Providence (22 page)

With one hand on my back, and the other on the mattress, he gently lowered me to his bed. His lips caressed every inch of my neck, and my body shivered in anticipation. I slid my hand down the perfect ripples of his chest and stomach, and pulled his belt free of the loops, fumbling with the buckle. A low moan emanated from his lips when I finally unfastened it and his mouth readily returned to mine.

He pulled away with a quick jerk, his eyes unfocused.

“What?” I asked, pushing myself up on my elbows.

His jaw tensed and he closed his eyes in frustration. “Claire.”

In the next moment, Claire unlocked the door and opened it without knocking. Jared stood at the top of the stairs and glared down at his sister.

“Busy?” Claire asked.

I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh, thinking of the view from Claire’s perspective. It wouldn’t take much for her to imagine what we’d been up to.

“I’m going to take that key back if you don’t start calling ahead of time,” Jared growled.

“You say that as if I can’t pick your lock in three seconds.”

“I’m serious, Claire,” Jared said so quietly that I barely heard him.

Well, I’m sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry at all. “Bex left for training an hour ago and mom is all weepy. Ryan is in bed asleep and lucky me, my Taleh doesn’t have half the police force and various criminals after him.”

Jared turned to face me and his expression morphed from anger to an apologetic expression.

“She’s here for the night,” he explained, going to his closet and pulling a t-shirt off the hanger. He seemed to have thought better of it, putting the shirt back and walking across the room to search through my suitcase for a pair of pajamas.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself if you put one of my t-shirts on,” he said quietly, handing me the pajamas. I smiled at him, amused.

Claire groaned in disgust downstairs. “Gross.”

Clothes shot up and over the railing, landing at Jared’s feet. It was the shirts we had left behind on the kitchen floor. The refrigerator door opened, and the sounds of Claire rummaging for food made Jared roll his eyes.

“I’m going to take a quick shower,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I smiled. “A cold one?”

“Yeah,” he said, turning toward the bathroom.

“I could keep you company.”

Jared froze in mid-step, pausing for just a moment before closing the bathroom door behind him.

I changed while he was in the shower, feeling a bit guilty for teasing him. I understood his frustration all too well. I leaned back on the bed, chewing on my thumb nail and smiling at what had almost happened.

Chapter Eleven

The Hunt

“I’ll be good,” I promised.

Jared came out of the bathroom in only a pair of shorts. He stood several feet from me,

hesitating to come to bed. “Maybe you should take a cold shower, too. I don’t think it I can concentrate with you….”

“Aroused?” I said, quickly pressing my lips together to stifle a laugh.

His mouth fell open in shock and I cackled, too pleased with the reaction to help myself.

Jared smiled and nodded, complaisant to my playful badgering. He crawled into bed and propped his head up with his hand.

I sat against the headboard and sighed. “She wasn’t serious, right? About the half-the-police-force thing?”

His face fell. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said, sliding his fingers between mine.

“Why are they after me?”

Jared cursed in Spanish under his breath resulting in Claire giggling from somewhere downstairs.

“They’re not after you, sweetheart. They’re after something of Jack’s. They just think you know where it is.”

“They’re after the Port of Providence file?”

“Dawson said they want to dispose of the evidence Jack compiled that proves they’re dirty, but they’re looking for something else—something that’s contained within the file.”

“So, we go to my parents’ house, figure it out and get rid of it. Toss it off of a bridge or something.”

“That wouldn’t help us, Nina,” Jared said, shaking his head.

“Why not?” I grimaced.

“Whatever it is, it was worth going after Jack Grey. No one does that unless it’s…it’s something big, Nina. Something we don’t want to be caught without.”

“What are you talking about?” I was frustrated with the circles we seemed to be talking in.

“I shouldn’t tell you this.” He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger.

“Do it, anyway,” I snapped.

A heavy expression settled on his face. “Jack didn’t die from the car accident. He died of complications from a gunshot wound to the chest.”

It took a moment for my brain to wrap around what he’d said, but once I processed the words, I was instantly angry. “What?”

Jared put his hand on mine. “Gabe did everything in his power to try to save him, but Jack was in over his head.”

“I thought Gabe was indestructible. Wasn’t he one-hundred percent angel?”

“They threatened the only thing more important to him than Jack.”

“More important than his own life?” I asked, skeptical.

Jared nodded; the severity in his face was a bit frightening. “My mother. They were in my home the day Jack was shot. Claire and I had taken Bex to the airport, so Gabe had no choice but to leave him. My father knew what would happen if he left Jack alone, but his life meant nothing without my mother. Jack was shot en route to his office downtown. He did crash into a guard rail, but it was the bullet that led to his death.”

“You’re saying the men that want this package murdered my father?” Jared confirmed with a nod and I felt heat burn from every pore in my face. “I don’t care what it is. We’re getting rid of it. They will never get their hands on it.”

“Nina, I know you’re upset, but we need to think about this. They want something in that file so badly they went up against Jack and my father, and they knew what Gabe was capable of. I’d rather have it in our possession so we have something to barter with if need be.”

Tears filled my eyes and Jared wrapped his arms around me. I mourned once again for my father. I kept losing him over and over again, with one horrible truth after another.

I cried myself asleep, and when I awoke, Jared comforted me once again when the news from the night before replayed in my memory.

“I need to do something. I can’t just sit here,” I said, rushing over to my suitcase.

“I’m going to figure this out, Nina. Just give me a day or two to decide our next move.”

“I can’t wait another second,” I said, my mind racing to form a plan. When the idea struck, I paused. “I’m going back to my parents’. The answers are there.” I yanked a t-shirt over my head and the first pair of jeans I touched.

“We don’t have to go now,” he argued.

“Yes we do,” I said, pulling on my shoes while hopping to the stairs.

Jared scrambled from the bed. The hangers in his closet clanged against each other, and within seconds he was behind me, fully dressed. “Not exactly how I wanted to spend the weekend,” he said, frowning.

“C’mon. Let’s go. Vaminos!” I said, rushing him out the door.

In my parents’ home, Jared followed me up the stairs to Jack’s office. He watched me locate the keys to Cynthia’s safe, followed me to her study, and then pulled the plant to the floor without effort. I used the key to gain access to the papers and files inside, placing them in somewhat organized piles.

For two hours we searched the documents, separating what we thought would be useful. One photo caught my eye. I held it out in front of me, staring at it, hoping I would recognize what it was that drew me in.

“He looks familiar to you?” Jared prompted.

“Something about his eyes…I can’t put my finger on it.”

Jared pulled a black wallet from his jacket pocket and tossed it into my lap; it was the one he had taken the night Ryan was stabbed. I took a closer look at the metal object embedded into the black leather. It was a badge.

I gasped, pointing at the picture. “This is the man that wanted my ring. This is Grahm.”

Jared nodded.

“They were all cops?” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “But why would they…?” My eyes wandered to my hand.

Jared stared at it as well. “The ring must be the key to something.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” I whispered. I looked at the papers for a moment and then rifled through them.

“What is it?” Jared asked.

“There’s a receipt in here for the purchase of my ring. I didn’t think about it before, but there has to be a connection,” I said, impatient with the endless stacks. “Why else would it be here with important business documents?”

My eyes widened with excitement when I found the thin carbon copy. Jared leaned over my shoulder to take a look for himself.

“There’s an engraving charge,” he pointed out. “Is your ring engraved?”

“No. I don’t…Jack never said anything, I’ve never noticed,” I said, looking at my ring.

Slowly pulling it off my finger, I held it up, rotated it, and narrowed my eyes, looking for any words. “There’s nothing,”

Jared held out his hand, and I handed it to him. My finger felt naked in its absence. Jared lifted it up, looked at it from every angle, and then returned it to my finger.

“There’s nothing,” he confirmed. He eyed the receipt once more. “I say we go to the designer. Maybe they have a copy of this receipt.”

I nodded, prompting Jared to gather the information and return it to the safe.

Jared and I drove to the address on the receipt, and I nervously twisted the ring around my finger as we pulled to a stop beside the curb. At first glance it appeared to be a typical jewelry store, not the underground, surreptitious establishment I had expected.

The bell on the door announced our arrival and a short, pudgy, elderly man with round glasses greeted us. Jared took my hand as we walked toward the glass display cases the man stood behind.

“Good morning. I am Vincent! You like diamonds? Sapphires? Rubies? Emeralds? Semi-precious stones? I have them all,” he gushed with a thick accent.

Jared squeezed my hand and introduced himself. “This is Nina…I’m Jared.”

Vincent didn’t skip a beat. “I’d be happy to help you with anything you need.” He paused to look at our hands intertwined and smiled. “Could I interest you in our exquisite line of engagement diamonds? I designed most of these,” he said, pointing out a long row of extravagant rings. “I can design one customary, if you wish.”

Jared looked at me with a soft expression, and then reluctantly turned his attention back to Vincent. “Not yet.”

Vincent smiled at me, and I felt the blood rise to the surface of my cheeks. “Ah, well, then. Another time.”

“You are the owner?” Jared asked.

Vincent chuckled, patting his protruding belly. “I am. Thirty-six years, now.”

Jared raised my hand, resting it on the surface of the glass encasement. “Do you recognize this ring?”

Vincent leaned down to get a better look. “Yes…yes…,” he hummed, elongating the words. “It has been awhile, has it not?” he asked, looking to me.

“My father purchased this from you three years ago,” I reminded him.

Vincent lifted my hand and angled it several different ways, proudly watching it sparkle in the bright lights above.

“Your father was a man of vision,” he said, smiling in approval.

Jared slid the receipt in front of Vincent. “This paper includes an engraving fee.”

“Yes, yes. I remember,” he said, pinching his bottom lip with his thumb and forefinger. “I don’t ask questions, you know. I just make the customer happy.”

“But…there is no engraving on the ring,” I said.

He bellowed out a cheerful laugh. “There is, kisa. But it’s hidden, you see.” Vincent opened his hand, prompting me to give him my ring.

I sighed and looked to Jared, who offered a comforting smile. He took my hand and slowly pulled the ring off of my finger. Once Jared placed it in his hand, Vincent turned the ring upside down.

“He had it marked into the pavilion of the stone. The underbelly,” he explained, “very tiny…I had to send it away to a gentleman I know with a laser. I don’t have one of those here, of course,” he chuckled, shaking his head.

“The engraving order has been covered. Do you have the original receipt?” Jared asked.

“No, no. I would have total in my books, only. If I remember correctly, it was letters and numbers. Gibberish that only made sense to your father, I assume.”

It seemed to be too easy. I felt I was in the middle of a cloak and dagger movie, happening upon the perfect clues at the perfect time, watching it come together in front of my eyes.

Jared tucked my hair behind my ear with an apologetic expression. “Vincent?” His eyes were hesitant to leave mine. “Can you remove the stone from the setting?”

I jerked my ring from Vincent’s open hand. “No!”

Jared pulled me out of ear shot. “Nina, if you want to see what Jack had put on this ring—and what Grahm wanted—we have to remove it from the setting to read it. He can reset it as if it were never touched.”

I pressed my lips together in frustration. We would have to see what was etched into the stone to make progress, and there was only one way to do it.

“There’s no other way?” I asked, knowing the answer.

Jared shook his head and opened his hand. I placed my ring in his palm and chewed on my lip.

“
Can you do it?” he asked, setting the ring on the glass.

Vincent’s eyes moved from Jared to me, unsure of how to proceed. “I could remove the stone, but there is no guarantee we will be able to read what is there, you see what I say?”

Jared nodded. “Remove the stone.”

Vincent seemed suddenly disinclined. “It will be a few days before I can get to it. Write down your number and I will call you when—”

“I realize you’re busy, forgive me,” Jared said, pulling out his wallet. He set a small stack of hundred dollar bills on the glass, and Vincent’s eyes widened, jerking his head back up to Jared. “That is in addition to your fee, of course,” Jared added.

“You wait here…I’ll be just a moment.” Vincent gestured for us to sit on a short couch by the door, and then hurried to the back.

We waited together on the couch. A strange calm came over me, and I sighed when Jared began lightly caressing the top of my hand.

My eyebrows pulled in and my smile faded. “Jared?”

“Yes?” he said, playing with the strands of hair that had escaped my ponytail.

“Vincent called me kisa. It doesn’t mean ‘stupid’ or anything, does it?”

Jared burst into laughter. “No, sweetheart. I would never let anyone insult you that way.”

“What does it mean?”

Jared kissed my forehead. “It’s Russian. It means kitten.”

“Oh. That’s a relief.”

The minutes ticked by and I became increasingly anxious. I began pacing, and Jared watched me walk the length of the floor. A door shut behind me, and I flipped around. Vincent cupped the remnants of my ring in his plump hand.

Jared stood up and joined me at the display case. “Did you find anything?” he asked.

Vincent flattened a piece of paper in front of us with letters and numbers scribbled across it. He handed Jared a loupe and held out his hand for Jared to take the stone from his palm. Jared looked through the loupe at the stone, but pulled it away from his eyes, shaking his head.

“I can’t see anything,” he said, holding the peridot in front of him. Jared periodically looked down to the paper and back at the gem, placing it back into Vincent’s palm.