Hot Pursuit Read Free Page B

going to be all right,” she said again, more to herself than to them. “He has to be.”
    “I’m
sure
he will,” Jenn murmured.
    “My laptop is in the office,” Van turned back to tell her. “I didn’t want to take the time to stop and pick it up.”
    “I’ll send it to you,” Jenn promised. “First thing in the morning.”
    But Van shook her head. “Let me get to California,” she said, “and figure out where you should send it. I’m going to be at the hospital with Ken, and—”
    “Wait to send it,” Maria instructed, “until you hear from us.”
    “Absolutely,” Jenn said. “And just let me know if there’s anything else you need.”
    “We’ll be in touch,” Maria said.
    “I made a list of all the meetings both Maria and I had scheduled for the next two days.” Van handed Jenn a legal pad. “Maria should be back after that.”
    “But if I’m not—” Maria interjected.
    Jenn didn’t let her finish. “I’ll take care of everything,” she promised again, flipping through the pad. Savannah had filled five pages with notes and lists.
    “Page three and four are the interns’ schedules,” Van instructed. “Keep them going with the voter registration drive—these next few weeks are vital. Oh, and Douglas was helping me organize both a literature drop and weekend canvassing—again, focusing on getting out the vote. He can be a little defensive and I’ve found he’s easiest to deal with if you give him plenty of time to talk. You don’t have to do it his way, you just have to hear him out, okay?”
    “Got it,” Jenn said.
    “Gene and Wendy are working with him to create a list of block captains,” Savannah continued, “and … You have my number. If you have any questions—”
    “Call
me,”
Maria interrupted, as she pulled to the curb in front of… Zachary Towers?
    No way. The “friend” that Savannah’s Uncle Alex knew was Robert Zachary?
    But yes, as they all clambered out of Ford, as Jenn humped her friends’ bags out of the back seat, she saw that it was, indeed, the real-estate mogul emerging gracefully from his trademark stretch limo, dressed down in jeans and a sweatshirt. His eyes widened, as most men’s eyes did, when he caught sight of Maria and Savannah. But then Savannah’s uncle was there, too, pulling up in a cab, introducing them all.
    Well, almost all.
    Jenn wasn’t affronted by the oversight, just resigned. The good news was that she would never need a cloak of invisibility when her gorgeous friends were around.
    “Thank you,” Van said, giving Jenn a hug.
    “If you need
anything,”
Jenn said again, but then they were gone, swept away into the building as the night guard leapt to unlock the door for his rich and famous boss.
    Jenn climbed back into Ford and headed for home.
    It was going to be a long night.
    Savannah was gone.
    She’d flown back to California before the sun had come up, long before he’d realized she’d escaped him and that his plan was ruined.
    He’d wanted to scream when he found out. Scream, and wail, and tear at his clothes and hair.
    He wanted to kill her—Jenn, the one who’d told him the news—right there and then. He hated her in that moment more than he’d ever hated anyone, as she promised all who were standingthere in that pathetic little office that she’d keep them posted as to the husband’s condition.
    He was glad that he’d decided, back when he’d first worked out the details of his plan, not to make her his girlfriend. He’d done that before—played at normal with his victim, sometimes for weeks, before making her more permanently one of his own.
    But Jenn wasn’t his target and the thought of having to talk to her, to sit with her, to share her bed and make love to her…
    He couldn’t do it, couldn’t settle for her mundaneness, couldn’t betray his powerful emotions.
    And although he wanted to, he didn’t now slash Jenn into a hundred bleeding pieces—because doing so would not get him that