Page 101 of Mike

“There’s the fucking bitch,” Lester’s voice rang out in the quiet of the woods. “She’s the cunt behind all this. Take her into custody. Now. That’s an order.”

Joe took great pleasure in the spittle that flew from Lester’s lying mouth.

Then she caught sight of Mike’s irate glower and clenched fists?—

Oh, snit!

There was no doubt in her mind. He was going to clock Lester. Not that she didn’t fully appreciate the sentiment, but he’d be in huge trouble for breaking a nose…and protocol.

Whereas, she had nothing to lose.

Before Mike could take one step closer to her ex-boss, Joe launched herself at the duplicitous man, rearing back with her right hand, and…

Bam!

She punched him smack in his smarmy fucking face.

Nothing had ever felt so good.

CHAPTER THIRTY

It was Sunday, and after the mess with Lester, Mike wanted nothing more than to kick back with Joe and relax. But they still had Melanie and Cameron to deal with.

He and Joe had been out to Baxter Peak’s trailhead the day before, scouting for a secure location where they could watch the parking lot without being spotted. They’d found a likely boulder that would obscure their position, then had taken a quick jaunt down the trail where they might have stopped to kiss the stuffing out of each other, only barely managing to call it quits before they were both naked.

There followed a night of food and fun with Mike’s family, that included teasing the man about his extensive military paraphernalia collection while Joe trounced them all at Scrabble, after which…

Nope. Not the time to think about that.

Mike rolled his shoulders as they walked toward their hidey-hole. He held two coffees, while Joe toted a bag of donuts. They planned on waiting companionably for however long it took Mel and company to come and do their dirty work.

Joe ducked behind the outcropping first.

Mike followed, and…

His gag reflex activated without warning.

What the fuck?

The ground where they were about to hunker down was covered in gum wrappers that hadn’t been there the day before.

Mike quickly turned his back and almost retched, but quickly drew in several deep breaths, getting himself shakily back under control before keeping his eyes completely away from the area around his feet.

It might be time to…

Dammit.

He hadn’t told Joe, but the phobia he’d mentioned to her a few days before was chiclephobia. The fear of gum. He’d been honest with her about when the fear had come about; after a high school football practice. He just hadn’t given her any further details.

They weren’t the worst thing, but to him…

Mike remembered choking after a particularly rough tackle, not because of the hit, but because of the mass of gum he’d stuffed in his mouth. After the wad had become lodged, he’d gasped for air, unsuccessfully, until black spots had formed in front of his eyes, and…he’d known he was dying.

Luckily, the coach had seen what was happening, and having the training, he’d performed the Heimlich Maneuver. The gum had gone flying, and Mike had survived.

That was the good part.

The bad part? Even though the gum had popped out of his gullet, the incident had freaked Mike out for a good long time, afterward.

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