The timer interrupted the line of questioning, and I jumped up to pull the cake out. The newspaper I had folded fell to the ground, and I hurried to scoop it up, shoving it into my pocket. Jake gave me a curious look, but I waved him off. I didn’t want to tell him here.
As soon as the oven door opened, the smell of chocolate wafted out. It only took a few minutes before the guys were joining us in the kitchen. Annie poured milk into glasses, and I sliced into the cake. It crumbled slightly because it was so warm, but I was able to cut a slice for everyone with minimal disaster.
There was no talking as everyone enjoyed their cake. Even Tyler was quietly absorbed in the chocolatey goodness. Jake’s eyes caught mine, and it was clear he wanted to talk, but no way were we having any type of conversation with this bunch around. I nodded in silent agreement at the question in his eyes, and as soon as we finished our cake, he was up.
“Hate to eat and run, but we’ve got to be going,” Jake announced, gesturing to me.
Annie smiled mischievously, “Why, Jake, I thought Addie was friends with Connor. If you need to go, it makes sense that Addie goes with Connor.” Jake looked disgruntled at the logical conclusion formed by his own deception. I glanced over at Juliet, and saw she wasn’t too pleased by this either.
“I brought Addie and I’ll leave with Addie,” Jake declared, mutinously. I hid a smile as I gathered our glasses and plates and put them in the dishwasher. Annie looked ready to comment when I said, “It’s quite alright. I’ve several things to do and I do think I prefer Jake’s company.” I winked at Connor as he dramatically clutched his chest in mock despair.
“Why does this always happen? They always pick Jake,” he groaned, shaking his head.
“Perhaps you should find a woman that would never fall for Jake’s charms. His sister perhaps?” I suggested sweetly, ignoring the shock on Juliet’s and Connor’s faces. Jake just smirked at him, seeming to enjoy their expressions.
I gave everyone big hugs until I got to Juliet, but she surprised me when she reached out to hug me. I was grateful for this sign of her acceptance. “It was good to meet you, Juliet.” I whispered.
“Call me Jules,” she replied back with a smile and a look at her brother. “I have a feeling we’ll be good friends.” It was my turn to be shocked. I attempted to control my expression. There was a lot Juliet didn’t know about me, including my age. Connor grabbed me in a bear hug, squeezing me until I was breathless, very much assuming the role of older brother.
“You joining us later, Con?” Jake said, as we walked to the door. I stopped Connor before he could blow us off for the date he was already planning to ask Jules out on.
“You need to. Trust me,” I told him, my expression serious enough to make him nod with no argument.
“I’ll be over in a bit,” he said, solemnly. The realization of why I was there seemed to dawn on him, a reminder we had a killer to catch and family dinners were nothing more than a nice distraction.
Chapter Twenty
After my reply, we rode back to his apartment in silence. The newspaper page in my pocket should have been consuming my thoughts, but it wasn’t. The man in the seat next to me was.
My life was so utterly and impossibly different than I could have imagined. I never thought I would be sitting next to Jake, going to his apartment after having dinner with his family, yet that was exactly what I was doing. While the opportunity had only existed because of our current circumstances, I desperately hoped this wouldn’t be the last time.
My thoughts were interrupted by our arrival at his place. I took the opportunity to look around, since it wasn’t dark this time. It was a newer complex with several multi-unit buildings surrounding a common area with a pool. Jake parked behind his unit and grabbed my hand as we walked to the elevator.
The thump of my heart changed cadence, as he took my hand. His fingers were strong and warm as they wrapped around mine, and I glanced at him in surprise, but he wasn’t looking at me. I curled my fingers into his protective ones, forcing myself not to analyze the reasons why.
He dropped his keys on the table by the door as we walked in, before pulling me toward the couch. I followed willingly, distracted by the flex of his back muscles. His t-shirt was taut across his back, revealing the tension along his spine. My hand stroked down the tight muscles before I realized what I was doing.
He froze, his back straight before spinning around. The look in his eyes caused white hot heat to unfurl inside me. My breath caught as his gaze focused on my mouth. His forehead bumped into mine as he whispered roughly, “I’ve been waiting so long to do this.” His lips seared me with their urgency. The force of his kiss caused my lips to part and he took full advantage. I snaked my arms around him, his body my anchor in a whirlpool of need.
I found myself pressed against the couch, one of his thighs cradled between my hips as he pressed hot kisses against my neck. My hands slipped underneath his shirt, tracing the thick muscles coiled under his skin. His heavy weight pressed into me, my upper body supported only by the steel band of his arm cradling me.
Some tiny coherent part of my brain screamed at me that we shouldn’t do this. It was dangerous. I told it to shut up as he sucked lightly on my neck before running his tongue over the spot. A moment later, his mouth was on mine again, the deep thrusts of his tongue drugging me. I pulled myself from his mouth with a gasp and he moved his tongue to my ear, pulling on my earlobe with his teeth. I felt his hand slide under my shirt, his thumb finding my nipple unerringly. A quick stroke of his thumb caused it to pucker instantly. Moisture pooled between my legs as he pressed his thigh harder between my legs.
The sensations coursing through me made me want to forget everything but him. I could feel his stiffness against my hip, and I wanted to rub against it like a bitch in heat.
The thought caused a faint smile to cross my face, as I was a bitch in heat at the moment. I wasn’t ready to cross that line though, so I forced my hands to stop stroking the deep ridges of his back and abdomen. I pressed against him, forcing him back slightly. He didn’t take the hint, his lips trailing lower on my collarbone. I could feel my resistance melting, so I said, “Jake. Jake! What about Sarah?” I was getting steadily louder, my head clearing as I remembered the girlfriend I’d just met. He stilled, his hand sliding out from under my shirt. I felt the light kiss he placed on my shoulder before he looked at me.
“I broke up with her,” he said, his full red lips parted slightly, the heat in his eyes tempered only slightly. “You don’t think I’d bring you up here and make out if I hadn’t broken up with her, do you?” His tone was accusatory, but I only arched my eyebrow in reply. He gave a one shoulder shrug, acknowledging my look.
“Fair enough,” he said, the look in his eyes clear as he bent his head again. His hands squeezed my hips as he pulled me closer and our lips brushed. He took my lower lip between his teeth, his thumbs rubbing right under my breasts and I was lost again. The kiss deepened, just as the door of his apartment burst open.
I found myself behind Jake as he spun around to face the perceived threat at the door.
“Whoa!” Connor said, raising his arms up at the threatening look Jake sent him. “You told me to come over.”
Jake pulled up from the crouch he’d dropped into, and I let out a relieved laugh. “Knock next time,” Jake growled, his adrenaline still high.
Connor glanced over me swiftly before focusing on Jake with a considering expression. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” he drawled, the question clearly rhetorical from the angry look Jake threw him. Connor shook his head in warning.
“Addie,” he said, his eyes never leaving Jake. “How old are you again?”
“Seventeen,” I answered quietly. His question was straightforward, but his intention behind it was anything but. Jake glared at him, snarling, “Enough.”
Connor nodded, their eyes still locked together. The tension was so concentrated; I swore I could taste it. The errant thought crossed my mi
nd that it tasted about what I thought sweaty gym socks would taste like.
I understood Jake’s anger at Connor’s questioning him, but I also respected Connor for having the guts to bring it up. He was right. I was seventeen to Jake’s twenty-two. Add in the fact that Jake was a cop, and we had the makings of a telenovela or, at the very least, the end of Jake’s career. While I had reached the age of consent, it could still reflect badly on Jake.
I knew what would distract both of them from their standoff, so I pulled the newspaper page from my pocket. The crinkle immediately caught Jake’s attention. They both looked at me as I held it up.
“Found him.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“State trooper,” Connor said with a sigh.
“Makes sense,” Jake answered. “They don’t have to worry about traffic stops. Freedom to move through parishes.” He gave an ugly laugh. “Perfect criminal would be a cop.”
They had been going over the picture ever since I showed it to them. They recognized the uniform instantly. Reading the caption at the bottom of the picture, we determined our dirty needle was named Jason Hart.
“Are we sure our guy’s name is Jason?” Connor asked. “There are several guys in the picture, they could have gotten it wrong.”
“I’m sure,”” I said, absolutely certain it was him. “Google him. He’s our guy.”
“Wouldn’t hurt to see what info we can find on this guy,” Jake muttered, grabbing his laptop. He spent a few minutes pulling up different social media sites. “He’s got everything set to private. We’ll need to get him to friend us.” They both looked over at me.
“I don’t have any social media accounts,” I reminded them, watching Jake as he pulled up the new registration form on one of the sites.
“You’re about to,” he said, typing intently. “But don’t worry. I’m not using your real name. Any names you like?” he asked, glancing over at me.
“Cherry Duncan,” I responded promptly. Jake’s eyes widened, even as Connor said, “What, have you always secretly wanted to be a porn star?”
I laughed at them before I said, “No, I had an imaginary friend named Cherry.” I raised my hand. “Don’t ask me why. And Duncan was the boy I had a crush on in 6th grade. What can I say? It just came to me.”
“Uh huh,” Connor grunted, while Jake wisely turned back to typing the info in.
“We’re gonna need a picture,” Jake announced after a few minutes.
“Gotta be something that’ll make him accept her,” Connor added.
“But nothing that shows her face,” Jake amended. We all nodded, Connor looking uncomfortably at Jake and tilting his head at me.
“Oh for crying out loud, you two,” I finally said, unbuttoning the top of my shirt. “I know what’ll get him. Which one of you bozos is taking the picture?”
“Me.” Jake said, shooting a glance at Connor.
“Fine,” I muttered, squeezing my boobs together and bending forward while I turned my head, letting my hair fall across my face.
“You look like you’ve done this before,” Connor observed, the laughter in his voice obvious. I flipped him the bird for the second time that day and Jake laughed. I heard the click of the camera on his phone and looked back over at him.
“Perfect,” he said, smiling at me.
“You’re deleting that right?” I drawled, my eyebrow arched in question. He winked at me and went back to uploading the picture. I shook my head and buttoned my shirt up.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Connor protested, before Jake shoved him of the edge of the couch.
“Now who’s the perv?” he growled, as I laughed at Connor sprawled on the floor. “Alright, let’s see if he takes the bait.”
“He’s a cop. Do you really think he’ll fall for it?” I asked, thinking this has to be the oldest trick in the book.
Both of them looked up and said, ‘Yeah,’ at the same time. “Have you seen your boobs?” Connor asked me, making me vomit a little in my throat at the image I got from that question. Connor looked somewhat ashamed when he saw my expression. “I should probably quit phrasing things as a question around you,” I nodded my head emphatically.
Jake shrugged, “He’s right, but dude, don’t ever think that shit about her again. Okay?” I shook my head at the rampant stupidity of men when presented with boobs.
A few minutes later, we heard the ding as the friend request was accepted.
“See?” Connor said, and I nodded, still flabbergasted at how quickly a cop would accept a friend request based on a profile picture. We started combing back through his social media. I wasn’t entirely certain what we were looking for; anything that would give us a clue as to who we were dealing with was my best guess.
After a few hours, my stomach started rumbling. Jake threw me a glance, “Hungry?”
“Starving,” I answered, looking at the clock. It’s almost eight and lunch at his parents’ was a long time ago.
“Order a pizza,” he said, gesturing to a basket with takeout menus.
“Two pizzas,” Connor said, holding up two fingers. I nodded, already knowing to order two if I wanted any. I called a local place and they promised to deliver within twenty minutes.
As I hung up the phone, I heard Jake say, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What is it?” Connor asked, looking up from his laptop. After the first hour, they’d split up the social media accounts to make looking through them faster.
“That asshole posted a picture of the gun he used,” Jake said with a laugh. “Look.” He turned the laptop toward Connor as I leaned over the couch behind them.
Connor let out a low whistle. “Yep. If I had to guess, I’d say that gun would be a match.”
I read the caption under the photo, “Grandpa’s gun from WWII. Handed down to me. I’ll make you proud.”
“I’m sure Grandpa is extremely proud,” Connor muttered, disgusted.
“Only if Gramps was a Nazi,” I replied, frowning. Jake let out a snort at that. “We might check into that.”
“It’s not enough is it?” I asked, defeated. We were closer than ever. We finally had a name for the face, but it seemed like catching the guy was next to impossible. “We can’t use this as evidence. We can’t have him arrested.”
“No, but the more we know about him, the easier it’ll be to catch him when he slips up. Know your enemy,” Jake told me, squeezing my thigh lightly. “We’ll get him.”
Connor nodded and leaned forward, “Consider this preliminary fact-finding. Once we know his weaknesses, we can exploit them. Like the fact that he’s a sucker for big boobs.” He grinned, as I bounced a pillow off his head. The doorbell rang at that moment, and I gave him an evil grin.
“For that comment, you can pay for the pizza!” I told him, flopping back on the couch. He groaned dramatically, looking at Jake, who shook his head. “You’re on your own, buddy.”
“Fine. You remember who fed you when I need a favor!” he told me, laughing as he got the pizza and paid the guy.
“I’ll grant you that favor right now,” I said, pointing at him. “Ask her already, she’ll say yes.” Connor’s face was suddenly serious, glancing quickly at Jake, who took a second to look up and then back down.
“Hurt her and I’ll kick your ass,” Jake said, deadly serious. I looked between them, smiling at Connor’s hopeful face.
“Really?” he asked me. I nodded, waggling my eyebrows as I shoved pizza in my mouth. He looked at me shaking his head in horrified disbelief at my eating habits.
“Jake.” He jerked his head at me when Jake looked up. When he looked over at me, I gave him a big smile around the pizza stuffed in my mouth. Jake gave me a half smile and reached over to wipe pizza sauce off my cheek.
“What?” Jake asked, looking over at Connor.
“Nothing. You two are made for each other,” Connor said, grinning at me as he opened his own mouth showing me partially masticated food.
“Gros
s.” I shouted around my own mouthful.
“Both of you,” Jake groaned, grabbing a slice.
“What?” we both asked, our faces a picture of innocence.
“So what do we know about this guy?” Connor asked, swallowing.
“He likes big boobs and he cannot lie?” I asked, grinning. This got me a chuckle from them before Jake said seriously. “He’s definitely moving drugs. I checked his friend list, and I recognize a few guys. None of them have been arrested for dealing, but they’re people I dealt with. We have proof he has the type of gun we suspect killed Samuel Phillips. He’s not flashy about it, but he’s definitely got extra income coming in. His SUV is a little too nice for a state trooper’s salary. House too,” Jake sighed, as he leaned back. “It’s all speculation though. I haven’t found anything we could use.”
“It’s a matter of time. We’ll look at it again tomorrow,” Connor said, nodding at the laptop. “Now, I’ve got a question for Addie.”
I looked over at him, wondering what it would be. Maybe now that I knew more about our guy I could answer questions about him.
Connor’s expression was serious as he asked me, “What are the winning numbers for the Powerball?”
“Dude!” Jake groaned, as I threw a balled up napkin at Connor’s head.
“It doesn’t work like that!” I exclaimed. “If it did, I wouldn’t be sitting here with your ass. I’d be on a beach somewhere, sipping margaritas.”
“Oh, I thought maybe you had ethical reasons,” Connor admitted, sheepishly.
“No, I can’t predict the future,” I grumbled.
“Then how did you know Jake would help you?” Connor asked, his tone serious. I thought about it for a minute. It was a question I'd discussed once with Jake. He glanced at me, curious how I would respond now.
“I'm not sure. I think some things are meant to be. And before you go off on some fate thing and freedom of choice, I mean that some moments will play out as they’re meant to. I was meant to meet Jake, and he was meant to help me. How it all worked out, well that was a matter of choices.” I looked at them to see how they were taking what I was saying. They looked a little incredulous, so I continued. “Jake would have made the choice to save Samuel Phillips. How that came about was me asking him for a ride. But the essence of who Jake is, that’s the reason he told me yes.”
Hidden Truths (The Hidden Series Book 1) Page 12