Kassidy laughs, but it’s definitely not a nice sound. It reminds me of that annoying sound someone would make dragging their fingernails across the chalkboard. How anyone can find this woman attractive is beyond me. “Figures you’d do something like that, Lillianna. How many phones does this make now?” She lifts up an eyebrow, an accusatory look plastered on her overly made up face.
Lilli nonchalantly shrugs and retorts, “No clue. But since I’m not typically tied to mine, it’s kind of irrelevant. And since I don’t have any phone numbers memorized other than my childhood telephone number, I couldn’t call. Sorry.” A small chuckle escapes me because she doesn’t look sorry in the least.
“So, are you coming?” Anson queries. I hear the unmistakable sound of bikes rumbling and realize that for all intents and purposes, the cavalry has arrived. I just hope that Trident was able to reach out to Detective Ames, the cop who we found out is handling Lilli’s ‘missing person case’, because if he did, then that means we can hopefully get the ball rolling on everything else. And honestly, I’m getting sick and tired of sitting here listening to their crap. They haven’t acknowledged me once, and I’m not an easy man to dismiss. My presence alone has been known to have some shaking in their proverbial boots.
“No, I’m not,” she dismissively replies. “I’m hungry and plan to eat my meal before I even think about dealing with any of this.” She waves her hand through the air, all but dismissing them. It’s like a queen holding court. She’s heard enough and is ready for the small people to leave her presence.
“Yo, Poseidon!” Trident calls out. I glance over to where he, Loki, and Brooks are walking toward me, with another man whose very presence and persona screams ‘cop’, and take a deep inhaled breath. It’s showtime, apparently, and while it’s not the battle of the Alamo or the death fight of the OK Corral, doing this in the middle of a busy restaurant was not on my radar.
“Who are all these… oh, hello, Detective Ames,” Anson shockingly says. I clock the instant that Ames realizes something isn’t kosher when he looks at both Anson and Kassidy, then sees the petite woman sitting across from me. His solemn look has Anson backpedaling.
“You’re Lillianna Rose,” Detective Ames states, his eyes on Lilli. He never looks at the couple as he keeps his attention solely on my woman.
“I am, yes. And you are?” she queries as she places her elbows on the table and lays her hand on top of her closed fist. She almost has a bored look about her.
“Detective Ames. I’m overseeing your missing person case, although with you sitting in the middle of a busy restaurant, I think I can close it out. You folks about finished? I’ve got some questions so I can wrap up my report and I think it’d be better to do it down at the station.”
I know I’m done. Seeing that smarmy fucker walk up to our table with that vindictive bitch in tow wiped my appetite clean off the map. “Lilli? If you want, we can get to-go boxes.”
She glares at the man and woman in question then looks down at her plate and sighs. “The only other thing I was looking forward to was a piece of that Coca-Cola cake. If we can get one of those to go, then I’m good. Oh! We can’t forget our other things, Jesse,” she replies. I hear my brothers whispering behind me, shocked that she called me by my given name since I haven’t used it in years. I glare at them and see the shit-eating grins on their faces. Those fuckers know with her being my old lady, it’s highly probable that she’d use my citizen name when we’re alone. Assholes, every damn one of them.
Detective Ames hands Lilli a business card and continues, “I’ll head on over there now. Y’all take your time. Anson, Kassidy, I have a few more questions for y’all as well. Now’s as good of a time as any.” Anson shoots Lilli a glare, one I’m none too happy to see sent in her direction. Before I can utter a word, Ames ushers the two of them away. I watch as the three of them leave and my brothers sit down at the table to join us. It was hard to bite my tongue and say nothing during that altercation, but in the grand scheme of things, that was the best way to play that situation.
Trident leans in and asks, “Guessing that was the ex?” while he grabs one of the biscuits off the plate that sits between Lilli and myself.
Before either of us can answer, our waitress comes over, looking flustered. “I, uh, did y’all want anything else? To-go boxes or drinks? Dessert?”
“I’d like two pieces of Coca-Cola cake to go, no ice cream unless it’s in a separate container,” Lilli replies as if nothing ever even happened.
“What about the rest of this?” The waitress motions toward our half-eaten plates.
“I’m finished,” I state. “We’ll take two drinks to go as well, please.”
Once she takes the plates away with a promise that the to-go order and our check will be ready in a few minutes, I glance at Trident. “Appreciate y’all showing up when you did. Sure as fuck never expected that we’d run into the two of them.”
“Me either,” Lilli supplies. “I mean, we live like two towns over. What were the odds?” Yeah, I’m not liking the coincidence of them ‘just showing up’ where we were eating. There’s something fishy about the entire encounter. I’m a damn good fisherman. I think it’s time to get my tackle box prepared for an all-night fishing expedition. I need to reel in and behead two slimy fucks.
“Did you turn your phone on?” I ask. She’s about to answer when the waitress comes back with our order and check. “Thank you,” I say before standing. Even though I’ll probably put a tip on the check, I also prefer to give cash, so I hand her a singular green bill.
“Can we wait until we get to the truck before I answer that?” Lilli questions. I nod, taking her hand in mine and walk up to the counter. The clerk sees us and starts pulling the small stack of things that Lilli managed to accumulate to the counter and begins ringing us up.
“Did y’all shop or something?” Loki inquires, looking at what we’re buying.
“You can’t come in this place and not shop,” Lilli retorts, grinning up at me. “By the way, in case you missed it, I’m Lillianna Rose.”
“Kind of figured that one out, darling,” Loki says, giving her an appreciative look. I smack him in the back of the head for flirting with my woman, causing him to grunt. “I know how it is, brother,” he grumbles. “Just welcoming her to the family and all.”
Trident grabs the bag before either Lilli or I can do so, then wraps his arm around her shoulder while I pay. I’m glad I trust my brothers because otherwise, seeing anyone with their hand on her would send me into an uncontrollable rage. When he sees my pointed glare, he smirks in my direction then says, “You know we know who she is to you, brother. We got y’all.” And knowing that is the reason I’m allowing him to keep his hand attached to the arm that’s slung around her.
We make our way out of the store, my wallet two hundred dollars lighter I might add, and as my brothers head to their bikes, Brooks calls out, “We’re going with y’all. I don’t like this one bit.”
Yeah, me either. Time to figure out what the fuck is going on.
Lilli
I wait until he’s in the truck, our huge bag of newly purchased belongings secure in the back seat before I finally answer him. “Yeah, it was dead, but I remembered to charge it and turned it on this morning. Why?”
“I suspect that he has a tracking app on your phone, pretty girl. Otherwise, how else would he have ‘found’ us today? That makes no sense with everything you’ve told me. I highly doubt it was a coincidence like they were trying to pass off. Awfully convenient if you ask me that they were out searching for you and happened upon us at a chain restaurant.”
I stop and think about what he’s saying. When I first left, my phone blew up with calls, messages, and texts. Then, it died, likely because of the cold I slogged through to get to the cabin. I used my e-reader while I was there and didn’t worry about calling anyone because the people I would’ve called were trying to kill me, so why even bother? Then, I was too sick to care about contact
ing anyone. I didn’t even think about my phone until we got to the clubhouse and I found it in my backpack. Once it was charged again, something I honestly didn’t think would happen due to the circumstances, I turned it on and tossed it inside of my purse and forgot about it.
“I think you’re right,” I admit, telling him everything that I did with my phone up until this morning. “How else would they know where I was? Like I said, we live two towns over. Should we tell the detective everything? Shit, the paperwork is at the clubhouse with Trident.” When the nurse went to hand it to us, Jesse had them fax it to the clubhouse to Trident’s attention since there were so many pages.
He activates the Bluetooth in his truck by saying, “Call Trident.” A few seconds later, the call connects, and I can hear wind sounds. I think it’s cool that they have helmets like that and hope that when I finally get to ride with him, he’ll get one for me as well.
“What’s up, brother?” Trident asks. I look in the side mirror and can see him and the other two following us. He must catch me looking because I see his hand come up in a wave, which makes me smile.
“Did you think to bring the paperwork from the doctor?” Jesse inquires. I know it’s a long shot. Hell, I didn’t even know he had contacted them while we were at the restaurant! So much for my powers of observation. They obviously suck donkey balls.
“Actually, yes I did. No clue why. I was out the door when it occurred to me that we might need it. Weird, huh?”
“Not at all. I figure since we’re heading to the police department, now’s as good a time as any to give all the shit to the detective. Especially since those two fuckers are gonna be there too.”
“Good point, brother. We’ve got y’alls back. Later.” He disconnects the call without saying goodbye, causing me to giggle.
“Is he always blunt and to the point like that?” I ask.
“All of us are, actually,” he advises as he looks over at me through the corner of his eyes. “We never say goodbye for some reason. Anyhow, you won’t be alone in there and if there’s anything you’re not comfortable answering, don’t. The club has an attorney on retainer and when we get there, I’ll reach out so I can put him on notice.”
“I’m a lot more trouble than I’m worth,” I mutter. He reaches over and grabs my hand, lacing his fingers with mine.
“You’re priceless to me, Lilli. Trust me when I say that while I was tired of being alone, I wasn’t actively looking for anyone until you dropped at my feet.”
“Will I ever live that down?” I muse.
“Nope. Not gonna happen, it’s part of our story, sweetheart. A story that’s going to have many chapters.” Damn, for a badass, he has a way with words!
We arrive at the police department and before Jesse can get out, Trident is at my door helping me down. “Will I ever get to know your real name?” I ask as he closes the door once I’ve grabbed my purse.
“It’s Brock, but even my mom calls me Trident at this point, so don’t feel bad if you call my name and I don’t answer,” he replies, handing me over to Jesse. I grin when Jesse shoots him a look and then laces our fingers together.
“Got it. If I call you Brock and you don’t answer, switch names,” I state, giggling.
“You call and I’ll answer, sweetheart,” he replies, causing Jesse to growl out something that would have me fearing for Trident’s well-being, except I know that they’re close. They may not share the same blood, but the bond between them is unwavering. You can see it between them the moment you meet them and see them interact.
As we walk into the station, I feel the nerves I’ve been trying to ignore creep back in. Anson and Kassidy are sitting off to the side and he glares at mine and Jesse’s conjoined hands. Pulling away slightly, I open my purse and grab the engagement ring that I shoved inside, pull it out and hand it to Anson. “Here. I don’t want this anymore,” I advise him. “You and me? We’re done. Finished. Over.” And boy does that feel good to say to his face. It feels as if a cinder block has been lifted from my shoulders. The weight of the world falls away as happiness envelops me.
He starts to sputter out curses at me, but I retake Jesse’s hand in mine and head toward the detective, who is standing by a room. Detective Ames waves us inside and closes the door as we take a seat at the table. The room we’re in is lifeless. It’s stale and causes a shiver to wrack over my body. I’d never be able to sit in here for hours on end and play games with detectives. I’d end up spilling my life’s secrets in minutes just to get out of this cold environment. “I figured I would talk to y’all before I asked the two of them any further questions. Your man, Trident, sent over some interesting documents. Can you two fill me in a bit more?” I glance at Jesse who shrugs.
“I’m not sure what documents he sent you, but I think that Anson and Kassidy attempted to murder me so they could collect on my inheritances,” I state. I watch Detective Ames take a deep breath and nod.
“Tell me more,” he commands, pulling a file toward him and flipping it open. Jesse hands me the file from the doctor and I push it across the table.
“That right there is the report from the doctor. Maybe I should back up a little bit first and give you more background information?” I inquire.
“Starting from the beginning is usually the best place, but either way, if I have questions, I’ll ask, so don’t worry if you bounce around a little bit during the telling, okay?”
Looking up at the ceiling, I close my eyes and gather my thoughts. “Okay, so first of all, Kassidy and I have been friends since I started middle school. I met Anson about six months or so ago; my father introduced us and after I said no a few times, I finally agreed to go out on a date with him. I figured if my dad trusted him so fiercely then I could as well. Recently, my parents died.” I stammer a bit as their loss rolls over me once again and I feel Jesse take my hand in his. I don’t want to examine just why his touch soothes me like it does, so I file it away to look at later. “My parents died almost two months ago now, give or take a week. The time is messed up in my head a bit, but I went to start dealing with their estate and get some stuff taken care of. When I came home, I felt sick and thought it was just the flu or something. Anyhow, Kassidy made me some soup and she and Anson were insistent that I at least eat that.”
My voice cracks a bit and Detective Ames bids, “Do you need something to drink?”
“Water, please,” I request. Not even a minute later, there’s a knock on the door and when he calls out for whoever it is to enter, another officer walks in with several bottles of water. Once I have it in hand and have taken a long swallow, I replace the cap and continue with my statement. “I noticed after the first few bowls that I seemed to get worse after eating the soup. More um, digestive issues, vomiting, that kind of thing, and the soup didn’t taste right to me, either. I thought it was because I was congested and maybe my taste buds were off, but nothing else tasted funny, so I stopped eating it without letting them know.”
“How did you do that?” Detective Ames probes, jotting down something in his file.
“I would deliberately overheat it, then tell whichever of them was around that it had to cool first. When they’d leave the room, usually for a shower or something, I would pour it down the sink then rinse the bowl so that only a little bit would be left inside.”
“What happened to cause you to leave?” he inquires.
“I had to run over to my apartment for something and I guess I got back sooner than they expected me to. I happened to overhear them talking about the fact that in two weeks, they’d be walking on easy street.” I leave out the fact that they were in bed together and it had been obvious to me, based on the state of their undress, that they had just finished having sex.
“What was going to happen two weeks from then?” I’m kind of glad he’s asking questions, because my being at Jesse’s cabin for two weeks give or take thanks to the storm then getting sick means my timeframe is out of whack.
“I would turn twe
nty-five and receive the inheritances from both my grandparents, as well as the entirety of my parents’ estate.” Well shit, I guess I missed my own damn birthday; way to go, Lillianna!
“And you feel that Anson and Kassidy were trying to what? Force that issue?” he asks as he stops writing and looks up at me with concern.
“Anson pushed to try and get married pretty much as soon as my parents died, saying he could better help me handle everything. I wasn’t really ready to deal with all of that at the time, so I hadn’t agreed to jump in and marry him then and there. The day I heard them talking about me as if I wasn’t going to be around any longer, or much longer, I left. I was fearful for my life and scared of what lengths they’d go to in order to get ‘rid’ of me. I went back to my apartment, grabbed what I absolutely thought I needed, hit the bank and withdrew money, then started driving.”
“So tell me about these medical records,” Detective Ames states, pointing at the folder that Jesse gave him.
“My car broke down somewhere in the North Georgia mountains, and by then, my phone was dead. I got out and started walking, looking for help and literally found a cabin when I was half-frozen.” Jesse glances down at me and gives Detective Ames a nod before he takes over.
“When she arrived, she was half out of it and damn near frozen. I got her thawed out and was able to go check out her vehicle. I noticed a few things that didn’t look right so had one of my guys come up with a tow truck and take it to our shop to go over. Suffice it to say, it’s a new vehicle and the brake lines and what-not shouldn’t have been sliced into, nor should the tires have had tiny punctures in them. I can get that paperwork to you as well if you have an email address,” Jesse says.
Detective Ames nods and Jesse holds up one finger, pulls out his phone and then, taking the card that Detective Ames pushes across the table, sends a text, presumably to whoever oversees the repair shop.
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