Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “You don’t have any proof!” Caprico boasted, but he was already backing away.

  Lowell glowered at him. “Are you sure? Because I don’t feel like you’re really sure about what I have.”

  Mindy watched Caprico get back in a police cruiser and head off. He was back to wearing a suit now. What was it with the uniform and the suit thing? Was there a rule at the police department about when and how often and what you were supposed to be doing when you were in a uniform?

  “Ahem.” Ash was glaring at Lowell again. “Are you honestly just letting him wander off like that?”

  “No. I’ve got people watching the maintenance shed at Dino Golf,” Lowell informed Ash.

  “People?” Ash glanced at Younger and their coworker Duke. “Who? Ellie and Titus?”

  “No. Other people.” Lowell did not seem as though he wanted to expand on that. “I wanted to give him a chance to hang himself. I’ve got people watching Detective Sellers, too. Sellers might be bad, but I don’t know that he’s as far gone as Caprico and I want to make sure we separate the guilty from the…”

  Ash made a face. “Slightly less guilty? Yeah. We’ve got it.”

  “Now, Mindy,” Lowell gazed at her for a moment. “What’s this about Kevin Eads and the mirror maze?”

  “That was me!” Delia was bouncing up and down outside their little circle. “I’m the one who told him that! I’m the one who said it. It’s true!”

  Mindy felt another jolt of shock at hearing Delia say such a thing about Kevin. Mindy had known Kevin to be handsy and to think he was a womanizer. She’d even wondered how he could get all of these women when he wasn’t all that great at—well doing the deed. But to think Kevin had been drugging all of these women and then turning them loose in the maze? That was awful!

  Delia grabbed hold of Mindy and hugged her hard. It hurt actually, with all of the cuts and bruises on Mindy’s arms and legs. “The lady is gone, Mindy.”

  “What?” Mindy couldn’t imagine what lady Delia was referring to. “What lady?”

  “The lady that claimed her kid left a binky up in the tower.”

  Lowell frowned. “Binky?”

  “Pacifier,” Ash offered. “I just learned that. Goofy, right?”

  “Some woman claimed her kid left a pacifier up in the tower?” Lowell didn’t seem to see how this connected.

  Mindy got it though. “That explains so much,” Mindy muttered. “That’s why I was up there. Some woman said her kid lost his pacifier and he couldn’t sleep without it and… you get the idea.”

  “Continue,” Lowell barked. “She sent you up the tower?”

  “Yes!” Mindy nodded. It hurt to nod. It probably hurt to do anything right now. She needed a bath and a nap and probably a week to recover her senses after all of this craziness. “So, I went up there, but I kept hearing someone behind me. I could hear other people in the maze, but I could hear someone behind me. Then I got to the tower chamber and there was air coming in. I could see through the cracks around the glass and I was running to get maintenance to shut down the building when Kevin confronted me.”

  Ash cupped Mindy’s cheek. “So, he used that woman to lure you up to the tower.” Ash paused thoughtfully. “I saw her, too. When I went inside and talked to Delia, the woman and her kids sort of drifted away from the counter toward the gift shop.”

  “We need to find that woman!” Lowell decided.

  Younger and Duke jumped into action along with Lowell. Ash stayed back with Mindy. Delia muttered something about needing to call a real manager. And that was when Mindy realized that Kevin was just gone.

  “Where is he?” Mindy wondered to Ash.

  “Kevin?”

  “Yeah.”

  Ash pursed his lips and looked grim. “Probably long gone by now, I would think. He has to realize he’s been found out in a very final sort of way. There’s no going back from this. You survived. That had to be a pain his ass. Now you can sit in a courtroom and tell your story.”

  Mindy clung to Ash’s chest and pressed her face to his comforting bulk. But she could not help but feel that Kevin didn’t seem to give up quite that easily.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “It’s all too easy.”

  Ash gazed down at Mindy where she lay with her cheek resting against his chest. Her ash blonde hair was tousled and he loved the way she looked with the moonlight spilling across her pale, perfect skin. He wanted to tell her that it hadn’t been easy at all, but he knew exactly what she was referring to.

  So, Ash decided to go with a simple question instead of a comment. “What do you mean by too easy?”

  They were in his bedroom. Their lovemaking had been slow and gentle. They were both too bruised for it to be otherwise. Now they were naked together in the bed waiting for sleep to take them. And yet, as the hum of the air conditioner kicked on and off in the night, Ash could not help but think that neither of them were going to find sleep very easily.

  Mindy lightly drummed her fingers on his chest. “Easy. As in it seems like everything was wrapped up too neatly. It might as well have had a bow on top for all the trouble that Caprico gave Lowell.”

  “We weren’t there,” Ash reminded her gently. Using his fingertips, he idly drew circles against her back and wondered how he had managed to find a woman who was so perfect even though on the surface she didn’t seem like a match for him at all. “It’s possible the guys left out some details. To me, saying that you went in and snagged the guy with a room full of prescription drugs all ready to be distributed seems a bit glossy.”

  Mindy stirred, twisting her head to rest her chin on his chest and stare up at him. He’d left the blackout curtains open on purpose. Just a gauzy film of white fabric covered the windows. That way he could see more of her when they made love this time. He wanted to see more of her. He wanted to see all of her.

  “You mean that your friends glossed over a few details?” Mindy suggested.

  That was probably an understatement. “Yes. I do. I think Caprico left the mirror maze parking lot and drove straight to the Dino Golf maintenance shed with every intention of either burning it down or finding another way to get rid of the evidence. That’s how he works.”

  “What’s with the uniform?” Mindy asked suddenly.

  Ash didn’t follow what she was saying. “What do you mean the uniform?”

  “Whenever I saw Caprico with Detective Sellers, he had on a suit. Like today. He had a suit on. But at Dino Golf he had on his police uniform. He was always in uniform. And I’ve seen him around town other times wearing his police uniform, too.”

  “Where?” An interesting connection was forming in Ash’s mind. “Where have you seen him?”

  Mindy made a low noise. “Hmm. At the Toy Museum. I was walking by on my way to pay my phone bill. And again at… well, the Titanic exhibit. You know, the big boat with the glacier fountain out front? And maybe at another place too. Here for sure. I never thought anything of it. Sometimes you would see him around.”

  “Delia made the same comment,” Ash murmured. He thought about what Delia had told him about Kevin and Caprico. “That’s a very good observation you made there about the uniform. Most people wouldn’t have caught that. I don’t know what the significance is. I’ll have to ask Lowell or Sellers.”

  Mindy made a face. “Do you honestly believe Sellers is okay?”

  “No. But that doesn’t make him a drug dealer. It makes him one of the assholes buying and selling information to Hilary Allenwood.”

  “She was there today,” Mindy whispered. She burrowed closer to his side. “I saw her in the parking lot of the castle complex taking notes and pictures.”

  “No doubt.” Ash could not help but wonder if he should tell Mindy that his boss and Lowell had fed Hilary Allenwood information about Mindy as bait. It was all very unfair in Ash’s opinion.

  “I still haven’t seen my brother,” Mindy said after a few more minutes had passed.

  The topic of her
brother brought up some very interesting things for Ash. “You still haven’t gone back to your apartment,” Ash began slowly. “I know that you’ll need to clear it out. But I don’t think… that is to say I don’t want you to think I’m refusing to let you live there anymore. I just…”

  “I don’t want to live there anymore,” Mindy said in a heavy voice. Her fingers danced across his chest, lightly circling his nipple, almost distracting him with the soft pleasure of her touch. “But I can’t just move into your place, Ash. That would be wrong.”

  “Why?” He felt strongly about this. “There are two bedrooms here. You could have your own at first if you wanted.” Not that he was going to let her sleep there. But still. He felt like he had to make the offer. “There’s no reason for you to try to find another place here in Branson. The rent is ridiculous.”

  “I can’t walk to work from here,” Mindy pointed out.

  This was no barrier in Ash’s mind. “I’ll drive you. And are you really sure you want to go back to the mirror maze anyway?”

  “Honestly? Yeah.” She raised her head and moved to sit up. He didn’t want her to move, but he wasn’t going to pin her by his side either. “Let’s face it. As soon as someone finds Kevin, he’s going to be arrested. That means we don’t have a manager and I’m the next up for promotion. It could be a really big thing for me.”

  Ash blinked. A really big thing for her. He had to take a step back and remind himself that Mindy was not like him. Was this where their nearly eight year age difference came to bite him in the ass? Surely, she realized that managing a place like the mirror maze wasn’t much of a career when it came down to it. It wasn’t going to pay her a retirement or give her benefits or anything like that. At least Ash couldn’t imagine it would.

  “Mindy,” he chided gently. “You could get work like that anywhere. You’re young and you’re so damned intelligent and good at everything that I’m sure you could work your way up in no time.”

  She stared at him. Her back was to the window and that left him unable to see the details of her expression. But after a moment or two of silence, Ash figured she was probably not all that happy with him.

  “Ash, I know I’m not some fancy private detective working cases and solving crimes that the police can’t even handle, but I hope you realize I’m not stupid. I’m younger than you are. By quite a lot I think. But that doesn’t make me naïve either.” She put her hands in her lap and moved to sit with her legs crossed. She was naked and the pose was strangely erotic in spite of their uncomfortable discussion. “You don’t get to decide for me what I’m going to do and not do when it comes to my career.”

  “I’m not trying to,” Ash said hastily. “I just… look, I’ll happily drive you to and from work. It’s not a big deal.”

  She made a low noise of irritation. “Losing my independence does feel a little bad, Mindy told him quickly. “And you don’t get to choose that for me. I’ll find a place to live and it will be close to work. And in a short time, I’ll get enough money to buy a car and then maybe we’ll talk.”

  “About what?”

  “I don’t know,” she said quickly. “We’ll talk.”

  Ash could not decide why he was so desperate. But he was. That was the long and short of it. “I want you to move in with me.”

  “I don’t think we should do that. It’s too soon.” She shook her head. “You barely know me. What if you hate me in a month or two?”

  He was appalled at the thought. “I could never hate you, Mindy. I love you. I told you that. I meant it too. I hope you meant it when you said the words back.”

  “I did. But that doesn’t mean I have to move in with you.” She sighed. “Kevin is still at large—”

  “All the more reason for you to stay here,” Ash groused irritably. He was not liking this thing where he didn’t get his way.

  She snorted and reached out to poke him. “I was saying that I’m going to be careful, but I can’t imagine he would want to come anywhere near me. He’ll try to be as far from Branson as possible. Don’t you think?” She sounded as though she had been trying to convince herself of this story all day long. “And you know Lowell is going to have people scouring the countryside looking for him. Even if he jumps on the highway and leaves town, they’ll find him.”

  “My concern is what he’s doing in the meantime,” Ash reminded her.

  Mindy looked miffed now. Even in the shadow and moonlight he could tell that. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

  “Excuse me if I’m going to have a bit of a hard time getting past the memory of you hanging out of that building,” Ash retorted. He tried to calm down, but even thinking about what could have happen left him cold with fear. “You nearly died today.”

  “I wasn’t going to die. You said that yourself.” She shook her head at him. Then she started to get out of the bed.

  Ash was not letting her leave like this. He reached out and snagged her by the waist and pulled her back to his side. She pushed at him.

  “Ash. Stop. You’re being bossy and I don’t like it. Just because you’re older than I am doesn’t make you my babysitter.” She shoved at him now. “I don’t need a keeper.”

  “Mindy, you do.” Ash knew he wasn’t making things better, but his heart was in his throat and he needed her to listen. “Please, would you hear me?”

  She stopped struggling. “Fine. Tell me what you have to say. But if you start talking about how I’m twenty-six and you’re thirty whatever you are, then I’m done listening.”

  “I’m thirty-four,” he told her gruffly. “And yes. That’s not all that big of an age gap, but it is something. I was a U.S. Marshal when I was in my twenties.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” She glared up at him. Her features were almost indistinguishable in the moonlight, but he knew them by heart now.

  Ash hated this feeling of vulnerability. It was a weak sensation. The sort of thing that made him feel less manly. He didn’t like it. But maybe it was what she needed to understand. “When I thought today that I might actually have to watch you die, that I could lose you before I even realized what it was I had…” This was a bad thought and he had to push past it. “I thought I was going to die. No lie, sweetheart. I felt about as vulnerable as a guy standing in that parking lot with no clothes on.”

  “I was scared,” she admitted after a moment or two. “But I saw you. I knew it would be all right. Somehow, I knew I wasn’t going to die.”

  “But even you getting hurt like that, Mindy,” Ash continued, “it’s not fair. I kept thinking how I didn’t want you to lose that chance to actually live life after making sure you were catering to everyone else for that long.”

  “Ash, stop.” She put her fingers over his lips. “I don’t want to hear how you want to take care of me. Don’t you get it? If I moved in here I would be totally dependent on you. I would have you paying my rent and my utility bill and buying me food and driving me around. What kind of woman would I be if I couldn’t stand on my own at all? That’s not the sort of person I am! I don’t want to need you more than you need me. I don’t want to be dependent on you when you could just get sick and tired of dragging me through life like I dragged Darren. I don’t want to be like Darren. Don’t you see?”

  Her words finally made sense to him. All of her protests and her hesitancy were all part of those qualities that Ash loved the most about her. That fiery sense of independence and wanting to do something herself. To be her own woman. To be smart enough to get by even when everything was stacked against her.

  “Mindy, don’t ever think that you need me more than I need you,” Ash whispered. He sat up too. Reaching out, he cupped her cheek. “I might have a career and a few more years on the planet and a vehicle and a condo and I have some money in the bank, but I don’t have anything else. My life is empty. It was utterly and completely devoid of anything truly worthwhile before you came along and nudged me out of my little comfort zone. I was
so busy being secure and avoiding that little woman trap that my cheerleading, cheater girlfriend had set for me all those years ago in Vinita, Oklahoma, that I sort of forgot to live.”

  “She hurt you,” Mindy reminded him softly.

  “Yes, but she’s long ago and far away and married and divorced three times I think,” Ash said thoughtfully. “And you are right here and right now and I love you. I want you to be with me. I don’t want you to be with me because I want to be your everything. I want you to be with me so that I can help you take off and do you.”

  She giggled. “That sounds so stupid. Do you have any idea how silly you’re being right now?”

  “Ask me if I care.” Ash paused to think about that. “Well, okay. Ask me if I care, but then if you expect me to cop to what I just said if you tell any of the guys, I’m not entirely sure what I would do.”

  “Ash, I want to take things slow and keep my options open a bit,” Mindy told him softly. “My brother just died and I have no idea what to do about that. I don’t want someone to just take over my life and do it all for me. I want to have to do it on my own and sometimes it’s too tempting to just let you boss me around.”

  “I don’t boss,” he told her quickly.

  She laughed. “We’ll see about that.”

  “You can boss me right now,” he suggested. And maybe there was a part of him that wanted her to make love to him right now because he just wanted to keep her there. It was all just too much. And too fast.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Mindy waved to Ash as he backed his truck away from her apartment. He had dropped her off with as many boxes as she could carry and a package of packing tape at her request. She only had two hours before she had to be at work. He watched her like a hawk until he was too far away to see, as if he expected some flaming hand of the devil to erupt from the shabby front door of the old building and sweep her away to Hell. Mindy couldn’t be annoyed with him about his feelings though. The man cared about her and that was more than she could say for practically anyone in her life. Maybe even her mother.