Pursuit of a Kiss (8 page)

Closing her eyes with a sigh, Juliet reminded
herself that once she testified and the current danger disappeared, so would
Jake––back to his own life. She’d been the one to initiate things, not him. So
she had no reason to expect that he wanted anything from her beyond some fun
when she offered it.

Hearing a noise, her eyes flew open and she let
out a scream as someone opened the bathroom door. Jake held up his hands as if
in surrender.

“Holy shit, you scared me!”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to.”

Ridiculously, she felt the need to cover herself
as Jake scrutinized her through the glass shower door. He had touched and
tasted every inch of her, but showering was personal. Wasn’t it?

“Damn, you look good wet.” He stepped into the
shower to join her.

 
“What are
you doing?”

“I have to get clean too, don’t I? I’m being
environmentally conscious. You know, trying to save water and all.”

“Uh huh.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “Besides, you’re
injured.” He gestured at her arm tightly wrapped in a plastic bag. “Won’t this
be easier if I help?”

His help made her simple shower take nearly an
hour, particularly when she decided to have some fun and “accidentally” dropped
the soap. Kneeling to retrieve it, she wrapped her mouth around him.

Tugging her to her feet, he lifted her up and
carried her out of the shower, dropping her soaking wet onto the bed. “I knew
it was far too early to get up.”

“Definitely,” she agreed, reaching for him.

Her hand fisted in his hair, pulling him toward
her with a confidence she’d never felt before. With no restraint this time,
Jake immediately took her breast in his mouth. Sensations slammed into her, and
she arched off the bed in delight. His hands and mouth roamed her body as
though he had to sample and savor all of her.

The moment he entered her, an orgasm slammed
through her. Jake filled her so exquisitely she couldn’t stop herself from
crying out. But she felt far too good to be embarrassed by the wildness of her
response: a first for her. Jake followed a moment later, fusing his mouth with
hers as he let go.

“Wow.” He breathed raggedly, staring down at
her. “I didn’t think I could possibly come again after all those times last
night. But damn if you don’t have a knack for proving me wrong.

She laughed, arching up to kiss him again. Jake
accepted her playful lips then deepened the moment, stroking her hair as his
tongue caressed hers. Still inside her, he pulled her close against him.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he
promised.

Juliet started to smile, but the solemnity on
his face stopped her. “Really?”

The corners of his mouth turned up as he touched
her face. “Really.”

He leaned down to kiss her again, but a harsh
knock at the door shattered the mood.

Jake swore loudly.

“At least the interruption came after we were
done this time,” Juliet pointed out. It didn’t seem to improve Jake’s mood in
the slightest. “We could ignore it.”

Jake shook his head. “It’s probably the
detectives about last night.”

Juliet dove under the covers as Jake stomped to
the bathroom to snatch a robe off the hook on the door.

****

Detective Harris and Michael Wetherby stood in
the hallway, waiting expectantly. “Special Agent Parker, thank you for taking
charge last night and getting Miss Morris to safety. It’s much appreciated.”

“Cut the crap, Wetherby. Where the hell were
you?”

Wetherby’s affable smile slipped a notch. “I’m
truly sorry for what happened to Miss Morris. I should have gotten her into
protective custody immediately instead of heeding her request to go home. May I
speak to her?”

“She just woke up. Why don’t we meet you in the
restaurant in a few minutes? You can order us some coffee.”

Wetherby nodded. His obvious sincerity mollified
Jake’s temper. He knew most of his anger over Juliet almost getting killed was
directed entirely back at him. If he’d been paying closer attention instead of
trying to get into her pants, maybe he could have done something more to prevent
the fire, or at least he could have run outside once he heard the car to catch
a license plate or something. Seeing Wetherby brought back home how much danger
Juliet could still face. He had to be an FBI agent for her, and stop acting
like a horny teenager with no control over his hormones.

One look at Juliet’s face squelched the last of
his amorous mood and brought his guilt slamming home. Her face appeared too
pale, probably from her injury and sleepless night, another thing for which he
could only blame himself.

“What do you think they want?”

 
“Probably
just to go over your testimony again. Wetherby will want to ask you more
detailed questions about last night.”

Juliet picked up her filthy outfit with a
forlorn look. They had driven straight from the fire to the hotel so they had
nothing to wear but their soot-covered clothes.

Jake helped her get dressed, struggling to keep
his arousal in check as his fingers brushed against her body. Exhaling slowly,
he forced himself to stay in FBI mode, moving deliberately away from Juliet as
they headed down the hallway.

Some patrons stared at the filthy newcomers as
they made their way through the maze of tables. Jake studiously ignored them.
As requested, Wetherby had ordered them all coffee along with a platter of
pastries. The pallor of Juliet’s face announced like a flashing neon sign how
anxious all of this made her. He’d promised himself he’d move things back onto
professional ground with Juliet, but surely he would offer comfort to a nervous
witness. With a nod to himself at that rationale, he reached over and took her
hand. Yet the moment they touched, he quickly gave her hand a squeeze then let
go, jerking his arm back to his side. Touching her no longer felt as simple as
it had yesterday.

“Miss Morris,” Wetherby began, “I’m so sorry for
everything you went through last night. I should never have allowed you to
return home.”

“It’s not your fault. I wanted to. And you can
call me Juliet, please.”

“Then you should call me Michael.” He reached
across the table to place a soothing hand on top of hers. Jake wanted to leap
across the table and throttle him. He even found himself studying Wetherby,
wondering if he might be Juliet’s type. He certainly seemed a lot more like
that Brad guy she’d dated than he himself did.

Hearing something about
Martinez
, Jake forced himself to focus on the
conversation.

“You really caught him?” Juliet asked.

“Wait, you caught
Martinez
?” Jake demanded. Everyone gave him
funny looks. Obviously they’d just been discussing all the details of his
arrest. Harris smirked at him, glancing from Wetherby’s hand beside Juliet’s to
Jake’s tense face. He apparently decided to take pity on Jake, however, and
repeat himself. Jake only hoped Juliet hadn’t caught the flash of jealousy that
Harris evidently noticed.

“We nabbed him late last night after the fire,”
Harris explained. “We hoped the guys who’d torched Juliet’s place might return
to one of their usual hangouts to report to
Martinez
, so we sent out several teams to
raid all the potential spots at once. Sure enough, we found
Martinez
with one of his lieutenants. He was
arraigned this morning.”

“Is he going to take a plea?”

Wetherby shook his head. “He and his lawyer
might change their minds after the preliminary hearing, but right now they
intend to move forward.”

“How long will that take?” Juliet’s voice shook.
She clenched her hands together so tightly her knuckles turned white.

 
Wetherby
moved as if to take Juliet’s hand again, so Jake snatched it up first. But when
Juliet gave him one of those knight-in-shining-armor looks, he could have
kicked himself. He had to put a stop to this before it got completely out of
hand.

“It truly depends on which motions get filed and
how long
Martinez
’s
lawyer can manage to delay. Longer delays almost always benefit the defense
more than the prosecution, and, especially in a capital case like this, they’re
going to try for any advantage they can get.”

“Are you really going to ask for the death
penalty?”

“Absolutely. The gangs have run rampant in this
city for too long. They need to learn what kind of punishment awaits them if
they continue unchecked.”

Juliet bit her lip, worrying it between her
teeth. Jake wondered if Wetherby realized how much the death penalty seemed to
bother her, and if it would keep her from testifying. Then something else
Wetherby said registered with him.

“Wait, did you say preliminary hearing? Why not
a grand jury?”

“It’s a bit complicated…” Wetherby started to
say, but Juliet quickly interrupted him.

“I don’t understand. I thought the arraignment
and preliminary hearing were the same thing?”

Jake shook his head. “No, the arraignment is
simply where they plead guilty or not guilty and the judge sets bail. The next
step is either a preliminary hearing or a grand jury to determine whether or
not the prosecution has enough evidence to continue on to trial.”

“What’s the difference? Why do you want Mr.
Wetherby to use a grand jury?”

“All the proceedings in a grand jury are
completely secret by law. Neither
Martinez
nor his lawyer can be in the room when you testify, so they wouldn’t hear what
you have to say. A preliminary hearing is more like a mini-trial, meaning both
of them would be there. And it’s in an open courtroom, so other members of his
gang could attend too, if they wanted. It’d be much safer for you to testify in
front of a grand jury.”

Jake turned his attention back towards Wetherby.
“She doesn’t have to let that bastard hear how strong a witness she is. If he
wasn’t motivated to kill her already that could definitely trigger more
action.”

“I know you’re used to federal courts, Agent
Parker, but here in
California
we rarely use grand juries.”

“So what? Make an exception.”

Wetherby shifted in his seat, not quite meeting
Jake’s eyes. “Well, you see, technically in this state, grand jury testimony is
admissible at trial if the witness dies by anything other than natural causes.
But defense attorneys almost always get that overruled by citing the
defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confront all witnesses against him. Since
in a preliminary hearing the defendant is present his attorney has the opportunity
to cross-examine Juliet. That means all preliminary testimony is admissible if
a witness isn’t available to testify.”

Jake grew quiet, his eyes narrowing at Wetherby.
“Let me get this straight. Instead of going for a confidential indictment and
protecting Juliet, you want to make sure that if they do succeed in killing her
your fucking case can still go forward?”

 
“You know
that’s not the case.”

“It damn well better not be.”

Juliet put a hand on Jake’s arm, but he shook it
off.

“I’m calling the office this instant to get this
kicked up to a federal case. You’re too fucking incompetent to handle it.” Jake
whipped out his cell phone.

“Agent Parker, I understand your frustration,
but please hear me out. Defense attorneys all know that preliminary hearing testimony
can be admitted at trial. There’d be no point for
Martinez
to try to kill her after she’s
spoken on the record.”

“Yeah, like a fucking gang banger is going to be
up-to-date on current evidentiary laws. And you and I both know a good defense
lawyer can still make a case to get testimony thrown out when a witness isn’t
around.”

“Do you really think
Martinez
can afford a defense attorney of
that caliber?”

“Are you really willing to take that chance? Her
life is in serious danger. Just look what happened last night, for Christ’s
sake.”

The two men glared at each other. Wetherby broke
eye contact first, turning away from Jake towards a visibly terrified Juliet.

 
“Juliet,
please don’t misunderstand me,” Wetherby assured her. “I have every intention
of keeping you safe and secure for as long as necessary.
California
has one of the most extensive
witness protection programs in the country.”

“But I don’t want to go into witness protection.
I have a life here.”

“This isn’t like a mob case where you’d have to go
into hiding for the rest of your life. Going after a witness is a serious
crime. After the trial, it’s not worth it for them to risk incarceration for
sheer retaliation after you’ve given your testimony. You’re also an uncommon
witness, which helps tremendously.”