Morning After (A Reynolds Security Novel) (19 page)

Chapter 20

Erica and Ethan quickly settled into a routine that worked well for both of them.  She actually really liked sharing space with him. He did hog the remote and the covers, and he occasionally snored. He left dirty towels on the bathroom floor. But she found she didn’t really mind any of those things. He also did the dishes when she cooked and rubbed her feet while they watched TV. He always asked her about her day and told her about his.

The only thing that was missing was the words.
The declaration. He hadn’t said he loved her. He hadn’t even hinted at it. Not even in the heat of passion. To be fair she hadn’t told him she was madly in love with him either. That she had been for weeks. As time went on the lack of the admission began to wear on her. She thought she would be more ready to admit her feelings as time went on but she wasn’t. Instead she became less sure of him, of his feelings, and began to question what they were doing. She began to wonder if they were just playing house. Or worse if he just felt he had to protect her.

On Sunday Ethan’s marine buddies came over for a BBQ. Most of the people were the same ones she’d met before, they were very nice to her and she slipped right into the hostess role. Ethan was attentive and affectionate even in front of his friends and she felt guilty for doubting his motives.

“Are you okay, you’re awfully quiet.”

“I am fine, just tired.” She was loading the dishwasher while he put things away.

“Why don’t you go get ready for bed, I can finish up here.”  She felt another pang of guilt at the offer. He was really just too good to her. Maybe too good to be true.

“Who does that?” She rounded and stared at him.

“Does what?”

“What guy tells the girl to go sit and he’ll clean up. That just doesn’t happen. So what is the deal Ethan? Do you think you have to be super sweet to me? Walk on eggshells or something?”

Ethan looked surprised at the outburst. “No.”

“Then why do you have to be so perfect all the time?”

“I am not.” He frowned. Erica didn’t know what to say but she didn’t know how to stop either. She felt ridiculous telling him he was too nice but the words just fell out of her mouth.

“Erica,” he stepped close to her and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Do you think this is going too smoothly? That something has to go wrong?” She didn’t realize it until that moment but that was exactly how she felt so she nodded.

“You are worrying too much. Everything is fine. I didn’t ask you to be here because I needed you to clean up after me. I appreciate your help but I am always cleaning up after these things. It is no big deal to do it by myself. Why don’t you go take a bath? I saw you finally got some bubble bath. I got this.” She bit her lip in indecision. He’d given her an opening, she should really take advantage, tell him all her fears. She just didn’t know how to start. Apparently Ethan misread her indecision because he gently pushed her from the kitchen with a firm, “Go.”

Erica had been in the bubbles just long enough to let the hot water ease her tension when Ethan strode through the door.

“You look good in bubbles.” He grinned and she laughed. He sat down on the edge of the tub and scooped up a handful of foam. He blew on them sending fluffy white chunks raining down on her. “I think I am starting to see the appeal.”

“We never did get to take that bath together,” she said, in her best bedroom voice.

“No we didn’t. Is there room in there for me?”

“I think maybe I could find room.” She watched with avid appreciation while he stripped out of his board shorts and t-shirt. She was pleased to see that he was already semi erect with the idea of climbing in with her. She leaned forward and let him in behind her.  When she settled back into his lap she felt him grow against her backside.

“I like this tub, I am glad it’s so deep.” She laid her head against his chest and sighed.

“Me too.
Good thing you didn’t fill it all the way or we would’ve just flooded the bathroom.” She wiggled a little and he half moaned at the friction, or lack of friction. He rubbed against her in a smooth glide thanks to the moisturizer in the bubble bath.

“Did you bring a condom?”

“There might be one in the pocket of my shorts.” He laughed.

“You still think I am a sure thing huh?” She teased, even though she knew she pretty much was
, she hadn’t turned him down yet.

“Not at all, Sweetheart.
I just know luck favors the prepared.” He whispered right in her ear and then sucked her earlobe into his mouth. She moaned at the eroticism and squirmed against him again. “Why don’t you turn around and do that?” He whispered huskily. She did turn around. She slipped her legs beside him. He reached for his shorts. He opened the condom and set it on the edge of the tub. She had expected him to put it on so she was surprised when he rocked against her instead.

The sensation was amazing. He slid easily up through her folds, the ridge on the head of his cock rubbing against her clit.

“Oh that feels good" she groaned and leaned her head into his shoulder.

“Yes it does.” He continued the motion until he pushed her right over the edge into orgasm. He entered her with one smooth glide while her muscles were still contracting. She moaned as the movement set her off all
over again. He continued rocking into her slow and steady while he alternated taking her nipples into his mouth. Much to her surprise she could feel the pressure begin to build again. This time he helped her along with his thumb on her clit and when she went over she took him with her.

Erica felt like a limp noodle, she’d been tired to begin with but after the hot soak and powerful orgasms. She had to have Ethan help her to bed, which he was only too glad to do. Just before she slipped into an exhausted sleep she heard him ask if she wanted to ride in together in the morning.

“I’m not going to the shop tomorrow.”

“You’re not?”

“No I have a meeting with a roaster.”

“What?” She heard his voice take on an edge and forced her eyes open. “When did you make this meeting?”

“Earlier this week; Tuesday I think. He came into the shop with a sample. He roasts over wood. There are only a handful of commercial roasters that do that because it’s difficult.” She covered her mouth as she yawned. “What’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal? You didn’t even mention it.”

“I guess I forgot.”

“Where is this place?”

“North of town, out in farm country about twenty miles.”

“You can’t go.”

“I beg your pardon?” Suddenly she was wide awake.

“You can’t go by yourself.”

“I am pretty sure I can.” Her temper was rapidly escalating.

“Erica, you don’t even know if this guy is for real. It could be a con or a scam, hell it could be your stalker trying to lure you out. You are not going by yourself.”

“Excuse me but I don’t believe you get to decide. I am not an idiot Ethan, I talked to the man. We discussed the beans he uses and the process and a whole lot of other things before I asked if I could see it. I asked. He didn’t try to lure me anywhere.”

“Erica…”

“Ethan, I am an adult and I will make my own decisions. You had better learn to accept that.” She rolled over angrily punching her pillow. He didn’t say anything for a long time. She was painfully aware of every move he made, every breath. Finally he touched her. Sliding his arm around her waist he eased forward.

“Don’t be mad at me for worrying.” He whispered. She melted a little at the soft spoken words and leaned back into him.

“I’m not mad.” She whispered back and surprisingly she no longer was.  

Chapter 21

Erica accelerated as she pulled onto the highway. She would never admit it to Ethan but she was really beginning to enjoy driving the Range Rover. As much as she had complained about the size at first she now felt as if she could see farther, she just felt safer. This time of the morning there was no one else on the long straight highway so she set the cruise control and turned up the stereo.

She had only been on the highway a few minutes when she noticed a white pickup coming up behind her. She had set the cruise at the speed limit so she was surprised at how quickly the truck was gaining on her. Still she wasn’t worried, the road was long and straight. He could just go around. When he pulled up behind her and slowed down she felt a prickle of unease creep up her spine. Breaking her own no texting while driving rule she picked up her phone. She concentrated to translate the license number through the mirror. She typed it into a text to Ethan before she could hit send the truck slammed into her. The phone flew out of her hand onto the passenger side floorboard.

She gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles were white. Her heart was racing. She watched as the truck backed off and then surged forward again. Not sure what else to do she sped up to avoid the truck.

Her mind was racing, if she stopped the car would she be in more danger than she was driving? She wished she still had her phone but she was afraid to take her hands off the wheel to reach for it. Despite the fact that she was driving faster than she had ever driven in her life the truck was coming closer. She couldn’t see the driver but in her mind she pictured a dark and sinister soul that intended to ram her just for fun. When the truck had nearly reached her she quickly moved into the other lane and hit the brakes. Just as she hoped the truck flew past her. Unfortunately the truck hit its brakes too. She jerked the wheel to the right and turned around back the way she had come. She searched her memory trying to remember if there had been any houses in the first part of her journey. If she could make it to where other people were she would be safe wouldn’t she? The truck was gaining on her even quicker than before, apparently she had pissed off the crazy driver. Too late she realized she was in trouble, there was a bridge ahead. It wasn’t high but if she didn’t make if over first she was sunk. She was halfway across when the truck hit her. He hit her in the rear quarter panel and the Range Rover skidded out of control. It hit the guard rail but instead of stopping her it acted as a tripwire. The SUV tumbled over the top.

For a moment the world seemed to move in slow motion. She felt suspended and tried to brace for the impact. It didn’t help. The SUV hit with bone jarring force and a sickening crunch. Her head slammed into the window and she heard breaking glass before darkness overtook her. She fought to stay conscious, the airbag held her to her seat but her arms and legs flapped like a rag doll as vehicle tumbled over and over. Finally after what felt like years she came to a stop. She could hear hissing air and ticking, the crunched metal around her groaned and creaked. She tried to open her eyes but they wouldn’t obey her command, neither would her arms or legs. “Oh my God I am paralyzed,” was her last thought before she slipped into oblivion.

A sharp knock at the door caused Ethan to look up from his computer. It didn’t sound like Norma. The door swung open and Jace walked in. He looked agitated. That put Ethan on edge immediately. He stood and braced his hands on the desk. 

“What is it?”

“We have a situation.” Ethan wanted to demand to know if Erica was okay, he forced himself not to. Not everything could be about Erica and Jace was already irritated by his fascination with her.

“What’s going on?”

“I wish I could frame this better but… well…” Jace took a deep breath, “When I came in this morning Diane was in my office. She was, well she was naked as a jay bird.” Jace rushed out, his accent slipping through showing his agitation. Ethan wasn’t sure what to say, he felt his eyebrows go up.

“Please tell me you didn’t come here to have me get her out of your office?”

“No, I told her to stay put and I went and got Nancy in HR and security.” Ethan smirked at that. Nancy was as straight laced as they come; she would not have been amused at the antics of
Jace’s admin.

“Problem is when they went in to get her out she started screaming and crying saying she had been assaulted.” Ethan’s brows rose even higher but now his mouth dropped open as well.

“Was she still naked?”

“No, but her clothes were messed up like there was a struggle.” Jace sighed. Ethan looked at his best friend, the man who’d had his back every single time he needed it.
The man who had saved his life. Even if Jace wasn’t standing here calmly explaining. He still would have known there was no way Jace assaulted anyone.

“You don’t look worried.”

“I’m not.” Jace shrugged, “My office is completely wired. Every inch is covered by camera. It’s how I test the new ones.” Ethan smiled; leave it to Jace to have the whole thing on tape.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but have you ever slept with Diane?”

“You kidding? The woman is crazy as a loon. I like my man parts right where they are thanks!”

“Just checking.”

“You know this could be bad.” Jace said seriously. “The publicity alone could hurt business. If I need to step down…”

“Don’t.” Ethan cut him off.
“Absolutely not.”

“Ethan, think of the business.”

“Jace, stop right there. Let’s just see how this plays out. Don’t go throwing yourself on your sword just yet.”

“All right well you should come with me, the police will be here soon.”

“You called the police?” He walked with him back toward his office which was in the opposite corner of the building.

“Yeah, when I saw her hysterical.”

“Maybe you should have waited, I mean she was probably just trying to get a payoff or something.”

“I am sure that’s what she was doing but I’ll be dammed if I am going to let her extort anything from me or this company when I didn’t do anything wrong!” Jace growled his hands fisted as he walked. Ethan
smiled, it was nice to see the display of anger. Jace had been entirely too calm.

The police were just stepping off the elevator and they escorted them to
Jace’s office while Jace explained his side of the story. They found Diane sitting on the sofa in Jace’s office. Flanked on either side of her were Nancy and Norma. Both of them looked bewildered.

Ethan felt his apprehension rise, if Diane was good enough to cause these two to doubt Jace then surely she could convince these
cops, and a judge and jury for that matter. Diane’s eyes widened slightly when she saw the cops but when her eyes settled on Jace she shrank back and began to cry again. Anger on his friend’s behalf surged through Ethan.

A female officer stepped forward and Norma moved to let her sit by Diane. The male officer led Jace away. After a few minutes the female officer had finished taking Diane’s statement. Jace looked even more pissed than before and Ethan knew either the cop had been none too friendly or more likely he had heard some of Diane’s accusation. The tension in the room was thick as the two police officers compared notes.

Jace strode to his desk and began pressing buttons on his computer.

“Excuse me.” he said loudly, “Before anyone has to call their lawyer. There is one more thing ya
’ll should see.” He held up a remote and pointed it at the wall of monitors on the other side of his office. Surveillance was one of the departments Jace oversaw. He had monitors for nearly every camera in the place. Now they all switched to one image working like a jumbotron. They all watched Jace’s office with a view from above. The time stamp in the corner showed the time to be a little over an hour before. They all saw Diane enter the office fully clothed. She sat down at Jace’s desk and looked over all the papers on top. Then she went through the drawers. It was hard to tell if she was looking for something or just snooping. Then she stuck a flash drive into his computer and began typing on the keyboard. Finally she glanced at her watch and then began unbuttoning her blouse. Jace paused the playback and turned to Diane. She no longer looked like a shattered victim. Now she looked pissed.

“Shall I keep going so that these officers can see you get naked and pose provocatively on my desk?”

“No.” Diane glared. If looks could ignite Jace would be a pile of ash.     

As amusing as this scene was turning out to be Ethan still had a company to run. He made a valiant effort to hide his smile as he turned to leave. Outside
Jace’s office he encountered another officer, this one he recognized,

“Hey Sean.”

“Ethan.”

“I have
work to do so I am headed back to my office, you can go on in. I have a feeling the fun is just beginning in there.”  Sean glanced at the office and then back at Ethan frowning.

“I am here to see you Ethan.”

“Oh. What’s up?”

“Can we go in your office?”

“Sure, follow me.” Ethan felt an uncomfortable sense of dread prickle the back of his neck. As soon as he closed the door to his office he pinned Sean with a hard stare. “What’s wrong?”

“I have to tell you I am not here in an official capacity. I probably shouldn’t even be here but I overheard something from CHP and my gut told me I should check it out.”

Ethan wished he would just spit it out, the longer Sean took to say whatever was on his mind, the worse his gut churned.

“All right, what’s up?”

“One of your cars, one of your fleet was found this morning. It had been in an accident. The diver was gone, there was a broken beer bottle and the smell of beer was strong.” Ethan’s frown darkened. “CHP is investigating it as a DUI and leaving the scene, but… well it didn’t fit in my mind. Do you know who might have been driving?”

“I can find out, do you have the plate?” Sean pulled a note book from his pocket and started to rattle off the number. Ethan headed towards his computer to look it up but stopped dead when he heard the combination of letters and numbers. He spun back to Sean.

“The Range Rover?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my God, Erica! Erica was driving.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.” Sean said grimly. He pulled a cell from his pocket and began dialing.

“You said the driver is gone?” Sean nodded. “So what someone just… just took her?”

“It looks that way.” Ethan felt his knees weaken. The bastard had her. He quickly went to his computer while Sean rapidly spoke to someone on the phone. 

Ethan brought up the GPS tracking on the Rover. It was moving down the highway, presumably being towed. He pulled up the GPS in Erica’s phone and it was in nearly the same place. That wasn’t going to be any help.

“CHP is on their way over.” Sean said approaching the desk.

“Tell me everything you know.”

“I told you pretty much everything I know. One of our guys took the initial report, since
it’s outside city he called in CHP. I didn’t see the car but my buddy said it was pretty smashed up. CHP saw the beer bottle and immediately went for DUI. That’s when my buddy called me. He had run the plate and of course it came back here.”

Ethan paced, swamped by a feeling of helplessness. “Erica doesn’t drink beer. Certainly not at,” he looked at his watch, “Eight thirty in the morning.”

“I know.” Sean said softly.

“Where was the Range Rover?”

“Out on highway 113. It went off the road, rolled into an irrigation ditch. There was blood on the air bag.” He said the last almost reluctantly and Ethan grimaced. 

CHP arrived relatively quickly and began taking his statement. Much to Ethan’s relief they seemed to be taking it seriously despite the earlier assumption that it was a DUI. They showed him Erica’s phone in a plastic bag and he felt his control slip just a bit. Erica wouldn’t leave it behind on purpose. He pushed the button and the phone lit up. He unlocked it and much to his surprise it opened to a text message to him. It hadn’t been sent but it was just letters and numbers.

“Do you think this could be a license plate? Maybe someone ran her off the road. Did you canvass looking for witnesses?”

“We are canvassing the houses in the area but there aren’t many. It’s farm country.”

Ethan went to his computer to run the number through his software.
“Oh my God.” He gasped when he got the results.

“Who is Diane Clements?” The officer asked looking over his shoulder.

Shafts of pain pulsed through Erica's head. In her mind the pain was like a bolt of lightning shooting through her head with each beat of her heart. She hadn't opened her eyes and she hadn't yet moved. Instinctively she knew that would be even more painful. Her curiosity and survival instincts were quickly overriding her fear of the pain. She needed to find out where she was. She needed to call for help. Cautiously she opened her eyes. She was in a dimly lit room lying on a cot or a small bed. She was facing the wall so she couldn't see much beyond old wood paneling. After listening for sounds of anyone nearby she finally turned her head then cautiously her body. The room was empty save for dust and the bed. There was a light fixture with no bulb in the center of the ceiling. The window appeared to have been boarded up from the outside. Sun was shining through the gaps providing the only light in the room.