Missing - Page 3

Chapter 31

Jess took the files and walked back out of his office. When she reached her desk she made a show of searching her desk. Not only did she want to make sure the file wasn’t there, she wanted whoever was watching to believe she was looking for it. They’d taken a risk by taking the file, even if it didn’t point out who they are, it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was someone on staff who was working against them. She made a methodical search of every piece of paper in and on her desk.

“Lost something?” Chelsea asked.

Jess looked up and noticing the other woman’s superior smile she dropped her gaze back to what she was doing. The smile alone wasn’t necessarily a sign of the other woman’s guilt. She’d know that the file was missing. The fact that it was Jess’s file would be enough to amuse her. “No” Jess said.

“Sure?” Chelsea said as she got up and walked around her desk.

“Positive” Jess said, not looking at her.

“Okay” Chelsea said sitting on the corner of Jess’s desk, her left leg swinging, “if you say so.”

“Did you see anyone near my desk after I’d left Friday” Jess asked.

“Hmm, let me think” Chelsea said.

Jess didn’t buy the act but it suited her purpose to go along with it. She looked at the other woman and waited.

“I can think of several people actually” she said, naming five other employees, the hard calculating look in her eyes belying the smile on her lips.

Jess nodded, “okay, thanks.”

“Is something missing?”

“I’m not sure” Jess said, “possibly.”

“Well that’s bad” Chelsea said “Mr Gorman won’t be happy.”

“It’s not certain yet” Jess said making it appear through her actions that the other woman had got to her and that she was worried. “I may just have left it at home.” Looking up Jess saw the smug smile on Chelsea’s face before she could hide it. Having had enough of talking to her for one day she said “you must have work to do, don’t let me stop you.”

Her smile fading, Chelsea got up and walked back to her desk.

Jess spent the morning working on other jobs and doing her best to ignore Chelsea who alternated between pretending to be helpful and smirking. By eleven o’clock Jess had to restrain herself from screaming at the other woman and was thankful of an excuse to leave for a while. She went and interviewed a wife trying to find out if her husband was cheating on her, one of the new files Gorman had given her.

Chapter 32

Jess walked back into the agency office just before one and was shocked to see the tall dark haired man sitting on the corner of her desk. He had one leg straight out with a foot on the floor, while the other long leg was draped over the corner of the black surface of her desk. His hands were linked together in his lap in a relaxed pose. Dressed in a dark suit, with crisp white shirt and grey tie, he looked exactly what he was, a successful and attractive man. Chelsea was standing in front of him talking. Her body not quiet touching him but not far from it. Marco was smiling at her and Jess couldn’t help the stab of disappointment she felt. Why were men so stupid, she thought? Why couldn’t they see through such fawning behaviour?

Chelsea’s eyes moved past him to her and Jess could have slapped the smug look off her face.

“Marco Santini to see you Jess” she said moving back a little with reluctance.

“I can see that, thank you Chelsea” Jess said, trying hard not to let her irritation show.

Marco straightened turned. His back to Chelsea he winked at Jess and said “I was hoping we could grab some lunch.”

“I’ve just eaten” Jess lied, looking away.

“I haven’t” Chelsea said smiling at Marco even though he wasn’t looking at her.

Jess gritted her teeth. 

“Coffee then?” Marco persisted with a frown.

Not wanting to continue this with Chelsea looking on, Jess agreed. “Yes okay” she said but her tone was short and she knew she sounded anything but enthusiastic. She was angry at Chelsea for her obvious advances and even more so at him for allowing it, so much for all his assurances. Needing some space to regain some composure she pointed over her shoulder and said “if you’d like to wait in the conference room.  I won’t be long.” Her voice was cool and Marco gave her a searching look. She ignored it.

Chelsea was beside him again in a second “I’ll show you” she said.

Jess felt sick and ignoring the other woman, she said to Marco “I’ll be five minutes.”

“No problem” he said in a sombre tone and he followed Chelsea out of the office.

As they left, Jess let her breath out on a harsh sigh and began moving things around on her desk. She wasn’t doing anything more than shuffling paper as she tried to calm down. She knew if she spoke to Marco feeling as she did at the moment, she was just as likely to punch him.

A minute later, and much longer than it should have taken her to show Marco where to wait, Chelsea came back into the office. Sighing as she sat down behind her desk, she said “what a gorgeous man and so friendly.”

Jess maintained her silence with difficulty.

“He even smells good” Chelsea said.

Jess knew she was trying to imply she’d got close to him, but she refused to give her the satisfaction of biting. Counting to ten in her head instead, she locked the files she had been working on in her desk. Then no calmer, but not caring anymore, she turned to leave the office.

“Tell Marco I said goodbye” Chelsea said.

Jess didn’t even pause to show she’d heard, let alone turn and as the other woman chuckled, Jess hands balled into fists and she dug her nails into her palms.

Seething, she walked into the conference room and all but yelled at Marco “okay lets go,” she didn’t meet his eyes.

“In a minute” Marco said and pulling her into his arms, he kissed her.

Jess tried not to respond, but Marco didn’t stop and after a while she realised he wasn’t going to until she gave in. So she made a show of kissing him back that was intended to get him to end it. It didn’t work out that way. While her submission may have been grudging at first, it didn’t stay like that. As the embrace continued, her response became whole hearted, inescapable and she shivered as slowly some of the tension she was feeling, ebbed away.

 Finally Marco raised his head and looked down at her. His expression serious, he said “I wasn’t flirting with her.”

“No? She was.”

“I didn’t respond” he said. His gaze was direct and unwavering.

“You smiled at her” she accused.

“Her act was amusing.”

A hint of a smile breaking through, Jess said “that’s not very nice.”

“She wasn’t very nice” he said smiling.

“So you weren’t tempted?”

“Not in the least and I doubt I would have been before.” Then with a laugh he added, “I was selective you know. Just because I chose not to commit myself, doesn’t mean I wasn’t discerning.”

“And now?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“She’s not you” he said, his voice soft and low, “she doesn’t even register.”

Relieved, her smile widened. “Okay, let’s forget it and get out of here.”

“Done” he said and giving her a quick kiss he released her and they left the office.

Chapter 33

When she got home that evening Ren was back and after dinner he and Jess sat in the living room talking. She’d hoped he’d have stayed away longer, but her roommate had a mind of his own. “You’re still here” he’d pointed out when she suggested he go.

“Yes, but I’m trained to look after myself, you’re not.”

“I’ll take my chances” he said with a smile.

Jess sighed. She didn’t agree with his choice, but there wasn’t much she could do about it if he refused to go. She couldn’t physically remove him. At least he’d been warned.

At seven o’clock the door bell rang and looking towards the entrance, she smiled. She hadn’t really expected to see Marco after seeing him at lunch time but this was the time he usually came around.

“I’ll be in my studio” Ren said as he got to his feet.

“You don’t have to go” she said with frown as she turned back to look at him.

He smiled, “that wasn’t what you said a minute ago.”

Jess threw him a withering look.

He laughed and said “I have work to do and three’s a crowd.”

She smiled, “okay, just know you aren’t being kicked out.”

“I know Jess, no worries. See you later.”

Jess walked down to the door as Ren walked the other way out of the room.

Marco smiled as she opened the door, “hi” he said.

“Twice in one day” she teased as she shut the door after letting him in. “This is getting to be a habit.”

“A good one I hope?”

“It’s okay so far” she teased. “How are you feeling? I meant to ask earlier.”

“Good as new.”

“You’re going a lovely shade of yellow” she said as she touched a bruise on his jaw.

He rolled his eyes, “I know. I’ve been fielding comments all day. Luckily I wasn’t required in court. The judge would have taken one look at me and ruled against me before I even opened my mouth.”

Jess laughed.

“Okay if I kiss you?” he said with a smile. One eyebrow was raised in silent challenge.

“Sure” she said wondering why he was asking, he hadn’t earlier.

As if reading her mind, he winked at her and said “I’d hate to be accused of ambushing you.”

“You didn’t ask at lunch time” she said, smiling.

 “I knew if I’d asked then, you would have said no” he said “in fact I thought you were going to hit me.”

“I thought about it” she admitted.

He laughed and pulling her into his arms he lowered his head.

Jess smiled against his mouth.

Like any time since their agreement, he lifted his head before things got out of control. “Do I get to come in?” he said.

“You are in.”

“But do I get to stay?” he said with a grin.

“For a while” she said and grabbing his hand she led him up the internal stairs to the living room.

“No Ren again?” Marco said as they sat down close together on the couch. “I’m beginning to think he doesn’t like me.”

Jess laughed “and I’m beginning to think you come around to see him, you ask about him so often.”

He chuckled “I just like to know how the ground lays. I don’t like surprises.”

“He’s working upstairs” Jess said “but he knows you’re here, so he’s not likely to come down.”

“Good” Marco said and reaching for her, he kissed her again.

Jess sighed as he lifted his head a short time later.

 “It sucks doesn’t it?” he said with a wry smile.

She nodded.

He didn’t say anymore. They both knew where they stood.

“Any news on the case?” he asked.

“There have been some developments at work, which may lead somewhere.”

“How so?”

“The file, which I left on my desk to race to the hospital on Friday....”

He smiled and touched her face “sorry I worried you.”

She shrugged and added “anyway it’s disappeared.”

“Oh” he said.

Jess nodded. “My boss is working on finding out how.”

“And you’ve stopped investigating the missing person?”

“For now” Jess said.

“What do you mean for now?”

“I have an electronic copy of the file. I always make my own back up.”

“Jess” he said ‘’let the police handle it.”

She shrugged “we’ll see.”

Marco frowned “don’t do anything to put yourself in danger, please” he said.

“I...”

“...can look after yourself” Marco filled in for her “I know, but you’re not invincible.”

“I’ll be careful” she said “but this is personal now, I can’t just let it drop.”

“Much as I love that you take my injuries personally” he said with a smile, his expression then turned serious and he added “don’t do anything on my account.”

Jess wasn’t going to make any promises, so she tried to change the subject. She said “what are you doing about a car?”

But Marco wasn’t going to let her get away with that. Ignoring her question he said “promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

“I’m not known for doing stupid things” she said affronted.

“You know what I mean” Marco persisted. “Promise me.”

“Okay I promise I won’t do anything stupid” she said “now answer my question, what are you doing about a car?”

Marco looked at her for a long moment and Jess wondered if he’d picked up on the fact that her wording meant she’d promised him nothing. She knew he probably did, he was a lawyer, trained to pay attention to how things were phrased. But in the end he just said “I’ve ordered a new one. The insurance company are sending a cheque. They’ve written the other one off.”

“I’m sorry” she said.

“Don’t be” he said with a grin “I’ve been thinking about updating, this is just a little ahead of schedule.”

She smiled and after searching his face for a minute, she leaned forward and met his mouth with hers.

Marco gathered her close and deepened the kiss. Then easing back a little later he said with a groan “no pressure, but do you think you’re ever going to trust me enough to put us both out of our misery.”

She laughed. “I’m not miserable.”

“Yes you are” he said.

She smiled. “One day” she said “maybe.”

“Well it’s better than never” he said with a grin.

“How long does it normally take you to break a woman down?” she teased.

“Normally I don’t have to try” he said.

She laughed and shook her head. “You could always just give up you know.”

“Why do you do that?” he said with a frown. “It’s like you’re daring me to go.”

She shrugged and looked away “just giving you an easy out.”

“Well don’t bother. I can’t use it.”

“Why, because you’re stubborn?” she teased.

“No” he said and his eyes going soft and dreamy, like melted chocolate, he added “because I need you as much as I want you.”

The smile faded from Jess’s face and a shiver passed through her body.

He grinned. “You need me too, don’t you?”

“Don’t” she said frowning, all levity gone now. She didn’t want to be pushed.

“Eventually, you’re going to have to take a risk.”

She pulled away from him.

“Jess I’m not trying to pressure you, I’m really not, but in the end it’s going to require a leap of faith from you.”

“But not from you” she said glaring at him “talk about arrogant. Is that how this works, I’m to be hooked but you’re free to walk away. Sorry I can’t do that.”

He smiled, showing no sign of taking offence or any hint of anger. “Of course from me too” he said “but I’m not the one fighting. I’m ready to jump.”

She looked away.

“I’d never have picked you for a coward Jess.”

Her head snapped around and she glared at him, her green eyes flashing.

He smiled. “You are gorgeous when you’re angry.”

She looked away again and released her breath on a sigh, counting to ten in her head for the second time that day.

He picked up her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You made it easy for me Jess” he said serious now. “I have no doubts about you and just so you know, that’s a compliment.”

She didn’t reply.

“Come here” he said, his voice low and soft, drifting over her like the touch of velvet on her skin, she trembled.

She ignored it, and turned back to look at him “you really think I’m being a coward?” she said. That comment had cut deep. She was being careful and with good reason. She didn’t like that he thought it was fear alone that was holding her back. That didn’t sit well with her.

“No” he said with a smile. “I don’t blame you for not trusting me. When you’re ready, I’ll be here. I may be insane by then, but I’ll be here.”

She couldn’t help but laugh then. “I have to admit, I thought you’d have given up by now.”

“Normally I wouldn’t have come back after you kicked me out the first time and that should tell you something” he said, his gaze unwavering. “As I’ve told you before, this is different. When you kissed me that night after I walked you home, you blew me away. I’ve always been attracted to you and I have to admit I used to enjoy trying to get a reaction from you. You were always so cool and composed. But I thought that was as far as it went. Then with that one kiss, everything changed. I couldn’t get you out of my head and even though you won’t believe me, it wasn’t just a physical attraction, although that was certainly part of it. But I found myself wanting to call you, just so I could talk to you. I wanted to make sure you got home safely each night. When we were interrupted after that night at the casino, what worried me wasn’t that we were stopped, I was worried about you. I nearly came back and slept in my car outside your door. I’ve never felt protective of anyone like that before. You asked me the other day how I knew that it wasn’t just the challenge you presented that had me coming back. That’s how I know it isn’t that. I want to look after you, even though I know you are well able to do that yourself. It’s crazy, but I can’t help it.”

“So basically I bring out all your chauvinistic instincts. I’m not sure that’s such a good thing.”

“God you are determined to paint me as the bad guy, aren’t you?” Marco snapped, his eyes sparking now.

She smiled, in truth she had been touched by his words and she appreciated his honesty. “I was only teasing” she said “thank you for telling me.”

He looked at her for a minute and then he smiled. “You’re welcome” he said “and before you start thinking it is a ploy to get you into bed, I won’t be sleeping with you tonight.”

She laughed, “and here I was ready to concede” she teased.

“That’d be right” he groaned. “Just bloody kiss me will you?”

Jess leaned in and met his mouth with hers.

Afterwards they watched a movie and at ten Marco got up to head home. At the door he pulled her into his arms and said “if I promise to show up this time, can I take you out for dinner tomorrow night?”

She smiled. “What time?”

“About seven?”

“Suits me” she said. “Are we going to Tiamo’s?”

“Not likely” Marco said and leaned down to kiss her neck.

“If you’re to be believed you’ll have to tell them eventually, won’t you?”

“You never miss an opportunity to test me do you?” he said with a smile “but no, that’ll be your job and not yet. You have no idea what will happen when they find out I’m serious about someone.”

“And are you serious about me?” she asked, teasing him now.

But Marco wasn’t teasing as he said “it doesn’t get any more serious.”

Jess swallowed. She had expected a light hearted response but that’s not what he’d given her. She was finding it harder and harder to doubt him. “Okay” she said and changing the subject she asked “are you staying there tonight?”

“Yep, I’m not going far until this case of yours is cleared up.”

Concerned that her problems were impacting on all aspects of his life, she frowned. “You don’t need to do that.”

“If I want to sleep at night, I do” he said.

“I’m sorry” she said.

“Why? It’s not your fault I care about what happens to you, well it is, but it’s me that needs to be close to you” he said with a grin.

She smiled.

After a second he said “what about your family? Are you going to tell them?”

“There’s nothing to tell yet?” Jess joked hoping to divert his attention. Her family was not something she wanted to discuss.

“And whose fault is that?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She laughed and leaning in gave him a quick kiss, “see you tomorrow.”

“Night” he said and opened the door and walked out.

Chapter 34

Jess walked back to the living room and sat down. Lost in her thoughts it was a few seconds before she realised Ren was standing in the door way. She looked up and smiled.

“I heard the front door go so I figured it was safe to come down.”

“Sure” she said and he came in and took a seat in the chair opposite her.

“He’s chasing hard.”

“And?” she said.

He shrugged “I just didn’t think that was his style.”

“No” she said looking away.

“Maybe I was wrong about him?”

“Yes” she said still not looking at him.

“So you’re convinced about him?”

Jess looked over at him and frowned. “I thought you weren’t going to say anything.”

He held up his hands “if you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded. “I am happy and yes I think I am convinced about him” and as she said it all of a sudden she was aware that she meant it. Her gaze slipped away from his as she digested this realisation.

“Good enough. I’m glad you’re happy” he said “maybe next time he’s over I’ll hang around for a bit. If you like him, there must be something about him that’s worth knowing.”

She looked over at him and smiled. “Thanks Ren. That would be good. I think Marco would like that too.” She appreciated that he was willing to make an effort.

“Okay, done” he said.

“What about you? I notice you didn’t struggle to find somewhere to stay when I told you not to come back” and grinning she added “are you going to tell me about her?”

Ren smiled. “I was going to tell you, but you’ve had so much going on, there didn’t seem to be a good opportunity.”

“So who is she? Do I know her?”

“No. I met her at an art exhibition a couple of months ago.”

“So is she an artist?”

“She’s a photographer.”

“Nice! And what’s her name?”

“Jennifer.”

Jess grinned “she gets called Jen?”

“Yes” Ren said with a smile.

“Ren and Jen, how sweet” she teased.

“It’s still pretty new.”

“But you like her don’t you? I can see it in your face.”

Ren grinned “yes I do” and getting to his feet again he added “I’m off to bed. Oh and before I forget, you’ll be happy to know, I won’t be around tomorrow night. I’ll be back the following morning.”

“It’s only because I don’t want anything to happen to you, you know” she said with a worried look.

“I know” he said. And holding up a hand he added “night” and walked out.

“Night” Jess said and thoughtful, she sat there for some time, going back over her conversation with Ren and the earlier one with Marco. And as she did she knew Marco was right, at some point she was going to have to take a risk on him. He’d done his part and shown her he wanted more than just a casual physical relationship with her. Now she had to take her courage in her hands, show him she wasn’t a coward and for better or worse, jump. But was she ready to do that? She’d told Ren she was convinced, but this step would change everything. There was no going back. Ten minutes later, the decision still pending, she got up and got ready for bed.

Chapter 35

At work the next day Jess put her plan to find the insider into action. She’d retyped enough of the old file to make it look like she had started again and she now saved the file onto her work computer. Then taking her terminal off line she went on with other work.

“Your computer’s off line” Chelsea said an hour later.

Jess knew she’d spot the change and was ready for her. Chelsea was responsible for invoicing and taking payments so she accessed the main frame computer constantly throughout the day. “Yes” Jess said.

“Why?” Chelsea asked.

“Because I took it off line.”

“What if I have to retrieve a file to make up an invoice?”

“Ask me and I’ll email you the information.”

“But what if you’re busy or not here? Why make it so difficult?”

“Because it suits me” Jess said. She didn’t want to make it too easy for the other woman to extract the information from her but she wanted to give her enough so that she knew that she had something on the computer she didn’t want anyone else to have access to, it was a fine line she was walking. She also needed to make sure the other woman knew it was something connected to the missing file that she was protecting. She wasn’t positive it was Chelsea who took the file but she knew if she became aware of the possibility of a duplicate file, if it wasn’t her, she’d let everyone else know about it. Jess was certain that the other woman would make sure that anything that even looked like discrediting her would become general knowledge. She tried to think of a way to phrase what she needed to say.

But as luck would have it Chelsea played into her hands with her next question. “Did that missing file turn up?” she asked.

Jess’s eyes flicked up and she let her surprise and hopefully some anxiety show for a second before lowering them again. “No” she said. Then getting up to leave the office, she ordered “no one is to touch my terminal, right?”

“Okay Jess” Chelsea said, her usual smug expression replaced by distracted frown.

Jess nodded as if satisfied and walked out. As she closed the door a smile spread across her face. Soon they would know. She pulled out her phone and called John Gorman, “it’s done” she said. I’ll be back at five thirty.”

“Okay Jess, see you then.”
 

Chapter 36

Jess worked from home for the rest of the day. She wanted to give whoever is was plenty of opportunity to try and access the file. At a quarter past five she headed back to the office. Most of the staff finished at five so Gorman and Jess had given them an extra half an hour to see what would happen. Jess met John Gorman on his way back into the building. “Did you see anything during the day?”

He shook his head as he unlocked the doors and let them in but I wasn’t watching all the time. “I made sure I was first to leave though.”

They walked back into the office. “Okay let me check my terminal first, if no one has been on it, there’s no need to check the cameras.

Gorman nodded and Jess sat down at her desk. She flicked the switch, nothing happened. She tried again with the same lack of result and then looked up at her boss.

“What?” he said.

“It won’t turn on.”

“What, you mean they took out the whole computer?”

“Looks like it” Jess said as she checked the plugs just in case. But everything was plugged in correctly. She tried again, still nothing.

“Damn” he said.

“Well let’s check the tapes and see who’s responsible.”

He nodded and they walked into his office. Turning on his computer John Gorman pulled up the program linked to the cameras he’d had installed. He brought up the video of the last hour and they watched. But between John Gorman’s departure and their arrival later, no one went with in arms reach of her computer terminal.

“That doesn’t make sense” he said. “Someone must have done something to it.”

“Maybe it was before you left, you weren’t looking for someone disabling the whole thing.”

“True” he said. “Okay let’s go back to when you left.” He clicked on the segment containing the time that Jess left that morning. They watched the seven intervening hours, fast forwarding much of the time. In the end what they found didn’t help them much. Nearly the whole staff passed close enough to her terminal to disable it somehow. The camera was focused on the keyboard and screen, not the hard drive under the desk. With her desk open at the back, whoever it was could have done anything and they wouldn’t necessarily have seen it.

“Damn it” Jess said when they’d finished and looking at her watch she said “I have to go.”As it was she was going to have to race through changing to be ready on time and tonight she hadn’t wanted to rush.

“Okay” John said “we’ll meet here first thing tomorrow and we’ll work out where we go now.”

Jess nodded and grabbing her keys hurried out the door. She noticed a car in the car park she couldn’t place but couldn’t see anyone in it. With a frown made a note of the registration number. Before pulling out of the car park she messaged her boss, “rouge car in the car park, may be nothing, but be careful.”

“Will do” he sent straight back and Jess rode home.

Chapter 37

At home Jess pulled up in her garage and ran inside, taking the stairs two at a time and quickly had a shower, then with a smile she pulled out the black dress she’d worn to Marco’s work event. Leaving her hair loose she had just put her shoes on when the door bell rang. Smiling she hurried down to answer it. When she pulled the door open a grin lit up Marco’s face as his eyes skimmed over her. “That’s dangerous Jess” he said “remember what nearly happened the last time you wore that dress.”

“Maybe we’ll finish it tonight” she said as she walked past him out the door and pulled it shut behind her.

Marco’s smile faded. “Don’t play with me Jess, please. I’m only just hanging on here.”

She grinned “come on, let’s go and eat and we’ll worry about later, later.”

Marco closed her door after she’d got into the passenger seat. As he got into the driver’s seat of his rental car he turned to her and said “let me kiss you or I’m going to have to drag you into the back seat.”

She laughed and brought her mouth down hard on his. As she eased back, he said “if you’re messing with me, I’ll never forgive you.”

“I don’t play games” she said. 

A beautiful smile lit up his face and turning the key, he started the car and pulled away from the curb.

Marco took her to a little French restaurant not far from her apartment and they had a delicious meal. But anticipation of what was to come meant an undercurrent of excitement encompassed them both. It saw them leaving the restaurant before they got to the coffee stage.

Jess let them back into her apartment and they stood looking at each other on the landing. “Is Ren home?” Marco asked his eyes moving over her.

She shook her head “no he said he won’t be back until tomorrow.”

“Good to know” he said his gaze coming to rest on her mouth. “So do we pick up where we left off on the stairs?” he asked with a lopsided grin.

She shook her head and reaching out she clasped his hand. Then she dropped her bag on the table in the entry and started up the stairs and led him into the bedroom. She stopped next to the bed and turned to look at him. 

He slid his hands into her hair on either side of her face and tilting her head up he touched her lips with his “I’ve been dreaming about this” he said his mouth moving along her jaw.

“I hope it’s not a disappointment then” she said trying to coax his lips back to where she wanted them, on hers.

He looked into her eyes, “not possible” he said and he brought his mouth down hard on her in a passionate, satisfying kiss.

As they kissed Jess pushed his jacket off his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor, began unbuttoning his shirt. She wanted to feel his skin, she could already feel the heat radiating off it through the fine material of his shirt. Finishing with the buttons she pushed the garment off his arms and ran her hands over his toned, hair roughened chest. She broke the kiss and looked down at his upper body. She could still see the bruises from the accident. They were mere shadows now. Bending down she kissed each one and she could feel him trembling as her lips brushed his skin. She raised her head and looked at him, “you have an amazing body” she said. 

He smiled “I’m glad you think so” he said and putting his hands on her hips he said “my turn.”

She smiled too and stood as still as she could as he reached behind her and pulled the tie at the back of her neck until it undid and her dress dropped to form a pool of black at her feet leaving her wearing black underwear, a matching strapless bra and her shoes. His eyes raked over her, stoking her flesh with his hot brown gaze. His eyes looked like liquid chocolate she thought as they came back up to meet hers. Goose bumps popped out all over her. 

“So beautiful” he said. 

“Thank you.” 

His smile widened, and pulling her into his arms, he lay her down on the bed.  She kicked off her shoes and the slow exploration continued. Even after all their waiting or maybe because of it, they took their time and revelled in the delight of discovery and shared passion.

 

Chapter 38

Later, as she lay in Marco’s arms, he said “well that was definitely worth the wait.”

She laughed and looked up at him “good.”

He pushed some hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear “and for you?”

“Oh I never had any doubt it would be good” she said “that was the trouble. I knew the minute I gave into it, I wouldn’t want to give it up.”

He grinned. “Well you won’t have to” he said “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know” she said “If I didn’t believe that, this would never have happened.”

“What was it that caused the change, not that I’m complaining” he hastened to add with a smile.

Jess shrugged “you.”

“Something I said?” he teased.

“No one thing, just a lot of little things.”

His expression serious he said, “I’m not going to walk away.”

She nodded, “I’m just sorry it took so long for me to believe it.”

“Doesn’t matter, I was happy to wait until you were ready.”

“Thank you” she said.

“No worries, you’re worth the all the effort.” He teased, putting the stress on all and making it sound like a chore.

“Hey” she said smacking him on the chest.

He grinned and then grimaced, “watch it, I’m still injured you know.”

“You don’t feel injured” she said running her hand over his chest and down over his abdomen to his hip bones.

Marco groaned and rolling her beneath him as she laughed, he said “I see we are going to make up for lost time.”

“Is that a problem?” she teased.

“No” he said with a smile and then lowering his head, he kissed her.

Chapter 39

Neither Jess nor Marco got much sleep that night, but they didn’t feel it when the alarm went off the next morning.

Jess reached out and turned it off as Marco pulled her back against him. She smiled “I have to go.”

“Me too” he said kissing her neck.

She laughed “you’re not helping you know.”

He smiled against her skin, “I know.”

But pulling out of his arms she got out of bed and said “as much as I’d like to stay here all day with you, I do have to go.”  However looking back at him lying naked on her bed, she couldn’t help herself and giving him a provocative smile she added “of course I have to have a shower first.”

Marco didn’t need any further prompting. With a grin he threw back the covers and strode across the room, nearly making it to the door before she did. Jess laughed and pulled him into the shower.

A little later, dressed and ready to go, Jess kissed him and pushed him towards the door. “Go.”

“See you tonight?” he said.

“You better” she said “now go, I’m going to be late.”

Marco grinned and let himself out of the apartment. Jess grabbed her keys and headed down to the garage. As she reached her bike she remembered she hadn’t checked her messages, but she was late already, so figuring they’d keep until that night, she kept going.

The traffic was on her side for once and Jess pulled up just after eight and made her way to Gorman’s office. As she opened her boss’s door Chelsea said from behind her, “He’s not in yet.”

Jess looked into the empty office and then back at the other woman. “Has he been in?” she said starting to get a bad feeling.

“Not that I know of” Chelsea said.

“Damn” Jess said and sitting down at her desk she started making calls. It wasn’t like her boss not to be in before everyone else especially when they’d arranged to meet. She was worried. She tried his home and his mobile, nothing. With a sigh, she picked up the phone again and started ringing the hospitals. She found him at the second hospital she tried. A different one to that Marco had been in. He’d been in a car accident the nurse said and he was stable and not critical. Jess hung up and picking up her keys left the office. Chelsea tried to question her but she just ignored her and left.

As she rode along, Jess prayed this wasn’t anything to do with the car that had been in the car park the night before. But she knew it was. As she’d told her boss only the other day, she didn’t believe in co-incidences. And that meant his condition, was her fault. She shouldn’t have left him alone, knowing that car was there. If she hadn’t been so anxious to meet Marco it wouldn’t have happened. She was never going to be able to forgive herself if he wasn’t okay.

Chapter 40

Twenty minutes later she parked at the hospital and on enquiring at the reception desk, was directed up to her boss’s room. John Gorman lay in the bed with his eyes closed. He looked much worse than Marco had. He had one arm in plaster and his head was bandaged. Jess drew in her breath. Slowly she approached the bed, she touched his hand. “John” she said. He started and opened his eyes.

“Sorry” she said.

“Jess”

She pulled a chair over closer to the bed with a horrible feeling of de ja vu. “What happened?” she said.

He coughed to clear his throat “A car ran me off the road last night.”

She closed her eyes for a second. Then opening them again she asked “how soon after you left the office?”

“Almost immediately” he said.

“Christ” she said “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left and I shouldn’t have set that trap.”

“Not your fault” he said. “I agreed to set the trap and you warned me about the car. Anyway it wasn’t there when I left. He must have waited out in the street. But you did everything you could, I just wasn’t careful enough. If I’m honest I just didn’t think it would happen to me, fatal error.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t fatal” Jess said with a sigh, “I should have stayed and made sure you got out okay.”

“Jess, this isn’t your fault. I’m old enough and should have been wise enough to look after myself. So stop blaming yourself. I am worried though. This is escalating and the police aren’t working fast enough. We can’t worry about the insider at the office for now, you need to go through that file again and find out what they’re afraid of.”

Jess nodded. “Okay, I’ll pass on the number plate of that car too, not that I think it will help. This guy’s not stupid enough to use a car that could be tied to him.”

“Well forget who for now we need to find out what he thinks we know.”

She nodded. “What about the person helping them in the office?”

“We’ll leave that for now. They seem to know what we’re doing every step of the way, so work on the case from home from now on. I don’t want you in anymore danger. Let everyone think we aren’t investigating it anymore. The office can run itself until I’m back in a couple of days. Tell Matt he’s in charge.”

“Okay” she said “I’m sorry.”

“Jess, there is no way you could have prevented it even if you were there.”

She didn’t believe him but she didn’t want to upset him by arguing the point, he needed to concentrate on healing for now. “Okay” she said. “I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know what I find out.”

“Okay” he said, his eyes already closing again.

“Bye” she said and getting up, she walked out of the room.

Chapter 41

Jess went back to the office and filled in her colleagues about their boss. She told them it was business as usual until he returned in a couple of days. In the mean time she’d be working from home. She told the other senior investigator Matt, that he was in charge until Gorman was back. Then collecting her files she walked out and headed for home. She didn’t intend to work on anything else, but she didn’t want anybody knowing that.

When she arrived home, she saw a car from her security company and a police car sitting in the lane. Parking her bike in the garage she approached the three uniformed men standing on her doorstep. “What’s going on?” she said.

“Miss Oats?” one of the police officers asked. She could see from the stripes on his uniform he was a senior constable. The other officer was his junior. The third man was from the security company who monitored her alarm.

“Yes” she said “what’s happened?”

“Attempted break in by the looks of it” the officer said.

“We got a signal from one of the sensors” the security guard said. “We couldn’t get in contact with anyone at the premises so we called these guys and I headed out here.”

Remembering she had put her phone on silent in the hospital, Jess pulled it out and looked at it. She had three missed calls. “Damn” she said and looking back at the men she said “did they get in?”

“Doesn’t look like it” the officer said. “We were only around the corner and could respond immediately.”

She nodded and moving over to the door she said “well let’s have a look.”

“Let us go in first Ma’am, just in case” the senior constable said.

Jess left the police force with the rank of sergeant and could have told them, she probably had more experience than they did, but she knew they had a job to do and didn’t want to make things difficult for them. So after unlocking the door and disabling the alarm, she stood back and let them take the lead.

The officers checked the entire building and as they’d predicted, it didn’t look like anyone had been inside. “The side door leading to the second floor looks like someone attempted to force it. You were lucky” the senior constable said.

She nodded agreement, but lucky was the last thing she was feeling at the moment. Her day had just gone from bad to worse and her head was beginning to hurt.

“Okay we’ll write this up as an attempted break in and make some inquiries. I doubt they’ll be back but make sure you keep that alarm on.”

Jess didn’t agree with them about the likelihood of the perpetrator not coming back, but she didn’t argue. She knew this was not about a random robbery and this knowledge did nothing to improve her mood, which was going downhill at a rapid rate. Whoever was behind Natalie’s disappearance and the incidents involving both Marco and John Gorman had come to find out if there were any more copies of the new file and she knew them coming back was a distinct possibility. But all she wanted at the moment was for these guys to leave so she could be alone. So keeping her ideas to herself she thanked them and the security guard and after seeing them out, she shut and locked the door. Then she sat down on the stairs and rested her head on her arms. The lack of sleep the night before was starting to have an effect now. What had happened to the wonderful feeling she had started the day with after waking up with Marco. It seemed like a long time ago now. With a sigh she got up and walked into her study.  

As she entered the room Jess saw the light on her answering machine flashing and remembered she hadn’t checked her messages since the previous morning. She sank down in her chair and stared at the flashing light. The last thing she wanted to do was to push that button as she had a horrible feeling she knew who it was from. But she couldn’t ignore it. The increased tension, meant her head was pounding now and releasing her breath on a sigh she reached out and pressed play on the machine. As she expected it was the same unidentified male voice. The call had come in the evening before. It said “weren’t you lucky you weren’t the last to leave. Final warning. Leave it alone.”

Jess frowned. Knowing it was only a matter of timing that had saved her, did nothing to assuage her guilt. If they had left together maybe he wouldn’t have got an opportunity. Furious and with her head feeling like it was about to burst, she took some pain killers she kept in her desk draw, not even bothering with water, and got to work.

Chapter 42

All day Jess studied the missing persons file but she couldn’t find anything she hadn’t spotted before and as time went on she became more and more frustrated. At one point she cleared her desk with a single swipe of her arm. But it did little other than give her more work picking it all up again and re-sorting it. At six o’clock, she couldn’t take it anymore. She was exhausted and her headache was still hammering away in the background. She got up and poured herself a glass of wine. She knew it would only make her head feel worse, but she didn’t care. Maybe that pain would block out the rest of what she was feeling. She wasn’t interested in food or anything else. Ren had come in around lunch time and tried to talk to her but after she’d bitten his head off he’d left her alone and now he’d gone out for the night. At seven o’clock the door bell rang. She sighed. She knew who it was and contemplated ignoring it. But after the second ring, she dragged herself down to answer it. In her present mood, she didn’t want to see anyone, least of all the man at the door.

Marco smiled as she opened the door but Jess didn’t respond. “I’m sorry” she said “I can’t see you tonight.”

“Jess, what’s wrong?” Marco asked, frowning.

“Nothing” she said, her tone flat and her eyes not meeting his.

“Yes, there is, I can see there is” he pushed.

“Just leave it.”

“I can’t, let me help.”

His persistence was the last straw for Jess and she snapped, “just go away, last night was a mistake, I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about?”  He said looking like she’d hit him

“I just told you” she said “I’m sorry Marco. Good bye.” And she went to shut the door.

 But Marco caught it and stopped it. “That’s not good enough” he growled.

“Bad luck” Jess said walking back up the internal stair case, leaving him standing on the door step.

“Jess” Marco yelled as he slammed the door and strode after her.

He caught up with her in the kitchen and grabbing her arm, he spun her around to face him. “Talk to me. What’s happened?”

But Jess just looked at him and much to her disgust, tears started to run down her face. She spun away from him.

“Jess” he said his tone a mixture of concern and shock as he stepped around her. He pulled her into his arms, ignoring her attempts to stop him. “What is it?”

“My boss” Jess said between deep breaths as she tried to stem the flow of tears. She’d stopped fighting him now. She didn’t have the energy to fight the tears and him at once.

“What about him?” he asked pulling her closer.

“When I left the office last night, there was a car in the car park that shouldn’t have been there. I messaged him to tell him to be careful as I was leaving but I was only interested in getting back here. He was run off the road as he left the office. He’s in hospital and it’s my fault.”

“Shit” Marco said.

“I set the trap” Jess continued talking to herself more than him. “I caused this. I never should have left him there.”

“What trap?” he said moving back to look at her. He took hold of her upper arms. “I thought you weren’t working on this case anymore.”

She shrugged.

Marco frowned. “What trap?”

Jess explained what she’d done at work.

 “That doesn’t make his accident your fault” he said. “Your boss knew about it and agreed to it, right?”

“Yes but he didn’t want to do it.”

“Doesn’t matter, he accepted the risks.”

“But if I hadn’t suggested it...”

“He probably would have in the end. You had to do something.”

Jess just shook her head, “I should have waited for him.”

“Stop blaming yourself Jess” he said “Even if you’d hung around you couldn’t have stopped it. What were you going to do, follow him home? That still wouldn’t have stopped the other car.”

She just looked at him. She had been selfish, only concerned with meeting him. There was no getting away from that.

Marco seemed to know he hadn’t got through to her. “Think about it logically” he said “what could you have done?”

She looked away and didn’t respond.

“Jess?” he said after a second, giving her a gentle shake.

She sighed. “Nothing I guess. But that doesn’t make me feel any better. What if he’d been killed?”

“He wasn’t, stop thinking like that.”

“I can’t help it.”

“Probably because you’re sleep deprived and that is my fault.”

She sighed again and moved away to lean against the bench. She was too tired to argue about it anymore. “Maybe” she conceded. She could see why he was such a successful lawyer. He had an answer for everything.

He walked around her and opening the fridge he poured them both a glass of wine and then grabbing both glasses in one hand he grabbed her hand with the other and led her outside onto the balcony and into the fresh air. He released her hand to put the glasses down on the table and then sitting down he pulled her down to sit next to him. Handing her a glass he said “drink” and picking up his own he skulled the contents in one go.

“I thought I was the one that needed the drink” she said as she watched him with interest.

“You scared the shit out of me” he said as he put the empty glass on the table.

All of a sudden Jess laughed. “Sorry” she said.

He looked at her for a second and then shaking his head he smiled, “forget about it.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking” she said closing her eyes. The ache in her head was easing now as the tension that had been building all day ebbed away.

“Don’t you?” he asked.

She opened her eyes and looked at him for a minute and then away. “Yeah, maybe I do. I was blaming you because I felt so guilty for leaving him there. It’s just I’ve been going through that file all day looking for something I might have missed and finding nothing.” After a pause she added “I scared Ren off earlier.”

“If you were that unreasonable with him, I can well imagine him wanting to get out” he teased.

“Hey” she said, frowning.

He smiled and she couldn’t help but smile too. “Thank you for not running away” she said “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had. I guess I couldn’t have dreamt up a better test for you if I’d tried.”

“Is that what you were doing?”

“No intentionally” she said without looking at him. “But maybe subconsciously” she admitted with a shrug.

“Well at least I’ve faced the worst now.”

“I don’t know about that” she teased with a small smile. “You weren’t here when I was throwing stuff.”

He grinned.

“It didn’t help that there was an attempted break in here this morning either.”

“What?” he said.

She shrugged “I guess they were checking to see if there were any more copies of the file.”

“Attempted” Marco said as if the word had just registered, “so they didn’t get in?”

“No, the alarm company called the cops and as luck would have it a patrol car was nearby.”

“God Jess, you can’t stay here.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine. They know now, that getting in won’t be so easy and I’ve made it known at work that we are no longer investigating the matter as the file has gone missing. That should get back to them.”

“I still don’t like it” he said, looking concerned.

She leant over and kissed him. As she eased back she said, “I’ll be fine. As long as I’m not seen to be investigating it still.”

He just looked at her, his expression still dubious.

She sighed and held him.

“Have you eaten?” he asked a few minutes later.

“No” she said and as she thought about it, she realised she hadn’t eaten all day. With a yawn she said “I’m too tired now.”

“You need to eat and so do I” he said. “Go and get into bed and I’ll make you something. Then you are going to get some sleep. Maybe with a clearer head you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

She was too tired to argue. “Okay” she said and getting up she reset the alarm before walking into the bedroom to get ready for bed. A few minutes later Marco walked in carrying two plates of cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches.

“I would have made some pasta but I was worried you’d be asleep before I was finished.”

She smiled “this is perfect.”

 They ate them together and afterwards Jess felt more normal. Her head ache had gone and she was back in control of her emotions. Sighing as she relaxed she said “thank you.”

“No worries” he said “now sleep. I’ll let myself out.”

“You can’t, the alarm’s on” she said settling on the pillow and looking up at him with a tired smile.

“So what do we do?” he said returning her smile.

She flipped back the covers, a tacit invitation.

“You need to sleep.”

“I know. I wasn’t suggesting anything else. Well not tonight anyway.”

His smile widened, “okay.” Then moving back out of the bedroom he cleaned up in the kitchen, turned off the lights in the rest of the apartment and made sure the doors were all locked. Then returning to the bedroom, he stripped off and got into bed beside her. Turning off the light, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her head. “Thank you” he whispered.

“What for?” she said, puzzled.

“For giving me a chance to look after you.”

She smiled against his chest, “thank you for wanting to.”

“My pleasure” he said.

 And with a sigh, Jess closed her eyes and she slept.             

Chapter 43

The next morning Jess woke before the alarm feeling refreshed and more than a little ashamed of her behaviour of the night before. She cringed as she thought about breaking down in front of Marco.

“Morning” he said kissing her jaw.

“Morning” she said and rolling over to face him she added “I’m sorry about last night, I don’t normally lose it like that.”

He grinned. “Forget it, you haven’t seen me crack yet and I’m Italian, we go off like nuclear explosion.”

She laughed, “I’ll look forward to that.”

“Do you have to get up already?” he said, his eyes dipping down to study her mouth.

She licked her lips, “no, I’m working from home for the moment so I’m not on the clock.”

He smiled and said “maybe I’ll go in late.”

“Mmm” she said against his mouth “I like the sound of that.”

Marco didn’t reply he was too busy kissing her and before long they were both lost in each other, the rest of the world ceasing to exist.

Later they had breakfast on the balcony and when Marco finally left for work, Jess walked him to the door.

“Thank you” she said.

“No problem, just promise me I’ll get a better welcome when I turn up tonight.”

She laughed, “I promise not to shut the door in your face, how’s that?”

“It’s a start” he teased and giving her a quick kiss he added “keep the door locked” and he walked down the stairs to his car.

As soon as Marco had left Jess pulled out the file and started from scratch. There had to be something they’d missed. As she went through the information she wondered why the person had waited until then to take the file. It had been in existence for a month and been through three sets of hands at least before hers, Gorman’s and the two rookies, so why did they take it now. Jess flipped through to the information she’d collected just before Marco’s accident. She’d interviewed the parents and her friends back home in that time and Natalie’s co-worker and tried to trace the Porsche. The Porsche investigation had gone nowhere so it was unlikely to be that. All she got was a lot of dead ends. The co-worker didn’t really know anything other than what she’d been like at work and that was already covered from the original interview. She hadn’t told her anything new. So that left her interviews with Natalie’s parents and her friends. She’d made detailed notes, but at the time, she’d spotted little information that led anywhere new.

Taking a break an hour or so later, Jess made herself a cup of coffee and called her boss.

“Hey John” she said “how are you feeling?”

“Not bad considering. I’m being released later today. So I’ll be back in the office tomorrow.”

“Are you sure you’ll be up to it” Jess said with a frown.

“I’ll be fine” he said. “I need to get back. I’ve hired a driver until I’m able to drive again” after a pause he added, “he does other work on the side.”

“Right” Jess said, she knew he meant that the guy was a body guard.

“I’d like to do the same for you. I should have done it before.”

“There’s no need” she said “I can look after myself and I’ve warned those close to me to be careful.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that” he said. “I could insist.”

“Yeah but you won’t and what I’m about to tell you, doesn’t change that.’

Jess told him about the attempted break in and the phone call.

 “God, this is getting out of hand. Let me hire you some protection?”

“No, I need to be able to move around unhindered. I’ll be fine.”

“At least let me send someone around to watch your place in case they come back?” he said, anxiety discernable in his voice.

She sighed. She didn’t like this option either, but it was better than a body guard and knowing her boss he’d probably do it anyway so she might as well agree and set her own terms. “Okay” she said “but only from the outside.” She did not want them in her home.

“Agreed,” he said “now what to do about our insider?”

“I sent an email on the status of my cases to the office this morning as I didn’t attend the staff meeting. I listed this one as closed, file missing.”

“I hope they believe that Jess.”

“What else can we do?”

“Not much” he agreed and after a pause he added “how is it going with the file anyway?”

“Nothing new yet, but I’m working on it. The fact that they waited until now to take the file seems to indicate it was something I’d uncovered around the time of Marco’s accident that has them worried.”

“Yes, I’d thought the same thing. Well let me know what you find.”

“If I find anything.”

“It has to be there Jess, otherwise why would they take the risk of exposing themselves by taking it?”

“True” she said “okay I’ll get back to it. I’ll call you later.”

“Good luck Jess and take care.”