My Future With Mr White (3 page)

“God, I had missed that,” Natasha said gasping.

“
And you thought I was being an ass by saying I had missed you?” he asked. Natasha laughed.

“
At least I admit I was horny. You tried to charm that big cock into me,” she said. Mitchell looked at her and smiled.

“
I don’t remember you resisting,” he said.

“
I had ulterior motives,” she said.

Mitchell laughed again. “Of course you did,” he said and yawned. Natasha put a tired hand on his damp chest.

“No, you have to help me with dinner. You promised,” she said.

“
That was before you allowed me to miss you,” he said as she rolled over. He draped a hand over her.

“
You made your bed, and now you have to lie in it,” she said as she pulled away.

“
Actually, you made it and right now I would like to just lie in it for thirty minutes,” he said as she walked towards the bathroom.

“
Five minutes. That’s how long I need to take a shower,” she said as she stepped into the bathroom. After she had her shower, she thought of waking Mitchell up but she also had to make her peace with Rita. She walked into the living room and looked at Rita. The way she was with the baby made Natasha smile. It was as if her motherly instinct came alive any time she was with Alexis. She slowly made her way to the middle of the room where Rita and Alexis were seated, playing with the baby’s toys. “Hey,” she said as she joined them on  the floor.

“
Hey,” Rita said as she gave her a smile.

“
Friends again?” Natasha asked. Rita smiled again.

“
We never stopped being friends,” she said as she looked at Natasha.

“
So you don’t think I overstepped my boundaries?” she asked. Rita shook her head. “Good, because I think my husband might have,” she said. Rita frowned.

“
What did Mitch do?” she asked.

“
Well, he has a friend at the precinct that is looking into your mama’s case, and, um, he also talked to Dave,” Natasha said. Rita sighed.

“
Wow, you guys...” Rita trailed off.

“
There is an explanation and I think you need to talk to him. Pick up his call the next time he calls, or just call him –  or I swear to God I will bring him right here,” Natasha said before she stood up and walked to the kitchen.

“
Why? What did he say?” Rita called after her. Natasha smiled. She was not about to give everything away and take her best friend’s proposal from her. She knew that Rita loved Dave and that when she heard his reason, she would be all too happy to get back with him.

“
I love playing Dr. Phil,”
she thought as she took a chicken from the freezer.

Mitchell smiled as he walked into the living room. Natasha looked up at him and shook her head.

“
No, it’s not going to happen,” she said as she typed away on her laptop.

“
What’s not going to happen?” he asked.

“
Sex. I am not having sex with you,” she said without looking up. Mitchell frowned.

“
Um, okay. Good to know but that was not even in my head right now. But ouch,” he said as he joined her on the couch. She looked at him and smiled. Lately Mitchell had an insatiable appetite for sex. He would get her in the bathroom, while fixing dinner, after putting the baby down...pretty much any time. Natasha thought that Rita being around had a lot to do with it. Maybe it was some kind of voyeuristic kink.

“
Well, don’t blame me, but seriously, Mitch, you are going to fuck me raw one of these days,” she said. She looked at the time displayed on her computer screen and frowned. “It’s almost midday. What are you doing home?” she asked.

“
I needed a break from the office, plus we need you down there,” he said. She put her laptop down on the coffee table and looked at him.

“
Why? What do you mean?” she asked.

“
We just lost millions of dollars in billable hours,” he said. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked him in the eye.

“
You’d better stop these charades and just tell me what the hell is going on. What do you mean we lost millions of dollars? Who’s we?” she asked, trying hard to remain calm.

“
The company,” Mitchell said as he exhaled loudly. “Remember Fiona Barnes Energy?” he asked. Natasha nodded.

“
Yeah. That was one of the accounts I worked on when I first started working at...wait. Please don’t tell me that’s the account we lost,” she said, looking at Mitchell, who was now nodding. “Mitchell, what the hell happened? If anything that was our most solid account. If you asked me, I would have said that the account was guaranteed for at least the next five years,” she said.

“
Sweetie, if there is anything guaranteed in business, it’s that there is never a guarantee,” he said as he looked at her. She slammed the laptop shut and then stood up. “Babe, where are you going?” he asked as he held her hand.

“
I need to do damage control,” she said. Mitchell pulled her back down on the couch and then looked at her.

“
Okay, you want to do damage control. What kind of damage control do you have in mind?” he asked. She shook her head and frowned.

“
I don’t know...just...I don’t know. I just need to go to the office,” she said. Mitchell smiled at her.

“
Whatever you need to do, you can do it right here. And that’s why I came home. I knew you would need the help,” he said as he took his phone out of his pocket.

“
What are you doing?” she asked.

“
Checking in with Stacy,” he said.

“
What for?” she asked.

“
I left her in charge of damage control. She’s got everything covered,” he said as he typed away on his phone. “See?” he asked as he showed her a reply from Stacy assuring him that everything was fine. “You don’t need to go in. Plus you have two girls and a man who need you right here,” he said, looking at her. She smiled and leaned back on the couch.

“
I really need to get back to work. I am beginning to feel like a sad housewife,” she said. Mitchell laughed.

“
Well, most sad housewives don’t look this good,” he said as he moved closer to her.

“
I said no sex. Seriously, what has gotten into you?” she asked as she pulled away from him.

“
I don’t know. But it’s like Rita being here makes it exciting, like we’ll get busted or something...I don’t know why. But I just can’t seem to relax around you nowadays,” he said in a whisper. Natasha looked at him, surprised.

“
I honestly hoped for a better explanation,” she said, looking at him. “Sometimes I don’t think you are the man I married,” she added as she leaned back on the couch again. Mitchell laughed.

“
Forgive me for bringing the spontaneity back to our marriage,” he said. Natasha looked at him and smiled.

“
Honey, save that for our fortieth anniversary,” she said. She then leaned forward and took her laptop.

“
What were you working on?” he asked.

“
Reports. Last fiscal year,” she said. Mitchell shook his head.

“
Why are you doing reports?” he asked.

“
I’m not
doing
them, just going over them. Just the reports from my department, though,” she said. Mitchell looked at her computer screen and frowned. “What?” she asked.

“
Can it wait?” he asked.

“
No....”

“
It has nothing to do with sex. I promise,” Mitchell said, cutting her short.

“
Okay. What do you have in mind?” she asked.

“
Where’s Rita?” he asked.

“
She went out to meet Dave. It was a while ago so I guess she should be back any time now,” she said.

“
She has a spare key to this place, right?” he asked. Natasha nodded.

“
Really, what do you have in mind?” she asked.

“
Well, I was not entirely honest about why I was home,” Mitchell said. Natasha shook her head.

“
Okay, so we didn’t lose the account?” Natasha asked.

“
No, we lost the account, all right. But I got a call from Pete Faulkner,” Mitchell said.

“
Okay, who is Pete Faulkner?” Natasha asked, looking confused.

“
My friend from the Thirteenth Precinct. He said he has a lead on Rita’s mother,” he said. Natasha smiled.

“
Awesome. So where is she?” Natasha asked excitedly.

“
It’s a lead, sweetie. Not a location. We still don’t know where she is,” Mitchell said. Natasha frowned. “It’s better than nothing. So I was thinking we could go over to the station and meet up with him,” he said. Natasha smiled and nodded.

“
I’ll be ready in ten minutes. You get Alexis’ bag,” she said as she rushed to the bedroom. She took off the oversized t-shirt and sweat pants she was wearing and changed into a dress. She put on some light makeup and then pinned back her curly hair. To complete her look, she put on a pair of high heeled sandals and then walked back to the living room.

“
Wow,” Mitchell said as she walked towards him. “Talk about a transformation,” he said, looking at her. She smiled.

“
Thank you. Thank you very much,”
she said in a mock Elvis Presley voice.

“
Do you have some guy down at the precinct that you are looking to reel in?” he asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“
Why, Mitchell Schmidt. I never took you to be the jealous type,” she said as she picked up Alexis. “Hi there, beautiful. Mommy and Daddy are going to take you for a ride,” she said as she walked out of the living room. She strapped the baby in her car seat in the back and then took a seat next to her where she could keep an eye on her.

All the way as they rode to the station, Natasha felt herself getting tense. She was prepared for anything but she was not so sure that Rita was. Back when Rita’s mom was still using, every single day was a struggle for Rita. Natasha could count more days when Rita’s mother was found on the street somewhere than days she spent at home. For Rita, microwave dinners while watching her mother wasted on the couch was the life she knew and the life she had become accustomed to.

“What if she is...?” Natasha started to ask when they got to the station. Mitchell looked at her and smiled.

“
Let’s just take it as it comes,” he said as he took her hand. She smiled, picked up the baby, put her in her stroller and followed him in.

“
Hi, we are here to see Officer Cameron,” he said to the woman seated behind the desk. She pointed to a desk where a brown haired man was seated. Mitchell and Natasha walked up to the desk. “Does the state pay you enough to work this hard?” Mitchell asked. Officer Cameron smiled and stood up.

“
It doesn’t but that I can live with. It’s the idiots who lounge at their desk all day without working that piss me off the most,” he said as he shook Mitchell’s hand. “Long time no see,” he said.

“
Yeah, I know it’s been a few, but work and my family always come first,” Mitchell said. “Speaking of which, Officer Cameron, meet my wife Natasha and daughter, Alexis,” he said proudly.

“
I have heard a lot about you both,” Cameron said as he shook Natasha’s hand and then picked the baby up.

“
Good things I hope,” Natasha said smiling.

“
Well, yes, but he did not do you justice,” the officer said, lifting the baby up. Alexis squealed excitedly. “Any of you,” he added as he looked at Natasha.

“
Thanks,” she said blushing.

“
So, my man, what do you have about my friend’s mother?” Mitchell asked. The officer put the baby back in the stroller and then walked back to his seat.

“
Okay so, I put out a BOLO for your friend, Lydia Dennis. No one in the vicinity has seen or heard from her but we got a hit in Seattle. There was a charge to her credit card,” he began. Natasha frowned.

“
Seattle?” she asked surprised.

“
Yes. Does she know anyone there? Family maybe?” Cameron asked. Natasha shook her head.

“
Rita’s family is estranged. They hardly communicate and I don’t think they have any family in Seattle,” she said.

“
Well, the charge was to a motel. We had Seattle PD look in on it but by the time they got there, she was long gone,” he said. Natasha took a long deep breath.

“
So this could be another dead end?” she asked.

“
Yes and no. It could be if the credit card was stolen but it could also be a major lead,” the officer said. “I am liaising with the team down in Seattle and they reported something interesting. They put out posters and flyers with Lydia’s picture on them and a woman called this morning. She said she saw someone matching Lydia’s description at her place of work,” he added.

“
Where is this exactly?” Mitchell asked.

“
A supermarket, Pay Less,” the officer said.

“
So, what does this mean?” Natasha asked.

“
Right now, that’s all we know but I think we’ll have an update soon,” he said. Natasha took Mitchell’s hand.

“
Thanks, Cam. We will be in touch,” he said. Natasha looked at him.

“
That’s it?” she asked.

“
Well, for the moment, that will have to be it. We have absolutely nothing else right now,” Cameron said sadly. Mitchell smiled at him.

“
That’s better than nothing, Cam. Thanks a bunch,” he said as he stood up. Natasha gave a smile to Cameron as she stood up.

“
I’m sorry if I am not as excited as I should be. It’s just that I thought you’d tell us where she is,” she said. Cameron smiled at her.

“
I understand. This is not the first missing persons case I am handling. But I can tell you from experience that this right here is better than most families hope for. Your friend will be very happy,” Cameron said to her.

“
Actually, we haven’t told her that we contacted the police,” Mitchell said.

“
May I ask why?” he asked.

“
In the past, her mother would just come around eventually so I guess she was hoping that this would be one of those times,” Mitchell said.

“
Yeah, she made so many reports back when she was in high school, the police didn’t want to hear anything about Lydia. To them, she was the girl who cried wolf one too many times,” Natasha said sadly.

“
That explains a lot,” he said.

“
What?” Mitchell asked. “What explains a lot?” he asked again. Cameron took a long deep breath and looked at the two of them.

“
Sergeant Polson, one of the senior guys here, probably one of the oldest guys in this precinct, found me as I was sending the email to Seattle PD. He said that Lydia was probably lying in some strange man’s bed wasted. I didn’t know what he meant by it then. I just thought he was being the usual judgmental ass he always is,” he said.

“
He must have known Rita and Lydia from way back then,” Natasha said.