Beautiful Dreamer (7 page)

“He can’t ever find out who did this,” she murmured and glanced up at Phillip. “He’ll kill them, and it’ll destroy him.”

Phillip nodded in agreement.

“He’s leaving,” she told him, watching him closely to gauge his reaction.

“He’s been cleared. We can’t officially hold him,” he replied. “I’ll let Grant know anyway, so we can keep tabs on him.”

“He didn’t do this,” she argued.

“I believe you,” he said. “He’s not a suspect, but he’s still a person of interest. His only alibi was he was home alone.”

“Because Jocelyn was with me,” she stated.

He nodded. “Anyway, I understand his need to leave. He’ll never move on if he stays here. Jocelyn was the type of woman who owned every place she visited. She was too vivacious, too full of life for him not to picture her whenever he goes someplace the two of them had been.”

“She was,” Chase said with a smile that ended with a sniffle. “God, I miss her so much.”

“I know, honey. I know,” Phillip soothed.

“It’s time,” she told him. “I know you wanted to put off my going to the cemetery until I was much better, and I appreciate it. I really do. I can’t keep prolonging it though. I feel like a coward for not going sooner.”

“We’ll go tomorrow,” he promised. “I’ll take you.”

“I thought I might call Lauren,” Chase said. “See if she wants to meet me there. I haven’t seen her since before everything. Jocelyn would expect me to keep an eye on her baby sister.”

“Okay,” Phillip said. “I’ll take you and wait in the truck while you two go to the grave.”

“Thank you.”

* * * *

Phillip pulled her in to his side and relaxed as she curled against him. They sat quietly, watching a romantic comedy on cable. He wanted to hear her laugh, wanted to wipe the sadness off her face, if only for a short time. She’d asked him to be honest with her, no more secrets. Then she’d cut him off before he could tell her about the proposal. Later, when he’d had the chance, he’d kept it from her again, silenced by his fear.

He was afraid of losing her, which was stupid. They were as close as they had been, if not closer. Still, every time he thought about telling her, he remembered her walking away, the door closing between them. He
would
tell her. Hell, he planned to ask her to marry him again. Not yet, though, not with someone out there who might want her to go back to sleep permanently. Until she was safe, he’d keep the proposal to himself.

The movie ended, and he turned to drop a kiss on her upturned nose. She smiled softly at him, and he saw his whole world reflected in her eyes. She was his future, his wife, the woman he wanted to be the mother of his children. He wanted to grow old with her and make a lifetime of memories. He loved her.

He scooped her up against his chest and stood. “Let’s go to bed,” he growled, giving her a bit of a toss that had her squealing.

She giggled and wrapped both hands around his neck, running kisses along his jaw up to his ear as he carried her.

“I want to make love to you,” she whispered. “I want to strip you naked and have my wicked way with you.”

“How wicked is this way?” he asked as he dropped her onto the bed and joined her.

“Oh, the things I’m going to do to you…” she promised.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah, but you have to promise me something, Detective.”

“Anything,” he agreed with a moan as she unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hands over his chest.

“Well, the thing is,” she purred as she nipped his jaw, “I’m pretty sure some of the things I want to do are illegal. Feel like breaking the law?”

“Only for you,” he vowed, and it was so much like when they’d met, he almost choked on emotion.

She kissed him, taking them both over the edge as their passion ignited. They moved together, shedding clothes and inhibitions as they suited actions to words. She tasted his skin, kissing and licking her way down his chest and abdomen until her chin bumped the damp head of his erection. He hissed out a breath between clenched teeth as he watched her.

Holding his gaze, she shifted, opening her mouth wide and sucking him in. She fed from him, suckling and tasting until he gripped her and pulled her up to straddle his thighs while he quickly donned a condom.

“Now, Ace,” he commanded, rocking up into her.

She used one hand to position his shaft then slid down on him. They both groaned as he sank deep, her channel clenching around him.

“Take me,” he offered. “Make love to me.”

“I love you,” she whispered, and his reply was lost in a groan of pleasure as she began to move. She rode him slow and easy, then fast and hard, then gentled off as she came with abandon. He flipped them over, rising above her and pounding deep until he followed her into orgasm. They were both breathing hard, flesh sliding against flesh, when he finally shifted off her.

He lazily rose to discard the condom and clean up then brought a damp cloth back to cleanse her as well. He slid back on the bed and loved the way she automatically turned to him.

“I’m not sure any of that was illegal,” he said.

“Maybe, we should try again,” she offered with a giggle, and his heart clenched at the sound.

“I like the way you think,” he murmured and bent to take her lips once more.

It was hours before she cuddled close and fell asleep, the sound of her soft breathing the only lullaby he needed.

Chapter Five

“Lauren is going to meet me here,” Chase said as soon as Phillip got out of the shower the next morning.

“I thought we’d decided to meet her there,” he countered.

She shook her head. “You decided.” She softened the rebuke with a kiss. “Lauren and I need to do this by ourselves. She’ll pick me up here then drop me off here again. We’ll be together the whole time. Promise.”

“God,” he grunted. “I hate the thought of you out of my sight, even for a moment.”

“I know,” she soothed. “I don’t like it, either. We both have to realize it’s inevitable. You go back to work Monday, and I’ll have to head back soon, as well. The school gave me temporary leave while I recover, but I need to get back to some type of normalcy. We both need that. I can’t live the rest of my life afraid to leave your side, and you can’t live that way, either.”

“I know,” he agreed, wrapping her in his arms. “Keep your phone on you, and I mean on your person. Not in the car or in your purse or inside anything else unless it’s a pocket on your clothing.”

“I will,” she vowed.

“Call me for anything. If you feel like someone’s watching you or something is off, you call me, immediately.”

“I will. I will,” she promised. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” he whispered, but she heard uncertainty and fear in his voice.

“I’m scared, too,” she told him.

“I know,” he said. “I’d like to tell you not to be, that you’re safe, but we both know that’d be a lie. You won’t be safe until we find whoever did this and put them away where they can’t ever hurt you again.”

He held her close, both of them giving and taking comfort from each other.

“Come on,” she said, pulling away. “I’ve got breakfast ready. Let’s eat before your eggs get cold.”

His phone went off at the table, and he glanced down, sighing before answering.

“Wade,” he grunted into the phone then listened to whatever the caller said. “I’m on leave,” he replied. After another moment, he glanced over at Chase. “Yeah. All right. Give me fifteen.”

“Going in today?” Chase asked, but she already knew he was.

“There’s been a break on a case Burt and I have been working. He’s out on another call, and they need me to stop in for a sec to take care of this one.”

She smiled. “You’ll be there all day, and you know it.”

He shook his head then sighed. “They’ll try, but I’m not staying.”

She reached across and took his hand. “You love your job, Phillip. I understand that because I love my job, too.”

“You don’t need to rush getting back to work. No one will say a word if you take more time off,” he told her.

“I can’t just stay home and sponge off you,” she said with a shake of her head.

He got a funny look on his face, but it was there and gone before she could comment on it.

“You’ve always wanted to write. Why not take some extra time and start? It’s almost the end of February. There are only three months left in this school year. Let the substitute finish, and if things don’t work out, you can always go back to teaching in the fall.”

She wanted to jump on the idea but couldn’t help questioning her motives. Would staying home be hiding?

“Just think about it. You don’t have to decide anything today,” he said as he stood, taking his plate around the bar to the kitchen. “Promise me you’ll think about it. Really think about it,” he urged, coming back to pull her into a hug.

“I promise,” she said.

He dropped a soft kiss on her lips then held her close for a long moment before easing away.

“So, out with Lauren then straight back here? Or do you want to meet me at the station?”

She laughed and shook her head. “No way. I’ll have Lauren drop me off here so I can start dinner while I wait.”

“Call me as soon as you get home,” he ordered.

“I promise,” she assured him.

“What’s for dinner?” he murmured.

“I’m thinking Mexican,” she said.

“Mmm, sounds good,” he groaned in her ear. “I’ll pick up dessert on the way home.”

“Okay.”

He dropped a kiss on her lips. Then another and another, until she clung to him, breathless and aroused. He grabbed her hips and lifted her into his erection, rubbing against her and making her moan with need.

“I swear you make me feel like a randy teenager all over again,” he murmured in her ear before nipping it with his teeth.

She was contemplating dragging him back into the bedroom when there was a knock at the door. Phillip’s body tensed as reality crashed back over both of them.

“More than likely, it’s Lauren,” she whispered and felt him slowly relax.

He dropped another kiss on her lips before moving to glance through the peephole on the door.

“It’s her,” he said. He turned, and she found her gaze drawn to the sight of his blatant arousal where it pressed against his pants. Under other circumstances, it would have been enough of a distraction to make her giggle, but there was no humor now.

“Give me a few to cool down. Don’t leave before I return. I’ll walk you both out,” he said as he passed her, giving her hand a squeeze of encouragement before heading toward the bedroom.

She nodded and turned back to the entryway when Lauren knocked again. She opened the door, and both she and Lauren stood there, staring at one another, for the longest time before Lauren finally moved forward with a sob and wrapped Chase in a tight hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” Lauren said.

“I’m so sorry,” Chase said at the same time.

“Don’t,” Lauren admonished, pulling back. “Don’t be sorry you survived. Jocelyn wouldn’t want that.”

Chase nodded then turned to shut the door, giving herself a second to collect her emotions. She’d been on a roller coaster since she’d woken from the coma. She bounced between moments of extreme joy, when she and Phillip were lost in each other, and moments of extreme sorrow, when she thought of Jocelyn. The added terror of not knowing who had done this to them, or why, or if that person planned to come back to finish the job had Chase on emotional overload.

“I see you’re back with Phillip,” Lauren whispered when Chase turned back to her. “Jocelyn would be so happy. She always said you two were meant for each other.”

Chase nodded. “He’s taken great care of me.”

“He was at the hospital every day,” Lauren stated. “He’s a good guy.”

“The best,” Chase agreed.

“So…” Lauren took a deep breath and let it out.

“Let’s sit for a minute,” Chase said and led her over to the couch.

“What… What do you remember about that night?” Lauren asked.

Chase shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Phillip said you didn’t remember anything, but I wasn’t sure if that meant in general or what.”

“The last thing I remember for sure is kissing Phillip goodbye and him heading off to work. We narrowed it down to a few weeks before the attack. I didn’t even remember I’d broken things off with him until he told me,” Chase admitted.

“Wow,” Lauren said. “So, you have no idea who attacked you or why?”

“I don’t,” Chase confirmed. “I feel like I’m letting Jocelyn down.”

Lauren shook her head and clasped Chase’s hands with hers. “No, I don’t think so. Seth said… It was bad, what was done to you and Jocelyn. They wouldn’t let me see her. Seth saw her. Then my dad went to officially identify her when he and mom got home.”

“Phillip told me,” Chase said.

“Seth’s leaving Chicago,” Lauren said. “I don’t think he can handle staying here without her.”

“I know. I don’t blame him,” Chase replied.

“What am I going to do without Jocelyn?” Lauren asked and bit her lip as if trying to hold back her grief.

Chase wrapped her arms around Lauren and pulled her into a tight hug. They clung to each other, crying over the loss of sister and best friend. Chase vowed she would step in as much as Lauren allowed and be the sister Jocelyn would have wanted her to be. They might not have Jocelyn anymore, but they had each other.

“I want you to call me,” Chase said, easing back from the hug and looking into Lauren’s eyes. “Anytime, day or night. No matter what. I’ll be here for you.”

“Same goes,” Lauren said. “I’m not Jocelyn, and I can’t take her place. But I’m here for you.”

“Oh, Lauren.” Chase squeezed her close again.

She heard Phillip enter and glanced up to see him looking at her with worried eyes. Lauren moved back and ran her gloved hands over her face.

“Are you going with us?” she asked Phillip.

“No, he has to go into the station for a bit today,” Chase answered before he could. It would be just like him to come with her first then go to the station.