A Killer Cup of Joe

by Jennifer Templeman

  “How’d you stop her?” Her memories of the night before after she’d fallen to the ground were shady at best.

  “We didn’t,” Phillips said. “Her hands went around your neck, and Joe shot out his own window to take her down.”

  “Joe?” Ellie tried to picture the soft-spoken coffee shop owner in his crisp long-sleeved shirt with two rolls up in the cuff shooting somebody. “I’ll bet he’s mad that he had to sweep up glass.”

  The evidence of his exhaustion came out when he cracked up laughing at her response. “Yeah, Joe’s got a thing about people breaking his windows. Apparently, it’s all right if he does it himself and it’s in the defense of someone he cares about.”

  There was so much in that explanation that she hardly knew what to respond to first. “Joe has a gun?”

  That only seemed to make him laugh harder. “With all the time you’ve spent around him, you don’t know him well enough to know that?”

  “I guess not,” Ellie answered honestly.

  “Yeah, he’s got a gun—a small collection of them, actually—but he only keeps two in his shop. One in his office, stuck under his desk so he can rip it out if he’s cornered in there, and he always has one on him.” Apparently, Phillips had no qualms about spilling the details on his cousin.

  “Is the one in his desk to guard the whiskey he keeps for you?” She wasn’t sure where that question came from, but she was going to blame it on all the meds that had pumped through her system in the last twenty-four hours.

  “Nah, he’d gladly give that away,” Phillips answered, even though he was apparently amused by the question. “There’s a safe in there he feels the need to protect. Although, it’s a darn good bottle of whiskey, so it’s probably a good thing to have an armed guard there for it, too.”

  “How did he make a shot that perfect through a window at night to hit her and not me?” Ellie asked, feeling her mental clarity returning with each new detail Phillips shared.

  “Now that”—Phillips let go of her hand to sit up straighter—“is his story to tell, not mine.”

  “The next time I see him, I’ll ask,” Ellie promised.

  “Try to time it when I’m around so I can see how he responds,” Phillips pleaded, letting her know there was a story. She wasn’t going to give up until somebody shared it with her.

  Their talking apparently woke up the older man to the side, and Phil made a moaning sound as he stretched before whacking her bed with his cane. “Are you done trying to raise my blood pressure?”

  “For now,” she figured that was all she could reliably promise at the moment.

  “Close enough,” he conceded, before standing up slowly and glaring at his unattractive walking stick. “I’m going to let the ladies at the desk know you’re talking and moving and have them send the doctor in, and then I’m going home. My body can’t take sleeping in a chair another night.” It took him a moment to take the sideways steps required to squeeze between her bed and the chair, and then he held up his cane, pointing it accusingly at Phillips. “And I’m ordering you to stay here by her side, in this room, until she’s officially discharged. Understood?”

  Phillips didn’t even hesitate. “Yes, sir.”

  Ellie felt the need to speak up. “Guys, you know I’m sitting here listening, right?”

  “Your negotiation with Miller was for a team to cover you through the entire operation to its conclusion. The nut job woman is dead, but the case isn’t closed until we confirm a few more details. Until then, you can consider yourself in protective custody on my order, with Agent Phillips here in charge of your detail.”

  “It’s unnecessary and a complete waste of Bureau funds,” Ellie was feeling alert enough to argue.

  “He’ll do this gratis, or he will take an indefinite unpaid leave of absence. Personally, I think this makes sense, because having to watch you in pain is fitting. A faster response on his part could have prevented the need for you to be in that bed.”

  “You can’t be serious!” Ellie raised her voice enough to make her head begin to throb once more. “I’m not here because of Phillips.”

  Phil raised an eyebrow, questioning her conclusion. His face was serious enough that Ellie wondered what details from the night were hidden in her memory. Phillips wasn’t smarting off, which apparently meant he agreed with what was being said about him.

  “What could he have done differently?”

  “He could have moved closer when the rest of the team cut out, he could have gone in when I suggested it after the suspect left, or he could have positioned himself in the café as a plant from the beginning,” Phil rattled off without hesitation, causing Ellie to wonder just how much time they’d spent discussing this while she was unconscious. “There’s always something else that could have been done when an agent goes down in the field. Those of us who accepted the responsibility of preventing it have to figure out what we did wrong and spend a little time dwelling on the consequences of making the wrong choice so that when we’re in the same position the next time, we will instinctually act in a way that will prevent it from happening again.”

  Phillips interrupted. “Let it go, Ellie.” He silenced her by covering her hand with his own. Phillips might be an incurable flirt, but he didn’t tend to be overly touchy feely with her, so it was contrary enough to their usual interaction that she found herself strangely speechless. “If I disagreed with him, I’d enjoy watching you stand up to the big guy, but right now, all I can see is that woman with her hands on you, and me being unable to get there. Based on what that drug was doing to your system, if my cousin hadn’t acted so quickly, the apartment across the hall would be vacant right now.”

  “Fine, but I’m not staying here a minute longer than I have to,” Ellie begrudgingly offered.

  “Agreed.” Phil banged his cane. “But you aren’t leaving a moment before you’re allowed to, either.” As if pressing the point, he lifted his stick in Ellie’s direction, but he held Phillips’s gaze. With that order given, he pivoted and began to make his way down the hall, the signature sound of his rubber-tipped cane and limp announcing his departure.

  Ellie felt the need to apologize for how her boss was acting. “He’s not usually so pushy.”

  “Did that drug do something to your brain?” Phillips challenged. “Every time I’ve crossed paths with that bulldog, he’s been a demanding control freak.” Then he squeezed her hand before letting go and sitting back in his chair. “If he wasn’t always right, it would be easy to tell him to blow, but I’ll be damned if every time he warns me about something, he’s always on the money.”

  “Maybe my interactions with him are on a different level than yours,” she offered as a compromise to how they could see the same person so differently.

  Silence stretched for a few seconds before Phillips leaned forward once more. “You know, after your show last night, the higher-ups are probably going to push you to do more field work.”

  There was no way to stop the shiver that went through her at that suggestion. “I have a job already; I’m not interested in leaving it.” She looked around the room before adding, “Besides, I’d think the fact that I ended up here is proof I’m not field material. How many times have you been in a situation like that? I don’t recall ever getting a call to water your plants because you were in the hospital.”

  “Maybe not, but I can’t remember a time when I’ve been used to draw out a serial killer, either, so you can’t compare our records on this one,” he countered.

  It looked like he wanted to argue the point further, but when Ellie rubbed her temple, hoping some counter pressure would help relieve the increasing ache there, he pushed the nurse call button and requested some fresh pain medication, effectively ending their conversation.

  “Don’t think that every time we argue, you can just have a nurse knock me out,” Ellie warned when she felt the comforting warmth begin to flow through her system.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said. “
Besides, if I have you knocked out, then I’ll be missing whatever smart comment you might want to say next, and that would be a shame.”

  As her eyes closed, she felt a comforting hand grasp her fingers. “Get some rest, Ellie. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  She knew he would be, and between that assurance and the comfort found in his simple touch, she gave up the fight to stay awake and let sleep take her once more.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The doctor had signed off on Ellie’s discharge, giving her a list of symptoms to look out for and suggesting she take a couple of days off to be sure she had fully recuperated, given the dangerous nature of her work.

  Phillips proved himself to be a capable pack mule, and he accepted the pain medication, the print-out of potential side effects from all she’d been through, as well as a business card for a professional counselor who specialized in posttraumatic stress disorder. Glancing at Phillips, Ellie could tell from the way he was holding it that he’d never go see a shrink himself. It was probably for the best. Ellie could easily believe there were things locked in his head that no one should be forced to listen to.

  That thought made her smile, which brought a questioning expression to Phillips’s face. “Just ready to go home,” she offered as a weak explanation for her sudden-onset giddiness.

  Finally, the doctor excused himself, and Phillips pointed to a bag in the chair where Phil had kept his overnight vigil. “If you can get yourself dressed and ready to go, I’ll make a call to have a car downstairs waiting for us so we can get out of here.”

  Ellie was determined to make that happen, but couldn’t resist asking, “What if I can’t get myself dressed?”

  Not missing a beat, he replied, “Then the call can wait, and I’d consider it my duty to help you. I think you’ll find I’m very skilled at manipulating women’s clothes.”

  She laughed, “I had no idea you were a cross-dresser.”

  “One day, you’ll wake up and realize what you’ve been missing,” he called out as he made his way into the hall to give her privacy.

  It was slow going, as Ellie was sore, a side effect she still didn’t fully understand. The doctor seemed confident it would pass over the next day or two, so she was willing to endure it in order to get back to her version of normal. After she got rid of the hideous hospital gown and replaced it with long yoga pants and an FBI T-shirt, she began to feel more like herself. She decided not to ask who had prepped the bag and how they came to have her belongings that she knew had been locked in her apartment.

  “Here,” Phillips’s unexpected return caused her to jump. He handed her a black ball cap from a side pouch in the bag, which she gladly took to cover up her less-than-glamorous hair. “Now you look well enough to go home.”

  An orderly pushed a wheelchair into the room, and the look he gave her told her in no uncertain terms that it would be pointless to argue. They took the elevator to the lobby and then went straight out to a waiting black SUV. As the more familiar streets and businesses came into view, Ellie realized Phillips wasn’t taking the most direct route. He cut her off before she could question him about it.

  “I’ve been napping in a chair for nearly forty-eight hours, and I have a feeling you aren’t going to just go to bed at the apartment, so I need something to help me keep up with you.” By the time he finished his explanation, he’d pulled into the Mocha Joe’s parking lot and stopped.

  Ellie took an uneasy breath. The last time she was here, it was dark and she had to be carried away in an ambulance. Her eyes went to the side of the building where Lydia had nearly killed her. Ellie wondered if she would ever feel at ease here again and ground her teeth in frustration that a crazy woman had taken away her sense of security in a place she had once felt so at home.

  “Drive-thru or go in?” Phillips was watching her closely, leaving the decision of what to do in her hands.

  Ellie gripped the door handle so tightly she wasn’t sure she could move. On top of her unsettled emotions, the fact that she was literally hiding behind a ball cap was more than her upbringing with Janice would allow. “I’m not going in,” she whispered, hoping her breathing would even out soon.

  Not questioning her, he took off through the drive-thru and placed an order for: “Two of the biggest, strongest, and most hyped-up drinks you can legally serve without checking for an ID.”

  “Sir, there’s nothing on the menu by that name,” came an unamused voice. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

  “Two FBI specials,” Phillips tried a second time, grinning big enough that it was obvious to Ellie that he was enjoying this. There were no cars behind them in line, so she didn’t see the need to ruin his fun just because he was most likely annoying the kid trying to take their order.

  The voice came through the speaker again, sounding confused. “Does FBI stand for something specific?”

  Phillips banged his head on the steering wheel. “Tell me again why we risk our lives to keep all civilian citizens safe?”

  “Protect and serve,” Ellie repeated part of their oath and then added, “But you never promised to save them from their own stupidity.”

  “It stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Phillips barked out, somehow making his tone sound like an Army sergeant, even though he still had one of his trademark grins in place.

  Fortunately, an older and much wiser voice came through the speaker to respond, “Then you should know that to get the kind of drink you’re after, you should have come in and not harassed my staff. The only thing you’re getting through the drive-thru is a straight-up coffee.”

  “Then you’d better make one of them with one cream and a half sugar,” Phillips replied, giving her exact coffee order.

  “Why didn’t you say you had Ellie with you?” Joe blurted out. “Drive around and I’ll whip up something for you.”

  “You see, it’s all about knowing people,” Phillips said, as though his connections had eventually worked some kind of magic.

  “Apparently, it’s all about knowing me.”

  “You’re killing me here,” Phillips groaned, pretending to be hurt. “I watch over you and keep you from having to eat room temperature Jell-O, and you repay me by insulting my connections.”

  “You didn’t save me from eating Jell-O. You literally took it off my tray before I had a chance to get to it,” she reminded him.

  In a rare display of what appeared to be embarrassment, he admitted, “It was blue. That’s my favorite kind.” Then he sat up straighter and said, “And it was taking you forever to get through the murky water in a bowl.”

  “I was eating soup or something like that,” Ellie pointed out, realizing that despite the fact that he’d insulted her first meal at the hospital, he was right about her not getting to the sweet treat quickly. Part of her discharge requirements that afternoon included eating a meal, and since she didn’t wake up with much of an appetite, she most likely would not have completed it without his help.

  Before they could find a way to squeeze out any more conversation about her gelatin, the window opened, and Joe leaned out, holding two of his to-go cups. One was twice the size of the other, which Phillips had his eyes on. Ellie had to look away briefly when Joe shook his head and said, “That one is for Ellie.” Then he held out the much smaller cup and continued, “This is for you.”

  “That’s a kiddie cup!” Phillips said incredulously, but took the cup before even the little one could be taken away.

  Once she had her grin under control, she looked back at Joe and leaned slightly to get his attention. “Thank you for the coffee, and for…” She was about to say “saving my life,” but when she opened to mouth to make the words come out, she found her throat was thick with emotion and she couldn’t force herself to keep talking.

  “The coffee seems like the least I can do since you’ve been sentenced to keeping my cousin company,” Joe jumped in, saving her from the silence when she couldn’t keep speaking.

 
“He’s not so bad once you get to know him,” Ellie attempted to compliment the guy driving her home.

  “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that,” Joe teased. “The more I get to know him, the more I question why I let him know where I live.”

  She laughed at his insult. “Thanks for everything.” She couldn’t leave until she at least tried to express her gratitude to the man who’d saved her life.

  “Hey...” He got her attention focused on himself once more when she looked away. “I had to do something so my best customer didn’t take their business elsewhere.” When she smiled at his attempt to tease her, he added, “That should tide you over until you can come in on your own.”

  “Soon,” she promised, not capable of saying much more than that in the face of his kindness at the moment.

  “Get out of here before you start scaring off the clientele,” Joe told his cousin.

  Phillips managed to guide them to her apartment without seeming like he was hovering, even though he was carrying coffee, her bag from the hospital and the keys. How he’d come to possess her keys, she was uncertain, but the last two steps were tiring her out, so she didn’t have the energy to press the point.

  As soon as they stepped inside, Phillips dropped the bag next to the door and then did a quick walk through her apartment. It was strange to watch someone do a security sweep through her private space, but knew she’d relax a little better after it had been done.

  “I know what you said at Joe’s, but you don’t have to stay,” she told him when he came back into the living room.

  “It’s not up for debate,” he replied flatly.

  “I’m going to bed,” She still felt exhausted after spending nearly two days resting at the hospital. “I’m not going to leave the apartment until the morning, and I don’t need a guard while I sleep.”

  “What you need and what you’ve got are two different things,” he answered. “Let this one go.”