by Ashley Lyn
“No, but there’s a metal box that my mom gave me before she passed. She told me it has paperwork and things about her family. Well, my family, I guess. She said I might need it someday. I’ve never opened it. She told me to hide it from my father because she was supposed to burn everything when they moved out here. She wanted me to keep it for me in case I needed it so I hid it from my father, and I just haven’t been curious enough to see what it is. I didn’t want to know. There were so many bad memories of that week, and she gave it to me just days before she passed.”
“It’s going to be very difficult to keep her in the woods. Mainly because you would have to petition the trust I told you about to be given permission to keep her where she is and obtain a home burial permit from the state. Since your dad is buried here in town, I thought that maybe we could put her next to him and hold a small service for her if you want.”
I thump my head against his chest. This is not at all what I had expected he wanted to talk to me about.
“I’ve tried to look your mom up in the system. I think you told me her name was Sarah Rain, but nothing pops up in the system.”
“Sarah was her middle name. She had some long name, and I remember her telling me once that her full name was Alexandria Sarah Marie Rain. I always loved her first name, but my dad would get pretty angry when I said it.”
My tummy gives a mighty rumble and we both laugh. “Let's go over to Dominga’s and see what she has cooking today. I need to feed my girl.”
We get up and start making our way outside when my cell phone starts to play Kelis’s Milkshake. Ali setup her own ringtone.
“Hello, Ali.” She laughs, and starts singing.
“My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. Guess what? You’ll never guess so I’ll tell you. I signed up to be a pleasure party rep and I got this giant box of sex toys. Sooo, I’m having a party and inviting everyone. Even Savannah is coming to town, so that means you have to come too.”
I groan. Ali with a giant box of sex toys is a dangerous thing. “I’m not touching any of it. Knowing you and Luke, y’all will probably test out everything in that box.”
“It’s Friday at Bailey’s. Be there at about six.”
Hanging up, I look at Parker. He’s smiling so wide, I see just a hint of his dimples. Such amazing, motherfluffing dimples.
“Going to a sex toy party?”
“Yes, but I’m not buying anything.”
He smiles even wider. “Wanna bet?”
“Why should I buy something I already have?”
I feel like fist pumping the air at the shocked look on his face. Blowing him a kiss, I slide into my car and wait for him to get in.
“That was low, Amy.”
Starting the car, I pull on to Main and head for Dominga’s, smiling the whole way there.
Cheese and Rice
Parker
Ali’s sex toy party is tonight and all men have been banned from attending. This caused Bruce endless amounts of distress.
I’m sitting in my chair, leaning back with my feet on my desk when I hear the doorbell ring. Getting up, I poke my head out the door and see Savannah cooling her heels in the foyer.
“Savannah?”
“Hey, Parker. Can I talk to you about something?” It’s not like Savannah to be apprehensive. She looks tired, and not at all like herself.
“Yeah, sure. Come on back.”
Going back into my office, I wait for her to come in and close the door. She sits down and starts pulling files out of her bag as I pull up a chair to sit next to her.
“What do you know about what happened to Shamus’s wife, Jenny, and his kids?” I’m momentarily taken aback by her question.
“When he first moved here, if you can believe it, he looked about ten times worse than he does now. His behavior was really erratic. I did a search and found out that his wife was murdered by a man named Wilson Drake, and that he sold the kids for a gambling debt of some kind.”
“I’ve been looking into it, and shit just doesn’t add up. But I think I’ve made some connections. I’ve been looking for anything that might point to where his kids could be,” she tells me as she pulls more papers out. “On an investigation like this, what do the witness statements and police reports look like?”
“Thick. From what I understand, it took them months to make the Wilson Drake connection, and that was after Shamus did some investigating himself. Jenny was well-liked and had a lot of friends at the nursing school she went to. They would have done in-depth interviews with all of them.” She lays a folder on the table. It looks empty.
“That’s all the original detective’s notes. The only “in-depth” interview he did was with Wilson Drake. It was laughable at best, and half the stuff Wilson said was just total and complete crap. Any detective worth his salt would have seen right through his lies.”
“Where are you going with this, Savannah?”
She takes a deep breath. “Detective Marxs was picked up on some pretty horrific charges, and they involved children. He was connected to a sex trafficking organization called the Skin Slingers. This particular organization obtains OB doctors a lot of the time because they dabble in black market adoptions. Sometimes, the girls they prostitute out become pregnant and the children are sold. To keep it off the books and out of hospitals, they keep an OB doctor around.”
The light bulb clicks on. “Wilson Drake was an OB/GYN.” She nods her head.
“I don’t think he sold the kids, though.”
“Everything fits, the organization and Wilson Drake’s possible connection to them.”
“Yes, but what no one else really asked or looked into was his behavior with her. I can see if he was trying to gain her trust in order to get the children—him being nice to her, giving her preferential treatment—except for one thing. The reports say nothing about the state of Wilson Drake’s house, but Shamus’s did. When he pushed for Drake to be investigated and started looking into it himself, he was there when they issued the search warrant for the house. They had to drag him out when he tried to get inside to look for the kids. Shamus’s notes say the walls of the living room were nothing but pictures of Jenny. That level of obssesion isn’t the type of behavior I would expect from someone just looking to make a buck.”
I’m so fucking shocked that she made these kinds of connections. “Savannah, this is…this might very well help them locate Shamus’s kids. Have you talked to Shamus about it?”
“I’ve been calling daily, but he’s not answering. I’m going to bring all this to Tristan when I get back. He has connections to get into files and things I can’t. Maybe the kids are with a relative of Drake’s? I only have simple searches on google and stuff. I don’t want to go to Shamus with something that might not pan out.”
“That’s a good plan, and keep me in the loop. Shamus seems to be spiralling lately, not coming around as often. Last time I saw him, I could tell he’s lost weight.”
“I’ll call you after I talk to Tristan and let you know. Thank you, Parker, for going over this with me. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t talking crazy when I took it to Tristan.” She gives me a lopsided smile.
“No problem. Anything else?”
“I need a ride to Ali and Luke’s so I can get ready for this blasted sex toy party that Ali badgered me into coming down here for.”
“You flew all the way here for a sex toy party?”
“I also needed a break. Shamus gave me all the boxes he had and my apartment is overflowing with stuff. It’s suffocating me. I really needed to step back and get out for a bit.”
“Understandable. Come on, let’s head out. By the way, did you call and tell them you were coming?”
“I texted her, told her I would be there in an hour, and that everyone better be dressed.”
I shake my head and smile because with those two, you never know.
We pull up to Ali and Luke’s and all is quiet. Thank God for small favors. I get out with Savannah because
I need to talk to Luke about his plans for tonight. I figure while the girls are giggling over dildos and vibrators, we can man-it-up and watch the hockey game.
After opening the door and stepping inside, the scene that blasts my eyeballs is going to need a hefty dose of bleach. Luke is laid out on the dining table in nothing but a whipped cream bikini.
“What the hell, Ali! Jesus, I freaking texted you an hour ago!”
Ally comes skidding out of the kitchen in nothing but Luke’s old high school letterman jacket and a pair of flowered underwear. She’s holding a can of Reddi-Wip, a jar of cherries, and a football helmet.
Luke covers his dick and Ali proceeds to squirt a healthy amout of whipped cream in her mouth and smiles at us.
“I lost track of time, Sav. Be done in a jiffy!” she splutters out before happily skipping back to Luke.
Savannah and I head outside and look at each other, shaking our heads.
“I should have called.”
“Yup. I’m going to head out. You okay to wait here?”
“Yeah. I’ll just head down to the beach, take a minute to scrub that image from my brain.”
Laughing, I leave her to it and head back to town with thoughts of Shamus fresh in my brain. I decide to stop by and do a welfare check on him.
Amy
I walk into the bar and immediately turn and start power walking back to my car. Every table has a colorful array of dildo centerpieces.
This is a no way party, because there is no way I’m going to be sitting at a table with “artful” displays of penis’s on the tables.
“Get back here, Amy.”
“Nope, I’m good. I came, I saw, I’m running.”
I glance behind me and almost eat dirt. Ali’s wearing a eye-popping outfit, and her hair is in pigtails, curly and red, reminding me of Red from the old show Fraggle Rock. She has on a neon pink corset, which her boobs are trying to escape from, and a mini jean skirt that’s pleated like a chearleader’s skirt. To top it off, she has on high heels with ribbons that crisscross up her legs.
“Come on, Amy. It’ll be fun, I promise. I’ll even let you sit at the table that doesn’t have dildos on it.” She laces her hands together in front of her and starts pouting. First the bottom lip comes out, then she starts blinking her eyes. “Pretty please?”
I throw my hands up in the air. “My table better be dildo free, Ali. I’m serious!”
“Pervert’s honor.” She says this as she holds up “The Shocker.” I cringe when I remember that particular conversation. She laughs at my queasy look and hooks her arm in mine and starts dragging me back to hell.
“This is going to be a hoot. I swear, you’re going to have a blast.”
We get inside and she steers me to the tables right next to the bar. Thankfully, they’re dildo free. Savannah comes over and sits with me. She has a smile on her face, but it looks forced.
“You all right, Savannah?”
“Yes. Just a lot on my mind.”
Ali claps her hands and everyone gets quiet. I reluctantly let my eyes roam and everyone is touching and turning on the vibrators. Lucille and Shelly, Bruce’s wife, have gleeful smiles on their faces, having a table full of the biggest dildos I have ever seen in my life. And with a friend like Ali, I’ve seen my fair share.
“All right, all my pretty, sexy ladies. We have a lot of dirty, filthy, kinky ground to cover! Make sure you have your condoms because this is going to get messy.”
Savannah leans over to me. “This is the perfect job for her.”
“No kidding.” We both laugh when she continues on with her little talk. “Let’s see what I have in my treasure box.” She winks and laughs. “Get it? My treasure box? It’s a euphemism for my lady bits…”
Everyone laughs because yup! This is the perfect job for her.
“First up, we have a full line of creams, lotions, and oils…” Ali’s going on about her products when Margo sits down and asks if we want anything to drink. I order a cranberry and vodka, and Savannah orders a Moscato. I’m definetly going to need a drink to get through this party.
Amy
I’m trying to find something to buy that isn’t completely embaressing and blushworthy when I come across a home waxing kit. Thinking that I always wanted to try a wax, this would be a good one, along with the lotion that smells divine.
Savannah leans over and looks at my order form. She’s definetly intoxicated and is hugging a massive vibrator. It’s not wide; it’s long, mainly due to the sheer amount of buttons. It has more bells and whistles and functions that I thought a vibrator would be capable of.
“Oooh, I love a good wax. I dated a guy who asked if I would get it done, and even though we broke up because he had an uncircumcised penis that gave me nightmares, I still did it.”
“He likes waxed legs? That’s kinda strange, isn’t it?” I asked, choosing to ignore the circumcision talk.
“Nope, a brazillian. It’s when they wax all the hair off your vagina and butt crack.”
My face pales when the image of someone slathering wax over my backside pops into my brain. I go to cross it out, and Savannah puts her hand over mine.
“Trust me, this is überimportant. No man wants to put his mouth on a hairy clam.” Her eyes are boring into mine and the mental image of Parker’s mouth down there has me lifting my pen.
I finish putting my card number on the form, but I’m getting worried about Savannah. She’s petting the vibrator lovingly, muttering, “My pretty.”
The music comes on and I think it’s time to leave. Shelly and Lucille are both dancing, which isn’t bad. It’s the image of them both dancing with strap-ons that is.
“You want me to take you home, Savannah?” She looks up at me and smiles.
“Do you think Shamus likes a bald beaver?” And that’s my cue.
“Let’s go, Sav. I’ll drop you off on my way.” I grab her elbow and make my way over to Ali and Cleo, who are laughing at Lucille and Shelly who are now sword fighting. Even I have a hard time not laughing at that one.
“I’m going to go and drop Savannah off at your house.” They look at Savannah, who is blissfully happy, cradling her new toy.
“All right. I’ll see you later, Amy, and thank you for coming.” I get hugs from everyone on the way out.
It takes me a good ten minutes to get Savannah in the car, and by the time I get in, she’s out cold. I call Luke and tell him he’s going to have to help me get his sister in the house. Hanging up with Luke, I laugh a bit when I look at Savannah with her head back and arms in her lap, with her “pretty” lying across her palms.
I get Savannah dropped off and race home. I’m going to lay out my outfit for my first date with Parker, which is tomorrow. He’s planning something super secret and I can’t wait!
Kiss My Grass
Savannah
I’m engulfed in the papers. Every page, every notation on everything from napkins to cardboard is dripping in grief. It’s like Shamus poured everything into this, and the emotional stain is forever stamped into everything. There are tearstains, and in some cases, what I think is blood.
“Fuck! Just, fuck.” It’s been two weeks since I’d spoken to Parker, and after nothing but dead ends, and all roads leading to the FBI, I’ve finally called in Tristan.
It’s taken me literally weeks to comb through everything, and I’m fairly certain I have it all organized as best I can. I’ve transcribed page after page of notes written on napkins, cardboard, and notepaper. Some of the notes feel too private for me to show anyone else. Interspersed with the case notes, Shamus re-wrote his wedding vows, memories, and other random anecdotes of his life with his wife. There are even ultrasound photos, baby name books, and a What To Expect When Expecting book. I just don’t think I can show any of that stuff to anyone.
I’m nervous. I feel like I have a good grip on things, and I’ve invited my boss over. Tristan Langley is a force—a deadly force—wrapped in a menacing package.
H
is security and investigation team is the best in the country. I haven’t told him about this case, but after getting into things, it’s all way over my head. Truly, I thought I could work through this on my own. I always take on more than I can actually handle, trying to prove something, but this is way too important to chance.
Some of the later notes he wrote are more organized and clearer than the earlier ones. These are the most important notes, and the reason I’m calling in the big guns.
All the police reports I was able to get my hands on not once hinted that Wilson Drake took the kids for anything other than to pay his gambling debts. No one ever looked deeper into Wilson Drake’s connections. They just took his confession at face value. The lead detective did a shit job of investigating, and the other officers in the department all seemed to go along with whatever Detective Marxs said. There was an official letter from the chief of police about six months ago, telling Shamus that they were moving the missing persons case for his kids to a cold case department, and it hasn’t been touched since.
It just feels off. My doorbell rings and I wipe my damp hands on my skirt. Even though I’m at home, I still want Tristan to see me as a professional.
Opening the door, Tristan is standing there, all six foot five inches of him. He’s a blond Adonis in his signature black attire from head to toe.
I clear my throat. “Come on in, and thank you for coming over.”
He says nothing as I direct him to the dining room chair. The stacks of papers and boxes are everywhere. He looks at me with a single eyebrow raised. “This is only a quarter of what he gave me. I only have the pertinent information out.”
“All information is pertinent and important.”
“They’re a grieving man’s notes, filled with heartbreaking memories and other personal things I didn’t think he would want to be shared.”
“If I decide to help with this, I’ll see all of it.”