Broken Dreams (Franklin Blues #2) (16 page)

“Baby, tell me what you want. You know I have to hear you say it. Or shall we play some?”

I shake my head because I’m all about the instant gratification at this point. I need him to fuck me and I tell him as such.

“Impatient are we my love? Well, we will have to give you what you want since you were such a good girl and told me what you wanted.”

Next thing I know, he’s rid himself of his towel, and is hovering over me. I feel him enter me and there’s only one feeling coursing through my veins; I’m home. No matter where we are in the world, whenever we connect as one, I am home, and I come for him hard and fast.

After coming down from my explosive orgasm, I can feel him getting close, but knowing him he’ll make sure that I’ve gotten off at least twice before he does. He reaches between us and starting rubbing my clit in small circles, and I can feel that familiar build happening again. I’m getting so close.

“Lance, Baby, I’m getting so close.”

“I know Baby, I know. I can feel your pussy gripping me in a death grip. I’m not going to last much longer. I need to get you off at least one more time before I let go.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, I can feel myself explode all over again. He hardens even more and then he screams my name and empties himself inside of me.

We lay there trying to catch our breaths after he rolls off of me. I feel my eyes getting droopy, and before I know what hits me, I fall into a deep sleep.

Lance

Words cannot describe what I felt when I heard Amy scream as soon as I walked in the door. I thought she was really hurt. When she told me that she had read my case file, my world stopped. I didn’t want her connected to this case. I didn’t want her anywhere near it, but my dumbass-self left my file at home. I was hoping that I would make it home before her, but sadly I got caught up reading the new murder scene notes. He’s on the outskirts of town now, and he’s doing something new. He’s carving the word ‘MINE’ into his newest victim’s stomach. I can’t for the life of me figure out why he would change his MO now, but it’s making me even more uneasy than I was before. Ever since I took on this case I’ve had the feeling that something bad is about to happen.

Making love to her last night was nothing short of amazing, like always. However, this time, this time there was something different about it. There was an almost desperation to it. I loved every minute of it, but I have a feeling Amy is trying to tell me something, but I’m not sure
what
she is trying to tell me.

I’m sitting in the office again when my phone rings. I look down to see Shawn’s dumbass selfie flashing on my screen.

“Hey, Shawn what’s up?”

“Lance, Dude, you have to get down here to the fountain at the center of town. I was out on patrol walking Jax around, and I found another body. I’m telling you, if I didn’t know that Amy was hanging out with Hailee today at my house, I’d think this was her. She literally looks identical to her. You need to get here, like now. This one is worse than the last.”

Damn it, he’s disposing of bodies a lot quicker now than in the beginning. At first it was once every two weeks or so, now it’s at least once a week. This fucker’s body count is up to seven now. This guy is seriously fucked up in the head. I grab my work gun and head out.

I get to the scene and walk under the crime tape that ropes off the area so civilians can’t come and contaminate the scene. I take a deep breath and walk up to the fountain. What I see could give any normal person nightmares for a lifetime; a red head, naked lying in the fountain. Her body has been mutilated in more ways than one. Her body is in an awkward position, the word MINE carved into her abdomen, you can tell all of her fingers have been broken, and her body is covered in tiny circles that look like burns. This poor girl went through hell and I hope she didn’t feel all the pain that was obviously inflicted on her.

I look up at Shawn, and I can tell he’s really bothered by what happened. He hasn’t really seen anything like this before. Sure he saw Hailee beaten and bloody, but in our community, things like this never happened.

“Hey man, you okay?”

He takes a deep breath and nods. “Yeah, I’m good brother. I can’t help but feel pity for this girl. I saw the other crime scene photos, but seeing it in person, it’s a whole other ball game.”

I nod my head at him. I feel his pain; I haven’t had to see this in person either. The water in the fountain is a crimson red, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to look at it the same way ever again.

I talk to the other officers who have canvased the scene. There are no witnesses to whoever dumped the body. I’m getting pissed because all we ever do is hit dead end after dead end with this guy.

I take some notes and head back to the station. I can’t wrap my head around what’s going on. I know I’m missing something, something that is part of a bigger picture, but I can’t seem to figure out what it is.

~**~

After a long day at work I decide to head home. I know Amy went to Hailee’s today and they were going to pick up her dress for the gala. I’m hoping she’s home because I really want to hold her tonight. I know it sounds stupid, but I need the physical confirmation that she’s okay. Shawn was right, that girl looked exactly like Amy, more so than the others. It was like getting hit in the stomach earlier today seeing her in that fountain.

I pull up, see her car in the driveway and smile to myself. I get out of the truck and walk into the house. I see Amy in the kitchen staring out the window. I can tell she didn’t hear me come in, so I go up behind her and wrap my arms around her. She jerks in my arms and screams. I know that I probably caught her off guard, but she’s never responded like this to me. As she slowly turns around, something catches my eye in the trashcan. There are red roses, at least a dozen, sitting in the trash can.

“Amy, Sweetheart, are you okay?”

I can tell she’s trying to catch her breath, but she nods at me. She’s as pale as a ghost. What the hell happened while I was at work?

“Lance, sorry, you scared me. I’m not sure why I’m so jumpy today, I guess it’s because of this case you’re working on.”

She’s lying to me and I know it. I give her a look so that she knows that I know she’s lying to me. She shakes her head like she doesn’t want to talk about it. I look around the room, trying to figure out a way to make her talk to me when my eyes land on the roses again. I can see that there is a card lying there on the top.

I walk over to the trash can and pick up the card. What I read turns my blood cold.

You’ll be with me again soon. Hope you enjoy the roses, I know how they’re your favorite.

Now one thing I know for certain, Amy hates roses. Now to figure out why she didn’t tell me about these as soon as she got them, I look over at her once again and she has tears in her eyes. I rush back to her side and hold her as the first tears run down her face.

Amy

I went out with Hailee today and had a blast. We picked up my dress, and went to lunch. When she dropped me off at home, I went in, put my dress up, and took a shower. I still can’t get those images of those poor women out of my head. Before I know it, the water turns cold so I get out.

As I’m going to get dressed there’s a knock on the door. I throw on a pair of Lance’s sweats and my favorite shirt of his and head to the door. When I open the door, there’s no one there. I look around but don’t see any sign that anyone was even here. I am starting to think I’m going crazy when I look down. There’s a long brown box sitting on the ground with my name and address on it.

I pick up the box and carry it inside. I haven’t ordered anything recently, so I’m not sure what could be in the box, especially since there’s no return address on it. When I get the box open, I see a dozen red roses. I immediately know who they’re from, and my body starts to shake.

I pick up the roses without reading the card and toss them in the trash. I go back to the sink and try to regain my composure. I’m pretty sure if I don’t calm my breathing I’m going to hyperventilate. I’m so engrossed in my own world that I don’t hear Lance come in the house. He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me, I scream and try and break away from his hold before I know what’s happening.

I can tell he saw the roses because his jaw is tight and he keeps looking over at them. He’s trying to get me to talk and I can feel my eyes filling with tears. He wraps me up in his arms and pulls me into his body as the tears begin to fall.

“I came home from Hailee’s today, and got into the shower. No more did I get out and there was a knock on the door. I went to check it out and found a box with my name and our address on it. I brought it in and found roses. I automatically knew who they were from so I trashed them. I saw the card but didn’t read it.”

He takes a deep breath and asks who they’re from. I know I have to be honest with him so I tell him, they’re from Jeremy. The last time I got roses from him was when I heard for the last time that I wasn’t pregnant. He got them for me and said it was okay, that we’d still have kids. Two days later I found him in bed with Jessica.

Lance holds me while I let the tears fall. Why won’t he leave me alone? Can’t he see that I’m happy with Lance?

“Amy, have you had any kind of contact with Jeremy since you were in the hospital? I need to know Baby.”

I swallow hard because I know once he hears that I saw him the other day he’s going to go apeshit. I nod my head and try not to look at him.

“When I was out with Hailee the other day, we were having lunch when I saw him across the street from the restaurant. I walked over to him to see what he was doing there when he smirked at me and walked away. I thought it was weird, but didn’t think anything else of it until I got the roses.”

The tears have finally stopped, but I still can’t look at him. I keep my head down, looking at the tile in the kitchen, which, for whatever reason, has become very interesting to me all of a sudden. I feel his finger hook under my chin and he tilts my head up. I look into his deep brown eyes and don’t see anger in them, I see concern and worry, which I’m a little confused about.

“Amy, I’m not mad at you. Yes, I wish you would’ve told me about seeing him, but anger is not what I’m feeling. At least not towards you. Something about this guy has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think I’m going to call Aaron and see if he has any buddies on the force where he’s at and have a check run on him. I would, but I’m too focused on this case at the moment.”

I shake my head because I know he doesn’t have a record. I start to tell him as much when he stops me. “I know you may think you know him, but you haven’t been together in years. He could’ve changed since then. He’s definitely not the same guy you married. If he were, he never would’ve cheated. Everyone changes, so please let me do this, to give me some piece of mind.”

I nod my head.

“Thank you Baby, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

~**~

The last two weeks have flown by. There haven’t been any more victims, and I know that that makes Lance unsettled. I’m nervous about tonight, but I know that I will have Lance by my side so I’ll be okay.

Hailee and I are getting ready at my house while the boys get ready at hers. They weren’t happy about the arrangement, but we girls can be very convincing when we need to be. I’m getting my dress on after being pampered this afternoon, and I have never felt so good in my life. The boys got us gift certificates to the spa so we could relax before the big night.

I’m looking in the mirror, and I have to say, I think I love this dress more than I do the first one. It hugs all my curves and makes my boobs look fantastic. It’s probably from the help of the great bra I bought from Victoria’s Secret for this occasion. I can’t wait to see Lance’s face tonight when he peels me out of this dress later.

I hear movement and look up in time to see Hailee come out of the bathroom with her dress on as well. She’s wearing a midnight blue strapless, Grecian style dress. The color looks flawless against her complexion. She looks up at me and smiles. I love that she’s so happy, and I hope to one day I’ll be able to glow with happiness the way that she does every day.

“Are the guys here yet? I’m ready to get this show on the road.”

As soon as the last words leave her mouth, the doorbell rings. We both look at each other and giggle. Perfect timing. We walk down the hall and to the front door. I open the door and see the sexiest man alive waiting on the other side. He looks me up and down, and smirks at me.

Shawn pushes us aside and walks into our living room. Of course he couldn’t wait two minutes to set his eyes on his wife. I look over at them and see Hailee blush at something he’s saying in her ear. I love how she still blushes with the things he says to her.

I look back at Lance, and his mouth is now hanging open. I guess he’s seen the back of my dress. I figured he’d like it with how low it hangs in the back, it is one of the reasons I chose this dress. I knew I’d get a reaction out of him. I love that I still have that effect on him.

“Lance, close your mouth before a fly lands in it,” I tease and shoot him a wink. He reluctantly closes his mouth.

I ask the other two love birds if they are ready to go and head out to the limo waiting for us out front. We all climb in and head to the gala. The location had to be changed since we were supposed to use the town square where the fountain is, but since it’s still a crime scene, the plan had to change. We are now on our way to the park. It’s big enough and all they had to do was set up tents in case we had any unexpected weather. I personally like the park better.

The limo comes to a stop and the boys get out on separate sides to help each of us out. I look around and love what they have done with the park; there are twinkle lights in the trees and bushes. The DJ is already playing soft music, and they even have a makeshift dance floor.

Lance leads me to the bar to grab me a glass of wine and a beer for himself. Shawn and Hailee follow and they get the same thing as us, except Hailee gets water. That’s odd, she never passes up a good glass of wine. We are all sitting around talking and enjoying each other’s company when I get that eerie feeling that someone is watching me. I look around and don’t see anything at first. I am still looking around when I see the bushes move. It’s almost like I can see a figure sitting in them, but as soon as I see them they are gone.