Holding Out For A Holiday Hero

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

“Santa Claus is coming to town.

And he is gonna kick the ass of anyone who wants to hurt True.” – Jake Hale

“What are you doing?” A desperate shriek from Braden. “You can’t?—”

The lights flashed on overhead even as Jake bounded inside the exhibit. His gaze cut around the exhibit space. No sign of True. But there were some broken shards of pottery near a black display stand.

“She’s not here,” Braden said, voice cracking a bit around the edges. “And you just broke the doors. I am going to be in so much trouble. We have to get out of here, now.”

Jake hauled his phone back out and dialed her number again. It rang once, twice—he heard the rings in that damn display room. His focus zeroed in on the sarcophagus to the right.

“This is True. So sorry I can’t ? —

Jake thrust the phone back into a pocket and lunged for the sarcophagus. He could hear rings coming from inside that sarcophagus and…faint thumping sounds.

“No!” Braden jumped in front of him. “Don’t smash it the way you smashed the doors. This is on loan! Miss True will kill me if you damage it! Kill. Me!”

“Get the fuck out of the way, or I may damage you, kid.”

The kid got the fuck out of the way. Jake shoved aside the top of the sarcophagus. Shouldn’t the thing have been secured more? Locked in place or something?

Only when that top slid to the side, he didn’t see some ancient mummy waiting for him. He saw True. With ropes on her hands and feet and some kind of gag in her mouth. Her eyes were wide and terrified, and a killing fury tore through him even as he hauled her out of the sarcophagus. A freaking coffin. Someone stuffed True in a coffin.

“Sweets?” With True in his arms, Jake double-timed it out of the exhibit area even as Braden trailed him.

The kid kept saying, “OhmyGod” over and over again.

Once clear of that cursed display room, Jake lowered True to her feet. He ripped away the gag. Tore off the ropes that bound her wrists and ankles.

When she was free, True threw herself against him. Her small purse banged into his side. Her purse—the purse that must have her phone inside it. His arms closed around her.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t find me.” She shuddered and clutched him even tighter. “I could barely move. I was freaking out, and I thought you wouldn’t find me. ”

Oh, the fuck, no. The killing rage just flared hotter within him. “Baby, I’d find you in hell, then I’d beat the shit out of the devil who took you there.” Over her shoulder, he glared at a gaping Braden. “Call the cops, now. ”

Braden yanked out his phone. He called the cops, and Jake held True as tightly as he could.

“Don’t leave me,” True pleaded.

Rage twisted within him. “I’m not going anywhere.” His fear was too raw. His rage too savage. Someone would pay for terrorizing her. Jake would make certain of that fact.

You’ve just fucked with the wrong Santa.

Harris ran his index finger along the bridge of his nose as he studied Jake. “Santa, huh?”

“Fuck yourself.”

“Is this a new fashion choice, were you hit hard by the holiday spirit, or were you?—”

“I did it for True.” A True who was currently sitting at the desk in her office, with her shoulders hunched, and her beautiful eyes darkened by far too many shadows. Jake stood right beside her, and he found himself touching her every few moments.

Running his knuckles over her cheek.

Holding her hand.

Squeezing her shoulder.

Wanting to pull her into my arms and run the hell out of here with her.

But first, he had to deal with the cops. Or rather, one cop in particular. A currently annoying Harris.

“Can we get back to the freaking crime? ” Jake snapped. “Or do you just want to ride my ass about the Santa suit all night?” He still had on the suit, so sue him. At least he’d ditched all the extra padding—it was in the chair to the right. He hadn’t left True alone for a moment. Would not leave her. So he’d just be leaving that museum with the big red coat on.

Harris’s gaze darted over to True. “You’re sure you never saw your attacker?”

She swallowed. “It was dark when I went inside the exhibit area. N-not totally dark. It should have been. The door was ajar—that shouldn’t have been the case, either. I locked the exhibit before the holiday event so no guests would wander inside. But someone got in.” Her words came faster. “Someone had a light on inside. A small light—like a flashlight. And that someone—” Her breath panted out. “He put a hand over my mouth before I could scream. Everything happened so fast. I tried to fight, but he threw me in the sarcophagus.” A shudder swept over her. “I tried to punch him, but he tied my hands. My feet. It was so fast. He was too strong. And then he sealed me up.” Another shudder. “He sealed me up,” True repeated, seeming dazed.

Shock.

Jake turned her chair toward him. Then he dropped to his knees in front of True so she had to stare straight at him. “Hey, sweets.” His voice was soft. Gentle. For her. “I want you to focus on me.”

She stared straight at him.

“Pull in a deep breath for me,” he urged her.

She did.

“Let it out.”

She slowly exhaled.

He nodded. “You’re not sealed up.”

True shook her head. Her dark hair slid over her shoulder.

“You will never be sealed up again. We’re going to find him, and I swear to you, he will pay.”

“Uh, Jake?” Harris tapped him on the shoulder. “Can we have a word, outside?”

“No.” Just that. No.

“What?” Harris seemed to have trouble understanding Jake’s response.

“I’m not leaving True. You want a word, then we have it right here.” His hand rose, and his knuckles skimmed down her cheek again. He just had to keep touching her.

Her head turned into his touch. “I want to go home.”

Her home was a crime scene. They’d go to his place. Home. Jake rose. He reached for her hand.

“Who had keys to the display room?” Harris asked. “The lock is shattered to hell and back now—because of Jake’s kick to the door—but the guard, Braden, he said the lock appeared undisturbed when he and Jake first arrived. That tells me that maybe the perp who got inside had a key.”

“Robert has a key,” Jake told him. “He’s the head security guard. Braden told me that Robert had one.”

“And I have one.” True had risen to her feet. Her right hand remained twined with Jake’s. Her left hand opened the top desk drawer. A key ring—one much smaller than the massive ring that hung from Robert’s belt—waited inside. “My keys are always in the top drawer.” She reached for her keys.

But Jake’s fingers closed around her hand. “How about we let Harris and his crew dust for prints on those? Just in case the creep took your keys so he could access the display room and then he put them back in the drawer. If he did that, maybe the asshole left prints behind.”

A jerky nod from True. She let Jake ease her around the desk and toward the door. But she paused near a watchful Harris. “He had on gloves. When he put his hand over my mouth, I-I felt them.” Her gaze darted back to her desk. “If he was wearing gloves, then there will be no prints.”

“We’ll check. Thoroughly,” Harris added. No signs of his earlier humor showed on his face. In fact, the faint lines near his mouth appeared extra grim. “You remember anything else? Anything the perp said?”

“He didn’t speak.”

“What about a smell? You notice any smells?”

A negative shake of her head.

“You said he was strong.” Harris was clearly not giving up on getting some kind of description for the perp. “You get an idea of how tall he was?”

Another shake of her head. “I’m sorry. I was so scared, and…I wish I could help more. He was strong enough to pick me up. To shove me inside the sarcophagus.”

“Good thing a mummy wasn’t in there.” This time, Harris was the one to shudder. “Talk about hell.”

True stiffened. “Yes, that would have been hell.” Her head turned toward Jake. “May we go home now? Please?”

Damn straight they could. He took a step forward even as he tightened his grip on True’s hand.

But Harris stepped into his path. “The museum was wide open to the town tonight. That’s a whole lot of suspects—and I’m not just talking about the registered attendees at the event. Anyone could have come inside.”

Jake knew they had a list of suspects that would stretch for a mile.

“She was gagged. Bound.” Worry darkened Harris’s voice as he finished, “Whoever did this isn’t playing.”

Like Jake needed to be told that. Dead bodies weren’t dumped for shits and giggles.

“You don’t want to talk privately, so I’ll just have to put this out there for her to hear.” Harris’s lips tightened. “True, I think the plan was to hide you until Jake—and anyone else still here after your holiday event—left the facility. Then I think the perp was going to finish you off.”

All the color—and there hadn’t been much there—drained from True’s face. She swayed.

Dammit.

“I can offer you police protection,” Harris continued determinedly. “I can move you into a safe house. I can?—”

“No.” This time, True’s fingers tightened around Jake’s. “I have protection—I have Jake. I’m safe as long as I’m with him.”

Harris shared a long look with Jake. “You got this?”

Oh, he did. “If the bastard comes at her again, he’s dead.” Did that count as having it? Jake thought it did.

Harris’s eyes widened. “You can’t say that to a cop!”

Jake shrugged. He’d just said it, hadn’t he? No stutter. Loud and clear.

“And you’re in a jolly Santa suit!” Harris huffed. “You can’t make threats when you’re dressed like?—”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Jake growled. “If he comes at her again, I’ll deck the bastard’s halls so hard that he will never move again. Better? Is that Christmasy enough for you?”

“No, no, that is not better!” Harris’s eyes were huge. “You need to leave this to the police—to me!”

“Then the police need to get busy. Because there is no way in the world that I’m letting him get True again.” He pulled her closer to him even as he told Harris, “If you need us, we’ll be at my place.” For the rest of the night. But come morning, they were hunting. The bastard was not getting away with what he’d done to True.

Harris looked pissed, but he didn’t argue.

“There’s…one more thing,” True said, hesitant. “I’m sure it’s nothing, but…”

Both men focused on her.

“Right before I noticed that the exhibit door was open, I realized that I’d missed a call from my ex-husband.”

Jake stiffened. The ex. From Atlanta.

Where the dead man under the tree just happened to live and work… Like it wasn’t easy to connect those dots.

“Richard and I haven’t talked in ages. There’s no reason for him to call me, and—it’s odd, right?” A little furrow appeared between True’s brows. “The dead man in my home was from Atlanta.”

She’d clearly been connecting the dots, too.

“Richard—Richard Wells—is a prosecutor in Atlanta. He might have known the man we found in my house. I don’t—I don’t think Richard would hurt me.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Forget it. I’m just making crazy connections.”

Jake didn’t think there was anything crazy about her at all.

When Harris dipped his head, Jake understood the detective felt the same way. “On it,” Harris murmured.

Jake was going to be on it, too.

True’s eyes opened. “Do you have any other questions? Can we leave?”

“No more questions. Not for now, anyway.” Harris inclined his head. “But if you see anything or anyone suspicious, you call me, got it?”

If Jake saw anyone suspicious, he was taking the prick down. He pulled True closer to his body and, together, they headed into the museum’s hallway. Uniformed cops were in the Egyptian display room. Braden and Robert were talking quietly to one police officer. They didn’t even seem to notice when Jake and True slipped away.

But as soon as Jake had gotten True out of the building…

“Boss!” Perry rushed toward them. Light snow flurries danced in the air around him, and a puff of icy fog appeared before his mouth. “I got your text. The cops wouldn’t let me in, so I just waited out here for you.” His anxious stare darted to True as the nearby parking lot light fell on them. “You okay, ma’am?”

She shivered.

Jake shouldered out of his Santa coat and put it around her shoulders.

“Is that a Santa coat?” Perry squinted.

“You’re always giving me your coats to wear,” True murmured. “That’s…kind of you.”

He didn’t feel particularly kind. He felt like ripping apart the bastard who’d terrorized her and then sealing that prick in a coffin. Let’s see how that feels, asshole.

No, he’d never been kind. That had been her. True was the one who volunteered at the local soup kitchen at Thanksgiving. She was the one who organized the Christmas toy drive—yes, he’d donated when he saw her putting up flyers around town. She was the one who did things to help other people.

He was the bastard. The one who hunted down criminals for money. The one who got a sick rush from the job because he was a predator straight to his core.

She should be running far away from him.

I will not let her go.

“Uh, boss?” Perry was back to squinting at him. “You said you needed me for some work?”

Actually, he had quite the to-do list for his assistant. “Find Richard Wells.”

True’s head swung toward him. “My ex? You want Perry to find him?”

Damn straight, he did. Jake nodded grimly even as he focused on his assistant. “I want to know exactly where the guy was tonight. And yesterday, for that matter. I also want to know what connection he may have to Dylan Dunn.”

Perry straightened. “This is my first big case, isn’t it?”

“Perry, don’t you disappoint me.”

“I would never. ” Passionate. The kid looked like he was fighting the urge to salute. The ski cap on his head bobbed with his eagerness. “On it. Anything else?”

Perry was good with computers. Far better than just good , actually. One of the reasons Jake had finally given in and hired Perry had been because of the kid’s tech skills. “Check the financials of the employees at the museum. I want to know if anyone has seen a recent influx of cash.” The background checks on the employees had turned up clean, but Jake needed a deep and dirty dive into their financial records.

True sucked in a sharp breath. “On everyone? Even Aliyah?”

“Everyone.” They had to be thorough. “Let me know if any red flags fly, particularly on Braden Wallace and Robert Moss.”

Perry nodded. “I swear, I will not disappoint you.”

“Great. Fabulous. I know you won’t.”

“And may I say, sir, how happy I am to see that you’ve gotten into the holiday spirit?—”

“No, Perry, don’t say that shit. Just get to work.”

Perry all but ran away. His red scarf billowed behind him.

The snow flurries fell a little harder.

“I’d already decided to investigate your ex even before I found out about the phone call,” he told True as they made their way to his SUV. He opened her door. Lifted her into the seat. Not that she needed lifting.

Another excuse to touch her.

Jake didn’t immediately shut the passenger door. Instead, he leaned in toward her. “I’m going to investigate anyone that I think is a danger to you. You aren’t going to be threatened again. That shit is stopping.”

She pulled the red Santa coat closer to her body.

His chest ached. She’d just wanted a good night. Wanted to make the kids happy. He’d seen her working tirelessly. Preparing the hot chocolate. Giving out brightly decorated packages—a gift for each kid. The event had been free, he knew that. He also knew she’d had to spend hours and hours getting all the decorations just right. The place had been perfect. A Christmas dream. And she’d been happy. Her smile had lit the room. He’d been distracted by it more than once.

More than once? Try over and over again.

But she wasn’t smiling any longer. She was too tense. Too pale. Too scared.

He hated that. “How can I make it better?” Gruff.

She blinked. No answer came from True. Right. Because he couldn’t make it better. Not yet.

It will be better when I catch this bastard and throw him into a cage.

“Put on your seatbelt, sweets,” he urged her. “We’ll be home before you know it.” He shut the door. Double-timed it around the SUV. He climbed in the driver’s side. Cranked the vehicle, and started to shift the ride into reverse.

Her fingers touched the back of his hand. “Make love to me.”

Christmas music blared in the vehicle. He swore that he hadn’t put it on holiday music, but at this time of the year, all the stations were pretty much playing Christmas music non-stop. And because of the loud music, Jake could not be sure that he’d actually heard True say what he hoped she’d said.

She pulled her hand back.

He turned down the radio. Then his head swung toward her. “Say that again.”

She bit her lower lip.

“True?” Say it again. I need to hear those words again.

“You asked how you could make it better.”

His heart slammed into his chest.

“Will you make love to me?” She seemed to hold her breath.

No, dammit, he was the one holding his breath because holy shit, was this real? True wants me to make love to her? Now?

“I shouldn’t have asked—forget it,” she rushed to say. “I’m not myself. I just?—”

He leaned forward. Caught her chin with his fingers. And kissed her. Soft. Careful. Because she deserved every care in the world. “I will make it so better,” he vowed against her mouth, “that you will be screaming for more.”