Rock Chick

Chapter Twenty Two Souls Separated in Heaven

“You don’t have to model, I know I want the red,” Lee said.

We were back in the Crossfire, idling in front of Fortnum’s, Chowleena panting on my lap.

Rosie and the hit man had both been arrested. Eddie had the hit man’s gun which probably had been used to fire a bullet into Pepper Rick’s brain. I’d given my billionth statement to the police in a week. Hank had swung by and seemed to be spending a lot of energy trying not to murder me or Ally and wasn’t talking to Lee but seemed to be siding with Eddie in the whole Indy Ride-Along Debate. Eddie was exuding a pissed off vibe that kept everyone at a distance. Finally, Lee’s man Matt came to pick us up and took us to the Crossfire.

I wasn’t following the current conversation so I turned questioningly to Lee.

“First,” he finished his thought.

“What?” I asked.

His hand came out and hooked me around the neck bringing me to him.

“Underwear, garters, stockings,” he murmured against my mouth.

Of course.

I wasn’t surprised Lee chose the red. It wasn’t only racy, red was a power color.

His mouth brushed mine and then he let me go.

“Give me your phone,” he demanded.

I handed it to him. His hand curled around it and he pressed buttons with his thumb.

“Let me know where you are, everywhere you go. I want to know you get there safe. I’ve got things to do and I don’t know where I’ll be. If you can’t get hold of me, I’m programming your phone with the number to the surveillance room. There’s someone there twenty-four-seven and they can always get word to me.”

“Okay.”

“If I’m finished in time, I’ll meet you at The Hornet. If not, I’ll meet you at your house.”

“What if you’re not finished on time but finished in the middle of the night, like last night?”

His eyes caught mine.“I’ll meet you at your house.”

“What if I’m sleeping?”

“I’ll use my key.”

“What key?”

“The key I had copied from Ally’s key.”

“Does Ally know you copied my key?”

He didn’t answer. This meant no.

“When did you do this?” I asked.

His eyes crinkled but there was still no answer.

“Why did you do this?”

One of his forearms was on the steering wheel, the other one on the back of my seat. He grabbed a lock of hair and wrapped it around his finger.

“I figured I’d need one eventually, so when I had the opportunity to take care of that chore, I took it.”

“You’re very cocky, have I told you that?”

“I think you’ve mentioned it.”

He pulled my hair toward him and I had no choice but to follow it. He kissed me, no brush on the lips this time, this one left me a little bothered.

Okay, a lot bothered.

He waited until the door to Fortnum’s closed behind Chowleena and I and he took off.

Duke was behind the book counter, Tex was behind the espresso counter. There were no customers and no sign of Jane.

“You need to go home, you were shot three days ago,” I told Tex.

“I was waitin’ for you to get here. I wanted to hear about your day,” Tex answered.

I threw myself full body on one of the couches. Chowleena jumped up, sat beside me and stared at Tex. Everyone, man, woman and dog, stared at Tex.

I ran down an abbreviated version. “I had a tour of Lee’s Command Headquarters, nearly got into a bitch-slapping fight with his receptionist, then I tasered a hit man in the street just before he got the chance to shoot me. We found Rosie and he’s been arrested and now I’m here.”

Duke put his elbow on the counter and his forehead in his hand.

Tex stared at me and he looked disappointed.

Then he shrugged. “The day’s still young.”

I closed my eyes.

Tex left and I stayed where I was.

“Do you know how old that guy is?” Duke asked.

“Old… ish?” I answered the question with a question.

Duke didn’t reply, but instead he said, “Do you know he’s an ex-con?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Do you know he hasn’t had a job since he got back from ‘Nam?”

I opened my eyes and looked at Duke. “No.”

“Totally dropped out, so dropped out that he makes me look like a soccer mom. Even before he went to prison and definitely after.”

Yikes.

“How do you know this?” I asked.

“Hank came by.”

I nodded and closed my eyes again.

“He makes great coffee, everyone’s talkin’ about it,” Duke said.

Finally, a real piece of good news.

When Duke spoke again, his gravelly voice sounded from right above me and my eyes popped open again.

“You’re doin’ a good thing by him. No man can live his life surrounded by cats, never leavin’ his block.”

I nodded again and said, “Outside of the gunshot wound, he’s fit as a fiddle. He threw me through a window and you saw what he did on stage at BJ’s. He’s in good shape, at least physically. Mentally is still up for debate.”

“Yeah,” Duke replied, then looked out the window. “Ain’t none of my concern but I gotta tell you, it’s good to see you and Lee aren’t circlin’ each other anymore. Your grandmother used to say that you were two souls separated in heaven. She mainly meant you were both trouble and deserved each other.”

Great.

Duke went on. “She’d be fuckin’ thrilled if she was still alive.”

I felt my throat close up. When it reopened, I said quietly, “Thanks, Duke.”

“When we close, I’m walkin’ you home.”

It wasn’t a question. I did, of course, have Chowleena with me but I didn’t think bad guys would be scared off by a Chow with fur chaps and attitude.

“Okay,” I agreed.

When I got home, I called Marianne and set up a time to meet at The Hornet. Then I called Lee to tell him I was home. He was at the hospital checking on Luke. I was glad I didn’t have a ride-along on that one or my Denial Zone would be obliterated.

I gave Chowleena some kibbles and water. She put her nose up at the kibbles so I gave her a doggie biscuit. Then she gave me her pathetic look so I gave her another one. Then she pranced into the living room, curly tail swaying in the air, jumped up on my new couch, circled about twenty times, flopped down and settled in.

I jumped into the shower and did my Indy Out for the Night Preparations complete with leg shave. I didn’t really feel up to it, I was tired and hadn’t had a Disco Nap. However, there was a possibility Lee was going to meet us at The Hornet and his receptionist looked like she stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. I thought it best to put some effort into it.

I grabbed my dress that was just a thick band of stretchy black from which fell a swath of olive green gauzy material swirled through with cream and black. The band fit above my breasts, the gauze fell in a scarf-like hem to above the knee. I put on a droopy black belt with a big circular silver buckle and bloused the dress over it, making it mini. I fluffed out my hair, pawed through the dregs at the back of my makeup drawer and slapped on some makeup, put on a pair of big silver hoop earrings, a bunch of bangles on my wrist, a bunch of silver rings on my fingers and pulled on my black cowboy boots. I shoved some stuff into a black purse and headed out the door.

I walked to The Hornet, which was only four blocks away. I didn’t waste any time, Rosie was found, Pepper Rick and Sandy Pete were out of the picture and the hit man was behind bars. I was likely relatively safe but I wasn’t going to take any chances.

Marianne was there when I got there, sitting on a stool at the bar. I’d asked Ally to join us but she had a shift at Brother’s. I’d braved the pissed off brute and asked Eddie if he wanted to come but he was going to be bogged down in paperwork.

“I wish I could wear a dress like that,” Marianne told me when I slid on the booth next to her.

Marianne used to be a size four. Her hair changed color with her mood, so much so that I didn’t remember what it was when it started out. Now it was brunette. She had big gray eyes. She was always pretty and regardless of the weight, she still was a looker. She’d been popular, being so dainty and cute, boys flocked to her. Her divorce had taken its toll, it was ugly, she still wasn’t over it and she was eating through the pain.

I had no response for her and ordered a spiced rum and diet and excused myself and called Lee, again, to tell him I was at The Hornet. Marianne didn’t question this, she’d been an innocent bystander in one of my shootouts and anyway, Lee was hot.

“Well?” Marianne asked when I flipped my phone shut.

I sighed.

“Lee doesn’t take the bows from bras or panties, at least not anymore,” I said.

Marianne’s eyes lit up.

“Is he good?”

The way she asked it wasn’t gossipy or voyeuristic, it was a friend asking a friend about her sex life, which in my circle of friends was a natural thing. We weren’t exactly Sex in the City but we shared. It also meant our conversation wasn’t going to be e-mailed to half of the greater Denver Metropolitan Area by midnight.

So I answered her. “He’s good.”

“How good?” she asked.

My eyes slid to her. “Real good.”

Her face spread in a smile and I returned it.

“I’m so happy for you,” she whispered.

I was beginning to be happy for me too.

My drink came and I ordered a buffalo chicken salad with extra bleu cheese dressing. Marianne announced she was going on a diet and she ordered one too, without the bleu cheese dressing.

We ate at the bar, the plates were whisked away, I was on my third rum and diet and Marianne had gone to the bathroom when my hair was brushed to the side, a hand gliding across my bare shoulders. I looked around, then up, and saw Lee standing over me.

He’d showered and changed and he looked good. He was wearing jeans that were worn in but still newish, brown cowboy boots and forest-green collared shirt.

I smiled at him.

He frowned at me.

“Where’re the rest of your clothes?”

I looked down at my dress then back up at him.

“These are my clothes,” I said. “You don’t like it?”

“Yeah, I like it. If you’re wearin’ it in my kitchen while cookin’ steaks. I don’t like it when you’re wearin’ it sittin’ on a barstool and thirty guys are imaginin’ your legs wrapped around their backs.”

Jeez.

“Lee, you’re gonna have to get over this jealous-possessiveness thing.”

“Indy, you’re gonna have to get used to the fact that I’m the jealous-possessive type.”

Great.

I decided to change the subject. I wasn’t going to change how I dressed and he wasn’t going to start to like it. We were at a stalemate.

“Have you had dinner?”

“I grabbed something at the condo.”

His eyes moved to the bar and he lifted his chin and said to the bartender, “Fat Tire.”

Marianne still hadn’t materialized so I decided to broach a new subject.

“We need to talk about Eddie.”

Lee slid into the area between me and Marianne’s barstool, his hip pressing my knees to the side, he rested his forearm on the bar.

“Yeah, we do. From now on, you see Eddie only when I’m with you.”

My teeth clenched. “Okay, first we need to talk about you bossing me around all the time and how I really don’t like it.”

His eyes crinkled and I knew he thought I was being cute.

“I’m being serious.” I went on.

His beer came, he slid a note across the counter, took a pull and leaned into me. “This is how it works, I tell you how I feel, I’m honest about it, you do the same. A lot of the time we won’t agree but we’ll deal.”

I blinked at him.

Did he really think that was going to work?

Lee kept talking. “Obviously you heard our conversation. I know where Eddie stands, Eddie knows where I stand. If things are good between you and me, Eddie won’t be a threat. They start to go bad, Eddie’s movin’ in.”

“I got that part,” I said.

“I don’t intend for things to go bad but that doesn’t mean that Eddie isn’t gonna give you hints at what you might be missin’.”

Holy crap.

Lee continued. “So I want to be there when you’re with him because I’m the jealous-possessive type. That’s just the way it is and now you know how I feel. If you see him when I’m not there, then it’s down to you. Okay?”

“So, you aren’t telling me what to do, you’re telling me what you want.”

“If I wanted a woman who did what she was told, I wouldn’t be with you.”

I didn’t know any women who did what they were told, but I suspected they were out there. I just didn’t hang with them because that definitely wasn’t my scene.

“If it’s just you sharing your feelings, perhaps you can voice it less like an order,” I suggested.

“I’m used to giving orders and if it sounds like one then there’s always a chance you’ll obey.”

I gave him a look.

He gave me The Smile.

Marianne walked up and our conversation ended. While Marianne and I chatted and finished our drinks, Lee stood close behind me and nursed his Fat Tire. So close, I got comfy and rested my back against his front. Every once in awhile Marianne would take us both in and sigh.

When we were done, Lee and I walked Marianne to her car, I hugged her good-bye on the sidewalk and Lee and I watched her drive away. We went back to the front of The Hornet where Lee was parked, at the curb almost directly outside the front doors.

“How do you get these parking spots?” I asked when Lee opened the door for me.

“Luck,” he answered.

Bullshit. Luck. It was one of Lee’s “ways”.

We were coming away from the curb when his cell rang. He answered it as he was cutting across the four lanes of Broadway so he could make the turn right to my house.

“What?” he said into the phone and then barked out a clipped, “Details.”

Before he was done listening, he moved back into traffic. He flipped the phone shut and slid it in the console.

“I thought it’d be a quiet night. I need a quiet night,” he muttered to the windscreen, not talking to me.

“What are we doing?” I asked.

“We aren’t doin’ anything. I’ve got something to do. You’re waitin’ in the car.”

“Lee, that sounded like an order.”

“That was an order.”

Hmm.

Lee explained, “Luke was scheduled on call tonight but since he’s in the hospital, we’re a man down. I thought it’d be a quiet night, only one skip who can wait and most of the boys have been doubling up, working cases and doing stuff for you. All of your shit is either dead, behind bars or been offered employment at Fortnum’s. An informant’s called Ike whose manning the surveillance room. The skip has turned up. Bobby and Vance are on call but instead of at the office, I let them go home. Vance lives in a cabin outside Golden. I’m closest. Bobby’s comin’ as back up. He’s five minutes behind.”

“How do they know you’re closest?”

“All company vehicles have a tracking device, the Crossfire and your VW have one too.”

My VW? This was news.

“Really?” I asked.

“Really.”

“These days, my car never moves,” I told him, like he didn’t know since he took me practically everywhere.

“I know,” he said.

“Are you gonna take it off now that Rosie’s found?”

“You’re now covered by Nightingale Security.”

Er… what?

“I thought you weren’t doing security anymore.”

“Only special circumstances. The boys monitor the condo and now they monitor you.”

“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that.”

“You will be when some nut job with a vendetta against me uses you to get to me and my boys get to you in five minutes rather than after you’ve been raped and murdered.”

Yikes.

I hit the mental control that set up Denial Zone around that subject and changed it to a new one.

“Who’s Ike?”

“Another of my men.”

“How many haven’t I met?”

“Luke, Mace, Jack and Ike.”

Mace? Who had a name like Mace? Where did these macho idiots come up with this shit?

“You got a guy named Mace?” I asked, I couldn’t help myself.

“His name’s Mason. Mason is a shit name. We call him Mace.”

That made sense.

“Oh,” I said.

We pulled up outside a bar off Colfax Avenue that I never knew existed, though I couldn’t say I spent much time on Colfax.

The bar looked rough.

Lee yanked the parking brake, turned off the car and twisted toward me.

“You stay here, stay down and keep the doors locked. Bobby will be here soon.”

I nodded.

He got out. I locked the doors and watched him go in. Then I leaned across the console, found the trunk release and grabbed the keys. I got out and went to the trunk. My belt was there. As far as I knew, Ally still had the pepper spray, Eddie had the taser which left me with the stun gun. I grabbed it, closed the trunk, bleeped the locks and walked toward the bar.

I did this for several reasons. Firstly, I felt more vulnerable and exposed in the car. Secondly, I’d never liked to be left out, not to mention, I was beginning to see why guys liked this shit, it was a rush. Lastly, I wanted to see Lee in action.

I walked into the bar and stood stock-still.

Even though it had been less than two minutes since Lee left me, a humongous black guy was laid out on the floor, long arms and legs sprawled, one of his wrists over his head and he was cuffed to the foot rail that ran the length of the bar.

Lee was in the middle of the room, some guy who was either drunk or not very good at what he was doing was aiming punch after punch at Lee. Lee dodged each punch with a calm jerk of his head and upper body, then out of nowhere, Lee’s fist came up and jabbed the guy in the left eye. Surprise and the power behind the jab sent the guy back three steps.

Lee was advancing on him when someone jumped Lee from behind and I could see another guy was approaching. Lee bent at the waist and flipped the guy over his shoulder. Mid-flip Lee’s torso lifted up. Using his strength and the guy’s momentum, Lee threw him, upside down, into the guy coming at them. The two guys went toppling backwards, slammed into a table and drinks flew everywhere.

This heralded the beginning of the brawl, including shouting, grunting, flying beer bottles and broken furniture. One second, Lee was the show, the next second, everyone was in on the act.

Two new guys came at Lee and he turned to one, not a small guy, not even average, though he wasn’t huge, and Lee grasped him by the collar of his t-shirt and belt of his pants, picked him up and threw him four feet across the room.

Just… like… that.

The guy that Lee jabbed was recovering and going toward Lee so I felt it was time to wade into the action. I hit the switch on the stun gun, it started to crackle and I moved forward and touched the guy with the prongs. He went still and went down.

Holy shit!

That was cool.

Lee’s eyes locked on mine, he gave a small shake of his head and then turned and dispatched another guy with a smooth uppercut. The guy went sailing.

“Hey, whitey! What the fuck you doin’?” I turned to see a black woman, hand on hip, head wobbling from side to side. “You can’t just stun gun my man… you can’t just… eek!”

I put the prongs to her, she went still then went down.

“Yo, bitch! Who you messin’ with?” The girl’s girlfriend was coming at me, all pissed off attitude, definitely in bitch smackdown mode. So I leaned forward, put the prongs to her too and she went down as well.

Regardless of the bedlam, people were giving me, and my crackling stun gun, a wide berth. Then, two hands settled on my waist. I was lifted up and my butt was planted on the bar. Lee bent, grabbed my ankles, swung my legs around to the back of the bar, then with a hand between my shoulders, he gave me a shove and I fell over to the other side.

Bobby came in and spotted Lee immediately. He fought his way to Lee, they both bent down and I couldn’t see them over the bar. The place was pandemonium and twice I had to duck, once to dodge a flying beer bottle, the second time to duck and run from a flying chair.

Bobby and Lee came up with the humongous guy, cuffed now at the back.

Bobby pushed humongous guy forward, half-walking him, half-scooting him along. The big guy was either mostly knocked-out or stunned. Bobby, who was even bigger, in fact bigger than anyone in the room, didn’t have a problem handling humongous guy or wading through the crowd.

Lee jumped the bar, lifted me up and planted me on the bar again, reverse action. He went back over the bar, snagged me around the waist and hauled me out of there.

Sirens were blaring and a cop car had already rolled up. Willie and Brian were headed into the bar as we came out and I saw another squad car approach.

Brian’s mouth dropped open when he saw me.

Willie’s eyes turned to Lee. There was some nonverbal male communication going on that I couldn’t decipher except I had a feeling that Lee was not going to win the Cop’s Daughter Boyfriend of the Year Award.

“I’m droppin’ Indy, I’ll meet you at the station,” Lee informed Bobby as Bobby shoved the humongous guy in the backseat of an SUV, then pulled out some ankle shackles.

I was jazzed. I’d never been in a bar brawl before, if you didn’t count what happened at BJ’s Carousel. Personally, I was classifying that as a shootout rather than a bar brawl.

I discovered I loved stun guns, stun guns were righteous when they weren’t used on you.

And Lee could kick ass.

He was calm, cool and totally in control.

No one touched him, no one even got near him.

Lee drove down Colfax, going fast, weaving in and out of traffic and not saying anything.

“You’re thinking of cuffing me to the bed again, aren’t you?” I asked.

“No, I’m wondering if I should skip town before getting lynched.”

Hmm.

“Can I keep the stun gun?” I asked.

Lee didn’t answer.

He pulled up in front of my house and I turned to him, I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer.

“Is it a bad thing that I’m, like, totally jazzed?”

Lee twisted toward me, his face in shadow. “No.”

“Did you learn to fight like that in Special Operations School?”

“I learned to fight like that in bar fights.”

“Aren’t you jazzed?” I asked, he seemed so calm.

“Yeah, I’m jazzed. And I’d like you to get out of the car so I can go to the station and deal with the paperwork and get home so I can work that feelin’ out with you.”

Holy crap.

“Okay!” I chirped, leaned forward and gave him a quick peck and hightailed it out of his car.

Lee took off when I was safely inside.

I let Chowleena out the front for a change of scenery.

I ran upstairs and yanked out my red lace undies and garter belt.

There was gratitude owed not to mention I was allowing happiness to seep through those walls Lee said I had built around me.

And I had one seriously hot, badass, good-looking boyfriend.

I didn’t have any stockings that weren’t black so black would have to do. I had a pair of black pumps with a dangerously pointed toe, a thin stiletto heel and a saucy ankle strap and I yanked them out of their box. I pulled off my clothes, put on the underwear, threw on a short robe, and ran and called Chowleena in. Then I smoothed on the stockings and lit the room softly with a small lamp on my dressing table that gave just enough light to see but not enough light to see.

Then I paced, waiting for Lee. It couldn’t take that long and he was jazzed, he’d want to get home.

I put the shoes by the side of the bed so I could put them on when I heard him come in.

I laid down on my bed to wait.

Immediately my adrenalin crashed and I fell asleep.