Fade To Black

A breeze lifted the hem of the pale blue curtains as it carried in the evening scents—honeysuckle, clover and roses. Years ago, after long days at the shop, she and Pierce would sit on the back porch and sip wine while they watched the first stars twinkle out. Twilight had always been a special time of day for them, a time when the cares of the day melted away into the coming darkness.

Had none of that meant as much to him as it had to her?

As if echoing her thoughts, Jay covered her hand with his and asked softly, “How do you feel about him now, Jesse? What was it like seeing him again?”

She sighed. “I’m not sure. I know you’re right. I do have to be careful, but you didn’t see him. I think he must have been in some sort of accident. He has all these scars. Do you think—could he have been kidnapped five years ago? Held all this time?”

“With no ransom note?” Her brother looked skeptical. “It’s possible. Hell, anything’s possible. But victims who’re kidnapped either in a robbery or for sport usually turn up dead. Five years is a long time to hold someone captive.”

“I know,” Jessica agreed, her tone bleak. “I just keep asking myself where he could have been all this time. What could have happened to him?”

“Did he have any identification on him?”

Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask to see it. I didn’t need to.”

“You’re that sure it was him?” Jay’s icy gray eyes scrutinized her face.

“It was him. It was Pierce.”

Jay swept his hand through his brown hair, setting it on end. He shook his head. “Damn, what a mess. You know I’ll do what I can, but I couldn’t find out anything about him five years ago. It was as if he disappeared off the face of the earth. We may not have any better luck now.”

“I just want you to find him,” she whispered desperately. “Whatever he’s done, wherever he’s been—he needs help.”

“Your help?”

Jessica hesitated for a moment, biting her lip. “He’s still my husband.”

“Technically,” her brother agreed grimly. “All right, I’ll see what I can do.” He took out a pen and pad and began jotting down notes. “Give me a general physical description of how he looked, what he was wearing and all that. And how about a cup of coffee? This looks to be a long night,” he said with a sigh.

Jessica rose from the table and reached for a cup, but the barking of a neighbor’s dog stilled her movements. A shadow swept across the open window, so swiftly she thought at first she’d imagined it. Then came a scraping noise on the back porch, as if someone had bumped into a chair.

Jessica’s gaze flew to Jay’s, her heart hammering in her chest. He lifted a finger to his lips, silencing her. Slowly he reached for the light switch just as the sound of the back-door buzzer ripped through the quiet. Jessica gasped and Jay cursed softly as both their gazes fastened on the dark silhouette outside her kitchen door.

Chapter Three

At Jay’s nod, Jessica rose and went to answer the back door. Heart still pounding, she turned the knob and drew back the door. Pierce stood on the porch, his pale, gaunt features highlighted by the light from the open doorway. If possible, he looked even more weary than he had that morning.

For the longest moment, he and Jessica stared at one another. Neither of them spoke, but the tension crackled between them like a live wire in an electrical storm.

Then his hands slipped into the front pockets of his jeans and he shrugged, a gesture that was at once familiar and dear. The ghost of a smile touched his lips. “I seemed to have lost my key,” he said wryly.

They both seemed to waver with indecision. Then with a little gasping sob, Jessica took a step toward him as Pierce moved toward her. His arms went around her and held her tightly as she clung to him, her eyes squeezed shut against the intense emotions spiraling through her.

Pierce was alive!

For a moment, everything else vanished from Jessica’s mind. She just wanted to hold him, assure herself that this was no dream. He buried his face in her hair, and she could feel his arms trembling as they held her, could feel his heart beating against hers. One hand came up and brushed through her tangled curls.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered raggedly. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come back here, but…I had to. I had to see you again, to make sure you were all right….”

“It’s okay,” she said, her voice cracking with deep emotion. She could feel the leanness of his body against her, the sharply defined ridges of his ribs through the ragged shirt. Pierce had once been so virile and muscular. To see him now made Jessica’s heart ache with sorrow.

But even now, when he’d been through God knows what, she could still sense remnants of strength in his arms, a hint of the same confidence she had always admired so much. Pierce was not a man who would be taken down without a fight.

That thought struck her with cold reality. Was that why he had all the scars? Had he been fighting for his life all this time? Dear God…

As if sensing her thoughts, she felt his posture stiffen. She lifted her head and saw that he was staring over her shoulder, his dark eyes wary once more.

“Hello, Jay,” he said with a thin smile. “Aren’t you out of uniform?”

Jessica had forgotten all about her brother. Awkwardness now settled over the room like a funeral pall. She tried to pull away from Pierce, but his arms held her for a fraction longer, as if staking his claim before letting her go.

“I didn’t think this was an official visit,” Jay said. But even without his uniform, he stood military straight, his cool gaze taking Pierce’s measure without blinking.

Jessica backed away, her gaze darting from Pierce to Jay. Her brother’s expression must have been identical to the one she’d worn that morning. The mixture of suspicion, disbelief, anger and even touches of fear echoed in Jay’s gray eyes.

It seemed a million years before either of them spoke again. Jessica’s heart raced with tension as she stared up at Pierce, once again taking in the haggard features, the scar.

Pierce smiled. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Not where my responsibilities are concerned,” Jay agreed. “Shall we all sit down? Jesse, can you get us some coffee?”

The command finally motivated her. Jessica headed toward the coffeepot, relieved to have something to do. She could feel Pierce’s dark eyes on her, following her every movement. Reluctantly her own gaze lifted to meet his. Something flashed between them—a memory? A feeling? Jessica wasn’t sure. But all of a sudden, she felt a tiny shiver of warning scurry up her spine.

Pierce’s proprietary gaze moved over her, greedily, familiarly, making her body tingle with memories she’d long ago suppressed. He was looking at her the way she remembered him looking at her. The brown eyes were narrowed slightly, the long, thick lashes hooding his expression, but Jessica knew what he was thinking. She’d always known.

She said the first thing that came to her mind. “You look hungry.”

“Starving.” His eyes never left her mouth.

Her face flamed at the inadvertent—or not so inadvertent—innuendo. Nervously she wiped her moist palms on a paper towel as she moved past him toward the refrigerator.

“Actually, what I’d really like to do is get cleaned up,” Pierce said. He started toward the kitchen door, then checked himself as he looked back at her. “Is that all right?”

“Of course.”

He hesitated, his gaze unreadable. “Where?”

That jolted her. Where, indeed? She’d long since removed his belongings from her bedroom, except for a few mementos she couldn’t bring herself to part with. The idea of him once again occupying that room was distinctly uncomfortable.

The question of where he should shower brought up a whole new set of problems for Jessica. Where would he stay? Where would he sleep? What did he expect from her? They were still legally married, but five years was a long time. Even if he had no memory of their separation, the reality of those long, lonely years still breathed a life of their own inside Jessica’s heart. Surely he didn’t expect just to waltz back in and pick up where they’d left off five years ago.

But if he was really suffering from amnesia, then that’s exactly what he would expect. His feelings hadn’t changed—even if hers had.

Her gaze lifted again, and Pierce’s eyes trapped her with a look she thought seemed slightly reproachful, as if he’d read her exact thoughts. She blushed again and said almost defiantly, “Sometime ago, I moved all your things into the guest room downstairs. You’ll find fresh towels in the bathroom. Everything you need….”

Her voice trailed off at his look. Not everything, he seemed to be communicating. Then he turned and disappeared through the swinging door to the dining room.

Silence quivered in the air for a long moment, then Jay said, “Well, I’ll be damned. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”