Page 61 of Teach Me
She leaned her head into the hollow of Conlan’s shoulder and waited for the rest.
“We haven’t found even a trace of him,” Gaines was saying. “The warrants yielded nothing. Surveillance on his parents, office, apartment came up empty. His car hasn’t been touched; regular bank accounts are frozen. Our forensic accountant found evidence that he was stashing money somewhere—the numbers just don’t add up—but we can’t find where.”
Jack stood to pace in front of the coffee table. “I’ve been watching for computer activity, anyone searching for info on you, the house, the business—nothing. We know he connected you to JCL and to Jess, but I don’t know how. And that bothers me.”
It bothered Jess too. From what Conlan had told her, Jack was pretty much unmatched as a hacker.
“What he could be searching for—or finding—now is anyone’s guess,” Jack told them. “I can figure it out; it’ll just take time. And if he’s fled the country, that will take longer to track down.”
The men continued to talk around her, but Jess was stuck back on Jack’s“It’ll just take time.”How much time? The thought of months, possibly years, of waiting and worrying that Brit would appear, that another attack would come, made her want to huddle up in a corner and cover her eyes. But it wouldn’t make a difference. Like the bogeyman, Brit was still there, even when she couldn’t see him. He wouldn’t give up, not if he’d killed her parents just to have her all to himself. Time wouldn’t stop him from targeting the people she loved. And the idea that she could live like this, not for days or weeks, but years, while Brit ran free, started a sizzle of rage inside her that she couldn’t ignore.
She glanced up at Conlan. His gray eyes were almost black, intense, focused. He hadn’t said the words, but the certainty that he loved her came through every time they touched. He would do anything he had to in order to protect her. But maybe it was time she did the protecting. The need to do something, anything but cower in a corner, bit deep. She’d come out of her corner fighting once; she could do it again.
And if she didn’t make it this time?
Searching her lover’s face, she knew she wasn’t ready to leave him. But if she did? If Brit won?
It was a chance she had to take. She would keep Conlan safe, even if it meant giving up her life. That was loving someone, and Conlan couldn’t corner the market on protecting his loved ones.
She cleared her throat, catching the men’s attention. “If there’s been no activity, what does that mean for me?”
Jack shook his head. “Unfortunately we have to assume you’re not safe. Even if he’s gone, it’s most likely not for good. This level of obsession won’t allow him to leave a victim behind.” His gaze went distant, as if seeing something she couldn’t, as he continued to pace the length of the living room.
Conlan’s chin nudged the top of her head as he tracked Jack’s progress. “The reality,” he said quietly, “is that we have no idea how long this could go on.”
Okay. That was it, then. “What about trying to draw him out?”
The words fell like a bomb in the middle of the room.
“What the hell are you talking about, Jess?” Conlan asked as he surged to his feet.
Jack froze in place, staring at her from across the room. “You mean using yourself as bait, don’t you?”
Only Gaines didn’t respond, and when she glanced his way, she saw in his eyes that this was what he’d been waiting for. The tiniest spark of fear shivered through her determination.
Unable to sit while Conlan and Jack loomed over her, she stood on legs that suddenly felt as strong as cooked noodles. “Yes, bait. What other choice do we have?”Please come up with something, anything!
“The only other choice we have is to wait him out, hope we can catch something we haven’t already,” Gaines said, finality in his tone.
“Which is no choice at all. I can’t live in hiding forever.”
A strangled laugh pulled her attention to Conlan. Fire blazed in his black eyes. His face was white, sick. “We won’t risk you like that. Holbrooke is dangerous; you know he is.”
She forced a calm into her voice she definitely didn’t feel. “I have to; at some point I’ve got to get back out there and get on with my life.”
“What life?” Conlan demanded. “Because when—not if—he returns, you won’t have a life. Jack and I have seen situations like this enough to know that’s guaranteed.”
Resentment ripped through Jess, coloring her words. “Then what exactly do you suggest, Mr. Expert? I can’t live for the next God knows how long, always waiting, wondering when he’s going to turn up next, going to destroy something else I love, going to hurt the people I care about. I can’t let him hurt you.”
Her tongue faltered on theyou. Fortunately Jack didn’t wait.
“It’s risky, Jess. There are no guarantees that you’ll come out safe on the other side.”
“Shut up, Jack. She’s not doing it.” Conlan’s burning gaze held hers as he stalked toward her, his big hands gripping her arms to give her a little shake. “You can’t seriously be considering this. It’s too—”
“Dangerous?” It wasn’t funny, but she laughed anyway. “Right now I can’t walk across a parking lot, Conlan. I can’t go home to my apartment. I can’t visit my friends. I can’t go to work. How do I live a normal life hoping the man who was obsessed enough to try to kill me doesn’t decide to come back?”
“You’ll have security—”
