Harkham's Case (Harkam's #1)

by Chanse Lowell

  * * *

  Mari only woke once during the night, but it took her well over an hour to get back to sleep. Her groggy head ached as she lifted it from the pillow.

  “Hi,” a bright male voice said.

  She jumped and swung to the side to find a wet-haired Adam sitting in her desk chair.

  “What did you . . . How did . . . ?” She blinked and stared. He might evaporate like a dream.

  “I flew in. I didn’t get here ‘til late last night. Your dad let me in. I told him I’d go get a hotel somewhere, but he could see I was crying, so he let me up here after warning me I wasn’t to get in bed with you.”

  “I told you not to come here,” she said, her voice gruff with sleep. She hung her head and rested her elbows on her knees.

  At least he came well after she got rid of Victor. She would've hated for him to have seen that.

  “Why can’t I be here? Didn’t you miss me? Or do you like Victor more than me now?” His lips turned down and twitched at the corners.

  She looked over to see his eyes filled with concern, and his lips quivering. Thank God he hadn't seen Victor last night!

  “That could never happen . . .” She got up and went over to him, settled herself in his lap and rested her arms on his shoulders. “I missed you more than green grass. And you know what? The rain here sucks without you.”

  “It does?” He brightened.

  “Yes.” She leaned in and kissed him, but this time, Mari didn’t care about anything else. No more holding back—not after all the emotional turmoil she’d been through in the last few days. She needed him more than ever.

  She glanced over to make sure the door was closed. It was, and she’d hear her dad if he came upstairs.

  She pulled at his shirt as she stood up. He followed while keeping their lips attached.

  His jacket slipped off as they approached her bed.

  “I can’t. Your dad said not to,” he told her between kisses as she tried to lower him down along with herself.

  “Since when do I follow rules? I’m eighteen, you’re twenty-one. We’re consenting adults.”

  “I don’t want to have sex with you unless you’re my girlfriend. Are you my girlfriend now?” He blinked and kept his arms propping him up so he had some distance between their bodies, especially their groins.

  She yanked him down on top of her. “You read my emails?”

  “Yes.”

  “Promise me you read all of them,” she said.

  “I did.” He stiffened. “Why?”

  “You still want me to be your girlfriend after reading all that?”

  “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?” He angled his head back.

  She bit her lip through a smile, then let it go. “You’re incredible.”

  “I am?” His voice escalated.

  “Shh . . .” She looked over at the door but didn’t hear anything. “Yes.”

  “Yes, you’ll be my girlfriend?” His eyes went wide, and he popped his head back even more dramatically. Was he trying to see her better?

  “Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend, but we can’t have sex anyway. I don’t have any condoms with me.”

  “Oh . . .” His face dropped some.

  “But don’t worry . . . We can still have some fun.”

  Mari had his shirt off in the next move, had him under her and she was sucking on his chest until he was moaning for her to be okay with him being totally naked.

  “All in good time,” she said in a hushed tone.

  “Please . . . I want to feel all my skin on yours,” he pleaded. His chest rose as he stole another kiss. His whole body kept coming off the bed in waves here and there. His limbs were quick too, wrapping her up before she could react.

  “I want that, too,” she said, smiling all the while her chest inside felt filled with warm, gooey honey. Everything was loose, relaxed and buzzing.

  This was what it used to feel like being high—the clouded thoughts and her body ruling everything she did.

  But better, because it made somebody else feel good too, and there would be no nasty crash after.

  Adam and she would go home in a few days, and everything would be fine. She’d figure out a way to deal with both their parents while Adam and she remained together. They were both old enough to control their destiny even if they were still in high school.

  She ripped her shirt off. Adam eyed her breasts, and his mouth opened.

  “Can I touch them?” he asked, his voice quaking.

  “You can do anything you like to them,” she said, giggling a little. So damn cute.

  “They’re really pretty, Mari. And I’m sorer than ever,” he said, his hands shaking as he reached out to take them. “Oh God, I like pink, and your tips are so nice and pink for me. Tight, too.” He made a growling sound as he continued to stare.

  She chuckled deep in her chest.

  Suddenly, his hips were thrusting into her and he was groaning. “I can’t . . . C-can’t stop it. Oh Gawwwwwd!” He crashed his forehead into her shoulder, and she watched him fall apart.

  Only this was magnificent to behold. He was climaxing in her arms, and they hadn’t even done anything other than some kissing and him caressing her tits for a moment.

  “I love you,” he whimpered as his convulsing slowed down. “I want you to love me, too.”

  “I do . . .” she said softly and stroked his back.

  “Thank God. Finally,” he whispered in triumph as he grabbed her tight in his arms and rocked her back and forth.

  “I think God probably wishes it wasn’t the case, but I can’t keep fighting it. I’m not strong enough to keep away no matter how much our families and the stars wish it wasn’t so.” She kissed his shoulder and brushed the hair at the nape of his neck with her fingertips. He smelled amazing, like real rain on real green grass while the sun was shining. All impossible circumstances in her world, but she didn’t care, because that’s how he smelled—like the impossible perfection he was. She buried her nose in his neck.

  He chuckled, and his chest hairs tickled her.

  “What are we gonna do when my dad figures out I’m missing?”

  Her heart stopped. “He. Doesn’t. Know?”

  Stupid, Mari. Of course he doesn’t.

  Blood rushed into her head and pounded in her ears. Adam was learning a little too quickly to lie and evade his father. No wonder his dad was opposed to their relationship. She would be too if her honest, sweet son started hanging out with a recovering addict whore with a penchant for lying to her parents.

  She rolled off Adam’s damp body and put her shirt back on.

  What a good question. What were they going to do if he came here after Adam?

  She needed to get him home quick before this got really ugly.

  Mari told him to stay put while she went and talked to her dad for a minute.

  She raced down the stairs, and the minute she was in front of her dad, he was gripping the sides of his chair so hard it was making popping sounds.

  “I see how it is. You’re gonna pick some kid you’ve barely known for a week over your own old man who never gets to see you,” her dad said.

  She answered with a soft tone, “Not that you care, but I’ve known him longer than that. And I’m not picking anybody over anybody else. He snuck out of his house and came here without his father’s knowledge. I think you’d be pretty upset if I did that to you, so I’m returning him home.”

  “What kind of kid does that to his father?” His jaw moved from side to side as he thought for a minute. “He should definitely leave then.”

  She sighed in relief and her shoulders relaxed.

  “Without you . . .” he tacked on.

  “He doesn’t travel well alone,” she explained.

  “I don’t care! He got here by himself, he can go back the same way!” her dad yelled.

  “Shhh . . . You want him to hear you acting like a tyrant?” She patted the air up and down to try to get him to shut up or at least turn th
e volume down.

  “This is my house! I’ll shout if I want to. You think you can come here and push me around? And now because you’ve found an excuse to make up, you’re gonna leave me! Just like your mom—always leaving and never caring about the damage you leave behind!” Spit was flying out his mouth, landing on her arms in a fine spray.

  She stepped back and tried to quiet him down again so Adam wouldn’t hear, but it was too late. Adam was flying down the steps to get to her.

  “Sir,” Adam said, grinding to an abrupt stop in front of them. He wrapped an arm around her and was catching his breath. “Mari loves you, and I love her, but she’s not happy here. With your permission, I’d like to take her home this evening to her mom.”

  “I haven’t seen her in two years, and she’s only been here for three whole days. No! She’s staying. This was the plan, otherwise her mother’s gonna ship her right back here—permanently!” Her dad’s face turned bright red.

  Mari glared at him. “You don’t want me here any more than I wanna be here. There’s something going on, isn’t there?” She leaned toward him. “Are you sick? Are you dying? Is there something I need to know?”

  “No. There’s nothing wrong.” Her dad ground his teeth together and looked away. That’s what he always did when he lied.

  “Fine. Don’t tell me. I don’t really care about what it is anyway.” Mari kissed Adam’s cheek. “But you might as well know, this is Adam, my boyfriend. I’m sure he introduced himself last night since he has manners, unlike me, your disobedient daughter, but I want you to know . . . when I get back home, I intend to live with him after I graduate.” She set her palm on Adam’s chest and could feel his heart pounding furiously.

  He set a hand over hers. “I want to marry her so I can be with her forever. I hope she’ll say yes when I ask officially.”

  Mari grimaced, but Adam missed it because he was watching her dad’s reactions.

  “She’s not the marrying kind,” her dad said, his eyes hard.

  “That’s because she hadn’t met me yet. I wasn’t the marrying kind before either. Now that we’re together, we’re inseparable. We’re both so wrong that together we’re right.” Adam radiated with sunshine from his toothy grin. He stood tall and proud.

  Her heart flooded with so much emotion, so much she leaned into him and placed her head on his shoulder so she wouldn’t fall. “I love him. He’s a part of my life, and not you or anybody else is gonna take him away. We’re leaving today.”

  “If you do this . . . If you leave, don’t you think I’ll help you when you land yourself in jail again someday!” her dad snarled.

  “I didn’t ask for your help last time, and I certainly won’t ever ask for it again . . .” She took a deep breath and released it.

  No one said anything else.

  She took Adam upstairs and started packing. He helped her.

  “Do you think your dad will forgive you if I get you back there in less than twenty-four hours from when you left?” she asked, glancing over at him.

  He was dancing around the room with glee. “I only care I’m with you—nothing else matters. He can take away my car, kick me out of my room and ground me forever. Doesn’t make a difference because you’re my girlfriend and you said you’re gonna live with me after high school.”

  She swallowed. Oh, yeah, she did say that, didn’t she?

  “And if you say it, it’s like a promise, and I know you don’t break promises.” He shook his finger at her and grinned.

  “No, but you know I lie. How do you know I wasn’t saying that simply to get a rise out of him, to rub his face in the filth he put in this house?” she teased.

  “Because you love me—you said it, and you won’t lie to me. You like me too much and don’t want to hurt my pure heart.” He tossed her hair brush in her bag that had been on top of her desk. “The next thing I want is your trust.”

  “You have it.” She stared at him with a blank expression. Why did he think she didn’t trust him?

  “No you don’t, or you would have invited me here in the first place and understood I could handle this and could’ve helped you, instead of Victor.”

  His throat looked like it constricted when he swallowed after saying that name, and his eyes were piercing blades of fury.

  “You don’t like him, do you?” she asked, watching carefully for a reaction.

  “No, I don’t. He was here with you when I wanted to be.” He grabbed a few more of her loose items and packed them in her bag.

  “Adam.” She approached him and gently turned his face with her hand, then left her palm on his cheek. “I don’t trust that lying sack. He wormed his way in. I needed some help, and he was trying to apologize. I didn’t really want him here. I missed you and wished it was you the entire time. I wanted to spare you the pain that is my life here in this hellhole of a town.”

  He leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled away, his eyes were soft. “Will you start treating me like an adult then? No more sheltering? You’ve been telling me about who you are really are, or who you think you are based on your past. Now, believe I can take it all in and act mature about it.”

  She blinked and stepped back. Who was this man before her? He was stronger than she ever knew.

  “I can do that.”

  “Good.” He zipped her luggage closed. “Have I freaked out on you yet about anything you told me in those emails?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “One of my family members would’ve told you if I did.” He smiled, but it stayed clear of his eyes. “I want you to tell me on the flight back whatever else you have hidden that you would’ve revealed in emails today, tomorrow, and the next day and the next while you would’ve been trapped here in Alta.”

  “Okay.”

  He hugged her, and she sighed.

  “Let’s arrange a flight and leave. Your dad doesn’t like me.”

  “I’m not gonna lie. It’s true. But, hey, he doesn’t like anybody, especially people that want to be around me,” she said with a smile.

  Adam arranged the flight and even called home to tell his dad where he was.

  The conversation was shockingly quiet on Adam’s end, which couldn’t be good.

  Mari wanted to hide in a corner while he dealt with his dad’s anger. Instead, she made sure to do a thorough sweep of her room, packing old books, music, jewelry and an old lavender lap quilt Grammy Cole had made for her as a baby. She might never return, so anything of value, she was going to take with her.

  The final thing she snatched was her mom’s old wedding ring. Her fingers were bigger than her mom’s, so she slipped it onto her pinky.

  “It’s not like that. We’ve already paid for tickets to get back home. You’ll see me tomorrow,” he told his dad.

  She winced when a tear leaked out of the corner of his right eye.

  Once again, it was her fault he was breaking rules and disappointing his family.

  When he got off the phone, she grilled him about how he got here to northern Utah and who helped him.

  It seemed Zach was very resourceful and very pro Adam-and-Mari-together-plan.

  Worked for her, though she hated his dad was so irate over his disappearance.

  A cab pulled up an hour later. Mari stood before the recliner, gave her goodbye and tried to say the rest of the things she usually avoided with her family—mainly her feelings toward them, even the positive ones.

  “I’m sorry things haven’t ever been great between us, but there were some good things that happened this time. We got to actually eat a meal together.”

  Her dad grunted and refused to look at her.

  “And some of the clutter was removed, so we had more space,” she said. “I did it because I care about you. I’ll always care about you, Dad. No matter what.”

  He shook his head, wearing a look of complete disgust with her. Clearly, her dad didn't want to hear it—any of it. His face grew redder than ever.

  “See if I ca
re if you ever come back!” her dad yelled, finally jerking his head in her direction.

  Foooooooosh!

  Her dad threw something at her head. Adam got in the way, and it smacked him right in the eye.

  It was a can of beer, mostly full, and it sloshed all over his clothes.

  Swaaaack!

  Mari smacked her dad’s face as hard as she could and marched them out the door without another word.

  “I’m so sorry!” she said over and over as she tried to wipe some of the fluid off Adam.

  “It’s fine.” He chuckled. “I poured rain on you at school—now it’s my turn.”

  She smiled. How appropriate. Her version of rain for him was beer.

  They got in the cab and were driving away when Adam grabbed her hand, squeezed it and said, “I think you need to say bye to her. You may never come back.”

  “I can’t.”

  “I’ll get the teddy bear back out of your suitcase, and you can leave it at her grave site,” he suggested.

  “She wouldn’t want that,” she protested, squirming in her seat.

  “Did you ever say sorry to her family?”

  “No, but—”

  “Sorry makes everything better. If your dad had apologized back there for hurting my feelings by trying to hurt you, then I would have accepted. I would have felt less yucky inside. You should say it.” He kissed her cheek real quick.

  “Will you hold my hand?”

  He smiled with approval. “I will—the entire time.”

  They told the cab driver they were going to make two stops along the way, and before she knew it, she was on her way to deal with more of the impossible issues that had for so long plagued her . . .

  Chapter 16

  Mari’s legs wobbled as she walked up the gravel walkway to the little trailer where Megan once lived. She leaned up against Adam the whole way—the entire ten feet to get there. His strength, his belief in her, would buoy her and keep her legs moving.

  Whether her mouth would cooperate or not was another matter she’d deal with when the time came.

  What was she supposed to say? I’m sorry I suck as a human being and was too lazy to watch your kid. But, hey, life happens?