DEAD SEXY (9 page)

Jenna was beyond confused. “Denise I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“The file I put on your desk a few days ago. Where is it?” Madness gleamed in her eyes.

“You put a lot of files on my desk.” Denise’s foot lashed out and Jenna’s ribs sang out in pain. “Stop being facetious!”

“I’m not!”

“The file that you had right before you went to meet your client.”

Oh, that file, the one that Denise had been so dead set on her dealing with. What had she done with it? She could not recall. Then she did, she had put it in her bag, not her briefcase, and she had left that bag at home the next morning, taking a different one that matched her outfit instead.

Blake lifted his head; she could see him moving around. Was he badly hurt? Would Denise really kill him? “I don’t have that file here, Denise.”

“Where is it?”

Don’t tell her
, Jenna’s inner voice warned her,
do and she will kill you both
. “I left it with someone.”

“What?”

The anger rolled out of Denise’s slight body, Jenna could feel it. “I left it with someone, as insurance.”

“Do you know what I had to put up with to get that file?” Denise’s voice was tight with rage. “They ousted my son, who wasn’t stealing; it was his no-good father who was the thief. Oh they didn’t want to hear that one though, and there was no way his father would stand up for him—he was too busy trying to line his pockets and get the hell out of dodge.”

“Your son? Jason was your son?” It was impossible! Jason Dean Senior had been married….

“Yes, my son!” There was triumph in Denise’s voice. “Jason had his wife go along with adoption and I was glad to do it, that way he would have a better life than I could have given him. I used to sit close to the door of his father’s office just so I could get a glimpse of him and I worked my ass off for that lousy bastard for two decades! This company was his too, and he owes me!”

It all made sense. Denise would have access; she could have gotten the keys from Jason Senior and she certainly had a motive. She would have been able to get her crooked cop nephew and his crony to help her and she had, and all for what?

For the file.

The file that held the bank accounts, but what bank accounts? The only ones that made sense, of course. The embezzled funds would have had to be laundered, and how best to do that than right through the office of the woman who was in charge of overseas transactions.

How much money was it? It had to be in the millions of dollars. Blake made a low sound deep in his throat and she knew she had to buy some time for them, any way she could. “I can take you there.”

“Where?” Yancey asked.

“To the file.” Her throat hurt and she could see, out of the one eye that was not pressed into the floor, Blake moving a bit, not much, but enough to let her know he was awake and trying to figure out a way out of his own tape.

“You will tell us where it is or I will kill your sorry-assed boyfriend,” Yancey said. “He cost me my retirement, did you know that? If the self-righteous bastard had not refused to help out his fellow officers we would all be sitting in clover right now and I would not be working at this lousy company.”

“I’m sure he’s sorry.” Jenna said, trying to defuse the anger she heard in his words. She got a second kick to her ribs from Denise for her efforts.

“We can’t take them out of here taped up,” Yancey said. “The cameras would sure as hell see that.”

“Kevin could get the video again.” Denise said.

“Nah, he just fucked that up. When this asshole went down and asked that sad sack Robertson about that he went chicken and called in the general manager, who called the lawyers. Nothing is leaving that room unless a lawyer brings it out.” Yancey kicked Blake, a sickeningly heavy blow that left a thudding sound behind but Blake did not cry out.

Jenna swallowed tears. She had to be strong, she had to think and hope that Blake knew what she was attempting to do. Maybe if they could just get them to untape them and let them out of the office their chances of escape would be better.

No maybe to it
, she told herself.
Right now we are sitting ducks.

Blake was having the same thoughts. If he could get out of the tape and on his feet he stood a chance. Yancey was mean, but soft. That was why he was always having someone else do his dirty work and it looked like nothing had changed. His mouth was not taped and so he spoke, tossing that thought out into the air as hurtful words.

“Yancey, I should have known you wouldn’t have the brains to pull this off on your own. Or the balls, good thing you found her, she looks to have enough for the both of you.”

Jenna’s eyes went wide and her fingers twisted frantically as she fought to get out of the tape while Yancey turned to Blake and held out his hand. A gun gleamed in the lights, its black barrel looking incredibly long and dangerous. “I should have killed you back then.”

“You didn’t have the guts then, and you don’t now, either.”

Jenna’s blood ran cold. What was he doing? He was provoking the man and he could wind up dead because of it!

“Put it away, Yancey. We have to have the file, kill him and she will never talk.” Denise sounded amused but Jenna couldn’t relax. Blake actually laughed as Yancey wavered, “Do as you’re told,” Blake goaded, “good boy.”

Her heart clenched like a giant fist as Yancey aimed the gun again. “I said it put it down!” Denise was using a voice that Jenna knew well, it was her no-nonsense, do-not-screw-with-me voice. Yancey put the gun back into his belt. Blake laughed again, leading Jenna to wonder if he were certifiable.

“This is your last chance to tell me where it is.”

“Take me to it.” Jenna knew it was risky but she had to take that chance.

“Get her up,” Denise ordered. “If you do anything at all funny he’s a dead man.”

“Your mistake is in thinking I care,” Jenna said once she was on her feet again.

Denise’s lip curled. “I know you care, and so does he. You cannot fool me. Now, we are going to go get that file, the four of us. I will kill you, do not doubt it. I’d like to just kill you right here and now but that will have to wait.”

Jenna understood then that it was not just the fact that the file was not there that was a problem, she had never signed the papers in it. Denise often slid things across her desk and she had signed them without really reading them. Denise had not just been trying to set her up for murder, someone would have to take the fall for the stealing of the money, and in Denise’s twisted mind she was getting revenge for her son all at the same time.

Denise was wrong, it had been her son—her son!—who had been stealing, not his father. Jenna remembered Jason Dean junior well, he had been a handsome charmer who had the tendency to talk a lot and work little. He always had three or four women on a string, anxious to please him even if it meant giving him the very ideas and work that made his career rise while theirs stayed at a standstill.

He had stolen one of her ideas before, and in a way she had taken some real pleasure in seeing him hung out to dry when his criminal activities were exposed but she had never imagined that it would lead her to this moment.

They went down the hallway together, Blake next to Denise, who was hanging onto his arm and chattering about inane things, Yancey dead behind Jenna. If any of the security guards had chanced to look at the camera it would have appeared as if the men were escorting the women out of the building, being gentlemen, given that there was a killer about.

Even Blake’s sudden departure from the elevator would have made sense, he had been concerned about something and so they had the guard walk them out. Not that Jenna believed that Denise would need to worry about what the cops or anyone else would think after tonight.

She had been planning this for a long time, and it showed. Yancey got them into the car and Denise sat beside Blake, her gun pointed right into his rib cage. “I will shoot you, even if you are a handsome bastard,” she warned. “But after I do, I will shoot her.”

Blake fumed. The damn woman knew all too well the power of love…love? Had he just thought that? Love? He barely knew Jenna…but it didn’t matter, he loved her. Odd and ill-timed as it was, he loved her.

And he had to save her.

The ride seemed interminable. Jenna knew she should do something, make a move but she was frozen and frightened. She had blurted out the first thing she could think of when Denise had asked her where they were going but Denise had only smiled her cruel smile and instructed Yancey to head toward Jenna’s apartment.

“You must think I am a real fool,” Denise said in a conversational tone. “I know damn well if you knew there was something up with that file you would have already been in Dunning’s office. You forgot about it.”

“Why did you need me to sign it?” Jenna asked in a desperate attempt to buy time.

“Dear, you already know why. Now be quiet.” Denise said and Jenna fell silent. Every once in a while she could catch a glimpse of Blake’s face in the rearview or side mirrors of the car. He looked grim and her heart sank, were they both going to die? It seemed impossible, and utterly unfair.

She had just met him, and she hadn’t even had time to think about what their wedding would be like, what their children would look like…those thoughts startled her out of her apathy. How could she be thinking such things about a man she barely knew?

Only…she did know him. They may have had different reasons for it but they both had a deep seated need to correct old wrongs, to make things right, to live in as honest a way as possible. He was the man she had often fantasized about, and she wanted to live—if only to see how things turned out between them.

Her courage came back and she surveyed her situation. There was nothing she could do with the guns pointed at them in such a tight space but once in her apartment she might have a chance. She had things she could use for weapons there, and more room to escape a bullet.

She caught sight of Blake’s reflection again and her mouth fell open when he actually winked at her! The man was insufferable! He was probably plotting some grand scheme to save them both and come out looking like the hero right then.

The car lurched to a stop in front of her building, an impressive brownstone in the heart of the Village. They got out, Jenna checking the street for any help but the residential district was quiet at that hour, most of the blinds drawn over the neighboring windows and while there was traffic on the major avenues that ran a block away on either side nobody could see down into the shadowy street on which her building sat, hidden almost completely behind a large tree.

The breeze felt good on her sweating face, she had not known how hot she was until just then, or how often she had forgotten to breathe. The exhaust tinged air tasted sweet in her mouth and her lungs expanded, helping her mind to clear.

Denise prodded Blake forward and Yancey gripped Jenna’s arm so tightly that she cried out but he stifled that cry with a swift blow to the back of her head. “You’re going to pay for that,” Blake said softly but with real menace.

“Oh, shut up,” Yancey muttered but he looked nervous

They went to the elevator and Jenna pushed the button. Had it only been a few hours before when she had been inside a different elevator car wrapped into a hot embrace with Blake? The whole night had taken on a surreal turn, and she was not sure she could handle much more; the stress was beginning to tell.

She got into the car and then out on her floor. They plodded along the halls, Jenna trying to make eye contact with Blake in order to get some type of communication but he was always just a step too far behind. She unlocked her door, her resolve hardening and they went inside her apartment.

“Well,” Denise said, “Isn’t this fancy.”

It was. Jenna lived in a very large two bedroom apartment with a full kitchen and bathroom. At over a thousand feet the place was a prime location and had cost her over a million dollars. She thought it worth it, just for the spectacular views from her windows and the space.

She said, “The file is in my kitchen. I’ll get it.”

Yancey followed her. Her skin prickled with chills and her breath caught and held. She knew that the kitchen had a tiny ell, hidden from the sight of anyone in the living room, and it was there that she headed. Also in that ell was a miniscule breakfast nook, and a place setting for one which included a small but wickedly sharp knife.

She pretended to be reaching below the table but when she came up only the knife was in her hand. She spun so suddenly that Yancey did not have time to back away and sank the blade into the hand that he held the gun with. He let out a loud piercing cry and the gun fell from his fingers. Jenna dove for it while he was still howling and trying to get the knife out of the back of his hand.

“What is going on?” Denise demanded from the living room.

“The bitch stabbed me!” Yancey cried.

Blake saw his chance; he grabbed the gun in Denise’s hand and wrestled for it. She clung to it, her face set in a grimly determined mask and he heard Yancey cry out again. Had Jenna stabbed him again? Yancey’s yell of, “That was my balls!” assured him she had found a better target and easier way to inflict pain on the hapless man.

Jenna ran from the kitchen, Yancey’s gun clutched in her fist in time to see Denise grappling with Blake. There was a loud bang, and a puff of smoke drifted up into the air.

“Blake!” Jenna screamed and ran toward the two, who were still standing there locked into a deadly embrace. She was not thinking, she just reversed the gun in her hand and used it to hit Denise on the back of her head. She went down like a lead balloon.

Blake had blood on his shirt and Jenna grabbed him, tears pouring down her ashen cheeks. “Don’t you die on me! I just found you! If you die I will kill you myself!”

Blake held her tightly, “It’s not my blood.” Then he kissed her, a sound and deep kiss that left her speechless and shaking. “And I am not going anywhere. You could not get rid of me if you tried.”

* * * *

The police officers in Jenna’s apartment were all men that Blake knew—and trusted. When he told them that Kevin had a hand in the scheme one of them shook his head and said, “They have been trying to bust his ass for years. Maybe this time this will be enough.”

Jenna was huddled into her leather sofa, a steaming cup of tea on the glass table in front of her and Blake’s strong arm wrapped around her slender shoulders. Yancey had had the sense to fall silent when the cops, called by a concerned neighbor, had shown up but it was obvious that he was in hot water.

Denise had been shot in the hip and she would be fine, as soon as she got some medical attention she would be transferred to a holding facility. The cops taking the report were almost done and Jenna was exhausted, the events of the entire day had finally caught up with her and it showed.

Blake was concerned, Jenna was beyond pale, her always delicate pallor had gone the shade of lilies left too long in winter, and her fingers shook as she tried to lift her cup to her lush mouth. Neither of them had told the cops that she still had the file, and with good reason—Kevin was still out there, and if they turned it over any of his friends on the force might grab it up, or he might be able to remove it from the evidence room himself.

The police finally left and silence fell in the apartment. Blake knew he needed to get her to bed, but he also knew she needed to get away from that place so he helped her pack a bag and they took a taxi to his place.

Jenna felt like she was walking behind a thick sheet of glass or ice. Everything was locked deep within her and she wanted to open up, to let it out but she was afraid to. Her entire life had been a study in being tough, in being strong enough to take anything, and she had had to be that strong to survive. Her heart literally ached and her entire body felt like it had been hit with a giant hammer. She was terrified of what would happen when those walls came tumbling down, and they would, she knew it.

To stave that off she adopted her business demeanor as soon as they were in Blake’s living room. She removed the file from her bag and they sat down with it. “This is crazy,” she said. “Denise had full access to everything. She could have taken the money long ago and left, why did she stay?”

“She was waiting for her son to get out of prison, I think.”

Jenna closed her eyes. She did not want to feel any sympathy for Denise, but she did. What had it been like to watch her child grow up with another woman as his mother? To see him but to not be able to hold him, to comfort him or rejoice with him on holidays?

Jenna’s childhood had been bleak, and she had often fantasized about a ‘real’ family that would burst in and announce that they had been looking for her for years and were ecstatic that they had found her. In those childish daydreams the house was always big, the parents were faceless but nice, and there was always hugs and kisses instead of punishments and fear.

What had Denise fantasized about as she watched her son grow into manhood, and what would she have been willing to overlook? Had she loved his father? How much had it hurt to stay there day after day knowing she had not only given away her son but that the man she loved did not want her?

“I did not make a mistake; it was him that was the thief, not his father.” Was she saying that reassure him or herself, she wondered. What if she had made a mistake?

“Look at all these accounts. This started right after Jason went to prison, and look at all the signatures. They were yours. She as setting you up for a long fall.”

“She knew about my past, didn’t she?”

“If I could find out, Kevin could have too.”

Jenna laughed a harsh and broken laugh that turned into a sob. Before she knew what was happening the dam broke and she was sobbing like a child. Blake pulled her into his lap, holding her and rocking her gently. “Let it go,” he said softly, “Let it all go.”

She did. A storm of grief, anger and loss poured out of her. Jenna wept for things she did not even know she had been holding onto: her parents and their wasted lives, the abuse she had suffered growing up, the long lonely nights in the detention center, her own loneliness—the loneliness she could no longer mask with success and material things.

Blake sheltered her, his arms providing her a solid space and his shoulder took the brunt of her sadness, becoming soaked with her tears. When her sobs tapered off and became small lost sounds he picked her up and carried her to bed.

Jenna looked up at him as he laid her gently across the mattress. Her eyes were swollen and gritty and her head pounded but still she wanted him. She raised a hand to her face, “I look awful. I probably have snot or something…”

Blake laughed; a tender chuckle that melted the last bit of reserve in her heart and his knees pressed into the mattress as he knelt beside her. “You look beautiful.”

“You probably say that to every woman who winds up in your bed.”

“No, but I do always say it to my cat.”

“That is not a cat; that is a moose.”

“It would be illegal to keep a moose as a pet.”

“Maybe I should turn you in then.”

“Would you really want Freddy to live in a zoo?”

“I would be more afraid they would release him into the wild, not because I would worry about Freddy, but I would certainly worry about the havoc he would create on the eco-system.”

“He is a greedy thing.” He wiped away her tears with a gentle knuckle. “I love you Jenna.”

Her heart bloomed and her smile was wide and genuine. “I love you too, as crazy as that is.”

“There have been crazier things in the world.”

That was true. Jenna stopped thinking, she tilted her face up to his for a kiss and his lips pressed against hers, softly at first and then more demandingly. Her hand twined around his neck, pulling him closer and when he moved so that he was on top of her she arched her back, seeking his warmth, his maleness and he responded by pulling her closer to him. The kiss lengthened and intensified, the need that they both had, the emotions that were bursting through them exploded into a maelstrom of desire.