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Down, boy. Get her the hell out of here.Yet he had to find out. Jace removed the frog from his jeans pocket and held it in his palm. “I saw this. Why did you keep it?”
Kara glanced at the frog, and color suffused her face. “I don’t know.” A shrug. “I like frogs. Maybe I found it hard get rid of it.”
He stared at the frog. “I remember the day I gave you this. We had only been dating a short time. Went to that antique fair and you were educating...well, trying to educate me on the finer points of valuable antiques. I bought this because—”
“I said you were like the frog prince, except instead of kissing a frog and turning him into a snobby handsome prince, I kissed a handsome prince and he turned into a real man, who liked hot dogs as much as he enjoyed a gourmet dinner and wasn’t afraid of a woman knowing more than he did.”
A slight smile touched his mouth. “Yeah. That was a special day.”
They’d gone to his condominium that night and he’d cooked her a simple dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. They’d killed a decent bottle of red wine and made love for the first time, long into the night. The little frog had sat on his nightstand, a witness to their tangled passion, a secret smile on his crystal face.
They had it good back then, when he thought nothing would separate them. Felt as if he’d found the woman who knew his soul, a woman he wanted to make happy for the rest of his life. He’d felt it deep in his bones that Kara was the one.
Jace turned away and placed the little frog on her dresser. Those days were long gone. “Hurry up.”
To his surprise, she picked up the frog, wrapped it in a shirt and tucked it carefully into her suitcase.
As she came into the living room, Kara gripped her suitcase.
“Do you think whoever killed those kids will come here looking for me? That biker, Mike, he saw me with you, Jace.”
“He’ll come looking for me before he targets you, babe. But you have a great security system and even better neighbors.”
She bit her lip. “Where are we going?”
“Someplace safe.”
“Not good enough, Jace. I need to know where, because if you don’t tell me, I’m driving to the bank and a safe-deposit box.”
“For your underwear?” Jace frowned, totally confused.
“You are such a guy.”
Kara squatted down, unzipped her case and withdrew a velvet bag. After she opened it, he stared inside.
Jewels. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphire jewelry.
“It’s the rest of my stock from the Vandermeer sale. I didn’t want to leave all of it in the store. I can’t risk anyone taking these as well, so they’re going with me until I can get a safe-deposit box.”
Kara tossed the case inside and zipped up her overnight bag. Jace looked around. “Don’t worry. We’re headed to someplace safe, where you and the jewelry will be protected. We’ll take my bike.”
“I’m driving.”
“I want to get there today, not next week.” Jace sighed.
Kara scowled. “I don’t drive like an old lady.”
“No, an old lady is a NASCAR driver compared to you, babe.” He took the keys, jingled them. “Fine. I don’t have time to argue. The sooner you’re away from here, the better I’ll feel. You follow me. Let’s go.”
As he wheeled her suitcase out to the car, she looked around as if for the last time. Kara hugged herself as he opened the trunk and deposited her suitcase.
“Will your friends object to me staying there, and you ringing their doorbell this early? It’s barely six.”
“They’re early risers.”
He itched to get her to safer ground, leave her where no bad guys could find her.
But Lance’s reach had many tentacles. He only hoped she’d be safe, and out of danger.
