“Mitch,” Sam said, “whoever did this, they’re going to probably try again. Why don’t you stay here tonight? We can station a couple of deputies outside your room.”
She emphatically shook her head. “No. No, I’m not going to sit here and be a target. If they’re going to try to get me, they’ll have to do it on my turf, and on my terms.”
“Mitch, this isn’t a movie. This is real life. Whoever planted that bomb—”
“John,” she firmly interrupted.
Sam frowned, then continued. “Okay,
if
,” he emphasized, “John planted that bomb, he’s going to try again eventually. Why don’t you let us protect you?”
“You can station a couple of deputies at my house just as easily as you can here. And it’ll be a lot easier for them to keep track of people coming and going. I live on a dead end street on the water.”
Ed sighed. “You aren’t going to change her mind, guys. You realize that, don’t you?”
The doctor and Sam exchanged glances. Sam finally spoke. “I guess so. Look, I’ll station a couple of deputies at your house and we’ll try to find John and bring him in for questioning.”
Ed interrupted him. “She’ll stay at my house tonight.”
Mitch tried to protest and he silenced her. “You’re staying at my house, and that’s that.”
Sam sighed. “Well, I guess that’s the best I can do. I’ll call Hernando County and make arrangements for them to step up patrols in the area and apprise them of the situation and that I’ll have deputies at your house, Ed.”
The doctor scribbled a prescription for Mitch and handed it to Ed. “Get these filled for her. She’ll probably be black and blue in the morning.”
He squinted, trying to read the scrawl. “What are they?”
“Valium and Percocet. They’ll help her out. I only gave her a couple of days’ worth. That’s all she’ll need them for.”
* * * *
Ron insisted on driving them back to the marina. Ed put his arm around Mitch’s shoulder and left it there for the entire trip. She leaned into him, her head resting against his neck, her eyes closed.
The rain finally stopped. Ron parked on the street side of the dive shop. The Bronco hadn’t been towed yet, and he didn’t want Mitch to have to stare at the ruined mess. Sam Caster pulled in behind them and started talking to the deputies. Ron went to listen in.
Miracle of miracles, only one television news van was parked in the shell lot.
“Mitch, I’ll get your purse and take you over to the house so you can get your clothes,” Ed said. “Do you need anything else out of the shop?”
She nodded. “Pete.”
He laughed, relieved that some semblance of her sense of humor was still intact. “I’ll get Pete.” He brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face and touched her cheek. “You gave me quite a scare today, you know that, don’t you?”
Her smile looked far away, he surmised, because of the shot of painkiller they gave her for the lump on her head and the massive black and blue bruises flowering all over.
“I gave myself quite a scare.”
Their eyes met. This time he didn’t resist the urge to lean forward and kiss her, tenderly, on the lips. “I’ll be right back.”
She nodded and watched him walk into the store.
* * * *
Mitch leaned back and closed her eyes, the urge to give in to the swirling comfort of the painkiller fighting with her mind’s desire to find John and choke the living shit out of him. Even if the police couldn’t positively tie him to it, she was convinced that he was behind it.
The Bronco still sat where she’d parked it, unaware at the time that it would be the last time she ever drove it. She wanted to walk over to it, but her body was quickly stiffening up and resisting the commands from her mind. She finally steeled her nerves and forced herself out of the truck, willing her feet to take step after step to the Bronco.
Mitch stopped about ten feet away. Now surrounded by a grimy puddle of water, the acrid smell of melted plastic and burnt rubber filled the air. Dismay threatened to cloud her mind, and she forced it back. In the state she was in, she knew she would cry if she thought too much about how hard she’d worked to buy the Bronco, her very first vehicle, and how her dad and Ed shopped for it with her, helped her pick it out—
“Mitch?” Ed’s quiet voice at her shoulder startled her. She didn’t turn, just stared at the ruined Bronco.
“Do you remember when I bought it? You and Daddy went with me.” Her voice sounded soft and full of sadness.
He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Yes.” He nodded. “You were so proud of yourself, and Ray and I were so proud of you.”
She leaned back against him, reaching for his hands. He encircled her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“He did this, didn’t he.” It was a statement, not a question.
“We don’t know that, Mitch.”
“No, we don’t. But he did. There used to be a spare set of keys to the Bronco in a drawer in the kitchen of the Tampa house. I didn’t think to get them the other night.”
He sighed, wishing he could wipe the day’s events out of her mind. He turned her to face him. “Let’s go back to my place. I’ll fix you a nice, hot bath, a good dinner, and a really strong drink. How’s that sound?”
She smiled weakly. “Okay.”
“Okay, then.” He opened the door of his truck for her and watched as she stiffly climbed into the passenger seat. Ed didn’t know if it Pete realized how badly Mitch felt, but the dog gingerly climbed in beside her, lying down on the seat, and resting his head on her leg.
Sam assigned three deputies to guard Mitch. Ed drove her first to her own house and helped her pack a bag and load Margarita into her small travel cage, then back to his own house.
He lived on the north side of Aripeka. His stilt house perched on a small plot of cypress-studded, rocky land on the west side of 595, just off a right-angle turn in the road. To the west, it overlooked the expanse of saw grass that separated his small spit of property from the open waters of the Gulf. To the east lay a thick jungle of cypress wetlands where otters, gators, and the rare black bear and bald eagle resided. The house was built five years before the No-Name storm of ’93, but had been engineered in anticipation of higher FEMA flood standards. It towered twenty feet above the ground. The house itself was large, three bedrooms, two baths, a huge living room and den, with the master bedroom overlooking the Gulf. The white vinyl siding and seafoam green shutters gave the place a Florida Keys-ey look.
It was home, and he loved it.
He noticed her movements were even slower than before, probably a combination of pain, trauma, and painkillers. He steadied her going up the stairs and drew her a bath in his whirlpool tub, then left her to her own devices.
Ed trudged into the kitchen and started mixing her a weak rum and Coke when the shakes hit. The plastic tumbler fell from his hand, luckily spilling into the sink. He gripped the edge of the counter with white-knuckled fists and waited for the tremors to stop. The adrenaline high he surfed since the blast left him wasted and wanting to scream and cry at the same time.
He shook his head and remixed her drink, testing to make sure it wasn’t too strong for her to have with the medicine. It was just right, the rum barely detectable. He carried her drink into his bedroom and knocked on the bathroom door.
“How you doing?” Pete, on the floor next to the bathroom door, looked up at him and wagged his tail.
Ed heard water splash inside.
“I’m okay, I guess. I’m almost done. I look like a prune.”
He chuckled. “That’s a sight I wouldn’t mind seeing,” he joked.
“Well come on in, then.”
He paused, not knowing whether he should take her up on the offer or not considering her condition. It amazed him that only a few hours before they discussed advancing their relationship, but he never imagined something like this so soon.
“Uh, Mitch, you sure?”
“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”
He took a deep breath and opened the door. Her eyes were closed, and she partially floated in the deep tub.
He sat down on the edge and handed her the drink. “Here you go,” he said softly.
She felt rather than looked for the tumbler. Their fingers touched as her hand wrapped around it, and she left them there, stroking the back of his hand.
“Thank you.” She looked up at him, her eyes barely cracked open. “I want to finish that talk we started this morning.”
He didn’t look away from her. That was the struggle of his life. In the time it took him to make the two strides from the doorway to the edge of the tub he’d taken in every inch of her body. The water made her hair look dark brown, and it stuck to her shoulders and molded to her head, framing her pretty, albeit tired face.
In marked contrast to her deep tan, pale tan lines proved she didn’t sunbathe topless. Her firm breasts and taut nipples were highlighted by sparkling drops of water, her long legs inviting even though they were closed, the right one sensuously bent at the knee and resting against the other. She was beautiful, and he wanted her.
“I told you we’d do this however you wanted to,” he said. He knew if he stayed in there with her much longer he wouldn’t be able to control himself no matter how much he cared about her. “But you’re going to have to put on a robe or something because I
am
only human, you know.” He smiled, trying to make a joke of it while forcing himself to ignore his cock’s urgent throbbing.
“I won’t need a robe.” She took a sip of the drink and set it on the side of the tub. Then she sat up and took his hand in hers, bringing it to her cheek as she nuzzled it. Her eyes never left his. “I learned two things today.”
He reached over and brushed her bangs away from her eyes. “What’s that?”
“Life is short, and I need to quit being afraid to take risks.”
“You went through a lot today, Mitch. Are you sure this isn’t just the stress and everything?”
She shook her head. “No. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I was too scared.” She stood up, pulling him with her. She stepped out of the tub and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against him as their lips met. Her nipples hardened as the cool air hit them.
He felt dampness from her body seeping through his clothes as his hands roamed her back, caressing her, holding her. He quit worrying if she could feel his cock or not as she slowly wiggled her hips against him, making his bulge even harder.
There was no way she could miss that.
He kissed her gently, savoring the taste of her lips, the hint of the rum and Coke, the smell of his shampoo that she’d used.
Mitch drew back and reached for the top button on his shirt, her hands fumbling for an almost imperceptible moment. Her fingers grew increasingly agile with each one until his shirt hung open. She pulled it free from his waistband and slipped her arms around him, her damp flesh cool against his flushed skin.
Ed’s heart pounded in his chest. He reached down and nibbled her ear, not realizing they had slipped into a slow, steady swaying rhythm matching the beat of the jazz station playing on the stereo. She slipped the shirt off his shoulders and let it drop to the tile floor.
With her assistance, he quickly shed the rest of his clothes, and they once again danced in place, quietly rocking together, savoring this first moment. His urgency passed with the realization she wanted him as much as he did her, but his cock rigidly proclaimed his emotions as it rubbed against her thigh. He let his hands skim down her sides to the sweet, firm, rounded curves of her ass.
Mitch softly moaned into his mouth as he pulled her tightly against him. Her lips parted under his, welcoming his kiss.
After a few minutes, she pulled away and stepped back into the tub. Ed needed no encouragement to follow her. He sat first, then reached up to her, drawing her close. They nestled together, nibbling, exploring each other’s faces with their lips, letting the moment slowly grow. He cupped her breasts in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples, turning them into taut peaks again. She buried her face against his neck, his arms holding her tightly against him, her breath hot against his skin.
When he let his hands trail lower, down her belly and between her thighs, her legs parted for him. She moaned against his neck as his fingers parted her outer lips and stroked her clit. As she responded, he slipped a finger inside her, slowly stroked, her hips rocking in time with his motions.
After a few minutes she pulled free and turned. Her hands slowly explored his body, making him gasp when they brushed the insides of his thighs. One cupped his balls, the other wrapped around his stiff cock. His shaft twitched in her hand as she slowly stroked him.
He nipped at her earlobe. “You keep that up, I won’t be able to hold back,” he whispered into her ear. “Why don’t we go into the bedroom?” She nodded, and they left the steamy bathroom. Ed took a large, soft towel and carefully dried her, kissing each part of her body as he went. He watched her eyes flutter closed.
“That’s wonderful,” she sighed.