Jake caught up to Rachael’s car on the highway. In the headlights of oncoming cars, he spotted Rachael’s silhouette sitting in the back seat, probably comforting Tina if she was awake, or holding her if she was still unconscious. He hoped the little girl was okay.
Jake felt every one of Elena’s sobs as she clung to him all the way to the safehouse.
When they reached the safehouse, Jake pulled up under a streetlight as Camden opened the back car door to let Rachael and Tina out. Jake’s partner leaned in and took the sleeping girl from Rachael’s arms. Elena leaped from the bike,yanked her helmet off and threw it on the lawn. She ran to her daughter, only slowing down as she got within a foot of Camden and could see Tina was alive. Jake followed behind. He watched the expression on his partner’s face as he placed Tina in her mother’s arms. Camden looked momentarily shaken, and Jake knew his partner was facing some old ghosts. Then Camden’s characteristic smile returned as Tina awoke and clung to her mama while Elena thanked him over and over for saving her little girl.
Jake swallowed hard as he approached Rachael. She’d gotten out of the car and stood comforting Elena and Tina. She looked up when she saw Jake, her expression unreadable.
“I’ve got some explaining to do,” he said. “I’m a—”
Rachael touched his lips to shush him, then pulled her fingers away quickly like they burned. “Camden filled me in on the way, just a little.” She looked at the small ranch house then back at him. “This is our safehouse?”
“Yeah.” He wanted to tell her he loved her, that this didn’t change anything in his mind, his heart. Instead, he went practical, fell back on his training. “I’ll pull your car and my bike around to the garage in the back, get them out of sight. Go on in with them and I’ll catch up.” Camden was already walking Elena and Tina to the front door, a protective hand at the small of Elena’s back.
His angel only nodded.
“I want to tell you everything, Rachael.”
“So do I,” she whispered as she turned away from him.
Twenty-Six
Sometimes it’s the first breath of fresh air that chokes you. It’s better to get this over with now.
“So what happens now?” Rachael asked Jake after he walked into her designated bedroom. “Will you send me to jail?”
She’d spent the past hour avoiding him—avoiding even thinking about who he really was—as she helped Elena get Tina settled in. Sheriff Stevenson had forced Elena to knock Tina out with a heavy dose of cold medicine and she slept through most of the ordeal, thank goodness, but she awoke confused and scared.
Camden helped too, but the Most Helpful Award went to Toby, a half-lab, half-German Shepherd ex-military dog Camden brought with him from California. Toby stuck by Tina like the best bodyguard ever, gentle as he let the little girl pet him, but alert to every sound and movement inside the house and out. Rachael had to admit the dog put her at ease, too, at least as far as her father and his men went. They’d have a hell of a time sneaking up on the house.
As for Jake, her stomach knotted every time she looked at him. He avoided speaking to her or even looking her way. Instead, he hid the vehicles and confirmed Rachael’s car didn’t have a tracker—a minor miracle. He brought his things in and familiarized himself with the house, double-checking where Camden had stashed weapons, including the bedside table. He took a long time debriefing with Camden while the women got Tina ready for bed.
After Elena and Tina settled into one of the other bedrooms, and Rachael made sure both had fallen asleep, she went to hers and closed the door. Her face ached where Hank hit her. She sat on the bed and picked at a bamboo sliver between her first and second fingers while she considered showering in the en suite bathroom. God knew she wanted to wash the day off. Hell, she wanted to wash the last twenty years off.
But she knew Jake would be knocking on her door any minute. She listened to the cicadas outside—real ones—and counted her breaths until he did. Now with Jake sitting across from her, she asked him if he would be the one to put her away forever.
So much sadness in his eyes when she asked. Maybe he did feel something real for her. It didn’t matter. He was FBI and she was an accomplice to murder.
“Let’s not talk about indictments. Instead, can we back up and start with, how are you, Angel?”
“I’ve seen better days.” Even now, she couldn’t help herself, couldn’t stop playing their game.
Jake grinned. “’Fire and Rain’ by James Taylor. That’s pretty appropriate.”
“Got it in one.” Rachael looked at her folded hands in her lap as she blinked back tears. One splashed on to her thumb. A couple more followed.
Jake stood and went into the bathroom. Rachael heard water running and plastic tearing. When he came back, he carried a folded wet washcloth and a chemical compress. He knelt in front of her and tilted her chin up gently. Her eyes met his, so full of concern. Of love.
The look in his eyes killed her. Was he faking his emotions just to get her to talk? She didn’t think so—or at least she didn’t want to believe it. She wanted to be anywhere but here. “I should check on Elena and Tina.”
“Shhh. Let me take care of you. It’s your turn.” He reached for the clock radio on the bedside table and switched it on. “To drown out the cicadas,” he said. “I know you hate them.”
Jackson Browne sang “Tender Is the Night” as Jake ran the warm cloth first down her good cheek then the swollen one, carefully washing away her tears as they fell, then their tracks after they stopped. He wiped the dried fear sweat from her forehead then set the washcloth aside. He shook the chemical compress until it turned cold and wrapped it in a dry hand towel. Rachael shivered as he brushed her hair back and held the compress against her cheek.
Jake took her right hand in his and studied it. “How’s your hand?”
“It’s okay. The knuckles are a little tender. I have a couple splinters from the skewers.”
His grin appeared and disappeared so quickly she wasn’t sure she saw it. “That was really smart, what you did with those.”
