by Koontz, Rena
Amber hadn’t been much help with background on Cassidy’s living situation either. She said Cassidy was really guarded about her personal information and Amber declared her “a lost soul.”
Lost or not, she was living in a hellhole. Someone needed to help her. The girl couldn’t work the late shift at that store and take the bus home at that hour. Not looking as good as she looked.
Well, he was a man, after all. She’d climbed into his truck in tight blue jeans, a thin T-shirt, and hoodie. He’d have to be blind not to notice.
He wiped his feet, knocked on the glass of his sister’s apartment then slid the door open. Gurgling sounds put a smile on his face and he walked to the blanket on the kitchen floor and scooped up his nephew. Jack had mastered getting into a crawl position on his hands and knees but hadn’t yet figured out how to move. He spent most of his time rocking back and forth but making little progress.
“Hey buddy. Still going nowhere?” Clay swung him to the ceiling, eliciting squeals of delight from the baby. Cradled in his arms, Jack giggled and reached for Clay’s face with his pudgy open palm, his tiny feet pumping with excitement.
Standing at the island chopping cooked potatoes, his sister beamed. “I swear you are his favorite person in the world. He shows more teeth for you than his own father.”
Clay smiled and kissed the baby’s forehead. “It’s not that hard. He only has two.”
Maggie laughed. “Are you staying for dinner? Burgers on the grill and potato salad.”
“Sure.” He settled Jack on his lap.
“As soon as he starts moving you’re going to be up to your elbows chasing him and trying to keep up with the apartments,” Clay said, gently brushing back a wisp of Jack’s hair.
“Tell me about it. I’ve been thinking I might need some part-time help, just with the cleaning when we lose a tenant. Maybe the yard maintenance,” Maggie shrugged. “I’m not sure we can afford to pay someone to do that though. It’s not as if it’s a daily job, it would only be on an as-needed basis. Anyone who truly needs a job won’t find that too appealing.”
“Care if I make a suggestion?”
“Shoot.”
“Suppose, instead of a salary, we offer a place to live. One of the smaller apartments,” Clay added. “In lieu of rent, we have her do whatever you need done whenever, whether it’s weekends, Sundays, and even holidays. It would include painting the easy stuff, cleaning, running your errands, whatever.”
His sister eyed him. “Her? You have someone in mind for this slave labor position?”
“I do. I don’t know if she’ll be interested. She seems pretty stubborn. She’s the new hire at the shipping store where I drop off the DUI samples most days. She lives on Fortieth Street and takes the bus to work. It’s not a good situation.”
Maggie wrinkled her nose. “How’d she end up in that neighborhood? You sure she’s not a crack addict or prostitute?”
“She’s no prostitute. She’s too clean for that. Nails manicured. Nice makeup and modest clothes.”
Clay tickled his nephew’s belly and his baby giggles filled the kitchen. “I don’t know much about her, to be truthful, except that she seems all alone. Dan is going to try to background check her today. I feel if someone doesn’t reach out and help her, she’ll end up like Amber. We’ve told you about her, the drinking and drugs. Amber is smart. If someone had cared enough, they could have put her on the right path years ago.
“It’s too late for Amber, but there might be a chance with Cassidy. I figured I’d bounce the idea off of you before approaching her. You could meet her first, interview her or something. What do you say?”
“You seem pretty interested in her. Is she young? Attractive?”
He smiled. “She turns twenty-seven in December and she’s not bad looking. But I’m not interested in her, more curious. She’s as skittish as a chipmunk. Like she’s trying to hide something.”
Watching her son’s feet pump as if running in the air Maggie nodded. “Well, if you guys are going to check her out first, it can’t hurt to talk to her. I’m going to need the help.”
• • •
The next day Clay frowned as he entered The Packing Place. No Amber or Cassidy. Rosie stiffened when he inquired about their schedules.
“We are not at liberty to divulge that information.”
What a witch. “That’s fine. I’ll call Amber and ask her myself.” He had no intention of calling her; he’d wait until she worked again. But he pulled his phone from his pocket anyway as he exited the store. That ought to set the old biddy’s tongue wagging.
Chapter Five
Amber bounced into the store pumping her fist. “T.G.I.F.,” she chanted, grinning at Cassidy and Leslie.
“You’re in a good mood today,” Leslie said.
“It’s Friday and as soon as I clock out, I am going to par-taye. Meetin’ a new guy tonight at my friend’s house. He is supposed to be hot, hot, hot and I am ready for a good time.”
She turned to Cassidy.
“Why so glum chum?”
The rhyme made Cassidy smile, her first of the day. She held out the work schedule for the upcoming week.
“I’m at the other store all next week with Rosie. I’d rather be in this store. I was just starting to feel like I knew where everything was. I’m going to screw up over there, I know it. I get so tense around her.”
Amber studied the schedule. “They bounce us back and forth, you know that. You’ll be fine. Rosie probably wants to keep you away from me. Probably figures I’m a bad influence on you.”
Leslie laughed. “That’s not too far off, you know. You are a little rambunctious for poor little Cassidy here.”
Amber laughed and took a playful swat at Leslie. “Rambunctious. As soon as I look that up, I’ll have a comeback for you.”
She squeezed Cassidy’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine. You can always call over here and talk to either one of us for moral support.” Leslie nodded in agreement.
The door chimed, beginning a steady stream of customers that made the day fly by.
One hour before close, business finally seemed to settle down.
“What are you doing this weekend?” Amber asked, restocking the box shelves. For all the complaints Rosie leveled against her, Amber and Leslie were the only employees Cassidy had seen who cleaned, restocked, and reordered without being asked. Cassidy picked up the box cutter and sliced the binding on another bundle.
“Not much.”
She eyed Cassidy. “Do you have any plans?”
How should she answer that? No she didn’t have plans. She didn’t have a car, she didn’t have a life, and she didn’t dare leave her apartment beyond going to work for fear of being seen. All she had were the clothes she’d managed to shove in her duffel bag, a couple pieces of jewelry, her mother’s clock, and her laptop, thank God. With neither television nor radio, the world would be lost to her without that laptop.
She’d used the store computer to check The Arizona Republic online yesterday and he was still missing. Still on the loose, despite a warrant issued by the state authorities for his arrest. Still searching for her, she was sure of it.
“I guess no answer means no, huh? What are you going to do, sit in that rat hole all weekend?”
Cassidy glared at her. “I’ll be fine.”
Amber jammed the last of the size ten boxes in their compartment and did an impromptu dance around the room.
“Come to the party with me tonight. It will be fun. You’ll get to meet some people. Maybe even a guy. Whaddaya say?”
“Um, I appreciate the offer, but no thanks.”
“C’mon, Cass. What are you going to do all weekend? I promise to get you home safe. Come with.”
“Thanks, but I don’t have anything to change into and I’
m not wearing this uniform to a party.”
Amber sashayed her right hip sideways, propping her hand on it. “Is that the only reason you won’t go?”
“No, but it’s a reason.”
“I’ve got clothes in my car, all clean. I did laundry yesterday. You can wear any shirt you like.”
From some of the comments she’d made, Amber seemed to live out of her car. And she had the nerve to poke fun at Cassidy’s apartment, even though she was right, it was a rat hole.
“I can’t, Amber. Thanks anyway.”
“C’mon, Cass, it’ll be … ”
Cassidy snapped. “I can’t. Don’t you understand? I just can’t.”
Amber’s eyes widened to the size of quarters. She stared at her, again with that analytical glare, peering right through Cassidy. She popped her gum, once, twice, three times, and then shrugged.
“I don’t understand, but I get it.”
As they turned out the lights and locked the back door, Amber reached for Cassidy’s arm.
“I’ll drive you home.”
“No thanks. You have a party to get to. I’ll be fine.”
“The party is just getting started. I have plenty of time. And I promised C.C.”
Cassidy gasped.
“C’mon,” Amber urged, ignoring her reaction. “It’s late, you shouldn’t be taking a bus. I’ll drive you home and I promise I won’t ask why you can’t go out. In fact, I promise I won’t ask you one of the seventy-two questions I’m dying to ask. Deal?”
Cassidy hesitated, but a ride home was much more attractive than the bus. She acquiesced and, true to Amber’s word, they made the trip in silence.
Amber touched her arm as she was getting out of the car. “You got a card from Rosie with all the employee phone numbers on, didn’t you?”
Cassidy nodded. “Mine’s on there, too. You need something, you call. Day or night.”
• • •
Friday night. The weather was unseasonably warm for the end of summer and the kids took full advantage of it to party. The police dispatchers had been kept busy through the evening with complaints about loud music, fistfights, and drunken crowds spilling into the streets.
Clay and his partner drove to their third disturbance call of the night, this time as the second responder for a house party out of control. As they approached the Briarwood Street address, a handful of partygoers ran from the house screaming “Cops!” Clay watched the runners spilling off the porch and spotted Amber bolt down the steps and run toward a backyard. He jumped out of the passenger seat and chased her.
She didn’t get too far, running barefoot. He grabbed her upper arm and spun her around, eliciting a high-pitched squeal.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Oh C.C.,” she said breathlessly. “You scared the crap out of me.”
He squeezed her arm, causing her to yelp and reach for his fingers to loosen the grip. “Ow. Back off, man.”
“You promised me you’d stay out of trouble.”
“I did. And I swear to you I wasn’t smokin’ nothin’. I had one beer. Smell my breath. You’ll see.” Her mouth opened into a wide circle and she exhaled.
The flashing red and blue lights threw eerie highlights across her face as he half-dragged, half-walked her toward the police cruiser.
“Aw c’mon, C.C. Give me a break. Please don’t bust me. I swear to you. I wasn’t doin’ drugs.”
He opened the rear car door and urged her into the backseat, placing his hand between the door frame and her head as a protective cushion.
“Son of a … please C.C., don’t do this.”
He slammed the door and walked toward the house to find his partner, who had gone inside to help. Minutes later he returned and slid into the driver’s seat. Turning the key, he eyed Amber in the rearview mirror. She hung her head, her long, streaked hair covering most of her face.
“Is your car here? How’d you get here tonight?”
“I came with a friend,” she mumbled, without looking up.
He backed into a nearby driveway to turn around.
“Please, C.C. I’ll do anything for you. Anything.”
“Look at me.”
She raised her eyes to the mirror.
“What I want you to do for me is stay out of trouble.”
She folded her hands together at her chin. “I will, C.C., I promise. Just don’t bust me. I can’t do jail again.”
“I’m not arresting you, hon. I’m taking you home. But it’s the first and last time you get a break like this, understand?”
She gulped in air and blinked back tears. “Yes, sir, I do. Thank you.”
“What were you doing here anyway? You know it’s a violation of your probation to hang at a party like that. No drugs or alcohol. The judge didn’t say one beer is okay.”
“I know, I know. I’m truly sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Who were you here with?”
“My girlfriend. She wanted me to meet someone. And a couple other guys I’m friends with.”
“Amber, if they are drinking and smoking, they can’t be your friends. They will only get you in trouble. You should think about making new friends.”
“I know.”
The ride continued in silence. He tried not to let Amber see him watching her wipe tears from her cheeks. Once she regained her composure, she stared out the rear window. Eventually, she spoke.
“I tried to get Cassidy to come tonight. Now, I’m glad she didn’t.”
His heart jumped to his throat, an unexpected reaction that surprised him. “Didn’t she want to come?”
Amber caught his gaze in the mirror. “She never said she didn’t want to come. She said she couldn’t.”
“Maybe she had other plans.”
“No, I specifically asked if she had plans. She almost got mad about coming. She raised her voice and said ‘I can’t come, don’t you understand?’ I didn’t, but I dropped it.”
“Can’t? Like not allowed?”
“Can’t. Like she was afraid to. Something’s up with her, C.C. She’s smart, too smart to work for minimum wage. She’s got class, but she treats me like an equal. She doesn’t look down her nose at me like some of the others at the store. I like her. But she’s so jittery. She eyes everyone who walks in the store like she’s going to run out the back door screaming if they yell boo.”
Clay smiled. “You’ve got class too, honey. You just never let it show ‘cause you prefer to get a rise out of people.”
She smiled and raised her chin in the air, her confidence restored. “I gave her a ride home tonight, like I promised you.”
“Thanks.”
“There’s going to be a problem next week, though. Rosie has her over at the other store all week. I checked the schedule and Cassidy closes on Wednesday and Thursday nights. I’m off Wednesday because I work Saturday, but I close at the Greenbrier store on Thursday.”
The other packing store was located on the far side of town. Cassidy would likely have to ride two buses to get there. The idea of her doing that at night didn’t sit well with him. The realization that he cared confused him.
He stopped the patrol car in front of Amber’s apartment, which he knew she shared with a roommate. He stepped out of the car and opened the back door to let her out.
Fresh tears filled her eyes.
“Thanks, C.C. Really. I owe you.”
“Yes, you do so remember what I said. Behave.”
She winked and took several steps toward her building, which he noticed had a security door that actually closed and locked. Better housing than Cassidy’s.
“Amber!” She stopped and turned.
Reaching into his pocket he took out his money clip and freed a t
wenty from its grasp. He held it out to her.
“If I pay for your gas, will you pick her up Wednesday night and drive her home?”
Amber cocked her head. “What is it with you and her?”
Another jerk on his heart. He shrugged. “Nothing. But like you said, there’s something not quite right with her. She sets all my cop’s instincts in motion.”
Amber laughed and reached for the money. “You sure that’s all she sets in motion?”
Heat crept up his neck to his face and he was grateful for the dark.
“I’ll drive her home Wednesday, but what are you going to do about Thursday?”
He sucked in a deep, slow breath, already conflicted by his plan. “I’ll pick her up.”
Chapter Six
She awakened with a jolt, sweat clinging to her upper lip and soaking the hair on the back of her neck, her breathing rapid. The nightmare was always the same.
The woman standing there, smiling and waving. The pop pop pop from the gun. Then the shocked look on her face and life leaving her eyes. She crumbled to the ground and behind her, he stood, glaring at Cassidy through the store window. Then she was running, running …
She woke up screaming, wrestling with the blanket and sheet entrapping her legs. Panting, she reached for her laptop before remembering she couldn’t connect to the Internet from these apartments. Damn. She needed to check the headlines in Arizona. Maybe they’d caught him.
• • •
Dark circles outlined her eyes when Cassidy reported to work Monday morning. She’d given herself a pep talk on the bus, but her dream and staying holed up in the rat hole most of the weekend had undermined her strength. Her walk to the fast food restaurant two blocks from her apartment, where access to the Internet was free, had been accomplished with clenched teeth and eyes wide. The young teens loitering around in twisted ball caps and drooping jeans scared her, even in broad daylight. She clung to her laptop so fiercely, her hand ached. On top of all that, there had been nothing in the news about reputed mobster Tony DelMorrie.