Chapter 10
Mason felt like a class A shit for keeping a secret from Jess.
He’d been able to block it out of his mind this morning, with the aid of a hot-as-fuck kiss from Jess. But now that they were at the office, and sitting around the conference table in the meeting room, he wished he could go back in time and tell her last night that one of her best friends was missing.
Just as long as his trip back in time still meant they would kiss like they had this morning. Mason knew it was wrong…but damn, it felt as right as anything he had done in his life.
Riley, Holt, and Lance sat around the table, also, and Mason was ashamed he welcomed the back-up.
“Jess, I gotta tell you, you are holding up better than a lot of people I’ve worked with who are trained to handle dangerous situations.” Holt smiled. The man had the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes, and looked as if he’d forgotten to shave this morning. Even in the short time Mason had known and worked for Holt, he had come to realize Holt took his job very seriously—and personally—and would do whatever he could to rid the world of terrorists while protecting innocents.
“Thanks, but I don’t feel very strong. Most of the time I feel as if I’m in a really bad dream I can’t wake up from.”
“Understandable.”
“Do the police have any leads on who murdered Caribbean?” She swallowed after saying her friend’s name. Mason’s heart squeezed in his chest. He knew she was hurting, and he hated it.
“I’m afraid not,” Holt said.
Jess’s shoulders slumped a bit, but she just nodded.
“We’ve received information that Laura may be missing, also,” Riley said.
Jess’s head snapped up. “What do you mean?”
Lance sat forward. “No one has heard from her. Riley has had her contacts at the CIA attempting to track her phone, but it’s turned off.”
“She hasn’t been to work in the last two days, either, and hasn’t called in sick,” Riley said.
“Two days?” Jess asked. “When did you find out about this?”
“Not long after Ms. Meda’s body was found,” Holt said.
Jess swung her gaze to Mason. “Did you know about this?”
The air in the room chilled. “Yes.”
Jess’s eyes turned dark and turbulent.
“We asked Mason not to tell you until we had a chance to make sure she was actually missing,” Holt said.
“Do you know of any reason she would leave town and not tell anyone?” Riley asked, turning the conversation away from Mason’s lack of humanity.
Jess took in a deep breath and slowly released it. “If she was going to see her boyfriend, maybe. She usually turned off her phone so we wouldn’t bother her while they were together.” She looked down at the table. “They didn’t see each other often, so when they were together, it was usually somewhere out of town.”
“Was there a reason for that?” Lance asked.
“Yeah, her boyfriend is married. Caribbean and I hated the guy, and would give her shit about being with him. That’s why she’d turn off her phone. I think they went to someplace north of Warwick. She mentioned a cabin a couple of times. Someplace no one would recognize them.”
“Do you know her boyfriend’s name?” Riley asked.
“Justin Able. He lives in Providence. Owns a computer service business…Tech Geeks.”
“Okay, we’ll talk to him—discreetly—as much as possible.”
“I don’t care if you’re discreet. If his wife finds out—all the better. Just do whatever you can to find her.”
“Why do you think she would leave without telling anyone?”
“I’m sure she found out Caribbean…died. If she couldn’t get in touch with me, she may have decided to hide out. Have you checked her parents home?”
“Yes,” Riley answered. “They haven’t heard from her since Thursday night.”
Jess’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t think the people who killed Caribbean have Laura, do you?”
“We would’ve heard from them by now, if they had taken her. That said, it remains a possibility until we have confirmation that’s not the case.” Riley stood. “I’m going to get my guys working on the boyfriend angle, and see if we can find out anything.”
Lance and Holt stood. Holt squeezed Jess’s shoulder as he passed. “Hang in there. I know there are a lot of unknowns right now, but it won’t be this way forever.”
Mason tried to remain as optimistic as his CO, but there was only one way a terrorist organization would let go of this—when Jess was dead.
And that didn’t sit well with Mason.
He turned to Jess and forced a smile. “Ready to go work out?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He sighed, but knew he deserved whatever shit she was about to give him. “I couldn’t.” Lame excuse. A coward’s way out.
“Yes, you could. You could have given me a heads up before I was blindsided today.”
“When was I supposed to tell you?”
“As soon as you found out?” Her voice raised an octave, and red flushed her neck and face.
“You had just found out your friend had been murdered. By the time I found out, you were sleeping. What was I supposed to do, wake you up with more bad news, when I wasn’t even sure Laura was actually missing?”
“Fine, but you could’ve told me yesterday.”
“Again, I didn’t see you—awake—yesterday. And I wasn’t going to wake you up before I left just so you could worry about it all day while you were by yourself.” He took a deep breath and dragged a hand over his face. “I understand you’re pissed at me, but I really did have your best interests at heart. I didn’t want you to be hurt anymore than you were. If I handled it wrong, I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I would’ve handled it any differently.”
She stared at him for a long moment, pressed her lips into a fine line, and gave a short head nod.
He turned around and led her out of the building, across a grassy area with a couple of picnic tables, and into the gym. Hopefully, some time working out some aggression would put her in a better mood. Not that he could blame her, but he was desperate to get back the Jess who looked at him with lust in her eyes, not murderous intent.
* * *
Jess pummeled the hanging bag. One other guy, Noah, was in the gym using the treadmill. Mason had introduced them before going back to his office. Most likely to get as far away from her as possible.
Not that she didn’t think he deserved her scorn—at least some of it. He had kept a secret from her about her best friend. She got his reasons for doing so, but it still left a rather bitter taste in her mouth. She trusted him with her life, had opened up to him. Let him kiss her. And then she had to find out that, not only was her friend missing, but Mason had known for two days and never said a word to her.
Her life was not her own. She had to have permission to do anything. An escort to go anywhere. And now, even the information she was given was at the discretion of those with all the power.
The thing was…she had seen the pain in Mason’s eyes. He had obviously been stressed about not telling her about Laura. And she could admit he had been placed in a tough position. As much as Jess had been thrust into this situation, so had Mason. Three days ago, each of their lives had been vastly different. Mason hadn’t asked to be Jess’s protector and confidant. Yet, he was doing what he could to keep her safe, and struggling with keeping her sane, as well.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. Going on an hour and a half. She had run on the treadmill for an hour, hoping that would work out some of the aggression, but it hadn’t provided enough physical pain. So, she had decided to use the bag, intending to imagine it was Mason’s face she was punching.
But she wasn’t able to do it. Instead, she thought of the asshole who had set all the horrific events in motion. Daniel Forrester. Yeah, it was easy to imagine his face there. And she took great pleasure hitting him over and over until her fists were sore.
Hanging the gloves on wall pegs so they could get proper ventilation, she entered the small women’s locker room and splashed cold water on her face and neck. A few white towels were stacked next to the sink. She grabbed one and dried off, taking in the dark circles under her eyes. Even her bronze skin was paler.
A shower stall caught her eye in the mirror. She briefly considered taking a quick shower, but didn’t have any clean clothes to put on. Sort of defeated the purpose of taking a shower, just to get back into the same sweaty, stinky clothes. Crossing the grassy area, she pulled on the door Mason had taken her out. Locked.
Crap.
What the hell was she supposed to do? Go around to the front? Knock on the door and hope someone heard her. When she had gone through the room and out the door, no one else had been in there.
“Locked out?”
Jess glanced behind her. Noah was jogging across the space, a friendly smile on his face. He held his military ID near a black pad next to the door. When the lock clicked, he pulled the door open and let Jess pass.
“Thanks.”
Four guys were in the room—including Mason—with their backs to her, watching something on the huge flat screen that practically filled the entire wall. Jess looked at the person on the screen, and a wash of ice coursed through her veins.
Laura.
Her cheeks were tear-stained. One eye was swollen shut. Dried blood rimmed her lips. Beside her, a man dressed in black from head to toe, face covered, held up a large knife with what had to be a nine-to-twelve inch blade.
“Speak to the camera,” someone said out-of-sight. Laura cringed and took a deep breath..
“The U.S. Government, through the Providence Police Department, has ceased investigating the death of Daniel Forrester, and released the murderer responsible.” Laura’s voice cracked, and a steady stream of tears flowed over her cheeks. “The woman who shot Daniel in cold blood is Jessica Baylor. Being the coward she is, she has gone into hiding.”
Laura paused and drew in a shaky breath.
Jess’s heart pounded against her ribs. God, what have they done to you?
“You have seen what happens when one of our brothers is killed—the blood of the ones you love is spilled. There is nowhere you can hide that we will not find you. No one that can protect you. No amount of blood we are unwilling to shed before you finally turn yourself over to us—”
The man in black lifted the knife in the air, and yanked Laura by the hair. Her head fell back.