View Park, page 23
“I was holding out for you,” she said, “so I suggest you be more appreciative.”
“Just tell me!” Davis yelled.
“Don’t tell on us,” she directed. “And then I’ll tell you.”
“Haley.” Sean would never understand how this girl saw fit to play games with her own life. “What is it?”’
“I remembered something else,” she said. “I had a dream two nights ago and it came back to me. There was a woman on the boat. When the noise from the engine went off, she saw me first. She pointed to me and her mouth was moving like she was yelling to the other man. That’s when they started pointing and then the gun.”
“You can remember her, but not Rudio?” Davis asked.
Haley shrugged. “I can’t tell you why, but I remember her because she had this horrible bleach blonde hair that went down to her butt.”
Sean looked at Davis, who was waiting for more information. “I know who it is.”
Davis eyed Sean. “You’re not on this case, man.”
“You let me help you and I’ll tell you who it is,” he said, taking a chapter from Haley.
“You’re a cop, Sean. You’ll tell me no matter what.”
“Let’s go.” Sean turned to Haley. “Good job, Haley.”
“Good job?” Was that all she was going to get? “What am I, a dog? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to pick her up.”
“We’re going to pick her up,” Davis added.
“When will you be back?” she asked.
Sean looked back at Davis who rolled his eyes before leaving the room.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He leaned down to kiss her.
“That better be soon,” she said.
“It will.” Without thinking, as he rushed out of the room, he quickly said, “I love you, Haley.”
Had she heard him right? Haley shook her head, feeling a little sorry for him. He was a sweet guy, but he gave it up way too soon. He had a lot to learn. She knew he would fall for her, but he didn’t know her well enough to know he should have kept it to himself. When a man told her he loved her, and they all did, Haley knew it was time to turn and run the other way. Love for men meant possession and ownership, trying to mold a woman who had most of what they wanted into being everything they ever dreamed of and she wasn’t that type of woman. Either that or they would surrender their soul to her will and she would lose interest so fast it was like she never knew the guy.
Generally, she thought to herself, she would come up with a way to let them down nicely. If they didn’t take the hint, she could make it ugly but that wasn’t what Haley was thinking of right now. When she thought of Sean, her mind wasn’t searching for excuses to run away. Maybe this time, at least for a little while, she might stick around and see what this brother was about.
CHAPTER 12
Carter took the last bite of his breakfast, keeping his eyes on his newspaper. He wasn’t reading it, at least not anymore. For the last fifteen minutes, Avery had been standing on the edges of Café Bellagio staring at him. He could believe there was something spiritual in the fact that he sensed her before he saw her, but he wasn’t in a romantic mood at the time.
After she left him in the casino last night, Carter decided to get drunk and lose some money. He didn’t want to be a good boy, so he left the Bellagio and went to The Palms where he knew he could find a rowdy game and easy women. All night, he spent the big bucks and the women were all over him, but it didn’t make a bit of difference. It wasn’t like the first day he met Avery, and thoughts of her crept into his night with Lisette. Last night, he couldn’t stop thinking of her and ended up going to bed drunk and alone. At least that he could remember.
He blamed Avery for every bit of it and under his breath told her she could stand there forever for all he cared. If he couldn’t have her, he was going to be damned if he was going to let her keep him from enjoying other women. He wasn’t interested in leaving Las Vegas without getting laid.
When she arrived at his table, he continued to look at his newspaper. He pretended like she wasn’t even there, waiting until she said his name to look up at her.
“What took you so long?” he asked.
“What?” Avery felt the tightness in her chest begin to loosen.
“You’ve been standing over there like a fool, Avery.”
“So you saw me?”
“Based on what I just said to you, isn’t that a stupid question?” He stood up, tossing money on the table.
“This is the Carter I remember.” Avery looked down at his plate; nothing but fruit. “Kind of a light breakfast for such an angry man.”
“You’d rather I clog up my arteries with the shit all these other people are eating?”
Avery followed him out of the restaurant, strangely more comfortable with Dr. Jekyll than Mr. Hyde. “Carter, I know you hate me right now, but I want to apologize.”
He stopped as she grabbed his arm. Looking at her, none of the anger he felt toward her could hold a candle to the look on her face. It all faded away and he felt himself relax.
“Come gamble with me.” He wrapped his hand around hers, pulling her with him.
“I don’t want to be your gambling buddy,” she said. “I just want to apologize for being so rude to you last night. I know you were just trying to help me before I lost money and you probably saved me thousands of dollars.”
“Sit down.” He patted the seat next to him at the first blackjack table he found. “You make up for your attitude last night by bringing me good luck this morning.”
“Can’t I just say I’m sorry?”
“You don’t have to do that.” He gave the dealer three hundred-dollar bills. “You didn’t upset me.”
“I think I did.” She would hate it if she was the only one who had walked away from that feeling turned around.
“I was a little mad.” He accepted his cards, “but I washed it all away with a lot of scotch and a redheaded call girl.” He looked at her, seeing her lower lip drop to the floor. “She was very nice. Very expensive, but a good listener. You know, cause I just like to talk.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding.”
Carter played his hand, letting her wait. Then he turned to her with a schoolboy smile before she socked him in the arm hard enough to make him wince.
“That’s not funny,” she said, never meaning anything so much.
“Yes, it was.”
“Vegas humor.” She settled in. “What happens here, stays here, right?”
He knew what she meant and he wasn’t about to leave that kiss behind. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
“It’s the seduction of the city,” she begged. “People do things they don’t mean.”
He could see pleading in her eyes, but he wasn’t going to let her get away with that kiss. “Or things they’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but didn’t have the nerve.”
She made him want to feel like it had been all him taking advantage of her, but Carter knew the difference too well. He might have caught her off-guard, but her lips told him that she wanted that kiss.
Avery felt restless under his gaze, which she couldn’t turn away from. She felt a sense of fear creep up on her, knowing that if he leaned in to kiss her she wouldn’t be able to resist even though she swore to herself that she would.
“I have to go.”
“I know you want to go,” he said, “but you won’t. Avery, I’m sorry but I’m not gonna be the gentleman and let you off easy.”
The look on her face as she looked past him sent a chill through Carter. Her face went at least three shades lighter and her lower lip began to tremble. He turned around and in an instant Carter jumped off his stool and took off, pushing aside anyone in his way.
Craig saw him just in time, turning around to see who these people were yelling at for knocking them down. Carter saw the look of deathly fear on his face and it only made him run faster. When he leaped for him, Craig jumped away and tossed a bucket full of quarters at him. Carter felt someone try to hold him back while he was standing back up, but he pushed them away and ran after Craig.
Security was at the edge of the casino, but they were either too slow or didn’t care because Carter yelled for them to stop Craig, but they just stared. Carter wasn’t going to let him get away, so with one wide leap, he landed on top of the man and brought him to the floor. This was enough to interest the security guards and they started yelling threats to Carter, who was already pummeling Craig with his fists. It took two of them to pull him off.
“Get him!” Avery yelled, pointing to Craig. “He’s wanted in L.A. for attempted murder!”
There were a few gasps in the crowd that was beginning to form around them. A security guard hesitated before going after Craig who seemed so harmless compared to Carter.
“Him!” She pointed at Craig again. “He tried to kill me. Check with the View Park Police Department.”
Craig was mumbling something incoherent as the security guard pulled him up. He was bleeding from the lip and looked ten years older than the last time Avery had seen him. She couldn’t stop staring at him. Seeing him in this unbelievable situation, Avery knew she wasn’t crazy. There was a reason Vegas came to mind, and she had to believe there was a reason Carter had the mind to follow her.
“Eva Salazar.” Davis repeated her name over and over again as he glanced at her rap sheet. “Did you see that play, Evita?”
Sean shook his head, losing his patience as they sat in Davis’s car outside the town house of Eva Salazar. The house had to cost at least half a million and Eva was a music video dancer. Rudio was taking good care of her as he did all his women. Eager to bring her in, the only delay was the warrant for her arrest. They had to find a picture of her and bring it back to Haley to pick out among others. Fortunately, Eva had been arrested for prostitution a few years back and Haley picked her mug shot out right away. Now they were sitting outside her home for most of Saturday, but she was nowhere to be found.
“You didn’t?” Davis asked. “I saw the movie with Madonna, but it was a play first. Everybody says she’s not a good actress, but she was good in that one. I also liked her in that—”
“Please.” Sean couldn’t take his free association conversation a second longer.
“Hey, man, you should be happy you’re even here.”
Sean was grateful Davis hadn’t told anyone about him and Haley. “I am, but I want something to come of this.”
“For her?” he asked.
Sean looked at him. “To catch a murderer.”
“You’re not fooling anybody. This is all about that woman. If it had been anyone else, you would have handed this case over and went on about your business.”
“It’s not all about her.” That wasn’t true. Sean suspected Davis was smart enough to know anything involving Haley was all about her. She would see to it that it was.
“It’s not a smart move,” Davis said.
Sean didn’t need anyone to tell him that. He was stepping onto a land mine with his eyes wide open. “It’s out of my hands.”
“That woman is going to rip you apart.”
“Maybe so, but you have no idea what I’ve given up for her.”
“Like what?”
My professionalism, ethics, and morals to name a few. Sean had been above reproach his entire career as a police officer and detective, but in a matter of a few months, he didn’t even recognize himself and it was all because of a woman. What was more pitiful than that?
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’ve earned the right to her and I’m going to have her.”
Davis laughed. “Just remember that when you’re reaching blindly to pick up the pieces of what she leaves behind when she’s through with you.”
They both sat up as Eva slid her black Mercedes convertible into the driveway. They briskly made their way to her while she was reaching into the backseat for a handful of shopping bags, completely oblivious to them. When she finally saw them, she didn’t seem bothered at all. She was smacking her gum loud enough to be heard down the street. When Sean flashed his badge, she placed her hand on her hip and blew a bubble bigger than her head before it flattened all over her face.
“This is fine, Leo.” Leigh stood at the entrance to her house, grateful that their lunch date with his parents was over.
She was completely creeped out by his behavior today and she wanted to get away from him. He’d surprised her with his parents and treated her altogether like she was his girlfriend. It ticked her off and even though he had been a perfect gentleman, Leigh felt a chill up her spine by the way he looked at her.
“I thought maybe I could come in?” he asked. “I don’t have anywhere else to go today.”
“I have to go to the clinic.” There was that look again, like he knew her much better than he actually did.
“Leigh, I have to tell you that I haven’t been this happy since…”
Leigh looked behind him, seeing the curtains in the foyer window shuffle. She saw finely manicured fingers reaching around before her mother’s dark hair flirted at the edges.
“I love you.”
Leigh’s head jerked back, her eyes opening to the size of saucers. “What? What did you say?”
“I think I love you, Leigh.”
Leigh didn’t know how to respond. She felt awful, thinking of Leo’s feelings the least in this whole ordeal, but couldn’t think of anything she had done to make him go this far. “Leo, we hardly know each other.”
“I want to change that.”
“We haven’t even kissed.”
“I can do something about that, too.”
Before she could respond, Leo pulled her to him and kissed her. Something in the way he held her arms, in the cruelty of his hard kiss made Leigh afraid to push away. She knew her mother was looking and didn’t want to start a scene. Fortunately, it only lasted a few seconds before he let her go. Leigh looked behind him, seeing the curtains flutter. She turned back to Leo and the way he looked at her made her take a few steps back. This was all wrong.
The screeching sound of tires made her turn around just in time to see the back of Richard’s Honda through the front gate speeding off. She started with a sprint, running as fast as she could to the street, but he was gone and Leigh knew she had just put a nail in the coffin.
“Who was that?” Leo asked, coming up behind her.
The man I love, she thought. “I thought it was a friend, but…Look Leo, I have to go. I’m sorry.”
There was a hint of anger in his eyes as he flinched. “But Leigh, I just told you that I love you.”
She could only think of Richard right now. “I can’t do this right now. You have to go, Leo. I’ll call you later.”
She was already dialing Richard on her cell as she rushed into the house. Still, she felt Leo’s eyes on her and made sure the front door was locked after she was inside.
Carter knocked on the open door to Avery’s hotel room before entering. She was standing next to the police officer who finally came to arrest Craig and waved him over. The officer turned to him with a much less welcoming look than Avery.
“You’ve gotten yourself together, sir?” he asked.
“I already got the lecture from the other officer.” Carter didn’t feel as tough as he had before when it was revealed to him that Craig had a gun in his hotel room. “I just couldn’t let him get away.”
“You got lucky,” the officer said. “Mr. Moon is on his way back to L.A.”
Avery wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. She couldn’t remember being this happy in a while. “They’ll have to drop the charges against you.”
“Charges?” The officer’s brow rose.
Carter held Avery away. “There weren’t actually ever any charges against me. I was arrested, but nothing…Never mind. Is that all?”
He nodded and was slow to say, “You two try to stay safe while you’re in Sin City.”
With the officers gone, Avery was finally able to really feel the effects of Craig. She wanted to scream loud enough to shatter the windows. There was suddenly a light at the end of the tunnel for her. The maddening turn was threatening to calm down. This had been enough drama to last her a lifetime.
Expecting him to be just as elated, Avery was confused at Carter’s distant expression.
“Aren’t you happy it’s almost over?” she asked, sitting next to him on the edge of the bed. “Especially for you, right?”
The innocence in her eyes touched him. “There’s a lot going on that you couldn’t understand. It doesn’t have anything to do with you, but too much has happened to really fix this.”
“You talking about your reputation?”
“I’ve lost a couple of clients, but I’ll get them back. It goes deeper than that.”
“Your father?”
Carter paused, studying her. He had already told her too much about the tension between him and his father. No sense in hiding back now. “I’ve caused him a lot of pain.”
“He’s your daddy, Carter. He’ll understand.”
“Steven Chase is my father, Avery. He’s not my daddy. Not in the way you think of when you say the word. And he doesn’t understand anything about me.”
Avery placed her hand on Carter’s lap. “We can’t have everything, you know. No one’s parents are perfect. Maybe he doesn’t understand you exactly, but he loves you and that’s more important, don’t you think?”
If love was all it took, Carter thought. Then they might actually be a happy family. An entire life of competition, unrealistic expectations and societal pressure had made his family much more complex than Avery could ever understand even though right now he desperately wanted her to.
He desperately wanted so much from this woman and when he leaned into her, smelling her perfect scent, looking into those angelic eyes, he had to have her.
She didn’t resist for even a second when he kissed her. She gave in to all of it and was swept away from the start. She could feel his hunger and pain as his lips pressed harder and harder and Avery wanted him to let it go with her. She wanted to take his pain; feel it. Lying on the bed, Carter positioned himself on top of her, between her legs, unable to stop kissing her. Their hands were hungry and desperate to touch skin and they both made sounds that gave away any doubt in the other that this was what they wanted more than anything.
