It wasn’t so easy for Nikki. Although she’d managed to grab Risa’s dressing gown before they’d climbed out the window, she was still naked underneath and barefoot. Even the pleasant day felt cold. The asphalt shingles scraped her knees and toes. And as she crabbed uncertainly down the roof and climbed back into the bedroom, she was sure the whole neighborhood could see right up the short silk robe.
She needn’t have worried about modesty. As soon as she got inside, Eddie untied the belt and ripped the robe off her shoulders.
“You’d better pick something out of the closet. The police will be here soon. Unless you want them to see you like this.” He grinned. Not a nice smile. “I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you Nikki? All the cops seeing you?”
Nikki shook her head, thinking about the man in her car. Last night had started out like something from her dreams. It had become a nightmare. “I only want you, Eddie. You know that.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Of course, I’m sure.”
“Then make sure you pick out something nice. She wore a red, silk blouse to our last interview.”
“She? Who?”
“Risa. Start with that. The red silk. No bra. Let’s see how you measure up.”
This couldn’t be happening. Eddie wasn’t like this. He loved Nikki. He did. Nikki might have started writing him to show her sister, but he’d fallen in love with her and she with him. This had nothing to do with Risa. Not anymore.
“I don’t like that blouse, Eddie. It looks so stuck up. Like Risa. That’s not me.”
“Make it you.”
“Why?”
“Because I like it.”
“But it’s not—“
His slap wrenched her head to the side. She stumbled and fell to the floor, her cheek stinging.
Eddie stood over her. “Are you going to dress the way I like?”
Nikki stared at him, her mind stuttering, refusing to catch hold of what was happening.
“Are you, Nikki? Because if not, I can leave you here.”
“No, no…”
“Maybe you really do want the cops to find you here, legs wide and tits hanging out. Is that it, Nikki? You one of those badge bunnies?”
“No. Eddie, please. I want to be with you.”
“You know how many women wrote to me? Sent me pictures? Made me promises?”
She knew. He’d told her all about them. How beautiful they were. How they all wanted to meet him. How she was better than all of them combined.
She’d believed it. She wanted to believe it still.
Eddie let out a heavy sigh. “Look at you.”
Reflexively, Nikki tried to cover herself.
“No, no, no.” Eddie brushed at her arms. “Don’t cover perfection.”
Nikki slowly moved her hands away. She relaxed the clamp of her legs.
“That’s better. I can never stay mad at you, Nikki. You know that. One look at that body, and I’m powerless. It’s all I can do to keep myself from making love to you again.” He looked at the bed.
Nikki could hear her pulse thumping in her ears. She wished he would make love to her. Not like he’d done earlier in Risa’s bed. He’d hurt her then. Made her bleed. But even like that, it was better than not knowing what he was thinking. When he was inside her, she always knew that he loved her.
She reached for his fly.
His lips thinned in a smile. “No time. We have to leave. Now get some clothes on. Unless you’d rather stay...”
“Please, Eddie.”
“You want to go with me?”
“More than anything.”
“That’s a good girl. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I love you, Eddie.”
He helped her up and moved close to her, as if about to kiss her.
Nikki tilted her head back and let her eyelids close. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to know how much he cared.
A sharp pressure cut her neck. A small pop sounded in the air. When she opened her eyes, Eddie was standing in front of her, her locket in his fist. “Risa doesn’t wear one of these.”
“But she gave it to me. It has—”
“I don’t care. It’s juvenile. Now wear something nice. Sophisticated. Something to make me proud.” Shoving her necklace into his pocket, he returned to Risa’s bathroom and started flossing his teeth.
Rubbing the back of her neck, Nikki stepped into Risa’s walk-in closet. The red blouse caught her eye immediately, but she didn’t take it off the hanger. Instead, she pulled on some pink panties, a pair of hundred-dollar dark wash jeans, socks and lace-up shoes.
Then choking back a sob, she slid the silk blouse off its hanger and pulled it on.
Lund
David Lund would rather go on his daily jog right at the break of dawn, when the morning was still invigoratingly cool. But today he had a good excuse for being late.
He’d had a date. Sorta.
Lund settled into a rhythm, his breath echoing the pounding of his feet on the dead-end country road. His old buddy Stan trotted beside him, tail in the air, happy as can be to be taking part in their daily five mile loop. The retriever’s golden head might be turning mostly white, but the old guy didn’t give that a thought. He lived for the morning jog. The way Lund had when he was younger. Before his last birthday, when he realized he wanted more from life.
He wanted a career.
He wanted a wife.
He wanted kids.
And this morning, postponing the exercise routine in favor of a cup of coffee at the Blue Ox Café in the Dells, he’d found one of the pieces to his puzzle.
Kelly Ann Meinholz.
He remembered her from Lake Loyal High, eons ago. She’d been younger than him, a freshman when he was a senior, and he’d been too busy playing ball and too awkward around girls to think about dating much back then. But he remembered. And when she started waiting tables at the Blue Ox, he’d decided it might be about time he talked to her.
Hence this morning’s coffee. Coffee that turned into a full breakfast, a lot of smiles, and maybe even a future date. A real date.
Lund reached the end of the road, wishing he hadn’t eaten quite so many Paul Bunyan flapjacks. A car parked on the other side of the street, its windows fogged on the inside. He had just completed the turn and started back the other way when Stan stopped full. The leash pulled out of Lund’s hand.
“Stan.”
The dog ignored him, trotting over to the car.
“Stan, come.”
Nothing.
Lund followed the dog. Close up, he could see through the condensation on the windows. No movement, just a parked car.
Stan jumped up, his front paws on the passenger door.
Lund stepped closer and grabbed the dog’s collar, then the trailing leash. “Come on, Stan.”
The dog didn’t move.
Giving a sigh, Lund moved closer still, trying to see what Stan found so fascinating. A smell wafted from the car, sweet, kind of metallic. And sprawled awkwardly across both front bucket seats lay a motionless man.
Risa
Risa couldn’t stop shaking. Not even after Trent had driven her back to his hotel room in Lake Loyal and affixed the door’s security lock behind them. Noise from the construction outside roared through the open window and vibrated in her chest. The hotel was adding another wing, along with a pool and breakfast room, the sign in front had said.
Progress.
She ran her gaze over the room. Two chairs hovered around a tiny round table. Outdated gray and mauve draperies framed the second story window, the same pattern spreading across the broad expanse of the king-size bed. Generic flower prints hung on the wall. The décor relying on its very commonness to make guests feel secure.