TEN
Two hours later, we were in the public records building, sifting through papers. Already, my stomach was rumbling, my legs and feet were sore, and my neck ached from trying to balance the monstrosity I wore atop my head.
“Here!” Drake said, holding back a stack of pages so that one was visible.
The number typed across the top matched the license plate number, and beside it in scrolled handwriting was the name, “Thomas Dickerson” along with his address.
“Hmmm. I don’t remember seeing his name in any of the articles,” I said as I examined the unfamiliar name next to the numbers. “Do you?”
“Non,”
“Wish they had his cell,” I said dryly as I jotted down his information. I handed it to Drake who was so caught up in the chase, he didn’t even acknowledge my joke.
As he studied the name, he rubbed the five o’clock stubble on his chin, accenting the angles of his handsome jaw. I wondered what it would feel like under my fingertips. Or against my face. Or between my thighs. It was a thought so instantaneous and lustful that I nearly blushed. Thank God he wasn’t inside my head!
What the hell was wrong with me? I shook the scandalous thoughts from my head, conjuring up Ryan’s smile and sunny eyes. It wasn’t a crime to be attracted to another man, right? I mean, I couldn’t help it even if it were. All that really mattered was that I kept my hands to myself. And I knew I could do that. I’d always resisted my urges in the dreamscapes anyway so how could this really be any different? I mean, it felt real but it wasn’t, right? This was just happening in my mind and Drake’s ghost was only there because he traveled back in time with me. Or maybe it wasn’t in my mind; maybe it was my spirit. Regardless, the best way for me to think about it was by denying that it was real, so it didn’t matter.
“It has been a while since my travels to this city,” Drake said, bringing me back to what we were doing. I inwardly kicked myself for wasting time with my mental debate when the fate of our mission hinged on what we were doing and how fast we could get it done.
“But I believe he lives on the edge of town. I think it will take at least forty minutes to get there. Maybe even longer with traffic.”
“What do we do if Dorothy and Thomas aren’t there?” I gazed into Drake’s eyes and his penetrated mine with an intensity that jolted my insides.
“We wait.”
Ignoring the sharp stone lodged in my stomach, I cracked my knuckles and tilted my head to each side, trying to pop my neck into alignment. “All right. Let’s do this.”
***
We walked back to Fifth Avenue and quickly hailed a cab. Drake gave the driver the address, and we took off. Though we weren’t going fast, I was slightly terrified to discover there weren’t any seatbelts. I edged closer to Drake in the over-sized, well-cushioned seats. Almost as if on cue, he gave me a casual smile before taking my hand and looping my arm under his. I expected him to drop my hand then, but he didn’t. Instead, he sat holding it, acting as if it were perfectly natural.
Maybe I should have pulled my hand away, and part of me wanted to pull it from his grasp, but I didn’t. I distracted myself from the warm sensation of his hand by looking out the windows at the buildings and all the people. It was next to impossible though. The man had been inside my head for months now, but I’d never felt my skin pressed against his before and never for this long. I feared my palms would grow sweaty. Thank God we couldn’t really talk; I would have been all kinds of awkward. I’m sure Drake would have just loved that.
Listening to the rumbling din from the car engine, I started to loosen up and my mind wandered to our next move as I watched the vivid scenes from New York in 1910 playing out before my eyes. There was more traffic, on the street and on foot, when the work day came to an end. The women wore big, flowered hats like mine and Dorothy’s, and the men wore black top hats to match their black coats and shoes. Without really thinking about it, my eyes searched for a hat that looked like Dorothy’s amongst the crowd.
I wondered where she was. If she hadn’t gone to Thomas’s house, what were the odds that we could find her? We could wait for him to return, of course, but if he came back without her, then what? What would our story be? She obviously hadn’t told anyone where she was going. If she had, someone would know precisely where she was and why she went there. That made it hard for us to come up with a credible story for who we were and why we were so interested in her whereabouts.
Before long, the cab driver pulled up to the street in front of some townhouses that looked considerably smaller. They were also older and more worn down than the ones on Dorothy’s street.
Drake took out a large bill and held it up to the cab driver. “You can keep the change if you don’t mind waiting for a short period of time, and giving us some privacy.”
Drake’s deep, chocolate eyes met the bright blue ones of the driver’s and I tried not to blush but I did, right down to my toes. Drake was certainly not suggesting we intended to get it on in the back of the cab, but quite obviously, the driver assumed that was the case.
The two men stared at one another, and the driver considered Drake’s proposition. “Okay,” he finally said with a sly smile as he took the money. “I’ll be in that bar on the corner over there,” he added as he pointed to the bar and opened the door to get out. Then he apparently thought better of it because he turned back around to face Drake. “You get any ideas about stealin’ this automobile, an’ I’ll have the police force on top o’ you sooner than you can say you’re sorry.”
“I have no intention of stealing your automobile, sir,” Drake answered quickly. “I can assure you of that.” Then he looked over at me and back at the man like the man should’ve clearly observed what Drake’s priorities were: me! I cleared my throat in indignation as Drake turned to face me with an innocent smile and an even more innocent shrug.
“Better not,” the man continued. “I got lots of friends who work in the police force.”
“I’m sure you do,” Drake finished before he reached inside his pocket and pulled out another wad of folded bills. “Take this, good sir, if it helps alleviate some of your worries.”
The man accepted the money and counted it before facing Drake with a quick nod and turning around to exit the car again. He closed the door behind him and shoved his hands into his pockets as he headed for the bar on the corner.
Though the engine loudly idled, I was acutely aware that I was alone with Drake. We were parked on a street with no other people except for the driver who was hastily walking away from us. I could feel where Drake’s knee rested beside mine. Neither one of us spoke; we were too busy watching the driver as he disappeared into the bar.
“What time is it, mon amour?”
I pulled the watch out of my handbag. “Five forty-nine.”
“I will go knock on Thomas’s door, you stay here, ma minette. Get in the front seat in case you need to get away quickly.”
“Uh-uh. I’m going with you,” I said. Drake opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off. “It’s kind of pointless for me to wait in the car.” I held up a hand when he tried again to say something. “Besides, if Thomas is up to no good, and you’re alone, you’ll probably revert to cop mode, which would tip him off. If I’m with you, on the other hand, it will seem less intimidating.”
Drake shut his mouth and slowly smiled. “Okay, mon chaton. Since you seem to have all the answers, what is our cover story?”
I bit my bottom lip as I thought about it. “What if we say we’re friends of Dorothy, and we saw her get into Thomas’s car and…”
“I was thinking we could say a mutual acquaintance told us to look here. We could say we saw her drop some money earlier today when she was out walking and we simply wanted to return it.” He pulled out a couple of bills, folding them into my hand.
I shrugged. “Works for me.”
Drake opened the door and stepped out of the car before offering me his hand. I gratefully accepted any assistance as the boots and heavy layers of clothing I wore failed to grant me any favors in the grace department. Once I was out of the car, the air brought the chill back to my cheeks, but I hardly felt it. My heart was pounding in my chest as we walked across the street and up the steps to the door of the house.
Wasting no time, Drake knocked loudly on the door.
I bounced up and down on my heels, glancing behind us every so often to see if anyone were around or watching us. Not one person was out. The houses were so dreary and dim, it seemed like the whole place was deserted. It certainly didn’t have the vibe of a cheerful neighborhood full of families.
Drake shifted his weight, taking a small step toward me, and knocked again, only louder this time. Then he leaned back and looked in the windows. The house remained still and quiet.
“It appears no one is home,” Drake finally said. “And apparently, hasn’t been for a long time.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, the desperation creeping into my voice.
“There is no furniture. And lots of dust.” After a pause, Drake said, “Let’s go wait in the car where it’s warm.”
I followed him to the car and when we got to it, he opened the door for me. I climbed in, and Drake slid in next to me. He shut the door and fiddled with some levers by the steering wheel.
“I’m sorry we have no blanket this time, ma minette.” He looked at me, one eyebrow rising suggestively.
When we had to stake out the Axeman the last time we time traveled, it was also quite cold, but we had enough time to prepare for it and Drake remembered to bring a warm, fur blanket.
“Underneath all these clothes, I’m more than fine,” I said.
Drake looked back at the buildings in front of us, but I knew he was still focused on me. “Let me know if you feel chilled.”
I cleared my throat and tried to act unannoyed, but the truth was, he disappointed me by remaining such a respectable distance from me.
“So how long do we wait?” I asked, trying to ignore my urge to scoot closer to him.
Drake sighed as he gazed at Thomas Dickerson’s house. “I do not know, ma minette,” he answered with a sigh. “We wait as long as we can. If this attempt fails, we should go back to the hotel and secure accommodations for the night.”
I gulped at the thought of that, and for a moment, I didn’t know what to say. Thankfully, or not, hunger noises rumbled from my stomach that sounded remarkably similar to humpback whale songs. That broke the silence. They were so loud that Drake actually chuckled.
“After we make our reservations, we’ll be sure to stop by the dining room.” He looked out over the hood of the car. “And then I think I know where we might find some leads.”
“Oh?” I asked, perking up at hearing that.
“Yes, although I’m not sure you should come with me, mon chaton.”
I lowered my chin as I gave him a pointed look. “Why?”
Drake shrugged. “I was thinking a visit to the bar at the end of the street might be rewarding. Judging by its proximity to this house, that is the next logical place to look for further information.”
My brow furrowed and I opened my mouth to protest, but Drake cut me off almost as if he knew exactly what I was going to say.
“The establishments that would have the most helpful crowd are no place for…”
“Oh, please!” I rolled my eyes. “Do you know how many frat parties I frequented back in the day? And then, my biggest worry was roofies.”
“Roof…ies?” Drake said the word slowly, as he always did when he was learning a trendy, new word.
It made me smile, but at the same time, I felt sad. How could I miss hearing Drake’s voice inside my head when I had him sitting right in front of me?
“Never mind,” I waved him off. “And I’m going with you.”
Drake eyed me before making a long sigh and replying, “As you wish, mon chaton. As you wish.”
“Should we go there now?” I asked.
“Non,” Drake answered with a quick shake of his head. “Not with the driver in there. I believe we should wait another hour or so for this Dickerson character to appear. If he does not, we should secure our accommodations for the night before revisiting the saloon.”
“Saloon?” I repeated with a laugh. “Isn’t that where cowboys went in the Old West?”
“Apparently, not,” Drake answered, his eyebrows rising upward haughtily.
We were quiet for a while after that, both of us lost in our thoughts.
“Where were you?” I turned to Drake and saw his raised eyebrows. “Or are you? I should say. The…” I gestured with my hands, “…physical you? In 1910?”
He leaned back and inhaled as he considered my question and I watched the way his broad chest expanded with fresh oxygen.
“I was in the process of becoming an officer of the law…”
I thought he was going to say more, but he stayed quiet after his voice trailed off. His eyes gleamed with nostalgia.
“When did you become an officer?”
“In the fall of 1910. Just a few months prior to now.” Drake turned and studied my face, his eyes landing on mine. Neither of us made any move to get closer, but it suddenly felt as though we were much too close. I could smell his cologne and feel the warmth that radiated from his body.
I turned my head slightly away from him. “And the house? Our house? Had you just purchased it?”
Drake turned away with a small smile. “Our house, mon chaton? Non. I purchased it earlier. It took me a while to find myself, as they say.” His intense gaze returned to my face, involuntarily drawing my eyes back to his. “It is a shame,” he said slowly, his eyes falling to my mouth, “that you weren’t there to share it with me back then.”
Naturally, I imagined what it would be like if Drake came just a little closer, and a tingling thrill shot through my chest, going all the way down to my toes.
I quickly turned to look back at the house, more from habit than from guilt. And my lack of guilt concerned me. “I’m sure you weren’t lonely,” I said, surprised that it came out sounding a little too pained. I turned back to face him and instantly wished I hadn’t. He was so damned handsome.
Drake stayed still just long enough to make me squirm before his lips turned up in a soft smile. “Oh, ma minette, there are different kinds of loneliness. And had I known you back then, I would no doubt have realized how dreadfully lonely I was without you.”
When I tried to imagine what it would be like without him, my heart ached at the thought. Ryan wanted to eradicate Drake from my body, or at least, to send him back to haunting the house where he belonged, at least, in Ryan’s mind. Where did that leave me? Alone. Lonely. The guilt from not telling Drake how insistent Ryan was about that overcame me. Sure, Drake knew it was coming, but he didn’t know how soon that would be.
“Is there something wrong?” he asked, his voice suddenly low and intimate.
Well, there was no time like the present. “I…” I stopped to fiddle with a button on my coat. Then I looked up at Drake. “It’s just…” I found myself staring into his warm, brown eyes and instantly forgot what I intended to say. I blushed and looked down at my hands. It took me a beat before I remembered. “It’s Ryan.” His name on my lips felt foreign. Ryan didn’t belong here, not in this time; he seemed to exist a lifetime ago.
I smoothed down the front of my coat as if I could smooth away the tension Ryan’s name evoked in my mind. “He wants you…” My voice dropped to almost a whisper, “…out of my head.” When he didn’t reply, I looked back up at him.
Drake, unruffled, gazed at me. There was no emotion on his face. “If that is what you want, mon chaton, of course I shall vacate at once.”
I opened my mouth to reply, nearly blindsided by his reaction, but only blinked a couple times. He wasn’t going to argue with me? Or try to sell me on all the reasons why he should stay with me?
“Is that what you want?” he murmured. He subtly leaned in closer to me, waiting for me to answer.
“I…” my voice was barely audible but I had no reply for him.
Of course, it wasn’t what I wanted. I looked back up and tried hard to figure out what to say. He smiled slowly as he watched my face.
“Drake,” I said in an attempt to regain control of the conversation. I became hyper-aware of his close proximity and how close his mouth was to mine, but somehow, I remained frozen in my seat. I knew I should have moved, but I didn’t. “We both knew and agreed this was a temporary arrangement.”
“I will leave your body,” Drake said slowly, his voice softening while his eyes focused on mine, “as soon as you ask me to go.”
He made no move toward or away from me, but stayed still, waiting for me to reply.
“However,” Drake continued, his voice sounding sultry enough to be dangerous, “I’m not in your head now, am I, ma minette?”
In slow motion, he lifted his hand and brought it next to my face, using one finger to gently move a strand of hair that fell across my cheek. Suffocating beneath all the layers of clothing that trapped the heat that was radiating off me, Drake’s finger hadn’t even touched my skin, but that one movement stirred up my emotions into total chaos.
I didn’t know what I wanted: to flee or stay?
But when his eyes locked on mine, my thoughts slowed down in clarification.
I did know what I wanted. I wanted nothing else but for him to close the last little bit of distance between us and kiss me.
As if he could sense what I was feeling, Drake slowly smiled, then leaned back into his seat with a short breath as he turned away from me to gaze out the window. I was so shocked to see him putting more distance between us that I almost asked him what the hell he was doing out of sheer frustration.
But before I could, he asked me, “What are roofies?”
I literally shook my head. My brain couldn’t make any sense of his question, and “What?” was all I could manage to say.
Drake turned back to me, his face thoughtful as he waved a hand in the air. “Roofies. All you had to worry about at the… frat parties?” He waited for me to respond, keeping his eyes on me.
I actually had to shut my eyes and take a deep, cleansing breath. I was trying to free myself from the frustration still boiling in my chest. “Roofies are drugs that guys use to make girls totally out of it, so they don’t remember what happened after they take them. Guys put them in girls’ drinks so they can… you know…” I looked at Drake and waited for my words to dawn on him. His dark expression surprised me.
He turned toward the street in front of him. “I see. Did anyone ever put roofies in your drink?”
I knew how hard he was concentrating on sounding and looking neutral.
It was nice to see him struggling a bit for a change. “Non,” I said softly, the way he spoke.
His snappy, brown eyes were back on me, and a playful smirk emerged on his lips.
I was still a little grumpy at him for backing away from me. I ignored the guilty thoughts in my mind that should have been stronger and replied, “I was careful to never put down my drink. Which is why, my dear French officer of the law, I will be better than fine in any public bar in the middle of New York City.”