by Sable Hunter
“I’m sure,” Micah stated flatly. “What you need to do is take care of Sami. Just leave the rest to me.”
…In Austin, Saxon had stared at the computer until his eyes were crossed. He was just about to doze off when an alert sounded. His eyes popped open, and he stared at the screen. “Alivia!”
“What?” Alivia called from downstairs. She’d slipped off to work on her so-called talent. “Did you find something?”
“Yea, get up here!”
She laid down the mop handle she’d been using in her routine and ran up the stairs. “What’s going on?”
Before she could get through the door, Saxon grabbed her by the arms and kissed her hard. “We have a match on the fingerprint. It’s Father Murray. He touched Helena Tatum’s bracelet, probably as they struggled. This is our first concrete proof that he killed one of our beauty queens.”
“I wonder why they didn’t get a hit on the fingerprint earlier?” Alivia mused.
Saxon gave it some thought, then it hit him. “The Post Office job. He let himself be fingerprinted for the post office job!”
“I wonder why?” Alivia mused. “Why take the chance?”
“I don’t know, he’d gotten away with it for so long, I guess he got a little cocky.”
“Well, good, I’m glad we made that connection.” Alivia was thrilled, but she also knew this was just part of the puzzle. “We’re making headway. But let’s not forget. Father Curtiss Murray is dead. He’s not the killer we’re chasing at the moment.”
“Spoilsport. I know the answer’s staring us in the face, we just need to look harder.”
“I agree,” Alivia said as Saxon’s phone rang.
“Micah,” he said, locking his eyes to hers as he answered the phone. “Hey, how’s Sami?”
“She’s awake, and all is well. Madison and I are on our way back now. You two pack tonight; we’ll all head out to Richardson in the morning.”
Saxon saw Alivia’s shoulders sag. “Sure, we’ll be ready. Did you talk to Spicer?”
“Talking is a loose term. Ford has the verbal skills of a mountain gorilla. He did send you a message.”
“What is it?” Saxon asked.
“I don’t know; he handed me a sealed envelope.”
“Weird.”
“Exactly.” Micah let out a long sigh. “Tell Alivia I’ve put money down on her walking away with the crown.”
Alivia wasn’t eavesdropping, but she couldn’t help but overhear. “You made a foolish bet, Micah. I’ll be lucky not to trip crossing the stage.”
Micah laughed. “I heard her. Tell her we’ll work on her confidence together.”
“I think she’s going to do just fine too, but I’m not getting in the middle of your argument,” Saxon said as he gathered up his laptop.
“Wise. We’ll be traveling together, so I’ll pick you two up about eight.”
“Eight’s early,” Saxon protested. He’d been hoping they could sleep in.
“All right, all right, nine.”
Saxon could hear kissing noises. “I guess Madison changed your mind.”
“Yea, she did. See you tomorrow.”
Once Micah hung up, Saxon hooked an arm around Alivia’s neck and snagged her body into an embrace. “Are you ready to go home?”
“To my house?” Alivia asked, unsure of what he was saying.
“No, Savvy’s still at my house, and there’s no way I’m babysitting that genius pile of scrap metal without you close by to protect me.”
He stole another kiss, and Alivia happily went along with his plan.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“I could get used to this.” Saxon palmed Alivia’s breasts as she rode him. “You are incredible.” Just looking at her made him smile. She was so beautiful, with her head thrown back, her long hair falling to tickle his thighs.
“Waste not, want not,” she whispered, grinding down on him.
“Waste not, what?” he muttered, gasping as her pussy began to flutter around his cock.
“Morning wood,” Alivia keened as she shuddered, her fingernails digging into his shoulders.
“Good decision. We need to recycle more,” he hissed as his own climax crashed over him.
Alivia collapsed on him, giggling. “Recycle?”
Saxon cradled her to him. “I was just going with the flow.”
She kissed him. “You’re so silly.”
Glancing at the clock, Saxon whistled. “Six o’clock? Not that I’m complaining, but I thought we were going to sleep in.”
“It’s all your fault.” She kissed his neck. “You were all hard and sexy. I couldn’t resist.”
“I’m glad.” He rubbed her back softly. “Do you want to go get something to eat?” About that time his stomach let out a growl, and Alivia giggled again.
“Don’t laugh at me. I need food if I’m going to keep up with your insatiable sexual appetite.”
“You got that right.” She sat up, grabbing the nightshirt she’d worn to bed, pulling it over her head. “I know what I want.”
“What?” It was hard to think when she was half-naked.
“There’s this place called Papi’s Pies over in Round Rock that serves great Saltenas.”
“What’s a Saltenas? Sounds like a brand of cracker to me.”
Alivia pinched him playfully on the shoulder. “Stop it. Not Saltine. Saltenas. They’re Bolivian Empanadas. Wonderful. We can get beef or chicken. If we call in now, they’ll be ready in twenty minutes. We’ll have just enough time to get dressed, and get over there.”
“Okay. I’m game.” Saxon held her hand as she stood up, then he rose to stand alongside her. “Where is Papi’s?”
Alivia thought a second. “Just off Chisolm Trail. The fastest route from here would probably be Gattis to A. W. Grimes, then turn on Sam Bass Road to get to Chisolm. The pie shop is right by that creek there, Brushy something.”
“Sounds like a plan. Join me?” Saxon padded from the bedroom to the bathroom. “I wonder if we’ll ever have a road named after us?”
“What are you talking about? A road?” She followed along behind him, giggling as he stepped into the shower, flipped on the water, then catapulted back outside the door before the cold spray could hit him.
“Man, I hate that. I always freeze my ass off trying to get the water turned on. Why don’t they put the controls outside the door?”
Alivia kept laughing at his antics. “You’re a computer genius. Why don’t you wire something up, so you can set the temp on a remote?”
He made a face at her. “Smarty-pants.” As she pulled off the nightshirt, he made a grab at the sweet cheeks of her ass.
“Stop!” She found towels for them, then waited until he leaned into the shower to test the water. As he waved his hand under the spray, she reached over to tug his resting penis gently.
“Hey!” He whirled around with mouth open, shocked that she’d teased him in such a manner. “Watch what you’re grabbing, girl!”
“Turn-about is fair play,” she said, just before squealing as he grabbed her from the back, wrapping his arm around her, one hand covering a breast and the other covering her feminine mound.
“Now, I’ve got you.” He bit her earlobe lightly. “I didn’t give you enough loving this morning?”
“Guess not,” she panted, seeking out his lips over her shoulder.
“Let me see if I can remedy that travesty. Open the shower door, doll.”
She did so, and he walked her beneath the spray, then turned her around to press her against the tile. “You awoke a sleeping giant, so this is gonna be fast.” He hooked one of her thighs over his arm and lifted until she took the hint and wrapped both of her legs around his waist.
“Because we’re running out of time?”
“No, because you drive me mad with desire.” Those were the last coherent words either spoke as he took her against the shower wall. Hard. Fast. Thoroughly.
When Alivia stood on her own two feet once more,
she was weak with satisfaction. “Oh, you’re good.”
“Yep, but I was inspired.” He filled his palms with shower gel and began to soap her supple body.
She basked in the glow of his attention. “Now, what was that about a road? You want one named for you?”
“Sure, I do. Like Sam Bass, I want Saxon Abbott Road.” Saxon bent and kissed each rosy nipple peeking out of the bubbles. “I don’t know what it will be for, I doubt Saxon’s Conquest warrants a road. Your work in artificial intelligence could earn you a highway, I guess.”
“Yea, A. G. Hart Boulevard.” Alivia soaped her hands and had a grand old time rubbing his sexy chest. “You saved plenty of people, Saxon. I think you deserve an interstate. Now, why are we talking about roads?”
“Because of your directions to Papi’s. Keep up, Alivia.” He soaped his hand, then delved between her legs, washing her in the sexiest possible way. “I remember when the highway called Arterial ‘B’ was changed to A. W. Grimes. He was the Texas Ranger who challenged the infamous Bass Gang. He and Sam both died in the shootout, but Sam became the legend and Grimes was forgotten until some local lawmen decided to remedy the situation by insisting his name be put on a road.”
Alivia clung to his shoulders while he pleasured her, trying to speak coherently. “Doesn’t seem fair, the bad guy got all the attention.”
He smiled as she came again, melting into his arms. “If you don’t quit cumming all over the place, we’re never going to get anything to eat.”
“If you’d stop touching me, I’d stop cumming.” She laughed, rinsing off and stepping out of the shower.
“Oh, you want me to stop touching you?” he asked with a smirk as he joined her on the rug to dry off.
“Never!” She ran off to dress as he popped her on the butt with a towel.
As they were about to dash out for breakfast, Alivia stopped to speak to Savvy. “We’ll be back within the hour, gather your battery pack and surge protector, we’re leaving for Richardson soon.”
“Yay! Road trip!” She looked stricken. “We never bought my new clothes.”
Alivia didn’t know why she hadn’t thought about it before. “You can wear my clothes until we can buy some of your own.”
“Okay.”
Savvy seemed less than enthused. “What’s wrong?”
“No offense, Alivia, but you have no sense of style.”
Alivia’s mouth flew open, and Saxon burst out laughing. “Watch it, Savvy. She’ll disassemble you.”
“No, she needs me too much.” Savvy breezed out of the room to attend to her business.
“Can you believe that?” Alivia asked as they left the house to head to Papi’s Pies.
“I can’t believe we’re taking her with us. Can’t you get a babysitter or something?”
Sliding into the passenger seat of Saxon’s Corvette, Alivia fastened her seatbelt. “I can’t risk it, sorry. She’s just too valuable. Plus, she might come in handy.”
Saxon snorted. “I can’t wait to see what Micah has to say about it.”
“Oh, Savvy can hold her own, even against Micah.”
He drove them from Blackhawk subdivision to Gattis Road, one of the main thoroughfares out of the residential neighborhood. But instead of turning on Gattis, he went further west to hit Mays.
“Where are we going?”
Saxon winked at her. “It’s a surprise. Don’t worry, we’re still heading to the same place. I called our order in, and we’ll get there on time.”
“Okay, if you say so.” She didn’t understand when they turned off Mays and drove down a shaded street that ended in Memorial Park. “Saxon, we don’t have time for a stroll.”
“Oh, yes we do.” They parked the Vette, and he took her hand. “Come on. We’re taking a short hike.”
“This is beautiful.” Alivia admired the shaded trail and the large trees. Right next to the path was a beautiful winding body of water about thirty feet across. “Oh, this is Brushy Creek.”
“Yea, I thought you’d like the scenery.” They walked together down a rock-strewn path by the creek, surrounded by trees and picnic tables. After a while, he pointed ahead of them. “Look, we’re about to walk under I-35. Now, look straight ahead.”
Alivia was astounded. “Oh, we’re already at Chisolm Trail. You found a shortcut!”
“Better, this is the crossing where the city of Round Rock got its name.” As he helped her step from stone to stone, they made their way by the picturesque stream. “If you look in the middle of the creek you’ll see a large round rock.”
Alivia did as he said. “I see it.” She was puzzled. “What am I looking at, other than a rock?”
Saxon frowned at her with a teasing face. “Alivia, this is the round rock that gave Round Rock its name.”
She pushed him playfully, almost making him step off into the water. “Get out of here!”
He laughed. “No, really. The road Chisolm Trail is named after the legendary cattle drive that would move herds of longhorns from ranches in South Texas to the Kansas railheads. The trail came right through here, and they would drive the herd across Brushy Creek at this spot.” They stopped, and he pulled her in front of him, so she could see, and he could have access to kiss her neck. Pushing her hair to one side, he trailed his lips from her collarbone to just beneath her ear. “If the cattle drivers saw this round rock showing above the water, they knew it was safe to take the cattle and the wagons across. If this round rock wasn’t above the surface, they knew the water was too deep to attempt a crossing.”
“I never knew that.” She held onto his forearms as they were hooked beneath her breasts. “I’ve lived a few miles from this place for most of my life, and I never stopped to wonder why this place was even a park.”
“It’s a neat spot.” He pointed on the other side of Chisolm Trail Road. “On that side of the park, there are life-size bronze statues of pioneers and Longhorn cattle. And right by the park…” Saxon pulled her up the bank and onto the side of the street. “It’s Papi’s Pies!”
“We made it!” She laughed as they ran across the street.
Once they were inside the quaint restaurant, they picked up their order and sat down at a wrought iron café table to eat. “Now, that was an adventure, right in your own backyard. Thank you.”
“Here’s to more adventures!” Saxon toasted her with his glass of milk. “These are fabulous.” He bragged on the empanadas. “The closest I’ve ever had to one of these is a Natchitoches meat pie.” He told her about the Louisiana delicacy.
She wiped her fingers with a paper napkin. “I haven’t spent much time in the pelican state. I’ve been to New Orleans once, but that was years ago.”
“I have some good friends in the bayou country. I’d love to show you the sights over there sometime.”
Alivia fidgeted in her seat. This was the first time Saxon had made a direct reference to them spending time together beyond the investigation. The possibility made her heart race. She purposely kept her response light and evasive. “Sounds like fun.”
Saxon noticed her guarded reaction. With a sigh, he changed the subject. “When we get settled in Richardson, I want to read Father James’ journal.”
“Good idea. I know I’ll be at Victoria’s beck and call, but I plan on spending as much time as I can spare on our technical angle of the investigation. I think we have a better chance of solving the case than just sitting and waiting for the killer to come to us.”
“I agree. Micah intends to keep all the bases covered.” He gathered the ticket to pay the bill. “Are you ready?”
“Yea, we should probably get back.” Alivia glanced at the time on her phone. “We’ll need to hurry.”
This time they raced back across the park. Alivia laughed when Saxon’s foot skated across one of the slick rocks, and he slipped into the knee-deep water. “Damn, I don’t have time for another shower.”
“It’s just water, don’t be so picky.” She squealed and raced off when
he splashed her.
Once they were back where they left the car, they were breathless. “Okay, we’ll race home, gather our things and wait on Micah.”
“That was amazing, thank you,” Alivia told him. “I don’t suppose we’re supposed to have fun on a mission like this, but I have.”
“Me too,” Saxon told her as he aimed the Vette toward home.
When they arrived, Savvy was ahead of them. She’d gathered all of Alivia’s bags together near the front door. “I think I have everything. I’m all set.”
“Wonderful!” Alivia gave her droid a hug. “I better give Violet a call before we leave,” she told Saxon as he headed upstairs to round up his equipment.
Going to the kitchen, Alivia poured herself a glass of water and sat down at one of the barstools to phone her assistant. “Violet, how are you feeling?”
“Yucky. This is not going to be a good day. Did you see Tim Dailey’s interview on the news this morning?”
“No, what are you talking about?” Alivia got a queasy feeling in her stomach at her assistant’s question.
“To all extents and purposes, he outed you. He’s touting his unauthorized biography of the computer genius who is going undercover at a beauty pageant to catch a killer.”
“What!” Alivia screamed. “Saxon!”
Saxon came running. “What’s wrong?”
She repeated what Violet had told her. “It’s over. This mission is ruined. I don’t know how he put two and two together, but he has.”
“Hold on. Hold on.” Saxon tried to think. “I’ll have to talk to Micah, but this might not be a bad thing.”
“I don’t see how.”
As Alivia gave a few more last-minute instructions to Violet, Saxon got on the phone to Micah.
“Where are you?”
“Turning down your street. Are you ready?”
“I think we have a problem.”
“If you’re talking about that tell-all author’s interview, I’ve already seen it.”
Saxon wasn’t surprised. “So, how are we going to deal with it?”
“I don’t think we should change a thing,” Micah said. “We’re dealing with a cocky bastard who thinks he’s smarter than we are. I don’t think this will put him off, at all. I think he’ll view it as a challenge. If he has anything planned, I can’t see him changing his mind. He might adjust his methodology, but we’ll just up our game as well. Everyone involved with the pageant is aware of increased security. This publicity will just make people feel better about the situation. Plus, Alivia gets a little extra edge. She’s not just your run-of-the-mill candidate anymore – she just became Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality.”
