Very perceptive, Jack thought. “Actually, yes.”
“On a personal level? Like helping out the witness?”
“More like dating the witness.”
“Oh.”
Jack chuckled. “I was kind of expecting a rebuff from you about professionalism.”
Dax laughed loudly. “I’m in no position for that! The woman who answered the phone when you called the first time? That’s Mack. I met her through work, and not in a good way, so far be it from me to criticize you for getting involved with a witness.”
“Thing is, I thought her part of this investigation was wrapped up. I had no idea this was going to happen. So that was a mistake on my part.”
“Hey, bud, the heart wants what the heart wants. Finding the right person is hard. I hope this works out for you.”
Jack smiled. He hoped someday he’d get to meet Dax. The guy was genuinely friendly and warm, and he’d love to meet Mack too. Maybe he and Aleta could go to Texas when the whole thing was over, whenever that was.
“Thanks, Dax. And thanks for all your help. I’ll let you know if I get any more info.”
“Same from this end. Night, Kentucky.” The phone went silent and Jack smiled. Dax had told him at one point that all his friends had nicknames.
Kentucky. He had one too.
Friday’s morning light came too soon, or maybe not soon enough. Jack had tossed and turned all night long, terrified at the thought of what might happen to Aleta when Moss found out Menendez was looking for him. He talked to Cappy that morning, with a stern admonishment from his superior to keep an eye on Aleta. That was taken as permission to shadow her, and that was all the encouragement he needed.
He spent the day across the street from the pancake place, watching. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. When her shift was over at three, he followed her with two or three cars between them at all times. He didn’t really want her to know he was there, knowing that would undermine her self-confidence. When she made it home, he called from down the block. “Hey, we still on for tonight?”
“Do you think something’s changed since last night?”
He wanted to say, Yeah. A lot has changed. You’re walking around with a bull’s eye on your back, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “I was hoping it hadn’t.”
“Jack Fletcher, I don’t take underwear pictures for just anybody. Matter of fact, I’ve never taken them for anybody. Just you. You couldn’t see my face, right?” she asked, not a hint of humor in her voice.
He chuckled at her uncertainty. “Nope. But I could sure see the rest of you, and you looked amazing. And before you ask, no―I would never show them to anybody. That was from you to me. Private stuff. For no one else’s eyes.”
“Thanks. I wasn’t too worried about that. You’re a gentleman.”
“I’m not much of a gentleman in bed,” Jack replied, his voice serious.
“Good. I’ve had a gentleman in bed. They’re boring.”
“Well, okay then!” he said and laughed. “I’ll see what I can do about being not boring!”
“Will you be here at six?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You sound like a gentleman.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m dressed, so I’m a gentleman.” She giggled at that statement. “I’ll see you at six. And Aleta?”
“Um-hmmm?”
“Keep your doors and windows locked, and make sure the chain is on your door.”
“Uh, okay. Is something wrong?”
He instantly wished he hadn’t said anything, but he wanted her to be safe. “We’ll talk about it later. For right now, just make sure they’re locked. Please.”
“Okay. See you in a bit. Bye, Jack.”
“Bye, sugar.” He waited until the phone went silent before he pulled away from the curb and headed home.
Dark jeans, dark burgundy and navy plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of Tony Lamas. Jack looked in the mirror and studied himself. He needed a haircut, but it wasn’t too bad. He’d shaved again too. His facial hair grew so fast and it was so dark that if he went out at night, he needed a second shave. After adding his silver belt buckle, his watch, his signet ring, and his leather rope bracelet, he deemed himself good enough. Why she thought he was so gorgeous, he wasn’t sure, but he was glad she did.
By the time he got to her apartment, he’d already decided he’d show her the picture first thing and then they’d try to forget it and have fun. Otherwise, he’d be miserable all night and she’d think it was her. When he knocked, there was a voice through the door, and then it opened a crack, chain still intact. “What’s the password?” she asked, giggling.
He laughed. “Kisses!”
“That’s it!” She closed the door, and he heard the chain sliding away before she opened it again. “You know the password, and therefore, you may enter.”
“Thank you, m’lady,” he said, giving her a shallow bow before he headed in. As soon as the door closed behind him, he wheeled and pulled her into him, then planted a big kiss on her lips. “I’ve wanted to do that all week.”
“Good. I hoped you would. How do I look?” She pulled out of his arms and twirled. The dark blue knit dress fit her like a glove except for the skirt, which was full and fell gracefully over her curves. And her shoes―they weren’t high heels, but they showed off the curves of her legs perfectly. “Well?”
“Delicious. You look absolutely, positively delicious. I can’t wait to take a big ol’ bite out of this apple,” he whispered and drew her back up against him, then nipped her neck playfully.
“We’re never going to get dinner at this rate.” Pushing him back, she grinned up at him. “That wouldn’t hurt my feelings, but it wouldn’t be much of a first date, now would it?”
“I suppose not. We should probably be going.” Jack waited as she gathered up a light sweater and her bag. “After you, beautiful.”
“Why, thank you, handsome.” As she stepped past him, she leaned over and gave him a sweet little kiss on the cheek. Everything inside Jack melted. This was going better than he ever thought it would. He wasn’t sure what he’d thought would happen, but it was light and effortless. He hated to bring up something as unpalatable as the picture, but he had to.
Aleta directed him and they pulled up in the parking lot of the restaurant in just a few minutes. Before them stood Smokin’ Joe’s Steaks ‘n More, and Jack could honestly say he’d never seen so many apostrophes in one restaurant name. In all the time he’d lived in the area, he’d never been there, but he’d heard a lot of people talk about how great it was. “I’ve always wanted to try this place!” he said as he parked the car.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about it,” Aleta said, reaching for the door handle, but Jack reached across her and grabbed her hand. “Oh! I’m sorry! You want to open the door for me, right?”
Grasping both her hands in his, he nodded. “Among other things. Look, I’ve got something to show you and I don’t want to, but I have to. And then we’re going to forget about it and have a good time, okay?” She nodded, so he pulled the folded piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and unfolded it. “Is this the man?”
As soon as he held it in front of her, Aleta gasped. “Yes! That’s him! Where did you get that?”
“From a Texas Ranger.”
Aleta’s eyes widened. “No! Really? They know who he is?”
Jack nodded as he folded the paper up and stuffed it in his console. “Yeah, and it’s not good. But we’ll talk about that in a little while, okay? Right now, let’s just enjoy our dinner, please?”
She nodded, but he noticed a little trepidation. “Yeah. Okay. Sure.” She sat while he rounded the car and opened the door for her, then held his hand as they entered the restaurant.
The recommendations were all true. Jack could honestly say the only steak he’d ever had that was better than the one at Smokin’ Joe’s was one that he grilled himself. It was cooked to perfection and seasoned with somethi
ng incredible. “How do you like it?” Aleta asked shyly.
“It’s amazing, sugar. Really.” He’d only had two bites and he was hooked.
Aleta cut another piece of filet and held it aloft, asking before she popped it in her mouth, “Will you tell me some things about you? You know all about me.”
“Well, let’s see … I wanted to be a cop from the time I was just a little kid. My parents tried to get me to go in a different direction, but I just wouldn’t. My mind was made up. I was part of the Junior Explorers program in middle and high school, and I went straight to college to get a criminal justice degree. When I got out, I got drafted into the academy immediately, and from there, I went to KSP Post Two in Madisonville. I stayed there for a few years, and I’ve been at Post Four for six years. I love it there. Morgan Seitzer is our captain, and he’s incredible. I have the utmost respect for him. All the guys I work with, they’re all the best. I never worry that I won’t have somebody to back me up or help me pull off a good investigation. Everybody’s by the book, everybody works as a team, everybody’s self-sufficient. I mean, it’s every law enforcement officer’s dream team.”
“I can tell you love it.” Aleta chewed thoughtfully on a bite of baked potato, swallowed, and smiled. “So what do you like to do for fun?”
“Fish. Hunt. I played basketball in high school, and we have a basketball league. We play the other posts, and we play other departments, like the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department and some of the fire stations. It’s a lot of fun. Danny Foley, the sheriff over in Nelson County? His son and I played basketball together in high school. Every time we’ve played them, he begs off and asks to put Jeremy in his place. We just laugh and agree to it, because Jeremy and I like playing against each other, since we played together as kids.”
“Anything else?”
“Umm … I like to watch sports on TV. I like concerts too.”
“What kind of music? Don’t tell me―New Country.”
“Yeah. I’m a big Eric and Luke fan.”
“Well, that’s good, because I am too! I like Miranda too.”
“Me too.” He took another bite of sweet potato. The sugar, butter, and cinnamon were perfectly balanced. God, what a great meal! “Oh, and I like to hike. You’ve probably heard of LBL.” The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area was closer to Mayfield where her husband’s pastorate had been than to where Jack lived, but he went there every chance he got. “I love to hike the trails, fish in Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, and eat at some of the restaurants down there. None of our local state parks up here have dining rooms, so it’s a real treat for me. Sometimes I rent an executive cabin at Kentucky Dam Village and stay a weekend. I’ll invite some of the guys and they’ll come have a guys’ weekend.”
“And some of their girls don’t like that, I’m betting,” she said matter-of-factly.
“They have their own girls’ weekend.”
“If you were my guy and you did that, I’d miss you.”
He leaned over to where she sat on the side of the table adjacent to his and kissed her cheek. “If you were my girl, I’d miss you too.” I wish you were my girl, a voice in his head crooned. Maybe …
“Play your cards right, buster,” she said and giggled. God, he loved that sound! Her smile was huge, and he wanted so much to see that every time he looked at her. Problem was, he was pretty sure that was going to fade quickly when he told her what had to happen.
Dinner was over too soon, and he wondered what else she had planned. When she didn’t really say, he just outright asked. “So what now?”
“I thought we’d go down to the brewery for a little while.”
“You like beer?” he asked. He had so not pegged her as a beer drinker.
“I want to like it. I need you to help me pick a couple out and try them. Can you do that? Be my brewmeister?”
That made him laugh out loud. “Sure! I’d love to! Teaching a girl to like beer. This should be interesting.”
By the time they got to the brewery, the place was hopping, but they were in luck. As soon as they walked in, someone was waving, and it turned out to be Matt and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Tiki. Matt waved them over and Jack led Aleta by her elbow to the table. “Come join us!” Matt called out and pointed to the two chairs on the opposite side of the table.
“Sure you don’t mind?” Jack asked, almost yelling over the din.
“Of course not! You’re Aleta, right?” When she nodded, he explained. “I was at the hospital. I remember you from then. You sure look great. I’m glad you’re doing so well.”
“Thanks! I got to take off my brace earlier this week. I think I’m doing pretty good.”
“Tiki, you know Jack, and this is Aleta. Aleta, my girlfriend, Tiki.”
“Great to meet you!” Tiki said with a smile and held out her hand. Aleta took it and the two women gave each other a squeeze. “Have a seat! What are you guys up to?”
Jack and Matt talked about the ballgame that had been on the night before while Tiki and Aleta talked about god only knew what. Girl stuff. Jack didn’t know what that was, and he didn’t care. When Aleta excused herself to go to the restroom, Tiki leaned over, whispered something to Matt, and then said, “I’ll go with you. It’s over that way. Come on.”
They were barely out of sight when Matt leaned over to Jack. “You know how much Tiki loved Heather.” It was true―Jack’s fiancée and Tiki had been good friends, and he nodded. “She says she really likes Aleta. I didn’t know the two of you were seeing each other.”
“First date.” Jack really didn’t want to elaborate.
“Uh-huh. Does she know about …”
“Yeah. And I know more now. Haven’t gotten a chance to tell you. Complicated.” A quick glance told him the girls were on their way back. “Talk about it later. Hey, beautiful!” he said as Aleta stepped up beside him. “Ready for a beer?”
“Yeah! Order me something.”
He looked to Matt. “Smooth. Not hoppy.”
“I’d recommend the Irish red and that Scottish ale they have. Both are really good.”
Jack opened a tab at the bar and got one of each beer, then went back to the table to find Aleta, Tiki, and Matt laughing about something Aleta had seen on TV. “Oh! This is pretty!” she said as he set the glasses down on the table. “Which one’s which?”
“This is the red, and this is the ale. You try them both and the one you like the best is yours.”
Aleta took a sip of the red and looked like a baby who’d just tried its first lemon. “Ooooo. Uh, wow. Let me try this one.” She picked up the ale and took a sip of it with the same result. “Aagghhhh. Um, I dunno …”
“You don’t like either, right?” Jack asked, his face apologetic.
“I want to like one of them. I think I liked … I think the first one wasn’t so … I’ll take the first one,” she said, and he knew she was fumbling for something positive to say.
“Okay. Irish red it is. Just sip it. If it gets warm, you don’t have to drink it.”
“But you paid for …”
“If it gets warm, you don’t have to drink it,” he repeated sternly.
“Okay.” She sat back on her stool and took another sip. “Takes a little getting used to.”
“It does,” Tiki said, agreeing. “But once you do, you’ll like it, and the brewery scene will be fun. Have you been to any of the distilleries?” Aleta had lifted her glass, and she shook her head slightly. “You’ll have to get Jack to take you to a few. That’s loads of fun.”
“There’s a winery near the town where I grew up, Willisburg. I used to love going out there. It was a great time. Of course, I didn’t drink any wine.”
Tiki’s confusion was obvious. “You didn’t drink wine?”
“My late husband was a minister. We didn’t believe in drinking wine, but we’d go out there and sit in the swing by the vineyard, and eat cheese and crackers, and drink non-alcoholic wine. It was fun.”
“Ah. So you’ve never had beer before?” Tiki asked, her brows hiked up.
“No. This is new to me, but I have a new life. Jack’s helping me with that,” Aleta said, then took another sip of beer. “This stuff grows on you.”
“Like a fungus,” Matt said.
Jack laughed. “Kinda like me!”
“Yeah, just like you!” Matt answered, laughing.
They sat and talked, ate popcorn, and drank beer for two hours. At some point, Aleta let one of her shoes slide off and hit the floor, and Jack had to retrieve it and help her put it back on. It wasn’t long after that when she got down off the stool to go to the restroom again and wobbled. That was the moment when Jack decided they’d have to go when she came back.
Sure enough, when she and Tiki sashayed back across the room, Aleta had a sappy smile on her face. “Hey, babe, look at me! I look cute, huh?” Her head bobbled just a bit and she was grinning like an idiot.
“Yeah. Real cute. Time to go. I need to take you home.”
“Oh, spoil sport! I’m having a good time! I want to stay a bit longer. Can’t we?” she whined like a seven year old.
“Nope. Gotta go. Come on. Get your bag, sugar.” She reached for it and missed, but Tiki pulled the strap off the back of the chair and handed it to her. Thanks, Jack mouthed to her, and his friend’s girlfriend nodded. “Say goodbye, Aleta.”
“Goodbye, Aleta!” Aleta sang out to Matt and Tiki’s laughter. “I’m funny, huh?” she asked as Jack gripped her arm and steered her out of the brewery.
“You’re a real riot. Come on. Time to get in the car.”
She snored all the way back to the house. He hadn’t made it out of the brewery’s parking lot before she was sound asleep, with her face plastered to the glass on the passenger’s side window. Jack looked over at her every once in a while and smiled. She was right―she was cute as a bow, and he couldn’t look at her enough. By the time they pulled up to her apartment, she’d roused a little. “Where are we?”
“We’re at your place. Come on. I’ll help you get inside.”
Justice for Aleta Page 7