The Preditorial Page

by Lee, Amanda M.

  The Preditorial

  Page

  By Amanda M. Lee

  Text copyright 2014 © Amanda M. Lee

  All Rights Reserved

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Thirty-Five

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Books by Amanda M. Lee

  Prologue

  I’ve got a date tonight and I can’t wait.

  She’s beautiful and kind and, well, just the sweetest person in the world. She’s got shoulder-length blond hair, sparkling blue eyes and one of the best smiles I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. She practically glows when she enters a room -- and she leaves the people in that room feeling better about themselves when she leaves.

  If that’s not perfection, I don’t know what is.

  She always dresses down, which I don’t get. She has one of those bodies that would send a man to thoughts of sin – and then flights of condemnation from the local minister at his next confession -- if he were inclined to such things, which I’m not. I’m very respectful.

  She’s got the heart of a poet and the skills of a professional businesswoman, but she’s only a waitress. That doesn’t bother me. She works hard – and she’s going to school in her free time. It’s the hard work that’s important, though. My mama always said it’s how you do something that counts, not what you do. And my daddy always said that women belong in the kitchen, although I don’t think this is what he meant. I like to pretend it is, though -- that I’m making him proud. I think he would love my new girl.

  I’ve known her for a few weeks now, but it took forever to get up the gumption to ask her out. A guy like me doesn’t ask out a woman who looks like that. It’s just not done. Girls like that lead to sin, that’s what mama always told me. She doesn’t know what I know, though, so I can forgive her ignorance.

  There’s something about my new friend, though. I just couldn’t stay away. And, the more time I spent talking with her, the more I realized that I didn’t want to be without her. I had to ask her out. I had to make her mine.

  That’s what I’m doing tonight. I’m going to make her mine. I can’t wait to get her alone and make my intentions known.

  She’s always sees me as this nice guy who sits in her section at the diner. I surprised her the other night, though, when I ran into her after that stupid get-together at the restaurant. She acted afraid at first, which is smart of a single woman in this area, what with all the crime. Once she saw it was me, though, she relaxed right away.

  That’s how I knew. That’s how I knew she really was the one for me. I didn’t scare her, and she smiled when she saw me. That’s all I needed to know.

  That’s why I knew that tonight was the night. Tonight she’s going to be mine. Finally. I’m ready to make my move.

  I wonder if she’ll scream when I tell her she’s going to be mine? It’s always more fun when they scream.

  One

  “This place is a hole.”

  I rolled my eyes, casting an irritated look in my cousin Derrick’s direction. This was not what I wanted to hear, especially since he was talking about the new apartment Lexie had just rented. I didn’t want Lexie to feel bad about her new abode, and I certainly didn’t want her rethinking her decision to move out of my house.

  I had to nip his negativity in the bud. “I think it has potential.”

  Derrick shifted his brown eyes to me and smirked. “You just don’t want her staying with you any longer.”

  I glanced over at Lexie, who was in the kitchen unpacking a box, to see if she was listening. She didn’t appear to be, so I took the opportunity to pinch Derrick’s arm. Hard. “That is completely untrue.” I lowered my voice. “And if you try to talk her out of staying here I’m going to tell your girlfriend you wore footed pajamas until you were in high school.”

  “I did not,” Derrick protested.

  “They had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on them,” I shot back, letting a smug smile play at the corner of my mouth.

  Derrick looked momentarily flummoxed. “You know that grandma got me those for Christmas and I couldn’t very well tell her I hated them,” he hissed.

  “I have photos,” I warned.

  Derrick let loose with a long-suffering sigh and then turned back to the box he had been unpacking. “Where do you want this stuff, sis?”

  Lexie seemed to be lost in her own little world, because she didn’t look up from her spot on the floor. She was busily shoving pots and pans into cabinets while Derrick and I waged our war in the adjacent room.

  Derrick narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Do you really think she can’t hear us?”

  I glanced in Lexie’s direction and shrugged disinterestedly. “Do you really care?”

  “I care when someone is purposely ignoring me,” Derrick replied. “That’s disrespectful.”

  “That’s a cop thing, isn’t it?”

  “What’s a cop thing?” Eliot asked, striding into the apartment carrying another overflowing box full of Lexie’s life.

  Eliot Kane is hot. There’s no sense in denying it -- or trying to pretend otherwise. He’s six feet of solid muscle, tattoos and coiled sex appeal, all of which were on display thanks to his simple black tank top and low-slung blue jeans. His shoulder-length hair – which my mother is constantly trying to get him to cut – only adds to the package. I was momentarily caught up in the rather impressive view when I realized that Eliot was actually waiting for an answer.

  “What?” I glanced between him and Derrick nervously. Did I have drool on my face or something?

  “I asked, ‘What’s a cop thing?’” Eliot repeated, shaking his head from side to side ruefully. “What were you just thinking about?”

  “Nothing,” I replied hurriedly.

  Derrick sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and fixed me with a churlish grin. “I know what she was thinking about – and it’s mentally scarring me. You have a filthy mind.”

  “You’re so dramatic,” I shot back.

  “Am I missing something?” Eliot asked, hands on hips. “Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?”

  “Probably not.” I smiled sweetly in his direction.

  “Avery was imagining you naked, and Derrick is grossed out by it,” Lexie offered from her spot in the kitchen.

  “I told you she was listening,” Derrick complained. “I knew you were listening.”

  “So?” Lexie challenged.

  Family dynamics are a funny thing. Derrick and I were close in age and, even though we were cousins we acted more like siblings. Derrick and Lexie were four years apart and actual siblings, but he acted more like a disturbed father than anything else where she was concerned. And Lexie and I? We were cousins, but she was like the little sister I never wanted.

  “So, it’s rude to pretend you’re not listening when you’re really listening,” Derrick pre
ssed.

  Lexie wrinkled her ski-slope nose and tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. I could tell she was deliberating about how to answer her older brother. Finally, she settled on the truth. “You said my new place was a hole.”

  Derrick raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t say it was a hole.”

  “You said it was a hole,” Lexie argued, turning to me expectantly. “Avery, didn’t he say it was a hole?”

  “I wasn’t listening,” I lied.

  Eliot watched the exchange with a mixture of bemusement and boredom. “Sometimes, when I spend time with you people, I feel like I’m babysitting.”

  “You like it,” I said, brushing off his attempted sarcasm. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t like it.”

  “I’m here for the fringe benefits,” Eliot replied, moving behind me and dropping an easy kiss on the top of my head while he affectionately gave my rear a soft pat. “And trust me,” he whispered into my ear. “I plan on collecting tonight.”

  A thrill coursed through me at the thought.

  “Don’t make me puke,” Derrick said, fixing Eliot with a hard look. “You know that’s my cousin, right?”

  Eliot’s face was blank. “So?”

  “So, I don’t want to hear about your sexcapades.”

  “Then don’t listen,” Eliot replied before turning toward Lexie. “You want the box I just brought up put in the bedroom? It’s all clothes and shoes.”

  “That’s great. Thanks.” Lexie shot Eliot small smile. Their relationship wasn’t exactly friendly, but it had warmed considerably since Eliot found out Lexie was moving out of my house and into an apartment above the new yoga studio she had recently opened. Over the past two weeks the two of them had been almost giddy around each other – which would have made me suspicious if I wasn’t well aware of the general disdain Eliot usually reserved for Lexie and her antics.

  Oh, by the way, my name is Avery Shaw and I’m newspaper reporter. Actually, today, I’m a furniture mover and general grunt in my cousin Lexie’s life. On a normal day, though, I would be chasing a crime story or pestering some elected official until he tried to ban me from the county building (that happened twice last week) or at least annoying my boss until he ordered me to go home early just to get a momentary respite from my nonstop chatter.

  I usually abhor physical labor, but since this little bout of lifting and shoving meant that I was getting my house back to myself, I was all for it. I had even taken the afternoon off from work to facilitate the move. Eliot had volunteered his services – and truck – to make sure that the move was completed in one afternoon. He didn’t trust Lexie to move out on a set timetable on her own. And Derrick? His mother volunteered him for moving duty – and he was obviously still angry about it.

  Once Eliot disappeared into Lexie’s bedroom I turned to Derrick and stuck my tongue out at him. “Sexcapades? You’re such a girl.”

  “You’re a girl,” Derrick shot back.

  It wasn’t one of his more clever retorts since I was, in fact, a girl. I decided to let it slide, though. “Did Jake give you any crap about taking the day off?”

  Jake Farrell was the sheriff of Macomb County, Michigan, the suburb of Detroit where we all lived. He was Derrick’s boss, Eliot’s sometimes nemesis (they had both been in Special Forces together during a military stint years ago) and my ex-boyfriend. Yes, sometimes the tree that houses our little “family” in this area feels like it doesn’t have any limbs.

  Derrick furrowed his brow, his grouchiness evident. “No, he was fine with it. It’s been kind of slow for the past few weeks.”

  “Not enough murderers to keep you on your toes?” I teased.

  Derrick rolled his eyes. “It’s the time of year,” he countered. “It’s getting colder. People don’t like committing crimes in the cold.”

  “It’s still fall,” I argued. “It’s not that cold. Sure, it’s cold at night, but it’s still hitting seventy degrees during the day.”

  “It’s sixty-three degrees today,” Derrick argued.

  I ignored him. “It’s October in Macomb County,” I said. “What’s not to love?” I’m a horror movie fanatic so I love this time of year.

  “In three weeks you’re going to be freezing your ass off,” Derrick countered. “I’m going to remind you of this conversation.”

  “You’re such a tool.”

  “You’re such a witch.”

  “You’re giving me a headache.”

  “You’re giving me a headache.”

  “You’re both giving me a headache,” Eliot announced, striding back into the living room. “Lexie, that’s all the boxes. You should have everything.”

  “Thank you,” Lexie said, crawling to her feet and fixing Eliot with a tight smile. “Thank you. Really. You’ve done a lot to help me.”

  Eliot looked surprised – and pleased – by Lexie’s graciousness. “It was my pleasure.”

  “Are you just saying that because you want me out of Avery’s house so you can spend the night there again?” Lexie asked, her brown eyes narrow and suspicious.

  Lexie had been living with me for months now. At a certain point, she aggravated Eliot so much he refused to sleep under the same roof with her (and he calls me immature). Now that Lexie had her own place, my house was once again being inserted into our sleeping schedule.

  “I am saying it because of that,” Eliot admitted.

  Lexie pursed her lips. “Well, I guess I can’t blame you.”

  “No,” Eliot agreed. “You can’t.”

  Everyone lapsed into an uncomfortable silence for a second. Thankfully, for all of us, Derrick’s phone chimed with an incoming message. I watched him read the few lines of text on the phone’s screen, waiting for a hint as to what was going on. He has a tell when he’s trying to hide something, and I wanted to see whether he would have to use it before he excused himself for some trivial task.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Derrick glanced up briefly. “Oh, nothing,” he said. “Jake just wanted to remind me of a report I have to turn in. I’m going to have to go back to the office and file it. Darn, and I was having so much fun.”

  I watched as Derrick ran his fingers through his black hair thoughtfully and then pinched the bridge of his nose. There it was. That was his tell. He was lying. He had caught a hot case – and I wanted to know what it was.

  “So,” I said, glancing down at my own phone on Lexie’s living room table. “You have to go back into the office at 5 p.m. on a Wednesday to file a report? Even though, by you own admission, nothing much has been going on lately?”

  “Yeah,” Derrick said, averting his gaze from mine. “Even small crimes deserve a thorough report.”

  I watched him doubtfully.

  “I’m telling the truth,” Derrick said hurriedly.

  “I didn’t say you weren’t.”

  Derrick turned on me, openly glaring. “I’m not lying.”

  “I didn’t say you were.”

  Derrick swung back around to Lexie. “I have to go.”

  Lexie waved him off tiredly. “Bye.”

  Derrick paused midstride as he made his way to the front door of the apartment. “You’re not going to say thank you?”

  “No.”

  “You thanked Eliot.”

  “He did actual work,” Lexie scoffed.

  “I worked,” Derrick argued.

  “Fighting with Avery is not work,” Lexie shot back.

  “It is when you do it right,” Eliot interjected, flashing a flirtatious smile in my direction.

  “You two are officially so sweet it’s making me sick,” Derrick announced before opening the door and exiting the apartment. “I don’t like it. I like her better when she’s bitter and bitchy, just FYI.”

  I watched him go; waiting a full thirty seconds before I turned to Eliot and demanded his keys.

  Eliot knitted his eyebrows in confusion. “What?”

  “I need your keys,” I repeat
ed.

  “Why?”

  Well that was a stupid question. “Because I’m going to follow him.”

  Eliot smirked. “Derrick? You’re going to follow Derrick?”

  “He’s not going to file a report.”

  “How do you know that?” Eliot asked, although he was already moving toward the door in resignation.

  “He pinches the bridge of his nose when he’s lying,” Lexie said.

  “He has a tell,” I agreed.

  Eliot opened the door, holding it wide so I could slip out ahead of him. “Don’t you think he’s going to be angry that you’re following him?”

  “Do you think I care?”

  Eliot considered the question for a second. “Of course not,” he shook his head. “I momentarily forgot who I was talking to.”

  “Are you going to give me your keys?” I was a little surprised that he would so readily let me follow Derrick into possible danger.

  “No,” Eliot smiled. “I am going to drive you, though.”

  I considered the offer, realizing that it was the best one I was going to get in the next thirty seconds. “I guess I’m going to owe you,” I sighed. “Again.”

  “You have no idea,” Eliot said, pressing his mouth to mine quickly. “I’m already thinking of ways for you to pay me back. Outfits might be involved.”

  “You two really are officially sickening,” said Lexie, watching us from the kitchen.

  I had a feeling she was right and – for a change – it didn’t bother me. All was going well in Averyland these days. I had nothing to complain about.

  Anyone else think I just jinxed myself?

  Two

  “Well, he’s definitely not going to the sheriff’s department.”

  We were following Derrick at a distance that I didn’t exactly consider safe, but Eliot told me to stop being a backseat driver when I started complaining. Which, of course, forced me to point out I wasn’t in the backseat. He spent the next five minutes muttering something under his breath -- something I couldn’t quite make out -- as I watched Derrick navigate through rush hour in his Range Rover.

  We weaved in and out of traffic on M-59 -- one of the main thoroughfares in Macomb County -- and the road expanded to four lanes as we neared Romeo Plank Road. With traffic so dense, we weren’t exactly making good time.