Deadly Valentine (12 page)

“Are you alright?”

Tess looked up to the worried faces of a man and woman. They looked as terrified as she felt. Her head throbbed and her heart beat frantically in her chest. But she was alive.

“Yes.” She looked up the street in time to see the car turn on to Washington Street. It hadn't slowed down. It hadn't even had its lights on.

"Stupid driver," the woman said.

“I've called 9-1-1,” the man said. He pulled off his coat and put it around Tess.

She let him help her up, wobbled a bit, and then steadied herself by leaning against the brick building. She touched her hand to her temple and could feel the warm ooze of blood. She couldn't decide what hurt more, her head or her shoulder.

“Are you sure you're okay?” the lady asked.

“Yes. I think so.” She could hear sirens blaring as they made their way to her.

“Good thing this snow bank was here,” the woman said. “That guy could have killed you.”

Chapter Sixteen

Tess sat behind her desk. Her face was bruised and her shoulder hurt, but she wasn't going to complain because she was alive. Armed with a large mug of coffee laced with Ghirardelli chocolate, she focused on Mrs. Crosby's estate plan.

“Hey,” she heard her administrative assistant Regina say peeking through the door.

“Yes.”

“There is a very fine man out here who is prepared to bribe me in order to see you.”

Jack.

“How much is he willing to pay?”

“So far we're up to $500 and a week of babysitting.”

“If I tell you I'm busy do you think he'll go higher?”

Regina smiled. “Maybe ... hold on,” she turned as if she was listening to someone talking to her. When she turned back she said. “It seems that Valentine's Day is early this year. He wants me to tell you he has chocolate from Scharffen Berger. Did I say that right?
”

“From Scharffen Berger?"

“Tell her I've got the bittersweet and nibby,” she heard Jack say.

“If it were me, I wouldn't need chocolate. He's yummy looking all on his own,” Regina whispered.

“How about the $500?”

“Well, he's here to see you not me, so the $500 is my consolation prize.”

“Give me five minutes and then let him in.”

When Regina shut the door, Tess pulled out her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk. Digging in the bag, she found her compact. She wasn't able to cover her bruise completely, but a little more powder blurred the edges.

When she was done, she put her purse back and pasted a professional, serious look on her face. But it was hard. She loved Scharffen Berger chocolate.
The way to your heart is through chocolate
, she remembered him saying. Ice cream she might be able to resist, but if he was going to use Scharffen Berger chocolate, she was doomed.

The door opened and Jack sheepishly poked his head in. “I owe you an apology. I was a jerk walking out like that last night.”

She didn't get up. She knew she would forgive him, after all he had chocolate. But that didn't mean she couldn't make him work for it.

He gave her crooked smile. "Men don't like to have their prowess minimized."

"So I noticed."

He turned up the wattage on his smile showing his dimple. "It's never happened to me before."

She didn't doubt it. "I'm glad I could help you learn a little humility."

He must have decided it was safe as he stepped into office. His smile faded though as he got closer to her. "Is that a bruise?"

Her hand instinctively went to her face. "I was in a little accident."

"What?" He started to move around her desk, setting the box of chocolate down. She rose and moved away, but he was determined to reach her. He stepped to her, placed his hands on her shoulders to turn her to him. She flinched from the pain of his hand on her sore shoulder. 

"What happened?"

"A car lost control and nearly hit me."

"When?"

"Last night."

"After we had ice cream?"

"Yes."

"Tess, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault,” she said.

He reached up, gently caressing the bruise on her face. "If I hadn't been such an idiot and left you-"

"We may have both been hit," she finished. "I'm okay."

"How did it happen?"

"It was just an accident."

"Are you sure about that?" came a voice from her door.

"I’m sorry Ms. Madison," Regina said as her attempt to keep Daniel out failed. "I tried to tell him you're with a client."

"It's okay," she said to Regina. "Daniel if you could wait a moment."

"I'm here to see you both," he said as he strode into the room. He was in full detective mode.

"I thought you weren't on the case," she said.

"This isn't about Asa," he said. "Not directly anyway."

Whatever it was, Tess thought, it wasn't good. At least not for Jack if Daniel's menacing eyes were any indication.

His face grew more concerned as he approached Tess. He reached out and lightly touched her bruise.

"Why didn't you call me?" he asked. She felt Jack stiffen next to her. To diffuse the situation, she moved away from both of them.

"Why would I call? It was just an accident. I'm a little bruised, but okay. It will teach me not to jay-walk."

Neither man laughed.

"I'm not so sure it was an accident." His eyes glanced over to Jack.

"It was dark and icy," Tess said.

"The driver didn't have his lights on," Daniel said.

"So maybe he was drunk too," she replied.

"Witnesses reported that it looked like he was trying to hit you."

"Why would anyone want to kill me?"

"Well, you were a witness of sorts to a murder the other night," Daniel said.

"Not anymore than anyone else who was there."

"According to the statement you gave Officer Lowen, you had been at Sorenson's Creamery. I stopped by to talk to Mr. Sorenson. He says you were with a man who made a pass at you and that you weren't happy about it. There were angry words and the man left. The description of the man sounds a lot like you, Mr. Valentine."

"You really think I tried to kill her?"

"You're the common denominator between Asa and her."

"You're not buying this, are you?" Jack asked Tess.

Tess was trying to process the idea that perhaps the car was trying to hit her. It hadn't occurred to her at the time. And yet as she thought about it, it didn't seem like it made any attempt to slow down or avoid her. And then it simply drove off.

Jack's voice grew angrier. "You're way off base, Dan. I didn't make a pass. I kissed her and she kissed back!"

Daniel jerked in surprise.

"We disagreed on how much that kiss meant, which annoyed me," Jack finished.

“The last time you argued with someone he ended up dead," Daniel said by way of recovering. "Do you own a dark four-door sedan?"

The whole idea that someone may have purposefully tried to run her down, sent a chill down her spine. And for a second she had to wonder, who would want her dead. Jack was the only person she knew of who was upset with her. But to kill her over a kiss? That didn't seem like Jack.

"I'm sure you've accessed some DMV records that indicate I do own a black sedan."

"Can I see it?"

"It's right outside." Jack looked to Tess. "I think you
both
should see it."

Tess wished she had put her coat on before going outside to inspect Jack's car, although the cold blast of air had cleared away the fog that had settled with the idea of being the target of a murder and perhaps that murderer was Jack. Except that now, even before seeing the car, she knew it wasn't him. Jack had flashes of temper, but he didn't strike out. Even when she knew him years before, she'd always been impressed at how quickly his temper would fade and how he never seemed to hold a grudge. Not that he couldn't be compelled to kill. But she was sure he wouldn't kill her over a careless remark about a kiss.

Jack stood on the side walk with her although some distance away as Daniel walked around the car.

"You've got a pretty good dent back here," Daniel said.

"Unless Tess' attacker was driving backwards, I don't think that's the dent you're looking for. But if you want to impound the car only to be told that the dent and paint is consistent with backing into a mail box go ahead. Oh and of course, I can produce the ticket Cora got when she did it. "

Daniel ignored Jack as he continued to look at the car.  When he finished, he stepped up on the curb next to Tess.

"Satisfied?" Jack asked.

Tess knew his comment was directed at her as well. He'd noticed her hesitation. He'd known she'd considered Daniel's hypothesis and he was not happy about it.

"For now," Daniel said.

"So tell me, Dan, is this little witch hunt because you want to discredit me; keep me away from Tess, or do you really think someone tried to kill her?"

Daniel's jaw clinched. "I suspect that it was no accident."

"What are you going to do about it?" Jack demanded.

"I'm doing it already." He turned to Tess. "I’m going to find out who this is."

"I'm thinking this is a good time to remind you that you think this accident is related to Asa's murder. So when you find the guy who tried to kill Tess, you'll probably find the murderer," Jack said.

Daniels phone rang. He looked at the screen. "I have to take this, Tess, but we'll talk soon. I'll see you tonight, as usual."

Tess winced. She knew it was Daniel's way to get back at Jack for the kiss. She chanced a look at Jack. His face was unreadable.

~~~~

Tess took a seat, safely behind her desk. During their trek back to her office, Jack said nothing. She felt she owed him an apology, yet at the same time it wasn't unreasonable to consider the facts as Daniel had presented them. Someone tried to kill her. The thought of it terrified her. Even when she worked in the public defender's office, she'd never had her life threatened. It wasn't a good feeling. She could use one of the chocolate confections Jack brought to settle her nerves, but she thought she might have to offer them back to him as a bribe to get on his good side.

He stood in the middle of her office looking formal, professional. "Besides making an apology, I had planned to talk to you about looking into other suspects as we discussed last night." He spoke to her as his lawyer, not someone he'd kissed senseless the night before. "But considering your accident, I'm thinking it's not a good idea to ask for your help with that. It will be safer for you to stay out of it."

"I’m already in it," Tess said. She had an odd panicky feeling that Jack was going to leave, taking both his business and his affection away. Isn't that what she wanted?  To have him think of her only as his lawyer and maybe a friend, but nothing more? "My looking into things won't make a difference if I'm already a target. In fact, I'd feel better, more like I could protect myself by taking action to get to the bottom of it."

"You thought I tried to kill you."

"No."

One dark brow arched indicating he didn't believe her.

"I considered it for maybe two seconds," she admitted.

"More like ten minutes." But she noticed that some of the tension had left his face.

"You have the worst luck, Jack. Daniel's facts do look bad for you. The question is, is that on purpose? Is someone setting you up? Or is it really bad luck?"

He came around to sit on the side of her desk. "Maybe it’s a little of both. Maybe I wasn't originally set up to take the fall, but circumstances have made it that way and the killer is using it."

She nodded. "Maybe."

He reached into his coat pocket to retrieve his checkbook. Writing a check he handed it to Tess. "Will this cover the retainer?"

She looked at the check with several zeros and secretly sighed in relief. Solvent for a little while longer. "I can have Regina draw up the contract if you want to wait."

"I can sign it later. I have to go."

"Go?"

"I have business in Washington and Cora wants to get back to her canasta buddies."

"The yoga didn't work out?"

His lips twitched. "They asked her to leave."

Tess found herself smiling at the thought. Even yoga couldn't contain Jack's surrogate grandmother. This was a woman Tess wanted to meet. "I won't cash the check until you sign the contract."

"I trust you, Tess." She knew the words were about more than just business. She felt a stab of guilt that for a moment she hadn't given him the same trust.

"I appreciate that, but I'd like to keep this professional."

"And how about the personal?" he asked. "Is your aversion to me because of what happened the last time we were together?"

"No," she lied.

It was a conversation she'd hoped to never have. Planned to never have. Her aversion was this conversation.

"You're afraid I'm going to hurt you," Jack said.

"I'm just not interested in having a relationship."

"Liar." He made his move then. He leaned over her, putting his hands on the arms of her chair, caging her in. "You're interested. You just don't want to be."

"The end result is the same." She knew her breath had hitched and was mad that he would have seen it. This was a situation that required an outward control of emotion.

"No it's not. Denying your feelings has its own consequences."

Yeah, Tess thought, not getting your heart broken.

As if he'd read her mind he said, "Of the two people here, I'm the one at the most risk of getting hurt."

He'd moved his face closer to hers. "Did you really feel so little when I kissed you last night?"

He was doing it again. His nearness fogged her brain, stole her voice. She gave a small shake of her head. He stayed where he was, knowing his effect. He was so close, millimeters. She could feel the warmth of his breath. The mint chocolaty scent of it. She waited for him to make good on his intension, but he didn't move.

Just do it
, she thought. But as the seconds drew out, she realized that he'd given her the control of the next move. She would either go to him or push him away. More than anything she wanted to respond, and yet the voice in her head was screaming all sorts of warnings. The tension built until she could feel his nearness on every one of her nerve endings. The air was heavy with anticipation and ... lust if she was honest with herself. She had always had a secret crush on him, but he'd rejected her, so this turn of events was confusing. Still, it was Jack Valentine. Funny, sexy, and waiting for her to make a move.