Just Can't Get Enough

by Hodges, Cheris

  “I know and trust me, we’re going to find her. I have my officers keeping an eye on Ms. Hart’s house and your store.”

  “I hope that’s good enough,” Darius snapped.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Wayman bellowed.

  “It means if something happens to Celina, it’s on your hands. You didn’t listen to me when I came to you and look at how this has escalated.”

  Wayman placed his hand on Darius’s shoulder. “As you’ve said many times. I’m not going to let you bully me into doing my job. I know what needs to be done and we’re going to do it.” Darius fought back a sarcastic response as he moved the chief’s hand from his shoulder. “I know you love her,” Wayman said. “But the police have to do our job without your interference.”

  Darius nodded, pretending to understand, but he was going to interfere, as the chief called it, because he was going to find Tiffany before she did something else.

  Arriving in her neighborhood, Darius decided to park his car a half a block away because if either the police or Tiffany saw him, it would complicate his amateur sleuthing.

  Moving stealthily, he cut through the bushes behind a row of houses and prayed no one had motion-activated lights on the side of their homes. He stood across from Tiffany’s backyard, watching for any movement around the evergreen shrubs near her back porch. Darius wondered how she just disappeared without raising an eyebrow from the police.

  I bet she is hiding in plain sight, he thought. No one just disappears.

  He knew he needed to get inside her house because if there were any answers to be found, they would be in there. Getting inside her house would be easier said than done—especially with two police officers staked outside of the place. Part of him said, let the police handle it. “They’ve done such a good job so far,” he mumbled as he headed back to his car.

  Celina woke up with a jolt of pain. She had gotten out of bed to watch TV, but her pain medicine knocked her out and she’d fallen asleep on the couch. She faintly remembered her mother asking her if she wanted to get in her bed, but Celina had been waiting for Darius to come back. Where was he, she wondered, as she gingerly sat up on the sofa.

  “Ma, John,” she called out.

  Rena walked into the living room. “Are you okay?” she asked as she helped Celina to her feet. “I told you to get in your own bed.”

  “Did Darius call while I was sleeping?” she asked as she stretched her back.

  Rena shook her head. “He does have a store to run, Celina. Don’t worry about Darius so much. You need to focus on feeling better,” she said. “Have you read over the information that the doctor gave you about exercising your back and everything?”

  “No.”

  “What are you waiting for?” she asked. “We need to get you back on your feet. I know what John did.”

  “Huh?” Celina asked, pretending she didn’t know where the conversation was going.

  Rena put her hand on her hip and looked up at her daughter. “Celina, I cleaned up your room and opened your nightstand drawer. Surprise, surprise, what did I find? You don’t need a gun.”

  “I know that,” she said. “John was just trying to help. I had no intention of using it.”

  Rena shook her head. “I don’t want you to get in trouble with that thing. Do you even know how to use a gun?”

  “No, but it’s not even going to come to that. I doubt Tiffany will be back. Every policeman in Elmore is looking for her.”

  Rena pulled Celina to her and hugged her tightly. “I worry about that woman. She seems crazy. I know Darius isn’t going to let anything happen to you. He loves you so much. That’s why I had to apologize to him. I was wrong for what I said at the hospital. There’s no way he could’ve known that this woman was nutty as a fruitcake.”

  Celina smiled at her mother. “He told me that you apologized. I just didn’t believe it,” she said.

  Rena pinched Celina’s cheek. “You and John act like I’m the wicked witch of the Midwest and I’m not. Anyway, you and Darius are going to have a beautiful family one day. I just don’t understand why you two haven’t told me that you’re getting married.”

  “What? How did you know?” Celina asked.

  Rena raised her eyebrow. “I told you, I cleaned up your room. I saw that rock in your jewelry box. Things have been difficult lately, but we know that’s going to change,” she said as she gently stroked her daughter’s arm. “We’re going to plan the best wedding Elmore has ever seen.”

  Celina laughed. “All right, Mom,” she said, then kissed her mother on the cheek. Rena helped her walk around the living room, then led her to the bedroom. Celina changed into her satin nightgown, but she wasn’t tired.

  Where is Darius? she thought as she sat on the bed and looked out the window.

  CHAPTER 27

  Darius walked up the back steps of Tiffany’s house since it was just dark enough for him to creep in unnoticed. He jiggled the cheap lock to see if it was open. It wasn’t, but, luckily for him, the locks were flimsy and he could jimmy it open with his credit card.

  Where do I start? he thought as he walked through the kitchen. He headed for the living room, wishing he could turn on a light and take a closer look at the papers that were thrown all over the oak coffee table. He scooped most of them up, rolling them up like a paper towel tube and stuck them in his jacket pocket. Next, he moved to the bedroom, which was down the hall on the left. He could see the closet was open and most of Tiffany’s clothes were gone. He walked over to her nightstand and looked at the notepad sitting on top of the alarm clock. There was faint handwriting on it, but he couldn’t read it in the dark. Darius took the pad and put it in his other pocket. Satisfied that some of the things he had taken would give him a lead on where Tiffany was, Darius headed out the back door, leaving undetected. He headed to Celina’s.

  “Hello, son,” Rena said after opening the door and hugging him tightly. “Celina finally told me about your engagement.”

  Darius smiled. “With everything that was going on, we just didn’t get a chance to tell you, but we were going to.”

  She nodded. “I understand. She’s in her room pretending to be asleep, but she’s waiting for you.”

  Darius kissed his future mother-in-law on her cheek before heading down the hall. He knocked on Celina’s bedroom door, then walked in.

  “Where have you been?” she asked as he sat on the side of the bed.

  “Doing some research,” he said as he pulled out the papers he had taken from Tiffany’s house and placed them on the bed.

  “What is this?” she asked. “Darius, where did you get all of this?”

  “I got into Tiffany’s house tonight. We have to find her so the police can arrest her.”

  Celina smacked his arm. “You could have gotten arrested. What were you thinking?”

  Darius looked away from the papers, which were printouts from various travel sights. “Celina, I didn’t get arrested and if we don’t hurry up and find her, we will be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives and I won’t live like that.”

  Celina dropped her head, then turned back to him. “I know you’re right, but I don’t want you taking these kinds of risks, Darius. The police are on this. Let them do their job.”

  “Do you see what kind of job they’re doing? I got into her house without anyone seeing me. Tiffany could be hiding right here in this town.”

  Celina looked at the papers, which held information on several areas, including New York, New Orleans, Dallas, and Beaumont, Texas. “Or she could be in any of these cities,” she said exasperatedly. “Darius, we can’t do this. Neither of us is an investigator. The police will find her. We have a gallery to open and I’ll be damned if I will let her take more from me than she already has.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I won’t be afraid of her and I won’t let her make us paranoid.”

  Darius squeezed Celina’s shoulder. “How are you doing? Is your back all right?”
>
  “Great subject change,” she said with a laugh. “I’m fine, though. What about you?”

  Darius pulled Celina’s face to his and kissed her lips gently. “Better now. You think your mom will mind if I sleep over?”

  Celina blushed. “Darius,” she whispered.

  He kissed her hand. “I really just want to sleep,” he said. “You’re still recovering and I know I won’t get much sleep next door without feeling you next to me.”

  “Stay,” she whispered. Darius smiled as he kicked off his shoes and hung his jacket on the wooden bedpost. He positioned himself so that she could lie against his chest, then they both drifted off to sleep.

  The next morning, Rena knocked on Celina’s door. “Hello,” she said, then walked in. “Do you two want breakfast?”

  Darius and Celina sat up in the bed. “Ma,” she said, flustered.

  Rena walked into the room with a smile on her face. “Good morning. John is cooking breakfast. Should we set a place for the two of you?” she asked.

  “Sure,” Darius said. “Thanks.”

  Rena winked at the couple as she walked out of the bedroom.

  Celina exhaled loudly. “That was not my mother.”

  “You’re a grown woman,” he said. “We’re getting married and I’m practically fully clothed. She knows why I was here.”

  “Yeah, you’re madly in love with me and you can’t sleep without me beside you.”

  Darius held her tightly and kissed her on the cheek. “Come on, let’s go and get something to eat,” he said as he stood up. Darius reached out and helped Celina out of bed. He could tell she was still experiencing a little bit of pain. They walked into the kitchen and sat down with Rena and John. “Good morning,” John said in between sips of hot coffee. “How are you feeling, Celina?”

  She looked at Darius and smiled. “Better. I’m not in as much pain.”

  John smiled as he caught the look between Celina and Darius. “That’s good to know.” Rena set two plates in front of Darius and Celina. She had grits and eggs on Celina’s plate with a side of strawberries and blueberries. For Darius she had a side of bacon with his grits and eggs.

  “Celina, how are you going to cook meat for your husband ?” she asked with a laugh.

  Before she could reply to her mother, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” John said as he pushed away from the table.

  Darius turned his head to see who was at the door. When he saw Chief Wayman standing in the doorway, his stomach fluttered a bit. Maybe he had been seen leaving Tiffany’s.

  “Good morning,” the chief said. “Is Mr. McRae here?”

  “Yes, come in. I hope you’re here to tell us that you’ve found the woman who assaulted my daughter,” John said.

  “Sir, we are still working on finding her. I just need to speak with Darius.”

  Celina looked at her fiancé as if to say, “I told you there would be trouble.” Darius stood up and walked into the living room.

  “Chief,” he said. Wayman cocked his head to the side, motioning for Darius to go outside. He followed the chief to the front porch. When Darius and Wayman stepped onto the porch, Darius took a deep breath. Was he going to jail? Wayman looked at Darius, suspicion clouding his eyes.

  “Darius, someone broke into Tiffany’s house last night,” the chief said as he rocked back on his heels. “Know anything about it?”

  Darius shook his head and looked directly into Wayman’s eyes. “Nope.”

  “Darius, consider this your first and final warning—stay away from this case. If I find out you were the one who broke into her home, you will be charged with obstruction of justice.”

  Darius smirked. “You’re threatening me with charges? That woman disappeared from town and you’re harassing me because someone snuck past your Keystone cops and got inside her house?”

  “Cut the bull, Darius. I know you were the one who broke in,” Wayman snapped. “I’m givin’ you rope; don’t hang yourself.” Wayman turned and headed down the steps.

  “Chief,” Darius called out. “I’m going to step back and let you all handle this case, but you’d better be sure nothing happens to Celina.”

  “You better make sure you don’t give me cause to arrest you,” Wayman said, then walked to his car.

  Darius released a sigh of relief as the police chief left. Then he turned to walk into the house but John stopped him.

  “Son, ” John said. “You’re not going to do baby girl any good on the other side of the law.”

  Darius nodded respectfully and remained silent.

  “You’ve been chastised enough. Let’s finish breakfast,” John said as he held the door open for Darius.

  “Yes, sir,” Darius said.

  When they returned to the table, Celina focused her questioning stare on the two men.

  “What happened?” Rena asked.

  “Nothing, the chief just wanted to ask Darius some questions. They still haven’t caught Tiffany,” John replied.

  Darius smiled, happy that John had only told half of the story. However, from the look on Celina’s face, he knew that she wasn’t buying it. The family ate in silence for a few minutes, then Rena stood up and took her dishes to the sink.

  “I hate this,” she said as she dropped the plate and fork in the sink. “We’re just sitting around here waiting for the other shoe to drop. What you two should be doing is concentrating on the gallery and your wedding.”

  “Mom,” Celina said. “We’re going to do that.”

  “That’s right,” Darius said. “We can’t spend the rest of our lives looking in shadows and I’m sure you two want to get back to your lives in Chicago.”

  Rena shook her head. “Not until that madwoman is caught.”

  Despite himself, he was glad that Rena and John were staying around. The extra set of eyes meant that Celina would never be alone and he didn’t mind having his mother-in-law feeding him every day. He was marrying into a great family, one with a foundation of love and support. “Darius, why don’t you and Celina go out and do something. Celina, I haven’t seen you painting, drawing, or anything since I’ve been here,” Rena said as she wiped her hands on a dish towel.

  Celina stood up and slowly walked over to her mother. “Mommy, I love you,” Celina said, then kissed her. “I’m going to take your advice—shower, change, and paint.”

  Darius smiled at the mother–daughter moment. “I’m going to head next door and change,” he said.

  “Stay out of trouble,” John mumbled as he passed Darius.

  About an hour later, Darius and Celina were at the warehouse, planning their future. He watched Celina as she drew the designs for the interior of the gallery. She wanted a Parisian motif for the gallery. Darius watched as she sat in the chair, balancing her sketch pad on her knees, making broad strokes with her charcoal pencil. Her hair fell into her eyes as she concentrated on the image. He wished he was an artist too so that he could capture her essence. She was the real work of art. Celina pushed her hair back and looked at him.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing, I was just looking,” he said breaking out into a wide grin.

  Celina stuck her pencil behind her ear, then held the pad up. “What do you think?”

  There were no words that could describe what he thought of her sketch. Her rendition of the gallery was breathtaking. There were rounded archways and the walls were covered with ivy and violets. Two Romanlike columns were drawn in the middle of the space, adding depth to the room. “Wow,” was all Darius could say. “This is beautiful. I would do most of the work myself. We should make the carpet and the flowers on the wall match.”

  Celina smiled brightly. “That is a great idea,” she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. Darius was thrilled to see the excited gleam in her eyes, which had replaced fear and anger. She stood up slowly, clutching her back. Reality sank in; things were still topsy-turvy in their lives. Darius grabbed Celina’s arm, helping her to her feet. “Are y
ou all right?”

  “Just a little stiff,” she said. “I’m fine.”

  He shook his head. “This shouldn’t be happening,” he said. “Things shouldn’t be this complicated.” Celina caressed his face.

  “It really isn’t that complicated. We just have to watch our backs until Tiffany is caught. It doesn’t change anything for us. If anything, we get to spend more time together, so maybe we should thank her for that once she’s behind bars,” Celina said, then smiled devilishly. “And, you need to stop playing junior policeman.”

  “I know,” Darius replied. “I had to do something. Tiffany didn’t just fall off the face of the earth.” As he wondered when she was going to return, neither of them noticed the shadowy figure watching their every move.

  Later that evening, Celina and Darius stole away to his place for a quiet dinner. Darius ordered Celina to sit down and put her feet up. He didn’t have to tell her twice; she lounged on his sofa with her feet on the coffee table. Part of her felt sorry for Darius as he rushed around the kitchen putting their meal together, but he was the one who ordered her to sit. Glancing down at her sketch, she felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. She wished she had her colored pencils so she could bring the piece to life and color the floor blue like the lake in her H2Love painting. Maybe moss on the walls would be better than ivy, she mused, then began erasing the delicate drawings. Darius walked into the living room, glancing over her shoulder.

  “What’s wrong with the design?” he asked.

  Celina looked up at the tray of food he was holding in his hands. He had fresh strawberries, blueberries, and apple chunks, along with two steaming bowls of fried rice. The smell of ginger and onions wafted through the air.

  “This smells good,” she said, abandoning her sketch pad. Darius set the tray on the table. Celina grabbed her bowl of rice. “I could get used to this, Mr. McRae.”

  “Don’t. Do you know how hard it is to cook without meat?” he asked as he picked up the discarded sketch pad. “Why did you change this?”