Quit Bein' Ugly

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  “Croft Crusie,” I grumbled into the phone.

  “Croft,” my mother said. “Are you coming to dinner when we get home later this week?”

  I looked at my watch realizing that it was only seven-fifty in the morning.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I have a case that I’m trying in two days, and I’m not sure that I’ll get out in time.”

  “Please?” Mom begged.

  I scratched the back of my neck as I tried to look past all the paperwork and shit that I still had to get through.

  And before I even realized what I was doing, I said, “Mom? Can I ask you a question?”

  Mom paused.

  My mother was literally the best mother in the world.

  After the death of my little brother during his baseball game when he was sixteen, she could’ve become overbearing or even withdrawn.

  She did neither.

  She acted like the same mother that she was before his death, only a little more easily saddened.

  “What’s wrong, Croft?” she asked, sounding like she was moving into a quieter place.

  My mother was now retired from her previous job, as was my father.

  They were newly retired, and both still trying to find their daily routines now that they had no jobs to go to any longer.

  Meaning Dad watched a lot of television, and Mom did a lot of sewing, and sometimes they did not coexist so well.

  “Tell me,” she urged when I hesitated too long.

  “Do you remember me telling you about my date with Carmichael a couple of months ago?” I asked.

  “A couple being like six? Before you took the case from hell? Yes. Why?” she asked.

  “I never actually went on it,” I admitted. “That night that I was supposed to, I got a call that was important and time sensitive. I didn’t even remember that I had that date until well into the night. I think it was like ten.”

  My mother groaned. “Croft, you moron.”

  I smiled at my mother’s colorful use of words.

  “I know,” I admitted. “But seriously. I really want a second chance. And she hates me. She thinks that Karen is the reason that I bailed on that date, and I’m not sure she likes that I work with her.”

  “Nobody likes Karen, honey.” My mother laughed. “Your sister says that she’s a titty baby. Always right at your ass waiting for you to drop her a crumb.”

  I sighed. “She’s actually only here for another couple of weeks. Her good friend is moving and she’s going to join her. I think it’s Florida or something? I’m not really sure. She wanted to become a partner here which would have been even worse for me. Soon, she won’t be a problem.”

  Mom made an agreeing sound.

  “That’s good,” she admitted. “Because if Carmichael sees this chick as a threat, she’s probably not going to give you the time of day. I wouldn’t if I thought you worked with someone that you slept with.”

  “Gross.” I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, back to dating her. Do you think that I should just ask her out again?”

  “Honey,” Mom snickered. “You need to grovel. You fucked-up, no doubt about it. She’s not going to just forgive you the moment that you decide to once again pay attention to her.” She hesitated. “She probably needs to know what you’ve been doing over these last six months. She needs to know why you didn’t bother trying to make this better when you realized you’d made a mistake. She also needs to know that Karen was never anything more than a colleague.”

  That was true.

  “Fudge,” I grumbled, knowing better than to cuss with my mother in hearing distance. She might be able to get away with swearing, but I couldn’t.

  “You know,” Mom said. “Jesus still knows that you mean the real F word. You might as well say it.”

  I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes.

  “So, what do you think my grand gesture should be?” I wondered. “All I can think of is just going over there, telling her I’m sorry for being an ass, and hope that she lets me stay long enough to explain.”

  “You could start there,” she suggested. “But I doubt she’ll believe you. That’s if she even listens.”

  I looked at my pile of paperwork and felt my eye twitch.

  “I’ll make her listen to me,” I said. “Any suggestions on the other stuff?”

  “Just kidnap her!” my dad yelled from the background. “Put ‘er in your car and drive far away really fast. Take her to the middle of nowhere so if she does get out of the car when you stop, she’ll have nowhere to go. And while you’re at it, go ahead and pack a picnic lunch, find out her favorite food, and go to her favorite bakery and pick her up a cupcake. Bitches love cupcakes.”

  “I cannot believe you just said that,” Mom said to my dad. “You can’t just kidnap a girl!”

  I was laughing when I hung up.

  The bad thing was, my dad’s suggestion really did have some merit.

  My mother might not approve, but I sure the fuck did.

  If she wouldn’t listen to me when I went by the gym after work, then there was definitely something else that I had on standby.

  Let’s just hope that she didn’t make me go to the extreme measures.

  • • •

  By the time that the end of the day rolled around, the very last thing I wanted to do was work out.

  That was why I went to work out.

  I’d been a bitch this morning and had missed my usual workout because I’d been too fucking tired from only getting a couple of hours of sleep.

  My tiredness fled as I walked out of the office and started to head down the steps toward my car that was farther down in the parking lot.

  I’d just made it to the blacktop that was considered the parking lot when the shooting started.

  At first, I wasn’t totally sure what I was hearing.

  It took something slamming into my shoulder for me to really pay attention to what I was hearing.

  It was when I fell to the ground in a puddle of my own blood that I realized that the sound that I was hearing wasn’t just some random loud noises. They were gunshots.

  Which was really fucking stupid of me because I wasn’t unfamiliar with the sound.

  I’d served five years in the military. I’d been on the skeet shooting team in junior high and high school. Hell, every fucking Saturday I went out with Flint and my dad and shot a couple of rounds of bullets through my concealed carry weapon just so I could keep my skills sharp.

  I should’ve known.

  Son. Of. A. Bitch.

  I’d been shot!

  “Oh my God!” I heard Karen scream. “Croft!”

  I had my phone in my hand and was dialing the cops before I even realized I was doing it.

  “911, what’s your emergency?” the operator asked.

  I swallowed hard. “I’ve been shot. I’m in the parking lot of my law firm.”

  I then rattled off the address and where I was located.

  More gunshots sounded and the ‘thunk-thunk’ of the bullet hitting the car beside my head was enough to have me moving even though I didn’t want to.

  Getting to the point where I was wedged between the car and the curb, I closed my eyes and prayed that whomever was on their way would hurry.

  Because as the numbness started to spread through my arm, and the blood from my shoulder started to seep into the collar of my shirt and around and down my back, I knew that I wouldn’t last here forever.

  I was also quite pissed that I wouldn’t get a chance to talk to Carmichael today.

  God. Dammit.

  CHAPTER 5

  I’m yours. No refunds or exchanges.

  -Text from Carmichael to Croft

  CARMICHAEL

  “All right, y’all! Good class! We’ll see you tomorrow!”

  People rolled off the floor and started to walk toward the side tables where they’d left their belongings.

  I used that few moments between classes to clean up all the barbells we’
d used today, wiping them all down with Lysol wipes and doing a quick sweep and mop of the floor to clean up all the puddles of sweat and sweaty body imprints.

  “You’re the devil,” Schultz grumbled. “Swear to fucking God.”

  I laughed as he lurched his way toward his bag and snagged it before walking toward the bathroom.

  He came to a sudden, bone jarring halt when he read something on his phone.

  He whipped around and his eyes locked on mine.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Where’s Flint?” he asked.

  I looked around, only then realizing that my brother hadn’t arrived yet.

  He should’ve been here over twenty minutes ago to get started for the next class.

  “I don’t know,” I said as I walked toward my bag where I kept my phone during class. “Let me…”

  “Croft has been shot,” Schultz said as he came toward me.

  Everything, and I do mean everything, traveled south.

  My body swayed with horror and dismay at his words, and I had to grab on to the counter to keep myself from passing out.

  “What?” I gasped.

  He turned his phone around and showed me.

  It was a text from someone named Ruger.

  Ruger: Local lawyer shot today outside office. Think you might know him. Name Crusie ring any bells?

  Bile rose in my throat, and I had to swallow convulsively to keep it down.

  I blindly reached for my phone in my bag, coming up with it and glancing at the screen at the same time.

  Flint had messaged me over forty times. And I’d missed fifteen phone calls.

  I blindly pressed his name and hit speaker so that Schultz could hear what was being said.

  “Where the fuck have you been, Mikey?” Flint growled the moment that I answered the phone.

  “At work,” I sounded devastated. Just like I felt. “What happened?”

  “Croft was shot in the shoulder. Through and through. He should be just fine. The gun was dropped at the scene when it happened, and they picked up the same fingerprints on the gun that were on the windowsill of your living room from yesterday. Don’t leave without someone there with you,” he ordered.

  I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me, and Schultz’s hand shot out and caught me around the upper arm before I could tip over.

  “What do you mean that they were the same?” I asked in a short gasp, nearly dropping my phone.

  “I got it,” Schultz said as he took it from me. “We’ll meet you at the hospital.”

  Flint said something and then hung up, leaving me staring at Schultz.

  “All right,” he said as he let my arm go once he knew I was steady. “Everyone that doesn’t work here, time to get out! We have an emergency and we’re closing!”

  People all started to gather their things, and the ones closest to us had heard what was happening and started to explain as they all walked out the door.

  Five minutes later I was in Schultz’s truck and heading to the hospital. His nieces were with his mom tonight, thank God, leaving him the ability to watch over me, because apparently, I had an attempted murderer after me.

  “What do you think happened?” I asked curiously.

  Schultz put one finger in the air and then called the man that was known as Ruger in his phone.

  “Yo,” the Ruger guy said two rings later. “Just now getting my message?”

  “Yeah,” Schultz confirmed. “What happened?”

  “Far as we can tell, the lawyer was walking out to his truck. Got about halfway there when a person started shooting. Took a bullet to the shoulder before he hid underneath a parked car. That car looks like fucking swiss cheese now. Man was fucking lucky, that was for sure.” Ruger sounded like a British man. His accent would’ve been interesting to me had he not been talking about Croft. “Anyway, lawyer’s at the hospital being treated. Some chick jumped into the ambulance with him on the way to the hospital and I swear to God. I’ve never seen a man almost push a chick as hot as her out of his face before like he did. I wonder what’s going on there.”

  Karen.

  He had to be talking about Karen.

  I kind of hoped that he had accidentally pushed her out.

  Luck was not on my side.

  When we got to the hospital and Schultz used his powers to get us right back, I found my brother standing in the parted curtain entrance of a room at the far end of the ER, and he did not look happy.

  As I walked in, I was bummed to the nth degree to find that Karen hadn’t accidentally fallen out of the ambulance.

  Nor was she kicked out of the room.

  But it was upon seeing the man that I had a huge crush on that made the decision for me.

  The very last thing I wanted to do was go into that room with Karen hanging all over Croft, but I felt like a terrible person. Especially since he’d come waltzing into my house yesterday to protect me.

  The least I could do was suck up my annoyance at seeing that bitch all over Croft and make sure that he was all right.

  I elbowed past my brother and took two steps into the room.

  “Croft?” I said softly.

  Croft’s eyes opened and he blinked at me curiously.

  Then his mouth tipped up into a smile.

  “Mikey!” he called out. “Come over here and give me a kiss.”

  It was the slurring of his words that had me moving toward him despite Karen’s obvious annoyance at either me being there, or Croft’s words.

  I wasn’t sure which at this point.

  “Croft, honey,” Karen said softly. “Do you want another drink?”

  He blinked in confusion then turned so that he was staring at Karen.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, lifting his elbow as if he could knock her off with the movement. “Stop touching me.”

  He then bodily shoved her hand away from his forearm when she didn’t let go, causing his entire face to whiten as he rocked the wound at his shoulder.

  Karen dropped her hand from his arm and stepped back, looking shocked.

  “Don’t know what it’s going to take,” Croft continued to mutter, sounding tired and a little bit drunk. “I seriously have done everything in my power to let you know that I’m not interested. And you ruined what I had with Mikey. I have you to thank for that.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  Surely this was a dream, right?

  “You don’t mean that, do you, Croft?” Karen asked. “You’re just confused.”

  “I’m not confused,” he grumbled as he turned back to me. “I was shot.”

  My lips twitched. “I know.”

  “It hurt.”

  “I thought you were shot before?” I asked.

  “I was younger then,” he countered, his eyes staying on me despite the girl beside him that thought it would be a great idea to take off her jacket and reveal her tits. “Things didn’t hurt nearly as bad. Now all I have to do is get out of the bed and things hurt.”

  He did have a point.

  “You were shot before?” Karen gasped, once again moving forward, this time with the power of her breasts behind her.

  Croft didn’t answer, but he did close his eyes as frustration poured through him.

  “Please, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t fucking touch me. My skin hurts,” Croft hissed through clenched teeth.

  I glanced over at Karen to see her staring at him with determination.

  “Since you seem overcome by pain, I’ll distract you.” She sounded pleased with herself. “I’ve decided to stay on at the firm,” she said softly. “Isn’t that great?”

  That sounded awful, actually.

  I hadn’t even been aware that she was leaving, now I was bummed that she wasn’t.

  “You don’t have a job after Tuesday,” Croft said as he closed his eyes and cleared his throat. “We hired a new girl to replace you. She starts Monday so that you can hand off all your cases and give h
er updates before you go.”

  “Oh.” Karen frowned. “That’s… I’ll talk to the big boss tomorrow morning. I’ll figure it out.”

  Just as Croft would’ve said something more, the nurse came in, shooing everyone out.

  “I have to check his wound and do an inspection of some things,” she said to us all. “Shoo. All of you. Even you, ma’am.”

  That was directed at Karen.

  I would’ve smirked had I not felt horrible.

  With one last longing glance at Croft, I made my way out of the room and toward where I could see Schultz and my brother speaking.

  I walked right up to them and into my brother’s arms.

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in tight, knowing that I felt like a horrible piece of shit.

  He was very much aware of my obsession with Croft, and he knew what I was feeling.

  At least, he assumed he knew what I was feeling.

  “What else happened?” Schultz asked.

  “Nothing.” Flint shook his head. “We ran the prints almost immediately. They matched the ones that we pulled last night, too. That’s about all I have at this moment. The other cops that are on shift are canvassing the area. Detective Dodge is checking with the local businesses around there to see if there were any cameras on the lot. Other than that, we’re kind of stuck until we know more.”

  “What about the law firm?” I asked. “They didn’t have any on the lot?”

  Flint shook his head, his eyes on something behind me.

  “No,” he answered. “They’d been turned off. They were out at two after a power line went down, and apparently, they didn’t ever come back up. Nobody thought to check because normally it’s an automatic thing.”

  “Well, shit,” I grumbled. “That’s sucky.”

  “Agreed,” Flint said. “I think that nurse wants you.”

  I turned to see her heading my way.

  “You’re Carmichael?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “Croft would like to see you.” She paused and looked at me with all seriousness. “He’s going to say that he doesn’t need anyone to look after him tonight, but don’t allow him to get away with it. He needs someone for twenty-four hours. He said that his parents are away with his sister for the weekend. You’re able to help? He said that you were his neighbor.”