Lucy’s business-as-usual attitude tugged further on Jack’s annoyance. Why? With all his baggage, he had no clue. He snorted.
“What?” Lucy asked. “You don’t think it’s odd that kids are earning a thousand dollars?”
Catching the comment about the kids’ take-home pay, he threw her a sideways glance and shrugged, without letting on that he’d been having a silent conversation with himself. “You’re right. A thousand a month is nothing to sneeze at.”
“No. A week. At least I think that’s what I heard. But whether a week or a month, that’s still a hell of a lot of greenbacks for kids who usually earn minimum wage working part-time.” Lucy’s satisfied nod added to her smug tone. “I mean, come on. No one would pay them that kind of money. Unless it’s illegally earned. And I’m not talking about robbing banks or burglarizing houses.” She broke off to stare out the window.
Jack’s focus went back to the road.
Bedrock limestone walls interspersed with grassy areas flew by for at least half a mile before Lucy said, “Could be drugs or maybe even porn.”
“What?” That comment drew his complete attention. His gaze locked on to her face. “Not these kids. You’re way off base, Lucy.”
“No, I’m not. Think about it. We’re talking about kids without skills earning a lot of money and who are afraid of the person in charge,” she argued, making a valid point. “Has to be one of them.” Lucy scrunched her nose into a distasteful grimace. “But why would teenagers from Marci and Kim’s social class become porn stars? Doesn’t fit their image, and coercing them wouldn’t be easy.”
“Which in your opinion leaves drugs, and that I can’t buy,” Jack shot back, totally unconvinced based on Frank’s endorsement. “I just can’t see the kids we’ve been reading about immersed in something so dangerous. Logically it makes no sense.” And knowing Frank’s stance on drugs, his vouching for them didn’t make sense either if they weren’t squeaky clean. “Besides, Oakmont is a quiet rural community, not a big city.”
“Unfortunately, location rarely saves kids anymore.”
Jack nodded, unable to refute her words. Hadn’t Frank complained once too often about the kids passing through his courtroom being younger these days and more messed up than ever? And most of them came from quiet rural communities. As Jack veered off the freeway exit, more doubt crept into his mind. A grand was a lot of money.
Maybe Frank didn’t know everything about these girls. He braked for a red light, wanting to believe the best of them. Once the car came to a complete stop, he threw out, hoping to convince not only Lucy but himself as well, “According to Reecie’s mom, her daughter wasn’t into drugs.”
“Of course it’s drug related.” Lucy’s tone and expression added to the idea that she thought he was nuts for even suggesting otherwise. When he flashed his own skeptical look, she waved it away, but he didn’t back down, just kept staring at her with raised eyebrows.
Lucy heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Reecie died of an OD. Which means some kind of connection to drugs. My guess is she was selling them. What if that’s her connection…with the others, I mean?” Jack was about to disagree when she put up a hand. “Not crack or heroin.” She shrugged. “Neither drug fits with a mean girl’s perception of herself.” Lucy hesitated. “I’m talking about prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Demerol, or Percocet, and then there’s Adderall. The list goes on and on.”
Jack threw her another quick glance, letting the question form in his eyes. “You seem to know a lot about the topic.”
Nodding, she smiled. “I did some research on an earlier case. Learned a ton about how prescription drug abuse in Kentucky has become a huge problem. Legal drugs are easy to get and just as easy to sell to the kids at school where they go for top dollar. Which coincides with a grand.”
The light turned green.
“Hmmm,” he said. “Maybe.” Jack pressed the accelerator. As the car shot forward, his thoughts reverted to his conversation with Frank. His friend’s opinion of the kids in Cassie’s files simply didn’t wash with the picture Lucy was trying to paint. “I don’t know.” He shook his head, more confused than ever. “These are just kids we’re talking about, top students, I might add, and now you’re making them out to be drug dealers. The whole concept just seems too farfetched.”
“No,” Lucy stated emphatically, “what’s farfetched is that they’re earning so much money.”
Jack couldn’t argue with that logic, but then he hadn’t heard the conversation in the dressing room. “Lucy, you could have easily misinterpreted something. We’d have to show proof before we even brought it up, and I don’t see any way of obtaining that unless we catch them in the act of selling.”
“But I’ve got proof. Right here.” She held up the book. “I’ve only skimmed the date book, but so far I’ve found a couple of references to an LRS and an MB. And appointments with the same two people, at least I think they’re people, just days before she died. And certain amounts on scheduled days, with other initials I recognize from Kim’s phone that could mean they sold the same thing over and over. Kind of like a vendor.” She tapped her nose, thinking. “MB is probably Marci. I wonder who LRS is. Could be Lindsay. Do you think it’s a guy or a girl? No one in the files has those initials.”
“Lucy.” Jack gripped the steering wheel and counted to ten. “A date book with initials isn’t proof.”
“I could tail Marci, or one of the other girls.”
“No.” The second the word was out, he felt her recoil next to him and he took his eyes off the road to sneak a peek. “Shit,” he said under his breath, adding a little louder, “Momma Banks has already warned you. You can’t risk doing something so stupid.” Lucy was not going to pull a Ginny on him and talk him into any more cloak and dagger stuff. But Jack could tell by the fire in her eyes, it would be pointless to argue that little tidbit right now.
In fact, they’d both be better off if he steered her in a completely different direction.
“Why were you going to check out Cassie’s apartment? You never said.”
“I’m hoping to find a clue to her current case. She has a laptop she uses only for work, and I didn’t see it at the motel.”
“Motel?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “That’s a long story.”
Jack turned and gave her his full attention for a moment. “I’ve got nothing but time.”
“We’re almost to your house. I’ll fill you in later.”
Intrigued, he let the comment pass. His townhouse was only a few blocks away. “Do you think this laptop will help us?” He would get her to open up over dinner. After a few glasses of wine and some good food, he would have her pliant and talking in no time. Among other things. Like sex. If he was so inclined to go there. The jury was still out on that decision.
“I won’t know till I find it, if I find it.”
“You can look for it in the morning.” He smiled inwardly, coming to a snap decision. Lucy could just spend the night with him, if only to stop her from making his life a total nightmare. “And I’ll tag along with you to help.” That way Jack could keep an eye on her. No telling how Frank or her boss would respond if she started spouting off these new suspicions.
Lucy shrugged and resumed reading, ignoring him once again.
Her cold shoulder and silence shouldn’t bug him. But they did. Despite steering her off the subject of tailing teenagers, Jack hated that she could ignore him so easily after what had happened less than fifteen minutes ago. He damn well couldn’t ignore her, nor could he forget those few minutes. In fact, annoyance seemed to draw the memory to the forefront of his brain, instilling an urge to do something stupid, like kiss her again. He doubted she’d ignore him then.
As he turned onto his street, he couldn’t shake the idea. Hell, he must be horny, he reasoned, as more errant thoughts of getting her naked began running roughshod over his logical brain. Pulling into the parking spot in front of his townhouse, Jack spared Lucy a quick glanc
e, noting her absorption in that damned book, and the idea of seducing her over dinner took a more solid hold.
Lord only knew what other kind of mischief Lucy would get into if he didn’t try to slow her down with a little lovemaking. He wouldn’t admit that even without the need, sex with her had somehow become a foregone conclusion.
Chapter 14
Perched on a barstool, Lucy surveyed Jack’s handiwork. She tossed Reecie’s date book aside, too tired to make any more sense out of it tonight. A tune from the band Journey droned on in the background. The words loving, touching, and squeezing blared out as if the band played right in his living room.
“That’s a nice sound system.”
Obviously proud of his toys, Jack stood taller, as if ready to pound his chest in a male-posturing stance. “The best. Cost an arm and a leg for the subwoofers, but worth it when new technology picks up nuances in the music that cheaper systems can’t.”
“Who knew?” Lucy tried not to sound flippant, but failed miserably. Here she was at Jack’s house while he cooked her dinner, acting as if they were having one big party, and she still hadn’t heard from or seen Cassie. She glanced at her watch. Awash in guilt for enjoying herself, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse to check for messages.
Jack looked up from the asparagus he was cleaning. “Why do I get the distinct impression that you’re not impressed with my sound system?”
This time Lucy didn’t bother keeping the sarcasm out of her voice. “Because maybe I’m not?” She couldn’t care less about sound systems or music.
He laughed and shook his head, mumbling under his breath about some people not knowing squat about the most important things in life.
Lucy puffed up her chest and threw out an outraged, “Hey, I never got into music during my teens. I had better things to do back then than listen to stupid songs.” She didn’t add “like staying alive and avoiding the cops.” But the look he sent her before she glanced down at the cell phone after pressing the button to take it out of standby told her he’d added that bit himself.
“Great,” she muttered, tossing the phone back inside her purse.
“What? Am I not entertaining enough?” He began snapping the ends off the asparagus and arranging the spears in a pan. “I must be doing something wrong.”
Realizing she skirted the borders of bitchiness, Lucy smiled. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. I’m expecting a call or a text.” When his eyebrows shot up, she sighed. “From Cassie. Or Mike.” She updated him on the trip to the Starlight Motel and finding Cassie’s car. “But even if she did return and call tonight, I just noticed my battery’s dead.” She bought the phone mainly for business, using it only when she had to, which didn’t amount to a hell of a lot of calls except those from Cassie. She preferred landlines and used them as much as she could for her own weird reasons, unlike Cassie, who used her cell phone a lot. Cassie was the only person Lucy texted, so normally she only had to plug it into her charger on Friday nights. As a result of so many calls and texts in the last forty-eight hours, the battery had run down faster than usual. “I was too distracted to charge it last night.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you found her car and her stuff was in the room, it appears she’s on an undercover assignment, just like Duncan and everyone else are saying.” He set the asparagus aside to start dipping what looked like chicken or fish into an egg mixture, before tossing it in bread crumbs, and setting in a rectangular glass baking dish. “Which may also mean she can’t call you for what could be any number of reasons.”
“Yeah. That’s what Mike thinks.” She brushed the hair off her face with both hands and scrubbed her scalp with her fingers. “I just wish I knew for sure,” she said, expelling the words on a drawn-out sigh.
Holding bread-crumb-coated hands in the air, Jack leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Leave it for now,” he whispered, drawing out an urge to smile. “You’re tired, you’re hungry, and from my vantage point, you’re out of patience. Start fresh in the morning and I’ll help you.”
If only he knew how much she wanted to chuck it all and forget the last few days. “Why hasn’t she called? It’s just not like her.”
“You’re not looking at this from a logical perspective.”
“There’s a reason for that.” Lucy sighed. “My whole being revolves around intuition and instinct. Logic comes in dead last.” Cassie was the logical one, always talking things out, saying they should use each other’s perspectives. Mostly it worked on making her see things differently, but that was only after much persuasion—arm-twisting was more like it—on Cassie’s part.
“Besides,” Lucy reasoned, when Jack only nodded, going back to his cooking, “logic is overrated for someone like me.” Someone with her past. Someone who felt things. Too much for comfort, which was why she shouldn’t be considering sex with Jack.
The thought stopped her and she studied him while he finished adding something to his creation. Lucy focused lower to those great hands still covered in bread crumbs. The idea of them roaming over her body, making her forget the last forty-eight hours, was more than a burgeoning desire. It became an all-out need, if only to shut off the naysaying part of her brain for a while. Especially since he was right about being tired and hungry, and nothing could be done about locating Cassie at the moment. Why not relax and enjoy the evening?
Jack rinsed his hands and after drying them, set the baking dish in the oven. He then grabbed a bottle of white wine, already open, along with two glasses.
“What?” she asked, taking the glass he’d just finished pouring. “You trying to soften me up with wine?”
“Maybe.”
Lucy ignored the little flutter the one word generated and took a sip. “It’s good. What is it?”
“Just an inexpensive chardonnay. If I’d have known you were coming, I’d have splurged on a more complex wine.”
Something in the way Jack looked at her—predatory, in the bunny versus the eagle way where she wasn’t the eagle—came to mind and sent tingles along her spine. Lucy swallowed another sip to smother a giggle. The thought seemed too ludicrous, just as it had earlier in his car when he’d pointed out his erection after kissing her. After all, this was Jack. He was using shock to rile her again. Except, she was anything but shocked and, in an attempt to keep the bantering alive, Lucy blurted out playfully, “Now I get it. You’re wining and dining me to seduce me.” Of course he was probably still trying to soften her up while keeping tabs on her, but so what?
“And if I said yes?”
Lucy almost choked on her wine, unable to dismiss the fact that he was flirting with her, just as he had last night. Despite knowing his true motives, the shock of it shot more awareness straight to her core. “I’d have to say I like it,” she was able to get out, without an outward sign of the butterflies flapping inside her belly, just as they’d danced about earlier in the car while eyeing his erection.
Through half-lidded eyes, she observed him and another shiver of excitement ran up her spine. So this was how the haves played the game? His look said it all. That he could take her in and chew her up and she’d love it, regardless of ending up a total mess afterward.
But what if she could twist this entire night to her benefit?
Hiding her inexperience behind an air of nonchalance, Lucy brought the glass to her lips and openly eyed him while taking a lengthy sip. This scene was so foreign to her. Heck, her few attempts at relationships never included this type of verbal foreplay, yet she quickly decided two could play his game. More than that. She wanted to win.
Their gazes locked. More sensations zinged along her spine. Lucy loved it when Jack flashed those baby blues her way, eyes that said she was the most beautiful, interesting woman on the planet. The idea that he could find her sexy went straight to her head and she decided to believe it for now. She tossed out a throaty laugh, also deciding to enjoy whatever happened to the fullest. No matter the consequences.
Jack chuckle
d. “It’s good to know my efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.”
The next thing she knew, he was relieving her of the wine and leaning in to brush a kiss over her lips. The soft touch of his mouth on hers sent more sensation up her back. But she had no time to think about her reaction before he set the glass on the counter next to his and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the living room.
“Come on. I want to hold you in my arms, so let’s dance.”
A bit of panic set in as she realized what he was about. She wanted to be in his arms and was hesitant to do anything that would destroy the lighthearted atmosphere. “I’m not a very good dancer,” she finally admitted, when her efforts to avoid dancing didn’t deter him.
“You danced just fine last night.” Keeping a hold of the one hand, he swept her objection away with a wave of the other before placing it on the small of her back and drawing her into his essence. He was so close, his clean scent rose up and attacked her senses from another angle. He smelled of soap, spice, and a hint of sweat. A smell slightly different from last night, but one that added to her excitement all the same.
She’d read somewhere that scents could trigger long-forgotten memories, buried deep. Wasn’t that the truth, she decided, taking another deep breath, one filled with Jack and hadn’t changed in all these years. A long-ago memory resurfaced and she was instantly carried back in time. More than ten years. To those days of lost hope, of not trusting anyone, of surviving minute to minute.
As if no time had gone by, the mental image of Lucy stepping into a doorway on a dark night to hide from passersby, was so clear. Lucy remembered what came next, while waiting for those same people to leave the area so she could head into an alley to check out a restaurant’s dumpster, just as clearly. Back then, the owner of O’Dooly’s had donated as much perishable, unused food to the homeless shelters as he could, but untouched served food like rolls, by law, couldn’t be redistributed and got tossed. Lucy had befriended the bus boy, a strange kid who never fit in any better than she had after becoming a non-person. And because she’d always been nice to him when no one else had given him anything but trouble, he took pity on her and left the tub of food to be tossed at the foot of the dumpster. If Lucy arrived early enough, she could scrounge up a decent meal.
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