A Cold Day in Hell

by Stella Cameron

  Eileen and Angel had moved slowly together, each of them scalded by past experience, but she wanted them to have a chance at something more and she thought he did, too—if he could ever stop thinking of her as his good buddy. Most afternoons, around closing time, he stopped by for coffee but their conversations tended to revolve around Aaron and Sonny.

  Damn Chuck for showing up now. He shouldn’t scare her, but he did.

  The rain had eased off, but the evening remained damp, the air heavy. Eileen hurried away from her van toward the lighted windows of Poke Around. The shop was in what had once been the conservatory of the beautiful old Oakdale Mansion and she had strung white icicle lights around the roof and outlined the windows with twinkling multicolored strands.

  Chuck’s call came only moments after Eileen’s employee, Suky-Jo, had left. They had been stocktaking—not so easy when the shop was crammed with holiday merchandise. All but the low lights were off in the patisserie and the new salon that flanked her place. Old friends ran the salon and Eileen had an investment in that, too.

  The business was hers—at last.

  Eileen could not get over the excitement she felt whenever she looked at the shop. Her shop. She had come a long way from being Chuck’s mostly ignored wife, the woman who belonged at home—who mustn’t ask for anything, so got nothing.

  Angel’s offices were also in the Oakdale Mansion Center. He was the operations manager for her brother’s construction firm and worked late. Then he liked to walk over and pick her up. Within the hour he’d be at the shop door. She wanted to see him. In the months since they had started their tentative relationship, her need to be with him grew daily.

  They circled each other and knew that’s what they were doing. Eileen wondered how much longer Angel would be satisfied with being her close friend. She couldn’t face the question tonight.

  Her cell phone rang in her purse and when she looked at the readout she saw Angel’s number.

  “Hi,” she said, smiling to herself.

  “Where are you?”

  Eileen frowned and slowed her pace. “Where I almost always am.”

  He took his time to respond. “And that is?”

  “You’re not interrogating a suspect in your former life.” He admitted to several years’ service as an ATF—alcohol, tobacco and firearms—agent but wouldn’t discuss what he’d done before that. “I’m at the shop,” she said. Or she soon would be.

  “No you’re not. What’s going on?”

  Eileen’s scalp prickled. She felt colder than she should on a humid night. He’d never spoken to her sharply like that. He had no right to. A few feet from the sidewalk, she stopped and stared at the shop. Angel stood inside the door, staring out, his face set, hard and cold, the way she’d seen it several times before, but never when he was speaking to her.

  He had his own key.

  In a way, since Aaron and Sonny met, they had almost become a family—with some notable things missing.

  His tone turned her stomach. It also made her angry. “What do you think is going on, Christian?” She winced. Her habit of calling him Christian when she was either really happy or really unhappy with him gave her away every time.

  He kept the phone at his ear but didn’t say anything. So far he didn’t know she was only yards away and staring at him.

  Angel was one of those men who took up a lot of space. When he walked into a room, there was a subtle change in the atmosphere. People looked at him, and conversation faded.

  Eileen crossed her arms. The open line between them unnerved her. She tapped a hand at her throat. When she and Angel had met, she and Matt Boudreaux, the local police chief, had seemed to be moving toward a serious relationship. But Matt had been taking his sweet time, often treating her as if they’d been married for years—and she shouldn’t mind a broken date, and another and another. Eileen’s patience had run out. She would always love Matt in a certain way, but Angel’s attention had eventually distracted her.

  Sometimes she thought Angel didn’t trust that it was over between her and Matt. He’d never made a romantic move but he did give the impression that she was his property.

  Suddenly, Angel slipped his phone into the breast pocket of his dark blue shirt and stood with his big arms spread. He gripped the door frame on either side. Those arms and shoulders weren’t just big, they were massive. She thought about his arms and the way they moved—too often. Just touching him messed with her mind.

  Eileen put her own phone away. She had about thirty seconds to see his face, his usually cool gray eyes, before she approached the door and he saw her.

  She paused again. Cool didn’t have anything to do with his face now. Emotions, none of which Eileen wanted to explore, passed over his features. She could see a white line around his compressed lips. Below his rolled-up sleeves, the muscles and tendons in his arms stood out. He squeezed the door frame.

  That’s enough. Where does he think I am? Or maybe that should be, who does he think I’m with? She hated the thought because playing the field wasn’t her style.

  She arrived in front of him and they stared eye-to-eye through the glass. He wore his dark blond hair short and at the moment it stuck up as if he’d pushed at it. He had thicker, darker eyelashes than a man should have and he lowered them to half-mast so he could fix his gaze on her face.

  Before she could find her keys, he swept open the door and stood back.

  Eileen walked inside and he locked up behind her.

  “You’re early,” she said.

  “So you thought you had more time to get back before I found out you’d left?”

  “Hey, buddy.” She walked to the back of the store where a soft red velvet couch stood, and threw down her purse. “You’re out of line. I’m not having a wonderful evening and I don’t need you to make it worse. I had to step out and deal with something. That’s all, and I don’t have to explain every move I make to you. Can I get you an espresso or a glass of wine—or a beer?”

  “No.”

  She turned toward him and found that in his naturally uncanny manner, he’d closed the space between them soundlessly. Although she was a tall woman, she was forced to look up at him. “A woman doesn’t belong out there alone, in the dark,” he told her. When he narrowed his gray eyes they became almost black. “It probably used to be that folks didn’t have to lock their doors around here, or worry about crime. Times have changed.”

  “I walked to my van. Then I walked back from my van when I’d finished my business. Really, I do appreciate your concern.” She tried a smile, but his expression didn’t change. “As I said, thanks, but I’m a big girl.”

  “That depends on what you mean by big girl.”

  There would be no discussion about what he thought it meant.

  Angel rubbed his face. “I tried to check on Sonny but his cell’s off. You know it bothers me when he does that.”

  She sympathized with his worry about his nephew. Sonny had come to Pointe Judah because he needed a strong hand if he wasn’t going to end up in jail. “He and Aaron were out riding bikes,” she said. “You know how that goes. They always go farther than they say they will.”

  “That’s fine for Aaron,” Angel said. “Sonny’s got limits. He’s got to be where I can reach him at all times.”

  She took out her phone again and placed a call.

  Angel moved closer, so close she could feel him. “You calling Aaron?”

  She nodded. Pick up the phone, Aaron.

  “So Aaron’s gone dark, too?”

  “Don’t put it like that,” Eileen said. “They’ll check in just as soon as they’re close to home. You’ve got them scared stiff.”

  He tapped his chest with spread fingertips. “Me? Crap, I’m a pussycat. I care, is all.”

  She believed the last bit, but he was no pussycat. “Sonny’s likely to stop by my place before he goes home. He likes the food. I’ll make sure he gets back in one piece.”

  The following silence unnerved Ei
leen. She took a deep breath and put the phone away.

  “Eileen,” Angel said, his voice softening, a little raspy. “I’m sorry I came on too strong. I was worried.”

  She avoided looking at him. “Forget it.”

  “I will when you do. You’re mad.”

  “No. Edgy is all.”

  He put a hand beneath her hair and held the back of her neck. “You said you weren’t worried.”

  Eileen held quite still. Her scalp tightened and she felt as if a subtle breeze lifted her hair. They might be trying to pretend they had no physical effect on each other, but it was a lie.

  If she told Angel about Chuck, how would he react? He’d never understand that she couldn’t just brush it off. “I’m not worried,” she told Angel. He rubbed her neck and she shivered. When she glanced at him, he was frowning.

  “Is there anything you’re not telling me?” he said.

  She looked at the floor.

  “Eileen?”

  “Leave it. When I can talk about it, I will.”

  He took her by the hand and led her into the stockroom. Once there, he turned her to face him and held her shoulders. “Not good enough. What is it?”

  She kept her gaze on his chest.

  “C’mon,” he said quietly. “Don’t do this to me.” He kissed her cheek, pushed her hair away from her left ear and stroked his thumb across it.

  “Stop it,” Eileen said, without conviction. He had bad timing, choosing tonight to make moves on her.

  “I’d rather not stop.” He pulled her against him. “I’ve already waited too long.”

  “Christian, don’t.” He was a big man. If he decided to hold you, you were held.

  “Sorry—I think we both need a little warmth sometimes.” He stepped back at once, but still held her arms and made it uncomfortable to look at him. It would be more uncomfortable to look away. “You’ve got a gun in your pocket,” he said.

  She felt her face heat up. “Yes, I have.”

  “I didn’t know you owned one.”

  “You’re the one who’s always saying that even people in quiet places like Pointe Judah should take precautions.”

  His fingers tightened on her arms. “Do you carry all the time?”

  This was the problem when you hung around with a man who had interrogated people for a living. “No.”

  “You keep a gun in the shop?”

  She tried to wrench away but he didn’t let her go. “Yes. Are we done now?”

  “And tonight you decided you needed to be armed when you went out to do this business in your van you talk about?”

  Eileen looked him in the eye. She felt the prickle of tears and blinked several times. “This conversation is over.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Leave it, okay? Just leave it.” Chuck had driven away. What if he’d come back and was skulking around outside, hoping she’d leave on her own?

  “I’m sorry I’m so snappy,” she said.

  “Me, too.” He looked at her mouth. “Do you want me to leave?”

  She shook her head. He was sending her messages he’d kept under wraps before. Or perhaps she subconsciously wanted that to be true.

  “You sure you don’t want to tell me what’s on your mind?” he said.

  She wasn’t sure, but she’d wait anyway.

  “Eileen, would this be a bad time to talk about us, too?”

  He’d done a great job of behaving like Aaron’s strong, benevolent uncle and her friend. And he’d done the things a woman wished for when she wanted to know a man.

  He dropped his hands.

  “No it’s not a bad time,” she told him, lying. She laughed a little. “We are so grown-up about things. I’m proud of us. We should get a prize for being reasonable.” And if she concentrated on something else, she wouldn’t keep trying to figure out what Chuck might or might not plan to do.

  “As soon as we’re sure the boys are at your place, why don’t we go to the Boardroom for a drink?” Angel said. “And something to eat. The music’s good. We might even dance.”

  “Dance? You told me you can’t dance.” Going to a club didn’t appeal to her much, but she said, “Yes. Looks like Delia and Sarah Board have a success on their hands with that place.” He was asking her out on a date. They’d had meals together before, in places like Ona’s, but there had never been any planned dates.

  Located in the middle of Pointe Judah, the Boardroom had been open just a few months. It revved up when the town revved down and there was nothing else like it around.

  Delia owned a cosmetics firm with offices and labs around the country but liked living in Pointe Judah. Her daughter, Sarah, was a chemist at the local lab and the club had been her idea.

  Eileen hitched her bag over her shoulder and turned out the lights in the stockroom. “I’ve got extra help coming in tomorrow and I need it. It’s easy enough to get part-time people but I need someone full-time.”

  “You’re working too hard,” Angel said. “Why don’t you put the gun in your purse if you’re going to keep on carrying the thing? It could fall out of your pocket.”

  She did as he suggested without comment.

  “Give me a couple more minutes,” Angel said. “If you don’t want to say anything, at least listen.”

  In the darkness, piles of boxes loomed all around and unpacked merchandise was piled high on tables. Much of the stuff on the tables sparkled, even in the gloom. Eileen glanced at the high windows but all she saw was rain speckles heavy enough to make the glass look pebbled in the glow of the icicle lights at the roofline.

  “Eileen?”

  “Okay. Sorry I got distracted.”

  “Something’s wrong—something you’re not telling me.”

  When he nailed her like this she felt trapped. “And I told you I’ll talk about it when I can.”

  “What’s changed?” he said, ever persistent. “If there’s something to be worried about I need to know what it is or I can’t help.”

  “There’s nothing to worry about.” Yet. And there probably wouldn’t be. “Angel, has Sonny done jail time?”

  A silence followed and went on so long she wished she’d kept her mouth shut.

  “No, he hasn’t,” Angel said, opening the door again. “What made you think he had?”

  “Oh, forget I said anything. He’s a lot more mature than Aaron and sometimes I worry there could be things Aaron doesn’t need to know yet, that’s all.”

  Angel propped himself in the doorway. Behind him, colored lights blinked on and off on display trees. “How did you make the leap from Sonny being mature to his having done jail time?” Angel asked.

  She felt ashamed, and judgmental. “He was sent to you for some reason. You told me he needed extra discipline.”

  “I said he needed a man’s hand, a man’s guidance. He doesn’t have a father.”

  Like Aaron didn’t have a father. Or hadn’t. And Eileen wanted Chuck out of town again. Now.

  “Look,” Angel said. “I don’t want to say this but I’ve got to. You give me the impression you think Sonny’s no good for Aaron. You’ve pegged Sonny as a bad boy.”

  “No!” Was she that transparent? “Aaron got in his own trouble. He’s not perfect.” She hadn’t told him how silently belligerent Sonny often was with her.

  “But Aaron was just acting out and he did it quietly. You told me that and I believe you. He got muddled up after his father left. Finn told me all about it. He tried to fill in but Aaron got the idea it was his fault his dad ducked out.”

  Finn Duhon was Eileen’s brother. His wife, Emma, used to own Poke Around but sold it to Eileen when she came into money from the sale of the Duhon family home. Finn had insisted she take all the proceeds because he didn’t need them. That money had changed Eileen’s life.

  “Say something,” Angel said.

  She thought she saw movement outside the front windows of the shop. Her heart missed a beat, then another, then pounded rapidly. She was get
ting too jumpy. “Leave it, I said,” she told him, hearing her voice rise. “I can’t do this now. You’re pulling me apart like you’re suspicious of everything I say. Let me be.”

  “Eileen, please—”

  “No. I’d better go home on my own. I’m not good company.”

  “I’m coming with you.” He reached for her but she tried to evade him. Angel caught her as she backed into a file cabinet. “Hold it,” he said quietly.

  She began to shake and she had to stop it. Some things had to be dealt with on her own. “I’m fine,” she told him. “I’m just overworked.”

  “You’re not fine,” he said. He pulled her against him. For an instant she resisted, but then she softened and leaned into him. “You’re making too many excuses and you’re trembling. If I’m not scaring you to death, something else is. Now tell me because I won’t quit asking until you do.”

  She wanted to close her eyes, breathe him in, hold on tight. How many times had she dreamed about this moment? Now she couldn’t relax and enjoy it.

  The phone in his pocket rang and he switched it off.

  “That could be Sonny,” she said.

  “We’re going back to your place now. I’ll deal with him when I get there. Hold my hand. You’re important to me. Let me be here for you.” He held her hand and led her into the shop.

  Nobody had ever told her such things, and he said them without pushing for anything more intimate.

  Hammering on the front door made her jump so hard her teeth ground together.

  “It’s okay,” Angel said, but he shoved her behind him and opened the door. “Hell, will you look at this!”

  Sonny just about fell inside. Drenched, covered with mud and, unmistakably, smeared with blood, he staggered and Angel stopped him from tripping.

  “What’s the matter?” Angel said.

  Eileen rushed to him. “Where’s Aaron?”

  “I gotta get back,” Sonny said, dragging in breaths, not looking at Eileen. “You gotta come with me, Angel.” He looked into Angel’s face, a hard stare as if he was sending a silent message.

  “Where’s Aaron?” Eileen felt herself losing it. “Sonny—”

  “Hush,” Angel said, but his face wasn’t expressionless now.