9781618858368ForbiddenDeceptionlLeveyNC Read online

  “Evenin’, ma’am. Yes, I was Mr. July in last year’s fundraising calendar.”

  “I would love, love, love, to get your autograph on my copy. I don’t have it on me today though, but if you’re coming back, I can get your autograph next time.”

  “I bet she would,” Ailyn muttered under her breath, with a polite smile on her face, lips unmoving. Seth’s leg brushed hers as she watched the totally obvious woman eat her man alive.

  “Sure. Or you could come by the station to let all the fellas from our house sign.” He removed her hand from his person as politely as possible.

  She had to love his attempt at brushing off the piranha. Miss nobody, however, didn’t take his suggestion to heart. She flounced her head and gave him a slutty smile while reaching around to pinch his ass.

  He blinked at her gall.

  “Maybe you could swing by my house. I’m sure we could stand to have our fire extinguisher tested.”

  Ailyn’s jaw dropped open. Who says that? Seth clearly looked uncomfortable, if the bitch wasn’t so disrespectful, she’d find the situation funny. At the moment, she found herself struggling with how to respond politely.

  “I and my team only respond to 9-1-1 house calls, ma’am. If you’re not sure how to use your extinguisher, feel free to stop at any station for a demonstration.”

  “Thank you for your time. I’ll just go for now.” She leaned in for a hug, and squeezed his bicep a little too hard, turning the skin red. “Oooh, and thank you for all you do for us citizens. We need strong men like you.” The tart walked off finally.

  “Mr. July?”

  “I told Quinlan the calendar was a bad idea. It’s been a while since I’ve been accosted and visually violated at the same time. I need a shower now to get clean. How about we take one together when we get home?”

  “Laptop.” Speaking a simple word did wonders for her. Seth set the laptop on down on her thighs. She noticed he’d blanketed his expression and looked through the glass bowl enclosure.

  “Eva’s a little firecracker down there.” He stood and walked over to the windows to peer down at her.

  “Yes, she is. The floor routine she’s worked on for the past few weeks changed with Cordero’s influence. She’s added some hip-hop moves, four technical stunts outside of her age range, and incorporated ballet in her spins and leaps.”

  “Why don’t you watch instead of working?”

  “Who do you think she practices for at home, in her sleep even.” Ailyn laughed. “I see everything at home. Plus when she has it set up the way she wants, she’ll have me video tape her, so she can go over from beginning to end to make improvements to her body positioning, timing, and execution. She’s a bit of a perfectionist.”

  Seth grunted.

  Ailyn glared down the horny bitches openly salivating over his ass and went back to grading. “I just want to get done with this.” She heard snide remarks murmured about her, and chose to ignore the jealous bitches.

  After twenty minutes passed, she gave up and shut down her laptop. Seth’s shit eating grin melted her stress away. She walked over to him, watching how he interacted with Eva who waved up at them and then went to work on her uneven bars. Seth tensed up with worry as she began her warm-up. “She’s really good on the bars. Don’t worry, crashing and falling happens but there is always a spotter close by to prevent most accidents.”

  “Good.” He slipped an arm around her. “She is very talented for her age.”

  “I know. Her coach thinks she can make the junior nationals team if we decide to go into competitive gymnastics. She’s at that age where we have to sit down and talk about elite gymnastics and if she is prepared to live, eat and breathe gymnastics on a whole new level of stress.”

  “If she loves doing this, why not let her try for something bigger than she’s used to?”

  “Competitive anything is hard on the body. Elite gymnastics is physically and mentally draining, add in pre-teen hormones and that she will have to be tutored and spend all her time training, even be away from family. She may need a more advanced coach in a different state, a surrogate family to host her while she’s training to make the team. There’s a whole different lifestyle than she’s used to and she is only ten. Plus, let’s not forget the cost.”

  “I know. I bet you have Cordero to help you through the paces if you ask. Professional sports are similar in some ways. She is very young though. I thought athletes had to be in junior high or high school before they could try out for any team?”

  “Kids are groomed by some parents at a very young age to begin. To be on the national’s team she has to be fifteen, but the junior team ranges from elementary school to middle school with levels. They have to do each level no matter if their age six or age ten and work their way through.” Ailyn headed back to her spot on the bench with Seth trailing her and tucked her laptop in her bag.

  “She done down there?” Seth lifted the burdensome bag from her shoulder.

  “Yeah, she’ll be out in a few minutes. Then it’s home for dinner and bed.”

  “Sounds good. I’ve been thinking of taking a few days off to handle the shift in moving. I don’t want things chaotic.”

  “Whatever you want. We’re good. This is what we do every night after school accept Fridays. She’ll adjust. When are you due back in?”

  “Tonight at seven. That only gives us time to get you two back tonight. I’ll be on for the next twenty-four hours, then off for two days.”

  “I got the drill. Remember, Mia?” He turned and swept up a careening ten year old. “Hey there, firecracker. You looked great down there. Let’s get you home for dinner.”

  “I’m starving. Are you staying to eat?”

  “Nah, firecracker, I have to head out to work. But you’ll see me tomorrow night around eight.”

  “Okay. Tell Dire to let Ash babysit me soon. I miss her and punishment sucks.”

  “The idea is not to break rules.” He chucked her chin and carried her in a fireman’s carry out to the truck.

  “I’m not a sack a potatoes.” Eva giggled the entire way.

  “I don’t know, you look like red potatoes to me. We should have potato soup.”

  Ailyn trailed next to him wearing an amused smile.

  “No,” Eva squealed, “you can’t eat me if I’m a potato. That’s just wrong.” She sighed as Seth clicked the fob for his truck and set her down on the back seat.

  “You’re a firecracker, not a potato and we don’t eat firecrackers so you’re safe. Gun powder tastes nasty.” He opened the door for Ailyn. “Buckle up, firecracker, we can’t have you popping off while I’m driving.”

  Ailyn watched her daughter put her seatbelt on, and then tuck the shoulder strap behind her. “I don’t think so, Eveleen. Keep it on right or it won’t work.”

  “But Mom, it digs and isn’t comfortable.”

  Ailyn turned her head to speak, but Seth took the lead.

  “Eva, put it on right. Do you want to fly through the windshield if we wrecked? I’d be sad if you got hurt and you’d get hurt pretty bad if someone crashed into us.”

  “Would I really fall out of the car if we wrecked?” Eva asked, reluctantly slipping the shoulder strap back in place.

  “You could, if the truck rolled, you could slip right through the lap belt and out a window or windshield. All three seats have shoulder and lap belts for extra safety for a reason. Let’s avoid any chance of you getting hurt and keep your belt on the right way.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know why. I won’t tuck the strap away anymore, promise.”

  “All right then, let’s hit the road.” Seth winked at Ailyn, started the engine and pulled into traffic. “I can order a strap cover for her.”

  “You don’t have to do that. She’ll live.” Seth slipped his hand on her thigh and squeezed. “Nothing’s too much.”

  Eva plugged in her headphones in the backseat and flipped on the TV consul in the back of Seth’s head rest. Seeing her daughter
settled in with her concentration on her favorite channel, Ailyn closed her eyes. Not being the normal day to day cabbie was a nice change of pace. “No wandering hands.” She pinched him when his hand slid too high up her thigh.

  “Can’t blame a man for wanting to touch his woman.” He chuckled as he drifted back to the nowhere zone.

  “What the fuck?” The anxiety in Seth’s voice as the truck swerved in the left lane to keep from smashing into another car jostled her awake. Behind them the crunch of ripping metal and screeching tires drove home what was happening. Eva screamed, the sound of her fear filled Ailyn with terror.

  “Sit still, Eva. Just hang on, baby.” Eva’s seat belt looked secure around her body. God, please, let that be enough protection.

  “We’re okay, firecracker. Just a bit of a wreck in front of us. I promise you we’ll be okay.” Seth kept his attention riveted on the road, navigating his truck slowly through a small space to edge toward the right hand shoulder, cars honked around them, slamming on their breaks to avoid colliding. The seconds that passed felt like a lifetime when he hit the grass covered terrain off the side of the highway. Ailyn stared in horrid fascination as the cars collided in a domino effect.

  “Darlin’, you good?”

  “Shaken but yeah. I’m worried about those people up there.”

  She turned to see her daughter curled with her hands over her eyes in the backseat, seatbelt still in place. “Eva.”

  “Don’t want to see.”

  “Eva, look at me and Seth. We’re okay.”

  “I thought, we were gonna crash.” She sniffled and dropped her hand from her face. “Mama. Oh my Lord, what on earth happened in front of us?” Eva’s tears haunted her as she reached out to grasp her daughter’s hand.

  “I don’t know,” Seth answered, picking up his cell phone. “I’ll call it in.” Dialing 9-1-1, he put it on speaker and waited for a dispatcher.

  “9-1-1 what’s your emergency?”

  “This is Lieutenant Seth Mahone First Officer of Station 17, Kansas City, Missouri. I’d like to report a multiple vehicular pile up. At least ten cars in my direct line of sight. We’re heading East on Interstate 435, marker 74. I am off duty. Please send multiple responders.”

  “Dispatching help now. Are you hurt, Lieutenant?”

  “No. Please also call station 17 and have someone dispatched to pick up my girlfriend and daughter. Look for my siren on top of my truck, off the right hand side of the road in the grass. I’m heading to the scene to access and provide emergency assistance.” Seth hung up the phone and dialed another number. She startled when her phone rang.

  “You’re leaving us?” Ailyn panicked with the plumes of smoke and raucous noise around them. She gripped his leg. “Don’t go. What if something blows up or you get hurt?”

  “Darlin’, you and Eva are safe. Answer your phone, babe. I’ll be here on blue tooth, okay?”

  Ailyn answered her phone and put the call on speaker. “Be safe.”

  “Always. Dispatch will send one of the guys to pick you up and get you home. I can’t sit here and not help. Baby, sit with your mama. Speak up if you need me. I’ll be listening, love you both.” He dropped a kiss on her lips while squeezing her and Eva’s hands before exiting his truck.

  Ailyn watched him run to the locked tool box in the bed. He opened the lid and withdrew a large bag, strapped it over his shoulder and jogged between the wedged cars to get to the pile up. Trepidation filled her as she took in the scene in the near distance. God and skill, Seth’s quick reflexes and thinking saved them from being among the victims. How could he leave them in the truck and dash off into the unknown? A boom sounded in the far distance, making her heart thud. Clouds of black smoke billowed. Ailyn felt movement in the truck, she turned to see Eva unbuckling her belt and climbing into the front seat with her.

  “Mom, is he going to be okay?” her daughter asked on a yawn, peering out the window at the mess down the highway.

  “Yes, he’s out there doing his job, peanut. Seth, I mean your papi, he’s out there helping until the firemen and EMTs get here and take over.”

  “Should we go help too?”

  “No. We’re not trained to help. Your papi wants us to sit here and wait for help to arrive. I think he’s right—it’s best we stay out of the way and pray. They’ll be here soon, I hope.” Eva climbed on her knees, neck stretched like a giraffe to watch. Ailyn pet her leg. “Why don’t you climb back and watch your show, okay?”

  “I want to see Papi. How will we know if he’s okay?”

  “He has us on speaker phone, remember. He wasn’t hurt. See, just like the rest of traffic around us, we’re fine. His job handles pretty scary circumstances, going into burning buildings and other things.”

  “I know. Ash said her dad jumps into frozen water to save people. That’s pretty cool. I wonder if Papi does too?”

  “I think he does a lot of the same things Dire does. You can ask him so that you’re more comfortable when he’s away from us.” Ailyn talked to keep Eva’s mind occupied.

  “I can’t wait until he moves in with us. I bet his friends will miss him though, but I’ll have Tio Cordero and my papi in the same house. That’s so cool. I told my friends about my papi and they think he’s got the coolest job ever.”

  So do I. Ailyn smiled at her daughter.

  The sound of wailing sirens met her ears before seeing them come from both sides of the highway. She counted four ladder trucks, a battalion SUV, and multiple ambulances weaving their way through traffic, while a helicopter circled above with Channel 7 news embossed on the side.

  “Wow, there’s a helicopter and everything.”

  A knock on the window startled Ailyn. She blew out a steady breath when she saw Quinlan standing by the driver’s side with another male. As Eva crawled back into the back seat, she reached over and unlocked the door.

  “Ma’am, good to see you again.” Seth’s team member winked at her as he slid into the driver’s seat. The other male came around to her side and slipped in the back seat next to Eva.

  “Don’t mind Riggs back there. He’s along for the ride in case they need me so he can run you two ladies home.”

  “Riggs Montgomery, ma’am. Nice to meet you.”

  “Are you a fireman too?” Eva asked him. Ailyn noticed he didn’t wear the same gear as Quin.

  “I’m not a firefighter. That’s what my cousin Quin does. I build custom bikes and cars, sometimes race them.”

  “Buckle up ladies and Riggs.” Quin looked in the rearview mirror, then turned on the siren and began weaving his way up through the wreckage. Ailyn handed him her phone.

  “Boss, got’em. Riggs and I are headed up from the back.”

  “Roger that. Thanks, bro, for getting here so fast. Take me off speaker phone now.”

  Ailyn watched Quin take control of the call, wondering what was going on that she couldn’t hear.

  “Yes, sir.”

  He cut the connection. “Eva your pops wants you to lay low in the backseat and close your eyes, okay? Riggs make sure she doesn’t look out the window.”

  “We’re gonna watch some cartoons back here.” Riggs placed headphones over Eva’s head and a set over his.

  “Must be bad.” Ailyn put her shades on.

  “Twenty car pileup with fatalities. He doesn’t want either one of you to see what’s up ahead.”

  Quin glanced in the mirror at Eva and Riggs. He whispered, “Seth doesn’t want Eva to see what happens when people don’t have seatbelts on, and when license plates are not secured on the outside of the car.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “There was a rash of burglaries where license plates were stolen recently. The state of Kansas is one of the only states that don’t require both front and back plates. Some citizens have chosen to tuck their plates inside the front dash to keep them from being stolen. One, it’s illegal, and two, any moveable object in a vehicle can become a lethal object.

  “
Oh.” She blanched at the visualization of decapitation played in slow motion and clutched her queasy stomach. Doing as requested, she closed her eyes, allowing Quinlan to navigate traffic and get them home safely.

  Chapter Ten

  A knock on Ailyn’s classroom door interrupted her from teaching. She set her pointer down on the desk and walked over to the door. Kaitlyn, the last period student aide, stepped in with a single red rose in a vase in one hand and an edible bouquet in the other.

  “Thank you, Kaitlyn.” She walked her presents over to her desk, silenced her twittering students with an eyebrow, sat, and opened the note.

  Forgive me, darlin’. I know I haven’t been easy to be around this week. I miss your beautiful face. Can’t wait to see you tonight.

  She peered up at her students who were supposed to be working on their written papers to see the girls still giggling and sighing with the cutest wistful expression on their lovely faces and the male students who rolled their eyes at their classmates. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. In a few years those same eye rolling boys would be buying flowers, and sending treats to their girlfriends.

  “I do believe he sent enough for me to share.” She winked and rummaged in her desk drawer for a stack of plates and began plating fruit kabobs for her students. As they worked, she handed out the chocolate covered desert pieces.

  “Is he in trouble, Ms. Domniguez? My dad only sends my mom stuff at work if he’s done something to make her mad or if it’s her birthday,” asked Taryn, raising her hand, but she kept peeking over at Marc, the boy every boy in their grade wanted to be and every girl in her class ogled. One day he’d be a lady killer.

  “That is personal, but no he’s not in trouble. Sometimes it’s nice to get something pretty for no reason at all.” She moved down the aisles with the treats and then returned to her desk.

  “My dad doesn’t send my mom flowers because he says it’s a waste of money since they die,” interjected Mitch, her class clown. Ailyn shook her head but kept her mouth closed.

  “Why didn’t the flower guy bring them in?” Alicia asked from the back of the room.