by Jackie D
Lucy pushed her middle harder and harder into Erica’s stomach, and the wetness Erica could feel was pushing her own arousal toward the edge. She moved her hand down Lucy’s bare stomach. She finally let her thumb rest against where she knew Lucy’s clitoris hid behind her thin underwear. She put a small amount of pressure against it, feeling Lucy’s body tremble, her hands squeezing her shoulders as if she was trying to stall the orgasm building inside her.
Erica moved her thumb slowly as Lucy’s hips pushed harder and faster against her. She only sped up when the whimpers began to escape Lucy’s mouth, becoming more desperate with each stroke. Erica pushed harder, causing Lucy’s body to grow rigid, and a cry of relief and desperation fell from her. Then she felt Lucy’s hands circling her neck. She placed soft wet kisses up and down her cheek and neck.
Lucy spoke into her ear, barely above a whisper. “I’ve spent years missing the way you touch me.”
Her words, their meaning, was something they were going to have to explore later. Right now, all she wanted was to stay in this place with Lucy, protected from the things that had happened and the time they had missed.
Lucy reached for Erica’s jeans just as her phone rang. Erica reached for it, blindly feeling her pockets.
“Don’t answer that.”
“I have to. It could be important.”
“This is important.” She continued to kiss her neck.
“Not as important as Jessica.” She put the phone up to her ear. “Detective Chance.”
A part of Erica wanted to stay right here, in this moment with Lucy. She wanted this night to continue. She wanted to let Lucy continue her exploration. She didn’t understand what all of that meant right now. She didn’t know if this was something she really wanted, to drop back down the rabbit hole. But she hadn’t been thinking about those things. Her brain was fuzzy with arousal and excitement. But the other part of her knew that if she didn’t take a phone call, it could be the phone call. It could be the discovery or link they needed for this case. That possibility couldn’t be risked for anything, regardless of what her body was telling her.
Chapter Twenty-seven
“Thanks for coming in to see if you can pull prints.” Erica leaned against the doorframe, talking to Stein.
“Of course. When Diego told me you managed to get something, I didn’t want to waste any time. You should have called.” She smiled at Erica, which irritated Lucy.
Lucy walked over to the table and looked over Stein’s shoulder. “How’s this work, anyway?” She didn’t want to listen to the subtle flirting between Erica and Stein. They hadn’t talked about what had happened between them. Lucy wasn’t sure what it meant for either of them, but she did know she didn’t like Stein drooling all over Erica.
Stein pulled gloves over her hands and pulled the glass from the bag. “Simple really. I use ninhydrin and physical developer to reveal latent fingerprints. These chemicals react with specific components of latent print residue, such as amino acids and inorganic salts. Ninhydrin causes prints to turn a purple color, which makes them easy to photograph. Once I can photograph them, I can process them, then we put them in the system and see if they match the partial I lifted.”
“Yeah, simple.” Diego chuckled from the corner.
“This will actually go a bit faster if people don’t hover.” She looked at Lucy expectantly.
Lucy sighed and took a seat next to Erica. Erica stared at Stein as if willing her to move at light speed. Lucy took the time to study Erica’s profile, the beautiful lines of her neck, the small scar on her cheek from falling off her bike when they were kids, and her wonderful blue eyes. Her eyes had always been one of Lucy’s favorite features. They reminded her of the sky, subtly changing. Sometimes, they would be pure and crystal, other times they would be a bit dark and stormy. How could you have ever been so stupid? You should have never let her go. But what now? Do I really want this? Do I want to put Erica through this if I’m not absolutely sure?
“This is going to take me an hour or two, so feel free to go somewhere else. Somewhere not here,” Stein said without turning around.
Diego pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against. “I’m going to head home.” He clapped his hands. “Hopefully, we get a hit and can get a warrant first thing in the morning.”
Erica turned and looked at her. “Want to go get a cup of coffee?”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll take mine with cream and two sugars,” Stein called as they were walking out.
“I know how you take your coffee,” Erica called back.
Once they were in her car, Lucy had to know how Erica knew the way Stein took her coffee. “Did you sleep with her?”
“Who?” Erica looked surprised by the question.
“Stein.” She kept her voice flat, without accusation.
“Stein? No, why?”
“She has a crush on you. And you know how she takes her coffee.”
Erica looked between the road and Lucy. “You can’t seriously be jealous.”
“I was just pointing out a fact.” She didn’t want to come off as defensive, as if she had some claim to Erica. But she needed to know all the same. She needed to know how many romantic connections Erica had in the town, since it could complicate things if they did move forward.
“Lucy, even if I had slept with her, it’s not really any of your business.”
Lucy knew that. She hated that it was the truth, but she knew it. She reached out to touch Erica’s leg and Erica flinched. “I know it’s not.” Erica’s tone had been a bit harsh, like something else was bothering her. “Is everything okay?”
Erica’s jaw clenched. “Look, I don’t regret what happened, back at my house. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Lucy crossed her arms, trying to protect herself from Erica’s words and sensing a caveat coming. “Well, what a relief.”
Erica spared her a glance but just barely. “I just don’t know what it means. Just because we’re still attracted to each other, it doesn’t change the past.”
“What are you saying? You don’t think there’s a chance for us?”
“I don’t know. There’s too much behind us, and it doesn’t change where we are in our lives now, does it? You’re a hotshot journalist with big awards working in a big city. You’re not about to give that up to come back to your small-town roots, are you?” She shrugged and her eyes were damp. “You’ll leave again, because we live in different worlds now. Maybe we always did, and it just took time to figure that out.”
Lucy felt the weight of Erica’s words in her chest. She felt like she was suffocating, the words squeezing her lungs, taking the wind out of her. “Pull over.” She wasn’t sure what she wanted, but it felt like Erica had just taken the decision away from her. With the truth. It sounded final, and Lucy wasn’t ready for final.
“No. I’m not going to leave you on the side of the road.”
“Dammit, Erica, pull the car over.”
Erica did as she was told, and the car slowed to a halt. Lucy jumped out, then slammed the car door. “I’ll walk home.”
“That’s crazy. Get in the car.”
“I can’t be around you right now. I’m embarrassed and I’m upset. I need to walk.”
Erica leaned out the window, her eyes intense and determined. “You can’t walk around. Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t be reckless just because something didn’t go your way.” She got out of the car now and pulled the door open. “Get in.”
“I’m thirty-two years old and I’ve managed to survive for twelve years without you. I think I can handle one more mile.” She forced herself not to look at Erica as she kept walking.
Her words had their desired effect. Erica got back in the car and pulled away, leaving her alone again.
Lucy crossed her arms and marched down the street. She was hurt and she felt like she was losing Erica all over again. Erica had dismissed her so easily. Is that how she felt when I left? She wa
s replaying the scene over in her head. The clarity of the last five minutes was acute, even through her tears. She didn’t see the bushes in front of her shift until he was standing right in front of her, and his hand was coming toward her face. She tried to scream, but the fumes stole her voice as she fell into darkness.
* * *
Erica’s phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket, hoping it was Lucy. She felt terrible about what happened and wanted to make sure she had gotten home okay. She was surprised to see Sheila’s name on her screen.
“Hey, Sheila. Everything okay?”
“Just checking to see if there is any news.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as there’s anything concrete.” The last thing she wanted to do was give her any false hope.
“How are things with Lucy?”
There was no commitment between Sheila and Erica, but she felt the least she could do was offer her closure, if she needed it. “Sheila, you know I care about you—”
“Save it, Chance. I don’t need you to break up with me. We spent time together, we had a good time, but we both knew it wasn’t going anywhere. I’m happy being friends.”
Well, this is a first. “Are you sure?” She felt more relieved than she probably should have. Sheila was going through a hard time right now, and Erica didn’t want to cause her more pain.
“Don’t be such a girl.”
Erica laughed. “This would be the first time I’ve been accused of being too emotional in a relationship.”
“I like breaking records. What happened with Lucy?”
“Nothing.” Sheila might have said she wanted to be friends, but it felt a bit weird to be having this conversation with the woman she had been seeing up until about two seconds ago.
“You freaked out?”
“Why would you say that?” She traced the steering wheel with her thumb. She wondered if she had always been this transparent or if it only applied to Lucy.
“Seriously? Because that’s what you do.”
“If I do, it’s only because of what Lucy did to me twelve years ago.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Sheila drew out the last part of the word.
“What?” She wasn’t sure if Sheila was accusing her of something or pointing out something she had missed.
“When are you going to own your bullshit? Yes, Lucy broke your heart, but everything you’ve done since then has been your choice. You chose to create this little wall around yourself. Lucy didn’t do that to you. She made a choice a zillion years ago. You were the one who chose to hang on to her and not let anyone else in. Eventually, though, people change, and they realize what’s important to them. Unfortunately, it’s usually not until they’ve lost it. Maybe she’s at that stage. The question is, are you?”
“I can’t go through it again. I can’t risk it.” Her muscle memory kicked in, and she felt a pang in her chest of what all those months had been like after Lucy.
“Then I feel sorry for you. Because if you won’t risk it, then how will you ever win?”
“You sound like a fortune cookie.” Erica smiled, hoping she could hear the appreciation for the counsel in her voice.
“I’ve had some time to reevaluate my priorities.” She sighed.
“I’ll call you.”
“Okay, and, Erica, don’t be an idiot. Not everyone gets a second chance.”
Erica laughed.
“See what I did there?”
“Yeah, like I haven’t heard it before. Bye, Sheila.”
She tossed the phone down in the empty seat that Lucy had occupied not long before. She knew there was some truth to what Sheila had said. Okay, a lot of truth. Erica had used what happened between her and Lucy as a shield from things and people that had the potential to hurt her. But where has that gotten me? She hadn’t achieved some supreme level of happiness, impervious from anything bad happening. The only thing it had ever really gotten her was solitude. But that didn’t change where they were in their lives. Lucy lived eight hundred miles away. She had an entire life that didn’t include Erica. A life that hadn’t included her for years. Was that something she would change? Erica wasn’t sure she wanted the truth.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Lucy’s brain was foggy, her head hurt, and she was struggling to make her limbs move. She was starting to get the feeling back in her arms when she realized they were lying in a damp, cool, crumbly material. She was trying to make her brain process the familiar texture, but it wasn’t until her eyes came into focus that she was able to ascertain she was lying in dirt.
She pushed herself up, struggling to hold her body weight up with one arm. What the fuck happened? The place was dark, but there was a naked light bulb barely illuminating her surroundings.
“Are you okay?” a whisper came from a corner of the room.
She tried to get up quickly, but she lacked the body coordination at the moment. “Who said that?”
“He won’t be back for a few hours. He won’t sleep down here.”
Lucy rubbed her head and crawled toward the voice. When she finally reached her, she recognized her immediately. “Jessica.”
Jessica grabbed her arms and pulled her up against the wall. “I’m sorry. I would’ve helped you, but—”
“It’s okay. Are you okay?”
Jessica shook her head. “I’m trying to be, but it gets harder every day.” Tears fell from her eyes, streaking the smudges of dirt on her face. “I don’t know what he wants. He has some weird notion that we’re meant to be together.”
“Do you know him from somewhere?” She already knew the answer but wasn’t sure if Jessica had figured it out yet.
She nodded. “I used to date his cousin. I just didn’t realize who he was at first.”
“The police are on to him. We’re going to get out of here.”
Jessica grabbed her arms again, frantic. “You have to play along, no matter what he says. If you don’t, he’ll kill you. I watched him do it.” She sobbed. “Please, just promise me you won’t do anything to upset him.”
Lucy wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. “We’re going to get out of here. I promise, we’re both getting out of here.” She knew these things because she knew Erica and Diego. She knew they’d find her; she believed it in her bones. And instincts were what kept reporters alive.
Jessica tucked her head into her shoulder, her body shaking. “He’s coming.”
“How do you know?”
A moment later, the door screeched, the sound of steel on steel. Footsteps descended the stairs, slow and heavy.
“You didn’t think I’d go to bed without saying good night, did you?”
He walked over and reached for Jessica’s face, and she let him touch it. “I told you I’d bring you a present. Do you like it?”
Jessica tucked her head back against Lucy.
He grabbed her face and turned it back toward him, his voice was calm. “I asked you a question.”
Lucy could hear the chatter of Jessica’s teeth. “Yes, thank you.”
He let her face go, forcefully pushing it to the side. “See, was that so hard?”
He squatted in front of them now. Lucy didn’t think she had the strength to get them both out of here if she did manage to kick him in the face hard enough to knock him out.
He ticked his finger back and forth. “I know what you’re thinking. I’ve seen the look before. You wouldn’t make it out of here, and even if you did, she wouldn’t.” He nodded in Jessica’s direction.
“What exactly do you want?”
“With you? You’re going to write my story. Then, when it’s perfect, I’m going to kill you. So it would behoove you to write with as much detail and as accurately as possible.”
“And if I refuse?” Lucy tried to sit up as straight as her body would allow.
“You won’t.” He reached over and tapped on her chest. Lucy tried to move away, but there was nowhere to go. Her back was literally against a wall. “If you refuse, you’re go
ing to make me hurt Jessica until you finally give in. I don’t want to do that, and I’m sure you don’t want to watch that.”
Lucy didn’t have anything to say because she knew he was right. She thought back to the blazing desert of the Middle East and the moment she’d held her friend’s hand as he’d taken his last breaths. She couldn’t do anything to save him, but she could save Jessica. All she needed to do was play along until Diego and Erica found them. She could play his sick little game.
He moved back toward the steel door he had entered through. He had a skip in his step, so proud of himself. “I’ll see you ladies bright and early.”
The loud hinges screamed and then she was alone again with Jessica. Her trembling body and quiet sobs were the only proof there was anything left in her. Lucy knew, even if they did survive this, Jessica would never be the same. This place would haunt her dreams and every quiet thought she had for the rest of her life. Lucy couldn’t change that now, but she could make sure there was a life to lead.
She squeezed Jessica. “It’s going to be okay. The cops know it’s him. They’re going to get him.”
“I thought the same thing, but then no one came.”
“They’ll come.”
“How do you know?” She played with a loose string on her shirt.
“You heard him. I wrote a story about him. They’ll know he took me.”
“So they know it’s him? They know it’s specifically him?” Excitement shined in her eyes.
“It’s only a matter of time. You have to trust me. They’re going to find us.”
She didn’t want to tell Jessica everything she knew. She wasn’t sure she could keep it to herself, under these circumstances. She had been down here for days, she wasn’t in her right mind, and she could give something away without meaning to. Plus, she wasn’t sure how to explain her connection to Erica. She didn’t want to tell her that finding Lucy would be more important to Erica than Jessica ever would be, than anything ever would be. Erica would never let anything happen to her. Erica was connected to her; she always had been. She could feel the memory of her every day, like a brand that had been burned into her heart years ago. It was a connection that tethered her to Erica and would until she ceased to exist. Those strings were never severed. They might fray, they might pull, but they never severed. She knew Erica would come for her the same way she knew the sun would rise in the morning. It was simply the way the world was designed.