“Jenna!” Lex cursed, turned in a circle. Damn. He wanted to kick something. He’d wanted to say he thought he was falling in love with her, that the core reason he was taking himself off the case was so that he could distance himself from the homicide and give their relationship a living chance.
She came down the stairs wearing his oversize gym shorts and a large white T-shirt that swam on her. Her evening gown was bundled under her arm, and her fingers were hooked through the straps of her high-heel sandals. Napoleon scuttled at her bare feet as she marched straight for his front door.
He grabbed her arm, swung her around. “Where d’you think you’re going?”
“Back where I belong. Where I should have stayed. The only godforsaken place I know!” She jerked free of his touch.
“You’ve got to wait.”
“For what, Perez?” She yanked open his front door and stomped barefoot down his small driveway toward her beat-up sports car. She wrenched the door open, and Napoleon bounded onto the passenger seat.
Lex followed her to the car, wearing his towel. “Jenna! Stop!” He grasped her wrist.
“What? You going to arrest me now?” Her voice was cool, her eyes defiant.
“I will if you make me.”
“I dare you,” she whispered angrily. “I dare you to tell your Special Agent in Charge you were screwing me, instead of just pumping me for information. Because if you don’t, I will. And I’ll tell the papers, too. Don’t think I’m afraid to do it, either. Got nothing to lose now, have I?”
He clamped his hand over her door, stopping her from getting in. Anger bubbled inside him. “So you got what you wanted, did you, Jenna? You bought me at your auction, seduced me. And now you’re going to use it to screw my case—is that how it goes?”
Her eyes flickered, filling with moisture.
“Think about it,” he said, voice low and controlled. “You go to the papers with this story and you’ll be doing exactly what your were seeking to avoid when you didn’t tell the police that you were at Candace’s apartment. You will once again drag the media circus down on top of your family—a nice legacy for those little toddler nephews you were trying to protect. And you’ll be dancing to your father’s tune again. Because I will now bet my last chip that he set you up to do that auction. He wants this case to go down the tubes for some reason, and he’s using you to do it, Jenna.”
“Let go of my door.”
“I can’t let you drive. You’re not thinking straight. You’re still in shock, Jenna. You did the right thing in telling me about those notes. Now you’ve got to find the courage to see it through. You’ve crossed that line, and you said it yourself—there’s no going back now.”
Tears glimmered in her eyes.
“Look, Jenna I know you’re scared.” He lifted her chin gently, but she jerked away.
She shoved past him, got into her car, slammed the door and started the engine.
“Jenna, don’t do this.” He banged on her window. “Geez, I…love you,” he yelled. “I want to make this work, damn it!”
Her eyes flared, her mouth opened slightly. She cursed at him and hit the gas. Fishtailing down his road.
Lex swore, kicked the curb, then rushed inside to grab his phone.
“Perez, it’s Duncan. I need you to get someone on Jenna Rothchild’s tail ASAP. She’s heading home right now. No—” he hesitated, sliding further over to the dark side. “I don’t want you to bring her in. Just have her followed, make sure whoever you put on her tail has backup on call. Don’t leave her alone for one second, understand? I…” He slipped even deeper into gray ethical muck. “She was followed last night, and…she might lead us to our target. Or flush him out.” He shut his eyes for a moment, praying he was doing the right thing.
“You want me to tail her myself?”
“No. I need you in the office. I’m coming in—I’ll explain.” He needed Perez to keep working the angles they’d started, and he was going to have to talk to Quinn.
Lex hung up, wondering how in the hell he’d gotten to this point. Perhaps he should’ve chased after Jenna himself. But she was so strung out it might have driven her to excess speed, and a dangerous accident involving not only her life but others. Once she was inside the Rothchild mansion, she should be safe with all Harold’s security and an FBI agent at the bottom of the drive.
A chorus of yipping rose the instant Lex walked into the bullpen. “Shut the hell up, would you?”
“Feeling a little rough, are we, Duncan?”