Page 19 of Two Hearts
He gave his head a shake.None of it mattered at the moment.What mattered was getting her out of the line of fire, keeping her safe.Not the puzzles in his head or the sudden feeling that he’d just been harshly slapped out of a pleasant but nonsensical dream.And certainly not the way her body felt, long and firm, beneath his, or the way her heartbeat thudded steadily against his chest.Or how close her mouth was…
Dammit.
Jack kissed her.Suddenly, and without warning, quick and hard.And then he rolled off her, grabbed her hand and pulled her into a run.
She tugged back.“We can’t leave them!”
He was ready for that, and holding on tight, pulled her onward.“We won’t.”
“Over here!”JW called, and they headed for the sound of his voice, ducking behind a clump of some bush or other that smelled like garbage.
Only when they were there, invisible to the guy in the house, did Jack start to breathe again.
“Hey there, Grace.Nice to see you again.”
Grace eyed JW, the gun in his hand, and shook her head.“So I take it you’re not in the professional security business, either,” she quipped.
“Sure I am,” JW told her.“I’m a cop.If that’s not professional security, I don’t know what is.”
Grace lowered her head, lifted it again after a long moment.“You, too?”she asked.
Jack could only nod.He saw her eyes growing damp.“Jack, why?Why did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t lie to you… Hell, Grace, I knew damn well you’d react this way.”
“What way?”
“It’s over.I’m quitting just as soon as JW and I wrap up this case, taking a job offer from one of Harry’s friends, and then everything I ever told you will be the truth.”
She bent her brows until they touched.“You can’t make a lie into the truth!What kind of twisted logic are you—”
“Ah, don’t be too hard on him, Grace,” JW said.“Or…should I say, Amazing Grace?”
Grace’s mouth slammed shut and her eyes widened.She swung her head around.“Where did you hear that?”
“Well, it was your nickname in college, wasn’t it?”
Grace seemed to glare at JW, and JW just grinned and went silent.
Jack just sat there, hearing faint traces ofTwilight Zonemusic in the hum of the swamp bugs.“Why did they call you ‘Amazing Grace’ in college, Grace?”
She waved a hand as if it were unimportant.“I…played a little bit of…basketball.It was just a team nickname.”
Jack blinked.“You played college basketball.”
“It was nothing.I mostly warmed the bench.”
But it was so totally opposite to everything Jack knew—or thought he knew—about his wife.That she’d even want to be involved in sports, no matter how little playing time she’d had.“And you knew about all this?”Jack asked his alleged best friend.
“Well, yeah.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, shoot, you wouldn’t let me tell her you were a cop!I figured fair was fair.Figured she’d tell you herself when she was ready.Besides, it’s not like she’s been sneaking out every day to shoot hoops while telling you she’s at the office, now is it, Jackie, my boy?Hmm?”Then JW looked at Grace, and so did Jack, and neither could have missed the guilty look on her face.“Or have you?”JW asked.
“This is ridiculous!”Grace said.“Listen, my sister and my best friend are in that…that hovel with guns to their heads.Don’t you think we can save all this for later?”
Jack looked at JW and JW looked back at him.They both nodded.
