Kisscut

" Lena?" Jeffrey prompted.

She cleared her throat, then answered, "Yes, sir."

As usual, Brad drove through town at exactly the speed limit. Lena tried to quell her impatience at the same time she tried to ignore Mark sitting in the back seat. Without looking, she knew that Mark was staring at her. Both she and Jeffrey had agreed that it would be best to let his father deal with telling the boy his mother would probably be dead before the end of the day, but sitting there in the car with Mark less than two feet behind her, Lena felt like she was doing something wrong. Even with the safety guard between the front and back seats, she felt like Mark might come through the fence and grab her, demanding to know what was going on.

For Mark's part, whatever medication the doctor had given him last night seemed to work. He was back to his usual surly self, standing too close to Lena when she cuffed him, making a suggestive noise as she led him to the car. Lena wondered what had brought the change. Mark had seemed nearly catatonic the day before.

"It sure is hot out," Brad said, taking a left off of Main Street.

"I know," Lena agreed, wanting to keep up the small talk. "It's hotter now than it was last year."

"That's the truth," Brad answered. "I remember when I was little, it didn't seem like it ever got this hot."

"Me, neither," Lena said.

"Didn't even have an air conditioner until I was twelve."

"We got ours when I was fifteen," she told him, allowing a smile at the memory. Lena and Sibyl had stood in front of the little unit until their faces had felt like they were frozen in place.

"We used to beg my daddy to turn the hose on out in the yard," Brad said, giving a little laugh. "I remember once when my cousin Be

Mark kicked at the guard between the seats, saying, "Shut the fuck up."

Brad slammed on the brakes and turned around. "You do that again and we're go

Lena had never heard Brad threaten anyone, and she was surprised to see that he had it in him. For the first time, she let herself see that Brad actually didn't seem to like Mark Patterson.

"Chill, John Boy," Mark said.

Lena let herself glance back at Mark, and he licked his tongue out suggestively. She turned back around, staring out the front window, trying not to let him know that he had gotten to her.

The car lurched a bit as it moved forward, and Brad was quiet for the rest of the trip. Lena directed him toward the Patterson trailer by pointing with her finger instead of giving him verbal directions. She tried to let herself think that Mark was not in the back seat, but every few minutes she would remember, and it was almost like she could feel his breath on her neck.

"This is it," Lena said, indicating the trailer. She was out of the car before Brad had come to a complete stop. Her thigh muscles protested as she moved, and she cursed Hank again for making her run that morning.

Brad opened the back door, saying, "You go

Mark took his time getting out of the car. When he stood, he was several inches shorter than Brad. He said something to the young patrolman that Lena could not hear. Whatever it was, it served to embarrass Brad, because his face turned completely red.

"Watch your mouth," Brad said, but there was no real threat to his tone, only what could be called shock. Brad grabbed the handcuffs around Mark's wrists and pulled him toward the trailer.

At the front door, Lena pulled Mark's keys out of her pocket. They had confiscated his things when he was arrested. She guessed that a key to the door would be on the ring.

"It's the third one," Mark said. "The one with the green rim." He smiled at Brad suggestively. "Rim, rimming, rim."

Brad's jaw worked, and he stared at the door as if he could open it with his mind.

Lena found the key and turned it in the lock. A breeze of cold air came from the trailer when she opened the door.

Mark stood in the doorway for just a second, his eyes closed, inhaling the scent of lilacs that greeted them.

"Come on," Brad said, pushing the boy inside.

Lena shot Brad a questioning look, wondering what had gotten into him. Brad was usually the most docile person in the world.

"Take the cuffs off him," Lena said.

Brad shook his head no. "We shouldn't do that."

Lena crossed her arms. "How's he supposed to bathe and get dressed with cuffs on?"

Mark gave Brad a wink. "You could stay with me, officer. Help scrub my back."

Before Lena knew what she was doing, she popped Mark on the back of the head. "Stop that," she told him, an-gry that he was making Brad so uncomfortable. She told Brad, "Why don't you watch the back of the trailer in case he tries to sneak out?"

Brad seemed relieved by this suggestion, and left without another word.

"What did you say to him?" she demanded.

"Just offered to help him relieve some of that stress he seems to have."

"Jesus Christ," Lena breathed. "Why would you do that to him?"

"Why not?" Mark shrugged.

Lena took out her handcuff key and motioned him over. He put the cuffs tight to his crotch so she would have to touch him to work the key.

"Hands out, Mark," Lena ordered.

He sighed dramatically, but did as he was told. "You like being chained up?" he asked.

"I'll give you ten minutes in the shower," she told him, releasing the cuffs. "If I have to come in after you, I won't be nice about it."

"Mmm…" Mark said, drawing out the sound. "Sounds tasty."

Lena clipped the handcuffs onto the back of her belt. "Ten minutes," she said, wondering if this was how Hank had felt this morning, ordering her around. She walked over to the couch and picked up a magazine before sitting down. Mark stood in the kitchen, watching her for what seemed like a full minute before he went back to his room. A couple of minutes later, she heard water ru

She stood from the couch, holding on to the mantel as she stretched out her quads. Her legs hurting this much af-ter what a year ago would have amounted to a light run was begi

Lena picked up a framed photograph of Mark and Lacey standing in front of a nondescript roller coaster. Both children were smiling, and Mark's arm was thrown around Lacey's shoulders. In turn, she had her hand around his waist. They looked about three years younger than they were now. They looked happy.

"That was at Six Flags," Mark said.

Lena tried not to show he had startled her. Mark was standing about three feet away from her, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

"Get dressed," she said.

He pressed his lips together in a lazy smile, and she felt like an idiot for not checking his room first for contraband.

"What are you on?" she asked him.

"Cloud nine," he smiled, dropping onto the couch.

"Mark," Lena said, "Get up. Get dressed."

He stared at her, his lips slightly parted.

She asked, "What?"

He kept staring for just a second more, then asked, "What did it feel like?"

"What did what feel like?"

He looked down at her hands, and she crossed her arms so that he could not see the scars. She shook her head. "No."

"My dad told me what happened."

"I'm sure he took great pleasure in it."

Mark frowned. "He didn't, actually. Teddy doesn't get off on that kind of thing." He must have noticed Lena 's surprise, because he said, "Old Ted's a straight arrow, now. Very vanilla."

Lena turned back to the photograph. "Go get dressed, Mark. We don't have time for this."

"You tell me your secrets and I'll tell you mine."

Lena laughed. "You watch too many movies."