“Hammer, it’s great to see you alert and alive, buddy, but I think I’m going to make myself scarce so you guys can have some alone time.” Hammer moved his hand from Vic’s face long enough to give me a weak fist bump. I looked over at Vic and said, “Take your time. Mitch and I will grab some good coffee and pastries while we wait.”
Once I stepped outside of the room, I saw Mitch talking to Detective Harmon. He nodded sharply at me and then asked, “Have you seen the news this morning? They released a statement in regard to the Schafnitz murder.”
“No, I haven’t heard. Who was it?”
“It was Jared Mahoney, but you’d recognize him as Stix,” Harmon said, shocking the fuck out of me.
“Stix?” He was the mildest one of the bunch. “Fuck, that’s going to shock the hell out of Xavier. Why did he do it?”
“Stix was into him for some serious cash, throw in a sex scandal, and probably jealousy over the relationship Schafnitz had with Xavier.”
“Why would anyone be jealous over an abusive asshole?” I wondered out loud. “Stix saw what he did to Xavier. Is that his idea of passion and love?” I shook my head, unable to grasp what Harmon was telling me.
“There are a lot of people in this world with twisted ideas of what love is,” Harmon replied. “Right now, I’m going to go check on Timothy and see if he’s awake enough for me to read him his rights and ask some questions. If I’m lucky, he’ll be feeling chatty.”
“I won’t hold my breath,” I said to Harmon as he walked to the cop and showed his badge to him. He threw up his hand in a goodbye wave and entered the room.
“Do you want to hang around to see what Harmon finds out or get a bite to eat?” Mitch asked.
“Let’s get something to eat. It’s doubtful we get much out of Harmon during an ongoing investigation. We probably won’t know anything until another arrest is made.”
I could tell Mitch didn’t like it, but he followed me down to a coffee shop that wasn’t open during the early morning hours when we first arrived to check on Hammer’s condition. The brew they served us was a million times better than the shit we drank from the vending machine.
Mitch went into full CEO mode right in front of my eyes and I didn’t bother to hide how much that part of him turned me on. He made arrangements to have Vic’s car picked up from the B&B and towed to the nearest tire store.
I then listened as he told his father about the events from the night before. “I apologize for telling you this over the phone, Father, but I didn’t want a media outlet picking this up and you hearing about it on the news.” Mitch listened for several moments and then replied, “I’m not sure when I’ll be back home. There’s several things I need to take care of here in regards to the fire damage and then make arrangements for Hammer to be moved to Cedars as soon as possible.”
Mitch listened a little longer and then the men said goodbye to one another. Mitch sat quietly for several moments and then he looked up at me with an awed expression on his face. “He said he was proud of me,” Mitch said softly. “He’s never…”
“I’m sure that he’s been proud of you before now but never expressed it, babe. I don’t think your dad just woke up from his injuries with a newfound respect for you. It’s more like his brush with death made him realize he wasn’t living the life he wanted to and wasn’t being the father to you he wanted to be. I hate that he was shot before he realized what an amazing man you are.” I reached over and brushed the back of my hand across his cheek.
“Thank you,” Mitch said, his eyes and voice soft with love for me. Damn, if I wasn’t the luckiest bastard walking the earth.
Vic joined us a few minutes later after they ran him out of the ICU so Hammer could get some much needed rest. The exhaustion Vic felt was still evident in the lines on his face, but the soft look in his eyes and the smile on his face told me he was feeling much better.
“I got a real kiss before they ran me out,” he confessed. “It’s a start,” he said with a sly shrug. “I’ll get my next kiss in a few hours when they let me back in. I’m going to keep going back in for my kisses until they let him come home.”
Mitch looked at me with widened eyes. Apparently, he didn’t pick up on any vibes between Hammer and Vic either. “Hopefully he can be moved back to L.A. soon,” he offered.
“I hope so,” Vic replied. “In the meantime, I’m going to call in backup to be with you guys and Iron in L.A. while I stay here with Hammer.” I preferred to have Vic with me, but I understood how he felt. I would’ve chosen to stay with Mitch too.
“It makes sense to me,” Mitch said. “You know what? When this is all over the four of us are going on one hell of a vacation.”
“You’re damn straight,” Vic replied with a hearty slap on his back. “Sand, sun, and crystal blue water.”
It sounded like paradise to me too and gave us something positive to focus on while so much uncertainty hung over our heads.
