by Dale Mayer
She walked up to the stranger and said, “Making sure you aren’t here to cause trouble.”
He stepped back and raised his hands. “Whoa, crazy lady. I’m not doing anything.”
She smiled. “Yeah, you better believe it. Get the hell out of here and don’t come back. You’ve got three seconds to move, or you’ll have this boiling hot coffee all over you.”
Instead of taking off, he got ugly and stepped forward. “I don’t take orders from you.”
She didn’t give him three seconds before the hot coffee went fully in his face. As he screamed, she turned and walked past, deliberately giving him her back. That added to the insult of being bested by a woman. She tossed the empty cup in another trash bin and strolled on, as if not giving a damn.
At the church up ahead, she sat on the steps, pulled out one of her sandwiches and proceeded to take a bite. She could see him rubbing his face and swearing. She was a good fifty yards away. But she’d made him. Benji had too. And how interesting was that? Blind and yet he could still spot trouble. She owed him one.
Something she couldn’t afford to let happen again. Assholes like this guy … well, the world was a better place without them. As she munched away at her sandwich, a stranger walked up and sat beside her. He had two cups of coffee in his hands. He held one out.
She stared at it and then at him. No alarm bells went off. Not yet anyway. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll throw that at you?”
“If you really feel you should. However, as I mean you no harm, why would you?”
She glared at him. But dammit, she wanted that coffee. She took it, popped off the top and realized it was black—the way she liked it. “Who the hell are you?”
“The name’s Harrison. I work for Legendary Security.”
She froze. “Isn’t that Levi’s company?”
Startled, he turned to face her, his huge blue eyes staring at her.
Eyes completely at odds with the rest of him.
He shook his head. “How do you know Levi’s group?”
“Don’t know them. Heard of them.”
He nodded once. “Levi’s done well.”
She curled her lip. “So they say. Doesn’t mean I believe everything I hear.”
“Good thing.” He took the lid off his cup. It was black too.
She set hers between her legs and proceeded to finish her sandwich. She glanced at the man she’d attacked. He remained against the wall, glaring at her. Why was he still here? He had to be waiting for somebody. No other reason for him to stay put at this point. The game was up. She glanced around to see who might have come to his aid, realizing it could easily be the man beside her. “You with him?”
He chuckled. “Hell, no. If it had been me, you’d never see me coming.”
“Is that why you approached me here? So while my attention was on him, you could sneak up on the other side?”
He shook his head. “Levi doesn’t hire fools. Has no time for failures.”
“Well, we agree on something,” she muttered.
“What the hell is Zoe Branson doing on the streets and using a blind man as an alarm system?”
She stiffened. She didn’t know who the hell this Harrison was, but that he knew her name had her already contemplating her options. She could run straight across the street, disappear in the alley on the far side. But he looked fit and quite possibly could outrun her.
She could throw the hot coffee in his face and bolt, but she figured he’d probably run after her and catch her before she was gone. She could pull a few martial arts tactics, jump the railing and bolt, but she suspected he had a few of his own. She stared at the last bite of sandwich left in her hand. It tasted like sawdust now. Deciding she needed the energy anyway, she finished it, chewing long and hard, then looked at the sandwich still in her bag. “Who the hell are you really?”
“I’m really Harrison. And I really work for Legendary Security.”
“How did you track me down, and why the hell do you give a damn?”
“Not sure I do. I get paid either way.”
His tone was aloof, but humor threaded through it. She took umbrage at the latter. She had had nothing to laugh at in so long …
“Besides, I didn’t have much problem finding you. It’s what I do, and I’m damn good at it.”
She was prepared to blast him again when he turned, piercing her with those blue eyes and said, “And I’m here really for your mother’s sake.”
That shut her up. God she’d been panicked to find out about her mother’s condition. How could this man know? And could she believe him? “How is she?”
“In and out of consciousness. I understand the damage is severe but not life-threatening.”
“I don’t even know where she is,” she whispered, pain in her tone. She had to watch out for those kinds of emotion. The last thing she wanted was for anybody to know her mom was her weakness.
He held out his hand, palm up. “I can take you to see her if you want.”
She stared at that hand and wondered at herself. She was contemplating placing her hand in his. But that would signify trust. That was like holding out an olive branch and having somebody accept it. Everything was symbolic about this. He was asking a lot of her. The stranger seemed to know so much about her, and she knew nothing of him.
With childlike movements, she put her hands on the step and sat on them. He laughed out loud. And she knew he understood exactly what she’d done and why.
But he left his hand where it was and said, “Whenever you’re ready.”
“Hell, no.” She shook her head. “I’m no fool.”
“You’re not, but you are in trouble.”
“Am not.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, and in a singsong voice, he matched her words with “Am too.”
She sagged in place. “I can’t go. Someone might follow me there and hurt her. Nobody can know where I am.”
“I didn’t say anybody would know where you were going. I offered to take you to see your mom.”
“And then what?”
“I can return you to these church steps if that’s what you want.”
“Like I trust you.”
His smile, when it came, was slow and sweet. “You should trust somebody. You can’t be alone for the rest of your life.”
“Can to,” she snapped, right back into that childish voice.
He chuckled. “You could try. But it’s not who you are. A lot of anger is inside you. Maybe even hatred. Not too sure what happened to make you who you are today, but the woman from a few years ago, she wasn’t about being alone. She wasn’t about forging her own path, kicking tires along the way. That one, she was more about globetrotting around the world and finding beaches, sunshine, and palm trees—maybe dancing with the wind, a flower in your hair.”
She stared at him in surprise. “What the hell do you know about who I was and am?”
“I’ve read a file on you.”
“You haven’t seen the whole file,” she said with a disgusted snort.
“Nope, I haven’t. But I can read between the lines. You were military. Happily ensconced in a world where you excelled. The top of your class and could thumb your nose at your father—a man you did your best to get away from all your life.” He turned his head to stare at her. “How am I doing so far?”
Her response was to cross her arms over her chest and lean against the steps’ railing. In a disaffected tone she said, “So what? You can read a file. What you see now is the unhappy rich bitch. You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know an injustice was done. I know you couldn’t fight whatever it was that happened. I don’t know if it was somebody close to you or something that happened to you. But you were forever changed by the incident.” His tone was low and compassionate. “It was major. Traumatic. And at the time, you felt completely alone. You’re still in the angry stage. If you keep this up, soon you will be into the depression stage. Depression is an
ger that has no outlet.”
“How do you know I’m not already there?” she snapped, hating the fear sparking inside her. How did he so quickly come to understand who she was and what she was doing? She didn’t even know how to react. So much anger was inside her, boiling, going nowhere.
His gaze narrowed as he studied her. And then he seemed to decide. He stood with his coffee in one hand, and with his other still open in a nonthreatening yet insistent way, he said, “Let’s walk.”
She shook her head.
“This isn’t the time to play games. Your friend is about to get company.”
“I don’t give a shit,” she said in a low, mean voice. “You can go back to wherever the hell you came from. Leave me alone. I’ll take care of those assholes. Don’t you worry.”
He nodded. “I believe you. But at some point, you could be outnumbered. And that time is now.”
She narrowed her gaze, passed a sidelong look to the man she threw her coffee at. Sure enough, there were four of them now. They were all big—mean and tough thugs. She assessed her situation and realized she was in deep shit.
In a voice that brooked no argument, he said, “Now.”
She stood but ignored his hand.
“I highly suggest you look like you are with me and not against me. Because they’re approaching us right now.”
Instinctively she grabbed his hand. And he helped her down the last of the steps. As they turned to leave, she said, “We can’t run. If we do, we’ll always be running.”
He faced her, his eyebrows raised. “You already are. How does this change anything?”
She frowned and walked at his side. She didn’t want to assess what he had just said. But the truth lingered in the air.
Several yards ahead of them, two more big men peeled away from a parking lot and stepped toward the sidewalk.
She froze, but Harrison nudged her gently forward. “Those are my men.”
Instinctively she could feel her heart and mind relaxing—wanting to accept this as normal. Was this a good thing? Considering four men were behind her, it was a very good thing. Now the odds were even. And she’d put her money on Harrison any day.
She assessed the two men in front of her. One with hair so damn blond it was pure white and the other had that thin tensile strength to him. He was lean, but he had that mean kick-somebody-into-the-ground look on his face. They were both tall. And though she used the word lean, in no way were these men skinny.
“What do you guys eat anyway? You all sure are huge.” She couldn’t keep the resentful tone out of her voice. Years of taking abuse from everybody around her, especially in the military, had given her a good understanding of how much size gave people an edge. And she didn’t have it.
Harrison chuckled and said, “On any given day, anything we see.”
“I believe it.” She wanted to turn her head and check out the guys behind him.
“Don’t bother. They’re still following. They’ll stop as soon as we meet up with these two.”
As they approached, both men nodded at Harrison, then turned their gaze on her. As they arrived at the same spot, Harrison’s men peeled off and split, one to either side of Harrison and Zoe, so they were walking four in a row.
She snorted. “Yeah, okay, so that’s testosterone times three.”
Harrison gently squeezed her fingers and said, “It is what it is. You can beat up Mother Nature all you want. It won’t change anything. You’re still female, and that does come with some physical limitations.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to take it easy,” she muttered. She wondered why the only perfect males were perfect assholes.
“What’s the matter? Always wanted to be Daddy’s boy?”
“As if. Besides, he already has one of those.”
“You know you sound like a disgruntled child, right?”
“Then you’re not so smart,” she snapped. Before she realized it, she’d been led to a Jeep. Not a military, but a modern black four-door civilian kind. “I thought only yuppie women used this vehicle for their kids now. Hardly seems like something you guys would drive.”
“Be nice.” Harrison opened the passenger door. “Get in.”
She stuck out her jaw. “And if I don’t?”
One of the men beside them took a step forward. She spun and took a fighting stance. “Just try it.”
Harrison gave a small sigh. “Later today I’ll go a few good rounds with you so you can work out some of that temper. But preferably in a dojo or weight room. These men are not here to hurt you.”
She slowly straightened and shot him an uncertain look, then using her hands, climbed into the passenger seat.
He slammed the door shut and raised his eyes to the other two. “I’ll drive. You guys sit in the back.” He walked around to the driver’s seat, opened the door, hopped in and turned on the engine.
“Where did the other four assholes go?”
“Into the gutter,” he said quietly. “Don’t worry. If they show up again, we’ll deal with them.”
“You know who they are?”
“Hired muscle. But other than that, no. And no, I don’t know who hired them or what they want you for.”
“I do,” she whispered. “If it comes to that, I’ll kill them before they take me alive.”
*
Harrison froze at her words. He turned in his seat to study her face. From the set look in her eyes and her squared-off jaw, he knew she meant every word. “It won’t come to that.”
She glared at him. “But if it does …”
“Then I’ll shoot every one of them. But I will do it, not you.”
He popped the Jeep into reverse. He could hear her spluttering beside them. He knew the men in the back found her quite interesting too. But then, she wasn’t one of the most normal of females either. She worked to appear damn hard. But she was terrified. Once he had realized that, he’d overlooked all the rest.
He knew his way to Richard’s hospital. He’d been one of the guards looking after Levi way back when. But Harrison still needed to let Richard know ahead of time. He quickly sent a text, pulled into traffic and, in case they were being followed, took a very meandering route.
When they pulled into the rear of the hospital and parked in the private parking area, there was no sign anybody had tried to follow them. He got out, waited ’til she hopped down, and came around and said, “While we’re here, you don’t say anything to anybody. Understand?”
She gave him an uncertain look, then a clipped nod. “Why is my mom here? In a private hospital?”
“Because she has friends, good friends. One of them pulled some strings.”
“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “Good for her.”
He took her to the rear entrance. He had the code for the door. But it would be changed either before he left or the end of the day. He also knew security would be aware he’d come in and their cameras would be on them right now.
He led the way to the small elevator at the back, brought it into service, and the four of them got in. He pushed the button to take them to the third floor. When it opened, two men stood at the side. Harrison nodded at them, and they nodded in return.
Zoe stared in fear. “How bad is she? Why is she under guard?”
“You know the answer to that last one.”
She fell silent.
She was doing her best to stay strong and stand firm, but he doubted she had any idea just how damaging all this was to her psych.
As he approached the room on the left, Richard stepped forward from the main desk on the far side. He nodded and said, “Hello, Zoe.”
She looked up at him and asked, “Do I know you?”
Richard smiled. “It’s been a few years. I’m a friend of your mom’s.”
Understanding whispered across her face. “You’re the doctor?” She turned to Harrison. “You’re right. My mom does have good friends.” She turned to Richard and smiled. “It has been a long time. Thank you very much
for looking after my mother.”
“The pleasure is all mine. I’m sorry she’s in such a state. And that’s why I need to see her before you go in.” He quickly explained about her mother’s condition. “I don’t know that she is cognizant or that she’ll recognize your voice. It’s important she not be upset. And she is my patient, under my care. For that reason, Harrison and I will go into the room with you. If you cause a disturbance, he will pick you up and haul you out.” His gaze narrowed as he added, “Do you understand me?”
She nodded. “I would never do anything to hurt my mother.”
He studied her for a long moment and then nodded. “I believe you, but we don’t always know if we’ll hurt somebody with our words. And that’s why it’s very important she not be upset.”
Harrison watched as she wiped her damp palms on her pants and felt the fear emanate from her. He took her arm. “Almost ready?”
She took a deep breath and nodded, then watched as the other two guys with Harrison took up posts on either side of her mother’s door.
Richard opened the door and stepped in, shutting the door softly behind him. A moment later he let the two of them in. She could hear the beeps of the monitors in the quiet room. Unlike most, this one was more like a sitting room. There was, indeed, a hospital bed, but it had bright colored blankets and a couch off to one side, with a big picture window filled with flowers. Even a nice little throw rug had been placed on the floor beside her mom’s bed for her bare feet to touch, should she wake and wish to move about.
But then Zoe’s gaze landed on her mother. She gasped out loud, her hand clamping over her lips to hold back her cry. Harrison watched as the tears came to the corners of her eyes.
And, like Harrison thought, she’d just confirmed she had not been responsible for her mother’s beating. Richard might have worried that a woman had done this—and that was still a possibility—but it certainly wasn’t by Zoe’s hand.
She stood and stared for a long moment and then slowly stepped forward to look at her mom. In a surprise move, she dropped to her knees and rested her cheek against her mom’s arm.
A poignant moment.