Standing in the Shadows

by Shannon McKenna

  “What screen saver?” Erin asked.

  “A four-second video clip of Cindy, blowing a kiss. Over and over,” Sean said. “It took my breath away.”

  Miles hunched down between his hulking shoulders. “Jeez. Don’t tell people that stuff,” he mumbled. “It’s private.”

  “You tell him, Miles,” Connor said.

  Davy grunted. “He never listens, though, so what’s the point?”

  “Hey, we’re all in this together,” Sean protested. “Besides, my brother’s not as high-tech as you, Miles, but he knows all about wanting an unattainable girl—”

  “Shut up, Sean,” Connor said wearily. “You’re pissing me off today. I know you’re fried, but one more crack like that—”

  “OK. I’ll focus. Chill out, Con,” Sean soothed. “In any case, Miles was my big break. When we find your sister, she owes him a debt of passionate gratitude. You can tell her that I said so.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Erin said demurely. “Go on, please.”

  “Miles is the sound man for the Vicious Rumors, and Cindy’s faithful admirer. You ever want to know what’s going on with a girl? Ask a jealous man,” Sean said. “Miles even provided me with the license number of the infamous Jag, which I passed promptly on to Davy.”

  Connor and Erin both turned to Davy. “And?”

  “The car belongs to a guy named William Vaughn,” Davy said. “A thieving, pimping dickhead with a rap sheet this long, which you may peruse”—he passed them a manila folder—“at your leisure. I checked out all the addresses I could find, but they’re out of date. One of his ex-landladies told me she hasn’t seen him in two years, and she hopes to God she never sees him again, even though he owes her money.”

  “I knew he was scum. From the start I knew it. I slashed the fucker’s tires once.” Miles’s eyes flashed with vindictive heat. He hesitated, and shot a nervous look at Erin. “Uh, shit. Sorry.”

  “It’s OK, Miles,” she told him. “I’m glad you slashed his tires.”

  He hung his head bashfully and started ripping his napkin to shreds.

  “Are you in Cindy’s class?” she asked him.

  “No, I graduated last year,” Miles said. “Electronic engineering. I’ve just been hanging around to do sound for the Rumors, and…”

  “And Cindy,” Sean said.

  Miles stared morosely into his coffee. There was an awkward silence, broken by the waitress, who eyed Sean hungrily as she flung a plate full of lurid-looking pastries into the middle of the table.

  Sean seized a jelly doughnut, saluted the waitress with it, and took a huge bite. “Miles insisted on coming along, once I told him my strategy. He’s got that hero mentality, just like you, Con.”

  Connor looked up from leafing through the rap sheet, smiled thinly, and jerked his chin for Sean to continue.

  “So we took off on an all-night odyssey of squalid roadhouse dives, fueled by Miles’s trusty flask of super-caffeinated Jolt Cola. We finally hit pay dirt when we got to the Rock Bottom Roadhouse, where we met LuAnn. Ah, the beautiful, strawberry blonde LuAnn.”

  “She’s not as hot as Cindy,” Miles said.

  “Do we want to hear this, Sean?” Connor asked.

  “Trust me, there’s a thru-line. Turns out that LuAnn the barmaid knows Billy Vega by reputation. She used to dance in a club near Lynnwood. She told us that Billy comes across as a big-shot agent, but she knows girls who were recruited by him who spit on the ground at the mention of his name. So Miles and I abandoned the roadhouses and ventured out bravely into the wild world of the Seattle titty bars.”

  Erin covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God.”

  “Watch it, Sean,” Connor said. “This is not for your entertainment.”

  Sean’s smile faded. “I never thought that it was.” He reached out and tapped Erin’s wrist gently with his finger. “Hey. Sorry. I’m kind of wired right now, but I promise, I’m taking this thing dead serious. No matter what bullshit comes out of my mouth. OK?”

  “Thanks.” She gave him a wan smile. “I appreciate your help.”

  Connor grabbed a maple bar, eyed it with deep suspicion, and took a bite. “So that’s why you’ve got that wild glitter in your eye,” he said. “You always bounce off the walls when you’re short on sleep.”

  “Sleep? How are we supposed to sleep if that scum-sucking piece of shit is with Cindy?” Miles asked the table at large. “I haven’t slept in a month.”

  Sean slapped him on the back. Miles sputtered his coffee over the table. “Attaboy, Miles. You would not believe this man’s concentration. We went to seven clubs full of naked dancing girls, and he might as well have been cruising the Christian Science Reading Room.”

  “They weren’t as cute as Cindy,” Miles repeated.

  Sean shook his head. “He’s a human laser beam,” he said. “It’s not normal. But anyhow, Miles and I cruised and schmoozed, nursed a few beers, and ingratiated ourselves with some of the young ladies present. Evidently Billy Vega is pretty well-known and generally disliked by the dancers. I passed my card around and let it be known that I was really, really interested in finding Billy Vega, and I would be glad to pass a real generous tip to anybody kind enough to find me a current address for him, or give me a call if he should show up in the club. Which reminds me. I have to make a trip to the bank machine. The slush fund’s been blown on gasoline and beer.”

  “I’ll cover it,” Erin and Miles said in unison.

  They looked at each other and smiled. It occurred to her that Miles might actually have the potential to be attractive, in a wan, offbeat, undernourished sort of way. There was something sweet and unguarded about his face when he smiled. Like a vulnerable vampire.

  “We’ll work those details out later,” Connor said.

  “So what next?” Erin asked.

  Sean ran his fingers through his spiky hair, and for an instant she saw a flash of weariness on his face. “Miles and I might drop by my condo, freshen up. I could use a shower. I hate stinking of smoke. This isn’t the best hour to cruise girlie bars anyhow, so we should take advantage of the lull. Then we’ll just head straight back into the fray.”

  “I want to keep looking,” Miles announced.

  “You could use a shower, too, buddy,” Sean informed him. “You don’t want your hair to look like that when we find Cindy.”

  Miles lifted a hand to his snarled, stringy dark mane. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

  Sean buried his face in his hands. “Why is it my karma to be the frustrated image guru for losers like you guys? Why don’t you all just go buy a Men’s Health magazine and learn how to groom yourselves?”

  “I’ve got to get back to the gym,” Davy said. “I’ve got to teach a karate and a kung fu class, and something tells me I’m going to be teaching your kickboxing class tonight, Sean. Again.”

  “Hey, that’s what you get for being a responsible businessman and pillar of the community,” Sean said. “You poor bastard.”

  “You’re going to make up every class you miss,” Davy warned. “I’ll make you teach Tai Chi on Sunday mornings if you don’t watch it.”

  Sean shuddered with distaste. “I hate Tai Chi. Too damn slow.”

  “It’s good for you,” Davy said. “It makes you concentrate.”

  “I concentrate just fine, in my own way,” Sean snapped.

  Connor signaled for the check. “We have to get going. Let me know if you get any calls from your dancing girls.”

  “Call me, too,” Davy said. “I hate missing the fun.”

  “Where are you two heading?” Sean asked.

  “Erin’s mom’s house,” Connor said.

  That announcement elicited a shocked, wide-eyed silence from both brothers. Davy’s eyebrows climbed. “Whoa. That’s quick work.”

  Sean whistled softly. “That’s, uh, really brave of you, bro.”

  Connor gave them a fatalistic shrug. “Why waste time?”

  Sean and Davy exchanged gla
nces, and Sean stared down into his coffee, grinning. “That’s what I love about you, Con,” he said. “You’re a human laser beam, too.”

  The waitress tossed the check on the table. Connor pulled a bill out of his wallet to cover it. “Let’s get going.”

  Erin smiled at Sean, Davy, and Miles as they said good-bye in the parking lot. “I feel so much better now that you guys are helping,” she told them. “Thank you. It makes all the difference in the world.”

  Davy grunted and looked away. Miles blushed and kicked the Jeep’s muddy tires. Even Sean was at a total loss for a smart comeback for several seconds. “It’s, uh, our pleasure, Erin,” Sean said finally. “C’mon, Miles. Let’s hit the road. Good luck with the mom, Con.”

  “Yeah. Watch yourself,” Davy added.

  The two cars pulled out and drove away. Connor laced his fingers through Erin’s and tipped up her chin. Erin lifted her face for his kiss.

  “So,” he said. “The complete set of McCloud brothers for you.”

  “I like them,” she said. “I like Miles, too. And I really like it that three smart people who give a damn are out there helping look for my little sister. Thank you for making that happen, Connor.”

  “Save the thanks for when we find her,” he said brusquely.

  “No.” She kissed him again. “I’ll thank you right now, no matter what happens. For being so sweet. For caring so much.”

  His arms tightened. “For God’s sake, Erin. Don’t get me all worked up in a public parking lot. It’s embarrassing.”

  She smiled up through her eyelashes. “Does it excite you to be thanked, Connor?”

  “Yeah.” His voice was belligerent. “By you, it does. So sue me.”

  “Must go along with that hero mentality your brother was talking about,” she murmured. “I’ll remember. For future reference.”

  “Let’s go. I don’t like displaying my hard-on to the whole world.”

  The closer they got to her mother’s house, the heavier Connor’s silence became. “Are you nervous?” she asked.

  He shot her an are-you-kidding look, turned the corner, and parked on her mother’s block. They sat for a long, silent moment, and Connor let out a sharp sigh and shoved his door open. “Let’s do it.”

  She got out of the car, marched up to him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Connor?”

  “Yeah?” He sounded apprehensive.

  “Just a detail I’d like to straighten up, before we go any further.”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “Your two brothers? They’re both very good-looking. I might even go so far as to say extremely good-looking. But they are not more good-looking than you.”

  A radiant grin chased the tension out of his face, and he leaned his forehead gently against hers. “You’re my girlfriend now,” he said. “You have to say that kind of stuff. It’s part of your job description.”

  “Oh, bullshit,” she said. “You’re such a—”

  He cut her off with a kiss, pulling her close. She wound her arms around his neck and clung to him, wishing they were a million miles away from all her problems and worries, someplace where she could just wrap herself around his generous heat and strength and power, and soak it up like tropical sunshine. His lips moved over hers, sweet and coaxing and seductive, weakening her knees, making her—

  “Erin? Honey? Is that you?”

  They jerked apart with a gasp.

  Barbara Riggs was standing on the porch in her bathrobe, squinting at them. “Who’s that with you?” She fumbled in the pocket of her bathrobe, pulled out her glasses, and put them on.

  “It’s me, Mrs. Riggs.” Connor’s voice was flat and resigned. “Connor McCloud.”

  “You?” She gaped. “What are you doing with my daughter?”

  Connor sighed. “I was kissing her, ma’am.”

  Barbara picked her way down the leaf-strewn steps in her slippers, her gaze horrified. “Honey? What is the meaning of this?”

  Chapter

  17

  Connor braced himself to be martyred. His doom was averted when the next-door neighbor’s front door popped open and a chubby gray-haired lady came out onto her porch. Her eyes were bright with curiosity. “Hi, Erin!” she called. “Well, well! Who’s your young man?”

  “Hi, Marlene,” Erin said. “Um…Mom? Could we have this conversation inside the house?”

  Barbara Riggs glanced up at her neighbor. “That might be best,” she said icily. “Under the circumstances.” She marched toward the house, head high, back straight, just like Erin when she was royally pissed. He followed. His doom was not averted. Just delayed.

  He followed Erin’s glance into the living room, saw it flinch away. Sure enough, the gutted TV lay there on its back like a dead bug in the gloom. A poker stuck out of its belly, just as Tonia had said. Ouch.

  Barbara turned on the kitchen light and folded her arms over her chest. Her mouth was a flat, bloodless line of fury. Even as disheveled and haggard as she was, he could see where Erin’s regal air came from.

  “Well?” The single word was like a bolt from a crossbow.

  He was terribly afraid that that was his cue, but he had no idea what to say. Everything felt like the wrong thing. He was on the verge of just opening his mouth and letting whatever happened to be lying there on top fall out of it, but Erin beat him to the punch.

  “We’re together, Mom,” she said quietly. “He’s my lover now.”

  A blotchy flush mottled the older woman’s face. She let out a sharp, high-pitched sound. Her hand flashed out, toward Erin’s face.

  He caught the slap and held it suspended in midair. Her trembling wrist felt clammy and cold in his grip. “You don’t want to do that, Mrs. Riggs,” he said. “You can’t take it back. And it’s not worth it.”

  “Don’t you dare preach to me. Let go of me.”

  “No hitting,” he said.

  Her chin jerked up. He decided to take that for an assent and let go. She snatched her hand back. Her eyes were glassy and feverish.

  “You’ve been watching her since she was practically a child,” she spat. “Waiting for your chance. I saw it in your face, so don’t bother to deny it. And now that Ed’s out of the way, you think the coast is clear.”

  Things couldn’t get any worse, so there was no reason not to be brutally honest. “I would have gone after her anyway,” he admitted. “That whole bad business was just a delay.”

  The flush burned purplish spots into her pallid face. “Just a delay? You call the ruin of my entire life just a delay? You have the nerve to come into my house and say that to me, after what you did?”

  “I did my job, ma’am. I did my duty,” he said, with steely calm. “Which is more than I can say for your husband.”

  “Get out of my house.” Her voice vibrated with fury.

  “No, Mom,” Erin said. “You can’t throw him out without throwing me out, too. And you can’t throw me out, because I won’t let you.”

  Barbara’s lips trembled with hurt and confusion. “What has come over you, honey? Are you punishing me for something?”

  Erin grabbed her and hugged her tightly. “No. This is for me, Mom. Just me. For the first time, I am thinking only of myself, and you are going to have to swallow it. Because I’ve never called in a favor from you in my whole life.”

  “But you’ve always been such a good girl,” Barbara whispered.

  “Too good,” Erin said. “I never misbehaved, I never made you wait up all night, I never put a foot wrong. I’m calling in all those points now, Mom. Remember those good behavior charts you made for us when we were kids? All those gold stars I got? This is my prize. And I picked it out all by myself.”

  Barbara’s face convulsed. Her arms hung like sticks at her side in Erin’s embrace. Slowly, they circled around her daughter’s body.

  Her eyes flicked up to Connor. He stoically endured it. It was no different than the way the respectable matrons of Endicott Falls had looked at him an
d his brothers in the old days whenever they came into town. A look that said, Quick, lock up your daughters, here come Crazy Eamon’s wild boys. He’d gotten used to it. A person could get used to anything.

  “Some prize,” she said coldly. “Just how long have you been carrying on with my daughter behind my back?”

  Connor thought about it, consulted his watch, and decided that those incendiary, mind-blowing kisses in the airport definitely counted. “Uh, forty-six hours and twenty-five minutes, ma’am.”

  Barbara closed her eyes and shook her head. “Dear God. Erin. Why didn’t you tell me you were taking this man with you to the coast?”

  “I didn’t know at the time, Mom,” she said gently. “It was a surprise. He came along to guard me, and this just…happened.”

  “Guard you?” Her eyes sharpened. “From what?”

  Connor stared at Erin in disbelief. “You mean you didn’t tell her? No wonder she thinks I’m the Antichrist.”

  “Tell me what?” Barbara’s voice rose steadily in pitch. “What in God’s name is going on here?”

  “You better sit down,” he told her. “We’ve got stuff to talk about.”

  “I’ll make a pot of tea,” Erin said.

  The only good thing about heaping shocking revelations onto Barbara Riggs was that it diverted some of her horror and distress from his own miserable self. Two pots of tea later, after endless hashing over the details of Novak and Luksch’s escape and Cindy’s involvement with Billy Vega, Barbara’s face was still pale but the glazed look was gone from her eyes.

  “I remember her calling last week sometime,” she said. “I’d just taken a Vicodin, and I barely remember what she said. But it certainly wasn’t anything about exotic dancing, or being held against her will by a horrible man. God, my poor baby.”

  “Mom, do you remember Tonia’s visit?” Erin asked.

  Barbara frowned. “Vaguely. Your nurse friend, the pretty dark-haired girl, right? Yes, she did come by recently. That girl talks very loudly. And she should’ve noticed that it was a bad time.”

  “She told me about the TV,” Erin said. “And the photos.”

  Barbara flinched at the mention of the TV. Then she paused, and looked at Erin with blank puzzlement. “What photos, hon?”