Cedar Lane Properties—The Wallace Brothers

Michael Wallace had an obsession. Nothing dark or sinister. Just something his friends and family teased him over. He was attracted to chubby women. If she carried some extra weight, had a sense of humor—this was especially important—and a pretty smile, he struggled to refrain from staring. The problem wasn’t really the teasing he received from his loved ones—he wasn’t overly concerned with their opinions. Michael was not only a successful business owner of three, soon to be four, Bed and Breakfasts, he was also fit. He was 6’ 4” with broad shoulders and washboard abs he took pride in maintaining. He was willing to give any woman with the right personality a chance. His gold digger ex wife, Natalie, was proof of that. But he loved the feel of a sassy, plumper woman beneath his hands. The problem was that big beautiful women often had major self esteem problems. They couldn’t fathom that someone like him could be interested in someone like them. His last object of affection, Maria, had broken up with him because she was afraid he’d lose interest. Big girls often found themselves in toxic relationships and he had met several that felt too damaged for someone like him. Take the woman who had been staying at his bed and breakfast the last three nights with the biggest piece of s**t man Michael had met yet, for example. Allen Ames. What a douchebag. By the way the woman tended to submit to Allen, Michael suspected Ames hit the woman, Crystal, when they were alone. Allen was most assuredly verbally abusive when he didn’t think anyone was near. Michael had overheard the way Allen spoke to Crystal last night while taking out the garbage. It had taken a lot of willpower not to intervene. “I better not catch your stupid ass making eyes at that Michael dude or I’ll cut you off. Your ignorant ass won’t survive without me,” the douche canoe had sneered. Why she was with him had been beyond Michael until then. Controlling her with money. Odd. It was often the other way around. The women often had the money and were supporting the hobosexuals—people who got into relationships to avoid being homeless. Crystal was beautiful with bright, crystal blue eyes, just like her name implied, and thick, strawberry blonde hair that hung just beyond her shoulders. His friend Tony might have labeled her as fat, had he been around, but Michael thought a brick s**t house was a better description. She was tall, maybe 5’ 10”, definitely big boned and padded. Like a female linebacker might be, Michael thought. He was willing to bet that if she found her spine, she could whoop Allen’s scrawny ass. The odd couple was checking out early tomorrow. Their reservation had been for six nights, seven days. Michael now had a suspicion he was the reason the mismatched couple was checking out early and half smiled to himself. He’d been the object of many a man’s jealousy before. Normally, Michael would only refund half of a guest’s canceled stay in a situation like this, but his instincts told him Allen would somehow find a way to blame Crystal and Michael had an overwhelming urge to protect her. He considered offering her a job so she’d stay, but his minor in psychology told him Crystal probably had an unhealthy case of Stockholm Syndrome. Her submissiveness to Allen was hard to miss. Michael hoped he didn’t turn on the news one day to see her picture as a homicide victim. So when the knocking on his door at 4:30 a.m. had him stumbling from bed and trying to tie his robe in a way that would disguise his morning wood—concealed only by boxers—, he was shocked as hell to see Crystal’s tear stained face on the other side. *** She didn’t know what else to do, but she had discovered her late brother’s missing jacket in Allen’s suitcase earlier and she wasn’t going anywhere else with him. If he wasn’t a murderer, he was an accomplice. The owner of the bed and breakfast they were staying at made her nervous the way he seemed to watch her, but he might be her only chance. He was handsome. Extremely so. His sleepy green eyes looked at her in surprise and she suddenly couldn’t find her voice. “Did he hurt you?” His voice was husky and a little demanding. “I-I t-think,” she stammered as concern crossed his chiseled, bearded face. The tears came harder. “P-police,” she managed to get out. “Did he hurt you?” The B&B owner demanded and scanned her body up and down with those damn eyes. She shook her head and looked from him to inside his room. She didn’t know if she’d be safer inside or not, but couldn’t imagine it being worse than Allen discovering she’d snuck out, coming down the polished grand staircase of the Queen Anne B&B and finding her standing at the owner’s door. “Come in out of the hallway,” he commanded, understanding her need and cursing his morning wood. She needed comfort but Michael wasn’t about to hug her. One had to be very careful with abuse victims and, well, he was hard, too. Crystal’s crying slowed down after he closed the door. “You want me to call the police?” He asked as gently as possible. Crystal took a deep breath. “Yes, but I need to reach Detective Campbell in Bakersfield. He’s the lead investigator in my brother’s death. And I think Allen is behind it. I found Caleb’s missing jacket in his suitcase earlier.” Whoa! Holy s**t! If what she was saying was true… “Let me call my brother first and get him over here,” he told her as he whipped out his phone, mentally calculating the time difference between California and Missouri. “He’s a local deputy and can detain Allen,” he added when she looked about ready to protest. Mark and his partner arrived in record time. Michael heard the crunch of gravel the same time he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. “Stay here,” he ordered Crystal and bolted out the door. She heard, “Freeze!” followed by running feet and what sounded like a hell of a scuffle. Fear rose up as shouts escalated and she unconsciously grabbed two pillows off the bed to hold over her ears. Vaguely aware that she’d never been such a coward before, Crystal sunk to the floor trying to block out the noise. She didn’t know how much time had passed and wasn’t aware of when the B&B owner came back into the room. All she could think was that she was finally safe but, now, she was not only broke, but also all alone.