Restitution (Haunted Series Book 17)

by Alexie Aaron

  The back screen door snapped, alerting them to someone exiting the house. Mike walked over. “Ma wants to know if you want some apple pie.”

  “Yes!” Mia said excitedly. She turned back to Murphy. “Thank you for protecting our family. You do know that everyone in that house is your family too?”

  “Yes.”

  “Notice I’m standing outside the house,” Mike said smartly.

  CRACK!

  Mia laughed.

  ~

  Mia didn’t ask where Father Santos and Beth had gone. She didn’t want to know. She was, however, glad to see Tom still there.

  “Where’s your mom?” Mia asked.

  “She and Deb Booker are traveling down to see the Bears play the Chiefs.”

  “How did they get tickets?”

  “Father Santos knew a guy.”

  Mia rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he’s got favors stacked up.”

  “Actually, I’m here to ask you a favor. Burt and Mike said I needed to talk to you first before they would bring up this investigation to the group.”

  “Whoa, you have my curiosity.”

  “Whit’s missing. He and his FBI group have disappeared while investigating near Rock Island.”

  “How can we help?”

  Tom smiled. “I knew you wouldn’t think twice.”

  “He’s still a friend, Tom. If you’re worried about Ted and me, you don’t have to. Does he, dear?”

  Ted leaned in. “I know Mia’s heart, Tom, and I have learned that Whit has a glass jaw, so we’re fine.”

  Mia shook her head. “Maybe I should ask Murphy…”

  “I already did,” Tom confessed. “He still wants a piece of Whit, but he will put their differences aside for the sake of his team.”

  “That’s nice of him,” Mia said, scrunching up her face.

  “Let me talk to Burt. Hopefully, we can have a mini meeting,” Ted said.

  “I’m going to change my clothes first. I have dragon’s blood all over them.”

  “I can’t believe I’m hearing that, and I’m cool with it,” Tom said, bemused.

  Mia walked upstairs to the room Glenda had put her and Ted in. She picked up one of Brian’s sweaters and put it to her face and breathed in his smell. She thanked God that she hadn’t fought Ted when he wanted Orion to take Brian to the aerie. Brian was safe. She missed him.

  “He’ll be fine. I know you miss him,” Audrey said from the open door.

  “My rational mind agrees with you, but I’m not known for my rational mind,” Mia confided.

  “Mia, just take it one moment at a time.”

  “Come here, and help an old lady out of this sweater. I think I owe you a new one,” Mia said, worrying that some of the blood had transferred.

  Audrey helped her, and they were able to spot clean the fabric. Mia laid down a moment atop the made bed and looked up at the ceiling. She breathed deeply to regain some strength. “Ah, to be normal.”

  “If you were, we’d be French toast,” Audrey said. “That Beth, she really, really, hates you and Cid. She’s convinced that the two of you ganged up on Ted.”

  “Yes, me and Cid. What an evil duo. Clark and Minnie Mouse.”

  “No Superman and Mighty Mouse,” Audrey corrected.

  “Well then, I bet we could convince Batman of most anything… or not.”

  “Mia, I’m going to just blurt this out, so feel free to express yourself. I won’t be offended. What do you think of me dating your grandfather?”

  Mia smiled. “As long as you know that you could break his heart, and he could knock you up with a bird child,” Mia warned. “I’m fine with it. You have so much in common. But there are differences that each of you could appreciate in the other.”

  “He said he talked to you about me.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s weird but, I think, in a good kind of way,” Audrey admitted.

  “Your mother is going to be livid.”

  “She’s not going to know.”

  “Sure, let’s see how long that lasts. Just do yourself a favor and be honest with yourself and with Orion. He is such a dear soul. Funny too. Kind of clumsy, like me.”

  “He is that.”

  “We’re going to have a PEEPs meeting in a few minutes. Help me find something that dragon’s blood isn’t going to spoil?”

  “If I had a nickel every time that subject comes up.”

  Mia giggled. They ended up with one of Ted’s game shirts. Mia drew her hair back but stopped and looked at her neck. “Uh, oh.”

  “What?”

  Mia showed her the infinity mark with an S entwined in it. Audrey held up one finger, ran into her room and came back with her makeup bag. She applied concealer and smiled as it covered. “We’ll talk later about that. Don’t show it to Ted. Pretend it doesn’t exist,” she counseled.

  “Okay,” Mia said, not convinced that was the way to handle this situation.

  ~

  Tom stood and looked at the people around Glenda’s dining room table. “Whit and three of his PERT disappeared while investigating a missing persons case.” He went on to explain what the locals had found. “I was called by his mother. Whit told her that he was going to stop in and see me. She thought that he was with me. I then contacted his superior officer using my badge as entry into that crazy feeb world. She wasn’t interested in me looking into it.”

  “I wonder why?”

  “It could have to do with why he was in Illinois in the first place. There have been fifty-four missing persons in the last few weeks. The government is worried a terror cell or, perhaps, aliens are involved.”

  “Yikes,” Mia said.

  “So Whitney has been on UFO duty,” Mike said, amused.

  “I noticed you didn’t put him in the terror cell investigation,” Ted said.

  “Mia?” Mike asked.

  “I thought the UFO investigation too,” Mia admitted.

  Tom looked at the two of them and shook his finger. “He could have changed.”

  “Whitney doesn’t change,” Mia said. “He’s the same as he was in high school. Which is to our advantage because you and I know him, Tom. We’ll find him. But what about the fifty-four other people?”

  “If this is a paranormal occurrence,” Burt said, “I think PEEPs should take the case. But if we suspect we are dealing with something human, terrorists for example, we need to hand it over to the people who can deal with it the best way. I’d like a vote from the group. All those in favor…”

  They all raised their hands.

  “Good. Cid and Ted, you need to leave now to get our equipment. Mia, Audrey, head to the area and start researching. Mike and I will contact Whit’s superior officer and see if we can get any more information.”

  “I’d like to join you in this endeavor,” Tom requested. “Murphy and I could do a little spy work?”

  Mia looked over at her friend. His boy-next-door looks could be an advantage. She looked over at Murphy. He nodded. “Murph’s in.”

  “Tom, I think you would be an excellent addition to this paranormal investigation,” Burt said.

  “Mia, you’ve been through an ordeal,” Mike stressed. “You should take it easy.”

  “I’ll be with Audrey. She’ll make sure I don’t overdo it,” Mia said. “Right now though, I need to get my behind upstairs before I fall asleep. If you’ll excuse me…” Mia got up.

  Ted got up too. “Cid, Murphy, we’ll start off at first light,” he said and followed Mia upstairs.

  Mia was in the bathroom washing up. She washed the makeup off her neck. She was irritated by the prevalence of tattooing that went on with paranormal beings. The bear tattoo that had sent her to the Council of Women had long ago disappeared. The feathers on her wrist were recent, and she doubted they would fade. But for Sariel to mark her like this made her feel less somehow. “I’m sure there is a reason for it,” she said quietly. Mia placed two fingers on it, and when she removed them, the mark was gone. “Huh,”
she said. Hopefully it was temporary or only would appear in battle situations. It could be that this was how she would be identified by others of Sariel’s kind. Whatever the reason, it was gone now.

  Ted waited for Mia in the room. He sensed her fatigue. Her eyes lit up when she saw him lying there. He lifted the covers, and she slid in beside him. “You fought a dragon for me, Mia,” he said, drawing her close. “That has to rate in the top ten of WoW adventures.”

  “I think I would prefer to play the computer game. A lot less scary.”

  “You seem subdued for a woman who bested a beast,” Ted said.

  “I miss Brian and our home,” Mia said. “Maggie too, although she was pretty happy when we dropped her off at the Monroes’ farm.”

  “Ed and Carl will let her roam, and they’ve promised to have bacon ready if and when she does something remotely resembling behaving,” Ted joked. He leaned over and kissed Mia gently. “Thank you for loving me, Mia.”

  “My pleasure,” Mia said softly. “Why did you hand me over to Mike tonight?” she asked, puzzled. “I kind of felt like a chattel.”

  “That wasn’t my intent. I know it’s a standing joke that he’s going to be husband number two when I blow myself up, but I wanted him to know that if something happened to me out there, that I was alright with him stepping in and taking care of you, pumpkin.”

  “Um, no. There will be no one else. Any other male would be a disappointment,” Mia said with a wicked look in her eyes. “There will be no birdmen, angels, demons, superhumans, or men in my life.”

  Ted examined her face. He could tell that she thought she was speaking the truth. He kissed her tenderly and felt her move against him. He ran his hand over her body and pushed the nightdress upwards before gently taking her. They did their best not to make any noise. When they lay afterwards in each other’s arms, Mia said quietly, “I need you, Ted. Thank you for choosing me.”

  He let himself cry. How had he deserved this? He was a nerd for cripes sake. He had this beautiful woman risking her life fighting for him. “I believe in you, Mia. You are a beautiful, smart, talented woman, who just so happens to love me.”

  “It’s nice how that turned out,” Mia said sleepily.

  He kissed the top of her head and soon followed her into dreamland.

  Chapter Four

  Ted was gone when Mia woke up. She turned over and grabbed his pillow and took in his scent. There was a light tapping on the door.

  “Come in,” Mia said, expecting it to be Audrey.

  It was Mike.

  “Ma says, if you want…” Mike stopped and looked at Mia. Imagining what she looked like in the morning was one thing, actually seeing it was another. Her hair was messy, and her lips were bruised from a night of kissing. Her eyes were smudgy. She had on a respectable nightdress which made matters worse.

  “Ma says what?” Mia asked, sitting up.

  “Breakfast. If you want breakfast, you better get your rear in gear.”

  Mia flipped the covers off and started to get up, but instead, she grabbed her side and fell back in bed.

  Mike rushed over. “Cooper, what’s wrong?”

  “I got impaled on a dragon spike.”

  “I saw those spikes. They looked pretty nasty.”

  “Sariel applied this disgusting field dressing which closed the wound, but I’m all bruised. I’m going to skip breakfast and curl up into a ball and feel sorry for myself the rest of the day. Tell Audrey I’ll catch up with her.”

  Mike shook his head. “You really do need a keeper. Come on, I’ll run a bath and send Ma to look at you as soon as she feeds the troops. I’ll have Audrey leave with Burt and Tom. I’ll bring you as soon as you feel comfortable enough to travel. I thought you’d be anxious to rescue Whitney.”

  “Feckin idiot,” Mia said.

  Mike shook his head and walked into the bathroom and ran the water. He poured a good amount of Epsom salts in. He stopped and walked back into Mia’s room without thinking. “If you have an open wound then a ba… ba… baby.”

  Mia stood there naked. “Well, this is awkward,” she said. “Get out, Dupree.”

  “Is that wound open?” he asked, looking at the black-smeared gash surrounded by bruised flesh.

  “No. Please ask Burt if he has anything…”

  “You and Hicks and pain meds,” Mike said, taking one last look before leaving. He walked back into the bathroom and turned off the water before heading downstairs.

  Burt and Tom were looking over a geographical map that Audrey had pulled up on her laptop. Mike interrupted, “Burt, Mia’s begging for painkillers.”

  “How bad?” he asked.

  “She’s not traveling today,” Mike said. “She’s got this gash, and half her ribcage is bruised.”

  “She was fine last night,” Audrey said, worried.

  “It must have been adrenalin yesterday,” Tom said. “The day after my incident in Sentinel Woods, it felt like my back and ribs were broken, but on the day, I was begging to come home from the hospital.”

  Burt got up and followed Mike up the stairs. He dug his back medicine out of his bag. He tossed the bottle to Mike and headed back down the stairs.

  Mike walked into the bathroom to place the pills there and walked in on Mia again. “What are you doing in here? Are you trying to kill me?” Mike asked as Mia looked back at him.

  “Tell you what. Come in, and shut the door.”

  Mike did as he was told.

  “Here, take a good look. Maybe you’ll find something disgusting about me, or at least get it out of your system. We have to work together,” she growled.

  Mike handed her two pills.

  “Burt gives me three,” she complained.

  “No. I give you three, and you’ll be all over me. And frankly, Cooper, I’m not sure how much I can take.”

  “Come here,” Mia said.

  “Why?”

  “I’m bruised, battered, and smell like a dragon. I have the requisite equipment God gave all women. There’s nothing magical here. Well, except for the wings. I’m sorry you didn’t knock the first time. I’m rather annoyed you didn’t knock this time. If you’re worried about losing control, don’t. It’s not going to happen. I’ll break that Hollywood nose in my present mood. Give me another pill.”

  Mike did and gave her a glass of water.

  Mia took the pills. “Thank you. Now, I’m not sure…” She looked at the high tub.

  Mike started laughing. “Okay, since I’m here, I’m going to assist you into the tub. Then I’m going to stand guard outside that door because I can’t take the chance of locking the door in case you may need further help.”

  He picked her up, thought about his mother’s corns, and set her in the hot bath. He set his expensive shampoo within arm’s reach and left her there. He dragged a chair and sat outside the door, reading his latest romance novel.

  Burt walked by, and Mike tossed him back the bottle. Burt opened the bottle and smiled. “You caved.” He whistled as he finished his packing.

  Audrey came down from the third story carrying her suitcase. “Bet you don’t envy Ted so much now. Mia is a real pain when she’s hurting,” she said.

  “I noticed. Does no one else see what possible problems can occur with this present setup?” Mike asked.

  “All you have to remember is, that woman in there took on a dragon. That should keep you in line,” Audrey said. “See you on site.”

  Audrey headed down the stairs, and Burt followed on her heels.

  ~

  Mia waited until the pills took effect before washing her hair. She managed to get out of the tub herself and put on the clothes she’d grabbed. Ted had left his stuff, so Mia pulled on his Chiefs jersey and her underpants. She pulled on the PEEPs sweatpants but had to roll the waistband down. Any compression on her ribs brought on more pain. She groaned and started crying when she could only get a sock half on.

  Mike opened the door a crack. “Mia, are you decent?”

>   “Yes,” she sniffed.

  Mike found her lying on the floor a sweat sock hanging from the end of one foot. She had her eyes closed in frustration. He walked over squatted down. “Want some help?”

  “Please. I promise to be good, Mikey.”

  “You can start by not calling me Mikey.”

  “K.”

  He finished dressing her, and he carried her down the stairs and placed her at the kitchen table.

  Glenda smiled. She liked seeing her son being gallant. She knew that Mia and he had chemistry, but she also knew the girl was in love with her husband.

  Mia smiled down at her cup of coffee. She took a sip. “Glenda, this is great coffee.”

  “Thank you, Mia.”

  Mia’s stomach growled. “Sorry.”

  “I’ve got a quiche in the oven. You missed breakfast.”

  “Sorry, I overslept. Mike says I need a minder.”

  Glenda was amused.

  “At home, I have Ted, Cid and Murphy. Here I just have Mike.”

  Mike coughed. “Ma, Mia is a bit odd when she’s on painkillers,” he reminded her.

  “I remember from the cottage,” Glenda said.

  “I loved having all of us together at the cottage,” Mia said. “Mike kept my head on straight. I’m a very confused person.”

  “You’ve been through a lot of changes,” Glenda sympathized.

  “Not all of them good,” Mia said frowning.

  The buzzer went off, and Glenda took the quiche out of the oven.

  Mia reached over and began playing with Mike’s hair.

  “Mia, stop it,” he scolded.

  Glenda watched them.

  “I like it long. Don’t you like it long?” Mia asked.

  “I’d rather it be trimmed for the camera.”

  “You look like your dad,” Mia said. “He was such a handsome man. You’ll be devastatingly handsome by the time you’re fifty,” Mia said, poking at his chest.

  “Thank you, Mia. Now put your hands on the table. Ma, when is the food coming?”