Settling The Score (BBW Romantic Suspense Contemporary Romance)

by Diane Blake

  Trudy sat back against the ripped vinyl of the diner booth. "Now that is just wrong on so many levels."

  "It was sweet. Craig was a perfect gentleman."

  "If I'd had Craig Wilder on my couch last night, we would have been doing a lot more than just sleeping. I can tell you that!"

  Jasinda tried not to be distracted by the sight and smell of the steaming plate of eggs and home fries being delivered to a nearby table. "Maybe Craig's just not really attracted to me," Jasinda said hesitantly.

  "Don't start that again. If he wasn't attracted to you, he wouldn't have asked you out or gone to all that trouble to track you down. Are you sure you didn't do something to discourage any under the sheets action?"

  Jasinda's whole body reacted by tightening up. "Well, I did kind of, sort of... threaten to stab him with a letter opener."

  Trudy's jaw fell open. Then she facepalmed.

  Fifteen minutes later, Jasinda poured maple syrup over her chocolate chip pancakes while Trudy sliced her tender ham steak with a fork.

  Trudy commented, "OK, that makes a little more sense now that you've explained the entire conversation/situation. I think from now on, you really need to tell your stories in the order the events happened."

  "Deal," Jasinda replied with a laugh.

  "So basically, Craig stayed with you all night to comfort you and protect you-"

  "Exactly. I knew you'd get it once I explained everything."

  "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say he had to comfort you and protect you – from everything going on in your own head."

  Jasinda smiled weakly. Of course, Trudy would think her fears were unrealistic. Jasinda herself sometimes felt that way too, especially when she tried to forget what happened in the past.

  Of course, she knew she could never escape what she'd done seven years ago – or the consequences. In light of that, her fears seemed not only realistic, but prudent.

  Jasinda gulped her orange juice as she willed her thoughts back to the present. "Last night and this morning really were amazing. Falling asleep and waking up in Craig's arms... I don't even know how to describe it. I haven't slept so soundly in years."

  "Well, that's a good start then," Trudy declared.

  Chapter 21

  Coach Benson blew his whistle to signal a water break during football practice. The Tigers players walked off the field.

  The coach pulled Craig aside. "Wilder, what the hell was that on the field? You're supposed to throw the ball to the wide receiver. Not nail him with it like a missile as if you're taking out the invading horde in a freakin' zombie apocalypse movie."

  Craig hoped his helmet hid the suppressed laugh. Coach Benson compared everything to some kind of movie. Craig wondered if the coach came up with all his analogies ahead of time and then waited for the opportunities to present themselves. The player removed his helmet. "Sorry, Coach, I've got a lot on my mind today."

  "A woman. It's always a woman." The coach's tone left no room for doubt or discussion.

  "Yep," Craig agreed anyway.

  "The kind of aggression you showed earlier usually means she said 'no' the night before. Wanna tell me about it so you can get over 'playing the field' and get your focus back on the football field where it belongs?"

  Although Coach Benson put a verbal question mark at the end of his sentence, Craig knew the truth. That was no question. When the coach told a player that his mind wasn't focused on the game, anything before or after that statement was a command.

  Craig complied. "I'm seeing a new girl."

  "Pretty?" the coach asked? He loved to imagine all the hot young ladies his players dated. Imagination was as close as he was going to get to any of them!

  Coach Benson's wife had laid down the law right from their first date forty years ago when Benson was still a pro player himself. She said she'd put up with a lot of things in life, but a cheating man wasn't one of them. She didn't allow so much as a roving eye from her husband.

  She had Benson wrapped around her little finger way back then and nothing had changed since. Plus, Mrs. Benson stood just as tall as her husband and was rumored to be just as strong.

  Craig had never witnessed it, but the older players swore that, back in the days before social media, the Internet and cameras on cell phones, Mrs. Benson used to fill in for her husband when he was out sick. Furthermore, they were glad when the coach returned because Mrs. Benson was even harder on them than Coach Benson!

  Answering the coach's question inquiring if his new girl was pretty, Craig replied, "Beautiful."

  "And she knows it?"

  "Just the opposite. She doesn't realize how attractive she is."

  The coach nodded. "Ah, a rare type and the best type."

  Craig nodded his agreement.

  "So what's the problem then, Wilder?"

  Craig condensed the background to the bare minimum. "She had a terrible scare, armed robbery at work. She just needed me to be there for her."

  Coach Benson read between the lines. "She never actually got to say no because you never actually asked?"

  Craig looked around to make sure none of the other guys was listening. His teammates were all busy horsing around at the water cooler, checking their phones, and generally behaving like teenagers at summer camp.

  "Exactly. She was so upset. It wasn't the right time."

  Coach Benson scratched his beard. "You're all right, Wilder. I've been doing this a long time and you're a rare type too."

  Craig continued, "I mean, there she was in my arms for hours. It took everything I had not to-"

  Coach Benson held up his meaty hand to stop Craig right there. "I understand. If your new girl's not ready, there's no need for you to take a chance with some random stranger. Do I have to remind you that the organization provides ways to scratch that itch? The women who staff the player hotline are very...accommodating."

  "I know. Thanks. That's just not where my mind's at right now."

  "OK, Wilder, have it your way." Coach Benson looked around to ensure privacy just as Craig had done earlier. "Back when I was young and a player, both on and off the field, the organization offered us the same deal with women as you guys get now." The coach laughed. "Those were the days. I was no stranger to those ladies, let me tell you. Then, I met my future wife and that was it. Never again visited with one of the 'comfort ladies' as we used to call them back then."

  "Mrs. Benson must have been something special, just like my girl now."

  "She was a spitfire alright. And she said no for a whole year! No attention from the ladies and none from my own girl either! Imagine that, Wilder."

  The color drained from Craig's face.

  "Thought that would get your attention. My advice, cold showers and focus on football." Coach Benson winked. He called out the rest of the Tigers. "OK, men. I'm calling an early and extra long lunch today. It's a gift, your last one before the Big Game this Sunday."

  The coach turned back to Craig and said in a lower voice, "All this talk inspired me, Wilder. I think I'm going to take advantage of the extra long lunch break to go home and visit Mrs. Benson!" The coach winked again and headed for the stadium exit.

  Chapter 22

  Craig decided to take advantage of his long lunch break too, but in a slightly different way. He checked his phone. No messages. He sent a "thinking of you" text to Jasinda and then headed over to the area where the cheerleaders practiced.

  Kandi had yet to return his call. No matter, he'd confront her in person.

  As Craig walked across the field, the cheerleaders started to giggle and whisper like a bunch of high school students. Craig, used to all the female attention, took it in stride.

  "Hey, ladies," he called out.

  "Hi, Craig," several of them said in unison.

  The cheerleading coach called a take five.

  Craig scanned the cheerleaders. Short skirts & tight shirts – nothing out of the ordinary there, except he didn't see Kandi.

  Missy
, the cheerleader who had accompanied Kandi to The End Zone, happened to be at the end of the practice line so Craig spoke to her as the women started to scatter for their break. "Hey, Missy. I need to talk to Kandi. I don't see her out here."

  "She didn't show up today."

  "Did she call in sick?"

  Missy shook her head. "No, that's the weird thing. She didn't call or text anyone. She just didn't come to the stadium this morning. She hasn't answered her phone at all. We even sent an intern to her house. Nobody answered the door."

  "And you have no idea where she could be or why she would decide not to come in today?" Craig asked.

  Missy shook her head again. "I'm really worried about her. Kandi hasn't missed a single appearance, practice, rehearsal, or game, all season. She would never miss anything this close to the Big Game. She's been talking about it for months...saying that if the Tigers made it all the way this year, it would be her first Big Game ever as a professional cheerleader."

  The distressing look on Missy's face prompted Craig to ask one more question. "What are you thinking, Missy?"

  "There's only one way Kandi would miss any of this. If she were dead!"

  Chapter 23

  Jasinda packed her textbooks in her bag as her fellow students began to stream out of the lecture hall. "Was it me or was class particularly boring today?"

  Her friend Gus replied, "I'm not sure there is a way to make a discussion of 'the importance of inter-continental cultural and economic forces during the Pax Romana' interesting."

  "True that, my friend." Jasinda agreed.

  "Although some pics of Roman soldiers in loincloths would be a start."

  Jasinda laughed and shook her head. "Oh, Gus. You have a one track mind!"

  "You don't know the half of it," he grinned.

  Jasinda continued, "Compared to this lecture today, serving up some banana splits with three different ice cream flavors and toppings to a bunch of ungrateful shoppers tonight at work seems downright interesting."

  "Sounds pretty tasty, too. Maybe I'll swing by the mall later."

  "I'd love that. Although I probably won't have too much time to chat. If it's quiet, I've got to try to get some of my homework done. I'm overwhelmed this week. Besides all the reading he just assigned us, I've also got a paper due in English and a presentation for my other class."

  "Hell week!" Gus yelled like a frat boy at a toga party.

  Jasinda thought about everything else going on in her life. She took her turn to say, "You don't know the half of it."

  Chapter 24

  Near closing time, a man loitered at a food court table within sight of Biggie Scoops. Best described as an older, distinguished gentleman, he produced a napkin from the pocket of his blazer and wiped a spot from the table.

  He sipped his double mocha latte from the coffee shop while he observed the activity at Biggie Scoops. He noticed that only one employee seemed to be working that night. Not very smart, he thought, after the incident they'd had there less than a week ago.

  He watched the woman behind the counter efficiently taking care of the customers in line. She obviously did her job well. He had a job to do too. His job often required patience. In this case, he had to wait until all the customers cleared out of the way. He couldn't be responsible for creating panic. That would be unprofessional.

  The man checked his watch. Mall closing time had officially arrived. A quick scan of the long hallways revealed a shopper or two hurrying towards the parking garage exit. He rose from his seat. On the way by a trash can, he casually tossed his cup away.

  "Good evening, young lady," he said as he approached the Biggie Scoops counter.

  Though tired after a long shift, she put on her best customer service smile. "Hello. How can I help you?"

  He studied her name tag. "Jasinda? Did I pronounce it correctly?"

  "Yes." She shook her head eagerly. She'd been waiting for him. She just knew the corporate secret shopper would come tonight. She thought to herself, that explains why this guy has been sitting there so long before coming to the counter for his ice cream. He's been checking how I handled the other customers.

  "Would you like to try our flavor of the week special? It's mocha fudge walnut." She handed him one of those plastic mini-spoons with a dollop of the ice cream on it.

  "Mmmm, that is good. Mocha's one of my favorites."

  "I can get you a dish, full sundae or cone. We have plain, sugar, waffle, and-"

  "Actually, Jasinda, I'm not here for ice cream."

  "Oh."

  He reached into his pocket. His hand whipped out a photo ID badge. He flashed it for her perusal. "I'm an inspector for the Jefferson Health Department."

  Kills my secret shopper theory. "An inspection at this time of night?" she questioned aloud.

  He seemed offended. "We received a complaint about this establishment. The health department takes all suspected violations very seriously. They must be handled expediently."

  "Our tax dollars at work?" she said half-seriously.

  "Precisely. Now, if you would be so kind as to show me the ice cream coolers..."

  "Of course. Come around here." She unlatched the half-height access door and led him around to the employee side of the counter.

  "I'll be sure to document in my official report how accommodating you've been, Jasinda."

  "Thank you. The coolers are right here. As you can see they're pretty standard."

  She bent down to pick up a napkin on the floor. As she did so, the inspector reached into his pocket again. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that his hand came out wrapped around something. A hypodermic needle! He was going to jab her with it!

  He moved toward her.

  She jumped away. Her back slammed into the cabinet. The vibration jolted a metal milkshake container off the counter. It crashed into the sink.

  "I'm sorry, Jasinda. I didn't mean to startle you."

  "Your hand!" she shrieked. What are you hiding in your hand?"

  He opened his fingers.

  Her entire body relaxed. She stared at nothing but an ordinary thermometer.

  "I need to check the temperature of the ice cream coolers," he explained.

  "Right, of course. I'm sorry. It's just that... Oh, never mind." She decided that he probably already thought she was crazy. What was the point in telling a stranger about everything that had been happening around there recently?

  The health inspector slid the ice cream case open and placed his thermometer inside.

  "If you don't need me for anything, I'm just going to wash this milk shake container," she said as she turned towards the sink and twisted the faucet.

  "Fine, fine. Take your time." He slipped his hand into his other pocket. In one swift movement, he removed his hand and flicked his thumb to release the switchblade. He swung his arm as if to backhand her across the face.

  The sharp, protruding edge of the knife sliced through her throat at precisely the right spot to prevent her from making a sound.

  Her face contorted in pain. Her hands momentarily shot up to her neck. As she fell to her knees, one hand grabbed the edge of the sink. Flecks of blood mixed with running water and disappeared down the drain.

  He jammed the knife into the front of her apron. When he pulled it out, the blood spattered all over her name tag. She fell into a heap at his feet.

  The man calmly bent down and pushed her body over. He observed that she'd stopped breathing. He felt and confirmed the lack of a pulse on the side of her neck which he hadn't sliced. He wiped his blade clean on her now blood-stained Biggie Scoops apron.

  The man stepped away from her body. He looked down and smiled, "Thank you, Jasinda. You were quite cooperative indeed."

  Chapter 25

  Jasinda had promised to call Craig on her way home from Biggie Scoops that night. She had explained about all the schoolwork she had to get done so she'd declined an offer to get together with him, even for just a quick drink.

  Craig resp
ected how hard she worked both at the ice cream shop and on her studies. Craig had been a decent student, but deep-down, he always knew the reality... as a star member of his college's football team, it didn't matter what kind of grades he got. The university was going to see to it that he passed with a comfortable margin. Also, his career in pro sports was guaranteed long before his college graduation.

  He had made a conscious effort not to let the disappointment show in his voice when Jasinda turned him down. With the Big Game only three days away, he knew his free time going forward would be severely limited, if not completely non-existent. He might not have a chance to see Jasinda again until the following week. That's why he came up with the plan to surprise her at work at the end of her shift.