Christmas Stalking

Jade craned her neck uncomfortably to look over her shoulder at the single bed, the fork digging into her side. “Uh, about that. I’m assuming there isn’t a guest house? A separate bedroom in the attic?”

“We’re stuck together.” Max looked at the double bed, then back to Jade. “I told you before. This wasn’t planned. I wanted to talk to you.”

She jiggled her shackled wrist. “So you just happen to have handcuffs in case of random kidnapping emergencies?”

He met her gaze again. “I got them in a sex shop when I did a story a few years ago. It was about suburban kink.”

“Oh boy. I feel much better now.”

“Don’t worry. I’m way too tired to bother you even if I wanted to. Hell, I’ve been following you for two weeks.”

“I had the feeling someone was stalking me.”

“Stalking.” He winced. “I wouldn’t put it that way.”

“I have news for you, Max. Kidnapping sounds a lot worse.”

“Kidnapping. Murder.” He laughed, a hollow sound. “You’re my only hope. How’s that for ironic?”

“I see your point, but I swear, I can’t help you.”

“No?”

She sighed with disgust. Delusional but earnest, she’d give him that. But his conviction made him dangerous and she had to remember that, too. “How did you avoid the detective?”

“Some of it was luck. But I’ve been an investigative reporter for a long time. Generally I know what I’m doing. Although for the past few weeks, I’ve felt as if I’m in a David Cronenberg film. Very Kafkaesque, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I’m a little out of my reality zone, myself. I should be home, wrapping presents. Sipping a cup of sugar-free cocoa.”

He looked over at her TV dinner, shook his head. Opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he got up, tossed his dinner in the trash bag under the sink and then unlocked the handcuffs.

When she stood, he moved the chair in front of the television and then re-cuffed her. Then he pulled the desk chair next to her so that her cuffed hand was closest to him. He looked tired, exhausted. As if he wouldn’t make it through the opening headlines. “Pay attention,” he said yawning. “Maybe you’ll catch your fifteen minutes of fame.”

Her interest piqued. God, she hoped it had been reported that she was missing. “Just for my own edification, how long do you plan to hold me prisoner?” she asked, her attention fully on the tube.

“As long as it takes me to prove Geotech paid off your father and give the cops another direction.”

“Besides you.”

“Wait.” Max raised his hand as his image appeared on the screen.

“…new development in the Werner Edwards murder that shocked the capital.”

His picture flashed on the screen. He looked like a normal guy, a nice-looking man, in fact. Not in the least crazy.

“Nice pic,” Jade said.

“Hush.”

“Travis is accused of breaking into Washington Post security files. Coworkers still maintain his innocence, although his editor admitted that his fleeing did look suspicious. In other news…”

Max got up and turned the television off. “Damn it. I’ve got to call Herb.”

“Leave it on.”

He frowned. “Obviously they don’t know I’ve grabbed you, or they would have reported it. They’ve accused me of everything else.”

“Yeah, but don’t you want to know if they’ve discovered I’m missing?” He flipped the television back on, but there was no mention of Jade. When the broadcast turned to sports, he shut it off.

Jade sighed. She’d been tired when she’d left the office—God, was it only a few hours ago? Now she was exhausted. She was painfully aware of the fork secreted in her bra and felt she had only enough energy for one more escape attempt.

Max stood mutely for a few seconds, then turned to his open suitcase. He pulled out a set of men’s blue flannel pajamas. “Here.” He dumped the top in her lap.

She looked at the lanky, muscular man standing tiredly before her, then at the flannel pajama top. “What about the bottoms?”

“This is all I have.” One side of his mouth lifted. “Unless you want me to sleep naked.”

Damned if she’d take the bait. She rattled the handcuffs. “I’m not sure this is gonna work.”

He hesitated, his mouth settling in a grim line before he undid the cuffs and hung them on the arm of the desk chair.

Jade rubbed her wrist, picked up the pajama top and headed slowly for the bathroom with Max close behind her. She stood in the doorway and looked at him. “Can I take a shower?”

He gave her a long hard look. “Pull another stunt like you did earlier and you stay cuffed, period.”

Holding her tongue, she closed the door. As soon as she stood alone in the tiny bathroom, she pulled the fork from her bra and set it on the sink. She took a deep breath and tried to relax.

Okay, she’d have to at least run the shower, or he’d get suspicious. What the hell, it might wake her up. She looked around for a hanger, but of course there wasn’t one.

There was, however, a hook on the back of the door, and Jade stripped off her clothes and hung them up. There were two bath towels on the rack, and she wrapped one around herself then quickly brushed her teeth, as aware that her kidnapper was standing only a few feet away as if there were a window in the door. She stepped to the shower and adjusted the water.

MAX LEANED AGAINST the wall opposite the bathroom door. He closed his eyes, listening to her move behind the thin walls and thinner door of the bathroom. Oddly, he got a little excited imagining how she looked as she hung her clothes on the back of the door. When the water began in the shower, his thoughts took an even more vivid turn. He pictured her bending over, turning the faucets…

He shook off the thought, angry at himself and his idiot libido. To say now was not the time was a major understatement. Five minutes, ten, and he could finally sleep. Christ, maybe it had been a mistake, grabbing her. He should have just let Peter keep digging.

Too late for should haves. He’d run out of options. She was his only hope, and, assuming she wasn’t up to her eyeballs in it, she had to believe him. He wished he had more.

None of it mattered to Werner. Or his wife. His grandchildren. They’d lost him, all because Werner had tried to do the right thing. Max was sure the man had had evidence. He wouldn’t have approached Max on a hunch alone.

But now his own course was set. Tomorrow, if not tonight, the powers-that-be would realize Jade was missing and that his car had been abandoned in the mall parking lot.

And he thought things were bad now.

Max laughed without humor. He wished he could call his father and reassure him, but even if the police hadn’t tapped that phone yet, Geotech probably had.

The sound of the shower lulled him, and he let his eyes close again, imagining the steam rising from Jade’s shoulders, her wet hair streaming darkly across her breasts….

His eyes clicked open and he realized the shower was no longer running. He’d fallen asleep standing up and had no idea how long he’d been out of it. At least the bathroom door was still closed.