by Lee Rose
“I’ll make the time, baby.” He laughed happily, getting up with her still in his arms and heading for the bedroom.
Chapter 13
Ethan and Harrison picked up Jason Wells and his partner, John Simmons, from the St. Louis airport. Jason was a tall husky man in his late thirties with short brown hair. His partner was shorter with blond hair in a military haircut and a quiet demeanor.
“Couldn’t you dress more casually, Wells? You’ve got law enforcement agent written all over you.” Harrison riled his old friend and coworker, looking over his standard dark suit and duffel bag and shiny dress shoes.”
Jason laughed. “Yeah, once I get to this town of yours I’ll make sure I fit in. I have a fisherman’s outfit complete with a hat. This is my partner John,” he said, introducing the shorter, more quiet man walking beside him who just nodded at the men.
Harrison shook his hand and introduced Ethan. On the drive to Appledale they discussed Cantrell and the others.
“I’ve wanted Cantrell for a long time, Harrison,” Jason informed them. “He is bad news and needs to be off the streets. He is a hot item in Chicago right now with every law enforcement agency looking for him. That’s probably why he is out here hoping to go unnoticed for a while. We heard rumors he was trying to slowly move his drug operation south.”
Harrison agreed. “You’ll be staying where I’m at, the Golden House. Ethan’s aunt owns the place and it’s pretty quiet. You can tell us how we can gather evidence against him and his cohorts that will stick.” He updated them on what had been going on starting with Karissa and Toby and ending with the observations they had already made. “So far all we have done is surveillance work because we didn’t want to spook them off.”
Ethan’s aunt welcomed the two agents and set them up away from the other guests she had. Usually people never stayed more than a day or two anyways as they passed through or went fishing for a weekend.
By the time Harrison took them to the station for a meeting that afternoon, the two agents did indeed look like vacationers dressed casually in jeans and T-shirts, blending in.
* * * *
Over the next few days Karissa was going stir crazy with boredom. She was used to being on the go and working. It didn’t take long to clean Gabe’s small cottage and cook dinner each day. Yesterday Gabe had dropped her off at Casey’s and she babysat her nephew so Casey and Roy could get out of the house for a little while. After Gabe’s shift he had gone to her sister’s house to help her babysit. She watched him talk to Jonathon as he walked up and down the living room and her heart melted. After they got married she hoped they had children right away. She understood Liz’s comment about the clock ticking. She was going to be thirty in a few months and she didn’t want to wait to be a mom. Later that night at home she had brought the subject up to Gabe and he wholeheartedly agreed and suggested they practice and Karissa agreed with that idea.
“Just so we get it right.” He had grinned as he’d taken off his clothes in a hurry, scattering them all over the bedroom.
But now she was bored and Gabe was working late again. He hadn’t told her a lot of details but she knew they were quietly gathering evidence against Cantrell and his men and wanted to catch him red-handed to make sure he didn’t get away this time. Kelly, one of the waitresses, said that two of the men had been at Thorn’s drinking last night and Karissa was so glad she hadn’t been there. They had gotten drunk and harassed one of the waitresses and Rex threw them out.
Then she thought of the diner. Surely there would be no harm in hanging out there with Lacy, Stella, and Ryan’s mother Ally. Lacy had just been complaining over the phone that Ryan or Logan were becoming regular features at the diner, refusing to let her be alone for too long. She said even Harrison’s DEA friends had become regular customers.
She picked up the phone and set it up with Lacy first. Lacy was excited to hang out with Karissa so then she called Gabe at the station hoping he’d say it was okay.
“Okay, sweetheart. I’m going on lunch. I’ll pick you up and take you to Lacy as long as you promise to not wander off anywhere,” he said sternly.
Karissa rolled her eyes even though he couldn’t see it. “I’m a big girl, Gabe, but yes I promise I won’t go wandering off all by myself.”
They walked into Ally’s diner and Stella and Lacy hugged her as if it had been years since they had seen her and pulled her off to sit at the counter leaving Gabe alone to have lunch with Ryan and Ethan.
Ryan looked at him with sympathy. “Don’t worry, I got my mom and Lacy lecturing me about how I don’t need to be in here every five minutes. Even Henry, my mom’s cook, told me he knew how to pick up the rifle my mom has hidden back there and show those young scoundrels a thing or two.”
Ethan nodded and laughed. “Liz got so fed up with my hanging out at the store with her she finally stomped her tiny little foot and said, ‘Unless you have proof these guys are cross-dressers get out of my store now.’ I suggested she go see her parents in Chicago but she refused, damn stubborn woman.”
Gabe chuckled and shook his head. “Jason and Harrison said they think we’re pretty close to wrapping this case up. They have enough evidence to make an arrest and hopefully catch them in the middle of the switch. I want life to get back to normal so I can plan a wedding.”
Lacy heard his comment. There weren’t too many people in the diner at this hour since the lunch rush hadn’t started yet. “No worries, Gabe. We got this wedding planning taken care of,” she yelled across the room. The few customers there started clapping and yelling out their congratulations. Everyone felt tense with the drug smuggling ring and some good news was what people needed to hear.
“Karissa wants a simple wedding, so that’s easy to plan.” Stella smiled happily. “You men go off and take care of these bad guys so we can get this show on the road.”
The women customers in the diner laughed and offered to help in any way possible, offering up many ideas to Karissa.
“I’m on the board committee that handles the events held at the community hall,” Mrs. Johnson, one of Lacy’s favorite customers offered. She took her bill up to Lacy and smiled at Karissa. “You give me a date and I’ll make sure it’s reserved for you, sweetie. I remember you and your sister Casey. You’ve become a beautiful young lady and that rascal better keep you happy or else he’ll answer to me.”
Gabe walked up behind Mrs. Johnson and kissed her wrinkled cheek. “You better believe I’ll make her happy, Mrs. Johnson, she’s my treasure. Thank you for that offer of the hall. As soon as we have a date I will call you. Now let me walk you home so we can talk some more, it’s been too long since you’ve had lunch with me. I think you’re ignoring me.”
Mrs. Johnson laughed. “You are such a charmer, Gabriel Wilson, and I would love to have an escort home. What is the world coming to these days?”
Karissa loved that Gabe was so kindhearted to those around him. She kissed Gabe’s cheek good-bye and hugged Mrs. Johnson and told her thank you.
Lacy watched them leave as Gabe was telling Mrs. Johnson to keep her doors locked. “I’m so glad she sold that huge house she lived in and moved to town. It took me forever to convince her. I worry about her falling and being so far out of town, especially in the winter.”
“Mr. Johnson passed away years back and she was driving here every day so she wouldn’t have to eat alone.” Stella gave Karissa the updated news. “The house was so big and so far from town.”
Lacy nodded. “I was so worried for her safety. She is so sweet but her health isn’t the best these days. I helped her put the house on the market and she picked a little house a few blocks from here and now she can walk or drive here. And it’s easier for me drop off her groceries for her and check up on her. We have tea every Monday and Thursday. She is like a grandmother to me. I tried to convince her to stay with us for now but she wouldn’t hear of it.”
Karissa loved the feeling of a small town compared to the anonymous life you could
live in a big city. People cared for one another and helped those in need, pulling together in times of trouble. She had missed this feeling of belonging to a community and she would be proud to raise her family here in Appledale.
Ryan and Ethan finished their meal and lectured the girls on being careful and alert at all times.
“If you see them coming, go in the kitchen, Karissa, and you call me right away, Lacy,” Ryan ordered in his stern sheriff’s voice, then kissed his wife lovingly on her lips. “I love you, Lacy.”
“I love you, Ryan, and I will be careful, I promise, babe. I have no desire to deal with these guys any more than I have to. The lunch rush is about to start and it will be packed full of people. We’ll be okay.” Lacy comforted him. “You are the one that needs to be careful.”
“Is Liz coming by today?” Stella asked Ethan.
Ethan shook his head letting his concern show. “She was sick again last night and this morning so she went out to Golden House where Aunt Mary is pampering her. She’ll make sure Liz does nothing but rest today while Amy runs the store. She also hired a new girl that Amy is training.”
“Don’t worry, Ethan, the morning sickness will pass soon. I know it’s awful. After work Lily and I will go cheer her up,” Stella offered, patting his arm in a comforting gesture.
Ethan smiled, feeling better. “She would love that, Stella. She really wanted to be here with you girls today but she looked so pale and tired. I almost rushed her over to Doc’s but she wouldn’t go.”
Stella laughed at his serious statement and shook her head with amusement. “I’ll take her some of Henry’s homemade chicken soup and make sure she eats. Don’t worry, Ethan, Liz will be just fine. These are normal symptoms of pregnancy.”
“So she keeps telling me,” Ethan said in a voice that didn’t hold much confidence in that statement.
As soon as Ryan and Ethan left, people started rushing in for the lunch hour. Karissa tried to help out as much as possible. She was used to serving people and didn’t want to sit on her butt all afternoon, so she took drinks out to the tables and took orders.
Later that afternoon when the rush was over, the three girls sat down and let out a deep breath of relief.
“That was crazy. You do this every day?” Karissa laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. “It doesn’t get this crazy at the bar. I’m pooped.”
Ally came out of the kitchen with some turkey club sandwiches and fries for all of them. “You girls deserve this. We were swamped today.”
They all sat at a table and ate and chatted about the wedding for a while, throwing around ideas. Karissa was excited and nervous something would go wrong, too. She knew it was silly to feel that way, she trusted Gabe, but nothing in her life had ever been easy.
“We just have to give Gabe’s mom time to fly home. Casey is my only family,” Karissa stated.
Lacy shook her head. “No, now you have all of us, Karissa. We are a family and we stick together.”
“That’s right, girlfriend. And we’ll have this wedding all planned out before you can blink. We’ll let Liz handle the dresses though because Lacy will pick out jeans for everyone,” Stella said, teasing Lacy.
“Hey, come on, jeans are like the staple of fashion. What can’t you do in jeans? They’re comfortable and they look good on you,” Lacy answered with an innocent smile, trying to hold in her laughter.
“Well it’s my time for me to clock out, but call me later, Rissa.” Stella said her good-byes and clocked out to go and visit Liz. “I’ll talk to Liz about dress ideas and call you later.”
“Give Liz our love, Stella,” Lacy said, waving as Stella left the diner. Ally got back to the kitchen to start the cleanup process with Henry, leaving Karissa and Lacy alone with a few customers still lingering over their lunches.
Karissa cleaned off the dishes and took them into the kitchen. She turned to go back into the dining area when she stopped in her tracks, her heart jumping in fright. She saw one of the men that had chased her and Toby that night walking in with another man she didn’t recognize. It wasn’t the same one he had been with before. She slowly backed into the kitchen and alerted Ally. Henry immediately picked up the phone and called the station, alerting Ryan and the others.
Karissa looked over to Ally with a worried look. “What should we do, Ally? Should I sneak out the back? I don’t want to bring trouble here for you.”
“No. He might spot you walking down the street. Henry called it in,” Ally said, hugging a pale-looking Karissa. “Don’t you worry, kiddo. The cavalry will be here before you can blink.”
They watched as Lacy waited on the man as if she had no idea who he was. Karissa reminded herself to commend her on her acting skills later. If that was her she would have already dropped the dishes from nervousness. Lacy walked over to the window and placed the order ticket, winked at Karissa, and silently mouthed, “Don’t worry.”
Lacy continued to clean the empty tables. Karissa watched worriedly from the kitchen and noticed that two of the men customers were not leaving the restaurant. She knew one of them, Steve Dillon, was in Ethan’s self-defense class. He was young and strong looking and sat with his buddy watching Lacy carefully. She breathed a sigh of relief that they were keeping an eye on Lacy. If something happened to Lacy she’d never forgive herself. Lacy had been through enough violence for one lifetime.
After they were done eating one of the men grabbed Lacy’s wrists as she walked by the table to clear their plates.
“You sure are sexy, sugar. Wanna go have a drink with me and my brother,” he leered, looking at her breasts.
Lacy gave the man a dirty look and yanked at her wrist, but he wouldn’t let go of her. “I’m a married woman, sir. Now get your hands off of me!”
“Or what?” The man laughed. The other man winked at Lacy, laughing at his buddy’s antics. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, we’ll make sure you have fun too,” he added.
Steve got up from his table. “You’ve got two seconds to let her go or I’ll break your arm and make you.” Steve wasn’t as muscular as Ethan or Gabe. He had a slender build that fooled people into thinking he wasn’t strong, but Lacy knew he was one kick-ass fighter and felt relieved. She was still in the beginning stages of learning self-defense.
The second man with the beard stopped laughing and stood up to Steve. He looked at Steve’s lean body and young look and gave him a triumphant grin. “No one threatens my brother, especially when he’s just having a little fun. What else is there to do in this dull-ass town? So mind your own business, kid.”
Lacy tried to get the man to let go of her wrist. She twisted her arm around and under as she had learned in class and surprised the man into letting her go. She slowly and calmly backed away from the table when she noticed he had pulled out a knife and was wielding it around, ready to attack the first person who got close to him.
Steve changed his stance to a fighting stance. His friend came up behind him to back him up. “Lacy is our friend, mister. We were just defending her so put the knife away,” Steve said calmly.
The two men laughed at Steve and his friend. “I’m gonna give you two little hicks a lesson, then Lacy is my prize.”
The man with the knife lunged at Steve and he backed up out of the way so the man missed him, then Steve kicked the knife out of the man’s hand. “Now it’s a fair fight so come on, bring it. You’ll see I am not such a hick after all,” Steve’s voice was full of confidence.
While Steve and the man lunged at each other throwing punches, the second man jumped Steve’s friend. Lacy shrieked and ran into the kitchen with Karissa and Ally, looking worried. Ally hugged Lacy in comfort, telling her Henry had called it in already. Henry had Ally’s shotgun and was loading it while grumbling about scoundrels with no respect calling his town dull. They could hear the loud noises of the fight with tables and chairs being knocked over and dishes breaking.
Henry went out and cocked the rifle but before he could shoot a warning shot into the a
ir Ryan and Harrison came running in with their guns drawn. When they saw the fight between the four men and tables and chairs flying everywhere they put their guns away and went to break it up.
It took a few minutes to subdue the men. Steve was bleeding from his nose and his shirt was torn. His friend had a cut lip and black eye, but the two strangers looked in worse shape. Ryan handcuffed the strangers and sat them in a booth, picking up the knife with gloves and putting it into a plastic bag before handing it to Harrison.
Lacy came running out of the kitchen with Ally. Karissa had stayed behind and out of sight at Ally’s insistence. Lacy ran into Ryan’s arms still shaking. She told him what had happened and how Steve and his friend were just defending her. Ryan gave the men a murderous glare while hugging his wife tightly.
“I don’t know where you two come from but harassing and threatening women, especially my woman, is unacceptable,” he said in a cold, hard voice and the two strangers paled.
“We were just playing around, Sheriff,” the bearded man said, glaring at his brother. “This is all your fault, Rick. There were plenty of willing women at the bar last night, man. Now the boss is gonna be pissed we got arrested.”
Harrison looked over at Ryan, letting him know silently that these two strangers worked for Cantrell.
Ethan and Gabe came in a few seconds later to check out the situation. Ethan looked over the handcuffed men and then at Steve. He walked over to Steve and shook his hand and smiled after Steve told his side of the story. “Good job, Steve, and—”
The other young man looked at Ethan. He was tall and lean with black hair and brown eyes. “Jimmy Thompson, sir.”
“Good job, Jimmy. You should be in class with us, right, Steve?” Ethan said, shaking Jimmy’s hand.
Steve nodded and grinned at his friend. Ally had given him a wet, cold towel. “I’ve been telling him to join our class, Deputy White. He’s already good but he’d learn more and could have blocked that punch to the eye.”