by A. M. Myers
What the hell made her leave?
Maybe I should just ask Streak to dig into her past but I want her to be the one to tell me. How could we truly move forward if she wasn’t?
Trudging into the kitchen, I sigh and after turning on the coffee maker, I sit down at the table and stare down at the files in a neat little stack before flipping open the first one. Laney’s picture stares back at me and I remember what Streak told me about Mitch last night. Sighing, I lean back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest as I stare at the file, my mind working through the new information… or lack of information, really. The fact that Streak can’t find any information on the man makes him even more suspicious but what can I do without hard evidence? God, maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree here. It takes a hell of a lot of brutality to commit these murders and if Mitch had that, shouldn’t we have seen it? Because there is a big difference between being a narcissistic asshole that hits your wife and the kind of psychopath that puts together a whole revenge plan that includes murdering three women.
The rich scent of coffee fills the air just before the machine beeps, letting me know it’s ready and I sigh as I stand up to grab a cup. I check my watch and glance over at the front door. After I got home last night, I tried to distract myself from how badly I had messed up and all the damn questions that have only gotten louder in the last twenty-four hours by reading through the files but I still couldn’t focus so I called Rodriguez to follow up on what Streak shared with me. He didn’t answer but maybe I can try him again now. I don’t know how much information he has to give me but truthfully, I’ll take anything at this point. It feels like I’ve been studying these damn files for years even though it’s only been a few months and I need to catch a break soon if I’m going to convince my brothers that we need to be looking into this. Stream billows around me as I pour myself a cup and turn, leaning back against the countertop as I sigh.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dial his number and walk back over to the table, setting my coffee cup down before I slump in my chair. My gaze locks onto Laney’s picture again and I shake my head.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Diego. It’s Fuzz. You got a minute?” I ask, leaning forward and flipping the file closed. I can’t stand to look at her face anymore. It’s like she is mocking me with my inability to solve this or find any sort of evidence to back up my theory.
“Yeah, a couple. What’s up?”
“It’s about the cases.”
He sighs. “I don’t have anything new to give you, Fuzz. I really fucking wish I did but even I’m beginning to think I’m going crazy over here.”
“Yeah,” I mumble, running my hand through my hair. “Streak mentioned that you brought Dina’s husband, Mitch, in after she was killed…”
“That son of a bitch,” he hisses and I bite back a laugh. “He promised me he wouldn’t go through my files anymore.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Naw, he didn’t. He was looking into Mitch for me and saw that you brought him in for questioning.”
“Ah, okay…”
“He didn’t dig any further than that,” I assure him. “Out of respect for you, of course.”
He scoffs. “Respect, my ass. He won’t dig into my shit anymore because I told him I’d haul him into the station next time he did it.”
“Shit,” I reply, laughing as I shake my head and picture the look on Streak’s face if Rodriguez stormed the clubhouse and put him in cuffs. Rodriguez chuckles.
“Yeah. So, what do you need to know about Mitch?”
“Did you get anything out of him?”
He sighs again. “Not really. I asked him where he was when Dina was killed and he had an alibi…”
“How solid of an alibi?”
“Not super solid,” he answers, frustration lacing his tone. “But solid enough that I couldn’t justify keeping him any longer. His friends vouched for him but you know how that goes…”
I nod, running my hand through my hair. “Yeah. They’ve got his back whether they actually saw him or not.”
“Exactly. Why are you looking into him? You think he had something to do with this?”
“I don’t know,” I sigh, leaning back in my chair and shaking my head. “It’s a theory but I’m not getting anywhere with it.”
“Run it by me,” he instructs.
“Well, the killing started with Dina, right? So, yeah, technically, it could be anyone connected to the girls we’ve helped but why start with Dina? Not to mention, that when Storm and Chance went to pick her up, they got into a fight with Mitch and Chance pulled a gun on him…”
Rodriguez sucks in a breath. “I didn’t know that part.”
“I mean, nothing happened but seems to me a guy like Mitch wouldn’t take that embarrassment very well.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
My mind drifts back to what Streak said last night and I lean forward, flipping open Laney’s file. “Have you been able to find anything else on him? Streak said the guy is pretty non-existent online.”
“Naw, man. He lives his life like he’s got something to fucking hide but he does it well enough that I can’t find anything.”
Staring down at Laney’s photo, I nod. “You think he’s capable of this?”
“Shit, Fuzz,” he sighs. “You never know what someone is really capable of… but if you told me he was the guy, I wouldn’t be too surprised. He’s got serious anger issues and I get the feeling that is just the tip of the iceberg so yeah, I guess I think he’s capable.”
“You ever get anywhere on Laney or Sammy’s cases?”
“No,” he answers, pain lacing his voice and a pit forms in my stomach. I know he hasn’t been coping with Laney’s death very well but when you add in the fact that he still hasn’t found her killer, it only makes it worse.
“All right. Well… if you find anything, will you let me know?”
He sighs again. “Yeah, you got it.”
We say good-bye and after I hang up, I lean back in my chair and sigh. My mind drifts from the cases to the other huge problem in my life right now.
Piper.
What in the hell do I do about her?
Scrubbing my hand down my face, I close my eyes and the image of her looking up at me last night pops into my head, her green eyes boring into my flesh and I suck in a breath. My eyes pop open and I check my watch again, contemplating driving over to her place and demanding answers again before I stop myself.
Shit.
Should I really be doing this?
Maybe I have just finally lost my mind and this whole plan to get Piper back is a delusion, fueled by my insanity. Then again, I haven’t felt this good in fucking years and even the frustration of the cases is not enough to damper my mood. Not when I can still feel her skin under my fingertips and her lips pressed against my neck. Fighting back a smile, I shake my head.
There are a few things I’m absolutely certain of - one, Piper never cheated on me. There is no possible way that is how things went down ten years ago because more than once I’ve caught her giving me the same damn look she used to give me when we were kids, like I’m her whole damn world. And yeah, she is still keeping secrets from me but that brings me to number two. Whatever she is hiding, whatever she has kept locked up for a decade doesn’t matter. We’ll get through it together. Last and most important, I’m not going to stop until I get my wife back.
If Piper thinks she’s seen me determined before, she’s got a whole other thing coming.
Letting my smile break through, I stand up and swipe my keys and phone off of the table before heading toward the door, ready to do whatever it takes to win her over. As I climb on my bike and it rumbles to life beneath me, I try to imagine what happened back then to make her leave. Since working with the club, my mind is full of awful scenarios but none of them really explain why she would leave. Did something happen to her? Did someone hurt her? The thought makes my blood boil and I swear I’ll hunt down whoever it
is and make them pay. But it still doesn’t explain her disappearance…
I shake my head and steer my thoughts toward how I can convince her to open up to me as I pull out of my driveway. Clearly, I can’t use our connection because we’ll just end up in the same spot we were in last night, naked and all over each other, and if I try to push her, it will only make her lock up. I definitely need to drop the baby thing, though. As much as I want that for us, it’s not the only thing I want or even the most important and getting her to open up to me is going to be hard enough without adding that little element into the mix.
Fuck.
It scares the shit out of me to think about giving her the ability to crush me again but what else can I do? If the last week has proven anything to me, it’s that I have to get her back. The pulsing ache that has been a constant in my life since she left is fading each time I’m around her again and for the first time in a long time, I can see my future, painted so clearly in my mind. Before now, I was walking around in a fog, only able to plan the next step but blind when I tried to gaze further ahead until she walked back into my life. So, she can fight me as long and as hard as she wants but I won’t stop.
Her front door opens as I pull up in front of her apartment and she looks up, her eyes widening as we stare at each other and I can see the moment she shuts down, locking away her feelings for me in an attempt to protect herself. Why the hell does she feel like she needs to protect herself from me, though? After climbing off my bike, I walk up the sidewalk to her front door as she turns away from me to lock it.
“Pip,” I say as I come to a stop a couple feet from her. She takes a deep breath as she turns around and meets my gaze.
Aw, hell.
She’s pissed.
“What are you doing here?”
I shrug since it should be pretty fucking obvious. “I’m here to see you.”
“Why?” she hisses, trying to push past me but I block her path. “Didn’t get enough last night? I hate to burst your bubble but I’m on my way to work and I think the neighbors would have an issue with you bending me over the bushes.”
Yeah…
Walking out without a word after I fucked her up against the counter was probably not my smartest move.
“I’m sorry about last night, Pip.” I place my hand over my heart. “Honest.”
She glares up at me, her gaze dropping to my hand before meeting my eyes again and I swear I can see a trace of pain shining back at me. “Well, at least we both agree it was a damn mistake.”
“Hold up. I didn’t say that. I’m apologizing for just walking out on you afterward… that was the mistake. Not us, never us.”
“Stop saying us like that’s a thing,” she sighs, trying to push past me again but I pull her into my arms.
Fuck.
She fits against me like she was made for me and it only hardens my resolve to work things out with her. She is the only woman in the world for me and I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out.
“It is a thing. It’s always been a thing and you know it.”
Shaking her head, she looks up at me and defeat slips into her gaze. “What is it that you want, Wyatt? I don’t have the energy to play this game with you anymore.”
For the first time I notice the dark circles under her eyes and I can’t help but wonder if she was up all night thinking about us just like I was or if the nightmares of her past still haunt her. Reaching up, I brush my thumb along her cheek and she leans into my touch for just a second before jerking back.
“What’s keeping you up at night, baby?”
She sucks in a breath. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why not?”
“You know why, Wyatt,” she breathes, her voice full of pain as she looks away from me. “I haven’t been your baby in a long damn time.”
I nod, tucking a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. “Yeah, about that…”
Her gaze snaps to mine.
“I’ve been thinking lately that maybe we should revisit things, you know… re-evaluate.”
She jerks out of my arms and stares up at me like I’m insane. “What does that even mean?”
“It means I want my wife back.”
“But,” she whispers, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. “I cheated on you…”
I shake my head. “No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Pip,” I scold as I reach out and pull her back into my arms. She struggles for just a second before her body practically melts into mine and she meets my gaze. “You know you’re lying. I know you’re lying. So let’s just stop and you tell me the real reason you left me back then.”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“I’m getting real damn tired of that word,” I growl, remembering how much it annoyed me last night as she refused to give me what I wanted. Scoffing, she slips out of my hands again and tries to push past me. With a sigh, I stop her and she glares up at me.
“Let me go. I have to get to work.”
“As soon as you tell me why you left.”
She rolls her eyes in mock annoyance but I can see the fear underneath the attitude. “What does it matter now?”
“Fine,” I snap, her words grating on my nerves. What does it matter? It’s fucking everything and I don’t know why she can’t see that. “I’ll make you a deal. You look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me anymore and I’ll never bother you again.”
Her gaze slams into mine and she doesn’t need to say anything. The nineteen-year-old girl I left behind when I deployed is staring back at me, love shining in her eyes as she shakes her head again.
“Just stop, Wyatt. The rocks you’re poking under are not pretty.”
I scoff as I pull her back into my arms. She can run as many times as she likes because I’m never going to make the same mistake I did ten years ago. This time and all the times in the future when she runs, I’ll be right behind her.
“I didn’t sign up for pretty, Pip. I signed up for forever, for better or worse. So, one way or another, you are going to tell me what happened back then and when you do, we are going to figure out how we can move forward from here.”
“It’s not that easy, Wyatt,” she whispers and I get the feeling that she is talking about more than just us. Whatever split us up ten years ago, whatever drove her away from me, is big and our biggest hurdle is going to be getting Piper to open up to me again.
“No one said it was going to be easy but I’ll be damned if I let you walk away from me again.”
Chapter Fourteen
Piper
“You almost here?” Lillian asks as I pull into the parking space outside of the restaurant and I sigh, putting the car in park as I lean my head back against the headrest. It’s been one hell of a day and somehow I let Lillian talk me into going out to dinner when I should have just stayed home with a big glass of wine and my comfiest clothes.
“I just parked.”
“Oh, the waitress is here. Do you want me to order you a drink?”
I nod as I turn the car off and grab my purse out of the passenger seat. “Yeah, a berry sangria and make it a large if you can.”
“It’s been one of those days, huh?” she asks before relaying my order to the waitress and I nod to myself as I step out of the car.
“Yes, it has.”
“Well, get your butt in here so you can tell me all about it. I gave them your name at the hostess stand.”
We hang up and I’m just about to slip my phone into my bag when it starts ringing again. I let out a groan. Between dodging Eden and Wyatt’s calls today, I’m about ready to just shut this damn thing off and be done with everyone. Glancing down, I roll my eyes at Wyatt’s name on the screen before declining the call and slipping the phone into my bag.
I honestly don’t know how to take my conversation with him this morning. For so long, all I knew was that I ruined us and anything we could have had so to have him show up and declare that he w
ants me back just as soon as I tell him what made me leave has me… off balance. Not to mention, that anytime he pulls me into his arms, I want to beg him to never let me go again but I have to force myself to close off around him and push him away. Although, now that he knows I didn’t cheat on him, I don’t see that happening. Telling him the truth, though… I just don’t know if I can. I’ve run it through in my head a hundred times and each time, all I can see is the look on his face - the one that says I’m weak, the one that will be full of disgust once he knows everything.
Shaking my head, I step into the restaurant and a young brunette looks up from the hostess stand with a smile. “Hi. Just one?”
Party of one?
That’s me.
I resist the urge to scoff… or burst into tears.
“No. I’m meeting someone. My name is Piper.”
“Oh, yes,” she replies with a nod. “Follow me, please.”
She turns and I follow her as she walks away from the entrance and into the dining room. The smell of tomato sauce and garlic bread hits my nose and my stomach growls. I press my hand to my stomach as my mouth waters. Oh, God, I’ve been so consumed with what Wyatt said before he left this morning that I forgot to eat anything. At least I didn’t have any in-studio shoots scheduled for the day so I didn’t have to be around Eden and keep up the silent treatment.
“They’re in the back corner,” the hostess says, pointing toward one of the tables and I scowl. They? I follow her outstretched hand and stumble when my gaze lands on Eden, sitting across from Lillian and looking guilty as hell. I grit my teeth as I close the distance between us and cross my arms over my chest.
“What the hell, Lil?”
She holds her hands up in surrender. “Listen, you guys need to talk and I knew you would never hear her out unless I forced you to.”
“I would have… eventually.”
“Well,” she replies with a shrug. “Eventually is now. Have a seat.”
With a huff, I sit next to Lillian and take a sip of the large sangria in front of my plate before leaning back in my chair, arching a brow and pinning Eden with a look. “Well?”