Faded Cotton (Erotic Romance) (20 page)

Walking down the hall to her room, she smiled
at the thought of Adam. What a man he’d grown up to be, she
wondered where he was at that moment and if he was safe, just like
any military mom would.

Lying in bed that night, for a brief time,
she allowed herself to relive what she had felt for Jake, to
revisit the passion of her youth, to relive their time together,
imagining his tender touch on her body.

He’d been so good to her up until the week he
walked out of her life. It was something she hadn’t allowed herself
to consider for over twenty years. Just as soon as she’d considered
it, she put it back out of her mind; but not before she wondered
where Jake LeGrande was on that cold, clear, starry night.

__________________________

She found them the next morning in the living
room. Derrick in shorts and Kate in his old sweats, curled up
tight, asleep on the sofa. His arm tucked under hers, hand resting
on her breast, her arm curled back up around his. She smiled and
tiptoed to the kitchen.

__________________________

“So that was it?” Jen looked puzzled and
shook her head in disbelief. “How could you just let him go?”

“I let him go because I loved him, Jen.” This
time there were no tears, just smiles. “We were together one more
time after that. It was special, slow and sweet. He left for
college about three weeks later. Derrick and Kate were at the house
a lot together. They still visit quite a bit. I love them
both.”

“Does she know?” Jen asked.

“Yes. Not details, but yes, she knows. One
evening, she asked me about it. I told her it was a tender,
passionate love affair that he initiated and that we would always
have a special place in each other’s hearts, that it was over, and
that I knew she had his heart. Simple truth.”

“Wow, what did she say?”

“Thank you.” Laurel had spoken with her after
Valentine’s Day, toward the end of that winter. “Kate gets it like
I do, I guess; love and sex. I think we have a lot of the same
views. She understands, I think. I’ve never felt jealousy from her.
Any jealousy I had left when I saw them that morning in the living
room. He is in love with her. Real, deep, complete. The first time
he came to the farm from college, she came with him, and always
after that. The two of them are crazy in love, just like I was with
Jahn. I understand that kind of love.”

“Your capacity for love amazes me.” Jen
realized that there was definitely something genuine and different
about Laurel; something few people possess.

“Laurel, you said three children, but I have
only heard you talk about Shannon and Adam.” She looked at Laurel
for a minute to see if she would be forthcoming.

“Story for another day.” Laurel’s voice was
cool. Jen left it at that.

Jen was deep in thought; Laurel studied her,
not interrupting. Somehow, she knew what was coming next was
important to Jen.

“How did you know? How do you know when you
have found the right set of arms to hold you?”

“Oh, Jen, honey, you just know. It’s not that
you can’t have love for a season, that you can’t enjoy a man just
to enjoy him, you can. Sex can be intoxicating, but in the end, if
that’s all that is between you, boredom and resentment will take
over. When your mind craves him as much as your body, when you want
to stay in his arms and never leave, when you find yourself good
with giving
and
receiving, when he makes you scream in
ecstasy, when you find yourself comfortable doing nothing with him,
when he loves you hard and fast when you need it and slow and
tender when you don’t, when he makes you laugh, when he holds you
when you cry, when he holds you just for the sake of holding you,
then you might consider that you’ve found the right arms to hold
you for the rest of your life.”

Laurel chuckled, “That’s not to say that they
won’t irritate the shit out of you. They will. All of them. They’re
men, it’s the law of the ages, it can’t be helped. Finding the one
you can live with, now that is something amazing.”

Jen considered her words carefully. How is
it, she wondered, that this woman inspired so many men in so many
ways? She was beautiful in a regular sort of way, Jen supposed.
“Laurel, how is it that you have inspired so many men, I mean a
woman....” Jen’s voice trailed off, she had painted herself into an
uncomfortable corner.

“A woman like me, you mean?” Laurel finished
the thought for her. Jen blushed and shook her head. “No sweetie,
it’s all good. I know full well that I am no striking beauty. Not
like a movie star or Bunny or anything like that anyway.” She
chuckled at the thought, “Inspire—huh—yeah I guess I have done
that, in a couple different ways. I’m myself, I suppose. I am what
I am and I’m okay with it. I do the best with what the good Lord
gave me and I’m not afraid to flaunt my best features. I’m not
afraid to enjoy everything a good man has to offer. I’m not afraid
to talk about things other people can’t—and I have great
boobs!”

With that, Jen relaxed and joined Laurel in
bubbly laughter, as Laurel cupped her breasts jiggling them to
prove her point.

“I love your sense of humor.” Jen smiled and
giggled, relaxing into girl mode.

“You’ll need that, honey, if you are going to
let a man in. We’re talking about men here. And too, you have to
open your heart and not be afraid to get hurt in order to find
those arms that are so right for you Jen Delaney.”

__________________________

They had talked for what seemed like hours.
Jen made notes on each of the people who had helped at the
farm.

Laurel went on to tell her about finding
Robert in a compromising position with Steve, another young man who
had come to the farm to work.

“Jen, I’ve always kept this in the strictest
confidence. I don’t want to hurt these men. It’s not up to me to
choose how and when someone addresses their choices about their
sexuality. Steve bolted, and I never saw him again.”

“Robert and I had lots of discussions about
sexuality. I have always tried to look at it like this: everyone
deserves happiness and love. They don’t deserve hate. I love Robert
as if he was my own son, and I decided that sexuality alone, was
not going to separate me from people I loved or make me hate
others. He was and is too valuable to let anything ruin that.”

“Steve who?”

“Jen, all this stuff that I am telling you is
to try to solve our situation. I trust you to treat this
information appropriately. If I didn’t think all of these stories
about the past were going to help, I wouldn’t be telling you this.
I believe I can trust you.”

“Why do you think you can trust me?” Jen
wondered if her capacity to keep things in strict confidence was as
transparent as everything else about her.

“I see it in your eyes.” Laurel said
intently.

“I understand completely. I have an ethics
code to uphold and legal parameters to stay within, but I’m not out
to hurt people. Things like this stay with me unless it becomes a
necessary element of a case. Officially, I’m on leave anyway.”

“Steve who?” She added.

“Steve Laughlin. The senator’s son. Governor
Laughlin’s grandson.”

A cold chill ran down Jen’s spine.

“Jen?” Laurel had watched her sit down
hard.

“The Senator’s first name?” Jen demanded.
“Arnold, or possibly Arnie?”

Laurel shrugged, “Yeah, I think that’s his
nickname, why?”

“Laurel,
he
was the main suspect in my
parents’ death. The report says he had a rock solid alibi for his
whereabouts that night. I never bought it, but I couldn’t find
anything to tie him to the crash.”

“Oh—oh my gosh.” Jen saw puzzle pieces
falling into place behind Laurel’s eyes. “What?” Jen wanted to
follow her thoughts.

“Steve Laughlin, the senator’s son, is
gay
. Jen, in the middle of your case web it just says
‘Arnold’; so are we really talking about the same person—Senator
Arnie Laughlin?” Laurel’s wheels were turning.

“Yes, I think we are. That’s got to be the
common element somehow. If Steve is gay, that would be a problem
for the Senator. The Laughlin stands against gay marriage, so we
can assume he doesn’t want anyone to know he has a gay son. Maybe
he is responsible for the barn fire and the brakes? Trying to scare
you or get rid of you, maybe?” Jen posed the solution out loud.

“Steve is too young to be the driver that hit
your parents, though. Sorry, this doesn’t solve a thing, does it?”
Laurel was uncomfortable; she knew how much Jen needed an answer
for her parents’ death.

“There has to be an answer here somewhere.”
Jen’s jaw was clenched.

Laurel needed answers, too, and was sick of
waiting for them. She barged out of the conference room and began
making her way down the hall to the command center. “Jake, JAKE!”
Laurel was pushing down the hall, yelling at the top of her lungs,
Jen not far behind. Several of the guards tried to slow her down,
finally holding her back.

“I need Jake LeGrande, NOW! Captain LeGrande
right now!” From the speed of the guards searching for the Captain,
the standing order to interrupt him if she even so much as breathed
his name received quick attention.

__________________________

Jake stormed into the hallway, barking at
guards and making his way through the congregation in the hall.
“What? What is the damn emergency?” Jake said flatly. Adam was
right behind him, wondering what had happened and looking for
Jen.

Laurel spun on her heel and moved back down
the hall with the entire entourage in tow.

“Laurel, you can’t be doing this on a whim.”
He followed her into the conference room. Adam filed in after.

“Look at this!” She directed his attention to
the case webs on the boards. She took the dry erase marker and
finished Jen’s suspect name, which was circled in the center of
Jen’s case board,
Arnold (Arnie) Laughlin.
Then, she stepped
over to circle
Steve Laughlin, son of Arnie Laughlin
on her
own chart as well. “Are
they
trying to kill me—us?”

Adam moved to stand by Jen, thinking she
looked a little pale. He studied the case boards intently. His hand
moved to her back. Adam was seeing now what plagued Jen’s thoughts,
tearing at her.

“There has to be something else here.” Jen
thought out loud.

Quick tapped key strokes were heard as Brian
queried for more information on Steve Laughlin.

“Well I don’t think it’s Steve trying to kill
you.” All attention was now turned toward the intelligence officer.
“At least, not anymore. They found him dead this morning in East
St. Louis, according to the police reports.” He scrolled and
reported as he went.

“Supposed carjacking gone bad. Audi 500 and
it’s missing—don’t think it was a carjacking—CSI photo shows bullet
centered in his forehead. Looks like an assassin's shot to me
guys.” He swiveled the laptop around to show proof to the
group.

“Ugh, okay Brian, thanks for sharing; TMI,”
Laurel snorted in disgust at the photos. “That tells us who it’s
not. It’s got to be a common thread though.”

“Shut the door.” Jake directed the
guards.

“Ladies, after we cleared the two of you out
of the police station, we also defused a bomb in Captain Delaney’s
office. Steve Laughlin was supposed to be brought in when you were.
We couldn’t find him. This is serious, ladies. I cannot release any
more information. The two of you need to settle down for a while.”
That information alone, he was hoping, would make them appreciate
the protection they were getting and chill out.

The women gasped, wide-eyed. Brian and Adam
looked at each other. Brian raised his eyebrows and gave a knowing
nod to Adam, affirming the new information. Adam could tell Brian
knew much more than he’d let on to Jen and Laurel. Jen caught the
exchange out of the corner of her eye.

“Captain LeGrande, something else I don’t
understand. Why is the United States Navy handling this? By all
rights, a threat to Laurel’s safety and mine is a civilian police
matter.” Jen was now asking too many questions, making Jake
uncomfortable.

“Ms. Delaney when you have worked for the
Navy as long as I have, you learn to utilize resources. This is a
training mission in which you have been provided your security. You
are along for the ride. Nothing more.” He took a breath and hoped
she would take the hint.

Jake really wanted the two to work harder,
think more. Something in the women’s past wasn’t surfacing yet.
Telling them what he knew would put them in more danger.

Jen shook her head.

Ben had entered the conference room and had
listened to the summations. “We know about as much as you do. This
connection is obvious, but right now, it’s just circumstantial.
They are related, live in the same area, son worked on the farm for
a short while, what else? It’s pretty big to accuse a United States
Senator who is getting ready to run for President, of attempted
murder. Jen, you said the senator had a rock solid alibi, and you
had been over it a hundred times or better. Why would he want
either of you dead? The son is not a threat anymore, obviously. We
have to come up with something a little bit stronger, ladies.”
Everyone listened to Pisano’s statements intently. The
investigator’s calm demeanor didn’t help the ease the minds of
Laurel and Jen.

“Jake,” Laurel gave him a disapproving stare,
“I know you aren’t telling us everything you know.”

“Laurel, I can’t. It’s....”

“Classified. Damn it, my life’s on the line
and it’s classified? Thanks a hell of a lot!” Laurel’s frazzled
nerves had just about come to the breaking point.