by Stacy Eaton
I saw the desire in his eyes, witnessed his pupils dilate, his nose flare. I was turning him on, and strangely enough, I was totally turned on myself. If I didn’t watch myself, I’d end up naked and back on the counter again. Oh, please!
Greg took me by the shoulders and urged me back. “Maggie, Jake isn’t letting you go because the police don’t want you to leave the area right now. This has nothing to do with me or him.”
I frowned. “Bullshit!”
“I’m serious, Maggie. Detective Highmore came to see me this afternoon. He told me what’s been going on. He said that you need to stay in town because you are the only eyewitness that can ID Len. When they find him, they are going to need you pretty quickly for the preliminary hearing.”
“Are you trying to tell me that Chuck won’t testify against him? I thought they were going to try and get Chuck to flip on Len.”
Greg’s eyes shifted off to the side, and he sighed as his chin dropped to his chest momentarily. Whatever was about to come out of his mouth was not good. “Chuck is dead.”
“What?” My voice squeaked, and suddenly, the anger I had at Greg went up in smoke, and I was thankful that he was still holding my shoulders. “What do you mean, he’s dead? And wait, did you say other people were dead too?”
The alcohol was hiding some of his words, but I fought to clear the fog out of my mind.
“Yeah, look, let me get you a glass of water, check the house real quick, and then I’ll explain.”
“Check the house for what?” My voice began to rise again, and he pursed his lips.
“Maggie, get yourself a glass of water and have a seat. I just want to check the doors. Is your mom home?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, what is the code to your alarm?”
“Why?”
“Because I want to arm it.”
I told him the code and watched him walk out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the front door. A moment later, I heard the alarm pad beeping, and then his footsteps echoed back to me as they grew further away. I shivered. Who was dead? Was it a coincidence? Or was it all related?
I did as Greg told me to do and poured myself a glass of water, along with one for him, and set them both on the table. I was about to sit down when I glanced up at the window and then rushed around the table and yanked the curtains closed.
My heart thudded a little harder as adrenaline rushed through my veins and began to burn the alcohol off. Why had I drunk all those shots? Why? Oh, because I’d been planning on wallowing in the misery caused by my high school sweetheart.
I put my face in my hands and heard Greg arrive back in the kitchen. “Oh, good, you closed the shades. I did that in the rest of the house too.”
“Sit down and explain what the hell is going on, Greg.” I lifted my face out of my hands as he took a seat. “You said other people died. Who died, and how?”
“Five right now, I don’t know who, but they were all at the café. The detective said that Chuck supposedly committed suicide in jail, but an informant said it was a hit, and there were hits out on everyone who was there that day.”
“Why? Why would Len want to kill all of us? Just to stay out of jail? Doesn’t he know that his sentence is just going to get longer and longer until he rots in a cell?”
“I don’t think it’s Len that is responsible for the killings. I have a feeling that Len might already be dead.”
“What?” I stared at him, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. “If Len is dead, then why do they want the rest of us dead?”
“Because Len was involved with a cartel, and he owed them big money. He did the jewelry heist to try and square things up.”
“Only the jewelry heist went wrong.”
“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure the cartel is trying to clean up loose ends, which means everyone who was there that day.”
“But we don’t know anything about them. We don’t even know for sure that it is the cartel that is killing people. Do we?”
“You’re right, we don’t, but they also don’t know if Len or Chuck said anything in the café about what they were doing or who it was for. They’d want to silence everyone to keep it all quiet.”
“Did the detective say that?”
He shook his head. “No, that’s my theory.”
I lifted my glass and paused. “Yeah, well, I don’t like your theory.”
“I know,” he said, and for a few minutes, we were quiet. “Jake only canceled you going because of what is going on right now. If you had tried to leave, the police would have taken you into custody so that they knew where you were for the preliminary hearing.”
“They would have arrested me to keep me safe?”
“They would have put you into protective custody. I figured that you’d rather put up with me for a little while than have to do that. I wasn’t sure what would have happened to your mother if that had happened.”
I rubbed my hands over my face; it was still tingling from the alcohol. “Oh, my god! My mother! What if they do something to hurt her?”
“We can protect her, Maggie, but she’s going to need to stay here in the house with us.”
“What if I can get her moved into the nursing home early? I was already making plans to have her in there while I was traveling. A few days early shouldn’t hurt. Maybe it will protect her.”
“It might, especially if they don’t know about her, but they probably already know about her.”
“What do you think I should do?”
“I can’t answer that, Mags. That has to be your choice.”
I grabbed Greg’s hand. “Greg, I can’t have her hurt in this. I don’t think she should be here.”
“Then tomorrow, let’s see if we can get her moved into the nursing home.”
“Okay, but what are we going to do?”
“You and me?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re going to hang out, stay out of trouble, and see if the cops find this guy.”
I laughed. “You know, I expected you to say that we were going to come up with a plan and find these people.”
Greg chuckled. “No, Maggie, my days of looking for trouble are over. I just want to make sure you are safe. Plus, I think I owe you an apology.”
I peaked a brow. “You owe me an apology? For what?”
“For what I said last night, for how I treated you. I should never have said or done any of that.”
I didn’t want him to regret last night. Yeah, he said a few things that had hurt, but the sex had been incredible. So incredible, I was already wondering if we might be able to do a little more of it while we were stuck here at my house. I pushed away from the table and stood. “You don’t need to apologize for that, Greg.”
I started to step away, and he grabbed my wrist. “I do, Maggie. You deserved better than that. I treated you harshly, practically forced myself on you, and then verbally attacked you.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Did you not notice that I was a willing participant, Greg? You hardly had to force anything.”
“It shouldn’t have happened, Maggie.”
I cocked my head, searching his face for a sign of a lie, but I didn’t see one. He actually believed that it shouldn’t have happened. I stepped around him and grabbed the back of the chair so I could shift it.
“What are you doing?” he asked, but before he could figure it out, I was climbing onto his lap, our chests almost touching as I stared into his surprised blue eyes. “Maggie, get off my lap.”
“No. You didn’t force anything last night, Greg. I wanted you as much as you wanted me. I still do.”
He swallowed, and I watched his Adam’s apple bounce. I ran my hands over his shoulders, brushing my fingers against the short hair at the nape of his neck. “Maggie, get off my lap.”
“Why? You want me, Greg. I know you do.”
“Of course, I want you, Maggie, but this isn’t a good idea.”
“Why is that?
Because you can’t give me what I want?” I leaned forward, resting my chest to his, and brought my mouth close to his ear. “You can give me what I want, Gregory.”
“Maggie, please get off my lap.” His voice was hoarse as if he were struggling.
I nipped at his ear, then flicked the tip with my tongue, and his hands spanned the sides of my waist. “I want this, Greg. I want you.”
“I’m going to ask you one more time, Maggie. Please get off my lap.”
I kissed along his jaw, then back to his ear, and down his neck as I pulled his face to the side. He sucked in a sharp breath, and his hands tightened on my sides as he shifted his hips up against me, holding me tightly against him.
“Maggie.” His voice was slightly strangled, and I clamped my teeth down on his neck. A second later, my feet were touching the floor as he stood and shoved me away. “No! Maggie, I told you I couldn’t give you what you wanted! This is not going to happen again. It was a mistake to have let it happen last night.”
“You are so full of shit, Greg! I’m tired of hearing that you can’t give me what I want. You don’t even know what the hell I want!”
“Yeah, well, whatever it is, I can’t give it to you.”
I growled my frustration as I spun away from him. “I’m going to bed. There is a blanket on the back of the sofa. You can sleep there.”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop, and I was hoping that it was to say he was wrong, and he did want me. “You’ll have to work from home. You won’t be able to go into the paper.”
I laughed, and it was a bit hysterical sounding even to my own ears. I think part of it was fueled by unrequited desire, the other, fear of what was happening in my life. “Work? Ha! I don’t have a job anymore. I quit today, remember? Good night, Greg.”
I yanked my arm out of his grip before he could say another word and rushed from the room. Let him turn the rest of the lights off. I needed to put distance between us as tears began to fill my eyes.
In my room, I went straight to the bathroom and turned on the shower. As I stripped off my clothes, the tears began to fall, but it wasn’t until I was under the stream of water that I bowed my head and sobbed into my hands.
My life spun around in my mind, twisting and twirling like a tornado about to unleash fury. People had been killed; who was next? The rat was a warning; was I next? I wanted Greg with every ounce of my soul, but he pushed me away. My mother—my mother—if something happened to her because of me! I shuddered, even though the water was hot. Now I didn’t have a job, but that was almost the least of my worries. If I didn’t have a life, what good would a job do?
I stood in the shower and cried for a few minutes. I never was a huge crier. If I got to that point, and it was rare, I’d explode, sob for a few minutes, and then suck it back up. I washed and conditioned my hair, shaved my legs, and then got out and did my nightly moisturizing routine on my face. Being almost forty, I was starting to see fine lines creeping up around my eyes.
As I rubbed in my moisturizer, Greg’s face came to mind, and the many creases around his eyes. His years of being out in the sun, playing havoc with his skin. Unlike mine, which irritated me, his were attractive, and more than once, I’d noted them when he laughed or smiled.
Did he notice mine? Did he care? What did he think that I really wanted? Was he talking about marriage? Kids? My career? I honestly didn’t have any idea what it was that he thought I wanted. Maybe I could find a way to ask him. Not tonight, but maybe tomorrow when the sun was up and I wasn’t still buzzing.
I climbed in bed, rolling to my side and trying not to think about the man downstairs. What was he doing? Was he lying there thinking of me? Was he thinking about someone else? Wait, was he involved with someone else? Was that why he didn’t want to get involved with me? Is that why he said that it had been a mistake?
Maybe that was the reason. Maybe Greg was seeing someone, and my showing up in his life had thrown him off-kilter a bit. I smiled to myself as I closed my eyes.
When Greg and I were young, there wasn’t a girl around that could have gotten him away from me. I had never once worried about him cheating on me. I knew without a doubt that I was his everything, which is why it had hurt like hell to be replaced by Uncle Sam.
But Greg was back, and if he were with someone else, I’d find a way to remind him that I was the girl he loved and that he could still love me.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gregory
Well, fuck! I put my hands on my hips and scowled at the floor after Maggie raced from the room. The woman had no clue what she did to me, and pushing her away from me had been hard as hell.
When this was over, the two of us needed to sit down and discuss this. I had to make Maggie realize that I wasn’t good enough for her and that she deserved better. She needed a husband who could cater to her every whim, fill her house with children.
She sure as hell didn’t need a guy who was going to be gone half the time and who had no interest in having children—zilch, zero, none! It wasn’t that I didn’t like kids, I did. I just couldn’t imagine bringing a kid into this fucked-up world. Besides, I was a selfish son of a bitch and wanted to do what I wanted when I wanted it.
That’s one of the reasons I hadn’t been in a meaningful relationship since I was nineteen. A few dates with a woman and they were already talking about the future. They would start talking about how fun it would be to take vacations and spend all kinds of time together. Didn’t they know that I just wanted to have a few laughs, screw them, and then go? I didn’t want to think about vacations or when I needed to meet parents. And bullshit chatter with friends—um, no!
My idea of a vacation was to sleep for days, maybe sit on my buddy’s boat and fish for hours while I drank one beer after the next and then slept some more. Maybe having a hot chick with me who liked to get on her knees would be okay for a few days, but no longer than that. I sure didn’t want domestic bliss and responsibility. I was almost forty, and I didn’t see that changing any time soon. Call me a crass asshole, I didn’t care. I was who I was.
I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and went around to double-check the windows and doors again, turning a few lights off on my way. I dropped my backpack on the floor next to the couch and toed off my shoes. Before I sat down, I removed the gun from my inner waistband holster and set it on the table.
I stared at the stairs, wondering if I should go up and apologize to Maggie. Yeah, right! My inner demon snickered. You only want to go up there so you can jump in bed with her. Come on, let’s go! I’m up for it, and so are you.
I tore my eyes from the stairs. The last thing I was going to do was listen to that dark, twisted part of myself. Nope. Maggie deserved better. Instead, I messed around with my phone, answered an email, and drank the beer. About an hour later, I was dozing off when a soft noise had my eyes flashing open. Every part of my body remained still, except for my hand. That tightened around the gun under the pillow behind my head.
I tried to search the shadows as I heard another sound—a shuffle, maybe? Was that Maggie? Her mother? A mouse? Or was someone else in the house? Another noise outside the window had me springing upright, the hair on the back of my neck rising as I listened.
There was a scuffing noise down the hall. Had someone gotten past me? Did I check the windows in the kitchen? I was on my feet, moving a second later. I peered around the corner toward the kitchen. The hallway was empty, the light from outside casting a long shadow from the front door toward the kitchen. Another sound came from the kitchen and I rounded the corner, my gun out in front of me as I walked silently on my bare feet.
I paused at the entrance to the kitchen and listened. It was quiet for a moment, and then the sound of something touching down on the counter. I peeked around the corner. Maggie stood on the other side of the room, bathed in light from the water dispenser on the front of the fridge. I released the tense breath I’d been holding and let the gun fall to my side as I stepped around the
corner.
I took two steps before I froze again, and Maggie almost knocked her glass over. A loud sound right outside the window had her spinning toward it and stepping backward. If I didn’t do something quick, she was going to walk right into me.
I stepped behind her, put my hand over her mouth to stifle the scream that I had no doubt was going to erupt from her mouth, and whispered, “Mags!” into her ear to let her know it was me as I aimed the gun toward the window.
She had sucked in a breath to let loose a scream but didn’t when she realized it was me. Instead, she latched on to my arm and pulled it from her mouth as we took another step back in unison.
A cat shrieked outside the window, and then another one, and the hair rose on both our arms, but a moment later, the sounds moved away. It was only animals.
I stepped around Maggie and went to the back window, peeling back the shade carefully and checking the night. One of the cats sat in the middle of her back porch, cleaning itself. Maggie made a squeaking noise behind me that I attributed to the stress.
“It was just a couple of cats,” I said, and I turned around and froze.
On the other side of the kitchen, a man held a knife to Maggie’s neck. The whites of her eyes glowed as she went up on tiptoe to avoid the blade at her throat. She grasped his wrist as she tried to pull his hand away, panic on her features.
How had that fucker gotten behind me? “Let her go,” I said as I pointed the gun at him, and he shifted a little further behind her. “Let. Her. Go.”
“You think you can hit me before I slice her throat?” he said, his voice slightly accented, which made sense if he was a hitman for a cartel.
“I have no doubt I can hit you before you do that.” Maggie shifted her body. I gave her the merest of glances and a slight nod that I hoped she could see in the dark.
That position that she was in was one that we had just trained her for. Maggie closed her eyes as soon as I shifted my head, and then a split second later, she jerked to the side, leaving his head wide open. I fired one shot, and he went down, taking Maggie with him.