They came off another turn when the rookie made his move, using the draft to slingshot around Ark.
Ark’s car suddenly got loose. Tess strained to see—did the rookie tap his bumper? Or had he suddenly lost the draft and got loose? She dropped to her knees in front of the TV, watching as Ark fought the car. Struggled to control thousands of pounds of steal going 180 miles per hour. The tires lost traction for a few seconds, starting to angle into a slide.
Several things rushed through Tess’s head. Ark wore the Hans device, a safety system to protect his head and brain in a crash. The announcer mentioned that Ark had gotten four new tires the last pit stop. Ark was a good driver.
One of the best in the world.
If he was concentrating.
Tess stopped breathing. Her world stopped, zeroed in on Ark.
Then she saw Ark’s car straighten out. He’d dropped back to fifth position.
Eight laps to go. It all happened in just a few seconds.
The rookie was in second place and on Giles’s bumper.
Ark was safe. She let out a breath, so dizzy she didn’t dare stand up.
“Oh, God, that was close,” Josie said from her spot on the chair.
Tess blinked, then felt fresh terror at what she saw on the screen. “Don’t!” she said to the TV.
But Ark wasn’t listening. He got the draft he needed from the fourth place car in front of him and did a slingshot around the two cars ahead of him, putting him in third.
Behind the rookie.
Six laps to go.
Tess couldn’t stand the tension. It felt as if a dozen knives were buried in her shoulder blades and neck. Her world shrunk to the TV, to the scream of the race cars on the track. She could almost smell the hot rubber and her own fear.
“What’s he going to do?” Nikki said.
“Kill the rookie,” Gwen answered in a tight voice.
“Hush,” Josie said.
Tess knew Ark’s ability as a driver. She believed in him. So she answered in a faraway voice while focusing on his car, “Protect Giles. Ark’s going to get between Giles and the rookie.” She hoped that his intention was to help Giles, not spin the rookie for nearly causing him to crash a few laps earlier.
Two more laps down, leaving four more to the checkered flag. The crowd was on its feet—all one hundred thousand NASCAR fans roaring their approval or disapproval.
Ark alternately blocked the fourth place car from passing him, and then got back on the rookie’s bumper.
Down to the third lap.
The fans stayed on their feet, but went silent. No one breathed.
They all came off turn three. The rookie was going to make his move. His car had been driving like pure gold all day long.
But Ark moved first, barely off the turn, and he shot out and got side by side with the rookie. All the way into the next turn. He held his place.
One nudge, one wrong draft, one tiny slip, and Ark would slam into the wall. Tess’s teeth ached with worry and tension.
The second to last lap.
Ark pulled ahead and forced his way in front of the rookie.
Tess breathed. Her oxygen-starved lungs forced her to suck in air.
The crowd responded with cheers and boos.
The next lap, Ark protected Giles’s ass until Giles passed the checkered flag and won the Fontana Speedway race.
Ark came in second.
Alive.
A few minutes later, Giles gave his interviews in the winner’s circle. Tess saw Ark come into camera range to congratulate Giles.
All the cameras and mikes turned to Ark. Not to ask about his spectacular driving, but to find out about the Sex Toy Murder. They wanted to know more about the e-mail that had made the papers, the suggestions that Ark had sexual dysfunctions, and they especially wanted to know if he and the tabloid reporter had really fought over the doctor who wrote the e-mail.
Ark issued a terse “No comment” and forced his way through the media.
Tess stood up and looked at her friends. “I’m going to start with the last shop that Fred wrote about and work backward. I have to find Fred’s source.”
Josie met Tess’s gaze. “Look for a woman on the fringe of Ark’s life. Someone who hasn’t been able to get as close to him as she wants to.”
Tess felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “A crazy woman?”
“With a wicked streak.”
Six
“Josie? This is Ark Underwood. I’m looking for Tess. She won’t answer her cell phone.” He paced his hotel room. What was Tess’s friend like? Loyal enough to tell him to go to hell? Should he lie to her? Tell her he had something of Tess’s to return?
“What do you want with her, Ark?”
“I want to see her.”
Silence.
Ark let her think. What could he do? He knew that Tess had gone to college with Josie and took karate with her. They appeared to be good enough friends that Tess went to her house to hide from the reporters. It was his impression that Tess trusted Josie. Now, would Josie trust him?
“She’s not here, Ark.”
Hell. “What do you mean, not there?” He reined in his temper. “I’m sorry, Josie, I’m worried about her. She didn’t go home alone, did she?”
“No. But she’s doing something she has to do.”
A sweat broke out on his forehead, even though he’d just showered. As soon as he had done his interviews and sucked up to his sponsors after the race, he’d gotten the hell out of there. Now he had the next week off. He had to find Tess. Touch her. Make this up to her. Into the phone, he asked, “Where? Where did she go?”
“Do you care about her at all?”
He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he stared at the bed where he’d held her all night. “She’s not like any woman I’ve ever known. I need to find her. First I need to make sure she’s safe. Then I need to make her understand I only had her leave to protect her.” He shut up, surprised he’d told her that much.
“The night her parents died, they were fighting about sending her away. Tess heard the fight. She was only fifteen years old. But her mom was starting to take an interest in Tess when her dad was traveling. She clung to Tess when he was gone on a photo shoot, turned her into her lunch and shopping partner, then forgot her once her dad came home. Her dad wanted to send her away to a boarding school for the gifted so he could come home and screw his wife without interruption. Tess’s mom wanted a closer boarding school where she could bring her home at will. They both considered her to be in the way of their time together.”
He sank down on the bed. “What happened?”
“Tess went downstairs and yelled at her parents. Told them she was tired of them treating her like a problem. She was gifted, Ark. An excellent student. Loved by her friends and teachers, but she was an outsider in her own home. But that night, she lost her temper. Cried, screamed at her parents—like a fifteen-year-old girl. They both screamed back. Then left for their party, still screaming at each other.”
He knew the rest. “And died in a car accident, leaving her an orphan.”
“She went to live with her mother’s mother, who blamed Tess’s father for taking her daughter. She was a woman destroyed by her daughter’s death. Tess’s grandmother told her over and over to never let a man destroy her.”
“Christ.” He had sent her away. It sure as hell explained her having trouble with trust and letting go. It also explained why she left when he told her to. And Ark hadn’t forgotten how cold her parents had been to her after he’d pulled her out of the waves all those years ago. “Josie, I have to find her.”
“She’s researching the sex shops that Fred wrote about, trying to figure out who his source was.”
He sat there speechless for long seconds. His brain kicked in. “Where?”
She told him.
Fred’s last article had been on an exclusive sex shop located in the once-dying town of Prosper, California, not far fr
om Fontana. Prosper had originally been a military town, and once the base closed, the life drained out of the town. But a few investors opened the Prosper Card Club and Resort, then began quietly adding upscale shops of a sexual nature to cater to upscale clientele.
Fred found out and wrote his Exclusive Sex Revives Dying Town articles.
On one of the main shopping strips that had sprung up around the Prosper Card Club and Resort was a sex toy shop called Sensual Delights. The shop didn’t advertise or even have a large sign. The store front was tasteful with silhouettes of couples and “Sensual Delights” in scrolled gold letters across the silhouettes.
According to Fred, this shop catered to upscale clients. You had to be buzzed in the front door. If the owner didn’t like your look, you didn’t get in.
Tess wondered if the owner would like her look.
And if he or she killed Fred.
She pressed the doorbell discreetly inlaid on the door and was almost immediately let in. The shop was brightly lit and clean, with clear glass shelves and lots of scroll-work on the pale peach walls. When she inhaled, she smelled scented candles and exotic lotions—like a mix between the perfume counter at a department store and a candle store. Nervous, she looked around. She stood right next to shelves filled with scented candles, lotions, and games.
“Can I help you find something?”
She turned. The woman looked like a suburban soccer mom. Tess judged her to be in her late thirties or early forties with blond hair in a soft cut around her face, blue eyes, and an easy smile. She wore a pair of jeans and a sweater set.
Could she be Fred’s source? And a murderer?
Tess said, “This is my first time in a sex shop.” Her mouth was dry. “Could you ... uhh ... tell me a little about it?”
“Sure, do you have any particular interests?”
She had no idea. But she thought about Fred. “Performance enhancers. For men.”
The woman nodded. “This way,” she said, leading Tess through the store. “This is our video and DVD section. That’s the viewing booth,” she said, pointing to a small curtained booth. “You can see clips of movies in there.”
“Oh.”
“These are our vibrators and dildos.” She gestured to the left.
Tess blinked at the section. All shapes and ... wow.
“Here’s a good selection of enhancers.”
She stopped at a section of wall with fake male members sticking out. They were fitted with different erection enhancers. The simplest ones were a gellike ring that fitted snugly at the base of the penis. From there, they got more creative, adding clitoral stimulators, or a second ring that looped around the testicles ... it was overwhelming. Tess tried to concentrate.
It was a little distracting to have a wall of penises staring at her.
“I’ll let you look. My name is Linda, just give me a call if you have any questions.”
Tess nodded. “Thanks.” She watched the woman walk away and turned back. Could she remember what that thing Fred had on looked like? Did it come from this store? She stared at each one, trying to see if it jogged her memory.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh?” She turned around. “Ark!” What was he doing here? He wore a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and a determined look in his hazel eyes. How did he—“Josie.”
“She cares about you very much.”
There was something different about him. His gaze held something different, something more, when he looked at her. “Yes, she does. And she means well, but she shouldn’t have told you where I am. It’s not a good idea for you to be seen with me or—”
He reached out, took hold of her shoulders, and pulled her into his body, and his kiss.
Tess opened her mouth in surprise.
Ark put his hand on the back of her head, kissing her with heat. His tongue touched hers and then sank deep inside her mouth. She would have protested, but she was too busy kissing him back. His other hand settled on the curve of her back.
Ark broke the kiss and looked down at her. “I’ve missed you.”
She tried to think.
But he just kept looking at her.
“What?”
“I thought you’d be okay. I didn’t think the media would track you down to your friend’s house.” He reached down and lifted her left hand. His face tightened in anger as he gently touched the bruise around her wrist left by the reporter.
Obviously, Josie had told him about their encounters with the media.
He looked up from her wrist. His face hardened into a cold look she hadn’t seen before. “What’s the name of the reporter that did this to you?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t ask his name.”
“You should have told me he did this to you.”
Tess sucked in a breath. He looked furious. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who wrote that e-mail, and that’s what interested the reporter in me. But I’m going to find out who was Fred’s source. It’s one thing to accept responsibility for what I did, but I’m not going to let a killer murder Fred, destroy my life, threaten your career, and then just walk away.” She tried to step back.
He let her go. “So you are going to solve this yourself?”
“I’m going to take back my life.” Tess didn’t tell him that she needed to fix what she had done to his life. Or that she felt responsible in a distant way for Fred’s death. Her e-mail seemed to have set off a chain of events that hurt a lot of people. But the thing that ate at her the most was hurting Ark. She had to fix that. To live with herself.
Ark stood silently, watching her. Finally, he lifted his hand and gestured toward the penis wall. “See anything matching the device Fred had on?”
Tess turned back around. “I can’t remember it much. Except that it was pink. I distinctly remember his face, and that his pants were down, but ...” Tess sighed. “Shock has a way of making a couple details vivid and blurring the rest.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “I remember it. It was similar to that one.” He used his other hand to point past her to one that was a blue ring with a soft, gellike protrusion in the front. He slid his hand down her arm, his mouth going to her ear. “It had the clit kisser.”
The urge to lean back into him settled on Tess. The man had a pull on her. She had to stop this. Turning back around, she faced him. “What are you doing, Ark? You should be celebrating. You and Giles. Why are you here?” She knew he’d wanted first place today, but second place kept him in the top five of the season points, which kept him in the running to win the NASCAR Championship at the end of the season.
He looked down at her. “Because you’re here.”
Ark was honest. All she had to do was ask the right question. “What do you want from me?”
He reached out, putting both hands on her shoulders and tugging her forward. “I told you, Doc, I want it all. Right now, I’ll help you with your sex sleuthing.” He grinned.
She could feel her resolve softening, her body and mind listening to him. But she knew it was just some kind of weird guilt or worry driving him. She lifted her chin. “You are that desperate for sex?”
He lifted one hand off her shoulder to touch her face. “I’m that desperate to see you.”
“Oh.”
Ark let go of her, then looped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side. “I don’t see the exact model of the cock ring. Let’s browse around.”
They ended up at the checkout stand. Ark didn’t just look; he bought a box of condoms and charmed even more information from Linda. She and her husband had owned the shop together until he died two years ago. Now she ran it alone, though her stepdaughter occasionally helped.
Tess ignored the condoms and said to Linda, “I heard about the shop from Fred Ranger’s article in The Breaking Buzz.”
Linda’s smile faded. “I didn’t know he was a reporter. He kept asking questions about our high-end customers. He pretended to be a wealthy client. Asked questions about how me
n in high-stress and high-risk jobs relieve stress. I thought he was embarrassed and described some submissive techniques that a few of our men in high-stress jobs like.” She shook her head at the memory. “It’s their way of taking a break from having to be in control. Here I thought I was helping him, but Fred just wanted to expose the wealthy clients.” She looked at Ark. “He asked about you specifically. Said you told him about our shop, but by then, I was suspicious and asked him to leave.”
Ark said, “I have been here. What made you so sure he didn’t know me?”
Tess looked up at him in surprise. And disappointment? She wasn’t sure. Why did it matter? Sex toys weren’t a crime.
Linda shrugged. “He said he wanted the same toys you buy.”
Ark nodded.
Tess stared at him. What did that mean?
He turned and caught her curious stare. “She means hardcore toys and fetish stuff, and I’m not into that. I’m pretty much a condom, bottle of oil, or lingerie customer. So Linda knew that I hadn’t told Fred about the store.”
Did she want to know what hardcore toys were? Probably not. She did like knowing Ark didn’t go in for strange sex toys.
Linda added, “I never reveal our clients. It’s no one’s business.”
Tess thought about what she knew. “Linda, how did Fred find out about this shop? You have to know it’s here to find it. Did you just buzz him in like you buzzed me in?”
“I buzzed you in because I liked your look. I buzzed in Fred because he was carrying one of our bags.” She held up a white bag trimmed in gold scrolling. “So I assumed he was a customer.”
So where did Fred get the bag? It had to be from his source. Tess believed Linda—she wasn’t Fred’s source. Her business depended on her discretion.
Ark pulled out his wallet to pay for the condoms. “Can you think of anyone who would have helped Fred? Given him the bag so you’d buzz him in?”
Linda dropped her gaze to count back change. “No.”
Tess knew she was lying. Her face went tight and stiff; white anger lines formed around her mouth. She didn’t think the anger was at her and Ark, but rather whoever she might know that would sic Fred on her. But why wouldn’t she tell them?
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