Chapter 12: Not Feeling Well
Cal looked at himself in the mirror. The man who looked back had a few miles on his face.
The dream woman’s words haunted him, but he knew that wasn’t why he hadn’t slept last night. Nor did he think the encounter with the cops earlier had him spooked.
No.
There was something wrong with him.
Something big that would have doctors and friends looking at him grim-faced.
“Damn.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
That’s why he’d called the doctor. They had an opening tomorrow morning. He’d work the fair tonight and get up to see what was wrong with him.
The phone rang.
“Cal.”
“Cal, it’s Mallory. Sorry to bother you. I wondered if you had any in with the Prosecutor’s Office.”
“I don’t know anyone up there at this point. I’ve been retired too long.”
“Thanks anyway.” She paused. “You seem tired lately. Maybe you need to see someone.”
Cal smiled. Mallory always looked after him. They had a special bond as if she were the daughter he never had. He chuckled. He still didn’t know her any better than anyone else, but they still looked out for each other.
“I have an appointment tomorrow.”
“Good. Take care of yourself and if you need tonight off, let me know.”
“I’ll be there with bells on, Mallory. I am the beer god,” he said.
She hung up after a quick “Goodbye.”
His hands shook.
“What if I am looking at my own mortality?”
That brought him back to the dream woman and the question he didn’t want to answer but did.
“What if I have a child?”
Mallory found Trey in his motel room. The squat building, part of a large chain of cheap rooms for lodging, sat on the same road as the firehouse.
He leaned on the door after he opened it for her. His wet hair hung beside his face in shiny black rows. He was shirtless and she almost gasped at how perfect his body was. Just enough hair sprinkled his chest and came to a line that pointed downward.
His grin revealed straight, white teeth against olive skin.
Her anger returned and she stopped here perusal his assets. She brushed past him into his meticulous motel room. No clothes hung over any furniture. The slack in his laptop cord remained snug in a twist tie. Even the bed was made and she’d bet a quarter would bounce on it.
She whirled at him. “What’s the big idea?”
“That’s ripe from you who is invading my motel room. Did you tell the chief you were coming?”
The question derailed her for a moment. She hadn’t told Jesse where she was headed Part of her hadn’t known until she parked her car. She shoved away her musings, then she got back on track. “What’s the big idea of arresting all of the fair workers right before we open? The day we open.”
His mouth gaped and for a New York minute she thought he knew nothing about it. But he’d fooled her before. He could take on any role. Lord knows how well he’d done in the role as her lover.
“The whole crew?” he asked.
“Don’t play the innocent. You knew about this. You didn’t even bother to tell me. Such trust and you want me to work with you again?”
“Mal, I mean---“
“Save it, Trey, and call back the dogs. You must have some idea who the mole in Marvelous Midways is. No reason to arrest innocent people.”
“But ---“
He took a step towards her, then another. She didn’t back down.
She wouldn’t let him talk. He’d try to sweet talk her. When she ran out of words, she’d just leave. “And this had to be done today? The first day of the fair? Oh, wait, I get it. It’s blackmail. I don’t come running back to the organization, don’t come running back to you, you’ll destroy my livelihood? You’re willing to destroy what I’ve built, for what? A case?”
He stood within reach of her. Her gaze never wavered from his. “Mal --- “
“Oh, wait, its National Security. Which you don’t even know about.”
“Stop.”
His hands grasped her arms and he backed her against the wall. His lips pressed hard against her as if that could stop the flow of words.
Her body tingled with anticipation. Trey had been an expert lover. Beyond expert. A lover of Olympic gold medal proportions.
Her anger didn’t deter her body’s reaction to him. It remembered the nights of his hands on her bringing her to peaks so high they rivaled Mount Everest.
She bit his lip.
He yanked away from her, rubbed his face. “Will you listen to me?”
“Why? So you can tell me lies?”
“Mallory, you’ll have to trust me on this.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s funny.”
He dropped his voice to a whisper, a sure sign he was serious. “Mal, please. Let me make some calls.”
Her arms crossed and she hated herself for the defensive posture. She’d been on the offensive and liked the advantage. “Why?”
“For your country. For national security.” He sighed. “For me.”
She stepped away from him. The pull remained strong between them. His eyes bore into her or at least as deep as her soul. She broke eye contact with him.
“Mal, I’ve never lied to you.”
She snorted. “That’s debatable.”
“When? When exactly did I lie to you?”
She didn’t want to go down that road, reopen wounds. His face lay open before her, but she’d been fooled by that too many times. She’d given her heart to a man who was ice cold.
There was only one thing she could do to avoid this right now. Listen to him. “Go ahead.”
Trey closed his cell phone, a look of pure disbelief on his face. Mallory put up her walls, sure this was another act. “What’d he say?”
He put his phone back on his belt. “He’s so young, Mal. He’s so cocky.”
“I didn’t ask for a personality assessment of your boss. Did he order this?”
“Yes. Or at least he says he did. I’m not completely convinced.”
His face spoke volumes. Confusion warred with disbelief warred with...maybe regret. No, Trey didn’t have regrets. “Can he call them off?”