Reunited with the P.I.

by Anna J. Stewart

  “You never appreciated me psychoanalyzing you, Vince. I’d appreciate the same in return.”

  Vince tried to reconcile the Simone sitting in front of him with the spitfire he’d married. Three years wasn’t so long ago, and yet, right now, it felt like an eternity, but it had obviously been enough to dim her rose-colored glasses. “I warned you this case could get nasty.” Although he hadn’t anticipated it happening as fast as it had.

  “Really? An I-told-you-so?” She stood up, brushed her hands across her butt and pivoted on those needle-thin heels that could pierce a man’s heart and dreams. “I’m seeing this through, Vince. With or without you.”

  “I didn’t say I was quitting. We made a deal. I’m sticking with the case until the end.”

  “Of course you are. You haven’t gotten what you want yet.”

  “Is that how we’re going to do this, Simone? You’re going to use me as your verbal punching bag whenever you get angry or scared? I’m only asking so I can put on my protective gear if need be.”

  “As if—”

  “Careful.” He was in front of her in a flash, trying to keep his memory from spiraling back to the hours spent tangled up in the sheets with her. “Baiting me like that will only make me do something you’ll regret.”

  “Like what?” Hands on hips, she inched up that defiant chin of hers. Lush curls caught the midmorning breeze, ruffling the thin fabric of the white tank she wore. “Well? I’m waiting.”

  He moved in, cupped the back of her head and whispered, “Yes, you are, aren’t you?” With that, he dropped his mouth onto hers. He wasn’t certain who was more surprised, but the slight gasp that escaped her lips gave him all the encouragement he needed to draw her in.

  There was only one thing more invigorating than kissing an expectant Simone and that was kissing an angry Simone. That was where the passion was, that was the taste that mingled on his tongue as he dueled with hers, and held her so close he wasn’t certain whose heart was beating double time.

  She nipped at his lip, gently at first, then harder. He grinned as he pulled back, but pressed his forehead to hers. He stared into her defiant gaze. “Any time you want to add sex to the deal, Simone, you let me know.”

  She stroked his cheek for a long moment before she curled her fingers underneath his jaw and teased his stubble. “I hope you got that out of your system, Vince, because it’s not going to happen again.”

  “Want to bet?” he called after her. She’d already turned and was striding into the apartment complex.

  When she didn’t respond, he couldn’t help it. He grinned like a kid on Christmas morning. He hadn’t felt this good, this alive, in ages. But, yeah, he realized she wouldn’t be betting him anytime soon.

  Not when she knew she’d lose.

  * * *

  “Doesn’t look like anyone’s home.” Simone peered inside the window beside the modest bungalow’s front door.

  “We’ll wait.” Vince returned to the car and she followed. By the time she’d closed the door and glanced at him, he seemed comfortable and settled. Not what she had expected.

  “So we’re just going to sit here? How do you know Gale’s even in town?”

  “Pet bowls on the porch aren’t empty. I heard a dog in the backyard. More excited about visitors than angry at being abandoned. She cares about them. Toddler toys in the yard, picture books on the couch and coffee table. She probably took her kids out for a bit. She’ll be back.”

  He could tell all that by peering into someone’s window for five seconds? She sank back in her seat. No wonder he was so good at reading her.

  He clicked on the radio and filled the car with the sounds of Strauss, one of her personal favorites. One of those surprising qualities of his, that they shared the same taste in music. She wondered if the powerful melodies were as much a coping mechanism for him as they were for her. She should know that, she realized. She should know a lot of things.

  She stared out her window and marveled at the lives people led. The ankle-deep grass was strewn with the toddler toys Vince mentioned. An empty plastic wading pool, no doubt anxiously awaiting the arrival of hot valley temperatures come summer. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d thought about the change in season or what followed. Concerts in the park? Barbecues with friends? They seemed almost unheard of for her these days. The only exception, the lazy afternoon spent on Cole’s boat, cruising up and down the Sacramento river a few weeks ago, but other than that, every minute she’d had was spent at work. “What is it you’re hoping Mara’s friend Gale will tell you?” She felt her phone vibrate and dug it out from her purse. Scanning the screen, she then bit her lip to stop smiling.

  “Can’t say for sure until I hear it,” Vince replied. “Everything all right?” He gestured to her cell.

  “Eden’s losing it. She’s sending me and Allie honeymoon pictures.” She passed the phone to him with the most recent photo of Eden’s hand shoving a flailing Cole into a lake. “She doesn’t do well doing nothing for long.”

  “If they’re doing nothing, they’re not honeymooning properly.” Vince sent her a tempting glance and instantly, her cheeks went hot. This happened whenever she thought of their own honeymoon in Cabo. They didn’t leave their room for three days.

  “Given what I’ve heard from Eden, I have no doubt they’re honeymooning just fine.” Nonetheless, Simone was anxious for her friends to return to the city. Working with Vince was fine, up to a point, but there was a shorthand, a language she shared with Allie and Eden that made her feel more productive and...grounded. “How much are we going to tell Mara’s friend?”

  “As much as we need to,” Vince said. “Less than we have to. Mara’s apartment was washed down, Simone. Professionally. I know you trust McTavish, but can you honestly tell me you haven’t considered the possibility that someone he works with could be involved with this disappearance?”

  “At this point, I wouldn’t rule anyone out.” Simone hated to admit it, but he could be right. “I know where your thinking leans, Vince, but this isn’t exactly easy for me. I’ve put everything I am into the system.” Without the law as her compass, what did she have?

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “Just because you think I’m stuck up—”

  “I’ve never once thought that, Simone.” Vince shook his head. “I might have said it once or twice, but I’ve never really believed it.”

  “I wouldn’t have guessed that you still do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “That thing you do when no one else is around. And don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. You’re a nice guy, Vince. Charming even.” He’d have had to be to get past the emotional defenses she’d built up. “It’s too bad no one else sees it.”

  “Maybe you’ve always brought out something different in me.” He reached toward her and leaned in.

  She jerked back, grimacing. “You can’t be serious. I told you no se—”

  He paused, arched a brow and then clicked something open resting on the floor of the backseat. “Relax.” He handed her a chilled bottle of water then grabbed one for himself. “I already made my move. The next one’s yours. I always keep a cooler in the car on a stakeout. And don’t get overexcited. I’m too old to do anything of significance in a car these days.”

  Considering he was more fit than she remembered, she found that difficult to believe. “Sorry.” She twisted off the cap and drank. “You make me nervous.”

  “Good. And back at ya.”

  She tried to cross her legs, found it impossible and slouched in the seat. “This can’t be all that the job is? Sitting around, waiting for people to show up?”

  “More often than you’d think. Disappointed?”

  “Surprised, I guess. Not that we ever really talked about your job very muc
h.”

  “We didn’t do much talking about anything if memory serves.” He drank down half his water, keeping his gaze straight ahead. “We based a marriage on sex. Not the best idea for any relationship, let alone for two people each used to being in charge. Being together wasn’t our mistake, Simone. Getting married was.”

  Simone scraped at the label on her bottle until it started to peel. She wasn’t going to apologize for being a control freak, but she’d never considered their marriage a mistake. Exactly.

  “There was more between us than that,” she said. She’d loved him. At least she’d thought she did. She’d definitely wanted him, but once she had him, she hadn’t known what to do with him. “Or maybe I wanted there to be.” He’d been a challenge she hadn’t been able to resist. Not when her feelings for Vince had been so...powerful. “I told you when you proposed I wasn’t cut out for marriage.”

  “Why? Because your parents stink at it? That’s a bit hypocritical considering your lecture last night about rising above your circumstances.”

  The backdoor reference to his brother wasn’t lost on her. As if he needed to remind her about the deal they’d struck. She’d already gone through his brother’s file. There wasn’t anything new to be found. But the second she told him that, he’d be gone and she couldn’t risk it. Not when she still needed him.

  “There’s a difference. I know how not to break the law. It’s not as if I had a shining example of marital bliss.” She dismissed his accusation. “My father’s on his, wait, third, no, fourth wife and Mother’s probably stalking number six as we speak.”

  “What happened between us had nothing to do with your parents’ inability to commit to each other. Nor did it have anything to do with mine hurting each other whenever the mood struck. The truth is neither one of us was willing to step back from the life we already had to make room for the other and build something new.”

  Condensation dripped from the water bottle onto her skirt, seeped into the material and left a splotch that in ordinary circumstances would have had her diving for a napkin. “Is that what happened?”

  “You really want to get into this now?”

  She looked around, then back at him, finding that, yet again, an irritated Vince got her insides revving almost as strong as one of his kisses. “You have somewhere else to be?”

  “I don’t see what use rehashing our history is going to do other than tick both of us off. We gave it a shot, it didn’t work. It’s disappointing, Simone, but it’s not a tragedy.”

  “You’re right.” She shifted into the corner of the seat, dismissing what she thought sounded like doubt in his voice. “We both know what happens when we argue.”

  “We’d probably turn this car into a convertible with all that repressed steam you’ve got building up.”

  Repressed... She faced him, cheeks flaming. “If that’s you asking who I’ve been sleeping with...”

  “No one.” Vince shrugged and finished his water. “Not recently at least. And you can tamp down on that righteous indignation, your highness. It’s none of my business who you’ve been hitting the sheets with.”

  “Jack and I have been going out.”

  “Going out, not staying in.” Vince shook his head and laughed. “Let me guess. You like him as a friend, just not that way. Please don’t tell me he got that ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech.”

  Simone glared at him.

  Vince laughed. “Man, I so owe that guy a drink.”

  “You’ll probably owe him half your bar by the time this case is over. He’s got our back, Vince. He doesn’t deserve your disrespect.”

  “I never said I didn’t respect him. He likes you, Simone. He might even be in love with you. If we’d been living in the Stone Age, he’d have pummeled me with a club.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” At least she hoped it was. “I mean, I know he has feelings for me. But he understood.”

  “That you only want to be friends? Yeah, I’m sure he was thrilled to hear that.”

  “Where’s all this coming from? You’re the one who walked out on me, remember? You’re the one who decided he didn’t want to be married anymore. You decided not to fight for us.”

  “Hindsight’s always twenty-twenty.” He didn’t sound angry. In fact, he sounded amused. “You think back on that day, Simone, really think back without adding your spin on things and tell me what you truly remember. Then we’ll talk about why I left. And speaking of leaving, I bet that’s Gale coming down the street.” He pointed to the rearview mirror.

  Simone twisted around. The woman pushing an overstuffed stroller looked like a typical harried mom, with a toddler leaning out of his seat to try to grab at fallen leaves and a younger child in a baby carrier strapped to her chest.

  “Matches her DMV photo,” Vince said. “Right down to the spiky hair. You coming?”

  “Of course I am.” She hauled herself out of the car, leaving her purse inside as she stood beside him on the sidewalk, the sound of baby talk bursting against her ears.

  Vince reached into his pocket well before Gale reached them, suspicion clouding her dazed eyes. “Are you two lost? Can I help you?”

  “Gale Alders?” Vince asked in what was his sweetest tone, she knew. He held out his ID then dug out a card to hand to her. “I’m Vince Sutton, a private investigator from Sacramento. This is Simone Armstrong. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?”

  “Oh.” Gale’s eyes went wide. “Is this about Mara? She mentioned your name a few times,” she told Simone, as her toddler made a break for it and stuck one leg out of his stroller.

  “Mar!” the boy cried as his stuffed elephant took a nosedive onto the concrete. “Mar! Baba.”

  “Whoa, big guy. Hold up.” Vince bent down and settled the little boy in his seat before retrieving his toy. “Your mom needs to get you inside before you speed off.”

  Eyes the same shade as his mother’s widened in silent shock as the boy looked at Vince. Simone’s breath caught in her chest. She knew the feeling.

  “That’s the quietest he’s been in days.” The relief in Gale’s voice had Simone smiling in sympathy. She’d never been around many kids. And babies? The very idea of them petrified her. She knew how easy it was to mess up someone’s life from day one. She’d never subject an innocent kid to that, not with her messed up mind-set. “Please. Come on inside,” Gale said. “Let me get them down for their naps and we can talk. I’m so glad to meet you.” She touched Simone’s arm as she passed her. “Mara’s gone on and on about how great you’ve been with this trial.”

  Simone managed to keep her smile in place as she followed Gale into her small, though comfortable, home. She jumped back before the door closed as a white streak of fur bolted out the front.

  “That’s Niko,” Gale said. “He came with my husband, Dave. And the cat’s fine outside. I’ll be just a few minutes.”

  “Nice place,” Vince commented as Simone sat on the edge of the sofa. “Cozy.”

  “Homey,” Simone agreed. Everywhere she looked she saw photographs or kids’ drawings or mementos from marriage and family. A familiar face caught her attention. She stood up, crossed the room and reached for the framed picture of Gale and Mara. “They’re close.”

  “Seems that way.”

  “That went faster than I anticipated.” Gale emerged looking bedraggled, but relieved, if not happy. “He probably wore himself out on the slide at the park. Thank goodness for that elephant Mara gave him last week. Puts him right out. Can I get either of you something to drink? I’m sorry this place is such a mess—”

  “It’s fine.” Simone returned the frame to its spot on the cabinet shelf. “Please don’t worry yourself. We won’t stay long.”

  “Okay.” Gale sat in the chair beside the sofa. “Do you need character references for Mara? Is that what this
is about?”

  “Actually,” Vince said and covered Simone’s hand with his when she was about to speak. “We’re hoping you can help us. Mara didn’t appear in court yesterday and we’re trying to locate her.”

  “What do you mean she didn’t appear?” Gale’s gaze sharpened. “When I talked to her a few days ago she was anxious to get this over with.”

  “That was my impression as well.” Simone tugged her hand free. “But I’m afraid we’ve been unable to find her. You said you spoke with her earlier this week?”

  “Um, yes.” Gale pressed her fingers to her temple. “We have Sophie’s christening next month. Mara’s our daughter’s godmother. You’re saying she’s missing?”

  “Did she say anything else to you that might indicate where she would have gone?” Vince asked. “Or why she would have left town?”

  “No, nothing,” Gale said. “She’s one of those people you can set your clocks by.” She looked to Simone. “But I’m sure you know that already. She’s always been reliable. I’m sorry, but I need to call her.”

  “Of course,” Vince said.

  Simone forced herself to remain passive. She couldn’t let her mounting concern show, not until they had answers to give her friend. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to panic and, as Simone knew from personal experience, sometimes having no answers was the best way to cope with a situation. Sometimes the truth hurt too much.

  Gale pushed to her feet and retrieved her phone from the diaper bag on the back of the stroller. A heavy pressure built up in Simone’s chest as she watched comprehension slide over Gale’s face. “Mara, it’s Gale.” She turned her back on Vince and Simone but not before Simone caught the tears welling in the woman’s eyes. “Please call me as soon as you get this message. No one’s upset with you, I promise. We’re just...worried.” She clicked off. “Something’s wrong. She’s never more than a few inches away from her cell phone.”

  Simone was silent. Part of her had been hoping Mara would answer.