Stare Me Down (Stare Down) (35 page)

“No family has arrived,” the officer said, suspiciously eyeing her dress. “And you are?”

She pulled her identification out of her clutch and flashed it at him “Dr. Jaxx Gavin. How long has Betty been missing?” She didn’t give the officer the chance to better qualify her, so in her mind it wasn’t really lying or breaking the law because she was Dr. Gavin. “Did you find any clues in the house? What she was looking at, watching on television? Eating? These things are threads you can follow when dealing with dementia patients. Think tricky three-year-old who’s smarter than you are.”

“I, ah.” The officer shifted on his feet. “We found a jar of coins on the porch. I think she was counting them.”

“Coins, huh?” She turned to Aries. “Mr. Taylor, what do you think? It’s nice of you to be here to help out,” Jaxx said before she swung back around to face the policeman. “Mr. Taylor knows Betty very well.” When that statement didn’t seem to have any effect on the guy she turned and gave Aries the “work with me” stare. “I see you were at some kind of a function yourself tonight. Did you get called as well?”

Despite how furious he was with her, Aries could have hugged her. “Yes, I did.”

The police officer moved the crime scene tape aside and motioned them through. “Do you want to talk to the caretaker?”

Five minutes later, Aries determined that Betty wouldn’t have gone near the pond. After he’d told her about the bugs, the caretaker said Betty refused to step on the grass even. So that meant concrete, and while all the manpower was dredging the pond looking for a body, someone needed to hit the bricks and find the person on the run.

He motioned to Jaxx to follow him. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“To the place Betty can spend her coins.”

“A store?”

He helped Jaxx into his car. “No.” When he got behind the wheel, he said, “To the bus stop. She used to ride the bus to the senior center for daycare. Now that she’s gotten worse, they don’t let her go anymore. I noticed she had the piles right. A dollar five in coins. Just what they’d make her pay to get on their bus. It wasn’t a public bus. It was sent from the center, and the dollar five went toward supplies. It’s a shot.”

“Very good. You’ve obviously done this kind of thing before.”

“I have. But just so you know, I’m not that distracted that you’re off the hook. Did Maggie drive you here? I didn’t see your car.”

“No I took a limo.”

“Here?” He did a double take.

“It’s a long story.”

“So you didn’t go home to see the Viking?”

“Who?”

“Eric from True Blood. Your egghead sperm donor.” He slowed his speed as they passed one of the two closest stops. “Damn, she’s not here.” He continued to drive up the street. Hopeful she’d be at the next one.

“You went to my house?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To tan your ass for leaving me the way you did. Look, maybe we shouldn’t talk about this right now because I’m getting angry.”

“I think I had good cause, but you’re right,” she said as he slowed down and drove by the second stop. “This isn’t the time to have it out. Let’s wait until we get home.”

“Perfect.” He scanned the second stop and when he didn’t find her he pulled into a 7-11 to turn around. There was no way Betty could have gotten this far.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going back. She couldn’t have gotten this far. Damn. I was so sure about the coins. She could be anywhere and they’re calling for rain.”

“I know. Hopefully they’ll find her sooner than later.”

Aries doubted that. The police had a tendency of tripping over their own feet in most cases. The one time his father stole a set of car keys and drove off they had alerted everyone under the sun. They had questioned Gabe, who had fucked up the one time Aries had left him in charge, and then the officer had sat in the driveway waiting for Aries dad to hopefully return. Aries didn’t even go home once he was called. He simply went to the grocery store and picked up his dad. It had been an educated hunch back then, but now he knew better. The mind of a dementia patient only knows what it knows. So in terms of a search? You have to think inside the box instead of outside of it.

He was just about to turn on his street when Jaxx sat forward.

“Hey, here’s a thought.” He held up turning. “What about Monroe Park? You said there were three retirement communities there.”

“Yeah, but the one Betty was always taken to was in the other direction.”

“Well, it may be in the opposite direction, but I know there’s a bus stop. We passed it that night before we, ah…”

“Son of a bitch!” He leaned over and kissed her hard. “Of course, they used to take the group to the park once a month for a picnic lunch.”

And that was where they found her. Sitting alone on the bus bench, under the white beam of lamplight as she shivered. Aries was careful not to scare her. When he got out of the car, he could see how stressed she was. He had Jaxx drive them back and when the lights and people came into view, Betty got upset. She didn’t cry or yell; all she did was furiously pick at her clothes. Once he got her into the house, he’d make her a towel roll.

“It’s okay, honey. You’re home now. We’ll make all these people go away.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jaxx used Aries’ key to let herself inside. He’d stayed next door to fill in the blanks and wait for Betty’s grandson to show up as he was determined to speak to the guy about the situation this time.

She had taken no more than a step through the doorway and stopped. Someone was talking. She flicked on the light and called, “Hello?”

It was a woman’s voice and it was coming from the kitchen. Keeping a firm hold of her purse‌—‌not that a clutch would do her any good in a possible cat fight, but you never know‌—‌she went inside.

The voice droned on, so she strained to listen. Going up the hall, she made a right. Then paused to turn on more lights before she stepped through the kitchen entrance and had a looked around. “Hello?”

It took her a second to realize someone was leaving a voice mail. And not a moment more, for her to put a name to the sexy voice.

Wild Shar.

“And Draco was good with the deposit. I made it a hefty one because he pissed me off last week when he stole all the Andes mints. Those are my favorite, as you know, and we’re all out, so I’m going to order some more. Okay…‌I think that covers all the news about the auction and work stuff.”

Jaxx had just exited the kitchen when she heard Shar’s next words and shot back into the room.

“Call me when you get in and let me know how your vanilla arm-candy date went. Later.”

The bastard. Just when Jaxx thought the situation couldn’t get worse, it did…‌for him.

Wild Shar? She was fucking sick of hearing that woman’s name! Vanilla arm candy, was she? Oh no, and Jaxx was prepared to prove it if she had to kick her ass. That would be proof enough.

*****

Aries wasn’t even through the door when Jaxx came after him.

“Is everything okay with Betty?”

“Yes—”

“Good. Now.” She poked him in the chest. “You wanted to have it out. I’m ready.”

He stared at her finger being bruised against his chest. “If this is how you think this is going to go, you’d be wrong.”

She gasped but he ignored the sound as he stepped around her and walked up the hall to the living room.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

He didn’t answer.

“I said,” She rushed up behind him. “I want to have it out. I want answers.”

She wanted answers? He stopped and she walked right into him.

“Ow.”

“Tell me why you left without me if it wasn’t to go see The Viking.”

“I left because you were going to dump me if I stayed.” She came around and stood in front of him. With her hands on hips and a scowl that could rival one of his, she spoke through her teeth. “But before we discuss that you are going tell me who Wild Shar is and what she is to you. Got it?”

“I’m going to get something all right. Maybe the paddle or my belt.”

Her chin came up a notch. “Go ahead. I dare you.”

Damn she was brave. Gorgeous too. “You don’t want to do that, babe. I love a challenge.”

“Yeah, well so do I.”

They stared each other down. Neither one of them budging as a full thirty seconds ticked by. Then her eyes narrowed.

“Tell me about vanilla arm-candy and exchanges.”

Now his eyes narrowed. “Where did you hear about those things?”

“On your goddamn answering machine you creep.” She shrieked that last word and tried to push him. When he didn’t move she raised a hand and would have slapped him had he not caught her limb mid-strike.

“Whoa, you really don’t want to do that.”

“Oh, yes I do.”

He searched her furious face. “Answering machine, huh?

“Not just that. Maggie remember? You told her how you were doing an exchange with me.”

He didn’t let go of her arm, only brought it down so she’d be more comfortable. “I already explained why I said that.”

Her belligerent snort interrupted him. “Yeah right. But forget about that. What about how weird you’ve been?”

He should have known this was coming. He’d seen her fiddling with the pen before he’d left her last night. And his disappointment was monumental. “You mean about the magic marker?”

“No. I mean about all your mysterious
business
and going out of town. After what we did Friday night and Saturday morning? It was a stab in the back. Totally cruel. And then Sunday night? Was that your goodbye fuck? It was, wasn’t it? Ever since I cried. That was it. The end result of the exchange you were looking for before you dumped me.”

Such a small word “no” but when she just said it and brushed over the subject of the marker he’d used on her without a blink? He was hopeful. Happy. Elated that she was pissed about these other things. “You little fool. I’m not going to dump you. Who said that?”

If he had to describe her expression he would say she mentally dragged her hands down the sides of her face before she ground out, “Wild Shar.”

“Wild‌—‌when did you meet her?” Aries was trying to follow along, but Jaxx was huffing one minute and growling the next. It was difficult to keep up.

“On the fucking answering machine!”

Now that wasn’t hard to follow. “Okay, maybe I need to hear what was said that has the spur under your saddle.”

“Spur,” she choked out as he brought her along with him into the kitchen. “It’s more like a mace and any minute now I’m going use it on the side of your lying, player-ass head.”

He turned on her so fast she went still and silent at the same time. A good thing too, because despite being pleased over those other things he had reached the end of his patience with this one subject. She needed to trust him. He’d given her no reason not to. Pulling her in by the shoulders he drew her up against him as he curled down over her until he was nose to nose with her. “That’s enough.”

“No it’s not. I—”

He tightened his grip and pressed her into him until she squeaked. When her gaze dropped to his chest he spoke to her soft, but firmly, “As this is our first real argument I think it’s important I show you how I’m always going to win in the end.”

She shot a look up. Her mouth opened as if she were going deny that bold statement, but then she must have thought better of it because she pressed her lips together and he actually heard her swallow.

“That’s better. Now say you’re sorry.”

He didn’t hear her gasp. It was more like he felt it as her burst out breath rushed over him. He gave her credit though. She bravely clammed up even as she went cross-eyed focused in and staring down her nose instead of into his eyes.

“Jaxx.”

He had less than a second to realize he’d misread her demeanor. He thought she was settling down. That she was ready to be reasonable so when she snapped, he briefly thought about the old saying, “the calm before the storm” she’d been the one and now she was the other while he faced her storm.

She pushed and pulled. Jerked and kicked. Getting madder as he held her off. His plan was to keep her from harming herself while she got exhausted enough that they could talk. It would have worked too, if she hadn’t cried out, “Win? This isn’t a game. You stole my heart and you’ve crushed it.”

It was shock that made him let go. Disappointment that caused him to step back. The idea that she had no faith in him was the reason he let her beat against his chest. Yet it wasn’t until he saw the furious tears running unchecked down her cheeks that he gave into his own emotions. He had to because those glistening tears were for him. He thought about the other tears she’d shed. How she’d surrendered so completely into his care last Friday night and what she’d said about her limitations.

I was free to go beyond them because I trusted you…

She trusted him. That was why she was in so much pain now. It was herself she didn’t trust.

“Aries!”

He ignored that when he grabbed her by the arms and hauled her up. He searched her face and then looked her in the eyes, whispering, “I don’t want to crush your heart. I want to own it.”

When he swooped down and kissed her she speared her hands in his hair and yanked, trying to escape him, but he paid no attention. Instead he continued with his sensual assault knowing this was the only way the two of them could ever win. And when her grip eased and she sank into his arms he didn’t let up.

He took hold of the strap of her dress and wrenched it. The sound of tearing fabric stroked him something fierce and when she shifted to shrug out from underneath it without complaint? He lost it. This was what he wanted. God yes. A woman who lives in the moment with him no matter how that moment comes. Happy, sad, right or wrong. As long as it was real that was what was important. And this? This was as real as it gets.

Without breaking contact he tossed her ruined dress aside and scooped her up. When her legs were locked around his hips and her arms wound around his neck he pulled back. The sight of her stripped down to lingerie with her lips dark and swollen from his attention did mad things to libido.