Conquer

by M. S. Willis

  She flopped down next to me on the bed. She kept her eyes trained on the bracelet she was spinning around her wrist. “Logan was a really good guy, Paige. I liked him a lot; but I don’t know that he wouldn’t end up disappointed with me if I did agree to speak to him or see him again. I’m far, FAR, from ready to even think about dating, and I’d hate to hurt him by refusing anything other than friendship. I’d feel like I was leading him on if I started talking to him. I don’t want him to get the wrong idea. Plus, I still have nightmares…and panic attacks. I…I’m not ready for anything more right now.”

  I nodded my head in understanding. I knew that Logan cared for Annie as a friend, but I wasn’t sure if it wouldn’t end up hurting him to be kept at arm’s length by her. “Tell you what. Why don’t I talk to him and let him know how you feel? If he can handle just being friends, I think it might be good for you, Annie. You can use all the friends you can get right now and Logan is an awesome guy.”

  Her eyes came up to meet mine. “Sounds good, Paige, but it will take some time. Let me get adjusted here and if he still wants my friendship, I’d be happy to talk to him on the phone at some point. I know I need to regain my life and I have every intention to do just that. Dr. Carter said it was okay, and maybe even better for me to do so in small increments. Baby steps, you know?”

  I reached out and squeezed her hand in agreement. “Of course, Annie. Whatever it takes to put things back together for you. You just let me know when you are ready and I’ll give him the number to The Center so he can reach you.” She smiled in response.

  We sat silently after having finished conversing about that difficult topic. Annie eventually let out a long breath and turned to me to ask, “So, Daemon’s here? Things must be going pretty good between you two. What’s it been, a few months? Tell me what’s going on.”

  I smiled brightly, causing Annie to gasp. “That good, huh? Geez, Paige. I don’t think I’ve ever seen your face light up like that over a guy. He must be something special.”

  “You have no idea, Annie. Well, first I guess I should tell you some background information before you hear about it when we go back out there. Ummm…so Daemon is actually Buddy.” I peeked up at her from under my lashes hoping she would remember the stories I’d told her about my childhood. As soon as I caught sight of her eyes, recognition came over her face.

  “Holy shit! You mean Buddy from here? The kid whose mom was killed?”

  “Yep. The very one. There’s a long story behind it and why he didn’t immediately tell me when we first started seeing each other, but I couldn’t be happier to have him back in my life.”

  Annie giggled. “I should have known. Well, I mean, there was no way that any of us would have guessed that, but I remember the way he looked at you that night in our apartment.” She paused momentarily, but continued when she saw the questioning expression on my face. “When he came over the night your bike was trashed, he looked at you like there was nothing else that mattered in the world. I was confused, honestly, considering everything was so new between the two of you. However, now that you mention his background, I completely understand it. Wow, Paige. Talk about ‘meant to be’, I think you two should be the poster children for that phrase.”

  I felt my cheeks heat as she spoke. “I know, Annie. I think I’m in love with him, but not just because of the fact that he’s Buddy. He’s amazing. He puts up with my shit, he takes care of me, and I’ll admit this…he’s the first guy to ever really be able to put me in my place. For some odd reason, that means something to me.”

  Annie’s eyes widened at my confession. “Crap, Paige. Do you think you’ll end up marrying him?”

  “He wants to. Well, he hasn’t asked me officially or anything, but he’s mentioned the desire to do so in the future. I don’t know. It feels weird to think of me as a wife. What if he wants kids?! I’m not sure I’d be a great mom.”

  Her arm came up around my shoulder as she pulled me against her. “Oh, whatever. I’ve never seen you fail at anything you set your mind to do…”

  I cringed. She had obviously missed a lot of my most recent fuck ups due to being in the mental facility.

  “…Paige, I have no doubt that you would be the best mother. Those kids would have to walk a tight line, I’m sure of that, but you are extremely loving and affectionate when you want to be. Plus, look who you had as examples. Your parents are fabulous. I can’t think of a better set of parents than yours.”

  Yep…she missed a lot. I opened my mouth to tell her the role my parents had played in Buddy’s absence from my life, but reconsidered after looking at how her face shown with happiness. I didn’t want to burst her bubble with unhappy thoughts, so I just smiled and went along with what she was saying.

  “No doubt, Annie. Well, it’s getting late and we’ll need to be going soon. Do you want to go out now and say ‘hello’ to everyone?”

  Annie stood up and reached down to pull me up alongside her. “Let’s do this, Paige. I haven’t been more ready for anything. From here on out, things are going to change.”

  I squeezed her hand and we made our way out into the recreation area. David and Daemon were nowhere to be seen so I led Annie out to the backyard in search of the boys. When we stepped outside my eyes immediately caught sight of the two of them.

  You have GOT to be kidding me.

  “Dammit, David, hold still so I can’t get you out of the mud!” Daemon’s booming voice echoed throughout the back yard. Leaving Annie on the veranda, I ran out to assist Daemon in freeing David. When I approached, David looked over at me and rolled his eyes.

  “Don’t say it, Paige. All I can tell you is I’m never, NEVER, walking around back here again. I have no idea how you and Daemon didn’t go missing when you were kids. I swear to all things high and mighty that this backyard is a death trap waiting to happen!”

  As Daemon worked on pulling David’s foot out of the muck, I bit my tongue to keep from laughing. “Please tell me those weren’t three hundred dollar shoes, David.”

  His face flashed with anger and annoyance. “No. I learned my lesson the last time, thank you very much. I bought some bargain shoes after the last time just so that I could wear them the next time I came over here.”

  “Why were you out here anyway, David? I’ve warned you about the marshes.”

  “Whatever, Paige! I followed Daemon out and tried to make sure I stepped where I’d seen him step. You two must have magical abilities or something when it comes to all things swamp.”

  Daemon finally freed David’s foot. “Hey look, I still have my shoe! Ha! Guess this swamp only likes eating designer things.” He turned to look at me. “I take back my earlier statement. You and Daemon don’t have magical abilities…just bad taste in fashion. That must be why the swamp hasn’t eaten you.”

  “Ohhhhh Kaaaaaaaay. Well anyways, David, Annie’s up on the veranda. You should get up there and see her.”

  David looked over at Annie and took off in a sprint to get to her. “And watch your step on the way up there,” I yelled after him.

  Daemon moved to my side as we walked to the veranda together. “Are you going to be ready to head home soon?”

  I nodded my head ‘yes.’

  He took my hand and placed a kiss in the center of my palm. “Good. Then let me be the first to say, ‘Game on.’”

  My face fell as Daemon winked at me.

  Fuck. This was NOT going to be a fun night.

  ~

  After staying for another two hours and eating dinner, I climbed on my bike as Daemon and David climbed in the truck to return home. We had a great time catching Annie up on all of the events of our lives while she had been away. Annie especially enjoyed hearing about my training at the gym. We left out the reason behind the training, instead opting to let her believe it was a physical fitness thing more than a survival thing. Everyone was careful not to bring up anything related to Chris and I was absolutely thrilled to see Annie socializing and joking with my family an
d friends.

  My parents had kept my bike under a tarp for me so that it wouldn’t sit out too much in the rain. I giggled some when my father proudly unveiled how the bike had remained dry while in their care. He was so proud of himself that I played along letting him believe he was the most brilliant person on the planet. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the bike got wet often and with good maintenance it wasn’t really a problem.

  I kicked my bike into gear and revved the engine. The sound echoed through the tree lines and I shivered a little to hear it. I loved my bike. It was an ultimate freedom to me. Crashing against the wind, the lack of a metal box, the ability to go wherever I wanted to go, whenever I wanted to go there…those were what the things that made me love it so much. Cars were okay for getting around, but they would never compare to my bike.

  Kicking the bike into gear, I drove down the long drive out to the dirt road beyond. When my tires finally hit cement, I accelerated quickly, tearing down the highway in the direction of my house. I heard a horn honking a distance behind me and I looked down at my speedometer, quickly realizing I was high above the recommended….okay….required speed limit. I slowed down, allowing Daemon and David to catch up.

  It’d grown dark on our ride home and as we were winding through the thick tree lines of the national forest, Daemon started flashing his brights at me. I immediately slowed down and pulled along the edge of the road to find out what he wanted. He pulled up beside me and spoke to me through the passenger side window. “Paige, we need to go to the police station as soon as we get back in town. Detective Troy called and said it was urgent that she meet with us.”

  My head dropped down. Sonofabitch. Lately, when Detective Troy called, it was never good news.

  They wouldn’t be able to hear me through my helmet unless I screamed, so instead of straining my voice, I simply gave Daemon the thumbs up to let him know that I understood. He waited for me to pull out in front of him before continuing onward.

  We arrived at the police station within a half hour. I was pulling off my helmet as Daemon came up and wrapped an arm around my waist, taking my helmet from me with his other hand.

  “Did she tell you anything about why she needed to see us when she called?”

  Daemon chuckled. “No. In true Detective Troy style, she kept her demand short and sweet. We were basically ordered to show up.”

  “Uh oh. That can’t be good.”

  The police station was a large brick building that appeared somewhat menacing and foreboding. It carried an air of ‘law’ about it and made even an innocent person feel nervous to enter. As we entered the large glass doors of the station, we were dumped into a beige hallway, which led to an open waiting area. Chairs were lined up on one side of the room, and to their right stood some vending machines and coffee makers. A delighted squeal escaped me cueing Daemon to strengthen his hold around me. “Damsel, let’s at least let them know we are here before you run off to get your fix.” He paused for a second before a crooked smile broke out on his face. “You know you’re an addict, right?”

  I grinned. He had no idea about the true extent of my problem. “Yep. I’ve been researching twelve step programs, but apparently there are no coffee support groups in town.”

  “Well, you guys go ahead and let them know we’re here. I’ll just be going…” And with that, David was off to grab a cup of MY coffee. I attempted to break free from Daemon’s hold, but it was useless fighting against the steel band he called an arm. I glared at David as he approached the table. He grabbed a cup, poured himself a cup and turned back to stick his tongue out at me. I plotted his demise quickly before turning back in the direction Daemon was dragging me.

  As we approached the desk, my eyes met with the friendliest set of honey brown eyes I had ever seen. The front desk lady was middle aged and really quite pretty. Her doe eyes perfectly complimented her round cheeks, giving her a cherub-like appearance. Her brown hair was nicely complimented by the butter yellow top she was wearing.

  “Hello. My name is Daemon Pierce and this is Paige Stone. Detective Troy called and asked that we meet her here.”

  The receptionist looked away from me and did a double take when her eyes finally landed on Daemon. It took her a second to find the ability to speak. “Um, yes sir. I’ll call down to her office to let her know you are here. Please take a seat in our lobby and I’m sure she’ll be out as quickly as possible.”

  As we walked away, I leaned into Daemon to whisper, “Doesn’t that annoy you?”

  “What.”

  “How women get all flustered and nervous around you. It’s got to be annoying after a while.”

  Daemon smiled and I felt his body shake with soft laughter. “To be honest, I never noticed, Paige. Lately, the only woman I’ve paid any attention to is you. Trust me when I say that I would not use the words ‘nervous’ or ‘flustered’ to describe you.”

  That statement made me curious. “Oh yeah? What words would you use to describe me?”

  Daemon thought about it for a moment before answering, “moody, stubborn, insufferable…have I mentioned moody?”

  My elbow somehow connected with his side. I have no idea how that happened.

  After chuckling at my failed attempt to hurt him, he said, “And incredibly fucking sexy.”

  Okay. So that made up for the moody comment…sort of.

  We made our coffee as we waited for Detective Troy to come fetch us. When the double doors slammed open, her little form moved through as her heels clicked rhythmically across the terrazzo floor. “Excellent to see that all three of you could come. If you’ll just come with me, we can talk in my office.”

  I’m not sure what I expected to see when she walked us through the double doors of the back area of the police station. I guess I imagined there would be a big room with desks where police officers interviewed and booked prostitutes and drug dealers before shipping them off to the county jail. I was surprised, and a little disappointed, to find that it was just a regular hallway, with regular doors set at equal distances which led to bland offices. It was nothing like the T.V. shows made it out to be. We walked quite a distance before finally coming to a larger office at the end of the hallway. Detective Troy led us in and I stilled suddenly when I noticed Alex and Ava sitting on a couch near the windowed wall.

  “Please take a seat. There’s plenty of room for everybody.” Detective Troy walked over to sit behind her desk while Daemon, David and I choose chairs near where Alex was seated.

  “Now that I have you all here, I want to explain that Mr. Baxter has escalated yet again. While investigating Mr. Ingram’s death, we couldn’t determine for a fact that it was Chris who had committed the murder. Although, it was presumable that Mr. Ingram’s death was caused by Mr. Baxter; here at the police station we need little things called facts to prove such a suspicion. Unfortunately, he’d left us no such evidence at the scene, however, he kindly provided it to us this morning whether he realizes it or not.

  Okay, that got my attention.

  “This morning we received a package delivered by a local courier company. The package was addressed to me. Upon opening the envelope, I found several photographs of Mr. Pierce and Ms. Stone entering Mr. Ingram’s trailer.”

  “So the nosy bitch sent you more photos?”

  Detective Troy glared at me for my interruption before continuing. “These photos were not taken by the same camera Ms. Stone. Additionally, the angle of the shots are significantly different. It appears two people were photographing your presence at the trailer park yesterday.”

  “So, what does this have to do with Chris?”

  “If you could contain your questions until such time as I have finished what I’m telling you, Ms. Stone, you would know what this has to do with Mr. Baxter.”

  I shut my mouth.

  “As I was saying, the images from the outside of the trailer show a very much live version of Mr. Ingram standing with the two of you by the front door. Together with th
ose photos were some additional images of the interior of the trailer, after Mr. Ingram had expired. I provided the photos to my forensic team to compare to the photographs we had gathered of Annie. The paper type was the same. Now, that’s not enough evidence to convict Mr. Baxter of his father’s murder. However, given the information we all know to be true, it’s enough for us to know positively that Mr. Baxter has escalated. He is now a murderer on top of a rapist and arsonist, Ms. Stone.”

  Not knowing if I as allowed to talk yet, I raised my hand.

  Detective Troy breathed out in obvious exasperation. “Yes, Ms. Stone. What would you like to say?”

  “Not to appear ignorant by asking this, but what does this have to do with all of us? I don’t understand why you needed us to come immediately to the station.”

  “Actually, Ms. Stone, that is a very good question. We suspect Mr. Baxter has been watching you since the night you met at the club. Being that you are currently living with Mr. Pierce, I wondered if Mr. Baxter had laid off his pursuit. These photographs prove to me he has not. Additionally, it appears Mr. Baxter was attempting to set you up for the murder of his father. That’s the only reason I believe he would have sent us these photos. Unfortunately, if we hadn’t already spoken to a witness that saw you leave while Mr. Ingram was still breathing, the police in that county would have no choice but to list you as a possible suspect.”

  “What?! Why? You know I wouldn’t go off and kill someone!”

  “Ms. Stone, circumstances make the situation appear bad for you. You were beaten and almost raped by Mr. Ingram’s son. You were supposedly the last people to have visited Mr. Ingram’s trailer. Any good investigator would attempt to connect the two events. However, Mr. Ingram’s neighbor was credible in her account of having seen him alive after the two of you left. Regardless, that’s neither here nor there. The point I am making is that Mr. Baxter is, in fact, still following you. As a result, I need to know where you have been going for the past couple of days so that I can determine whether I need to have officers stationed at the places you frequent most. It’s highly likely Mr. Baxter will attempt to harm any friends or family you may have visited since the incident in the woods.”