Pieces of the Past (Witness Security Book 1) (7 page)

His gaze darted from her eyes down to her mouth, then back up again.

She sensed he felt the same heat between them that she did.
Is he going to kiss me?
Part of her wished he would, while the other part prayed he wouldn’t. She needed to remain focused, and not on his oh-so-kissable lips.

Doug smiled.
“How am I supposed to know which words Ethan understands and which are new to him? I guess he’s just going to have to ask away.”

“
I guess,” she agreed, her heart beating louder than ever.

“
I’ll, uh, give you some privacy.” He took a step backwards.

Stay.
She didn’t dare say it, but thought it anyway. She felt much more at ease with Doug in the room. “Thanks,” she finally mustered.

He backed out and Christine turned away.
What is wrong with me?
They were in the worst situation of their lives, and suddenly all she could think about was kissing their Witsec marshal.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.

She unpacked her toothbrush and a few toiletries, then sat down on the side of the bed and
let the tears flow.

When she
’d pulled herself together, she checked on each of the kids. Ethan was playing his handheld video game and Peyton thumbed through a magazine. Neither had taken time to unpack, which, in this case, was fine. “I’ll be out here in the living room if you need me,” she told each of them.

“
With Doug?” Ethan piped up.

“
For a while, yes.” It was early for bed, but Christine wondered if that might not be the safest choice for tonight. She’d check out the rest of the house and then turn in.

She found Doug in the front room nosing around.
“Nice enough place,” she offered.

“
Not bad. There’s cable.” He tossed the remote control to the TV on the sofa, then went on opening and closing closet doors.

“
Looking for anything special?”

“
Just looking.” He finished his examination then went into the kitchen, returning with a can of Mountain Dew. “There’s snacks in here, and pop. Get you anything?”

“
Something diet?”

H
e made an
‘uh oh’
face, but went back into the kitchen. “Not sure if we have any—yes! Diet Coke. Thank you, Ben.” He brought back a second can and handed it over.

Christine
chuckled, chose one of the two easy chairs and sat, accepting the drink. “Thanks. Who’s Ben?”

“
One of the marshals I work with. He did the shopping. Said if you want anything special to make a list, and he’ll get it next time.”

“
Oh.” Her mind raced. “We shouldn’t be here that long, should we?”

“
Too soon to tell.” He grabbed the remote off the sofa and sat in the other overstuffed chair. “We’ve got lots of people working on this case, so please don’t think just because I’m sitting here doing nothing, that nothing’s happening.” He turned on the TV and began surfing channels.

“
I don’t think that,” she said truthfully. “You’re doing something very important.”

He glanced at her.
“Looking for Honey Boo Boo?”

Christine bit her lip.
“You’re protecting us.”

He smiled.
“Damn straight.”

She raised a brow.
“But if you’re seriously going to watch that show, I might as well turn in right now.”

Laughing, Doug raised his hands in surrender.
“Kidding, I was just joking with you. We can watch whatever you like.” He handed the remote over.

She accepted it and pointed it at the TV, pushing the up button and scanning shows as they went by. She couldn
’t help adding, “I hope you don’t let Daisy watch that, either.”

“
Daisy watches no TV. Never had the interest.”

She glanced at him.
“How did you manage that? Most parents use it as a babysitter at one point or another, even the good ones.”

He laughed again.
“Did I hear a backhanded compliment in there somewhere? Like you don’t really think I could be a good parent?”

“
I didn’t say that. My first impression of you was that you didn’t care for children, is all. Perhaps I was wrong.”

“
Perhaps you were.” He motioned toward the TV. “Jurassic Park is on. Unless you have something against dinosaurs, that is.”

“
I like dinosaurs. Ethan loves Jurassic Park.” She raised the volume and set down the remote.

“
Hey, Ethan!” Doug called loudly. “Want to watch a movie?”

Both kids ventured out and their faces brightened when they saw what was on. They sat on the sofa, but as the show went on moved over to sit on the floor by the adults. Doug brought out more pop and some bags of chips, and Cheetos which he kept for himself.

By the time the movie ended, Ethan’s fingers were orange. He was sprawled across Doug’s knees, looking quite comfortable, as they laughed and joked about the merits of the movie’s two sequels.

“
You need to wash your hands,” Christine told her son.

“
Yeah, ya little oinker.” Doug poked him in the ribs.

Ethan grinned.
“What I need is someone to toss me Cheetos in the air, so I can eat them and not get my hands dirty.”

“
Dream on, buddy.” Doug scooped him up and stood him on the floor.

“
Just once! Can’t I try it, please?”

Christine shook her head.
“Good grief, no. Go get washed up.”

“
Daisy gets to do it,” Ethan protested.

Doug cleared his throat.
“Well, now, you see…there’s something I didn’t tell you about Daisy.”

The three of them looked at him.

His face turned a faint shade of pink. “She’s a… Golden Retriever.”

“
A dog?” Ethan and Peyton yelled in unison.

Christine couldn
’t believe her ears. “Daisy is a dog? You told us she was your three-year-old.”

“
No, you assumed that. She is three. And she does eat Cheetos. She doesn’t watch TV. I never lied.”

“
And her mother…” Christine let the sentence trail off. It had bothered her slightly when he’d called the other woman a bitch. Now she could see how he’d been toying with her.

Doug chuckled.
“Yeah, well, like I said. I didn’t lie.”

She rose and walked to the sofa, picking up a throw pillow. She spun around and smacked him squarely on the shoulder with it.

Peyton grabbed the other pillow and joined in the assault.

Ethan, with his orange-tinted fingers, stood to the side, jumping up and down, clapping.

Doug fended off the attack as best he could until he ended up flat on the floor, hands raised in surrender. “I give! I give!”

Ethan wiggled his fingers in Doug
’s face, but Christine shooed him away. “Go wash, now. Brush your teeth. Get ready for bed. I’ll be in to check on you in five minutes.”

“
Good night.” The boy grinned at Doug as he walked toward the hall.

“
Night, kiddo.”

Christine gave Peyton a kiss on the cheek.
“Good night, honey. I hope you can sleep.”

Peyton nodded.
“I’m pretty tired. Night, Mom. Night,” she said in Doug’s general direction.

“
Sleep tight.” He lay on the floor, gazing up at Christine.

It was all she could do not to crawl down there next to him.
“I guess we’ll see you in the morning.”

He smiled.
“Not even going to help me up?”

She took a step backwards.
“Nothing good could come of that. I suspect you’ll manage. I see you have a pillow and some covers. I’ll just say good night.” She turned away quickly.

“
Good night Christi,” he called after her.

Sh
e paused, and smiled.

* * * *

Christine tossed and turned for what felt like hours. When she finally did close her eyes, she slept hard. The sun was shining brightly when she dragged herself out of bed the next morning. After a quick stop in the bathroom, she grabbed her robe and headed to the kitchen where she heard talking and smelled food.

Doug was flipping pancakes and Ethan seemed to be
gobbling them up the moment they hit his plate.

“
Morning.” Her son’s mouth was full.

“
Well hello there. That looks good.” She told herself she was speaking of the food, and not the handsome man preparing it. He was friendly and animated, not at all what she’d originally thought of him.

“
Good morning, sleepyhead.” Doug smiled at her. “It’s almost nine. Didn’t you need to call a couple people?”

She held her head in one hand.
“Well, crap. Yes I do. Is there coffee?”

“
Here you go.” He handed her a cup. “Strong and black. My phone is on the counter, help yourself.”

“
Thanks.” She accepted the drink gratefully and took his cell to the other room, where she called in to work and both schools. Everyone was understanding and apologetic about her mother’s death, which made her feel lousy for lying. Christine drew a deep breath and exhaled. She had no other choice.

When she returned to the kitchen, Doug piled some pancakes on her plate.
“Hungry?”

“
Yeah. I could eat.” She sat at the bar next to Ethan.

“
They’re really good.” Her son confirmed.

Doug glanced at her.
“Everything go okay?”

She nodded.
“No problems. Any news yet today?”

“
Nada. I told you, these things take time. Eat up.”

She glanced at her son who continued to shovel pancakes in his mouth.
“Ethan, don’t eat so fast. Slow down.” She picked up her fork and her gut churned. What was Ethan going to do after breakfast? What would they do all day? Time was going to drag.

Doug refilled her coffee cup.
“Should you wake Peyton for breakfast?”

“
Thanks.” She took a sip of the hot brew. “Nah, let’s let her sleep. I can always fix her something later.” She glanced around. “What does she have to wake up for, anyway? The longer she sleeps, the less time spent being bored.
And complaining about it
.”

“
True that. I vote for letting her sleep, too.”

Christine smiled and finished her breakfast. A short debate with Ethan followed, video games versus math homework, in which video games won out after Doug offered to help with math after lunch.

“I’m a whiz at math.” He smiled at Christine as Ethan ran off to play.

“
Is there anything you
aren’t
a whiz at?” She tried to keep a straight face.

He rubbed his chin.
“Can’t think of anything off the top of my head, but I’ll let you know. Now if you’ll excuse me, after I clean up here I have some calls to make.”

“
Go ahead.” She shooed him out. “You cooked, the least I can do is wash the dishes.”

“
Why, thank you, ma’am.” He grabbed his phone and headed to the other room.

It was several hours later, when she was watching The Price is Right and flipping through a magazine, that she heard Doug
’s phone ring. He’d been on and off it all morning, but he’d been the one placing most of the calls. This last conversation was brief.

He entered the living room with a grim expression on his face.
“Peyton?”

Christine sat up and muted the TV.
“She’s in her room. What’s wrong?”

He
hurried down the hall and stopped in front of the closed bedroom door. “Peyton, come out please,” he said loudly.

“
Can it wait? I’m at a good part in my book.”

“
No. Now, please.” His voice was firm. He returned to the front room. His face was red, and his eyes looked as if they could shoot darts.

“
Doug, what is it?” Christine’s heart thumped wildly. She’d never seen him this way before.

Peyton and Ethan both appeared in the doorway.
“What’s wrong?” her son asked.

Doug turned to face Peyton.
“Facebook? Really?”

“
What?” Peyton blinked.

Christine
recognized the look.
An attempt at innocence, without much conviction to back it up
. She jumped from her chair. “Peyton closed her Facebook page. I helped her do it.”