Janelle Taylor by Night Moves Page B

trouble.
    Terrible thoughts raced through her mind. What would she do if there was an intruder in the house? What if somebody was trying to kidnap him? What if somebody had hurt him?
    She had promised Phoebe she would keep the little boy safe. That was Jordan’s all-consuming mission when she burst into his room, prepared for anything …
    Except what she found.
    Spencer lay on his back, sound asleep.
    Puzzled, Jordan took several steps closer to the bed, wondering if the scream could have had another source. But the television wasn’t on downstairs, and all the windows were closed.
    Besides, she had recognized the sound. She’d heard the same terrified shriek last night, when a nightmare had awakened Spencer.
    He must have been having another one just now.
    As she watched, he tossed his head restlessly on the pillow. He muttered something.
    Jordan leaned closer.
    He spoke again, saying something about a pilot.
    Or was it a pirate?
    His next word was much clearer.
    It was “no,” and it came out in an eerie, high-pitched plea.
    “Spencer …” She reached out to stroke his head. “It’s okay. Shh …”
    The little boy whimpered and turned fitfully away.
    “No … please … no …”
    “Spencer, wake up,” Jordan whispered. “You’re having a nightmare.”
    His eyes slowly opened wide, filled with stark terror.
    “It was just a dream,” Jordan said in a soothing tone, resting her hand on his cheek. “Everything’s all right It wasn’t real.”
    “Yes, it was.” He was trembling.
    “What were you dreaming about?”
    “The pirate,” he said without hesitation.
    “Well, he wasn’t real, sweetie. Pirates aren’t real.”
    “Yes, they are. This one is really real. He’s scary and bad and mean, and he has a black eye patch.”
    A black eye patch. Okay, the classic image of a pirate could be scary. Black eye patch, black hat with skull and crossbones, peg leg or hook arm.
    Jordan remembered Spencer’s earlier mention of not wanting to choose a movie about pirates. She recalled seeing the animated movie Peter Pan when she was little, and being so frightened of Captain Hook that she had to sleep with the light on.
    “Pirates are only in movies and on TV, Spencer,” she began, but he cut her off with another vehement protest.
    “They are not. They’re real!”
    “Well, they used to be real,” she conceded. “Years ago, pirates used to sail the seas, and bury treasures, and that sort of thing. But not anymore.” That wasn’t entirely the truth, but she assumed he was talking about eighteenth-century buccaneers and not modern-day pirates.
    “I saw a real pirate with my mom and dad. And he’s a bad guy. Really bad!”
    “Spencer…”
    He cowered into his pillow. “He’s coming to get me!I want my mommy.” His words dissolved into a shuddering sob.
    “Oh, Spencer.” Jordan pulled him close. He stiffened, but she didn’t let go.
    Eventually, she felt his little body relax. She held him and stroked him and crooned to him until his eyes began to flutter closed again. When he lay back on his pillow, she pulled the covers up to his chin and began to tiptoe out of the room.
    “Stay,” he said softly, and she turned to see his sleepy gaze on her. “Please?”
    Warmth pooled within her, and she smiled. It was a small victory, but an important one. He wanted her here with him. For once, he wasn’t pushing her away.
    “I’ll stay,” she whispered.
    And she did, sitting on his bed long after he’d drifted off to a peaceful sleep at last.
    As he walked up the steps to Jordan’s town house, Beau told himself that he was prepared for anything. But he knew that wasn’t true.
    He wasn’t prepared to learn that there was a criminal side to Jordan Curry. That seemed as unlikely as a blizzard blowing into town tonight.
    Beau hesitated in front of the door and wiped a trickle of sweat from his forehead. According to the televised weather forecast he’d seen earlier, the relative humidity tonight was