Kiss the Girl (43 page)

“
You’re blaming me?
” she said.  “The people you work for give teenagers drugs and guns
.  They make them mini-gods and let
them run their little kingdoms like Machiavelli
as long as the money rolls in.  You take that money and multiply it, which means more kids, more drugs, more guns.  A cycle of endless, exponential cruelty.  And there you are
with that righteous outrage you’ve been nursing all these year
s
, throwing fuel on the fire
until a woman can get raped for walking up the stairs
.
”
  She met his gaze without flinching. 
“
How is that my fault?
”

Something shifted in his dark eyes, something elusive and achingly familiar.  Something of the Ty she used to know before anger twisted him into somebody she didn’t recognize.
  Hope leapt inside her, twisted with the raging cold and had her leaning forward for a better look. 

But then it was gone.  His face was all smooth perfection again, every trace of genuine emotion carefully erased.  No anger, no remorse, no
...anything
.  She
didn’t know if she was relieved or dismayed.

“What were
you
trying to do, MJ?” he asked, a weariness in his voice
that blunted the leading edge of her anger
. 

“I was
looking for a girl,
” she said.  “A
patient of mine. 
Jass
.  Jessica
Pendergass
.  You know her?”

“Yeah, I know
Jass
.  Everybody knows
Jass
.  Plenty of nice boys right here at home but she had to fall in love with a Yard crew and touch off World War Fucking Three in my backyard.”

“She’s pregnant.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and
closed his eyes
. 
“
Yeah, so?
”

“
She’s
missed three appointments for prenatal care.”  She made sure her voice was crisp, without inflection.  “The girl’s lost enough.  I don’t wa
nt her to lose that baby, too.”

He
opened his eyes to
stare at her. 
“
Y
ou waltzed into the Wash to pay a
house call
?”

“Something like that.”

“You could have called me, MJ
.”

“No,” she said flatly.  “I couldn’t.”

He went still.  “You’d rather risk your life than ask for my help
?  You hate me that
much?”

“
I don’t hate you, Ty.
”  She sucked in a breath and prayed for courage.  “
I just don’t love you anymore.” 

He went still, his gaze searching. 
“
This is about
that doctor from the clini
c, isn’t it?” he
said finally.  “The one who dragged Nixie Leighton-Brace all over the neighborhood?”

“It’s none of your business,” Mary Jane said.

“Like hell it’s not.”  He pushed away from the stove and advanced on her
until nothing but the tiny kitchen table separated them.  He spread his hand on it and leaned in.  The heat of his want pulled at her dangerously.
 
“
Y
ou don’t turn your heart
off and on
like a faucet
, MJ
.
  You’re
not that kind of girl.
You loved me last month, you loved me last week, and you love me today.  That makes it very much my business who you’re dating.”

“
I’ll rephrase
,” she said.  “
Maybe I do still love the man you used to be
.  But you’re not him.  Not anymore.  You’re somebody different, somebody angry and wounded and too dangerous to love.
” 
She forced herself to keep her eyes steady on his, her face clear and impassive.  “
I
wasted years
waiting
for you to get over this
, Ty. 
To come back to me
.
  To yourself.
  But I’m done now.  I’m moving on.
”  She rose to her feet.
 
“
I’ve
moved
on.
”
 

She
headed for
the door on trembling knees. 
He let her pass but the heat from his body reached out and wrapped itself around her, made her want to weep with the dear familiarity of it. 

“So that’s it,” he said.  “You’re done with me.”

“No, there’s one more thing.”
 
She
put one hand on the door knob.  She waited until she knew her eyes were
clear and dry, then turned
to face him.
 
“Get
Jass
into the clinic, Ty. 
You had a hand in making this place what it is
for these kids
.  You owe her
that much
.  You owe them all.”

She closed the door
behind her
with a brisk
snick
, and though she wanted nothing more than to drop to her knees and howl with anguish and loss, she forced herself to march down the hall without looking back.

Erik
exchanged nods with the tabloid photographer parked outside the clinic
--
Nixie’s version of an entourage
--
and
hung up on Mary Jane’s voice mail
for the fifth time that afternoon.  Nixie wasn’t supposed to be on for another hour, but there she was as he pushed through the doors,
her auburn hair glowing under the fluorescent lights of the receptionist’s pen.  She had a pencil in her teeth as she pec
ked two-fingered at a keyboard
and wiggled to some Top Forty trash playing on a boom box in the corner. 

Energy bounced off her in happy waves, reached out to Erik and pulled at him even t
hrough three
inches of bullet-proof
plexiglass
.  He touched the ring in his pocket and sighed.  Why the hell did he keep running into Nixie when all he wanted to do was propose to Mary Jane?

She looked up and smiled at him, warm and open and
radiantly
friendly. 
Friends
, he cautioned himself as
she buzzed him into the pen
. 
Just friends.

“Where’d you hide the body?” he asked
, sitting on the counter by her elbow
.

“What?”

“
I know the only way you’d be working days is if you killed Wanda and hid the body. 
So?  Where is she?”

“You think I could take out Wanda?  I’m flattered.”  She paused and squinted at him.  “I think.”

“N
o body
, then
?”

“Nope.  Just a routine shift swap.  Wanda’s nephew
graduated from kindergarten
this morning.  We switched so she could be there.”

“Ah.”  Erik checked his watch.  “
I
s Mary Jane around?
  I haven’t been able to reach her on her cell, and thought I’d swing by.
”

Nixie shook her head.  “No.  S
he a
ctually took off on time today.”

“Seriously?”  He frowned.  “That’s not like her.  She say where she was going?”

“Nope.  She looked distracted so I didn’t ask. 
I think she’s tracking down
Jass
, though
.”

“
Jass
?”

“The
girlfriend of the kid who died.
  Homeboy ambulance arrival my first night?”

“Oh, her.  Right.  What about her?”

“She’s been missing prenatal visits, and
I’m a little concerned. 
I asked Mary Jane to check into it.”  Nixie nibbled at her pencil.  Erik tried not to think about her mouth.  “I wonder if I should ask around the neighborhood
, too
.  Mary Jane is so busy.  I hate putting one more thing on her plate.”

“No!”  Erik paused, modulated his voice into something less
horrified
.  “No, that’s not a good idea.  Remember
what happened last time you insisted on
poking around the neighborhood?”

Nixie shrugged.  “Nothing a shower couldn’t cure.”

Erik sighed. 
“
You almost got mowed down by an El Camino
, Nixie
.”

“
Which apparently is way less dangerous than a whole truck.  Or so you’ve informed me.
”

“And then you got flashed.” 

“By a kid
about as threatening as a
stoned hamster.”

She made it sound so benign. 
What really stood out for him about that
day was trying like hell not to kiss her.  And failing miserably. 

“Just l
et Mary Jane handle it
, okay?
 
You’ll only
cause a riot.
”

She turned up her nose and sniffed.  “That’s
very
unkind.”

“And very true
.”

A new voice boomed, “Boy, what’s your behind doing on my counter?”

Erik jumped guiltily to his feet
.
  “Sorry, Wanda.”

“My daddy always said counters was for glasses, not
for
asses.”

“
Amen
,” Nixie said sweetly, with a superior look for Erik.  She reached under the desk and retrieved a slouchy, colorful bag that was probably hand-woven by Nigerian orphans.  “We’re all caught up here, Wanda.  It’s been slow.
  How was the graduation?
”