by Terri Reed
Johnny scratched his forehead. “Curtis has the shop sealed up for now. Get a good night’s sleep then decide what you want to do in the morning.”
Ellie’s dull headache had blossomed into a thud-thud-thud that would surely keep her up. She groaned.
“You okay?”
She laughed; a mirthless sound. “If the incidents at the shop weren’t bad enough, now Kerry…” She shook her head. Please, Lord, let Kerry be okay. “His poor parents. He has a little brother, too. I can’t imagine what they’re going through.”
“I don’t know him. But…” He let the words dangle out there, as if he wanted to say more but something was stopping him. “Let’s get inside. You don’t mind Duke?”
“Of course not.” Ellie leaned over and patted the dog’s head. As they climbed the stairs to her apartment, she glanced over toward her mother’s house. The flickering of the TV screen was visible through the family room window. Her mother was probably dozing on the couch.
Ellie unlocked the door and stepped into the small space. She felt for the light switch on the wall and flipped it, casting the room in a warm glow. The place wasn’t much, but it was hers. All hers. She had lived alone in Buffalo, but her boyfriend had been a constant critic of her choices in furniture, paint colors and TV shows. She couldn’t do anything without his comments. All negative.
It was a wonder she’d stayed with him so long, but it’s amazing—and sad—what someone will do when they think they have no choice. She had mistakenly thought her boyfriend was her ticket out of this Podunk-like town and to independence, but he had trapped her in an even crueler prison. It was only after she realized he was cheating on her that his pleas of “don’t leave me” and “you’ll never find anyone else” fell on deaf ears. If her choice in life was him or no one else, she’d gladly settle for the latter.
“Nice place,” Johnny said, shifting his stance in the doorway.
“It’ll do. For now.” Ellie turned to face Johnny and a warm rush surrounded her heart. Johnny was someone. Inwardly she smiled. Her range of emotions was all over the place. She was in no position to be thinking romantic thoughts toward anyone, especially Johnny Rock, the law-enforcement agent responsible for her brother’s wrongful arrest.
The man investigating a shipment of drugs to her store.
Ellie rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the knots. “Stay for tea?” She hoped her tone didn’t sound desperate.
“Sounds good.” He closed the door behind them and Ellie thought about her mother next door. What would she say about her entertaining a man in her apartment? She quickly shook away the thought. They were only having tea.
Besides, they had Duke for a chaperone. She smiled inwardly at the silly thought.
Ellie opened the cabinet on the far wall, a space that had been converted into a small kitchen. She pulled out two mugs and two tea bags. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed Johnny wince as he tugged off his hoodie.
“You should probably get that cut checked out,” Ellie said, coming around to his side of the island.
His mouth twisted as he shook his head. “Nah.”
Ellie held up a finger and crossed to the bathroom. She didn’t exactly have a medical kit, she wasn’t even sure she had a Band-Aid, but she did find cotton balls, alcohol and a princess Band-Aid left over from when her niece had visited.
She gathered up the supplies and marched back into the kitchen.
“I’m no Florence Nightingale, but we need to clean your arm.” She lifted her eyes to meet his.
Something unspoken stretched between them. Johnny searched her eyes. It appeared he wanted to say something when he suddenly glanced down at the princess bandage on the counter and broke the spell. “Is that all you have?” He gave her the cutest lopsided smile. “I think princesses might cut into my toughness factor.”
“There’s no danger there.” She laughed nervously at the boldness of her comment. Face firing hot, she focused all her attention on his arm. His muscled arm.
No, no, no.
She blinked a few times. His injury. Focus on that.
She picked at the edge of the duct tape stuck to his flesh. Ellie got hold of a corner between her index finger and thumb. “This might sting a bit.”
His eyebrow arched as if to say, “You think?”
“I remember someone telling me he knew what he was doing.” She mimicked his expression.
“Just do it already.”
“One, two, three—” She yanked at the duct tape and Johnny let out a laugh-groan.
“Oh, man, a princess Band-Aid is looking better by the minute.”
Ellie laughed. “Sorry.” She peeled back the paper towel sticking to his wound. It was her turn to wince. “This might need stitches.”
Johnny inspected the wound. “It’s fine.” She had a feeling he was going to say fine no matter how it looked.
“Well,” Ellie said hesitantly, “let me wash it out.”
“Hurry up and just do it, then.” Johnny flexed his muscle and glanced away as if bracing himself.
Holding the alcohol and cotton swab, she pulled her head back and studied him. “You’re afraid of a little rubbing alcohol?”
He cut her an annoyed sideways glance. “Do it already.”
Ellie rubbed the cotton swab as gently as she could over the wound. Johnny flinched.
“Almost done,” she said reassuringly, just as she would do if she were cleaning a skinned knee on her niece.
Ellie tore the wrapper off the Band-Aid and picked off the tabs from the adhesive. She lined up the princess bandage with his wound and pressed it to his skin. “There, there,” she said with humor in her voice as she smoothed her hand over the Band-Aid.
Johnny traced the creased edge of the bandage and a smile tilted the corners of his mouth. “Thanks.”
Ellie spun around, needing to create some distance. “No problem. Still want that tea?”
“What? No lollipop?”
“Ha, ha.” She filled the kettle, set it on the stove and turned the dial to high. Deep inside her purse, she could hear her phone ringing. She plucked it out and saw her brother’s name on the caller ID.
“Hey,” she said when she answered.
“You okay? Roger called to say there had been some sort of shooting at your store. He said he was closing up his sub shop and saw the commotion. I wasn’t sure if he was pulling my leg.” Greg’s voice held a hint of humor, as if he feared he had been the subject of a prank and didn’t want to fall for it.
“I’m fine. And, yes, it’s true. Some kid with a BB gun.”
“Johnny was with you?”
“Yeah.”
Her brother made a sound she couldn’t quite distinguish. If Johnny hadn’t been standing right across the island from her, she would have told her brother to mind his own business, that, yes, she remembered what Johnny’s false accusations had done to their family, but she had her own reason for hanging out with him.
Something in her heart shifted at the sight of Johnny’s muscled bicep with the sweet little princess Band-Aid.
He was her protector. Yes, her protector. Nothing more.
She turned her back to Johnny and leaned on the counter, crossing her one free arm over her middle. “I have to go.”
“You probably should run over and tell Mom before she hears it from one of her friends. She’ll be worried.”
“Yes, Greg…” She dragged out the words. He was right, but she hated to be told what to do.
“One more thing. Sorry it’s late notice, but it looks like it’s going to be a nice day tomorrow. Beth and I thought we’d have a few friends and family over for a last cookout of the season. Might be snowing soon, never know around here. Why don’t you come over?”
“What time?”
“How about after you close the shop? You close around five on Saturday, right?”
“Yes.” She wasn’t sure if or how long she’d be open tomorrow considering what had happened tonight, but she di
dn’t feel like getting into that. She forced a cheery tone. “Sounds good. I’ll bring a dessert.” She’d grab something from the grocery store. At a different time she might have stopped at the bakery next door, but she feared what Mr. Vino might do to something he knew she’d eat.
“I’ll tell Beth.” He cleared his throat. “Ellie…” A long pause stretched over the line. Her stomach dropped. He’d used the same tone he had when he’d called to say their father had died. Cutting the lawn one minute. Dead inside an ambulance the next.
She shoved the thought away.
“Yeah.”
“If there was something going on, you’d tell me, right?”
“Um, yeah.” She glanced over her shoulder at Johnny. “There’s been some crazy stuff at the shop—”
Ellie heard her niece calling for her father in the background.
“Nothing that can’t keep. We’ll talk more tomorrow. I’ll let you go. Give Grace a hug for me.”
Ellie ended the call. She set her cell phone aside and filled the two mugs with hot water.
“You and Greg are close.”
Ellie nodded. “More so now as adults. I guess I’m not the annoying little sister anymore.” She dunked her tea bag a few times. “But ever since I moved back home, he thinks he’s my protector.” She shrugged. “Maybe since Dad’s gone now.”
“You’re lucky.”
Ellie fingered the charm on her bracelet.
“Family’s important. Other than my grandfather, I don’t have any family.” Johnny tossed his tea bag into the garbage. “My mother died of a drug overdose when I was twelve.”
FIVE
“I’m so sorry.”
The expression on Ellie’s face was a mix of sympathy and disbelief. Johnny was immediately sorry he had shared a bit of his past. Very few people knew about it.
“When my mom died, my grandparents refused to take me in.” Johnny pulled out a stool and sat at the island counter. He wasn’t sure he’d ever said that out loud to anyone.
“How horrible…”
The compassion in her tone knocked a brick from the wall he had built around his heart. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he struggled to relax his fists, pick up his mug and take a sip of his tea.
Next thing he knew, she was standing next to him, a hand on his back. He stiffened and she pulled her hand away, but her tone didn’t change. “Is this why you chose the line of work you’re in?”
“Yeah.” He struggled to keep his tone even. “My mom graduated from Williamstown High School.” He tapped the countertop with his index finger. “This is where it all started. The beginning of the end.”
His eyes drifted to Ellie’s, wondering if she’d think differently about him. He didn’t know what to feel. Some people knew his story, but not because he’d told them. He had never spoken of his past out loud to anyone other than his grandfather. And then he hadn’t really had to; his grandfather had suffered just as much as he had. Or maybe more. His grandfather had had a heavier burden of guilt. As if he somehow hadn’t been vigilant enough in protecting his daughter.
Most people didn’t realize Johnny felt the burden of guilt, too. Guilt that he hadn’t been enough to make his mother stop doing drugs. To get clean.
To stay.
Ellie lifted her eyes to him, but didn’t say anything. Johnny bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I’m not in this job to mess with people’s lives. Well, unless you’re a drug dealer.” He smiled, hoping to coax the same out of Ellie. The compassion radiating from her warm eyes unnerved him.
“I had heard the rumors after I was an undercover narc at the high school. People might have been biased against me after they learned who my mother was. I had never lived in Williamstown until I arrived as an undercover narcotics officer. That’s how I was able to pull it off. But once people learned my real name, who my mother was, they didn’t seem very forgiving, especially not after your brother was acquitted. It was as if they shouldn’t have expected any more from the son of a druggie.”
Ellie tugged at her sleeves and crossed her arms. “This is a difficult conversation. I was thrilled my brother was acquitted. He could have gone to jail for something he hadn’t done.”
“Well…” Johnny bit back the words, not wanting to go there tonight. “Because your brother went free, people questioned my integrity. People thought I was in it solely to make a name for myself. That I had a huge ego. And that only seemed to bear itself out when I signed on to work for the FBI.” His gaze wandered to the artwork adorning the walls. Ellie’s artwork. He’d recognize her style anywhere.
“My childhood…my upbringing…made me hard. I don’t care what people think.”
Cocking her head, Ellie made an indecipherable sound and sadness filled her eyes.
Johnny reached out and dared to run a strand of her auburn hair through his fingers. “But for some crazy reason, I care what you think.”
Ellie’s eyes searched his face. “Why…?”
Johnny wanted to tell her something personal, about how he admired her strength, her quick wit, her fiery temper, but an uneasy feeling in his stomach made him settle on something safer. He had already shared with her the worst part of his childhood.
“Your family was the closest thing to a family I had ever had.”
A deep line formed between her eyebrows. “You had my brother arrested. You really must have had a warped perception of family.”
“It killed me when your brother got caught up in that mess.” It really had. “As a kid, I had been shuffled from one foster home to the next until I turned eighteen. So, yeah, hanging out with your family was pretty cool. I was only twenty-two. I never knew what a stable family looked like.”
“What are you saying? I’m like the little sister you never had?”
He thought he detected a trace of disappointment in her voice.
“Something like that.” The feelings he found growing for her were far from sisterly. “I used to like talking to you when I stopped over. Your innocence was refreshing. Something I didn’t come across often in my own childhood or my line of work.”
She tucked in her chin and her cheeks fired a soft pink.
“I remember you always had an easel set up in the kitchen.” He held up his palm. “You’re very talented.”
“Thanks. I had hoped to go to college to study art, but…well…”
“I’m sorry. I really am.” But not for the reasons she might have guessed. “I care about you and I want to make sure you’re safe while we figure out who’s using your address to ship drugs into Williamstown.”
Ellie nodded. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but didn’t.
Johnny decided to return to safer ground. “You mentioned you knew the kid who overdosed.”
“He’s part of the youth group at church. We’ve been meeting on Saturdays to get ready for the fall carnival.”
“Are you meeting with the group this weekend? Could we go there and talk to the other youth in the group? Maybe someone knows something.”
Ellie pushed the hair away from her face. “We could go tomorrow evening.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’m going to my brother’s for a fall cookout beforehand.” She glanced up expectantly. “Why don’t you come with me? We can go up to the church afterward.”
Johnny must have flinched because Ellie’s tone grew indignant. “You just told me you enjoyed hanging out with my family.”
“That was before…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence.
“Maybe it’s time to put this all behind us. They’re always preaching about forgiveness at church.”
Johnny forced a smile, wondering who she thought needed forgiveness.
“Dinner at your brother’s house sounds good.” He hoped God wasn’t tallying up all his little white lies. A little lie was a small price to pay to keep Ellie safe.
To keep her alive.
*
“So much for
our store, huh?”
The next morning Ashley strolled in past the two local police officers who were wrapping up their investigation of the drive-by shooting while Ellie swept up the glass.
Anger and annoyance mixed with the tinkling sound of the shards of glass and the swoosh-swoosh of the broom as Ellie quickened her motions.
Ashley had never answered her cell phone until this morning and when she had, she hadn’t seemed overly concerned. She’d seemed more annoyed that now a trip to the shop would cut into her weekend plans.
Ellie should have never gone into business with anyone. She had wanted to be independent. But lack of financing had trumped that.
Ellie tracked Ashley’s movements as she tiptoed around the glass.
“I could use some help cleaning up.” Ellie bit the words out.
Ashley’s pinched expression told Ellie what she thought of that. “That’s why we have insurance.” She glanced down at her fingernails as if thinking better of ruining her manicure.
Ellie stopped and rested her elbow on the broom. “We have insurance to cover the big stuff. I don’t think they’re going to come in here and clean up the glass.”
Ashley turned up her nose and flattened her hand over her expensive-looking sweater. “I didn’t come dressed for hard labor.” She let out a long sigh. “What exactly happened here?” Her tone seemed more appropriate for when a pet soiled on the carpet, not a life-and-death situation.
Ellie thought about the terror pumping through her veins as the shots had rung out. “Johnny wants to talk to both of us this morning.” They had to let Ashley know about the ongoing drug investigation. It was obvious someone was trying to intimidate them and her poor friend had no idea what was really going on.
Johnny appeared in the doorway, holding a tray of coffee. “Did I hear my name?”
“Yes.” Ellie leaned the broom up against the wall. “Ashley wants to know what’s going on.”
Johnny gave Ellie a brief nod and set the coffee on the counter. “I wasn’t sure how you liked it, so I got a couple black coffees with cream and sugar packets on the side.”
“Thanks.” Ellie grabbed a coffee, tore off the lid, poured two sugars and two creams into the black liquid, and stirred. Ashley stood there with her arms crossed, obviously preferring her lattes to a good old cup of joe.