Serving Pride (10 page)

“Where are we
going?” Amelia asked, turning towards him in the new truck he’d
purchased in Edgeview earlier that week.

He smiled. “I have
a surprise for you. Just sit back and enjoy the short trip. Oh, and
when I tell you to, close your eyes, no
peeking.”

She crossed her
arms over her chest and tried for a pout. “I never
peek.”

“Really?” He couldn’t help but laugh. “Liar.”

Another two minutes
and he told her to close her eyes as he drove the rest of the way
up the slanted driveway.

“Okay, open.” He’d
positioned it so his high beams hit the red ribbon he’d tied on the
door.

When she opened her
eyes, her brows crinkled and she frowned. “What’s this all
about?”

“I closed on it
this morning. It’s mine.”

She clapped her
hands and pulled him into a hug, all the while squealing her
congratulations. “Oh, Robert! I can’t believe it. That’s so
wonderful. When are you going to move in? I’m so happy for you!” It
all came out as one long sentence.

“Well, come on in.
I want you to get a proper look at the place. Last time we were
here, well, let’s just say we didn’t get to see much.” She laughed
and almost jumped out of his truck.

“I don’t have much
to move in. I guess I need to go shopping for new furniture. I plan
on moving my stuff in over the weekend.”

He opened the door
and motioned for her to walk in. She stepped in and stopped when
she saw what he’d set up earlier that evening.

The table and
chairs with the tall candles sat in the middle of the empty room.
He walked over and flicked the lighter and got the candles glowing,
then lit the wood and paper he had setup in the fireplace. Last, he
walked over and hit the button on the small radio and had soft
music flowing in the empty room.

“When did you have
time to do all this?” She walked into the room and straight to the
flowers that sat on the fireplace, burying her face in them and
breathing deeply.

“Just before lunch.
I wanted to celebrate your new job in style. I know we ate a lot at
the Jordan’s, but I hope you saved room for dessert. I’ll be right
back.” He walked towards the kitchen as she looked around the
room.

When he stepped
back in, she was still standing by the fireplace, watching
him.

“Here, take a
seat.” He set the dish down and pulled out her chair. “I hope you
like chocolate.” He picked up the plate and set it in front of
her.

They ate cake by
candlelight and listened to soft music playing while they enjoyed
each others company. Then he pulled out a soft blanket and laid it
in front of the fireplace. He kissed her and pulled her down until
he could run his hands over every inch of her. Then he ran his
mouth over the same trails. She’d worn her green dress; it was one
he’d seen before, but he couldn’t get over how sexy she looked in
it. It was low cut and the front crossed over itself. It was all
tied together with a green belt, so that when he moved one side of
the dress down, the other side fell open. Soon he had her breasts
exposed for his viewing and tasting. He ran his mouth over every
inch he’d exposed and continued downward, pulling her dress away as
he went.

He rolled her
stockings down her legs and kissed the path. He’d never tasted
anything as good as the inside of her thighs.

“Robert,” she
moaned as he moved closer to the inside of her
thigh.

“You taste so
good.” He used his fingers to pull the silk aside and enjoyed the
softness of her skin underneath. Then he dipped his head and ran
his tongue across her. She bucked under him and he played his hand
over her while he lapped at her sweetness. He could drown in her
taste, her sweet scent, her softness. She was moaning and making
sexy little noises when he traveled back up and entered her
slowly.

They made love for
tow hours, before he took her home. He hated that she had to leave
and realized as he drove her home that he knew what the next step
he wanted to make was. So he could secure his and her
future.

He was so
preoccupied by his thoughts, he didn’t see the man standing at the
bottom of the dark stairs to his apartment until he
spoke.

“Well, well, if it
isn’t little Robby. All grown up, I see.”

T
he old saying goes
that when you’re mad you see red. Well, Robert could attest to
that. Not only did his vision turn red, but he heard a loud buzzing
in his head. He had Roy rammed up against the brick wall so fast he
could see the instant fear in the older man’s
eyes.

“Roy, what the hell
did you do with my mother?”

The man laughed and
Robert could see he was missing half his teeth. The other half were
black and almost rotted out of his mouth. He’d seen the footage in
Vegas, so he knew Roy had lost weight and gotten older, but nothing
could have prepared him for the crazy look in the man’s
eyes.

Instantly he could
tell he was high. Most likely crack or heroine, if he had to guess.
He was so grossed out by the stench coming off his clothes, he
almost lost his hold on his shoulders.

“I didn’t do
nothing to your mama. She left on her own, I swear.” He could tell
the man was lying, he could see it in his eyes. “I just came here
to check up on you. I heard you was looking for me in Vegas. Big
shot cop-boy looking for me.” Robert watched the man’s eyes almost
roll to the back of his head as he slurred his words
together.

“That’s it, you’re going in my jail cell until I get straight
answers from you.” He started to pull the man up and figured he’d
walk him the two blocks to the station if he had to. No way was he
letting this man ride in his new truck, knowing he’d probably hurl
in it the second he sat down.

“I ain’t going
nowhere with you. I just came to get some money. I figured you owed
me after what I did.” He flung his arms and Robert let go of him
and watched as he teetered on his feet. Roy reached out and put his
hand on the wall to steady himself.

“What the hell are
you talking about?”

“I took care of you
all that time. You owe me. I looked out for you like you was my own
son.”

Robert wanted to
slam his fist into the man’s face, but chose to grab his shirt
front and start walking very quickly towards the station. Roy tried
to fling his hand away, but Robert was not only in better shape,
but sober.

Robert knew how to
handle drunks and people who were high. You either talked them
down, or you ignored them. Since Roy wasn’t making any sense, he
decided the latter was the best way for him not to kill the man
where he stood.

Roy mumbled the
entire two blocks, which took twice as long to walk as usual since
Robert was practically dragging the man.

When he got there,
he was too pissed to acknowledge his deputy who sat behind the
counter waiting for the call to duty.

“Who’s that?” Larry said, following him to the back. “We booking
him on drunk driving?”

“No.” Robert didn’t
even really acknowledge the kid.

“What are we
booking him on? Do you want me to process him?” The town was small
and usually the only people they had in the cell were the local
drunks, sobering up for the night. But Larry’s enthusiasm for
booking someone new was almost laughable.

“This is Roy…” He
pulled Roy around and looked at him in the face. “What’s your last
name?”

“Mc—McDonald.”
Robert raised his eyebrows, showing that he didn’t believe the
man.

“Roy McDonald?” Roy
laughed when Robert said it.

“Eee-iii-eee-iii-oooo.”

Robert pulled him
up on his toes and growled at him. He ground his back teeth, trying
to talk himself out of punching the man.

“What’s your last
name?” He shook the man.

Roy looked at him
and Robert saw fear in the man’s eyes again.

“Kenny, Roy
Kenny.”

“Larry, book and process Roy Kenny.”

“On what
charges?”

“Public nuisance
and public intoxication. I don’t want him to go anywhere until I
get back in the morning. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, sir,” Larry
said as Robert dumped the man in the cell, then walked
out.

Amelia walked into
the station the next day around lunchtime and saw Robert sitting
behind the desk. He didn’t even look up when the bell chimed over
the door.

“Busy?” She leaned
against the counter and saw his eyes flash as he looked at
her.

“Yes, but never too
busy for you.” He stood up and walked around and kissed her lightly
on the lips. “What brings you here?”

“I heard from Patty
that you’ve got a man locked up in here that you think might have
something to do with your mother’s
disappearance.”

“Man, word does
travel fast around here.”

She noticed that he
looked like he hadn’t slept all night.

“Why didn’t you
call me?”

He stopped and
stared at her for almost a full minute. Then he blinked. “I – I was
so caught up in being angry. I didn’t think to call
you.”

She’d felt a little
hurt when she’d heard Patty telling someone about what was going
on. She’d almost felt betrayed, but now looking at his face, into
his eyes, she could see he was so affected by the whole scenario,
he hadn’t thought about her.