Mimi's Mix - A Book From Each Series! Hot Suspense & Active Spirits! (15 page)

At their next stop, Liam waited in the van while Sadie approached the owner who stood at the gate with the dog sitting at the end of its flashy leash.

“Hey, Johnny? Angel? If you’re hovering around I’d appreciate a moment.”

“Hello, Mate. Just having a bit of a nap, I was. What can I do for you?”

Sure enough, there was the spitting image of Johnny Depp lounging in the back seat, head bolstered on his hand, elbow resting on the window edge.

“Sorry to disturb you.”
Liam could do sarcasm so well.

Shrugging nonchalantly, the angel yawned and answered,
“You’re having me on, right?”

Liam let his sigh last longer than usual and figured even an angel would get it. And it seemed he was right, by the cheeky grin he picked up through the rearview mirror.

“You want to know about the puppies?”

“Yes. The owners aren’t the only ones upset with their disappearance. Sadie is heartbroken, and I want to help. Only I have no idea where to start.”

As the phantom started to fade, he left behind the message, “Stan is your man. He can find out what you need to know. And Liam, your first guess was right about puppy mills. And Oklahoma is a puppy mill Mecca. One more thing… follow the money.”

Just then Sadie approached the back door and waited for Liam to come and help her settle the golden retriever in his doggy seat. “Who were you talking to?”

“Me? I wasn’t talking to anyone.” Damn if his cheeks didn’t feel hot.

“Oh, I get it! You’re one of those weirdos who carry on conversations with themselves.” She giggled, and he loved the sound.

“You got me!” He winked in the wicked way he knew turned the girls on, guided her to her seat, and helped her inside.

***

“So you think there’s a dog-theft ring branching out all over the city?”

Stan finished chewing his pizza and nodded. “Sure, we’ve been on to them for a while but haven’t been able to find out where they’re taking the dogs. As you know, the police department doesn’t get involved with this type of crime as much as we’d like to. There just isn’t enough manpower. But when it comes to the elite victims who’ve been hit recently, we’ve had to give up some time and start digging.”

Sadie, who listened to every word, spoke up before Liam. “And, what did they find?”

“We think it’s the Bradford brothers, mean-hearted sons of bitches—s’cuse my language—who are behind it all. They have high-class puppy boutiques and sell to the very rich. Unfortunately, whenever the S.P.C.A. searched their breeding premises, everything seems in order. The dogs look well cared for and healthy, with veterinarians available and all their papers up to date.” He stood to get another glass of wine, then returned to his seat and carried on with his explanation.

“Thing is—they have a never-ending supply of puppies. Must be from outside this state. And we can’t get the other officials to care very much about following up on that paperwork. The local humane society has helped some, but they can’t trespass and so their hands are tied. Let me tell you, it’s damn frustrating.”

Liam asked, “If you knew which state to look in, would it help?”

“Depends on their laws. Why? Do you have an idea?”

“Oklahoma.”

“Man! That would be the worst possibility. It’s the perfect location for dishonest dog breeders. Without proper state regulations, they’re rampant with puppy mills. What made you select that area?”

“Just a bit of info I picked up from a friend who had some inside knowledge. He said to follow the money.”

Stan’s expression took on a look of interest. He pulled out his cell, got to his feet, and excused himself.

Liam checked Sadie to see how she was taking in the disturbing discussion. She looked so downhearted. An ache began forming in his chest and promised to choke him if he didn’t do something.

Greta shot him a wink and rose to clear the table. “I think we’ll leave you guys now, cause Hotshot promised to take me to a movie tonight and it’s my turn to choose. Chick flick, here we come.”

As Stan flipped his phone closed, she slipped her arm through his and led him towards the back door.

“Whaddaya mean chick flick? No way!” He stopped and turned to where Liam and Sadie lounged on the couch. “I’ll get back to you if I hear anything.”

As soon as the bickerers closed the patio screen, Liam gently slapped at Sadie’s hand to stop her picking at the pepperoni left on the piece of pizza she’d nearly demolished without eating a bite. She threw it onto the plate and set the plate on the table, then leaned back.

All he had to do was turn his head. Her face was so close he could feel her breath. He did so, but slowly, so as not to scare her. Then he watched as her eyes grew larger in the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. Expecting her to move away, he was glad when she didn’t. But he could have sworn she’d turned to stone. Not a flicker, or a blink, nothing.

Earlier, he’d noticed that for once she’d used some kind of fancy pins to control her hair, but he didn’t like to see the golden curls pulled back and squashed. Angling his fingers, he plucked them out and watched the mass settle around her rosy cheeks. She still hadn’t moved.

Then he reached over and slid his hands underneath the softness and caressed her neck. Her eyes closed and a sigh of pure bliss escaped while he manipulated. Her muscles slackened and her body became limp under his ministrations.

This time, he couldn’t pull away without tasting her. His body had already given him hell for the last trick he’d pulled. He’d had no sleep and no reprieve from imagining how she’d taste. Well he was about to find out.

***

God, the man was dense. Would he never get to it? Sadie didn’t know how much longer she could hold out without mewing like a cat in heat. His lips were so close that his hot breath inflamed her already scattered senses.

His first touch released the moan and that seemed to act like a signal. One moment she was angled toward him while he held her head cradled in his big, gentle hands, and the next he’d whipped her around and she was lying across his body while his lips drained every spark of life-giving breath out of her.

Somehow she’d known he’d be able to kiss. That he’d be well versed in that particular method of seduction. But what he did to her went way beyond anything she could ever imagine. She was on fire. Throughout her body, heat scorched like a flamethrower gone berserk and then pooled between her legs—wet, devastating heat. Heat that turned her bones to mush and had her moving restlessly, seeking, aching for release from the ecstasy he’d started. One thing was for certain; whatever the devil wanted to do to her, she was ready and more than willing.

The first touch of his hands on her skin and her thoughts screamed “halleluiah.” Then he stroked his way to where her breasts peaked and cupped her fullness. It felt wonderful. The warmth of his fingers caressing, plucking, and then caressing again forced more of those distracting explosions down below.

All the while he touched, he also kissed, and she found it difficult to concentrate on his lips. He’d changed from tongue-in-mouth plundering to soft, lip-biting, tongue-sucking torment. She loved it. When his lips moved to her neck and her t-shirt got in the way, she was more that happy to help him remove the obstruction. And when he took off her bra, it only seemed sensible.

Snuggled back against his rapidly moving chest and hearing the ragged sighs he couldn’t hide, she became aware that their passion affected him just as strongly.
I’m getting to him.
Good!

Just knowing he was equally affected gave her the strength to pull back and undo the buttons on his shirt. She glanced up to see him watching her fingers and then he looked right at her. Hot pools of lust had always seemed such a corny phrase in a trashy novel, but it described the look in his eyes perfectly. Her fingers stopped, and so did her heart.

His didn’t. It vibrated. It actually moved around in the pocket that her hand lay against. A frustrated moan broke through her daze as he reached under her fingers to pull out his cell. Torn from her trance, her head flopped forward, and if the scream she heard inside could be let loose, he’d have a fairly good idea of just how demented she felt.

“It’s Angelo. I have to answer it,” he said in a harsh whisper, as he cradled her body by wrapping one arm around her and rubbing her back. He listened for a few seconds and then spoke the words that put paid to Sadie’s fantasies.

“We’ll be right there.” He stabbed the off button and threw it on the coffee table. The sound of it slamming on the wooden surface somehow gave her a bit of satisfaction. It was a slight indication that he was as pissed off at the interruption as she was.

“There’s something wrong with Angelo Ruiz’s baby. He says she hasn’t stopped crying for more than twenty minutes since her birth. Now Isobela has started, and he’s at his wit’s end. Can you call your mom? See if she’ll be willing to check things out? Tell her we’ll pick her up on the way.”

Chapter Seventeen

“She’s hungry.” Bea’s diagnosis rang in the silence. Everyone had waited in fearful anticipation, hoping that the situation could be resolved without ambulances and a visit to the nearest hospital. For Sadie, hearing those words brought a strange relief, but it was also a sad testimonial.

“
Mio Díos
, no! I’ve fed her over and over. She spits my body out and doesn’t want the milk. She won’t eat. She won’t sleep. She cries and cries—” The woman looked like hell and anguish rang in her voice.

“Isobela, trust me. It isn’t your fault.” Bea turned to the nearest person, who happened to be Liam, and unloaded the squalling baby into his arms before he could step back.

The fear on his face was a thing to behold and tickled Sadie’s funny bone. Until he tried to pass the baby on to her.
Not in this lifetime!
She help up her hands and backed away. Her baby skills weren’t any better than his. Finally he lifted the hysterical bundle against his shoulder, and began to whisper. Whatever he said worked like a magic chant. The crying eased and the hiccupping sobs slowed.

Bea’s soothing voice drew Sadie’s attention back to where the melodrama unfolded. The older woman held both the mother’s trembling hands. “Isobela, have you been under a lot of stress lately? Maybe not sleeping or eating correctly, drinking too much coffee, or doing a lot of worrying? All this can affect your milk. Your body’s production depends on how you treat it, and if you’re tired and upset, things stop working properly.”

Isobela, who stood clasped in Angelo’s arms, lifted her face from his shoulder and stopped sniffling to listen. “This is true? It can be that my milk isn’t good?”

“Oh, trust me; your milk is good, but not nourishing enough right now. She needs more.”

Bea turned to Liam, who held the now miraculously quiet baby like she was a bundle of hot coals. “Liam, can you take Angelo and go to the drugstore for some baby formula?”

Isobela spoke up, her voice tremulous, her face lit with hope. “I have no bottles. You need to buy Teresa a bottle, also.”

Liam forced the baby into Sadie’s reluctant arms with a satisfied grin and motioned to Angelo. Within a few seconds they were gone.

An instinct, from somewhere deep inside her female psyche emerged, and unaware of doing so, Sadie began to rock the baby, swaying from side to side. The squirming that had started as soon as Liam had abandoned the tiny mite vanished as she settled down once again.

Pedro, who had been peeking around the door from another room, crept from his hiding place and called to his mother.

“Mamá?”

“
Si, hijo
. You come visit with the ladies, but when papa returns, you must go back to bed.”

Dressed in too short, too tight teddy-bear pajamas, he ran full tilt towards her, and she picked him up and squeezed him gently.

“What is wrong with our baby?” His chubby little hands seized his mother’s cheeks, and his intent look meant business.

“Your sister is hungry. That is why she makes so much noise with her screaming. Your papa has gone with
Señor
Liam to buy her special food.”

“Poor Teresa.” His little hand reached towards the babe as if he wanted to stroke her, and so Sadie moved forwards to let him. Watching the touching scene unfold made it extremely difficult for her to swallow. The gentle way the boy patted his sister’s blanket and the anxious tenderness obvious in his big brown eyes illustrated to her that this small family operated with love at its core.

“
Señora
Bea? Once she drinks the formula, will she still need my milk? I-I want to feed my baby like I did with Pedro. Breast-feeding is special for me, and it would break my heart if I couldn’t do so any more.”

“Oh, yes, my dear. Your milk is still more nourishing than anything bought in a grocery store. Besides, it’s important for your body to keep the milk flowing. Just give her the formula as a supplement, so she feels full.”

Bea wrapped an arm around the woman’s shoulders. “Isobela, you must take care of yourself. You need to sleep. From the bags under your eyes, and those black circles, you haven’t had a good rest in days. And you need to eat more protein and drink a lot—milk, juices, and water. If you follow these rules, very soon you’ll see her settle down and be a happy, contented baby.”

“I will do so, I promise. I’ve been so worried, but now, thanks to
Señor
Liam, my worries are over.”

Bea—being Bea—couldn’t help herself, and Sadie knew it. She wasn’t at all surprised when her mother asked the question.
Thank you, Mom!

“What did Liam do to help?”

“He has found my Angelo a job and our family a place to live. We are to look after his father and take care of the house and gardens. And we get to move this weekend and leave this horrible place.”

“You’ll live in the house with his family?”

“He has only a father. Angelo thinks maybe his mother has passed on.” Isobela made the sign of the cross and then continued, “According to what he told me, they showed him a beautiful apartment which will be our new home. It is attached to the garage. I can’t tell you how blessed we feel to have such a friend as
Don
Liam.”