Mitch looked to Derek.

“I don’t want those women around the kids and I don’t want them knowin’ I live across the breezeway. That’s why we’re here. In a minute, Mara and me are goin’ out there, we’re takin’ them into Mara’s apartment and we’re dealin’ with ‘em. You hear shit you don’t like, like those bitches gettin’ loud and threatening, you call Slim. He knows what’s goin’ on and he’ll know what to do. You don’t like what you hear, you call. No hesitation. Right?”

Derek nodded.

Mitch looked at Bray and Brent.

“Keep Bud company. He’s freaked.”

Bray and Brent nodded, Brent detaching from Bray and moving toward Billy.

Mitch’s eyes came to me, they moved over my face, I knew he didn’t like what he saw but he powered through it and said quietly, “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

It was my turn to nod.

“I’m goin’ with,” Elvira announced right as I started to move toward Mitch and both Mitch and my eyes went to her.

Oh boy. Here we go. Elvira was butting into Mitch’s plans.

“No,” he denied.

“Uh…yeah, hot guy, macho man, decorated, squeaky clean po-lice detective,” she shot back and there it was. The Attitude. “I spend my time around hot guy, macho men, almost all my time but even if I didn’t, it wouldn’t take a psychologist to read you are one seriously pissed off hot guy, macho man, po-lice detective. And I’ll repeat, you’re decorated and squeaky clean. You need to keep your shit and stay that way and, my read, you got about a half a millimeter left on your hold on your control.”

I figured her read was right.

She kept talking.

“You both also need a witness to whatever goes down over there. I’m not either of ya’ll’s neighbor or best friend,” she lifted a hand, finger pointed down, her well-formed nail, I distractedly noticed, painted an awesome midnight violet color. She circled her finger between Mitch and me then she dropped her hand. “So that witness is gonna be me.”

Well, one thing I knew about this, LaTanya had shared with her cousin about Mitch, me, Billy and Billie.

The other thing I knew was that Elvira didn’t just have Attitude, she was wise.

Mitch came to the same conclusion because it was then he nodded and muttered, “Let’s go.”

Mitch spoke and Elvira and I moved, following him out the door and into the breezeway.

“Where’s my grandbabies?” Aunt Lulamae asked before Derek and LaTanya’s door even closed.

“We’ll talk at Mara’s place,” Mitch replied, moving directly to my door, key at the ready.

“I wanna see my grandbabies!” Aunt Lulamae was getting loud.

Mitch stopped, pivoted on his boot, stalked to Aunt Lulamae and even Aunt Lulamae, who had never been the brightest bulb in the box, was smart enough to see she’d pushed him too far. She flinched and cowered when he got in her space and leaned into her face.

I held my breath.

“We’ve been at an amusement park all day. Your granddaughter is exhausted and sleeping. Your grandson does not know you but with all your bullshit, he’s scared shitless of you. Right now, he’s in that apartment,” Mitch’s arm went up and he pointed at Derek and LaTanya’s door then dropped his arm, “shiverin’, he’s so f**kin’ scared. Now, you wanna convince anyone you give one shit about those kids, you’ll keep your f**kin’ voice down and you’ll wait the thirty f**kin’ seconds it takes to get into Mara’s place so we can talk. Your other choice is to have it out out here which means in about ten minutes your ass will be in a f**kin’ cruiser. You got a second to nod you agree or let loose. Your choice. That second starts now.”

She immediately nodded.

I let out my breath.

Mitch stalked to my door, opened it but didn’t walk through. He stopped in it and his eyes sliced to me as his hand came out to me.

I walked directly to him, Elvira at my back and when I got to him, my hand came up. His fingers closed around it and we walked in, Elvira following, the Trailer Trash Trio bringing up the rear.

Mitch’s hand gave mine a squeeze and he ordered gently, “Hit some lights, honey, then right back at my side.”

I looked up at him, nodded and wandered the room quickly, turning on the lamps on either side of the couch. Mitch positioned himself six feet into the apartment, hands to his hips. Elvira went to sit on a stool at my bar, back to the counter, body facing the showdown. It was then I noticed her clingy, wraparound dress was pretty spectacular and if I survived this without having a mental collapse, I needed to ask where she got it. Mom, Aunt Lulamae and Jez were all standing just inside my door, looking around my apartment with astonished expressions on their faces.

I understood this. Seriously, Penny did a great job. My apartment was awesome.

Jez’s expression melted to indifference as her eyes drifted to Mitch. It was all the same to her and, vaguely, I wondered what she was even doing there. She didn’t seem a participant so much as an observer.

Mom’s and Aunt Lulamae’s gazes came to me as I made it to Mitch’s side and their expressions shifted to scorn.

“Who’s she?” Jez asked, her head tipping to Elvira but Mom spoke over her and what Mom said took precedence, at least according to Mitch.

“Knew it, always knew it.” She threw her hand out, indicating my apartment. “Slutty, little tease always had your nose in the air, thinkin’ you’re better than everybody, thinkin’ you’re somethin’ you are not.”

Obviously, she said this to me.

And, very obviously, considering the already suffocating air in the room went thick as paste, Mitch, seriously pissed, got more pissed.

A lot more.

“For this discussion, you direct any communication to me. You do not talk to Mara,” he clipped out this order and Mom looked at him.

“And why would I do that?” she snapped.

“Because you’re standin’ there thinkin’ you got the upper hand when you don’t. And if you don’t smarten up fast and play this right, I’m gonna unleash a world of hurt on you, your sister and your sister’s son. And part of playing this right is not disrespecting my woman to her face or mine,” Mitch replied, one of his hands staying at his hip, the other one sliding around my waist and pulling me close.