Hazard in the Horoscope

by Kari Lee Townsend

  He grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

  “It’s not all glamorous, there, Detective Grumpy Pants. Yes, fire signs are passionate and dynamic, but they are also temperamental. They tend to get mad quickly, but they also forgive easily. Admittedly they are strong and full of energy, leaving others often feeling inspired by their adventurous ways. Always ready for action, they are intelligent, self-aware, creative, and idealistic.”

  “I can live with that.”

  “So can I.” I gave him a tender smile.

  “And fire definitely needs water to keep it from raging out of control, right?” he asked, with hope blossoming in his dark eyes.

  “Exactly.”

  “Then that means we’re good together, right?” He beamed.

  “Not exactly,” I hedged and his face fell. “Many signs fall under the elements, but not all signs are compatible.”

  He looked alarmed. “Don’t tell me you think we shouldn’t be together?”

  “Actually, every sign can be compatible,” I quickly amended, “it’s just some signs are more compatible than others.”

  He relaxed a little.

  “Now onto the important part. You and me. My sign is Pisces. I am artistic, musical, intuitive, and wise, but I am also compassionate and gentle. Yet I can be overly trusting, a victim or even a martyr, which leads to sadness and being fearful and wanting to escape reality sometimes. We both know I like sleeping and am not a morning person. I like spiritual themes, I don’t mind being alone, I love the water, am very visual, and most of all a hopeless romantic. I really don’t like people who act like they know everything, I hate being criticized, mistakes I made in the past coming back to haunt me, but most of all cruelty of any kind.”

  “Yup, that pretty much sums up my girl.” He nodded and then his features tightened. “I’m almost afraid to hear about myself.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got your number, too. Less compatible signs can still work, they just require more patience, which is something I have enough of for the both of us.”

  “Good, because I have plenty of tolerance and acceptance for your little quirks. I’d say we’re a match made in heaven.”

  “Something like that.” I smirked and let the word quirks slide. “Your sign is Aries. You are determined, courageous, and confident, yet enthusiastic, optimistic, honest, and passionate, which are some of the things I love most about you. Some things not so endearing are your short-tempered, impatient, moody ways. You can be impulsive and aggressive, but only when called for. You tend to like comfortable clothes, but then again, I love seeing you in your NYPD sweats. I love that you take on leadership roles and physical challenges, and your love for sports is so cute. Being delayed annoys you, as well as people who are inactive, or work that doesn’t use someone’s talent.”

  “Well, that’s not horrible. I mean who wouldn’t be annoyed by those things?”

  “That’s the point. We both have strengths and flaws, but loving someone means loving all of them.”

  “So, what are you trying to say? Are we or aren’t we compatible?”

  “Yes, we are, but we have to have the same goals for our future to be truly happy.” I swallowed hard as my gaze met his. “I’m not sure we’re on the same page.”

  “Of course we are! I want to get married and love you for the rest of my life.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why, what do you want?”

  “A baby.”

  3

  The next morning, I jumped at the chance to run an errand for my mother at Gary’s Hardware Store. I needed to keep busy, since Mitch was avoiding me now. Ever since I’d told him I wanted a baby, he had been steering clear of me like the plague. At least I didn’t have to worry about him pressuring me to pick a wedding date anymore. Work was suddenly super important to him again, and I slid way down his list of priorities.

  I knew he was freaking out over the idea of becoming a father. I couldn’t blame him, since the thought of being a mother still freaked me out as well, but Jo was right. We’d needed to have this talk before moving forward. I seriously didn’t know if this was something he could live with, just as much as I was beginning to suspect it was something I couldn’t live without.

  I stepped inside of the independent hardware store with its small-town charm, quickly shutting the door behind me. Winter had stormed into Divinity with no warning. A foot of snow had fallen this morning. I brushed off my puffy coat and stomped my boots.

  “It’s a doozy out there, Gary,” I said with a smile.

  Gary was a tall, thin man, around forty, who had tight, curly brown hair and a mustache. A good man, he was always helping the locals, and walked with a permanent limp after falling off a ladder while fixing the church gutters. He wore a smile as usual, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes today.

  “Gonna be a long winter, I’m afraid.” He cleared his throat. “Is there something I can help you with?” His gaze kept wandering to the back.

  I followed his glance but didn’t see anything unusual, so I shrugged. “Yes, actually. My mother wants me to pick up the paint she ordered from you. She says you called and told her it was in.”

  He checked on his computer and nodded. “She’s right, though she might want to wait until the temps get a bit warmer and she can open the windows to air the rooms out.”

  “I agree, but I’m sure you’re getting to know my mother. The word ‘wait’ is not in her vocabulary.” I shook my head.

  “Right,” he responded, half listening to me and still glancing toward the back door.

  Something was definitely up. I could have sworn I heard voices back there.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Just then Cole West came barging in from the back with a puffy, red eye that would be black before long, and knuckles that were scratched and red as well. “It’s all taken care of, Gary.” He stomped the snow off his work boots and unzipped his Carhartt jacket.

  “Oh my gosh, Cole. What happened? Jo is going to flip.” I rushed to his side and inspected his eye.

  He grabbed my hand gently with his huge palm and lowered it. “I’m fine, Sunny. I was doing some work in the back alley for Gary and tussled with some boxes. That’s all.” His gaze couldn’t seem to quite meet mine.

  “Since when did boxes talk?” I moved my face until he had to look at me. “I heard voices, Cole. Who was back there?”

  He rubbed his temple. “A blast from my past, trying to catch up with me. I took care of it. That’s all you or my wife need to know.” He leveled me with a serious expression that would intimidate most, but I knew he was just a big teddy bear beneath all his tattoos and muscles. “She needs to focus on having my babies and nothing else.”

  I studied him with a hard look of my own. “You don’t scare me, Sasquatch.” I poked him in his massive chest, and he just grunted. “But for Jo’s sake, I agree. She doesn’t need any more stress in her life right now, and you don’t need any trouble. I thought you were all done with that?” I knew he’d had a shady past, but I’d never really heard the details.

  “I am, I promise.” He held up his hands. “Trying to be a good citizen, is all, and helping to keep the home of my future children safe.” He nodded at me, waved to Gary, and then left the shop with a purposeful stride, not once looking back.

  “Alright, Gary, what was that all about?” I crossed my arms and stared him down. Gary opened his mouth, but I held up a hand. “Don’t even try to deny something fishy is going on, or I’ll never give you another reading again.” Gary lived his life according to his horoscope, and visited me weekly. I knew he wouldn’t risk it.

  His shoulders drooped. “Cole’s a great guy.”

  “I know that, Gary.” I put my hands on my hips. “That’s why I want to know what he’s gotten himself into, so I can help him before he does something stupid.”

  “He’s not going to do something stupid. He really is only trying to keep his town safe. I promise.”

  “That’s what Detective Stone and the
Divinity Police Department are for. The last thing we need is some vigilante hero. This isn’t a comic strip. It’s real life.”

  “I know, but some enemies require a little something more to keep them in line.” Gary actually trembled.

  I pursed my lips before finally asking, “What kind of enemy are we talking about?” I had to admit I was more than a little curious. Divinity had been quiet for three whole months. I wasn’t sure I could take much more, and admittedly; I was avoiding my own drama.

  “The kind Cole used to run around with,” Gary responded.

  My jaw fell open. “Wait, what? I knew he wasn’t exactly an angel in his youth, but I never pictured him as one of the bad guys.”

  “Cole wasn’t always the reliable, steady, gentle giant of a carpenter we all know now. He used to be a prison guard years ago and got messed up with a bad biker gang, doing his fair share of things that he isn’t proud of on the wrong side of the law.”

  “Does he have a record?”

  Gary nodded. “But once he met Faith Winslow, he changed his ways. Quit the gang, kept his nose out of trouble, moved to Divinity after the wedding, and changed his profession to the town handyman. He was happy, and he loved her something fierce. After she died, he took it real hard and went a little crazy.”

  “How crazy?” I asked, wondering if Jo knew any of this. “What did he do?”

  “Left town and went back to his old stomping ground. Gunther Corp is the leader of his old gang. He tried to reel Cole back in. I heard it almost worked, too, but Cole came to his senses at the last minute. Some say it was his angel Faith, keeping him on the right track. He nearly killed Gunther. After that, he came back to Divinity but never was the same. Kept to himself and avoided the locals.”

  “Until Jo set him straight,” I said.

  “That’s right. Jo had been friends with him and Faith both, but Cole shut her out like he did everyone else until you came to town, and well, you know the rest. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes babies in a baby carriage, and all that.” Gary chuckled. “All I can say is I haven’t seen Cole this happy in a very long time.” Gary’s smile faded. “When Gunther showed up in town this morning, I saw the look in Cole’s eyes. Fierce and protective and a little crazy.”

  “He’s not going to do anything stupid to jeopardize his new family,” I said in Cole’s defense. I might not know him as well as Gary, but Jo did. She wouldn’t be with anyone who didn’t have a good character.

  “I hope you’re right.” Gary sounded grave. “But he’s not going to let Gunther stake a claim on Divinity, either. Where Gunther and his gang go, no good follows.”

  “I’m glad you told me, Gary. I’ll be sure to let Mitch know to keep an eye out.”

  “You do that.” Gary nodded, setting ten cans of paint on the counter. “Anything else I can get for you?” he asked, and just like that the conversation was over.

  “No, thank you. That will be all.” A nagging feeling warned me that nothing was over. I had a suspicious feeling I hadn’t heard the last of Gunther Corp, and Cole’s troubles had only just begun.

  That afternoon I was headed into Nikko’s restaurant for a late lunch with Jo and Zoe. The streets were filled with a bunch of people headed to the annual Motorcycle Expo being held at the community center. I bumped into a couple of men in jeans and leather jackets who were standing by the front window. One was only about five-nine, but he was built like a Mack truck, while the other was tall but lean, with scars from a burn on the side of his face.

  “Easy there,” the tall guy said, as he caught me before I could fall on the icy sidewalk. His hand looked scraped, which made me study him closer and notice the fat lip. “Gotta watch these streets. I already fell once earlier.” He smiled as if to put me at ease.

  “Streets can be dangerous this time of year,” the other guy added with a husky voice. “You take care now.”

  He tipped his head in my direction, and then started walking down the street away from the restaurant with the other man following closely by his side, their heads tilted as if in conversation. Maybe they were looking for the expo.

  “Thank you,” I called after them. “I’ll have my fiancé, Detective Stone, get the town’s road crew to salt the sidewalks. And if you’re looking for the expo, keep going another block and turn left at the corner. You can’t miss it.”

  “Thanks,” they said with a distracted wave and picked up their pace with purposeful strides, trying to catch up to a third man headed to the expo. The mystery man was too far away for me to see what he looked like, but when he glanced over his shoulder at the men in leather, he quickened his steps.

  Shrugging, I headed into the restaurant.

  Nikko’s was an Italian restaurant with an ancient Italy theme. It competed with our local Greek restaurant called Papa’s, but they both did a fabulous business. Divinity loved its history, so most of the businesses in town had a historical theme. Papa’s was Athens and Nikko’s was Tuscany. I couldn’t make up my mind which one I liked better, so I tended to alternate frequenting both. Not to mention, I couldn’t cook to save my life. And since Granny Gert had moved out, I’d increased their business tenfold. As much as I admired the décor, I knew we weren’t here for the ambiance.

  I stepped inside and found Jo at a table right by the front window. Zoe arrived right after I did and joined us.

  “Okay, what’s up?” Zoe asked just as soon as we had ordered and the waiter had stepped away. “Is it something with the babies?”

  “No, the babies are fine,” Jo said evenly. “Their daddy, not so much.” She set her jaw, and I could tell she was trying to control her anger. “We had a fight, and he stormed off to the bike expo.”

  “Oh,” I said gravely while nodding. “I mean, oh?” I blinked innocently after catching their curious stares.

  “You know something!” Jo sputtered. “I knew it.” She slapped her palm down on the table, rattling our glasses of ice water.

  “Well, you’re wrong, because I know nothing.” I shrugged, playing with my napkin and not quite making eye contact with either of them.

  “Yeah, I’m not buying that either.” Zoe’s tone sounded so much like Jo’s. “We can’t take any more drama in this family.”

  “That’s the point,” I said helplessly, ready to wring Cole’s neck for putting me in this situation.

  “If you know something about the black eye my husband came home sporting, please enlighten me,” Jo said. “Not to mention his knuckles are swollen something fierce. Not smart when he makes a living by using his hands.”

  Our waiter came and brought our salads and bread, giving me a moment’s reprieve, but it was short-lived. As soon as he left, they stared at me expectantly.

  “I ran into him in the hardware store this morning. He tussled with some boxes in the alley. That’s all.” I quickly repeated what Cole had told me, but I knew they didn’t believe that story any more than I had.

  “‘Tussled,’ my big ole’ pregnant behind.” Jo glared at me. “Sunshine Meadows, I am a strong woman. You of all people know that. I don’t need to be protected. I want to know the truth, and I want to know it now.”

  I groaned then gave up the losing battle. “Someone named Gunther Corp showed up at Gary’s Hardware this morning. Cole had words with him in the alley and then told Gary he took care of it, whatever that means. Gary said Gunther is bad news, and that Cole was just trying to protect you and the town he loves for the sake of all of us and his future children. That really is all there was to it.”

  Jo’s shoulders wilted and her face paled. “That’s plenty.”

  “Who is Gunther Corp?” Zoe asked.

  “The leader of Cole’s old biker gang,” Jo explained. “I’ve known Cole for a long time. Years ago, we met at the gun range. He has his concealed-carry license for a handgun, while I have my pistol permit. We used to shoot together, and I was friends with his first wife, Faith. She told me she met him when he was a prison guard a couple of town
s over and involved with the Rebel Riders.”

  “Rebel Riders?” Zoe asked.

  “They are a biker gang known for their shady dealings and strong-arm tactics with local businesses,” Jo said gravely. “With Faith’s encouragement, Cole got out, moved here, and became a carpenter. Then she died while riding on the back of his motorcycle. After that, he went dark, taking the blame and looking for ways to punish himself.”

  “What did he do?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know.

  “He doesn’t talk about that time in his life except to me. I’m only telling you two because I’m worried about him. He returned to his old gang, but when Gunther was pressuring a liquor store owner to give him a cut of his profits or else, the store owner refused. Gunther planned to burn the place down. That’s when Cole knew he needed to walk away, but first he tried to stop Gunther. The fire started anyway while they were fighting. Cole had knocked Gunther out and for a moment, he almost left him there to die. Thankfully he came to his senses and went back for him, but not before Gunther got burned.”

  My stomach knotted. “Burned?”

  Jo nodded. “It was pretty bad. Gunther vowed to seek revenge someday.”

  I swallowed hard. “Where exactly did Gunther get burned?”

  Jo eyed me curiously. “On the side of his face and down his neck and chest, why?”

  “I don’t think Gunther left town after all.”

  “What makes you say that?” Zoe asked.

  “Because I’m pretty sure I talked to him earlier.”

  “Where?” Jo asked, looking alarmed.

  “Right outside Nikko’s front window.” I met her gaze and hesitated a moment before adding, “Staring in at your table.”

  Jo gasped.

  “Wow, that’s scary. Do you think Gunther will hurt Cole?” Zoe asked.

  “Cole is a big man and pretty hard to hurt.” Jo squeezed her eyes closed. “I’m more worried Gunther will come after me and the babies, to hurt him where it really counts.” Her shoulders trembled in her effort not to cry. “That’s why Cole didn’t tell me. He knew I would be terrified, but not for myself. I can hold my own, too. I just can’t even think about Cole having to go through any more heartache. Gunther won’t stop until he gets his revenge.”