by Gerri Hill
“Why is it that I’m shirtless and you’re still fully clothed?”
CJ stepped away from her and ripped her T-shirt over her head. “There. Better?”
Paige’s smile was wicked. “Almost.”
CJ’s pulse sprang to life at the look in Paige’s eyes. She removed her bra, watching Paige’s gaze travel over her breasts. In an instant, Paige’s hands covered them, her thumbs raking across her nipples.
“I love your breasts,” Paige whispered against her lips.
CJ moaned quietly, letting Paige do as she may. Her mouth opened as Paige’s tongue rubbed across her lower lip before slipping inside. With her eyes closed, she slid her hands up Paige’s back, expertly releasing the clasp on her bra. They separated enough to allow her to remove it, then Paige pulled her close again, both sighing into a kiss as their breasts met.
“I love the way you kiss,” Paige murmured.
CJ smiled. “I thought you loved my breasts.”
“I love…a lot of things about you.”
Their eyes held, and CJ’s chest tightened, her heart leaping into her throat. Sometimes when Paige looked at her like that, it all made sense. It wasn’t an affair. It wasn’t a fling. There was nothing for her to fear.
But fear she did. Fear that Paige would leave her heart bruised and broken. Fear that one day Paige was going to wake up and realize CJ wasn’t good enough for her. CJ and her trailer park past and her abusive father. That just didn’t mesh with Paige’s privileged upbringing. God, Paige wasn’t even out to her parents. When that happened—which could be soon—they’d take one look at her and know she’d grown up on the wrong side of the tracks. They’d—
“What’s wrong?”
CJ blinked several times, focusing again on Paige. She shook her head. “Nothing.”
Paige searched her eyes and CJ tried to look away, but Paige’s light touch on her cheek kept her still. Paige’s eyes softened and in that moment, CJ was convinced Paige could read her very mind.
“I’m going to make love to you,” Paige said softly.
Those words left her breathless. “I’m sorry,” CJ whispered.
Paige’s smile was so sweet it nearly brought her to tears.
“What are you sorry for, sweetheart?”
CJ took Paige’s hand and brought it up, lightly kissing her fingers. “I’m sorry I didn’t grow up in a normal family, in a normal neighborhood. I wish—”
“Don’t,” Paige said, stopping her. “Don’t you dare apologize for who your parents were, for what your father did to you. Those things were out of your control. But you grew into a beautiful…smart, caring woman. You’re a good person, CJ. And I happen to like that person very, very much.”
CJ let Paige pull her into her arms and she felt safe. Although safe from what, she wasn’t really sure.
“You’re so strong sometimes, CJ. And sometimes, like now, you let your vulnerabilities show,” Paige said. “I love that about you.”
CJ pulled out of her arms and cupped her face with both hands. She pulled her closer, realizing just how much of a hold Paige had on her heart. She kissed her slowly but deeply, savoring the simple softness of her lips. When the kiss ended, she saw a hint of tears in Paige’s eyes. She didn’t question it.
“Let’s make love,” Paige whispered. “I need that right now.”
“Yes. Me too.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Not the damn house again,” Ice said. “Are you insane or what?”
CJ grinned at him over the brim of her coffee cup. “It’s been suggested.”
“Why don’t we pick up Edith Krause first?” he asked as he used the last of his toast to wipe up the egg on his plate.
“It’s supposed to rain this morning,” Paige said. “Maybe we should save the house for later.”
“What? You don’t want to be inside a haunted house during a thunderstorm?” CJ asked.
“I know I don’t,” Billy said.
“Okay, fine with me. Let’s go talk to Edith then.” She was actually pleased to put off the house for a few hours. She wasn’t thrilled about the possibility of hearing voices in her head.
“You’re in a good mood this morning.”
CJ raised her eyebrows. “What are you saying? That I’m not normally?”
“Well,” Ice said, sliding his gaze to Paige. “Paige is back.” His grin turned into a laugh. “I’m just guessing you might have had a good time last night.”
CJ felt a slight blush on her face. “Really? You’re brave enough to go there?”
He and Billy laughed, and she glanced over at Paige, who was sporting her own blush. CJ laughed too, hoping to give Ice a taste of his own medicine.
“Okay, yeah. We had a good time last night, baldy. A really good time. Be thankful you weren’t in the next room. You’d have been pounding on the wall.”
This time it was Ice and Billy who were blushing like schoolgirls.
“Now, are you guys ready to go talk to Edith? Or do you want some details about last night?”
“No, no. We’re good,” Ice said.
“Good. Then let’s go.” She stood, leaving a five-dollar bill for her tip.
Later, when they pulled into Edith Krause’s driveway, it appeared they would have to put off talking to her too. Her car was nowhere to be seen.
“Man, this is a dump,” Ice said.
“Yeah. Shady Pines Trailer Park has seen better days,” CJ agreed. “I’ll go see if Lizzie’s seen her.”
The misting rain was falling harder and she jogged up to the door, knocking quickly. With the cooler, damp air, Lizzie had the door closed as well as the screen.
“Oh, my, Agent Johnston, you’ll catch your death standing out in that rain,” Lizzie fussed as she opened the door. “Come in, come in.”
“Sorry to bother you so early,” CJ apologized.
“No bother. Not for the FBI.” Lizzie gazed out to the road. “Where’s your pretty blond friend?”
“She’s in the car. Our partners are with us today,” she said.
“Oh? I thought you two were partners,” Lizzie said as she shuffled back to her chair. “Would you like some coffee?”
“No thanks. I just wanted to see if you knew where Edith might be.”
“Edie? No. Her car was gone when I got up this morning,” Lizzie said. “It was the strangest thing. I told you she didn’t talk to me. Not really,” she said as she settled into her chair. “But she came over yesterday morning, full of questions.”
“Questions about what?”
“Said she’d seen you two over here a couple of times. Then someone who looked like your Paige there was all the way out in Midland asking questions about Edie and her husband.”
“Someone called her?”
“I believe one of her mother’s neighbors,” Lizzie said. “Anyway, I told her the FBI was here asking about the boys.” Lizzie smiled shyly. “I hope that was okay. You didn’t say it was a secret or anything.”
CJ smiled at her. “No, it’s okay. We wanted to talk to her, though. Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”
Lizzie shook her head. “It’s unusual for her to be gone this early in the morning.”
“You mentioned before that she had family here. A cousin, at least. Do you know where she lives?”
“Donna Parks was her name. Couldn’t tell you where she moved to when she left here,” Lizzie said. “But why are you interested in Edie? Is she in trouble?”
CJ smiled. “No, ma’am. We just have some questions for her. It seems we’re having a hard time finding Herbert,” she said.
“Well, they said he ran off with that young woman.” Lizzie’s lips pursed as she shook her head. “Still don’t know what a pretty young thing would see in him.”
“Actually, we can’t find any evidence that Herbert ever made it to Midland,” she said. “But you saw them driving off together, right?”
“Oh, yes. Practically the middle of the night. I got up to get som
e water.” She pointed to the kitchen window. “Saw them get in the car and drive off. Like I said, a few days later, her cousin moved in.”
CJ nodded. “Okay. Now Lizzie, do you still have the cards we gave you?”
“Of course. I put them right there by the phone,” she said.
“Good. When Edie comes back, would you call us?”
“Oh, I will,” she said with a nod. “You’re the FBI.” She leaned forward in her chair, her voice low. “Are you sure she’s not in any trouble?”
CJ smiled. “She’s not in trouble. But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t let her know we’re looking for her. Can you keep that a secret?”
“You have my word.”
“Thank you. I’ll let you get back to your coffee now.” CJ shook her head when Lizzie started to rise. “No need to get up. I’ll see myself out.”
“You come back anytime now.”
CJ closed the door quietly behind her and ran out into the rain. Three sets of eyes looked at her expectantly when she got back inside the truck.
“She was gone this morning when Lizzie got up.” She glanced at Paige. “Said Edie came by yesterday asking questions about us. Apparently one of her mother’s old neighbors let her know that you guys were up there asking about her and her husband.”
“I bet it was Mrs. Axel,” Billy said. “She was a nosy woman. She asked us more questions than we did her.”
A loud rumble of thunder nearly shook the truck.
“Storm’s picking up,” Ice said.
“Yeah. A great time for a stroll through the Wicker house,” she said as she started the truck and drove away.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Thunder still rumbled overhead when they pulled to a stop in front of the house. It looked even more ominous with the gray clouds and falling rain.
“Damn, but it looks spooky,” Billy said in a soft voice.
Paige had to agree with him. She met CJ’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Last night, after they’d made love, they’d talked. They had piled the pillows against the headboard and sat up, both still naked. CJ didn’t try to hide the fact that she was disturbed about what had happened in the house. She didn’t understand it. Paige had tried to ease her mind, but after CJ had told her in more detail about what had occurred, Paige had been nearly as frightened as CJ.
“We’ll all stay together,” Paige said. It was a plan they’d come up with last night. “We’ll search the house as a team. No one goes off by themselves.”
“I’m all for that,” Billy said.
“I can’t believe you guys are making me go in there,” Ice muttered.
“Safety in numbers, baldy.” CJ grinned at him. “Besides, whatever the hell is in the house is talking to me, not you.”
“If anything, and I mean anything out of the ordinary happens, I’m right back outside,” he warned.
A loud crack of thunder made them all jump.
“You’ll be fine,” Paige said. “We’ll all be fine.” She again met CJ’s eyes and gave her a smile. She was surprised when CJ returned it.
They got out and ran through the rain and to the porch. Ice held the key out and Billy took it, quickly unlocking the deadbolt. He pushed the door open slowly, the hinges squeaking as it swung inward. She saw CJ take a deep breath and knew she was nervous. Paige decided she would offer to go first.
“Follow me,” she said, walking inside with her flashlight turned on. They’d decided last night that they would check out the kitchen again and see if they could get the locked door opened.
“Oh, man, I don’t want to do this,” Ice whispered.
“I’ll be right beside you,” Billy said.
“Yeah, that’s comforting,” Ice replied dryly.
Paige heard CJ laugh quietly behind her. It was a nervous laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. She led the way into the kitchen and all of their flashlights were bouncing around the room. With the dark clouds outside, there was very little light sneaking in through the cracks in the boarded windows. CJ touched her arm, pointing her light at the closed door. It was on an interior wall and Paige thought perhaps it might be to a pantry. Of course, why would a pantry door be locked from the inside?
“Do we need to worry about prints?” Billy asked as Paige was about to touch the knob.
“I’ve already touched it,” CJ said.
“Can they lift prints after fourteen years?” Billy asked.
“Depends,” Ice said. “Inside a house that hasn’t been disturbed? Probably.”
“Yeah. We had a case once where they found prints on a leather holster that had been in an attic for twenty years,” CJ said.
Paige tried to turn the knob but it was indeed locked. She tapped on the door, surprised that it was a solid door.
“It opens outward,” Billy said. “We’d have a hell of a time kicking it in.”
“It’d be easier to just shoot the lock off, don’t you think,” CJ said.
“Of course that’s what you would do,” he said.
“Okay. Let’s leave it for now,” Paige suggested. She leaned closer to CJ. “How are you? Do you…feel anything?”
“No. Nothing.”
“That’s good,” Ice said. “Right?”
“Yeah. That’s great,” CJ said. “Maybe they don’t like crowds.”
“They?”
“They. It. Whatever,” she said.
“I checked the den pretty thoroughly last time,” Paige said. “You checked down here already.”
CJ sighed. “Yeah, I know. That means we need to go upstairs.”
“Jesus,” Ice hissed. “I’m not sure I can do it.”
“We stay together,” CJ said. “It’ll be fine.”
They walked to the bottom of the stairs, all of them staring at the closed front door. The door they’d left wide open.
“So it doesn’t like the door to be left open,” CJ said.
They all turned and looked up the length of the staircase, their lights bouncing across the steps, the wall, the ceiling.
“You want me to go first?” Paige asked.
“No. Let me,” CJ said. “Stay behind me. Single file.”
Ice turned to Billy. “Please don’t make me be last.”
“I’ll do it. You follow Paige.”
CJ went up two steps, then paused as if listening. She went up two more and stopped again. Paige followed, staying two steps behind her. She could feel Ice practically on her back. She glanced back at him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
She smiled and walked up another step. Suddenly CJ turned, her eyes wide. Then she pressed herself against the wall, as if moving out of the way of something. The running feet.
“CJ?”
CJ looked back at her. “You didn’t hear it?”
Paige shook her head.
“Kids running up the stairs,” CJ said.
“Oh, man,” Ice murmured.
CJ went up another two steps. Paige could see the flashlight shaking in her hand.
“Girl crying,” CJ said. “Like before. Begging her daddy not to hit her.”
Paige could feel the fingers of fear crawling over her skin, though she heard nothing of what CJ was describing. Then CJ jumped slightly, her gaze traveling down the staircase railing to the floor.
“He pushed her,” CJ said quietly. “He picked her up and threw her to the floor down there,” she said, pointing.
“Okay, that’s it. I can’t do it,” Ice said with a shaky voice. He nearly pushed Billy aside as he fled back down the stairs and ripped the front door open.
“Let him go,” CJ said.
Paige looked at Billy. “You okay?”
“Yeah. It’s freaky crazy, but yeah, I’m okay.” He leaned closer. “Are you sure CJ’s okay, though? I mean, this is crazy stuff.”
“You can’t whisper for shit, Billy,” CJ said. “Yeah, I know it’s crazy. How the hell do you think I feel?”
“Sorry.”
They followed CJ again
. She was walking slower now, one step at a time. Paige continued to stay two steps behind her. CJ tilted her head as if listening to someone.
“Yeah, right,” CJ said.
Paige’s eyebrows shot up, and she glanced at Billy who shrugged.
“Yeah right, what?” she asked.
CJ glanced down quickly, then back up. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Oh, shit,” Billy whispered.
Paige had to agree. Then CJ nearly jogged up the final three steps, her light flashing down the dark hallway. Paige and Billy hurried after her. CJ went into the hallway, passing the stairway up to the third floor. There were three full-sized doors in the hallway. Bedrooms, she assumed. Along the wall were two half-doors. A linen closet, perhaps. She was surprised when CJ opened them and peered inside.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Come look,” CJ said. “It’s some kind of a chute, I think.”
They all looked inside. It was indeed a shaft that veered to the left and dropped out of sight.
“For what? Like garbage or something?” Billy asked.
“Maybe laundry,” Paige suggested.
“Here, hold my light,” CJ said as she handed it to her. She hopped up, sitting on the edge.
“What the hell are you doing?”
But CJ looked past her, staring at the wall behind her. Or perhaps staring at something. Then she blinked several times, finally focusing on Paige.
“Okay, I’m going to turn around in here. I want to see where this goes. Hand me my light once I get situated.”
“Why do you want to see where it goes?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Oh, God. We’re not alone, are we?”
“No.”
Billy whipped his head around, his light flashing along the walls of the hallway. “I…I don’t see anything.”
“Be thankful,” CJ said.
Before she even got turned around completely, she shot down the chute, her scream echoing off the walls of the shaft as she fell.
“CJ!” Paige yelled, looking into the shaft but seeing nothing but blackness.
Chapter Twenty-Five