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CHAPTER NINE

"Daddy let me have some coffee this morning," Lindy says proudly.

"Did you like it?" Lucas ask
s.

Lindy shakes her head. "It was kind of yucky."

LINDY

It’s been nearly a month since Tara went to stay with her mom and dad, and she’s still not back. I’m beginning to wonder if she is ever coming back. She hasn’t really been staying with her parents very much. Most of the time, she is at Daniel’s, and Chris doesn’t like it at all. In fact, he raised seven kinds of hell when he found out she was spending the night over there. I was truly shocked when she told Chris that she is a grown woman now and that she could do whatever she wanted. She even went as far as telling him that if he didn’t like it, that she just wouldn’t come home anymore. This time, Chris backed down.

I was a little hurt when I found out she and Daniel had been together for so long and she hadn’t told me. I was just plain pissed when I found out why she hadn’t said anything. We have been best friends for more than ten years. She should know me better than to think I would be upset with her. If Daniel makes her happy, then I am all for it; but if he screws her over I will make Lucas kick his ass.

She and Daniel are coming over tonight, along with a few other guys that work at the shop. Lucas is out back grilling steaks, and I’m in the kitchen making potato salad. I just put the lid on it when the door opens and Tara walks in. "Honey, I’m home."

"The fuck you are. This ain’t your home no more, darlin’." Daniel says as he walks in behind her.

I turn towards Tara, and she has a guilty look on her face. "I wanted to tell her myself," she says to Daniel.

"Well, then you shouldn’t have said the shit you did when you walked in the door," he says and throws his arm over her shoulder.

"What is he talking about, Tara?" I ask.

"Daniel asked me to move in with him, and I said yes. But, don’t worry. I will still pay my part of the rent until the lease ends."

"No need. I got it covered," Lucas says as he walks in the back door.

I look towards him and shake my head. "You don’t understand. Tara is paying my part of the rent too until I get my first paycheck, and that’s not for another month."

"I know that, baby. Who do you think paid it last month?" he asks, then walks to the counter and sets the steaks down. "I live here now. So I take care of us."

There are so many things I want to say, that I cannot pick just one. I start to ramble off a list of all the reasons that Lucas will not be taking care of me, and he starts laughing. I swear that I wish I was a man sometimes just so that I could kick his ass. "What’s so funny?"

His laughter dies down and he looks at me. "You, baby, are funny as hell. Answer me one question. Are you my woman?"

I want to say no so badly that I can feel the word trying to push its way out of my mouth, but I can’t. I’m his, and he knows it. So I just nod.

He walks over to me and places his hands on the side of my face. "That’s right. You’re mine, and I take care of what’s mine."

I am about to start screaming that he is acting like a cave man, when he kisses me. By the time he’s done, I forget what I was mad about in the first place.

He and Daniel are walking out the back door, when I hear Daniel’s voice. "Shit man! You’re going to have to teach me how to shut Tara up like that. It was like watching a master at work." Then, I hear Lucas chuckle.

That’s when it all comes back to me. I get so angry that I pick up the spoon that I used to stir the potato salad and send it flying towards them, but the door shuts just before it hits them and the damn spoon sticks to the door for a second. It then drops on the floor, sending little bits of potato salad flying everywhere. I look over at Tara and shake my head in frustration.

*****

The night is going great. I really like the guys who work with Lucas, but I love his boss in particular. Roger is about sixty, and he is the epitome of a dirty old man. He spent the entire night telling dirty jokes and trying to grab Tara and my asses, and I think he is funny as hell. I’m not sure, but I think my dad would have been just like him, if he had had the chance to grow old.

It’s about six-thirty when the doorbell rings. I excuse myself to answer it. As soon as I pull the door open, I stumble back in shock. Chad and Kelsey are standing on my front steps holding hands. I have not seen her since the night she cut my tire. She ended up spending a few hours in jail, but her dad got her out. A little money can get you out of anything in a small town. I look to Chad and shake my head in confusion. "What are you doing with her?"

He looks at Kelsey. "I thought you said that she knew I was coming." He pulls his hand from hers and looks back at me. "I’m sorry, Melinda. She said you were okay with this."

I don’t even have time to respond before Lucas is pushing himself between me and them. "What the fuck man? Why would you bring that bitch here?"

I look around Lucas and see Kelsey smiling. She set Chad up. The woman is certifiable. I tug on Lucas’ arm, to get his attention. When he turns to me, his eyes are filled with anger. "She did this, not him."

"Are you taking up for his ass?" he asks, while gritting his teeth in anger.

"No. He should not have been stupid enough to hook up with her in first place, but you need to remember that you were once that stupid too," I say with all the attitude I can muster.

Lucas jerks his head back to the duo on the front steps. "Get the fuck out of here. I don’t ever want to see either one of your faces again."

"Luke, I don’t know what in the hell is going on," Chad says.

"What’s going on is that you have attached yourself to a fucking viper. Take my advice and get as far away from her as you can. I don’t really give a fuck what you do as long as you both get the hell out of here," Lucas says, then steps back and slams the door.

We stand there for a moment, and I can hear Chad and Kelsey arguing outside. I look up at Lucas. "I really don’t think he knew about what she has done."

He looks towards the door then back at me. "I don’t give a damn."

Lucas is still so full of rage that I can feel it rolling off him. I’m angry too, but I feel a little sorry for Chad. I also wonder just how the two of them met, but I decide not to mention either of those things to Lucas. Instead, I get on my tiptoes and give him a kiss. "Let’s just forget that they were ever here and have some fun."

He wraps his arms around me. "Oh, we’ll have fun, but when everyone leaves, we are gonna have a fucking blast."

LUCAS

I wake up to my phone ringing. I look over to Lindy to see if the phone woke her too, but she is spread eagle across the bed, dead to the world. I must have really worn her ass out. After seeing Chad, I was determined to leave my mark on her. From the looks of her, I did.

I reach over her and grab my phone from the night stand. I see Chris’s name flash across it. "Hello."

"We need to talk," he says in an agitated voice.

"What’s wrong?"

"Like I said, we need to talk and I don’t want Melinda hearing this shit. So be outside in five," he orders and hangs up.

What the hell? Could it be Dad? No, Ma would have called if it was. I don’t know what’s wrong, but whatever in the fuck it is, it’s bad. I make my way out of the bed and get dressed. As I step outside, I see Dad and Chris getting out of their un-marked car. I walk over to them, and we meet in the middle of the yard.

"Do you know a Kendra Sheffield?" Dad asks, as soon as we get near each other.

I nod. "Yeah, we went out a few times."

"When?"

I shrug my shoulder. "I don’t know. Not long after I got hurt, so about two years ago, I guess. Why?" I answer, wondering what the fuck is going on.

"What about Monica Bell?" Chris asks.

"Yeah, she rides. I rebuilt a bike for her not long ago."

Chris looks over at Dad. "That’s it. Never even considered the motorcycle shop."

Dad looks to me. "How about Kandy Morris? You do a bike for her too?"

"Not for her, but for her old man. But, I don’t think her and Tyler are together anymore." I look between them both. "I am not answering any more questions, until you tell me what the hell is going on."

"Kendra was attacked tonight, damn near beaten to death with a baseball bat. It was the Mirror Man," Dad says, looking at me. "We were searching her place for evidence. I was looking through her dresser, and I saw one of your old Alabama football jerseys in one of her drawers. That’s when it all clicked."

"What the fuck? What clicked?"

Chris puts his hand on my shoulder. "There have been twelve break-ins in last six months. Every woman is connected to you in some way. We weren’t sure about a few of them, but it looks like they might have come into the shop. We need you to come down to the station and make a statement."

I jerk away from him. "I can’t fucking believe this. You have known me damn near my whole life." I look towards Dad. "And you’re my fucking father. Both of you know that I would never do shit like that."

Dad shakes his head. "We know that, son; but you might know something."

"I don’t know shit."

Chris lets out a loud breath. "You could be right, but you might know more than you think and not even realize it."

I look at the house then back to them. "Lindy’s in there asleep. I can’t leave her here alone."

"I’ve already called Abbie. She’s on her way. We’ll wait till she gets here before we leave," Chris says.

"Fuck! I can’t believe this shit. What could any of it have to do with me?"

Dad pats me on the back, "I don’t know, son; but we will figure it out."

I am about to ask him how, when I hear the door open. I turn, just in time to see Lindy walk outside. She comes straight to me and wraps her arm around my waist. "What’s wrong?"

I look over to Chris and Dad. Chris shakes his head not to tell her, but Dad nods yes. I agree with Dad. I look down at Lindy and tell her everything.

LINDY

Abbie and I are sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Well, she is drinking it, but I am just holding my cup. Not only do I not like coffee, but I am too nervous to put anything in my mouth. I know it will come right back up. I look towards the clock, and it’s almost ten a.m. It’s been nearly six hours since Lucas went to the station. "What do you think is taking so long?"

"I don’t really know, sweetheart. It could be a lot of things. They’ll have to go over each woman that has been a victim. Figure out exactly how she is connected to Lucas. Then they will have go through Lucas’ past, try to figure out who could be a target and see if they can come up with any suspects," Abbie says and takes another drink of coffee.

"I just don’t understand. Some of the women, Lucas hadn’t talked to but a time or two. He said one of the women had only been in the shop twice, and they barely even spoke."

Abbie shakes her head. "If you understood, then you would you be as sick as the bastard who is doing this stuff. That’s why being a police officer is so hard. Sometimes I thank my lucky stars that I got out before I made detective."

We sit quietly for a while longer before my phone rings. I pick it up and answer without looking at the caller ID. "Lucas?"

"No, it’s Chad."

I don’t have time for this. "What do you want?"

"Don’t be like that, please. I swear, I knew nothing about what was going on with you two and Kelsey before I got there last night. Hell, I hardly know anything now."

I let out a frustrated breath. I am about to tell him that I have to go, but I remember my question from last night. "How did you meet Kelsey?"

"I met her at a bar here in Gulf Shores, about two weeks ago. She was determined to get with me. I knew you were with Lucas, so I figured what the hell."

"Did you not think it was kind of odd that she was from Warrington?" I ask.

"She was staying in a condo down here. She never told me where she was from, and I didn’t ask. We went out a few times before I even found out she knew you guys," he replies.

"How did you end up on our doorstep last night?"

I can hear him take a deep breath. "She called me up and said you were having some sort of get-together and that you wanted me to come. I thought it sounded weird, but I wanted to see you so damn bad that I decided to come anyway."

I know that’s a lie. If he was coming to see me, he would not have been holding Kelsey’s hand. This is the first time that I have ever caught him lying to me, and I don’t like it one bit.

"Chad, you need to stay away from her. Kelsey is bad news. She has done everything she can to get Lucas and me apart, including slashing my tire. You also need to stay away from me. I don’t even want you to call me anymore. I’m with Lucas now, and I’m in it for the long haul." I don’t even give him time to respond before hanging up.