Finding Love: Incident at the Candy Apple (At the Candy Apple Series Book 2) (4 page)

She clicked the door locked behind them and they descended the flight of stairs. Jake weighed the duffle bag in his hand. It seemed heavy even to him for an overnight stay. He wondered fleetingly if maybe she wasn’t going back to that apartment in the same way she’d left her previous place.

He unlocked the trunk of his car and put her things in there.

On the drive to his place, Ellie sat silently staring out of the window.

Jake didn’t want to disturb her thoughts. Dawn was making ribbons of light across the sky as he parked in his carport and looked over at Ellie.

“I have a spare room for when friends come over. I’ll make up the bed for you.”

He brought all her things into his apartment.

Ellie followed him around, until, after he’d shaken a quilt out and put a clean cover on it, she smiled at him. “Thank you for this, Jake.”

Jake spread the quilt onto the fresh sheet he’d put on the bed. He fluffed up a pillow into a clean pillowcase and popped it down. “Think nothing of it. I’m worried about you. Do you think he’ll be back?”

Her face fell. “Who knows? I hope not.” She crumpled and sat on the end of the bed.

Jake slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Get some rest tonight and we’ll talk about things later. It’s Sunday, so no rush to work, and there’s a great café on the end the street that does the best coffee ever.”

Jake stepped away from her. He pushed down the urge to pick her up and cuddle her against his body. He crushed down the need to kiss her, worried any sexual advance would scare her. “Are you sure you’re okay? The door over there leads to the ensuite.” He waved a hand toward it.

“I’m okay. Maybe bruised, but okay, thank you.” She sounded tired.

He forced himself to the door and half out before he looked at her again. “Good night, Ellie. Wake me if you need to. If you become afraid … or need anything, water, something for the bruises…”

She smiled softly. “Okay, good night.”

Jake checked his front door was locked for the second time, and grinning at his obsessive action, he wandered to his own bedroom, and pulled off his clothes to take a shower.

He flopped onto his bed with his damp towel still around his waist. He stared at the ceiling as morning broke and strips of light crept around the blind on his window.

His eyes closed as he recalled Ellie’s kisses and her sexy body against his at the club.

Chapter Seven

Ellie showered and changed. She repacked her duffle bag with the evening dress and shoes she’d worn to the club. The dress was a favorite and she’d fix the tear in it that Tyler had made. She pushed her few toiletries into the side pocket and snapped the fastening closed. She stared at the bed Jake had made up for her and wished she could slip between those crisp white sheets, but she had to leave. Tyler had found her and she could never live in the apartment she’d leased on a monthly basis again. He’d be back. She didn’t understand it, but there it was. Ellie felt she’d never be free of him. She sat on the end of the bed and waited for a half hour.

Regretfully, she sneaked out of Jake’s apartment carrying all her stuff as best she could, and thankful the duffle bag had roller wheels for when she got to the street. Tears threatened at the back of her eyes. Jake was a sweetheart and she’d enjoyed being with him. If she could, she’d stay and get to know him better. He appealed to her in so many ways.

She took a cab to her apartment block and ducked around the back to the communal parking lot. Once safely inside her SUV she took a deep breath, started the engine, and drove away. Maybe because she was tired, or maybe because Jake really had touched her heart as they’d kissed and fucked at the club, she clearly pictured his handsome face. Regret flooded her mind.

She turned into the main street. In her rear view mirror, she saw a man running along the sidewalk a little distance behind her. The shape of him, the way he ran, told her it was Tyler. He’d not gone away or he’d come back again.
Good lord, is he trying to catch up with my car? He’s lost his mind for sure.
Ellie stepped on it. She swung her SUV into a side street she knew would take her to the bridge quicker, since there’d be no commuter traffic at that time on a Sunday morning.

* * * *

As Ellie burned rubber and hit the highway to go up state, Tyler, her former boyfriend, became her late former boyfriend as he took his chances crossing behind a bus that shifted from the overtaking lane on the main street to let an ambulance pass as its siren began screaming.

The ambulance hit Tyler full on. He flew through the air and glanced off an oncoming garbage truck.

The paramedics tried to keep him alive. They cursed, and swore to each other that they couldn’t have avoided him as they worked hard to revive him. “He ran out without warning.” The garbage truck drivers agreed. They stayed by the roadside to await a police vehicle and report what they’d seen and done. The paramedics took both Tyler and their current charge to the hospital and as they hurtled along one of them called the cops to meet them there. The man they were taking to hospital lived. Tyler was DOA.

Ellie didn’t know this of course, and she drove on until she couldn’t drive any more, and she pulled into a motel.

* * * *

Jake didn’t wake up until midday. As he turned over and checked his cell phone for the time, he remembered Ellie was in the next room. It brought a smile to his face. He saw the time and leapt out of bed. The towel dropped to the floor and he scooped it up. He ran into the bathroom and splashed cold water onto his face. He cleaned his teeth, and then ran his hands through his hair. He dragged on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

He made coffee and put waffles to toast. They were frozen but not bad if you loaded them with fresh strawberries. He poured orange juice and warmed the dishes for the waffles as he rinsed off a tray of pre-hulled berries. When breakfast was on the table, he stood back and surveyed it. He looked forward to seeing Ellie. Happiness buoyed him. He smiled as he went to the guest room and knocked softly on the door. He’d knocked a few times before he carefully opened the door in case she was sleeping, but all the same wanting to check she was okay.

When he saw the bed not even slept in and Ellie’s duffle bag gone from the low table under the window. His heart flipped and then started to race. He went into the room and opened the blind. He checked the bathroom and then stood in the middle of the guest room with sadness and concern vying for first place in his head.

He went back to the little dining alcove and sat at the table. He picked up his cup of coffee, then he put it down again.
Not even a note. Nothing. She must have gone as soon as I was asleep.
Jake’s disappointment at Ellie’s leaving was so acute he couldn’t eat breakfast. He scraped the waffles and berries from the dishes into the trash, and poured the coffee away. He put the crockery into the dishwasher, and stared out of the kitchen window.
I really liked her. Bet she’s run from that nutcase boyfriend again. I would have kept her safe. I would have beat the crap out of him if he showed his face. Poor Ellie. What a shame. Fucking hell, I hope he doesn’t find her again, wherever she ends up this time.

Jake didn’t feel like being at home, but he hung around for a couple of hours wondering if she’d change her mind and come back to his place. Around three-thirty he pulled on a jacket and went for a walk. He’d usually take a run and maybe visit the gym for an hour when sadness or loneliness struck, but this time sadness weighed heavy on him and he wandered despondently around the park until he got to the pond. He stopped there and watched some kids feeding the ducks. They clamored and scrambled for the food racing with their tail feathers wagging as they ducked their heads to snatch up the bread before it sank deep beneath the water.

I hope she’s safe.
He couldn’t keep thoughts of Ellie away. He walked home.

Jake didn’t hear about the accident until the late news flashed up a large driving license picture of Tyler Collins, ‘the latest casualty on our city roads.’ He sat up quickly from slumping on the couch and put his beer down on the coffee table. “That’s Ellie’s abusive boyfriend isn’t it?”
He peered at the scene talking aloud as if there was someone to answer him. The news reported that Tyler Collins was obviously distraught and possibly fleeing from an attacker when he ran into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Jake frowned. “Well it wasn’t me he was fleeing from, buddy,” he said aloud to the TV. The news reporter proceeded to detail the circumstances and describe how the victim had already sustained injuries consistent with a beating. Jake sighed.
I hope Ellie’s seeing this.
Maybe she’ll come back from wherever she is now.
He couldn’t feel sorry for Tyler right then.
What was he doing in the road?

Jake looked over his notes for the lecture he was giving the next morning and then checked his presentation for the meeting with an environmental agency the next afternoon. The weekend was over for him. Jake had to shrug off his sadness over Ellie and get on with life, at least for the beginning of the working week. Deep down he still hoped Ellie would appear at his front door.

Chapter Eight

Every single day Jake went home and hoped he’d find Ellie on his doorstep, until Thursday when he couldn’t stand it any longer and drove to Ellie’s place. He checked the list on the doorbells looking for her Christian name because he didn’t know her surname, or the initial E would do. He rang the bell labeled, E. Jameson, but after ringing a few times with no answer, he rang another bell. No one answered. A middle-aged couple came to the main door of the apartment building, and unlocked it to go inside.

Jake smiled at the woman. “My briefcase was stolen. My keys were in it.” He gave a shrug. “My girlfriend, Ellie, has a spare.”

The woman frowned. “Ellie’s gone. Been gone all week, so Henry says.”

She’d kept the door open for Jake and he walked into the hall. “Henry?”

The woman stepped into the elevator car and glanced around at him to answer “The concierge.” The doors closed.

Jake raced up the stairs to the apartment Ellie had taken him to on the night of the attack. He banged on the door and called her name.

A man opened his apartment door at the end of the corridor.

“Can I help you?”

Worry over Ellie overshadowed Jake’s usual good manners. “Not unless you know where Ellie’s gone.”

The man stared at Jake for a few moments. An expression of resignation passed over his face. “She only leased the place on a monthly basis. I reckon she found something better and got out before the next month’s rent was due on the first this weekend. Her stuff’s gone.” He went back into his apartment and closed the door.

Distressed by this knowledge and also a little shocked that the belongings Ellie had brought to his place were all she owned, Jake walked slowly down the stairs. In the street, a fine rain misted the evening air. Jake stood next to his car and let it wet his face for a few moments.

The gray sky brought the night closer. It seemed to Jake that the atmosphere exuded sadness. He finally got in his car and drove home.

* * * *

Saturday night Jake took a suit from its dry cleaning wrapper. He dressed, and brushed his hair, still damp from the shower. As he drove to the Candy Apple, he didn’t dare let himself hope Ellie would arrive.

He greeted the security guys on the door and flashed his membership card, even though they knew him. He bought a beer and hung out at the bar talking with Tom and then another friend who showed up alone that night.

As midnight approached, Jake’s nerves frayed and his resolve broke. He couldn’t resist moving to the area where Ellie usually arrived and sat at a table. His heart started to pound. He had to admit that he desperately wanted Ellie to show up. At one in the morning, she hadn’t.

A young woman tried to make conversation with him, but after a few moments of stilted dialogue she went away to talk with friends who’d arrived. Jake took a drink and went to sit beside the dance floor. He watched the dancers and told himself to forget Ellie.

She never showed that weekend or the one after. Four weeks later Jake hadn’t stopped looking for her.

He’d kept going to the Candy Apple on Saturdays, but hadn’t hooked up with anyone since Ellie. Jake knew the whole incident with Ellie, including his violent attack on Tyler had affected him greatly and weirdly. He felt different, as if he didn’t know what to offer any of the women who came his way. He danced with a couple of them, but couldn’t go to a room with them when asked. There was still a hollow in his heart that he couldn’t fill He knew he had to try harder to forget Ellie and accept she was gone for good, or—do something drastic.

He began to crave Ellie’s body against his. As he tried to sleep, he relived the time they’d spent together in the room before what he’d named, “the incident at the Candy Apple,” happened. He masturbated to the memory of pushing his cock between her breasts. Showering became a time when he pictured her naked and riding his cock. He’d soap up his body until he got to his cock, when he knew if he touched himself, he’d start jerking off, but almost every time he’d have a hard on just thinking about coming inside Ellie’s sweet pussy. He’d pump his cock frantically then, until his ass clenched, and his balls lifted so tight he had to lean against the shower stall tiles, winded, but still jerking off until he orgasmed groaning loudly. One Saturday morning he dreamed about her and woke up around five, horny as hell. Jake got up and made a cup of coffee. He paced around the kitchen trying to walk off his erection, as the percolator bubbled.
Fucking hell, I’m going nuts. I have to find her. I have to know if she’s safe and if she’ll give me a chance.
He dragged on his running shoes, grabbed a hoodie from his closet, and took to the park to run, think, and plan.

Jake had been a member of the Candy Apple long enough to know some of the habits and routines of staff members. He knew that the administration office wasn’t open on Sunday evenings. The surveillance room next door was of course, but Sunday night Charlie went home early and her deputy, Hawk, one of the masters from the dungeon, took over. Hawk roamed about and never went into the office as far as Jake could remember.
If I can get into the membership files I can find Ellie’s full name, her cell number—I hope she hasn’t changed that again. Her car license plate will be recorded, too, for when she used the parking lot at the club—not that I could use that. I’ll give it a try. The only problem will be if the computer has a password unless there are back up hard copies. Yeah, maybe there are. I have to try finding Ellie. If that boyfriend could, then so can I.

He pounded around the path next to the pond until, having made this plan, he realized he’d not had breakfast and was hungry.

I can do it this weekend. I will do it this weekend.