by SUE FINEMAN
“I’m glad it didn’t work out. I would have been miserable with his family looking down their noses at me.” Mia twisted around to look in through the emergency room doors. “I need to get back inside and see how she’s doing. I’ll call you in a day or two.”
“Okay. I love you, Mia.”
“I know, Mom. I love you, too.” She’d never doubted her family’s love for her. Now she wouldn’t doubt her natural mother’s love. Or her grandmother’s.
Mia had always wondered where she came from and why her natural mother had given her up, but it was more curiosity than a need to make a connection with her natural parents. She’d grown up in a wonderful family. Dad was mixed race, too, and he was a great guy. When he was killed in a domestic violence call, it crushed the entire family. After Dad died, Mia still had Mom and her brothers.
And now she had a grandmother.
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Late that evening, Kowalski found Dave locked in the local jail. He hadn’t been formally charged, hadn’t been allowed to make a phone call, hadn’t been allowed to say or do anything but sit and build up steam. They didn’t even feed him.
Dave was not a patient man, and by the time Kowalski ordered him released, he was ready to explode. He grabbed the police chief and planted his fist in the man’s face, then threw him into the cell and slammed the door. “Keep him in there,” he told Ross. “No matter what happens, keep the bastard locked in that cell. No phone calls, no visitors, no nothing. If he complains, throw a bucket of cold water on him.”
Too angry to care he’d blown his cover, Dave’s stomach growled with hunger, and he worried about Mia. The police chief wouldn’t allow him to take any phone calls. Hell, he didn’t even know what happened to his phone. “Find my phone,” he ordered, and Ross produced the contents of Dave’s pockets.
“Kowalski, meet Ross Jefferson, the only cop in this town worth anything. He doesn’t have much training, but he’s one of the good guys.” Dave turned to Kowalski. “Tell Stipes to sweep for bugs at the hotel. After we interview the employees of the Four Leaf Clover, we need to look for Al and Arnie.”
“Who?”
“One guy looks like Al Pacino and the other like Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Kowalski nodded. “Of course, Al and Arnie. Why didn’t you say so?” Dave ignored the sarcasm in Kowalski’s voice. It came with the job.
Dave jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the holding cell. “Get some prints on this jerk. I want to know who he really is and if he has a rap sheet. He knows Al and Arnie, so make him talk. I need to shave, get something to eat, and find Mia, but not necessarily in that order.”
“If it was me, I’d go girl-hunting first.”
“Like hell. You’d be feeding your face.” He’d never known any man who liked to eat like Kowalski. “Ross, empty Knight’s pockets. No shower, no food, no nothing until I say so. He doesn’t get breakfast, not even coffee, until after I eat, and maybe not then. And leave the damn lights on tonight.”
“That’s inhuman,” yelled Knight.
“Not as inhuman as beating up a helpless little old lady.” Dave pointed at the holding cell. “And keep your damn mouth shut except to answer questions.”
Dave turned on his phone as he walked toward the hotel. His job would be toast when his superiors got wind of this, and he didn’t care. He was sick to death of people like Ken Knight. Whoever hired that guy should be shot.
Although he hadn’t given his notice yet, Dave had already decided this would be his last case with the FBI. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life on the road, moving from one dangerous assignment to the next, and working twenty-four/seven. The excitement that drew him into law enforcement had waned, replaced with the disappointment of not having the time and resources to solve every case. He and his men put their lives at risk to catch dangerous criminals that too often didn’t stay behind bars. Justice was supposed to be blind, but if a defendant had enough money, if he could afford to hire the best defense attorneys and credible expert witnesses, he could get away with murder.
Where was Mia? She’d left twelve hours ago, and she had no way of getting in touch with him. He didn’t know where the ambulance took her. He punched in her cell phone number, but she had the damn thing turned off, so he called the police station he’d just left. “Ross, can you find out where the ambulance took Mrs. Snyder?”
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Doctors at the regional hospital stabilized Mrs. Snyder and transferred her to Tacoma General Hospital, the nearest trauma center. Mia rode along in the ambulance. She tried over and over to reach Dave, until her cell phone battery died. Surely they wouldn’t keep him in jail this long. Had something happened to him?
The headache she’d had that morning had turned into a blinding pain that took charge of her senses. The room wouldn’t hold still and she stumbled into a tray of instruments. A nurse and the emergency room doctor grabbed her and steered her into a chair, where he peered into her eyes with a little light. “Did they take an X-ray or CT scan of your head at the other hospital?”
“They didn’t look at me at all.”
He felt the bumps on her head, front and back, barked some orders, and an orderly whisked Mia away to the X-ray department.
CHAPTER FIVE
The restaurant had closed, but Dave snagged the cook before he left. He made Dave a sandwich and asked if he wanted something to go with it.
“If you have some apple pie left, I’ll gladly take a piece or two off your hands.” Dave hadn’t eaten since dinner last night, and hunger gnawed at his stomach.
His cell phone rang as the cook disappeared into the kitchen. Ross said, “They took Mrs. Snyder to the regional hospital and then transferred her to Tacoma General.”
“What about Mia? Is she with Mrs. Snyder?”
“No, she’s in a room of her own.”
He froze. “Why?” The bump on her head didn’t look that bad. She said she was all right, and he’d taken her word for it.
“Apparently, she banged her head front and back. She has a concussion and a whale of a headache. They’re keeping her overnight for observation.”
Dave groaned. If Al and Arnie found her, Mia could be in more trouble. “Ross, notify security at the hospital that Mia may be in danger. Ask them to keep an eye on her for two or three hours, until I can get there.”
“Why is she in danger?”
“Because she can identify the man who attacked Mrs. Snyder.”
“Oh, okay.”
“You’re doing great, Ross.” With a kid like Ross, it never hurt to prime the pump a little, especially when he’d been on duty for at least sixteen hours.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll make that call right now.”
Dave finished his pie, thanked the cook, and went upstairs to shave and pack a few things for himself and Mia. Thirty minutes later, he jumped in his car and started the drive to Tacoma.
To Mia.
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Mia curled on her side, or tried to, but they wouldn’t let her put the head of the bed down, and her head hurt so much, worse than it had right after Arnie slammed the storm door into it. She needed to talk to Dave, but she couldn’t remember the number or where she’d left her phone. They’d brought her some food at some point, but she couldn’t eat. The smell alone made her feel like throwing up. Where was her grandmother, and why couldn’t she think straight?
Doctors and nurses came and went, shining lights in her eyes and waking her when she fell asleep. She’d never had so much attention. If only her head didn’t hurt so much.
“Who is Dave?” asked the nurse. “Is he your boyfriend?”
“I wish,” she whispered in reply, and drifted off. The bump on the back of her head hurt more when she turned her head so they could look into her eyes.
Finally, they let her sleep, but she had the strangest dreams. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Pacino stood beside her bed, dressed like doctors. Arnie asked, ‘Where do you want me to start?’ and Al said, ‘Cut off her head.’ Dave stood beh
ind them, a mask over his face. He winked and she knew he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. Then Bo and Greg appeared. They hung Al and Arnie by their thumbs, but the police chief of Clover Hills came into the room, gun drawn, and ordered them released. Dave tripped him, the gun went off, and Mia woke in a cold sweat.
She opened her eyes and saw Dave standing beside her bed. He had a clean shaven face and she thought at first she’d dreamed him up, but when she reached out to touch him, he felt warm and solid. “Are you real?”
He leaned down to kiss her. “Yeah, I’m real. I’m a real jerk for not realizing you were hurt.”
“Crazy man. I didn’t even realize I was hurt. I thought I just had a little bump on my head.”
“The nurse said you should be all right in a day or two.”
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
Dave pushed the nurse’s button, but no one came, so he helped her up and into the bathroom. Her gown gaped open in the back, showing her cute little tush. His hands itched to touch her there.
After Mia finished in the bathroom, she crawled into bed. Lying on one side, she patted the bed beside her. Dave shook his head. “Honey, if I get in there with you, they’ll throw me out.”
“Please. I need you to hold me.”
He peeked out into the hallway, but there was no one in sight. At two in the morning, he didn’t really expect anyone except the nurse who had the bedpan rattling detail. There was one of those on duty in every hospital he’d ever been in. He pulled his hiking boots off and lay on top of the covers beside Mia. She snuggled into his chest and, with one deep sigh, fell asleep. He brushed the hair off her face and she nuzzled into his shoulder. He felt his body becoming aroused and realized it was the first time he’d slept with a woman without sex. It was also the first time he’d slept with his best friend’s sister. If Greg found him like this, he’d go ballistic.
Dave closed his eyes and the nurse came in. “What do you think you’re doing in that bed?”
“It wasn’t my idea,” he whispered. “She said she needed me, and I didn’t want to argue. I’m Dave Montgomery, FBI. I’m guarding her.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “With your eyes closed?”
She had a point. He flashed her a smile and she checked her patient, who slept soundly.
“You have three hours until the next shift comes on, and you’d better be out of that bed by then or we’ll both be in big trouble.”
Dave blew her a kiss and the nurse left shaking her head. He kissed the top of Mia’s head and closed his eyes. Kowalski and Stipes could handle the mess in Clover Hills for a day or two. He had something more important to do. Mia was soft and warm and so sweet, he wanted to keep her beside him forever.
And she wasn’t even a blonde.
As Dave’s eyes drifted closed, he remembered the first time he’d set eyes on Mia. His family had gone to Hawaii for the Christmas holidays. He hated his family’s formal Christmas celebrations, so when Greg invited him home for Christmas break, he accepted.
Greg’s mother gave Dave a warm welcome and he settled in as if he belonged there. Dave had grown up in a large home in a country club community, and aside from sharing a room in the college dorm, he’d always had a bedroom all to himself. Though small and crowded, the Gregory family home overflowed with love and laughter. The boys shared one small bedroom, and they were climbing all over each other. They had another girl staying with them at the time, a kid whose parents had thrown her out because she’d turned them in to Child Protective Services for something. Dave couldn’t remember what the story was, just that the kid liked living with the Gregory family. She shared Mia’s room.
The Gregory kids didn’t give or receive expensive gifts, but it didn’t seem to matter. They had something Dave didn’t have—a tight, affectionate family.
Dave’s parents had sent him a truckload of expensive gifts, which he’d left in the dorm. Since all of the Gregory kids attended college at the time, none of them had much money, so they’d made gifts for each other. Mia made cookies and her mother made each of them a care package to take back to school—quarters for the laundry, new socks, warm mittens she’d knitted herself, shampoo and other things she knew they’d use, and gift certificates for take-out pizza. Everyone, including Dave, got a hand knit sweater. Dave’s blue sweater matched his eyes. He still had that sweater. Every time he looked at it, it reminded him of the best Christmas he’d ever spent.
One evening, while her mother played the piano, Mia treated them to a dance. The dance was beautiful, and the girl dancing took his breath away. Bo danced once with her, doing all the fancy moves Dave had seen in dance competitions, and Mia insisted Greg dance with her, too. Dave told Greg he’d tell all the girls in the dorm how well he could dance, so Greg got even by making him dance with Mia.
The dance began innocently enough, but holding that beautiful creature in his arms, hearing her gay laughter, feeling her every sensuous move, he wanted everyone else to go away and leave them alone. Greg interrupted what could have turned into an embarrassing scene by teasing, “Hey, not so close, Montgomery. That’s my sister you’re dancing with.” The dance was over, but Dave never forgot it. Or Greg’s sister.
Mia’s boyfriend at the time took her out dancing one night, and Dave turned green with envy. Greg got him alone later that night and pinned him with a glare. “My sister is not a fuck-and-forget kinda girl like those dumb blondes you date, so forget it.”
Dave teased Greg about the women he dated, but he got Greg’s point about Mia. Greg didn’t want his sister hurt, especially by his best friend. But Greg wasn’t around now, and Dave didn’t want another ditzy woman, blonde or otherwise. This woman felt just right in his arms, and it didn’t matter to him that she wasn’t a blonde or that she was his best friend’s sister. He couldn’t remember being as attracted to any other woman. She needed him. For now, that was all that mattered. He wouldn’t walk away from her, not this time.
Voices in the hallway woke Dave. He eased himself out of Mia’s bed so he didn’t wake her and pulled the cover over her shoulder. He could have used another four or five hours of sleep, but the next shift of nurses had arrived.
He wandered out to the nurses station and asked about Mrs. Snyder. The nurse asked if he was family, and he pulled out his ID. She gave him a progress report and the room number.
Dave peeked in on the old woman. She looked small and frail, her head a mass of colorful bruises and stitches over one eye. How could any man beat up a helpless old woman like this?
Mia was the real target. The more he thought about it, the more he knew it to be true. Those men didn’t want any real police in their town. They had to know someone would investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of those three girls, but it wouldn’t be a Tacoma police officer. Mia had no authority in Clover Hills. But she was sharp and she knew some of the families in town. They must know she wouldn’t walk away without trying to help those families.
Sitting in the visiting area, Dave glanced at his watch, flipped his cell phone open, and called Greg at the sheriff’s office in Caledonia, Texas. Seven o’clock, nine in Texas. Greg answered on the second ring.
“Hey, Greg, how’s it going?”
“Dave Montgomery? Hey, I haven’t heard from you lately. Where are you?”
“At Tacoma General Hospital. I don’t want you to worry too much, but Mia was admitted here yesterday.”
He heard the catch in Greg’s voice. “Why? What happened?”
“Remember Snoopy Snyder?”
“Yeah.”
“While Mia and I inspected the arson site, we saw a man in Mrs. Snyder’s kitchen. We ran over and the guy came out the door so fast he hit Mia’s head with the door. The guy beat Mrs. Snyder, and Mia didn’t want to send her in the ambulance alone, so she went along. And I got arrested, so I couldn’t—”
“Is Mia all right? And why in the hell did they arrest you?”
“It’s a long story. I was working
undercover, but that’s blown now. Mia slept for awhile last night and I expect them to release her today or tomorrow. I have men in Clover Hills, so I’m staying right here with her.”
“I’m on my way.”
“I’ll take care of her, Greg. Don’t you trust me?”
It took Greg a few seconds to answer, “Yeah, sure. I trust you.” He didn’t sound any too sure.
“I just wanted you to know. It turns out Mrs. Snyder is her grandmother.”
“What?”
“Mia went over to talk with her and saw the pictures of Mrs. Snyder’s daughter, and those pictures match the one your mother gave Mia of her natural mother.”
“I’ll be damned,” said Greg. “So that’s why she always watched us.”
“Look, I need to go find a shower and get something to eat, check with my men. You know the drill. I’ll have Mia call you when she’s feeling better.”
“Take care of my sister. She’s the only one I have.”
“I know.”
Dave found a shower and cleaned up. When he returned to Mia’s room, a doctor was shining a light in her eyes. “How is she this morning?” asked Dave.
The doctor turned to Dave. “Are you family?”
Again, Dave produced his ID. “She’s a crime victim, doc. So is Mrs. Snyder.”
“They’re both doing well. We’re going to keep Mrs. Snyder here for another day or two. Unless she has someone at home to take care of her, I’d like to send her to a nursing home until she regains her strength. Does she have any family?”
“Me,” said Mia. “She’s my grandmother.”
“You’re in no shape to take care of her,” said Dave.
“I’ll bet Mom would do it. She doesn’t have any stray kids right now.”
Mia’s mother would take anyone in if she thought they needed her. Dave had never met anyone with as much compassion as Carol Gregory. She’d been taking in runaway kids for years, and she’d made a positive difference in more than one young life. Mia had that same compassion and consideration for people.