by Ann Charles
“Doc may surprise you. He isn’t like those other boring cretins from your past.”
I knew that. He was the first one who saw ghosts. Not to mention his many talents with his hands.
The sound of Layne yelling Addy’s name and pounding on a door disrupted my visit to the closet of solace. I opened the door, blinking in the morning brightness. “You need to hurry up and come home, Nat.”
“I know, I’m missing Oktoberfest this weekend up there, which really sucks. It’s one of my favorite festivals in the hills.”
“I was referring more to helping me out with Rex and the other stuff going on.”
The pounding and screaming coming from the outer hall stopped. Either the kids had worked out their differences, or an alien ship had beamed one or both of them up. Either solution worked for me.
“How’s the dead woman mystery coming along? Has Detective Cooper figured it all out yet?”
“No and now he has help.”
“What do you mean?”
“They gave him a partner. Some detective named Stone Hawke who Cooper used to work with down in Rapid.”
“You’re making that name up. It sounds like some testosterone-filled hero from an action movie.”
I chuckled at her echo of my first impression. “I know, right?”
“What’s the story on the dead woman?”
Unfortunately, Cooper had sworn me to silence after we’d left the apartment yesterday. I was too paranoid that the detective had bugged my cell phone somehow when he had it earlier this week to blab anything case-related to Natalie. If she were hiding in the closet with me this morning instead of hanging out in Arizona, I would have spilled it all and made her promise to tell no one.
“No answers yet,” I said, which was the truth.
“What’s this Stone Hawke guy like?”
“He annoys me.”
“More than Cooper does?”
“Cooper is frustrating, Hawke is just plain irritating.”
I heard someone holler in the background on her end of the call. There was a rustling noise and then a “be right there” in Nat’s slightly muffled voice.
“Vi, I gotta go. Gramps needs me to run to Yuccaville for some supplies.”
“Okay. Thanks for talking me down off the ledge.”
“Anytime, babe. Walk softly around Rex and carry a sharp stick at all times until I get home.”
“And then what?”
“And then we’ll tag team on his sorry ass and send him away limping … if he’s lucky.”
“Good. Be careful down there. Watch out for snakes and scorpions.”
“I’m more concerned about Aunt Deborah—her bite is more poisonous than a black widow’s.”
“She was always nice to me.”
“That’s because you’re not related to her.” She made a loud kissing noise in the earpiece. “Stay out of jail, Vi,” she hung up.
“I’ll try,” I told my reflection in the mirror.
I glanced at the clock. If I was going to dazzle Doc today to soften the blow when I hit him with the whole Rex crap, I needed to get to work on taming the bramble of curls on my head pronto.
Two hours later, I walked through Doc’s unlocked back door wearing a pink cashmere sweater dress that hugged me in all Doc’s favorite places, raspberry red lip gloss, an extra coat of eyeliner and mascara, and my purple boots. Coffee scented steam leaked from the lids of the two mochas I’d picked up on the way to sweeten him up a bit before I dumped my bad news all over him.
“Doc?” I called as I hip bumped the door closed and dropped my purse on the floor. His 1969 Camaro SS was sitting in the parking lot, so he had to be here. But was he alone? I’d walked in to find Detective Cooper here more than once, so I knew better than to start blurting out anything that could incriminate me.
Doc stepped out from the bathroom, hair damp and wavy, shaving cream on part of his jaw, shirt off, khakis zipped but unbuttoned … my gaze stumbled at that point, getting tangled up around his bellybutton.
Whoa!
Something detonated in my chest, discharging a blast of heat through me that almost melted my eyeballs. Shit, I wondered if I’d just blown a fuse in my heart. I needed to put down the danged mochas before I popped the tops right off from squeezing so hard.
Doc surveyed my outfit. A smile spread up to his dark eyes, making them seem to sparkle. “Morning, Boots.”
I held up the coffee. “I got you a mocha.”
“A siren bearing coffee? Damn, it looks like I’ll be crashing into the rocks today.”
Crossing my fingers he meant that as a good thing, I followed him back into the bathroom. I leaned against the doorframe, listening to him scrape the razor up his neck as I did my best not to openly ogle.
I couldn’t help it. I still periodically pinched myself to see if this was all real. A girl like me didn’t get to win guys like Doc. We usually got the Rexes and Rays of the world, drinking our way along until there was enough numbness to forget we’d ever hoped for more.
“Why do you shave here in your office instead of over at the gym?” I asked to change the subject in my mind.
Doc had a routine of hitting the Rec Center first thing in the morning, like Jerry and Benjamin, whereas I had a routine of hitting the snooze button over and over, sometimes throwing the damned alarm clock across the room.
He made two final swipes and then rinsed the razor. “It’s too busy there in the morning. I take a quick shower and then get out.” He raised his brows at me in the mirror as he toweled off the remnants of shaving cream. “To what do I owe the pleasure of you standing in my bathroom doorway first thing, wearing a dress that makes me want to get all sweaty again?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“If you wanted me to be able to converse, you shouldn’t have worn those boots with that dress.”
I contemplated skipping the whole Rex subject and focusing on running my fingers over all the parts of his skin. I should probably make sure everything was still where it had been the last time I’d explored.
“Do you have any clients scheduled for the next half hour?” I asked.
“No.” He grabbed a blue shirt that hung from a hook on the wall. “Is your headache gone?”
He was referring to the reason I’d given last night to get out of talking to him on the phone after he’d returned home from his card game over at Cooper’s. The whole mess with Rex had me tied up tight. I’d feared Doc would hear the tension in my voice, know something was wrong, and I’d spill everything over the phone. The story about Rex needed to be face to face.
“Not quite.” I had an appointment with my headache this afternoon.
He slipped his arms into the sleeves of his shirt, leaving it hanging open. He reached for his drink. “I missed you last night.”
My heart frolicked about, kicking up its heels, rolling around in dandelions. I leaned my head against the door. “What? Cooper and Reid don’t cut it when it comes to snuggling on the couch?”
“Your skin is softer than theirs.” Doc took a drink of coffee, groaning in appreciation. “Good coffee and a hot babe in boots. This must be a dream.” He put the drink on the counter and reached for me, pulling me into his arms.
“My drink,” I said, trying not to spill it on either of us.
He took it and set it on the counter next to his. Then he got busy checking out my dress, feeling this, that, and all things in between until I was pressing into him. His palms idled on my hips. “I really like this dress.”
“Good.” I stood on my toes and kissed him, tasting the mocha on his tongue. “I want you to take it off me sometime.”
“Twist my arm.” He kissed me back, his hands busy playing Lewis and Clark again, exploring my frontier and then some through the sweater fabric. “You need to spend the night with me again soon.”
I slid my hands inside his shirt, trailing over his bare shoulders. Goose bumps rose under my touch. “Like a slumber party?”
&nbs
p; “I foresee little slumbering.” He leaned back against the counter and settled me between his legs. “Now tell me, Violet. What’s on your mind? Does it have something to do with yesterday’s excitement?”
My eyes widened, my gaze falling to his Adam’s apple. Oh crud. Did he know about Rex already? How? “What do you mean?”
“Your visit to Ms. Wolff’s place with Cooper. Did you find something?”
Oh, that. I could meet his eyes again. “What did Cooper tell you?”
“He mentioned that you gave his partner some trouble.”
That was putting a nice spin on it. Cooper must have been practicing speaking to the press. “Detective Hawke rubbed me wrong.”
“Apparently, you’re not the only one. Cooper was grinning when he told Reid and me how you threatened to stomp on the man’s testicles, and Cooper rarely makes any facial expressions during poker.”
“You mean the great Stone Hawke wasn’t there with you guys last night?”
“No, Harvey was the fourth.”
“Oh. I thought Harvey was out with one of his lady friends since he didn’t spend the night on Aunt Zoe’s couch.”
“He crashed on mine instead.” Doc wound one of my curls around his finger. “Did you miss his snoring?”
“I missed his cooking at breakfast.” Although Aunt Zoe had made a mean bacon and mushroom omelet in his place.
Doc’s brown eyes searched mine. “What did you see in Ms. Wolff’s apartment yesterday?”
“Cooper didn’t say anything about our walkthrough?”
“Just that he made you swear to keep quiet, and then he specifically told Harvey not to badger you for details.”
Cooper had warned me to keep my lips sealed when in his uncle’s company or he’d shut me out of the investigation on Ms. Wolff’s death entirely, even if my son was somehow involved. “But he didn’t tell you not to ask me about it?”
Doc shook his head.
“I wonder why not.”
“We’re sleeping together.”
“You and Cooper?” I asked with a grin.
“I tried to seduce him, but he threatened to handcuff me.”
“I know those handcuffs well.”
“My little jailbird.” Doc chuckled and kissed my knuckles. “Cooper probably figures that since I get to see you naked, you’re going to tell me about what you saw in that apartment.”
“You haven’t seen me naked in over a week.”
“And I’ve been counting the hours as they tick slowly by.”
Hours ticking by reminded me of the German Black Forest clocks, so I started my play-by-play of yesterday with them. Doc handed me my coffee partway through, drinking along with me as I told him all that happened, everything I remembered noticing that gave me pause, and some of my speculation and concerns about Layne.
“Where’s the book Cooper let you take home?” he asked.
“By your back door in my purse.”
“Do you mind if I take a look at it?”
“That’s why I brought it.”
“I’ll scan through it and let you know what I find.” He finished his coffee and tossed it in the trash. “Are we still on for dinner at your aunt’s house tonight?”
“If you’re good with pizza again.” Aunt Zoe needed to be at her glass gallery on Main Street to prep some shipment so she was going to be late. Since Harvey hadn’t mentioned he was coming over for certain, that left me in charge of dinner. Pizza was one of the few things I could cook without burning—usually.
“Sure, but let me bring it this time.”
“On one condition.” When he nodded, I continued, “You come with me to Ms. Wolff’s apartment.”
Both of his eyebrows inched up. “To what end? You think she’s still in there?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of you finding whatever it was that I missed.”
“What makes you think you missed something?”
“I don’t know, my feminine instinct maybe.” Since Natalie said my gut was often wrong, it couldn’t be that. “There’s something in there, I know it, but I couldn’t see it.”
“Do you think Cooper will allow me in there?”
“Cooper doesn’t need to know.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Is this going to get us thrown in jail?”
“Would that be a problem?”
“It could hinder.”
“I’ll have a legal way of entering the apartment within a week.” At his inquisitive stare, I explained. “The owner of the Galena House is considering putting it on the market. She wants me to go through the place with her this weekend so I can give her an idea of what I think she may be able to list it for.”
His gaze narrowed. “Won’t they still have Ms. Wolff’s apartment blocked off?”
I held my index finger to my lips, leaning closer to him. “Cooper uses strips of tape,” I whispered, winking. “I think I can figure out how to get past tape.”
“Oh, really?” Doc grabbed my finger and held it. “Violet Parker, if you ever give up on the realty business, maybe you could go into the cat burglar field.”
I wiggled my eyebrows at him. “So will you sneak in with me if I can arrange it?”
“You know I will.” His attention headed south. “Now about this dress and those boots.”
As much as I wanted to lean into him and see how far he was willing to go this morning before we had to get to work, I had to deal with the Rex situation. My pulse pounded in my head as I stood on the edge of the truth about my ex being in town, fretting about what his presence might do to whatever was going on between Doc and me.
“Doc,” I said, licking my suddenly dry lips. “There’s something else you need to know.” I lifted his chin so his focus was on me, not my dress.
“What?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, then opened to try again, hesitating.
“Violet, what? Are your kids okay?”’
“Yes, for now.”
He frowned. “What’s that mean?”
I took a deep breath, clasping my hands together. “I have a problem. A mega problem.”
He waited as I stepped back and rubbed my arms, then clasped and unclasped my hands.
“I don’t know how to say this.”
“Just let it roll.”
Okay. “Rex is in town.”
Doc sat on that for a moment, long enough for me to wonder if he remembered who Rex was.
“You mean your ex-boyfriend?”
I nodded. Good, he remembered.
“Layne and Addy’s father?”
I nodded again.
“The man you said you haven’t seen since before they were born.”
I kept nodding like one of those bobblehead dolls, my muscles tight from the neck down.
“How did you find out he’s in town?” Doc asked, his expression unreadable.
“He came into Calamity Jane’s.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Doc cocked his head to the side. “Before or after you went to Ms. Wolff’s apartment?”
“Before.”
“That explains Cooper’s question.”
“What question?”
“He asked me if you were experiencing more stress than usual lately due to Ms. Wolff having Layne’s picture, or if there was something else going on with you.”
That wasn’t surprising. During lunch yesterday, Cooper had kept staring at me when he thought I wasn’t looking. He must have picked up on the volcano still spewing lava inside of me. But Hawke had gone on and on with tales of his cases ad nauseam. Every time Cooper tried to broach what had me shoving salad pieces to and fro on my plate, Hawke would interrupt. At first I thought it was a power play, but then I realized it was Detective Hawke’s way. It went along with his lack of recognition of personal space.
“I was pretty pissed off when I showed up, which is why Detective Hawke and I will not be exchanging Valentine’s Day cards next year.”
/> “That explains why you went off on Detective Hawke.”
“Partly. But if he hadn’t been a jerk out of the gate, I wouldn’t have broken his pen.”
Doc rubbed his jaw. “Seeing Rex had to be quite a shock for you.”
Backing into the zappy end of a cattle prod would have surprised me less. “You could say that.”
“How did Rex find you?”
I considered telling him about the text messages Cooper had found from Rex on that decapitated guy’s phone, but I decided to keep to recent events. “He saw my billboard.”
“Of course.” Doc grabbed my arm and turned me around so my back was to him. “Does he want to see his kids?”
“He didn’t even mention them. Nor did I.” His hands warmed my shoulders.
“What did he want?”
“To look at some rental places.”
“He’s sticking around?” He began kneading the tight muscles around the base of my neck, working out some knots I had cinched there.
“According to him, yes.” I let my head loll forward under his touch. “I tried to tell him there was nothing to rent, but Jerry made a point of saying there were places available.”
“Does anyone at work know who he is?”
“No. I don’t want them to either. I can’t have anything getting back to my kids.”
“What are you afraid of?”
The unemployment line, running into another albino, something happening to my kids, losing Doc—the list was quite long. I wasn’t sure he had time for me to start scrolling down it, so I summed it up for him. “Everything, damn it.”
“Are you afraid he wants to be in their lives now?”
“Yes.”
“Would that be so bad?” he pressed with both his words and fingertips.
“That son of a bitch left me high and dry. He had his chance when they were in the womb and again when they were born, but he rejected them both times. I won’t let him reject them a third time.” Especially now when they were so vulnerable when it came to needing a father in their lives.
I’d thought off and on over the last decade about Rex and his actions, trying to understand how he could walk away from his kids without a single fight. Even prior to the kids being in the picture, he’d been oblivious to how I’d felt about him sleeping with my sister. The way he had come back afterward, before he had known I was pregnant, and couldn’t comprehend why I had been so upset he’d had sex several times with Susan. I finally surmised that he didn’t realize how his actions hurt others. He had no empathy in him to get it.