Kiss Her Goodbye: Thriller/Romance with a shocking twist

by Kirsten Mitchell

  “Mia, are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered, gripping his eyes with hers as her tongue slowly licked her lips. He wrestled with himself to not bend down to kiss her. She murmured, “It’s been so great to see you again, Leo.”

  “Yeah,” he said, still locked in her eyes. He felt his body disobeying his orders and his chest leaning toward her. He doubted once he started kissing her he would be able to stop himself from pushing it all the way, and this would be violating all sorts of professional ethical boundaries. His hand found its way to her hair and he pushed it back from her face while he gazed into her eyes.

  Shrill screams pierced from Glenda’s bedroom. Leo grabbed Mia to protect her. “Stay here,” he ordered, then headed into the hall to investigate.

  “Don’t mind her,” Mia said after him. “She’s just filming makeup tutorials. She always screams like that.”

  “I don’t know about that. It sounds like someone’s getting slaughtered in there,” Leo said. “I need to check it out.”

  “What can I say? She’s very…energetic.” Mia shrugged at him as he headed down the hall. “But the fans love her over-the-top hysterical style.”

  Leo bolted from the boy’s bedroom and headed directly toward Glenda’s bedroom door. Just as he arrived, her door snapped open. “The police are here!” she cried. “I saw them out my window.”

  “What?” Mia rushed out.

  Several knocks pounded on the front door to confirm Glenda’s statement. Mia jumped and wrapped her hands around Leo’s forearms. “What do they want? Don’t let them in. I don’t want them seeing this place.”

  “I’ll check it out.” Leo marched to the front door and yanked it open just a crack so they couldn’t see the hoard beyond him.

  Sure enough, it was the police.

  Guns were drawn and pointed directly at Leo’s chest.

  “Put your hands in the air and get on the ground. Now,” Penelope Barter blared at him and kicked open the door wider with one enormous thrust of her boot.

  *******

  “Don’t shoot, he’s just a friend visiting,” Mia fluttered down the hall to the front door, flapping her hands in a frenzy.

  “Mia Floyd.” Constable Penelope Barter kept her gun aimed at them both now. “Your house has sure gone to hell in a shit-basket since I was here four years ago, huh?”

  Mia almost didn’t want to admit that she was right. And she’d been so careful to avoid letting the police come back since Brendan’s disappearance. It had mainly been in the last two years that things had gotten really…messy.

  “What brings you this way, Constable Barter?” Mia tried to sound casual. Semi-cheerful, even.

  “Just answer the question,” Barter said.

  “Yeah, man, just answer the Q,” the other cop beside her added. He had to be no older than twenty and suffering from an unfortunate acne condition. He spoke with the tone of a pissy toddler and the ironic deepness of a soul singer. “We don’t have, like, all day, okay?”

  Barter delivered her partner a long, cold stare, then turned her attention back to Leo and Mia. “This is Auxiliary Allan Michaels. He’s still in training and riding along with me today.”

  “Nice to meet you, Auxiliary Michaels, I’m Dr. Lawson. Clinical Psychologist,” Leo said. “Listen, is there some kind of problem here?”

  “Penelope,” Mia softly added, even though she was mortified to have all these people inside her house. Judging her. “Would you like to come in and have some coffee?”

  “No,” Barter barked at Leo, her noodle hair wobbling over her mad cherry face. She shoved her gun back in her holster with an exaggerated eye roll. “I am not going to repeat myself! Michaels, frisk the son of a bitch.”

  Leo put his hands in the air and stepped outside to join Michaels, who patted him down with a little much too delight. “Watch it there, buddy,” Leo seethed.

  “We received a 911 distress call from this location.” Constable Barter accepted Mia’s invitation to enter and stepped into the house, her great black boots stomping and claiming what tiny space was available in the foyer. She assessed the collapsed wreckages around her. “What seems to be the problem?”

  “Yeah, man,” her partner Allan called from outside as he aimlessly patted down Leo. “We got a 911 call from this place.”

  Barter snapped him a warning glare. “I've told you already, you don’t need to repeat everything I say, Michaels.”

  “That was my roommate who called,” Mia said.

  Barter snorted and swung her gaze back at Mia. “Where is this roommate now?”

  “In her room. Probably filming. Listen, Penelope, this has all been a giant misunderstand—”

  “Mm-hmm. Sure it has.” Constable Barter made her way down the hall. “Anyone else in the house with you besides your roommate and Dr. Lawson?”

  “No, only my roommate Glenda,” Mia said. “But she called you by accident, as I said. I made her hang up the phone.”

  “You made her hang up?” Barter spun on a heel to deliver a glare to Mia.

  Glenda’s chortling cries could be heard from her bedroom as she filmed a video in there with her usual over-the-top enthusiasm.

  Constable Barter lifted her walkie-talkie to her mouth. “Looks like we may have a situation here, the victim seems to be in distress. Send backup right away.”

  “Situation?” Mia asked.

  “I am going to need you to stand back, Mia.” Then she looked over at her partner, took her gun back out of the holster and pointed at Glenda’s bedroom. “Michaels, cuff her.”

  “Put your hands behind your back.” Michaels chucked Leo aside and lunged at Mia with an apologetic shrug.

  “This is bullshit!” Leo said, pushing himself between Mia and Michaels. “You can’t arrest her; you have no probable cause.”

  “Am I under arrest?” Mia backed away with her hands up.

  “No,” Barter said. “We just want to keep an eye on you while we inspect things.”

  “With handcuffs?” Leo shouted.

  “Like, step out of the way, man,” Michaels stammered at Leo. “I don’t want to, like, repeat myself, okay?"

  “I don’t think so,” Leo said to him.

  Glenda burst out of her room, clasping a set of makeup brushes in one fist and a slice of bread in the other. “God! Will you people stop yelling like idiots out here? I am filming a very impor—”

  “Freeze!” Constable Barter pointed her gun at Glenda’s face.

  “What the—” Glenda backed into her room and slammed the door shut. Inside she shrieked, “W T F!”

  Barter charged down the hall toward Glenda’s bedroom, but she was slowed by stacks of velvet stuffed animals that blocked her way. Frustrated, she kicked some aside.

  “Please don’t,” Mia cried. “Those were Brendan’s favorites.”

  “Why are all these damn toys stacked in the hall like this?” Barter fumed. "Someone is gonna get killed in this mess."

  “Don’t you think you’re blowing this way out of proportion?” Leo said. “Mia’s already said they called 911 by accident.”

  “Shut up,” Penelope barked back. “You’ve got a bubblegum situation on the sidewalk outside your clinic that you still haven’t dealt with. So your opinion as a concerned citizen is hardly relevant right now.” She turned her attention back to Glenda’s room. “Open the door,” Penelope yelled at Glenda’s closed door. She stepped back and commanded to Mia and Leo, “Stand back.”

  “Don’t hurt her!” Mia held her hands to her mouth in horror.

  Barter ignored her and lifted a great black boot to kick the door. Her other foot stepped back onto a stuffed rabbit’s ear. Velvet ear against wood floor made for a very slippery experience. Her foot slid out from under her. Both black boots swept up in front of her and she was on her ass, legs spread in the air. Her gun shot at the ceiling, sending snowflakes of ceiling plaster scattering and twirling down on her.

  Mia gasps of hor
ror shifted into unfortunate giggles behind her hands.

  “This is funny to you, Mia?” Barter cried from the floor, legs still spread.

  “Let me help you up.” Leo strode over and reached down a hand to her.

  “I don’t need your damn help!” Barter struggled to stand again and slid once more on the stuffed animals, sending a stack of colorful fur vomiting down. “Allan. What are you standing there with your mouth open for? Help me out of this and off the damn floor.”

  “Yes, yes, right away, ma’am,” Allan said, looking confused about whether he should continue trying to arrest Mia or not.

  “Now!” Penelope bellowed.

  He scampered with nervous enthusiasm to where she lay and robotically grabbed her by the shoulder. Instead of hauling her up, his own boots lost grip on the same rabbit ear and his boot flew up in the air as well. His ass landed on Penelope’s stomach, bursting a loud ‘oof’ out of her like a whoopee cushion that had been pummeled with a sledgehammer.

  Mia’s giggles roared from her and bloomed into guffaws. Leo flashed her an odd look, which only made her laugh harder.

  Striding over, Leo leaned down and held out both hands to the cops. When they each reluctantly grabbed on, he dragged them both up to their feet.

  “I will have you know this is an assault of a police constable,” Barter’s contorted purple face blasted.

  “Helping a cop get off the floor is considered assault?” Leo asked. “Wow, laws sure have gotten strict lately.”

  “I am talking about the messy conditions of this house!” Penelope glared. “You have put me and my auxiliary in danger by calling us into this life-threatening situation.”

  “Yeah, man, we were totally in danger.” Allan Michaels rubbed his neck. “I think, like, that stuffed rabbit, like, totally injured my labia or something.”

  “You don’t have labia, you moron.” Penelope slapped his hand off his neck.

  “No? I thought the labia is the part that connects to your shoulder blades to your—”

  Mia choked on her laughter. This was just too much.

  “Shut up,” Penelope said. “You need to absolutely just shut up now. I have had just about enough. Why don’t you go investigate the girl’s room?”

  He nodded and opened the door to Glenda’s room, introducing himself awkwardly to the filming teen, who greeted him back with resentful bitching.

  Mia laughed harder.

  “Mia, stop laughing this instant!” Penelope bellowed at her.

  But her shrill order only exploded Mia into another spasm of laughter.

  Glenda’s bedroom door slowly reopened and Allan returned to the hall, looking a little battered and traumatized by the experience. “All clear.”

  Mia slid her back against the wall, her laughter now silent convulsions as she held the cramps that bloomed in her waist. Her butt dropped to the floor and she swabbed at the tears that formed in her eyes. “Oh my god, I seriously have not laughed this hard in years.”

  “I’m glad your crimes bring you so much delight,” Penelope said.

  “Crimes?” Mia asked through bubbles of laughter.

  “The conditions of this house violate city code,” Penelope said.

  “That’s not a crime, it’s a municipal matter,” Leo said.

  “This municipal matter clearly doesn’t concern you.” Penelope shot a glare at him. She yanked her out silver police pad and began scribbling notes again. “I will have a public health inspector here in two days. I suggest you have this place cleaned up to my standards within ten days if you don’t want further legal complications.”

  Mia’s laughter bubbled down to silence in a snap. She felt her body shift from joy into sadness. Leo’s eyes caught hers and she flickered her gaze away.

  “Well, actually,” he said. “This matter does concern me. I am her therapist. And we are working on this issue.”

  No, Mia wanted to scream. Don’t tell her that.

  “Oh, really, now?” Penelope paused her writing and shot Mia a glare. “So Mia took my advice and hired you as her therapist after all.”

  “Yep,” Leo said. “And Mia and I are working on some cutting-edge therapy to get through this. I assure you, we will have this place cleaned up. But ten days is not nearly long enough. Can we negotiate for sixty days?”

  “Awesome,” Penelope said. “Do tell. What does ‘cutting-edge therapy’ entail?”

  “For starters, we’re going on a therapeutic hike.”

  “A therapeutic hike!” It was Penelope who now burst into laughter, although it wasn’t clear if her laughter was genuine shock or sarcasm. “You mean, to get in touch with nature and whatnot? To find her inner child hiding in the bushes?”

  Mia winced at the irony of Penelope’s words. She had no idea how close she was to the truth right now.

  “That’s rich.” Penelope continued writing notes in her pad. “I gotta tell the boys back at the station about how Mia plans to clean her house by taking a hike in the woods.”

  “Yeah,” Allan added. “We’re gonna tell all the boys back at the station about this. And the girls too. Especially the hot ones.”

  “I gotta tell you,” Penelope said. “When I first saw your sign posted I was impressed and thought you might be an asset to this town. I had no idea your methodology would be this ridiculous.”

  Mia felt anger boil up inside of her. “I will have you know Leo is a brilliant psychologist,” she said. “And he is going to help me with this.”

  “Mia, it’s cool.” He shrugged at her. He seemed hardly bothered by the onslaught of insults. But Mia was bothered. Bothered and enraged.

  Penelope wiped at tears of laughter. “And I wish you the best of luck with that. But you still need this place cleaned up in ten days.”

  “That’s impossible,” Leo said

  “Anything is possible if you put your mind to it,” Penelope said.

  “Yeah,” Michaels added. “Anything is possible if—”

  “Will you shut up and stay shut up?” Penelope asked her partner. Allan Michaels hung his head down, embarrassed, and picked up a stuffed green alligator from the floor to cuddle.

  “We’re leaving for the hiking trip,” Mia said. “Tomorrow.”

  Leo flashed her a confused look. They had not discussed dates of the hike, and probably it was planned for weeks away. But Mia couldn’t wait weeks. She needed to get to Blueflower now. Her house had to wait until she was done with what she needed to do there.

  “And leave this place a mess like this?” Penelope challenged. “Suit yourself. Don’t come crying to me if you find yourself in jail.”

  “Oh, come on,” Leo said. “You wouldn’t put a grieving mother in jail for something this minor, would you?”

  “How about you try me and see?” Penelope smiled with what could be considered a cheerful grin. She lifted one great boot over the wreckage of stuffed animals and made her way to the door. She looked back at her partner, who was preoccupied with opening and closing the alligator’s mouth on top of his other hand. “Allan. Put the toy away. We are leaving now.”

  Reluctantly he dropped the alligator into the abyss of junk and waved goodbye to Leo and Mia, before scuttling after her with his head down.

  “Come on now,” Barter said to him, softer now. “I think there’s a bag of Skittles in the glove compartment. Pick up the pace a little bit and you might get a handful at the end of your shift.” That seemed to do the trick. Allan was perked up and marched behind her, chin proudly in the air. Barter let him march on ahead to the car and stopped to turn back at Mia, flashing her one last warning look. “Don’t forget what I said. Ten days.” She closed the door behind her.

  “Mia,” Leo started hesitantly. “I hate to say it, but I think Constable Barter is right.”

  “Right about what?”

  “I know you’re going through a lot and this hike could be important to you, but I think it might be wiser to cancel the trip and get this place, you know, More organized.” H
is voice of reason grated on her last nerve.

  Brendan’s disappearance anniversary was next week. If she didn’t take this hike now, there was no other way.

  She needed to get there.

  “No,” she said.

  “You heard what Barter said. If you don’t get to work on this she’ll shut you down. I know about this woman, through some of my other clients’ experiences with her. She doesn’t make idle threats. She will put you on the street if she has to prove her point.”

  “I don’t care what Constable Barter will or will not do to me. I’m done being scared.”

  He reached out and grabbed both her hands in his. Just his touch sent mad sparkles through her veins. “And I don’t think I can recommend my client, Nate, to guide you on this trip either.”

  “Don’t you get it? I’m going to Blueflower,” she said. “Whether you or Nate come with me or not.”

  Leo’s face clenched in frustration. “You could die out there in those woods, Mia. Not only from grizzly bears that roam that area but from the elements. Do you even have experience with the outdoors?”

  “No, I don’t have experience and I don’t care,” Mia said. “Because I don’t think you understand me, Leo. It doesn’t matter if I die out there. I will die if I stay here in this hellhole for even one day longer.”

  Leo let go of her hands and blinked at her.

  “I am going to bring my son home,” Mia proclaimed. “With or without you.”

  *******

  CHAPTER SIX

  Dream #2

  The mural Brendan painted shatters to pieces and falls away. It was only an illusion covering what really exists beyond it. Now that the fakeness and the clutter is gone, what she sees is the mouth of an enormous cave. But it’s not just any cave, it’s a cave full of silver crystals jutting up and down. Stalactites and stalagmites. Glittering and stabbing at each other. Deep inside the cave is a thick blackness darker than any color black she has seen before.

  She walks toward the cave and she wants to go inside, to explore what makes that black so black. But it’s impossible. To enter would mean certain death as the first step would immediately impale her. She reaches out a hand to touch one of the stalagmites, to test it. Before she even makes contact, the sharpness cuts her finger to the bone. The tip of her finger falls away and rolls into the cave. It disappears forever. Like it never even existed.