Tuesday, December 27
The blanket flew off first, then his sweaty shirt hit the floor.
Garrett’s hands reached for Angelica just as his cell phone rang.
He peeked out of the corner of his eye. Sunlight spilling into the room disoriented him—particularly when he realized where he was and who wasn’t beside him, naked and breathless.
Damn, it had been a dream. Shit, his work phone had stolen it from him.
His hand fumbled for the phone on the coffee table. “Fitzpatricks, here,” he grunted, bleary-eyed.
“Garrett, get over to headquarters.”
“It’s my day off, Talbert,” he cried, falling back against the pillow and brushing a hand over his stubbly chin.
“I don’t give a damn.”
Garrett sat up, and his bare feet hit the rug with a thump. “When did you become my boss, partner?”
“Just get your ass in here, buddy.”
Blinking again, Garrett heard the silence of the dead call. The cell phone service in this area would come back to life on his day off.
Garrett staggered toward the bathroom, dragging his gym bag behind him.
If it weren’t bad enough that he had no time to shower, his clothing options sucked, too.
He’d stuffed yesterday’s work clothes into his bag, destined for the dry cleaner.
He settled on jeans and the T-shirt he’d slept in and would throw his blazer over them.
He looked in the mirror—he resembled a drug dealer! One low on the totem pole.
A realization hit him as he slipped his tools of the trade into his pockets and his holster. An extremely uncomfortable one. He needed to wake Angelica; she must lock the deadbolt.
For many reasons, Garrett groaned as he approached her bedroom door. He wished he had been on the other side last night. He managed to reach first base just fine now, but only because he was leaving.
He muttered curses under his breath, then hesitated before knocking. “Angelica, I’m sorry to wake you,” he called through the wooden barrier that kept him in the cold hall, blocking him from her world.
After what felt like a lifetime, the door swung open, revealing a mesmerizing sight.
Angelica stood silhouetted in the doorway, bathed in a soft glow from muted backlighting.
She resembled an angel. An illusion, perhaps a mirage, singing a song to his heart.
She seemed to float on a field of ethereal light that encircled her and flowed through her mussed hair.
Garrett wondered whether he was still dreaming.
In his dream, or even in his imagined desires, what appeared before his eyes in all its glory was far greater than any fantasy. Angelica was fittingly named.
The stunning vision wore a white, low-cut, satin, floor-length nightgown that clung to every curve of her body like a second skin.
In Garrett’s dreams, the nightgown wouldn’t stay on for long.
Given the chance, he’d carry Angelica across the bedroom threshold like a groom with his bride, fulfilling all her desires.
And he’d stay in that bed till the sun rose, no, forever!
The vision snapped him back to his senses as she asked, “Is everything all right, Garrett?”
He was blinking and sweating a lot. Much didn’t seem ‘right.’ His voice faltered. “Um … I received an emergency call, Angelica. I have to leave. Ahh … I need you to lock up after me.”
Gym bag in hand, he followed her toward the front door. The view from behind was even worse. Garrett struggled to breathe. He wondered if he could grab a beer to go.
At the door, Garrett desperately wanted to give Angelica, the woman in the damn clingy nightgown, a long, passionate goodbye kiss. He figured she would shove him out the door if he tried.
Regardless of his feelings for her, he kept his hands off a woman unless they shared a mutual attraction. Just his rotten luck, this was one-sided.
Garrett may have been gazing longingly, but he left with neutral words, “I’ll give you a call later, Angelica. Let you know if I can come back to replace the kitchen door today.”
“Thanks, Garrett.”
Locking the door, Angelica noticed her attire. She exhaled. Thankfully, police officers are accustomed to seeing men and women in all kinds of clothing, or none at all. The detective wasn’t interested in her, anyway. She stumbled back toward her bedroom.
* * *
As Garrett charged through Homicide’s doorway, as happy as a bear awakened prematurely from hibernation, his partner’s eyes scanned him from head to toe.
“What the hell happened to you? You look like crap. Have you been sleeping off a stupor in your truck?”
“Yeah, I spent the night with my homeless pals. You told me to get my ass over here, so I did. Do you have a problem with that? Because if you do, I’m heading back to the place I just left,” he growled.
Ed didn’t back down. “I don’t know where the hell you were, but you’re not going anywhere.”
Garrett hovered over the senior detective, rocking back and forth in his chair, seemingly without a care in the world. “What’s so damn important? Why the hell am I here, Talbert?”
With his hand in a snack box and his sagging butt in a sagging chair, the muncher griped, “The sheriff’s looking for the Wallace report. It should have been on his desk yesterday.”
The bear in Garrett attacked. “Then you do that effing report! We worked the case together.” He backed away, howling, “Unlike you, I haven’t taken a day off in ten damn days. I have plans for today, and hell, I’m not breaking them for any of this bullshit.”
“What’s so damn important? You getting married today?”
“That might be my plan, and you’re not invited to the damn wedding, Talbert!” Garrett’s pounding feet barreled toward the door.
Ed Talbert yelled after him, “Does the name Matthew Jenkins ring a bell?”
Garrett stopped, and his heated blood instantly caught a sudden chill. He spun around, all ears. “Why do you ask?”
“Hopkins at the front desk said that you escorted a lady in to file an assault charge against him yesterday morning.”
Shit! This isn’t what he wanted for himself or for Angelica. But this isn’t the capital; everything in this county is news or gossip-worthy.
“Yeah, I remember her,” he said, noncommittal and vague, rubbing his forehead. “I ran into her in the lobby. She needed help filing her complaint. I took her back to Kramer. Where’s this going?”
“Well, this guy was very popular yesterday. His sister showed up at the same desk last night to file a missing-person report. The crew’s taking bets on whether an ex-wife or his mother will show up next.” Crumbs shot out of Talbert’s mouth as he cackled. “Want to join the pool?”
“You’re shitting me ...” Garrett muttered, wide-eyed. “What do you know about this guy?”
Ed leaned back, clinging to his sweet-tooth treat box as if it were his lifeline. “He owns Jenkins Auto Body shop, and this couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” He flashed a toothy grin.
Garrett thought the same thing as he left the squad room.
Where did that leave Jenkins with Angelica?
Was he hiding out or lying in wait for a few days?
He had no intention of telling Angelica about the missing-person report.
She was already a nervous wreck. He wasn’t any better himself.
He checked his watch. Too early to call her.
He’d go home, have breakfast, and drink some coffee.
No, a beer. For a guy who planned to give up alcohol, Garrett pondered drinking Coors in the shower.
* * *
Angelica stood in front of the bathroom mirror after her shower, wrapping her wet hair in a towel, when the phone rang.
Certain it was her couch-warmer; she hurried to the nightstand. “Hi, Garrett,” she cheered.
“Who the hell’s Garrett?” the man on the other end barked.
Shaken by her mistake, she cringed. Her derriere hit the bunched-up comforter and crumpled sheets. “Not Garrett ... Garrette!” Angelica stammered, covering her faux pas. “I’m waiting for a call from my friend, Garrette. We’re supposed to go to lunch today, Nicky.”
“Oh! I hope you enjoy yourself and that you will be wearing that necklace.”
Unconsciously, or maybe self-consciously, Angelica reached for her neck. She stashed the necklace in the top drawer of her dresser on Sunday night.
“I only take it off when I shower.” She blushed, a clear sign she was lying.
“Don’t even bother taking it off then, sweetheart,” Nicholas crooned. “There’s more of that coming.”
Angelica was familiar with that soft tone. Always keep the necklace on, but take off everything else. She rolled her eyes.
And more jewelry? Angelica didn’t know what to do with that necklace. This could get out of control. “Please don’t buy me any more jewelry, Nicky. Not right now, okay.”
“When, then?”
“Our anniversary!”
“You remembered!” Nicholas gushed with amazement. “Have you started remembering anything else?”
Our anniversary?
“I don’t know why I said that. Stop asking me. You’re not helping!” Angelica whined. “You have no idea what I’m going through.”
“Calm down, Angel.” She pictured him rocking in his high-backed chair. Nicky was such a creature of habit. “You obviously mentioned it because you remembered when I first took you out. It’s coming up, isn’t it?”
What if she hadn’t dated him, or, wiser yet, never gone to bed with him? Why didn’t they just stay friends?
“I recall going out, but not the exact day. So how can I know it’s coming up? Forget it,” Angelica grumbled, hoping he’d drop the subject. “Just promise me no more jewelry for now.”
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Nicholas said, reminiscing. “It was the first Saturday after your birthday, and I had to bring you home early because it started to sleet. Regrettably, you’ve forgotten quite a few of the good times, dear.”
Angelica jumped off the bed and began to pace. “Why did you say that, Nicholas? Are you mad at me for that?” She held the phone in one hand while the other gestured in the air like a pantomime.
“How can I be mad at you, darling? I’m sometimes filled with melancholy. That’s all.”