Power Trip(25)
Jake touched his arm and he straightened in his chair. “Do you know who I am?” he asked.
The man blinked several times. “No.”
Jake nodded. “That’s good. You won’t remember me, either. You did everything you were supposed to do today. It went well.” Jake took money out of Geraci’s wallet and put it on the table. “Order lunch. Go to a movie. Don’t go home tonight.” The man nodded and picked up one of the menus on the table.
Jake put his arm around her waist and guided her out the door.
She didn’t speak until they reached her car. “Did you drive?” It was easier to think about whether they needed to take two cars than the fact that she might have been kidnapped today. He shook his head and got into her car. “I got a ride.”
When her seatbelt was fastened, she looked over at him and felt a sad smile curve her lips. “You have beautiful eyes, Jake. They’re our father’s eyes, aren’t they?”
“Shit.” He fumbled to put his glasses back on as she started the car and pulled out into the street, turning away from Bonfire. Automatically, she got on the highway, heading toward her house.
He glanced up at the highway signs. “You can’t go home, Aud.”
It was too late to turn around, so she accelerated to merge with traffic. “Where do you think we should go?”
“Head for Cal’s. I’ll text him.”
The thought of seeing Cal again sent a burst of pleasure through her. She didn’t know him well enough to run to him when she felt threatened, but it felt like the right thing to do. Jake sent and received several texts while she changed lanes and took deep breaths to cool the heat in her cheeks.
Beside her, Jake chuckled softly. “If you weren’t my sister, I’d have loved to be a fly on the wall of Master Calvin’s dungeon last night. Such a good girl for so long. Little miss perfect Audrey, who has never worn anything made out of leather except her sensible shoes. It would have been fun to see all your disdain for the Lifestyle turn into something else.”
“Shut up, Jake. Since you’re so curious, I didn’t wear any leather last night. In fact, I didn’t wear anything at all.” He’d never stop teasing her if she showed her embarrassment. “After I got past my initial freak-out over the hood—”
Jake cursed. “He put you in a hood?”
She glanced over at him. He looked almost as horrified as she had felt. “Not for long. Something else you need to tell me?”
“There’re a lot of things I need to tell you, but we don’t have time.”
“You promised,” she reminded him, taking the exit that would lead them to Cal’s house.
His chuckle was grim. “I promised to tell you after lunch. We didn’t have lunch.”
She stopped the car at the bottom of Cal’s driveway, opened the glove compartment and thrust her emergency box of granola bars into his lap. “Fuck your loopholes, Jake. There’s lunch. Start talking.”
He laughed, shrugged, took a bar out of the box and put it in his pocket. “I’ll be back after I take Geraci’s cell phone and wallet to Truman.”
“Truman the lie detector?” The one Cal had mentioned last night?
“And a cop. He should be able to trace any incoming calls. I’ll meet you back here.”
“No way—I’m coming with you.”
Jake shook his head. “I want you somewhere safe.”
“I’m not safe with a cop?” That thought was so frightening, she put the car in gear and drove up the driveway. When she pulled to a stop in front of Cal’s garage, she turned to Jake. “If you don’t tell me every single thing you know about everything pertaining to my talent and our family the very second you get back, I am going to beat you senseless.” He was the one who had forced her through nine black belts of Tae Kwon Do and insisted on being her sparring partner. She could beat him. He’d made sure of it. Now, she was beginning to understand why.
Jake held out his hand. “Agreed. Mind if I take your car?”
“And leave me stranded?”
“I’m sure you and Cal can keep yourselves occupied.” Jake’s laugh was wicked and full of mischief as he got out of the car and walked around to her side. “I’ll be back soon. The station isn’t far.”
He opened her door. “Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Cal will keep you safe.”
She didn’t want Cal to keep her safe. She wanted to be safe. And she didn’t like the way her brain slipped out of gear whenever she thought about him. “This is the last place I should be if I want to think clearly.”