Mickela & Egan

Mickela pulled up to the house and reached for the large white bag and her briefcase. Juggling them as she walked up the porch and knocked on Egan’s door. They were supposed to go out for dinner, but after running back and forth between Coff’s Harbor and The Glen, Mickela was worn out and her mind was racing.

Egan could see from her shadow Mic had her hands full. Opening the door he smiled and took the bag from her hands. "Hullo love. Did everything work out?"

She smiled softly and nodded. "Yes, for the most part." She stepped inside and set down her briefcase then turned to kiss his cheek. "I found Millie’s; that place you mentioned last night, and picked up dinner."

Smiling when she kissed his cheek, he reached out and caressed hers. It had been a long time since he'd touched someone like this. Egan felt a bit like an awkward youth at times. Walking into the kitchen with the bag he was glad she had stopped. He wouldn't have to put up with all the crowd moving in lately.

Pulling out the food he grinned. "Smells good. Millie seems to have a good cook at hand. You look bushed. Have a sit and I'll get the drinks and silverware."

She walked over to the table and started pulling out boxes of food. Mickela watched Egan as he poured drinks then pulled silverware from the kitchen drawer. After a month apart, they fell right back into the comfortable routine they found with each other during the few days they spent in the cabin. She had to stop for a second and try to remember when she'd last had that with a man. Aside from the other detectives, there was only Jack. But that had been such a long time ago.

Mickela wanted to pull out her files and go over them again as they sat down to dinner, but that was far from polite and she needed a break from it for a few minutes. Give her thoughts time to organize. And she'd missed seeing Egan today.

Egan put the pitcher back into the fridge and walked over with forks and knives in hand. Setting them down he could see there was a bit of tension to her but it had eased some since coming in. It was good to have her home. That thought brought a smile to his face. Mic was the first person he'd ever shared his home with for more than a few hours. "You look deep in thought."

Mickela grinned and nodded. "Very. It was an interesting day." She set pieces of lasagna on each of their plates then did the same with the tossed salad and garlic bread.

Inhaling the scent of the spices his stomach growled. With a grin he looks up at her. "It's been a while since I've had lasagna. I imagine in New York you have places on every corner to choose from."

"Yeah, we do," She smiled. "New York has a bit of everything and some of the best food in the world." She took a couple of bites and looked across at him thoughtfully. "I may have to go back sooner than I thought."

Egan didn't like the sound of that at all. Time was short as it was and who knew when she would come back. "How come, Mic. Something wrong with the case?"

She shook her head. "No. Something good. I stopped by the Sheriff's office today. I had to give them a heads up on my investigation. It's professional courtesy. And I had to let the Sheriff know I may need to request extradition for the curator of the art gallery."

Extradition, that meant the curator was a criminal. The Glen was a small place and he knew Mic's case had something to do with art forgeries. "You think the curator is involved?"

She nodded as she poked at her salad. "Yes. There were several indicators that her involvement is a great deal more than what she told me today. I may have to take her back to New York to be questioned formally as a suspect in the theft of the painting from the Augustine Gallery and her possible connection to the attempt on my life."

Bloody hell. I've seen her in the market and about. Wouldn't think of her as being involved in something like that." He took a bite of the garlic bread then a sip of his drink. "Then again, folks can hide what they are with a bit of practice."

True." She sighed at a passing thought. "She doesn't strike me as a criminal, though. She looked more...scared. But in any case, she' definitely hiding something. She lived and worked in New York, but she knew a great deal about Miami. Donovan Lasater, Edward Bower, and Micheal Lott are associates in the same gallery in Miami. But she claimed only to know of Donovan Laseter."

She picked up her drink and took a long sip. "And Edward Bower allegedly assaulted her in New York four weeks ago. The same time the painting was stolen from the Augustine."

"She claims to have been here in Australia for only a week. If that's true, then she was still in New York, still working for the Augustine Gallery when the painting was stolen." Mickela grinned and shook her head. "A painting in the gallery where she works is stolen...and she doesn't even hear about it?"

Egan sits back and shakes his head. "That does sound off. Did the theft make the papers?"

She nodded and cut another piece of lasagna. "Yeah. Not front page, of course. But she wouldn't have had to read it in the paper to know a painting in her own gallery just disappeared a day before its scheduled authentication."

"I visited the Greenstone Gallery in Coff's Harbour and then spoke to them again on my way home. They're sending an independent expert to the Crowe Gallery tomorrow morning to authenticate the painting."

Egan nodded he felt bad for this girl, she looked nice. But his concern was losing time with Mickela. Taking his last bite and sitting back he watched her eat for a moment. Last night was more than he'd expected.

The one thing he'd never thought would happen to him happened. Egan Ballow had fallen in love. A love that lived more than a few miles down the road. The more she was here the more he liked it. She had a life in New York a detective. What was he but a horseman. "What do you think they'll find looking at the painting?"

"I'm not entirely sure. But I've done some research on forgeries. There are a lot of technological ways to discern a forgery from the original painting. It depends on the skill of the forger. Some of them make simple mistakes like an unintentional confusion of styles."

"I've heard that there are also false forgeries." She shrugs. "An artist is hired to create a reproduction but then the reproduction changes hands to a third party who alters the painting with a forged signature and tries to pass it off as a piece by the original artist."

"The reproduction artist usually marks their work with their initials hidden somewhere inconspicuous within the painting."

Egan shakes his head now wonder she looked tense that's a lot to absorb. "You've got a lot to determine, love. A lot of facts to sort through." As she finished her meal he grinned. "How about we go for a ride that should clear your head and help you relax a bit."

Mickela smiled at him warmly. She'd been so engrossed in the case she didn't take into account that Egan may not be interested in listening to her go on and on. She was just vehement about solving the case. After all, there was already one attempt to kill her because she'd uncovered a line of forgeries connected to Michael Lott.

She reached across the table and took his hand. "That sounds good."

Smiling he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed across her knuckles. Egan wanted her to know how much she meant to him. Getting up he gently pulled her with him then into his embrace for a long tender kiss. Caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers Egan smiled softly. "You'll break the case and get your man, Mic. I'm confident in that." As he pressed her to him for a moment before walking to the paddock, Egan hoped he would be that man.

In the few days they had been together when she was last here, Egan had taught her how to saddle a horse. Actually it was more "showing" her. Because of her wounds, she wasn't able to lift the saddle at the time, but she'd seen him do it often enough to let it sink in.

After saddling one of the horses, she mounted then rode alongside Egan and leaned over to kiss him gently. "Where are you taking us?"

Feeling at his best in the saddle he pointed. "There's a stream just over that ridge. There's something I'd like you to see."

Dazed from the kiss, she gave him a teasing smile. "Hmm, what did you say? I was distracted...Oh wait, I remember. You said...run!" She nudged her horse and started off on a easy canter that quickly turned to a run towards the ridge.

With a loud boyish laugh he joined her. Egan took in a deep breath of the air rushing past his face. Glancing over he saw Mickela with a smile her hair flowing in the wind. A pure vision she was. So this was happiness he thought watching her. There had to be some way to make it last for both of them. Dare he even think it but he would make a trip to New York for her.

Mickela stopped her horse at the top of the ridge and Egan was soon beside her. She looked over him and smiled; both of them panting for breath and filled with the exhilaration of the ride. She leaned over to give him another breathless kiss. This one truly breathless because she didn't have much after the run to the top of the ridge. "Now that you have me here, what is it you have to show me?"

With a smile that sparkled in his eyes he dismounted and tied their horses then pulled her from the saddle cradling her in his arms as he kissed her again. Setting her down Egan took her hand and walked down the ridge to a tree and a line of brush. Looking up at the sky he settled out of sight against the tree then gently pulled her into his lap. "They'll be along any moment now."

They sat only for a few breaths before he pointed to the other side of the stream where the ridge rose again. They felt them before seeing the heard. A heard of wild horses came running over the ridge and down to the stream. They drank and played, some fought.

Egan held her close watching them. This was one of his favorite places before she had to leave he wanted to make sure she saw this.

Mickela relaxed against him and relished in the feel of his warmth. His arms wrapped around her. She laced her fingers with his and massaged the back of his hand as they watched the horses run about wherever they pleased. She wasn't sure she had that kind of freedom. If she did, she wouldn't feel the strong pull of her job in New York. Her own desire to stay near Egan was growing just as strong. But what kept her from considering their future was she didn't know yet what Egan wanted. Maybe this only worked for them because they knew it was temporary.

However long it would last, Mickela was determined to enjoy every minute of her time with Egan. She turned enough to caress his face as she kissed him.

Looking into her eyes as their kiss broke Egan felt something between them that tightened his arms around her. As he lay her back on the grass Egan let her see into his soul though his eyes. He wasn't sure how to keep her or if he could. If she even wanted a simple horseman. Egan would hold her and touch her for as long as he could.