1980: You Shook Me All Night Long (Love in the 80s #1) (7 page)

C
rane’s eyes
followed Tina as she walked back to get the “forms.”

“You wouldn’t be interested in selling her, would you?” I asked, nodding to the Firebird.

“No. It took a lot of money to acquire her.”

I wiped my hands on a nearby rag. “I have some money saved up, how much?”

He snorted derisively. “More than you make in several years.”

“The new ones are listed at around six grand. I could pay that.”

“I already have a buyer. Sorry kid.” He looked toward Tina again, who had poked her head out of the door, holding up one finger, a phone to her ear.

He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Asshole.

Around that time, Walker finally showed. “Would you like to tell us some more about this buyer, Crane?”

“What is this?” Crane’s beady eyes darted from me to Tina and back. He lunged at me and I used one of my flag football moves to shove him to the side. His head crashed into my rolling toolbox with a loud, resonating clang.

He grabbed the side of his head, cursing as Walker and his partner moved in on him. Crane stumbled to his feet, looking for a side-door or another exit. It was locked, but he didn’t know it. He sprinted toward the back door, jerking on the rusty lock. I’d bathed the damn thing in oil and it still wouldn’t open for me. It wasn’t gonna open for him.

With a roar, Crane turned around, his silk jacket flapping. He reached for something inside his jacket.

Walker raised his gun. “Hands in the air or I will shoot!”

Slowly and deliberately, Crane raised both palms into the air. He smiled, shaking his head. “All these years and two kids bring me down.”

“Glad he can see the humor,” Tina mumbled, loud enough for me to hear.

“Shut your mouth, before I shut it for you,” I told her, dragging her into the side room. “What the hell was this? You don’t even belong here!”

I closed the door behind us. Tina crossed her arms. “No, I don’t belong here. I was asked to be here. It’s part of my deal with the LAPD, asshole.”

“What deal?”

“I told them that I’d cooperate if they’d erase everything. Every arrest, every record, all of it—for me and you.”

“I can make my own deals,” I told her. She’d put herself in danger. How could the cops even ask her to do that! They specifically told me she would be left out of this. Lying bastards.

I slammed the door open and watched as they cuffed Crane. He put up a fight. Guys like him hate to go down. The limo he’d arrived in left him to fend for himself, spinning wheels to get out of there. The smell of burnt rubber filled the air. Burnt rubber and hairspray.

Tina eased out of the room and stood behind me, looking over my shoulder. I was blocking her, standing in the way on purpose. Walker’s knee was in Crane’s back and the man still thrashed around. “I’ll kill you,” he said, looking up at me and Tina. “I’ll kill you both. You’re dead!”

Tina raised her middle finger and smiled like the smart-ass she was. “Screw. You. Crane.”

A shout from afar drew everyone’s attention. “What in the hell is going on here?” Hammond ran up the scene, taking in Crane on the ground, Walker cuffing him, the other two officers hauling him up to his feet.

Crane spat at Hammond. “You were supposed to be watching the car! You were supposed to warn me if the cops got too close.”

Walker smiled like the cat who caught the canary. “Busted,” Tina whispered.

Hammond raised his hands. “I don’t know what he’s talking about. He’s crazy. He’d say anything to avoid prison time.”

Walker laughed and strolled toward him. “We know. He would say anything. He’d also buy off any cop who would work for him. How’d you get that new Trans Am and the Rolex, Hammond?”

“R-rolex?” he stammered. I watched his pants, sure he would wet them. Coward.

Tina nudged me. “Oh shit! He’s gonna run for it!” And he did. Hammond turned around and pumped his arms and legs as fast as he could, but Walker tackled him to the concrete.

“Big mistake, Hammond!” Walker cuffed the man and read him his rights. I’d heard those words way too many times in the past forty-eight hours.

Walker stayed around as the other cops took care of Crane and the crazy officer. I put the part back in place, per our deal and fired up the engine as Crane looked on from the back of the cruiser. I threw him a wave, wiggling my fingers.

He ranted and raved, banging his head against the glass. Man, I felt his pain. Being in the back of one of those things sucked, especially when he deserved it. He was going up the creek for a long time.

I cranked down the window to the bird. “Where’s Joey?” Tina asked from outside the car window.

“Home. I grounded him.”

She scrunched her nose. “Can you do that? You’re his brother.”

“I absolutely can and I did.” Easing the stolen car the hell out of my garage was the second best thing that had happened in this crazy weekend. Tina was the first.

With the engine purring, I slid out from behind the wheel. “She’s all yours, Walker.” Officer Walker took my place, revving her engine with a smile. I bent over, forearms resting on the window edge. “How’d you know Hammond was involved?”

“He called you.”

I ticked my head back. “All of the other kids we brought in were released. They were college kids, good kids in the wrong place at the wrong time. We just let them go. They’re adults. We didn’t need to call mommy and daddy to come and get them. It was just a simple misunderstanding. But he called you. He wanted you to come down to the station. He’d been watching you, knew you had the Firebird. We’ve known for a long time that we had a mole. Someone was feeding Crane information about our investigation on him. Both of them got careless.”

“But if Hammond was working for Crane, why’d he want me to bring the car into the station? Why wouldn’t he just let Crane pick the car up on Monday?”

“Hammond was trying to extort more money out of Crane. He was trying to show Crane that he had power to disrupt his business if he didn’t pay him more money to cover up his dirty work. It was all about money and who held the cards, kid.”

“You mean cars.”

He laughed. “Something like that.”

“You pay close attention to people.”

“It’s part of the job,” he said with a shrug, putting his aviators on. “Want to know something else I see?”

“What’s that?”

“Her.” He looked in the side mirror back to Tina, who was waiting in the garage for me. “You like her.”

“It’s crazy, man. I don’t think she likes me right now. I said some things I should have in there.”

He laughed. “We’ve all been there. You know what they say?”

“What?”

“Anything worth having is worth fighting for.” He smirked, threw the car in gear and eased her onto the road. Two honks later and my bargain was fulfilled.

I turned to face Tina. She was worth fighting for. By the look she was giving me, I was in for a helluva fight.

I
t felt
wrong to just walk away after everything settled down, so I waited in the garage while Luke and Officer Walker chatted. Walker settled himself in the Pontiac and Luke leaned in to talk to him. Despite having a decent night’s sleep, I was tired. It was a mental exhaustion.

I had a one o’clock lab today and needed to get back and get a shower. My own clothes would feel like heaven and I was totally going to burn these shorty shorts in effigy. So long to booty-showing scraps, fake friends, getting arrested and earthquakes.

Luke stood up and threw a hand in the air in a man-wave as Walker pulled away. It was just me and Luke. Luke and me. And awkward. Add her to the mix and we had a really fun party going on in his garage.

“Look,” I said at the same time, he said, “Tina.”

“You go first,” I told him, shoving my palms in my back pockets. That drew his attention to my boobs. Not good. Focus, man. I crossed my arms in front of my chest. It didn’t help. Man pig.

“You were saying
to my face
?” I prompted.

“Yeah. Hey, so this weekend was crazy and I’m glad in the end it all worked out.”

“Me too. You have no idea.”

“But the bright spot was you. So, I was hoping you’d go out with me sometime.”

My brows touched my bangs. “Excuse me?”

“On a date? Wanna go out with me sometime soon?”

As tempting as that was, I needed to find me. I came to college several states away from my home to get an education—in accounting and whatever college traditions I got caught up in. (Preferably those that didn’t carry a prison sentence and/or involve running from the police). I still needed to find me, so I couldn’t be with him. He was a distraction. Sexy distraction on a stick of sugar-coated yummy. I raked my eyes down him.
Distraction! NO. Look away!

I tended to lose myself. I’d let Georgia transform me into her clone and never realized it. I’d let Luke the fox turn my brain to complete mush for one night. But that’s all it was. It was one, crazy, dangerous, sexy night. It wasn’t love. It was nothing but an insane night, that somehow we escaped unscathed. Guys aren’t part of my plan. Luke wasn’t part of my plan. It had to end here.

“I’m super glad we didn’t get thrown in actual prison, not just because my dad would have had a coronary, but because you and your brother are very sweet. But, in the end, we got caught up in a whirlwind this weekend. It was tense and emotional and...weird at times, but it was somewhat fun and scary. What I’m trying to say is no. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to date.”

His shoulders fell. “Seriously?”

“Yep. Look, Luke, you’re a nice guy, but I need to focus on my classes. I have a ton of work to do to even get caught back up. I got distracted, being around LA and all of the palm trees and the sun and the people, I lost track of what I wanted. I want to do well in school, so I have to give it my attention. Everything else gets pushed to the back burner so to speak.”

He nodded, busying his hands by wiping the black grease off on a stark-white towel. “I get it. Grease monkeys aren’t the yuppie types that can buy you the house and the car and all that stuff.”

I shook my head. “I don’t care about that stuff.”

“Besides, you’re right,” he said, staring out the garage bay. “We barely know each other.”

“Luke,” I began.

“No. It’s fine. You should go.” He nodded toward the street. “Need a ride?”

“I’ll walk. I need some fresh air.”

“No. Not dressed like that you won’t.” He shook his head. “Give me a sec.”

Luke ran into the room and snagged a set of keys off the ring, closing the open garage door and opening the closed one. “I’ll drive you to your dorm.”

I nodded, accepting his offer. I did not want to walk all over town in booty shorts. My ass cheeks would thank me later.

T
he trip
across town was awful. If torture by silent treatment was a thing, I’d be bloody on the seat of Luke’s car. When we finally made it passed the cars and red lights and Luke pulled in front of my dorm, he never looked at me. That cut me deep.

“Thanks for the ride...and for an interesting weekend.”

He finally smiled slightly and looked at me as I stepped out of his car and closed the door. “Take care of yourself, Tina.”

“I will. You too.”

He nodded, checked his mirrors and pulled away. I was sure that was the last time I’d see Luke Davis.

J
oey slammed the refrigerator door
. I looked up from the chicken breast I was preparing, glaring at him for effect. “Stop moping.”

“I’m not moping,” he bit back. He was pouting. He had been since I told him that books and school were all he was doing for the next six months—at least. Kiss his new girl Julie goodbye. No extra-curricular activities on or off campus, with or without Julie. Technically, he hadn’t done anything to get arrested after the concert, but he took my car—with permission.
Damn it. I shouldn’t really be punishing him.
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down on his skinny throat as he drank directly from the milk carton.
Gross, dude.

“If you think you can stay out of trouble, call your girl. You can go out tonight.”

He stopped chugging and slammed the carton down, milk splashing all over the counter. He folded the edges back in and burped loudly, surprising himself.

“Seriously?” I asked with a smile. With pride, he hit his chest once and belched again, drawing it out for several seconds.

“You’re making me question my decision.”

“I’m out,” he shouted over his shoulder, already disappearing down the hallway. Drawers slammed in his dresser.

“Keys are on the table!”

“Got it!” Joey yelled.

I breaded another piece of chicken, flour and egg yolk coating my fingers in a sticky mess of domestication. Gripping the counter, I bowed my head. It was heavy with thoughts of a hot blonde with legs a mile long, wrapped in black lace...

Chicken be damned. I left it on the counter and shoved myself away, marching down the hallway. The plan? I needed to win her over, show her that I was worth taking a risk for. The thing was, I had no idea how to do it. And...I’d just given Joey the car.

“Need a ride, bro?” Joey teased, reappearing from his room in a bright-green t-shirt and jeans.

“Actually, I do. Can you give me half an hour?”

“Totally.”

I clapped him on the shoulder and jogged toward the shower. I...had ...a plan.

Forty-three minutes later, Joey eased the car into a parking space in front of Tina’s dorm. Traffic had been unusually light. “Stay put,” I said, jumping out and giving the roof a quick tap.

“Seriously?”

I wagged my eyebrows in response.

“Ah, man!”

Taking the steps two at a time, I made my way to her room and knocked twice. No answer. Damn it. I knocked again. Nothing. Plan A would have to wait. Plan B? Full effect. I eased the cassette tape out of my back pocket along with the note and slid them both beneath her door.

Hopefully, she saw the humor in the song I chose for us.

M
y English Literature
class’s study group met every Friday night at the library from six o’clock until we got bored enough to go home. I decided to join up. Maybe they would have some insight into the passages we were about to be tested on. I tended to be a surface girl. Skimming the words and surface, unable to dig deep enough for the hidden, poignant messages buried beneath. Surface girls did not fare well in English Lit, so this one burst through the library doors at ten minutes ‘til six.

I had to ask for directions to the right section twice. Located on the second floor, the group’s leader wanted to hold study time among the literature we were being forced to endure...er, dissect?

Four hours of discussion and I was done. Stick a fork in me, folks
.
I slammed my text book shut, earning shunning glances from my new study-friends and a shush from a librarian who happened to be passing by with a rolling cart full of returns.

I wish I could say that visions of Shakespearean sonnets floated in my head. When it came to this stuff, I felt as dense as the valley girls acted. Vapid. Empty. Confused. The trek across campus reminded me of my mission. Especially when I passed Georgia with her new gaggle of followers. Never again, I told myself, pushing my shoulder pads up.

“Loser,” she coughed into her hand.

“Slut,” I said loudly in a sing-song voice.

“As if!” she said, stomping away. What had I ever seen in her? She and I had nothing in common. I’d shown her my lack of self-esteem and she’d pounced on me like a lioness on a zebra. No more. Take my geek or hit the street, honey. That’s right. Keep walkin’!

The dorm was loud. Music from every open door and from behind all of the closed ones. College kids from every walk of life were living it up on a Friday night. “Hey, Tina?”

I turned at the sound of my name. A girl from my study group whose name I’d forgotten was waving and running to catch up with me. “Hey...”

“Brittany.”

“Hey, Brittany. Thanks for all of your help, by the way.”

She waved me off. “It’s nothing. I actually live two doors down from you and Georgia.”

“Just me. Georgia’s gone.”

Brittany’s eyes widened. “Thank goodness. She was sort of awful.”

“That she was. She’s on the first floor now.”

Brittany giggled. “Between the RAs, huh?”

“Yep.” Justice, my friend. Poetic justice. I could catch the underlying meaning in that shit all day long.

“Well, I just wanted to say hey and if you ever need anything or want to grab a coffee after class, let me know.” She smiled and bounced on her toes.

“That sounds amazing, actually.”

“Great!”

“Monday, then?”

“Definitely.”

We continued down the hall. She stopped at her door and unlocked it, giving me a wave and a goodnight. I unlocked my door and flicked the light on. My toe hit something and sent it skidding across the tile floor.

A cassette tape.