Faded Cotton (Erotic Romance) (25 page)

Adam stepped behind her, and reached around
her, ready to help her cough up the chunk of pineapple that had
gone down the wrong way. “You okay now?” She nodded. “My parent’s
car was black. Sorry, it just hit me wrong.”

Jake didn’t see the color drain out of
Laurel’s face, but he did see her wavering. “What Laurel, what is
it?”

“I remember.” The silence was deafening.

“I remember where the car came from. I know
which one you’re talking about.” Laurel’s voice was hard as she
recalled the chain of events, staring at the table. “When Jahn and
I were first married, we ran around with a lot of people we had
gone to high school with. We would still all see each other on
weekends, and in the summer, when the full-time college crowd was
home.”

“It was really late one night. Adam was
little, maybe three or four. Angie James came to us with a problem.
She’d been partying somewhere. Her rich college boyfriend had
wrecked his hotrod Camaro, and was afraid his father would freak,
they’d run into a ditch or something. They asked if they could
store it here until it all blew over. Then he would get it fixed.
Jahn is the one who showed them where to put it that night and that
was the last I heard of it. That must be the car.”

“This is too close for comfort to be
coincidental. Let’s put it to rest, Jake. I’m pretty sure that is
the only vehicle I can’t account for down there.” Laurel stopped
and drew a sharp breath looking up at Jen. “Jen, did Arnie Laughlin
have another nickname or middle name?”

“Reese. Why?” Jen looked at her blankly.

“Shit, shit, SHIT!!” Laurel pounded the table
with her fists. “Oh, lord,” Laurel buried her face in her hands,
took a deep breath and shoved her hair away from her face. “Reesey.
That was her nickname for the boyfriend. Reesey. That’s what she
called him.” Laurel covered her mouth and shock spread over her
face as she stared at Jen. “All these years....”

Jen was stunned, tears running silently down
her face.

“Oh, my gosh. Jen, I’m so sorry, I had no
idea. Do you think...?” Laurel was sick to her stomach thinking
that maybe the truth had been under her nose for so long.

Robert chimed in. “It makes sense. Steve had
a particular interest in the junk yard, but never would say why. I
guess he was trying to find out if his dad’s wrecked classic was
still there.”

“Ben, how do we prove the black paint is from
Jen’s parents’ car?” Jake addressed the evidence at hand.

Ben breathed out hard. “Well, we sample it
and match it to make and model and year, first, if at all possible.
Jen is there anything in evidence on your parent’s case? A sample
of their car or their car’s paint or piece of it. Anything? Is the
car still around? I’m sorry, Jen, I have to ask.”

Jen nodded. Tears were streaming down her
face. Adam’s arms reached around her to hold her and she buried her
face in his shoulder. “It was a hotrod as well, an old Malibu.
They’d been to a classic, and hotrod rally. It’s probably still in
my aunt’s garage, if she’s alive. She kept it after having somebody
gut the interior to get rid of the...or at least that is what I
heard.” She was trembling as her voice trailed off.

Adam shook his head, “No more.” The group
nodded in agreement, as he drew her to stand. They took a couple
steps away before her knees buckled and as she cried out in
anguish. He swept her up and carried her up the stairs. Her mind
flooded with pictures of her parents laying in their caskets at
their funeral. She’d been seven years old, just seven.

Laurel tried to dry her own eyes. “Oh dear
Lord, please forgive me, I had no way of knowing. I could have laid
that pain to rest years ago. Oh, how awful.” Reassurances came from
the group. No one was going to blame her for something she didn’t
know about and wouldn’t have ever piece together, had it not been
for recent events.

“Jen is thirty, and Adam’s twenty-eight
right?” Ben wanted to make sure the math was right or at least
close. Laurel nodded.

Brian put his arm around Shannon’s shoulders
to give her a pat. She was visibly upset at having revealed such an
importance piece of evidence. Jess noted their interaction with a
blank stare. The emotionally and physically exhausted group
disbanded for showers and sleep without another word.

Jake sat next to Laurel. She was drained.
Completely beside herself, Laurel sat stunned. Jake rubbed her back
and tried to comfort her. Laurel chewed her lower lip, her head on
his shoulder, for a long time before she broke the silence.

“If I live through this damn roller coaster
ride, without derailing, I want a real vacation, Jake. I’ve never
been to the beach because
I
made plans to go there. I want
to go to the beach, ya know? Find sea shells, read Hemmingway, I’ve
never read Hemmingway, get a tan, watch the dolphins, go deep sea
fishing, get drunk, go to a Kenny concert, dance, get drunk, walk
barefoot in the sand—can I have a real vacation, Jake?”

“Yes, sweetheart, you can have a real
vacation.” He chuckled, but wondered how much more she could take.
She was tough, but how tough, he didn’t know.

__________________________

Adam laid Jen down in his old room and
crawled in next to her on the bed, curling his body to her tight
curve. She had drawn herself up in a ball, attempting to shield
herself from further pain. He held her as she shook, sobbing in
racking breaths that tore through her body.

She was close to complete exhaustion when she
pulled his arms even tighter around her. He put his lips to her
ear. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. I’m here. I’ll take care of you.
I’ll always take care of you.” She believed him. Sometime after
midnight, she fell asleep in his arms.

Jake covered Adam’s night watch and the guys
split up to sleep elsewhere, leaving Adam to help Jen work through
her pain.

__________________________

The next morning, Ben, Brian, and Robert
worked together to extract the car from the junk yard and take it
to the shop at the cabin to lock it up. Ben took samples and sent
them to the lab with armed escort.

Ben arranged for the Malibu to be removed
from Jen’s aunt’s garage. Her aunt was glad to be rid of the junk.
She was even happier with the cash to retrieve it and keep her
quiet, courtesy of Jen. The $500 would buy a bit of alcohol and
slots for her at the casino. Additional witnesses were along for
the ride. Cameras were firing like crazy to certify the location it
was retrieved from. Ben made sure everything was well
documented.

The car was taken to a crime lab under the
watchful eye of one of Ben’s fellow investigators, to be gone over
with a fine-toothed comb looking for samples of DNA, paint, and
chrome. Hopefully, the samples from the red paint smeared down the
side would match the Camaro. It was a shot in the dark after all
the time that had passed. It would be a stretch to find what they
needed.

The top of the Malibu was shoved in and a
good part of the car body badly mangled and covered with rust, but
obvious evidence from what it had run into, was still there. He’d
know soon enough if it was a match.

With the pieces of the puzzle coming
together, the link between the Laughlin’s, Laurel, and Jen, was
becoming clearer. Arrests would be another matter, and it would
take some pressure in high places to get it done, Ben knew. He
would have to question Angie James, and then things could get
dangerous.

Laurel was washing produce in the sink for
Seth. She needed to get her house back to herself, but it was nice
to have such a wonderful guy to cook for her. Still, she felt a
little claustrophobic crammed in with all those people for two
weeks.

A trip to town had been a great breather
until she ran into Gerry Smythe. He had snorted at her with
disgust, seeing her entourage. He’d followed her out of the farm
store and walked by her truck, spitting. He had smelled of chew and
sweat. It had made her stomach churn. Her thoughts were interrupted
when Jake came breezing into the kitchen off the deck.

“
Where
have you been?” Jake
demanded.

“I went to the store.” Laurel had indeed been
to the store, actually, several stores in town.

“Sweetheart, I don’t think you understand the
gravity of the situation here. You can’t run off and do whatever
the hell you want until
I
tell you it’s all clear. Got it?”
Jake was trying to hold his temper.

Seth threw up his hands. “She said it would
be all right. We had people follow us; you were gone!” Seth looked
at him a little disgusted. He didn’t want to be caught in the
middle between the two, and he walked out of the kitchen.

“
I
didn’t say it was okay or that you
could go anywhere, Laurel. That will be the last time, do you
understand? You talk to me first,” Jake demanded loudly.

Seeing Laurel bristle, the remaining crew
quickly dispersed to leave Jake and Laurel toe-to-toe in front of
the kitchen sink.

“Jake LeGrande, if you think you can walk
into my house and order me around, telling me when and where I can
go, you have another thing coming. I’m a grown woman. I don’t
recall begging you to drag me around in the name of protection. I
don’t need a condom on my life. I can damn well take care of
myself, and have been doing it quite well, without a man, for the
last six years. I’ll go to the store if I damn well please!”

“Like hell you will. All these people didn’t
come here, to put their lives on the line, so you could make a
mockery out of it.” Jake was steaming.

“Steve Laughlin is dead. Now, either he or
his father’s hired thugs started that fire and messed with my
brakes. We figured out who killed Jen’s parents. It’s over, right?
I’m not sure why everyone is still here, anyway.”

“You don’t know a damn thing. There is more
to it than that. It doesn’t stop there.” Jake had lowered his
voice.

“Jake, you owe me an explanation. What in the
hell
is going on here?” Laurel was wringing her hand in a
dishtowel, her lips pursed.

“I told you, it’s classified. If I tell you
the details, it will put your life in even greater danger.” Jakes
frustration was showing in the tightness of his jaw.

“Jake! Damn it, I’m not a child.” Laurel
yelled.

Jake was in a hard spot. He decided keeping
Miss Stubborn safe was the spot he wanted to be in, regardless of
the cost. The arrests were about to be made anyway, things were
pulling together. He was about to do something he’d never done. He
had grabbed a grocery list pad of paper, off the fridge, and wrote
furiously, minimizing the details.

I could lose everything by telling you this.

My rank, my job, my pension, even be prosecuted.

I’m working special detail to try to bring down a
specific Admiral.

Sting operation from very high up.

This guy is working to rid the Navy of certain
people who don’t fit his mold.

This person of interest is pressuring me to
‘clean-up’.

Pressure, rape, torture, anything to get rid of the
ones on his list.

Morrison is part of the sting operation, bait.

I just put my life, my career, my future, all on the
line just to keep your stubborn ass safe, now do you know how much
I love you?

__________________________

Jess found her, that afternoon, in a stall in
the barn, rubbing on one of Big’s babies; a colt, that was stout,
strong, and good natured just like his sire. Jess watched her
handle the baby with ease, a firm but gentle touch, not dominating,
but friendly. She scratched all the foal’s itchy spots and gained
his trust, rubbing his face, ears, chest, back, belly, and ticklish
spots.

Shannon looked cute in boots, cut off jean
shorts, and a pink tank top. Her thick wavy, sandy-blonde hair was
pulled back in a heap at her neck with wayward strands framing her
face.
Sexy.

He thought about her growing up, the tomboy
always following him around doing whatever he wanted to, rarely
asking to do something she wanted to do. She was in between her
father and mother in height, with a fit, strong frame that had
helped her pitch really well. He’d watched her ride and knew she
had several trophies in her room. He was proud that she was about
to finish her nursing degree and he knew she would make a good
nurse.
She will make an incredible mom
.

At that thought, he had to do a double take
at himself, shaking his head. It wasn’t just her as a mother that
had entered his thoughts, but her as the mother of
his
children,
his
wife. His wife, in his bed, always. Was it
possible?

“Hi, Jess!” Shannon roused him from his
thoughts.

“Hey! How’s it going? Kinda crazy back there,
huh?” Jess thumbed at the house.

“Yeah, Mom’s been on her own so long now,
she’s pretty independent.” Shannon continued to rub down the baby’s
legs, getting him used to her.

“Well, Dad has been Navy so long, I’m not
sure he can handle someone with a mind of their own.” They both
chuckled at the thought of the sparring couple.

Shannon came out of the stall she was in and
went to the next to work with another foal. “When is the last time
you rode, Jess? Want to go?”

“Sounds good, but I think Adam and Jen took
off with the two geldings that were in the old barn, and the other
two are down at the cabin’s lean-to.”

“Huh, figures. Well, how ‘bout a swim? I
think the swimming hole is still in good shape, and it’s so
cotton-pickin’ hot. There should be a four-wheeler in the other
barn or we can walk, either way. I’m kinda hairy anyway.” She
stepped out of the stall dusting off the shed foal hair that was
sticking to her. Jess chuckled at the hair flying around her. It
seemed as soon as she dusted it off, it stuck right back to
her.