Rock Chick 01 (18 page)

We walked into the kitchen and I grabbed my
cell, scrolled down to Lee’s number and hit the green button.

“Yeah?” Lee said after one ring.

“Rosie was just here. Took off north out of
the alley onto Bannock in a dark gray Nissan Sentra.” I gave him
the part of the license I could remember and he related the info to
someone he was with, then he came back to me.

“How’s he look?”

“Not good and he had a gun.”

“How do you know he had a gun?”

“He was waving it at me and then he shot off
three rounds when Tod came over for a surprise visit.”

Silence for a beat and then, “Tod?”

“My neighbor.”

Another silent beat, then, “Everyone
okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Why’d Rosie come to you?”

“He thinks I know where the diamonds
are.”

Lee sighed.

“Be there in ten.”

I flipped the phone shut, threw Chowleena a
dog biscuit and deposited a still-stunned Tod in a chartreuse chair
and ran up the stairs to my bathroom to get my medical
supplies.

I was sitting on the ottoman, dabbing at
Tod’s palm with alcohol-soaked cotton balls, then blowing on it to
take the pain away, when Tod said, “I thought you were making up a
story when you said you’d been shot at. I thought it was another
one of your stories.”

“I don’t have any stories, all that shit I
tell you actually happens.”

Tod stared at me while he processed this.

This was a new dimension in our
relationship.

I always thought Tod and Stevie accepted who
I was and were so world-weary that nothing fazed them. I mean, they
were flight attendants, they’d seen it all.

I did not expect that they thought I was
making up things to make my life sound more interesting.

For Tod, this meant I really
was
crazy
and he lived next to a woman who gets herself into a situation
where she gets shot at and kidnapped.

“Stevie wants to sell the duplex, buy a
condo. Says it will mean no yard work and we can have underground
parking so we don’t have to scrape our windshields in the winter,”
Tod told me.

I was not happy about this news. They were
the best neighbors ever and they were my friends and when I needed
someone with a steady hand to put on my liquid eye-liner, where was
I going to turn?

Tod went on. “We both didn’t want to leave
you. You’re incapable of yard work and Stevie spent a lot of time
on that yard. It’s his legacy.”

“So now you’re getting shot at, you’re gonna
leave me?”

“Girlie, I’m from Texas. We shoot at each
other to say good morning. Now
you’re
getting shot at, we
can’t
go.”

I didn’t have time to feel relief or
gratitude at this news as the front door opened and Lee and Matt
walked in.

I was on the ottoman doing my Florence
Nightingale impersonation. Tod was still wearing the high heeled
sandals, blood was dripping from his knees down his hairy shins and
he had not yet shaved his face. Chowleena barked three times, her
nails clicking on the hardwood floor each time her upper body
landed after a bark. Then she sat down, looking excitedly between
the four of us obviously wondering which one would toss her a dog
biscuit.

I introduced everyone then Lee said, “Can I
talk to you alone?”

He didn’t wait for an answer and he, nor
Matt, reacted to me administering to a from-the-ankles-down drag
queen. Lee calmly walked up the stairs.

“There’s cold drinks in the fridge,” I told
Matt and Tod and followed Lee, finding him in my bedroom.

He was looking around with curiosity. The
walls were pale pink and the floors were covered in cream wool,
thick-weave carpet. There was a dressing table with a big mirror
and padded bench with tubs, brushes and bottles scattered across
the top. The bed was big and had a pink Pottery Barn comforter
cover with little hot-pink flowers and lots of fluffy pillows at
the head.

It was a girlie room, not the room of a Rock
Chick and thus was kind of a naughty, little secret, just like my
underwear.

When I entered, Lee turned melty-chocolate
eyes to me.

“Nice room.”

My toes curled into the carpet. I read a
magazine article once about how guys actually liked feminine rooms,
made them feel like a conqueror when they invaded such a room.

Lee’s face showed he was in the conquering
mood.

This didn’t last long, his eyes cleared and
he became all business.

“Tell me about it.”

I ran down the story of Rosie and Lee showed
no reaction.

“How did he know Shubert had been
killed?”

I shook my head. “He didn’t say.”

“Was he there?”

“He didn’t say but he seemed pretty freaked
about it.”

“Why are you the focal point of all this?” he
asked.

I shrugged.

He watched me for a second then said, “You
smell like a beach.”

“Suntan oil,” I responded.

His eyes dropped to my body and they became
melty again and his intentions were clear before he made a move. He
snagged the knot in my sarong and brought me closer.

“You’ll get oil all over you.” I told
him.

“Then I’ll take my clothes off.”

Holy shit.

My heart skipped a beat.

“Have you heard from Duke?” I asked, changing
the subject.

Lee obviously didn’t want the subject to
change, he was yanking his t-shirt out of his jeans.

“Duke’ll be home in a couple of hours. Tex is
cool. He knows the drill. We abandoned the lead on Rosie when he
showed up here.”

Lee had unknotted my sarong and it dropped to
the floor. His melty eyes started glittering.

“Matt and Tod are downstairs,” I informed
him.

He reached beyond me and shut the door.

“Lee! I’m in the middle of making macaroni
salad and there are bullet holes in my fence! This has got to stop
and you’re supposed to be the one stopping it.”

He pulled me into him, close enough for my
breasts to brush his chest. A rush of electricity shot through my
body as his arms slid around me.

“I don’t get a taste of you soon, I’m givin’
up the search and takin’ you to my cabin in Grand Lake. No phones,
no cell coverage, no buzzer. Anyone knocks on the door and I’m
shooting them.”

Lee had a cabin in Grand Lake.

I didn’t know that.

I
loved
Grand Lake.

I shook off thoughts of Grand Lake.

“We’re supposed to be having a talk,” I
reminded him.

“Oh, we’ll talk,” he promised and I had that
Christmas Eve feeling again, except it was Christmas Eve with the
devil.

He was watching me. “I can’t read your
face.”

“Some thoughts are secret.”

He seemed happy with that, which was
surprising.

In my experience, there were two types of
guys. One type asked you every five minutes what was on your mind
and then got pissy when you didn’t feel like sharing. The other
type never asked and you got pissy when they didn’t seem to
care.

Lee, apparently, was a third type, a mutant
type, knowing something was on my mind but happy to leave me to it.
I didn’t know what to make of that. I did know it made me feel less
pressured but more confused because one of us was supposed to be
feeling pissy and neither of us were.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” I said to him, “I
don’t know what to make of you. I can’t get my head wrapped around
any of this.”

His arms tightened and his face came closer
then deviated from its course at the last minute. He whispered in
my ear a couple of things I could make of him and another couple of
things I could wrap around him. My nether regions quivered and I
couldn’t help myself, I put my lips to his neck then touched my
tongue there. It seemed I couldn’t wait to taste him either.

Then the door bell rang.

Lee stopped whispering in my ear and started
cursing.

I pulled out of his arms, grabbed the sarong
and knotted it at my hips. Lee tucked his shirt back in.

Maybe Grand Lake was the way to go.

By the time we made it downstairs, Tod and
Matt were both staring at a huge, glossy white box with a red
ribbon tied around it that was sitting on the ottoman. Matt was
holding a can of diet pop. Tod was holding a pop in one hand with
his other arm wrapped around the biggest display of long stemmed
red roses I’d ever seen, at least two dozen of them.

I’d had flowers delivered before but never on
this scale and never accompanied by glossy boxes. I looked to Lee
but he was staring at the flowers, his face tight. Clearly,
whatever this was, it was not from Lee.

“There’s a card on the box,” Tod said, he was
staring at Lee too.

I grabbed the card and it read,
Dinner
Wednesday night. Wear the dress. Terry

I’d just finished reading it and experiencing
the sick clutch in my stomach when Lee snagged the card out of my
fingers.

I stared at the box as if it was ticking.

“Aren’t you gonna open it?” Tod asked.

“You open it,” I said.

Tod needed no further encouragement. He
plopped the huge array of flowers in my arms, set aside his pop and
dug into the box. He squealed in delight as he pulled out a
fabulous little black dress.

“I saw this at Saks when I was looking for
shoes. It cost one thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars!”

That sick clutch in my stomach lurched and
became full-blown nausea.

Tod was happily looking at Lee, thinking it
was from him and that I’d hit the mother-lode of hunky boyfriends
with platinum credit cards.

The muscle in Lee’s cheek was working and his
eyes cut to Tod.

“Put the dress back in the box,” Lee ordered
and Tod quickly did as he was told, his face turning confused.

Lee said to Matt, “Coxy.”

Matt’s jaw went rigid and his eyes turned to
me.

“I didn’t do anything!” I shouted. “He
kidnapped me! I didn’t encourage him at all! He’s creepy.”

“Who’s creepy?” Tod asked.

“They guy who sent these to me. He looks like
Grandpa Munster except genuinely scary.”

“You didn’t send them?” Tod turned to
Lee.

Lee didn’t answer, just grabbed the box and
tucked it under his arm. “I’m returning this,” he announced and he
was using his scary voice.

I nodded.

“Don’t leave the house. Don’t open the door
to anyone. Bobby’s following up on Rosie and after we visit Wilcox,
Matt and I will run down that lead. I’ll be back as soon as I
can.”

I nodded again.

“I’ll do my best to convince Coxy that you
aren’t interested.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

Lee’s face was totally blank and he watched
me for several seconds. Once he started speaking, I realized that
he’d been in a struggle with how much information to share and he’d
decided he’d trust me not to freak out.

“You’ve captured his attention. Coxy’s a man
who’s used to getting what he wants. He knows I consider you mine.
This is a declaration of war.”

I gasped. Tod gasped. Chowleena barked.

“But I don’t want him! He’s icky,” I
said.

“A lot of women get past icky when they get
seventeen hundred dollar dresses delivered to their door,” Lee
answered.

“I might get past icky for that dress. It’d
go with my shoes,” Tod put in.

Lee was looking at me. “What about you?”

I felt my blood begin to boil and my eyes
narrow. I put my free hand on my hip and assumed a posture that
screamed
attitude
.

“Seriously?” I asked, I couldn’t believe he
actually expected an answer.

Lee kept watching me.

“Icky is icky. There’s no getting past icky.
He’s not only icky, he’s creepy. Even if you could get past icky,
you can’t get past creepy. Jeez.”

Lee showed no reaction to my response. “Don’t
leave the house.”

Then he was gone, leaving me with the
roses.

Once the door closed, Tod turned to me.

“Girlie, he is
fine
. He’s fine times
twelve. He’s the new definition of fine.”

“I’ve been in love with him since I was
five,” I told Tod.

“I’m in love with him now. I want to have his
children,” Tod told me.

We were both still staring at the door and I
was still holding the roses.

“He scares me now. He’s an adult. He has a
head on his shoulders. He’s good at this relationship stuff. I
think he’s serious about me. And he runs in some pretty frightening
circles.”

“Girlie, you fuck this up and I’m calling the
boys in the white jackets. You let something that fine slip through
your fingers, you deserve a padded room. Especially if he’s good at
relationship stuff. Most especially if he’s serious about you. No
one who looks like that and fills out a pair of jeans like that is
good at relationship stuff. I don’t care if he runs through the
seven circles of hell.”

Tod had a point.

I put the roses down on a side table, I
needed to do something normal. If I didn’t do something normal, I
was gonna get a first class ticket on the first plane to San
Salvador. I was beginning to realize the allure of San
Salvador.

“I need to finish my macaroni salad and make
brownies. Wanna help?”

Tod shrugged.

“Sure, you watch Chowleena, I’m going next
door to get my gun.”

“Your gun?”

“Hunk of Burning Love is out there fighting a
war for you so someone has to protect you. I’ll be right back.”

Tod left to get his gun and I threw a doggie
biscuit to Chowleena.

This new turn with Terry Wilcox meant my life
was officially fucked up.

I could have a meltdown but instead I made
macaroni salad.

I’d save the meltdown for later…

Hopefully when I was in Grand Lake.

We’re in Together-Limbo