Knowing that I would probably say something stupid, I just shrugged.
“Jordy, look at it this way. I’m about to go into battle with a man I loathe, and I need to shore up all my defenses. One of those defenses is knowing that you will be there for me. You still will be, won’t you?”
“I promised you that I would be. You are not in this alone.”
“But that’s just the thing. I do feel like I’m alone now, because you pulled away.” She said it seriously, but there was mischief in her eyes.
“That is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard, and— ah, to hell with it.”
I took her in my arms and kissed her, gently at first, but she demanded more and I hungrily delivered. Feathering my fingers across her collarbone, she turned her head to the side, telling me what she wanted next. I brushed her hair back with my fingers and nibbled at the nape of her neck, working my way down to the collarbone. Teasing the soft dip just above the breastplate with my tongue, I heard her moan.
I slid my hand under her shirt and caressed my way up to her breast. Cupping one, I rubbed gently with my thumb. Another moan. Encouraged, I squeezed softly until the areola became hot under my touch. I watched as her face flushed pink with arousal. “Your breasts are perfect,” I said breathlessly, pushing her blouse up so I could kiss them. So I could taste them with my tongue, nip them with my teeth, and embrace them with my fingers. She arched her back as I exhale my hot breath on her nipple, feeling the tip harden and the tiny hairs stand up.
I ran my hand down her stomach to her jeans, and unbuttoned, then unzipped them as I sucked gently on her breast. Oh, man. She is so hot. My fingers walked under her panties and up to her—
“Damn it.” The special ringtone I used when the station called a fire alarm, the bugle cavalry charge, was blaring at maximum volume. “Not now.”
“Don’t answer it. Oh please, don’t answer it,” she whimpered breathlessly.
I gazed at her, flushed with arousal, with need and I thought, to hell with it. “Let me turn the ringer off,” I said, jumping up and grabbing my phone from the counter. But instead of muting the phone, I habitually hit the answer button. The automated voice said, “Engine 61, Truck 31, and Medic 37, respond. Residential fire at 2900 Kensington Avenue.”
“Oh, my God, Jordy. Isn’t that where your mother lives?” Robbie asked, sitting up and straightening her blouse.
I stared at her for a split second, waiting for the realization to sink in. Then I ran to the closet where I kept my semiautomatic pistol in a lockbox. “I have to go, Robbie.”
“Not without me, you don’t,” she replied, pulling her boots on. “Aren’t you going to put your boots back on?”
“Uh, yeah, probably a good idea,” I quipped, clipping my holster to my side. I sat down and stabbed my foot into a boot.
“Maybe I should drive,” she offered. “You seem a little rattled.”
“I’m all right, let’s go,” I ordered, pulling on the other boot and then jumping up. I grabbed my keys from the counter and walked to the door. She was still putting on her boots. “Hurry, we need to go.”
She hobbled over to the door carrying one boot and her purse. I forget sometimes that not everyone has been trained to dress in seconds and rush to a fire.
“Uh, you might want to zip up your jeans before they fall down,” I said, smiling at the beautiful disheveled woman still flushed with arousal.
She tried to shoulder her purse while juggling the boot and wasn’t having much success.
“Here, let me help.” I knelt down in front of her, and immediately felt the heat emanating from between her legs. A wave of guilt slammed into me, and I zipped up her jeans as quickly as I could and stepped away. It was bad enough that I had already started something that I couldn’t finish, I wasn’t going to prolong her torture.
As if she could read my mind, she said, “It’s okay, Jordy. I’ll be fine.”
I opened the door and ushered her out. “Well, just so you know, I feel like a jerk for this.” It was the second time in as many days that I left a woman on the verge of climax and it bothered me, a lot.
“Trust me when I say, you are not being a jerk,” she declared. I opened the car door and waited for her to climb in before shutting it and running to the other side. “It’s your mother, for Pete’s sake. You’d be a jerk if you weren’t upset about it.”
I pulled down the sun visor and hit the switch for the emergency lights. Then I peeled out of the driveway and shot across town. The city streets were very easy to navigate, especially if rush hour traffic was over and you had a siren screaming at the cars to pull over. Still, it took almost ten minutes to drive across town to my mother’s house.
“Jordy. Do you think it’s the smiley face guy?” Robbie asked, trying to pull on her boot as I sped around corners and through stoplights.
“That was my first thought. And if it is…” I decelerated and looked right and left as I made a left turn. “That means Mom was specifically targeted and the killer is sending me a clear message.”
“What kind of message?”
“Revenge.”
I parked my car to the side of the engine truck. Even before I put it in park, I had my seatbelt off and the car door open. “Mom!” I screamed as I ran toward the house, which was fully engulfed in flames. “Oh, God. Mom!”
Uncle Joe caught me by the waist before I could run up the steps. “She’s okay, Jordy.”
I pushed against his shoulder. “Where is she, Uncle Joe?”
“The EMTs have her over there,” he said, pointing at the red paramedic truck.
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, just shaken up a bit,” he replied. “Jordy, it looks like the fire was deliberately set.”
“Tell me.”
“Lillian was out with friends and when she came home and hit the remote control for the garage door…” I looked over at her car, still sitting in the driveway. “The spark set off an explosion. As soon as the fire is out and we’re able to get in there, we’ll know more.”
“Any sign of a smiley face?” I asked.
“Not yet, but like I said, we need to get in there and look around.”
“Okay. I’ll be over there with Mom, let me know when I can go inside.”
“Jordy, she’s going to need a place to stay. This house is a total loss.”
I looked at my childhood home, smoke billowing from the open windows. Memories of my youth flooded my mind like the force of water from a fire hose. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I said, “She’ll be staying with me.”
“What can I do to help?” Robbie asked.
Was she standing there this whole time? I was so consumed with my mother that I had forgotten all about Robbie. I blinked a couple of times to clear my head. “Just stick close by, okay? I don’t want to have to worry about you, too.” I didn’t mean to sound harsh but the frown on her face told me I was.
We walked over to where Mom was standing next to Medic 37. She had a blanket covering her slumped shoulders, and a faraway look in her eyes. She was so pale and shivering under the blanket. “Mom!” I ran the last few steps and wrapped my arms around her. “Mom, are you all right?”
“I’m all right, honey,” she replied hoarsely. She patted my back and repeated, “I’m all right.”
I didn’t believe her and held her at arm’s length to look for any signs that she was hurt. Physically she was fine, but her sad, empty, red-rimmed eyes told me her soul was hurting.
“The house, Jordy. The house...”
“I know, Mom. But the important thing is that you’re all right.”
“But it’s all gone, honey,” she persisted. “Our family photos, your baby blanket, your father’s medals. So much… everything is gone.”
Mom began sobbing and all I could do was cry with her, as I held her in my arms. I’d lived in that house from cradle to college and my best memories were about playing hide and seek with my dad. I always hid in the storm shelter and he always fo
und me. And burning the potatoes Mom was trying to teach me how to fix, and Dad barbequing in the backyard, while I played in the treehouse. Practically my whole life was lived in that house.
Uncle Joe walked over, carrying Mom’s fireproof box. She got the box, which was the standard size, with a key lock and handle, after Dad died. “Lillian, they found this in your bedroom.”
“Was there nothing else, Joe?”
“No, hon, I’m sorry.”
Fresh tears formed rivulets down her cheeks, and she held onto my arm to steady herself.
“Mom, let me take you to my house. There’s nothing you can do here.”
“No. I can’t leave now, Jordy. Not yet. My car’s right there, I can drive myself when I’m ready to go.”
I looked at Uncle Joe, hoping he had a way to keep her from driving. She was in shock, and I was afraid for her to drive. Uncle Joe must have heard my silent plea.
“You can’t drive that car, Lillian,” he said. “It has a cracked windshield. A piece of the garage door smashed into it.”
“Yes, I know,” Mom replied.
“My God, Mom. Were you in the car when it happened?” I asked, another set of chills crawling across my body.
“That’s where we found her, Jordy,” Uncle Joe explained. “I had to lift her out of the car because she was in such a state of shock that she couldn’t move.”
“That’s settled then. You’re coming home with me,” I stated.
“I said no, Jordyn.”
I looked at Uncle Joe but he only shrugged and then turned around and walked back toward the house.
Robbie put her hand on my shoulder and showed me her cell phone. She was talking to her mother.
“Lillian, do you feel up to talking with my mother?” Robbie asked. “She’s very concerned for you.”
“She is?” Mom asked, wiping her cheeks. She held her hand out and Robbie handed her the phone. “Gloria, is that you? Yes, it has been too long. No. No, I’m fine.”
I took Robbie’s hand in mine and squeezed it. “Thank you.”
“I just figure at a time like this, you need all the support you can get.”
“No, Gloria. It’s too much trouble,” Mom said into the phone. “I can stay with Jordy… what? Yes, it would be good to catch up on old times. Yes, of course, I’d do the same for you.” My mother looked perplexed as she handed the cell phone back to Robbie. “She wants to speak with you, dear.”
Robbie took the phone. “Yes, Mom. All right, I will.” She ended the call and put the phone in her pocket. “Mom said she’ll put on some coffee and wait up for you. Take all the time you need.”
“Your mother always was stubborn,” Mom chuckled, relaxing minutely, as she sat down on the bumper of the ambulance.
“Her daughter is just like her, Mom,” I quipped. Robbie swatted my arm playfully. “Would you mind driving my mom to your mother’s house? I need to stay here and work.”
“Sure, I’d be happy to. I just can’t believe you’d trust me with your car.”
“I’m not trusting you with my car,” I countered. “I’m trusting you with my mother and with her in the car, I know you’ll be extra careful with my car.”
“Oh, you. You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” Robbie chided.
“Am I wrong?”
Robbie glanced at my mother and shook her head. “No, you’re not wrong. I’ll take good care of her.
“Thank you. I can’t tell you how much this helps, knowing my mother will be safe.”
She turned so her back was to my mother. “I can’t believe you’re going to investigate the death of your own home.”
“I have…” Death of my home. That’s exactly what it felt like. “I have to do this, Robbie. The arsonist is stepping up his attacks and sending me a clear message.”
“What’s that?”
“That he’s not going to stop until he’s caught or killed.”
“The latter being the preferred choice,” Robbie stated glibly.
“Robbie, why don’t you stay at your mom’s tonight and meet me at the funeral tomorrow. You’re still going, right?”
“Yes, I’ll be at Scott’s funeral tomorrow, but I don’t want to leave you alone to face all of this by yourself.”
Shaking my head, as much to say no as to distract myself from wanting to kiss her right then, I said, “I won’t be alone. Uncle Joe will be on the scene for another couple of hours and we’re going to sift through everything with a fine-tooth comb. You’d be bored silly.”
“Jordy, I can read you like a book and it won’t work.”
“What won’t work?” I asked, wondering if she was on to my trying to keep her safe because she had a mad man after her, and now I think I do, too. This mess just kept getting worse and more dangerous by the hour.
“Never mind. This isn’t the right time to discuss this.”
“Oh, no you don’t. You started it, now say it.”
“Fine,” she snapped, crossing her arms. “Something’s going on that you think I can’t handle and you’re treating me like a child.”
I crossed my arms also and cocked my knee. “If trying to keep you safe and out of harm’s way is treating you like a child, then guilty as charged.”
“Safe from what? My father? You can stop that right now. I want a confrontation with him so I can… so I can unload twenty years of disgust and disappointment on him.”
“And that’s exactly why I’m treating you like a child,” I admitted. “He’s dangerous and you’re too stubborn to realize that.”
“Excuse me? Didn’t I confide in you earlier that—”
“Girls, please,” my mother interrupted, pulling the blanket tighter around her.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Lillian,” Robbie said, sneering at me before smiling at my mother.
Standing up and running her hand through her hair, Mom said, “I’m ready to leave now. But Jordy, I need you to pick me up tomorrow in time for the funeral.”
“No problem, Mom.”
“Wait... what am I’m going to wear?”
“What’s wrong with what you have on, Mom?” Oh, jeez. Why did I ask that? My mother is the kind of person who would never leave the house without every hair in place, even if she was going just going to the grocery store.
“I can’t wear this to a funeral; it’s not appropriate.”
She was wearing a stylish pant suit that I thought was very appropriate, but then I’m more like my father, in that a pair of jeans and a shirt were perfect for any occasion.
“Lillian, you and my mother are about the same size, I’m sure she could loan you something,” Robbie offered.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t ask her to do that.”
“You know my mother, do you think she’d take no for an answer?” Robbie asked.
Finally, my mother smiled and my heart lifted. “Mom, let’s go shopping after the funeral and get you whatever you need.”
“We’ll see,” Mom replied, which was code for probably not going to happen. “I want to come here after the funeral and see if anything can be salvaged.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, Mom. If I find anything tonight I’ll save it.”
“Jordy, that’s my home. I need to say goodbye.” Tears welled up in her eyes again. “Do you understand?”
Death of her home. My own eyes watered up and I blinked a couple of times, pushing the tears away. “Yeah, Mom. I understand.” I hit the remote on my car and raised the roof. Mom hated riding in convertibles. Then I handed Robbie my car keys and helped Mom into the car, making sure her seatbelt was fastened.
“Everything’s going to be all right, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too, honey. Promise you’ll be careful,” she said.
“I promise.”
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Robbie said just before pulling out and driving away.
God, she’s so stubborn. And I’m so totally in love with her, damn it.
Chapter Eighteen
Roberta Witherspoon
Lillian was very quiet on the drive to my mother’s house. She was exhausted and once we got on I-40 she dosed off for a while, leaving me with my thoughts. The reporter training in me, which was mostly self-taught by way of trial and error, warned me that there was more to the story than I was seeing. The frustrating part was the fact that I couldn’t see it, but felt it was about to bite me in the butt. Jordy was holding back something, and I wanted to know what that was. My father had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, wanting to reconnect. I’m pretty sure he was only after money but one of the pieces missing from the puzzle was how he found me. Last I heard, he was still in Vegas. Did he come to Memphis specifically because he knew I was going to be there, or was he already here?
My favorite stretch of road between Memphis and Germantown was where the Wolf River ran parallel to I-40, also known as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway. Occasionally, I would be able to glimpse the river through the trees, especially in the winter time, but of course, I couldn’t see it now with it being at night. I had spent enough time as a teenager, driving my used Volkswagen back and forth over this road, until I could almost drive it with my eyes closed. Tonight was different, though. I was driving a sports car begging to be let loose, but I couldn’t oblige it because of the precious woman quietly snoring in the passenger seat.
I hadn’t been sure Mom would be so willing to take Lillian in, considering they hadn’t spoken in almost twelve years, and Mom had never mentioned her once that I remembered. I imagined they wanted to make up, but neither would be the first to speak up. If nothing else came from all this, at least they found each other, again. My mom has always had a big heart, but as Lillian so aptly described, she’s stubborn as an old mule. And Jordy was right when she joked that I was just as stubborn as my mom. Maybe even more so, at times. I could be too stubborn and Jordy could be too over-protective. Should make for a very interesting friendship.
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