One Long Embrace (Eternal Bachelors Club #5)

Jay turned and watched two policemen approach him. He stopped, waiting until they’d caught up. “Yes, can I help you?”


Both were young, maybe in their late twenties. One motioned to Jay’s yacht. “Did you come in on this boat?”

Jay nodded. “Yes, yesterday. Is there a problem?”

Suddenly the friendly demeanor of the two men changed. “Put down the coffee and turn around, hands on the back of your head.”

“What is this?”

One of the policemen pulled his gun from his holster. “You’re arrested for impersonating the owner of this yacht, for theft of said yacht, and for transporting stolen goods over state lines.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jay replied. “This is my yacht. I own it.”

The second policeman approached. “Don’t make us add resisting arrest to the charges.”

“You’re making a mistake. I’m Jay Bohannon. I own this yacht.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw the man who’d been reading his newspaper on the boat next to his watch them with interest.

“I can prove it. Tara!” Jay called out toward the boat. He looked over his shoulder. “Tara!”

But there was no reply.

“Sir, put the coffee down and turn around,” the policeman insisted once more.

“If you’re calling for the young woman,” the man from the other boat interrupted. “She’s gone.”

Jay spun his head to him. “What?”

“Yeah, some middle-aged couple came and took her away. She was kicking and screaming.”

“Fuck!”

In the next instant, he was tackled by one of the policemen. Jay dropped the coffee and pastries and landed on the ground. Seconds later he was handcuffed.

“Don’t you see what’s going on here?” he ground out, his cheek pressed to the wooden planks of the dock. “Somebody set me up!” And he didn’t have to be a psychic to figure out who: Tara’s parents.

“Heard it all before,” the policeman who’d handcuffed him said. He proceeded to frisk him, checking for weapons and anything else Jay had on him. Then he recited the Miranda rights, “You have the right to remain silent…”

Jay didn’t even listen as the officer read him his rights. His mind was already working. He had to act quickly, before Tara’s parents could whisk her away.

“I can prove who I am. I have ID.”

“Didn’t find any on you.”

Jay jerked his head toward the yacht. “On my boat.”

“Nice try. Let’s go.”

Both officers grabbed him and pulled him up, dragging him toward the shore.

“I want my lawyer,” Jay hissed.

“You’ll get your phone call when we’re at the station.”

Gritting his teeth, he looked over his shoulder toward the man on the other boat. “Did you hear where they were taking Tara?”

“The man said something about a chartered plane. Not sure.”

Jay nodded. There was a small private airport about a half hour’s drive away. That’s where they were heading.

Reluctantly, he let the two policemen lead him to the police car and shove him onto the back seat. Instead of getting into the car immediately, one of them walked up to the onlookers that had gathered.

“What’s happening, Frank?” one bystander asked.

The policeman jerked his thumb toward the car. “Guy stole a yacht.”

Jay clenched his teeth. Fucking idiots! If they’d only let him get his wallet from the boat, he could clear up this misunderstanding in a second. And now these country bumpkins were wasting even more time by chatting with the locals. Time Jay didn’t have.

“Damn it, what are we waiting for?” Jay yelled. “Take me to the fucking police station so we can get on with it!”

The policeman looked over his shoulder. “He seems pretty eager to go to jail.”

The crowd laughed at that.

Finally, the two policemen decided to get into the car.

“About time,” Jay ground out. “While you’re chatting it up out there, my girlfriend is being kidnapped.”

As the driver started the car and pulled away, the other guy looked back at Jay. “I don’t think I like you.”

Jay narrowed his eyes. “That’s mutual.”

It seemed to take an eternity until they finally pulled up to a small, one-story building with the words Police Department written over the entrance.

The moment the two officers led him into the building, Jay repeated his demand, “I want my lawyer now.”

The two officers exchanged a look. “Pain in the butt, that guy,” one of them said.

“Just let him make his damn phone call, so he’ll finally shut up.”

Not too gently Jay was shoved toward a counter. Then the policeman who’d handcuffed him removed the handcuffs and pressed the receiver of a phone into his hand.

“You’ve got two minutes.”

Jay didn’t lose any time. He dialed the direct line of his lawyer in New York. The call was connected almost immediately.

“Yeah?”

“Stephen, it’s Jay Bohannon. Listen, I got arrested in South Carolina. I need you to do the following things.”