6

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 18 Dry

"I should have thought that through a little more," Scarlett said. "Now your MC thinks I'm a slut."

"You're with me. That's the usual assumption," Jax said with a laugh. "That, or we're sleeping together."

Scarlett once more gave thanks for her back injury. Violet told her about Jax's good looks, the long shaggy blonde hair, those piercing laser blue eyes and that smile that could catch at a woman's heart.

Her sister didn't warn her about Jax's charm or the way he could poke fun at himself. Good looks were easy to resist, even a man soaked with sex appeal could be resisted, but his charm was going to be much harder.

"That didn't work out so well for me."

"It worked out well for me. The guys see me with a beautiful and sexy as hell woman who has crazy sex knowledge. You've really enhanced my sexual reputation."

"Thanks for the beautiful and sexy as hell woman part."

"There's a bright side."

"You've decided not to loofah me," she asked hopefully, "since I've helped your reputation?"

He leaned close, his lips near her ear.

"No, I'm going to give you a choice. My beard as a loofah or we take a shower together and I dry you with me tongue."

Scarlett burst into laughter, wrapping her arm around her stomach in an attempt to minimize the pull on her back that laughing caused.

"Has that line ever worked?"

Jax chuckled.

"First time I've tried it. You tell me."

"Lines don't work on me, so it might work on other women. I'm sure if you just say "hi" that works since you're Jax Teller."

"There's some truth to that," he said with a grin. "Tell me, are you completely immune?"

"To lines or to you?"

"To me."

The way he was looking at her made her catch her breath. He made her feel like a Third World country who was trying to fight a Superpower. The outcome was a foregone conclusion; it was just a question of when.

Scarlett didn't give up easily even when defeat seemed inevitable. She'd gotten out of some tough situations; she would not give in to Jax's nuclear weapon level charm.

"I'm immune to all guys like you."

"I'll just have to show you that I'm not like all the guys you're grouping me with."

Scarlett shook her head.

"Good luck with that."

Jax took her elbow and they began to stroll through the fair again. He kept the pace slow, but not as slow as yesterday. Scarlett was walking more easily, but she still had to take small steps to keep her pain level down.

"I'm an idiot. Last week, I was lifting a lot of boxes. My back was a little stiff, but I ignored it. I forgot the basic rule of soft tissue injuries."

"And that is . . ."

"It can take a week to ten days for a soft tissue injury to hit you. If my back were just stiff from driving, I would have more improvement."

"What does that mean for your recovery?"

"It isn't going to be quick. It's going to take weeks and it's going to be slow. I might try to find a gym where I can use a treadmill or a recumbent bike or I could find a motel that has work-out equipment."

"I'm going running in the morning at the high school. It's a nice, even flat surface. There aren't many people at the track. You could walk there."

"That would be great. I need to rebuild the muscles and walking is the safest way. Thanks."

He had taken the bad news in stride. It surprised her. She thought he might be angry. She'd gotten that reaction before.

She noticed the slightest stiffening of his body.

"Hi, Jax," a brunette said.

Scarlett had heard this almost non-stop since they arrived at the fair; this was the first time, he had stopped and said more than "hi".

"Tara. Hale. This is Scarlett. Scarlett, this is Tara Knowles."

"Dr. Tara Knowles," Tara corrected.

Jax and Hale exchanged bemused looks.

"Tara and I dated for a few years back in high school," Jax said. "This is David Hale, acting police chief of Charming."

"I'm thinking about opening a cookie and coffee place. Could I borrow you for a second, chief? I have business climate/law enforcement questions I want to ask." Scarlett said.

As she walked off with David, she smiled mischievously at Jax. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"How long have you known Jax?"

"We met when I came to town a few days ago."

"About those law enforcement questions . . ."

"I don't really have any of those questions. I have to say this, before I forget, when I saw you and Jax said you were police chief, I thought of that line in the movie LA Confidential when Lynn the Veronica Lake lookalike meets Bud White at the liquor store. Have you seen the movie?"

"It's one of my favorites. I've seen it many times. I know that scene. She tells him that cop is practically stamped on his face."

"I hope you're not offended."

"Not at all. I'm more the Exley type," Hale said.

"I would have guessed that too. I was disappointed with the commentary on the DVD that the writers didn't discuss how they approached adapting the book into a movie."

Scarlett's instincts were correct when she sized up David Hale. She felt he would be a fan of crime noir and it doesn't get more noir than James Ellroy's crime fiction.

"Even Ellroy said it was unfilmable," Hale said.

"Have you read his books?"

"I've read them all."

"I'm not quite there yet. I find I can only read a book every six months or life just gets too dark for me."

Hale nodded his head.

"I went on vacation with three of his novels. Big mistake."

Scarlett laughed and grimaced as the muscles pulled. She wrapped her hand around her waist again.

"I moved boxes and spent too long driving. Now, I'm paying the price with a messed up back," Scarlett explained. "I do have some questions about Charming, though. Jax told me about a blonde woman being found dead outside Charming."

"The little girl who found the body and her family live in Charming. The woman was outside in the unincorporated county area."

"It's made me a little nervous. If there's some lunatic hunting blonde women, I don't think I want to live in a town where I have to dodge a serial killer."

"I don't know much about what the county has turned up. The woman was a hooker. That's about all I know."

"Sounds like a serial killer to me. I'm not a hooker, stripper or in a high risk group. Still, it makes me nervous there's a killer out there."

"The woman wasn't abducted from Charming."

"That makes me feel a little better. Jax told me that another woman was killed a few months ago. Her body was found just outside the city limits too. Do you think they are related?"

Scarlett was proud at how matter of fact she kept her voice. No one would ever guess that she was asking about a beloved sister.

"The first woman was a nanny and she lived in Charming. She was shot in the head. The blonde woman was stabbed."

"Different victim profiles and different means of death. It doesn't mean it wasn't a serial killer. Only on TV does a serial killer keep to a rigid profile."

"Serial killers are rare."

"Statistically more common in California," Scarlett said.

"Too true. Carry pepper spray and be aware of your surroundings."

"Thanks, chief," Scarlett said drily.

Hale laughed.

"I know. It's easy for a man to say. A killer isn't hunting men."

"I do have one last question. Jax told me his MC is an outlaw MC. What does that mean? Do they borrow library books and not bring them back?"

Hale laughed so hard his body shook.

"That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. I was just imaging the MC with library cards."

"OK. I guess they do a little more than steal library books."

"Talk to Jax." Hale pulled out a business card holder and a pen. "If you get scared, you can call me. My card has my work number on it and I'm writing my private cell number. If you give me your number, if I hear anything that might put you in danger, I'll call you."

"You can call me even if I'm not in danger. We can talk crime fiction and film noir," Scarlett said. She gave him her cell number and she watched as he put her number in his phone's contacts.

"Maybe we can watch LA Confidential and discuss the film."

"I'd like that."

They walked back to where Jax and Tara were standing. Scarlett might feel like a Third World country, but she'd just scored a hit—it just wasn't clear if the hit were on David Hale, Jax or Tara or a combination of the three.

She wondered if flirting with another man a few feet away from Jax was the wisest course of action. That might have been a mistake.