by Lisa M Airey
The whole team was galvanized. The umpire dialed 911 on his cell phone. She knocked out the passenger door window and took out a taillight. She stared at him maliciously as she circled and destroyed the glass of his James Bond BMW. Gray was racing toward her from across the field when she took her first swing at his person. Keith’s father was screaming like a girl and she hadn’t even hit him yet. She swung again, but he escaped the blow.
In the next instant, Gray had her tackled to the ground. She fought him like one possessed. “He deserves to die, Gray,” she shrieked. “Let me kill him! Please! Let me kill him!”
“No, Julie. No. You can’t go to jail. He deserves to go to jail, not you.”
“I don’t care!” she screamed. Gray wrested the bat from her hands.
“Julie!” Gray squeezed her hard enough to silence her. “Be smart.” He bent his head to her ear. “Do you want to save this boy? If so, be sane. Be cool.”
His words chilled her. She stilled beneath him and stood stiffly when he released her. She looked at Keith’s father and locked eyes. “Gray Walker is the only reason you are still breathing air,” she said. She shuddered in disgust. “If you press charges, so will I.”
“What?” he stammered. “The boy fell down the steps.”
She took a step toward him, but Gray restrained her. “You better fix those steps then,” she said, low and lethal.
Elliott arrived with his squad car screaming. It was Gray who held the baseball bat so Elliott addressed the big Sioux. “Could I ask you to drop the bat, Mr. Walker?”
“Elliott,” said Julie, wrenching the bat from Gray. “It was me that destroyed the BMW.” She was disheveled and breathing heavily.
“You?”
“Mr. Hawthorn asked me to.”
“He what?” Elliott looked at Douglas Hawthorn who just stood there and nodded.
“Why don’t you get the ball game started?” Julie said to Gray. “I’ll wrap up here then join you.”
Gray squeezed her tightly, kissed her on the forehead and returned to the bench. The boys were waiting for him expectantly. He looked into their pie-sized eyes and took a deep breath.
“You all know that Keith fell down the steps. Well, Ms. Julie has been after his father to fix those steps for a while now. Today, she decided to… er… hammer home her point.”
Everyone looked at Keith. Their faces were a muddle of confusion, upset, horror, and pity. Keith’s face was a mask, but his eyes were staring at Julie.
“Is Ms. Julie going to go to jail?” asked one of the boys.
“No,” said Gray, watching as Elliott pulled from the parking lot and a tow truck sidled up to the wrecked BMW.
“Why not?” asked one of the guys.
“Because the Great Spirit walks by her side,” said Gray. “She’s a mighty fine addition to the team, don’t you think men?”
“Hoh-hoh-hoh,” they chanted.
As they broke from the huddle, Gray handed Keith the Louisville Slugger that Julie had used to destroy his father’s BMW. “This is yours now, and yours alone,” Gray whispered. “It’s packed with powerful good juju. You keep it and you use it every time you come to the plate. You make it sing your name.”
“Yes, sir,” said Keith.
“Keith?”
“Sir?”
“The Great Spirit walks by your side, too.”
Julie was not surprised to see Dan Keating leaning against the hood of his squad car in the parking lot at the end of the game. She turned to Gray and excused herself.
“Hello, Slugger,” said Dan by way of greeting.
“Hello, Dan.”
“You and I need to take a little ride,” he said amicably.
“Don’t arrest me in front of the boys, please.”
“I’m not. I’m not going to arrest you at all. But I’d like to have your full cooperation.”
“Absolutely.”
She waved to Gray and slipped into the front seat of the squad car.
“There is some paperwork in that folder,” Dan said, gesturing to the side-door pocket. “I’m going to ask that you fill that out.”
“Okay,” said Julie. She removed the folder and glanced through the pages. It was an incident report. Her eyes scanned the questions as Dan maneuvered the car through town. When the car stopped, she was surprised to find them in front of a duplex. She looked at Dan in silent question.
“I have your full cooperation, remember?” he said with a smile. “This is my home. Come in. I’ll fix us something to eat while you take care of the forms.”
Julie frowned.
“I didn’t want to do this at the station, Julie. Did you?”
“No,” she said softly.
He escorted her inside. The house was neat and clean. From the inside, it looked like a mountain lodge. There was lots of heavy wood furniture and all the colors were autumnal. It even smelled like fireplace.
He poured her a glass of red wine and handed her a pen. She finished her report just as a bell chimed in the kitchen.
“I’m rather hungry,” she said, handing him the pile of papers. “Demolition burns up a lot of calories.”
“I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“You know why I did what I did?”
“Elliott filled me in. But I don’t approve. The whole thing could have escalated dangerously. There were other ways to handle the situation.”
“I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time.”
He placed the lasagna on the table and shoveled a piece onto her plate. “That I believe. How did Douglas handle you wrecking his precious toy?”
“I think I upset him tremendously, but what really sent him over the edge was when…” she faltered. He looked up.
“Yessssss?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Nothing, my eye,” said Dan, looking at her carefully. “What did you do when you finished with the car? Did you take a swing at Douglas?”
She chewed her pasta, quietly studying her plate. “This is very good. What brand is it?”
“Damn it, Julie. He could have locked you away for assault.”
“I didn’t hit him.”
“You missed?”
“Yes, then Gray tackled me and took my weapon. I do declare that for a big man, Gray sure moves like stealth itself. I never saw it coming.”
“Bruises?”
“On me? No. He cushioned me from the fall, but I think I gave Gray a few. I didn’t exactly go down willing.”
Dan sighed. “How many witnesses?”
“Both ball teams, plus the umpire, and a few parents.”
“How’s Keith? How did he take all this?”
“I have a friend for life.”
Dan chuckled.
“I’m glad you came and got me,” said Julie. “I was dreading the post-game wrap up. Gray will probably ask me to step down as assistant coach now.” She looked out the window trying to control her emotions. “Which is a pity, because I really like the boys. And I was starting to feel a part of this community. But, I set a very bad example today.”
“Hey,” he said, inching his chair next to hers. “None of that. What you did was wrong, yes. No doubt about it. But Douglas isn’t pressing charges. And I think he’ll think twice before he lays a hand on his son again.”
“Dan.” She looked him straight in the eye. “I threatened that man’s life today. Publicly.”
Dan took a deep breath and exhaled. “I figured as much.”
“You did?”
“Uh huh. That’s why you’re here doing paperwork, Julie. Things need to be documented in case there’s another incident.”
“I won’t attack his car again.”
“No, but he might go home and think of ways to get even with you in some form or fashion. You took him down a few pegs in front of his son and all his friends.”
“Yeah.”
“A man with anger issues and low self-esteem processes things a little differently than the rest of us. You were e
motional today. He might be emotional tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
“Be on your toes for the next couple of whiles.”
“Couple of whiles?”
“Uh huh. I think I’ll swing by your place in the evenings sporadically and make sure you’re okay.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “All in the line of duty?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He took their plates and put them in the sink. “Now, official business aside, what’s going on with you and Gray?”
“Meaning?”
“Do you two have a platonic relationship or is it more?”
Although she resented the question, she answered it. “It’s platonic. He has kissed me on occasion and he has held me, but he doesn’t ask for anything more.”
Dan digested that, wrestled with it. “I want more, Julie.”
“I know. But, I don’t think that I can deliver. I don’t think that I can provide what you need. This hurts me very much because I like you so.”
“You are giving me a very mixed message.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t even know how to begin to explain things to you. It’s all very… complicated.”
“When I tell a story, I usually start at the beginning,” he prodded. “That makes the telling a little simpler.”
She looked up at him. Her eyes were troubled. “I was abused too, Dan. I went to school with bruises all the time, just like Keith.”
He swallowed.
“Keith was so hurt, and I’m not just talking physical wounds. Your body gets used to punishment. It’s the mental damage that wreaks the most havoc. It was a very wounded young man that sat on that bench today. I couldn’t take it.”
“I understand.”
“No,” she said, with a little more heat than she intended. “Gray said the same thing. There is no way either of you can possibly understand. You haven’t lived it.”
“When did you tell Gray?” he asked, trying to sound casual. “During the snowstorm?”
“No.” She took a deep breath. “Remember when I sprained my ankle on the mountain?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Gray had to carry me down the mountain. I was terrified of him and he asked me why. So, I told him.”
They were both silent for a minute.
“You know, you never told me how you sprained your ankle.” He watched her stiffen. “Julie?”
“I slipped on some wet rocks in the stream and fell. I wedged my ankle between them.” Dan knew that there was more to the story, he could tell from her body language.
“Were you stuck?”
“Gray got my ankle free.”
“So. Gray was with you. Were you hiking together?”
“No. I was alone. Or, I thought I was alone. I was standing on the rocks when Gray said ‘hello.’ I was so startled that I slipped and fell.”
“I know you hike every Saturday,” he said. “Do you hike the same trail? Frequent the same spots?”
“Usually, why?”
“Have you ever run into Gray before that Saturday on the trails?”
“No. Never. And I almost always go to that little grove. It’s my picnic spot. That’s why I was so startled. I didn’t expect to find anyone else there. Well, any person there. I’ve always considered it my own. That’s where I always meet my wolf.”
It was Dan’s turn to stiffen.
“I know you don’t like him, Dan, but I saved his life and he has protected me on numerous occasions. That wolf is the only reason I feel safe hiking alone.”
Dan pressed his lips together and looked her in the eye. “I know that you don’t want to hear it, Julie, but in my professional opinion, I don’t think that you are safe with that wolf at all.” When she didn’t say anything, he spoke again. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”
It was dinner time and the gentle scraping of silverware could be heard from the open windows they passed. The streets were quiet.
“Are you making any headway on the real AAA driver’s death?” she asked.
He shook his head. “He was mauled by a wolf,” said Dan, letting the statement fall as it would, like a coin hitting the floor of a silent church.
“Was he alive when he was mauled?”
“Yes.”
Julie closed her eyes to try and block out the visual. “Are wolf attacks normal around here?”
“Not normal, no.”
“Is the animal rabid?”
“No.”
“You’ve checked?”
“Of course.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Julie said softly. Dan just looked at her. “Was Susan alive when she was attacked?”
Dan nodded.
“And she’d been raped first. So, she’d have been hit, maybe bleeding? And the tow truck driver, perhaps he had been mugged first. Had he been hit? Was he bleeding? Is the wolf attracted to the wounded?”
“You think well.”
She shrugged and held his gaze. Dan was so perfect, so good, so strong. She felt nicked and chipped around him, unworthy of the praise, unworthy of him.
“Julie?” He stopped walking. “If you had never been on that mountain in the blizzard, would you be seeing Gray?”
“No,” she said flatly. “But that’s because I would have never gotten to know him. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to get to know him. It’s his size, his looks. It’s intimidating.” She paused. “We were in pretty tight quarters for a week. We learned to work with each other and to work around each other.” She shook her head. “I told him I’d come to a few of his baseball games. Next thing I knew, he had me registered as assistant coach. Now, I swear, he’s like an old shoe.”
Dan placed his hands on her shoulders and slid them down her arms to her elbows. “I wish I had been the one to find you on that mountain,” he said. He reached down and grabbed a hand and lifted it to his lips. He kissed her knuckles softly.
She pulled free gently. “You are a great guy, Dan, and a good friend.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. When they reached her door, he touched her chin and coaxed her face toward him, bending low to kiss her on the lips. “I can be an old shoe too, Julie. You just need to walk with me for a while.”
23
Julie knew the road as soon as Gray turned onto it. “You are taking me to your cabin?”
“Uh huh.”
“I thought we were going to discuss the state finals over breakfast.”
“At the cabin.”
“Stale Pop Tarts?”
“No. As a matter of fact I have a fruit salad, scrambled eggs, bacon, and mimosas.”
“At the cabin? How?”
“I packed a cooler with ice.”
“Clever man.”
“With so many items on the menu though, you’ll have to help cook.”
“Not a worry. I can cook.”
“Yes, you can.”
She stepped inside and stood, sweeping the room with her eyes. The cabin hadn’t changed, but she had. She turned to look at Gray, but he had his back to her, rummaging around in the cooler, ferreting out the eggs and bacon. She joined him at the propane cook-top and helped prepare their meal.
He bumped against her gently as they worked, teasing playfully, his hands ever reaching for her hip, her waist, a shoulder, a ticklish rib.
“Watch those hands,” she groused.
“The better to feel you with, my dear.”
She took a wooden spoon to his knuckles. “Focus.”
“I am.”
“On breakfast.”
After they had eaten and cleared the table, Gray fixed them both another mimosa and unfurled a thick wad of blueprints across the tabletop.
“I have some news,” he said. “I’m going to build a house, a very large log cabin complete with running water, electricity, and heat. It will be a real home and I am going to build it very close to where we are now.”
“What brought this on?”
He shrugged. “I n
eed a nicer place to take you.”
Julie was thunderstruck. “Gray, you have an apartment in town.”
“It doesn’t feel right.” He closed his eyes. “When I think of you, Julie, I think of this mountain and the snow, the smell of wood smoke on your skin, your hand on my chest and your head on my shoulder.”
Julie swallowed.
“I held your body and your trust.”
“Gray, I’m sorry I can’t give you more… of me.”
He gave her a tender smile. “What we share is enough.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Sex isn’t everything, you know.”
“Have you ever…” She let the question drop.
“No,” he said, his expression pained. “I haven’t.”
“Do you want to?” she asked.
He smiled, laughter in his eyes. “I am a man, Julie Hastings. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t. I’d be lying through my teeth if I told you that I didn’t want to make love to you. But, when you’re ready, Julie. And not until.”
“There’s been no one before me?”
He shook his head uncomfortably. “There was a girl once, someone I liked very much, but her parents didn’t approve.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“They didn’t trust me with her,” he said softly. He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “I frighten many people, Julie. It’s my size, my strength, my looks. Plus…”
“Plus?”
“Well, my father didn’t treat my mother very well.”
“I see,” she said, her voice was a whisper.
“I guess they thought, like father, like son,” he said. “I can’t blame them.”
“They were wrong.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
He stared at her, his eyes soft. She swallowed. “Where are you going to build your house?”
“Just beyond the ridge line. Our tribe does not have dwelling rights within the state park.”
“But this dwelling is within the state park, isn’t it?”
“It’s just a hunting cabin.”
“A hunting cabin? Within a state park?”
He shrugged. “My state—”
“I know, I know,” she finished for him, “I know exactly how you think. Your state, your state park, your Julie.”