Wedding Bell Blues

by Meg Benjamin

  Otto rolled over on his back, his knees bent to his stomach.

  “But keep this in mind.” Erik loomed over him for a moment. “The next guy you push around may not have reformed. And Toleffsons look after their own.” Erik turned to Janie. “Nice meeting you again, Ms. Dupree.”

  Janie swallowed. “Likewise.”

  Erik nodded at her and began to walk back toward the street.

  “Erik!” Cal called, stepping to the front of the group still clustered at the door.

  Erik paused and looked back, his expression blank.

  “Wedding’s at eleven tomorrow. See you there.”

  Erik stood still for a moment longer, then nodded. “Right.”

  Janie thought she saw that ghost of a smile again as he walked away.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Pete walked Janie up Main Street, even though it meant leaving both their cars in the Brenner’s parking lot. He didn’t trust himself not to run over Otto.

  He should have been out there, of course. He should have been looking after her instead of bothering Claire Larkin about finding Maureen Amundson. Claire had a lead, but it hadn’t panned out yet. Pete was giving her names of cops who could help. He hadn’t expected Janie to leave without telling him.

  And none of that was any excuse for the fact that big bad Erik had been the one to rescue her from Otto.

  He should have been out there.

  “It’s okay, you know,” Janie said softly.

  “What is?” Pete kicked a pebble out of his way.

  “That Erik took care of Otto and not you. It’s okay.”

  Pete felt an entirely unreasonable surge of annoyance. “He wasn’t much on rescuing people in the past, you know. More like putting people in a position where they needed to be rescued.”

  Janie nodded. “I get the feeling he has a lot to make up for.”

  “Why did you leave?” Pete glanced down at her.

  She looked away. “Oh, you were on the phone, and I didn’t want to bother you. I mean there was no reason you had to take me home.”

  Except for the fact that Otto Friedrich had tried to attack her in the parking lot. No reason at all.

  “I wanted to take you home,” Pete grumbled. Which was sort of accurate—he wanted to take her to his home.

  “Well, now you can.” She looked up at the moon hanging high in the dark Texas sky.

  For a night that had started out with such promise, this one was rapidly turning into a bummer. He rubbed his chest where the usual burning cinder had lodged itself behind his breastbone.

  As they approached the door to the apartment, he tried to figure how he could get her upstairs. Maybe she needed to be comforted after Otto. Maybe he did. “Want to come up?” he asked.

  She looked up the stairs and then back at him. It was too dark to see her face clearly, and Pete had a feeling he needed to. “Janie?”

  “I don’t think I’d better.” She sighed. “Big day tomorrow and all.” Her voice trailed off.

  “Oh. Well…okay.” He felt like a kindergartner all of a sudden. He wanted to yell “Why not?” but he was afraid of her answer.

  “I guess I’ll go on home then,” she said softly. “See you tomorrow.”

  She started to walk up the street. Out of his apartment. Out of his life. “Janie?”

  She turned back, blinking in the street light.

  “Please?” Pete called softly.

  He watched her lips quirk up as she looked at him, then she turned and walked toward him again.

  This is a really dumb idea. The voice of reason muttered in Janie’s ear. Janie decided the voice of reason was a real pain.

  Olive was very glad to see them, but even gladder to gallop out into the backyard. Pete stood watching her.

  “What are you going to do about Olive?” she asked.

  “Do?” Pete frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I mean, when you leave. Are you really going to take her to the clinic again? Couldn’t you take her back to Des Moines with you? I thought the two of you had sort of bonded.”

  For a moment, he looked stricken, but then he shook his head. “Cal’s going to adopt her when he gets back from his honeymoon. She’s Cal’s dog. I was just supposed to get her used to people.”

  “Oh.” Janie sighed. “She’ll miss you.” And, of course, she wasn’t the only one. Come on, Janie, buck up. This was no way to start her new, independent, bitchy life.

  Pete’s cell phone buzzed to life on his hip, while Olive wandered back from her visit to the live oaks. He glanced at the number, then snapped the phone open. “Yeah?”

  Olive butted her head against Pete’s hand, but he turned away from her. Janie knelt down, hand extended. “Here, Olive,” she murmured.

  “What?” Pete snapped. “Who? Who was hurt? Goddamn it!”

  Olive whimpered as Janie scratched her ears. “It’s okay,” she crooned, hoping she was telling the truth.

  “Look—” his voice was harsh, “—have Larkin call me. Or if she can’t do it, have the detective in charge call me. I need to know what the hell is going on, and I need to know it yesterday!”

  He snapped the phone closed savagely. Staring at it as if he’d like to toss it across the yard.

  “Problems?” Janie asked.

  Pete nodded, blowing out a breath. “A wife abuser got out of jail on a technicality. I’ve been trying to get his wife into protective custody long distance. Now a cop I know says somebody’s been hurt at her sister’s house but he doesn’t know who, and I can’t raise the DA in charge.” He rubbed his chest absently.

  “The new DA you were worried about?”

  He nodded. “That’s the one. I just…” He closed his eyes, rubbing harder.

  “Pete?” Janie stood quickly. He was bent over slightly at the waist, breathing through his mouth.

  “It’s okay,” he muttered. “Just…acid reflux…”

  “Do you need a doctor?” She put her hand on his shoulder. Did his skin feel clammy? Was he perspiring? She tried to remember the other signs of a heart attack.

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry. It’s not…shit, that hurts!”

  Janie bit her lip. “We should go to the emergency room. Only we don’t have a car. I’ll call 911.”

  “No!” He grabbed her hand. “Don’t! Tomorrow’s the wedding. I’m not going to the emergency room over this. Just get me upstairs, okay?” He draped one arm across her shoulders.

  She narrowed her eyes. Having the best man in the hospital would put a damper on things. Of course, so would having the best man dead. “Pete…”

  “Janie, trust me.” He raised his head slightly. “I know what it looks like, but it’s not a heart attack. It’s just bad acid reflux. I’ve had it for a couple of months. Stress makes it worse.”

  Janie sighed. “Okay. But if you die, I may never forgive you.”

  In the shadows, she saw Pete’s lips edge up. “I’ll keep that in mind, Ms. Dupree.”

  The burning in his chest had diminished slightly by the time they got upstairs. The general mortification of having to be helped upstairs by Janie Dupree, however, wasn’t likely to diminish in the foreseeable future.

  She was still peering up at him with concerned eyes whenever she thought he wasn’t looking. Pete sighed and dug out the bottle of pills his doctor had given him. “These will take care of it,” he mumbled.

  “Good.” Janie nodded a little doubtfully.

  Olive pushed her cold nose against the back of his hand, and he scratched her ears as he poured himself a glass of water. “Sorry.”

  “For what?” She sank into a kitchen chair.

  “For being such a fun date.” He popped a pill in his mouth and swallowed.

  Janie shook her head. “You couldn’t do anything about this. Well…” She paused. “I guess you could do something.”

  “Like what?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Like slow down a little and let other people do what they’re supp
osed to at your office.”

  He stiffened. “I’m a Bureau Director. It’s my job to keep track of this kind of stuff.”

  The corners of her mouth edged up slightly. “Then your job sucks, Pete. It’s making you sick.”

  He wanted to argue, but right now wasn’t the best time. Anyway, the pain in his chest had diminished to its usual ache. “I’m okay,” he repeated.

  Hell, how many times had he said that over the past year? Too many. Had it ever been true?

  Janie rose gracefully from her chair, moving around the table. “Are you really, Pete?”

  He started to nod, rubbing his hand across his chest, then stopped. Would somebody who was okay be rubbing his chest all the time?

  She stopped behind him, resting her hands on his shoulders. “Come on. You need to be de-stressed. You’ve got a wedding to get through tomorrow, which should provide enough stress for anybody.”

  He gazed back at her. What she made him think of wasn’t exactly stress-free. On the other hand, it would improve his attitude a hundred percent.

  Janie made a face. “It’s not what you think. I’m giving you a massage, Toleffson. Your stomach probably isn’t ready for much more.”

  “A massage.” He shrugged. Massages could always lead to other things, right? “Ms. Dupree, your talents never cease to amaze me.”

  Janie managed to get Pete to lie down on his stomach, although clearly he had other ideas. So did she, but she wasn’t about to rush him.

  He’d scared her half to death in the backyard, but he didn’t look like he was suffering from a heart attack at the moment. Janie ran her hands lightly over his back, feeling the ridges of muscle flex beneath her fingertips.

  Oh, yes, definitely other ideas!

  She placed her thumbs alongside his spine, pressing lightly as she moved up his back. “Does that feel okay?”

  Pete mumbled something that sounded positive. She slid her palms down from his shoulders to his hips, wishing she had some oil. She worked back up his body to the shoulders again, digging her thumbs into the base of his neck. His muscles were bunched in knots. She slid her hands down again to the small of his back, then the top of his hips. “God, you’re tight.”

  “You have no idea,” he muttered.

  “Am I hurting you?” She stopped, resting her hands on his buttocks.

  He exhaled in a whoosh. “Just keep doing that, please.”

  Janie returned to the small of his back again, digging her fingers into the knots of muscle there, then worked her way up again to his shoulders. “I don’t exactly know what I’m doing, you know. Just sort of.”

  “‘Sort of’ is fine.” He sighed. “God that feels good.”

  She circled her fingers along his shoulder blades. “But are you relaxing?”

  “If I were any more relaxed, I’d be dribbling off the bed.” He moaned slightly as her fingers moved across his shoulders again.

  “Good, this is all about de-stressing you.”

  “Oh, Ms. Dupree, you do that.” Pete rolled over slowly, his gaze rising to hers. His hands slid up her arms to her biceps, then he slowly pulled her down on top of him.

  She touched her lips to his, gently, gently, feeling the warmth of his breath against her mouth. His hands were at her waist, pulling her up his body so that she lay upon him full length.

  “Ah, Janie,” he whispered. “Sweetheart.”

  His mouth angled against hers and she opened for him, rubbing her tongue against his, then sucking him lightly. His hands tightened against her back.

  She could feel the swell of his arousal against her mons, pressure mounting low in her abdomen. She brought her hands to his shoulders, kneading lightly across them, feeling the pull and bunch of the muscles. Somewhere at the back of her mind she heard music.

  “Shit!” Pete slid out from underneath her and reaching for his phone.

  Janie rolled onto her back, trying not to snarl in frustration.

  “What?” he barked into his phone, and then he leaned back against the headboard. “Okay, Claire, tell me what’s happening.”

  She watched his face. His eyebrows moved together in a scowl. “What?” he snapped. “Say that again. Good god, Claire!” Slowly the corners of his mouth began to inch up as he listened. “No shit? Then what?” After another moment, he began to chuckle, shaking his head. “No. No, you did fine. You’re sure you’re all right, though? And Maureen?”

  There was another longish pause as he listened, then he nodded. “Right. His lawyer will ask for bail, but there’s no way in hell. Just make sure you’re there for the hearing. Okay, Claire. Good work. Very good. I’ll see you in a few days.”

  He clicked the phone closed and sat staring at it for a moment, shaking his head.

  “What happened?” Janie asked.

  “Claire happened, bless her.” He leaned his head back against the headboard. “She found Maureen Amundson about twenty minutes before her husband showed up. Ol’ Bo had stopped to toss down a few, so he was good and soused. Claire locked the door, called 911 and yelled at Bo that the cops were on the way. Which, of course, really pissed him off.”

  He turned to her, grinning. “So he put his fist through a window, cutting up his hand and also setting himself up since his fist was caught and he couldn’t move without cutting himself up worse. Claire said he went on yelling insulting things so she hit him with some pepper spray. The cops got there a few minutes later and took him into custody. Turns out Claire’s a hell of a fighter.”

  “So it all worked out,” she said carefully.

  “Yeah.”

  “Without your being there,” she added.

  His grin began to fade. “Yeah, but I should have been. The whole thing was just luck…”

  Janie shook her head. “From what you just told me, I’d say it was more than luck.”

  Pete’s smile narrowed, then he shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “It sounds like you have some competent people in your office, Pete.”

  “We have a lot of competent people. I’m one of them. I help keep everything on track. If you’ll notice, Ms. Dupree, I was the one who put all of this together. Claire was the one on the ground, but I was the one who ran it.”

  His jaw was remarkably square all of a sudden. She took a breath. “Do you like your job, Pete?”

  He gave her a guarded look. “Like it? I worked hard to get it.”

  She managed to keep her expression bland. “So you enjoy what you do?”

  This time he was quiet for a moment before he answered. “I believe in what I do. That’s more important than enjoying it. If I didn’t do it right, the bad guys would win. I’m trying to keep human pond scum off the streets.”

  She nodded slowly, thinking. “I understand that. Is that what keeps you going then?”

  “Keeps me going?” His forehead furrowed. “Sure. Like I say, it’s an important job.”

  “Do you get vacations?”

  He looked momentarily uncomfortable. “Yeah.”

  “Where did you go last year?”

  “I didn’t take one last year. Too much was going on.”

  “The year before that then.”

  After a moment, he shook his head.

  “When did you take a vacation?” Janie raised an eyebrow.

  “Vacations are overrated.”

  “Not by those who take them.”

  “Well, I’m on vacation now,” Pete snapped. “Look how well that’s turning out, stress-wise.”

  She sighed, pushing herself to the side of the bed. “Maybe I should go home.” Sort of the last thing she wanted to do, but this conversation definitely wasn’t headed anywhere good.

  He caught hold of her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “Pete…”

  “No, I’m sorry.” His gaze held hers, dark coffee eyes in the shadowed bedroom. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I guess it’s a sore point with me right now. I used to like my job a lot, back when I was an assistant county attorney. Prosecuti
ng felons was better than corporate law. Now…” He shook his head. “I still believe in it. I still know it’s important. But I don’t like it as much, I guess.”

  “You don’t like being in charge?”

  He gave her a bleak smile. “Nope. But, hey, somebody’s got to do it. And I’m good at it, unfortunately. And there’s no going back, once you start moving up the ladder.”

  There were a lot of things she could say about that, a lot of topics they could discuss. Except talking wasn’t at all what she wanted to do right now. Janie wondered if there was any way they could get back to what they’d been doing before his phone call.

  Pete took hold of her other hand. “Is this what you want to do right now? Have me explain how the Polk County Attorney’s office works?”

  She shook her head slowly.

  He exhaled a sigh. “Me neither. Please stay with me tonight, Ms. Dupree. I promise not to mention my office for the rest of the evening.”

  Janie’s lips trembled. Tonight. And tomorrow. And then he’d be gone. Back to his important job that he felt he had to do, that was the major thing in his life. While she stayed here in Konigsburg. Because that was the way these things worked. Everybody said so.

  In which case, she’d better get as much of him as she could tonight.

  “I’d be honored to stay with you, Mr. Toleffson.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Pete thought he’d wake up early the next morning, but Janie woke up earlier. He heard her in the kitchen at six and groaned. Already up and probably fully clothed, dammit. If he didn’t get up, she’d leave before he could kiss her again.

  Not acceptable. He pulled on his jeans and stumbled into the kitchen.

  Janie was making coffee. She glanced up as he came through the door. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  She was wearing his T-shirt again. Pete wanted nothing more than to throw her over his shoulder and take her back to bed for the rest of the day.