Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-four
Matt
Getting work done at the house is getting tricky. Eden and Blaine are distractions—half-dressed, flirting, and Blaine’s mess everywhere, I had to find somewhere else to work.
The field office is only an hour away, but that’s out now that I know my suspect’s ties. Instead, I find myself sitting in my rental SUV in a grocery store parking lot, cramped and sweaty. The engine turns over as my phone rings.
Pennsylvania area code.
“Agent Scholl?” I turn the air conditioning vent towards my face, pushing my sunglasses back. “This is Mrs. Beyervy-Landwehr, with Sussex County Elementary School. I’m not sure if you remember me?” Her harsh cadence comes through loud and clear.
“Of course. How can I help you?” A middle-aged woman gives me the side-eye as she writes down my license plate number. I’ve been sitting here for too long.
Sigh. Time to move.
As I pull out of the lot, the woman hurries into the store to report me. I shake my head a little, amused. I’m more interested in my phone call.
“I think I can help you.”
That sounds even better.
“I’m all ears.” I park in the shade of a dental office and pray I look less like a threat here.
“You’re meeting with staff tomorrow afternoon? A memo was sent out by the principal.”
Fuck me. When I asked her to keep it quiet, that didn’t mean announce it to everyone.
I was hoping to catch Willa Peterson by surprise, the school counselor/social worker has evaded me a few times since we first met.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I groan. “Well, so much for the element of surprise.”
She laughs, which I wasn’t expecting from her and her usual no nonsense demeanor.
“If you’re looking to speak to a certain school counselor, she plans on leaving before your arrival for a ‘doctor’s appointment.’ She has to be here until at least eleven in the morning because of a staff meeting and then an assessment. Get here earlier if possible.”
Bless this woman.
“Thank you, you just saved my trip. She’s exclusively the reason for it.” We end the call agreeing the principal doesn’t have the good sense God gave her.
Settled back in my seat, the weeping willow sways in front of the SUV. My chit-chat with Caleb and Blaine yesterday afternoon went well. No one ended up stabbed, maimed, or more bitter.
So, win-win.
Blaine totally caught me off guard when he volunteered to tell Eden about Keir on our trip. He thinks distance will keep her from murdering Jolie. I smile at the thought. Eden, angry as a ball of fire.
Caleb spent most of the talk quiet until the end. Then he asked if he could be there. I joked his calming presence might save Blaine’s life, but she’s still going to be furious.
Hutton came back early this morning, and I confronted him. All he said is he had ‘business’ to take care of. He wasn’t covered in blood, so that should count for something.
When I asked him to come on the trip, he didn’t even hesitate. No argument. No refusal.
“Is Eden going with you?” he asked, like that’s the only part that matters. I shouldn’t be surprised.
“Yes, of course.”
“Fine.”
It’ll be a real load of laughs having him along. Blaine and Caleb, I can deal with. Hutton makes me nervous. He’s unpredictable. Obsessive about Eden. Hiding… God knows what.
The reservations at the airport Embassy Suites were already handled—I paid in full. It’s one of the main business travel hotels near the airport, twenty floors tall, all modern furniture and no-frills function.
Bringing it up was all it took for us to clash.
None of them are happy with me paying for the rooms. Saying it’s on the FBI dime only makes it worse.
Hutton declines and gets his own room. The kind of money he has at his age still doesn’t sit right with me.
I figure the lack of identification will be an issue-until the clerk asks and Hutton doesn’t offer anything.
He simply looks at her. Her mouth opens, then closes, before tapping a few keys and handing him the keycard like nothing happened.
Blaine insists Eden stay with him, and we’re arguing before I can stop it. Caleb quietly follows Hutton, embarrassed by our public dispute. In the end, Eden chooses Caleb’s room. Blaine and I take the attached rooms on either side. Hutton’s somewhere in the hotel.
I can’t sleep.
Wishing Eden was with me.
I know she and Caleb are platonic. He’d change that if she let him, but she’s not ready… Maybe she only sees him as a friend. I imagine Blaine using the connected door to sneak her into his room. Now I’m hot, bothered, and more restless.
Sleep never comes. By the time the sky starts to lighten, I give up on it entirely.
The hotel gym is empty, and I lock in-just me and the treadmill. I set it faster than I should, running until my lungs burn and my thoughts can’t catch up.
An hour and a few miles later, I grab a coffee to go from the lobby before heading back to my room.
Eden is sitting in my desk chair when I open the door. A smile spreads across her face. “Oh, God, my prayers have been answered.” She pushes back from the desk with a slow, seductive smile, and I realize she’s naked. The robe she wore is discarded on my bed.
Fuck, yes.
“I’m sweaty,” I say softly.
“Good.” She stands as I drink the sight of her in.
She’s gorgeous. Her riot of curls is piled on top of her head. My gaze drags over her breasts full and high, pink nipples tight, the soft slope of her stomach curving into her hips. A tuft of blonde hair between her thighs.
So fucking magnificent.
I don’t think. I grab her lying back on the bed. She writhes as I shove my shorts and underwear down. Yanking my shirt off, I let it fall to the floor.
“What are you going to do?” she whispers, breathless.
“I’m going to devour you.”
Hovering over her, I don’t move. Just watch, making myself wait.
I want her to start needing me before I touch her. Her throat works like she’s trying to swallow, each exhale turning shallow.
I dip closer like I’m going to kiss her, and her lips part on instinct. At the last second, I change course sliding lower, taking her nipple into my mouth. I linger there, tongue lapping lazily against her skin.
My hips follow the movement, shifting forward until I brush against her leg. She turns to wrap her hand around my cock. Her palm moves, slow and deliberate, the slick precum spreading with every pass.
As her grip tightens, my breath catches. Her strokes grow faster, losing their rhythm.
I’m completely at her mercy.
Fuck me.
That’s right… a little harder.
Damn.
I pull out of her reach, and she moans, “No teasing right now… I need you inside of me.” Her back rises from the bed as her breathy moan spurs me on. “Please…”
How did I get this lucky?
I kneel between her legs eager to take in her flushed body again. Placing her legs over my shoulders, I lower in one swift movement to thrust inside of her.
Her back arches off the bed while she calls out, “Yes, oh yes, yeeesss…” I cover her mouth with mine, cutting off her words.
We keep shifting positions-me on top with her legs on my shoulders, then her pushing me onto my back and riding me. I pull her into my lap, holding her there before laying her back onto the bed again. More than once we crash against a table or slam into the wall. Making a lot of noise.
A knock interrupts us.
“Is… is Eden in there? Are you guys, okay?” Caleb’s voice comes through the door.
I laugh under my breath as Eden twists on top of me and then freezes.
“I think we’re more than okay,” I heave out. Not loud enough that Caleb can hear.
“Yes!” she calls to him, as she slams herself back down before falling onto my chest where she looks at me through her loose strands of hair blowing them away. “Very much yes,” she whispers. Sexy as hell.
I can’t talk her into the shower with me while I get ready. She informs me that shower sex isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, I intend to show her a thing or two. When I come back out tucking my white dress shirt into my slacks, she’s wrapped in her robe and drinking my now cooled coffee.
“I like your idea of a wake-up call.” I lick my lip looking at her. “I could stay here all day with you.”
I need to get to the elementary school by ten this morning to catch up with Ms. Peterson. If I plan to keep it, I need to head out soon.
“You can’t tell me where you’re going?” We’ve talked about this. It’s an open investigation. I want to tell her, but I can’t.
“You grew up around here, right?” I pull my suit jacket over my shoulder holster and dress shirt. She makes a face.
“Mhmm.” Her whole mood changes. “About forty minutes from here.” She sets my coffee down to tap at the desk. “Not exactly the best memories.”
On the drive to the elementary school my mind turns over what I know about Eden’s past. Neglect. Abuse. Disappointment—that’s how her teacher and principal described it. Peterson saw what was happening and didn’t step in. Knowing she left her there is enough to keep me on edge.
I’m getting answers today.
The secretary bats her eyes my way as I wave and head for Peterson’s office. I don’t want word to spread that I’m here, giving her a chance to run.
Her office is dark, and the door wide open. I take a seat just out of sight of the doorway, my hand tightening around the arm of the chair as I stare at Waverly’s picture.
My eyes drift around the room and something else draws my attention. A second photo perched on a filing cabinet—an even younger child, only months old.
Two kids. I missed that last time.
I hear the click clack of heels on the worn tiled floor in the hallway. I take a deep breath; a lot is riding on getting her to talk to me.
“You should get to class now, Sara. Here’s your pass, darling. Okay, careful steps now. We walk in the halls, not run.” Her voice is melodic and sweet. Seconds later she flips the light inside the door on and walks in looking through mail she’s carrying when I clear my throat.
Clutching her chest with wild eyes, she squeaks out, “What are you doing here?” She moves back towards the door like I’m going to hurt her.
“I decided to pay you a surprise visit. My calls and other attempts to see you all failed.” I give her a half smile. “It looks like you might have time now.”
Regaining her composure, she sets the mail on her desk and takes a seat. “I have a couple of minutes and then I have another appointment.” She keeps looking at the open door like she’s expecting someone to come barreling through it. “What was your name again?”
“Agent Scholl. Matthew Scholl.”
She frowns then folds her hands together on the desk. “Agent Scholl, is this about that student you asked about before? Because I really don’t have any more information for you.”
The nervousness shows in the way she holds herself, her eyes flicking around the room, her hands trembling.
“No? You don’t, Caroline?” The horror on her face tells me I’m right.
“That’s… that’s not my name.”
She folds her arms tight, her hand covering the C.B. initials I noticed on my last visit, barely visible under her bracelet. “If you don’t have any other questions, I need to have you leave.” Her voice quivers.
I stand and close the door. The open doorway has been pulling her attention all along. “Why aren’t you willing to talk to me?”
She gives a slight shake of her head and tears start to gather. “I was protecting her,” she says so quietly I almost miss it.
“Protecting who? Eden?”
I sit back down across from her, taking in the short-sleeved white cashmere sweater and wool skirt. Expensive. Her hand flutters near her neck while the one with the initials stays tucked at her side.
She nods yes. “I did what I could. I did.” Like she needs to believe it.
“Except, that doesn’t appear to be the case, Ms.… not Peterson, would it be Bradford?” Her eyes widen as she shakes her head ‘no’ emphatically.
“No. I’m Willa Peterson.” Fear rolls off her, and it’s not directed at me. Whatever she’s afraid of goes beyond what I know.
I lean in closer to her. “You can trust me. I’ll help protect you if you just tell me what I need to know. Can you do that?”
It feels like hostage negotiation. She looks at me like I’m speaking another language, nods once, then starts shaking her head again.
“There is a connection to you that I don’t understand. Between you and Eden. Can you tell me what it is?” My heart pounds because I think I know what it is.
God, I fucking hope I’m wrong.
“You should… you should go.” She sucks her lips in as she shudders. “I’ve told you what I know.”
I place another card on her desk. The last one I left is probably long gone. “If you change your mind and decide to talk to me Caroline, I’m in town for two more days. Please call me. Whatever you’re afraid of, we’ll tackle it together.”
She makes no move to look at or touch the card. “Your parents think you killed yourself, did you know that?”
Tears fall down her cheeks, but she remains still.
“I’m not Caroline,” her soft voice says. “My name is Willa.”
“Willa Peterson doesn’t exist; she was made up,” I counter.
“Neither does Caroline Bradford. Not anymore.” She wipes her cheek. I’m not getting another chance. She’s going to run.
I start to reply, then stop. Bringing up her kids won’t help. She already knows that they’re in danger.
My hand finds the doorknob, and I try one last time. “Please call me.”
This tangled web of psychotic games is taking its toll on me. I’d bet my last dollar Eden is biologically related to her.