Chapter 36

 

For a while everything was so quiet. The only sounds Rico could hear were the thumping of his heart and Sammy saying "Daddy" like she wanted to convince herself that Mitch was really there, really holding them.

The whole time, Rico didn't want to move. He just wanted to breathe Mitch in and live in his arms, but he had to let go and find out what happened.

Sammy beat him to it though. "Where did you go, Daddy?"

"I had to give that man a piece of paper so he would go away," Mitch said like it was the simplest thing in the world to get rid of a man holding a gun on him.

Rico knew there had to be a lot more to it, but Mitch didn't want to make Sammy worry.

She still seemed uncertain though. With big, anxious eyes she looked toward the stairs. "The mean man is gone? He scared my tummy," she said.

"He's gone. It's safe to go up now," Mitch said.

They walked up the basement stairs cautiously then peered around. There was no sign of him. Rico noticed that the china cabinet was blocking the office door.

Following the direction of his gaze, Mitch told him, "He left through the window. I heard his car pull away. He's gone. I called the sheriff from the landline. Deputies will be here soon," Mitch told them.

As Mitch held Sammy in his arms, she scrunched up her face, and Rico was afraid she was about to cry. He wouldn't blame her. "You OK?" Rico said to her.

"I wanna go to the bathroom," she said.

"Oh, OK," Mitch said. He didn't look like he was ready to let her go. Reluctantly, he set her down and she ran off and shut the bathroom door behind her. "We'll be right out here," Mitch assured her.

Now Rico put his arms around him and kissed him, telling him, "You're incredible."

"I just moved a few pieces of furniture," Mitch said modestly.

"And dodged a few bullets," Rico whispered as he pulled back so he could just gaze at him.

"This turned out the way it did because of you. I knew I could trust you to take care of Sammy. Thank God you were here. If you weren't..." Mitch shut his eyes and shook his head.

"Everyone is safe," Rico reminded him as he cupped his face and watched his eyes open and look into his. Even though they came out of this OK, the look in Mitch's blue eyes was heartbreaking.

"My head is still spinning. You and Sammy could have been hurt or killed. It's too much. I couldn't take it," Mitch said in a rough whisper.

Rico could tell that the danger of what just happened was hitting him hard. That's why he grabbed hold of Mitch with all his might and hugged him as hard as he could. "You're our hero, man," Rico told him as he held him so tight it hurt.

In return, Mitch clutched Rico to him.

They stayed like that until Sammy came out and said, "I washed my hands." She raised her arms to show them and Mitch lifted her in his arms again. "You don't have to pick me up. I'm OK," she claimed but she clung to Mitch anyway. She then looked for Rico like she wanted to make sure he was close. Leaning over, she grabbed hold of his sleeve and pulled him over so she could put an arm around him too.

Then she gasped and looked all around. "Natalie and Veronica!" she yelled and scrambled to get down.

"They're just hiding," Rico told her and they all went to look for them, calling their silly names.

It turned out the cats had scooched under the fancy sofa in the rose room.

"They were hiding," Sammy said and crawled under there to be with them.

"Smart kitties," Mitch said.

"They were scared," Sammy said as she got them to come out so she could pet them and hug them.

"You were very brave," Rico praised her, but she looked up at him and shook her head.

"No, Rico. I was scared."

"You were scared and you were brave," Mitch told her and got down to hug her and the kittens.

 

It wasn't long before the deputies arrived, but Sheriff Jackson wasn't with them. She and some deputies borrowed from nearby jurisdictions were trying to catch up to Mr. West on the likely routes out of town. They had information about his car from the time he was spotted lurking around.

After the deputies checked out the house, they started collecting evidence. Rico took Sammy and the kittens to the rose room while a deputy took Mitch's statement.

Watching Sammy play with the kittens, Rico called his grandmother, but the sheriff's office had already been in touch with her and she was on her way. A few minutes later, she was standing in the doorway of the rose room. Her arms open, she was ready to wrap Rico in a big hug.

Going over to her, Rico told her. "It's all over now but the paperwork." He hugged her, and she wouldn't let him go for quite a while. When she pulled back, she took his face in her hands and just stared at him.

The whole time she hadn't said a word, and Rico realized that she couldn't speak. He had only seen her like that one time before—when his grandfather had just died.

"We're OK, Grandma. Really," he assured her. Then he turned to Sammy who was looking up at them. "Hey, Sammy, Grandma needs a hug."

"Me too!" Sammy wailed and ran into her arms.

Grandma embraced both Sammy and Rico and rested her cheek on top of Sammy's little, blond head. "Everyone is all right," Grandma said softly. Then she noticed something about Sammy. "And you're a little bit sticky there." She pointed to the front of Sammy's shirt.

"That's right you didn't change after you had that peach," Rico said. To him, that seemed like it was a million years ago.

Sammy looked down at herself. "Oh, no. I'm messy."

"You can't go to the festival like that, but I heard you have a pretty dress to change into," Rico told her.

"The Peach Festival!" Sammy said like she had forgotten all about it. "We have to go."

"We will," Mitch said from behind them and Rico was glad to hear that.

Grandma went to give Mitch a hug too then she told him. "Tonight, I think a change of venue would be good for Sammy. Right now this place is a crime scene. I'll hear no argument. You're staying over at my place."

"I second that," Rico told Mitch.

"OK," Mitch said then he confirmed it to Sammy. "We're going to stay over at Mrs. Del Rio's tonight."

"With Rico?" Sammy said.

"Yes. I'm going to be there," Rico told her.

"And Daddy?" she asked and looked up at Mitch.

"Yes, me too," Mitch said.

"Good," she said then she tattled on him to Grandma. "Daddy went away, but Rico was there. And Daddy pushed us. Why did you push us, Daddy?"

"He was trying to protect us, honey," Rico told her.

"Sorry about that," Mitch told her and kissed the top of her head.

She regarded Mitch gravely. "OK. But no more pushing, Daddy. It's not nice."

"OK. Now lets go get ready for the festival," Mitch said.

"Yay. And I need my special sleepover pajamas. We're going to Rico's grandma's house for a slumber party," she said. "And we have to take Miss Lulu and Natalie and Veronica."

"They're welcome to come along," Grandma said to Mitch.

He told Sammy, "We'll come back for the kittens after the festival."

Mitch went up with Sammy to help her get ready, and Rico took his turn giving a statement then he hung out with his grandmother. She was pacing the hallway. He knew how she must feel. He was wound up too. Stopping her, Rico put an arm around her shoulders.

"I guess you know it was the same guy who came by the yard sale asking about silver pieces," Rico said to her.

Grandma nodded. "The one who wanted to see the house. He had to be the one who broke in too. I should have seen through that no good..." His grandmother looked up toward the stairs and stopped herself from saying anything more. "I'm losing my edge."

Rico hated that she felt bad about it. "Not you, Grandma. You knew he was shady."

"But I didn't know he was dangerous. I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she said.

When Mitch and Sammy came down, Grandma said the same thing to him.

"You told the sheriff about him. There is nothing more you could have done," Mitch told her.

"Don't be upset, Rico's grandma," Sammy told her and gave her a hug. "Let's go pet the kitties. Then you'll feel better." Taking her by the hand, Sammy led her back to the rose room and Mitch and Rico had a moment alone.

 

They leaned against each other with their foreheads pressed together. Then Mitch said. "Thank you for being here and for everything you did."

"I didn't really do anything," Rico said. He had actually felt pretty useless. "I wish I could have done more."

"You did the most important thing. You took care of Sammy, and you were steady as a rock. You did really well," Mitch told him and stroked his face.

"I was scared out of my mind," Rico confessed.

"You didn't show it and you kept Sammy pretty calm. Thank you. It meant a lot to me to know I could count on you at a time like that. I really needed you and you came through for me," Mitch said in such a heartfelt way that Rico was touched.

He wanted to kiss him but a deputy went by with the silver egg in an evidence bag. "What was the deal with that egg?" Rico asked.

Mitch told him what he knew. "A while ago, I noticed it had something inside. I have a soldering kit, so I knew I could put it back together. I opened it up and found the paper inside. I didn't know what to make of it, just a string of numbers. I showed it to your grandmother. She took a picture of the note and sent it to the Dunbar's niece. I kept the paper just in case and put the egg back together for Sammy."

"And you used it to your advantage," Rico said.

"It worked out that way," Mitch said modestly. "A small piece of paper is harder to find than a silver egg. Except the paper was in an envelope labeled 'nest egg numbers'. When West broke in here, he could have found it easily if he just knew where to look. But he was so focused on the egg, he never thought to look for the paper on its own."

"What are the numbers for?" Rico wondered.

"No way to know. A combination to some lock maybe?" Mitch guessed.

"I hope they catch that guy," Rico said as he watched a deputy dusting for prints.

"Even if they don't. He shouldn't have any reason to come back here," Mitch said.

 

Suddenly Sam and Wyatt were at the door startling them. Sam rushed to hug Rico, and then Wyatt hugged both of them.

"You too," Wyatt said and pulled Mitch into a four way hug. "Glad you came through this all right." Wyatt clapped Mitch on the back as they pulled apart.

"I swear the festivals are cursed," Sam said.

Rico was confused for a minute. "What? Oh. I forgot about that thing at the last festival."

Wyatt disagreed with Sam though. "There's no curse. Everything turned out OK," he pointed out.

"That's true," Sam said, but he still looked spooked by the close call they had and also so heartbreakingly relieved. Then he had to hug Rico again.

"It's all good now," Rico told him.

Sam stood straight and huffed. "I know. I'm just being stupid."

"Yes, he's the cutest," Wyatt said before Rico could say it.

Hearing their voices, Sammy came out followed by Grandma. There was more hugging from her while Sammy looked at all the grown up people and asked about guys who were more her size. "Where are DJ and Ry?"

"They're at the festival with my friend Raquel and Lara and Gloria," Wyatt told her.

That sent Sammy into a tizzy. "They're at the festival already!" she said to Mitch and Rico.

"Don't worry. They're not going to have any fun until you get there," Wyatt told her then he looked at Mitch and Rico. "You guys are going, right?"

"Of course they are," Grandma said. "Don't you see that this child is all dressed up and ready to go?"

Sammy nodded eagerly to confirm it. "We have to hurry!" she said while fidgeting impatiently.

"Nothing can hold her back," Wyatt said approvingly.

"Thank you for coming over to check on us," Mitch told them then they all headed out together.

 

Even on the outskirts of town parking was a challenge, and they had to walk a while to get to the festival, but then Sammy was beside herself.

"It's so pretty," she said as she looked all around. Mitch and Rico held her hands, and she peered around at everything with her big, blue eyes. Holding hands, Sam and Wyatt walked behind them.

Seeing some of her cronies, Grandma went off to join them. The rest of them were on their way to meet up with DJ and Riley and anyone else who might be hanging around with them.

"Daddy, Rico, there are peaches everywhere!" Sammy exclaimed seeing the peach theme on everything in sight.

"They have peach balloons, peach ice cream, peach sorbet, peach candy, peach caramels, peach crepes," Rico counted off as he saw different signs at the booths with the food.

"And pies," Sammy said.

"Yes, peach pies everywhere," Rico agreed. There certainly were plenty of pies. You couldn't miss them. Too bad Rico felt kind of queasy at the thought of eating anything. Even the pizza at a booth called Peachy Pizza didn't appeal to him. The pizza only had peach in its name. They sold normal pizza slices and calzones, but they couldn't temp Rico, not while his stomach was still in knots over what happened with Mr. West.

Not far from there, Noreen and Lara were hanging out with Wyatt's out of town friend, Raquel. Gloria and the Hayes boys were already running over to cluster around Sammy and talk over each other about the bad man who came over to their house. Mitch looked uneasy about having the kids discussing what happened, but it couldn't be helped.

As the adults all got together, Rico and Mitch got hugs from Lara and Noreen.

"I can't even imagine," Lara said to Mitch. "I can't even..." She just shook her head. She was probably putting herself in his place, and it must have been a terrifying thought.

"You look all right," Noreen said to Rico. As she peered at him like she wanted to make absolutely sure he wasn't hurt, he could tell she had been worried too.

Wyatt introduced Mitch and Raquel, and Rico told him, "She's Wyatt's nice friend."

"I like her," Wyatt confirmed with a grin and threw his arm around her.

"Hey, and what am I?" Lara objected.

"You know what you are," Noreen told her in a scathing tone.

"He didn't call you nice either," Lara pointed out, but Noreen just scoffed like she didn't give a damn about being nice.

"You know we love you guys," Rico told them with a wink.

"Look at him trying to charm us," Noreen said as she narrowed her eyes at him meanly, and Rico laughed. It was nice to see her acting more like herself.

Since the pizza booth was right there, they got some slices for the kids and moved on to see what the rest of the festival had to offer. As they all walked together in one big group with the kids leading the way, Sam and Wyatt paired off again, and Lara and Noreen walked with Raquel between them. That meant Rico had Mitch more or less to himself. Walking shoulder to shoulder, they watched over Sammy.

"I don't think I've had this many people hug me in all my life," Mitch said, leaning over toward Rico so he wouldn't have to raise his voice.

"You held up well," Rico said and put an arm through his. "But that was only for today. Tomorrow it's 'hands off my man'."

"It's nice that everyone cares," Mitch said. "When we had a break-in at one of the apartments where we lived, only the neighbors knew anything about it, and we hardly knew them. It was a lonely feeling to not have any support when something bad happens."

"Oh, damn," Rico said and drew him closer. Mitch was a big, intimidating guy at first glance, someone who could handle anything. But he was vulnerable in his own way, and that touched Rico. He wanted to be there for Mitch so much.

They followed behind Sammy and the other kids and didn't take their eyes off her. After what happened they couldn't help watching over her, but she only sometimes got uneasy and looked around for them anxiously. Reassured to see them right there, she smiled and went back to having fun.

The rest of the time she was carefree and absorbed in everything that there was to see, do and eat. The festival was the perfect antidote to what she went through. Together with all the other kids, she got to stuff her face and do all kinds of silly, fun things.

The peach pie eating contest was a big hit with the Hayes boys. Riley wanted to be in it, but Sammy declared it, "Too messy." Her other complaint was that they didn't get any whipped cream on their pies.

At times like those, Rico couldn't see any trace of what they went through on her little face. Rico wished he could shake off that morning's ordeal, and let the noise and the spirit of the festival push it aside. But he found himself still gripped by waves of fear.

He had flashes of being back in that basement, not knowing what was happening or if Mitch was OK, and the whole time hiding his terror from Sammy. They were all in danger, but when bullets were flying, Mitch was in the thick of it.

"How are you doing?" Mitch asked as he put his arm around Rico's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.

Rico must have looked troubled, but Mitch gave him a reason to smile. "Better now, but I keep having flashbacks," he admitted. "Sammy seems OK. Maybe I need someone to tell me to just breathe."

"OK. Just breathe," Mitch said in that deep, sexy voice of his. And hell if Rico didn't feel better.

"That's the stuff," Rico said and leaned his head on Mitch's shoulder.

It was incredible how much power just a few words from Mitch had over him. He could make Rico feel better so easily, but today must have been horrifying for him. To see Sammy in danger was a living nightmare for Rico. He could imagine how it shook up Mitch. But Mitch was holding it together with no sign of strain. He did that for Sammy and maybe for Rico too. He was an amazing guy.