by Claire Adams
Chapter Nineteen
Archer
When I opened my eyes, I saw Zoe. Her head rested on my shoulder, and her chest rose and fell softly. I’d never seen anyone look so peaceful. She was perfect, a master’s sculpture, molded from flesh and bone. I could’ve stayed there for years, but something was tugging at me. She needed help, and I couldn’t ignore that.
I got up, careful not to wake her, and pulled my phone off the nightstand to make a call.
“It is five in the morning,” the voice on the other end of the line said.
“I don’t care what time it is, Jo.” I walked out so Zoe wouldn’t hear me. “Somebody I care about is in trouble.”
“Wha—who?”
“A girl I’m dating. Her name is Zoe. She runs a bakery downtown. There’s this homeless person who keeps coming by and harassing her. Then last night he attacked me with a metal bar.”
“What’s he look like?” Jo asked.
“He’s small with thick glasses and dirty black hair that he slicks back. You won’t miss the guy. He smells like rolled cigarettes, and he looks like he hasn’t showered in years.”
“Nothing like that fresh, woke-up-in-a-ditch smell.”
“It’s disgusting. He’s obsessed with her. He follows her around and tries to attack any guy who talks to her. It’s sick. And it’s only a matter of time before he goes after Zoe.”
“What can I expect?”
“I don’t know yet. Nobody knows, but he’s got some sort of mental issue. I don’t know if it’s a developmental disability or a mental illness—probably both.”
“Is he coherent or off in La La Land?”
“A little bit of both. None of that matters. You have a gun, and you know how to use it. I’m worried that he’s going to come back after what happened last night.”
“Sounds about right.”
“I want you to keep an eye on Zoe while she’s at work. How soon can you get there?”
“I’ll be there within the hour. What’s the place called?”
“Zoe’s Bakery.”
“Does she know I’m coming?”
“I don’t want to tell her, honestly, but I don’t want her to have to worry. I’ll talk to her about it when she wakes up.”
“If she’s not okay with me being there, I can’t go on the property.”
“You can if she doesn’t notice. I don’t think she wants to bring the cops out. Just do your job. I’ll add in a bonus if you catch the little shit.”
“Do you know his name?”
“No, and neither do they. Try and get something on him if you can.”
“I’ll do my best.” Jo hung up.
I walked back into the room and laid down. I landed too hard and jolted the bed. Zoe started to roll over, her arm rising into the air. Then she smiled, and I stopped caring. That was gratification enough. I kept my eyes trained on her, studying the way her eyelashes fluttered before she opened her eyes to look at me. She reminded me of a wide-eyed child, still in love with the world.
“Hey.” Her voice was like honey, warm and sweet.
“Can you just keep doing that over and over? You’ve got my heart pounding.”
“You’ll get more than one chance to see me wake up.” She stood up.
“I’ll take every opportunity I can.” I got up, too, and started making the bed.
“Military to the core.” She watched me fold the covers under the mattress.
“You can bounce a nickel on it.” I stepped back to look over my work.
She walked around the bed and wrapped her arms around my neck. “What would you do if I started jumping on it?”
“I’d grab you and throw you down on the bed. Then I’d tear off your clothes and slam into you, just so I can see the look on your face.”
She reached around and pinched my butt. “I wish we had time for another go.”
“Can I at least make you breakfast?”
“Yes. I’m interested to see your cooking skills.”
“I doubt they’re as good as yours.” We headed downstairs. “What would you like to eat? I have pancake mix, eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuit mix. I could make us some white gravy with sausage.”
We walked into the kitchen and she looked into the pantry. “Are those chocolate chips?” she asked, pointing up to the highest shelf.
“Yes.”
“Pancakes with lots and lots of chocolate chips.”
“Coming right up.” I pulled out the pancake mix and chocolate chips. “I did something.”
“What?”
“Don’t get mad.” I ducked down to pull out a mixing bowl and a measuring cup.
“I can’t promise that.”
I sighed. “I can’t have you going to work alone without protection.”
“I have a gun.”
“I’ll bet it’s locked up and empty.” I measured out the mix and poured it into the bowl.
“Yes, but…”
I gave her one of my disarming stares. “I have a guy who I work with sometimes. He does private security. His name’s Jo, and we worked together in the Navy. I called him up this morning. He’s going to be watching the bakery. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, not at all. Listen, Archer. I know you’re apprehensive. You want to make a good impression on me, and I feel the same way, but you don’t have to keep apologizing and worrying that I’ll run out the door. I’m here, and I don’t plan on going anywhere.”
“You mean that?”
She walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. Then she reached up to my ear and whispered, “Yes, I do.”
I felt a shiver drop down my spine. “All right.” I turned to face her. “I’m going to make you a promise, and this time I mean it.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“I’m done. I’m not putting up a front any longer. It’s just me from now on. The real me.”
“And I’ll do the same,” she said. “No secrets, no lies, no worries.”
“It’s a deal.” I kissed her. I turned back to the pancake mix and checked the box to see how much water to pour in.
“One and one-third,” she said and pulled a knife out from the holder on top of the counter so she could open the bag of chocolate chips.
“Hey, now. I thought I was going to show you my cooking skills.”
“Yeah, but I’m starving.” She poured herself a handful of chocolate chips and stuffed them all in her mouth.
We both laughed.
“I wished I didn’t have to go to work.” I added a stick of butter to the pan and snatched the chocolate chips away from Zoe.
“It’s an obligation?”
“In a big way.” I mixed up the batter and poured some into the pan, then grabbed a plate.
“You told me your work was really intense. I still can’t imagine what your life must be like.”
“It’s not something that you get used to. You have to fight constantly.” I lifted the pan up, flipped the pancake in the air, and caught it with the pan.
“I can never get that right.”
“It’s all in the wrist.” I pulled the pancake off the heat and set it on the plate.
Zoe already had the syrup ready. She snatched the pancake up and replaced the plate with a fresh one. We took our time eating, prolonging our breakfast as long as possible. But eventually, I had to call a driver to take her home so she could get changed.
When I got back up to my room and started getting ready, I could still smell her perfume, like gold and roses, swimming through the air. It was elusive. I could never get a full taste of the smell, but that was part of the allure. I’d have to bring Zoe back and make sure the smell stayed.
I hadn’t checked my phone since I woke up. I didn’t want to, but I knew that I had to get to work eventually, so I took it off the nightstand. I had thirty emails, mostly from the Navy asking about orders for Rick’s sensor.
I decided to pay Rick a visit at the warehouse before I drove up to the office. When I
walked inside, a group of techs were standing around, smoking, and drinking coffee. One, a skinny white boy with his hat pulled to the side, caught my eye.
He looked back at the rest of the group, clearly terrified, and they all stopped talking and snuffed out their cigarettes. “Sir.” He walked up. “Is there anything you need?”
“Fix your hat, boy.” I reached out and pulled it to the front.
He went bright red. “Sorry, sir.”
“I’m just fucking with you. Wear your hat however you want. Where’s Rick?”
He gestured at the airstrip, where Bess was circling overhead.
“Go get me a radio,” I said.
“Yes, sir.” He had the straight-backed demeanor of a soldier with the swagger of a punk. It was a strange mix, one that I couldn’t help but find amusing.
He went into the office and ran back out with a walkie-talkie. “Here you go, sir.”
“Thank you.” I took it from him and pressed the talk button.
“Richard Montes,” I said with a screechy voice. “Your joy ride is over. Get down here this instant.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Sixty lashes,” I barked, using my best drill sergeant voice.
“Yes, ma’am.” He dipped and landed the plane effortlessly. Then he jumped out of the cockpit and ran back into the warehouse. His hair was flaring out on all sides.
“You look like Mexican Einstein.”
“Si, señor.” He let his voice draw out with a fake Mexican accent.
“What is going on with the sensor? I have six bigwigs crawling up my ass.”
“We sent it out to the plants. I’ll them send up a briefing.”
“Rick…” I shook my head.
“You got laid.”
“It was more than getting laid. It was like being with an angel, and the best part is that she doesn’t care about the kids.”
“Really?” I noticed more than a hint of skepticism in his voice.
“Yes, and it wasn’t just a quick dismissal of the issue. She came right up to me, looked me in the eye, and told me that she’d be honored to have them in her life.”
“I don’t know how you did it, but if she doesn’t mind dealing with them, then you’ve got a keeper.”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t plan on getting my hopes up. I don’t want to be disappointed, but I think we have something.”
“I’m happy for you, man.”
“I’m worried, though. Last night was terrible. I took her out to eat then we danced at the street music festival.”
“How was that? I keep meaning to go.”
“It was great until the guy who we saw hitting on her at the club tried to bash my face in with a metal bar.”
“Whaaaat?”
“I lost control. He hit the pavement before he even knew what was going on. Then I started kicking him over and over. Zoe had to pull me away.”
“Is he dead?”
“Not yet.” Rick grinned at that. “I’m worried that he’s going to come back to the bakery and hassle Zoe. He’s been hanging around there a lot. I called Jo to keep an eye on things, but I don’t think it’s enough. The man can’t sit there forever.”
“What are you going to do?”
“You know me. I don’t fuck around when it comes to people’s safety. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to make sure that he doesn’t get to her.”
“Pshht,” he scoffed. “You’re crazy.”
“I get the job done.” I looked over the sensor again, trying to get a feel for what Rick had done. He was already starting to integrate some of his upgrades. It looked amazing. I called my accountant before I left and instructed him to give Rick a bonus without telling him.
Chapter Twenty
Zoe
When Archer stepped outside to call his driver, I expected the man to roll up in a limousine with a full bar and a desktop computer with a flat screen display. Instead, he’d ordered a sleek white convertible with a smooth body and an engine so powerful that the driver barely had to touch the accelerator.
I had the driver roll the top down so I could feel the cold air blasting me in the face, hoping it would make me wake up and focus. All it did was mess up my hair.
I made it home and got ready for work. Chloe called when I got out of the shower. I dried my hands off and wrapped the towel around me before I answered and grabbed a brush so I could ease out some of the tangles.
“Hello?”
“Zoe…” Chloe whined.
“I don’t care if six Mr. Beetles come into the store. You’re not getting away with this one again. Archer got us a guard.”
“A guard?”
“Yes. You don’t have to worry.” I pulled the brush through my hair.
“I don’t want to drive to work alone, Zoe. Can we use the buddy system?”
“Then I’d have to drive all the way to your house, wait for you to get ready, then drive back to the bakery. It’s too much of a hassle.”
“I’m outside.”
“Seriously?” I looked out my front window. She waved at me.
“Give me a second.” I hung up and went back to hacking at my hair with the brush. I got ready as fast as I could, but we were still late in leaving. Fortunately, Chloe already had coffee waiting for me, so I had a lot of energy when we pulled up.
“How’d you manage to get up this early?” I unlocked the back door.
“I’ve been up all night worrying.”
“About Mr. Beetle?”
“Yes. I don’t like it. I know it’s weird, but he’s starting to get me. I can’t get rid of that smell, and every time I close my eyes, I see him looking at me through those thick glasses of his.” She hunched down like a turtle, cocked her head, and squinted. It was a perfect impression. “Hey, Zoe.” Her voice was too high, but I laughed anyway.
I grabbed my apron and put it on. “He attacked Archer last night.”
“You did not just say that.” She pulled a muffin off a cooling rack. “What happened?”
“Last night, Archer took me to that lobster place I like, and they were having the street music festival, so we danced in the square, and this jazz lady was singing. It was wonderful. Then out of nowhere, Beetle ran out of the crowd with a metal bar and bashed him in the face.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. I’m more worried about Mr. Beetle. Archer lost control when Beetle went after him. He dropped Beetle and kept kicking him in the ribs. I had to pull him away before things went too far.” I went into the walk-in to pull out a box of oranges and fresh ginger root.
When I turned around, Chloe was leaning against the door, looking at me with her mouth hanging slightly open. “So, Archer lost control?”
“It wasn’t that bad. I mean, Beetle did attack him.”
“Yeah, but still. You said Archer lost control. Do you think he would’ve stopped if you hadn’t pulled him away?”
I walked past her and set the produce down on the table. “I know what you’re getting at, and it’s a bunch of crap. He was just being protective.”
“There’s a fine line between protection and aggression, and I know, whether you’ll admit it or not, that he crossed it.”
I turned to look at Chloe. “I’m surprised you’re reacting like this. You’ve been so freaked out by Mr. Beetle, you don’t even want to be in the bakery by yourself. What would you do if Beetle tried to come at you?”
She took a bite of her muffin, chewed, and swallowed. “You’ve got a point.”
“Archer’s reaction was a little much, but I don’t really blame him.”
“Just be careful.”
“I’m all right. Now help me zest these oranges.”
She lifted her hands to show me the peels embedded underneath her fingernails. “I’ve had enough zesting for a lifetime.”
“Then do the ginger.”
“It burns. I’ll make the cookie mix.”
“Despite everything that happened with Mr. Beetle, I
think things with Archer are going to go well.” I pulled a zester off the rack above the stove. “He told me that he really likes me and that he wants to keep seeing me.”
“Are you sure he’s being honest? You told me you thought he was hiding something.” Chloe set her muffin down and wrestled a bag of flour out from under the sink.
“I forgot.” I set the zester down. “He told me what it was.”
“What?” Chloe set the sack down. “I have to know.”
“Look.” I pulled out my phone. “He sent me these this morning.” I turned the phone around so she could see the picture of the twins.
“Aw.” She grabbed the phone from my hand to get a look. “Look at their little faces.”
“I know. Aren’t they darling? Those are his kids. That’s what he wasn’t telling me.”
“Of course, you know what this means.” She handed the phone back to me. “This means you can’t get with him.”
“What? Why not? Can’t you just be happy for me?”
“I’m just saying.” She opened the flour bag and poured it into the mixer. “Those boys are going to give you hell.”
“So what if they do? I can handle it.”
She looked at me with one eyebrow raised.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you remember when Jayden was born?”
“Of course.”
“Do you remember what it was like every morning when I got to school? I was tired as hell.”
“I’m not worried.”
“Maybe you should be. Jayden was just one baby. They’re twins.”
“Archer said the same thing. He didn’t think I could handle them, and he didn’t want me to have to deal with the trouble, but I don’t care. I like him. I want to see this through, and I want you to be happy for me. You’re always raining on my parade.”
“Fair enough. I hope things work out.” The doorbell rang. Chloe was busy wrestling the mixer, so I walked out.
“You must be Archer’s friend.” I saw it immediately. The man was covered in tiny black hairs all over his body, wearing a black polo shirt and matching slacks with a gun on his hip.