Free Deception by Carol Ericson Page B

witch snitched me off to the IRS.” Peter ran an expensive sleeve across his sweating brow. “Don’t even deny it.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mia smoothed her cotton skirt over her thighs.
    “It’s not going to work, Mia. My attorney’s working on getting that house turned over to me…something about fraud.”
    She flicked her fingers in the air. “Knock yourself out, Peter, but if you ever threaten to kill me again, or leave a voodoo doll for me or throw a rock at me, I’m going to take out a restraining order against you.”
    “This isn’t over.” He whipped around and marched down the street, with people scattering out of his way.
    Mia dropped her shoulders, which had been hunched throughout Peter’s tirade.
    The tension must’ve been vibrating off her in waves because Dylan placed two hands on her shoulders and kneaded his thumbs into her tight muscle. “Are you going to try to tell me that guy isn’t violent?”
    Closing her eyes, she rolled her head back, wishing she was stretched out on a bed instead of standing in the middle of Main Street with a dissipating crowd throwing suspicious looks her way.
    “I guess the IRS can turn the mildest of men into lions.”
    “Don’t mess with me, Mia. Did you report him to the IRS?”
    “Just doing my civic duty, Chief.”
    Linda Davis cleared her throat. “Come on in here and have a seat, Mia. I’ll get you some water.”
    Dylan gave her shoulder a final squeeze. “Try to be careful. You have a way of driving men crazy.”
    “Really?” She batted her eyelashes. She’d done what she had to do to get Peter off her back. And she didn’t regret it for one minute. It wasn’t like she had to make up any stories. Peter had been cheating on his taxes, bragged about it, even. What did he expect?
    “Go to your meeting. I’ll call you later for dinner, or meet you at Alec’s.”
    As Dylan walked away, Linda enfolded her in a perfumed hug. “Was that horrible man your ex-husband?”
    Mia sighed and slumped into a chair across from Linda’s desk. “Yeah. He’s trying to get his hands on Columbella after he signed a prenup, fair and square.”
    “Mia, my dear, you have one complicated life.”
    Mia’s gaze wandered to the window, where Dylan had stopped to talk to a couple of teenagers. He laughed and shoved his hair back from his face, and Mia’s insides did a triple flip.
    “Linda, you have no idea.”
    * * *
    “N O, I ’M NOT DRIVING while holding my cell phone.” Mia punched the button for Speaker and dropped her cell in her lap. “I’m on my way to Alec’s place right now.”
    “Alec recovered your hard drive?”
    “Yeah. He’s good.”
    “I’m off duty, so I’ll meet you over there.”
    Mia glanced in her rearview mirror for the hundredth time. “I don’t have to worry about Peter. Despite his words, he’s not a violent man.”
    Dylan snorted. “News flash. His actions and words in the street were violent. That makes him a violent man.”
    “Well, hopefully he’ll be back in New York soon addressing his tax problems.”
    “You’re playing with fire, Mia.”
    “I gotta go. I’m pulling into a drive-thru to get something to drink for the ride back.”
    “Drive carefully, and I’ll see you at Alec’s place.”
    Mia ordered a soda in the drive-thru and headed back up the coast to Coral Cove. When Alec had called her earlier to tell her that he’d been able to recover her hard drive, she’d wanted to kiss him through the phone.
    So much of her future depended on the information on her computer, one piece of information in particular. Maybe that hard drive could even offer her some redemption.
    Twenty minutes later, she pulled up to Alec’s apartment building. She reached in the backseat and grabbed the new laptop. She’d let Alec set it up for her before he transferred the info.
    Placing the computer on her lap, she sucked down the rest of her drink and waited for Dylan. She’d be happier if she knew