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Chapter Fourteen
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“Gorgeous!” Jack exclaimed as he answered the front door. “How did you get here so fast?” he asked, not showing his annoyance to Shannon. Although, he was quite annoyed and Shannon would pay for this. Her interruption didn’t allow him the enjoyment of getting rid of Payton, in addition to fixing up the cut now on the side of his forehead.
“I called you when I was on the road to surprise you on my arrival,” she chirped, as she flashed him her smile and big brown eyes that had caked-on makeup that she had spent hours on this morning, doing it just right. “I couldn’t stop thinking about how right you have been about how Payton takes me for granted.” Shannon took a seat on the couch, fidgeting with her fingers, crossing and uncrossing her legs.
Jack quickly took a glance to the door of the master suite—no sound, no movement. Hopefully, Payton would stay knocked out. It was too bad that he couldn’t finish the job. The way he tied up Payton should ensure that they would not hear from her.
Shannon interrupted his thoughts. “Who just leaves and sends a message to her assistant? No respect. Just like you have been telling me.” Shannon decided to stand up and began to fidget with her skirt. She was always very cautious and felt very much out of her comfort zone right now.
Jack naturally made Shannon nervous and here she was to spy on him, making her even more on edge. He was incredibly good looking, in a rough and tough way. He radiated a sexy toughness that only a man could. She imagined that it must be from the farm where he used to live and work at. He had told her his whole life story and how he loved being a cowboy.
She was very flattered that a man—a real man and not some metrosexual man—was interested in her. In fact, it almost made her refuse the cop who had requested her help with information on Jack and Payton’s crime spree. But she knew Payton must be innocent. Payton was a lot of things, to be admired or not, but a thief was not one of them. The cop had been very adamant that in order for her to prove Payton’s innocence, he’d need her help.
It was the head investigator who had finally convinced Shannon. He was overweight and looked like he may have once been good looking in his much younger, slimmer days. Once Logan Fischer had convinced her to help him, it had been a whirlwind. She finally caved and agreed to help after his continual persistence of coming into the office. Something in him made her give him a chance.
“I’m glad to hear that you’re taking a stand. Come, let’s celebrate with a drink.” Trying to be reassuring, he draped his arm around her shoulder as he guided her out of the room and onto the patio where he already had the fruit and wine all set up. There was one more thing he needed Shannon to do before she disappeared as well. Since she was here, he might as well kill two birds with one stone…
Here Shannon was now, outside on Jack’s patio with a bunch of wires, tiny microphones and cameras on her person. She was unsure how it had come to this. She had liked Jack and found him incredibly sweet, interesting and handsome. He had only been nice to her—unlike so many other men. In return she was here to see if he was guilty, of who knows what. How did she get talked into this crazy, unnerving plan? It was impossible to concentrate on anything that was going on with all of these guilty thoughts running through her mind. What if Jack made an advance on her? Her body wanted to be able to scream YES! But then her cover would be blown. And if it were true she would be in deeper trouble than she could ever imagine.
She thought back to when Logan first revealed he actually wasn’t there to buy property. He strutted in like he owned the place and was entitled to all privileged information. He flashed his badge more often than she thought the situation warranted. She liked him better when he looked like an innocent creep. A flash of this time came into her mind.
“Good afternoon,” Shannon greeted Logan, as she remembered him instantly.
He showed two photos as he spoke. “Do you know these two?”
She looked at Payton’s and Jack’s photos. Gesturing to Payton’s photo, she replied, “Yes, Payton owns this office.”
She had always thought politeness got you further. She was unsure of his intentions or the reason why he was asking so many questions. Something was not adding up. She hoped he was not a lunatic or some stalker.
“She is in a lot of trouble unless you can help me.” His brashness scared her a little. She hoped she would not be out of a job. She really liked working for Payton, it was the best job she’d ever had.
The memory of this interaction faded away, causing Shannon to be more torn up about being here to spy on Jack.
*
Payton awoke withher head pounding, as if in time to the second hand on a clock. Thud, thud, thud. Zip ties cut into her hands and ankle at each slight movement she made. It was at this moment she realized, and was joyful, that it was only her head that hurt. She was still alive and had not been defiled. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until her lungs began to burn. As she tried to roll on to her side to survey the room, a piece of glass jabbed into her hip. Overall, nothing about this looked good. No matter where or how she repositioned herself glass burrowed into her skin. It dawned on her that no one knew where she was and even if they were to figure it out they probably wouldn’t think to look in Jack’s room for her.
She looked around; everything seemed to have a special look, a brighter color. She had never realized how precious life was, as she had always taken it for granted. Awareness of her predicament and her unavoidable death looming made her feel light-headed and nauseous. Her eyes darted around the room to see if she could use anything to help her escape. What she did not understand was why she was here and how she fit into it.
Payton could hear the sound of muffled voices in the room. She would have liked to scream out for help, but the silver duct tape around her mouth and head would have made it difficult for any sound of hers to be heard.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.Her cell phone echoed from inside her cleavage. She had forgotten it was in there. This gave her a renewed sense of hope.
