Jesse’s Girl
By Stephanie Taylor
Published by Astraea Press
www.astraeapress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.
JESSE’S GIRL
Copyright © 2013 STEPHANIE TAYLOR
ISBN 978-1-62135-237-2
Cover Art Designed by AM DESIGN STUDIO
For all the fans who kept asking when they would have Ally’s story. Well, here it is! I hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it!
Prologue
Five Years Prior
Jesse Richards listened to the last boarding call for his flight. He looked to his parents who already had sympathy written all over their foreheads.
“I’m sure there was just some big misunderstanding,” Lynne tried to explain.
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s all it was,” Chester echoed, bobbing his head up and down.
“I hope so, Dad.” The overhead PA system crackled into silence. “Well, I’ll see you guys at Christmas if I don’t get snowed in again this year. Keep the corvette looking good, Dad, and we’ll work on it some more next summer.” He was trying to avoid thinking about Ally. Avoid thinking about how she wasn’t coming, and how he’d pushed himself on her too quickly. Her head was probably still swimming from the night before. His was, too, if he stopped and thought about it long enough. It had been so wonderful to finally tell her how much he loved her. How much he had always loved her.
“Bye, son, take care.” His dad extended his hand and pulled him into a hug. Then he immediately turned and was pulled into his mother’s waiting arms.
“I love you guys,” he said, his voice low and tight. He was trying hard to will the pent-up tears away that thickened his throat.
“We love you,” his mother said and again his father nodded his head. He’d never been big on emotions and this was no exception. His father had taught him to be brave and take what was coming at him head on. In this case, he’d do the same and forget about Ally. He had to. He might have promised her that nothing would come between them, but he was sick to death of being the big brother. He thought this past summer had changed all that and now it was all or nothing. He couldn’t imagine his life without Ally in it, but he’d have to learn.
He handed the lady his boarding pass and took one last look around, nodding first to his parents and then looking for a few moments at the hallway just past the terminal. Why hadn’t she come? He had been so sure of their feelings for each other, and after the last month, no one could deny what was between them.
One last glimpse confirmed she wasn’t there. So his Ally, his best friend, his love didn’t want to be a part of his life. It hurt. It hurt more than he could bear. Tears streamed down his cheeks then, but he didn’t bother to hide them.
Ally wasn’t coming, and something instinctual in Jesse told him she never would.
Chapter 1
Sirens blared. Lights flashed. Adrenaline rushed.
Jesse Richards chased hot on the tail of a white Honda.
“Pull over now, or I’ll shoot your tires,” Jesse announced over his loud speaker. How funny that he hadn’t been on a patrol in months, and now he was going to have to chase down a sedan. He rolled his eyes at the irony.
The car weaved over the double yellow line on the two-way street, and the brake lights angrily glared at him in the near darkness of sunset. He screeched to a halt behind the car and un-holstered his gun. His heart kicked into overdrive. It was all too reminiscent of his time in the Big Apple. He had to remind himself he was back in his sleepy hometown, not fearing for his life on every street corner.
A vaguely familiar white-haired, scrawny man, wrinkled with age opened the door and moved at an impossible speed toward his car. Jesse was out of his patrol car in a flash.
“Freeze!” Jesse shouted with his gun cocked, standing carefully behind the shield of his car door.
Fear shone in the old man’s eyes and he held his hands up as if to surrender, but his feet kept moving. Did he think he was going to tackle him?
“I said freeze!” Jesse shouted again. He kept his eye on the man, and it finally dawned on him who he was. Jesse was surprised it took him so long to recognize Ally’s father, the man who’d been much like a father to him growing up.
Jesse lost sight of the old man as he passed him and rounded the back of the car, his gun still aimed just in case. He’d learned to never be too slack with his attentiveness.
“Shoot me if you’ve gotta, officer, but that sweet tea from dinner is hitting me hard!”
Jesse tried really hard to keep his mouth from turning into a smile, but the second Mr. Roche’s pants fell around his ankles and his tighty-whities shone in the dusk of the day, Jesse bent over and laughed until his stomach ached. He heard the unmistakable sounds of the man’s full bladder being emptied. Mr. Roche had a reputation with the local law and it wasn’t failing him now.
Just to follow protocol, Jesse grabbed his walkie-talkie and called in the tag number of the Honda. After a few moments, the dispatcher called back that Mr. Gary Roche was clear. Not even a ticket on his record. The sound of the older man’s zipper echoed in the evening.
“You weren’t kidding, sir,” Jesse said, turning to smile at the man who was like a father to him.
“No, officer, I wasn’t — Jesse Richards?”
“In the flesh!”
Mr. Roche smiled and pulled him into a bear hug. “I’ve missed seeing you around, boy. Look at you, all grown up and wearing a uniform!”
“I’m a detective. Just transferred down here from the Big Apple.”
“Well, I’ll be. Does Ally know you’re back?”
Jesse hesitated. “We’ve run into each other a couple of times, yeah.”
“I never thought you guys would be separated. She sure loved you.”
Jesse shifted from one foot to another and cleared his throat. “So you were speeding, sir.”
Mr. Roche waved a hand of dismissal. “Oh, that.”
Jesse cocked a brow. “You know what I need to do as a police officer.”
The older man gave him a cheeky grin. “But as a friend?”
What could he do but smile back. Jesse shrugged. “If I catch you again…”
“You won’t. I’ll be the model citizen. Good to see you again, Jesse. You should give Ally a call.”
Jesse walked back to his car and got inside. Staring at the lights bouncing off the trees around him, he shook his head.
They didn’t call him a great cop for nothing.
****
“Any luck on fingerprints?” Lucky O’Donnell asked as he propped his hands on his hips and glowered at his new detective, Jesse Richards.
Jesse smirked and leaned back in his chair, ignoring its loud, creaky protest. “Hard to get fingerprints when the victim doesn’t have fingers.”
“Check his wallet for any?”
“Wiped clean, license and all identification gone.”
“Credit cards?”
“The perp was thorough, O’Donnell. We don’t have much except DNA and that’s already been run through the system with no luck.”
Lucky sighed and sat down across from Jesse’s desk. “Who in the world wants to come to this small town and do something so vicious? I haven’t met anyone I’d want to kill.”
“I didn’t kill him. I just incapacitated him. He’s rotting in prison right now, where he belongs.”
Jesse’s lips pulled his mouth wide, but he covered it with his hand so he wouldn’t rile Lucky any more than he already was. He was a ticking time bomb these days.
“Detective, you’re going to have bathroom cleaning duty for six months if you don’t cut the attitude. Someone is dead and we have to figure out who he is and why someone wanted to kill him.”
Jesse sobered, but it didn’t last long. He cleared his throat to cover another chuckle. “Sir, I think it would help if we had a witness or went through the tapes again to try to find someone who might have seen something. So far, this is looking like a perfect crime.”
“No such thing,” Lucky argued. He abruptly stood. “I need to go to the office and call to check on Lana and Lily. I’m sure she’s going nuts with a three-year-old and my long hours.”
“Give Lana my regards.” At his words, pain sliced through him. Lana was Ally Roche’s big sister. His ex-best friend. The girl he’d loved since he was able to talk.
He’d been back in this small town for six months, and he hadn’t spoken to her. He thought he’d spotted her once at the pizza place, but she’d quickly turned and left. If that had indeed been her, the Ally he remembered was nothing like the Ally that existed today. The Ally he’d left behind for college was sixteen, skinny and pixie-like. The girl he’d seen in the pizza place had a long swath of milk chocolate hair and matching dark eyes that spoke of pain.
Jesse couldn’t help but wonder if the two girls were one and the same. But he knew wondering would get him nowhere. He was a man now, not susceptible to a woman’s charm unless he wanted to be. Ally would always be part of his childhood memories, but he wouldn’t allow her to be part of the future. Those days were over. She’d made her choice.
Clearing his throat again, he sat up, looking once more at the file in front of him. The toxicology report didn’t reveal anything but therapeutic amounts of prescription drugs for high cholesterol. No alcohol use. No evidence of drug abuse. Why would a killer pick a random Joe to kill? The man was clearly someone the perp didn’t want anyone to know about, or he wouldn’t have cut off his fingers to get rid of the fingerprints. Surely a missing persons report would come up soon enough and someone could identify the man. He had to have family somewhere.
The bell over the door to the police office jangled as a woman walked in. She wore skinny jeans and knee-high boots with a peasant top – without a jacket. It had to be at least twenty degrees outside. Her hair — milk chocolate — hung in curls in a messy updo. Jesse’s heart skipped a beat. The sun shining from behind the woman made it impossible to see her face.
Could it be?
He stood, unable to handle the suspense.
As he rounded his desk, the door closed behind her and the office turned darker. Breath whooshed from his lungs as he laid eyes on the woman he’d never been able to exorcise from his head. The girl who’d rejected him. The friend who’d loved him and then thrown him away.
“Ally?” he whispered, unsure if she was real or just a dream. She had to be real. He couldn’t have imagined those curves on her.
“I need…” Her face was a sickly gray, and she seemed to see straight through him. “I need to report a murder.”
With that, she collapsed against him.
****
Ally Roche opened her eyes to stark white lights and something cold against her cheek. Where was she? Where had she been going?
“Where am I?” She pulled up to sit but her head swam viciously.
“Lay back down. You fainted.”
That voice. She must have hit her head on the way down, because that voice sounded like Jesse Richards’, and there was no way he’d be touching her cheek so sweetly or talking in such a kind tone. He hated her.
“Where am I?” she repeated and swatted at the annoying cold compress.
“The police station.”
And with those words, it all came rushing back. The man with the hacksaw. The lifeless man before him. With a groan, her stomach heaved.
“Easy, now. Do you remember why you came here?”
Ally swallowed and took to a deep breath to force her stomach into submission. “I need to report something I saw. I need to talk to Lucky.” She tried to sit up again but gentle palms pressed at her shoulders. It was then that she focused on the man beside her.
Jesse.
Was she hallucinating? There was nothing angry in his blue eyes, but rather a tight frown of concern marring his perfect features. Oh, how she’d missed him!
“Jesse?”
“Yup. Tell me what you saw, Ally. You could be the break we need in this case.”
Slowly, Ally sat up. Jesse stood in front of her, hands out, waiting to catch her if she fell again. Wasn’t that the way it had always been? At least before, she’d sent him on his way after he gave her his heart.
She rubbed her throbbing temple. “There was a man with a saw. A small one with teeth. A hacksaw, the kind Daddy uses to cut small pieces of wood when he’s building something. He used it on… on…”
Jesse stepped closer, invading her personal space and filling her senses with his familiar, woodsy scent. “Used it on what?”
“Hands. He used it on an unconscious man’s hands. He bent down, picked up his arm and hung it over a piece of wood in his lap and then sawed at his hands. I ran away after that.”
“Did you see his face, Ally?” His warm palms framed her shoulders, and he leaned so that they were practically nose-to-nose.
“No, but he threw something in the Dumpster next to Harry’s Pizza.”
“Lucky!” Jesse called, and Lucky immediately hung up the phone and hurried toward them. “Get a unit out to Harry’s Pizza to rope off the side street. Ally saw the killer toss something in the Dumpster.”
“On it!” called a junior officer across the room.
“Ally! Are you okay? What’s going on?” Lucky demanded to know as he approached them.
Ally just looked over to Jesse. She didn’t think she could repeat the scene again.
“Ally saw our murderer,” Jesse muttered and released her from his grasp.
“Where?”
Jesse pulled Lucky to the side, but not far enough away so that Ally couldn’t hear.
“She saw the perp sawing off our victim’s fingers.”
Lucky furrowed his brows and rubbed his forehead. “Did the perp see her?”
“No,” Ally spoke up. “At least, I don’t think so. So he really did saw off his fingers? Why?”
Jesse eyed her high-heeled boots. “Were you wearing those?” He tilted his chin toward them.
Ally felt her eyes go wide, and she swallowed against the sudden dryness in her throat. She couldn’t do more than nod.
“And you were on asphalt.”
She nodded again.
“Please tell me you had sense enough to tip toe when you ran away.”
Ally swallowed again and shook her head.
Lucky spoke up. “Ally, I want you staying with Lana and me. At least until we figure out if the perp saw you.”
Ally relived the moment she rounded the corner away from the side street and remembered the thrill of fear as she thought she heard footsteps behind her. When she’d stopped inside the pizzeria, she’d stared out the door for a long time but had never seen anyone else.
Feeling faint again, Ally propped her head against her hands and leaned forward. She wasn’t sure if it was Lucky or Jesse, but someone offered a sympathetic, warm hand against her back.
“Why was he cutting off the guy’s fingers?” Ally asked again, her voice strained. She didn’t really want to know the answer, but it was like watching a train wreck.
“We’re not sure,” Lucky explained. “Probably to hide his identity.”
No fingerprints. Ally trembled. The man who died was the same one she’d
bumped up against when she’d first gone into Harry’s. She’d had her debit card out, ready to purchase her dinner, and he’d bumped in to her. Her debit card landed at his feet and he’d picked it up for her.
“Lucky…” she started, at first unsure of the path her brain was on. But she was sure. The man who’d been killed was the same one she’d seen on the side street. The jacket was the same and the man had worn sneakers with his trench coat. Something that Ally had found odd.
“Lucky, oh my! Lucky!” Ally stood up, ignoring Jesse’s hovering hand. “I bumped into him.”
“Who?” Lucky and Jesse demanded at the same time.
“The dead guy. He was wearing sneakers and a trench coat. It was the same guy in Harry’s that I bumped into. He handed my debit card to me when I dropped it.”
Ally shook with fear. Not only could she have the dead man’s fingerprints on her card, but this could put her in the running to be killed next.
Jesse’s arms came around her then, solid and comforting. “It’s okay. Do you have your debit card with you right now?”
Ally nodded.
“Purse?”
She nodded again, but found she couldn’t speak if she’d wanted to. She’d definitely be staying with Lucky and Lana.
Ally watched with an odd detachment as Lucky got some tweezers and removed her card from her wallet.
“Even a partial will help at this point,” Lucky said as he cast her a reassuring smile. “You did the right thing, Ally. This man could have a worried wife and children somewhere.”
Despite knowing she’d done a good thing, Ally couldn’t stop the sizzle of terror in her spine. She’d moved out of her daddy’s house several months back, after she had graduated from the local community college. What had she done? She would never feel safe again.
Jesse released her when she pushed at his chest. For the first time, she looked at him as some of the confusion lifted. He was still the same old Jesse she’d grown up with, only bigger and more beautiful. Same blue eyes. Same thick, black hair with a cowlick right in front. He wore his hair shorter now, but she suspected it was for his job and not by choice.
His hands were still the same, gentle hands that had once held her, touched her in secret places. And his mouth was still the same one that had kissed her and spoken of a future they would never see.
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