The clerk was frowning.
“Is something wrong?” Melody asked.
The clerk looked up and there was a flash of fear on his face. “Something wrong?” the clerk repeated. “Yes, there is. Could you step into the president’s office?” The clerk gestured to a grand doorway at the end of the counter.
Melody went into the room. What was the problem? She’d done this hundreds of times before without any trouble. Before things had started going electronic, she had done all of Billy’s banking for him. He’d never had a good head for figures and forgot to pay bills all the time. The bank didn’t even have Billy’s signature on file, it was her hand signing his name. There was no one in the president’s office. She turned back to the door and a policeman was walking through it followed by the clerk and another woman. She took a step backward, bumping into the desk. “What’s going on?”
The policeman was talking into the radio at his shoulder. Requesting back up. He had to be. Why? The officer let go of his radio and moved toward her. “You are under arrest for fraud. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” The officer stepped behind her and caught her wrists in a plastic zip tie like she had for the trash bags, only bigger. “You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”
Melody stared at him. Miranda rights? He was arresting her? For cashing a check?
“Where did you get this check?” the woman asked. She held up Billy’s royalty check.
“From the mail. It just came today. I cash Billy’s checks all the time.”
“And this card?” She held up Billy’s bankcard.
“Why? What’s going on?”
The woman handed the officer the check and the bankcard, which he slid in his pocket.
“I need Jerry.” Melody tugged at the plastic tie trying to reach his card in her pocket. Not even real handcuffs. Tears flooded her eyes. “Jerry Howland. Please. He’s a detective. He’ll be able to straighten this out. You have to call him. I need Jerry.”
* * * *
Crossing the room to his desk, Jerry could see the yellow sticky note on his desk and his stomach clenched. He dashed around the other desks and snatched it up. Melody Welsh in holding. Asking for you, it said.
When he’d stopped in to see Melody this morning, she’d been fine. She was fitting in at her job as well as she could fit in anywhere. What the hell could have happened in the last ten hours to get her arrested?
He called downstairs to have her moved to an interview room while he was on his way. They were supposed to spend tomorrow moving her into her apartment. A guy was coming over to take Billy’s records, a jazz collector Barnes recommended. The money from the records had been enough to cover Melody’s security deposit and first month’s rent. Jerry had loaned her the money for the last month’s rent and didn’t expect to see that repaid anytime soon on her coffee shop wages. She’d been fine with the move. She hated the idea of living alone, but he couldn’t see her rooming with anyone. They’d either think she was insane and try to have her committed or end up making a servant of her. Christ. What could she have done to get arrested since this morning? Had she been hurt? Those holding cells were hell. She must be terrified. What had the other prisoners done to her while she waited? Why the hell hadn’t anyone called him at home?
The desk sergeant directed him to an interview room. Jerry yanked open the door.
Melody was huddled in a chair much like she had been the first time he’d seen her, but this time she jumped up and threw herself into his arms. “Jerry, they said I was committing a felony by cashing Billy’s check. They said I wasn’t allowed in his mail or in his bank account because he’s dead. I hate it here. I want to go home.” She was dressed this time too. Jeans, vintage top she’d probably bought brand new. The same clothes she was wearing this morning at the coffee shop. Had she been stewing here all day?
“Okay, calm down.” He stroked her back. “Tell me what happened.”
“I checked the mail on the way home from the coffee shop and there was a royalty check from one of the labels.” Melody sobbed. “Billy gave those to me when they came. He didn’t get many of them. I thought I could cash it to pay you back the money I owe you, but when I went to the bank they told me there was a problem and then they put a garbage tie on my wrists and read me my rights.”
“So they thought you stole the check out of the mail.” Poor thing. Cuffed and Mirandized.
“But I didn’t steal it. I always got the mail. I always cashed the checks.”
“I know. It’s just a misunderstanding.”
Melody squeezed tighter. “Take me home, Jerry. I don’t want to go back to the holding cell. Those people scare me.”
“You can’t just walk out, Melody. You’re in the system now. I’ll have to talk to a few people.”
She looked at him and her eyes were dark and reproachful. “If you would have just taken me home like I asked you to, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“I know.”
“Will you take me home with you now? When you get me out of here?”
Jerry stroked her hair. He should. She’d be safer. And he’d end up responsible for her. “I don’t want you to be anybody’s slave Melody. Especially not mine.”
“You won’t make me be your slave. I need you to take care of me.”
“You have more faith in me than I have in myself.” He leaned his forehead on hers. “I’m going to see if I can get you out of here.”
“If?”
He buried his fingers in her hair. “I have to convince the bank manager that it was a mix up and not a felony.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Jerry pressed his lips together. He knew a couple of lawyers. Melody’s paperwork wasn’t totally waterproof, but she had been listed as Billy’s granddaughter. If the bank manager would listen to reason, he could convince her that Melody used to deposit checks for him when he was alive and meant to cash the check for funeral costs. “I’ll get it straightened out.”
“Am I going to go to jail?”
“You’re not going to jail.”
“You said if.”
“I’ll take care of it. You just stay here.” He stepped away from her.
“It’s not like I have a choice.”
Jerry glanced back from the door. Melody stood by the table with her hands on her hips. In her dark, tip-tilted eyes fear layered with trust. She was right. If she’d been with him, none of this would have happened. She wouldn’t have seen the check, gone to the bank, gotten arrested and spent the day sitting in a cell waiting for him to come to work. “I’ll take care of it.”
She nodded.
Jerry told the desk sergeant, Reese, to leave her in the interview room until he came back. It wasn’t a particularly busy time so there wasn’t a waiting list. She’d be okay in there for an hour or more. As he wasn’t going to be able to reach anyone from the bank, he called over to the court and found out what her bail was. He had it paid in fifteen minutes, but as he was on his way to get her, his sergeant stopped him.
“Problem, Howland?”
The sergeant had had it in for him since he got the job. When he was going through all that shit with Amanda, the only thing that kept Reese from reprimanding him for any number of infractions was that he would have looked like a giant asshole. Nailing him for every stupid little thing he could now just made him look like a regular-sized asshole. “Just a little personal thing. I’m clearing it up.”
Reese scowled. “It better be cleared up. You’re falling behind. Do you need a leave of absence?”
“No, I need ten minutes.”
“To grab your girlfriend from holding.”
“She isn’t my girlfriend. I’m just helping her out.”
“Right. I need you to have every one of the cases you’ve been assigned this week closed tonight.”
“No problem.” Problem. For the past week he’d been distracted by Melody. He’d closed cases, but hadn’t filed the paperwork, which, for Reese, meant he hadn’t closed cases. In order to close the cases he had for tonight and file all the paperwork, he was going to have to work his ass off with no time for lunch, let alone to take Melody home, until sunrise. Shit.
When he opened the door to the interview room, Melody was sitting at the table picking her fingernails. She rose quickly, but didn’t jump on him. “Well?”
“I posted your bail.”
“What about the bank manager?”
“When I got back to my desk it dawned on me that I wasn’t going to be able to talk to her until morning. I’ve got another problem. I can’t take you home.”
“I’ll stay here with you.”
“No, I’ll get a patrol car to drive you.”
Melody closed her mouth. Didn’t argue. Just looked at him with those eyes. This was going to be a problem too. He’d never known a woman to give him that not-arguing look without winning the argument they weren’t having. She’d already figured that out.
“Come up with me. You can hang around my desk while you wait.” He wanted to take her hand to lead her up the stairs, but if Reese saw it, he’d just add it to the list. “Sit there.”
“Your desk is messy.” Melody settled into the visitor chair next to his desk.
“I’ve been busy.” He picked up the phone and called dispatch to see if a car was available to take Melody home. While he was talking, she started sorting his papers. He tried to wave her away, but she ignored him. There were no cars available in that part of town, but maybe in an hour or so. By the time he got off the phone, she had organized half his desk and gotten a good start on the other half. “Don’t do that. You’re messing up my stuff.”
“No, I’m not.” She kept sorting.
“Melody, just sit in the chair and don’t touch anything.”
She sat back in the chair and gave him that look. The not-arguing look. Of course, if she was three thousand years old, she’d had a lot of time to practice it. The sooner he got her away from his desk, the better.
Chapter 4
“Just go inside and wait for me,” Jerry said when he’d stopped the car in front of her apartment building.
“I know.”
“I’ll come here when I get off shift.”
“Are you really so upset that I cleaned your desk?” Melody asked.
His lips thinned. “I’m not upset that you cleaned my desk.”
“Yes, you are. I helped you. You finished a lot faster than you thought you would.”
“I will be here in an hour and I’ll bring breakfast.”
“For someone who doesn’t want to be my master, you sure are bossy.” She grinned at him. He’d gotten crabbier and crabbier as the night progressed, even though he’d spoken with the bank manager and convinced her that Melody was just confused after the recent death of her grandfather for whom she had always done all the banking. No need to involve the Feds. No identity theft here.
“Fine, then I’m doing what you want.”
Melody laughed and climbed out of the car. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Don’t leave the apartment.”
Melody slammed the car door. She ran into the building and upstairs to the apartment. It was still nearly empty as it had been yesterday afternoon before she went to the bank. There were some dishes left to pack, but other than that everything was sold or boxed up. Jerry would bring food that could be eaten off its own paper wrapper so she set about packing the dishes. How she was going to eat when he came back, she didn’t know.
Jerry hadn’t been happy about her getting arrested, but he hadn’t been angry. He should have been angry. How was she to know they would think she had stolen Billy’s identity? He wanted her to be her own master, but how did she do that when just cashing a check got her arrested? All night she’d been pretending to be cheery so she didn’t start a fight at the station, but pretending was becoming impossible.
Jerry walked through the door with a McDonald’s bag. “Is everything ready for tomorrow?” he said.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. I should have known.”
“How could you know?” He started spreading the McMuffins and hashbrowns out on the coffee table.
“I should have asked you.”
“You can’t ask me about every little thing, Melody. You made a mistake. I got it straightened out. The bank manager was very apologetic. Are you going to eat?”
“Do you forgive me?”
“Nothing to forgive you for. Come eat.”
Melody folded her hands. Her stomach was dissolving itself. She’d never cared if a master was angry with her before. Nothing they did lasted long. But Jerry should be mad. Furious, in fact. He should yell and shout and throw things. “Not until you forgive me.”
“Melody, I told you. It was a misunderstanding.”
“How was I supposed to know I’d get in trouble?”
“Exactly.”
“I cashed checks for Billy all the time.”
“I know.”
“He let me handle his finances because he didn’t like doing it.”
“You told me.”
Melody stamped her foot. “Why won’t you forgive me?”
“Because there’s nothing to forgive.” Jerry stood up. “Melody, what is the matter?”
“You should be mad at me. I made a mistake and it caused you a lot of problems and if you cared you would be mad at me!” she shouted.
Jerry stood. His expression went icy. “If I cared. If I cared.” He drew a breath through his nose and blew it out. It made him sound like a bull about to charge.
Melody shuddered, but refused to step back. She wanted proof? Here it was. “I thought if you cared you would be mad at me,” she whispered.
“You watch too much TV.” His jaw trembled. “Can we just eat?”
Melody knelt at the table next to him. Jerry’s heavy, reassuring presence beside her anchored her. He had been there for her since the moment he’d walked into the interview room at the station. She should have known all along that he cared. Why else would he stay? It wasn’t for the great sex. He wanted her, but he wouldn’t act on it. “Why won’t you have sex with me?”
“What?” Jerry turned to her, scowling.
“Why won’t you have sex with me?”
“Melody.” He sounded tired, but as he looked at her a change came over his face. The hard planes of his face softened and he even smiled a little. “Don’t tell me you’re horny.”
“No, I just thought that you would want to make love to me. You’re attracted to me, but you won’t touch me.” She laid her hand on his thigh. Beneath her palm, his hard muscles tensed. “And I want you to touch me. I lay awake nights thinking about you touching me.”
“Melody.” His voice softened to a pained rasp.
“I did it before because I had to. I didn’t have a choice.” She slid her hand up his thigh. “I have a choice now and I chose you, but you won’t choose me.”
Jerry put his hand over hers. “I have chosen you, Melody, but I can’t do this again.”
“Do what?”
“Fall in love with a woman who needs me so much that she can’t function without me. I was with Amanda for eight years, seven married. For five of those years she was sick. Dog sick. She had good days and good stretches, but most of it was holding her hair while she threw up and carrying her from the bed to the couch so she could have a change of scenery. Even before she got sick, she didn’t have much ambition. Her idea of big plans was putting up the Christmas decorations, which were the same every year. She had a lot of blond moments and it made it hard for her to keep a job. She tried about everything, but eventually she’d screw up bad enough to get fired. I can’t do that again, Melody.”
“You don’t have to. I can be anything you want.”
He wrapped his fingers around hers, warm and certain. “You’re alr
eady everything I want. That’s the problem.”
“So you’re trying to tell me that you want me to need you, but not too much? How am I supposed to work that out? I can’t figure out how to cash a check without getting arrested.” She tried to smile, but it didn’t want to fit on her face. He was the one she wanted. The only one she’d ever wanted. Her husband had been chosen for her by her mother. All her masters had been chosen by fate. Except Jerry.
“I don’t know, Melody. We’ll figure it out or we won’t.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I’m not taking that answer.”
“You’re not?”
“I’m not.” Melody tangled her fingers though his hair as she straddled his lap. “I need you this one time and then if you still don’t know, you can go be indecisive all you want.”
“Melody.” He moaned.
She kissed his jaw and caught his earlobe between her teeth. He stiffened as she flicked her tongue across it. His body, though still, seethed under her touch. He struggled to resist, but she couldn’t let him. Tugging at his buttons, she opened his shirt. “Please, Jerry. Just this once.”
“This once.” He laid her back on the floor.
* * * *
That afternoon, Jerry woke in Billy Welsh’s bed, or rather on the mattress from Billy Welsh’s bed, which was on the floor because the bed had already been dismantled. Melody lay tangled around him, but awake. He could tell by her breathing. Pretty nice, really. Just lying in bed with her. Not a bad way to wake up at all.
Jerry feathered his fingers through Melody’s hair. “How did you end up with Billy?” He liked the weight of her on him. The way her skin stuck to his and the soft rush of her breath. He stroked her shoulder. It had been a long time since he’d held a woman this way, curled in sweet afterglow.
“The usual way. He said he found my lamp in a pawnshop and liked it so he bought it. He kept it beside the bed when we had a place to live, but sometimes he had me go back inside because he was going to be on tour and I couldn’t go with him.”
“So you could go in and out of the lamp whenever you wanted?”
“No, only when my master told me to.”
Melody Unchained Page 5