Chapter Twelve
When she finally drifted off, Cyndi tossed and turned, mentally replaying the last couple of weeks. Even when Jason got out of bed in the morning and headed to the shower, she knew her girls were right. Her husband deserved to know what was going on where Harper was concerned.
“Hey, J.J.? You got a minute?”
Jason popped his shaving cream covered face around the bathroom door. “Is it important? I’ve got to get to court, and I overslept a little.”
She shook her head, sort of grateful he didn’t have time. At least she tried, right? “It can wait. Don’t want you keeping the judge waiting.”
“It’s Judge Howe. He’s likely to slap me with a contempt charge if I walk in the door even thirty seconds after I’m supposed to,” Jason called out.
“Don’t worry about it. We can talk tonight before you go to work.”
“Thanks, babe. I’m hopping in the shower now—you want to wash my back?” She heard Jason turn on the shower and step under the spray.
“Not this time. I’m not ready to get out of bed yet.”
“Your loss!” he called out from under the water before breaking out into one of the many cadences he liked to chant from his former military days.
Cyndi rolled over and willed sleep to return, but Harper appeared first.
“Hi, Mommy.” The little girl climbed up onto the bed and wormed her way under the covers. “Let’s cuddle.”
“Okay, little one. Sounds like a plan.” With any luck, Harper would fall back to sleep for another hour.
Cyndi closed her eyes as Harper snuggled close. They were both about to slip back into slumber when the bathroom door opened and Jason stepped into the room, wearing only a towel. She watched her husband through slightly open lids, unable to stop herself from admiring the way the little drops of water clung to his tanned skin. She was one lucky woman. It was obvious by his physique and coloring Jason had spent more than a few hours on his surfboard that summer. Where her summer tan was nearly non-existent, his was deep and warm. Cyndi was starting to regret not joining him in the shower when Harper sat straight up and dissolved in laughter.
“Tada! Daddy, I was here hiding next to Mommy and you never even knowed!”
“Knew, Harper. You never even knew.” Cyndi corrected her daughter out of habit, but Harper didn’t hear. She was already bounding across the bed and into her father’s arms.
Jason planted a kiss on her forehead. “Good morning, sweetness. You keep Mommy out of trouble today, okay? I’ve got to go to work.”
“Do you have to, Daddy?”
“I sure do. Got to put those bad guys away. That’s my job, you know.”
“Like time out?”
Jason chuckled. “Exactly like time out, Harp, except for adults. So it lasts a lot longer.”
Cyndi smiled as she listened to the exchange between father and daughter. Knowing how close she had come to losing Harper when she was born made moments like that even sweeter.
They chatted as Jason dressed in his suit. Their daughter followed him out of the room once he was ready, and Cyndi could hear her excited chatter echoing down the hall. Forcing herself up, she pulled some jeans and a t-shirt from her bureau and got dressed. Cyndi took a second to run a brush through her hair and tie it into a braid, and she studied herself in the mirror.
“You look tired, young lady.” Cyndi spoke to her reflection as she brushed her teeth.
“Hey, Cyn!” Jason called from the kitchen “You almost done in there? I have to leave!”
“On my way!” She dropped her toothbrush on the counter.
Harper sat at the table munching on a bowl of her favorite cereal when Cyndi entered the kitchen. Jason frantically searched for his car keys. Cyndi grabbed them up from the counter where he had dropped them day before.
“Looking for these?” She dangled the keys in Jason’s direction.
“You’re a lifesaver, babe.” He pulled her close, planting a kiss on Cyndi’s lips before bidding them both goodbye. “I will probably be gone most of the day. It’s a murder trial with a jury.”
“Just tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” Cyndi called after him as he headed out the door.
“Always do!”
“I know you do.” That was part of the problem. Sometimes Jason was so honest it was hard for her to live up to his expectations. She didn’t like lying to her husband about her job and a strange man giving her daughter jewelry.
For the remainder of the day, Cyndi busied herself with housework and entertaining Harper. Her little girl was napping and Cyndi was dozing on the couch when Jason arrived home to change for his shift. Half in a sleep-fog, she roused to find her husband leaning over her, his lips grazing hers.
Jason had already stripped out of his court suit, and he wore nothing but black boxer briefs. She loved that he wore those instead of the hideous tighty whities. The boxer briefs outlined the important stuff nicely, without making him look like he should be sitting on the couch in his underwear drinking a can of beer.
No longer sleepy, she snaked her arms around her husband’s neck and pulled him in close. “Hey, sexy,” she whispered against his lips. “How did the case go?”
“Oh, you know.” He positioned himself over her on the sofa, placing one knee between hers and settling the other off to the side. “The attorneys argued…” He pressed his lips to her ear, breath hot on her skin. “The dude claimed he was innocent…” Jason’s lips moved to the side of her neck, running his tongue lightly down to the hollow at the base. “No one believed him…” Warm hands worked their way up under her shirt and struggled with the clasp on her front-hook bra. Jason always, always struggled with the hooks. She reached up and gave him a little assistance. He showed his appreciation with his tongue.
“So, they gave him a time out?” She breathed against his lips as his mouth made its way back to hers.
“A nice, long time out.” By then, her breasts were bare and in the palms of Jason’s hands. Cyndi’s breath came in gasps as Jason probed her lips gently with his tongue.
“Good…” she whispered as she surrendered completely to her husband’s touch. Her hands found the waist of his briefs, working their way in as her body begged for his to satisfy her. In seconds, Jason had freed her from her jeans and his warm, hard body rested against her softer one.
“I have a few minutes before I have to get ready for my shift.”
“You don’t say?” Cyndi giggled as her fingertips grazed Jason’s back.
“Shhh…don’t wake the baby. I’m not nearly done here.”
“You’re not?”
“Not even close.”
“What did you have in mind, Officer Mills?”
“Nothing that’s against the law.” Jason worked his way in between her legs, sliding her thighs apart with his muscular ones. Her head fell back against the armrest of the sofa as Jason took possession of her. “I just need a few…more…minutes…”
Each word was punctuated by a gentle thrust. Cyndi moaned somewhere deep in her throat. The thrusts picked up in speed and intensity. Cyndi’s entire body burned with desire and anticipation of what she knew was coming. What always came when they were together.
“J.J.” Cyndi breathed as she began to spiral out of control.
“Do you like my big gun, Cyndi?” Jason placed a series of tiny kisses along the side her neck, his hot breath against her sensitive skin, driving her wild.
“You cops and your big guns…why…do…we…always…talk…about…the…gun…?” The ripples of energy washed over her, one right after another—like waves crashing on the beach in a hurricane—as her husband found his way to the hollow at the base of her neck.
“Isn’t that what drives you badge bunnies wild?” Jason ground out between alternating licks and nibbles which ended at her navel.
“You talk way too much.” Cyndi reached up and pulled her husband’s mouth toward hers, desperate for lip to lip contact. He
deepened the kiss almost instantly, sending Cyndi into a tight spiral of sensation. His fingers were more magic than his tongue, which made her head spin. With a few quick movements of his hips, Jason growled low and deep as his entire body tensed right along with hers. When they were both spent, he collapsed against her, panting. He lay still for a long moment with his face pressed to her breasts. Cyndi felt his heart pound against her abdomen. It never ceased to amaze her how much he still desired her after so many years of marriage.
“I think I need another shower,” he whispered against her chest. “Care to join me?”
“Only if you will wash my hair.” She ran her fingers through Jason’s damp hair. “Then I will wash yours.”
“Now that’s an offer I could never refuse.”
Twenty minutes later, Cyndi lay in her husband’s arms on their bed, wrapped in towels. Droplets of water still clung to the hairs on his chest as Cyndi ran her fingers through it, playing with the soft strands that had been bleached by the summer sun and surf.
“Wake me up like that every day, please.”
“Mmm…” Jason breathed against her neck. “I have been wanting to do that since you turned down my offer to wash my back this morning.”
She shifted so she could run her fingertips across the hardness of his back, and she sighed. “Such a sexy back too. What was I thinking?”
“Damned if I know.” Jason was busy leaving a trail of kisses from her neck to her navel, pushing the damp towel aside little by little as he worked.
“Hmm…honey, I think you need to get ready for your next shift.”
“Mmm…hmm…in just a second.” Jason rested his head against her chest. Together, they lay quietly on the bed. Cyndi could feel Jason’s racing heart steadily slow, until it returned to a more normal pattern. His heart rate always gave him away. Finally, her husband sat up. “Time to go,” he announced, obviously unhappy about it.
Cyndi groaned as Jason rose from the bed. She immediately felt the absence of his warmth and strength. He leaned back toward her and kissed her forehead. “I sure hate to leave.”
“Yeah, me too. I wish you could call in sick and make love to me all night long.”
Jason laughed. “Were you reading my mind just now, babe?”
“Nope.” She flashed him a smile. “Wishful thinking, I suppose.”
Her husband blew her a kiss and tossed her one of his t-shirts. “You might want to pull this on. Harper will be waking up from her nap soon. I love you.”
“Love you too, be safe out there.”
“Always am.” He blew her a kiss and was gone.
Cyndi rose and pulled the shirt over her head as the front door closed, suddenly feeling extremely lonely and slightly guilty. “You really should tell him everything,” she muttered to herself as she grabbed the remote and turned on the evening news. One of the local channels started at four instead of five. With any luck, she could catch the weather report before Harper was awake and demanding dinner.
As she waited, Cyndi’s mind began to wander. She nearly missed the photo of the young Hawaiian girl as it flashed across the screen. The television remote fell to the wood floor with a loud clatter as Cyndi jumped from the sofa. Splashed across the screen were familiar gentle features and a set of brown eyes.
“In breaking news this evening, the body of a young woman was found under the 15th Street fishing pier in Virginia Beach shortly after dawn. Police have been on the scene all day trying to figure out who the young lady is, and how her body ended up floating in the water amongst the pilings.”
The room began to tilt and sway as the reporter droned on. Cyndi dropped to her knees as she raised a hand to cover her open mouth. “Oh, no. Lola…”
The newscaster continued, “Police are asking if anyone knows the identity of the girl to please call the crime line.” A shot of Lola’s face flashed across the screen once again. Her big, brown irises stared back at Cyndi. They were Lola’s eyes, but that wasn’t Lola anymore. The spark was gone, snuffed out like a candle in the evening breeze.
The headline switched, but Cyndi stayed where she was. It just had to be a coincidence. No one had ever found Jade’s body. Lola’s was in an obvious place, certain to be found by a fisherman, or an early morning runner, or one of the dozens of surfers who hit the waves every day. Maybe she had drowned? Cyndi shook her head as soon as the thought crossed her mind. Lola was from Hawaii, so she was probably an excellent swimmer. Not likely to get caught up in a rip current or heavy surf. No, this was no accident. It couldn’t be.
Someone was stalking the women of Sugar Shakers, and if the little gift he left with Harper was any indication, Cyndi was next on his list.
Was Lola already dead when he showed up at her daughter’s bedroom window?
She could call Jason, have him look into it, but then he would ask questions, want to know why she cared. No, that was a conversation best had face-to-face.
Cyndi rose from the floor and began to pace the room. No one knew who Lola was, or where she was from. She had family that had no idea if she was dead or alive. Cyndi and the others at the club could identify her, give the police some leads in tracking down her family, but no one would come forward from Sugar Shakers. She was sure of that.
There was no doubt in her mind what she should do. It was just very different from what she wanted to do.
“Hi, Mommy. Why are you walking in circles?”
Cyndi stopped at the sound of her daughter’s voice. She spun around, dropping to her knees and holding her arms out. “I was doing a little thinking, baby girl. Did you have a good nap?”
Harper nodded against her chest before jumping out of Cyndi’s arms. “I’m hungry!” she yelled as she sped off in the direction of the kitchen.
The distraction of preparing a quick dinner for the two of them helped calm Cyndi’s racing mind. By the time they had eaten and cleared everything away, she knew what she had to do—wait up for Jason and tell him everything.
It was time to confess to the dancing job, tell him how she had been playing amateur sleuth, and give him the lowdown on the necklace of the dancer.
Jason was predictable. He didn’t like to think that about himself, but it was true. He would take it hard, but he would forgive her eventually for lying about the job.
What he really wasn’t going to like was her idea on how to catch the killer.
Chapter Thirteen
By the time Jason got home at the end of his shift, Cyndi had practically worn a path in the living room carpet. After she put Harper to bed, she had tried to watch television, but nothing could keep her attention. So she mulled the idea over and over in her mind, working out the details and planning the best way to present it to her husband.
The front door opened. Cyndi paced faster, wringing her hands so tightly she lost feeling in her fingertips.
Jason stepped into the living room. “Hey, babe. What are you still doing up?”
Even in her present state of stress, in the middle of the night, he looked damned good in his uniform. Flashes from that afternoon warmed the blood in her veins, giving Cyndi the sudden urge to tear that outfit right off her husband. The necklace talk could wait.
Focus, girl, you can do this. “Umm, honey, we really need to talk about something.”
Her husband studied her intently, concern darkening his blue eyes. “Is everything okay with Harper?”
“She’s fine. This has nothing to do with her.” At least, not directly anyway.
“Well, let me go change real quick. I’ll be back in a jiffy, and then you can have my undivided attention.”
“All right.” Cyndi nodded as Jason ducked out of the room, fighting the urge to follow him. She continued pacing until he returned in a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt.
“I’m back.” Jason eyed her suspiciously. “What seems to be troubling you so much?”
She stopped walking and looked out the window into the dark night. Taking a deep breath and whispering a quick prayer, Cyn
di turned around and blurted out, “I don’t clean offices on Friday nights. I mean, I started out that way, but it didn’t pay much, so I quit after about a month.”
“You took that job four months ago. If you aren’t going to work, then what are you doing every Friday night?” Jason demanded in his cop voice. God, how she hated that tone. It meant she better have one hell of an explanation, and it better be coming soon.
This was going to be much harder than she thought.
“I have been going to work.”
“You just said you quit three months ago.”
“I did. I found another job I like a hell of a lot more than cleaning toilets and floors.”
Jason stared at her. With one eyebrow raised, he waited for her to continue. She took another deep breath and threw everything out on the table.
“I have been dancing. You know I took lessons for years. I am pretty good at it, and the pay is like six times as much as I was making cleaning offices.”
The words fell out in a jumble, fast and furious. Jason didn’t say a word, just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. Cyndi stood across the room, near the door. She felt like a prisoner waiting to make a jail break as she waited on her husband’s response.
Finally, he spoke, his voice low and quiet. “Dancing?”
“Yes.” She nodded, hoping that he would understand, but knowing he wouldn’t.
“What kind of …?”
She just waited, without saying a word, while he put the facts together.
"Ohhhh…” Jason’s eyes opened wide as understanding hit him. The little vein on the side of his neck popped out against his leftover summer tan. “You are dancing? Are you trying to tell me my wife is a stripper? What the hell, Cyndi?”
“I don’t take my clothes off. You know that’s against the law in Virginia. I just dance…in a costume.”
“Is there a pole present?” His face turned a decent shade of crimson.
“Well, yeah. But—”
Undercover in Six Inch Stilettos Page 11
