by Jayne Blue
“Do we know who was the last person to see him?” I asked.
“Yep. His bank teller. Two weeks ago Seth came in and made a sizeable withdrawal. He pretty much drained the last account he held in his own name.”
“How much? Were you able to find that out?”
R.J. shrugged and looked behind him as he made the approach to the expressway on-ramp. “About ten thousand dollars.”
I whistled low. “I don’t know if he knows how to live on that little. He’s never been able to budget. You sure that’s all he took?”
R.J. nodded. “It’s all he had access too. As soon as Miranda’s death turned into a homicide investigation, all of her trust accounts were frozen. My contact at the bank told me he tried to get into that and got pretty hostile with the staff when they told him they wouldn’t be able to help him.”
“Still,” I said. “Ten grand cash could get a person pretty far, at least for the short term. How hard are the cops looking for him?”
“Not very. He’s not officially been charged with anything yet. He’s got “person of interest status” on the investigation into Dex’s case. He’s wanted for questioning in Miranda’s case but Addie’s right, they still think they’ve got their suspect with Tora.”
“I spent some time with him,” I said. “He wasn’t all there. He was edgy and paranoid. God, I just think if the cops could get him in an interview room, he’d fold. I didn’t see a guy who could hold up to tough questioning. Tora managed to flip him.”
R.J. cocked a brow. “Yeah, I really don’t see Seth being able to hold up to Sipowicz-level questioning either.”
“Other than the money, what other leads to you have?”
R.J. hit the brakes and we slowed for a semi that had just cut into traffic ahead of us. He let loose a string of obscenities that was pure Reed and it made me smile.
“Right now, I’m trying to eliminate places where he’s not. I’ve got eyes on Miranda’s house. He hasn’t been back there in over a week. His passport hasn’t been used. At some point, he’s going to have to reach out to someone for help. Other than Miranda or you, I don’t know who he was close to. What about Ed Jeffries?”
I had filled R.J. in on the highlights of my non-conversation with Ed and Leona Jeffries. “He knows more than he’s letting on. That’s about the only useful piece of intel I got from that conversation. But he’s worried about appearances. Right now, the name Manning is about as politically poisonous as Wilkes-Booth. If we had the luxury of time, things would die down and Ed would probably talk to me. Right now though? I’m going to have to figure out another method of persuasion.”
“So you don’t think there’s any chance Seth has gone to Ed or that Ed knows where he is?”
I shook my head. “That wasn’t the vibe I got.”
R.J. slapped his hands against the wheel as he made the turn down Reed and Margie’s street. “This is frustrating the hell out of me. I can’t imagine how bad it must be for you and Tora. Why in the hell would Seth want Miranda dead? I could understand a crime of passion where she was concerned. Hell, I’m sure most everyone she ever met envisioned wrapping their hands around her throat once or twice. But this?”
“I know.” It killed me, but I could see why someone on the outside looking in would have to think Tora was the only one with a motive to plan out Miranda’s killing. “Believe me, I know.”
“What about Pagano? Any rumblings that the feds are going to go after him when this all pans out?”
“Not so far. We’ve given them proof that Dex was innocent but there’s no trail from Miranda to Pagano. He’s covered his tracks or Miranda did it for him. She was smart where Seth wasn’t. I can’t imagine she ever tried to threaten him with what she knew.”
“Right,” R.J. said. “See, that’s the part that has me thinking Pagano had nothing to do with Miranda’s murder. If I were him, I’d be more worried about Seth being careless, not her. In fact, that’s what’s got me a little worried. Sure, Seth doesn’t want to face the trouble he’s in, but he’s got to be equally worried about George Pagano wanting to get rid of him.”
He was right and it had been on my mind too. If Seth could provide the key to clearing Tora’s name, finding him before George Pagano did had to be a priority.
As soon as R.J. put the car in park, I slid out my seat. I heard him give a knowing laugh behind me. It had been a day and a half since I’d seen Tora and clearly I wasn’t good at hiding how badly I wanted to be with her.
“About Pagano,” R.J. said, leaning over the top of his car. I stopped and turned. “It might not be the worst thing in the world if the feds don’t go after him for this one. I mean, for your girl’s sake. It’s probably safer for her that way.”
I let a breath out. As much as I wanted to make George Pagano pay for what he’d done to both my father and Tora’s, R.J. was right about that too. “I know. It pains me to say it, but I know. I want Tora safe a hell of a lot more than I care about George Pagano getting what’s coming to him.”
“He’s just a bear you maybe don’t want to poke at. At least not right now. You think there’s any chance he’s behind Ed Jeffries’s behavior?”
“I can’t rule it out. No. But it wasn’t the sense I got. More than anything, it just felt like Ed didn’t want to risk being seen with me. I think he’s worried the fraud investigation into Seth might somehow touch him since he was the one everyone thinks was helping him with his senate run. The natural conclusion somebody might draw would be that maybe Miranda was trying to buy Seth that seat.”
“You’re probably right,” R.J. said, slapping me on the back as we stepped up to Margie’s porch together.
The front door swung open and Tora stood there. For me, it was like the sun came out. R.J. stepped around me and Tora came out on the porch. I leaned down and she wrapped her arms around my neck. My heart beat faster knowing she had been just as anxious to see me as I had been to see her. But behind her was a houseful of people, including the staring eyes of her father just beyond the screen door. When Tora brushed my cheek with her soft lips, I knew tonight’s biggest challenge would be finding a way to get her back to the tree house without an audience.
***
Tora
As happy as I was to have my father back in my life, tonight I found myself equally happy when he and Charlie finally decided to leave. I spent a torturous night staring at Jack across the dinner table while everyone else made small talk. Jack had eyes for me and I just prayed my father wasn’t as good at reading my face as I was his. But he and Charlie lingered far longer than they usually did so chances were he knew exactly what was on my mind. As soon as Reed and Margie made their diplomatic exit and R.J. fell asleep on the basement couch, Jack and I were off to the races.
“Shhh!” I whisper-shouted to Jack as he backed me up against Margie’s sliding door off the kitchen. “I was kidding the other day about letting you bend me over the table. Let’s go outside.”
“I can’t wait that long,” Jack said. His hands were all over me. He pulled me close to him; his fingers found their way up the hem of my skirt and he hooked the waistband of my underwear and started to drag it down.
Giddy with laughter, I tried to keep my voice down as I reached behind me to unlatch the door. “Wait.” My words were in vain. With a quick, strong jerk, Jack had my panties ripped in half. He worked his hand back between my thighs and found me already so wet and wanting. I had no self-control where he was concerned and I wished we were back in his hotel so he could make me earn it again with my legs tied wide apart to the bedposts.
“You don’t want me to wait.” His voice was husky and sent a flash of desire straight through me.
Somehow, I found the concentration I needed to unlock the door and I slid it open. I took a tumbling step backward and Jack kept pace.
“You’re a very bad influence, Jack Manning,” I giggled.
“I’m just getting warmed up, Miss McLain.”
“Let’s go for a walk
,” I said. “Come on. Take my hand. It’s getting dark and I don’t know if I remember the way.”
Jack’s eyes glinted under the porch light and the devilish smile that split his face practically melted me. “I’ve been waiting for five minutes alone with you for almost two days, Tora. I’m not in the mood for a leisurely stroll.”
“Just five minutes? That seems a little disappointing. What are you in the mood for?”
Jack wiggled his eyebrow up and down and twirled my wrecked panties on the end of his index finger. He took a predatory step forward. I chanced a look behind me. It was just two wooden steps down to the lawn then a straight shot to the woods. I turned back to Jack. He looked at me with that luscious, lust-filled smirk and my heart raced. I wanted this. I wanted Jack and fresh air and freedom.
“Well, Mr. Manning,” I finally answered as I took a slow step backward, my heel perched on the edge of the step. “That depends on whether you’re fast enough to keep up.”
I whirled around, leaped over the steps and ran across the lawn. I heard Jack’s sultry laugh behind me and then he was after me. My hair flew behind me and I hiked up my denim skirt as I reached the tree line. I chanced a glance behind my shoulder. Jack was just a few steps behind me. I squealed as I dashed into the woods. The moon was full and high and lit the trail in front of me. I made a quick jump over a fallen branch. The cool night air filled my lungs. Adrenalin and my growing arousal spurred me on.
I looked back and Jack was on me. Just as he reached for me, I ducked and twisted and ran to the right where the path split off. He stumbled and cursed but his low laughter matched my own. I saw the giant walnut tree just up ahead and ran toward it. If I managed to beat Jack to it, I’d never be able to scramble up the ladder before he caught me and the thrill of that is what kept me going. I wanted him to catch me. I wanted him to take me and claim me under the light of the stars with no one to hear us but the crickets and the owls.
By some miracle, I did reach the tree just ahead of Jack. My heart pounded in my throat as I reached out for the first rung. Of course, Jack was already right behind me. His hands encircled my waist and pulled me back down, turning me to face him. I was breathless, my heart raced. I wanted to devour him in kisses and feel him everywhere. My hands went up around his neck and he kissed me hard enough to make my toes curl.
His breath was hot and urgent on my skin. He tore at the button of my skirt and had me out of it in one quick motion. Sweat beaded his brow from the exertion of the run and his raging arousal. He stabbed against me through his jeans and I fumbled with his zipper. His erection was hard and pulsing when I got it free and I knew he couldn’t be gentle when he pressed his hips against mine, seeking the slippery cleft between my legs. It suited me. I didn’t want gentle. I raised my leg and wrapped it around his hip, guiding his swollen cock into me with the tilt of my hips and the arch of my back. Jack pressed me against the tree trunk; the bark was rough and unyielding under the thin cotton of my t-shirt. Everything was right and wild and perfect as Jack thrust himself into me and I angled myself to receive him.
“God,” he whispered as he smoothed the hair back from my forehead and found my lips with his.
“Fuck me,” I answered. “Don’t stop.”
Jack groaned as I gripped his buttocks and pulled him into me even further. He pumped again, once, twice and his body jerked as he gave over to the orgasm that already tore through him. We both needed this. Our bodies craved each other every day and it was torture for both of us to spend even a few days apart. I lifted my other leg so I straddled him around the waist. He got his hands under my ass to support me. I hooked my ankles around him and squeezed, taking every drop of his hot seed as he threw his head back as the last wave of his orgasm went through him. My own sex was pulsing hot around him and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold out very long myself.
Jack stepped away from the tree and helped me down to the ground. A clump of freshly fallen leaves formed a natural cushion as he turned me. He had me on all fours when he entered me again, deeper this time. I gasped when he sheathed himself to the root and reached around to grasp my swollen bud between his fingers.
“Fuck me, Tora,” he gasped against my ear and my body responded even before he got the words out. I ground against him as he worked my sensitive sex between his fingers. I bucked and thrust against him as he played me with those skilled fingers of his. My own juices mixed with his and he had me completely at his mercy as I rutted against him like some wild, carnal thing on the forest floor. Jack pressed himself into me and held completely still, letting me take my pleasure from him this way. There was no one to see, no one to hear us as I spread my legs even wider and felt the build of a shattering climax. When I did come, it ripped through me and I arched my back into him, quivering and clenching around him.
“I want to hear you,” Jack whispered against my shoulder blades and I threw my head back and screamed his name. I was free and wonderful and Jack wrung every drop of pleasure out of me as he thrust himself even further into me. My body shuddered through it and Jack held me. I would have crumpled to the ground if he hadn’t. When the last aftershocks of my orgasm seemed to subside, Jack finally withdrew. He folded his body around me and together we looked up at the stars.
I don’t know how long we lay like that together but Jack finally spoke. “We’re going to have to move at some point or get eaten alive.”
“Mmmm.”
Jack laughed and nipped my earlobe with his teeth. “There’s a storm coming. Can’t you smell it?”
I took a deep breath. I smelled earth and drying leaves. “I just smell woods.”
Jack shifted and sat up. We’d lain naked in the bramble together in our own secret, suburban Garden of Eden and I didn’t want to leave. In the distance, I heard the first roll of thunder. My heart sank. I wanted to stay out here all night with him. I wanted to curl up in his warmth if we ever made it up the ladder into the tree house. Nature had other plans.
“As much as I’d love to roll around in the leaves with you all night, I’m afraid we’re going to have to take this one indoors. Plus, R.J.’s going to wake up at some point and I don’t want to risk him walking back here and finding us like this.”
“I don’t care.” I stretched and yawned. Jack stood and hauled me to my feet despite my growling protest. “Tough luck anyway. I have no idea what the hell happened to our clothes. And I don’t mind a little rain.”
“It’s not the rain that’s the problem. That’s lightning on the horizon. It’s not safe to stay out here surrounded by tall trees. We’ll come back tomorrow night. I promise.”
I growled and threw my arms around him. “That’s one promise you better keep. I want to spend the whole night out here with you where no one can find us and we can be as loud as we want.”
“Mmm.” Jack pressed his lips against my forehead. “That’s a date, Miss McLain. You’ll just have to figure out a way to give your father the slip.”
I laughed. “He’s actually got plans tomorrow night. A couple of old friends from the M.C. are coming in tomorrow and they’ve brought Dad’s Harley out of storage. They’re planning on taking a ride. I might not even see him at all tomorrow.”
“Perfect,” Jack said. “I could do without him staring at me like I’m about to ravage his daughter.”
I kissed him hard. “That, Mr. Manning, is exactly what I’m hoping you have planned.”
He winked at me and pulled away to start looking for the clothing we cast off in our rush to couple. Jack could add master woodsman to his resume. Within about a minute he’d assembled the shambled pieces of our wardrobe minus my shredded panties. Once dressed, we laughed as we took turns picking leaves and sticks off each other.
“I’ve got most of it,” he said. “But your hair is pretty much hopeless. We better just pray R.J. is out for the night. One look at you and he’s going to figure out what we were up to out here.”
I arched a brow at him. “You really think he hasn’t al
ready?”
Jack shook his head. “Fair point. But come on, Maid Marion, I don’t feel like getting rained on.”
Sure enough, I felt the first dusting of sprinkles on my arms. I took Jack’s hand and he led me back the civilization of Reed and Margie Burnett’s back yard.
R.J. was very much awake when Jack slid open the glass door to the kitchen. He shot his friend a sheepish grin and shrugged. R.J. bit his lip but didn’t make any other comment. He was probably going to save that for when he and Jack were alone again.
“You planning on crashing here tonight?” he said.
Jack looked at me. I’d give anything if he could. The trouble was Reed and Margie’s guest room held only a twin bed and I had an early meeting with Addie in the morning. God. I wanted my freedom back. I wanted to be able to sleep in Jack’s arms again and wake up to him in the morning. With any luck that’s exactly what we would be able to do tomorrow night, even if it was just on the basement couch or the tree house.
I crossed the room and gave R.J. a quick hug. Ours hadn’t been an easy friendship to make and we were still working on it. I wasn’t sure if he completely trusted me and I knew it had to be hard for him having his parents stick their necks out for me. But he was near family to Jack and more like a brother to him than Seth ever was. Jack was trying hard to make peace with my father, I was going to do the same to the people who mattered to him. R. J. gave me a genuine smile as he pulled away. He was about to say something but the loud ring of Margie’s old-fashioned kitchen wall phone interrupted him.
“Geez, that thing’s loud,” Jack said.
“It’s got to be Addie,” I said. “Anybody calling for Reed and Margie uses their cell phones.” I reached around R.J. to answer. The thing had a twenty-foot cord and I walked through the kitchen with it to get a little bit of privacy in the hallway.
“Hello?”
Behind me, R.J. and Jack shared some inside joke and I put up a finger to quiet them then held my left ear closed so I could hear what Addie had to say. There was a pause on the other end of the line.