Turn To Me (40 page)

I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted, “I have a date.”

Silence.  I squirmed uncomfortably, pressing my lips tightly together.  I would not be the first to speak. What was there to say?  Even if he hadn’t slept with Kandi, he’d kissed her and God knows what else.  I refused to feel guilty for going on a date. 

“I see,” he finally said, then, “Will you go on a date with me?”

“I-” my words faltered.  He’d taken me by surprise.  “Why?” 

“I want you back, Kat,” he said bluntly.  “I’ll do whatever it takes.  I don’t care who else you date, so long as you give me a chance to win you back.”

I took a moment to absorb this, surprised at his declaration.  Surprised and gratified.  I still found it hard to believe he felt something more for me, more than the natural impulse to attain someone who had rejected him.  Even suspecting this, I couldn’t deny him – Blane Kirk, my own personal weak link.

“All right,” I said carefully.  “I’ll go on a date with you.”

“Good,” he said, satisfaction in his voice.  When he spoke again, it was in the low timbre that sent a shiver through me.  “I could smell you on my skin this morning,” he said.  “It took every ounce of self-control I had to not touch you the way I wanted to.”

My heart skipped a beat, then sped up.  I closed my eyes, absorbing the sound of his voice in my ear.

“Do you know what you do to me, Kat?” he asked.

“No.”  My response was barely audible, my mind conjuring images of Blane in my bed and the things we had done there.

“You must know,” he said.  “You make me lose control, forget about everything and everyone.  Until all I know is that I have to be inside you, feel your legs wrapped around my waist, your cries of pleasure echoing in my ears.”

Oh, God.  I could barely breathe.  His voice was like a potent wine, filling my mind and making my blood heat in my veins. 

“I miss you, Kat,” he said.  “I miss your smiles.  I miss your crankiness in the morning before you’ve had your coffee.  I miss how excited you get when it snows.  I miss how you won’t eat popcorn unless you have a Pepsi with it.  I miss listening to you sing in the shower when you think I can’t hear you.  But mostly, I miss how I feel when I’m with you.”

I sucked in a breath, his declarations overwhelming me.  I missed him so badly, it was a physical pain.  His words frightened me as much as they thrilled me.

“I-I have to go, Blane,” I stammered. 

“All right.”  His voice was calm and even.  “But I hope you think of me while you're with him.”

The line went dead, Blane's words lingering in my ear as I hung up.

I stared at nothing for a while, my apartment growing dark around me, Blane’s words echoing in my head.  When had life gotten so complicated?

I glanced at the clock.  Ryan would be here in less than an hour and I hadn’t done anything other than shower.  I shifted into high gear.  Thinking pants were better for this weather than a dress or skirt, I pulled on a pair of dark jeans that fit me like a second skin.  I added a black silk blouse with a scooped neck and flowing sleeves.  It was pretty and feminine and went nicely with the jeans and my black boots.  I left my hair down, blowing it the rest of the way dry before putting on my makeup.

My phone rang a few minutes before Ryan was supposed to arrive.  It was Kade.

“Nice of you to tell me the big news,” he said, his voice flat. 

I sucked in a breath.  I hadn't counted on him finding out that I might be pregnant.  “I don’t know what you mean,” I said, playing for time to think.

“I talked to Blane.  He told me.”

I winced at the underlying anger in Kade’s voice.  Was yet another truce between Kade and me about to be broken?  How would he feel if I was carrying Blane’s child?  Would he think I’d planned it to try and trap Blane?

“I’m sorry, Kade,” I stammered nervously.  “I didn’t mean for this to happen.  I’m not trying to get Blane to marry me, if that’s what you’re upset about.”

“Dammit, Kathleen,” Kade bit out.  “That’s not why I’m pissed.  Blane knows better than to be so careless.”

I took a moment to process this before replying.  “It’s not for sure,” I said quietly.  “Probably just a false alarm.  I’ve been under a lot of stress, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.”  His tone was grim. 

A knock at my door proclaimed Ryan’s arrival.

“Ryan’s here,” I said.  “Gotta go.”  I disconnected before he had a chance to reply.

Taking a deep breath to steady nerves now shot after the conversation with Kade, I opened the door to see Ryan standing there, looking gorgeous in jeans, a heavy brown coat over a button-down shirt and cowboy boots.  His dark hair curved over his forehead in delicious waves. 

“Hey, beautiful,” he said with a grin, looking me up and down.  “You look good enough to eat.”

“Thanks,” I said with a smile.  “Want to come in?”

He stepped inside and I was uncomfortably reminded of my lack of height.  He was as tall as Blane and just as broad.  I swallowed heavily.  Kade’s comment last night about Ryan ran through my mind, but I pushed it away.  Just because he believed the worst of everyone didn’t mean it was true.

“I’ll just get my coat.”  I grabbed the coat Blane had given me, but Ryan took it out of my hands, holding it open for me just as Blane had.

“Any particular preference for dinner?” he asked as we stepped outside.

“Not really,” I said as we walked down the stairs.  “I’m not terribly picky.  Just no sushi.”

“No sushi,” he said, grinning as he opened the passenger door on a big pickup truck for me.  “Got it.”

He drove me to a restaurant downtown known for its steaks.  The place was dark and quiet on a Monday night and we settled in at a leather covered booth.

Ryan ordered a bottle of wine as we looked at the menus.  I’d had the soup not so long ago, so I wasn’t terribly hungry.  Still, a free meal was a free meal and I could always take home the leftovers.  I ordered the petite filet.  Ryan ordered a bone-in ribeye, rare.

We chitchatted for a few minutes while the waiter uncorked and poured our wine.  I just took tiny sips of my glass, the uncomfortable reminder that I might be pregnant lingering in my mind.

“So you and Kirk aren’t together anymore?” Ryan asked out of the blue.

I choked on my wine.  “I didn’t realize you knew it was him,” I sputtered, once I could breathe again.

“I know you used to be his girlfriend,” Ryan said casually, pouring more wine into our glasses.  He turned towards me and I realized he was much closer than I was comfortable with.

Just then, my cell phone rang.  I looked at the caller ID.  It was Kade again.

“I’d better take this,” I said.

“Sure,” Ryan said affably. 

I scooted out of the booth and headed toward the restrooms, stopping in the hallway where it was quiet.

“Hello?”

“Get out of there, Kathleen,” Kade said without preamble.

“What?  Why?”

“I cracked that phone you lifted,” Kade replied.  “It belongs to Ryan Sheffield.  From the photos I found, he's been sleeping with Adriana Waters.”

“They’re having an affair?”  I said, incredulous.

“It would seem so,” Kade replied. 

I was floored.  Adriana was having an affair with Ryan?  I had thought she hated everything about the military.  Why would she get involved with another Navy man?  Then another thought hit me.  “That must have been him that I heard in the hotel room.”  Talking about “taking care” of me.

“Right, which is why you have to leave.  Now.  I found an account in Grand Cayman that belongs to Ryan.  It’s recently received over five million dollars in deposits.  In case you’re not aware, they don’t pay enlisted men that kind of money.”

My heart sank and I blew out a sigh.  I didn’t know how I could still be surprised at what wrongdoings people committed.  Naïveté, I supposed, wanting to believe the best rather than the worst.  Maybe I should be more like Kade.

“But why would he kill Ron and Stacey, Kade?” I asked.  “Or come after me?  He's JAG, not a SEAL.  They would've laughed in his face if he'd been the one threatening them.”

“Because before he was JAG, he was CIA.”

“What?”  I was aghast.  “But...that's not possible,” I stammered.

“I’m on my way,” Kade said.  “Kyle's neck-deep in this shit.  Get out of there.  Tell him anything.”

“Okay.  I’m downtown, at-”  I was cut off when my phone was suddenly snatched out of my hand.  Startled, I spun around to see Ryan standing right behind me.  He raised the phone to his ear.

“I’m sorry but Kathleen can’t come to the phone right now,” he said.  “She’ll have to call you back later.”

Kade must have said something then because Ryan’s eyes narrowed.  “Tell Kirk that if he wants to see her alive again, he should make sure he loses this case.”  Ryan hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket.

“Shall we continue our dinner?” he asked, taking my arm in a tight grip and ushering me back to the table.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.  “I heard you on the stand.  You thought Kyle did the right thing.  You said so yourself.”

“Who do you think leaked the story to the press?” he asked.  “Once that shit hit the fan, it didn’t matter what anyone said.  Kyle was going to be crucified.  And he would have been, too, if Kirk hadn’t defended him.  Too bad for you he's too good at his job.”

Just then our food arrived, the waiter carefully setting down our plates.  Ryan politely thanked him. 

It seemed Ryan had been behind the threats to me and Blane the whole time.  But for what?  Just money?  And where had that kind of money come from?  I watched him as he calmly began cutting into his steak, the rare meat oozing red juices.

My eyes fell on the large steak knife the waiter had brought me.  Just as my hand lifted to grab it, Ryan snatched it away.

“How rude of me,” he said.  “Let me cut your steak for you.”

We didn’t speak as he cut decisively through the meat, taking the knife and laying it far beyond my reach when he was through.

“It’s your last supper, so to speak,” Ryan said, picking up his fork again and stabbing a hunk of steak.  “Eat up.”

My eyes darted wildly around the room, seeking any kind of help.  There were few patrons tonight and the wait staff was nowhere to be seen.

“No one’s going to save you tonight,” Ryan said between bites.  “So whatever you’re planning, forget it.”  He barely glanced at me, trapped as I was inside the booth.  “Now eat.”

“Why do you want Kyle to go to prison so badly?” I asked.

“I don’t care one way or the other,” he replied indifferently.  “But I work for people who care a great deal and have paid me very good money to make sure of this trial’s outcome.”

“Who are these people?” I asked.  “Do you still work for the CIA?”

“You know,” he said, his tone turning irritated in the blink of an eye, “it really pisses me off when I spend good money buying a woman dinner and she won’t eat it, because she's on some diet or doesn’t want to appear as though she actually eats.”  He grabbed my arm in a painful grip and jerked me toward him, pushing his face close to mine.  “Eat your fucking dinner.”

It was like Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, so quickly did he turn from genial and calm to coldly lethal.  I hurriedly picked up my fork, fumbling with it since my hands were shaking so badly, and put a bite of meat in my mouth.  Ryan watched, easing away once he was satisfied I was chewing.

“That’s better,” he said, resuming his own meal.

The meat was like sawdust in my mouth, the lump of matter getting harder to swallow the more I chewed.  I choked it down, taking a drink of water before eating another bite under Ryan’s watchful eye.

“I quit the CIA, by the way,” he said conversationally.  “But that doesn't mean the training I have doesn't come in handy.”

“Why would you join the Navy if you left the CIA?” I asked, confused.

“Who said I joined?  It helps to have friends in high places.”

“I know you're sleeping with Adriana,” I accused.

“Was,” he replied shortly, his knife slicing through his steak.  “Past tense.”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess you haven't heard,” he said.  I waited while he chewed another mouthful of meat.  “Adriana was so traumatized by what Kyle did to her, causing the miscarriage of their child, that she took her own life earlier tonight.”

I gasped in horror.  Ryan didn't even bother to look my way.  “You killed her,” I breathed.  Poor Adriana.  First she'd lost faith in her marriage, then her child.  Now she was dead.

“Public opinion is a fickle thing,” Ryan said.  “The suicide of Kyle's ex-wife should take care of any sympathy people might have towards him.”

I was aghast.  “And now you're going to kill me?”  I asked.  “Why?”

“I have to do whatever it takes to make Blane throw the case.  If he hadn’t been so quick that night in his office, I’d have got you.”

My blood ran cold at the casual way Ryan spoke of killing me.

“What about the bomb in my car?” I asked. 

“Did you like that?”  Ryan laughed.  “Creative, right?  Didn't get you, though.  You must have nine lives, sweetie, but your time's up.”  He wiped his mouth, glancing at my plate with a sigh.  “I guess that’s all you’re going to eat.  You can’t say I didn’t try to give you a decent last meal, beautiful.”

“Why kill me?” I asked.  “I haven’t done anything to you.”

“Collateral damage, sweetness.  You can thank Kirk for getting you involved at all.  We got all our info from his ex.  Turns out, she's an old sorority sister of Adriana's and does she ever hate you.  She was full of useful information.  Using you as leverage on Kirk was a no-brainer, once we realized he was in love with you.”

“Who is ‘we’?” I asked.  “Who are you working for?”

“Can’t answer that.”

“Blane’s not going to lose this case,” I said, anger at the terror Ryan had put me through giving me a shot of courage.  “He sees Kyle as his brother-in-arms, and he won’t abandon him.  That should prove to you that I don’t mean a thing to him.  Everything you did to me was for nothing.”

“Save it,” Ryan said coldly.  “You think I’m an idiot?  That I didn’t see through the big break-up scene?  Kirk will go to any lengths to protect you.”