She closed her eyes as the roar of the jets engine screamed in her ears. When she finally looked up at the sky the jet was practically out of sight and her heart plunged. If not for Chase grasping her around the waist, she would have fallen to the ground when her knees gave way and tears she had stowed away for a lifetime started to fall, continuing for days.
The next few weeks were a blur as she spent most of her time floating in a vodka bottle. Eden and Chase had insisted she stay with them in their spare room. All she remembered were the bright blue walls each time she woke and then the comfortable warm burn as the liquor did its job and her brain quickly erased her massive loss from your mind. As much as she tried, her body always managed to sober her mind long enough to realize her heartbreaking reality, Charlie was gone…and so was Mason.
Chase snatched her from her sleep one bright morning, and held her screaming under the cold spray of water, in his huge walk through shower stall. “Mik, I love you darling, that’s why I’m going to be painfully frank with you, and you can hate me all you want, but I’ll get over it.” He turned off the water and wrapped her in a warm plush towel, and sat her on his knee on the bench of the shower.
Her teeth chattered as she laid her head on his shoulder and listened to his gentle caring voice. “It’s time to move forward, get out of bed, brush yourself off and make a fresh start.”
“How do you start over after you’ve lost it all, Chase?” she sighed.
He kissed his lips to her temple in that brotherly way she loved. “You just do.” He forced her chin up so she looked at him as he spoke, “You have me and Eden, Carl and a club to run. Carl’s been doing his best but he can’t do it all on his own.”
“Poor Carl, I forgot about him and the club.”
“Consider this day one, you’re going to get dressed, have some breakfast and I’m taking you home. I’ll stay with you as long as you like, but no more booze, I mean it, not a drop. Promise me.”
Mikala shivered and nodded. “I promise,” she said. “I’m so fucking scared, Chase. It’s like I’m a kid again and they’re moving me to another foster home. I don’t want to be alone.”
“You have me twenty four seven, day or night, you call me and I’ll be there,” he vowed. “Now get dressed, Eden probably has breakfast ready by now.”
They stood on the landing outside the guest room door and as Chase was about to descend the staircase Mikala stopped him. “Chase, will you take me home?”
“I said I would.” He laughed.
“No, I mean home, to my old place.”
“Sure, whatever you want.”
A few hours later she stood in the doorway of her old apartment gazing around, thankful she had decided not to rent it out after all. She had always liked it here, this was home.
“You sure this is what you want?” Chase asked.
“No. But what I want is gone and this is day one, remember?”
She stood on tip toe and pecked her lips to his cheek and scrubbed her fingers in his beard. “Let’s get me unpacked.”
Mikala stood off to the side of the bar watching the crowd of happy patrons as they drank and danced as if nothing had changed. Fresh new start, she questioned herself, no fucking way, she thought, “He is coming back.”
“Whose coming back, honey?” Carl asked, and she laughed when she realized she had said her thoughts out loud.
“Pass me a bottle of water,” she asked. “Will you wake me when you get here in the morning?” She asked, before going into her office.
Wading through the pile of paperwork that had sat unattended on her desk for far too long, she happily took care of each one and breathed in a deep cleansing breath once she was finished. It was good to be busy. The clock on the wall reminded her that it was nearly closing time and she needed to do the rounds. Carl was serving the last call of the evening in the dance club, he had everything well under hand, so she decided to take the elevator up to the club and say hello to Gus.
“Hello there,” Gus said, wiping the counter and setting a cocktail coaster down in front of her. “Last call, what’s your poison?”
“Small vodka rocks, Gus.” She watched as he picked her favorite vodka from the conglomeration of bottles and eyed a shot into the glass.
“Takings were good tonight, you missed a scuffle and a lovers spat, but overall it was a good night,” he quickly shared, passing over her drink before walking away.
“Thanks,” she called out.
The club was close to empty, a few couples straying while they finished their drinks, surely planning the whole your place or mine deal, making Mikala smile.
“Can I sit here?”
Landon surprised her and she smiled patting the seat beside her. “I think I just realized something.”
“What would that be?” Landon asked.
“I have you.”
“Yes you do.”
“What happens to you when Mason moves in, you’re going to stay, right?”
Landon shrugged. “Hadn’t thought about it.”
Mikala wrapped her arms around his huge arm, resting her cheek against his bicep. “Say you’ll stay.”
“Stayin’ put,” he said. “Mason will reassign me when the time comes.”
“Reassign you?” she asked. “I won’t let him…unless that’s what you want.”
He nudged her shoulder with his, “Stayin’ put.”
Her smile faded when the lights lowered, Gus had closed the club for the night. Walking behind the bar she searched out her bottle tucking it into the fold of her arm, then taking Landon by the hand. “Movie time, no arguments and you’re staying in the spare room.”
“Yes ma’am!” He saluted as she dragged him into the elevator.
***
The sound of a throat clearing forced Mikala to open her eyes. Carl stood over her with his arms crossed and an angry glare.
“Care to explain yourself, what the hell happened here last night?” Carl asked.
Mikala felt a body stir beneath her and raised her head to find London laying on the sofa and her body folded into his arms. Landon opened his eyes and smiled up at Carl. Carl helped Mikala to her feet and Landon stretched lazily grinning up at him.
“Nothing’s happening here, get real,” Landon said. “We fell asleep watching a movie.”
“Uh huh,” Carl grumbled.
“Wishing it was you?” Mikala heard Landon whisper into Carl’s ear as he walked off to the washroom.
“Thanks for waking me, what time is it?” she asked, as she filled her coffeemaker with water and turned it on.
Carl looked at his watch. “Ten after eleven. Kind of early,”
“Eden’s meeting me for lunch. Keep it under your hat,” Mikala held her finger to her lips as she made a shhh sound and grinned. “Girlie spa time and Landon’s not invited, think you can help keep him distracted?”
“Do I look like your slave?” Carl snarled. “Besides, do you think it’s wise going out without the incredible hulk at your tail?”
With her hands on her hips she tapped her toe on the floor and tilted her head. “Are you going to do it? How about a paid night off,”
“Friday night?”
Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth she thought for a moment. “Okay, Friday night.”
“Hot damn!” He held up his hand for a high five and she ignored it.
***
“All set?” Eden giggled as Mikala tossed her bag into the back seat and buckled in.
“You know it,” Mikala laughed. “Where is this place anyway?”
“Deadman’s Cove. Right on the beach, my friend Tadd rents it out normally, but its empty this week so its all ours.”
“I have to be back by Friday, I gave Carl the night off so he’d make sure Landon was taken care of.”
“Mason’s going to kill us if he finds out.”
“Fuck him, he left, I need some fun without men. Sun and sand and ocean water, that’s what I need.”
“Sun a
nd sand yes, water, not so much. It’s way too cold to be swimming in at this time of year.”
Mikala didn’t care if there was a layer of ice coating the surface, she was going to dip her toes in and savor what little time she had to enjoy it. Trips and getaways were few and far between especially with her best friend Eden, it had been years since it was just the pair of them. The time they had spent in Italy before Eden’s wedding was probably the last time they had spent time lying on a beach selfishly enjoying time away. Her thoughts of Mason and her dancing for endless hours, getting to know each other at Eden’s wedding reception made her smile. She shook her head and zapped the memory to storage where it belonged as the car came to a halt in the driveway.
Once inside the A-frame cottage they quickly unpacked and donned bathing suits, grabbed a bottle of wine, glasses and a heavy blanket and towels and ran down to the beach that lay at the foot of the stairs.
“A house on stilts, how safe is that?” Mikala asked, laying on her front enjoying the heat of the sun on her back as she viewed the rear of the tan painted building.
“Will you quit exploring the worst in things and enjoy?”
“Sorry, can’t help it,” Mikala said, sweeping her hand along the warm sand and pulling it into a pile, flattening it with her fist.
Mikala’s phone buzzed and Carl’s name showed on the screen. “How’s it going Carl?”
“Don’t know how much longer I can keep him distracted, Mik. He’s going to totally freak when he discovers you’re not here.”
“Just keep him busy. Oh and by the way,” Mikala’s heart started to race knowing what Carl was going to do when she told him. “We’re not coming back until Friday afternoon.”
“What? Are you out of your fucking mind? You think I can appease the hulk for two days?” Carl roared into the phone and Mikala held it away from her ear. “What if there’s an emergency? At least tell me where you are, I won’t tell him, but I need to know.”
She relayed the address as Eden told it to her and assured Carl they’d be fine. “I’ll keep my phone with me and I’m only an hour away. Don’t be mad.”
“Mad? Oh, I’m beyond mad. You’ll pay for this, Mikala Santino. He’s going to tear me into tiny little pieces and torch me.” He didn’t laughed when he heard her laughter on the other end of the phone. “Then when I start to heal, Mason’s going to get back and finish the job.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” she said.
“I’m going to call you every hour on the hour and you better answer or I give muscles here the address. Am I clear?”
“Yes mom, I here you, love you, bye.” She hung up without waiting for a reply.
“Mom’s pissed, we’ve done a bad, bad thing,” Mikala and Eden laughed.
“What’s here besides water and a few houses?” Mason asked.
“If his intentions are to simply hide, it’s the perfect spot. Most of the houses are rentals and it being so late in the season, most of the houses are empty. I’d say ninety percent anyway.”
“And you’re sure it’s him?” Mason asked. “Are you positive?”
“One hundred fucking percent, Mase,” Chris said, annoyed with the questioning.
“Just saying I thought he would have left the country, not been a few hours away. Stay on him, we’re on our way,” Mason said.
“What’s your ETA?” Chris asked, glancing at his watch.
“Twenty two hundred.”
“Text me when your close.”
“No worries.”
Mason rubbed his hands over his face and yawned. He was assessing whether to text Mikala or not. He knew she was still pissed with him it was evident by the lack of text or phone calls from her. By his watch, she would be up to her eyeballs with customers, he would wait for morning.
He put the car into drive and checked for oncoming traffic before making an abrupt U-turn.
“So?” Chase waited patiently. “Where we headed?”
“Deadman’s Cove,” Mason announced.
Chase punched it into the GPS. “I don’t like the sounds of that, anything with dead in it can’t be good.”
“I’m none too happy myself,” Mason said. “I don’t think it’s too far from Pigeon Cove, we went there one summer with Glenn and the boys, remember?”
“Those summers with the boys tend to be a bit fogged over for some reason.” Chase laughed. “You think we’ll be there by ten?”
“Fucking right,” Mason put his foot to the floor.
Forty five minutes later they were nearing their destination as Mason was starting to get a trigger-happy feeling. Chase texted Chris, a member of Mason’s valued team, and made arrangements to meet at an abandoned shack not too far down the road from where Ross Stiles was hiding out. His escape and unexpected resurfacing had shocked everyone and it was agreed that it was best not to let Mikala know a thing until he was found and safely locked up. Mason feared that by keeping it from her all this time she was going to lose it on him, hopefully he could make her understand, and it wouldn’t cause yet another rift between them.
Blackstock nodded as Mason climbed from the truck and shook his hand. “I must be out of my mind for doing this, it’s certainly out of my jurisdiction. You’re on your own. If you screw up and my name gets dragged into this all bets are off, I’ll make sure you go down right along with this bastard.”
“You brought the fishing gear, right?” Mason asked.
“Of course.”
“So, you were fishing with buddies when you heard the call,” Mason winked.
Blackstock was the one to contact Mason regarding Ross Stiles’ resurfacing, he could be fired for giving out information before it went public, he was risking it all and Mason had no intentions of breaking that kind of trust.
“And, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, Detective. I got an anonymous tip that led me here.”
“Like I said, jurisdiction and all…the names Harry,” he offered. “How do you want to handle this?”
“We surround the place and wait until he comes out. Then we swarm all over the fucker.”
“Why don’t we just bust the door down and take him while he’s sleeping and off guard?” One of the others asked.
“Breaking and entering that’s always smart, take him down and lose him on a technicality.”
Chris came forward with phone in hand texting wildly. “The neighbors are home, Martin saw a light on earlier and now he says they appear to be watching TV.”
“How many in the house,” Mason asked, waiting impatiently for a reply.
“Three. There are two women on the lower floor, a man upstairs.”
“Tell him to keep a distance but watch them, we don’t want any innocent bystanders hurt,” Mason ordered. “Let’s get into place. No one moves until I say the word.”
***
After finally figuring out how the gas fireplace worked, Eden poured them each a glass of wine and they sat side by side wrapped in blankets, watching the flames dancing behind the smoked glass of the fireplace.
“This place is kind of creepy at night, it makes strange noises too.” Eden sipped from her glass. “We are so sharing a bed.”
“Agreed,” Mikala huddled closer. “Can we talk about something else? And it can’t involve Mason or scary shit.”
“Chase and I are flying to London next month to visit his brother Sable and sister Rheanna.”
“She’s out of rehab?”
“Clean and sober for nearly a year,”
“Wow, that’s amazing.” Mikala said, as the ceiling above them cracked. She held her breath as her eyes wandered across the darkness.
“What was that?” Eden asked.
“Probably just the place settling, it’s an old building.” She shoved it into the back recesses of her mind. “When was the last time you saw her?”
“Not since Chase was shot.”
Another creak, but from the stairs this time and Mikala’s eyes met Eden’s. Her finger covered her mo
uth as they sat wide eyed and quiet until they heard another sound and Mikala’s heartbeat thudded violently in her chest. Her hand grasped Eden’s arm and the look of terror in Eden’s eyes assured her she wasn’t just hearing things.
“That was a long time ago,” Mikala said, as she stood pulling Eden to her feet, gesturing towards the kitchen.
“Yeah,” Eden squeaked out.
“She’ll be happy to see you coming down the stairs.” Mikala lay emphasis on the last of her sentence and nodded to the staircase.
“I don’t know what we’ll do when we see her.” Eden said, trying to keep her voice from quivering.
“You’ll surprise her of course; show her how much Landon taught you while she was away,” Mikala said, swiftly yanking her behind the stairs and waiting as the intruder stepped off the last step, walking towards the fireplace.
***
Mason and Chase lay silently in the sand watching the windows of the darkened house for any signs of movement. Chase’s phone vibrated and he pulled it from his pocket, took off his ball cap and held the phone inside to block the light before viewing Landon’s number. He knew he couldn’t answer and sent a text instead.
Can’t talk at the moment. Sticky situation. Text me.
Fuck man, got a sticky situation of my own.
?
Eden and Mik fucked off.
???? when? where?
They borrowed a friend’s place for a few days and side tracked me with moving shit.
Mason’s going to go ape shit.
Why do you think I called you?
Have to tell him, give me a sec.
When Chase looked over to Mason he was burning a hole the size of the grand canyon into his skull with a death stare. “Not the best time to be fucking around on your phone,” he whispered.
“Read this, but hold your shit.”
Mason’s face turned from confused to furious within a second. “What the fuck,” he mouthed. “Like I don’t have enough on my fucking plate,” Mason covered his hand over his phone and started texting.
Mikala's Passion (Pulse Series Book 2) Page 24