by C L Bauer
“So, you know the plan. Carlos will be with you throughout the next few weeks. Hopefully, you’ll make contact with your guy, and we will go from there. I’m hoping by the first of the year we will have succeeded in taking them down. Finally.”
Alise nodded. She would trust Dev with her life. She was trusting the man with her life, her daughter’s and their future. She had shoved her fear so far down in her body that she was numb. Fear fueled her in this job. If she helped the DEA succeed, she might have a chance at a real life and a good one for her daughter. She’d avoid prison. If she didn’t win this battle with the bad guys and get over her fear, she’d live a half-life always looking over her shoulder at a past life that one day might kill her, worse yet, place her daughter in the same jeopardy. It was way past time to end this circle of tragedy. Angelica deserved it and she was discovering that she deserved it too.
“By the way, I’ve already talked to Carlos about Christmas, and he said yes. Dev, you’ll be spending it with us, too?”
He smiled. “I guess.”
“I know one little girl who will be very happy, but I bet there’s a big girl who won’t.” Alise had made Dev uncomfortable; she could tell as he suddenly sat back in the chair, popping his watch wristband.
“I’m heading to Kansas City for Thanksgiving. It’ll be our first.”
She laughed. “You need to make this one special.”
“What do you suggest?”
She shook her head and a finger at him. “You should be giving her a ring. I swear, you are such a scaredy cat.”
“Am not.”
“You are too. Do you want to continue doing this? When are you giving her a ring?”
“Alise, you ask too many questions.”
Alise got up, moving to the kitchen. “And you don’t answer enough. You know you love her. When are you going to marry her?”
He joined her, sitting at the island. She was bringing out a large pitcher of iced tea, grabbing two glasses from the cabinet.
“It seems like we can’t catch a break to be together. Besides, I haven’t figured it out yet, the logistics of it all.”
“Typical spy answer. You don’t have to figure it out, the two of you do. You need to let her in, and together you can do anything. My mom and dad did.”
Dev bit his bottom lip. He hated to listen to the truth. His own mom and dad had made their way as partners, working it through so many difficult times.
“I’m learning how to work well with others.”
Laughter filled the small apartment. A small child came out from her room.
“What’s so funny, Mommy?”
“Your friend here. Angel, do you want some juice?”
“Yes, Mommy. I’ll sit here on Dev’s lap.”
He pulled her up. “I think we need ice cream in a little bit, don’t you?”
Angel petted his beard. “Yes.” She began to examine the growth on his chin carefully. “I don’t think the florist is going to like this. It’s too itchy.”
“She might like it.”
Angel shook her head defiantly. “Nope, she won’t like it. I know things like this.”
“Little girl, you better not know too much,” her mother added quickly. “You don’t need to grow up too quickly.”
“If I did, I could marry Dev.”
Alise leaned on the kitchen countertop, looking straight at Dev. “Oh, my sweet baby, he is already taken. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Why do people keep telling me that?”
“Because some thick-headed people like you have to hear it over and over and over.”
Chapter Eleven
Why was this drive so uncertain? Lily was asking herself that very question as she drove to the airport. She was either too early or too late, never just on time. Everything was set for work on Friday. She had one wedding on Saturday. The venue was only a few miles away, and the decorating would be easy.
It would actually be nice to have Dev with her, even if he just carried boxes. She’d given Abby Saturday off so she could visit with Jeremy’s family. With the two dating almost two years now, Lily couldn’t deprive Abby the sheer anguish of a holiday meal with possible future in-laws for the first time. She’d met boyfriends’ parents a couple of times over her dating lifetime, and it was no picnic, at least the nervousness wasn’t. It wasn’t like your boyfriend’s parents would eat you. They would naturally hate you immediately, but seldom did that happen in reality. Of course, she hadn’t met Dev’s father yet. That was to come in a little over a week when she flew back to Virginia. Dev wanted her there to meet his father and his friends. They were celebrating the annual Army-Navy game.
The traffic was slowing. She hated picking up anyone on the day or night before Thanksgiving, but here she was a few miles from doing exactly that. Lily smiled. She just wanted to see him. No, she needed to see him. She couldn’t wait to kiss him, touch him, and make sure he was really there. Lord, what was wrong with her? She was sounding like a lovesick teenager, or at least a desperate woman.
“Yes, you are both,” she said out loud in the privacy of her new car. She had just bought the SUV last week after serious negotiations with the insurance company and with the assistance from the dealership and even the police department. Her former bride, Detective Burton, had insisted they would need the car later for evidence; the dealership was worried that it had been tampered with and were unsure of its drivability going forward. She still had her detail, the poor female police officers assigned to watch her house night after night and sometimes during the day. She wondered why surveillance was fairly inconsistent. Were they following someone’s schedule? And then there was Gretchen. She’d become an informant in the Lily Schmidt non-existent detective agency. Almost every other day the woman called in with reports of Garrett and other suspicious behavior around the city. Lily almost recommended her as a wedding coordinator the other day to a bride just to keep her busy. Abby had almost strangled her when she heard her evil plot.
But right now the lovesick teenager/desperate adult woman was smiling. She was thinking of seeing Dev, of being with Dev. Finally, she was at the airport’s exit. She pulled over to the side and checked her phone. He’d landed and texted.
“I’M BRINGING YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFT. YOU’LL SEE IT WHEN YOU PICK ME UP. I’LL BE OUT IN TEN MINUTES.”
She looked at the time. It was fifteen minutes ago.
“Crud.” She pulled back on the road and turned into the terminal drive, slowly heading toward the airline’s doors. She could see his tall frame behind the car parked in front of him.
He was all smiles and very tan, his hair longer and a light beard on his face. He was bringing her Christmas gift? She hoped it wasn’t the beard. She peered around the car, but didn’t see anything in his arms. Dev motioned he’d meet her in the open area.
As she slowly pulled over to pick him up she saw the present. Attached to his hand was a leash. Attached to the leash was a German Shepard. A dog? What was the man thinking?
She popped the back and got out of the car. Dev was loading his one piece of luggage.
“Hello.” He leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth.
She pulled back her head. “What’s with the dog?” She pointed down at the canine and then looked back up at Dev.
“Merry Christmas?” He cocked his head to the right in an attempt to look cute, and the dog mimicked his behavior. It was cute on the dog.
“That’s my present?” She was still pointing at the well-mannered dog.
“Yah. There’s a story with her, and you’re going to love her.”
“Did you think maybe, just maybe, I don’t want a dog? Did you think maybe you should’ve asked me? Did you even think?” Her voice had raised on the last question. The dog’s head suddenly bent down as if it was the one being reprimanded.
Dev looked at the cars and people around them. “Could we continue this in the car before we get a ticket for being parked here too long?” He hadn’t expec
ted this reaction. Apparently, her romantic notion of him had faded. Apparently, he’d blown it.
“Good idea. Where’s Lassie going to sit?”
The dog’s head shot up, her mouth open, her tongue hanging out.
“Back seat. I’ll take care of her.”
Lily got back in the car while Dev harnessed the dog in the back seat and then entered the front passenger seat.
Lily began driving in silence. She could hear the dog breathing. She could smell the dog’s breath. She hadn’t had a dog for five years. Five very long years. She had wanted to replace her beloved “Lady”, but just couldn’t commit. Seemed like her relationship with her dog was a metaphor for her relationships overall. It had hurt too much when her dog had passed away. That hole in her heart had never healed. She didn’t want that tear to open up again. She looked in the rearview mirror and saw “hurt” staring at her.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve asked you first. I just thought it would be good for you to have a dog again, and I’d feel better about you living alone or being alone at the shop if you had her.”
“Ah, always trying to protect me, Agent Pierce.”
His hand rubbed her right shoulder. “I try, but you do very well on your own. But, this little girl needed a home, and I thought you and she would be perfect together.”
“Obviously, she’s trained. Where’d you get her?”
“I had lunch with a former Army buddy. He works with dogs for drug enforcement groups all over. He was telling me about her. You see, that beauty in the back seat flunked out of training and has nowhere to go.”
“A misfit?”
Dev moved his hand and rubbed the dog’s head. “Aren’t we all in some way?”
“You couldn’t say no. Instead you said, hey I have this girlfriend in Kansas City. Let me fly the dog all the way there and give her a pet for Christmas. My first real Christmas gift to her. Great plan, Pierce.” That pet rock scenario she and Abby had discussed was beginning to look better and better.
Dev winced at the sarcasm. This was not how it went down in his head when he had thought this was the best idea he had ever had. He should have bought the diamond necklace instead. But no, he was trying to protect her, in spite of her.
“She needs a home. If you don’t want her, I’ll take her back with me.”
“We can talk about it later.”
Dev saw a tiny crack. He saw her gazing back at the dog. She was smiling.
“What’s her name?”
Dev started laughing. “That’s the best part. You are going to love it.” Lily glared in his direction. “I think you’ll see the humor in it. Her name is Mort.”
“What?” Lily yelled. The dog let out a loud bark. “They named a girl, Mort?”
“Get it? Mort, Jessica Fletcher’s Mort, the sheriff in that old television show, remember?”
She was seriously going to check Dev out when they got to her house. Had he been hit on the head? Who was this dork in my car?
“The poor thing. Only a dumb man would name a female dog Mort.”
Dev shook his head. “Don’t you get it? You love Jessica Fletcher, so I thought Mort was perfect. I just thought it was meant to be when my buddy told me her name.”
“You know, we should be quiet for a while so I don’t call you an idiot.”
Dev reached back and petted the dog another time before sitting in silence the remainder of the car trip. How could he tell her why he wanted the dog around? He’d wait until a couple of glasses of wine had taken their effect before he’d offer the truth.
Later, Lily sat on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand. She’d placed Dev’s beer on the coffee table. He was walking the dog. She took another drink. What the heck had he been smoking to have made an idiot decision like that?
Paws clamored on her wood floor as the two entered the house.
“It’s getting cold out there, all of a sudden.”
It’s cold in here too, Lily thought. She took another drink.
“Girl, here.” Mort followed him to the towel he had on the floor. Obediently, she plopped down and curled up with her head settled on her paws. She was watching Lily’s every move.
Dev grabbed the beer as he sat down in the chair across from her. Lily was staring at him. He stared back. It was time.
“I can tell you are a little upset.”
“Must be all your training that makes you so perceptive.” She took another drink.
Dev’s eye-roll elicited another drink taken by Lily. “I have some news for you that you won’t like. Hell, I didn’t like it, but you need to know.”
Lily placed the wine glass on the table and sat on the edge of the sofa. “You have my attention.”
“I’ve been worried about you since this whole car theft ring.”
Lily looked out the window and didn’t see her shadow of security. “I’m assuming there’s no police out there because you’re here?”
“Yes, but there’s another concern of mine. I brought Mort to you because I’ll feel better if she’s here with you. You see, Garrett Notte is a free man.”
“I know,” Lily nonchalantly answered. “I’m surprised Tom didn’t tell you. Abby saw Garrett on a wedding a few weeks back.”
Dev sat up in the chair, leaning forward to stare her down. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
“You’ve been unavailable. Unavailable. That’s what you are.” Lily stopped herself. “I’m sorry. I’ve been careful. Gretchen and I have been sharing information.”
“Gretchen and you? The stiletto terrorist Gretchen?”
Lily nodded. “She has connections in various social circles and can keep tabs on him. What I want to know is why he is free, and I feel like I’m in jail?”
Dev was incredulous at the thought of the new combo of Lily and Gretchen, super sleuths. “I don’t know the details, but he made some deal.” Dev pointed at Mort. “That’s why I want her here. I know you have security at the house and the shop. You have the police until their investigation is over, but I want you to have company.”
“She can take his face off, right?”
“Well, actually, that’s why Mort failed in drug training. She can find drugs, but once she does, she backs down. She is not aggressive.”
“And that is supposed to help me, how?”
He saw her shaking hand, and it wasn’t from the wine. “Because no one knows that. She can bark, she can show her teeth. If she smells drugs, you’ll know it. She looks menacing and only you and I know she just wants to sit on your feet and snuggle.” Dev looked into Lily’s eyes and saw courage replaced by fear. “Please let her stay, if not for you, for me. I’ll feel better if she’s here with you when I can’t be.”
“Because?”
“Because I care about you even when you want to call me an idiot.”
Dev stood up and moved next to Lily, pushing her back softly into the sofa, covering his hands on her cheeks to kiss her full on the mouth. It was a very romantic gesture until a very large dog jumped over the coffee table, toppling a wine glass and a beer bottle to plant herself in the middle of the couple.
Dev was laughing hard, but Lily stood up with wine stains on her jeans.
“You are an idiot. I have no problem saying it. Now get your new girlfriend off my sofa.” The mood had passed as the fur flew.
“I guess we’ll both be sleeping on the sofa tonight, Mort.” He was rewarded with a huge sloppy dog kiss.
Chapter Twelve
It was Thanksgiving morning, one of the most magical holidays of the year. It was a day of just eating, just napping, and not giving a gift to anyone. Lily stretched in bed enjoying everything and absolutely nothing. Turkey day was a day off doing what normal people did -- cook, eat, watch television, if that’s what normal people did. Cooking was actually a luxury, a work she enjoyed but seldom participated in on a regular basis.
When she decided to have a quiet Thanksgiving dinner alone with Dev, she hadn’t planned on a third wheel of t
he furry kind. Oh my gosh, did Dev have food for Mort? What had he been thinking? How was Mort going to protect her from Garrett Notte? This life just kept getting better and better, moving deeper and deeper into chaos. Again.
She slid her robe and slippers on and walked slowly out to the kitchen There wasn’t one sound in the house. Quiet was soothing, but sometimes it hurt your ears. She needed coffee. As she began to make it, she heard soft paws on the kitchen floor. Lily turned around to see Mort..
“Good morning, girl.” She saw a bag on the kitchen table. “Let’s see if you have any food in here.” Next to the harness she found a small bag of dog food.
“This isn’t going to fill you up.” The dog was very interested in Lily’s package. “Let’s get you a bowl, and I guess someone is going to have to make a run to a pet store. I say we vote the boy to go.”
Mort barked on cue. With food on the floor, the dog ate quickly. Lily filled the bowl Dev had used for water. She then filled her own cup with coffee and shuffled into the living room to see her sleeping prince.
He was wearing an FBI t-shirt and light grey sweatpants. How could the man look that good while he slept? If she was sleeping next to him, she’d never sleep. She’d just keep watching him breathe, studying his every twitch and relishing in the fact she was sleeping next to him. Crud, she was having that dream again, and this time she was awake and within inches of the reality of him. This wonderful man did care about her. Was she ready for more? She needed more from him, more trust, more knowledge, more commitment. But what kind of a commitment, could create the end for them? It definitely would create the finish of her life as she knew it now. Was this the time, the relationship, when she took the chance for a different future than the past she knew?
Mort joined her, first looking over at Dev and then at her with very large brown eyes. The dog was dancing with all four legs. This was not ballroom dancing.
“You need to go out? Come on.”
She led her to the kitchen door. “The backyard is good, just don’t jump the fence.”
