{Still a work in progress, still subject to be added onto and/or altered. And, of course, still for Ann.)
Duke managed to contain his curiosity enough to stay out of Jennifer’s bag when he carried it in from her car along with her clothes. He sat at the table with the two sacks from the candy shop and, keeping an eye on his bedroom door, opened them both to determine which one was his.
“Funny little silver box, it is.” He withdrew it and examined it. Old, possibly early Colonial. He wasn’t exactly an expert. It was simple but beautiful and he opened it to find half of the emeralds he was expecting along with a note of further instructions. He sighed. He was really glad he didn’t know who he was dealing with because if he had, he might have killed them for being such annoying assholes. He put Jennifer’s taffy into her bag and went to check his scuba gear.
Jennifer wasn’t sure if it was the Xanax or the poetry, but after a while all she felt was sleepy. She knew on one level that the stress of the last few days was leaving her exhausted. Even as her eyes continued to travel over the page, she found herself thinking of Duke and how he had gone out of his way to help her. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that people would do as much as he had without expecting some kind of payment and she wondered how much he would want. She had some in savings, and there was the money her parents had left her. She would have to be careful with money for now, because her mind was made up, she was going to find out what had happened to Audrey. If the explosion in the coffee shop wasn’t an accident and if it was designed to kill her then it was all the more important to find out who and why. She would see if she could hire Duke to help her. It might be out of his normal course of work, but he had said that he had a knack for finding things others couldn’t. The idea of working with Duke was far more comforting than the idea of working alone and with these decisions made, she closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.
When she awoke, there was no more sunlight coming in through the small window and some candles had been lit instead. The book she had been holding when she fell asleep was on the night stand and a scrap of cloth seemed to be marking her place. A light blanket had been placed over her. The door was pulled closed but not latched and she could smell food being cooked nearby. She slipped out of bed and tried to push away the implied intimacy of having been in his bed, covered by his blanket and the knowledge that he had lit candles for her when she awoke. He had stood over her in her sleep at some point, taken a book from her hands, covered her with a blanket; and she hadn’t known it. She had slept on, unaware. Now, with the smell coming from the kitchen she realized she was hungry.
Duke looked up from his newspaper when he heard the slight creek from his bedroom door. She was still pale but that shocked and vacant look that had clouded her eyes was gone. He smiled at her.
“I hope you like lamb chops for dinner.”
She drew in her bottom lip and sucked on it, blushing a little.
“You don’t.”
“I feel bad eating baby animals.”
Duke lifted a brow and bit back a smirk.
“It just doesn’t seem fair.”
“Did I say lamb chops? I meant to say ‘miniature sheep steaks.’ Though really, lamb chops is just easier to say. But it’s just miniature sheep. You know, sheep that are smaller than usual.”
She smiled. “It smells really good.”
He smiled back. “So, you like Neruda?” He nodded in the direction of the bedroom she had just vacated and the book she had fallen asleep with.
“I do now; I never really read his stuff before.”
“You like poetry though?”
“Yeah.”
“Who’s your favorite?”
“Tennyson. Yours?”
“Emerson.”
She nodded and shuffled in the door way a little, nervously toeing at the floor.
"Did you sleep okay?"
"I did. Thanks. For everything. I'm not sure how to -- I mean, I would like to... repay you for your trouble."
He looked disappointed and mildly angered as he folded up the newspaper and slapped it down on the coffee table.
"Save your money. You'll need it for your hotel tomorrow. Though I still think you should go back to Boston." He stood and went to the kitchen area opening the oven to check on dinner.
"I can't. I won't. Not until I find out where Audrey is, or what happened to her."
"Must be some sister."
"She was. She IS. The best. And besides that, she's all the family I have left. I have to do this."
"You have no idea what you're doing."
He closed the oven and turned off then took a couple of plates out of the cabinet. Jennifer stepped forward automatically and he handed them to her before pulling out silver ware. She placed the plates and then grabbed the silver ware from him as well as a couple of napkins from a holder on the table and set the table while he opened a bottle of wine.
"I know. I want to pay you to help me."
Duke wasn't particularly surprised, but he was a little disappointed. He didn't want her to ask that. He didn't want her to think she could or should hire him. He wanted her to tell him why she had made such a bumbling amateur attempt on her own to begin with and he wanted her to tell him she would stop now.
"Now, what makes you think that?"
"You said you had a knack for finding what others can't."
"That was things, Sweetheart, not people. I'm not a P.I."
She nodded and looked away, but not before he noted her own look of disappointment and sadness. "I, um, I tried to hire a P.I. He wasn't really interested and... I couldn't afford what he quoted me."
"But you think you could afford me?" He didn't know why he was goading her, except that he wanted to shake her out of this malaise wherein she reminded him more of a kicked kitten than the entitled lady she had seemed to be earlier.
"I wouldn't know without asking."
"Let's just eat right now, okay? You need to eat."
"I need to find my sister."
"Which you can't do if you go hungry. Please, have a seat and we'll eat some miniature sheep steaks."
She smiled at that again.
When they were seated and eating, Duke asked her about her family life. Jennifer tried not to feel hopeful that he was going to go ahead and help her.
"So did your parents adopt thinking they couldn't have kids and then..."
"I came along? Yeah. That's what happened."
"I've heard of that happening before. It's not uncommon, is it?"
"I guess not. I really wouldn't know."
"Audrey didn't mind not being the only child any more?"
"Audrey had been in foster care, I think she was still glad to not be there. Also, having a little sister made her feel more like she was part of a family."
"Did she ever talk about foster care?" Duke had sometimes wondered if it wouldn't have been better.
"Not very much. And when she did it wasn't really favorable. She was really young and took quite a bit of abuse from older kids, and mentioned that even the parents were mean to her too at times. She said that she knew Mom and Dad were different when they brought a pink flowered luggage set so she could pack her things. She just thought it was funny that they brought more than one. All of her stuff could have fit in Mom's purse."
"Wow."
"Yeah. I guess Mom was so shocked that she and Dad decided to put the luggage to use and took Audrey to Disneyland. No, I'm serious. They bought her a whole wardrobe out there. That's also when Mom found out she was pregnant."
"So did you get a trip to Disneyland?"
She smiled around a mouthful of potatoes and Duke waited for her to answer. "No. When I was five we went to Disney World. So, it's not like I was cheated or anything."
"So did you run around dressed like princesses or something?"
"At Disney World? Yeah. They have a boutique where you can get the dress of whichever princess you want to be and everything. Including getting your hair and make up done. At home, sometimes we would but Mom would have fits when we tried to play outside in them. Apparently they were a little on the pricey side to be getting grass stains in them."
"You're serious."
"Mmhm. We had the shirts." He liked it when her smile turned mischievous.
"What shirts?"
"Daddy's Little Princess."
He shook his head in mock disapproval but smiled back.
"So how did Audrey go from Daddy's Little Princess to FBI?"
"I think she always wanted to try and find out why she was in foster care. Not just adopted through a normal process or whatever. She wanted to know what happened to her mother. Also, she really liked the idea of catching bad guys. She was good at it too. A couple of months ago she was sent here to find and retrieve an ex-con that skipped out on parole. While she was here she came across some photographs of a woman who looked SO much like her she was certain it had to be her birth mom. From what she could gather and told me, the woman may have been pregnant shortly before disappearing. Audrey actually ended up quitting the FBI and joining the local police department."
"The same department that says she left town of her own will."
"Right."
"That does sound fishy. Didn't she have a partner here that she mentioned?"
"Yeah, it was the guy who was questioning me about the explosion."
"Does he know you're her sister?"
"He doesn't seem to. And I... When I saw his name on that card... I didn't really feel safe telling him for some reason. I don't know. That would be weird to blurt out anyway. Right then."
"Yeah, the guy seemed a little..." Duke made a gesture of tipping his hand back and forth near his temple. "Off kilter somehow. So what happened to the guy who skipped parole?"
"I guess he was killed when he fell off a cliff and into the water below. Audrey was never sure if it was an accident or foul play. She said there was too much of that here."
"Like the explosion at the coffee house."
"Right."
"Do you really think she'd want you here looking for her? What is it that you're supposed to be doing back in Boston? And don't tell me you're a dance teacher again."
"Why else would she send me her journal like that? And what do you care what kind of job I have? If you're going to help me, just name your price and I'll pay it."
"I didn't say I'd help you. And, Sweetheart, you can't afford me."
"How do you know?"
"Look, it's not what I do, okay? I'm not for hire here. You can stay the night because especially by now it's too late for you to find any kind of decent hotel; but I'll be sailing out tomorrow evening."
Jennifer blinked against the sting of tears in her eyes. That was it then, he wasn't going to help.
Duke clenched his jaw and silently damned her and her eyes yet again.
She stood a little more abruptly than she meant to and jostled the table enough to clatter the silverware, Duke glared up at her.
"You were really kind to me when you didn't need to be, Mr. Crocker. But I don't want to impose on you anymore. I know where there's a decent hotel and it will still be open."
She brushed past the table and scooped up her bag, the heels of her boots clicking on the floor.
"Do you always leave when you don't get your way?"
"I don't really see the point in staying." Although her voice was soft and even, the words were clipped and the tone nothing short of condemning.
Duke took a deep breath to contain himself and remained seated. If he confronted her standing it would seem like he was trying to use his size difference to intimidate her and he wasn't interested in doing that. He didn't even know why he wanted her to stay the night other than he wanted her to care about her safety - because he did.
"Take a good look at your clothes."
It was an odd enough request that she complied. He could tell by the sudden silence. He waited a few seconds before continuing. A few seconds that should give her time to realize how few of her clothes she had left and to wonder why.
"That's all that's left. All of it. Everything else was torn or cut. That's what they did when they couldn't find whatever they were looking for in that room. You weren't there, so they attacked your clothes." He turned in his seat to watch her reaction. She had paled again, though her jaw was set and there was still anger and determination in her eyes. After a moment, she met his gaze. He gave her credit for not flinching either from him or from the evidence of how thorough the invasion of her hotel room had been. She squared her shoulders and turned away, throwing a few into her bag and draping the remaining over an arm. Seeing her resolve, Duke stood. The movement drew her attention and she looked over her shoulder at him.
"I'm not going to try and keep you here, Duchess. You want to leave you're free to go. And I'm not going to change my mind. Whatever your sister was into - it's dangerous. And you need to get out of it."
"I can't. Audrey deserves... better. If she's still alive she needs help and if she's not, then she deserves justice. And a decent burial." She choked a little on the last sentence and her eyes went too bright with tears again. She wiped at them with her free hand in frustration.
Duke sighed. "Why don't you get that journal of hers copied and send that copy to the FBI, or even the local police here? Maybe both? I get wanting to know what happened but you're obviously out of your league here. Hell, I don't even know what league this is. But you've got about twelve really angry men chasing you - US - through the woods all because you were in a church. You've got your hotel room broken into, trashed and most of your clothes shredded and don't get me started on the coffee house - "
"You don't know that had anything to do with this!" Either from anger or desperation or both her voice was raising in volume and Duke matched her.
"We don't know that it doesn't! And with everything else stacking up... I'm sorry, you don't get to play it off."
"I'm not playing it off! People died from that and I still don't really know why or how I got out in time!" She was shouting now.
"Are you thinking you can tempt fate again? Get lucky again?" He shouted back at her.
"I think that I'm close to something big and that Audrey is in the middle of it." Her voice softened a little and she took a step toward him, "please, Duke..."
"Oh, now I'm Duke again? Not Mr. Crocker?" Good God, she was spoiled. From her voice to her body language she was working him and he didn't think she even knew what she was doing.
"I - I'm sorry. But, please, I am begging you... You seem to know what to do. Please. Help me?"
"You don't know how to beg, Duchess." His voice was low enough that for a moment she didn't seem to know what to make of his words. She blinked and drew back a little, confusion obvious on her face.
"What?"
He repeated himself but didn't raise his voice. "I said, that you don't know how to beg. You with your prefect hair and nails, your perfect smile, your fashion boots and at least three coats and your nose practically stitched to the ceiling." He chose not to mention what he had observed of her underwear. "You don't know the first thing about begging. And you'd damn well better avoid finding out Miss Mason."
She looked confused and hurt and angry all at once. "What are you talking - "
He closed the space between them and hoped that she did feel intimidated enough to think about her safety. "Someone out there wants to hurt you - or worse. I'm offering you guaranteed safety for one night. I'll sleep here, on the couch."
"What about the next night? Or the one after - "
"You wanna be in my bed that much, Duchess, you're gonna end up with me for company."
At least she wasn't pale anymore, instead she was blushing bright red.
"I didn't mean..." She stared up at him, suddenly speechless. She'd meant to point out that there wasn't much sense in helping her by letting her stay the night tonight then leaving her on her own tomorrow. That she'd might as well just leave now. Not that she was trying to invite herself into his bed - with or without him in it. But the idea of having him in his own bed for company meant that she couldn't ignore any longer that she did in fact want that. Duke was attractive, smart, and despite some of his roguish behaviors was obviously kind hearted considering all he had done for her. She couldn't help that she was angry and disappointed that he was refusing to even let her pay him to help her find her sister but at least he was honest about that. He could have taken the money and then sailed out tomorrow on schedule.
"I mean, I appreciate the offer..." That wasn't right either.
Duke smiled at her awkwardness. He could kiss her now, and get away with it, he was certain. On the one hand, it would satisfy that particular urge he'd carried most of the day. On the other, it would only inflame the other urge he'd been having. And he didn't want to do that. Not when she wanted something from him he wasn't willing to do. And not when she was looking to repay him for what he did do.
Jennifer swallowed and tried again, "I just think that I'd might as well leave now and be on my own since that's how it is... Since that's what tomorrow is." She didn't want it to be.
Duke nodded in understanding. "Alright." He backed away from her. "Like I said, you're free to go. But think about what I said?"
She shrugged and glanced away.
"You goin' to breakfast at the same place?" He asked.
"Yes. Probably." It hadn't occurred to her until he asked.
"Meet me there so that I know you lived through the night?" He was staring at her again with that intent gaze that made her feel like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs all at once.
She managed a smile and nodded. "Yeah. Same place?"
"Sounds good. Nine o'clock?"
"Sure." She shouldered her bag and picked up her keys along with the bag from the candy store and set out.
Duke let her go, against his better judgment or his instinct and inclination. Just because they found each other attractive, didn't mean they could have each other. He listened to the sounds of her leaving, the light quick step up the stairs and overhead up top before she was no longer above the stateroom. He followed her movements even though she wasn't in eyesight, and imagined her reaching her car and getting in and leaving. He sighed and sat heavily back down at the table, downing first his wine and then hers. It was when he decided to switch to Scotch and headed for the cabinet that he realized that she had grabbed the bag from the candy store. The one that was his.
He dropped his forehead against the heel of his hand. "Awww.. God DAMN it!"
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