“Like I wouldn’t do that if I could?”
Sadie sent a quick glance between them. She cleared her throat. “Annie has a point, Sky. She can’t keep on cleaning up the same mess. I lived here long enough to know the Stingers rule by intimidation.”
“Darned straight.” Sky glared at Annie.
She licked the sugar from a doughnut off her fingers and set her cup aside. Picking up her sander, she left the porch, returned to the artistic skull she’d been obliterating and switched on the sander. Paint flew, and the high-pitched squeal had Sky and Sadie moving to the other side of the porch.
“She’s too obstinate to be afraid,” Sky said. “I told Koot the gang leaders spread various threats that kept everyone from attending her meeting. It wasn’t by accident that her house is the only one of the three newly painted ones that got tagged. It’s like she has a target on her back, Sadie.”
“And you care enough to spend your limited free time over here. I can see she’s blind to that and you wish she wasn’t.”
“Huh? No way! She’s stirred up some bad elements in my jurisdiction, that’s all.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t born yesterday. Plus, I know cops. The tougher they are, the longer it takes, but the harder they fall.” She put her cup down and went to get a bucket and sponges out of her car.
Sky watched her fill the bucket from the water spigot, then begin wiping down the sanded garage door. He took his sander and moved to the other side of the porch. The next time he looked up, a few women who didn’t normally venture out much had joined Sadie’s bucket brigade.
He took a call from Koot before he stopped to figure out what that meant. “Hey,” Koot said, “I’m on my way to pick up a submarine sandwich for lunch. Can I bring you hard workers some eats? I assume my wife’s still there since she didn’t answer at home.”
“She’s here, along with Annie, me and, let’s see...four women from the neighborhood. Do you have enough cash to buy seven subs?”
“Maybe I’ll get a four-foot one with a variety of things on it and have it sliced up.”
“Sounds good.”
Koot showed up in short order with food and soft drinks to go around. The other women were shy, but Sadie and Annie included them in the chatter.
“How did you happen to know about the work going on here, Mrs. Gonzales?” Koot asked one of them.
“Bad news travels. Neighbors phone neighbors,” she murmured. “We all hate what’s happened in our schools, and to our town.” Her pals nodded just as Koot’s cell phone chimed.
“Hot dog, Sky. This is our first tip on the hotline! An anonymous call about a possible drug sale two blocks away,” he said, jumping up.
Sky got up, too. “I’m not in uniform, but I have my badge, so I’m going along.” The men sprinted for Koot’s cruiser, leaving the women to comment among themselves. A hard expression crossed the face of one neighbor.
“Margie Dumas, the night dispatcher, lives next door to me. She told me this morning that the chief started a new tip line. It’s about time! My daughter’s away at college, thank goodness. I’d be worried sick if I had a kid at our high school. I hear the boys are all pressured to join the gang. Pressured and threatened.”
Annie listened to the women. She took it all in, and after they settled down to work again, she worried about the fact that Sky and Koot hadn’t returned.
Midafternoon the four helpers who’d pitched in walked up to Annie and said they had to leave. Rita Gonzales extended a hand. “Good luck. We wish you the best, but we can’t risk coming again tomorrow. Word of this will get out, and our houses will be tagged or worse. It’s happened before whenever anyone tried to buck the Stingers.”
Annie hugged them all and thanked each one for her bravery in coming. “We’ll meet again soon to discuss painting your homes.”
Once the women were out of earshot, and she and Sadie had taken over the painting, Annie said, “I’ve worked in some rough neighborhoods, but never where so many people were afraid for their jobs—and their homes. It’s not right.”
“At the time Koot and I decided to sell and move, gang activity had just started infiltrating the schools. I taught there, but the adults weren’t hounded.” She shook her head. “Those women’s stories are unnerving.”
“Yes.”
The pair fell silent then. Conversation became more difficult when Annie went to the other side of the porch to paint the area Sky had sanded.
The men didn’t return until nearly five-thirty. Annie and Sadie had finished painting and were washing up brushes and rollers when they drove in.
Sadie straightened and set her hands on her hips. “You two goof-offs sure know to stay away until the work’s all done.” She flung a hand out to indicate the drying paint that had restored Annie’s home to the blue it’d been before the vandalism.
Koot bounded up the walkway and swept his wife into his arms. Sky paused to study their finished paint job.
“Careful who you call goof-offs,” Koot scolded his wife. “We nabbed ourselves a teen dealer and two drug buyers. The users were underage, and since they didn’t have priors we had to release them to their parents with stiff warnings. But we confiscated some street equivalent of oxycodone. Aka hillbilly heroin.”
Sky reached Annie as she dried her hands on a towel. “I’ve heard the term,” she said. “The dealer’s a teen? Is he out on the street again, too?”
“He’s seventeen,” Sky answered. “Old enough so we can hold him overnight, or until his family gets a lawyer and posts bond. He’s a scared, desperate, local dropout. His folks are unemployed and his story is that what he brings in selling these pills feeds the family.”
“That’s a shame,” Annie said.
“If it’s true,” Koot responded. “He claims to be afraid of the gang, but seems more afraid of his dad. He said he’ll provide the names of a couple of guys higher up the chain that he splits his take with if we’ll intervene with dear old dad. The dude apparently hits the sauce hard, and sonny pays. Sky thinks he’s being truthful. I guess we’ll see.”
“Oh, there’s no happy ending is there?” Annie frowned. Sky glanced at her. “There rarely is when kids go off track. But you’d know that.”
“Yes, I’m sad to say. Listen, that is good news about maybe getting some names. I have a suggestion. Since it’s late and we’re all tired, why don’t I order pizza for a celebratory dinner of sorts. I know Franco’s delivers.”
“Works for me.” Koot was the first to accept. “Sky and I probably managed two bites of our subs at lunch.” He turned to his wife. “Okay with you?”
“Sure thing!”
Sky looked as if he might decline, but after checking his cell phone, he nodded. “While we were waiting for the parents to collect their kids, I texted Corrine about my plan to take Zack to the zoo tomorrow. I asked her to text back if I needed to adjust my plans. No news from her is good news. So, I agree with Koot. My stomach is empty and pizza sounds great.”
They trudged into the house behind Annie. Sadie immediately spotted the drapes Annie had hung. “Did you make these?” she asked.
“Yes. Gran has stacks of fabric. I love the colors, and I like how they turned out, but they don’t really match Gran Ida’s old furniture.”
“What about recovering the couch and love seat? It wouldn’t be difficult. And furniture built today doesn’t have the life span these old pieces do.”
Annie got out the phone book. “Let me order our food, then we’ll talk sewing. I love the idea of upholstering these pieces, but I’m not sure I have the time or expertise.” Pausing, she asked what toppings everyone wanted, then placed the order. Storing the phone book, she got out money for the delivery person, even though the men wanted to pay.
“Tell me more about fixing up Gran’s furniture while I set
the dining table, will you, Sadie?”
“Annie has an ancient TV,” Sky informed Koot in the other room. “I guess we might as well pass on the game.” He smiled at Annie through the archway as he said it.
Koot folded his long body into a big overstuffed chair. “Hey, Annie, you need to keep this chair for sure. It’s really comfy.”
“So’s this couch,” Sky admitted after he sat down.
“Hard to tell if the women even heard us,” Koot murmured. “They’re too busy trading decorating ideas.”
“I noticed. That’s nice.” Sky eyed the women working together, talking a mile a minute about upholstering, quilting and other crafts.
“This is a treat for my wife,” Koot said. “After Sadie quit teaching, she missed her teacher pals. If Annie’s serious about spiffing up homes around here, she and Sadie might make a good team. Sadie’s a whiz at decorating.”
“You know, Koot, I can’t recall a single time during our marriage that Corrine made an effort to socialize with the wives of my buddies.”
“There’s partly why your marriage didn’t pan out. If a woman doesn’t have a circle of girlfriends, avoid her like the plague. There’s something wrong with her.”
“Corrine had friends. But they didn’t live in Baltimore, they lived here—the highbrow horse crowd. We met in that environment and I let her drag me to their parties for a couple of weeks. She assumed I moved in those circles, and was shocked to learn I didn’t. It was hard on her when my army reserve unit got called up for active duty.”
A knock sounded at the door. Sky stood to answer it, but Annie beat him there. She paid the delivery boy, then let Sky, who was right behind her, take the boxes to the table where Sadie was pouring iced tea.
Koot passed around the first slices of pizza, which now filled the room with a spicy aroma. Sighs of appreciation followed as they began eating. A sharp crack followed by a second pop rent the air. The large window behind Annie’s chair splintered and glass flew everywhere.
“Someone’s throwing rocks,” she yelped, looking shocked as she ducked.
“Not rocks, bullets,” Sky and Koot cried in unison, each dragging a woman to the floor. Sky covered Annie’s body with his. She went still under his weight, and for a protracted moment the only audible sound was the combined breathing of the two couples. Then through the shattered window came the screech of tires.
Sky sat up and tugged Annie upright. Their eyes met as he reached out to dust sparkling glass particles from her long dark hair. “Your cheek is cut,” he said, starting to touch it, but she pulled away and wiped away the trickle of blood herself.
“Sadie’s been hit. Her arm, I think.” Koot scrambled to his feet, pulled her close and grabbed a napkin from the table. He shook glass out of the napkin with one hand, and with the other tossed his Sig Sauer to Sky. “Here, boss. I noticed you weren’t carrying, and you’ll have to give chase. I need to get Sadie to the E.R.”
Chapter Five
SKY SPRANG UP and, with a last glance at Annie, raced for the door. “Call the paramedics, Annie, and have them check your scalp. You have glass shards in your hair.”
Annie bent over. After shaking her hair vigorously, she straightened, grimaced and dug out her cell phone. Her hands shook so hard she misdialed the first try and had to start over. When the call connected, she explained the situation, then repeated her address. Hanging up, she said, “I’ll get you a clean towel from the kitchen. You need to apply more pressure to that wound, Koot.”
It was plain that the man who was a thirty-year veteran of police work was badly shaken because it was his beloved who’d been hit. “Don’t faint on me, honey,” he pleaded with Sadie.
“I’m okay except it stings like fury. Don’t you faint on me,” she said, attempting to joke back.
“Paramedics should be on their way.” Annie returned from the kitchen and handed Koot a white towel. She’d brought in a broom and dustpan but, instead of sweeping, watched Koot carefully bind Sadie’s arm without removing the cloth napkin he’d first used to stanch the flow of blood.
All three were startled when Sky unexpectedly burst back in through the front door. “I hear sirens a block or so away. Help is almost here. How are you all doing?”
“That was the shortest chase in history,” Koot said, sinking back to his knees. His relief at seeing that their intruder was Sky—and not some gang member—was palpable. But he didn’t sound too happy when he asked, “Why aren’t you chasing our shooter?”
Sky paced to the wall and back. “A neighbor across the street flagged me down. He said he’d opened his gate, intending to walk his dog, when he noticed a dark blue Caddy driving past real slow. His name is Dawson. I had to drag that out of him. Annie says that according to the other neighbors, he’s a bit of a recluse. Anyway, he said he ducked out of sight and kept his dog quiet because it looked like the same car from the other night. The car that let out two young guys, then peeled out fast. He saw them from an upstairs window that night and he thought they were teens based on their builds. They wore dark clothes and acted furtive. But later, they apparently made no effort to hide as they spray painted Annie’s place. Like you said, Annie, he didn’t report it because he was afraid of retaliation. The other night, he didn’t see who picked the guys up.”
“Did he get more information on the Caddy? Did he read any part of the license number?” Koot asked halfheartedly, his attention still on Sadie.
“No, and by the time I took his statement—and he insists on remaining anonymous again—it was too late for me to pick up a trail. He did mention that the car was lowered all around and had pricy chrome spinner hubcaps. I sent the Louisville cops a bulletin saying we have an official interest in locating a car like this.”
The siren drew closer, then stopped, and Annie, who was stationed by the door, opened it and welcomed in four firemen. In spite of the fact that they knew Sky and Koot, the newcomers took charge of the scene and of Sadie, who had suffered the worst injuries.
“How bad is she?” Koot hovered over a medic breaking open a Ringer’s IV to restore Sadie’s fluids.
“I’ve seen worse,” the medic said. “We have to transport her, Talmage. You can meet her at the hospital. Hey, calm down. She’s not in serious danger. It’s a flesh wound and the bullet passed clear through the underside of her arm. Your time will be better spent figuring out the slug’s trajectory and digging it out from wherever it landed for evidence.”
“We’ll do that,” Sky said, but he hovered as one man dabbed an antiseptic-saturated gauze square to a deep cut on Annie’s cheek. “We’ll take her, too,” the fireman told him. “This cut may take more than a butterfly to close. Besides, she’s got glass all through her hair. The E.R. nurses are better equipped to remove the particles without doing further harm. Right now your cuts look minor,” he said, returning his full attention to Annie. “I’ll cover your hair with a sterile plastic cap. You won’t win any beauty contests—” he gave her a wink “—but it’ll keep glass bits out of your eyes and from falling on your shirt.”
“I should stay here,” Annie fretted. “I need to cover the window. And there’s glass to sweep up in every corner of this room.” She clutched the broom, but Sky pried it out of her hand.
A third man, who’d begun to pack up the medical kits, indicated the open, almost-full pizza boxes on the table. “Somebody did a number on your supper. Whoever cleans this up, be sure to secure the leftovers well before you toss them in an outside garbage bin. We frequently see homeless folks and hungry kids riffling through cans around the neighborhood.”
“That’s terrible,” Annie said. “I had no idea hunger was such a problem here. Oh, Sadie,” she cried, transferring her concern to Koot’s wife. “I couldn’t be sorrier that this happened to you in my home.” She held Sadie’s uninjured arm and helped a little as a fireman and Koot se
ttled her onto a gurney.
Sadie’s beautiful complexion had gone pale from pain and anxiety. Her color began seeping back after the medic gave her a shot of mild painkiller. Now she did her best to smile as she patted Annie’s hand. “Don’t worry, I’m going to heal and be good as new. I promised the women who helped us today that they could count on my help with their homes. I intend to keep that promise. It burns my you-know-what the way those cowards bully innocent people.” She continued her rant as two of the men wheeled her out.
Koot took a couple of steps to follow his wife, then stopped and shot Annie a helpless expression.
“It’s okay.” She waved him on. “I won’t hold her to anything she said tonight.”
Sky shifted the broom to his left hand and urged Annie toward the door. “I meant what I said about you going along to the E.R. for treatment. And the paramedic expects you to go, as well. I’ll stay and sweep up the glass, and see what I can find in your garage to cover that window until morning. Then you can call a glass company to repair it properly.”
“Again.” Annie sighed. “Repair the window again. I had it fixed the afternoon of the break-in. I should’ve kept the glass company’s invoice,” she lamented. “Wait—George Gilroy called them. Maybe he’s still got their phone number.”
“That’s another thing,” Sky said. “I’ll check with the Gilroys and Spurlocks. Maybe they saw more than Dawson. I know your next-door neighbors are skittish, Annie, but I’m surprised they haven’t come over to see if you’re okay.”
A fireman who’d lingered to escort Annie to the aid car arched an eyebrow. “Cordova, it sounds as if you’re battling something bigger than standard, low-level gang mischief. If it’s a vendetta against this woman, then maybe you should arrange a safe house for her after the docs fix her up tonight.”
Annie sputtered objections from the doorway as her escort hustled her out. “My poor neighbors are probably huddled in their bedrooms in the dark, afraid for their lives,” she called back to Sky. “Please don’t frighten them more.”
Annie's Neighborhood (Harlequin Heartwarming) Page 8
