Law Man

Chapter Twenty-Four Our Kids

I jumped down from Mitch’s SUV, slammed the door and watched with a small, tired smile as a Zombie Billy jumped down from the backseat.

The park was a hit. The kids had a freaking blast and I had one too.

But, best of all, all day Mitch’s eyes were lit with a light that was new to me but it was a light that I liked. It was not his normal sense of humor which was usually easy to trip for Billy, Billie and me. And it was not because it was a sunny day, we had the day off and we were at an amusement park.

It was something else.

I loved him, this I knew. He was my dream man. He thought we were made for each other and I loved that he thought that. As the days and weeks went by and we clicked naturally into each other’s lives, the kids clicking with us, I was even coming to believe he was right.

But that day he gave us all something more.

Yes, in all that he’d given us, he’d given us something more.

We had a blast; the kids were tuckered out because they’d been on the go all day filled with excitement, wonder, adrenalin and a lot of crappy food. Billy, Billie and me, we loved it. Every second of it.

But that light that shown in Mitch’s eyes told me he loved it more. Not because he liked roller coasters and crappy food.

No, because he liked to see us happy, he liked to make us that way and he didn’t mind us knowing it.

From the beginning, he’d demonstrated generosity, selflessness and protectiveness but there was something beautiful about sensing his contentment grow as the hours passed and he got more out of giving something to us than we got out of having it.

I knew before that Mitch would make a great Dad.

But I knew right then that he’d build a beautiful family.

I knew this because he was already doing it.

And knowing that, I loved him more.

Billy slammed his door, taking my mind off my happy thoughts. Then, surprisingly, he drifted to me, his body careening into mine. He slid an arm around my waist, leaning heavily into me and I took his weight, thinking that was beautiful too.

I slid an arm around his shoulders and looked through the SUV windows to see Mitch bent into the backseat. He’d unbuckled a dead to the world Billie and was pulling her out of her booster seat. I watched as he secured her, her little legs around his waist, her head on his shoulder, her arms dangling heavily, Mitch’s arm under her booty. He slammed the door and his other arm wrapped around her back to hold her close to his torso.

Incidentally, that was beautiful too.

I moved Billy toward the sidewalk as Billie and Mitch moved that way and he bleeped the locks.

“The stuff,” I called quietly to Mitch, referring to the variety of souvenirs and spoils of victories Mitch and Billy had won playing games at the park that were in the back of Mitch’s truck.

“Put her down,” Mitch replied just as quietly. “Then I’ll come back and get it.”

I nodded and Billy and I met Mitch and Billie on the sidewalk. I watched Mitch take me and Billy in, again his face registering contentment, that light in his eyes I could see in the evening dark, his lips tipping up. Mine tipped up back at him and my soul sighed.

Maybe that was what he was feeling. His soul sighing.

And, I had to admit, mine sighed again just thinking we gave him that especially with all he was giving us.

We walked up the steps side-by-side and I gave Billy’s shoulders a squeeze.

“Did you have a good day, Bud?” I asked softly.

“Best ever,” he muttered.

Best ever.

He was right. It was the best ever. For all of us. Maybe even Mitch.

I looked back at Mitch to see his still curved lips brushing the top of Billie’s hair.

Yes. It was the best ever. Even for Mitch.

Yeah, oh yeah, I loved Detective Mitchell James Lawson. I loved the family we were building. And I loved that he loved it too.

I looked down to my feet, concentrating on executing the last few steps. My body was pleasantly exhausted and I didn’t want to do a face plant in the stairs to end a great day. Billy’s body remained heavy against mine as we climbed and I kept my gaze at my feet as we made it to the breezeway, my mind winding down, my thoughts happy.

Therefore when I heard Mitch whisper a clipped, “No,” which was shortly followed by a soft, intensely angry, “Hell no,” it so surprised me in the mood I sensed we were all in I lifted my head and twisted my neck to look at him.

His face was carved in stone.

What on earth?

He stopped and I automatically stopped with him, Billy stopping with me. Then I looked where Mitch was looking and I felt my body turn to stone just like Mitch’s face and I knew when Billy saw them because his body did the same against mine.

Mom and Aunt Lulamae were standing outside my door. Their eyes were on us. Their hair was amped out to maximum volume. Their makeup was a tribute to raccoons. Their cleavage was bared. Their arms were crossed on their chests pushing it up and bearing more.

And their faces were smirking.

I knew why.

Standing with them was Jez.

Jez!

Billie’s mother.

My heart had stopped when my body turned to stone but taking in Jez, it started stuttering madly. No rhythm, it tripped unsteadily as my pleasure after the best day ever oozed out and fear settled in.

I hadn’t seen her in six years. She took off within months of Billie being born. She was bad news then and she looked like bad news now.

Worse.

She looked strung out, too thin, her clothing matched the skank level of my Mom and aunt’s and it was clear she didn’t pay much mind to her toilette except to cake on more makeup than even Mom and Aunt Lulamae wore. I didn’t even think this was possible but there it was in the lit breezeway. Proof.

Bill.

Bill had activated Mom and Aunt Lulamae to find her and bring her here to fuck with me.

And fucking with me meant fucking with Mitch, Billy and Billie.

Oh God.

I felt Billy’s body start shaking against me. Not little shakes, quakes. It rocked his frame and shook me out of my terrified surprise.

He knew Jez, of course, it had been a long time ago but he remembered her. Even though he was very young, he avoided her even then with instincts honed from living in that world. And considering he was nine going on ninety, he knew why she was there now.

And also, he’d never, not once, laid eyes on Melbamae and Lulamae Hanover. But he knew who they were and he knew why they were there now.

I shuffled Billy and I closer to Mitch and whispered urgently, “That’s Jez. Billie’s birth mother. Not Bud’s, Billie’s.”

“Right,” Mitch clipped, his tone even angrier, his mood rolling dangerously through the breezeway, his body still rock-solid.

“Late night for two little kids,” Mom called, still smirking and Mitch moved.

Not to my door. Not to his door.

To Derek and LaTanya’s door.

I was surprised by this but I followed, pulling a still shaking Billy with me and keeping my eyes on the Trailer Trash Trio.

Mitch spoke not a word but lifted a fist and pounded on the door. I didn’t know what he was doing and I didn’t ask. He was clearly going to lead and I was definitely going to follow.

Aunt Lulamae made a move to us, arms coming uncrossed, torso bent slightly, eyes on Billy. When she did, I shifted closer to Mitch, my arm tightening around Billy, I positioned so I was between her and my cousin, Billy between Mitch and me.

“Hello, Billy, I’m your grand-momma,” she cooed and Billy shoved his body closer to me in a way it seemed he wanted me to absorb it.

I held him tighter.

“Far’s I can see, she grew up kinda pretty,” I heard Jez mutter and my gaze cut to her to see her eyes on Billie, mild curiosity in them and not much else.

I found this surprising too, not to mention a little alarming. Furthermore, I found her assessment of Billie as “kinda pretty” insane. Even asleep and mostly hidden from view by Mitch, anyone could see Billie was gorgeous.

She was Billie’s mother and hadn’t seen her daughter in six years.

Mild curiosity and an inane comment?

What was that all about?

I didn’t ask, not that I would have, I didn’t have the time.

This was because Mitch spoke.

“Not one step closer,” he growled in a way that even Aunt Lulamae stopped and looked at him.

“I –” she started.

“Not another word either,” Mitch went on, his voice low and vibrating, so furious it felt physical. “We’ll deal with you in a minute.”

Aunt Lulamae’s torso straightened with a snap and her eyes narrowed.

“Those’re my grandbabies,” she hissed.

Before Mitch could respond, the door opened and Derek was there.

Then we weren’t.

This was because Mitch rounded me and Billy, herding us, forcing us with his movements through the door, through Derek and once we were inside, he slammed the door behind us.

I saw immediately that there was a mini-cocktail extravaganza in progress. There were martini glasses in hands, decimated platters of food on the coffee table with two silver cocktail shakers, a bucket of ice and bottles of booze and mixers. I had seen this all many times before. Once she settled in, LaTanya wasn’t one to waste time sashaying into the kitchen to mix cocktails. She set up where it was comfortable and stayed there.

Bray and Brent were on the couch.

So was LaTanya’s cousin, Elvira.

Elvira.

I wasn’t certain what Mitch’s plan was. What I was certain of was that in any plan, Elvira was a wildcard.

I knew Elvira seeing as she was a staple at LaTanya’s cocktail extravaganzas. Elvira had great style, a sister and brother who worked her last nerves and she didn’t mind telling everyone about it so she did (at length). She also had an interesting job herding the cats that were a bunch of men whose business was a little hazy but my sense was they were private investigators (or the like) and, once you got to know her, she could be hilarious.

But if LaTanya Delight deserved a capital “D”, her cousin Elvira’s Attitude deserved a capital “A”. Pretty much anything came out of Elvira’s mouth and she was scary nosy. She didn’t have a filter. She said what she thought, she said it straight and she had a lot of opinions.

I liked her but I had to admit, she always scared me a little.

During another mini-cocktail extravaganza of LaTanya’s, that one sans Elvira, LaTanya shared she felt the same way about her cousin.

Now Elvira, Bray, Brent, LaTanya and Derek were all staring at us with various expressions of surprise on their faces and I didn’t blame them. We’d barged right in and there we were.

“Is everything –?” Derek started but Mitch didn’t let him get further as we heard a pounding knock on the door.

All eyes (including mine) went to it but Mitch started talking.

“The Trailer Trash Twins are in the breezeway,” he explained quietly, striding straight to Derek and LaTanya’s second bedroom that they used as a half-office/half-man cave. When I saw him on the move, I trailed taking Billy with me. So did Derek. So did LaTanya. And Bray, Brent and Elvira all got up and followed us.

Mitch kept talking as he moved, carrying the still sleeping (thankfully) Billie.

“They brought reinforcements. Billie’s Mom,” he stated as he walked into the room. Billy and I followed, so did Derek and LaTanya. Bray, Brent and Elvira huddled at the door.

I heard several sucked in breaths and I was guessing they came from LaTanya, Brent and Bray. For his part, Derek’s face got tight.

Mitch bent and I watched by the light coming through the opened door as he carefully deposited Billie on Derek’s man cave couch, arranged her comfortably and then reached out an arm to grab a throw from the back of it. He tossed it over her, twitching it so it covered her.

Then, when she was down, we all heard another pound come at the door.

Everyone’s heads twisted in that direction except Mitch’s. He moved swiftly, his movements controlled, fluid but economical like he was holding himself in check. He also didn’t hesitate and Bray, Brent and Elvira had to jump out of his way as his long legs took him out the door.

My arm still around a trembling Billy, I hurried after him, guiding Billy with me and giving him a firm squeeze.

“It’s going to be okay, honey,” I whispered as we moved and his head tipped back woodenly, his terrified eyes hit mine and my heart clenched. “Promise, Bud.” I kept whispering. “Everything’s going to be okay.” I gave him another squeeze. “Promise.”

We made it to the living room but Billy didn’t even nod and the terror didn’t leave his face. I stopped us when I heard Mitch speak and looked to the door.

He had it open, his body was blocking it and I saw Aunt Lulamae was standing on the other side.

“Five minutes,” he bit out.

“Fuck five minutes,” Aunt Lulamae returned. “We been waitin’ an hour.”

“Then you’ll wait another five minutes or you’ll find your ass in the back of a cruiser and you’ll be facing harassment charges,” Mitch fired back and I just got the chance to see her head jerk and her eyes narrow before he shut the door in her face.

Then he turned, walked directly to Billy and crouched in front of him.

One of his hands came up, curled around the side of Billy’s neck and he pulled him roughly yet tenderly away from my body and to within an inch of his face.

“I got this, Bud,” he said in a low, deeper than normal voice, his eyes locked with Billy’s.

Billy didn’t respond.

Mitch gave him a gentle shake with his hand at his neck.

“I promise you, I got this. You believe me?”

Billy didn’t move nor did he speak.

“Bud?” Mitch prompted on another gentle shake and finally Billy nodded.

My heart skipped when Mitch pulled Billy to him and rested his forehead against my cousin’s for half a second before he let him go and straightened.

Then he looked at LaTanya.

“Door closed to Billie. Shit goes down, I don’t want her hearin’ it. You gotta move her back to your room, I need you to do that. Yeah?” he asked and LaTanya nodded then rushed to the man cave.

Mitch looked to Derek.

“I don’t want those women around the kids and I don’t want them knowin’ I live across the breezeway. That’s why we’re here. In a minute, Mara and me are goin’ out there, we’re takin’ them into Mara’s apartment and we’re dealin’ with ‘em. You hear shit you don’t like, like those bitches gettin’ loud and threatening, you call Slim. He knows what’s goin’ on and he’ll know what to do. You don’t like what you hear, you call. No hesitation. Right?”

Derek nodded.

Mitch looked at Bray and Brent.

“Keep Bud company. He’s freaked.”

Bray and Brent nodded, Brent detaching from Bray and moving toward Billy.

Mitch’s eyes came to me, they moved over my face, I knew he didn’t like what he saw but he powered through it and said quietly, “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

It was my turn to nod.

“I’m goin’ with,” Elvira announced right as I started to move toward Mitch and both Mitch and my eyes went to her.

Oh boy. Here we go. Elvira was butting into Mitch’s plans.

“No,” he denied.

“Uh…yeah, hot guy, macho man, decorated, squeaky clean po-lice detective,” she shot back and there it was. The Attitude. “I spend my time around hot guy, macho men, almost all my time but even if I didn’t, it wouldn’t take a psychologist to read you are one seriously pissed off hot guy, macho man, po-lice detective. And I’ll repeat, you’re decorated and squeaky clean. You need to keep your shit and stay that way and, my read, you got about a half a millimeter left on your hold on your control.”

I figured her read was right.

She kept talking.

“You both also need a witness to whatever goes down over there. I’m not either of ya’ll’s neighbor or best friend,” she lifted a hand, finger pointed down, her well-formed nail, I distractedly noticed, painted an awesome midnight violet color. She circled her finger between Mitch and me then she dropped her hand. “So that witness is gonna be me.”

Well, one thing I knew about this, LaTanya had shared with her cousin about Mitch, me, Billy and Billie.

The other thing I knew was that Elvira didn’t just have Attitude, she was wise.

Mitch came to the same conclusion because it was then he nodded and muttered, “Let’s go.”

Mitch spoke and Elvira and I moved, following him out the door and into the breezeway.

“Where’s my grandbabies?” Aunt Lulamae asked before Derek and LaTanya’s door even closed.

“We’ll talk at Mara’s place,” Mitch replied, moving directly to my door, key at the ready.

“I wanna see my grandbabies!” Aunt Lulamae was getting loud.

Mitch stopped, pivoted on his boot, stalked to Aunt Lulamae and even Aunt Lulamae, who had never been the brightest bulb in the box, was smart enough to see she’d pushed him too far. She flinched and cowered when he got in her space and leaned into her face.

I held my breath.

“We’ve been at an amusement park all day. Your granddaughter is exhausted and sleeping. Your grandson does not know you but with all your bullshit, he’s scared shitless of you. Right now, he’s in that apartment,” Mitch’s arm went up and he pointed at Derek and LaTanya’s door then dropped his arm, “shiverin’, he’s so fuckin’ scared. Now, you wanna convince anyone you give one shit about those kids, you’ll keep your fuckin’ voice down and you’ll wait the thirty fuckin’ seconds it takes to get into Mara’s place so we can talk. Your other choice is to have it out out here which means in about ten minutes your ass will be in a fuckin’ cruiser. You got a second to nod you agree or let loose. Your choice. That second starts now.”

She immediately nodded.

I let out my breath.

Mitch stalked to my door, opened it but didn’t walk through. He stopped in it and his eyes sliced to me as his hand came out to me.

I walked directly to him, Elvira at my back and when I got to him, my hand came up. His fingers closed around it and we walked in, Elvira following, the Trailer Trash Trio bringing up the rear.

Mitch’s hand gave mine a squeeze and he ordered gently, “Hit some lights, honey, then right back at my side.”

I looked up at him, nodded and wandered the room quickly, turning on the lamps on either side of the couch. Mitch positioned himself six feet into the apartment, hands to his hips. Elvira went to sit on a stool at my bar, back to the counter, body facing the showdown. It was then I noticed her clingy, wraparound dress was pretty spectacular and if I survived this without having a mental collapse, I needed to ask where she got it. Mom, Aunt Lulamae and Jez were all standing just inside my door, looking around my apartment with astonished expressions on their faces.

I understood this. Seriously, Penny did a great job. My apartment was awesome.

Jez’s expression melted to indifference as her eyes drifted to Mitch. It was all the same to her and, vaguely, I wondered what she was even doing there. She didn’t seem a participant so much as an observer.

Mom’s and Aunt Lulamae’s gazes came to me as I made it to Mitch’s side and their expressions shifted to scorn.

“Who’s she?” Jez asked, her head tipping to Elvira but Mom spoke over her and what Mom said took precedence, at least according to Mitch.

“Knew it, always knew it.” She threw her hand out, indicating my apartment. “Slutty, little tease always had your nose in the air, thinkin’ you’re better than everybody, thinkin’ you’re somethin’ you are not.”

Obviously, she said this to me.

And, very obviously, considering the already suffocating air in the room went thick as paste, Mitch, seriously pissed, got more pissed.

A lot more.

“For this discussion, you direct any communication to me. You do not talk to Mara,” he clipped out this order and Mom looked at him.

“And why would I do that?” she snapped.

“Because you’re standin’ there thinkin’ you got the upper hand when you don’t. And if you don’t smarten up fast and play this right, I’m gonna unleash a world of hurt on you, your sister and your sister’s son. And part of playing this right is not disrespecting my woman to her face or mine,” Mitch replied, one of his hands staying at his hip, the other one sliding around my waist and pulling me close.

“That a threat?” Aunt Lulamae asked.

“Nope,” Mitch answered.

“High and mighty cop, you think you got the system on your side,” Mom stated, her lip curled. “But we got ourselves a lawyer, Lulamae, Jez and me. And he says the system likes to place kids with blood relatives, the closer, the better. Not some second cousin, but a Momma or a Grandma. And Jez here, now she’s all set to move into a trailer close to me and Lulamae so those kids got all sorts of family close by to take care ‘a them and see they got what they need.”

After she said this, her face changed and I knew that change. I knew it because I’d seen it often in my life. And I knew it heralded her doing something that was not just her normal ugly but her vastly more hideous nasty.

And I would be right because she went on to say, “And, Jez here bein’ Billie’s Mom and all, we’re happy just to have the girl. You can have the boy.”

My heart clenched so hard I feared it would rupture and Mitch’s arm spasmed tight around my waist.

They had a lawyer.

And they were happy to break up the kids.

They had a lawyer and they were happy to break up the kids.

“I see you’re not just not all that smart. You’re plain stupid,” Mitch returned quietly, his eyes locked on Mom.

“Got a lawyer who don’t think the same way,” Aunt Lulamae fired back.

“No,” Mitch replied, his gaze slicing to Lulamae. “You got a lawyer who’s happy to take your money on a case he knows he has no hope of winning.”

Mom shook her head. “See you’re not too smart. Don’t you see? We’re offerin’ you a deal. We take the girl. You want him, you can have the boy. Everyone’s happy.”

The girl.

The boy.

Why did her calling Billy and Billie that hurt so much?

I started having trouble breathing.

“You’re not taking Billie,” Mitch declared.

“Jez is her Momma,” Aunt Lulamae stated. “And my boy gets to pick who he wants to raise his kids and he picks Jez, Melba and me.”

“Bill doesn’t get to decide shit,” Mitch shot back.

That was when Aunt Lulamae’s expression went from ugly to nasty.

She had something, I could tell by the look in her eyes. She was saving her ace and was about to play it.

I braced and she played it.

“He didn’t when he was facin’ all them charges. He does now, seein’ as he’s talkin’ with the DA to make a deal to provide testimony in return for immunity,” Aunt Lulamae returned fire, I stopped breathing altogether and felt Mitch’s body get tight.

Mom smiled in a way I clutched Mitch’s shirt at the back.

“He’s got good stuff. So good, they’re willin’ to give into all his demands. And one a’ those demands is he gets to say where his kids’re gonna be. Now, you’re smart, you deal. We’re willin’ to give you the boy but we take the girl,” she said.

I knew Mitch was preparing to speak but he didn’t get the chance.

This was because, in a flash that lasted a nanosecond, it all came to me.

Jez didn’t care about Billie. Whether she was moving into a trailer close to them or not, she was there because she was getting something out of it. What, I had no clue. But whatever she was getting, it wasn’t her daughter that she wanted.

And I had no idea how Mom and Aunt Lulamae were paying for an attorney. They had no money and neither did Bill. Whatever it was was probably taken out in trade and I knew whatever they were giving some sleazebag lawyer to get him to take their case would lose its luster and do it quickly.

And there was no judge in the land who would take two children from a woman who gave them a stable home, food, clothes and good people in their lives and plant them in a trailer two states away to live with women of proven bad character.

And Bill knew this.

But he didn’t care.

He just wanted to fuck with me. Probably with Mitch too. But definitely with me.

And he was using his children to do it.

But that flash I had wasn’t just understanding what was happening right then in my apartment. It was understanding what Mitch had been telling me, what people who knew and cared about me had been saying and showing all my life.

I was not a Two Point Five. Behaving the way they behaved, speaking the way they spoke, making the threats they were making would not occur to me. I would never, not in a million years, do any of that.

Because that was not me.

And it never had been.

So when the reply came, it was me who gave it.

“Get out of my house,” I said quietly and all eyes turned to me.

“What?” Mom asked.

“Get out of my house. Now,” I repeated with an added directive.

Mom’s eyes narrowed. “Marabelle Jolene, have you been listenin’?”

“I have,” I told her. “And I’m not listening anymore. I’m not breathing your air anymore. I’m done. You laid it out, now I will. This is the last conversation we’ll have not through attorneys. Unless I have to see you, I will never see you again. Do your worst. Right now, we’re done.”

“You don’t get this,” Aunt Lulamae butted in, “but my Bill’s got good shit on someone. They’re kissin’ his ass to get it. You don’t take this deal, Marabelle, you could lose both those kids.”

“And you don’t get this,” I retorted. “I do not care. If you think for one second I’m allowing you…or her,” I jerked my head at Jez, “anywhere near my kids, think again. It’s not going to happen.”

“You’re wrong,” Aunt Lulamae returned.

“We’ll see,” I replied instantly. “Now, get out.”

Mom leaned a bit toward me and said with soft menace, “You need to think about this deal, girl.”

My voice was clear and strong when I shot back, “No, I don’t. And you know I don’t. And you know why I don’t. But I’ll point it out. You both have records. I don’t. You both have not had steady employment in your lives. I have. Neither of you have seen those children until ten minutes ago. You haven’t sent birthday cards or Christmas presents. They’ve lived their whole lives in Denver; they’ve never been out of state and definitely not to Iowa. Their father is a drunk, drug addict dealer with two strikes. That woman,” I jerked my head at Jez, “left her infant daughter and didn’t see her again until whatever reason brought her here. And if you think we won’t figure out what you bribed her with to get her here, seeing as my man’s a freaking decorated police detective, you’re even more stupid than I thought and I had a lifetime of evidence suggesting you’re flat out dumb.” My eyes pinpointed Mom and Aunt Lulamae in turn and my voice dipped quieter. “And I have a really good memory. A really good one. You push this, you take this to court, I’ll be calling up all sorts of stuff on both of you,” my eyes shifted and narrowed on Jez, “all of you. There is no way in hell you’re taking either of my kids from me. And yes,” I looked to Aunt Lulamae, “I said they’re my kids because they are my kids. And seeing as they’re mine, I love them and they love me, I will exhaust myself, I will run myself ragged, I will bleed myself dry and I will do this to make sure they’re safe, protected and stay with me. You’re here simply because Bill is stupid, he’s petty, he blames me for his mistakes and he wants to fuck with me. He knows he has no prayer in the world. He’s smart enough to know that. He’s using you but you’re not smart enough to know that. Now, you can take this further and endure me wiping the floor with the lot of you in a courtroom or you can crawl away and stay away. Because you are not welcome here, you are not welcome in my home, my life or my kids’ lives and you never, ever will be.”

When I finished, I held their eyes and I was calm, in control, breathing steadily and although Mitch’s arm around my waist giving me a strong squeeze felt great, I didn’t need it.

I didn’t need it.

Because I wasn’t a Two Point Five. I wasn’t an Eight. I wasn’t a Ten.

Mitch was right. My classification system was bullshit.

Bottom line, what I was is a decent person.

And I always had been.

“Fuck me,” Jez muttered, studying, me, “didn’t buy into this shit.”

“Shush,” Aunt Lulamae hissed to Jez, “we got this.”

My body jolted in surprise when I heard a burst of laughter. I looked toward my kitchen to see Elvira had an arm thrown out to hold onto the edge of the counter and her entire, petite, rounded body was visibly shaking with hilarity. Her head was thrown back and her other hand was beating, palm flat, at her well-endowed chest.

She continued to laugh for a while then she sobered, still chuckling and wiping under her eye as she noted the obvious, “Hilarious. You got this. Ohmigod, that’s funny.”

“You think they got more sway than the District Attorney?” Mom asked, sweeping an arm out to Mitch and me.

Elvira totally sobered and focused sharp eyes on my mother.

And when she spoke, her voice was quiet.

“Yeah. Not to save you trouble but to save them the pain in the ass all you all got written all over you,” on the “them” she jerked her head toward Mitch and me, “let me explain somethin’. Detective Mitch Lawson is well-known in these parts for bein’ a good cop and when I say well-known, I mean, he’s made the papers. He decides he and his girlfriend are gonna take in a coupla kids that don’t have it too good and give them good, and the DA decides to give them to the likes of you just so he can get some info from a dirtbag, the papers get hold of that, he’s not gonna look too good. The DA likes lookin’ good. And, in case you haven’t clued in, I think Mara and Mitch here are willin’ to throw just about anything at you and won’t mind wadin’ in with the media to keep those kids safe.”

She turned her head to Mitch and me.

Then she said, “Sorry, gotta lay this shit out.”

Before either of us could respond, she turned her head back to the Trailer Trash Trio and when she spoke again, her voice was even quieter.

“Now, I know all about Bill Winchell. And I know who he’s got dirt on. And I know that person gets whiff that he’s talkin’, the number of breaths Bill Winchell’s got left to breathe on this earth just lowered significantly. Police protective custody or not, he’s dead man walkin’. If he’s too stupid to know that, he’s your boy, you go talk to him and you educate him. Right now he’s facin’ a not very happy future that includes a limited wardrobe selection. But at least he’s got a future. He talks, he won’t have that. You get me?”

I looked from Elvira to the Trailer Trash Trio to see Jez still looked indifferent. Mom was studying Elvira closely. But, surprising me, Aunt Lulamae looked pale and uncertain.

Elvira spoke again and when I looked back at her, I saw her eyes were on Mitch.

“I know the boys are fired up to take that guy down but that stupid cracker’s makin’ this play just to fuck with you, he needs a wakeup call.” Her eyes honed in on Mitch and she finished, “And you know it.”

“We’ll tell him to add the Witness Protection Program to the deal,” Mom said and everyone looked at her.

“You can tell him that but Winchell won’t get it,” Elvira replied. “He might have info but not enough to buy him that kinda deal.”

“You can’t know that,” Mom returned.

“Woman, you don’t know me but what I do, I know everything that’s goin’ down in Denver. I know that. I know a lot more. And I know, your boy don’t shut up, next time you see him, he’ll be in a coffin,” Elvira retorted.

Everyone was silent. Aunt Lulamae shifted. Mom glared at Elvira. Jez looked like, if she had a watch (which she didn’t), she’d check it.

Mitch finally spoke.

“I think you’ve been invited to leave.”

Mom transferred her glare to Mitch. Jez took a half step toward the door.

Aunt Lulamae looked at Mitch too and asked on a jerk of her head toward Elvira, “What she said, is it true?”

“Yes,” Mitch said flatly.

Aunt Lulamae looked at Mom. Mom continued to glare at Mitch.

And that was when I knew Mom was the mastermind (as it were) of all of this. This was not about Bill, Billy and Billie.

This was about her and me.

This was about her taking me down a notch.

Mitch was right again.

All my life, I had been in a competition with my mother. She wanted to take me down, hold me down, best me. She made nothing of her life and she wanted to make sure I didn’t make anything of mine because if I did, it would make her feel worse about the fact she’d thrown hers away.

And there I stood next to a good man, a handsome man, a solid, respectable man in a fabulously decorated apartment and across the breezeway were two children who adored me and a cadre of friends who had my back.

And she couldn’t stand it.

“Move on,” I whispered and I felt Mitch’s arm tighten and saw Mom’s eyes come to me.

“What?” she snapped.

“You don’t exist for me, not anymore. Not after this, not even before this but definitely not after. We’re done. I’ve moved on. Now you need to move on too,” I advised.

“Marabelle Hanover, don’t you stand there and tell your Momma what to do,” she kept snapping.

“Okay then, don’t move on. Your choice. But take your bitterness and regret for throwing away your life somewhere else. Don’t you see?” I lifted a hand and kept it up. “You can’t beat me.”

I dropped my hand and held her eyes.

Mom glared into mine and then hers went to Mitch.

“You’re a fool,” she stated, my body got tight and so did Mitch’s. “See she’s conned you with her fancy-ass clothes and her fancy-ass apartment into thinkin’ that she’s somethin’ she isn’t. You go home, ask anyone, they’ll tell you exactly who Marabelle Jolene Hanover is.”

“No,” Mitch replied, “they’ll tell me who Melbamae Hanover is and, one look at you, I know the woman you are and I know Mara is not that woman.”

“You go to Iowa, they’ll tell you,” Mom pushed.

“I already responded to that, not gonna do it again,” Mitch muttered then said straight out, “Now, I’ll remind you, you’ve been invited to leave.”

Mom gave up on Mitch and looked back at me.

“You can’t run away from who you are.”

“Wrong, Mom,” I replied. “I was never who you thought I was so I never had anything to run away from. But I did run away, not from who you thought I was but from you. I did it thirteen years ago. It’s done. I’m gone. I’ve been gone a long time. Move on.”

“He’ll see who you are, he’ll figure it out and he’ll leave you,” she told me.

“Jeez!” I cried. “I didn’t pick Mitch up at a Truck Stop, Mom, take him home and get him drunk on cheap whiskey. I’m not you and Mitch knew that before I did. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, for God’s sake, it’s late, I’m tired, my kids are tired and Bud’s freaked. I need to get them home, Bud calmed down and my family to sleep. So can you please just leave?”

“I –” Mom started but Mitch cut her off.

“Mara asked you to leave.”

Mom’s narrowed eyes went to Mitch.

“I’m gonna say what I –” she began again but Mitch cut her off again.

“Mara asked you to leave.”

Mom leaned in and her voice rose when she started, “I will say what –”

Mitch let me go and moved.

Luckily, Elvira moved before him. Hopping off the barstool onto her strappy, high-heeled sandals, she moved to the Trailer Trash Trio and she did it bossy.

“Right, conversation over. You chose wrong, now’s the time for attorneys,” she said, herding the Trailer Trash Trio closer to the door.

“We’re not done,” Mom snapped.

“You’re done,” Mitch replied, still advancing but doing it slowly.

“We’re not done!” Mom shouted and Elvira leaned around Jez and opened the door.

Jez exited immediately. She didn’t buy into this scene. Whatever they offered her wasn’t much, definitely not worth the headaches she had to know I was ready to create. I fancied the minute I lost sight of her she went up in a poof of smoke.

Aunt Lulamae grabbed Mom’s arm but Mom stood firm in the door, nose to nose with Elvira, Mitch now at Elvira’s back.

Mom opened her mouth to be nasty but Elvira beat her to it.

“Okay, woman, see you don’t get this but, the legal occupant of residence asks you to leave, you do not get a choice with that. They do it repeatedly, you do not comply with their request, things can get ugly. You’ve been repeatedly asked to leave by the tenant of this apartment and her partner who happens to be a police detective and you’ve been asked in front of a witness. You diggin’ in,” she shook her head, “not good. Now, you can walk out that door, make a stupid decision and call your lawyer or you can be led out that door in cuffs. I’m feelin’ hot guy, macho man, pissed off vibes at my back so my guess is, you got about five seconds. Think fast.”

Mom glared at Elvira.

Aunt Lulamae tugged at her arm.

Mom stood firm and moved her glare to Mitch.

All I could see was Mitch’s back but he stood firm too.

Aunt Lulamae tugged at her arm again.

Mom transferred her glare to me.

Then she sneered.

Then she whispered, “What was I thinkin’? You were never worth the trouble. Never.”

I saw Mitch’s body get tight out of the corner of my eyes but I held my mother’s glare. I didn’t bother myself to reply because I knew she was wrong and, seriously, she wasn’t worth any additional effort.

Mom waited.

Elvira and Mitch stood firm.

Aunt Lulamae again tugged Mom’s arm.

“Bitch,” Mom hissed, turned on her platform stripper shoe and stomped out.

And that was it. The last thing my mother likely would say to me.

Figured.

Aunt Lulamae avoided all eyes and followed.

Elvira shut and locked the door.

I sighed.

Mitch turned on his boot and stalked toward me.

My relief evaporated at the look on his face and the intensity of his gait. I had a second to brace before he was right in my space. Then I was in his arms. Then he was kissing me, hard, deep and wet. The kiss was a surprise but it was also a kiss from Mitch which was to say a really good one so I melted in his arms and mine circled his shoulders.

Finally, he tore his mouth from mine, my eyes fluttered open and I saw his burning into mine.

“That was…fucking…phenomenal,” he whispered fiercely.

Oh. Now I understood the intensity and the kiss.

I grinned and pressed closer.

Then I whispered back, “Thanks.”

Mitch grinned too and his arms gave me a squeeze.

“Mm-hmm, that one’s good,” we heard Elvira mutter and we looked her way to see she had her phone up and pointed at us. I heard what sounded like a camera phone shutter click then, “Nope,” she went on, “that one’s better.”

“Uh…what are you doing?” I asked and Elvira looked from her phone to me.

“I get that it’s bad timin’, hon, but my girls are chompin’ at the bit about you. Me and Tess been givin’ them the lowdown but neither of us have pictorial verification that Mitch got himself a sweet little hottie. Gwen, Cam and Beanpole have been all over Tess and me and even though Tess said things are intense with you two, they’re gettin’ impatient. Cam and Beanpole, I can handle. But Gwen is Hawk’s woman, Hawk’s my boss and Hawk pretty much gives her anything she wants. And when I say that, he buys her twelve hundred dollar shoes.”

She looked back to her phone and started hitting buttons as I blinked at the idea of a man buying a woman twelve hundred dollar shoes at the same time blinking at the fact that there were twelve hundred shoes. I mean, in some vague recess of my mind, I knew such entities existed but only in some vague recess of my mind.

As I struggled with this information as well as recovery from the aftermath of a Trailer Trash Trio Trauma and Mitch’s “I’m proud of you” kiss, Elvira continued.

“So, Gwen recruited Hawk to put the pressure on. He pretty much don’t care who Mitch is givin’ the business. He does care about Gwen, givin’ her what she wants and, probably more importantly, gettin’ her to shut up about it. And Hawk’s kinda scary. Even to me. So I’ll just text them this photo. Give them somethin’ to go on.” She kept hitting buttons and kept talking. “We’ll schedule a sit down so they can give you the third degree over cosmos. I’m thinkin’ Club ‘cause they got them kickass glasses. Or the Cruise Room. I’ll set it up.”

I looked from Elvira, who was still punching buttons to Mitch, who was staring at Elvira like he didn’t know whether to laugh or kick her ass out.

Then I looked back to Elvira who was still punching buttons.

“Are you saying that you’re texting photos of Mitch and me to women I don’t know?”

She looked from her phone to me. “Yep, kind of. Actually, I’m texting them photos of you in Mitch’s arms.”

Those arms tightened as I asked, “But why?”

“Because they know Mitch,” she answered instantly. “They also like Mitch and they wanna be certain Mitch is with a woman they approve of. Now, you just had a drama and before that spent the day with Mitch and two kids at Elitch’s and you still look hot. I included this intel with my picture texts. This’ll go over good. Not a lotta women look good after a day with two kids in an amusement park. I tell them about the exhaust yourself, run yourself ragged, bleed yourself dry speech you laid out about two kids that aren’t even yours, that’ll go over good too. But you gotta do cosmos in a little black dress to really win them over and that’s on you.”

“I don’t own a little black dress,” I told her.

Her attention went back to her phone. “That’s okay, we’ll go shoppin’.”

“Uh…I need to hire an attorney not shop for a little black dress,” I reminded her.

She pressed a button, muttered, “There.” Then she looked at me. “Right, so, quick, I mentioned Hawk. He’s a scary-ass, motherfucking commando. When I say that, I do not lie. So I’ll repeat, he’s a scary-ass, motherfucking commando. So, when your mind conjures up a vision of a commando, that’s Hawk. And Hawk likes kids. But he don’t like kids bein’ scared and bein’ used for bullshit family dramas. I tell him this, which, by the way, I’m totally tellin’ him this, even though he don’t know those kids, like, at all, he’s gonna go psycho badass, motherfucking commando and the Trailer Trash Twins won’t know what hit ‘em.”

Holy cow.

“Elvira –” Mitch started, his voice low, one of his arms dropping, his body turning toward Elvira but she wasn’t to be denied.

“Sorry, Mitch. Good as done.”

“Do not get Hawk involved in this,” Mitch ordered.

“Right, so, quick for you,” she stated. “Your woman is hot, she’s got curves, she’s got ass, she’s got legs, my guess is, you’ve noticed that. Now, she might drink cosmos with us girls but she’ll come home, drunk, to you in a little black dress. You want that and not her money goin’ to attorneys to deal once and for all with those skanky ‘ho’s, you turn the other cheek and I let loose Hawk and his band of not-so-merry men. That way, not only do you get your woman home drunk in a little black dress, you get to turn your attention to those two kids, one of ‘em who is across the way right now, scared outta his little kid brain.”

I wasn’t certain I knew what unleashing a psycho badass, motherfucking commando entailed.

I was certain we needed to see to Billy.

So I turned into Mitch, put my hand on his chest and whispered, “Honey, we really do need to see to Bud.”

Mitch scowled at Elvira a second then his arm around me gave me a squeeze, he looked down at me and murmured, “Right.”

I leaned further into him and murmured back, “Right.”

“We done here?” Elvira asked and Mitch and I looked at her.

“We’re done,” Mitch answered, moving both of us toward her at the door.

“Thanks, Elvira,” I said as she opened it.

“No skin off my nose. Ain’t me gonna make those ‘ho’s run for their lives on their stripper shoes, it’s Hawk,” she muttered, sticking her head out the door but doing it performing a side-to-side scan like she, too, was a commando checking that the coast was clear. Then she looked back at me, “Though, wouldn’t mind bein’ in on that operation.”

I grinned.

Elvira grinned back then forged across the breezeway.

Obviously, the coast was clear.

“Baby,” Mitch called softly as he guided us into the breezeway.

I looked up at him to see he was looking down at me.

“The time to talk with Billy is now. He’s tired but I don’t want him in bed stewin’ on this shit. I want him in bed breathin’ easy.”

I nodded my agreement.

Mitch wasn’t done.

“I’m gonna lead the discussion. You trust me with that?”

Like he had to ask.

“Of course,” I answered.

“Good,” he muttered, his eyes leaving me and going straight as we neared Derek and LaTanya’s door.

“Mitch,” I called, slowing and in doing so, he slowed too.

“Yeah?” he asked looking back down at me.

My arm around him gave him a squeeze.

“Best day ever, baby,” I whispered.

I watched the preoccupation shift from his eyes as they lit with that light I’d been seeing all day.

Then he repeated, not in a question, “Yeah.”

Then he guided us into Derek and LaTanya’s apartment so we could get our kids.