by D'Ann Lindun
“Me.” Jace stood framed in the doorway. Lindy’s heart skipped a beat. He’d showered, droplets of water still clinging to his hair. He didn’t have on a shirt either. Lindy’s gaze locked on the defined muscles across his stomach. She swallowed. Hard.
Candy elbowed her and giggled. “Oh, I get it.”
“No, that’s not it.” Lindy managed to drag her gaze off Jace’s magnificent chest and faced Candy. “This isn’t a little getaway for two. This is serious.”
“Sex always is.” She shrugged and dug around in the makeup case.
Lindy laid down the brush. “Listen, Candy, this is Jace Hill.”
Candy’s heavily made up eyes opened dramatically. “Oh.”
“He needs help figuring out who really killed Deke Soloman a few years ago. Jimmy Ray Hunt tried to rape me but Jace saved me. I owe him a lot.” Lindy paused for a breath.
“Jimmy Ray did what?” Candy’s mouth fell open. Then she looked at Jace. “You were in prison for murder, right?”
He glowered at her. “Yeah.”
“It wasn’t his fault.” For some reason it was important to Lindy that her best friend and Jace like and understand each other. “Please help us.”
“So, what can I do?” Candy wanted to know. “But tell me about Jimmy Ray first.”
Lindy avoided eye contact. “He didn’t want to stop when I told him to. I fought him off and ran away. I went to the Chief’s boat and Jace was there.”
Candy couldn’t seem to find her tongue. “Wow.”
“Did your mom remember anything about the night Soloman was murdered?” Jace asked, bringing them all back to present.
“Carlene wasn’t a fountain of information. She had a date last night, so she was still asleep late today. I woke her up and she was grumpier than usual, but even so, she clammed up tighter than a year-old mayo jar when I asked her if she remembered anyone getting mur … ” Candy blushed. “Dying.”
“For the record, I didn’t kill Soloman even though I took the rap for it,” Jace told her. “Did your mom know anything?”
“She told me a girl named Marie Lennox had a date with Soloman before he was killed. Marie got sick and Mom went instead. That’s when she got weird. Asked me why I was asking all these questions and to leave her alone.” Candy sighed. “When my mom says to scatter, you better do as she says.”
“Does Marie still live out at the river?” Lindy crossed her fingers. “Maybe she’d know more.”
Candy shook her head. “Mom said a john strangled her not long after this Soloman guy died. The cops didn’t care. No one even looked into it.” She gave Lindy an apologetic glance. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Lindy was learning some things she didn’t like about the Chief. She wouldn’t have believed them herself a year ago. The man she’d always admired for his morals wasn’t the man she’d always thought he was.
Jace’s fingers wrapped around the doorframe turned white. He hung his head and stared at the floor. “Damn.”
“Did your mom tell you anything else that might help?” Lindy almost pleaded.
“No. Sorry.” Candy looked between them. “I can try again when she’s in a better mood.”
“No. Don’t. If she isn’t suspicious already, asking her more questions will make her that way.” Jace stepped in the room and leaned against the dresser. “We’re keeping a low profile. Trying to figure out who’s really responsible for Soloman’s death. If whoever really did it finds out we’re on his trail he’ll cover his tracks more than they already are.”
“What are you going to do?” Candy asked.
“I don’t know.” Jace frowned, a line forming between his eyes. “Maybe I’m going down a road that has no end. There’s the possibility that I have to live with this on me the rest of my life. Maybe it’s time to just face it. I’m not going back to that hole, though. I’ll die first.”
“No, you won’t go back,” Lindy protested. “There’s got to be a way to prove your innocence.”
“If there is I can’t see it.”
Candy looked between them. She told Lindy, “Your brother is worried about you. Why didn’t you tell me Trey is so hot? He’s come out to the river twice to see Carlene. He brought that black cop the second time. The copper wasn’t too bad either.”
“What did you tell them?” Lindy ignored the comments about Trey. Her friends had always chased him.
“Nothing. Just that you went with Hunt last night and that was the last time I saw you. He’s pretty worried. They think he might have killed you since you haven’t come home.”
“Oh, God.” Lindy covered her face with her hands. She had never considered that possibility.
“Leave now. Go home with Candy,” Jace ordered, his voice guttural.
“No.” Lindy looked up and their eyes met. Deep in his she saw fear — fear that she would go and leave him to fight alone. “Not until we prove you didn’t kill Soloman. I’m not going anywhere until you’re clear.”
“That may never happen,” he shot back. “You’ve got the chance to go. Take it.”
“I said I’m not going.” Lindy read the relief he didn’t want to show her in his eyes.
“What can I do?” Candy asked. “I want to help.”
“Just keep our secret,” Lindy pleaded. “No matter what Trey or the Chief or anyone else says or does.”
“No problem.” Candy stood up. “I’m going to get out of here. I’ll go to Mugs-n-Jugs and see what’s going on there. Maybe I’ll see someone who knows something.”
“That’s impossible,” Lindy told her. “We went there last night to talk to Jimmy Ray. We found him dead.”
“What?” Candy gaped at her. “Are you kidding?”
“Not in the least. It was horrible.” She shuddered, remembering.
“Did anyone see you?” Candy looked around as if she were hiding from someone.
“Not that we know of. Jody Marvell came in and we hid in the closet. When he went to talk to the barmaids, we got the heck out of Dodge.” Lindy waved her hands in front of her face. “I have never been so scared in my whole life.”
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Candy declared.
“You better get out of here before you get dragged in any further.” Lindy hugged her friend. “Thanks for everything.”
“I have one more thing.” Candy handed Lindy her own purse. “You left this in my car last night. You might need it. Your phone is in there, right? If you need anything call me.”
“You’re the best.” Lindy blinked back sudden tears and hugged her again. “I’ll let you know if anything turns up.”
“Me, too. If your dad’s guys or that hottie brother of yours comes out again I’ll shout it right out to you. After I distract him for awhile, that is.” She smiled at Jace on her way by. “Hang in there.”
He gave her a rare smile back. “I’m working on it.”
Lindy smiled at Candy, too, forcing herself to swallow the unexpected wave of jealously that filled her mouth with a bad taste. She had no right to be jealous of Jace. He didn’t belong to her. There was nothing between them but one short kiss. He hadn’t asked her for her help. In fact he’d told her to go home not once, but twice. If Candy was his type, that was his business. After Candy left, Lindy went into the living room and stared out the window into the inky night. She didn’t turn around when she heard Jace sit on the couch behind her. Her thoughts and emotions tangled in a jumbled mess and she didn’t want him to read any of them.
“Want a Coke?” he asked finally.
“No.”
“What’s your problem?”
“Nothing.” She folded her arms across her middle. She wasn’t going to let him know how jealousy was eating a hole in her stomach.
“Something’s bugging you
,” he insisted.
“No, it’s not.”
“Why didn’t you take your last chance and go home with your friend?”
Still facing the window, she shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you want me to leave so you could call Candy back? You sure were friendly with her for only knowing her less than an hour.”
She could feel him move directly behind her. “Me and Candy, we’re the same kind. Losers. You, on the other hand, have it all. You’re ruining your life by staying here with me. I don’t have much chance of making anything of myself, but you’ve got the whole world open to you and you’re blowing it by staying with me. Your folks are never going to get over it.”
She turned to look at him. “You don’t get it, do you? I don’t care.” Silently, she willed him to see her heart. To understand the things she couldn’t say. That his approval meant so much more to her than her than she could admit.
“Don’t you?” He stared into her eyes.
“No.”
“Liar.” The whispered word feathered across her face.
She looked away. “I am not.”
“You’re bad at it, too.” A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. He brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “Remind me to play poker with you sometime.”
She froze as his touch went across her face. “You aren’t getting rid of me.”
“She can’t hold a candle to you, you know.” His eyes were half shut, his mouth a fraction from hers. She ached for him to kiss her.
“Who?” She had to force herself to keep from leaning into his palm.
“Candy. She’s just a kid. But you’re a woman made to stand by a man.” He touched her lips with his fingers. She parted them slightly, breathless. Her heart jumped like it had been touched by an electric current and her body dampened, reacting instinctively.
“You liked her.” She didn’t recognize her own voice.
“She’s sweet enough.” His lips nearly touched hers. “But I like my women a little bit sour.”
“I am not.” Her voice croaked like a frog.
His fingers wrapped in a tendril of hair. “No, you’re not. Anybody who doesn’t see how good you are has to be blind.”
Lindy couldn’t have moved if a hurricane blew through and swept her away. How could this man, this convict, make her feel valued for the first time in her life? How did he know all the things she needed to hear? She blinked as if coming out a trance. “Stop it.”
“What? Telling the truth?” He tugged gently on her hair. “Why?”
“Because you don’t mean it.”
“Every word.”
“Stop teasing me.” The words nearly strangled her.
“I’d never tease you.” His eyes bore into hers, and mesmerized by their dark blue depths, she couldn’t look away if she tried. This moment reminded her of one time she’d gone to the coast with her family. She’d lain on her stomach, floating on a boat, staring into the endless waters of the gulf. Nameless mysteries had been hidden there, too.
“Why are you saying this?” she managed.
“Someone has to.” His gaze never wavered.
“Not you.”
“Then who?”
She couldn’t answer that, so she remained silent.
“You want to know one thing I like better on Candy than you?” His mouth moved so close to her she could feel his lips on hers.
She shook her head mutely. He was too close. Danger! Danger!
He lifted the piece of hair wrapped around his fist. “This God-awful color. You used to have the most beautiful sunny hair. And your face. What’s with all this junk on it? Candy might need all that crap, but you’re too pretty to do that to yourself.”
Not sure if she was flattered or insulted, she didn’t answer.
He dropped her hair, leaving her trembling and breathless.
Chapter Fourteen
Trey left the church picnic, headed home.
His mother was asleep, so he decided to search Lindy’s room. Maybe there would be a clue there. Some of her clothes might be missing. Or maybe she kept a journal.
Etta would know.
He found her in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea.
“Can you help me for a minute?” he asked. “I need to see if any of Lindy’s things are missing and I wouldn’t know what to look for.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Trey. I’ll do it right now.” She set her cup aside and wiped her hands on her apron.
“I can wait until you’re done,” he offered.
“No, sir, you can’t. My missy is gone. That’s most important.” She led the way upstairs and they entered Lindy’s room together. Trey glanced around. Large, on the northwest corner, a canopy bed made with a pink chenille comforter dominated the room. A discarded blue graduation cap and gown were flung across a chair. Some of the stuffed animals resting on the floor he recognized. Shelves full of riding and dance trophies covered one wall. He picked one up and read the inscription. Over a year old.
While he watched, Etta opened the door to the walk in closet and went through it. “Nothin’ gone here.”
“Does she have a duffle bag?” He looked on the top shelf. A sports bag with the logo ‘Juliet Gators’ sat there. Opening it, he found a blue and white soccer uniform. On the opposite shelf he saw a matching set of Coach luggage. Trey wasn’t sure if he should be more or less worried. Obviously, she hadn’t packed to run away.
“What about her dresser?” He opened the top drawer of her Queen Anne bureau. Lots of scanty underwear. Uncomfortable, he moved aside and Etta glanced through it. She shook her head. Each drawer was the same. When they had searched the last one, he asked, “Anything?”
“Nots so I could tell.” She pursed her lips. “Laundry’s done up, too.”
“What about her makeup?” Trey suggested, although he wondered how anyone could tell, there was so much of it. He opened a bottle of expensive looking perfume and sniffed. Too sweet. He closed it.
They looked at the small vanity table covered with perfumes, lotions, and makeup. Etta again shook her head. “Everything seems to be here.”
“You sure?” He already knew the answer.
Her head bobbed. “Uh-huh.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Although disappointed, Trey wasn’t surprised. He glanced around. Pictures were taped along the edges of the mirror above the vanity. He leaned forward and studied them. Most were of Lindy and her friends. Many showed her at prom or homecoming. None of those were with one certain boy. Apparently, she didn’t have a steady boyfriend. He continued to scan them. Several poses were of her at dance recitals and horse shows. He recognized most of the people. Mary-Gray and Becca were in many of them, but no one jumped out at him. No shots of Candy anywhere.
Turning away, he knelt and peered under her bed. Nothing but a few pairs of ballet shoes and riding boots. He felt between the mattresses. Nothing. Swallowing his disappointment, he stood. He’d hoped to find a journal. Maybe there was one in the desk by the window. One by one, he opened drawers, but found nothing of interest except her yearbook in the bottom left one. He glanced through it. Not one signature. Quite a bit different from his own senior annual. He had so many good wishes in his, people had written over the top of one another.
Did Lindy have any jewelry? She’d been wearing a pair of diamond studs in her ears and a pink sapphire necklace when he’d given her the bracelet he’d brought from Afghanistan. He searched for a jewelry box and found it on her vanity. He opened it and found an assortment of expensive jewelry. Two ruby rings and a charm bracelet looked especially valuable, but there didn’t seem to be any empty slots.
Trey couldn’t be positive, but he didn’t think Lindy had left the house with the intention of running away. His fear growing, he took one last glance around. Nothing jumped out
at him. Not sure what he had hoped to find, he closed the door behind him with a heavy heart. Why couldn’t she have left out a clue like a brochure or a bus ticket stub?
The phone rang and he picked up.
“Hey, man, it’s Jody. I’m out at the lake. Get out here quick.” He hung up before Trey could ask any questions.
Trey raced downstairs and jumped in the Mustang. Dust billowed up behind him as he sped up the driveway. His heart pounded like a drum line. Had Jody found Lindy? Or Jace? Telling himself not to jump to conclusions, he made it to the lake in a few minutes.
Jody met him at the car. “Come on, I found something.”
Tongue dry as a cotton patch in August, Trey followed him to the lake’s edge. Jody pointed to an orange cooler resting at an angle in the weeds. “Recognize that?”
“Not offhand.” Trey’s fear was replaced by annoyance. Jody had called him out here to look at an ordinary cooler that anyone could’ve bought in a store? “What’s so special about it?”
“Look closer.” Jody pushed down some of the weeds.
Trey saw what he did. Nearly hidden by the angle and the mud it was buried in, he almost missed the large block letters on the side: THE EMILY. The cooler had come from the Chief’s boat. “Have you touched it?”
“Not yet. I wanted you to see it first.” Jody pulled on a pair of latex gloves. He waded waist deep and tugged the box out of the mud. Struggling to carry it to shore, he set it down with a thud. “Here’s hoping this is nothing.”
Trey moved so he could see the contents and braced himself.
Jody undid the bungee cord tied securely around the outside and lifted the lid. “Oh, man. Jackpot.”
“Yeah.” Trey breathed a sigh of relief. He’d halfway expected to find Lindy stuffed in the ice chest. Instead, the remnants of an orange jumpsuit, handcuffs and leg shackles laid there. “Jace’s?”
“If I were a betting man, I’d have to say yeah.” Carefully, Jody lifted one piece of jagged metal. “I’ll have to check, but I’m guessing these came off him. I need to radio the Chief.”
While he waited, Trey’s mind raced. His gaze roamed the area. Somehow Jace had made it to the boat. Where had he gone from here? How had he managed to find Lindy and kidnap her? Trey didn’t want to face it, but the truth was he didn’t see how Jace had done all that. He feared Jimmy Ray had killed her and stashed her Jeep somewhere. Now there was no way to ask him.