Rose Gardner 01 - Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes

by Swank, Denise Grover

  “Crocker,” one of the men said. “She’s right.”

  “You mean provin' he’s a real man?” the other laughed.

  Crocker leaned over and grabbed my hair in a tight grasp. I couldn’t help the yelp of pain I let out when he jerked me off the floor.

  “That hurt, bitch? ‘Cause I haven’t even started yet.” He pulled me toward the stairs. I looked toward Joe. He looked torn. I shot him a look that I hoped read don’t you dare.

  We stumbled up the stairs, and I was sure I would have a giant bald spot on the side of my head, not that I would care if I was dead. They could always put a hat on my head although I never looked good in hats.

  I was grateful the other two men hadn’t followed us. They stood watching the trucks being loaded, glancing up the stairs, and laughing. Joe had come out of his stupor and had begun moving toward the truck. I really needed him to not come upstairs.

  Crocker opened the door and shoved me into the office with such force I ran into a desk.

  “Where’s the flash drive?” He stood in the doorway and I had to admit, he was terrifying. It took everything in me to go through with this.

  “Why should I tell you? You’ll kill me anyway.” I leaned against the edge of the desk, facing him. My cheek throbbed and my throat still felt tight. My heart galloped fast enough to win the Kentucky Derby.

  “Damn straight I will, but I’ll make it hurt a hell of a lot more if you don’t tell me.”

  “Why don't you prove you’re a man first?” I taunted and put my shaking hands on my hips.

  He shut the door and slunk closer, stalking his prey. Crocker stopped a foot in front of me and grabbed the hair on the back of my head, his eyes glaring into mine. I still leaned against the edge of the desk, trying not to stand flush against him. If I did, he’d feel the gun in my waistband.

  “I like it rough, baby. Think you can handle that?” His breath smelled of onions again. I was beginning to believe Crocker brushed his teeth with them.

  “I like it rough, too. Why don’t you put that gun down and show me what kind of man you really are.”

  It was sick the way that excited him, but he slammed the gun down on the desk and pulled me up. I placed my hand between the gun in my waistband and his body. He kissed me, his technique not much better than the night before. It reminded me of a slobbery Saint Bernard.

  I had to get the gun out, and I couldn't do it smashed up against him. I shifted my butt back just a bit. Just enough to grab the gun.

  At that moment, Crocker pulled away and ripped my shirt open down the middle.

  Crappy doodles. I hadn’t planned on that.

  But the side of my shirt still covered the handle of the gun. I narrowed my eyes and lifted the corners of my mouth into a tiny grin. I hoped it looked like I couldn’t wait to see what he would do next, when really I couldn't wait to see what I was going to do next.

  Fear slunk around inside my head, bursting into my consciousness in spasms. He was going to find my gun any minute and when he did, I'd be dead.

  He grabbed my hair again. Apparently, he was a hair guy. He kissed me again. As I fought the urge to gag, I heard a commotion below and decided to use it to my advantage. My teeth clamped down on Crocker’s lower lip. I tasted his blood and gagged, releasing my hold. He shoved me away, furious. I pulled the gun out of my pants and pointed it at him.

  “I thought you liked it rough,” I said, hands shaking. He’d backed up when he shoved me away. He stood in front of the door, about three feet from me. Sounds of the apocalypse rose from below, but Crocker didn't seem to notice. He hunched over, his arms ready to pounce. His eyes bugged out and blood covered his lower lip. Daniel Crocker was the scariest predator I had ever faced.

  “You’re not gonna shoot me,” he sneered, moving a foot toward me.

  “Wanna bet?” I lowered the gun and shot into his leg, nearly dropping the gun from the shock of what I had just done.

  “Son of a bitch!” he screamed and lunged for me. I backed out of the way and he fell to the floor, grasping for my feet. He grabbed my legs, and pulled me down. I landed hard on my side. Crocker pulled himself along the length of my body, none too gently, reaching for the gun. I couldn't figure out how to keep it out of his reach and shoot him at the same time. I tossed it into the corner of the room.

  Crocker tried to get up to get it but I clawed his face. Falling on top of me, he reached back to punch me in the face when the door flung open.

  “I swear to God, Crocker, you hit her and I'll kill you.” Joe shouted from the doorway.

  We both turned to look, but Joe didn’t have a gun to back up his statement. Crocker turned back to hit me. Muffy bolted past Joe’s legs and jumped on Crocker, biting the arm he held up.

  Crocker rolled off me, batting at Muffy, who refused to let go and made wild snarling noises.

  Joe rushed over and pulled me up, then grabbed the gun off the desk. He pointed it toward Crocker.

  “Muffy, come here,” I said calmly, in spite of the shock of what just happened.

  Muffy stopped and came to sit beside me.

  “It’s over, Crocker,” Joe said.

  Crocker threw a floor lamp at Joe. Joe stumbled backward as Crocker rolled over onto his stomach. He reached for my gun and flipped over. “Not yet,” he grunted.

  I heard a gunshot and screamed.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I’d heard of time standing still, but until that moment, I always thought it was a figure of speech. When Crocker turned over with the gun, a million things happened at once, yet I was aware of every single one of them. Shouting and crashing downstairs. Crocker pointing the gun. Joe throwing me to the floor. Muffy rushing for Crocker’s arm. The sound of the gunshot. My scream. Even with all that knowledge in the moment, I didn’t know what I’d find on the other side.

  When I looked up, Joe still stood where I last saw him, so I took that as a good sign. Muffy was growling and Crocker shouted and cursed, the gun still in his hand, pointed to the ceiling. Another shot. I jumped up to my feet, trying to get out of the way of any stray bullets.

  Muffy had a death grip on Crocker’s arm, shaking as she snarled. Joe kept his gun pointed at the man rolling on the floor but couldn’t get a good shot with Muffy in the way. I looked on the desk for something to use as a weapon and found a crystal geode bookend. I picked it up, surprised to find it so heavy.

  Crocker tried to shake Muffy off but when that didn’t work he started hitting her with his free hand. Muffy held on.

  Seeing him hit Muffy pissed me off. And once I let that feeling wash through my head, fury followed right behind it. How dare he hit my dog? And tear up my house, not to mention my new blouse? Who did he think he was, beating people up and killing them? He’d messed with the wrong woman.

  “Get your grimy hands off my dog!” I flung the rock at Crocker’s head.

  The geode hit him square in the temple, and his arms crumpled into a heap on his chest, the gun tumbling to the floor with a clatter. Joe ran over and picked up the gun as Muffy hopped off Crocker’s body. Joe turned to me, disbelief on his face and just a hint of anger.

  “He was messin’ with my dog,” I said in my defense.

  Joe rolled Crocker onto his stomach and pulled his hands behind his back.

  “Did I kill him?” I asked, scared I’d broken another of the Ten Commandments. I was really on a roll.

  “No, but he’ll have one hell of headache when he wakes up.” Joe jerked the electrical cord of a floor lamp out of the wall. He pulled a pocketknife out of his pocket and cut the cord from the base, then wrapped it around Crocker’s wrists.

  He walked over to me and tugged me into his arms. I let myself relax into his chest. “Is it over?” I asked.

  “Yeah, it’s over.” He sighed with relief, blowing hairs on top of my head.

  We clung to each other for a minute, thankful we could, then Joe grabbed my arms and pulled me away to face him, anger burning in his eyes.

&nb
sp; “What the hell did you think you were doin’ comin’ here? You could have gotten yourself killed!”

  “I was savin’ you, thank you very much!”

  “I told you to stay in the house. I gave you a direct order.” He gritted his teeth, making his words muffled.

  “You are not the boss of me, Joe McAllister! And besides, Muffy came back and was whinin’ and barkin’ at the back of my house. I couldn’t just leave her out there!”

  “I told you to stay in the house!”

  “If I had, they would have found me! Right after I got to Muffy, four men showed up and busted into your house lookin’ for me and found my shoes. So there!”

  That caught him by surprise.

  “Then I went to get another pair of shoes out of my house and found it trashed by them again…”

  “Again?” His voice rose. “There was a first time I didn’t know about?”

  I ignored his question. “Well, it just pissed me off, havin’ to get another cleanin’ crew to come and clean up his mess again.”

  “So what? You came here to make him write you a check?”

  “No, I came here to save you.”

  “I didn’t need you savin' me.”

  “Yeah, I could see that, what with the gun pointed to your head and all.”

  His face softened and reached his hand up to touch my bruised cheek. “I almost lost it when he hit you.”

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t. It would have ruined everything.”

  “What? You had a plan?”

  “No, I just kind of winged it.”

  “Why in God’s name did you taunt him into bringin’ you up here? When I heard that gunshot, I almost had a heart attack. I had to push my way through the DEA agents that showed up to bust the place. I nearly got myself shot tryin’ to get up here to you.”

  “I had a gun. The gun you hid in my shed. I thought if I got Crocker alone, I could keep him from you until what you needed to happen, happened.”

  “So you knew how to turn off the safety?”

  “Safety?”

  Joe’s eyes got as big as the pancakes they serve at The Waffle House.

  I shrugged. “I figured out it was loaded, not an easy task, and I stuck it in the waistband of my jeans. And then when all the noise started happenin’ downstairs, I bit him on the lip.”

  I could have sworn Joe’s face paled and then reddened.

  “You realize there were so many problems with that plan that you are lucky to be standin’ here.”

  “It was all I had.”

  “No,” he growled. “You could have stayed away.”

  I groaned in frustration. “That again? I had to do it, Joe. Could you have sat at home, watchin’ a show about prairie dogs, knowin’ I was probably gonna be killed?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Yeah, you proved that you couldn’t last night. Why is what I did any different?”

  “Because I’m a cop!” he shouted. “That’s what I’ve been trained to do!”

  I stepped backward in disbelief. “What?”

  “I was undercover, investigatin’ this mess. I’m with the state police.”

  “So you’re not a criminal?” I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or angry. I let myself have both. “You lied to me?”

  “Yes, no.” Joe shook his head, looking frustrated.

  “You really were just usin’ me?”

  He didn’t answer right away and I had all the answers I needed. I headed for the open door.

  Joe stepped in front of me. “Rose! Wait! I was investigatin’ Crocker’s stolen-parts ring. I was a mechanic and worked on the delivery trucks that came in for their bogus maintenance runs. Instead, they were leavin’ with stolen parts and the pot Crocker grew in his warehouse. I wasn't even involved in the drug traffickin’ part until Sloan got into trouble with Crocker over the missin’ flash drive.”

  “And me.” I reminded him, my voice cold. “Until you thought I had the flash drive. You really wanted it for the police, but it got you into Crocker’s good graces.”

  The look on his face confirmed it. I tried to step around him again.

  “So what’s on this precious flash drive everyone wants? It must be somethin’ special to kill people and waste time foolin’ stupid me.” I glared up at him.

  “Rose, I swear it wasn’t like that!”

  “You just saved me last night because it was gonna look bad that an innocent taxpayin’ citizen got killed by mistake.”

  His face hardened. “You’re wrong there. They offered you immunity up until Saturday afternoon, the phone call I got after lunch. Then they said they wanted you to go through with meetin’ Crocker. They were worried if you didn't show, the big meetin’ today wouldn’t happen.”

  My heart dropped into my toes. “I see,” I said, letting it sink in. “So how did you save me then? Why?”

  “By disobeying direct orders. When my superiors find out what I did, I’m liable to lose my job. But I wouldn’t have been able to live with the guilt.”

  “Am I supposed to feel grateful or sorry for that?” I shouted, about to burst into tears. “I saved you because I care about you Joe McAllister! Not because I felt guilty! Okay, a little because I felt guilty, since I thought you were gonna die because of me. But I saved you because I couldn’t bear for somethin’ to happen to you. I like you. Or I thought I did.” I stepped to my left to get around him.

  Joe moved in front of me again. “Rose, that came out wrong, that’s not what I meant!”

  “You were gonna arrest me, weren’t you?”

  He didn’t answer, guilt in his eyes.

  “Get out of my way, Joe McAllister.”

  Hilary stood in the doorway. “Joe, we need you downstairs.”

  I stared at her, then back at Joe. “So is she your girlfriend or not?”

  “Was. What I told you the night we ate Chinese was true.”

  I studied the man I thought I knew, my heart shattering into pieces. “Thanks for tellin’ me the truth about somethin’.” I walked around him and Hilary backed out of the doorway onto the stairs.

  “Rose! Wait!” Joe shouted, running after me.

  Hilary blocked his path. “She just needs some time to think this through and you have work to do.”

  I walked down the stairs, realizing my shirt still hung open, my black bra hanging out for the world to see. Even though it seemed the least of my worries, I grabbed the torn edges with my hand to hold it shut.

  “Rose, you can’t leave yet,” Hilary called out. “We still need a statement from you.”

  “I don’t care. I’m goin’ home. You know where to find me.” I walked through the handcuffed men and DEA agents in bulletproof vests, then headed for the wide open doors in the center. Muffy appeared next to me.

  “Come on, Muffy. Let’s go home.”

  I parked Mildred’s car in her driveway, like nothing had ever happened. I would have filled up the gas tank, but I didn't have any money. Heavens knew where my purse was.

  As soon as I got in the house, I called Violet at Aunt Bessie’s. I assured her I was fine and that it was all over. When she asked about Joe, I told her he was fine, too. I didn’t feel like explaining anything else. Turned out he'd told her the night before that he was with the state police. I guessed I was the last to know.

  I took a long shower, my body aching from all the beating it had received. I was thankful I didn’t have to worry about someone coming in and surprising me. I also felt a sense of relief, knowing that Muffy stood guard next to the tub if they did. I’d never doubt her guard-dog capabilities again.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting through my house, the events of the last couple weeks playing in my mind, exhausted but too riled up to sleep. Around seven, I heard the whine of a small motor in the kitchen.

  The side door stood partially open and Joe had a drill, removing my locks.

  “What are you doin’?” I asked, irritated at the little skip in my heart at the sight
of him. I stopped in front of the opening.

  He stood up and reached out his right hand to me, wanting to shake my hand.

  I tilted my head and looked at him like he’d just escaped from the funny farm.

  “I’m Joe.” He shook my hand and gave me a hesitant smile. “I’m your next door neighbor. I saw you had some broken locks and thought I’d do the neighborly thing and fix ‘em for you.”

  “You don’t have to…”

  He picked up the drill again, working on the screws. “I’m a mechanic. And a cop, although I’m not sure I’ll be one for much longer. I grew up in El Dorado. My parents still live there. My little sister lives in Little Rock.” He looked up, his eyes pleading with me to listen. “That’s where I live, too, in Little Rock. I have an apartment there.”

  “Joe.”

  He put the drill down, stood up and took my hand in his. “Here’s the thing. I met this girl, this beautiful woman who’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She’s funny, and brave and has packed more into her life in the last few weeks than most people do in their entire lives.”

  My eyes started to burn.

  “I find myself thinking about her all the time. But I hurt her. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I’d do anything to take back the pain I caused, but I don’t think she’ll listen to me. So the only thing I know to do is start over, then maybe she’ll give me another chance.” When I didn’t say anything, he pulled me into his arms, looking into my eyes for a sign that I forgave him. “Do you think there’s any way she can give me another chance?”

  I’d wrestled with myself all afternoon. I knew Joe was doing his job, that it wasn’t personal. I had to look past my own feelings and look at the bigger picture. But how did I know what was real and what wasn’t, especially in regard to his feelings for me.

  I cleared my throat, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed. “This woman, perhaps she doesn't know what to believe. Maybe she forgives you for doing your job but feels like everything else was a lie.”

  The soft pitter-patter of raindrops beginning to hit the leaves and the cars caught me by surprise. The dark clouds that had shrouded the sky all day finally let loose.