Confer, Lorelei - Deadly Revenge (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (11 page)

“It’s been fine. You’ve probably heard Mom opened a B&B in the house and it’s doing well, too.” Tory blabbered over all the inane details of the B&B to keep the conversation going.

“Yeah, I’ve heard about all that stuff. I want to know about your new boyfriend, what’s his name?” Matt smiled.

The question pissed her off, and the words she’d been wanting to spit out spilled from her mouth unbidden. “And I want to know about your wife. Are you or are you not married? I don’t date married men and you, of all people, should know that, or haven’t you learned a thing since I left you at the altar?” Tory asked as she squinted, pursed her lips, and balled her hands into fists.

“I told you I’m still married, at the moment, but we’re separated, soon to be divorced. We both realized our mistakes, and we’re ready to take the next step toward freedom. So, who’s this guy you brought home with you?”

“You don’t need to concern yourself with him just as I’m not going to concern myself with your wife or soon to be ex-wife.”

“I don’t want to argue with you. All I want is for us to have a good time reminiscing over a nice dinner, okay?” Matt asked her as his white-knuckled fingers gripped the steering wheel.

Tory said nothing for a while, focusing on the scenery passing by her window. She needed to be calm and remain calm in order to get through the night and end it once and for all.

* * * *

Dave was running surveillance with a couple LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) when he stopped at the end of the street for ongoing traffic. In the last car to go by before he could pull out onto the main road, he saw what looked like Tory in the passenger seat. His heart lurched in his chest. The thought of Tory with someone else on a date made the hair bristle on the back of his neck. He rubbed his chin while trying to envision again the passenger in the front seat of the car.

He had no hold on her. She could date whomever she wanted, they had no ties.

Then why do I feel this way? Why do I feel like I’m being cheated on? Why do I care so much?

Anger filled his chest as he pursed his lips, hitting the steering wheel with his fist. They had a date tomorrow night, but right now he didn’t want to see her again. Maybe he had been too quick to react to her sensitivities, thinking they’d had a strange relationship from the start. It was way too easy for him, and he was way too attracted to her. She responded to his advances so quickly. Had he assumed she felt the same way? Was he being played?

* * * *

Matt parked the car in a space close to the front door of the restaurant. He got out of the car and opened Tory’s door, assisting her out onto the pavement.

Once inside the restaurant, a waiter escorted them to an intimate corner table with dimmed lights. Just what Tory
did not
want.

Matt ordered a bottle of wine, Chardonnay. The waiter returned with the bottle and two long-stemmed glasses. He poured a small portion in a wine glass for Matt, who tasted the liquid and nodded to the waiter. The waiter poured the wine in each of their glasses and left the table. Matt lifted his glass to Tory.

“To old times together,” he said with a big smile.

Old times indeed. Tory met his glass with a “clink” and took a sip of her wine.
Very good. Maybe with a few more glasses and I’ll be able to get through the night.

She studied the menu and decided to order light. When the waiter came back to take their orders, Matt nodded to Tory.

“I’d like the chicken Marsala and house salad with a light vinaigrette dressing.” Tory handed the menu to the waiter, folding her hands in her lap.

Matt ordered the filet mignon with a salad and Italian dressing and handed the menu back to the waiter. Then he gave all his attention to Tory.

“Do you remember when we ate here before?” Matt asked Tory.

“When was that?”

“The night you graduated from high school. Remember now?”

“Oh, right. The night we planned our entire life together. How could I have forgotten?” Tory answered.

“No reason to get your panties in a wad. I thought it would be a nice drive down memory lane tonight.”

“Memory lane was a bumpy road the way I remember it. I hope you don’t have anything else planned for tonight. We really need to talk.”

“Okay, Tory, what’s so urgent? Let’s get this talking over with so we can enjoy the rest of the evening.”

Tory squirmed in her seat not sure how to start.
Her friends she had known most of her life and had graduated with in high school had started working or got married and had children by the time she had graduated from college and planned her wedding to Matt Wilson.

After a few drinks and loose lips, she found out what she had suspected all along. Matt had been cheating on her. She had rushed out of the party and chose once again to seek her safe haven behind the wooden door with the glass etching.

She lay awake most of the night while time passed slowly. The following morning after her ruined party, she came to the realization there was no way she could put on her “special” dress and walk down the aisle of the church she had been baptized in to marry Matt.
She took another gulp of wine to settle her nerves just as the waiter appeared with their salads.

“How’s your dinner?” Matt asked Tory halfway through the meal.

“It has a very nice atmosphere, the food is good, and the service has been excellent.”

With the table cleaned off and their wine glasses refilled, Tory reached into her purse and took out the white jewelry box. She handed it to Matt.

“Since this was your grandmother’s, I thought you would like to keep it in the family and pass it on to your daughter or daughter-in-law one day.”

Matt opened the treasured box and his eyes grew large.

“I didn’t remember how big and beautiful it really is. Thank you for returning it, especially under the circumstances. It’s going to be hard to hold onto it in this tough economy.”

“It belongs in your family.”

“I was hoping we could take things slowly, maybe see how things go. I never stopped caring about you, Tory. I got trapped into marrying Paige. I keep searching for someone like you, with your soft, sexy voice, your cute laugh, your overall sexy and generous demeanor.”

“I think we better go now. We have a long drive ahead of us,” Tory interrupted Matt.

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Matt answered as he stood from his chair. Tory stood ready to go as well, and together they made their way through the restaurant and out to the car.

Their conversation on the way home was stilted, talking about Wilson Construction, the hard financial times he was going through, the new business plan he had in mind, and her job in Myrtle Beach. It was a relief when they finally reached Tory’s house.

He walked her to her front porch. He turned her around to face him and started to lean in to give her a good night kiss. She pushed away from him, shaking her head back and forth.

“Thanks again for a nice evening, Matt. Good night!” Tory turned the lock in the door, turned the doorknob, entered her house, and shut the door. With the door firmly closed behind her, she leaned up against it and slowly slipped to the floor. She had remembered the first time they’d eaten at the restaurant and all the other good times they’d had back then, but now it was a blurry past she wanted to bury. A cold numbness filled her body as if she were grieving for something she never had.

On the drive home Tory prayed she could forget all the recent bad experiences and simply enjoy Dave. Now that the worst was behind her, thoughts of him made her smile. When they had arrived home she noticed one of her potted plants had been turned over. “Must have been the wind,” she muttered to herself.

When she reached the porch and bent to upright the plant, she noticed a small footprint in the dirt.
I wonder who was here snooping around while I was out. Or maybe they were here last night snooping around while Dave and I...That’s an awful small footprint for a male, so it must have been another woman, maybe a teenager.

She reached up the wall far enough to find a light switch. Flipping it on, she was dumbfounded at the sight of her living/dining room. Everything was moved and helter-skelter throughout. Drawers on the floor, their contents strewn around as if a small tornado had ripped through, papers and books littered the floor in front of an empty bookcase, and cushions from the sofa and chair lying in the center of the room. Someone had ransacked her house while she was out.

Chapter 15

Tory stared at the disheveled mess that had been her nice and neat
“home.” She picked up her cell phone and looked at the numbers. She wanted to call Dave but didn’t want to explain to him where she was tonight. She felt like she had cheated on him, and it made her feel dirty and cheap. She called 911 instead.

“911. Is this a medical emergency?”

“No, not medical, but someone turned my place upside down.”

“Is the perpetrator still there? Do you hear anything?”

“I don’t hear anything, so I don’t think they’re still here.”

“Stay on the line with me until a police officer arrives, okay? Can you do that?”

“Sure.”

“This is what I want you to do. I want you to go outside and wait there for the officer. Turn on all your outside lights so it’s nice and bright.”

“Okay, I turned on all the lights and I’m going outside on the porch right now.”

“An officer is on his way.”

“I see the police car.”

“Good. They will take it from here.”

“Thank you. Good-bye,” Tory said as she stood in the bright front porch lights, watching a police cruiser pull up in front of her house. Two officers got out and asked her to sit in the car while they checked everything inside, especially to make sure no one remained in the house. Tory sat in the cruiser, trying to slow down her breathing with long deep gulps of air. She realized her legs were trembling and tears were welling up in her eyes.
Why me? What do I have that someone wants so badly? I feel so violated and stomped on.

The two officers soon emerged from her front door and motioned for her to get out of the cruiser. She stood on wobbly legs, searched her pockets for a tissue, and finally found one.

She didn’t recognize the officers at first, and then she vaguely remembered one of them from the car accident.

“Ma’am, whoever was in your house is now long gone. We found a jimmied back door lock. You’re going to want to get that replaced with a deadbolt for more security. We’re going to see if we can get some prints from the door. You’re welcome to come inside now if you want to.”

She wobbled on trembling legs inside the house and looked around. Amazed. Baffled. Disbelieving.

“If you see anything missing, please let us know, okay?” one of the officers said to her. “Otherwise don’t move anything just yet.”

“Sure, okay,” Tory said in a fog as she surveyed her surroundings. Chairs were turned on their sides, the cushions removed from the couch, lamps broken on the floor.

She quickly took out her camera from her purse and began taking pictures. When she went upstairs she found her bedroom was in even worse shape. All the dresser drawers were open, her clothing hanging from the sides and tossed everywhere. Everything in the closet was on the floor. The mattress on the bed was only partially on the box springs.

At the recommendation of the police officers, she called her landlord. Trevor immediately arrived on the scene and installed a deadbolt lock on the back door.

The officers gave her the “go-ahead” to start the cleanup and Trevor stayed to help with the larger things. The rest would be done tomorrow. Tory felt safe enough to stay for the night thanks to the new deadbolt. She tested it to verify it was working properly.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Trevor asked Tory.

“Of course, you heard the officers. They don’t expect anyone to come back. They did a thorough enough job looking for ‘whatever’ the first time. I’ll be perfectly fine, I swear. And I do know how to call 911 all by myself.” Tory smiled.

After Trevor left she went through the house again, checking her jewelry one more time. She couldn’t find anything missing. Not that she had anything except her camera worthy of stealing, and it had been with her in her purse.