The Sweetheart Game

by Cheryl Ann Smith

  “But no one kills themselves with rat poison.” Summer said, angry. “That’s a horrible way to die.”

  “Yes, but if I was crazy enough, he might get a jury to believe it.” Mary put her hand over Summer’s. “We decided that the only way to catch him was to prove the murder before I was dead.” She smiled. “Summer, I knew you’d figure this all out and I was right. I didn’t know Mick Malone would be your sidekick.”

  At Jason’s surprise, she laughed softly. “I’ve been a fan for years. I recognized you from your book jacket photo as soon as you moved in. Since you didn’t mention the connection, I kept quiet.”

  “And the texts?” Jason interjected.

  “Sandie bought the phones and I sent the messages.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I just continued with my treatment and waited for Summer to find me.”

  “The doctors say there is some permanent organ damage, but she should be almost fully recovered in a few months,” Sandie said. “She’ll stay here until her release and then she’ll move in with me until she’s up to going home.”

  There was so much more to the story, but Mary looked wiped out. Summer helped her pull her blanket up. “You know that we have to tell the police you’re alive. Despite wanting to see Mel go to prison forever for murder, I can’t do that.”

  Mary patted her arm. “I do know. Call that cute Detective Wheeler. I’ll be satisfied with attempted murder.” She glanced at Jason. “Thank you both.”

  Summer stood. “One last thing. How did you know that I was searching your house?”

  Mary turned sheepish. “I owe you another apology. Sandie told Mrs. Flannery, my next-door neighbor, that I thought you and Mel had something going and to call her if she ever saw you in the house. She’s been watching ever since.”

  The irony was not lost on Summer. She’d spied on a neighbor herself.

  Jason chuckled.

  Summer sighed and hugged her goodbye, shot Sandie a second glare, and let Jason out of the room. “I’m going to strangle Sandie,” she said as they headed down the hallway. “I understand her reasoning, but I don’t like being duped.”

  “You weren’t duped. You found Mary didn’t you?” He took her hand. “We just took a curved road to get here.” Summer puffed out a breath. “You knocked this case right out of the park. I’m proud of you.”

  Summer squeezed his fingers. “I’m proud of me, too. But where is Mel?”

  “Forget him. Let the cops take him down.” He leaned to kiss her. “We have more important things to discuss.”

  Her lids lowered. “Like what?”

  Before he could answer, a man dressed as an orderly came to a stop at the end of the hallway opposite them, backpedaled several steps, and dove into the open elevator doors. A flash of burnt umber hair was the first thing Summer registered as she pushed Jason back in shock.

  “Mel!” she cried and ran.

  “Shit!”

  Jason took off after her, but Summer had a head start. The elevator was heading down when she arrived. Slamming a hand on the closed doors, her eyes darted around and she found the exit stairs. Busting through the door, she set off an alarm that shrieked through the building.

  Her ballet slippers were not made for running, she wasn’t made for running, yet she was down the single flight of stairs and halfway out the lower door before she heard Jason hit the door open above her.

  “Summer, wait!”

  She did a quick left, paused to find the exit and took off in that direction. Mel could hide in the building, but there were cameras everywhere. Weighing the odds, she figured he’d be heading for a vehicle. In seconds she was running for the parking lot and searching for the fleeing suspect.

  Several people stared as she raced past them. Her eyes caught sight of his brilliantly colored hair. Thank goodness for bad taste! Being almost half his age and Ninja-warrior fit, she was on him like a bad toupee in seconds.

  “Stop!”

  He spun and lifted his hands into fists. “Don’t come any closer, Summer, or I’ll have to hurt you!”

  “Seriously?” He was all dough and double chins. She took two quick steps forward and popped him in the nose. He stumbled back but managed to stay upright. His hands went to his face.

  “You broke my nose.” Blood dripped down his upper lip and beyond. He held out his bloody hands. “You bitch.”

  He rushed her, fists raised. She popped him again. His nose bent sideways on his face. “Owwwwww!!!” He cried but made a remarkable recovery. Blood bubbles filled both nostrils when he yelled, “I’m going to kill you!”

  Seeing that he hadn’t learned his lesson, Summer waited until the last second, then stepped sideways and hit him in the chin. The hit knocked him off balance. Unwilling to wait for him to regain his footing, she hit him with a kick-boxing kick to his ribs. This time, he went down.

  She kicked him once more in the side for Mary, rolled him over, and twisted his arms and legs behind him into a reasonable facsimile of a pretzel with his borrowed orderly shirt. He whined. She bent to his ear.

  “Stay down or I’ll break both your legs.”

  He stayed.

  With no handcuffs, she looked around for something to tie him with. She spotted Jason leaning casually against a beige mom-van. His arms were crossed and he was watching the show.

  “Have you been there the whole time?” she asked

  “Only for the good parts.” A crooked smile appeared.

  “And you didn’t think to help me?” she groused. What good was there to having a burly sidekick if he wasn’t around for the takedown?

  “Did you need help?”

  She looked down at Mel to make sure he was still breathing. He was. However, he looked like hell and that was all on her.

  Smiling she looked back at Jason and flexed a bicep. “Nope. I kicked his ass all by myself.”

  Chapter 36

  As Jason watched Summer stand over Mel, who was hemorrhaging blood out of his nose at an alarming rate, looking all tough girl in her pink capris, white blouse, and one beige shoe pressed against his spine, he knew why Irving had made her one of his PIs. With her clothes covered with arterial spray and a hand that would probably be sore tomorrow, she had physically taken down her first fugitive.

  She’d kicked Mel’s ass just like she said she would and came out without a scratch. And she was beaming with the accomplishment.

  That smile called to him so he pushed off the van and followed the divining rod in his pants right to her.

  Uncaring about the blood spritz on her clothes, he drew her away from her prisoner and into his arms with a warning to Mel, “Move and I’ll break you apart.”

  Mel whimpered. “My nose.” Nose sounded more like dose but Jason got the drift.

  “Zip it.” Jason gazed down at Summer. “I have never been so turned on in my life.”

  “I feel that,” she said and laughed.

  Sirens sounded in the distance. “I texted Wheeler while you were beating up Mel,” he explained. “That’s probably the Dexter PD. They’re closer.”

  She tightened her arms around his waist and bumped her hips against his. “Good going. You are an excellent sidekick after all. I was having doubts and I’d hate to replace you. I like your tattoos.”

  He nuzzled her temple. “Are you sexually harassing me?”

  “Maybe just a little.” She kissed him.

  The police were from Dexter. They cuffed Mel and got him some medical attention, all while waiting for Wheeler to arrive for the arrest. While they waited, Jason went inside and got a doctor’s permission to wheel Mary to a hallway window that overlooked the parking lot. Summer smiled and waved up at Mary and Sandie as Wheeler arrived, read Mel his rights, and hauled him off to jail.

  Some color crept back into Mary’s cheeks. She’d rest easier tonight.

  Summer celebrated the capture and final conclusion to the case in the truck as they left Shadow Meadows, with fun facts about people with sociopathic tendencies, while her
emotions went up and down faster than a heart monitor hooked up to an Olympic sprinter.

  “Will Mary or Sandie face any charges?” she asked as they drove back toward Ann Arbor.

  “It’s hard to say.” Jason said and watched the Huron River out his window. “I don’t know if they committed any crime. Mary didn’t fake her death and Sandie was protecting her friend. I doubt a jury would convict.”

  Summer yawned and looked down at the loaner scrubs she’d changed into. “I need a shower and a nap. I feel like I’ve been run over by a garbage truck. All of a sudden, I have no energy.”

  “I’ll pull over at the next right. There’s a park where we can unwind for a bit.” He didn’t have a plan in place but wanted a few minutes alone with her to talk. He had some explaining to do.

  She didn’t question him. They drove down a short road and parked near the picnic tables. He went around to open her door and help her out. “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  He knitted his fingers with hers. “Down by the river.” There was a gravel boat launch flanked by a pair of large flat stones. Jason picked up a small rock and skipped it across the water while Summer watched beside him.

  “This is nice,” she said and smiled when a flock of Canada geese floated past. When they were out of sight, she bumped him with her hip. “I’m sure you didn’t bring me here for the view.”

  Having never been in love, Jason wasn’t entirely comfortable with all the mushy stuff. Being a guy in general and one who was more the grunting and scratching type than comfortable with chick flicks and baby talk, he wasn’t sure where to start.

  “Do you know that Canada geese mate for life?” he said. “Or so I’ve heard.”

  Summer grinned. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Yep. And some types of termites also have one life partner.” He’d looked up odd random facts to impress her. “Who knew that a bug that can bring down a house is also loyal to one mate?”

  She bit her bottom lip. “Fascinating.”

  Putting on a serious face, he asked,” Are you laughing at me?” She was shaking from withholding her amusement.

  “A little bit.”

  He turned and tossed another stone into the water. “I was thinking of you and me and . . . everything. I think there is something we have in common with those termites.”

  Covering her mouth with a hand, she looked up at him. “Are you comparing us to bugs?”

  “If the exoskeleton fits . . .” This time she did laugh. He was certainly handling this well. He sighed. “Summer, what I’m trying to say is that years ago after my mom died, my father went crazy in a desperate attempt to find the kind of love he had with her. He failed.” He took her hands. “I remember how much they loved each other and how heartbroken he was when cancer took her.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. She squeezed his fingers.

  “I kept women out. I figured if I didn’t fall in love then I wouldn’t risk that kind of hurt.” He lifted her hands to his mouth. “I know that we’ve only been together for a few weeks, but dammit, I’m in love with you. I want to be your king termite.”

  She fell silent for a minute then stepped close. “Oh, Jason.” She placed her palms on the sides of his face. Her bottom lip trembled. “That’s the most romantic thing a man has ever said to me.”

  “Really?” If she could find comparing the mating habits of a bug romantic, then hell yes, she was the right woman for him.

  “Really. Strange, but romantic.” She lifted onto her toes. “I love you, too.”

  Geese honked in the background and the creek bubbled. Maybe he wasn’t unromantic after all. He was learning. But no chick flicks, ever. He had some standards.

  He kissed her, lifting her up for a better fit.

  His phone rang. He reluctantly reached into his pocket and looked at the screen. “It’s your sister. Hello Heather.”

  “Jason, come home quick,” Heather said in a breathless rush. “Something is wrong with Mrs. Kravitz!”

  * * *

  Jason broke a land speed record getting home. They raced up the steps and into the house to find Heather on Jason’s bed, petting the distressed cat and Andrew loitering just inside the door.

  “We came to check on her and found her like this,” he said. Behind his thick glasses, his eyes looked worried. “Heather is trying to calm her.”

  The cat was on her side, thrashing and mewing and looking at her tail. Summer cooed to her softly and went to the bed. She looked under her tail and saw something emerging that looked like a kitten face wrapped in goo. She smiled at Jason. “She’s having her kittens. On your quilt.”

  “I had a feeling she’d do that to mess with me.”

  “Get another blanket, quick,” she urged. “The babies are coming fast.”

  Jason went to the bed and screwed up his face. “Oh, hell. It’s not like grandma is using the quilt anymore.”

  Summer shook her head. “Softie.”

  Heather went to Andrew, took his arm, and ushered him out. “We should leave them alone so we won’t scare her.”

  The first kitten came without fanfare. Mama cleaned her off as the next two came one right after another, the next seemed unwilling to face the world. She had to be forced out with a big push. Mrs. Kravitz cleaned them up while Summer cried silently and Jason snuggled her against him at the head of the bed.

  With each additional kitten, Mrs. Kravitz purred happily and attended them like a devoted mother. Occasionally, she looked up at her pet parents, as if to show them she was fine. By the time she had her last baby, her fifth, she was tired and content.

  Jason and Summer rolled blankets up around the new family to make sure no one fell off the bed. They would move them after a good night sleep.

  “Aren’t they beautiful?” Summer sniffed.

  They are.” Jason snaked an arm around her neck and kissed her head. “I guess I’m a cat person after all.”

  * * *

  Over the next few weeks, Mrs. Kravtiz tended her kittens and moved them around the house to different hiding places. When they were up and running, Summer and Jason teased them with feathered toys and laughed at kitten antics. They were little furry balls of orange-and-white, black-and-white, stripes, and even one calico.

  “What will we do with them when they’re weaned?” Summer asked, heartsick at the idea of them going to strangers. She loved them all. But six cats were a bit much to raise in one household. They’d go broke in cat litter alone.

  “We’ll line up your friends and hand them off a pair at a time,” he said. “And we’ll have them sign a contract for visiting rights.”

  Summer went quiet. “What do you think about kids?”

  He stared at her like he’d seen Bigfoot frolicking in his backyard. “Where did that come from?”

  Darn, it was too soon to scare him with the kids talk. “Forget I said anything. The kittens sure are adorable.” She scooped the pudgy orange-and-white female and nuzzled her fur.

  “Summer, come here.” He joined her on the floor. “I want to marry you and have kids with you and grow old and wrinkled with you.” He paused. “The reason I didn’t say anything earlier was that it’s crazy to get engaged after dating two months. But if you can wait until the end of summer while I get organized, I’m in. Summer O’Keefe, will you marry me?”

  The squeal that followed scared Mrs. Kravitz and the kittens. They puffed up and raced under the couch. “Yes! Yes! I’ll marry you!”

  Chapter 37

  Their wedding day arrived on a warm August afternoon in the park by the Huron River where Jason had first told Summer he loved her. Everyone from Brash & Brazen, Inc. was invited, right down to Alvin, much to Jess’s chagrin. In attendance were some of their former cheerleading squad, as well as a few of Taryn’s boys, Mary, and Sandie and her youngster husband. A full fifty guests had gathered for the ceremony.

  Jess tucked a white flower into Summer’s hair in the park bathroom as Heather and Taryn f
luffed out her long white, off-the-shoulder dress. The bridesmaids all wore lavender to match the flowers set up on the tables under the huge rented awning. Gretchen had taken the day off from ugly sweaters and wore a cranberry-colored dress and cute sparkly shoes. She was taking pictures of the wedding party getting dressed.

  “Jason looks so handsome in his gray suit,” Gretchen said as she clicked off a shot of Summer’s vintage engagement ring. “As do Irving and Rick, Taryn’s boyfriend. Who knew that Irving could pull off anything but golf pants?”

  Irving was walking Summer down the aisle. “I knew,” Summer said through a tight throat. “I helped him pick it out.”

  Everyone she loved was here. She’d even broken down and tried to invite Tammy, but her phone was disconnected.

  “Is Jason nervous?” she asked.

  Gretchen smiled. “If grinning from ear to ear is how he shows his nerves, then he’s nervous.”

  Suddenly all of her worries vanished. She was getting married to the man she loved and who loved her back. She and Jason had hunted down Jason’s gunrunner doppelganger together, a Russian named Drag Miloshavic and he’d been arrested by Interpol.

  Mel was facing ten years in jail, seven with good behavior, and Mary had recently started dating again. Sandie had lined up a few of Kyle’s friends but Mary wanted someone her own age.

  The threatening letters to Irving were still trickling in, but so far that’s all they were, just letters. Once Summer and Jason returned from Maui, she planned to find the stalker once and for all.

  “You’re all ready,” Taryn said and the four women gathered together to admire their work. There were happy faces all around.

  Heather sniffed and dabbed her eyes.

  Summer said, “Don’t go getting all mushy on me,” and smiled. Heather handed her the lavender and white bridal bouquet.

  “You’re my sister. It’s my job.”

  With one last group photo, they left the bathroom.

  Jason stood at the arch down at the boat launch, grinning in his cocky and casual way. Gretchen was right. There was not one sign of panic on his face. As their eyes locked, her knees wobbled and she was grateful that she was holding onto Irving’s arm. Marrying Jason was a wonderful dream.