The Fighter's Block (47 page)

Cole was silent. He knew this was a dead end street he was on and his feelings for this girl weren’t going to go anywhere. He wished he could just flip a switch to turn them off.

“Well?” Dani asked. “What do you think?”

“I do think you’re nuts,” he stated.

“Gee, thanks a lot.”

“Well, I have two questions. No, three.
Well, probably more than that. H
ow do you know where Quincy lives?”

“I saw him yester
day.”

Cole almost dropped his jaw
on
the floor
.
No one had been able to find Quincy.
He tried not to reveal how big this news was
to him on a
professional
level
.
“Where?”

“Up town. He was trying not to be seen, that’s obvious, but he was coming out of a billiards bar.”

“Which one?”

“Dixon’s, on 25
th
.”

“And what were you doing over there?”

She smiled at him and said, “
Aww
, you worried about me, Cole?”

“Yes,” he replied honestly. “That’s kind of a shitty part of town.”

She raised an eyebrow. “
And you learned that when, newbie
?”

She’d caught him off-guard. Damn, he needed to stop being so casual.

“I heard about a crazy bachelor party someone had,” he lied. “They mentioned it was the worst part of town or something. Anyway, you didn’t talk to him or anything, did you?”

“No. I saw him as I drove by—”

“And why were you in that part of town?” he interrupted. Obviously it wasn’t a day or time he’d been following her.

“I used the street for a photo project,” she said. “If you look closely at Cody’s fight poster, 25
th
Avenue is
faded
in the background. It’s where Cody grew up.
I’d already done the photos a while back, but I went there yesterday to get an extra few shots during the sunset. I’m not sure if I’ll change the design with a new photo or not, but I wanted the option.
”

He slightly nodded. He was normally good with detail like that but hadn’t noticed.

“
I was there for, like, two minutes tops. I took
my
picture
s
from the north end of the street, and then
I
left. I saw Q when I was heading for home so I pulled over and just started following him while he walked.”

“You tailed him, huh.” Cole chuckled, trying to picture it.

“Hey, I did a pretty good job. He walked four blocks and then unlocked a trashy looking duplex and disappeared inside.”

“But are you sure he actually lives there?”

“No,” she admitted. “But I watched the house for a bit. No one else came in or out.”

“Hmm,” Cole thought. “So you actually want to go in there and… And what, Dani? Turn the place over, looking for stolen jewelry?”

“I know you think I’m nuts,” she said. “I just have this weird feeling
that it’s around somewhere
.”

“Okay, I understand hunches.
But what about Van’s case?
They’ve been looking for Quincy
, haven’t they? A
nd you don’t want his defense team to know?”

“Of course I do,” she scoffed, seeming cross. “I want that little shit to confess to everything that he’s done
.
But do you really think Quincy would stick around if he knew he wasn’t in hiding anymore? It’s happened before.
He feels the heat
,
he’s gone
.
I don’t want that to happen this time.
And it’s not even about the jewelry. Maybe if I know he has it or… I don’t know. Maybe he’ll even talk to me about it. I don’t think I would scare him off, but then again, I’m sure he doesn’t want me near him because of Van. But either way, I just feel like I might learn something that could help.
I know how badly Jack needs to find him, but I’m just scared. What if he disappears for good?
”

“And you don’t trust that people will handle it this time? You don’t trust Van’s defense team?” He told himself not to take it personal, but he couldn’t help it. Damn it, he wished he could tell her.

“No, to be honest. I don’t trust anyone.”

“His lawyer is Mickey’s brother, right?”

“Jack.
Yes. And I know Van trusts him, but I don’t know these people. God, I feel like a fish out of water here.”

“Who do you trust?”

She sighed but didn’t answer the question.
She was thinking over her options.
“I guess Quincy bolted when the police were involved, right? If Jack has private investigators… That’s different, isn’t it? They can do things a little more discreetly.”

“Definitely,” he nodded. This he knew for a fact. He could understand her hesitation when it came to the police being involved. “
Who
does Jack have working for him?” he tried. “Do you think they’d be discreet enough?”

“Pssh, I don’t even know who his minions are. Van doesn’t even know
,
either.”

Cole chuckled, which caused Dani to smile and nod her head. “Okay, I see your point.”

“Talk to Jack, Dani. Or at least just say that you think you saw Quincy and… I don’t know. You say whatever you need to. Just don’t do this on your own, okay?”

She looked at him and the embarrassment returned. “I’m so sorry Cole. I can’t believe I asked you to… Jeez, I am really losing it…” She put her face in her hands and he heard her sniffle. “I’m a mess,” she said, star
t
ing to cry.

Don’t do it, don’t do it…
He got up
and sat next to her
.
Stupid ass
, he told himself as he put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him and cried a little bit more.

“I don’t know what I can do for Van,” she sniffled. “Earlier today he
said he wished he could be let out
so he could prove his innocence. It just…broke my heart.”

“We’ll figure it out, Dani. You need to take it easy, okay? You’ve got a little one that you need to consider. Getting all stressed out and upset isn’t good for a pregnancy, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” she replied, crying even more.

God,
I
really
am
an idiot!
“Dani, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you more.”

“It’s not you,” she mumbled. “I honestly believe I’m losing my mind. I can’t think straight.
I don’t sleep well.
I’ve been doing things that I don’t even understand. This morning I put on clothes that didn’t even match.”

That made him chuckle. He couldn’t help it.

“Hey,” she said, playfully smacking his chest. She sat up and wiped her face of the remaining moisture that hadn’t ended up on Cole’s shirt. “That just goes to show how screwed up I really
am
right now. I can normally match my clothes in my sleep.”

“Well, some of us can’t match our clothes in broad daylight, so that is definitely a talent.”

She smiled at his teasing.

“I think you should call Van’s lawyer, Dani. Tell him where you think Quincy is living, okay? It could be what Van’s case needs right now.”

“And what if it makes things worse?”

“What could make it worse? You’re afraid Quincy will skip town? They’ll put a tail on him, Dani. It won’t happen. I promise. Just make the call, okay?”

“Okay, I will,” she nodded.

She made the call while Cole was still in her apartment. He listened to the entire one-sided conversation while finishing his warm beer.
Ten
seconds later his own phone vibrated in his p
ocket and he knew it was Jack. But h
e played it off like it was his sister
and
let it go to voicemail.

“I’d better go call her back,” Cole said, standing up from the couch. “She gets annoying if I don’t.”

Dani smiled. “That’s what family is for.” She also stood up and he knew what was coming next. “Thank you so much, Cole.” She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. This time he lightly patted her back, just to seem like he had a soul. “I’m glad I came to you, even though you probably wish I didn’t.”

He pulled away and shook his head. “No, no… I’m glad you told me. In fact, you should probably talk to me before you carry out any crazy ideas you have.”

“I know. I probably should.”

He headed for the door and said, “Goodnight, Dani.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“A what?
Dismissal
? There’s not gonna be a trial?”

Dani shrieked with joy into the phone and
Van
had to pull it away from his ear. Jack
heard it too and
smiled as he drove.

“I’m on my way home right now,” Van told her
. “I can’t wait to
hold
you.”

Dani was bawling as she hung up. It had been
two
days since she told Jack about Quincy, and even though it didn’t produce any evidence to suggest
who really killed
Brian Thompson,
Jack was able to prove that it wasn’t Van
.

Dani cursed herself for not asking when he was going to be home. Most likely fifteen minutes if he was coming straight from
the
jail. She rushed around the house to tidy up, even though it was already pretty clean. She lit some candles just for the hell of it. It was still daylight but she didn’t care. She looked down at herself and frowned.
Sweats and a tank top.
Van wouldn’t mind, but she was about to race to the bedroom to change when she heard a key in the lock. 

She froze where she was, just anticipating the moment. The door slowly opened and his head peaked inside. He saw her standing in the middle of the room with her hands to her mouth so he entered the apartment, shutting and locking the door behind him. He had a beautiful bouquet of flowers in his hand for her, but she was in his arms within a second, hugging and kissing him, crying with joy, and the flowers were dropped to the floor.

“I love you so much,” she told him frantically. “I love you, I love you,
I
love you…”

“I love you too, Dani.”

His words got devoured instantly with more kisses.
He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his hips. Just knowing what kind of reunion they were about to have hardened him instantly. He carried her to the bedroom and laid her across the bed. He’d never seen such a beautiful sight, with her dark hair spilled all over the
beige comforter a
nd her
shimmering
sapphire eyes staring deeply into his,
begging him to make love to her.

He kissed her some more, an act he
knew
he would never tire of.
She removed his shirt, or at least tried to. Dani was so eager for his loving that she’d lost her finesse. But it made Van smile and he did it for her, more than happy to be the clothing remover for the next thirty seconds as he efficiently stripped her naked piece by piece.

Sinking inside of her was like the icing on his welcome home cake. He’d only been able to dre
am of this moment for the past ten days
.

“Oh God, Van,” she moaned into his ear. “You feel so good.”

He kissed her deeper as he let himself meld into her body. He was never going to take these moments for granted. She
pressed her hips upward
to
receive
his movements,
agreeing with the way he was sliding into her. Digging her nails into his back, she groaned some more, already close to the edge of rapture.

“
Don’t hold back,” Van teased
.
“
I
wanna
hear how much you missed me.”

She smiled against his mouth. “You know how thin these walls are,” she exhaled.

“Who gives a fuck? I think the neighbors would understand.”

“Well
you’re
giving a fuck right now.”

She laughed at her own joke and so did Van. But there was something about that word coming out of her beautiful mouth that turned him on even more. And
as if
she could read his mind, she began talking dirty to him, in both French and English. He was beginning to understand those dirty French phrases quite easily anymore, and he decided that he was now bilingual in the bedroom.

Sensing that she was close to release, Van slid his hands under her ass and adjusted the way he massaged her with his cock.