Chapter 34 All Over Again
ALL OVER AGAIN
Gale hadn’t wanted to cancel her meetings and take the day off, but she knew it was the thing to do on Friday.
“I won’t be long,” Clay said. “Just come back and get me.”
She’d run upstairs to her condo with Clay and Rory, let her brother in, made him show her where the cameras were going to be so she knew, then she and Rory took her brother’s truck to pack up the rest of Rory’s belongings.
His time there was almost up and there was no reason for him to renew it now.
As much as she’d like him to stay longer than his original month, it couldn’t be where there had been verbal and now actionable threats on his life.
“I can carry it all,” Rory said.
“Don’t argue with me,” she said, laughing. If she didn’t interject some humor into this situation she was terrified she was going to break.
Her nerves were frayed, not just from the chaos of the past few days but from the truth pressing at her chest. Her heart was tipping, teetering, spinning and ready to fall for the man standing in front of her.
A man who didn’t even know his next step. Was he staying or going?
No. That wasn’t the question. It was when.
And when that moment came, could she hide the hurt? Could she swallow it down while he drove away leaving her behind?
For once in her life, she wasn’t so sure. When she was used to voicing her thoughts and opinions, this time she kept them locked behind a steel door.
“I’m learning there isn’t a chance I can win even if I wanted to,” he said. “I wasn’t positive your brothers were going to agree to this, but I feel bad because I know it’s got to be hard for you to have cameras around like that.”
She’d valued her privacy as a teen in a house full of men. More when she was an adult.
Being watched over now was everything she’d fought so hard to break free of and yet it was happening all over again.
It didn’t feel like caving though, it felt more like wisdom.
Being smart was going to keep them safe and in turn catch whoever was doing this. Would it be Rene’s killer? She still didn’t know.
“I’ll get over it,” she said. “Just like I did for years before.”
“Did Clay put a camera on his truck too?”
She turned and winked at him. “You betcha. He’s watching everything.”
Rory was throwing his clothes into his two suitcases while she brought his small portable scanner and other electronics to the backseat of Clay’s truck.
It still amazed her that someone went to the lengths to rip up the court papers and not even consider that Rory would have a digital backup of them.
Did that mean the person wasn’t tech savvy to think it?
“What’s on your mind?” he asked when he pulled out the two pieces of luggage.
“This is stupid and I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it before. Whoever ripped up your notes, do you think it never occurred to them you would have scanned them into your computer? Did they not even notice the scanner on the table?”
“The scanner was in my room, but I thought of that also. Maybe they didn’t know what it was. It’s not as if it stands out if they’ve never used one before.”
“That’s right. Not one like that. A lot of scanners look like printers now in an office. I’m wondering if this person isn’t that tech savvy. Like has others doing their work for them.”
“Someone older?” he asked. “Like Daniel?”
She tossed her hands up. “I’m not guessing. It could be Daniel for sure, but then I ask myself if a man in his early sixties is sneaking around at night to rifle through cars and crawling under them to mess with brake lines.”
“I think people do anything when they are desperate enough and that is why I’m keeping an open mind. Going on your assumption, I don’t see Kane getting dirty or being bothered to leave his house at night. He’d have to explain it to his wife on top of it.”
“So would Daniel,” she argued.
“I guess this goes back to it might not be them or they are paying someone to do it for them,” he said. “Doesn’t mean the person who is doing it now is the same person who killed Rene.”
“Yeah. That’s a strong possibility we have to think about.”
“Regardless, this person is breaking many laws and they will be caught. Maybe they’ll talk and give us more. I don’t know, and thinking of things that might not be true isn’t helping and is only clouding my brain.”
“It’s not clouding anything if you look at all sides of it,” she argued. “Got everything?”
They went in together and walked around some. “Yeah. Seems it. It’s not as if there are any clues to be found here.”
“Any food you want to grab to bring or just leave it in the fridge?”
She walked over and opened the fridge, didn’t see a ton, but he got a bag and put it all in there. She did the same with snacks.
This way the place would be empty when the cleaners came to turn it over for the next renter.
“Now we are ready,” he said.
They climbed into Clay’s truck. Her brother was leaving it for her and using another truck on the property that his business owned. She’d get her car back early next week, as the State Police were still checking it over, or so she’d been told.
It’s not like either Rory or she had any plans of driving anywhere other than around town for a few days anyway. Maybe she was a little skittish just thinking of what could have happened.
Not just a little skittish. A lot!
When they got back to her condo, Clay was on his laptop.
“All done?” she asked.
Her brother turned it around to show her. “Yep. There are two cameras. One inside your door, one outside of it. There is no other access to your place. These two cameras are my truck. Under and on top. I’ll get anyone going near it.”
“And we can view those cameras too?” she asked.
“I’m sending it to you both now,” Clay said.
“Thanks. Do you want me to drive you back home?” she asked.
“Nope, Reenie had to make a delivery in town and she’s on her way.”
Gale moved over and gave her brother a peck on the cheek. “Thanks. Maybe we’ll get lucky and this will be over soon.”
“One can hope,” Clay said. He pulled his phone out. “Reenie just pulled in. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”
The minute they were alone, Gale turned to Rory, who was on his laptop. “Checking the feeds yourself?”
“Yeah. It’s good. Wish we had it set up before.”
“Me too, but who the hell thought any of this would happen?”
“I should have,” Rory said. He shut his laptop and pushed it to the side, then patted the seat next to him on the couch. “The first note I got telling me to stop, I should have considered it might escalate to more.”
“No one could have thought this,” she said. “Not even you or Clay. Don’t add more guilt where there doesn’t need to be. You’re not the first person in fifteen years looking into this case and nothing else resulted in this. This is a reason now.”
He dropped his arm over her shoulder. “I won’t.”
She wasn’t so sure she believed him and put her head against his chest. “Are you scared?”
He hesitated a moment, then ran his fingers up and down her arms. “A little. Fear is a good thing. It keeps you sharp. Are you?”
She blew out a huge breath. “Yeah. I don’t like the feeling. I just want to forget for a bit and it’s not easy.”
He moved away from her and stood, put his hand out and urged her to stand. “Let’s go lie down. We’re both tired and emotionally worn out. Maybe a nap would be good.”
“Would you think poorly of me if I said I’d like more than a nap? I just want to feel something more than what I am. Something good. Does that make me selfish?”
She hated her walls were cracking, that the tough exterior she always wore seemed to shrink a little more each time he looked at her.
But if she couldn’t be honest with Rory, then what was the point of guarding her heart at all? He’d have to see all of her. The sharp edges, the scars, and the softness she kept buried. And if he couldn’t accept that, then she’d already lost.
She didn’t want to lose.
“No. It’s not selfish to want to feel something more, Gale. Never let yourself believe that. I know from experience. And it’s not healthy.”
They walked to her room, and she shut the door even though they were alone in the condo. The cameras couldn’t even see them past the foyer, but she felt better knowing they were locked in there.
She pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it on the chair, then removed her bra, dropped her jeans and underwear and climbed under the covers while Rory undressed and followed her.
“I should have asked how you feel. Maybe it’s not good for you to do much.”
“I feel fine,” he said. “I’ve slept enough the past three days.” He pulled her close to his side, both turning so their naked bodies mashed together, the heat radiating from him warming her more than she realized she needed.
Just this closeness alone was easing the tension in her shoulders, soothing the ache in her chest and increasing the sensations between her legs.
His hand slid between them finding her breast, cupping it and his thumb grazing her hardened peak. The goosebumps that erupted didn’t chill her, did little more than fuel her need for more closeness.
Her hand slipped beneath the covers, wrapped around his cock and stroked him as gently as he was teasing her nipple.
Their lips met, their kiss unhurried and mirroring the patience of their touch.
This wasn’t about chasing a release. It wasn’t about quenching a thirst.
It was about tenderness and... the love that she was feeling.
About believing she could let her guard down to this man because deep down she already knew he had her.
“I’m on the pill,” she whispered against him. She’d never shared that with another man, but everything about Rory told her he wasn’t the same as she’d felt before with others.
He wasn’t one that she needed to shield the last part of her soul from.
What they’d experienced in the few weeks they’d been together felt more like a lifetime of longing and memories.
Her hand dropped away, her leg came up and over his, opening herself for his entrance.
He didn’t leave her waiting, wanting, or wondering.
Instead, he inched his way in with the precision and discipline to bring them to the height of pleasure. One long drawn out stroke deep inside her. His hips retreated, then did it again.
There was grinding with their movements, their bodies pressed together, their hips drawing it out as if to say, “we’ve got all the time in the world.”
She’d never believed that before, but Rory made her believe things she hadn’t known she had inside of her.
If this was what making love was all about, what it felt like, what she’d been longing for, then sign her up for more.
The rush of sensations was building at a pace that told her when the explosion came it was going to linger for decades. Not just between her legs, but in her heart and in her soul.
Her breath was catching, his was too.
But their movements hadn’t increased. Or rather when hers started to, he slowed them down. He set their pace and she would be a follower rather than the leader this once.
“That’s it,” he whispered against her lips. “Let go. Don’t hold back. I’ve got you.”
The last little bit she was struggling to release to him let go of its grip and cascaded down her body, the pulsing felt everywhere, inside and out.
Rory was still slowly thrusting into her in tiny, short movements, then he lost some of his control, his actions more jerky until they just stilled, the two of them lying there in exhaustion and sleep taking over.