Page 27 of My One and Only (Blackhawk Security #10)

C am tightened his grip on her hands. “You don’t blame yourself for his death, do you?” She saw the horror in his eyes, and thank God she could give him an honest answer.

“No,” she said, her voice barely audible. “He’d clearly planned it carefully. Waited until I went down to lunch, and he knew he’d have at least forty-five minutes. He took a huge overdose, so he died quickly.” She stared down at her hands, and Cam knew she was reliving every minute of her experience.

Drawing a shaky breath, she said in a low voice “When I got back to his room, I knew immediately that he was dead. His stillness. His half-open eyes. The pallor of his skin.” She sighed. “And the empty pill bottle lying beside him on the bed.”

She took another shuddering breath. “I accompanied his body home. Stayed with his parents for the funeral, then left immediately.”

Cam’s eyes were steady on her. “You let his parents think he was the love of your life, didn’t you?”

Closing her eyes, she stared down at her hands. Nodded. “Yeah, I did. It hurt no one to tell them that lie, and it gave them some comfort knowing that Mike had found someone. Been happy for a little while. They’d visited him in Germany, and I made myself scarce. Told them they needed to spend as much time with him as possible.” She slid her hands beneath her thighs to hide the trembling.

“I don’t know what to say, Jo,” Cam finally said. “What you did for Mike? That was incredibly kind. And I know it was painful to see a man you cared about suffering.”

“The worst part was hiding who we really were from his parents.” She managed a smile, but it wasn’t easy. “They still send me a card on the anniversary of his death.”

“And you send them one, as well, don’t you?” Cam said, lifting her hands and pressing a kiss into each palm.”

She nodded as she stared at their joined hands. “They need to know he wasn’t forgotten.” She swallowed. “I know some of the guys in his Delta Force group call his parents every year on the anniversary. They were all incredibly tight. His death was hard on them, too.”

Jo looked at her phone and saw how close it was to lunch. No way was she in any mood to go back to Cam’s house and jump into bed. And she suspected he wasn’t ready for that, either.

“I’m going to make a list of all the people who might be involved in the shoddy materials scheme, then find their home addresses,” she said. “See who lives in the same neighborhood as the owners of the truck. We need a place to start to track down whoever is behind this scheme.”

“Yeah, good idea.” He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. “After exchanging our stories, I doubt either of us is in the mood to go back to the house for fun and games.”

“You’d be right about that,” she said, forcing a smile. She leaned closer and kissed him, and if the kiss went on longer than it should have, she didn’t care. She needed the comfort, the connection. And she was sure Cam did, as well.

When they broke apart, she sat down at her desk and watched Cam move slowly to his own desk. He glanced at her a few times, then finally sat down and opened his computer.

Jo studied Cam’s rental truck. She’d watched steadily all morning and hadn’t seen anyone even give it a second look. It was unlikely someone would tamper with it here, she knew. There was too big a risk of being seen. But she’d check it carefully the following morning before any of them got into that truck.

* * *

After picking Fiona up from school, they drove home. Jo was used to the routine, so she helped Fiona with her homework while Cam sat down at his home computer to get more work done.

Dinner was spaghetti again, and after Cam got Fiona ready for bed, she came out to say goodnight to Jo. Jo hugged her tightly and watched her head down the hall with Cam. She went into her own room tonight, apparently reassured after the quiet night before.

Cam came out fifteen minutes later and dropped onto the couch beside her. “She’s asleep,” he said, picking up her hand and playing with her fingers. “You know I want you. I’ll always want you. But… this was a tough day. Talking about Ashley brought too many memories up to the surface.

“And talking about Mike had to be hard for you. Reliving that time must have been painful. How about we just watch a movie tonight?”

Jo nudged him with her elbow. “Okay, Grandpa. I’m up for a movie.”

“Grandpa?” Cam said. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jo said, struggling to keep a straight face. “We’ve had that box of condoms for two days now and we’ve only used four of them. I’m beginning to wonder what I signed up for.”

“I’ll show you exactly what you signed up for,” Cam said, hauling her onto his lap and devouring her mouth. By the time he pulled away, both of them were breathing heavily. Moving against each other.

When he reached for Jo’s sweater, she grabbed his hands. “I think we need to take a break,” she said. “All the memories we dredged up -- yours of Ashley, mine of Mike -- were painful. It was difficult for me to talk about Mike, and I think it was hard for you to talk about Ashley. So maybe a movie is a good idea tonight.”

Cam ran his hands up and down her back. “I can be persuaded to change my mind about that movie.”

She nuzzled his neck. “Yeah, I could be, too. But I think we should stick with the plan. A movie, then a fresh start tomorrow.”

Cam nodded. “Okay. You’re right. What do you want to watch?”

“After shooting you down, the least I can do is let you pick out the movie,” she said. “So go ahead. Pick anything you want.”

They ended up watching the first Die Hard movie, and when it was over, Cam drew her into his lap again. “Makes me feel like we’re back in high school,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “Watch a movie together, when what we really wanted to do was tear each other’s clothes off.”

Jo smiled as she combed her fingers through his hair, letting the silky strands tickle her skin. “Yeah. The good news is, there’s always lunch tomorrow to look forward to.”

“Yeah, and I plan on feasting on you,” Cam murmured, sucking on the tender skin beneath her ear.

“I think we’ll be devouring each other,” Jo said as she nipped at his earlobe.

Groaning, Cam slid her off his lap and stood up. “If I don’t move away from you now, I’m not going to. I’ll see you in the morning, Jo.”

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed a scorching kiss to his mouth. By the time she pulled away, they were both panting. “Go to bed now, Jo, or spend the rest of the night in my bed.”

“I want to choose door number two, but we still haven’t talked to Fiona. So, instead, we’ll both get a good night’s sleep.”

“Not what I want right now,” he said. “I hate that you’re so practical.” He leaned in for another kiss. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You will,” Jo said, hauling him back for one last kiss. “Sleep well, Cam.”

“I’d sleep better if you were beside me.”

His words made her want. Yearn . “Tomorrow,” she said softly.

“I’ll hold you to that,” he said.

She watched until he disappeared into his bedroom, then she got ready for bed and slid between the sheets. But thinking about what she could be doing with Cam made it hard to fall asleep.

* * *

Before Cam and Fiona were awake, Jo threw on her coat and stepped into the cold air to check the truck. She had a routine, and a long stick with a mirror on the end of it. The first thing she did was look at the back end of the truck. She found nothing beneath the bed of the truck but hadn’t expected to see anything. But when she moved to the truck’s cab, she noticed something beneath the cab that shouldn’t have been there. A black bundle, with wires coming out of it beneath the passenger seat. A bomb.

So whoever placed that bomb knew that Jo drove the truck, and Cam sat in the passenger seat.

She backed away from the truck, looking around. Were there any unusual cars on the street? Any cars with people sitting in them?

No and no. But that didn’t mean the bomber wasn’t watching.

Moving farther away from the truck and its bomb, Jo stepped into the house and made sure the door was locked. Then she called the police.

“I believe someone put a bomb beneath the passenger seat of my truck,” she said. “I saw it with a mirror stick.”

“What’s your name and your address?” the dispatcher said. After Jo gave her the information, the dispatcher asked, “Are you safely away from the vehicle?”

“Yes. I’m in the house. I didn’t see anyone watching, but I know that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Stay in the house. Our bomb squad will be there shortly.”

“Okay,” Jo said, glancing at the truck out the window. It didn’t look like a deadly weapon. But it was. “Thank you.”

Cam wandered out of his bedroom, wearing pajama bottoms and a tee shirt. “What’re you doing up so early?”

“Checking the truck.” She eased him away from the door, toward the kitchen. “Go get Fiona,” she said. “Carry her into the kitchen. Both of you stay there.”

Cam suddenly looked wide awake. “What’s going on, Jo?”

“There’s a bomb on the truck. I was just out there checking it.” She swallowed. “I’ve already called the police, and the bomb squad is on the way. I’ve been worried about this. That’s why I’ve checked it every morning.”

“Oh, my God, Jo!” He stared at her, his expression horrified. “What if we had gotten into that truck and started it up?”

“We’d all be dead,” she said, her voice flat. “Go get Fiona but try not to wake her up. If that bomb detonates, her room is too close to the blast.”

He ran down the hall to his daughter’s room, returned a minute later with his sleeping daughter. Jo grabbed a throw off the couch and laid it on the kitchen floor. “Put her on this,” she whispered. “Maybe she’ll stay asleep.”

Cam laid his daughter down as gently as possible, then Jo let another blanket flutter over Fiona’s body. The girl shifted on the floor, then settled down again.

Jo heard car doors close quietly at the front of the house, so she moved to the living room window and looked out. Police officers and what looked like technicians swarmed around the truck. One technician swept the underbody with a mirror on a long stick, just as she had.

The technician studied the bomb for a long time, moving the stick around, clearly looking at everything on the bottom of the truck. Finally she withdrew the stick and moved away.

“You want some coffee?” she asked Cam.

“Coffee as an accompaniment to a bomb explosion?” he said.

“Hopefully not an explosion. I don’t want any police officers to get hurt. But they’ll have to disarm that bomb, and that’s going to require a lot of study.”

She grabbed Cam’s hand and drew him to the table. “Sit. I’ll scramble you some eggs and make some toast.”

Cam was staring at her, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t seeing her. “Someone put a bomb on my truck,” he said, sounding shocked. Horrified.

“Yes,” she said. “That’s why I check it every morning.”

The bomb was eventually disarmed and removed. The technicians loaded it into what they said was a blast-resistant container and attached it to the back of one of the vehicles. They assured Jo and Cam that they’d test the bomb for fingerprints and any other identifying factors and said they’d be in touch.

Jo and Cam used Jo’s car to drop Fiona off at school, working hard to talk just as they would on a normal school drop off. Once Fiona was safely in school, Cam turned to Jo. “What the hell, Jo?”

She drew a deep breath. “First of all, no one was hurt. So that’s a win. And there might be information on that bomb that could help us figure out who made it. But, yeah. Scary stuff.” She reached over and brushed the back of his hand. “The thing you need to remember is that we found it before anyone was hurt.”

“You found it,” he said. “It wouldn’t even occur to me to check for a bomb.”

“The person who put that bomb there?” she said through clenched teeth. “That’s what they were counting on. If I hadn’t been here, checking the car every morning, you and Fiona would have gotten into the truck and driven away. Died.”

Cam swallowed. “Yeah. Believe me, I know.”

The car rolled to a stop at a red light. “That didn’t happen,” Jo said. “But I’m worried. Whoever is behind these attacks is getting desperate. Nothing’s worked. I think you need to talk to the principal. Tell her what happened this morning and emphasize the importance of ramping up security at the school, and of keeping a very close eye on Fiona when she’s on the playground.”

“I’ll give her a call this morning.”

Fiona swiveled to glance at him. “No. In person,” she said. It’s too easy to dismiss a complaint or a problem when you don’t have to face the person who’s bringing it to your attention. Call her this morning. Tell her you’ll come in when we pick Fiona up this afternoon.”

Cam nodded a quick, curt jerk of his head. “As soon as we get to the office.”

“Okay. Good. Thank you.”

He turned to face her. “You’re thanking me for taking your advice?”

Jo blew out a breath. “You have no idea how many protectees refuse to cooperate. Refuse to listen. So I appreciate it when I don’t have to convince them to do what’s necessary.”

“Trust me, Jo. I’ll do exactly what you tell me to do.”

Heat gathered in her belly as she listened to his promise. She knew he was referring to her protection orders, but she needed to lighten this up a little. “Really, Cam?” she said, lowering her voice. “You’ll do exactly what I tell you to do? All the time?”

She felt his gaze on her face, and she wouldn’t allow herself to smile. Meet his gaze. Finally he said, “I think I can promise that I’ll do anything you tell me to do. Anytime. Any place.”

The heat in his voice made her want to cross her legs, but she was driving the car. Licking her lips, she said, “I’ll hold you to that, Cam.”