by Gayle Roper
Kelli struggled to keep her face neutral as emotions swirled. Though Dane's mother thought she was lovely, she also saw her as burdened by a problem family.
A terrible thought struck Kelli: Did perfect families expect perfect potential mates for their perfect children? If so, she was doomed.
She used all her Southern charm to thank the Cavanaughs for their hospitality, smiling and waving from the passenger seat as Dane drove away. Then she sagged against her seat and stared out the window all the way home. After such a rainbow-hued day, the return to her colorless reality was particularly painful.
She hunched in her coat and stuffed her gloved hands deep in her coat pockets—and felt something hard lodged there. What in the world? She pulled it free. The slide puzzle!
She smiled sadly as she remembered the magical walk on the boardwalk in the snow. She'd been so full of hope then. With a little sniff—runny nose in the cold, of course—she began sliding the puzzle tiles around. They didn't move easily because of the sand lodged beneath and between the squares, but she persevered.
"What's that?" Dane asked, glancing over.
She kept her eyes on the puzzle. "The puzzle Clooney gave me."
Dane laughed and launched into a retelling of Clooney giving him that book.
Kelli tuned him out. What she really wanted to do was snarl at him for writing her off. Couldn't he see how good they'd be together?
Nothing there.
She wasn't nothing in spite of how she felt some days. The hairs on her head were numbered. Jesus loved her. She knew Whose she was. Still, it hurt.
She clenched her jaw. She'd handled hurt before; she could do it again. The less emotion she invested in anything to do with Dane, the better off she'd be.
Too bad he lived next door. She probably couldn't avoid seeing him, but she doubted it would be frequent. She'd seen him rarely before last night, and then he'd come knocking, which he wouldn't be doing again until—dared she hope?—Christmas.
Her heart gave a little leap. Maybe he'd remember her at Christmas and invite her again?
If he did, she'd refuse. Once a pity date, shame on him. Twice a pity date, shame on her.
Right. She'd choose to spend Christmas Day all alone instead of wrapped in the Cavanaugh family's warmth. She'd pick Lean Cuisine and Charlie over eating well and being Aunt Kelli for the day.
Her fingers pushed puzzle tiles as she blinked against tears, angry tears.
Why show me Utopia, God, only to put it beyond reach? Seems sort of mean, if you ask me.
Dane stopped for a red light, and the illumination from the lamp post on the corner fell into the car, letting Kelli see the puzzle and the number tiles in confused sequence. The only two numbers anywhere close to a correct order were the one and two, but they were reversed in the upper left corner, reading twenty-one.
Kelli blinked. "Dane! I think I know where we can find Annalise!"
Chapter Twelve
"See?" She held the puzzle out to him.
He looked at it, at her, and back at the puzzle again. He shook his head.
"I'm 1121 Central." She pointed to the two and one in the corner of the game.
"And I'm 1123."
She moved her hand back and forth several times, wiping away his comment. "Forget 1123. It's got nothing to do with anything."
A horn blew behind them, and Kelli saw the light had changed. Dane hit the gas, and they lurched forward. He glanced over again. "Okay, no 1123. But I still don't get it."
"Reversed numbers!"
"Reverse 1121? 2111? The numbers don't go that high on the block."
"Not the whole number. Just the 21. What if the address should be 1112 Central?"
Dane nodded slowly. "Certainly possible."
"Not just possible." Kelli was sure she was right. "Probable."
When Dane pulled up to the curb, Kelli was out of the car before he had his door open. No waiting for his manners this time. She hurried up the steps and opened the door to the happy, wiggling Charlie dancing about with his leash in his mouth.
"All right, baby. You can help me play delivery man."
Thank you, Lord, for something to take my mind off a certain man, for postponing the letdown. And I'm sorry I was so grouchy at You.
She grabbed the package from the coffee table and halted at the door only long enough to tether Charlie. She charged out the door and found Dane standing on her porch.
"What are you doing here?" She was surprised at the resentment she felt at his presence. Their pity date was over. He was supposed to disappear and let her lick her wounds in private.
"Where are you going?"
She stared at him in surprise. "To deliver the package."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. Why not?"
"It's late." He looked at his watch.
"It's—" She pushed up her sleeve and checked her own watch. "—eight-thirty-nine. That's not too late."
"People don't go banging on strangers' door this late."
"Maybe you don't, but Charlie and I do." She pushed past him and down the stairs.
"Kelli!" He charged after her.
"Go away, Dane. You did your duty, and I had a lovely day, but I can take care of myself from now on in."
"My duty?" He looked at her strangely. When she didn't say more, he made a frustrated sound. "You can't go tearing around alone in the dark."
She came to a stop as Charlie squatted. "I have been tearing around in the dark by myself for years. It's not your concern if I choose to continue to do so."
He blinked and took a step back at her words. "Of course it's my concern. You're my friend."
"'Nothing there,' Dane. 'Nothing there.' Remember?" She pulled a bag free from the baggie holder attached to Charlie's leash and did her part for a cleaner Seaside.
"What do you mean?"
She just stared at him.
His eyes widened. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh." She walked on, Charlie trotting beside her.
He fell into step beside her.
"What do you want now?" she asked, her tone part anger and part leave-me-alone.
"Make believe I'm not here. Make believe you're just walking with Charlie. Ignore me."
She made a little oh-please, do-me-no-favors noise in the back of her throat.
"Look, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Yeah, yeah. I bet that's what you say to all the girls you bring home."
"You're the only girl I've ever brought home."
She blinked. Really? "And that's supposed to make me feel good? It's not like I was a date or anything. I was your sacrifice on the altar of peace, remember?"
"Come on, Kelli. You said that, not me."
She stopped and, hands on her hips, glared at him. "Come on, Kelli? Come on? You're as dense as J.D.. No one likes to be called a nothing." She stalked away.
"I did not call—"
"Save it for someone who cares!"
He quickstepped to her side. She took his suggestion and made believe he wasn't there.
He spread his hands. "I was just trying to defuse the assumption you were my girlfriend."
"By saying I was nothing?"
"I never said you were nothing!"
Nothing there. Technically he was right. He never said, "Kelli is nothing." Still…
"I wasn't saying there was nothing here— " He tapped himself in the head. "—Or here." He tapped his chest. "You're smart and you have an amazing spirit." He gestured back and forth between them. "I was saying there was nothing between us! Between you and me. Nothing there."
She stopped again, eyes narrowed. "Oh. Well, that's a tad bit better." Emphasis on tad. She shrugged. "At least it's true."
He didn't like her saying that. "Maybe it's not true. Not anymore. Maybe it doesn't have to be tr—"
She cut him off. "We're here."
Chapter Thirteen
Kelli started across the street to the even numbers side. She bit her lip as she studied the white house with th
e 1112 painted on a column of the big wraparound porch on the main floor.
Dane didn't think she was nothing. It was their relationship that was nothing. And he seemed to think that would make her feel better.
Dane trailed her into the street. "Why would you ever think I'd say you were nothing? I'd never say such a thing."
She looked at him and realized he was right. He wouldn't. His father wouldn't. The brothers-in-law wouldn't. Perfect family people had no idea what the real world would and did say every day, many times a day, and with soul-killing venom.
Understanding washed across his face. "Who said you were nothing? Some terrible former boyfriend? Some mean girls in high school?"
He still didn't get it. He'd undoubtedly grown up hearing how wonderful he was and how he could do anything he set his mind to. Well, how nice for him.
He put his hand on her arm and stopped her short of the curb. She automatically looked for a car about to run them down, but off season shore-town traffic on a cold night was essentially non-existent.
"Who?" He searched her face. When she didn't answer, he repeated, "Who, Kelli?"
She had to wait until she was sure her voice wouldn't shake. "My father. My sister. Numerous men she dragged home when I wouldn't cooperate with their carnal intent." She shrugged as if it was no big deal and her heart didn't still bleed.
He looked stunned. Perfect family people were always stunned by the real world. "Your father? Your sister?"
"And various lecherous men." Her nephew Marius, too, now that she thought about it, but he wasn't worth mentioning. She'd stopped by the house to check on James. Marius was there, skipping school, a habit Nance thought funny. He'd been high, feeling good, and he offered her some of his stash. When she refused, he'd repeated what her father often said. "Y'all think you're better than we are, don't you? Well, you're not. You're nothing."
Him she had forgiven easily. He'd been eleven at the time.
She tried to pull her arm from Dane's grasp and continue her march to the house, but Dane held on. He leaned close, his nose mere inches from hers.
"If I were describing you, I'd say you were brave and wise and amazing, caring and strong, and I don't even know most of your story yet."
She closed her eyes so she wouldn't see his earnest face. His analysis broke her heart. Kind words, encouraging words from a man like Dane were everything she'd ever wanted to hear, but only if the man saying them meant them. Hearing them said out of guilt and pity was agonizing.
"Don't," she whispered.
She pulled away, and this time he let her go. They gained the sidewalk and started up the walk. There were lights on in the main floor.
"Dane!" It was a man's voice.
Dane stopped and looked around, but Kelli kept walking.
"Over here." Kelli looked back over her shoulder and saw a man on the sidewalk between 1112 and 1114, almost invisible in the shadow of a large, unidentifiable shrub.
"Greg?" Dane walked toward the man, who signaled for them to come closer.
Kelli turned back to the house. "Come on, Charlie. Let's get this over with. I'm getting cold."
***
Dane looked at his police contact dressed all in black with a black watch cap pulled low over his head. "What's going on, Greg?"
"You need to get out of here." Greg's tone left no room for arguing. "I don't care why you're here. Go. Now."
"We're delivering a package that might belong to the woman living there."
Greg's eyes widened in obvious interest. "A package?"
"It was misaddressed to Kelli's place, and we're checking to see if numbers were transposed and this is where it should go."
"You can give me the package, and we'll deliver it."
Dane knew the we was the Seaside PD. There was a story here, and he'd get it, but not tonight. Tonight there was trouble brewing, and he needed to get Kelli out of its way. He turned to her, but she wasn't there. She'd kept walking when he stopped. His heart stuttered when he realized she was on the porch of 1112.
***
Kelli smiled her most placatory smile at the giant tattooed man who opened the door. He hadn't turned on the porch light. It was late November, and he wore a sleeveless T-shirt to show off his inked arms. She fought the inclination to rub her own arms as she imagined all the needle piercings needed to create such complex and colorful patterns.
"Wadda you want?" He looked more irritated at her interruption than interested in her answer.
She told herself he was probably a nice man who just liked tattoos, but she was glad for Charlie lying quietly on the shadowy porch. He hadn't been happy when she'd ordered him to lie down and stay, but he'd obeyed. His black bulk blended with the night. If Annalise had come to the door, at least Charlie wouldn't have frightened her.
Tattoo Guy continued to look at her as if her appearance was a major inconvenience. She could hear electronic voices inside the house and imagined she'd pulled him from a favorite show.
"Does Annalise Bennington live here?"
He looked blank. "Annalise who?"
"Bennington."
"I don't think—"
A second man appeared. He was dressed in jeans and a gray hoodie that read Penn State in navy lettering. He stepped in front of the tattooed man. "Sure, Annalise is here. She's busy right now. Maybe I can help you instead."
Kelli held up the package. "This was delivered to me by mistake. I live up the block, and I think the numbers in the address were inverted. The 1112"—she indicated the number on the porch post—"was transposed to 1121."
Tattoo Guy muttered, "Idiot Sammy. He never gets anything right."
Hoodie Man held up a hand to silence his friend and smiled at Kelli with great charm. She couldn't help smiling back. He reached out. "I'll take the package for Annalise."
Kelli hesitated. "If you don't mind, I'd like to give it directly to her. I'm sure you understand."
Kelli watched the charming smile curdle around the edges. Her own smile dropped away, and she glanced over her shoulder to see what had happened to Dane. Just when she could do with his backup, he was nowhere in sight. She straightened her spine and turned back to Hoodie Man just as his large hand clamped around the wrist of her hand that held the package.
Her stomach dropped away as she stared in disbelief at the large hand with the onyx and silver ring on its third finger. Automatically she pulled against his grip. She was no match for his strength. He pulled her toward him as she scrambled backwards, stretching as far from him as she could. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Charlie's great head lift at the scuffling noises, but he held his stay.
"I said I'd take the package." Hoodie Man reached out to wrench it from her.
As he moved, two things happened. She called, "Attack!" and Dane raced up the stairs yelling, "Get your hands off her!"
At the attack command, Charlie launched himself at Hoodie Man, a black behemoth rising in one smooth, silent move. With a ferocious roar, he slapped his great forepaws on Hoodie Man's shoulders, pinning him to the side of the house. He bared his teeth inches from the man's face, snarling, saliva dripping from his great jaws. Hoodie Man squeaked in distress, his eyes wide with fear. A wet stain spread over the front of his pants.
Charlie looked at Tattoo Guy who gave a high soprano squeal that matched Hoodie Man's. He darted back into the house and slammed the door. Kelli heard the lock slide home.
Dane raced across the porch and grabbed Kelli. He pulled her to him, her hand releasing the package as he pulled her away from Hoodie Man.
The package fell to the porch with a gentle thud.
Hoodie Man apparently heard it hit about the same time he realized Charlie wasn't going to rip his throat out. He began yelling. "Get him off me! Get him off! That's my package! And, Al, you better open that door, or I'll break your neck!"
Kelli heard no lock disengage. However she did hear a car roar to life behind the house and speed off into the night. So did Hoodie Man, who began to swear i
n earnest.
Kelli leaned forward, away from the comfort and safety of Dane's arms, and laid a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Stand down, Charlie. Stand down."
Charlie looked back at her as if checking she meant her order. She pointed to the floor. "Down."
Charlie dropped to the porch, one front paw landing on the package, the cause of this whole imbroglio. His weight was too much for the fragile box under the brown wrapping paper. The box collapsed, one side blowing open with a crackling and tearing sound. Small plastic bags full of white powder tumbled onto the porch.
With amazing speed, Hoodie Man grabbed the mangled package and the expelled packets. He didn't waste time trying the locked door but took off around the side of the porch.
Suddenly men and women in black, weapons drawn, all wearing Kevlar vests with either SEASIDE PD or DEA plastered across the backs swarmed up the steps and onto the porch.
"Get out of here!" Greg grabbed Dane. "Now!"
Chapter Fourteen
Kelli was glad for Dane's hand grasping hers as they ran down the steps, passing more agents advancing, weapons at the ready. Charlie loped beside them, clearly satisfied with his successful intimidation of Hoodie Man and Tattoo Guy.
They ran down the walk. Kelli expected they'd keep running across the street, maybe all the way to 1121. Instead Dane stopped at the curb and turned back to watch.
She tugged at his hand. "This is awfully close to the action."
He grinned. "Yeah, isn't it great?"
"Dane!"
"I want to listen, to watch them." His grin widened. "Research!"
He pulled her into the shadows where he had spoken to Greg earlier. He stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. When she shivered, he wrapped his arms about her and pulled her back against him. Charlie sat beside them watching.
An ambulance pulled up, running silently.
Kelli felt chilled. "Was someone shot? I didn't hear any gunfire."
The EMTs grabbed a gurney and disappeared around the side of the house. A few minutes later they reappeared, Hoodie Man cuffed to the gurney.