Two Devils and a Soup too Hot
Jessica warred with herself and then sighed. If Anthony Shaw wanted in, he would get in. She finished dressing and went downstairs. When she opened the door, he was casually leaning in the shadows of her front porch. He slid into the house and went right to the kitchen as if he had been there before. Jessica looked at the driveway, out of habit, and realized that only her car was there. She frowned as she looked down the drive and over to the pool house.
There was no other car to be seen.
She shrugged inwardly and closed the door. She reached the kitchen and Anthony Shaw was making coffee. She frowned again—she hadn't bought any coffee. Since she became pregnant, the smell of coffee made her nauseous. He smiled at her as she sat down at the table. He joined her and looked at her for a long while before he began speaking.
He sucked his teeth. "Wanting to kill your sister. Seeing you now, I am going to assume it was the hormones." He shook his head. "It can't be done, Jessica. Well, it can be done, but I would have to set things in motion to make it possible.
Colonel Samuel Lance is a formidable opponent."
He shook his head again. "I think you should give it up. It does not change how much I owe you." He looked at her, his gaze intense. "What is it that you are truly after? You know how I have always felt about you. Tell me what you need and I will see to it."
Jessica sighed, then shrugged. "The truth is, I want Dan Trace."
Anthony Shaw nodded, then got up to pour himself and Jessica a cup. Watching him pour, Jessica realized that she was not nauseous. Anthony Shaw smiled at her as he placed the cup before her.
"It is a type of tea. It is naturally sweet and it has a chocolate-caramel-nutty flavor."
Jessica frowned into the drink, then looked up to watch Anthony Shaw drink from his own cup. She tasted hers and found herself pleasantly surprised. Anthony Shaw laughed softly.
"Let me help you, Jessica. Better yet, come with me. I will take care of you and your baby."
Jessica took another sip of her drink, then put her hand to her belly. She looked at him. "They are mine, but they are also a scheme." She stood, taking her drink with her. "Thank you for understanding, Anthony. I overreacted by putting a hit on Amber." She took another sip, this time actually licking her lips. "You know it is impossible for you and I."
Anthony Shaw nodded and looked to a canister on the counter. He pulled out a package of dense brown and green powder. Jessica looked down at her drink as Anthony Shaw placed the package on the counter.
"Here. This is the tea. You seem to enjoy it, so I will leave it for you." He took her hand and looked into her eyes. "You already know that I will wait for you for however long it takes. I will be honest with you, Jessica: if you decide to marry this Dan Trace—I will kill him. That is a promise."
He kissed her hand and smiled sweetly at her. Jessica swallowed audibly as he walked to the back door and left. She picked up her phone—clicking on the backdoor camera—and watched him walk across her backyard and disappear into the shadows.
A chill ran down her spine as she thought about Dan and how she had put him in danger. She looked at her phone and sighed. "Call Samuel."
As Jessica called her brother, a tech at the Two Minds Private Eye offices was calling Clarence Dens. He listened to Jessica disconnect the phone before there was an answer. Clarence finally picked up.
"Sir, there is something you need to hear from the taps on the Trace case."
"Okay. Send them over and keep listening."
"Yes, sir. I will also send over some cell activity. There is an email from Renee Davenport."
"Good."
The call disconnected, and the tech went back to listening to Jessica, even as he sectioned off audio recordings to send with the email. All the while, Anthony Shaw was tracing a signal. He was no longer going to try and kill a Lance, but he would find out who was spying on his Jessica.