Tony glanced at me, his face expressionless. “Is it always like this?”
I shook my head, picking my way around a knocked over chair in the hall as I followed the path of destruction into the kitchen.
“No, usually there’s food stuck to the tiles and the smoke detector is going off,” I replied. A small body raced down the hallway and I reached down, easily scooping up the squirming form.
“Hi Aunt Taci, did you come over to play?” Leah asked with her usual giggle.
“Something like that. Where’s your Mom at, or did you tie her up in the bedroom again?” I asked, setting the wiggling child back onto the floor. Tony arched an eyebrow and I shook my head. Another time, another story.
“Mom’s out back on the patio,” Leah replied before scurrying off in the opposite direction she’d come from. I sighed, heading through the kitchen to the glass sliding doors just beyond the large dining room.
Annie was lounged on the deck, a cigarette in hand and a wash cloth lying across her eyes.
“Please tell me DHS has come to take my children away,” she said tiredly when I opened the door and stepped out onto the patio.
“Not DHS, but I think you should definitely fire your maid,” I replied cheerfully. Annie swiped the washcloth from her face, flying out of the chair to give me a hug.
“Oh my God Taci, you have no idea what this means to me that you came over! I’m so sorry I ruined your date tonight,” she said watery eyed, giving a glance at Tony over my shoulder.
Tony gave a shrug. “No problem Annie, whatever you need. We didn’t really have anything big planned for tonight anyway.”
I plucked the cigarette from her hand, dropping it to the deck and squashing it under my foot. “I thought you gave that up.”
Annie sighed. “I keep an emergency stash just in case.”
Another crash sounded in the house. Tony jumped; Annie and I shook our heads. Taking Annie’s arm I led her into the house, pushing her towards the front door.
“Why don’t you go out for a few hours, catch a movie or something. Trust me, we’ll take care of everything,” I told her. Annie paused as if to argue but changed her mind when another crash sounded from upstairs.
“Good luck,” she said before grabbing her purse off the hook by the door and fleeing the house.
I turned back towards Tony who was gazing in wonder at the mess surrounding us.
“So, where do we start?” he finally asked.
I smiled. “We round ‘em up and lay down the law. I’ll take the upstairs and you take the downstairs. Try and keep them corralled in the kitchen if you can.”
Tony grinned. “Do I get to use duct tape?”
“Only if you don’t leave any marks,” I replied before heading upstairs. Turning the corner of the banister I entered the bathroom, giving a small sigh at the mess that greeted me. The mirror had been smudged with what appeared to be lipstick, the dark red streaks gouged from one side to the other. All over the counter of the double vanity was scattered various make up, deodorant, soaps and lotions. A bucket of miscellaneous items had been dumped out of the closet, I assumed accounting for one of the crashes we’d heard. The toothbrush holder had been emptied into the sink and a tube of toothpaste lay open and half spilled out on the rug. Ugh, this was going to be a fine mess to clean up. Thankfully, I grew up in a home that believed if you made the mess, you clean it up. These girls were in for a rude awakening.
Leaving the bathroom I entered the next room, Sarah and Leah’s room. Clothes were strewn from one wall to the other, toys and books stacked in piles throughout the room. Coming from a seven and eight year old I’d say the room wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I’d be more shocked to see their room clean than to find a mess. A quick survey told me no kids were present, so I moved on to the next room.
Amber’s room wasn’t as messy as the rest, not surprisingly so. Amber was the kind of ten year old any parent would want; a neat freak. She was meticulous about where everything went in her room and always made sure everything was picked up and put in its place. It wasn’t too hard to spot her in the room; she was lying on her bed reading a book.
“So, how is it that every room in this house is destroyed, your sisters are running amuck and you’re up here in your nice clean room reading a book?” I asked, leaning casually against the doorjamb.
Amber sighed, not bothering to glance up from her book.
“Because I threatened them within an inch of their lives if they touched my room,” she replied nonchalantly.
I somehow managed to hold back a smile. I knew these past few months had been hell on the girls and Amber’s smart mouth was her way of lashing out. It drove Annie up a wall when she talked back like that, but I had a hard time not admiring her for it. She was a girl after my own heart.
“Well obviously they listened because they managed to destroy all the other rooms in the house instead. Anyway, I hope you’re caught up on your book because I’m counting on you to help clean up before your Mom gets back,” I said.
Amber set her book down, sparing a glance in my direction. “Where’d Mom go?”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter because Tony and I are here and we’re in charge until she gets back. That means up and at ‘em sunshine, let’s get cleaning. If you’re good I’ll order pizza delivery.”
That got her moving; pizza was her all time favorite food. Shoving a bookmark on her page she snapped the book closed and put it back on the shelf.
“All right fine, but I am not cleaning Mom’s room,” she said haughtily, stalking past me to head downstairs.
I paused in the doorway. “What did they do to your Mom’s room?”
Amber glanced up at me from the stairwell, giving a shrug. “Beats me, but I don’t think the stains are going to come out.”
It was after eleven before Tony drove into my parking lot. Killing the engine he leaned back against the seat.
“Well, I’ll say one thing for sure. Those girls are definitely a poster board for birth control,” he said wearily.
I couldn’t really argue that point no matter how much I loved the girls. Sighing I leaned wearily against the back of my seat. Overall I’d say the evening went pretty well, all things considered. After checking out the mess in Annie’s room I followed Amber downstairs to discover Tony had found Sarah and Leah; or rather, they’d found him. With Leah tucked like a football under one arm Tony was chasing Sarah all over the living room, trying in vain to get a hold of her with his free hand. It really was a comical sight, one that I’m sure Tony would appreciate later; much later.
Tossing an arm across the back of the seat Tony rubbed the back of my neck, his magical fingers kneading the tight muscles there.
I sighed contently. “Thanks for your help tonight, I really appreciated it.”
Tony smiled in the darkness of the cab. “No problem. Of course, my services don’t come for free you know.”
I rolled my eyes, glancing over at him. “Well don’t expect a hot shower out of me tonight; I didn’t exactly get dinner and a movie.”
That wasn’t entirely true, we did end up ordering pizza delivery once we had the clean up crew underway. And the delivery driver was even a good sport about being drenched with a water balloon thanks to the mega tip we gave him so I was pretty sure they would deliver to Annie’s house again. The only thing missing was a movie.
“Actually I had other things in mind than a hot shower, but I’m always up for anything,” Tony replied.
I refrained from another eye roll. Really, did he have to be so obvious? Ok, so maybe my heart stuttered at the ideas floating around in Tony’s dirty mind. That still wasn’t reason enough to encourage him. Yet.
“Whatever you say hot shot. Guess I could be a good sport and at least offer you a drink. Care for a night cap?” I asked more hopefully than I’d have liked. Jeez, why don’t you just invite him into your bedroom while you’re at it.
Tony wiggled his eyebrows, shooting me a g
rin. “If that’s what you’d like to call it.”
I hopped out of the truck before he saw the color bloom in my cheeks, slamming the door in response. Making our way upstairs I unlocked the door to my apartment, taking a step inside.
“Reese?” I called out from the entryway, walking over to the counter to toss my purse and keys on it. No response came back; guess he was done watching T.V. for the night.
Turning towards Tony I motioned towards the fridge, asking, “Would you like a beer, or something stronger after the night we’ve had?”
Tony sauntered over to me, hooking a finger through one of my belt loops to pull me up against him.
“Actually, I was kind of hoping for something stronger than a drink,” he replied huskily, lowering his lips to mine.
I’d always dreamed of what it’d be like to be kissed by Parsons; somehow the dream fell short from the reality of it. His tongue pushed past the folds of my lips to meld with mine and I whimpered, crushing the material of his shirt between my fingertips as I held on for dear life.
Wrapping an arm around my waist he maneuvered me backwards down the hallway, all the while keeping his lips locked with mine. Pushing open the door to my room he maneuvered me inside, kicking the door shut with his foot as he moved me over to the bed to lay me down on the soft comforter.
Resting a hand on either side of my head he lowered himself slowly down to recapture my lips, pausing when his eyes caught sight of something in the corner. Turning his head he stared in wonder at the corner of the room; I craned my neck to see what was interrupting one helluva a good moment.
Propped up in a chair in the corner I could make out the shape of a person, though it was kind of hard to tell since the lights were off. One thing I knew for certain, whoever, or whatever it was wasn’t moving and I was pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing.
Tony sighed. “Guess I’m not the only one having a rough night.”
CHAPTER TEN
My Dad told me a long time ago that life would throw you interesting curve balls; you just needed to learn when to duck. While I’m sure he had other things in mind at the time I’m betting this was one of the curve balls I didn’t duck.
Tony heaved himself off the bed and over to the light switch, flipping it on to flood the room with light. At the site of what lay in the corner I wished he would have just left the light off.
Taped up in a sitting position on the chair sat a mannequin, its body fully clothed in women’s attire. The hands and legs had been oddly taped together using duct tape with the hands forced behind the back and feet tucked under the chair. The throat had been sliced open and red paint splattered down the neck. Even more disturbing was the picture that was glued to the face of the mannequin; it was a picture of me. On the mannequin’s chest a white piece of paper was taped with the words Read Me on it.
Shakily I approached the chair to remove the paper. It was like a scene out of the movies, the wording having been cut out of magazines and newsprint to form letters on the page. Only this wasn’t a movie and the words sent a chill down my spine.
I thought the phone call would be enough to shut you up but obviously I was wrong. This is your last warning. Next time it’ll be you.
Tony came up behind me as the paper fluttered through my fingers and onto the floor. I backed up and sat down heavily on the bed, pretty sure I was going to throw up. Leaning over he picked the paper up and scanned the page, giving a stream of curses before crumpling the paper in his fist.
“Either someone has a really sick sense of humor or you seriously pissed someone off. Knowing your track record I’m leaning more towards the latter on this one,” Tony said tightly.
I bit my lower lip and averted my gaze. I was not going to cry. Crying just didn’t quite go with the big bad persona I was trying so hard to achieve. Instead I swallowed past the lump in my throat, giving a shrug. “More than likely it’s someone trying to throw me off track, which means I’m getting close to something. The question is what?”
Tony rubbed a hand wearily over his shadowed jaw. “So in other words you’re telling me the next time they decide to throw you off track you might just end up at the city morgue.”
I rolled my eyes, shoving off the bed to pace the confines of my bedroom. “Gee, I’m glad we’re not going to get overly dramatic about this.”
“And you don’t think this is something to be concerned about?” he asked almost incredulously.
Ok, it did sound stupid hearing it said out loud. However it wasn’t enough to make me detour from finishing a story. I was on to something big, I could feel it all the way to my brightly painted toenails.
Glancing over at the mannequin my mind wandered over the past few days, reviewing the information I’d been gathering. Val asked for my help to find her daughter, yet strangely enough I haven’t heard from her since Thursday. Stranger still was the meeting at Jason’s office and his lack of concern over his daughter’s whereabouts. Of course you couldn’t leave out the fascinating meeting at the development site with Mr. Kincaid and still was the tie between Kincaid and Jason’s law office through the development project. Something was definitely up here and the longer I thought about it the more things were leading me back towards the construction site, which meant another visit with Mr. Kincaid. Oh goodie.
Tony eyed me warily, almost as if he could hear the wheels grinding in my head. “Whatever you’re thinking you might as well fill me in Angel Face because I’m not about to turn you loose on your own.”
I scowled darkly. His macho man act was really beginning to irritate me. “And just what makes you think I’m going to let you tag along behind me? I do have a job to do Parsons, this just happens to be part of it.”
Tony signed, almost resignedly. Gathering the mannequin from the corner of the room he dragged it down the hall, propping it up next to the front door. I followed him more out of curiosity than anything else; that and he had a pretty nice rear profile.
“Listen, I said if I thought you were getting in over your head I was going to step in. This little stunt,” he said, motioning towards the mannequin, “is as far over your head as I’m going to allow you to get.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. “And just what, pray tell, are you planning on doing about it?” Chaining me to my bed?”
Tony paused to contemplate that one; I flushed. As if the man needed any encouragement.
“As appealing as that sounds I have other ideas. I’m going to run our friend here down town. Can I trust you to be a good girl and stay here until I get back?” he asked, arching an eyebrow when I readily nodded my head. Dang, I agreed to that one way too fast.
Ten minutes later we were heading down town to the police station, Tony driving, me scowling and our new found friend propped between us in the middle. Could this night get any worse?
***
At the sound of an alarm I rolled over in bed, knocking the clock to the floor with one swipe. Rolling over I lay on my back, looking up at the ceiling of my room. It’d been after two when Tony brought me back to my apartment after a grueling night of finding nothing out at the police station. Tony had a friend in the forensics lab run the mannequin through a work up but nothing was found. No trace evidence, nothing to suggest where it originated from or how it ended up in my apartment. Tony’s friend said he’d run a few more tests and give us a call but he wasn’t promising anything.
To top the evening off after Tony brought me home he refused to leave, setting up camp on the sofa in the living room to make sure Reese and I were safe for the night. While I appreciated the concern (be still my beating my heart) it wasn’t like I couldn’t take care of myself. Out of pure spite I slammed the bedroom door and locked it behind me. Childish yes, but it made me feel a little better. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the air, making me suddenly aware that my bedroom door was standing wide open.
“Son of a…,” I said in a low hiss, tossing back the coverlet and throwing my legs over the side of the bed. St
alking down the hall I stomped into the kitchen, pausing at the site of Tony standing in front of the stove making breakfast. His hair was still damp from a shower, the dark wet hair curling at the nape of his neck. The suspicious scent of my Zest body wash soap drifted above the smell of bacon frying and I bit back a groan at the sudden image of Tony naked in a shower with my body wash. Dear lord.
“Well good morning sunshine. Sleep well?” he asked cheerfully. I scowled in response.
“You picked the lock on my door,” I pointed out stiffly, to which he shrugged.
Turning the burner off he lifted the handle of the pan, removing it from the burner to drain out the bacon grease. My stomach grumbled in response as I watched him transfer the strips of bacon to a plate on the counter.
“Sorry, don’t know what you’re talking about. I hope you like bacon and eggs for breakfast, you didn’t really have too many other choices to pick from. Oh, and your Mom called to let you know they made it home OK and to invite us to dinner tonight,” he chattered on, taking my elbow to maneuver me to the small dining table he’d set up for us. I halted in front of my chair, a look of horror on my face.
“You talked to my mother?” I asked, sitting down with a thud in the chair.
Tony took the chair across from mine, giving me a dimpled grin. “Don’t worry Angel Face, I told her all about us and she’s thrilled. Said something about going over dress patterns at dinner tonight.”
I had begun to pick up my fork only to let it fall to a clatter on the table. “You told her what?!”
Tony threw back his head and laughed. I fumed quietly, patiently waiting for him to stop laughing.
“Relax Tace, she thinks I stopped by to visit and that you were in the bathroom when she called. I told her I’d have you call her back when you were available,” he offered, his eyes still twinkling with laughter.
Retrieving my fork I dug into the pile of eggs in front of me, chewing thoughtfully. “And she didn’t question why you’d be answering my phone?”
Deadly Reunion (The Taci Andrews Deadly Series) Page 10
