Material Witness (15 page)

Disappointment settled in the pit of
her stomach, making her slightly nauseous. It was exactly the reason all her
past relationships had failed. Her only serious relationship had ended three
years ago because she refused to let herself lose control, even in bed.

She'd rationalized that maybe she was
just one of those women who didn't enjoy sex. But she knew that wasn’t the
reason. In giving herself to a man fully, even sexually, she’d have to give up
part of the control she'd fought so hard to gain since her cousin's murder.

Rolling over to her side, she inched
closer to Jake and gazed up into his eyes. His face was just a whisper away
from hers. With each streetlight the truck rolled past, his face illuminated
and then vanished as if it were never there. Cassie fought the overwhelming
urge to reach up, place her hands on his cheeks just to keep him there. Just so
she knew she was not alone in her horror.

“Do you think we can trust him?” she
whispered, barely audibly.

Jake leaned forward, his mouth a mere
fraction of an inch from her ear.

“I don't know. But we have to trust
someone. We're in no condition to go any further until we get some sleep. How
are you holding up? Are you okay?”

“I'm…afraid,” she admitted, cursing
herself when her bottom lip began to tremble. She clamped her teeth down hard
to keep it still as the image of the explosion invaded her mind.

“I know. But we have to sleep now.”

“What if he does something? What if
he calls the police?”

Jake chuckled softly. “What's he going
to do? He's lonely. He just wants some company. Besides, I sleep light.”

“You don’t have your gun, Jake.”

She’d seen the empty holster as they
emerged from the trees, heard Jake’s quiet curse as he tore it off his body and
tossed it to the ground.

“We’re not going to need it.” He
kissed her head softly, breathing deeply with his lips against her skin.

With Jake's body simmeringly warm
next to her, Cassie finally drifted to sleep. She dreamed of sunshine and
laughter, and of her childhood in Connecticut. She dreamed of Jake's sexy smile
and his body of armor that made her feel so safe in a world forcing her out of
control.

The brakes of the truck groaned,
pulling her from the safety of her dreams. She fought to stay there until
Bernie's call pulled her completely from dreamland.

“Wake up you two. It's time for
breakfast. And I, for one, am starving!”

They jumped from the truck and headed
to a small diner off interstate 81. Traffic roared by them, seemingly unaware
of the scent of bacon grease and cinnamon buns drawing Cassie and Jake toward
the door.

They filled themselves while
listening to Bernie ramble on about where he'd been and where he was going. As
Jake had suspected, the poor guy was no threat, he was merely lonely. The
craziness of talking small talk with this stranger in the wake of what they’d
gone through to get there seemed surreal, but also a welcome break in the
tension.

The driver grabbed the sports section
of the newspaper and excused himself to the bathroom, telling them he'd meet
them at his rig.

Jake waited until the waitress
refilled their coffee and walked away.

“What's in the Catskills?” he asked,
keeping his voice low.

“I was wondering if you'd caught on
to that last night. Maureen has a small cabin just outside the Catskills.”

“Maureen, huh?” he said with half a
groan. Cassie didn't seem to notice. If she did, she didn't comment.

She held her coffee mug in both hands
and took a sip before continuing. “I've been there a few times. She hardly ever
goes except in the summer because she hates driving, especially in the snow, so
it'll be empty. It's not that far from the interstate.”

“How secluded is it?”

“About a half mile into the woods.
You can't see it from the road because it's well hidden by pine trees. Even if
Maureen were questioned, I don't think she'd think to tell anyone about it. No
one will look for us there.”

Jake turned the notion over in his
head for a minute. They needed to hide, at least until he could talk to Kevin
and find out what the hell had happened last night.

“It could work. We could hide there
until I figure out what is really going on. Do you remember how to get there?”

“It's not that hard. I think I could
find it.” She stared at him as he rubbed his hands together. “You're going to
need your jacket though.”

Cassie still had his leather jacket
on. She'd offered it to him when they got out of the rig, but he'd refused. If
they had a half-mile walk up into the mountains, he'd probably need something
more than the cotton shirt he'd worn last night. He'd been freezing when they
emerged from the woods and Bernie stopped the rig. It was going to be a lot
colder hiking all the way to the cabin in the Catskills.

“No, you keep it.”

“I can't stand seeing you cold. It's
not fair for me to take your jacket. Even a half mile walk up the road is long
without a warm jacket.”

 “I saw some hooded tourist
sweatshirts for sale in the display case on our way into the diner.”

“You shouldn't use your credit card.
They'll be—”

“Able to trace it. Yeah, I know. I
have enough cash. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll have some gloves and warm
socks, too.”

“I saw the morning paper on the way
in. I'm not on the front page this time.”

“That's a good thing.”

“I figured there might be something
about the explosion.”

“Not likely. The FBI will want to
keep that under wraps. Bad PR, you know?”

“Jake, that wasn’t an ordinary gas
leak.”

They hadn’t talked about it last
night. They were both too much in shock and primal instinct was to keep moving
and survive. But in the light of day…

“No, it wasn’t. I don’t believe in
coincidence and there was too much gas being pumped through that heating unit
in your bedroom.”

Cassie was quiet a moment. A faraway
look made her look so lost.

Jake drained the rest of his coffee
and placed the cup on the table before grabbing the check.

“I'm nervous enough about being out
in public like this with so many people who could recognize you.”

“Looking like I do,
feeling
like a do, I sure hope not.”

As if on cue, Jake saw Bernie stroll
out the front door of the diner, newspaper tucked under his arm.

He pushed out of his seat. “Our ride
to the Catskills is leaving soon. Let’s roll.”

# # #

Chapter Eight

The sun had long since dipped low on
the horizon when Cassie and Jake finally reached the hidden cabin in the woods.
It was snowing lightly now. Luck staying by their sides, Bernie proved to be in
more than just good spirits. He was making good time and offered to drive them
up to the bottom of the road leading to Maureen's cabin. It saved them one hell
of a walk in the cold.

 They reached the small shack-like
cabin with frozen feet and chapped lips. But thankful they only had a half-mile
walk instead of having to walk the entire way from the highway exit.

“Are you sure this is it?” Jake
asked.

Cassie sighed. “Please stop asking me
that. Yes, I'm sure.”

“It's the size of a tin can.”

“It looks smaller than it really is.
On the plus side, it won't take long to heat up. At this point, anything with
heat will be heaven.”

Jake gripped the doorknob and pulled
it back and forth, each yank became more urgent. “The door's locked,” he said,
grunting as he slammed his flat palm against the wood.

Cassie knew his outburst was fueled
by fatigue. She felt it herself. The minimal sleep and being bowled over by the
explosion had her bones screaming for relief and had her barking right back at
him.

“I wouldn’t have brought us here if I
didn’t know how to get inside. Maureen keeps the key hidden in this stump,” she
said, brushing away the snow-covered lump by the porch stairs. “It's one of
those plastic planters that has a hidden…here it is.”

With the frozen key in her hand, she
quickly ran to the door and unlocked it. Relief poured into every inch of her.
They were finally going to be able to relax and let their guard down for the
first time in days.

She pushed through the rough planked
door with anticipation. The inky blackness that greeted her inside was only
marginally inviting. Void of the warmth she craved, the cabin felt similar to
an ice chest, but still less abrasive than being exposed to the wind.

At the sound of the light switch
clicking on and off, Cassie swung around.

“Does Maureen forget to pay her light
bill?” Jake asked.

“The cabin is solar powered.
Although, apparently nothing is kept turned on. There is a wood stove in the
corner. Do you know how to work one?”

“Yeah, I can fire it up if I get some
light.”

“We always had power when we came
before. But it was always during the day and we had the benefit of daylight.
Maureen might have turned everything on when we got here. I just don't
remember.”

“Do you have any idea how the system
works?”

“Not really. She said it was fairly
easy to figure out though. I think enough of the system is kept running to keep
the batteries charged. There is a supply closet with a stack of batteries and a
panel in the back.”

Jake took a step and plowed into
Cassie. Unprepared for the blow, she lost her balance and fell into one of the
chairs. She recalled the new striped slipcovers Maureen put on the old
furniture last summer when they were here last. Cassie couldn't see the bright
colors in the dark, but she did feel the cold, soft fabric as she fell against
the chair.

“Are you okay?” he asked. As Jake
found her in the darkness, his hands gripped her leg and brushed against the
swell of her bottom, sending a shiver through her.

Her pulse quickened and blood pounded
through her veins, warming her fast. Her only warmth for last two days had been
Jake. Even now, with the two of them frozen and tired, just having him stand
behind her made heat coil inside her and spread to her extremities.

A little disoriented, Cassie fumbled
for a firm grip on the arm of the chair and pushed herself upright.

“I'm fine. I just fell into the
chair.”

“Stay with me,” he said, as if he'd
been affected by the mere accidental brushing of his hand against her derriere.

“I'm right here,” she said, her voice
an earthy whisper.

She heard his heavy breathing, felt
his fingers tighten around her.

“Um, the kitchen is open to the
living room. Stay behind me. There are some candles in one of the cabinets.”

Jake had his wide palms on her hips,
his fingers digging into the denim material, as she cautiously moved through
the dark with her hands stretched out ahead of her. When she bumped into the
counter, she quickly ran her hands along the cabinet drawers, blindly searching
each one until her fingers grazed the waxy surface of a long, skinny candle and
a box of wooden matches.

She waited until she lit a match to
grip two candles firmly between the fingers of her other hand.

Jake was impossibly close as she
twisted around to face him. Cassie craned her neck to look up at him, nothing
but the glow of the match illuminating his features. His face was surreal in
the flickering flame.

“Light the candle,” he said softly,
his lips barely moving.

Even with the minimal light the flame
emitted, she could see a cloud of mist from his breath. With her body
sandwiched between the cold counter and Jake's warm body, she tried to steady
herself, but her head spun.

Pain pierced her fingers. She dropped
the match and they were plunged into darkness again.

Jake’s arm instantly snaked behind
her. With the rolling of the wooden sticks and the unmistakable strike of the
match, a small flame glowed, dimly lighting the room once again.

“You burned yourself.” He quickly lit
the two candles she still held in her hand and blew out the match.

He took her sore fingers to his lips
and kissed them tenderly, so much more so than she would have expected a man as
rugged as Jake could be. She knew the hard-edged intense side of him and
pictured him as much in bed, rough, wild, completely on fire and burning her
with the same intensity.

But here he was with the pad of his
thumb gently caressing her blistered finger, handling her like a fragile piece
of glass that would shatter with the slightest pressure.

“It's just a small burn,” she
murmured.

“No burns are small.”

In response to his gentleness, she
curled her fingers around his, wanting much more than to simply have his hand
caress her fingers. She wanted him to touch her intimately. His eyes were
extraordinarily dark despite the minimal light. He gazed down into her eyes,
silently whispering words she felt in her heart but didn't hear with her ears.