Brown Eyed Girl

by Lori Leger

  Determined to get her bag, she sent him a text. “I need my bag. I left it at your place.”

  Within moments he’d replied. “Not there, you left with it”

  “Nope…it’s n ur bedroom. R u home?”

  “Lafayette PD.”

  “Locked up?”

  “No. House arrest at Melissa’s…sort of…can’t leave city. U taking a trip?”

  “Yep.”

  “Where to?”

  “NOYB” (none of your business)

  “Alone?”

  “Surely NOYB.”

  “I know...”

  “U shut me out.”

  “Won’t drag u down with me.”

  “I need my bag.”

  “Not there!!!! Good bye, Doc…”

  Frustrated, she threw her phone on the sofa and poured herself a glass of wine while she packed. She’d only taken two sips when her home phone rang.

  “Hello.”

  “Tiffany, is this you?”

  “Yes, it is...Mrs. Vivienne?”

  “Yes. How are you, dear?”

  “I’m...I’m...” Just like at Red’s place for Thanksgiving, something about the woman’s voice made her want to bare her soul to her. “Not good, actually,” she said, beginning to sob.

  “Oh, sweetie, I know. Red is just as miserable as you are, and I don’t know why he’s being so stubborn.”

  “I don’t either, Mrs. Vivienne. I wanted to be there for him, but he sh...shut me out,” she sobbed.

  “I know he did. He’s trying to protect you, Tiffany, but I knew you wouldn’t see it that way. Men just don’t see things the way we do.”

  “I’m so h..h..hurt,” she sobbed.

  Vivienne began to cry softly on the other end of the phone. “I know you are, sweetie. But please don’t give up on him. This will all be over one day.”

  “Will it?” Tiffany asked, through her tears.

  “Oh God, Tiffany...it has to. My child serving a prison sentence for something he didn’t do...I can’t have that happening. It will work out.”

  “I hope so, Mrs. Vivienne. I n...need to get away for a few days, but I left my carry-on bag at his house. He says no, but I know it’s there and I n..n..need to f..finish packing,” she sobbed, feeling like a child. “I’m s..sorry..I shouldn’t be talking about s..something so s..silly, but I hurt so bad.”

  “Shh...Tiffany, I know, and believe me when I tell you I understand. Listen, Red keeps a key hidden in a ceramic lighthouse on his patio out back. It unlocks the kitchen door. Go get your bag, sweetie. Take that trip, wherever it is you’re going. It’ll do you some good to get away for a while.”

  “Oh, thank you, Mrs. Vivienne,” she said, between sniffles.

  “Maybe by the time you get back, Red will have come to his senses or they’ll have caught the person responsible for this mess.”

  “Oh, I hope so. I j..just l..lo..love him s..so much,” she cried.

  “He loves you too, Tiffany. He’s trying his best to protect you, right now. This is all he can do. He feels like there’s no other choice, do you understand?”

  “N..no...I just want to be with him.”

  “Go get the bag and go on your vacation, dear. Try to relax.”

  The two women said goodbye and hung up. Once Tiffany had calmed down, she drove out to Red’s ranch alternately crying then cursing Red for her misery. Just as Vivienne had said, she found a key hidden in the ceramic light house. She walked inside his home, seeing everything as it had been the last morning she’d left from there, except for some receipts on the kitchen island.

  Tiffany made her way to Red’s bedroom and found her bag, exactly where she’d left it. She stared at the bed with still tangled sheets and couldn’t help but think of their night of lovemaking. Catching sight of a full length garment bag hanging from a door hook, she walked closer seeing it was from an exclusive dress shop. She approached the bag, her curiosity on maximum overload, as she lowered the zipper.

  Tiffany gasped at the contents, a gorgeous designer gown in ivory silk with exquisite lace and beadwork in a size six...her size. She glanced at the bag hanging next to it, opened it to reveal a pair of matching ivory pumps in size seven...her size. She tried them on, feeling just like Cinderella when they both slid on for a perfect fit. She saw Red’s beautifully tailored Armani suit hanging on another hook, along with a gorgeous shirt and coordinating silk tie. His dress shoes and socks were laid out on the floor beneath the clothes.

  She raised trembling fingers to her mouth, realizing this must have been their wedding clothes. Tears flooded her eyes when she thought of Red picking out the dress and shoes for her.

  She scanned the room and her gaze settled on three boxes from a high end jeweler in Lake Coburn. She opened the first box and gasped at the lovely diamond earrings nestled in blue velvet. The second box contained the most gorgeous dinner ring she’d ever seen in her life. She’d told him no solitaire and he listened. She sobbed openly as she opened the third box containing a matching set of platinum bands with inlaid diamonds and exquisite braiding around the edges. Oh, God...He wanted to marry me. If Vivienne was to be believed, he still wanted to marry her.

  Tiffany didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The joyfulness of the situation vied frantically with the unfairness of it all. She did both, laughing through her tears until a calmness returned to her. She rinsed her face in his bathroom, seeing the huge shower that brought to mind their last bout of lovemaking. When Red’s land line began to ring she only hesitated a moment before answering it from his bedroom.

  “Hello.”

  “Oh, thank God someone is there. I need to speak with Red.”

  Tiffany gasped, recognizing the heavily accented voice of the woman from the ladies room. “This is Angelique, isn’t it? Where the hell are you? They suspect Red for being involved in your disappearance.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s at his sister’s house in Lafayette. They’re not holding him but they want him to stay in the area. We suspect he’s being set up.”

  “He is.”

  “By who?”

  “I don’t know who to trust...”

  “Trust me, Angelique...I love him.”

  “Yes, but do you know who can be trusted? It’s someone very close to him.”

  “Who?”

  “I’m not saying anything until I know both of my parents are safe and I’m making an official statement to the police.”

  “Angelique, you could be putting Red in danger by keeping it from him. The police will make sure both you and your parents are safe.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You can’t let him be blamed for this!” Tiffany pleaded.

  “I don’t want to see him blamed, but I’m afraid for my parent’s lives, can you understand that? They’re all I have and I love them very much. I’m dying over here, knowing they don’t know if I’m alive or dead. I’m afraid he’ll hurt them if I call,” she sobbed.

  Tiffany knew the woman’s terror and tears were sincere. She took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. “Look, you shouldn’t be in this alone and you don’t have to be. Would it help if your parents were in protective custody at the police station?” she asked as she sent Red a text from her cell…Angelique on phone…call me NOW!

  “Can you make sure that happens?”

  “Of course.” Within seconds her phone rang. “That’s Red calling me now on my cell. Don’t hang up!” She answered the cell and put it on speaker so Angelique could hear the conversation. “Red, she’s on your home phone right now. She knows who’s setting you up but is worried for her parents.”

  “Her parents are here with me at the police station. They came in to see if anyone had heard from her.”

  Tiffany relayed the message to Angelique.

  “Thank God! I want to speak to them,” Angelique said. “Please tell my mother to call me on my cell phone.”

  Tiffany repeated her request to Red and he disconnected to let them u
se his phone to call her. “How soon can you make it back to the station to clear Red?” Tiffany asked Angelique.

  “I’m only thirty minutes away, but I’m terrified to drive back alone.”

  “Ask Detective Mike Harper to send you a police escort,” Tiffany suggested. “That should make you feel safer.”

  “Definitely,” she said. “Oh, my mother is on the line…I have to go now, but thank you.”

  Tiffany didn’t waste time waiting on Red to call her back. With phone in hand, she loaded every one of his purchases into her car, including the birth certificate he’d left beside the rings. She knew hers was tucked away inside the glove compartment of her car and fully expected to get some use out of them before the end of the day.

  She was ten minutes from the police station when her phone finally rang. Her heart leapt with excitement as she saw Red’s name flash across the screen.

  “Red?”

  “Doc! I’m free and clear. Angelique has been picked up and is giving her statement to the police right now. It was Benji, my doorman.”

  “I know! I just heard on the radio that there’s an APB out on him for the fire and the woman’s murder. What the hell happened, Red?”

  “He was going to murder Angelique and leave her in the club to burn. Everyone saw me throw her out so I’d have motive. She went to meet him at the club after it closed and overheard him telling his girlfriend. She said they were arguing and the girl told him she was pregnant. That’s when she got the hell out of there, too terrified to stick around. She knew Benji had friends with the department and didn’t know who she could trust. We know everything but why, Doc. I can’t figure out what kind of beef he has with me.”

  “I’m as curious about that as you are. I guess we’ll have to wait until they catch him to find out.”

  “I guess so. God, I want to see you. Where are you?”

  “I’m a few minutes from the station.”

  “Here, in Lafayette?”

  “Yes, and you may as well know that I picked up my suitcase from your place,” she said, waiting for his response.

  “You did?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

  “Yes, I did. It was in your bedroom, right where I’d left it. You’d done some shopping.”

  “Uh...Yeah...I wanted to surprise you.”

  “Well, you did...you certainly did,” she murmured again.

  “Did you..see everything I bought?” he asked, curiously.

  “I believe so,” she whispered.

  “And what did you think?”

  “I think...that you have excellent taste, Mr. McAllister, in both clothes and jewelry.”

  “Of course I do. I chose you, didn’t I?”

  “You also pushed me away when you needed me most.” She heard him suck in his breath. “You hurt me, Red.”

  “Doc, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to subject you to anything that may put you in danger. Hell, I’m terrified right now because you’re not here, and Benji is still out there.”

  “I’m just driving up to the station,” she told him. “And Red?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t push me away again. If we have problems, we’ll face them together. You got that?”

  “I got it, Doc.”

  Tiffany got out of her car and headed toward the entrance. As she rounded the corner she froze, horrified at the sight before her.

  <><><>

  “Well damned if the devil isn’t smiling on me today,” Benji Bradford crooned as Vivienne McAllister, the queen bee herself, pulled into the parking spot two spaces down from his truck. He watched her play with her purse, take her time getting out of the car and lock her doors. She didn’t even assess her surroundings, completely lured by the false security that all police property, even the precinct parking lot, was a safe zone. He opened his truck door and headed stealthily in her direction, his gun pocketed and ready. Once he’d realized that all his plans for revenge were shot to hell, he’d headed to the station, hoping to catch Red alone, or not. He knew damn well he wouldn’t be spending a single day in prison, so he didn’t give a rat’s ass how the situation turned out as long as Red died in the outcome.

  He caught up with Vivienne and shoved the gun in her side. “If you want to live, you’ll come quietly, Mom.”

  <><><>

  Tiffany froze, seeing Benji walk through the parking lot with Vivienne’s arm tightly in his grip. She couldn’t see a gun but judging from the look on Vivienne’s face, she suspected he had one on her.

  “Oh my God, he’s here outside of the police station and he has your mom. I think he has a gun on her, Red. I can’t let him take her.”

  She heard Red shout to everyone what she’d just told him and heard scuffling sounds coming from the phone.

  “Tiffany, don’t you do anything stupid!”

  “If anyone comes barging out here he’ll kill her Red. You must know he just wants to make you suffer. I have to do something!”

  “Tiffany...”

  “I’m putting the phone in my pocket but I’ll keep it turned on, so you can hear.” She ignored his pleas to wait and pocketed her phone.

  She called his name, forcing herself to stay calm. He swung around, jerking Vivienne so roughly she nearly fell. The bulk of a man dwarfed the tiny woman, and although she was trying to be brave, Tiffany could see the terror in her eyes. “She’ll only slow you down, Benji. Take me, instead. I’m his fiancé.”

  He leered evilly at her. “Why don’t I take both of you and we can all have some fun?”

  Tiffany walked calmly up to him. “You can’t keep an eye on both of us, and she’s older—she will slow you down.”

  His eyes narrowed to two evil looking slits before he shoved Vivienne roughly away, causing her to fall on her knees. Tiffany tried to help, but was stopped short by Benji jerking her back by the hair.

  “I like the curls, Doc. You’ll be much easier to hang onto,” he said, pulling her along by her hair. He turned to look at Vivienne. “If you move from this spot, she’s dead, do you hear me?”

  Tiffany exchanged a look with Vivienne as the woman nodded in understanding.

  “I won’t, but please Benji…don’t hurt her,” she said, reaching her hands forward.

  “Not right away,” he sneered. “But you can tell that baby boy of yours I intend to have some fun with her first.” He pulled Tiffany’s face closer and gave her a long, slow lick from her jaw line to her ear.

  Tiffany squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered in revulsion, swallowing the bile that threatened at his invasive act.

  Benji caught Vivienne’s horrified expression and laughed sadistically. “Let’s go have some fun curly.”

  “So what exactly is your plan or do you have one?” Tiffany asked calmly as they walked away from the building.

  “Mm hm…sure do,” he said. “I plan to blow your head off if I see even one uniform.”

  “My car is over there,” Tiffany told her captor.

  “And no doubt loaded with GPS so they can track us? No thanks, beautiful—everything I need is in my truck.” He jerked her roughly along with him, turning often to make sure they weren’t being followed.

  “Do you want me to drive?” she asked.

  “So you can drive us into a ditch or a tree, or something equally as imaginative? I don’t think so.” He jerked her around to his side of the truck, opened the door, and shoved her inside before climbing in after her. He took the gun from her long enough to start the engine, but as soon as it roared to life he aimed it at her and threw the truck into drive, activating the automatic door locks.

  Tiffany scooted all the way over to the door, putting as much space between them as she could. The truck was a fairly new Chevy Silverado with electric everything, and she made a mental note of where the unlock button for the door was. The gleam of something metal between the handle and the door panel caught her attention. It was a metal letter opener, the decorative, heavy stainless steel type and very pointed on one end. Using h
er body as a shield, she eased it from the space, barely having time to conceal it under her leg before he jerked her back over to his side of the truck.

  “You get your pretty little ass back over here so I can keep an eye on you, Curly Q,” he said, grabbing her by the hair again.

  Tiffany sucked in her breath as she felt some of the hair rip from the base of her skull. She clenched her teeth against the pain, using the opportunity to place her phone on the seat beside her, out of Benji’s line of sight.

  Tiffany forced herself to think, to be aware of every movement he made, and everything going on around them. If the chance to escape presented itself, she had to be ready. As long as he had that gun pressed to her side she was pretty damn helpless to do a thing. If only he’d move it for a second or two, she could make her move. She knew that the further from the police station she got, the less chance she had of ever seeing Red, or anyone else, again. He’d never let her live.

  She cast a sidelong look at her captor. “What did Red do to make you hate him so much?”

  Benji shrugged. “Not a damn thing to me personally, but he fired my little brother a couple of years ago. McAllister accused him of stealing from the door. He got in with the wrong crowd after that and was shot in a drug deal gone bad.”

  “So, you’re thinking he didn’t steal?”

  Benji laughed loudly. “Hell yeah he stole. That little son of a bitch came off his mama’s tit wanting whatever wasn’t his.”

  “Then why blame Red?”

  “Because I can, that’s why,” he sneered. “Bobby was the only family I had, and he’s dead because of McAllister. It’s not right that he should get everything he wants out of life when others have nothing.”

  Tiffany forced herself to remain calm in light of this new information, and tried to put herself in his frame of mind. She knew he’d stop at nothing to make Red pay, even though he wasn’t responsible. Benji’s failed attempt at framing Red for murder left him no choice but to take away someone he cared for. She suddenly knew with certainty that he would be more than willing to die…as long as she did, too. Oh God, help me.