CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Gunter did not want to go to work tonight. He was having too much fun watching Detective Holly Jennings and her comings and going throughout the day. What he couldn’t figure out was why she hadn’t been at work all day. That was weird. Didn’t she have a case to solve? Was he no longer important? It bugged him. What bugged him even more was when her boyfriend showed up. Creep. Loser. What was she doing with him anyway? That wouldn’t go on much longer.
Holly Jennings would soon find herself in the arms of a real man. Real soon.
Gunter checked his watch. Damn, almost seven. Maybe he would make one more phone call to his new obsession. He liked hearing the tension in her voice. There was some fear there, or maybe just aggravation. It would make her realize the need for strong arms around her. One can never tell who’s hiding in the shadows of the night. Cop or not, she still needed a man, and he knew that he was the man. He had accumulated quite a bit of information on her and knew everything available about her husband’s death. He knew about their daughter, and he even knew where the child went to school.
The face to face contact that he’d had with Holly and her daughter—soon to be his daughter—only a couple of nights before had been even more incredible. Poor little rascal, she’d been so sick, but now she must be feeling better since her mother had been shacking up with that insignificant man earlier in the day.
Things would be different with a competent daddy around—very different. If their daughter were ill, he’d be certain she was completely recovered before sending her back to school. He would have to teach Holly some important lessons about parenting.
Well, that’s what he was here for.
He lowered his binoculars. Lucky for him, he’d been able to park at such an angle that he caught a nice view of her kitchen. She’d been cooking in there all afternoon, going hog wild. She hadn’t even noticed him standing only feet behind her in Point Loma Sea Foods. He could still smell her perfume. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was Issey Miyake. Pure, sexy, good. Good enough to taste.
She’d ordered enough shrimp to feed a crowd and then headed back down to Rosecrans and into Vons where she’d spent about an hour shopping. Must be a special night. He’d remained slumped down in his car, his ball cap pulled slightly below his eyes, tipping it up occasionally to see if she was coming out. He knew he looked like the quintessentially well-bred husband waiting for his wife.
He waited several minutes after she’d loaded her groceries into the car and driven away before leaving himself. He knew where she was going. Anyone who bought groceries like that went straight home.
But now it seemed as if the day’s festivities were coming to an end. At least for him. He had to go to work. A good dad always paid the bills on time.
Holly had walked out of the kitchen and hadn’t reappeared during the past fifteen minutes. Must be showering, getting ready for her big night with the loser. Right now, Gunter ached to get out of his car and walk around the back of the house where he was sure her bedroom must be. The bulge in his pants insisted he do just that. But Gunter hadn’t gotten this far by only listening to one part of his body.
He was a smart man, and in due time, Holly Jennings and her daughter would be his.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Darla pulled into the festive town of Puerto Vallarta shortly after dark. She’d made a few stops for cold drinks on the way down, and at one point she’d had to take a beach towel out on a secluded beach and take a nap. She could definitely get used to this, to the sounds of the ocean, the warm sand, and the tranquility. It couldn’t be that hard to find herself a good man down here and start all over. The thought of a passionate Latino man warmed her loins. But how long could it last? Without Gunter, she wondered if it was really worth it at all. She knew she should forget him. He really was trouble, and contacting him could lead her into really big trouble. But he was an addiction worse than any she’d ever had, including the ones that she’d had to a few potent prescription drugs.
She still liked to party with booze once in awhile, like she had over these last few days, but she hungered for Gunter with everything inside her.
She drove around the town until she spotted what she was looking for—an internet café. Wouldn’t you know it would be closed? She supposed it would have to keep until tomorrow. Maybe tonight it would be a good idea to try and find that passionate Latino, make her forget her troubles—her lover. Her brother.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Holly tossed and turned all night long after going to bed. The evening with Brendan and the girls had been great, but that dark cloud had hung over her. The girls had bounced around all night long, their energy never letting up. There was no way to relax around that. Even after tucking Chloe into bed, she couldn’t relax enough for the promised massage. She and Brendan both decided it would be better to delay anything heated between them for another time.
When the sun came up before six, Holly was already packing her clothes—the decision to take a hiatus and go to Mammoth was much easier to make today than it had been yesterday. The girls had all worked hard on convincing her last night. Both Chloe and Meg were all for missing school, but Maddie would have to drive up with her dad on the weekend. She was upset as Brendan reminded her that she had a dance recital that coming Thursday, and she was performing on her own. Maddie swallowed back her own tears when her softy old dad cheered her up with a bribe of Princess Barbie and her horse and carriage.
“You are so easy,” Holly said.
“I am. I know.” He winked at her. “I tell you, bribery is the secret to parenting.”
“Really now? And I heard it was about boundaries and discipline. Granted, love, too.”
“Don’t let them experts fool you. I guarantee they either don’t have children of their own, or if they do and you peeked into their perfect lives, you’d find plenty of bribes going on. She’s not crying anymore, is she?”
“Isn’t that called spoiling?”
He waved a hand at her and blew out a puff of air. “Hogwash. I call it well-loved.”
She had to agree. The girls were definitely loved, and she was impressed by his ability to parent them so well. There was nothing wrong with the occasional bribe. It made her think of own dad quite a bit. They both had a very gentile manner, and if truth be known, Holly had also been one of those well-loved children.
Thinking about Brendan and spending the weekend together invigorated her and took the edge off her worries. She even put a Sheryl Crow CD on and sang loudly to “Soak up the Sun,” stopping her packing for a minute to dance around the room.
But her unpleasant, complicated thoughts from last night remained locked away in the back of her mind. The dark and dismal ruminations about Jack alive, Jack dead, Chad, Brooke, and faceless child killers. All of it made it so much easier to pack up at the first rays of sunlight.
At six-thirty the car was packed, and Holly was on her third cup of coffee. She called Brendan’s house, and he answered in a sleepy voice on the third ring. “I’m going,” she blurted out. “I’m taking your advice and going to the snow. On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
She loved his sleepy voice. It was terribly sexy. If she could only sidle into bed with him right this instant, she would. “That you and Maddie come on Friday instead of Saturday.”
“I think that can be arranged.”
“Good. Now when can Meg be ready?”
“I’ll get her moving. When do you want to go?”
“Now. Everything is packed and all I have to do is wake up Chloe and load Petie into the car.”
“Wow. Okay then. Come on over. I’ll wake my daughter, but you know how teenage girls are. She takes a bit to get ready. And you know that dwarf in Snow White, the one they call Grumpy? She makes him look like St. Peter in the morning. Don’t expect much chatter from her on the drive until somewhere past ten. But come on, and I’ll make you some breakfast while you wait.”
“Lovely.
” Holly hung up the phone and then woke Chloe who sleepily got dressed.
“Grab your pillow, baby. It’s gonna be a long ride.”
Holly got Chloe’s medication, put her and Petie in the car, and ran back inside to grab the unpaid bills. They had certainly piled up lately. She’d been so absorbed in the case that everything else had fallen by the wayside. She also grabbed the files that Chad had left her and the mail she hadn’t gotten out of the box the day before.
She noticed a priority letter. “Oh, good.” She put it in with the rest of the mail that she’d take a look at up in Mammoth. She knew what it was. Her sister’s husband who was a stockbroker had made some real estate investments on some apartments back in New York that she and all three of her sisters and dad were going in on. These were the documents that she needed to sign and return. Nothing that couldn’t wait until she got settled inside Brendan’s cabin and could take a breather. Right now she wanted to get on the road.
A few minutes later, she pulled up in front of Brendan’s house. She and Chloe walked hand in hand to the front door. Chloe, who was fully awake now and excited at the prospect of missing school and going to play in the snow, could hardly contain her seven-year-old energy.
The scent of bacon wafted outside the front door, and Holly’s stomach growled. She’d already been up for nearly three hours and was only filled on the caffeine. Some breakfast would do her good.
Brendan opened the door before they even knocked. “I thought I heard your car pull up.”
Boy did he look cuter than ever with a complete mess of bedhead and an emerald green robe that matched his eyes. He topped it off with a pair of leather worn slippers. This could be love, love, love . . . the song by Madness from her high school days sprung into her mind.
“Don’t mind me. I know I look like something out of Nightmare on Fright Street. But if you remember right, I clean up well,” he commented.
“I do remember, but actually I am kind of liking this look.”
He pinched up his face and growled. “It’s the real me, monster man, and it’s how I look every morning.”
“Hmmm. I think I like monster man.” She smiled at him, ushering Chloe inside and heading for the kitchen. It was beginning to feel a lot like home around here. “Wow. You certainly didn’t have to do all this. At this rate, I’ll grow fat before you know it,” Holly said.
Set out in front of her was a spread of bacon, French toast, sliced oranges and cheese and onion omelet.
“I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I put a few things together. It was nothing,” Brendan said.
“Nothing? It’s absolutely wonderful.” Holly picked up a plate on the kitchen aisle and began piling on the food.
“I also know you’ve got a long drive ahead of you, so I figured I’d fill you three up, and you’ll be good to go for a bit.”
Meg came into the kitchen, hair pulled back in a long ponytail, eyes bright, and dressed in a cute red sweat outfit. “Ready when you are.”
“Okay, now you’re making me look bad, girl. You can’t come in here all sweet and smiley like. I told Holly the truth about you.”
“How can I be a grump, Dad, when I’m going snowboarding, and I don’t have to go to school? And the best part is that I don’t have listen to Maddie for a few days.”
“Impossible,” he replied, running his hand through his messy hair. “While you three eat, I’ll load up Meg’s snowboard,” Brendan said.
“Thanks, Dad.”
The three girls wolfed their food down. As they finished, Maddie came strolling in. “I want to go now, too,” she whined.
“But you get Princess Barbie, remember?” Chloe said. “Your daddy said so, and then we can play castle and stuff with her when you come up. It’ll be fun.”
“It’s only a few days, brat.” Meg patted her sister’s head. “You go do your dance recital, and then it’ll be Friday before you know it.”
“Okay.” She let out an aggrieved sigh and finally agreed with everybody, still not looking too happy about it.
Brendan came back a few moments later as everyone was finishing up breakfast. He gave hugs all the way around and whispered in Holly’s ear, “I’ll miss you.”
“Me too,” she said.
“Drive careful, and call us when you get there,” Brendan said.
It was nice to have someone care like that again.
They piled into the car while Maddie and Brendan waved frantically at them as they pulled out of the driveway.
It would be quite a wonderful time for the three of them, Holly thought. Exactly what she needed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Where could she be? Gunter had driven by Holly’s house after he’d gotten off work at seven, and her car wasn’t there. Then he’d gone on ahead to the girl’s school, watching and waiting as parents dropped off their children. He never saw Holly drop off hers. He saw Mr. Insignificant though, and decided to follow him. Interesting that he was a vet.
Gunter wrote down the vet’s name from what was painted on his office windows. He’d do some checking on Dr. O’Neil. It could prove handy to know one’s adversary. Not that he really considered the loser a worthy opponent of any kind. For there was no other man like Gunter around.
Gunter picked up his cell phone and dialed the police headquarters. There was a burning need to slither ever further under his favorite investigator’s skin, and seeing how she wasn’t anywhere in sight, he figured she’d have to be at work. It was driving him nutty not knowing exactly where she was. Watching her struggle with this, battle him, go against his wits. It was good. He enjoyed it immensely. An embittered desk cop answered the phone and Gunter asked for her.
“She’s not available. Can I take a message?”
“No, no message. When will she be available, though?”
“I’m not sure. She’s on a leave of absence. Is this regarding a crime?”
A leave of absence? What? “It’s personal. But I really do need to speak with her.”
“Then I’d try her at home. She won’t be back for a while.”
Gunter hung up the phone, not sure how to feel. Poor Holly. Had she lost her job because of him? That would be a ridiculous shame. She was so much fun to play with. She was the mouse. He was the cat. How could they continue to play their game if she was no longer working?
He sped home. What to do? What to do? Wait a minute. Maybe this was perfect. The powers that be, were they intervening in this game of love? They must be! No one wants their wife to be a cop. It’s so not feminine. And Gunter liked his women feminine. Strong, yes, but not too strong. Now, to find her and claim her.
But where was she, and how was he going to find her? He turned down his radio. Had to think. Impossible with The Chili Peppers blaring in the background. With the radio turned down, a plan took hold and evolved. It was beautiful. Glorious in fact. How silly of him to even momentarily think that they couldn’t continue their game. Of course they could, and it would be even better than before.
First, he’d have to get rid of the vet. That presented a problem, but he could handle it. He didn’t like leaving anything messy behind. The vet was a key part of his plan right now. If anyone knew where his beloved was, it would be him.
He picked up the phone again, dialed Holly’s home number. No answer. Damn! Fine. That was fine. She was really very good. So good. He couldn’t take the chance of driving past her home again. Soon there would be no more need to stalk her anyway, because Holly Jennings would soon be Holly Drake.
Gunter pulled into his own drive and entered his home through the back door. “Here kitty, kitty. Come to Daddy.” A slinky feline came running. Gunter picked her up, cradling her like a baby. “We have to go see the doctor.”
Forty-five minutes later, he entered Dr. O’Neil’s office. “I know I don’t have an appointment, but my wife is out of town, and it’s her kitty . . . I think the cat is sick, and, man, if something happened to her on my time, I’d be . . .” He slid his finger acr
oss his throat.
The receptionist winced, peered inside the kitty’s travel cage. “What’s her name?”
“Holly.”
“Let me see if the doctor can see you and Holly. He’s finishing up in surgery. What was your name, sir, so I can get your file?”
“You know I don’t think you’re our regular vet. Silly me, I couldn’t remember who is. Like I said, Holly is my wife’s kitty.”
“Okay.”
Ten more minutes and Gunter was ushered into the examining room.
“Hello, I’m Dr. O’Neil.” The loser came in, stretched out his hand. Gunter took it. Strong grip, but nothing compared to the grip Gunter could put around his neck.
What did she see in him? Irish fuck. So he was probably considered good looking by women’s standards, but not like Gunter himself. Tall, dark, and handsome. He’d been told that line plenty. He had a mystique, a dark, romantic mystique. The only thing mysterious about the vet was why he hadn’t shed the gay accent a long time ago. Did he think women liked that? How fucking annoying.
The vet glanced over the cat’s chart. “Holly, huh?” He sort of laughed.
“She’s my wife’s cat. Is there something funny?” Gunter asked.
“No not at all. It’s sort of amusing the cat’s name is Holly. My girlfriend . . .” He hesitated on that word, Gunter noticed. “Her name is Holly, too.”
“Good name.”
“Mhhm,” the vet agreed. “So what seems to be the problem?”
Gunter hoped this was going to go as he’d planned. He had to find out where Holly was, and he knew that this ass knew exactly where she was. He’d tell him if he had to ring it out of his goddamn neck. “She’s my wife’s kitty, and my wife would kill me if anything happened to her. My wife is out of town for the week, and I can’t get Holly to eat, and she seems really lethargic. She’s usually a very active cat.”
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