Slow Heat (24 page)

Don came around the bar with the shot glasses filled to the rim this time with the dark amber alcohol. Maggie looked at Micah and held out her hand. “Come on, we’re going to learn what proper is.”

Micah had endured many situations that he’d rather not be in. He didn’t mind meeting her family. But these circumstances definitely qualified as not proper in his book. He moved in behind Maggie but watched her father and brother over the top of her head. The young lady with them didn’t look up at him. She had to be another one of Maggie’s sisters. He wondered if she had any more.

This sister wasn’t all done up the way Deidre was. Her hair was the same color as Maggie’s yet by her choice in clothing he’d guess her younger and not style-conscious like Deidre, nor into expensive clothing like Maggie was.

“Father, this is Micah Jones.”

Micah flashed his attention to the old man, who didn’t bother standing. Micah had no problem taking the initiative and walked around Maggie to shake the old man’s hand.

“And Micah, this is John O’Malley. You may call him John, everyone does.”

The old man’s hand was leathery, smooth, and cool, yet his grip firm. He summed Micah up with blue eyes sunken in his pale wrinkled face. His white hair was slicked back and receded a fair bit from his forehead. He released Micah’s hand to take the tray from Don. Micah caught John’s change in expression when he made eye contact with the bartender. His features relaxed as he gave the man a swift nod and moved his lips, mouthing something Micah didn’t catch. More than likely, he’d just cut his daughter off.

Maggie tapped her sister’s shoulder, and the young lady looked up. There wasn’t the eager-to-know-life happiness that helped make up Maggie’s features on this sister. Nor was her face done up with makeup like Deidre’s. Micah saw something in this sister’s eyes as she stared up at Maggie—fear, possibly unhappiness. She nodded in understanding, then moved over to free up two chairs at the table. Micah waited for Maggie to choose the one she wanted then took the chair next to her.

“There,” Maggie said, scooting her chair in and reaching for one of the shot glasses. She handed one to her sister, one to Micah, then took one for herself. “You all think all I can do is math. But see, not only do I know how to be proper, I can buy a round of shots for my family.” She held her glass up in the air. “And maybe I don’t know how to run away from a crazy driver but who the hell does? Do they teach that in Street Smarts One-oh-one?”

“What the hell are you rambling on about?” her father demanded. “And where is your sister?”

“A toast!” Maggie announced, ignoring her father.

The door opened from the street and Micah shifted his attention from Maggie long enough to see Deidre enter. She hesitated only long enough for the door to close behind her then marched up to the table.

“A toast to my older sister,” Maggie continued, holding her shot glass higher. “She is perfect in every way. Always had the boyfriends. She has her own apartment and makes her mama so damn proud working as an LPN at the county hospital. Since she only had to go to school for one Goddamn year to get her piece of paper that said she can stick a thermometer in someone’s mouth or wrap a blood pressure belt around their arm, she had plenty of time to become street-smart. Let’s all drink to perfect Miss Deidre O’Malley.” Maggie shot the drink back, gulping it down but this time dribbling a bit out and choking slightly.

“Fuck you, Mags,” Deidre hissed, grabbing a chair from another table and dragging it loudly around the table. She made her father and brother move so she could sit between them. “You didn’t go to some Ivy League university.”

“I stayed here for the family,” Maggie yelled, slamming her shot glass on the table. “I went to UCLA and graduated in three years instead of four.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Deidre shot back drily. “Oh, and you’re welcome for me saving your ever-so-important life!”

“What are you two fighting about?” their father yelled.

“What do you mean, saved her life?” her brother demanded at the same time.

Maggie reached for her brother’s drink. Micah grabbed her wrist just as her fingers tried wrapping around the glass. Ice clinked together and her brother took the drink, bringing it to his lips as he stared hard at Micah over the rim.

“What happened?” he demanded in a low growl, staring at Micah.

Micah doubted he’d get a word in at this table, and he was right.

“Did you know Deidre carries a gun in her purse?” Maggie demanded, not pulling her hand back but instead moving it and pointing at Deidre.

“Some crazy tried running Mags over before we could leave the motel,” Deidre said at the same time.

“What?” her father, brother, and other sister all exclaimed at the same time.

“God, are you all right?” Annalisa asked, turning and putting her hand on Maggie’s arm.

“Someone tried running you over? Is that why you come into my bar like a crazy woman?” her father demanded.

“A crazy woman with no street smarts,” Maggie corrected. This time when she took her sister’s drink next to her, no one stopped her in time before she tilted it back and downed it. “Holy crap,” she gasped, and shoved her chair back as she began coughing and choking. “What the fuck was in that?” she gasped.

Micah moved his chair, too, as everyone began talking at once. He leaned into Maggie and rested his hand on her leg as she slowly caught her breath. Her eyes were bloodshot when she looked up at him.

“I have street smarts,” she mumbled.

Micah would argue that she or her sisters would have a clue what to do in a truly dangerous situation. He prayed none of them would ever have to find out.

“Yes,” he agreed softly. She smiled.

“If I weren’t there she would have gotten herself killed,” Deidre announced over everyone else.

“You don’t know that,” Maggie yelled, coming to life and leaping out of her chair.

She would have fallen on to the table if Micah didn’t move quickly and wrap his arm around her waist. He intended to stabilize her, but Maggie collapsed backward against his body.

“How in the hell can you say what would have happened if you weren’t there?” Maggie questioned, waving her finger in the air as she forced Micah to place her back in her chair.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Deidre snapped.

“You forget. That’s the one thing I have going for me. I’m a fucking genius!” Maggie tried again coming to her feet. This time Annalisa was faster and pushed her back into her chair.

“Someone, and not you, Mags, better tell me what is going on right now,” their brother demanded. When Deidre began talking he glared at her. “Shut up,” he growled. Then he turned and looked at Micah, his glare cold and angry. “What happened?” he asked.

“He wasn’t even there,” Deidre complained, excusing Micah with a wave of her hand. “Mags hires him to protect her and he shows up after I saved her life. She froze like a pathetic puppy.” Deidre leaned forward in her chair and looked at Maggie with wide eyes, outlined with black and bordered with lashes thick with mascara. “That’s right. I said it. Don’t you ever cut down what I do for a living again. I work my ass off and have a respectable job. At least I don’t work with crooks who get my ass landed in jail.”

“I didn’t go to jail!” Maggie yelled. “And I worked my ass off, too. Goddamn, Deidre! You are such a bitch! I babysat Mom’s fucking perfect baby brother day in and day out. Then I come home and make sure Mom is doing well that day, and if not I take care of her, too. Where the hell were you? Don’t you or any of you,” Maggie hissed, waving her finger around the table at her family. “None of you has a clue what my life is like. And why not? I’ll tell you. Because all of you moved out. All of you spend your money on you. I get paid and make sure Mom and Dad’s bills are covered. If something breaks in the house, I pay to have it fixed. I can’t move out because then who would take care of them?”

“Is that how you feel?” Her father tilted his head, his blue eyes filled with more love than anger or disdain at hearing his daughter complain about her existence.

Micah felt a stab to his gut when Maggie looked at her father in horror, then dropped her head in her hands and began sobbing.

“I’m ready to go home and face Mom now,” her sister said.

Micah didn’t know what she was talking about, but Maggie raised her head and cried louder then lunged at her sister, wrapping her arms around her.

“Annalisa, I’m a stupid selfish bitch,” Maggie wailed, her arms so tight around her sister it was easy to see how identical their hair color was. Maggie said something else but it was impossible to hear.

Her brother stood from the table and walked around, gesturing for Micah to follow him. Maggie didn’t look as if she would know if he got up and left her for a minute. Standing, he caught the old man watching the two of them but made no effort to follow. Micah had learned a lot about Maggie in that minute-long visit with her and her family. There was strong jealousy and competitiveness between Maggie and her sisters. As well, she might drive a brand-new car, but she probably didn’t pay rent or a mortgage. Whatever Larry Santinos had decided was a good amount to pay Maggie, it had been used to take care of her parents. One of whom was Santinos’s sister. Apparently this sister, Maggie’s mom, adored Santinos. Her mother probably encouraged Maggie to stick to the job, since Maggie referred to having to babysit her uncle. It was possible Maggie grew frustrated with her uncle and might have overlooked some of his actions or behaviors. Micah followed Maggie’s brother out of the bar and made a mental note to go over her routine at work and what her uncle did once she’d sobered up.

“My sisters don’t usually go at it like that,” Aiden began. “Maggie doesn’t drink and not once in the three years she’s been living with Mom and Dad has she ever complained about it. Deidre adores Maggie and thinks the world of her for getting a college degree. They are shouting insults at each other that they are both going to seriously regret later.”

Micah faced him, waiting to hear what the man wanted.

“What happened to upset them like this?”

Apparently he didn’t put a lot of faith in his sister’s rundown of what had happened at the motel. That said something about his opinion of Deidre, which more or less concurred with what Micah had surmised from her personality.

Micah focused on Aiden’s determined features. He guessed the man was about his age, if not older. Despite his apparent dislike of Micah, the way he searched Micah’s face and pulled him outside to hear what had happened to his sisters spoke volumes. Micah couldn’t relate to the bond between siblings, but there was a mound of education here for the taking. Maggie’s family might be screaming and yelling at one another, but he’d done his fair share of yelling at his father and uncle. The O’Malleys loved and cared for one another. They didn’t hide their emotions, and they vented their anger when they had it. Right now, Aiden O’Malley had two sisters in there who’d just experienced something terrible. Aiden wanted the facts. Then he’d probably want blood. Micah could only relay what he’d seen.

“When I showed up to meet Maggie, she and her sister were terrified, incredibly upset, and Deidre was holding a gun so tight I worried she’d shoot something.”

“Deidre has taken several self-defense classes and knows how to shoot,” Aiden informed him, immediately defending his sister.

Micah nodded once. “Good to know.”

“Why were they so upset?”

“They told me an old car with no muffler had entered the parking lot and tried running over Maggie.”

“It wasn’t an accident?”

He’d just defended his sister yet now questioned their judgment in reacting to the situation.

“I believe the car came at Maggie more than once.”

Aiden noticeably stiffened. His dark eyes narrowed on Micah. “Do you think this is related to this mess with her uncle?” he asked, lowering his voice.

Micah was fairly certain it was. The fact that someone might want Maggie dead, or so scared she would run from her life as she knew it, confirmed his suspicion that more than one person believed she knew about the
other
bookkeeping done at Club Paradise.

“There is no way to say right now.”

Aiden’s exasperated sigh matched Micah’s view on the matter. “Did you see the car?”

“Apparently your sister successfully shot out both of its back tires. I showed up right after it left. They both told me what happened and I left to search for the car. It was parked, abandoned, just around the corner. There was no one with it.”

“What about the tags?”

Micah didn’t like revealing the extent of his connections. Aiden wasn’t biting Micah’s head off the way Deidre had. He wasn’t trying to threaten him or order him away from his sister. The man wanted facts. He needed to know everything there was to know to rationalize the nightmare unfolding around his sister. Micah never felt compassion toward anyone he worked with. This was Maggie’s family, though. And this wasn’t an assassination job. He had no rules for how he should behave around clients he was protecting instead of killing.

“They were fake.”

Aiden raised one eyebrow.

“The car was an old junker that looked like it barely ran before it had two flats.”

“What does that mean to you?”

“My guess is it was only being used to scare Maggie, or worse,” he added, letting his words trail off.

The door to the bar flew open and Maggie stumbled outside toward both of them. Micah instinctively moved to reach for her, as did her brother. Aiden clasped his hands behind his back and pressed his mouth into a thin line when Maggie fell against Micah.

“What are you two talking about?” she demanded, her words slurred. Her eyes were large, glassy, and bloodshot. Her hair was tousled and parted in a zigzag as some strands were stuck behind her ears and others fell around her face.

She looked up at Micah then twisted in his arms to point a finger at her brother. “You better not be telling him all your secrets about me.”

When she tried twisting again, she stumbled over her feet and started to fall. “Whoa!” she cried out, flinging her arms in the air. “Alcohol makes it very hard to balance everything around you,” she announced, her voice still too loud.