Todd gave him a sideways glare. “I need proof, Sean. Not wild imaginings and hunches, unless you want me to call in a forensics team to cordon off the house and dismantle half your basement just because you’re afraid of your uncle’s mole.”
Goddammit.
“I know I’m a mess, okay? You don’t have to keep reminding me. But he’s given me the creeps since the moment I saw him standing in the trees out back. I don’t want him in my house, I don’t want him anywhere near me or Mare.”
They reached the top. Todd asked, “Why is he living here?”
“Mindy. She didn’t think it was fair to welcome her but turn him away. Hard to fight that logic, especially when I’m low on sleep.”
“Yeah, conscientious, forgiving women get us all into trouble someti—,” he said, falling silent as Mindy bustled out of her bedroom barefoot in a summery dress, her hair a gamboling torrent of curls. The gash on her face had scabbed over, but the bruising had barely begun.
Sean cut his gaze to Todd who stood gaping for a moment before slamming his mouth shut. Sean grinned.
You dog!
“Oh, no! You’re here!” Her eyes grew wide and her cat meandered around her legs as if trying to trip her with adoration. “Am I late?”
“No, ma’am,” Todd said, his voice catching. “I’m early.”
“Did you want to look at the nasty messages now?” Mindy said, blushing. “Or question me about last night?”
Todd smiled and shook his head. “We can talk about it on the road, and I’ll look at the comments after we get back.”
Mindy tossed her cat into the bedroom before hurrying to the bathroom. Todd cleared his throat. “He doesn’t fit the dates, but I’ll get a deputy, a decent one, out front to watch the house. Just in case. Soon as I leave, you get new locks for both doors and replace them. Today. Buy ones with good deadbolts.”
Sean yawned, wondering how they were going to afford locks. “Okay. Sure.”
Mindy returned with her hair corralled and a little makeup on her face to obscure the scab. “Ready!”
Sean tried not to smirk as Todd glanced at his watch, fidgeting and nervous as if heading to prom. “Then let’s get this boat on the road.”
Sean locked the door behind them and shoved a chair under the doorknob. Once it was good and wedged in, he balanced an empty metal can on the seat and dropped a couple of teaspoons inside.
That’ll make a good clatter,
he thought, then checked the back door again. Blockaded by cinder blocks, it was as locked as it’d ever be and they’d hear someone shattering the glass.
Assured he had done all he could, he stripped and crawled back into bed beside Mare. The .38 lay freshly loaded on her nightstand. Sean stared at the tidy circles of rimmed bullet bases gleaming in light reflected from the bathroom.
After a time they faded and he fell asleep.
Mindy kept her hands folded in her lap from nervousness over the upcoming deposition and her resolve not to touch anything.
Todd’s SUV was computerized, digitized, and a shotgun stood pointing upward in a clamp on the center hump. Another gun, this one with a cord running to a digital box, was strapped to the dashboard. She saw mirrors and cameras, two radios, unidentifiable gadgets, and more flip-switches than she could count.
“Can you fly this thing?” she asked, braving a glance at him. “Looks like there ought to be an ‘extend wings’ button somewhere.”
“No, it doesn’t fly,” he said, laughing. “But it does great over bean fields. Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”
They chatted as he drove east on Highway 30, mostly about her job, the interview, and maybe visiting his lawyer sister about her case, until his phone rang. He said, “Yes, sir,” before hanging up and pocketing the phone again.
He glanced at Mindy. “There’s a report I need that’s been sent to the house. Can we take a short detour so I can grab it?”
“Sure.” She shrugged. “We’re ahead of schedule anyway.”
He apologized as they drove through Boone and into a nice neighborhood of newer townhomes. He pulled into the driveway of a brick two-story and turned off the vehicle. “Why don’t you come on in?” he said as he opened the door.
“Sure.” She followed him to the walkway. “You have a cute house.”
“Thanks. I picked it up for a good price during the housing mess a few years back.”
He plucked up a newspaper as he stepped onto the porch and unlocked the door before beckoning her inside. A hallway ran straight ahead flanked by a sunny sitting room on the left and stairs going up on the right. Everything looked bright and welcoming, with hardwood flooring and walls painted cheerful shades. “Make yourself at home,” he said as he trotted up the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”
Mindy wandered down the hall, past a bathroom to a kitchen that opened to a cozy living room. Two Disney Princess DVDs lay on the floor in front of the TV beside a coloring book. The leather couch held a scattering of manila folders and the naked bottom half of a Barbie stuffed between the cushions.
“Thanks for waiting,” Todd said as he walked down the hall with another folder.
Mindy smiled at the naked Barbie legs poking upward, ready to dance on the ceiling if the couch wasn’t holding them down. “You have a daughter?”
“Yeah,” Todd said as he gathered up his folders and walked to the kitchen. “She, like her father, leaves things lying around.”
Mindy rescued the doll from the cushions and followed him to the kitchen. Marker makeup embellished the nude Barbie’s factory-tinted face, and someone had drawn on rings and bracelets as well. “You being in law enforcement and all, am I allowed to ask your daughter’s name, or how old she is?”
He smiled at her, and she saw a brightening of color on his cheeks as he unlocked a black briefcase. “You can ask me anything. No guarantees that I’ll answer.”
“Fair enough.” She pondered her question for a moment then walking the doll across the edge of the kitchen table, asked, “Does Scribble Face Barbie spend a lot of her spare time naked in your couch? I thought cops were kind of against public nudity.”
Todd laughed and tossed the folders into the briefcase. “She’s been naked pretty much constantly since she came to live with us a few months ago. The tramp.” He shrugged. “She’s usually on the stairs though. I’ve stepped on her at least twice.”
“You’re a floozy,” Mindy said to the doll, “throwing your naked self out where unsuspecting men will walk over you.”
Todd contemplated Mindy. “Maybe I should arrest her for being a public nuisance?”
Mindy laughed and set the doll aside. “Maybe,” she agreed. “But I don’t think it’ll do any good.”
He plucked the doll from the table and smoothed its hair. “You’re right. Hailey has four or five others just like her. A plague of ‘em. Toss one and someone gives her three more to take its place.”
Mindy watched his eyes. “You love her a lot, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. She’s all I have.”
“Widowed?” Mindy asked when she saw a shadow of pain cross his eyes.
“Divorced. Kim was…” he shrugged. “She was always a wild thing. Wanting to go out, to get looked at, to court trouble. She loved danger, excitement, and cops.” He sighed and tossed the doll onto the counter next to the coffee pot.
“She was a badge bunny, and stupid me fell for her, but she refused to settle down. Hailey was a baby when she…” He clenched his hands then opened them. “Last I heard, she was dancing at some strip club in Reno.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Eh, it’s ancient history now.” He took a breath and met Mindy’s gaze. “She wanted out, I wanted Hailey. Wasn’t much else to argue about.”
“That’s… Wow.” Mindy dropped her gaze. She couldn’t imagine a mother abandoning her child like that.
“So, anyway, I kind of know what you’re going through with that ass you married. Kim never tried to kill me, but…”
“Yeah. It was all about her, never you or your daughter.”
“Pretty much.”
“I’m better off, too,” Mindy said. “Sean and Mare are great, and the baking might go somewhere. I’m starting to save a little money. If I can just get past this mess, things’ll be golden.”
“I hope so,” Todd said. “You deserve a little golden. How about bad dreams? Are you suffering with them like the other spores are?”
She was about to whine about falling through black snow when he exploded forward. The front door banged open; he pulled his gun and motioned for her to stay behind him.
“Just us!” a woman called out as steps bounded down the hall.
Todd sagged, the breath rushing out of him as he put the gun away and strode to the hall. “Mom! How many times have I told you to knock before just walking in?” He paused, his voice softening as he said, “How’s my squirrel girl?”
Mindy saw Todd bend then stand again, sunburned kid arms hugging his neck. “Dad! Look! We found a Space Princess backpack and matching notebooks and folders. Even a lunchbox!”
“Can’t beat WalMart early in the morning. Nothing’s picked over,” the woman said, followed by an exasperated sigh. “Sorry to just barge in. I wanted to drop off the haul, and she was so excited you’re home. We haven’t seen you for days.”
“I’m not home, not really. Supposed to be on the way to Des Moines,” Todd said as an obese older woman walked past him into the kitchen, her plump arms weighed down by plastic shopping bags.
The woman stopped, her eyes and mouth growing wide. “Oh!” she said, blinking at Mindy. “I didn’t expect you to have company!”
“Hi, I’m Mindy,” she said, offering to take some of the bags. “You must be Todd’s mom.”
“Deb,” she said, nodding hello as she handed over part of her burden. “Todd said he was guarding you, but I never expected it to be here.”
“It’s not quite like that, Mom.” Todd walked up to them, a little red-haired girl in his arms. She pressed her face against her father’s neck and watched Mindy with one nervous brown eye.
Deb plunked her bags onto the counter while, beside her, Mindy did the same. “Oh?” she asked her son, looking Mindy over before turning to him. “What is it then? I thought you said you wouldn’t be off work until maybe tonight. Here it is, twenty after eight in the morning.”
Mindy said, “We’re just here to pick up some reports, ma’am.”
Deb sighed and faced Mindy. “And you bought that line of crap? Girl, you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Deb leaned close and lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “You have to understand my son,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him. “He’s a charmer. A babe magnet, we used to call them, so you be careful, you hear?”
Todd carried his daughter to the living room. “Oh, yeah, Mom, that’s me. All us massive head thumpers are super charming,” he said as he lowered Hailey to her feet. A slender girl with scabbed knees and a short, wavy blaze of hair, she peered around her father then ducked out of sight again.
Todd strode back to the kitchen and towered over his mom like a grizzly looming over a rotund raccoon. Smiling, he shook his head and started to unpack the bags. “Babe magnet, that’s actually a good one.”
“I try,” Deb said, still observing Mindy. “So what do you do?” she asked. “When people aren’t threatening you, anyway.”
Todd walked past with a lunchbox and stack of snack foods. “Mom! You don’t need to pester her.”
“No, it’s okay,” Mindy said, smiling at Hailey who crept closer. “I work in a nursing home kitchen, and I’ve started to sell baked goods on the side.”
Deb nodded. “I saw your blog. If half of it’s true, your ex is a creep.”
“It’s all true,” Mindy sighed. “And, yes, he is.”
“Then you’re better off without him.” She patted Mindy on the arm. “Pay attention to what he says,” she said, nodding toward Todd as he put away the cookies and chips. “He knows his job.”
“Yes, ma’am. I will.”
Deb lingered a few moments longer then stepped aside, nearly tripping over Hailey, who stared at Mindy with wide, curious eyes. “Are you dating my dad?” she asked, her voice small and tentative.
“No, sweetie,” Mindy said, kneeling to be face-to-face with her. “He’s just keeping me safe.”
“He’s good at that,” Hailey said, giving Mindy a hesitant smile. She touched Mindy’s scabbed cheek. “You got hurt?”
Mindy nodded. “Bad men broke into the house and hurt me.”
Hailey started to pull up her tank top, and Deb reached out to stop her, but Todd grabbed Deb’s arm and shook his head.
Hailey, her gaze locked on Mindy’s, bared her belly. “My mom hurt me, too. So we’re the same, right?”
A wrinkled collection of dime-sized circles peppered the left side of Hailey’s chest and belly. They lay next to one another, overlapping, and spelled
cunt
.
Mindy blinked back her shock. “Yes, sweetie, we are,” she said, reaching out to lower the little girl’s hand and shirt. “Your dad won’t let anyone hurt you like that ever again.”
“I know,” Hailey said, smiling, then she gave Mindy a quick hug. “Nobody’ll hurt you, either.”
Deb grasped Hailey’s hand and said, “C’mon now, we have more errands to run before all the lazy folks are out of bed. Let’s let your daddy work.”
Mindy stood as Deb led Hailey away and she watched Todd lower his head and stuff his hands into his jacket pockets. “Her mom did that?” she asked after Deb and Hailey had gone outside and closed the door behind them.
“Yeah.” He managed to meet her gaze. “She was teething. Crying a lot. I was working and Kim couldn’t sleep, so…”
“So she took it out on her daughter.” Mindy shook her head and her voice cracked as she said, “What the hell?”
“I offered to keep the DA from prosecuting if she’d give me Hailey, leave, and never come back. She agreed. She signed the divorce and custody papers before she left the interrogation room. Was the last time I laid eyes on her.”
“Your daughter’s adorable, but your ex… Jesus, what a shit.”
“So was yours. My mom, she…” He swallowed and shook his head. “I haven’t dated at all since Kim. Not once. Hailey’s too precious to take a chance with, but she keeps reminding me everybody else has a mom, you know? That’s hard. My mom doesn’t like to see me raise Hailey alone. So, together, they hoped we were…” he shrugged.
“It’s okay,” Mindy assured him, breaking the awkward silence. “I understand. Truly.”