“How did you know?” Her voice sounded quiet, almost foreign to her own ears.
His smirk was bitter. “I observe, Jennie. It’s what I do. You should know that better than anyone. I saw how tired you were. You’re run down all the time. Just like Kelly was.”
His gaze fell to her breasts, and Jennie had to purposefully resist the urge to cross her arms over them. She knew they were slightly bigger than they used to be. But, how the hell could he know that?
“At first, I thought you must be sick but then I noticed the difference in your body. I know every inch of you, remember, Jen?”
He always said ‘Jen’ so playfully, almost intimately. This time, it shot out of his mouth like the taste of it was bitter on his tongue and she winced.
“You’re not gaining weight yet, but your body has changed.”
She shook her head, trying to clear the fogginess she felt all the time now. Trying to make this all go away.
She raised her chin a notch. “What makes you think the baby is yours?” It was probably the wrong tactic to try to deny what they both knew was true, but she wasn’t ready to share her secret yet. She wasn’t ready for anyone to know, even him. She hadn’t even told Kelly yet.
His face fell. With a sad defeated voice, he spoke what they both knew couldn’t be denied. “Because you haven’t been with anyone but me, Jennie.”
She shook her head, hanging on to the denial as long as she could. “You don’t know that. You don’t––”
“I do, Jen.” He reached out, brushing his fingertips down her cheek, causing a shiver of longing for what she couldn’t have. “I do know, Jen, because it damn near killed you just to be with me.”
Chad let his hand drop to his side and stepped back from her. He crossed to the couch and lay on it, arms behind his head, feet propped on the arm because they wouldn’t fit on the couch itself.
He didn’t look at her. Only closed his eyes. She knew he was done talking.
“Go to sleep, Jennie. Just go to sleep.”
Chapter 25
Special Agent Burke of the FBI, the agent in charge of the Bandon investigation in Florida, called Chad at seven the next morning to let him know the Masters brothers had been found. They were both dead and neither death had been easy.
Rick Bandon was spotted on video at the airport in Hartford, Connecticut. They didn’t have a clue where the man had gone after that.
Chad threw off the aches and pains from his night on the couch and sat up. Hartford was much too close to Jennie for his comfort.
There was no way in hell it was a coincidence the guy was here. As he called quietly to Zeke, luring the dog out of Jennie’s bed with sausage treats, he dialed Jack’s number.
When Jack answered, Chad could hear the sound of a crying baby in the background. He felt a sharp pain as the thought crossed his mind that Jennie might not let him raise his baby with her. She might not want him to be a part of their lives.
Screw that. I’ll raise my child with her no matter what.
Chad shoved aside those thoughts. He needed to get Jennie out of there. He snapped a leash on Zeke and took the dog outside as he talked to his cousin.
“Jack, I’m taking Jennie away for a while. The Masters brothers are dead. Tortured and shot. Rick Bandon is missing but he was last seen in Connecticut.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. Could he have found out about Jennie?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not taking any chances. The Masters brothers knew someone had found evidence that forced their uncle to come to them and get them to turn themselves in. It would be easy for them to narrow it down to Jennie and me after they ran into her outside their office.
“When their uncle showed up two days later with a lawyer, they had to suspect it was us. We used our real names for that trip. I’m not taking any chances. I’ve got everything set in place. I’ll call you from a burner phone when we get where we’re going. But, listen, Jack, I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”
Chad and Jennie worked with three others in the small investigations department at Sutton. If they were both out for months, that could really screw things up.
“Don’t even think about that. Keeping Jennie safe is your only job right now. And, make sure she knows her job is secure no matter how long she’s gone. We’ll manage until you get back.”
“Can you send Andrew out to Jennie’s parents’ place to let them know what’s going on? I don’t want her to tell them by phone but they need to know she’s safe.” As he spoke, Chad opened his truck to let Zeke, who had now had a potty break, jump into the cab. He took off the leash, shut the door and walked back into the house.
“Yeah. I’ll send him out there this morning. Kelly knows where they live.”