by Marla Monroe
Denise met her at the door with a smile. “Hey. I was just about to come over to see if you wanted to go eat.”
Cynthia laughed. “That was my intention as well. How about Five Guys?”
“Perfect! I’m famished. Did you already lock up?” she asked.
“All locked up. How are sales?” Cynthia asked.
“Slow this week, but I figure it will be that way until closer to the holidays. You’ll get a little bump around Halloween, and then we’ll both pick up after that.”
“I’m thinking about adding a small inventory of sexy costumes that can be used for role playing in the bedroom as well.”
Denise clapped her hands. “Great idea. You’ll need sexy heels for them. Show me what you’re thinking about, and I’ll try to coordinate shoes with you.”
They entered the burger joint and stood in line. As they continued their discussion, Cynthia felt as if someone was watching her. She had the oddest feeling at the back of her neck. She kept rubbing at it, but when she looked around, she didn’t see anyone. Once they’d made their order and paid, Denise led them to a table over toward the side, and they waited for their number to be called.
“I’ll get the drinks then go pick up our order. It should be ready by then,” Denise said. “Keep our table safe.”
Cynthia laughed and watched as her friend walked over toward the fountain station. Before she’d even lost sight of her, a shadow fell over the table. When she looked up, Cynthia felt her skin turn clammy. Nick stood over her with an angry expression on his face.
“You took two men home with you last night. What in the hell am I going to do with you?”
* * * *
“I’ll be finished with the locks in plenty of time to go pick her up, Aden. If something happens, I’ll call you, and you can run up there.” Roy waited on the light to turn green so he could go.
“Larry said it would be next week before he could get over here. He’s finishing up a big job for a company right now,” Aden told him over the phone.
“We’ll get her to stay with us over the weekend. That will work,” Roy told him.
Aden’s snort over the phone left no doubt what he thought Cynthia would say about that. Maybe he was right. She hadn’t been happy this morning, and when she realized they’d taken her house key, she would be livid.
“Yeah, well, it’s an idea,” he said.
“I wish we weren’t in the middle of the harvest disbursement. I don’t like leaving her alone at all, Roy.”
“I know. Neither do I, but it’s the best we can do for now. She’s not dumb. She’ll be careful. Her friend’s shop is right next door. Call her and check on her in a little while,” Roy suggested.
“Yeah. I’ll do that. Call me if you run into any problems. I better get back to work.”
Roy said good-bye and pressed end before sticking the phone back in the holder on his belt. His neck was itching, and that always meant trouble. He hoped he was wrong. This was Tennessee, not Afghanistan. He had no reason to feel as if he had the crosshairs of a gun on his head.
Fifteen minutes later, he pulled up in the driveway and turned off the engine. It looked quiet and serene, but looks could be deceiving. He reached into the glove box, pulled out his sidearm, and slid it at the small of his back. Then Roy gathered the various locks and climbed out of the truck. A faint scent of paint reached his nose, but it dispersed before it really registered with him.
He’d almost stuck her key into the lock when he noticed something on the ground below. He took a step back and knelt to get a better look. At first look, all he saw was what looked like a tiny pile of sawdust, and then he noticed a black powder next to it. Something snapped in his head, and he nearly fell backward at the possibility. It was too horrifying to believe at first.
Roy slipped the key into his pocket, carefully reached out, and lightly touched the door around the knob. His finger came away sticky, and when he looked at the pad, it had a little white paint on it.
“Fuck!”
Gathering up everything he’d brought, Roy shoved it into the passenger seat, then locked the doors, and made a careful sweep of the windows and other doors into the house before he returned to his truck and just sat in the front seat.
“A fucking bomb. Holy hell.”
He pulled out his phone and called Aden. Then he called the sheriff’s department. He couldn’t leave it for fear someone would accidently trigger it and blow themselves up. Aden would check on Cynthia, and then he would hightail it to town to watch over her after the sheriff took over here.
No matter how hard he thought about it, Roy couldn’t figure out who could possibly want her dead. Surely Nick wasn’t that fucked up. He’d been a prick and obviously had a temper on him, but nothing had pointed to psycho as far as Roy could tell. He didn’t think she had any other enemies. When it had been the possibility of someone scoping a house out to burglarize, maybe even profiling a victim for rape, he had felt like they could handle the situation and keep her safe. But this? This was different. Someone wanted her dead.
Roy couldn’t even contemplate losing her. He had known her less than a month and only really been around her a handful of times, but she was everything to him. He saw his future when he looked in her eyes. Fear unlike anything he’d ever known before burned a hole through his gut on the way to his heart. Not even those last few weeks overseas had elicited this crippling terror that losing her gave him.
His hand hovered over his cell phone. The need to call and hear her voice almost won out over common sense. He was too upset to call her right then. Aden would see about her. He’d call her and go and stay with her until he got there. If he called her like this, she’d know something was wrong. He had no doubt he wouldn’t be able to keep his voice steady.
The instant he’d realized what he’d been looking at, a picture of Cynthia unlocking the door and being blown apart had consumed his mind. It was something he would never be able to vanquish from his memory no matter how hard he tried. He couldn’t close his eyes even now without seeing it. Bile gurgled in his throat, eating away at the fragile hold he had on the nausea. Sweat beaded his brow despite the cooler autumn air. He needed to see Cynthia for himself. Where were those fucking deputies?
As if conjured from his thoughts, two SUVs raced up the drive and pulled in behind and to the side of him. Roy stepped out of the truck, keeping his hands out by his sides, palms out. Three men jumped out of the vehicles and walked deliberately toward him, their hands resting lightly on the butts of their weapons. Roy was glad he’d had the presence of mind to stow his gun back in the glove compartment.
“Roy Simpson?” one of the deputies asked.
“That’s me. I made the call,” he said.
“Let’s see some identification. Slow and easy, please,” the same man said.
Roy kept one hand out while reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. He slowly brought it around and flipped it open to show his driver’s license. One of the other deputies walked up and pulled his license out then hurried back to one of the SUVs to call it in. No one said anything as they waited.
Seconds later, the man returned and nodded to the others. “Mr. Simpson. Tell us exactly what you’re doing here and what makes you think there’s a bomb in that door.”
Roy explained that he was a friend of Cynthia, and he was adding locks to her house since she’d noticed someone had been in her yard walking around. He deliberately left out the part about Nick for now and the part where he and Aden had stayed the night with her.
“So based on some sawdust and a little black stuff, you think if she used her key it would trigger a bomb to explode in her door,” the deputy said.
“That’s right.”
“Why would you even think that?” another asked.
“I just got out of the army a little over six months ago. It either made me super paranoid or super observant, but I’m not taking any chances. There’s fresh paint around the doorknob. The black powder is gu
n powder. Do you want the key to try it and see?” he asked, reaching into his pocket.
“Keep your hands where I can see them,” the first deputy said. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Henley. Check it out,” the second deputy said.
Roy watched the third man, who hadn’t said anything yet, slowly walk over to the door. He knelt close to the door and sniffed at the doorknob. Then he bent over out of sight for less than a second. When he returned, an expression close to the one Roy imagined he’d been wearing earlier covered the man’s face.
“He’s right. There’s probably a bomb rigged to that door. Smells strongly of paint and gun powder.” The man looked in his direction as if trying to decide Roy’s innocence in the situation.
“Fuck! Call the sheriff and apprise him of the situation. I’m sure he’ll want to call in a bomb squad to diffuse it.” He turned back to Roy. “I need to know everything you know. Now.”
Roy cursed under his breath. He wouldn’t be getting away from there anytime soon. He would give Aden time to get to Cynthia, and then he would call to check on her. His heart couldn’t stand not knowing much longer. Fear that she was in trouble still trilled along his nerves. He’d never again doubt that sixth sense that had always let him know when things were dicey. It hadn’t completely eased up once he had found the bomb. At first he hadn’t noticed, but once he’d calmed down and the deputies had arrived, the prickly sensation reclaimed his focus. Where the hell was Aden, and why hadn’t he called yet?
Chapter Thirteen
“What are you doing here?” Cynthia asked.
She struggled to keep from raising her voice. She didn’t want to make things worse by causing a scene. Nick didn’t appear to be stable. There was no telling what he might do if pushed.
“Trying to find out what in the hell you think you’re doing. I didn’t take you for a slut, Cynthia. What in the world has gotten into you?” Nick leaned over the table as he spoke.
“Nick? What’s going on?” Denise walked up with a tray in her hands.
Nick stood up but kept his eyes on Cynthia.
“He was just saying hello. He’s leaving now, right, Nick?” she asked.
“Does she know what you’re doing?” he asked as Denise set the tray down and took a seat.
“Know what?” Denise asked, looking from Nick back to her.
“She’s seeing two men—at the same time,” Nick said.
“So? What’s wrong with that? You should have asked her out a long time ago, Nick. You snooze, you lose,” Denise quipped as she divvied out the food.
“Don’t antagonize him, Denise. He’s angry.” Cynthia couldn’t believe her friend hadn’t noticed how upset the man was. He was fairly vibrating with anger.
“Well, he can just calm down. We told him that if he wanted to have a chance with you, he needed to ask you out and stop playing around,” Denise said, completely ignoring Cynthia’s gasp.
When she would have spoken up, her phone rang. Normally she would have let it go to voice mail, but she welcomed the distraction as Nick lit into Denise about supporting Cynthia for dating two men at the same time.
“Hello?”
“Cynthia? Are you okay, honey?” Aden’s voice sounded slightly uneven.
Immediately she panicked that something had happened to the store while she’d been gone.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen at the store? I’m at lunch. I’m on my way back.” She started to stand up, but Nick stopped her with a snarl.
“I’m talking to you, bitch.”
“Who is that? What’s going on, Cynthia?” Aden demanded.
“Is the store okay?” she asked again, ignoring both men.
“The store is fine as far as I know. I’m more worried about you. Who’s with you?” Aden asked.
“I’m with Denise at Five Guys. We were eating a hamburger for lunch. Why did you call? You sounded upset.” Something still didn’t feel right to her.
Nick tried to pull the phone out of her hand, but Denise intervened.
“What has gotten into you, Nick? Where do you get off calling her a bitch?” Denise demanded.
“Nick is with you? Stay where you are, honey. I’m on my way. Don’t go anywhere alone. You should be fine as long as you stay in a public place.” Aden’s voice had gotten slightly breathy. She could tell he was running.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Dammit, Cindy. I’m talking to you. Are you crazy? You can’t go out with two men together like that. People are going to talk and call you a whore. Are you pissed at me? Is that the reason you’re doing this?” Nick’s voice had gotten louder and people were beginning to stare at her.
“You need to calm down, Nick. Why are you acting this way? What I do is my own business. Not yours—not anyone’s but mine.” Cynthia was getting angry now that he’d called attention to them.
“Don’t tell me to calm down.” Nick reached over and grabbed her upper arm. “You need to stop acting like some floozy. Just because you sell sexy stuff doesn’t mean you have to act like a loose woman. I expected better out of you.”
“Let go of me! You have no right to lecture me about anything. Leave me the hell alone, Nick. I told you I never wanted to see you again.” Cynthia jerked at her arm.
Denise grabbed Nick’s wrist and tried to pry his fingers from around Cynthia’s arm. Nick shoved her friend back down in the chair.
“Stop it. You’re going to hurt someone, Nick. What has gotten into you?” Cynthia clawed at the man’s hand as she looked around in hopes that someone would help them.
Finally one of the workers from the kitchen hurried out from behind the counter and tried to pull Nick off of her.
“Let the lady go, man. What’s your beef?” he asked.
Nick snarled back at him. “This is none of your business. Get lost.”
“You’re hurting the lady. Let go of her.” The employee tried to pull Nick off of her, but he wasn’t strong enough.
“Get your fucking hands off of her, now!” Aden’s enraged voice filled the room as he rushed over to where they were struggling.
Thank God they were off in the back so that not everyone in the building knew what was going on. At least they hadn’t until Aden had thundered in like a marauding Viking.
Nick let go of Cynthia and turned his attentions to Aden. “You’re one of the guys she's screwing. What is wrong with you that you can’t satisfy a woman by yourself? Not man enough?”
“Watch your mouth. Our relationship is none of your business. The next time you touch her, I’ll take your head off, do you understand?” Aden asked. He’d lowered his voice so that only those directly around them would have heard.
“Don’t threaten me, man. You had no right to come here and corrupt her. Go back to where you came from.” Nick stood only an inch or so shorter than Aden, but Aden was in much better shape than Nick.
“I’m not threatening you, Nick. I’m making you a promise. You hurt her, and your ass is mine. I’ll make you wish you’d never been born. If there’s anything left of you, then Roy will have a turn, and he isn’t known for going easy on anyone, either.”
“Fuck you, man.” Nick stepped forward with one fist clenched.
“What’s going on here?” A policeman walked up, his face drawn into a frown.
“This man over here was hurting these women. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t let go of the woman.” The Five Guys employee stepped up to tell the officer his story.
“Ma’am, do you know this man?” he asked.
“Yes, I thought he was a friend of ours, but he’s been harassing me. I don’t know what’s going on with him.”
“Sir, are you taking something? Drugs? Drinking?” the policeman asked.
“Hell no.” Nick started to say something when another officer walked up.
“What’s going on, Ketchings? Nick? What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Do you know him?” the first cop asked.
“T
hat’s Nick Garcia. He’s a fireman over at Station Three. What’s going on?” the second man asked.
“He assaulted these young women when they were trying to eat,” the first policeman told him.
The second cop stared at Nick for several seconds then shook his head. “Don’t say a word. Come on, and let’s talk about this, man.”
Cynthia watched as Nick’s face changed expressions from anger to something almost like regret. Maybe it had finally dawned on the man that he’d been way out of line. She sure hoped so. This couldn’t go on. She didn’t have the stamina to deal with so much drama in her life right then.
“You okay, honey?” Aden asked as Nick walked off with the other man.
“Yeah. Why were you calling me? You sounded upset,” she said.
“Just a minute and I’ll tell you. Don’t move.” He walked over to where the first policeman on the scene was talking to the employee who’d tried to help them.
She watched as Aden spoke quietly to the man. His eyes opened wide before he centered them on her for a second then returned them to Aden. With a few nods of his head, the officer hurried over to where his partner was ushering Nick outside. Aden shook the employee’s hand before returning to where she and Denise were sitting.
“You girls okay?” he asked again.
“Yeah, but I’d really like to know what is going on with Nick,” Denise said.
“He followed me home Saturday night. He was upset about Roy and demanded that I stop seeing him. He scared me, Denise. I wasn’t sure he was going to leave me alone.” Cynthia hugged herself, a chill settling into her bones.
“Why didn’t you say something? Good Lord. I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Nick’s always been so laid back and relaxed,” Denise said.
“I guess the old saying that still waters run deep is right. He seems to think that we’re an item, and I never gave him that indication. I mean, it never even occurred to me that he liked me or anything outside of being friends.”
“Sometimes people see what they want to see, Cynthia. He obviously wanted to believe that you were his. Maybe he knew you’d never be serious about him so he didn’t give you the chance to turn him down and chose to believe that you were an item,” Aden suggested.
