Page 46 of Special Agent Jennie

Chapter Thirty-four

In no time at all, Jennie closed the door to the two men who’d seen them to Lance’s apartment. Stunned, she’d listened to all of Lance’s instructions on where everything could be found. Considering he was a bachelor; his organizational skills couldn’t be faulted. Both her and the kid would be comfortable.

A phone call to let her family know she was fine, on the job, and wouldn’t be back until morning led to an interesting comeback from Lisa. Her teasing suggestive reply for Jennie to say goodnight to Kane made her flush, and she hung up on her daughter without replying.

Brat!Jennie grinned and let go of the sudden anger Lisa’s implied insinuation stirred up. Her daughter had a sixth sense that couldn’t be ignored… had always slipped right through whatever bullshit they tried feeding her, getting straight to the point. Her mommy pride surfaced. The kid’ll make a great reporter.

Melena appeared at the bedroom doorway. “I’m finished in the bathroom, Jennie. I left the package that Lance mentioned with the new toothbrush out for you. I really don’t mind taking the couch if you want. You should have the bed.”

“No, honey. I’m fine out here. You need your sleep. Go for it, Mellie.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I have some work I can do on my phone anyway.”

“Thanks.” Melena hovered and Jennie sensed she had something to say. “What’s going to happen to my dad?”

“He’ll be charged, honey. He had no business coming after you the way he did. You know that, right?”

Leaning against the door, Melena seemed to shrink. Jennie could see the girl fold inside herself and knew she needed to say something that would resonate with her troubled soul. Searching for the right terminology, she felt hopeless. Not being a shrink, she fell back on her own indignation as a mother. Words burst out before she could retract them. “If someone did that to my kid, I think I’d want to put them out of their misery. Because it must be horrific to live with yourself when you know what you’ve done to someone you love. I can’t believe your dad is a happy man.”

“No. Bitter is a better description. Hard-assed and unmoving. He lays down the law and expects the world to fall into place.”

Suddenly, Jennie’s senses kicked in and she froze. Pointing, she spoke low, “Mellie, go into the bedroom and don’t come out. Not until I give the all-clear.”

“What’s wrong?” Melena’s eyes widened and she froze.

Jennie rushed at her and guided her to the room behind her. “Go! Here’s my phone in case you need to call 911. Stay out of sight.”

Jennie pushed the girl and then closed the door on her seconds before the front entrance was forced open and a strange man appeared. The middle-aged, scrawny guy looked haggard, eyes wild, face pinched as if he had one goal. “Where’s Melena?”

“Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my apartment?” Pissed at herself for taking her gun off when she arrived, Jennie decided to play for time and see if she couldn’t work her way around to retrieve it.

The guy spoke louder. “Melena? Come here.”

Jennie didn’t have to pretend to be afraid. “Who’s Melena? Look, I’m going to call the police unless you get out of here right now.”

“I saw you come in with her. I’ve been waiting all day.” His voice rose and he barked out an order. “Melena, you come out. We need to leave… now.”

Shivers darted across Jennie’s back when she heard the beseeching barked-out order. It seemed as if the man wasn’t used to being thwarted, and his patience had been pushed to the limit. Suddenly, he pulled out his gun from his under-arm holster and pointed it at Jennie. “I’ll shoot your new friend if you don’t do as I say, little girl. I’m not fooling around with you anymore. It’s time we went to be with your mom. I promised her we’d join her one day.”

Jennie understood instantly and fear ramped up so she could hardly breathe. Goddammit… this lunatic was certifiable. Goading him to pay attention to her, praying Mellie would use the time to call 911, she stepped to the side, closer to her weapon. Reaching at anything to keep the conversation alive, she pulled a thought out of the air. “You killed her mother.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yeah, you did. It was a drive-by, wasn’t it? They never found the killer because it was you.”

“Shut your lying mouth, bitch. Stay out of my business.” He hissed the words in a terrible voice, and she knew her goading him wouldn’t be allowed to continue. He’d lose his shit, and who knows what he’d do then. But she couldn’t stop. Not now. She needed to give Melena time.

“What happened? Your wife wouldn’t let you near her daughter and so she had to be out of the picture? Is that about it?” Jennie moved another step to the counter. “You’d know how to pull it off, being a cop and all. The gun to use, the stolen car, everything. Even setting up an alibi for the time so they wouldn’t look at you. Jesus, how do you live with yourself?”

The gun wavered. Her opponent started to tremble, his voice breaking up as if a dam in his head burst. With a huge amount of self-control, his eyes blazing with hatred, he tried to maintain his composure. “I said, shut up. You don’t understand. No one does. I love my daughter.”

Melena appeared at the open bedroom door, darkness shrouding her. Like a vision, she faced her father. “You can’t love me and still do the horrible things to me that you do. Don’t lie.”

Her father aimed his gun at the girl and then back to Jennie when he saw her move. “Don’t try anything,” he said in a no-nonsense way.

Jennie saw his finger tighten on the trigger and stopped dead. “Mellie, go back in the bedroom. Your father and I are talking.”

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