by K. R. Haynes
“Fine, but if you think this little discussion we have going on here is over, think again. You got that, sweetness?” he said mockingly to her. She just huffed at him and walked out the front door and headed towards his truck.
Yep, this little discussion was definitely not over, not by a long shot. Mary J would come around and see his point of view soon enough. And if she didn’t, well his hand would meet her bare ass sooner than he anticipated. A blushing backside should do the trick in changing that stubborn mindset of hers around to his liking. He rubbed his hands together thinking how sweet it would be to have her lying across his lap, ass in the air ready to receive his hand.
The drive over to the Convict Inn was a quick one. On their arrival Mick had already decided that he would hang around the pub for a while so he could keep a watchful eye on Mary J while she went about her business. He needed to be sure that she would be all right if he left her there without his protection. With Christian off for a few days, due to the concussion he had suffered from last night, it left Mary J and the waitresses a man down.
Mick was glad to see Mary J settling back into the swing of things just before she kicked him out an hour or so later. He was so damn proud of her that she didn’t let what happened last night affect her role as pub manager. He knew that the events of last night still played on her mind, but she was staying strong and not letting her insecurities affect her job. Man, she sure was one tough little cookie.
He had to smile at her when she all but dragged his sorry ass out the back door when her patience with him ran out. Before she knew what was coming, he had her back up against the brick wall in no time at all. He took her lips in a commanding and searing kiss that was bound to rock her world and have her wanting more from him. When he finally set her lips free from his possession of them, he was pretty chuffed with himself. Seeing her breathing heavily and her lips swollen and reddened from his sampling of them had his dick aching to be inside her.
As he walked back over to his truck, he yelled over his shoulder to her that he would come by to pick her up before she closed the pub up for the night. Mary J had just stared back at him in a daze that had him smirking back at her. Jumping back in his truck, he waited for her to duck back inside before he pulled away and headed into the station for his shift.
Mick had been tapping away at the computer keyboard at his desk when Jake had all but stormed into the station a couple of hours later. The foreboding look on his buddy’s face didn’t sit too well with him. Shutting his computer off, Mick waited for Jake to take a seat before asking him what’s up.
“What’s up? Fuck, Mick, what the hell have you got yourself into?”
“Care to explain yourself there fucker, because you came into my station looking for me. Not the other way around.”
Mick knew something wasn’t right with Jake when he scrubbed a hand down his face and cursed a blue streak at him. Something was seriously up with the PI, if Jake’s stern appearance was anything to go by. “What, Jake? Tell me what the fuck is going on right now.”
“Not here, Mick.” Jake got up and told Mick to follow him out to his car. So he did, somewhat apprehensively though.
As soon as they were both in and seated, Jake started the engine and drove out of the station’s car park. “Where the fuck are you taking me, Jake? And what the hell is going on here? Damn it, would you at least start talking or I swear to god, man…”
“You’ll what? Kill me?” Jake hissed at him in a flat menacing voice.
Mick didn’t bother to answer him. Obviously Jake was in one of his piss-poor moods again. So they both sat in the car as Jake drove them to fuck knows where, while brooding silence and male aggression filled the inside of the car. Finally, Jake had the common sense to pull the car over into a vacant shipping yard near the wharf.
Turning to face him, Mick couldn’t hold back the anger swelling inside of him from not knowing what had gotten into his friend. Whatever it was, Mick sure hadn’t expected to hear what Jake told him a few minutes later.
“You better starting talking, Jake, before I make you.”
Jake just growled low and menacing at him and then remained silent while narrowing his eyes in Mick’s direction.
“Is that meant to scare me, mate? It may frighten those little subbies of yours but it doesn’t do shit to me. So stop fucking stalling and spill already.”
“Fine,” Jake grunted out to him. “Randall called me this morning, telling me to get my arse down to some farm. Saying it was a new lead you told him about and wanted me to go check it out.”
“Yeah so what, that still doesn’t explain what we’re doing down here?”
“‘So what?’ Christ, Mick, do you have any idea what I found out at that farm this morning?”
“No, you secretive bastard, so you better start talking, now.”
Jake turned on him then and the anger glittering in his old mate’s eyes was enough to get Mick to cool his heels.
“There was a dead woman out there, Mick, a fucking murdered woman.”
“What the hell does that have to do with me?” Even as he asked that question, Mick almost knew what it had to do with him but hoped to god it wasn’t fucking true.
“What the fuck has it got to do with you? I’ll fucking tell you what it has to do with you. The murdered woman had your phone number scribbled on the back of an accountant’s business card. The same accountant who happens to be the one you saw a few of weeks ago. It also happens to be where the victim worked and the one you dated a couple of weeks back.”
“Lucy Walker?” Mick swallowed against the tightness building up in his throat. The sense of foreboding surrounding him was overwhelming to say the least. “She’s the victim?”
Jake just nodded his head once to confirm Mick’s suspicions. “She’s dead, shit.” Running his hand through the short strands of hair, Mick exhaled loudly. He couldn’t believe it. Lucy Walker was dead. No not dead, murdered. Hell, the last time he saw her alive had been that night down at the pub when he had been less than polite to her as he didn’t want to see her or converse with her and that was before he escorted her to that dark SUV. Fuck, he could be the last person to see her alive and not only that, he probably handed her over to the fucker who killed her. Son of a bitch!
Fuck, this was so not happening to him. “I didn’t kill her, Jake, I swear to you I didn’t.”
“That may well be the truth, but right now the police have your phone number in the victim’s possessions, plus your recent rendezvous with her have made you their only prime suspect at the moment. Until we can prove to them otherwise you need to stay the hell away from this. I’m sorry, Mick, but this doesn’t look good for you right now.”
“For Christ’s sake, Jake, I did not kill her.”
“It’s not me that you need to convince, Mick, it’s your captain and the officers investigating her murder that you need to convince, mate. Right about now the officer in charge of the investigation would be close to handing in his report, and the coroner is days or even weeks away from finding out what killed her and having all the evidence found at the scene analysed.”
Mick slammed his fist down hard on the dash broad. “Fuck this! I did not kill that woman.”
“Again that may be true and in time your name will be cleared, but my advice to you is this. We’ve known each other a damn long time, Mick. I know there’s no fucking chance of you ever committing murder. Randall and I will do whatever we can on our ends to ensure we clear your name of any and all charges if that happens. In the meantime, keep your fucking head down and for Christ’s sake stay out of fucking trouble.” When Mick went to answer him, Jake raised his hand silencing any response he may have had. “There is no doubt in my mind that that captain of yours is going to suspend your arse without pay until the investigation can clear you of any foul play.”
“Shit.”
“I know this is a bad situation to be in, but you need to keep a low profile and not stir up any more trouble unti
l this all blows over and the real murderer is found, you got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” Mick grunted out to him. “Thanks for the support. I know you mean well, Jake. On a serious note, I swear to you, on my grandmother’s grave, I did not kill Lucy Walker.”
“I know, man, that’s why I’m warning you now to stay out of it and let me and Randall handle this for you. If we need your help we will ask for it, but in the meantime keep your fucking head down until we can figure out who the hells behind this fiasco.”
Mick just nodded his head and sat there in silence as Jake started the car back up and drove them both back to the station.
The next couple of hours were sheer torture for Mick. No innocent man wants to be confronted with the knowledge that his own colleagues regarded him as a murderer and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to prove his innocence to them. Once the captain and his team leader were done chewing his arse out at being caught up in a murder investigation and showing him the photos from the crime scene and of the mutilated body of Lucy Walker, Mick had bolted for the toilet and threw up as soon as he was dismissed.
He was to serve a month’s suspension without pay pending an investigation into his proclaimed innocence. At the end of that time, his position as a team member on the Bomb Squad would be revised, his captain had told him before Mick left his office. In other words, this could cost him his job. Even if Jake and Randall could prove he was innocent of the crime they wanted to charge him with, Mick doubted that he would ever return to the Bomb Squad. Who would want to work with someone accused of murdering an innocent woman? Guilty or not, Mick walked out of the station’s rear entrance sensing he had just worked his last day on the Bomb Squad team.
Hours later, the images of Lucy’s mutilated body kept on playing over and over in his mind as he sat in his truck outside the Convict Inn waiting for Mary J to finish up her shift. What the hell was he going to say to her about what had happened today? What if she didn’t believe him? Shit, he couldn’t face her tonight, not if there was a remote chance that she wouldn’t believe him to be not guilty of a crime he didn’t commit. He was too emotionally raw to see her disappointment in him, let alone come clean and tell her the truth about today’s events. It would literally tear him up inside if Mary J didn’t believe him innocent of this heinous crime he had all but been accused of committing.
Pulling his mobile phone free from the clip on his belt, Mick called up Randall and asked him to come and pick up Mary J for him instead. He was grateful that his old friend didn’t ask a whole lot of questions why. Randall just told him he’d take care of it and that he’d call to check in with him soon. As soon as Mick saw Randall’s truck pull up fifteen minutes later, with Chloe sitting inside casually chatting away to him, Mick threw his truck into first and drove out of the parking lot and onto the highway.
He could feel his past demons chasing him tonight as his mood blackened further and further. So he decided to keep on driving until he was too tired to drive any longer and parked his truck in a deserted strip of land, vacant of people and animals. Solitude is what he needed right now. If he went home, Mary J would somehow find her way out there to see him and he just couldn’t face her tonight. It was for the best that he stayed away from her, at least for the time being. Grabbing the sleeping bag he always kept rolled up behind his seat and locking up his truck, Mick silently strolled over to the nearest tree and set up camp for the night.
There would be no campfire to keep him warm tonight. He didn’t think he deserved the warmth of one. There was no moon in the sky either for light, and that pretty much summed up the dark mood plaguing his thoughts and his soul right about now.
What the fuck was he meant to do now?
He had all but been accused of murdering a woman who he had one fucking date with that had no fucking in it. Scrubbing a hand over the day-old stubble on his face, Mick lay down on the compact earth beneath him, and hoped that his two closest friends, who were more like brothers to him, could free him of the accusations thrown his way. For sure as shit, he was not guilty of the crime they wanted to charge him with.
His thoughts soon turned to Mary J, the woman of his dreams. She had already called him a few times over the past few hours, but Mick refused to take her calls. There were no words to say that would tell her how sorry he was that what had been building between them had to end. Mary J wouldn’t want to be with him when she finally learned of what he had been accused of. Mick knew that. It still didn’t stop it from fucking hurting him though.
How in the world was he meant to face her and tell her the truth when she was fighting against her own hidden demons? What a fine pair they made. She was afraid of something from her past and he was afraid of what the future had in store for him. Sighing loudly, Mick settled down in the sleeping bag and closed his eyes. His last thoughts before sleep took him under were of Mary J and the way she looked this morning as she came so beautifully for him. God, he wanted to see that blissful look on her face again and he hoped that he got the chance to witness it again sometime in the near future when this nightmare had passed and the dust had settled.
Chapter Eleven
Mary J had had enough of Mick’s avoidance of her. She was well aware there was something big going down at the station that somehow involved him. What it was exactly, she had no clue. Randall wouldn’t say a word to her about what was going on. Chloe had no idea what was happening either, even when Mary J asked her to question Randall about it her friend came up empty of answers. Jake was no use to her either. As usual his lips were sealed permanently shut. So that only left her with Mick to question and hopefully she could get some straight answers from him.
She had already thought of some rather unique ways to get the answers she needed out of him, if he chose not to speak freely to her. She just hoped, well sort of, that her drastic actions weren’t called for, even if it would be fun to dish them out on his stubborn ass.
The drive out to his place was long enough for her to clear her mind of any irrational thoughts, like Mick’s avoidance of her had something to with their budding relationship. Mary J was no fool. She knew there was a slim chance that it could well be the main reason why he had been avoiding her lately, and at the same time though, she hoped that it wasn’t.
Parking her car up near the front porch of his house, she quickly jumped out and made her way up to the front door and waited patiently for a few minutes for Mick to come and answer it after she rang the doorbell. When he didn’t come she decided to knock this time. But still he didn’t come and answer his damn door. She knew he was home. She had sighted his truck parked inside the open garage out back.
Deciding to check around the back to see if he was out there, Mary J headed on down the gravel driveway and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her. Oh holy hell. The reason Mick didn’t answer his damn door was because he was out the back, shirtless and looking mighty delicious and good enough to eat. He was bent over some rust bucket of a vehicle that looked to her like it had seen better days. The afternoon sun bore down on his sun-kissed skin. Beads of sweat drenched the toned muscles of his upper body, making them shine beneath the glow of the sun. She wanted to whistle long and loud at the glorious sight he made.
Slowing her approach to him, Mary J allowed her eyes to track the way his muscles twitched and moved as he worked some wrench-type tool under the hood of the vehicle. She licked her suddenly parched lips. She could practically taste his skin on her tongue and yearned for the real thing.
Hearing her approach, his head turned toward her and his eyes glared right at her. It actually seemed to take him a few minutes to register who it was standing there in his yard. “Mary J? What the hell are you doing out here?”
He sure didn’t sound too impressed to see her. The sound of his deep rumbly voice, however, sent waves of longing right throughout her body. God, she missed him. Hearing a hint of weariness entering his voice as he spoke though worried her immensely. When was the last time he
had a decent night’s sleep? Going by the dark circles underneath his eyes and the haggard look adorning his unshaven face, she would hazard a guess that it probably had been quite a few days, if not a week.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you the same thing, Mick?”
“No, because I live here, you don’t.” He turned away from her then and told her in no uncertain terms to go home and resumed tinkering on that piece of junk of his instead of acknowledging her presence any further. His dismissal of her fair dinkum pissed her off.
Enough was enough.
She was through with having to put up with his shitty, distant behaviour.
With her hands on her hips, Mary J made sure her voice was raised loud enough for him to hear her clearly. “No, I will not go home, Mick, not until you explain to me why you’ve been absent from the station and from the pub over the past week.” She stepped up closer to him and could see the tension in his muscles increasing the closer she got to him. What the hell was up with him? “So I came out here today to find out why you are so hell-bent on avoiding me and your duties as an officer of the Bomb Squad. Care to explain it to me now, or should I just hang around here while you tinker on that piece of shit that you seem more interested in?”
Mary J tried not to jump when Mick growled his frustration at her then proceeded to throw the wrench-type tool across the yard, where it banged loudly against the shed door.
“You do not have the right to come up to my home and demand answers from me, sugar.” He stopped and took a deep breath before turning his back to her. “Look, just do us both a favour and go home, Mary J.”
She stood there silently watching him battle whatever demons he was fighting against. Her heart ached for him as she continued to watch on, helpless to stop the pain he was feeling. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when he finally drew in a deep steadying breath and dragged a hand through his hair before turning around to face her once again.