Angel's Lake Box Set: Books 1-3 (Angel's Lake Series)

by Jody Holford

  “They’re amazing. You’re sure he won’t mind parting with these?” Lucy asked, hoping her voice sounded normal. To her own ears, it was tinny and far away.

  “You know what? If I wait for him to believe in himself, I’ll be waiting forever. Sometimes, you have to give the people you love a nudge in the right direction.”

  Lucy nodded and forced herself to meet Dolores’s proud eyes. She was so happy for her son. She truly had no idea. Lucy thanked her several times, desperate to get out of this woman’s house, desperate to see Alex, and desperate to avoid running into the town’s vandal and arsonist.

  Alex knocked harder than he’d meant to on his father’s door. He could hear Chuck inside, music blasting. Jesus, it was like they’d reversed roles and his dad was now the teenager. Loud music, sneaking around, making out with women… Alex shuddered as the image flashed in his head. Chuck yanked the door open, scowling at his son.

  “Why the hell are you mad at my door?” he barked, looking back and forth between Alex and the door.

  “I’m not. I’m mad at you,” Alex returned. He was ready for this, braced for the fight. His dad was strong enough to take it, and Alex could really use a punching bag to unload everything that had happened in the last week.

  “What else is new?” Chuck asked, walking away, leaving Alex to follow. Alex closed the door quietly to compensate for the desire to slam it. The television was blaring and the sounds of the game show pressed on Alex’s already-stretched nerves.

  “You’re fucking Dolores.”

  Chuck whirled, and Alex wondered if he had ever seen his dad that angry. He clenched his hand around the remote, the knuckles turning both red and white. He clicked mute, and the silence was louder than the show had been.

  “You watch your mouth,” Chuck said, his voice barely controlled.

  “That’s not much of a denial,” Alex said, ignoring the obvious signs of rage boiling beneath his dad’s surface.

  “I don’t have to confirm or deny anything. This is my goddamn house, and you’ll speak respectfully of her or you’ll get the fuck out of it,” Chuck boomed. He threw the remote onto the couch but kept his fists clenched. His anger doused some of Alex’s. This kind of anger didn’t come from a fling or a backroom tryst. His dad cared about Dolores.

  “Do you love her?” Alex asked, shocked at the possibility.

  “Of course I love her, you idiot. You think I’d be running around with her if I didn’t? Protecting her and hiding things from you until I figure out what the hell is going on?”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

  “Firstly, it’s none of your business. We didn’t expect it, but you with your stick-up-your-ass ways… We didn’t want to say anything until we were sure there was something to say. Now we’re sure. I’m going to ask her to marry me,” Chuck said, defensiveness clinging to every syllable.

  Alex took a step back, pushed his hands through his hair, and stared at his father. “Holy hell. Marry? How long have you guys been together?”

  “Not that it matters, but about six months. When you know, you know,” Chuck said, unclenching his hands. “Like you knew with mom? That worked out real well,” Alex snapped. His phone buzzed, but he ignored it.

  Chuck’s shoulders slumped. He shook his head at his son and sat on the couch. Alex took the chair across from him.

  “Your mother and I didn’t handle our divorce well. I shouldn’t have left. She shouldn’t have left you. We screwed up. I’ve tried to make up for it. I’ve tried to be a good father to you since the minute she dropped you here. Obviously, I didn’t do so great, even when I was given a second chance,” Chuck said. He was looking at Alex like he was just coming to this realization.

  “I never said you weren’t a good dad,” Alex said grudgingly.

  “I was angry at her, too. I didn’t think about how that would affect you. Over the years, you let it go. You forgave without even meaning to. I should have told you that I wasn’t angry anymore. That it wasn’t just her fault. I should have talked to you about how she left.”

  “What difference would that have made?”

  “Maybe you would have felt less abandoned. I don’t know. Hindsight is a kick in the ass. She loves you, Alex. She always has.”

  “Not enough to stay. And that’s not what this is about,” Alex said, jumping to his feet, sick of the pressure in his chest.

  “It damn well is. Your suspicious nature makes you a good cop, but it makes you wary of anything good. Like it can’t last. Like somehow, the good will slip away no matter what you do. That’s bullshit. You don’t want the good to slip away, then you hang on tighter. You hang on to it harder than you hold on to the anger and the bitterness, or you’ll end up empty and alone. I don’t want to be empty and alone anymore, so even if it pisses you off, I’m hanging on to Dolores.”

  Chuck stood as well, to punctuate his words. They stared at each other, stuck between the past and the present. Move forward. Let go of the past. If he were honest, Alex knew that he wasn’t angry at his mother anymore. She’d been trying to get in touch with him for a good five years now, but he hadn’t been strong enough to forgive her. A man who needs forgiveness ought to be able to give it. Especially after all this time.

  Lucy’s fingers were shaking as she texted Alex that she needed to see him. She met Kate and Char at the rec center. They were hanging tulle elegantly along the sparkling white walls. Music was coming from one of their iPods. Tables were set up but not dressed and packages lined the walls, all items to be auctioned.

  “Look who decided to show up,” Char joked, then looked stricken. “I’m just joking.”

  “I know. You guys, I know who the arsonist is,” Lucy blurted. Char dropped the tulle she was holding, and Kate gaped at her from where she was standing on a stepping stool.

  “What are you talking about?” Char asked.

  Lucy told them everything, barely pausing when she spoke. By the time she finished, she was out of breath like she’d run a marathon without water. Her hands were still shaking.

  When his dad went to grab them both a drink, after some of the tension had ebbed, Alex grabbed his phone to check his messages. His heart thundered when he saw there were several texts from Lucy. He scrolled through them, and his heart marched its way up to his throat, pulsing painfully when he got to the last one. It’s Andrew. Dolores’s son. He’s the tagger. Alex. Phone me. PHONE ME. PLEASE. Chuck walked back into the living room, two Coronas in one hand and a bag of Doritos in the other. Alex stood.

  “Dolores’s son. His name is Andrew?”

  “Yeah. Moody kid. Not thrilled his mom is going out with me. His dad took off a few years back, and the kid blames Dolores. You two will have something in common,” Chuck said, holding the beer out. A smile spread over his face, “You’re not going to be all needy having to share my attention, are you?”

  Alex didn’t take the beer. He put his phone in his pocket. “Is he at home?”

  “Who?” Chuck was looking at him like he’d lost his recently found mind. He put the beer and the chips on the coffee table. “Andrew! Dolores’s son. Where do I find him? At her house?”

  “How the hell would I know?” Chuck looked at his watch. “He’s out of school by now. Why? You want to meet your soon-to-be stepbrother that badly?”

  “Yeah. I really do. The sooner I meet him, the sooner I can arrest him,” Alex replied.

  The three sisters were sitting on the floor of the main gymnasium. The smell of paint and new wood surrounded them as her sisters processed what Lucy had told them. Her phone rang.

  “Alex?” she answered, pulling herself up off of the floor. “Where are you?”

  “At the center,” Lucy replied, looking at her sisters.

  “Stay there. I’m on my way,” Alex said. Lucy felt like things inside of her shifted back into place with his words.

  She put her phone down and told her sisters he was coming. As she walked back toward them, she smelled it. Smoke. Sh
e looked around to see where it was coming from.

  “What is that?” Kate asked, standing. Char stood as well and walked to the double doors at the front of the open room. She pushed on them repeatedly.

  “What the hell? Something is blocking the doors,” Char said. Lucy’s neck heated—she felt too warm. She forced herself to breathe. The doctor had told her to avoid stress. Cause that’s possible. The rec center consisted of a huge gymnasium, a smaller gymnasium, and a few rooms between them that would serve as classrooms for the various kids’ programs that would be offered. And, Lucy hoped, where she could offer photography classes.

  “Check the other door,” Lucy said, heading out of the main gym and down the small hallway. She passed the boys’ bathroom, the girls’ bathroom, and turned into one of the classrooms. There were windows, but they pulled open in a V-shape from the top. She walked to the classroom door. It didn’t budge when she tried to open it. What was blocking the doors? Do not panic. For now.

  Alex explained to his dad on the drive to the rec center. Chuck argued and refused to believe him, calling Alex petty and childish. But he also called Dolores and asked her where Andrew was. Alex called the station and sent Elliot and Cam over to the center, just to be sure. He had a bad feeling and good instincts.

  When they pulled up, his heart slammed into his ribs. He saw smoke. Elliot and Cam were out of the patrol car, guns drawn. They saw Alex and Chuck. Elliot motioned to the side of the center with his hand. Alex pulled his gun. He heard the fire engine in the distance, amazed he could hear anything over his own heart. He saw the two-by-four that was shoved through the front doors of the building. Alex signaled for them to cover him while Chuck moved to release the two-by-four. Around the side, Alex saw the blond-haired kid that had eluded him for months, crouched low and holding a long twist of newspaper, lit at the end, against the wood of the building. Sam had purposely used an anti-accelerant paint. Alex hadn’t known that such a thing existed. It could still flare up, but a chemical formula kept it from happening quickly.

  “Put your hands up, Andrew. Put the fire down and stomp on it,” Alex said, firm and low. Andrew flinched, his shoulders hunched. He stayed where he was, crouched in the same position, but he put the fire down.

  “Stand up,” Alex demanded. Andrew stood. Turned around. The extent of the anger that Alex saw on his face surprised him. And sadly, reminded him of the kid that he, himself, had once been. Andrew said nothing, just stood facing Alex with a sneer on his face, his hands by his sides.

  “Someone is at the front,” Char yelled. “Lucy!”

  She could hear her sisters yelling her name as she came back into the main gym. Chuck came through the doors, followed by Cam.

  “You girls okay? Let’s get you out of here,” Chuck said, grabbing Char and Kate’s arms, pulling them forward as Lucy joined them. Cam stowed his weapon and took Lucy’s arm.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  “Yes. We’re fine. What’s going on?” Lucy replied.

  “Can’t say just yet,” Cam said as they exited the building. The fire department pulled in, sirens blaring. Dolores’s car pulled up at the same time. She was out of the car before the fire engine had parked.

  “Where’s Andrew?” she screamed. The firemen yelled as they set up to put out the small fire that was spreading along all of the greenery that had been planted.

  “Calm down, Dolores,” Chuck said, releasing Lucy’s sisters. The firemen went to work on the bushes that lined the wall of the rec center.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down! He’s my son! He’s just a kid,” she yelled, pounding on Chuck’s chest. He took both of her arms and pulled her to him, fighting

  her struggling.

  “He’s with my son. Just calm down. Everything will be okay,” Chuck said.

  Cam pulled Lucy over to the squad car, and her sisters stayed by her side. Alex came around the corner of the building a moment later, nodding to the firemen. He had a sulky looking teen by the arm and was dragging him along. Elliot followed behind, gun still drawn.

  “Seeing as we’re going to be related, I didn’t slap the cuffs on him,” Alex snarled to his dad. His eyes found Lucy’s.

  “Of course you didn’t! What is the matter with you? What’s going on?” Dolores continued to screech, rushing Andrew and throwing her arms around him, tears streaming. Alex let him go and came to stand in front of Lucy.

  “Are you okay?” he asked quietly. She nodded. He reached out to touch her, but pulled his hand back and looked at Eliot.

  “Get these girls home. We’ll deliver their cars later,” Alex instructed, his tone hard and cold. Lucy wanted to protest but changed her mind.

  “Ladies, if you’ll allow me to escort you,” Elliot said, smiling at them. Recovering from their scare with more ease than her, Kate smiled back at him, a little too brightly for Lucy’s taste. Char took her hand and squeezed it. Kate called shotgun while they climbed into the back.

  “You get to explain to Dad why the cops are bringing us home,” Char said to Lucy.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Alex stood outside the interrogation room and rolled his eyes at Dolores’s dramatics. “Dolores, your kid has been setting fires and defacing buildings for months. We have proof.”

  “He’s sixteen, Alex. He’s been through a lot.”

  “Dolores, let Alex do his job. He’s good at it,” Chuck said, surprising Alex. If they did marry, this was going to make for some interesting Christmases. Chuck pulled Dolores into his arms. He murmured something softly, showing a side of himself that Alex had never seen.

  “You can sit in,” Alex said to Dolores, opening the door, “but don’t interrupt.”

  Dolores sniffled and looked at Chuck. Her black mascara was holding strong through the waves of her tears. She followed Alex and took a seat beside Andrew, who stared straight ahead, not acknowledging either of them.

  “You’ve caused a lot of trouble, Andrew,” Alex said, taking a seat in one of the two chairs opposite Dolores and her son. Andrew shrugged. Dolores started to speak but stopped when Alex looked at her.

  “We have you on numerous acts of vandalism, four acts of arson, and attempted murder,” Alex said, trumping up the last charge. Dolores gasped loudly. Andrew, finally, made eye contact with Alex. He kept his face passive, but Alex saw the fear and anger in his eyes.

  “I didn’t try to murder anyone,” he spat, sitting up a bit straighter. His T-shirt was the kind of worn material that kids bought that way, even paid extra for. His hair was a little long around the sides, but he was a good-looking kid, despite the scowl.

  “There were three women inside the rec center,” Alex stated. “I just wanted to scare them. Scare you.”

  It wasn’t often a suspect or a criminal surprised Alex, but Andrew managed to do that, repeatedly. “Me? Why the hell would you want to scare me, kid?”

  “You mess with my life, I mess with yours,” Andrew said. Dolores fidgeted, all but bursting with the need to say something.

  “You’re going to have to clear things up for me here. How on earth did I mess with your life? I don’t even know you,” Alex said, reaching for patience. Andrew looked at his mother.

  “Your dad is screwing my mom. It’s fucking up my life. Your family messes with my life, I mess with yours,” Andrew said, some bravado puffing his chest out.

  “What are you talking about? And watch your language,” Dolores said shrilly.

  “When Dad comes back, you think he’s going to be okay with you screwing some retired, has-been cop?” Dolores’s face paled and she looked at Alex, her eyes pleading.

  “Could we have a couple of minutes?” she asked. Alex pushed back from the table and left them alone.

  Lucy lowered herself into the bath and tried to soak away the last week. She closed her eyes and breathed in the mini bubbles that popped here and there. The gala was tomorrow. New York was Sunday night. She would be there for one week. Then she would come home. And start again. Wi
th Alex or without. She tried to imagine both. He’d made a mistake. She’d taken it hard because she wanted so badly for someone to see her better than she saw herself. She tried to reverse the situation. If she’d jumped to conclusions, hurt him and doubted his feelings, would he have forgiven her? She knew, without a doubt, that he would have. It’s what you did when you loved someone. When your life was better with them than without. When they were more than the mistake they had made.

  Unable to shut her mind down, she got out, dried off, and went to her room. She would put on some cozy clothes, go over her list for the gala tomorrow, and then grab something to eat. In her room, she yanked a T-shirt she had stolen from Alex over her head and pulled on a pair of loose cotton pajamas. She sat down on her bed, her back against her pillows, and picked up her list. Her eyes fell on the black photo album that Alex had given her. She picked it up, opened it, and stared at the first pocket. She shook her head and closed it, put it aside, and looked at her list. Her eyes drifted shut and she let them. Just for a minute.

  Alex and Chuck watched from the two-way glass as Dolores and Andrew fought, cried, and fought some more. Alex was drained just from observing. Andrew’s dad had left them a few years ago, but Andrew was sure he’d be coming back. In fact, he’d contacted his dad, and his dad had said he wanted to see him. Soon. Then Dolores took up with Chuck and started spending her time with him. Andrew got kicked out of art school and came home to find that his mother was fine without him. He’d originally thought the vandalisms would keep Chuck busy. The kid hadn’t even paid attention to the fact that Chuck wasn’t the sheriff anymore. When he’d realized it, he just kept going, seeing as Chuck’s son was in charge. Andrew rationalized his actions like a man and pouted like a child. Back and forth until Alex’s head hurt from watching.