by Natalie Ann
“No, it’s not. I can take a guess, but give me yours.”
“I’m thinking it’s not the Arrows but rather the victim’s family.”
“That was my first thought too. I don’t have a lot of contact with the DA to know how the family is reacting to this. I haven’t met with them much at all yet. His department just handed David’s medical records to me to look over two weeks ago.
“We’ll be in contact with the DA. My guess is he is aware right now. Every angle will be looked in to. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“It doesn’t fit though. If they want me to do the right thing, why slash my tires? Why send a decapitated snake? Why destroy my property? That’s not the right thing, doing that.”
“No. It’s not. Go change and relax. My father should be here any minute. Try to take your mind off of it.”
Trying to Maintain
Take her mind off of it. Easier said than done.
How the hell was she supposed to do that? First her car. A brand new car. That one pissed her off more than anything.
Then the snake. That was nasty. That one made her want to puke right on the carpet in her office. But she talked herself down while she guzzled water. Talked herself into anger again, because anger she could control better than fear.
Now she was going to try to relax, at least at the moment. She picked up her bottle of water and walked upstairs while Ian swept up the broken glass in her kitchen. Shouldn’t she take care of it herself? Yeah, she should, but she was still too shaken. He was probably right. She needed to walk away from it.
After grabbing a change of clothes, she decided a bath was the only way she was going to relax enough. Ian would be occupied downstairs. He’d have no clue at all. She had time.
Thirty minutes later, she came back downstairs in yoga pants, a long shirt, and flip-flops. He wanted her to relax, and she needed to be comfortable for that.
The bath had done wonders. If she let a few tears fall, she was able to hide it well. The steam and water wiped them away after she’d slid under and soaked her face and head, trying to wash away the night too.
Most of it. Not the kisses. And not the touches. Those could stay. Those she could hold onto for the night.
She heard two voices and figured she was going to meet Ian’s father. Oh well, guess it went well with the appearance they were trying to maintain.
“Hello,” she said, walking into her kitchen.
Was seeing Ian standing there with a drill in his hand supposed to make butterflies flutter in her stomach? Not just flutter but swarm around like a cyclone. Twisting and turning and getting her all worked up again. Different this time. Better this time. She could handle this kind of bodily response.
He turned sharply, his father following, then smiled at her. “I’m Cam. Cameron Mason,” she said, walking forward, offering her hand.
“Calvin Price. Nice to meet you.”
“We’re just about done here,” Ian said, looking her over. Her hair was still damp but piled on her head, her face scrubbed clean of any makeup. She wasn’t looking her best, but at this point, she didn’t care. She wasn’t supposed to be trying to turn him on.
It had been a battle to not do her hair and makeup, but she reminded herself that they were behind closed doors now. No reason to put the front on for anyone.
She grabbed another bottle of water and then went into her office. She’d make use of the time trying to look at David Arrow’s files some more. See if she could find anything about his girlfriend or her family there. She’d looked them all over already, preparing for her meeting next week, but it wouldn’t hurt to look again.
***
“She’s a looker.”
Ian turned to see his father’s smirk. “Yes, she is.”
“Kind of an unconventional meeting, don’t you think?”
He didn’t keep a lot of secrets from his parents. He didn’t often tell them when he’d been on a few dates either, but there was no way to avoid this. “Whatever works, right?”
His father nodded. “Just watch yourself. You don’t need someone trying to analyze your every move or motive,” his father said, laughing. He’d explained Cam’s profession, not wanting to feel like he was hiding everything. “Heaven help you. Your mother has done that to me her whole life and she isn’t trained to do more than teaching a bunch of snot-nosed middle-schoolers.”
Leave it to his father to joke about something while trying to be serious at the same time.
Yeah, Ian was aware that Cam was probably still trying to analyze him, but she wasn’t too obvious about it. That was probably worse, now that he thought about it.
He and his father finished up, then he made the dreaded walk to find Cam.
Dreaded because he’d noticed right away that she hadn’t just changed and tried to watch TV or read a book. But she’d stripped naked and lain in that large claw foot tub upstairs in her bathroom. The one he got a quick glimpse of when he walked around her house the other night and then again tonight.
It didn’t matter that he heard the water running and knew right away it wasn’t a quick shower, but a bath. He was happy she was relaxing. Too bad it wasn’t relaxing him in the least.
He knocked on the open doors to her office and walked in. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” she said. He could see that. Could see the bath helped her. “Did your father leave?”
“He did. Told me you were a looker.”
She laughed. “He can say that with the way I look right now?”
“He can and he did. He’d be right too.” He sat down across from her. “Doing work isn’t going to relax you though.”
“You’re right. I was just trying to occupy my mind.” She hit a few keys and then got up from behind her desk. “If you have a minute, would you sit in the living room with me?”
He should say no. He should go on his way. He should stop and buy some beer and put the game on. Anything to get his mind off the fact that she was scrubbed clean and standing in front of him chewing on her bottom lip looking more nervous than she was probably trying to let him see.
He didn’t do any of those things. “Sure.”
Once they were in her living room, she sat on the couch next to him. Not in a chair. Not at the other end of the couch. But right next to him, putting one foot under her thigh, then laying her head on his shoulder.
“Cam?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
“Can you just hold me for a minute? No one needs to know, right?”
“No,” he said pulling her in. “No one needs to know you let your guard down. Your secret is safe.”
He didn’t feel safe though. Not with her in his arms. Not with her scent assaulting all of his senses. Not with the way he was feeling the blood rushing through his veins.
This was about her though. Not him.
She took a deep breath, then another. “I’m so confused. I’m never confused, but I can’t figure this out. I can’t put my finger on a consistent threat or motive.”
“Let the police do that. You can help. We expect that. But let us do our job.”
“And your job isn’t to hold me right now, I know.” She pushed back. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he said, reaching for her again.
“Will you kiss me again?”
He stilled.
He shouldn’t.
He should push her back and move away.
He didn’t though. He pulled her closer and he laid his lips on hers. Not quick like before. Not soft either.
This was hard. This was hot. And he was losing part of himself that he told himself not to.
“Don’t stop just yet,” she whispered. “I need to take my mind off of tonight.”
That was just as good as cold water being dumped on him.
He jumped up fast. “Don’t confuse this assignment for something that you get to use.”
She looked stricken. Hurt. Remorseful.
The tears coming into h
er eyes made him feel like shit. But damn it all, he wasn’t going to be used either.
“I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just...never mind. You’re right. That was completely wrong of me. Totally unprofessional too. My apologies.”
She stood up and tried to compose herself, but it wasn’t looking like she was successful with her eyes still glistening with moisture.
“That was harsh of me,” he said. “You’ve had a rough night.”
“I have, but that’s no excuse to ask you to do that. We’re supposed to be pretending to be in a relationship to the outside world. It’s just the two of us now. There’s no reason to pretend. I can’t expect you to comfort me. You’ve had a long day too. I’m sure you want to go home now.”
He was being dismissed. He knew. There wasn’t much more he could do. The princess of the castle gave an order and as her soldier, he was bound to follow.
“Lock up and set your alarm. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said, then walked out the door wondering how the hell this got so complicated.
No Right To
Cam couldn’t remember the last time she tossed and turned so much.
She’d been completely in the wrong to insult Ian that way. Again. To make it sound like he could be her plaything and comfort her in her time of need.
No, she hadn’t thought that at all when she’d said it, but could understand why he did.
They were pretending to be a couple. Just playing a game for outside eyes.
There were no eyes on them last night and yet she asked him for something she had no right to. Just because she wanted his hands on her, didn’t mean he felt the same way.
She was going about her day like she’d planned, trying to not look at the wood boarded up on her window in the kitchen. Too bad it was like a lighthouse in the storm for a ship out at sea, drawing her eyes right to it saying, “here I am, keep me in your sight.”
She’d gotten through the morning trying to avoid the kitchen at all costs when Ian called her. She didn’t want to answer but knew she had no choice.
It’d be cowardly on her part to avoid him when he’d done nothing wrong. Nope, it was all on her shoulders this time.
“Hello,” she said, and if her voice was a little breathy, she was going to blame it on the fact that she ran to get her phone, not that she had any anticipation of hearing his voice again. Deep and sexy, sending vibrations through her body like the base turned up too high in her car with all the windows shut.
“Everything okay there, Doc?”
Back to that again. She had it coming, she supposed. “All is good here,” she said, trying to sound as normal as possible.
“I just spoke with the captain. They’re putting a call in with the Buckleys.”
Amanda Buckley, David’s murdered girlfriend’s parents. “And their reason?”
“Get an alibi for last night. Find out where their head is at. The usual.”
“What about the Arrows?”
“They’re next on the list. I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything. Want me to come over?” he asked.
“Why?”
“We’re supposed to be dating. You had an incident at your house. Don’t you think it’d look odd if I didn’t come check on you?”
“Not if I have plans today.”
“What plans are those? You shouldn’t be going anywhere without checking in with me.”
She ground her teeth at his tone. The tone of authority. He had no right to tell her how to live her life. She may be agreeable to this act, but she wasn’t going to be treated like a child. “I didn’t know that was a requirement.”
“I’m making it one. What are your plans today?”
She held her tongue; so did he. She caved first. “I’m going shopping with my mother today and then dinner.”
There was some hesitation on the other line and she was hoping he didn’t offer to come with them. It was her and her mother’s normal once a month outing, nothing major. No reason to do anything different. She had no intention of telling her mother anything that was going on. She just wanted the normalcy of the day.
“Check in with me when you get home.”
“Fine,” she said and then hung up and went to change.
Several hours of shopping and dinner later, Cam let herself into her house. She hadn’t missed the unmarked police car driving around her street when she entered her garage. She’d thought about being bold and standing in her driveway until it drove by again and flagging it down, but knew that would only tick some people off.
No reason to get anyone on her bad side just because she was annoyed with her own actions.
Even her mother wanted to know why she looked so tired, but she said she had a headache and couldn’t get to sleep last night. It wasn’t a complete lie; she just didn’t volunteer what caused that headache. That thoughts and images of her fake boyfriend stripping her naked and tasting every part of her was a sexual frustration she’d never experienced before.
She unlocked her door, then set the alarm for the night and shot off a quick text to Ian that she was home and staying in.
He only replied back with a simple “OK”. That just about summed up their “relationship” right now. OK. Nothing great. Nothing spectacular. Just getting along.
Why was she thinking along those lines? This wasn’t a relationship.
She needed to get a grip on reality right now. When had she stopped having one?
The wind was roaring and thunder was rumbling. Lightning flashed several times illuminating her room while the TV was on. It was almost midnight at this point and she felt she was finally going to fall asleep now that the storm seemed to be passing. Upstate New York spring thunderstorms could be beautiful or treacherous. Sometimes both, but tonight there was nothing beautiful to be heard.
She decided to shut her TV off in her room, and snuggled in for the night, hoping to get some sleep.
That hope was squashed when she heard a bang outside. A loud one, followed by another. Just the wind, she told herself and pulled the covers up higher, hoping it’d stop.
It did.
She actually felt her body drift off when she heard a tap, causing her to sit up straight in bed. The alarm wasn’t going off, it was nothing, she repeated again. Then she listened and heard silence, thinking it was her imagination all along.
But it wasn’t when the tap got louder and it sounded like something was scratching glass. Was she being broken into now?
She grabbed her phone and ran into her closet, shutting and locking herself in there, then called Ian.
***
It was well after midnight as Ian sped to Cam’s house.
After everything that had been going on, not once had he heard the fear in her voice like he had just minutes ago.
Her breath was coming in short gasps, whispered and quivering. Noises outsides, something against the glass in her house and she was locking herself in the closet.
He was already pulling jeans on the minute the call came in. He didn’t need to hear the reason why. He didn’t have to wish she was calling for him to come over because she wanted him to kiss her again...and maybe something more.
He just reacted and knew he’d be on his way.
He turned the corner down her street and almost plowed right into a garbage can, swerving and barely missing the top on the other side of the road.
The minute he pulled into her driveway, the garage door opened up. What the hell? She said she was hiding in the closet.
He pulled in, shut the car off, pulled his gun out and opened the door in the garage leading to the house. The beeping told him he had ten seconds to shut the alarm off before the police were dispatched. Taking care of that, he made his way through the house, looking everywhere and seeing nothing.
When he walked into her room, he flipped the light, seeing the closet door was shut and even though he wanted to just open it, he figured he’d better call out. She was the one that must have opened the garage door, so she had to
know he was in the house, but no use scaring her more.
“Cam?” he said loudly, putting his gun back in the holster. “Come on out.”
He heard the lock turn and the door open; then she threw herself into his arms and clung on tight. He carried her to her bed and sat down, pulling her into his lap, noticing she wasn’t wearing much more than a T-shirt and underwear.
Her heart was racing; he could feel it as he held her against him. “Shhh. Take a few deep breaths. There’s no one and nothing here. It’s all clear. It’s just me now. Tell me what you heard.”
He held her a minute or so, and then she pushed back, wiping the moisture from her eyes. “I heard lots of noises. Several crashing sounds outside. I tried to push it off, but then there was scratching at a window in the house.”
“The noise was probably garbage cans. The wind is crazy right now. I almost ran over two of them on your street.”
“Oh,” she said, her face starting to turn red.
“I get it. You’re jumpy. You’ve got every right to be. Stop trying to put up this front like it’s not bothering you when we both know otherwise.”
“I didn’t think it was,” she said. “Then the storm just triggered it. I was watching TV until it passed. I’ve never been a big fan of a thunderstorm.”
“It’s good to be alert. Tell me when you’re feeling unsafe.”
“I wasn’t. I told you that. Now I feel like a fool—”
“What?” he asked when she stopped and looked around, her eyes frantic again.
“There. That noise. There it is. Did you hear it?”
He listened and he did. There was definitely something hitting a window in the house. Not in her room though. Another room. “Stay here.”
He got up and walked into the room next to hers. It was all clear moments ago. When he heard the noise again, he pulled the shades up and saw a tree branch that was bent and broken, hitting the window when the wind blew hard enough.
Unlocking the window, he opened it and saw the screen was torn and barely hanging on. He pulled that in and set it on the floor, then managed to break the limb the rest of the way off and send it down to the ground.