Ninja Soccer Moms

by Jennifer Apodaca

  “Who are you supposed to spy on?”

  “Rick Mesa and Sophie Muffley.” Why was I telling Gabe this? We weren’t working together, so I didn’t need to feed him information.

  “What about Dara?”

  I made a face. “No. Vance correctly surmised that you and I were not working together or communicating. I believe the tracking device on his car was the tip-off. He’s really a good detective. Now if you are done playing twenty questions, will you leave?”

  Gabe’s intensity settled on me. “But I’m not done, sugar. Why are you favoring your right hip?”

  Shit, they were both good detectives. “When Vance caught me, I hit the counter in Chad’s little office kitchen. Now that you are fully informed, maybe you can lock the door on your way out.”

  In the light from my nightstand, I saw his face tighten with a dark anger. “Let me see.”

  I used my hand to wave him off. “My hip is the least of my problems.”

  An eyebrow went up. “You want to do this the hard way?”

  My temper snapped. “Where were you tonight? You were so big on teamwork until Dara the slut showed up in your life. Now you are secretive, and God only knows what your mother is doing here!”

  Gabe stepped forward until he towered over me. “I asked you to work with me, Sam.”

  “You demanded that I leap without a net! You wouldn’t tell me anything! I saw Dara yesterday morning, Gabe. She looked mad enough to have killed Chad.” I’ll never forget the way she looked at Chad and me when she walked into the office and saw Chad sprayed with whipped cream.

  “She didn’t.”

  Anger throbbed in my head. “Then what is she hiding? What are you hiding? And why am I getting threats on my answering machine?”

  Gabe’s voice dropped to deadly. “What threats?”

  I stared back at him. “I was looking for you tonight to tell you about it. It was just a message on my answering machine. I told Vance. All it said was ‘Stay out of Chad Tuggle’s murder. He got what was coming to him. So will you if you get too nosy.’ ”

  “That’s why you went into Chad’s office? To tell me about the threat?”

  I looked away. “It doesn’t matter. I have it under control. I told Vance about it.” I would take care of the boys and myself. Tonight had been an abject lesson in why I shouldn’t rely on a man.

  “Babe—”

  I cut him off. “You know what pisses me off the most? I’m starting to get the feeling that I am wrong about Dara Reed. That I misjudged her. But the whole town is keeping some secret and you”—I turned back and looked at him—“are keeping it from me, too.”

  “Christ.” He raised his hand to drag it through his hair. “Sam, I’m caught here. I have to protect Dara. You have to understand that. Especially if you are working with Vance.” He dropped his hand and fixed his gaze on me. “But that doesn’t change what’s between us.”

  We were both caught. Probably by more than either of us was admitting. “I can’t do that! I can’t separate out—”

  “Yes, you can,” he reached out and took a hand full of my shirt, pulling me into him, into his hard body, and his mouth.

  Oh yeah. I could.

  “Mom!”

  Startled, I pried my face from Gabe’s and looked at TJ standing in my doorway. God. “What?” I tried to sound like it was no big deal that I was standing in my bedroom at midnight fusing tongues with Gabe. I’d sworn to myself that my sons would never see this.

  TJ’s face was pale. “Mom! Ali’s growling. There’s someone on the front porch!”

  9

  Ohmigod! Someone was on the front porch! I could hear Ali’s vicious growls peppered with an occasional bark now. I raced out of the bedroom.

  Gabe caught me at the door to TJ and Joel’s bedroom. “Stay here with the boys.” He reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. Then he disappeared around the corner.

  “Mom?” Joel’s huge sleepy eyes looked up at me. “What’s going on? Why is Gabe here?”

  I reached out and pulled Joel into my arms. “TJ and Ali heard someone on the front porch.” I didn’t answer the part about Gabe being here.

  When Gabe came back, he had a prisoner.

  “Lionel!” I shouted.

  “Mom, who is that?” Joel leaned into me.

  “It’s all right, Joel. He’s a client.”

  “Sam! Tell this buffoon to let go of me. I’m taking up watch over you.” Lionel rolled his gaze down to my bare legs. “You shouldn’t have him here when you’re dressed like that.”

  “He was asleep in the chair on the porch,” Gabe said. “He doesn’t have any weapons, just nose spray.”

  Sometimes I wondered if all the crazies had some kind of homing device that made them zero in on Heart Mates and me. “Lionel.” I let go of TJ and Joel and walked over to him. He had several inches and many pounds on me, but I made up the difference with my fury. “Did you leave me a phone message today?”

  He looked down. “No, ma’am. You were kind of cranky today, you know . . . Maybe it’s your woman’s thing or something, but I decided that I couldn’t reason with you. So I thought I’d just come over and sit a spell on your porch to make sure you were safe. Hey, are these your sons?”

  “Woman’s thing? Did you say I was cranky because of my woman’s thing?” I looked back at Gabe. “Where’s your gun?”

  Gabe’s whole face twitched. “Babe, you can’t shoot him.”

  “Are you sure? He’s an intruder in my house.” Woman’s thing? I was unreasonable? He’s the lunatic who tried to attack Gabe.

  Lionel said, “I kind of hate to point this out, Samantha, but you are acting irrational right now. Do you want me to get you some Midol?”

  TJ and Joel both snickered.

  That did it. “All right, boys, both of you back to bed. Ali, you stay with the boys. Lionel, go home.”

  He widened his big brown teddy-bear eyes. “But what about your Midol?”

  “Gabe, give me your gun!”

  Lionel held up his hands. “Okay! I’m going!” He turned and hurried out the front door.

  I turned to Gabe. “You too. Leave.”

  He grinned at me. “Do you need Midol?”

  First raging hormones, then raging adrenaline with no relief, had me tense enough to chew glass. “Get out, Gabe.”

  “I don’t think so, babe. I tend to agree with you that Lionel’s not a real threat, but then again, I think you’d drive Gandhi himself to violence. I’m staying.”

  I grit my teeth. Every time I got close to working it out in my head with Gabe, he changed. “I thought you were protecting Dara.”

  “Mom’s with her.”

  Hard to argue with that. Gabe’s mom scared me. “Can your mom really shoot that gun?”

  “She’s won awards.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. Really, I didn’t. I turned away from Gabe and went into the kitchen for Tylenol. Reaching up to the top of the cupboard, I yelped when I felt Gabe’s hand on my waist. One hand pinned my stomach against the counter, the other lifted my shirt. “What are you doing?”

  “Checking your hip.” His index finger slid into the waistband of my panties, tugging it down.

  I shivered.

  “Bruised.” He said, leaning into me. “I can kiss it better.”

  TJ had walked in on us. I couldn’t do this. I wanted TJ and Joel to know I was there for them, not out man-chasing somewhere. Not even Gabe-chasing. “Gabe, the boys—”

  He pressed his body into me. “I’ll sleep out on the couch.” He let go of the back of my panties, slid his hand around my hip and between my legs. “After.”

  “Sammy,” Grandpa’s voice broke through my lust haze. “What’s all the noise?”

  “Fuck,” Gabe snarled into my ear. “Want me to shoot him?”

  The phone woke me from a restless sleep. “Hello?”

  “Sam? It’s Roxy. Are you awake?”

  Her voice sounded thick and tearful. �
��Roxy!” I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My clock glowed a green six-thirty A.M. “What happened yesterday? Why didn’t you meet me at Duncan’s Nursery?”

  “I got held up. Uncle Duncan . . .” She started to cry.

  “Roxy, what’s the matter?”

  She took a shuddering breath. “Sam, can you meet me this morning? I’ll tell you everything then. I need someone I can trust.”

  Her voice wavered, but she sounded like she had gotten control. “Is Duncan all right?”

  A beat passed, then she said, “He just loves me so much. But he’s okay. Duncan wants me to be happy, Sam. I told him I could trust you. Is nine this morning at Smash Coffee okay with you?”

  I was confused, but that’s pretty normal for six-thirty in the morning. “Yes, I’ll be there, Roxy.” Hanging up the phone, I realized that maybe it wasn’t such an odd conversation. Roxy was man-miserable, and Duncan might blame me for that since she was using my dating service. But Roxy trusted me to help her figure out what she really wanted. Okay, I’d meet with Roxy and find out what was bothering her, what happened on her date with Kevin (the financial advisor who drives a limo), and then talk about a new profile for her.

  I stood and tried to stretch out the kinks from a restless night’s sleep. I had tossed and turned, knowing that Gabe was sleeping on my couch. I was having trouble balancing my boyfriend and my sons.

  Then there was the case. My working with Vance was a problem for Gabe, which meant he and Dara had something to hide from Vance. What?

  I threw on a pair of sweatpants and headed down the hallway. I needed answers from Gabe.

  The couch was empty, with a pillow and a neatly folded blanket at one end. “I just can’t catch a break.”

  “Hey, Sam.”

  I turned around to see Grandpa sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. “Morning, Grandpa.” I went into the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, and started the process of making lunches for the boys. “I see Gabe left.”

  “Gone when I got up.”

  I put together sandwiches and took out some frozen brownies. “He’s doing that a lot lately. I forgot to give him Lionel’s background check.”

  Grandpa looked up. “Gabe said he was going to check into Lionel, Sam. He was concerned.”

  I put the lunches on the end of the counter for the boys, then got out bowls and spoons for their breakfasts. “I thought you said he was gone when you got up.”

  “I talked to him last night when he went out on the porch to cool off.”

  Heat splashed over my face. “Uh, good. I mean, good that he’s looking into Lionel.” Part of me was glad Gabe was overheated, but I was a mother first. “Gabe came by because—”

  “Probably was a good thing he was here. Make that Lionel realize you got someone looking out for you.” He turned the page of the newspaper.

  This was the hard thing about being a single parent. I didn’t have the other half of the parental unit to discuss this stuff with. “Grandpa, I don’t want TJ and Joel to get the wrong idea. Gabe slept on the couch last night.”

  He closed the paper and looked up at me. “TJ and Joel like Gabe. They respect him. They almost busted a gut laughing when they realized that when you had put a tracker on his car, he switched it to a cop’s car.”

  I thought of the two of them rolling around on the floor playing with Ali. I had attributed their laughter to their silliness, not mine. I sighed and said, “I’m glad they enjoyed my folly.”

  “Oh, they did, but they were also impressed. Not only because you managed to get the device on Gabe’s truck, but also because Gabe treated you just like he would anyone else by moving it to Vance’s car. He doesn’t pull his punches with you. He doesn’t treat you like a little woman who needs a man to hold her hand. What do you think you are teaching TJ and Joel about men and women?”

  I sipped my coffee. “How to laugh at their mother.”

  Grandpa grinned. “That. But look at it from their point of view. Gabe’s an ex-cop, a PI and a cool guy, right? And he knew you could handle him switching the tracking device. He had faith in you, Sam. If Gabe Pulizzi has faith in their mom, then their mom must be pretty capable.”

  “Yeah, but when TJ came running in my room last night—” I winced, remembering times I’d gone in my mother’s room and she had a man there. She had been angry.

  “Did you or Gabe get mad at TJ?”

  “No, of course not! God, Grandpa, TJ was scared. There was a strange man on the porch. I would never be mad at him for that. Gabe all but shoved me into their room, told me to stay with the boys, and went outside to check it out.”

  “So you both took TJ seriously. TJ felt like he did the right thing.”

  “He did do the right thing.”

  “There you go. TJ knows he can come get you any time he needs you.” He got up, coming over to me. “The truth is the boys accept Gabe. He treats them, and you, with respect. Honey, no one is asking you to stop being a woman.”

  I met his gaze. “Thanks, Grandpa. Me and the boys are lucky to have you.”

  He grinned, then moved past me to get some more coffee. “I made a backup of the SCOLE disk for you. I want to take a closer look at that and see if there’s something we missed.”

  I nodded. “That will help. When do you think you’ll get more on Dara?”

  “Today or tomorrow at the latest.” That was the last thing we said as the boys and Ali blew into the kitchen. Breakfast, lost shoes, parent signatures, and general before-school chaos took over the rest of the early morning.

  I was inching my way through the heavy fog in the general direction of the sheriff’s station, and running late. The SCOLE disk was in my purse, but it was already ten minutes to nine. I didn’t want to be late for my meeting with Roxy at Smash Coffee.

  Frankly, I didn’t trust her to wait for me. She was too weepy and on edge.

  I was on Lakeshore and came to the fork in the road. If I veered right, that would take me along the edge of the lake and to the sheriff’s station.

  The left fork put me on Graham Street. Then I could turn left on Main Street, hop on the 15 Freeway, and be at Smash Coffee by nine.

  I had a second to decide. I took the left fork and headed for Smash Coffee. I’d run the disk back to Vance at the sheriff’s station after I saw Roxy.

  From the 15 Freeway, I took the Railroad Canyon off-ramp and turned left. Then a right on Grape Street. Smash Coffee was located in the Wal-Mart shopping center. I parked the T-bird and got out into the cold fog.

  I felt my hair spring out of gel mold and into a frizzy twist. So much for my grooming this morning. I gave up and went inside.

  The aroma of fresh ground coffee mixed with the yeasty smell of baked goods pulled me into the shop. The right side of the store had a counter built over scads of glass containers filled with coffee beans. A bakery case rose up at the end of the counter, displaying muffins and cookies.

  “Sam!” Dominic Danger rushed around the counter and came toward me. “You have got to see Anastasia. She’s a beast, but of course I adore her.” He engulfed me in a bear hug. Releasing me, he kept hold of my hands. “Anastasia is at the groomer’s today, though. She’s having her nails done.”

  I blinked up at the onslaught and laughed. “You are spoiling that cat.” I had acquired a kitten a while back sort of by default while investigating the death of a friend of mine and Dom’s. It had turned out that Dom’s business partner was the killer. Once all the drama was over, Dom surprised me by taking the kitten. I looked Dom over. Spiky blond hair, hazel eyes, flawless skin, and tight leather pants paired with a sheer black shirt that fell beautifully around his golden pecs. Dominic was an actor in the small community theater. Speculation on Dom’s sexual preference was a favorite topic of gossip. I think Dom purposely dressed to keep people guessing and interested.

  “And how are you, Sam?” Still holding my hands, he spread my arms to look at me. “Interesting. Suede skirt with . . . Is that a Nord
strom’s T-shirt? It’s divine. I would have sworn suspenders were over, but they work on you, luv. With those boots, it’s a sexy jockey look.”

  Smiling, I managed to get my hands back. “You look fabulous, as always.”

  “Of course,” Dom waved his manicured hand and headed around the counter. “What can I get you this morning?”

  “Actually, I’m meeting Roxy here, Roxanne Gabor. Do you know her?”

  Dom started grinding some coffee beans. Over the noise he said, “Roxy? Sure I know her. She has the loveliest collection of silk scarves. Not many women can really pull that off, you know.” The coffee grinder stopped. “Try my Mocha Bounce, it’s fabulous. It will get your blood running.”

  “How many calories does it have?” I asked while following Dom’s movements as he put the grounds in a space-age-looking machine and added water.

  From behind me a voice said, “That skirt does look a little tight, Shaw. I’d go with black coffee if I were you.”

  I spun around. “Vance! What are you doing here? Are you calling me fat?” His mirrored sunglasses hid his eyes, but his face looked relaxed.

  Pulling off his shades, he flashed his dimples. “It’s all a matter of taste, Shaw. Some men like the . . .” he dropped his gaze down my body, “full look.”

  Fat. He was calling me fat! I looked down. My stomach didn’t pouch. Much. Okay, maybe just a little, a tiny had-a-couple-of-babies pouch. And I did have sturdy thighs, but I wasn’t fat. Glaring at Vance, I looked down his dark suit paired with a pale yellow shirt and darker tie. Damn, no belly on him. “Yeah, well some women like men with no butts, too.” I turned my back on him. “I’d like a muffin with that coffee, Dom.”

  Grinning at me, Dom set a foaming coffee on the counter and went to the bakery case. “What kind, Sam? We have blueberry, cranberry, cream cheese, banana nut, chocolate chip—”

  “Chocolate chip.” If I had to deal with Vance again so soon, I needed courage. Chocolate courage.

  “Add a black coffee, please.” Vance said. He reached past me to set a ten-dollar bill on the counter. Then he got my foaming coffee and his boring black coffee and went to a table. I collected my muffin and said, “Keep the change, Dom. Vance probably has a secret source of income.” Like writing romance novels. I went to sit down at the wrought-iron table. I wanted to face the door so I could watch for Roxy, but Vance already had that seat.