Friends In Spy Places

by Diane Henders

  I left Blue Eddy’s slightly before one PM, soothed by a full belly and the knowledge that Eddy hadn’t received any more threats.

  When I arrived at Up and Coming, a smile tugged at my lips. Lola’s twisted sense of humour had manifested itself in the window display, as usual.

  The lower part of the display window was obscured to block the view of young eyes, and the visible part displayed only mannequins in tasteful lingerie. But lurking at the bottom of the display was the big black silicone dildo Lola had nicknamed Big John after her memorable glimpse of Kane in his leather motorcycle chaps. A fur-trimmed red Santa hat perched at a jaunty angle on Big John’s bulbous head.

  Dipping my knees to check the sightlines, my smile widened. Anyone shorter than me would never know Big John was there, so clearly Lola had calculated the angles with enthusiastic precision.

  Grinning, I strode into the shop to confront the perpetrator.

  “Hi, honey!” Lola hurried over for a hug.

  As I straightened, I sniffed the air. “Is that you, or is there a Purple Jesus party going on?”

  Lola grimaced and smoothed the front of her low-cut magenta leather mini-dress. “It’s me. This is the newest sample from that scented-leather company. It’s supposed to be ‘acai berry’, but it really does smell like grape Kool-Aid, doesn’t it?”

  “It really does.” I leaned closer and sniffed again. “Talk about a blast from the past. I haven’t had grape Kool-Aid in years.”

  Lola’s smile came back. “Well, that’s okay. Most guys wouldn’t know an acai berry if it jumped up and bit them; but they probably have happy memories of grape Kool-Aid.”

  “Or horrible memories of vomiting it up laced with vodka,” I pointed out.

  She laughed. “Well, maybe I won’t order much stock. The chocolate-scented leather is still my top seller anyway.” Giving me a wink, she added, “I’m sure Arnie would like it. You never told me you had a boyfriend. All this time I’ve been thinking you had the hots for Big John. Did that fizzle out?”

  “Um… not exactly.” Rapidly changing the subject, I added, “Hey, I shouldn’t be standing here wasting time. I’ll get to work.”

  I turned toward the office but Lola planted herself in my path, frowning. “Aydan, you’re not sneaking around on Big John, are you?”

  “No.” I attempted to detour around her. “He’s known about my thing with Arnie right from the start.”

  She sidestepped in front of me again, her eyebrows going up. “You mean you’ve got both of them on a string?”

  “Neither of them is on a string,” I explained with all the patience I could muster. “We each just do whatever or whoever we want. ’Scuse me.”

  I managed to slip by her, but she followed me into the office and perched on the corner of the desk while I fired up the bookkeeping program.

  “I don’t mean to pry, honey,” she said, then hesitated. “Well, that’s silly; of course I mean to pry,” she amended, giving me an unabashed grin that lit her wrinkled face. “Have you tried ménage à trois with them?”

  “Lola!”

  “This is important market research,” she added earnestly. “I’ve read all about it, but I’ve never known anybody personally who tried it. I promise that anything you tell me will be strictly confidential.”

  “No! Jeez!”

  “Why not?” Her question was matter-of-fact.

  I sighed. She wasn’t going to let it go. “Because they’re both amazing lovers and I can barely keep up to either of them, never mind both at the same time. And anyway, they’re both huge…”

  Lola’s eyes widened.

  “Broad-shouldered!” I clarified hurriedly. “Big guys. Just sleeping between them made me claustrophobic…” Her delighted expression made me backtrack again. “Once! It was only once, and nothing happened-”

  The sound of a male throat clearing made me snap my mouth shut. Shit, I’d been so focused on evading Lola’s questions that I’d missed the jingle of the bell over the front door.

  A moment later a far-too-familiar voice called from around the corner. “Lola? Are you here?”

  Shit.

  “We’re in the office, Tom!” Lola called. “Come on back.”

  My face flamed as Tom rounded the corner. “Ready to go?” he asked Lola, then gave a start that looked just a little too contrived. “Oh, hi, Aydan. I didn’t realize you were here.”

  Fuck. He’d heard everything.

  “Hi, Tom.” I faked a casual tone. “I didn’t know you were one of Lola’s customers.”

  Too late, I realized how that sounded. Oh, Lord, could I just shrink to nothing and disappear under the desk?

  Hooking his thumbs in his belt loops, Tom gave me a slow smile. “Well, I’m not buying today, but I’m not saying I never will.” He turned to Lola. “Ready to go?”

  “Sure.” She jumped up, teetering a little in her stiletto boots.

  “Where are you off to?” I inquired jovially, hoping to hide my embarrassment.

  “Just to the bank to make my deposits,” Lola replied. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  My oh-shit-ometer redlined. Lola had never needed an escort to the bank before.

  “Tom, why are you here?” I demanded.

  He frowned. “Didn’t Lola tell you?”

  I shot her a ‘you’re in deep shit’ glower. “Lola? What would you like to tell me… right… now?”

  “Oh, honey, it’s nothing to worry about. Tom is just overprotective.” She patted his denim-clad arm fondly. “It’s that cowboy thing, you know. They’re so used to taking care of their livestock, they try to take care of everybody.”

  That was true. Tom was always trying to take care of me; along with anybody else who needed help. Volunteer firefighter, trained as a first responder… maybe it was just a cowboy thing.

  Which brought me back to my original question.

  “And why has he suddenly decided that you need taking care of?” I growled.

  “She had threatening phone calls,” Tom said. “And she asked at the Chamber of Commerce meeting if any of us were receiving them. We weren’t. It was only her.”

  “Not really threatening…” Lola began.

  “The caller said ‘you’d better watch out’,” Tom said. “That’s threatening.”

  “Maybe it was just a concerned citizen reminding me to be careful on the ice…” Lola began lightly, but I overrode her, my guts twisting into a cold lump.

  “When did you get the call? Was it a man or a woman? Have you had any more? Have you seen anybody hanging around that you don’t recognize?”

  “Aydan!” Lola threw up her hands. “Heavens, relax! There was only one call, and it’s been so icy outside the back door of the shop. It was probably just a delivery man who slipped and wanted to warn me…”

  She chattered on, but I barely heard her.

  Lola had been one of my first clients. Everybody knew we were friends. And I had hugged her in the Melted Spoon.

  They know how to get to Kelly…

  “You said ‘delivery man’. So it was a man? When was the call?” I demanded.

  “Yes, it was a man, but I didn’t recognize his voice. And it was Monday morning,” she confessed. “But-”

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  Her brow furrowed. “Honey, I own a sex shop. I get all kinds of weird calls.” She grinned. “And that’s not counting the ones that come through the 900 number.”

  I pressed my fingertips to my suddenly-aching forehead. “Thanks for looking out for her, Tom. Somebody obviously needs to.”

  “Hey,” Lola said indignantly. “I’m still here in the room, you know. And I’m a tough old bird. It takes more than a phone call to scare me.”

  Eyeing her diminutive figure, I suppressed a shudder. Tough, my ass. Those tiny delicate bones could snap like twigs…

  “Shit!” I bolted upright. “Lola, the ice! Somebody’s been trying to hurt you!”

  Chapter 35

&nbs
p; Lola frowned. “Honey, you do know it’s wintertime, right? That time of the year when it snows and there’s ice on the sidewalks…”

  “No, there isn’t,” I snapped. “It’s been really cold lately. Cold snow doesn’t freeze to the sidewalks; you can just sweep it off. You said you’ve had ice outside your back door, but there’s no ice anywhere else.”

  “There’s ice all over the front step at my house, too,” she protested. “It’s just normal winter conditions.”

  All my instincts went on red alert. “Your house, too? Near the door? But not on the main sidewalk where everybody else walks?”

  “It’s probably just some water dripping off the eaves…” she began uncertainly.

  “At twenty below? I don’t think so.” I lunged to my feet. “Show me.”

  “There’s nothing to see,” Lola explained patiently. “There was ice, I put salt on it, and now it’s gone.”

  “How many times have you put salt on it during the day and then found ice again the next morning?” I demanded as I hurried to the back door and flung it open.

  “I don’t know; I didn’t really think about it. A few days. And it wasn’t just at the back door, there were patches of ice here and there at the front and back, so I’m sure it’s just natural.” She joined me at the door. “See? There’s no ice, and you can see where the salt was.” She indicated the white crystalline residue.

  “Yeah, and there’s no way ice would form there again,” I growled. “Not unless somebody rinsed the salt away first.”

  “Aydan’s right, Lola,” Tom agreed from over my shoulder. “You should take this seriously.” He regarded her stiletto heels. “And you should wear some boots with better traction.”

  “Well, I’m not going to call the police just because I have ice on my sidewalk,” Lola said firmly. “Thank you both for your concern, but I really think you’re blowing this out of proportion.”

  Tom and I exchanged a glance. “Okay,” he agreed with a sigh. “But be careful. And I’ll be here every Tuesday to escort you to the bank, just in case.”

  “You’re a sweetheart,” Lola assured him.

  I gave Lola my best ‘don’t mess with me’ look. “And I want you to promise that if you get any more phone calls, or any more ice, or anything at all that just seems out of the ordinary, you’ll call me right away.”

  “Honestly, Aydan, there’s nothing you can do,” she argued. “You can’t keep my phone from ringing or the sky from snowing.”

  “No, but I still want to know what’s going on. I might not be able to stop it, but at least I’ll know what to tell the police if something happens.” When she hesitated, I gave her a meaningful glare. “You do still remember the time you got kidnapped by that weird religious cult, right?”

  Lola sighed. “Okay, I promise I’ll let you know if anything else happens.”

  “Let me know, too,” Tom put in.

  “Okay,” she agreed meekly. Turning back to me, she added, “Aydan, do you mind manning the counter while we’re at the bank?”

  “Sure. If anybody asks me questions about the merchandise I’ll tell them you’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks, honey.”

  “No problem. And thanks, Tom,” I added quietly as they turned to go. He gave me a nod and a look that said we’d be talking later, and they left.

  I accomplished very little bookkeeping in the twenty minutes they were gone. My mind whirled with anger and fear. Who was next? Spider? Linda and her precious unborn baby? They were the only close friends I had left in Silverside who hadn’t been targeted. Yet.

  And what if my unknown enemy decided to work his way down my list of co-workers? Like Jack and her two young children?

  Or what about my other clients? Like Jeff and Donna Latchford, the young couple who ran the Greenhorn Café? They were hard workers, but neither of them could defend themselves against anything more than a strong wind.

  My mind ticked over my other clients, all vulnerable.

  I had to stop this maniac before the threats turned into something more deadly. And they would. My unknown enemy was just taking his time to make a point; and soon I’d get a demand.

  God, please don’t let it be accompanied by a friend’s severed finger. Or worse.

  I shuddered. No, dammit, I wouldn’t let that happen.

  The jingle of the bell over the shop door brought me to my feet, but Lola’s cheerful call had me sinking back into my chair. “It’s just me. Thanks for holding the fort, Aydan!”

  “No problem,” I mumbled, returning to my train of thought.

  This asshole had made a big mistake by targeting Lola regularly. Tonight I’d be here waiting for him. And when I caught him…

  “Honey, if I were that computer, I’d be shaking in my boots,” Lola teased from the doorway. “What’s wrong? Are you having problems with the program?”

  “Um. No.” I rubbed the frown wrinkles out of my forehead with the heel of my hand. “Just concentrating.”

  She didn’t need to know about my plans. She had already suffered an attack once because of me, but this time I’d eliminate the threat before…

  “Aydan.” Lola let out a nervous laugh. “Now you’re scowling at me. And seriously, if I didn’t know you, I’d run the other way.”

  I yanked myself back to the present and forced a laugh. “Sorry. Dark thoughts about your point-of-sale program.”

  She relaxed into a smile. “That’s the only kind I ever have about it. It’s been so much better since you overhauled it, but it still drives me crazy.”

  “I’ll have another go at it,” I promised. “But I’d better get back to your bookkeeping. Arnie’s going to be here in about an hour, and then I won’t get anything else done.”

  Lola’s larger-than-life laugh rolled out. “Well, honey, as long as you get him done, that’s what’s important.”

  “You’re incorrigible.” Grinning in spite of myself, I went back to work.

  Promptly at two-thirty the bell over the door jingled wildly and Hellhound’s voice said, “Ow. Shit.”

  I poked my head around the corner in time to catch him rubbing his forehead while Lola fluttered around him in concern.

  “No offense, Miz Lola,” he said. “But that bell’s only safe for midgets.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” she deadpanned. “I’ve never had a problem with it.” He chuckled, and she tugged his sleeve, serious again. “I hope you didn’t hurt yourself badly. Bend down so I can see.”

  “I’m fine. Just buggin’ ya.” He looked up with a smile. “Hey, darlin’.”

  “Hi.” I hurried over to collect a hug and kiss. Then I inspected his forehead. “Well, Lola, I don’t think you need to worry about a lawsuit.”

  “Whew, that’s a relief.” She gave Hellhound her flirtatious grin. “How about a discount to make up for your pain and suffering?”

  “Now you’re talkin’.” He dropped another kiss on my lips before turning me around and nudging me back toward the office. “Get back to work, darlin’, an’ no peekin’. Christmas is comin’, an’ I got shoppin’ to do.”

  “Oooh! See, I told you I liked him,” Lola purred. “Come on, Arnie, let me give you the grand tour.”

  I resumed my seat at the computer, half embarrassed by Lola’s prurient interest and half turned on by the thought of the gifts to come. Or more to the point, the gifts that would make me come.

  Damn, Arnie was mind-blowing in bed without any external aid. Toys couldn’t possibly make sex with him any better.

  Could they?

  A hot shiver hurried down my spine and my breath shortened.

  Even straining my ears, I couldn’t quite make out the words in Arnie’s teasing rumble and Lola’s giggles. I tried to map the store in my mind and figure out what they might be discussing, but that only sent me on a fantasy tour that resulted in three wrong bookkeeping entries in a row.

  Squirming in my suddenly-hot chair, I corrected them only to make more.

&nb
sp; Dammit, I was horny as hell.

  Twenty long minutes later, Hellhound’s sexy rasp raised the small hairs on the back of my neck. “Hey, darlin’. Ya gonna pack up pretty soon? We oughta head out if we’re gonna make it to Kane’s for three.”

  “Yep, I’m ready to go.” I shut down the computer and emerged from the office, glancing innocently at the bag in his hand.

  He sang softly, “Santa’s comin’…” Then he winked at Lola and added, “But I’m glad I ain’t Santa.”

  “Why?” she asked. “You’d make a great Santa. You could powder your beard white…”

  He grinned and delivered the old joke. “’Cause Santa only gets to come once a year.”

  “Oooh, Lordy!” Lola threw up her hands, laughing. “I can’t believe I fell for that!”

  A few minutes later, I followed Hellhound’s Forester around the corner and parked in front of Kane’s house. As I trudged to the door, my mind ticked over the possibilities. This wasn’t just a social invitation, I was sure of it.

  Was Kane hoping Daniel and I would bond? I suppressed a shudder.

  Or maybe…

  The door swung open, interrupting my guessing game.

  “Come in,” Kane said with a smile. As we stepped onto the mat he swung the door shut behind us and retreated, adding, “I’m reasonably certain we’re past the contagious stage, but I won’t get too close just in case. I wouldn’t wish that experience on my worst enemy.”

  Kicking off my boots, I surveyed the cozy domestic scene. A box of toys peeked around the corner of the sofa and Daniel sat on the rug by the coffee table, murmuring to himself while he manipulated a small army of toy soldiers.

  Kane waved us in, and Hellhound and I crossed the room to sit together on the sofa.

  Shit, this was awkward.

  Pasting on a bright smile, I said, “Well, this is a much happier scene than Sunday.”

  Kane smiled and sank into the armchair across from us. “It certainly is. We got through it together, didn’t we, Daniel?” He ruffled Daniel’s hair.

  “Uh-huh!” Daniel leaned back against Kane’s legs, beaming up adoringly. “Like soldiers!”