“What’re your plans for in here?” he asked as she poured them each a glass of ice tea and then joined him by the kitchen table.
She looked around the room. “Well, I really haven’t decided yet. I was thinking of taking that wall behind you down, opening up the kitchen and living room, figuring that would be good for entertaining.”
“You have a large family?” he asked, and saw the color drain from her face. It was obvious his question shocked her.
“No. I think it would be great for resale value.”
“Resale value? You’re not sticking around here?” he asked, feeling disappointed, and he made that pretty obvious as he nearly choked on the sip of tea. No woman ever made him react like this. It was unnerving.
“Eventually, maybe. I don’t know. I think it’s a nice town, Sheriff. The people seem friendly and your father’s bar, The Station, is pretty cool.”
“Jake, please call me Jake.”
“Jake.” She eyed him over the glass before she turned away.
“I heard that you were working at The Station. How do you like it so far?”
“I like it. It’s busy and the tips are great. Firefighters can get pretty rowdy.”
“Can’t we all.”
She chuckled. “Well, again, I appreciate you helping me out.” She stood up and he knew she wanted him to leave, but why? They were getting along fine.
“Kicking me out?” he asked as he stared at her while running his fingertip around the rim of the ice tea glass.
“It’s your day off, I’m sure you have much better things to do than hang out here with me where you could get electrocuted, sprayed with chemicals, or put to work.”
“I don’t mind at all. I have actually enjoyed our time together. It’s the best way to get to know someone.”
She placed her glass into the sink, and turned to stare at him.
The sunlight cast a nice gentle glow over her body, and especially her hair that sparkled with red and golden highlights.
“Listen, Sheriff, Jake, I appreciate the gesture. You handling my car situation, and you coming over here helping me, but I’m kind of used to being alone. In fact I prefer to be alone.”
He stared at her as he stood up. He walked his glass to the sink and now she stood right by him. Her lower back was leaning against the counter.
He stood in front of her, looking down into her big blue eyes, and he reached up to move a strand of hair from her cheek.
“Being alone can be peaceful, but it’s also lonely. You’re new in town, could use a friend, if something comes up that you need. I’d like to be there for you.”
She squinted her eyes at him. “I’m not interested in making any friends, Jake. I appreciate you coming by and dropping off the paperwork. I’ll be sure to call the tow service you recommended on Monday.” She stepped away and he had no choice but to follow her from the kitchen. He sensed her anxiety as he invaded her space. She didn’t move right away, but she felt the attraction as he had. Why was she so resistant, and what was with the “I don’t need to make friends” remark?
She opened her front door and held it open for him.
“Well, good luck with the house. I can give you the names of a few trustworthy electricians if you need help?”
“I’m good.”
He looked her over and she cleared her throat as she stepped back across the threshold and into the safety of her home.
He winked before he headed down the walkway and to his truck. He wondered if she were still watching him. If she was, then maybe she was just shy and he had come off too aggressive. He glanced over his shoulder and waved as she pretended to look inside of her mailbox attached to the house.
Yeah, she was interested, but for some reason she was resistant. He wondered why as he got into his truck and headed home.
Chapter 2
“Well, where the hell could she have gone, Clyde?” Solomon asked. “It’s not like she has any family left. Annette told me their parents were dead.” He spoke into the phone, listening to Clyde Duvall. The man was supposed to be a great tracker. Solomon was paying him well to find Michaela and locate the key to the safety deposit box.
“I don’t know. I need more time. It’s like she disappeared after she recovered from the hospital in New York. I had my people look into her residence in Chicago, and one day it was vacated, items were sold off or donated. The landlord didn’t have any information.”
Solomon was shacked up in a shit apartment downtown, and he could just imagine Clyde, standing in his executive office uptown.
Solomon was impressed with Clyde’s office. It overlooked the city of Manhattan. Solomon was hoping for a position in a firm that Clyde chaired and owned the majority of stocks in, but after the incident with Carlucci, and the fact that Solomon knew Carlucci hired the hit man who killed Annette, his hopes of staying alive in America were slim to none.
He needed the key that Annette had hidden for him. There were fake passports so he could get out of the country, a shitload of money so he could survive on his own, and the thumb drive that Carlucci wanted so badly. There was enough evidence on that thumb drive to put Carlucci and his organization away for life, and prove that he hired the hit man to kill Solomon but instead wound up killing Annette and nearly killing her sister, Michaela. Plus, certain political opponents would pay for that information so Carlucci wouldn’t have a chance of winning his reelection. That was what the other thumb drives were for. A reserve to ensure he remained alive. People would kill for the information on those thumb drives.
He kind of felt bad for Michaela. She survived, but had no idea what she had gotten caught up in. Carlucci could be looking for her right now to finish the job, or at minimum, track down Solomon.
“If I find her, what do you want me to do?”
“Call me first. If I can get to you easy, then I’ll take care of the rest. If I can’t, then you may have to hold her up somewhere until I retrieve what I need.”
“What does she have that you need so badly? You’re taking a chance sticking around here when the cops are looking for you and the guy who killed your girlfriend.”
“I just need something she has before I ditch this place. Plus, I’d like nothing more than to see Carlucci dead.”
“Which is why I’m helping you out. I’m not going to lie to you, Solomon. It would serve some of my own interests to get rid of that slimy bastard.”
Solomon smiled to himself. This was what he had hoped for. If he needed to get out of the country, then he could give Clyde a copy of the thumb drive and let him deliver the dirty work.
“I understand. The man has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. I don’t know why the majority of people can’t see through his bullshit. If they only knew what he was into.”
“Sounds like you have some shit on him. If you need a partner in this, I’m in. What do you have? Photographs, confiscated files from his personal computer? What?” Clyde asked.
“No specifics, Clyde. But I have a bunch of shit on thumb drives hidden in a safe location.”
“So this chick I’m tracking knows where these thumb drives are? No wonder you’re worried that Carlucci’s man might find her first. Is it in a security box somewhere? I sure hope so for your sake. Carlucci has a lot of pull and connections everywhere.”
“Money and power can bring a person a long way. Listen, call me next week or I’ll find a way to contact you if I get any updates on the woman. Be safe.”
Clyde disconnected the call and Solomon turned off the disposable phone so it couldn’t be tracked. He knew that Clyde had his own interests in helping him. It paid to have friends in some shitty positions, and Solomon knew that Clyde wanted Carlucci out of the race.
It was why he called him for help with tracking down Michaela. In fact, his only other problem would be Michaela and what to do with her after he got what he wanted from her.
Well, he had time to make that plan, but for both their sakes, he hoped he was the one to find her a
nd not Carlucci’s hit man.
* * * *
Hal was getting ready for work at the firehouse when his brother Jake walked into their home.
“Where have you been?” Hal asked, and Jake raised his eyebrow at him.
Jake placed a bag onto the counter with a sandwich he brought at the deli after leaving Michaela’s house. He was tempted to pick her up something, too, and go back as a peace offering. But then thought better of it. She might think he was stalking her. Truth was he couldn’t stop thinking about her. She wasn’t just another good-looking woman. She seemed tough, authentic, and also resistant. Her words about not needing to make friends sat heavy on his heart. He couldn’t help but to wonder if someone hurt her.
“I was out, had to run a few errands, and then grabbed lunch.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay? You’re not still upset about the situation at the police station and how that woman took action?”
Jake placed his hands on the counter, palms down, and stared at his brother. Hal was just as tall as him but not as bulky. He was trim, all muscle, and had blonder hair. Where Jake’s was light brown with blond highlights.
“No, I’m not still upset about that.”
“Okay. Just making sure. Because I did notice you bench pressing a little lighter yesterday and maybe thought that you were losing your confidence.”
Jake grabbed the dishtowel and threw it at Hal’s head as Hal laughed.
“Where’s Billy? He’s on today, too, right?”
“Yeah, he’s getting ready. He was out with Lance and Tyler last night. They were talking to some women when one of them brought up Lisa. Apparently she knew her from a yoga class or something.”
Jake squinted his eyes and felt his temper rising already. Whenever Lisa’s name came up it brought trouble and anger in each of them.
Just then Billy walked in.
“It was no big deal. I told you not to even mention it to Jake,” Billy stated, ducking as he entered the kitchen. He was just as tall as Jake but with dark brown hair that reached his shoulders. He was a big man with lots of muscles, and appeared sort of untamed. Some of their friends called him Tarzan, but most called him by his call sign. His size and demeanor gave him the call sign Bear at work. As opposed to Hal, who they called Hollywood because he was always wearing sunglasses and sporting the latest styles for men. He took pride in his appearance and the women loved it.
“What happened?” Jake asked, now crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Hal chuckled, knowing that Jake would get the info out of him. Jake was always a good interrogator. It had come in handy many times during their stints in the service. Jake had abilities.
“It was the same stupid shit. Lisa spreading lies about us dumping her after promising marriage and a commitment.”
“That bitch should just move on. What about those two ass wipes from Jersey City? I thought after she shacked up with them and we caught her, the first freaking time, that she was committed to them?” Jake asked.
“Haven’t you realized that Lisa doesn’t know the first thing about commitment? She’s a stuck-up, rich snob who just goes with whatever the latest craze is. Over a year ago it was a ménage with us,” Hal said.
“We need to move on and just put her behind us,” Jake stated and then walked near the kitchen nook that looked out toward the channel. Their boat sat there and it had been weeks since they took it out. He wondered if Michaela would want to go for a ride.
“Hey, what’s with you over there daydreaming?” Hal asked, giving Jake a light nudge in his shoulder.
He took a deep breath and released it.
“I think we need to move on. I think the time for finding someone we all might like, and taking another chance is now. It’s been more than a year.”
“Why would you want go through that bullshit again? We thought that Lisa was into the relationship we wanted. Hell, what she did to us was just totally fucked up. I put a lot into the relationship and I just don’t think I have the energy or the desire to do it again,” Hal stated.
“You mean you’re giving up on what we decided we wanted years ago?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know. It just seems rare that these types of relationships work out. I haven’t even met anyone who I think is right, or that I’m willing to give it a try with,” Bear added.
“Listen, I’m not saying let’s go out and start hunting down a woman. I’m saying, let’s be open to the possibility of moving on now. We’re older, more mature, and know what we want. We can bypass the women looking for a new experience and to have a good time, and focus on the ones who understand this type of relationship or who purely, physically feel an attraction. I’m saying it’s time to move on.”
“I don’t know if I could trust another woman again. Not after what Lisa did behind our backs and after she cheated on us like that,” Bear said as he took the truck keys from his pocket and grabbed his duffel bag.
“I’m with Billy. I don’t know if I’m ready to take that chance. Hell, I haven’t even met anyone I could think was a possibility for me, never mind for the two of you. I think we should just stop thinking about it,” Hal said. Then he grabbed his bag and the two of them said good-bye before walking from the house and leaving Jake there to think about what they said.
But as Hal walked out with Bear and headed toward Bear’s truck, he couldn’t help but feel that inkling of hope that maybe one day they would meet the right woman. She would have to be a trustworthy woman who didn’t lie, who didn’t pretend to care, and who truly loved the three of them so they could all have a future people only dreamt about.
Chapter 3
“Hey, Smiley, you sure do know how to handle a busy bar. That must have been a hell of a joint ya worked at in Chicago,” Burt stated as he stood next to her behind the bar. The new nickname he gave her had started off as a wise guy remark about her serious expression. But because of it, she was smiling constantly and actually enjoying the bar, her bosses and the new nickname. Burt had been watching her, keeping a close eye on her moves, on how much alcohol she put in the drinks. It was all typical of an owner watching over his bar.
She chuckled at him. She really did get a lot of joy out of his Irish brogue. Even his partner, her other boss Jerome, had a nice accent going on.
Both men were charming, very flirty and fun, but also tough as nails. Earlier in the evening before the Friday night crowd began to pour in, Burt showed her around the place and talked to her about the memorabilia. She had a chance to see a great picture of Burt with his three sons. Three very good-looking and extra large men.
She was surprised by her reaction to the picture. The four men appeared happy, and as if they had a great relationship. She wondered about their mother, Burt’s wife, but didn’t want to ask. If she asked questions, then Burt would ask questions.
But her plan backfired as he told her all about Mary and how wonderful of a mother and wife she was before she died of heart disease. It was sad, but he was definitely in love with her.
Michaela had a hard childhood. She lived in a shitty neighborhood, went to even crappier schools, and had to practically live on work sites for her father’s construction company. She didn’t own a toy—not a doll, a bear, or even a matchbox car. Her parents were always struggling and always fighting. Her father’s relationship with her mom, an alcoholic, was crappy and rocky. They fought all the time and eventually her father turned to drinking, too.
Then came his accident and his depression. Down went the business as she took care of her father while Annette took off, unable to handle a thing. Mom died, Dad followed, and Michaela learned fast about responsibility, debt, and hardship.
It took years of working in some of the craziest but highest paying clubs in Chicago to pay her parents’ debt, sell the house, and begin college. But she did it. She had a knack for numbers, finished top in her class, and landed an awesome job at a big firm in the city. She tried contacting Annette, visited her a few times, and ev
en helped support her so she could get her life on track, but then she met Solomon.
Why did I ever go to New York to see her when she basically told me to forget about her?
“Hey, Smiley, meet my son Hal,” Burt stated, giving her elbow a nudge and bringing her back to the present. The night crew was beginning to arrive. The ladies were all dolled up and ready to land a first responder, and the guys were all rowdy.
She looked up and up, until her eyes locked gazes with the stunning man with incredibly blue eyes. His hair was not quite blond, more dirty blonde and nearly reached his shoulders but curled at the ends. It looked so smooth and shiny. She imagined women probably loved to run their fingers through it. He was absolutely gorgeous.
“Hal, meet my new bartender, Smiley.”
“Darling, you can’t be the little number that showed up my brother in his own sheriff’s department. Wow, I’m impressed.” He eyed her over from breasts to face. She felt a bit guilty for gaining such a reputation, but it seemed the incident at the sheriff’s department was still fresh on people’s minds and the story had been exaggerated, with the sheriff at the brunt of the jokes.
“This is her. Ain’t she a gorgeous little young lassie?” Burt asked, squeezing her shoulders from behind her. She chuckled as he walked away to help another patron.
“Nice to meet you, Smiley.” He reached his hand out to shake hers and she reached across the bar.
“It’s Michaela. Your dad is just messing with me and the nickname thing,” she said as their hands touched. She felt that instant attraction. It went straight to her gut and she pulled back, grabbing the rag and wiping down the bar.
“What are you drinking?” she asked him.
“A Bud is fine,” he said, never taking is eyes off of her, and then he ran his fingers through his hair as she pulled the lever to the bar tap, filling the ice cold mug with beer.
She watched him, as she kept watch of the mug. She was right. He looked sexy running his fingers through his hair. He also looked a bit less serious than his brother, Jake.
Hearts on Fire 2: Michaela (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 3
