ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (114 page)

              “We’re going to have to find this Lincoln guy.”  Ramirez mumbled. 

              As it turned out, finding Lincoln Ford was easy.  All it took was a few questions at the guidance department. 

              “I thought the lady was joking when she said his name was Lincoln Ford.”  Hank said as he and Liam walked up the short concrete walkway to Lincoln Ford’s house.  They had called ahead and a women in her forties met them at the glass screen door.  She had the hair and clothing style of someone that was still mentally enjoying the seventies. 

              Lincoln was sitting on a plaid couch, one arm wrapped around his thin middle.  His feet were resting pigeon toed on the edge of the area rug, and there was a slight tremor to his hands. 

              “Hello, Lincoln.”  Liam said politely, his mind filling with pity as he looked down at the young man.  It was obvious that he had been crying. 

              “Please…sit.”  Mrs. Ford said, gesturing towards the two recliners that sat at opposite ends of the room. 

              “Lincoln, can you tell me when you first met Mya?”

              His dark eyes lifted, and seemed to soften.  “I met her the day the dorm rooms were filling up.  I wasn’t going to stay in a dorm, but I wanted to be there anyway, so I could meet some people.”  He paused and licked his lips.  “She seemed so lost…yet so confident at the same time.  No one was talking to her.” 

              “Where was this at?” 

              “In the common room of her building.  I had stopped in to just…”  He blushed slightly.  “I wanted to see some pretty girls.” 

              Liam and Hank looked at each other and smiled. 

              “I saw she was alone and went to talk to her.  We compared classes and discovered we had Biology at the same time on the same days.  I lied and told her I would probably flunk…you know…just hoping she would offer to study with me.  She did offer.  You know what else?”

              “What’s that?”

              “She didn’t look at me funny.  She was nice to me.”  The boy’s eyes filled with tears.  “I only had my friend for a month!” 

              Liam nodded slowly.  There was no need to question the boy further. 

              Once inside of the sedan Hank spoke quietly.  “You didn’t verify his whereabouts on the day of her disappearance, or how he got around the campus.” 

              “I didn’t have to.”  Liam responded and put the car into gear.  “There’s no way he could have done it with that type of physical disability.”

              “So where does that leave us?”

              Liam sighed.  “Right back at the big fat goose egg.  We have nothing.” 

              Audrey rubbed her eyes and stretched.  She had been working on her thesis all afternoon, and actually felt like she had put a dent in the work.  Where the sudden inspiration had come from she didn’t know, but she was glad it had.  Maybe it was the fact that it was the first day in a while that the temperature hadn’t gone past seventy.  It certainly had been an Indian summer.  Tomorrow would be October first, and that was her favorite month of the year.

              She walked down the short driveway to the mailbox, thinking about what she might cook for dinner.  She didn’t know when to expect Liam home, and wasn’t sure if he would even want her to cook for him, but she was in a generous mood, buoyed by her success at writing for the day.  Plus it had been good to not have to go to the diner. 

              She pulled the rather large stack of things out of mailbox, thumbing first through the smaller envelopes, before looking at the large one on the bottom.  Bills and offers for credit cards were all that were there.  When she opened the kitchen door, she let the smaller envelopes drop to the kitchen table with a tap.  The final piece was a manila envelope used for mailing documents.  Audrey frowned as she looked at it.  There wasn’t an address on the front, just her name written in flowing loopy script.  There wasn’t a return address either.  She tore the back flap loose carefully and slid the contents out.  Her frown deepened as she realized they were photos.  From the looks of them, they were 8’x10’s.  It was a series.  The first was just a shot of O’Malley’s.  The next several were of Liam talking to a dark haired woman in the parking lot.  It was hard to see much detail, it was taken at night, and from a bit of a distance.  The next to last photo was a close up.  It was a close up of Liam locked in passionate kiss with the woman.  The final picture Audrey held with shaking hands.  It was zoomed in the closest, and even in the low light, Audrey could see the dark passion that had filled her husband’s face. 

              Liam took Hank home just after six.  He was wiped out from the long day, but excited at how well it had gone.  He knew he was going to thrive in the new position.  He pulled the sedan into the driveway and stared at the house for a moment.  Their car was in the driveway, but the house appeared to be dark. 

              Maybe she’s in the bedroom again.  Liam thought, trying to push the twist in his gut away.  Something was wrong, he could feel it. 

              He unlocked the kitchen door.  Everything was still and cool, but he felt a presence.  He flicked the switch on the wall, and saw Audrey sitting at the kitchen table.  Her eyes were red and swollen. 

              “What’s wrong?”  He asked and went to the sink, turning on the light that hung above the table as he went.  He wet several paper towels with cold water and took them to her so she could wipe her face. 

              Audrey watched him with languid accusation, her energy spent hours ago.

              Liam didn’t know what to do.  Had something happened to her parents?  “Audrey, please tell me what’s wrong.”  He said quietly, sitting across from her at the table.  Audrey slid the photos to him.  He looked at each one individually, slowly, tortuously.  He felt his stomach drop as he looked at the last two.  He lifted his eyes to look at her.  She looked like a dishrag that had been wrung out. 

              “Audrey, let me explain.”

              “What’s to explain?  We live in separate bedrooms.” Her voice was tired and small. 

              “I need to explain something.” 

              Audrey’s eyes lit up and burned, her mouth twisted.  “Explain nothing, Liam!”  She yelled, slamming her fist on the table.  “You haven’t explained why you don’t love me anymore!  You haven’t explained why you can’t touch me anymore!  So, why explain this?” 

              “I didn’t think you wanted that from me!  It was your idea for separate bedrooms!”

              “I…was…not…going to lay next to a man who feels nothing for me.” 

              Liam’s leaned back and stared at her.  Was it true?  Did he really feel nothing for her? 

              “Here’s the plan.”  She said, standing and shoving her chair into the table.  “You’re leaving.  We’ll put the house on the market and split the money, or you can buy me out of my half, but for now you’re leaving.”

              “Hold on one damn minute, Audrey!”  Liam yelled, also standing.  “Why should I have to leave?”

              She had begun to walk away, but spun on her heels, eyes barely a slit, as she screamed at him.  “WHERE CAN I GO?”  She jabbed an accusatory finger at him.  “YOU CAN STAY WITH HANK OR YOUR GIRLFRIEND OR ANOTHER WOLF, I…DON’T…CARE!”  She ran down the hallway and slammed her bedroom door. 

              Liam stared after her.  He felt an odd combination of guilt, anger, and fear. 

              “What have I done?”  He whispered.

              Hank opened his apartment door for Liam and smiled sadly.  “Hey, buddy, come on in.” 

              Liam looked around the small apartment and nodded in approval.  He wasn’t sure what he had expected, but the apartment was neat and tidy.  It was only a one bedroom, but the couch folded out into a bed. 

              Hank took Liam’s suitcase and garment bags and put them in the hall closet.  “Now, just make yourself at home, Liam.  Anything in the fridge you want, go ahead and have it, ok?” 

              Liam nodded and sat down on the couch.  He put his head in his hands and sighed loudly.  His mind ran the conversation over and over again.  The one phrase that stuck like a broken record was Audrey saying, “I…was…not…going to lay next to a man who feels nothing for me.” 

              Well, this sucks.

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BONUS

THE WEREWOLF DETECTIVE 2

By Sicily Duval

Patience

              Hank stared at Liam over the edge of his cereal bowl.  His friend and partner in the Richmond Police Department had been sleeping on his pull out couch for a week now.  Not that he minded.  No, he liked having Liam around.  It was more of he knew Liam minded.  The two of them had just been moved into the homicide division, a miracle all by itself, and then Audrey had received photos of Liam kissing fellow officer Lydia Haddad in the mail.  Now why would anyone do such a thing?  Furthermore, why would they follow Liam around and wait for such an opportunity? 

              Milk dripped from Hank’s chin and he wiped it with the back of his hand.  Liam began to move around and when he blinked his eyes open, Hank greeted him happily. 

              “Good morning, sunshine!” 

              “Ugh.”

              Hank stood and took his bowl to the sink.  “So, I’m going to hit the gym.  Do you want to come?” 

              “No.”  Liam said into his pillow. 

              Hank shook his head slightly.  Liam didn’t want to do much of anything.  He had coasted through work the previous week, but now it was getting around that he was staying with Hank.  There would be hell to pay if Lydia found out.  It was just the opportunity she had been waiting for. 

              “Why don’t you go and try to talk to Audrey.”

              “For what?”

              Hank scratched his head.  “To fix things back up.”  When Liam didn’t respond, Hank sighed.  “Don’t you want to fix things?”

              “I don’t know.”

              Hank took a moment to hesitate, unsure if he should say more.  He decided to pick up his gym bag instead and walk out the front door.

              Liam rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.  The muffled sound of footsteps from the apartment above filtered down to him, and he felt comforted by it.  Someone above him was living life, doing things.  He felt like he was trapped in mud and only sinking deeper.  The question that Hank had asked rung in his ears.  Did he want to fix things?  There was no straight yes or no answer to that. 

              His cell phone rang and he frowned at the unfamiliar number on the screen.  He decided he better make himself sound professional just in case.

              “Detective Lamb.” 

              “Hello, Liam.”  The soft purring voice sent something close to pain shooting through his head. 

              “How did you get my number, Lydia?”

              She laughed lightly.  “Do you really think your number is that hard to get?”

              Liam closed his eyes and laid back against the pillows.  “What do you want?” 

              “Meet me for dinner.  I want to talk to you.” 

              “No.  Not a good idea.”

              There was a moment of silence.  “I think under the circumstances it’s a perfect idea, unless…” 

              “Unless what?”  He snapped. 

              “Unless you want it leaked to the force what you really are.” 

              Anger rose up in Liam so fiercely that he nearly choked on it.  His skin began to tingle and he could imagine ripping her pretty little throat out.  He needed to calm down or Hank would come home to a side of Liam that he hadn’t witnessed before. 

              “I guess the force would be interested to know the same thing about you.” 

              There it was, that infuriating smug little laugh again. 

              “Meet me at the park on Monument at six, since dinner isn’t something you’ll consider.  Who knows, maybe we can howl together.” 

              Liam threw his phone down in disgust.  He still hadn’t figured out how she had masked what she was to him all this time.  It took that infernal kiss to show him what she really was.  The worst part was that she wasn’t just a werewolf, no, she was a real honest to goodness shifter.  Liam could turn into a snarling hairy superhuman, but Lydia?  Lydia could become an actual wolf. 

              Audrey looked at the woman across the desk from her and wanted to scream.  It wasn’t that the woman wasn’t nice enough, it was the fact that she was perkiest human being Audrey had ever met.  (And she wasn’t telling her a thing she wanted to hear.) 

              “So, I can’t list the house?” 

              She smoothed a handful of her artificial blonde curls towards the back of her shoulder.  Audrey wondered how long it took this woman to do her hair and makeup every morning. 

              “It’s not that you can’t list it, necessarily, it’s just that if an offer is made, it would require you and your husband’s approval.  You’re both on the mortgage.”   Her red lips turned down in a small frown.  “I’m sorry.”

              “Yeah, me too.”  Audrey said, and stood.  “Thank you for your time.”

              “Good luck!”  The woman yelled cheerily after her. 

              Audrey stood on the sidewalk in front of the real estate office and fought back tears.  How could she still have tears left?  She had been crying off and on for a solid week!  She was crying so much the day after Liam left that Chester screamed at her to go home until she got off her menstrual cycle.  Audrey had whirled around and screamed that he was an insensitive bastard considering that her husband had just moved out.  The entire restaurant had seemed to go still.  Jewel had gasped and immediately ran over to hug her.  The startling part of it had been Chester walking up to the time clock and telling her he was sorry, and why didn’t she take a few days off?  So, she had.  She had also devoured a half gallon of cookies and cream ice cream while watching Titanic three times in a row.  She hadn’t touched her thesis.

              Now it was one day shy of being a week later and she had yet to go back to the diner.  Jewel and Chester had called one time each, but she had let it ring to voicemail.  All she wanted to do was sleep and read books.  She had slept until 3pm the day before, then sat up reading Jane Eyre until after two.  The only reason she had wandered out was because she had seen a commercial for this real estate office while watching The Price is Right. 

              Audrey moved towards her car when she heard her name called.  She looked around and saw a very sweaty Hank coming towards her.  She tried her best to smile. 

              “Hi, Hank.” 

              “Hey.  I wasn’t sure you would remember me.” 

              “Of course I remember you.” 

              They stood awkwardly for a moment, and Audrey was about to bid him goodbye, when he spoke. 

              “I think you should talk to Liam.” 

              “Why?”  She snapped.  “He hasn’t tried to talk to me!” 

              Hank chewed on his bottom lip for a moment.  “He’s…well he’s not right, Audrey.”

              “Yeah, tell me about it.” 

              “I just think the whole thing with Lydia was a misunderstanding.”  He said quietly.  “I know he doesn’t like her that way.” 

              Audrey narrowed her eyes.  “Well, he certainly seemed to like her that way judging from the pictures, and I doubt that can be misinterpreted!” 

              Hank visibly recoiled. 

              Audrey softened her eyes.  The big guy was just trying to help. 

              “Look, Hank, I know you mean well, but this isn’t something that a conversation and handshake can fix.” 

              “Yeah, I know.  I just wanted to help.”

              She reached out and touched his arm.  “You are helping.  You gave Liam a place to stay.” 

              He nodded.  “Do you need anything?” 

              “No, I’m fine.” 

              Hank nodded.  “Good seeing you, Audrey.”

              “You too, Hank.” 

              She watched him walk back in the direction he had come.  He would probably go home and tell Liam that he was right after all, that she was a royal jerk.

              The drive onto campus was depressing.  There were the normal small groups of students walking together and chatting or just walking alone, hurrying to the next class.  There were joggers and bike riders.  There were students living life.  She on the other hand was stuck in limbo. 

              Monroe Park Campus was her favorite campus and had been relieved that almost all of the classes she had attended over the years had been there.  The white building of James Branch library loomed in front of her as she parked the car.  It gave her peace just to see the building.  Soon she would be inside with fellow researchers, and books, and computers.  Maybe her head would clear. 

              She slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and locked the car.  The day was cool.  Fall was finally seeping into the city. 

              Audrey’s thoughts were disturbed as a body fell into her, nearly toppling her face first onto the steps.  A strong arm came out and caught her. 

              “I’m so sorry!” 

              Audrey looked behind her and saw a young man’s wide eyes looking at her with concern. 

              “Are you ok?  I’m such a klutz!”  He bent to pick up some papers that had fallen out of a spiral notebook he was carrying. 

              “Yeah…yeah, I’m fine.  Here, let me help you.”  Audrey said, her brow furrowed.  She helped gather the papers and saw that one was an approved drop form for the class she had just recently dropped on women’s studies.  “You were in my class?”

              The man laughed.  His curly brown hair jiggling slightly with the movement.  He had warm dark brown eyes and tan skin.  Audrey felt a twinge of something in the back of her head.  Was it guilt because she liked his good looks? 

              “I saw you a couple of times.  I usually sat in the back.” 

              “Oh.” 

              “Did you drop too?”

              Audrey nodded.  “I couldn’t listen to his drivel.” 

              He laughed again.  “I know, right?  The guy is a sexist and doesn’t even know it!”

              Audrey smiled lightly.  “I better get in.  I have some work to do.”

              “Yeah, me too.”  He smiled broadly and extended his hand.  “I’m Luke.  Luke Carter.” 

              “Audrey.” 

              “What year are you?”

              “I’m working on my thesis for my doctorate.” 

              “I just started post grad.  What’s your thesis on?”

              Audrey felt embarrassed and lowered her eyes.  Would he think she was a bigot too?  “It deals with the role of women in the American home, and the importance of that role.” 

              “That’s awesome!  Most students here would rather gouge their eyes out than take a conservative approach to anything.” 

              Audrey lifted her eyes and looked at him with something akin to wonder.  He hadn’t judged her at all. 

              “Have you started a thesis?” 

              “No.  I’m working on a masters in religious studies, but I haven’t picked a topic yet.”

              Audrey looked around her uncertainly.  It felt good to talk to this man.  It felt good just to talk to anyone. 

              “I was just going in to do some research and get a coffee.”  She hesitated before plunging on.  “Would you like to join me?”

              A wide smile spread across his handsome face.  “Yeah!  I’d like that!”

              The evening was a pleasant kind of cool that made Liam yearn for earthy things.  He wished he could stretch out in the open field that was the beginning of Maymont’s massive park.  What he really wanted was to shed his clothes and allow his other form to take over, as he ran over open spaces and through trees.  He didn’t think that would be acceptable as he looked at the sign that had an image of dog in red circle with a bright red line crossing over it.  He supposed the rule applied to Werewolves as well. 

              A dark blue car approached and he could see Lydia in the driver’s seat.  He took an unsteady breath as she parked and stepped out of the car.  Her hair was coiled on the top of her head, and large silver hoops hung from her ears.  She wore tight blue jeans and a sleeveless sequined top of black and silver.  Her shoulder muscles were cut and strong.  A smirk was already hovering on her full lips. 

              “Hello, Liam.”

              “Lydia.” 

              Liam tried to keep his eyes trained on anything but her face.  Her almond shaped eyes were the siren’s call for self-destruction. 

              “Let’s find a picnic table.” 

              “Let’s talk here.”  He countered. 

              The laugh.  Her infuriating condescending laugh.  “Come on, walk with me.” 

              Lydia tried to loop her arm through his, but he removed it as soon as she touched him.  They walked in silence until they came to a small cluster of picnic tables and a grill.  The area was thankfully empty.