Shelter for Koren

by Susan Stoker

  “All I want to know is if Koren’s safe,” Taco said. “If this Nadine person is mad at me because of what happened to her son—which doesn’t even make sense, as I was there to try to save him—then what’s her end game? Why start all these fires? And why Crash, Chief, and Moose? Nothing about this makes sense. And what am I supposed to be sorry about? I don’t get it.”

  “I know. And that’s why I’m still digging,” Beth said. “I could be wrong. Maybe it is Jen or one of her followers and they just want to see you suffer.”

  “Shit, Beth, why’d you call me if you had no information?” Taco asked in frustration.

  “I wanted to see if you knew Nadine, or if you remembered having any contact with her since that fire,” she said evenly, not upset with the way Taco was speaking to her.

  “I don’t.”

  “Okay. I’ll keep digging.”

  “Beth?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks. I know you do a lot behind the scenes and probably don’t get enough appreciation for it.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. Cade is veeeeery appreciative.”

  Taco smirked. “Later, Beth. You’ll call if you find out anything important?”

  “Of course. Later.”

  Taco clicked off the phone and paced. He wanted to be home. Wanted to be with Koren. Wanted to see for himself that she was okay.

  Not thinking beyond needing to hear her voice, he clicked on Koren’s name.

  She answered after the first ring. “Hi, Taco.”

  “Hey, Kor. How are you?”

  “I’m good.”

  “Nothing’s happened?”

  “If you mean has any crazy fire-wielding lunatic knocked on my door, no,” she said with a laugh.

  “That’s not funny,” Taco said, not feeling in the mood to joke about the situation.

  “I’m sorry,” she said contritely. “I’m fine. I’ve been inside all morning working. I’ve got Blythe and Squirrel’s trip all set up. I finished making the arrangements for that big wedding in the Bahamas, and I’ve got about half a dozen new clients to research trips for as well. Things are good.”

  Taco breathed out a sigh of relief, but the feeling of trepidation, that something was lurking around the corner, wouldn’t go away. If this was how Penelope felt all the time, no wonder she wasn’t sleeping well and was always on edge.

  “I should be off shift at the normal time in the morning.”

  “Are you coming over here?” Koren asked.

  “Yeah. If that’s all right.”

  “Of course. You want me to go over to your house instead? You could text me when you leave and I could meet you there.”

  “No,” he said immediately. If someone was targeting him, the last place he wanted Koren was at his house by herself. “I’ll come to you. That way you aren’t disturbed when you’re working.”

  “I miss your place,” she said after a moment. “Your kitchen is bigger than mine, and I love being able to spread all my shit out on your table and not feel as if I’m taking up the entire room.”

  Taco couldn’t deny her words felt good. He liked her in his space too. “I know,” was all he said.

  “Have you heard anything new from Beth?” she asked.

  “Unfortunately, no. But she’s doing her illegal best to uncover every dark secret of anyone I’ve ever met before.”

  “I’m sorry,” Koren said sympathetically. “What can I do to make this better for you?”

  “Stay safe,” Taco said immediately. “Be smart. If anyone comes to your door, don’t answer it. If you smell smoke, get the hell out of your condo. Be hyper-alert for the smallest thing that seems off and call me if you get nervous about anything.”

  “I can do that.”

  Taco took a deep breath and tried to lighten the conversation. “What are your plans for tonight?” he asked.

  “I’m going to go over to Sophie’s house. Blythe and Quinn are coming too.”

  “You’ll text me before you leave and when you get there?” Taco asked.

  “Of course.”

  Taco closed his eyes. He had no idea how he’d gotten so lucky. A lot of women would balk at telling their boyfriends everywhere they went, but not Koren. She understood that he was worried about her and wasn’t trying to be creepy about it. “I miss you,” he said softly.

  “It’s only been a day and a half,” Koren said with a laugh.

  “I know, but I miss you anyway.”

  “I miss you too,” she said.

  “I’m gonna let you go and get some work done,” he told her.

  “Okay. Be safe today,” Koren said. “I hope it’s a light day for you.”

  Taco actually hoped they were slammed. It would make time go by faster. “Me too,” he said instead. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Bye.”

  “Bye, Kor.”

  Taco clicked off the phone and resumed his pacing. If anything, talking to Koren made his anxiety ratchet up a notch instead of making him feel better. He couldn’t deal with it if something happened to her because of him. Like Penelope had said, she hadn’t ever had to deal with anything like this in the past. The last thing he wanted was someone pissed at him and taking it out on her.

  Just when he didn’t think he’d be able to keep from going crazy, the emergency tone rang out. The dispatcher informed them there was an alarm sounding at one of the nursing homes nearby. Most of the time these things were false alarms, but the firefighters didn’t treat them differently from any other call.

  Taco ran into the garage and met the others there putting on their gear. Within a minute, the first truck was peeling out of the bay with lights and sirens blazing. At least the call would keep his mind occupied for the next hour or so…if he was lucky.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Koren was in the kitchen laughing with Sophie, Blythe, and Quinn. They’d decided to hang out at Sophie’s for the simple fact that her shed had already burned down. It was silly, but they kinda thought that since she’d already been targeted by the arsonist, her place might be safer than any of theirs.

  There were a hundred ways that their reasoning didn’t work, but they didn’t care. Besides, Sophie and Chief’s house was one story. If something did happen, it was super easy to go out a window or the back sliding door to escape.

  Koren didn’t like that she even had to think about something like that, but the truth was, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She hadn’t quite reached paranoia level, but every time she talked to Taco and he harped on her being safe, she got more and more nervous about boogeymen lurking around corners.

  So far, things had been quiet at Sophie’s. They’d finished dinner and were putting the dishes in the sink and cleaning up the kitchen.

  “Okay, who here has heard from their man already tonight?” Quinn asked.

  Sophie raised her hand.

  Blythe raised hers.

  Koren grinned and wiggled her fingers.

  “Now…who’s irritated that their man can’t stop worrying about them?”

  No one said a word or raised their hands.

  “Exactly.” Quinn smiled. “I’d always wanted someone who really loved me. For a while, I was afraid to admit that John might be that man.”

  “Afraid?” Sophie scoffed. “Quinn, we practically had to bully you into even giving him a chance!”

  “I know, but despite seeing how amazing Chief was with you, the last thing I wanted was to go out with John and realize that, while he was perfect on the outside, inside, maybe he was just like all the other shallow people I’d let into my life in the past.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Sophie said, putting her arm around Quinn’s shoulders.

  “So…” Blythe said, turning her attention to Koren. “What updates do you have for us about Taco?”

  Feeling as if she was suddenly in the hot seat, Koren tried to play dumb. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, no!” Sophie said, pointing her finger at Koren. “We’re s-
smarter than that. We’ve all been where you are, and you are not going to deny us juicy details!”

  Everyone chuckled. Koren leaned back against the counter. “We’re good,” she said.

  Sophie shook her head. “Nope. M-More.”

  Koren knew she was blushing. Sophie reminded her a lot of Sue. She pushed and pushed until she got what she wanted. “Seriously, we’re good. We had a fight the other day because he thought pushing me away would make me safer.”

  Quinn rolled her eyes. “As if.”

  “I know. I was upset at first, but then decided I was done and agreed with him,” Koren said.

  “Let me guess, then he decided that wasn’t what he wanted after all,” Blythe said with a smile.

  “Exactly. So now he texts me a million times a day to check on me and I talk to him at least two or three times when he’s on shift.”

  “And when he’s not?” Sophie asked with a quirk of an eyebrow.

  Koren smiled. “Then we’re together.”

  All three of the other women whooped in delight. When they’d quieted down, Koren continued. “Since I work from home, it’s easy to just hang out together. Lately he’s been coming to my condo because he thinks it’s safer than his house. So he stops by after he gets off work in the morning and hangs out while I work. Then if I need to do errands, we do them together. Then we eat in and watch TV or whatever.”

  “It’s the ‘whatever’ I want to know m-more about,” Sophie said suggestively.

  “How about you, Soph?” Quinn asked. “Want to tell us more about the wedding you’re planning?”

  With a smile, Sophie gladly went into detail about the wedding Chief was planning on his reservation. It would be a small affair, with only his native relatives in attendance. But when they got back to Texas, they were planning on having a huge party.

  Sophie was in the middle of talking about where she wanted to have her reception when Koren’s phone vibrated with a text.

  Expecting it to be Taco, she was surprised to see Sue’s name on the screen.

  * * *

  Sue: I need you.

  * * *

  Alarmed, Koren immediately texted back.

  * * *

  Koren: What’s wrong?

  Sue: I’m at your place.

  Koren: What? Why?

  Sue: I had to get out of my house.

  Koren: OMG. Why? Talk to me.

  Sue: I can’t. Not over the phone. Can you come?

  Koren: Of course. I’m on my way right now. Did you bring your key?

  Sue: No. I left it at the house.

  Koren: Okay. My spare is in that secret rock around back by the basement door.

  Sue: Thanks.

  Koren: I’ll be there as soon as I can. Hang in there.

  * * *

  “What’s wrong?” Sophie asked.

  “I don’t know. That was my friend Sue. Something’s up. Maybe a fight with her husband? She said she had to get out of her house. She’s at my condo now and wants to talk to me,” Koren said.

  “Well, go!” Quinn said.

  “Is there anything we can do?” Blythe asked.

  “I don’t think so, but thank you,” Koren told them. “I appreciate you letting me hang out here tonight.”

  “Anytime,” Sophie said. “And not just because we’re trying to hide out from a crazy person.”

  “Make sure you text Taco and tell him that you’re headed home,” Quinn said as Koren gathered up her stuff.

  Nodding, Koren shot off a quick text.

  * * *

  Koren: I’m headed home. Sue texted. Something’s up and she needs me.

  Taco: Okay. Be safe.

  Koren: I will. C U in the morning.

  Taco: Definitely.

  * * *

  With that done, Koren stuffed her phone into her purse and hurried out to her car parked in Sophie’s driveway. She took a look around before climbing in, and didn’t see anyone or anything out of the ordinary.

  She drove faster than she might otherwise and arrived at her condo in record time. Koren pulled into her driveway and opened the garage. She didn’t see Sue’s car anywhere, but supposed she might’ve taken a taxi or Uber to get there. If something happened at her house or with her husband, she might’ve just stormed out without her purse or something.

  The garage door closed behind her, and Koren jumped out and headed inside.

  “Sue?” she called out when she got inside. No one answered, and Koren put her purse down on the kitchen counter and glanced into the living room.

  Dumbfounded, Koren stared at the stranger sitting in one of her chairs. The woman was extremely skinny, and she wore black jeans with a black shirt. She had a pair of ragged sneakers on her feet, which were resting on the coffee table.

  “Who are you? Where’s Sue?” Koren demanded, instantly on alert.

  The woman stood up and pointed a pistol at her.

  Koren froze.

  Stupid! The second she saw the stranger inside her house, she should’ve run.

  “Sue’s not coming,” the woman said.

  “What’d you do to her?” Koren asked.

  The stranger laughed. “Nothing. Your friend is sitting at home safe and sound. No worries.”

  Now Koren was confused.

  “I’m Nadine,” the woman said.

  When Koren didn’t react, the woman seemed to get pissed.

  “You don’t know who I am?”

  Koren shook her head. “Should I?”

  “Yeah, bitch, you should! Hudson ruined my life, and I would’ve assumed he’d have talked about it. About what he did! But now it’s even more obvious to me that he doesn’t give a shit!”

  Koren swallowed hard as things clicked in her head. Taco had talked to her about a Nadine. In a call earlier that very evening. She was the mother of the kid who had perished in a fire before Koren started dating him. The poor kid in Taco’s arms, in the picture in the paper, was this woman’s son.

  “I’m so sorry about your son,” she said softly.

  “Don’t you talk about my son!” Nadine screamed.

  Koren pressed her lips together. Something was drastically wrong with Nadine. She knew she needed to stay calm and not provoke her. Needed to do whatever it took to get out of this without being shot.

  “Can I get you something to eat or drink?”

  For some reason, Nadine found that extremely funny. She threw her head back and laughed as if she hadn’t heard anything funnier in her life.

  Terrified now, as it was more than obvious Nadine was on some kind of drug, Koren spun around and bolted for the garage door. If she could get inside, she could maybe hold Nadine off until the garage door opened then get out of there.

  But she didn’t make it.

  Nadine didn’t say a word. She didn’t yell for Koren to stop. One second Koren was running for her life, and the next, every muscle in her body coiled and she fell to the floor with a thud. She couldn’t even put up her hands to stop her fall.

  Once Koren was down, Nadine again cackled with laughter.

  Koren closed her eyes as pain enveloped her body. This was it. She was dying, and she wouldn’t get to tell Taco how much she’d come to love him.

  Stupid…so stupid.

  “Slow night,” Squirrel said.

  “Aw, man!”

  “Shut the hell up.”

  “Now you’ve done it.”

  The complaints came hard and fast from around Taco. He shook his head and didn’t even feel sorry for Squirrel when the others started throwing whatever they had handy at him. A napkin. A pen. A pillow.

  “You know better than that,” Sledge said with a shake of his head. “Now we’re gonna get slammed.”

  Squirrel smirked. “Just making sure you guys are all still awake. Jeez, it’s only eight at night and everyone’s ready to go to bed. Our women are making us lazy.”

  “Not sure that’s exactly true,” Crash said. “I mean, I’m only speaking for myself. I might go to
bed at eight, but I’m not exactly sleeping.”

  Everyone chuckled and agreed.

  Taco leaned back on the couch and smiled. He loved this. Loved getting to hang out with his best friends three to four days a week. There wasn’t a better job in the world.

  “Anyone hear from their old ladies yet tonight?” Moose asked.

  “Beth would kick your ass if she heard you call her an old lady,” Sledge said.

  “Adeline would just laugh,” Crash threw in.

  “Koren texted me earlier. She, Sophie, Quinn, and Blythe were over at Soph’s house, but her friend Sue texted and needed to see her, so she went home,” Taco said.

  “Beth’s still neck-deep in researching,” Crash said. “She told me to stop bothering her when I checked in last.”

  “Adeline, Coco, and Smokey were watching The Secret Life of Pets,” Penelope said quietly.

  “How’s Smokey?” Chief asked.

  “Good. Adeline said he finally settled down. He stole Coco’s bed, and Coco simply climbed on top of him and fell asleep.”

  Everyone smiled at the imagery Penelope’s words evoked.

  “You hear from the detective?” Taco asked Sledge.

  The other man shook his head. “Not today. He said they’re looking into every possibility, but that the investigation is slow going.”

  Taco sighed. “This sucks. I know I can’t just take off work indefinitely, but I hate leaving Koren vulnerable. And I feel as if whoever is doing this is just waiting to pounce. On her, or at one of you guys.”

  “Between the cops and Beth, they’re going to find out who’s responsible sooner rather than later,” Sledge said.

  “I hope so,” Taco said.

  The second the words were out of his mouth, the tones rang out through the fire station. Everyone leaped up as one and ran for the garage to put on their gear. On their way, Chief elbowed Squirrel. “This is your fault.”