Healing Her Heart

by Kimberly Smith

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve never seen anything so beautiful before. You in that dress is amazing.”

  “Did you expect me to show up in a burlap sack or hooker heels and body glitter?” Edwin closed his eyes for a few seconds. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m just picturing it. You know, the heels and glitter and nothing else, that is.” He opened his eyes. The smile Denise gave him caused his stomach to twist into a knot. He wanted to kiss her, but he knew that he’d never stop if he did. “Shall we?” Edwin asked as he opened the door to the limo for her.

  Denise got in and slid across the seat to the other side. Once Edwin was inside, and the door closed, the limo started to move. He could see that she was nervous. Edwin reached across the seat, taking her hand in his. He sighed, “It’s just a formal party that I have to attend every year. This is the first time I’ve ever looked forward to going.”

  “Why?”

  “Because of you,” Edwin said, raising her hand so that he could kiss the back of it.

  Denise’s hand tingled where his lips touched it. It spread through her body settling in the pit of her stomach. What was it about this man that made her feel all gooey inside with a simple touch or look? She wanted to take her hand from his, but Edwin held on to it firmly, lowering it to rest on his thigh, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. Holding hands had never been her thing, but it felt right with Edwin.

  He held her gaze as he made lazy circles on her hand. Her nipples hardened, and a tingle ran down her spine. She had to get a grip on herself. Denise pulled her gaze from his, looking at the buildings as they passed. She tried not to look back at him for a bit. It was hard to do because he looked so handsome in his tuxedo with its white jacket. She noticed that his hair was shorter than usual. Denise liked it better long, the way he’d been wearing it since she met him.

  “What are you thinking,” Edwin asked tugging on her hand to get her to look at him again.

  “That I wished you hadn’t cut your hair,” she said looking at him through the darkness of the car.

  Edwin raised a hand to his hair, “You don’t like it?”

  Denise smiled at his sudden case of insecurity. “You’re still sexy. I like it better, the way it was.” The car pulled into the circle driveway of the hotel, slowing to a stop in front of the entrance. The driver got out and went around to the passenger side, opening the door for them.

  Denise slid across the seat as Edwin got out. She slipped her hand into his, allowing him to help her to her feet. He held on to her hand as they entered the building. As the people near them looked at her and Edwin, Denise began to feel a little self-conscious. Maybe her dress was a bit too sexy. She should have tried to strike a balance between Ms. Lewd and Ms. Too Through.

  Edwin led her through the hotel to the elevator. It filled quickly with others dressed similarly in formal attire and others who were a lot more casual. Denise had paid no attention to what floor Edwin had chosen from the panel of buttons. After several stops, they reached their level. Several people had exited the elevator, and there was only one other couple in the elevator with them.

  When the doors opened, they all exited and followed the same path to a set of double doors that stood open. They entered, and Denise was mesmerized by the size of the room. There was a stage sitting a few feet above a large dance floor and off to one side was a bandstand with a small orchestra playing classical music. There had to be a hundred round tables with about six chairs at each one. Men and women dressed in expensive clothing and jewelry mingled about.

  “Eddie, there you are.” Denise recognized his sister Ashley from when they met at the restaurant, but her look was toned down a bit. Her hair was parted down the middle hiding the shaved sides and some of the pink highlights. She still had her piercings, but her tattoos were mostly covered up by the simple long-sleeved evening gown she wore. “Holy shit! You look fantastic,” she said to Denise.

  “Thank you. You look nice,” Denise returned the compliment.

  “Come with me. I can’t wait to introduce you to Grams,” Ashley said taking Denise’s arm and tugging her along. Denise turned to Edwin, with a silent plea for help, but he simply smiled and followed them. As they stopped at a table near the dance floor, an older woman in a backless white dress smiled up at them. “Grams, this is Eddie’s date, Denise.”

  The woman stood to put both her hands on Denise’s arms, looking her in the eyes. She then examined Denise from head to toe. “I’m Edwin’s Grandmother, Lily. I’m happy to meet you.” Denise smiled as the woman hugged her affectionately. Then Lily turned to her grandson, “She’s a real hottie. Good for you.”

  Denise blushed with embarrassment as Edwin beamed at his grandmother’s compliment. Lily introduced her to Mitch. Edwin pulled out a chair for Denise and took a seat next to her. Lily had wanted to know more about how she and Edwin had met. Denise told her why she’d been in the hospital.

  “…and now you’re a bounty hunter?”

  Denise smiled, “Not yet, right now I’m handling the paperwork and things like that, but I will be as soon as J.J.’s daughter returns to work.” As she talked with Lily, Denise noticed that Edwin and his sister chatted with each other. She caught the tail end of their conversation. Ashley had said something about fixing the situation by changing a few of the place cards on the tables so that Edwin didn’t have to sit with them. She didn’t know who the reference was to, but Edwin seemed relieved.

  “How does your family feel about what you do,” Lily asked with genuine interest?

  “Clarence, I’m sure would rather have me doing anything less dangerous, but I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. He respects my decisions.”

  “What about your mother. I’m sure she must be frantic with worry about you,” Lily asked?

  Denise’s smile faltered just a bit, “Wanda died when I was a child, but I’m sure she would support me in whatever I chose to do with my life.”

  Lily laid her hand on top of Denise’s. “I’m sorry about your mother. I’m sure she is very proud of you.”

  Edwin had been listening to the conversation with as much interest as his Grams. He and Denise hadn’t gotten around to talking more about her family. She tended to change the subject when he asked her questions about them and her childhood. He stood holding out his hand to Denise. “May I have this dance?”

  Denise smiled slipping her hand into his. They joined other couples on the dance floor moving to a slow melodic song played by the orchestra. Edwin slipped his arm around her and held her close, guiding her around the dance floor. “Grams likes you,” he said smiling.

  “I like her too,” Denise said looking at him. “Do you spend a lot of time with her?”

  “Not as much as we used to. My grandfather died a few years ago and ever since then, she’s been busy. She travels a lot now, marking things off her bucket list. She said that she had spent her whole life waiting for her husband to slow down and take a break from work so that they could do all the things that they had talked about, but he never did slow down. When he died, she said she was going to go out and live her life to the fullest, and that’s what she’s been doing. She came in as a surprise for my parent’s anniversary party. She and my mother don’t get along. That’s why we are sitting at a separate table.”

  “Is that what your sister was talking about? I heard her tell you that she rearranged the place cards.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have left you to sit with people you didn’t know,” Edwin said softly.”

  “I’m a big girl Edwin. I would have understood if the seating arrangement called for you to sit with your parents.” The song ended. Edwin led her back to the table. As the evening passed Denise noticed that even when Edwin left her side from time to time to speak with someone, that he never went near his parent’s table.

  Ashley had pointed them out to her at one point when they were alone at the table. Edwin looked a lot like his father, tall and handsom
e. His father’s hair was dark, but sprinkled with silver, especially near his ears. After that Denise occasionally caught the eye of his mother washing over her, but the elegant blonde never came across the room to introduce herself.

  Ashley pointed Tiffany out to her as well. Tiffany was beautiful, tall with a nice body, long strawberry blonde hair. According to Ashley the color wasn’t natural and came from a hairstylist they shared name Gio. Denise found Tiffany’s eyes on her often throughout the evening. She kept her distance though. Denise was grateful for that. She would hate to turn up and embarrass Edwin and his family if Tiffany wanted to approach her with any mess.

  Denise had a good time. She and Edwin danced and dined and laughed with his sister, grandmother, and Mitch throughout the evening. They had just returned from the dance floor when Denise excused herself to the lady’s room. “I’ll be back in a minute. I need to powder my nose,” she said with a smile.

  **

  Edwin looked across the room. He should speak to his parents and now was as good a time as any. He started to cross the room, but Tiffany intercepted him. “Good evening,” Tiffany said with a devilish smile, touching Edwin’s arm. She smiled seductively as she slid her hand down his arm, sliding her hand across the front of him, accidentally brushing his cock, on purpose. Edwin pushed her hand away.

  There had been a time when one look from her had him hard and ready for her, but now she didn’t do it for him. Edwin had never liked her predatory nature when it came to sex. He felt like he was merely a tool for her enjoyment, a toy to cause her pleasure. “What do you want?”

  “When you said you wanted to go abroad to help people in third world countries, I didn’t whine or pout. I supported you, knowing that when you came home, we would be together. That was the plan, right? You got to do what you wanted for a year, and then you would come home, and we were supposed to get married and start our lives together. Who is that whore you brought with you tonight?”

  “Don’t talk about her like that.” He was rapidly losing his temper. “Obviously you don’t recall the conversation we had before I left. You know the one, where I told you that it was over between us.”

  Tiffany reached out taking his tie in her hands, straightening it. “It’s not over until I say so.” Tiffany ran her hands over his shoulders. Edwin swatted at her touch. She seemed to have more to say, but his parents interrupted them.

  “Tiffany may we have a moment alone with our son,” Edwin’s mother said sweetly.

  Tiffany smiled at them with as fake a smile as his mother’s, “Of course.”

  **

  Denise was putting her skirt into place before stepping out of the stall when she heard Edwin’s name mentioned by someone entering the lady’s room. “Did you see the look on Tiffany’s face when Edwin walked in with that woman.”

  “I thought she’d explode,”

  “Honestly what do you expect? She’s been going all over town telling everyone for the past year that when he returned home, they would start planning their wedding. It must have killed her to see him with another woman tonight, and an African American at that.

  “Did you see her dress?”

  “She’s got style. I’ll give her that. There was no way the two of them would not be noticed walking in. How long do you think the affair has been going on?”

  “Who knows or cares? I’m sure that he’s just using her for sex. Poor Tiffany.”

  Denise stepped out of the stall, smiling at the women who had been talking about her, “Excuse me,” she said walking between them to wash her hands. She could feel their eyes on her. “Just so you know, the sex is so good that Edwin can use me til there’s nothing left.” Denise moved around them to dry her hands with one of the terry cloth towels on the edge of the sink and left the room.

  Denise stopped outside the main entrance to the restroom and took a deep breath to calm herself. She walked back to the ballroom. There was a small crowd of men and women at the entrance. Denise stood on the edge of the group, waiting for an opportunity to squeeze between them.

  As the crowd thinned out, she inched closer to the opening. “…I brought Denise here to show you that you can’t control my life.”

  Denise stopped in her tracks. Edwin looked past his mother. She had been smiling, but now she frowned and rolled her eyes. Denise turned and walked away from the ballroom towards the elevator. “Denise, wait,” Edwin called after her. She knew he was following her. She walked as fast as she could without tripping in her heels. Just as she reached the elevator and pushed the button. Edwin’s hand wrapped around her arm turning her. “It’s not what it sounded like.”

  “It’s not?” Denise looked at him and rolled her eyes. “It sounded like you used me to make a point.”

  “No,” Edwin said as the elevator doors opened. “Let me explain.”

  Denise shook off his hold on her and stepped inside the empty elevator. Edwin moved to enter with her. “No!” Denise held up her hand to him. “Leave me alone. I can’t believe that I thought you were different.”

  Edwin stood there watching tears escaping Denise’s eyes as the doors closed separating them. He knew that if he went after her, they would argue, and he’d never get her to listen to him. He would give her some time to calm down, and then he’d explain, and everything would be okay between them again.

  16

  “Listen up everybody,” Denise had to yell to get the Johnson family of bounty hunters to settle down so that she could tell them about the guy they were going after that day. She stuck a picture up on the large whiteboard. She had already put up the information about their bounty. “His name is Tanner Sullivan, thirty-two years old. He’s six foot even, two hundred forty pounds, blonde hair, blue eyes, and he’s got tattoos, two on his left forearm, a skull, and a cross. He has no scars, and he’s known to his friends as Tanner the tank. This guy is a piece of work. He’s got twenty-three priors. Assault, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, drugs, you name it. He jumped bail on an attempted murder charge. His neighbor is the one that gave us the best intel on him. He’s been hitting on her daughter who is sixteen, and she wants him gone. So, I think we can trust her information. I called her this morning, and she said he is home right now.”

  “This guy is violent, but we need to try to bring him in without having any altercations, but I want everyone carrying their weapon along with mace. Denise has done the hard part. She tracked this Son of a bitch down. Now, all we have to do is bring him in,” Jacob Johnson said to his team. “Suit up. That includes you, Denise.”

  “What about the office?” Since Denise had been hired a few weeks ago, she had manned the desk and handled things in the office while the others were out on assignments.

  “My mother is going to fill in today.” As if on cue, the door opened, and Delores Johnson entered the storefront office of J.J. Investigations. The plan had been for Denise to work in the office until Michelle was ready to return to work.

  Mateo’s absence and the bail jumper they were after today had changed that. Tanner's rap sheet was long. He had missed his last court date. J.J. believed this guy was desperate and needed everyone working together to bring him in. They had his description and thanks to the hard work Denise had put in. They knew that he was living with a friend in an old run-down apartment complex south of the city center.

  Denise and the others on the team were dressed in jeans or cargo pants and tee shirts. They put their vests and equipment on, checked their guns and made sure they had their handcuffs. They did a check on their communication devices. Denise was excited to get out of the office. She checked her weapon and slid it in the holster at her hip.

  “You ready for this, sweet cheeks,” Alec said from behind her? Denise glanced over her shoulder at him, not answering. She often found him looking at her with interest, kind of the way he was checking her out at that moment. Denise wouldn’t get involved with someone she worked with, even if she had kicked Dr. Sexy to the curb. It had only been a few days, but s
he would eventually stop thinking about him and how he made her feel.

  The group gathered in the war room, as they called it. It was a room in the back of the office where their gear was stored. Everyone stood in a circle and held hands and bowed their heads. Jacob always led them in a prayer before they went out to pick up a bail jumper. In the week that Denise had been working with them, they had gone out to bring in three people. Denise was asked to join them for prayer on the first hunt. Jacob had explained that she was not just an employee and part of the team, she was now a part of his family, and he wanted his family under God’s protection when they worked. “Lord we come before you humbly asking that you watch over each of us and keep us safe today as we go out here to bring a fugitive in. Let it go down smooth, but if it can’t, let everyone including our bounty come out of this alive and in one piece, Amen.” Everyone said Amen, and then Jacob tossed a badge to Denise. “Let’s go. Denise, you’re with Drake. The rest of you are with me,” J.J. said with a clap of his hands.

  **

  Since Denise had driven to the complex, Drake told her to stay in the car while he walked up to the back of the apartment. The others were covering at the front of the building. In route, Denise had confirmed with the neighbor that she hadn’t seen Tanner, or his friend leave the apartment.

  It was a small apartment complex. There were stairs, patios or balconies in the back. She watched Drake as he stood by the stairwell leading to the apartment where Tanner was reportedly staying.