The Sweetheart Kiss

by Cheryl Ann Smith

  It was the loud shrieks and moans that she knew she’d still remember when she was a hundred years old and toothless. Mrs. Johnson didn’t hold back on her enthusiasm.

  She forwarded the digital file to Nancy and needed a hot shower. Maybe two. This was the worst day of her three years as a PI. Nancy texted her back five minutes later:

  You are the best!!!!!

  Happy for her client, Jess looked for the nearest store that sold bleach and a wire brush. And a new life.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Jess was on the floor, furiously scrubbing the tile grout in the bathroom when Sam got home. Crocheting like a mad woman hadn’t helped clear the ick from her day. Yes, she’d done an excellent job for her client. Yes, she’d stopped a pair of scammers from ruining the business of a very nice lady, but it still didn’t make her feel better. She’d hoped hard labor would lift her mood. So far, no success.

  “You have a bad day?” he said when she grumbled under her breath at his hello and didn’t look up.

  “I will never be able to enjoy sex ever again,” she said and told him about the Johnson’s. He pulled her to her feet, yanked the rubber gloves off her hands, and proceeded over the next thirty minutes to show her she was incorrect in that assessment. Darn it.

  Afterward, during requisite post-coital chitchat, she told Sam that she needed a new job.

  “You love your job.”

  This was hard to argue. “Okay, but I’m not a fan of peeping through windows at people having sex.”

  Sam slid up against the headboard. “We all hate part of our jobs. I saw things in Chicago homicide that would break your heart.” He tugged her up next to him. “You have to compartmentalize. You do a lot of good, too.”

  Her mind went to a recent case where she’d helped find a missing girl who’d gotten mixed up with a local thug. If not for Jess, and her determined and loving parents, who knows where she’d have ended up.

  Damn. He was right again. This was becoming a habit.

  “Agreed.” She rolled from the bed and headed for the bathroom while he let out a low whistle. “No more of this sex stuff. We have a sniper to catch.”

  * * *

  Since the sniper was likely not local, and Summer was eager to jump into the case, Jess asked her to shoot a list of the names and addresses of all the hotel/motel/B&B’s within a twenty-mile radius that had a least one single female guest and an extended stay. Those that couldn’t be eliminated through Summer hacking into security cameras were kept on the list. By the time she finished digging, they had a solid dozen or so potential suspects. Add the vague description of the shooter to the mix, and they were ready.

  “I don’t like this,” Sam said as he slid his dark slacks up his legs. It was a shame for him to wear clothes. “We should stay together.”

  “Noted.”

  Despite Wheeler’s misgivings about splitting up, Jess insisted they could cover more ground separately. While he finished dressing, Jess fed Spike, took him outside, and put him in her SUV. The dog appeared to be smiling. He did love going for rides. Anything was better than the laundry room.

  “Happy?”

  Wheeler grumbled and drove off.

  The dog stuck his big head out of the open window. His ears flapped in the breeze when they got up to cruising speed on the freeway. Her first stop was just on the edge of Ypsilanti. The hotel booked by the hour.

  The smell of stale cigarette smoke and rose-scented air freshener caused her throat to close up as the glass door swung shut behind her. A short woman in a floral muumuu ambled out from the back at the overhead bell ringing on the door.

  She appeared worn and tired and long past the time when she’d had the youthful hope of a bright future.

  “Help you?” she asked and coughed into her elbow.

  Jess handed over her card. “I’m looking for a woman somewhere between twenty and thirty who’d have rented a room for at least a week. Maybe two. She’s a curvy girl and might be carrying a long gun case.”

  The woman stared. Jess pulled out a ten and slid it over the desk. “Ain’t seen her.”

  “But do you have an extended stay guest?” The girl could be in disguise. At this point, Jess couldn’t rule anyone out.

  The woman sighed. “Solange. If anyone asks, what she does in her room ain’t none of my business.”

  Ah. A working girl.

  Jess watched the clerk vanish back into the office. Normally she’d confirm the info but was fairly sure their sniper was not supplementing her income with that type of side job.

  She walked out. “No luck, buddy.” Spike barked.

  Next was a B&B. The two women residing in room 205 were in their fifties and on their honeymoon. Jess congratulated them and left. The third hotel was a medium-sized chain hotel. The desk clerk informed Jess that the privacy of their guests was critical and she wouldn’t give her any information, other than the extended guests were Asian and in Ann Arbor for the month on business.

  “Thank you.” Another dead end.

  She and Spike hit a drive thru for a yogurt parfait for her and a small chicken nugget box for Spike. “If I was a teacher, I’d be on the tail end of my summer break right now and not smelling like smoke and canned flowers.”

  Spike burped.

  “Yea. You’re right. I’d make a terrible teacher.”

  They drove on. The next motel was a squat one story building that abutted a cracked parking lot near a pair of gas stations. It was right off the freeway.

  The beige paint over stucco was decades past needing an update and the green shutters on several of the windows hung askew and were missing slats. The motel sign touted long-term rentals and Jess had to wonder what would entice anyone to stay here for one day much less long-term.

  A thin man with a droopy face and blank expression leaned against the desk as she parked out front and stepped inside. The carpet smelled perpetually damp and the fan on the ceiling did nothing to ease the heavy humidity in the office.

  The clerk’s white shirt was stained with ketchup and he had the same hopelessness of the other woman, but he managed a half smile anyway, as if pleased to be employed at all.

  She appreciated the effort.

  “You need a room?” he asked and reached for a pen.

  “Not today.” She produced her card and explained her visit, ending with, “She’s young and probably keeps to herself. She’d also have few visitors.”

  He blinked. She pushed a ten across the counter. Irving would enjoy her expense accounting for this month. He saw small bribes as a way of getting information. It helped add legitimacy to the business.

  “There’s a woman in 110 at the end. She fits your description. Kind of odd, that one.”

  In a place like this, Jess had to wonder what would rise to the level of odd in his eyes.

  “Do you know if she’s in?”

  He walked around the desk with an unsteady gait and looked out the door. “Her blue car is there. She’s in.”

  “Thank you.” Jess walked back to the SUV and got her gun and Mace. She’d take no chances. Spike had his head and shoulders out the window. “Be a good boy and don’t eat my seat.” She gave him a head scratch, then put her gun in the holster at her waist. She sent Wheeler a text to let him know where she was and headed toward 110.

  An old man in an electric wheelchair outside the open door of room 106 nodded as she passed and adjusted a flowered quilt on his lap. He was staring blankly at a smart phone in one hand as if trying to figure out how to use it. Jess said hi and continued on.

  Since each room had a designated parking space, she easily found the car the clerk had mentioned. She glanced at the window of the room and the curtains were closed, so she took a brief walk around the car. It wasn’t a rental from what she could tell and it was in rough condition. If it belonged to the sniper, she spent her money elsewhere.

  After approaching the door, she knocked. A blast as the door e
xploded into bits knocked her to her knees.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Jess rolled sideways away from the door and shook particleboard pieces off her as she tried to figure out what had just happened. From a distance a woman screamed.

  Spike went crazy.

  She pulled her gun and got to her feet, careful to stay well away from the opening as muted gunshots sounded from within and pinged off the doorframe. After a full clip was emptied into the door and the wall on either side of it, the shots stopped.

  Staying low, Jess waited a few very loud whooshing heartbeats to listen for signs of life inside the room.

  Realizing the woman was probably reloading, she moved to the damaged door and peeked into the darkened room. The cheap panel hung on its hinges giving her a narrow view.

  There was no sign of the shooter. Leading with her pistol, Jess stepped over faux wood chunks and stepped into the room. She did a quick assessment of the space and closet and headed for the bathroom.

  The window was open. She checked behind the shower curtain and ran to the window. Before she could look out, a pellet almost hit her in the head.

  “Damnit!” She bolted out of the room and rounded the end of the building. She spotted a running female in the distance darting through a thin patch of trees that made up an ineffective sound buffer between the freeway and the motel.

  She took off after her.

  Despite an extra twenty pounds, the woman was fast. She weaved in and out of the scrub trees like she’d been raised in the woods, never slowing. Jess had to fight to keep branches from poking out her eyes.

  The sniper’s path went south. In the scrub, Jess lost her several times as the wooded area thickened and thinned, then thickened again.

  They managed to cover several hundred yards before the snap of breaking branches behind her swung Jess around as she dropped and aimed, sure she was about to be ambushed.

  A figure tore through the brush. Spike!

  “Spike!” she cried out as the dog took off past her. Worried for her pet and chasing a dangerous and armed woman, she raced after the dog. His lower profile helped him navigate the woods and soon she lost sight of the big beast.

  A shot cracked and a yelp. “Spike!” Jess yelled, terrified. Several more snaps followed. She ran in the direction of the sound. Just as she saw the edge of the woods break to an opening of an overgrown field, she heard a car start.

  Frantic, she pushed through the last of the trees’ To her relief, Spike was on his feet and chasing after a black car tearing down a dusty two-track trail.

  “Spike, come!” The dog skidded to a halt. He turned. Blood marked his brown coat. “Oh, no.”

  She watched in slow motion as he dropped to the ground.

  “Spike!”

  * * *

  After her frantic call to her boss, Irving found a vet on wheels to come to the site. The vet had just started the exam on Spike when Sam arrived. Jess was relieved that her dog was still alive and too numb from shock to do more than ramble.

  Sam got that much out of her before the vet and a couple officers on the scene lifted the dog into a stretcher and loaded him into the mobile office. He’d be transported to an emergency clinic for care.

  “He’d better be okay,” she said with a hitch in her voice and brushed her eyes on her sleeve. “Summer and Heather will meet them there.” Heather had spent some time with Spike and he knew her. “They’ll keep watch over my sweet baby.”

  Sam knew how desperately she wanted to hold Spike’s paw and tell him everything would be all right. But she knew she couldn’t leave without making a statement. The sniper had been chased from her nest. There was no telling what she’d do now.

  “Let’s get your statement and you to the hospital.”

  Jess told them everything she could remember from the time she arrived to getting to the room.

  Sam backtracked. “How’d she know you were outside?”

  “I have no idea.” Jess ran her hand over her head. “I’d just gotten to the door when she shot at me.”

  “Could she see you from the window?”

  “I guess so, but the curtains were closed. I did one pass around the car and that took maybe thirty seconds. It’s like she knew I was coming.”

  Their eyes met. “The clerk tipped her off,” Sam said. He waved over another detective. “Get the clerk in a car so he doesn’t leave.”

  He turned back to Jess. “What happened next?”

  She explained entering the room, the sniper escaping through the bathroom window, and Spike. “I think he saved me,” she said. “There was no way the sniper could have known it was my dog chasing her. She thought he was me. He’s a hero.”

  Sam wasn’t sure the dog planned on turning rescuer, but it was possible that he had inadvertently taken a bullet meant for Jess. He had the scent of the sniper from the earlier chase near his house.

  Red hot rage burned in his gut. Cool professionalism kept him from going over and strangling the protesting clerk as they shoved him into a patrol car. “You said you saw a car pull away. Do you know the make or plate?”

  “I happened so fast. It was black, a mid-size. It had a plate I didn’t recognize. It was white and blue, I think. Or maybe beige and blue?” She rubbed her temples. “I think the first two letters were H-O.” She paused. “Damn. I was worried about my dog.”

  He squeezed her shoulder. With so many eyes on them, it was the best he could do. “I think we’re done here for now. Go check on Spike.”

  After she left, he walked to the patrol car and pulled the clerk out of the back seat and pressed him back against the car.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he protested in a high squeak. Shaking, he wouldn’t meet Sam’s eyes. “I’m innocent!”

  “You almost got a woman killed today and you say you didn’t do anything wrong?” The coward whimpered. “I want you to tell me everything about the woman in 110 right down to what kind of toothpaste she uses. And if I’m satisfied with your answers, I won’t kill you.”

  * * *

  Jess hurried into the vet hospital and met Summer and Heather in the tiny waiting room. “How is he?” she asked, her stomach queasy. Spike had to be okay.

  Summer pulled her into her arms. “He’s in surgery. They’re assessing the damage.”

  “He’ll be fine,” Heather added. “He’s tough.”

  Jess glanced at her.

  Heather shrugged. “Okay, he’s a marshmallow, but deep down underneath his sweet personality is one tough dog. He took a bullet today. Not all dogs could survive that.”

  “Yes,” Summer said and eased her down onto a hard plastic chair. “He saved you. He’s not going anywhere.”

  The clock ticked as the three women waited. Thirty minutes later, the vet came out still wearing his scrubs, his face grim.

  All the blood rushed from Jess’s head as the room dimmed.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Spike let out what sounded suspiciously like a doggy death rattle for sympathy a second before he opened his big brown eyes to look up at her. Jess leaned close so he could see her as the anesthesia wore off. At the sight of her, his stubby tail made two thumps on the table.

  “I hope you don’t expect me to feel sorry for you,” she said and his tail thumped again. “You were supposed to stay in the car.”

  He blinked.

  “You are not a trained police dog so you don’t take bullets for me, you big goofball, even if they were just pellets.” Thank God the sniper hadn’t time to reload her .22. She’d gotten one shot off, hence the gun report Jess had heard, but that was it. She had to shoot Spike with her pellet gun. The damage to his chest and muzzle had been bloody but superficial.

  Jess reached out and rubbed his soft ears, her heart swelling with love for the big mutt. She kissed his muzzle. “If you ever do that again, I’ll shoot you myself.”

  The door opened behind her. Wheeler stepped in. “How�
�s the patient?” He joined them and examined the bandage wrapped around the front half of the dog.

  “Spike was close when she shot him, so the pellets broke the skin and he got a couple of stiches. What we can’t figure out is why he went down. Unless he was just hoping for sympathy from me?” With her dog, there was no telling.

  Sam stared down at Spike as the dog’s tail thumped. Finally, Sam reached out to scratch his big head. Spike groaned happily.

  “I’m thankful she used non-lethal force on Spike and only shot the door instead of me,” she said.

  “Either way, she’s a menace. We have to find her.”

  Summer and Heather came in to give Spike some love, and then they all left so he could rest. The vet wanted to keep him overnight so he could run some tests. Otherwise, her pup would recover fully.

  “If you need me to babysit once he comes home, call me,” Heather said. “Classes don’t start for a few more days.”

  Jess hugged her with one arm. “Thanks. I’ll do that.”

  Summer and Heather’s mother was a flake and had left Heather in Texas to run off with a long haul trucker. Heather had found her way to Michigan on her own and was living with Summer and Jason. She was a smart girl who was about to start college at the University of Michigan.

  Summer and Heather took off. Sam took Jess’s hands. “You hanging in there, tough girl?”

  “I am.” She dropped her forehead onto his chest. “When I find our sniper, I’m going to snap off her arms and legs with my bare hands. She won’t be shooting anyone anymore.”

  “Sounds gruesome.”

  Lifting her head, she smiled evilly. “I had darker ideas formulated but I don’t want you to think I’m a bad person.”

  Grinning, he cupped her face. “I’d never think that.”

  * * *

  They went back to the motel and Wade walked them through the clues. “We suspect the door was rigged with a small pipe bomb meant to give the sniper time to escape but not to kill. There wasn’t enough juice for lethal damage. The ATF will confirm.”