by Rhea Wilde
Dion stood up from his seat and grabbed his cup of coffee.
“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “I just wanted you to know the truth. It’s up to you what you do with it.”
I watched him leave, nonchalantly walking away and leaving me alone at my table. I sat there in the cafeteria by myself and stared at the full cup of coffee in front of me.
I still wasn’t sure how to feel or what to think. The right decision wasn’t clear to me. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was stuck in quicksand. Now I was just sinking even deeper.
Chapter 14
Getting back at Victor Castle was put on hold. The man who ran things from behind the scenes of New Gardens wouldn’t get what was coming to him. Not yet.
If Officer Dion were telling the truth, the only thing I could do was wait until the district attorney’s office formally charged him and I could testify against him.
I couldn’t worry too much about Kimmy either. There was no telling what would happen to her. Her prognosis was up in the air and the doctors couldn’t give me a definitive answer about anything.
That meant I had nothing but free time to myself. It was a small sense of relief. All of the things I’d been through in the past few days were enough to last me a lifetime. Even spending time with Noah, my thoughts were still occupied with other things. Only now did I finally feel like I had a chance to breathe. I decided I was going to take this opportunity to recharge and refresh myself.
I headed back to the shelter. My leg was feeling better but Marie wasn’t going to allow me to head back to work. Once she made a diagnosis, it was final. She was overprotective of everyone. It was something I couldn’t change about her.
I headed into the nurse’s office while Marie was busy tending to some of the other patients. I searched some of the cabinets, opening drawers to find what I was looking for.
“There she is!”
A voice startled me from behind. My body jerked and I turned around to see Marie standing there with a big smile on her face.
“Happy birthday!” she said as she gave me a big hug. “How do you feel?”
“Happy… Oh, right…”
I was so distracted by everything else that my actual birthday came up on me without me even realizing it.
“I feel okay,” I sighed. “The same as I always have.”
“It’s all right,” Marie said with a smile. “You look just as beautiful as you did when you were twenty. What’s your secret?”
“You don’t remember what I looked like when I was twenty. We’d never even met up until a few months ago.”
“I can imagine. You were probably quite the little saucy thing, weren’t you?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her comment. Marie smiled at me and chuckled just as heartily as I did.
“So, you got any big plans for tonight?” she asked.
“No,” I replied. “I… I don’t have anything planned.”
“Well, you better plan something. You’ve got the whole day ahead of you. You still gotta let that leg heal.”
“Actually, my leg is feeling fine. I could go back to work.”
“You know I can’t have that. Say… Was I interrupting? It looked like I startled you for a second there.”
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “I was just…”
“Were you looking for something? Here. Let me help you find it—”
“No, no! It’s all right. I can do it.”
“Sheila…”
She put her hands on her hips and looked at me like a mother getting ready to scold a child.
“Now I know when something is wrong,” she said. “You better tell me. I’m not leaving this room. And don’t lie to me.”
I looked at her and knew there was no way of getting out of it.
“Okay,” I sighed. “I was looking for… I was searching for where you kept the birth control.”
“The birth control? Like the pills?”
“Yes, the pills… It’s not for me… It’s for a client…”
Before I could even finish, Marie’s lips curled into a mischievous smile that made me blush. I shook my head at her, doing my best to feign innocence.
“And you said you had nothing planned,” she said as she opened one of the drawers in her office.
“I don’t have anything planned.”
“Mmm-hmm,” she said skeptically as she placed the small package in my hand. “You tell your client to get back to me when she’s done. Oh, and she has to take one every—”
“Yes, yes. I know how they work. I’ll explain it to her.”
She raised her eyebrows at me, the grin tattooed on her face. I could feel my face beginning to break. Just as I started to laugh, I shook my head and brushed right by her to the exit.
“I have to go,” I said.
“You have fun now. And stay safe.”
I stuffed the pills into my pocket and made my way back out through the shelter. It was true I didn’t have any plans for tonight. But I was hoping that if Noah were free, we’d get the chance to spend some time together. I was only just beginning to figure him out. With nothing else on my plate, tonight would have been a perfect opportunity for the both of us.
I stepped outside of the shelter. The summer sun made it feel like every other day over the past few months. The heat was endless. I wasn’t about to complain though. I had a lot to be grateful for and other things to worry about. A clear blue sky and a sunny day were not a priority.
I stood in the same spot for a moment, basking in the rays, when I noticed Max walking down the sidewalk. He looked the same as he always did. He wore a loose white t-shirt that was stained with sweat and dirt, probably from working in the garden. He walked up to me and greeted me with a smile.
“Well, look who it is,” he said. “The birthday girl.”
“Don’t remind me,” I sighed.
“I haven’t seen you in awhile. Staying out of trouble?”
“I… I haven’t gotten into any trouble recently, so yes, I would say so.”
“You know, you’re getting older now. You’re forty so—”
I glared at him and he caught himself.
“—You’re almost forty. That means you can’t be running around.”
“Yeah,” I said as I nodded.
“You remember what we talked about the last time we spoke?”
“I remember.”
“You remember but you didn’t listen.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because I know you, Sheila. I know the kind of woman you are. You’re not the type of person who can sit around and do nothing. Because to you, inaction is just as bad as working for the bad guys. You always have to be doing something.”
“I suppose that’s one way of putting it…”
“You’re a good person. You’ve made that clear to me. But there’s nothing wrong with a little patience. It’s a virtue, you know?”
He smiled at me and I responded with a laugh. The last time I spoke to him, he wasn’t smiling. It was a relief to see the Max I was more familiar with.
“You don’t have to start getting all holy on me,” I said. “I know the difference between right and wrong.”
“I know you do. A little reminder never hurts now and then… Speaking of which, when are you coming back to work?”
“It’ll probably be a few more days until I can convince Marie I’m okay. I mean, I’m okay now but I still have a little bit of a limp. I can’t hide it from her.”
“All right. We’ve got a lot of work in the garden. This summer is getting crazy. Heat is out of control. I can’t remember New Gardens ever being this hot. We need all the help we can get.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Max smiled and nodded to me. Just as he started to head into the shelter, he stopped suddenly. He looked into the distance and squinted his eyes.
“Who’s that?” he said suddenly.
I turned and looked in the d
irection he was looking.
“Who?” I responded.
“Over there.”
Max had one hand hovering over his eyes to block the sun and another pointing down the street.
“Max, who are you—”
I kept staring until I finally noticed it. It was a police car parked down the street. Inside of it was a cop staring right at us.
“Is that…”
I pulled my phone out and searched for the number Officer Dion gave me. I sent a text message to him to see if I could get a response.
“What are you doing?”
After a second, I watched the cop in the distance look down as if he were looking at his phone. I glanced down at my phone but didn’t get an answer, so I sent another message.
“I know it’s you. I can see you. What the hell are you doing?!?”
I sent the message and the officer looked down again.
“Do you know him?” Max asked me.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I think I do.”
After a few moments, the cop got out of his car and slowly started jogging toward the spot where Max and I stood. As he got closer, I could see that it was Officer Dion, still in uniform. He approached us and took his hat off to wipe the sweat off of his brow, his bald head glistening underneath the bright sun.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked.
“My job. That’s what I’m doing,” Dion responded.
“It just looks like you’re stalking me. Is that your job? Are you really a police officer?”
“There’s no telling these days,” Max joined in.
“Hey, old man, nobody asked you.”
“I don’t care. What the hell are you doing staring at Sheila?”
“I’m not staring at her,” Dion said to the both of us. “I’m… I’m just making sure she’s all right.”
“I’m all right,” I said. “I’m completely fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“It’s not just you,” the cop said. “It’s the shelter, too. I’m just here to make sure nothing happens to the shelter.”
“Why would anything happen to the shelter?” Max asked.
“Who the hell is this guy?” Dion said as he turned to me.
“He works at the shelter. Answer his question.”
Max and I both stared at the cop, waiting for his response. He shook his head and sighed then placed his hands on his hips.
“Look… Kimmy Woods stayed at this shelter. She’s at the center of a criminal investigation. She’s connected to this shelter. All of the places she’s been to. All of the places she’s been seen at. They’re all being monitored. Everywhere. It’s for your own protection.”
It was more than a little frustrating to know I was being monitored because of my connection to Kimmy. Knowing that the shelter was potentially in jeopardy made it even worse.
“Listen, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll leave—”
“Then leave,” Max interrupted Dion.
“But somebody else is gonna come to take my place. It’s your choice.”
I looked at Max and he shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t like sitting in my car any more than you like having me right outside the place you guys work,” Dion said.
“All right,” I sighed. “It looks like I don’t have much of a choice.”
“Good.”
Dion turned around and headed back to his patrol car. I watched him take a seat and look around.
“I feel sorry for the poor bastard,” Max said.
“Why’s that?”
“Nothing happens here. Not on this street. He’s gonna be sitting in that car for a long time.”
“Hopefully not for very long.”
“What did you get yourself into this time, Sheila?”
I turned to him. Even though he was obviously disappointed, there was still a smile on his face. I shook my head at him and shrugged.
“I don’t know,” I sighed. “I think things will work themselves out eventually. This is all for the best.”
“I hope so. Listen, I should probably head inside now…”
Just as Max was beginning to go into the shelter, he stopped in his tracks again. I watched his eyes as he looked up the street behind me.
“What’s that?” he said suddenly.
“Now what?”
I turned around expecting to see another cop car joining Officer Dion. Instead, I saw a white limousine rolling through the streets. It seemed to sparkle underneath the sun. The glimmering light coming from the paint seemed to illuminate the entire street.
Everybody stopped what they were doing. The kids playing on the sidewalks paused the games they were playing. Some of the homeless people sat up to take notice. The other residents busy on their cell phones glanced up to look at the limo making its way down the street.
I was just as caught up as the rest of them. As I continued staring, I noticed the limo beginning to slow to a crawl. Eventually, it stopped right on the curb in front of the shelter. Max and I stood right in front of the passenger side window.
I was waiting for the window to roll down. Some rich guy’s driver probably took a wrong turn into the wrong neighborhood and he figured Max and I were the perfect people to ask for directions.
Instead, the door opened up. A thin blond woman stepped out. She couldn’t have been older than 25. Her hair was tied up in a bun behind her head. She wore glasses with a thick black frame that looked strange on her petite face. She wore a black business jacket and a matching black skirt that was just above her knees. She had a tablet in her hand and she held it against her chest like a clipboard.
“Hello,” she greeted Max and me with a bow of her head and a courteous smile. “Are you associated with the New Gardens Village Shelter?”
Max and I looked at each other in confusion before looking back at her.
“…Yes,” I responded.
“Good. I was wondering if you could locate a Sheila Cooper for me.”
“And what is this in regards to?”
“I apologize. Please call me Robin. I was sent here in the interests of my boss. He wishes to take a meeting with her.”
“Your boss?”
Victor Castle…
If Castle sent a limo to come and pick me up, I wouldn’t really have much of a choice but to go along with it. He warned me about the next time I saw him though. I began to wonder what I’d done for this to happen. Maybe it was the encounter with Officer Dion. Maybe someone found out that I knew about the undercover agents working for Castle.
Who is it? What did I do?
I looked over at Dion in his car and he was looking right back at me. I knew if anything happened, he would at least be there to see it.
“Who is your boss?” I asked.
“I’m sorry. Mr. Taurus would like to speak with a Sheila Cooper.”
It hit me but I didn’t respond. I blinked and shook my head slightly, trying to make sure I’d heard her right.
“Mr. Taurus?” I said.
“That’s correct. Mr. Taurus, President of Taurus NGTS.”
“Lee Taurus,” I repeated.
“Yes, that’s correct. Is Miss Cooper available?”
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “She won’t be available for a few days.”
“Okay. Please give her my card to schedule a meeting. My boss needs to speak with her about urgent matters.”
I took the card from the young woman and she disappeared into the limo just as quickly as she had appeared. Everybody on the street was distracted by the white limousine as it made its way out of the neighborhood. Everybody except for me. I was only fixated on the business card I held.
Taurus NGTS, New Gardens Technology and Software
“Wow!” Max exclaimed. “Did you see that thing? Holy cow! What are the chances? Lee Taurus himself wants to talk to you.”
“Yeah… What are the chances…”
“Well, you have to do it.”
“What?” I
said as I looked up and turned to Max.
“You have to talk to him. You have to take the meeting.”
“You can’t be serious,” I said. “This sounds like a scam. Some lady in a limo walks up to me and tells me the wealthiest man in the city needs to talk to me. You’ve been around long enough to know what a hustle looks like.”
“And I’ve been around long enough to know it’s one hell of a hustle if you’re riding around in a limo like that.”
“Even if this weren’t a scam, I don’t see why I should.”
I stared at the card and continued to shake my head.
“Are you joking? This is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for!”
“Opportunity? Opportunity for what?”
“For the shelter. You’ve been trying to set up a charity donation for months. This is your chance.”
“I don’t… I don’t think this is such a good idea.”
“Why? What’s the harm? He says no, you move on. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
No, it wouldn’t be the first time.
“Come on, Sheila. Are you seriously thinking about turning this down? If you’re that suspicious, we can look up the number on the card. Taurus is a public figure. He can’t fake that.”
I looked up at Max and saw the excitement in his eyes. I hadn’t seen that kind of excitement in him in months. And I was sure that if I stepped inside of the shelter and asked them what to do, they probably would have felt the same way. This was a big opportunity.
“What are you gonna do?” Max asked.
I had to swallow my pride.
“I’ll think about it,” I replied.
“Don’t think too long. He might change his mind and shut you out. Lee Taurus! Wow!”
Max was giddy as he walked into the shelter. It was the only thing stopping my insides from twisting and exploding. The rush of feelings I thought I’d buried a long time ago were beginning to boil underneath the surface.
I wanted to rip the card up between my fingers. I started to do so but just as it began to tear the card, I stopped.
I can’t do this… Can I?
I reluctantly placed the card in my pocket, opposite of the birth control pills. I pulled my cell phone out while I watched Officer Dion in his car. He was still there, looking in my direction, seemingly calm and collected in his seat.
