Run, Hide - By Carol Ericson Page 0,66
IDs and we’ll work out the car situation.”
They claimed their bedrooms, and Cade shut the door and stood with his back against it. “Ah, alone at last.”
Jenna plucked a pillow from the bed and threw it at him. “That’s not very nice after everything Beth did for us.”
“I think she owed us after we got her out of that warehouse. She and Jeff were sloppy.”
“I still don’t understand what happened or who killed Jeff.”
“I don’t, either, but I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
She raised one eyebrow. “And how is Mr. Yardley going to do that from Grenfield, Texas?”
“I have ways.” He lunged for her, grabbing her around the waist, and she squealed.
“Shh.” He kissed her mouth to keep her quiet.
And it worked.
When his hands worked their way beneath her clothes, she grabbed the front of his sweatshirt. “Do you really think we should?”
“Are you kidding? Our son is finally in another bed in another room, and Beth, our constant companion for the past twenty-four hours, is in another room. I’m not wasting another minute.”
He walked her backward to the bed and they fell across the mattress.
She couldn’t think of one more objection. With Cade smothering her with kisses, she could barely breathe.
* * *
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, they made their first strides toward settling in by going grocery shopping, getting the gas turned on and finding the nearest park.
Cade had insisted that Beth take another day to rest before making her way back to Arizona and facing her bosses at Prospero. And she needed it.
Beth’s pale face made the dark circles beneath her eyes stand out even more, and Jenna wondered if she was completely healed from her attack.
As they sat at the kitchen table eating sandwiches, Jenna poured Beth another glass of water. “I think you should see a doctor when you get back. You need to get checked out.”
“You’re probably right. I can see one of the doctors Prospero has on retainer—no questions asked.”
“That’s the way we like it.”
Cade’s cell phone buzzed and he checked the display. “I can’t believe it. It’s J.D.”
He answered the phone and nodded to Jenna. “Did you make it back okay?”
He paused and replied. “Man, you have no idea.”
Then he held up his finger and wandered into the back of the house.
Jenna shrugged. “Hush, hush. I’m glad J.D.’s back in the States. Maybe he can help Cade figure out some of the recent events.”
“I’m glad he’s back, too. I contacted him earlier to let him know Cade’s new location. I figured if there was anyone I could trust, it would be J.D.”
“I didn’t realize you knew all of Prospero Team Three so well.”
“I started around the same time they did. I was assigned to support them at first.”
Cade returned to the room. “J.D.’s flying into San Antonio tonight. I’m going to pick him up at the airport.”
“You’re not bringing him back here.” Beth crossed her arms, not a hint of humor in her face.
“Excuse me?”
Beth spread her arms. “This is a resettlement house. You’re not Cade Stark here and you wouldn’t know J.D. the spy. It’s a rule, Cade. You can’t bring him here.”
“Well, he hadn’t planned to stay here, anyway. We just need to talk.”
“Talk at the airport.” Jenna wiped Gavin’s mouth and offered him an apple slice.
“I don’t want to drag you and Gavin to the airport.”
Beth held up her finger. “That would break another rule. Jenna and Gavin shouldn’t be anywhere near J.D. You could compromise this whole location.”
“I don’t like leaving you. Where will you three be?”
“Right here. Where we’ll be safe.” Beth spread her arms. “Nothing unusual about a sister helping her sister and nephew get settled in their new home.”
Jenna hid a smile beneath her hand. Beth had insisted on this charade of sisters when they looked nothing alike.
She said, “Beth’s right. We’ll stay here while you meet up with J.D. at the airport.”
“I’m leaving a gun here. Beth, you don’t carry one, do you?”
“No. If I had, Jeff might still be alive.”
Cade quickly changed the subject. “Okay, then. I’ll go to the airport to meet J.D., and pump him for information. Maybe he knows more about what happened to Jim back at the outpost. Maybe he knows something about what went down at the warehouse.”
Beth pointed a finger at him. “And if you’re made at the airport, you don’t come back here.”
He saluted. “Got it, Chief.”
A few hours later, Cade left a gun on a shelf in the cupboard. “Just in case.”
“We’ll be fine.”