Father Figure (A Jaxon Jennings' Detective Mystery Thriller Series, Book 3)

by Richard C. Hale

  “You can fix it for her. Put the heat on me. They hate me already.”

  “You might lose your license.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Don’t be so sure. You’re in hot water in this town already.”

  “I’d rather it be me than Laurelyn. She did good today. You should’ve seen her. I’ve changed my opinion of her.”

  Tate studied him and then looked over to Laurelyn who was talking to Ray.

  “I’ll see what I can make happen. Personally, you’ve created a lot of work for me, but finding these two is a big deal.”

  He stuck his hand out and Jaxon shook it.

  “Get out of here,” Tate said. “Before the media gets here. She and Maningham have been on TV enough lately.”

  He nodded and turned to go. Tate stopped him.

  “Those two an item?”

  “Can’t you tell?”

  “Shit. She’ll catch hell for that.”

  “It’s her life. She can live it.”

  “I know how tough it’s been for her in this job. Don’t let it get out.”

  “I’m not saying a thing. You watch out for her.”

  Tate nodded once and turned to go. Jaxon watched him leave. Maybe he wasn’t such a dick after all.

  Laurelyn was leaning against the outside wall with Ray. They were quiet, watching the neighbors watch them. Jaxon approached, shuffling his feet as he looked out into the street. The little girl Laurelyn had talked to was back out with the other ones kicking the ball around. She squealed and ran away from a little boy.

  “What if it had gone wrong, Jaxon?” Laurelyn said. “We could have hurt somebody today.”

  He looked her in the eye. “You’re right. I was wrong.”

  “That’s all you’re going to say?”

  He turned to the street, watched the kids run, and then turned back.

  “I learned a long time ago that you make do with what you have. The circumstance always dictates the action. We shouldn’t have been here without help. I was wrong and it led to a situation that could have gone bad. I made the decision that the situation dictated. Move on.”

  She turned and stared at the kids in the street. A single, angry tear slipped down her face and she wiped it away quickly.

  “I’ve been instructed to get us out of here,” Jaxon said. “Let’s go home.”

  She nodded and walked to the car. Ray watched her go and then followed. He stopped and looked at Jaxon.

  “Shitty speech,” he said.

  “It’s all I got,” Jaxon said.

  Ray shook his head and followed her to the car.

  It was all he had.

  Chapter 14

  The phone rang and rang. It didn’t even go to voice mail. Ray pressed end and sat on the edge of his bed.

  It had been two days and nothing. He hadn’t heard one word from her. Not even a ‘fuck you very much.’ What the hell was she doing?

  After the craziness on the north side, Jaxon had driven them to her apartment. She remained silent the whole ride. The tension was high in the vehicle, and Ray had kept his mouth shut.

  At the bad guy’s house, while Jaxon talked with Tate, she told him she blamed herself for what had happened. She never should have allowed them to bust into the house without a warrant, outside of her jurisdiction, and with two armed private investigators, no matter what they heard or believed. She was in a lot of trouble.

  Ray argued with her but she was not going to change her mind. She had trusted Jaxon’s instincts, and though it was ultimately her decision, she had based that decision on Jaxon’s experience. Now she would have to live with it.

  The worst had been the way she looked at him. There was something damaged between them now and Ray couldn’t figure out how to make it better.

  She stepped from Jaxon’s car at her apartment and Ray had followed right behind. She put her hand on his chest as he got out of the car.

  “No.” She said. “Go with Jaxon. I need to be alone.”

  “No you don’t.”

  She looked into his eyes and he didn’t like what he saw there.

  “Don’t call me. I’ll call you.”

  She turned and walked away. He watched her go and then pounded the roof of Jaxon’s car with his fist.

  “Get in,” Jaxon said from behind the wheel. “Get in and I’ll take you home. She’ll come around.”

  He got in, but he wasn’t sure if she would.

  He waited a whole day before he tried her cell. Maybe that had been a mistake, but he tried to give her the space she asked for. All he could think of was that he wanted to hold her. Make it better. But what if she pushed him away, like she did at the car? Put her hand to his chest and shook her head. It had been like a blow to his body.

  On the second day, he called her every hour, but she wouldn’t answer.

  He drove to her apartment, but the doorbell rang with no one coming to the door. She didn’t have a car, so where the hell was she? He pounded on the door and shouted for her to let him in, but the only response was the guy next door looking outside at the commotion. The guy said she wasn’t there. Ray left.

  He went by the sheriff’s office, but Tate said she had taken sick leave, the sheriff suggesting the time off. No one had seen her. Tate didn’t have a clue where she might be. Ray started to wonder if something had happened to her.

  Now, back at his apartment, he lay on his bed, the TV on, but he wasn’t watching.

  He tried her cell again and it rang and rang. He chucked the phone across the room. He missed her more than he would have ever expected. How could she have this effect on him in such a short time? He was going crazy.

  He closed his eyes and could see her face, trace the beautiful curve of her neck in his mind and smell the scent of her skin on his sheets. He couldn’t let her do this to them. He had to find her.

  He slipped his shoes on and pulled an old t-shirt over his head, grabbed his keys and his cell from the floor. He would find her if it took all night.

  He opened the door and she was there.

  She fell into his arms and he pulled her tight, her hair all around him and the warmth of her against him. He couldn’t understand how he could feel this way, and he didn’t care, all that mattered was that she was here, in his arms.

  He whispered into her neck, “Don’t ever do that again.”

  She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “I missed you.”

  “You have no idea,” he said.

  She smiled and then she kissed him. Her lips, so soft, fit against his perfectly and he pulled her in so tight it hurt. She didn’t seem to mind.

  “I really missed that,” she said.

  “You can have it anytime you want. I’ll always be right here.”

  She locked her eyes with his. “Always?”

  He nodded.

  “I tried to stay away. I was so angry. But I realized I wasn’t angry at you. I couldn’t stay mad. I couldn’t get you out of my head.”

  “I do that to women.”

  “I know. Now, you’re stuck with me.”

  “I could think of a lot worse things.”

  “When I turned my phone on, you had called me thirty times. Nobody does that.”

  “I would have called three hundred times.”

  She smiled up at him and then put her head against his chest. She sighed.

  “I can’t believe how good you feel.”

  Ray stroked her hair, and held her. “Stay,” he said.

  She lifted her head up and looked into his eyes. “I’ll stay.”

  They made love, softly, tenderly, and when it was over she cried. He brushed the tears from her face and asked if she was all right.

  “Perfect,” she said. “Don’t you feel it?”

  “I feel it.”

  He held her until they both fell asleep. It was the best sleep he’d had in two days.

  * * *

  “They suspended me,” Laurelyn said to Ray in the morning. “I’m off for three day
s.”

  “Spend them with me.”

  “What about Jaxon?”

  “Screw him.”

  “No.” She moved over and wriggled into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’d rather screw you.”

  “I can accommodate you, ma’am.”

  She grinned and pressed her forehead to his. “You know, I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. Why do you do this to me?”

  “I’ve never had this much fun, ever. I know why you do this to me.”

  “Ok. I know too. But tell me.”

  “I’d be going too fast.”

  She stared into his eyes. “Ray Maningham, are you falling for me?”

  “So hard it hurts.”

  She hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear.

  “I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I don’t want it to stop.”

  He drew her face up to his. “It won’t.”

  “Promise.”

  “Cross my heart.”

  She kissed him, softly at first, and then deeper. It was a wondrous thing he had with her, and he was damned if he was going to let it go.

  “I’m ready for that screwing now,” she said and he laughed.

  “You are, huh? Well, I don’t know. He’s about to fall off from all this activity.”

  She kissed him, the tip of her tongue teasing his bottom lip, then slipping into his mouth and meeting his own.

  “Wait,” he said, glancing down. “He’s up for it.”

  She gave him a teasing look with her eyes and he stood up slowly, carrying her in his arms. She laughed.

  “Jane want big, strong Tarzan to carry her off.”

  “Tarzan’s going to do more than carry her off.”

  “Jane has special treat for Tarzan.”

  “I bet.”

  Afterward, as they lay in each other’s arms, she ran her finger along his scar again, circling it.

  “Tell me about the dog,” she said.

  “What about it?”

  “What scared you?”

  He was quiet for a minute and she looked up at him.

  “You can tell me anything,” she said. “Anything.”

  “I was nine,” he said. “Walking home from school. My neighbors had a chain link fence and they kept four or five dogs in the yard. Big ones. And every day I would walk past, they would see me and run to the fence, barking and growling, trying to get to me. Sometimes I would see the owner out in the yard, beating the dogs and yelling at them. They would cower at his voice and when he beat them they would cry out, whining and whimpering, trying to get away. It was not pretty.”

  “He was abusing them?”

  “I was only nine, but when I think back to it now, I really think he was training them to fight. They always seemed to have scars and scabs on their faces and necks. I never saw him take them anywhere though, it’s just what makes sense now.”

  She continued to circle the scar with her finger, but she said nothing more.

  “They went on vacation, or something, because I didn’t see the family for a long time. Maybe two weeks. The dogs were locked up inside the yard and they still barked at me every day, but I could tell they were hungry. They frothed at the mouth and seemed more like they were begging than trying to attack me. After the second week, I could see their ribs. They were starving to death.”

  “How horrible.”

  “On the way home one day, I saw a rabbit in their yard. It was sitting, chewing on some plant it had found. The dogs saw me and came running up toward the fence, but when they saw the rabbit, they attacked and chased it until one caught it. I yelled at them to stop, screamed at the top of my lungs, but they ignored me. I couldn’t let the rabbit die, so I climbed the fence and ran to them, screaming and waving my arms.”

  “Oh, Ray.”

  “They attacked me. As a pack, they jumped up on me and drove me to the ground. I beat them with my hands and screamed at the top of my lungs for help, but they bit me and tore at my clothes. Mr. Robinson, my neighbor, saw what had happened and came into the yard with a big stick. He beat them off me and carried me away, but not before I lost consciousness from the attack.”

  “No wonder you’re afraid. I’m so sorry, Ray.”

  “I never found out what happened to the dogs. One day they were there and the next, they were gone. The family moved away shortly afterward. I have some scars on my scalp from it that my hair hides.”

  He showed her and she ran a finger along the edge of the biggest one.

  “This was bad,” she said.

  “A flap of my scalp had to be sewn back in place. My hair has a funny cowlick because of it.”

  She kissed the scar and then laid her head on his chest, her finger circling the bullet wound scar.

  “I’m glad you told me. I understand now.”

  They were silent for a moment and Ray liked the idea they could be comfortable with it. He shifted from underneath and slid next to her on his side so he could look at her.

  “So, what do you want to do today?” He asked.

  She traced her finger down his face and stopped at his chin, feeling the roughness of his stubble.

  “I thought we were doing it.”

  He smiled. “You want to stay naked again all day?”

  She smiled and nodded. “I do.”

  “People are gonna talk.”

  She laughed. “Who?”

  “People.”

  “Let them. I don’t care.”

  “You’re virtue might be at stake.”

  “You’re a gentlemen. Remember? You stayed with me that first night and didn’t lay a hand on me.”

  “But I had the worst case of blue-balls ever.”

  She smiled. “Still. I admire a man who can suffer for his woman.”

  “I’m usually the best at suffering.”

  “Did Michelle put you through hell?”

  “Who’s Michelle?”

  She grinned and smacked him on his rear.

  “Your fiancée. Remember?”

  “She’s no longer my fiancée. And I had almost forgotten her.”

  “I made you forget?” She teased.

  “Your beautiful eyes could make any man forget about another woman.”

  She held her nose. “Pretty corny,” she said, still smiling.

  “And that ass. Oh my God, that ass is to die for.”

  She flipped over and pressed it against him, wriggling it.

  “This old thing?”

  He caressed her hip and then ran his hand between their bodies and let it rest in her cleft. She twisted her head around so she could see him.

  “It’s spectacular,” he said.

  He kissed her ear and let his lips brush down her neck to her shoulder. She leaned into it and sighed.

  “As much as I love hearing about how you can’t get enough of me, you’re avoiding the question.”

  “You really want to know this stuff?”

  “I want to know this stuff.”

  He sighed. “What was the question?”

  “Come on.” She bent her head around more and somehow managed to kiss his lips. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll still care about you.”

  “I’m not worried about that. I just don’t want to think about her.”

  “You still care for her, I know. It’s all right.”

  “That’s the thing. I don’t think I do any longer. I haven’t thought of her once since you brought her up on that first night.”

  “Not once?”

  “Not once. You were it. You have consumed me.”

  She turned back over to face him. “I like how you say things. Nobody talks that way.”

  “How does it make you feel?”

  “Special.”

  “You are. You’re pretty amazing and you bring it out in me. I’m not this way with other women.”

  “Even Michelle?”

  “Who?”

  She smiled and touched her lips to his. He kissed her back, gently, and sighed.
<
br />   “Ok,” she said, snuggling in closer and lowering her head so his chin rested on her hair. “What do I want to do…”

  “The naked thing isn’t working for you?”

  “I love being naked with you, but we have to eat.”

  “Food fight!”

  “Oh no. We’re not doing that again.”

  “But it led to the most erotic shower ever.”

  “Are you making fun of me?”

  He laughed. “No. You said it.”

  “Well, it was.”

  “Damn right.”

  She sat up and looked down at him. “As much fun as that was, my hair cannot take any more food in it.”

  He reached up and touched it. “Looks good to me.”

  “Let’s get some steaks.”

  “That does sound good. A restaurant or pick some up and grill?”

  “You have a grill?”

  “Every guy has a grill.”

  “But you don’t have any real furniture.”

  “A grill is not furniture. It is life.”

  She smiled. “Let’s go.”

  She got up and started pulling on her clothes. He watched her dress, his head propped up on his hand. She paused for a second and stood up straight holding her bra in her hands.

  “Really? You’re just going to lay there?”

  “You are spectacular.”

  She threw her shirt at him. “Get that fine ass out of the bed. I’m starving.”

  He chucked the shirt back at her and she slipped it on over her bra. She brushed her hair out as he watched and she grinned at him as she pulled it back into a ponytail. He could watch her do simple things all day.

  She leaned over and took his hand.

  “Come on lover boy, you’ll get me to yourself after we eat.”

  He grinned and stood up. He dressed quickly while she watched, a little smile on her lips, and they locked up the apartment and walked to the store. It was just down the street.

  They picked up a couple of rib-eyes, potatoes, a salad, and beer. Back at the apartment, he started the grill and she brought him a cold one. They sat in a couple of fold-up chairs on his back porch and sipped the beer. She let her hair back down as the sun sank in the sky, her auburn highlights shining like red gold in the light. He was staring and she turned to him and smiled.