Stoneface

Chapter Six

Jonathan and Markham pinned Shelaine between them, their large cocks buried inside her, thrusting and withdrawing like independent living beasts all their own. Passion had turned her limp legs to jelly. She wanted nothing more than to lay there between them and hear them say, “Where did you want to go for breakfast…”

The slam of a door from a nearby room startled Gwen awake from her hot dream about Jonathan and Markham, her latest wolf shape-shifting heroes. She heard two men discussing nearby restaurant options as they walked away out of earshot.

Disoriented, she stared at the unfamiliar ceiling.

Where the fuck am I?

She groaned as she closed her eyes again. Rapid City. She fumbled for her BlackBerry and squinted at it. It read five fifteen a.m., but outside her window, she saw grey light creeping around the outsides of the generic hotel curtains. Was that five o’clock local time, or five o’clock home time?

She sat up and looked at the clock on the bedside table.

Local time.

She’d been so exhausted the night before that she’d just dumped her suitcase on the bed and not opened it. She unzipped it, pleasantly surprised to see Liam had also included the notebook, photo CDs, and a few of the brochures Amy had shipped.

She didn’t want to call yet, in case he wasn’t awake. She figured out the room’s tiny coffeemaker. While it brewed her a morning cup of wake-up, she crawled into the shower and stood under the hot water until she felt marginally human again.

Dressed and slightly caffeinated, she tried Amy’s phone first, even though she didn’t expect her sister to answer. It went straight to voice mail.

“Look, I don’t care why you’re not coming home, but please call me and talk to me, okay? Bye.” Gwen didn’t want to tell her she was here looking for her in Rapid City, in case Amy decided to hide.

Next call—Liam. He answered on the second ring. “Did you find the notebook in your bag?” he asked her.

“Thank you. I didn’t even think of packing that. Any problems with Mom?”

“Nope. She already called once. I told her to please not bother us today because we’re working on your website and I need to concentrate.”

“You think she will?”

“Hopefully at least until dinnertime. If she calls you, don’t take it. Call me first in case I’ve talked to her.”

“Roger.” She flipped through the notebook and looked at Amy’s notes. “Hold on.”

“What?”

She read. “Her notes about Mt. Rushmore. ‘We didn’t have any trouble hiking the trail down to the Sculptor’s Studio.’”

“‘We’? She wrote ‘we’?”

“Yeah.” She flipped through the pages. “Most of the time she refers to I or me, as if she’s alone. Here’s another ‘we’ talking about Wind Cave. It’s like she’s slipped and missed it. Most if it refers to her alone.”

“Any luck with the front desk?”

“No. Last night the clerk was a bitch and wouldn’t tell me anything. I’m going to try again this morning. Then I’m going to the police and see what I can find out. I doubt they’ll do anything yet.”

“I’m going to work on her credit cards more. There was a charge for a gas station three days ago in Rapid City, but no hotel charges. Or maybe she’s using her bank card. I don’t have the access code to get into that.”

“Just use the forgot password feature and log in to her mail again to retrieve it.”

“I don’t have her user ID code for the site or I would, believe me. I’d have to go home to Mom and Dad’s and toss her desk to find her files.”

“Ooh, that sounded very Magnum, P.I.-ish.”

Liam faked a snooty British accent. “Zeus, Apollo, sic balls.”

Gwen giggled. Living with Liam would be fun. If it hadn’t been for her parents, she would have gladly offered to move in to take care of him, except she’d been in the middle of divorcing Dickweed.

Not to mention she refused to live with her parents. “When I find her, do you want to hold her down while I pound her, or vice versa?”

His voice turned serious. “If.”

At his tone, a chill settled over her. “Don’t talk like that. When I find her. I will find her. I don’t know what hair crawled up her ass, but I’m yanking it out.” A thought hit her. “What about her cell phone records? Don’t calls show up there? Maybe we can find something out.”

“No good. I already tried. Nothing but calls to you, me, Mom, Dad, and her job. Get this though, I saw an empty box in her trash for one of those TracFones a few weeks ago. So whoever it is she’s talking to, she doesn’t want it traced.”

“Or he doesn’t,” Gwen said.

“Exactly. So that’s a dead end regardless.”

They said good-bye, and she browsed through the notebook again. Anal-retentive perfectionist Amy had meticulously detailed when she visited the sites.

Gwen fired up her laptop and popped in the first photo CD. The pictures were, in typical Amy fashion, neatly arranged in folders by date, and further by location taken. Gwen browsed through them. Amy appeared in quite a few of the pictures. It didn’t hit her until ten minutes later why.

Duh. Whoever Amy stayed with took the pictures of her. From the happy smile on Amy’s face, she appeared to be having a good time. Gwen matched the pictures to the handwritten notes. Whoever the other person was, Amy had been very careful never to snap a picture of him. Gwen assumed a him.

If Amy’s secret lover was a her, maybe Amy had more secrets than Gwen first imagined.

At least the pictures left Gwen with good recent images, including some of the clothes Amy had brought with her on the trip.

She called Liam back. “Whoever the guy is, he’s not in the pics, but he took a bunch of Amy.”

“She’s still in Rapid City. She bought gas last night with her Amex. I’m working to see if I can figure out which station. Any luck with the front desk?”

“That’s my next stop.” She hung up and transferred several of the best pictures to her BlackBerry before heading to the lobby.

Thankfully, the clerk was different than from the night before. The young woman was pleasant, helpful. When Gwen explained the situation, she looked around and motioned for her to hand over the BlackBerry, where Gwen had one of the pictures displayed.

She nodded. “Yeah, I remember her. She was here with a guy. I checked them out yesterday morning.”

Hope flared in Gwen. “Can you give me his name?”

She winced. “I’m sorry, I can’t.” She leaned in. “But if the police call, I’ll gladly give it to them. If I give it to you, I could get fired. I can’t afford to lose my job.”

Gwen held back her frustration but understood the clerk’s dilemma. “Can you describe him?”

“Average height, maybe around six feet. Brown hair, brown eyes, nothing spectacular. He wore glasses, if that helps.”

Gwen jotted it down. “Yes, it does. No idea where they went?”

“No. I handled their checkout. From the way they were talking, I got the impression they weren’t leaving the area yet. They were looking at some of the local brochures.” She pointed to the obligatory rack of tourist pamphlets in the entryway.

“Were they fighting or anything?”

“No. She seemed a little sad over something, but they acted very affectionate with each other.”

“Thanks anyway.” She returned to her room and called Liam back with an update.

“Next stop cops?” he asked.

“Yeah. I don’t hold out hopes of them doing anything, but maybe they’ll at least take a report so if something happens, we’ll have the start of a paper trail.”

“You realize she probably is okay, right? We’ve now got confirmation she was with a guy. Maybe they’re planning on eloping or something.”

“If I don’t get answers, Mom and Dad will skin me.”

“I’ll protect you, sis.”

“So says the guy afraid to break the news to them that he’s moving out. Thanks.”

They said good-bye, and she headed back to the front desk to get directions to the closest police station. She started for her rental when she realized maybe she should take her laptop. She’d left it in the room.

Might as well check my e-mail.

To counteract her workaholic tendencies, Gwen only checked her private e-mail through her phone. Everything else, she had to use her computer to read. She found that Tim had written her that morning.

Hey, Go-Go. I didn’t upset you with my rambling review, did I, sweetie? Kissy-huggy. - TimE.

Mentally smacking herself in the head, she fired off a quick reply.

I’m sorry, babycakes, sorry I worried you. I read it and loved it. Problems at home, emergency road trip to Rapid City. I’m there now looking for my sister. I’ll catch up with you soon. - G.

She scanned a few more e-mails and shut down, then packed it and the notebook and drove to the station. She nervously sat for ten minutes until a super-hot detective walked up to the waiting area.

“Miss Oxford?”

She nodded, her gaze immediately homing in on his left hand. No ring. Hot damn!

Wait, missing sister. Focus.

“I’m Detective Kelly. Follow me, please,” he said. She did, gladly, enjoying how his tight ass moved under his snug slacks. Short brown hair, brown eyes, six-feet-plus of solid, trim muscle in a shoulder holster.

Mmm. He’s my next hero.

In the thirty second walk to his desk, she’d mentally written half of a scorching hot love scene she wouldn’t mind a chance to star in with him. Total yum with a gun.

She’d kill Amy for this. Dragging her out to Rapid City, and she wouldn’t even have time to suss out this dude. Then again, maybe he’d be up for a quickie. It’d been a year since she’d gotten laid, and she decided she’d be willing to forego commitment in lieu of him settling for wearing a condom and going halfsies on a hotel room.

Especially with a hunk like this in a city where no one knew her.

Oh, forget splitting the room. If he’d do her, she’d gladly pay for it. Hell, she’d call it a business expense and deduct it on her taxes.

Perk of being a writer. Call it research.

“What can I do for you today?” he asked.

To me, not for me, and anything you want. “Um, it’s about my sister. She’s sort of disappeared.”

He frowned. “Sort of?”

“Yeah.” She started from the beginning. Within the first thirty seconds, Gwen saw from the look on his face that not only was he not going to break out the search teams for Amy, but she probably wouldn’t get laid, either.

Damn.

“Miss Oxford, did you try calling her again?”

“This morning. Straight to voice mail.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do anything. She’s not missing.”

“Yes, she is.”

“It’s not against the law for an adult to willingly not go home.”

“Look, you don’t know my parents. If I don’t physically lay eyes on Amy and talk to her, get some answers from her, my mother and father will go apeshit. Can’t you just run her bank records or something? Ask the hotel clerk who she was with? We know she’s still here in town as of this morning. I just need to talk to her for five minutes, face-to-face, to find out what the hell is going on so I get answers.”

He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do right now.”

“Yes, there is,” she insisted. “You can find out where she is so I can talk to her.” She felt irritation creep into her voice despite her best efforts and tried to clamp down on her infamous hair-trigger temper. “If I don’t find out what’s going on, my life and my brother’s life will be a living hell until I do. Not to mention we’re worried about her. Cops do stuff like that all the time, don’t they? Welfare check or something, isn’t that what it’s called?”

“It’s not like on TV, Miss Oxford.” She didn’t miss his condescending tone.

“I know that. I’m a writer. I’m not stupid.”

“Then you should know it’s not like most writers portray, either. Unless you have a legitimate reason to believe she’s in danger, or is a danger to herself or others, she isn’t a missing person. She’s a hiding person. Unless she’s got a warrant out on her, or is violating parole or probation, or is wanted in connection with a crime, there isn’t anything I can do. If you want to find her before she’s ready to come home under the current circumstances, contact a private investigator. If you have reasonable cause to believe she’s in danger, then we can get involved.” He leaned forward. “I will warn you against filing a false report saying you believe she’s in danger if you don’t really think she is.”

She set her jaw. “Please call the desk clerk at the hotel. She said if the cops talk to her, she’ll tell them who the guy is. At least give me that. Toss me a bone, buddy.”

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”

“You could get off your ass and make one simple phone call!” She hadn’t risked her sanity and shitting her pants in fear to fly all the way out there, just to be stonewalled by a lazy, albeit handsome, dick-Barney-fucking-Fife who couldn’t be bothered to let his fingers do the walking.

His expression darkened. “We’re done here, Miss Oxford.” He stood. “Do you need me to escort you out, or can you find the front door by yourself?”

“No, I can find it. Sorry I wasted your time. I’m sure somewhere in this city is a missing donut in need of your attention.” She grabbed her stuff and stormed out of the station.

Fuck! Me and my goddamned temper!

Jack blew out a relieved breath. Technically, he could have looked into the woman’s story, but from what she’d said it was most likely the sister needed a break from the craziness at home.

Especially if this woman was any indication of what the rest of her family was like.

The fact that she’d been the spitting image of Melodie hit him like a kick in the balls when he’d walked out to the waiting room to bring her back to his desk. Except for her hairstyle, she could have been her, just a few years younger than what she’d probably look like today.

If she hadn’t died.

He closed his eyes for a moment before leaving his desk and walking into the restroom, where he locked himself in for a minute so he could splash water on his face.

He didn’t need this. Why now? Suddenly, everywhere he turned, every conversation, even ones with Tim brought back memories of her.

He would have to tell Tim the full story. It’d probably hurt Tim’s feelings a little that he hadn’t talked about Mel before now, but Tim was good about understanding him. Never tried to pry things out of him.

Just like Mel.

Fuck. Except that Tim was a hunky guy, the two of them could have been twins, personality-wise. How had he missed realizing that in the past six years? Funny, spunky, sweet, smart, protective, loyal. Sexy and emotional.

He stared at himself in the mirror. It felt like he rarely smiled anymore. Another reason for Tim’s nickname. Stoneface.

He used to smile. A long time ago. He remembered being happy all the time, it seemed. Even if life was crappy, he had Melodie to cheer him up.

And…

But he didn’t want to think his name this morning.

He didn’t even want to think about the man he used to love.

She called Liam. “I blew it, bro.”

“What?”

“I just pissed off a cop.”

“You in jail?”

“No.” She told the story. “What do I do now?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe you should just come home.”

The thought of flying again filled her with panic. “I didn’t fly all the way out here not to find her.”

“She apparently doesn’t want to be found.”

“Tough shit. She should talk to us and give us an explanation. She bugs out without explanation, leaving us holding the bag? Fuck her. She’s going to have to tell us what’s going on so we know what to tell Mom and Dad.”

“Hold on.” She heard him tapping on his laptop. “Hey, they’re still in Rapid City. Well, she is, at least. Probably both of them from the amount. A purchase just came through on her Visa for a meal.” More tapping.

“Where?”

“I don’t know, hold on. It’s a Denny’s. Let me see if I can figure out which one.” More tapping. “Yes! I found it. I’m e-mailing you a map link right now. Where are you at?”

“Rapid City.”

“Smart-ass. Where?”

“How the fuck should I know? I don’t know how the hell I’m going to find the hotel again.”

“Gee, honey, what did I teach you about your phone when we got it for you?”

She sighed. “Built-in GPS.”

“Right. Go use it. Bye.”

She hung up and retrieved the address from her e-mail, wrote it in the notebook, then switched to the maps feature on her phone and plugged it in.

She was less than two miles away.

She made it without wrecking while trying to follow the phone’s directions. After a quick consultation with the manager on duty and showing her Amy’s picture, Gwen discovered she’d missed them by ten minutes. Discouraged, she returned to her rental.

The private eye option was looking better by the minute.

Her phone rang “Silent Lucidity,” startling her. “Did you find her?” Liam asked.

“No. Just missed them. She’s still with the guy.”

“Her friend Rita from work just called. She was trying to reach Amy. Apparently, Amy e-mailed her and told her she needed to take an extra two weeks of unpaid leave, cited personal issues.”

“Two weeks?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Come home, sweetie. We’ll deal with Mom and Dad. I’m sorry I sent you out there on a wild-goose chase after her. I’ll reimburse you for the flight, hotel, and car.”

“It’s the principle of the matter now.” And she couldn’t bring herself to step on a plane yet.

Liam’s tone turned big brotherly, the calming inflection he used to make her see things his way. “Gee, I can’t drive out there and get you. At least you can get drunk on the plane and have a taxi bring you home. You have to come home now. You’re done.”

The thought of flying again terrified her. Last night, in crisis mode, she could put it behind her. “Just one more day to look for her, please?”

His voice gentled further. “I’ll take a taxi to the airport and meet your flight, Gee. It’s okay. Come home. You tried. I’m sorry I made you go.”

“You didn’t make me go. I volunteered. How’s Ruthie doing?”

“I showed her the wonders of World of Warcraft. She’s addicted and having fun killing virtual monsters. Bob’s going to hate me. Come home, Gee.”

“I haven’t even had breakfast yet.” Then again, if she was getting on another plane, maybe eating was a bad idea. She would only puke it up again.

More tapping on his end. “There’s a flight out of there, connecting through Chicago again, at two. Want me to put you on it?”

“No.” She shuddered. “Just…wait. Okay?”

He sighed. “Go back to the room, get your stuff, check out, and go eat. Call me when you’re at the airport, and I’ll get you booked on the flight.”

Big brother trying his best to fix the only thing he could fix now, since they couldn’t find Amy. “No. I’ll do it. Let me go.”

She returned to the room and tried not to think about flying again. At least she could check her e-mail. She immediately spotted a message from TimE.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!! You’re in Rapid City?? CALL ME right now!

Followed by a phone number.

Knowing she was only putting off her terrifying inevitable return flight home, she called the number. A man answered, his sweet, rich voice soothing her.

“Ellis Books and Bites, this is Tim.”

“Hi, it’s Gwen—”

His voice immediately changed, excited. “Oh my god! Go-Go, what the hell are you doing here in Rapid City?”

“Here? I thought you lived in Laguna Beach?”

“Long story, I’ll tell you later. Where are you? You have to come see me!” She gladly agreed. It would further stall her departure from Rapid City. She could claim she lost track of time and spend one more night there. “Where are you staying?” When she told him, he sounded shocked. “Oh, hell no! You pack your bags, right now, and get your sweet tush over here. You’re staying with me tonight, girlfriend. That place is a dump. You come over here, spend the night, and my boyfriend and I will take you out and treat you to the best steak dinner you ever had, guaranteed. Anyway, I owe you coffee, if I recall.”

She couldn’t refuse that offer. Besides, didn’t that now put her trip into the deductible business expense category? Bonus.

He gave her directions and hurried her off the phone. “Get packed, check out, and I’ll be waiting here for you. I’ll play tour guide and oh. My. God. I cannot believe I finally get to meet my buddy face-to-face!”

When she got off the phone, she knew she had a smile on her face. At least the trip wasn’t a total loss.

She’d wait to call Liam and tell him that. He’d know exactly what she was doing.

Stalling for time to avoid flying again.

Less than an hour later, she pulled into the bookstore parking lot. When she walked through the door, her eyes landed on a tall man, not quite as tall as Deputy Dickhead that morning, but just as good looking.

They grow ’em cute in South Dakota.

He finished ringing up a customer. When he spotted her, he let out a decidedly unmanly squeal that didn’t seem to fit his hunky bod. “Gwen!”

She nervously smiled and nodded. “Tim?”

He raced over to her and, before she could say anything else, he picked her up and swung her around. “Oh my god! Girl, you’re here! In my store! My favorite author!”

She felt heat race to her face. He had shaggy blond hair and sweet blue eyes. She knew Tim was ten years older than her, but he didn’t look it.

And he’s gay. Fuck. My dumb luck.

“I’m sorry you thought I was mad at you,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to make you think that.”

“Oh, hey, it’s okay!” He grabbed her hand and led her to the back of the store, to his office, and pulled her up a chair. “Okay, so spill it. What’s up?”

It spilled out of her, all right. With the stress of not finding Amy and having to fly home alone finally catching up with her, she burst into tears as she told him the story. She concluded with her literal gut-wrenching terror of air flight.

Tim handed her a tissue and hugged her, gently patting her back. “Hey, sweetie, it’s okay, it’s all right. I don’t know who that asshole is you dealt with this morning, but my boyfriend’s a detective with the police department. He’ll help you.” He looked at her. “I wouldn’t feel right putting you on a plane in this state of mind anyway.” He hollered through the open door for someone while she blew her nose.

A young woman appeared a moment later. “You bellowed?”

“Celia, meet Gwen Oxford. You know, Gwenna Olmsford.”

The other woman’s jaw dropped. “Holy cow! Nice to meet you.”

Gwen nodded and tried to smile even as she sniffled. Jesus, my first real, on-the-road live appearance outside of Ohio, and I’m a damn basket case.

“Hey, can you watch the store for me?” Tim asked Celia. “Call in one of the gang to work extra and help you out. I need to take care of Gwen.”

“Sure.”

Gwen’s phone rang “Silent Lucidity.” As soon as Liam heard her voice, he asked, “What’s wrong, Gee? Why are you crying?”

That started her crying again as she tried to explain she was now sitting in Tim’s store and acting like a total douchebag.

Liam tried to soothe her. “Gee, sweetie, it’s okay. Calm down. Let me talk to him.” She’d told Liam about her ongoing e-mail “relationship” with Tim.

She handed him the phone. “It’s my brother, Liam. He wants to talk to you.”

Tim took the phone. “Hello, Liam?…Yeah. That’s an understatement…I understand. Seriously, as long as she needs, I’m not letting her go anywhere this upset. And you’re welcome to stay as long as you want. Let me give you my numbers…” A minute later, he hung up and returned her phone. “Big brother gave me my marching orders to keep you safe and sound under threat of emasculation. He’ll fly out tomorrow and take you home after the two of you spend a few days here at Casa Ellis while looking for your sister.”

Another bout of guilt hit her, along with a renewal of her tears. “Thank you!” When he hugged her, she tried not to think about how good his arms felt around her. “Big brother saves me again.”

“What?”

She sniffled and sat up. “He had to drive from Ohio to Florida and back once to bring me home after spring break. Jesus, he shouldn’t have to fly out here for my sorry ass.”

“He obviously loves you very much. And trust me, your ass isn’t sorry. Besides, the two of you will be our guests for a couple of days. Maybe you can find your sister and get this stuff sorted out.”

“You don’t understand. Liam’s got MS. He shouldn’t have to fly any more than necessary. He’s just getting over being sick a couple of weeks ago.”

“From the way he sounded, I don’t think anything will keep him from his baby sister. Let’s get you back to my place. Come on.”