by Shara Lanel
Rick guided the car into a busy rest area. A dog barked from the rear window of a Cadillac. Several teenagers sat at a picnic table drinking Cokes. Rick’s chest tightened at the thought of Kerry once again on the street, away from him. He’d felt nothing for Lydia as they’d been sitting in Starbucks, other than gratitude for her willingness to help. His thoughts had been on Kerry the whole time, bouncing from memories of their time together to her fear of her ex-fiancé to her ability to calmly take charge on the boat. Her eyes were beautiful, her body was beautiful, but most of all he saw through her defensiveness and fear to the beautiful woman inside. His emotions were such a jumbled mess, but one thing was clear—he could not let her go.
But was that the selfish choice? Perhaps caring for her meant letting her go?
No, this time his soul spoke clearly. It was time to stand and fight.
He put his hands on both sides of Kerry’s face and looked into her wide brown eyes. “I need you to stay.”
“Oh, Rick.” His thumb brushed a tear from her cheek. “The evidence is right here in front of me that you’re nothing like Jason, but I keep second guessing myself, wondering if you’re really as you seem.”
“You know I am, Kerry. I love you and I need you to stay. We’ll conquer Jason. We will.”
She drew in an audible breath, then blinked. “You just said you love me.”
Rick dropped his hands away, but kept his eyes on her face. “I do,” and he knew it was true. They were meant to be, perhaps reincarnated lovers who still had some karma to sort out.
Kerry looked down at her hands. “I’m just not ready yet.”
Rick’s fingers lifted her chin. “You don’t have to be where I am. Right now let us focus on getting you safe and giving you your life back. Everything else will be as it is meant to be. Do not force it to be something that perhaps it is not.”
Kerry gave him a watery smile. “Okay.” She felt Rick waited for her to say something more, but she kept silent. He stared at her for a long moment, touching her hair with his strong hand. Then he turned back to the steering wheel, shifted the car to drive, and guided them out of the rest area and back onto the highway.
Staring straight ahead, she let the steady flow of white lines hypnotize her. She felt drained, like she could fall asleep sitting up, but every time she closed her eyes she saw Jason with his hands around that poor woman’s neck. The canned air began to feel chill, raising goose bumps on her arms. Rick noticed and adjusted the temperature with a quick glance at Kerry. He looked so caring. Why couldn’t she just accept what he offered? She felt something very strong for Rick, stronger than she had ever felt for Jason, but she was unwilling to label it love. Love implied dependence and Kerry refused to be dependent ever again. She would form her own opinions from now on. She would support herself and make her own decisions. She would never again hand all of her assets over to someone else’s care.
“What are you thinking?” Rick asked, breaking the silence.
Kerry said nothing, just looked into his eyes. When he finally glanced back at the road, she said, “I think I might be hungry now. My stomach’s a bit more settled.”
Another sideways glance from Rick told her he doubted her story, but would not call her on it. “We’ll find a restaurant then, okay?”
“Sounds good.” After a few moments, Kerry saw a blue exit sign with four restaurants’ logos on it. “Why don’t we stop there?”
“IHOP?”
Thinking about pancakes made her think of her job. Rebecca had been so kind to her from the beginning, yet Kerry had been deceiving her the whole time. Could she ever make amends for all her sins of the past few weeks? “McDonald’s sounds better.”
“Then McDonald’s it is.”
Primary colors from the plastic playground glared in the sunlight as they walked past holding hands. Rick’s warm fingers felt like a lifeline and when he let go to open the door for her, she felt lost. They ordered “value meals” and ate like the starved. Then Rick returned to the counter and ordered sundaes and apple pies.
Kerry saw the desserts and her eyes widened. “We’re going to be so fat.”
Rick’s grin revealed dimples. “Maybe, but we never know what the future holds, do we?” His gaze traveled to the children on the playground. “Do you want a family, Kerry?”
Kerry also watched the children laughing and enjoying life. Complete innocence. “I always did.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m afraid of what kind of world I’ll bring them into.”
“Will we be able to protect them, you mean?”
Kerry cocked her head. Had she heard him say “we”? If she had, then it was nothing more than a slip of the tongue. “Yes, exactly. I’ve lost my own family. I couldn’t bear to lose another.”
“Your family still lives. You will reconcile, if you wish to, in the end. It only requires your forgiveness.”
“I don’t know if I can forgive Dad for the obvious reasons, or even Mom, for all those times she ignored my misgivings and told me to stay with Jason so she could keep her country club membership. Keeping her high-society friends was more important to her than I was.”
“Each person is human and fallible. Look at us.”
“Have you forgiven yourself for the past?”
Rick tilted his head as he munched on a pastry. “The guilt is still there, but it is less now.”
“Maybe it will never go away.”
“Or perhaps something more pressing will replace it.”
Kerry grimaced. “Well, that’s not a pleasant thought.”
Laughter lit Rick’s face. “The more pressing feeling does not have to be negative. It could be love.”
Taking a bite of sundae, Kerry chewed the nuts and avoided Rick’s eyes. Could love replace the anger and guilt? At the moment, she doubted it.
* * * *
The banging on Evan’s office door was hard enough to rattle the cheap frames holding his business license and the first dollar he ever made. Evan’s heart throbbed in his throat as he imagined Sentron and his men coming to silence him. More banging. Last night amid nightmares Evan had begun to realize the risk far outweighed the gain in this Kerry business, and that he should have damned his pride and went to Rick for a loan in the first place.
“Evan, I know you’re in there. I can see your legs through the window.” The sound of Lydia’s voice brought a wave of relief over him. He rose from the creaky swivel chair and opened the door with a roguish grin on his face. Unfortunately, Lydia seemed disinclined to smile and greeted him with a scowl instead. “Evan,” she said coolly.
He ignored the chill and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. “I’m so glad to see you.” He kissed the top of her head. In fact, he was never so glad to see anyone before. He could ask her advice. She was a lawyer after all.
Lydia’s body stiffened in response to his kiss. “Let go of me,” she said in low, slow voice.
Evan pulled her back to arm’s length. “What’s the matter, darlin’?”
She hauled off and smacked him. Hard. His shoulder was sure to have a bruise by tomorrow. Before Evan could raise his arms in defense, she left-hooked him in the gut. He bent over, not exactly in pain, but it seemed the best defensive action he could take at the moment.
“You bastard!” She stomped on his foot.
Now that hurt.
Evan hopped and fell backward on his dilapidated couch, causing the springs and legs to squeal. “Good Lord, Lydia! What’s the matter with you?”
“How could you! I told you in confidence. You promised you wouldn’t tell, and you weren’t even there! You lied to me. You pumped me for information. You’ve put Kerry’s and your cousin’s lives in danger, and why? That’s what I don’t understand. Why would you do something so callous and mean?” Her dark hair flopped across her eyes as she stood with one hand on her hip and one in the air shaking at him. “I cannot believe how wrong I’ve been about you, how incredibly wrong!” Through this whole tirade her face
had been red and angry, now it crumpled and the tears fell. She turned from him and swiped a hand across her nose.
Evan rose from the couch and tried to touch her shoulder. She jerked from his grasp. “Don’t touch me. Don’t you ever touch me again.”
Evan closed his eyes. Sentron must have found Kerry and Rick at the coffee shop, based on his information, but his cousin should have nothing to do with it. It was Kerry they were after. “Sentron is Kerry’s fiancé. He wants to take her home to her family.”
Lydia faced him. “Did you really buy that line of bull? Did you ever ask Kerry about it, about why she was hiding out here in the first place? Why she didn’t call her family for financial help at the very least?”
Looking away, Evan straightened the swimsuit calendar near the garage doorway. “No, I never asked.” He wouldn’t explain his selfish thoughts. It was clear he had narrowed his view to the reward money and thought of nothing else. Should he explain his financial problems to Lydia, so that she would at least know that there were mitigating circumstances?
“Evan, I know your business is having problems.”
“How do you know?” He turned to her, feeling his jaw tick as he ground his teeth together.
“I overheard your conversation, remember? The one with your bank? Maybe you thought I didn’t hear much or understand it, but I heard it all. What I can’t understand is why you didn’t ask me for help. Or Rick. You know he would give his life for you.”
Evan snorted. “How do I know that? He’s only been around a few months out of my whole life.” But he knew it was true. His cousin was loyal if nothing else.
“Kerry knows that and I know that and we’ve known him just a few days. Kerry’s putting her life in his hands right now, and I’ve put my car in his hands.” That brought a bit of a smile to her face. “Of course, I can always repo his Beemer if something happens to my car.”
“Why does Rick have your car? Where are they?”
That put new sparks in her eyes. “Do you think I would ever trust you with that information again? I don’t make the same mistake twice. Except, of course, about us. Seems I can’t stop making that mistake.”
Evan wanted to pull Lydia to him and kiss her like the rest of the world didn’t exist, but she wouldn’t accept that. He had to explain, but he knew the explanation wouldn’t be enough. “I’m going bankrupt. The bank has recalled my loan. They want payment in full or they’ll take my business. I’ve already taken a second mortgage on the house. The trucks and my boat are up as collateral. I’m going to lose everything.”
“But we could help you.”
Evan picked up his cowboy hat and plucked at the rim. “I saw easy money, and who could it hurt? Kerry’s family was looking for her. I call and tell them she’s here, then I make enough money to get me on my feet again. No one would have to know. I wouldn’t have to explain how things had gotten this bad in the first place.”
Lydia waited, silent, head tilted.
“I don’t even know myself, really.” He closed his eyes and breathed deep. “Just a few accounting mistakes, a few late bills and a few credit cards overextended, and suddenly I’m drowning. My mother’s house. She’ll never forgive me.”
Evan pounded his fist on the doorjamb as Lydia lowered herself gracefully to his tattered couch. He grunted. “I guess it doesn’t matter now. I’ve obviously made a mistake, though I’m damned if I understand what is really going on.”
Lydia tugged on his hand, so he sat down beside her. “What I understand is that Kerry witnessed a murder committed by her fiancé.”
“What?”
Lydia nodded. “The fiancé threatened to kill her as well, then called her father, of all people, to help him cover it up.”
“No way!”
“That’s what she says. That’s why she left and hasn’t contacted even her family. She was afraid they’d rat on her.”
“As I did.” He rubbed his finger across the stubble on his chin. “Does her father know where she is now, I wonder?”
“Well, you met the fiancé. What was your impression?”
“Very intimidating and very anxious to find Kerry. No mention was made of her father, so I’m betting he doesn’t know. Did Kerry say what she thought Sentron would do?”
“Is that his name?”
“Yes, Jason Sentron.”
“I believe she’s quite scared of him. They were asking about a restraining order, but then Kerry recognized someone in the parking lot, one of his employees, I guess, so they borrowed my car and told me to take a cab. They didn’t think it safe for me to drive Rick’s car since it might be followed.”
Evan stroked Lydia’s knee absently. He noticed she flinched at first, but didn’t remove his hand. “Can you think of some way to help them, legally or otherwise?”
“No, not unless they call, but I plan to hunt down a friend of mine who’s a defense lawyer and get his advice.” Lydia covered Evan’s hand where it lay on her knee. “How much do you need?”
“Too much.”
“Evan, I can only help you when you tell me the truth. Let me help you, because we’re old friends, if for no other reason.”
Evan stared across the room at the photo of his Catalina propped on the desk and nodded. He needed help and he needed to make up for what he’d done.
* * * *
Jason felt like he was in a TV movie when he said, “What do you mean, ‘You lost them?’” He glared at the approaching maid until she scurried into a nearby room, leaving her cart hulking in the hallway. The door to Jason’s room was cracked open and through the opening he could hear the giggles of the two SUV girls. They’d eagerly accepted his offer for a drink. Jason couldn’t believe their naïveté, but he planned to benefit from it as soon as he could get this small problem resolved.
“The place was crowded, boss. They must’ve left with another group of people or somethin’.”
“Did they see you?”
“No, no way. I didn’t get too close.”
“Obviously, you weren’t close enough.” Silence. In his room the girls were each sipping a glass of brandy, which he had provided for them. He’d also included small doses of Valium, just enough to combine with the alcohol and make them very relaxed. Already their giggles had increased in volume and frequency. They were well on their way to satisfying inebriation. He returned his attention to the phone. “Fine, then we’ll continue with our hotel plan. Meet me in the lobby of their hotel at eight p.m. Has Rodriguez spoken to the maid yet?”
“Yes. She said she would meet him this evening to give him the key.”
“Just make sure he gets rid of her. We don’t need a witness.”
“Are you going to kill Kerry in the room, boss?”
“If it seems workable, no guests lurking about. Otherwise I’ll convince her to come with me quietly.” Jason clicked the “end” button on the phone and pushed open the door to his room. One girl lay across the end of the bed with her breasts barely restrained by the scrap of bikini fabric. The second girl lounged on a pillow against the headboard, and most intriguing of all, she had stripped her top and shorts off completely, revealing a leopard-print thong and rigid pink nipples.
Jason placed the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the outer door handle, then closed and locked the door. He went first to the prone girl. “Let’s follow your friend’s example.” He lifted her enough to untie and remove her top. She gave a slight moan. Her eyes were mere slits, long lashes brushing her cheeks. Jason circled to her feet, reached over and unhooked her shorts. Slowly he pulled them down her legs. She wore a thong that said “Bad Girl” in bold black letters. Jason tugged until it too fell to the floor. Her friend saw this and repeated the action. “That’s my girl. Let’s help your friend get next to you. That’s it. And let’s pull this blanket out of the way. Perfect.”
The two girls giggled looking at each other. Then one tentatively touched the nipple of the other. Jason’s dick grew hard as he watched, so he quickly stripped an
d joined the girls in bed. He would fuck them both until it was time to take care of his errant fiancée.
“Here, why don’t you taste her?” He guided Bad Girl’s head to her friend’s chest. When her pointy tongue ran across her friend’s nipple, Jason stroked himself. The woman pulled her closer and her mouth closed over the breast. Jason moved closer so he could feel Bad Girl’s tight ass. He slid his finger along her crack, which had her squirming against his hand. Her friend guided those red lips to the other breast. Her pussy ground upward, asking for attention, so Jason obliged. He ate her sex, then rolled over and ate Bad Girl’s. Thighs surrounded his face and juices rolled onto his cheeks. His hands explored their asses, their pussies, their tits. The girls ground against him and each other, moaning, sighing, begging to be fucked.
He was the instructor, telling them to go down on each other, then on him. When their two tongues licked his dick, he relaxed against the headboard and watched the show. It felt good, but the fantasy he had was making Kerry and Cassandra do that to him. He’d been unable to forget fucking the whore to death. It turned him on unbearably every time he thought about it. Since he knew he had to kill Kerry, because the bitch couldn’t be trusted, he only hoped he’d be able to fuck her while doing it. Imagining this had his cock stiffening further, until finally he exploded into one of the girls’ mouths. She tried to pull away, but he held tightly, forcing her to take him deeper, to swallow back his hot seed until he was flaccid.
A short while later, Jason tucked in the sleepy girls. Feeling more satisfied and relaxed, he took the stairs to the first floor and slipped out unobtrusively.
At Kerry’s hotel, he and his men split and took either the elevator or the stairs to the seventh floor before meeting in front of the door of Kerry’s room. Rodriguez produced the magnetic key and slid it through the lock.
Inside, the room was dark except for strips of light through the curtains, however, it was not quiet. The air conditioner hummed, the bed creaked and the headboard thumped as two people on the bed groaned in tandem. Jason almost growled. His faithless fiancée banging another man. He slid his gun from his jacket. He would make her pay for this humiliation. Focus on business, he reminded himself. Emotions could not get in the way of efficiently finishing the job and that job was to silence Kerry forever.
