Chapter 26
It was a long night for them, and just as he had promised himself, Steve made Millie burn. She had taken a few lovers since Hugh, but none had been serious, and very few had made her feel as good as Steve did that night and the next morning. She swore that, first chance she got, she'd return the favour in ways he could only dream of, which left him dreaming of a lot of different ways.
When Steve went in to work the next day, even Danny noticed the smile he couldn't keep off his face.
You and Millie finally got it together," Danny said.
"Got what together?" Steve asked, playing innocent.
"Oh come on, man!" Danny snapped. "You and Millie have been dancing around each other from the day she set up shop! We've all noticed it and we've all been taking bets as to how long it would take before one of us found you two in each other's arms!"
"You've been taking bets?" Steve repeated incredulously.
"Yes, we have; all of us," Danny said. "We all know what Catherine leaving did to you, and all any of us want is to see you seeing somebody and happy about it, and if that someone happens to be Millie Thompson, then so be it. There's only one thing I ask."
"What?" Steve asked, suspicious.
"If something does happen to her, please, please don't go crazy on us," Danny said.
"I don't go crazy," Steve shot back, indignant.
"Right. Sure. Like you didn't when Chin had a bomb strapped to his neck, or when Kono went missing during her little sailing trip, or when the CIA decided to take me back to that Colombian prison," Danny shot back. "Or when Catherine was shot during that job with whatever-his-name-was? Shall I continue?"
Steve glared at him. "And who's to say she's not going to do the same when one of us gets into trouble again? Are you going to make her make the same promise?"
"No, because I'm going to be too busy laughing while she tears a strip off you and too busy running if and when she goes after me," Danny shot back.
"Randal Marcus is giving us trouble again," Steve said, catching up to Millie a few hours later on his cellphone. "Every time we try to get a warrant in regards to Sang Ho, we hit a brick wall that has his name on it."
"Has Ellie said anything about that?" Millie asked, tugging her riding boots on. The temperatures were a bit cool, with the sky threatening rain, and she had a few errands to run. The boots had a flat heel that wouldn't hurt her ankle and also provided support.
Steve had called her up for several reasons; to gripe and hope she might know something or someone, and to say hello to his lover.
"She's been in court all day," Steve said. "Some big grand jury case she's been working on for months."
"Oh boy," Millie said. "Does Marcus have any connection to Sang Ho?"
"As far as we can tell, no," Steve said. "But then again we haven't looked too closely at him," he admitted. "What are you thinking?"
"What other common denominators are there besides Marcus refusing to grant warrants against Sang Ho?" Millie asked. "Has he given anyone else grief over him? If so, why, who, and what was the case?"
"Do you know I miss having you here?" Steve asked, already making mental plans to start digging into Randal Marcus.
Millie smiled. "I miss you too," she said. "I could drop by in a short- eyouch!" she suddenly yelped as claws suddenly pierced the exposed ankle skin of her other foot.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked, wondering whether or not he was going to have to make another mad dash to Millie's house.
"I'm fine," she groused, getting off her bed to look underneath. Her jaw fell open as a pair of tiny gold-blue eyes stared back at her amid black fur. She reached out and her fingers found a tiny feline head, which promptly tried to bite her. "I'm not sure, but I think Lunkhead brought somebody home," she said to Steve, avoiding another playful bite and grabbing the kitten. "I just found a little black kitten under my bed and it's obviously not afraid of me," she said, wincing as the kitten attacked her hand.
Steve chuckled. "I'll take a rain check on that visit, but I want double the kisses when you do," he said.
"I can do that," Millie said, trying to turn the kitten around enough to see under its tail to determine its sex. "Go after Marcus and let me know if you need help," she said.
"Will do. Catch you later, sweetheart," he said, ending the call.
Millie studied the thin kitten, who was vigorously attacking her cast. "You are a feisty little runt, aren't you?" she said. "And you need a bath. Where's that fool cat of mine?"
After shoving her other boot on, she went searching. She found him in the kitchen, watching over another kitten. This one was black and white-ish, and seemed to have no tail. In fact, if it weren't for the ears, Millie would have mistaken him for a baby panda. As she watched, Lunkhead picked up a piece of fish from his dish and dropped it in front of the kitten, who attacked it hungrily, making Millie's eyes go wide. Out of curiosity, she set the first kitten down and watched as it tried to go after Lunkhead's tail, with the older cat giving the kitten a resigned, patient look.
"You're kidding me," she said. She quickly snapped a picture on her cellphone and sent it to Steve with the message, "Need to take these fellas the vet. Lunkey found them and hasn't tried killing them yet."
A moment later there was a reply.
"Just how hard did Lunkhead hit his head? Kono says they're adorable."
A short while later, two vet techs were giving the kittens a bath in a sink full of warm water, with Lunkhead watching closely. Surprisingly enough, Lunkhead had climbed into the kitty carrier with the kittens, resulting in Millie taking all three to the vet, to which the receptionist had thought was hilarious.
"They're about two months old," said Mae, the veterinarian doctor Millie was friendly with. "So far I'm not seeing fleas, but they are undernourished, so that could suggest Momma isn't a house kitty. What are you going to do with them?"
"Well, the fact that Lunkhead didn't kill them, that's a good sign," Millie said, watching as one of the vet techs started drying off the kitten with no tail. "And I've got a place of my own now." She bit her lip. "What shots do they need?"
"A deworming wouldn't hurt," Mae said. She listed a few other shots and vaccines and again Millie bit her lip.
"Nail them. I'll keep them. God knows I could use the excitement," she decided. "The little black one seems awfully small, though."
"She could be the runt of the litter," Mae said. "I trust I don't have to tell you how to care for them?"
"Nope. I'll add kitten food to my grocery list," Millie said.
"What are you going to call them?"
"The little guy is going to get stuck with the name Po, but I don't know about the girl, yet," Millie admitted.
After dropping off the kittens and Lunkhead at home, Millie headed to Headquarters. She found her team buried in paperwork. Steve was down at the courthouse, trying to scare up more information.
"Your thing about Randal Marcus was bop on the nose," Lou said. "We had a chat with that file clerk you're chummy with, and she brought us all the files she could find with his signature on them."
"Lovely," Millie said. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Yeah. You got any more contacts at the court house?" Danny asked.
"Give me a minute and I'll give you some names and numbers," Millie said, heading for her office.
"Are you going to be okay for my wedding?" Kono called.
"Sistah, I wouldn't miss it for the world," Millie called back. "Just make sure you have a padded chair for me."
Steve appeared a few minutes later, more files in hand. "Sang Ho and Randal Marcus are in bed in all but physically, I'm sure of it," he said, laying the files down on the table. In front of everyone, he wrapped his arm around Millie's waist and gave her a 'hello' kiss that curled her toes and sent a blush coursing through her.
"They know," he said in her ear when he finally let her go, a surge of satisfaction going through him at the sight of her pleasure-glazed eyes.
"And we all just lost our bets," Chin said, grinning.
"Good," Steve shot back. "We'll behave during office hours, but after hours..."
"If you want to act like giggling teenagers, that's your problem," Lou said. "Anything more than that, find a room."
"Thank you," said Danny.