Page 11 of Blood and Sand

Chapter four

Detective Rey LaCroix

NorthCarolina

Arriving at the hotel in North Carolina, all kinds of thoughts swirled in my head. While I went to Dana for help on this case, it would be stupid to disregard my feelings for her. It was natural holding her in my arms, like I was home. From her scent to the feel of her body against mine, I missed everything about her. After this case was done, there was no way I’d walk away from her again. No matter what those damn papers said, Dana LaCroix was still my wife, and I was going to fix what I fucked up.

Recognition and jealousy hit me when Agent Hart stepped into Dana’s office, breaking up our reunion. He’d appeared in photographs at events and nights out with her friends and colleagues, but just as much as I was jealous of him, he was also jealous of me. I took great pleasure in knowing that and looked at it as a good sign. It meant he knew about me because I still held a place in her heart. Hopefully, that place was large enough that he couldn’t penetrate it. No matter how selfish it might sound, I wanted Dana happy, but not with another man because that meant what we had was over for good. I wasn’t ready for it to be done.

I’d kept up with Dana’s life after we split, and Agent Hart always got under my skin because it should have been me with her. I aimed to make sure she remembered the place I held in her life and her heart. Now, the only thing left to do was to convince my ex-wife that we belonged together and to give me a second chance. I’d do whatever it took to have her back in my life. I could never let Dana go completely; she was the love of my life.

Taking the elevator to the top floor of the hotel, I took out my phone from my pocket and dialed Lucile Wright. Although divorced from Dana, I remained close with her grandparents. I talked to both her grandmother and grandfather, Byron, at least twice a week to make sure they were doing all right and didn’t need anything. Both were getting up in age and didn’t have anyone around to make sure they had everything they needed. I wasn’t able to visit as often as I’d liked since the divorce, but whenever I traveled to Charlotte for conferences or had some free time, I made sure to visit. I loved them like they were my own family.

“Son, DeeDee arrived about an hour ago,” Mama Wright said as soon as she answered the call. “I’m serving supper in an hour. Make sure you’re hereon time, Rey.”

I chuckled. Mrs. Wright was a drill sergeant when it came to being on time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you were a minute late, you didn’t get to eat at her table unless a natural disaster or something close to it kept you from being there when she wanted you to be there.

“Yes, ma’am. I will be there within the hour. Love you.”

“I love you too, son,” she said, ending the call.

After quickly jumping in and out of the shower to wash away the grime of multiple plane rides—first from Louisiana to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to North Carolina—I quickly dressed. The humidity in North Carolina was just as brutal as in Louisiana, so I decided to go simple and comfortable, dressing in a gray t-shirt and dark blue jeans for dinner. I grabbed the keys to my rental truck, cell phone, and room key, then headed out.

In less than thirty minutes, I arrived at the Wrights’ rural home. This was one place I loved to visit outside of Louisiana. I was a country boy who loved to fish, hunt, and trap, and the damp rural air, heat, and bugs of North Carolina reminded me so much of home. The Wrights’ home sat deep in a wooded area about a mile off a rural two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. It was a beautiful place, but it also worried me since the Wrights were older and didn’t have a neighbor closer than a mile away.

Exiting the truck, I focused on the love of my life while she sat laughing with her grandfather in the white rocking chairs on the covered porch of the Wrights’ home. I spent many days and nights sitting on this porch with DeeDee’s family, some of those days with her over the course of our seven-year relationship and some without her after we divorced.

“Are you gonna just stand there gawking at my granddaughter all day long, boy?” Mr. Wright laughed. “Or are ya gonna come give an old man a hug?”

I slowly made my way onto the covered porch with a smile. “Can’t I do both, old man?”

He scoffed, slowly stood, and embraced me, giving me a couple of slaps on the back before he sat back down into the rocking chair with a grunt.

“It’s good to see ya, Pops. How ya been?”

“Can’t complain, boy. Cannot complain. The fish are biting, and my woman is keeping me fed.” He rubbed his rounded stomach, which had slimmed over the last year since illness had taken over. “No better life than this.” He nodded, rocking back and forth in his rocking chair.

That was his response every time I asked the question whenever I visited or spoke to him on the phone. It had been a few months since I’d last come to see them, but I was glad I was here with them now. Pops had been having a tough time these past few months because of some health issues. So, it was good to see him outside for a change, breathing in the fresh air.

My attention then turned to my beautiful ex-wife. Her hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail high on her head. Her make-up-free skin glistened with a light sheen of sweat that my tongue itched to lick from her beautiful body. A beautiful purple strapless cotton dress clung to her curves when she stood to embrace me.

“Hey, Rey.”

“Hey, DeeDee.” I hugged her a little bit longer than I probably should have since she seemed to have a man in her life, albeit not for long if I had anything to say about it. “You look beautiful as always.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

“You gonna let her go, boy?” Pops chuckled as he stood and made his way to the front door.

I took a step back and rubbed the back of my neck.

“Make sure y’all don’t get lost before dinner is served.”

He made his way inside the house, shaking his head and mumbling about not wanting to hear his wife’s mouth if we weren’t on time for dinner.

We both started laughing.

Every time I spoke to Pops, he always made sure to tell me how much of an asshole I was for breaking Dana’s heart, and I always agreed. However, I assured him I would do everything in my power to get her back, if she’d have me. Hopefully, with her helping me with my case, she’d give me the opportunity to rectify my mistake. Dana LaCroix was the love of my life, and I wanted her back.

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