As soon as I heard the door click shut, I pulled away from Skylar and peered around the curtain. The coast was clear. Based on the ragged breathing at my back, I had some explaining to do.
I turned to face her. “Sorry about that. I thought I saw someone outside.”
Her eyes glistened with confusion. “Okay?”
“I thought I saw Sauters. I realized I wasn’t prepared to take him out so I had to make us blend in and quick. I didn’t see another way.”
“You didn’t see another way?”
I shook my head and paced around the room. “Take a look around, sweetheart. We appear to be staying in the fucking honeymoon hut.” She gave me a blank look so I continued. “People on their honeymoon can’t wait to get behind closed doors.”
“Oh, and I suppose you’d know about that.”
Her tone pissed me off. “Yeah, I would.”
“Did it work? Was it Eric?” Her skin grew pale as she spoke.
“We succeeded in blending in, but it wasn’t him. The guy looked a lot like Sauters though. He could be his twin.” I read the look on her face. “It wasn’t Vanderbilt either.” She swallowed hard and put her hand to her mouth. “Are you all right?”
Apparently she wasn’t because she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. Since we could barely tolerate one another, I decided it probably wouldn’t be welcomed for me to hold her hair back for her. Instead, I used the time to check in with Jenna.
And I got her voicemail. Big surprise.
“Hey honey, it’s me. I just wanted to let you know I’m in Hot Springs chasing down a lead on Sauters and Vanderbilt. I’m staying at the Villas.” I quickly read the contact information off of the phone. “I know you’re angry with me right now. I want you to know I’ve done a lot of thinking about the pattern you were talking about and I get what you mean.” I cleared my throat. “I swear to God, Jenna, there’s nothing going on…” I sighed. “I’ll call you when I can and…” Her voicemail cut me off before I could tell her I loved her.
Water was running in the bathroom. I walked over and tapped on the door. “Is everything all right?”
Skylar opened the door. Her face was pale, but she looked better than a few minutes before. “Yeah, things are great.” She brushed past me and sank down onto the bed. “It’s just a little stuffy in here.”
I opened the window and turned on the fan to get the air circulating. “Better?”
“Yeah.”
I sat next to her. “You’re obviously ill, Skylar. Go home. I can take care of this.”
She shook her head. “I’m not sick.”
“Right. The room was just stuffy and that made you sick.” She started to protest, but I cut her off. “People don’t just go pale as death and throw up for no reason.”
“I’m not sick. I’m…” Skylar met my gaze. “I’m pregnant. The morning sickness hits me at all hours of the day.”
Great. This was exactly what I needed in the middle of the impossible case. “If you’re pregnant then you really shouldn’t be doing this.”
“I don’t have a choice. I have to find Price.” A tear slid down her face. “It’s his baby. He has a right to know.”
I shook my head. “You know he’s…”
She held up her hand and shook off what I was about to say, so I moved on. “You realize this man is a criminal. If you’re looking to him to be a father to your child, I think you’ll be disappointed. There’s no reason for you to be involved in this.”
She wiped at her eyes. “You don’t understand and I don’t expect you to. Eric took my father from me and my child was robbed of knowing its grandfather. I couldn’t live with myself if I knew Eric also took the life of my child’s father and I could have done something about it. I’m staying right here.”
I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. She was too young to be dealing with this on her own. If Vanderbilt really cared for her then he should have been more careful. “But you do realize that even if you stay here and you tell him, he may not react the way you want him to.”
Skylar averted her eyes. “I know you think I’m a fool for doing this; I don’t care. He may have just been using me. It’s possible it was all just a part of the con to him, but none of that matters right now.” She placed her hand on my arm. “It isn’t about me and it isn’t about him anymore. There’s another life at stake right now.”
“So go home, Skylar, and take care of yourself for your baby.”
“What if it were you?”
Her question took me by surprise. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Imagine that the prosecutor was pregnant. Wouldn’t you have a right to know?”
“That’s completely different.” She currently wasn’t speaking to me anyway.
“I don’t see how. There’s not a ring on her finger.”
“That’s her call at this point.” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I realized I didn’t want to say them. The look on Skylar’s face told me my meaning was clear.
“I take it there’s a ring in play.”
“Yeah. I gave it to her this morning.” I read the look on her face. “She wasn’t thrilled I was leaving town with you.”
“That would probably fall into the category of things you’re not supposed to tell someone after you propose.” She cocked her head to the side. “You did tell her after, right?”
I rubbed my hands over my face. “I sort of asked her in the middle of a fight.”
“How could that possibly seem like a good idea to you?”
There wasn’t a great answer to that question. “She was accusing me of having an affair with you. She went into lawyer mode and started laying out all of this evidence.”
“I’m not fond of her when she does that either.”
“Except in your case, it was true.” When she didn’t respond, I continued, “I either had to give her the ring to explain my behavior or let her think something was going on between us.” I shook my head. “You tell me which of those is really the best option.”
“Neither, but it probably wasn’t a great move to leave town with the woman she just accused you of sleeping with.”
I stood and started to pace. “Yeah. In retrospect, that wasn’t my best decision.”
Skylar stood and touched my shoulder. “You really love her, don’t you? Lawyer mode and all?”
I sighed. “I really do, but I’ll be lucky if she hasn’t burnt all my stuff by the time I get back.”
“I’ll make you a deal, Caldwell. Last one, I promise.”
I turned to face her, indicating by my silence that she should continue.
“It may be a bad call on my part, but I love Price every bit as much as you love Jenna.” She moved her hands to her stomach. “I love this baby more – regardless of Price’s feelings for me. Please. Help me find Price and let me tell him about this. If you have to haul him off to prison after that then so be it. At least he’ll know.”
“That sounds a little one-sided to me.”
She nodded. “If you’ll do all that for me, I’ll help you to make things right with Jenna.”
It was a touching offer. “That may not be possible at this point.” I sighed. “I’ll still help you. My problems with Jenna aren’t yours.”
“Maybe. I still want to help you, but you should know something.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not naming my baby after you if it’s a boy.” She grinned at me for a split second before she crumbled into tears. “He might already be dead, Caldwell.”
Fuck. Even after growing up in a house with two sisters I still wasn’t numb to crying women. I pulled her against me and tried to comfort her as she sobbed. “We’ll find him. You have my word.”
© 2012, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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Oh yeah…the prison thing….:(…I don’t know how Price is gonna pull it off…but he’s just got to get himself out of this pickle…Jackson and Price are both pretty smart/resourceful…sooo….arrggh idk…maybe his original plan can still work of helping capture Eric in exchange for no jail. Either that or flee the country…with Skylar of course…
Yeah…so many things Price could have seen and misinterpreted if he got there at the wrong time…the kiss…the hug…:(
You know I am on board for a Skyce baby
Especially if it leads to Skylar and Price actually speaking this book, hehe…Can’t wait for Friday…If I remember correctly we are going to learn what terrible event Price went to (White Supremacy Club?, Kitten Torture Society?) that made Skylar go ballistic and press the button…
There’s a disproportionate number of hot blond guys running around those parts…
Yeah, something tells me that Price’s good looks and con man charms aren’t going to work on Jackson quite the same as they did on Skylar. Jackson always gets his man and Price always gets his way, so it could be interesting confrontation between these two indeed.
*nods* But surely Price isn’t as prone to overreact as Skylar is…is he?
Yes, they will actually speak in this book. And yes, Friday will reveal the event. Sorry, no Kitten Torture Societies. That’s more Eric’s cup o’ evil.
I don’t know about that. I live in Texas and we have a lot of hot guys running around here – blonde or not. Remember, if you’re going to pull off cons, you’ve usually got to be hot. Helps sell the lies.
Total off-topic side note: Every time I hear Snuff by Slipknot I think of the Price/Skylar situation. In particular, the line “My own was banished long ago, it took the death of hope to let you go” seems particularly relevant to the next chapter. (Yes, I’m one of those authors who sees the book as a movie in their head and creates a soundtrack to go along with it.)
Just had a quick listen and…oh no…losing hope? Letting her go? And that line about selling out to save yourself? No no no!
Don’t give up hope Price!
Could be she’s the one who’s losing hope and letting him go. Just a thought…
Awww! Looks like the beginning of a beautiful (platonic) friendship for Jackson & Skylar
Or at the very least I think they will understand/tolerate one another a little better now…and no panty flinging or yoga…phew!!! So I wonder if Jenna will simmer down and return his call?
Ahh Skylar is pregnant! Finally we have a confirmation! Poor girl it sounds like the morning sickness has not been treating her too kindly…pretty hard to hide it when you’re running off to puke every other hour huh. And she still admits she loves Price <3
I have a bad feeling about the Eric lookalike Jackson saw though
Would be bad if it was Price…although I think he took a little too long enjoying his freshly squeezed lemonade to get there that fast…but I'm worried it is really Eric and he's about to start up with some evilness … Watch out Jackson and Skylar!!!
Don’t get all warm and fuzzy on me just yet. Jackson does want to put the man she loves behind bars. That could put a major kink (and not the fun kind) in any friendship.
Yes, she’s pregnant. Never really much of a red herring, but I still didn’t want to ruin the “aww” factor. Probably wouldn’t be too bad if it just tormented her first thing in the morning. Having to stop every five minutes could really hinder his investigation.
Oh, Eric’s about to start up with his evilness, all right, but I wouldn’t worry too much about the lookalike just yet. Even off his game because of Jenna, Jackson’s a good enough agent that if he says it wasn’t Eric or Price, better than even odds it’s not them. As for Price…Remember, time isn’t always linear between my chapters and Jackson did take a while wandering around the hotel before asking for directions. This is Skylar we’re talking about, so the lemonade may not have held him up all that much.