And now it was Emilys life on the line.
What about her father?
A shudder racked Tess at the mere thought of her secret being revealed after all these years. Emily was in grave danger at the hands of her kidnapper, but the note proved she was still alive. She could still be found and rescued.
But if the truth came out now, there might be nothing Tess could do to save her daughter.
Chapter Two
Heres your mail, Mr. Spencer. And your messages.
Jared Spencer stood gazing out the window of his fathers officehis office nowidly gauging the flow of traffic on the street nine stories below. He turned as his secretary bustled into the room. Thanks, Barbara.
She held up a newspaper. I brought you a copy of the Journal, too. Your father always liked to read the paper first thing in the morning with his coffee. She paused tentatively. I seem to recall you take yours black.
You have a good memory.
She turned back to the door. Ill get you a cup right away.
No, dont bother, he said, distracted. I can get my own coffee.
Her eyebrows rose. Its no trouble.
Thats all right. I dont expect you to wait on me.
Whatever you say, Mr. Spencer. She fussed with the mail for a moment, then folded the paper just so on his desk. Oh, dear. Her bifocals hung on a chain around her neck, and she perched them on the end of her nose as she scanned the headlines. That poor little girl is still missing.
I beg your pardon?
She looked up over her glasses. You havent heard about it? A five-year-old girl was kidnapped almost three weeks ago from a school playground in Jefferson County. They still havent found her.
Thats too bad. Jared walked over to his desk and glanced down at the paper. The little girls picture stared up at him. Dark hair, dark eyes.
What a beautiful child, he murmured, struck by the girls arresting features.
I know. I saw the mother on television the day after it happened. She looked just devastated, poor thing. I have a grandson the same age as the little girl. I kept wondering how I would feel if it was my daughter standing in front of those cameras, begging some madman to bring her child home.
I hope they find her soon. For a moment, Jared couldnt tear his gaze from the little girls picture. He hated to think of an innocent child being taken from her mother, suffering unspeakable horrors at the hands of some psycho.
I hope so, too, but after all this time Barbara trailed off, shaking her head. The world is a sad place. But I guess you know that as well as anyone. Her gray eyes swept the spacious office. It just doesnt seem the same without him, does it?
No, it doesnt.
Is there anything else I can get you, Mr. Spencer?
Not at the moment. He looked up from the newspaper and smiled. Im still just trying to get my bearings.
Youll do fine, she said in a motherly tone. She paused at the door on her way out and glanced back into the office. It will be strange, though, without him.
That was an understatement, Jared thought, sorting through his messages. He still hadnt gotten over the shock of his fathers sudden death. He kept expecting to look up and see Davis Spencer stroll through the double office doors, demanding to know what the hell Jared was doing sitting behind his desk.
Jareds father had died four weeks ago from a massive coronary that had taken everyone who knew him by surprise. Jared had always thought his father would live forever. He was too stubborn, too powerful, too manipulative to do otherwise, but in the end, hed been just an ordinary mortal, succumbing to an all-too-human frailty.
And so Jared had been summoned back to the corporate office in Jackson after a six-year stint in New Orleans, where hed overseen extensive renovations to the grand old Spencer Hotel on Royal Street. The Jackson Spencer, opened at the turn of the century, was the flagship of an elegant fleet of four hotels scattered throughout the South, but the New Orleans Spencer, established some thirty years later, was the most famous, a crown jewel shimmering with old-world ambience and charm in the heart of the Vieux Carré.
The assignment to restore the hotel to its former grandeur had been both challenging and grueling, but it had also been a good place for Jared to make his mark. Hed earned a lot of respect and accolades from his peers over the years, even if at times his drive and determination had made him one of the most hated men in the company. But that, too, had toughened him. At the age of thirty, hed already become a man to be reckoned with.
Which was a good thing. His younger brother, Royce, had had six years to make inroads in the upper echelons of the Spencer Hotels Corporation while Jared had been out toiling in the trenches. For as long as Jared could remember, he and his brother had been fierce rivals, a situation encouraged by their father to prepare them for the real world.
Whether it was on the football field, in the classroom or climbing the corporate ladder, Jared and his brother had been taught at an early age that it was a winner-takes-all world. The loser, it was always understood, got nothing.
But where Jared had thrived on the competition, Royce had grown bitter over the years. He deeply resented Jareds ascension to the presidency of the company, even though the position didnt offer complete autonomy. Jared answered to a powerful board of directors, and his promotion could prove all too temporary if he didnt live up to expectations. His age and experience troubled the old-timers on the board, and they would be watching him closely for any slipups, any lapses in judgment that would give them ample cause to remove him.
Jared didnt know what his brother had to complain about. As executor of a trust set up by their father, Royce had acquired no small amount of power himself.
Frowning, Jared thumbed through the mail. The trust had come as a complete surprise. Unbeknownst to anyone except Davis Spencer and his attorneys, hed devised the ultimate contest between his sons. The first to produce a Spencer grandchild was given, upon Daviss death, complete control of a fifty-million-dollar trust.
But Royce didnt seem to appreciate the fact that the real prize wasnt the trust, but his family. He had two great kids, a son and a daughter, but unfortunately, he seemed all too preoccupied with the money and the power it brought him. And even that wasnt enough.
The board should have named me president, hed ranted after the funeral, when hed learned of Jareds appointment. Their decision had nothing to do with whos the better man for the job. You got that appointment solely because youre the eldest. Dont kid yourself into thinking you deserve it. Youve been away for six years. Six years, damn it, while I stayed here and worked my butt off. While I catered to the old mans every whim.
What do you think Ive been doing down in New Orleans? Jared retorted. I paid my dues, too, Royce. I spent fourteen and fifteen hours a day, seven days a week, on that project. You want to talk about working your butt off? You want to talk about sacrifice?
Oh, please. Royce gave him a killing look. You were in New Orleans, for Gods sake. Do you know what I would have given to be in your place instead of stuck here with the old man?
You could have been there. That project was up for grabs six years ago. But you werent willing to start out at the bottom, like I was.
Oh, yeah, it was up for grabs, all right. And you grabbed it so fast, it made my head spin. You just couldnt wait to get down there and prove yourself, could you? You couldnt get out of Mississippi fast enough.
That part was true, Jared thought, but not for the reasons Royce had mentioned. Jareds leaving had nothing to do with their father and very little to do with ambition. Hed left Mississippi because of Tess.
Tess.
Funny how he hadnt thought of her in years, but the moment hed returned to Mississippi, the instant hed smelled the roses at the lake house, her image had popped into his head. Hed been transported back in time, to the very moment when hed first realized that Tess Granger, the daughter of his mothers housekeeper, had grown into a beautiful, desirable woman.
He was just back from his graduate work at Harvard that summer, home for the first time in nearly two years. The familyincluding Royce and his new wifehad all driven up to the lake house for the weekend, but by Sunday afternoon, everyone except Jared had gone back to the city. He was finally alone, and the solitude suited him at the time because hed been feeling pressured by everyone in his life, especially by his father, who insisted it was time for Jared, as the eldest son, to assume his rightful place in the company. And then there was the endless competition with his younger brotherit had all become overwhelming.
Jared had been restless that afternoon, in desperate need of a diversion. And just like that, there she was. A sun-kissed Eve, tempting and beguiling, skinny-dipping in his swimming pool.
Tanned and slim, her golden-brown hair trailing like a mermaids behind her, she glided through the water like a dream. She didnt have a stitch on, but she seemed completely oblivious to her blatant sexuality.
Who was she? Jared wondered as he watched her from the French doors that looked out on the pool. And what was she doing trespassing on private property?
Not that he cared, of course.
When she turned and floated on her back, he saw that shed pilfered one of his mothers prized roses and brazenly tucked it behind one ear.
Opening the French door, he stepped out on the patio. She didnt appear to hear him, but floated serenely on the water, eyes closed.
Hello there.
She gasped, sank, swallowed water, then began to flail wildly. Finally getting her balance, she plunged lower into the water, covering her breasts with her hands. Ithought everyone wasgone, she managed to sputter.
Jared grinned. Obviously. He walked over and picked up a towel from one of the patio tables and offered it to her.
It took her a moment to regain her composure, but she did so admirably. She gave him a cool, reproving look. Turn around, please.
Jared complied. Behind him came the sound of splashing water as she swam to the side and hitched herself out of the pool, then grabbed the towel from his hand.
You can turn back around now.
Swathed from neck to knee in white terry cloth, she lifted her chin defiantly. I suppose youre going to tell my mother about this.
Tell your mother? How could he, when he didnt know who she was or where she lived? On the Eden side of the lake? Most of the locals did. The north side was reserved for vacation homes and exclusive estates owned mostly by out-of-towners, and was sometimes derisively referred to as Sin City by the locals.
You dont know who I am, do you? she challenged.
Should I?
Im Tess.
Tess?
A look of annoyance flickered across her features. Joelle Grangers daughter. You remember Joelle, dont you? Your housekeeper? She said it almost as a jeer, as if she was chiding him for something other than his faulty memory.
Joelle had served him breakfast on the patio just that very morning, so, of course, Jared remembered her. But he also remembered her daughter as a scrawny kid with wild, curly hair and braces. This couldnt be Tess.
My God, he said incredulously. When did you grow up?
She shrugged. Oh, lets see, I think it was just after you left for your Ivy League education up north. Harvard, wasnt it? I guess you didnt get back down here to the sticks very often after that. Except for the wild party you threw one New Years Eve that my mother and I had to clean up after.
He winced at the censure in her tone. Sorry, he muttered, not knowing exactly what to say in the face of her animosity. You were paid for your services, werent you? He knew it was the wrong thing to say the moment the words left his mouth, and sure enough, her expression darkened.
Oh, of course. Weve always been well paid for our services, Mr. Spencer.
Call me Jared.
That wouldnt be appropriate.
Why not?
She gave him a withering look. Because my mother works for you.
She works for my parents. That doesnt have anything to do with you and me.
Sure it does. She picked up her clothes.
Wait, Jared said impulsively. Dont go yet. He hadnt met a girl hed found this interesting in ages.
I have to go. My mother sent me over here to make sure the house was locked up after everyone was gone. But since youre here, you can look after things yourself. You dont need me.
Youre wrong, Jared thought. He did need her. He hadnt been a bit lonely until she showed up, but now the prospect of spending the evening alonewithout her Look. Weve obviously gotten off on the wrong foot here. Stay, and let me make it up to you.
How?
We could just hang out for a while. Theres no one here but me. I could fix you dinner, wait on you for a change.
Her eyes narrowed. And what would you expect in return?
He hesitated a fraction too long. The towel shed been clutching slipped a bit, and Jareds gaze dipped.
When she saw the direction of his stare, her face flushed bright pink. In your dreams, buddy.
Hey, he said to her retreating back. Arent you forgetting something?
She turned at that.
He nodded toward the soggy rose that still clung to her hair. Youve trespassed on private property and stolen one of my mothers prized roses. Serious crimes that usually entail dire repercussions. But if you stay and have dinner with me, well just forget all about it.
She gave him a hard, measuring look. There are two things you need to know about me, Mr. Spencer. One, I dont respond well to threats. She reached up and snatched the rose from her hair, tossing it to the ground at his feet. But here. By all means, take back the rose. I dont care much for the expensive hybrids anyway. All show and no substance, if you ask me. Like some people I know.
Ouch. He grinned. That hurt. Whats the second thing I should know about you?
She gave him a sly smile. Dont worry about it. Youre never going to get close enough to need that information. And with that, she disappeared inside the pool house to dress.
As last lines went, it was a good one, and Jared had been left staring after her, intrigued, amused, and aroused as hell.
Shed stolen his heart that day, but it wasnt until the end of the summer that hed learned what an accomplished thief she truly was.