CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Why don’t you go take a look in back, Tony? Let me know if you see anything out of place,” Adam said to his new partner.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Maggie whispered to Adam, “Where’s Mitch?” She hoped she didn’t sound too desperate.
He gave her a knowing smile. “He got into a bit of trouble for punching me yesterday and won’t be at work for a while.”
“Oh, of course. I’m sure they’d frown on that. He okay?” She feigned casualness.
“He’ll be fine. He’s working things on the side.
We’re going to find this guy, Maggie, I promise.
It appears the cat’s out of the bag on you IDing him, which really pisses me off.
Mostly because that means someone inside the PD ratted you out.
Could be an innocent mistake or something more malicious, but until we figure that part out, I don’t want you talking to anyone, even in the PD, other than Mitch or me about what you saw, okay? ”
“I haven’t told a soul. Well, except Jenny, but she wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“That’s fine. I told her, too. I’m sure she’s not the leak.”
Tony reappeared and announced that it didn’t look like anything had been touched in the back. “You might want to check to be sure, but everything seemed in order.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll go now.” She peeled herself away from Adam to go take a look as he started drawing up paperwork.
By the time Adam and his new partner left, Stephanie and Jackie had arrived.
Maggie and her employees tried to right everything as quickly as possible.
Maggie swept up the glass and called about getting a new door installed later that afternoon.
They cleared the aisles first and decided to stay open for business.
With the four of them working hard, it wouldn’t take too long to get things back to normal.
She had Stephanie keep a running list of everything that would need to be reordered as soon as possible.
Around lunchtime, her stomach let out a loud reminder that she hadn’t eaten breakfast. She was starving.
Pizza won the what-to-have-for-lunch vote, so she called for delivery.
A few minutes later, her heart skipped a beat when a tall, blond god came strutting through her broken door. Her body reacted immediately.
“Hey, Maggie. How’s it going? Adam told me what happened.” Mitch’s smile faded when he saw the writing on the wall. He took two long steps over to her and leaned close so only she could hear. “Those bastards will pay for this. I promise you that.”
Having him so close was like a sugar rush. She closed her eyes for a second to breathe him in. He smelled like testosterone and fabric softener. For an instant, she wondered who took care of him. She hoped he had a cleaning lady or kept up on his own laundry.
Since he wasn’t working the case, she wondered why he’d shown up.
“Looks like you’ve been working hard. Can I take you to lunch?” His smile was panty-dropping.
“I just ordered a couple of pizzas. They should be here any minute. You’re welcome to stay.”
“I was hoping to talk to you. Alone.”
She swallowed hard. It took a second for her to come to her senses. God, this man twisted her up into a mindless mess. As nice as it would be to think he wanted to take her out, he must have an ulterior motive. It took her a minute, but she figured it out.
“You just want to make sure I’m still willing to be a witness if I have to. Well, don’t worry. I’m fine,” she whispered.
He looked into her eyes for a long second and then wrapped his big, strong arms around her, pulling her in close. “You don’t look fine.” He hugged her tight, and a few tears slid down her cheek.
He was right. She was scared. But if push came to shove, she would not let this jerkwad get away with robbing the bank and certainly not for murdering her uncle-in-law.
“Maybe not right this second, but I will be,” she stammered and swiped at her eyes. “I’m still mad at you for punching Adam.”
His smile faded, and he dropped his arms. She immediately wished she could take it back and put the smile back on his face.
“Yeah, I know. I’m a dick. Sometimes I do impulsive, stupid shit, and I almost always regret it later.” He seemed remorseful, which was better than blowing it off.
“He says he forgives you, so I guess I can, too,” she said.
“He said that?” Mitch was skeptical.
“Yeah. He said you were protecting Jenny and that he would have done the same thing. He just can’t believe he didn’t see it coming.”
Mitch choked out a laugh and shook his head. “That guy.”
“He’s not half bad, you know?”
“I’m slowly figuring that out. So, hey, what about lunch? Wanna go grab something?”
She glanced up to answer and noticed Stephanie waving her arms toward the door and mouthing “go” over and over. Maggie rolled her eyes and laughed. “Sure, let’s go.”
Even if he did have other motives, staring into those intense, sexy green eyes for twenty minutes over a sandwich would be worth it. A girl could only be so strong.
She gave Steph enough cash to cover the pies and grabbed her jacket. “I’ll be back in a bit,” she called over her shoulder, stepping through the broken door. He grabbed her arm to steady her when she caught her foot on the threshold and almost tripped.
“How about the deli down the street? Do you eat there often?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah, all the time. It has the best chicken salad.”
They walked the half-block in silence, and he opened the door for her once they arrived.
A large, olive-skinned woman, called out and made her way over to them. “Maggie! So good to see you. You want a table today?” She did nothing to hide the slow up and down perusal of Mitch. “Or do you want something for takeout?” She gave her a double thumbs up.
“Oh, for God’s sake. A table, Sophia. Please.
” Maggie could feel her cheeks heating and tried to hide her face.
Mitch put his hand on her back and pushed her to follow the stout, blunt woman.
Sophia sat them at a cozy table for two near the back, handed them menus, and smiled sweetly.
“I’ll be right back to get your order, kids. ”
Mitch winked at her, and she waddled away laughing. “She seems nice,” he said innocently.
“I used to think so,” Maggie said dryly.
They chatted about the weather and other inconsequential things until Sophia came back with two glasses of water. Once they gave their orders and she left, Mitch got right down to business.
“So, I was hoping to talk to you about what you saw at the bank. I didn’t get a chance to read your statement before they sent me home, so I wanted to ask if you wouldn’t mind going through it again. It also might help you remember something new.”
So, that was his ulterior motive. He wanted info on the robbery. She knew this wasn’t an actual date, but it still stung a little to know he was only after information. She tried to get past it, knowing how important this was to him.
“Um, okay. Do you want to ask me questions, or should I just tell you what I remember?”
He grilled her nine ways from Friday, but she didn’t feel like she was giving him anything useful. They’d eaten and were sipping on Cokes when she finally said, “That’s all I’ve got. I wish there was more.”
“Hey, the fact that you kept your cool and remembered so much is amazing. We’ll catch him, Maggie.
It’s just a matter of time. I’m really pissed off he vandalized your store.
And I’m sorry you have to go through all the cleanup and insurance claims and all that bullshit. I hope he didn’t scare you too badly.”
“You’re worried I’ll get scared and won’t testify.” She looked him straight in the eye. “Don’t be. I’m tougher than I look. I’m not gonna lie. I’m a little freaked out that he knows who I am. But since you’re going to catch him soon, I won’t have to worry much longer, right?”
“Damn straight. Now that it’s been confirmed he is officially back in town, things will heat up, and we’ll nail his ass.”
“Sounds good.” She appreciated the words of reassurance.
He wadded up his napkin and dropped it on his empty plate. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the other thing, either. I just need to focus on this right now.”
Her heart threatened to jump out of her chest, and her eyes widened. Had he been thinking about her?
“The other thing?” she asked innocently.
“You know damn good and well what I’m talking about. You’ve gotten under my skin, Maggie Tucker. We’ve got some unfinished business, but it will have to wait a little longer. You ready?” He pulled out his wallet and laid two twenties on the table.
She was speechless. Holy cow. He still wanted her?
He was so casual about the whole thing. Like she was something he needed to scratch off a to-do list. No mention of dating or seeing each other on a regular basis.
He just wanted to bed her and move on. She’d already made up her mind that she was okay with that.
Now it was just the anticipation that would kill her.
“Sure. You wanna wait for change?” She nodded toward the money on the table.
“What?” He seemed genuinely confused. “No. That’s fair. Let’s go.”
She laughed, and when he asked why, she told him the story of her last date and how she’d had to sneak back into the restaurant to leave a tip.
“Sounds like an asshole, Mags. You can do better.”
She watched his ass as she followed him out. Oh, she was going to do better all right. Even if it was for just one night.