by Leger, Lori
He rested his forehead against hers. “I can’t imagine what kind of Christmas I’d be having if you weren’t a part of it.”
She leaned back, giving him an amused look. “No cigarette smoking stalker proclaiming his hatred for you on a windshield.”
“Mmmm…” He kissed her softly on the neck and behind her ear. “Boring as hell. My God, you smell good enough to eat. Remind me to buy you a gallon of this stuff.”
“Really? I was thinking maybe it’s time to try something else.”
He buried his face in her neck. “Don’t you dare.”
She tilted her head to allow him easy access. “I didn’t know you liked it that much.”
“Liar.”
She smiled. “And you, what is that? Davidoff?” She trailed her nose along his neckline, inhaling his clean scent.
“Amanda and Joe’s Christmas gift. Like it?”
“Mm..hmm…Clean, fresh, and just a hint of spice. I have very sharp sense of smell, and this,” she nipped one ear. “On you,” she nipped the other, as she sucked in her breath, “is a very big turn on.”
“I aim to please,” he murmured.
“Everybody, or just me?” she teased.
“Just you,” he said. “If you believe only one thing about me, you can believe that.”
She pulled away to search his eyes. “I believe you,” she said, before laying her head onto his chest again.
“So, this being your ‘somebody’, what exactly does that entail?”
Carrie listened to the steady rhythm of this big man’s soft heart. “It means that, at this moment, I can’t see anyone else in my future besides you. It means that I’d love to see us make a life together – blend our two families into one. Even if I don’t know if I’m in love with you right now, there’s nobody else that I’d rather be able to say those words to.” She raised her head to meet his intense gaze. “Is that enough for now?”
Sam responded with a kiss that made her toes curl and her back arch.
“It is for now.” He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her. “God knows I’m nuts about you.”
She raised her hand to caress the side of his face, and heard a tentative knock. Carrie pulled away and fanned her face before going to open the door.
“Come on in, Nick, your dad’s here,” she said, thankful for the save. “The kids should be back from Gardiner any minute.”
“Man, you got a lot done today,” Nick said, looking around. “This place looks great.”
“Thanks, and we even have food and drinks in the house now. Would you like a Coke or Dr. Pepper, maybe?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll wait until we go to the restaurant and make Dad pay for it. Where are we going anyway? Amanda and Joe called wanting to know. They should be meeting us here any minute.”
“I’ve already taken her to the steak house, so, seafood?”
“That sounds good,” Carrie said, opening the door as Grant’s truck pulled into the driveway. The girls got out, each grabbing armloads of stuff to bring in.
Grant walked around to the back of his truck and dropped the tailgate. A medium sized dog with white, curly fur jumped out and ran to Carrie.
“What kinda dog is that?” Nick asked.
“He’s a fluffy, lovable mutt, aren’t you, Toto? Did you miss me, boy?” Carrie scratched his head and scruff as he wagged his tail happily. “Let’s see how you like your new home, and whether or not that fence will hold you.” She walked him into the back yard and closed the gate. Toto explored his new domain, marking his territory every chance he got.
She gave a light hearted chuckle. “Just like a man.”
“So that’s the infamous Toto,” Sam commented from the back porch as the dog ran back to Carrie. “I thought he’d be bigger.”
Carrie put her hands over the dog’s floppy, fluffy ears. “Don’t hurt his feelings. He’s been a member of the family for seven years. And he’s big enough when it comes to raising a ruckus, you’ll see. Did y’all pick up some dog food?”
“Yep, a water bowl and food dish, too,” Gretchen replied. “Toto’s a good hunter, Mr. Sam. He kills mice, rats, and we’ve even rescued a few rabbits from him. He barks at anything, so he should let us know if anyone’s around.”
“Hey Mom,” Lauren said as she walked out to the back porch to meet them. “We told dad you didn’t have cable so he gave us the DVD player from the living room. Grant’s hooking it up right now.”
“That was nice of him,” she said, filling the two bowls with dog food and fresh water.
“I’m starving,” Lauren said, glancing in Sam’s direction. “Where are we going to eat?”
“The seafood place here in town. We can go as soon as my daughter and son in law get here.”
“Are the fried oysters good there?” she asked.
Sam made a face and shook his head. “I wouldn’t know.” “Aw, what’s the matter Sammy, your mama says you don’t eat that?” Carrie teased.
“Hell no, I tried to eat one once, and that rubbery son of a gun kept growing in my mouth.”
“That’s good. More for us,” Gretchen said.
Grant came around the back with some kind of cushion in his hands. “Hey Mom, I bought Toto a bed for the porch. Sheltered from the wind and rain, he should be real comfortable back here.” He placed the padded bed on one side of the porch next to his food and water. Within seconds, the dog jumped up the steps and sniffed at it before curling up inside. “He must like it.”
Carrie smiled up at Grant. “You got everything you need to hook up that DVD player?”
“Yep, it’s ready to go. Can we rent some movies tonight?”
“After we leave the restaurant we can go by,” Sam told him.
The group of four walked into the kitchen just as Amanda and Joe knocked at the front door. Lauren let them in and introductions began all over again.
“Wow, this place is nice,” Amanda exclaimed. “I can’t believe you just moved in yesterday.”
“We had a lot of help, including your dad and Nick.”
Grant and Nick unloaded several more items Dave had been willing to part with. Carrie placed them immediately, making her new home feel even more complete.
Carrie grabbed her keys. “Let’s go eat,” she announced as the house emptied and she locked both doors behind her. They all piled into two vehicles, the two boys riding with Amanda and Joe and the twins riding with Carrie and Sam in her car.
“You got the window fixed,” Lauren said.
“Yeah, Sam and I went shopping in his truck this morning so I could leave my car at the glass place here in town.” She cast a smile in Sam’s direction. “By the time we got back, it was done.”
Gretchen spoke up. “That was pretty cool of you, Mr. Sam.”
“Anything to help,” he said, giving her a smile.
“Mom, Daddy said to tell you he’s sorry about doing that. He said he was real upset with you at first, but he’s starting to get over it and he wants you to be happy. We told him it looks like you are, or you would be if all of this other stuff wasn’t going on,” Gretchen added.
Lauren turned from the window. “He swears it wasn’t him that wrote that on your windshield and Uncle Jay said he was with him last night, so I believe him.”
“I’m starting to believe him too, Sweetie,” Carrie answered quietly. She turned to meet Sam’s serious gaze, knowing they were both thinking the same thing…If it wasn’t Dave, then who?
They walked into the restaurant, chattering excitedly. The group of eight drew as many stares from the onlookers as Carrie and Sam had on their previous outing. The waitress seated them at a large table in the back dining room and they discussed what to order. Carrie liked both Amanda and Joe immediately, and the young married couple made sure to include all four of the teens in their conversations. Carrie smiled as she watched her and Sam’s children interacting.
Sam reached for Carrie’s hand under the table and squeezed it tightly. She turned to him and met his gaze as
their fingers interlocked.
“Look at them,” he said quietly. “That could be our new family if we can make a go of this.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” she said, in a low murmur.
“I love you, Carrie,” he whispered in her ear.
“I know you do,” she replied, “Thank you.”
One hour and eight full bellies later, everyone ended up back at Carrie’s. Amanda and Joe dropped the two boys off and went home to prepare for work the next morning. The four teens piled into Carrie’s car to find a movie to rent for the night. Sam told Nick to put a couple on his account until Carrie opened one for her family.
Once the kids left, Sam walked up behind Carrie and wrapped both arms around her waist as she stood at the kitchen sink. She turned to let him cradle her protectively and buried her face in his chest. “I could cry,” she said, the words muffled against his chest.
“Why? What’s wrong?” he asked, his face a study of concerned fear.
She reached up a hand to his cheek in reassurance. “Happy tears…it’s a woman thing.”
He kissed the inside of her palm and placed it over his beating heart, but remained silent.
“Did you see them?” she asked, lifting her gaze to meet his. “Am I reading too much into this or did they seem amazing together?”
Sam smiled down at her. “I know what you mean. It’s like I could see them ten or twenty years from now, all married with children of their own…Our grandchildren.”
“It’s crazy to think this way when we’ve just started dating, but it feels inevitable, somehow.” She laid her head on his chest again. “When I think of the paths we both took to find our way to each other, it’s astonishing. It’s almost like we were meant to be.” Sam rested his chin on the top of Carrie’s head. “Maybe God knows what he’s doing when he throws certain people together. Maybe I was meant to be your ‘somebody’ all along.”
***
He parked his truck a block down from Carrie’s, and took his time walking the distance to her place. Her move to Kenton meant some extra effort on his part, but it was better for him in the long run. No one knew him here.
He walked alone in the pitch black, relying on his keen night vision and letting his highly developed sense of navigation help him to avoid objects and ditches. He embraced the darkness. It was the perfect companion for his intentions. In Iraq and Afghanistan, he didn’t need the night vision goggles, preferring to use his other highly sharpened senses to find his enemies…Always hiding, waiting, like cowards, to end his life. He always got to them first.
He raised his face to the thick layer of clouds blocking out any light from the moon’s glow, thanking his luck. It sure as hell wasn’t God. He’d long ago abandoned that fairy tale.
The side window over-looking the kitchen sink was completely covered. He couldn’t see a thing, but heard them talking…Carrie and that old guy, Sam. That fool had no idea he was about to lose her. He smiled, hoping he would dare to interfere with his plans. He didn’t usually veer from the planned strategies, but if it was called for, he complied.
He walked around the back of the yard, where it was darkest thanks to the huge evergreen shade trees. There was no gate back here, no need for his lubricating spray to silence any squeaks. He placed one hand on a vertical post and leapt effortlessly into the yard. Covered in dark fatigues from head to toe, he blended into the black, invisible to the naked eye. He made his way to the window with the best view, pulling up short before it. Dammit, she’d put up curtains there, too. Why’d you have to do that, Carrie? Again, it was an inconvenience, but of no serious consequence.
He didn’t need an unlocked door to get into that house, and he sure as hell didn’t need an open curtain to see her. All he needed to do was sit here and wait for him to leave, and for her to go to bed. He saw her car was missing. That meant her kids must be in it. Her boy, Grant, was a driver. He’d thought for sure they’d be at their asshole father’s tonight, another minor hurdle. It simply meant waiting until they were all asleep. The pitch black hid his smile. This would be worth the wait.
He closed his eyes and settled back, remembering the feeling of being inside her house the night before, among her things, as she and her children slept. What a turn on. Just thinking about it made him hard, made him want her more. Once he’d satisfied his need to watch her in her own bed, he’d checked out every lock on every door and window. All were easy to bypass for someone with his skills.
I need a smoke. Smoking, his one vice. He pulled a cig out of the protective hard case. No drinking, drugs, and never unprotected sex. He definitely wouldn’t leave that evidence behind. He exercised like his life depended on it, got enough sleep, and ate all of the right kinds of foods.
Giving up cigs…that’s another story. He’d started the habit when he was thirteen, too young and stupid to know any better, and couldn’t kick it. In his opinion, the only thing better than a deep pull on a Marlboro Red, was the fear in a woman’s eyes as she begged for her life. He closed his eyes, lifting one corner of his mouth in sadistic pleasure. That’s what did it for him, even though the sound of a woman begging disgusted him. He hated the whining and pleading…hated the sound of them choking on tears of pain and terror. The thought caused memories to wash over him…unwanted memories from his so-called childhood. If that’s what anyone would call the years of twisted abusiveness.
He’d never begged. Not once in all the years that whore beat him within an inch of needing medical attention. His jaw tightened as he heard her voice in his head, gravelly from alcohol and cigarettes.
“That’s the trick, sweetness. No marks on the face and no trips to the hospital.” It had taken years for that bitch to get what she deserved. His only regret being that it hadn’t come from him. Some John deprived him of his revenge. He would have loved to hear her beg as he slowly tortured the life out of her. Her death should have been a welcomed relief; instead he’d fallen through the cracks of the system…sent to a juvenile detention center where he experienced more neglect, more abuse, from those he should have been able to trust. It made him hard, angry, forged, and strengthened his will to survive. He’d escaped as soon as he could manage, and lived on his own until he was old enough to join the military. There, he learned the skills he craved…the skills to survive, and more importantly, to kill with his bare hands.
The thought snapped him back to the present. On the rare occasion when he found a woman who wouldn’t beg for her life, he considered letting her live. There were always extenuating circumstances, reasons he couldn’t, or wouldn’t let it happen. Except for that last one he’d left alive, barely, believing she had no way to identify him.
He should have known better. Blind as a newborn pup, she’d still managed to link him to those women in Chicago and Minnesota. By his accent, she’d said. What accent? He worked for months clearing his speech of any residual dialects. Again…all part of the plan. Now he had to come up with some reason to disappear that wouldn’t bring up any suspicion. My screw up, but it won’t happen again.
Would Carrie beg for mercy, and ultimately her life? Nah, not her…He’d bet his life on it. He knew all about her. When people talked, he paid attention.
He walked around to the other side of the house, back by the porch that was closed off on the north side. He finally pulled the lighter out of his pocket, tamped the cigarette on the back of his hand, and flicked his lighter. The cigarette tip glowed as he pulled on it, took the first welcome drag deep into his sinus cavity and lungs. He put his head back before expelling the smoke slowly through his nostrils. He took another deep tug on the cigarette…and froze.
One low growl was the only warning. It preceded a sequence of hysterical barking, loud enough to wake the dead, then a lunge for the screened door, accompanied by scratching and growling until the damn thing flew open.
He ran through the dark back yard with that animal hot on his ass. With less effort than previously, he jumped the fence, leaving the snarl
ing, scruffy white mutt behind. He hit the back alley at full speed, not stopping until safely in his truck. He cranked it up, threw the truck into gear and peeled out, nearly hitting a car…Carrie’s car…as he ran the stop sign at the intersection. Luckily, the driver slammed on the breaks to avoid a collision.
He laughed maniacally, calling himself lucky…again…as well as cursing his carelessness. Civilian life was dulling his edge. “Definitely time to step up the action.”
***
Toto’s barking began suddenly, with a frantic snapping and snarling.
Sam ran to the back door, Carrie close on his heels. “It’s gotta be him…Stay here!” He threw open the door and took the steps at a flying jump.
Carrie followed, of course, just in time to hear, more than see, someone hit the fence at a full out run. She knew the intruder cleared it when Toto ran to the corner of the yard, barking until whoever it was disappeared from his domain.
“Here, boy!” she said, waiting until the dog came to her. She showered him with praise, and straightened as Toto ran over to examine something on the ground. She walked over to the still glowing cigarette and held it up for Sam to see. “Looks like he’d just lit up when Toto surprised him.” She leaned over to scratch the dog’s ears again. “Good boy,” she crooned.
Sam’s shoulders stiffened angrily as he shook his head. “That son of a bitch! Tomorrow I’m installing a security light in this yard. Maybe even two of them,” he growled. “This really chaps my ass.”
She stared into the darkness and nodded. “He’s got some balls, doesn’t he?” she said, trying to cover her concern.
Sam swore again. “I need to tell Doug about this,” he said, as Carrie’s sedan pulled into the driveway.
The twins stumbled out of the car, and Lauren reached Carrie first. “Mom, we almost got hit!”
“But it wouldn’t have been Grant’s fault,” Gretchen finished for her. “Some dude peeled out of a driveway in a big truck.”
“He ran the stop sign on the corner over there.” Lauren pointed just west of their street.
“What street, Nick?” Sam asked his son.