"Look… whatever the gift is, it's not going to be anything you want to see." Jed leaned over slightly, so that he could look around the huge chest that separated them. "Take my word for it. My guess is Booth Fortier has sent you a warning. Why don't you just go back upstairs and let me handle this. "
"You're trying to protect me and I appreciate it, but-"
"That's my job, isn't it?"
"To protect my life," she told him. "Not protect my heart."
Jed huffed, then leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Stay. We'll wait together."
"How long-"
"I'm not sure. Thirty minutes. Maybe longer."
She kicked off her yellow satin house slippers, curled her legs up under her and placed her hands in her lap. He kept stealing quick glances at her in his peripheral vision. Once or twice, he caught her doing the same. Minutes ticked by. The grandfather clock on the landing struck the half hour. Neither of them said a word.
After about fifteen minutes, Grace eased her feet down to the floor, slid her feet into the slippers and readjusted her position in the chair. "Would you like a sherry or brandy? I could get us something."
"No, thanks, but you-"
"No, I really don't want anything."
Time dragged. Jed checked his watch every couple of minutes, more for something to do than anything else. The grandfather clock struck eleven times. Just as the vibration from the last dong ended, Jed's cell phone rang.
"Tyree here."
"Yeah, the package is clean, but it's not something you want to let the lady see," Rafe said.
"I understand. I'll open the gates and be waiting on the veranda for you."
"Take a look at the pictures for yourself first, then tell her what they are, if you have to. But I'm telling you-do not let her see them."
Jed's gut tightened.
"I'm going to open the gates and disarm the security system while I go outside on the veranda and take the package," Jed told Grace. "You stay in here. And you need to know now that you aren't going to see what's inside your gift package."
"What is it?"
"Just do as I ask, will you? Stay in the house and let me handle this." She nodded. Damn, that was too easy, Jed thought. She'd agreed too quickly. "Go back upstairs, will you?"
"I'd rather wait here." She didn't budge from the armchair.
Jed got up and walked over to the controls hidden in a panel behind the staircase, punched in the code to deactivate the security system, then used another code to open the massive wrought-iron gates. When he opened the front door, he glanced over his shoulder to check on Grace. She didn't move or even look at him. He closed the front door behind him and waited for Rafe. In just a few minutes, the rental car Rafe was using pulled up in the circular drive. Jed went down the steps to meet his fellow Dundee agent. Rafe got out of the car and joined Jed. He held out a large manila envelope. Jed took the envelope, loosened the clasp, then removed the contents. Photographs. Police shots from the accident scene. A few of the shots were particularly gruesome and Jed wondered what sicko cop had taken them. Closeups of Dean Beaumont and Byram Sheffield, both dead and bloody. And a shot of an unconscious Grace. More photos. Some taken at the funerals. And one of Grace in her hospital room. Rage burned through Jed's veins.
Yeah, this was definitely Booth Fortier's handwork. It had his fingerprints all over it.
Jed shook his head. "This was a mild warning for Grace. The next one will be far worse."
Just as Jed started to slip the photos back into the envelope, intending to give them to Rafe, Grace came running out of the house and directly toward them.
"Hell," Jed cursed under his breath. He shoved the photos into the envelope and held them out to Rafe.
"Wait," Grace called. "Whatever it is, I want to see it."
"No, you don't," Jed told her and handed the envelope to Rafe.
She marched straight to them, planted herself between them and held out her hand. "Give me the envelope."
Rafe grunted. "Ma'am, you really don't-"
"Give them to her," Jed said.
Rafe hesitated for a couple of seconds, then gave Grace the envelope. "Call if you need anything else," he told Jed, then got back in the rental car and drove off.
Grace stared at the envelope for a couple of minutes before slipping the photos out and looking at them, one by one, studying them carefully. Watching her for a reaction, he waited for her to say something, but she said nothing. After she finished with the lot, she turned away from Jed and started walking back toward the house, the envelope loosely clutched in her hand.
"Grace?"
One by one, the photos dropped from her hand and floated onto the driveway, as if she were scattering rose petals. The envelope sailed downward and landed at Jed's feet. He ignored them as he followed Grace. When she reached the steps, she faltered. Damn! Was she going to faint?
Jed rushed toward her just as she staggered, her feet searching for the first step. When he put his arm around her waist to support her shivering body, she pivoted slowly around and laid her head on his chest. Tears streamed down her cheeks. He pulled her into his arms and held her while she wept.
Chapter 11
Grace lifted her head from Jed's chest and looked up at him through teary eyes. Hating herself for falling apart the way she had, she pulled back, disengaging herself from his strong, comforting arms. During those first few unbearable months after she'd lost her family, she had almost lost her mind, too. Once she had gone through her own personal trial by fire, she'd emerged a woman of steel. At least for the most part. She prided herself on not allowing her emotions to control her actions. But tonight, seeing those horrific photographs, she had reverted to that mentally fragile place she'd been right after the accident.
No, not an accident. After Daddy and Dean were murdered , she told herself. After Booth Fortier killed my husband, my father and my baby.
Emotion lodged in her throat. She swallowed hard and willed herself under control. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't usually…" Her voice cracked. Damn!
"Grace, it's all right," Jed told her. "Anyone would have reacted the same way." He held his hands in front of him, palms up, as if he wanted to reach for her.
She glanced down at the scattered photos and manila envelope in the driveway. Quivering, she closed her eyes, but instead of blocking out the sight of the pictures, she simply visualized them in her mind. Her eyelids flew open.
"I never want to see them again," she said.
Jed nodded.
"I should have listened to you." Grace wiped her damp face with her fingers. "Both you and the other Dundee agent tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen, would I?"
When she swayed slightly, Jed reached out to steady her. So strong was the physical reaction he created within her that his mere touch seared her, as if his hands were on fire. She tensed. Their gazes met and froze. Her heart pounded, loud and fast, rumbling in her ears.
"Don't try so hard to be brave," he told her. "You're only human. If you need somebody to lean on right now, lean on me."
She lifted her hand and placed it over his where he gently gripped her arm. "I want to go inside my house, up to my bedroom and shut out the world. I want to find a way to forget what I saw, to erase the memory of those pictures from my mind."
"I understand." He released her arm. "You go on. I'll gather up everything and take care of it, then I'll come upstairs and check on you."
"Just leave them," Grace said. "They'll still be there in the morning. Please, come with me… I don't want to be alone. Not just yet." She hadn't meant her words to translate into an invitation, but seeing the hunger in Jed's eyes, she wondered if he had misinterpreted. Although a part of her wanted Jed, the saner part of her kept telling her that getting emotionally involved with her bodyguard would be a major mistake. "I didn't mean… I'm upset and confused and-"