Maeve turned around and offered, “Like a peck?”
“Yeah. Thank you, Maeve. Those were just a peck, like you’d give a brother or something.”
“Jake’s not your brother.” Michael turned up the radio to end the conversation.
Maeve switched it off. “Wait a minute you two. Time out. I’m not sure I understand this. So, Michael, you surprised Dani with an early-morning visit, and Jake was there?”
Dani called out, “Maeve, you’ve lived at Annalisa’s and know that no one gets in without being announced. He didn’t surprise me. The guard called and told me Michael was on his way. If something was going on that shouldn’t have been, I had fair warning and would have had plenty of opportunity to hide the truth.”
Maeve turned and faced Michael. “She has a point, sweetheart.”
“Whose side are you on?” he asked his mother.
“She’s on the side of justice, and you, being a lawyer, should be, too. Turn right at the next stop sign.”
Silence fell over the car again, and after a few moments Emma enunciated perfectly, “Butthead.”
“You got that right, girlfriend.” Dani raised her hand for a high five.
Emma grinned and slapped Dani’s hand.
When they pulled up in front of the vacant house, Dani released Emma from her car seat, then tucked her onto her hip. Jerry instantly appeared at her side.
He said, “I’ll go in first. Stay behind me at all times.”
She rolled her eyes as she dealt with the lockbox to retrieve the key. “Carlos’s friends couldn’t possibly know I was going to show this particular house this afternoon. You’re such a drama queen.”
Jerry’s jaw clenched. For half a second it looked as if he was going to take out his gun and shoot her himself, saving Carlos Watts the trouble. But she must’ve made her point, because he shook his head and moved aside. “It’s your life, lady. Why do I always get stuck with the smartasses?”
Dani sent him a smug grin. “Just lucky, I guess.” She unlocked the door and swung it open. “Why don’t you just stand right there till we’re done? And if a nefarious character carrying a bundle of envelopes tries to put them in that little box right there, shoot him. It’s probably a bad guy dressed as the mailman.”
When Jerry’s hand inched toward his gun, Dani figured she’d pushed him far enough for one day, and her work was done. She followed Michael and Maeve into the house and then set Emma down. “The owners had to relocate due to a job change, so I’ll bet they’re eager to sell.”
While Jerry stood guard outside as the rest of them toured the interior, Emma latched onto Maeve, holding her hand and babbling about something only the two of them seemed to understand.
It was a testament to Maeve that she could put aside the fact that Emma had been sired by her husband’s infidelity. Michael had an awesome mom.
Michael, on the other hand, was driving her nuts by giving her one-word answers since they’d gotten out of the car. He’d had every right to jump to the wrong conclusion, but she’d explained what happened. He just wasn’t buying it for some reason. It took every last ounce of restraint not to smack some sense upside his hard head.
When they passed the master-bedroom closet, she couldn’t stand it any longer and yanked on his perfectly knotted tie, pulling him inside with her. After slamming the door behind them, she slapped the light switch. They were going to clear things up between them once and for all. “You said you wanted to talk about ‘that night’ back in high school, Michael, so talk.”
He whispered, “After that night, you avoided me, wouldn’t take my calls, or even read the notes I asked people to give you. All I wanted was to tell you I was sorry I let that happen.”
Apologize for the best sex she’d ever had? Clearly, she still had more feelings for him than he did for her. It’d make having a casual fling easy on his part; she’d just have to put her feelings aside for the sake of great sex.
Shouldn’t be so hard to do. She’d buried her feelings for him for the past twelve years just fine.
“Apology accepted. So let’s talk about last night. I slept with Emma, Jake fell asleep on the couch, and then he signed our divorce papers this morning.” Not waiting for his response, she took his face in her hands and kissed him.
It didn’t take long for his pursed lips to soften and match her frenzied pace.
What was it about him? The heat from their joining seeped into her body, warming every part of her, especially the good ones.
With his lips never leaving hers, he flipped their positions, backing her against the door. One of his big thighs ended up between her legs, and his large hands slid down her body in one long, slow stroke, leaving every place he touched burning for more. His kiss was so hot it turned her legs to mush. She feared they wouldn’t hold her up much longer.
His eager mouth left hers just in time for her to draw a breath before she passed out, and then his lips trailed down the side of her neck. She finally found the strength to open her eyes, and behind Michael, a small door stood open that led to a storage room in the attic.
In a flash, searing pain, along with a vision, filled her mind. The Pink Panther held up a sign with a big red arrow pointing to the rafters.
She knew where the gun was that Jake was looking for. That damned panther had told her if she talked with Michael about “that night” he’d show her the answer. She hated that something so pink and sneaky held that much power over her mind.
She ran a hand through Michael’s thick hair and whispered, “Can we take a little time-out for just a second? I need to tell Jake something.”
“What?” Michael’s head shot up. “You lay a kiss on me like that and then ask me to wait while you talk to your . . . to Jake? You were thinking about him while you were kissing me?”
That sounded really bad when he put it like that. “No, I wasn’t thinking about Jake. I was thinking about the closet. Wait. I mean of course I was thinking about you, until I opened my eyes and saw what I needed to tell Jake.” She held up her hand. “That came out wrong, too. Let me try again.”
Through gritted teeth, he growled, “Just call him.”
She quickly dug her cell from her purse. “I would’ve waited, but Jake’s got a deadline, so I’ll just be a second and then I’ll remind you where we were.”
Michael stood with his arms crossed, staring at her while she dialed Jake’s number. When he answered, she turned away and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “It’s behind that cedar wall in the master closet. It slides open. Go inside the storage room and shine a flashlight toward the rafters. When you see the shimmer of pink nail polish, you’ll find where the guy marked the spot so he could retrieve it later. The thing in question is tucked between the beams behind the metal nail plate.”
Jake blew out a long breath. “Good job, babe. Thanks.”
She put her phone back and turned around, but Michael was gone. She cursed under her breath, because apparently she wasn’t allowed to cuss out loud as long as she was living with a little mynah bird, and caught up with everyone in the kitchen. When Michael opened the French doors and led Emma to the backyard, Maeve grabbed her arm and held her in place.
“By the scowl on Michael’s face, I’m gonna guess there wasn’t much kissing and making up going on in that closet?”
“We did the kissing part, and that went well, but the making up didn’t happen. Michael is a little sensitive about Jake.”
Maeve wrapped her arm around Dani’s shoulder. “You have to admit you and Jake are probably the friendliest almost-divorced couple most have ever met.”
“Jake and I don’t hate each other. We just weren’t meant to be married. I had to make a phone call to Jake and told Michael it’d only take a minute. He didn’t even let me explain afterward. Maybe Michael and I were better off when we weren’t speaking to each other unless we had to.”
Maeve pulled Dani into a hard hug, then ran a comforting hand up and down her back. “I think y
ou both could have handled the Jake situation this morning a little better, honey.”
Maeve had a point. Michael was hearing her say she was over Jake, but the way she was still so involved in his cases could come off as confusing. “I still need to talk to Jake until my Carlos Watts problem is solved, but you’re right. I shouldn’t have kissed Jake on the cheek. It’s an old habit I need to break.”
“That sounds like a good place to start.” Maeve sighed. “Listen. Michael’s heart was just as broken as yours was back in high school, Dani. I know you were in love with him, but I don’t think he understood how much he cared for you until you stopped talking to him. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be hurt like that again if you still have feelings for Jake.”
Dani’s stomach took a dive. “You knew I was in love with Michael? I never told anyone that.”
She nodded. “You were a sixteen-year-old, starry-eyed girl, who looked at Michael like he invented chocolate cake. It used to melt my heart. And he was a typical oblivious boy. It was hard to watch two people who cared for each other so deeply hurting that much. So please don’t give up on Michael until you get what you want.”
“We may not want the same things, then what?” She rested her head against Maeve’s shoulder. It was always a comfortable spot.
“You might be surprised to learn that we don’t always know what we want in life until we end up with it.”
Dani conjured up her dream man again. She should probably ask her grandmother’s opinion about why he was walking away in her vision. Maybe her mom was right; maybe he wasn’t the one for her, but were she and Michael meant to be together?
After dropping his mom off, Michael headed for Annalisa’s compound. He checked the rearview mirror to be sure Jerry was still close on their tail and caught Em’s reflection in the back seat. Her head was cocked sideways in her car seat, and she was sound asleep. “Did you give Emma a nap today before you picked me up?”
Dani threw a thumb over her shoulder. “Sleep is sleep, right. Doesn’t that count?”
Why he bothered to leave Dani detailed childcare instructions was beyond him. She generally made up her own rules as she went along anyway. “If Emma naps this late in the day, it might be hard to get her to go to bed at a decent hour.”
Dani shrugged. “Well, then I guess us girls will be watching late-night movies tonight.”
He shook his head but let it go. She’d just have to figure it out on her own.
Dani laid a soft hand over his on the console between them. “You’ve been awfully quiet all afternoon. What did you think of the homes we saw?” He refused to let her thumb rubbing slowly back and forth on the back of his hand distract him.
“I liked them. But I’d like to look at a few more like those before I make up my mind.” And while they were talking about making decisions, it was probably as good a time as any to share the one he’d made about him and Dani. “And I think it’d be best to stop whatever this thing is between us before it goes any further. Why don’t you stick to being my Realtor, and we’ll just forget the rest?”
“Michael, I’m sorry about the closet.” Her fingers laced with his. “It’s over between me and Jake. I swear. I shouldn’t have kissed him. You were right.”
Her cell rang, so she gave his hand a gentle squeeze before she dug her phone from her purse.
She read the screen and cringed. “Okay. This is Jake. I should probably answer in case it’s about Carlos, but I won’t if it’ll make you angry.”
Of course it was Jake. He was like a rash that wouldn’t go away. “Answer it.”
He blew out a long breath as he studied the road ahead. Jake was trying to protect Dani. They were going to have to talk. Maybe Michael needed to take her at her word that they were really over. But trusting Dani, letting his heart get potentially stomped on again wasn’t something he was sure he wanted to do.
After Dani answered, she listened for a moment before a smile bloomed. “Yes. We’ll be there in like ten minutes. Please wait for us. Bye.”
She tucked her phone away. “So Jake says the FBI just finished confiscating Julia’s electronics. Because they suspected wire fraud, they got a warrant, and Jake tagged along. He asked if we wanted to grab anything of Em’s before he locks up.”
“Does Emma need something?”
“I told Jake that I’m taking Emma up north to Taos tomorrow to visit my grandmother. And hopefully find Julia’s mother. Em needs some warmer clothes, but mostly I want a chance to snoop around Julia’s stuff for myself.”
He turned and met her eager gaze. “You think you’re going to find clues that the FBI missed?”
“Um, yeah.” She chewed her bottom lip while she pondered. “Like, maybe something only a woman would notice?”
“News flash. They have women agents, too. But if Em needs warmer things, then fine.”
He would have liked to get his hands on Julia’s computers before the FBI took them, but maybe there’d be old paper files lying around that the FBI wouldn’t have been interested in, from when Julia worked for Ron. Then maybe he’d find what he needed to help his mom, choose a house, and then remove himself from Dani’s life again.
Dani chose to remain quiet the rest of the way to Julia’s house. First, because Em obviously needed her beauty rest in the back, and she feared there’d be yelling if she brought up the closet and Jake again, and second, because the look on Michael’s face was not a pleasant one. She’d get him to reconsider their relationship after he had some time to cool off. If he didn’t want to sleep with her, that she could live with. But she didn’t realize how much she’d missed having Michael as a friend until recently. She needed one normal person in her life.
When they pulled into Julia’s driveway, Jake stood waiting for them with a big smile on his face. He even opened her door for her. Would’ve been nice if he’d done that while they’d been married. He was clearly doing it to irritate Michael.
He said, “Hey, babe. Let’s make this quick.”
Michael lifted a semi-asleep Emily from her car seat and waited for Jerry to join them; then everyone trooped toward the front porch.
Jake said, “Hey there, Counselor. Long time no see.”
Michael’s lifted brow was his only response.
Yeah, that’s all they needed. More reminders for Michael about how the day started with Jake in nothing but a towel.
Then Jake turned and beamed a big smile at the still-sleepy Emily. “Hey there, cute stuff.” He reached out to take Emily from Michael, but she shook her head and snuggled her face into the crook of Michael’s neck. Bright girl. It was one of Dani’s favorite places, too.
Jerry took his post in front of the house while they went inside. When Michael put Emma down, she let out a little happy squeal and then ran through the house shouting, “Momma?”
Oh, crap.
Dani looked up at Michael. “My bad. Again.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t think of it, either, dammit. I should have.”
When Emma reappeared with tears and confusion on her face, it made Dani’s heart hurt. Em looked up at Michael and lifted her little hands. “No momma?”
“No. I’m sorry, Em.” He picked her up again and gave her a hug. “But we’re going to find her. I promise.”
Michael sounded so sure that Dani totally believed him, too.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I should probably go find some warmer clothes for her.”
“I’ll pack her a bag. Why don’t you guys look around?” Michael seemed happy to make his escape from Jake.
And her.
Jake took her arm and led her toward the master bedroom. “I want to show you something in here.” Once inside he whispered, “I can’t figure out how to open that cedar panel in casa de pink. You need to come back with me and help. Time’s running out.”
The last thing she needed was for Michael to find out she was spending time in a closet with Jake. But there was no way she’d let that guy get away with a d
ouble murder.
“Okay. I’ll take Em home, let her meet Mrs. Wilson, then I’ll have Jerry run me over there. Don’t say anything in front of Michael. He’s already mad at me because of you.”
“Can’t say I’m sorry to hear that.” Jake’s grin turned mischievous. “What’s Mrs. Wilson making for dinner? Please tell me it’s her famous pot roast.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re going to find that damn gun, and you’ll be busy all night processing the scumbag.”
“True. But I love me some leftovers.”
Ignoring him, Dani headed for Julia’s closet. Mrs. Wilson’s leftovers were just one more thing he wasn’t getting anymore.
She stepped into the closet and pulled up short. “Boy, Julia’s a neat one.”
“Yeah, unlike you.” He threw an arm around her shoulder.
He was right. She’d never had the need to have shoes lined up perfectly, or have belts and accessories organized in little cubbies. She always found what she needed; it just took her a while sometimes.
She sloughed off Jake’s arm and moved to the bedroom, quickly riffling through Julia’s things inside the nightstands, then in her dresser, but nothing popped for her, so they headed to the kitchen.
In the nook, Dani found a notepad that looked promising but got a big bunch of nada from touching that, too. Then she spotted a pile of opened mail neatly stacked on a little desk in the corner. She shuffled through the envelopes.
When Michael and Em reappeared, he leaned over Dani’s shoulder. “Find anything?”
“Nope. Just that Julia is scary neat and has a ton of past-due bills.”
She picked up a stack of coupons to move aside and out slipped a flyer. It was a slick postcard advertising a grand opening special for a casino in Las Vegas. The rooms were only twenty dollars a night, and it boasted the best odds on the strip.
Dani picked up the ad to stack with the other junk mail, and a bolt of pain seared through her head. Her mind saw a flashy magician on a stage pulling giant rabbits from a huge hat. The image shook her so badly she lost her balance and stumbled against the desk.
Seeing Double (A Heartbreaker Novel Book 1) Page 12
