"Hey, Kent," Sadie greeted.
"Well, I can't be angry now that I've seen you." He never really smiled, only ever a small upward tilt to his lips and a small dimple on his right cheek. She saw the dimple form. "You look good, Sugar."
"Thanks. So do you. Sorry about not calling."
"You have no obligation to call me," he said stiffly. "You're case is over."
"That's bullshit," she said. "I should have returned your call. It's ok to be angry at me, I would be too."
The dimple deepened. "At least this way I get to see you myself." Yes, because Sadie could lie with her voice, but not with her body. At least not to Officer Kent. "So how are you really doing? Those circles under your eyes look familiar."
Damn him. Best go with honesty. "I'm not good or even ok, but I'm heading there. Sleep and I have been having some disagreements lately but nothing we can't work out."
"Anyone giving you problems here?" At the question he gave those closest to them a hard once over. Lee was pouring a beer a few seats down and gave him a sweet smile and a finger wave when those eyes passed over her. Sadie snorted.
"No everyone is fine." Mostly. "I got myself a dog."
"Yeah?" he brightened. "What kind of dog?"
"A big one with large teeth and a loud bark."
"I like him already."
"You got a dog?" a man asked from beside them. Both Sadie and Kent turned to Jack who was standing beside them with a beer in his hand.
"Yes," she said stiffly.
Kent looked from one to the other and back. What he found, he didn't like. She spent enough time around him to know that look in his eye. The next look he gave her said that she would be explaining later.
"Jack," he said reaching out his hand.
"Robert Kent. I'm Sadie's..."
"Family," she cut it when he didn't answer. "He's my family." They shared a moment of mutual recognition. He was part of her family and from what Helena had told her, she was part of his.
"Nice to meet you, Sir. So Sadie, when's a good time for us to get together again?" She tried not to frown. She really did. But he was trying to be slick and back her into accepting. Turning someone down in front of an audience was rude. Asking her in front of a man who saw through bullshit and thought of her as his daughter, was a mistake. Had it not been Kent, it would have been Lee who had her back. The woman came down the bar to stand near her. She gave Sadie space to do her thing but was close enough to jump in if need be.
"Sorry Jack, I don't think we will be doing that again."
Kent stayed quiet as he watched Jack's reaction. However, she had to give him credit, he didn't show much. Besides his knuckles turning white as he gripped his bottle, Jack's features didn't change at all. Jack slid a glance from Kent to Lee. "I'll call you later so we can talk in private."
And I'll ignore your call. "Bye Jack."
He nodded to Kent and disappeared into the crowd. Sadie grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She wished it was tequila as she sipped. His bad vibes were getting stronger. She had no doubt that he would call her later, probably tonight or maybe he was doing it right now. Hopefully, she could explain that he was wanting too much and she was just fine as she was. If she was lucky he would accept it and move on.
Sadie had little faith in her luck at the moment.
"Explain," Kent stated.
She sighed and sipped her non alcoholic water. "He's a ranger and I met him right after moving. We went out once, here actually, but he got angry and jealous and walked out. I told him from the start that I wasn't looking for anything beyond a friend. I don't think he listened."
"Do I need to?"
"No!" she said quickly. "You don't need to worry about him at all."
"Are you sure?" he frowned.
"Yes."
"Because I could-"
"I know what you can do and I appreciate it. I'm trying to make a life here and having the first guy who gets all out of sorts at being turned down by me won't help in making friends."
Kent turned what she said over in his mind and finally nodded ok. "But Sugar, you'll call me if-"
"Yes. You'll be the first," she interrupted again.
The dimple was back. "Good enough."
She spent some time telling Kent of her place and of Fred. Lee had come over and told her all her tables were covered for the moment. She was quickly becoming a lifesaver. Kent had spotted Lee a few minutes later poking Jack in the chest while yelling at him. The woman had no fear in her. Kent had caught her up on Buffalo and Helena. It was nice to talk to someone and not feel like she had to hide her past.
"I need to head out."
Sadie nodded. She had to get back to work. "Thanks for coming to check on me."
"Pick up the phone next time," he said strictly and she smiled. As he turned and made his way through the crowd her gut did a flip. He was her idea of safety. The definition of savior and comfort. And he was leaving her.
"Wait!" she yelled and half the bar turned toward her. "Kent!" Sadie was running behind the bar. His bald head was just barely visible. When she hit the crowd she pushed her way through. "Kent wait!"
He did. Right there in the center of the makeshift dance floor he had turned and waited for her. Sadie threw her arms around him. This man was the first person she saw after she killed Peter. He protected her when she had no defenses of her own. Stood guard when the reporters flocked around her. Held her hand when she needed to borrow some strength before the trial. "Thank you," she whispered in a fierce hug. Kent had crushed her as well. His arms were a vice around her back, keeping her strong, keeping her steady.
"Alright now, Sugar?" he asked but didn't loosen his hold.
"Yes." They slowly unwound. "Sorry."
"It's quite alright but I really do have to get going. Helena is expecting me."
"Give her my love."
His face softened and he nodded. She had backed away but his hands came down on her shoulders and pulled her back towards him. Kent leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Have fun, be safe and make good decisions."
Sadie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dad," she said in her best disgruntled teenager voice.
Kent's face lit up like a Christmas tree. The elusive full smile spread across his face. She had only seen it one other time and that was in a picture from his wedding day that sat on his desk at work. Sadie had believed it to be a myth but Helena promised it wasn't. They hugged again, shorter this time but just as hard and then he was gone.
Sadie spent the rest of the night floating with a grin so big it hurt her cheeks. By closing time, Lee had already cornered her once to find out the details of her visitor and the floor show they had put on. Once word had gotten out that he was not her older lover but a family member, the gossip along the bar had calmed down a bit.
Lee, Marcus and Sadie locked up together and walked to their respective cars. They all got to park out back in the small parking lot instead of finding a spot on the street. The floodlight had gone out the night before and Chuck hadn't had time to fix it. So to Lee's suggestion, they used the buddy system and left together.
Someone was sitting on the hood of her car. She hadn't seen them until the shape moved. Sadie yelped in surprise and took a few hasty steps back. Lee was instantly as her side pushing Sadie behind her. Marcus began to run over to them. Sadie squinted into the dark trying to make out a face but it was Lee who recognized him first.
"Jack, what the hell are you doing?"
"Jack?" Sadie asked straining her eyes in black night.
"I need to talk to Sadie?" He stumbled forward a bit but caught his balance. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark and could make out his form swaying. Jack was drunk and didn't that just send a spike of fear through her.
"No. Not when you're like this." Marcus had made it over to them and stood on her other side. He was young and small and wouldn't be able to do much but his support was welcomed. Sadie grabbed his hand on reflex. Jack caught the motion and growled at Marcus. Not in a se
xy way a man does, but like an animal.
"Let me take you home, Jack." Lee was already stepping towards him.
"Lee!" Sadie hissed. "He's drunk. Let me call-"
"I know where he lives and he can't hurt me without gaining some bruises himself. I'll be fine," she promised like this was an all too common occurrence. Sadie wasn't so sure. His muscles on his shoulders and down his arms were twitching.
"Get away from me you barren bitch." Jack backed away from her. "I just need to speak with Sadie. You don't need to involve yourself in this."
"Do I need to call Owen?" It was more of a threat than a question. Lee continued advancing on him. She didn't know who Owen was but his name had an effect on Jack. He stopped moving and turned his head towards Lee like a bird studies its prey and sneered. Lee let the look bounce off of her. "I have no problem telling him about this now instead of tomorrow when you have sobered up."
"Bitch," Jack spat and swayed.
"That's me. Now get in my car and shut up. You can talk to Sadie later but only if she wants to." Lee maneuvered him into her car without much incident. He pushed at her hands a few times but didn’t do anything more. When he was buckled in, she closed his door. "I got this. Don't worry."
"Are you sure." Sadie didn't like the idea of Lee dealing with a drunken Jack.
"Totally. Go home. Both of you."
She left before they could say anything more. They watched Lee drive away with Jack before they moved. The night seemed to have gotten darker. It was more threatening than it had been only minutes ago. Sadie shivered and ran a hand over her arm.
“I’ve never seen him act like that. Jack isn’t usually the sloppy drunk type.”
She barely heard him. “Do you think she will be alright?”
“Lee? Shit yeah. I’ve seen her toss men twice her size out the door when they got handsy with her.”
That made her feel a little better. “I’ll see you later, Marcus.”
“Night.” He headed back to his car.
Sadie rubbed her arms again. Her good mood from earlier had vanished and left her tired. Jack had an uncanny way of ruining her nights. She was surprisingly not worried about Lee though. Like Marcus said, the woman could handle herself. All Sadie wanted at this point was to go home, crawl in bed and sleep. She just needed Fred there to chase away the dreams and keep watch.
The engine of Marcus’s car grumbled a few spaces down. The lights turned on and a movement caught her eye in the backyard of the house adjacent to them. Sadie had a flash of hope. Was it Fred? She searched the yard in earnest as the headlights of his car skimmed over the landscape. But there was nothing. There had never been anything.
Dammit. Where was he?
Chapter Seven
The morning was cooler than normal. It had rained overnight and the air was blanketed with heavy moisture. It was thick to breathe in. She hadn't planned on going out in the wet grass first thing but as she was getting her morning coffee, Sadie noticed Fred sitting in the yard. His eyes were closed with his head tilted towards the morning sun. Shimmers of sunlight reflected off his gray coat where the rainwater hadn't fallen off.
Her heart smiled. He had come back.
She took her time preparing her coffee. A splash of creamer, a spoonful of sugar and a slow counter clockwise stir. From her spot in the kitchen she watched him. He was so beautiful, a truly magnificent animal. Fred was solid, as her mother would say. Was that why she felt so safe around him? He was strong so she flocked to him expecting him to keep her safe. It was a twisted way of thinking but her life had been twisted up lately. It made sense that her mind-set would reflect that.
Besides the one almost accident, Fred had been gentle with her. Nothing like the lone wolf information she had looked up. Fred was far from feral. So why was he all alone? He should have a pack. No one should be alone.
Sadie hadn't changed yet so she was still clad in her pink and green plaid shorts and blue Buffalo Bills t-shirt. She knew the moment he heard her. His ear turned in her direction, but other than that he stayed perfectly still. When she was close, Sadie sat in the rain soaked grass. The dampness immediately soaked into her shorts. He was too far away to touch but close enough that if she leaned to the side she could scratch an ear. When his eyes opened and turned on her in all their yellow glory, she saw guilt when she expected to see anger.
"Hey," she said meekly.
He stared at her. It took a few minutes of them examining the other before he moved. Hesitantly, he stepped closer with his head down. The normally happily swinging tail hung limp between his legs. When she held her hand out, he gently licked her palm. Seemed like both of them were holding on to a healthy dose of guilt.
"I'll forgive you, if you forgive me."
He cocked his head.
“About Jack.”
The tail lifted slightly.
"So we have a deal?"
It wagged tentatively and she scratched his head. "You missed some stuff while you were playing in the wild tundra." Fred moved to sit beside her. Sadie sipped her coffee with one hand and laid the other on his back. She felt steady again with him here. "Jack has been getting to be too much. And you were right..." He turned to look at her. "He wasn't a good choice to go out with. But I got a job out of it all. It's down at the Wick. I work with this woman named Lee, she's pretty cool."
Fred listened politely and at some point he had laid his head in her lap. She told him about Kent coming by the night before and Jack drunk in the parking lot. Then she spoke to him like she hadn't been able to speak to anyone else. "So Peter's family wants to go back to court. They think I am lying." Sadie had already told him all about her stalker and what had come of him. He growled. It made her smile. "My thoughts exactly. I know it must be hard for them to accept but geez, he had a room wallpapered with various pictures of me from over a few months. Pictures taken of me naked through a crack in the blinds was a fact. It’s not me asking for attention. I wasn't a girlfriend or a woman who led him on. He was just a stalker, a grade A stalker." She sighed, "I just don't want to have to relive it all again."
Fred licked her leg. His version of a hug, she guessed.
The next hour passed in quiet. She finished her coffee and let her mind rise slowly with the sun. The grass had begun to dry as the heat of the day settled in. It would be a humid and sticky day.
Fred stood beside her and stretched out his front paws. "You should teach yoga," she commented as he performed a perfect downward dog. He gave her an amused look with a tongue dangling from the side of his mouth. It happened before her mind could comprehend. She had been sitting up laughing at Fred but now she laid on her back with a wolf looming over her. He kept one paw stationed on her chest to keep her down and went in for the attack. His tongue licked her everywhere. Sadie laughed and giggled as his cold nose found all the spots that made her ticklish and squeal. "Stop!" she begged him. "Please! Oh god, Fred." Her words were barely comprehensible through the laughter. He continued to torment her until her face was entirely wet, and her voice hoarse from laughing. He stopped and surveyed his job well done and lifted his paw from her chest.
"You are an evil little devil, aren't you?"
"Sadie?"
Fred went on alert. His whole body tightened at Jack’s voice. Sadie scrambled up into a sitting position when he turned the corner of the house. Dressed in his uniform, Jack looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. But that probably had more to do with the fact that she was sitting inches away from a snarling wolf and covered in slobber.
"Sadie," he said calmly never letting his eyes leave Fred's. "Come over here. Slowly."
"Jack, it's ok,” she tried explaining.
"Get over here." His hand hovered over the gun at his hip.
That sure as hell was not going to happen. But it was go to him willingly or have him pull the gun. Sadie stood and began to walk over to him hoping to keep the peace, but Fred began to growl as she moved away. Jack flipped the snap on his holster
and pulled the gun out.
"He won't hurt me," she said to both of them, her eyes on the gun. Neither listened. "What are you doing here, Jack?"
"Not now," he snapped. "Just come here before he attacks."
"Like I said, he won't attack me." You maybe, but not me.
"That's the wolf I was telling you about, Baby." He reached out a hand towards her, coaxing her along.
"I know."
Jack took aim at Fred. Sadie was only a few feet away having walked steadily to him. He had waited till she was close before lifting it to the wolf. She had hoped to give Fred time to run away but he was obviously standing his ground. The further she got from him and the closer she walked toward Jack, the louder his growling became.
"Sadie, get in the house," Jack said stiffly.
"No."
"Sadie. Get. In. The. House."
Fudge. "No." She didn't take her eyes of the finger that hovered over the trigger. At any second and he could get twitchy and pull.
"Fred run."
He barked, which sounded like a scoff to her. Nope, her pig headed wolf wasn't going anywhere.
"Fred, please," she begged. Sadie just got him back, she didn't want to lose him to some hungover asshole with a firearm. There was an edge of hysteria in her voice as she pleaded with Fred to go but he stayed put. Both Jack and Fred looked to be anticipating the pending fight.
"You named him?" Jack said disgusted.
"Jack please lower the gun so we can talk. He's harmless." She reached out a hand to physically lower the gun when he pulled the trigger. The crack of the gun was thunderous. Her screams echoed in the forest long after the ringing of the shot had died. With a hard slap she hit the gun out of Jack's grip before he could take a second shot.
Sadie couldn't look behind her, couldn't see Fred dead on the grass where he had just showered her with kisses. She had to deal with Jack before she could break down. They both dove for the gun but she grabbed it first. It was an oddly familiar scene. Sadie pointing a gun at a man who was off in the head. But she felt steadier this time. And after a small weak growl from behind her, she felt the ground solidify further. Fred was alive, for now at least.
Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set Page 104