Parker Security Complete Series

by Camilla Blake

  “I suppose that would be all right. Your father will be back in a few days, so I think it’d be nice if we all went out and got dinner at some point. You know, reconnect as a family. I don’t feel that’s happened much lately, and I know that your father wants to make sure everything is okay with you. He has his concerns.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It was very upsetting to him to receive a call like he did while he’s away on business. Do you think he’d welcome that sort of news? Do you think that’s the sort of thing he wants to hear?”

  “Well, you didn’t have to call him. You didn’t have to tell him at all.”

  “I don’t keep secrets from your father. You don’t think this is the sort of thing he’d want to know about?”

  “I think it probably could’ve waited until he got back, if you felt you had to tell him. But seeing as I’m an adult, no, I don’t think it’s up to you to discuss my sex life with him.”

  My mother recoiled as though I had actually reached out and slapped her. “I was not discussing your sex life,” she snapped. “I was informing your father that the person he hired to look out for you was completely taking advantage of you.”

  “That’s not what happened, Mom.”

  “It certainly looked that way to me. He’s lucky I didn’t call the police.”

  “And tell them what? That you had just caught your adult daughter in bed with a man whom she invited into that bed with her?”

  “That’s enough!” my mother said. “I’ve heard more than I can take. Go and enjoy this little trip of yours and maybe take some time to think about what you really want and what is important to you. You seem lost, Stella. And because you’re lost, you’re acting out. I think you need to clear your head and focus on what it is you want.”

  I started to respond to her comment about me “acting out” but then decided not to. We could argue about this forever, it seemed. So I left the atrium, though I turned and looked over my shoulder before heading left down the hallway and saw that Gareth had returned and appeared to be consoling my mother. I hated that she was making me out to be this awful person and acting like I was doing it to personally insult her.

  I went up to my room and packed a little bag. I couldn’t get over to Cole’s place soon enough.

  Chapter 23

  Cole

  Somehow, I made it through the weekend workshop. Honestly, I probably would’ve contemplated suicide had Stella not snuck into my place the other night, and then told me she’d be coming back Sunday. If I hadn’t had that to look forward to, having to spend the entire weekend surrounded by these people would have been enough to send me right over the side of the Golden Gate Bridge. There were probably forty other people in the workshop, most of whom clearly appeared to be in need of this sort of training. The guy I sat next to kept checking out the woman in front of us, who was wearing an awfully short skirt and cleavage-baring blouse. It seemed that everyone there was there because they’d done something wrong—fortunately, we didn’t have to go around the circle and cop to what we had done. I didn’t really learn anything that I didn’t already know, but the thought of having to endure another weekend workshop like that would be enough to keep me from crossing any boundaries that I shouldn’t.

  Except… when Stella knocked at my door later that night, I happily answered it and welcomed her in. I wasn’t technically crossing any boundaries, was what I told myself—I’d been fired, so she wasn’t a client anymore.

  “I have several days,” she said. “I told my mom I was going to visit a friend. So, I just have to lie low and we can basically do whatever we want. Luckily, my mom wasn’t home when I left, so I rode your bike back over here.”

  For that night, “whatever we want” consisted of watching some Netflix, ordering Thai takeout, and having sex on every available surface in my apartment. At one point, we were over at one of the windows that overlooked the street, me giving it to Stella from behind, her on full view for anyone who dared to look up, though people walking through a city seldom look up unless they’re sightseeing.

  “That wasn’t exactly lying low,” she said after that round was over and we were back on the couch, “but that was seriously awesome.”

  I loved that she was willing to let loose with me like that. I knew she’d been self-conscious about the scars she had, but I really did think they were beautiful, and even if I hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered.

  We stayed up most of the night, eventually falling asleep and not waking up until very late the next morning, almost afternoon, due to my phone ringing. I blearily reached for it, knocking it off the bedside table before I was able to retrieve it and pick it up. It was Jason.

  “Hi,” I croaked.

  “Hey, man, how’s it going?” Jason said. “You sick?”

  “No.” I coughed. “Just need a drink of water.”

  “Feels like it’s been a while since I last saw you. Not used to having the office to myself so much.”

  “Well, you might be seeing a whole lot more of me,” I said. “I’m going to touch base with Drew at some point today and hopefully find out when he’s going to want me to come back in there.”

  “Yeah, that’s kind of why I’m calling, actually. Well, and to see how you’re doing of course. Drew drove down to San Jose to meet with George Stevens. You know him?”

  “The MMA promoter guy?”

  “That’s the one. We might have a nice new contract coming up with them, but George wanted to talk with Drew in person. So, he’s doing that right now, which is why he asked me if I’d give you a call and see how everything went.”

  “If you really want to know—”

  “Why don’t we do it in person, though?”

  “Oh. Okay, sure.”

  “You want to come over in a little bit? Emmy and I were going to do lunch.”

  I glanced at Stella, who was starting to stir next to me, the sheet slipping down, exposing her breasts. God, she was delicious. “Could Stella come?” I asked in a low voice, realizing too late that it was probably a mistake to ask that.

  “Stella?” Jason said. “As in Stella Brookshire? You’re still hanging out with her?”

  His tone, though, wasn’t angry, just curious. “Um, yeah,” I said. “It’s kind of a long story.”

  Jason laughed. “Oh, boy. I bet it is. Well, sure. I’m not sure if this is what Drew had in mind, but I guess you’re not technically employed by the Brookshires anymore, anyway—right?”

  “Righto,” I said. “What time should we come over?”

  “One?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Bring your appetites.”

  When I got off the phone, Stella yawned and opened her eyes. I leaned over and kissed her, cupped one of her breasts in my hand and gently squeezed her nipple. She groaned a little and stretched.

  “God, what time is it?” she said. “I feel like I’ve been asleep for a year.”

  “It’s... late,” I said. “That was Jason, my co-worker I told you about—the one who’s dating Isa’s sister. He invited us over to his place for lunch. Want to go? He’s actually an incredible chef.”

  “I would love that,” Stella said.

  We eventually got out of bed, though I would’ve been happy to stay there all day. Still, it would be nice to see Jason and Emmy, and Jason was a hella good chef, so I knew whatever he’d be making would be delicious. And I was hungry—I had definitely been exerting myself the past twelve hours.

  Though it was unlikely we would run into Stella’s parents, she didn’t want to take any chances, so I gave her one of my baseball caps and an old pair of aviator sunglasses. She tied her hair back and, with the hat pulled down low, she looked pretty incognito. We decided to walk to Jason’s, and we left with enough time to take a quick detour to say hello to Jeremiah. He wasn’t there at his usual spot, though, so we continued our walk up into Nob Hill.

  Emmy answered the door when we knocked, and delicious aromas immediately began
wafting out into the hallway.

  “Cole!” she said, giving me a hug before turning to Stella. “It’s so nice to meet you; I’m Emmy.”

  It still caught me a little off guard to see Emmy, who was the identical twin sister of a DJ I really liked.

  “Thanks so much for having us,” I said. “I’ve been feeling a little bit like a pariah.”

  “You are not a pariah!” Emmy said. “Not even for a second.”

  “Drew’s bark is always worse than his bite,” Jason said, coming out of the kitchen, a dish towel thrown over his shoulder. I introduced him to Stella.

  “Ah, nice to meet the person who’s gotten Cole into so much trouble,” he said, but he was smiling when he said it and Stella laughed.

  “Is that who I am?”

  “You might be—but I can tell you, I’ve never seen the kid so happy before, so I sure as hell am not going to be the one to tell you to stop.”

  “Whatever you’re making smells delicious,” I said.

  “It’s almost ready. Just gotta get the asparagus out of the oven and then we’ll be set. I’d say it’ll be done in about five minutes. Either of you want a beer?”

  “Sure,” I said. I glanced at Stella. “You want one?”

  “Um... okay, why not!” she said. “I usually don’t drink and definitely not so soon after waking up, but... I guess it’s already afternoon.”

  I followed Jason out to the kitchen and got two beers, one of which I gave to Stella. She took hers back out into the living room to chat with Emmy, and I hung back and watched Jay cook.

  “Just waking up?” he said, giving me a devilish grin. “That explains why you sounded like you had just smoked an entire pack of cigarettes when I called you.”

  “Yeah—sorry about that. I don’t usually sleep that late.”

  “Must’ve been up all night.”

  I glanced toward the living room. “We were definitely having a good time.”

  Jason pulled a tray of asparagus out of the oven and set it down on the stovetop. He wiped his hands on the dish towel and came over and stood next to me. “Listen,” he said. “I’m happy for you. I don’t even know this Stella person, but I can tell she’s cool, and beyond that, I can see how happy she makes you. That’s awesome.”

  “Thanks, man,” I said. “I really appreciate that. It kind of sucks when you’ve got a bunch of people who are rooting for things to go the other way. Or to just not even happen to begin with. And, hey, if we’re even half as happy as you and Emmy are, then... I’ll be cool with that.”

  “She’s great, isn’t she?” he said, that dreamy look settling on his face. “Never in a million years would I have thought things would turn out like this, but I’m so glad they did. It’s crazy the way things work out sometimes. Here, will you carry this into the dining room?”

  He handed me a platter of shish kebabs, perfectly marinated hunks of meat speared amongst bell peppers, summer squash, red onion, tomato.

  “Damn, these smell good.”

  We brought the food out and set it on the dining-room table, and Stella and Emmy came over and sat down.

  “This food looks incredible,” Stella said.

  “Yeah, Jay, you really outdid yourself this time,” I said as I took my seat. On the table in front of us was the platter laden with shish kebabs, and next to that was some sort of brightly colored pasta salad, alongside a serving dish with the roasted asparagus.

  I loaded my plate up with food and happily sat down and began to eat. It tasted better than probably ninety-five percent of the food I’d ever had at any given restaurant.

  “You know, you should really open your own restaurant,” I said. “It’s too bad that’s not something you could do in your spare time. You know, like on the side.”

  “He’s not going to be having that much spare time,” Emmy said. She and Jason exchanged looks, both of them trying to hide their smiles.

  “Wait—what?” I said.

  Jason grinned. “Well... we’ve got some news. We haven’t told anyone yet, but... Emmy’s pregnant.”

  “Really?” I said, looking first at Jason then at Emmy.

  “Congratulations!” Stella said. “That’s wonderful.”

  And it was wonderful, because I could tell how psyched the two of them were about it. And they’d be awesome parents, of course.

  “Which also means,” Jason said, “we’re going to do right by Emmy’s parents and get married.”

  “I can totally see that being the first thing my mother asks when I tell her,” Emmy said. “Of course, this means she’ll actually have to leave the house for the wedding. She’s agoraphobic,” she added to Stella.

  “Maybe you could have the wedding there,” Stella said. “My best friend is getting married soon, and the wedding planning has been such a headache for her that I’d probably wind up agoraphobic, too.”

  “We’re definitely not going to plan a big wedding,” Emmy said. “I don’t think I could deal with that headache, either. Just something small, for family and close friends.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jason said to me, “I’m not going to ask you to be the best man or anything.”

  “Aw, I wouldn’t mind,” I said—and I really wouldn’t have. I was happy for them. Jason was a good guy, and it was clear that he and Emmy had a great relationship. If anything, it gave me hope that maybe things really could work out happily ever after.

  For the next few days, I tried to just enjoy myself—which, with Stella right by my side, wasn’t that difficult at all. I didn’t let myself think about what it was going to be like when I went back to work, whether perhaps Drew was going to demote me or something, assign me to overnight shifts at one of the assisted-living facilities we had a contract with. The monotonous, entry-level stuff. It was depressing to think about, so I tried not to, at least not for now. I didn’t mention anything to Stella, either, about what Marty had told me, or ask her if she’d gotten any more weird text messages. She’d left her phone out on the coffee table or the kitchen counter a few times, and it would’ve been easy enough for me to snoop, but I didn’t want to do that. The first time at the pond truly had been unintentional; I didn’t want to start doing it intentionally. All I really wanted was to enjoy myself, and enjoy this woman who had found her way into my life and was making me hope—perhaps against my better judgment—that something extraordinary was maybe possible for me, too.

  Those few days flew by, and of course I didn’t want Stella to leave, though I knew she couldn’t just move in, either. Or could she? That didn’t really seem like the sort of conversation to be having with someone after such a short time. In a way, the past few days had been like a vacation—no work, just hanging out with my girl.

  “I will see you soon,” Stella said when her Uber showed up. “I promise.”

  I gave her a kiss. “Good,” I said. “And if you’re thinking of sneaking back up the fire escape, just call me first and I’ll let you in through the door.”

  I waved as they drove off, and then went back inside. The apartment felt strangely empty. I couldn’t stay in there right now, so I grabbed my bike and headed out for a ride. I rode down to see if I could find Jeremiah, but he wasn’t there. I asked a couple of guys if they’d seen him around, and they said he’d gone back up to Sacramento but would probably be back in a few days.

  I kept riding. I rode all the way out to Ocean Beach, took the Great Highway till I reached Golden Gate Park, cruised through there, and then finally decided it was time to head home; my legs were starting to feel worked.

  I decided to stop and get a kombucha at the little market near my place. It was on the opposite side of the street, so I glanced over my left shoulder to see if I could cross. There were a few cars behind me. I slowed a little, and one of the cars passed, swinging wide into the other lane before smoothly accelerating ahead of me. The second car, though, hung back. It was a black SUV, an Escalade or a Suburban, one of those huge behemoths. Why did the biggest cars always have the w
impiest drivers? I gestured with my arm, waving them on. I supposed I could just cut in front of them and be on the other side of the street, but it would make more sense if they just—

  It happened before I even knew what was happening. There was the screech of tires on pavement, and the SUV lunged forward—this I only realized because I happened to look back and caught sight of it a split second before the front side of the vehicle smashed into me. I flew off my bike and landed in an unceremonious heap on the sidewalk. I lay there for a moment, taking inventory. I was obviously still alive; the pain screaming throughout my entire body was a clear enough indicator of that. I tried to sit up and managed to do so, though there was a sharp pain in my right shoulder.

  “Oh, my God!” a voice said. “Did that car just hit you?”

  There was a woman standing above me, and then another woman, and then it seemed there was an entire crowd of people there, someone saying they were calling an ambulance, someone else screaming about this being a hit-and-run.

  “Just stay down,” one of the women said, kneeling next to me. “That car got you pretty good.”

  “I’m okay.” I was definitely bleeding from various cuts and scrapes, though, and my whole body kind of felt like one big bruise, with the epicenter of pain being there in my shoulder.

  “Your shoulder’s dislocated,” the woman said, eyeing me. “I’m a nurse,” she added. “We can relocate it if you want. I’m sure you’re in considerable pain.”

  “Yeah, that’s one way of putting it,” I said, gritting my teeth. I’d dislocated shoulders before—I knew the pain had to get a whole lot worse before it got better. “But, yeah. If you can... help, that would be great.”

  “My name’s Teri,” the woman said. “Try to relax your arm the best you can.”

  “Easier said than done.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as she bent my elbow, the movement sending a swell of searing pain down my side, up my neck, all the way into my brain. This pain continued to build as she moved my arm; it felt like it was going to completely overtake me. In some ways, it wasn’t so different from an orgasm, except it felt completely awful. I was probably making the same face, though, sitting here on the sidewalk, surrounded by people. The thought made me laugh, and that did distract me from the pain enough that I didn’t pass out when the joint finally slipped back into place.