After Hours (17 page)

Chapter Twenty Six

Jametria leaned her weight against the doorframe. She was more than a little taken back to find this person standing on the other side. She had thought it was the delivery man bringing her Japanese food, but she was completely thrown by who she found.

“I can’t believe you are standing there. Has hell frozen over?”

“I know that we haven’t been the best of friends; however, I know that we both care about Forbes. He made me promise to come and check on you. He’s so in love with you.”

Dark eyes shined with warmth at Forbes’ name. A grin spilt across her face from ear to ear. “I feel the same way about him. I’m glad that I got over what I was feeling towards Forbes. He called me the other night to make sure I was doing okay.”

“Forbes is a good guy. Don’t ever tell him I said that or I’ll deny it to the end. I’m glad he came to the Bureau. He was a wonderful addition and an even better friend.”

“I’m sorry that I was being rude. Would you like to come in for a drink? My manners aren’t usually this bad,” Jametria laughed, waving Zane in with her hand. “I swear I don’t hate you as much as you think I do.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I have to be somewhere in twenty minutes. I really only dropped by to check on you for Forbes. He was going crazy thinking about you. Don’t go outside. Stay in with the doors locked because the man Forbes is dealing with won’t think twice about hurting you.” Zane told her. “By the way, Ms. Collins, I never thought you hated me; but, our strong personalities do clash sometimes.”

She didn’t need three guesses to figure out where Zane was going next. “Africa isn’t at home, you do know that, right? She’s gone with Cameron to North Carolina.”

“Who in the hell is Cameron and why has Africa gone away with him?” Zane demanded. He sounded very jealous and Jametria could barely keep the smile off of her face.

“He’s her ex-boyfriend. They were together for about three years when he decided he wasn’t ready to get married. I think he’s trying to win her back.”

Green eyes drilled into hers as Zane rattled off another question. “How long have they been gone?”

“Two…three days at the most.” She shrugged. “I think she’s coming back here next week instead of going back to Texas.”

“Where did they go to North Carolina?” he asked, in a low voice with barely contained anger.

“I can’t tell you that. Africa promised me not to tell anyone. She wanted time to see if she could work things out with him. You know how it is with your first love and all.”

“Africa thinks she’s in love with this guy?” Zane asked but without his usual smugness.

Guilt rode her at doing this to Zane, but Africa had to figure out where things stood with her ex-boyfriend before she could give Zane a real chance.

“Why don’t you go back and tell Forbes that I’m okay?” Jametria suggested. “I promise that when Africa gets back in town. I’ll have her call you.”

There wasn’t anything else that she could do but that. Her mind was more focused on Forbes getting back home safe and sound to her. She had so much that she needed to tell him.

“How about you come with me?” Zane suggested. “The Bureau will put you up in a nice hotel. I think Forbes will sleep better knowing you are with us.”

“Are you saying that I’m in danger?” Jametria asked, concerned.
What kind of assignment was Forbes on that would place her in danger
? “Is someone after me or something?”

“No…no one is after you. I thought maybe you would like to get away from the penthouse for a while. You can bring your laptop and work on your book.”

“I’m quite happy here so I’ll pass, but thank you for offering. Are you sure that you don’t want to come in for a drink or something to eat?” Jametria was hoping to get something out of Zane about Forbes’ location once he got inside.

He shook his head. “Since Africa isn’t around there isn’t any reason for me to make a trip to Texas. I should head back to the airport and the jet. I’m glad that you’re okay. I’ll tell Forbes to stop worrying about you.” Zane looked at her intently for a few seconds, then strode away from her back towards the elevators at the end of the hall.

“I don’t know what Africa sees in him. He’s a little too intense for my tastes. Yet, I really don’t care as long as he brings Forbes back home to me in one piece,” Jametria muttered, stepping back into the penthouse and closing the door behind her.

She was halfway back to her computer when the doorbell rang again. “Lord, will I ever get any peace so I can finish this book?” Spinning back around, she went back to the door and flung it open.

“Can I help…” was all she got out before everything suddenly went black.

Chapter Twenty Seven

“Jacob, I was very impressed with you today. You had my back while keeping an eye on the other men. I see now I made the right decision by promoting you. Yet, I was wondering, does anything bother you? It does make me a little nervous that you don’t show any emotions. Do you have ice water running through your veins?”

Shit! I never thought about showing some fear.

“I was nervous but I didn’t want to show it in front of you. I like being your right hand and I didn’t want anyone to take my place.”

Nice save
, he thought.

“You have nothing to worry about. None of the guys here are in the same league as you. They are happy to stay at the position I have them in,” Hudson replied, removing his gun from the back of his pants tossing it on the desk.

“Why do you feel the need to carry a gun if you have such confidence in my abilities to save you?” Hudson wasn’t packing that gun when they left the house, so where did it come from?

“I always have a gun on me, even if you don’t see it,” Hudson admitted. “If your attention is somewhere else, I’ll have the ability to protect myself. It was the number one rule my father told me about running the business. Always make sure that you have your own back covered first,” he said, nodding towards the weapon.

“Hudson, if I’m not overstepping my place, how were you able to take over when your father died? Didn’t he already have his own right hand to step in his place?

“I don’t mind telling you at all,” Hudson said. “Have a seat.”

 Moving across the room, Forbes relaxed inside a plush chair that cost more than a year of his salary. “I admire a man that can take control the way you have. It gives me something to work towards.”

Hudson came over and took a seat across from him. Crossing one leg over the other, he took on a laid back position like he had all the time in the world to boast about his past crimes. “I wasn’t always the leader. My dad’s had put in place for Gus to take over things if something happened to him. I had known Gus since I was a little boy. He used to drive me back and forth to school, but I never liked the asshole. I saw how he would look at my father when he wasn’t looking.

“I heard my dad telling one of his bodyguards that he wasn’t going to the drug drop off that Gus had set up for him. When something didn’t feel right, my old man never doubted his mind. He told his dear old friend Gus that they buy wasn’t going down. Two days later, my dad and his bodyguard were shot to death outside my school. The one day he decides to come and pick me up. He got killed. I never doubted who set up it up and when I got older, I made him admit it to me right before I shot him in the head,” Hudson said with pride in his voice.

“I thought you told me that your father gave you part of the business on your sixteenth birthday,” Forbes said, recalling the story Hudson had told him weeks ago.

Hudson’s eyes took on a different look at his question. “It was a lie.” He laughed. “No one in the neighborhood could know the truth about what really happened to Gus. I mean I was still a kid and I wasn’t about to do jail time. So, some of my father’s old friends cleaned up the mess and got rid of the body. They gave me the story to tell anyone who might ask. It has worked for me this long and it will continue to do so.”

You self-centered bastard, Forbes silently raged. I’m going to get pleasure from slapping those cuffs on your wrists.

“So, since you are coming clean with me. What was the real reason you made me your right hand?” Forbes asked.

Drumming his fingers on the dark finish of the chair’s arm, Hudson titled his head to the side and studied him closely. “I admired how you didn’t back down from me. I believe, Jacob, that you’re ready for your test.”

 Standing Hudson gazed down at him. “Come with me.” Turning on his heel, he strolled towards the door, confident that Forbes would follow him, which he did.

Shit! There wasn’t any time for him to call Zane. He would have to handle this one on his own. He only prayed it didn’t involve killing anyone or he might blow his cover. He couldn’t kill an innocent person for no reason. Forbes kept walking behind Hudson until they came to a wall. He watched in stunned silence as Hudson touched the center of the wall and it slid to the side.

“I didn’t know that was there,” he uttered, shocked. He had been all over this place numerous times looking for anything out of the ordinary and would have never found this hidden panel.

“You weren’t supposed to know,” Hudson tossed back, going into the hidden passage. “Keep moving, your test is waiting.”

He moved behind Hudson and glanced back when the door slammed shut.
Where in the hell was this test going to take place
? Forbes wondered as he blinked several times, getting his eyes used to the dark passageway. There was just an enough light to see but that was about it.

“Are you going to tell me what the test is now?”

“No, none of my other bodyguards got a warning and I’m not going to give you one either. Think of it as a pop quiz and pray you’ve studied enough,” Hudson commented, stopping in front of a closed door. He nodded to a man Forbes had never seen before standing there.

“Is the test ready for Jacob?”

“Yes sir. It has been ready for a while now,” the man replied. “Do you want me to stay with him?”

“Hand your gun to Jacob, then you can leave.”

“No, Jacob needs to think by himself. Hand me your gun then you can leave.”

“What do I need a gun for?” he questioned not liking this at all.

“Patience Jacob,” Hudson said, taking the gun from the man. “It will only be a few more minutes, then you can prove your loyalty to me. I hope you’re able to do it because I would hate to lose someone as good as you.”

Hudson waited while the man left and went back into the dark tunnel. “When I open this door, you’ll only have two minutes to take care of the problem on the other side. I want one clean shot to the head. I need to see are you truly loyal to me.”

It took everything that Forbes had not to break his cover. Hudson wanted him to kill someone in cold blood. “Who’s on the other side of this door?” He would help the individual any way that he could, even if it meant breaking his cover.

“I can’t tell you. It’s a surprise, so I hope you like it. I had a hard time keeping my men from paying this one a visit, but they know better than to cross me. Now, take the gun and get down to business.” Hudson thrust the gun into his hand and then unlatched the door. Swinging it open, he waved at him with his right hand.

“Who is in there?” Forbes asked again, not liking the gleam in Hudson’s dark eyes.

“Why don’t you take a look?”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he got closer to the door. For some reason, he was getting a sick feeling in his stomach. Something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t place his finger on it. Forbes stopped mere inches from the entrance and cast a glance at Hudson.

“Is there reason you want me to kill this person?”

“Yes, there is,” Hudson replied, “because I need to make sure you’re the person you tell me you are.”

Hudson shoved him into the room and his whole world came crashing down around his feet. “Now, kill her!”

“Jametria!” Forbes screamed. His eyes landed on his woman lying unconscious on the floor and a second later he felt a blinding pain in the back of his head knocking him out.

Chapter Twenty Eight

“Forbes, wake up!” Jametria shouted, pulling at the tight ropes wrapped around her wrists. How in the hell did she get here? Why was Forbes passed out on the floor in front of her?

She didn’t know when those men would be back, but she couldn’t let them find her like this. Forbes had to wake up and help her. Shaking her head, she tried to clear some of the fuzziness that still lingered there.

“Forbes, wake up!” she screamed again. What if he was hurt worse than she first thought?

A low moan finally slipped from his lips and it gave her the hope she had lost twenty-four hours ago. “That’s it, baby. Open those killer gray eyes of yours and look at me. We
need
to get out of here.”

Slowly, Forbes’ eyes opened and he stared at her until realization set in. “Jametria, how did you get here?” he questioned as he tried to sit up. After a few attempts he finally made it. “Are you okay?”

 “I don’t remember much,” Jametria replied as he worked on the knots securing her arms and legs. “I answered the door and there was this strange man standing there. When I asked could I help him, he sprayed something into my face, total blackness took over.”

The instant she was freed his hands were all over her body, checking for bruises. “Did they touch you? Are you hurt?” Forbes asked, running his fingers through her hair then pressing her face to his chest.

“God, I almost had a heart attack when Hudson shoved me into the room and I saw you lying there so still. The son of a bitch cold cocked me before I could do anything.”

Jametria leaned back so she could look into Forbes’ eyes. “He thought I was asleep, but I wasn’t. Hudson grabbed the gun off the floor and pointed it at you. I was terrified that he was going to kill you, but he didn’t. He shoved the gun into the back of his pants and left. I heard the door latch behind him. How did he find out you were F.B.I.?” An involuntary flinch went through her body as Forbes massaged her sore wrists.