Joe narrowed his eyes. “Isn’t that a myth?”
“It used to be,” Steve told them. “But now all one would have to do is make a copy of your SIM card, perform a couple more tricks and be close enough to intercept the signal, and you’re done.”
Mitch tried sort out the details in his head. “Whoever it was knew we were watching Brewed Moon, and wanted us out the way. Shit! I’ve got to get to Juliana. Let’s go.”
They all left the war room, and Steve caught up to Mitch. “What about the files you want?” he whispered. “What kinds of things are you looking for?”
“I want everything you can get your hands on,” he told him, his voice lowered as they walked through the precinct. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Roberts and Smith at their desks, still eating their doughnuts. Mitch scowled and carried on. “I want their police records, their case files, their personnel files, bank accounts, taxes, medical files. Everything.” They walked to separate vehicles, and Mitch looked at him over the hood of his truck. “If one of them even has high blood pressure, I want to know about it.”
Mitch got behind the wheel. But he couldn’t think about that at the moment. They had to get to Juliana.
Chapter 16
It’s over. You’re safe. Everything’s fine.
Juliana reread the text message from Mitch, displayed on her phone. She’d texted him from the café, asking him why Steve was no longer watching the store, and he’d responded simply that the threat was over, and that she would be safe. So, when she clocked out of Brewed Moon that afternoon, she decided she would finally get her run in. She left downtown, and drove to Quidi Vidi lake in the east end of St. John’s. A walking trail ran the circumference of the lake, which itself was large enough to host an annual regatta, every summer. Late in the winter, however, the only people around were a few souls willing to brave to the cold for a brisk walk with their dog or a run around the lake.
Juliana got out of her car and knelt to the ground to tighten the laces on her sneakers. She stood and quickly stretched, and deeply inhaled the cool late winter air. She’d been cooped up at the café all day, and in Mitch’s apartment for several before. She thought that he would have told her the good news in person, but she shrugged it off, assuming that he must have been too busy to come by.
She tried to be happy. Her life would get back to normal. But that also meant that she wouldn’t be going to back to Mitch’s, that she wouldn’t be in his bed, and he wouldn’t be around her, protecting her. It was like she missed him already. She looked out at the lake. The edges were still frozen, but the ducks had enough room to swim and feed in the middle. It was a gorgeous day, and the setting sun cast a golden glow on the snow that remained. Thankfully, the path around the lake had been cleared. Some exercise would really do her a world of good.
But Juliana couldn’t stop the persisting feeling of doubt. Her awareness tingled and she looked around. It felt as if someone was watching her. She looked over her shoulder, and saw no one. Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked around seeing only a couple of empty cars in the parking lot. She gazed up into the darkening sky, and regretted leaving her run so late. She normally wouldn’t be out on the trail this late. Sure, St. John’s was mostly a safe city, but as she had learned recently, there was a scourge of violence and destruction present and growing in her hometown. She hadn’t seen anyone else running or walking past since she’d arrive. I should just go, she thought to herself. And come back in the morning, when there are more people around.
“No,” she told herself, standing straight. “You’re doing this.” Juliana was strong, she didn’t need to be protected. She had skipped her run for two days in a row now, if she went home tonight without completing it, she was certain that she would eventually morph into blob from inactivity. She needed the exercise, but she needed to clear her head about the murder she’d witnessed and the shooting at the safe house, about Mitch. Part of her wanted to just stop being afraid and always looking over her shoulder, so this run was as much about proving that to herself as it was reclaiming her old routine, as it was about physical activity. She inserted her earbuds and turned on the iPod strapped to her arm. With the pounding beats of the dance music in her ears, she started her run.
Juliana loved to run. She found it relaxing, and there was nothing more soothing to her after a long day standing behind the counter than to lace up her sneakers and hit the trail. But that evening, she felt uneasy, and she couldn’t dismiss it. Several times she looked over her shoulder.
She turned a quick corner and she had to stop short before she collided with two men standing in the middle of the trail. She pulled her earbuds from her ears. Her heart thundered and it had nothing to do with her cardiovascular exercise. The men were familiar to her, she’d seen them before, from earlier that day when they’d visited Brewed Moon.
“Well, looky here,” one said to the other, his Russian accent thick, eyeing Juliana. “The lovely Ms. Lark.”
Juliana wasn’t sure if she was more afraid or angry. Anger won out. These men had no right to mess with her or her property, and for a moment, she forgot that she was alone on an empty trail with two men whom she knew were up to no good. Instead of crumbling, she stood tall. The frustration and fear she’d felt for days shifted and made her strong. “What do you want? Do you want to hurt me? Wreck my café like we’re in some bad mafia movie?”
One man chuckled. “Well, we’re not admitting to anything. But we do want to warn you.”
“Warn me about what? How did you find me here?”
“We followed you from your café,” he told her. “It wasn’t that hard.”
It was the other’s turn to talk. “We wanted to get you alone for a moment. We’re going to need that payment, and we’ll get it when we come around again tomorrow. But don’t even think about telling that cop you’ve been staying with. And unless you want more trouble, I would suggest you reconsider the offer we discussed.”
“I won’t,” she stood firm. “I’m not paying you anything.”
The other stepped closer to her. “That’s a pity. But seeing as how we’re here, let’s show you how serious we are.”
Mitch was behind the wheel of his truck, Peter was in the passenger seat. Steve and Joe followed closely behind. While driving, he dialled Brewed Moon’s number.
“Brewed Moon,” Azura answered after a couple of rings.
“Where’s Juliana?” Mitch barked, skipping the pleasantries
“She left,” she repeated, unimpressed with his lack of phone manners
“When? Did she go home?”
“She left about twenty minutes ago. I think she was going for a run.”
“Where does she run?”
“Quidi Vidi, normally. Mitch, what’s going on?”
“I’ve got to go,” he said, hanging up. He quickly changed route and headed for the eastern part of the city. Before too long, they pulled into the parking area next to the lake. “Peter, come with me.” He pointed to Steve and Joe. “You guys go that way.”
They each took off in separate directions. He could only hope that they found Juliana before anyone else did.
Juliana saw the devious intentions in both of their eyes as they made their move toward her. Her nerves already dancing, her adrenaline surge to fight shifted straight into flight, as she pivoted and bolted back the way she’d come. She was in good shape, and she knew that she could probably outrun them. She looked over her shoulder and saw them behind her, trying to keep up, but when she turned her head back to the front, she crashed headlong into a solid body. She jerked back, struggling, as thick arms grabbed her, afraid her pursuers had cut her off. For a moment, she was prepared to kick and scream until she recognized Mitch, and she’d never been so glad to see someone.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “They were chasing me,” she told them. They looked behind her to see the men retreating. “They’re getting away.”
Peter took off in cha
se, but Mitch stayed with her. “They won’t get far,” he assured her. “Joe and Steve are heading around. They’ll get them.”
She tried to collect her breath and bent at the waist, resting her palms on her knees. She’d been lucky. Thankfully Mitch had come along when he did. “How did you know that I’d be here?”
He smiled. “I’m a pretty good cop.” He turned serious. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” He put a comforting hand on her back and smoothed it over her.
She shook her head, and she still worked on her breathing. “No. I’m fine. Can we just go now?”
Chapter 17
Mitch let them into his home. Juliana hadn’t said anything since leaving the lake, besides asking him to stop at her apartment to pick up some more of her things. He had questions for her, but he wanted to get her safely inside before he barraged her. She walked to the window where he stood silent, unmoving. He put her newly-acquired bag of things on the floor. “You okay over there?”
She didn’t answer for a beat. “Yeah,” she replied, his voice almost a whisper. “I just can’t believe I was so stupid.”
“You weren’t stupid. We were both duped,” he said, and explained what had happened to his cell phone.
“But I knew I shouldn’t have gone for a run. Not then. Something felt wrong about it, but I was so desperate to feel normal again, to get my life back, that I was just stubborn.”
He went to her. “Do you remember what I told you the day of the murder outside of Brewed Moon?”
She looked at him, but didn’t speak.
“I told you to pay attention to the fear. Follow your intuition. Remember that. Above all else, trust your gut. It’ll keep you alive.”
“That worked for you?”
He nodded. “Dozens of times.”
“So, what now, do I to go the station and file a report?” she asked him.
Mitch hesitated. Yes. She should have gone to the station, and it was professionally irresponsible for him not to bring her there to file a report. But he also knew that that report would just sit on the desks of Smith and Roberts. He knew it wouldn’t go far. If these guys who attacked her on her run were going to be found, he and his team were going to do it off the books.
He shook his hand. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m going to catch them.” He paused. “This might sound a little unorthodox to you, but I’m going to ask you to trust me when I ask that you don’t tell any other police officers about what happened today, okay?”
He was asking a lot of her, and she was watching him strangely. But he was grateful when she didn’t hesitate, and she nodded. “Okay.” She was quiet, and didn’t follow up with any questions. It spoke volumes to Mitch that she trusted him.
“We’ll get them,” he assured her. “And when we do, you won’t have to worry about them anymore.”
Even though Mitch had left with Juliana, the guys had stuck around the lake long enough to do a couple of laps on the trail. Peter had called Mitch on Juliana’s phone to tell them that they didn’t find the men who’d harassed her. Mitch’s theory was that they had cut through the trees, and exited the trail, ending up on the street that ran parallel to the trail. Mitch recognized that he and his team were going to have to work harder to apprehend them. He didn’t understand why these guys were so slippery, why every time Mitch and his men thought they were getting somewhere, it slipped form their hands. Mitch vowed to himself that whenever they found these guys, the station might not be their first stop. He thought of the warehouse near the harbour where the team conducted some of their more sensitive police work and interrogations.
“I know you will,” she said. “I trust you.”
Without another word, Juliana went straight to the bedroom, telling him that she needed to shower and change. Mitch went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He took a long pull from the bottle. They’d had a close call. Juliana could have been hurt that evening, or worse. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He didn’t know who had cloned his phone, but he figured that the Russian mob was behind it. With a curse, he dropped it on the floor, and slammed his booted heel into the glass screen, crushing it.
He planned an evening in his office, brainstorming. He also had to question Juliana about her attack and cross reference that with what they’d learned about the Russians so far. He sat down at the kitchen table, and stayed there, lost in thought, for a while. When he heard his bedroom door open, he walked into the living room to see Juliana come out of his room wearing a black, skin-tight, sleeveless mini-dress. Evidently, when she’d collected clothes from her apartment she’d also picked up her best sex kitten outfit. Actually, scratch that, it wasn’t her best sex kitten outfit. He’d seen the things that she’d worn for their Leather & Lace hookups. But this small dress came close. His eyes roamed hungrily over her body, and determined that she looked amazing, every curve on display, her long legs lean and toned. “What’s with the dress?” he asked.
She gaped at him. “I thought you knew,” she told him. “Azura’s got a show tonight. Everyone’s going. Myself included,” she explained with a haughty roll of her eyes.
“Jules, I don’t think that’s a very good idea. I think you should just stay in tonight.”
“No,” She crossed her arms, and it plumped her breasts, pushing her cleavage above the low neckline of the dress.
The movement mesmerized him, but he frowned. People didn’t normally say no to him. “Do you not see the gravity of what happened to you today? I really think you should stay in tonight.”
“Mitch, none of that was my fault-”
“Of course, it wasn’t-”
“So why are you punishing me? It was your guy that screwed up, remember? Your cell phone was hacked.”
“You’re blaming me?”
“No Mitch, I’m not blaming anyone. I’m just lashing out. These guys can’t stop me from living my life, and I can’t live my life if I’m locked away in a tower. I told Azura that I would go to her show, I always do.”
Mitch sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. She’d had a tense couple of days. Maybe she needed to let off some steam.
“I can’t go back to my house,” she started. “I witnessed a murder, I was almost killed. I’ve been shadowed by you and your team for three days. I need to not be a victim, at least for a couple of hours. It’s what I was saying earlier. I just want to live my life again.”
“I understand but-
“And if you’re going with me, then what’s the harm? Azura told me that the rest of the guys are going, too. That’s the safest I’ll ever be.”
She was right. But, the harm was that he didn’t think he would be able to control himself, keep his hands to himself, to watch out for her, while she was dressed the way she was. Every curve and plane of her body was on display, as the material clung to her skin. His frustration mounted. He’d shared a bed with her, been inside of her, but he also was responsible for her safety. He sighed. “It’s still not smart.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And look at what your wearing,” he gestured to her, turning his back on her. He closed his eyes, knowing that her reaction would not be a calm one. But he knew that she needed to express all of the emotions swirling inside of her. Even if it meant lashing out at him.
“Excuse me?” her voice was a loud, cold, and outraged. “You’re a police officer, you of all people should know that person’s choice of wardrobe has nothing to do with their victimhood. You know what, whether you come or not, I’m going to Azura’s show, and this is what I’m wearing.” She stormed past him, heading for the door.
Before he could stop himself, Mitch reached out and grabbed her arm as she walked by. She watched him, her eyes narrowed in anger, as he held her in place. Neither said anything, but he pulled her closer, drawing her to him. She didn’t fight it as he brought her closer. Her breaths matched his own, heavy and hard, and she was close enough so that her breasts rose and
fell against his chest. He was acutely aware of the movement, and he felt himself grow hard in his jeans.
He leaned forward so slightly, coming close enough to drop his lips to hers. Her lips were soft and firm, and when she parted them, he saw it as an invitation, and his tongue drove into her mouth. A small sigh escaped her throat, and her arms encircled his neck. He turned her and pushed her to the nearby wall. She gasped against his mouth, and he kissed her again. Her body was long and slim, and her movements slinky, as she writhed against him. He could only think about her, not the men who were after her, not the Russian mob, not the fact that he was supposed to be keeping her safe.
He kissed her like a madman, tasting her, breathing her in. His hands held her face, then they dropped to her shoulders, down her sides, and grasped her hips. She pushed her hips to ward him, rubbing her pelvis against her stiff length. He put his knee between her thighs to still her, and hold her in place. She moaned into his mouth and he could feel her heat on his thigh as she ground herself against him. He wanted her more than anything at that moment – so much it hurt him.
Mitch pulled his mouth away from hers, kissing a trail across her jaw, and to her throat. She sighed and extended her neck to him, urging him to take more, and he gladly obliged - kissing, licking, biting. His hands roamed over her body, he palmed her breasts, squeezing them through the thin material of the dress. Her cursed the damn thing under his breath as it obstructed her skin from his, but she arched into his touch anyway with a moan. He didn’t want to let her go anywhere. He wanted to keep her in his apartment, naked and underneath him all night. He dropped a hand to her thigh, and gripped her, lifting her leg higher, her inner thigh sliding up the outside of his. He hummed appreciatively, pushing his denim-clad cock against her heat. “Juliana,” he whispered at the shell of her ear. It was do or die time. And then he remembered the consequences of him being distracted. He had to protect her, not screw her. His better judgement won out, and he reluctantly pulled back from her, with a frustrated groan.
Double Shot to the Heart (Brewed Moon Book 2) Page 11