Relentless Pursuit (10 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

Tammy tapped her fingers on her desk. The computer monitor glowed in front of her as she contemplated what she felt for Pierce. That kiss changed everything. She knew they had chemistry, but it was only superficial before. She had been attracted to him for two years, but even she knew there was a difference between falling in lust and falling in love. Now that she’d been around him during his worst time, seeing how he handled it, and then how he kissed her—wow. Lust grew up and became love in that split second. And right when she had decided it was never meant to be. Tammy groaned and gently banged her head against her desk. What was she going to do?

“What do you think she’s doing?” Kenna asked Dani not so quietly from the doorway to the offices as the two women stared at Tammy banging her head.

“I don’t know, but I’d be willing to bet a man was behind it. What else can drive a woman so nuts?” Dani joked as they walked to her desk.

“Oh hush. You two are happily married women and know nothing about being single anymore. It’s painful,” Tammy sighed.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be if you stopped banging your head,” Kenna said dryly. “What’s Pierce done now?”

“Who said it was about Pierce?” Sassy Tammy made an appearance and then quickly went away as both Dani and Kenna gave her a ”yeah, right” look.

“Okay, it’s Pierce.”

The bell over the door tinkled as Bridget and Annie walked in. Tammy froze and everyone turned to see who had just walked in. “Oh, it’s just Bridget and Annie. They’ll be able to help,” Kenna said as she urged Tammy to continue.

“Help with what?” Bridget asked suspiciously.

“She needs advice on men. You work with nothing but men; you’ll be able to give Tammy some great insight.” Kenna started to sound too optimistic for Tammy and the desire to bang her head against the desk returned.

“Ha. I worked with alpha men—the only way to deal with them was to be an alpha, too. Confident and never giving ground when you know you’re right. Lots of hard work, studying, and practicing to not only be their equal, but to be better than they were was also involved. I have to be so careful to never be accused of sleeping my way to the top. Hell, I haven’t worn a dress since the Presidential Inaugural Ball. So, I may learn something here, too.” Bridget sat on the edge of Tammy’s desk and leaned forward.

“So, what did Pierce do or not do?” Dani asked as she lowered herself into one of the office chairs.

“Well, y’all know he’s ignored me for years and then last night he showed up at my door and kissed me. I mean,
kissed
me,” Tammy sighed as she remembered the feel of his lips on her.

“Then what did he do?” Kenna, Dani, and Bridget asked at the same time.

“He left. Just turned around and left,” Tammy told them. Upon seeing their expressions, Tammy felt better about her confusion. “So what do I do now?”

“Hmm. What about a little makeover to help him realize what he’d be missing if he walked away,” Kenna suggested.

“That’s a horrible idea.”

The women turned and saw Henry leaning against the arch heading back to the offices. “As if you would know. You’ll probably tell her to say, ‘Are you Superman, because you have buns of steel!’” Dani laughed.

“Or, 'do you work for UPS, because I have a package for you.’” Kenna wiped a tear from her eye as they all laughed. Henry wasn't one to give relationship advice unless that advice included the worst pick-up lines you’d ever heard.

As he joined the women around Tammy’s desk, Henry continued. “Go ahead and laugh it up. But no, I wasn’t going to suggest those great lines. I don’t think they'd work on Pierce. Instead I was going to tell you to act as if nothing happened.”

“Why would I do that?” Tammy asked as they all turned to look at Henry.

“It’ll drive him crazy. If he kissed you the way you said and left like that, he did it for impact. He wants you off balance. You pretend it didn’t happen and he’ll think maybe he isn’t as good as he thinks and will do anything to prove that he is.”

“Wow. That’s kinda genius. How did you come up with that?” Tammy asked him.

“Women. You think men are so hard to understand. We’re simple. Everything revolves around wanting sex. The more you act like you don’t want it, the more of a challenge it becomes to make sure we have sex with you. See, simple. You all are the complicated ones.”

The chime above the door tinkled and the object of their discussion walked in. Pierce stopped and Tammy cringed as she realized everyone had turned around and stared at him. She never thought she’d ever say this, but she was going to take Henry’s advice. She gave Pierce a quick smile and then went back to looking at the computer screen.

“Um, I got a call you wanted to see me?” Pierce asked when no one said anything.

Tammy looked up and saw that Pierce was looking straight at her. “Oh! I didn’t call you.” She smiled when she saw his smirk fade. “Henry did.” Tammy lowered her head again and stared at the blank screen, willing herself not to vault over the table and rip his clothes off.

“That’s right. Marshall and Annie have been talking with Detectives Basher and Cowell—unofficially, of course. The detectives want to meet with you along with the special prosecutor. Is that alright with you?” Henry pulled out his phone and looked at the calendar. “How’s eleven?”

“Of course. Do they realize they got the wrong guy?” Pierce asked hopefully.

“No. But they are now at least willing to listen to what we have to say. That fire may be the best thing to happen to you.”

Pierce sat in the lobby of the police station in silence. He had to admit he didn’t really know how to express how he was feeling. He thought for sure Tammy would be flustered to see him. At the very least come on strong like she always did before. Was it really unreasonable to think she'd get up and give him a kiss hello? One second he was a strutting stallion and the next he was a gelding. She had acted like the kiss hadn’t meant anything. Was he not as good as he thought? Well then, he would just have to show Tammy how good he could be.

“Pierce?”

“Hm?” Pierce finally looked over at Henry.

“They’re ready for us. You okay?” Pierce nodded and followed Henry into a conference room. Detective Basher and Mr. Hickson were sitting at the table while Detective Cowell prowled around the room.

“Thank you for seeing us. As Sheriff Davies told you, there’ve been some new developments,” Henry said as he shook all their hands.

Mr. Hickson pulled out a pen and paper somewhere from the depths of a huge bag he had with him. Pierce was surprised he was even an attorney. He looked like a rumpled mess.

“Mr. Davies, this is all ‘off the record,’ so to say. Your brother and your attorney have made a pressing case for your innocence. While every criminal I know says he’s innocent, I always listen.” Detective Cowell snorted and Mr. Hickson ignored him. “Tell me what these new developments are.”

Pierce told them about the intruders, the fire, and then what Tammy found. Henry then informed them of the lawsuit regarding Pierce’s invention. Detective Basher kept a blank face and took notes of his own. Detective Cowell continually snorted and laughed while Mr. Hickson’s expression constantly changed.

“Well, that is interesting, Mr. Davies. If what you're saying is true, then it would give me reason to explore other options. However, that’s all circumstantial. I want hard evidence before I'm swayed completely. You, Mr. Davies, need the DNA test to come back in your favor and for your memory to return so that you can fill in a whole heck of a lot of blanks from that night,” Mr. Hickson told him as he put his pad away.

Henry leaned back in his chair and finished reading a text message. “My paralegal is at the bar now. She says the witness is there and willing to talk to you. I suggest we go and see if being there triggers anything. It'll also give you a chance to evaluate him as a witness.”

They all looked at each other, and then at Mr. Hickson’s nod, Detective Basher agreed.

“Come on! This is just a wild goose chase. A red herring! We have the real killer right here.” Cowell spat.

“One thing you need to learn is that you follow up on every lead. You don’t want to know the feeling of putting an innocent man behind bars. Trust me.” Basher got up and opened the door for Pierce and Henry. “Let’s go.”

Mr. Hickson scribbled in his notebook as Basher and Cowell questioned the waiter. Pierce stood in the middle of the room and then instinctively went to a seat. “That’s where you were sitting the other night,” the waiter called out.

“I remember,” Pierce muttered as he sat down in the chair. “I ordered two fingers of bourbon.”

“That’s right. You did,” The waiter called out as everyone moved closer to Pierce. They all stood quietly by Pierce waiting to see if he remembered anything else.

“I remember one man, but he’s all blurry. Everything is blurry and cloaked in shadows except that glass of bourbon I was drinking. I just remember a man taking a seat next to me and trying to talk to me.” Pierce shook his head, pulling himself out of the past.

“That’s great, Pierce. See, your memories can come back!” Tammy said excitedly, ignoring Henry’s suggestion to play it cool as she rushed over to his side.

“I think I have heard enough, Mr. Davies.” Mr. Hickson opened his bag to put away his notebook as pieces of paper fell out. Mr. Hickson shoved his glasses up his pudgy nose and crammed the papers into his bag. “Detective Basher, would you call to check on the status of the DNA test. Put a rush on it if they haven’t started it yet.  Mr. Davies, I don’t know if you’re innocent or just one heck of a good liar, but there’s one way to find out. When you regain your memory and the DNA comes back, we’ll have the whole story in front of us. But for now, you’re still our prime suspect and subject to the restrictions of your bond agreement.”

With a nod, Mr. Hickson turned and walked out. Tammy looked to Henry and he just shrugged as the detectives scrambled to catch up with the disheveled prosecutor. Henry thanked the waiter and they all walked out to the parking lot. Pierce’s black pick-up truck was parked next to Henry’s sports car and Tammy stood still. She should go with Henry and see if he needed any help with the case, but her heart longed to be next to Pierce in his truck.

Henry opened the passenger door for her, but then he paused. Tammy looked over her shoulder and saw Pierce shoot him a look. Henry then closed the door and cleared his throat. “Um, I have some errands to run. It’s getting late and I want to get them done before the stores close. Pierce, could you take Tammy home for me?”

“Oh,” Pierce said with the worst case of fake surprise Tammy had ever heard. “Sure, I guess I can do that.”

Tammy rolled her eyes when she really wanted to jump up and down. So, Henry made inappropriate comments and had the worst pick-up lines she’d ever heard, but deep down he was a good guy who looked out for her.

Pierce opened the door and waited for Tammy to get into his truck. She climbed in and then ran her fingers through her hair and applied some light pink lip gloss she’d bought at the grocery store before Pierce made it around to his side of the driver’s side of the truck.

“So, I don’t think I've thanked you for all you’ve done for me today. I don’t know what I'd do without you, Tammy,” Pierce said with a deep sincerity in his voice.

Tammy felt herself blush as she looked down at her skirt to try to keep him from noticing. “You’re welcome. It’s my job.”

“Your job? Tammy, I'm just a job?” Pierce asked slowly.

Tammy could hear the hurt in his voice. “You know you’re not. But we also know that I’m just the flavor of the moment for you. You’ve never paid me any attention and the only reason you are now is because I’m helping you.” Tammy had to get it out there. Suddenly she felt strong enough to finally know the answer. She raised her head and looked at Pierce. The well-shaped jaw, the short stubble covering his face, and his hazel eyes flashing. He looked relaxed, but she knew he wasn’t.

“It's true, Tammy. I never did pay you enough attention, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t know you were there. You were too nice. Too good. And I wasn’t grown up enough to realize that you were also the type of woman I should've been paying attention to. Then in one kiss, the last two years slapped me in the face.” Pierce smiled to hide his embarrassment and then gave her a wink.

Tammy laughed and felt the tension ease. She had just found her confidence and suddenly she felt like a teenager again. But then she remembered talking to Bridget and how she had to earn the respect of the men she worked with and she did that by not backing down. Confident Tammy returned and she kept her eyes on Pierce, refusing to look back down at her clasped hands resting in her lap.

“But,” Pierce started before glancing quickly at her with a wicked grin on his face, “it appears that our kiss didn’t affect you as it did me.”

“Well, then maybe you don’t know me like you think you do. It seems to me that we both think we know each other when we really don’t.” Tammy looked and saw the freshly painted Keeneston water tower off in the distance. Their time was coming to an end too soon. No matter how bad she wanted to be Confident Tammy, she needed Pierce to be the one to come to her after all these years of chasing him.

“Well, I know a way to get to know each other better,” Pierce winked and Tammy laughed as she gave him a swat. “No, no, I really do. It’s almost six; how about I take you out to dinner at the café? I’ll even walk you home.”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Tammy’s breath caught as she tried to keep from bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement.

Pierce chuckled. “Yes, that’s typically what a man means when he asks a woman to have dinner with him.”

“At the café? Everyone will talk,” she warned.

“Tammy, are you trying to talk me out of asking you out?” Pierce teased as he pulled onto Main Street.

“No! I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into. Dinner sounds great.” Tammy noticed she was bouncing her knee in excitement. She took a breath and told herself to act like she’d been on a date before. Of course she had, just not with her dream guy whom she measured every other date against!