P J Mellor

by Make Me Scream (lit)

  She nodded, still looking out across the breaking waves. “Oh, yeah. Eight times. I’m a big fan of marriage. I just can’t seem to sustain it for the long haul.” She bent and picked up a shell, dusting it off before putting it in her pocket. “That’s why I gave up after I lost my eighth husband.”

  “When did he die?’

  “Die? He’s not dead. Least, as far as I know. I said I lost him. We went on a cruise, and he didn’t come back with me. Took up with some bimbo he met at one of those all-night buffets.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been a shock.”

  “Aw.” She waved her hand negligently while she spoke. “Not really. Truth be told, he was getting kind of boring. Good riddance.”

  “Well, you must not have thought so initially. You married him.”

  “Yeah, well, a lot of women get excited over nothing, and then they marry them. Petunia! Put that down!” She stalked to the big dog and pulled a clump of seaweed from her jaws. “That stuff is nasty. If you’re so damn hungry, why didn’t you finish your food? So,” Francyne said when she was once more close enough to speak, “how did the ‘product testing’ go tonight?”

  “It’s just now ten o’clock. How do you think it went?”

  “Dang, boy, you need to get some moves if you expect to be a player.”

  “Thanks for reminding me, Francyne.” He ran his hand through his hair and stared out at the water. “I thought everything was going great; then the dog butted in and in seconds it all fell apart. I dunno. Maybe I’m jinxed.”

  They turned back toward the complex, their dogs trotting along beside them. “No, pumpkin, you’re not jinxed. You’re just out of practice. Don’t worry. It’s like riding a bike.” She tugged her dog close. “C’mon, sweet thing, it’s time for us girls to get some beauty sleep. Night, Dev.”

  He watched Francyne shuffle to her door and wondered if he should tell her he never learned how to ride a bike.

  Jamie peeked through her living room curtains into the deserted courtyard. By the faint glow of the fire pit, she saw one man sitting in one of the patio chairs. Was it Devon?

  She should go apologize for running out on him earlier. Instant recall of their time together had her moist and restless, yearning for something she did not usually yearn for: sexual gratification. If not with Devon, who? Maybe he’d take pity on her and at least let her borrow a vibrator.

  Shoring up her confidence, she quietly closed her door behind her and edged toward the glowing embers.

  “Hi,” she said when she was close enough to be heard, “mind if I join you?”

  The man turned and jumped up, towering above her. It was not Devon, and panic seized her until she realized it also was not Fred.

  He smiled, revealing blinding white teeth that seemed to glow in the darkness. With the firelight gilding his sandy hair, he was easily one of the most stunningly handsome men she’d ever seen. Almost beautiful.

  The embers from the fire pit bathed his tanned skin in a warm glow.

  “Absodamnlutely, pretty lady,” he said in a deep, smooth voice. Sticking out his hand, he said, “I’m Todd. I live in the apartment above yours.”

  If she planned to ever get over her fear, she had to stay…at least a little while.

  “Hi, Todd, I’m Jamie.” Gauging the distance to her door, should the need arise to escape, she sat down in the chair he offered. After he was seated, she said, “Have you lived here long?”

  “About a year.” He reached down into the cooler at his feet and brought up two longnecks. “Want a beer?”

  She swallowed her usual negative reply. She’d sworn she was through with running, being scared of every shadow. Now was as good a time as any to begin her new life. “Yes, I think I would.” He popped the top and handed her the frosty bottle.

  The cool beer soothed her parched throat, relaxing her in a way she had not allowed in a very long time.

  “How do you like the Surfside Villas, so far?” Todd leaned back in his deck chair, crossing a strong-looking ankle over his smooth knee, exposed by a pair of brief running shorts.

  She tried not to stare at the expanse of perfect skin before her. But…wow! She’d seen bodies like that only on the beefcake calendars her grandmother loved so much. Boy, if Gram could see what she was sitting next to now. A wave of sadness washed over her. Gram was gone. There was no one to run to anymore.

  “Jamie?” Todd’s voice broke through her derailed train of thoughts. “Are you okay?”

  “Hmmm? Sure. Why?”

  “I asked what made you decide to come to this area? A job? Family?”

  “Um, neither, actually. I just felt I needed a change of scenery and always thought the beach was relaxing.” When he continued staring at her, she shrugged. “After this past year, I could use some relaxation.” She glanced down at the empty bottle she held in a death grip. “Is there any more beer?”

  Without a word, he reached into the cooler and handed her one.

  “No offense, Jamie, but you strike me as a person who is running away from someone or something. I know a runner when I see one.” Todd tipped his beer, his Adam’s apple gliding in his smooth throat with each swallow. He wiped his mouth with the back of a long-fingered hand. “It’s in the eyes, the set of the shoulders. I guess it takes one to know one.”

  “Oh?” It was definitely not the conversation she’d envisioned when she’d come out of her apartment, but her natural curiosity piqued.

  He glanced around the courtyard and said in a lowered tone, “My sister’s husband abused her. Nothing stopped him. She was afraid. Afraid of staying and afraid of leaving. Finally I knew we had to get her away and offered to go with her. For over a year, we moved around the country, always looking over our shoulder.” A long drag from the beer paused his conversation. Just when she thought he wasn’t going to continue, he said, “I saw the same look on your face she used to get on hers when I turned to face you tonight.” He leaned forward, forearms on his knees. “Don’t be afraid. I’m right above you. If you ever need me, bang on the ceiling. Or, better yet, yell. Hell, as lousy as the insulation is in this place, you could probably just say my name and I’d hear you.”

  She thought about that, wondering what else he might hear, should she and Devon proceed the way they seemed to be heading tonight. “Don’t you work?”

  He nodded and popped the top on another beer. “Yeah. I work late, until about two, three nights a week. But I’m home most days, if I’m not catching rays by the pool.”

  “I didn’t see a pool when I moved in. Devon said it’s out back, but I get confused when I’m in the courtyard. Where is it?”

  He waved his bottle in the general direction of the arch leading to the laundry room. “Out there. And damn inconvenient, if you ask me. I’d have put it in the courtyard. According to the old lady—”

  “You mean Francyne?”

  “Yeah, her. Anyway, she says she remembers when the complex was new. Seems the architect made an error in the measurements and there wasn’t room for the pool. Since they built in the wrong spot, too, there was plenty of space out back and to the side, so they put the pool out there.”

  “Wow. That’s a really major mistake for the architect to make, I’d think.” She finished the beer and accepted the new one he opened for her.

  He nodded. “Yep. Guess it cost him his reputation. Possibly even his job.” He frowned, his blond brows drawn together. “I’m gonna have to ask Francyne what became of that architect.”

  Jamie fanned her hair off her sweaty forehead. “Does it seem unusually hot to you?”

  “Nope.” He popped the top on another longneck. “Have another beer. It’ll cool you off.”

  “No. Thanks anyway.” She blinked in an effort to focus on Todd. “I’m already feeling a little woozy. I don’t usually drink this much, but it tasted so good after the heat of the day.”

  “You need me to help you to your apartment?” He towered over her, a concerned look on his face.

/>   “No. Please, sit down. I’m fine. I want to stay out a while longer and enjoy the night air.”

  He stared at her as though he wasn’t sure she was telling the truth; then he sat back down and reached for his beer.

  “What do you do, Todd?”

  His white teeth flashed. “You mean when I’m not drinking beer out here?”

  She smiled and nodded. Funny, there was a time when his polished good looks would have had her tongue-tied and she’d have been willing to do just about anything to get his attention. Now that she had it, she found she wasn’t all that interested.

  “I’m an exotic dancer, to use the PC term.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “You mean…?”

  “Yep.” He tipped the beer bottle in her direction. “A stripper.” He drained the bottle and set it under his chair with the others. “Are you shocked?”

  She thought about that for a moment. “No, not really. Did you want me to be?”

  Laughing, he stood and reached for the cooler. “No, it’s just that a lot of people are, once I tell them.”

  “So, you’re a trained dancer?”

  “No, it was sort of on-the-job training. I could do something else, I have a degree, but for the time being I enjoy it. Hey, don’t look so surprised. Most of the guys I work with have degrees.”

  “Then why—”

  “Work as strippers? Better money, it’s fun and a great way to meet women. I mean, look at me.” He spread his arms and turned. “I’m not stupid. I know my time to do this is limited, so why not? I have the rest of my life to work the old nine-to-five.”

  “What is your degree in?” She frowned at the slurred sound of her speech.

  He stared for so long, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Finally he said, in almost a growl, “Criminal justice.”

  He turned and began walking toward the stairs.

  “Todd!” She knew it was none of her business, but she was curious.

  He stopped and looked back at her.

  “Did your sister succeed? Did she get away and make a new life?”

  After a moment, he shook his head. “No,” he said in a voice so quiet she had to lean toward him to hear. “He found her.”

  13

  “A nd?” She held her breath.

  Todd shrugged. “And nothing. The creep is still walking around.”

  “And your sister?” Her heart pounded while she waited for his reply. Putting herself in Todd’s sister’s place, she couldn’t help but worry. What if Fred found her? Could she get away again? If Todd’s sister succeeded, maybe there was hope for her, too.

  “Nothing. It’s like she disappeared from the face of the earth. This was her last known address. That’s why I moved here. It’s not much, but I keep telling myself as long as they haven’t found her body, there’s still hope she’ll turn up.”

  “Oh, Todd,” she said on a strangled breath, “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how you must feel.”

  “You’re right, you can’t. I still look for her wherever I go. I know she’s alive. I can feel it.” He tapped his chest. “In here. I know if she’s anywhere, eventually I will find her. And once I know she’s safe, I’m going after the son of a bitch.”

  She stared across the courtyard long after Todd disappeared. What she wouldn’t give for a brother as obviously devoted as Todd. Heck, anyone who gave a rat’s patootie about her, for that matter, would be good.

  There was a time when she thought Fred was that person. In hindsight…She shook her head. What had she been thinking?

  Remembered fear gripped her at the memory of creeping around her apartment, fearful of saying or doing the wrong thing and incurring Fred’s wrath. How she’d stood it as long as she did was nothing short of a miracle.

  Still, though, there were times she felt so lonely even Fred would be company. But all it took was remembering why she left and how difficult it had been to get away.

  Once she left she’d never looked back. Unless you counted the looks over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Again. It was almost uncanny, the way Fred seemed to always find her.

  But not this time, she vowed, rising on unsteady legs to stagger toward her door. This time would be different.

  Clicking on the tiled courtyard caught her attention a microsecond before something warm and solid hit her behind the knees.

  The next instant she was flat on her back on the sun-warmed tiles, her head aching from hitting the hard surface.

  “Damnit, Petunia!” Francyne’s strident voice echoed from the stucco walls. Or maybe it was just within Jamie’s head.

  The old woman rounded the corner, her tan legs and sneaker-clad feet coming to a halt by Jamie’s head. “Bad dog! Look what you did to our new friend.” She leaned down until her nose was almost touching Jamie’s. “You all right, sweetie?” The strong smell of alcohol on the woman’s breath brought tears to Jamie’s eyes.

  She nodded and slowly sat up, rubbing the back of her head. “What happened?”

  “Oh, that idiot dog of mine got spooked by her own shadow and took off before I could get the leash clipped. Next thing I knew, she rounded the corner with me in hot pursuit. Then there you were, flat on your back.” She glared at the dog, who now sat docilely against the building by Jamie’s door. “Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how you got that way.”

  Petunia got up and snuffled Jamie’s hand until she’d insinuated her head directly beneath Jamie’s palm.

  Hesitant, she scratched the big dog’s ear and then ran her palm gently over the warm smoothness of her skull. In response, the dog leaned against her leg, almost knocking her sideways.

  “Oh, now you’ve gone and done it,” Francyne said with a sour look on her made-up face. “You just made a friend for life. C’mon, Petunia, you affection slut.” She tugged on the now secure leash. “It’s past time we got our beauty sleep, not that it will help you any.” She peered back at Jamie through her trifocals. “You sure you’re okay?”

  Jamie nodded and smiled despite her headache. “I’m sure. Good night, Francyne.” She leaned down and ruffled the dog’s sleek head. “And good night to you, too, Petunia.”

  Before she realized what Petunia was going to do, the dog bestowed a big, slurpy doggy kiss. Yuck, dog germs.

  She waved as Francyne and Petunia made slow progress across the courtyard and then let herself into her apartment.

  The glare of the new lightbulbs she’d installed caused temporary blindness. Forcing her suddenly heavy eyelids open, she locked the door and the deadbolt and then checked to make sure all the windows and the patio door were securely locked.

  Weary steps took her to the bathroom then on into the bedroom where she barely had time to remove the hot silicone pouches from her push-up bra before collapsing on the bed.

  He watched through the side window as she reached into her dress and pulled out two globs and then tossed them aside before lying on the bed.

  Jamie had altered her appearance since he’d last seen her. He’d hardly recognized her at first. Not that it would help her. She couldn’t hide. Not from him. She was his; he was her destiny. The sooner she realized they were meant to be together, the better. She needed to give up all the running and come back where she belonged.

  Memories of their last night together flashed through his mind like a movie on fast-forward. He hadn’t meant to hurt her. But sometimes she made him so damn mad, it was like she wanted to see how far she could push. It wasn’t something he was proud of, but it was her own fault. If she would just realize that and be a good girl, things like that wouldn’t happen anymore. But when she was bad, she had to be punished.

  Thoughts of punishing Jamie gave him the usual hard-on he had when he thought about her.

  He glanced around the deserted courtyard. It was an old complex. Probably the locks weren’t all that great. He gave an experimental tug on the window sash. Locked.

  “Hey!” Devon rounded the corner of the courtyard and imm
ediately saw the tall man peering into Jamie’s bedroom window. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Who are you?”

  As he approached, the man turned and ran toward the parking lot.

  Devon thought about chasing him, but by the time he checked to make sure Jamie’s window had not been tampered with, the guy was gone.

  Okay, maybe he did have confrontation issues. Being beaten by bullies on a regular basis as a kid did that kind of stuff to a guy.

  After all, he reasoned, it wasn’t like the guy actually did anything. Sure window peeping was creepy, but it wasn’t really a crime. Was it?

  He couldn’t resist taking a peek himself, just to make sure she was okay, of course.

  Her yellow dress glowed with the weak light from the window. Jamie chose that time to roll over, the short skirt of her sundress bunching up around her hips, exposing her tanned legs and the sweet curve of her ass.

  He swallowed a frustrated groan and readjusted his package before walking home.

  No doubt about it, it was going to be another long night.

  14

  J amie rolled over, shielding her sensitive eyes from the sunshine; its brightness made the screaming yellow walls scream louder.

  Disoriented, she sat up, tugging her dress from around her waist. Her teeth were wearing little sweaters. How many beers did she drink?

  Crawling to the edge of the bed, she made her way to the bathroom at the speed of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.

  A long hot shower made her feel only marginally better. The low growl of her stomach reminded her she’d neglected groceries.

  After pulling on baggy khaki cargo shorts and a peach tank top, she pulled her wet hair into a ponytail and headed for the door. A quick stop for root inspection at the mirror by the door confirmed she could go another week before her next touchup.

  Her stomach growled again. Maybe she’d stop at the little corner tearoom by the boardwalk and have breakfast first. Everyone knew it was a bad idea to buy food when you’re hungry.