No Cap

Chapter 8

My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.

—when Hollis first meets Quincy

HOLLIS

Okay, so I told myself I was going to stop.

Really, I did.

Butthen I got that thing in the mail about my restraining order, and I’d gotten angry all over again.

Oneday a few months ago, I’d woken up to a huge firestorm of social media posts about TaiteDeRosa filing a restraining order against a ‘deranged fan’ and dove into the posts. Only to find out that the ‘deranged fan’ was none other than myself.

I’dtried to be the bigger person.

Butthen dear old Taite had gotten a girlfriend that he was ‘so in love with’ and I couldn’t stop myself.

Icouldn’t allow him to be happy while my best friend was rotting in a cold grave on the edge of the city.

It’dstarted out pretty tame on my end.

Afterconfronting Taite in that club, I’d gone home and drugged myself with NyQuil to go to sleep.

I’dbeen absolutely exhausted when I’d woken up, but the first thought in my mind was ‘time to start operation payback.’

Fromthere, it’d started out with little things. Little things that were nothing more than an inconvenience.

Eventually, I got tired of spending all my extra time on the asshole, and I told myself that I was done.

I’deven put Kaylee on the back burner.

ThenI’d gotten the restraining order.

Arestraining order based on zero evidence against me that I now had to follow or would wind up in jail.

Truthfully, I shouldn’t even be here tonight.

Really, I knew I shouldn’t.

ButI was just so freakin’ angry.

Angryabout Keda.

Angrythat the asshole had gotten a restraining order on me when the fucker hadn’t even provided evidence of my stalking. AndI knew he didn’t know it was for sure me. Sure, he guessed. And he was right. But that didn’t mean he could just pop out a restraining order and be awarded it. There were laws and procedures for a reason.

Butapparently, Taite didn’t have to follow the law.

Hewas above it.

Whichwas why I was here tonight.

Tonight, I was going to take the woman he loved.

I’ddone my research.

Whichwas partially in the text I’d sent to her two minutes ago, and then told her where to meet me if she wanted more.

Itwas just my luck that she’d come tonight.

Ihad a burning need to set Taite’s world on fire, and I was going to do that starting with his girlfriend.

Lastweek, I’d read an article about AlanaEldorado and TaiteDeRosa getting so serious that they were ‘trying to have kids immediately.’ In the article, they’d talked about their struggles to get pregnant, and how they’d tried and failed to get pregnant for over six months.

Whichhad been curious to me, because in the article, they’d talked about Taite’s infertility.

Whichhad been a huge ass lie. Just last month, Kaylee had sent me some news article about how Taite had gotten a girl pregnant in high school, and immediately upon turning eighteen he’d gotten a vasectomy.

I’dwondered why I would need that information, but now it sure was coming in handy.

Thenagain, I had more than just the information about a vasectomy to give her.

Ialso had a whole slew of photos of Taite with his side piece.

Howdid I get these shots, you ask?

Ididn’t break my stupid restraining order, no.

Ihired a private investigator who was loyal to my cause—she’d lost her own friend to suicide just like I had—and she’d done the work pro-bono.

Nervouslystanding in the empty hallway only staff used, I wondered if I should take my stupid white wig off.

Itwas edgy, and I liked it a lot. But it itched, and I had a thing about texture, and the inside of the wig was weaved with some really scratchy material that was driving me insane.

That, and my left sock was twisted weird, causing me to feel the seams.

Andmy dress.

Ihated wearing dresses.

Iwas a jeans and t-shirt, or leggings and oversized sweater kind of girl.

Theshort black number I was wearing was more Keda’s style.

Henceher buying it for me a couple of years ago, insisting that every girl needed a little black dress.

Shewas right, of course.

Inmy revenge, I’d needed it a couple of times.

Thedoor beside me finally pushed open, and Alana appeared.

I’dnever met her.

I’dalso never watched any of her movies.

ButI’d seen her face all over magazines when her and Taite had started dating, and she was even more beautiful in person.

Isuddenly got nervous.

Earlier, I’d been all for making his life a living hell, and if that included dragging Alana into it, so be it.

Butnow, looking at her sweet face…

“Tell me everything,” she ordered, a fierce look coming over her face. “I do not want to have to deal with this again.”

Iblinked at the fierceness but decided… fuck it.

Ifshe wanted to know, why wouldn’t I tell her?

So, I began. “Do you know who I am?”

Alanashrugged. “Honestly, I don’t really care who you are. I know that sounds bad, but if you have any more context to go with that photo you shared, I’d listen to a murderer. I can’t go through this again.”

Iswallowed, then handed her the file folder.

“I’mHollisAue. Taite was directly responsible for terrorizing my friend. My friend who then took her own life after his show where he humiliated her,” I stated.

Alanasoftened. “I thought that was a joke.”

Iwas already shaking his head. “That’s the way he spun it, yes. He said it was for ‘media attention for his new show’ but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It was real life. It happened.”

“Your friend was wearing a diaper?” she asked. “WhenTaite explained it to me, he said it was a publicity stunt for his show. That’s… you’re his stalker. You’re the one who keeps making his life a living hell.”

Ishrugged. “He ruined mine, so I felt like it might be…”

“Karma,” Alana supplied. “You’re serious?”

Inodded, then helped her flip open the file folder.

“I hired an investigator to follow him around. She gives me stuff I can use to do that,” I said. “These are the photos she took of him with about eight other women in all of those cities he visited. The only one of the last nine stops he didn’t have a new girl in was the one where you showed up unexpectedly.”

Sheangrily flipped through the photos.

Whenshe got to the last page, she paused. “Hewhat?”

Iglanced down at the page and winced. “It’s true. He had a vasectomy in his late teens. I have a friend. She’s a newbie hacker. She found this information for me and shared it. I wasn’t sure why I would need it, but felt like this was a great…”

Shecrumpled the page up and silently fumed.

“How are you here right now?” she asked. “Do you need help getting out of here?”

“I’ll take care of that.” A man came around the corner.

Ifroze, because I’d know that man anywhere.

Imean, it wasn’t every day that you sobbed into a man’s chest.

It’dbeen months since I’d done that, yet he looked exactly the same.

Onlytoday he was wearing very well-fitting jeans, and a black t-shirt that fit him like a glove across his chest and shoulders but was semi-loose across his belly. He had on a black belt, and black motorcycle boots.

Andthat flashy gold badge that declared him an officer of the law.

Mother.

Fucker.

Iwas so going to jail.

“Who are you?” Alana asked, stepping in front of me.

Andgiven the opportunity, I ran.

Ileft her to her own devices and took off in the other direction.

Ihad a route planned out in case of this exact scenario.

Outthe emergency exit, down the alley that ran behind the club, and down the block two streets to where I’d parked my car.

Iwas out the door, and into the alley, when he caught me.

Icursed and started to wiggle, but the man was strong.

“Stop,” he ordered.

Ididn’t want to stop.

Butalso, I wasn’t going to fight a cop.

Thatwas just stupid.

SoI stopped.

Iwent still in his arms and looked up into his face.

Icouldn’t see his eyes well. The light above his head was harsh, but it caused shadows to come over his eyes as he looked down at me with a fierce frown on his face.

Idid see the stubborn set of his jaw through his five o’clock shadow, though.

Mychest was pressed against his upper abs, my hands were flat against his amazing chest, and my wig was gone.

Myheart was pounding a million miles a second, but it was the way he was holding me that made me start to shiver in his arms.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, voice a deep baritone that sent my toes to curling.

Thiswas the second time he’d held me in his arms, but this time was much different than last.

Mostlybecause I was thinking about the way he felt, and not the way I was falling apart.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

Ilicked my lips. “It’s a club. I came to dance.”

Lie.

“You came here because the comedian was here, and I have a piece of paper in my pocket right now that tells me you have a restraining order against you,” he said.

“That’s a stupid piece of paper,” I grumbled, trying to pull away, but he didn’t let me have an inch.

Likely, it was because I was a flight risk.

Butin my raunchy, erotica inspired brain, he was holding me because he wanted me.

Shit, I really needed to stop going home every day after shifts at the hospital and binging those romance books.

Ineeded a life.

Onethat didn’t involve stalking and reading.

“It may be stupid, but it’s still the law,” he said as he finally let me go. “AndI have to arrest you.”

“Actually,” I said as I shivered at the loss of his heat, “I was nowhere near him. I studied that restraining order, and it says that I have to stay one hundred yards away from him. I was way more than one hundred yards away from him.”

“It also states that you can’t be in the same building as him,” he countered.

“It states that I can be in the same building as him if I’m there first,” I argued. “AndI was most definitely there first.”

Sure, I knew he was coming, but that wasn’t something the overly attractive officer in front of me needed to know.

Hecrossed his arms over his chest and flipped his head, causing his hair to get back under control.

Theman had a great head of hair. Short on the sides but longer on top, he looked more model-like than any cop I’d ever seen.

Hewas also in way better shape.

IfI was going to pick a model to be on my book about a cop, it’d be this guy.

“You’re splitting hairs,” he countered, jaw set.

“I’m following the letter of the law to a T,” I disagreed. “And just to be honest, this restraining order is a sham anyway. I didn’t even have to go to court for it or anything. Didn’t get to plead my case. Didn’t even know that I had a restraining order until I got this letter in the mail a couple of weeks back that said the temporary restraining order against me was now a full blown one.”

Hisjaw twitched again.

Damn, the man had a great jaw.

Hisdirty blond hair once again fell into his eyes, and I had to force myself not to reach up and push it out of the way for him.

“I hate that this happened to you,” he started to say. “But one of these days, you’re not going to get an understanding cop like me, and they’ll take you to jail. You need to leave. Go home, stop whatever it is you’re doing to make his life a ‘living hell’ like Alana said, and move on.”

That’swhen I got angry.

Itwas unfortunate; this man hadn’t done a damn thing to me.

Buthe had the poor timing to say I needed to move on when I fucking couldn’t.

Itried, dammit!

Stiffeningmy spine, I moved into him, poking him in the chest.

“I can’t move on from this, OfficerCarter,” I snarled. “You want to know why?”

“Why?” His left eye twitched.

“Because, whether he claims it or not, he’s directly responsible for…” I started.

Heinterrupted me, though.

“That’s not his fault.” He was already shaking his head sadly.

“It is!” I cried out, throwing my hands wide.

Hecaught both of my hands, then pulled me in close. “It’s not.”

Theway he said it made me pause, as if he was speaking from experience.

“But…”

“My sister took her life four years ago,” he said softly.

Istiffened.

“She was seeing a man who treated her like shit. Like your friend, he was likely responsible for a lot of her issues. But in the end, she chose to end it. She chose not to talk to someone. She chose not to come to us with her issues. She chose not to let anyone know she was having a hard time, and she chose to take her own life,” he said softly. Too softly, as if he was scared I would break. “I had to stop blaming myself for not noticing the signs. I was the last one to see her. I went over to Germany to visit and I missed every single sign.”

Myshoulders deflated. “Shit.”

“So yes, he’s an asshole. Yes, he could’ve handled things a hell of a lot differently. But in the end, she was the one to do it. Nobody else,” he said. “And you have to stop making it hard for everyone else because you feel like he’s responsible. It’ll get you in trouble, and do you think Keda would’ve wanted that?”

Heremembered her name?

“You remember her name?” I repeated my inner thoughts.

“I remember almost all of my victims’ names,” he answered. “The only ones I don’t are the ones who were very early in my career, and they weren’t actually my cases.”

Isighed, blowing out a breath.

“And, just sayin’, but if I catch you anywhere near him again, I’ll arrest you. I don’t care if it’s just you accidentally ran into each other in the grocery store. Keep your shit straight,” he ordered harshly.

Istiffened, all the niceness he’d managed to coax out of me vanishing with his words.

Whatan asshole.

Maybehe was right.

Maybewhat Taite did to Keda wasn’t actually his fault. He didn’t tell her to go kill herself. He didn’t hand her that bottle of sleeping pills. He didn’t hit her that night she was in the accident.

ButTaite was still an asshole.

Themotherfucker had tortured a young woman.

Hehad no clue what these people were going through. He didn’t know that his jokes were detrimental.

Pullingmyself away from the asshole cop’s delicious heat, I twisted and started moving toward the mouth of the alley.

SinceI’d planned out the entire day, being sure to take note of all my exits, I knew where I was and what direction I needed to head in.

Iwas also very aware of the footsteps that followed behind me the entire way to my car.

Fishingthe key out of my bra, I shoved it into the door and fell inside.

Themoment I was in, I locked the doors like any smart girl would do upon entering her vehicle, then started the car up.

Ifthere was one thing I could say about my shitbox, it was that it always started, no matter what.

Itmay have looked like a POS—piece of shit—on the outside, but the motor was pristine, and I made sure to keep it fully tuned.

Ichanged my own oil every four thousand miles in the parking lot of my apartment complex. WhenI needed to do more maintenance on it—something I’d learned from a teenager who used to live on our street when I was growing up—I went to the now grown teen’s shop and did whatever I needed to do there.

KinnyFink had shown me the ways of the world. He was well over six years older than me, saw a scrawny, scraggly, pain in the ass thirteen- to his nineteen-year-old self, and took pity on me since he saw the way my parents and siblings treated me.

Kinnyhad become a pretty good friend over the years, and I called him one of my greatest friends. I’d tried to set Kinny and Keda up once, and they’d hated each other. Honestly, they had that really fine line between love and hate, and had things gone differently—ie: her not getting nearly killed in a drunk driving accident—I think they might’ve made that change from hate to love.

Butnow, Kinny was seeing someone new, and she semi-hated me because I showed up at her boyfriend’s shop to work on my car when I needed to, and sometimes that was too much female contact.

Honestly, Kinny could’ve done way better.

ButI secretly felt like he was trying to punish himself with this woman.

Ahard knock on my window had me glancing up to find a narrow-eyed Quincy staring at me. He was making the universal sign above his left shoulder with his hand and pointer finger in a ‘hurry up’ gesture.

Inearly snorted.

Ifhe thought making that gesture at me would get me to move any faster, he was sorely mistaken.

And, just sayin’, but my shitbox took some time to warm up. IfI tried to leave now, it’d die again, and that wasn’t something I was interested in doing in the middle of a busy street.

Irolled my window down just enough that he could hear what I was about to say and said, “Listen. I’m trying to leave, but this thing takes some warmup time. IfI tried to leave now, it’d just die at the stop sign when I came to a stop. These things take time.”

Hissigh of aggravation wasn’t nearly as sexy as it would’ve been had he not yelled at me earlier and told me he’d arrest me if he saw me near Taite again.

Whenhe went to say something, his mouth opening just as the words started to come out of that stupid sexy mouth of his, I rolled the window up.

Henarrowed his eyes, saying something that I could clearly make out as ‘pain in the fucking ass,’ and went back to scowling at me.

Irevved the engine, hoping to help it along, and it growled like the awesome beast that she was.

Quincy’seyebrows went up, surprised at the sound of the motor—most people were when they were shown the outside first—and I looked away.

Igave it another two or three minutes before I put it in drive and peeled out of my spot.

Itook one last glance in my rearview mirror to see the man I was most certainly not attracted to shaking his head at me.

Well, fuck him, too.