Break Point (7 page)

He crept closer to the silhouette. His back was turned as he rifled through a duffle bag on the floor. “Freeze” Jake yelled but it drew a fist instead. He ducked just in time and knocked him in the back of the head. The intruder tumbled to the floor in a jagged heap, a pool of crimson blood forming under him.

Chapter Seven

Summer padded up behind Jake and stared down at the flaccid figure at Jake’s feet. “Oh my God,” she croaked. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”

“No, I didn’t kill him. I just knocked him out.”

“Yeah, knocked all the blood out of him.”

“It’s a head wound. Head wounds bleed.”

“How the hell would you know? You’re not that kind of doctor!” She jogged over to the light switch and snapped it on before kneeling down beside the man laying face down in the puddle. “This looks terrible. Shouldn’t we call the cops or something?”

“I’m telling you. He’s fine. I didn’t hit him that hard. Now, how about you step away so I can do my job.”

She stood up and moved aside with a flourish. “Be my guest.”

He walked around the body with his hands on his hips. When he turned, she saw the slightest gleam of his revolver. “What was that?” she exclaimed.

He followed her finger with his eyes and smirked like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. “A gun.” He pulled it out and pretended to inspect it. “Still is.”

“I thought we had an agreement about guns.”

“I didn’t shoot him, did I?” He jammed it back under his shirt, then dropped to his knee to pat him down. Finding nothing, he stood back up. “We’ve got to flip him over and get a look at his face.”

She took a few paces back when Jake wedged his foot under the body. With an effortless push, he flipped the man over.

Summer covered her mouth with her hand and gasped. “Oh my God! That’s Geoffrey.”

Jake looked over at her. “What?”

“Geoffrey!” She dropped to her knees beside him, slapping his face to jar him awake. “Nice job, Jake. You could have at least asked him who he was before you assaulted him.”

“I thought the man was trying to kill you.” he reminded her. “What the hell is he doing breaking into my house anyway? Isn’t he supposed to be in Bermuda?”

“How do you think he knew I was here?”

“I don’t know. He’s your fiancé.” Jake swung the guy over his shoulder and brought him back to the bedroom. He tossed him on the bed with a thud. “Does he always walk into stranger’s houses unannounced?”

“Probably won’t anymore.” She gazed at Geoffrey as he snored away. Love was not the first emotion she felt. More like a distant second behind guilt. Geoffrey had probably shown up because he thought she needed him. He was loyal like that. Her eyes wandered to Jake beside her, wondering if she could say the same for him.

She watched as he went over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. He dug through it, finally pulling out an old flannel shirt. “Look, you have to play tomorrow and you don’t want to be tired. So how about you head to the couch or the guest bedroom and I’ll keep an eye on Geoffrey.”

He was trying to get rid of her. No smile, no wink. It was hard to reconcile the man in front of her with the one who held her in his arms moments earlier. “What about you? Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“I’ll crash where I fall.” He handed her the flannel night shirt. “Can you please just put it on? It’s not right with you running around like that.”

She looked down, suddenly feeling over-exposed in her thin, cotton t-shirt. She undid the buttons and pulled it around her, then trudged back over to the door. “Good night,” she offered on her way out the door and didn’t wait for a response. Instead she headed toward the kitchen for some soap and water. Maybe cleaning up the bloody mess in the foyer would help ease her mind.

***

Jake pulled a chair up to the foot of the bed, his eyes fixed on the figure in front of him. He wasn’t sure what to make of Geoffrey Martin. Summer’s impression of a valiant hero held little resemblance to the short, balding, forty-something man who lay in front of him. Of course, Summer wasn’t like the shallow girls he hung around. She had class. Dimension. The kind of girl who loved people for “who they were,” whatever the hell that meant.

Geoffrey Martin was a liar.

Jumping up from his chair, he thrust his foot against the mattress. “Hey Buddy. Naptime is over. We gotta talk now.”

Geoffrey moaned and his eyelids fluttered before he settled back into even breath. Jake tried again. “Up and at ’em, Geoffrey. I got some questions for you.”

Slowly his eyes reopened. “Where am I?” he whispered, rubbing the side of his head. “What happened?”

“What happened is you broke into my house. Ever hear of knocking?”

Geoffrey licked the dried blood from his lips. “You must be Jake Harrison,” he said in a thick European accent. “Al gave me this address. He said it was a safe house.”

“Al Riley? What were you talking to him about?”

Geoffrey aborted any effort to sit up. Falling back on the pillow, he exhaled in a sigh. “I was getting ready to leave
Bermuda in the morning when Al called me and told me about some guy cornering Summer at a bar. I chartered an earlier flight. Is she here?”

“She’s asleep in the other room.” He nodded to
the closed door. “She’s okay.”

Geoffrey held his hand up, a signal he heard him. It was obvious Jake had caught him good. Probably a concussion. He would have let him suffer if he wasn’t so eager to pump him for information. Reluctantly, Jake went to the bathroom and brought back a cool, wet towel. He wrung it out then chucked it at Geoffrey. It hit him in the face with a smack.

“Good thing you decided to answer your phone for once, Geoff.” Jake said, hovering over him. “Where the hell have you been? Summer’s been calling you constantly.”

“On, location.”
He mumbled. “I’m hard to reach on location.”

“You mean to tell me the woman you love is in danger, and she can’t call you if she gets in trouble?”

“Summer knows I have other clients, and I can’t be at her beck and call. Besides, isn’t that what you were hired for? To be her bodyguard?”

Jake squatted down, looking Geoffrey in his beady, brown eyes. He looked more like a burrowing animal than a man. His overly-tanned flesh looked like hide rather than skin, and Jake could have sworn he could see the faintest incision marks where a woman m
ight have them from a facelift.

“You know Geoffrey,” Jake continued. “I would think a guy like you would have a hard time jetting off to an island paradise with another woman knowing your fiancé could be in danger.”

Geoffrey drew a deep breath pressing the towel against his forehead. “Look Mr. Harrison, I am a business manager and I take my job very seriously. I help tennis players make money. Nila Norcova is my client. That’s all.”

“You’re a lousy liar, Martin.” Jake folded his arms as he began to pace in front of him. “I took it upon myself to go through some of your business dealings. I thought it was pretty interesting you get a sixty percent cut of Nila Norcova’s earnings and only twenty five of Summer’s.”

Lifting the towel from his face, he opened one eye. “What are you getting at?”

“By Summer passing her crown to your little protégé, you stand to make way more money than you ever did off Summer.” Jake held his gaze, searching for some sign of guilt in his beady eyes.

“This conversation is ridiculous.” Geoffrey croaked. “You do realize we are on the same side here, right?”

“Do you love her?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Jake went over to his dresser producing an envelope from the top drawer. He looked at it a moment before tossing it in Geoffrey’s lap. “If she means so much to you, why are you trying to sabotage what’s left of her career?”

Geoffrey pulled the paper out, his eyes suddenly wide and bright. “Where you’d find this?”

“E-mail” Jake said simply. “You must have forgotten to delete it. It looks to me like Sports Illustrated wanted Summer to do the shoot in
Bermuda, not Nila. Tell me, if you love her so much, why would you want to stall her comeback?” He kneeled back down in front of him, and lowered his voice. “Unless of course you were the one who sidelined her in the first place.”

“You’re crazy!”

“Am I?”

Geoffrey’s jaw was agape and his lower lip trembled. “Has Summer seen these emails?”

“No.”

The pale in Geoffrey’s face darkened to deep red as he rubbed the side of his temple. “Look Mr. Harrison,” he finally said, “I don’t have to explain to you my business dealings, but I will tell you this. Summer’s career won’t last forever. Nila is the next big thing and it’s my job to milk that for all its worth. Hell, in the end it’s Summer who wins. Who do you think will be spending all the money I bring in?”

“So the ends justify the means.”

“Whatever spin you want to put on it is fine. It doesn’t matter anyway because as of now I will be terminating your services. This case is no longer open.”

Jake stood over him with his hands on his hips feeling his composure slowly slip away. “Listen pal,” he seethed “I’m sure you would love to get rid of me, but I’m not working for you which means you can't fire me. So you best understand I’ll be watching you, and if you do anything to hurt that woman in there, you’ll answer to me.”

“Are you threatening me, Mr. Harrison?”

“Yeah,” Jake smiled. “Absolutely.”

***

The moon was still high in the sky when Summer awoke on the couch. She guessed she hadn’t slept long, but it was time enough for an incredible crick in her neck to form. She reached around her shoulder to massage the offending knot, but stopped when she heard the angry mumblings behind the bedroom door.

She shuffled across the cold stone, preparing herself for a convincing performance. It would have to be of Oscar caliber to convince Jake. The love struck fiancé who missed her man. Definitely a stretch, and there was a reason why she rarely talked in any of her TV commercials. An outpouring of affection would probably encourage Geoffrey’s romantic intentions, but that was okay. If he was willing to risk breaking into a stranger’s house for her, the least she could do was indulge him with a kiss
or two on his bludgeoned cheek.

She took a deep breath then slowly turned the doorknob. Across the room, Jake stood over Geoffrey, their faces both red and their bodies rigid. “I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said sweetly. “I heard voices and I wanted to
make sure everything was okay.”

Geoffrey attempted to make eye contact, but fell back on the pillow instead. “I’m sorry Summer, did we bother you?”

“No, I was waiting for you to wake up.” She eased herself on the bed. “What were you doing sneaking into a stranger’s house, anyway? You were lucky he didn’t shoot you.”

“You’re right, darling, I won’t do it ever again. But I was so worried about you.” He reached up and touched her cheek. “I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.”

Jake hadn’t said a word. His expression gave nothing away and she figured that was intentional. This was an inspection. One if she planned on passing she would have to lay on the mush as best she could. She planted a quick kiss on Geoffrey’s lips. Her gag reflex responded when he did. Just her luck the guy was coherent enough to kiss her back.

She pulled away, resisting the urge to wipe the moistness from her lips.
“Geoffrey, did Jake tell you the great news? I’m playing tennis again. Can you believe it?”

“That’s wonderful, darling. What did I tell you? If you concentrate more on your tennis and less on that unfortunate incident, you’ll be glad you did. That’s what Jake and I were talking about.”

She looked at Jake, then back at Geoffrey. “What do you mean?”

“Well, since I’m home now, I thought maybe you would want to release him from his service.”

She pulled her hands from Geoffrey’s grip and slipped off the bed. “You’re kidding me, right? Whose ridiculous idea was that anyway?”

“Darling...
”

“Didn’t Jake tell you some guy tried to corner me in a bar tonight?

“Yes but...”

“Jake is trying to catch him. And he has leads, Geoffrey. That’s more than law enforcement has.” She tossed her hands in the air. “Why would you want to fire someone who is trying to help?”

Geoffrey covered his eyes and winced. “Summer, you’re yelling!”

“Well, I’m surprised you aren’t hearing me then.” Summer folded her arms against her chest. As a manager, Geoffrey always made decisions without her input, but when it came down to personal issues, she wouldn’t let him have free reign. “Look boys, here’s the deal. Jake will act as my bodyguard until the need for one no longer exists. Geoffrey, you will be working to make sure I regain my number one ranking. Now, I have an early morning practice that both of you need to be up for. I suggest you get some sleep.”

Turning on her heels, she strode out the door and slammed it shut behind her. If Geoffrey thought he could get rid of Jake, he was denser than Summer thought. And why would he want to in the first place? If she was Jake’s problem she wouldn’t be his. He would have more time to do his real job. Plan her come back.

She threw herself back on the couch and yanked a blanket around her. If she was overreacting, so be it. But having Jake around was wise, even if it was her father’s idea.
She closed her eyes and slammed her head on the pillow.