She smirked at his words, but did as he said. At first, she didn’t see anything and thought she wasn’t doing it right, and then images started to come forward. Images of a tall, chain-link fence, of men wandering around in the cold. The men were dressed in the same dark blue jackets, and many wore the same dark blue hats. Her heartbeat sped up when she recognized the next thing she saw. A guard tower standing high above the tall fence. It was a prison, and if she wasn’t mistaken, it was Wyestate prison.
She opened her eyes and the images left all at once. She swallowed. “Are you a guard at Wyestate?” Another long silence.
“Jennah...”
She shook her head at the pleading way he said her name. She was all too familiar with that pleading tone, and she was not falling for it ever again! “Are you?”
“No.”
She closed her eyes and tried to fight the crushing feeling that was taking over her chest. “Are you an inmate, Dominic?”
“It’s not...”
“Are you?”
“Technically, yes.”
She tried to take a breath, but her lungs felt like they were closing on her. Everything was closing in on her. She’d been here before, too. “Goodbye, Dominic.”
“Jennah...”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She pictured a door slamming closed and locking. Even though the image was inside her head, the sound echoed, and it felt so hollow inside of her now. She sat there with her eyes closed for a few minutes more, waiting to see if it had worked. She wasn’t sure how much time went by, but there were no more words from Dominic. No sound of any kind.
~
Dom stood there and stared at the white ground. Dammit! Why hadn’t she listened to him for two more seconds? He ran a hand down over his face and briefly glanced around the yard to make sure he was still in a safe position. He should have told her sooner, explained it to her that first night or at least on the second one.
He slid down the icy wall and squatted with his back against the wall, looking down at his clasped hands. He’d felt the pain from her, the feeling of betrayal, and it had crushed him to be the one that had caused it. She had invited him to spend Christmas with her! He wasn’t a cheery Christmas kind of man, not since his parents were both gone, but he wanted to spend it with her more than he wanted anything right now.
“Palmer, you okay?”
Dom looked up quickly to see one of the guards standing on the other side of the fence a few feet away from him. “Yeah, just freezing my nuts off out here.”
The guard, whose name he couldn’t remember, laughed. “It is cold out today, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t move to stand. He didn’t want to be seen talking to a guard. He had enough problems.
“Listen...” The guard peered around and scowled before he looked back at him. “Normally I keep my ass out of things around here, but I needed to warn you.”
Dom glanced around the yard and noted no one was really paying attention to them. “About?”
“They’re onto you. Watch your back.” The guard reached down to fix the pant cuff tucked into his boot.
“They?”
The guard straightened and shot him a quick glance. “The cons and the guards.”
“Fuck!” He dropped his head back down.
“Watch your ass and get your handler to get you the hell out of here.”
“Thanks.” He lifted his head to ask him if he knew how, but the red-headed guard was walking the other way. Shit! Now he was in way over his stupid head. Which brought him right back to Jennah. He should have told her. She could have helped.
Checking to make sure he was still in the clear, he took a deep breath and reached for her. “Jennah?” He waited. Maybe if he just kept quiet for a few minutes and let her cool down she’d come back.
Standing, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed. Who was he kidding? She wasn’t coming back. She thought he was a criminal. Dammit! He sighed when the bell went off for them to all go back inside. He needed to come up with a plan, and he needed to do it soon.
~
Jennah pushed the boxes back into the corner as she swatted at the tears running down her cheeks. She was acting like a twit and she knew it. So some lonely con had taken her for a ride. It’s not like she’d fought it in any way. Part of her needed it as much as he probably did. If he’d been inside for a long time, then he was most likely lonelier than she was.
It was her repeated poor judgement that was bothering her the most. The first man, flesh or dream, that she had opened herself to since Dalton and look what had happened. She should have pushed for answers with his vague and evasive responses. She knew better.
It was just as well they’d never met. Even in her mind everything about him called to her, and she responded to everything to do with him.
Walking into the kitchen, she stopped and looked around, then sighed and walked back out again. She headed toward the bathroom and decided nothing fixed heartache like a bubble bath. A bubble bath, and then she’d either have a good cry or clean something. Either would help fix this in a hurry.
After the way her day off had dragged and tormented her, and yesterday with the storm and no one out doing anything, Jennah was actually happy with the busy chaos of the crazy season. She hadn’t had any time today to stop and think about things, particularly Dominic. If she had too much free time, she knew she would have checked him out in the database, just to see, and that would have been the worst thing she could have done. To know he was an inmate was bad enough, and from what she knew about Wyestate, petty criminals didn’t get sent there. How could she have been so stupid? Not to pick up on the clues? He was evasive, asked her what she did at the station, asked her about Wyestate, and even confessed it had been a long time since he’d been with a woman. Some cop you are, she thought. A man that looked like that could have any woman he wanted so why would he voluntarily abstain? He wouldn’t. So the only possible ans
Sitting down, she set the folder on her legs and took a few deep breaths. She pictured unlocking the door and opening it. “Dom?” She sat there, gripping the bench, and waited. “Dominic?” Nothing but silence answered her. Opening her eyes, and she flipped open the folder again to look at his picture. His hair was longer than she had seen it, but it was definitely him. His eyes were dark and cold, but they’d have to be if he was playing the part. She read his stats a few times, trying to commit them to memory. Turning the pages, she read the reports that followed. She frowned. If she was reading it right, this went back many years. What was someone as young as Dominic doing in on it? She kept reading, and then stopped suddenly and re-read the one paragraph. Suspected in the killing of Officer Palmer... Dom’s father? That would explain why he was neck deep in it. C
Jennah looked in the mirror for the tenth time. She’d chosen something she wouldn’t be ashamed of wearing when she met Dominic, but it was still revealing enough to distract any guards from thinking she was there for anything other than a conjugal visit with her husband. The black skirt was short, but not too tight. She wasn’t that out of character that she would wear something that would show off her little paunch, as she lovingly referred to the extra part of herself that had seemed to start growing around her middle in the last year. She turned sideways and studied her profile, or mostly her stomach. It didn’t appear to be the huge bulge her mind always told her was there even though she knew it wasn’t—mostly. Turning again, she bit her lip and wondered about the red blouse she was wearing. Maybe it was showing a little too much cleavage. She had more than enough of that to spare. Running her hand under her arm, she
Dominic took slow steps toward her, his eyes roving all over her as he did. When he stood right in front of her, his gaze moved to hers. She felt his hands touch her hips, but she couldn’t look away from his eyes. He lowered his head toward her and buried his face in her neck as he pulled her gently into him. “What are you doing here?” he whispered beside her ear. She smiled when the voice she’d missed hearing vibrated right through her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she nuzzled beside his ear. “Your captain sent me. Your contact has disappeared.” She paused as his breath brushed up against her neck. “They’ve been trying to find a way to get to you,” she whispered as quietly as she could. He lifted his head and the look in his eyes as they swept over her face made her knees weaken. He smiled and gently brushed his lips over hers. “So they sent you?” She smiled against his mouth. “A
She needed no further encouragement and began to slam her body down onto him. Each time their bodies connected, he groaned. His hands held her hips tightly as he picked up the pace and pulled her down onto him. She moaned when he thrust up into her at the same time. Leaning back, she balanced her hands on her heels and dropped her head back so she could move faster. His hand moved to her breasts and kneaded them as she bounced down onto him. She cried out and lost the rhythm as she started to come again. He held onto her hips and forced her to keep moving through it. Moaning, she dropped forward again and tried to catch her breath. He pulled her hair so her face was level with his and kissed her frantically. She wasn’t even sure how he moved without separating them, but she found herself on her back with him still buried deep inside her. “Not done with you yet, babe.” He sucked at her throat. “Won’t ever g
Jennah stopped the car when she knew she was a safe distance from the prison. She got her phone out of the glove box and quickly dialled Captain Wilds’ number. He answered on the second ring. “Captain, its Jennah Best. We have a problem.” “You’ve seen Dom?” She closed her eyes for a second. “Yes. He’s presently recovering from two stab wounds.” “Is he all right?” Her eyes flew open. “No! The inmates and guards, as well, know who he is. He said the warden is the one running all of it.” “The warden?” His voice was louder. “Think about it. Why else would cons and guards go after Dom?” “Son of a bitch!” Now he was getting a clear picture. “You have to get him out.” There was a long silence. “If the warden is in on it, how can we? The original plan was to find the source and then bring the warden in on it...” “Shit!
Dom bolted up in the dark when the glass door opened quickly. He grabbed his side and winced at the person in the door. “Barry?” Barry held his finger over his lips. “You’ve been paroled, let’s go!” Not taking the time to ask stupid questions, Dom got off the bed and reached under the mattress. He pulled out the blade Jennah had given him and nodded to the man in the doorway. Dom stepped out the door and then froze when another guard was standing there. One he didn’t recognize. Barry leaned close in behind him. “It’s okay. Pete is as sick of the shit in here as I am.” Dom nodded and then started to follow the guard. Barry moved alongside him and reached out to put a cuff on one hand. “Hold the other one to look like it’s closed.” He checked over his shoulder. “If anything happens, you grab my swipe card and get your ass locked back in that room.” Dom nodded as he placed the cuff
Jennah hung up the phone with a loud groan. It had been nice of Captain Wilds to call her with an update, even if it wasn’t the one she wanted to hear. They had a few leads on the warden, made three more arrests, and had spent the last week checking out contacts, which was all good. It was coming together. Dom was still in a safe house, and from what the captain implied, he wasn’t happy having to stay out of sight. She sighed and watched out the window. It was snowing again, and she felt as heavy as the snowflakes looked. She had tried to connect with Dominic several times in the last week, but hadn’t been able to. She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t. The captain had said he had been exhausted and spent a few days resting more than anything, but now he was working the case with them. Did he have her blocked again? She was wishing she had asked him more questions on this thing that they were able to do. It wasn’t as if