You're Busting My Nuptials (Tizzy/Ridge Trilogy Book 2) (20 page)

“Not true. I told you before the wedding I wanted to adopt Gracie. I’m merely following through with those plans. I have no ulterior motive.”

“You are such a liar. You do too have a motive. You don’t want to admit I’m good at this investigation stuff. Well, I am. I’m plenty good.” Tizzy sat up straight, thrust her shoulders up and her boobs out. “Because of me, you have leads.”

Ridge cupped her breast and lowered his voice. “Darlin’ be reasonable. This is dangerous. You’ve already been in a gunfight. Do you think I want you to take chances like that?”

She removed his hand. “Jinx was in the gunfight. Not me. I may as well tell you. I’m trying to talk Jinx into opening a private investigation firm.”

Ridge stiffened and added some steel to his voice. “Fine, as long as you don’t work for him.”

“I told him I may want to take part in a case every now and then.”

“Absolutely not. This kind of work is dangerous. I won’t be able to do my job if I’m worried about you all the time.”

“I’m sorry, Ridge, but you’re not the boss of me,” she said, getting out of his lap.

Ridge held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, let’s both take a breath. The point I’m trying to make, is we have Gracie to think about. I agree you’re good at investigative work. You’re better than a lot of lawmen I know and under different circumstances; I’d even want you as a partner, but Tizzy . . .”

She cut him off. “We haven’t been married three days and we’re having our first fight. This is not good.”

He pulled her back onto his lap. “We’re not fighting. We’re discussing and disagreeing. Tell you what, how about you read Gwynn’s journal. That’s an important part of the case. Maybe there are names of men she’s dated who could be involved. How will that be?”

She pushed away from him and stood between his l
egs. “Okay, but we’re not done. I want to have a calm and serious discussion about this.”

“We will. Calm and serious.” Ridge took a deep breath and braced himself. Earlier, he’d decided not to bring up the next subject, but considering Tizzy’s announcement, a change of plans was called for.

“I have one more thing to talk about. I’ve debated mentioning this to you. I don’t want you to freak out, okay?”

Tizzy laced her fingers, brought her hands to her chest as if praying. “You say don’t freak out, which probably means I will. My God, I was left at the altar and you were kidnapped. Is it worse than that?”

“No. I don’t think so. It’s something Gracie said to me.”

“What?”

“Given your ability, you know, talking to dead people, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.”

“Oh God. What are you saying? Gracie is talking to dead people? Oh my God! She’s only four years old. It didn’t start with me until I was older. This can’t be.” She collapsed onto the edge of the desk, knocking over a pencil holder.

Ridge pulled her up into his arms again. “Calm down. She’s a child with an active imagination. She probably made the story up.”

Tizzy clutched at his tee-shirt. “Tell me. What did she say?”

“My first night back home, while reading to her, she told me her first daddy liked me. When I ask her how she knew, she said he told her.”

“Oh my God,” Tizzy said on a breath. “Wait. How did she know it was Boone talking to her? He died before she was born. She’s never heard his voice. Not even in the womb.” Tizzy took a deep sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God. She did make it up. Lord, I was worried for a minute.” She shook her head. “I’m glad you told me. You’re right. She has a big imagination.”

Ridge stretched his lips tight against his teeth. “Well, there may be one more thing I should mention.”

“What?”

“She claims she saw him.”

Tizzy decided to put the whole
Gracie sees dead people
situation on the back burner, at least where Gracie was concerned. She did, however, intend to conduct a serious talk with Boone. She’d set him straight. He couldn’t just decide to reveal himself to a four-year-old. Apparently the man was dead
and
crazy.

Earlier, she
’d spent all of two hours in the lawyer’s office discussing the adoption. Ridge would be disappointed in the news. The courts liked for a couple to be married six months before the process could start. Once the paperwork was done, she and Ridge would sign and he would be legally responsible for Gracie for the rest of his life.

If he wanted to keep her too busy to investigate, he needed to come up with a longer assignment.

Jinx, Synola, and Rayann were already seated in a booth by the window when Tizzy got to the Chatterbox Café. She entered with a bounce in her step and slid into the seat next to Rayann.

“Well, look at you,” Synola said. “You gotcha zing back in your zing-zang. Makes a difference having your man back, don’t it?”

“Yeah, a good man can sure put a smile on
your
face,” Jinx said to Synola.

She twisted her mouth around. “
Hell, yeah, any idea where I can find one?”

Jinx grinned.

“We’re all glad Ridge is home,” Rayann said. “Dwayne’s going to help him with the investigation. He’s excited about getting to do real police work, in place of just writing tickets.”

The waitress approached the group. They placed their orders and Tizzy picked the conversation back up. “Well, that may create a problem for you, Rayann.”

Rayann cocked her head to one side. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, hell,” Jinx said. “Let me guess. You’re not going to drop this are you, Tizzy?”

“No, I’m not. As far as I’m concerned, this is
our
case. We worked it when no one else would, so why should I turn everything over to them?”

“Let me count the ways.” Jinx scowled. “You’re not an officer of the law. It’s dangerous. You have a child to consider, a new husband, who I’m willing to bet, voted against this idea. You have a job already. That’s five. Need I go on?”

“You’re right,” Tizzy nodded. “But you’re
like
an officer of the law. I won’t do anything to put my child or husband in jeopardy and for the next week, I’m still on my honeymoon, so there’s no need to worry about my job.”

Jinx dropped his head down and rolled his eyes up. “I think you left out the part about Ridge’s vote, or did you tell him?”

“Oh, I told him and you’re right. He isn’t too happy about the idea. However, he praised my investigative skills and said he’d even like to partner with me if I was in law enforcement.”

“Tizzy . . .”

She cut him off. “I’m doing this, Jinx. If you want out, this is the time to leave, then Ridge can’t be mad at you. You too, Rayann. Since Bubba’s helping with the case, you may not want to be involved.”

“What about me? You gonna offer to let me out?” Synola said.

“No. There’s not a chance in hell you’ll want out.”

“Damn straight.”

Jinx shook his head. “I’m going to regret this. I already do,
but
, figuring you girls would stay involved, I ran a background search on Gwynn.”

Tizzy reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “You’re the best.”

He slanted his eyes toward Synola. “You been telling her about me, Babe?”

“Oh shut up,” Synola said, and turned her attention to Rayann. “What about you, fraidy-pants? You in or out?”

“I’m in for now, but if Dwayne throws a fit, I may be out.”

“Good. Now that’s settled, what does the report say?” Tizzy asked.

Jinx pulled out his notebook and flipped some pages. “Gwendolyn Marie Dormer. Grew up in Baltimore. Married at eighteen to Rex Martin Skylar and widowed at twenty. Never remarried.”

“Does she have a record?” Synola asked.

“Arrested a few times for solicitation. Nothing else. Doesn’t seem like a hardened criminal.”

“Do you think she’s still alive,” Tizzy asked.

Jinx shrugged. “No way of knowing.”

“I’ve been thinking about Gwynn and trying to put myself in her place,” Tizzy said. “If I was strapped for money and desperate, I might be willing to help with a kidnapping. Especially if I had a guarantee the person wouldn’t be hurt.”

Synola shifted in her seat. “I see where you’re going with this. In order to believe Ridge wouldn’t be harmed, the promise would have to be made by someone Gwynn trusted. Right?”

Rayann nodded. “Yeah, like a close friend or someone she worked with.”

“Or maybe a lover,” Jinx said. “I think
some
of us will admit a good lover can talk a woman into things she may not be willing to do otherwise.”

Synola stared straight ahead. “You had better not be looking at me,” she said into empty space.

“Sorry, Love
Muffin. As hard as I try, I can’t keep my eyes off you.”

“You are gettin’ on my nerves.”

“I know, and I’ve got
something
for that.”

“Just shut up. Alright?”

Jinx fought a grin and looked at Tizzy. “Okay, let’s assume Gwynn agreed to help take Ridge, because someone she trusted asked her to. But then, for some reason, Tawny gets dead and Gwynn wants out, so she goes into hiding.”

“Exactly what I think,” Tizzy agreed.

Jinx’s phone chirped and he accepted the call. “Yeah. Okay. Thanks.”

“Damn, talk about a man of few words. Who was that? “Synola asked.

“Not important, Sugar Lips. What is important is Gwynn’s car has been found at the corner of Lide and Hawkins. That’s where she was arrested once for solicitation.”

“Oh yeah, for the more discriminating customer, it has the sleazy motel, Lide Lodge,” Rayann said.

“
Get laid at the Lide,”
Jinx joked. “We should probably stake it out.”

“A stakeout excites me,” Synola said.

The waitress appeared with their orders, put the ticket on the table and wheeled away.

“Good, because it’s going to take two of us.” Jinx said. “What say you and I take the first night? A man in a car on that street, without a woman, will stand out like a stiff.”

“Okay, we get the analogy,” Synola said. “I’ll go with you. All of a sudden, I’m starving.”

Jinx grinned at her.

Synola shot him an angry look. “If you know what’s good for you, you’d better not make a smart ass remark about my appetite.”

“Oh, believe me, Buttercup. I know what’s good for me.”

“Do you want to use my van for the stakeout? I’m assuming you won’t be using your motorcycle,” Tizzy said.

“No, I’ll use Dad’s truck.” Jinx shook his head. “Something you haven’t considered is Ridge may be doing a stakeout too. By now, I’m sure he knows about the car and Gwynn’s arrest for hooking.”

Tizzy’s face lit up. “Maybe he’ll let me go with him. He’ll also need a woman partner.”

Synola shook her head. “Dream on, sister. He’s not gonna want you anywhere near there. He knows it would only encourage you.”

Tizzy’s phone chirped and she looked down at the text. “Crap, it’s Ridge. He wants to use one of Boone’s cars from storage.”

“There you go,” Jinx said. “How much you want to bet Ridge will be parked on Lide tonight?”

Tizzy sat up straight. “Yeah and how much do you want to wager I’ll be with him?”

The car collection Tizzy inherited from Boone wasn
’t extensive, but she never felt right about getting rid of them. The inventory consisted of a 1941 Ford pickup, a 1949 Plymouth sedan, a 1995 Aztec gold Ford Mustang, a 2003 golden anniversary red Corvette, and the 1958 white Chevrolet Biscayne Ridge would be using. She kept them housed in a climate controlled barn at her parent’s place.

By the time she and Synola picked up the car, it was almost six o’clock.

Gracie had gone to Dan’s for movie night with his kids.

After Synola left and Tizzy went inside, she could hear Ridge in the shower. She stripped, sett
led in the middle of their bed, pulled the sheet up around her, and waited. Within a few minutes, he came from the bathroom, only a towel wrapped at his waist.

Tizzy caught his eye, and he stopped in the doorway and smiled at her.

She dropped the sheet. “Well, don’t just stand there, bring that bad boy over here.”

Ridge widened his smile. “I thought you were still mad at me,” he said, moving to the bed.

Tizzy walked on her knees to the edge and hooked her fingers in the towel. “I may be a little mad, but I’m a reasonable woman. I’m not going to deprive myself of great sex just because I’m peeved.” She tugged the towel loose, let it fall to the floor, and pulled Ridge down.

Fifteen minutes later, they lay on their backs, staring at the ceiling, fighting to catch their breath.

“Damn, Tizzy. Are you trying to kill an old man.”

She rolled up on her elbow and faced him. “You’re not old.”