“You were going to kill me.”
“I loved you, Leigh. I would never hurt you. You know that.”
“Ian, you need to turn yourself in.” It was the only thing she could think of to say.
“You and I have some unfinished business, Leigh. You and I and Jake Vanderpol.”
Her heart beat even faster. “I have no business with you.”
“You’ve been with him, haven’t you? I hear it in your voice. You’ve given him your body.”
His tone changed then. Refined, yet with something ugly and menacing just beneath the surface. “I’m going to make him pay when I get my hands on him, Leigh. I can promise you you’ll hear every second of what I do to him.”
“Don’t.” The single word was all she could manage. Leigh had never considered herself weak. She had certainly never considered herself a coward. In the year she’d been with Ian Rasmussen, he’d never so much as laid a hand on her. But she feared him like she’d never feared another human being in her life.
“I miss you, Leigh.”
A sound escaped her when the bathroom door swung open. For a terrible moment she envisioned Rasmussen bursting into the room. Jake dead downstairs. Their fates sealed…
Then she saw Jake. Apprehension and grim determination showed on his face as he came over to the tub. In the candlelight she could see his eyes flicking from her to the phone in her hand. He must have seen something in her expression because he reached for the phone without speaking. “Who is this?” he said in a rough voice.
JAKE HAD HEARD the chirp of her cell phone through the heating vents and rushed upstairs. If the caller was one of Leigh’s friends, Rasmussen wouldn’t hesitate to use them to glean their location. The arms dealer wasn’t above torture when it came to getting what he wanted.
Steam hovered like wet ghosts when he burst through the door. In the back of his mind it occurred to him she was taking a bath, that he probably wasn’t welcome. He caught a glimpse of her skin glistening in the soft light. But all sexual thoughts vanished when he saw her face, and knew who the caller was.
Taking the phone from her, he put it to his ear and turned away to give her privacy. “Who is this?”
“Judging from your tone, I think you know. How are you, Mr. Vanderpol?”
“I can have this call traced,” Jake said. “Triangulation and we’ll have you within the hour.”
“Why don’t you do that?”
Jake said nothing. He knew better than to let a scumbag like Rasmussen get to him, but he wanted to take the other man down so badly he could taste it.
“That’s what I thought,” Rasmussen said.
“What the hell do you want?”
“Leigh, of course. Your death will be a bonus.”
Jake forced a laugh. “Why don’t you do yourself a favor and turn yourself in? Give me a location and I’ll have an agent pick you up. You can resolve this peaceably.”
“Peaceably is hardly my style.”
“Any other way and you won’t survive.”
The pause that followed was so long that for a moment, Jake thought Rasmussen had disconnected. Then Rasmussen lowered his voice and said, “Have you been with her yet?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But Jake knew exactly what the bastard was talking about, and he hated it. “I think you’re one twisted son of a bitch.”
“Ah, a gentleman. You don’t kiss and tell, do you, Vanderpol?” A harsh laugh sounded. “Was she worth it?”
“Worth what?”
“Giving it all up for?”
Jake couldn’t respond. All he could do was stand there and wonder how Rasmussen knew about his leaving the agency. “Turn yourself in, Rasmussen.”
“Enjoy her while you can, Vanderpol.” His voice intensified. “Because I’m coming for her. I’m going to take her from you. And I’m going to make you beg for—”
Jake disconnected. Even though the room was cold, sweat had broken out on the back of his neck.
How the hell had Rasmussen known about his leaving the agency just that morning?
“Jake?”
Her voice pulled him back, but he didn’t turn to face her. For the first time he noticed the candlelight. That the bathroom smelled like her. A sweet, earthy scent that titillated his senses, made him long for something that had eluded him for what seemed like forever.
“Don’t answer your phone again,” he said.
“I didn’t know it was him.”
He turned to face her. “Cell phones can be traced.”
“I didn’t know,” she said.