Divorced, Desperate And Dating
Page 30
He had just hung up when he met Chase at the front desk, and they went in to see Fritz together. They never played good cop/bad cop; they usually both came across as assholes. This was one of those times. Both he and Chase cared too much about Sue.
A few minutes into the interview, Jason tilted back in his chair and watched Fritz squirm. The leather-loafer wearing weasel wasn’t so cocky now.
“What happened?” he pushed. “Sue turning you down really chapped your ass?”
Fritz scowled. “I’ve asked for a lawyer and haven’t gotten one.”
“Phones are tied up right now,” Chase answered, standing in the corner.
“But don’t worry,” Jason said. “You’ll get your lawyer. Of course, it’s not going to do any good. We found the car you stole. Inside were a few pages of some terrible sci-fi novel.”
Fritz looked shocked.
Jason watched the man squirm for a bit, then said, “Cut the crap and just own up to it.”
“Own up to something I didn’t do? I don’t think so,” Fritz snapped.
“Your wife went to find the gun you used.” Chase paced the room. “A simple test and we’re going to know it was your slug we dug out of Sue’s wall.”
“That test is going to prove that both of you bozos are idiots. Why the hell would I try to hurt Sue when I like her? And I haven’t seen that gun in ages. My wife keeps it in a shoe box in her closet.”
“Jealousy is a pretty powerful motive,” Chase said. “It busted your chops that Sue had moved on.”
Jason added, “And your manuscript pages just got up and walked into that Saturn, huh?” He crossed his arms. “Now that’s good science fiction!”
Fritz’s expression was desperate. “Someone is framing me. Setting me up. It happens in fiction and in real life!”
A cold chill ran down Jason’s spine. It happens in fiction and in real life. What was it he’d said to Sue just this afternoon—that he really liked how one suspect had framed someone else? In Sue’s book, it had been when the cop went to question the first suspect that the villain went after the heroine.
Fuck!
Jason leapt from his chair and ran out of the room. Barely out the door, he jerked his cell phone from his pocket. His hands shook as he hit Sue’s number. His heart pumped as he waited for her to answer.
“What is it?” Chase asked, stepping out behind him.
“ ‘It happens in fiction,’ ” he repeated Benny Fritz’s words. “Shit! Why didn’t I see this? It’s what happens in Sue’s book. The real murderer frames someone else. As soon as the detective lets down his guard, the guy goes for the heroine. Answer, damn it! She’s not answering.” He stared at Chase and raked a hand through his hair.
Suddenly, his friend’s words popped into his brain: Jealousy is a pretty powerful motive. He swore again and said, “Wait! I totally screwed up. Put an APB out on that man’s wife.”
Chase’s eyes grew round. “Fritz’s? You think she’s—”
“Yeah. She has motive: jealousy. And she had…” Jason remembered the woman hadn’t turned the gun in yet. “She has the gun.”
He took off down the hall, calling over his shoulder for Chase to get the closest cop car in the area over to Sue’s.
Sue let the spray of the shower’s hot water hit the back of her neck where she wore her tension like a yoke. She’d tried to write, but her doubts about Benny kept her from getting words on paper.
Not that this tension had only begun this afternoon. For days now, Sue had tried to get Jason to give her some kind of hint of what was really going on between them. What was going to happen when he caught the stalker, when he didn’t have to stay here to protect her? Would he pack up his things and leave? They were down to sixteen condoms and counting.
She knew she was head over heels in love with him. She also knew that every day those feelings were growing, working deeper into her heart, into her soul, into the very essence of her spirit and life. And speaking of lives, she’d already plotted out hers and Jason’s. Like a book, she had the chapters all laid out, and they included cases of condoms, an engagement ring, a small outdoor wedding, a couple of kids, and if Hitchcock and Mama could accept it, maybe even a dog thrown into the picture.
Of course, that depended on how many of Jason’s kittens she could give up. She even loved the man’s cats.
Yup, she had the story of their lives outlined, all figured out. She couldn’t help it; plotting and outlining was what she did. But was her plot simply fiction when she should be looking at facts? If only he would tell her what he felt.
Not once had the word relationship been mentioned. And they were going through the condoms like potato chips. He hadn’t promised, or even pretended, that they were more than just passing time while he protected her.
Oh, mercy! She was truly in line for another heartbreak.
Sue had just stepped out of the shower when she heard the doorbell. She grabbed her white terrycloth robe and tied the belt around her waist. Hurrying to the door, dripping wet, water collecting around her feet, she looked out the side window and saw a policeman. He had his back turned, so Sue couldn’t tell if it was Officer Martin or one of the officers who’d come the other night.
As she went to unlock the bolt, her foot slipped on the slick tile and she nearly fell. She barely caught herself on the knob and only opened the door partway. “May I help you?” she asked.
“Sue Finley?” The officer, not one she recognized, lowered his gaze to her bathrobe’s neckline.
“Yes.” She pulled her robe tighter. “Is something wrong?”
“I was asked to check on you.”
Check on me? That didn’t make sense. Not if Benny was in custody. “I’m fine.”
“Do you mind if I come in and look around?”
Suddenly uncomfortable, Sue kept her finger on the door’s lock. She knew Jason suspected Benny, but she didn’t wholly buy that scenario, and this guy was giving her a creepy vibe. What if he wasn’t really a cop? Wouldn’t Jason have sent an officer she knew? “I said I was fine.”
“Okay. I’m sorry for bothering you. Just doing my job.”
She shut the door and turned the lock. Leaning against the wall, she held her breath until she heard the policeman walk away. Then, shaking her head, she called herself paranoid.
The phone rang, but with her heart still pounding she decided to let the answering machine get it. Not that she would be like this forever. It was just that this was the first time she’d been alone since the attempted shooting. Which brought her back to: Would she be alone tomorrow? If Benny was guilty, would Jason stay?
Five minutes later, when she was comfortably plopped on the sofa, her doorbell rang again. Careful not to step in the wet spots, she reminded herself to grab a mop. Peering out the peephole, she saw a FedEx guy on her porch. It wasn’t her normal FedEx guy, Hunky, so she hesitated before opening up and studied the figure a little harder. A big box hid the guy’s face. But then she saw her publisher’s address on the box. She was supposed to have gotten copies of her book yesterday. Tightening her bathrobe belt, Sue opened the door.
The box was pushed into her hands. The weight staggered her, and her foot skidded on the wet tile. The box hit the floor about the same time as she landed with a thump against the wall.
Her arms flailing to catch herself, she’d felt her bathrobe fell open. Now Sue jerked the edges together, cringing to think that the FedEx man had just gotten the Full Monty. When she opened her mouth to complain, her gaze shot to the gun pointed at her and nothing but air squeezed out her throat.
“You think you can just go around tearing apart families?”
Sue recognized the villain’s face, even though she’d only met Beth Fritz once. “Uh, you might want to put that down?” she said hopefully.
The woman took another step inside, shut the door, and leveled her gun at Sue’s heart. “Die, bitch, die.”
Jason swerved his Mustang to miss the truck. “You get him back out th
ere!” he screamed at the lady who’d answered his call at the Hoke’s Bluff police department. “Got that? He’d better be freaking sitting with her when I get there!”
Hanging up, he punched Sue’s number again, praying she would answer this time. He listened to the unanswered rings. Something was wrong. Fear clawed at his insides. He jerked his car around a delivery truck, the blue light flashing on his dashboard, and laid his palm on his horn as he ran another red light.
There were no police cars at Sue’s when he pulled into the drive. He jerked out his gun and thundered onto the porch. His heart slammed against his chest.
“Sue?” he called and ran inside. As his feet hit the tiled entry, he slid forward and went down. His gun skidded across the room. When he looked up, a woman—a large woman dressed in a FedEx outfit—loomed over him.
A .38 was shoved into his nose. His gaze flipped from the woman holding it to Sue. A loose rope hung from her wrists as if the bitch had been in the process of tying her up. The .38 moved to his brow.
Jason swallowed. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Want to?” the woman snarled, her voice truly more male than female. “I never wanted to do this. She stole my husband. He was leaving me. I have to kill her. And now…now, you have to die, too.”
“No!” Sue screamed.
Mrs. Fritz’s gaze flew to Sue. Jason took advantage. He launched himself at the woman, bringing her to the floor. His first instinct was to use as little force as was necessary, but her voice wasn’t the only manly thing about her. The woman had strength. She fought her way back on top. Her knee shot up between his legs—a direct hit. Paralyzed by pain, he felt the air hitch in his lungs.
“Fuck you both!” Mrs. Fritz swung her arm around and aimed the gun at Sue.
Jason grabbed the woman’s wrist. Holding nothing back, he forced the barrel away from Sue. The woman kneed him again but this time missed her mark.
“Run!” He yelled at Sue, wanting her gone in case a bullet was loosed. He heard Sue’s feet slapping against the wood floor, but, damn it, they didn’t slap toward the door. “Go!” He fought for control of the gun as the woman’s weight pressed him to the floor.
Then he heard Sue’s voice: “Freeze, or I swear I’ll scatter your brains and worry about cleaning them up later.” Sue stood over them, to the back of Mrs. Fritz. She’d found Jason’s gun, or she’d found her own.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the opportunity this offered. The moment Mrs. Fritz’s attention wavered, Jason knew what he had to do. Panic continued to bite at his gut as he waited for the right second.
Sue took a step closer, her arm outstretched, apparently pointing the gun at the woman’s head. “I swear, I’ll do it!”
Mrs. Fritz’s gaze shot up. It was Jason’s opportunity. He snatched the gun from the woman’s hand. He rolled her over, forcing her face into the wooden floor and putting his knee in her back to hold her down. “I don’t like to mistreat women,” he said. He didn’t put his weight onto her, although she probably matched him pound for pound. “But I’ll make an exception if you so much as breathe deep. You got that?”
Pain still vibrated in his loins. He looked at Sue and held out his hand for the gun. Then he blinked. Sue stood, hand still raised, armed with a tampon.
“See? It worked.” She drew in a deep shaky gulp of air, dropped to her knees, and tears started falling from her big, frightened blue eyes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Sue rolled out of bed early the next Sunday morning, tiptoed into the bathroom, and retrieved the condom box from her top drawer.
It had been almost a week since they’d caught Beth Fritz. The woman had confessed she’d been jealous of Sue and believed Sue and Benny were having an affair. In retaliation, she’d decided to kill Sue by using the plotline of Sue’s latest work and set up her husband for the murder. She’d sent the rat. She’d stolen the car. She’d taken Benny’s manuscript pages and put them in the car so they would suspect him. She had done it all—and all for nothing, because Sue would never have given Benny a second glance, at least sexually.
Benny had admitted he’d carried a bit of a torch for Sue for several months. He’d also told officials that his wife’s mental problems had lasted for a couple of years. The doctors hadn’t yet put a tag on her illness, but for now Beth was institutionalized and awaiting trial. Sue didn’t want her to go to jail, and neither did Benny. He seemed to care. Out of love or loyalty, Sue didn’t know which, but he’d been working closely with Beth’s doctors and talking to the DA. Sue had heard Jason assure Benny that the woman’s mental state would be a factor in the court’s decision.
Sue looked in the bathroom mirror at her reflection. She no longer needed a bodyguard, and Jason had yet to leave. He’d even taken the last week off from work. But there was one problem that remained, and to quantify it, Sue emptied the box and counted. Eight! Eight extra-large condoms were left, and there had not been one mention of love, commitment, or the future. She wasn’t asking for a lot, just a sign of what they were doing here. For almost two weeks they’d lived and loved together, but here she stood, not knowing if they were really living together, or if they were really in love.
Okay, Sue knew she was in love, but love needed a partner. One-way streets led to Painsville, and Sue had traveled there too many times for her taste.
She fingered the foiled packages. Both time and condoms were running out.
“You okay?”
Sue swung around, panicked. “Fine as frog’s hair.” She offered him her grandfather’s favorite saying because it was the first thing that came to mind.
Jason’s brow crinkled, and he stepped closer. “Frog’s hair?”
“Just an expression.” She placed a hand on his chest, wanting him out of the bathroom before he noticed…
Too late. His gaze shifted to the spilled condoms.
“Great idea!” His smile turned seductive as he traced a hand down the front of her dancing-panda pajamas and into her silk pan ties. Her breath caught as the tip of his index finger massaged just the right spot.
Jason snatched up a condom, picked her up, and carried her to bed. He laid her down and stood beside her.
Seven, Sue thought as she watched him slip his boxers off. They had seven condoms left.
Then she quit thinking about numbers and focused on the man before her. The very naked man before her. He slipped in bed, his body still warm from sleep, and pressed close.
“Any requests?” He unbuttoned her shirt, one button at a time, a kiss between buttons.
“Requests?” Her shirt joined his boxers on the floor.
“You want the top position?” He moved in and flicked his tongue over her nipple. “Bottom?” He moved to the other nipple and gave it the same attention. “Fast?” He swooped off her pajama bottoms; the cotton fabric landed on her dresser. “Slow?” He cupped his hand over her left knee and then eased his fingers between her legs and moved up her thighs. Inch by slow inch.
“Surprise me.” She let her legs fall open.
“God, I love it when you do that,” he said.
“Do what?” she managed to ask, her attention riveted to the butterfly touches that danced up her legs.
“The way you let your legs fall apart, giving me access to…this.”
His finger pushed inside her. Her hips rose with her heart rate. The man knew exactly where to touch her. He’d found hot buttons inside her that had never been pushed before.
“Did I get it yet?” His breath swept across her face.
“Oh, yeah,” she moaned.
She reached down to take him in her hand, wanting to offer him some pleasure while he created her bliss.
“No.” He caught her hand. “First, I service you.” He pushed her hand back to the bed. “Just enjoy. I want to watch you. Watch the way your eyes darken when you come. The way your tongue swipes across your bottom lip.”
“Do I really do that?”
“Yes.”
“Make it last. Let me take you higher.”
Hearing his voice—deep, husky—brought the orgasm on. The bliss, fireworks of plea sure, came faster than expected. Sue’s breath caught, and her muscles clenched and released in joy.
“Look at me,” he demanded.
Opening her eyes, she met his hungry gaze. Her heart thudded as if she’d run a marathon, and every muscle in her body received a shot of powerful stress-reducing, feel-great hormone. She stared into his dark blue eyes, and at that moment everything in life felt possible. She could leap tall buildings. She could swim the ocean…In the seven-condom time frame, she could convince Jason to love her forever.
A tender smile widened his mouth. “How was it?” He straightened, kneeling on the bed.
“They haven’t created a word for it yet. But seventh heaven or bliss comes close.” Sue’s gaze traveled down his body: wide shoulders, dark blond hair like eagle’s wings spreading across his chest, abs that were hard as…Her gaze lowered to his sex, standing fully erect and thick. Extra large. And something about knowing he’d gotten that hard by pleasuring her made her want to give back.
“My turn.” She sat up and pointed to the foot of the bed. “Now, I service you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, but he’d already stretched out in the exact spot where she pointed. He locked his hands behind his head, his biceps bulging, and his gaze stayed on her every move.
She didn’t mind that he watched. As a matter of fact, she wanted him to.
“And how are you going to service me?” His voice came out in a deep, sexy rumble. She loved that rumble. Loved him so much her chest ached.
“Hmm. I’ll think of something.”
Slowly she brushed a hand over his chest and down, over his belly button. Her fingers moved into the dark curls between his legs before she wrapped her fist around his pulsing shaft. She recalled how his words had fueled her fire, and while she’d failed at phone sex, maybe she could give this a shot.