Rough Ride (20 page)

He debated calling the lead agent on the case and telling him that he would go ahead and get her out when he saw Agent Brower approaching the house from a car parked along the street.  He was in plain clothes and approached cautiously.  Apparently the bureau had put a tail on Lilly as well.  This time there would be no ‘accidents’.

He watched as Agent Brower approached the front door and knocked.  Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Lilly bolted from the back of the house into the woods.  He took off at a run chasing Lilly through the woods until looking back she noticed him and stopped running.  He led her to his car he’d parked a couple of streets away and after starting it up and heading downtown he called the lead FBI agent.

“It’s Detective Sanders… I got our witness and I’m headed to the safe house with her now.  You need to let Agent Brower know so he can clear out before Kyle returns” He said

The lead agent seemed a little confused but finally agreed to call his guys in now that Lilly was safely in custody and on her way to the safe house.  He breathed a sigh of relief.  He would stay at the safe house with her tonight and would ensure her safely to the airport in the morning while the FBI moved in on Kyle, Simon and the Judge.

As much as he wanted in on the bust he owed it to Lilly to ensure she was safe.  She was one smart woman and no longer as naïve as she’d been when he’d delivered the news that her husband was dead and all their assets had been frozen.  Most women would have wanted to claw his eyes out for ending their high class lifestyle and marking them as a social pariah.  Instead she’d not only done what he asked but had gone above and beyond.  He had brought her lifestyle…her whole world…down around her while she’d very likely gotten him the raise and promotion he was being considered for.

Glancing over at her he noticed she seemed a million miles away.  “You ok?” He asked

“Yea, just glad to be done with this…and ready to go home” She sighed.

The following morning Detective Sanders entered the only bedroom in the small house she’d been brought to.  She could hear some of the other agents talking in another part of the house as she prepared herself for her flight.  One of the female agents offered her a pair of her jeans for the flight citing it would be more comfortable than the skirt she wore but somehow she couldn’t do it.  Not because she’d be frowned at for her choice of attire but rather because it brought back memories of his heated stare when he’d taken her shopping. 
God she missed him!

“I bet you’re glad to be blowing this Popsicle stand huh?” He asked

She smiled at him and as good as it felt to be one step closer in putting this whole chapter in her life behind her…she had another chapter she had to deal with when she got back to Florida.  She would eventually run into
him
…it was only a matter of time.  She could only hope it wouldn’t be with his muscular arms wrapped around another woman.  How would she handle that? 
Could she handle that?

“Well we should go so we can get you on that flight before all hell breaks loose.” He said

As they drove to the airport she couldn’t contain her nerves and God help her, the excitement in the pit of her stomach at the thought of seeing him again.  She should be preparing herself for the inevitable heartache she would experience when she found out he was with someone new.  Somehow she couldn’t seem to shake the exhilaration and heat that the mere thought of him seemed to invoke in her.

After getting her through security and to the boarding gate she turned to say goodbye to Detective Sanders and her past.

“Will you let me know when you think the trial will be?” She asked

“Of course…you’re my star witness.” He grinned

Upon hearing the call for boarding she said “I should go…”

“Lilly, I can’t begin to thank you enough for what you did.  Not many people would put their ass on the line to right a wrong they hadn’t even committed.” He said

“It’s no problem…I’ll send you the bill” She said with a laugh.  Then remembering the items in her storage unit she said “I do have a favor to ask though.”

“If it’s within my abilities…it’s yours” He replied

“I moved all my things from the old house into a storage unit” She began, digging in her purse for a pen and paper to write down the information including the lock combination “After this thing is over, I’d like you to auction all the items in that storage unit and give the proceeds to the victims or charity…whichever”

He stared at her for several minutes before accepting the paper she held out to him.  Turning away from him, she walked to the boarding gate and looked back at him one last time. 

“Bye Lilly and thanks again” He said with a wave.

Bobby was in a shit mood and he knew why.   He couldn’t stand to be at the shop because every time he entered the office he would picture Lilly behind the desk…
or on the desk
.  He hated being on the bike because it only reinforced that she would never again press herself up against his back and squeal when he went fast. 

Gran had made the mistake of buying strawberries at the store and upon opening the refrigerator door and seeing them he had cursed and stormed out of the house.

He couldn’t stand this another minute and though he’d swore he wouldn’t ask Sherri about her yet again, he found himself parking his bike in Sherri’s driveway and heading to her front door. 

Sherri had already told him that she asked Lilly to call him a couple of times and though he’d told himself he would wait until she did call and not pressure her, it was surely going to kill him. 

More than two weeks had passed since he’d watched her press her face into another man’s chest and the jealousy and pain of that image was eating him alive.  Nighttime was even worse.  His dreams were filled with her laugh, her smell, the way she blushed when he told her how much he wanted her.  He could control the erotic images of her his mind produced during the day but at night they seemed to control him. 

Everything seemed to be a reminder of her and he wanted to scream out his frustration over the situation.  He wanted to go back to New York and apologize to her heart, body, and soul and beg her to give him another chance.  He couldn’t give her the lifestyle that Kyle could but she’d never given him the impression that money or material things meant that much to her.  Was she only with Kyle because he’d hurt her?  If she was hurting, why wouldn’t she call him… let him explain?

“Hey Bobby” Sherri said as he entered the kitchen. 

It was late and a few people were sitting around the table playing cards and having a few drinks.  Sherri passed the cards she’d been dealt to a guy who was leaned back in his chair and grabbing Bobby’s arm she led him into the living room.

“You look like shit Bobby.” She said

“Have you heard from her?” He asked

Sighing loudly, Sherri pulled him down to sit on the couch next to her.

“When she and Darren married, he made no beans about the fact that he didn’t like me much and didn’t approve of how I choose to live my life.  A few short years into their marriage I began to only hear from Lilly on holidays or special occasions, like birthdays and what not.” Sherri said “I thought after he died and she agreed to come down here and stay with me for a while that I’d gotten the old Lilly back.  I’ve heard from her twice in the past two weeks and each time it was a very short conversation, like she had too much going on… or like Kyle didn’t approve.  It’s like deja' vu, you know?”

“So you think she’s not coming back?  Is that what you’re saying?” He said as his heart seemed to die a little more.

“I don’t know but I hate to see you like this.  I’ll admit that at one point in time I had wished someone would come along and give you a dose of your own medicine, but somehow I’m just not enjoying it like I thought I would.” Sherri said “Why don’t you hang out for a bit, try to have a little fun?”

“Thanks, but I’m not really in the mood to socialize.” He said.  Remembering that Sherri had been by the shop to see about getting her car repaired he asked “Is your car in the garage?”

“Yea…why?” She asked

“I might go take a look at it while I’m here… just not ready to go home yet.” He answered.

“Sure, there are some tools out there that TJ left when he took off.  Help yourself.  You want a beer or a Beam and coke to take with you?” She asked

The thought of Lilly’s tolerance for the strong liquor and what that had led to, nearly brought tears to his eyes.  Unable to respond to Sherri for fear of breaking he stood up and headed out to her garage without saying a word.  He turned on the light and opened the garage door to let in the evening breeze…it was going to rain.  He opened the hood of Sherri’s car trying desperately to ignore the little sports car sitting next to it.

Damn it!
  He was sick of this… when would the hurting stop and the anger kick in?  He could deal with anger.  This was torture…torture he probably deserved but still.  He just needed to see her just once so he could tell her that he finally understood what it meant to have loved and lost.  The pain in his chest was unbearable.

He’d only slept with her once but it had been different with her than with any other woman.  The way she had felt…her whimpers as he’d loved her body.  She had brought out a side of him he was unable to control and he had unleashed it on her that night and she had accepted it…and been pleasured by it.  To think that for once in his life it hadn’t been just another piece of ass to him…it had been unbelievably passionate.

Now he was left with nothing but memories of her.  Not just memories of that night but of her on the roof, wearing his helmet into the grocery store, the heat in her eyes when he’d come on to her in the dressing room at the mall.  She had even seemed to latch on to the shop…
his shop
… his dreams and goals for the business.  Taking over and building on in the one area he wasn’t equipped to handle…he had thought he’d finally found someone to share his life with.  He was falling in love with her.  God he did love her…even now knowing she was in the arms of another man!

Damn her!  Damn him for losing his heart to the one woman he should have known he could never have!  What the fuck had he been thinking?

As the cab turned onto Sherri’s street, Lilly thought back over the past two weeks.  Simon had managed to get her case transferred to a new Judge and an evidence hearing had been scheduled for the beginning of the upcoming week.  The hearing would never take place as even now Detective Sanders and several FBI agents were closing in to arrest Kyle, Simon and several other people including the Judge who was now handling the fictitious case against Lilly.

Detective Sanders had put Lilly on a plane to Florida to ensure she was safely out of state when the arrests went down.  She would be safe from the media frenzy that would be unleashed in a few short hours, and safe from those who would use her to exact their own freedom.  He had assured her that he would be in contact with her when she was needed to testify.  Her fast thinking regarding additional money that did not exist being tied to her and Darren’s investments had been enough to get Simon, Kyle and the Judge talking and planning.

She had even managed to leave her wire tapped necklace in the Judge’s chambers catching a conversation between Simon and the Judge that implicated them both in other illegal activities.  Playing the damsel in distress had merely provided her the in she needed.  The rest had come with using her wits and intelligence.  Darren had never appreciated her for more than her looks and her ability to maintain good standing amongst their peers.  Money had meant more to Darren than she ever had and it seemed that Kyle was of the same cloth.  Bobby had been the only man in her life to ever want her for who she was… not for her money or her ability to maintain an image.

As painful as it would be to potentially run into him now, this was where she belonged.  He had probably moved on to someone else by now.  Detective Sanders had asked her if she planned to move back home to New York once the case was over.  She had realized that the only place she thought of as home was here… small town Florida surrounded by motorcycle riding roughnecks.