Mia

Five

Pierce 

My mind was a mess. There was no explanation or logic behind my actions. My career was 100 percent on the line. There was no doubt in my mind that she was part of the drug ring, especially after what I had heard about Ava’s props and watching her closely the few days after that. Figuring this out, I should have added her to my list of suspects and told her brother… but I couldn’t. 

            The realization that the stuff happening to Ava was because she was trying to get out was what kept me from doing so. If I put her on the list, she would be looking at jail time. Based on how huge this operation was turning out to be, if she turned herself in, she would be murdered within a week. 

            “Do I have to sit in the back seat?” she snarked as we approached my truck, making me chuckle. Following her the last few days, I hadn’t heard any of her spunk, as if she was too scared to be herself. The fact that I missed her attitude wasn’t a good sign, but it was something I wasn’t willing to linger on yet. 

            “I’ll allow you to sit up front so long as you don’t tell anyone.” Unlike the rest of the hippies in the state, I loved my giant truck that used up way too much gas. I saw it as a way to balance out the tiny cars that plugged into charging stations. The fact it was a crew cab was a plus. 

            She rolled her eyes with a scoff. “As if I would tell anyone about this. Ever.”

            That statement probably would have insulted me if it weren’t for the fear in her voice. Once in my truck, we stayed silent while I drove out of her neighborhood. I had roamed these streets as a kid with her big brother. My track record with women should have made him reluctant in asking me to look after his sisters while he was overseas. Although I never thought his sisters would turn out hot…or be part of one of the largest drug rings in Oregon. 

            “You gonna tell me why we’re driving around in your shitty truck at 11:45 on a school night?” she snapped, pulling me from my thoughts. 

            “You gonna be straight with me?” I glanced sideways, trying not to stare at her long, tan legs again; she didn’t seem to like that much.

            “Depends.” 

            My turn to snort.

            Our stop was an old lookout where make-outs would constantly get busted back in my high school days. Not that that was on my mind, but I knew no one came out there anymore.

            “This is creepy,” she stated in this tone that I fell in love with. My apparent ability to bring the smartass out of her lit a fire in my chest. 

            “Would you rather I got your parents involved in this conversation? Maybe get Kai to come back and shake some sense into you?” 

            With a tilt of her head, she glared long and hard. I had seen her mom make a look like that a few times as a kid. She looked so much like her mom, but with amazing blue eyes that I had to stop ogling before she snapped at me again. 

            “No.” 

            “Oh good.” 

            She shifted in her seat to face me. “So what do you want, Pierce?” 

            “The truth.” The sour face she made would have made me laugh were the situation not so serious. “Mia, I can help you.” 

            “No one can.” Darkness filled her gaze, telling me she believed those words, but that’s what they wanted her to believe. That she was alone. 

            “Are you still dating that i***t?” 

            “Are you dense? Of course, I’m not… I just… I have to see him sometimes still.” 

            “To get your load.” I nodded, wanting nothing more than to drive out of town with her to get her away from the mess. But that just wasn’t how life worked. 

            Her eyes about popped out. When she went to open her door, she found it locked. “Let me out. Let me out of this f*****g truck!” she screeched, yanking on the handle. 

            Without a word, I unlocked it, letting her get out. Maybe I shouldn’t have assumed she knew what I had wanted to talk about. It seemed so obvious. She hyperventilated as she jumped out and stormed closer to the cliff of the lookout. That’s when I hopped out and went after her like a linebacker. If she was in a bad enough place, she might make the jump. My heart pounded at the thought of having to talk her down. It wasn’t how I had planned it to go. This was a f*****g mess. 

            I all but tackled her at the edge of the cliff, wrapping my arms around her middle and yanking her back against my front. 

            “Let go of me, you giant ape!” she shouted, twisting and shoving out of my arms. The look she gave me while she stood there heaving was pure loathing. “I’m not going to jump, you i***t. I just…” Deep breath. “I needed a minute.” 

            Her arms wrapped around her middle where mine had been. My hands flexed and unflexed at my sides with the urge to drag her back to the truck.                                                                  

            “I can help you, Mia,” I told her again, hoping the message would get through this time. 

            A single tear trailed down her cheek, and I had to keep my damn hands to myself rather than wipe it away. She scrubbed at it with her palm before lifting her chin, her walls slamming back in place. “I don’t need your help with anything.” 

            “Is that so? It was only your sister’s car and props this time. What if it’s her the next time? Or you?” She glared, but didn’t respond. “You don’t know these types of people the way I do, Mia. They don’t give a s**t you’re in high school or really that Ava’s your sister. If they think you’ll give the police any leads, they’ll murder your entire family. You don’t mess around with them. These little stunts they’ve pulled are child’s play.” 

            “I never even admitted to whatever you’re thinking I’m involved with. So I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

            My urge to shake her was overwhelming, but it dawned on me just how much she hated being touched. If I were ever going to get through to her, she needed distance. She was great at playing the slut—something I would never tell her brother—but she had to hate it on some level. Even getting what you want in return doesn’t make up for the fraction of your soul you give away in that scenario. My first idea, bringing her to that place, was a bad call. My angle was off.

            I turned, making my way back to the truck. “You want some ice cream?” 

            “It’s almost midnight.” 

            “DQ is always open until twelve.” 

            “Blech.” 

             I turned and raised my eyebrows at her. With a shrug, she followed me, her sandals crunching over the gravel. 

            Thirty minutes later, we were back at the lookout eating ice cream cones on my tailgate. She swung her legs with the beat of the cricket’s chirp while we sat in their song. 

            “What made you want to be a cop?” she asked after taking a lick of her ice cream.

            A “Ha” burst from my lips, the question taking me by surprise. The curiosity in her eyes drew the answer from me. “My life was always a mess. My mom took off, but not before she made her mark.” I dragged a finger along the puckered scar across my face. Her eyes followed the motion. There was no pity or surprise found in her gaze, only understanding. I think I loved her for that. “I thought, after my dad did his best to make things right—better—there still had to be justice, or at least some control. But there never was.” With a deep breath, I attempted to gather the thoughts of the worst time of my life. “I wanted some control, and I wanted the chance to bring people like her to justice.” 

            My eyes remained on the city below us when she hmmmed thoughtfully. “Does that actually happen?” she mused, and I met her gaze. Fear roiled in those stormy blues, causing shadows to lurk deep within them. There should never have been fear there. My job was supposed to prevent that. The fact that it didn’t made me furious. “Do the monsters ever get what they deserve?” 

            Finishing my cone, I took a minute to ponder that. “Yeah. Sometimes. There’s more politics and paperwork and rules than I like to admit. But sometimes the bad guys get what they deserve.” 

            With a nod, she looked back at our home, the lights below. “I want to get out of here,” she told me, and for some reason the words had my chest tightening. “I want to escape this. But I can’t. Not yet. It isn’t time yet.” 

            My words had to be more deliberate this time. Not so blunt about her situation. “Mia, the time will always be wrong if you’re going to leave. It will be something you just have to do without any warning.” 

            Another nod before she hopped from the tailgate. “Take me home,” she said, giving me a mournful look that ripped my heart apart in ways I had never felt before. The girl shouldn’t have been able to affect me so damn much, but she was an unstoppable force. 

            “Sure thing,” was all I could say. 

            I couldn’t force her to do things my way. There was no convincing her that I was the good guy. She could only be shown. But the reality was this: she likely didn’t have the time for me to do so. 

            The drive was silent until we pulled onto her street, and I parked a few houses down from hers. “Thanks for the ice cream, sugar.” She leaned over to peck me on the cheek, and I just stared at her like an i***t. The girl was so much more than I ever imagined. Once beyond all the intricately planned masks, she was someone I didn’t mind sitting around eating ice cream with. 

            “You don’t have to do that. You don’t have to put an act on with me. Ever.” 

            The smirk she flashed didn’t reach her eyes. “The act makes the everyday easier to get through.” She got out of the truck but turned before closing the door. “Don’t tell Kai any of this. He doesn’t need to know how shitty a person his sister turned out to be.” 

            I wanted to tell her she wasn’t shitty, but what did I know, really? How she got caught up in it all, how she endangered her family, wasn’t the greatest thing in the world. She made a wrong turn somewhere along her road. In my eyes, she was pretty wise, and she apparently had a plan, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t responsible for her own mess. 

            I finally nodded, and she waved before shutting the door. There was no need for Kai to worry about that s**t. At least not for the time being. I watched her go back in the side door of the garage before I drove off.

            A terrible idea was forming in my mind. I needed to help her any way I could. But I couldn’t guarantee justice for the bad guys in that case. So maybe her leaving altogether wasn’t such a bad idea.