Conquer (Control) (21 page)

As Daemon worked on pulling David’s foot out of the muck, I bit my tongue to keep from laughing.  “Please tell me those weren’t three hundred dollar shoes, David.”

His face flashed with anger and annoyance.  “No.  I learned my lesson the last time, thank you very much.  I bought some bargain shoes after the last time just so that I could wear them the next time I came over here.”

“Why were you out here anyway, David?  I’ve warned you about the marshes.”

“Whatever, Paige!  I followed Daemon out and tried to make sure I stepped where I’d seen him step.  You two must have magical abilities or something when it comes to all things swamp.”

Daemon finally freed David’s foot.  “Hey look, I still have my shoe!  Ha! Guess this swamp only likes eating designer things.”  He turned to look at me.  “I take back my earlier statement.  You and Daemon don’t have magical abilities…just bad taste in fashion.  That must be why the swamp hasn’t eaten you.”

“Ohhhhh Kaaaaaaaay.  Well anyways, David, Annie’s up on the veranda.  You should get up there and see her.” 

David looked over at Annie and took off in a sprint to get to her.  “And watch your step on the way up there,” I yelled after him.

Daemon moved to my side as we walked to the veranda together.  “Are you going to be ready to head home soon?”

I nodded my head ‘yes.’

He took my hand and placed a kiss in the center of my palm.   “Good.  Then let me be the first to say, ‘Game on.’”

My face fell as Daemon winked at me.

Fuck.
  This was NOT going to be a fun night.

~

After staying for another two hours and eating dinner, I climbed on my bike as Daemon and David climbed in the truck to return home.  We had a great time catching Annie up on all of the events of our lives while she had been away.  Annie especially enjoyed hearing about my training at the gym.  We left out the reason behind the training, instead opting to let her believe it was a physical fitness thing more than a survival thing.  Everyone was careful not to bring up anything related to Chris and I was absolutely thrilled to see Annie socializing and joking with my family and friends.

My parents had kept my bike under a tarp for me so that it wouldn’t sit out too much in the rain.  I giggled some when my father proudly unveiled how the bike had remained dry while in their care.  He was so proud of himself that I played along letting him believe he was the most brilliant person on the planet.   I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the bike got wet often and with good maintenance it wasn’t really a problem.

I kicked my bike into gear and revved the engine.  The sound echoed through the tree lines and I shivered a little to hear it.  I loved my bike.  It was an ultimate freedom to me.  Crashing against the wind, the lack of a metal box, the ability to go wherever I wanted to go, whenever I wanted to go there…those were what the things that made me love it so much.  Cars were okay for getting around, but they would never compare to my bike.

Kicking the bike into gear, I drove down the long drive out to the dirt road beyond.  When my tires finally hit cement, I accelerated quickly, tearing down the highway in the direction of my house.  I heard a horn honking a distance behind me and I looked down at my speedometer, quickly realizing I was high above the recommended….okay….
required
speed limit.  I slowed down, allowing Daemon and David to catch up. 

It’d grown dark on our ride home and as we were winding through the thick tree lines of the national forest, Daemon started flashing his brights at me.  I immediately slowed down and pulled along the edge of the road to find out what he wanted.  He pulled up beside me and spoke to me through the passenger side window.  “Paige, we need to go to the police station as soon as we get back in town.  Detective Troy called and said it was urgent that she meet with us.”

My head dropped down.  Sonofabitch.  Lately, when Detective Troy called, it was never good news.

They wouldn’t be able to hear me through my helmet unless I screamed, so instead of straining my voice, I simply gave Daemon the thumbs up to let him know that I understood.  He waited for me to pull out in front of him before continuing onward.

We arrived at the police station within a half hour.  I was pulling off my helmet as Daemon came up and wrapped an arm around my waist, taking my helmet from me with his other hand.   

“Did she tell you anything about why she needed to see us when she called?”

Daemon chuckled.  “No.  In true Detective Troy style, she kept her demand short and sweet.    We were basically ordered to show up.”

“Uh oh.  That can’t be good.”

The police station was a large brick building that appeared somewhat menacing and foreboding.  It carried an air of ‘law’ about it and made even an innocent person feel nervous to enter.  As we entered the large glass doors of the station, we were dumped into a beige hallway, which led to an open waiting area.  Chairs were lined up on one side of the room, and to their right stood some vending machines and coffee makers.  A delighted squeal escaped me cueing Daemon to strengthen his hold around me.  “Damsel, let’s at least let them know we are here before you run off to get your fix.”  He paused for a second before a crooked smile broke out on his face.  “You know you’re an addict, right?”

I grinned.  He had no idea about the true extent of my problem.  “Yep.  I’ve been researching twelve step programs, but apparently there are no coffee support groups in town.”

“Well, you guys go ahead and let them know we’re here.  I’ll just be going…”  And with that, David was off to grab a cup of MY coffee.  I attempted to break free from Daemon’s hold, but it was useless fighting against the steel band he called an arm.  I glared at David as he approached the table.  He grabbed a cup, poured himself a cup and turned back to stick his tongue out at me.  I plotted his demise quickly before turning back in the direction Daemon was dragging me.

As we approached the desk, my eyes met with the friendliest set of honey brown eyes I had ever seen.  The front desk lady was middle aged and really quite pretty.  Her doe eyes perfectly complimented her round cheeks, giving her a cherub-like appearance.   Her brown hair was nicely complimented by the butter yellow top she was wearing.

“Hello.  My name is Daemon Pierce and this is Paige Stone.  Detective Troy called and asked that we meet her here.”

The receptionist looked away from me and did a double take when her eyes finally landed on Daemon.  It took her a second to find the ability to speak.   “Um, yes sir.  I’ll call down to her office to let her know you are here.  Please take a seat in our lobby and I’m sure she’ll be out as quickly as possible.”

As we walked away, I leaned into Daemon to whisper, “Doesn’t that annoy you?”

“What.”

“How women get all flustered and nervous around you.  It’s got to be annoying after a while.”

Daemon smiled and I felt his body shake with soft laughter.  “To be honest, I never noticed, Paige.  Lately, the only woman I’ve paid any attention to is you.  Trust me when I say that I would not use the words ‘nervous’ or ‘flustered’ to describe you.”

That statement made me curious.  “Oh yeah?  What words would you use to describe me?”

Daemon thought about it for a moment before answering, “moody, stubborn, insufferable…have I mentioned moody?”

My elbow somehow connected with his side.  I have no idea how that happened.

After chuckling at my failed attempt to hurt him, he said, “And incredibly fucking sexy.”

Okay.  So that made up for the moody comment…sort of.

We made our coffee as we waited for Detective Troy to come fetch us.  When the double doors slammed open, her little form moved through as her heels clicked rhythmically across the terrazzo floor.  “Excellent to see that all three of you could come.  If you’ll just come with me, we can talk in my office.”

I’m not sure what I expected to see when she walked us through the double doors of the back area of the police station.  I guess I imagined there would be a big room with desks where police officers interviewed and booked prostitutes and drug dealers before shipping them off to the county jail.  I was surprised, and a little disappointed, to find that it was just a regular hallway, with regular doors set at equal distances which led to bland offices.  It was nothing like the T.V. shows made it out to be.  We walked quite a distance before finally coming to a larger office at the end of the hallway.  Detective Troy led us in and I stilled suddenly when I noticed Alex and Ava sitting on a couch near the windowed wall.

“Please take a seat.  There’s plenty of room for everybody.”  Detective Troy walked over to sit behind her desk while Daemon, David and I choose chairs near where Alex was seated.

“Now that I have you all here, I want to explain that Mr. Baxter has escalated yet again.  While investigating Mr. Ingram’s death, we couldn’t determine for a fact that it was Chris who had committed the murder.  Although, it was presumable that Mr. Ingram’s death was caused by Mr. Baxter; here at the police station we need little things called facts to prove such a suspicion.  Unfortunately, he’d left us no such evidence at the scene, however, he kindly provided it to us this morning whether he realizes it or not.

Okay, that got my attention.

“This morning we received a package delivered by a local courier company.  The package was addressed to me.  Upon opening the envelope, I found several photographs of Mr. Pierce and Ms. Stone entering Mr. Ingram’s trailer.”

“So the nosy bitch sent you more photos?”

Detective Troy glared at me for my interruption before continuing.  “These photos were not taken by the same camera Ms. Stone.  Additionally, the angle of the shots are significantly different.  It appears two people were photographing your presence at the trailer park yesterday.”

“So, what does this have to do with Chris?”

“If you could contain your questions until such time as I have finished what I’m telling you, Ms. Stone, you would know what this has to do with Mr. Baxter.” 

I shut my mouth.

“As I was saying, the images from the outside of the trailer show a very much live version of Mr. Ingram standing with the two of you by the front door.  Together with those photos were some additional images of the interior of the trailer, after Mr. Ingram had expired.  I provided the photos to my forensic team to compare to the photographs we had gathered of Annie.  The paper type was the same.  Now, that’s not enough evidence to convict Mr. Baxter of his father’s murder.  However, given the information we all know to be true, it’s enough for us to know positively that Mr. Baxter has escalated.  He is now a murderer on top of a rapist and arsonist, Ms. Stone.”

Not knowing if I as allowed to talk yet, I raised my hand.

Detective Troy breathed out in obvious exasperation.  “Yes, Ms. Stone. What would you like to say?”

“Not to appear ignorant by asking this, but what does this have to do with all of us? I don’t understand why you needed us to come immediately to the station.”

“Actually, Ms. Stone, that is a very good question.  We suspect Mr. Baxter has been watching you since the night you met at the club.   Being that you are currently living with Mr. Pierce, I wondered if Mr. Baxter had laid off his pursuit.  These photographs prove to me he has not.  Additionally, it appears Mr. Baxter was attempting to set you up for the murder of his father.  That’s the only reason I believe he would have sent us these photos.  Unfortunately, if we hadn’t already spoken to a witness that saw you leave while Mr. Ingram was still breathing, the police in that county would have no choice but to list you as a possible suspect.”

“What?!  Why?  You know I wouldn’t go off and kill someone!”

“Ms. Stone, circumstances make the situation appear bad for you.  You were beaten and almost raped by Mr. Ingram’s son.  You were supposedly the last people to have visited Mr. Ingram’s trailer.  Any good investigator would attempt to connect the two events.  However, Mr. Ingram’s neighbor was credible in her account of having seen him alive after the two of you left.  Regardless, that’s neither here nor there.  The point I am making is that Mr. Baxter is, in fact, still following you.  As a result, I need to know where you have been going for the past couple of days so that I can determine whether I need to have officers stationed at the places you frequent most.  It’s highly likely Mr. Baxter will attempt to harm any friends or family you may have visited since the incident in the woods.”

Oh my god.   Annie!

“Um, yes.  In fact, we were at The Center today to visit Annie.  She was finally released from the mental facility and transferred there.  Crap!  Detective Troy, you need to get someone over there right now.  My parents are there and there are a lot of women and children that live in that facility.”

I gave Detective Troy the address for The Center and she quickly excused herself to make some phone calls.  Apparently, due to The Center being in a different county, she needed to request assistance by another police department.

I was nervous that something may have already happened, so I borrowed Daemon’s phone to call my parents.   Daddy answered on the second ring and I informed them about what we had learned from Detective Troy.

“Don’t you worry, Paige.  You know I have this place wired to prevent intruders, but I’ll keep the building armed at all times for the next couple of days just in case.”  Daddy sounded confident that he would keep Momma, Annie and the rest of the residents safe and I ended the call.  Walking back over to the group, I noticed that Ava looked upset.

“Hey, Ava.  It’s good to see you again.  Why do you look so glum?”

Ava started crying and Alex answered for her.  “Well, that brings us to the reason Ava and I are here.   Ava’s car was trashed this morning in front of her apartment.  I remembered the description of the damages Chris had done to your bike and David’s car and I know for a fact that sick lunatic is the one who fucked up Ava’s car.  I came here to report the incident to Detective Troy and she asked me to wait until the three of you arrived so we could figure out what to do about it.”