Under the Marshal's Protection. Kathleen Tailer

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ not going anywhere,” he answered with another innocuous smile. He held out a stack of books. “So, where do you want these?”

      Jessica shook her head wearily. Apparently she’d finally gotten the message that he wasn’t going to go away. This was about more than finding Michael, however. There was no way he was going to leave Jessica Blake alone and terrified in her own home, especially without verifying who had done this to her house, and why.

      “You don’t give up easily, do you?”

      Dominic grinned, hoping to thaw her resistance a little. Many people had told him he had a wonderful smile. He hoped that by using it now, he could break the ice with the woman before him.

      He shook his head. “Now you’re getting it.”

      The smile must have worked because she gave in with a sigh. “Just stack them back on that shelf, if you don’t mind. I’ll go get some trash bags and a broom.”

      Dominic smiled again, pleased at her surrender, and looked at some of the titles as he placed the books back on the built-in shelf. She seemed to own a large collection of mysteries, as well as an art history book or two and several books on drawing and painting. It appeared that Ms. Blake was an aspiring artist. He was pleasantly surprised by the revelation and actually a bit curious about her talent. He had a deep appreciation for art, even though he was convinced he had absolutely no talent of his own in that department.

      Jessica returned with a medium-sized cardboard box and a large box of trash bags, then pulled out one of the bags and opened it with a snap. She handed the bag to Dominic. “Are you sure cleaning up my house is in your job description?”

      He shrugged. “It is today.”

      If she couldn’t get rid of him, she’d just have to ignore him. Turning her back on the marshal, Jessica started picking up the larger pieces of glass and other debris off the floor and tossing them into the cardboard box.

      She hadn’t owned anything of great monetary value, but she had attached great sentimental value to quite a bit in her home, and it was difficult to see it all destroyed. Nothing had been spared, including the decorative flowerpots that her fifth grade class had given her last year and the shiny blue ceramic bookends that had belonged to her parents. They were now in shards on the floor. The ruined couch cushions and pieces of stuffing started filling the bags, and tears came to her eyes when she tossed the broken frames that had been hanging on her walls into the box of trash. She quickly blinked the droplets away, determined not to cry in front of the law enforcement officer. There would be time to lament later. For now, she needed to concentrate on appeasing this marshal and getting him out of her house. She paused a moment and once again gingerly touched the bump on her head, then winced. The injury seemed to be throbbing more and more with each passing minute.

      Dominic noticed. “Whoa there. Let’s check that out.” He reached for her arm and led her to sit in one of the few chairs in the home that hadn’t been destroyed and gingerly removed her cap. “There’s only a small cut, but that swollen knot on your scalp must be pretty painful. Stay right here and rest for a minute.” He looked around the room, thinking. “I might have some aspirin in my car.”

      “There’s probably a bottle in the bathroom medicine cabinet, if they didn’t ruin that, too.”

      “Sounds good. I’ll check it out.” He left her and returned a few moments later with two aspirin and a glass of water. “Here. Take this.” In his other hand he carried a plastic quart-sized bag filled with ice, covered with a damp washcloth. He watched her swallow the medicine, then gingerly placed the ice pack on her wound.

      Jessica’s eyes defiantly met his. “I’m still not going to answer your questions.”

      Dominic shrugged. “That’s not my primary objective right now.”

      “What is your primary objective?”

      “Helping you.”

      “Even if I refuse to help you?”

      Dominic nodded. “Yes. Even if you refuse to help me.”

      Jessica let that sink in. When did anyone ever do something for nothing? She wanted to believe him, even though she was rather skeptical. She looked closely at the U.S. Marshal. There was concern in his eyes, but there was no way she could trust the law enforcement officer before her. She leaned back and closed her own eyes for a moment, the ice soothing the throbbing pain.

      She had to handle this problem on her own. That was the bottom line. There was no one else to lean on, and this U.S. Marshal was certainly no knight in shining armor come to rescue her from her problems. Somehow, she would figure all this out and find a way to fix it. She had to. She had no other choice.

      The phone suddenly rang, and she started in surprise. It rang again and she jumped up, frantically looking for the cordless receiver. She had been carrying the phone around with her for days ever since Michael’s last call, but the events of the morning had thrown her out of her routine and she had to search to find where she had left the handset. She was so preoccupied that she didn’t even notice Dominic stand up and follow closely behind her.

      “Hello?”

      The voice on the other end was low and threatening, and even though she didn’t recognize it, it nonetheless sent a cold chill down her spine. “Jessica Blake?”

      “Yes, this is Jessica.”

      “How do you like your house?”

      She took a deep breath and her hands started shaking. “What do you want?”

      “We want what your brother took from us. We want our computer disk back.”

      “What disk? I don’t have your disk,” she said forcefully, her voice tight. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

      “It’s very simple. We want what your brother took from us.”

      “I don’t know where my brother is, or anything about what he took from you.”

      “Find it,” the sinister voice ordered. “Find your brother, and find the disk. You have three days. If you don’t return the disk, you’ll be dead, along with your brother.” There was a click, and Jessica knew she was alone on the line. Her ears started ringing and she felt incredibly light-headed. Her knees began to tremble and if Dominic hadn’t caught her, she would have crumpled to the ground.

      He carried her back over to the chair and set her down gently. Her whole body felt cold despite the June heat, and he rubbed her hands in a soothing gesture. “So? Who was that on the phone that scared you so badly?”

      Jessica met Dominic’s gaze, her own eyes rounded in fear and her breath coming in gasps. She shook her head, not knowing what she should do or say.

      “Easy,” Dominic soothed. “Take a deep breath.” He demonstrated by exaggerating his breathing. She finally followed his lead and matched her breathing to his own. “That’s right. Take another deep breath. You’ll be okay in a minute or two. Deep breaths. That’s it.”

      Jessica concentrated on calming down, but the task seemed impossible. She was gripping Dominic’s hands without even realizing it, and a numbing fear seemed to paralyze her. They were going to kill both Michael СКАЧАТЬ