Chapter Four
Valeria pulled the thug’s hands behind his back and handcuffed them together. She leaned in and whispered something to the man and smacked him on the side of the face then turned to face me.
“You okay?”
“I’ll make it.” I leaned back against the car for support. “Hey, how did you know to be here? And why didn’t you pull your gun? That was just stupid.”
Val looked at me sideways. “You know, for someone who just got their ass saved, you seem a little critical.”
Wait, when had she become Val? I guess I was not too old to swoon a bit for the whole white knight coming in on a charger thing. I tended to react instinctively to people and get crushes quickly. One of the things Robert could just not deal with.
“Sorry, I’m just that kind of girl.” I took a step toward her, and my legs swayed under me. Val crossed the distance between us in a flash and caught me before I could take a tumble. The sudden stop wrenched my muscles, already sore from yesterday, and I cried out.
“How bad did he hurt you?”
“He got some good shots in. Also, yesterday, I fell off a building.”
“You lead an interesting life.” Val looked at me quizzically.
“My dad used to call me a weirdness magnet.”
Val cocked her head like she was going to say something, then turned around, pulling out her police radio. “This is Detective Lawton. I need you to send a patrol car to pick up an assault suspect.”
The patrol officer arrived in a few minutes. Val talked to the officer for a bit, then the thug was carted away.
“All right, let’s go.” Val directed me toward the door to the store.
“Hey, just cuz you’re better looking than that guy does not mean you get to just tell me where to go.”
“So, I’m good-looking?” She smiled at me.
Sure, that is the part she focused on. “Where is it that you want me to go?”
“We need to find you a place to hole up. This seems to be more complicated than just a simple missing person case. You also need to get some rest; you’re not doing any good to your sister like this, and you can’t go back to your place.”
“I don’t know. I got here before you did, so I must be doing something right. And you still haven’t answered any of my questions.”
“If I agree to answer some questions, will you get in the car?”
“I guess.”
Val helped me to her car, then she slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Do you have a first choice of hotel before you start complaining again? I am not going to stop looking for your sister, but you will be more helpful to the investigation after a good night’s sleep.”
“Marriott by the airport. I guess I need those frequent flyer miles.”
“Yeah, you won’t be using your ID to check in. The first thing I am going to do is go back to the gaming store to figure out how that guy knew you were there.”
Val pulled onto the highway, and I took a long, hard look at her. Something about her just did not seem to fit.
“So, what’s your story?”
“My story? That’s kind of personal. Are you always so…inquisitive?”
The deliberate pause she put in there made me sure she was going to say, “quite the nosy bitch,” but she was too polite.
“Sorry, I am a writer. I am always trying to dissect people and problems; it’s just my nature. Plus, it’s one way to keep me from thinking about what has probably happened to my sister.”
“I understand. I am just used to asking questions. What is it you want to know?”
“Okay, how come you are apparently a badass but not doing badass stuff at the moment?”
“That’s complicated.” Val ran her hands through her hair. “I went through some changes, and my old precinct was not open to the new me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you come out at work?” I bit my lower lip. I fought back my first urge to press further and get more details. I could not afford to aggravate my primary ally in finding my sister.
Val looked over at me. I pointed to the trans pride pin on her jacket.
“Yeah, I decided that I had to take certain steps to become who I really was. I had been an accomplished detective, a reserve member of the SWAT team with ten years on the force, and all that got erased the day I came out as a woman.”
“That sucks; I mean, it’s good that you became yourself. I mean… Never mind. Congratulations on your transition.” I stopped talking; I was afraid I would say something stupid or offensive.
“Are you sure you’re a writer?” Val winked at me. I guess we were still okay. Wait a minute, focus, Sah; your sister is still out there somewhere. Why did Val affect me so profoundly? It was like we had a deeper connection even though we had just met.
I flashed her a dark and threatening look but with a smile. “Yes, and watch it, or you will end up in my next novel as the femme fatale.”
“Is that a threat or a promise?”
“Never mind. One more question: how did you know to show up at the gaming store?”
“Our tech guys figured out that was where your sister last called from.”
“Me too.”
Val made a sharp right and pulled into the parking lot of the hotel.
“Another place, not my home…”
“Are you okay? I mean, I know you’re not okay, but that sounded like something deep was coming out.”
Shit, I did not realize I had said that out loud. “I did a lot of traveling growing up; most of my youth was spent in base housing.”
“You’re an army brat?”
“Yep, I never spent more than two years in any one place from birth to about fifteen. I got to see a lot of people and places but never felt like I had a home. One of the reasons me and my sister are so tight.”
Val headed to the front desk, and in moments, I was all checked in and incognito. We grabbed the card and headed upstairs.
She unlocked the front door and held it open as I entered. I walked into the front room and plopped down on the couch.
“So, army brat, do you know anything about guns?”
“Yeah, my dad had me on the range way too young; why?”
Val reached behind her back and pulled out a Beretta. She checked the clip, flicked the safety on, and handed it to me. “Don’t let me regret this by doing something stupid.”
“I won’t.” I took the gun gingerly and was not sure if I felt safer or more in danger. That Val thought I needed a gun seemed to raise the stakes even more. I got up and slid the gun under the pillow on the left side of the bed. Val’s expression made me think I had just done something stupid.
When I sat on the bed, a wave of tiredness washed over me.
There were times when a body just said it had had enough, and this seemed to be one of them.
I rotated my neck, trying to loosen it up, hating the fact that Val might have been right, and I did need some sleep.
I started to close my eyes and lean back, but I sat bolt upright as I felt a touch on my back.
“Hey there!” I had almost forgotten Val was in the room.
“Relax, I am just checking to see if anything is out of whack. I am a coach of a martial arts team and have picked up a lot of physical therapy knowledge. You are not going to get any real rest tense and sore.”
I did not really trust what she was saying, but as soon as she started massaging my shoulders, my body said it did not care.
She slowly worked her fingers into my muscles, untying knots that I had not been consciously aware I had.
She started her hands at the base of my spine and slid them upwards with gentle pressure, eventually moving to my neck.
Then she started kneading, and my head seemed to disconnect from the rest of my body.
I kept thinking I should be telling her something or should be getting up and working on tracing my sister’s steps but all of that seemed to fade away.
The kneading subtly shifted. Her fingers started gently tracing the curves of my neck back and forth, and a slow rush of heat began to enter my body.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
It had been a long time since I had felt such a touch.
This was not what I should be doing, but as her fingers trailed upward and lightly traced the lobes of my ear, a shiver ran up my spine, and it pushed aside all thoughts of resistance.
I reclined backward into her body and her arms. Her hands slid down my arms, then traced inward and up with a whisper of a touch on my breast, and I took a sudden intake of breath.
She brought her hands up to explore my neck again, but the desire was starting to rage inside me, and I needed more.
I grabbed her hands, brought them down to my breasts, and squeezed them.
She got the message immediately and cupped and kneaded my breasts.
The feeling was very intense, and I felt naked under her touch.
I opened my eyes, and I realized I was naked.
It all seemed to be happening so amazingly fast, but I whispered, “Yes, yes, yes,” as I watched her hands drop, lower and lower, then they were there, in my most intimate parts, and the rush came onto me.
My body thrashed side to side out of control, then I was falling, falling…