Love You Madly

by Ashlee Mallory

  What kind of damage could that do to a person?

  Turn someone into a completely rotten, mean-spirited person? Who treated everyone like shit for…what? Maybe to push them away? She’d flinched when he mentioned the pantsing incident from high school. Had been unable to meet his gaze. Could Her Royal Highness actually feel guilty over the whole debacle?

  His limited understanding of psychology told him that sometimes the biggest bullies act out of their own insecurity and fear. Not that he was excusing her vicious behavior, but maybe…he could understand it.

  Then there was that moment when she’d left his car tonight, her eyes dark pools of sadness. Forlorn. Hell. She clearly didn’t want to be alone. Most people would have a group of friends or family to help see them through. He gathered that Meredith was pretty much alone.

  Well, what the hell did she expect when she made bitchiness an art form? You reap what you sow and all that shit, right?

  So why was he softening toward the strong, independent brunette?

  A lone figure appeared around the corner. Female, he quickly discerned from the sway of the hips and long denim-covered legs, even with the head bowed low and covered by a hoodie.

  The temperature was still in the upper eighties—who in their right mind would be wearing a sweatshirt?

  The figure drew closer, and he could make out enough details to realize exactly who it was.

  Idiot.

  Chapter Six

  What was she thinking coming out here? Alone? Yes, it was Utah, not Detroit or a back alley in Queens, but there was still a lot of illegal activity that went on. Dangerous activity.

  Which she was going to discover from the look of the group of guys she was about to pass. They called something out to her, and she only tucked her head farther down, ignoring them. Not going to help her case.

  He swung the car door open and climbed out, unsure of his plan, just keen on getting her out of harm’s way.

  “Marguerite?” he shouted and headed toward her. She and everyone looked his way. “What the hell are you doing out here?” he shouted angrily and threw his hands up.

  He could see Meredith’s uncertainty and after another moment’s hesitation, she reluctantly walked over. The group, seeing his approach, sniggered. Another car crept up to the curb, and their attention was diverted when a dark-haired girl leaned out the window, smiling. One of the guys strutted over to her car while the rest shuffled farther down the sidewalk.

  In case any of the group was still watching, he made a show of gripping Meredith’s arm like a jealous boyfriend and drew her back toward the car. He’d save his real anger for once they were both safely inside.

  She paused outside Bonnie’s passenger door and looked over at him in confusion. He climbed inside and waited for her to follow. She might actually have smiled before she opened the door and dropped into the seat. “This is an interesting upgrade from your previous ride.”

  “I’m borrowing it.” He waited another moment then added with practiced patience that he didn’t feel, “Do you mind telling me what you think you were doing coming down here alone?”

  “Excuse me?” she asked in her most haughty tone. “Am I missing something? Last I checked, I’m a competent adult and I can go anywhere I damn well please. The risk is mine. I might ask the same thing of you. Why is it okay for you to come down here alone and not me?”

  “Seriously? You think you could have handled yourself with that group of kids if I hadn’t arrived? What would you have done, glared at them to death?”

  “I have a Taser—if it became necessary. And it wouldn’t have. I can handle myself.”

  “A Taser? Where the hell—” Realizing the argument was going nowhere, he took another tactic. “Do you remember promising me just a few hours ago that you would let me run this investigation? Because, if I’m not mistaken, you came down here alone to try and find Darcy. Without notifying me and potentially putting the investigation at risk.”

  “Yes. I did, but…” She sighed and slid the hoodie off and looked out the window. Her voice turned resigned, not angry and defiant like he expected. “I went home and tried to sleep, but all I could think about was how my daughter could be somewhere crying, hurt, scared, and alone and needing me. I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t just stay home and do…nothing. I had to get out, and the only place I could think of going was the last place anyone saw her. Something that occurred to you, too, or you wouldn’t be here. Right?”

  He let his anger, as short-lived as it was, go and nodded. “How about next time you decide to explore any new leads or possibilities, you still give me a call? You need to make sure you have someone who knows where you are if there’s trouble. Deal?”

  She nodded. “So. What’s the plan? What are you camping out in this eyesore to see?” She unzipped the sweatshirt and slipped it off, revealing a long expanse of skin from her shoulders down to her lithe arms thanks to the minimal coverage of the top she’d chosen.

  Is she even wearing a bra under that thing?

  From the noticeable shaking as she pulled her arm through the last sleeve and tossed the jacket behind her, he was guessing not.

  Hell. He should not be having these types of thoughts, and he certainly shouldn’t be having this physical reaction. To Meredith, of all people. He shifted uncomfortably in the seat.

  What had she asked him?

  Oh, right. Why he was here. “Thought I’d try and see if the squatter from earlier returned. Maybe they know or saw something.”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything, and instead drew her cell phone from her pocket and stared down at it, as if willing it to ring. A breeze crossed through the car and played with the long dark strands of her hair, sending her intoxicating scent his way.

  “Can we talk frankly? About what you think’s happened to my daughter?” she asked suddenly. “I can’t help but hold my breath when I turn on the news or pull up the internet, worried there’ll be a story about the body of a young woman being found. Murdered. If this were a case o-of someone who wanted to harm her, they would have had her for twenty-four hours now. Plenty of time t-to rape her and kill her.” Her voice was strained as she fell over the words, but she continued, “So now would be the time they’d likely dump her remains somewhere. Did I get that right?”

  There was no reason to sugarcoat anything. Her imagination probably already covered all the possibilities in detail, plus some. “Yeah. Your time frame sounds about right. If the aim is murder, they usually kill the victim in the first twenty-four hours, then look for someplace to leave the body. Ideally somewhere it won’t be detected for as long as possible. But there are other possibilities in cases like this. Young girls have been taken for nonmurderous reasons. Think of that guy Castro, from Cleveland. He kidnapped three different women over a couple of years. Held them for over a decade. You just never know.”

  He debated sharing the next bit of information but figured she needed to be a part of this. She’d probably follow him anyway. “I’ve contacted someone. An analyst of sorts, who is pulling some information together for me. We’re meeting in the morning to go over it.”

  She sat straighter. “I’m coming with you.”

  “Figured as much.”

  Silence stretched between them again. Nestling back into the seat, he watched the activity on the street. Meredith wiggled around another moment and finally settled in. Two minutes passed.

  “My God, this is boring. Do you do this often?” she finally asked.

  He shrugged. “This is nothing. Try lying undetected on your belly for sixteen hours in scorching hundred-plus temperatures while waiting for insurgents to leave a safe house. This is like a day poolside in Key West.”

  Another minute passed before she spoke again. “I almost forgot. I had a visit from my neighbor earlier.” She briefly relayed what the woman told her about the neighborhood stalker. “Do you think it’s possible this guy could be the one Bryce saw with Darcy? And if so, why was he watching my house?”


  That’s what he’d like to know.

  He really wanted to get his hands on that Matt kid. He had to be the key.

  Meredith wiggled around on the seat again, and he willed himself not to glance at those full breasts that bounced with every motion. Imagine their fullness in his palms, teasing them with his mouth.

  Oh, Shit.

  The last thing he needed in his life was fantasies about hot and torrid sex with the queen bee herself.

  Hadn’t he learned anything since high school?

  …

  If Meredith needed a cure for insomnia, sitting in a car in temperatures in the upper eighties without air-conditioning with nothing to do but stare out the window as people passed by was just the ticket.

  Sometime after the first hour she nodded off, dreaming that she and Darcy were in Allie’s English class. Travis was there, too, sitting in the back wearing that damn tight T-shirt.

  Meredith heard the mean words coming out of her mouth but couldn’t stop them. Something about Darcy’s hair smelling like something died in it and how she needed to take a shower every once in a while, which earned everyone’s laughter. Save for Allie’s. And Travis’s. He’d shaken his head. Disappointment sketched across his face.

  A sharp barking sound came from his lips, filling the classroom. Had he just snored? He did it again but…

  Wait.

  She bolted upright suddenly, looking around. Humiliation and horror flooded through her.

  Maybe it was just the dream.

  She wiped the side of her mouth for drool—clean—and hazarded a glance at Travis.

  “Don’t worry. You didn’t set off any car alarms. But you may want to undertake one of those sleep studies. There’s surgery for that.”

  Just when she didn’t think she could be more mortified, he finally looked over and held her gaze. Then smiled. Wide. Revealing actual teeth. She slugged him. This time he chortled.

  “Must have been some dream. You kept saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ through most of it.”

  She didn’t say a word. She couldn’t. “Just a dumb dream.”

  “It’s nearly two a.m. I don’t think anything’s gonna happen. I’ll take you back home so you can try to catch some real sleep.”

  “No, thanks. I brought my car.”

  The incredulous look on his face gave her her first feeling of unease at her choice. “You left your car—your Mercedes—somewhere in this neighborhood?”

  “It has an alarm and state-of-the-art theft protection.”

  “Well, unless it’s the Batmobile and that theft protection includes a bulletproof armor, then I think there might be a problem.” Leaning forward, he twisted the key in the ignition and pulled away from the curb. “Show me where you left it.”

  Five minutes later, they were back where they started. Sure enough, her car was gone. Not even a piece of glass from a broken window as proof she’d parked there.

  “You want to call the police?”

  In the grand scheme of things, getting her car back was the least of her concerns. She’d give it and everything else up if she could get Darcy back. “I’ll file a report in the morning. Right now…I just want to go home.”

  Fortunately he decided not to add any further comment on the subject and pulled back out onto the street.

  “You never told me, where’d you get this little beauty?” she asked and reached out to pat the car’s dash.

  “I’m just borrowing it.”

  “Duh. You said that. From who?”

  He glanced to his left and then back to the road before he answered. “My sister. Who’s affectionately named it Bonnie. So no hating on the car.”

  He had a sister? Her stomach started to twist. “Um, do I know her?” Please say no, please say no…

  “You do.”

  Of course she did. And although she had no clue who Travis’s sister might be, she had little doubt that his sister knew her. And she doubted that was a good thing. She was almost afraid to ask. “High school?”

  “How’d you guess?” He glanced over at her. “But if you’re afraid she was a victim of your terrorism in high school, you’ll be relieved to find out she wasn’t. She went to West High.”

  “But you just said high schoo—”

  “She’s a teacher at St. Andrew. Claire? Claire Brennan. She’s in the mathematics department.”

  A vague memory of a dark-haired beauty came to mind. If she wasn’t mistaken, usually hanging around with Saint Allie, the two thick as thieves. That couldn’t be good. “How is it that she went to West but you attended St. Andrew?”

  “My mom and aunt were alums. Knew the principal. That and my grades and test scores qualified me for some tuition assistance, which was the reason I helped out in the computer lab. Part of the deal.”

  “I didn’t realize that academic scholarships or assistance, whatever you call it, was even available.”

  “You wouldn’t, would you?” he said in such a way that she was immediately filled with mortification.

  She started to apologize and stopped. She was being ridiculous. Why should she apologize for having had money? And why did she care so much what Travis thought of her? This last thought was the most troubling. Changing topics seemed best. “So does your family still live here, then?”

  “You could say that.”

  Wow, he just really didn’t want to give her anything, did he? She tried again. “Do you visit them often?”

  Another long stretch of silence followed. He’d apparently decided not to even offer her a response. Her frustration reached its limit.

  She was just trying to be nice.

  “I get it. I was a grade-A class bitch back in high school. I treated you horribly and so many others I can’t even remember. I get that. And you know what? I’m truly sorry. There’s a long list of things I regret, so take a number. But I’m really trying here. Why is it okay for you to know all the embarrassing personal details of my life and I can’t even ask you something as simple as how your family is?” When he remained silent, she smacked the knob on the old radio and it came to life. More eighties. “Fine.”

  After a long moment, he reached out and flipped the radio back off. “I haven’t been back to Salt Lake in over ten years. Only saw Claire once in all that time, when she came to visit me in California a couple years ago. After my mom died, it was just too hard. Too many reminders.”

  “Reminders of what?” she asked, her voice softer.

  He shrugged again. “Just reminders. Of where I failed.”

  That was not what she’d expected, and she immediately felt chastened. So maybe she wasn’t the only one with a few regrets. She didn’t know what regrets he might have but decided not to push her luck further. “What time do we meet that analyst?”

  “Ten. But I want time to look through Darcy’s room before then, so I’ll be at your place early.”

  She glanced at the clock on the dash. Nearly three in the morning. “Did you really check into a hotel?”

  “That was the plan, but I never got that far.”

  By the time he dropped her off and found a hotel, he’d barely have an hour before he had to leave again.

  She didn’t have to debate her next question, because she was asking it as much for herself as to help him out. “If you want, you’re free to crash in my guest room. Since we’re going to be getting up in the next few hours anyhow.”

  That. And she didn’t want to be alone. Okay. There was more to it, but she wasn’t going to overanalyze it right now.

  He actually looked like he was considering it. “Okay. Thanks.”

  That had been easier than she thought.

  But half an hour later, sprawled on her queen bed with only the sheet to cover her, after trying to push away thoughts of the horrible things Darcy could be suffering, her thoughts returned to that niggling question.

  Why did this one man have such an effect on her? A man who positively loathed her, knew her at her worst moments…why did
she care so much what he thought about her?

  And why did she want him so desperately to see her as someone different?

  Chapter Seven

  The aroma of coffee met her as she entered the kitchen a few short hours later. She might need a drip.

  She doubted she’d slept for more than two hours, three, tops. Too many thoughts running through her head. About her daughter and all the mistakes she’d made. Mistakes from even before she’d met Darcy. Her sleep wasn’t any better. Although she had no memory of what she’d dreamed, she knew it had been dark and terrifying, and she’d woken up feeling alone, afraid, and…empty.

  Travis was already at the counter, sipping from a large mug. He’d showered, she knew, because she’d heard the water running earlier, and somehow he’d gotten a hold of another black T-shirt, impossibly even tighter than yesterday’s. “Nice shirt.”

  He shrugged. “I pack light.”

  She grabbed a mug from the cupboard.

  “You may want to take it to go. We’ve got to leave to meet my source in a few minutes.”

  “Didn’t you want to check out Darcy’s room?”

  “Done. Afraid not much there.”

  She nodded and grabbed a stainless steel travel mug instead and filled it up. Travis took another long measured drink of his coffee, but from over the top of his mug, she caught him take in her appearance, starting at the brown sandals at her feet and up over the sleeveless maxi dress she’d opted for as much for comfort as keeping her cool under the anticipated hot summer sun. And she had to admit, the lower neckline and dark navy tone were particularly flattering to her.

  He might loathe her, but there was definitely attraction in those cool green eyes when he looked at her. She smiled smugly as she added half-and-half to her coffee before pushing the lid on. “All ready.”

  It took her a second when she stepped outside on her front porch to remember. She had no car. The blue bombshell, instead, awaited them.