Hot on Her Heels (24 page)

His gaze drifted to Dana, who looked excited by the news. She glanced up and saw him. Their eyes met. He felt the connection run between them. For a second he wanted to go to her and hold her, or at least be near her.

“There's more,” Izzy said with a shrug. She set down her champagne glass and picked up a second one filled with sparkling cider. “I'm pregnant.” She looked at Lexi. “I didn't want you getting all the attention.”

Lexi stood and hugged her. “That is just so typical.”

Izzy hugged her back. “You know I'm kidding, right? The baby wasn't planned.”

“In this family, they rarely are,” Lexi told her.

“Now I want a baby,” Skye said, joining them.

Garth looked at Mitch, who looked both pleased and terrified.

Dana clutched her glass and took a step back. “Just in case it's contagious,” she murmured.

Cruz laughed. “You'll get there.”

“Maybe,” she said.

Garth noticed she was careful not to look at him. Why? Because she would never want a child with him? Because she didn't want children at all? He didn't know her feelings on the subject, mostly because they'd never talked about it. They'd never talked about anything beyond the moment.

Why was that? Most of the women he knew were anxious to label everything. To discuss their feelings and plan for the future. Why didn't Dana?

“How far along are you?” Lexi asked, sitting back down.

“About two months.”

“This is so cool. Our kids will be less than a year apart.”

“I know.” Izzy eyed Skye and Dana. “You two had better get busy if you want to keep up.”

“Apparently.” Skye looked meaningfully at Mitch. “Talk about pressure.”

He put his arm around her waist and kissed her. “I'm completely up to anything you want.”

“Good.”

Dana took another step back. “So what about those Cowboys? Aren't they having a great season?”

“You're not hearing any ticking sound?” Izzy asked. “No ‘tick tock' in the background?”

“I don't hear a thing,” Dana said.

“There's no need to pressure anyone,” Lexi said briskly. “Izzy, this is about you and Nick. We're all happy for you. Now knowing you as I do, I'm sure even though you eloped, you'll want to register for wedding gifts.”

Izzy grinned. “I hadn't thought of that, but sure.” She grabbed Nick's arm. “We can get some fancy china.”

Conversation continued to flow. Garth was fairly sure he was the only one who had noticed the subtle conversation shift. Lexi hadn't wanted to let Izzy pursue the subject of Dana having a baby and he knew why. The obvious assumption would be that they were a couple and he the most likely candidate for the father. But after what he'd told Lexi in her office the other day, she knew that wasn't going to happen.

He wanted to take her aside and tell her it wasn't as bad as he'd made it out to be. Dana was special. More than that. He liked being with her. He liked her. And that didn't happen often enough in his world. But love and babies? It wasn't a place he'd ever planned to go. He'd always assumed he would have a marriage of convenience. One that was more business deal than romantic match. Lexi's claim that he was falling for Dana had thrown him. More than that, it had terrified him and he wasn't a man who easily admitted to fear.

Love. No. He knew what love did. He'd seen what it did to his mother. The only reason she'd stopped loving Jed Titan was because a surgeon had physically cut out that part of her brain. Otherwise, she would still be missing him. Not that she'd ever talked about it or admitted her feelings. When he'd encouraged her to go out and find someone, she'd always said she'd fallen in love once and that was plenty. Her heart could only belong to one man. The same man who hadn't bothered to help when she'd needed him most.

He wasn't willing to go there. Wasn't willing to risk that much. The price of love was too high.

He watched Dana laughing with Izzy. He wanted her and needed her, but love? It was impossible.

 

J
ED SAT IN THE FRONT
seat of his car, drinking whiskey. The noon sun was bright in the big Texas sky. It was a perfect late-fall day—crisp and clear. Around him the storefronts in Titanville had been dressed for Christmas. Lights and garland circled every window and door. Bells rang and carols played in the town square. It was a little piece of paradise.

Normally he enjoyed strolling through Titanville. Everyone knew him and respected him. He'd worked hard for that respect. There were those who thought he'd had it easy, but they were wrong. Sure, he'd been born a Titan and that was saying something, but he hadn't simply accepted what God had given him. Jed had taken a good-sized fortune and grown it into some
thing impressive. He'd expanded the company, made a name for himself. He could walk into any restaurant in Dallas and get the best table. Senators and heads of state wanted to be seen with him. He'd lived the kind of life that made most men envious. He'd had it all…until Garth Duncan had decided to take it from him.

Jed took another sip from the bottle. He was a little drunk, but not so drunk that he couldn't imagine how good it would feel to destroy Garth. To hurt him in ways he hadn't known were possible. Jed had never hated anyone as much as he hated his own bastard son. Garth was going down. The little shit might think he'd won, but he was wrong. Dead wrong.

Jed screwed the top back on the bottle, then stuck it in the paper bag on the passenger seat. He got out of the car and walked up the street, joining a group of kids walking together. He trailed behind, looking like a parent making sure everyone stayed safe.

They passed the Titanville Pet Palace. The windows had been painted in bright colors. Santa drove a train and all the open cars had pets in them. Puppies and kittens and birds and lizards. There was a man standing next to the door. He was tall and maybe fifty. Ex-cop, Jed thought grimly.

Jed had dressed carefully, in a cowboy hat, sunglasses, a biker jacket and worn boots. He could have been anyone.

He glanced toward the kids still walking, then back
at the pet store. He sighed loud enough for the guard to hear. “See my daughter over there?” he asked. “There's this kitten.” He faked a smile. “She wants it for Christmas and I made the mistake of hinting Santa might bring it.”

The guard nodded sympathetically. “My youngest wants a puppy. It's a slick road.”

“Tell me about it.” Jed glanced back at the kids. “Would you make sure they get across the street okay? I just want to run in to see if they'll hold on to that kitten for me.”

“Sure. Go on in.”

“Thanks, man.”

Jed ducked into the pet store. Once inside, he nodded at the teenager at the front counter, then made his way to the back.

He'd been in here once, years ago. Had watched Kathy from a distance. She'd never noticed him, or maybe she had and hadn't wanted to talk to him. Either way, he'd left. Not so this time. He walked up to her and stared into her face.

“Morning,” he said.

She turned and frowned when she saw him.

Her eyes were the same and despite the thirty-plus years, she didn't look all that different from the last time he'd seen her. She'd been pregnant then, and defiant.

When she'd first told him she was having his baby, he'd assumed she was trying to trick him into marriage. He'd broken things off with her, telling her if she ever
came after him for a penny, he would throw her ass in jail.

She hadn't cried, but her look of sadness had ripped him apart. With tears in her eyes, but her head held high, she'd walked away.

Three months later, he realized he was wrong about everything. That he wanted Kathy, wanted their baby. So he'd proposed.

And she'd refused him.

“I won't marry you, Jed Titan,” she said, looking him in the eye. “I'll love you forever, but I've seen a dark side to you.”

He'd tried everything. Begging, swearing he would change. He'd even managed to seduce her back into his bed. Nothing had worked. In the end, she hadn't changed her mind. When the baby had been born, a boy, he'd offered her money. At first she hadn't wanted to take it, but an early fever had landed her son in the hospital. With minimal insurance and no income because she wasn't back to work yet, she'd seen the value of his offer. The transfer had been made. It was more than she'd expected, enough for her to live on for the rest of her life, if she was careful.

He hadn't seen her after that. He'd married—twice—had daughters, but no other son. He'd told himself it didn't matter, that Kathy was in the past. And there she'd stayed until that day Garth had shown up, begging for money to save her.

And it had given him great pleasure to refuse the boy. To finally punish Kathy for rejecting him.

Now, staring at her, feeling something stir inside he'd thought dead for a long time, he wondered if maybe he'd been wrong.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

There was something about her speech. Not the words, but the way she said them. Something off.

“I'm Jed.”

She frowned slightly. “Did I know you? Before?”

“Yes.” He moved toward her. “I thought we could go somewhere and talk.”

Her expression cleared. “We were friends.”

“Yes, we were.”

She smiled. “We can go get coffee.”

“I'd like that.” Jed smiled.

G
ARTH STOOD IN FRONT
of his office window, staring down at the street below. Even driving over the speed limit, it would take Nick at least two hours to get into town. Two hours Garth didn't want to waste. But he knew better than to go after Jed on his own. Not that he was worried about what the old man might do to him, but because he needed a witness to say it had all been in self-defense.

He kept his mind on the plan, on tactics, because the alternative was to worry about his mother. While no one ever wanted to be kidnapped, Kathy was the least prepared to handle the situation. And Jed would hardly be considerate as he grabbed her.

Anger bubbled. White-hot anger. He'd known his father would come after someone, which was why he'd made sure everyone was protected. But he'd underestimated Jed's willingness to risk it all. The fault was his.

Because of him, his mother was being terrorized by an asshole out for revenge. He'd started this and he
would finish it. He vowed that one way or the other, Jed Titan would cease to be a threat. Today.

The door to his office burst open. Dana rushed in. She had a small, black duffel in her hand.

“I don't have a lot of new information,” she told him. “The police are keeping the kidnapping quiet as long as possible. Once the press finds out, they'll be all over us. Later, that will be to our advantage, but not right now. The last thing anyone needs is Jed bolting. The cops think he's still in the city somewhere. They told you that, right?”

He nodded.

She dropped the duffel on the floor and crossed to him. “I'm sorry about Kathy. I know she must be scared, but she has an inner strength. She'll be okay.”

Garth stared into her brown eyes. “We don't know that.”

“He won't hurt her. It wouldn't benefit him in any way.”

“That's some comfort.” He pulled her close, then kissed her. “You don't have to be here.”

“Hey, I'm a professional and I can be very useful. You're lucky to have me at your beck and call.”

“That part I know.”

The door opened again. This time Skye and Izzy hurried toward them.

“We just heard,” Izzy said. “Lexi wanted to come but Cruz made her stay home and relax. This totally sucks. You're going to get him, aren't you? I can't believe it. I should, but I don't.”

“I'm sorry,” Skye said quietly.

Both women embraced him, hugging him close.

“Oh, Garth,” Skye whispered. “You must be so scared.”

“She'll be fine,” he said automatically, because now that was what he had to believe.

“The police will find Jed,” Izzy said.

“They won't have to.”

Izzy and Skye stared at him. Dana didn't look surprised.

“You're going after him?” Skye asked.

“Not a question you want to ask,” Dana told her.

“You're in on this?”

“No, but I will be.” She stepped back and pointed to her duffel. “I came prepared.”

Dana wasn't coming along, but he would deal with that problem later.

“I don't like this,” Skye said, folding her arms across her chest.

Izzy wrinkled her nose. “Imagine how I feel. You're waiting for Nick, aren't you?”

Garth didn't want to say anything, but he didn't have to. Izzy knew Nick better than Garth.

“He's driving in from the ranch,” she said, then nodded slowly. “Okay, but we just got married and I'm pregnant. I don't want anything to happen to him.”

“Nothing will,” he said, meaning it. This was his fight.

“No offense, but…” Izzy turned to Dana. “You'll keep him safe?”

“Yes.”

“My stomach hurts,” Skye murmured. “You probably want to talk about your plan. We'll go and leave you to it, but you have to promise to tell us the second you know anything.”

Garth nodded. “I will.”

They left.

Dana picked up her duffel. “You can yell at me while I get changed.”

“Why do you think I'm going to yell?”

“I saw your face when I said I was going with you.” She paused at the doorway to his private bathroom. “Someone has to make sure you don't go to jail over this. Jed is the only one I want behind bars. Nick has to stay safe—I promised Izzy. So that leaves me to watch your back.”

She looked determined, but he wasn't intimidated. “I'm capable of getting Kathy out and staying on the right side of the law.”

“It's not about being capable. It's about being pissed, which you are.”

“I won't sacrifice you.”

She smiled. “Nice sentiment, but I'm the only professional in the room. I'm coming with you, Garth. That or I'm calling the police and telling them your plan. Then you'll have to get by them as well as by me.”

Frustration tightened his chest. “You're damned annoying.”

“You're not the first man to tell me that.”

He clenched his teeth. “Fine.”

“Good.”

He looked pissed enough to throw something, Dana thought, but she wasn't backing down. This was too important. They hadn't come all this way to lose Jed now. She knew Garth believed he was in total control of his emotions, but she wasn't so sure. Jed had kidnapped Garth's mother. No one could think rationally through that.

She walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Three minutes later she'd changed into black jeans and a black T-shirt. She walked out with a bulletproof vest and handed it to Garth.

“Are you wearing one?” he asked.

She picked up the second one she'd brought. “Jed's a wild card. We're not starting out stupid.”

“But we may end up that way?”

“Maybe. Do you know how we're going to find him?”

Even as she asked the question, she had a feeling she already knew the answer. Garth wasn't the type to leave anything to chance. She respected his need to protect what was his. It might not be her, but that wasn't his fault.

“Do you really want to know?” he asked.

“Sure. I'm on a leave of absence.”

“I have a GPS tracking device on his car. I had it put there after he shot at you.”

“Impressive.”

“You don't sound surprised.”

“I'm not.”

“It's against the law.”

She smiled grimly. “Not today.”

 

L
ESS THAN AN HOUR LATER,
they were parked by a ratty hotel near the highway, their car concealed from the room windows by a van. Dana looked at the run-down cars in the parking lot. Only one stood out. A late-model Suburban belonging to one Jed Titan.

“I'll go ask the desk clerk which room he's in,” she said, reaching for the door handle.

Garth grabbed her arm. “Wait a minute. You think he's going to tell you? Just like that?”

“I can be very charming.”

He didn't look convinced.

“Someone has to ask and I would rather it was me,” she said. She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her ID. “Does it sound better if I say I'm the only one with an official badge? Let me talk to him. You can explain to Nick why he's staying in the car.”

“What?” Nick yelped. “I'm here for backup.”

“Not anymore,” Dana said as she got out and walked to the front of the motel.

It was the kind of place made famous in the movies and not in a good way. Places like this catered to the desperate and those on the run. The guy behind the counter wore a short-sleeved shirt stained with sweat and had stringy hair tied back in a ponytail.

“Hey, darlin',” he said around his cigarette. “You need a room for an hour?”

“No, thanks,” she said and showed him her badge. “I need information.”

He held up both hands. “We run a real clean business here.”

“Uh-huh. That's why you rent rooms by the hour.”

“The customer's always right.”

“Then I'm your best customer. The guy in the Suburban. What room is he in?”

The clerk looked at her badge, then shook his head. “That's private information.”

Dana put her badge back in her pocket. “Don't make me show you my gun.”

The clerk sighed. “Seventeen, but I don't want no trouble.”

“Stay out of my way and you won't get any.” She started for the door, then paused. “How much did he pay you to call if anyone came asking for him?”

“Two hundred.”

She stared at the guy.

He shifted in his chair. “Seventy-five.”

She dug out two twenties. “Here's another forty. Give me a two-minute head start, then you can call.” She narrowed her gaze. “I want the two minutes. Don't try cheating me. I'm mean to the bone.”

The guy nodded. “I'll spot you three.”

She returned to the car. “Got it,” she said. “It's downstairs, on the end. The doors are solid enough but
the locks look flimsy. You feeling macho enough to kick them in?”

“I could kick in a door,” Nick grumbled.

“I'm sure Izzy will reward you later,” Dana said.

Garth nodded and they moved toward the building, careful to keep concealed behind cars. They headed for the left side of the motel, then walked around the back, coming out on the other side, next to number seventeen. Dana pulled out her gun and got ready. She looked at Garth.

He held up three fingers, then two, then planted his foot right by the lock. It gave instantly, the door swung open and Dana circled inside.

She crouched low to avoid any flying bullets. It took less than a second for her to train her gun on the people inside. Not that there was any need. Kathy sat on the bed, her legs pulled up to her chest, her arms around her knees. Jed sat in a corner chair, his head in his hands. He looked up when they burst in.

There was a stark pain in Jed's eyes that surprised Dana. A shock and disbelief, as if everything he'd ever known was gone.

“She's not there,” Jed said dully. “Kathy's gone.”

Garth was silent for a minute. When he spoke, it was with a quiet anger. “What did you think she would be like? I told you what she needed. I told you what would happen if she didn't have the surgery.”

“I didn't believe you. I thought she was going to be all right.”

Kathy glanced between them. “He's very sad. He keeps crying. He thinks I'm someone else, but I keep telling him I'm me.” She scrambled to her feet. “Can I go home now?”

 

I
T TOOK NEARLY TWO HOURS
for everything to get explained and Jed to be led away. By then the press had arrived. They swarmed around like ants at a picnic and, try as she might, Dana couldn't seem to avoid them.

“Deputy Birch,” one of them called as she walked by. “We'd like to talk to you.”

“And I'd like an all-expenses paid trip to Tahiti,” she muttered without slowing. “Neither is going to happen.”

Just then a familiar Mustang pulled up. Izzy got out and smiled at the reporters. “I have something for you,” she called, waving a stack of folders. “A little light reading.”

Dana moved toward her, but the reporters got there first and grabbed every copy.

“What do you think you're doing?” Dana asked.

“Giving them background information. Don't get your panties in a bunch. I ran it all by Mary Jo. Now there's a lawyer with attitude. She said it was fine. We were very careful not to give out privileged information or anything the police might want to keep for themselves. But I wanted to move things along. The sooner Jed gets shoved into jail, the better for everyone.”

She glanced over Dana's shoulder toward the motel room. Garth was still inside with Kathy. “How are they doing?”

“Garth still wants Jed's head, but Kathy's doing okay. Apparently she remembered Jed enough to simply go with him and he doesn't seem to have hurt her. The medics gave her something to help her relax. Once it kicks in, Garth will take her home. She's given a preliminary statement to the police, but they'll want more. That won't be fun.”

“Did Jed fight back or try to escape?”

“He seems broken,” she said and explained what had happened. “He'd already lost to Garth and apparently realizing what had happened to Kathy pushed him over the edge.” She still couldn't believe he'd thought her condition was a trick to get more money. Talk about an ugly twist of fate. If only he'd been willing to take some responsibility, everything could have been different.

Izzy stared at the motel building. “It's going to be a hell of a story. The rich and powerful Jed Titan brought to this.”