A Man of Many Parts

by Edward Kendrick

  “You’ll be doing that all night if they have their way,” Jax said, shaking his head with amusement.

  “No kidding.” Noel picked up the ball, handing it to Jax. “Your turn.”

  For the next few minutes they traded off throwing the ball, and a stick Argyle found beside the fence. By then, Susan had returned. The moment she let Andre off his leash, he dashed over, jumping up to put his forepaws on Jax’s chest.

  “Down,” Jax ordered, surprised when the dog obeyed. “Good dog.” He rubbed Andre’s head, getting a lick in return, and picked up the ball to continue the game they’d been playing with the dogs. Andre was after it the moment it left Jax’s hand, catching it in mid-flight then dashing back to give it to him, looking up as if to say, ‘I’m better than them, aren’t I?’ Jax laughed, telling him he was the best, and tossed the ball again—and again Andre got to it before the other dogs could. This time, when he brought it back, Noel pointed to the ground at his feet. Andre looked at him in the dog version of disdain, gripping the ball in his mouth until Jax held out his hand. He gave it to Jax then danced around him, waiting for him to throw it again.

  “Bedtime,” Susan called out, pointing to the kennel gates.

  To Jax’s disbelief, the dogs docilely went into them, except Andre who seemed reluctant to leave Jax’s side until Jax pointed toward his kennel and said, “Go,” which Andre did. “How the hell did you train them to do that?” he asked Noel.

  “With love,” Noel replied seriously as he and Susan closed the gates. “Treat them as if they matter and they will do almost anything for you.” He chuckled. “Almost. There are a couple of them would rather not go inside, like Andre. Then, we bribe them.”

  It took both of them, Susan inside with dog treats, Noel closing the doors between the outside kennels and the inside ones, but in the end all the dogs were where they belonged for the night.

  At that point, Susan took off, saying she had a date—”With my main man.”

  “Your only one,” Noel pointed out with a grin.

  “Well, yeah.”

  Jax followed as Noel went through the shelter, turning off the lights as well as the computer in the office.

  When they were outside in the parking lot, after he had armed the security, Noel started toward his car then paused, saying shyly, “I’m going to stop to get something to eat. Would you like to come along?”

  Jax’s initial reaction was to say “No”. Then he figured what the hell. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do at the moment. He’s not inviting me to hop into bed with him. He eyed the young man thoughtfully. Not that I’d turn him down if he did. Okay, I would. I already decided that. It could cause problems I don’t even want to deal with, above and beyond Keegan.

  “Sure,” Jax replied. “I’ve already eaten but I’ll keep you company if they have decent coffee.”

  Noel smiled in relief that his offer hadn’t been rejected. “They’ve got the best, for a restaurant, at least as far as I’m concerned.”

  Since Jax had walked to the shelter, and didn’t want to go back for his car, they took Noel’s.

  The restaurant was part of a small area of shops about four miles from the shelter. As it was in the opposite direction from how Jax drove to Donovan’s home from the airport, he hadn’t known it existed until they got there.

  The hostess greeted Noel by name, then looked between him and Jax in question. Noel introduced them, explaining that Jax was staying with Donovan on a temporary basis while he did some repairs on his book collection.

  “Enjoy your stay,” she said to Jax before leading them to a table at one side of the room. They were barely seated when a waitress appeared to give them menus and ask if they wanted coffee—she had a pot in her hand—or something stronger. They both told her coffee while Jax handed the menu back, saying he wouldn’t be eating.

  “And I already know what I want,” Noel told her, ordering the chicken parmesan and a tossed salad.

  When the waitress left, there was a long silence before Noel, obviously desperate for something to say, asked, “Where do you live?”

  Jax told him, adding, “I have a condo there, although it sometimes seems as if I rarely see it.”

  “Must be nice. I mean, having a condo. I rented one for a while when I had a normal job.” Noel grinned. “At least what most people consider normal. I hated the job, but it took me a while to realize I did.”

  “Now you spend your days working with dogs and living in a two-room shack?”

  Laughing, Noel replied, “Not that bad. I’ve got a small house I’m renting, about a mile from here.” Noel moved his cup so the waitress could put down his meal. “Normally, I cook for myself but I wasn’t in the mood, tonight.”

  Jax wondered if that was the truth, or if Noel was trying to establish something more between them than their meeting occasionally at the shelter. He wouldn’t ask, however. He didn’t want to know that was the reason behind the dinner invitation other than Noel’s wanting company.

  “Trust me, I get the same way at times,” Jax replied. “Although rarely. When I’m at home I’d rather avoid eating out. I do it too much when I’m working.”

  “Hotel restaurants?” Noel asked.

  “Unfortunately, yes, most of the time. One reason I appreciate being here. It may not be home, but at least it’s not a cookie-cutter hotel and Mrs. Greene is an excellent cook.”

  “She is,” Noel agreed before he stopped talking to eat. Partway through his meal he looked at Jax in question. “Why did you get into book restoration?”

  “Probably for the same reason you decided to save animals. I love books and I hate when someone damages them. I used to haunt bookstores but avoided the books that were in less than pristine shape, until I came across one that I’d been looking for forever. I bought it, and thought about taking it to a bookbinder to get it repaired. When I found out how much it would cost, and I was rather poor at the time, I decided to teach myself how to do it.”

  “I bet the internet has a lot of tutorials.”

  “It does,” Jax replied, implying he used them. That hadn’t been the case. At the time he’d bought the book he mentioned, in the early part of the last century, the internet hadn’t existed.

  “And now, to hear Donovan talk about you, you’re one of the best in the business.”

  “I do have a good reputation,” Jax demurred. Deciding to change the topic before Noel tried to dig deeper, he asked him, “Do you intend to spend the rest of your life saving stray and abused dogs?”

  “Maybe. I’ll certainly work for Donovan for as long as he keeps the shelter open.”

  “Which could be until he’s old and gray,” Jax replied.

  “That suits me just fine.” Noel went back to eating, occasionally pausing to look at Jax.

  Deciding to call him on it, Jax chuckled, saying, “Am I more interesting than your chicken?”

  Rather than seeming embarrassed that Jax had caught him at it, Noel replied, “In your own way, sure. You’ve got a worldly air about you that says you’ve lived a much more exciting life than I could even dream of.”

  Little do you know. “I’m not certain I’d call it exciting,” Jax replied. “I’m good at what I do which means I travel quite a bit in the course of my job. That can become quite boring at times. The traveling, not the work.”

  “I suppose it would, although I wouldn’t mind trying it sometime. The farthest I’ve been is New Orleans for Mardi Gras.” Noel got a wistful look in his eyes. “That was fun.”

  “Then do it again, sometime.”

  Noel shook his head. “I can’t go off and leave Susan to do everything here. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind, as long as it was only for a week or so.”

  “Probably not, but…” Noel shrugged. “It won’t happen.” He took the last bite of his meal then said, “This has been fun but we should probably get out of here. I have to be up at the crack of dawn, as always, and I suspe
ct you need a working brain for what you’re doing.”

  Jax grinned. “It helps. And a steady hand.”

  Noel paid the bill, including for Jax’s coffee, and they returned to his car. As they headed back to the estate he said, “Maybe we could have dinner again sometime?”

  Against his better judgment, Jax said, “All right, as long as I warn Donovan ahead of time so that I can eat, too.”

  “A good idea. I felt sort of…umm…selfish, eating while you only had coffee.”

  “You weren’t at all. It was my choice. We could do this again, say Monday evening?”

  “Sure.” Noel’s smile said he was more than happy with that idea.

  They were back at the estate by then, so Jax thanked Noel for the ride then watched as he drove off. Will I regret this? I hope not. He’s a nice young man, now that he’s gotten over his distrust of me. I have no intention of taking things beyond the occasional dinner and spending time at the shelter. At least it gives me another option when Donovan’s not around. Somehow, I don’t think Walton would be willing to keep me company over dinner or carry on a conversation if he did.

  * * * *

  Sunday morning, Jax was back to work on the atlas. With luck, and if no unexpected problems arose, he thought he’d be finished by the end of the day.

  If that’s the case, do I tell Donovan I heard from another of my clients and need to leave? I was foolish to agree to go to dinner with Noel tomorrow night. He smiled wryly. Am I being conceited, thinking he wants more than my friendship? He’s certainly given no indication that he does.

  He decided not to worry about it. If the time came when it became apparent Noel was looking for more, he would gently tell him that he was honored, but that he didn’t feel the same. Not quite the truth and he knew it. If he were a different man, then perhaps he’d be the one to make the first move and see what happened. Too often he’d wished things were otherwise. He longed to find someone he could love, who loved him in return, but he never allowed it to happen. He kept a tight rein on his emotions—and his heart.

  It was late afternoon by the time Jax felt he had completed what he had set out to do. Picking up the atlas, he studied it to make certain there were no faults in the cover, no matter how miniscule. Satisfied, he cleaned up his work area before taking the atlas with him to show Donovan. He found him in the living room, dressed for dinner.

  “This is perfect,” Donovan exclaimed several minutes later as he ran his fingers lightly over the front cover for at least the third time, a smile of delight lighting his expression. “Your reputation is well earned, although I already knew that.” He lovingly set the atlas down on the coffee table. At that point, he asked if Jax would care for a drink—which he declined—poured one for himself, then said, “I had a strange call this afternoon on the house phone. When I answered, a man asked if he could speak with you. Something about his tone of voice put me on edge, so I said you’d finished the job you’d been doing for me and had returned home. Then I asked why he didn’t call you directly. He said he had but it had gone to voicemail.”

  Jax took his phone from his pocket, checking for any messages. “He didn’t call me,” he told Donovan. “No one has since I turned my phone off this morning. Did he say who he was?”

  “No, and I asked. All he said was, ‘When you talk to him again, tell him an old acquaintance wants to get in touch with him. He’ll know who you mean.’ Then, he hung up.” Donovan shook his head. “Do you know who he is? He sounded certain you would.”

  Lying, because he had to, Jax replied, “Not a clue. Anyone I know would have given you their name, especially if it had been a while since we’d seen each other.” He frowned. “That begs the question though. No one knows I’ve been working for you.”

  “Not even the man you bought the leather from?”

  “No. He’s a supplier. There’s no reason for me to tell him who I’m working for every time I use him.”

  “Then how did this man know to call here?” Donovan asked.

  “If I knew that, I might be able to figure out who he is.” Jax decided he’d better come up with some explanation before Donovan began to really question what had happened, so he snapped his fingers as if he’d just figured it out. “There is one man. I’ve been involved with him on and off for a couple of months. Mostly off. He’s nosy and likes to play games. I printed out your email and it’s possible he saw it on my desk, the last time he was at my place. Since I haven’t talked to him since then, he might have decided to track me down. Why he didn’t leave his name is curious, but as I said, he does like playing games.”

  Donovan chuckled. “If I were you, I’d dump him fast.”

  “Trust me, I intend to, as soon as I get home. Right now, though, I’d better go shower and change into something presentable for dinner.”

  With that, Jax headed up to his room.

  I hope that Keegan, because it had to be him, believed Donovan. Do I stay and take the chance he did? Or…He nodded slowly as he stripped and went into the bathroom. Stay because he didn’t believe Donovan and is going to check it out for himself. Draw him to me and end this once and for all.

  There was one big problem with that idea. One he’d considered before. He could be putting Donovan, and more importantly Noel, in the line of fire.

  Is it worth the risk? The only way I can put a finish to this is to face him down. Damn it, Keegan, why now, after all these years?

  He was pretty sure he knew the answer to that question. Keegan hadn’t known where to find him until just recently. How he’d found out, Jax wasn’t certain although he had an idea.

  I should never have gone back to restoring books. Sometimes a passion can get a man killed. In this case, it could be me unless I can eliminate him first. Do I stay? Can I take Donovan and Noel into my confidence? Not by telling them the truth. That is not an option, no matter what. But if I came up with a reason why someone is after me. A spurned lover? A business rival who resents the fact the fact I’ve taken away his customers because I’m much better than him at what we do? He suddenly had an idea, based on what Noel had said to him soon after they’d met, and nodded. That could work. It definitely could.

  * * * *

  Jax and Donovan were almost through with dinner when Jax said, “I do know who it was who called and it wasn’t the guy I mentioned.”

  Donovan cocked his head, replying, “Really? Why lie about it?”

  “Because I had to make a decision whether to stay or leave. Staying might put you and Noel, and even Susan, in danger. On the other hand, it will be easier to stop him here than in a more public venue.”

  Leaning back, Donovan looked hard at him. “Would you mind explaining what the hell you’re talking about?”

  “I’d rather wait and tell you and the others at the same time.” Jax smiled dryly. “It will save repeating myself.”

  “All right.” Donovan stood. “Let’s go.”

  When they arrived at the shelter, they found Noel and Susan feeding the dogs. Noel flashed Jax a smile, which Jax returned before Donovan told them that Jax wanted to talk to them as soon as they’d finished. That took ten minutes, during which Jax paced the yard, wondering if he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. Well, the biggest one other than telling them the truth.

  Donovan suggested they go into the shelter’s office, where they’d be more comfortable.

  “Okay,” Jax said once they had. “I was planning on leaving tomorrow, now that I’ve finished re-covering Donovan’s atlas. That is until he told me about a phone call he got this afternoon. It was someone looking for me, or, I guess, wanting to know if I was still here.”

  “An old boyfriend?” Susan asked with a brief grin, glancing at her brother.

  “I wish it were that easy,” Jax replied. “When I first got here, Noel, for some reason, decided I was more than I seemed and came up with the idea I had a second career as a book thief. Believe me, nothing could be farther from the truth, however…” He paus
ed as if trying to get his thoughts together.

  “Yes?” Donovan said.

  “A several years ago, I had the misfortune of meeting a man who was exactly that. I have a friend, an amateur, who collects antiquarian books. One evening when I was visiting him, he got a call from…we’ll call him Ken. Ken told him he’d come across two very rare books, in excellent condition, and was willing to part with them if my friend was able to pay the asking price.”

  “I take it they were stolen,” Donovan said.

  “Yes, but you’re getting ahead of my story. Because my friend is an amateur, he asked me to come with him to look at the books. A meeting was set up for the following evening at what Ken said was his office. When he showed us the books, I recognized one of them because I’d done some work on it for its owner. I was quite certain he wouldn’t have parted with it. Like you, Donovan, his books are his prized possessions. To make what’s becoming a long story a bit shorter, I made a call, found out I was correct, and then called the police. Ken was arrested. At his trial, he swore he’d get even with me. I checked, after you told me about the call, Donovan. He was released last week.”

  “You think he’s coming after you?” Susan said, looking suitably horrified—and intrigued.

  “Given that I’d bet my bottom dollar he’s the one who called Donovan, I do,” Jax replied. Before anyone could say anything more, he held up his hand. “With your permission, Donovan, I’d like to remain here until he does. I don’t think he’ll try to harm you or Noel or Susan. It’s me he’s wants, probably dead, to make up for the time he spent in prison because I’m the one who was responsible for his getting caught.”

  “You really think he’d shoot you, or something?” Noel asked in obvious dismay.

  Jax nodded. “I think it’s possible. If that’s his intention, I’d rather he tried while I’m here. If I go back home, he could come after me and hurt innocent people in the process.”

  Donovan lifted an eyebrow. “Meaning we’re not?”

  “All right, I could have phrased that better,” Jax admitted. “Out here, it would be easy enough for him to try to pick me off when the rest of you aren’t around.”