He bit off a curse. The last thing he wanted from her was gratitude for introducing her to good sex. Great sex.
His need for more told him he’d already gotten too close. She’d become too important. He should back up, gain distance and perspective for her sake as well as his.
Jacob whipped a pair of sweatpants off the back of a chair and slid into them. Each step from the loft should have offered him the distance he needed. Instead her every breath whispered through the room, tempting him. Even the skylight seemed to silhouette her in some center-stage way.
Where did they go from here tomorrow?
Thinking of Chase in lock-up for the night, Jacob scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. His hormones had been so tied in knots over Dee, he’d let his guard down and messed up with Chase. His hormones could cost him focus in finding her child.
Still, he couldn’t turn his back on her now. Jacob dropped into the recliner and tapped the telephone beside him.
He wasn’t sure he could be the kind of man she wanted long-term, but he could sure as hell help her with her here and now. No more waiting to get back on the job. With sunrise nearing, it was time to tap into the extra help his military network could provide.
Chapter 13
S itting on the edge of the bed, Dee faced the morning with a mix of anticipation and dread. She clutched the telephone after speaking with her parents in Colorado about taking a photo to their local police station. She wanted to believe she would be holding her child just as tightly by the end of the day.
Through the skylight the clouds hovered above, heavy and gray as the first morning light fought the overcast conditions as fiercely as she struggled to keep her mood positive, to hold on to the comfort she’d found in Jacob’s embrace through the night.
He paced in the hall, cell phone to his ear. He moved with tense, purposeful strides, freshly showered and wearing his flight suit for a trip to the base after they spoke with the police. He’d already been on his cell when she woke up, still talking when she took her shower and then called her parents. She itched to know what he’d uncovered.
Replacing the cordless receiver into the charger, she listened to Jacob’s end of his cell phone conversation.
“They’ve updated the APB on Lambert, including the boy?…Good…Uh-huh…Even better.”
Hope surged through her. She tugged her pink sweater over the low waistband of her jeans, the cashmere a poor substitute for Jacob’s embrace, and padded down the loft steps.
“Any hits from the ferries at Puget Sound?” His gaze flicked over to her, lingered for a moment, smoked with a banked fire, then his attention returned to the conversation. “Uh-huh. I’ll see if she can come up with anything more about his plans to cross the border.”
Could he have already found a lead? Her emotions as tender as her body, she craved even a sliver of reassurance that her son would be in her arms soon. Jacob certainly appeared invincible, capable of anything in his flight suit.
Even in socks and no boots.
“Yeah. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, Spike. Tell your Mountie bud I owe him.” He thumbed the off button on the cell and looked at Dee.
“Well?” She could see her answer in his eyes, and it wasn’t good. She’d told herself not to hope, but that didn’t stop the stab of disappointment.
“I’ve been talking to a friend on base with the Office of Special Investigation to see if they could get any inside scoop since your ex was up on charges that would affect military safety.”
“The man you called Spike?”
“Right, Special Agent Keagan. We’ve been back and forth on the phone for a few hours now.”
“And he said?” She scrambled to process all he was telling her, but kept thinking of how her husband had put all of these military people in danger just for money. She hoped all the potential damage had come to light when his partner had been arrested, but could there be more?
Finding Blane became even more important, something she wouldn’t have thought possible.
“The cops have updated the data in the NCIC—National Crime Information Center. A warrant had already been issued for Lambert’s arrest for custodial interference based on your statement to the police last night. They’ve put a trace on all his credit cards and his cell phone. They’re also keeping an eye on his, uh, mistress. Her phone records will be monitored, as well. I wish I had more for you.”
“You’ve done so much. Thank you.” She hadn’t thought about him taking the other woman along later. At least the policeman last night had the forethought to jot down the woman’s name. Then the rest of Jacob’s words trickled through her brain. “You said you’ve been speaking with him off and on for hours. Did you manage to snatch any sleep?”
His gaze flicked to the bed, with its rumpled sheets and musky air of sex. “I’m used to catching power-naps when we have a long flight.” He cocked his head to the side. “How did the conversation with your parents go?”
“Simple. Everything’s taken care of on their end.”
“That rough, huh?” He stepped closer, a simple reach away, the uniform stretching across the broad chest she’d slept against through the night.
She tried not to let the hollowness inside her echo through to her voice. “They’re not demonstrative people, and we haven’t spoken in so long. I didn’t expect a great emotional outpouring. They’ll take care of what needs doing with Evan’s picture. Wiring me money. That’s all I can ask.”