Yeah, he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“I’m in this for the long haul.”
His words caught her off guard. It shocked her that he would offer them so easily.
“Get dressed, Vivian, and I’ll grab the pizza.”
She watched him pull on his boxers, and smiled at the camouflage print on them. He was most definitely a soldier to the core.
Now, he was hers, and she had to believe that he would save her too.
* * *
He watched her walk out of the art class. She was laughing and waving at all the people leaving with her. He was aware that there was only so much time to make tonight happen.
As she stood there talking to another woman, he found himself getting impatient. She was leaning against her car and laughing riotously. When the woman glanced at her watch and looked indecisive, he knew his carefully laid plans were about to be screwed up.
When the second woman urged her to do something, he found the rage overtaking him once more. It coated everything within his vision in a red haze.
She wasn’t going home alone!
Now, he would have to waste time and follow her.
Damn it! This wasn’t part of his plan.
He only had so much time to play in one night. Didn't his newest acquirement realize that?
He followed in his car as she drove from the parking lot in the wrong direction. Desperately, he fought to regain control over his frustration and anger.
When he finally got her home, he was going to make her pay for not keeping her plans.
Taking a few deep breaths, he followed her to another spot. Apparently, the other woman had talked her into a drink. He parked his car outside the bar and settled in for the wait.
The rage stewed as she wasted his time. He could be home with the two women of his collection, and now he was sitting here waiting for her to follow her routine.
Oh, she was coming home with him tonight.
She had no choice.
The longer she made him wait, the worse it would be for her.
Now, this woman’s fate was in her own hands.
* * *
When he returned, he had a bottle of wine, two glasses, and the pizza box. “I hope you don’t mind. I rummaged for wine in your refrigerator.”
It didn't bother her in the least. “What do you want to talk about?” she asked, watching him pour two glasses.
“You and this dream. Tomorrow, we’re going to have to go talk to my brother and Tori. Can you meet us for lunch?”
She would make it happen. “I can get away for a while. I have personal time. I’ll tell my partner I have a gyno appointment, and he won’t say a word.”
Justin started laughing at her blatant openness. “Yeah, no sane man would touch that. In fact, I’m not sure what to do with it myself.”
She grinned at him. “That’s exactly why I’m going to use it.” Vivian opened the pizza box and took the butter knife from his hand. She assumed that it was to cut into the egg and make the yolk run all over the pizza.
“You can slide the egg to this side of the pizza,” he offered, watching her.
“That’s okay. I don’t mind egg on my pizza. I actually like them on my burgers.”
He started laughing. Could it be? Finally, there was a woman who liked the same weird things that he did? “You may be my dream woman. I can now eat the pizza that I like, without stares of horror.”
She stared at him and didn't know how to take his words. Were they said in passing or with hidden meaning? “I just might be.”
He got it and blushed.
Quickly, he changed the subject. “My brother wanted us to share information, before,” he began.
“Before we started our torrid affair?”
“I hope that’s not what you think this is,” he stated. “I don’t stick around afterwards to have wine and pizza if it’s just an affair. Are you looking for quick sweaty sex, and then your freedom?”
She took a second to ponder her answer.
Justin began holding his breath. Out of all the women, who he had rolled around with, she was the one he didn't want to have temporarily in his life. He didn't know why he was so attached, and so soon, but he was going to let fate lead.
“No, I don’t ever invite men back to my place. This is my sanctuary.”
He grinned at that knowledge. So, this little rendezvous mattered to her too. “Perfect, because I happen to like your place.”
“I hate to point this out, but I need to keep this part of us very quiet. If my partner finds out, I’m as good as useless at work. He’ll make sure my life is pure hell.”
Yeah, he would kick the shit out of the man if he even tried anything like that with Vivian. The protectiveness was rising in him, and he couldn’t picture not wanting to take care of her like this.
“We can keep it quiet.” For now, he thought.
“Thank you.”
Justin didn't like the idea of it, but what could he do? This was probably his karma for all the heartless one night stands that he had handed out through his life. “How about you tell me what you have on this case so far, and maybe I can fill in the details?”
She shrugged. “We have the car with no prints, a house that the abductor never entered, and a site where he stalked her from. That’s about it.”
“What did you learn at the hospital?” he asked.
“Well, we know she missed work on Monday, and that made everyone scratch their heads. We also know that she was dating a doctor, but no one knew who.”
“His name is Doctor Stewart, and he’s a neurosurgeon. Two weeks ago, he moved to Chicago.”
She was impressed. “The staff wouldn’t tell us anything,” she stated.
“Yeah, well people are more likely to talk to us than to a cop,” he clarified. “Can you check his alibi? We can’t do that kind of thing without raising a whole lot of suspicion.”
Vivian nodded, as she placed her pizza back in the box to grab the notepad beside her bed. “I’ll check first thing tomorrow. I’ll have the information for you by the time we meet for lunch.”
“Great.”
“We talked to Suzie Ortiz right after your brother did, and that’s what stirred my partner up even more.”
“Yeah, well he can kiss my ass. He’s so worried about finding skeletons in my closet, that he’s forgetting the big picture.” Then, he paused, “Did you really see her in your dream?”
She nodded as she sipped her wine. “She’s alive.”
“Okay, well, then that’s something to light a fire under my brother’s team. When they find out that piece of information, it’s going to be a game changer.”
“I hope so. I don’t know how else to help her.”
He brushed a stray hair from her cheek. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll help you figure it out.” Well, he would. Once he told Julian and Tori this tale, they were bound to think he was losing it.
Yeah, and Vivian too.
Well, at least that made them a good match. Nightmares he understood, since he went there nightly.
“What did Julian think about Brock Edwards? We got to him after your brother’s team did and again, my partner is ready to chew nails.”
Justin spilled it all immediately. “We think there may be something there. Tori said that he has pictures in his apartment of his ex and a few other women. When we learned about the fight, it threw up flags.”
She stopped chewing to stare at him. “What fight?”
Justin started laughing. “Man, those people at the ER were tightlipped with you detectives. We had no problem finding out the dirty little details.”
Vivian had no doubt that the Littlemoon men had charmed it out of everyone. She knew that she was under Justin’s spell. “Yeah, well maybe we didn't ask the right questions.” Vivian knew her partner had come across as abrasive from the get go, so, she wasn’t really shocked or surprised.
He broke down the details of the fight.
�
�That’s interesting. That moves him up my suspect list. I’ll do a deep search on him, and then pass it on to you.”
“That will be great.”
Justin glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. “I guess I should be going. It’s getting late.”
Vivian watched him. God, she didn't want him to leave.
Standing, he picked up his pants and shirt. “Tonight was amazing,” he offered. “I don’t think I will ever top it for the rest of my life.”
She stood and moved towards him. “I never do this, but it feels like I should. You said that you were in for the long haul, so stay with me tonight, Justin.”
The tightening of his gut was the only confirmation that he needed. “Absolutely, and I think you may have made tonight even better.”
She smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder.
“I’m so glad.”
Chapter Seven
Midnight
Early Thursday
He was following her. Vivian could feel him not far behind her in the darkness. Everything in her body screamed for her to run and to get away from him. She knew better than to pause and look behind her.
It was obvious what was happening.
He was coming for her.
Before long, he would be taking her away too.
Vivian listened to the footsteps up the driveway as they got closer and closer. They sounded angry and vicious, and yet, she couldn’t get herself to move any faster.
No matter how hard she willed herself, she couldn’t get her body to listen to her brain!
RUN!
Vivian kept screaming it over and over.
As her hand brought the key to the lock, she could feel his hands around her throat. They were squeezing the life from her.
He was going to take her!
This red fog enveloped her. As she struggled to live, everything around her became distorted. The colors swirled and morphed into something indicative of blood.
The scene around her was stained red, and even the house numbers dripped with it. It was too late for his next victim. This woman wouldn’t be as lucky as Melissa. She wasn’t going to see the inside of a cage and have the chance at rescue.
This one was going to be greeted by death.
* * *
Justin was no stranger when it came to nightmares. He had lived them every night of his life for so many years, and yet, he had never heard the distress that was in her voice as her screams pulled him from sleep.
Vivian had been safely curled against his body with her head on his chest. As the sounds of her cries woke him, she began thrashing around as some invisible force was harming her.
Immediately, he took her hand in his and anchored her to his side. “Vivian, baby, you have to wake up!” he called to her. Never, in all his life, had he seen a nightmare this violent.
The sounds coming from her were reminiscent of someone struggling to get enough air into their body. He was prepared to breathe for her at any second.
As quickly as it all began, she sat up with a start. Her eyes flew open and her free hand went to her throat. “Oh God,” she gasped.
“Baby, are you okay?” he asked as she threw herself against him and shook in his arms.
Vivian couldn’t speak yet. Her heart was thundering so hard that she was pretty sure that it was going to burst out of her chest. She could feel his hands running up and down her chilly skin as she buried her face in his throat.
The last thing Vivian remembered was them going to sleep together and cuddling. Her final thoughts before closing her eyes had been how amazing he smelled, and how good Justin felt beside her in bed.
Then the dream began.
“Want to talk about it?” he offered, knowing that sometimes it was best to get it off your chest.
She stared up into his face.
Somehow, he knew that he needed to give a little, to get some trust back. “I have nightmares a lot. It was my reward for serving my country. If you talk about it, you’ll feel better,” he promised. Many nights, he wished that he had someone to tell his dreams to and receive some solace. Waking up alone and coated in a thin sheen of sweat was hard to do. Sometimes, you just needed the comfort of another human being.
Finally, she found her voice. “He’s about to take the next one.”
He stared at her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded almost hysterically. What she saw in her dream had shaken her like nothing ever before. She had seen death, but never had she seen murder like this.
The violence of it all scared her shitless.
Justin pondered his options, and went with what he thought was best.
It looked like he wasn’t going to be the only Littlemoon wide awake tonight.
* * *
When the phone rang, he immediately knew that it was going to be some sort of bad news. No one called them at midnight on the apartment line. Work was strictly work, and this call meant that it was a family situation.
His heart began pounding in his chest as he began to worry about his mother. She wasn’t old, but she was aging. What if something had happened to his sister?
She was serving on a vessel in the Middle East.
When he placed the receiver to his ear, his wife took his free hand in hers. Tori would always be the one he leaned on in those moments of fear.
“Hello?”
“Jules, I’m sorry to wake you both, but I need to see you both right now. It’s really important.”
Julian wasn’t going to question it. This was his twin. Justin was his genetic copy and his best friend from the minute life began. “Come up to the apartment, I’ll unlock the elevator,” he answered.
“Thank you, Jules.”
When he hung up the phone, he stared over at his wife. “He’s sounds like he’s worked up. Something must have happened.”
“Do you think its work or personal?”
Julian pondered it as he pulled on his boxers. “It can’t be personal. I know he’s all wound up about the detective, but really, what could have happened? This has to be work related or maybe he’s having problems.”
Tori knew what he was referring to when he said it. They were the same issues that she had been plagued with for many years after she lost people who she cared about.
He handed his wife her shorts and tank top off the floor. “You better get dressed. I don’t need my brother riding me about my half naked wife at this time of the night. I may just kill him.”
She started laughing and went to his side. “I love you, Jules. You’re so bad ass.”
He grinned and slapped her on the derrière as he kissed her. “Thank you for not getting pissed that my brother pops in at weird hours of the night. I know he can be high maintenance.”
Tori didn't mind in the least. Being adopted by his family was a treasure and blessing. “Come on, I’ll make some coffee. I have a feeling that we won’t be going back to bed anytime soon.”
Justin helped her up into his truck, and then raced around to the driver’s side. He scanned the area, just to make sure that there was no one watching them.
He believed what she’d told him, but a part of him was just making sure that all his bases were covered. Once inside with her, he buckled his seatbelt. “It’s going to be okay,” he reassured her. It was clear by the look on her face that she was worried.
“I just know how you reacted, so I’m worried what your brother will think.”
Justin started driving. “We’re identical twins, so probably the same way, but you have the Tori factor to save you. God knows that’s my only saving grace ninety percent of the time.”
She looked at him in total confusion. “I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, so you need to explain.”
It made him laugh. “My brother’s wife is very logical and keeps him pretty focused. When she sees calm, cool, and collected Julian going off the rails, she yanks him back into place.”
“Well, that’s good to know, I guess.”
&n
bsp; Justin took her hand in his. It was cool to the touch and bordering on clammy. “Hey, don’t worry.”
It wasn’t like she wanted to be freaked out. “I just don’t ever tell anyone about my dreams and in one night, I’m going to tell an entire room full of people.”
Again, he reassured her. “It’s two people. Julian and I were one egg before we split, so technically we’re one person. So, think of us as the same, just in two different bodies.”
She began to laugh. “That’s the craziest thing I have ever heard in my entire life.”
Justin shrugged. “Yeah, but you’re thinking about that now and not worrying,” he added. “It served its purpose.”
Vivian was touched. “Thank you, Justin.” Leaning over, she left a kiss on his cheek.
He grinned at her as they pulled into the office lot. Justin parked between his brother’s non-descript car and his sister-in-law’s SUV. As he got out, he glanced up and saw the lights on in the apartment.
“I think I’m ready,” she said, offering him her hand so that he could help her down.
“Really, it’s going to be fine.” For some reason, he desperately wanted his family to like the woman he was bringing over there. There was no doubt in his mind that she was going to be part of his life.
He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. For the first time in a long time, he didn't have a nightmare. Granted, she had one, but there had to be something to this.
Entering the building, hand in hand, he paused at the elevator and used his key to open it. When they were inside, he hit the only other button that would bring them to the floor his family called home. Once there, the door slid open and Justin escorted her into their living space.
“Jules, Tor, we’re here!” he called.
His brother walked around the corner and stopped. “Uh, you could have told me you were bringing someone,” stated Julian.
At first Justin tensed, and then he realized that he meant because he was only in his boxers. It made him laugh. “It’s not anything she hasn’t seen already,” he answered, alluding to the fact that they were identical.
Blood Red Rage (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 1) Page 12
