“Jade, pack a bag. We’re leaving.”
She snapped out of her sad fog and sat up, turning to look at him with confusion furrowing her brow. “What?”
“This place isn’t safe any longer. We’re not staying here tonight.”
“Where are we going to go?”
Harley thought about it for a moment, firming up the plans in his mind. “We’re going to my mother’s house.”
“I don’t know, Harley. That would be weird. I don’t want her getting the wrong idea about us.”
“She won’t.”
“I don’t want to impose.”
Harley sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. Why was everything an argument with Jade? “You won’t be imposing. My mother’s house is huge. I paid for it. I pay someone to clean it. If you tried hard enough, she might not even know you were there.”
“We can’t just get a hotel room here in town?”
“No. I was staying with her until I came here. And now, so are you.”
“But...”
“No buts. The threats are getting more serious, Jade. The only way to end them is to complete the investigation. I can’t do that and also protect you every minute of the day. My mother’s house is an old plantation property surrounded by twelve acres of wooded wetlands. It’s gated, alarmed, surveilled and completely secure. It’s a damn fortress with arches and columns. That’s the only place I would feel comfortable leaving you right now. I’m not even sure I want you to work for the next few days. You’re too exposed to the public there.”
Jade took a deep breath, and as she let it out, he could see the fight draining out of her, too. “Okay. I’ll call in sick for a couple days. How much should I pack?”
He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he couldn’t see Jade living here again, so everything? “At least enough clothing and toiletries to get you through two or three days. We can always come back and get more if we need to.”
“More than three days?”
Harley shrugged. “It all depends on my investigation. Until we know the truth, and the person responsible for this is in jail, I don’t know where else you can stay. They’d just trace you to your parents’ house. No one will know you’re with me, or where my mother lives. She’s as big of a black hole of digital data as I am. They won’t be able to find her.”
Jade nodded and stood up to make her way to what was left of her bedroom. It should be easy to pack, with everything strewn on the floor, but he figured it would take her a while to get things together. Before she went down the hall, she stopped and turned back to Harley.
He thought she might say something. Her eyes were overflowing with emotion, but instead of speaking, she just lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him in a ferocious hug. Jade’s face was buried in his neck as she clung to him. She didn’t say a word, but Harley got the message loud and clear.
He hadn’t wanted it to happen this way, but he’d finally brought down the wall between the two of them. The last of Jade’s fortifications had fallen and she was letting him in, at last.
And he wasn’t sure what he should do next.
Nine
When Harley said he’d bought his mother a plantation, Jade had been thinking it was a metaphor for a big house, or at the very least, an exaggeration. Then the iron gates opened and his Jaguar traveled down the road that led to the Rose River Mansion and she realized he was telling the truth. It was an actual 1800s-era plantation home.
Unlike the typical White House style with two-story columns, Rose River was unique in these parts. She was no architect, but Gothic was the only word that came to mind, even with its traditional white wood siding and copper peaked roof. Like a cross between an old chapel, a house and a European chalet, it was so detailed that Jade figured she could stare at it for hours and see something new every time she looked. It was like something out of a novel, making her little bungalow look like a shack in comparison.
As they parked and walked up the pea gravel path to the front door, she gazed at the ancient oak trees overhead, which were dripping with Spanish moss highlighted by the moonlight. Brick steps led to a grand porch with three cusped arches and clustered piers welcoming guests inside. As they climbed the stairs to the porch, however, Jade saw modern touches of Harley in the old house. There were video cameras beneath the eaves and technologically advanced locks on the front door and windows. Knowing him, the original glass had been replaced with bulletproof panes.
Instead of using a key, Harley reached out to punch in a six-digit code, then pressed his thumb on a scanner to unlock the door. It swung open and he gestured for her to go inside ahead of him.
Jade stepped into the grand entrance hall with its two-story ceiling, sparkling chandelier and spiral staircase. She couldn’t imagine living someplace like this. It was quite a leap from the tiny apartment Harley had shared with his mother back in high school. She knew he had done well for himself with his business, but this was on another level.
; “Is your home in DC like this?” she asked, as she studied the marble floors and intricate moldings.
Harley shut the door and dropped their bags on the floor beside him. “Not even close,” he said. “My taste runs a bit more modern. I have a three-story town house in Georgetown. It’s over a hundred years old, but you wouldn’t know it.”