Second Chance (27 page)

   Cole pushed open the door to the children’s bedroom. He went to the middle of the room and stood. It was large and open; most of the toys were kept in the playroom except for a few favorites. Two twin beds, about five feet apart, were against a large wall, with a giant double window between them. Two large dressers, one on either side of the room, were bare with the exception of a few dolls. There was a desk, a tall bookcase filled with books and various stuffed animals, a small sofa and chair, and a long, narrow shelf that held an antique doll collection. And there was enormous potential for a hidden camera.

Cole went to work.

Barely five minutes later, he found it. A giant stuffed monkey tucked up on the top shelf of the bookcase. Out of reach from little hands, it had probably been considered a safe place to hide a camera. He’d taken down each animal individually and examined them closely. So far, this one was the only one he’d found. If there were more, the team coming in would find them.

In the meantime, Cole couldn’t resist relaying a message to the bastard. He placed the monkey back on the shelf and looked into its eyes. “I’m coming for you. You’re going to pay for what you’ve done. If you’re smart, you’ll give Hailey back before it’s too late.”

“Cole, who are you talking to?”

Cole moved away from the toy. He had considered taunting the creep with Keeley tending his cuts, but he couldn’t make himself do it. His warning had been enough. He held out his hand to lead her from the room.

Whoever had done this wanted to see Keeley suffer. What better way to do that than to spy on her most private grieving moments? Remembering how she often came in and collapsed on the floor after one of her nightmares made him so livid he could barely function. The bastard had watched it all … and enjoyed every single fucking moment.

In the hallway outside the room, he put his fingers on her mouth and whispered softly, “Let’s go. Not one word till we’re outside.”

Her eyes widened briefly, then dulled with acceptance. She dropped the antiseptic and bandages on the hall table and followed him down the stairs and out the door.

They were halfway down the long driveway before he spoke. “Okay, this should be safe.”

She wrapped her arms around herself and said, “My house is bugged.”

“I found a camera in a stuffed monkey in the girls’ room.”

He eyes were wide with horror. “The monkey?”

“Where did it come from?”

Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Stephen,” she whispered. “He gave it to Hailey on her second birthday. He gave Hannah a stuffed panda … she keeps it in the playroom.”

That wasn’t an answer he expected. Stephen was one of the few people Cole knew for damned sure hadn’t taken the girls. Somehow at least one of the toys had ended up with a camera device. Hell, maybe Stephen had set it up to watch the girls. Maybe the camera wasn’t even active anymore.

“Do you remember where he got them?”

“No. He would often bring gifts home. I never asked where they came from.” She shrugged. “Never had a reason to ask.”

Revulsion churned in Keeley’s stomach. She had suspected something like this last night, when Cole had asked her to sleep in a guest room with Hannah, but hadn’t allowed herself to dwell on it. Now she had to face the horrifying facts. She’d been on display for this person. Her privacy invaded … her daughters’ privacy invaded. Possibly everything from showering and getting dressed to conversations she’d had were all being watched. Who could be doing this?

“I just don’t understand. Why?”

“It goes pretty well with our theory that someone wants to see you suffer. What better way than to see your private pain?”

He was right. If someone hated her enough to take away the most precious people in her life, then they’d definitely want to see her suffer. She’d tried to be brave in front of cameras and her friends, but in private, when
no one could see, she’d broken down and sobbed her heart out numerous times.

A horrendous thought hit her. “That’s why you’re being targeted now. We kissed in the girls’ room … within view of that camera.”

Fascinated, she watched a myriad of powerful emotions flash across his face. She recognized anger and determination. There was more, though. There was heat and desire, too. He was remembering those kisses.

Despite her revulsion at being spied on, she couldn’t regret what had taken place. Even if the creep had watched, that moment had been special and she’d be damned if she felt anything but joy.

“He’s made several mistakes in the last few days. I’m betting he’ll make more.”

“Like what?” She swallowed a sob. “Not killing you?”

“That and the fact that he’s revealed the camera. Something set him off … made him out himself.”

The fierce satisfaction she saw in Cole’s expression grounded her. He was right. This person had made mistakes; now they needed to figure out how to capitalize on them. Keeley drew in a breath. “What do we do now?”

“We’ve got experts arriving in about an hour. They’ll comb the house and the grounds. Ethan’s already got a safe house ready for us. We’ll pack a few things and get out.”

As much as she didn’t like being forced from her own home, Keeley knew she wouldn’t be comfortable until every nook and cranny was searched.

“Can the cameras be traced?”

“If we can find the place of purchase, we can find who bought them.”

Though he sounded confident, it didn’t sound that
easy to her. “Isn’t that kind of like a needle in a haystack?”

“Not necessarily. I don’t know that much about cameras, but this one looked expensive. And if we find more throughout the house, so much the better. I’d be willing to bet there are only a few places in the state that sell it in quantity.”

A slight optimism surged through her. Even though it sickened her to know she’d been spied on for God knows how long, if substantial information was gained from it, she’d be glad about it.

“I’ll get Hannah’s things together.”

“Try to say as little as possible inside. If Hannah asks where you’re going, just tell her it’s a surprise.” He smiled and she knew he was trying to make her feel better. “We’ll just pretend this is an adventure. Hannah will love it.”

“You’re right, she will.” She reached up to touched his face that was still bloodied. “We need to get some antiseptic and bandages on you.”

“It’s just a few scrapes. I’ll take care of them while you pack.”

She headed back to the house. Cole’s voice stopped her.

“The more mistakes he makes, the better our chances. We’re getting closer. I promise you.”

Gratitude and affection blended with desire and a thousand other emotions she could barely recognize. Unable to stop herself, Keeley came back to him and pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. Numerous words came to mind. Some would embarrass him; others would probably scare the hell out of him. He wouldn’t want to hear that she was falling in love with him. So she settled for “I’m glad you’re here with me.” Lukewarm words, compared to her real feelings, but true nonetheless.

Before he could respond, she whirled around and ran to the house.

   Gnawing at her lip as she stared at the screen, she ignored the fact that her red lipstick was probably staining her teeth. Cole Mathison’s warning had unnerved her. Not only because he’d found the camera. Dammit, he was supposed to be dead.

Making the decision to get rid of him hadn’t been that easy. It’d been a long time since a man had stirred anything in her other than antipathy and disgust. Cole had the looks and the charm to make any woman, no matter how jaded, want a taste of him. But he’d become entirely too important to Keeley … which meant he had to go.

Once again the freak of a pervert Wesley had failed. The bastard had become undependable. He’d screwed up the last two jobs she’d given him. Their association had been a long one and he’d done some damn fine work for her. However, every business relationship had to end sometime. Theirs would end with Wesley’s death.

Finding the camera wasn’t that unexpected. She’d known when she sent the email to Keeley about the elephant jumpsuit that Cole would suspect something. Of course, if he’d been killed, that would’ve taken the focus off the camera.

She shouldn’t have sent the message, but that passionate little love scene she’d witnessed between them had pissed her off. How dare Keeley be getting off when one of her kids was still missing? Especially when she’d been wanting a taste for herself.

Keeley had needed a painful reminder and the email had accomplished that. Too bad it had outed the camera, but what was done was done.

Despite her unease, a little chuckle escaped. Keeley would be racking her brain, trying to figure out how the
camera got there. And since Stephen had given the stuffed animals to the girls, there was no way in hell she’d ever figure out where it had really come from.

Just another hard but painful lesson to be learned. Life was like that—full of pain-filled, sometimes devastating surprises. Keeley should know that by now.

The move to the safe house was handled with relative ease. Cole was right. Hannah was excited to be going on an adventure, and had been promised an extra bedtime story when they arrived at their hideaway.

Finding a safe house in a small town should have been impossible. Trust an LCR operative to make it seem easy. Ethan had found a lovely lake house about twenty miles from Fairview. It apparently belonged to an older couple who used it for vacations and family get-togethers. With five bedrooms, including a child’s room with cartoon character décor, it was the perfect size.

Tucking her daughter in, Keeley pressed a kiss to her forehead. After two “happily ever after” stories and an hour of mindless television, Hannah’s eyelids were drooping with exhaustion.

Double-checking the baby monitor by the bed one last time, Keeley tiptoed out of the room.

Her heart racing, she went to her own room and took a long look in the full-length mirror. She felt like a geeky teen about to ask the captain of the football team for a date. On the ride over here, she’d made a decision. Actually, that wasn’t the truth. Days ago, when she’d been picking up a prescription at the drugstore, she’d made an additional purchase that cemented what she’d been thinking about for weeks, since the night Cole had selflessly offered his body to her in comfort.

Hopeless it might be, but she was hoping he might reconsider a relationship.

While packing, she’d thrown that additional purchase into her suitcase. Unfortunately, she hadn’t packed anything remotely sexy. Not that she had a lot of sexy clothes or even considered herself the type who could wear sexy clothes. True, the jeans hugged her curves nicely, and leaving the two buttons open at the top of her lavender shirt allowed a hint of cleavage to show.

Thanks to Jenna’s gentle urging to eat more and Cole’s insistence on running every day, she’d gained a little weight and had a healthier color than she’d had in months. She scrunched her nose at her image. Still she was no sexy siren.

Determined to make the best of what she had to offer, Keeley brushed her teeth and her hair and then applied a small amount of mascara and colorless lip gloss. She stepped back to view the results. As long as Cole was attracted to the somewhat pale plain-Jane type, she had it made.

Tucking the small packet of condoms into her jeans pocket, she grabbed the child monitor she never went without. If Hannah stirred at all, she’d be able to hear. Her chin set with determination, Keeley took a deep breath, steeled her backbone, and marched out the door. Now or never.

As she knocked on his door, she fought the urge to dash back to her room. Before meeting Cole, she’d never come on to a man. This would be the second time she’d asked him to make love to her. No, she was being silly. She wasn’t
absolutely
going to ask. If he acted the least bit uninterested, they’d just talk awhile and then she’d leave. And he never had to know that—

The door swung open and all thoughts of any kind of seduction vanished. Cole’s expression told her it wasn’t a good time to talk, much less anything else.

He held a cellphone to his ear and the icy coldness in his eyes had her backing away. “Sorry to bother you, I can come back later.”

Without a word, he grabbed her arm, pulled her into the room, and closed the door.

Keeley stumbled in, astonished. Before she could ask what was going on, he spoke into the phone.

“I’m not that person anymore, DeAnn. I haven’t been for a long time.”

It was impossible to act as though she couldn’t hear the conversation, since the voice on the other end of the line spoke rather loudly. Keeley couldn’t understand every word, but from the sound of it, a woman was trying to convince Cole to come home where he belonged.

The tic in his jaw was a good indication that he wasn’t happy about the call.

“Look, I’ll try to come back for a visit in the next few months. Give Larry my regards. Goodbye.”

He closed the phone and kept his back to her for several tense seconds. She watched him rub the back of his neck and suspected that he had a headache.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“Was that someone in your family?”

“My mother-in-law. Rather my former mother-in-law. She thinks I should come back to Texas and teach again. Try to get back to my old life.”

“You don’t agree?”

“No way in hell.”

Sensing that he needed to talk, Keeley took a seat in a chair and watched him pace. When it didn’t appear he was going to say anything, she asked, “Why did you become a teacher?”

“My parents were teachers. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to follow in their footsteps.”

“Do they live in Texas, too?”

“I lost both of them right after Jill and I got married. My dad died of a heart attack, my mom got sick a few weeks later. We thought it was a bad cold. Turned into pneumonia. She was gone before we knew it.”

This man had suffered so much loss. First his parents, then his wife and daughter. Keeley hadn’t yet been able to ask him about the scars on his back, but something horrific had to have happened—the pain would have been tremendous. Cole’s amazing strength astounded her.