I’m not going to pretend that his comment didn’t hurt me while I organize the paperwork. It is a simple task that a trained monkey can do, so it gave me plenty of time to figure out what the hell I’m doing next. I don’t have money to stay anywhere and no car to even sleep in. Shit, I don’t even have panties. I think this is the first time in my life I feel lower than lower. Guess things can always be worse, but I just don’t know how. I have lost everything, my apartment, again, and Gran’s house. All of it—gone. Nothing will ever be the same again. I can either mope about the damn thing, or pull up my big girl panties and move on. Well if I had any panties to wear. Maybe I will just give them up anyway, less things Andrew can take away from me. I seriously need to get off my pity party and work.
“You make coffee?” I don’t need to look up to know it is Wolf behind me. I am used to his scent now, granted it smells so much better on him than me, but still I can smell him.
“Yup, you had it set wrong, I fixed it. I’ll make a new pot when this one is gone. You’re almost out of cups, and you need more copy paper for your printer, although you may want to look for a better one, the one you have is on its last leg, and you’re missing the part that holds the paper in place.” I ramble off some other things I know will help organize their front office better. I can tell whoever ran it before wasn’t used to organizing and setting up a system to help the guys out.
“Um, sure, make a list and we can get it later. Look, Zoey,” the way he says my name makes me stop what I’m doing and look at him.
“Something wrong?”
“Nah, nothing like that, chéri, don’t fret none.” His large callused hand comes up and pushes a stay piece of hair out of my face that has fallen from my pony. I can feel the warm creep through my body from his touch, sending a zap of excitement to my unused clit. What the hell? He is an ass, granted one that is so damn mouth wateringly hot my teeth can melt, but still.
“Oh okay, then what’s up?” Trying not to show how much he is affecting me, but with my lack of a certain garment, my sweats are sure going to show a wet spot if I move too much.
“I have my cousin, Shaylene, she is coming in to gettcha to go shopping. The shop has my card number, as well as Hawk’s. Get what ya want, and whatever else you think you might need. I just ask that ya don’t leave her side. You’re safer here than in Bostwick, but I don’t know who followed us. She’ll drop ya off at the house when you’re done. Just don’t leave, ya hear me, chéri?” The deep throaty tone of his voice when he calls me chéri is about all I can process. Shit, now I wish I had a good vibrator. I nod, because around both of them I turn stupid and can’t seem to process a single thought that will require me to use words. Maybe it’s because they intimidate me. I’m a larger woman, but next to them, I feel like a small child.
“Good. Now Hawk has a list of things in the back he needs too.” Oh, he is dismissing me, well fine then. I brush past him, and as I do I hear a small growl. Huh, I will have to remember what I did to make him do that sound again. It is frickin’ hot.
I knock on the door waiting for Hawk to tell me come in.
“Yeah,” is the only response I get before I push it open. The office belonging to Hawk and Wolf is sparse, and that is being nice. It is clean-ish. So, it has some papers scattered on the desk and a giant board that houses various pictures and maps. But what gets me are the pictures on the board. Pictures of me. It is my case. I’m glutton for punishment as I make my way to it. I see Andrew’s mug shot, and pictures of Penny, my apartment, the police report, everything about me.
“Shit, sorry, Zoey, I forgot to turn it,” and the board swings upside down flashing to a giant map. “You okay, doll?” Hawk has turned me to face him now. I guess with the shock of it all, tears must have fallen down on my face. My life is pinned on a board with fifty-cent tacks. The reality of it is starting to crash down that no matter what I do, I can’t go back. Suddenly two strong arms wrap around me, holding me tight. A small shushing sound is being made. Hawk is trying to comfort me, but to be honest it feels good, but not in a calming effect, but more of a sexual one. Anytime Wolf or Hawk touch me, my body responds. To make matters worse, I have only known them for a couple days. I’m a hussy. Fuck me, wait no don’t fuck me, well maybe, shit I need to stop thinking now.
“Sorry. I’m good. Wolf said you needed something while I’m out?” Trying to separate myself with work, I avoid Hawk’s demanding gaze.
“You okay to go out, doll?” Stupid brain again—I nod.
“Okay, well then here is a list. I’m sure Shaylene knows what to do. You need anything, call our cells.” He hands me a piece of paper with numbers on it, and shocking me more a small burn type of phone. Well at least I have something for emergencies.
“Hey, Zoey, come on out here.” Wolf bellows from the front office. I take everything from Hawk and head to the front. I find a bright bubbly full-figured redhead who is glaring at Wolf, but turns and smiles at me.
“Shit, this is gonna be fun. Didn’t tell me she is a normal looking chick and not a twig. Hey, chicky, I’m Shay, or Shaylene. We gonna do some shoppin’ then go to lunch and from there, avoid trouble.” She winks at me and I can’t help but giggle. “You ready to blow doom and gloom now?”
“Sure, sounds awesome.” I grab my purse and follow her out, finally someone who makes me laugh and doesn’t worry about how I’m feeling all the time. If I was a dude, I would totally love this woman, hell, I think I already do when she passes me a large peppermint mocha.
“Let’s go have some fun.” I jump in her car and we take off, and for once today, I feel better.
Chapter Seven
Zoey
“So by the look of you, I can guess it’s easy to see you don’t have any clothes, so let’s go to my fav store and start there.” Shay is so damn talkative, I didn’t know if I should speak, but I agreed with her.
“Here we go.” We pull up to a small shop that has several delectable looking panties and bras. As I get closer, I can see they are a whole lot sexier than I would ever consider.
“Um, ya know, we can go to Wal-Mart or something.” I tug on Shaylene’s arm, and she doesn’t move.
“Seriously, chick, you need to pull on your big girl drawers and grow up, oh wait that’s right, you don’t have any. So, shut up and follow me. Don’t make me smack your ass too,” she chucks at me. I feel a blush creep over me as I walk inside. The smell is sweet and sexy. Very interesting. This isn’t like Victoria Secret or Lane Bryant, no, this is a real shop that serves all walks of life, but am I the right person to be in here? I look to the left and see a mannequin off to the side in a teddy with crotch-less panties. To the right are various corset tops with small-laced boy shorts. What the hell am I doing?
“I know the owner, and yes she carries our size. Come on, this is the fun part.” God what did this woman do for a living that she would think this is fun. I watch as a skinny woman with something that resembles a nightgown come flowing out of a back room. She is stunning and a pang of jealously hits me. I could never look like that, ever. Some people were just born with good genes. Then again, it looks like she has never tasted a double fudge ice cream Sunday with whipped cream, cherries, and colored sprinkles.
“Shay, hey there you sexy beast. I see you brought me new blood. And she has got the cutest figure. We simply must dress her. Please say you’re here to let me play?” I look around the store trying to figure out who she is talking to. But it’s just me and Shay.
“Seriously, chick, don’t you know how hot you are, well when you don’t look like a heffalump in those clothes and hair. You seriously need a makeover.”
“I, I don’t know. I mean, I guess I could use some help. I always thought I had good taste.”
“I’m sure you did. Let me guess, you wore basic panties, but black pants and dresses with bright colors. We all have been there. I’m sure you have never showed off your girls either. Come on, chick, let’s have fun.” And boy, was that what we did. I s
wear I have never tried on so many bras that were see-through, or lace, or sexy that actually held my boobs in place. I selected some basic tan, white, and a few black ones, but she just pushed her way into the dressing room like she belonged there. After the first three times, I just said fuck it and soon even Olivia, the saleswoman, came in with suggestions. And let’s not forget the fact that Shay found matching panties and even some sexy nightgowns, which I told her not to get since I wouldn’t need them. I had no one to wear them for. But I took the damn bags, okay so I didn’t take them, Shay threw them at me before I put them in the back of her trunk.
“We need clothes now. We have the cake made, now we have to decorate it.” Huh, what the hell was she talking about? But it seems she is always like this.
“So you never did tell me what you do for a living.”
“Let’s see, I do so many things. But I’m a hairdresser by day, writer by night, and badass protective chick when I’m bored and Wolf needs help.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of things you do.”
“Yeah, I like to stay busy. So how about you. What’d ya do before the shit hit the fan?”
“Bank teller.” Suddenly saying it out loud sounds really sad. I’m only twenty-six, but you would think I could do something more with my life than at County Bank.
“Well at least you work, or worked. Knowing Doom and Gloom, they made you quit. Didn’t pack anything up and figured they knew what was best.”
“Not like they had a choice what they took.” We stop at a small shop and grab two coffees.
“So you have a dipshit on your ass, huh? That sucks, honey. I take it by the way the guys are acting that he’s pretty messed up in the head too.”
“Something like that. He skinned my cat and burned down my gran’s house.”
“Wow, okay then. I definitely think it’s time for fun girly time and then we can pick up dinner and have drinks. What do ya think?”
“I think, for once, I’m enjoying myself.”
Hawk
Even though Zoey is out with Shay, I’m still on edge. I felt like a shit when Zoey walked in the back and saw her case on the board. It could have been avoided, but I didn’t think. I have never thought about it from her perspective, I mean, we have never had anyone in the office who was a victim, or part of a case. It was just stupid of me, and to top it off, I made her cry. I feel like a bastard. My mother use to cry to get my father to stay or help her with money, it made him sick then, knowing she was faking it. But it was different with Zoey, she made me feel more things, things I never felt for a woman. Sure I had sexy with them all the time, but an emotional connection was something I never had time, nor wanted to have happen. I really need to sit and think about what all this shit means. I’m the one who doesn’t feel, I’m the heartless jerk with the fucked up ideas on relationships. Sure Wolf’s parents were amazing, but they were the only thing he saw of love. And what a stupid word that is too, love. Who needs it, not me. But damn it if Zoey doesn’t make me actually think of fucking hearts and flowers. Damn it.
Now she’s gone shopping and Wolf and I have work to do. I open a drawer to my right that houses various markers and grab a red one. Earlier I had marked the areas that have levees too high to actually cross via boat or pirogue, so if Andrew did get out, he did it via foot. Wolf walks in the back and in his hand are two coffees. I look at him in confusion.
“Zoey made it. Said it’s fixed now, but it seems she is the only who knows how to use it. You know, even though she will be here a short term, she has some great ideas.”
“We’ll see.” I don’t want to get my hopes up, but shit tends to happen and roll downhill. And looking at the case closer, it’s easy to see she is the one who is always at the bottom of shit hill. She had a better upbringing than me, but at least people didn’t burn down my house, they just kicked me out. Maybe we have more in common than I want to believe.
“‘Kay, well let’s look at everything.” I take and drink the coffee, finding it to be amazing and perfect, the way coffee should taste. I take a few minutes and savor the true taste and bitterness from the coffee beans as they wake me up out of my grumpy mood. What is it Shay calls us? That’s right: Doom and Gloom. Now I can see it. Oddly, I find it amusing. I look at the map once again after Wolf flipped the board over.
“We need someone on the inside of town. Someone who hasn’t been seen and can find the ins and outs. Think Zoey knows anyone who might help her?” I have to ask, but I think I already know the answer. From the house fire last night and seeing her work and apartment, I would venture to guess the whole town is in on it. Then a name comes to mind.
“What about Eddy?”
“Maroon? He’s still deployed, isn’t he?” Eddy Maroon was in the Marines with us, but I remember him saying he was from Bostwick. It was amazing how all the boys from the Bayou of Louisiana ended up in the same unit. But it didn’t matter, because in the Marine Corp you looked out for each other, but that was also the same code when in the swamp. Eddy was the new kid who came in later when his platoon got hit. Half went home in body bags, the other split into different troops. Needless to say, we all took him under our wing and the rest was history.
“He got out last month. Sent me an email asking if we had any openings. I said I would let you know, so what if we send him in town, have him do some snooping, maybe play town hero and such. He might be our secret weapon.” Hell, it was a shot. I don’t know what to expect really. I do know one thing though, no matter what, he is loyal to his brothers so the town could suck it.
“Could work. We need to talk to Zoey too and see if she remembers Andrew talking about any areas. He seems like one to boast about his accomplishments and his kin, so might as well make use of it.”
“Works for me.” Wolf takes some notes before sitting down on his squeaky chair at the other desk. We both aren’t office people, but until Zoey gets the paperwork organized, we still have shit to do.
I manage to get a hold of Eddy later that afternoon and he agrees to meet us at a coffee shop outside of Bostwick.
“You ready?” I ask Wolf as he is typing something on the computer.
“Yup, called Shay, she is fine with Zoey. Said something about you being a worry wart and that dinner will be ready when we get home.”
“Think she was talking about you, dipshit,” I joke back. But even as I say that, I know I’m the same way. Even though it’s been a short time of knowing her, I have this sense of protection for her. Maybe it is because no one ever looked out for her, maybe it was being woken up with a raging hard-on thinking about her wet and soapy from the shower. Either way I’m not letting her go, for now.
Since Wolf drove his truck and my Jeep is still at the apartment, I’m stuck playing bitch. Pulling into the coffee shop at a small roadside rest stop, it’s easy to spot Eddy. I sit next to him on the left and Wolf on the right.
“Hawk, Wolf, good to see you both. So what’s this job you have for me?”
“I need you to keep this on the down low,” I quickly respond.
“Sounds easy, what’s the case?”
“Stalking,” Wolf chimes in.
“Okay, it’s normally cut and dry. Perverts are easy to catch. Why me?”
“Because you can blend in,” states Wolf. Damn that man is going to make it sound like a mission to take out the drug cartel.
“Listen, the stalker is from your town. His target was just run out of town by burning her granny’s house.”
“Shit, you mean the Thornburg’s place. Heard about that. Wait, I think I heard about this. The chick, what’s her name Chloe—”
“Zoey. Yeah we have her, but no one is gonna talk to us about shit. And she is very much an outsider. Needless to say, she can’t go back and Andrew is loved and sheltered there.”
“Yeah his family owns practically the town and the sheriff’s office. So they are gonna be no help to ya. The Zamoras are some nasty people too. If they don’t like you, they have no issues with running yo
u out of town. They would run for mayor, but not a one of them have the smarts to actually get the work done. So they buy their elected official and things just happen how they want it. Half the town folks don’t like them one bit, but knowing they could be the next target to have their job taken away, or gator tags cut, or hell, speeding tickets for going three over. They don’t stop at nothing, and Andrew is just as bad, if not worse.
“I remember he use to date this girl in high school, real pretty, so much better than him, but he said she had to go out with him or her daddy would be fired as principal. She ended up moving away after that. And now he’s after Cloe, I mean Zoey. Damn.
“I’ll look into it and see what I can find. My little brother is sleeping with his sister, but it’s because she is hot, and so doesn’t look like a troll like the rest of them. But you should know, the Zamoras are not people to trust easily, but they have no clue I know you both, or even Zoey.” Sounds like we have a plan. I order a pie to go and we leave saying our goodbyes to Eddy.
Eddy was great at blending in, mainly because he had such a young looking face, and was still clean cut. Whenever they needed to get info from someone while in the military, they would send him in. He looked like a young boy, he could wear the appropriate garbs and no one would stop him. But he also had a trusting looking face, or so people and women say. He had kind eyes, he listened, blah blah blah. Same crap to me, but it worked. Hopefully between his training in the Corp and with the chicks, Eddy could get them some real information.
We make it back to the apartment and see Shaylene’s car sitting in one of the parking spots. I sign to myself knowing everyone is back, and safe. I don’t know what I am so concerned about Zoey’s safety more than other victims. She stirs something deep in me that makes me want to lock her up, preferably to my bed, and never let her leave. Trying to push away my wayward thought I look at the clock see it’s five-thirty, so right on time for dinner. Climbing the stairs, I hear music and laughing and people singing. What the hell is going on? I turn and look behind me at Wolf, who just shrugs.
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