Mia

Thirteen

Pierce

Leaving the school was essential. I had f****d up so badly, I didn’t know what to do with myself. Even going into work wasn’t a good idea. Not with swollen knuckles, not after beating the s**t out of a high school locker like a f*****g teenager. I could have lost my job for that alone, or at least been suspended for having an outburst. 

            I returned to my apartment instead. Figuring out this shitty investigation should have been my top priority, but I had allowed myself to get in so deep with Mia, nothing else seemed important anymore. She was under my skin, intertwined with my soul, and I had screwed that up too. Jumping to such a horrible conclusion when I saw him groping her—her seeming to enjoy it—was one of the biggest mistakes I had ever made. My pride, my ego had gotten in the way. Even though I was the one who didn’t want to be anything more than a friend, seeing her with him like that pushed me over the edge. I had made a snap judgment and pushed away an amazing girl. 

            When my nerves were calm enough, I went in to work. Captain knew something was up with me the moment I walked in, calling me into his office before I could even stop at my desk. My insides were already a mess from what I had done to Mia, but they got a little worse when I approached his desk and he just glared at me. 

            “Sit,” he snapped, and I complied. “Why were you at the high school this morning?” 

            I shifted in my seat, avoiding his gaze. “I had some things to check on.” 

            “Do I need to suspend you to get my point across?” he barked, and I finally found the gumption to meet his furious gaze. 

            “No.” 

            “I realize this case is a tough one.” He sighed, leaning back in his chair. It whined under the stress of his weight. “It’s tough seeing teens get wrapped up in something so ugly and not being able to do anything about it.” He shifted some papers around on his desk, and I took a deep breath to keep from saying something stupid. Leaning forward again, he placed his hands flat on his desk. “But I gave you a direct order to stay away from the high school, and you went against that order three times. You will be removed from this case and demoted if you step one more toe out of line.” 

            “Okay.” I nodded, even though everything in me rejected the idea of staying away from there. If something else had actually happened that made Mia think she needed to allow Kenny to touch her again, then she wasn’t safe there. Not being able to keep an eye on her so close to one of their biggest movements would kill me.

            “Give me an update. Have you found anything else out about Noah?” 

            “I haven’t.” I shook my head, my jaw twitching. “I’ve been searching out Kenny’s family tree trying to pinpoint this ‘uncle,’ but I haven't found any Noah. Obviously it isn’t his given name, but I haven’t had any leads that have led me elsewhere. The warehouse I found seems like the spot, but I have the feeling he is very rarely there. If we moved in when he isn’t there, we’d lose everything.” 

            “So you still have plenty of work to do outside of the school.” 

            Stepped right into that one. Dammit.

            “Sure.” 

            “We’ll stop it, Pierce. We’ll free these kids. But you have to realize not all of them are innocent. Most of them chose this, and you can’t do anything to get them off the hook.” 

            That hit me so hard, so close to home, I had to keep my mouth clamped shut. Mia had chosen this, but she was trying to get out. Did that make her innocent? No. She still dealt, she still endangered lives by selling to anyone who gave her money. Though, she had been threatened when she tried getting out, her sister had been harassed, yet she still wanted to stop, wanted to get out. The loop of my mind was making me insane. There was only one way to stop all of this, and that was by getting the boss and shutting down the entire operation. 

            “Okay. I’m gonna get to work then.” 

            “Good.” He waved me off without another word. 

            My work was cut out for me. I ignored the time of day, not wanting to wonder if Mia was leaving school or sitting in her room or watching reruns of that absurd guido show. But I did anyway, while I sat at my desk looking through files and typing away on the computer. 

            Noah had to be a fake name. He wasn’t connected to any of the warehouses I had looked into, nor did any of Kenny’s uncles appear to be suspects. They all had families and worked in offices almost every day, so I searched deeper for any relatives who fell off the grid but came up short. 

            My back was killing me, my eyes burning when 5:00 p.m. rolled around. My first instinct when I left the department was to go to Mia’s, but I couldn’t, not after what I had done. Back at my apartment, I texted her while I got out a frozen pizza, hoping to God she would respond. 

            Me: I’m sorry for today. I acted like an i***t. You didn’t deserve that.

            Her response was immediate, making my heart skip two beats. 

            Mia: Yeah. You did. And no, I didn’t. 

            Mia: Could you come pick me up?

            Her second text had me reeling. I thought I had screwed things up so badly, she wouldn’t ever speak to me again. The fact she wanted me to get her early in the evening didn’t seem like a good sign. 

            Me: Everything okay? 

            Mia: No. Come get me please.

            After tossing the pizza back in the freezer, changing into some clean jeans and a T-shirt, I hurried out to my truck. She texted me on the way there that I could pull right up front since her parents were still at work and Ava was with her boyfriend. When I pulled up to her house, she came out in sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt, her hair in that giant bun on her head. She ran through the rain, jumping in my truck and shaking her head out, sprinkling droplets all over me. I didn’t mind one bit.

            I just stared at her like a love-struck imbecile until she finally looked at me. The dark circles and bloodshot eyes made me speechless. “Can we get out of here?” she whispered with a sniff before wiping her nose on the back of her hand. 

            I cleared my throat and pulled away from her perfect house. 

            “Where to?” I asked once we were on the highway. 

            With her gaze turned out the window, she just shrugged. I didn’t know what to do or say, but drive. She slid her sandals off, pulling her knees up to her chin and sat there curled in a tiny ball.  

            The silence grated. Something had happened, and I had to just sit there and wait for her to open up about it. In an attempt to put her at ease, I made a foolish suggestion. “I was about to make myself some dinner before you asked me to come. Want to have dinner at my place?” 

            With her head resting on her knees, she nodded, so that’s where we went. We pulled up to my not-so-great apartment complex in Old Town. My salary didn’t allow for much nicer accommodations since I was only in my second year of being a detective, and anything extra I had went into savings for a potentially nicer place in the future. 

            I wasn’t sure if she would get out with the apprehensive look she gave the tan building, but she slipped her sandals back on and hopped out. I led the way to my bottom-floor apartment, turning the lights on when I opened the door. She walked in ahead of me, not commenting on the small space of the kitchen that wasn’t much to talk about, or the enormous flat screen that took up most of the small living room. Some of my things I didn’t skimp on, including the leather couch she stared at. At least it was clean, mostly since I wasn’t spending much time at home, but also because I simply liked things that way. 

            I leaned against the island in the kitchen while she looked around my bare apartment, until she turned to face me. “What are you making?” she asked, her voice cracking. 

            “I was going to cook a frozen pizza.” I shrugged. “But I can try for something fancier if you’d like?” 

            “Pizza’s fine.” She moved to one of the barstools at the island, and I took that as my cue to get the pizza out and in the oven. 

            Standing across the island, I splayed my hands on the counter, leaning toward her. “Did you want to talk?” She shook her head, wrapping her arms around her middle. I sighed, gazing down at my hands. “What I said today… I shouldn’t have said that. I was a dick.” 

            “Yeah, you were,” she spoke, and my gaze snapped up to meet hers, but she was looking down the small hallway off the kitchen. “He saw us this morning. I was such an i***t, getting so excited to see you.” She paused, swallowing. My back stiffened. I knew it wouldn’t be a good thing, but I too was excited to see her, to touch her; he had seen that small exchange. Which meant he was watching her a lot closer than I had anticipated. “He threatened to tell Noah that I was with a cop. So… I did what comes natural to me. I told him I was trying to make him jealous.” 

            My hands fisted on the counter. A blood vessel in my eye was twitching, bound to explode. Her arms went back to her middle, a tear rolling down her cheek while I boiled inside. “When school was over… he… he….” She drew in a deep breath and cleared her throat. “He tried to get me to go home with him. I kept saying I couldn’t. I couldn’t because my parents needed me home. He tried forcing me, like grabbing me and dragging me to his car, so I could prove to him what I told him at the lockers.” 

            She sniffled. My stomach curdled. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t console her. I couldn’t kill him like I wanted to. I could only listen and hope I didn’t punch a hole in the wall again. The spackle from the other one had barely just dried. When her eyes finally met mine, there was rage in them that was beyond warranted. I didn’t know if I could handle her telling me what happened. If he touched her…if he got her to his car… I would end up hunting him down and murdering him. 

            “I kicked him in the nuts and ran for Ava’s car,” she said after the longest pause known to man. The urge to laugh or weep or rejoice was held back. She wiped at her tears and pressed her palms to the counter as I had. “Ava didn’t even notice anything was wrong with me, which I know I wouldn’t have told her even if she asked, but she’s so caught up in her own stuff. And then we got home, and I went to my room like usual. 

            “Kenny had texted me like fifteen times, and I couldn’t even read them. I felt so alone and scared of what he would do. What if they go to my house again? What if they hurt my family? And how the hell do I make it through the rest of the week? They still think I’m going to deal at prom. I just… I just f****d up my life so bad, Pierce. And you were such a douche this morning, but you’re the only person I have. I have to put up with you being an ass or settle for being completely alone.”

            The buzzer went off, and I couldn’t have been more relieved. I needed to collect myself before I said anything else that made me more of a douche. Besides, I was partly the reason she had that trouble. I wasn’t very gentle in getting the pizza out of the oven, tossing it on the counter, and cutting it into slices while I fumed, wanting nothing more than to chuck it across the room. 

            I myself had f****d my life up for this girl. For all of these kids really. None of them knew what the hell they were doing. But me, I knew. I knew what I was doing by helping her, by knowing what she did every day and allowing it. I was only in my second year of my dream job, and I had broken all oaths for my best friend’s sister. 

            Where did I go from here? Help a key witness leave without using the information she gave? 

            My silence lasted until I slid a plate of pizza in front of her. Her gaze searched mine, pled with me, and again I broke, crumbled under those electric blues. “I can’t say what you should do tomorrow or even Friday at school, but I can get you after school on Friday. Tell your parents what you want. Write them a letter or something. Just don’t leave them hanging. And you need to stay away from Kenny back at school. Understood?”

            She nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. This was a horrible plan. It probably wouldn’t work out right and I would end up arrested for kidnapping or some s**t. It was my bed I was making. 

            “You have to know they will retaliate, Mia. They will hunt for you, and they will probably try to hurt your family. I can’t save you and everyone else without my work being involved.” 

            With pizza in hand, she nodded, but her lip quivered. I finally forced myself to move around the island. I only put a hand on her shoulder, because anything else at that moment with the realization of how much I cared about her—I wouldn’t have been able to be only a “friend.” 

            “We can talk about this more later. Let’s try to eat.” I patted her shoulder awkwardly before grabbing my pizza and moving to the couch.

            While she made her way over, pizza in hand, I found that shitty show she liked, making the corner of her lips twitch when she sat. With her there, knowing she didn’t hate me for how I had acted earlier in the day, I had some semblance of peace. 

            We devoured the entire pizza, then just sat on the couch watching a show about some wifebeater-wearing guys who constantly fought with their girlfriends. She sat close to me, leaning against me in that giant shirt and baggy sweatpants. We just were, and it was the best thing I had ever experienced with any girl. 

            Her phone buzzed on the counter, destroying our moment of peace. She hopped up to get it. When she read the text, the blood drained from her face and neck, her skin turning gray before her gaze met mine.

            “What is it?” I demanded, coming to stand next to her. 

            “It’s Kenny. Again,” she croaked, holding the phone out to me, but I shook my head. 

            “I can’t read them. Just give me the gist of it.”

            She nodded as if she understood the raging battle waging inside me, the thin line I was walking. “The first ten are his unoriginal ways of calling me a f*****g w***e and telling me how sorry I’ll be.” I would have rolled my eyes if it wasn’t about her and if her hands weren’t shaking. “The last one says they’re watching the house. If they think in any way that I’ve told anyone, they’re going to kill everyone in my house, starting with Ava.” She looked up at me, still shaking. “Is that what they’ll do if I run? Are they actually going to kill my family?”                                                                   

            I didn’t have the answer. “I can only speculate.” I held my hands out, feeling entirely helpless. “If you disappear, it’s likely they won’t do anything, but I can’t be sure. If you asked me to add you as a witness, they would probably at least try to do something. I can bring you in, Mia. You would most likely get off completely for sharing what you know.” It was a good option, probably the best, but for some damn reason, she shut down. Instead of closing off, though, her gaze became furious, the crystal blues of her eyes faceting. 

            I snatched the phone from her hand, making her gasp. “This s**t! Every word he has texted you would put him in jail and get you a restraining order, Mia. I’ve said it before; we aren’t the bad guys. If you would just let me protect you the best way I know. He isn’t going to stop. Not if he goes free.” I set her phone down and placed my hands on her shoulders. “I can’t beat the s**t out of him like I want to. Until we catch Noah, I can’t do anything. But he’s wearing you down, and who knows what he would do if he got you alone. I can’t… I can’t live with that.” 

            “If I disappear, he can’t do s**t to me.” She glared at me. The fire in her eyes, making them icy blue, made me hot and cold at the same time. Her lips and the shade of red her cheeks turned when she was mad became too fascinating. I had never wanted to shake someone and kiss them all at the same time.

            “Pierce,” she breathed. My eyes snapped to hers, and they searched mine. It would have been so easy, so easy to love this broken girl, but that’s what she was. Broken. She needed a friend, a confidant. Not some love-sick fool. 

            My hands dropped to my sides, becoming fists. “I should take you home.” 

            With a nod, she crossed her arms over her chest, disappointment taking over her face. We didn’t say another word as we drove under the stars that had to be entertained by our dramatic friendship. There was so much I wanted to say and do, but I couldn’t bring myself to. 

            Since they might actually be watching the house, I parked farther away, and we agreed she would walk back by herself even though I hated the idea. She promised to text me when she got inside. When I helped her from my truck, she turned and flung her arms around my neck. A tidal wave of emotion crashed over me. I couldn’t stop myself from wrapping mine around her, holding her for a small eternity, breathing her in. 

            “I can’t come to the school anymore,” I told her when I let her go, and her face dropped, which shouldn’t have given me any satisfaction. I couldn’t resist brushing a hand over her cheek. “I need to know you’ll be okay. Don’t freeze me out over the next couple days.” 

            “I’ll try not to.” A smirk tugged at her lips, but her eyes were sad. “Look, Pierce, I appreciate you wanting to help me, and I know I asked for that help, but I think it’s best if I just leave. You’ve already basically covered for me and kept me out of jail, so I don’t want you doing anything else that will jeopardize your career.”

            “Mia, I want to—” 

            “No,” she interrupted with a shake of her head. “Please. You know this will be best.” I could only stare like an ass again. The need to help her couldn’t overshadow the logic in her argument, but that didn’t mean I liked it. I hated the idea of her doing this on her own and just… not being there anymore. She patted my shoulder with those sad eyes still ripping me apart. “See you later, Cop.” 

            Even with the blasé dismissal, I knew she wasn’t putting another mask on. I wanted to kiss her or hug her again. All irrational things. She would be gone in two days, and this relationship, whatever it was, would be a shadow.