by Debra Kayn
"Was she limping?" he asked.
"No." Ingrid laughed grabbing one of Jewel's other legs and lifting her paw up. "She's got white fur on the bottom of her right, front paw. Can you believe it?"
He ran his hand over his jaw. Cats weren't high on his list of things he needed in his life and far as he knew, cats came in all combinations of colors.
He chuckled. "I'm not sure that makes her special, Blue."
"It makes her very special. I keep that afghan with me because my grandma made it for me on my tenth birthday and my cat always used to sleep on it." She picked up Jewel. "This is my cat. This is Daisy. M-my mom said Daisy ran away while I was living on the streets, like a year and a half ago. Glen, you found my cat."
He shook his head in wonder. More like Daisy found him, just like her owner.
Chapter 33
Ingrid put her foot on the pedal of the assembled Trek bicycle and swung her leg over the seat. Her legs weren't long enough for her to sit on the seat, and she looked down at Pauly on the stool. As soon as they finished testing out the gears, she could break for lunch and call her mom to check in.
To improve security at the store, Pauly decided they'd hang the open sign but require customers to knock. That way nobody could stroll in and surprise them. The change was an inconvenience, but she had to admit it made her feel more relaxed and not so on edge.
"Okay, go ahead." Pauly held the gear oil.
She leaned right, then left, until the pedals naturally turned and she could keep the momentum going with the toes of her sneakers. The other change was Pauly now picked her up before Glen left for work and brought her to the shop with him early. In return, her wonderful and accommodating boss was going to let her leave at four o'clock when Glen got off work instead of five, which was her normal time. That way they could ride back to Glen's house together.
"Again," said Pauly.
She continued pedaling and shifted to second gear. "You know how I told you about how Glen found my cat that ran away when I was gone?"
"Uh huh." Pauly picked up a grease gun. "Put it into third."
She pushed her thumb against the shifter. "It's like fate, don't you think?"
"If you believe in such a thing." Pauly patted her leg. "Go faster and shift with each turn."
She stood on the pedals and leaned forward. The clicks between gears quieted and became smoother until she reached the twenty- seventh gear.
"Okay, you can stop." Pauly straightened from his stool. "This bike is ready to go."
She climbed off the bicycle. "Why don't you believe in fate?"
He wiped his hands off on a rag. "To do so would be taking credit away from where it's due. Everything happens because of the actions of people."
She smiled, liking the sentiment. Glen deserved recognition for helping a stray cat. He also deserved all the credit for changing her life for the better and keeping her and her parents' safe.
As of her meeting with Stewart, Notus Motorcycle Club backed away from Evan's dad. Stewart was informed about his son. That's all that mattered. It was out of her hands. She had no time to dwell on the fact that Stewart's opinion of her had changed since she'd lived there.
A knock came from the front of the building. Pauly looked across the shop floor and said, "That's the twins, go ahead and let them in."
She hurried to unlock the door. Self-conscious, knowing the sisters she'd met once before knew her situation, her face warmed as she let them in.
The first sister through the door held up two white paper sacks. "We've brought lunch for both of you."
"Really?" She closed the door behind them and turned the lock. "Why?"
"Wayne mentioned you were staying with Glen again and knowing he usually buys his lunch out of the food truck at work instead of taking food from home, we thought we'd better bring you something to eat because he probably doesn't have anything you can bring with you in his fridge. Plus, we wanted to see how you were doing." The sister on the right handed over the bags. "I'm Clara in case you're wondering."
Ingrid looked at both of them. Clara had a Vavoom's Tee on. Gracie had her hair braided. She turned to Gracie, who hadn't spoken yet. "Thank you."
Gracie smiled. "Do you want company while you eat? We need to waste an hour before we're due to have our hair trimmed."
"Sure." She turned and led them to the back counter, putting one of the bags in front of Pauly. "Lunch is on Vavoom's today."
"Wonderful business neighbors." Pauly stood from the stool. "I'm going to leave you ladies to your gabbing, and eat by the front windows and enjoy the sunshine."
Ingrid waited until the twins sat on the stools and then stepped to the end of the counter and opened the bag to find a big deli sandwich. "I feel bad for eating in front of you. Do you want to split the sandwich?"
Clara glanced at her sister. "No, we already ate."
Ingrid caught Gracie's frown she shared with her sister. She bit her lip. It was considered rude on the streets not to offer food that was found or stolen. Normally, she never ate during her lunch break, but it seemed lately the more she ate—because it was available—the hungrier she became.
"This was really nice of you guys." Ingrid took a bite and needing to change the subject away from her, she swallowed and said, "I know Clara is with Wayne. Are you with Thad or Chuck, Gracie?"
Gracie laughed softly. "In their dreams. Or, at least Chuck's. I think I've seen him with every single woman in St. John's between the age of thirty and fifty. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn I'm on his list of women to hit before he dies of old age."
Ingrid's face warmed at the mention of the ages of the women Chuck was interested in. She remembered Glen saying all the Notus members were the same age.
She studied the twins. They were older than her, owned a business, but going by their hairstyles and their clothes, they still dressed in a style she'd wear herself.
"Ask away." Clara leaned forward. "I can tell you're curious about us and how we fit in with Notus. Glen sort of threw you at us a couple of weeks ago. You caught us by surprise."
Ingrid finished chewing. "Glen doesn't say much about the club, except how they help find missing persons. I know he's close to the other members. But, what's he like when he's not working?"
Gracie said, "You're staying with him—"
"Right. But, the reality is he's still working when he's with me because of the situation with...my ex-boyfriend. I want to know what he does when he's not helping me or searching for other people." She took another bite of the sandwich. "Do you all hang out or does the club go for rides?"
Clara picked up a bike seat off the counter and pushed her thumbs into the cushion. "That one is easy to answer. They hang out at our house. Wayne's garage is the place where they all go to spend their free time. Sometimes it's to talk about cases and other times, they enjoy tipping back drinks, listening to music, and..."
Gracie and Clara shared a look and said in unison, "Letting Chuck's women entertain them."
Ingrid laughed. "Okay, I get it. Chuck's the player of the group."
She consumed a few more bites of the sandwich. The new information wasn't surprising. Chuck was a good looking, almost egotistical man that was high in the confidence department. He'd have no problem hooking up with women. Though, she couldn't picture Glen being the partying type. She'd only seen the serious side of him.
"Thad doesn't have a girlfriend?" she asked.
Clara shook her head. "No, he doesn't which always surprises me."
"Oh?" Heidi took one more bite of sandwich.
"He's too busy, always helping everyone. I think if he wasn't a Notus member, we'd never see him." Gracie crossed her legs and swiveled on the stool. "For a loner, he hangs around a lot of people."
"So, what about Glen? Does he usually have a girlfriend or party hard?" She wiped her mouth off on the paper napkin and wrapped half of her sandwich back up and put it in the bag.
The twins hadn't answered her by the time she br
ushed off her hands. She lifted her gaze and found them studying her, both their heads cocked to the left side. "What?"
"You've fallen in love with him," said Gracie.
Clara nodded. "We were wondering how you felt."
"We've never seen him so possessive of someone before," added Gracie.
"With everything happening and Glen blowing up at the guys for no reason, it wasn't hard to see he felt protective toward you." Clara lowered her voice. "I told Wayne that Glen had more on his mind than club business."
The food in her stomach no longer comforted her as her head swam from looking back and forth at the twins as they peppered her with information. "Am I keeping Glen from doing something else for the club?"
"No." Clara reached over and squeezed Ingrid's arm. "It's not you. What the club has going on will work itself out. I'm just putting two and two together. The guys don't talk much."
Gracie nudged her sister with her elbow. "You should come over to Wayne and Clara's house this weekend. Everyone will be there."
"Oh, I don't know." She looked out at Pauly sitting by the front window eating his lunch. "I’m not sure what will be going on or if Glen will want me there."
"If he plans on coming over, tell him we invited you." Clara slid off the stool. "We can throw some burgers on the barbecue."
Ingrid nodded, not wanting to promise anything. "I'll see."
With the situation with Evan, she wasn't sure Glen would want her somewhere else besides home and work.
"We better go." Gracie checked her phone. "Our appointment is in Portland. We'll make it with five minutes to spare if we leave now."
Clara raised her brows. "Think about the invite. Whatever happens, I'm sure we'll see you later anyway."
"That'd be nice." She smiled. "Thanks again for lunch."
Pauly stood to unlock the door and let the twins out. Ingrid turned around to put the last of her sandwich in the refrigerator in the back room, and Pauly called her name. Turning around, she said, "Yes?"
"Call 911." Pauly pushed Clara and Gracie farther back in the room. "One of you, get me the bat underneath the counter where the cash register is."
"Pauly?" Ingrid held on to the counter. "Is it Evan?"
"Yep." He took the bat from Gracie. "He went by once, and I wasn't able to get the license plate number. He came around again, and it matches the information Glen gave me. Now, dial that phone."
"I'll call." Clara lifted the receiver on the landline.
Ingrid stared out the glass windows running along the front of the shop. Her muscles seized. The twins and Pauly were here. Evan never attacked her when others were around. Afraid he was growing desperate, she worried about the others getting hurt.
Gracie stood beside Ingrid and put her arm around her. "We won't let anything happen to you."
She nodded. It was no longer about her staying safe. She was responsible for disrupting and risking the lives of everyone who came into contact with her. Clara and Gracie were only bringing her lunch. Pauly was only running his shop. She'd underestimated Evan. He no longer hid his desire to hurt her from anyone around.
"The police won't do anything," she whispered to herself. "Evan hasn't broken the law."
"That doesn't matter." Gracie firm voice caught her attention. "It's their duty to respond to a 911 call. Let them do their job."
"They don't believe me." Anger bubbled inside of her, realizing that Stewart's law enforcement brothers would trust his opinion regarding his son and not the facts she'd handed to them. They wouldn't believe she was in danger or Evan was capable of hurting others.
No one had proof of what she'd lived through. They could only go on her word. Pretty soon, everyone would think she was crying wolf and Evan would be ready. He'd find his opportunity to make her pay.
Chapter 34
"Maybe I should leave. Go stand out on the corner of Lombard and Ida Street in plain view. Evan would be able to find me, and when he does, I'll let him hurt me. At least the cops can do something about him if they can see the bruises on me." Ingrid groaned in frustration. "This is getting ridiculous. I feel like nobody believes me."
Ingrid whirled around and stormed out of Glen's living room into the kitchen out of view of him and the rest of the Notus Motorcycle Club members. Glen stepped forward to follow her and Wayne grabbed his arm.
"Give her a second. We're not going to let her leave the house." Wayne let go of him. "She needs to let out her anger. It's the only way she'll have a level head if something does happen."
Glen thrust his hands into his pockets, searching for sunflower seeds, and found his pockets empty. He'd gone through the seeds like a crack addict goes through spoons while dealing with the police after work and their lack of concern over the 911 call at Pauly's Peddlers.
"Something has got to give. She can't take any more of the fucking cat and mouse games Kingsley plays with her." Glen rubbed his hands over his face.
"Has Gomez said anything, to anyone, off the record?" Chuck tucked his hands under his armpits.
"Not to me," said Thad.
Wayne shook his head.
Glen stepped back and glanced in the kitchen, unable to see the far wall and Ingrid. "I haven't seen Gomez since the meeting between Officer Kingsley and Ingrid, which should never have happened in the first place."
He hated having her out of his sight. Her fear of Kingsley still outweighed her trust in him. Her fight or flight response leaned heavily to running because living on the streets worked for her before when she feared for her life and those she loved. He'd witnessed her frustration over Evan's hanging around Pauly's and her parents, and Ingrid's main concern went toward everyone else, and not herself.
Her unselfish personality would be her downfall if he couldn't settle her down and have her accept help. She was always the strong one, having to grow up too fast because of her dad's accident. She'd never had time to learn that she's not alone and not responsible for other people.
"I want to end this," said Glen.
Thad blew out his cheeks and stood from the couch. "We've never crossed that line of becoming the police, judge, and jury before a crime has happened before."
"But, a crime did happen," muttered Glen. He believed Ingrid. There was no doubt about her past.
"Shut it down. Don't continue talking." Wayne walked outside.
Glen stepped over to the entrance of the kitchen and stood. Ingrid faced the window with her back to him. Her hands gripped the edge of the sink, turning her knuckles white. He'd never crossed the line of outright murder, but he's killed many guilty men when the courts failed to prosecute them. The police knew they were guilty. The residents knew they were guilty. Notus Motorcycle Club took care of the rapists and killers who walked away without paying for their crimes and never spoke a word of taking justice into their own hands.
"Ingrid?" he said.
She remained looking out into his backyard. "Daisy likes it here."
Daisy? He exhaled in understanding. The damn cat, aka Jewel but now called Daisy. Ingrid wasn't the only one who had picked a different name.
"I think she's discovered that space and being outside on her own has its benefits, rather than when I kept her inside as a house-cat." Ingrid's reflection in the window never changed.
Glen stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Her body remained tense, and he kissed the top of her head, rubbing his lips against the inch-long hair. She wasn't talking about the cat. He'd caught her reflecting on her own life.
He guessed her frustrations tonight came from feeling cornered. Like it or not, she wasn't going to go out on her own.
"You're mine," he said. "We'll figure this out together, and I promise you, there will be a time, soon, that you won't have to worry about Evan Kingsley."
She turned in his arms and looked up at him. "It's too much."
"What's too much?"
She sighed. "Asking you to protect my parents and me. You, the rest of the members, and Pauly. Even Mr.
Hanley. This isn't your job to take care of me."
"Bullshit," he muttered. "The way I see it, it's about time someone took care of you. You might not understand what's happening between us, and that's okay for now. I understand if you don't, but Blue, you're mine. That means I'm going to take care of you whether you like it or not."
She raised up on her tiptoes. "I need you to kiss me," she whispered.
That he could do.
He captured her lips, sapping her need for contact, and refilling her confidence to trust him. When he finally pulled back, her body had relaxed. He took her slight weight and held her.
Then, she kissed him back. He smiled against her lips. The back and forth was about them. No one else.
"Glen," called Wayne from the other room.
He straightened, kissed Ingrid's forehead, and grabbed her hand. "Come back out to the living room with me."
She squeezed his fingers and walked with him. He led her to the chair and stood beside her, never letting her go.
"I called Lieutenant Gomez." Wayne sat on the arm of the couch. "He's assured me that Officer Kingsley hasn't pushed his opinion on the others or asked for any favors regarding his son."
"Well, Gomez is one of them." Chuck clipped the extension on the front of his vest. "If we put all our trust in what he says, we'll be blindsided. Ingrid's situation isn't the typical missing person case. We're not trying to beat the clock and find a kidnapper or killer. We're also not working with law enforcement. The facts are St. John's P.D. would never have called us in if Ingrid had walked into the station and filed a non-conforming report that had no way to prosecute anyone. What we have is a private hire. Gomez doesn't owe us anything, and frankly, he won't give us any information."
From the beginning, Glen wanted to go after Evan Kingsley. He never wavered from his stance. "We can vote again if everyone has changed their mind, but I'm standing with my original plan."
Ingrid brought his hand to her stomach and turned toward him. "Your plan?"
"Nothing for you to worry about." He looked at his Notus brothers. "Meet before work?"