by Jo Raven
As Kennedy and I divested each other of our clothes and climbed into the steamy shower stall, I couldn’t help comparing what my life had been like before he’d come into it. I thought I was happy being single, as long as I had my cat and my bakery. But now I understood what Amy had been telling me all along. It wasn’t that my life wasn’t good. It was that it wasn’t full. There was still space to fill, and while I might have continued being happy before I knew Kennedy, I was certain that with my recent revelation, if I had to live without him now, I would never be happy again.
Thank heavens for meddling big sisters!
Chapter 18
I held onto Kennedy’s arm and allowed him to lead me through the busy marketplace, too preoccupied with staring at all the amazing fare around us. After a long shower and a speedy breakfast, we walked down to the heart of the marina, where fishermen and other small business owners peddled their goods. I’d never been to an open-air market before, other than the occasional low-key farmer’s stand selling fresh fruits and vegetables. So to find myself in a place like this, surrounded by fresh fish, lobsters, crabs, clams, and shrimp, was an experience.
“When did you find out about this place?” Stopping in front of a man who was just finishing putting his display table together, I looked over the selection of tuna and what I thought was halibut. Poor fishies.
“Most of my adult life. I was out for an afternoon jog when I came across it. Been coming here ever since.” Placing his hand on the small of my back, Kennedy steered us away. “So what kind of dinner are you in the mood for tonight?”
“You want me to pick?” I asked, pointing my finger into my own chest.
“That’s the idea. What kind of seafood do you like?”
“Um…” I hemmed and hawed, phrasing my words with care. “To tell you the truth, I don’t really like seafood.” It was all just so…fishy.
Kennedy’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Don’t like seafood? What do you base this on?”
I shrugged. To our left, a butcher wrapped a silver fish the size of my arm in brown paper for a waiting customer. “My mom used to make salmon when I was a kid, and even though she said you can’t taste them, crunching into those little bones always creeped me out. And shrimp? I can’t eat something that still has a tail, and the texture doesn’t let me forget that I’m chewing on an animal’s dead body.”
“I guess I can see where you’re coming from. When was the last time you had any kind of fish?”
“When I was a kid,” I said definitively. I remembered the exact day. It was a Thursday and my mother had just brought out a steaming casserole dish. One look at the neatly arranged fish—heads still on and eyes staring back at me—I ran to the bathroom and threw up. So what if I’d been coming down with the flu at the time? It left a lasting impression.
Kennedy rubbed his chin, thinking. As we walked along, he eyed all the tables, and I had a feeling I knew what he was about to say.
Suddenly, he stopped and turned to me. “How open would you be to trying seafood again? Before you answer, know that I can do things with fish that will blow your mind.”
Casting a worried look at all the kinds of fish surrounding us, my knee-jerk reaction was to tell him no, but Kennedy’s pleading was impossible to ignore. He literally stood in the middle of the market, knees bent, hands folded together under his chin, constantly mouthing ‘please’ as he shined those giant puppy eyes at me. I sighed, looking up to the sky as I said, “Fine, sure. I guess I can be persuaded, but just once,” I warned, pointing my finger at him.
Grabbing me around my waist, Kennedy swung me around in a circle, making me dizzy. “I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “But if it’s the worst thing I’ve ever tasted in my life, we never mention the ‘S’ word again.”
“Deal.” He held out his pinkie finger and I laughed as I hooked mine around it. “Now let’s find our dinner!”
***
After dropping off the fish at his apartment, Kennedy dropped me off at the bakery just in time to catch Dex and Ronnie unlocking the front door. “See you later,” I said, leaning across the seat to give him a good-bye kiss.
“I’ll be here waiting.” Kennedy flashed a heart-stopping smile and I hopped down from the SUV on legs that felt like jelly.
“You’re nearly late, boss lady,” Dex said as he held open the door.
I poked him in the side as I walked through. “That’s right. I’m the boss, so I can come in whenever I want. Na-na-boo-boo.” Tucking my purse onto the shelf behind the counter, I grabbed an apron and pulled it over my head. “So, where do you want to start?”
“I think we should finish the cleaning, and then move onto the discounts,” Dex suggested as he pinned his name tag on. “It shouldn’t take long since—”
“Um, guys.” Dex and I stopped talking as Ronnie popped his head in from the back where he’d disappeared to disarm the security alarm and flip on all the lights. The fearful look on his face instantly put us on guard.
Dexter rushed over to him, gripping Ronnie’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
I was by his side in an instant.
“I was just in the back, and the service door is wide open. Also, the alarm was already disarmed.”
Fear shot through my heart like an arrow. “Dex, tell me you set the alarm last night.”
“Of course! That’s one of the first things I do.” But as he spoke, his brows pinched together and his voice trailed off. “I mean, I don’t really remember doing it last night, but I always do it. It’s habit now.”
Frowning, I tried to think back. After handing over the reins to Dex for most of the closing duties, I wasn’t in the mode of checking the alarms like I used to be. I’d grown complacent, assuming that Dexter was handling everything. “I don’t remember doing it either.”
“Me either,” Ronnie said, his mouth pulling to the side in a regret. “I don’t think any of us did. The last thing I remember is all of us agreeing to meet up in the morning, and then heading out.”
The building’s design was split in half. The half of the lights designated for the back half of the shop were located in the back in the storeroom closet. The other half were located at the front of the store, just before walking out. It made it easy to set the alarm, extinguish the lights in the back of the bakery, and then turn out the rest on the way out.
But I had turned out the lights to the back half after putting my cleaning supplies away last night.
“It’s my fault,” I said, explaining this to them. “I didn’t even think about it, and it screwed up everyone’s flow.”
“It happens to the best of us,” Dex said, throwing his arm over my shoulder and drawing me into his side. “Did it look like anything had been damaged or taken, Ron? I didn’t smell any smoke when we came in.”
Ronnie shook his head. “I glanced around, but nothing looked out of place. It’s as if someone just walked in, punched in the code, and walked back out.”
That didn’t make any sense to me. Who broke into a place and didn’t do anything? I immediately thought of our arsonist. After the fire and Dex’s attack, I wasn’t taking any chances. After performing a quick sweep of the place to be sure nothing was smoldering anywhere, I called the police.
“There’s no evidence of forced entry, and nothing appears to have been taken,” the lone officer on duty said after searching the place. “Are you certain you or one of your employees didn’t simply leave the door open?”
“They wouldn’t do that,” I replied adamantly. Despite the fact that none of us had remembered to set the alarm in the first place, I was certain none of us would have overlooked something so obvious. “The only time that door opens is to take out the trash and I’ve taught my employees to always lock up behind them.”
“Well, all I can tell you is what I found, ma’am. Or, rather, didn’t find.”
“Can’t you dust for fingerprints or something? Someone broke in here last nig
ht. It was probably the same person who broke in here last time and set my kitchen on fire and sent my friend to the emergency room.”
“Ma’am, I understand that you’re upset, but there are certain procedures we have to follow, and there just isn’t enough evidence here to warrant a deeper inspection. For now, all I can do is tell you to double check your doors and locks before you leave, make sure everything is in place. If you still feel uncomfortable after that, you can always look into having cameras installed.”
“So that’s it? Have cameras installed?” I couldn’t believe the nerve of this guy! He was acting as if I were just being a hysterical woman. I could tell by his bored expression that he wasn’t really hearing me.
“They’re a good investment. A lot of businesses around here are doing it.”
Beside me, Dex stood like a marble column, his arms crossed over his chest, his jaw flexing, he was so irritated. At least I wasn’t alone in my opinion. “I’m underwhelmed by your concern for this case. What are the chances of us getting another officer out here?”
“Slim, sir. The department is understaffed and stretched thin. Frankly, if I hadn’t already been in the area when your call came in, you might still be waiting.”
“Well, thanks for nothing, Officer…” –Dex leaned in, narrowing his eyes on his badge—“Findlay. Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be related to Mrs. Findlay?”
“As a matter of fact, I do happen to be,” he said tightly. Static came over his radio, followed by a woman’s voice. Tilting his head, Officer Findlay responded and headed for the door. “You all enjoy the rest of your day, and feel free to give us a call if you need anything else.”
“How about a quarter so we can call someone who gives a shit,” Dex muttered as we watched Findlay walk out, the bell overhead chiming as the door slammed shut behind him.
By the time the three of us shook off our animosity at the arrogant cop and got our heads back in the game, we barely had enough time to whip the place into shape before the doors opened. Many times, I’d had to call Dex or Ronnie into the kitchen to help me with small tasks. Having only two hands made it difficult to keep up with demand. I should have been in early to get the baking started so there would be fresh goods to sell instead of debating who was responsible for an open door and disabled alarm. All morning long, I was rushing to beat the foot-traffic that steadily came through the door. Thankfully, the discount goods were plenty and people liked getting a deal.
By the time lunch rolled around, we were so swamped that I had to call in reinforcements. Thankfully, Amy and Hope were available, but I hadn’t been able to reach Kennedy. I didn’t have time to worry about where he was or what he was doing, though.
Having extra hands on deck enabled me to send Dex and Ronnie off for an extra-long lunch, while the girls and I stayed behind to work the shop. Because neither Amy nor Hope knew how to operate the ancient register, I’d abandoned the kitchen to man the counter. While Amy took orders, Hope packaged them up, and I rang them out. We had a pretty good system going and were on one hell of a roll by the time the last customer walked out the door.
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I hurried to the front door and flipped the sign over, letting everyone know we were on a one-hour break. Turning back, I grinned. “That was insane!”
“I know! I’ve never felt more invigorated in my life. Thank you for asking me to help today.” Amy was beaming, her smile stretched so wide all her teeth showed.
“You’re thanking me for asking you to work?” I asked, pulling off my apron and tossing it on the counter.
“The only time I leave the house is to chauffer Ariel to and from school and to buy groceries or extra boxes of tissues. So, yes, thank you for introducing a little variety into my day.”
“I’m just here for the free donuts,” Hope said as she walked over to a table and popped a chocolate glazed donut hole into her mouth.
Amy and I grabbed a muffin each and I brought a menu from a local Italian bistro with me as we joined her.
Hope eyed our muffins. “Oh, sure, make me look like the fat one.” She shoved two more holes into her mouth and glared at us as she chewed.
Stifling a laugh, Amy shook her head as she picked the paper from her muffin. We made the most of our lunch hour, ordering take-out and talking shop until the clock ran out and we got back to work. By the time Kennedy showed up to take me home, I’d almost forgotten that he had been MIA.
“Hey, stranger. Where were you today? I tried calling.” I buckled up as Kennedy merged into traffic.
“Sorry, sweet, something came up.” His stiff tone and the vicious way he was white-knuckling the wheel put me on alert.
My first thought was that I had done something to upset him. My second thought was that he had found out about me breaking my promise. I hesitated to press him for answers, not wanting to get into a fighting match heading into what was supposed to be a great evening together.
But then I realized he’d called me by my pet name, and I breathed a little easier. Laying my hand on his thigh, I squeezed. “Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it.” Please don’t let anything bad have happened to one of the guys. With the kind of danger he and his crew faced each day, it was always a possibility that one of them would get hurt, but that didn’t mean I didn’t dread hearing those words.
As Kennedy pulled into a parking spot, I realized he’d brought us back to my condo. “Are we eating dinner here?” I asked, confused.
Turning off the engine, Kennedy took my hand and shifted his body to face mine. “I was on my way over today to see if you had any candles I could borrow for dinner, when Jack called. Abby, there’s no good way to say this, so I’ll just say it. Someone broke into your apartment.”
Chapter 19
It was escalating. After Kennedy’s admission, I tried to run inside and see what was taken, but he held me in place, preventing me from getting out of the SUV. In the following minutes, I learned there had been a fire. A neighbor arriving home after a late night out saw smoke billowing from an open window and had called for help. The emergency crews had arrived fast and were able to put out the fire, containing most of it, but I had lost a lot.
According to the incident report, the fire had started in my bedroom and was guided by a trail of clothing laid throughout the condo to ensure maximum damage. Anything that hadn’t been burned was soaked from the hoses carried in by the firemen. I would have to endure another investigation and get the all-clear before I could even think about going inside to assess what was salvageable.
My iron hold on sanity had apparently met its end. In a blink, I burst into tears. It was the single most humiliating moment of my life. I couldn’t stop, and covering my face with my hands only served to further reduce my ability to breathe. I ended up snorting and making all kinds of sloppy and disgusting sounds. Personally speaking, I was an ugly crier—snot, puffy eyes, red nose, blotchy face. There was no benefit to it. Crying made me resemble a troll, and I really disliked trolls.
“Look on the bright side,” Kennedy said, rubbing my back and shoulders. “You weren’t home when this happened, which means you didn’t have to face this psychopath. And Wilbur wasn’t here either. He’s safe at my place. You and he both have some of your things there, too, so you’re not completely bereft. Plus, this means that you and I get to spend more time together, since you’ll be moving in with me until the repairs are done.”
As positive as he was trying to be, I wasn’t fooled. Kennedy wasn’t the kind of man to just smile and shrug his shoulders. He was just as upset about this as I was which was evident by his take-charge attitude. Only from his perspective, this was an issue of personal safety. It would only give him more reason to watch over me, which I both liked and disliked. I liked having my freedom, and I really liked not having to answer to anyone but me, but I had to admit that it was nice to know I had someone looking out for me.
We headed back to his apartment, and as predicted, as soon as I was able to pull myself to
gether, Kennedy started in on the new rules. “As of now, I am taking a leave of absence. I already put in for time off this morning, so be prepared. You’re about to gain an extra shadow. It’s obvious to me that whoever this guy is, he’s gunning for you. So, until he’s behind bars, I’m going to be with you everywhere you go.
“If you need to go shopping, I’ll drive you. If you want to take a walk, I’ll walk with you. If you want to meet your friends for any reason, I will take you and pick you up at an agreed time and place. I’ll be doing a security sweep of the bakery every morning before you open, and you’ll no longer be sending Dexter or Ronald anywhere if it means you being alone, I don’t care what the circumstances are.”
My eyebrows lifted, and I felt my stomach twist with unease.
“Didn’t think I knew about that, did you?” The side of Kennedy’s mouth crooked up, but he looked far from being happy. “This is serious, Abigail. If you’re not going to take your own safety seriously, then I am prepared to do it for you. From now on, you do nothing alone.”
“What about going to the bathroom?” I asked smartly.
“If you so much as pass gas, I’m going to know about it.”
“Ken!” I shouted, appalled. “Unless there’s a fart monster that might shank me while I’m on the toilet, I seriously think you need to dial it down a notch.”
“Hey, stranger things have happened,” Kennedy said, smiling widely. “The bathroom was a joke, but if anything happens outside of these walls, it happens with me present. Got it?”
Pursing my lips, my gaze slid away. I didn’t like the idea of having my every move monitored. Privacy had always been a big deal for me. Hell, I was bathing myself by the age of three and by ten I’d chosen to have a bedroom in the basement because I refused to share one with Amy. Giving in to Kennedy’s wishes would be a big concession for me.
“Do we have an understanding, Abigail?” Kennedy lowered his head and looked me in the eyes, waiting for his answer. I knew by his stern countenance, there was only one answer he was going to accept.