Lover’s Cross Part VI
My name is Sunny Alexander. And I’m Henry James and we’re writers for Dark Sides of the Truth magazine.
Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Conclusion
I woke to a faint buzzing of my phone on top of the chest of drawers opposite the bed. Warmth from Penelope against my back washed away a moment of disorientation as did the warmth of her breasts.
I don’t know what time it was when we finally fell asleep, both of us spent, exhausted from a night of passionate, sometimes gentle, other times frenzied, sex.
From my viewpoint it was the best sleepless night I’d ever had.
I yanked the sheets we’d wrecked from my legs then rolled my feet to the floor.
Penelope murmured, her voice slurred, “what is it?”
“My phone. Go back to sleep.”
Since we’d spent the night exploring each other’s bodies I didn’t feel the need for modesty as I stepped across the room and stared at the readout.
Of course it was Sunny. Who else would be calling at this hour of the morning?
“What?”
“James, where in the hell are you?”
I studied Penelope for a moment. She’d turned over on her side. I watched the thin sheet draped over her rise and fall. Stepping out of the bedroom I walked across the hall into the master bath and closed the door.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I spent the night with Penny at her house.”
All I heard was the sound of Sunny breathing into the phone. Never been like her to be at a loss for words. When she did speak there was something in the tone of her voice I picked up on, something not quite right.
“Oh, so it’s Penny now is it?”
I could have said something snarky, but I held off.
“Henry, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Something’s…”
“I don’t. I know what I’m doing.”
“Listen to me for God’s sake will you? Look, I’m sorry for jumping into the middle of your business last night. I should have never done that.”
“You’re right. You shouldn’t have.”
“Fine. I deserved that. Now are you going to listen to what I have to say or not?”
“It’s your dime.”
“You remember the lumberyard receipt? The one from Monument Lumberyard?”
“Yeah.”
“There is no Monument Lumberyard in Rockburn. The only Monument Lumberyard I found was is Carbondale about thirty minutes west of Rockburn.”
“Which doesn’t prove a damn thing Sunny.”
“It might if they have security cameras.”
“And you have a court order. You know how this game is played.”
“I’ve already talked to Manny Hermanos.”
“Figures you’d be reaching out to your FBI buddy. Listen Sunny. I don’t know why you’re getting so wrapped around the axle over this. Why can’t you just let this me and Penny thing go?”
“Paleeeze Henry. Do you honestly think I give a shit what you do or who you do it with on your own time?”
“Then what the hell is it?”
“I don’t know, a feeling, a hunch. You of all people should know how that works for people like us.”
“People like us huh?”
“Yeah, people like us. Sometimes it’s all we have.”
There was a faint rapping at the door.
“Henry are you okay?”
“Look I gotta go.”
Without waiting for a response I disconnected then flushed the toilet. I placed my phone next to the sink, turned the water on and began scrubbing my hands.
“Yeah Penny, sorry had to go. Coast is clear.”
Penelope eased into the bathroom wearing the same thing I was wearing. I examined her lithe form as she ruffled her mass of bed hair then stepped into the shower and turned it on. As I dried my hands she stepped behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. In the mirror I watched her lay her head against my right shoulder and close her eyes.
“I love you Henry.”
Thank God her eyes were closed. Otherwise she would have seen an expression of shock on my face.
I guess I’m a little old fashioned about things like this. When I say something, especially those three words, I want to mean it.
With Penelope Layne it was way too soon to mean it.
“Tell you what. I’ll use the guest bathroom while you shower. Then how about we get dressed, get some coffee going and throw some breakfast together? I’m pretty handy around the kitchen. Then we can talk for a bit. I’d really like to get to know you better Penny.”
“Oh how sweet. That would be great. You remember where the guest bathroom is right?”
“Yeap, meet you in the kitchen.”
A half hour later Penny and I were in the kitchen acting out a scene of Leave It To Beaver domesticity. We sat opposite each other enjoying eggs, bacon and buttered toast, sipping coffee, chatting between bites.
“You ever been married Henry?”
“Nope, never had the time. You?”
“Almost.”
“Things didn’t work out?”
“He left me standing at the alter.”
“Oh wow. That’s gotta suck.”
“It did. For months I wasn’t myself. It took me years to get over what he’d done to me.”
“You must have really loved the guy.”
“I did and I thought he loved me. I never understood what I’d done to make him leave me. I sacrificed everything for that man. I dealt with his fooling around because I knew he would always come back to me. I suffered through it all to prove my love to him and he left me standing there.”
“You seemed to have done alright by yourself.”
“I have. After my parents died I went to live with my grandmother in Milwaukee. Sweet woman. Went the usual route. High school, a couple of years at a local community college, then transferred to complete my degree.”
“Criminal justice?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“You’re a cop right?”
She smiled, her emerald eyes twinkling mischievously over the edge of her coffee mug.
“Gotta be careful around you. You might just discover all my secrets.”
“I discovered a whole bunch of them last night.”
I watched her nod as she chuckled, returned her mug to the table and stood.
“As much as I’d love to just go back to bed and share more secrets with you I still have a police department to run. I can drop you off at your motel if you’d like.”
“That’ll be great.”
Minutes later we were walking to Penelope’s car together. I opened the driver side door for her and was walking around the back of the car when I noticed the wooden fence. Hadn’t seen it when we’d arrived. It was dark. Besides I was concentrating on something else.
It seemed to give the house and property a warm, inviting country style appearance.
I nodded with appreciation and got in the car.
“Nice fence.”
“Why thank you Henry.”
“Bet that cost some serious change.”
“Not as much as you’d think. Wood’s cheap. I did the work myself.
“No shit?”
“No kidding.”
“You dug all those freaking holes yourself?”
“Well, yes, but I used a gas powered auger. Got it attached to my four wheeler. Pretty easy once I figured out how to use it.”
“Ah, man. You drink rot gut coffee, carry a pistol on your hip and own a four wheeler? Girl where have you been all my life?”
“Right here waiting for you darling. Right here.”
READ ON — LOVER’S CROSS PART VII
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