Cries in the Night (22 page)

They dozed, still wrapped in each other’s arms. When they awoke, the weak winter sun was creeping through the cracks in the draperies. They made love again before they got up and shared a shower that would have included a stand-up quickie if the shower wasn’t ridiculously small. Julie put on a pair of stretch pants and a loose sweater. Rusty’s wandering hands quickly discovered that she wasn’t wearing a bra, and that concession seemed to delight him.

He had been wearing slacks and a dress shirt and jacket last night for his date, but he pulled on just the slacks. Julie was temporarily distracted by the sight of his tanned bare torso, and when he caught her staring at him, she blushed.

“Uh … I’ll make breakfast. How do you like your eggs?” she asked, struggling to drag her attention away.

“Surprise me.” He flashed his grin. “Actually, you already have. Let me help.”

Her house that had always seemed roomy was dwarfed not only by the size of his body but the power of his personality. As they worked together in her kitchen, they were constantly brushing up against each other, either accidentally or on purpose. Julie was reminded of a pair of kissing cats her mother had had. Whenever they were within inches of each other, the magnets in their lips pulled them together. She smiled at the thought. Yes, there was definitely something magnetic about Rusty’s lips. She couldn’t resist them, nor could she stay away.

They finally got breakfast on the table and gobbled it down as if they were starving. Cat was equally glad they had finally gotten up because he had fresh kibble in his bowl. Rusty had retrieved her newspaper from the driveway, and they
sat on the couch, each leaning on one end, their legs stretched out in the middle with hers on top as they had another cup of coffee and shared the paper.

It was a cozy scene as if they did this every Sunday morning. Julie couldn’t help but sneak an occasional glance over the section she was reading. This man fit into her life very well. She hoped he wasn’t too anxious to move on.

“Do you mind if I turn on the TV? There’s an early game on today.”

She shook her head. “Go ahead. I like football.”

“God, you’re too good to be true,” he teased as he picked up the remote, flicked on the TV and found the channel broadcasting the game. His phone that had been sitting on the end table buzzed and vibrated, and he picked it up and checked the message.

“Uh oh,” he said.

She was trying not to be nosy, but he must have noticed her curiosity because he held his phone out for her to see.

Asshole! U owe me $200 for the meal and taxi ride home. Call me.

“Your date?

He nodded. “When I heard your alarm, I just ran out of the restaurant. I forgot all about her.”

“Sounds like she’s ready to negotiate.” Julie kept her tone casual. The last thing she wanted to do was to sound like a jealous shrew and scare him away, even though her heart ached at the thought he might leave her and go straight to the other woman.

Rusty shrugged. “I’ll mail her a check. I feel bad about deserting her, but I had to get here.”

Julie felt some of the tension melt away. That didn’t sound like the woman was someone he really cared about.

He folded the section of paper he had just finished and tossed it on the pile on the floor. “Did you ever find your phone?”

“No, I was sitting here when you called, but I don’t remember where I was when I dropped it.”

Rusty called her number and they listened, but there was no ring.

“The battery could have run down,” she suggested.

They got up and started looking around the room for the phone. They crawled around on their knees and looked under furniture and pulled all the cushions off the couch and the chairs. They even searched in the kitchen and the bedroom, but her phone was nowhere to be found.

“Do you think the man took it?” she asked, bewildered and horrified at what he might do with it.

“It looks like that’s a possibility. Just to be safe, let’s run to the mall and get you a new number. I’m not comfortable with someone having that kind of access to you. Did you have anything important saved on it, like your alarm code?”

She shook her head. “No, just some music. I can download it again.”

“Well, let’s go now so we can shut your old number down. When we get back, I want us to look over your case files to see if we can figure out who this guy is.”

Julie’s emotions were mixed as she finished getting dressed. On one hand, the thought of some strange man having all her personal contacts and her own phone number was terrifying, but on the other hand Rusty had said “
when we get back
” which meant he wasn’t just going to hit and run. But there was also the option that he felt compelled to help her with this problem, and once it was solved, he would be free to move on.

Shaking off that depressing thought, Julie returned to the living room where Rusty had put on his shirt, although he had left the tails out and the top two buttons undone.

“I want to stop by my condo on the way so I can change clothes,” he said. “Ready?”

It was a beautiful, sunny day and Cat was eager to go out and do whatever it was that he did when wandering the neighborhood. Even though he was a stray that stayed, Julie had taken him to a vet and gotten all his shots up-to-date so she wouldn’t worry about him picking up some sort of cat disease during his Romeo roaming.

Julie set the alarm and locked the door. Rusty measured the window and told her they would stop at The Home Depot on the way back to see if they could find a replacement.

“You’re a man of many talents,” she told him.

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “And you’ve only seen a few of them.”

“I don’t know if I could survive anymore.” She fanned her face with her hand as if the very thought overwhelmed her.

“I promise you’ll like them.”

“I’m sure I will.” She laughed and climbed into the passenger seat of his SUV. He closed her door, then got in and turned on the engine. They fastened their seatbelts out of habit. They had both seen too many bodies thrown out of cars in their line of work.

His condo was in a new area of mixed-use homes. There were blocks of condos mixed with small and large single-family homes built around a small town
square and several small parks and green spaces. The whole area used to be Stapleton Airport, but had been transformed into a well-planned community when Denver International Airport opened in 1995. That was many years before Julie moved to the area, so she didn’t really know what it had looked like before. But it was very nice now.

Julie had been in the area before on calls, but they were usually in the middle of the night, and she’d been more concerned about getting to the correct address than sightseeing. It was sad proof that domestic violence stretched through all socio-economic levels of the population. These families, so happy and successful-looking on the outside were dealing with many of the same problems as the families who lived in the poorest sections of Denver. It was a pleasure not to be here for an unhappy reason.

Rusty parked on the street and ran around to open Julie’s door for her. He led the way to the front door of a contemporary metal and glass industrial designed building. They rode the elevator up to the third floor which opened to an airy hallway made brighter by a row of skylights. There were only four condos on each floor, each nestled in a corner to take advantage of the views. He unlocked the door on the southwest corner and held it open for her to enter first.

“It’s not big, but I like the open floor plan. Plus I can see the mountains from my deck and the bedroom. Come on, I’ll give you a tour.”

She followed him through a large room that was a kitchen on the left with granite counters and a large eat-at bar that overlooked a dining area and the living area beyond. The ceilings were tall and open as if the apartment was carved out of an old loft instead of being designed for new construction. The living room was furnished with a brown leather couch and two matching over-sized recliners, all of which faced the biggest television she’d ever seen.

“It must have been quite a change to watch football on my little 25” Magnavox,” she commented.

He shrugged and his mouth twitched into a grin. “The scenery was better at your place.”

She blushed, and she welcomed the blast of cold air as she opened the patio door and walked outside on the deck that stretched almost the entire length of the apartment and overlooked a beautifully landscaped courtyard that had a large pool with a rock waterfall that was also a fountain, several barbecue pits and volleyball poles sitting empty and waiting for spring. In the distance, the snow-covered Rocky Mountains cut jagged holes in the crystal blue sky. “That’s hard to believe,” she challenged as he joined her at the wrought iron railing. “This view is pretty awesome.”

“There’s a gym and a game room in that building on the end. And we’re only a couple blocks from stores and restaurants in the town center and a really nice park where they have concerts and show movies on an inflatable screen in the summer.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It is. I grew up in Parker, about twenty-five miles from here. My brothers and I had horses and played paintball, mostly running wild.” He laughed at the memories. “I never thought I’d like living in the city, but this place is okay. I’ve gotten used to the convenience.”

“You don’t live all that far from me. I can almost see my neighborhood from here.”

“It’s probably less than a mile as the crow flies, but sticking to the speed limits makes it take longer than it should.”

They went back inside and Rusty locked the door behind them. He led the way down another hall and opened a door to a small bedroom at the end that he was using as an office. There was a hall bathroom, then they returned to the beginning of the hall and he walked into a large master bedroom with a full bath, complete with a huge shower, a jetted garden tub and a walk-in closet that was way too big for his few clothes.

Rusty ran his hand over his day-old stubble. “Make yourself at home. It won’t take me but a few minutes to get changed … unless you want to stick around and help me.” Both of their gazes gravitated to the king-sized bed.

“As tempting as that is,” she said, sincerely regretful, “we’d never make it to the mall today.”

He nodded in acceptance. “Okay, then wait out there so I’m not distracted. I’m used to dressing quickly.”

Julie decided she’d better get out of the room quickly or she’d change her mind. There was nothing she wanted more than to spend the day in bed with Rusty, but they needed to have time to catch their breath. Even though they weren’t establishing a long-term relationship, it wasn’t healthy to have only one shared activity. Besides, she was anxious to get her old phone disconnected before her psycho-stalker did something crazy with it.

She returned to the living area and was drawn to the corner fireplace. The front was a slab of white granite with a rectangular hole cut out for the firebox. Inside was a layer of cobalt blue glass. She flipped the switch next to it and flames leaped up, flickering and reflecting off the glass. It was a beautiful play of colors and textures that she could have stared at for hours. It was easy to picture herself
curled up on the couch on a cold evening with a bowl of popcorn on her lap and Rusty’s arm around her shoulders, holding her close.

With a flick of the switch the flames disappeared, breaking the spell. There was no mantel to mar the beautiful silver and grey-veined granite face, so she moved to stand in front of the bookshelf on the other side of the television screen. Dozens of books, mostly history and science-fiction/fantasy filled the lower shelves, but the upper shelves were crowded with trophies and sports memorabilia among framed photos of his family and friends. She studied each one and recognized his brothers and a few of the other firefighters who were casually dressed for a softball league, bowling team or a game of golf. There were a few women in the photos, but they were part of the group rather than featured.

For some reason, Julie was relieved. There were no 8 x 10 glossies of supermodels or cheerleaders standing next to Rusty with smug, possessive smiles. She glanced around. The whole condo reflected his personality, big, warm and unpretentious. The kitchen cabinets were black with countertops that matched the fireplace. Just to keep things from being too designer chic, there was a black velvet Elvis painting in the dining area and a leg lamp reproduction like the one Ralphie’s dad won in her favorite holiday movie “
A Christmas Story
” on one end table. Stainless appliances looked mostly unused. Glass panels in the cabinet doors revealed red dishes and glasses that brought a pop of color to the kitchen. Darker cranberry-colored draperies were hung over the windows and patio door. Overall, it was a very masculine condo with no evidence of a woman’s touch.

“You’re admiring my decorating skills, aren’t you?”

She turned around and saw him standing in the doorway. His blue eyes twinkled and that sexy grin lifted one corner of his mouth. He was dressed in a navy blue sweater and jeans, and his face was clean-shaven. He looked so handsome Julie felt her heart do that crazy little flip-flop she was becoming used to when he was around.

“It’s a beautiful place. And I love your fireplace,” she told him as she tried to distract her wayward thoughts.