Mia

Three

Pierce

“Hendricks, shouldn’t you be home by now?” The captain leaned a hip on my desk, glancing at the computer screen I couldn’t tear my eyes from.

            Yeah. Home. I had only been there for a few minutes to shower after pulling apart some fight at the school that afternoon. The one person I shouldn’t have been looking out for at the school, but was determined to protect, was the one I hadn’t been able to pin down that day. I knew she had been there at the school. It was like her presence pulled at me. But she was great at sneaking around, avoiding me. I was trying to be dedicated to my job, not chase her around the high school. 

            “Late night tonight,” I answered without looking up, trying to decipher the puzzle I’d been working on for months. But now I was so deep in, the puzzle made me sick, made me want to seek vengeance for the poor teens running their lives into the mud. One particular teen—with a set of electric blue eyes I couldn’t get out of my f*****g head—was in it bad. I knew she was, but I had the feeling she wanted out.

            “You were at the high school again?” he asked. Even though he knew the answer, I grunted my confirmation anyway. “You for sure tie it back there then?”

            I sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to let me concentrate on what I was trying to find. My chair groaned as I leaned back with my arms behind my head and stared at my pudgy captain, his unibrow creased in the shape of a V the first thing I focused on. “I’m 100 percent positive,” I told him. If I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have wasted the last four months playing security putz there. 

            He hmmmed, scratching his chin. I wanted to tell him to f*****g spit it out. Maybe I should have gone home to get some sleep, but coffee would have to do. 

            “Well, I want you to see if a girl named Ava Hart is involved,” he said nonchalantly, but the name chilled my bones, waking me up plenty.

            “Why?” I asked, trying for indifference. Not sure if it worked though, considering his skeptical look. 

            “You know her?”

            I shrugged, knowing my voice would betray me. I specifically kept my relationship with their family quiet, mainly because it didn’t matter, but now there was a girl I cared about who I didn’t want getting arrested. 

            What the hell happened that brought Ava up? 

            “Don’t you lie to me, boy,” he growled.

            “Just tell me what the hell happened, Grandpa,” I spit through gritted teeth, clutching the papers on my desk in my fists. When he raised his eyebrows with a furious look, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, grasping for calm. “Their brother, who’s in the air force, is a friend, but I don’t much talk to the family anymore. What happened?” 

            “If you had been around this morning, you would have heard the news.” The blood drained from my face when he paused to take a deep breath. “Someone spray-painted her car. Hot pink paint, nasty words, the works. Thing is, she’s a stand-up kid, captain of the dance team, on the student council. Only thing I could think of is she got herself mixed up in this mess and she did something they didn’t care for.” 

            He was onto something but looking at the wrong person. Only person I knew for a fact Mia cared about was her twin sister, even if she didn’t often show it. If she pissed Kenny off enough, he would know who to go after, even if it was with a childish stunt. 

            “Nah, I don’t think she’s involved.” I shook my head, putting my arms back behind my head. “Seems a bit childish for what we’re dealing with. Besides, she isn’t on my list.” 

            Not that Mia was either… but that was my fault. I needed to pull my head out of my ass and stop breaking the rules for an eighteen-year-old I was caught up on. Especially since being caught up on her alone was a violation of a huge rule: don’t get caught up on your best buddy’s baby sister. 

            But those eyes and that way she stuck her chin out in defiance whenever she went in defense mode. Not to mention the way she stood up to Kenny the day before. She didn’t have to cling to my arm the way she had. Holy hell, I enjoyed that way too much. Then she kissed me on the cheek, probably not even knowing what she was doing or what she did to me. 

            “Hendricks,” Captain snapped, slamming his hand down on my desk, making all my coworkers stare in our direction. 

            I stifled the urge to flip them off and instead blinked slowly at the captain. “What?” 

            “If you don’t have any helpful information, go home. Get some rest. But if I find out this girl’s car has anything to do with this, your ass is off the case.” 

            Sleep was essential, especially if I was going to deal with Mia. Kai kept asking about her, but it was my own damn fault for telling him I was worried about her. Should have kept that s**t to myself. It was bad enough I had a thing for his sister.

            After leaving work, eating some Chinese takeout, and getting a full night of rest—if tossing and turning all night counts as rest—I headed to the high school the next morning. Going after Mia first thing was probably a bad idea, but it was better than all my ideas to climb up to her window in the middle of the night to check on her. 

            She got there early, driven by her mom, which couldn’t be a good sign. I only nodded when her mom gave me an enthusiastic wave. Playing it cool when Mia approached the gate was a must. If anyone was watching her, they couldn’t know she actually knew me. The way she had latched on to me in front of Kenny probably had them watching closer than usual. A cursory nod was all she gave me before trying to get through the gate. But with a touch of two fingers to her elbow, I stopped her before dropping my hand.

            Her gaze snapped to mine. The fear I found there killed me. I had to help her, even if I should have let things lie. “Stand next to me for a minute,” I told her, trying for calm, for comfort. 

            After looking around the entire parking lot and along the other side of the fence, she nodded again. The girl was scared shitless, but it would be so much worse for her if they saw her confiding in me. She stood at my side furthest from the gate with only a few inches between us. The heat from her radiated toward me. 

            “You want to talk?” I prompted under my breath. Never push too hard or they close up, I reminded myself.

            A shake of the head. 

            “Someone trashed Ava’s car the day after you insulted your boyfriend. Are the two connected?” 

            Another head shake. 

            I couldn’t make eye contact with her, couldn’t really show any attention while waving kids through the gate, but I could feel the lie. She didn’t think she could tell me. I had never known her to be quiet or scared, but she was. And that damn prick had something to do with it. The need to rip his balls off and feed them to him had to be suppressed. 

            I couldn’t blow this case. Convincing myself this was the only way to crack it, I proceeded. “Mia.” She didn’t look at me, and I kept my gaze forward, but I dropped my arm, letting my fingers graze hers. “Are you in trouble?” 

            Another damn shake of the head. Her uncharacteristic silence made my chest hurt.

            Her posture went rigid when a black Honda Civic pulled into the lot. That dickweed had her scared senseless. I crossed my arms over my chest, and she moved a few feet in front of me, as if she were waiting for him. 

            The smirk he wore as he approached her said he knew he had her exactly where he wanted her. And he did. My heart broke when she let him pull her in for a face-sucking kiss. I could see the hate in her entire body. The guy who trashed her sister’s car, or at least set it up, was groping her, and she pretended to enjoy it. The i***t winked at me when they walked past with his arm slung over her shoulders, and he slyly flipped me off, but she wouldn't even glance at me. 

            I would rip him apart before this was over. But I wasn’t sure I could help her get out of the mess she was in. Not without destroying my career.