22)
Tad, wearing glasses and the clothes from last night, sat wishing he could die. Years ago, he could have handled a hang-over like this easily but these days? God, he felt old. He raised his eyes from the floor, studied Vivianne James through squinting eyes. Deep in conversation with Adam Chandler, she nodded, long blonde rippling at the movement.
In the mid-morning lull of the hotel, private investigator and multi-billionaire compared notes. And Tad Martin really couldn't give a damn right now, not with the way his head pounded and his heart ached. He reached up, pressed fingers against his temples, trying to ease the pressure inside his skull.
He was dully aware of when she finally took something from Adam and he could hear what sounded like a jingle of keys even from way over here. Hooking the jingling objects onto her belt, she reached into the inside of her jacket and withdrew a slim piece of paper, pale yellow in color.
In return, she received a long envelope, definitely thicker than a usual letter. She took it with a broad grin, opening it and slipping fingers in, and, of course, Tad found himself watching her count through pristine green bills. Stupid Adam with his stupid bribing and his stupid new money.
Closing the envelope, laughing, Blondie hid the money-filled envelope away, smoothing hands down her denim-clad thighs. They laughed together and Tad sorely regretted taking Ms. James up on her request for him to join her downstairs. Never should have believed her offer of a free flight home.
They shared one more laugh before she left Adam and headed towards him where he sat in his hangover. When she flopped harshly down beside him, he grunted, closing his eyes at the lurch of his stomach at the movement. She just snorted, leaning back and looking pleased with herself as she inspected her nails. "Have you had any hair of the dog, Martin?"
His only answer was a low groan, a violent shudder.
"And here I thought you were once this legendary party guy."
"Was. Was a legendary party guy, Blondie."
A huff of irritation, another snort of amusement. "You have something against blondes, Martin? I mean, that wife you remarry every few years is blonde, right?" He didn't even respond to that, doing nothing but shaking his head bitterly, hunching his shoulders against her cruel words.
"You're very dramatic, you know that?" He ignored her and, smirking, she slapped her hands down on her thighs, chuckling. "Do you know why Mr. Chandler sent me to pick you up this morning?" He still didn't answer and she resisted the urge to strangle it out of him. "He says that he's worried about your ability to get yourself home, so he brought you a very nice ticket and I am supposed to accompany you back to Pine Valley."
"Pine Valley?" He looked up, over at her, brow creasing in confusion. "Pine Valley? You mean… I mean, he's going back too, right? Back to Pennsylvania with Dixie and the… the little girl."
"To quote a valley-girl, Mr. Martin… 'duh'. He'll be taking his mother home on the Chandler family jet and I'm here to take care of you and any issues that might arise."
"And what did Adam pay you to do? Throw me out of the plane?"
She snorted, choked on sudden laughter at the simple fury in his face, the hardness of his tone. "Believe me, Mr. Martin. If Adam Chandler really wanted to get rid of you for good, he'd do it. He has men who would take care of you for free, who owe him. No, he wants me to keep my eyes on you, keep you out of his son's business."
"JR's my son too, Blondie."
"Aw." She pressed her lips together, gave him a playful look with large eyes. "Your feelings and your loyalty to my boss are quite well known, Mr. Martin. I mean, really, choosing Krystal with a K over your beloved wife's son? Believe me, you don't fool Mr. Chandler, not for a single second. Although, by my boss being evil because he's a Chandler? I just gotta ask, really. If he's evil cause he's a Chandler, what does that make you as Ryan Gardner's baby boy?"
It was like a slap in the face and he looked away from her all-too knowing smirk, her laughing eyes. Jesus, what else did she know? Maybe he said it out loud or maybe she was just a really good PI because she laughed, moving around beside him like a hyper-puppy. "I am Mr. Chandler's favorite business tool. I have done some very good work for his company and then I have stayed here loyally for years, obediently keeping my eyes peeled for any signs of his mother or sister. Do you have any idea the kind of stuff he'll tell someone he really trusts? I mean, I'm talking real philosophical shit here, buddy."
"That's wonderful."
"Yeah." She leaned over, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Yeah, so is the fortune that I now have to my name, believe me. You know, Mr. Chandler is a real sucker for loyalty. Both of them, although the old one hides it better."
"What? Are you after their money, is that what this is about?"
"Please. The money's great, and it's so much fun to count when you're all clean and cool from a nice long shower but, see, the real plus I get from how much work I do for both these men? I have connections. Both of them have so many fucking connections, it's almost scary. And, now, after years of loyal work, I have all kinds of nice connections too. Really nice connections that give me all sorts of info on your family."
"You're a piece of shit."
She stood, straightening her clothes with a broad grin and a wink down at him. "Maybe, but I am a trusted, extremely well-connected, very well paid piece of shit so, really, who gives a damn?" At his look, she laughed again, shaking her head. "Come on, Mr. Martin. I want to have you home when my boss wants you home."
"And when would that be?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
Watching this was one of the first things, in a long time, that she could really truly enjoy. Book forgotten in her lap, she sat in the chair, eyes on the two sitting and playing with blocks, stacking themselves palaces, naming their palaces and then knocking them down to start again.
With Jinxie at her feet, she savored the sight that would end in a few hours when he left to get his bags packed at the hotel. God, it was wonderful and everything she wanted and she hoped it never ended. And, more than anything else, she hoped and prayed that it would go on even when he got her back home.
JR stacked, and, boom, there was Cady, crashing her small form into the building and making blocks blow outwards, bouncing across the floor and then they leaned forward, identical grins on their faces and began pulling the wreckage back into a pile and got back to work, restacking and organizing.
She had decided, as JR and Cady had first begun their game, that this was the only way to do this. Pack up and leave and go home. The cabin, well away from the usual traffic, had been their house for years but, no, it wasn't home, never really had been, had it? Even in the brightest moments, it hadn't been right, hadn't felt safe as it was supposed to feel.
So how was she going to get Cady out of here and back in a new environment? Plus, the whole huge family suddenly waiting on her hand and foot? Lord, Cady would be spoiled rotten in under a week… and JR was already getting the ball rolling when it came to spoiling, as evidenced by his actions since he'd tracked her down and started the game.
So, what she supposed to say to her? Explain this all to her? Happily tell her that she suddenly had enough aunts, uncles, grandparents and family to terrify most of the other strangely tangled families of Pine valley. Yet, it was the thought of how Joe would treat her that made her smile slightly.
Dixie pressed her lips against the book watching as, once again, Cady went tearing through the blocks with all the strength and power of an excited three-year old.
"And you're sure about this, completely sure?"
She heard his snort over the speaker phone and then something that sounded suspiciously like a goat, followed by his angry swear. Erica bit back her smile; eyes never leaving the computer screen before her as her fingers hovered over the keys silently, awaiting the next movement.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… it's a certainty now. All the evidence points that you were right."
"Yes, well, I'm always right, aren't I?"
He just snorted and she let the grin curve her lips broadly, letting fingers click rapidly over keys and bringing up her files. Carefully constructed files and folders of information that she carried on a disc she kept hidden in her bag. Lovely, she was right, not that she had ever thought she wouldn't be.
"So, I guess this means you'll now go running around the town, trying to get a hair from his head?"
"Well, of course." Erica tilted her head, reaching up to check a few strands of her hair. Nodding as she added the information, she listened to the static sounds of her victim attempting to, from the sounds of it, keep a sheep from eating his new coat. He certainly deserved to act as Goat Chow, didn't he? "After all, a girl always needs to have an extra weapon right?"
"I hate you, Erica."
"Yes, yes, yes… join the club, ok?" She saved the information, carefully removed the disc and slipped it away, turning her attention to her phone with her brown eyes glittering in the dimness of her locked office. "are you don, darling?"
"I don't know, Erica, am I—fuck! Get away would you, Gruff? Look, do you have what you need or not?"
"Oh, honey, if I need your help, I'll just call you. Go on back home to Port Charles and hope I don't call."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… I hope you choke on your Carb-free bread!" This so stated, the unhappy man hung up on her, swearing as he did and she laughed, standing and leaving her office and heading for the Pine Cone motel. She had found herself the perfect weapon to save Kendall from that pig and now she just had to make him her willing accomplice.
Harley was a pleasant woman by nature and, while she had decided to go along with Maxine's nasty little scheme, she felt the slightest bit guilty at going along with it. Still, here she was, going along with it, wasn't she? She checked her reflection in the rearview mirror, studying it over her glasses.
Nodding at her reflection, she popped her gum again, seizing her bag and sliding out of the car, slamming the door behind her as she set off against cool concrete, heels clicking steadily at a quick pace. Swinging the bag up and over a shoulder, she pushed open the door and stepped in, a blast of warm air that wrapping around her as she let the door shut behind her.
She peered at the lobby, eyes just visible over her glasses and, with a smirk, she pushed them back up, setting off towards the desk far away, passing by milling doctors and nurses, a few people who looked wounded in one way or another… she wasn't impressed so far with the town, not after decades in Vegas.
It proved to be pathetically easy to slip past the lovely looking, dark-haired nurse attempting to get a child with chicken pox and get in to where she needed, her usual stride in full bloom as she searched for the office. She found it within five minutes and, with a twist of a knob, she darted into the office, clicking the door closed behind her.
Stepping carefully through the darkened room, she tugged off her glasses and hung them from her top, puling the flashlight from her bag and clicking it on. File cabinets? Noticing them immediately, she rushed around the desk, slipping the key ring from her back pocket and unlocking the cabinet with a flick of a wrist.
She got to work, fingers fluttering over the Os, the Ps, the Qs… ah, the Rs… flashlight held between her perfect white teeth, she searched, sharp blue/green eyes taking in names… Jesus, how many different people with R names came to Pine Valley in the last year! Just as this thought surfaced, she caught the name and, fighting her squeal of delight, she withdrew it, holding the place with a finger as she started shuffling through medical records.
Laying it atop the files, she tugged Maxie's camera from her bag and started clicking, flashes of bright light illuminating the room every few seconds. Praying someone didn't catch her after all this, she snapped the files shut and replaced them, closing the drawer and locking it. The camera and flashlight was slipped back into her bag and, putting back on her glasses, she fled the office, noting, as she did, the doctor heading down the hall, escorted by that lovely little nurse she'd passed.
She really was a lovely little thing, wasn't she? Dark-hair… nice build…very pretty. Cocking her head, Harley enjoyed the view for as long as she could, leaning against a nearby desk and playing with a pamphlet about Chicken Pox… lord, was this an omen? Had she had the Chicken Pox? She'd have to ask one of the other girls.
Sadly, the pretty little thing followed Dr. Joe into his office and, sighing, Harley dropped the pamphlet back down, rolling her shoulders and strutting back down the way she'd come. It was the oldest rule in Vegas baby… act like you belong and you will. Still, she'd always had a thing for hot little nurses… maybe she should get a name?
She caught it before she left the hospital, reading the name off the desk and hoping it was hers… it matched that face of hers, didn't it? Pleased with herself despite the knot of guilt in her stomach, she left, memorizing the name and punching in Maxie's number with a broad grin at thoughts of the new nurse in her sight.
He had no pictures of beautiful, beautiful Nicolette and he wished he did… he wished he had some face to put to the voice that was growing so difficult to remember, a voice growing dimmer with each passing year. He could barely remember her face. Curiously, it was the feel of her that remained strong.
He remembered moments at her back, running her brush down through that fall of dark hair, letting fingers trail slowly. She would let him, even when he yanked and pulled some from her scalp, she let him brush her hair and told him how good he was doing. Later, Father would take him home but those moments lingered even through years of slots and Poker games.
Strange how he thought of them now, huh?
Zach stared down at his hands on the desk, feeling Edie's eyes on him, sharp and inquisitive. He didn't really care, not in any large way and drawing in a breath, he exhaled slowly, a long harsh noise as he curled his fingers against the wood. He drew in another breath, raised his head to study his papers, papers he needed to take care of and sign.
He looked up, met Edie's dark eyes and she darted away, muttering something about being busy.
He looked back down at his work, exhaled sharply, and came to a decision about his current feelings. He hurt. It was the only way to explain it really. He simply hurt. It was like some raw ache inside him, something open and piercing, something that laced through him with every breath.
He hurt like this because of her and her pictures and that look on her face when she saw that he saw. It made no sense to him really, this strange obsession with Lavery… what? Was he some reincarnated sex God? Did those strangely bulging eyes hypnotize a woman?
Kendall wasn't some stupid little woman, and Zach saw that and enjoyed that side... and yet, here she has, running after him like some needy kitten, wanting nothing more than to get a nice pat on the head. What, did she think no real man wanted her? That was stupid, really. She was one hell of a woman.
Zach frown, cocked his head with a quiet noise of irritation… what, did Lavery make her feel like a woman? Zach hardly thought that that was the way to make a woman feel like a woman. Beating down a woman like that, nasty and selfish and cruel… no, that didn't quite click right with Zach.
So, the question remained… did his strange bulging eyes hypnotize her into acting like an idiot?
"Zach?"
His response, against her back, caused a shiver to race up her spine and she was aware of his lips curving up against the skin there... his hand, spread across her stomach, pressed, worked soft muscles under softer skin and she exhaled sharply, a noise of pleasure as she stretched.
"Are you purposely trying to ignore my attempts to have a conversation?" she mumbled raggedly, eyes half-closing as he shifted at her back, stretchout along her length, pressing his face into the long curve of her neck. "Because... um, it's not working..."
She trailed off, head dropping back onto the pillow as he tugged her closer to him, skin against skin, something he never grew tired of... his lips moved across her neck, across her shoulder, down her arm to her hand, held loosely in his... "It's not... working."
"Now?" he murmered, rolling her slightly, releasing her hand and massaging her stomach and then letting his touch move higher... letting fingers slide across breasts and up to carress her neck... "Aren't you going to answer?"
"Ugh."
"Hmm... I didn't hear that... what was that darling wife?" When all she did was shudder against him he finally broke, laughing at the way her eyes rolled back in her head, small groan rising from the depths of that perfect throat...
"Ugh!"
Kendall jerked, stared up at the peeved looking Simone who stood tapping one foot in annoyance... "Huh?" she muttered, hands moving quickly across her lap, wondering who the hell had turned up the heat... "What? Simone?"
"Fine... no input for you, daydreamer!" This so stated, the very-pissed Simone spun and stalked away, muttering.
Jumping to her feet, shaky and still feeling the aftermath of a very bad fanstasy, she strode full-force to Greens, who reacted to her sudden snap of "Hey!" with a gasp and her coffee flying from her hands. "You! Shorty!"
"Back off, Kendall."
"You have to come with me."
Baffled brown eyes, intense frown and she rolled her eyes at Greenlee's unending stupidity. "The grand opening... You have to come to the grand opening of the casino with me, Miss Green M&M... or I'll... do something awful."
She was being stupid but she was still dazed by the feel of hands on places he'd never touched before... he'd touched her hands but that's it. He had never touched those places and yet, here she was, standing here, skin burning where his hands had been in that stupid vision. Again... again with the stupid visions of sex with her husband.
Kendall took off towards the bathroom, desperately needing water to cool down her skin and quiet to calm her heat beat... visions of sex with her husband... would the horror never end! Who the Hell had been cursed enough to dream of sex with thier husband!
AN: The above Zen sensuality was originally slated for the next chapter... but I came up with something better so I decided to give you a gift. Tell me, did you enjoy the vision of what's to come? There will be quite a bit of adult content in here... believe me. I want feedback from Zen fans... did you enjoy?
And, yes, my lovelies, read it closely, there are several things being foreshadowed in there and I'd like to see how many pick one up... yes, fine, I'm just fishing for reviews... I personally can't wait for the JR/Micaela smuttiness... such a dirty mind here... yay or nay?