DEADLY HOPE a gripping detective mystery full of twists and turns

by Jack Parker

  She pressed a kiss to my cheek unexpectedly before I could ask any questions. A faint hint of her tea lingered when those warm hands left my waist, and she repeated the affectionate gesture on Mattison's cheek when she reached us. She took a moment to look into the girl's eyes rimmed with the pink remnants of tears and smiled.

  "Mattie, please take the rest of the day away from your obligations. You've had quite a scare." She brushed Mattison's loose hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears.

  "But I must prepare Lauren's room." Mattison protested, even as her voice and body shook.

  "I would very much be in your debt if you would entertain Lauren. In light of this afternoon's events, I must make some security arrangements. Fret nothing of the room. I shall personally see that it ready by this evening."

  Mattison nodded and then glanced at me. I smiled gently as Luci's "lesson" banged around inside my skull. I reached for Mattison's trembling hand and gently pulled her towards me. Luci nodded at me encouragingly before turning towards her office. I watched her departure until the door clicked shut, leaving me alone with Mattison. My gaze fell to the scared girl in front of me, and I smiled again. How could I comfort someone I barely knew? How can I protect her if she didn't trust me? She'd only just met me five minutes ago. I settled for a distraction.

  "Have you been up to the bell tower yet?" She shook her head, but a glimmer of intrigue ignited in her tear-filled blue-green eyes.

  I release her hand and wrapped my arm around her shoulders awkwardly and led her towards the back room where I'd stumbled upon the access point to the bell tower. If she sensed my anxiety, she indicated nothing as she allowed me to easily lead her up the stairs and ladder. I leaned my elbows onto the low stone wall that surrounded the round tower and caught my breath when I reached the top. I remembered Luci's words and offered Mattison my hand when her head popped through the trap door. I must support her, protect her, and make her feel secure. I scaled the ladder without assistance, which meant if I helped her, she subconsciously viewed me as someone she could depend on, someone stronger than she. My logic seemed desperate, even to me, but she took my hand appreciatively and pulled herself onto the creaky wooden platform. Her face flushed with the exertion, but her breath remained slow and even, a testament to her physical condition. I leaned my back against the wall and pulled my cigarettes from my pocket as I watched her nervous wonderment at the view.

  Her eyes turned towards me when my lighter clicked. The fear of my father had slipped away, but a new anxiety grew in her eyes. Her muscles tensed as she stood in the center of the tower and leaned towards the stone wall, trying to peer over the edge. It dawned on me then that the height of the tower had created the new tension, and the fear had frozen her to the first spot she'd found solid footing. I pulled a drag from my cigarette and reached for her hand again.

  "Does the height bother you?" I asked, and she turned her wide eyes to mine again.

  "Oui," she answered. Her apprehension reverted her mind to her native language. Thankfully, she spoke the only word I knew.

  "Come here. It's safe, I promise." I tugged her hand kindly. She took a step towards me, and breath caught in her throat.

  "I am sorry. Heights did not do this to me before today." Her chest flushed with embarrassment, and I smiled at the girl's innocence. I circled behind her, placed a hand between her shoulder blades and walked her towards the wall. She'd transferred her fear from the reality of the aggressive man who barged into her home to something irrational, heights.

  "I've got ya." I whispered when I felt resistance in her steps. She sighed and placed her hands slowly on the stone wall. Her shoulders bunched and released, fighting off the tension in her mind. I clamped my cigarette between my lips and placed my free hand on the toned muscles and rubbed them soothingly. They relaxed under my touch, and her breathing returned slowly to her normal deep, even tempo.

  "It is so beautiful," she confided quietly after a moment. "Thank you."

  I smiled at the back of her head before releasing my hold on her and pulling my cigarette from my lips. "No problem." I leaned my elbows against the stone wall beside her and gazed at the tiny town two miles away, keeping Mattison in my peripheral vision in case of another panic attack.

  "How long have you worked for Luci?" Considering Mattison's seemingly quiet nature, I suspected that she would happily stand here in silence for hours.

  "Three years. Since I was 14." I cocked my head towards her when her toned turned nostalgic and sad.

  "So you're 17?" She nodded. "If you're underage, how are you here? Don't you need a guardian's permission, or whatever?"

  "Luci is my guardian," she answered quietly.

  "So, she's your mom?" My shocked voice pulled her gaze from the mountains around us. My head swam with thoughts and emotions I could not identify.

  "No." She answered firmly. "My father owed her. He sent me to work off the payment. It is not uncommon." Her eyes searched the stone wall beneath her hands like it provided the answers to questions she had not spoken aloud.

  "Wait, Luci took you away from your family to work off a debt?" An inexplicable anger ignited in my chest. Had Luci defended me so fiercely against my father while practically holding this girl hostage and removing her from her family and country?

  "No." Her eyes slipped shut, and she huffed in frustration. "Luci is good." She reassured and then paused to gather her thoughts. I watched her and sucked on my cigarette to help regain control of the anger spiking my adrenaline. Luci was right, it forced already skittish creatures back into their shells for protection. Mattison require patience.

  "Luci said no to his offer of my service and sent me home. My father was very angry. He hit me." Her knuckles unconsciously rose to her jaw, tracing the bone as if she still felt the blow. "He sent me back to Luci with the same offer the next day. She said yes to stop him from hitting me and let me clean her house." Tears welled in already red eyes, and I almost asked her to stop.

  "So, how did Luci become your guardian?" I knew I should stop, let the girl maintain what dignity she could after today, but I couldn't. I needed to know.

  "I cleaned her house for six months. My parents died in a car accident then. I have no other family and would have been sent to… what do you call it?" She picked at the stone with her fingernail, obviously frustrated by her inability to provide the proper English word.

  "You would have been put in the system?" I offered, and she nodded.

  "Oui. I beg Luci to keep me. She told me that she did not want a child. I told her that I only wanted to work for her and would not ask for her affection. She agreed. By law, she explained that she cannot pay me, but if I want anything, she never tells me no. She has taught me in her home, so that I would not have to change schools when she moved for her company and she said that she would pay for my college for my years of service if I wanted to go. She is a good woman."

  The sadness melted from her eyes as she explained her relationship with Luci. The girl had obviously found a happy life as Luci's maid, and my heart swelled with affection for both of them. Mattie was a sweet kid who had been dealt a bad hand, and Luci was the saint who had saved her from her fate, just like she was saving me. I felt bad for Mattison's past but realized that I was glad to have met her. I bumped my shoulder into hers and flipped my cigarette butt over the side of the tower.

  "My parents ain't the greatest, either." I pointed to the healing wound on my forehead. "My dad did this." Mattison hesitantly brushed my bangs from the wound and studied it. The heat of her hand soothed the dull pounding around the cut, and I swore the girl had instinctively adopted Luci's uncanny ability, during her three years as Luci's ward, to comfort any broken soul with the heat of her hands.

  "Was that man your father?" I nodded and stared towards town, wondering how long David needed to bring all of my stuff to Carver. It wasn't much, so it shouldn't take long.

  "I learned a few months after my parents died that Luci studied martial arts,
but today was the first time I have ever seen her hurt someone." Luci's fighting skills unsettled the young woman. They unsettled me, too, as much as I desperately wanted to learn them.

  "Don't think of it that way. She was protecting us. Mattison?" I touched the girl's shoulder. "You know that Luci would never hurt any of you, right? Especially you." She was hooked; now I only had to reel her in, get her to trust me.

  "What do you mean by especially me?" She asked with a furrowed brow. The tone of her voice suggested that I'd lost my mind by the mere intimation that Luci cared for her as more than a simply servant. The girl had no clue how much Luci cared for her.

  "Her eyes. I'm sure you noticed how expressive her eyes are. They get… I don't know, softer when she looks at you or talks about you. She cares so much for you. You may have started out as just a girl she felt responsible for, but you're definitely more than that now. She'd never let anything bad happen to you." She chewed on her bottom lip as she considered my words. Blush tipped her ears and splotched her chest and neck, the only visible proof of how my words affected her.

  "Do you like to dance, Lauren?" She asked abruptly, clearly choosing to drop the subject of Luci's affection.

  "Uh, I'm not very good at it, but sure." I switched easily, allowing her to follow her impulses. This afternoon was about comforting Mattison, making her feel safe like Luci had instructed, and if she wanted to dance, then we would dance. She rewarded my response with a brilliant smile which resembled Luci's, and I wondered briefly if Luci was French instead of British.

  As I led the girl down the ladder and towards the West Wing where all of Luci's employees kept their private quarters, I digested how incredibly weird my life had become since meeting this enchanting stranger. I was paid to comfort a distraught young woman and to discuss the complexities of morality with my employer. All in all, it beat the hell out of a long monotonous day of slinging grease at Barb's. I intended to leave as soon as possible, but as long as I remained, I officially loved my new job.

  CHAPTER 9

  The walls of Mattison's room were covered with posters of bands and movies. A large book shelf directly across from the door held a mixture of DVD and CD cases and books, both French and English titles. A flat screen television wider than the door hung on a metal-framed entertainment stand to the left, perfectly positioned for viewing while lying in bed. Different gaming systems and games filled the shelves below the T.V. A black leather loveseat sat a few feet back from the stand with a wireless Xbox controller resting on the arm.

  "I told you that Luci never told me no. She just gives me her credit card once a month and asks for an 'itemized list' of my purchases." She air quoted the very Luci phrase, skipped over to her small desk near the bookshelf, and opened her lap top.

  Her hips had already begun moving to whatever moderate tempo played in her head. She plugged a cord into the speaker hole in the front of her laptop and hit play. Lady Gaga filled the room around us from the speakers hanging in the corners of each wall. I laughed when she whirled to face me, singing into the invisible microphone in her hand, her other hand poised above her head. She made a production of tossing the microphone aside after a few lines and bounced over to me. She grabbed my hips and moved them from side to side, and I followed her enthusiastic instructions.

  "Just dance!" She commanded in time with the words of the song, and I swung my hips, certain that I looked ridiculous. "Do not think too hard. Dancing is the solution to everything."

  My face had flushed by the end of the song. I had a moment's rest before the next beat began. A fast Latino voice filled the room, and Mattison whooped in delight, apparently following some predetermined dance pattern. She suddenly broke into her own rhythm until the verse repeated and she shouted the commands of the song to me as she repeated them. Of course she spoke Spanish. Luci had probably taught her every known language and a few dead ones by now.

  "With your hands up! Moving only the hips! Turn half around! Shake hard!" I tried to follow her commands in time with the frenzied tempo of the song and laughed at how ridiculous I must look. "Don't lose your breath now because this has just started! Move your head! Dance to Kuduro!"

  I gave up any hope of ever following her commands and let my body move naturally to the music. She laughed when I tried to mirror the roll of her hips, her body undulating in a perfect S-curve. I failed miserably, and she laughed at me. It felt good to laugh. Mattison made me laugh. She culminated an odd concoction of innocent and experienced, grounded yet abandoned her senses in throes of musical movement. Unlike Luci, I immediately felt comfortable in her presence. The girl had nothing to hide and divulged her past without a second thought, without shame and without regret. She'd made her decisions and, by chance or design, found happiness in her solitude. She was everything I could never be.

  "Loosen your hips!" She yelled, jarring me from the quick evaluation of her personality, and pressed her hips into mine and controlled them with her movements. A slow burn ignited in my belly as I gave myself over completely to her rhythm and the sensuous movements directing my body. She was right about one thing. The spontaneous movements and renewed blood flow wiped all of the problems from my mind, at least for that moment.

  She captured one of my hands and pulled it over my head to wave freely with our movements. She kissed the corner of my mouth and then spun away from me. I jerked in surprise at the sudden unexpected affection. The shy, timid girl I'd met an hour ago disappeared and had been replaced with an incredibly sensual, confident creature. She set my hand on her slim hip and continued to roll her hips in perfect rhythm with the frenzied beat. I abandoned myself to the music and her subtle direction, deciding to save these observations for later analysis.

  Her hips grinding into mine combined with the repetitive drum line of the song pushed the heat in belly between my legs, and I reminded my body that not only was the girl incredibly damaged and underage but was also Luci's ward. So, when the song changed something with a slower tempo, I abruptly spun her out with a firm grip on one of her hands. She laughed and shook her head, seemingly unaware of the effect she had on my libido. I realized then that she'd had no intention to create sexual tension between us; she wasn't coming onto me. She was just a kid who was dancing like her idols in music videos. I berated my close-minded brain, reminded it that not everyone grew up in a stuffy, traditional environment.

  She noticed my discomfort and slowed her hips, smile slowly dropping from her face. "Lauren?"

  "I'm sorry, Mattie. I'm not used to dancing like this." I gestured between our bodies with my free hand. Her eyes were confused for a moment and then flickered with the realization of what she'd done.

  "No, I am sorry, Lauren. I forgot that Americans are not as free with each other. Luci warned me about, umm - I think her exact words were 'rural Appalachian customs.' I have offended you. I am sorry." Genuine hurt filled her eyes at her perceived mistake, and I stepped into her.

  "That's not it, Mattie." I smoothed hair from my face and ignored the pounding around the cut on my forehead. "I misunderstood the situation. It's on me, not you, okay." She nodded, but her eyes told me that hadn't believed my words.

  "Do you want to learn how we dance around here?" The light that appeared in her eyes answered my question, and I took over her laptop to search for a proper song.

  When Conway Twitty's "Tight Fightin' Jeans" began, I pulled her into me and placed my hand on the small of her back, holding the other at chest height. She instinctively placed her free hand on my shoulder. She followed my instructions and watched my feet for about thirty seconds before she naturally picked up the two-step.

  "Another!" She exclaimed, and I returned to the laptop. I clicked the nearest Youtube video, which happened to be "Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man" and my favorite Conway and Loretta duet and pressed into Mattie again.

  Mattie's enthusiasm infected the air of the room, and any lingering reservations I had melted away as I twirled her unexpectedly and laughed at her delight.
I spun her one last time near the end of the song. She lost her balance and pulled me to the floor when she toppled over, and we laughed long after the song ended. The sound of someone clearing his or her throat from the doorway quieted our laughter, and I turned my head to find Luci watching us, an amused smirk on her lips.

  "I wasn't aware you could dance," Luci's husky voice snapped a band of tension around us, like the sting of a rubber band on the inside of my wrist.

  "Luci!" Mattie sprang to her feet and pulled the older woman into the room. "Can you do this dance?" She leaned over me and whispered, "Luci is very good with partner dancing. She has taught me many." Mattison explained conspiratorially and then pulled me to my feet and pushed me into Luci.

  I yipped in surprise when Luci hooked her arm around my waist, pulled me against her toned body and then looked expectantly at Mattison for music. She grinned fondly at the girl back, eyes soft with something that might have resembled motherly affection. She may not have desired a child, but she'd obtained one anyway. She loved Mattison fiercely.

  The expression felt wrong on her face, and a pinch of dread drilled into my stomach. Somehow, I much preferred the feral sneer of violence I'd seen only two hours ago to this softness. It felt more genuine.

  My heart jumped into my throat at the sensations shooting through my heated body when Luci's pressed against me the first time, forcing my feet into motion as the music began. I ignored it and concentrated on keeping up with Luci's agile steps. I wondered how she danced so skillfully with those heels beneath her feet. Everything disappeared except for Luci's body and the pounding of blood in my ears. How had I ended up in this situation?