Officer Next Door (22 page)

Realization crept up on Alicia, and it was like a weight had been dropped into the pit of her stomach.

“It was a snake,” he said. “Water moccasin. I’d grabbed it right around the middle, like an idiot.”

She grabbed a fistful of pillow and squeezed as a queasy feeling settled over her. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“It didn’t bite you?”

“No. And I swear, I stood there just holding it for several seconds. Looked right into its eye and saw it looking back at me, dripping with creek water, like it was wondering why I’d bothered it. Then I saw my oldest cousin staring at me and the snake, face white as chalk. That was when it really hit me that I was in trouble.

“I dropped the snake. It landed right in front of me, and I felt its body wriggling against my shin as it swam away, out into the water. It was probably about two feet long, but at the time, that seemed huge. I couldn’t stop watching it until my cousins started screaming. Then we all ran home.

“I was too rattled by what’d happened to try to hide it from my mom. She about had a fit, told me two things over and over again: that I couldn’t play in the creek any more, and that I must have a guardian angel. I couldn’t get the image of that snake’s eye out of my head, like a copper and black cat eye, and I guess I believed her.”

“That’s awful and amazing at the same time,” Alicia said. “I can’t believe it didn’t bite.”

Visions of the horrific water moccasin nest scene in
Lonesome Dove
crowded her mind, causing goose bumps to spring up all over her arms.

“Yeah. I felt so lucky afterward that I figured maybe there really had been something watching out for me. Maybe it’s just that people are prone to making up explanations for things that defy the odds, but thinking of that snake has always been kind of a good memory for me, as weird as that must sound.”

“Really?” She knew she sounded incredulous, couldn’t help it. It was hard to think that the feel of reptile flesh could provide even the coldest bit of comfort.

He nodded. “That snake had every reason to bite me. But it didn’t. Feels good to know that sometimes bad luck can pass you over for no reason. Makes me think that if I ever end up in another tight spot, things might turn out okay anyway.”

A tight spot? Visions of squirming snakes were replaced by visions of shattered glass. “You mean like at work? Or something related to work?”

“That, or anything, really. Sometimes life takes a bad turn. And sometimes you get lucky. Fate – whatever you want to call it – takes over, and you live to do something stupid on another day.” He flashed her a smile, and the goose bumps on her arms slowly faded.

“I like thinking that too.” Because lately the citizens of Riley County were more likely than usual to find themselves in trouble, and in light of Liam’s job, a little extra luck, or fate, or whatever, couldn’t hurt.

“So just to be clear, I
don’t
want jewel tone blues in the arrangements. Absolutely no sapphire. I want the lilies to be a pale turquoise, almost sea foam. That way they’ll compliment the satin draping, but won’t overpower it.”

Alicia leaned back in her ergonomically designed chair, glancing longingly out the window with its wonderfully maintained antique casement. For once, she was actually in her little office at Wisteria. Talking to the high maintenance bride whose wedding was a mere two and a half weeks away had drained the energy out of her, diminishing her will to stroll the grounds as she spoke on the phone.

“I’ll speak to the florist and make every effort to implement your wishes for the arrangements,” she said, “but this is very short notice, and I’m not sure lilies come in sea foam.”

Actually, she was dead sure that a sea foam colored lily had never sprouted from Earth’s soil, but she knew that little tidbit wouldn’t go over well with her client, who’d need to be eased into reality.

“Flowers can be sprayed in any color, but honestly, sprayed flowers just don’t provide the same aesthetic as authentically colored ones. Spraying also shortens the life of your flowers significantly.”

The bride huffed into the phone. “Well, I don’t see how that’s a problem. The flowers only need to look good for one day.”

“Yes, but I can promise you they won’t look as good as flowers that are allowed to remain their natural color. I know how important an elegant wedding ceremony is to you – I strongly recommend not having the flowers sprayed. Instead, why don’t we consider lilies in a natural color that will complement the aqua draping?”

“Well…”

With serious persuasive effort, Alicia was able to coax the bride around to her way of thinking. By the time she was done, her phone battery was more than halfway depleted. It was only eleven o’clock in the morning, and she had no doubt she’d be hearing from the woman again before the day was out.

So, she decided to make the most of her phone while it was still functioning.
Can’t wait ‘till tonight
, she texted Liam, knowing he’d see the message eventually.

It was Monday – the day they’d finally be making their trip to Wilmington, having their first ‘honest to God’ date. The Levinson brothers were still at large, but Liam was insisting on taking her to dinner anyway.

It was crazy to think of the upcoming evening as their first date, considering the time they’d already spent together, and how they’d spent it. Alicia had spent every night at Liam’s since he’d first convinced her to come over, and since the Levinson brothers were still free, the matter of her returning to her own house hadn’t even come up.

Maybe we can break out your cuffs when we get back. ;)

No sooner had she hit send than her phone rang with another call from Monster Bride.

She took the call, prepared for an onslaught of new last-minute demands. All she had to do was make it through the next six hours, and she’d be on her way to Liam’s place, where they’d meet and leave together for their date.

Six more hours, and her dragging Monday would transform into a thick slice of heaven.

* * * * *

Liam drove a little faster than usual, guiding his car through the shadows of tall pines, hands heavy on the wheel. It’d been a long day at work, another day of fruitless searching. He and Alicia didn’t have a reservation or anything in Wilmington, but he was still eager to get home to her.

He had her text messages to thank for that – those, and the memories of their last time together. They’d broken out the handcuffs again, and he could still feel the cool metal contrasting with the heat of her skin when he thought about it.

He was dead tired, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him from taking her out. It’d been too long already, and he wanted her to know she meant more to him than just sex.

Although the sex was worth dying for, which explained why he’d been sacrificing sleep daily to make it happen.

Her car wasn’t there yet when he pulled into the driveway – not parked in front of his place, or hers. He’d beaten her home, but just barely. At least that’d give him time to get out of uniform and take a shower.

No sooner had he stepped through the front door than his phone went off, vibrating in his pocket.

It was a text from Alicia.

Running late. So sorry. Monster Bride just showed up out of the blue. Hope to see you within the hour. Phone almost dead.

He texted her back to let her know that he’d gotten her message, then headed to the bathroom, where he stripped out of his sweaty uniform and stepped into the shower, scrubbing all traces of work from his skin. When he was done he put on dark jeans and a shirt light enough to wear in the heat.

Alicia still wasn’t home and he felt the toll of working such long shifts – hardly sleeping each night, those hours better spent awake with her – deep in his bones.

He was asleep on the couch before he knew it, dreaming of her.

* * * * *

Death had crept up on Troy. He could smell it clinging to him, bubbling up from inside his flesh, surrounding him in a fog that made it hard to breathe, hard not to puke all over himself.

The bandage the nurse had fixed for him had been worn to tatters, stained by blood and pine sap. The skin around it was streaked red – he’d scrubbed some of the blood away, but the color was beneath the surface of his skin. Poison.

He could feel his heart beating, couldn’t seem to catch his breath. The alternating hot and cold flashes he’d been experiencing all day smacked of fever, and so did his headache. He’d been gulping down water from a plastic gallon container he’d taken from an old woman’s house, but no matter how much he drank, he couldn’t seem to take a piss.

Even his good arm hurt, muscles sore from lugging around an almost-full 5 gallon gasoline container he’d stolen from someone’s shed. The gasoline fumes and hunger had left him lightheaded, but despite his disadvantages, a sense of euphoria had seen him through the task of dousing Alexander’s house in gasoline, soaking the wood, even pouring some in through the broken window, before throwing a match into the mess, setting off the carefully laid trap.

The son of a bitch had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room, couldn’t have made Troy’s job easier. Initially, Troy had wanted to do the job with his bare hands, had tried breaking inside at night to kill the bastard in his sleep.

It hadn’t worked. Faced with two similar houses, he’d gone into one through an unlocked bathroom window and had found it empty.

The second had been securely locked, so he’d thrown a rock through the kitchen window. He would’ve been able to climb up on the porch and in through the broken window if Alexander had slept through it, but some yappy dog had gone off, fucking up that plan.

Watching from a distance, Troy had seen Alexander and his little girlfriend get up and fret over the broken window. He’d left when he’d heard sirens coming, retreating deep into the woods and circling around, taking a long route that’d allowed him to go through water, breaking his scent trail before retreating to the girl’s empty house for the night and most of the next day.

Now he was back, and had done some careful watching. His strength was fading fast, but as the streaking under the surface of his skin reminded him how little time he had left, at least he had the comfort of knowing that he’d be dragging Alexander to hell with him. It was a shame he wouldn’t have the time to take down all the PERT officers, but one less pig in the world would be a good thing nonetheless.

* * * * *

Alicia had never actually held a grudge against a client before, not even the high maintenance ones. She was in the event and wedding planning business – running into some demanding clients was a guarantee. Still, as she drove for Liam’s place, she fumed a little at Monster Bride.

The woman was ridiculous, and still hadn’t given up her obsession with sea foam lilies. Why she couldn’t just sit back and enjoy the fact that she was going to get married in a couple weeks, Alicia didn’t know.

Alicia had never been married, but it was easy to imagine that if she were looking forward to standing at the altar with someone like Liam, the ceremony’s carefully-planned details would fade into the background, unimportant in comparison to the way her life was about to change.

It was a surprisingly powerful thought. She’d given some thought to getting married before, but had never been engaged, had never ached for a ring or a lifelong commitment, because she’d never met anyone who she couldn’t imagine her life without before.

Now, she had to admit, it was hard to imagine her life – at least her new life in Riley – without Liam. And the thought of him in a tux at the altar…

Wow.

She tucked those thoughts away, feeling mildly guilty. Liam would probably think she was crazy if he knew she’d fantasized about tying the knot with him. She’d keep that little daydream to herself, for the time being. What they had now was as close as she’d ever gotten to perfect with a guy before, and she certainly wasn’t complaining about the way things had been going, even if tonight would technically be their first official date.

The sun had just begun to dip below the tops of the tall trees that lined Pine Hollow Road, evergreen branches screening the orange light, casting soft shadows that reminded her how much of her evening Monster Bride had wasted.

Sighing, she tried not to let herself be too angry. There was still time for dinner, and she was home now – that was all that mattered.

She slowed as she took the curve that led to Liam’s house, and Holden whined from where he lay curled on the passenger seat.

“What’s the matter?” Alicia shot him a glance. “Hungry?”

Not likely, considering the gourmet kitchen scraps Sasha had taken to saving and feeding to him throughout the day. He probably just had to pee.

Holden gazed up at her with dark eyes, his little tail thumping against the back of the seat. He looked nervous.

In the span of a split second, Alicia realized that something was actually wrong. The realization came to her on the breeze that filtered in through the car’s air conditioning system.

It was a scent – the scent of smoke.

Not the woody, earthy aroma of campfire smoke, but the smell of things not meant to be burnt going up in flames. The realization gripped her as her and Liam’s houses came into view, and the bottom dropped right out of her stomach.

There was smoke curling out of Liam’s house, black as night, billowing out from a broken window above the front porch, escaping wherever it could in inky black columns that twisted in the barely-fading sunlight, the shadows of pines.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Liam’s car was in the driveway, empty, and that fact hadn’t been lost on her. No sooner had she slammed the gear shift into park than she swung the door open, realizing too late that her seatbelt was still on. Caught, she slammed back against the seat, swearing as she unbuckled herself and stumbled out of the vehicle, Holden on her heels.

There was no sound of cicadas, no scent of sunbaked pine sap. The little hollow by the side of the road had been transformed; now the only sound was crackling wood and all she could smell was the stink of Liam’s burning home.

It was really on fire; she could see the orange glow of flames coming from within. The air felt hotter around the house, even from the driveway.