Kitabı oku: «A Stranger's Baby», sayfa 2

Unless the intruders had been so careful to leave no trace of their presence that in their haste they overlooked this one, maybe counting on someone to discount it.

Unless he’d just missed them disappearing into the darkness as he came around the side of the house.

Unless he was already inside when they started their vehicle and drove away, if the sound had even been audible from the house.

Troubled by where his thoughts were leading him, he headed back to his house. He couldn’t call the cops with something so inconclusive. They hadn’t been inclined to believe her. He didn’t think they’d be happy to be called back for this, if they did come back. He wondered if he should tell his neighbor. She might feel better knowing there could be reason to think she was right. Or she might be better off believing she wasn’t instead of scaring her more.

Remembering the pills he’d dropped in the driveway, he started to the front of the house. He was almost there when he saw it. A car parked on the other side of the street, facing him. It sat just out of reach of the nearest streetlamps on either side, the faintest edges of their glow falling mere feet short of illuminating it. Instead, it was nearly invisible, a dark-colored sedan blending into the shadows. Still, he could see the single figure sitting in the front seat. And though he couldn’t see the person’s face, he suddenly knew without a doubt the driver was watching his neighbor’s house.

He’d kept an eye on the street while they had waited for the police. The car hadn’t been sitting there then.

Before he even thought about it, he started toward the vehicle.

He’d barely gone three steps when the driver suddenly jerked forward in his seat. The engine roared to life. Jake started to pick up speed, muscles tensing in readiness to break out into a run. That damn pain shot down his leg, causing him to miss a step.

The sedan burst forward, leaping away from the curb and onto the street with a screech of its tires. He could do nothing but watch the car tear down the street, moving so fast he couldn’t even get the license plate number.

Biting back a curse, he drew in a ragged breath. His shoulders slumped, seeming to weigh a thousand pounds each. He should be used to his body failing him by now. That didn’t make it any easier to take.

He’d started to turn back toward his house when his gaze fell on his neighbor’s. The curtain in the front window shifted slightly. She must have looked out to see what the noise was.

Grimacing, he changed direction, heading for her front door. The curtain shifted again. He knew she was watching.

By the time he made it to the door, she was already opening it a crack, peering out over the chain she kept fastened. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t think you were imagining anything.”

Her eyes went wide. She slammed the door shut. He heard the sound of the chain being withdrawn before she pulled the door open farther, the other hand braced protectively on her belly.

“What are you talking about?”

“There are fresh footprints by the trees behind your house. And that car was sitting across the street. I think the driver was watching your house.”

She swallowed hard, looking as if she was going to be sick. “I knew it was real.”

“They could come back. You shouldn’t stay here.”

“I have my gun.”

“Next time they might, too.”

He saw the words hit home. She gave her head a shaky nod. “You’re right. I’ll go to a hotel or something….”

Her voice wobbled just the slightest bit, enough that he felt it like a low blow in his gut. She looked scared and vulnerable, as if she wanted to look over her shoulder and make sure there was nobody there, waiting to jump out at her from inside her own home. Which suddenly seemed all too possible. Hell, how did either of them know somebody hadn’t managed to break back in again? They had already managed to do it one time without leaving any trace.

As if she was thinking the same thing, her other hand went to her stomach, her arms stretching low. She looked as if she wanted to wrap her arms around herself.

No, not herself. Her baby.

Something painful hit him in the chest. Hard.

“You can stay with me.”

The words came out on their own. Even as he said them, it seemed as if someone else was doing so. She looked just as surprised to hear them as he was, blinking up at him, her mouth falling open in a soft O.

“Just for tonight,” he said roughly. “Until you figure out something else.” Part of him wondered who he was saying it for, her or himself.

For a long moment she didn’t say anything, staring at him, her eyes round and dazed. Then she nodded unsteadily. “Okay. Just for tonight. Let me get a few things.”

She retreated back into the house. He watched her waddle away. He knew letting her stay with him was the right thing to do. She shouldn’t be alone, not in her condition, not the way she was feeling. That didn’t stop him from wanting to call her back and revoke the offer. The uneasiness had returned with a vengeance, clawing at his insides with greater ferocity, for entirely different reasons than before.

Because he’d seen something else, too, shimmering faintly in her big brown eyes.

Gratitude.

And he knew more than ever that he’d finally made the mistake he’d been avoiding from the first time he’d seen the pregnant woman next door.

Chapter Three

Jake held open the front door of his house for her. Sara stepped over the threshold, feeling almost as though she was stepping into a brand-new world.

A few hours ago, she’d never spoken to this man. Now she was spending what was left of the night in his home.

Of course, several things had happened to her in the past few hours that had never happened before. At least this one might be relatively positive.

It was only when she heard him close and lock the door behind them that she felt a moment’s trepidation. She looked back at him, so big he nearly rendered the door superfluous, blocking the entire entryway himself. What if he was involved with the people who’d invaded her home and this was all part of some ploy to get her to his house where she’d be completely at his mercy? Or even if it wasn’t, how did she know she was safe with this man? She didn’t know anything about him. No one knew where she was. He could make her disappear and no one would ever know.

Then he turned around, allowing her to see the frown on his face. It hadn’t shifted since he’d made the invitation. He’d made it clear the offer had been grudging at best, hardly the attitude to project if he’d wanted to give her a false sense of security.

Sara grimaced at her own foolish paranoia, forcing herself to relax slightly. She was letting the night’s events go to her head.

Not to mention the fact that he’d barely looked at her since offering the invitation. Even now, he didn’t, moving past her toward a hallway. “You can take my bed,” he said gruffly.

“Oh, that’s not necessary.”

“It’s the only one I’ve got. There’s a spare bedroom, but I never bothered to put a bed in there.” Whether or not he’d intended it, she didn’t miss the unspoken message in his words. He hadn’t expected, or wanted, guests. “I’m sure you need it more than I do.”

“Honestly, I doubt I’ll get any sleep the rest of the night. And I sleep better sitting up these days anyway.” At least without her body pillow, which she’d forgotten, not even thinking about sleeping. She had so much adrenaline pumping through her system it felt as if she’d never sleep again. “Just point me in the direction of a comfortable chair and I’ll be set.”

Looking unconvinced, he finally waved an arm toward the living room. Following the motion, she made her way to a chair a few feet away. The room was barely furnished. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought he’d just moved in that day. A flatscreen TV was installed on one wall directly in front of the chair. Some weights, an exercise mat and a workout bench were clustered in one corner. A card table set up beside the chair bore a few magazines. All sports-related, she noted, as she lowered herself into the seat.

Folding his arms over his chest, he leaned a shoulder against the wall. She realized with a start that the chair she’d gravitated toward was the only seat in the living room other than the bench. Boy, this place really wasn’t intended to accommodate guests in any way.

“Do you want to call the police?” he asked.

“And tell them what? There was a car sitting outside my house? I’m sure they’ll want to rush right over for that, especially since they didn’t believe me before.” She wiped a hand across her forehead. “I’ll go to the police station in the morning. Hopefully I’ll find somebody who might be more willing to believe me.”

“I’ll go with you.” She must have seemed surprised, because he shrugged his free shoulder. “I’m the one who saw the car, right?”

“Of course.” This time they couldn’t claim she’d imagined it. At the very least, it would have to be a shared delusion. “It’s weird, though.”

“What?”

“If whoever was in the car was one of the same people who broke in to my house, why would he park right across the street, for everyone to see after going to all the trouble of coming through the backyard the first time?”

“Could be they were just checking to make sure the coast was clear. As soon as they were sure the police were gone, they’d go around back and try again.”

“Maybe,” she said, unable to keep the doubt from her voice. It still felt as if something wasn’t adding up. “How many people were in the car?”

“It was dark. I could only see the driver.”

“There were three people in my house. I’m sure of it.”

“The big question is how they got inside in the first place.”

“I don’t know. The police said the locks hadn’t been tampered with, and I know I locked the back door.”

“I noticed you don’t have a security system.”

“It never seemed necessary. This is supposed to be a safe community. It’s one reason I moved here. I’m sure you don’t have one, either.” He signaled his agreement with a terse jerk of his head. “Logically, the only way they could have gotten in was with a key. But I’ve never given one to anybody.”

“Do you have one hidden somewhere around the house in case you get locked out?”

“No.”

“Maybe they stole yours somehow and made a copy without your knowledge.”

Sara suppressed a shudder. He’d reached the same conclusion she had. “That would mean they put some forethought into this, actually planned it for some time before going through with it. But who would do that? And why?”

“You really don’t know why anyone would attack you?”

She gave her head a vigorous shake. “No.”

He nodded at her belly. “What about the father?”

“He’s not in the picture.”

Something in her tone must have grabbed his suspicions, because his gaze sharpened. “How ‘not in the picture’ is he?”

“Completely. He doesn’t even know about the baby.”

“Because you didn’t tell him?” She nodded. “What if he found out on his own? He might not have been too happy to find out you kept it a secret.”

“No, it’s not like that—” Sara swallowed a sigh. She’d known it would likely come to this, but had still held out some small hope that she could avoid the question. And the answer. She’d almost been relieved when the police hadn’t bothered asking. Their lack of belief in her intruders had had that benefit at least.

For eight and a half months she hadn’t told a single person. She’d deftly avoided her doctor’s questions, and there hadn’t been anyone else to tell. That was one good thing about her solitary existence. It made it easier to avoid embarrassing questions.

That seemed less likely to be the case if she managed to convince the police to believe her. Like Jake, they would probably want to know more about the circumstances that led to her present state. If she did have to tell, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have a practice run at it with someone who didn’t really care either way.

She took a breath. “I don’t know who he is.”

To his credit, Jake didn’t even blink. He simply gave a solemn nod in response. “Well, if you give the cops the names of the potential fathers, they can probably track them down and see where they might have been tonight.”

Another, deeper, breath. “That’s not what I meant. I know when and with whom I got pregnant. I just don’t know his name. It was a one-time thing.”

“And you didn’t get his name.”

It was probably her imagination, but she thought she heard the first trace of judgment in his tone. She stared him straight in the eye and tried to fight the heat she felt rising in her cheeks. “He said his name was Mark.”

“No last name?”

“I assume he has one. He just didn’t share it with me.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“No.”

“Did you tell him your full name?”

“No, just my first.”

“Does he know where you live?”

“I didn’t tell him, no.”

“Still, it’s not a big town. If he saw you on the street or something…”

“It happened in the city.”

“So there’s no reason to believe he has any idea where to find you, or that you’re pregnant.”

“That’s right. Like I said, he’s not involved.”

“And there’s nobody else you can think of who might have reason to break into your house and attack you?”

“No.”

Clearly stumped, he shook his head. “Then I don’t know. Hopefully the police can figure it out.” He pushed away from the door frame. “I should let you rest.”

“And I’m sure I’ve kept you up longer than you intended.”

He nodded shortly, which she took to be a sign of agreement. “Feel free to use the TV. Yell if you need anything. I’ll leave the door open in case you do.”

“Okay.”

With another tight nod, he turned away and stalked toward the hallway. Not for the first time, she noticed the slight hitch in his step, the way he slightly favored his left leg over the right. She’d wondered about its cause, but wasn’t about to ask. It really wasn’t any of her business.

She watched his broad back receding. He was almost out of sight when she felt the outburst pressing against her throat. She couldn’t hold it back.

“Jake?”

It was the first time she’d said his name, and she immediately realized they hadn’t established if they were on a first-name basis. For his part, he hadn’t called her anything besides the “lady” he’d used when he’d entered her house. Another way of maintaining some semblance of distance between them, she supposed. She wondered if he’d take offense at her familiarity.

He stopped, his shoulders tensing. He didn’t look back.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice thick, “for—”

“Don’t mention it.”

The words were tossed over his shoulder without a glance back. As soon as they were out, he started moving again, not waiting for a response. Seconds later he disappeared into the bedroom. As he’d said, he left the door open. She waited for a light to come on. It didn’t. He must have decided not to bother.

She settled back in the chair, trying not to take his reaction for the rejection it was. He was simply reminding her of a truth she’d be better off remembering. He wasn’t her friend. He was barely an acquaintance. Her neighbor, nothing more.

For tonight, though, it was enough. And she had more important things to worry about in the morning.

The reminder brought back everything that had happened that night. He’d left all the lights in the living room on for her. She should have felt safe. But the room opened onto the kitchen, and when she glanced to her right, she had a clear view of both the windows over the sink and in the back door. And once she saw them, she couldn’t look away.

The windows gaped with darkness. There was no light on outside the back door. The backyard was out there, and beyond it, the trees. Where he’d found footprints.

Anyone could be out there.

Anyone might be.

Eyes wide, Sara swallowed the hard lump that formed in her throat. Rubbing a hand over her belly, she stared at the windows, into the darkness, and desperately wished for morning to come.

Chapter Four

Sara didn’t know how she managed to get any sleep during the endless night. She only knew that she had, when she found herself prodded awake by a familiar urge.

Sunlight filtered in through the windows she’d stared at for so long. It was morning. Slowly hoisting herself from the chair, she moved toward the hallway, already having located the bathroom during an earlier trip in the middle of the night.

She’d just reached the corridor when her neighbor stepped through the still open doorway of his bedroom.

Her drowsiness vanished in an instant, her eyes going wide. Like her, he’d obviously just gotten up. He was tousle-haired and bare-chested, dressed only in a pair of skimpy shorts that didn’t even stretch halfway to his knees and hardly managed to contain his thighs. She tried to avoid looking at the impressive bulge between them. God knew there was plenty else to look at.

She’d known he was muscular; that was apparent even when he was dressed. It was something else entirely to see him without clothes, to see just how hard and toned his body was. There wasn’t a stray ounce of fat anywhere, only firm skin stretched over taut muscle. His arms were massive, as big around as his thighs.

A tremor of awareness, so unexpected, so unfamiliar, quaked through her, rumbling upward from the pit of her stomach.

He detected her presence a moment after she spotted him, coming to a stop just outside his bedroom. He dragged a hand over his face, the eyes narrowed with sleepiness only widening the slightest bit. “’Morning,” he said, his voice a hoarse rumble.

“Good morning,” she murmured. “I was just…” She waved a hand toward the bathroom.

He nodded. “Go ahead.” Before she could respond, he ducked back into his bedroom.

When she finally emerged from the bathroom, she shuffled back into the living room. He was standing at the front window, pulling a curtain back slightly with one finger and peering out. He’d pulled a T-shirt on, an impossibly large swath of cloth covering the wide expanse of his back, but hadn’t bothered with pants. He was still wearing those impossibly short shorts.

An ache started low in her belly as her gaze tracked down the curve of his back to the outline of his buttocks and those substantial thighs, firm as barrels and lightly dusted with dark hair—

She jerked her eyes up, heat filling her cheeks, even though his back was turned and there was no way he could see her. There wasn’t nearly enough of the window exposed for him to see her reflected in it. That didn’t prevent her embarrassment. What was she doing?

Hormones, she thought. She was pregnant and horny. There was certainly no denying it as she couldn’t quite prevent her gaze from slipping lower again, a rush of adrenaline surging through her.

“The car’s back.”

Her thoughts were so distracted that it took a moment for the words to sink in. “Hmm?”

“I can’t tell if it’s the same one, but I’d bet anything it is. It’s sitting in damn near the same spot it was last night.”

What he was saying finally managed to break through the heady rush of hormones, killing the delicious thrill.

The car. Last night.

All her tension, all the fear that she’d only managed to shake came rushing back. She frowned, her stomach clenching.

The reason he was only pulling back the curtain a little bit finally hit her. He didn’t want whoever was out there to know he was watching.

The same way that person was watching them.

Or was he? Did he know she was at Jake’s, or was he still watching her house?

Moving as quickly as she could, Sara crossed the room to his side. “Can you see the license plate?”

“No. It’s too bright. The sun’s hitting it just right and making it too hard to see.”

He looked down, then started, as if surprised to see her there. A flicker of…something slid along her nerve endings. She hadn’t realized just how close she’d come to him, focused solely on what he was looking at. She was standing right next to him, as close as they could possibly be without touching. Much closer than common courtesy dictated. She should step back.

Instead, she could only stare up into his eyes, feeling his closeness, unable to move.

Gray, she thought distantly. His eyes were gray. The color of storm clouds on a rainy day.

Abruptly the connection was broken. It was he who stepped back, away from her, letting the curtain fall. A flash of some unreadable emotion passed over those eyes she now knew were gray. He frowned, dropping his gaze. “Take a look.”

Strangely, inexplicably shaken, she slid over partly into the space he’d vacated and pushed the curtain ever so slightly to the side.

The bright morning sunlight blinded her for a moment. It took a few seconds for her vision to clear. Gradually the vehicle came into focus. It was as he’d said. There was a black sedan parked on the other side of the street, slightly down from her house, no doubt offering a good view of it without being right out front. The light bounced off the body and windows, making it impossible to see who was inside.

“I don’t suppose it would do any good to try and confront him,” she said.

“I’d bet anything he’d drive away as soon as he saw me coming.”

She shot him a glance. “You? I think I’d like to have a word with him to find out why the hell he’s watching my house.”

Jake stared down at her. So gradually she didn’t realize it was happening at first, a hint of wry humor entered his gaze, his eyes crinkling at the corners, his mouth twitching. “You really think you could move fast enough to catch him?”

“Maybe not,” she conceded. “But I wouldn’t mind trying.”

He continued looking at her, that unfamiliar glint in his eyes, that barely discernible smile on his lips.

A strange flutter in her belly, she turned back to the window. Almost as soon as she did, she heard the sound of an engine starting. Moments later the car pulled away from the curb.

“He’s leaving.”

Beside her, she felt Jake moving away. She tried to read the license plate, only to be distracted when the driver’s door came into view. He must have had the window down, because it was sliding upward as he moved past, the raised glass reflecting the sunlight, cutting him off from view. She’d seen only enough to confirm her suspicion that it was probably a man.

In the back of her mind she registered the sound of the front door opening. When the car was gone, she turned to see Jake stepping back inside the house. He quickly moved to the table, grabbed a pen and jotted something down.

“I got the make and license plate number. Did you see him?” Jake asked.

Sara shook her head, letting the curtain drop. “No. He rolled up his window.”

“I guess it’s time to try the police again. Let me get dressed and we can go.”

He moved away without waiting for her response, heading down the hall. Her eyes helplessly, hungrily tracked every motion, every shift of his shoulders, every flex of his buttocks and thighs, until he disappeared into the bedroom.

Once he was out of view she gave herself a shake. Hormones, she thought again on a sigh. She hadn’t been this aware of a man since…Well, since the night that landed her in her current condition.

And if she needed a reminder of exactly why she needed to get a grip, that certainly did it.

“AND THEN IT DROVE AWAY,” Sara said, even as she wondered why she was bothering. Detective Baxter wasn’t taking her seriously.

Worse, he was barely paying attention to her. Other than a cursory glance in her direction while she was speaking to signal he was supposedly listening, his gaze kept drifting back to Jake, seated beside her in front of the detective’s desk.

Having reached the end of her patience, she was about to say something about it when Baxter shot upright in his chair. He snapped his fingers and grinned broadly at Jake.

“Football. Linebacker, right?”

He might as well have started speaking gibberish. Bewildered, Sara glanced at Jake to see if he knew what the man was talking about.

From the tightness that gripped his features, he did. His lips thinned. “Right.”

“I knew you looked familiar. You got hurt last year.”

“Yeah.”

“I saw that game. Man, that injury looked brutal.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “It was.”

“You know, the local high school team’s going to start practice up again pretty soon. I’m sure they’d love it if you could talk to them.”

“Sorry. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be around, with the season starting up and all.”

The detective’s eyebrows shot sky-high. “You looking to get back in the game?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“I heard your career was over.”

“We’ll see.”

Based on his curt, mostly monosyllabic answers, Sara thought it was obvious Jake didn’t want to talk about it. The detective still leaned forward expectantly, as though he expected Jake to elaborate.

Jake stared back. He didn’t say a word.

When the silence went on too long, Sara cleared her throat.

Baxter glanced at her, annoyance flickering across his face before his expression regained its condescending coolness.

“Ms. Carson, I’ll take down your report, but I’m not sure what else I can do. There’s still no sign anybody was in your house. All you’ve given me is some footprints that could have been left there anytime and a car that could have been there for any reason.”

Sara tried to swallow her rising anger in the face of the man’s condescension. Evidently that particular trait was a common one in the local police department. “A car that took off as soon as its driver realized it was spotted.”

“No offense, but a lot of people might be intimidated seeing this guy coming at them in the dark, even if they’re not doing anything wrong.” He grinned at Jake.

Jake stared back, unimpressed.

Baxter’s grin quickly died. He straightened in his seat. “We also had a car drive by a couple of times as promised and they didn’t see anything suspicious.”

“Because whoever was out there had already been scared off. Maybe for a second time, if it was the same people who broke in to my house in the first place.”

The detective sighed. “Look, I’ll run the plate and see if anything suspicious comes up. If something else happens, let us know. Other than that, there’s not much I can do.”

Recognizing the finality in both his words and his tone, and figuring she’d wasted enough of her time with this man, Sara forced herself to offer a cordial “Thank you for your time.” She would have loved to say something more cutting, but there was still the chance she might need this man’s help, if she ever managed to convince him there was something he could help her with.

More than ready to get out of there, she started the arduous process of getting to her feet. She’d barely moved before Jake was standing before her, offering his hand. With a grateful smile, she accepted the hand and let him help her up, doing her best to ignore the jolt that shot up her arm when his large, warm fingers closed around hers and threatened to swallow them whole.

When they finally stepped outside the police station, she heaved a sigh, pleased to be out of there, if not about anything else. “Well, that was a waste of time. I’m sorry you came all the way down here for nothing.”

“We had to try, at any rate.”

“Too bad all we accomplished was giving Baxter a thrill for the day.” She glanced up at him, her eyebrows raised. “I didn’t know you were a celebrity.”

His expression hardened. “I’m not.”

Moving slowly, they started toward his truck, which was parked at the curb just down the block. “People know who you are. I’m pretty sure that makes you a celebrity.”

“Depends who the people are. You didn’t know who I was.”

She grimaced apologetically. “I’m sorry. I don’t follow sports.”

“A lot of people don’t. Even a lot of people who do wouldn’t be able to pick me out of a lineup. Not much of a celebrity. I’m fine with that.”

And he was, she thought, remembering how uncomfortable he’d been when the detective recognized him. That would teach her to stereotype. She would have assumed a professional athlete would be flashier, more of a glory hound. Or maybe he’d simply grown beyond that since it appeared his glory days were behind him.

“Is it true what he said?” she asked carefully. “You were injured?”

“Yeah.”

“How bad was it?”

“Blew out my knee. Had surgery to put it together again, but I’m still trying to get back to where I was.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is,” he said, clear dismissal in his tone. They’d reached the truck. Jake pulled the passenger door open for her.

After helping her get in, he closed the door and moved around to his side. “What do you want to do now?” he asked.

“Do you remember that license plate number?”

“Sure.”

She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. “I’ll run it myself. Give it to me.”

Jake was so surprised that he could only obey, watching as she quickly typed a text message and hit Send.

She shoved the phone back into her purse. “She’ll get back to me ASAP.”

“You have somebody who can run license plates for you?”

She grinned. “Yep. Who needs the cops, anyway?”

For a moment he was struck dumb and could only stare into that big, beautiful smile, so different from anything he’d ever seen or expected to see on her face. He’d thought she was pretty before. The smile only confirmed it. Her whole face seemed to light up with it.

And then the smile was fading, her eyes flickering uncertainly, her self-consciousness clear. “What?”

He cleared his throat, which had suddenly gone dry, and pushed his key into the ignition. “Nothing. Why didn’t you contact her earlier?”