One Long Embrace (Eternal Bachelors Club #5)

“Jay, what the hell? What did you get arrested for?”


“It’s a misunderstanding. I don’t have time to explain. You need to call Charlie Taylor for me. Write down his number.” He rattled off the number. “Tell him to get to the Max Cannon private airstrip immediately and make sure the plane carrying Tara doesn’t take off. I don’t care what he needs to do. Whatever it takes, I’ll take responsibility for it. Got that?”

“Yeah, got it.”

“Then get the ownership papers of my prototype yacht, a copy of my passport and my drivers license and fax it all to the police station here.” He looked at the policeman who’d arrested him. “What’s the fax number here?”

One of the policemen shoved a business card in front of him.

Jay read the number on it back to his lawyer. “Got it?”

“Got it, Jay. Is there anything else you need? Do you need me to fly down there?”

“No. That’ll clear it up. Hurry. But call Charlie first. Tell him it’s urgent. He has to stop that plane.”

“I’m on it.”

There was a click in the line.

Jay released a long breath. He’d done everything he could. Now he had to wait and trust that Charlie would understand how important it was to stop Tara’s parents from taking her away from him.

“Let’s book ‘im then.”

“Don’t waste your time. I’ll be out of here in less than an hour,” Jay prophesied.

And then Tara’s parents would get an earful about snatching Tara from him and having him wrongfully arrested.





29


Jay’s patience was wearing thin. He kept looking at the clock that hung on the wall opposite the holding cell they’d put him in, while he listened to the goings-on in the small police station. The place was basic, the furniture and equipment past their prime. Clearly, they didn’t have the funds to run the place properly.

The two policemen who’d arrested him seemed fresh out of the police academy, and besides a civilian employee who appeared to work in an administrative capacity and another police officer who was only a few years older than the two kids who’d grabbed him, there didn’t seem to be anybody else working here. Whoever the police chief was, he wasn’t at the station.

Jay paced in the small cell, hoping that Charlie had been fast enough and reached the airstrip before the plane carrying Tara could take off. And that he’d come up with something to stop the plane from leaving.

Jay wrung his hands, feeling powerless in his current situation. For all the money he had, all the worldly goods, they meant nothing when he couldn’t be with Tara. He realized that now. It didn’t matter that they’d only known each other for a short time, less than three weeks in fact, but just like Paul had felt that Holly was the right person, so did Jay know that Tara was that person for him. And nobody would come between them, not after Tara had finally accepted him the way he was.

“You’re free to go.”

Jay pivoted and stared at the police officer who suddenly stood outside the cell. He took a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

“Everything checked out, Mr. Bohannon. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

He nodded and stepped out of the cell. He’d known that once his papers arrived, it would only take minutes to verify that all was in order. But he wasn’t relieved yet. “I need a ride.”

The police officer walked toward the reception area. “You can call a taxi from the phone up front.”

“Hey, Dan, we’ve got an altercation at the Max Cannon airfield. Let’s go,” the other policeman called out from the dispatch area.

“Ah, shit, what’s wrong today? We never have that many incidents in one day!” the officer replied and rushed to his colleague.

“Wait! Take me with you. I need to get to that airfield,” Jay called after him.

The officer looked over his shoulder. “We’re not a taxi service.”

“It’s my girlfriend. She’s been kidnapped.”

The police officer frowned and exchanged a look with his colleague. He seemed to contemplate his next action.

“Please,” Jay added. “I can help clear everything up if you take me with you.”

Finally the officer nodded. “Let’s go.”



~



Tara heard the engines of the chartered Learjet being throttled back. She felt the brakes being applied and the jet slow instead of speed up on the runway. It finally came to a halt in the middle of it, engines idling.

“What the hell?” her father griped, already loosening his seatbelt.

Before he could jump from his leather seat, the pilot’s voice came through the intercom. “I’m sorry for the delay, but there is an obstacle on the runway. I’m radioing the tower for assistance.”

“Obstacle?” her mother muttered and looked out her side of the plane. “I don’t see anything. Allen, what’s going on?”