Passion

Blurb

I am a single dad with needs.

I am also a DEA agent with a huge attitude and a very big…gun. 

Four bullets into my body and I am reminded that my little girl needs her dad. 

I gotta keep her safe, even if that means leaving this place and getting into my little hometown. 

And while we are recovering from the stress of big city, Jenny happens to me. 

Jenny, the girl I babysat. 

Jenny, the skinny innocent girl that has turned into a voluptuous beauty. 

Jenny, whose gorgeous eyes melt my heart…and soul. 

And then, I realize Jenny needs my protection too. 

I’ll destroy everything in my path to claim her, mark her as mine.

 

Yes, this DEA agent will do all it takes to keep the two women in his life safe, and happy. 

May be, this could turn into our happily ever after. 

Who knows? 

Prologue

“Get the fuck down!”

I felt the heat of the bullet as it swished past my head and smashed the window behind me into pieces. Glass rained over me as I rolled for cover, my gun held tightly in my hand. I looked to my left where my partner, DEA Agent Raul Garcia, was crouching behind a crate marked FRAGILE. He quickly stood up, fired two shots, and returned to his cover. His efforts were rewarded with a flurry of gunshots that slammed into the crate and the wall above him, showering him in plaster.

Raul looked over at me, frowning in anger.

I’m never going to hear the end of this, I thought.

We had gotten the tip this morning, a major drug deal that was supposed to go down with some major players involved. We had staked the place out for hours, half knowing that nothing was going to happen. For the past few months, our luck had been complete crap. The bad guys were getting a lot more tips than we were, and the DEA was going crazy trying to find out where the leak was.

That’s why it had been a surprise when a van pulled into the warehouse, followed by three cars, all with headlights off. Raul had wanted to call for backup, but I knew exactly what that meant. By the time anyone showed up, the mole would have sent a warning out, and we’d miss our chance. I needed a win. We all did, and I wasn’t going to let these guys slip away.

The only problem was that we were two DEA agents against what had turned out to be a dozen armed, trigger happy assholes who didn’t understand that freeze meant fucking freeze.

At least we broke up the party, I thought, but from the look on Raul’s face, I knew he didn’t feel the same way. Lately, he had been on my case about how reckless I was becoming, and this was the perfect situation he’d call me on later.

A bullet slammed into the wall above my head, and I winced, crouching down lower behind my cover. There was the distinct screech of tires, and I cursed under my breath. The gang was on the run, and the longer we stayed hidden, the less our chances were of coming out of this with anything other than a hit to our egos.

I took a deep breath and dashed across the space between my cover and Raul’s, keeping my head low as more bullets flew past, one grazing the nape of my neck. Raul pulled me down to the ground, stood up and fired, then crouched down again.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” he said.

“Adrenaline, buddy,” I replied. “We live for it, right?”

“We could have waited for backup.”

“You know these assholes would have gotten a warning long before the cavalry got here,” I said.

“Yeah, we’re doing great on our own,” Raul said. “Tell you what? Remind me to rip you a new one when we get out of here.”

I smiled at him, trying my best to ignore the burning pain where the bullet had grazed my neck. I peeked out behind the crate. The van was still there, two men with guns on either side of it and a third lying on the ground dead. At least we had gotten a hit. A few feet away, three more men with guns were loading the trunk of one of the cars with what looked like cocaine packets, racing back and forth between the van and the car as they rushed to finish the deal we had interrupted.

“See that?” I gestured towards a metal staircase a few yards away. “You take the high ground. I’ll cover you.”

Raul looked at the staircase, then back at me. “This is a stupid idea,” he said.

“Come on, big boy,” I said. “You can do this.”

Raul grunted, moved to the edge of the crate and looked back at me, waiting. I nodded at him, and as soon as he broke cover, I was on my feet, firing. The combination took the two men by the van by surprise, and they fired aimlessly, not knowing who to concentrate on. I watched one of them slam into the van and fall in a heap as one of my bullets hit their target, and the other immediately turned to me, yelling as he returned my fire.

I crouched back down and watched Raul race up the stairs. The other men abandoned what they were doing and joined the fire fight, and I watched in horror as they aimed for Raul and fired. I broke cover, aiming my gun at the first of them and taking him down quickly. The others turned their attention back to me, and before I could get out of the way, I felt a sharp pain in my belly.

“Alex!”

I fell to my knees and rolled behind another crate, the pain in my stomach coursing through me like wildfire. It was as if my whole body had been set on fire and my guts were searing. Raul was calling my name over the sound of gunfire, and I quickly reloaded my gun. I looked down, blood spreading across my shirt from where the bullets had hit me. I felt the world around me swim in and out of focus.

There was more shouting, and I heard the sound of the car trunk being slammed shut.

They’re going to get away!

I pushed to my feet and looked around quickly for Raul, but he was nowhere to be found. The gunmen were firing at the walkway above my head, though, and I knew that although I couldn’t see him, Raul was definitely there. I used the distraction and broke cover again, firing at the two men, hitting one of them and sending the other scurrying away. Car tires screeched, and I hurried towards the van, feeling blood seep down the front of my legs as I struggled to keep my eyes from glazing over.

I raised my gun and fired at the car as it raced out in front of the van, the back window shattering as the car swerved and crashed into a heap of crates, wood exploding around it as it raced out of the warehouse. I fired again, knowing that it was useless, but far too angry and in too much pain to think straight.

I heard the gunshot before I felt the exploding pain in my leg, and I fell to the ground, crying out in pain, my gun flying from my hand. A gunman came out from behind the van just as I was pushing myself up, and fired. The bullet hit my chest and the impact threw me back, my head connecting with the hard, concrete floor.

Another volley of gunfire and the gunman collapsed onto the ground next to me, his dead eyes staring into mine.

The last thing I heard as my eyes closed and darkness took over was the distant sound of Raul yelling my name over and over again.

I was pretty sure I’d never open my eyes again.

 

Chapter 1: Alex Logan

“Are we there yet?”

I glanced up at my twelve-year-old daughter Kelly in the rearview mirror, her eyes glued to her phone. The frown on her face reflected the frustration I felt at being asked the same question for maybe the tenth time in the last hour, and a part of me wondered if it ever got old.

Whine much, Kelly? I wanted to say, but held my tongue. If there was one thing I had learned over the years, it was that my daughter had a tongue as sharp as mine, and my sarcasm was only going to be returned ten-fold. So, I didn’t reply and returned my attention to the road.

I could hear Kelly shift in the seat, moving about loud enough to reflect her discomfort before she followed it with a deep and annoyingly loud sigh. The trip to Connecticut was taking its toll on the both of us, and between cheap motels and hours on the road, we were this close to snapping at each other.

She’s just a child, Alex.

My wife Janice’s soft voice whispered in my ear. It was so real I turned toward the passenger seat, almost believing I’d find her sitting there.

I let out my own sigh. No, she wasn’t there. She’d never be there again. It was a fact I was still trying to reconcile, her death, even after all these years. I glanced in the rearview mirror at Kelly, the physical clone of her mom. Twelve-year-olds were the new sixteen, and this early bloomer was quickly turning into a miniature copy of yours truly. She had her mom’s beauty and my bad attitude. It was turning out to be a scary combination.

“Dad?”

“We’re an hour away, sweetheart,” I replied, trying to smile as best as I could.

“You said that an hour ago!”

“Then I guess it’s obvious that asking me that question over and over again will get you the same reply,” I shot back.

I caught her in the rearview mirror, rolling her eyes and folding her arms across her chest. “Walking would probably be faster than this.”

“I can always pull over and put that to the test,” I said.

“Or you could step on it, grandpa,” Kelly said.

Whoever said that being a single dad was hard had no fucking idea what he was talking about. Hard didn’t even scratch the surface. No, it was not cute when random women came up to me in the street and oohed and aahed at me after I had spent a night cleaning up baby barf. It was never easy being called into the school because my daughter had punched a classmate, only to get that condescending nod of understanding when I told them that Kelly’s mother was no longer with us. Nothing about raising a little girl alone was easy. And with my job, it only made things more difficult.

You should stop blaming her. It’s not her fault that she had to grow up quickly.

I’d come to hear my wife’s voice more and more over the years, somewhere in the back of my mind, consoling me and telling me that everything was going to be just fine. Deep down, I knew it was only my subconscious trying to let me know that I wasn’t fucking this up too much. But it made it a lot more believable when I used Janice’s voice for these little pep talks. She was the voice of reason to my instinctual desire to shoot first and ask questions later.

You can’t shoot your daughter.

“I know,” I replied to no one in particular.

“What?”

I looked at Kelly and shrugged. “I know I can step on it,” I said. “My leg’s acting up again. Sorry.”

“I can take over if you want,” Kelly said enthusiastically, leaning in between the seats as if I wouldn’t object to her suggestion of letting a twelve-year-old drive.

“Nice try, chipmunk,” I said, giving her a quick look. “I’ll be fine.”

Kelly slumped back into her seat and huffed.

One hour. Just one hour.

I leaned back in my seat, feeling my muscles scream at me, wondering what Kelly would do to me if I stopped for a few minutes to stretch. My leg really was starting to give me hell, the right thigh clenching around my healing bullet wound. Most days I could go a good twenty-four hours without it giving me much stress, but driving for almost two days was not the kind of stress it would let me endure without protest.

I let go of the wheel and rubbed at my thigh, willing the pain to stay at a tolerable level without the need to reach for my pain killers or stop the car. The doctors had told me it would get easier, back when I would wake up screaming from the pain and Kelly would have to help me with the meds because I was in too much agony to do anything for myself.

I looked up at the freckled face of my daughter, her brown hair falling to her shoulders in waves, and her green eyes locked on the phone’s screen. She really had grown too fast. It always surprised me when I thought about it.

And she’s turning into you.

Stubborn, mischievous, and always ready for a fight.

Unfortunately, all true. And being a DEA agent, constantly in the line of fire, didn’t help. My partner, Raul, had always told me to take it easy, to cut back on the workload, to not take the risks I was prone to taking.

“You have a little girl at home, man,” he would always say. “I’m not ready to tell her that her father’s dead because he was being a reckless asshole.”

It was the only way I knew how to do my job, though. I would be lying if I said I didn’t care what happened to me. Being a father changes you, in more ways than one, and I would have gladly given my life for Kelly if I had to. Dammit, I’d kill for her. But sometimes, instinct just kicked in, and for a few seconds, a few stupid seconds, I’d forget that I had a little girl waiting in the neighbor’s apartment for me to come home safe.

Which was probably why the captain had asked me to take a leave.

Or the fact that you had survived four bullets and no one on the force wanted to be the bearer of bad news if things had gone south.

That, too.

I could still remember my conversation with the captain a week ago, when I was finally able to walk on my own two feet again and could trudge into the precinct. I had tried to assure him that I was fine enough to come back to work, maybe even take a desk job for a while. But I wasn’t very convincing, and I doubt the cane I was using to help me get around made it any better. He had literally kicked me out of the office, told me to take a break, stay with family, heal first, then talk about coming back to work.

“And for fuck’s sake, Alex, look after your goddamn daughter!”

It seemed like everyone was always chastising me to be a better dad, telling me what I was doing wrong and what I should be doing right. I appreciated their concern and tolerated their words. What they didn’t seem to understand was that no one chastised me more than myself. I started asking myself what would my dad do?

That’s when I started thinking about going home for a while.

Not home to the house Kelly and I shared on Beaker Street, but home to Connecticut, where I grew up. I had called my father a few days after I took leave and told him we were coming home to visit.

Kelly was great company, usually, but with the start of summer holidays and both of us in each other’s faces all day, the house was quickly turning into a warzone. I blamed it on puberty, she blamed it on the fact that I wasn’t taking enough meds. Or that I was just being an asshole intent on ruining her life.

It’s like I’m married all over again.

“We could’ve taken a plane, you know,” she said, matter-of-factly.

“You don’t say,” I replied. “Jeez, I should’ve thought of that.”

Kelly leaned in again. “You know, sometimes I wonder which one of us is the adult in this relationship.”

“Tell you what,” I said. “I’ll pretend to be the father whose credit card pays for all the stuff you have, and you pretend to be the daughter who is always grateful that her father loves her so much to spoil her in every possible way.”

She huffed at me. “Spoils me so much that he’s trapped us in a car for two days?”

“So much that he hasn’t stopped two states back and told the closest trucker to drive you back to Miami,” I replied. “Do you know what happens to little girls whose parents don’t keep their eyes on them all the time?” I looked at her in the rearview and frowned. “Do you know?”

“I’m twelve,” she replied. “I’m not living under a stone.”

“I’m going to have to rethink giving you your own phone,” I said, shaking my head.

Kelly threw her hands up. “Sure, take it,” she said, slumping back. “Just what I need to make my life even more miserable.”

“Your life is not miserable,” I countered.

“I’m in a car for two days,” Kelly shot. “What’s your definition of miserable?”

This conversation for starters, I wanted to reply, but just smiled and shook my head.

We passed a road sign that read “Kent 30 Miles” and I let out a sigh of relief. Kelly had noticed it to, because she let out her own frustrated “finally” before shifting closer to the window to get a look at the world around us. I think it was the first time she had peeled her eyes away from that damn phone in two days.

Connecticut was beautiful in the fall, peaceful, the complete opposite of Miami with its year-round flow of tourists, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and the scorching tropical heat. I had grown up in Kent, my parents’ house a constant reminder of the youth I had spent scraping my knees and bruising my elbows.

Moving to Miami had never been an easy decision, especially since leaving my dad alone was pretty much like giving a child a gun and asking him not to pull the trigger. Ever since my mother’s death back when I was in middle school, I had come close to losing a finger, breaking bones, and literally running a man over because my dad had thought it would be funny to let me drive his truck.

The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, eh buddy?

I looked at Kelly again in the rearview and wondered just how much of my dad was in me, how much of me was in her, how close I had come to ruining both of our lives, and shuddered. She definitely had a guardian angel watching over her, because more times than not, I wasn’t.

“Looking forward to seeing your grandfather again?” I asked.

The last time Kelly had been around my dad, the two had hit it off quite nicely. Well enough to the point where they had ganged up on me on numerous occasions. Sometimes I felt like he understood her a lot better than I did, and I usually wrote it off to the fact that he had been through the whole ‘single dad’ phase and had enough experience to handle situations I literally sucked at. Needless to say, he was thrilled when I told him we’d be spending a couple of months with him at home in Connecticut, a place I had not been back to in years.

“At least I’ll have someone to talk to that might actually care about what I have to say,” Kelly said, a hint of spite and accusation in her voice, like always. “And might actually listen to me once in a while.”

“What are you talking about? I care about what you have to say,” I said in a hurt tone. “And I always listen.”

“It would just be nice to have a conversation with someone who won’t end up yelling at me or think that talking about bad guys with guns is appropriate conversation for a kid my age.”

“You just told me that you know what happens to little girls who get left at truck stops,” I scoffed.

“Sure, dad. Whatever.” Kelly rolled her eyes at me again. “Your father of the year trophy is waiting for you to pick it up.”

“You know, sometimes I wonder if maybe I talk to you a little too much,” I said, frowning at her sarcasm, but on the inside secretly proud of her strength and guts.

I hated how much she took after me, but there were some things I was grateful she had picked up. Including having the balls to not let anyone take advantage of her, even her pain in the ass old man.

“Kent, next exit,” she said, nodding toward the exit sign.

“I see it,” I said. “I’m not blind.”

“No, you’re just deaf and dumb,” she said. I frowned at her in the rearview and caught her smiling without looking at me.

“Fine, I’ll take that one,” I said, shaking my head without letting her see the grin on my face. “Now play with your phone and let me drive.”

“Sure. No problem.”

I turned off the Interstate and cruised toward the town I had left behind almost twenty-five years ago. My leg protested a little more, but I quickly pushed the pain away.

In a few minutes, I’d be back home.

Chapter 2: Jenni Beale

There were certain things I had always promised myself I would never do, and sleeping with a man on the first date had been one of them. The day I broke that rule was the day I let Garth Liston into my life forever. It was a day I would always regret.

I had known Garth since high school, the class jock that every girl was drooling over, and the one boy I knew was way out of my league. Then again, back then I was a little late to the party, always sitting in the back, my face covered with my black hair, wearing clothes that were always a size or two bigger than what I should have been wearing. I hated the spotlight. I hated the attention. And quite frankly, I hated Kent fucking Connecticut, my puny little home town that was probably the most boring place on the planet. Garth Liston was the most exciting guy in town; dark, mysterious, even a little dangerous. I guess that’s what drew me to him initially, but now scares the hell out of me.

“Garth, seriously, this is the wrong place and time,” I said, trying to push him away. It was like trying to push over a brick wall. Garth was all hard muscle beneath my hands. Despite my efforts to resist, I felt dampness pooling between my legs.

We were in the storage room at the back of the diner where we both worked with the door closed, Garth pressed up against me and practically pushing me into the wall. He was very much the hunk of a man people guessed he would grow up to be, and just as much of a letdown as every other jock who had thought the world would be his oyster. A busted knee had screwed his chances at a football scholarship. Since then he’d been running his father’s tire business and a few other private ventures that were helping him make a lot more money than his father ever could selling tires.

“Come on, Jenni, I’ve missed you,” he whispered in my ear, pressing his cock against my thigh as one hand grabbed my breast over the dark blue t-shirt I usually wore to work.

He kissed my neck, then my ear, and I couldn’t help but shudder under his touch.

“Hank is going to come in here and see us,” I said. “Then what? Do you want me to get fired?”

Garth held me by the waist and pulled me closer, his dark brown eyes boring into mine. The lust in them scared me and excited me at the same time, and he knew it. The smile on his face said it all.

“Let him see us,” Garth said. “I’d like to see your father fire the best manager this piece of shit diner has ever had.”

He pushed harder against me, and the bulge in his jeans nestled comfortably between my thighs, forcing me to gasp despite myself. I tried to push him back a bit, but my efforts weren’t convincing enough and only made him grip me harder.

“Seriously, Garth, stop it,” I said, unable to contain my smile as he kissed my neck again. I was heating up, and my efforts to get out of his lock quickly died out when his hand found its way under my shirt and into my pants.

“You’re saying it,” Garth growled, his hand snaking into my panties and cupping my mound, “but I just don’t believe it.”

My body was giving me away, and I knew that finding me as wet as I was would only push him on. His fingers were quick to find their way into my pussy, spreading it wide as he pressed the heel of his hand against my clit. I gasped again, this time wrapping my arms around his neck as he fingered me, pushing my hips against his hand.

They were things like this that turned him on the most. Taking me in places where he knew we could get caught. Out in the open, for everyone to see just what he could do to me. The fact that my father Hank was just one door away from it all must have made him even hornier, because his breathing had quickened and his kisses were quickly turning into soft bites as he ravished me.

“Garth, please, stop,” I gasped. “He’s right outside.”

“I know,” Garth replied, his speed intensifying as he finger-fucked me up to the knuckle, pressing me further against the wall, grinding his cock against my thigh. “That’s the point, baby.”

He turned me around and pushed against me, his hands fumbling with the zipper on my jeans as his cock pressed hard against my ass. Within seconds he had my pants and panties down around my ankles, and I grinded against him while the sound of his belt unbuckling echoed in the room. He pushed me down, bending me at enough of an angle for him to quickly slide inside me, and I had to cover my mouth to stop my moans from alerting everyone outside of what was happening behind the closed door.

I closed my eyes, my mind torn between how wrong this was and how good it felt at the same time. The first time he had taken me in public, we were in the parking lot behind the diner. It had probably been our fourth or fifth date, but it was definitely the first time our relationship turned from ‘seeing each other’ to full on fuck bunnies. I remembered him dropping me off at home, my panties torn and in the bushes somewhere behind the restaurant, and the heel of one of my shoes broken. The hungry good night kiss had turned into some more sex in the backseat, and even though it felt incredible, I couldn’t help but watch the front door, praying my father wouldn’t come out to see what was going on in his driveway.

“Come on, baby, work with me,” Garth urged as he pushed his cock deeper inside me, grabbing me by the hair with one hand and my t-shirt with the other. I pushed back against him, his cock stretching me out even more, and this time my moan did escape me before I could stop it.

That only turned him on even more.

Before I knew what was happening, he was thrusting in and out like a jackhammer, ramming me with everything he had. “Yes…don’t…stop!” I tried not to scream, and quickly covered my mouth. His thrusts only intensified. He reached around and grabbed my breasts, squeezing them hard, and it only made me push harder against him.

I turned around, grabbing his cock and pumping it while I stared in his eyes. The hunger in them was intoxicating, and I could tell that he wanted to do so much more to me if only I would give him the chance. And I wanted to. A voice in the back of my head was telling me to stop, to end this while I still had the power to, but the way he was holding me, the look in his eyes, made me quickly push that voice back to the deepest recesses of my mind.

He grabbed my ass, lifting me up against the wall. Quickly, he slipped his cock back inside me, and I quickly wrapped my legs around his waist. “You want this as much as I do, don’t you?”

I swirled my hips around his cock, squeezing him, silently letting my body tell him what I wanted him to do. He smiled at me, the smug grin I could never get used to, and I squeezed his cock again.

“Come on,” I begged. “Faster… harder… oh… god…”

He pulled back and then slammed inside me, hard enough to make me cry out loud. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I rode him, feeling his cock move faster against me, pummeling me.

“I’m… cumming…” I moaned. “Cum… with me… cum…”

“Fuck yeah…” He growled in my ear like a wild animal. His hands squeezed my ass cheeks, and I pressed him closer with my legs, urging him in deeper. He grunted, throwing his head back, and I squeezed down again, knowing he was close. With a groan, he thrust inside me once more and exploded. He mashed his lips to mine to keep us both from screaming.

I hung there, suspended in his arms for a few minutes before he let me down on wobbly legs. He held me up long enough to let me gain my composure, then pulled back and began to buckle his pants up.

“Now that is what I call an afternoon delight,” he smiled.

I didn’t reply, quickly pulling on my panties and jeans, feeling both hot and dirty at the same time. I began to wonder if I could slip into the bathroom undetected, before my father caught wind of what had just happened in the back of his diner. How his daughter was using the storage room for her own little pleasures. I suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over me.

“Same time tomorrow?” Garth asked, running his hand through his thick black hair.

I paused. “You’re not coming over tonight?”

Garth shook his head. “Sorry, babe, can’t,” he said, his chest rising and falling as he looked at his reflection in a large pot and brushed his hair with his fingers. “Got business to do tonight.”

“You’ve got business to do every night,” I mumbled, instantly regretting it when he shot me a less than amused look.

Garth wrapped me in his arms and pressed me close, squeezing one of my breasts as he looked down at me. I always hated it when he did that.

“It’s not like I’m leaving you high and dry, babe,” he said. “I mean, come on, this was really amazing.”

I tapped his chest with my hand and gently pushed away, arranging my clothes. “It was. I just wish we could do this at home, you know? Without me having to worry about people seeing us or my dad walking in.”

“What are you talking about?” Garth frowned. “I come over all the time.”

“Not since I moved,” I said. “You haven’t even seen the new place.”

Garth pulled me to him again. “I will, I promise,” he cooed. “Besides, what’s the hurry? We see a lot of each other all the time.” He looked down at my breasts and smiled. “We see a whole lot of each other.”

“Stop that,” I said, pushing away again, a little more forcefully this time.

“Oh, come on, don’t be such a cunt,” Garth chuckled. “How about I come by tomorrow? We could make a whole day of it.”

“I’ll believe that when it happens,” I replied. “And when you leave your cellphone at home.”

Garth’s eyes shot wide. “Damn, my cellphone, forgot about that,” he said, patting his pockets. “Forgot it on the bar.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair to get it back in place so I didn’t look like I was just fucked in the store room by my boyfriend. Or the guy I considered my boyfriend.

I gave him a playful push. “Get out of here before my dad sees you.”

Garth smiled, blew me a kiss and unlocked the storage room door, quickly slipping out of sight. I sighed again, looked at my reflection in the same pot to make sure my hair wasn’t out of place, and followed him out.

The diner wasn’t busy this time of the day, but it was packed with our regulars. Some of them had been coming here ever since I was in high school, and I knew them all on a first name basis. It was part of why my dad had wanted me to take charge, knowing that I could handle the crowds that kept the family business alive. I felt especially self-conscious walking out of the storage room now, anxious at what looks I’d be getting from them, and especially wary of my father.

Luckily, everyone seemed a little more pre-occupied with one thing or the other and didn’t notice Garth coming out from the back with me close behind. He grabbed his phone, left a few bills on the bar and headed out without even a second glance. I watched him leave before my eyes drifted and fell on my father behind the cash register, watching me carefully. He had a look in his eyes that I knew far too well, and I thanked any God that was listening for the fact that I didn’t have to go home with him anymore.

“What do I owe you, Jenni?”

I turned to the old man sitting to my right. Samuel Logan was smiling at me, reaching for his wallet as he tapped the small plate that had cradled his regular afternoon cheese cake.

“The prices haven’t changed in ten years, Sam,” I replied with a smile.

“Seems like the only thing that hasn’t changed around here,” Samuel said, frowning toward the door. “Was that Garth Liston walking out from the back?”

Dammit, not everyone was minding their own business.

I felt my cheeks flush a bit, and Samuel quickly waved my discomfort away. “Don’t mind me,” he said. “To everyone his own.”

“It’s not what you think,” I said quickly. My father and Samuel had been friends for years, back when I was still in grade school, and his approval was almost as important to me as my father’s. Kent was a small town. People lived by their word and reputation. My word was still good, but my rep was quickly becoming as cloudy as muddy water, thanks to Garth.

“Sweetie, I’m not the one you have to convince of that,” Samuel said seriously. He nodded toward the pass-through window that opened into the kitchen. We could see my dad. He was bent over the grill frying eggs and bacon. “Your dad’s worried about you. I keep telling him that you’re an adult now and you know what you’re doing. No matter, you’ll always be his baby.”

I smiled at that, but couldn’t hide my embarrassment nonetheless.

“You do know what you’re doing, right?” Samuel asked.

I nodded. “Don’t worry about me, Sam.”

“Good enough then,” Samuel smiled, passing me the check with his usual generous tip. “Well, I’m off. My son’s probably already waiting for me.”

“Alex?” I asked, a little surprised. “Alex is coming home from Miami?”

“Yup,” Samuel smiled even more, adjusting his hat on his head. “Spending the summer with me. Brought my granddaughter Kelly with him, too.”

“Big old family reunion, huh?”

“Well, something like that,” Samuel said with a wink. “Have a good one, Jenni, and I’d steer clear of your dad for the rest of the day I was you. He doesn’t seem very happy. Seems that old grill is giving him fits again.”

I smiled and watched Samuel leave, waving to my father as he walked out the diner door.

 

Chapter 3: Alex

“He’s late,” I said, leaning back against the car to stretch, feeling the muscles in my back grate against each other as I breathed in the afternoon air. Just being here made me feel so much better, and being able to stretch my legs had sent the pain scurrying away. For now.

I looked back at the Victorian I had grown up in. It hadn’t changed a bit since I had left, although it could have used a fresh coat of paint, and some of the windows looked like they needed to be changed. Still, it was pretty much the home I had left behind, and a wave of nostalgia washed over me as I took it in.

Kelly, on the other hand, had found her way back to whatever was taking her attention away on her phone. She was stretched out on the hood of the car, eyes glued to the small screen in her hands, looking more like she hadn’t wanted to come here than ever before.

“You’re one to talk,” she said, fingers dancing across the touch screen in a way I knew I would never be able to do.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, come on,” Kelly said, exasperated. “When was the last time you picked me up from soccer practice on time?”

“That’s not fair,” I frowned.

“Really?” She turned to look at me, raising her eyebrow the way her mother had always done when I said something ridiculous. “I know the groundskeeper by name, dad. I know he’s divorced with three kids, plays in a jazz band on weekends and thinks that religion is a load of shit.”

“Language,” I replied.

“Just saying.” She turned back to her phone, once again ignoring me.

She has a point.

Janice’s voice seemed to be whispering in my ears more and more these days, and I quickly brushed it aside. A part of me knew that Kelly was right, but what was I supposed to fucking do? I can’t be in two places at the same time, and I never kept her waiting for too long.

An hour, Alex. At least an hour.

I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair, turning to look out at the road in hopes of seeing my father’s truck anywhere in the distance. My eyes wandered, and they fell on the few houses around us. I wondered if the people I had grown up around still lived in them. Some of them I had come to really cherish over the years, especially after my mother had passed. Others had seemed like leeches, practically throwing themselves at my father in hopes of becoming the next Mrs. Logan. At least in that department, my father had had the good sense to keep his distance.

“Did granddad change his truck?”

I turned around, first looking at Kelly, then focusing my attention on the Range Rover that was making its way toward the house. I frowned, knowing well that there was no way my father could afford another car, let alone a four-by-four. Besides, that old blue Ford had always been his life. His mistress, as my mother had always called it. He had even named it Lulu, for fuck’s sake.

The Range Rover slowed down as it neared the house, pulling up a few yards away from the house. I tried to get a look at the driver inside, but the sun was reflecting off the windshield and blocking my view.

“My old man wouldn’t be caught dead in a Range Rover,” I said, waiting.

The car doors opened and two men stepped out of the Rover, each clad in jeans and a checkered shirt that passed for typical ‘Kent-attire’. I recognized the one with the cigarette in his hands, but couldn’t place him. He smiled at me, obviously recognizing me as well, and threw his hands up in the air in greeting.

“Holy fucking shit. If it isn’t Alex Logan himself!” he called out.

“Heath?” I hoped I had the name right. “Heath Collins?”

“One and only, buddy!”

I clasped Heath’s hand, and he pulled me into a hug, slapping my back a couple of times more than I would have preferred. I pulled back, attempting to give him the best smile I could fake. I had grown up with Heath, and the nicest thing I could ever say about him was that he knew how to spend his family’s small fortune in ways that would make the billionaires back in Miami cringe. Other than that, I had always steered clear of him. Which made it even stranger that he would show up here.

“How’s Miami, my man?”

“Sunny and hot,” I replied, briefly nodding at his friend who was watching me with a deep frown on his face.

Heath turned to the other man and slapped his shoulder. “Jack, meet Alex Logan,” he introduced us. “We go way back. Like to fucking kindergarten.” Heath turned back to me, all smiles and eyes that mirrored mischief. He looked over my shoulder, and his smile widened. “Now who is that pretty lady?”

I turned and waved Kelly over, silently happy that she made enough of a fuss before finally sliding off the hood of my car and trudging over. “This is my daughter, Kelly.”

Heath bent down, hands on his knees, and looked Kelly in the eye. “Welcome to Kent, little lady,” he said. “I bet your dad has told you all about me, eh? His old pal Heath?”

“Never heard of you,” Kelly responded.

“Kelly!” I frowned at her, but couldn’t help the smile that played at the edge of my lips.

“We’re going to have to remedy that, aren’t we?” Heath said, winking at me. “I can show you all the cool places around here. Things have really changed since you left, Alex. Really changed. Kent’s not the same old sleepy little town it used to be.”

Kelly looked up at me. “Can I get back to what I was doing, please?”

I nodded and watched her walk away, race away actually, only looking back at Heath once with enough disgust on her face to make me cringe. At least her instincts were spot on.

“So, what are you doing here?” I asked after I was sure she was out of ear shot.

“Came to see your old man,” Heath said, briefly looking at the house. “He here?”

I shook my head. “We’re waiting for him,” I replied. “You’re welcome to join us, but I have to warn you, Kelly isn’t great company.”

“Typical teenager. She’ll come around,” Heath said, and the way the words came out of his mouth immediately threw up red flags in my head. “Any idea when Samuel will be back?”

“He knows we’re coming, so I’d say any minute now,” I shrugged. “What’s this about?”

“That’s between us and him,” Jack cut in before Heath can answer.

“Excuse me?” I turned to him, my eyes shooting daggers and my fist clenched. I didn’t like this guy, and the way he was looking at me pissed me off.

“Hey, shut up,” Heath shot at him, slapping his chest. “What’s your problem?” Heath turned to me and shook his head, shrugging. “Sorry, Alex, Jack forgets his manners sometimes.”

“Apparently so,” I replied, keeping my eyes fixed on the idiot who couldn’t control his mouth.

“We only wanted to talk to him about the land out at Stone Creek,” Heath explained.

“What about it?” I knew what he was talking about, a dozen or so acres my mother had inherited from her father decades ago. It wasn’t farm land, but the landscape was beautiful, and we often had investors asking us to sell. It was a little strange that Heath would ask about the land, considering that his family already owned most of the land around town. Then again, the man was as unpredictable as a child with matches. There was no telling what his ambitions were.

“I got a few friends who are interested in the land, willing to pay a pretty hefty price for it, too,” Heath said.

I nodded, knowing that there was no way my father was going to sell the acreage because of the attachment to my mother. That, and of course the fact that Heath was involved, made me wonder just what good old dad had gotten himself into.

“I’ll let him know you came by,” I said.

Heath looked at me for a beat, trying to read me, and finally nodded. “You do that,” he said. He clapped me on the shoulder again and squeezed. “It’s good to see you, Alex, it really is. Let’s get together soon and have a little fun.”

With that, the two men made their way back to their car, Heath waving at me like an idiot and his friend looking like he wanted to do a lot more than just talk. For the first time since my leave, I wished I had kept my gun on me.

“You really attract the creeps, don’t you?” Kelly asked as I walked back to her, the Range Rover disappearing around the corner. My leg was starting to act up again, my secret friend who promised he was here to stay.

“I guess so,” I said, unwilling to go into a sarcastic spree with her. At that moment, I was more worried about my father than arguing with my snarky teenage daughter.

“Is granddad in trouble?” she asked, looking at me seriously.

She’s definitely got my instincts.

“Nah, your grandpa can take care of himself,” I mused. “We’ll have to ask him what’s going on when he gets here.”

Kelly looked at the road and nodded. “Here’s your chance.”

I turned just as my father’s old Ford turned a bend and lazily made its way up to the house. Dad let out a few honks before pulling up beside my car. “Sorry I’m late, kids!”

He climbed out of the truck just as Kelly slid off the hood and rushed to hug him. He let out a gasp of surprise when she threw her arms around him, and for a second I thought she’d topple him over and they’d both go down.

“Wow, who the heck is this young lady and where is my little granddaughter?” Samuel exclaimed. “You’re getting so big!”

Kelly hugged him harder and smiled at him, the first genuine smile I had seen on her face since the beginning of summer. “And you’re getting so old!” she shot back.

“Always with the compliments,” Samuel chuckled. “Thank you, sweetheart, I do feel like I’m closer to eighty than seventy.”

“We’re going to need to get you a wheelchair soon,” Kelly joked.

“But only the one with a Hemi engine,” Samuel laughed. “I want to be able to race up and down North Main Street with the thing.”

I smiled, momentarily forgetting about Heath and whatever problems came with him. My father looked great, better than me, in fact, and Kelly was actually glowing.

The plan to spend late summer in Kent was starting to feel like a great idea.

Chapter 4: Jenni

“Hey, there, Casper.”

I barely had the door closed when Casper, my white German Shepherd, came rushing to me, jumping up and begging for attention. I laughed, ruffled the hair behind his ears and quickly got him down before he threw me off my feet.

“Who’s a good boy?” I said, clapping and racing him into the kitchen. “Casper’s my boy, aren’t you?”

I grabbed the dry food and filled his bowl, laughing every time he tried to push me away and thrust his snout into the box. I had to hold him back, and he took the wrestling for a game that he was more than willing to play.

There were very few memories I took along with me when I moved out. Or to be honest with myself, things my father let me take. Casper was one of them, and the most important one at that. I remember my dad telling me that if I was going to be living alone, there might as well be a man in the house.

Casper filled that role perfectly.

I left him to devour his food, and made a mental note to make sure I walked him before I set out again. I kicked off my shoes, took off my shirt and began unbuttoning my jeans as I turned my laptop on. From where I stood, the large windows gave me a perfect view of the woodlands outside my apartment complex, and for a minute I lost myself in its tranquility until the Windows chime brought me back.

Casper bumped into me as I quickly brought up my email window, and I giggled as he tried to get my attention. “We’re going out, don’t worry,” I said. “Just calm down, will you?”

I quickly checked my mail, deleting the spam that somehow still found its way into my inbox, and cursed under my breath when I read the message from my publisher. They had changed the publishing schedule again, and that meant I had to double my daily word count just to catch up.

“No time to lose,” I said and made my way to the bathroom, Casper close behind me. I undressed quickly, turned on the water and stepped into the shower.

I closed my eyes as the cold water washed over me. I had managed to evade my father as much as possible, but I knew that if he didn’t call me tonight, he was definitely going to talk to me in the morning. I felt like shit, really, not at all happy with what I had done. Even though it had felt fucking incredible. The diner was our bread and butter, and my father had slaved for decades to turn it into what it was today. Just thinking my actions could ruin all that made me feel even worse.

I had started working at the diner when I was only sixteen, and after my mother had decided that Kent was too small for her ambitions, I was taking on a lot more responsibility than a girl my age should have. I hated her for doing that to me, for deciding to see the world while I had to stay back and pick up the pieces. Still, over the years, Kent had slowly turned from ‘that town you want to get away from’ to a place I couldn’t imagine ever leaving.

My father had been good to me. He kept food on the table, helped pay through college so I wouldn’t be burdened with student loans, and made damn sure I grew up to be the strong woman he could be proud of. Obviously, fucking in the storage room was not one of the things he’d approve of. Then again, there was very little he approved of. He had given me hell just for moving out.

“Why the hell do you want to pay rent when you have a perfectly good room right here?”

His voice still echoed in my head every time I thought back to that night. It hadn’t been easy to explain, and when I thought about it now, I still couldn’t really voice my opinion. I had wanted out, I guess. A little independence, maybe. I loved the man to death, but a girl has got to be able to be on her own without her father constantly looking over her shoulder. Besides, I wanted to be able to bring a guy home without worrying about my father waiting in the living room with a shotgun.

Besides, I liked living alone. And at the age of thirty, the fact that I had still been living with my father was a little ridiculous.

I stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and dried myself quickly, before wrapping another one around my head and stepping out into the apartment naked. Another perk I had grown very fond of over the years. I checked my mail again, answered my publisher quickly, and then slumped down on the couch.

The diner was definitely a handful, and I cherished the hour or two I had between coming back home and driving out to the lake where I liked to write. A good cup of coffee would have made this perfect, if I hadn’t been too tired to get up. I pulled over the small blanket I kept to one side and covered myself, laying my head back on the cushions. If I was lucky, I could maybe get some shut eye before hitting the midnight oil.

I tried to think of the story I was writing, running through the rough plot I had in my head and tweaking the edges of it where I thought the story could really expand. For a few seconds, I let myself be dragged into the novel, standing to a side like a silent spectator as scene after scene played in front of my eyes. I smiled to myself.

I had started ghostwriting a couple of months out of college. There weren’t a lot of jobs in Kent for Lit majors, and the fact that I wasn’t going to be leaving any time soon made things even harder. Besides, running the diner was never easy, and I doubted any other full-time position would have given me the chance to help out as much as I currently did.

Ghostwriting was the perfect gig for me. Working wherever I wanted, a nomad as long as I had my laptop and an internet connection. Over the past two years, I had gotten really good at it, too. The work was paying for rent, gas and a few other bills, making my life a lot more comfortable than the pay from the diner alone would have done. I sometimes wondered if it was worth having two jobs, being harassed with deadlines while I slaved away at the keyboard. But it all seemed to pay off when the stories were done, when the manuscripts were sent in and well received, and even more work would come flooding in.

Besides, I was writing erotica, and that was always fun.

I opened my eyes just as Casper began to nuzzle against me, and I remembered that he still needed to be walked. I got up quickly, raced into the bedroom and pulled on the first pair of jeans I could find and a Slayer t-shirt. ‘Music of the devils’ my father had always said, although secretly, he would listen to a few heavy metal bands himself when he thought no one was looking.

I grabbed Casper’s leash, fought to put it on him as he raced around my legs, eager and excited, then lead him out of the apartment. A slight breeze had begun to pick up, and the smell of summer filled my senses. Casper led me along our regular route around the complex and onto a small path leading through the woods behind us. At the end of the path was a clearing that had been turned into a picnic area a couple of years back. Luckily for me and Casper, not a lot of people knew about the path through the woods. Which meant we usually had it all for ourselves.

The minute we reached the clearing, Casper struggled against the leash until I let him loose and he charged off. The picnic area was pretty crowded this time of day, and beyond the large clearing I could see North Main Street where the main parking lot was. Usually Casper had the good sense to stay close to me, and that gave me enough breadth to really relax while he played with whichever children were willing to give him the time of day. I found a shaded spot near a tree, sat down and pulled my knees to my chest. Days like these made me feel alive, and with the crowd around me enjoying the summer afternoon, I closed my eyes and let my mind wander.

I must have dozed off for quite a while. When I finally opened my eyes, the sun had begun to set and the skies had turned a brilliant orange. Casper was dozing off beside me, and he quickly perked his ears and looked at me when I shifted positions and stretched.

“You were supposed to wake me up,” I told him, ruffling his fur before reattaching the leash. He got up even more reluctantly than I did, and with little protest let me lead him back to the path home. I looked at my watch, cursed and picked up the pace. If I didn’t get a move on, I’d never get any writing done today.

Working at home had become harder and harder, and despite the workstation I had set up for exactly that purpose, I had recently found myself becoming distracted by the smallest things. For the past week, I had begun the routine of writing at a small café near the diner, close enough to pop in if needed, but far enough not to be called upon for every little thing. The only problem was the café had a habit of attracting an evening crowd, especially college students, which meant I never really got anything done anyway.

Looking at my watch again, I realized that if I got moving now, I might only be able to get a couple of hours in.

Better than nothing. You’re never good at tackling work when it’s piled up.

I rushed up the stairs, quickly grabbed my laptop and headphones, made sure Casper had his food and water, then raced back out.

I bumped into Heath Collins just as I was exiting the complex.

“Whoa, there, missy,” Heath chuckled, catching me before I dropped the one most important piece of technology I owned. “What’s the rush?”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, smiling and embarrassed. “In a bit of a hurry.”

And when it came to Heath Collins, being in a hurry was always the best option. To say I couldn’t stand the guy was an understatement, and the fact that his family owned the apartment building where I was now living made avoiding him even more difficult. Not to mention he was at Garth’s side most of the time anyway. They had been best friends since kindergarten. Thick as thieves, those two. Sometimes I wondered if the next time Garth decided to fuck me in public, if he might bring Heath along with him.

“Where to?” Heath asked, blocking my way.

I smiled at him and tried to keep my tone as polite as possible, a weak attempt at hiding my discomfort towards him. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I’m late,” I said quickly. “Sorry again, and thanks for saving my laptop.” I pushed past him, even though he left very little room for me to maneuver, and my thigh accidentally brushed against his crotch.

Oh God, the asshole actually has a boner!

“See you around,” Heath called after me.

I didn’t reply, made straight for my car, and quickly got in. Only after I had pulled out of the parking lot did I let out the shudder I had been keeping in. I cringed at just the thought of Heath using me as his masturbation fantasy.

I made a mental note to talk to Garth about it when I saw him, not that it would do any good.

Chapter 5: Alex

“What do you think?”

Of all the places in the house that had special meaning to me, the attic was on the top of that list. When I had turned thirteen, my parents had finally agreed to let me move into it, and since then it has always been my getaway. I remembered the day my mother died, and how I had spent almost a whole month locked up in here, with my dad leaving me awkwardly made sandwiches at the door. It had been a difficult time for the both of us, and I never really got over it.

Losing Janice a few years after Kelly was born had just made that even worse.

“It’s okay,” Kelly said. “I guess.”

“You guess?” I chuckled. “Sweetheart, this is the best room in the entire house. It’s got everything. Privacy, your own bathroom, and look here.” I pulled up one of the windows and pointed to the large ledge outside. “If you promise not to jump off, this place was great for reading.”

Kelly raised an eyebrow at me.

“Fine, for spending time on your phone,” I said.

“Does the Wifi reach here?” Kelly asked, dumping her backpack on the floor and eyeing the room with scrutiny.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “We’ll have to ask Sam about that.”

“If there’s no internet, I’m moving to another room,” Kelly warned.

I shrugged and shook my head. “Suit yourself,” I said. “Just remember, the bathroom downstairs has no lock, and your grandfather could walk in on you by accident.”

“Oh, gross, dad!”

“Just saying,” I smiled, patting her suitcase as I made my way out. “Settle in, and I’ll see what your grandfather has got lying around that could pass for food.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to be more than what we usually have,” Kelly called after me.

“Love you, too, sweetheart!” I replied, taking the small staircase by twos to the second-floor landing.

The house hadn’t changed much, mainly because my father had taken the downstairs guest room as his new bedroom and had left pretty much everything else the same. The master bedroom was locked, which I assumed was because he himself didn’t really want to go in, even after all these years. The other three rooms on the second floor were left unattended, unoccupied, and had a film of dust on every surface that would probably take a few days just to get cleaned up.

I took the room closest to the attic, the one that had been mine before I had moved upstairs. The bed was small, the mattress uncomfortable, and the posters on the walls a reminder of a time when life was a lot easier. No dead mothers or wives, no shootouts, no drug rings killing away at our youth. My desk was at the same wall, under the window because my mother had believed that the view would help inspire me to work hard. Beside it was the closet that at one point in my life had seemed massive, and now just stood there collecting dust.

I lifted my suitcase onto the bed, and took a step back when the dust flew up in small clouds. I was going to have to change the sheets, probably even clean the whole place up, and just the thought of it made me groan.

Kelly’s room first.

“Obviously, Janice,” I whispered in reply to the voices in my head. I shook my head, wondering just when I would start having full-on conversations with them that would make me look like I belonged in a fucking asylum.

I opened the closet, cringed at the sight of the cobwebs, and closed the doors again. Out of my suitcase it is, I thought. The smart thing to do was get this place cleaned up now, but with the exhaustion from the drive and the fact that my leg was screaming bloody murder, I decided it could wait.

Maybe even sleep on the couch?

I sighed, stretched and ran a hand through my hair before exiting the room and making my way downstairs.

My father was in the kitchen, the stove on and his nose buried in one of my mother’s old cook books. He was frowning, obviously confused by what he was reading and completely out of place with the flowery apron he had on.

“Hey, dad,” I greeted, opening the refrigerator and being greeted by a sight I had gotten used to over the years; nothing. Well, beer and eggs, but little else other than what looked like baked potatoes with enough green on it to make you gag.

“Hmmm,” Samuel offered in reply. He scratched his head and squinted at the page in front of him. “What the hell is a ‘dash of garlic’ anyway? How do you measure that?”

I grabbed a beer, closed the refrigerator and sat at the kitchen table with a grunt. “When was the last time you actually cooked anything in here?” I eyed the pot sitting comfortably on the kitchen counter, gleaming in a way that assured me it hadn’t been used for years. Actually, the entire kitchen seemed spotless, the sure sign of a room unutilized.

“I usually eat at The Red Roof,” he mumbled. “Anything I try to make ends up burnt anyway.”

“Do you actually have anything to cook?”

“Bought a few groceries on my way here,” Samuel replied. “Thought if I’m going to have to take care of two people other than myself, might as well make sure they eat properly.”

“Thought this through, have you?”

“Apparently not enough,” he answered, flipping through the pages and trying to make sense of what he was reading. I smiled to myself and took a drag from the beer.

“This is hopeless,” he said, closing the book and taking the apron off.

“Don’t do that,” I said. “The colors suit you.”

“Alright, wise ass, I get it,” Samuel smiled, shooting me the fatherly look he usually gave me when he was exasperated. “How’s Kelly settling in?”

“Offered her the attic,” I said. “She’s asking about the Wifi.”

“The attic, huh?” Samuel opened the fridge and took out a beer for himself. “Alex Logan giving up his hideout?”

“Passing it on,” I replied as he sat down. “She needs the space more than I do. I think she’s sick of her old man.”

“Kids her age usually are,” Samuel waved. “You weren’t any easier at her age.”

“She’s twelve and already acting like I should be sending her off to college.”

“They grow up faster these days,” Samuel nodded. “Surprises me every time.”

I shrugged and took another swig of the beer. Samuel sighed, took off his hat and wiped his brow with a handkerchief. He looked great for his age, but it was only now that I noticed how deep his lines had become and the bags under his eyes.

“I’m waiting for the day she asks me for her own place,” I said.

Samuel chuckled. “Believe me, when she’s gone, you’re going to wish she had stayed.”

“I know,” I smiled. “It’s not easy, though.”

“Preaching to the choir, son.”

“I was a treat.”

“You were a little brat,” Samuel said with a laugh, drinking his beer. “Reckless, stupid, and didn’t listen to anything I said. I’m surprised you found a woman who would put up with you.”

“A lot easier than raising a girl.”

Samuel gave me a bemused look. “Really?”

“Yeah, at least you didn’t have to explain why blood came out of me every month.”

“Did you teach her how to put on make-up as well?” Samuel asked. “Go dress shopping with her?”

I laughed. “Fuck you.”

Samuel chuckled and raised his beer to me, taking a long swig. “You’re doing a good job,” he said, looking at me seriously. “She’s a strong girl. Gonna make you proud one day, that one.”

“She already does.”

Samuel eyed me for a moment, smiled and nodded. “Good boy.”

I watched my father for a few seconds, really taking him in. I owed the man a lot, and sometimes I wished I could be half the father for my daughter that he had been to me. I never really appreciated everything he’d done for me until I was stuck with a three-year-old, on my own, with nothing but YouTube videos for support.

“By the way,” I said, leaning in and resting my elbows on the table. “Heath Collins passed by here today, just before you got back.”

Samuel frowned. “What does that little prick want?”

The change in tone took me a bit by surprise, and my DEA instincts kicked in. “Told me he wanted to talk to you about the acreage by the lake. Something about having friends who wanted to buy them.”

“That shit’s been harassing me about that land for weeks now,” Samuel replied. “Got himself mixed up with the wrong kind of people, that one. Him and that other pinhead, Garth Liston. His daddy owns the tire store out by the highway.”

“Garth Liston?” Just saying the name left a bad taste in my mouth. I remembered Garth Liston. His parents had owned the biggest house on our street and Garth always acted like his shit didn’t stink. He was an entitled, smartass in high school; a fucking bully, a total jock until he blew his knee out. I expected that he had not changed much, given the look on my father’s face.

“Yeah, that one,” Samuel said. “Piece of shit. Just like his old man before he died. I drive all the way to Kingston to buy tires. God forbid I put money into any Liston’s pocket.”

I smiled. I loved it when the old man got riled. “What do they want the land for?”

Samuel shrugged and shook his head. “Some hot shot from Atlantic City wants to build a kind of resort or something,” he said. “Got a license for a casino and all. It’s supposed to bring tourism into Kent, open up a bunch of jobs, all that.”

“A casino? In Kent? Really?”

“Hey, you got money you want to throw away, be my guest,” Samuel said. “Just don’t come knocking on my door.”

“Did you know the name of the investor?”

Samuel shook his head. “Nope. And couldn’t care less,” he said. “I’m not selling.”

I sat back and tried to make sense of what my father was saying. Sure, a resort in Kent wasn’t a completely bad idea, especially with the junior college nearby and the sudden burst of gated communities all around. Still, there were dozens of places where something like this could have been more profitable, and a lot easier to set up. Heath’s interest in the land made a lot more sense now. I could see him grabbing onto an investment opportunity like this with teeth and claws. What Garth’s connection to all this was, though, I had no idea.

“Does Garth still live in the old house up the street?” I asked. “Maybe I could drop by and get a better idea of what’s going on.”

Samuel shook his head. “Moved out a long time ago. His mother married some rich guy by the name of Harlow, I believe, the guy who built Harlow Estates just outside town, near the college.”

I remembered passing by the large sign that promised “A community for the elite” and thinking just how conceited the developers had to be to use that as their slogan.

“He’s got his own house and all, opened a club right next to the student dorms. Called it something ridiculous, I can’t remember.”

I made a mental note to check that out later.

“Kent’s changed a lot since I’ve last been here,” I said.

“Yeah,” Samuel replied, his face scrunching up in what I could only assume was disgust. “Anyway, Kelly isn’t going to be able to get through the day without a proper meal, so what do you wanna do?”

“Red Roof sounds like a plan,” I offered.

Samuel drained the rest of his beer and nodded. “Then Red Roof it is,” he said, pushing himself to his feet with a grunt. “I’ll call her.”

“Don’t bother,” I said, taking out my phone. “You wanna reach Kelly Logan, you gotta message her.”

 

 

 

Chapter 6: Jenni

“Dammit!”

I turned the key in the ignition, waited for the engine to roar to life, and cursed again when all it did was sputter and die. I slammed my fists against the steering wheel, opened the door and stepped out into the night. The summer breeze that welcomed me was supposed to calm me down, but instead I felt like grabbing a baseball bat and hit on the car.

I had been planning to change the battery a week ago, but never really got around to doing it. Now I was paying the price for my burst of procrastination. I looked up the street, toying with the idea of just walking the rest of the way, then quickly abandoned the notion. The café was at least three miles down the road, and by the time I’d get there, I wouldn’t be able to get any work done anyway. I had a better chance of walking home than trying to get any work done tonight.

I cursed again, kicked at the wheel, and pulled out my phone, trying to decide on whether I should call my dad or Garth.

Definitely, Garth. Dad’s just going to use this as an example of why you can’t be on your own, and he might even bring up the little ‘adventure’ you had in the back room this morning.

Yeah, but Garth was going to be just as useless. He rarely answered the phone anyway, something I had learned early on. And even when he did, he always found some excuse to call you back.

Which never happened.

I scrolled through the contacts on my phone, wondering if I may have saved Pete’s Garage’s number somewhere, when the battery began to blink and the screen went dead.

“Just my fucking luck!”

I kicked at the wheel again, winced with the pain that shot up my leg, and hobbled back to the driver’s door. I took in a deep breath, trying my best to calm my nerves, and let it out in a long sigh. I looked up and down the road, hoping I could maybe hail someone down, but the streets were deserted. You’ll just have to wait.

I looked across the street at the few houses that sat in a huddle around the ballpark, and considered my options. The typical ‘can I use your phone’ excuse might be a little too cliché, and even in Kent, people had begun to lock their doors.

With the spike in recent crime rates, it’s not really a surprise.

I opened the driver’s door, slumped into my seat and closed it with a slam loud enough to portray my frustration. Not that it mattered, really; no one was around to watch me break into a three-year-old’s tantrum. I fished in the glove compartment for a car charger, and when I didn’t find one, slammed that shut, too. The night couldn’t have gotten worse.

Maybe you can get some work done here?

I thought about that for a second, shrugged, and reached for my laptop in the backseat. I took it out, flipped the cover open and waited for it to start up. In the rearview mirror, I spotted twin lights in the distance. For a second, relief washed over me, and then the lights disappeared as the car turned onto another street. I sighed and settled back down, turning my attention back to the laptop.

The battery only had thirteen percent left.

I slammed the lid shut and lay my head back. Why I constantly forgot to charge my electronics, I had no idea. The only thing I was sure of was that if one thing went wrong, everything else probably would to.

“Three dead batteries,” I said to the empty car. “That’s nursery rhyme material right there.”

Another pair of lights illuminated the rearview mirror, and these didn’t swerve onto any other streets. I watched them approach for a few seconds, trying not to get my hopes up, and when I realized that the car might pass me by, I quickly stepped out and waved it down.

The Ford truck slowed to a stop beside me, and I found myself gazing into eyes that seemed to glimmer in the little bit of light that the night had to offer. The man gazing back at me took me by complete surprise, and I found myself lost for words as my eyes traced the strong jaw and cheekbones down to the muscular arm leaning on the open window. Why, hello!

I thanked whatever God was in heaven for the fact that he couldn’t see me blush.

“Jenni?”

I frowned, recognizing the voice immediately, and looked past the hunk in the passenger seat at Samuel Logan. He was leaning on the steering wheel to look at me, and between the two men sat a beautiful girl with thick brunette hair, probably no older than twelve or thirteen, with her eyes glued to her phone.

“Sam!” I cried out, a wave of relief washing over me. “Am I glad to see you!”

“What are you parked all the way out here for?” Samuel asked.

I bit my lip, embarrassed as I looked from Samuel to his passenger and back. Those eyes! I felt the heat rise in my cheeks.

“Battery died on me,” I replied, trying my best not to focus on the man still staring at me.

“Did you try calling Pete’s?” Samuel asked.

“Phone died, too,” I admitted, albeit a little more quietly.

“Hold up,” Samuel said, stepping out of the truck with a groan. “Let me see what we can do about that.”

I watched him walk around the front of the truck, then looked back at the man in the passenger seat. He gave me a small smile and a nod, and I quickly returned both before following Samuel to my car. I unlocked the hood, and he pushed it up, locking it in place.

“So, what happened?” Samuel asked.

“Just stopped in the middle of the road,” I replied, briefly looking over my shoulder as the other man stepped out of the truck.

“And it won’t start?”

“Nope.”

“Problem with the alternator,” the other man said, walking past me and reaching into the hood of the car. I saw him fiddle with the spark plugs before clicking his tongue. “At least that’s what it sounds like.”

“Jenni, you know my son, Alex,” Samuel said.

No fucking way!

My eyes shot wide as Alex Logan smiled and reached out a hand. I took it, shaking it loosely and just stared at him. Like an idiot, I might add.

“I think he babysat you a couple of time,” Samuel chuckled. “This is Hank’s little girl, Alex.”

Alex nodded in recognition, his eyes never leaving mine, and I felt like I was beginning to drown in them. There was something more than just masculine about him. His entire demeanor reflected control and confidence, and for a second there I actually believed he could start my car with just the snap of his fingers.

“Jenni Wright,” he said, smiling again. “I remember.”

I remembered Alex from my old days, when he was a senior in high school and on his way to college. He had babysat me a few times, especially when my dad had to pull double shifts when we were short on staff, and I remembered him telling me that I could do whatever I wanted as long as I made sure to keep it down. He had even let me stay up late. I also remembered the childish little crush I had on him.

“Surprised you’re still in Kent,” Alex was saying.

“I’m managing the diner with my dad,” I replied. “And doing a little writing.”

“And robs me of my money every morning,” Samuel cut in, chuckling. I shot him one of my ‘don’t play that card’ looks I usually reserved for my dad’s friends, and that only made him laugh harder. Alex seemed quite amused at the whole ordeal.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do for you here, Jenni,” Samuel said, “but we can tie your car up to the truck and I can tow you to Pete’s.”

“Anything is better than sitting out here,” I said. “I was thinking of just walking home and leaving it here until the morning.”

“And have your father give you hell over this tomorrow?” Samuel asked, shaking his head. “Nah, we want him thinking you’re the strong, independent woman you claim to be.”

“I would call that comment sexist if I didn’t need the help,” I smiled.

Samuel laughed and slapped Alex on the arm. “Help me with the chains.”

I stood to a side as I watched them work. Samuel maneuvered the truck until its rear end was a few feet away from my fender, and Alex quickly worked the chains in between them, giving them a quick tug just to make sure they wouldn’t break loose. There was definitely control in those hands, and for a split-second I wondered what it would feel like to have them working me.

What the hell’s the matter with you?

I shook my head quickly and ran a hand through my hair. What was I thinking? I was acting like a teenager with no control over her hormones. It was completely unlike me, and I mentally chastised myself for it. I couldn’t understand what had gotten into me, and although I was known to be attracted to the strong ones, current relationship included, I felt like this was pushing it a little too far. I blamed it on the erotica-ghostwriting state of mind I was currently in, but that didn’t make me feel any better.

Stop it! You keep acting like this, and he’ll get the wrong idea.

Still, I couldn’t help thinking there was something about him. Sure, he was hot, and his physique left little doubt as to what was under the shirt he was wearing. But I was definitely not the kind of girl who just threw herself at every man she thought was attractive. Besides, the girl in the truck could only be his daughter, which probably meant that there was a Mrs. Logan in the picture.

And there’s a Garth Liston in yours.

Fuck.

“I think we’re good here,” Alex said, shooting me a quick glance before checking the chains a second time. He got up, stretched, and I noticed how one hand was massaging his right thigh. Samuel gave us a thumbs-up, and Alex gestured to the truck. “Get in,” he said.

“That’s okay, I can ride in the car,” I said quickly.

“Why?” he asked. “There’s enough space in the truck. And besides, Sam will probably send me home walking if I didn’t insist.”

I looked at the car, then at Samuel as he waved me over, then shrugged. Alex led me to the back of the truck, opened the door and helped me up. I felt a slight burst of electricity race up my arm at his touch, and again found myself thanking the darkness for hiding whatever my face would have given away.

Alex climbed into the front just as I settled myself in my seat. The girl had forgotten about her phone and was now watching me closely.

“Hi,” I smiled.

The girl only looked at me and didn’t reply.

“Be nice, Kelly,” Alex said as he put his seatbelt on and Samuel slowly pulled away from the curb.

“I didn’t say anything,” Kelly complained.

“Exactly.”

Kelly looked at me, and I rolled my eyes, quickly trying to take her side on this. Kelly smiled, rolled her eyes as well and shrugged.

“She seems nice,” she said.

“She’s sitting right there,” Alex replied while Samuel chuckled.

“I know,” Kelly retorted, looking at me over her shoulder. “That’s why I said it.”

 

Chapter 7: Alex

Jenni Wright. Wow, had she grown up to be a looker and a half.

It was all I could to not turn around and look at her.

For years since Janice died, there were only two things that had occupied my head. The first was Kelly, the little girl that had to do with only her father when what she really needed was a mother. And the second was the job.

I never really had any time for relationships. I had never even toyed with the idea of maybe bringing someone into my life. For years, my whole world had revolved around Janice. We had met during a particularly dark period of my life, when nothing was going to way I had planned and I was ready to just throw it all away and head back to Kent with my tail between my legs.

We met at the carnival, a run-down assortment of crap rides at a pier where the only good thing that could possibly come out of it was a good fix. And that was exactly why I had been there. I had started working at the DEA a year before, and one of the first assignments was cracking down on a distribution channel coming out of the carnival.

The job had been easy enough, the dealers too comfortable in their turf, and the carnival attracting nothing more than the low-life of the city. It was one of the reasons why I had been a little surprised that Janice was there to start with.

She had been taking her nephew out, showing him around the city, and had found herself caught in the middle of an arrest when we cracked down on a couple of dealers by the Ferris wheel. She had been shell-shocked, and I had felt the need to make sure she was okay. Had even driven her and her nephew home.

And from then on, well, the rest is just history. Several dates led to her moving in with me, and eventually I was on one knee by the same pier where we had first met, asking her to be my wife.

I had flown my father in for the wedding, and it was the only time I had actually seen him cry. I couldn’t even remember him shedding a tear at my mother’s funeral. And if he had, then he’d done a pretty good job at hiding it from me. He didn’t do that on my wedding day, though. The man was practically bawling his eyes out, and it had scared me just a little.

Kelly came a couple of years later, and for me, it had been the happiest day of my life. I had looked into my daughter’s eyes, and knew that I would do anything I could to keep her safe. The two of them were my world, and everything revolved around them.

The cancer came quick, and Janice was gone before I even had the chance to register what was going on. Kelly was three when it happened, and Samuel had flown down again just to make sure I didn’t drive the both of us off the pier and into the ocean. A thought that I hate to admit, came often.

“That girl needs you,” Samuel had told me, but I wasn’t listening. At that point, you could have me that the world was on fire, and I wouldn’t have flinched. I tried to be a father, and a cop, and had been failing miserably at both for quite a while until I learned to pull myself together. Hours of therapy and tough love helped, but throwing myself into the job with all the fury of a hurricane did even more.

And every time I was late picking her up, or missed a recital, or didn’t show up for a PTA meeting, I said to myself that I was doing it for her. I was working the night oil for my daughter, to give her the life she deserved.

Until I got shot, of course, and realized I was probably not doing it for Kelly after all. A part of me still missed Janice, and that same part seemed to have an inexplicable death wish.

Sometimes I look back at all that, and wonder what the hell went wrong. When did I forget to take care of myself for her sake? When did I think it would be okay for her to grow up without both parents?

Maybe those hours of therapy didn’t help after all, buddy.

Maybe. And maybe I had been pushing people away for the exact same reason. Why build long-lasting relationships I didn’t expect to keep, right? It was why I had never been on a date, why I had never let any woman into my life, and definitely why I couldn’t even fathom the idea of sharing a bed with someone Kelly might one day call ‘mom’.

Which made my attraction to Jenni Wright even more confusing!

She was definitely my type. Brunette, check. Slim, check. Smile that could melt steel, double-fucking-check. But there was something else there, something more than just the way she looked. It was in her eyes, a hint of mischief, a touch of a desire to live on the wild side. Reading her was definitely not easy, but that had been clear enough. And maybe that was exactly why I was feeling the way I was. Janice had that same spark, the willingness to jump headfirst into the unknown.

Dammit, she had even made jokes about the cancer when the pain had been bearable enough for that.

Jenni Wright…

The truck hit a small speed bump, and I was abruptly brought back to where my mind had wandered off to. Samuel was pulling into the driveway of a small workshop, Pete’s Garage in large painted uppercase letters on the front. I remembered the shop from my childhood, a lot of long afternoons spent with my father and Pete as we fixed up whatever the Ford had been complaining about then. It felt a little nostalgic.

“Okay, you kids stay here while I go talk to Pete,” Samuel said, jumping out of the truck.

“Take me with you,” Kelly said, following suit.

I watched from my seat as the two of them disappeared into the shop, then turned to look at Jenni. She was huddled up near the door of the backseat, biting her lip as she gazed out the window. She smiled at me when she saw me looking, and I felt parts of me melt immediately.

“So, what brings you back to Kent?” she asked.

“Decided to spend the summer with the old man, show my daughter where her father grew up,” I replied.

“That’s nice,” Jenni smiled. “Is it her first time here?”

I nodded. “Ever since her mother died, and we’ve kind of been avoiding free time.”

“I’m so sorry,” Jenni said, her eyes suddenly wide in shock. “I had no idea.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It happened almost ten years ago.”

“That’s a long time to be avoiding ‘free time’.”

I shrugged. “We’re not very good at mourning.”

“And Kelly?”

“She has to deal with me, which I think is probably the hardest part of it all,” I said.

“I know where she’s coming from,” Jenni said, looking out the window again, her eyes glazing over.

“Mother, too?”

Jenni nodded. “But she walked out on us,” she said. “I’m sure it’s not the same, but the end result pretty much is.”

I laughed. “Hank isn’t exactly the lenient type.”

“Tell me about it,” she smiled. “But he’s a great dad, all things considered.”

“Is that why you stayed back in Kent?”

Jenni hesitated, then shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she said, frowning. “Partly, yeah, but I don’t hate it here, either. It used to be a great place to live for a while.”

“Used to be?”

“The college campus brought a lot with it,” she replied. “Good business, but also late-night parties, drunk drivers and of course, our all-time favorite, drugs.”

The DEA agent inside me suddenly woke up. “Drugs?” I asked.

Jenni looked at me, and for a second I had a feeling that she was about to tell me something she wasn’t supposed to. It looked like she was conflicted over what to say and what not to.

“The usual,” she shrugged. “Weed, a couple of synthetic garbage, you know?”

I did, and I also had a feeling there was a lot more to it than that. It was in the way she said it, how she looked away while trying to act like there was nothing serious to it. I made a mental note to ask Samuel about that later. The last time I had checked, Kent wasn’t exactly the place most people would associate with drugs.

I was about to ask her more, when a knock on the window startled me. Samuel waved for me to come out and help him with the chains, and as I stepped out of the truck, I glanced back at Jenni. She was looking out the window again.

Pete was standing next to my father, the hood of Jenni’s car up as he hunched forward to check the damage. “Right, it’s the alternator,” Pete said. “Don’t have the parts now, but should get ‘em in a couple of days.”

Pete stood up and stretched, then gave me a wide smile. “Welcome back, Alex.”

I shook his hand. “Thanks, Pete.”

“You tell Jenni she can come pick this up on Monday,” Pete continued. “Till then, she betta find herself another way to go about her day.”

“Thanks, Pete,” Samuel said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “We’ll manage, just do what you can.”

I unhooked the chains, then helped Pete push the car into the garage. “Now don’t you be a stranger, kiddo,” he said. “You gotta pass by here more often.”

I walked out of the garage with the promise that I would. Kelly was standing in the middle of the driveway, waiting for me.

“Grandfather’s invited your new friend to dinner,” she said with a smile.

I gave her a wary look. “Does that bother you?”

Kelly shook her head quickly. “Nope, I like her.”

“You don’t know her.”

Kelly frowned and tapped her index finger on her chin. “Let’s just say I have a feeling about her,” she said. “What’s the world I’m looking for? Intuition? I think that’s what you keep throwing at me, right?”

“One day that lip of yours is going to get you into a lot of trouble,” I smiled, resting my arm around her shoulders as we walked back to the truck. Samuel was talking to Jenni, and she looked over at us as we approached.

“Your father’s trying to charm his way into my heart,” Jenni said.

“Yeah, be careful about that,” I replied. “A real heartbreaker, that one.”

“So, a man can’t ask a beautiful woman to join him and his family for dinner?” Samuel asked, looking at the both of us with an amused smile on his face.

“Well, we could use the company,” I chimed in. “Normally, the three of us can’t really stand each other, so you’d be like a buffer.”

Jenni laughed. “Only if it’s okay with Kelly,” she said.

Nice. She knows how to play this right.

“Are you kidding?” Kelly rolled her eyes. “Please come. Save me from these two geezers.”

Jenni laughed again and nodded. “Fine, dinner it is. Where are we heading?”

“The Red Roof,” Samuel replied, hoisting himself into the driver’s seat as the rest of us got into the truck.

I stood back to let Kelly in and was a little surprised when she opted for the backseat next to Jenni. I gave her a confused look, and she shot me a warning gaze that made me smile.

It looked like I wasn’t the only infatuated with Jenni Wright.

 

Chapter 8: Jenni

The Red Roof wasn’t the kind of restaurant where you expected to see the rich and the glamorous. But it was one of the best in Kent, and probably the only place you could really take a date to. The owner, a wonderful woman whose mother had opened the restaurant thirty years ago, tried her best to make the atmosphere as cozy and welcoming as possible. Which just added to the appeal. The fact that she had a sort of monopoly on fine dining in Kent didn’t change the fact that she put her heart and soul into the place.

Which was one of the reasons why the place was packed when we walked in. A lot of times, just getting a table at The Red Roof required a reservation, but apparently Samuel Logan was so popular there, they already had a table ready for him. It felt nice to be able to just walk in and eat, and I giggled when Samuel leaned in and told me that he should probably be charged rent for the table he usually occupied.

We were led to a table in the back, close to the window that looked out onto North Main Street, but was far enough to give us more of a woodland view than street. It was a charming little setup, and I slid into my seat comfortably, a little taken back when Alex actually pulled out my chair for me. Whoever had said chivalry was dead, had obviously not gone out with Alex Logan before.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had been to The Red Roof for a comfortable dinner with friends. The most recent memory of the place was when Garth had brought me here for a quick dinner and a quite memorable fuck out back.

“So, what’s good here?” Alex asked, opening the menu.

“Everything,” Samuel replied quickly. “I’d stay clear of the chicken, though. You’ll probably end up ordering seconds.”

I smiled at that, and turned my attention to Kelly who had abandoned her menu and was watching the other guests. “Not hungry?” I asked.

Kelly jumped a little and looked at me. “It’s just, this place seems a lot like something out of a bad Rom-Com.”

“Kelly, eyes on the menu,” Alex said.

“Seriously,” she said. “Look at everyone around us. I mean, they’re practically making out in public. It’s gross.”

I laughed. “It’s one of the few romantic places in Kent, so you’re going to have a lot of dates here.”

Kelly looked at me for a beat before she shrugged and turned her attention back to the crowd. “There’s really not a lot to do in Kent, is there?”

“You’ll be surprised how much fun you can have outside the big city,” Alex said.

“Sure, dad, if you say so,” Kelly replied. “And what’s up with that guy? He’s staring at us as if he knows us.”

I turned my attention to where she was looking, and felt my heart jump into my throat. Sitting a few tables away, hidden by a table of six, was Garth. I had missed him coming in, and the tables between us would have kept him out of sight if Kelly hadn’t pointed him out to us. Garth was smiling at me, winked, and stood up slowly. I didn’t recognize the people he was with, but one of the women looked like she had just stepped out of a ‘Whores R’ Us’ catalog.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Alex turn just as Garth weaved through the tables towards us. “Is that Liston?” he asked.

Samuel just grunted, and I could see the look of utter disgust on the elder Logan’s face.

“If it isn’t Alex Logan!” Garth greeted, arms wide and voice as loud as ever. I cringed as people turned towards us. It was just like Garth to make a scene. “Heath told me you were back!”

He didn’t wait for Alex to stand up and clapped him on the back, quickly putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling at him like they were old friends. I saw Alex eye Garth’s hand, then shoot him a smile that bordered on discomfort.

“It’s nice to see you, Garth,” Alex said, slowly pulling away from Garth’s hold.

Garth leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “Hi, babe. I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

Marking his fucking territory. Next thing you know he’d probably piss on my leg.

I saw Alex eye us before quickly looking away just as Garth turned to him again. “I was just asking Sam about you,” he said. “Told me you moved out of the old house.”

“Yeah, we did,” Garth nodded. “Got us a nice little place on the outskirts, really sweet deal. You should pass by sometime, let me give you a tour. Maybe I could even convince you to sell that crap hole you’re living in and move into something fancier.”

I could see Samuel’s face go red and daggers shoot from his eyes. It never ceased to surprise me how much Garth can piss someone off with an off-hand remark like that.

“I’d like a tour,” Alex said. “But to be honest, I’m an old-fashioned kinda guy.”

“So, are you back for good, or just visiting?”

“Visiting,” Alex said.

“You’re still in Miami, right?” Garth asked, returning his hand on Alex’s shoulder, something I’ve seen him do all the time. It was Garth’s way of showing the person in front of him that he had the upper hand, and from the looks of it, Alex knew that, too. And was not liking it.

“That’s right,” Alex said, his smile faltering for only a moment.

“Homicide, was it?”

“DEA.”

Garth’s smile faded a bit. “Yeah, that’s it. The D-E-A. Keeping the streets of Miami free of drugs.”

“Something like that,” Alex said, forcing a tight smile.

There were few times when I had seen Garth interact with others. Most of the time when we were together, we were either arguing or fucking, and in both cases, alone. It was rare that I actually got to witness his dealings with other people, and there was a good reason for that. When it came to social skills, pretentious was an understatement in regard to Garth Liston, and he had a way of getting under your skin, which pissed off most people he dealt with.

And in the case of Alex Logan, I could see he wasn’t fairing any better.

I was impressed by Alex’s control, although there were enough signs to show that he was as comfortable with this back and forth as I was watching it. His jaw was clenched, his smile just a little too wide, and his eyes betrayed him completely. Garth would definitely pick up on that, no doubt about it, but if he did, he wasn’t showing it. Right now, he was marking his territory, letting Alex know who the bigger fish in this pond was, and he was doing it with the grace of a Neanderthal.

What the hell do you see in him?

I asked myself that question all the time. I would have loved to write it off as just a sexual attraction, but a part of me knew that the bad boy ensemble was something I was pretty much drawn to like a moth to the flame. The only question was, how long would I be able to put up with Garth’s shit before it became too much.

“Hey, while you’re here, why don’t you talk to your old man about selling that piece of land he’s been holding on to?” Garth asked, leaning in as if he and Alex were old friends.

“Why don’t you ask me yourself?” Samuel said.

Garth smiled at him and raised both hands in mock surrender. “Hey, I’m just the middle man here. Gotta do the job, you know. Don’t shoot the messenger and all that.”

“I got a double-barrel that would love to do just that,” Samuel replied.

Garth’s eyes darkened, although the smile never left his face. I knew that look, although I’d never actually been on the receiving end of it. Luckily. Garth wasn’t used to be told that he couldn’t have something; it was as if you had insulted him just by saying no. Samuel didn’t seem to care, though, and stared right back at Garth, resolute.

“Your old man’s stubborn,” Garth said through clenched teeth.

“You can’t really blame him,” Alex replied. “He’s really hung up on that bit of land. I suggest you tell your friend, whoever he is, that he should stop trying and maybe look for something else.”

Garth’s gaze shifted to Alex, and for a second there, the look they shared made chills run up and down my back. I shifted in my seat, adjusting myself for no other reason other than to avoid the awkwardness, and briefly met Kelly’s eye. She smiled at me and winked, as if she knew how I felt and was trying to console me. Don’t worry, my dad’s got this, her eyes seemed to tell me, and I smiled weakly back.

“You know, they’re offering quite a lot of money for it,” Garth said. “More than it’s worth. Enough to put your daughter through college and then some.” Garth reached for Alex’s shoulder, but this time Alex quickly brushed the hand away. “I think you should talk with your old man. It’s not fair for you, Alex. He’s not going to be around forever, and chances like these only come once.”

“You know, I think we’ll be okay,” Alex said. “Besides, Kelly’s looking forward to student loans, aren’t you sweetheart?”

“The backbone of the American economy,” Kelly replied lazily. I smiled. The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.

Garth looked at Kelly, a look that gave me chills, and smiled. “Smart girl.” He turned back to Alex and smiled even more. “I heard your wife passed. Sorry I missed the funeral, man.”

I winced. That was a low blow.

Alex, though, seemed unfazed. “That’s okay,” he said. “We hardly noticed you weren’t there.”

Garth’s smile dropped. I quickly turned away, hoping he didn’t see the smile I had failed to control, and adjusted myself in my seat again.

“I’ll be seeing you around, Alex,” Garth said, the leaned in and kissed my neck. “And I’ll see you tonight.”

With that he gave us all a wide smile and walked back to his table.

“Your boyfriend’s weird,” Kelly said as her father sat back down.

“Kelly, I said be nice,” Alex chastised.

“Well, he is!”

“That’s okay,” I cut in before Alex could reprimand her for telling the truth. “He’s not really my boyfriend, anyway. It’s an on and off kind of thing.”

“Hopefully more off than on.”

I smiled at Kelly. I really like this girl.

“I hate to put my nose into other people’s business,” Samuel said, “but I have to agree with my granddaughter. That boy’s nothing but bad news.”

“He’s not always like that,” I tried to defend, but didn’t feel like I had my heart in it.

“He looks like he has a stick up his ass,” Kelly said, and I laughed at both the comment and the way Alex’s eyes widened.

“Language, Kelly, seriously,” Alex said.

“He’s got more than that up there,” Samuel said.

“Maybe there’s still space for your double barrel?” Kelly asked her grandfather.

I couldn’t hold my laughter back anymore and almost fell off my seat, grabbing the table and tipping my glass over in the process. If I only liked Kelly before, I was in love with her now. The girl had a wit about her I wished I could match, and it was even more impressive at her age.

“How about we all try and give Jenni a break here,” Alex said, stifling his own laughter. “Maybe not comment on her personal life?”

“Believe me,” I replied, tears stinging my eyes as I choked on my merriment. “At this point, I really don’t care what they say.”

“I’m glad to see you’re amused,” Alex replied, letting himself go and laughing along with the rest of us.

Kelly leaned over, grabbed my hand with both of hers and shook it dramatically. “You’re better than this,” she gasped. “So much better. You deserve to be happy. Get out while you still can!”

“Alright, Emma Stone, that’s enough,” Alex said, pulling her back. “Choose what you want to eat.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and picked up my own menu, but my eyes never left the three people sitting at the table with me. For the first time in a very long time, I actually felt happy. At ease. Like I belonged, although I was technically still a stranger to both Alex and Kelly. Nevertheless, I felt welcomed, and they had drawn me in as if I were part of their family. It felt nice, different than what I was used to, and it wasn’t hard to sit back and relax.

From across the restaurant, Garth was watching us, and for some strange reason I didn’t seem to care. I’d deal with him later. Right now, I just wanted to enjoy my meal and the company I was in.

 

Chapter 9: Alex

We drove Jenni home right after dinner, although a part of me wanted to humor my father’s suggestion that we get a few drinks. If I had been a little more comfortable with leaving Kelly home alone, I might just have done it, too. But after the little run-in with Garth at the restaurant, and the fact that Heath was making daily visits to the house, the notion of Kelly in the house by herself made me incredibly uneasy.

Jenni’s apartment complex was closer to the college dorms than I thought, this part of Kent new to me after my prolonged absence. Whatever development had begun around town, there was no regard to architectural charm, which made me think that it was only a matter of time before my hometown became another heartless bundle of concrete eyesores.

“I had fun,” Jenni said as I walked her to the double glass door and waited for her to fish her keys out. “Thank you so much for dinner.”

“Don’t mention it,” I replied, catching the greens of her eyes and feeling like I could lose myself in them if I wasn’t more careful. “And sorry about what Kelly said. She can get a little out of hand sometimes.”

“It’s okay,” Jenni said. “What she said wasn’t too far off from the truth anyway, and besides, she’s an absolute sweetheart.”

“If you say so,” I chuckled. “She seems to have warmed up to you, too.” I looked over my shoulder to where Kelly sat on the open window watching us carefully and smiling. “She rarely does that with new faces.”

“Then I’ll consider myself lucky,” Jenni smiled.

If you don’t stop smiling, I’ll have to kiss you.

I quickly pushed that thought to the back of my mind. What the fuck, Alex?

“We’ll see you around,” I said instead as she unlocked the door and pushed her way in.

“Sam’s always having breakfast at the diner,” she replied. “You guys should join him. Our eggs are to die for.”

I chuckled, knowing well that Kelly would probably be pulling me out of bed tomorrow just for that. I wondered what excuse my daughter would make up so she wouldn’t look too desperate.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that,” Jenni smiled. “And thank Sam for me. He didn’t have to pick up the check.”

“He’s old school,” I said. “He’d never let a lady pay for her own meal, not while he had a penny in his pocket.”

“Thank him for me anyway,” she said and waved as the doors closed behind her.

I waited until she was out of sight, watching her skip up the stairs before turning back to the truck. My mind was racing, doing summersaults in my head, and I looked back at the glass doors as if expecting her to come back down. I shook my head angrily, forcing myself to keep moving, trying to understand what hell had gotten into me.

Smitten, Mr. DEA?

It wasn’t Janice’s voice this time, but my father’s, and when I looked up I could see him smiling at me from behind the wheel, like he knew some secret I didn’t.

Or do you?

Or did I, indeed. Dinner really had been fun, and I hadn’t felt that relaxed around someone in a long time. She was funny, handled herself well, and knew exactly what to say to win you over. My father was already infatuated by her, something he had no shamed in admitting when he called her ‘the daughter he never had’. And she was definitely on Kelly’s favorites list. So, was it really all that surprising that I would be attracted to her, too?

Too many walls, buddy. Gotta knock a few down.

True, but it had taken years to build those, and tearing them down felt like throwing away a lifetime’s effort. Besides, it wasn’t like she was available, even if her current paramour was an ass that needed to be brought down from his ivory tower. For the life of me, I could not tell what the fuck she saw in Garth Liston, but to each his own. It was not my place to voice an opinion on that, and I was not in the habit of meddling in other people’s business.

But, I did have to agree with my father. Garth felt like bad news, and it didn’t need the instincts of a DEA agent to figure that much out.

We drove home in silence, Samuel with a wide smile on his face, Kelly in the backseat and lost in her phone once again. I didn’t want to bring up dinner with either of them, and talking about what had happened with Garth seemed like a conversation for another time. Besides, I had a feeling the discussion might bring out the worst in both me and my father, and I didn’t want Kelly in the middle of it.

When we got home, my father disappeared into his room with a cheery good night, and I made sure Kelly settled in for the night. Unlike her father, she had changed the sheets on the bed and had already turned the room into her own. Got that from her mother, I thought to myself, a little impressed.

“So, when are you going to ask her out?” Kelly asked me as she jumped into bed and pulled the covers up to her waist, telephone in hand.

I snatched the phone away and put on the night stand, a ritual we went through every night. I had read something about terrible sleeping habits if you’re on your phone before going to bed.

“Ask who out?”

“You know who,” Kelly squinted at me.

“For starters, let’s agree that there are certain rules to this sort of thing,” I said. “Like, not asking someone out who is already dating?”

“Oh, come on, she hates that guy,” Kelly protested.

“You don’t know that,” I said, “and it’s none of our business.”

“I’m just saying.”

“Loud and clear, thank you Sherlock.” She reached for her phone and I pushed it away. “Second of all, I have no place for another woman in my life. You take up most of that anyway.”

“Wow, using your daughter as an excuse,” Kelly nodded. “Do they teach you that in the DEA?”

“No, they taught me how to find someone’s weakness and use it against them,” I replied. “For example, one more snarky comment from you, and your phone is mine.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Get used to it,” I said. “Now get some sleep.”

Kelly rolled over with a huff. I smiled and switched off the light.

“She likes you, you know?” Kelly mumbled.

“Phone privileges, chipmunk.”

I closed the door to the sound of one of her usual, pre-teen groans and made my way downstairs. The lights were out on the ground floor, and I could hear the distant snores of my father behind his closed door. The man still sounds like a steam mower, I thought, remembering how his snoring had always kept me up as a kid.

I closed my bedroom door, thankful that Samuel was sleeping downstairs, and gazed at the bed, pondering whether or not I had the energy to actually change the sheets. I was exhausted, and ever since we had gotten back home, my leg had started acting up again.

Just get it over with.

I sighed, pulled the dusty sheets off the bed and rummaged through the closet for fresh ones. Within twenty minutes I was undressed and lying in bed, the window above the desk open to let in the night’s breeze. It felt good not having to turn on an air conditioner, and I closed my eyes, replaying the events of the day in my head until I fell asleep.

* * *

For some reason, I was thinking about Janice, how she was always laughing.

If there was one thing nobody could deny, it was that Janice had an incredible sense of humor and had no shame in laughing out loud when she was genuinely happy. It was one of those things people found incredibly charming about her.

It was one of the things that made me fall in love with her over and over again.

“Okay, wise guy, if you want to play it that way,” Janice said. “My sister, my mother and Britney.”

“Wait, which one’s Britney?” I asked.

We were both drunk, sprawled on the living room floor with wine glasses in our hands and Boyz 2 Men playing in the background. It was a Saturday, and instead of going out, we had opted for a night in watching Friends reruns and eating popcorn. It was one of the few days I had off and I didn’t want to spend it anywhere else but home, with her. Only her.

“She’d be offended,” Janice said.

“Britney’s the art critic, right? The one who tried to sell us that painting of a dog shitting on a stone?”

Janice laughed and kicked at me. “That was a beautiful work of abstract art!”

“Looked like a dog shitting on a stone.”

“Whatever,” Janice laughed, sipping on her wine. “Yes, that’s Britney.”

“Okay, I would definitely fuck Britney,” I started.

“Expected.”

I frowned at her, smiling, and continued, “Marry your sister.”

“Gross.”

“Would you stop interrupting me?”

“That’s gross, and you know it.”

“It’s the friggin’ game,” I laughed. “And I would kill your mother.”

Janice shrugged and nodded. “Makes sense.”

“I hate that woman.”

“She’s not very fond of you, either.”

I laughed, reached for the one bottle and refilled my glass. “Your turn,” I said.

Janice leaned in, cradling her glass near her neck and blew me a kiss. “Let’s hear it, lover boy.”

I smiled. “Me, me and me.”

Janice bit her lower lip, raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her wine. I waited, our eyes locked, and shuddered when her foot touched the inside of my thigh and made its way up.

“I already married you,” she said, her foot inching closer to my cock, which, usually with a mind of its own, was already stirring. “I sometimes want to kill you.” Her foot found its place between my legs and began to rub against me. I closed my eyes, feeling the alcohol race through me and dance in my head.

Janice leaned in, replaced her foot with a hand that squeezed playfully, and whispered I my ear, “And I would most certainly fuck you.”

“Now that sounds like a plan,” I whispered.

Janice took my wine glass, placed it on the coffee table next to hers, and straddled me. Her lips locked onto mine as she slowly began to move against me, making me even harder, pushing her crotch against mine. My hands found their way around her waist, and slowly began pushing the hem of her shirt up.

“You know,” Janice said, breaking the kiss but not the grinding of her hips, “your idea of staying in tonight? Brilliant.”

I gasped, my eyes briefly closing. “I thought you might appreciate it.”

“I do,” she whispered, her lips brushing against mine. “There’s just so much we can do, isn’t there?”

“Got any big ideas?” I asked.

She looked at me seductively and began unbuttoning my pants. “A few.”

She raised her arms and let me push her shirt over her head, her breasts on full display and her nipples erect. I immediately went for them, devouring one after the other, sucking on them as she wrapped her arms around my head and brought me in closer. She moaned as my tongue swirled in circles between sucking and nibbling.

“Just like that,” she breathed against my ear, driving me crazy. “That’s it, baby, just like that.”

She began to grind harder against me, and with both hands on her ass, I pushed her down harder, feeling the warmth between her legs seep through the fabric of our clothes. Her body began to heat up, and I gently pushed her onto her back, kissing my way down. I pulled her pants off, slowly, kissing each inch of bare skin as I removed them, and then quickly got rid of her panties as well.

I stood up, swaying a bit and making her laugh as I stumbled to take off my own pants. When I had finally managed to get out my clothes, she gazed into my eyes and with a finger, beckoned me to her.

I slipped inside her easily, her warmth and wetness embracing me completely, her back arching as she moaned. My lips embraced her nipples again, and she ran her nails up and down my back, sending shudders through my whole body. I felt her clench down on me, her breath hot against my ear.

“Love me, Alex,” she whispered.

I began to move against her, slowly at first, only picking up the pace ever so slightly. I found a rhythm we were both comfortable with, something in between the insane lust I had for her right now, and the gentle love making we shared when we felt the world was barren except for us. I gazed into her eyes, kissed her lips, ran my hands up and down the sides of her body and felt her shudder with my touch.

She wrapped her legs around mine, pushing her hips up to meet my thrusts, holding me close so that I was kissing her neck and she was moaning in pleasure against my ear. The feel of her naked against me made my head swirl, and I never wanted this to end. I prayed that it would go on forever.

She rolled me over onto my back and straddled me, guiding me inside her effortlessly as she began to move. Her hips grinded against me, her fingers raked against my chest, and she threw her head back as her orgasm shook through her. She leaned in, kissed my neck, and quickened her pace. It felt like heaven, and I doubted that I could hold out much longer.

She felt the muscles of my body flex, and knew that I was close.

“Come for me,” she whispered in my ear. “Don’t hold back, baby, come for me.”

And I did. I exploded inside her with such force, my entire body shook. I held her tight in my arms, breathing her in, feeling myself pulse inside her as she clenched against me.

We stayed like that for a long time, and when she finally rolled over and snuggled against me, she was already half asleep. I held her close, felt her heart beating against my chest, and drifted away.

* * *

I woke up to the sounds of footsteps on the second-floor landing, and instinctively reached under my pillow for the gun that I had forgotten was not there. The lights in the house were out, and the only illumination came from the moonlight that found its way through the bedroom window.

Kelly appeared at my door, hair disheveled, blanket in her hand.

“Dad?”

“What’s wrong?” I asked, frowning as she made her way into my bedroom and stood by the bed.

“New house,” she said simply, and it was all the explanation I needed.

I made space for her to crawl into bed next to me. She shifted and turned until she found a comfortable position, then pulled her blanket over her shoulders.

I laid back and stroked her hair until her breathing slowed. I envied how quickly she could fall asleep sometimes, although it was a trait I wished she had had back when she was a toddler. Back when putting her down usually meant that I would fall asleep first and she would wake me up every few minutes, as if it were some kind of game to her.

I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes. After her death, I had dreamt of Janice almost on a daily basis, and I usually woke up feeling a lot worse than when I had gone to sleep. It was no secret that I missed her, but the dreams made finding closure so much harder. Luckily, those dreams had become rarer over the years, but every now and then, that one memory would pop up. That night of wine and games and laughter, when we were our happiest. It was three weeks after that night that we had found out Janice was pregnant, and to this day, that night was the one memory that cut through me the worst.

Kelly shifted beside me, and for the first time in a long while, I longed for Janice to be here with us. To see the beautiful girl her daughter had grown up to be. To take care of the idiot her husband had become.

To keep the two of us from losing our minds completely and tearing at each other’s throats. To share the moments when we laughed so hard, Kelly would roll onto her back and kick her feet into the air.

My chest clenched, and I felt tears well up behind my closed lids. I fought them back, took a deep breath, and let it out in a long and broken sigh.

I fell asleep a few minutes later, and dreamt of nothing at all.

 

 

Chapter 10: Jenni

I couldn’t stop thinking about Alex Logan.

I had tried to sleep early, grateful for the fact that Garth had not passed by as promised. On any other night, I might have been upset, angry even, although it would be fairly unlikely for him to actually do what he said he would. A part of me had expected him to show up and break the mold, only because he had seen me out with the Logans. Garth had a habit of marking his territory, and spending the night at my place would have been an opportune way to show me who wore the pants in what we were kidding ourselves into thinking was a relationship.

Thankfully, though, Garth hadn’t passed by, and I had spent the night tossing and turning in bed before finally giving into the fact that I was not going to get any sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I’d see Alex. Hazel eyes boring into mine, strong hands holding my waist and pulling me closer to him. I imagined running my hands over what I could only imagine was a perfectly chiseled body, and I caught myself crossing my legs just to calm the heat coming from in between them.

I had spent most of the night in front of the computer, Casper cuddled at me feet as I wrote. Chapter after chapter, the words just flowing as if I had no control over them. I was on cruise control, typing away like a mad woman, and all the time using Alex as the image for my protagonist. The sex scene I wrote was one of the hottest I had ever conceived, and I had stopped at least three or four times to cool down before continuing. In my head, Alex was the alpha male and I was the innocent damsel in distress, and although the story I was writing was borderline cliché, it hadn’t been hard imagining the two of us as the characters rolling about under the covers in my story.

It was only when the sun had come up did I find myself crawling into bed and falling asleep, only to be woken up two hours later to the incessant ringing of my phone and Hank demanding to know where the hell I was.

“I need to talk to you.” My father’s gruff voice startled me, and I looked up from the finance sheets I was revising from the day before. I was exhausted, eyes drooping, the numbers in front of me blurring into each other and making absolutely no sense.

The morning crowd had already begun to gather, and most of the tables were occupied. Three waitresses were dashing back and forth between the guests and the kitchen, calling out orders and refilling coffee. It was the usual bustle of a busy day, and although I was supposed to be wide awake, keeping an eye on everything going on, I was lost in my own little world.

Something my dad was aware of, especially after giving me a look that would have had me cowering into a corner if I hadn’t been this tired.

“Sure, dad, what’s up?”

Hank shook his head and nodded to the back, a gesture I knew meant he had serious business to discuss with me. I braced myself and followed him past the kitchen and the storage room, then into his office.

The small space that was occupied by a desk and filing cabinet was barely enough for the two of us together, and I had to press myself against the wall just to close the door.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush, Jenni,” Hank said, sitting down behind his desk. I always found it amusing how big he looked in his chair, his burly figure almost falling over the sides as he rested his arms on the desk. “I’m disappointed, and I have a feeling you know why.”

“Sorry, dad,” I replied. “I didn’t mean to be late. I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“That’s not what I was talking about,” Hank said. “Although, I’m guessing both subjects are related.”

I frowned in confusion and waited for my father to keep going. He had a habit of pausing for effect, and at times like this, that was more than just annoying.

“Garth Liston,” Hank said.

I felt my heart drop, knowing that the conversation I had hoped to avoid was now upon me. “What about him?” I asked, feigning disinterest.

“Listen, Jenni, what you do on your own time, behind the closed doors of your apartment, that’s your deal,” Hank said. “I already told you how I feel about you moving out, but you made it crystal clear that this is your life, and I really don’t have a say in it.”

“I didn’t say that,” I began, but was stopped before I could continue.

“Not the point,” he said. “What I do want to say, though, is that your life is what you do outside the diner doors. I don’t want you bringing your private life into this diner. Especially when your private life includes that piece of scum.”

“Dad…”

“Don’t interrupt me,” Hank cut me short. “That kid’s bad news, Jenni. Always has been, always will be, and you’d do best to stay the hell away from him.”

“Okay, can you slow down,” I said. “First of all, I’m not really dating him.”

“Just fucking him, then?”

“Dad!”

“Stating the obvious, here,” Hank said, holding up his hands. “And believe me, I’m not at all happy about it.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned at him. “Fine, yes, just that. I thought there might be more to it, but apparently there isn’t, and I don’t think I’m going to be seeing him anymore.”

My father eyed me for a beat before leaning back and folding his hands on his belly, sniffing loudly as he tried to read me and see if I was pulling his leg.

“I’m serious, alright?” I said. “What happened yesterday, that was a mistake, and I’m sorry. But this really is the end of it, and I’m not just saying that to make you feel better.”

Hank scratched his nose, sniffed again and nodded. “Alright,” he said. “You know I’m only coming down hard on you because I love you, right?”

I nodded, smiling a little. “Sure.”

“And you’ll always be my little girl, so don’t even ask me to stop treating you like one, although I try not to.”

“I know.”

“But in the back room? Really?” Hank’s face shifted into a mask of disgust. “That’s just wrong.”

“If it’s alright with you,” I said, “I really don’t feel like discussing my sex life with my father.”

“Then keep your sex life out of my diner,” Hank replied. “Now go wash your face, try to at least look like you’re awake, and get to work.”

I smiled and saluted lazily. “Aye, aye, sir.”

I walked out of the office and made my way to the lockers just beyond the storage room. There was a small bathroom there reserved for the employees, and I locked myself in and gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I really did look like shit. I had no idea how I’d left the house looking like this, and quickly washed my face and adjusted my make-up and hair. When I felt like I looked at least presentable, I walked back out and took up my regular position at the bar, sitting down tiredly and sighing as I flipped through the pages of finances I had to revise.

After an hour, I quickly realized I was probably going to get nothing done today. I sat back, stretched, and watched the waitresses as they worked. I smiled at a few of the guests, got up to help when I felt the orders were a little too overwhelming, and manned the register while my dad socialized with some of his older friends. By the time afternoon came rolling in, I already felt like I needed at least a gallon of coffee or I’d pass out in the back office from the exhaustion.

“Hey, waitress, what’s good to eat here?” I jumped and turned just as Samuel Logan slid into his regular seat and Kelly jumped into the one next to him. She shot me a smile.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite regular and his incredibly gorgeous granddaughter,” I smiled, the exhaustion taking an immediate backseat as I quickly looked over their shoulders to see if they had come alone.

“Hi, Jenni,” Kelly greeted, immediately grabbing the menu.

“Thought I’d show the little rascal where her grandfather has the best breakfast in Kent,” Samuel said, ruffling Kelly’s hair and rewarded with a scowl that would have burned down buildings.

I laughed. “A little late for breakfast, don’t you think?”

“Dad took forever to wake up,” Kelly said, rolling her eyes.

I looked at the door again, then back at them. “Did he drop you off?”

“He’ll be here shortly,” Samuel winked at me, and I raised an amused eyebrow at him in response.

“He’s getting his drugs,” Kelly said. “Apparently, he can’t go a day without them.”

I frowned and looked at Samuel for an explanation.

“Pain killers,” Samuel said. “He got shot a few months back. Still dealing with it.”

“Oh my god!”

“Drug bust gone bad,” Samuel said. “But he’s fine now. Just a bad leg that constantly nags at him.”

“And of course, it’s affected his capacity for rational thinking,” Kelly muttered.

I laughed again, and Samuel ruffled her hair once more, quickly dodging as she tried to slap his hand away. “I say get this one some food before her mouth gets the better of her.”

I took their orders, relayed it to the kitchen, and returned a few minutes later just as Alex walked in. He wore an open flannel shirt over a white t-shit that gave me the perfect idea of just what was hidden underneath, and I began undressing him with my eyes as he approached us, only realizing I was doing it when he frowned at me over a confused smile. I quickly snapped out of it and smiled back.

“Good morning,” Alex said, taking the seat beside his daughter.

“Afternoon, dad, seriously,” Kelly replied.

“She still hasn’t eaten anything?” Alex asked, looking at Samuel.

Samuel only shrugged and chuckled.

“Food’s on its way,” I said. “You want to give me your order so they can fix it up and bring them all together?”

“God no, get Kelly’s food first,” Alex said. “Or we’ll be facing the wrath of the antichrist before we know it.”

Kelly looked at him, shook her head in disapproval, then looked back at me while rolling her eyes. The dynamic between the two of them was entertaining.

The bickering and snarky comments went back and forth even as they ate, and I found myself amazed at just how sarcastic Kelly was, and witty. I had read somewhere once that wit was the sign of great intelligence, and the way this girl was shooting remarks back and forth had me smiling the entire time.

By the end of their meal, Samuel had to practically drag her away from her father, making up some excuse about showing her around town. When Alex offered to join them, Samuel quickly refused.

“I’d rather the two of you spend some quality time away from each other,” Samuel laughed and winked at me.

We watched them leave before Alex turned back to me and shrugged. “Sorry about that,” he said. “We do get along on most days.”

“I think it’s cute,” I replied, gesturing to the coffee pot. He nodded and refilled his cup. “You’re doing a great job with her.”

“Thanks,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m in over my head, but she’s quick to put me back in my place.”

I laughed at that. I could only imagine what it was like behind closed doors between the two of them. Alex watching TV, Kelly glued to her phone, the two of them throwing side remarks at each other every few minutes just to see who cold annoy the other more. I felt like their life mirrored the life of roommates more than that of father and daughter. I found myself wondering what it would be like to share a living space with the two of them.

Careful, there, missy. You’re treading into dangerous territory.

“You never mentioned you were a cop,” I said.

Alex nodded. “DEA,” he explained. “Fighting the never-ending war on drugs and losing miserably one day at a time.”

“That’s a bit cynical,” I laughed.

“It’s the truth,” he replied. “Sure, we do the best we can, but the truth is we’re only getting small wins here and there. You’d be lucky to take down any of the big fish.”

“Must make the job hard.”

“It does,” Alex replied. “All you can really do is wake up, go do your job the best way you can, and pray you don’t get shot in the process.”

“I guess sometimes the prayers go unanswered?”

He looked up at me with a frown, then smiled. “Samuel told you about my accident, huh?”

“I wouldn’t really call getting shot an accident.”

“Yeah, I guess not,” he said, his voice drifting off a bit as he sipped on his coffee.

“So, is that why you’re really in Kent?” I asked. “Rehab?”

Alex looked at me, and I mentally slapped myself for prying. It really wasn’t any of my business. One dinner with the Logan family didn’t make it alright for me to ask too many questions.

“I’m sorry,” I quickly apologized, giving him a weak smile.

“It’s alright,” he assured. “Partly, yes. Was forced into a vacation, needed to reevaluate a few things, and decided to do that thinking here where I didn’t have the Miami hustle and bustle to distract me.”

“Well, I’m glad you did,” I said.

He smiled, took a sip from his coffee and just looked at the cup in his hands. The distant look in his eyes made me feel like I had just fucked up.

“So, what do you have planned for the day?” I asked, trying to change subjects and bring the conversation back to more comfortable ground.

“Nothing, really,” he said. “Wanted to look into a few things regarding investors who have been harassing my father about buying old family land. Want to figure out what it will take to get it to their heads that no means no.”

“Alexis?” I asked.

“Excuse me?”

“The company that wants to build a casino, right?”

Alex nodded.

“Alexis Hope,” I replied, shuddering at the disgusting taste the name left in my mouth. “She runs Hope Enterprises, or at least the branch of it that deals with real estate. Her company’s behind the compounds and dorm buildings all over town.”

“Really?” Alex asked. “Hope Enterprises? Sounds familiar, just can’t place it.”

“As much as I know, it’s a pretty low-key company, but definitely Fortune 500. Just doesn’t make a big craze about everything it does.”

Alex frowned and shrugged. “Why would they be interested in Kent?”

“The university,” I replied.

“We don’t have a university,” Alex smiled.

“We will in about a year,” I said. “Big plans, already bought the land and started digging. It’s supposed to bring in up to five thousand students. That’s a lot of business for Kent.”

“Right, and more investors, I get it,” Alex nodded. “Where university students go, the money follows.”

“Pretty much.” I leaned in and scratched the back of my head. “I mean, Kent’s seen major change just because of the college. Imagine what an added university is going to do.”

“Well, at least you’ve given me a place to start,” Alex said, “and why Heath Collins is the middle of this.”

I cringed at the mention of Heath’s name, and decided to avoid talking about Garth’s involvement as well.

“Thanks, Jenni,” Alex said, standing up and pulling out his wallet.

“On the house,” I said quickly. “Don’t worry about it. Besides, Samuel’s in here every day, so your breakfast basically been paid for a hundred times over.”

Alex laughed and pocketed his wallet. “Fine, then at least let me get you coffee later.”

I felt my heart jump and smiled. “Coffee sounds good.”

“When do you get off?”

“Usually at three, but I’m going to have to be here until the paperwork is done,” I said. “So maybe six or seven.”

“Seven it is,” Alex said with a wide smile. “I’ll see you then.”

I watched him walk out the diner, giving my father a quick wave before he disappeared out the door. I looked at the time on my phone and already began counting down the minutes.

 

Chapter 11: Alex

I found out very little about Hope Enterprises, the company pushing to bring a casino to Kent.

I didn’t know if it was because they were intentionally keeping a low profile, or simply the fact that everything they were involved in seemed far too boring to make any headlines.

My research online resulted in a bunch of websites outlining just what the company was all about, their achievements, and basically a bunch of praises from obscure names I had never really heard of. Other than that, they seemed clean. A little too clean, but nothing that threw up red flags in my mind.

Alexis Hope was a completely different persona altogether. From the scant number of pictures of her I could find, she seemed like the type of woman who would walk through a steel wall to get what she wanted, and do it without breaking a sweat.

Black raven hair, blue eyes that promised to bore into your soul and learn your darkest secrets, and enough of a poise that radiated confidence and control to make any man uncomfortable.

She was not a woman I wanted to cross paths with.

When you put her next to the information I could find on her company, something just didn’t add up. It was hard to believe that someone like her would lack the ambition to be front cover news on every magazine in the country. I rarely met a woman in my professional career who was in a position of corporate power and had no desire for the spotlight. Alexis Hope radiated ‘newsworthy’, and the fact that I could find out so little about her made me skeptical.

I placed a call in to Raul in Miami, and after about fifteen minutes of assuring him that I was good, that Kent was beautiful, that Kelly was doing great, I filled him in on what I needed. He didn’t seem all too convinced that doing a background check on Hope Enterprises was worth his time, but the minute I told him I’d drive back to Miami and do it myself, he promised he would. Anything to make sure I got the rest I needed, or at least what everyone thought I needed.

I spent the couple of hours before my meeting with Jenni in the park. Samuel had shown Kelly most of the town, and from the looks of it, she wasn’t all too impressed. The park, though, was different. We took her to the duck pond where I had spent most of my afternoons with my father after my mother had died. It was a magical little place, secluded from the noise of the rest of the park, nestled amid large maples that hung over it like a protective veil. At night, if the moonlight was just right, you could easily lose track of time here. And there were nights where Samuel and I stayed there until dawn.

I drove them home, literally pulling Kelly away from the pond, and parked my car in front of the diner at exactly seven. Jenni came out a few minutes later, looking like she had had the worst day of her life, eyes droopy as she opened the passenger side door and all but collapsed in her seat.

“Home?” I asked. She looked beautiful, despite how tired she appeared to be. I caught myself tracing the lines of her cheek and jaw down to her neck and collar. I imagined my lips there, and quickly shook the image away.

Jenni shook her head quickly. “God, no, I’ve actually been looking forward to this,” she said.

“Actually?”

She giggled. “Yes, actually. If I go home now, I’ll crash, and that means the day’s been a complete waste.”

I shifted the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot.

* * *

“You’re kidding!”

The coffee shop was a cozy little establishment just off North Main Street, surrounded by quaint little houses and with an evening crowd that wasn’t too much of an ear sore. We were sitting at a table by the large window looking out onto front garden that was decorated with enough gnomes and flamingos to make your mind spin, but the atmosphere was welcoming, and the soft rock music playing mixed with the aroma of fresh coffee splendidly.

“Nope, I’m serious,” Jenni said, laughing.

“Erotica?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief. “I would never have imagined.”

“Why?” she asked, sipping at her coffee. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Agent Logan.”

“Apparently so,” I chuckled. “So why ghostwriting? Why not try publishing your own work.”

Jenni shrugged. “No idea, really,” she said. “Competition’s fierce, and getting a leg into the market’s hard. I got enough rejection letters to bind into an encyclopedia. Besides, it pays the bills.”

“But your ideas, you’re just giving them away.”

“Not really,” she explained. “Most of the time, they’re not my ideas. I get an outline to work with most of the time. So basically, I’m just filling in the spaces, if you think about it.”

“Wow,” I said, leaning back in my seat, and eyeing her. In the dim light of the coffee shop, she looked even more beautiful, and I found myself staring a little too hard. “Wow,” I repeated, not really knowing what else to say.

“I’ll send you a few things I’ve written,” she smiled. “Get your opinion and all.”

“I’m not much of a reader, to be honest, but sure, why not?”

She smiled wider and nodded, gazing out the window as we sat silently for a few minutes, just enjoying the coffee and each other’s company. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this comfortable, and it was strange. I found it funny that in Kent, of all places, I’d come across someone who didn’t make me want to immediately shoot myself in the head.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” I said. “Shoot.”

“Did you ever think of quitting?”

I frowned. “The DEA?”

She nodded.

I thought about her question for a few seconds, wondering just what I could say that wouldn’t make me sound too cliché. “Not really,” I finally answered. “I love the job. Small wins or not, I feel like I’m making a difference.” Yeah, not cliché at all.

“You’re not worried?” she asked.

“About what?”

“Well, you know?” She hesitated. “I mean, you were shot.”

I shrugged, trying to look like it wasn’t a big deal. “Part of the job.”

“Come on,” she scoffed.

“Okay, maybe that’s playing it down a bit,” I admitted. “Sure, it’s crossed my mind a few times. Especially since Kelly’s only got me and Samuel. I’d hate her to grow up without both parents.”

“But you wouldn’t quit for her?”

I frowned, wondering what she was getting at, and a part of me a little uncomfortable with where this conversation was going. I hated when people assumed that I didn’t care about my daughter, that I was being selfish, but I didn’t want to jump the gun and think Jenni was just going to attack me for this. She looked like she was genuinely concerned.

“If she asks me to, I probably will,” I replied. “So far she’s dealing with it as best as she can. She was my wall when I was bedridden after the accident. She’s a lot stronger than people give her credit for.”

“What exactly happened in this accident?” Jenni asked, leaning in and resting her chin on her hands.

I sighed and sat back, playing with the table spoon. “Long story.”

“I’m actually interested.”

“Actually?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She smiled and nodded.

“We had a lead on a major drug deal, and my partner and I were assigned with staking the place out,” I started. “We didn’t think it would be anything. You have so many moles in the business, bad information is quite common. And if the information is right, the dealers usually get a warning before we can do anything. It’s rare that we actually catch a deal of that magnitude when it’s actually happening.”

“But this was different?”

I nodded. “The dealers showed up. My partner, Raul, wanted to wait for backup, but I was sure that by the time the cavalry arrived, the dealers would have been warned. So, we went in.”

“How bad was it?”

“Bad enough that I spent three weeks in the hospital, and another month at home with my twelve-year-old babysitting me and my father trying to keep our lives together. Two bullets almost ripped my guts apart, one missed my heart by a couple of inches, and two shattered my femur. I’ve recovered for the most part, but my leg’s still killing me. Some nights the pain is so bad I can’t even get out of bed.”

Jenni’s eyes were wide, and she looked at me with a mix of sympathy and concern. I wondered what was going through her head at that moment. Her eyes were fixated on me, staring at me for what seemed like forever, as if trying to read me, before she looked away and sipped at her coffee.

“Not a great story to tell at parties,” I tried to joke.

She looked up at me, her face clearly portraying that she wasn’t amused, and looked away again. “How did Kelly handle all that?”

I hesitated. I had always seen my daughter as a rock, and although I knew she had definitely been affected by the whole thing, she was quick to show that she was okay. We had never really discussed the shooting, or how she was doing. She never gave me a reason to believe that she was suffering from it.

“She took care of her old man, and did a pretty good job at keeping her head together, I guess,” I said. “We haven’t talked about it, really.”

“She’s a strong girl.”

“Takes after her mother,” I said.

Jenni looked up again. “How did she die?”

I choked a bit. I rarely talked about Janice with anyone other than my father, and even then, it was to remember something she said or did that had us both laughing out loud. The death part had always been something we avoided.

Come to think of it, you’re a family that loves to avoid touchy subjects.

True.

“Cancer,” I replied.

“Must have been hard.”

I nodded. “When it was bad,” I said. “She was strong, though, joked about it when she could. She loved life too much to let the sickness ruin her last days.” I hesitated. “I only realized that the thing was deadly when she was gone. She never made me feel like she was going to die. I think at some point I thought she’d fight it away.”

“I’m sorry,” Jenni said. She reached out and held my hand, and although I could see her do it, I couldn’t feel the touch. I had been brought back to a time I usually avoided reminiscing about, and the rush of emotions racing through me was overwhelming.

“It’s okay,” I said, trying to smile. “I have the memories of when it was beautiful, and that’s what I hold onto when I remember her.”

“Does Kelly remember her?”

I shook my head. “She was too young when it happened. When she asks about Janice, I share what I can, and make sure she knows that she was loved. It’s what Janice would have wanted. I never talk about the cancer.”

She squeezed my hand, and I smiled at her. I didn’t understand it, but for the first time ever, I didn’t mind talking about Janice with someone else. I was comfortable, too, as if this was right. Like Jenni had a right to know, for some reason.

“How about you drive me home, and go kiss your daughter good night?” Jenni smiled. “Besides, if I stay here any longer, you might have to carry me home.”

I chuckled, a little grateful at her attempt to lighten the mood. I nodded to the waitress and gestured for the check, noticing that Jenni was still holding my hand. And I was completely fine with it.

 

Chapter 12: Jenni

I wanted to hug him. I wanted to hold him in my arms, feel him wrapped around me, and just hold him. It was the most overwhelming of feelings, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t shake it off.

I didn’t know what it was. The way he talked about his wife and daughter, the sadness in his eyes, the sheer vulnerability that he had shown. It all mixed together in a mesh of emotions that had me wishing I could have him all to myself, behind closed doors, where I could hold him and make him feel that everything was alright.

I had never really expected to see that side of him. The confidence he radiated, the strength in his demeanor, it had made me a little cautious. A part of me had believed that my attraction to Alex was solely physical, and the fact that he was a cop had only added to the appeal. The ‘danger’ that I was always drawn to.

But this was different. This feeling in the pit of my stomach, the emotions coursing through me, I had never felt anything like it before. All of a sudden, I saw him in a different light. He was still the strong, confident DEA agent with all the testosterone filled appeal that I loved. But there was also another layer there, hidden beneath the surface. Gentle, loving, caring, willing to give the people he loved everything and anything. And after glimpsing it, even if for such a short period of time, I felt drawn to him even more.

You’re in a lot of trouble, Jenni Wright.

“You don’t say,” I muttered to myself.

Alex leaned against his car and folded his arms across his chest, his eyes boring into mine, and I felt that if I met them for too long, I’d end up breaking down and just admitting everything I felt to him.

“I had fun,” he said.

“Definitely an interesting cup of coffee,” I replied, returning his smile and thanking the fact that the night was hiding the blush I could feel creeping into my cheeks.

He opened the passenger door for me. “Let’s get you home before you collapse right here.”

I laughed as I got in, the day truly taking its toll on me, but that wasn’t the reason why I wanted to go home. A part of me knew that if I spent any more time with Alex, I’d be inviting him up for more coffee, and maybe a little more.

He was closing the door when he stopped. He was looking out at the other parked cars, and I turned to see what had grabbed his attention. A few cars down, I caught sight of one of Heath’s friends.

I had immediately disliked the guy when I had first seen him, and hated how he seemed to be stuck to Garth and Heath’s hips wherever they went.

He was standing between two cars talking to a couple of kids that looked like college students, and as I watched, they exchanged something quickly between them.

Oh shit!

“Hold on,” Alex said, closing the door.

This was not going to go well.

Chapter 13: Alex

“Jack, right?”

Jack swirled around just as I came up behind him, I smiled at the other two as they quickly pushed at each other and rushed away. I saw one of them pocket something, telling the other to hurry as they made their way to a car parked a few feet away.

Jack blocked their retreat, standing in front of me with his arms crossed and eyes squinting at me, an aggressive stance that almost made me laugh.

“Just thought I’d come over and say hi,” I said. “Oh, and maybe tell you that what you’re doing is considered illegal in most states. All of them, actually.”

“And what am I doing, exactly?”

I smiled. “Come on, buddy,” I said. “It’s pretty obvious. I mean, you might as well hang a sign around your neck saying, ‘buy drugs here’.”

Jack pulled himself up straight and took what I honestly believed he thought was a menacing step towards me. “Yeah? And what is it to you?”

“Well, given that it’s my job, I feel obligated to make a citizen’s arrest and take you for a ride to the Sheriff. You know, Kent being out of my jurisdiction and all.”

Jack laughed, actually laughed, and leaned against one of the cars. “That’s cute.”

“Isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“Good, we both see eye to eye, then,” I smiled. “So, easy way or hard way?”

Jack shook his head, stepped closer and looked over my shoulder. “Hey, Jenni, can you tell your friend here to mind his own business,” he said. He looked me in the eye as he continued, “He might get himself hurt.”

I didn’t turn around, and silently cursed the fact that Jenni hadn’t stayed in the car. If things got messy, I didn’t want her close to the action where this dimwit could take advantage of her presence and use her against me.

“Kent’s really not the kind of place where you want to use a threat like that,” I said. “I mean, are you going to beat me with one of those flamingos?”

“No,” Jack said, pulling a switchblade out of his pocket and flipping the blade open. “Turn around and walk away.”

“You’re threatening a DEA agent, you know that, right?”

Jack smiled. “I said, walk away.”

I glanced down at the blade, then back at Jack. He was feeling big, confident that he was in charge of the situation. The fact that he had the audacity to even pull the blade out in the first place made my blood boil. It was one thing to not care about the local, small town authority, but it took a completely different level of ‘idiot’ to actually threaten an officer with a weapon. The smirk on his face didn’t help, either. It made me wonder just how much pull Heath and his friends had in Kent.

“I’d put that away, if I were you,” I said, the jovial tone in my voice gone now, my firsts curling.

Jack waved at me with the knife, gesturing for me to keep moving, his smug smile making matters worse. “Get moving before I decide to use this,” he said.

Without thinking twice, my hand shot out, almost as if by instinct. I grabbed his wrist, twisted hard, and pushed him against the car. He cried out in pain as the knife fell from his grip and clattered against the asphalt.

He threw a fist at me. I dodged, let go of his hand and threw one of my own, feeling a sharp pain in my knuckles as they connected with his jaw.

Jack’s head snapped to a side and he fell to one knee, the blow taking him as much by surprise as the speed of his disarming.

The bastard was quick, though. He jumped at me, wrapping his arms around my waist and slamming me into the other car, immediately kneeing me in the side as he threw one punch after the other.

I blocked most of them, one or two getting past my defenses. I felt my head rattle, and steeled myself against his flurry of punches. As soon as I found an opening, I grabbed him by the wrist, twisted his arm, and brought my elbow down against his, bending it out of place.

I heard the snap of his joints and the satisfying shrill scream of pain that followed. Not letting go, I kicked him in the back of his knee, brought him down, and slammed his face against the car door.

“Alex!”

The whole thing had probably taken a few seconds. Jenni was pulling at my arm and trying to drag me away. Jack was coughing, blood oozing out of his nose, and he looked up at me with rage.

“You’re dead, man!”

I pulled out of Jenni’s grip, grabbed Jack by the collar and heaved him onto his feet. I grabbed his arm, applying as much pressure as I could to his broken elbow, and he screamed in pain.

“Watch it,” I warned, hissing the threat between clenched teeth.

He squirmed, tried to kick out, but the effort was weak. I punched him again and let him drop to the ground in a heap, his head rolling to a side as he wheezed through his broken nose. Jenni pulled at me again.

“That’s enough, Alex,” she was saying. “I think he’s gotten the point.”

I looked around. A small crowd had gathered around us from the coffee shop, eyes wide, some holding their cellphones and filming everything. I let Jenni drag me away and back to the car.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she shot.

“You’re kidding, right?” I shot back. “We have to get this guy to the Sheriff.”

“The Sheriff isn’t going to do anything,” she said. “Just get in the car and let’s go. You’ve taught him his lesson.”

I frowned at her, looking back at where I knew Jack lay sprawled on the asphalt between the two cars. What did she mean by the Sheriff wasn’t going to do anything?

“Let’s go, Alex,” Jenni urged.

I shook my head in confusion, unsatisfied with the fact that I wasn’t putting the prick behind bars. I looked at her, and she just waved at me to hurry up.

I got into the car, shifted into reverse, and pulled out of the parking lot. I took one last look at the scene, then turned the car around and drove away.

 

 

Chapter 14: Jenni

“This is going to sting.”

We were in my living room, Alex on a chair by the window while I dabbed the cut above his eye. He winced just a little, but didn’t pull back, and I would have mocked his macho attitude if it weren’t for the fact that he had just pissed off a lot of the wrong people.

Jack was Garth’s lap dog, and if there was one thing Garth hated more than anything, it was attacking one of his own. It was like an attack on him personally, and he took this shit far too seriously.

“I’m fine, you know,” Alex said.

“Shut up,” I replied, angry and worried at the same time.

There was a lot about Kent that Alex Logan didn’t know, and I doubted Samuel had brought him up to speed on even the half of it. Ever since the college popped up and brought with it a new kind of community, Garth had quickly gotten into the distribution business. There was a reason why my father thought he was bad news, and although no one could really pin anything on Garth, it was common knowledge that he had his fingers in one too many cookie jars. The drug dealing was only the half of it, but a pretty lucrative half, especially amongst college kids.

He had a big stake in the casino and university, too. There was no telling how big his business would grow once those kicked off. And there was no doubt how much more aggressive and possessive he would become. He already had the Sheriff in his pocket, and I doubted there would be a limit to how much money he’d be willing to throw around to get what he wanted.

The only thing standing in the way of the casino was Samuel Logan, and now Alex had just beat the shit out of one of Garth’s ‘friends’. That was definitely not going to sit well with him.

I dabbed at the cut on Alex’s head. You need to let him know. He’s in the middle of all this now.

But I couldn’t. If today was any indication of how Alex’s moral compass swung, he’d probably try and put a stop to all this. As a DEA agent, I expected nothing less, and knew what that meant. He’d taken a risk and had almost been killed in the process. What would happen to him here where he didn’t have backup? And what would his involvement mean for Samuel, or Kelly for that matter?

I sighed, my mind whirling. This is one fucking mess.

“There,” I finally said. “I don’t think you need stitches.”

“I know I don’t need stitches,” Alex smiled.

“Stop that,” I said. “There’s nothing funny about what happened back there. What the hell were you thinking?”

Alex frowned. “I was stopping a drug dealer from distributing.”

“You do know that he’ll probably just be doing the same thing tomorrow, right?”

“With an arm in a sling.”

“Funny.”

“Seriously, why are you surprised?” Alex asked. “You know this is my job.”

“Not in Kent,” I shot back. “We have a Sheriff for that.”

“Right,” he scoffed. “The same one you said wouldn’t do anything?”

“That’s beyond the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

I opened my mouth, hesitated, and closed it again. “You’re not on home ground, Alex,” I finally explained. “The dynamic here is different. This isn’t the Kent we grew up in.”

“Care to explain that?”

I shook my head. “Let’s just try to remember that you’re here to spend time with your father and recover. It’s not fair for your family to get in the middle of the crap that goes on here.”

Alex shook his head. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

“It doesn’t have to,” I said. “Just let the local authority deal with this shit, and enjoy the summer, would you?”

Alex stood up. “What aren’t you telling me?”

I collected the cotton and Betadine, carrying back to the kitchen as he followed me. “Nothing,” I said. “I just want you to be safe. I want Kelly to be safe.”

“Okay, first of all, I can handle myself just swell, thank you very much,” Alex chastised. “Secondly, no one’s going to care about my daughter’s safety as much as I am.”

I whirled around. “Right, and you have the bullet wounds to prove it?”

Alex stopped and stared at me, his eyes locked on mine.

“I’m sorry,” I said, turning away. “That’s not my place.”

“No, it’s not,” Alex replied, his voice calm yet firm.

I looked up at him, nodded and dropped the cotton and Betadine onto the counter. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

“Listen, tonight was fun, despite everything,” I said. “Thank you for driving me home.”

Alex looked at me a moment longer, his eyes searching mine. “No problem,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”

I gave him a weak smile and nodded.

“I’ll let myself out,” he said. He leaned in, kissed my cheek, and walked out.

I listened to him open the front door and called out, “Alex!”

I hurried out of the kitchen. He was standing by the open door, looking at me, waiting. I walked over to him, slowly, hesitantly. I placed a hand on his chest, leaning into him as I closed the door and locked it. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, and when I looked up at him, I immediately lost all restraint. I kissed him, softly at first, wavering for a second before I felt his lips move against mine as he kissed me back. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pushing into his hold, pressing tightly against him as the kiss quickly turned into a heated lock of lips that sent shivers up and down my spine.

I felt my entire body go flaccid, his hands running up and down my back, his lips kissing me hungrily as we moved away from the door, locked in each other’s embrace. I led him to the couch, not breaking the kiss as I fell back onto it and brought him down with me. I loved the feel of the weight of him on top of me, and our kiss intensified as his hands explored every inch of me. I gave into his touch, feeling tingles everywhere, shockwaves shooting up and down my body. His lips kissed along my jawline, then down to me neck and my collar.

His hands found their way under the hem of my shirt, pushing it up as he continued to explore my body, gently cupping my breasts as he kissed me. The heat in my body rose, and I could feel every inch of me begging to feel the touch of his lips against it. I laced my hands in his hair, pulling him closer, feeling like I wanted to crawl up inside him, his embrace like a warm blanket around me.

He looked up at me, our eyes locking, my chest rising and falling in deep, heated breaths. He pushed my shirt higher, and I raised my arms as he slipped the fabric off me and tossed it onto the ground. I kissed him deeply, unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it off. I ran my hands across his chest, the perfectly chiseled body I had imagined finding finally under my fingertips. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling his breath against my neck, moaning softly as he pressed up against me. I could feel every inch of him against me, the touch of our skin driving me crazy and making me want him even more.

I sat up, grabbed him by the hand and led him to the bedroom. Before we even got to the bed, his arms wrapped around me, and his lips kissed the nape of my neck, sending shivers through me. I pushed back against him, feeling him hard against my ass, his fingers expertly unbuttoning my jeans. I slipped out of them quickly, turned around and kissed him. His touch felt like heaven, is strong hands holding me tight, the heat emanating from him mixing with my own as we fell back onto the bed.

His kisses traced lines down my chest, across my breasts, down the side of my body and across my stomach. I raised my hips against him, opening my legs as he adjusted himself between them, kissing his way back to my neck. His hands flicked at the front clasp of my bra, and he bent down, hungrily sucking at one nipple after the other. His tongue swirled, his teeth nibbled, and it was all I could do to not jump him right there. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the feeling, his lips everywhere, his hands squeezing my breasts. I could feel him rock hard through his pants, pressing against me, grinding slowly.

I gasped as he pulled my panties down, sliding them off my legs slowly and kissing the inside of my thighs. I curled my fingers in his hair, and held my breath as he made his way up higher. I was gushing, his touch and kisses driving me insane, and when his lips locked onto my pussy, I arched my back and moaned out loud. His hands grabbed my ass, pushing my hips up, his tongue lapping at my pussy, moving up and down slowly and sliding into me. My legs shook as he sucked at my clit and nibbled at it, his hands squeezing my ass as his tongue expertly worked at me. Before I knew it, I was pressing his face against my pussy and exploding with an intense orgasm that shook me to the core.

My hips fell back, and I clutched at the sheets, breathing heavily, my eyes closed and my head spinning. The bed shifted as he stood up, and I could hear him unzip his pants. I opened my eyes just as he crawled back on top of me, pushing his hard cock against me, burying the width of it between my pussy lips and rubbing against me. I grasped onto his arms, the muscles there flexing against my touch as he moved against me. I locked my eyes onto his, waiting for him, grinding against him and letting him know I was ready.

He slid in effortlessly, and I felt my pussy stretched to the limit against how hard he was. He filled me up, slowly, completely, pressed against every inch of me as I reflexively clenched down on him. He closed his eyes and groaned, settling inside me. He sucked at my nipples, and slowly began to move, out and then in. I wrapped my arms around him, my hands tracing the lines of his muscles, my nails digging into his back as he began to pick up the pace.

My moans filled the room, Alex rocking against me, moving in and out, driving me crazy with every stroke. I moved my hips against him, meeting every thrust, feeling his cock hit parts I didn’t think could be reached. He sent me into a frenzy, and I buried my face in his shoulder to muffle my screams of pleasure. His hips slammed against me, and when he’d grind, his pelvis pressed against my clit and shocked me into one orgasm after the other.

“Oh God!” I screamed as he fucked me, fast and hard, pressed against me with his strong arms wrapped around me. He held me close, breasts pushed up against his chest as he rocked me. I clenched down, his groans against my neck only making me want him more. I wrapped my legs around his waist, forcing him in harder, deeper, begging him to fuck me harder.

I could feel his cock expand inside me as he moved faster, and I held him tight, biting into his shoulder and screaming with pleasure. I felt his body stiffen, the muscles under my fingertips flexing, and I clamped down, squeezing against his cock. His groans of pleasure were like music to my ears, and he exploded inside me, his arms squeezing me against him, holding me so tight I felt like he would smother me. His body shook against mine, and just the feeling of him coming inside me made me shake all over.

He collapsed on top of me, breathing hard, the warmth of his breath against my neck. He rolled off me, arms wrapped around me as he pulled me to him. I closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath, feeling like every inch of me was on fire. I could hear his heartbeat hammering in his chest, and as I lay there in his arms listening to it slow down and return to a gentle rhythm, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 15: Alex

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing, groaning as I opened my eyes and turned to look at the blinking screen on the bedside table. Jenni shifted against me, her eyes fluttering open for a second before they closed again and she resettled in my arms again. I leaned over and grabbed the phone, silencing it as I squinted in the bright light to see who was calling.

I winced when I realized it was three in the morning and Kelly was calling me. They were probably worried sick.

“Kelly?”

“Where the heck are you?” Kelly yelled.

I sat up quickly, her tone taking me by surprise. She was crying, gasping into the phone, and there was the distinct sound of sirens in the background.

“What happened?” I was already rolling out of bed and pulling my pants on. Jenni was wide awake, watching me, concern etched across her face.

“I called you seven times!” Kelly was yelling. “Seven times!”

“Kelly, where are you?” I demanded, already feeling my body shake with worry. I had never heard her this hysterical, and the shrill sound of the siren wasn’t helping ease my worry.

“I’m on the way to the hospital,” Kelly cried. “That guy from yesterday came by again.”

“Heath?”

“Grandpa went out to talk to him, and that bastard kept hitting him,” Kelly explained between tears. “I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t stop. Grandpa’s not waking up, dad!”

I almost dropped the phone. The world around me quickly began to swim in and out of focus. I could almost see myself there with her, in the ambulance, sitting next to her unconscious grandfather, desperately trying to reach me. I felt a sudden lurch in the pit of my stomach, and I wanted to reach through the phone, tell her everything was going to be alright. I wanted to apologize for not being there when I should have been, for letting her down yet again.

The emotions washed over me like a tidal wave, and my mind blanked completely.

“Dad!”

Kelly’s shrill scream brought me back. “I’m on my way, Kelly, I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Hurry!” she yelled at me, then hung up.

I pocketed my phone and grabbed my shirt.

“What happened?” Jenni asked, already half-dressed herself.

“They’re taking Samuel to the hospital,” I said, feeling a dark rage build up inside me.

“Oh god, what’s wrong?”

“Apparently, Heath thought it was a good idea to cross the line and attack my father.”

“Kelly?”

“Shell-shocked,” I replied. “Hysterical.”

“That son of a bitch!”

I didn’t answer her, pulling on my shoes as I searched the room for my car keys.

“I’m coming with you,” she said, rushing into the bathroom.

“That’s okay,” I said. “Stay here, I’ll be fine.”

“That’s not a choice you’re going to make for me,” she said, rushing back out and pulling on a t-shirt. She found my keys and tossed them to me. “Now hurry up.”

We were out the door in seconds.

* * *

“He’s going to be okay.”

I hated hospitals. The last time had not been the best of experiences, and every time I even drove past one, my body would stiffen and my head would swim. There were too many memories linked with it. Shitty food, the smell of detergent and disinfectant, and of course, the endless pain. That was the worst of it.

Which made the sight if my father in the ICU even worse. He was lying on a bed hooked up to enough wires to light up an entire block. The constant beeping of the heart monitor filled my head, and I struggled just to keep my concentration on what the doctor was telling me.

“Luckily nothing’s broken,” he said, flipping through the pages of my father’s chart. He looked like a med student, and a part of me wondered if he even knew what he was doing. “At his age, that would have been the biggest problem. He’s stable for now, and once he’s awake, we’ll run an MRI.”

“When do you think he’ll wake up?” I asked, looking at Samuel through the large glass window separating the hall from the ICU.

“Hard to tell,” the doctor replied. “I’m guessing pretty soon. It’s probably just the shock of the attack. What happened, exactly?”

“That’s what I’m going to try and find out,” I replied, my anger now taking a front seat and pushing my worry over Samuel to the back. I wanted to get my hands on Heath and beat his teeth out the back of his fucking head.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, the Sheriff’s downstairs, waiting to get a statement,” the doctor said. “If you have anything to say, it’ll be best to tell him.”

“Thank you, doctor,” I replied.

“Other than that, I suggest you go home,” he continued. “There’s nothing more for you to do here anyway, and we’ll call you if there’s any change.”

I nodded, shook his hand, and made my way back to the waiting room. Jenni was sitting on one of the bigger couches, Kelly curled up in her arms and asleep. I sat down next to them, stroking Kelly’s hair and quickly pulling away when her body shook like a leaf. Jenni kissed her head, rubbed her shoulder and attempted to calm her down.

“What did the doctor say?” Jenni asked.

“Told us to go home,” I said. “And that the Sheriff’s downstairs if I want to leave a statement.”

“What do you want to do?” she asked.

“I want to take Kelly home,” I replied. “I’ll pass by the Sheriff in the morning.”

“I’m so sorry, Alex,” Jenni said, gently shaking Kelly awake. I watched as my daughter’s eyes fluttered open, her face scarred with tear streaks. She sat up slowly, looked around her in confusion, then stiffened when she realized where she was.

“Grandpa?” she asked, looking at me with eyes that quickly watered.

“He’s okay,” I said. “Still asleep, but the doctors tell me he’s going to be just fine. We’ll go home and come back in the morning.”

Kelly quickly shook her head. “I don’t want to leave him.”

“It’s not up to us, sweetheart,” I said. “They’re kicking us out anyway. There’s nothing we can do here anyway.”

“I don’t want to leave,” she sobbed. She leaned into my arms and began to cry again. I held her tight, the fury inside me burning. A part of me knew that if I came across Heath right now, I’d probably kill him.

“I know,” I said, kissing her head. “Come on, we’ll be back in the morning. That’s only a couple of hours away.”

Kelly nodded and let me pull her to her feet. She held Jenni’s hand, leaning into her as we made our way to the elevators and rode one down. The hospital was empty this time of the night, the fluorescents casting an eerie glow as we walked down the narrow hallway and turned a corner into the emergency room. A single nurse manned the station there, chatting quietly with a man I assumed was the Sheriff. He was dressed casually and looked like he had been dragged out of bed.

He caught my eye, said something to the nurse, then walked up to us.

“Mr. Logan,” he greeted, sticking his hand out. I took it. “I’m Sheriff Baker. I’m terribly sorry about Samuel. He’s an old friend, and when they told me about what happened I came down right away.”

“Thank you, Sheriff,” I said. “If it’s okay with you, I need to get my daughter home. She’s had quite the shock for the day.”

“I can only imagine,” the Sheriff sighed. He looked at Jenni, then quickly back at me. “Any idea who was responsible for this?”

I nodded. “Heath Collins.”

The Sheriff frowned and looked at Jenni again. “Are you sure?”

I turned to Kelly who nodded. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll give you a full statement in the morning. But for now, I suggest you arrest Heath and keep him overnight.”

“That’s going to be difficult without a full statement,” the Sheriff said, scratching the back of his head, his eyes darting between me and Jenni. He looked uneasy, and I began to understand what Jenni meant by the force’s incompetence. This man should have been in his car by now, calling in the arrest.

“I don’t see how,” I said, already knowing that I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. And that only made me angrier. Heath could be halfway across the state by now. “If you want a statement now, I’ll give you one. But the longer you wait to make that arrest, the more likely you won’t be able to do it. If Heath has a brain in his head, he wouldn’t stick around and wait.”

“How about you pass by the station tomorrow,” the Sheriff said, “and we’ll clear all this up.”

“What the hell is there to clear up?” The anger in my voice was apparent, and the Sheriff took a step back, his hand falling on the holster at his waist.

“Alex, let’s go,” Jenni said.

“The fuck I am,” I said. “I don’t know how you got that badge, but this is ridiculous!”

“Dad,” Kelly said. “I want to go home.”

My eyes locked on the Sheriff’s, and a hint of a smile played at the corner of his lips. He looked at Kelly. “I’m sorry about your grandfather, but we’ll get this all sorted out, I promise.”

My fists shook, and I only calmed down a little when Kelly wrapped a hand around mine and pulled me along. I pulled her to me, staring angrily at the Sheriff.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Sheriff,” I said. “But if Heath’s gone by the time you get your ass off your seat, I’m not going to be this calm.”

“Good night, Mr. Logan,” the Sheriff nodded. “Jenni.”

“Sheriff,” Jenni replied and gently pushed me along.

We walked out, the cool night air failing to calm me down as I led Kelly to the car and opened the door for her to get in. I turned back to the hospital, with half the mind to go back in and give the Sheriff hell, but quickly fought back the urge. I looked at Jenni and shook my head in frustration.

“Can you fucking believe this?”

Jenni wrapped her arms around Kelly’s and looked at the hospital. “Actually, I can,” she said. “I told you before, Baker’s useless.”

“And what do you suggest I do?”

Jenni sighed. “I don’t know,” she said, looking at Kelly. “Go home for starters. In the morning, we’ll pick up where we left off.”

I ran a hand through my hair and clenched my teeth. I wanted to punch someone, badly. If I didn’t I was going to go fucking insane. Jenni rested a hand on my arm and squeezed.

“Fine,” I gave in, my frustration boiling inside me. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

“I’d rather stay with Kelly,” she replied.

“You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“Actually, I do,” she said. “I want to.”

I looked at her for a beat, wanting to take her in my arms and kiss her if it weren’t for how pissed off I was. She rubbed my arm and opened the passenger door.

“Come on,” she said.

I closed the door, took another look at the hospital, then got into the car and drove us home.

Chapter 16: Alex

I woke up the next morning feeling worse than I had when I went to sleep. The image of my father lying in the ICU stayed with me through the night. I had nightmares of him crawling out of his bed, calling out my name and searching for me while a dozen or so Heath’s laughed all around him. It made me sick in the stomach.

I got dressed quickly, eager to get to the police station and really take out my frustration on the Sheriff, and made my way downstairs. The aroma of scrambled eggs and bacon mixed with the gentle giggling coming from the kitchen.

Kelly was at the kitchen table, stuffing her face with what looked like the breakfast for champions. Jenni was sitting across from her, hair tied back in a loose ponytail and eyes still drooping with sleep. She looked gorgeous nevertheless. My mouth watered as the aroma of breakfast filled my nostrils.

“Morning,” I said with a smile, opening the fridge and taking out the orange juice.

“You sure took your time,” Kelly said, frowning at me. “We should have been at the hospital by now.”

“You look like you woke up five minutes ago,” I replied, grabbing a glass and sitting down beside her.

“And I’m ready to go,” she said. “So, let’s go.”

“In a minute,” I replied, taking the fork from her hands and tossing a bite of eggs and bacon into my mouth. She elbowed me in the side, took her fork back and pointed it at me angrily.

Jenni laughed and held up her mug. “Fresh pot,” she said, gesturing to the coffee machine.

“That’s okay,” I said. “Seems like the chipmunk’s in a hurry.”

And so was I. Ever since our meeting with the Sheriff at the hospital, I wanted to give the bastard a piece of my mind. I had contemplated finding Heath myself, making him pay for what he did, but I knew that wasn’t the right solution. What good was my badge if I didn’t follow the laws I had sworn to uphold? Besides, the Sheriff’s incompetence would give me an excuse to make his life a living hell. If shit like this went down around Kent and he was doing nothing about it, then he shouldn’t be the man for the job in the first place.

I drank my juice, tried to steal more breakfast from Kelly’s plate, then rushed upstairs and got changed into jeans and a t-shirt. By the time I came back down, Kelly was already waiting by the door, tapping her feet impatiently and urging me to hurry up.

“You’re not coming?” I asked Jenni.

“No,” she said. “I have to get to the diner, and then run a few errands. I’ll meet you both back here for dinner.”

“You really don’t have to do this, you know?” I said, although a large part of me was grateful for her being here. “We’ve put you through enough.”

“Shut up, will you?” she said, turning me around and pushing me out the door, much to Kelly’s delight. “Now get going, and give Baker hell.”

“I totally intend to,” I replied.

* * *

I dropped Kelly off at the hospital and made my way downtown. I knew I should have gone in with her, but I felt that if I had, I wouldn’t have been able to pull myself away from Samuel’s side. Right now, I was furious, and I wanted to keep that feeling alive until I got to the station.

Besides, I couldn’t shake away the feeling of guilt I had. I should have been there when it had happened. I should have dropped Jenni off, driven home and been at my father’s side when that bastard Heath came calling. My instincts had warned me about the possibility of something like this happening, and I had brushed it off, thinking that I was just being paranoid. That visit from Heath on the day I arrived was enough to give me an idea of how messed up he was. I had been naïve to think Kent was still the small town I had grown up in where everyone left their doors unlocked and you could take a walk around town at midnight without having to worry about anything.

So much has changed.

I clenched my teeth and shook my head in frustration. Changed or not, I wasn’t going to let Heath get away with this. If the Sheriff wanted to take his sweet time, I was definitely going to light a fire under his ass and get him moving.

The station was just off North Main Street, down Berkley Drive and surrounded by open fields. The post office sat idly on the other side of the road adjacent to the supermarket that boasted its rich supply of organic food. There were very few cars parked here, but my eyes immediately caught the Mustang parked at an obscure angle to the curb. I pulled up beside it, and as I climbed out of my car, I took note of the license plates and made my way up the steps and into the station.

Being a DEA agent in Miami, I was used to the welcoming sound of a busy police force running back and forth, rushing to get things done. Telephones would be ringing, fingers would be tapping furiously at keyboards, and someone would always be shouting in the phone. It was a symphony of activity I had learned to love and appreciate.

Walking into the Kent Sheriff’s Station made me feel like I had stepped into a church. A couple of officers sat lazily at their desk, staring at their phones with their legs propped up. A copy machine was being operated somewhere in the background, the swishing sound of paper falling into the tray almost deafening in the otherwise silent space. No one seemed to even notice that I had walked in.

I walked up to one of the officers and asked to see the Sheriff. The officer looked up at me, stretched and yawned, then looked back at his phone.

“What do you need to see him about?”

“I was asked to come down and give a statement,” I replied, fighting the urge to grab the phone and smash it against the wall.

“You can give your statement to me,” he said, swiping a finger across the screen of his phone.

“I would, but you seem a little too preoccupied by important police matters for me to bother you,” I replied. The officer shot me an annoyed glare that made me smile. “I’d rather talk to Sheriff Baker.”

“He’s in his office,” the officer said, returning to the phone.

I couldn’t resist the urge any longer and snatched the phone from his hands.

“Hey!” he shouted, standing up quickly.

I pushed him back into his seat and tossed the phone onto the desk. “Where’s his fucking office?”

“Mr. Logan?”

I turned to see the Sheriff standing by an open door, a mug in his hands and a cigarette in his mouth.

“Sheriff,” I greeted. “Your officer here was just showing me to you.”

Baker didn’t look impressed. He shot an angry glare at the officer and gestured for me to follow him.

“I’ll let you get back to your Candy Crush game,” I said over my shoulder as I made my way past the empty desks and into the Sheriff’s office. I stopped cold when I saw Garth Liston sitting inside.

“If it isn’t Alex Logan,” Garth smiled. “I was hoping to bump into you today.”

“Garth,” I greeted coldly.

“Please, Mr. Logan, sit down,” the Sheriff pointed at the chair opposite to Garth. “I called in Mr. Liston this morning so we can sort out last night’s incident together.”

“I think you misheard me last night, Sheriff,” I said, sitting down and folding my arms over my chest, glaring at Garth. The smile on his face annoyed me, and the fucker’s nonchalance was unnerving. It was like I had stepped into his office instead of Baker’s. “I remember distinctly telling you that Heath Collins attacked my father.”

“That’s why the Sheriff called me,” Garth said, smiling at Baker as if letting him know that he’d handle the conversation from here. “You see, Heath is under my employment, and I handle all matters related to my employees.”

“Really?” I asked. “So, you’re the one who told him to beat the shit out an old man?”

Garth chuckled. “This is all a big misunderstanding,” he said.

“I’m not exactly sure how,” I shot back, clenching my teeth and trying to keep the anger out of my voice. “My father’s in the ICU because of your employee. The way I see it, he should be arrested.”

“Sheriff, you have to understand, there’s a story behind this,” Garth said, turning to Baker and ignoring me completely. “I’ve been assigned with the purchase of a plot of land for the new casino. You know, the one that’s supposed to bring new jobs and money into Kent? Well, the place my clients have an eye on just happens to belong to Samuel Logan.”

“Garth,” the Sheriff started, putting his mug down and folding his hands in front of him. “You do understand that telling me this gives your employee a motive, right?”

I relaxed a bit. Baker seemed to be a little more competent than he had let on.

Garth chuckled. “Of course, I know what it sounds like, but I assure you, that’s really not the case. All Heath was doing was trying to convince Samuel to sell.” Garth looked at me and shrugged. “It seems the Logan’s really want to hold onto their property.”

“Still giving the police motive, Garth,” I said. “But by all means, keep going. You’re making this so much easier.”

“The way I heard it, Sheriff,” Garth said, “was that Heath and Samuel were having a normal conversation, and Samuel got a little aggressive. He actually pulled a gun on Heath. A shotgun, I believe. Doesn’t surprised me, because he had threatened me with a shotgun just a few days before, in pubic, at The Red Roof.”

Rage burst inside me, and my hands clenched into fists. “Bullshit.”

“Heath was just defending himself, really,” Garth continued. “I know the man well. He wouldn’t beat an old man to the point where he’d have to be hospitalized for no reason. He was threatened. Samuel Logan is a menace to society.”

I jumped out my seat, slamming a hand on the Sheriff’s desk, and pointed a finger in Garth’s face. “Listen to me, you little shit,” I hissed. “If you think that story’s going to fly, you’re out of your fucking mind.”

“Mr. Logan, please sit down,” Baker said.

I turned to him angrily. “Do you actually believe this crap?”

“Looks like aggression runs in the family,” Garth commented.

“You haven’t seen me aggressive,” I warned.

“I haven’t,” Garth nodded. “But Jack Pole sure has. And I have a whole crowd of witnesses who can attest to seeing you beat him last night. Broke his elbow, too, didn’t you?” Garth turned to the Sheriff. “Honestly, Jack wanted to sue, but I convinced him not to. The Logan’s, after all, are old family friends.”

“Is this true?” Baker asked.

“The man was dealing drugs outside a coffee shop,” I said. “He pulled a switchblade on me.”

“Can you prove that?” Baker asked.

“Excuse me?” I turned to look at him, a part of me furious at how gullible he was.

“The blade and the drugs,” Baker said. “Do you have proof of those?”

“Jenni Wright was with me last night,” I said, noticing the momentary change in Garth’s eyes. “She can back my story.”

“I’ll have a talk with her, then,” Baker said. “And you say your daughter’s the only one who saw Heath Collins beat your father?”

I nodded.

“Come on, Sheriff,” Garth smiled and shook his head. “She’s just a little girl. She must have been confused by what she saw.”

I wanted to punch him right then and there. I wanted my fist the slam that smug smile off his face, and then I wanted to drag him around the office and kick at him until he was coughing up blood. The rage inside me made my head hurt, and my fists shook as I tried to control the anger.

“That’s something we’ll determine in time,” Baker replied. “Until then, I suggest you tell Mr. Collins not to leave Kent until we get this all sorted out. Shouldn’t take long.”

“Are you fucking serious?” I yelled.

“I’d appreciate if you kept your tone down, Mr. Logan.”

“You’re actually going to believe this bullshit?”

Baker shrugged. “I have to hear all sides of the story before I can reach a decision. To be frank, this is a touchy situation, and needs to be handled with great care.”

“This is ridiculous, but that’s what this is,” I shot. “We’re not talking about international relations, here. I want Heath Collins arrested for what he did to my father.”

Baker stood up and glared at me. “I will say who gets arrested and when. Until then, I suggest you tend to Samuel, and leave the police work to me.”

I scoffed and shook my head in disbelief. “Police work, huh?”

Baker didn’t reply and met my eye with a solid stare.

“Tell you what, I’ll take care of this myself,” I said, shooting an angry look at Garth before making my way out.

“Mr. Logan, I’m warning you, stay out of this or I’ll arrest you for hindering police investigation,” Baker called after me.

“You’re doing enough hindering for the both of us, Sheriff,” I called back and stormed out of the station.

If the bastard wasn’t going to get the job done, I’d do it my fucking self.

Chapter 17: Jenni

I left the diner early, telling Hank that I had to go check up on Samuel.

Word spread fast in Kent, and I found my father asking me all sorts of questions the minute I walked into the diner. I tried to answer them as best as I could, and although he seemed a little skeptical about the fact that I had spent the night at the Logan house, he didn’t seem to mind too much. At least not enough to lecture me, which I thought was just fine.

My father and Samuel went way back. They had grown up together, went to the same college, and had both decided to stay in Kent and raise their families here. Poker nights, town council meetings and school events, the two of them were always side by side. Which was why I was not surprised when he wouldn’t let me get to work until he was completely satisfied that he had learned everything I had to offer.

“I’ll come with you,” he said as I told him that I was leaving.

“No, don’t,” I said, a little too quickly, forcing a confused frown on his face. “Samuel’s still in the ICU and I don’t want you seeing him like this. It’s heartbreaking.”

“He’s one of my oldest friends, Jenni, don’t be absurd,” Hank shot angrily.

“I know, dad,” I replied. “But honestly, I wouldn’t go either if not for Kelly. She needs me by her side, and Alex is as emotionless as they come.” The lie felt a little too pushed.

“Really?” Hank scratched his chin. “Wouldn’t have guessed.”

“No, not generally, I mean right now,” I hurried to correct. “Listen, it’s a difficult time for them. Give them some space, and as soon as I’m sure Samuel’s awake, I’ll let you know.”

Hank thought about this for a few seconds, then nodded. “Okay, but keep me posted,” he said, pointing a finger at me.

“Promise,” I replied, hastily making my way out of the diner and jumping into my car.

Close one, Jenni.

In all honesty, I believe my father’s visit would have been generally welcomed, and when I had called Kelly, she told me that Samuel was already awake and making jokes about looking like the bicentennial man. Even Alex sounded a bit more relieved, although his meeting with Sheriff Baker had gone completely wrong.

Which was why I needed to leave work early.

I pulled out of the parking lot and turned right on North Main Street, driving in the opposite direction of the hospital. Alex’s recount of what had happened at the Sheriff’s office had pissed me off, and I was fuming at the thought of Heath getting away with this just because Garth knew which gears to oil. Although the smart thing was to stay the hell out of all this, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I cared a lot about the Logan’s, and Garth’s audacity was getting to me. Someone had to let him know that not everyone was going to take his shit.

I, for one, was done with it all.

The road twisted and turned as I followed it to the outskirts of town, turning right just before it led me into the woodlands beyond and east towards Warren. The compound Garth was staying in stood out like a sore in the midst of the laid-back beauty of the landscape. Someone had apparently thought it would be a good idea to paint everything in white, and the complex looked like a collection of large chalk blocks surrounded by a wall.

The guard at the gate waved me in without giving me a second look, knowing exactly where I was going and who I was meeting. You didn’t get to fuck Garth Liston without everyone in his direct circle knowing, and I almost felt like a cheap hooker just thinking of that. I couldn’t believe I had let him do the things he had done to me, let alone be somewhat okay with him bragging about it. After my night with Alex, the whole history with Garth felt like a bad dream that left a nasty aftertaste in the back of my throat.

A lot of the houses in the compound were still unoccupied, construction workers walking back and forth as they put finishing touches to them. In a couple of years, driving through here would be like taking a cruise down a posh suburban campus, with front yard wine tastings and teenagers driving with their tops down and their girlfriends on their laps. Hope Enterprises was already starting on another compound further down the main road that eventually led to the universities, and there was talk going around that they had sealed a deal to build the university dorms as well.

All in all, this side of Kent was going to turn into a hub of drunk drivers and frat parties that would make the locals wish they could just detach themselves from the whole thing completely.

I pulled up in front of Garth’s house, the Mustang parked in the driveway where one of his cronies was busy cleaning it. He barely looked up as I got out of my car and made my way to the front door, ringing the bell incessantly.

“For fuck’s sake, shut up!” I heard someone call out, and that made me only ring the bell more.

The door flew open and I stared at the angry face of Heath Collins. He immediately smiled at me. “Jenni, how are you?”

“I’m here to see Garth,” I said, pushing past him.

“Woah, what’s the hurry?” Heath asked, closing the door behind me and following me into the house. “Don’t have time to talk to an old friend?”

“Where is he?” I asked, spinning on my heels and facing him.

Heath gestured with his thumb to the second floor. “Upstairs, taking a nap,” he said. “I could keep you company while you wait.”

“Why?” I asked, pursing my lips. “Can’t find any old men to beat up?”

Heath winced, but his smug smile never left his face. “You heard about that, huh?”

“I need to talk to Garth,” I said, pushing past him and climbing the stairs.

“Always good to see you!” Heath called.

“Fuck you!” I shot back.

I stormed across the second-floor landing and opened the door to Garth’s room, not even bothering to knock. He was lying on his back, clad only in his boxers, snoring up a storm. His cock hung out through the front of his boxers, and I grabbed the closest piece of clothing to me and threw it on top of him.

“Get up!” I yelled.

Garth grunted, his eyes fluttering open as he turned to look at me in confusion. “Jenni?” he croaked, coughing to clear his voice. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” I said, waiting as he stretched and yawned, turning to give me his back.

“Come back later,” he said.

“Now, Garth,” I pressed.

“Whatever.”

I grabbed him by the arm and forced him towards me. He pushed me away angrily, and jumped out of bed, the grace of his movement taking me by surprise. He grabbed my arm forcefully, squeezing so hard it hurt.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he hissed.

I tried to wrestle free, but his grip was like a vice on my arm. “Let me go.”

“Who gave you the fucking right to just walk in here and wake me up?” he spat. “What’s wrong, your pussy on fire or something?”

“Let go!” I yelled, and finally pulled away.

He glared at me, his nostrils flaring and his eyes boring into mine. “You want to talk, then talk,” he said. “Say what you have to say, then get the fuck out. I don’t have time for you.”

“Make it,” I shot back.

He curled his fists. “You’re really getting on my last nerve, Jenni,” he said through clenched teeth. “What do you want?”

“That little piece of shit downstairs,” I said.

“Heath?”

“Yeah, him. I want you to stop standing up for him. You haven’t seen Samuel. You haven’t seen what that asshole did to him.”

Garth shook his head in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You went to Sheriff Blake today,” I shouted at him. “You made it seem like Samuel was some raving dog and Heath needed to protect himself. You lied to the police to cover for that bastard you call a friend. I want you to stop!”

Garth began to laugh. “Is that what this is about?” he asked. “What? Are you trying to help your new boyfriend, or does Alex need a girl to fight his battles for him?”

“I’m not joking, Garth,” I said, pointing a finger in his face. “Turn Heath over and stop acting like a prick.”

“Get that fucking finger out of my face.” Garth slapped my hand away, hard, then grabbed me by the neck, choking me. I gasped in surprise, scratching at his hands as I fought for breath. He pushed me back against the wall.

“Who do you think you are?” he hissed, pushing up against me, his cock pressed against my thigh. I felt a wave of disgust wash over me. “I don’t know what Alex’s convinced you of, what he’s made you think you can do, but I know you. I know everything there is to know about you. Does he know about us? Does he know how you screamed my name when I shoved my cock in that pussy?”

He grabbed me between my legs, and I squirmed, trying to break free. I felt his hand tighten around my neck. My head began to swim.

“Does he know he’s getting sloppy seconds?” Garth said, his lips against my neck, making my skin crawl. “And you’re here for him? Really? Maybe I should take you right here, right now. Fuck you hard the way you like it, fill your pussy my sperm so you can go back to him with it dripping down your thighs. Who knows? Maybe that turns him on?”

I kicked at him, but he was pressed up tight against me, and my efforts were useless.

“Let me say this as slowly, and as clearly as I possibly can, so you get it through that thick head of yours,” he said. He pressed up against me harder, his lips against my ear. “Come here again, and I’ll fucking kill you. Then I’ll kill him. Then I’ll take that little girl of his and show her a good time before I toss her to the others just for fun. Then I’ll kill her, too.”

He let go of me, and I fell onto my knees, gasping for breath. He took a few steps back and looked down at me with a smug smile on his face.

“Now get the fuck out.”

* * *

I got into the parked car just outside the compound gates and broke into tears. I could still feel Garth’s hand around my neck, and I shuddered at the thought of how close he had come to choking me to death.

That went horribly wrong.

I tried to calm down, but my mind spun, and I began to worry that I had just made things worse. I had come here with the belief that I could solve all this just by standing up to Garth, but he had proven that he had no problems killing me if I got in his way. I had always known he could be aggressive, but this was a new side to him that scared the shit out of me.

And he threatened Kelly, too. You really fucked this up.

I slammed my hands against the steering wheel and screamed as loud as I could.

It took me another ten minutes before I was calm enough to drive back home.

Chapter 18: Alex

“Her car’s here.”

The day was quickly coming to an end, the sun setting behind us as I rolled the car to a stop in front of the house and looked at where Kelly was pointing. Sure enough, Jenni’s car was parked a bit down the road, almost out of view behind a large maple.

I had gone directly to the hospital after my disappointing encounter with Sheriff Blake, and although my nerves were wrecked and I had the urge to punch my fist through a wall, the fact that my father was awake immediately turned that all around.

They had rolled him out of the ICU into his own private room, and he had been flanked by nurses all day. Apparently, the old man still had his charm working for him, and he had become a bit of a celebrity around the hospital. Samuel Logan, standing up to the misfits of Kent and taking one for the team.

I only wished he could have earned his popularity through anything else.

After a flurry of questions, and my incessant questions to a doctor who had looked like he wanted nothing more than to run far, far away from me, I had finally been able to calm down and enjoy the fact that, yet again, I had Samuel and Kelly ganging up on me.

I had called Jenni and given her the good news, fully expecting her to show up after her shift. Needless to say, we were all just a little disappointed, and I had started to worry when she had stopped answering the phone.

“Maybe knowing grandpa’s alright made her go back to her life?”

Kelly had looked like she was begging me to disagree, but I hadn’t really known if I could. I still held onto the hope that we would come back home and find her, probably asleep with her phone silenced.

Which was why I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her car.

“That’s a good sign,” I said.

Kelly nodded, a smile creeping onto her face. She looked a lot gladder about Jenni being here than I was.

She met us at the front door, towel in her hand, hair flowing around her face. She looked pale, her eyes bloodshot as if she had just been crying, and her shoulders sagged a bit. Nothing like the woman who had cooked breakfast and shoved us out of the house this morning.

“You okay?” I asked, kissing her cheek as I shrugged out of my coat.

Kelly had already made her way upstairs after giving Jenni a quick hug and a concerned look. My daughter had the good sense not to ask, though. Whatever was wrong with Jenni, it didn’t seem like something she’d be openly willing to talk about. She already looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

She attempted a smile, and it only made her look worse. “I’m fine,” she lied.

I kissed her again and let the matter slide, for now. There would be time to talk about it later, with the door closed behind us and her lying in my arms. I kept a close eye on her, though, as we went about emptying the groceries I had bought on my way back.

“How’s Sam?”

“He’s doing well,” I said, smiling. “Looks better, except for the bruises and all. Besides, I think he’s actually happy he’s in the hospital. The nurses are all over him.”

“I’m not surprised,” she said. “He’s always been a sweet talker.”

“We missed you at the hospital.”

She sighed and smiled weakly. “I’m feeling a bit under the weather, that’s all. Didn’t think it would make sense to show up and spread whatever it is that’s got me feeling like this.”

“Samuel would have loved to see you,” I said.

“I know. I’ll visit him as soon as I feel better.”

I didn’t push, knowing that if I did, I would either make her angry, or worse, scare her away. Right now, having her around made me feel a lot better, and I didn’t want to do anything that might risk endangering that.

“I’m sorry about what happened with Sheriff Blake,” she said, cutting through my thoughts.

I felt a small pang of anger at the memory of this morning’s waste of time. “Yeah, well, apparently Garth Liston has a lot more pull in this town than I thought.”

I felt her body stiffen at the mention of Garth’s name, and frowned. Before I could read any more into it, my cellphone began to buzz in my pocket, and I fished it out, Raul’s number flashing on the screen.

“Gotta take this,” I said, leaving the kitchen and walking all the way out the front door.

“Catch you at a bad time?” Raul asked when I answered.

“Nah, was just about to help with dinner,” I said. “What’s up?”

“For starters, I don’t know how you do it, but you hit a gold mine, man,” Raul said.

“What do you mean?”

“Hope Enterprises.”

I had completely forgotten I had asked Raul to look into that. “What did you find?”

“Their CEO, Alexis Hope, real pile of trouble that one.”

I leaned against the porch railing, glancing into the house to make sure I was out of earshot, and pressed Raul for more.

“Apparently, she’s on everybody’s radar. FBI, Interpol, even MI6 is interested in her,” Raul explained. “Hope Enterprises has its name associated with a bunch of crap all over the globe.”

“Really?” I asked. “Seemed pretty innocent.”

“That’s just it, no one’s proven anything yet,” Raul said. “I have a contact in the FBI that swears the company deals in everything from human trafficking to money laundry. It’s just, this woman’s so damn good, she really knows how to hide her tracks.”

I felt my stomach turn, suddenly feeling a lot worse about the company’s activities in Kent.

“And it doesn’t stop there,” Raul said. “Apparently, one of the big cash cows is drugs, cocaine specifically. Some say this Alexis woman has ties with some of the biggest drug lords in South America.”

“How the hell has this woman never popped up on our radar?”

“Because the business is so decentralized, it’s like she’s not even a part of it. You got layers upon layers of people. Crime families funded by her and giving her a cut, Big names scattered all over the country. In some cities, she’s supplying rival gangs as long as they keep the peace.”

“And no one’s been able to get anything to stick?”

“Not yet,” Raul replied. “A few have tried, and the ones who got closest usually ended up dead or missing. But listen, the fact that her company’s fooling around in Kent makes sense.”

“Why is that?”

“They invest in real estate, increase the population, and then set up their illegal activities using locals. I heard a community college is supposed to be opening up over there.”

“Yeah, they’re building one outside town, big money.”

“Sounds about right,” Raul said. “You want to know the kicker, though?”

“Shoot.”

“You obviously remember how you almost got us killed in that drug bust.”

“My leg doesn’t really let me forget,” I replied.

“That van we pulled in was registered to a local company here in Miami, right?”

“Small delivery store, I remember,” I said. “They had reported it stolen, didn’t they?”

“They did,” Raul chuckled. “I looked into them when I began to realize just how diluted Hope Enterprise’s operations is. Apparently, the delivery store is part of a group of delivery companies all owned by an Italian family. Ricci or Rossi, something like that.”

“So?”

“One of their kids, the eldest, major shareholder, moved out to Connecticut a decade or two ago. Built a small compound in Kent, married a local girl.”

I felt my body go numb. “Darlene Liston,” I whispered.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Raul said. “How did you know?”

I pushed away from the railing and made my way across the porch, looking into the house and watching Jenni move about the kitchen as she prepared dinner.

“Anyway, this guy writes off all his shares to his new wife and her son, and they inherit the whole business when he died a few years back. A year later, his wife dies, and everything goes to the kid. Hold on, I have his name here somewhere.”

“Garth.”

The phone went silent for a second before Raul asked, “Yeah, you know the guy?”

“We crossed paths.”

“Well, he runs the company now out of Connecticut, and there are enough connections between him and Hope Enterprises to make your head spin. I mean, it’s almost as if Alexis Hope is funding them personally.”

“You think he’s their drug player in Kent?”

“Looks pretty much like it,” Raul replied. “What’s going on over there? You need me to book a flight in?”

“No, that’s fine,” I said. “I got this handled. Thanks, Raul.”

“No problem,” Raul replied. “Just enjoy your vacation, alright. We need you back here. Office is kind of lonely without you.”

I thanked him and hung up, then walked back into the house. Jenni had some explaining to do.

Chapter 19: Jenni

I knew something was wrong the minute Alex stepped into the kitchen. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were cold as he glared at me.

“I’m going to ask you a few questions, Jenni,” he said, “and I want the truth.”

I frowned, my heartbeat suddenly accelerating, hammering in my chest. “Okay,” I said.

“Garth Liston,” Alex started, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. “How long has he been distributing drugs in Kent?”

I hesitated. “Distributing drugs?”

“That guy we met outside the coffee shop, Jack something or the other. He’s one of Garth’s employees. He doesn’t exactly work Garth’s books, does he?”

I shook my head, trying my best to hide the sudden fluttering in my stomach. “I don’t know.”

“Bullshit!” Alex suddenly yelled, and I cringed at his outburst. “I said I want the truth, Jenni.”

I looked at him, feeling the tears well in my eyes, and I tried my best to contain myself. I bit my lip, looked away and felt my body shake like a leaf.

“He’s supplying the drugs, isn’t he?” Alex asked. “Garth? The whole real estate thing is just a front, isn’t it?”

“Alex, I –”

“Do you know how involved he is with Hope Enterprises? When you told me about Heath, did you know Garth was pulling the strings?”

I didn’t answer him, a tear rolling down my cheek.

“You let me go all the way to the Sheriff thinking that Heath was behind all this, behind my father’s near-death experience, when Garth was the one pulling the strings? You actually covered for him?”

“I wasn’t covering for him,” I said, choking on my words. “He’s crazy, Alex, and dangerous. I didn’t want you getting involved, but you wouldn’t listen.”

Alex’s hands closed into fists and he punched the table top. “My father almost died,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “Your drug dealing ex-boyfriend almost had him killed for a piece of land that was supposed to increase his drug business. And you failed to mention that?”

“I didn’t want you to get hurt,” I stammered.

“Get hurt?” he snapped. “How involved are you in all this?”

“I’m not,” I said.

“Is that why you’re here?” he asked. “Is that why you’ve been hanging out with us. What was the plan? Get close enough and then what?”

“Alex, that’s not what this is,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks, feeling guilty for not telling him sooner but angry at being accused of something so horrid, all at the same time.

“Then what is it?”

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it again, unsure if anything I said right now would make an ounce of difference,

“Answer me!” His voice roared through the kitchen, and I heard a door open and close upstairs, quickly followed by a flutter of feet down the stairs. Kelly appeared behind her father, eyes wide and full of concern.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Go to your room, Kelly,” Alex said, his eyes locked onto me.

Kelly looked at me, her concern giving way to fear. “Jenni?”

I sniffed, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “Kelly, I’m so sorry –”

“Don’t you fucking talk to her,” Alex shot. “Kelly, go to your room.”

“Not until someone tells me what’s going on,” Kelly replied, standing her ground.

Alex turned to her and grabbed her by the arm, shaking her. “I said, go to your fucking room!” he yelled.

The shock on Kelly’s face brought a fresh burst of tears from me as she stared at her father then looked at me. She whipped her hand out of his grip and raced out of the kitchen.

Alex turned back to me. “I said I want answers, Jenni.”

The front door opened and slammed closed, and Alex quickly turned around to see what was going on. “Kelly?”

From outside, a car door slammed closed and an engine started up.

“Kelly!” Alex yelled, racing out of the kitchen with me running close behind him. We rushed out the front door just as Kelly backed her father’s car out, turned the wheel around, and shot down the street with a screech of tires.

“Kelly!” I called after her.

“Fuck!” Alex yelled, pushing forcefully past me and running back into the house.

I barely made it to the front door when he came storming out again. “What are we going to do?” I asked, panicking at the thought of Kelly behind the wheel of a car.

“We are not going to do anything,” he snapped. “I’m going to take the truck and drive after her. You are going to go upstairs, pack whatever you have up there into a bag, and get the fuck out of my house.”

“Alex.”

He whirled around, his eyes burning with fury. “I want you gone by the time I get back, you understand? I don’t ever want to see you around me or my daughter again.”

With that, he raced down the steps, jumped into the Ford, and drove off after his daughter. I watched him leave, and when he turned the corner, I dropped to my knees and broke into tears.

Chapter 20: Alex

Why the fuck had I ever taught her how to drive, I had no idea.

I felt a raging headache overwhelm me, the veins in my head pounding incessantly, threatening to burst. My heart raced as I pushed down harder on the gas, willing the truck to move faster, taking wild guesses at every intersection as to which direction Kelly was driving in.

She lied to me. She stood there in my house, slept in my bed, and all the time, she had been lying to me.

I pushed the thought away. Right now, none of that mattered. My little girl was driving around town in a car she could barely control. If anything were to happen to her, I’d probably kill myself.

Then you probably shouldn’t have taught her how to drive.

“Shut up, Janice.”

The sun had almost set completely, and the streetlights flooded the roads in their orange glow. The worry found its way to every corner of my body. I had taught Kelly how to drive the car in cases of emergencies, but always during the daytime. Nighttime driving was a whole other issue.

The hospital. Check the hospital.

I doubted Kelly would be able to find her way there without stopping to ask someone, but then again, Kent wasn’t Miami, and if you took enough left and right turns, you were bound to get to where you wanted to go.

I turned left right down Elizabeth Road, making a mental not to check the bridge leading across the river next, and stepped on the gas. Luckily, there wasn’t much traffic around, and I was able to get hallway to the hospital before I caught sight of my car parked outside Kent Park. I slowed down, took the U-turn, and quickly pulled up next to it, jumping out quickly and rushing past the main gate.

My eyes scanned the empty picnic tables and park benches, the few people left already packing up and leaving as I looked for Kelly. I felt terrible for shouting at her, the first time it had ever happened, and I knew that that little outburst was bound to put a scar in our relationship I’d never be able to fix. I was more than ready to start blaming Jenni for all this when I began to panic. Kelly was nowhere to be found.

Maybe she just parked here and went across the street. The library?

I shook my head at the thought. If Kelly wanted to hide in the library, she would have parked at the library. She was smart, but not cunning enough to be able to throw people off like that. There were some things she was still too innocent to do.

The pond.

“Fuck, of course!”

I raced down the narrow path leading past the playground and cut through the trees, taking a short cross across the small hill that rose and then fell towards the duck pond. I only slowed down when I caught sight of her sitting by the edge of the pond, legs pulled up to her chest and rocking back and forth.

“Kelly?” I called to her when I was close enough for her to hear me.

She turned around, looked at me through watery eyes, and turned away again. “Leave me alone,” she stammered.

I felt my heart drop and sighed heavily as I approached her. “Kelly, what were you thinking?”

“I said leave me alone,” she repeated.

I ran a hand through my hair and sat down on the grass beside her, silently grateful that she didn’t move away from me. I looked out at the pond and didn’t say a word. We just sat there, quietly lost in our thoughts, neither of us willing to be the first to break the silence.

“You never shouted at me like that before,” she finally said, and when I looked at her, I could see the tears running down her cheek.

“I’m sorry, baby,” I said. “I didn’t mean to. I was angry at Jenni, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” she said, sniffing and wiping the tears away with the sleeve of her windbreaker. “And you shouldn’t have made Jenni cry.”

“Let’s leave that discussion for another time,” I said. “Jenni did a horrible thing, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing her anymore.”

“What?” She looked at me, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, chipmunk,” I whispered.

“Why?” she asked her lower lip quivering. “Why would you do that?”

“It’s hard to explain right now,” I replied.

“Try.”

“Kelly.”

“No!” she yelled. “You can’t do that! You can’t just tell me I can’t see her again without an explanation. I deserve an explanation!”

“Sweetie, I don’t have one,” I said. “Not one that will make sense to you.”

Kelly shook her head at me and covered her face with her hands. “You do that all the time.”

“Do what?”

“Think that you’re protecting me by not telling me things, and all that really happens is I get hurt.”

“Sweetie, what are you talking about?”

“Like when you got shot,” she said. “You acted like it was nothing, like you weren’t hurting. But I knew you were.”

I sighed, feeling like she was confusing two completely different things together. “Kelly, of course you knew I was hurting. You helped me through it.”

She shook her head. “That’s not what I meant,” she said. “I meant even before that. You always came home and told me these crazy stories about your day. You made it sound like you were just doing your job, but I understood what you were telling me. I understood the risks you were taking.”

“Understood what exactly?”

“That you want to die,” she sobbed.

I froze, staring at her in shock as her tears rolled down her face. She looked at me, meeting my gaze, challenging me to deny it. And the funny thing was, I couldn’t.

“I don’t remember mom, but you do,” she said. “And you carry her with you all the time. I hear you talk to yourself sometimes and say her name. I know you haven’t gotten over her death, and that every risk you take at work is like you’re hoping you’ll get shot or something.”

Her words cut through me like a knife, and my heart suddenly began to ache. How someone so young could analyze me in a way I never could scared me a little. But she was right. Deep down I knew she was right. I hadn’t let go of Janice. To this day, I thought about her constantly, wishing I could turn back time, find some way to stop the cancer before it metastasized and stole her from us.

“And you know when you finally stopped?”

I looked at her and shook my head slowly.

“When you met Jenni,” she said. “For the first time in my life, I actually felt like you were happy, dad. Really happy, and that made me happy. And now you don’t want us to see her again, and we’re going to go back to Miami, and you’re going to keep doing the things you do. And then, one day, Raul is going to come to me and tell me that you’re dead. Really dead this time. And then what am I supposed to do?”

I felt my own tears well up, and I quickly wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. "I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my voice cracking as I hugged her close. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”

Kelly cried in my arms, her face buried in my chest. “Please don’t leave me, daddy,” she stammered. “Please don’t leave me.”

Tears rolled down my face as we rocked together by the edge of the pond, holding each other as I promised her over and over again that I wouldn’t.

 

Chapter 21: Jenni

I finally stopped crying when I was a few minutes away from my apartment complex, my eyes sore, my body shaking. I felt like I had dried up, like there were no more tears left to shed, and as I pulled into my regular parking space, my breaths came in staccatos that made my head spin.

Alex’s words still rang in my ears, and it had taken me over an hour to bring myself to pack up and leave. I couldn’t fathom the thought of not seeing him again, of not seeing Kelly, and the world around me seemed to have cracked and broken into a million pieces that would never be brought back together again.

This was all my fault. If only I had been honest with him from the start. If only I had told him everything, had let him in on the secrets and the past I was not proud of. Maybe I would still be back at the house, cooking dinner and laughing with them. Kelly wouldn’t have driven away, Alex wouldn’t have kicked me out, and I would have gone to sleep knowing that I was welcome in their home.

That was all gone now. I mentally chastised myself for thinking I was being smart, that I was somehow protecting them. It was true what they said about the path to hell being paved with good intentions, and I had definitely paved my way to my own personal hell. And I would burn here, alone, thinking of what could have been and what I had been stupid enough to throw away.

I looked out at my apartment complex and felt like a stranger here. It had only been a couple of days, but I had already gotten used to the house, to waking up next to Alex, to talking to Kelly on the rare occasions she could pull herself away from her phone. Now I was back, and although I hadn’t really moved out, it still felt like I was returning to an empty shell.

At least you still have Casper.

That thought alone made me gasp. Kelly had fallen in love with him, and I had been looking forward to having him settle in with me at the house. At least he wouldn’t have been surrounded by the misery I was bringing back home with me.

I climbed out of the car and closed the door, trudging to the trunk and taking my small gym bag out. I leaned against the car, closed my eyes, and tried to stop my head from spinning. The image of Alex yelling at me played across my closed lids and sent shivers up and down my body. I didn’t even get a chance to explain myself to him.

I opened my eyes, took a deep breath, and made my way towards the complex. Fishing for the keys in my purse, I didn’t notice Heath until I walked right into him.

“Woah, hey,” he said, holding me steady as I fell back and swayed on my feet. “You okay there, Jenni?”

I really didn’t want to deal with this now, and was too exhausted to play nice. I didn’t reply and pushed past him, making for the door.

He grabbed my arm and stopped me. “Knock, knock.”

“What do you want, Heath?” I asked, sighing in frustration, begging to be left alone so I could fall into bed and sleep for the next few days.

“I want to make sure you’re alright, for starters,” he said.

“I’m fine, okay?” I pulled out of his grasp and turned away. “I’m just exhausted and don’t feel like talking right now.”

He grabbed me again, and I fought the urge to scream at him and claw at his face. “That’s a shame, because I was really looking forward to spending some time with you.”

“Really, Heath?” My voice rose in anger. “Now? Of all times, you choose now to annoy me the most?”

“Feisty, aren’t we?” heath chuckled.

“Let go of me and fuck off, alright,” I said. “Go hang out with Garth or something. DO whatever it is you guys do to pass the time.”

“Funny you mention Garth,” Heath said. “He actually asked me to pick you up. He wants to see you.”

“Tell him I don’t want to see him,” I replied.

Heath stopped my retreat, and when I tried to pull away, his grip tightened. “It wasn’t a request,” he said, his voice dropping dangerously.

I looked him in the eye and pulled my lips back in a snarl. “Let go of me, or I’ll make sure that hand isn’t good for anything other than wiping your ass.”

“You know, you always had a lip that would get you in trouble,” Heath replied. “Just come with me, and I’ll make sure I don’t cut it when I slap you to your senses.”

“Lay a hand on me and I’ll make sure it’s the last time you walk straight.”

I heard the slap before I felt it, and my cheek stung with the heat of its force. I dropped my bag and lunged for him, aiming for his eyes, but he quickly grabbed my wrists and twisted my arms around my back.

“Garth said to bring you to him,” Heath hissed in my ear. “He never said how.”

I threw my head back, slamming against his face, and he immediately let go of me and staggered back. I turned to run back to my car, but he was quick to recover. He grabbed me by the shoulder, whirled me around and punched me hard in the face. I fell to the ground in a heap, the world around me spinning out of control, and blacked out.

 

Chapter 22: Alex

Jenni’s car was gone by the time we got home, and I could immediately see the look of disappointment on Kelly’s face. She looked at me, and I tried my best to smile.

“I’ll call her in the morning, I promise,” I said.

“You can call her now,” Kelly protested.

“One night, Kelly,” I sighed. “Give me at least that.”

Kelly looked at me for a few more seconds before she nodded and climbed out of the car. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder as we made our way up the stairs and I pulled out my keys.

“What are you going to do about the truck?” Kelly asked.

“It’s safe where it is,” I said. “I’ll figure the rest out in the morning.”

“Maybe Jenni can drive it back.”

I chuckled and pressed her close. “Maybe.”

I opened the front door just as the telephone in the hallway began to ring. Kelly raced forward and answered it, and I knew deep down that she was hoping it would be Jenni.

“Hello?”

I watched her with a smile, hanging my coat by the door and stretching, feeling the day finally taking its toll on me. I would sleep like a log tonight, as long as I could keep my head clear and stopped my mind from conjuring up images of Jenni.

Kelly frowned, looked at me and handed me the receiver. “It’s for you.”

I frowned, suddenly worried that it might be the hospital calling to give me some bad news about Samuel. I took the phone from Kelly and braced myself.

“Hello?”

“Alex, buddy, hey!”

I clenched the receiver tight, my hand hurting with the effort. Heath’s voice on the other end immediately made my blood boil.

“You son of a bitch!” I hissed.

“Hey man, is that any way to greet a friend?” Heath laughed. “Oh, right, yeah, your dad. Listen, sorry about that, but let’s be real. The old man had it coming.”

“When I get my hands on you,” I threatened, “I’ll make sure I break your bones one by one, slowly.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, so you’re still pissed, that’s understandable,” Heath said. “But listen, that’s not why I was calling, although the whole threat to my life thing is kinda amusing.”

“What do you want, Heath?”

“I have a message for you, from Garth,” Heath said. “He says to meet him in Little Harlow in an hour, house twenty-three. Just tell the security at the gate who you are, he’ll leave word that you’re coming.”

“And why would I want to do that?”

“Because if you don’t, you won’t see Jenni ever again.”

My heart jumped into my throat, and a cold rushed through me. “What?”

“Oh, didn’t I mention? Damn, sorry, should’ve led with that. Yeah, well, we have your girl, and if you want to see her again, you’ll do what Garth tells you to do.”

“What have you done with her, you bastard!”

“Nothing, man, calm down,” Heath said. “Well, no, that’s a lie. I slapped her around a bit. But hey, she hit me first.” Heath laughed, and my blood boiled. “Sounds kinda familiar, doesn’t it?”

“I’m going to kill you!”

“See, there you go with the threats again,” Heath chuckled. “Really amusing, buddy, gotta hand it to you. Real comedian. Anyway, one hour, house twenty-three. Got that?”

I slammed the phone down, making Kelly jump.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, eyes wide as she watched the rage dance across my face.

“Wait here,” I said.

I raced down the hallway to my father’s room and opened his closet, reaching into the back of the top shelf where I knew he kept his rifle. I grabbed it and a box of ammunition, and quickly began loading it. Kelly stood shaking in the doorway.

“Dad?”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” I said. “I’m just going to go have a chat with the man who bat your grandfather.”

“Dad, you’re not a cop here,” she said. “Can’t you get in trouble with that?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to use it,” I lied. “It’s just to scare them a little.”

“Them? You said you were going to meet one person. Who’s them?”

“He may have a few friends with him.”

Kelly came up to me and put a hand on my arm. “You’re scaring me.”

I reached down and hugged her, kissing the top of her head. “I’m going to be okay, I promise. No death wish here.”

“That gun sure makes it seem otherwise,” Kelly protested.

“Like I said, it’s just to scare them,” I assured her, hoping I sounded convincing enough to calm her down. “Now, come one, we have to go.”

I pushed her down the hall and towards the front door, already picturing myself blowing the top of Heaths head off with the rifle.

“Where am I supposed to go?” Kelly asked.

“I’m going to take you to the hospital,” I replied, pulling on my coat. “You stay with your grandfather until I come back to pick you up.”

“Will they let me stay with him?” Kelly asked, clearly flustered. “Won’t they say refuse, you know, visiting hours and all that?”

“Don’t worry, your dad’s very convincing,” I replied, urging her out of the house and closing the door behind us. “Besides, your grandfather’s a hero now. They’ll make an exception.”

“I don’t like this,” Kelly protested as we made our way down the steps and to the car. I waved at her to hurry up and get in, and quickly started the car, shifting into reverse. “Dad, seriously, I don’t.”

“You’re going to have to trust me, chipmunk,” I said.

“You usually say that when you’re going to do something stupid,” she said. I could see the tears well up in her eyes again. “I thought you said you weren’t going to do that anymore. You promised me.”

I stopped the car, shifted it into neutral and held Kelly with both hands. “Listen,” I said. “You want me to be honest with you, right?”

Kelly nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Some really bad people have Jenni, and I need to go make sure she’s okay,” I explained. “Do you understand that?”

She nodded. “But why don’t you call the police.”

I hesitated, hating to wreck the perfect image of the law that I had worked so hard to make her believe in. There were some things about her being a child that I wanted her to hang onto for as long as possible, even if she knew what happened to little girls who were left alone by the side of the road. “Because the police aren’t going to do anything this time.”

“What?” she asked, frowning in confusion. “Why?”

“When I get back, I’ll tell you all about it,” I assured her. “Now, can we go?”

She nodded.

I shifted the car into drive and pressed down on the gas, hoping that when I finally got to Little Harlow, I would have calmed down enough to not just shoot everyone and kill them all.

Chapter 23: Jenni

The restraints cut into my wrists as I wrestled against them, twisting and turning my hands around in hope that somehow, they would just magically break loose. The more I struggled, though, the more the skin burned, and I had to stop my efforts while fighting back tears that were being brought on by the pain.

The single lamp that lit the living room cast shadows across the walls and left an eerie glow against the walls. From my position on the couch, I could barely see past the door into the hallway where Heath was humming a tune to himself while fiddling around with the drawers. I had no idea what he could be looking for, but his attitude made one thing clear.

He was bored.

Use that. Find a way out.

I had no idea how, though. I knew that Alex would show up pretty soon, and I cranked my head as I tried to look out the window at the abandoned house across the street. I had no idea what Garth had in store for him, but it couldn’t be good. Garth was losing it, bit by bit, believing he was untouchable to the point where he probably thought that he could kill a man and not face the consequences of that. He wasn’t delusional, though, just given false security by a Sheriff who was as competent as a fish out of water.

To me, that meant he was reckless, and I doubted Alex knew just how much. There was no telling what would happen when the two of them collided. All I knew was one of them was not going to make it out of this alive, and right now, Garth had home advantage.

You have to warn him.

The question was how.

Heath began to whistle joyfully as he strolled back into the living room, holding what looked like a journal in his hands. He was flipping through the pages, eyes wide, his pitch going higher as he scanned the journal’s contacts.

“Hey, Jenni, you know what this is?” he asked, waving the journal at me.

I didn’t answer.

“You remember how Garth said he could remember every single contact he had, just pull out their numbers from some kind of super storage in his head?” Heath smacked the journal and smiled. “Well, that was a load of crap.”

You don’t say? There was a lot of that oozing out of Garth, that this didn’t seem like much of a surprise.

Heath opened the journal again. “Every single name and number, in alphabetical order, and Garth didn’t even code the damn thing.” He looked up at me and smiled. “You know, I could take this and make it on my own without him, if I didn’t love the guy so much. Pretty stupid to leave it lying around where anyone could find it.”

“You seemed to be looking real hard for that,” I commented.

Heath laughed and plopped down on the couch. “Gotta watch my boy’s back, you know?” He continued scanning the journal. “I mean, we got a bunch of guys coming and going through here, some that can’t be trusted. This isn’t something you’d want them to get their hands on. There’s no telling what they could do with it.”

There’s your out!

“What are you going to do with it?” I asked.

“What do ya mean?”

I gestured to the journal. “You said everything’s in there,” I said. “What’s stopping you from walking out of here with it all?”

Heath looked at me for a few seconds before he smiled and shook a finger at me. “No, no, no,” he chuckled. “Bad ex-girlfriend. I see what you’re trying to do.”

“What am I trying to do?”

“You’re trying to tempt me into backstabbing my best friend,” Heath said. “Playing your little mind games, making me think I can have it all, right?”

I shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I mean, you’re a smart guy. It’s not like you really need him.”

“Alright, you know what?” he said, waving a dismissive hand at me. “Stop it. I liked you better when you weren’t talking.”

“Seriously, Heath,” I pressed. “Come to think of it, all he really does is call people and bark orders. You do most of the heavy lifting.”

“Shut up, Jenni.” Heath’s tone took a more aggressive turn, and he glared at me angrily.

Twin lights broke through the window and briefly lit up the living room in a bright light before turning away. I looked over my shoulder and watched in horror as Alex’s car pulled up to the house across the street. I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach.

“That your lover boy?” Heath asked, getting up and rushing to the window. He clapped his hands together and smiled. “Looks like it’s all going down now.” He turned around and went back to the couch, picking up the journal again.

I tried to loosen my restraints again, wincing and clenching my teeth at the jolts of pain that shot out from where the skin had been rubbed raw. This was getting me nowhere, and I watched helplessly as Alex walked up the driveway and disappeared behind the house. He was carrying Samuel’s rifle.

“You know, now would be the perfect time,” I said, turning my attention back to Heath.

He looked up at me and frowned. “What?”

I gestured to the journal again. “Garth’s going to be a little preoccupied at the moment. I say take it and make a run for it. Drive out of town, far away from Kent. Make a few calls. Get a nice little setup going on before he even knows what hit him.”

“I told you to shut up.”

“Take me with you.”

Heath’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

“Take me with you,” I repeated. “Come on, you don’t honestly think I want to stay in this hell hole forever do you?”

Heath frowned at me, the confusion etched on his face almost making me smile.

“Alex was just a means to an end,” I said. “This is all a show. Take out Alex, and Samuel would be too heartbroken to do anything but sell. He’d need the money to take care of Kelly.”

“Bullshit,” Heath said. “You know, sometimes I get the feeling you think I’m a complete idiot.”

“Why?” I asked. “Because Garth didn’t tell you about all this? You know him better than anyone. How was this going to be believable if we continued seeing each other?”

“Okay, now you’re just blabbering a bunch of nonsense,” Heath said. “If this was some great plan, then why are you tied up over there?”

“You said it yourself, too many people,” I replied. “Garth doesn’t know who to trust anymore. We staged the whole kidnapping.”

Heath shook his head, but I could already see that he was starting to doubt his own logic. “That’s bull. He would have told me.”

“Actually, he wanted to,” I said. “I convinced him not to. For this to work, everyone had to be kept in the dark, even you.”

Heath ran a hand across his face and scratched the back of his head. He stood up and began to pace back and forth. He shook his head and waved a finger at me.

“See, there you go, playing with me again,” he said. “Garth would never agree to that.”

“It’s perfect, and you know it,” I said. “You just don’t want to believe it because you never thought he’d keep you in the dark about anything. Garth is always going to look out for number one, and that number one is him. He’ll toss anyone aside if it works in his favor.”

“And what’s going to stop him from tossing you to the curb?”

“Nothing,” I said. “That’s why I’m telling you to take me with you. You have his contacts right there in your hands. Every name and number he’s ever needed to build his little empire. All I ask is you take me with you.”

Heath eyed me for what seemed like forever, and I knew I had gotten to him. When you broke him down to his core, all Heath really wanted was power and recognition, both of which Garth was barely giving him. All I needed was a little push to get him to turn on Garth completely.

I adjusted myself on the couch, letting my feet fall to the floor, and opened my legs wide.

“What are you doing?”

“Come on, Heath,” I tried my best to smile seductively. “Don’t tell me you weren’t just a little curious about what made Garth bend over backwards for me?”

His eyes rested on my crotch, and I pushed my chest out towards him. “Take me with you,” I whispered, “and I promise you, you’ll get a lot more than just a journal.”

“Prove it.”

The request took me by surprise, and for a brief second, my composure faltered. “Excuse me?”

“Prove it,” he repeated. “You say you want out. You say you want me to take you with me, that you’d give me all of that.” He gestured with his hand at me. “Prove it.”

I tried to control the shaking in my voice, and faked a smile. “What do you want me to do?”

He walked towards me, dropped the journal on the couch, and leaned in. “Give me a preview,” he said.

He reached down with one hand and cupped me between my legs, pressing the heel of his hand against my crotch. I fought back the gag that threatened to escape my mouth and the bile that rushed up my throat. Play along, dammit! Play along.

“Whatever you need, sweetheart,” I whispered, hating myself for what I was doing.

He cupped one of my breasts and squeezed painfully, but I was quick to hide my discomfort and even pushed my hips forward against his hand. He unbuttoned my jeans and pulled the zipper down, giving himself room to slide his fingers into my panties. I shuddered with disgust as he touched me, the reflex working to my advantage as he smiled.

“You like that, huh?”

I nodded, biting my lip and trying to look as turned as I possibly could without headbutting him in the face. “Untie my hands and pull down your pants,” I said. “I think I might just know how to be a little more convincing.”

Heath hesitated for only a second before pulling a switchblade out of his pocket and reaching around me. I heard the blade snap open, and with a few tugs, my hands were finally free. Heath stood up, replaced the knife in his pocket, and quickly began unbuckling his pants. I gave him my best smile as he tugged and pulled at his pants, and even went as far as helping him pull them down.

Gunshots echoed through the night sky, startling us both. Heath’s head snapped up, his eyes squinting to see what was happening across the street, and I used the momentary distraction to my advantage. I gathered my strength, used every ounce of anger I had to fuel it, and punched him in the crotch.

Heath cried out in pain, his knees buckling as he collapsed onto the floor. I jumped up and raced past him. He curled up in a fetal position, his hands holding his crotch, and called after me. “You fucking bitch!”

I raced to the front door, skidding as I stopped and tried to pull it open. It was locked. I looked for the key on the table next to the door, my hands shaking, Heath’s cries of pain piercing through my ears like sirens.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!”

More gunshots sounded from across the street, and tears quickly welled up in my eyes. I needed to get to Alex. I had no idea what I would do once I was outside, but I didn’t care. All I could think about was racing across the street before it was too late.

Heath appeared at the doorway to the living room, naked from the waist down, cupping his crotch with one hand and brandishing his switchblade in the other. “I’m going to cut you up, you fucking bitch!”

He lunged for me, and I quickly turned and raced up the stairs. I could hear him following me, clumsily slamming against the bannister and wall as he chased me to the second floor. Something cut across the back of my arm, and I screamed at the sudden shock of pain that shot out from where his switchblade had wounded me. I kept going, high on adrenaline, knowing that if I hesitated for just one second, he’d be on top of me. And that switchblade would do a lot more than just cutting.

I ran into Garth’s room and slammed the door closed. Heath was able to get an arm in to stop it from closing completely. I leaned against it, using my body to keep him from pushing it open, but he stronger, angrier, and I felt myself losing the struggle. He swiped at me with the knife, barely missing my face, and pushed at the door with everything he had. I was hurled forward and landed with a thud on the ground.

“You bitch!” he screamed and toppled on top of me. The weight of his body knocked the breath out of me, and I was helpless as he grabbed my hair and slammed my face against the floor. I flood blood trickle into the back of my mouth, and I pushed up against him with everything I had.

Heath rolled off me, the knife falling from his hands, and I grabbed it before he could. Without thinking, I swung my arm around and watched the blade cut across his cheek. He rolled away, kicking me as he tried to distance himself from my frantic swings. Gathering what little strength I had left, I pushed to my feet and raced back out and towards the stairs. Before I could reach them, Heath had caught up with me and threw his body against me, slamming the both of us into the wall.

“I’m going to kill you!” he hissed in my ear.

Screaming, I flung my elbow back and felt it connect with his jaw, giving me enough room to turn around and push him away.

Heath’s eyes grew wide as he lost balance and fell back, landing with a sickening cracking sound on the staircase. I slid to the floor and watched as he rolled down the stairs and came to an abrupt stop at the bottom, his legs and arms twisted in impossible angles and his eyes staring up at the ceiling.

 

Chapter 24: Alex

My hands tightened around the rifle as I made my way across the side of the house. I kept my head low, looking behind me every few steps to make sure no one was going to surprise me. The lights inside the house were on, but the curtains were drawn, and there was no way I would be able to take a look inside without bringing too much attention to myself.

This is a trap. You know that, right?

I heard Janice’s voice in the back of my head, loud enough to make me believe she was standing beside me and whispering urgently in my ear. Of course, I knew it was a trap. I was a lot of things, but naïve wasn’t one of them. There was no telling what Garth had planned for me, and every precaution I could take was only for my benefit. Ultimately, anything could happen.

I stopped just before I turned the corner towards the back. I leaned against the wall of the house, closing my eyes and listening to the sounds around me. Everything was quiet, except for the chirping of crickets and the occasional croak of a frog. The house was dead silent, and I began to immediately rethink my decision to come here. If Jenni really was inside, there would be some noise, anything at all, even if muffled moans of protest or the occasional shifting of furniture.

Unless they have her in the basement.

But the basement windows were dark, and a quick inspection of the one nearest to me assured me that no one was down there. The silhouettes of construction equipment lined the walls, and the shadows that shifted came from the light of the moon. No, she was definitely not in the basement.

Then why was the house so damn quiet?

A lick of a lighter immediately brought me back from the questions in my head, and I heard the faint sound of a cigarette lighting and someone blowing out smoke. I cocked my head to one side, trying to hear for anything else, and a muffled cough soon followed.

Would he be that stupid?

I doubted it, which could only mean that he wasn’t alone. I don’t know why that took me a little by surprise, although I knew that at least Heath should be here, if not others. But, for the entire drive here, I had convinced myself that Garth was the kind of guy who was a little too proud to let one of his men take me down. A part of me truly believed that he would try and do it on his own. As if he had to prove how efficient he was. It was an instinctive feeling, something that had never let me down before, and I was a little taken aback that I had been wrong about this.

This doesn’t feel right, I thought to myself. My mind was throwing up flags left and right, and I turned and looked behind me again, frowning at the other houses that lined the street. Some of them had their lights on while others looked completely abandoned. Maybe I was being drawn to the wrong place. Maybe Jenni wasn’t here after all. Garth had an entire compound at his disposal, with more than enough places he could have hidden her in. This felt a little too convenient.

Only one way to find out.

I stood up slowly and adjusted my hold on the rifle, taking a deep breath before I burst out from my cover and aimed.

It wasn’t Garth after all, and I stared at the surprised look on Jack’s face, arm still in a sling. He dropped the cigarette from his good hand and reached for his gun. I raised the rifle and aimed it at his head.

“Don’t,” I said.

Jack was apparently as stupid as he looked, because he went for his gun anyway. I lowered he rifle, aimed at his leg, and fired. His leg shot out from under him, his kneecap exploding in a shower of blood as he screamed out in pain and fell to the ground. I rushed to his side and kicked his gun away, pressing the muzzle of my rifle against his head.

“Where is she?”

Jack cried out in pain and slapped his hand against the ground several times.

“Where the fuck is she?”

I heard the gunshot before the window burst, and quickly dropped to my knees. I was suddenly back in Miami, the bullet whizzing past my head and lodging in the tree behind me, showering me in barks of wood. I raised my rifle and fired into the open window, cursing when I realized that I could be shooting at Jenni. The curtains flapped in the wind, and another gunshot tore through the fabric and whizzed over my head.

I heard footsteps race deeper into the house. Jack was trying to push himself up, and I brought the rifle down hard against the back of his head, knocking him out. I grabbed his gun, made sure the safety was on, then lodged it into my belt. I waited, listened, and when I was sure no one was going to shoot at me again, I raced forward and kicked in the back door.

The sudden bright light blinded me, and I whirled back out, hiding behind the protection of the doorframe. I half expected gunshots to follow me, but whoever was still inside had decided to abandon his post and find another vantage point somewhere else. I lifted the rifle up and stepped inside the house, glass crunching under my feet as I moved.

The house was barren, devoid of all life except for a few tables here and there where drills and saws had been left behind. Planks of wood lined the hallway, and a barrel had been pushed up against the front door.

He really expected you to come in through there.

Garth might have been out of his mind, but it was apparent that he was nothing more than a power-hungry amateur who had no idea that he was in over his head.

Careful. Those are usually the dangerous ones.

The unpredictable ones. The ones that would go as far as kidnap a woman to lure a DEA agent into a trap and try to kill him.

I made way deeper into the house, careful as I passed every door, making sure no one was waiting for me inside. I approached the staircase carefully, keeping my aim high, ready to fire at anything that moved. If Jenni was here, then there was only one place she could be. Which meant Garth was up there, too.

“You know, Alex, I would have expected you to be a lot more cordial,” Garth called from the second floor. I crouched down immediately. “I mean, there’s so much that could get done if people would just amicably work together.”

“Those are two big words right after each other, Garth,” I called back. “Careful, you might give yourself an aneurysm.”

Garth laughed, and a gunshot followed that struck the wall ahead of me and showered the staircase with plaster. The point of impact was too far away from me to be of any effect. Garth was just showing me where my limit would be.

“I never told Heath to hurt your old man, you gotta believe me,” Garth said.

“I believe you,” I said. “So how about you let Jenni go and we can sort this out another time.”

“Oh, come on, Alex,” Garth laughed. “You’re a smart guy. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that she isn’t here.”

Fuck! Always listen to your instincts.

“Where is she, Garth?”

“Across the street,” he called down. “Heath is with her. I told him to do it quickly, but hey, you know Heath.”

I eyed the barrel blocking the front door and decided against testing whether or not I could move it. I jumped to my feet and raced back down the hallway and out the back. I stayed close to the wall, making myself less of a target in case Garth decided to use me as target practice from up there. As soon as I stepped out into the driveway, the front door opened.

Garth came out shooting, gun shaking in his hand and his eyes blazing in anger as he fired at me. The first shot missed me and the second grazed my shoulder as I jumped across the hood of his Mustang and dove for cover. He continued shooting, bullets lodging into the sports car as he screamed bloody murder. I waited for the distinct sound of lifeless clicking, and stepped out, rifle held high and aimed directly at him.

“Drop it!” I yelled.

Garth dropped the gun and raised his hands into the air, glaring at me yet smiling. “Whatcha gonna do, big boy?” he hissed. “Arrest me? Or go save your girlfriend before Heath rips her to shreds?”

I glanced at the house across the street then brought my attention back to Garth. “On the ground, Garth.”

Garth laughed and clapped his hands. “Bravo, bravo!” he said. “Always the long arm of the law, aren’t we? You’d rather try and take me in than save your sweet Jenni? I’m impressed, agent Logan.”

I winced at his shrill laughter, and my eyes darted to the house where Jenni was supposedly in. This was just another game. There was no telling if there was any truth behind what he was saying. This could just be his way to distract me while he got away.

“On the ground!” I yelled, my mind racing.

Garth got down on his knees and put his hands behind his head. “I’m not exactly sure how you’re going to cuff me, but make sure you read me my rights. I know Sheriff Blake is going to be incredibly interested in what happened here.”

I wanted to shoot him right there and then, and fought the urge back. I approached him slowly, rifle held tight, and tried to think of the next best move.

“Alex!”

I turned to see Jenni racing out of the house and across the street towards us, and realized my mistake a second too late.

Garth lunged for me, slamming his body against mine and pushing me back until we slammed into the side of his car. The rifle fell from my hands, and he kneed me in the side twice before I even had a chance to collect myself. I cried out in pain, tried to block his attack, and felt my head snap to one side after his fist connected with my jaw. I stumbled and fell to a crouch, Garth’s knee slamming into my chin and almost knocking me out completely.

I rolled away from him, blood pouring out of my nose and into my open mouth. I watched him rush for the rifle, and I quickly pushed myself to my feet and rushed after him. Before his hands could reach the weapon, I threw my weight against him and brought him down hard. His head smacked against the rear bumper of his car as we fell, and he rolled away from me, groaning in pain.

I tried to stand up, my eyes watering from the pain, and I waited as he used the rear of the Mustang to hoist himself up. He swayed on his feet, and I immediately grabbed him by his collar and threw my fist against his nose. I felt it break against my knuckles as he fell back against the car. With one hand holding him in place, I landed one punch after the other, screaming in rage as I attacked him. I don’t know how many times I hit him, but by the time Jenni grabbed my arm and pulled me back, he slid sideways and fell in an unconscious heap onto the ground.

I staggered away from his limp body, and immediately turned to Jenni, holding her tight in my arms as she cried against my chest. I ran my hand across her back, burying my face in her hair.

“You’re okay,” I whispered, trying my best to soother her. “We’re okay.”

I closed my eyes and held her tight as sirens sounded in the distance.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 25: Alex

“I could get used to this,” Samuel said, folding his hands behind his head and sighed as I rolled him towards the house in his wheelchair, briefly struggling with the uneven path that led to the front porch.

The hospital had released him an hour earlier, and I had never seen him happier. He looked at least ten years younger, and a part of me knew it was because of all the attention he had been getting from the nurses. I even caught one blowing him a kiss as we drove away, and when I asked him about it, he expertly dodged answering.

“Maybe I should just leave you out here,” I said, grunting as I pushed him towards the makeshift ramp I had set up at the end of the porch steps.

“I think Kelly might just kill you if you do that.”

I chuckled. “Her and about half of the hospital staff.”

“Are you still going on about that?”

I pushed him up the ramp. “What they see in an old man like you, I will never know.”

“It’s the Logan charm, Alex,” he laughed. “I don’t expect you to understand that, the grunt that you are.”

“Gee, thanks, dad,” I said.

The front door flew open, and Kelly raced out, practically jumping onto my father’s lap as she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed.

“Woah, easy there, chipmunk,” I said. “He’s not fully recovered.”

“Oh, shut up and let the girl welcome her grandfather back home,” Samuel laughed, hugging her back and trying to hide his pain.

I looked up just as Jenni walked out, all smiles and eyes glowing. It had been a week since the kidnapping, and I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight, insisting that she stay with us as long as she needed. As long as I needed. I had gotten so used to her being around, I couldn’t even imagine her going back to her apartment. It was as if she belonged, and even Kelly could attest to how much brighter our lives had become with Jenni around.

“Can I roll the old man inside, or are we going to spend the rest of the afternoon out here?” I asked.

“Is the chair too much for you to handle?” Kelly asked. She shot me a look that made me hold up my hands in mock surrender, and she quickly pushed me aside, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair and taking control. “I got this. You can go back to growing old.”

Samuel laughed as she rolled him away, looking at me over his shoulder. “She takes after her grandfather,” he said, winking at me.

Jenni bent down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Welcome back, Sam,” she said.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Jenni,” he said. “I hope my son’s at least trying to be a good host.”

“Push faster, Kelly!” I called out as they disappeared inside the house.

Jenni giggled as I wrapped her in my arms, kissing her deeply. “It already feels good to have him back,” she said.

“Yeah, now I have a trio against me,” I said. “I’m jumping up and down in glee.”

She slapped my arm and led me inside. “You don’t actually think we needed Samuel to gang up on you, did you?”

“Nope,” I smiled. “Between you and Kelly, I’m as castrated as they come.”

* * *

“So, you’re done?”

I was sitting in my father’s room, adjusting his bed as he watched me from his wheelchair.

“Pretty much,” I said.

Samuel nodded, clearly impressed. “Never thought you’d do it.”

“Really?”

He shrugged. “Thought I’d be getting a call one day telling me you to collect my orphaned granddaughter and the casket with my son’s body in it.”

I looked at him, meeting his eyes and trying to decide if he was joking or serious. “That’s a little dark.”

“Hey, kid, I know you,” he said. “That shooting you survived? I never doubted you’d jump right back into the line of fire if they let you.”

I shrugged. “I probably would have,” I said. “A part of me still wants to.”

“What changed?”

“Kelly, for starters,” I said. “We had a heart to heart. I don’t think I can put her through any more of my crap.”

“That’s mature,” Samuel replied. “And very unlike you.”

“Come on, dad, give me some credit.”

Samuel grunted. “Well, I’m definitely proud of you.”

“Thanks,” I said, bending down and looping an arm under his legs, carrying him off his chair and onto the bed. I fluffed his pillows, adjusted them, and made sure he was comfortable before rolling the wheelchair by the bed and propping his crutches up against the bedside table.

“So, what’s the plan?” Samuel asked.

“I’ll go back to Miami in a week or two, after I’ve made sure everything’s settled here,” I said. “Finish off the paperwork, finalize Kelly’s transfer papers, and if you’ll have us, we’ll make the remaining few years of your life miserable.”

Samuel smiled. “I love misery.”

“I had a feeling you might.”

Samuel laid his head back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling for a bit before he chuckled and shook his head.

“What’s so funny?”

“How this whole thing played out, you know?” Samuel said. “I mean, I really thought that was it for this town. We were rolling downhill and picking up speed.”

“We’re not out of the woods just yet,” I said.

“Yeah, well, at least we’re not lost anymore,” Samuel mused. “And no one’s going to be knocking on our door trying to buy that piece of land, either.”

“Well, Garth’s behind bars, along with the rest of his crew, if you want to call it that,” I said. “Whether or not Hope Enterprises will stop trying to turn this town into a metropolis is still in the wind.”

“Nothing stuck to that Alexis woman, huh?”

I shook my head. “She keeps herself out of the dirty business, which is smart,” I said. “Would have been surprised if we had been able to link Garth’s drug business to her. And the company had reported those vehicles back in Miami as stolen, so again, nothing.”

“What’s going to stop her from trying to start this whole mess all over again?”

“I doubt she’ll do it,” I said. “Too many eyes watching. The FBI is looking into Sheriff Blake, the community college is reconsidering who it wants to affiliate itself with. No casino, that’s for sure.” I shrugged. “Smart woman like her, she’d take the illegal stuff somewhere else.”

“Another small town in Connecticut,” Samuel mumbled.

“I’d say well out of the state, maybe far away from New England in general.”

“Well, good riddance,” Samuel sighed and closed his eyes. “Now, get out and let your old man get some rest.”

I laughed. “Now you’re old?”

“When it’s convenient.”

I smiled, made my wait and closed the door.

* * *

I found Jenni outside, sitting on the porch swing, coffee mug cradled in her hands. She smiled at me as I approached and shifted to let me fall down next to her. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. We didn’t say anything, just stared out at the street and the woods beyond, savoring the peace.

“He’s going to be fine, right?” she finally asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s a fighter. Always has been.”

“Must be to raise you the way he did,” she said.

“Is everyone taking hits at me today?”

“Today?”

I laughed and squeezed her closer. “I’m going to head back to Miami in a couple of weeks, finalize the paperwork.”

“So that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

She sipped her coffee and rested her head against my chest. “People are usually trying to leave Kent, not the other way around.”

“I guess they just need a reason to stay,” I replied. “Or in my case, come back.”

“That’s sappy,” she giggled, looking up at me, “and incredibly sweet.”

“Well, you know, I actually like you.”

“Actually?”

I kissed the tip of her nose, losing myself in her eyes. “Wanna join me?”

“Where? Miami?”

I nodded. “Probably won’t be there for more than a week or two. Raul’s willing to send me the finalized papers and sell the house for me, so I don’t have to be there for long.”

“That’s nice of him.”

“So, what do you say?”

Jenni smiled at me. “Fuck, no.”

I laughed, pushing her off me playfully. “You don’t have to be so excited.”

“If I come with you, who’s going to take care of Samuel?”

“Kelly can pull that off,” I suggested.

“She’s still twelve, you know,” Jenni glared at me. “And after what happened, I’m not leaving her alone, at all.”

I fell in love with her all over again. For the two weeks she’d been here, she took on the motherly role pretty well, and surprisingly, Kelly didn’t mind. Jenni had found that perfect balance between being a friend and earning Kelly’s respect enough for the girl to listen to her, and to me, that was almost as if she had performed a miracle. I couldn’t really ask for more.

“Fine, then it will just be me,” I said. “Although that could be dangerous. I might actually enjoy my stay there and reconsider moving.”

Jenni eyed me with mock anger. “You wouldn’t.”

“I might.”

“Fine,” she shrugged. “We’re staying right here. You can visit in the summer.”

I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me, kissing her passionately. When I pulled back, she was smiling up at me, her eyes glimmering in the sunlight. “You can’t make it a week without us,” she said.

And she was right. For the first time in a very long time, I finally felt like I was home.

Epilogue: One Year Later: Jenni

The house was dark except for the dim glow of the candles that Alex had set up all around the living room. I sat on the couch, watching him light one after the other, sipping at my glass of wine and feeling the slight buzz of the alcohol in my head.

It had been an incredible evening. A walk through the park, dinner by the river at that new restaurant that had opened near the university, and a movie with enough popcorn I could have swam in the bowl. Not to mention the locket he had wrapped around my neck, the gold now glimmering in the candlelight.

When it came to anniversaries, Alex Logan really knew how to keep it sweet and simple, and I loved him for it. Besides, the wine was the perfect touch, especially with the candles.

“I don’t think I bought enough,” he said, eyeing the setup.

“You can light up a church with what we have here,” I replied, laughing.

“If you say so,” he smiled. Pouring himself a glass, he sat down on the carpet beside me and pulled me into his arms.

It was rare for us to have the entire house to ourselves, and we had decided to make the best of the opportunity. With Kelly at a sleepover and Samuel on a two-day fishing trip, I felt like a parent whose kids had just moved away to college.

“This was a beautiful night,” I said, easing into his arms.

“Least I can do,” he replied. “You’ve given me one of the best years of my life.”

I sipped on the wine. “Did I?”

“Of course,” he said.

“It was a pretty good year, wasn’t it?” I smiled. “You’re not all that bad in the boyfriend department.”

“Wow, thank you, I’m glad you approve.”

I giggled, kissing his cheek and playfully biting his chin. The truth was, it was one of the best years of my life, too. Ever since I had moved in, things seemed to be a lot more stable. Work at the diner was a lot smoother, especially since Hank now trusted me with a lot more responsibilities and wasn’t constantly breathing down my neck. Apparently, being with Alex seemed to settle well with him, as if his little girl had finally made the right choice in the relationship department, at least in his eyes.

Besides, I loved being a part of the Logan family. Samuel had definitely taken a liking to me, even using me as an excuse to take shots at Alex. Every time we disagreed on anything, Samuel was quick to take my side. Even Kelly jumped at any chance to use me as a card against her father. Tonight’s sleepover was a perfect example. Not to mention that I was a major player in convincing her father that having a boyfriend was not the end of the world.

All in all, it really was a great year, and despite my initial concerns, the worry that we were going into this way too fast, it had played out pretty well. I couldn’t really imagine my life without Alex anymore. It was like everything before him was non-existent.

“So, how does Alex Logan plan for this night to end?”

Alex looked at me, a playful smile spreading across his face. “Well, we do have the house to ourselves.”

“I noticed that.”

“And there’s enough wine for us to get really, really drunk.”

I smiled. “I see.”

Alex leaned in and kissed the crook of my neck, softly, his breath warm against my skin. I closed my eyes and moaned softly. “I did have a few things in mind, though,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow and bit my lower lip. “Well, please, don’t let me get in the way of your plans.”

He took the glass from my hand, placed it on the table beside me and leaned in again, his lips locking onto mine. I kissed him passionately, then hungrily. He pulled me to him, and I straddled him, feeling his already hard cock against my crotch.

I pulled back and began to grind slowly. “Why, Mr. Logan,” I whispered. “You seem to be a little too excited.”

He closed his eyes as I pressed against him, swirling my hips around, my hands slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

“I think the wine’s getting to my head,” he said with a smile.

I leaned in, kissed him, and pulled at his lower lip with my teeth. “I think it’s more than just the wine,” I said, gazing into his eyes seductively as I continued to grind against him.

His hands grabbed my waist, and he began to push my shirt up. I slapped his hands away and shook a finger at him. “You see? Too excited.”

“Someone’s in a playful mood,” he said.

I pouted. “Maybe it’s the wine,” I teased. But it was more than that. Ever since dinner and I had been fighting back the heat inside me, and even during the movie, it took every ounce of self-control I had not to rip the clothes off his body and take him. The atmosphere, the wine, the romantic anniversary gestures, it just made me want him so fucking badly I could almost feel the heat between my thighs spread like wildfire through me.

I continued to unbutton his shirt and leaned in, kissing his chest, running my hands across his body. I kissed my way down, unbuttoned his pants, and gazed into his eyes as I pulled them off. I slipped a hand inside his boxers and squeezed, smiling as he gasped at my touch.

“What do you say we have a little fun?” I teased, stroking his cock.

Alex opened his mouth to reply, then closed it, his eyes rolling back in pleasure. I pulled off his boxers, bent down and gently ran my tongue across his shaft. The way he shuddered under me only turned me on even more. I looked up at him, meeting his gaze, and slowly took his cock into my mouth. He groaned in pleasure and his hands clenched against the couch cushions. I sucked on his cock, wrapping my hand around him and pumping him as I twirled my tongue around the tip. I felt his legs shake, and I quickened my pace.

“Oh God, that’s good,” he moaned.

I lost myself in what I was doing, feeling dirty and turned on to the point where I actually wanted to hear him beg me to not stop. When I felt like he was about to come, I pulled him out of my mouth and giggled when he groaned in disappointment.

“You’re a tease, you know that?” he said.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” I replied. I stood in front of him and stared into his eyes as I slowly undid the buttons of my pants and slipped out of them. Swirling my hips about, I smiled and stripped out of my panties. The way he was looking at me, the hunger in his eyes, only turned me on more.

I moved closer until my pussy was only inches from his face, then grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled him to me. His hands quickly grabbed my ass and his tongue hungrily lapped at my crotch. I moaned in pleasure, grinding against his face as he sucked on my clit and slid his tongue inside me. I was only getting wetter, and hornier, and I locked my fingers in his hair and pressed his face closer.

In a matter of seconds my moans filled the room as my body shook with an intense orgasm. The heat of the moment was overwhelming, and before I could totally recover, I straddled him and quickly slid his cock inside me. His hands squeezed my ass as he entered me, my legs shuddering against him as inch by inch he filled me up. He wasted no time undressing me, pulling my shirt over my head and unclasping my bra even as I began to ride him. He pulled me closer, covering my breasts with his hands and mouth, sucking at my nipples, nibbling on them and sending wave after wave of shockwaves through me. I rode him faster, harder, lost in the moment as his cock slid in and out of me. I grinded against him, swirling my hips as he sucked on my nipples, feeling his cock along every inch inside me. He grabbed my hips, forcing me to move faster as my breasts bounced against his face. And when he pushed his thumb against my clit, my body exploded as a second orgasm hit me hard.

I lifted off him, leaning against the couch as he pushed onto his knees behind me. I looked over my shoulder at him, my eyes silently begging him to take me, and my hands clenched against the couch as he pushed inside me. His hands gripped my waist, holding me tight as he rocked against me. His cock hit parts of me that drove me insane, and I had to bury my face in the couch to muffle my screams. I reached behind me, grabbing his waist and pulling him against me, his pelvis slapping against my ass with every thrust. He was driving me insane, and he knew it, because every few seconds he would slow his pace only to pick it up again and drive me over the edge. I pushed back against him, rocking with his rhythm, meeting every thrust as he moved. I felt myself get wetter, hotter, and I wondered just how many orgasms I could take before I collapsed and begged him to stop.

He turned me around onto my back and climbed on top of me, sliding back into me and taking control. I felt my head spin, my senses lost in the midst of what he was doing to me. He pinned my hands over my head and began ramming against me, thrusting hard and fast, fucking me like his life depended on it. My body was burning in the heat of the moment, and with every thrust, my moans grew louder until I was screaming his name, over and over again, begging him to go faster, harder, deeper. I locked my heels against his ass and pulled him in, forcing his cock in deeper. With his free hand he squeezed my breast, pinching my nipple lightly and sending a wave of shudders through my body.

Before I knew it, I was coming again, gushing around his cock as he moved against me. My screams were so loud, I was sure the neighbors across the street would hear me, but I didn’t care. I was so lost in the moment, so overwhelmed with what he was doing to me, the sky could have fallen and I wouldn’t have wanted him to stop.

When he came, it was like a volcano exploding inside me, filling me up. His hands clenched down hard on my wrists, and he pushed in with a final thrust that shook me to the core. I came again, shuddering underneath him, my thighs clamping down on him and holding on so tight, I felt the muscles spasm. I pulled him to me, wanting to feel the hammering of his heart against me, the heat of his skin against mine, and shuddered again when I felt his body shake in my arms.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, wrapped in each other’s arms, gasping for breath. When he finally rolled over, I rolled into his arms and held him tight. I didn’t want to let go. I felt so calm, so at peace, I wished for the moment to last forever. His arms held me like a vice, pressing me tight against his chest.

My head swam, the multiple orgasms mixing with the alcohol in my system, and I quickly fell asleep in his arms.

I woke up a few hours later, cradled against him as he carried me up the stairs and into our bedroom. He laid me down softly and climbed onto his side of the bed, spooning me. I pushed back against him, silently urging him to hold me tighter, his warm breath against the nape of my neck, and I closed my eyes.

“I love you,” I whispered, hugging his arms. I felt safe here, protected just by his presence, knowing that whatever happened, he would never let me go.

Alex kissed my back and pressed me closer. “I love you, too,” he whispered back.

I smiled, cherishing this moment and etching it into my mind forever.

A few minutes later, I was fast asleep, lying in the arms of the man I loved, knowing that I would never have to worry about anything ever again.

Bonus Scene

We were barely inside Jenni’s little apartment before she grabbed the front of my shirt, pressed me to the wall, and kissed me hard. It was her eyes that told me what she wanted first, then her lips. Her eyes glimmered in the dim light, and with the curve of her luscious, I knew exactly what she wanted. And I was more than ready to give it to her.

My eyes dropped to her breasts, her cleavage big enough for me to bury my fucking face in it, and I swear I could hear them begging me to do whatever I wanted to them.

“What are you waiting for?” Jenni asked, and it was all the invitation I wanted.

I leaned in, our lips locking and her hands reaching up, running through my hair. I felt her tongue flicker against mine, and I kissed her hungrily. She wanted it to. It was in the way she breathed against my lips, the way her lips seemed to heat up against mine, the way she clenched my hair and pulled me to her.

I leaned over, letting one hand slide up one leg, moving slowly to the inside of her thigh. She pushed her hips up towards me, opening her beautiful legs up, letting my hand slide into her skirt. When my hand found her dripping wet through her panties, she moaned against my lips and kissed me hungrily.

My cock was hard, and I mean rock hard. It bulged against my pants, and I desperately wanted to give it more breathing space, but couldn’t move my hand from where it was. I slid her panties to one side and slid a finger between her lips, moving against her clit. She broke the kiss, her moans too much to keep in, and she began to wrap herself around me. She pulled my head down to her neck, letting me kiss her collar, as one long leg wrapped around mine and gave me more access to her pussy.

I slid my fingers inside her, slow at first, and when she began to grind against them, picked up the speed. I was kissing my way down her half-open blouse until I found the tender flesh of her breasts, and she just pulled me closer, burying me in their glory, bucking against my fingers as I fucked her with everything I had. Her moans were turning into soft screams of pleasure, and her thighs began pushing against my bulge, moving against them, driving me crazy.

I pulled away, too excited to fucking take it anymore. I wanted to strip her naked and have my way with her. The excitement she was in was driving me crazy, and I knew the couch we were on would not be enough for what I had planned.

Jenni had other plans though. She grabbed my wrist quickly, pulling me back to her pussy. “Don’t stop,” she whispered in my ear before biting on the lobe and running her tongue around it. “Don’t you dare stop!”

I found myself getting lost in her blue eyes. I couldn’t possibly say no, could I? I quickly went back to work, adding a little pressure to her clit with my thumb, and soon she was rocking against my hand as if her life depended on it. She came hard, clutching me tight, her screams muffled in my neck. She shook like a leaf against me, gushing against my hand. She didn’t let go, not immediately, and I fought the urge to just throw her on her back and fuck her right there.

I began to move, and she quickly pushed me back, her strength surprising me. She gave me a wicked smile, slipped off the couch and began to unbuckle my belt. “My turn,” she winked at me.

I watched her fingers work expertly, unbuttoning me and sliding my pants and boxers down in one quick motion. This was not her first time, and when she looked up at me, blue eyes meeting mine, a wide smile in her face, she proved it to me with a quick flick of her tongue against my cock.

She squeezed me, my cock pulsing in her hand. And when she took me into her mouth, my head fell back and a loud sigh escaped me. Those fucking lips, that tongue grazing against me as she sucked, her nails grazing the inside of my thighs, I felt like I was going to explode right there and then. A premature orgasm that was going to make me look like an idiot. It was all I could do to hold back, keep my head in the game, and the more she worked, the harder it was.

My hand reached down to her head, and she gently brushed it away, letting me know that this was her show, not mine. That she knew what she was doing and didn’t need any coaxing from me. She grazed my cock with her teeth, softly, the mix of little pain and so much fucking pleasure making me groan.

And just before I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore, she let my cock slide out. I watched her stand in front of me, gazing at me with those mischievous eyes, looking at me like I was her prey. She slowly slid her skirt up so I could see her drenched panties, then slid them down her legs, slowly stepping out of them.

“You’re gorgeous,” I stammered.

She giggled. “You’re only saying that because you know what I’m about to do,” she said, straddling me. My cock was sandwiched between her pussy lips, and she slowly began rocking back and forth.

“No, I’m not,” I said.

“Good,” she said, lifting herself up and grabbing my cock, guiding it. “Because I would be disappointed otherwise.”

She slid down and buried me inside her, and my groans matched the gasp that came from her. I felt myself grow even harder inside her, and I didn’t know if it was because of how tight she was or the fact that she was clenching against me. I grabbed her ass, holding her down as I took in the warmth and wetness that surrounded my cock.

“You gonna let me go?” she asked, that wicked smile on her face.

“In a second,” I replied.

“Or maybe I should give you something else to keep your hands busy.” She slowly began to unbutton her blouse, and I almost cried when I saw the bra clasp on the front.

“You’re not playing fair,” I smiled as she slid the blouse off and threw it to a side.

“I never play fair.”

I reached up for the clasp, and as soon as my hands left her hips, she began to move against me. I closed my eyes for juts a second; enough to let the feeling of her pussy blow my mind. My hands undid her clasp, and her beautiful breasts fell free. I brought her to me, but her arms were already around my head, pulling me to her chest. I buried my face between them, kissed them, used my tongue to draw circles around them, and she began to ride me faster. I pinched her nipples, then took one and then the other in mouth, and sucked hard.

Jenni’s moans made me work harder, and soon she was riding me like a fucking bronco. Her hips switched from bouncing on top of me, her huge breasts slapping against my face, and grinding, hard and fast, driving me crazy. I reached down and found her clit, and that only made her grind harder and faster, her moans now full on screams. One orgasm after the other shook her, but she didn’t stop, wanting more, begging me to keep doing what I was doing.

I couldn’t fucking take it anymore. I grabbed her ass, squeezing hard and lifted her up. She continued rocking against me, her legs wrapping around mine, and only when I turned her onto her back was I finally in control.

I fucked like there was no tomorrow. I slammed my cock inside her with just the same amount of speed and vigor that she had shown me, her breasts bouncing, her arms over her head so I could see the whole thing. Her legs clasped around my hips, pulling me in with every thrust, forcing me to fuck harder.

“Oh God, Alex!” she screamed. “I’m going to cum again…don’t stop…I’m cumming…!”

Her orgasm came with a scream that could have deafened me and scared the neighbors, but all it did was make me want more. She pulled me to her, wrapping herself around me, shaking against me as the aftershocks of her orgasm rocked her body.

I began to move again, and she held me tighter, stopping me.

“Slow down,” she giggled. “Slow down, you’re going to fucking kill me.”

“You started this,” I chuckled, kissing her neck, her cheek, her lips. Her eyes were closed, and the smile on her face was priceless.

“I know, I know,” she sighed. I moved, and she stopped me again. “Alex!” she gasped.

“You think I’ve had enough of you?”

She smiled and looked at me, and I swear I could have lost myself in those eyes. “At least get me out of this skirt,” she said.

I struggled with the zipper on the side, mainly because I was still too excited to even think about what I was doing. She giggled, and helped me pull her skirt off. Before her legs fell back down, I pushed them open and bent down. My tongue lapped up at her juices, and she squirmed underneath me.

“Alex!” she moaned.

I grabbed her hips to stop her from moving and continued to eat her out. I pushed my tongue between her lips, licking up and down, flicking against her clit and sucking it into my mouth. Her legs clenched closed around my head and her hands buried themselves in my hair. I pushed two fingers inside her, and while I worked my tongue, I twisted and turned my fingers inside, driving her crazy. Her heels had fallen off, and her feet rubbed against my back. I felt her toes curl, and soon her legs were shaking against me, her orgasm coming hard.

I pulled back, and her legs fell limp. She slid off the couch and onto the carpet, slapping my arm lazily. “Dammit, Alex, I said give me a second!” she smiled.

“I did,” I laughed.

She looked up at me, her eyes barely open, then looked down at my hard-on. “We’re going to need to take care of that,” she said.

“Any ideas?” I asked.

She grabbed me by the cock and pulled me to her. “I have a few ideas,” she winked.

I bent down and kissed her breasts, briefly sucking on her nipples as she adjusted herself underneath me. I slid in easily, my eyes closing at the feel of her warmth. She was still wet, and it took little effort for me to find a rhythm. I rocked against her, slow, taking my time, watching her and enjoying the look on her face. Her cheeks had a beautiful blush to them, and her hair fanned out around her head, making her look sexier than ever.

“Come on, big boy,” she smiled and opened her eyes. “Let’s see how long you can hold out.”

I held out for quite a while. I fucked her slow, but every thrust made her smile wider, and soon she was racking her nails across my back. Her breath grew heavier, and despite her earlier need for a break, I knew she wanted this just as much as I did. I picked up the speed, just a little, just enough for her pants to become soft moans against my shoulder. I felt the tension inside me build up.

She took my ear in her mouth, let her tongue roll over it, then whispered, “Come for me, Alex. Come inside me, baby.”

It was all the coaxing I needed, and after a few more thrusts, I was groaning in pleasure and exploding inside her. The orgasm hit me hard, a rush of blood to the head that made me sway for a few seconds. I collapsed on top of her, and she held me tight, my cock still inside her as she clenched and milked me. I shuddered, then rolled off her. She giggled and threw a hand onto my chest. I looked at her, eyes closed, mouth smiling, beautiful breasts rising and falling with her every breath.

“That was fucking incredible,” she whispered.

“You’re fucking incredible,” I said, rubbing the tip of my nose to hers. “Just one thing, though.”

She pressed her forehead to mine. “Name it.”

“You gotta change this carpet,” I said, breaking into a smile. “I think I just gave myself one hell of a rug burn.”

She laughed and rolled into my arms and rested her head on my chest. “I think that’s something I can do. If it makes you happy.”

“You make me happy,” I said. “You make me very happy indeed.”

They say you can’t come home again.

I for one, beg to differ.