the movies too often.”

“You forgot radio shows,” she added, remembering the preacher’s rant against organized crime.

“Those too!”

“Well, I’m sorry to say you couldn’t be more wrong,” Maddy explained. “As a matter of fact, the one person who came to your defense and said I was jumping to wild conclusions was Helen, and the
only
thing she likes to do is bury her nose in those horrid gossip magazines.”

“Why did she stand up for me?”

Maddy blushed a little. “She said that you were too handsome.”

“I’m not going to argue with her on that count!”

“I bet you wouldn’t,” she kidded him. “Was what you told Helen the truth? Have you really been to Hollywood?”

Jack nodded. “I was working, so I didn’t get to see all the glamorous places the tourists go, but from what I saw of the place, it isn’t the paradise your sister thinks it is.”

Listening to Jack talk so casually about traveling to some faraway place she’d only read about, Maddy wondered what was going to happen between them now, especially after what they’d just done. From this moment on, things would be different, forever…They’d declared their love, had willingly given their hearts and bodies to each other, but there was still much that was unsettled. Difficult decisions still needed to be made. Could she truly ask him to stay in quiet little Colton with her after he’d seen the world? Would he have to give up his job? Was she ready to follow him? Could she live somewhere as big and bustling as Chicago or Los Angeles? What about her father and Helen? Though she desperately wanted answers for all her questions, and many more to boot, Maddy knew that now was not the right time.

But soon…

“Were you angry that I thought you could be a criminal?” she asked instead.

“A little,” Jack said with a wink.

“That’ll teach you to keep secrets from me.” She laughed, slipping her arm into his, putting her head on his shoulder, and smiling contentedly.

Listening to Maddy laugh, Jack stole a glance at her beneath the star-filled sky and couldn’t help but think that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was breathtaking. He felt just as he had when they were younger, when he felt lucky to simply be by her side, when one smile from her would keep him up half the night, when the sound of her voice was music to his ears.

But what happens tomorrow?

Jack hated himself for thinking about it, especially since they’d just consummated their love, but he knew that they’d soon have to make a decision. Could he leave the Bureau? If he asked, would she come with him?

Suddenly Jack stopped, his thoughts interrupted by a sound that grabbed hold of his attention and refused to let go.

“What’s wrong?” Maddy asked.

They stood opposite the bank, in nearly the same spot where Jack had watched customers heading for the speakeasy the first night he’d been back in Colton; but tonight they were the only people about.

“I thought I heard something,” he replied.

“What was it?”

Before he could answer, Jack heard the noise again; this time it sounded closer, clearer.

It was the throb of a vehicle with a big engine, its gears grinding as they were shifted. Jack knew exactly what was happening.

Jeffers was moving the booze.

For a moment Jack thought about turning away, to walk Maddy home and deal with things in the morning. After all, he had her safety to consider, and besides, there was a chance he was mistaken. But in his heart, he knew he was lying to himself. He was still an agent of the Bureau of Prohibition and it was his job to uphold the law, regardless of how inconvenient that might be.

“You’re going to have to go on without me,” he said to Maddy.

“Why?” she asked, confused. “What’s wrong?”

Jack didn’t want to tell her any more than he had to, but he knew that she’d keep asking questions until he gave her something. “It’s Jeffers,” he said reluctantly. “I think he’s moving the liquor out of the cellar.”

“Then we have to stop him!” Maddy answered immediately, and with great determination.

“This is my responsibility, not yours,” Jack explained. “No matter what, I don’t want you to get involved. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m not a child!”

“Maddy, you’re too important to me for you to take the risk.”

“But this is my fault!” she pointedly argued. “Jeffers isn’t just breaking the law by smuggling alcohol into the country; he’s hiding it in my family’s store. He’s used me to get rich! And even though you’ve decided that I shouldn’t be arrested for what I’ve done, that doesn’t mean I’m not guilty for the part I’ve played in all of this. Because of that, I’m going to help you.”

“Just listen for a—”

“I’m not leaving,” she cut him off, the look in her eye almost daring him to say more.

Jack sighed, knowing that he couldn’t win. “Stay close to me and don’t make a sound,” he finally said. “I need to see exactly what they’re up to.”

Quickly but quietly he and Maddy made their way up the darkened street, ducking into doorways shrouded in thick shadows before scurrying forward along the sidewalk, heading toward the mercantile. Even at such a late hour, Jack didn’t want to take any chance of their being seen. From somewhere ahead of them he again heard the sound of a truck complaining as its gears were forced into place, followed by the growl of a large engine. With every step, he became more and more convinced that his suspicions were about to be proven correct.

Turning just past the barbershop, they slipped into an alley, following it toward the increasingly loud sounds; a door was shut and a few bits of conversation drifted on the wind. They moved cautiously, careful not to give themselves away. Finally, they crouched low behind a half-filled rain barrel, its sides mossy and damp. Jack eased around the edge and took a look.

Jeffers stood outside the mercantile with his back to the same large truck Jack had followed into the woods the day before. He was looking down into the shaft of the store’s lift that was used to load and unload product into the storeroom, where he’d stashed all of the bootleg liquor. While Jack watched, a load of boxes slowly rose into view, shuddering to a halt before Jeffers threw open the gate and started to haul boxes to the truck’s gate, his large, muscular arms straining from the effort.

“Get your ass up here and help!” he snarled once he’d returned to the lift.

Jack knew that he had to be shouting at Sumner; he couldn’t hear the young man’s response, but Jeffers clearly didn’t like it.

“I don’t give a damn!” he barked. “I ain’t tellin’ you again!”

“Why are they loading it all back into a truck?” Maddy asked from over Jack’s shoulder, her voice soft in his ear.

“He’s moving it somewhere,” Jack answered. “I don’t know if it’s because he’s spooked or if he’s been told to get it ready for the Mob to pick up, but regardless, I’ve got to stop him.”

“How do we do that?”

Jack thought about it for a moment. With his gun back in the dresser drawer, he’d be at a distinct disadvantage if they saw him; he needed to improve his odds, and there was only one way he could think to do it. “I need you to go get Sheriff Utley.”

“I told you that I wasn’t leaving you,” Maddy insisted.

“That’s not the reason I’m asking you to go,” he explained. “One of us has to stay here and keep an eye on them in case they drive off. Once they have everything loaded, there’s no telling where they could go. We’ve come too far to take the chance of losing them now. But I can’t handle them alone. Once the sheriff is here, then we’ll do everything in our power to make them pay for what they’ve done. It’s our only chance.”

Maddy thought about it for a moment, still reluctant to part from him, but she eventually agreed.

“His house is on the edge of town,” she said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Be careful,” he told her, his eyes searching her face in the dark.

“You too.”

“I love you, Maddy.”

Jeffers lugged another crate full of bottles over to the truck, hefted it up into the back, then wiped the sweat from his brow. All around him, Colton slept. He couldn’t be sure of the time but figured that it was still a couple of hours until dawn, long before anyone would be poking their heads out to see what he was doing, and plenty of time to finish the task he’d been given.

That afternoon, when he was sleeping off a bit of a drunk at his place, Deb Wehmeyer once again naked and snoring at his side, the phone had rung, startling him so badly that he’d fallen out of bed. He’d answered angrily but swallowed his threatening words when he’d understood that it was Jimmy Luciano on the other end, telling him that it was time to get all of the liquor together and ready it for transport to Al Capone.

Jeffers had gone to the speakeasy as usual and, on the one hand, been furious that Maddy hadn’t shown up for work, but he’d also been happy that he was leaving this backwater, piece-of-shit town forever; he’d been in such a good mood that he’d given that drunken old lawyer a drink on the house.

But Maddy’s absence annoyed him. After the way she’d openly defied him when he’d hit Jack Rucker, he’d wanted to completely embarrass her, to degrade and destroy her; he’d been so worked up by the idea that he’d left Deb in a puddle of her own sweat and tears the night before. Still, he refused to be too bothered by it; there’d be plenty of other women, not to mention money, when he was working for Capone.

“How many more cases are we gonna have to load?” Sumner asked, struggling with a smaller cask, his face caked with sweat.

“As many as it takes,” Jeffers grunted.

“And how many is that?”

Shortly after they’d closed the speakeasy, Jeffers had gone for the truck and started filling it with the alcohol they’d amassed, taking load after load out to the abandoned house he’d chosen for the pickup location. Now, hours later, completely drenched with sweat and tired, they were almost finished. So far, they hadn’t been seen by anyone.

“We should be able to get the last of it with this trip,” he answered.

“Good,” Sumner said. “I don’t want to do no more liftin’, that’s for sure.”

“You’ll do as much as it takes.”

Jeffers frowned as his lackey went off grumbling. He knew that the time had come for him to end their so-called partnership. Once they were safely at the meeting place, he’d put a bullet in the back of Sumner’s head and leave his worthless body in the woods for the animals. No one would ever be any the wiser; hell, Sumner’s own mother would probably be just as glad to be rid of him as Jeffers was going to be. He didn’t need the boy’s deadweight dragging him down when he was trying to climb Capone’s ladder.

In a bit more than an hour, there was nothing that could stop him.

Maddy ran down the dark, sleeping streets as fast as she could, her breath short and her heart pounding. Fear gripped her, urging her forward. She knew Sheriff Utley’s house was another five minutes away and that then she would need time to wake him, tell him what was happening, and convince him to come with her. Even if they drove his car, who knew how much more time would pass?

Suddenly Maddy stopped, her hands on her waist, panting, looking back at the center of town.

In her heart, she knew that Jack was in terrible danger; worse, she was leaving him to face it alone. Jeffers Grimm wasn’t a man to take lightly. Remembering the night she’d been alone with him in the speakeasy, the sleazy feel of his hand on her breast, made her feel sick to her stomach; the only memory more unbearable was the sight of Jack lying on the floor, bruised and battered by Jeffers’s hand.

What happens if they find Jack watching them? Sumner shot at him with no more than a second’s glance.

Maddy knew she should listen to what Jack told her, that she should trust that he wouldn’t do anything rash until she returned with the sheriff so that together they could arrest both men for what they’d done, but her heart told her it wasn’t that simple. She couldn’t let anything happen to him, the man whose bed she’d just shared, the man she passionately loved.

I just can’t…

Without any more hesitation, Maddy ran back toward town.

Time flew past as Jack watched Jeffers and Sumner continue to load the truck. Silently, he cursed himself for not having his department-issued gun; this was the second time he’d had to deal with the two criminals without it. He could only assume that Sumner, at the very least, still had his gun and was possibly even more anxious to use it here than in the woods.