Claiming Mia

by Wane, BJ

  Clifton assured her his job could wait and the concern in his voice over Barry’s condition helped ease Mia’s conscience about putting the remainder of his lucrative contract on hold. A few afternoon customers asked about the guy’s absence, and since no one mentioned hearing about Barry’s overdose, she didn’t bring it up. She’d forgotten how grueling running the nursery practically by herself could be and was feeling the effects by closing time. The afternoon had passed so fast due to the steady business, she didn’t catch Nolan’s text, ‘Tied up with work until late’ until she waved Trish off a little after 5:00. She prayed whatever was keeping him busy on a Sunday had nothing to do with the drug case plaguing their county, and that Barry’s circumstances weren’t a result of those tainted drugs.

  The disappointment Nolan’s cryptic message elicited added to her growing belief their relationship was moving in a new direction. That thought didn’t worry her as much as before; in fact, the idea of settling into another commitment warmed her where Peter had left her so cold for so long. Who would’ve thought?

  The silence in the shop and then yard as she trotted upstairs produced an uneasy curl of dread in her abdomen for no explicable reason, the sudden queasiness erasing the pleasant glow of her musings. Shaking off the weird sense of doom, she took a quick shower, putting off getting something to eat until after she’d checked up on Barry.

  Mia didn’t care for hospitals; the sterile atmosphere, the smell of anesthetic, lack of natural sunlight and odors of sickness and drugs made her crave to be outdoors. She was the most content when the sun was warming her skin and her hands were buried in the soil or tending to nature’s bounty. The shiver of foreboding she experienced earlier returned as she rode the elevator up to the fourth floor, increased as she strode down the hall toward Barry’s room, and settled into a hard knot cramping her abdomen when she spotted Nolan conversing with another man.

  Since Barry resided in Albuquerque, Nolan’s presence could only mean her young employee had gotten hold of the tainted drugs he was investigating and trying to stop. Her chest constricted as she recalled the young man who’d died from his ingestion of the same product. The look in Nolan’s eyes when he saw her confirmed her fears.

  “The drugs were bad?” she asked as soon as she reached them.

  He nodded. “Yes, we already have the lab report. I’m sorry, Mia. He’s critical, in a coma, but at least he’s still alive.” Turning to the shorter, older man next to him, he introduced her. “Chuck Campbell, DEA. This is Mia Reynolds.” The pointed look Nolan turned on the other man as Chuck held out his hand did nothing to dispel the apprehension still twisting inside her.

  “Nice to meet you,” Mia lied, shaking his hand. She wanted nothing to do with the Feds because that would bring their work much too close to her beloved hometown than she cared for.

  “Ms. Reynolds. Chief MacGregor tells me Barry is your employee.”

  “Yes, but before you ask, no, I’ve never known him to show up for work under the influence of any illegal substance.” She couldn’t stifle the urge to defend Barry. From the moment she’d hired all three college students, she’d tried not to think of them as someone’s sons, or as she did her own boys, and that any bad behavior when they weren’t at work was not her problem or a reflection on her. But those efforts had refused to stick. “Barry, and his two friends who also work for me, are twenty-one and like to go clubbing on the weekends. Do you think someone slipped something into his drink?”

  Both hesitated before Nolan answered. “We’re not ruling anything out yet.” He grasped her elbow, telling Chuck, “Excuse us a minute.”

  Chuck nodded. “I have to get going. I’ll be in touch. Mia, it was nice to meet you.”

  Mia waited until the agent reached the elevator before rounding on Nolan in suspicion. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing. You know I can’t comment on an ongoing investigation. Barry’s family is in with him and have requested time to themselves. Have you eaten?”

  Frustration shimmered off him in waves but Mia put it down to the case. Wishing she could ease his burden somehow, she shoved aside her misgivings and that new, enlightening tidbit to ponder over later. “No. I intended to grab something on the way back.”

  “I’m in the mood for something with a bite to it. How about Taqueria’s?”

  “Never been but heard of it. I could go for Mexican.” And you.

  * * *

  Nolan gently disengaged from Mia’s soft, clinging body, snatched his phone off the nightstand and put it to his ear as he grabbed his jeans and slipped out of her room. “MacGregor,” he answered as he went into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. “Is he coherent?” he questioned the agent assigned at the hospital. “Give me an hour. I’ll contact Agent Campbell. Fine. Tell him I’m on my way.”

  Tossing the phone on the counter, he washed up and dressed as fast as possible, the cold knot of apprehension that had been cramping his gut ever since he got the call about Barry twisting into an icy snarl. As he’d suspected, the kid was involved with drug runners up to his overdosed neck. While he was thankful over hearing Barry had awakened, and the doctors were now optimistic about his chances, he bemoaned how this would reflect on Mia. There was still no doubt in his mind she was innocent, but if she and her nursery were being used it would devastate her. Not to mention the way he’d kept the possibility from her.

  Nolan sent Chuck a quick text when he didn’t answer his call, reminding him to hold off on sending the Feds to search Greenleaf Nursery. He needed time to talk to Barry before he broke that news to Mia. Slipping back into the bedroom, he leaned over the bed, slid his hand under the covers and cupped one full breast. Rasping the nipple into a pucker as he nibbled on her lips, he murmured, “Got to run, sweetheart. I’ll call you later.”

  She arched into his hand with a low moan, sighing, “‘Kay.”

  His heart turned over as he pulled back and left her to do his damn job.

  * * *

  Mia worked the nursery by herself on Mondays since it was usually the slowest day. Most of the time, she enjoyed the slower business following a busy weekend, but by noon she was ready to climb the walls. The strange bout of anxiety that struck her yesterday returned for no reason, at least that’s what she thought until the crunch of multiple vehicles rolling into her yard drew her attention out the shop’s front window. Her throat went dry as she watched a dark van with a DEA logo stenciled on the side pull to a stop, followed by two official-looking cars. Several men wearing DEA vests emerged from the vehicles and she recognized Chuck Campbell, the agent Nolan introduced her to yesterday.

  The bile churning in her stomach rose in a nauseous rush to her throat as she came around the counter on unsteady legs. Flinging open the door, she met Agent Campbell with a frown, her eyes going to the official looking paper clutched in his hand.

  “Ms. Reynolds, I have a warrant to search these premises. We’d appreciate it if you’d stand aside until we finish.”

  She didn’t see the regret in his eye, only saw the men fanning out across her yard and the slow ruin of everything she’d worked so hard for. Tears burned her eyes while disbelief and confusion clouded her mind.

  “I don’t understand,” she whispered, reaching for the warrant with a shaking hand.

  “We’re searching for evidence your employee, Barry Middleton, has been handing off illegal drugs that were smuggled through with your inventory.”

  Stunned, Mia sank down onto the step and looked up at him in denial. “That can’t be true. I would have known,” she insisted, her mind going numb with the jumble of confusing thoughts before one struck her with the force of a double-fisted punch to the abdomen. “Am… am I a suspect?”

  Campbell looked away from her, as if he couldn’t bear to see her face when he replied, “Let’s just say we haven’t cleared you.”

  Sharp talons of fear scraped along her skin, her first thought how this would affect her boys. When Peter left her, she’d
thought she’d lost everything. It took a while to realize she hadn’t, but now she very well could. Another vehicle came roaring into the lot and screeching to a stop. Mia jumped to her feet when Nolan slammed out of the cruiser, but the furious look he aimed toward Agent Campbell switched to guilt when his gaze swiveled to her, his words cutting her to the bone with the knife-sharp edge of betrayal.

  “God damn it, Campbell. I told you to wait!”

  Campbell glared at him before joining his team in destroying her dream, but all she could think now was: he knew. Those two words reverberated in her head as she grappled with Nolan’s deceitful involvement. He reached for her and she stepped away, the thought of him touching her now abhorrent. “Just how long after my nursery came under suspicion did you wait before deciding to seduce me?” Her voice trembled, but she forced her head up and her eyes on him.

  His face darkened and the glint that entered his eyes was one that used to produce a shiver of expectation. Not this time. Now, she felt nothing past the numbness of betrayal. Peter’s defection had hurt. Nolan’s pierced her with such excruciating pain, she knew she would carry the scars forever.

  “You know better than that, Mia. Let’s go inside…”

  She sidled away from his grasp again, slow growing anger worming its way past the shock and grief. “Do I?” She dared a quick peek behind her, cringed at the callous disregard for her inventory and then turned back to face the man responsible. “I believe you have a job to do, Chief MacGregor. If you’ll excuse me, I need to phone my lawyer. It looks like you’ve seen to it I’ll need one.”

  He moved fast enough to snatch her elbow as she turned away and hauled her up against him. She could feel his body vibrating, see the conflicting emotions swirling in his eyes and hear the frustrated rage in his voice when he rasped, “You’ve got it fucking wrong, but I don’t have time to discuss that with you right now. I’m asking you to trust me.”

  Mia wanted to, desperately ached to, but her broken heart wouldn’t allow her to take the chance on making a third, life-altering mistake. “I’m sorry, Chief. I’m done with trusting the wrong men.” She twisted free of his hold and dashed behind the shop to sit at the picnic table, keeping her back to the yard as she dialed Bob’s number. His cheerful greeting shattered the fragile hold on her composure and she crumbled.

  “Bob, I-I need you.”

  * * *

  “I ought to beat the shit out of you for this,” Nolan snarled at Chuck, the image of Mia’s ravaged, pain-filled face swimming in his head. “Why didn’t you wait?”

  “The warrant came through, and I couldn’t chance her getting wind of Barry talking to us this morning. Quit thinking with your dick and help us,” his ex-boss snapped back.

  “Barry fucking cleared her, you know that.” He refused to aid them in ransacking Mia’s place. He had hurt her enough.

  “In words, yes. But we still need proof since the inventory she ordered that we pulled over was loaded with cocaine. And we need leverage to pull Barry’s contact from him.”

  “The kid’s too scared to give him up.” Nolan ached to return to Mia and force her to listen to him. But until he’d taken her statement and they could persuade Barry to reveal his contact, the best way to protect her would be to keep a professional distance for a day or two. No longer. He couldn’t abide staying away from her longer than that. The consequences to the case be damned. It tore at him the way she’d backed off, her pale face and tormented green eyes reflecting pain and confusion. It was a look that would haunt him for months, and a situation he needed to rectify as soon as possible.

  Chuck’s look turned grim. “We’ll get him into protective custody. He’ll talk eventually, if he ever wants his life back.”

  It sounded cold and ruthless, but they both knew it was the only way to get these stupid, scared kids to cooperate. “Fuck, but I do not miss this,” Nolan swore. Bob Templeton arrived, and he breathed a sigh of relief Mia’s friend and lawyer was here to help shoulder her burden. “I’m going back to the hospital to talk to Barry before I take Mia’s statement.” He didn’t wait for Chuck’s approval, just stormed off with a desperate need to right this wrong as fast as possible clawing at his insides.

  * * *

  “What if he wakes up? We’re fucking screwed!”

  Clifton ushered Sanchez out of the barn, away from the ears of the rest of his hired hands. News of their connection at Greenleaf overdosing had already reached him and he’d been working hard to liquefy as many assets as possible while making plans to get out of the country. “We are if you can’t get a grip on yourself,” he snapped, wishing it was Raoul lying in a coma. At least then he would shut up. “The kid’s wasted, quit fretting over what might happen and get the rest of the shed tonight. With the en route shipment confiscated, that’ll clear our inventory, leaving nothing for the Feds to find if they end up here.”

  “It’s getting too dicey. I want out.” Sanchez crossed his arms, stubbornness tightening his face as he glared at Clifton.

  “After you deliver what’s left.” He refused to allow Sanchez to leave him holding the bag. The damn imbecile could just suck up one more delivery before bailing. It looked like he would be cutting his losses sooner than he’d planned. It almost killed him to put the spread up for auction, but that was better than going to prison.

  “I’ll get it done tonight then we’re done.”

  Fine by me, he thought as he returned to the barn to see to the beloved horses he wouldn’t own much longer.

  * * *

  Mia walked out of the interrogation room with her head high despite the roiling queasiness that wouldn’t abate even though the worst part of her ordeal seemed to be over. She heard Nolan’s deep voice talking to someone and then the door close behind her, just as it had on her fragile hopes.

  “We’ll follow you home,” Bob offered as he and Dee walked with her down the hall.

  “No, thank you, both of you. But I’d rather be alone now. Please.”

  “Mia.” Dee wrapped her arms around her and it took every ounce of what control she still possessed not to break down. “Come home with us tonight. You shouldn’t be alone.”

  “I may as well get used to it again. Thanks, but I want to go home. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  Mia paused in the waiting room until her friends drove away. Swiveling from the front window, her gaze landed on the deputy’s desk, and the picture lying face up on it.

  “Something wrong, Ms. Reynolds?” Hank asked, his heart going out to the pale-faced woman who’d been through so much that day.

  Pointing to the photo of Sanchez, she said, “I know him. He works for Clifton Birmingham.”

  “He does? We haven’t been able to ID him.” Hank picked up a pen and notepad. “What’s his name?”

  “Sanchez. Creepy guy.” A thought just occurred to her. “I saw him with Barry at the County Line, but Barry swore they didn’t know each other.”

  “Thanks, that’s a big help. I’ll pass it on to the Chief.”

  Mia nodded and walked out to her truck, the lead weight pressing on her chest still making it difficult to breathe. She wondered how long it would take her to recover this time. It was dark by the time she returned to the nursery after spending a grueling two hours at the police precinct. Thank goodness for the numbness that had taken over her body that afternoon and still shielded her from the full reality of the day’s stunning revelations. Bob and Dee had taken up a seat on each side of her while Nolan drilled her, their unwavering support a debt she could never repay.

  Bob tried convincing her before she spoke with Nolan that he was just doing his job, had insisted Nolan’s aloofness was necessary to avoid accusations of preferential treatment. She’d shoved aside his explanations, too tired and devastated to think of anything except crawling into bed.

  Drew and Donny had also been brought in, and Nolan had given her the only good news of the day, telling her neither was directly involved with dealing drugs. Hearing about how both
knew about Barry’s use and dealings and had covered for him was hard enough to cope with. She hated to imagine she’d been gullible enough to employ three criminals. Their assurances she knew nothing of Barry’s activities or the drugs funneled into the state via her inventory had gone a long way in clearing her, along with the search that turned up nothing. Sliding out of the truck, Mia thought she should feel a sense of relief her ordeal was over, but she continued to feel very little.

  The Feds hadn’t bothered flipping on the outdoor lights when they’d finished tearing up her property, so she stumbled her way through the dark toward the stairs. At least their thoughtlessness kept her from seeing the destruction from their search, and of her dreams.

  A sudden sound shattered the stillness of the yard and penetrated her foggy head as she placed a hand on the stair banister. Before she could turn, a hard hand covered her mouth with a damp cloth, startling her into dropping her purse. Icy fear twisted around her heart as she struggled to breathe, the nauseous odor invading her senses working to dim her vision as she slumped into unconsciousness.

  * * *

  Mia roused to groggy awareness with a metallic taste in her mouth and spasmodic trembling in her limbs. The sweet smell of straw filled her nostrils as she struggled to open her gritty eyes. Blinking in rapid movement, her blurred vision cleared enough for her to make out the wood walls enclosing her in a small, empty structure with a sliver of daylight filtering through the cracks. How long had she been out? She tried and failed to control her erratic pulse, the panic rioting through her generating needles of edgy panic stabbing at her abdomen. Rolling from her side to her back, she attempted to lower her aching right arm and met with manacled resistance. Unlike the instant lust she’d grown accustomed to feeling when bound, this time terror set her insides to quivering. After a few minutes of sweat-inducing exertion, she managed to sit up using her free arm, her vision clearing enough to make out the form of the man leaning against the far wall, his cold black gaze threatening to bore a hole right through her.