Authors: Andria Large
The
police that were standing off to the
side start
to
make their way over to us. The man in the suit takes the lead. "Mr.
Vaughn, I'm Detective Brice," he says, holding out his hand.
I
shake it. "Hi."
Detective
Brice is a younger guy, probably mid-forties. His hair is a medium brown and
styled in a very business-like manner, parted on the side and swept over. He
looks to be about my height and in decent shape. His eyes are a light brown and
he's decent looking - not ugly, but I don't think he's got women falling all
over him, either.
"I'm
going to be the lead detective on the case. I would like to talk to you and Ms.
Gionelli about what happened, if you have a moment?" he asks. He's not
being pushy, which I appreciate, so I nod and let him lead Nicole and me away
from everyone.
"It
seems as though either one or all of you might be the target, so as a precaution,
we're going to provide two officers to stand guard outside of Mr.
DeGrassi's
room for the remainder of his stay or until the
suspect is apprehended," Detective Brice says.
"Do
you really think whoever did this will try to do something else to Alex?"
Nicole asks in concern.
Detective
Brice frowns. "We don't know that for sure, but it's better to be safe
than sorry."
Nicole
nods in agreement.
"Mr.
Vaughn..."
"Ace
is fine," I interrupt.
He
nods. "Okay, Ace, I've been told that the person you saw driving the car
was a woman wearing a pink wig, large sunglasses, and a scarf over her nose and
mouth. Is that correct?"
I
nod. "Yes."
"Okay.
Well, we ran the tags and found that the car was stolen earlier this morning,
and we have yet to find it." He sighs.
"What
about Hillary? Have you checked her out?" I ask.
"An
officer went by her place but she wasn't home. It could mean nothing, or she
could be on the run. We put out an APB on her, and as soon as we find her,
we'll bring her in for questioning."
"Good."
I nod.
"Do
you know of anyone else who would want to see either of you hurt?" he
asks.
"Man,
I'm famous and have tons of crazy ass fans, so who knows?" I scoff.
"Right.
Well, if you have any questions or see Hillary anywhere, give me a call,"
Detective Brice says and hands me his card. "Also, we have an unmarked car
waiting around back to take you home whenever you are ready to leave."
"Thanks,
Detective."
"No
problem," he replies before leaving.
I
wrap my arm around Nicole's shoulders and lead her back over to Lizette and
Beau.
"We're
gonna go. Nicole needs to soak in a hot bath and we both just need some time to
process all of this," I say wearily.
Beau
and Lizette agree. We all say goodbye to the DeGrassi family, and I assure them
that I will be back soon and ask them to call me if anything changes. Beau and
Lizette leave out the back, too, since that's the way they came in. Nicole and
I get into the unmarked police car where a plain-clothes officer drives us back
to my place. On the ride to my place, Nicole gets calls from her mother and
Raelynn, who both heard about what happened from the news.
When
we get to my condo, I take Nicole on a little tour since it's her first time here.
It's a large condo, consisting of an open floor plan for the living room and
kitchen. Straight ahead are floor to ceiling windows that overlook Central Park.
The living room is to the right, and is
actually sunken, so you have to step down two steps. There are five bedrooms - one
that I converted into an office, another I made into my own personal gym, a
master suite, and two spare bedrooms. There are three full bathrooms - one in
the hall, one jack and
jill
between the two guest
rooms, and my ensuite.
We
end in my bathroom. I turn on the water in the tub. It's one of those endless
water tubs, where you can fill it all of the way to the top and it has a lip to
catch the overflow. I've soaked in it a few times and it's seriously relaxing.
Nicole starts undressing; it's a slow process because she's hurting. I go over
to the medicine cabinet and grab her a few ibuprofen. I fill up the cup I have
sitting on the counter and hand them both to her. She takes the pills and
offers me a thankful smile, then finishes undressing. I take her arm and help
her get into the tub. She sighs heavily and leans back, closing her eyes.
I
take the small purple bottle that is always sitting on the edge of the tub and
open it. Tilting it over the water, I let a few drops fall in. The scent of
lavender fills the air and Nicole moans. I smile, place a kiss on her forehead
and turn off the water since the tub is full. The smell of lavender always
helps me relax...yeah, I'm a total girl, shut the hell up. I quietly leave the
bathroom to go get changed. I just finish changing into a pair of sweatpants
when my
house phone
rings. I lie down on my bed and
pick up the cordless from the cradle.
"Hello?"
I answer.
"Hey,
Ace, you okay?" Dean's worried voice asks.
"Yeah...yeah,
I'm okay, I guess." I sigh heavily.
"How's
Nicole?"
"Stiff
and sore. She's soaking in the tub right now," I reply.
"There's
a video out on the news, someone actually got the whole thing on tape. My heart
was pounding just watching it," Dean croaks. "I really thought Nicole
was going to get hit."
I
squeeze my eyes shut. "Fuck, so did I," I breathe, scrubbing a hand
down my face.
Every
time I close my eyes, that's all I see, Nicole standing there with a car
barreling toward her. It makes me sick to my stomach.
"How's
Alex?" Dean asks softly.
"He's
doing okay, they've got him sedated because of some swelling on his brain, but
they sounded confident that it will go down on it's own. He's gonna be out of
commission for a while, though, with his broken arm and leg."
"Mmm,
yeah...hey, isn't Lizette's brother a Marine? Maybe he could fill in as your
bodyguard until Alex gets better," Dean suggests.
"Oh,
yeah, I forgot that Dennis is a Marine. I'll have to have Lizette ask him if
he'd be willing to fill in. Good thinking, Dean," I say.
"Hey,
don't let the blonde hair fool ya," he jokes.
I
chuckle.
"Alright,
man, I gotta go check on Nicole. Thanks for checking in bro," I say.
"You
got it, call me if you need anything," he says.
"Will
do," I reply.
I
hang up then roll out of bed to check on Nicole. She's still relaxing, but now
her hair is wet. She must have dunked herself. I go into my all-glass shower
and grab my shampoo and conditioner, then go and sit at the edge of the tub by
her head.
"Who
were you talking to?" she murmurs without moving.
"Dean,"
I reply as I squirt shampoo into my hand.
"What
are you doing back there?"
"I'm
going to wash your hair," I say softly.
I
work the shampoo into her dark hair. Once it's thoroughly lathered, I start
massaging her scalp. She groans low.
"Mmm,
that feels so good," she moans.
"I
used to work in a hair salon before joining Renegade, I was the shampoo
boy," I tell her.
Nicole
laughs. "Shut up! You did not!"
I
laugh. "Nah, I'm just joking."
She
giggles and it makes my heart skip a beat. I'm glad that even after the
horrible day we had, I can still make her laugh.
"How
does the rest of your body feel?"
"A
little better, thank you."
After
a couple of minutes of massaging her head, I grab the cup off the sink and
rinse her hair out. I apply some conditioner then rinse that out, too. I tell
Nicole to sit tight while I go get a towel. I go out to the hallway where the
linen closet is, pick out a large towel then go to my small utility room where
I stick the towel in the dryer for a couple of minutes. When it's nice and
warm, I go to help Nicole out of the tub. I wrap her up in the huge warm towel
as she steps out.
"Oh,
man, so warm and cozy," she murmurs, snuggling into the towel. She lifts
her eyes to meet mine. "What did I do to get so lucky to have a boyfriend
who washes my hair and warms up my towels for me?" she asks with a big
adoring grin on her pretty face.
I
don't have an answer for that, so I just lean down and kiss her tenderly.
"Hey,
are you okay?" she asks with a hint of concern after our kiss ends.
I
give her a tight smile. "Yeah," I lie.
No,
I'm not okay. I almost lost the love of my life today and my best friend is
laid up in the hospital. I'm far from okay. I'm torn between feeling relieved
and guilty. Relieved that Nicole wasn't the one hit by the car and guilty that
I'm relieved that it wasn't Nicole. Nicole gives me a doubtful look, like she
doesn't believe me, but she lets it go and walks into my bedroom where I pull
out some sweats and a T-shirt for her to wear.
"I
gotta call Lizette.
Do you want me
to get you something to eat or drink?" I ask as I start for the bedroom
door.
"No,
I think I'm just going to take a nap, I'm exhausted." She yawns.
"Okay,
baby, when I'm off the phone, I'll come and snuggle with you," I say with
a small smile as I watch her climb into my bed.
"Okay,"
she agrees as she burrows down into the many pillows on my large king sized
bed.
I
go out into the kitchen and grab a beer from the fridge before sitting at the
island counter. I could really go for a smoke right about now, actually
starting to feel a bit irritable. I shove it aside, pull up Lizette’s number on
my cell, and hit call. She answers on the third ring.
"Hi,
Ace, everything okay?"
"Yeah.
Hey, listen, since Alex is going to be out of commission for a while, I'm going
to need someone to fill in. Do you think your brother would be willing?" I
ask.
"Are
you kidding? My brother would love to," she says.
"Awesome."
"I'll
call him and see what he says, I'll let you know."
"Great,
thanks, Lizette," I reply.
We
say goodbye then hang up. I finish off the rest of my beer, fight off the urge
to go out and buy cigarettes, then head back to my bedroom. When I walk in,
Nicole is out cold. I climb into bed next to her and pull her into my arms. I kiss
the top of her head then lie back and close my eyes. I soon fall asleep but am
plagued with nothing but bad dreams of cars hitting those I love.
~Nicole~
The
next morning, Ace and I are eating cereal at the island when there is a knock
on the door. Ace goes to answer it, peeking out the peephole before pulling the
door open. I first see him greet Beau with a hug and pat to the cheek, then Lizette,
who he hugs and kisses. Rob, Beau's bodyguard, is next to
enter
.
Then he shakes the hand of another guy who is about Beau's height, maybe a
little taller. This must be Dennis, Lizette's brother. Ace told me how he was
going to need someone to fill in for Alex and that Dennis is a great candidate
because he's a former Marine. Plus, being Lizette's brother and now one of
Beau's good friends, he feels as though he can trust the guy.
Dennis
is tall and lean and just screams Marine. His hair is cut short in that
military fade that they all seem to have, but his face is scruffy, which is
unusual for military men. He walks into the condo, his eyes taking in
everything. Oh yeah, he'd make a good bodyguard. His eyes land on me and I can
see from here that they are a bright green. There is a hardness in them that
catches me off guard. I raise a hand in greeting, not really sure of what else
to do. He gives me a tight smile and closes the distance between us.