“I beg your pardon?”
“You should. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you called police work. I mean, I could’ve put my ten-year-old niece on this and she could’ve gotten further than you.” Never mind that I didn’t have a niece. “It almost seems as if someone was directing this office to Mercer, to arrest Mercer.”
“Miss Dulaney, you’re walking on thin ice here.”
“So, to be completely honest about where I’ve been, I’ve been investigating Jessica’s murder. What I found out was pretty interesting. Like, did you know that Jessica was seeing someone besides Mercer?”
“All the more reason for him to murder her.”
“In your eyes, maybe. What I thought, though, was that maybe finding this other man could be beneficial. After all, some of the things Jessica said about him… they were awful.”
“What are you going on about?” The sheriff shifted in his chair, his face hardening.
“I’ll break it down for you, real simple. Jessica told multiple people that she was sleeping with an older man. Someone who was powerful, dangerous, and married. Something happened between them and she threatened to tell his wife about the affair. He flipped out. Jessica was leaving town before she disappeared, which was why her friends weren’t all that concerned at first about her vanishing. She’d even met up with a man to get a new identity.
“Do you think, Sheriff Hayes, that this man would be a person of interest? A man threatens a woman, scares her bad enough that she tries to leave her entire life behind to get away from him, and then she vanishes and is found murdered. I mean, I’m not a sheriff, but I feel like I’d be interested in looking into that man.”
Chapter 19
Lauren
Sheriff Hayes stood up and shook his head. “You would do anything to save your friend from his own fate.”
“You’re right. I would do anything to save him. Not from his own fate, though, but from the fate that you decided for him.” I stood up, too, and glared at him. “I did a lot of research, sheriff. You see, Jessica’s friends thought that she was involved with some kind of cop. He would tell her that he was going to lock her away. Weird—right?”
“I’ve got shit to do today, Miss Dulaney.”
“I noticed that you were a cop back then, Sheriff Hayes.” I let the sentence hang in the air for a few seconds. “A cop back then—a sheriff now. A sheriff in charge of investigating the murder of Jessica.”
“What are you trying to say? And before you go on, I’d be very careful if I were you.”
I shrugged. “I’m not saying anything. It’s just a really small world, isn’t it? And I bet anyone who knew Jessica back then, however they knew her, would’ve known that she was with Mercer. If they were close enough, they’d know that she broke up with him—and wouldn’t that just make him the perfect scapegoat?”
“I think it’s time for you to leave. I don’t feel right questioning a woman who is so clearly unbalanced. Losing Mercer must’ve really affected you.”
“What about you, sheriff? Did losing Jessica affect you?”
He turned blood-red and stood up taller. “Excuse me?”
“You know? You were a cop back then. A woman went missing and you didn’t find her. Did that mess with you?”
“You’re done here, Miss Dulaney.” He grabbed my shoulder, hard enough to hurt, and dragged me out of the room. “If I find out you know anything about where Mercer is, I will lock you up and throw away the key.”
“You’ll lock me away?”
His eyes flashed and he just about threw me out of the station. I had done what I wanted to do, though. I didn’t need him any further. I was taking a long shot, but I planned on sitting outside of his office and watching to see if he ran across the street to the courthouse. If he knew anything about Jessica’s murder, and I was making a big assumption that he did, since he’d been in charge of the investigation that was such a joke, maybe he’d lead me to the real killer. The real killer, who I was pretty sure was sitting across the street, sitting in his plush judge’s quarters.
I got in my car and pulled out of the lot. I didn’t go far. I just moved down the street a bit and parked so that I could watch the two buildings. I didn’t know if it would work. I was pretty sure I’d stolen the idea from a movie or something, but I was praying it worked. I needed something solid to prove to myself that I was right. If I knew, without a doubt, that Judge Williams was the guilty one, then I could start searching for hard evidence.
Like a fucking magic show, barely five minutes passed before Sheriff Hayes left his station and crossed the street. Into the courthouse he went. I felt like jumping up and down, but the job was only halfway done. I jumped out of my car and ran down the street, into the courthouse. I wanted to see the two men together. I wanted to try and hear what they talked about.
I’d been in the courthouse more than I liked, coming and going with Mercer and everything. I knew the general layout of the building, so as soon as I entered, I turned right and hurried down a wide hallway filled with people milling about. I had to go through a metal detector, but it didn’t take me long to get towards the back of the building, where I assumed Judge Williams’ office would be.
I didn’t take into consideration that the men might not be in the judge’s office, however. Turning a corner, I all but ran over the men. Sheriff Hayes stared at me with wide eyes and then took a healthy step away from Judge Williams. My spying plan was screwed, but I’d seen what I needed to see.
“Miss Dulaney, are you following me?”
I forced a sweet smile and met the judge’s eyes. Older, probably in his late fifties, early sixties, he was still a handsome man. In an impeccable suit, gold cufflinks shining, I could imagine that a decade earlier, he’d been devastatingly handsome. And just devastating.
“No—I was just looking for a bathroom.”
“I assure you, Miss Dulaney, it’s not back here, in Judge Williams’ office space.”
Judge Williams stepped forward and held out his hand for me to shake. “Judge Paul Williams.”
I took his hand. “Lauren Dulaney, PI.”
He held on a little too long and inched closer. “Do you need help finding the restroom?”
I smiled then, a real smile. It was a cat-who-ate-the-canary kind of smile. “No, thanks. I find things on my own very well. It was funny running into you again, Sheriff Hayes. We’ll have to stop meeting like this.”
I turned and hurried away, eager to be far away from the judge. He’d given me the heebie-jeebies all over. I left the courthouse and raced back to my car. I had plans to make. I had my guy. I just had to figure out the how.
I climbed into my car and pulled away, ready to get back into territory that was safer for me. Black Dog Security safer.
“I should strangle you now, Lauren.”
I screamed and the car veered hard into oncoming traffic before I got control of it again. Jerking it to a stop on the side of the road, I snapped around in my seat to find Mercer hiding back there. “What are you doing? You scared the hell out me! You could’ve killed us!”
“Turn around and drive, Lauren.” He hissed the words out at me, fury radiating off of him. “Drive and don’t fucking look back here again.”
I did as he said, not because I wanted to, but because I knew he was right. We were too close to too many cops to look so suspicious. “How did you find me?”
“Tracker.”
I fumed. “Dammit, Mercer. I left you for a reason.”
“So you said in your note. Thanks for that, by the way. The cash by itself might’ve made me feel like a whore, but the note really helped.”
I glared at him in the rearview mirror. “Come off it. You know why I left.”
“Yeah, because you—”
“Don’t really need a playback of it, Mercer.” I drove us out of Ambrose, my plan changing since my stowaway had returned. “Besides. I know who killed Jessica.”
“Who?”
�
�Judge Williams. He was the ADA at the time.”
“And you just came out of the courthouse…” Mercer exploded and went into a rage like I’d never seen him before. “Pull the fucking car over right now! Pull over, Lauren!”
I turned off on a side road and pulled into a group of trees, hoping to hide us from prying eyes. Lord knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep Mercer quiet, so the least I could do was hide him from sight. “There!”
He was out of the car faster than I could even get my seatbelt off, but then he was there, dragging me out and pinning me against the side of it. “You fucking went in there, knowing it was him. You knew who it was that murdered Jessica and Jade and yet you still carried your ass in there. You put yourself in danger for no reason, Lauren! You aren’t playing detective with sweet guys who are just going to hold out their hands and wait for you to slap cuffs on them. They are going to do whatever it takes to protect themselves. And right now, after that, you’re in the way of that. You just put a fucking target on your head.”
I tried to pull away from him, but he just pressed his body against mine and pinned me in tighter. “Mercer! Get off of me! I did what I had to do. I figured out who killed her. I can get you out of this.”
He caught my head in his hands and held me steady. “No. No, you can’t. Not without getting yourself killed.”
“Mercer—”
He cut me off by slamming his lips into mine, kissing me with an anger that burned hot. One of his hands trailed to my throat and he lightly squeezed before pulling away. “Delicate. So easily someone could snap you in half, Lauren. It wouldn’t take much.”
I panted up at him. “I’m not breakable. I can handle it. I want to clear your name.”
“Why do you care more than me? Why are you fighting so hard for this that you’d put your own neck out there?”
I slumped against him and felt tears build up behind my eyes. His fingers were still around my throat, caressing, like he’d forgotten he was supposed to be showing me how weak I was. “You know why.”
“Because of what you said.”
I love you. As embarrassing as it was, it was still there, right at the back of my throat, ready and eager to come out again. “Yes.”
“How do you think I would feel if you got yourself killed while trying to save me?” He tightened his grip just slightly and then ran his hand into my hair and tugged at it until I was facing him. “Answer me, Lauren. How do you think I would feel?”
I blinked and those tears got free. “Fine. I think you would be fine.”
He stepped away, like I’d burned him. “You really think that?”
I turned my back to him and swiped at the tears angrily. I didn’t want to cry. I hated it. “Yes.”
He was silent and he didn’t stop me from getting back in the car, but before I could shut the door, he caught it and leaned down to face me. “I’m not sure which of us is the bigger fool. You, for believing that you don’t mean anything to me, or me, for being such an asshole that you could think that. Scoot over. I’m driving.”
I did like he said, too confused and raw to argue. In the passenger seat, I buckled myself in and faced out the window, unsure of myself.
“I’ve already crossed so many lines I set for myself. Some Luke set, too.” He pulled out of the spot and headed back towards Ambrose. “I didn’t want you involved in any of this… I should’ve tied you up in that cabin. You’re in too deep and I don’t know how to get you out of it.”
“We solve it, Merce. We end this all.”
He turned towards my house. “It’s nice in idea.”
“It’ll be nice in execution, too. I just need some time to figure out what I’m going to do. I just need to think.”
“We’ll stay at your house tonight. It’ll give you some time to think and I can set up on the back of your roof and see anyone coming.” He sighed. “How mad do you think Luke would be at me?”
“For what we did?”
“And what I want to do again.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Again?”
“Call ahead and see if Cookie or Vince are in the garage.”
I fumbled with my phone and tried to clear my head. “Don’t boss me around.”
“You seemed to like it before.”
“Mercer.”
“Lauren.”
I shook my head and brought the phone to my ear. My heart was a stupid thing, fluttering away, hoping that he might like me at least a portion of what I felt for him. “Cookie. Hey. Is the garage cleared out?”
“Yeah—why? Are you coming home?”
“Yeah. With company. Is everything okay for that?”
She laughed. “Yeah. The cops stopped bothering us weeks ago. Neither of us are there right now. Vince is at work and I’m helping out. We can stay at Vince’s tonight.”
I looked over at Mercer and sighed. “No, it’s okay. I don’t know if this is permanent yet.”
“I’ll be glad to see you. It’s been nothing but baby talk around here.”
“Elizabeth?”
“Yeah. She’s showing and she’s a pain in my ass.”
“I’ll see you tonight?”
“I won’t be able to keep everyone away.”
“Of course not.”
Chapter 20
Mercer
I hadn’t been inside of Lauren’s house in longer than I could remember. Her garage was neat and clean, as was the rest of the house. It was organized; her pantry looked more like a magazine shoot than a place to store shit. Everything was nice and orderly. When I told her as much, she actually blushed.
“It helps.”
“With?”
She straightened the cushions on her couch and shrugged. “Chaos isn’t great for me. I’m an addict. Even though I’ve been clean for over five years, I need things a certain way.”
“So, staying in shitty motels for weeks while looking for me wasn’t great?” I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. “I’m sorry, Lauren. I should’ve let you find me the first time. This could’ve been settled so long ago.”
She blinked at me, just staring. “Did you just… apologize?”
I flashed her a smile, the best I could manage under the circumstances, and nodded. “Seems so.”
“You really did need to get laid.”
Seeing her in her own environment, looking about as comfortable as she could be, taking her boots off, it made me want her even more. “Come here.”
She straightened. “You don’t get to boss me around in normal life situations.”
“Maybe this isn’t a normal life situation. Although, I have to disagree about that rule. I think you would do great listening to me.” I sat on one of her barstools and patted my thigh. “Now, come here.”
“If I don’t?” There was a twinkle in her eyes that told me she wanted to play. “Are you going to spank me again?”
“You want to find out?”
She moved towards me slowly, her steps silent on the hardwood floor. Her hands were on her waist, but I could see nervousness in her. She didn’t know what we were doing, or what I wanted. That was my fault for pushing her away for so long. I couldn’t do it anymore, though. Tasting her had been my breaking point. I wasn’t willing to give her up, even when that was exactly what I should do.
“Tell me why you really left, Lauren.”
“I told you—”
“The real reason.”
She stopped in front of my knees and gasped when I grabbed her hips and pulled her between my thighs. “I didn’t want to feel you push me away again.”
“And?”
“And I just want this whole thing over with so you can live a normal life. So you can come home if you want to.” She rested her hands on my chest and looked up at me with her eyes all big and watery. “I missed you. I saw you every day for years, Mercer, and then you just left. Even fighting with you and feeling like you hated me was better than not seeing you at all.”
I cupped the back of her head
and pulled her against my chest. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“No; you just left me.”
I wrapped both of my arms around her and held her tight. I’d been an idiot. I’d assumed I was making the right choice for the both of us by staying at arm’s length from her for all those years, but I’d just fucked us both over. “I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” Her voice was muffled against my shirt, but I got the point. “I waited on you for so long. I don’t even know if I’m still waiting, or not. What is this?”
“I was an idiot.” Pressing a kiss to her head, I groaned. “I hear someone coming.”
She pulled back quickly and tried to move away from me, but I pulled her back against me. “Mercer, it’s probably Vince and Cookie.”
“You embarrassed?” Even though I asked the question with plenty of sarcasm to convey that I was joking, I could tell the moment the words were out of my mouth that it was more than sarcasm to both of us.
“Never. Not of you. I would be proud to be with you, but not as someone you’re just fucking, Mercer. I don’t want them to see that and then watch you go back to ignoring me. It would kill me to know that they could see—even more than usual—that I’m just following you around like a lost puppy.”
I pulled her into me harder and gripped her ass. Lowering my mouth to hers, I hovered there. “You’ve never been someone I was just going to fuck.”
She moaned as I bit her lip. “Then, fine. Bend me over the counter and let them see, for all I care.”
I laughed, something deep inside dislodging to let it out. “We’ll talk more later—okay?”
She stroked her hand down my face. “I love your laugh.”
Lauren’s front door opened, the creak of it giving away whoever was coming in. A second later, Vince strolled into the kitchen with Tucker on his heels.
“Look what the fucking cat dragged in.” Tucker hurried over and clapped me on my back. “We’re damn glad to see you back around.”
Vince nodded. “You look like you feel great, which is weird, because you look like shit. What is this hairstyle you’ve got going on?”
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