by Deborah Camp
“Oh, ohhh.” She tipped her head back, bracing against the exquisite rubbing of the pads of his fingers against a spot inside of her that was his and his alone. He cupped one of her breasts in his other hand, clipping her nipple between two of his fingers and squeezing. Lights burst behind her eyes as an orgasm ambushed her. “Oh, oh, oooo, Leviiii.” Sounds of pleasure escaped her as she shuddered. He pulled his fingers from her and sucked them dry, his eyes sending salacious messages to her. Trudy felt hot color stain her cheeks. The man was blazingly audacious!
“Delicious,” he murmured, then nudged her with his stiff cock. “Delightful.” The sun breached just as he slid inside of her, filling her with bright-hot ardor. He moved slowly, grinding his hips when he was fully seated.
A shiver of delight passed through her. She held still, giving over to his expert manipulations, vaguely aware of the sky turning pink and yellow and gulls swooping overhead.
“The sunlight makes your hair look like flames, Tru. You’re beautiful . . . so beautiful.” He spread his hand along her throat, his thumb pressing against the pulse below her ear. He made a humming sound of contentment as he began retreating and thrusting in time with the ocean waves. “You’re my salvation. I wasn’t even living until I met you. I was just going through the motions.”
“Levi . . .” She shook her head, unable to express to him how precious she found his words. She’d never even dreamed that a man would speak such things to her. “My love.”
He gathered her close against him as he plunged into her. Pressing his face to the side of her neck, he brought her to orgasm again. He moaned as he found his own pinnacle and tumbling fall. After a minute, she opened her eyes. The sky was silvery blue. Still breathing hard, Levi kissed her shoulder.
“Aren’t you glad we slept out?” he asked, his lips grazing her skin.
“Mmm.” She moved her knee up and down his hair-roughed thigh and he shifted slightly, slipping out of her. “And I’m glad you’re spoken for.”
It took him a few seconds to follow her reference, but then he chuckled and nuzzled her neck. “Very spoken for.”
Chapter 13
“What the hell is he doing here?” Levi asked, parking the car in front of the RV and glaring through the windshield at the round-shouldered man in a baseball cap, jeans, and a wine-colored windbreaker.
Trudy unhooked her seatbelt. “Charlie? I hired him.” She’d hoped for a calm return to Cotton after a soul-soothing trip to Sarasota, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“You what?” He whipped his gaze around to her. “I’ve given him strict orders to keep away from you.”
She shrugged. “Before I left for Florida, he stopped by to tell me that Rev. Comfort had let him go. I decided to hire him. People around here don’t trust me. The staff at Comfort Ministries is very nice, but close-mouthed. I thought I’d see if maybe he can get more information.”
“He won’t help you find Rachel.”
“I’ll see how he does and if he’s not pulling his weight, I’ll cut him loose.”
Levi shook his head, but leaned across her and opened her door. “It’s your money to waste.”
She bit his earlobe and got a chuckle out of him before she got out of the rented Corvette that had been magically waiting for them at the Memphis airport. “Hi, Charlie. We’re back from Sarasota. Anything interesting happen while we were gone?”
Charlie eyed Levi warily. “Miss Tucker hired me.”
“I heard,” Levi said. He removed their luggage from the trunk and carried it to the RV. “Don’t make her regret it.”
“Charlie, didn’t I tell you to call me Trudy?”
“Uh . . . yeah.” He glanced nervously at Levi again. “Someone in the ministry – I’m not saying who because I swore I’d protect the person’s identity – told me that the reverend has been trying to get you fired.”
Levi set the luggage inside and then turned on the threshold to face them. “Lillian Marshall, right? She’s your inside source.” He grinned like a smart aleck when Gassaway’s eyes widened. “Miss Marshall is Mrs. Fuller’s niece and they’re Hannah’s chaperones,” he told Trudy, then addressed Gassaway again. “It’s common knowledge that the Rev doesn’t want Trudy hanging around, but he can’t get his wife to see it his way.”
“He could be making headway on that,” Gassaway said. “She’s agreed to give Trudy until Christmas to find Rachel.”
“That’s only a little more than a week away!” A bubble of panic moved up through her. “She’s giving me an ultimatum?”
“She hasn’t given you anything yet,” Levi said. “So far, it’s hearsay. She could have agreed with her husband just to get him off her back about it.”
“I hope you’re right.” Trudy hugged herself when a chilly breeze enveloped her. “Won’t you come inside, Charlie?”
“Uh. . . no, thanks.” Gassaway glanced at Levi again. “There’s another thing . . .”
“Yes? What?”
“Mrs. Comfort had a breakdown in Denver and came back early.”
“A breakdown?” Trudy repeated, worried. “You mean, like a nervous breakdown?”
“I guess. She was in the hospital, but she was released this morning. She’s at her mother’s place in Cape Girardeau.”
“I knew that she was being asked to do too much,” Trudy said, her worry tinged with aggravation. “Her child is missing! I’m surprised she can do anything at all other than cry and walk the floor.”
Gassaway removed his baseball cap and ran a hand over his thinning hair before wedging the hat back onto his head. “No word on when she’ll be back here. I asked, but Poe shut me down.”
“Thanks for the report, Charlie,” Trudy said. “I was thinking you might see if Donald Endicott knows of any other child predators in the area. Birds of a feather flock together.” She shrugged.
“It’s worth a chin-wag with him, if I can get it.” He stuck his hands in his windbreaker’s deep pockets.
Levi’s voice floated to them from the RV as he greeted Mouse. Frank Henderson had been placed in charge of taking care of the dog while they were both in Florida. Mouse came to the screen door and whined.
“Truuuudy!” Levi called out to her. “Your baby is crying for you!”
“Go on in.” Gassaway nodded at the RV. “I’ll be in touch.”
“See you later, Charlie.” She ascended the RV’s steps and scooped up Mouse to receive some doggy kisses. “I’m glad to see you, too. Was Frank good to you?”
Levi sat in one of the living room chairs, absorbed in e-mails on his phone. Trudy eased down into the other chair.
“So, I have until Christmas if Charlie’s right.”
He nodded, but said nothing, just kept flipping through e-mails.
“Maybe Charlie will dig up something that will point me in the right direction.”
Levi tossed his phone onto the side table. The stark irritation on his face made her suck in a breath of surprise. “What are you doing, Trudy? Do you know?”
“I-I . . . of course, I do.” She shook her head, thrown by his questions and attitude.
“I disagree. You’ve hired a private detective for what reason? To do what the FBI and sheriff’s department have already done and are still doing? That’s not your job. You’re a psychic, remember?”
She kicked at him, the toe of her shoe glancing harmlessly off his shin. “Don’t talk to me like that! I’m not stupid.”
“That, I know. What I don’t know is why you’re waiting for the kidnapper to connect with you. Why haven’t you tried to connect with him?”
“I have! Over and over again!” She fell back in the chair, her irritation at the boiling point.
“When?”
“Before I left for Florida. It’s just like when I was in Quintara’s Psychic Roundtable sessions. I tried to channel someone then and nothing ever came of it. All I got was a headache for my efforts.”
“Well, you need to try again. Rachel’s been missing too long. The t
rail has gone cold and we know that someone has backhanded her. She hasn’t been molested, but that will probably happen.”
Trudy gasped as his words seared through her. He tipped his head to one side and his expression gently scolded her.
“It’s the ugly truth, babe. Waiting around isn’t going to find her.”
“I haven’t made contact with him in more than a week. Endicott sidetracked me.”
“And that shook you up, didn’t it? Dented your self-confidence?” He smiled tenderly at her.
“Yes.” She jutted out her lower lip, allowing her feelings to show. “That whole thing made me look incompetent.”
Levi chuckled.
“What’s funny?” she asked, her feelings stinging more fiercely.
“You’re worried about looking incompetent?” He flung out his hands in a gesture of appeal. “It’s safe to say that ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the people around here are certain you’re a fraud and a charlatan, so who are you trying to impress exactly?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Trudy, quit giving a shit about what people think about you. Find Rachel and let them choke on their disbelief.” He reached over to squeeze her knee. “Get to work.”
“Will you help me this time?”
The skin at the corners of his eyes crinkled. “Always. I’m here for you, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” she said on a sigh. “Okay. Let’s unpack, have something to eat, and then I’ll give it another try.”
###
They were finishing their lunch of broccoli and cheese pizza when someone knocked on the RV’s door.
“It’s probably Henderson,” Levi said, already scooting out from the bench seat to answer the summons. He glanced out the window and then looked back at Trudy. “It’s Hannah.”
Trudy slid off the bench seat. “I hope nothing else has happened to AmyLynn.”
Levi swung open the door. “Hi, there.”
“Hi. Is Miss Tucker here?”
“She is.” He stepped back to let Trudy squeeze past him.
“Hi, Hannah.” Trudy pushed open the screen door. “Come on in.”
Hannah shook her head and retreated. “Mom wants to talk to you.”
“In Cape Girardeau?”
“No.” Hannah nodded toward Tony’s garage. “She’s in the car over there.”
“Oh.” Trudy moved down onto the first metal step. “She wants me to join her?”
“Yeah.”
Trudy glanced at Levi. “I’ll be right back.” She walked with Hannah to the big, white caddie purring beside Tony’s Tune-up. Once again, Sam sat behind the wheel and he smiled broadly and raised a hand in greeting. The back door opened and Trudy bent forward to see AmyLynn. Although it was an overcast day, AmyLynn wore a pair of large white sunglasses. She was huddled in a white fur coat and looked small and beaten down. “How are you?”
“I’ve been better,” AmyLynn said, her voice holding a tremor. “Please, won’t you join me for a few minutes?”
“Of course.” Trudy sat on the white leather seat. Hannah sat up front with Sam. “I heard that you had taken ill.”
“I cracked up is what happened,” AmyLynn said in a near whisper. “I didn’t realize how close I was to the edge until I was up on that stage and trying to pray for others while my baby is . . . is . . .” She fished a tissue out of her pink Fendi pouchette and dabbed at her nose. “I keep dreaming that she’s already in heaven.”
Emotion clawed at Trudy’s throat. She placed her hand over AmyLynn’s. “You’ve been so brave and gracious through this.”
“I’ve tried.” She pushed her sunglasses higher up the bridge of her nose. “I’m taking some medicine now that’s making me kind of foggy-headed, but I don’t feel as wound up.” She placed her other hand on top of Trudy’s. “Tell me the truth. Do you think she’s alive?”
The truth. What was the truth? She worried that the reason she hadn’t connected lately with the kidnapper was because Rachel was dead, but her heart balked at that. She couldn’t tell AmyLynn that, though. Not until she knew for certain, one way or the other. “She’s alive.”
AmyLynn’s lips twisted out of shape and tears leaked out from under her sunglasses. “Thank you, Jesus,” she whispered. “Thank you, Lord.”
“I’m going to find her,” Trudy said.
AmyLynn eased her hands out of Trudy’s grip and dried her tears with the tissue she’d balled up. “John asked me to fire you. He says you’re upsetting everyone.”
“Everyone? Am I upsetting you?”
“No.” She sniffed. “Other people.”
Michael Poe. She started to say the name aloud, but thought better of it. Everyone in the car knew who was squawking the loudest about her.
“I told John that I’d give you until Christmas to find her.”
Disappointment clattered through Trudy and she realized that she’d hoped that AmyLynn had refused to give her an ultimatum.
“Did he give the FBI a deadline, too?” Hannah piped up from the front seat.
Sam made a sound of reproach and Hannah glared at him.
“Hannah, I’m speaking to Miss Tucker, if you please,” AmyLynn said, softly, beseechingly.
“Everyone is more worried about you continuing to preach with your husband than they are about finding Rachel!” Hannah huffed out a breath and sent another stinging glare at Sam. “You know it’s true.” She shrugged and leaned forward a little. “Can I go with him?”
“What? Who?” AmyLynn asked.
“Him. To walk the dog.” Hannah shoved open the car door.
“Hannah Lynn!” AmyLynn barked, hysteria bubbling in her voice.
Trudy caught sight of Levi, leash in hand, walking with Mouse toward the car. “He’ll only go a block or two and he’ll come right back,” Trudy said, reassuring her. She heard Hannah ask Levi if she could tag along.
AmyLynn pressed a button and her window rolled down. “Do you mind if she joins you?”
“Of course not,” Levi said. He bent over and looked past AmyLynn to Trudy. “Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
He straightened and turned toward Hannah. “How’s it going, Hannah?”
“You don’t want to know,” Hannah groused, falling into step with him as Mouse trotted in front of them.
AmyLynn rolled up the window and slumped back in the seat. “Everything I do or say rubs her the wrong way.”
“She’s young and doesn’t know how to cope with what’s happening around her,” Trudy ventured. “She loves you. Cling to that.”
AmyLynn removed her sunglasses and dabbed at her eyes. Tears glistened in her long, thick lashes. “She’s fascinated with Levi.”
“I can see that.”
Surprise shone in her eyes and then she offered up a watery smile. “She likes the idea of having a big brother. Especially a famous one.”
A big brother? Did she really believe that? Hmmm. Sometimes mothers were a little late to the party when it came to schoolgirl crushes.
“Are you upset with me?”
“Why would I be?” Trudy asked.
“Because I’m giving you until Christmas and then . . .” AmyLynn shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“I’m not upset, but I must tell you that I don’t work under ultimatums or deadlines. You can throw them at me, but they won’t stick. I have very little control over how often I make contact with the kidnapper and what information I can get from him.”
“I’m worn out.” The defeat in AmyLynn’s voice was worse than any declaration of a deadline.
“You should take a sedative and get some rest. Can’t you take some time off? Expecting you to carry on with your ministry work while your child is missing is asking way, way too much of you.”
AmyLynn lifted a hand to rub her temple with her forefinger. Her nails were short and bare. Trudy stared at them, shocked. Wow. If she needed further proof that AmyLynn wasn’t herself, she had it.
“How can I refuse God?” AmyLynn cl
osed her eyes and her chunky lashes looked all the more fake lying against her pale cheeks. “He commandeth me to testify in His name. The people expect to see me – they want to see me and hear me. God wants it. He has a plan for me and I have to follow it.”
Trudy didn’t know what to say to that, so she remained silent. She caught Sam looking at them in the rearview mirror. What did he think about this? she wondered. Did he believe that AmyLynn should continue her work with John or concentrate solely on finding Rachel?
“I wanted to let you know about the . . . well . . .” AmyLynn shook her head. “Anyway, I need to have my little girl back home by Christmas. Do what you can to make that happen, won’t you, Trudy?”
“I have been.” The weight of her mission settled on her heart, almost crushing it. Seeing AmyLynn so vulnerable made Trudy want to move mountains for her.
“They’re back,” Sam said, catching Trudy’s gaze in the rearview mirror again just as Levi and Hannah walked up to the car.
Levi opened the passenger door for Hannah and she slid onto the white leather seat. His gaze met Trudy’s before he closed the car door and led Mouse toward the RV.
Trudy patted AmyLynn’s hand. “Take care. I’ll be in touch. Goodbye, Sam. Hannah.” She got an answering smile from Sam. Nothing from Hannah. Standing by the RV, she watched the caddie reverse and then motor onto the street and out of view. Inside the Gypsy Spirit, her nickname for the home on wheels, she found Levi checking his phone again.
“Are you expecting a call or urgent message of some kind?”
“No. I’m conferring with my finance department about end of the year taxes, deductions, payroll, bonuses, and all that other dull stuff that has to be addressed if I want to stay out of jail.” He sent her a half-grin. “Hannah is concerned about her mother, but she’ll never admit it.”
“Her mother said she likes the idea of having a big brother.”
She thought he might choke on his own spit when she said that. He coughed and his eyes watered. She grinned.
“Get real,” he grumbled when he could talk without coughing.