“Darren, don’t feel bad, but your wife’s sick and probably thinks you’re distant. Her being sick is hard enough on both of you, but now you’re working two jobs so you’re tired, too. Your sex life has to have tanked…you come home late, and now you don’t tell her what you’re really doing. Women can sense when you’re lying.”
“But it was for a good reason.” Replacement sniffled. “He took another job.”
“Because he couldn’t get overtime?” Jack asked.
Darren nodded.
“Problem solved. Now, please leave.” Jack pointed to the door.
Darren nodded and ran for the door but stopped halfway. “But she can’t tell my wife.” He looked at Jack.
“Of course she’s going to tell your wife.” Jack rubbed his forehead.
“She can’t. There’s no way my wife can work, and we need the money. She’ll get so upset. Please?” He turned back to Replacement.
“Listen, Darren. Trust me. Your wife will understand you’re being a stand-up guy a hell of a lot better than she’ll understand you getting some action on the side, and—”
“Jack.” Replacement stamped her foot.
He looked at Darren. “Darren, go tell your wife you love her so much that you took a dishwashing job. Believe me, she’s going to go crazy in a different way than how you think, and you can thank me later. For now, get the hell out.”
Darren practically ran for the door. “Thank you. Thank you very much,” he mumbled as he left.
Jack grabbed his phone as it buzzed again. It was another text from Kendra.
SO NOT FAIR!!!!! HOW CAN HE suspend U?!?!?!
He tossed the phone down as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Life isn’t fair…
Jack opened his eyes to take a good look at Replacement. She stared at the text on his phone, and her face said it all. Her eyes were rounded in concern; her little hands were tightly balled into fists.
I should let her go give Collins a piece of her mind.
Jack sighed. “I’m taking a shower now.”
He walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. As he emptied his pockets on the bureau, he paused.
All my life I wanted to be a cop. Have I just thrown it away?
No, no, no…
As Jack peeled his shirt off, he winced.
“Snap.” Replacement exhaled. “What the hell happened to you?”
Jack leaned against the sink as he looked back at her standing in the bathroom doorway. “Can’t I get any privacy, kid?”
“You’re not doing anything I shouldn’t see, and you’re hurt.” Replacement opened the medicine cabinet and began to take things out. “You need to wash that scrape off now. It looks like you cut yourself and rolled in a mud puddle.”
Good guess.
She turned on the shower and pulled the curtain back.
“Pants.” Replacement reached for his belt buckle.
“I got it. Turn around.”
“No. I can’t take care of you with my eyes closed. Here,” she handed him a towel, “just think of me like a nurse, okay?”
Jack called her bluff and let his jeans drop to the floor.
She looked up at the ceiling and grinned while he wrapped the towel around himself.
That didn’t work.
“Lean down. Let’s start at the top. Let me see your face.” She turned the water on in the sink and got a washcloth wet. Jack shut his eyes as he leaned over.
“I feel like I’m four,” he muttered.
“Open your mouth.” Replacement tilted his head toward the light. “You got a big cut in your mouth, too. You’ll need to rinse with saltwater.”
“Yes, Mom.”
She dabbed at the cut on his lip; he winced. “What hit you?”
“A broom handle to the lip and brass knuckles in the face.”
Replacement made an awful face.
“What’s the other guy look like?” She turned him around so she could work on the dirt in his shoulder. Jack groaned and gritted his teeth.
Surprisingly, she looks pretty good.
Replacement felt around his shoulder with the tips of her fingers and then gingerly pulled out a thin shard of glass. “Darn it, Jack. You might have to go to the hospital.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Seriously, you might need a shot or something.”
“I need a shot of something. I’m going to go get one when we’re done here.”
“You getting drunk won’t help anything. I can’t get this clean this way. Get in.” She pulled back the shower curtain. Jack grudgingly got in the shower but, once safely behind the curtain, tossed the towel on the floor. He hated being pampered, but he shook when the water hit his wounds.
Replacement walked out of the bathroom, only to come back a moment later wearing one of his T-shirts.
“You had today off. What happened?” She shrugged , grabbed the sides of her pants, and yanked them to the floor. The long T-shirt covered halfway down her thighs.
Jack’s mouth fell open as he watched her taking her socks off. “What’re you doing?”
“You won’t do a proper job.” She handed him a towel. “Wrap it around you.” She waited for a second and then pulled back the curtain so she could step into the shower. He moved back, blinking rapidly as the water sprayed off her body, into his face.
“I have a shirt and panties on, so don’t worry about it.” She grinned as she held up the washcloth. “Turn around.” Jack complied.
She was cleaning out and rubbing his wounds gently but, after a few moments, Jack clenched his teeth tightly together and balled his hands into fists.
“Congratulations on solving your first case,” he said with some effort.
“Shut up.” Replacement rubbed a little harder. “That sucked.”
“Look, if his wife had paid someone else to look into it, it may have turned out differently. Trust me, his wife will be a lot better off knowing.”
“I did all that for free.” She pouted.
“You’re not taking any money?” Jack asked.
Of course she wouldn’t take it.
“No way. She’s sick and he’s washing dishes; how can I?”
“Maybe they’ll refer you?” Jack grinned, but it quickly faded. “You need to be careful following people.”
“It was easy. I just waited and drove over to where he was.”
Jack leaned back as he stuck his face under the water. “How did you know where he was?”
“GPS.”
“GPS? That’s not going to do you any good unless… DID YOU PUT A GPS DEVICE ON HIS CAR?”
Replacement straightened up as she shrugged. “Where else would I put it?”
“Are you out of your mind? It’s illegal. You can’t do that. Where the hell did you get it?”
“Online. I won it in an auction.”
Jack spun around so fast he almost fell. “You used my credit card. Is that thing in my name? Damn it, kid. Great. Just great.”
“Relax. I always use a throwaway account and get a different card when I’m doing anything online. The FBI couldn’t trace it back to you.”
Interesting choice of words.
“You can’t put a GPS device on someone’s car without a court order.”
“They do it all the time.” She grinned, and the water running down her face detoured into her dimple.
“On TV. That’s not real. In reality, you go to prison for that.”
She put her hands behind her head as she twisted back and forth. “I’ll be more careful.”
If you didn’t look so stinking cute I’d… Damn.
Jack turned back to the wall, so Replacement washed his cuts again. After a few more minutes of wincing and gritting his teeth, he grumbled, “Okay. I’m good.”
“It’s almost there.” She continued to rinse and clean it. “Put it under the water and I’ll look at your leg.”
“My leg?”
“It’s cut, too. Face the wall.”
Jack turned around as Replacement knelt down.
“Put your leg back,” she commanded.
As she pulled the cut apart, Jack snarled and fought back a string of profanities that flew through his mind.
“Enough. Enough with all of this. You’re always walking in and seeing me half-naked in the shower. Why? It’s just too weird.”
“It’s not weird.” Replacement scrunched up her face, leaned her head back under the water, and grinned. “You’re smoking hot. It would be weird if I didn’t want to see you naked.”
She stood back up. Jack looked down at her. His soaking wet T-shirt clung to her body and showed every curve. He stared as the water ran down her neck and traveled down her chest. Jack always worried about how much he let instincts guide him, but right now he didn’t care. Something deep inside him wanted to let go and run with it.
He surged forward. One hand snaked around her waist while the other slid up the back of her neck. Her arms fluttered at her sides as he pulled her into him and kissed her. She offered no resistance as his lips glided over hers. He pressed his mouth against hers until he felt her relax. His kisses softened, but his grip tightened and he pulled her closer.
She moaned softly as he kissed her. His hand slid lower until he cupped her bum. The warm water splashed off her skin and then ran down her face. Jack felt his hand tremble as he realized how much he wanted to be with her right now.
Replacement wrapped her arms around his shoulder and kissed him with a passion she’d repressed for years. Her fingers entwined in his hair while Jack inhaled her hot breath. Both of his hands slid down the curves of her body until they rested on her hips. He reached for the hem of the shirt and started to raise it up. He felt her breath catch, and then her hand touched his arm. Jack opened his eyes to see Replacement gazing up at him, breathing heavily. He could see the desire in her eyes, but something else was there, too.
She’s going to say stop.
She stiffened.
“No, no, no,” Jack whispered as he turned his kisses into quick little pecks, which headed toward her neck once more. Her eyes fluttered and closed. She reached behind her and turned the water off. Jack slumped. Blinking, he straightened up and brushed his hair back. Replacement jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel.
“I’m sorry.” She clutched the towel to her as she pressed her legs together. “I want to, I really do, but…it wouldn’t be right…now.” She bit her lower lip as she looked him up and down.
Jack turned his hand out and tried to smile. “It’s right. Now is good.”
Replacement took a step toward him and then ran out of the bathroom.
Damn.
Jack glared at the closed door.
Perfect.
If she didn’t have that lasso…
Jack’s bedroom door slowly opened until he saw Replacement’s head appear.
“Not tonight,” Jack grumbled as he continued to look at the ceiling.
“Can we talk?” She walked to the edge of the bed.
“No. I’m just starting to calm down, and I don’t want you messing with my head anymore.”
“I’m not trying to mess with your head.”
“Yeah. You’re not trying; you’re straight-up succeeding.” He put his hands behind his head.
“I’m sorry.” She hopped into the bed next to him.
“You don’t get ‘no,’ do you?”
“Do you?” She scooted over and looked down at him.
Jack frowned and then smirked.
Replacement quietly asked, “Is that why you got suspended? You didn’t listen to a ‘no’?”
Actually, you didn’t listen.
Jack nodded.
“What’s going on? What happened?” She sat up crossed-legged as she looked at him.
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Well, what happened to your face?” Replacement’s hand went out.
“I told you. I got in a fight. I got my ass kicked.”
“You?” She leaned back and her smile quickly faded. “Really? Was it a few guys?”
Jack shook his head. “One.”
Replacement pressed her lips together. “He must have been huge. Like real big. It’s okay. You said anyone could get in a lucky shot.”
Jack shook his head. “It wasn’t luck. She got the drop on me from the start and—”
“She?” Replacement shook her head as if she had water in her ears.
“She,” Jack repeated.
“A girl?”
He sat up. “Yeah. Is that so out of the realm of possibility to you?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
Jack glared.
She dipped her chin down. “Was she like an Amazon or something?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I got in a fight with Wonder Woman, and if she didn’t have that lasso I’d have kicked her ass.”
“I’m just…” She closed her mouth and waved her hands. “Why did you get into a fight with her to begin with?”
“I went to Marisa’s.” Replacement frowned but he ignored it. “She had broken into Marisa’s apartment and—”
“She broke in? Is Marisa okay? Is that why we haven’t heard from her?”
“Hold up. A couple of nights ago, Thaddeus reported—”
“Who?”
“Thaddeus. He’s this homeless guy who hangs out behind the tattoo parlor. He reported two guys had grabbed Marisa and had taken her in a car.”
“Taken her? Kidnapped her?” She scooted off the bed, and her hands went to the side of her head. “What the hell, Jack? You could have told me.”
Jack’s hands went out. “The guy reported it, but Collins didn’t believe him.”
“Collins is an ass.”
“He’s by the book, but he looked into—”
“He looked into Michelle, too.” Replacement’s eyes blazed, and her words hung in the air. “Don’t defend him.”
Jack swung his legs over the side of the bed.
She doesn’t even know about Marisa’s past but she’s ready to go after her.
Replacement’s fists clenched and opened repeatedly. “They won’t even look? You’re searching for her, though, right?”
Jack nodded and stood up.
“The clothes. That’s why you had the weird hair. You did go undercover…” Her voice trailed off as she looked down.
“Yeah. But I couldn’t tell you.”
She looked up. Jack wished she looked mad, but she didn’t. She was hurt.
Way to go, Jack.
“I…I had my reasons, and most of them sound stupid now. I’m sorry. Marisa has a past, and I can’t…”
Her eyes narrowed.
“If you told me your darkest secret, would you want me to tell someone?” Jack asked.
Replacement stood there, fidgeting. “Fine. Let’s get started.” She turned and marched into the living room.
Jack followed her. “What?”
She walked over to pick up a notebook. “You haven’t found her. Let’s start at the beginning.” She sat down as she opened the notebook. Jack paced.
“Marisa came over to talk to you about the whole graffiti thing, right?” Jack asked. “She told me she was scared. She felt like someone was watching her.” Jack noticed Replacement shudder. “I was going to go back that night, but she wasn’t there.” He walked over to the window. “I didn’t think anything about it.”
“That was Tuesday night,” she added.
“Wednesday, I saw Thaddeus. He already had gone to the police, but nothing happened.”
“SEE?” Replacement almost ripped the notepad as she dragged the pen across the surface.
“Collins had his reasons. Thaddeus isn’t the most reliable witness.”
“But you believe him. And you believe Marisa.”
“It might not be black-and-white, kid. What if…what if she just went away and—”
“I’m only going to say this once, Jack.” She glared a
t him. “You were right about Michelle even when everyone doubted you. Don’t doubt yourself now.”
Jack looked back out the window.
“Did Thaddeus see the guys?” Replacement asked.
“Only one. He said he was Asian and had his arms covered with tattoos. I went to the station and met these two Feds, Walter Prescott and Jennifer Rivers.”
“Feds?”
“FBI,” Jack said.
“FBI? Oh, because it’s a kidnapping? They sure came fast.” Replacement put down her pen. “But I thought Collins didn’t believe Thaddeus? And why would someone kidnap Marisa? She isn’t rich, is she?”
Jack exhaled as he looked down at the Impala parked outside.
She can’t help me if she doesn’t know.
He looked at his reflection in the window that glared back at him. “It’s because Marisa has a past. She’s Severino Mancini’s daughter. Her real name is Angelica.”
Replacement spun around and then moved the mouse. After a few minutes, she looked up at Jack, wide-eyed. “Are you kidding me? This guy is a serious badass. He’s ruthless. Even his name in Italian means severe. Do you know how many times he’s been put on trial?” She leaned closer to the monitor as she frantically scanned the pages.
“He’s never been convicted,” Jack said dryly.
“You dated his daughter? Are you crazy?”
Jack shook his head. “She left her family when she was sixteen. That was almost eleven years ago.”
“Why did she leave?”
Jack shrugged.
“She didn’t tell you?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Is that why she was kidnapped?”
“I don’t know.” Jack continued to pace. “For all I know, it may not be related but…why else would someone grab her? Like you said, she’s not rich. But if it’s a kidnapping, why hasn’t anybody reached out to them?”
She started to write in her journal and then froze. “How do you know no one has reached out to them?”
Jack stopped pacing. “I asked.”
“Severino?” Replacement spun around to face him as she pointed back at the monitor.
Jack nodded.
“You went to see him?”
Jack could see her fear and anger but there was also a little pride. “I did. He didn’t know anything. Neither did his son, Ilario. He gave me a phone.” Jack walked into the bedroom and brought out the phone.
JACKS ARE WILD Page 11