Double Shot to the Heart (Brewed Moon Book 2)

by Critch, J. Margot

  “I didn’t kill anyone this morning,” Alexei said, and took a heavy breath.

  “Okay, even if you didn’t, we still have you on the weapons charges. What you tell us about Petrova will see that you have a long and painful, or short and sweet sentence.”

  Mitch slid a notepad and pen across the table in front of the Russian. He smiled when Alexei picked up the pen. “Write it all down,” he told him.

  A couple of hours later, Mitch and Peter emerged from the interrogation room. Mitch clutched the full notepad closely. He cast a satisfied smile at Peter.

  “Think that will be enough?” Peter asked him, as they made their way to the war room.

  “It should be more than enough to hold Alexei, and have a very informative conversation with Petrova.”

  “And the part about him lawyering up before giving us this confession?” Peter whispered, his voice low.

  Mitch shrugged, and checked his watch. “It’s after six, and Captain Lewis is definitely gone for the evening. We can get Steve to access the recording and edit that out of the video.” Mitch knew it was wrong. He had easily blurred the lines between being a good cop and dirty one. Hell, he and his team had cleanly jumped over that line quite a while ago. But he needed the information straight from the source, without it being whitewashed by a lawyer. He needed to get Petrova off the streets and out of the city… by any means necessary.

  They walked into the war room, only to find that it wasn’t the quiet refuge he was used to. Juliana sat on the couch, with Erica and Azura huddled around her. Steve and Joe both had their heads buried in paperwork at their desks looking like they were doing their best to ignore the laughter and chatter of the women.

  “It looks like we missed the party,” Mitch commented, his mouth firmly-set into a frown, surprising all of them.

  “Oh hi,” Juliana looked up. “I hope you don’t mind that the girls came over here. Steve said it would be okay.”

  “I didn’t see the harm,” Steve said from his desk. “At the time,” he finished with a glare.

  Mitch noted the two wine bottles on the table. “Did you also make a liquor store run?” he asked him, eyebrow raised.

  “That was me!” Erica said with a loud laugh. “I knew that you wouldn’t mind if your future sister-in-law brought her best friend a little liquid courage. Especially since she’s had such a rough day. She needed a bottle of fun.”

  “I count two bottles.”

  “What good is one?”

  He shook his head. “You’re lucky my brother loves you.”

  “That I do,” Peter chimed in, going to Erica and wrapping her up in a hug and kissing her deeply.

  Mitch ignored them, and walked over to Juliana. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I feel better. All I need is my girls,” she looked over at her friends, and Mitch realized that having them here to spend time with her was probably best for her. “How did your interrogation go?”

  “We got some good information. But he wouldn’t confess to this morning’s murder.”

  “I told you it wasn’t him.”

  “I know that. But I know that he’s wrapped up in it somehow.”

  “So, I can’t go home, after all,” she said. It was more of a resigned statement than a question. “It’s not over, is it?”

  Mitch frowned. “I’m afraid not. His boss, the man we really want, is still out there and is still very much a threat. And until we can get a sketch from your description, we don’t really have anything to go on. So, for now we’ll have to go back to the safe house.”

  Her face fell. And before he was overcome by the urge to pull her into his arms, he forced himself to turn away from her. He had a job to do. He handed the notepad to Joe, to start processing the information, and walked to Steve’s desk. He lowered his voice. “I need you to take a look at the video feed from the interrogation room. Get rid of anything that might not look good.”

  Steve nodded, not needing any further instructions. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Alright, good. I’m going to take Jules to safe house. Meet us there later, okay?” He turned to Juliana. “Let’s go. We can pick up some late dinner on the way.”

  Chapter 9

  Mitch continuously checked the rear-view mirror, making sure that the car with Peter and Joe was still behind them. Earlier that day, Peter had arranged for Juliana to stay at a small bungalow in the east end of city, where the department normally housed witnesses and other people who require special protection while they worked with the police. So far, the drive had been uneventful, but beyond Peter’s car, there was a suspicious vehicle. He’d caught sight of a possible tail, following them through the city, keeping several cars back, another dark-coloured town car. He took a circuitous route to the safe house, hoping to lose it. And just as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared. Mitch was tense, and he kept an eye on their surroundings. But soon, he couldn’t see anything out of order.

  Meanwhile Juliana hadn’t said a word since they left the precinct, and Mitch chanced a glance over at her. She was facing away from him, looking out the window at the passing scenery.

  “You can turn on the radio if you want,” he suggested. The silence was driving him crazy.

  “No thanks,” she replied without turning back to him.

  He took another look in the rear-view mirror. His guys were still behind him. And then he looked back to Juliana. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she muttered. “I’m just peachy.”

  “I know that this is hard-”

  She then whipped her head around to face him. “Do you? Do you have any idea what it’s like to witness a murder, be told that it was probably done by the mob, by a guy who might have seen me, so now I’m headed to a safe house with police officers? I can’t tell anyone where I am or what’s going on, because this guy is now probably trying to kill me.” She was silent for just a second. “So, tell me Mitch, do you actually have any idea how hard this is?”

  She was right. He had never been in that kind of situation before. Sure, he’d been a target before, almost been killed in duty, and sure he’d had to be secretive about his work and life, but he had no idea what it was like to be helpless and dependent on someone else to keep him safe. So, he said nothing. Just as well. The safe house came into view and Mitch drove past it, just one final maneuver to make sure they weren’t being followed. He circled the block a couple more times, winding his way through the subdivision in circles, and he saw that Juliana’s brows were furrowed.

  “We’ve driven past here before. What are you doing?”

  Mitch didn’t answer, but instead looped around the block again, before coming back to the small house. He pulled into the driveway and thumbed the remote on his visor to open the garage door. He parked inside, followed quickly by Peter’s vehicle.

  “Not bad,” Mitch said to Joe and Peter, referring to their relatively easy drive. He was relieved to have gotten rid of the possible tail and delivered Juliana to the house safely. “I saw a tail for a little while there. The black town car again.”

  “A tail?” Juliana asked.

  “Yeah, I saw that too,” Peter agreed. “I kept an eye on it for about ten minutes and then we lost it pretty easily.”

  Mitch walked to the door leading from the garage to the house. “Have you been in here today?”

  “Yeah, it’s clean,” Peter answered, referring to the absence of any surveillance equipment rather than the general state of cleanliness. He meant it was safe. “I got one of the unis to pick up some supplies for you.”

  Mitch nodded and walked in first, making sure that Juliana was close behind him, followed tightly by his men. He looked around. The house was small. Spartan. Functional, but not at all that comfortable, with its mismatched furniture and lack of warm decor. He watched her look around. “It’s not much,” he told her. “But it’s safe.”

  “It’s fine,” she said quietly, before turning to him. “What now?”

  “Well, we stay
here until we can pick up the shooter and his accomplice. Based on your report, when we find him, he’ll be arraigned and jailed until trial. During which you’ll be asked to testify and then he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars.”

  “Do I have to stay here until the trial?”

  “No, not at all. Just until we find him and he’s off the streets, and no longer a danger to you.”

  She sat down on an old chair. “Okay,” she said quietly

  “You want one of us to park outside?” Peter asked him. “Keep an eye on the place tonight?”

  “Later tonight, yeah. An extra set of eyes couldn’t hurt. But we’ll be fine until then. Why don’t you go back to the precinct and see where Steve is with that surveillance video?”

  “You sure you’re going to be okay here on your own until later tonight?” Peter asked. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you here alone.”

  “Yeah we’ll be fine here. I’m not worried. This location is secure, only the department knows about it. You guys handle the investigation for now while I’m here with Jules and off the streets.” Mitch looked at Juliana, and leaned in to speak quietly to Peter. “I’m going to see if I can get anything else from her. See if there’s something else that she remembers that she might not have told us.”

  “Alright, boss man,” Joe extended his hand to Mitch, who grasped it in a slap and shake. “Let us know if you guys need anything. Keep your back up.”

  Mitch took a sidelong glance at the beautiful woman sitting nearby. “We’ll be fine here together.”

  Chapter 10

  Juliana squeezed her eyes closed, willing sleep to come. It wouldn’t. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the gun, the bullet flying into the chest of that man. She sighed and pulled the blankets over her shoulder, suddenly freezing in the small twin bed. She’d watched the moment he had taken his last breath and hadn’t even asked what his name was. Replacing his lifeless eyes in her mind was the image of the man who’d killed him. She turned over in bed, lying on her back, and stared at the ceiling, watching the lights of the passing cars glide over the ceiling. It was no use. She wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.

  She fidgeted, and a nervous, agitated energy overtook her, and she only knew one way to quiet it. She needed to be with someone, physically. Whenever she was stressed, she needed the physical release of sex. It had gotten her through college, opening her own business, and it partially explained her membership at Leather & Lace, it was a safe environment where she could let go, and get what she needed, without any of the messiness of modern dating. She wanted a man to wrap his arms around her, and make her feel safe and secure. She thought of Mitch sleeping on the too-small couch in the living room. Momentarily indulging in her wicked streak, she briefly toyed with the idea of stripping off her pyjamas and walking into the living room to show him how much extra energy she had to spare. She rolled her eyes at that thought. Straight-laced, serious Mitch wouldn’t be interested. He was on the job.

  But then she had a thought. Her cell phone was charging on the night table next to the bed, and she reached for it. Maybe, just maybe, if she could somehow figure out how to get out of the house and get to Leather & Lace, she could meet up with her mystery man. She shivered recalling the feeling of him touching her, kissing her, buried deep inside of her. It was exactly what she needed.

  Her Mr. Fox was an incredible lover and even though she’d never seen his face, she found herself wanting him more and more with each passing day. But, in the strange bed of the safe house, the more she thought about her mystery man, she couldn’t help but picture Mitch’s face. She didn’t know how or why, perhaps it was his vicinity, and the stress of the day, but once she conflated the images of the two men in her head, she couldn’t forget it. Instead of Mr. Fox, she now imagined Mitch’s hands on her, and she felt her pulse quicken and her temperature rise dramatically. Either man would be able to help her forget the tragic events of the day. But even though Mitch was just a short walk away, there was no way she could act on it. He was someone she knew, saw every day. She couldn’t be with him, and reminded herself that she needed anonymity. So, Juliana tried her mightiest to forget about Mitch. Her mystery lover would have to do.

  Juliana pulled up the contacts on her phone, found the number for Leather & Lace’s concierge, and quickly messaged her, asking her to contact Mr. Fox for a meeting. She had no idea how she would get out of the house, and out from under Mitch’s watchful eye, but she would worry about that later. She was desperate for the release that only Mr. Fox could provide. Several minutes later, her phone vibrated in her hand, she eagerly read the response from the concierge, but was disappointed to see that for the first time, Mr. Fox wasn’t available for her.

  Juliana exhaled roughly, frustrated. Sleep would have to do. But after another hour of tossing and turning in bed, the itchy sheets twisting around her arms and legs, her stomach growled, she got out of the bed, and walked quietly toward the kitchen. Thinking that perhaps she could find some crackers or cookies in there to sate her hunger. She walked into the living room until she reached the foot of the couch, and stopped dead in her tracks.

  Mitch was sleeping, and in the light of the moon, she could see that his big frame was no match for the size of the couch. His feet hung over one side, one arm slung over his head. He was shirtless with a thin blanket covering his midsection. His shirt and jeans were folded neatly on the floor next to him, and she wondered what he was wearing beneath the sheet. But that thought was quieted when he opened his eyes, startling her and catching her staring. At first, he smiled sleepily, his eyes slanting up at her through the moonlight coming in the front window, but that only lasted for a second. She could see the clarity come over him, as he shook himself fully awake, and he sat up, suddenly alert.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  She tried not to be too caught up in staring at his chest, and the way the sheet bunched and gathered in his lap. “Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep,” she told him. “I’m a little hungry. I was just going to the kitchen to see if there were any snacks, if that’s okay.”

  He reached over and turned on the lamp next to the couch. “Oh, of course. It should be fully stocked in there. Help yourself.”

  She nodded. Without another word, she headed into the kitchen, and turned on the light. The kitchen was small like the rest of the house, and she opened a cupboard to poke around for a snack. She found a box of chocolate chip cookies. “This will do,” she said and closed the cupboard door, before she sat at the table, folding both her legs underneath her on the chair.

  She took a bite of a cookie, and Mitch came in to the kitchen behind her. He walked past her and opened the fridge. He was wearing his jeans, and was carrying his gun, but thankfully, he was still topless. Grateful that he’d opted to leave his shirt on the floor by the couch, she turned her head and stared appreciatively at the ripples in his back, muscles that flexed as he leaned over and reached inside the fridge. He took out a bottle of water, and presented it to her. “Want one?”

  “Water with cookies?” she asked him sceptically. “No thanks. Any milk in there?”

  “There is.”

  “I’ll have a glass of that please.”

  He reached back into the fridge, giving Juliana another opportunity to stare at him while his back was turned.

  When he came back to the table, he put a full glass of milk in front of her, took a seat and reached for a cookie himself. They sat and ate quietly for a couple of minutes.

  “I’m sorry I woke you,” she told him, knowing full well that if he hadn’t woken up, she would probably still be staring at his stretched-out form on the couch. “That couch doesn’t look too comfortable.”

  “It’s fine. I wasn’t really asleep. But the couch is definitely more comfortable than spending the night in a car with three other guys on a stakeout. I’m a pretty light sleeper, and I’m used to not sleeping regularly. I normally just try to catch a few winks whenever I can.”


  “That explains your coffee intake,” she noted. “Not that I’m judging, of course.”

  He laughed, and she smiled, enjoying the warmth of his laughter.

  “I work at night a lot, with stake-outs and undercover. I like the night. It’s quiet.”

  Juliana picked up another cookie to take a bite when it burst in her hand. For a split second, she froze, stunned by what happened before she registered the broken window pane by her head and the explosion of wood from the cupboard door across the kitchen. Before she had a chance to register the sequence of events, Mitch yelled out and pushed her to the floor, lying on top of her under the table while violence blew through the kitchen. The noise was deafening, and Mitch’s body covered hers. More glass broke, bullets impacted the cupboards and furniture above them and they were blanketed in darkness. She could see that he already had his gun in one hand while the other shielded her head from glass and debris, giving her comfort when there was none. After what felt like an hour, but was probably only a few seconds, the noise stopped, and the night stilled.

  He shifted above her, and she peaked through her hands to see him dig his cell phone from his pocket. He dialled and spoke quietly, calmly, into his phone. “This is Detective Swanson,” he said, his voice strong and unwavering. “I’ve got shots fired…”

  Shots fired. Juliana tried to focus on Mitch’s words as he spoke on the phone, but she couldn’t. After hearing those words, as the world blurred around her. Shots fired. She had been the target.

  “You stay here, stay low and out of sight,” she realized that Mitch was talking to her. “I’m going to take a look around outside.”

  “You’re leaving me?”

  “It’ll just be for a couple of minutes. I have to see if he’s still out there.”