Grabbing her coffee and the folder, she went back over to her desk. She was going to start with the shoplifter and work her way up to Mrs. Claus. She didn’t even bother opening the last folder, because honestly, she just wasn’t up to knowing what surprise it held.
* * * *
By noon, Jennah was ready to go home and hide under the covers. Either her speech was distorted or every person she talked to heard what she was saying. The shoplifter had been more difficult than she had anticipated, but not nearly as frustrating as it had been trying to make Mrs. Claus understand what was wrong with walking around in a fluffy red teddy that didn’t cover any part.
When Jason and Scott, two of the other officers, had finally made it to the office, they’d brought with them three more cases to be processed. On a normal day, they’d do it themselves, but this wasn’t a normal day, and the phone had rung before they’d even had the chance to take off their jackets. The saddest part in all of this was it was only going to get worse the closer it got to Christmas.
She was taking refuge in the lunch room and wishing the people waiting to state their case would just go away. She played in the yogurt with her spoon. Tomorrow she had the day off and she wasn’t leaving the house. She’d stop and pick up anything she needed on the way home later, and then she was going to hide in her tiny space and pretend the rest of the town was gone.
She looked up when Beth stuck her head around the door. “Jenn, there’s someone at reception to see you.” Beth was looking worried in that older, motherly sort of way.
“Do I want to see them?”
Beth shook her head. “It’s your ex.”
Jennah turned, dropped the yogurt container into the garbage, and tossed the spoon into the sink. “Wonderful!” She let out a loud breath. “Don’t send him to my desk. I’ll be out in a minute.” Beth gave her a sympathetic look and then went back out.
What was Dalton doing here? He was the last person on the planet she needed or wanted to see. Actually, it was a tie between him and the grim reaper, but today the reaper might even get a better welcome than Dalton. Taking a deep breath, she headed out to the reception area.
She walked slowly as she studied him and tried to assess what sort of mood he was in. He stood there smiling at her in his freshly pressed jeans and perfectly wrinkle-free shirt—even his jacket was without wrinkle or crease, and of course, his neatly combed blonde hair was perfect. She had the sudden urge to pluck his eyeballs right out of his head! She spoke over the counter. “What can I do for you, Dalt?”
He flashed the smile that had once made her insides tingle, but the reaction she felt now was revulsion. “Jenny, I tried to reach you last night. You must not have gotten my messages, so I thought I’d stop by.”
She hated being called Jenny. “I’m very busy here, Dalton. Please get to the point—quickly.”
He feigned a pout, and that urge to attack his blue eyes came back to the surface. “I wondered if you had any plans over the holidays. I’ve booked a nice spot, but I’m not saying where. It’s a surprise. I thought you might like to join me.”
Jennah glanced over to see the stunned look Beth had on her face. Even Beth knew that Dalton Jesperson was the very last person she would ever want to see. “I’m working through the holidays this year.” And every year as far as your concerned. The only person who didn’t realize that she never wanted to spend time with Dalton was Dalton.
“Oh, well that sucks.” He sighed loudly, and she fought the need to sneer at him. “Well, you have my number if anything changes.”
She could only nod, because she knew that if she opened her mouth, bad things were going to come out. She stood beside Beth and watched him walk back out the door.
“You could shoot him and say it was a mistake,” Beth whispered.
Jennah sighed and then grinned at her. “He isn’t worth the price of the bullet.” She turned and looked around. “I’m going to go sit in the locker room and take five minutes of why-did-I-ever-marry-that-man time.”
Beth gave her another look of sympathy. “I’ll run interference for you.”
“Thanks.” Jennah quickly walked to the locker room and got in behind the door before she had a meltdown in front of anyone in the office.
The nerve of that man! Why won’t he just accept things and go away? She paced back and forth, trying to control the frustration that was pumping through her. Every time she saw him, every hurt moment came flooding back to her and she just wanted him gone. She wanted to move on and live her own life and try her damndest to be happy!
“Jennah?”
She spun around, expecting someone to be behind her. There was no one there. Was that Dominic’s voice? Oh no, she was hallucinating now! Should she call her doctor? Maybe the stress had finally caught up to her. Was she going to end up spending her holidays alone in the psych ward?
“Jennah, why are you so upset?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. I am not hearing voices! I am not losing my mind!
She heard his deep chuckle. “No, you’re not losing your mind. This is really happening. I should have told you, but in our dream . . . it’s not really a dream. We’re connecting.”
Her eyes flew open. What? “What?” She stood perfectly still, waiting to see if she could hear him again.
“I can explain it better later. I just picked up on how upset you were . . .”
She squinted. “Picked up? How? How are you inside my head when I’m completely awake? How can we talk inside my head?”
She heard him chuckle again. “Inside mine, as well. I don’t have time right now. Are you all right?”
She laughed aloud, not knowing if he would hear it in her head too. “Clearly not! I’m talking to a man from my dream inside my head while I’m wide awake standing in the locker room at work!”
“Jennah.”
“I’m fine! I just had an unwelcome visit from my ex-husband.” She glanced back at the door to make sure no one was coming in. “Can we just talk anytime like this?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. This ex-husband, he didn’t . . .”
“No! He’s a slimeball that won’t go away is all.”
“Okay. I have to go. I’ll connect with you later.”
She remembered she was still at work. “Uh…okay.” She waited, just to be sure he was gone. When he said nothing more, she closed her eyes and opened them again. That was probably the weirdest thing she’d ever experienced in her life. Was Dominic some sort of telepath or something? Did they really exist? She smirked. Something existed, and it seemed she was one of them.
Taking a few deep breaths, she walked over to the mirror and distracted herself by unclipping her long hair. It was so trained to stay neatly twisted and held up. She had to run her fingers through it several times to untangle it and persuade it to hang. She’d never been fond of the multishaded brown locks, but she did like how it was full of body and draped down and over her shoulders.
She frowned at the image in the mirror. Playing with her hair was not distracting her from thinking about how Dominic had gotten inside her head.
“You picture yourself much differently in our dream, Jennah. You were lovely, but now I see you’re mouthwatering gorgeous.”
Her eyes widened at the image. “I thought you left?”
He sighed. “I thought so too. You must have been thinking of me too strongly because I’m back and looking at you play with your beautiful hair in the mirror.”
She felt her cheeks flush before she noticed her reflection blushing. “Sorry, this is all new to me.”
“Don’t be. I’m glad I got to see what you really look like.”
She tried hard to see him as he could her, but it was just his voice. He knew exactly how to work this connection stuff, and later, he was going to tell her everything.
“I have to get back to work.” Which was the truth, but she would have much rather spent the day talking to him like this, or any way she could. He made reality go far away and she lik
ed that.
“Later, beautiful.”
She caught herself smiling and straightened her shoulders back. As she began to trap the long hair again, she tried not to think about Dominic too much. Like that would be easy! Normally, if a man used a line like he had, she would have sneered, but something in his voice, as soft and serious as it was, made her not mind it at all.
Finishing her hair quickly, she turned to go back out. She was smiling and she knew it, and anyone that knew her was going to wonder, but she didn’t care.
* * * *
“Palmer!”
Dom jerked his head up. “What?” He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them and looked at Slick.
“Don’t just fizz out on me like that. Trouble is coming and we’re about to be stuck right smack in the middle!”
Dom straightened up and peered behind Slick’s shoulder. Sure enough, there was the remaining number of Cherry’s dirtbags, and they were headed straight for him. He rubbed his hands together to warm them as he glanced around as nonchalantly as he could afford to see where the battered followers of Rod’s crew were. Shit! They were directly across the yard and watching every friggin’ move. “Any thoughts of what the deal is?” he asked Slick quietly as he got down off the bench.
Slick turned so his back wasn’t facing the rest of the yard. “Not for sure, but they’re definitely coming to us.”
“Great, get pounded by Cherry’s crew or Rod’s—what a choice.” He watched his breath in the cold air.
Slick grinned at him. “You always think someone wants to beat on your pretty face.”
Dom raised one eyebrow at him. “So you think I’m wrong and they just want to chat?”
Slick sighed and took a glimpse back at the men that were almost to them. “No, you’re right.”
Dom stood there, hands in pockets, waiting for them to speak first. What was so important about this work team that the whole facility wanted in on it? Maybe if he played his cards right, he’d find out.
“Palmer, Slick.”
Dom nodded at the scraggly, ghostly white man that stood only a few inches shorter than himself. “Cherry.”
“We need to discuss something with you.” He stared intently at Slick for a second and then back to Dom.
Dom glanced at his cellmate. “Slick is okay.”
Cherry studied Slick for a few brief seconds. “A second may not hurt.”
“Second what?” Dom made sure he stayed out of reach as he took his hands out of his pockets and let them hang loosely by his side. He may appear loose and relaxed, but his adrenaline was pumping and ready to react if he needed. There was a reason he had been sent in here, and it wasn’t because he was a good cop. It was because he could withstand almost anything, and always got the job done in the end—one way or another.
“Let’s walk.” Cherry motioned with his head to the other end of the yard. The end the farthest away from everyone.
“Let’s stand,” Dom said in a low voice that he knew conveyed to the cons that his attention span was short and they were wasting his time.
Cherry held up his gloved hands and grinned. “Standing is good.” He glanced nervously toward Rod’s boys, who were leaning against the fence on the other side of the yard. “You hear what the scuffle was about yesterday?”
Dom shrugged. “Bits.” He watched Cherry’s breath. He was nervous if his breathing was any sign.
Cherry nodded. “We were chosen as the outside crew for this one event and we really need to be there, but others, well, they think they should be there instead.”
“And this has what to do with Slick and me?” He stuffed his cold, stiffening hands back into his pockets.
Cherry grinned. “It could have a lot to do with you. We’re three men down now from yesterday. Doctors don’t think they’ll be up to it in time.”
“When’s this event?”
“A week from tomorrow.” Cherry put his hands in his pockets and looked at his men standing behind him. “We’re inviting you to attend.”
“What’s involved?” He glanced briefly at Slick and didn’t need to ask if he wanted anything to do with this. But if he knew Slick, he would go along just to watch his back.
“A little work, a lotta reward.” Cherry peered nervously around the yard. “We’ll talk again later on. Just think about it.” He turned and walked between his crew. They followed him like the lost dogs they were.
“Interesting,” Slick mumbled.
Dom sighed and tried to let some of the tension leave his body. He stared at the snow-packed ground. “And not nearly as informative as I had hoped.”
Slick turned, put a foot up on the bench, and pretended to stretch. “You think this is what you’ve been looking for?”
Dom perched on the edge of the benches as he kept his eye on Rod’s boys as they moved through the yard. “Not sure. I hope so.” He tilted his head and smirked at the other man. “No offense, but I’d like to get out of here soon.”
Slick straightened, and then laughed. “No problem. If I were you, I’d want to get away from me too.”
“Round two coming in—and I don’t think this one is going to be as smooth.”
“If this keeps up, I’m going to ask to be put into lock-up—so I can let my fuckin’ guard down for ten seconds!” Slick turned to watch the others heading toward them.
Dom let out a loud breath and stood up again. “See if you can get a suite and I’ll join you.”
Chapter Four
Jennah glanced out the window as she rubbed her hair dry. The snow was falling from the dark night sky. She hung the towel over the curtain rod and turned back to the mirror. She hadn’t heard anything from Dominic yet and she didn’t know how to go about contacting him. Did she go to bed and just hope he showed up while she slept—again? Should she try to concentrate and see if she could reach him?
Sighing, she walked out to the small sitting area and picked up her book. Either way, she was going to go climb under the covers and relax. She didn’t have to get up before dawn to go to work, and for the next twenty-four hours, she didn’t have to deal with crazed, holiday-afflicted people.
She climbed under the covers and sat back against the pillows. Closing her eyes, she let out a lengthy breath and allowed all the tension from the last few days to ease out of her shoulders. She slid down further on the pillows. Her book wasn’t even going to get opened.
“Hello, beautiful.”
Dominic’s deep voice moved right through her. “Hi.” She turned around to see him standing in the shadows behind her. “I didn’t think I was going to see you tonight.”
He stepped toward her slowly. “I was being selfish. I wanted to wait until you were asleep so I could see you and not just talk to you.”
She laughed quietly. “How did you know I was? You really have to explain how this works to me.”
“I said I would.” He stopped in front of her and ran his hand lightly down her hair. “You kept it down.” His voice was lower.
Jennah tried to ignore the way her body responded to his voice. “Before you distract me, you need to tell me how we’re here.”
He sighed and dropped his hand away from her hair. “All right, let’s at least be comfortable while I do.” His eyes roamed over her face. “Picture your room for me, Jennah.”
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were sitting on her bed. She looked down to see she was dressed and not in her housecoat. He chuckled, which made her look back at him.
“You control it enough to be dressed. So the rest should be easy for you.” He leaned down on his side and watched her. “I’m not sure how to break this down for you. I’ve been aware of it for a long time.”
“So, there are others?” She rested back against the pillows so she could study his face. When he moved his head, she saw the swollen, red marks on his cheek. She sat up quickly again. “What happened?” Gently, she touched the side of his jaw so he’d turn his head.
“Ah, I forgot to not
think about that. My face ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
She traced his swollen cheek. “And where was that?”
He smirked. “In front of a hard fist.”
In Our Dream Page 3