“I knocked him in the balls with my knee. He can’t talk right now,” Channing said through clenched teeth.
“Is that right? And who are you?” Sebastian asked suspiciously.
“He was my John for the night and we had a little accident with the knife play. He had to bring me to the ER, and when they tried to cut my panties, I jerked away from them and accidentally kneed him in the balls. I couldn’t help it though, those panties cost me 500 bucks, and this one didn’t pay me for the night yet,” Channing slurred.
Sebastian and Kettle were standing there looking at her with large, rounded eyes, not sure what to think of her comments.
“What’d you give her, Ronnie?” I asked when I was finally able to stand completely.
“A sedative,” he murmured as he finally started to stitch up her hand. “She was white as a ghost, it was only a matter of time before she passed out completely. I just nudged her along a little.”
Sebastian and Kettle flanked me as we watched Ronnie stitch up Channing’s hand with the expertise of a man who’d been doing it for so long he could do it with his eyes closed.
“So you were her John for the night, eh?” Kettle gave me a sideways glance.
I ignored him, fascinated with the way Ronnie pulled her skin closed with the black thread. I’d always been interested in trauma, hence why I got my paramedic’s certification.
Although seeing it happen to someone I truly cared for gave me a feeling in my stomach that I hadn’t experienced since my mom was diagnosed with cancer.
It was a feeling I didn’t much like, and one that I refused to examine too closely.
“Yeah, he gives great head,” Channing garbled.
Kettle and Sebastian both burst out laughing, and Ronnie was smiling like a loon, but he didn’t say anything.
“Is this the chick?” Kettle asked once he regained his composure.
“Yep,” I confirmed.
“She’s the reason why you keep bugging out?” Sebastian asked.
I turned to him, regarding his impassive face for a few long moments before answering. “Not really. There’re some things going on with this case that I should probably bring you up to speed on. It most likely won’t affect you, and I can’t tell you all of it, but I’d like you to know...just in case.”
“I’m free tomorrow. Come to the house for breakfast. Bring your girl. Don’t come before ten,” Sebastian instructed before leaving Kettle and me standing there.
Kettle watched the VP go, and then turned to me.
“Viddy and Adeline talk,” he said slowly.
I raised my eyebrow at him in question. “And?”
“Maybe your girl would like to join their talk sometime. They feel like you’re purposefully not bringing her around because she’s scared of the club. Said your girl freaks out whenever Trance gets near,” he said
I looked back to Channing who was nearly done getting her stitches. “It’s not the club, necessarily, but cops. She was...yeah. I don’t really want to talk about it, and it’s her information to share. But suffice it to say, she didn’t have a good experience with one when she was sixteen, and that’s left her wary. I’ll bring her by tomorrow if she’s up to it. Don’t let them gossip about her though. She’s already self-conscious enough.”
He nodded. “Gotta go. We were in the middle of dinner when we got that call. I’ll check you later.”
“Later,” I said.
Forty five minutes later, I was walking with Channing up her front walk.
“Will you do it?” She asked as she searched through her purse. “It gives me the hives being under a time constraint. Do you remember that game where you had to try to fit all the shapes into that little box before the timer went off and popped all the pieces back out? That’s the way I feel when I’m disarming the alarm.”
I laughed as I took the keys from her, unlocked it, and easily disarmed the alarm.
We were just walking through when my pager went off.
“Fuck,” I groaned and glanced at the pager.
Pulling out my phone, I called into dispatch with a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“This is Detective Rector, I just got paged,” I said evenly, trying to contain the roiling emotions trying to entice me to spill my guts all over the white tiled floor of Channing’s entrance way.
“Detective Rector, we have a single suspected homicide at the gas station on June and Trail Road. Are you available to lead?” Dispatch asked.
“10-4. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” I confirmed and we hung up.
Turning around, I found Channing looking at me worriedly. “Does this happen a lot?”
Putting the phone back in my pocket, I looked at her closely, studying her disposition, and very reluctant to leave her here alone after she’d just been hurt.
“You okay to be left alone?” I asked her quietly.
She wouldn’t really be left alone. I had a few prospects keeping an eye out on the house, but I’d ask her anyway.
She nodded. “I’m fine.”
She didn’t look fine. She looked wary.
“If you need me, you’ll call me, right?” I asked.
She nodded, but stopped mid-nod. “I don’t have your number.”
I wanted to smack myself in the head.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I dialed her number.
Her phone rang from the direction of her back pocket, but she didn’t reach for it.
Once I was assured she had my number, I put my own phone away and walked up to her until our lips were only millimeters apart.
“Be good,” I said against her lips.
I felt her lips open up into a smile underneath my own as she answered.
“Never anything but.”
***
I knew as soon as I pulled onto June Street that this case was connected with the one two days ago.
As I pulled into the drive, parking directly next to the police line now encompassing the entire lot, I looked directly across the street to where Channing and I were not even two hours before.
The funeral home’s front exit was directly across from the gas station the victim died at, and the side door we’d rushed out of shared the same street that the side of the gas station did.
Which meant that we walked outside right about the time the man was being murdered across the street from us.
“Goddamn,” I said as I hauled myself out of the car.
The first person to walk up to me was Tunnel Morrison, and I knew him being here as the first responder for the second murder wasn’t a coincidence, either.
“You were first on the scene?” I asked, praying for a different answer than the one I knew was about to come out of his mouth.
He nodded grimly. “Yes, sir.”
His voice was quiet and serious. He knew just as well as I did what this meant.
We had a killer on our hands. One that had my name etched on the edge of his sword.
He was gunning for me, and he wanted me to know it.
“Walk me through what you know,” I said to Tunnel as we walked towards the scene.
He turned and walked at my side.
“I arrived after the convenience clerk called in a dog barking at the back of his shop. It was the victim’s cell phone ringing. His wife was concerned because the man was supposed to be home over an hour ago. He stops here every night for a 6-pack and a scratch off ticket. ID on him identifies him as Brian Jones, 32,” he said clearing his throat. “He’s got stab wounds to his chest and neck. Clothes are in a pile near the back door.”
Twenty minutes later, I’d observed the scene and then turned it over to the crime scene techs to do their magic.
I found myself facing my boss, and a look of haunted fury was etched all over his face.
“Tell me what you know,” Cabe demanded.
After telling him how I thought the cases were related and why, I finished off wi
th one last succulent statement. “Goddammit, he’s just playing with me. He knew turning the lights off would draw me out of there. He also knew I’d be the one called on this one due to its similarity to the last murder. He wanted me to be the one to lead the case.”
Cabe shook his head. “I don’t see how it could be Varian. He turned over eight men, who are now in the custody of BPD. They’re on a trip to county lock-up in the morning.”
I knew that just because he gave up some names, didn’t mean he would give up all of them. “He’s got at least one more out. This guy’s got to be his partner, or right hand man. He knows Varian won’t give him up; that’s why he’s taunting me. He thinks he’s going to be able to get off scot-free, and I guaran-damn-tee you that he’s got a plan to get Varian out as well. It’s just a gut instinct right now. I can’t prove it, but why else would he give up that easily?”
Cabe watched the crime scene techs do their work for nearly five minutes as he thought over what he was going to say.
Finally, he turned and started asking questions. “Have you questioned the men? And speak with the neighbors as well as his workers.”
I nodded once.
I’d already planned on doing that in the morning.
“I need someone on Channing,” I told him.
“The department’s already strapped on funds as it is. I think it’s time you pulled your club in. Don’t take her out of the picture completely, though. She plays a part in it somehow, and you might need her to flush whoever it is out,” he said.
“I won’t use her as bait,” I snapped.
He rolled his eyes heavenward. “Did I tell you to use her as bait? Besides, my wife has a fondness for the woman, and I have a fondness for my wife. If I let something happen to Channing, I’d be denied my favorite place in the world. God help anyone and everything if my wife withholds herself from me. Everybody would be feeling it if that were to happen.”
After the chief left, I called Tunnel over.
“Come over to Sebastian’s house in the morning. Ten or so. We have some things to work out,” I commanded.
He saluted me. “Aye, aye.”
I flipped him off and left, making a note of the crowd that’d gathered since I’d arrived.
No one in particular stood out, but I had a feeling that the killer, whomever he may be, was there. Watching the activities going on at his murder scene, and getting his jollies off while he did.
Chapter 12
That moment when you realize life really is like a box of chocolates.
-Life Lesson
Channing
“Are you sure they all won’t be glaring at me the whole time?” I asked as I reluctantly walked up the sidewalk.
It was ten thirty in the morning, and we were already thirty minutes late, according to Loki. However, I couldn’t make my feet move.
What if they didn’t like me? What if they thought I was an uptight bitch, when in reality I was just a shy person?
“No, they won’t be glaring at you. Sebastian was the one who told me to bring you. It’ll be fine, I promise. They’re my family,” he said with those puppy dog eyes that made me do anything he wanted to do.
For instance, this morning, I made French toast, even though my stomach had been roiling at the thought of having to meet his club.
And I’d made it with a fucking smile on my face.
“Don’t leave me, okay?” I pleaded with him.
He winked at me. “We’ll see. I won’t leave you if you’re getting along with the women. And even if I do, I won’t go far.”
After that announcement, he knocked on the door, effectively stifling the sharp retort that was on the tip of my tongue.
He knew it, too, if the look on his face was any indication.
Sticking my tongue out at him in defiance, I punched him in the ass just as the door opened and a very pretty woman with mid back length blonde hair opened the door.
She also had the cutest little toddler on her hip that I’d ever seen.
“Woki!” The kid bellowed and launched herself at Loki’s empty arms.
She was cute. I mean really cute. And with Loki holding her in his arms like she was a precious angel, it was exponentially cuter.
“Hi, Blaise. How are you doing today?” Loki asked.
There was no baby talk in his question, which surprised me. Wasn’t it just a natural thing to do to talk to them like they were children, and not adults? Loki spoke to her like she was an adult, but Blaise loved it. She grabbed onto his face and pressed her lips to his scruffy cheek.
“Okay,” she said in the cutest, little voice I’d ever heard.
I wasn’t a big fan of kids. I only had experience with kids that weren’t mine or family. I’d heard that once I had my own kids, my outlook on kids would change, but I hadn’t met a child I’d liked yet.
Until this one.
“That’s my daughter, Blaise,” the blonde said. “I’m Baylee.”
She held out her hand to me, and I automatically offered the hurt one to her out of habit.
“Oh, is this the famous hand that got sliced while you and Loki were doing some BDSM sex play?” She asked with a mischievous tone to her voice.
I looked at her like she was crazy. “No, I cut it on Loki’s badge. Hurt like a mother, too.”
Baylee smiled a secret smile at Loki, then opened the door wider. “Come in.”
Loki entered first, cutting off my questioning about what that smile was about after the knife-play question, and I followed.
He led us into a huge, open room.
I’m talking massive. The ceilings had to be a good fifteen feet high, with large brown beams lining the peaks of the ceiling.
In fact, it was so big that the room had three ceiling fans set on a long pole that spanned the width of the room.
It was decorated in a rustic way with distressed furniture, a large brown leather sectional, and a massive plasma screen TV on the wall.
There were no cords or anything, and I absently wondered how they hid them.
“Hi, Channing,” a deep male voice said from directly in front of me.
I jumped and turned my head from the study of the cordless television to the tall man standing in front of me.
He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him.
“Hello,” I said softly.
Big men had always intimidated me, but he was about the exact same size as the pseudo police officer who’d attacked me.
His build was stocky, and he had muscles that bulged with just the tiniest exertions.
His hair was brown, and his eyes were honey brown in color.
Luckily, his eyes were warm and friendly.
His smile showed me that he was genuinely happy to see me, and I instantly relaxed.
This must be Sebastian. The VP of The Dixie Wardens. The firefighter.
I liked firefighters.
“You don’t remember me from last night, do you?” He asked with a wide smile on his face.
I shook my head, feeling the tail of my hair hanging at my back swish and sway with the motion. “Nope.”
I popped the ‘p’ as I spoke, putting emphasis on the fact that I couldn’t remember a thing about last night other than the events leading up to getting hurt, and when we were just arriving home.
Sebastian and Loki traded that secret look again, making my eyes narrow on the two.
“Why do you keep making those looks to each other? What’d I do?” I asked Loki.
“I,” he said, “will tell you later.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You can tell me now...”
My voice trailed off when Loki’s phone rang, and he handed over the little girl to her father and walked out of the room without a backwards glance.
“Well wasn’t that just convenient,” I muttered to no one in particular.
So much for not leaving me.
The big m
an holding his daughter snorted. “You can say that again. He’s been avoiding us for months now.”
My attention turned from his daughter to him. “What do you mean?”
“He hasn’t come on a run with us in over six months. Keeps ducking out at the last minute. Doesn’t come by the club. His best friend hasn’t even seen him in weeks now,” he explained.
He sounded like his dog had been run over by a semi.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
I was genuinely sorry for the fact that his friends thought he had changed, but I didn’t really know what to say to that. Loki had been the same since I’d met him. He was passionate about his job. He cared about his community. He was a good man, and an even better police officer. Was that bad?
“Nothing you’ve done, sweetheart,” Sebastian said as we moved towards the kitchen.
He placed Blaise down on the ground.
His daughter followed her parents as we walked up to the granite island. I was left with Baylee and Sebastian both staring at me curiously.
“What? Do I have something in my teeth?” I asked worriedly.
Baylee giggled. “No, we’re just curious. We’ve been wondering about you for a long time.”
“Me? Why?” Surprise laced my voice.
Baylee busied herself with cracking eggs into a bowl as she spoke.
“We’ve heard a lot about you, but we haven’t actually seen you. Loki’s been undercover, and then out of town for so long that we were beginning to wonder if he’d ever pull his head out of his ass and make a move,” she explained lightly.
I watched as she whipped the eggs with a fork, and then poured them into a frying pan.
“Oh, well it was never his fault. It was mine. I have a certain hang up about cops,” I said quietly.
“Daddy! I’m pooping!” A young boy’s voice followed my statement. “Blaise is playing in the shaving cream!”
Sebastian cursed and ran out of the room after the child I hadn’t even seen disappear.
Baylee kept cooking as if the fact that her young child playing in shaving cream was of no consequence to her.
“What do you have against cops?” She asked inquiringly.
Keys To My Cuffs (The Heroes of The Dixie Wardens MC Book 4) Page 10