Intrigue (Elvis Presley Story)

Chapter 13

"Hello?" Silence answered.

Wrong number? Disconnected call? "Hello?"

The mood instantly changed as the silence became two words. "Pretty lady." Familiar, low pitched laughter increased in volume, drowning out the fear pounding in her ears.

"You're mine, pretty lady. Don't forget that. You're mine."

Olivia slammed down the phone. The heat of the night couldn't penetrate the chill that worked it's way into her bones. She picked up the phone again and dialed Elvis's number.

"Detective Presley."

Thank God. Deep. Strong. No-nonsense.

Olivia nearly wept at the sound of his voice. "He was on the phone. Just now. He called."

Elvis didn't ask for details. "I'm on my way."

Olivia put down the phone and hugged her arms tightly around her waist. Should she lock herself in the bathroom until he got here? Turn off the lights so no one could see her inside? Alone?

"Oh, my God." She looked across the main room to the open windows that seemed so benign less than an hour ago. Hating how exposed and vulnerable she suddenly felt in the soaring dimension of her own home, olivia dashed to the windows.

She had barely touched the glass when someone pounded at her door. Startled by the noise, she screamed.

"Olivia!"

"Elvis? Elvis!" She ran to the door and unlocked it. In one smooth move, he tucked her to his chest, backed her up a bit and locked the door behind him.

Olivia curled her fingers in the front of his shirt and held on. "Olivia are you all right?"

When she nodded, he palmed the back of her head and kissed her, firm and fast-some sort of territorial stamp that spoke a little of common sense and more of the relief that crowded her thoughts. Switching his grip to her hand, he went to secure the windows and close the shade himself.

He kept her right with him as he moved from room to room through the main floor of the house, testing other windows looking under beds, in closets. He checked the telephone and cursed when there was no number, adding to his list of things to track down tomorrow. Only when he seemed satisfied that all was safe did he sit her on a kitchen stool, pour her a cup of hot coffee and ask her to tell him exactly what happened.

There wasn't much to tell.

"He said..." She clutched the warm mug between her hands and swallowed past the lump of fear in her throat. "He said, 'you're mine, pretty lady.' Warned me never to forget that. And he laughed. Like this is some kind of joke to him. Like I'm some kind of joke."

"No." Elvis brushed a tendril of hair from her eyes, but she could barely feel his heat or believe his reassurance. "I don't understand why he want me to be afraid. I don't understand why he wants me at all."

"Do you have a blanket?"

She nodded, the abrupt switch in topic startling her from her morbid thoughts. "Why?"

"Because I'm staying the night."

Olivia set down her mug and tried to stand. "But my Aunts--"

"I'm staying the night."

"When I challenged you to start talking to more men, I didn't realise you'd bring one home to practice with." Louise was practically rubbing her hands together as she watched olivia work.

Olivia folded up the blanket where Elvis probably spent an awful night on the couch. Louise trailed right behind her as she carried the blanket and pillows back to the storage closet.

"Elvis is looking out for me as a favor to his dad, I'm sure. He's here as a police officer, Louise, not to entertain your match-making fantasies."

Though as she reached up to place the blanket on the shelf, she couldn't help but notice how his uniquely manly scent clung to the padded cotton. Nothing else smelled that good, and if she paused to inhale an extra sniff, who could blame her?

"I saw that."

"You saw nothing."  Olivia glared at her single-minded Aunt. 

"Oh, honey, don't go getting embarrassed now. He smells like pure man, and nothing is better than that."

Olivia thought she might collapse from heatstroke as Louise's words hit a self-conscious nerve wired to every cell in her body. She propped her hands at her hips, thankful that Elvis was in the shower across the hall and couldn't hear this embarrassing conversation.

"Elvis is a friend," She articulated. "A good one who's willing to sleep on a couch because I got a crank call and was a little....out of sorts last night."

Finding that key and those kisses hadn't done much to settle her nerves, either. Had she made a complete fool of herself? Been an amusing aberration for such an obviously experienced man? Did he regret the momentary distraction either because it had diverted his attention from pursuing his father's killer or because he now felt obligated to provide off-the-clock protection for her? Where they supposed to talk about what had happened? How could she figure out what the next step should be when she wasn't even certain she was supposed to take one?

But Louise wanted what Louise wanted. "So he smells good and he's chivalrous, to boot. You ought to reel that one in."

"I don't know how--" She put up her hand, warding off both her aunts well-intentioned scheming and her own debilitating fluster. "No. No. I won't let you do this to me. Elvis and I are working together on an investigation. He believes his father left me some information about whatever trouble he was in that may have gotton him killed. He hid it in my things probably because I'm so easy to overlook that no one would suspect--"

"You are not easy to overlook." Louise stamped her foot, defending her neice she loved to the same degree that she drove her nuts. "Not to anyone with any sense. If Mr. Presley did leave you a hidden message, it was because he knew he could count on you to figure it out. And he knew that big heart of yours would help him-and his son come hell or high water."

Eccentricities aside, olivia loved her Aunt, and would be forever grateful that even though she'd been denied  her birth parents, she'd been giving two wonderful women to become part of their family. "You know, Aunt Lou, you make it impossible to stay mad at you."

"I know." Louise turned to the open door of olivia's closet. "Now. What are you going to wear today? I was thinking maybe something with a shorter hemline."

Olivia groaned. Maybe not completely impossible.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! and thanks for reading! xoxo