Accomplice (11 page)

She writhed beneath him again, urging his hands
higher. He let his fingers brush the bottom of her bra.
Too many clothes.

He brought his hands to her hips and followed her
curves, sliding his fingers around her bottom, letting the heat of her sex draw
them toward her core. She moaned into his shoulder as he cupped her butt and
lifted first one leg and then the other to hook up and around his waist.

She was light—too light—but hot against his sex as
he carried her to the bed and laid her down, reluctantly unwrapping her legs
from around him. He pushed up her shirt, baring her belly to his kiss. While
his tongue explored her navel, he pushed his hands upwards until his thumbs
each found a nipple, hard and straining in the confines of her bra the way his
cock strained in the confines of his jeans.

He took pity on her nipples. She arched upwards as
he drew her shirt off over her head, and then sucked in a breath as he
unfastened the bra and drew it slowly off of her shoulders.

Her skin was the beautiful ivory of a natural
redhead, with a sprinkle of pale freckles around her chest and neck. Her
breasts were round and full, the rose-colored nipples taut and puckered. “You
are so beautiful.”

Jess closed her eyes at his words and lifted her
arms up and above her head, offering him full access.

He caressed the side of one breast, cupping it
lightly. Her breath quavered. He bent and took a nipple full in his mouth. She
tasted like ice cream as he sucked and rolled the nipple in his tongue. Jess
moaned and gasped. The sounds of her pleasure rebounded a hundred times over
and a hard wave of need shot straight to his groin.

Noah took her other breast and gave it a gentle
squeeze, brushing the pad of his thumb over her nipple. She undulated her hips
under his, rubbing herself against his thigh while he tasted the other breast.

When she opened her eyes, her pupils were dark
with lust and her cheeks flushed with pleasure and desperation. He smiled and
opened his mouth for another taste of her breasts. She grabbed him by the
shoulders and stopped him, instead tugging at his shirt until he helped shrug
out of it.

Jess sat up and drew him down to the bed. The old
springs creaked beneath their combined weight as she positioned him beside her
instead of on top. And then she returned the favor, licking at his navel and
kissing a fiery trail to his nipples. Her hands were all over him, playing with
the muscles of his chest, his arms, lightly tracing around the bandage on his
shoulder.

And then her hands were at his waist. She slipped
a finger under his waistband, searing the head of his penis and he groaned. She
smiled, blue eyes dark and glittering.

No photograph, no video, no magazine cover could
ever capture how wild and wanton, feminine and sexy she looked at that moment.
She was hot with desire for him, her expression unguarded, unschooled,
unpracticed. He found her lips and kissed her as she unzipped his jeans and
nearly came when she took his cock in her hands.

He focused on breathing, on not blowing his wad
while she cupped and caressed, squeezed and rubbed him from the tip all the way
to his balls. Gritting his teeth, he sat forward, rolling her back to her back
so he could unfasten her jeans to reveal the black cotton panties she wore
underneath.

He could smell the salty sweat of her arousal as
he drew the pants down her legs and he kissed her bare knees, her thighs, and
nudged her legs apart.

Noah kissed the lower edge of those panties. He
heard the sharp intake of her breath as he slipped his fingers up and under
them to the sensitive flesh of her lower belly, and then pulled them down and
out of the way.

Jessica lay on her back, her legs spread open,
offering up the dark red thatch of hair and the swollen folds of her sex to his
view.

Gently, he touched her wet center as he watched
her eyes darken and close. His fingers dipped into the dampness and her head
lolled back in pleasure. He explored her, watching her face as he brushed her
clit, as he gingerly parted her folds. He loved the gasps she made, the quick
little breaths as he placed one finger inside her and found the knot of nerves.

Her pleasure was his as he thrust his fingers in
and out, swirling her clit, surrounded by her wet flesh as she whimpered and
moaned, arching her back against his hand. When the first few ripples of a
climax started, he drew back and took a steadying breath.

“Please don’t stop.” Her words were like oil on
the fire.

“I won’t. I promise.”

She licked her lips and watched him as though he
were a dessert she was eager to taste. She took him with her hands and guided
his cock to her sex and then held his hips and drew him down, slowly, sweetly
inside her.

Noah blinked and tried to focus on making this
last. Jess was gasping and writhing beneath him and it was all he could do to
not just drive into her like a frenzied teenager and be done. He moved. She
moaned. In. Out. Each thrust sent shots of fire and heat and need through him.

They moved together, hard. Deep. Grinding and
gasping. Jess’s breasts seared Noah’s chest and her teeth nipped at his neck.
Her fingers splayed against his back, urging him faster and deeper. Always
more, until her cries of need and his reached a fever point. She protested as
he pulled back just a bit, but he reached a hand between them and found her
clit, rubbing the swollen nub as he thrust his cock in and out of her wet sex.

She came with a sweet cry and he held on, riding
through her waves until he couldn’t take any more.

Wrapped in Noah’s arms with the sheets twisted
around her legs, Jess stared at the floral-and-foil papered wall and listened
to him breathe, slow and deep. She ached all over, from too much sitting and
too much stress and far too little of the wonderful release she’d had tonight.
And from far too little peace. Too little of the calm rest that Noah had found
after their pulses cooled.

He called her beautiful.

Jess shifted slightly, not wanting to wake him
from his sleep. Not wanting to lose the comfort of his embrace, the heat of his
chest. But this wouldn’t last and she couldn’t sleep.

Beautiful. What a horrible word. So meaningless.
So overused. So very, very untrue. If she were beautiful, really beautiful,
then she wouldn’t feel like such a fake. A beautiful woman wouldn’t use a man
like Noah for his protection, for his touch. She wouldn’t sleep with a man she
intended to leave. She wouldn’t keep secrets from him. Secrets that could get
them both killed.

With a sigh, she nudged Noah’s arm from around her
shoulders and rolled toward the edge of the bed. There was no way she was
sleeping tonight.

A slice of garish yellow light cut past the
blackout drapes and lit the wall beside the TV. Her purse lay there on top of
the low dresser, in a heap next to her backpack and Noah’s duffel bag. She
padded over to it and withdrew the envelope from the safe deposit box.

In the too-bright blue-white of the fluorescent
fixture of the bathroom, she sat on the closed toilet and unfolded the pages
that Charles had written.

Jessie—

If you are reading these pages, then I am gone,
and I am truly sorry. I am sorry that I was not a young man when we met and
could not be the lifelong companion that you deserve. But though this old man’s
body will not allow me to be with you forever, know that my heart is yours
until the end of time. I hope that you will not grieve for me too long. Say a
champagne toast in my honor, and then go on about your young life. Find love
again, and have the family that I could not give you.

I know that things may not be easy for you
after I am gone. I hope that Brandon does not cause you too much trouble,
though I fear that he will. There is money in this safe deposit box, along with
other paperwork which you may find useful. There is more, in that bank near the
coffee shop we both loved so much on our honeymoon. Do you remember it? Those
were the happiest days of my life. You will find the key to that box here in
this envelope. I hope that there is enough there to get you through any rainy
days.

Should certain business dealings of mine fall
apart, then you may want something more than money. There is information stored
in your diamonds. Valuable information. But the key to reading it is stored
with your rhinestones. Use what you find there as you see fit.

I love you, for all the days of my life.

--Charlie

***

 “We found the redhead from the Kingsbury plane
down in the Caymans. She even showed us her wig.”

Noah shot a look at the closed bathroom door. The
sound of the shower would drown out most of his conversation with Cole. He woke
earlier to find her asleep in the armchair across the room. By the time he
finished changing the bandage on his shoulder—the bruising around the wound had
turned an ugly shade of greenish-purple—she was stirring.

Jess had not said a word to him, just given him a
half-smile that held some mixed-up emotion that he couldn’t quite decipher. She
slipped past his soft “Good Morning,” with clothes in hand and locked the door
behind her.

Noah peeked out the room curtains at the early
morning haze. “And?”

“I could kick myself for being so dense. Remember
Lindsay Weber? She was one of the staff members we interviewed the day of the
robbery. She was there the night of the rabbit incident.”

“The personal assistant?” Noah pictured the
compact woman with the no-nonsense haircut and the piercing eyes. She looked
nothing like Jessica. Though the two women were about the same height. With a
wig and sunglasses…

Cole laughed. “She's an ex-marine, head of
Kingsbury security, and frequent body double. Cutlass was throwing things at
the office yesterday, and for once I agree with him. No one ever asked her for
a job title. How the hell did we overlook that?”

“Dunno. Did she cooperate?”

“That’s the best part. Answered every question. No
resistance. No backtalk. The two agents down there were able to interview the
entire air crew. Everyone told the same story. Mrs. Kingsbury wanted to get
away from the media, so they dressed up Ms. Weber, hopped in the private jet,
and were told to take a week’s paid vacation.”

Noah shook his head. In the bathroom, the water
shut off. “Smart plan. It fooled us for a couple of days too. Did Lindsay Weber
tell you where to find Jessica Kingsbury?”

There was a momentary silence on the other end of
the line for a moment. Noah had called Cole at home, using one of the pre-paid
cell phones. Different one than last time and totally disposable. Still, it was
a dangerous game he was playing.

“That is the only question she didn't answer. She
claims that Mrs. Kingsbury didn't share her travel plans. I think she's telling
the truth. The woman seemed worried, kept pumping me for information, even.
Weber says she needs to talk to Jessica soon.”

The water shut off in the bathroom. Noah glanced
at the door.

Cole continued, “When are you coming back from
your trip? Cutlass is anxious to talk to you.”

“I'm not sure. I've been enjoying the scenery, you
know? Peace, quiet. Lots of nature. Unplugging and relaxing. I hear it’s good
for you.”

Cole made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a
snort.

“Did you ever follow up on that idea of mine? From
the last time we talked”

 “About that. Have you ever looked closely at the
wedding photo Cutlass keeps on his desk?” Cole's voice sounded quieter.

Noah's pulse picked up the tempo. “No. Why?”

“It's an older photo. Crazy styles eighties. Pretty
ugly, really. Cutlass used to have hair. But one of the groomsmen looked really
familiar. Guess who he is?”

Noah grinned. “I give up.”

“Who would have thought that Cutlass would run in
the same social circles as a US Senator?”

Bingo.
Noah whistled. “I've got to go. Good
luck on that case.”

Noah clicked off the phone and popped the battery
cover off as Jessica stepped out from a cloud of steam. Her short hair was damp
and curly around her temples, her cheeks flushed from the warm shower. The
t-shirt clung to the peaks of her breasts, and Noah's mouth went dry at the
memory of her soft, sweet skin under his tongue.

He wrenched his gaze upwards. She wore a knowing
smile, almost a smirk, that didn’t quite light her eyes. Jess had retreated
behind her emotional walls again, he realized. Noah felt the emptiness behind
that look like a sucker punch. What the hell was he thinking she would do? Fall
into his arms all sweet and devoted after a single night in his bed?

He gulped down his frustration and disappointment.
If anyone in this room was guilty of falling too fast into dangerous emotional
territory, it was him. And it had to end. Now, before he lost his job. Or lost
their lives. “Get packed. I’m taking you to the airport.”

From behind a glossy white desk, the travel agent
cocked her blonde head to one side and gave Jess a quizzical look. “I swear you
look familiar. Where did you go to high school?”

Jess felt a cold flush, like a fever, creep up the
back of her neck. “Out of state. I just moved to St. Louis a little while ago.”

The agent, Darcy according to the big bubble
letters on her name tag, gave a “hmm” that sounded unconvinced.

Jess just smiled back. She gripped her hands
tightly in her lap to stop them from trembling. She had come too far to be
recognized now. Surely Darcy, who couldn’t be any older than Jessica herself,
wouldn’t recognize her here, in a tiny office in a strip mall in the middle of
Missouri suburbia.

“Are you sure I can’t talk you into an
all-inclusive trip to Jamaica? Or a cruise? We have a last minute special on
Hawaiian cruises this month. Buy five nights, get two free.”

Jess shook her head. “Maybe next time. I have
family in Paris.”

Darcy clicked away at her keyboard, scratching
notes on a sheet of paper. The office walls were covered with travel posters,
and the desk had a beach theme with a pencil holder made of a large conch
shell, a paper tray with tiny sand dollars hot-glued to the edges. There was
also a photo of two smiling children in swimsuits with sand shovels. Jess
looked away.

“It looks like the next flight out of Lambert
Airport leaves tomorrow at six AM. You know, I can get you a better deal on the
hotel if you can wait until next Tuesday…”

Jess glanced back at the photo frame. “My sister
moved there with her husband last year. She just called me this morning—she’s
in labor. My first nephew. I would really like to be there when he arrives.”

“Aw. Congratulations. Let me just reserve this
seat before someone else snatches it away. Do you have your passport with you?
And I’m going to need your credit card.”

Jess gulped as she dug out the small green
passport book from her bag. “Is it alright if I pay with cash?”

“Well, I guess, but that’s more than I usually
keep in the office…”

“Please. I’m a waitress, and I’ve been saving my
tip money since my sister told me she was pregnant. I, uh, got in some money
trouble a couple of years ago, and I keep getting turned down for credit
cards.” Jess set the passport down on the desk and opened her wallet. Her
stomach felt queasy from the lies she was telling. And from the knowledge of
what might happen if this plan didn’t work.

The only conversation she and Noah had since they
checked out of the motel this morning was about getting her out of the country.
She wanted to drive straight to the nearest airport and wait for the next
flight, but he pointed out that airports have too much security, too many
cameras, too many guards asking too many questions about a passenger who shows
up without a plane ticket.

Darcy pursed magenta-hued lips and tapped matching
fingernails on her desk. Then she breathed a dramatic sigh and shook her head.
“I can put the plane tickets through. But to reserve a hotel room you
definitely need a card.”

Jess let out a sigh that sounded like a choke. “I
don’t need a hotel. I was going to stay at her place anyway. Thank you!”

Jessica counted out a big stack of bills—mainly
twenties with some fives and ones thrown in for good measure.

Darcy gathered up the money. “I will be right
back. I’m going to put this straight in the safe while your itinerary prints.”

When the agent had disappeared into the back room,
Jess grabbed the keyboard and quickly navigated to a fashion website. Her heart
jumped as she heard a door shut in the back office.
Faster. Darcy will be
back in any minute.

She scrolled through the forums until she found
the discussion topic she was looking for, and typed a quick message. “St Louis
has beautiful jewelry, but I prefer French designers.”

At the sound of footsteps, Jess closed the window
and replaced the keyboard, bumping the conch shell pencil holder with her
elbow. Pens skittered across the floor, and Jess practically fell out of her
chair trying to get down and clean them up.

“Is everything all right?”

Darcy’s high-heeled pumps, bright magenta that
matched her nails and lips, stopped a few feet from where Jess knelt on the
ground, breathing hard. She forced herself to breathe normally. “Yes. Sorry.
I’m a klutz.”

The other woman frowned at her again and held out
a folder with her company logo. “Leave those. I will clean them up. Here is
your passport back and your itinerary. Have a great trip to Paris.”

“Any problems?” asked Noah as Jess climbed in the
front seat of the car.

She shut the door behind him and sank into her
chair, clutching the folder to her chest with both hands. “Not really.”

He didn’t say another word until they were back on
the freeway. “Now what?”

Jess reached up to smooth her hair. “My flight
leaves early tomorrow morning. Why don’t you drop me at one of the hotels by
the airport for the night and take a shuttle in the morning. That way you
aren’t seen on camera dropping me off.”

“Fine.”

Jess stared out the window, watching as trees and
office buildings and factories and schools and houses zipped by. She envied
them. Every last one of them, with their busy lives and their families and
their jobs. And their homes.

Noah turned the car into the parking lot of a
Drury Inn and parked. He turned to her and opened his mouth to speak, but then
closed it. His eyes seemed to be teeming with the words. Regret, anger,
disappointment, and something she dared not attempt to decipher.

“Noah?”

“Yeah?”

“Just…thank you.” She shoved the envelope
containing the fake necklace at him. 

He set it aside and took her hand in his. So warm,
so full of energy. So strong. So gentle. She didn’t want to have to pull her
fingers away. Didn’t want to open the car door and heft her bag to her
shoulder. Didn’t want to walk away, and not look back. Didn’t want to hear the
hum of the car motor as he drove away.

Didn’t want to remember his whisper, just before
she closed the car door. “Take care of yourself, Jo Lynn.”

***

The hotel lobby was nearly deserted in the
pre-dawn stillness. Jessica yawned and rubbed her bare arms to warm them from
the chill. He head ached and her stomach soured around the black coffee and
muffin she had tried to nibble while she waited on the shuttle.

There was no sleeping last night, even with a hot
shower and clean, soft sheets. The hotel room had felt empty after spending
every moment of the past few days with Noah. She missed his scent, missed his
warmth. Missed his smile and his presence. So solid. So protecting. And then
there was the feel of his arms around her, his fingers caressing her bare
flesh.

It was no use going there.

She stared out into the parking lot. Headlights
flashed by on the interstate across the street, people on the way to early
morning jobs or home from late night shifts.

If all went well, Jess would soon be in Paris
where Charles had left another safe deposit box with more money. She could find
a room to rent there or take a train somewhere else. And Lindsay would soon see
the message she had left on the website from the travel agent’s computer
yesterday.   She would leave another once she was settled.  Lindsay would help
get Jess in contact with her lawyer, help her get a few assets transferred. And
then Jess would be free of her old life. Free to start a new one.

A plain gray van turned into the parking lot, and
Jess's heart skipped a beat. This was it. The airport shuttle. She hefted her
backpack and stepped out onto the curb. The shuttle pulled to a stop a few
yards back from the door, engine running, and the driver jumped out and walked
around to open the passenger door.

She had to step around the man to climb in to the
back seat. He stood annoyingly close to her back, smelling of diesel fuel and
sweat, and her quivering stomach gave a lurch.

The interior light came on and Jess gasped as she
recognized the man inside. It was one of Wilson’s goons who had tried to grab
her in Tennessee, a pasty-faced man with a cruel gleam in his eye.

“Hello, beautiful. The boss still wants to talk to
you.”

She stumbled backwards but was caught by the
driver. He laid a heavy hand on her shoulder and pressed something hard to the
small of her back. “Now, now. Let me help you with your bag, Mrs. Kingsbury.
Don't want any accidents here.”