On Deadline & Under Fire

by Amanda M. Lee

  “What do you think he was trying to accomplish?”

  Grandpa shrugged. “My guess is that he’s trying to ascertain if he can use you. You have ties to powerful people. That might come in handy. Of course, you’re also a woman and mobsters don’t trust women.”

  “That is sexist and wrong-headed.”

  Grandpa ignored my annoyance. “You also have a huge mouth and might cause him trouble,” he added. “You’re famous in Macomb County, and not for reasons the mob would like. You’re too visible. They don’t like visible.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not particularly visible right now,” I reminded him. “I’m on vacation.”

  “Except you’re still poking around, which is suspect.”

  “Yeah, well ... .” I trailed off, my mind muddled and troubled. “Did he say anything specific?”

  “No. It was all vague. I didn’t like it, though. If Keane thinks you’re a target, I can’t help being worried.”

  “Oh, thanks. That’s sweet.” I absently patted his chest as I thought. “It’s going to be okay. I have everything under control.”

  “I hate it when you say things like that.”

  “Yes, well, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m speaking the truth.”

  “Whatever.” Grandpa ran his hand through his thinning hair. “Kid, I think you might be in over your head on this one.”

  “I’m fine. I’m not in trouble.”

  That was true. I’d yet to find anything even remotely close to trouble. That didn’t mean it wasn’t still to come.

  “You’d better hope you keep it that way.” Grandpa inclined his chin toward the swinging doors, causing me to swivel quickly. Eliot stood there, his eyes contemplative as he watched us. “He’s going to be the one in the most danger if you don’t play this right, kid.”

  The reality of the words caused my blood to run cold. “He’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah, well, be careful.” Grandpa shot me a dubious look before pasting a fake smile on his face “What are you doing back here? Do you want to join the family business?”

  “Not particularly.” Eliot’s eyes were curious as they locked with mine. “What have you guys been doing?”

  “Talking about the merits of blueberry and blackberry pie.”

  “Ah.” Eliot held out a hand to me. “You can get your pie to go. Mom wants to head home. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  “Oh, really?” I slipped my hand into his. “Where are you going?”

  “All three of us are going to the zoo,” Eliot said. “After you mentioned the zoo so many times this afternoon, Mom thinks it’s a good idea if we actually go to Royal Oak and check it out.”

  I couldn’t stifle my groan. “Can’t I stay home?”

  “Nope. We’ll have a big fight if you try to get out of it.”

  I wasn’t always opposed to big fights. Sometimes they were worth it. One look at Eliot’s serious face told me that wasn’t going to be the case this time. “Fine. I look forward to the zoo. You know how I feel about their blue slushes.”

  “Yes. They make you excitable and annoying. I’m fine with it.”

  “Well, then, zoo it is.” I graced him with a wide smile. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

  “Good. Do you want to tell me what the two of you were really doing?”

  “We were talking about pie.”

  “Uh-huh.” Eliot was dubious. “Well, let’s get your pie and get out of here. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow ... and a really hot one.”

  “That sounds like a great day for the zoo. A hot Saturday at the end of August. How could that possibly be anything other than fun?”

  “I THINK I’M DYING.”

  I waved my hand in front of my face and glared at Eliot as he delivered an iced tea and bottle of water to his mother before joining us at a small table in front of the food carts at the zoo the next day.

  As promised, Eliot woke early and cooked breakfast. His mother was excited to see the zoo — especially the polar bear tunnel because it was hot enough the bears would most likely be swimming — and she couldn’t contain herself when we hit the facility. This was at least my fiftieth visit, so I couldn’t quite match her enthusiasm. Eliot seemed edgy, so I did my best to at least pretend I was having a good time.

  That effort lasted only until the humidity hit like a wet and heavy blanket, smacking me in the face so hard my cheeks burned and I would’ve gladly taken a nap in a walk-in freezer. I was determined to keep Eliot happy. I also hated being hot. It was a war of sorts, and my abject hate for sweating was winning out.

  “You do look a little worse for wear,” Eliot admitted, pressing his water bottle to the back of my neck and causing a chill to run down my spine. “One of the things I’ve noticed about you is that you don’t take heat very well.”

  “I don’t,” I agreed, sipping my slush. “I don’t know what it is. I’ve always been this way.”

  “You’re a hot sleeper and point that fan at your face every night, even in winter.”

  “That’s not simply because I like the breeze. I like the noise, too.”

  “I’ve figured that out.” Eliot flashed a small smile as he patted the top of my hand. “You can’t sleep with the television on ... or music, for that matter, because they’re too distracting. But you can sleep with the fan. Why do you think I bought a fan for my apartment right after we started dating?”

  I shrugged, noncommittal. “I thought you liked to pretend you were a supermodel and do the hair blowing in the wind thing.”

  Eliot snickered as he squeezed my fingers. “Not quite, but close.” He turned his attention to his mother, who was handling the heat much better than I was. “Are you okay, Mom?”

  “Oh, I’m having a wonderful time,” she enthused, gulping her iced tea. “This is a lovely zoo. I don’t know what I was expecting from the Detroit Zoo — I mean, you hear such horror stories about the city — but this place is lovely.”

  “This isn’t technically Detroit,” Eliot pointed out. “It’s the Detroit Zoo, but it’s in Royal Oak.”

  “Still, I love it.”

  “I love it, too,” I offered. Technically, at least right now, that was a filthy lie. I hated everything about this place given the heat. I didn’t want to ruin the day for Eliot and his mother, so I came up with a plan. “I don’t suppose we could take a bit of time to cool off in the reptile house and new penguin exhibit, could we? They’re not very far apart and they’re both air-conditioned.”

  Eliot’s smile was amiable. “I think we can manage that. Your cheeks really are red.”

  “This happens whenever I get too hot,” I reminded him, getting to my feet. “This is why we can never go to one of those equatorial countries for vacation. I’d be unbearable the entire time.”

  “And that’s on top of you trying to work when you’re supposed to be taking time off,” Eliot added.

  “Ugh. Are you ever going to let that go?”

  “Not this week.”

  “Good to know.”

  I led the way to the reptile house — mostly because I was desperate to get out of the sun — and once we were inside I was thankful to take a breather from Maggie and Eliot. While I was much fonder of Eliot’s mother than I had been thirty-six hours before, her love of all things zoo related annoyed me on a level I couldn’t quite identify. I was positive most of it had to do with the weather but because Maggie thought I was being a big baby about the heat I could hardly keep complaining.

  I headed toward the wall containing the snake tanks, glad to find a vent in the corner that pumped out cold air. I decided to stay right there until I stopped sweating, pursing my lips when Eliot met my gaze. He smiled when he realized what I was doing.

  “We’re going to keep going. We’ll wait for you at the far end of the room. Mom actually wants to look at the animals.”

  “Yes, well, I will be right behind you once I stop sweating through my clothes.”

  Eliot chuckled. “
Okay. You’re being a really good sport about this. Have I told you that?”

  “No, but you can applaud me later when we take a cold bath ... or slip into the pool naked after your mother goes to sleep.”

  Instead of admonishing me, Eliot grinned. “It’s a date.”

  I watched him go with a mixture of love and annoyance. I like spending time with him, but the fact that his mother forced that time to be something akin to torture was a nonstop source of irritation. I tried to push my weariness out of my head and focus on cooling down, but that lasted only a minute or two because a folded square of paper fluttered over my head and landed at my feet, causing me to stir from my restful stance.

  I glanced over my shoulder but didn’t immediately see anyone behind me. I was blocking two tanks and it was obvious I had no intention of moving, so people opted to skirt around me rather than try to force me to move.

  I bent over and snagged the note. It was folded twice, and one simple statement took up the entire scrap of paper: Meet me at The Domino Club at ten.

  I furrowed my brow, confused. This time when I searched the room I took special care, my heart skipping a beat when my gaze landed on a familiar figure by the exit door. Russell Warren. The apartment fire hero. He was here ... and watching me. He remained where he was long enough to make sure I saw him and then disappeared into the crowd.

  Instead of being excited, which normally would have been my way, a cool sense of dread washed over me as I considered my grandfather’s statement from the night before. Perhaps I really was in over my head with these people. It wasn’t the first time (and certainly wouldn’t be the last) that I found myself in an untenable predicament.

  Still, it was the other thing my grandfather said that threatened to overwhelm me. The part about Eliot being a target should these men decide to move. That was the part I couldn’t wrap my head around.

  “Son of a ... !” I swore viciously under my breath. “This is starting to get out of hand.”

  I was talking to no one in particular, but that didn’t stop multiple voices inside my head from agreeing. Yup. I’d totally fouled up this one. It was going to take some work — and a little luck — to get myself out of it.

  23 Twenty-Three

  “And why don’t you want to go to Partridge Creek with us?”

  Eliot was suspicious after we returned home. I drew myself a lukewarm bath in the jetted tub off our master bathroom and immediately climbed in after shedding my sweaty clothes. His mother recused herself to the basement to watch television, giving us a few minutes of much-needed alone time.

  “I don’t feel well,” I replied. I’d been working on a way to get out of whatever outing Maggie had planned for the evening during our final hour at the zoo. There was essentially only one way to do it. Eliot would figure out something was wrong if I didn’t give in and embrace my aversion to heat. He would be suspicious otherwise. It was go big on the potential heatstroke or be forced to head to the mall. “Oh. So much better.” I pressed my eyes shut as I reclined in the chilly water.

  Eliot sat on the ledge next to the tub, idly trailing his fingers through the water as he regarded me. “I don’t understand how you can enjoy a cold bath.”

  “It’s not cold cold. It’s not as if there are ice cubes in here, although I wouldn’t be opposed if you wanted to get some.”

  “You’ll cool down in a few minutes.” Eliot pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “You really are warm. I forget how much you hate extreme temperatures sometimes. Do you feel sick?”

  “My stomach is upset and I want to crawl into bed.” That wasn’t a lie. Ever since reading the note and seeing the person who had delivered it I’d felt nauseated to the point I begged off when Eliot offered to buy ice cream on our way out of the zoo. That was his first real clue that I wasn’t feeling myself. Sure, only part of that was because of the weather, but I rationalized that what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. “I can’t go to the mall. It’ll be hot there, too.”

  “My mother has her heart set on going to Brio. She loves Italian food.”

  “There’s no reason you can’t take her.”

  “I believe there’s a rule — number one in the relationship handbook — that says I need to stick close when my beloved is sick.”

  I opened one eye. “Beloved?”

  “That didn’t sound as ridiculous in my head.”

  “Well, at least you’re aware it sounds stupid.”

  “I am,” Eliot agreed. “If you’re sick, I think I should be with you. What happens if you need to go to the hospital or something?”

  Oh, geez. If he was trying to make me feel guilty he was doing a marvelous job. “I won’t need to go to the hospital.”

  “Heatstroke is a real thing.”

  “Yes, but I don’t have heatstroke.” I was reasonably sure that was true. “I simply don’t take heat well. I have no idea why, but it’s a regular occurrence for me. You don’t have to worry. Once this headache goes away and the stomachache fades, I’ll be back to my normal self.”

  “Still, I don’t want to leave you.”

  Now he was just getting on my nerves. “Your mother does not want to sit here all night. I thought the plan was to take her to the outdoor mall, let her shop to her heart’s content, take her to Brio and then go to a movie. She wants to see that artsy chick flick. I heard her mention it.”

  Eliot’s forehead puckered. “This isn’t some elaborate plan to get out of seeing that movie, is it?”

  “No.” I’d rather die than see that movie, but this was an elaborate plan to get out of the house and visit the speakeasy. Everything else was gravy. “I seriously don’t feel well. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize.” Eliot’s annoyance flashed as he rubbed his fingers over my forehead. “I shouldn’t have made you go to the zoo. All I could think about was keeping my eyes on you so you didn’t run off chasing mobsters and get hurt. Instead, I made you sick.”

  “You didn’t make me sick. Ninety-eight-degree temperatures and eighty-five percent humidity made me sick.”

  “Yeah, well, I still don’t like it.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “You’re still warm even though you’re sitting in that freaking cold bath. It’s unbelievable. Is this a family thing?”

  “Not that I know of. Although, Grandpa is a bear, too, when the weather is like this.”

  “Oh, well, good.” Eliot forced a smile. “It’s reassuring to know I essentially fell in love with your grandfather.”

  “Isn’t it, though?”

  Eliot glanced at his watch and did some calculations in his head. “They only have a nine o’clock showing of that stupid chick movie. That means it will be midnight before we get home.”

  That was a timetable I could work with, although it might be tight. “Don’t hurry back on my account.”

  “Oh, it won’t simply be because of you. I’ll want to take a bath of my own — probably in gin — after seeing that movie.”

  I smirked. “It’s going well. It was a rough start, but your mother is coming around. I mean ... it seems like she’s coming around. She doesn’t hate me as much as she initially did.”

  “She never hated you.” Eliot rested his hand on top of my head. “Good grief. Even your hair is sweaty.”

  “It’s a gift.”

  “It’s a weird gift.”

  “Yeah, well, let’s talk about your mother rather than my penchant for sweating,” I suggested. “She seems happier than she did when she first arrived. That must be a relief.”

  “It is, but I really didn’t care if she was happy about our arrangement as much as I wanted her to accept it. That was the most important thing.”

  “And now?”

  “She likes you.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  “No, she does.” Eliot’s smile was sly. “She absolutely loves your mother, too. Did I mention that she couldn’t stop talking about your mother the entire time we were in the reptile house? It was a
s if they were separated at birth or something. They really bonded.”

  “Are you trying to make me puke?”

  “No. I just found it funny.”

  “I actually saw it coming,” I admitted, sinking a bit lower in the water so it would cover my shoulders. I was starting to feel better, even though I had no intention of admitting anything of the sort to Eliot. I had a window in which to dig for information. I couldn’t lose it. “Maggie and Mom have a lot in common.”

  “I find that terrifying.”

  “I find it refreshing to know that mothers the world over can always find something to bond over,” I said. “I’m just glad your mother seems to be settling in. I was worried she would have an epic meltdown and order you to move back home.”

  “What makes you think she didn’t?”

  I opened both eyes and rubbed my cheek. “That first night? Is that what she did?”

  “I’m starting to think you really didn’t eavesdrop on that conversation. That seems so unlike you.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m nothing if not respectful of others’ privacy.”

  “That’s how I often think of you,” Eliot acknowledged. “Avery Shaw, respectful of privacy.”

  I barked out a laugh, cringing when my stomach flipped to the point I felt sick again. “Ugh. Remind me of how I feel right now when I suggest an outing in a heatwave next summer.”

  “I will.” Eliot leaned forward and brushed a kiss against my forehead. “I’ll get some water and aspirin and put them by the bed. I’ll also charge your phone to make sure you don’t miss the texts I’m going to send to check on you.”

  “Okay.” I closed my eyes. “I’ll think of you while I’m watching Netflix in bed and you’re watching the prestige chick flick.”

  Eliot chuckled. “You’re a terrible person.”

  “I have my moments.”

  I WASN’T STUPID ENOUGH to visit the speakeasy without backup. I considered calling Marvin, but he wouldn’t be able to contain himself if he ran into politicians at the underground bar. Besides that, he was recognizable. If people saw us together they’d run in the other direction.