Hit 'N' Run (Under Suspicion #1) (14 page)

“I can explain—”

“See there’s the thing, Mitchell. No, you can’t,” she cut in, a mocking whisper, throwing her arms up in the air. “And what’s more, you don’t have to. I no longer care.”

“So, we’re back to Mitchell, then.” He lowered his head in her direction to punctuate his words, eyes hard. “I do care, Lorna, and so do you. Don’t try to hide it. Let me explain.”

Lorna jutted her chin forward, wishing at this moment she were wearing heels instead of sandals so she could be nose to nose with him. “You’re wrong. I really don’t care. I’m thinking of it now like a bit of déjà vu.” She paused, narrowing her sight, spitting her foul words in a harsh whisper. “We fuck, you leave.”

To her immense satisfaction, Mitch took a step back. Had her words stung? His eyebrows rose, lost in the fringe of hair flopped over his brow. Her pleasure in his reaction was short-lived when, breathing hard, she saw the hurt swim in his oceanic eyes. Hardening her heart, she gripped the doorknob and nodded to the road. “Time to go.”

With absolutely perfect timing, a car pulled up and three loud children launched themselves from the vehicle to run across the lawn in her direction. Not stopping, simply yelling as they flew past, the kids scrambled through the house to scoot in the direction of the backyard carrying gifts, shouting Kris’s name.

“Ohmigod, they sure don’t need any sugar,” Ellie padded towards them, climbing the front steps to stop in front of Mitch. “I’m Ellie. Mom to the two redheaded hooligans and woman in charge of the other one that near took the legs out from under you.” She laughed nervously, staring up at Mitch, curiosity alight in her hazel eyes. “I’d say sorry, but it’s bound to happen again.”

“Don’t worry about it. They’re kids.” He grinned engagingly down at Ellie, and Lorna felt her heart twist with envy, wishing for the smile to be cast her way.

Instead, he narrowed his eyes and shot Lorna a diffident look. Returning his attention to the petite brunette, he held out his hand. “I’m Mitch. I’m an old friend of Lorna’s from our university days. Nice to meet you,” he said, beaming his boyish charm. “It’s a party. No sugar necessary.”

“You got that right,” she said, turning to Lorna, her face filled with question.

Lorna shook her head, declining to be drawn in. “Come on in, Ellie. I’ll get you a glass of lemonade? Or would you prefer iced tea?”

“I won’t tell you what I would prefer,” she tittered up at Mitch. An obvious flirt. She followed Lorna through the house. “But I’ll settle for a lemonade. Thanks.”

Lorna filled her lungs and fumed, unable to believe he would choose today of all days.
Is he here to ruin the party? No, of course not. Kris is delighted to see him. I’m glad to see him. There’s the problem. I don’t want to be glad to see him.

As the only male over the age of five, Mitch proved to be a magnet. Even Mariam forgot how distressed Lorna had been when he didn’t so much as call this last week as she flitted around him ensuring his every need, supplying him with enough to eat and drink. As a pro forma protest, Lorna ignored his presence and strove to enjoy the afternoon, ushering the children from one game to another.

Two drinks in hand, Tia found Lorna demonstrating to the kids how to place the plastic ironized core in the correct spot of the life-sized plastic poster of the Ironman’s suit—a not so subtle twist on the old favorite, Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Handing Lorna an iced tea, Tia leaned in conspiratorially. “Oh my, he is a looker. He’s got the bedraggled, scruffy sexy look perfected. Wherever did you find him and why have you been keeping him a secret? Today is not the day to be happily married, I tell you.” Her assistant crossed one arm over her chest, holding her drink in the other and rolling back on her heels. “Umm, hum, yumm.”

“No secret,” Lorna turned her back on said topic of discussion. Mitch stood manning the barbeque, getting the hotdogs and burgers ready.
That was supposed to be my job today
, she thought with an internal sulk she tried not to let escape to an outside expression. She tried not to notice he seemed only to have eyes for her—a gaze, which penetrated through to her soul. He was polite, but paid very little attention to the surrounding females, save Mariam. “He’s just some guy I used to know.”

“
Just
some guy.” Tia elbowed her in the ribs before turning to look over her shoulder at Mitch, whose biceps showed quite clearly through the plain white, form-fitting tee shirt he wore under the apron supplied by Mariam. “You’ve got to be kidding.
Some
guy.” She turned back to Lorna, not bothering to hide her admiration for the way the tee shirt stretched across his pecs like a second skin. “Then again, you’re right—he certainly is
some
guy.”

“Whatever.” Lorna drained her glass and shrugged her shoulders. “Really,” she continued sounding like she was trying to convince herself. “We attended the same school. No big deal. We ran into each other recently, and he decided to stop by for the party. Kris adores him.”

“I’ll bet Kris isn’t the only one who has him on the adore list.”

Perceptive as always,
that’s why I hired her
. Tia’s hand settled on her hip as she finished her look off with a raised eyebrow. “First of all, you’re not fooling anyone who’s known you more than a minute. Sparks latterly arch between the two of you. Second, I haven’t seen you this tightly strung since you got back from Van…” She narrowed her eyes. “Ohmigod. He’s
the
guy. The one you hit and he ran. The cop.”

It wasn’t a question.

Lorna bent to fuss with one of the kids. “Well done, Connor,” she said, removing the blindfold from the child to encourage the next one to come forward and wear the bandana.

Lorna stood and faced her friend, huffing. “Yes, but…”

Holding her hand towards Lorna, palm upward, Tia’s face split into a full-lipped smile and she licked her lips. “Say no more. It’s all coming together for me now.”

“No, I don’t think…”

Tia beamed. “I’m going over and see how those burgers are coming along, shall I?” She sashayed towards the deck, leaving Lorna to marinate in her own rancor. “I’m suddenly very hungry.” Tia winked as she moved away.

***

The aroma of charcoal, fresh plants, mowed lawn, and sweaty kids mixed to fill Mitch with a sense of belonging. Flipping burgers, Mitch monitored Lorna’s assistant’s approach with a big-ass smile. Lorna stood across the expanse of lawn with the kids, her gaze flicking between him and the approaching woman.
Good-looking lady
. But Lorna drew him like a magnet. Boldly, he made no secret of his interest in Lorna. He needed a chance to explain—to make it right with her.
No matter what, I won’t lose her again
.

“Oh, boy, if looks could kill, you’d be dead by now,” Mariam said at his side, handing him a plate full of homemade burgers to add to the flame. “I should have shooed you right out of here for not calling her all week, but—and I shouldn’t say a word, mind—I can’t help liking you.”

Reluctant, he faced the older woman. Her rosy cheeks were shadowed under the brim of her sun hat. “Thank you, Mariam.” Mitch looked down upon the small woman and accepted the plate with a nod. “I was working.”

“No phones where you work, then?”

Ouch, there’s the bite.
“You’re not going to let me off the hook?”

“No, sir.” Mariam’s eyes sparked with purpose. “I might like you. You’ve got something about you I think would be good for my girl, but I love her. And make no mistake about it.” Her small hand shot out to grab his forearm firmly without intention to hurt, only to emphasize her meaning. “Don’t you hurt her again…”

“Wasn’t my intent…”

Mariam released her grip and held up her hand, stalling his words midstream. “Don’t tell
me
.” She tilted her chin towards the yard where Lorna and another mom encouraged the kids doing a conga dance. “Tell her.”

As his gaze lit upon Lorna’s lovely form, hair flying free the way he loved it, seeming to be so free from anxiety, his heart turned over. “I plan to.”

“And for heaven’s sake, give the woman your number. What kinda fella doesn’t give his number to a lovely lady these days?”

The words so took him by surprise, Mitch threw back his head and chuckled heartily, tearing his gaze from Lorna to pat Mariam’s shoulders gently. “You got me there.”

Returning his sights to Lorna, he saw her head snap around in response to his laughter and bowed his head in silent greeting to her across the span of grass. Flames snapped in her eyes, matching the sizzle from the barbeque, and she pointedly looked away.
This isn’t going to be easy.

The fact he even attended the party had been no easy feat.
Boulet’s gonna have kittens for sure.

Having received no word from Vonnie since Tuesday’s call and watching Lorna’s house again last night with no sign of anything untoward, Mitch’s patience had reached crushing point. “This is stupid,” he muttered, turning to Luke in the driver’s side. “We’ve got nothing, and we’re getting nowhere.”

“She’s having a party. Shit goes down at a party,” his partner responded, the glow from the streetlight illuminating the whites of his eyes. “We already know from her phone calls something’s going down next week. So we’ll wait.”

“Did it ever occur to anyone to ask her? Treat her with some common courtesy?” He huffed into his stale coffee, determined to put a rein on his rising emotions that seemed to sit so close to the surface this week.
Jesus, where’s my professionalism gone?
“Shit, we pull guys in for questioning all the time. Why not Lorna?”

“Different operation, different plan. The stakes are significantly higher now.” Luke paused as Lorna came out on the porch to pin a large poster to the door as she continued to decorate for the birthday party. “We’re dealing with the higher echelon of the Fong empire now. Not some small-time drug-smuggling operation.”

“Why not give her the chance to explain? Maybe we could use her information.”

“Oh, yeah, buddy,” Luke snorted, taking a long drink from his Styrofoam cup. “She’s just going to outline the whole damned plan, is she? To you, of all people, I suppose. Stop fucking up. For that matter, we wouldn’t be here at all if you weren’t fucking around—literally.”

Mitch had heard it all before, too many times of late and Luke’s words fell on deaf ears. With Lorna in his sights, he had already made up his mind. The team could like it or lump it, and be damned with the consequences. He knew—just knew there was a reasonable explanation, if only she’d trust him enough to tell him.

Once Luke dropped him at home, Mitch ran over to the mall and picked up a small gift for Kris. Wrapping what was referred to as the ‘hottest ticket item,’ complete with accessories, he found he was all thumbs. The paper refused to fold neatly, and he kept taping, trying to get the wrinkles to lie flat. Looking now at his gift, sitting with distinction on the table, he noted, compared to the other presents, his was covered with significantly more adhesive. The reward for his efforts: when the child took his large hand in his own and invited him to stay.
Normal
.

“Who wants to whack the piñata?” Lorna yelled to the kids, ushering them to the wide deck.

“Meee,” returned a chorus of responses.

“You went all out on this Avenger’s theme,” Mitch began conversationally to Lorna as she mounted the three stairs. “Looks great, by the way. You look great.”

He may have been invisible. She strutted to the table and ignored his compliments.

Assembling the kids, she called out, “Come on over here and form a line. Everyone gets four whacks each.”

“Lorna never does anything in half measures.” Mariam returned to his side again, offering him a glass of lemonade. He accepted, grateful to quench his parched throat. “Oh my, I should have thought to offer you a beer. We do have some. Would you like one?”

“No. Thank you, Mariam, I’m fine.”

Handing the older woman the spatula, he strode the five paces to come level with the kids. “Hey,” Mitch addressed the group of youngsters. “Aren’t you guys afraid if you hit Loki too many times he may turn his staff on you?” Loki was Thor’s adopted brother, turned bad guy from the
Avengers
movie. Loki was also the character on the front of the piñata.

“Nooo!” They giggled, full of youthful bravado.

“Loki’s not real,” said a little boy with one missing tooth, pointing at the piñata hanging above their heads. “That thingie just holds the candy.”

Mitch held his elbow and positioned his thumb and forefinger over his chin in a meditative stance. “Umm. Well, now, I don’t know if I’d be brave enough. Maybe, if I were the Hulk.” He schooled his face into a look of mock fear. “I’m gonna stand over here.” He backed away two steps. “And wait to run away if anything happens.”

“Nothin’s gonna happen,” said a little girl with red curls who reminded him of his own niece. “The candy falls out.”

“Okay,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “Loki’s a bad egg.”

With more laughter and plenty of expended energy, each kid used their two runs through the line before they finally cracked the outer shell. The children vibrated with expectation when they caught a glimpse through the small crack of the bright-colored candy held captive within.