Chasing a Dream (22 page)

“Henry?”

The linebacker of a man looked up from the television screen and regarded Tess wordlessly.

“I just wanted to thank you for intervening on my behalf yesterday. You saved my life, and I—”

“I didn’t stop the man out of charity for you. You may still die. That ain’t my business. But I was hired to protect your husband’s best interests, and it wouldn’t have been in his best interests for him to kill you in his own house with his own hands.”

Tess shivered. At least she now knew where Henry’s loyalties were.

After Henry had stopped him from choking her, Randall had stormed around the house, ranting and breaking things. Then he’d left. He hadn’t returned since last night, and Tess worried almost as much over his absence as his presence, especially in light of the contract he’d put out on Justin.

She prayed that Randall’s men hadn’t discovered Justin’s identity from anything in the pack. Unfortunately, his name and Wellerton address were written boldly in the lid of his guitar case. Though she’d stashed the case under the bed, she held little hope that her hiding place would suffice for long.

Today, the pall of a funeral parlor hung over the house, and she jumped at every noise and shadow. She paced the living room, watching out the front window and waiting for Randall’s car, as if, with forewarning, she could combat any attack he launched upon his return.

She’d been back under Randall’s guard for a little more than a week now. Though life still held little promise for her, learning that Justin had truly cared about her revived a part of her soul that gave her a spark of hope. In her mind, she replayed the hours of their time together, cherishing every memory, clinging to every word of encouragement he’d given her. Her memories of Justin were her lifeline.

Tess chafed her arms to ward off the chill that accompanied thoughts of her life with Randall, and she picked up her pace, wearing a path back and forth across the black, red and gold Oriental carpet.

“Do you have to do that?” Henry asked irritably, glancing up from the television. “You’re driving me up the wall.”

Tess stopped only for a moment to cast the man an apologetic look. With a grunt, he left the room. He disappeared upstairs, and she guessed he’d resumed watching the TV in the guest bedroom where he’d slept last night.

Sighing, she skimmed her gaze around the expensively furnished showroom that was Randall’s den. He liked black, saying the color denoted power and control, and like Randall’s fingerprints, the color stamped most everything in the room as his. Henry’s large body had left a dent in the soft, black leather-covered cushions of the couch. Black lacquered lamp-stands dressed the glass-topped end tables, and on the matching coffee table, an onyx sculpture of a panther poised on the prowl held a prominent position. Without overwhelming the room, black featured prominently throughout the accent pieces, as well.

The primary relief from the oppressive color came from the cream and white brocade wing chairs and the white marble mantel above the fireplace. Tall windows allowed sunshine to flood the room on bright days. The walls, painted eggshell white, stretched to the cathedral ceiling and displayed modern paintings, comprised of bright splashes of paint with no particular form or purpose. She much preferred the impressionist works of Monet and Renoir, but Randall had given her little say in the decorating of his castle.

Fiddling with the diamond wedding band Randall had bought and demanded she wear to replace the one she’d lost, Tess bit her lip. The showy piece of jewelry perpetuated the lie, the farce of their marriage. She wondered at times like this why Randall didn’t just marry her and make the union real. Why all the trappings of marriage without making it legal?

In his song, Justin had called her a little bird. A bird in a gilded cage, she thought morosely. All the opulence and finery surrounding her meant nothing.

Returning to her pacing, she worried about Justin’s safety, fretted over her own fate, sweated over the mistakes she’d made, the lies that caught up with her, the—

She stopped short and spun toward the front window when a movement caught her attention. A white taxi stopped at the curb in front of the house, and the back door opened. Shadows inside the taxi hid the occupant, and she held her breath, waiting for the passenger to emerge. Had Randall sent one of his hit men to take her away? To kill her in her own house?

When the dark, lean form of a man stepped out of the taxi and into the sunlight, a tremor shook her to the core. Her hand flew to her throat, and she gasped. “Oh, my God!”

Running to the front door, she tore it open before the doorbell could alert Henry. She launched herself into the arms that opened at the sight of her, and she sobbed for joy.

“Tess! Oh, darlin’, thank God you’re all right!”

“Justin, oh, Justin.” She buried her face in the crook of his neck. “How did you find me? How did you get here?”

“I was worried sick when I found out you were here. Has he hurt you? Oh, God, I’ve missed you!” Justin clutched her to his chest.

She stiffened and shoved away from him, her blood growing icy with fear. “You have to leave! He’ll kill you!”

“Gladly, but I’m not leaving without you. I won’t leave you with—” He stopped abruptly, his gaze narrowing on her neck.

Tess’s pulse skittered, knowing he’d noticed the blue-black bruises Randall’s chokehold had left on her throat.

Justin’s eyes widened in horror before lifting to her face. “That sonofa— Randall did this to you?”

Flattening her hands on Justin’s chest, she pushed him back toward the street. “You have to leave now! Henry will—”

“Henry? Who the hell’s Henry?”

Instead of answering him, she spun to stare at the front door she’d opened without thinking. She realized Henry would be down any second to see about the breach of the security system.

Panic sluiced though her, and her heart thundered. She glanced around quickly, searching for someplace Justin could hide. “He can’t find you. He has orders to kill you!” Her desperate tug on the front of Justin’s T-shirt didn’t give him the chance to ask the question on his lips. “In here.”

Dragging him by the arm, she rushed him inside and shoved him into the front closet. He gave her a querying look but didn’t put up a fight. She closed the louvered closet door then hurried to close the front door as thudding steps pounded on the stairwell.

“Mrs. Sinclair!” Henry shouted.

“Yes?” Pressing her back to the front door, she swallowed hard and tried to push down her rising fear.

“Did you open the front door?” An angry scowl puckered Henry’s face. He’d already drawn his pistol, and she shivered as he waved the gun toward the door.

“Yes. I forgot about the alarm. There was a salesman . . . an encyclopedia salesman, and . . . I’m sorry. Please don’t tell Randall.”

“Your husband already knows. That’s how the system’s set up. He’ll be here in less than thirty minutes, and he’ll want a better explanation than an encyclopedia salesman.” Henry glowered at her.

She wet her lips and struggled to steady her voice. “It’s the truth. I got rid of him. He’s—”

Henry’s hand flew past her cheek, and she flinched. He punched a code in the panel of buttons by the front door and opened it to look outside for himself. “There ain’t nobody in sight.”

“He’s probably already at the next house, or maybe he drove away.”

The cold gray of Henry’s eyes said he didn’t buy her explanation as he punched a new set of numbers in the keypad. “Stay here. I’m going to have a look around the yard,” he ordered and closed the front door behind him.

Justin stepped out of the closet a fraction of a second after Henry’s exit. “Don’t tell me. That gorilla is Henry, and he works for Randall.”

She whirled around. “Justin, are you crazy?”

Shoving him back in the closet, she followed him inside. Huddled together in the dark, among the coats and umbrellas, she curled her fingers into his shirt. “Randall knows about you, Justin. He’s already ordered a hit on you. If he found you here—”

“Then we’ll leave now. Together. All we have to do is get by the goon with the gun and—”

“How did you know he had a gun?” she whispered.

“I watched him through the slats in the door. He’s big and he’s armed, but we’ve got to try to outrun him.”

She shook her head. “Even if we could outrun him, we couldn’t outrun a bullet.”

“What about a car?” Justin smoothed her hair away from her face.

She trembled at his touch. Oh, God, how she’d missed his tender touch!

“Only Randall has a car now. He’s not here . . . yet.”

“Yeah, I heard. He’s coming.” Justin rested his forehead against hers. “Do you have any idea how much I missed you?”

Tess’s heart swelled. “You’re here. That says everything.”

He captured her chin and angled her face to kiss her. She melted against him, putting her arms around his neck and holding fast to him as if her life depended on it. In a sense, it did, and that sobering thought forced her to lever away from him.

“Stay in here. No matter what happens to me.” When Justin tensed, she soothed him with a gentle hand in his hair. “I’ll be okay as long as you don’t let anyone know you’re here. We need time to plan our escape. We can’t do something stupid that will get us both killed.”

“Tess, I can’t just sit in here while he—”

“You have to, Justin. It’s too important. He. Will. Kill. You.” “He’ll kill us both if he knows you’re here. Promise me you’ll stay hidden, Justin. Promise me! No matter what happens!”

Silently, Justin stared into her eyes with a gaze that blazed with defiance, with affection, with frustration and anger. But he whispered, “All right, Tess. I promise. But only because I don’t want to put you in any unnecessary danger.” Knowing Henry would be back soon, she gave Justin one more quick kiss. Then she hurried out of the closet to do battle for their lives.

***

“Like hell I’ll stay here,” Justin muttered under his breath as he peered out through the slats of the louvered door to watch Tess confront the big ape with the gun. He’d be prudent, sure. But there was no way in hell he’d sit back and allow Randall to hurt her without raising a finger to defend her.

That’s what he’d done for Rebecca. Nothing. Well, never again. He’d made his sister a promise. He’d made God a promise, and the Lord in his infinite wisdom had seen fit to give him a second chance. He had no intention of letting another abusive husband take someone he cared about away from him. Sliding quietly to the floor, he watched the drama outside the closet unfold.

The armed henchman returned and punched the security code into the panel by the door.

“Did you see him?” Tess asked.

“No, not outside. But I haven’t searched the house yet.”

Justin’s pulse quickened. He noticed the stiffening of Tess’s posture, but had the goon?

“Go ahead.” Her voice sounded strong and sure, and Justin admired her exterior calm, her bravery.

The man named Henry turned for the living room and scanned the area. Then, after checking behind the front window curtains, he began searching behind closed doors at the other end of the house. Tess stayed near the passage between the foyer and living room like a sentry guarding the closet. What would she do if Randall or his thug tried to look there?

A pang of regret for the jeopardy his presence put Tess in plucked Justin’s conscience, but he pushed it aside. She’d be in far more danger if he weren’t there to protect her.

His thoughts flickered to the circle of bruises around her throat, and a fire blazed in his gut.

Apparently Randall had already tried to kill her. Justin sent up a quick prayer of thanks that the man hadn’t succeeded.

A door at the back of the house slammed, and a voice boomed from somewhere beyond the living room—a voice that brought Tess to rigid attention.

“Tess! Where are you?”

She cast a quick, panicked glance at the closet door then wiped her palms on the seat of her linen pants. “In the living room, Randall.”

Justin’s blood simmered with hatred for the man who came into view. Randall was tall and fit-looking, his brown hair graying at the temples. He had a chiseled, distinguished-looking face that was hard with anger and exuded arrogance. Justin’s fist itched to smash the man’s smug face then and there. But he waited. He bided his time. Timing could prove essential, especially since Randall and his armed sidekick had Justin out-manned and out-gunned.

***

 “What’s been going on here?” Randall asked as Henry walked into the living room, his gun still drawn. “Did she try to run?” “She claims there was a salesman at the door. I checked outside and didn’t see anyone. I’m searching the house now.” Henry and Randall turned mutually distrustful glares on Tess.

Her knees trembled. “I forgot about the alarm. I’m sorry. Really, I am.”

“Look upstairs,” Randall ordered, and Henry strode past Tess and the front closet to search the bedrooms.

Randall’s eyes narrowed to slits, and she took an instinctive step back, shrinking from the threat in his glare.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten your betrayal, Tess. You escaped with your skin yesterday, but any value you had to me as a wife vanished the minute I discovered you’d been giving it away to another man.” He walked slowly toward her. “You’re expendable now. Like Angela was.”

She straightened her spine and lifted her chin, despite the quiver in her stomach. Justin was here. That knowledge gave her the strength, the courage to meet Randall’s menacing eyes.

Don’t let him win. Stand up to him.

His expression became a sickening leer. “However, when you breached the security system, you interrupted a meeting I was in with a representative from a promising jewel of a company I think I’ll buy.”

He stopped scant inches from Tess, but she stood her ground.

“This representative happened to be a woman with a magnificent body and a tendency to lean forward, giving me glimpses of her wares as we studied the paperwork. I’d have loved the opportunity to nail her. But since I’m here now, perhaps I should take advantage of my marital rights.”