Page 15 of Stella's Christmas Rescue
“Can’t help that I’m popular with the ladies.”
“I know, I know, you’re a player with no remorse, whatever. That’s all bullshit, and you know it. Haven’t you ever wanted to find someone you want to be with? Forever? What about that waitress, Katie?”
I take a deep breath and shudder. “The word ‘forever’ makes me stop breathing, man. I’m not the type. Katie’s fun to flirt with, but I don’t see myself making babies with her.”
“Suit yourself, Jordan. Awfully cold in a one person bed, though. And the temperatures are supposed to drop tonight.”
“Better an empty cold bed than a cold woman in your bed.”
“Touché, but I’d think you’d be a little tired of the bachelor life by now. You’re what, forty—seven?”
“Forty—three, thank you,” I frown at him. “If I ever pick someone to make a family with, then it would be someone I can’t stop thinking about. Someone who makes me work, who makes me laugh. Someone I can’t get out from under my skin. You find me that girl, and we’ll talk. Until then, I’m a happy bachelor.”
“I’ll see about finding you that girl. After I get Stella handled.”
“Leave her to me. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
He snaps his fingers in memory of something, “Speaking of which...” Wes passes me a phone. “You can set up your passcode to it or use a fingerprint ID, but this is patched into all of the surveillance equipment here. That way, you have 24/7 access, like we do.”
“Wait,” I narrow my eyes at the phone, then him, “there’s a camera inhere, too? You put a camera in her bedroom?”
“Of course, why?”
“Did you see…anything from last night?”
Wes shakes his head, “It’s not like that. At night, the cameras in this room only come on, if the motion sensors on the windows are tripped or if she says the code word, then they automatically kick on. Why? What was there to see?”
“Playing innocent does not suit you, Wes.”
He grins, “I’m more innocent thansome, it would seem.”
I slug his deltoid, “Jerk.”
“I swear, we didn’t spy on your private time. We’re not a bunch of perverts.”
“If you say so. In the meantime, what do we do to calm her down about being stuck here in Floyd? She’s a city mouse, if ever there was one.”
Wes sighs, “We’ve moved her six times in three years. At this point, I imagine she’s more comfortable picking up and leaving, than she is staying anywhere. It’s not about Floyd it’s about Stella. And we need her to feel safe for more than her own mental health.”
“How do you mean?”
He frowns and says, “We’ve alerted all the hospitals for a hundred mile radius to keep their eyes peeled for an average height, average weight man with lacerations to his hands, andsince Tommy Kowalski’s murder, that is the closest we have gotten to having someone directly involved with Riker himself. Riker isn’t the big cheese of the smuggling ring, but he wants to be, and if we can get his associates, then we get closer to him, which is one step closer to keeping Stella safe.” He sighs.
“It sounds like you’re not telling me something.”
“There’s the other reason why keeping her here is the right thing to do. When she gets comfortable in an area, she contacts her family, which inevitably lead Riker’s men to her. And now we know that at least one of his men figured out that she’s in Floyd. Which means others probably know it, too, and?—"
“You’re using her as bait?”
Wes put his hand up, “Not exactly. But her playing fast and loose with all the rules has made it easier for them to track her down, and she keeps making it easy for them to find her. And if they keep coming at her, then we can use them to get to Riker.”
“So, she’s bait.”
“No, I don’t mean it like that, I told you?—"
I nod. “Yeah, you did.”
He huffs and says, “Listen, Jordan, the sooner we get Riker, the sooner Stella is safe again. The sooner she can be free from all of this.”
