Strip Tease (19 page)

“Yeah, that works. Bye.”

“See you soon.” Janelle hung up in stunned
silence. She could feel Nate behind her, knew he was waiting for
her to say something, but she remained quiet.

“What’s going on?”

His quiet question brought her back to
reality and Janelle turned to face him. She couldn’t help noticing
the expectant expression on his face.

The sight of it made her stomach sour.

“I’m meeting her in an hour. I need to take
a shower.” She started to get up but he gripped her by the
shoulder. “What?”

“No way in hell you’re meeting her alone.
I’m going in with you.” His voice was quiet, and she knew he was
dead serious.

Janelle shook her head. “No, Nate. I can’t
do that to her. She’d freak out if I brought a stranger with me.
She’s probably freaking out right now over meeting me and I’m her
sister for God’s sake.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s not safe. What if
Diaz shows up? What will you do then?”

“Nothing’s happened since that one time. You
called off the tail a week ago. Let me do this.” Janelle smiled,
trying to reassure him, reassure herself but he didn’t look so
convinced.

And really, she wasn’t that convinced
either. He did have a point. Billy Diaz was dangerous and on the
run, as was her sister.

“He’s desperate, Janelle. She’s his
weakness, the one thing he wants but can’t have.” He paused, rubbed
a hand against his stubble covered jaw. “We’ve uncovered more
information about the two of them. They have some sort of sick
co-dependency on each other. If he finds her, he’ll do anything to
get her back. He’s still looking for her. Trust me.”

“Look, I know he thinks he’s in love with my
sister or whatever, but even he’s not that stupid. The feds are
looking for him. Why would he be searching for Ginger? I bet he’s
long gone.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll have breakfast with
her and then I’ll bring her here. She’ll be safe with me—and
you.”

He sighed. “I’ll need to call the DEA and
let them know what’s going on once you bring her back here.”

“Of course. But she needs to be approached
carefully. She’s scared, strung out and a little bit desperate.”
Janelle moved closer to him, resting her hand on his bristly cheek.
He remained quiet, studying her and despair suddenly consumed her.
Would this be the last time she touched him like this, slept in his
bed?

Would he turn her away once he had what he
truly wanted?

“I’ve been handling Ginger for years, you
know.” Janelle tried to smile but her mouth felt broken. It was
silly, she asked for his trust when she didn’t trust him.

At the very least, she didn’t trust her
silly, sick heart.

“I know, but this is different. It’s more
dangerous. You don’t understand who you’re messing with. Billy is a
cold blooded murderer. And now he’s desperate and on the run.” He
rubbed his cheek against the palm of her hand and her eyes slid
closed for the quickest moment.

“I know.” Her voice was an aching whisper,
her heart hurt for him, but she wasn’t going to back down.

“Ginger said she doesn’t want to see Billy
ever again. I believe her.” God, she hoped what Ginger said was
true.

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“Nate.” Her voice grew firm and she dropped
her hand from his cheek. “I can’t have you going into the café with
me. She’ll leave the second she spots you by my side and then we’re
back to square one.”

He blew out a frustrated sigh. “Okay. I’ll
wait for you out in the parking lot and I won’t let her see me.
You’ll have your cell on you so I can call if anything goes
down.”

Relief flooded her. He was right. She
couldn’t do this completely alone. “I never leave home without it.”
Pressing a quick kiss to his mouth, she climbed out of bed, heading
toward her bathroom. “That should work. I’m going to take a
shower,” she tossed over her shoulder.

She padded into the bathroom toward the
shower stall and twisted the faucet on full blast, waiting for the
water to warm. Nerves tickled her stomach like a thousand
butterflies beating their wings at once and she pressed a hand to
her front.

Everything will be fine. You’ll talk Ginger
into coming back here. Nate will keep her safe. And you. He
promised.

God, she hoped that was true.

Stripping off her thin cotton nightgown
Janelle stepped into the stall and stood under the hot spray of
water, letting it sluice over her head. It was going to be all
right. Ginger would get help, Nate would get her off of the DEA
charges and they’ll eventually find Billy. It won’t be his problem
anymore.

It was a win-win for everyone.

* * * *

Instinct told Nate something wasn’t right.
Over the years, he’d become dependent on his intuition and at the
moment, it was going off like a bazillion car alarms in a packed
parking lot.

Janelle didn’t seem worried in the least.
She’d gotten ready for her meeting with her sister in record time.
Tossing her still damp blonde hair into a ponytail, she dressed
casually in jeans and a T-shirt, no makeup on her beautiful face.
She looked fresh, clean, natural.

He didn’t want to leave. The yearning to
coax her back into bed, strip her clothing off and sample her
sweet, shower-clean flesh was so strong he clenched his fists to
control himself.

Damn it, he shouldn’t feel this way. His
partner’s killer was that much closer to captivity. He should be
thrilled everything was finally coming together. Once Janelle
brought Ginger home, he’d call Greg and the both of them could
question her. Pump her for information and get her to spill
completely about Billy’s prostitution business.

He hoped he could get the federal charges
dismissed. They’d need her to testify against Billy to make the
charges stick against him—if they ever found him. So the DEA might
be lenient on her. Hopefully they’d offer her immunity for her
testimony.

“Ready?” Nate asked, watching as she
gathered her purse and slung it over her shoulder.

“Yes.” She leaned down to kiss him on the
forehead and he grabbed her, cupping her cheek, holding her there
so he could kiss her properly. His mouth lingered, his tongue
swiped against hers and when she pulled away from him, she released
a shaky breath.

“Then let’s go.” Standing, he cleared his
throat, wondered at the sudden thickness there.

Hell, he was falling in love with her. Hard
to face when he’d never been in love before.

He hurriedly got dressed, didn’t bother with
a shower or even underwear. He slipped on a pair of jeans and a
black T-shirt, shoved shoes on his feet and grabbed his gun.

“You’re going to bring that?”

Glancing at her, he saw her blue eyes had
gone wide, her mouth parted as she stared at the gun dangling from
his hand.

“Yeah. We have to be safe, Janelle. Besides,
it’s always with me.” He shoved the gun into the back waistband of
his jeans, would stash it in a safer place once he got into his
car.

“Right, okay I get it.” She smiled though he
noticed a faint tremor to her lips. “Guns make me nervous.”

Nate pulled her to him, smoothing his hands
up and down her slim back. “Baby, get used to them. I’m a cop.
They’re a part of the trade.”

“I know. And it scares me.” She slipped her
arms around him, nuzzling her face against his chest. “Your job is
so dangerous.”

“Don’t worry about me. We need to
concentrate on Ginger.” Reluctantly he released her, checking the
clock on the bedside table. “We gotta go or you’re going to be
late.”

“Let’s go.”

His hands shook as he climbed into his car
and Nate willed them to stop. He couldn’t afford to be nervous.
Everything important to him was on the line and he needed to be in
tip-top shape. He couldn’t let anything get past him.

He’d put in a quick call to Greg when
Janelle was in the shower, letting him know what was happening.
Greg had been eager to meet him there, but he’d told him to cool
it. They couldn’t scare Ginger, things needed to look normal.

The thought of anything happening to Janelle
made his gut clench. He needed to confess his feelings. Tell her he
was in love with her. Imagining the moment made him feel both
euphoric and nauseous.

Get through today and they were home free.
Get the information from Ginger to nail Billy Diaz to the wall—the
prostitution business, the drug ring, all of it, would be a
satisfying relief.

The smugness wore off quick and he shook his
head. This wasn’t really his case anymore. He didn’t need to care
as much. But he did. For Janelle – and for her sister.

A trickle of fear spilled down his spine.
Billy wanted Ginger badly. Did he really have feelings for her, or
was it because she knew too much? If Ginger was at risk, then
Janelle was at risk too. How he hated that.

Nate was more determined than ever to
protect Janelle and her sister. No one hurt what he considered his.
He’d suffered enough from the loss of his partner. He didn’t plan
on losing anyone else anytime soon.

* * * *

The restaurant was old, small and not very
clean. A sparse amount of customers occupied a few booths, but
otherwise it was empty. The stench of burning grease assaulted
Janelle as she walked inside and she wrinkled her nose.

Thank goodness, she was too nervous to
eat.

“Sit anywhere you like,” the bored looking
waitress told her from behind the counter, a pot of pitch black
coffee dangling from her hand. A grizzled old man sitting at the
counter turned to look at Janelle, his watery eyes doing a slow
perusal up and down her body, his mouth jerking into an obvious
leer.

Leave it to her sister to find the sleaziest
diner in Los Angeles.

Glancing about the restaurant, she spotted
Ginger sitting at a booth in the deepest corner of the room.
Heading toward her, nerves tickled Janelle’s stomach and she slid
into the booth seat opposite her sister.

Ginger lifted her head and Janelle contained
the gasp that wanted to escape. She looked terrible. Pale, pasty
skin with dark bruising shadows under her eyes and her cheeks were
sunken in. Her mouth, so similar to Janelle’s, was chapped, the
center of her bottom lip cracked and split and so painful
looking.

“Oh, my God, what happened to you?” Janelle
reached across the table, grasping Ginger’s cold hand in her
own.

“Hey, sis.” Even Ginger’s voice sounded
pathetic. Janelle had never seen her sister look so bad, ever.

“Ginger.” She didn’t know what else to say,
she was so horrified.

“I told you, I’m sick. I tried to get off
the stuff. I keep doing it and it makes me feel worse and worse. I
look terrible. Look at my hair.” Ginger fingered a strand of limp
dirty blonde hair, then let it fall back onto her shoulder. “I see
you and think ‘Wow, so that’s how I’m supposed to look’. But I
don’t look anything like you. I was always considered the prettier
one.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation,
Janelle wanted to roll her eyes. Leave it to Ginger to play the
prettier sister card. But when she spotted the tears welling up in
Ginger’s eyes, Janelle squeezed her hand in reassurance.

Guilt consumed her. She was ready to leave
and she’d been there not even five minutes. Ginger needed a safe
place, needed someone take care of her.

“You’re coming home with me. I can take care
of you. I know someone who can protect you from Billy. You’ll be
safe with us.” She didn’t mention the feds were looking for her.
She’d leave that bit of information for Nate to share later.

Ginger stiffened and withdrew her hand from
Janelle’s grasp. “What are you talking about? Who do you know that
can protect me from Billy? Because trust me, no one can protect me
from him. I’m sure he already knows I’m back in town.”

Funny, she sounded like Nate. “How could he?
You didn’t contact him or anyone else that’s part of his inner
circle, right?”

Ginger gnawed on her already shredded lower
lip, her gaze tearing away from Janelle’s. Doubt tripped Janelle’s
heart, making it skip about three extra beats. Her throat became so
dry she could hardly speak.

“You talked to someone. Who did you see?”
Anger pushed past Janelle’s fear and she glanced out the window,
caught sight of Nate’s car parked in the lot.

They needed to leave. Now.

“I called my friend Lynne, okay? I wanted to
tell her I was okay and Billy was there. He overheard her say my
name.”

A shiver slithered down Janelle’s spine. So
Billy was still in the area somewhere. What were you thinking? You
told me you didn’t want Billy to know you were back in town.”

“I was lonely. I couldn’t get a hold of you
last night and I had no one else to talk to.” Ginger threw her arms
into the air. “Billy used to be really good to me, J. He loved me.
He still loves me.”

Janelle tried to push the messy emotions
swirling within her aside. She would not feel guilty because Ginger
couldn’t get a hold of her. It wasn’t her fault. But all those old
feelings came tumbling forward. She hated feeling as if she was
responsible for everyone’s well-being. It wasn’t right, her
rational brain told her, but her guilt-filled heart wouldn’t
listen.

“Lynne came to my motel room later and we
hung out for a little bit.” Ginger smiled, revealing stained teeth
and Janelle knew immediately that was code for ‘doing drugs’.

“Great, you called Lynne so she could bring
you a quick fix. And you got Billy’s attention on top of it. Did
you see him last night too?”

“No!” Ginger shook her head, her stringy
hair flying around her shoulders. “I swear to you, J, I didn’t see
him. Only Lynne came over. I talked to him for like two seconds on
the phone, but then I hung up.”

Janelle rested her forehead in her hands and
closed her eyes, trying to think. For all she knew, Billy was
outside at this very moment, watching the restaurant much like Nate
was. The two men might’ve even seen each other.