Carol's Image (21 page)

Standing on her toes to kiss him softly, she whispered, “I got you, Tom.”

*

Tom heard laughter and music as he approached Carol’s apartment door that evening. Curious, he used his key to enter only to be greeted by a blast of music and the visual of her dancing around the living room.

“Tom! You’re Here!” she screamed. “Jon, Tom’s Here!” Whirling around, she stumbled over the coffee table as she tried to make her way to him. Jon tried to grab her, but Tom snagged her first before she fell headlong onto the floor.

Tom eyed the empty wine bottles on the table, then directed his glare on Jon. “What the hell, man?” he barked as he attempted to hold Carol upright as she went limp in his arms. Unable to keep her standing, he scooped her up into his arms. Giggling, she threw her arms around his neck.

“I jus’ knew you’d come. I tol’ Jon you’d come and to hide the wine. Jon, did you hide the wine?” she slurred.

Jon laughed at the sight of a drunken Carol in Tom’s arms, as Tom was still attempting to glare at him. “Hell, Tom. She suggested some wine, and the next thing I know she was chugging it and we were having a good time.”

“From the number of bottles on the table, it looks like you were having too good a time.”

“Hey, it kept her mind off of some whacko stalking her. Thought you’d be grateful.”

Carol wiggled in Tom’s arms, pressing her breasts against his chest, making the blood rush to his dick. Jon just laughed again, saying, “Got my ride coming, so I’ll see you two later.” He headed out of the apartment, leaving Tom to figure out how to sober up Carol.

After he managed to get her to drink several glasses of water and helped her in the shower, he finally tucked her in. She slept through the night never knowing he lay awake the whole time.
Someone is after his girl. Someone is terrifying her. Someone. Is. Going. To. Pay.

*

Tom checked out Carol’s new roommate before she moved to Fairfield. She came up clean. Not even a traffic violation. Nothing to make him suspicious. Carol was delighted to be getting a roommate again. Her previous roommate had only lived with her for a few months before moving out to get married. While they had no problems, they also had never developed a true friendship. Carol and the new girl, Laurie, had been emailing and skyping for a few weeks, already finding many things in common. Laurie was moving to town to become a teacher at the elementary school. Carol was determined to make her feel welcome.

The day Laurie was arriving in town, Carol headed to the Fairfield Hotel to meet with the owners. Laurie had decided to spend the first night in town at the hotel since Carol was going to be working the graveyard shift that evening.

Walking into the hotel’s office, Carol greeted Roger, the owner.

“Carol, my dear. How nice to see you again,” he said, sitting behind the counter peering up at her over his rimmed glasses. “Helen,” he yelled. “Carol’s here.”

Helen came out from the office. “Roger, I am not deaf! I heard the bell over the door and was already on my way out.” Greeting Carol with a hug, she whispered, “I’m not the one going deaf, but I surely think Roger is!” With a conspiratorial wink at Carol she walked back behind the counter. “Are you checking on things for your new roommate?”

“Oh, please don’t think I’m checking on you. I just want to make sure her reservation is in order. I thought I might have some of Bernie’s treats for her.”

“Don’t worry about that dear. Roger goes every morning to get muffins, so she will have them here when she gets up,” Helen assured her. “By the way, how’s that handsome detective you’ve been seeing?”

“Tom? Oh he is fine,” Carol replied, a smile bursting across her face. “We’re fine.”

“Can’t think of a nicer, prettier girl for that rogue,” Roger said.

Helen looking over at Roger, just rolled her eyes. “You old man. You wouldn’t know a rogue if it jumped up and bit you.”

Roger pretending to be hurt, placed his hand over his heart. “I’ll have you ladies know that I was somewhat of a rogue back in my day.”

Carol couldn’t contain her laughter while Roger continued to look hurt.

Helen gently slapped her husband of many years on the arm, saying, “Well, then I guess I am just lucky to have tamed such a rogue.”

Carol, still giggling, moved to the counter to hug Helen. “All right, then. I guess we are all set. I’m glad I stopped by. It was really nice to see you again, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning when I get off work. I’ll come by and show her the way to the apartment,” Carol added.

Taking Carol’s hand in hers, Helen looked at Carol’s beautiful, angelic face. “You are strong my dear. Strong on your own, whether you know it or not. But do not be afraid to lean on others when needed.” Continuing to hold Carol’s hand tightly, she said, “You will have pain before joy. You will have danger before safety. But love will prevail. It always does.”

Releasing her hand, Helen turned to walk back into the office. Carol, rooted to the spot, just stared down at the hand Helen had held. Roger walked over, patting Carol on the shoulder. “She’s always right, you know? She sees things. So you stay strong. If Helen says love will prevail, then it will.”

*

That night Carol could hardly contain her excitement about her new roommate arriving in town. She joined Sofia and Jon in the break room wishing the night was already over.

“As excited as you are, I hope she works out,” Jon commented.

“Oh, she’ll be fine,” Carol added. “And who knows, I just might be able to hook her up with one of Tom’s single friends. Lord knows, there are enough of them running around.”

“Yeah, well what I want to know is, how does Mr. Sex Pistol Detective feel about you having a roommate? After all, he can’t just whip out his revolver whenever he is over at your place with a roommate around.”

Jon and Carol burst into laughter at Sofia’s newest name for Tom. “Lordy, I hope Tom never hears these nicknames!” Carol exclaimed. “Anyway, we spend a lot of time at his place anyway. I will have the best of both worlds. I will have a roommate that I am already becoming friends with and still have privacy at Tom’s place when we need it.”

Hugging her friends, Carol headed off to meet Laurie.

*

Meeting Laurie was everything Carol hoped it would be. She was gorgeous, with the longest hair Carol had seen. Dark, thick, hanging in waves down her back. Laurie’s eyes were stormy-grey and her flawless complexion framed them perfectly. She was a few inches shorter than Carol and had a drop dead figure. But it was her smile that captured Carol. It was open, freely given, and completely sincere.

She met her at the hotel and then showed her the apartment. Carol so wanted Laurie to like it. She found herself almost desperately wanting Laurie to become a good friend, not just a roommate. Having stayed emotionally closed for so many years, Carol realized how freeing it had been to finally open up about her past. Not just to the therapist, but to Tom.

Laurie loved the apartment and they quickly got her settled in. Carol slept during the day, but that night she and Laurie had their first dinner together before Carol went to work. They laughed, talked, shared, and much to Carol’s delight, the friendship began.

As she drove to work that night, she called Tom. “Honey, she is so sweet! She’s nice and pretty and caring and she loves the apartment and…”

“Whoa, slow down, angel,” Tom laughed. He realized how glad he was to hear that excitement in Carol’s voice.

“I was thinking that we could have the gang over at Smokey’s soon. She needs to meet people, and maybe Jake or Rob would be interested.”

Oh fuck,
Tom thought.
Jake’s not looking for a young thing, and Rob is the quintessential man whore.

“Angel, I’d love to help her meet people, but don’t know that my friends are gonna be what she needs.”

Carol huffed. “Why? Because you all are such horndogs? Well you settled down, why can’t they?”

“Did you seriously just call me a horndog?” Tom asked incredulously.

Carol giggled, wondering what he would think if he heard what Sofia called him. “Well, that sounds better than some things you could have been called,” she retorted.

“Angel, you just go to work, concentrate on being safe, and I’ll get the gang to have a night at Smokey’s. But no promises on meetin’ anyone. Deal?”

“Okay, honey. Deal. I love you, Tom.”

“All my heart, angel. All my heart.”

*

Tom sat with Jake at their desks working on the Calvin case. The chief strolled over to their desks before plopping down heavily in one of the chairs nearby. Tom and Jake shared a quick look between them before turning their attention back to the chief.

“What’s up, sir?” Tom asked.

“Looks like Calvin Penski might make bail unless the DA can convince the judge that he is a flight risk.”

“What the fuck?” Tom cursed. “Of course he is a goddamn flight risk. Drugs for sure. Big time. Now the cops in Richland are starting to see ties to prostitution. And not the kind where the woman is willing. My buddies on the force there say they are trying to connect the dots with him drugging young women then using them in a sex slavery prostitution ring.”

“I know, gentlemen. I just thought I would share this tidbit of information. Know you two have been working hard. Keep it going. We’ll get something nailed down.” He pulled himself up out of the chair and walked back to his office. Calling over his shoulder, he added, “Keep checking that brother of his. Don’t trust the man.”