by Bliss Carter
“We’ve got a viewing room down the hall with a TV set up and have the video feed ready to play. We’ve already watched it ourselves, so don’t worry about any surprises or anything bad”, Cade stated, running his hand along Kresley’s arm. He reached down and took hold of her hand, feeling her ring pushing into his as he held her hand and walked her to the viewing room a few doors down from his.
“Here you go baby. It’s all ready to go. All you need to do is take the remote and click on play. If you see something or need to remember something, just pause the video and come get me. Okay?”
“Got it. Thanks honey”, Kresley warmly replied, kissing Cade on his mouth and watched him leave the room. She took the remote control and clicked on play.
She sat for several hours, viewing the different camera angles of the parking lot. As much as she wanted to notice something, she didn’t think she was going to be much help. She was about to give up when she noticed the section of buildings to the right side of the parking lot. It was several shop buildings placed next to each other, but between each there was a 3 to 4-foot gap, like a narrow alley. Kresley got a glimpse of a white vehicle parked behind one of the stores. Right after she drove up and went into Fiona’s Fabrics, a shadow could be seen running to the back of those stores. Then the white section of the vehicle moved. But the angle of the camera and feed quality prevented Kresley from seeing anything in detail. The shadow just looked like a dark blob with no discerning shape or size. She wrote down the time stamp at that moment in the video and then walked down to Cade’s office.
As she approached Cade’s office door, Kres could hear Cade talking to someone. Maybe he was on the phone. She recognized Boomer’s voice, too. They must be conferencing about the case. Then a feminine voice filled the silence and Kresley froze in the hall outside the door. She recognized that voice, as well. That bitch. She better be here in a professional capacity only, Kresley fumed silently. Then she straightened her back, thrust out her breasts just a little, and sashayed into Cade’s office, ready to do battle.
Kresley walked in the door of his office and Cade quickly stood up to greet her. It made her feel special for him to walk to where she was and give her a gentle kiss on her cheek. He reached for her hand, putting gentle pressure on her engagement ring. He then turned to Officer Shelton and Boomer, still holding Kresley’s hand in plain sight.
“Officer Shelton, I think you remember Kresley Anderson”, Cade stated in a firm voice. He brought Kresley’s hand to his lips and placed a gentle, loving kiss there. Cade was highly sensitive to Kresley right now, and remembering her last words with Stella, he knew she would be feeling uncomfortable. He wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of he and Kresley again.
“Yes, I seem to remember our last time together”, Officer Stella Shelton stated with a smirk. She held out her hand to Kresley. “Nice to see you again Ms. Anderson.”
Kresley reached out and shook the officer’s hand quickly, choosing to remain quiet. She stiffened and shot her eyes up to Cade with his next words.
“Actually, Stella, it won’t be Anderson for very much longer. Kresley and I are engaged.” Cade took their held hands and held out Kresley’s for Stella to see the ring he had put there. “We’re excited.”
Kresley peered up at Cade’s face and didn’t see anything there except happiness. He wasn’t trying to rub their engagement in Stella’s face. He genuinely was joyful about their engagement and wanted to share the news. Okay, so maybe he wanted to make it clear he was no longer available, but Kresley couldn’t fault him for that one. He was definitely a chic magnet no matter where they went. At least she wasn’t the jealous type. Much.
“Congratulations. I’m happy for you both”, Officer Shelton stated in voice that sounded like she was eating chalk. Boomer looked from her to Kresley and shook his head, trying not to laugh. Kresley cut her eyes to him, silently stating for him to shut it. Boomer winked at her and just continued to keep his mouth shut. He must not want to die today.
“So, what brings you back to Mercy Springs, Officer Shelton?”, Kresley asked. She hoped it wasn’t about a new case fitting the rapist’s MO. Kresley couldn’t stand the thought of another woman suffering at the sadistic bastard’s hands. She looked up at Cade, trying to decipher if he knew something and hadn’t told her.
“Unfortunately, there are three more rapes and murders that fit the behaviors of the man who attacked and killed Fiona Amaris. I’m here to look through any evidence that’s been found and tagged and to discuss with Detective Grantham and Officer Collins any new information or ideas on who this piece of shit could be.”
Kresley could hear the barely contained anger in the woman’s voice and knew she was more than a little agitated at the number of women who had been hurt or killed so far. She looked Kresley in the eye and stated, “I want to take this son of a bitch down so he can’t do again what he did to your sister and those other women.”
Putting her hand on the arm of Cade’s ex-girlfriend, Kresley stated with sincerity and certainty, “I believe you Stella. The APD is lucky to have you as an advocate for women.”
Officer Shelton looked taken aback for a moment, then took a deep breath, adjusted the sleeves of her shirt, and stated, “Well, I owe it to myself, to you, to your sister, to the women who have died or suffered at his hands, to women everywhere who could be his next target…I owe it to them to make him pay and never have the ability to do this again.”
Cade stated to the room at large, “Well, unless we have anything new to bring up from earlier, I’m heading out with my fiancé to a family get together for the rest of the day. Be careful heading back to Atlanta, Officer Shelton. Boomer, we’ll see you later on at my house? Dinner’s at 7:00 PM, but come earlier so you can help me on the grill.”
Boomer smirked at Cade and jokingly said, “What? You can’t handle your meat, Cade?”
"What's this about Cade, a grill and handling meat?" a new male voice asked from the doorway.
Kresley looked up and saw it was Captain Gunnar Phillips. She had met him previously when she was with Cade. She liked him and he was only two years older than Cade was. It was astonishing that he was a police captain at his age. But Cade had only praise for the man and it seemed they were fast becoming friends as well. Gunnar was the same height as Cade and Boomer, and being in a room with all three of them made her feel like some kind of woodland fairy surrounded by large, strong trees, towering over her. It was a fantastic fantasy that came into her head. She'd have to add a Woodland theme setting to her wedding choices for couples.
"Hello Captain Phillips. It's nice to see you again," Kresley said with a smile on her face. He was as handsome as the other two men in the room, but Cade would always be the ultimate Big Sexy. Hail to the king.
"Happy to you see you, too, Kresley. Sorry we had to drag you in here to view video footage. We wouldn't unless we thought it could be important," Gunnar softly said, looking from Cade, to Boomer to Stella.
He changed topics and said, "Now, what's this I'm hearing about that Cade can't handle his meat? Do I want to know?" Gunnar asked with humor in his voice, his gaze landing on Cade with a suggestive eyebrow.
Cade looked from Gunnar to Boomer, then looked down at Kresley as if he had been waiting to deliver his next one liner. He stated in a dead-pan voice, “Since y'all asked, as far as if I can handle my meats, that’s something only Kresley can answer. Baby?” Cade’s eyes sparked with mischief and humor, watching to see how Kresley would react.
Kresley wasn’t one to backdown from challenges and met Cade’s gaze head on, stating sweetly, “You always serve up the best brats baby. I wonder if your brats now are as good as the ones you used to serve to Officer Shelton?” Kresley batted her eyelashes at Cade and watched his eyes widen, panic setting in to his features. She looked over at Boomer and Gunnar, whose faces had gone red. Boomer acted as if he were choking on his own spit, trying hard not to bellow with laughter. Gunnar just threw in some pretend whistling, s
taring up at the ceiling.
Cade couldn’t believe that came out of Kresley’s mouth. He looked over at Stella and started a rebuttal. “Baby, that’s not…….”
“I have to say, Cade’s grilling skills and his meats weren’t all they were stacked up to be. I’ve been served tastier things since”, Stella stated with an evil grin on her face.
Kresley lost it and started howling with laughter, leaning on Cade, holding on to his arms to hold her up. If she didn’t, she was going to fall over laughing. She made the mistake of looking up at Cade’s face, and he looked like he didn’t recognize her, that he had never seen her before in his life. Kresley leaned up, still laughing, and wrapped her arms around Cade’s neck and put her mouth near to his ear. “Baby, no worries. Your meat is the best I’ve ever had, the best I’ll ever had, and no one grills like you do. You’re the Master Griller in my life.” She ended her fake, higher-pitched, breathy and adoring words with a blow in his ear and a kiss to his ear lobe.
Cade let out a feral growl and bent over at the waist. The next thing Kresley knew, he had her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, and had swatted a hand on her butt. Kresley laughed harder and held on tight as he walked out of his office door. She waved a silent goodbye to Boomer, Gunnar and Officer Shelton.
“Boomer, lock my office behind you. Gunnar, you're invited to our shindig at 7 PM at my house. Stella, talk to you later. Kres and I have a wedding to plan!”, Cade stated, walking down the hall in front of other officers and even the Police Chief. Everyone was laughing and waving at the couple as they passed by. Some called out rowdy jokes as they passed. One officer even held open the door for Cade to pass through, giving a wolf whistle as Kresley’s butt passed him by out the door. She reached and smacked at the officer’s arm, but missed.
Kresley could do nothing but try to look up as the cat calls continued behind them and she held on to Cade’s tight ass for dear life. She took the moment to get a good handful of his butt, caressing it as he held her. Her giggles floated up her body to Cade and he jostled her around at hearing them.
“Careful baby. Don’t start a fire you can’t put out right now”, Cade stated with a grin on his face and amusement in his voice. Gosh, he loved this woman. He would never have a dull moment with this fiery red head. And he loved it. He loved her. He popped his hand on her butt again, caressing her firm ass, before he deposited her into the driver’s seat of her car. “I’ll follow you to my house. No running red lights this time. I’ll have to ticket you.”
“That wasn’t my fault and you know it. Birdie held my foot on the gas when the light was yellow, so I had no choice. You already told me you had payback ready for her for that one.”
Cade just shook his head at her and leaned down to kiss her lips softly. Then he closed her door, motioned for her to buckle up and walked away to his own truck. He needed to mentally prepare himself for their dinner this evening. He always needed to be alert and ready for anything if the sisters and Grace were around. It never failed to be an entertaining time. Cade grinned the whole way home.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sounding exasperated, Francie turned to her sister. “Kres, you plan weddings all of the time. Why are you stressing about your own? After all the prep work you’ve done for others, you should have your perfect wedding already planned in your head”, Francie stated, exasperated.
“That’s the thing. I plan everyone else’s perfect day. And it’s putting a lot of pressure to do the same for me. I don’t even know what kind of wedding I want or that Cade wants. Of course, he says that whatever I want is what he wants. He’s agreeable to anything I say. He’s just that sweet. And I really think he’s being honest. He doesn’t care how, he just cares about when and then getting it completed”, Kresley stated, looking across the patio to Cade, Boomer, Gunnar, Braxton and Ash as they stood at the grill. Cade looked so handsome there, deep in conversation with teh guys about something. Jaxson stood near them, playing with a toy airplane that Boomer had bought for him. Boomer, Gunnar and Ash would take turns helping him launch it across the yard. Kresley smiled adoringly, glad that Cade surrounded himself with good men. Cade looked up and found her gaze, winked at her and puckered his lips in a kiss. Boomer looked around at her, then back to Cade and with two fingers, thumped his forehead to get his attention once again. The men laughed when they saw where Cade's attention had disappeared to. Kresley thought she heard someone say something about him being whipped. Then more laughs. Cade scowled, put Boomer in a head lock for a moment, then went back to the grill as they started back with their discussion.
“If you’re this overwhelmed by the planning, don’t plan. Just do it. Don’t think, go by instinct”, Birdie stated abruptly, sitting on top of Kresley’s lap on the lounge chair she was on.
Kresley grunted at the extra weight and tried to push Birdie off, to no avail. “Get your jiggly butt off of me, Birdie!” She laughed and called out for help from her sisters nearby. “Gertie, Francie, help me! Grace, get the water hose.” She could see she had caught the attention of the men, but they did nothing more than smile at the hilarious scene across the yard and laugh at Birdie's antics. No rescue from first responders. How oxymoronic was that?
“I’m not getting up until you come up with a date to get married. Just a date. Then I’ll get up. Until then I’m going to sit and push and smash on your stomach and bladder so hard you’ll pee in your pants. In front of your fiancé”, Birdie stated smugly. Kresley continued to buck and roll to dislodge Birdie from being on top of her, but Birdie was stronger than she looked.
“Don’t doubt her Kres! You know she’ll do it. Remember three years ago at that birthday party for Grace? Birdie sat on your lap then when you refused to sit and watch the stripper………errrrr………uhmmmmm……Kresley. I think Cade heard me. The other guys, too. Oh, boy. Red alert, red alert. They heard the code word stripper. Their coming this way. Everyone behave. Let Kres do the talking”, Francie hurriedly said, looking slightly panicked.
“I heard the word stripper come from this side of the yard. There will be no stripper anywhere near my woman, for any reason. Y’all hear me?”, Cade stated sternly, a grill spatula in his hand, pointed at each of the women standing there around Kresley. He then took a muscled arm and scooped Birdie up off Kresley’s lap and deposited her on another chair. “Why are you tormenting your sister?”
“When does she NOT torment me?”, Kresley mumbled, rubbing her stomach.
“Wow, that hurts Kres. Like, a lot. Right in here”, Birdie stated with fake sadness, rubbing at her chest where her heart should be. The men snorted at that, for all of them knew Birdie and her reputation for being the biggest bad ass woman in their city.
“Hey, what’s a stripper?” Jaxson had quietly walked up and hearing the adult conversation around him, picked up on the topic. He looked at his mama, waiting for her to elaborate.
“Uhhhhhh, well, you see Jaxson, it’s…”, Grace said, her voice trailing off in the middle of the answer. She had no clue what to say, it seemed. Kresley snickered and turned to the men, silently requesting back up with a magician's assistant style showing of her hands.
“Well, Jax, the thing is, a stripper is something that only adults can know about. It’s a secret that kids aren’t supposed to hear. So you have to forget that you heard that word so don’t repeat it to anyone. Can I count on you to keep it a secret? Pinky swear?”, Boomer stated to Jaxson, looking over at Grace to see if she thought he did it right. She nodded and smiled warmly at him.
“Well, okay, if it’s a pinky swear. That’s pretty sewious. I mean, I’ve only given one pinky swear and that was with Aunt Francie. She asked me not to repeat that the guy at the gym tried to kiss her in the parking lot the other day when I was with her. And I did a pinky swear not to tell. Awww, man, I just told. I’m sorry Aunt Francie.”
All adult eyes cut to Francie, who was trying to ignore everyone. Kresley shifted her eyes to Ash, who looked like a volcanoe that was about
to erupt. Oh my, this was fun.
"Francie, may I have a word with you for a moment?" Ash asked her, sounding polite, but his face seemed anything but that.
She cleared her throat twice, ignoring Ash's request, then turned to Jaxson and stated “It’s okay Jax. I know you didn’t mean to. We’ll work on the pinky swear stuff another day, okay? Come give me a hug.” She drew Jaxson to her and hugged him tight, then left to walk into Cade’s kitchen and away from everyone. Ash followed with heavy, purposeful steps.
“Well, that was a nice little bit of information to talk with her about later on. Francie’s keeping secrets. Interesting. Anyway, back to the stripper story.” Birdie grinned and looked around to see who would start up the story again. She told Jaxson to go inside and help Aunt Francie out for a few minutes, but also knew it would be a buffer to whatever was going on with her and Ash.
Making sure her son was nowhere around, Grace stated, “Well back to what we were talking about. We’re not planning any strippers for Kresley, Cade. So, relax Sasquatch. We were talking about the time I had a stripper at my birthday party a few years ago. We were all having a great time watching the guy, but Kresley refused to sit there because the stripper tried to show her his “hose” before the actual entertainment. Birdie sat on her and made her watch with us. But the pressure on her bladder was too much and she accidentally peed in her pants”. Grace was laughing so hard that she had to wipe tears from her eyes. Gertie, Birdie and the men all joined in laughing except for Cade, who tried very hard to keep stoic.
“Ahhh, baby. You peed your pants?”, Cade tried to say with a solemn, regretful face. But he couldn’t hold it and he started laughing as well, joining the other adults.
Kresley looked sad and forlorn at all of them and even was able to come up with a tear or two to form on her eyelashes. Cade was about to scoop her up in his arms to apologize and admonish her sisters and Grace for upsetting her. That’s when Kresley grabbed the water hose that had been laying in the grass near her chair, the spray nozzle screwed on tight. Cade remembered that he had left the water on at the edge of the house and the spray nozzle was in the off position, holding in the water. He had a flash of awareness, right before his beautiful fiancé began spraying every last one of them with cold water and enough pressure to rival a fire hydrant. Her first aim was at Cade’s crotch because, well, why not? Then water pounded at Birdie’s face. Even Boomer and the other men were a victim to the water weapon, but Kresley did try her best to avoid Captain Phillips as much as possible. Never piss off the boss if you can help it. There was much yelling, gasping and laughing going on. Finally, Gertie found the turn off valve and twisted it until Kresley’s water ran out.