In Love by Design (The Adventures of Anabel Axelrod) (40 page)

Mia crossed her slender arms over her curves and
mocked sweetly, “Well Geez, then taking on one more shouldn’t be any trouble for such an incredible badass as you!”

Hiding my grin,
I took the final sip of my wine. “Aren’t you just the cutest little smart cookie? Now go to bed and leave me alone.”

“
What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes

Friday 12/07/12

11
:55 PM

It’s late, but it’s a
Friday night, so I called Chief Jack Banner from the privacy of Luke’s bedroom.

His gruff voice demand
ed, “Are you in jail again?”

“I wouldn’t call Luke’s farm jail exactly
, but speaking of favors…”

Jack interrupt
ed and complained, “Can’t you ever just call me to say hello?”

“
I’m sorry, have I hurt your feelings? Should I call you every night at midnight from now on and say good night, you big baby?”

He growled,
“This is how you ask for favors?”

I protest
ed, “Hey, against my better nature, I was nice to you twice this past week at the gun club, so don’t push your luck.”

A brief snort came over line. “
Okay, Tiny Terrorist, what’s the favor?”

Shaking my head over th
is latest term of endearment, I said, “What do you know about a Faribault cop named Chuck Trotter?”

There was silence on the line and when he
finally answered, Jack’s voice had no trace of humor. “No, Junior, the question is why are you asking me about a Faribault cop?”

I d
idn’t mince words. “Jack, the guy’s dangerous. He’s stalking a nineteen-year-old friend of mine and he won’t stop. I want it to stop. Can you help me help her?”

Jack’s eruption into a
viciously long string of curse words, beginning and ending with “That fucking peckerhead should’ve had his balls cut off years ago” were a clue that he didn’t think too highly of Officer Chuck Trotter.

“Your friend’s a Mexican girl?” Jack stated more than asked.

“Ah, I see Trotter’s reputation precedes himself, but Mia’s Puerto Rican and Diego’s second cousin.”

Jack bark
ed out questions that I answered without any mention of Mia’s extracurricular activities. By the time we ended the call, I was pretty reassured that when Jack Banner got done with him the oversight with Officer Chuck Trotter’s balls would be rectified.

That problem
was taken care of for now, but it was officially Saturday. My shoulders felt physically weighted down with disappointment that Dickie had not come through. I really had faith the odd little dude would be able to get us information leading to the identity of his killer client and that would be that.

Obviously
that was wishful thinking on my part, but could you blame me? What girl wants to believe there was someone out there that hates her so much they’d pay someone to kill her? What girl wants to look over their shoulder and worry every minute of every day until the bad guy was caught?

Not this girl, that’s for sure.

In the quiet darkness, I made the rounds of all the doors and windows in Luke’s house to verify they’re locked. I felt secure in the knowledge Luke will get notifications of any movements on his property by his security system. If I was gutted in my sleep while my boyfriend was out gallivanting, at least he’d know that it went down.

‘Maybe
Luke can show those snuff videos to the next woman he’s only ever committed to!
’ I grumbled, feeling terribly sorry for myself and lonely. And yes, I admit I was a little scared, but mainly I was cranky. It was no fun climbing into that big bed alone at my first ever weekend sex party.

Taking a quick shower, I
went over in my head what I knew about this enemy out to kill me. It was depressingly not much. I have many more questions that I wished I’d asked Dickie yesterday when I had the chance. He claimed not to know anything, but maybe I could have toggled his brain.

At the apartment this afternoon when I’d searched the internet, I looked up ho
uses for sale on various websites, including Zillow and MLS. If the sites have pictures attached, it’s easy to determine if a property was occupied or not. Otherwise, there’s no category that spells this out, although sometimes it’s written in the description blurb. I combed through every rural property for sale I could find in Rice Country. I didn’t find any listings, pictures or not, that matched the abandoned property where I was taken by Dickie.

Unwinding my braids, I brush
ed my hair while plotting my next move. It’s always possible that the person arranging my abduction and demise was a local that knows the area well enough to pick out that house, but has no connection to the property legally. However, it was worth the follow up to search the property records and find out the owner’s name on the title.

Brushing my teeth, I ma
de a face in the mirror. I don’t know why I’d begun assuming my enemy was not local. Probably because the thought the killer was someone I passed every day on the street or someone I considered an acquaintance, or heaven help me, a friend creeped me out big time.

Rubbing my body with
my favorite oil, not even the sensuous floral smell of rose and jasmine could raise my spirits enough to make me want to pick out a pretty to wear to bed. Instead, I searched the drawers of the massive black dresser until I found Luke’s neatly folded T-shirts. I pulled a soft white one over my head.

Turning off all the lights in the room but the bedside lamp, I
put Rita and my phone on the table. I was getting cozy with my books, the pillows, and the comforter when my phone vibrated.

I snatch
ed it up, but slumped when I saw it was Anna. “Hey girl, what’s up?”

“Sorry, did I wake you?” She asked, surprised.

“No, I’m just bummed we’ve never heard from Dickie, but I am tired, too. I’m going to bed.” I yawned and stretched. “You?”

“Yeah, I am hitting the sack
here in a minute. Is Luke home yet?”

“Nope, not yet
, but I wish he was.”

A few seconds of quiet hum
med over the phone before Anna continued. “Oh, well, I thought I’d let you know that I’m staying at Reggie’s tonight and the poker party is over.”

“
Okay.” I answered slowly.

‘Damn!” Anna sw
ore. “Listen, Junior, I don’t know what to think, but I need to tell you something. Right when everyone was leaving a few minutes ago, I was standing near Luke when he got a text. He put his phone down on the table to put on his jacket. I didn’t mean to read his text, but I kind of dropped a pretzel right then and couldn’t help seeing what it said.”

“
Okay,” I repeated quietly.

“Don’t tell me that you don’t want to know what it said!” cried Anna.

I laughed grimly. “I won’t. What did it say, Anna?”

“It said, ‘
I’m keeping your spot next to me warm, handsome. Hurry up.’ You know how much I like Luke, but what is this?” Anna was almost wailing which was kind of funny when you thought about it. I was the one who should be wailing. “Are you sure he’s not home?”

“Pretty sure, but I’ll go check.” I
left the bedroom for the back entry. Peering out the back door, I saw my jeep but no truck. “No, he’s not at the house.”

“What about the barn?” Anna asked
, anxiously.

“I can’t see the barn from here and I’m not running out there to find out.”

I went back to Luke’s bedroom and was about to close the door when Mia poked her head out from the bedroom across the hall.

“
Is everything okay, Anabel?” Mia asked, also anxious.

I nod
ded and held up a finger to Mia, then asked Anna if she could hold on for a second. “Yeah, everything’s fine, Mia. Sorry I woke you up.”

She grimace
d and jerked her head back at her room. “I wasn’t asleep. They all snore! Besides, I’m too wired. Can I come and talk with you until your boyfriend gets home?”

Nonplussed,
I stared at her and then asked, “Do you have a phone?”

She
grimaced again. “Yes, but it’s a cheap throw away.”

I smile
d tightly. “Even better. Grab it and come over, but only if you want to read, not talk. I’m done talking tonight.”

Mia
eagerly nodded her agreement and disappeared back into her room.

Holding the phone back up to my ear, I said, “Sorry about that, Anna.”

She was laughing softly. “Sounds like you have a new friend.”

“
Yes, I have a protégé,” I replied, unable to prevent a smile when saying that word.

S
itting on Luke’s bed, I leaned back against the pillows. Reaching over, I placed the Ruger out of sight under my pillow and pulled the blankets up over my bare legs.

“
What? Poor Mia!” Anna was laughing, but its forced laughter. Luke’s text had really gotten her down.

“Poor Anabel!” I countered, as
Mia came skipping into the room.

Hearing about
Luke’s text had me down, too. In a flash, all kinds of thoughts raced through my head. Luke knew I was here, but yet he was not coming directly home after Reggie’s poker party. He was also aware that Dickie’s deadline had passed and that I’d be worried.

Was
he still showing his disappointment at me for today? That would seem petty and counterproductive considering he was the one who went to great lengths to kidnap me for the weekend.

Does this text have to do with
Luke’s mysterious relationships with Carter’s brothers and his financial shenanigans that I was trying to unravel? That reminded me of the maps and plat drawings I saw in the Bat Cave. I ran out of time today, but I wanted to look closer at the papers James Byrd gave me and map out the properties Luke had purchased. They have to mean something in this puzzle.

Right now, though, I
was tired and in no mood to guess at the reason behind my boyfriend’s absence. What’s staring me in the face was that I’m here and Luke’s not. If it wasn’t for the problem of the peacefully snoring Mexican women, I’d grab my protégé and we’d be in my jeep in an instant.

I ke
pt my voice level to not reflect my thoughts and further upset Anna. “Did there happen to be a name or anything with the text?”

“
There wasn’t a name,” Anna replied with regret, “but there was a number I memorized.”

“Anna,
you’re the best bestie,” I averred, laughing softly at her tone of apology for not having more data when a number was great.

I mouth
ed my thanks to Mia when she handed me the phone. Smiling, she climbed onto the bed next to me. Mia was wearing a pair of my sweats and a T-shirt to sleep in. With her dark hair in two braids hanging down and her face scrubbed clean, she looked about fourteen.

As Anna call
ed them off, I punched the numbers into Mia’s phone. After that, there was an awkward silence.

Anna blurt
ed, “It’s got to be nothing, Junior!”

I remain
ed quiet, but she was wrong. That text meant something, I just didn’t know what.

Anna
stated firmly, “Luke is a good guy and, my God, that ring! He’s so in love with you and he’s so smart. He would never do anything bad.”

“
Hey, don’t worry, okay? And Anna?”

“Yes?” Anna respond
ed on a depressed, weary note that made me glad she’d taken the weekend off from the Fare. She was close to the second trimester of pregnancy and I’ve heard women often feel exhausted. After all the excitement of tonight, she could sleep in tomorrow with my brother and recoup.

“
Thanks for having my back, and Luke would really be tickled that you believe in him. Can we talk in the morning?”

“Sure,”
she quietly agreed. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

I put my phone down and stare
d at Mia’s cell in my hand. With the unknown number poised to be called; I realized this was eerily reminiscent of my conversation with Jaz about Diego and Mac. But Diego was easy to predict—he’s a good guy through and through. My Dark Prince was a good guy and a bad guy. His idea of what constitutes good and bad may be very different than the normal standard.

My phone vibrate
d on the bedside table again. Glancing over, I shrugged and smiled apologetically at the patiently waiting Mia.

I pick
ed up my phone and saw a text from Mr. Handsome is as handsome does.

No word. Home late
. Don’t leave!

I had put my ring
back on after my shower and I looked down at Sparky. Wiggling my fingers, I smiled a little at the burst of colorful brilliance.
‘Well, since he begged so prettily…’