Nevermore

by Wrenn Montgomery

  “Raven, you still there?”

  “Yes, I’m getting ready to pull in now. Are they gone?”

  “Yeah, the guy drove away but I got his tags. I’m coming to the front door to wait on you while I call it in. I’ll see you in a second.”

  I wait until I see the lights come on in her shop before I hang up and dial the station.

  Guess who answers?

  “Miss me that much?” he jokes.

  “Alex, I’ve got some tags, can you pass me to dispatch?”

  “Sure thing, but you know you’re going to have to speak to me eventually. We work at the same department. We’re brothers.”

  “Maybe we used to be, but that ended when you were balls deep in my girlfriend.” I end the call and text Tropp the plate number; she’ll get further than I will with Alex.

  The door swings open and Raven is there, eyebrows raised to the ceiling.

  “Who’s balls deep in your girlfriend?” Her tone isn’t playful and she’s looking at me like she’s not sure if she trusts me.

  “Ex-girlfriend. That was my ex-partner, whom I found balls deep in my then-girlfriend Friday evening before I went to the bar.”

  “Oh. So I’m a rebound?” Her voice is lighter now but I can tell there’s a lot to her question.

  “No, Raven, you’re not a rebound. I don’t know what this is, but it’s already ten times stronger than what I had with Jenna and we’re only three days in. I mean, I was upset for sure, but mostly because my partner fucked me over. Someone I was supposed to trust with my life was going home and fucking my girlfriend every night on his dinner break.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s awful.”

  “It is, but it’s over, and it led me here so I’m getting over it pretty quickly.”

  She looks skeptical but pulls me into the store and locks the door behind us.

  “The man in the car…he had a tattoo on his forearm. It looked like a Celtic knot. Do you know anyone with a tattoo like that?” I ask her.

  She thinks for a few seconds and says, “No. I don’t think so. I’ll ask around, though. I’d like to hear more, about your girlfriend, and I guess just about you in general. I feel like I know you, but I don’t know you.”

  I figured this would come sooner or later, and I have nothing to hide so I don’t mind telling her anything. I’ll tell her about Landry afterward. “Okay. Let’s talk.”

  She leads the way to the hidden staircase and up to her home. “Do you drink? I can open a bottle of wine or I have beer in the fridge.”

  “A beer would be nice, thanks.” I head over to the couch and settle in while she grabs the drinks.

  As much as I’d like to get her in bed right now, I know she needs this and it’s best if we play it safe on the couch.

  She comes to sit beside me and tosses her legs over my lap, like we’ve done this a hundred times. And for some reason, it feels like we have.

  “Okay, gorgeous. Ask away.”

  I feel giddy at the chance to get a glance into Emmett’s world, and the fact that he seems so open to whatever I’m going to ask him makes me feel like I can trust him to tell me the truth.

  There’s comfort in knowing you don’t have to pull every bit of information out of a person to get to know them.

  I decide to start simple and build my way up. “Where did you grow up?”

  “Delaware. A really small town called Millsboro. You?”

  “About an hour north of here. Why did you move here?”

  “I joined the Marines when I graduated high school, I was injured and medically retired—”

  “So that’s what the scar is from? Were you shot?”

  He chuckles at my interruption. “Yes, and yes. When I got out I didn’t want to go back to Delaware. There was nothing there for me. One of my buddies in the Marines is from North Carolina and always talked about how beautiful it was, so I looked for job openings here and went through BLET (Basic Law Enforcement Training) school before getting a job at the department. I moved up to detective pretty quickly because of my military experience, and I really enjoy what I do now.”

  “What did you do in the Marines?” I ask him.

  His eyes darken slightly, and I think he’s not going to answer, but he does. “Infantry. I was deployed a few times, nothing major. I miss it a little, and I had a hard time at first because I planned to be a twenty plus career man, but things don’t always work out as you plan.”

  He sounds wistful, so I move on to the next subject before he closes down. “Do you have a family? Where are your parents?”

  “My dad is in jail, my mom died when I was young. I have two younger brothers. They both joined the Marines when they were old enough. Emerson is stationed in Jacksonville, another reason I chose North Carolina to move to, and Everette is in California. I fly out to visit him a few times a year.”

  Of course my mind starts spinning.

  Deceased mom, dad in jail, three boys who joined the military instead of sticking around.

  I’m sure they had a hard childhood.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that, about your mom. And I guess your dad, too. That can’t be easy.” I don’t want to pry and ask what happened to either of them. If he wants to tell me, he will.

  “Don’t be. I miss my mom but I don’t really remember her. She died from breast cancer when I was six. Emerson was four and Everette was two. My dad couldn’t handle it, turned to drugs and got too caught up in it. It was just me and the boys. We finally landed in a good foster home right before I turned eighteen. It’s the only reason I joined the Marines after high school instead of waiting until Everette was of age. Our foster mom was a saint.”

  I hear the was and I want to ask what happened to her, but he’s staring at the wall behind me so I give him a minute to regroup.

  “What about you? Any family?” he asks me.

  I take a deep breath. I knew this would come up. “I never knew my dad. He took off when I was really young. My mom sounds a lot like your dad. She’s out of jail right now, but I’m sure she’ll be going back soon. I cut off all communication with her a few years back. It was too toxic. No siblings, just me.”

  I wait as he studies me, unsure of what he’s going to say.

  He moves his hands from where he was rubbing my legs and grabs my face as he turns to me. Leaning in, I feel his breath on my lips as he hovers there. “Is question time over, gorgeous?”

  I nod.

  “Good.” His lips press softly against mine.

  This is different than our other kisses, which have been passionate and rushed.

  He slides his lips across mine and I open to let him in. His tongue darts in and I taste the beer he’s been sipping on. My legs are still in his lap, but he’s turned so that he can lean over me as he pushes me back onto the couch.

  I can feel his hardness pressing against my stomach and I reach down to rub him through his pants. His sharp intake of breath emboldens me and I start undoing his belt. He’s peppering kisses down my jaw and neck, slow and soft. I sit up so he can slide my shirt over my head and he unhooks my bra in one fluid movement, letting the straps slide down my arms as my breasts spill out.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful, Raven.”

  I hate compliments, but coming from him, when he’s out of breath and looking like he could eat me up, I take this one and smile back at him.

  He kisses down my chest, taking his time with each breast before continuing lower, down my stomach, then he pulls my leggings and panties off when he gets to my waistband.

  When I feel his breath against my clit I close my eyes and lose myself in the moment, enjoying every minute of Emmett Fisher and thanking God I changed my mind about going back for seconds.

  I pick Raven up and carry her to bed, her body soft and pliable in my arms after coming again and again on my tongue.

  As much as I want to relieve the ache between my legs, I get in the bed behind her and wrap my arms around her.

  “What are you doing?
Come here. Let me help with that,” she says as she wiggles her ass against my groin, not helping matters.

  “Shh, you’re exhausted. That can wait. Let me hold you.” I feel her tense up and I worry she’s going to bolt again, but she relaxes in my arms as she turns her head to me, still grinding against me.

  “Emmett, I’ll decide when I’m exhausted.” She gives one last thrust against me and my resolve vanishes.

  I grab a condom from her nightstand and jerk my boxers down, rolling the wrapper on as quickly as possible and thrusting into her from behind without warning.

  Her sharp intake of breath has me pausing but she immediately picks up the tempo and keeps grinding against me.

  I’m not going to last long. Watching her come like that was almost all I could take, and the noises she’s making now are about to send me over the edge.

  She whispers my name and that does it.

  With one final thrust I’m spent, and we lie there for what feels like an hour, basking in the afterglow of what just happened.

  “That was…”

  “Yeah,” I reply.

  I was thinking it, too. What we just did wasn’t just fucking, and that’s a first for me.

  I’ve always prided myself on making sure the woman I’m with finishes and is taken care of first, but I’ve never spent an hour going down on someone just because I wanted to, for the thrill of watching her. Things are different with Raven. I don’t want to scare her—hell, I don’t want to scare myself—but I could see this, us, being a thing. Coming home to her, reading beside her, going to bed with her every night.

  She tenses like she can read my mind. “I don’t do relationships, Emmett. I know everyone says that and then they cave in the end, but I really can’t. I like…this. Whatever it is. And I want it to keep going, if you do. But I don’t want to put a label on it and I don’t want it to be anything serious.”

  I smirk, knowing she can’t see me. She’s already broken one of her rules for me. I’ve stayed with her the last three nights in a row, every day that I’ve known her actually. If she needs to not label this for her own peace of mind and so she can try to convince herself this isn’t happening, so be it. I’ll be here when she changes her mind.

  “All right, gorgeous. But if we’re doing this, I’m not sleeping with anyone else and I’d like for that to be the case for you also.”

  “That’s not a problem.”

  “Okay, deal,” I say.

  “Deal.”

  My eyes open and it’s still dark out. Raven is wrapped around me like a blanket and her breathing is even and slow. She’s still asleep.

  What woke me?

  And then I hear it, her phone vibrating on the counter.

  Who would be calling her at three in the morning?

  Immediately I think of Elli and I try to rouse her. “Raven, wake up. Your phone is ringing. It might be Elli.”

  Her eyes fly open and she’s across the room in a blur of my white undershirt. “Elli?” Her face morphs from concern to fear, and then anger. She hangs up the phone and slams it down on the counter. “It wasn’t Elli.” Her voice is monotone.

  “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know, they just started laughing when I answered and said ‘See you soon’ then hung up.” She’s scared but she’s trying to hide it with anger.

  I get up and go to her. “It’s all right, Raven. We’re going to catch whoever is doing this, and I’m here. I’m not leaving you. Come back to bed while I call dispatch and do a verbal report. Maybe they can trace the call. It’s gonna be okay.”

  I lead her back to bed and as she gets in I see the tears forming. I hate when women cry, but I especially hate when someone I care about cries and I can’t fix it.

  I make my phone call as quickly as I can—I’m sure raising some red flags as to why I’m with Raven in the middle of the night, but I’ll deal with that later.

  I need to get back in bed and comfort Raven, because I know she won’t ask for help on her own.

  Last night freaked me out pretty bad, and I never thought I’d be so thankful for whatever is going on with me and Emmett.

  When I woke up this morning he had already showered and made us breakfast. I secretly loved that he smelled like my shampoo when he kissed me goodbye before he left. Knowing he’ll be working on the case all day has me a little nervous. I heard him tell someone at the station that it was escalating when he did his verbal report. First the letter, then someone sitting outside of my apartment yesterday, and lastly, the phone call.

  See you soon? Does that mean they’re going to attack again, or that it’s someone I know and see regularly?

  How ironic. The girl who doesn’t trust anyone now can’t even trust the people she thought she could.

  I open the shop and call to check on Elli, also enlightening her on the phone call so she knows to keep her security close.

  “Did it sound like anyone you know?” she asks me.

  “No, it didn’t sound like a familiar voice, but it was only three words and I was half-asleep. And they called from a blocked number, of course.”

  “Ugh, I’m so over this. They need to catch the guy behind this and end it. I know they’re trying their best, but I’m ready to be able to leave my apartment without twelve security guards.”

  “I know, E. I’m sorry.”

  “What did I tell you about being sorry for something that is not your fault?” she scolds. “Stop it.”

  “Yes ma’am.” I smile, grateful for her and the way she keeps me out of my head.

  She’s invited some of her friends from the firm over to her place tonight, so I plan to bring her breakfast in the morning before the shop opens.

  I attend to the customers absentmindedly, thoughts drifting to Emmett. He’s coming over tonight when he gets off—again.

  I thought I’d miss having my alone time with someone staying with me every night, but I don’t. I look forward to seeing him, every single time, and that scares me. We’ve known each other for less than a week. I made it clear yesterday that I don’t want a relationship—which is true—but knowing he could and might leave at any moment terrifies me.

  I don’t know how I could already be so attached to him in the few days we’ve spent together, but as cliché as it sounds, I feel like my soul knows his.

  They say the heart wants what the heart wants, but something tells me the soul is even more powerful than the heart.

  “Detective Fisher, I need to see you in my office.”

  Great.

  Captain Harrison does not play around. He’s in his late sixties and is as mean as a snake. Everyone keeps expecting him to announce his retirement, but I think he stays around out of spite. He would scare some of the toughest drill instructors I know.

  I take a deep breath and follow him into his office. It’s decorated wall-to-wall with awards from his military and law enforcement careers. When I first started here I thought that being a former Marine would mean that he’d go easy, or easier, on me. But that hasn’t been the case.

  “Yes, sir?” I ask.

  “Sit down, son.”

  There are two brown leather chairs in front of his desk that have seen better days. I do as he says and wait for what I know is coming next.

  “How do you know Raven Jackson?” His stare is penetrating, like he can see straight through me, and I decide honesty is the best policy here.

  “I met her at a bar the other night and walked her home when I grew suspicious of a man who was watching her.”

  Short and sweet.

  “This was the night of the attack on Elliott James?” His eyebrows raise as he talks.

  “Yes, sir. At the time, I did not know Miss James or that she and Raven were friends. It was all a coincidence.”

  “I see. So you walked Miss Jackson home from the bar, and you stayed with her?”

  I shift a little in my seat. “Yes, sir. We mutually decided that I would stay the night with her.” I don’t tell him why or how
I ended up staying, but he didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday.

  “Uh huh, and then the next morning you came into the station to learn of the incident that happened the night before, and you were unaware, at the time, that Miss James and Miss Elliott were connected?”

  “That is correct. I didn’t know until we were in the hospital room interviewing Miss James and Raven was there with her.”

  “And do you believe your…relationship…with Miss Jackson is interfering in your investigation in any way?”

  Think fast, save this. “No, sir. In fact, I believe it is helping the investigation. I was with Raven again last night, and she received an anonymous phone call in the middle of the night. I was able to report it as soon as it happened. Also, having a relationship with Raven has given me insight I don’t think we could have otherwise acquired.”

  “Very well. Just don’t get so close to the case or this woman that it clouds your judgment or bias. If it does, I’ll have to pull you off it. You’re walking a thin line as it is, Fisher.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  “That’s all. Now go on and get back to work and find this son of a bitch.”

  I want to bolt from his office, but I keep my cool and go back to my desk. It’s none of his business, but my time with Raven is not strictly related to aiding the investigation by any means.

  If I’m being honest, even the thought of walking away from her after the case is solved pains me, and I refuse to do it unless she makes me.

  The day passes quickly and before I know it, it’s time to close the shop up and figure out what to do about dinner. Emmett is working late, so I’m on my own until he’s free. I decide on having Chinese delivered, and ordering extra so Emmett can have leftovers when he gets home.

  I mean, here. Not home. This is not his home.

  I tidy up the shop while I’m waiting for it to be delivered, making sure that all the books are lined up evenly on the shelves and facing the correct way. When I’d made the decision to take a break from counseling and open my own bookstore, I was terrified, but I knew it was something I had to do. It’d been my dream since I was a little girl.