Unforeseen Danger (21 page)

“It doesn’t make sense,” Nikki said as she climbed back in the car.
 
“Why would I check in on Saturday morning if I knew that you were going to be home on Saturday night?”

“It makes perfect sense.”
 
Jake rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, “I was supposed to go out of town Saturday night and not come back until Thursday, but I
canceled
it after our big fight Saturday afternoon.
 
You drove here to check in and then came back home, waiting for me to leave, but that never happened.
 
I was at the office for a few hours that morning.
 
You had time.”

“But why go so far?” she persisted.
 
“Why not stay at home, if you were leaving, or go to a motel closer to home?”

“Nikki, honey, everyone in town knows you,” he said.
 
“And maybe this guy, too.
 
You were playing it safe.
 
No nosy
neighbors
or town gossips to catch you.”

“I’m sorry, Jake,” she said.
 

He squeezed her hand.
 
“It’s in the past.
 
I just wish we’d learned more.”

“But we got a name.
 
Do you know anyone named Parker?”

Jake gave her a patient smile.
 
“Hon, the name Parker might has well been Smith.
 
Even if you were away from home, do you think either of you would use your real name?
 
The guy in there said you paid in cash and I have to believe Parker was an assumed name.
 
Besides, you were afraid to tell me because it was someone I knew.
 
The only Parker I know is old man Pete Parker who runs the furniture store in town.
 
He’s seventy if he’s a day.”

Nikki looked a little defeated at that, and Jake leaned over to kiss her before he put the keys in the ignition.
 

“I’ll run it by Matt, just in case.”

Nikki rubbed her forehead and slipped her glasses back on.
 
As she stared out the window, Jake could feel her disappointment.

“Hey.”
 
He reached over to touch her knee.
 
“How about I take you to your
favorite
restaurant for dinner?”

***

Nikki forced a smile and tried to project an enthusiasm she didn’t feel.
 
“Sounds great!”

The headache that began when they stood on the side of the mountain had progressed to a full-fledged throb.
 
She fished a bottle of pain reliever out of her purse and swallowed two of them dry.

Jake was wrong.

The name S. Parker meant something; she knew it did.
 
If only she could open the stubborn door in her mind, maybe they would be safe.

Jake played tour guide again as he drove through town and Nikki tried to pay attention, but her mind kept drifting back to that hotel.
 
Something was forcing itself at the edge of her thoughts, but she couldn’t connect.
  

Pulling into the parking lot of a weathered
gray
restaurant, Jake mistook the reason for her frown.

“Really, it’s not as bad as it looks.
 
Patty’s is the best seafood place in the state.
 
They just don’t spend a lot on appearance.
 
You used to love the shrimp scampi here.”

Nikki
tread
carefully over the snow-slick pea gravel that lined the walkway.
 
The cold wind slapped at her face and made her hands clench into tight fists in her pockets.

A blast of warm air greeted Nikki as Jake pulled open the door for her.
 
She inhaled the scent of fresh bread and garlic and felt slightly queasy.

As they waited for the waitress to show them to their table, Jake leaned to whisper in her ear.

“Be right back,” he said, and headed toward the men’s room.

“Hi.
 
How many?” the smiling hostess asked.
 

“Two.”

“Smoking or
non
?”

“
Non
.”

“Right this way.”

Nikki followed the woman toward the back, glancing casually at the lighthouse paintings on the wall as they walked past.
 
She was nearly on top of the couple in the back booth before she saw them.
 
Nikki froze, and prayed the man wouldn’t look up.
 
She needn’t have worried.
 
He was too entranced by the young redhead playing with his tie.

For a moment, she couldn’t think, couldn’t move.

“Miss?” the hostess said and Nikki shook her head, the paralysis broken.
 

She had to get Jake out of here now.
 

Spinning on her heel, she hurried back toward the entrance.
 
She intercepted Jake coming out of the bathroom.

“You know what?
 
I think I want Chinese.”

“Since when do you like Chinese?” he asked as she practically shoved him out the door.

“Since now.”

She would eat anything to get him out of there before he saw his stepfather in another woman’s arms.

By the time they got to the Chinese restaurant, Nikki was a nervous wreck.
 
Jake kept giving her quizzical glances that she wouldn’t meet.

How could Zeke do that to Catherine?
 

Obviously sensing her anxiety, Jake suggested they get their order to go.

“There’s a place on the lake I want to show you.”

“I’d like that,” Nikki said, eager to put as much distance between them and Zeke as possible.
 
Jake would’ve killed him.

The house on the lake was breathtaking.
 

Jake juggled the sacks of take-out and hit the car locks as they stepped out of the BMW.
 
“We’re almost finished.
 
Just waiting for the painters to finish up so we can add the trim.”

“It’s gorgeous,” Nikki said as the wind whipped her hair into her face.
 

The wooden exterior
glowed
a deep red-gold in the streetlights.
 
The
color
reminded Nikki of a burning sunset against the backdrop of a navy blue sky.

Jake unlocked the front door and leaned against it to let Nikki in first.
 
Nikki breathed in the smell of fresh paint and cedar as she stepped onto the gleaming hardwood floor of the cavernous living room.

“I hope they have a lot of furniture.”
 
She looked around the empty room.
 
“It’ll take a lot to fill this place up.”

Jake set the food on the floor and took her hand.
 
“Come on, you have to see this.”
 

He led her to a pair of ceiling-to-floor glass doors and unlocked them.
 
Hand in hand, they stepped out onto the deck.
 
The winter sky formed a perfect backdrop to the silvery water and the shimmering
grays
made the blue of Jake’s eyes stand out in stark relief.
 

“How would you like a place like this,
Nik
?
 
I’ll build you one, if you want.”

She saw something vulnerable in those blue eyes and wrapped her arms around him.
 
“I like our house.
 
And I don’t care where we live, as long as we’re together.”

Jake smiled and kissed the tip of her nose.
 
Nikki shivered, as much from his nearness as from the icy air gusting around them and he said, “Come on, we’d better eat before the food gets cold.”

“Sorry for the lack of furniture,” Jake said as Nikki sat cross-legged on the floor.

“This is fine.”
 
She reached for an egg roll.
 
“I don’t feel comfortable in crowds right now.”

Now that they were away from the restaurant, Nikki wondered if she’d misinterpreted the scene before her.
 
Surely a man like Zeke – a judge – wouldn’t carry on like that in public, even if it were at a secluded little restaurant like Patty’s.
 
Shame burned her face as she thought about her own marriage.
 
Had she flaunted her own lover so carelessly?
 

The egg roll, appetizing the moment before, suddenly seemed rubbery in her mouth as she wondered what to do.
 
Should she tell Catherine, confront Zeke or what?
 

Jake’s voice startled her.
 
“I told you that you didn’t like Chinese.”

“It’s okay.”
 
She smiled and laid her half-eaten egg roll down on the napkin.
 
“I’m just not very hungry.”

“I worry about you.”

She smiled and stretched out on the floor to watch him eat.
 
“Don’t worry about me.
 
I’m tough.”

Jake cajoled her into eating a few more bites, and then lay on his stomach, resting his head in her lap.
 
“This is nice.
 
Peace and quiet, just the two of us.”

“It is nice.”
 
Nikki stroked his dark hair and began to gently knead the back of his neck.
 
Jake sighed and closed his eyes.
 
His breath warmed her thigh through the cotton fabric of her pants.

“You’d better watch it,” he murmured.
 
“I could get used to this.”

“I’ll take my chances.”
 
Her fingers slipped inside the collar of his shirt to massage the tense muscles on top of his shoulders.
 
She moved from underneath him.

“Hey, where are you going?” he protested.

“Not far.
 
Take off your shirt.”

Jake twisted around to grin at her.
 
“Why, Mrs. Hawthorne, are you propositioning me?”

“Maybe,” she said coyly as she got on her knees to unbutton his shirt.
 
The desire in his blue eyes made her hands shake as she slid it off his broad shoulders.
 
“Lie back down.”

Sitting lightly on his buttocks, Nikki massaged Jake’s lower back to his shoulders in deep, sweeping strokes.
 
His muscles, hard and smooth, twitched beneath her palms as she worked at undoing the tension in them.

After a few minutes, Nikki’s foot went to sleep and she shifted.
 
Jake rolled out from underneath her and sat up.
 

“My turn,” he murmured, his blue gaze locked on hers.
 

Nikki held her breath as he tugged at the hem of her sweater, and then pulled it over her head.
 
He motioned for her to turn around and she presented him with her back.
 
Jake unhooked her bra strap and slid his hands up her spine.
 
She closed her eyes at the feel of his warm hands on her bare skin.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered, and lifted her hair to expose her nape.
 
The kisses he brushed on her neck caused gooseflesh to race down her arms.

Skimming her side, he reached around to cup her breasts.
 

The world seemed to slow.
 
The only sound Nikki heard was the ragged sound of her own breathing.
 
She no longer noticed the coolness of the empty house.
 
Her body flushed with heat from Jake’s touch, his kisses.

The shriek of a siren split the night.

Nikki cried out and fell back against Jake.
 
He steadied her and scrambled to his feet.
 
Running to the window, he jerked open the blinds.
 
The BMW’s headlights flashed off and on in a frantic rhythm.
 

“Jake, what is it?” she shouted, but he was already running toward the door, his shirt hanging open.

Grabbing up her sweater, Nikki hurriedly pulled it over her head and ran outside.
 
She stood frozen on the porch, staring at the BMW.

The windshield was smashed, the words ‘Leave her alone’ spray-painted in bright red across the hood.

She didn’t see Jake anywhere.

“Nikki, get back in the house and lock the door!” Jake shouted.
 

Nikki stepped back inside and turned the deadbolt.
 
Hurrying toward the window, she tried to discern any movement in the darkness beyond the amber glow of the streetlight.
 
Nothing.

Her hands balled into nervous fists as she thought about Jake running around unarmed in the dark.
 
Jake’s cell phone was lying on the BMW’s console.
 
She needed to call the police.

Cautiously, Nikki unlocked the door and opened it a crack.
 
Her ears strained to hear any noise, but it was impossible over the blare of the car alarm.
 
She hurried down the steps and threw open the car door.
 
Grabbing the phone, she turned to run back to the house and crashed directly into a hard chest.
 
She struggled against the arms that caught her until she realized it was Jake.