New Media & Old Grudges

by Amanda M. Lee

  I didn’t bother to stifle my groan. “You just can’t let it go, can you?”

  He grinned. “Nope. I have a right to think it was a boneheaded move, just like you have a right to carry out the boneheaded move.”

  I cast him an appraising look. “Compromise?”

  “Yup. We’re getting good at it.”

  Once we reached Ingalls’ office, he insisted we walk around the block. He was much more aware of our surroundings. I would’ve strolled right up to the door and started fiddling with the lock. He was more covert, and when he opened a gate I hadn’t seen before and inclined his head, I was confused.

  “What’s this?”

  “The alley behind his office.”

  “I didn’t even know there was an alley here.”

  “That’s because you’re you.”

  “Ha, ha.” I poked his side. “How did you know there was an alley here?”

  “I have maps. I checked them while you were watching The Good Place on Netflix.”

  Ah. That made sense. “You’re such a good partner in crime.”

  “Don’t forget that.” He made sure the gate was closed once we were inside and then skirted around me to take the lead. It was an alpha move, but this was his forte so I opted to let it slide. There was no way he would let me take the lead ... especially given how grimy and gross the alley was.

  “Ugh. Does anybody clean this place?” I muttered.

  “The alley? I’m thinking no.” He lifted his finger to his lips, his message clear. From here on out, this was a silent mission. Those were my least favorite kind. I normally enlisted Carly and my cousin Lexie when going undercover and it was impossible for us to be quiet.

  I wasn’t sure which building belonged to Ingalls. From the back, they all looked the same ... and different in new and disgusting ways. Eliot, however, showed no hesitation. He moved right up to the back door of one of the buildings and removed a device from his hand.

  “What’s that?” I hissed.

  “Shh.” He hit a couple of buttons and then pointed the device, which looked like a remote control, at the camera at the corner of the building. I hadn’t even seen it until he pointed it out and now I felt like a bit of a dolt.

  “We’re already on the footage,” I supplied, ignoring his edict to be quiet. When I’m nervous, I jabber ... and even though I wasn’t alone for this excursion, I was unbelievably nervous.

  “Not anymore, we’re not. Now ... shh.” His expression was grave, but I smiled. He was handsome when he was concentrating.

  Once he was happy with whatever he’d done to the camera, he focused on the lock. He removed his own set of tools from his back pocket and set to work.

  “Do you want me to do it?” I asked after a beat, crouching to watch over his shoulder. “I’m getting really good.”

  The look he shot me was enough to force me to stifle a giggle. “I’ve got it. Where are the gloves I told you to bring?”

  I pulled the shark mittens from my pocket and pulled them on. He stared at them for a moment, dumbfounded, and then shook his head.

  “I can rightfully say that I never thought I would be doing a B&E with a woman wearing puppets for gloves,” he whispered.

  I grinned and held up my right hand, making the shark talk. “You should consider yourself lucky,” I said in a gravelly voice. “One day someone is going to write a book about this and the shark mittens are the thing that will push it over the top to get a television deal.”

  “Shh.”

  I held up my left mitten and turned my voice into a falsetto. “You’re just so manly when you order me to shut up. I can’t tell you how hot that makes me.”

  “Shh.”

  He was clearly getting frustrated so I lowered my mittens. “This really does make me hot,” I said when I couldn’t take the silence a minute longer.

  He stood, and I thought for sure he was going to order me back to the apartment. Instead, he pulled on his own gloves — they were rubber and reminded me of a proctology exam — and then turned the handle. The door opened with a mild squeak.

  “Yup. I’m totally hot.”

  He swooped in and gave me a quick kiss before pulling a small flashlight from his pocket. “We’re never breaking into a building together again,” he whispered. “I’ll have to kill you if we try.”

  “Never say never.”

  I followed him into the dark building, keeping so close to his back that when he stopped to look in the first doorway I smacked into his back.

  “Never,” he whispered once I’d recovered.

  I couldn’t blame him. “His office is that way.” I pointed toward the front of the building.

  “Yes, but his file room is in here.” Eliot led me into the room, gesturing toward the wall of filing cabinets illuminated under his light. He immediately went to the middle row to read the letters on the cabinets. “Here’s the one we’re looking for.” He tugged it open and started riffling through the files.

  I figured he knew what he was doing, so I took a moment to study the photos on the wall. I recognized a few of the people in the images with Ingalls and a small ball of fear took up residence in my stomach as I moved from photo to photo. The light from Eliot’s flashlight was dim, but the room was small and I could make out the images. “These are all mobsters.”

  “What?” Eliot looked up from the file he’d removed from the cabinet. “What are you talking about?”

  “They’re mobsters. That’s Philip Keane. You remember him from a few months ago, right? He was running that speakeasy on the other side of the river.”

  Eliot’s expression turned dark. “I remember he tried to kill you.”

  “This is Oliver Trudeau. This is Malcolm Bickerstaff. This is Tony Dimato.”

  “How do you know that?”

  I shrugged. “It’s my job. I’ve written stories about all of them. They’re all either dead or in prison ... but at one time they were big figures in the local mob.” My mind was busy as I considered the possibilities. “I guess that means Ingalls was big in mob circles for a time, too.”

  “He was,” Eliot agreed, going back to the file cabinet. “He was one of the top private investigators in the game until about five years ago. That’s when Bickerstaff went down. At his trial, it became public that Ingalls was doing some rather unsavory things at Bickerstaff’s behest. He was never charged, but he became so infamous that nobody with any brains would hire him. That’s when things went south for him. Before then he lived in a nice house in Grosse Pointe and had a fleet of sports cars.”

  I tried to picture the dumpy man I’d interacted with earlier living large. “I guess he has a right to be bitter.”

  “He made the decision to run with the wolves. I think there’s plenty of money to be made in this business without stepping over certain lines.”

  I wanted to point out that we were firmly on the other side of that line he loved so much right now, but it didn’t seem the time. “Anything?” I abandoned the photos and moved closer to him. It was hard to make out what he was looking at so raptly.

  “This is Ludington’s file. It was started two months ago,” Eliot replied grimly. “The intake sheet says he wanted information on a buttload of people, including you and me.”

  “Is there anything else in there?”

  “Quite a bit.”

  “Well ... let’s read it.”

  He shot me an impatient look and shook his head. “What do you think I’m doing? You’re driving me crazy. Honestly, we can never do this again.”

  “You won’t say that when I run you ragged with love at home. I’m totally hot.”

  He tried to keep a straight face but failed. His lips curved as he sighed. “I don’t know why I even argue with you.”

  “Me either. In fact ... .” Whatever I was going to say was interrupted by a noise emanating from the front of the building.

  Eliot’s instincts kicked into high gear. He killed the flashlight and grabbed my hand. I wanted to tell him
to grab the file, but he was already ahead of me. He shoved it into my mitten-covered hands and pushed me into the hallway. This time he didn’t have to admonish me to be quiet. I was too afraid to open my mouth.

  His footing was a lot surer than mine as he pushed me through the darkness. I prayed I wouldn’t accidentally trip and give away our location as we escaped through the back door. The second fresh oxygen filled my lungs I wanted to crow, but I kept my composure and let him shepherd me down the steps and back toward the alley.

  He waited until we were safely through the gate to press me against a wall. For a moment I thought he was going to insist we crouch down and wait things out. Instead, he covered my mouth with his and gave me a hungry kiss. I was so surprised I could do nothing but reciprocate. After a few steamy minutes, I had to check myself to make sure I was still clothed. My breath was coming in gasps.

  “What was that?”

  He shrugged and grinned. “Maybe I’m hot for you, too.”

  “Can we go home and act on it? I don’t want to stay here any longer if we don’t have to.”

  “Oh, we’re going home ... and we’re definitely acting on it.”

  I moved to scamper down the alley but he grabbed my wrist to stop me. “Just one thing.” His gaze was intense. “You need to leave the mittens on when we get there ... and I don’t ever want to hear a thing about it after the fact.”

  It was weird and sexy at the same time. “Consider it done.”

  ELIOT AND I WERE A TANGLE OF ARMS, legs, and hair when we woke the next morning. We didn’t even bother to look through the information in the file we’d stolen, which was probably a mistake. Given how good I felt upon waking, though, I couldn’t force myself to care.

  “What are you thinking?” Eliot murmured as he stirred next to me. He had an unerring ability to recognize when I was awake even when I often wasn’t yet sure.

  “I’m thinking that I had fun last night.”

  He smirked. “It was kind of fun.”

  “Do you still think you’ll never break into a building with me again?”

  “I need to give it some thought.”

  “Uh-huh. That’s what I figured. You can’t resist me.” I rolled to my back and frowned when a paw landed on my forehead. Sometime during the night, Rocky had draped himself on top of my head and I hadn’t even realized it. “You’re taking over the house,” I noted as he opened a sleepy eye and stared into my face. “I don’t understand how something that weighs one stinking pound can take up so much room.”

  “He’s stolen what’s left of your heart and somehow made it bigger, so the rest of the world feels smaller,” Eliot teased, stretching his arms over his head. “What do you want to do about breakfast?”

  It was an abrupt shift but he was a food-oriented individual. I could skip meals if it meant snuggling down and staying in bed for an extended amount of time. His stomach wouldn’t allow that.

  “Whatever you want is fine.”

  “You’re saying you’ll eat what I cook?”

  “I believe that’s exactly what I said.”

  He snorted, pressed a kiss to my cheek and then rolled out of bed. He was naked, and I didn’t mind the view. “Where are my boxer shorts?” Normally I was the one befuddled in the morning. Today, he seemed to be taking up the mantle. It was pretty cute.

  “Cook naked,” I suggested.

  “That could be dangerous.”

  “Yes, but think of what a great television show that would be. I, for one, would tune in every week. In fact, it would be better if I could binge it.”

  He jabbed a finger in my direction. “Don’t get cute. Nothing you say is dragging me back to that bed until I’ve had something to eat.”

  “What about after?”

  “That can be negotiated.”

  HE WAS DRESSED IN BOXER SHORTS AND nothing else when I finally padded into the living room. I could see him through the open archway that led to the kitchen. Instead of going in and offering help, I plopped down on the couch and reached for the remote.

  Rocky climbed up next to me and settled on my lap, facing the television. It was as if he wanted to watch the news as well.

  “Let’s see what’s going on. I’m so out of the loop the entire county government could’ve been wiped out yesterday and I wouldn’t know.”

  Rocky bobbed his head as if he understood what I was saying and then proceeded to purr as I stroked his soft head. Before him, I never thought of myself as an animal person. Now I couldn’t imagine the house without him. He might’ve been an unintended family member, but he was definitely a keeper.

  “I take it you want me to serve you breakfast on the couch,” Eliot called out. He didn’t sound particularly annoyed, but there was an edge to his tone.

  “I can come in there if you want,” I offered, flipping through the channels until I found the one I wanted. “I just want to check something.”

  “Oh, please.” I could practically hear the eye roll in his voice. “You’re not getting up from that couch until I make you.”

  “I just want to see the top three stories. Those are the important ones. In fact ... ha! There’s breaking news. I bet something gruesome happened overnight. I just hope it was in Oakland, because if it’s on my beat I’m going to kill someone.”

  “You probably don’t want to say that out loud given the current state of our lives,” Eliot noted as he strolled into the room, spatula in his hand. “Do you want your eggs over medium or scrambled?”

  “Um ... how do I always have them?”

  “Over medium, but we’re out of bread so there will be no toast for you to dunk in the yolks. I thought that might make a difference.”

  “Um ... .” Well, crap. I had no idea what I wanted. I hated when my morning routine was disturbed. “I’ll just have cereal.”

  “Oh, no.” He wagged the spatula. “I went through the bother of cooking. You’re eating eggs whether you like it or not.”

  “But ... .” I trailed off when a photo flashed on the screen and caught my attention. When I turned to face the television, I almost choked when Ingalls’ pudgy face took over the screen.

  Eliot made a strangled sound as he moved closer to the couch. “Is that ... ?”

  I nodded as I hit the volume button on the remote control. The newscaster, who I didn’t recognize, smoothly delivered a devastating blow.

  “The Macomb County Sheriff’s Department is on the scene of what looks to be a brutal murder. Cliff Ingalls, a private investigator in Mount Clemens, was brutally gunned down in his office sometime last evening. The sheriff’s department isn’t giving details at this time, but we’ll keep you apprised of further developments.”

  My mouth was dry as I turned to Eliot. “We are truly screwed.”

  He was paler than I’d ever seen. “That’s the understatement of the year.”

  16 Sixteen

  Eliot abandoned breakfast preparations so we could go to the scene. We dressed quickly, not bothering to shower. Eliot made sure to park a block over so nobody would recognize his truck. We were both edgy as we approached Ingalls’ office. Thankfully, a small crowd had drifted from nearby businesses to watch the sheriff’s men work, so we didn’t look completely out of place.

  “Maybe we should tell Jake that he was working for Tad,” I suggested as Eliot picked a bench for us. Like everything in Mount Clemens, it was starting to show wear from age. I didn’t care. I just wanted to get off my feet. I was feeling lightheaded ... and maybe a little guilty.

  “We can’t do that.” Eliot was firm, his eyes busy as they bounced from deputy to deputy. I had no idea if he was looking for someone specific but he was in full work mode, which was fine with me. I didn’t need his full attention when melting down. “Jake wants to protect us, but he can’t ignore it when we break the law. That’s one of the reasons you and he never would’ve worked out. You like breaking the law too much and he’s a stickler for rules.”

  I was surprised by the statement. “Are you s
itting around obsessing about that or something?”

  Finally he brought his eyes to me and managed a small laugh. “No. There was a time when I worried that I was simply a stopgap on your way back to him, though.”

  My heart gave a small heave. “I’m ... sorry.” Really, what else was I supposed to say?

  “You don’t need to be sorry.” He squeezed my hand, earnest. “You didn’t do anything. I just ... wasn’t sure. That was my own insecurity. I should point out this was very early in the relationship. I don’t worry about that sort of thing now.”

  That was a relief. “What do you worry about now?”

  “That you’ll never pick up those shoes in the living room and the pile will grow to the size of a small mountain.”

  I laughed. “All right, already, I’ll pick up the shoes. Geez.”

  “Leave them for now. If the state troopers come for you they might trip over them and give us some time to escape.”

  Even though it was said in jest my heart gave a little jolt. “What happens to Rocky if we go to jail for what happened to Tad or Ingalls?”

  “We’re not going to jail.”

  “What if, though?”

  “I ... .” He hesitated and then shrugged. “Are you saying Lexie won’t watch him for a bit? Or Carly? What about your grandfather? Heck, I bet Jake would watch him if it comes to it. It’s going to be okay.”

  He sounded so certain I opted to believe him simply because it was easier than considering the alternative. “I don’t understand how this happened.” I turned my attention back to the activity in front of Ingalls’ office. “Do you think that noise we heard last night ... ?” I didn’t finish the sentence. It was too horrible to consider.

  Eliot glanced around to make sure nobody was listening and then shook his head as he lowered his voice. “Be very careful what you say around here,” he admonished. “The last thing we need is someone questioning our whereabouts last night.”

  “Yeah, but ... do you think?”