Dangerously In Love (16 page)

The next few days were
chaotic. I wasn't quite sure what had been done to the ambassador. Uncle Marcus
just kept shaking his head no with a 'later' each time I even looked like I was
about to broach the subject, so I left it alone for now and concentrated on my
girl. There was a lot of shit to do in a murder investigation. Add the fact
that it was a crime that had been committed almost fifteen years ago and the
main suspect was a law enforcement officer and you had a shit storm. I knew now
that my dream of keeping her out of it was just that, a dream. I did draw the
line at asshole investigators who seemed to be missing the common sense gene
though.

“Are you fuck stupid or is
this some text book routine? How the fuck is she supposed to remember something
that happened when she was a baby? Something she didn't even know had happened
until a few days ago?“

“Roman...”

“No baby this is bullshit. Look you've asked
her the same questions over and over again for the past half hour. She keeps
telling you she doesn't know move the fuck on or get the fuck out.”

“Sir it's my job to try to
ferret out every kernel of memory...”

“Yeah? Well it's my job to see she doesn't get any
more traumatized by this shit than she already is. She's not the criminal here
go grill the fucker you have in the county lockup or wherever the fuck he is.
Go to the people in the neighborhood who might actually know something. She
just dug her mother out the ground what the fuck?“ Vicki for some strange
reason was looking at me like she wanted to laugh.

“What?“

“You're nuts. Go ahead detective, but as my
fiancée so eloquently put it I don't really know much of anything. I can barely
remember that night, the night she left and...” She started to shake and that
was it for me.

“That's it get the fuck out.“

Somewhere in the recesses of
my mind I knew I was being irrational but I couldn't help it. I didn't really
give a fuck what they did at this late date they should've done something about
his murdering ass years ago. There wasn't much she could get from this now was
there? The detective to say the least wasn't too happy with my attitude and I
wasn't too torn up about it. As long as he left her alone I could give a fuck.

 
Mom was making funeral arrangements for as
soon as the remains were released and who knew when the fuck that was going to
be. My problem was getting Victoria-Lynn through the rest of this without her
losing her shit. Crafton was still in the hospital and I was waiting for one of
those fucks to come questioning me about why he was half dead, but uncle said
not to worry he'd taken care of it. Shit if I knew he was taking care of that
shit I would've ended the fuck.

 
There were still a lot of loose ends, like
Stephen Crafton and his part in this whole sordid mess. So I asked uncle what
the hell was being done after the jackass detective had left.

“Crafton's been picked up. There was no way to
keep all of this out of the public so yeah. They still don't know that we know
about the hunting game and we're keeping the ambassador on ice until we're
ready to move forward with that.”

“So what's he been picked up
for?“

“His part in the cover up of the murder. My
people are going through his place as we speak trying to find any evidence and
any other names that we haven't been aware of as yet. This shit is gonna take a
long time to clean up guys.”

He looked around the table at
my family who was gathered there all in support of my girl. Mom had ahold of her
hand while she sat snuggled in my lap with her head on my chest. I don't even
want to know what kind of fuckery was going on in her head right now listening
to this sick shit.

“We've found the names of
some of the victims...”

He looked at Vicki when he said this and I felt
her flinch at the word victims. I gave her a squeeze and a kiss on her head.
She'd argued with me to be allowed to sit in on this. I didn't want her
anywhere near it but she'd insisted and against my better judgment I'd given
in. I tried to remember how this had all started. Was it that kiss? I couldn't
even remember anymore I just wanted it to be over so we could move on.

“Like I was saying we found
some names they kept very good records which is a big help. This thing goes
back many
many
years, so not only do we have to go
searching for bodies, we also have to contact their family members and give
them some closure at least. Nephew I know your main concern is your girl and
getting to the bottom of what happened to her mom so I pulled some strings to
get the ball rolling there. Sometimes they can drag this shit out, especially
with it being a cold case. We should have something in the next couple days at
least. Now as for Melanie Johnston it looks like she just made some very poor
decisions in her bid to protect her father. We're not sure yet when she found
out what he's been up to, but she was just trying to keep his part in all this
from getting out. That's why she was so against Vicki in the first place, it
was a case of too close for comfort I guess.”

I looked at Jules who had his
head down. At least we knew she wasn't a complete monster though I still wasn't
forgiving her for the shit she did to my girl. I don't give a fuck
who
she was trying to protect, but for Jules's sake I'm glad
the crazy bitch was just crazy and not bone deep evil.

 
Uncle rattled off all the shit they had to do,
which truth be told I didn't really care about. Mom and dad asked all the
questions and got all the answers while I kept my gaze locked on Victoria-Lynn
for any sign of distress. My burning desire right now was to take her away from
all this until it all blew over. But I knew she wouldn't be happy with that,
not until we'd at least given her mom a proper burial. Uncle reached down to
the bag that had been sitting at his feet and came back up with a handful of
what looked like journals and a picture album.

“Here Vicki, we found these,
looks like they were your mom's.” I felt the jolt that went through her and
reached for them.

“I'll take them.“ She was shaking harder now
and I know mom felt it too because she stood up and wrapped her arms around
both of us.

“You don't have to go through them now Vicki,
you take your time and do it when you're ready.”

She spoke soothingly to her as she held on to
us. Dad's face looked like he was about to kill someone and Jules and Petra
looked lost. No one really knew what the fuck to do.

“Okay that's enough for now I
gotta get back anyway. By the way, the kid in the hospital is gonna live.” Yeah
I give a fuck.

“He's been charged with assault and attempted
kidnapping which carries a pretty hefty sentence, so I don't think we have to
worry too much about him. I have to go see who else was involved in this
hunting shit so we can charge these fucks with this shit.”

“What about the ambassador
what's going to happen to him?”

Jules sounded old and tired and that fucked
with me too many people were being hurt by this shit. I wondered what would've
happened had I not lost my shit over that kiss? Had her father not hit her; how
long would this shit have gone on and how long would she have lived her life
believing the mother that had loved her had deserted her?

“Oh the ambassador's done no
question but we have to play it smart. He has connections and the way I see it
if he was involved there's no reason not to suspect that others of his ilk
weren't. That's what we're trying to figure out now, just how high this thing
went. Only the very wealthy could come up with this sick shit and apparently
the others were paid very well. I'm arranging to have whatever funds we find
given to the families, plus I'm pretty sure they might sue these people or
their estates which I will be sure to encourage.”

“I think you should go see
Melanie Jules.”

Shit it burnt a hole in my tongue to say that
shit but if it would stop him from looking like death warmed over then
whatever. He shook his head no.

“No, I understand her trying
to protect her father obviously, but not like this and not over something like
that. He's fucking sick, why would she try to protect that shit? That's taking
loyalty a bit too far, so thanks for the offer bro but no way.”

Thank fuck, I wasn't looking
forward to seeing her again either and I sure the fuck wasn't too jazzed about having
her around my baby. But Jules was starting to look a little rough there.
Tinkerbell
started bitching from up the stairs and her mama
picked her head up and got up off my lap to go get her. I worked the kinks out
and was getting up to head to the kitchen for some refreshments when see came
back into the room dog in hand and walked to my mom, who hugged her close. My
girl needed some mom time. Not for the first time I was grateful that my
parents were the fuck awesome people they are.

Six months later…

Well things have started to
settle down around here finally, at least that’s what I’d begun to think until
my new wife hit me with a surprise this morning. We’d celebrated both her
birthday and our nuptials in the months following the bullshit. I saw no point
in waiting to tie her to me completely and though mom had a fit about the
missed gala she would’ve loved to throw I was firm. She was now mine for
always.

Her father’s trial hadn’t
been as harrowing as we’d thought it would be. It wasn’t too hard to prove that
he’d done the deed and by the time the town’s people had come forward, many who
had kept their silence all these years in fear of retribution from the asshole,
it wasn’t too hard to piece the shit together. What had really cinched it though
was the diary uncle Marcus had given to cheeks. Her mother had written of her
suspicions that her husband and his friends might be involved in something
criminal. She had believed it was drugs at first; but who knows what she’d
learned in the days leading up to her murder that caused the monster to end
her? She’d been smart enough to name names of the men she saw coming and going
at all hours of the night. She’d even kept dates.

I went to every court hearing
and so did my family when they could. We all surrounded her both physically and
emotionally so she never broke. I made sure to keep myself between her and his
hateful glares after the first day when I felt her tremble under his stare. “He
can’t touch you baby no need to be afraid.” I never let go of her hand as we
sat through days of testimony. By the time it was determined that he was guilty
she was drained and just plain done. Contrary to what the trooper had told me
that day it hadn’t taken the coroner long to figure out cause of death after all.
The hole in the side of Stephanie Baldwin’s head was a dead giveaway. His ass
was sent away forever and a fucking day. I wish they’d given his ass the chair
but uncle convinced me that this was best. A few whispers in lock-up of an ex
sheriff in the midst should make the rest of his existence as horrible as he’d
made hers. I could live with that.

The hunting game fuckery was
another matter altogether. That shit would be going on for a while, according
to uncle. But thank heavens our part in it was at an end. There had been enough
evidence to point the finger at the guilty. Between Stephanie Baldwin’s
meticulous records and dates the shit fell like a house of cards.
 
The problem was that the network stretched
way beyond
Goldenlakes
. Ambassador Johnston hadn’t
been the only high roller involved. That was uncle’s headache and he seemed to
be enjoying the fuck out of bringing down some of the men and women involved.

Melanie, what can I say? I’d
been willing to give her a little break seeing as how she was trying to protect
one of her own. I mean I had to ask myself what would I have done if it were my
own dad you know? But then that bitch really lost her mind. I guess the specter
of her family’s shame coupled with whatever had passed between her and my
brother had sent her over the edge. That’s the only reason I could think of for
her going after my girl in front of me.

It had been the Sunday after
we’d returned from our honeymoon. Cheeks and I were still in honeymoon mode,
but then again when weren’t we? We were walking around outside holding hands
and making plans. Okay the truth is I’d just fucked her up against a tree out
back away from prying eyes. But now we were mellowing out. I still kept her
close when I wasn’t doing my rounds at the hospital. We spent every free moment
together and that’s just the way I liked it. She seemed to need that and I’m
not one of those dumb fucks
who’s
always talking about
needing space. Fuck that, if I could be in her or around her twenty-four seven
I’d be on that shit quick.

That day we were reaching the
front of the property when this car came speeding up the driveway. Of course my
first instinct was to push her behind me and go into fight mode. When the
harried looking woman climbed out of the car I barely recognized her at first.
Her hair instead of its usual well-coifed do was a ratty mess. Well not exactly
but close. She’d lost weight but not in a good way, her clothes were literally
hanging on her. I heard the others coming out on the porch behind us but didn’t
turn.

“The fuck you want?” Okay so
I’m not really over her shit. We hadn’t seen her in months and my brother never
ever brought up her name. In fact he’d forbidden anyone to mention her name to
him and we’d all agreed. We’d watched him for the first few months to make sure
he was okay but he seemed to be handling his shit. We’d all pretty much moved
on and pretended she’d never existed. Her father was under observation in some
spa fronting as a nuthouse but I wasn’t really interested in that shit. Uncle
said he would spend the rest of his life there no matter how cushy it may seem.

Now this bitch was here with
her shit. She kept her venomous glare trained on my wife and I felt my hackles
rise. If she started blaming her for this shit again I’m gonna lose it. “I
repeat what the fuck do you want?” I heard Jules coming down the stairs asking
the same thing. His new girl Samantha was here as well probably standing on the
porch with the others. I don’t know how much of this he’d shared with her but
I’m sure she knew some of it. The shit had been the hot topic on the six
o’clock news for weeks back when it first broke. I’d shot at plenty an asshole
reporter who tried to get onto our property with their bullshit. Uncle had had
a time of it keeping me out of jail over that one when I’d clipped one of them
in the wing. Ask me if I gave a fuck. I’d had to take her out of school in the
end anyway because the fuckers staked out the damn school.

She took a step forward and I
checked her move. It was as if she didn’t even see me there. She only had eyes
for Victoria-Lynn. “This is all your fault you little sniveling bitch. If you’d
just stayed with your own kind none of this would’ve happened. How does it feel
to have destroyed innocent people with your lies and filth? Your mother…”

Oh shit; that’s as far as she
got before a little whirlwind knocked me out of the way and flew at her. It
took me half a second to figure out what the fuck had just happened when I saw
my wife with her hands wrapped around Melanie’s neck. Petra the savage was
cheering her the fuck on and I was stuck between two minds. Should I stop her
or let her work this shit out of her system? In the end Jules made the decision
for me. He pulled me back with a stern “Leave it.” What the fuck? I looked from
him to the woman whose chest my wife was currently straddling as she tried to
make holes in the ground with her head. The woman he’d dated and I believed
loved for almost four years.

He must’ve seen the question
and confusion in my eyes. “That bitch wasn’t protecting anyone but herself.
That whole family are some sick fucks and that’s all I’ll say on the subject.”
He turned and walked back up the steps to his new girl. Dad had come down to
stand next to me. “You plan on putting an end to this son?” You would think a
lot of time had gone by but it couldn’t have been more than two minutes. Shit
my baby had a busted lip but at least she was kicking ass. I thought it was
time to break it up when she started crying and panting. She’d tired herself
out whipping that ass. Fucking champ.

“Alright slugger that’s
enough.” I lifted her off her victim who was a bloody crying mess. Damn it must
suck to lose at every turn. Dad walked over and bent over Melanie. He’s a
compassionate sort, me not so much. He finally got her up and out of there. She
wasn’t screaming out threats anymore. She was just a broken sad mess when she
climbed back in her care and drove away. Hopefully that was the last we’d see
of her. I took my girl inside and cleaned her up and then let her ride the fuck
out of my dick to work off some of that head of steam she still had going on.
It was a long night.

Both Crafton men were behind
bars. The younger one will never walk again. He was now two cards short of a
full deck; drooling on
himself
and shit last I heard.
Serves his ass right, that’ll teach him to put his hands on what wasn’t his.
He’s lucky, in some places they chop those shits off. I didn’t lose any sleep
over that shit either fuck him. Cheeks didn’t seem too torn up about it either
I guess she finally figured out for herself that he wasn’t all there. She’d
finally told me all that had happened that day, or I’d dragged it out of her
more like. And it took all three men in my family not to do to the hospital and
put a bullet in his fucking head.

We pulled through and I let
her do everything she needed to do to heal her heart where her mother was
concerned. She wanted to know everything about the woman who’d given birth to
her so we’d gone digging, and found aunts and uncles who’d been kept away by
that fuck. She’d met her family three uncles and an aunt and a set of
grandparents who’d never given up hope of seeing her one-day. It was hard for
her telling them the truth about what has happened to her mom all those years
ago. They too had been told the lie that she’d run off. He’d used his supposed
hate for her and what she’d done to him to keep them away from his daughter,
the sick twisted fuck. Now she has a relationship with people who love her and
more importantly, people who knew her mom and could fill in the gaps so that
she was more than just a body dug up in a backyard.

Now we’re here this fine
summer morning, the birds are chirping outside our bedroom window because their
asses are up at the ass crack of dawn and they figure everyone else should be
too. I was about to reach for her to give her
her
morning dose but she rolled out of bed on a run. I was hot on her ass as she
knelt over the toilet throwing up her guts. Okay I’m a medical professional so
even I couldn’t keep pretending that this was anything less than what it was.
Fuck. I’d gotten cheeks pregnant. There goes college in the fall. She’s gonna
kill my ass.

I cleaned her up and sat on
the floor with her in my lap until her tummy settled down. “You know what this
is right babe?” I held my breath waiting for the tirade. I’ll just have to fuck
her out of her mad if she went with that. She didn’t say anything just took my
hand and held it over her tummy. “Yes that’s little Stephanie.” I pulled her
head back so I could see her face and fuck if she wasn’t smiling. “You’re not
mad?”

She turned around in my arms
and hugged my neck. “No way. She’s our reward. After all the bad things she’s
our little miracle to make it all better.” With my luck she’ll be another
hardheaded fuck like her mom and the damn dog just another female to run
circles around my ass. I stood with her in my arms and headed back to bed. “You
feeling okay for this?” She nodded yes and lifted my t-shirt over her head
baring her body to me. Her stomach was still flat. There was no sign of
pregnancy anywhere. I’ll have to make an appointment with the doctor sometime
today. Fuck we’re gonna have to go half an hour out of town for the nearest
female doc. The local
gyno
is male no way in fuck he
was touching her. Fuck that.