Chapter 17
Glenda nodded. "That was one of the reasons I wanted the rehab. Who wants a master bed and bath with no natural light?"
Mallory looked around the room again. Something about this just wasn't right, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what. She scanned the walls again, hoping for a clue, something to let her know why this whole situation felt so off and when she reached the open door, she paused.
Frowning, she crossed the room and studied the dead bolt on the bedroom door, a s.h.i.+ny, new dead bolt. "Jake, get over here," she said as the realization of what was wrong with the room hit her full force.
"Take a look at this suite," she said to him. "There's no way out but this door and the dead bolt is on the wrong side." She flipped the door open to show him the hardware. "Whoever was staying here - it wasn't voluntary."
Glenda stared at Mallory, a frightened look on her face. "You think someone was held captive here? Oh, my G.o.d, what a horrible thought."
"Maybe not so horrible," Jake said. "It might mean the guy I'm looking for is still alive." He looked around the room then back at the door. "But why didn't anyone hear them?"
Glenda cleared her throat, still looking a bit horrified. "This building is really old and solid. You wouldn't hear anything through the outside walls, and with the apartment next to this one empty..."
"What about across the hall?" Jake asked.
"Directly across the hall is storage and no one's been in there in months. The next door down is Mr. Wilson, but he's darn near deaf."
Jake nodded. "Is it all right if we talk to Mr. Wilson? Maybe he saw something."
Glenda glanced once more at the dead bolt and exited the bedroom. "Come with me," she said as they walked out of the apartment and a little ways down the hall. She knocked on the door, and they heard some rustling about inside. It took a while, but finally the door opened and a man who must have been about a hundred years old stared out at them.
"I ain't buying nothing," he yelled, and started to close the door again.
Glenda placed one hand on the door, preventing him from closing it and said in a loud voice, "Mr. Wilson, it's Glenda - I own the building, remember?"
Mr. Wilson stared down at her for a moment, and Mallory wondered just how bad the mind deteriorated if you had trouble remembering a three-foot-tall person. Finally his face cleared, and he smiled. "Oh yeah. I remember now," he said, the volume on his reply not decreasing in the slightest. "How's that cat of yours?"
"Fine, Mr. Wilson," Glenda said. "I was wondering about your neighbor across the hall. Have you seen him lately?"
Wilson stared at Glenda for a moment. "You want to put Berber in the hall? Well, h.e.l.l, that's a stupid idea, but go ahead."
"No, Mr. Wilson," Glenda Shouted. "Have you seen your neighbor across the hall?"
Wilson looked across the hall at the apartment door and scratched his head. "You mean the cripple? I don't know. Maybe yesterday, day before. That man who tends to him said he was having surgery. I guess he's not out of the hospital yet."
Glenda stared at Mr. Wilson, obviously a bit surprised. "How long has the man lived there, Mr. Wilson?"
The old man stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "Well, how the h.e.l.l should I know? You own the building." He slammed the door and they could hear him muttering on the other side of the door.
"How reliable is he?" Jake asked.
Glenda considered this for a moment. "Fairly reliable when it comes to certain things. For instance, if he says a cripple lives in the other apartment, then I'm positive he's seen one there. And since that apartment has been empty since before Mr. Wilson moved in, I'd say it's a good bet that he's seen your guy - a.s.suming it was your guy being held there." She shrugged. "Of course, my cat has been dead for over a year."
Mallory looked over at Jake. "If they had him drugged, a wheelchair would be the easiest way to move him. And in a place like this, no one would even think twice about it."
"True," Jake agreed. "I think we've covered everything we can here. I need to make a dash to New Orleans and get this to the lab. They should be able to put a rush on it. Maybe get me some results by tomorrow."
He turned to Glenda and stuck out his hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you. I appreciate all your help."
Glenda took his hand and shook it. "It was a pleasure this time."
Mallory let out a laugh. "When this is all over, Glenda, we're going to sit down and talk over a bottle of scotch - just you, me and Reginald."
Glenda smiled. "Now, that is definitely a plan I can get behind."
The trip to New Orleans took a couple of hours, and it was late before they arrived back at Mallory's cabin. Jake's spirits were running high, and Mallory knew he was hoping for the best concerning his partner. But although she'd been happy with the discovery and the possibility that Mark might still be alive, the drive home had given her too much time to think.
About the voodoo doll.
She knew Jake had other plans once they were behind closed doors, but she couldn't let those plans go forward without telling him. It wouldn't be right.
They pulled up in front of her cabin, and she jumped out of the car and hurried to unlock the door, not wanting to look Jake directly in the eyes, afraid she'd lose control if she made contact with him. She looked back as he climbed out of the car, his dark hair glistening in the moonlight. G.o.d, he was good-looking.
And he'll leave town as soon as he catches his bad guy.
She watched him walk across the lawn, admiring the way his T-s.h.i.+rt clearly defined the tone of his upper body. She'd even bet he had the legs to match. Thank G.o.d he hadn't worn shorts. If he had legs to match those arms there would be no holding her back regardless of the cost later on. Legs were no small matter.
Smiling, he held open the door for her to enter the cabin, then stepped inside behind her and
Mallory nodded, and decided to wait a while before spilling the beans. After all, this was the first good mood he'd been in since she'd met him. "I forgot to ask earlier if any of the marked cards turned up today?"
"No, so obviously Silas was cheating yesterday." He looked over at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "But I don't get why he backed off. If it worked for him before, why didn't he continue today?"
"Do you think he noticed the mark on the cards?"
"Maybe." He shrugged. "I don't know."
He leaned back in the recliner and blew out a breath. "This entire tournament has tossed me more curves than I ever imagined or was prepared to deal with." He gave her a smile. "I appreciate all your help this evening. You've gone above and beyond in more ways than one."
You should tell him about the doll now.
"No problem," she said.
If you tell him about the doll now, it will just be one more curve he's not prepared to deal with.
"Maybe the alarm situation at the hotel made him nervous," she suggested. "Maybe he wants to buy a new deck just to be sure."
Maybe you're a chicken-s.h.i.+t and you're not telling the truth because you don't want him angry at you.
"Maybe. But still, it didn't even feel the same as before. Yesterday, he was confident, almost c.o.c.ky. Today..."
"What?"
"Today, he almost looked puzzled. But that doesn't make any sense. If he was cheating yesterday and not today, then why any confusion at all?"
Mallory rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen. Now was the time. She had to tell him the truth. "You want a beer?" she asked as she opened the refrigerator and stuck her head inside, stalling.
"No," his answer came from directly behind her, and she jumped upright. Before she could turn, he'd wrapped his arms around her shoulders and lifted her hair from the nape of her neck. She could feel his breath, hot and s.e.xy, even before his lips pressed against the sensitive flesh on her neck. "But there is something I do want."
You can't do this without telling him.
"If you keep doing that, you can have anything you want," she murmured.
Traitor.
"Anything?" He ran one hand down over the front of her s.h.i.+rt, lingering over her breast. "That's a mighty bold offer."
She turned slowly around, wrapping her arms around his waist and dropping both hands to squeeze his b.u.t.t. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly a shrinking violet."
You're a lying fool.
But at the moment, it simply didn't matter. At the moment, all that mattered was Jake's hands on her, all over her, and returning the favor. Definitely returning the favor.
Somehow they made it back into the living room. It was only a couple of steps away, but when it felt as if your entire body was tangled with another, those three steps were an eternity. As Jake backed into the roll-out bed, Mallory smiled at him and took advantage of his position and pushed him back. He fell onto the bed, a look of surprise crossing his face.
Mallory laughed and tugged her T-s.h.i.+rt over her head, changing his surprised look to a much, much more intense one. As she shrugged out of her jeans with equal enthusiasm, he gave her a smile. "I knew you didn't wear underwear."
"I do on Sundays," she said, and leaned over to unb.u.t.ton his jeans. "Are you going to just stare at me? Because I had a lot more activity in mind."
Jake kicked off his shoes and shed his jeans and under wear in a flash, taking a few precious seconds to take care of the contraceptive end of the fun and games.
"I'd be happy to help you with that," Mallory teased as he rolled on the thin skin.
"If you touch me now, it's over," Jake said, and grinned.
Mallory laughed and Jake reached up to pull her on top of him. Mallory fell onto Jake in a tangle of arms and legs and hoped like h.e.l.l the bed would hold. She had intended to be on top, take charge, but Jake apparently had other ideas.
He pulled her down for a crus.h.i.+ng kiss, then flipped her over, pinning her beneath him. His breath was short and ragged, and she could feel his heart pounding against her chest - her own heart pounding in her throat. "I want to kiss every square inch of you," he whispered, "but it's going to have to wait. I hope that's okay."
Okay? It was more than okay-it was required. Her skin didn't need kissing, it was already on fire. There was only one thing that would put out the flames they'd started and that was Jake inside of her. "I want you in me now."
He hesitated only for a moment then fulfilled her request, entering her with a swift, hard stroke. Her body had been ready for him, had probably been readying itself for days, and it drank him in deep inside her, making them both gasp. "Don't stop," she said, and dug her nails into his shoulders.
He rose above her and plunged again, over and over until they reached the brink. "I can't-" he started to say.
"Then don't." She raised her hips to meet him, greedily wanting every inch of him deep inside of her when she came. He pushed one final time and she felt his release. She struggled to hold back just one second more but the climax ripped through her like a bullet, shooting pleasure through her from head to toe.
It was several seconds before she could even take in a breath and even then it was restricted by the weight of Jake on top of her. As she sucked in a breath, he rose up on one elbow and smiled at her. "Would you like for me to move so you can breathe again?"
Mallory nodded and took a deep breath as he eased himself to her side. "It wasn't your weight or anything," she started to ramble, "because you're not heavy or anything. I just-"
"Ssssh." Jake placed on finger on her lips. "I'm having a little trouble getting my breath back, too."
"Oh." She smiled with relief that she'd turned things inside out for him. It would have been supremely humiliating if she'd seen fireworks and all Jake had gotten out of it was a smoke bomb.
"I'm sorry things went so quickly," Jake said, and gave her a lazy smile. "But I did warn you at the hotel that my self-control was probably at an all-time low."
"Your timing was perfect. I wouldn't have been able to take another second."
Jake grinned. "I was thinking the same thing."
Mallory propped herself up on one elbow and looked over at Jake. "Do you realize I just slept with you and I don't even know your real name?"
Jake stroked her cheek with his hand and leaned in to kiss her gently. "Ah, but you know things about me that are infinitely more important," he teased. "Let's face it, this was a perfect ending to a perfectly weird day."
"Yes, I think this day was outside of the norm even for me.
"But at least a profitable one, right?"
Mallory felt a dull ache creep up the back of her neck. "Yeah, profitable."
And you still haven't told him the truth.
"All I need is another day of straight play. And with you running a little interference, we'll have this in the bag."
More likely the box in my closet.
Mallory clenched her hands and tried to nod. Oh, she was running interference all right. Jake just had no idea to what extent.
Jake continued to smile. "If he reverts to cheating tomorrow, I'll be able to nail him. I just knew it was something easy to explain."
Unable to stand the lying any longer, Mallory said, "There may be one other possible explanation."
Jake looked her. "Yeah, like what?"
Mallory dropped her gaze, unable to meet his eyes. "I might have taken the voodoo doll." She waited several seconds, but there was no response. Finally, she lifted her gaze to Jake noting the flash of anger in his eyes.
"You. Might. Have. What?"
Mallory sat up in bed and gathered the blanket around her. "I took the doll, all right? It creeped me out, some guy having a voodoo doll made up like me, so I took it. And I'm not sorry I did." She looked Jake straight in the eyes. "I'm only sorry I didn't tell you about it sooner."
"Good G.o.d, Mallory!" Jake jumped out of bed, pulled on his jeans, then paced the living room-two steps one direction, two steps another. "Taking that doll could blow everything. Silas is sure to look for it eventually and what do you think he's going to think when he finds it missing? Who the h.e.l.l else would want to steal it but you or one of your friends?"
"I couldn't leave it there!" Mallory argued. "I just couldn't." She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry for what I risked, but if I had it to do over again, I'd still do the same thing." She looked him straight in the eyes, her gaze unwavering, her voice steady. "Look, when you asked me before if I believed in voodoo, I told you I didn't know because I'd never actually seen any. But now I'm starting to wonder."
"Jeez, Mallory, you know all that stuff is c.r.a.p. It can't work unless you believe in it."
She stared at him. "Like my bad luck? I spent over half of my life trying to pretend it didn't exist. I didn't believe it was possible, but it was always there. I spent the second half looking for an explanation or a miracle cure. The reality is, I know as much now as I did when I was a child. Nothing."
"Silas was cheating yesterday, and he didn't today. It was that simple. It has nothing to do with anything out of the ordinary, much less out of this world."
"Yeah, then why weren't you so sure of that earlier?"
He ran one hand through his hair and stared out the window. "I am sure. I was sure. The cheating is the answer. Nothing else is possible."
"Yeah, well this voodoo thing scares me more than I'd like to admit, and if you have a problem with that, I really don't give a s.h.i.+t." She rose from the bed, blanket still wrapped around her and walked into the bathroom. "This conversation is over," she said as she closed the door behind her.
She leaned against the bathroom door, the tears already threatening to spill out. Why had she expected someone so narrow-minded to understand her? Why had she even tried to explain her fears? It only made her look weak.