Dreams in the Dark (Destroyers Book 2)

by A. R. Case

  She moaned into my ear.

  “Indy, hold that thought … sir? May I get this boxed up?” There was a bit of a wait, and she filled it with some of the details about Eddie and Home Depot.

  “You did good, baby.” She needed to hear that.

  “Trouble was, I couldn’t get the restraining order.”

  “Restraining orders don’t do jack shit.”

  “So, you think I shouldn’t get one?”

  I hesitated. If Eddie got pushed he would probably start pushing back harder. But if we let this shit slide, he would definitely try to make contact again. I was maybe three states away, and feeling every mile. The stupid prospect they had on her wasn’t going to make his colors if I had any say in it, and … Damn, that reminded me. I hadn’t checked in with anyone. A part of me was really okay with that. That same part usually was the one poking me in the ass to just keep riding, and never look back. This time, it had a destination. That was new. “Not sure baby. Do you think it will make him worse?”

  Her whispered “Yes” broke my heart.

  “Then we won’t. Please call Walt when we’re done here, and get a new speck on you.” There was about nine or ten more hours in the seat tomorrow. Adding my sore ass into the equation, it would be late when I got there because I’d have to get off and walk a bit every couple of hours. “I’ll be there around sunset, I hope. You going to be okay until then?”

  “I can hold on.”

  For the love of everything in the world, I wished for a teleportation device. I still didn’t have a plan. I think it started with, getting in the same room with Edie and ended with holding her forever. That was the extent of it. For once that didn’t scare me shitless.

  I heard her truck door squeak. Some rustling and the closing of the door.

  “So, my boots are off, my pants unzipped. Oh hey, what’s that? I forgot to wear underwear today. Are you going to spank me for being bad?”

  Her laughter was almost as good as a teleporter.

  Chapter 15: Pins

  Edie

  While I was trying to get to sleep on the lumpy mattress, I Googled how to block unwanted calls. Turns out I could put my phone on almost 24-hour do not disturb and only let people on my contact list ring through. Who would have thought that Edie the mudhen was so tech savvy? I celebrated the peace and quiet with leftover takeout. Then set the alarm for the early start on the day. It would start with a trip to the local fabric and craft store. Then, next door to a clothing store for some essentials.

  I picked up fabric, a new sewing machine, dress form, and sundry other stuff. While none of it was overpriced, the total hurt. It was about three thousand dollars. It didn’t even look like that much, and it wasn’t the expensive items that I needed, like a new sable brush.

  The clerks were very helpful getting it into my truck, and the prospect, a different one today, helped me get all the purchases from both stores into the house so I could work.

  About two, my phone buzzed. It was from my contacts list, so rang through.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi Edie? This is Joe, remember me? You visited the shop with Mary?”

  The gun shop. I set down the pins I’d been poking into my brand-new dress form. I was partially covered with the pieces for a fitted pinstripe suit I’d dreamed about last night.

  “I’m so glad you called. Has my background check cleared?”

  “Flying colors. You still interested in that Walther?”

  “I am. May I pick it up today?”

  “Of course. I’ll hold it at the counter. Not certain if you’ll have time tonight for a class, but we’ll get you set up with the basics.”

  “I appreciate that, thank you.”

  It took longer than I expected, and I was rushing to get home before dark.

  I didn’t need to. Indy texted somewhere between the gun shop, and when I got home.

  At the Ohio border 3 hours.

  I didn’t text him back, knowing that he would stop to check. I did cross my fingers and say another wish-prayer.

  Then I secured my new gun in its little box, and practiced unlocking the safe with my eyes closed. It made me feel a little better when I was finally able to do it without fumbling the key.

  Then I called my mother.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Are you okay?” She sounded worried. I wanted to double check the call list but was afraid I’d hang up on Mom if I did that.

  “I am fine, why?”

  “Eddie said you were in trouble.”

  “He did?” I sat down on the bed, which swayed dangerously. “How am I in trouble?”

  “He said you were kidnapped by those bikers.”

  “Really? That’s some story. Did he sound drunk?” I was getting wise to this game, maybe if I used the same tactics he used, I could get my Mom back on my side.

  “I don’t know.” She was thinking about it.

  “He gets kind of dramatic when he’s drunk.” He did, I’d seen his theatrics, first hand.

  “Well, it was rather strange.”

  “I bet he was drinking.” If he was, or wasn’t, at this point I didn’t care. “You really should block his number. That’s not healthy, you know.”

  “But he’s been working so hard, and you need the help.”

  “Mom, I got my insurance check yesterday. There’s nothing he needs to do to help me.” Except maybe leave my mother alone. “Him butting into my life is really pushing him backwards in his recovery. I don’t know how long he’s been off the wagon, but it got bad for a while.” So bad, he killed my daughter, I wanted to scream it at her.

  “Oh. Yes, that’s not very healthy. Maybe he should get help.”

  “I agree. Thing is, Mom, he needs to do it himself. You enabling him, won’t. If you blocked his number, you would be doing him some good. He’d move on, and maybe get better.” I felt better framing it this way.

  Then again, I was lying to my mom. Misleading sounded a bit better so I tried it on for size. “How’s Dad? Eddie isn’t bothering him, is he? I’d hate to see his heartburn get worse.” Dad hated Eddie. Probably more than I did.

  “Oh, he’s okay. And no, Eddie hasn’t been bothering him. Although …” she trailed off.

  “You sure Dad’s okay?”

  “Well, he did get upset the other day.”

  Mom, block Eddie’s number. I didn’t say it out loud.

  “You know, I think you’re right, all this drama isn’t good.”

  Yes! “I know. And it is all so unnecessary. I’m doing fine. This little house is bigger than that cabin, and I bought supplies today. Oh, and you should see the suit I’m making.”

  “A suit?”

  I described the pin stripes and the tailored waist. “It’s a charcoal grey, a good neutral, so I think it would look good with an ivory top. What do you think?”

  “Ivory is good with your skin, what about pink?”

  Ugh. “It wouldn’t make me look too flushed?” I thought it made the red in my cheeks stand out. Which contrasted with the yellow undertones of my neck. That’s why I stayed far away from pink.

  “You’re right, maybe a rose, or peach would be better.”

  We settled in to talking more about the items I’d purchased and some of the other clothing I was planning to make. I needed shoes, but didn’t have any of the lasts I’d built. However, plaster of Paris might have survived the fire. I’d go tomorrow and check.

  A text from Indy interrupted the call.

  10. That was it. He was texting and riding. Dammit. Hopefully he was at a light.

  “Mom? I need to call it a night. You and Dad be safe. I love you.”

  “I love you too, sweetie. I’m glad you’re not kidnapped.”

  I rolled my eyes. The phone went dark.

  It was less than ten minutes later when Indy rolled into the driveway. His voice rumbled in the dark. The higher, but still masculine voice of the prospect answered. Then the screen door to the side of the house squeaked. I’d b
een making my way in that direction as soon as I heard the rumble of motorcycle, so I was there to unlock the side door.

  He was tired and dirty from the road. A stripe of grime colored the little band of skin between where his facemask covered and the edge of his glasses. It was mixed with sweat and was slightly streaked where the droplets washed a path clean. But he looked damn good.

  “Get in here.” I tugged him in, and locked the door behind him.

  “Baby, I’m all sweaty.”

  “Don’t care.” I kissed him with all I had, and then some. He kissed back, deepened it as he lost some of the tension from the road.

  But he did stink. “You need to clean up?”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Sorry, yes.”

  So much for that whole concept of pheromones being sexy. I got him a towel and let him alone so he could get the dirt off. In the meantime, I dug into the clothing bag and slipped into the nightgown I’d found today.

  Indy came out, dripping, sunburnt and smelling like my shampoo. I could not ask for a better sight in the world.

  He looked me up and down. “You are a sight for sore eyes.”

  I pounced. Well, okay, not an actual pounce, but enough to kick start a kiss that led us to the bed. He grimaced at the swaying. “This thing is a menace.”

  “Ignore it.”

  “Okay.”

  The nightgown came off, so did his towel.

  We were on position two, or maybe three when it happened. The bed, with all its swaying and creaking and groans, died.

  Not in a graceful, aged way, but with an obscene squeal and a terrible crash. Then things slid sideways, and we ended up tumbled off to one edge, half on the floor. Indy managed to catch us with one arm as the slide came to an inglorious end.

  We were both stunned. “I think we killed it.” I managed to croak. He was on top of me.

  Indy’s face twisted. It puckered up, and his eyes got mischievous. “I think that’s likely a good thing. It was miserable something fierce.”

  I stuck my lips together hard to keep from laughing. “What a way to go.”

  He broke before I did. The laughter and giggles persisted for a long time. But we managed to work around it all and reunite. After, he tugged the mattress off and put it into a space in the corner. Then he and I curled into the nest he made and slept.

  [Edie, again]

  “Honey, I need to go to the cabin today.” Indy was in the kitchen and I was around the corner in what should be a living room. Instead, I’d set everything up and it was currently a sewing room. I’d finished the skirt for the suit, and was putting some final touches on the fit for the jacket. I still hadn’t figured out what I was going to do for a shirt under it, but it would come to mind eventually. I needed those lasts if possible though. I’d cut the vamp and counters for the shoes. They were the same fabric as the suit. It felt good to create again.

  “Take a speck with you.” His voice was muffled by the wall between us.

  “Honey, they’re prospects.”

  He poked his head around the corner. “Sweetheart, your damn heart is too big. Specks.”

  I frowned at him but it was too late, he’d gone back to whatever was cooking. Some of it smelled like bacon, but there was coffee too, and something savory smelling. “What are you going to be doing today?”

  “Going with Fin into the police to see if they’ve moved on those tapes. And have a talk with them about Eddie.”

  The morning of the fire, Fin took his entire computer to the police. He didn’t have to, but he wanted them to know that the footage wasn’t doctored in any way. No one told me what they’d found, but I could assume. Considering Eddie’s insanity over the last few days, I could assume a lot. “Did you need my phone too?”

  His head appeared again. “He leave any messages?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  He frowned. “Not much to go on there. What about your mother, think she’d tell the police something?”

  “Only what a good citizen he is.” I still wasn’t convinced I’d gotten through to her. “I tried a new tactic on her yesterday.”

  This time he walked into the room. “Oh yeah?”

  My head bobbed in affirmation. “I took a trick from his book, discredit the source.”

  “Babe.” He didn’t sound happy.

  “I didn’t outright lie.”

  “You lie like shit, don’t do it.”

  On the contrary, I think I was becoming better at it. “I think I’m getting better at it.”

  He tilted his head at me.

  “Want to guess if I’m lying?”

  “Baby, first off, I’m prepared for it. Second you still lie like shit. Third, breakfast is getting cold.”

  Oh, well, he makes a good argument. I giggled.

  “Don’t tell me you’re still cracking up about that bed.” He’d taken the frame out, then the box spring which was cracked. One whole corner flopped over like a dead fish. It was propped up alongside the house next to my truck. I intended to take it to the dump during my errands today.

  I giggled a little harder at the prospect’s face when Indy hauled it out. He looked at the frame, at Indy, at me, at the frame, then turned beet red. Indy on the other hand said he was going to put it up against the front of the house. I managed to talk him out of that one. “No, I was trying to figure out when you became an advocate for the truth.”

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  This man of mine was fascinating. I didn’t need to know what stranger things had happened, but I did want to imagine that someday I’d find out.

  “I love you.” I’d been saying it for a while now, but this time, it came out just a bit more … I don’t know, it was just more. It no longer was about a temporary fantasy, or the dark man I barely knew. This was the dear man who woke up early to get bacon and eggs, and the good coffee, even after riding for three days to get to me. That’s where this was coming from. I believed in him a bit more now. Not him, us.

  “Woman.” He warned

  “Roll with it, baby.”

  An eyebrow went up. “You’ve been hanging out with Betty Jo too much.”

  He poured my coffee and fixed it exactly right. Then he poured his. My nose prickled up. These little things were the biggest tells of all. He did things for me first, then himself. Almost always. I forced down the happy tears and sipped my coffee.

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Coffee.”

  He shrugged like it was nothing.

  “What happens if they aren’t going to do anything about Eddie?”

  The look he gave me over his cup was something. “No plans yet.”

  But I knew him, he had plans. His plans had plans. “I’m certain you’ll get creative.”

  Coffee sprayed out. Luckily, he’d managed almost a full sip, and half swallow. The rest went down between coughs. “Warn me next time you want to get funny.”

  “What’s so funny?”

  His pause and the look he gave me was one of disbelief. Finally, he rolled something around in his head. “You’re the creative one.”

  “Thank you, again.” I paused for a second to see if he understood. “For acknowledging that.” Eddie never had. It was always my “little hobby,” or worse, “those damn doodles.” But Indy’s words were sincere, and taken to heart as the compliment they were. He didn’t realize how huge it was for me to have someone in my life who appreciated my talent.

  The tiny flicker on his face showed he knew why I had thanked him. Luckily there was no talk of murder or dismemberment during breakfast.

  “I’ll stop by the mattress place, see if they can deliver something today. My back is all fucked up from that …”

  “... Abomination?” I prompted.

  He nodded. “Good word for it.”

  “Don’t get a king size.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I like snuggling on you.”

  A smile spre
ad across his face. “Maybe I’ll get a twin.”

  “You wouldn’t fit in a twin, you’re too tall.”

  He gave me a slow nod at that. “A queen for my queen.”

  At times, he was seriously cheesy. And I loved it.

  His phone rang. “Hi TomTom.”

  “Say hi for me.” I nudged in.

  “Hang on, Edie says, hi.”

  He covered the phone. “He says Vega says hi back.” Then he went back to the conversation. “Okay, what did they say?”

  TomTom talked for a minute, but I couldn’t hear that side.

  “So, he doesn’t have anything over here?”

  There was a shorter pause.

  “Well now, that’s interesting.”

  My ears perked up. Indy’s idea of interesting was usually illegal. If they were talking about Eddie, which I guessed they were, I wondered what they had dug up.”

  “Okay, keep them on him.”

  He hung up. I tried very hard not to be nosy, but this affected me too. “Eddie?”

  “He doesn’t have a job over here like he told your mother.”

  “So, he’s only in town to mess with me.”

  “Looks like. They followed him to a motel off 40.” He sounded like he cut off something.

  “He pick up a hooker there?”

  “Baby, that’s not your problem anymore.”

  “I know, I just automatically assume the worst anyways.”

  He was quiet for so long, I looked up. He was watching me. No, looking into me. There was a lot in his eyes, some of it warm, and some of it all Indy. I reached across the corner of the table to tug his hand into mine. “Not my problem anymore.” He picked up my hand and kissed it. Twice.

  Indy

  TomTom’s guys tag-teamed Eddie all over the town. Including a stop at the strip club. They gave me the heads up, just in time to get me out of dropping by the police station with Fin. That was a damn good thing. I parked my bike in its usual landing place, inside the coded gate, near the back door. I rapped on the metal door, and hit the buzzer. Security buzzed me in.