Marked for Murder

by Donna Raider

  “We are at the restaurant, waiting for our truant parents,” Adam teased.

  Leah instantly dressed Mika and herself and transported them to the ladies’ room of the restaurant. She quickly checked herself in the mirror. Holding Mika’s hand, she led her into the dining area. “Just turn around, young man.” Leah smiled into the phone. “We’re right behind you.”

  Everyone at the table laughed as Adam scrambled to his feet to hug his mother. “Queen Mommy,” he whispered in her ear, embracing her tightly.

  Rebecca was still astounded that Sara and Adam were perfect replicas of Mika. Sara was a beautiful woman with long, wavy blonde hair and the deepest blue eyes. She had carefully accented her delicate features with a touch of makeup. Sara had her mother’s perfect figure and regal elegance. Her easy self-confidence gave the illusion of being older than she was.

  Adam was just a bit shorter than Mika, but with the same muscular build. His finely chiseled features and close-cropped, curly blond hair made her think of pictures she had seen of Greek gods. He was the most outgoing and entertaining of the three siblings, who seemed to be content to let him lead the conversations and listen to his tales. Although he was only twenty-two, he had traveled much more than Sara or his older brother.

  “I can’t wait for you to see Rachel and Jacob,” Richie told Rebecca. “They are the exact image of Mom, except for the eyes, of course.”

  “Yeah,” Adam said laughing, “and Rachel is a real firecracker. I understand Mom had quite the temper BC.”

  “BC?” Rebecca raised a questioning brow.

  “Before Children.” Mika laughed then jumped as if something had shocked her.

  “That is something I have completely overcome.” Leah smiled haughtily.

  “Of course you have, Queen Mommy,” Sara teased. “Excuse me. I need to wash my hands.”

  The boys watched, behind their mother’s back, as their sister spoke to the prettiest waitress in the restaurant, then handed her a fifty-dollar bill. Sara then returned to the table.

  “As Mom was saying,” Sara said, picking up the previous conversation, “she no longer has a temper.”

  The attractive waitress approached their table. Leaning across Mika, she addressed the others. She was careful to rub her ample breasts across Mika’s shoulder and smile at her in a flirtatious manner.

  Leah narrowed her eyes and glared at the young woman.

  The waitress then draped herself over Mika to pick up an empty plate. She slipped her arm around Mika’s shoulders.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Leah stood and drew herself to her full height, hissing in the waitress’s face. “You do know you are rubbing yourself all over my wife, don’t you?”

  “Ah, and there she is in all her glory,” Sara howled. All her children burst out laughing as Leah stared down the waitress, who was wondering what she had gotten herself into.

  “Darling,” Mika said as she caught her hand, “it seems our mischievous offspring think it’s funny to get a rise out of you. I, on the other hand, know better than to play with fire.” Oh, yes, and sometimes making love to you is like playing with fire, but what a lovely way to burn, she thought.

  Leah snapped her head around to lock gazes with her wife. She smiled and slid back into the seat next to Mika. Rebecca noticed she always kept her hand on the priest’s thigh. Even after being married twenty-eight years, the couple still seemed to have a constant need to touch each other. Rebecca hoped that she and Richie would always be that much in love.

  After breakfast, Rebecca announced that they had to meet her parents for lunch. Sara and Adam wanted to go back to the Towers with their parents and catch up on what was going on in each other’s lives. They planned to meet at Joe’s for cocktails and then go to dinner. The scholars had to return to school the next day, but Mika and Leah were staying for the priest’s conference. She wasn’t certain when they would get to leave.

  ##

  Sara and Adam were discussing their brother’s fiancée when Leah and Mika returned from the kitchen with snacks and beverages. “I thought Aunt Amber was the love of our brother’s life,” Sara commented.

  “You and Aunt Amber are close, Mika,” Adam noted. “What happened between her and Richie? All my life all I heard was how much he loved Amber.”

  “As I am certain you both are aware,” Mika said as she placed the hors d’oeuvres her wife had made on the coffee table, “there was not a large dating pool in our hometown.”

  Both siblings laughed. “That’s the understatement of a lifetime.” Adam nodded.

  “At least you had a few girls to choose from,” Sara teased him. “My choices were limited to sheep herders and miners. I couldn’t wait to go to college.”

  “What about the Carver boy?” Adam grinned. “All the girls thought he was charming.”

  “The sheriff’s brother? You know he was more hands than charm,” Sara huffed at Adam. “I’m surprised he hasn’t been arrested.”

  “Yeah,” Adam snorted, “like his alcoholic sister is going to jail him.”

  “As I was saying,” Mika said, sitting down by her wife, “your brother fancied himself in love with Aunt Amber from the early age of thirteen. I had hoped it was just a passing fantasy. Although Aunt Amber is undeniably beautiful, she was twenty years his senior.”

  “Now they are the same age,” Adam reminded Mika.

  “Yes, and when Richie is sixty, she’ll still be thirty-four,” Mika said.

  “I never asked Amber how she felt about him.” Mika frowned. “All I know is that when he declared his intentions to her after high school graduation, she told him she wasn’t a pedophile and loved him only as an aunt would love a nephew.”

  “He was devastated for the summer,” Leah took up the story, “but when he went away to college and discovered all the beautiful girls in the world, he quickly recovered.”

  “How about you two?” Mika addressed her children. “Anyone catch your eye?”

  “My problem is that I’ve grown up with the world’s most beautiful women and find that others pale in comparison,” Adam said, complimenting his mothers.

  “Aren’t you the silver-tongued devil?” Sara playfully nudged her brother’s arm.

  “Well, what about you, sis?” Adam cocked an eyebrow. “Found anyone you can’t live without?”

  “No,” she answered emphatically.

  “See what I mean?” Adam smiled sadly.

  “It took me a while to find your mother,” Mika noted. “But she was certainly worth the wait.”

  Leah snuggled closer to her wife. She wished her children could know of Mika’s greatness but knew the inherent dangers of such revelations. She settled for sending a small tingle throughout Mika’s body. Mika’s grin told her she loved it.

  “Adam, has your team uncovered anything that will help me in my argument with the church?” Mika asked.

  “No,” Adam said, frowning, “but I have been invited to work with the teams digging around Bethsaida Valley and Lake Tiberias. If we can find any proof of when Mary died, then it will totally validate your beliefs.”

  Mika knew Adam was right. She had been there. Of course, she couldn’t tell her son that. The priest had to conduct her work as obscurely as possible. God didn’t want her to destroy the church, only make it godlier.

  “They just told me they think they have found the equivalent of a city hall for Bethsaida.” Adam added. “Maybe there will be an ancient cemetery nearby. We are hoping to find ossuaries with identities.”

  “I believe they recovered ten ossuaries or coffins from the Talpiot Tomb in nineteen eighty that had the names of people in the New Testament,” Leah recalled.

  Mika squeezed her wife’s hand and smiled appreciatively at her. She liked the way Leah kept up with what she was doing in the church.

  “Sara,” Leah said, smiling at her beautiful daughter, “I am so proud you have been selected for the genetic research team, studying longevity.”

  “With
a gorgeous thirty-four-year-old mother, I feel like I am on speaking terms with immortality.” The blonde grinned at her mother.

  Their adopted son, Sara, and Adam were the only ones familiar with their parents’ history. The children thought that everyone in their hometown, including Mika, had been given immortality due to a curse their mother had cast. They weren’t certain how it all worked, but knew for sure their parents had been thirty-four for as long as they could remember. It was a closely held secret.

  As time had passed, people stopped speaking of the curse, and it had become more like an old folktale than an actuality. The younger children knew little about their parents’ past, except that it was a love story for all time.

  “My brother has some exciting news.” Sara put her hand on Adam’s arm. “Time to share, Bro.”

  “I have been offered a scholarship by the University of Cambridge.” Adam smiled broadly as his parents gasped at his news.

  “That is wonderful, Son.” Mika’s smile spread from ear to ear. It begins, she thought. God is spreading our children around the world. She wondered what contributions Adam would make to mankind. She knew they would be significant.

  “England.” Leah inhaled deeply. “What a wonderful opportunity for you, dear.”

  “I’d rather not bring it up right now.” Adam smiled shyly. “This is Richie’s big announcement, and Rebecca is a remarkable woman. Let’s let them bask in their glory.”

  All nodded in agreement.

  The four of them visited until they received a call to see if it would be okay to invite Rebecca’s parents to dine with them.

  “Of course, darling,” Richie’s mother told him graciously. “We’ll freshen up and meet you at Joe’s in two hours.”

  “We will meet you at Joe’s.” Adam grinned at his parents as he followed Sara out the door. “Please, try to be on time.”

  Mika closed the door behind her twins as they returned to their rooms to dress for dinner.

  “You have raised some pretty wonderful children.” Mika kissed her wife softly.

  “If memory serves me correctly,” Leah said, kissing her back, “I believe raising our children has always been a joint effort.”

  The memory of her face in the mirror when she thought she had lost Mika flashed through Leah’s mind. She fought back tears. “Come,” she said as she led Mika to their bedroom, “we have an hour before we have to be ready. I want to hold you.”

  “Is that all you want from me, Your Majesty?” Mika smiled her little-girl smile.

  “For now.” Leah laughed her deep, throaty laugh.

  ##

  Everyone had gathered in a booth at Joe’s. Leah and Mika were walking from the Towers. They were almost to the club when a light rain began to fall. Holding hands and laughing, they ran the last few feet to get under the awning that protected Joe’s entrance. Joe watched them as they stopped, brushing the raindrops from their clothing.

  The priest turned to look at her wife. She held her handkerchief as she surveyed Leah’s beautiful face. Mika returned her handkerchief to her jacket pocket and gently kissed the rain from Leah’s face. Then she placed a hand on each cheek and kissed Leah’s lips. Leah rested her hands on Mika’s waist right above her hips and leaned into her as closely as possible without embracing her. The kiss ended. They stared into each other’s eyes for several moments, before Leah bowed her head as if the emotion were too much for her.

  Smoothing her perfectly smooth skirt, Leah entered the club.

  Joe wondered what had transpired between the pair over the past twenty-eight years that made them seem so much in love.

  Joe served Leah’s favorite wine to everyone at the table and stepped back to enjoy the sounds of appreciation that came from each one as they tasted the best wine he had ever served.

  “It’s Mom’s personal favorite,” Adam explained to Rebecca’s parents.

  Rebecca’s parents, Phillip (“Just call me Phil”) and Rita Cortez, were a nice, middle-aged couple from Kansas. While they would have probably been outstanding in another group, they looked dowdy compared to the Cross family. There was no comparison between the mothers.

  “May I have the name of this wine?” Rita asked as she sipped her wine. “It may be the best wine I’ve ever tasted.”

  Joe returned with the label from the last bottle they had emptied.

  Joe started the jukebox, playing one of the golden oldies, “Only You” by The Platters. He knew the couple would dance to it. As if on cue, the priest stood and held out her hand to her wife.

  The couple stood on the floor, holding each other long after the song ended. Joe thought he would give his patrons a real treat and started playing “I’ve Had the Time of My Life.” Mika began to move her wife around the dance floor. Leah threw back her head and laughed as Mika pushed her away only to spin Leah back into her arms. Their movements were perfectly synchronized as their feet seemed to caress the dance floor. It was pure joy to watch them dance; their bodies pressed together, so they moved as one. Leah’s hand behind Mika’s neck, eyes locked with hers.

  Mika could feel the passion rising from the bottom of her feet to the top of her head. She held Leah tighter, feeling every move she made. They were completely oblivious to anything but each other. God, I love her, Mika thought.

  When the song ended, wild applause spread throughout the club with calls for more. Slightly embarrassed that they were the center of attention, they quickly returned to their table.

  Their children were used to their parents’ incredibly sensuous dancing and laughed, always delighted in their dancing abilities. The Cortez family sat in stunned silence. Adam had heard Rita moan loudly when Mika had slowly slid her hand down Leah’s back and pressed Leah tighter against her. Phillip had chug-a-lugged his wine then chased it with two glasses of water. Adam feared his future in-laws would have a coronary. Rebecca was still clutching Richie’s arm so tightly, it was losing all feeling. Adam recalled that his parents had always has such an effect on people.

  Another song began, and Adam grabbed Sara’s hand. “Come on, Sis. It has been ages since I’ve danced with a perfect partner.”

  Rebecca led Richie to the dance floor.

  “There is no way I would follow that,” Phil croaked.

  They watched as the children danced. It was evident they had received lessons from their parents. They were incredible dancers. Another song began, and the twins pulled their parents back onto the dance floor. Mika spun away with her daughter as Adam moved his mother around the floor. Not to be outdone by his younger siblings, their brother smoothly guided Rebecca across the floor.

  Thoroughly enjoying herself, Mika punched in the tango, “Oh, These Dark Eyes.” The children knew it well. Mika had downloaded the song from the Internet and taught them to tango to it. Of course, everyone knew these dark eyes were their mother’s eyes.

  As the song started, the priest exchanged partners with Adam. The dance floor became a ballroom exhibition. All three couples danced a beautiful tango. It was a perfectly choreographed scene. Each couple made the same moves, simultaneously dipping and swaying to the music. Although all three couples danced beautifully, only the priest and her wife danced with a fiery passion.

  All were laughing as they returned to their booth. Joe refilled their glasses and smiled as other couples began to fill the dance floor to try dancing the tango. The priest and her wife were good for business.

  Rebecca pulled a high heel from her aching feet and smiled at Leah. “How do you do that in those heels? My feet are killing me.”

  Leah sipped her water and smiled. “Magic, dear,” she said, crinkling her nose as if she possessed magic.

  ##

  “We’re going to a casting call tomorrow,” Rita announced at breakfast. “Not to participate, just to observe. It sounds like fun.”

  “Why don’t you two go with us?” Phil invited Mika and Leah.

  “I have meetings all day tomorrow,” the priest said, frowning. She let her wife
speak for herself. She knew Leah would go if she wanted to. She also knew Leah was becoming bored with New York, and hoped she would join the Cortezes on their outing.

  “That might be fun.” Leah tilted her head thoughtfully. “I haven’t attended many functions in this town. What casting call are you going to?”

  “Marked for Murder,” Rita answered. “It’s about a female police detective with an uncanny ability to spot clues and a priest who join forces to solve homicides.”

  “I saw that on the talk show this morning.” Sara laughed. “They have cast that hunk Trey Slater as the priest and are now casting for the female lead.”

  “He looks a lot like you, Adam,” Sara said, grinning, “only not as handsome.”

  “Few men are as handsome as your brother.” Leah smiled, pouring her wife a fresh cup of coffee.

  “I must say you and Mika are the most beautiful couple I’ve ever seen,” Rita said shyly. “How could you have anything but beautiful children?”

  “Thank you.” Leah blushed slightly. “You are very kind.”

  “I understand you like pancakes,” Mika addressed Phil, changing the subject.

  “My favorite breakfast food.” The man grinned.

  “You’re in luck. My wife just happens to make the most delicious pancakes in the world,” the priest announced proudly.

  Adam laughed. “Mom’s blueberry pancakes are to die for.”

  After saying their goodbyes, the children left for their respective colleges and research. “We have to take Adam to the airport,” Mika explained. “He flew in just to meet Rebecca.”

  After everyone left, Leah and Mika transported their son back to his dig site in Africa. Leah always hated that Adam’s work took him to some of the most dangerous parts of the world. They said their goodbyes then returned home to New Juda to spend time with their other children. They would return to New York early Monday morning in time for Mika’s meeting and Leah’s rendezvous with the Cortezes.

  After taking their children bowling and having dinner, the family settled in the TV room to watch a video. Mika was curious that her wife and Regina were whispering in the kitchen. Leah seemed serious about something.