by Rose Pressey
“She seems upset,” Jake said.
“She’ll get over it.”
“In the meantime, why don’t you get on?” Jake asked.
“I need to get on that?”
“Yeah, that’s the point. You’re going to drive it until we find your car.”
“I don’t know… Walking is good for me.”
“You’ll look cute on it.”
“Just what I need to be taken seriously… to look cute,” I said.
“Get on.” He motioned.
I sighed and then walked over to the scooter.
Climbing on I asked, “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Start the bike and take it for a little spin.”
“Just like that?” I said.
“Yeah, you can ride a bicycle, right?”
I nodded.
“Then you’ll be fine,” he said.
I turned the ignition, put the helmet on, and then drove in circles around the parking lot. Finally, I moved back up in front of Jake.
I laughed. “That was kind of fun.”
“That was pretty good,” he said.
I had to admit I was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, but there was still time for a crash. Meaning a car could run over me.
“So you’re going to just let me drive this around? What about Dorothy?”
“She can ride on the back.”
“Oh, my God, this is going to be a sight to see,” I said. “Two wacky girls on a scooter.”
Jake picked up the other helmet and then got onto the scooter. Or bike, as he called it. “Hop on the back. You have to give me a ride home.”
“You mean I’m going to have to drive that thing back after I drop you off?”
“By the time you get home you’ll be good at it.”
“I hope that’s true,” I said.
I climbed on the back and he took off out of the parking lot. Dorothy was at the door. I waved to her as we took off. We zipped through the streets. Jake was naturally much better at this than I was. I was still nervous about how I was going to get it back without someone crashing into me and killing myself or destroying his scooter.
We pulled up in front of his place and I got off the scooter. Jake turned off the scooter and then removed his helmet.
He touched my hand. “Would you like to come in for a bit?”
Now it really was decision time. Should I say yes and follow my heart? Or do the wise thing that my head was telling me and say no?
In spite of myself, I found myself nodding. “Yes, just for a little bit.”
What was I getting myself into?
Jake and I headed toward the front door of his condo. A couple palm trees stood sentinel at the front entrance. Sprinklers twirled across the lawn as we went up the sidewalk. All the condos looked the same of course.
He unlocked the door and gestured. “Please come in.”
It smelled like oranges and lemons.
“Do you have fruit in here?” I sniffed.
“Oh, that’s the air freshener.” He placed his keys on the table next to the entrance.
He flipped the switch on the wall. A soft glow eliminated the living room straight ahead. It was kind of romantic, which was bad news for me. Jake hurried over to the living room and grabbed the remote. Yeah, it was just like a guy to go for the remote right away. So much for it being romantic. He flicked on the TV.
“This is no park, but I do have an old movie.” He pointed toward the TV.
Casablanca popped up on the screen.
Jake hurried back to the kitchen and held up a package of microwave popcorn. “I have snacks and soda too. What do you say? Are you up for a movie?”
Had he planned all this? If so, then that was incredibly romantic. I took back what I’d said about it not being romantic.
I couldn’t hold back a smile. “Sure, a movie would be great. Is that buttered popcorn?” I asked.
“Absolutely.” He pulled a big bowl from the cabinet.
After placing the bag in the microwave, he opened the refrigerator. “What would you like to drink? I have bottled water, Diet Coke, and I think there’s a beer left.”
“Water is fine,” I said.
The microwave beeped and he opened the door. I stepped into the kitchen and grabbed the bowl. Jake’s smile was warm and genuine. He was more relaxed here in his place, as if he could for once let his guard down. He opened the bag and poured the popcorn into the bowl. Jake placed the water bottles and bowl of popcorn on a tray and carried it toward the living room.
“Please sit anywhere you’d like.”
I knew if I sat on the leather sofa he would sit next to me. My better judgement deserted me. I wanted to be next to him. Just his mere presence made my stomach dance. I settled onto the sofa and Jake sat next to me. He handed me the water bottle. I scooped up a handful of popcorn while he turned on the movie. Jake leaned back on the sofa. We watched the movie in silence. He smelled good, like caramel and cinnamon. Mixed in with the air freshener and this was making me hungry. That probably hadn’t been Jake’s goal.
“Have you seen the movie before?” Jake asked.
I nodded. “Yes, but it’s been a few years. I always love it though.”
“Old movies are great,” Jake said. “I love the old detective movies. Classics like The Big Sleep and Murder, My Sweet.”
“Me too!” I said with a little too much excitement. “Don’t forget about Tony Rome.”
“Oh, I could never forget that movie. The Miami P.I. who outsmarts the bad guys.”
I laughed. “It makes a good story, right?”
I loved that I’d discovered that we had something else in common. I didn’t want my attraction to him to be purely physical. As the movie played, Jake and I somehow ended up closer and closer to each other. My leg was touching his leg. Soon he reached out and touched my hand. I looked over and our eyes met.
Jake leaned in closer, lowering his lips until they hovered just above mine. My heart sped up and my body tingled. After what seemed like an eternity of anticipation our lips met. I savored the sensual movements of his mouth. I ran my hand through his thick hair, just as I’d envisioned many times. A jolt of sexual energy zinged between us. I hoped I wasn’t the only one feeling it. The kiss had heated up when a loud knock came at the door. Jake groaned, and the kiss was over.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
I attempted a grin. He pushed to his feet, grabbed the remote, turned down the TV, and then walked over to the door. Who was at the door? Was it Jake’s partner? I hoped not. That would be the quickest way to end the romance that Jake and I had going. When Jake opened the door I saw Dorothy standing there.
I jumped up and ran over. “Dorothy, what are you doing here?”
She was about the last person I’d expected to see. “Is everything okay? How did you know I was here?” I bombarded her with questions.
“You left with Jake on the scooter, remember?” Dorothy said.
“Oh, right,” I said.
“Dorothy, is everything all right?” Jake asked.
“I’m sorry to bother you two, but I just thought it was important.”
“You’re not bothering us, Dorothy. Tell me what’s wrong?” Jake asked with concern in his words.
“I answered a call and the person I guess thought I was Maggie. He said he was coming after me if I didn’t stop investigating the case.”
“Did you get the number?” Jake asked.
“No, it was on Maggie’s business line.” Dorothy looked shaken up.
“It’s okay, Dorothy,” I said, reaching out to hug her. “I’m fine.”
“Well, at least I know you’re still with Jake.” She wasn’t so scared that she didn’t give me a devilish smile.
I wanted to tell her it wasn’t what it looked like, but the fact was, I didn’t know what it looked like. It was probably exactly what it looked like.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
Dorothy gestured over
her shoulder. “Morton brought me. What will you do now?”
“We’ll find out how did this,” Jake said. “Maggie, are there any other cases you’re working on right now?
Oh, this was an embarrassing question.
“Um, not that I think would warrant any call like that.”
“Well, you never know,” Jake said. “You can let me know the other cases just so I can make sure.”
Dorothy waved her hand. “Oh, she doesn’t have any other cases. Don’t waste your time worrying about that.”
Thanks a lot, Dorothy. I glared at her.
“Anyway, Morton has to leave. I told him you could give me a ride home.” She looked at Jake.
Sadly, I figured Dorothy was scared. I knew she’d feel better if Jake gave her a ride home and checked out here place. Saying that Morton had to leave was just an excuse.
“I think that’s a good idea,” I said. “Jake, you can follow me home too? We’ll catch that movie later?”
Jake grinned. “I’ll give you a ride home, Dorothy.”
Chapter 22
I supposed a big part of me wanted to become a private investigator just because my father was a police officer. He had been murdered in the line of duty. His murderer had never been caught and I wanted to solve that case. I wanted to get justice for my father. The murderer didn’t deserve to walk around as a free man when my father had been condemned to a life sentence. There had been little to go on though in finding his killer. I had made a lot of calls and had written letters that just ended up leading nowhere.
That didn’t stop me from checking my mail every day for a response. Some of the people involved back then probably didn’t use email so I had to send postal letters. I also checked my email every day, hoping to get a response from anyone I had sent a message about the murder. Today was no different. Like all the other days, I headed out to the mailbox as soon as I saw the mailman leave something in my box. Each day I had high hopes and today was no different. I tried to act casual and not run to the mailbox, but in reality, I wanted to get there as fast as possible. I just hoped it wasn’t more disappointment.
My heart beat a little faster each time I checked the box. I shoved the key into the lock and turned the handle. I grabbed a few letters that were inside. The first one was the utility bill. Yuck. The second one was an ad for a new car loan. How ironic. The last one was a letter from someone who I had recently written to. Yes, bingo. Exactly what I was looking for. My anxiety increased even more. Though I still had to realize it might just be a letter saying they knew nothing about the murder. I had written to this man who was in prison, but he knew some people who my father had been investigating. I had my suspicions that they were the reason why my father was dead.
I hoped this man would give me more information about that. I scanned through the words quickly and realized that he was confirming my thoughts. He thought the same thing, but there had never been any proof. He alluded to knowing more, but didn’t want to write in the letter. He didn’t want to write and he didn’t want to talk on the phone. That meant I would have to pay him a visit. There was no time for that now. I shoved the letter back into the envelope, feeling a bit more happiness than I had in a while. Well, as much happiness as I could have while searching for my father’s murderer. It would just be good to have closure for him. It would never bring him back and I would always have missed out on many years.
When I spun around I almost smacked right into Jake’s chest. I screamed and tossed the letters into the air. They fell to the ground, scattering around us. This was the first time I’d seen him since last night when our kiss had been stopped.
“Oh, Maggie, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Jake’s eyes lit up when he spoke to me.
I released a deep breath. “That’s okay. I can use that as my cardio for the day.”
Jake reached down and picked up the letters. Of course he had to look at the one written from an inmate at the Kentucky State Penitentiary. I’d been hoping he wouldn’t notice that one.
He stared at it for a moment and then made eye contact with me. “Maggie, what is this? Why are you writing to a prisoner? Do you really think that’s such a good idea? That’s kind of dangerous.”
I grabbed the letters from his hand. “I know all too well the consequences.”
He studied my face for a moment longer. “I’m not sure that you do know.”
I gave him my best tough private eye expression, which probably looked more like I was in pain from stomach cramps or had a headache. He acted as if I couldn’t figure out these things on my own. He was way too worried about me. Then again, that was kind of cute. Maybe I would cut him some slack. However, that didn’t mean that I would let him read the letter and know who I was writing to. Yeah, I hadn’t told him any of that and I planned to keep it a secret. He really would freak out if he knew I had thoughts of going to visit this prisoner.
He leaned over and tried to catch a peek of the letter again. That tingling sensation returned now that he was near. “Why don’t you tell me what it says? Do you have a prison pen pal? That’s not a good idea.”
“No, I don’t have a prison pen pal, and I think it’s better that I don’t tell you what it says.”
“That means it’s not good. That means you should definitely tell me what it says.”
I knew he wanted to slip the letter from my hands, but he didn’t touch it. At least he had some self-control.
I shoved the letters into my pocket. “We can just consider this subject closed.”
“You can consider it closed all you want, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about you. Why do you get yourself into these problems?”
I sighed. “I don’t get myself into any problems on purpose, but this is important. I have to do this, okay?”
“Is this thing you have to do involving a case?”
I shook my head. “No, not a case.”
“Then what is it? And why can’t you tell me?” Jake asked.
Releasing a deep breath, I pulled out the letter and handed it to him. “It has to do with my father’s murder case. I’m looking for his killer.”
“Your father was a police officer, I remember.”
“Yes, that’s right, and he was killed by a sniper. No one ever found out who did it. I have a name of a person who I think may be involved.”
“Would you like for me to check out something on him?” Jake asked.
“Would you do that for me?”
“Absolutely,” he said.
“I was just making some coffee, if you would like some.” I motioned over my shoulder.
“I’d like that a lot,” he said.
We walked back toward my apartment.
“By the way, why are you here?”
“I came to talk to you about the case that we’re working on.”
“We?”
“Yeah, Abby and me.”
I’d thought he meant me and him when he said ‘we’. What a way to burst a girl’s bubble. At least I’d been able to hold my groan in at the sound of her name.
Jake followed me into my tiny apartment. This brought back memories of last night.
I popped in one of those little pods into the coffee machine. “I hope you like caramel vanilla.”
“Sounds great,” he said.
“How about iced coffee? It’s too hot out.”
“Even better.” Jake took a seat in the chair next to my bed.
I had no dining room. There was a tiny kitchen space, a bedroom, and a desk with the television in the corner. It was a studio apartment. It was all that I could afford, but it was plenty big for me. I’d made it as cozy as possible. Plus, it was close to the beach, which was even better. I had a tiny sliver of a view if I looked at the right angle out the window, past the other building beside us. I saw just a tiny bit of blue.
I handed Jake the coffee.
He took a drink. “This is delicious.”
“Yeah, well, I made it myself,” I said with a sm
ile. “So what about the case did you want to talk about?” I took a sip.
“I suppose it’s more about Abby. She was thinking that perhaps you have some information that you’re not sharing with us.”
I couldn’t hide my smile. “She’s worried that I’ll solve the case before she does?”
“I don’t think that’s it.”
“She wants to make sure that I handle everything okay?”
“I’m sensing some hostility,” Jake said.
“Yeah, I’m sensing that she’s a know-it-all and I don’t like it.”
“Come on, Maggie, don’t be upset. She’s only trying to help.”
It was even worse when he tried to justify her actions. It was almost more than I could stand.
“Well, if you must know, I’m not hiding anything. I’m sure you all have way more information than I do.”
“You sure you’re not withholding something?”
I crossed my heart with my index finger. “I can’t believe that you don’t trust me.”
“I trust you, Maggie,” Jake said.
“She made you ask, didn’t she?”
“She didn’t make me do anything.”
“Okay, this conversation really is going nowhere, so maybe we should just drop it.”
“All right, consider it dropped. Do you want to talk more about the letter?”
I took another drink. “I think I’ll pay this guy a visit someday.”
“So it’s not bad enough that you’re writing to the prisoners, now you want to go visit them?”
“Hey, if that’s what it takes. The man said in the letter that there were things he didn’t want to talk about via email or telephone. That only leaves me one option.”
“This is in Kentucky, right?” Jake asked.
“That’s right,” I said.
“I’m going with you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said. I’m going with you. When do you want to go?”
“I guess whenever we solve this current case. It depends on when we have time.”
“You just let me know when you’re ready. I’ll take some days off.”
I supposed this did make up a little bit for him coming over here to question me for Abby. Though he could just be wanting to go with me so that he could protect me like he always did. I guessed having backup was a good thing. I had to remember I couldn’t do everything on my own. It was nice to have someone I could count on, plus he was gorgeous.
