by Leger, Lori
Chad handed hers over in silence, and accepted his own card back. He watched his daughter walk calmly out of the room then he turned to his son. “What do you think?”
Jacob shook his head slowly. “I tried to tell you, there’s this guy over there that won’t leave her alone. She’s turned him down up until now, but after this …” He lifted his arms and dropped them. “She may consider taking the permanent job and good old persistent Douglas. And from what I can see, you’ll have nobody to blame but yourself.”
“I know your mother too well, Jake. She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t throw away twenty-one years of marriage over this. She’ll calm down.”
Jacob sat back against the headboard and grabbed the TV remote. “Whatever you say, Dad.”
The next week flew by for Annie and Drake as they settled into a comfortable routine. He dropped her off at her office in the mornings and picked her up every afternoon at the same time. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they drove back to the gym in Lake Coburn, where they worked out until seven o’clock. On Friday night, the last work day of their first week of cohabitation, Drake unlocked Annie’s front door and let her walk in ahead of him.
Lewis greeted them with a raucous “Honey, I’m home!”
Annie walked up to the cage and stuck her face up to the bars. “Hello, Lewis, my love.” She let the bird kiss her then walked away from him.
“I love you, Annie,” the bird called.
“I love you, too, Lewis.”
Drake approached the cage. “Hey, Lewis; who’s the man?”
“Drake’s the man!”
“Lewis is sharp as a tack,” Drake returned. “We’ll get your supper in a bit, buddy.”
The bird fluttered his wings and began to screech at one of the toys in his cage.
Drake watched in amusement. “He sure gets excited with that thing.”
She turned from the fridge where she was pouring herself a glass of orange juice. “You should have heard him when he was younger—I put one of those miniature sock monkey things in with him, and you could have sworn he was arguing with the darn thing. Dad got so sick of hearing him, he begged me to take it out.” She sipped at her juice and pulled her sweat-dampened shirt away from her skin with a grimace. “I have to fix his supper, but I really need to take a shower first.”
Drake turned to her. “Go ahead and take your shower. I’ll tend to him.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I always shower at the gym so I don’t offend your delicate sense of smell inside the truck.” He grinned at her.
She forced herself to keep a straight face as she walked to her bathroom. “Thanks.”
Annie re-entered the kitchen fifteen minutes later, feeling fresh from her shampoo and shower. She paused in the doorway reveling in the sound of an older song blaring from her computer’s sound system. “Oh, man, I haven’t heard that in years.” She closed her eyes and swayed to the music. “That brings back some good memories. Fifteen years old and not a care in the world. I saw that group in concert when that song made the charts.”
Drake cracked a huge grin at her. “Big Head Todd and the Monsters; I saw them too, in Houston.”
Annie nodded. “That’s right! It was the closest they ever got, so a bunch of us drove to see them at some stadium over there.”
“That’s the only concert they played in Houston that year, so we must have seen them the same night. Strange we were there at the same time.”
Annie started swaying again, as she listened to words and remembered how simple her life used to be. “Boy, if I could go back to those days and know even a tiny bit of what I know now.”
Drake began to play air guitar, then turned to Annie, singing the chorus of “Bittersweet”. He danced his way over to her and grabbed her by the waist with one hand, capturing her right hand in his other.
Caught up in the nostalgia of the moment, and somewhat relaxed after spending a week with him, Annie didn’t resist. She let him lead her around the room, allowed the music to carry her troubles away for a short time. She timed the last notes to coincide with a pirouetting spin that ended in a graceful pose, wrapped it up with a burst of laughter that had Drake joining in.
“That was actually fun,” she said, turning to answer the sudden ringing of her phone. “Hello.” There was a slight pause on the line before she finally heard the caller speak.
“Is this Annie McAllister?”
“Hmm, it depends. Who’s speaking, please?” She froze at the cackle of laughter on the other end of the phone.
“Oh yeah! I’d recognize that voice anywhere. You have a brother who owns a club in Lake Charles called Red’s, don’t you, sweet thang?”
Annie shot Drake a frantic look. “Who is this?” All hint of laughter suddenly gone from her voice.
“How’s your headache, honey?”
“What?” Her heart pounded frantically.
Drake took a step toward her. “Who is that?”
“Who is this?” She tried to remain calm while pointing to the second handset. Drake picked it up and hit the talk button.
“Is your boyfriend there tonight, or are you all alone?”
“Who is this?” She struggled to keep her building panic from surfacing.
“Well, I’m hurt that you don’t recognize the sound of my voice. Tell your boyfriend next time I see him I’ll be ready.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” She heard her voice quaver, and hated it.
“He’s not? Well that’s even better, then, ain’t it, sweet thang? I guarantee next time I see you, I’ll be able to finish what I started the other night.”
The self-assured cockiness pissed her off more than the words. “I guarantee next time you try that, I’ll give you more than you bargained for. I won’t be as easy as that girl in Magnolia—you low life, back woods, ignorant redneck.” The chuckle he emitted sounded like pure evil.
“Next time, I won’t be as gentle.”
She replied with a caustic comeback. “Oh yeah, it takes a real big man to attack a girl half his size who’s already in pain. Your daddy must be so proud.”
“My daddy used to be a hard-ass, till I taught him a lesson. It looks like I’ll have to do the same to you, little lady.”
Suddenly Drake spoke from the other phone. “Why don’t you bring it over here right now, you piece of shit, so I can finish you off this time.”
Annie got chills from the sound of gleeful laughter erupting from the earpiece.
“Whoop, there he is! I got a big fat tire iron with your name on it fer the next time I see you, asshole. Nobody beats on me and gets away with it.”
“You’d better bring some help then jerk wad, because I can do worse than that with one hand tied behind my back,” Drake snarled.
“Oh, yeah? Wells ’all I can say is you better watch yer back, city boy.”
“Thanks for the warning, J.B. I’ll be waiting for you. Have you seen your picture on the tube, yet? It’s plastered all over the local network. I think I drew an amazing likeness, don’t you?”
The caller laughed wickedly. “You musta done that after I asked around to find out which sister of Red’s was at the club that night. It didn’t take long to find out that it was Annie McAllister I missed out on.”
A chill ran down Drake’s spine as he heard him speak Annie’s name. “If you come near her, I’ll kill you.”
“Yeah? You’re gonna have to catch me to do that, and nobody denies I’m a slippery sumbitch when I wanna be.”
Annie heard the click of the receiver then the silence of the dead line.
“Annie, where’s your phonebook? Do you know if you have a trace call feature with your phone company?”
Annie pointed to a drawer that held the phone book and shook her head, too upset to speak.
Drake found the phone book, and after a minute of searching, pried the phone from her hand. He punched in *57, listened for instructions then hung up the phone. He placed both hands firmly on her shoul
ders. “Annie, we need to call the police now, but I need to know if you’re okay.”
She shook her head slowly. “I’m so stupid, Drake. I have no one to blame but myself for this mess. Why did I tell him about Red owning the club? Only a complete imbecile would do something so stupid.”
“You need to stop being so hard on yourself.”
“Oh God, if he knows who Red and I are, he could find out about everyone in my family. I’ve put everyone in danger.”
Drake shook his head. “Sweetie, the only one he wants is you. You’re the one that can link him to the murder in Arkansas. You’re the one who can testify at a trial about what he said to you. Granted, they probably have enough on him now, but you could certainly cement his guilty verdict.”
She placed her hand on her queasy stomach. “I can handle anything, as long as my family is okay.” Eventually she began to feel the touch of his hands running up and down her arms, as though to warm her. “Stop that, I’m okay now.”
He did what she asked but leaned into her line of sight. “Listen to me, Annie. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. The first thing I need to do is call Captain Woodard in Lake Coburn to coordinate things with the Kenton Police.” He paused to swear under his breath. “We may need to get you out of here.”
His comment, more than anything else, spurred her to life. “You mean go into hiding for as long as he’s running loose?”
“He called your land line, Annie. He knows where to find you.”
“I’m not leaving my home. That animal is not going to chase me away from this place. Besides, if he knows where I live, he’ll eventually find out where I work. I haven’t been at the clinic long enough to take a leave of absence. I have a partner and patients depending on me.” She could hear herself talking faster and faster, spinning out of control. She couldn’t stop. “I c-can’t do that! What about M-Martin and Lewis?” she stammered. “Who would take care of them? I’m n-not leaving here.”
She felt Drake’s arms go around her, heard him speak in a gentle, soothing tone. “Okay, Annie. It’s okay. We’ll figure something out. I promise, I won’t let you face this alone.”
She calmed in his embrace, wishing for a moment she could stay there forever. Common sense prevailed and she pushed gently away from him. “I don’t want you thinking this is going to change anything between us.”
He lifted her chin until their gazes locked. “Look, whether you like it or not, we’re in this together. He’s out to get me back for whipping his ass, and he knows the best way of doing that is to get to you. It’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“It’s the police department’s job, not yours. You can still walk away from this,” she insisted. “He doesn’t know who you are yet, and he doesn’t know where you live.”
“Exactly. Don’t you think that’s reason enough to move into my place for a while?”
She shook her head again. “I told you, he’s not going to chase me away from here.”
He sighed, obviously frustrated with her. “All right, but as long as you’re here, I’m here too.”
When she started to protest he raised his brows and pointed at her. “Don’t you make me go to your parents with this, because I will. I don’t have a damn thing to hide, and furthermore, as soon as I speak to the police, I’m going to call my father and see if he knows the names of any reputable bodyguards.”
Annie’s mouth dropped. “No way in hell do I want a bodyguard following my every move.” She turned away from him.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her gently around to face him again. “You don’t have a choice in the matter. Again, don’t make me go to your parents.”
Annie’s chin lifted. “I think you’re bluffing.”
Drake pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pushed a couple of buttons. “Peter McAllister in Gardiner, Louisiana,” he spoke into the phone. Within seconds he showed her the number to her parent’s home flashing on the screen. “Still think I’m bluffing, or do I call it right now?”
She crossed her arms tightly across her chest. “Why are you doing this?”
He placed both hands on either side of her face. “Because your safety is all that matters, Annie.”
“Why?” she asked.
Why? He’d tell her if he thought she trusted him enough to hear the truth. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “For now, let me be the one to keep you safe. Please, I need you to trust me enough to do that.”
Annie pulled away from him and walked over to Lewis’s cage. She rested her forehead against the bars. “How did this happen?”
Drake lowered his voice to answer, wishing like hell he could do things over. “Because I didn’t kill the son of a bitch when I had the chance.”
Annie cringed at his words, turned her head slightly as Lewis cocked his head to the side and flapped his wings.
“Aaannie!” the bird cried.
“Annie’s tired, Lewis.” She walked over to the comfortably worn leather couch and plopped down on it, tucking her feet up under her. Martin chose that moment to make his appearance and jumped up next to her. The large cat crawled onto her lap, rubbed his head under her chin then gently touched each of her cheeks with his paws.
Drake dialed the number to the Lake Coburn Police station. He explained the situation with the phone call, and asked to have Captain Woodard call him back at that number immediately. His gaze fell on Annie as he called Red from his cell phone. “We have a problem,” he said, before telling his brother-in-law about the call.
Obviously upset, and worried for his sister, Red released a string of expletives. “Damn, I’d hoped that guy would be long gone by now. I’ll take care of the bodyguard on my end. Sydney Graske gave me the name of a guy in Texas who’s the best. I know how Annie is about her privacy, but there’s no help for it now. And Drake, thanks for being with her through this. I know she must be giving you flak about being there.”
Drake paused in the security round he’d been making in the house to answer him. “I can’t imagine myself anywhere else, Red. I’ll take care of her whether she wants me to or not.”
He ended the call, and continued his rounds, taking note of several items that got his attention. He punched in his dad’s number, and played with a set of broken window locks while he brought his dad up to date. “I figured you could give me the name of a good security system installer.”
“I can do a hell of a lot better than that, Son. I’ll take care of that for her. I’ve grown quite fond of the members of that family. You’ve got enough on your plate. Just give me her physical address and home phone number. Someone will need to be home tomorrow for the install.”
“You think they can get to it that quickly, Dad?”
“They will if they want any future business of mine,” Daniel said. “You tell that little lady to keep her chin up. They’ll catch that son of a bitch. When they do maybe they should let Pete McAllister have the first crack at him. I have a feeling that man could still put a whipping on a guy like that.”
Drake loosened his tight jaw enough to answer through clenched teeth. “He’d have to stand in line.” Drake walked back into the living room just in time to see Annie disappear into her bedroom and close the door. “I’ve already beaten him unconscious once; I’m almost afraid to think what I could do to him now.”
“Drake, what exactly is going on between you and Annie?”
“Not a damn thing, but it’s not for my lack of trying.”
“Now look, Son, she’s bound to be feeling emotionally unstable right now. I hope you don’t intend to take advantage of her.”
“No, Dad, I just want her to trust me enough to lower that barrier she’s erected. It’s like she’s accepted that she’ll always be alone because one boy hurt her in high school. She’s created this safe haven for herself, Martin, and Lewis and there’s no room in it for me or anyone else.” He ran one hand through his hair. “It used to be safe, anyway.”
“We’ll get it safe a
gain, but who the hell are Martin and Lewis?”
Drake chuckled. “Her pets. Picture a big yellow Garfield looking cat, and a huge African Grey Parrot with the vocabulary of a five year old kid.” The trill of the house phone had him checking caller I.D. “Dad I need to take this call. It’s Captain Woodard from Lake Coburn P.D.. I’ll keep you informed, and we’ll be here tomorrow.” He disconnected and answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Drake, I heard Ms. McAllister’s been contacted by J.B. Montgomery.”
“That’s correct. He called about twenty minutes ago. I placed a trace call on it with the phone company.” He explained about the imminent security system installation as well as the bodyguard.
“Very good. I’ve already contacted the Kenton Police, so expect a visit from someone any minute now.”
When the doorbell rang, Drake walked over and looked through the peep hole at the two men standing there. “They’re here,” he told Captain Woodard, before opening the door for them.
One uniformed officer stepped forward. “We have a report of a threatening call to Miss Annie McAllister.”
Drake turned as Annie re-entered the room and approached him.
“I’m Annie McAllister.” She extended her hand to the officers.
An older officer, with detective B. LeBleu on his name tag touched his cap as he addressed her. “We’ve seen what this guy is capable of, Miss McAllister, and we want to assure you that we’re not taking this matter lightly.”
Annie nodded and sent him a grim look. “Thank you, I appreciate that. If it’s okay, I’ll go back in my room, I have some work to do.”
The officers nodded and she went back into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
The second officer shook his head in disgust. “It takes a real low life to target someone as tiny as she is. Ms. McAllister is my mom’s physical therapist and has done wonders for her. Mom would have my head if anything happened to her ‘petite fille’, as she calls her, on my watch. She thinks the world of her.”
The older officer added to the praise. “I’ve heard a lot of other folks in town talking good about her, too. She’s a welcome asset to the medical community.”