"Ah, Grace… Blondie-"
She kissed first one cheek, then the other. "I love you, Jed. Knowing who your uncle is doesn't change that fact."
"But do you trust me?" he asked.
"Yes, of course, I trust you."
"Enough to put your life in my hands?"
"Yes. Now and forever." She kissed him with a passion born of desire and uncertainty.
Jed returned her kiss, deepened it, took it to its furthermost reaches. When she curled her arms around his neck, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to bed. And they made slow, sweet love to each other, savoring every moment, understanding how precarious and unpredictable life can be.
Chapter 21
Elsa finished checking e-mail, then rose from her swivel chair and picked up her empty coffee mug. Grace had asked her to send out for lunch, so Elsa had included her order with the others. The delivery boy from Café Continental should be here in the next five minutes, giving her just enough time to refill her coffee mug and drop off a couple of file folders to Mr. Prentice's office. Odd that she hadn't seen him this morning. Customarily he made up excuses to frequent Grace's office. Maybe he'd finally realized he was never going to get to first base with Grace, especially now that Jed Tyree was in the picture. Although Grace hadn't confided in Elsa about her personal relationship with her bodyguard, it didn't take a genius to figure out they were crazy in love. It was all they could do to keep their hands off each other. What a time for Grace to fall in love, Elsa thought, then sighed. She was twenty-eight and had never been in love. When had she ever had time to form a serious relationship with a man? Being both mother and father to her three siblings hadn't afforded her the luxury of even dating all that much in the past ten years.
When Elsa approached Mr. Prentice's outer office, his secretary Terrie, who stood with her ear to her boss's door, saw Elsa and put her finger to her lips in a Be Quiet gesture.
"What's going on?" Elsa asked.
"Sh… Mr. Prentice just arrived a few minutes ago and I notified Mr. Tyree, as I'd been told to do. Then Mr. Tyree came storming down here and marched right into Mr. Prentice's office and has been giving him a tongue-lashing. It seems he's accusing Mr. Prentice of betraying Ms. Beaumont." Terrie leaned back against the door and listened. "Oh, my gosh, I believe Mr. Tyree just fired Mr. Prentice."
"I don't think Mr. Tyree has that authority," Elsa said.
"Uh-oh, it's gotten awfully quiet in there." Terrie scurried away from the door and barely made it into her chair before Jed barreled out of Hudson Prentice's office.
"Morning, ladies." Jed grinned as he glanced from Elsa to Terrie. "Why don't you take an early lunch today, Terrie? Mr. Prentice will be leaving for the afternoon. He has an appointment with Chief Winters, who will be here shortly to pick him up for questioning."
As soon as Jed disappeared down the hall, Terrie leaned over and gushed with information. "Mr. Tyree accused Mr. Prentice of being in cahoots with Booth Fortier. I didn't believe it, but now I do. If the chief of police is coming to get Mr. Prentice, then it must be true. Mr. Prentice claims that Mr. Tyree has no evidence against him, but he sounded scared. And Mr. Tyree said that the Dundee Agency has Mr. Prentice's personal telephone records that show he recently made several phone calls to a man named Oliver Neville."
Elsa dropped the file folders on Terrie's desk. "Don't spread this type of gossip around the office. Wait until Ms. Beaumont makes an official announcement. If Chief Winters isn't going to arrest Mr. Prentice, only question him, then perhaps it's all a big misunderstanding."
"Oh, yeah, sure thing. But I heard Mr. Tyree tell Mr. Prentice that things would go easier for him if he told the truth instead of waiting until the police had more evidence against him."
Elsa nodded, then turned and headed back toward the kitchenette area near her office, knowing the minute she was out of earshot, Terrie would be spreading the news throughout the complex. Elsa wasn't sure why the thought that Mr. Prentice might be involved with a mobster didn't surprise her. Perhaps it was because she'd never really respected Hudson Prentice, although she'd often felt sorry for him. What did surprise her was that he would betray Grace. She'd been so sure he was in love with Grace.
No sooner had Elsa returned to her desk, with a full coffee mug in hand, than her telephone rang. As she placed her coffee on a coaster atop her desk, she picked up the receiver.
"Sheffield Media, Inc. Grace Beaumont's office. How may I help you?"
"To whom am I speaking?" The voice was disguised, making certain Elsa couldn't identify it later.
"This is Elsa Leone, Ms. Beaumont's personal assistant."
"Miss Leone, I have someone here with me who'd like to speak to you."
"Who is this?" Elsa asked as she buzzed Grace's office, per Jed Tyree's instructions, were she to receive a suspicious call. "What do you want?"
"Elsa, it's Troy." Her brother sounded scared to death. His voice quivered. "Please, sis, you've got to help me. If you don't do what they say, they're going to kill me."
" Troy, who has you? Where are you?"
Jed rushed out of Grace's office, an extension phone to his ear. When Elsa looked up at him, he nodded and motioned for her to keep talking.
" Troy? What's going on?" Elsa asked.
" Troy 's a little tied up right now," the voice said. "But he sends his love."
"What do you want?"
"Your cooperation."
Elsa's stomach knotted painfully. "I'm listening."
"How much do you love your little brother? Enough to exchange your boss's life for his?"
Elsa closed her eyes as the painful realization hit her-someone connected to Booth Fortier had kidnapped Troy. "I don't understand-"
"Now, don't play dumb with me, Miss Leone. Not when I know what a smart girl you are. So listen up. Here's the deal-you find a way to bring Grace Beaumont to us and we'll give you back your little brother all in one piece."
"But how do you expect me to-"
"That's your problem. Figure it out. I'll call you back in one hour to tell you where we'll make the exchange."
The dial tone screamed in Elsa's ear. The end. Finality. Elsa glanced up at Jed, her frightened gaze meeting his troubled glare. "What-what am I going to do?"
"Don't panic," Jed told her. "We'll find a way to help your brother."
"But how? You heard what he said-they want Grace."
"Who wants me?" Grace walked out of her office into Elsa's just as the delivery boy from Café Continental arrived.
After Jed took the box lunches, then paid the boy and tipped him generously, getting rid of him as quickly as possible, he explained the details of Elsa's recent phone conversation to Grace.
Grace put her arms around Elsa. "We won't let them harm Troy." She looked to Jed. "Will we?"
"I don't want either of you trying to figure out a way to help Troy. Do you hear me?"
Jed's gaze went from Grace to Elsa and back to Grace. "I need to talk to the other Dundee agents, then contact my boss." He put his hand on Elsa's shoulder. "We'll figure out a way to save Troy without putting Grace in danger."
Elsa nodded, but knew in her heart that what Jed Tyree had promised them simply wasn't possible.
An hour later, after Elsa received the second phone call from the mystery man and Jed had been in contact with both Sawyer MacNamara and Dante Moran, the Dundee agents were assembled in Grace's office.
"No way in hell am I going to allow this," Jed bellowed.
"It's the only way to save Troy," Grace said.
Jed paced the floor like a wounded bull preparing to charge. Grace understood how he felt; if their roles were reversed, she'd feel the same. And it wasn't as if she was being noble or was fearlessly prepared to walk into the lion's den. She was scared senseless. But they truly had no other choice.