The framing of Ty and subsequent harassment, the bungling of the serial killer case that had swept up Laurie, Tate and Jim-Billy as well as enquiries into the death of Misty Keaton were the focal point of the charges brought and reasons for discharge. This was also primarily what the media fed on. There was more, of course, and many Carnal citizens had no problems standing in front of a camera or with a reporter taking notes and letting them know what went down in Carnal.
It was all out there.
Except whoever financed, covered up and protected Fuller and his men’s activities.
In other words, nothing on any powerful men, including Trane Keaton, had leaked.
I didn’t know if this meant another shoe was going to drop or if they were just powerful and rich enough to make their problems go away. All I knew was that Ty was so famous, it was very doubtful anyone would touch him or me. The reporters might have gone away but the story hadn’t. Ty even had a listing on an on-line encyclopedia. Laurie called me, told me to fire up my computer and showed it to me. The pictures they included were hot. The fact it existed was not.
But… whatever.
I was married to the man I loved, his name was clear, he was free, I was carrying his baby and the restitution Nina negotiated meant we didn’t have to worry too much about their college educations and I could get my reading area in our bedroom (which I did plus a rug for under the bed).
So all was good in my world.
But there were loose ends in Carnal.
Rowdy Crabtree had not been found.
And Misty Keaton’s murder had so far gone unsolved.
I had been right. Misty’s friend in Maryland, Tate discovered, was indeed the woman in the tape. She was also, back then, the mother of a three year old boy and the woman whose ex was a serious asshole. She’d kicked him out and divorced his ass but he was the kind of man who felt he could come over whenever he wanted, shout the house down, slap her around and take stuff, such as the money in her wallet or things of value he could sell.
She had a job as a waitress in a bar in Gnaw Bone called The Dog, was not close with her family as in, she never spoke to them, and her ex kept stealing all her tips therefore she needed out and to get out she needed money and it was the kind of money she didn’t have and had no hope of getting especially when her ex-husband kept taking the little she had.
So she got that money by doing sick-ass shit with Trane Keaton. In fact, she got two hundred thousand dollars for doing it, blackmail money direct from Trane which I didn’t think was enough but that’s just me.
Still, it got her out of Colorado and nearly a continent away, it set her up and her ex, being an asshole and lazy, didn’t put up the effort to trail her and continue making her life miserable so it also bought her peace.
Until Misty died.
She confirmed to Tate that Misty was as messed up as Misty was. Misty had doting parents, good looks and had grown up wild because her folks didn’t know how to say no so she pretty much did whatever she wanted to do whenever she wanted to do it. She wasn’t used to getting no for an answer so she didn’t mind doing what she had to do to get what she wanted.
And she wanted Chace. Like, a lot (obviously).
And he made it clear he wanted only one thing from her and that was only part of what she wanted from him.
Seeing as she’d convinced herself her talents in bed (something for which he kept coming back for more) and her looks would eventually win him around, she successfully set about trapping him, thinking, insanely, that he’d eventually get over her sick, twisted power play and fall head over heels in love with her.
This was not a lie. This was what Miss Maryland told Tate, straight out.
It was a fucked up play by a pretty, spoiled girl who, personally, I thought needed mental help.
But she was dead so that was impossible.
Though, I did make a point of noting this. I had no blood family, didn’t have a mother-figure until I was thirteen and could see myself falling in the trap of giving a child I loved everything she or he wanted because I had to wade through a whole lot of shit to get what I wanted and it took thirty-four years. Upon learning this about Misty, I decided on the motherhood course of Do What Ella Would Do in order not to fuck up my kid by loving them so much it made me weak and them stupid.
Misty’s friend, by the way, was terrified. Tate, by the way, was a straight talker and told her she had reason to be and if she had any of that two hundred grand left, she needed to get herself safe.
Being Tate and checking up, the next time he called, her number was disconnected.
No more was heard from Misty Keaton’s friend. Arnie Fuller was out on bail and keeping his head down as in, no one saw him ever. Gossip was dying down and the City Council was acting fast to clean up. But people weren’t used to living out from under small town tyranny. They were guardedly happy yet braced. The boat had rocked and only those who deserved to get thrown in the water got drenched.
But after what happened to Ty, Misty and Rowdy, everyone knew anything could happen.
So they were breathing easier but that didn’t mean they weren’t prepared.
Chace Keaton had weathered the storm. What he did was known, very much so. Handsome, well-dressed and having a confident manner, he was the poster boy for the IA and pushed in front of the cameras to show that Carnal wasn’t entirely infested, there were good, brave men serving the community. You could tell he didn’t like it but again, as it seemed was his curse, he put up with it.
I just hoped for him, like it had for Ty and me, it would eventually die down.
In the diner that day, I quickly looked away from Chace and walked to the counter, taking a stool so I could do what I did when I picked the diner for lunch. Order takeaway and take it back to the salon so I could gab with Dominic, Kayeleen and their clients as I ate lunch. I knew exactly what I wanted so I waited for the busy waitress behind the counter to get to me. And while I waited, my eyes went everywhere to avoid going to Chace.
Then they honed in.
And they honed in on a woman I knew. She was the librarian in town. She went to see Dominic and Dominic declared that her hair was the third best head of hair in Carnal behind Lauren Jackson’s and my own (though, I wondered if he was being nice, still, he said it like he meant it). It was a thick, shining sheet of real auburn, dark, hints and highlights of red and rust, it was gorgeous. And with her pale skin, bright blue eyes, fantastic cheekbones and that hair, she was extremely pretty.
But she was a total librarian. To my recollection, I’d seen her four times, twice at the salon, once at La-La Land and once at the grocery store and each time she was in a dress, nice, stylish, hinting at her figure which was curvy and sweet but by no means showing off or doing anything to get even a little attention. And this was because she was shy, super shy. When you were talking to her, she often didn’t meet your eyes, she smiled in a way you could swear it was an allusion (which, incidentally, I thought was cool) and she had a melodic voice that was nevertheless very quiet, like a librarian’s voice should be.
And her name was Faye. Faye Goodknight.
Really, that was her name. Faye Goodknight.
Totally awesome name.
And just then, as my eyes honed in on her, she was staring at Chace Keaton.
No, not staring at him, she was gazing at him longingly.
Hmm. I liked that.
Then I watched her body jerk, her eyes cut to me, feeling mine on her. But before I could smile, her face flamed and she looked away.
Totally shy.
I chanced a glance at Chace. He had an open file folder on the table beside him, head bent to it, pen scribbling on it, plate set aside, finished eating but not done with what he was doing.
A very pretty woman who was into him had been staring at him and he didn’t know she existed.
I didn’t like that.
His wife had recently died but still, he didn’t like her and eventually he had to get back u
p on that horse.
The waitress came, took my order and when I was done, movement caught my eye and I watched Faye carrying her bag of takeaway coming my way to pass me to go to the door.
“Hey, Faye,” I called when she got close, her eyes tipped up, skimmed through me and she lifted her hand to tuck a shining, sheath of hair behind her ear.
“Uh, hey, Lexie,” she murmured then hurried by me.
I lost sight of her and was going to turn to watch her go but for some reason my eyes went to Chace and my body went still.
He was staring after Faye. I knew it. And he not only knew she existed, he really knew she existed.
And the expression on his face hurt to witness.
I’d never seen anything like that before but I figured it would be what a starving man looked like when he saw a plate of bread in front of him but he was too weak and it was too far for him to get to, he’d never make it so he was going to waste away without trying.
He wasn’t even going to reach.
Yes, that was what his expression looked like.
I knew it because I’d never seen that expression on my face but I felt that feeling for weeks when Ty and I were apart.
I tore my eyes from him, caught the eyes of the waitress, she tipped up her chin, finished refilling the coffee cup she was filling and came to me.
“Somethin’ else you need?” she asked.
“Yes, um… do you know Faye Goodknight?”
“Uh, yeah. Known her since she was about three. Lived here all her life, same’s me.”
“Is she married?”
The waitress, whose nameplate said Poppy, burst out laughing.
I waited for her to be done but I did it with a smile so she wouldn’t think I was rude.
Then she quit laughing and said, “No, hon, Faye ain’t married. Reason she’s a librarian, she lives in a book… all the time. Life goes on around her, she has no clue. Head in the clouds, rest a’ her wrapped in a cocoon. Don’t know if she’s ever even dated.”
That was just plain weird.
Therefore I pointed out this weirdness. “But, that’s weird. She’s very pretty.”
“Yup,” Poppy agreed.
“So, you would think…” I started to deduce then quit and asked quietly, “Did something happen to her?”
Poppy’s brows went up. “To Faye?”
I nodded.
She shook her head. “Nope. No way. Nothin’ ever happens to Faye. Not one thing. Some folks are just that way. She’s always been quiet. She’s always liked fantasy worlds better’n real ones. Just her way. She’s a sweet little thing. Comes from a good family she’s close to, she’s just…” Poppy shrugged, “Faye.”
Very pretty. Good family. Librarian. Very possibly a virgin. Just the woman you’d set up in a house behind a white picket fence who would bake pies, be the leader of your daughter’s Brownie troop who you could train to give world class head.
Her looks, her demeanor, her age which I figured was not far off mine and her possible virgin status meaning she was probably one of two of her type in the entire state of Colorado. Which made her, at my approximation, one of maybe one hundred in the entire United States of America.
Worth hanging around Carnal for, let her sit waiting in the wings as you sowed your wild oats, even if your boss was dirty, stinking filth.
Then suddenly she’s completely out of your reach when you’re forced to marry the town’s crazy, playing slut, your father is a sleazebag, albeit a rich one, and even though you were shoved in the mud but risked a lot to pull yourself out and get clean, you’d never quit feeling dirty.
I nodded to Poppy again and asked, “Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure,” she replied.
“Can you change my order from takeaway and serve it at Detective Keaton’s table?”
She blinked. Then her mouth dropped open. Then her eyes darted back and forth between me and Chace’s table. I came in relatively frequently but never chitchatted with her because she was always busy. Still, she knew me. She knew Chace. She knew Misty. She knew Ty. And she knew our intermingling history.
This wasn’t a surprise. Everyone did.
Then hesitantly she repeated, “Uh… sure.”
“Thanks,” I whispered, sucked in air, turned from the counter and walked on my high heels through the diner toward Chace’s table.
His eyes were on me when I was ten feet away.
I didn’t stop until my ass was planted across from him.
He held my eyes a moment and then said low, “Lexie.”
“Hi,” I replied softly.
“Somethin’ I can do for you?”
“Yeah, sit there and listen to me say thank you for helping me and Ty.”
He said nothing, just held my eyes.
So I said, “Thank you.”
“My job,” he replied.
“No it wasn’t,” I whispered. “What you did was beyond the call of duty and we both know it.”
He again said nothing but his gaze never left mine.
“So, thank you.”
He jerked up his chin then muttered, “Don’t mention it.”
I smiled and reminded him, “I just did, like three times.”
Chace Keaton did not smile.
So I stopped smiling then started quietly to say, “I think you now that I know –”
Chace interrupted me. “Do me a favor, Lexie, and don’t talk about it.”
I shut my mouth.
“Move on,” he stated. “It’s a small town but big enough that you and Walker can go your way, I’ll go mine.”
“I can’t do that.”
He dropped his pen, sat back and lost what I suspected was one of his many cop faces, this one was carefully composed to look polite, mildly interested but mostly detached and communicating the minute you were done with him, he’d move on and not think about you again. What came up was impatient and annoyed which I suspected was not a cop face.
“Why?” he asked.
I leaned forward and explained, “Because I have a husband whose power was stripped from him and I lived a life that offered limited choices and the ones it offered weren’t very good so I kinda know what you’re going through.”
“You have no clue.”
“I do.”
He leaned forward too. “All right, Lexie, then how’s this? No offense, but I don’t give a fuck if you do.”
To that, I informed him, “She was staring at you.”
He did a slow blink at the change in subject, the anger that had edged into his annoyed impatience changed to mystification and he asked, “What?”
“Faye Goodknight,” I answered and then I got surprise then more than an edge of anger.
“Don’t even –” he began but I cut him off.
“My guess? Romance novels. My guess? She started reading them early. My guess? She started them at a time where they made a huge impression on her and changed her perceptions. She isn’t cocooned, she pays attention and she knows there are no men out there like the men in those books she reads so she prefers being with them than trying to find someone like them which, she thinks, is a fruitless endeavor. That fantasy is far better than any reality and, you know what? She’s right. Men are a pain in the ass and a lot of them are dicks who cause heartbreak. And her, a girl life Faye? Well, she knows she’s the kind of girl men like that will chew up and spit out. So she’s smart and she’s not going to go there. But you know something else? Lady Luck can sometimes be generous to people who deserve it and right in her hometown is a man who she doesn’t know but he gave up everything to look after his father but what she does know is he was brave enough to put his ass out there to save an entire… fucking… town. And, bonus, he’s hot, dresses nice and has a great body. So don’t piss away your life, Detective Keaton, because I learned, no matter how shitty it is, no matter how many times you got slapped back, no matter how much that shit stings, you have to keep reaching for what you want. Never give up. If you don’t,
you’ll find happiness. I know. I got slapped back so many times it isn’t funny. Now I’m in love and pregnant and the sun shines on me all the time. Even when I’m asleep. If you don’t give up and keep reaching, you can feel that sunshine too. But better than that, you ask her out and find out she’s the one, you can give her that sunshine and she’ll make sure you’ll never regret you did it.”
He stared at me without a word.
Well, there you go. I didn’t get through but at least I tried.
It was time to cut my losses.
I turned my head and shouted, “Poppy!” which got her attention as anyone would, shouting across a diner so I shouted again, “Take that back, it’s going to be takeaway.”
“No it isn’t, Poppy,” Chace called after me and my head shot around to look at him. “Serve Lexie’s lunch here.”
“You got it, Chace,” Poppy shouted back.
Chace looked at me. “Sit. Eat your lunch. But please, fuck, no more life lectures. Can you do that for me?”
I grinned and said, “Sure.”
He stared at me. Then he shook his head.
Then he went back to scribbling on his paper.
I watched.
Then I asked, “So, are you gonna ask Faye out?”
His neck bent so just his head tipped back and he skewered me with his blue eyes.
“Okay, okay,” I muttered. “Yeesh.”
He looked back at his papers and kept scribbling.
Poppy served my cheeseburger, curly fries and diet at the table.
I squirted an enormous mound of ketchup on my plate while commenting, “By the way, you’re hot but you’re super hot when you get angry.”
His neck bent so his head tipped back again and he scowled at me.
“Just sayin’,” I muttered, digging a fry into my ketchup, popping it into my mouth and deciding against telling him his scowl proved my point.
I continued to do this and after I picked up my burger and took a big bite, Chace spoke and he did this to his papers.
“Walker gonna lose his mind, find me and rip my head off when he finds out you were sittin’ here with me?”
“Nope,” I said through half-munched burger.
Lady Luck Page 50
