by Linda Warren
Myra had to be prepared to do what was best for Daniel. At the moment, she couldn’t see herself being the best choice to take care of him. She’d never planned on being a mother. It wasn’t her thing. But why not? That’s what was bugging her. And then there was Levi, who was annoying the crap out of her. He was so natural with Daniel, as if he’d been taking care of the child all his life. But then Levi was planning to be a father and wanted to be a father.
Why didn’t she have those feelings? Oh, she didn’t want to open her heart and feel the pain. She wasn’t going that deep right now. Other thoughts took precedence and everything circled back to doing what was best for Daniel.
Everyone said she was a strong, independent woman. Where was that woman now? It wasn’t like her to be so conflicted. But then, she’d never had a child’s life in her hands and Levi judging her.
She had to stop thinking and beating herself up. Things would work out and she would handle it the best way she could.
On the way to the police station, she and Levi were quiet. Myra knew there was a lot both of them wanted to say but that would come later.
Levi had Daniel in a carrier and they made their way to the police chief’s office where Tom, Steve and Clarence were waiting. Chief Greg Gilmore frowned when he saw the baby. “What’s he doing here?”
“Sorry, chief, we don’t have any place to leave him right now,” Myra explained.
“Carla!” He bellowed for his secretary and she appeared in an instant. “Watch the baby for a little bit and call CPS.”
“No, please.” Myra stopped her. “They’re going to take Natalie off the ventilator in the morning and then she can tell us what she wants done with the baby.”
“I didn’t realize she was that much better,” Clarence said from his perch by the chief.
“I’m just repeating what the doctor said and I’d rather the baby stayed with me until then.”
“Watch him in your office,” Greg told Carla.
For the next thirty minutes, Levi and Myra explained what had happened at the Mortez house.
“There’s no basement in the plans we have of the house.” Steve’s fingers zoomed across the keyboard of his laptop and then he raised his hands. “No basement at the Brownsville house, either.”
“Have you ever gone into the house in Brownsville?” Levi asked.
“Yes. We’ve raided it several times. Since there was no basement on the house plan filed for tax purposes with the county tax assessor-collector, we didn’t even look for one. We will now.”
“The one in Matamoras was huge and stockpiled with guns.”
“I heard César telling Marco a shipment had arrived and for him to take care of it,” Myra added.
“Can’t say we saw any drugs, though. It was dark and I was more worried about our lives than finding things we could use to nail Marco to the wall,” Levi continued. “I don’t know how they plan to move the guns, but have you done a check of Ava and her family?”
Steve clicked keys on his laptop. “Yes. The yachting business. We haven’t been able to connect it, but you’ve given us more information.”
“My concern now―” Levi leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees “―is the safety of Myra and the baby. Marco was really pissed off and threatened revenge. He vowed to get his son back.”
“Marco’s wife is the only reason we’re alive. She got us out of the basement and brought the baby to us because she doesn’t want him in the house.” Myra shifted in her seat. “She is seriously unbalanced and actually hates Daniel. From the little she said, I assumed her father was also in cahoots with the Mortezes. And he wouldn’t be pleased about Marco flaunting his bastard child in front of his daughter. I got the feeling the Mortez family was trying to pacify her. Sane or insane, I’m grateful she got us out of there.”
“We can’t ignore these threats,” Tom said.
“We’ll put a guard on Myra and the baby and someone at the hospital.” The chief made the decision.
“Thank you,” Myra said.
A loud cry sounded outside the door. Myra got to her feet. “I better get him. His life’s been turned upside down and he’s confused with seeing so many different people.”
In the secretary’s office, she lifted him out of his carrier and patted his back and he immediately calmed down, blinking at her with watery eyes. “It’s okay,” she cooed at him, giving him his Binky, which he hadn’t had in days. Happy, he smiled at her.
“I tried to talk to him but he cried that much louder,” Carla said.
“He’s confused about what’s going on.” Myra carried him back into the chief’s office. The moment Daniel saw Levi, he held out his arms. Myra experienced a moment of disappointment. Maybe she would make a terrible mother. She’d known Daniel since he was born and yet he preferred a man he’d just met. She didn’t have those motherly instincts or Daniel just didn’t recognize them. The depressing thoughts weighed her down.
Levi bounced Daniel in his arms. “I think we’ll take him back to Myra’s so he can play and be quiet without being carted around to any more strange places.”
Tom got to his feet. “We’ll have guards at Myra’s apartment and, if you leave, they will follow you, so rest assured someone is always watching you. There’ll be guards at the hospital, too.”
Steve closed his laptop. “The agency will have people on the ground in Matamoras. We’ll know when the Mortez family leaves the compound whether by car or by plane. We’ll do our best to keep this under control and maybe put this drug family out of business.”
They shook hands and Levi and Myra made their way to her car. Levi strapped Daniel in and then joined her in the front seat. Her participation wasn’t required.
Back at the apartment, Levi was on the phone talking to his friend about his truck in Brownsville. The truck in Matamoras they wrote off as a loss. Daniel played in the Pack ’N Play with his toys.
“How are you going to get your truck?” she asked when he put his cell in his pocket.
“Turner’s brother is going to fly him there and then Turner will drive it to Houston. I’ve notified the car dealer in Brownsville. Turner’ll call when he makes it here.”
“That’s a very good friend.”
“I’ve known Turner and his brothers all my life and they’ve always lived just a little bit outside the law.”
She held up a hand. “Don’t tell me. I’m very big on not breaking the law.”
He smiled and her stomach trembled with familiar awareness. “You’ve always been a little uptight about that.”
Curling up beside him on the sofa, she said, “And you haven’t?”
“Okay. We’re two tight-asses.”
“We’re alike in a lot of ways.”
He looked into her eyes and she wanted to glance away, but she couldn’t. “Except in what really matters. Home. Family. Kids.”
“Yeah.” She stood, ignoring the ache in her stomach. “I’m hungry. How about you?”
He nodded. “Food would be nice, but you have nothing to eat in this place.”
“I’ll order pizza.” She placed the order and sat on the sofa again.
“You didn’t ask what I wanted.” He gave her a puzzled look.
“Meat lovers?” She lifted an eyebrow.
“You remembered.” That wicked smile sent her blood pressure soaring. “Did you order coffee? I need coffee first thing in the morning.”
She jumped up. “You’re such a baby.” She marched upstairs and got her Keurig machine out of her office and carried it downstairs.
His eyes opened wide when he saw it. “You have one of those?”
“In my office. Sometimes I work late and the coffee helps me to stay awake.”
“Mmm. You failed to mention that the other morning.”
“Becaus
e you weren’t being nice. In my apartment, you have to be nice. That’s the rule.” She set the K-cups on the counter in the kitchen and plugged in the Keurig. “I only have caramel vanilla cream, French vanilla and French roast.”
“French roast will have to do, and for your information, I’m always nice.”
She sat on the sofa again. “I’ll admit it might be me. I’m out of sorts.”
“Why? Daniel is here safe, and tomorrow they’ll take Natalie off the ventilator. That should lift your spirits.”
She smoothed the fabric of her dress over her knees. “I just keep thinking about Natalie. What if she can’t breathe on her own?”
“You have to be prepared for that,” he told her.
“We risked our lives to save Daniel and Natalie has to be okay. That’s all I can think.”
Levi looked her in the eye. “When Stu was a cop in Austin, I remember him talking about Natalie and how good her grades were and what a bright future she had. The last I heard, she was accepted into Texas University. What I can’t understand is how she got mixed up with someone like Marco. I mean, this woman has a good head on her shoulders.”
“Stu said the divorce hit Natalie hard and she began to take risks, acting out and doing things to get back at him. They had one of those tense relationships. But after Natalie’s mother died, she moved here to Houston to be closer to Stu. They were getting along, or at least I thought they were.”
“Did she date Marco to get Stu’s attention?”
“I’m not sure. Stu did a background check on him but Natalie wouldn’t listen to a thing he said.”
“Would she listen to you?”
“Sometimes, but I didn’t want to alienate her, so I closed my eyes to what she was doing. I didn’t like it, but I thought she would come to her own conclusions that Marco was bad for her.” She curled one hand into a fist. “Then she started coming to work with bruises and I tried to handle it as delicately as possible. But the moment I said anything she became defensive, so I backed off, wanting to be there for her if she needed me.”
“But she never asked for your help?”
“No.”
“So you’re feeling angry at yourself for not stepping in.”
She glanced at him, wondering if he could read her mind.
“Maybe.”
“She would have chosen him over you,” he stated confidently. “That’s the way it works. I’ve never seen it happen any other way since I’ve been a cop or a detective. She would have resented you and broken off all contact. And this little guy’s life—” he thumbed toward Daniel “—would have been cut short by Marco’s deranged wife. Pat yourself on the back. Daniel is safe.”
“But how long can we keep him safe?”
He frowned. “Are you Myra Delgado? The prosecutor who faces hardened criminals and puts them behind bars?”
“That’s different.”
“Maybe, but the police department and the FBI are doing everything they can to protect us. What’s really bothering you?”
Fear. How could she tell him that? She’d promised Natalie she’d take care of Daniel and the fear inside her was telling her she’d make a terrible mother. Those weren’t normal feelings, and if she said the words out loud, she’d look like the monster she felt like.
The intercom buzzed. She jumped up. “The pizza is here.”
“Wait a minute.” Levi was on his phone, talking to the guard. He clicked off. “Buzz him through.” Levi opened his briefcase and pulled out his Glock. “We have to be prepared.”
Myra trembled with the reality of their situation. On the security panel in the living room, she tapped in a code to open the gate for the pizza guy. Grabbing some money out of her purse, she took a deep breath and headed for the door. Levi was already there. When the doorbell sounded, he looked through the peephole.
“Open it,” he said, standing behind the door.
A kid about seventeen handed her the pizza. She gave him some cash and said, “Keep the change.” She had no idea the amount she’d given him, but she knew it was more than enough.
Levi closed the door and she carried the pizza to the kitchen. In a moment, he followed her. She opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. Sitting at the bar, they dived into the pizza only to be met with a loud howl from the living room.
“Oh, someone’s feeling left out,” Levi said.
“We should have fed him first.”
“You think?” He charged into the living room to get Daniel.
When he brought the baby back, Daniel had big tears in his eyes. Myra searched through the baby’s food to find something for him. “How about sweet potatoes and creamed chicken?”
Levi made a face, but she ignored him and opened the jars. She had never really fed Daniel, but she’d watched Natalie a number of times. To be on the safe side, she pushed the jars and a spoon toward Levi. Since he helped with his friends’ kids, he probably knew how to feed a baby.
He slid off the bar stool and went into the living room to get Daniel’s carrier. He set it on the bar and strapped Daniel in. Daniel waved his arms when he saw the food. Scooping a spoonful of sweet potatoes, Levi slipped it into Daniel’s mouth. The baby smacked his lips, wanting more, and Levi continued to feed him.
“I’ll fix a bottle for him,” she said, needing to do something. “It’s close to his bedtime, so he’ll probably go to sleep after we feed him.”
“He doesn’t like this chicken crap but I’m sliding it in with the potatoes.”
Myra watched as if mesmerized. Levi was a natural father. He seemed to know what to do and Daniel responded to him.
“I’ll put a quilt in his Pack ’N Play and get towels so we can bathe him.” She hurried upstairs feeling more inadequate than she ever had before. Once she had Daniel’s bed ready, she went back into the kitchen.
She stopped short when she saw the baby. He had food all over his face and clothes—orange food.
“He got a little happy with the food,” Levi explained.
“I have his pajamas and towels.”
Levi lifted Daniel out of the carrier and carried him to the sink. Between the two of them, they managed to get his clothes off, which was a mistake. Daniel peed, the stream shooting onto Levi and the countertop.
“Whoa, boy.” Levi held him out like a football. “That’s a no-no. I’m almost positive you’re not supposed to pee on Myra’s granite countertops.”
Myra quickly filled the sink with water. Levi sat the baby in it before any more damage was done. She handed Levi the washcloth and baby soap. He scrubbed Daniel thoroughly, even putting his head under the faucet, and Daniel didn’t seem to mind. He actually giggled and splashed around in the water, having fun.
“Ready?” Levi glanced at her.
“Yes.” Levi lifted the baby out of the water and she wrapped a big towel around Daniel. Levi whisked him into the living room and laid him on the sofa.
They got him into a diaper and pj’s quickly. Levi gave him his bottle and the baby fell asleep in minutes. Once Levi laid him in the Pack ’N Play, Myra flicked off the light and they went back into the kitchen.
“The pizza’s cold,” she said, sliding onto a stool.
“I like cold pizza.” He picked up a big slice and nothing was said for a few minutes.
She sipped her wine. “You’re very good with the baby.”
He pushed back from the island as if he’d been stung by something. “Damn! I forgot about the pee. Oh, well.” He picked up another slice and downed it. “I’m too hungry to think about it.”
In that moment, besides the obvious, she was very aware of the difference between a man and a woman. A woman would have stopped eating immediately. A man adjusted his way of thinking. That was her problem. She had a hard time adjusting her way of thinking. May
be she just needed to watch Levi and take a page out of his book.
But sometimes the genes could not be denied. Setting her wineglass aside, she stood up and got the cleaning supplies out from beneath the sink and disinfected the counter.
Levi’s eyes bore into her back, but she refused to look at him. “This apartment is not going to be the same after a couple of days with a baby in it. Where are you putting the dirty diapers?”
She swung around. “I don’t know, Levi. The trash. Isn’t that obvious?”
“Whoa.” He held up both hands. “A little touchy, aren’t you?”
She put the cleaning supplies away. “I’m going to bed.” She started toward the living room and then stopped. “I have to clean up the rest.”
Levi looked up. “It’s just leftover pizza. I think I can handle it.”
She had no idea what she was being snippy about, but his reply made her even snippier. “You can do everything, can’t you? You’re supermom. Superdude.”
He stared at her with narrowed eyes and she quickly backpedaled. “Never mind.” She reached for her wineglass. “I should really take Daniel upstairs.”
“He’s fine where he is. I’m a light sleeper, and if he wakes up I can take care of him.”
“Fine.” She stomped upstairs and slammed the door.
She drained the wineglass and then took a deep breath. What was wrong with her? Too many emotions fought for dominance. She was being an ass for no reason other than she didn’t appreciate the fact Levi was better at taking care of Daniel than she was. She needed to apologize to him, but first she’d take another shower. After not bathing for days, she needed it to feel normal again. It would also help to calm her and gather the remains of her composure.
Fifteen minutes later, she felt much better. She could get through this. She wasn’t a weak woman, unable to handle a crisis. With that thought, she headed for the stairs in shorty pajamas and a tank top. At the top of the stairs, she heard Levi’s voice and paused.
“I should be here a couple more days, at least,” Levi was saying. “I miss you, too, but I got caught up in this thing and I have to see it through.”
