by M. Merin
“It is my house, I want you happy here,” he practically purrs at me, cupping his dick when he notices the journey my eyes took down his body. “Until I get you moved out to my place,” he mumbles.
Chapter 20
Michaels
Anytime I tell Tabitha my intentions or what I like, her eyes harden. Like I’m passing off some fucking bullshit line. I’m not.
As soon as she leaves, I walk into her closet and start pulling out things she hopefully won’t notice. Moving from there to her dressers, I hit payday. She has a drawer of naughty pieces of lace that I can’t wait to have her model for me. Those quickly go into the pile to be moved to my house, loading up the back of my truck, I nearly make it home when Ellie calls me.
“Officer Sorenson is here, Sheriff,” she says. “He says its official business ‘this time.”
“Need about forty minutes before I can get there.”
“He looks antsy, but I’ll let him know you’re on your way.” Ellie pauses. “You didn’t screw things up with the doctor, did you?”
“Trying hard not to, you nosey old girl!” I chortle, thinking about her reaction to me asking about her gentleman caller.
“I heard she’s sweet. And quite a looker?” Ellie ignores my rebuff.
“Maybe we can double date?” I laugh but get dead silence in return.
“I’m seeing Roy, from the Grizzlies. Before you say anything, I won’t let it affect my job and I never share anything work related with him. He and I have a very strict rule, we won’t ever exchange information.” She exhales and I realize how stiff my back had gone at her words. Roy used to be the Sergeant at Arms, I can’t even think about how to respond to this.
“Sheriff, you did everything you could about my ex, but Roy? I was out with some girlfriends one night and he saw Paul approach us. How he wouldn’t stop. Roy stopped him from harassing us that night, paid him another visit the next day, and then he kept stopping by to check on me.” Ellie sighs like a school girl. “He’s the kind of man I need right now.”
“This isn’t an issue until it becomes an issue. You get what I’m saying, Ellie?” I’m at a loss as how I should handle this but also know I’d be hard pressed to run that station without her.
“I won’t let my relationship bleed over to work, you have my word.” Disconnecting the call, I quickly leave a voicemail for Tabby that I can’t make lunch. I feel like shit that she cancelled her lunch for me but this can’t be helped.
*
“What can I do for you, Sheriff Lisson, Officer Sorenson?” I ask, walking into my conference room an hour later.
The Sheriff, from a couple counties, away lays out their investigation. Debbie has been upgraded from a possible missing person to a probable homicide. Her body was found in the basement of an abandoned farmhouse by a contractor employed by the new owners. It was an overdose but the only needle mark was on the back of her thigh.
“Look, we know who her primary dealer was but he was in County around the time she went missing. Her aunt says Debbie had some bad burn scars on her but wouldn’t talk about them. She wasn’t working but a few weeks before she went missing, she stopped by the restaurant her aunt works at and Debbie suddenly had a wad of cash.” He takes a deep breath.
“Cards on the table, I arrested her the first time when she wasn’t more than fifteen or sixteen, she offered to blow me to get out of trouble. This isn’t someone who ever considered going anywhere in life but I happen to think she deserved better than to have been dumped and forgotten.
“I suspect she was turning tricks but that doesn’t explain the money. Now, Officer Sorenson has asked to be on this case and we’ll work it together unless it looks like any lines will be crossed, but I’m going to need to talk to some of the Grizzlies. Some of Debbie’s regular men that she mentioned to her cousins and aunt. Namely his…well, Gunner Sorenson, Frank Abernathy, and I only have a road name for another man she spoke about: ‘Needle’.”
“I’ve already spoken to Gunner based on the last time Eric and I talked. He swears he didn’t touch her from late 2016 on, he found out she was bragging about becoming his Old Lady and he got pissed. Frank lives right outside town, I’ll ride over that way with you. As far as Needle, I knew him by sight but don’t know his name. I never had any reason to pull him over and I haven’t seen him around in a while but we can ask Frank about him.” I grab my hat and keys, pointing towards the door.
I stop and let Ellie know what’s going on as we head out, not missing the look on her face when I mention the involved parties. My ass, Roy doesn’t talk about the MC.
“I’m still gonna need to talk to Gunner,” Sheriff Lisson states as we’re getting out of our vehicles outside of Frank’s place. “Formality, you understand.” I nod stiffly, moving my eyes to Eric.
Frank opens the door before I can knock; stepping out onto his porch he closes the door behind him.
“What do you want?”
“Frank, this is Sheriff Lisson and Officer Sorenson from over…”
“I know who they are. Fuck, I’d know that was Gunner’s pa a mile away. You still fucking high school girls?” He spits on the ground a few feet in front of Eric’s feet and Lisson slaps a hand on Eric’s chest to keep him from charging forward, causing Frank to laugh and keep egging him on. “How’s that work anyway, Sheriffs? Can I find a nice ripe high school girl to fuck without getting arrested?”
“Frank, we’re here about a possible homicide.” I start. “Deborah Jones.”
“You think that’s funny?” Lisson snaps at the smirk on Frank’s face.
“Not funny at all, but not exactly a surprise either.” Frank takes in all our faces. “Look, she was an enthusiastic lay, even for an ugly old guy like me. There was a time I’d have made an offer to her, but she wasn’t ever going to give up her blow and I’m past the stage where I want to support someone’s habit.”
“When was the last time you saw her?” Lisson continues and Frank takes a deep breath.
“She reached out to me a few months back, don’t remember when exactly. The girl was really struggling so I told her I’d loan her some cash, one time. We met up, we fucked and we went our own ways. Deb reached out to me a few weeks after that but I never responded. She would have kept looking for money and I got problems of my own without her trying to weasel money out of me.”
“Why’d the MC ban her?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Frank stays calm but that alone comes across as a tell. “Girls like that? They come and go every couple years.”
“We’re looking for a guy who was called Needle, don’t have anything but that road name.” I throw in next and Frank’s eyes shift back to me.
“That asshole had a problem with membership fees, so he walked. Earlier in the year, don’t recall when.”
“Don’t remember anything that matters, huh?” Eric speaks up.
“I can remember to put a condom on, that must count for something?” Frank throws his shit eating grin back over to Eric before looking at me again. “We done here, Michaels?”
Getting a nod from Lisson, I tell him not to leave the county without letting me know and I grab my phone to call Gunner.
Gunner
“Gonna have some company,” I look over at Jasper who had stopped by my shop to check out some furniture Emma was interested in.
“New text from Frank, they were just there asking about Deb,” he grunts, looking up from his phone. “Mind if I stick around?” I don’t bother answering that.
Doesn’t take long to get much of anywhere around this town, so the two Sheriff’s SUVs are rolling in soon enough. Michaels somehow forgot to mention my sperm donor was with them.
“Your house is coming along nicely, Gunner,” Michaels comments on the place I’m building for Riley, and hopefully, our family before long. “Jasper – makes it easier on us that you’re here.”
“When was the last time you saw Deborah Jones?” Lisson immediately asks.
>
“Deborah Jones?” I chuckle.
“Don’t fucking pretend you haven’t heard from Frank already. Deb, one of your favorite Girlies.” Guess the other Sheriff decided to act out ‘bad cop’ in this scenario.
“Fuck, Deborah Jones sounds like someone who’d work in a bank.” Jasper voices what I was thinking.
“Earlier this year, February sound right to you, Jas?” I respond and he nods.
“Think this is funny?” Lisson walks closer to me and Michaels rolls his eyes. “Because I’ve got a decaying corpse of a young woman, and that isn’t fucking funny to me.”
“Ain’t my monkey, ain’t my circus.” I shrug, trying to bait the guy.
“Having a party, Gunner?” Riley asks as she walks through the door, smiling at everyone until she sees my father and she double-times it over to me. “Everything alright?”
I haul her into my arms, kissing her deeply. Not giving two shits about our audience. “The Deb thing,” I whisper under the cover of nibbling on her earlobe. “Better now,” I say loudly, standing back to my full height.
“And I imagine you haven’t seen Needle since around then, either?” Michaels picks up the questioning. Looking past him, I see Eric studying the furniture I have in various stages of completion, but he’s obviously listening to every word.
“Barking up the wrong tree, Sheriff,” I throw a grin his way. “I have my Ol’ Lady, my MC, and my business. Not going to fuck up the life I got.”
“Jasper, since it technically is your ‘circus’, anything you can contribute? Any of the other Girlies that might have stayed in touch Deb after she left town?” Lisson nearly growls in frustration.
“I don’t mind asking,” Jasper manages to sound helpful. “I’ll put them in touch with Michaels here. Well, not in touch, because that wouldn’t be appropriate, would it?”
The three of them leave without another word and I quickly cover Riley’s mouth with my finger as she starts to speak. Leading her and Jasper to the rear exit, I pick up the phone to call Wrench.
“Brother, I need you and a couple probies to come sweep my shop.”
Riley’s mouth drops open as she realizes what I suspect Eric was up to. Jasper shoots me a grin when he sees her curl her small hands into fists. “That asshole had the nerve to come into your shop and…” I lean in for a kiss, silencing her. My girl isn’t dumb, when I let her up for air she looks between Jasper and me.
“Come home when Wrench finishes up?” she asks.
“Soon as I can, Sweetheart. Hey! Why’d you stop in today?” I hold tight to her hand as she steps back.
“My mother was arrested.”
“What the fuck?” Jasper shoots out before I can process her words. “For that woman and her child?”
“No, she was high as a kite and hit a car with two nuns in it. One might not make it.” I shake my head at Riley’s news. The two of us got shitty parents but the information Gram has been disclosing about Ann and Bill recently has my head spinning. “She swears she’s on anti-anxiety medication but who knows.”
“Shit, Sweetheart,” I tip her face up so I can see her eyes, pleased she hasn’t been crying. “Why don’t you just go across to Emma or Charlie’s and I’ll pick you up, I don’t want you alone right now.”
“He’s right, Riley,” Jasper’s soothing voice chimes in. “Emma’s at the house and would love a visit.”
She takes a deep, shuddering breath but nods in agreement. “See you soon.”
“She’s lucky she has you,” Jas says as we watch her drive towards his place, a couple miles down the road.
“Other way around, Pres. Always will be.”
Chapter 21
Tabitha
I shake my head as I finally get back home, closer to time for a late dinner rather than a lunch. Mike’s truck is here and the lights are on inside. After my morning at the salon, one of my patients was rushed in. Her daughter was born a few weeks early but both were doing fine when I left. Instead of seeing Mike with my hair perfectly styled and my skin glowing, it’s still damp from the shower I took at the hospital.
“What a day,” I say by way of greeting and he’s already half across the room to me.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do lunch,” he kisses me.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do dinner,” I laugh up at him. “It’ll be like we’re abroad, eating dinner so late.” He groans and holds me tight.
“I cheated on you,” he confesses. “I got us take-out but I hadn’t eaten all day, so I dug in.”
“You’re forgiven. Oh! Someone at the hospital knows someone who’s a nurse in Boise, she told me…”
“About Ann Maddock? Yeah, I heard about it right after I had to interview Gunner about a case. Riley was there and must have already heard the news but she didn’t bring it up.” He shakes his head. “The shit that kid’s been through.”
“It’s easy to forget how young she is. She is sure as hell more mature than I was at that age.”
“You’re right, I can’t picture her spraying mustard on anyon…OUCH!” he straightens his arms to hold me away from him. “Christ, woman, I’m going to have a permanent bruise there.”
Slipping from his grasp, I go to plate up my dinner. My eyes are half closed by the time I finish and when he just spoons me in bed, I smile to myself. Sex between us is fucking amazing each time, but this, this is nice too.
*
It turns out the wet dream that draws me from sleep the next morning was completely inspired by the muscular, tatted hot cop that spent the night wrapped around me.
His long forefinger is circling my clit, occasionally dipping down to spread my juices as he nuzzles my breast.
“Morning, Princess,” he nibbles on my lower lip and arches his pelvis into my hip, as if asking me if I’d help him with the hard cock that’s pulsing against me. I start to turn, looking to see how much time I have before I need to leave for work. “Plenty of time.” He chuckles, pulling down his briefs and fully claiming my mouth.
I wrap my legs around his hips but he unwinds them, lifting them up to rest on his shoulders. “Let’s see how deep I can get today?” he grins down at me as he slowly slides into me.
“Showoff,” I groan, pretending to pout as he hits my G-spot.
“Oh, if you don’t like that,” the bastard pulls out and I have no leverage to pull him back inside.
“Miiike, please?”
He slowly pushes back inside of me and I roll my ass further up, forcing him to shift. Forcing him to shove his dick straight down into me, we let out loud moans at the same time.
“So deep, Mike, so good.”
“Need it hard, Tabby,” he gets through his clenched jaw and I arch up as best I can. Mike takes me hard and continues thrusting long moments after my orgasm starts. I lie beneath him, too spent to contract my walls around him. Feeling his hot spray inside me brings me back from the edge and I look up at his face.
His eyes are wide and focused on my face, his jaw has gone slack and I know I’ll have bruises on my calves. Just the exact size of his large hands. Mike gently eases my legs back down and lowers himself so his head is resting on my chest.
I try to slow my racing heart back down to a normal pace but can feel his heart beating heavily also.
“I woke up so many times last night, just wanting to be inside you,” Mike kisses the side of my breast and I can feel his smile form against my skin. “I knew you needed your rest though.”
“I think we should be good for Friday, Mike,” I say as I stroke his hair.
“I’m worried it’ll be goodbye this time, Tabby,” he sighs against me. “It’s broken my heart over and over again, all these years, but to think it’ll be the last time I get to see her? Shit.”
I hold him tight. There’s no magic phrase that will ever take away this pain. The only peace I can try to give is through my presence – listening to him when he needs to talk and finding a way to honor her after she passes.
*
&n
bsp; My day continues with scheduled patients in my office, halfway through that I’m called to the ER. When I hear it’s a possible miscarriage with a woman in her second trimester, I flat out run for it. Terrified that it might be Charlie.
Darting into the exam room I’m pointed towards, I’m in no way relieved. I don’t immediately recognize the man wearing the Grizzlie cut although I think I may have met him at Jake’s. Unfortunately, I recognize a woman I’ve seen in my office once.
“Betsy woke up about an hour ago with some cramping,” the man by her side is patting a wet cloth around her face. “Please, it’s our first, when we saw the blood I got her in right away.”
“Can you wait outside?” I ask, getting my gloves on.
“NO!” they both cry out.
“Alright, let’s just stay calm…” I start before I feel a contraction tear through her slight body and a heavy course of blood flows from her. Betsy sobs and I know she understands what I do, that I can’t save this child now, only care for her.
“I’m so sorry, Russ, I’m so…” she pulls him closer.
“Not your fault, Betsy. Look at me, no saying sorry. I need you to be alright, my sweet Little Bit. You hear me?” he kisses her over and over, holding her as I silently do my job. Holding back my tears, I force myself to block out his words. The comfort he gives her hurts my heart and I need to keep my mind focused.
The worse fucking part about this job are days like this.
What seems like an eternity later, I walk out to see Flint in the hallway next to a woman with auburn hair. He’d been watching the door and saw my face before I could guard it.
“Oh, shit. Goddamn.” Flint blurts out. “Is Betsy alright?”
“I think she and Russ, is it? I think they’ll need some time.” I move towards them and he introduces me to his Ol’ Lady.
“What does she need?” Bree immediately asks. “Clothes, I would imagine? Flint, we’ll offer them the guest room, I don’t want Betsy climbing the stairs to their apartment until she’s better. Doctor, any vitamins or anything else I should pick up for her?”
