Page 13 of Philly
“But?”
“It all seemstooclean to me. I could just be suspicious, though. In my line of business, it’s a good thing to be.”
“Or your deep well of experience is telling you something is off.”
“Or that,” she conceded. “Probably that.”
The door swung open, and Mitch strode through. Glaring at Philly, he crossed the room to his wife, bent to give her a kiss, then handed her an insulated coffee mug. “Bun Times sendstheir regards. And a decaf caramel vanilla something. What’s he doing here?” he asked, jerking his head in Philly’s direction.
“Getting an update,” Ava said, unfazed by Mitch’s gruff communication style. They were an odd couple. Ava had a wicked sense of humor, loved everything glamorous, and could chat up a feral cat. She’d even adopted an orphaned raccoon, and Eleanor, the raccoon, now lived with the family in the lap of luxury. Mitch, on the other hand, preferred not to string more than ten words together at one time.
“He’s been updated long enough,” Mitch said, sending Philly a narrow look.
Philly rolled his eyes more to annoy the man than for any other reason. They both knew Philly could take him if it came down to it. Not that Mitch was a slouch, but he didn’t have the training Philly did.
“I’ll keep looking,” Ava said as he rose from the seat.
“Ava,” Mitch said, a hint of affection—and exasperation—in his tone. The Warwicks tended to beveryprotective of their spouses—whether said spouses needed it or not.
Throwing Mitch a bone, he nodded but added, “Your health and those twins come first. I’m sure I’ll be hearing from Callie again. Being forewarned would be nice, but it’s not a necessity.”
Mitch tipped his head an inch. Acknowledging his olive branch or plotting his murder? Philly couldn’t tell.
“Oh, Philly,” Ava said as he reached the door.
“Yeah?”
“I did come across one rumor. It’s from one of those conspiracy sites that take you down into the quagmire of people’s thought process, sucking you so deep you can’t tell if they’re genius or mentally ill.”
“So, take it in that context?”
She nodded. “Aiden takes a lot of trips to places that aren’t as strict as the US or Europe about prostitution. Of all sorts. But a lot of those places are also significant producers of textiles.”
“I see,” he said, unsure what to do with that information. Tuck it away for a rainy day, he supposed, as he didn’t think that’s what brought Callie to Mystery Lake. With another nod to the couple, he exited the room and headed out into the gray day.
Stepping through the sliding doors of the hospital, he hunched his shoulders. A cold bite of wind whipped around him as he looked up at the overcast sky. They might get another few mild days before winter committed to creeping in, but his gut told him the coming season was going to be a long one. Good for the town, which relied on tourists for much of its income, but a slog. Maybe he’d book a trip to Tahiti in February. Sit on a beach and do nothing but stare at the ocean.
Unbidden, a picture of Callie beside him invaded his brain. All long limbs and smooth, dark skin. For a half second, he let himself wonder. Wonder what their lives would have been like if that night had never happened. Wonder if she’d ever let herself relax long enough to lie on a beach all day. Wonder what kind of cocktail she preferred.
Just as quickly, he shook those thoughts off. Someday they might each move past—or through—the ugliness of that night. But even if that happened, the best thing to come of it would be moving on with their lives without all the baggage. Their separate lives.
Running a hand over his face, he started walking toward his truck again, only to pull up short when Joey and Leo waved to him as they walked up the path.
“Did you see Ava?” Joey asked as the couple came to a stop in front of him. She carried what looked like an ice cream sundae and Leo carried a huge bag of Red Hots. If nothing else, Ava was going to get a sugar high out of her stay.
“Yeah. Word of warning, Mitch is hovering.”
Leo chuckled. Joey rolled her eyes. “Mitchalwayshovers. He’s the worst of the lot,” she said, referring to her brothers and cousins. Eight in total.
“Ava give you her update?” Leo asked.
“She told you?”
Leo shook his head. “I shut her computer down for her when the contractions started. I caught a quick glance at her screen.”
“What update?” Joey asked.
“Something she’s looking into for Philly,” Leo replied.
