Loving Lilly

by J. M. Madden

  Her eyes had gone distant with memory.

  “Did you report it?” Diego asked.

  Donna’s gaze sharpened on him and she shook her head slowly, crossing her arms over her breasts. “No, I didn’t. Nothing actually happened. I talked to a lawyer who advised against it, but I threatened Ray with legal action anyway. He appeared to be truly remorseful and promised he would make amends for what he had done. I opened the mail one morning and there was a check for a million dollars.” She laughed and shrugged. “I cashed that check and put it in the bank for my girls. They each went to a good college and have started their own families now.”

  Diego looked at Grif.

  “Do you know if he had any other issues like this?”

  Donna shrugged. “There were a few rumors here and there but nothing substantial. The thing is though, if he ever did actually molest a child, there’s no fixing him. If he tried to drug Lilly he’s probably done it to other women as well.”

  Grif nodded. “You’re exactly right. Thank you for talking to us, Donna.”

  They left her office more informed but with no other leads to follow. Diego’s cell phone rang as they were reaching the Vail city limits. It was Donna.

  “Hey, I thought about something that you should maybe know. Before we got married Ray and I were at dinner one night and this couple came up to us, Jeff and Renee Walton. They had known Ray and his wife from before. They paid their respects and as they were walking away, he smirked. I asked him what he was smiling about and he shook his head. Said it was nothing I needed to worry about. I don’t know if it means anything or not, but I felt like I needed to tell you. That incident has stuck with me for years.”

  “Thank you for that, Donna. Every piece of information is important.”

  Diego hung up from her and related the details to Grif, who shook his head. “That’s so vague it could mean anything.”

  But it continued to bother Diego. When he got back to the office he did a little digging. The couple still lived in the Vail area. Was it worth bothering them for a random incident that happened years ago and probably didn’t mean anything?

  If it meant safety for Lilly, yes.

  Diego called the Waltons. They were reluctant to answer questions until he mentioned Lilly’s name. Again, just like with Donna, something softened in Mr. Walton’s voice. “My daughter used to model with Lilly in some of the local shows. Yes, come on over.”

  Diego grabbed his keys. Grif stayed behind to dig into a few other little things. Brian had already gone home apparently because he wasn’t at the office. Diego was a little aggravated he’d left without checking in with him. Whatever.

  Jeff and Renee Walton lived on the southern side of Vail in an artistic jumble of logs and glass and sharp angles. Diego rang the doorbell and listened to it peal through the house.

  An attractive older man, tall with wired framed glasses and thinning gray hair, answered the door. Diego thrust out his hand.

  “Diego Ortiz, Lost and Found Investigative Service. Thank you so much for allowing me to come over on a Sunday night. I’ll make this as quick as I can.”

  The man shook Diego’s hand, only glancing briefly at his eye patch. “No problem. We were just finishing up with dinner.”

  Motioning with his hand, the tall man led Diego into a warmly lit dining room. “Mr. Ortiz, this is my wife Renee and my kids Dalton, August and Brenna.” Each person named raised their hand, briefly. “And Brenna’s husband Rich.”

  An attractive older woman with stylish blond hair smiled at him warmly. “Welcome, Mr. Ortiz. Can we offer you some dinner?”

  Though he was hungry, Diego shook his head. “No, thank you. I apologize for interrupting. Please finish eating. I only have a couple of questions.”

  The younger people at the end of the table closest to him turned back to their dinner, silverware clinking against plates.

  Jeff grinned at Diego and shook his head. “My kids have moved out of the house but on Sundays they all come home for my wife’s incredible cooking.”

  Diego grinned, nodding. “That’s a great way to keep them coming back, huh?”

  Jeff Walton moved to stand behind his wife’s chair, resting his hand on her shoulder. “We were curious when you mentioned Lilly. Is she okay?”

  Diego braced his feet, folding his hands in front of himself. “She’s fine, although she’s had some issues recently. Last week we went to the Chamber of Commerce Gala and she was almost drugged by one of the attendees.”

  “Oh, dear,” Renee gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “Is she all right?”

  “She is, although some complications have come up.”

  “Did you catch who tried to drug her?” Mr. Walton asked.

  Again, Diego nodded. “And charges have been filed against him. But we’re trying to investigate into his background to see if anything else pops up. We feel he has tried this before.”

  “What is the man’s name?”

  “Ray Chambers.”

  The clatter of a heavy fork hitting pottery and a muffled gasp echoed through the room. He looked down the table at the woman Jeff had identified as his daughter Brenna. Though her back was to him, he could see the tremor in her hands as she tried to hide them with the linen napkin.

  Jeff moved down to his daughter’s side and the man opposite her, Rich, reached over to take his wife’s hand. “Are you okay, honey?”

  Brenna glanced over her shoulder at Diego. “Did you say Ray Chambers?”

  “I did. Do you know something about him?”

  She choked on a laugh and turned back toward the table.

  Rich angled in toward her, whispering softly enough that Diego couldn’t hear the words. Brenna shook her head once, then again, more sharply. “No,” she snapped.

  Rich sat back in his chair, looking unsure.

  Brenna looked up as if she felt the weight of every gaze on her.

  “Brenna,” her mother whispered, “are you okay?”

  The dark haired young woman looked at her mother down the length of the table and Diego could see tears in her blue eyes. Slender fingers wiped them away, but they started to fall in spite of her efforts to keep them back.

  Renee pushed her chair back and went to her daughter’s side, wrapping her arms around her. “What’s wrong, honey? Why are you crying?”

  Brenna sniffled, using her cloth napkin to blot at her face. “He did that to me,” she whispered.

  Diego heard the words and stiffened.

  Renee looked stunned. “What? What do you mean he did that to you? Ray?”

  Nodding her head, Brenna sat back in the chair. Her pretty, made-up face had streaks of mascara running down her cheeks now and her fingers continued to tremble. She bit her lip, looking away from all of the others watching her.

  When the silence drew long, Diego took a step forward. “We spoke to Ray’s second wife. She remembers seeing your parents in a restaurant, and Ray giving them a smug, nasty smile as they left. If Ray has attacked other women, we need to stop him.”

  Brenna didn’t even look at him. “I think he did something to me when I was just a kid. After a dance recital.”

  Gasping, Renee rocked back on her hips, hand over her mouth again.

  Rich cupped his wife’s neck in his hand. “You don’t have to do this,” he whispered.

  Brenna looked at him. “Yes, I do. I should have done it a long time ago.”

  Turning in her chair, Brenna looked up at Diego. “When I was sixteen I was in a dance troupe with his niece Amy. One night when we were leaving practice he offered to drive us all home. You guys were doing something and we had ended early. So we said yes. We wandered toward home and he pulled up to this little gas station and got us a couple bottles of Cokes. We appreciated it and drank those damn things down. He dropped Amy off first and I almost got out of the car there, because there was something off with the situation. But I had seen Ray several times before, so I thought it would be okay. I nursed my Coke and watched
out the window.”

  Shrugging, she looked at her shocked mother. “Don’t freak out about this. There was nothing you could have done.”

  Brenna looked up at Diego. “At some point I fell asleep. I don’t remember anything after dropping Amy off and when I looked at the clock on the dash I could tell I had been out for a while.” She paused to clear her throat. “My clothes were out of place. I had a T-shirt on top and sweats, but the fit was wrong on my leotard underneath. Ray said that he could tell I’d been tired and he’d just driven around for a while, but I don’t think we did. I think he pulled over and either stripped me or pulled things out of the way enough that he could grope me.”

  The young woman sagged in the chair and her husband reached over to hold her hand.

  “I don’t think he raped me but he definitely did something. I was a little irritated in my pubic area for a day or so and my breasts felt tender, like they’d been squeezed or something too hard. But there were no bruises. I looked everywhere.” She looked at her mother, who had tears running down her cheeks. “Believe me, Mom. If something had been there I would have let you know. I was left with a vague feeling of wrongness, but nothing concrete to actually accuse him of. If I had been raped I would have known it, even at sixteen. And I definitely would have told you guys.”

  Her dad stepped forward and rested a hand on her shoulder. Though he tried to be reassuring Diego could see the anger simmering in his eyes.

  Brenna wore the dazed expression of a survivor. “I ran away from that car like my hair was on fire and went straight to the shower. After the recital I pretended I was sick for like a week.” She gave her mother a weak smile. “Sorry, Mom.”

  Straightening up from the floor Renee pulled her daughter to her. Jeff looked dazed, then angry. He looked at Diego. “What can we do about this?”

  Diego sighed as he looked at Brenna. “That is completely up to Brenna.”

  “He shouldn’t do this to other girls. I guess I thought I was the only one. Until you started talking. If I can stop him I want to.”

  Diego gave her a reassuring, slow smile, which promised retribution. “Then let’s see what we can do.”

  And though she’d had a traumatic evening, Brenna grinned at him, vengeance in her eyes.

  * * *

  Lilly was surprised when she got a late text from Diego, asking to come over.

  Of course!

  Heading into the living room she stoked the fire, then curled up on the couch with her Kindle. Diego arrived just a few minutes later, looking worn out.

  “Are you okay?”

  He nodded and pulled her up into his arms. “I’ve had a busy weekend and I kind of just want to crash. Do you mind?”

  Without a word Lilly dampened the fire and turned out the lights, leading him up to her bedroom. “Sounds good to me.”

  Even though he’d said the words, Lilly kind of hoped he would still want to make love, but instead he turned her over and spooned her from behind. Nuzzling her hair, he sighed heavily and she felt the tension in his muscles ease away. A few minutes later she drifted off herself.

  Lilly woke to a persistent nuzzling behind her ear and the hard press of hips against her ass. For a lazy second, she just enjoyed the feeling. Twisting in his strong arms she looked up at him with a smile.

  Diego blinked at her lazily but returned her smile. Then, with a heavy groan he stretched, arching his back. Lilly rolled over further and ran her hand down his warm chest. He was rocking a beautiful erection but she paused at his waist to see if he was in the mood. Diego took her hand and pushed it down.

  Lilly’s mouth watered at his obvious need and her own body began to hum in response. When Diego tugged on her hand she went to her knees on the mattress, then straddled his hips. Groaning, he arched up beneath her and with a little positioning began to work his way into her heat. Lilly sighed, content to let him rub. “You feel so yummy,” she sighed.

  Diego grinned up at her, kneading the cheeks of her butt. “I have to agree.”

  Lilly pressed herself down over him, seating him as fully as she could, then she began to rock, relishing the fullness. Diego circled his hips beneath her and something about the movement made her gasp. Then, when he wedged his hand between them and began to circle her clit, things began to escalate. Lilly could feel Diego’s eagerness building as well and knew this wasn’t going to last long for either one of them. Giving herself permission to bask in the sensations he was creating with his finger, she focused on finding her own satisfaction.

  As her body began to tighten with her impending release, Lilly began to moan and pant. Then it hit her. The climax tightened her muscles until they could tighten no further and her body arched on top of his. “Oh, Diego,” she moaned.

  Planting his heels into the mattress, Diego arched beneath her, trying to get as deep as he could. If it didn’t feel so good to her she would say something, but Lilly did not want to change a thing. When he went completely still beneath her, she could tell he was trying to slow down a little, but she didn’t want that. Swiveling her hips, Lilly forced him over that precarious edge and he cried out. Leaning down she pressed her mouth to his, trying to convey to him how much she loved his pleasure.

  Lilly collapsed to his chest, nuzzling into his dragon, and he seemed more than happy to have her there. Wrapping his arms around her he cradled her to him. Lilly smoothed her hair out of his face and settled into the hollow under his chin. It wasn’t the most comfortable of positions but she wasn’t ready to disengage from him yet.

  Diego stroked her back until she dozed off again, allowing her some time to put off the world. This week she needed to try to find a retail space again. Her stomach quivered at the thought.

  They woke a half hour later. Lilly could tell by the way that Diego left the bed that he needed to get moving. It was Monday morning and he had a regular job. She followed him to the shower with a heavy sigh. The least she could do would be to send him off right. There was nothing worse than wanting to stay in bed and not being able to.

  She could tell there was something on his mind, though. Yes, he washed her down and paid attention to her, but there was a distant look in his gaze.

  “Is something wrong, Diego?”

  Blinking his striking-colored eye, he shook his head. “We need to talk but not here.”

  Anxiety twisted her stomach. Did he have to go back to Denver or something? Had he gotten tired of her?

  Lilly rinsed off, stepped out of the shower and headed to the bedroom to dress. Diego took a little longer, as if he were giving her time to get ready. Lilly jogged down the steps to the kitchen and put the carafe into the Keurig, then snapped a Donut Shop coffee into the machine to brew. Then she halved two bagels and put them into the toaster oven.

  Rummaging in the fridge she found a container of strawberry cream cheese and set in on the island. When he came into the kitchen a plate and a cup of coffee were already waiting for him. She sat at one of the counter seats.

  Diego eyed the bagel. “I can see I may be the cook in this relationship.”

  Lilly laughed even though it hadn’t been a compliment. The bagel and coffee were the limit of her skills. “Sounds fine to me,” she told him breezily.

  It was a little shaming to her that she couldn’t cook. In the Carmichael household growing up they’d had cooks, maids and every other domestic help they’d needed for anything, so there’d been no reason to learn to cook. On shoots they’d had catering. And there had always been takeout. New York was the best place in the country to live if you wanted takeout. And if none of that was available she could always grab an apple or carrots, at least enough to stave off starvation.

  Diego bit into his bagel and grimaced.

  “What?”

  “Not much of a fan of cream cheese.”

  Lilly filed that important piece of information away. Not that she would ever cook him anything with cream cheese in it…

  “Do you want one with butter on it?”
<
br />   He narrowed his eye at her and shook his head, pushing the plate away. “Nah, I’ll go through a drive-through.”

  Lilly leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment then pushed vertical. “Sorry, dear. No more cream cheese and bagels. Got it.” She gave him a mock salute and he grinned.

  Then his smile faded away and she knew the conversation was about to get serious.

  “So, we’ve been looking into Ray’s background,” he started.

  “Wait, we meaning you and Grif?”

  Diego nodded. “And Brian. It seemed prudent considering all of the problems you’ve been having recently.”

  Lilly nodded without saying anything.

  “Anyway, we’ve turned up some interesting details that he probably doesn’t want exposed.”

  Lilly sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her robe, her interest piqued. “Like what?”

  “Well,” Diego started, “he was remarried after his first wife died to a woman out of Carbondale. But they were only married for three days.”

  Lilly leaned toward him. “Three days? What the hell? Why so short of a time?”

  Diego took a sip of his coffee, grimacing. “Did you put sugar in this?”

  Blinking, she looked at the cup. “Oh, yeah. A little. It’s too bitter for me otherwise.”

  Diego very carefully set the cup down on the counter and pulled his hand away.

  Okay, note to self. No sugar in Diego’s coffee.

  “So what happened with wife number two?” She rocked forward on the chair.

  “Well, apparently their wedding night didn’t go as planned. They slept in separate bedrooms. But the woman was woken by her child crying that Ray had been standing over her in the night. When she confronted him he all but admitted that he couldn’t get off with a regular woman. The woman filed for an annulment that next Monday and Ray pretty much paid her off to keep things quiet.”

  Lilly knew her mouth was hanging open, anger holding her in shock. “Little girls?”

  Diego nodded. “There’s more.”