Speeding Ch. 06

Kendall stared at her phone, willing it to ring. "You haven't heard from her either?" she asked Joanne.

The older woman shook her head. "Sure haven't. Where could she be? It's nearly eleven."

"I'm calling her again," Kendall announced as she snatched her phone from the counter. Voicemail, of course. "Taylor, are you okay? We're worried, and if we don't hear back ASAP, I'm calling your mom."

"That's low. The woman's an hour and a half late and you threaten her with her mother. Remind me not to piss you off," she said with a chuckle.

Kendall paced the small floor behind the register. "I'm worried. She was supposed to break-up with Kevin this weekend, and now we haven't heard from her."

Joanne pulled a face. "Kevin wouldn't hurt her, hon."

"I know, but I still have a bad feeling about this."

"So, what, you're a Jedi now?"

"Something like that," Kendall muttered.

She was still pacing when the door opened. A distraught and disheveled Taylor stood in the doorway, her red hair is disarray, her face pale and drawn. Before she even realized she was moving, Kendall had wrapped her in a hug.

Taylor buried her face in Kendall's hair. "He's dying, Ken. I couldn't say no."

Kendall drew back to look her best friend in the eye. "Who's dying? What's going on?"

"Kevin," she replied before dissolving into sobs.

Joanne had been standing silent on the floor, but chose then to ask, "Kevin's dying?"

Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, Taylor sniffled as she attempted to explain. "Brain tumor," she gasped and sniffled before continuing, "an inoperable tumor."

"Wow. You must love him if you're this broken-up about it," Joanne remarked.

Taylor's sobbing worsened then. "No. I don't. That's the problem."

"So, you broke up with him anyway?" Kendall asked, smoothing a hand through her friend's hair.

"No!" she wailed. "What I did was so much worse."

"Whatever it is, it can't be that bad, Tay." Then a terrible thought flitted through her mind. "Shit. You didn't cheat on him, did you?"

The sobbing was nearly uncontrollable now. "I... I... Married him!"

"You WHAT?"

"He said," she paused for what sounded disturbingly like a hiccup, "he said he wanted to marry the love of his life before he died."

Kendall continued to smooth her friend's hair. "How long does he have?"

"Less than six months." She said something else that was unintelligible due to the crying and then, "I couldn't say no. He was so sincere. He loves me, Ken, and I am the most horrible bitch in the world."

"You're not." At Taylor's snort, she said more vehemently, "You're not!"

"Oh, but I am. I like him, really I do, and I'm sad he's dying, but I'm so upset for me. Me, Ken. I'm a selfish bitch."

"That's exactly what you are. You married a man who was dying so he could have his wish. You will be with him through treatments and the end of his life. That sounds selfish to me. Doesn't it sound horribly selfish to you, Jo?"

"Surely." Joanne walked to the pair, her brows knitted together. "Taylor, just how much is Kevin worth?"

"He deserves a woman who loves him," Taylor answered through a new wave of sobs.

"No, monetarily."

Taylor's answer was a shake of her head against Kendall's shoulder. She didn't know.

Joanne held up a finger as she nodded. "Just what I thought. You're far from selfish, Taylor Jamieson. You'll get through this, I'm sure of it." She patted her boss on the back before heading behind the counter to answer the phone.

Kendall murmured agreement as she rocked the sobbing redhead in her arms.

~*~

"Why does it seem like everyone around us is getting married for the wrong reasons?" Kendall asked Reid that night over dinner.

"The wrong reasons?"

"Kyle married Nichole because of Jacob, now Taylor married Kevin because he's dying." She sighed. "Doesn't anyone get married just because they love each other anymore?"

"Are you fishing, baby?"

Her eyes widened as her brows shot up. "Of course not!"

He gave her a questioning look as he cut his chicken.

"Really, I'm not fishing. I'm just commenting on the sad state of affairs."

"Uh-huh." He took his time chewing and swallowing, then told her, "I wanted it to be romantic."

She didn't follow. "Wanted it... she started before it dawned on her what he meant. "Oh my God."

He crossed the room to pull a Taylored Jewels box from the freezer. "It might be a little cold," he warned.

Right, like she cared about that. "It'll warm up. Nice hiding place by the way."

"Shush, I'm trying to propose here."

"Have at it," she told him before clapping a hand over her mouth.

He dropped to one knee right there in the kitchen floor as she sat at the table. This wasn't how he planned it, but things never seemed to work as planned with Kendall. Why would this be any different? "I wanted to make a big, romantic gesture, but I never found the right time. So, here I am, in the middle of dinner with a frozen ring." He opened the box, pulled out the hand-engraved platinum solitaire Taylor had created just for Kendall. "Marry me, Kendall. I love you, baby and want you by my side forever."

She liked romantic in the middle of dinner and the kitchen floor. She offered her left hand. "Of course I'll marry you. I love you so much."

Reid slid the ring on her finger, then tugged her down to him. "I believe we have to seal it with a kiss," he whispered before covering her lips with his own. She opened beneath him, sucking on his tongue as she writhed on his lap. Dinner forgotten, he pushed the straps of her dress down to expose the creamy tops of her breasts. "God, I love you," he murmured against her mouth as he peeled the pale blue fabric away. She twined her arms around his neck after he freed her from the confines of her dress, clinging to him when he picked her up. "We have a bed, baby," he reminded her between kisses as he carried her to the bedroom.

Gently, he lowered her to the middle of the neatly made bed. He stepped away to discard his own clothing, drinking in the sight of Kendall sprawled across the navy quilt in nothing but scraps of white lace. She was his. Forever. The need to possess her was almost overwhelming, but he forced himself to savor her.

"Come here to me," she beckoned as she sat up. "I need you, Reid."

"Oh, baby, you have me," he murmured as he crossed to her. He took her mouth again, softly at first. "You have me, you'll always have me," he told her before fusing his lips to hers, sweeping his tongue into her mouth. Her hands went into his hair, her short nails scraping his scalp as he settled over her. He trailed kisses down her neck, her collarbone, nibbling at the lacy edge of her bra. He took her right nipple into his mouth, lace and all and Kendall let out a gasp. Leaving her breasts, he continued down her body, dropping kisses over her torso, running the tip of his tongue around her belly button before nipping at the edge of her thong.

"Stop teasing," Kendall panted. He slid his hands up her thighs, sending a shiver down her spine. "Evil, evil, man," she breathed as he slowly pulled the panties from her body, his warm breath caressing her bare pussy.

Lowering his head between her splayed legs, he continued to tease with slow swipes of his tongue. He feasted on her, her taste bursting in his mouth. At her chants of, "Please, please, please," he relented, sliding two fingers into her core as he gently nipped her clit. That was all it took. She arched off the bed with a scream as her inner muscles clamped on his fingers. Quickly he pulled his fingers free and made his way up her body, burying his cock in her as she spasmed wildly, claiming her mouth as he did.

She loved the taste of herself on Reid's mouth, the feel of his body over her, filling her. She devoured his mouth, her hands once again in his hair, her legs locked around his waist. He tunneled in and out at a fevered pace, the restraint he showed earlier melting away. He pulled almost all the way out before plunging back in, over and over, the speed increasing as he slammed into her body, brushing her clit with every stroke.

Her short nails dug into his scalp as she shattered beneath him, a declaration of love falling from her lips between moans. He crushed her to him, angling her hips to take him impossibly deeper, powering into her for a few more strokes before finally bursting within her with a roar.

"Wow," she breathed as she melted into the bed.

He dropped a light kiss on her lips before rolling them both to the side to avoid crushing her. "I love you, baby," he whispered as he held her close.

~*~

The middle of the night phone call was Reid's this time. Kendall listened to the half conversation and gathered the news was far from good. "Work?" she asked, her voice raspy from sleep.

"Dead body found," he answered as he pulled on his clothes.

She watched him quietly for a moment. "Promise you'll be careful," she finally said.

"Of course, baby," he promised as he crossed to her. "I love you."

"You sure?" she teased before kissing him goodbye. At his grin, she told him, "I love you, too. Stay safe."

*

The dump site- definitely not the crime scene- was a shallow grave in the park on the south side of town. The body was a woman, wrapped in a sheet and lying on her stomach.

Jason Monroe was already down with the body when Reid arrived. "Uh, Caufield, I think you can give us a positive ID on the vic," Jason said, forgoing any pleasantries at four in the morning.

Me? He thought. "Headed to ya, Jase," he answered as he made his way across the field. The ME rolled the body over when Reid came to a stop beside Jason.

Holy shit. Amy? "Whoa."

"Yeah, I know," Jason agreed.

Reid quickly pulled himself together. "What have we here?"

"Looks like an overdose. There are track marks in both arms. We'll run a tox screen to confirm," Adrienne Marquette, the Ayles County Medical Examiner answered.

Reid hadn't noticed Adrienne's arrival, he was too stunned. "A? Did you just say Amy shot heroin?"

She shook her head. "Reid, you know what I said. I said there were track marks in both arms. Nothing is conclusive yet." She stared for a moment at Amy's body. "She's our age, Reid. Damn," she murmured with another shake of sandy head.

"She didn't even drink when we were married," Reid argued. "Drugs, A?" He couldn't reconcile the dead, apparently drug-addicted woman to the girl he once loved.

"You know as well as I do, I haven't seen her since you left her. I didn't even know she was in the area..." she trailed off. "Holy mother. Where is her kid?" she asked, amber eyes wide.

Jason had been quietly working the area around the dump site scouring to evidence, but stood to answer Adrienne. "O'Halloran and Delmonico are checking residences now, although we might have to yield jurisdiction to Sheridan PD if she was killed there."

Reid held up a hand. "Wait, A just said she thought it was an overdose."

"That she did. We can't rule anything out yet, though, can we?"

"True," he agreed. Swallowing hard, he asked, "So, I suppose you'll want me to talk to the Reverend and Mrs. Shaw?"

"What a way to see the in-laws," Jason remarked with a half smile.

*

Reverend Shaw answered the door before Reid had a chance to ring the bell. "Reid Caufield. What brings you here at," he checked his watch, "seven in the morning?"

Instead of dancing around it, Reid answered truthfully, "There's no easy way to say this, sir. Amy was found dead this morning." He stopped for a moment. "I need to ask you some questions, if I may?"

Reverend Shaw stood aside, gesturing for Reid to come in. "We haven't seen Amy in years, son. She lost her way and cut us out of her life."

He hadn't expected that. "You've had no contact?"

The Reverend nodded. "Very little. Annie lives with us. Amy couldn't take care of her, she said." Frowning, he went on, "I think she was into drugs, running with the wrong crowd in Sheridan."

Reid made a face. "Annie?"

"Her daughter. You remember."

Did he ever. "Has Annie had contact with her mother?"

"Here and there." He shook his head. "Poor girl feels unwanted half the time. We do what we can, but that kind of damage isn't easy to repair."

"What about her father?" Reid forced himself to ask.

"Amy never did identify him." The Reverend pinned Reid with a look. "Coulda been you."

"Should have," Reid agreed. "Paternity test said otherwise," he elaborated, his voice strained.

"I know, son. I just wish my granddaughter had more than just her Gran and me."

Just when he thought things were on-track, Amy was dead and he was talking to his ex father-in-law about the daughter who should have been his. God, that was a lifetime ago. He pushed it all aside, focusing on the task at hand instead. "I was hoping you could help me piece together Amy's life, but it doesn't sound as if you can shed much light there." He blew out a breath. "I'm sorry for your loss, sir."

"Thank you, son. Let me tell you something about Amy. Remember that she was good, too good, at making up stories. Girl could make anyone believe anything, sometimes I thought she should have gone into the CIA."

Reid was all too familiar with Amy's brand of story-telling. "I'll remember that, sir."

He left the Shaw's with more questions than he had when he'd arrived. So far this morning was turning out to be awesome.