Page 37 of Threat of Danger
Jess closed her eyes. But for some reason, she couldn’t close out the images of Derek, searching the riverbank.
Hannah Wilson huddled in the dark, freezing. She was alone. The man was gone, but Hannah couldn’t escape. She was chained with a metal chain and a padlock she couldn’t open. She was so hungry, she was dizzy.
She couldn’t run. And nobody would find her here. Nobody was even looking. The newspaper the man had brought her yesterday lay crumpled under her knees. He’d made her read the article with his flashlight. The police had found a partially decomposed body in the river, and everybody thought it was her.
She didn’t cry, but only because she had no tears left. Instead, Hannah prayed that she would freeze to death before the man came back.
Chapter Ten
AS FAR ASJess was concerned, dinner could not end soon enough. Eliot and Derek in the house at the same time was an incredibly bad idea.
Zelda made barbecue ribs in the slow cooker. Eliot, who normally ate a carefully balanced, healthy diet, moaned in pleasure and went for seconds.
“Miss Zelda, this meal is a miracle.”
“My secret ingredient is maple syrup.” Zelda flashed a coquettish smile.
All women had that reaction to Eliot. Jess refrained from rolling her eyes.
“Zelda, if you ever decide to marry,” Derek said, not to be outdone, “I’ll fight Chuck for your hand.”
Zelda swatted his shoulder with the dishcloth, but giggled like a young girl. She had invited Derek over the second she heard that Eliot wanted to meet the author of his favorite books.
“Hey.” Eliot patted Jess’s hand on the table. “This is really nice. You should have told me to come sooner.”
Derek shot Eliot a dark look, then casually moved his arm to rest on the back of Jess’s chair. “Thanks for having me for dinner.”
Jess was ready to jump out of her skin. Throw her out of a helicopter ... she could handle that. Set her on fire ... fine. But she wasn’t sure she could handlethis. And Pam couldn’t come over, so no girlfriend support, no distractions.
Pam had to emergency babysit her nieces. Her brother-in-law was on a business trip, and her sister had to work late. Jess had told Pam over the phone that she could kiss any confessions of celebrity affairs goodbye. Pam had moaned in pain on the other end.
No way was she in half as much pain as Jess.
At least Kaylee had been able to come over that afternoon, and she had hung out with Jess for a couple of hours. Although, for the most part, the teenager only had eyes for Eliot.
Jess needed one of the men to leave. Say, Derek. Although, the stubborn glint in his eyes said he was unlikely to do her any favors. So, fine, maybe Eliot would decide he was jet-lagged and needed to go to bed early.
“It’s so nice here. I wish I could stay longer,” he said instead, relaxed and comfortable, because he was relaxed and comfortable everywhere.
Before Jess could answer, Derek put in, “I came over meaning to ask a favor, actually.” He finally withdrew his arm from the back of the chair. “My furnace is on the blink. I can’t get the house heated over fifty degrees. It’s damn cold in there. Would you mind if I bunked on your couch until I can get a replacement furnace in? Shouldn’t be more than a couple of days.”
Jess scanned his face, but his eyes were clear, his expression honest and open. She could almost swear he was telling her the truth.
“Of course, we won’t let you freeze to death over there,” Zelda said, as if his sleepover was a done deal.
What could Jess say after that? “Sure.”
Did she sound as churlish as she thought? She put a smile on her face. “What are friends for?”
Was it too late for her to go to a hotel?
After dinner, Eliot insisted on doing the dishes. So then, of course, Derek insisted on drying. The two stood side by side at the sink, trying not to be obvious as they fought for space, bumping elbowsaccidentally.
Zelda and Jess watched from the couch in the living room because, let’s face it, the show was worth watching. The men had lovely ... jeans. Seriously, they could have been in a commercial.
Zelda sipped her tea with a deep, appreciative sigh. Jess echoed it. The men couldn’t hear them over the running water, so they were safe.
Only after the kitchen sparkled did Derek and Eliot come to sit with the women.
