Ask Me If I Care

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  Still none of us said a thing.

  “I’m so fuckin’ tired of you,” the disembodied voice growled. “Always thinking you’re better than me. Well, honey, you’re not.”

  My brows rose.

  “You just think you’re so smart, don’t you, Daddy’s girl?”

  The moment those words were out of his mouth, disguised voice or not, I knew. My eyes caught Ares’ gaze, and I knew that she knew, too.

  From what I gathered, ‘Daddy’s girl’ was something that he used quite a bit.

  I gestured at Downy to listen to what the man had to say, and I went outside. “Dad, I gotta go.”

  I didn’t even wait for him to hang up.

  Instead, I called the station and asked for Luke since I didn’t have his direct line. When they said he wasn’t in, I left an urgent message for him to call me back. Then called the FBI contact that I’d been working with on the case since I started looking into it.

  “Special Agent McKennick.”

  “Easton,” I said. “I got a fuckin’ break.”

  After explaining to Easton what happened—i.e., the guy calling Ares—he listened intently.

  “He fits everything. He’s not an ex-cop, but his father is a cop. So he knows his shit just as well because I’m sure that he asked his father questions. His father who is still teaching at the police academy. From what I can tell, he’s in his mid-forties. I’m not sure how he found the other girls, or knew that they were teenage mothers, but I do know how he found Abilene. He fucked up and took one from his own school. He’s a principal at Kilgore High.”

  “Okay. Meet me in Kilgore at the station. I’m having a warrant drawn up for his arrest right now,” Easton said. “Good work, man.”

  I wouldn’t say it was a mission accomplished until I saw the motherfucker behind bars.

  “Later,” I said. “I’ll meet you there in about an hour.”

  “10-4,” he murmured. Then the line went dead and I was turning to head back inside.

  Before my hand was even on the knob, the phone rang, indicating it was Luke.

  I answered, repeated the whole process but giving way more information since Luke hadn’t been as aware of this case as I was, and told him of the meeting at the station in an hour.

  Luke said he’d be there and hung up, sounding pissed off but resigned.

  This time when I went back inside, I turned my ringer off.

  Ares and Downy were still in their old positions, but this time the phone was silent and down by Ares’ side.

  “He hung up,” Downy murmured. “Now tell me what the fuck is going on.”

  My phone buzzed in my hand and I looked down at it.

  Dad: Coming to Texas. Can I stay at your place?

  I rolled my eyes.

  Hayes: Yes. I’ll stay with Ares.

  Dad: I could stay at Ares’ place. You can stay at yours.

  I snorted.

  Hayes: You can’t just invite yourself over to other people’s houses.

  “Who’s that?” Ares asked softly, wiping away another stray tear.

  I curved my arm around her shoulders and told her what my father said.

  “He can stay here. We can stay at your place,” she said.

  “Now that that’s settled, how about you tell me what the fuck is going on,” Downy growled.

  I told the story again, then watched as his eyes narrowed.

  “So let me get this straight,” he said. “The man that my daughter has been having a problem with for years, that’s a total douche bag, is the man that you suspect of killing multiple teenage girls?” He paused. “Teenage mothers specifically.”

  I nodded.

  He turned his head to the ceiling. “Son of a bitch.”

  Chapter 16

  An Adventure? I’ll Alpaca my bags.

  -Coffee Cup

  Ares

  “Do you want to have a contest?”

  I stared at the older woman and opened my mouth to say ‘sure’ but Hayes interrupted before I could.

  “Grammy,” Hayes said. “She doesn’t want to do a push-up contest with you. We know you’ll win. Ares eats donuts and is soft just like I like her. If she started doing push-ups like you do, then she wouldn’t be soft anymore.”

  I wasn’t sure whether to be offended by his comment or laugh.

  I chose to laugh.

  “He’s right,” I admitted. “I’m not very athletic. I actually trip over my own feet more often than not. And I hate to say it, but my push-up game is weak.”

  “Well, that’s just ridiculous,” she said. “You can still be soft and do push-ups.”

  I liked her.

  I liked her a whole lot.

  “Grammy is a World War II veteran. She’s the badass of all ninety-year-old badasses,” Hayes said, looping his arm around his ‘Grammy’s’ shoulders. “Grammy, I would like you to meet Ares, my girlfriend and the future mother to your great-grandbabies.”

  My heart went wild at that.

  Also, my brows climbed to my hairline.

  “When did y’all get engaged?” Lock asked with a couple of boxes of donuts in his hand. “And you’re not pregnant, are you?”

  I shook my head. “Um, no. I’m not.”

  “Well, you should get that way soon, dear,” Grammy said. “Hayes has always talked about how much he wants his wife to be a stay-at-home mother and have him dinner cooked when he walked in the door. I think if you pretended to do that every once in a while, and pasted a smile on your face and met him at the door barefoot and pregnant, he just might die of happiness.”

  My brows lifted all over again as I glanced at Hayes, who was busy staring at his feet with a guilty expression on his face.

  “Wow,” I said. “I mean, why would he know to be so specific?”

  A tinge of red heated Hayes’ nose and ears. But that was the only outward sign of his embarrassment.

  “The only stable relationship that Hayes had to view when growing up was mine and his grandfather’s. When he stayed with us any length of time, he saw how I treated his grandfather, and decided that was what he needed in his life to be happy. Now, I’m not saying that you have to do it all the time, just that you might very well make him happy if you do it every once in a while,” she explained. “Now, what’s so important that your father dragged me out of the house so early in the morning?”

  It was now nearly seven in the morning, and Hayes’ grandmother had waltzed into the police station as if she owned the place.

  She’d demanded to see Hayes and me and had been led back by a very amused Lock.

  “I don’t know why you were called at all,” Hayes said. “But…”

  “She was called because I told her that we were heading out of town and wouldn’t be stopping by,” an older version of Hayes said as he walked in the door. “And she said that she wanted to meet her future granddaughter, and I couldn’t stop her. I didn’t even give her the address.”

  His Grammy smiled as if only she had the answers to her secrets.

  “What kind of donuts you got there, boyo?” Grammy asked Lock.

  He put all of his boxes down except one and turned it around and opened the lid.

  Grammy chose one of the sprinkled ones that looked like a unicorn.

  “All right,” Easton said as he sat up at the table. “Now that everyone is here, let’s discuss how we’re going to execute the warrant.” He looked to Luke. “I’m assuming your SWAT team can handle this?”

  Luke nodded, no hesitation at all in his answer.

  “Good,” he said. “I’m just waiting on the signed warrant to come back from the judge and we’ll head out.”

  I looked at my watch and reached for my donut. “I need to get home and changed, Hayes. I have to be at school in a little less than an hour.”

  Hayes stiffened and let go of his grandmother’s shoulders.

  “You’re not going to that school,” he
said.

  I took a bite of the donut and gave him a ‘really’ look.

  “I’m going,” I said. “My entire student body just lost one of their classmates. A senior. They’re going to be lost and confused. I need to be there.”

  “What you need to do is stay safe,” Lock said.

  I rolled my eyes and took another bite of donut. “I don’t care what y’all think. I’m going to be there. The school is just as safe as any. Once the doors lock, I’ll be safe as can be. We’ll lock down the campus.”

  “We can cancel school,” Luke suggested.

  “The busses have already started.” I shook my head. “They’re halfway full by now. And parents need a little more warning than ‘oh, I need to drop your kids back off’ before we can take them back home.”

  I could tell that all of them knew that I had a point.

  “If it makes you feel better, I’ll stick with Officer Toomey,” I said, even though I’d rather eat dirt.

  Officer Toomey, who was leaning against a wall listening to every word, raised his brows in surprise.

  Yeah, Toomey. I’m just as surprised as you are.

  “He might already be at the school,” one officer that I didn’t know said.

  “Then go search it.” I shrugged. “But the kids will be there soon. And they will need me. I’m the guidance counselor. They come to me when they’re scared and hurting. I need to be there.”

  “I’ll go stay with her,” Toomey promised. “And if we do a thorough search of the school, there should be no problem keeping the doors locked to visitors. It’s a testing day anyway.”

  I snapped my fingers, grinning. “That’s right! Parents aren’t even allowed to be at school today unless it’s an emergency. Today is testing for seniors who failed the state curriculum test last year!”

  “Just what those kids need, a test the day they find out one of their own died,” Hayes’ grandmother said.

  I agreed wholeheartedly. Hell, I didn’t like the idea of tests in the first place. Let alone today of all days. But I didn’t get a choice in how the state testing worked.

  And until they asked my opinion, I would sit back and help any way that I could.

  “I agree,” I said softly. “I just wish that I could fix it for them. Slone specifically. He’s got to be devastated.”

  Hayes’ face went soft and he ran his hand down the length of my hair.

  The length of my unbound hair that I’d yet to do anything with since taking a shower the night before.

  “We’ll cover her,” Toomey promised. “And from what I understand, Bailey’s already called in for today.”

  I snorted.

  “That was very nice of him,” I mumbled under my breath. “Sorry, I’m too exhausted to come in today. I was too busy murdering one of my poor, innocent students.”

  There was a long moment of silence in the room, then everyone started to crack up.

  Which didn’t surprise me.

  Cops were a weird bunch.

  They found humor where there wasn’t any because if they didn’t, their life would be a sad sack of shit.

  Working their jobs, day in and day out, was taxing. They had to find relief somewhere.

  And humor, mostly inappropriate, was one of their outlets.

  Luke’s phone rang, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

  He sighed and his shoulders drooped as he listened to whoever was talking at the other end of the line. “Thanks.”

  When he hung up, everyone looked at him expectantly. “Confirmation was made. The body was Abilene’s.”

  There was a long moment of silence as everyone blew out collective sighs of disgust.

  “Let’s go,” Toomey said, sounding sick. “I’ll run you by your place. You can change. Then we can head to school.”

  I stood up and walked until Hayes was only inches from me.

  His eyes met mine as I was bending down to give him a kiss.

  My brother, like the asshole that he was, made gagging sounds.

  “I’ll let Trigger out before I go.” I said softly.

  He touched his fingertip to my nose, but didn’t say anything more.

  I shot him a glare before I waved at my dad. “Bye, Daddy.”

  My father gave me an absent wave. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too,” I said softly, but my eyes were all for Hayes. Hayes’ eyes widened at my words, and he inhaled jerkily.

  I knew he understood then.

  My words hadn’t just been for my dad.

  Chapter 17

  My dog thinks I’m cool.

  -Hayes to Ares

  Ares

  I didn’t know what I was expecting when I got to school later that morning, but tons of crying teenagers wasn’t one of them.

  I walked into the school with a feeling so heavy in my stomach that I nearly wept.

  The first person that I saw was Calloway.

  “You look like shit,” I said softly.

  Toomey snorted beside me and walked ahead of me to my office, taking a look around.

  “Have you seen Bailey?” Toomey asked Calloway.

  She shook her head. “Not today. I heard he called in sick. Why?”

  Toomey shook his head and walked away, his eyes alert and scanning the room for possible threats.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her.

  “I have to run and get a transfusion today after school.” She sighed. “I was supposed to go yesterday, but Louis couldn’t meet.”

  My brows rose.

  Louis had been donating blood to Calloway since they were teenagers. Calloway had a condition that caused her to bleed profusely, and oftentimes she got so anemic that she had to have blood transfusions. Louis being the one to donate her blood once a month like clock-work.

  “What happened?” I asked curiously.

  “He was coming home and hit a deer. Totaled his truck. He had to stay in Louisiana for longer than he planned, then when he finally got a ride home, they got stuck on the interstate because of… you know,” she said softly.

  ‘You know’ being Abilene’s body being tossed on the side of the road.

  “That’s awful,” I said softly. “I can donate.”

  She shook her head. “Louis is doing it. But I appreciate your offer.”

  I winked at her. “Anytime. You know that you would totally love having my blood in your body. It would make you so much cooler.”

  She snorted and gestured toward Toomey.

  “Why is he just standing there?” she asked.

  My brows rose. “I have a bit to tell you. I need to do it now, though. There’s probably not going to be time later. I’m going to go around to all of the classes and make sure everyone knows that I’m there if I’m needed. And then I’m going to find Slone.”

  Calloway scrunched up her nose, then gestured for me to follow her into my office.

  When she closed the door, her eyes were curious.

  “So…” I started off telling her what had happened, finishing with the SWAT team serving a warrant to arrest Bailey.

  “That’s…” She paused. “That’s just unreal!”

  It was unreal.

  Even worse, it was real life.

  “That’s so fucked up,” Calloway muttered darkly.

  I agreed.

  Just as I was about to change the subject, a hesitant knock came to my office doorway.

  When I looked up, I was startled to find Slone standing there.

  I was so used to seeing him larger than life that it took me a few moments to understand who he was.

  And when I did, my heart literally broke.

  Slone was a big guy. Well over six-foot-three if not more. He was muscled, and he was handsome. Never once had I seen him not dressed up and presentable. Today, though? He was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, tennis shoes, and he had bags underneath his eyes.

  And there was a baby in his arms and his ba
ckpack as well as a diaper bag slung over his shoulder.

  And he was staring at me with his heart in his eyes.

  “My mom had to work late,” he murmured softly.

  I blinked, turning to look at Calloway.

  She caught the drift and walked out, stopping to pat Slone lightly on the arm before she moved out of my office and shut the door quietly behind her.

  “Slone,” I said softly. “Come in and sit down.”

  He did, walking quietly to the chair that was across from my desk and taking a seat as if it was all automatic for him.

  I don’t know why I started out talking to him about what I did, but I felt that it was needed. That he needed to know what was going on.

  I also needed to get a promise from him.

  “Do you know who I’m dating?” I asked softly.

  Slone’s startled eyes came up to meet mine.

  “The cop?” he asked. “Yeah. Everyone knows.”

  I smiled softly.

  “Did you know that he’s been working that particular serial killer murder case?” I asked. “He got the idea from a good friend, Ashe Trammel, who is also dating a SWAT team member.”

  Slone didn’t say anything, but I could tell that I had his attention.

  “Anyway, Ashe went to school to become a criminal psychologist,” I said softly. “And she went to a class that had one of the world’s best criminal psychologists speaking. While they were on break during that class, Hayes, my boyfriend, introduced that man to Ashe. And Ashe told him about her serial killer project. Which is when Hayes started to work on it, as well as his father, Vlad Greer.”

  Slone blinked at me.

  “Anyway, long story short, we have some of the best people in the world working on this case,” I said softly. “So I want you to rest assured that Abilene’s killer will be brought to justice. My man and my friends won’t stop until they’ve made it happen.”

  The baby in his arms gurgled, momentarily bringing his attention off of me and to his girl.

  “I gotta go to class,” he murmured. “My mom was supposed to meet me here, but yeah. There was an emergency and she had to stay. Mrs. Brennan is on the way to…”

  There was a knock on my door, and Mrs. Brennan, the athletic trainer and another senior’s mother, showed with a smile on her face. From what I’d been told, Mrs. Brennan and Slone’s mother were good friends. And when Slone’s mother couldn’t watch her, Mrs. Brennan would.