Copper, page 15
“What a charmer,” the detective mumbles. “Why are we just now seeing this?”
“I don’t know. I called over there a few weeks ago and nothing was done. I would have loved to send it then. Lucy says she reported it and your department shrugged at her.” A thought comes to mind. “Is it possible Murphy Beckett had Chicago ties that kept it quiet? I’m thinking Murphy helped him disappear. The fact that you’re here now after Murphy is dead tells me a lot.”
Detective DeLuth stands and adjusts his jacket. “It’s certainly possible. I just got this on my desk a few days ago. Can I have a copy of those?” he asks, jerking his chin to Lucy’s folder.
I hand the file over to him. “Help yourself. Bertie can make you a copy on the way out. Let me know if you have other questions or need to talk to Lucy. I’m sure she’ll tell you anything you want to know. She wants this over.”
“Yeah, we couldn’t locate her at her address on file.”
I blink but keep my face neutral. “She’s staying with a friend. She's afraid of her ex-husband if he does wander back into town.”
“Ah. I’ll let you know if we need to speak to her, but this looks pretty summed up. Glad I came here.”
I stand and shake the man’s outstretched hand again. “Nice to meet you. I’d also suggest a conversation with Jalen Quarry or one of the other partners. They’ll back up what I just told you. Good luck.”
I sit at my desk past quitting time, thinking. Coleson’s right. Something about all of this gives me the creeps. When Bertie returns Lucy’s file to me after giving it to the detective, I go through it with a fine-tooth comb, marveling that I’m flipping through a file about a woman I know so intimately.
I have everything about her past life in front of me. I made love to this woman last night and see the life she lived with a total asshole on paper today. I see what bank Beck did business with. I see when they bought a new mattress and remodeled the bathroom with a contractor. I chuckle when I see Beck made a donation to the police officer’s union and to a nearby church Lucy never mentioned. He obviously liked to keep up appearances as much as his cousin.
There’s not much with Lucy’s account. There’s the gym membership and a charge to Sephora around Beck’s birthday. Lucy was obviously expected to look nice for an event. There was also a hardware store purchase that must be the new faucet Lucy said she had replaced in the kitchen a few days before Lucy reported Beck missing. There’s absolutely nothing that raises my eyebrows.
I want to solve everything for her. Push every obstacle out of her way.
I get up and walk to my window, hands in my pockets, and stare at the town below until long after the orange sunset streaks the sky. Looking down at the road, headlights cast shadows against neighboring buildings and police red and blue lights appear sporadically as officers leave on calls.
My pants vibrate with a text, and I reach for my phone, expecting to see a text from Lucy asking if I’m coming home soon. I should have been home an hour ago.
I don’t expect to find a message from Pearl on her kids’ messaging app. She never uses that except to message her grandparents on the small tablet we got her for downloading library books. I didn’t know she knew how to reach me through it.
Pearl: Daddy?
Me: Yeah, sweetheart. What’s up?
Pearl: I’m scared.
Dots fill the screen like she’s typing, but I already have my keys and wallet in my hand and am halfway out the door before I get another message.
Pearl: There’s a man here. Lucy put me in the closet and went down to look for Ruby.
I grip the doorframe with nausea but force my feet to keep going. Something’s wrong. Lucy isn’t the type to shut kids in the closet unless there’s a good reason. Where’s Ruby in all this? I need to keep calm. I need to let my daughter know I’m coming, but I also need more information on what I’m dealing with.
Me: I’m on my way now. What’s he look like, baby?
If Beck Lenin is within a mile of my children, much less within a mile of Lucy, I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him. I check my holster for my gun. For the first time in my career, I know that I’ll have no problem using it if that bastard has one toe on my property.
I expect to see the description of Beck from my daughter. Coiffed dark hair. A smirk you want to punch. Something like that with a child’s vocabulary. I don’t expect one last message to come through as I close the door to my work-issued car and turn the emergency lights on.
Pearl: I didn’t see him, but I heard Lucy say the man’s name. Geoffrey.
I’m ten minutes from home on a normal day. I’m going to do it in four.
Chapter 23
Lucy
“Stay here,” I say, my voice shaky with fear. I blow out a breath to keep calm in front of Pearl, but I’m anything but calm.
I push aside Aaron’s old coat and what looks like some of Cynthia’s old scarves. They’re hand-knitted and probably made by Cynthia herself and saved by Aaron for his daughters to wear someday. I pull a red one down and wind it around Pearl’s neck. Maybe one of her mom’s scarves will comfort her enough to stay quiet.
Pearl doesn’t argue with me. She doesn’t put up a fight when I also push Mickey into the closet. I lovingly run my hands through the dog’s fur, trying to comfort myself. “Good dog. Stay with Pearl.”
I hand Pearl her tablet and look into the eyes that look so much like Aaron’s. “Text your dad. Can you do that for me? Tell him there’s a man in the house. After you do that, contact 911. Did Daddy show you how to do that from a tablet?”
She nods, and I shut the door, ignoring her whimper at being left in the dark. I toy with the idea of locking the door, but it won’t do any good. She wouldn’t be able to get out, but Geoffrey would still be able to get in from outside the door.
How did he even find me? I guess he knows I date Aaron and put two and two together. Did he go to my apartment first? Wait around for me? When I didn’t show up, he must have figured out where I was and waited until dark. How long has he been outside? He obviously waited until Aaron wasn’t home and wanted to make sure it was dark.
Of all the nights for Aaron to be late. This is also the one time in a year that I let my phone die and just plugged it in before I heard Ruby's muffled scream. When I went to the banister to check on her, I heard Geoffrey laugh and tell me to come find her.
I knew his voice from the gala, and I'll have nightmares about it the rest of my life if I make it through tonight.
But I have to get Ruby. I can’t leave her down there with him. Pearl will contact Aaron, and he’ll come. I trust he’s on the way and will help me. With Pearl contacting Aaron, there’s no use me going back for a dead phone.
I creep down the stairs and pause only a few seconds as my eyes adjust to the darkness. Nothing seems amiss in the living room or dining room. He must be in the kitchen.
Of course, he’s in the kitchen. If the door is locked, there’s no way police can get in from the outside.
I tiptoe to the kitchen, looking around for a weapon on the way. Grabbing nearby candlesticks off the dining room table, I silently push the door open.
I’m silent and slow, but he’s still there waiting for me. Geoffrey jerks me into the dark kitchen and pulls me so hard that I fall forward to the island counter when he lets go, hitting my head. The candlestick holder skitters across the room.
His hands fist my hair from the back, and my eyes flick around the room. In the moonlight, I can barely make out Ruby curled into fetal position on the floor two feet from me. Did he hit her? My blood boils, and I grip the kitchen counter until my fingertips hurt.
“Hi, bitch,” Geoffrey breathes in my ear.
He jerks me back with him as he shuts the kitchen door, propping a chair under the antique knob so the door can’t be easily opened. How the hell will the police get in with the impossible kitchen door and a chair against the door to the dining room?
Fear grips my stomach at the realization that I’m trapped in a kitchen with Aaron’s innocent daughter and a mafia thug with a bunch of dead friends and nothing left to lose. “What are you doing here? What do you want from me?”
“I want my money.”
“You can’t be serious. Your boss is dead. Your coworkers, or whatever they were, are dead. Why aren’t you on a flight to Guatemala? Why are you here for money you know damn well I don’t have?”
He lets go of my hair, and I grimace as he pushes my head forward when he releases me. Something pointy pushes against my shoulder, and warm liquid runs down my back. It takes me a moment to realize it’s my own blood and that Geoffrey has a knife.
I turn around and frantically look for another weapon. Unfortunately, Aaron stores the knives on the other side of the island, and I’d never get there in time.
Geoffrey points his knife to just under my chin just as loud banging and kicking sounds fill the silence in the kitchen.
“Lucy?” Aaron’s voice yells from the other side of the back door, and I nearly sag with relief. Only Geoffrey’s slimy hands hold me against the counter. “Fuck!” Aaron yells, hitting the door one last time.
I know he’s notified his staff. They’ll get in eventually. Geoffrey turns his head and smiles an evil grin at Ruby, and fear that it’ll be too late when they get in sinks into my stomach. I slap his face so he looks back at me, and I hit him as hard as Beck slapped me for fun. “Look at me, asshole. If you’re going to pick on someone in here, you pick on me. Don't you look at her again!”
He belts me across the face and Ruby screams my name from somewhere near the floor. I hold my hand out, silently telling her I’m fine. My cheek stings, and my ears ring. But I know Geoffrey’s cornered.
Unfortunately, a cornered and desperate man doesn’t make the best decisions.
He pushes me to the floor, and I slide until I’m a foot from Ruby. She reaches out, and a tiny hand runs over my shoulder. “Lucy?” she pleads.
But there’s a look in Geoffrey’s eyes that I know, even in the dim light of the kitchen.
Aaron’s given up on the back door, but frantic footsteps come from the entryway as I hear the front door open so hard it hits the living room wall. Aaron’s in the house. Geoffrey grips my throat, and my eyes bug out of my head. The door between the dining room and the kitchen rattles, but the propped door on the old brass handle is holding. “Lucy! Fuck. Lucy, answer me, baby!”
“Daddy!” Ruby frantically screams so I don’t have to.
My shoes squeak against the linoleum as I squirm under Geoffrey and he reaches to the button of his pants.
Aaron stops rattling the knob and nothing but silence is on the other side of the door. Did he leave to find another way in?
“Your boyfriend thinks he’s going to interrupt us. Maybe he will,” Geoffrey says, slapping me across the face again. I see stars, but I’ve taken worse from my husband. “But not before I fuck you bloody. I’m going to take out every dollar you owe out of your pussy, bitch. Then, I’m going to take the little girl and get a nice price for her. I have friends that’ll pay for that young of a girl. Murphy knew them, but he’s gone. Guess I’ll have to deal her in Chicago myself. I’ll find the other one, too. The price I’ll get for both of them will more than pay your debt.”
Over. My. Dead. Body.
Summoning all my strength, I ram my head into his jaw as hard as I can, hoping it buys me time. Geoffrey rears back as my forehead hits him so hard that something cracks in his mouth. My reward is a punch across the face, knocking me dizzy yet again. While I’m out of it for a split second, he takes the time to unbutton my pants.
I turn my head and spit blood from my mouth, not caring if I still have my teeth. My eyes lock with Ruby’s wide, four-year-old eyes that are so full of fear I want to cry. Those eyes do it, though. They keep me going. I won’t let him hurt her. I just need to keep him busy until her dad can get to us.
“Close your eyes, Ruby!” I yell as Geoffrey fumbles with my jeans. “Don’t you open them until I say so or Daddy says it’s OK. Do you understand?”
Only sobbing. No yes or no. She’s little and terrified, but if Geoffrey’s going to sexually assault me in this kitchen, she’s not going to fucking watch. She squeezes her eyes shut and covers them with her little fingers.
My jeans are almost halfway down my hips when another sound from the kitchen door distracts Geoffrey. The sound of loud banging and pushing on the door fills the room. The chair at the doorknob is sturdy, not a cheap wooden thing, and even Aaron can’t push it away. As I watch the door, a hatchet blade comes through the wood. Aaron’s voice is talking to someone on the other side of the door, probably explaining the situation to backup, and he grunts with each swipe at the door.
Geoffrey will leave now. He’ll flee through the kitchen door and run away. The police are coming. Aaron’s on the other side of the door with a hatchet.
But Geoffrey laughs. Is he so manic he’s not thinking straight? Is he high on the product he’s probably involved with pushing around town? I don’t know, and my brain can’t focus on that now. All I can focus on is staying alive and keeping Ruby safe until Aaron gets through that fucking door.
Aaron hacks a small, jagged square in the wood, enough for him to see into the room and know what’s happening. When I look up as Geoffrey fumbles with his pair of dingy briefs, Aaron’s face pales, and there’s an expression on his face I’ve never seen. His nostrils flare, and his eyes widen through the rectangle.
Fear.
I’ve seen him pissed off. I’ve seen him orgasm. I’ve seen him disappointed, and I’ve seen him smile with sheer joy. I’ve never once seen him scared.
Geoffrey grips my throat and looks over his shoulder at Aaron. “Glad you could join us in time to watch me sample your favorite pussy, Sheriff.”
Aaron’s eyes meet mine, and there’s a loud thud as the hatchet hits the floor in the hallway. He flexes his jaw and shows me the new object in his hand at the same time he releases the safety. He doesn’t yell or draw attention. He doesn’t insult Geoffrey or frantically cuss. He looks me straight in the eyes and says two words.
“Our thing.”
Trusting him and understanding Aaron’s direction, I bring my knees to my tits, opening my legs as much as I can with my jeans halfway down my hips as I build my strength. “Yeah, bitch. You want it now, don’t you,” Geoffrey leers, not understanding the reason for getting my legs into position. “You like him to watch, huh?”
I push.
I send every bit of force I can muster into my thighs as I plant my feet on Geoffrey’s chest and push so hard that his eyes widen in confusion as he’s pushed back like I’m doing a leg press. It wouldn’t be enough to get him away from me permanently, but it’s enough to give Aaron a clear shot for a split second. A second is all Aaron needs to know he won’t accidentally get me. I’ve never seen Aaron shoot, but I trust that he’s a good shot because he’s Aaron Dwyer. He’s good at everything.
“Go to hell,” I grunt as I roll to the side and press my body on top of Ruby, covering her face before the blood splatter and brain matter even hit the counter above us.
Ruby screams as her dad’s gun goes off again and again, and I shield her head, aiming for her ears but unsure if I’m covering them as Aaron doesn’t stop shooting until the clip empties like he’s been trained. “It’s OK, sweetheart. It’s OK. Daddy got him,” I coo to Ruby, stroking her hair as she trembles and sobs under me. “Daddy’s here, baby. Your dad will always protect you.”
I stay where I am as Aaron makes a larger hole in the door with the hatchet. Soon, he has it where it’s enough to get his arm through the old wood and push the chair from under the knob. As soon as he’s in the room, he points the gun at Geoffrey, quickly checks the man’s pulse to make sure he’s not getting up, and then slinks next to me on the floor, throwing his arms around us. Ruby buries her head in his neck as Aaron hugs us both, a tear sliding down his left cheek. After a few minutes, another set of arms snakes around us. Pearl. I look up into her tear-stained face and smile as she holds on to Mickey’s collar. That amazing dog stayed with Pearl in the closet, protecting her the whole time.
Aaron squeezes his eyes shut and rocks all three of us like he’s never letting go as sirens blare in the distance.
Chapter 24
Aaron
“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” I say, placing another board on the sawhorse and bringing down the electric saw. “I hope you know this was my football room.”
Lucy smiles at me from her place hammering a nail into a board. Her hair is swept back, and her black sweatpants are covered with paint and dust. “I need an office. Since you insisted on kidnapping me here forever, I need a place to do my work now that I’ve got my own business.”
And what a place it’ll be. Pole fitness is booming, and there’s not anything like it in our county. Women have been making the drive into Chicago for pole and lap dance classes. My Lucy will make a killing at what she does. We already rented the space with some of the money she had saved up to pay the mafia. A small loan I cosigned for to establish some credit for her is going to lighting, poles, installation, and office supplies. The look of pride on her face as she gets her own financial life in order makes me hate her ex-husband even more, if possible. She also needs a home office. I don’t like the idea of her working late nights at the studio. We’ve been working on the room all week.
I smile as I measure because this room being an office may be temporary. Maybe we’ll add on to the house, but we’ll need more room for other reasons soon enough. Lucy and I have discussed it. She wants a child, and I want one more while Ruby and Pearl are still young. I don’t want them spread out too much in age. Maybe it’s too soon, but she’s going off the pill after her next cycle. It’s not like we need to get to know each other better. I’ve known her for so long that it seems like we were born at the same hospital on the same day and had a secret code from the beginning.
