Mississippi Blues (27 page)

Her whole being seemed to depend on him. Her body was like liquid silver, uncontrollable, jumpy, ready to explode. With his thumb, he raked her bra over her taut nipple, making her jump. He tugged her tee up toward her neck and dipped his mouth toward her breast. Taking it in his mouth, he pulled deep. A silent scream fought for a way out of her throat. To silence it, she did what she'd been dying to do; she tasted the side of his neck with her tongue.

He groaned.

She couldn't decide what he tasted like exactly. But the sensation of his slick, warm skin on her tongue made her reel. Maybe it was just being in Trey's arms again after such a long time, but whatever the reason she didn't want to be anywhere else. They belonged together. They always had. She didn't care if she marked him, didn't care who saw. The thought made her suck harder, determined to show the world it didn't matter what anyone thought.

“Summer.”

Gradually, she became aware that he had released her breast. Disappointed, she gave him a light nip and maneuvered her damp, erect nipple under his wonderful, sinful mouth again. But he sat up, nearly unseating her.

“Summer.”

“What?” she grumped, wrapping her arms tightly about his neck.

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. At first, nothing came into focus, but she gradually gained control and realized she had her tee tangled around her waist, her bra who knew where. With trembling fingers, she tugged her shirt back into place and scooted off his lap. God, what had she been thinking? She stole a glance at his neck. A dark red mark proved her lips had been there moments before. If the boat tipped over with her on it and sank to the bottom, it wouldn't be good enough to hide her from the Chief. And if Mama got wind of this, all hell would break loose.

She didn't care.

“Take me to bed,” she ordered.

He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. She wrapped her legs around his waist for the short trip.

She helped him lift her tee over her head. His mouth dipped to her breast again and she cupped the back of his neck with her hand. A powerful force built within her, making her ache so badly she burned with it.

One time had not been enough.

She reached between them and unbuttoned her own shorts. Somewhat shocked by her forwardness, she pushed her khaki shorts and undies over her hips and thighs. Trey rose up and shrugged his own T-shirt over his head. He unsnapped his jeans and slipped out of them and his undershorts. God, fully erect, he was beautiful.

Lowering himself onto her, he supported his weight with his elbows.

The hair on his chest brushed her nipples and they arched to attention. Desperate to feel him inside her, she spread her legs as wide as her shorts and panties wrapped around her thighs would allow. She pulled his mouth to hers and tangled their tongues together.

He reached between them and shoved her constricting garments out of the way. Then he pushed inside her in a powerful, hot rush.

She grabbed his arms and held on as he filled, stretched her.

Her breath rushed out of her in a shuddering gasp.

She hadn't expected this. He was too big, too much. Turning her head, she tasted him on the bicep. He wrapped his hands around her head, kissing her until she wanted him to take them both to heaven.

She lifted her hips and he shifted forward. A tiny spark deep within her lit.

Urging him on, she rocked and the flame leapt.

Heat from deep in her began to spread, warming her entire body. She licked his nipple and he pressed deeper. The fire burned hotter. She did it again. The flame leapt to a torch. She rocked under him, until together they burned. When she thought she could stand no more, he reached under her buttocks and lifted. Summer disintegrated into a pile of smoldering ashes.

Moments later, he too, came with a guttural moan.

She didn't know how long she lay there. When his weight became too much, she shifted. He rolled over, pulling her across his chest. Twisting her legs through his, Summer wished she could stay like this forever. If only they could forget the rest of the world. Impossible.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

She traced a path from his collarbone to his bellybutton. “Just that we'd be fine if we could shut out everyone else.”

“We can.” His lips brushed over her hair. “Just don't think about them right now.”

She moved to sit up. “I have to go.”

He tightened his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “Not yet.”

As much as she was tempted to stay in his arms, and forget her problems for a little while, she couldn't. “I've got to … Mama will worry.”

He let her go with one last, lingering kiss that almost made her change her mind. She rolled away, looking for her clothes. “Do you see my bra?”

“It's right here.” Trey's gaze was locked on something underneath the edge of the bed.

Reluctantly, she followed his line of sight. “Where?”

Instead of answering, he reached for something. “Here.”

Before he had it shook open, she was suppressing a groan of dismay. A blue lycra mini skirt was in Trey's hands. Without being told, she instinctively knew it belonged to his sister. When she raised her gaze to meet Trey's dull recognition shined there. “If I were a betting man, I'd say Lindy has been here. Right under our noses all along. With Jace.”

Numb, she nodded. She forced out a single word. “Why?”

He gave the torn garment a shake. “This is another piece of evidence that proves she was here with him. I can't keep quiet about this.”

“What do you mean ‘another piece of evidence'?” She managed to force the words out. They had just made love and he hadn't told her something about Jace? She tugged the sheet around her, wishing to get as far away from him as she could.

He met her eyes and his were troubled. “I wanted to tell you sooner … Jody found handcuffs, shackles, and a prison jumpsuit we believe are Jace's. They were in an ice chest out in the lake.”

Summer couldn't find words.

“I need to let the Chief know about this.” He reached for her as she twisted away. “I don't have a choice.”

“No, you never do,” she whispered through icy lips. Her stomach rolled and she fought to keep from throwing up. Little black spots swam in front of her eyes. Once again, Trey was going to testify against her brother. And send him straight back to prison before he could prove his innocence. “This doesn't prove anything except Jace was here.” She grabbed at the first thing that came to her. “Not that Lindy was with him.”

Trey ran a hand over the back of his neck. “I'm afraid it does prove exactly that.”

“Please, Trey, I'm begging you, don't do this.” Even as she pleaded with him, she knew he wouldn't do as she asked.

He clamped his lips together and didn't answer.

“That's what I thought. You're as stubborn as your pig-headed father. I don't know why I thought you were any different. I'm going home to Mama. Leave me and my family alone. I pray to God that Jace is halfway to Canada by now.”

Without responding, he got up, dressed and went outside.

Too angry to react for a minute, Summer gasped like a fish out of water. Her fingers closed around a nubby pillow. Holding it over her head, she heaved it at the wall with a grunt. Livid, she chucked another one and then another until she had bared the bed of all pillows. Panting with rage, she laid down.

Tears streamed down her face and she swiped at them with trembling hands.

How could Trey have gone from saying he believed in Jace less than an hour ago to siccing the Chief on him in the next breath? She had been a fool to have faith in him. Trusting any member of the Bouché family was always wrong, wrong, wrong. Not a mistake she'd make again. In fact, the sooner she got out of here the better.

Her clothes had to be around here somewhere.

She gathered everything but her bra. When she didn't immediately find the missing underwear, she crawled along the bed and felt under the edge of it. She gasped when her middle finger bumped into something sharp. She realized she had run her finger into a carpet tack. She knew it wasn't going to stop trickling blood without a bandage of some sort. There should be a first aid kit in the bathroom.

Holding her bleeding finger, she went in search of a Band-Aid.

A large metal box had the first aid insignia across it. She opened it, but instead of Band-Aids and ointments there was a scrap of material inside. Curious, she pulled out a pink satin bra. If one wanted to call the scrap of shiny pink material a bra. A jagged rip ran up the seam, and on closer inspection she found tiny, dark spots that could only be one thing. Blood.

Lindy.

Summer's hand went numb. First Jace's prison uniform, now torn lingerie with blood on it. Emily Bouché wouldn't have ever been caught dead in something like this, and Summer doubted any other woman had been on the Chief's boat in recent years. Not any woman who would wear something like this anyway.

As soon as the Chief got word Jace had been here, he would either come himself or send someone to investigate. If Summer replaced the bra the police, like her, would conclude the only reasonable explanation was that Jace had hurt Lindy. The state of it suggested Lindy hadn't been a willing visitor. What to do? If Summer replaced the clothing, and the police found it, Jace would be in even more trouble. But if she hid it and Jace had done something to Lindy, then Summer would be guilty of aiding and abetting.

She had no choice. If the Chief found out Jace had hurt Lindy he would be even more relentless in finding and punishing him. Summer looked desperately for a place to hide the evidence. Wearing only a T-shirt and khaki shorts, she had no obvious place to smuggle anything. It might fit inside her pocket.

She folded the hot pink bra into a two-inch square and stuffed it in her back pocket. Feeling like a top CIA agent, she made her way back to the living room where, from this angle, she spotted her own bra stuffed in the back of the sofa. Jerking it on, she couldn't help but wonder how Lindy had come to lose her undergarment.

Trey watched Summer stomp by him, but he couldn't reason with her right then. The Chief was on the other end of the phone barking at him. Torn between chasing Summer and finding Lindy, Trey stayed on the phone. They had something that might lead them to Jace. If they knew for sure Jace didn't have her, they could concentrate somewhere else.

“Stay put. I'm going to send Jody right out there,” the Chief ordered.

“Okay. I'll be here.” Trey hung up and leaned against the boat railing and looked to the dusty lavender horizon. He hadn't taken any pleasure in telling the Chief he'd found a clue to Jace's whereabouts.

He didn't blame Summer for being mad, but she had to understand his position. If he did nothing, he would never forgive himself. He couldn't imagine Jace harming Lindy … but he had been convicted of killing Soloman in cold blood. If he was capable of that act, he could do anything. Trey had told Summer the truth, he did have doubts about Jace having Lindy, but it didn't change the past.

He knew Summer hoped the picture held a clue that would exonerate Jace, but Trey couldn't see how. He could at least look into the picture; see what he could find out. The Chief wouldn't tell him anything. But maybe his mother would — if she were up to it. He'd talk to her in the morning. Maybe she could answer Summer's questions. Although he didn't know if Summer would listen to anything he had to say now.

The sound of an approaching car interrupted his thoughts.

Jody drove up and parked. Then joined him on the deck, frowning. “Man, are you cursed or something? First of all you and I find Jimmy Ray's body, now you dig up Lindy's clothes.”

Trey shook his head. “Coincidence.”

Jody didn't look convinced. “Maybe.”

Trey ran a hand over the back of his neck. Why was Jody giving him a hard time? “I just stumbled over the skirt.”

“Where?”

“Under the bed.” Trey parted with the information reluctantly.

Jody's eyebrows shot up. “Where's the evidence?”

Trey motioned toward the boat. He wasn't going to tell Jody he'd been here with Summer, or why. Until he had time to speak to his mother, he didn't want to share anything about the picture either. “It's below. I went below to look around and the skirt was crammed under the bed. I called the Chief as soon as I found it.”

“The Chief put out an APB on Lindy. There was already one for Jace; she's included now. Anyone who resembles either one of them will be pulled over and searched,” Jody said.

He took out his fingerprinting supplies and began to dust every flat surface with a fine black dust, then laid a wide strip of tape over it. “Some of these will be useless. The Chief's, yours, even those left by Lindy won't mean anything if she's been here before. You're going to have some explaining to do to explain Summer's though.”

Trey jerked. “Summer? What does she have to do with anything?”

“Her prints are bound to show up.” Jody lifted a piece of tape and placed it in a plastic bag. “Not to mention that dollar-sized hickey you're wearing is a pretty good clue she was here. Nobody else turns you on like she does, so I put two and two together.”

Trey covered his neck. “Shit.”

“Yeah. I've been waiting for you to tell me what she was doing out her with you, but I guess I know.” Grinning, Jody said, “It's taken a while, but it's about time the two of you took a ride on the love machine.”

“It's not like that.” He wasn't going to discuss he and Summer's lovemaking with Jody or anyone else. He never had before; he wouldn't now.

Jody stared at him. “What is it with you? I never saw two people crazier about each other who just can't make it work. What's the problem with just shutting everyone else out?”