Tearing Down Walls (Love Under Construction Series Book 2) (31 page)

She was wet, so wet that she had trouble cleaning herself up. What the hell? It was just a dream, but she wondered: Did he look like that naked? She shivered all over, her body feeling like it was waking from a coma. Laura shook her head hard, washed her hands, and went up the hall to find the Chinese food. She hoped it tasted as good as it smelled, because the dish it seemed she really wanted wasn’t even on the table.

“Steve, can I go to the Walters office tomorrow with Molly, at least for part of the day? I’m so damn bored here that I can’t stand it.” Laura fidgeted with an ink pen while she talked to Steve, as nervous as a doped-up hippie at the Republican National Convention.

“Hang on a minute.” She could hear voices in the background. “Okay, I’ve got two yeas, José and Jared, and two nays, Peyton and Doug. Oh, and Wendy is back there shaking her head. And I don’t like it, so that’s two for it to four against.”

“Don’t I get a vote?” she asked.

A chorus of male voices yelled, “NO!” Well, that was that.

“Look, honey, I know you’re going stir-crazy, but we have to keep you safe.” She could hear Steve chewing something as he spoke.

“Any sightings of Wagner? Any activity that you can tell?”

“Nope. Nothing,” Steve said. “It’s like he’s taking a holiday or something. Weird. But I have no doubt he’ll be back, and soon. In the meantime, missy,” he told her, “keep your head down and stay out of sight. No exceptions.”

“Fine. The prisoner is appropriately chastised. I’ll go back to solitary confinement now and keep my mouth shut.” She hit END and dropped the phone on the bed.

It was a good time to get rid of the last link before he did Billings in. Wagner watched him go into the convenience store from across the street in some little one-stoplight town in Idaho.
He can feel me watching him,
Wagner thought.
He knew it was just a matter of time.

When the man came out of the store, he threw the bag of stuff he’d bought onto the front seat beside him and pulled away from the gas pump. He’d gotten about two blocks down the street when he felt something against his neck and looked in the rearview mirror.

The gun barrel was cold against his skin, but not as cold as the eyes that looked back at him. “Well, hello there, Mr. Arnold! Let’s take a ride, shall we?”

Laura looked at her phone. When she saw the screen, her heart skipped: Vic. “Hi!”

“Hi yourself! Going crazy over there?” Vic’s satin smooth baritone rang through the phone, and it was like music to Laura.

“Yes! I’d love to go somewhere – anywhere. Convenience store, oil change place, anywhere. I’m not picky!”

Vic laughed at her. “You’re going to stay right where you are. And if I hear that you haven’t, you won’t be able to sit down for a week after I get finished with you!”

For some reason, that made Laura’s nipple harden and she felt tingly all over. “You know, I’d gladly let you spank me if it meant I’d see you.”
Damn – that didn’t come out right!
“Instead of just Molly. She’s nice, but she’s not very interesting. And she’s gone most of the day.”

Vic caught what she’d unintentionally said and his pulse quickened, but he didn’t acknowledge it. “I’m busy most of the day too. And then I spend all evening at the club.”

“Yeah, how’s that going, by the way?” Laura asked.

Vic was at a loss for what to say. Because of the things Steve had said to her, he knew she knew some of what went on there, and he hoped she didn’t find out the rest. He didn’t want to bow out if she was no more interested in him than she seemed, but if she was, he’d be glad to give it all up. “Uh, it’s going pretty good. I’m meeting some interesting people.” That wasn’t a lie. He had met some interesting people, and some of their body parts were pretty interesting too. “They’re keeping me busy.” Also true. “Everybody says I’m doing very well.” Very, very true, especially the female members.

“That’s great! I wish I could be there so I could see.”
Oh no you don’t,
Vic thought. “Well, at least you’re having some fun.”

You have no idea . . .
“Yeah. I thought you hated the club.” Vic asked.

“Strange how not being able to go somewhere makes you want to go!” Laura laughed.

“I can see how that would be. Anyway, I just wanted to see if you were doing okay. Need anything? I can send stuff home with Molly . . .”

Laura was disappointed. She’d hoped Vic could find a way to come over, or to get her out of the house. It sounded like he was just giving up. Or maybe he didn’t really want to see her. “No. Nothing. But thanks for asking. So maybe I’ll see you sometime . . .”

“I think not. If I come over there, he could follow me. If you get out, he could follow you and corner you somewhere away from all of us. Can’t take that chance, so you’re pretty well stuck. And he hasn’t made a move for awhile, so we don’t know what’s going on, but we know he’s still out there somewhere and as long as he is, you’re not safe. You just stay put.” Was she asking him to come and see her? Vic had to assume she was just bored.

“Oh.” Laura was pretty sure he was brushing her off, but what he was saying was true. “Yeah. And he would follow you. It doesn’t help that your car attracts more attention than a three-legged chicken!” That made Vic laugh. “I never have gotten to ride in it.”

“Well, we’ll have to fix that as soon as you can get out and about. I’d love to take you out in it,” then he corrected, “for a ride.” He wondered what Laura would be like on a date. He was sure that would turn out to be one very long, very weird, very tiresome date while she took pot-shots at everything about him. She’d never go out with him. Hell, she didn’t even like him. It didn’t matter; Vic had never been out on a date. Fucking a woman and dating her were two very different things, and he had no experience with the latter, so he wouldn’t know the difference between a good date and a bad one. “So behave yourself and do what you’re supposed to or you’ll never get that car ride, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll be good. Hey, thanks for calling me. It’s good to hear your voice.” Laura didn’t want to hang up, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say to him. “So I guess I’ll talk to you later?”

“You can bet on it, missy! Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you soon.” Vic hit END and took a deep breath. He was almost desperate to ask her if she cared even one little tiny bit about him, but he couldn’t. He’d just keep doing what he was doing. At least he wasn’t alone all the time. Miranda drifted across his mind, but he shut that down and tried to concentrate on Laura.

But she’d said it was good to hear his voice. She must’ve really been bored.

On the other end, Laura held the phone to her chest. She hadn’t wanted to hang up, and she wished he’d give her some little clue as to whether or not he was still willing to help her like he’d said, even though she didn’t know what that meant. Her heart was thumping harder than usual and her hands were trembling. He was such a kind soul, and she’d been so mean and ugly to him. Why would he want to even be around her? Could someone like him ever care for someone like her as anything more than a friend?

Falling back onto the bed, Laura sighed. Vic had started to invade her thoughts at odd times and in odd ways. One minute, she was thinking about how she’d like to go to the gun range and pop off a few hundred rounds, and the next, she was thinking about sitting across the table from Vic, laughing and talking, and he’d put his hand on top of hers on the table, look into her eyes, and . . .

She had to stop it. Vic was a great guy, but he wasn’t interested in her. Not like that. No one was, and they never would be. And if he knew everything, he’d run like hell.

“Have we found out anything more?” Steve was cracking his knuckles and pacing in the conference area of the security office.

Peyton chimed up. “Not much. But it seems clear that Wagner is trying to get rid of his witnesses.”

“Correction: Witness,” Jared called out from behind them. They all turned, and he spun his laptop around. And there it was – an obituary, complete with photo, for Peter Arnold in Oregon.

“That’s why we haven’t seen or heard from Wagner. He’s been busy and traveling,” José said, apprehension thick in his voice.

“Yeah, and that means Laura’s the only witness left and he’s on his way back.” Steve’s voice sagged. “We’ve just officially run out of time.”

“Did Steve call you?” Vic asked Tony. He stuffed a finger in the ear that didn’t have the phone up to it to try to shut out the sounds of the heavy equipment working behind him on the back side of Tony’s property.

“Yeah. I was getting ready to call you,” Tony said. “And I’m disturbed that he hasn’t come up with any ideas for what happens next.”

“I know. Laura’s getting pretty strung out too, and I can see why she would.” Vic stopped. “Tony, there’s something I need to ask you.”

“Yeah, bud? Anything.”

“Wait a minute.” Vic went to his truck and got in so he could hear better. “I need to know: Has Laura said anything about me? I mean, I know Nikki talks to her, so has she said anything?”

“Anything like what?”

“Anything at all.” He wanted to ask, but he didn’t want to sound stupid.

“Um, I don’t know.” Tony wanted Vic to tell him outright. “She hasn’t mentioned anything. I’ll talk to Nik and if there’s anything I think you need to know, I’ll give you a call.” Tony waited.