Page 70 of Teach Me
“Do you hear me!”
His hands clamped down on her nose and jaw, forcing them shut. He began to shake her, cutting off her air as he screamed in her face, pressing, pressing. The world narrowed to his crazed eyes.
This is it, then.
To some faint degree, Jess was aware of the pain, the scream of her lungs, the life draining out of her, the sounds of rage filling her ears. But her mind was surprisingly separate, calm. Turned inward. She focused on her love for Conlan, wrapping it around her to muffle the world even further, and found it wasn’t sadness that filled her. She had given Conlan all of her, had loved him with all she had, and she knew that love was returned.
She’d seized her chance, and for a little while, she’d had Conlan in her life. In her arms, her body. Her heart.
A last faint sigh escaped as darkness closed in. She’d held on as long as she could, but there was no way to hold on anymore. She submerged herself in the sensation of Conlan’s heat warming her, his hands caressing her, his body taking hers, and safe in his memory, she let herself fly free.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Con huddled with Jack around a laptop in Jack’s crew cab, watching as his best friend worked magic in his efforts to get them a clue. His fingers flew across the keyboard, and page after page of data streamed in front of their eyes. Tax records, it looked like. Con didn’t recognize any of the names, but Jack was obviously on to something, so he didn’t interrupt with questions. All he could focus on were those fingers, because if he allowed himself to think about anything else, it would be how every minute, every second it took them to find Jess could be seconds she suffered. Hurt. Maybe came closer to death. Con couldn’t go there. If he did, he’d break in two.
They had to find her. Soon.
“Got it!”
Jack’s triumphant whoop kicked Con’s heart into an even higher gear. “What did you get?”
“Land records—family land. Two can play at this game.” Jack was intent on the screen, scrolling down to find what he needed. “Damn, these people are slick, but not as slick as me.” A predatory gleam filled his eyes as he watched the screen. One more tap and Jack turned the laptop to face Con. “Take a look.”
It was a satellite view of a rambling house. Con shot Jack a questioning look.
“A couple of generations ago, the family estate just happened to include a lake house. Great-grandpa might be dead, but his legacy lives on. Care to guess which lake it’s on?”
“You’re shittin’ me?” Could they possibly be that lucky? “How far?” There were hundreds of miles of lakefront property in the area that Holbrooke could easily get lost in.
Jack switched to a map view. “About thirty minutes. East.”
The thought of Jess alone for thirty more minutes with Brit Holbrooke made Con want to scream, but he knew it was the best they were going to get.
“And look at this.” Jack clicked back on the satellite image of the estate and zoomed in, allowing them to see the surrounding landscape and even the presence of an SUV. A fancy black SUV. “The bastard’s so arrogant it doesn’t even look like he’s changed cars.”
Was that— “Is that current?” Con asked.
“Yep.” Jack folded the laptop and slid into the driver’s seat.
“Should we get Gaines?” His gut told him the fewer people the better, but…
“And have them go in with guns blazing? What do you think the odds are that bastard will take her with him if dying is his only option?”
So Jack agreed with Con’s gut. Good to know. He slammed the door of the truck and buckled his seat belt.
While Jack drove, Con dug in the chest bolted in place of what should’ve been a backseat, pulling out the equipment they would need. They didn’t see action on a regular basis, but they were always prepared, a fact for which Con thanked God right now. He suited up, thumping his Kevlar vest hard before strapping on a weapons belt and loading it. He loaded Jack’s too, laying everything out for his friend to slip on when they arrived.
Con’s cell phone rang. He looked at the screen. “Gaines.”
Jack shot him a look. “About fifteen minutes behind us. Go ahead.”
Con accepted the call. After Gaines finished cussing him out, Con gave him the address of the lake house. “Right, we’ll sit tight and observe. Wait for you.”
“I mean it, James. Don’t go in there.”
“Got it.” Con rolled his eyes and hung up. He threw the phone onto the console as Jack took a sharp turn onto a gravel road, fishtailing as he spewed tiny rocks behind them. “We’ve got orders to go in quiet and observe.”
“Of course. What else would we do?”
