Jaded (22 page)

“I took Crystal and ran away to California. I went to work for the original owner of Callahan’s, as a house cleaner while I went to school at night. He and his wife took us in. He helped me legally change my name.”

“What happened to your mother, Jade?”

“She died that night. The trailer caught on fire. I didn’t stop to look back. I just ran.”

“W
as your mother alive when you left, Jade?”

Lying wouldn’t change her plans. He couldn’t arrest her just because she admitted to a murder in another state. Could he? “Do you really want the truth, Jase?”

“Yes.”

Their gazes clashed and held. “Can you handle the truth?”

“Yes.”

She tied the sash tighter around her waist. “When I told Mama that Crystal would leave over my dead body, she slapped me and told me nobody told her what to do. I shoved my mother. She hit her head on the corner of the Formica table. There was blood everywhere. I grabbed Crystal and ran. I never looked back!”

“Jesus Christ, Jade!”

She laughed, the sound hollow, hysterical. “I knew it. You can’t handle the truth. Detective Vaughn thinks he can fix all the problems of the world. Well, try and fix this one.”

He shook his head. “I can’t.”

“I know.” She sucked in a huge breath and slowly exhaled.

“Jade?”

As if her eyelids were weighted down with lead, she raised them slowly. The salt from her tears burned. “I know. When you have the proof you need, you’ll take me back there and have me arrested.”

“I’m leaving this afternoon.”

She smiled. “I didn’t give you enough credit, Detective. You figured it out.”

“I saw the video, Jade.”

Heat flashed her skin, humiliation choking her. She pointed toward the door. “Get out.”

“Jade, I—”

“Get out!” she screamed. “Don’t come back here unless you have a warrant for my arrest!”

She ran from the kitchen and when she heard the front door close, she ran down and locked it. Tears blinded her. She felt like a rat caught in a steel trap. She was anchored by her sister and her conscience, yet if she didn’t chew her foot off she’d go to jail and lose everything, including her freedom.

What does it matter?
she thought. She had nothing but Crystal. But could she face her sister behind bars? Could she watch Jase sit in the courtroom, on the witness stand, telling the court she admitted to killing her mama?

Could she bear his pity, then his anger, then his disgust? What if they tried to pin Otis’s murder on her? Would they show the tape? The tape of a fourteen-year-old girl being preyed upon by a twenty-five-year-old gigolo? She’d never confronted Donny. How much did the colonel pay him to seduce her so he could watch and get off?

She picked up the phone and dialed Crystal’s number.

“Hello?” a sleepy voice answered.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Jade managed in her brightest voice. “Don’t you have class this morning?”

“Not till eleven. Are you okay, sis?”

Jade smiled, her sister’s sweet voice cleansing all the bitterness from her life. “I’m doing great. I wanted to tell you, I quit my job, and since you’re in college I’m going to take some time to travel.”

“Oh my god, Jade! You’re finally doing something for yourself? There is a god!”

Jade forced a natural-sounding laugh. “I’m finally taking your advice. I want you to know, just in case anything happens to me, I’m putting everything in your name. Branford is handling it all.”

“What do you
mean,
if something happens to you? Where are you going?”

“Where aren’t I going is the better question. I’m going to come down tomorrow to see you before I take off. I’m flying out of LAX tomorrow night to Costa Rica. I have a friend who has invited me to stay a few weeks with him.” She knew that would seal the deal for Crystal.

“Oh, now I understand. You have a boyfriend!”

“Yes, and stop being such a smarty about it. I found a great guy, and I’m going to give this relationship thing a chance.” Jade cringed, hating to lie to her sister, the only family she had left in the world, but she needed to sound convincing.

“What time will you be down?”

“I have a four o’clock flight. I should be to you by six at the latest.”

“I can’t wait to see you!”

“Me, too,” Jade softly said, then said good-bye.

Jade hurried to the shower. She had a busy day ahead of her.

After she left Branford’s office, assured that all of the paperwork would be handled, Jade headed back to her house. She felt bad lying to Bran when he asked her if she were planning on leaving the country. She assured him she was not. She was in fact preparing for her possible incarceration. He assured her that would not come to pass. “If you’re innocent, Jade, you will not spend a day in jail.”

She’d swallowed hard and smiled. She was guilty as hell.

She tried not to think about the life she would live as a fugitive. She tried not to think of the life she would lead void of a man like Jase.

Her feelings for him confused her. It couldn’t be love. She had no idea what that meant anymore. Except in the case of Crystal. She had imagined herself in love with Donny, but realized that was a schoolgirl crush, a fatherless girl looking for an older man to take care of her. In all the years since she’d fled Louisiana, she had never met a man she was remotely interested in, until Jase. What did that mean? They had great sex, and he certainly was her match in every way.

Emotionally, they were both mental cases. Physically, they could go at it all night, like rabbits. Intellectually? He was her equal. And if his house, threads, and vehicles were any indicator, he had serious bank.

Could it be possible he wanted more from her as a person than sex? She shook her head, her heart crushing inside her chest. It didn’t matter, since, she would never find out.

Turning onto Highway 101, Jade glanced in her rearview mirror to merge and screamed. A black car drove straight up her rear end. She hit the gas but the car hit her hard, the inertia driving her into the far left lane. She bounced off the guardrail and into the car in front of her, causing it to swerve across traffic. She straightened out her car, only to be hit again, this time harder, at a velocity that sent her through the guardrail and into the oncoming traffic on the other side of the highway. It was the last thing she remembered.

Jase was just picking up his carry-on bag to get onto the plane when his cell phone rang. He considered ignoring it. But as he handed the flight attendant his boarding pass, he answered, “Vaughn.”

“Jase, it’s Ricco. Jade Devereaux has been in an accident.”

Jase’s blood flashed to freezing. The hair on his arms stood straight up and he felt like a heavyweight boxing match was going on in his gut.

“Is she alive?”

“I think so. They took her over to Valley Memorial.”

Jase had already turned around, and now he ran to his car and sped to Valley Memorial, the only trauma ER in the South Bay. He didn’t think of the reason that she was there. He just prayed she would be alive when he got to her.

He didn’t ponder why his heart felt like it was squeezing dry. He didn’t imagine never seeing her again or never touching her. He didn’t question his rampant out-of-control, almost hysterical dread at the thought of losing her.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew there would be a way for them to work things out. He didn’t understand why he wanted to. He didn’t ask if it was love. He was clueless to what that emotion entailed. He’d never experienced it before, not even for a pet dog. He had always just gone through life servicing his physical needs—and to a point, his emotions—as they came up. He’d never looked past tomorrow, not even with his job. It was why undercover work suited him. No roots, no emotional entanglements, at least not real ones. Easy come, easy go. But when he thought of Jade, he saw them as a couple in the future. It was vague and hazy, but it was the future. As much of a future as he could muster.

He pulled up into an ambo stall and jumped out of his car, then sprinted into the ER. He didn’t wait to be asked if he could be helped, but went straight into the trauma unit. The admitting tech yelled at him, but he flashed his badge and she went back to her seat. He grabbed the first white coat he saw. “Jade Devereaux, where is she?”

“And you are?” the doc asked.

When Jase flashed his badge, the doctor inclined his head to the left. “Room four A.”

Jase burst into the room and stopped cold in his tracks. Jade lay motionless, her face as pale as the white sheet covering her. An egg-size knot swelled at her temple. He moved cautiously toward her, her name escaping his lips. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she managed a weak smile. She raised a hand, an IV taped to its back. “Shhh,” he whispered. “Rest.”

She nodded weakly and closed her eyes. The door opened behind him and he turned, expecting to see her doctor. Instead, Kowalski strode in. Jase’s hackles instantly rose. “What are you doing here, Kowalski?”

The fat detective smirked and gave Jade a once-over before he dragged his eyes back to Jase. Jase knew exactly what the bastard was thinking.

“I guess I could ask you the same question. But after seeing her in that video, I can guess why.”

Jase cocked his arm and punched the pig in the mouth. Kowalski slammed against the glass wall, rattling the room. Jase stepped in for another one. Kowalski put his hands up. “All right! I asked for that!”

“Get out of here, Kowalski, before I make you a permanent part of this place.”

Kowalski swiped at his lip, smearing the blood. He looked at his fist and cursed. He grabbed a tissue from the box next to him on the counter. He dabbed at his mouth, eyeing Jase. “I need to know who the hell ran her off the road. I’ve got three witnesses who said a black sedan rammed her twice, the second time sending her through the median barrier.”

“Anyone get a license number?”

Kowalski shook his head. “She was damn lucky she didn’t get hit head-on. She ended up sideways in the canal alongside the highway. A bunch of low bushes kept her from slamming into it head-on.”

Jase looked back as Jade’s eyes fluttered as if she were fighting consciousness. It might be his only chance to find out if she knew who did this. Was it the same guy who’d broken into her house? The one who she had said followed her? The same guy who’d killed the men?

He moved toward her and smoothed back the hair from her face, careful not to touch her erupting bruises. He leaned toward her face and whispered, “Jade, can you hear me?”

Her eyes fluttered open. Her body stiffened and she cried out. “It’s okay, baby, you’re safe. I won’t leave you.”

“Jase?”

Jase looked up at Kowalski and scowled. The detective had the good judgment to look a little chagrined. “Yes, it’s me. Jade, I need you to tell me who did this.”

“Same car that followed—me. Told you.”

Guilt creamed his heart. He’d written off her tales of being followed as a simple red herring tact.

Her eyes fluttered open. She smiled weakly. “I pulled over and got out, I scared him away.”

Jase felt like a colossal lump of shit for doubting her. “He came back, Jade. Did you recognize the driver?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. “No, he was in dark clothes and a baseball cap. Could have been a woman. Not that big.”

“Are you sure it was the same car as before?”

She nodded.

“Do you know what model? Old, new? Distinguishing marks?”

“All black. Black windows and no hubcaps. No license plate. It was ugly.”

Jase looked up at Kowalski, who was writing it all down. At that moment, a white coat walked in. He gave both men a scowl. “Gentlemen, are either one of you family?” In tandem, Jase and Kowalski flashed their badges. “You can leave then. My patient needs her rest.”

“No,” Jade whispered. “Jase, stay.”

Jase raised a brow at the doc and then smirked at Kowalski, who obviously wanted to be included. “Whichever one of you is Jase can stay.” The doc looked pointedly at Kowalski. “The other needs to scram.”

Kowalski put his notepad into his breast pocket. “I’ll be waiting outside, Detective Vaughn.”

“By all means, Detective Kowalski, wait as long as you’d like.”

The doctor flipped open the chart he’d pulled off the door, made some marks, and turned to look at Jade. Gently, he touched her arm. Jase broke the tense silence. “What’s the damage, Doc?”

“Miss Devereaux?”

“It’s okay, tell him,” Jade said, her voice barely audible.

“You have a contusion on your right temple, a concussion, and four broken ribs. You also have seat belt burn, and you can thank it for saving your life. Without it, you would have been a bullet through the windshield. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“What does she need to do?” Jase asked.

“She needs to manage her pain, rest, and not do anything strenuous for six to eight weeks, until her ribs heal.”

“When can she leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. She’ll need a ride home and someone to watch over her for a few days until her pain is manageable.”

The doc looked at Jade and asked, “How is your pain level now?”

“I’m feeling no pain,” she slowly said.

“Good. I’m going to give you a sedative shortly. It should get you through the night. Is there anyone you’d like me to call?”

Jade closed her eyes and shook her head, then barely perceptibly, she said, “There is no one to call.”

The doc looked up at Jase and he nodded. “I’ll take her home and stay with her until she can be alone.”

Jase didn’t have to think twice about what to do. He’d call in and take a few personal days, put off his travel plans for the time being, and take Jade home to his house and tend her.

By day two, Jade was howling mad because Jase wouldn’t allow her to do anything but sit in bed and eat off a tray. By day three, she refused to take any pain meds and demanded he allow her to go home. He relented only when she begged for a real bath instead of the sponge baths he had insisted on.

His attention and lack of sexual interest surprised her. When he drew her bath and he helped her into the hot soapy water, she cooed like a baby. Her ribs were tender but she was healthy and getting stronger by the hour. The luxurious bubbles surrounded her and she happily luxuriated in the oversize tub. Several moments later, the thick movement of water indicated company.