by Mia Carson
Johnny’s jaw dropped as he yanked the contract away from Harold. “That isn’t right! This…this isn’t the real contract!”
“Are you sure? It’s notarized.”
“No—no, she did something to it. We never would have signed it…she gets the bar outright? Just like that? No, no, this is wrong.”
“I’m afraid my hands are tied unless you can prove to me she doctored it.”
Johnny chucked the contract in Harold’s face and stormed towards the door. “She’s going to lose the bar no matter what if she goes to jail.”
“I’m afraid that’s not in the contract either,” he called out.
“What?” Johnny rushed back and glared at the line Harold pointed to. Curses flew from his mouth as he charged out of the office for good this time. Harold heard him cursing all the way out of the building as he picked up his cell and texted Anna to give her a head’s up.
“Walter? Hold my calls for a while, will you?”
“Of course, sir,” Walter replied.
Harold closed his office door and waited to hear from Anna so they could move forward with the plan.
Anna wiped down the bar for the tenth time in the last hour, earning a worried look from Missy.
“Are you sure this was the best plan?” her bartender asked quietly, her gaze darting to the door. “I mean, you couldn’t come up with anything else?”
“No, and we’re running out of time. I can’t lose this bar, especially not to that jackass.”
“You know, if you asked, I’m sure Harold would just buy the whole building for you.”
Anna grinned, tossing the rag on the bar. Harold and she’d had the exact same argument a few nights ago. He wanted to do it to solve at least one of her issues and then they could find a way to get the charges against her dropped, but Anna wanted nothing to do with it. Harold had girlfriends before Anna, and they were all the same, from what she’d heard. They were after his wealth and his last name. She only wanted to be with him because of who he was as a person, not as an ATM machine. And, she had told him, her father built this bar by scrounging together money and taking out loans. She wasn’t going to diminish all his hard work by having her rich boyfriend buy the whole damn building.
Although to be Johnny’s landlord would be highly entertaining.
“Nah, I’m not going to let him do that. Johnny is my problem, and Harold is already doing more than enough. He even took a punch for me, remember?”
Missy sighed wistfully. “Why can’t I find a guy like that?”
Anna shook her head. “You do realize you work with that guy, minus the wealth, I mean.”
“Who, Pat?”
“He’s been head over heels for you since you started,” Anna informed her brightly. “Why don’t you ask him out for a drink one night? You have the keys to the bar. Help yourselves. Just not tonight.”
“Right, because you’re hoping your landlord and his buddy are going to break in.”
“When you say it like that, it does sound on the crazy side.” She puffed out her cheeks and rubbed her hands together, watching the front windows. Harold had texted her a solid twenty minutes ago. Johnny should be walking through those doors any second now. Any second.
“Speak of the devil,” Missy murmured. “I’ll be close if you need me.”
Anna made herself look busy behind the bar when Johnny burst in, bringing with him a freezing gust of cold air and snow flurries. A few of the regulars at the bar shot him dark looks, but he stormed up to the counter and slammed his palms on the surface. Anna gritted her teeth and ignored him.
“What did you do?” he seethed, so angry spit flew out of his mouth across her nice, clean bar top. “Anna, look at me, damn it!”
“Why are you here?” she snapped. “You’re not supposed to be anywhere near me, remember? Get out before I call the cops on you and accuse you of something you didn’t do.”
His eyes narrowed. “The contract. You screwed it up.”
“What are you talking about? I haven’t touched that thing since the day I signed it.”
“You’re so full of shit! Where is it, huh? Where?”
Anna glanced far to the right towards the store room door where the bar safe was kept. Her gaze stayed there for a long few seconds until Johnny’s eyes darted in that same direction. Good, he got the message. “I didn’t do anything to it, so take whatever brand of crazy this is and leave. I have enough to deal with besides you accusing me of something else.”
“You’re not going to win,” he warned her, pointing his finger threateningly in her direction. “You’re going to lose this bar. You’re going to lose everything. I don’t give a fuck who your lawyer is. Everything your daddy worked for is going to be mine.”
Anna didn’t mean to, but her hand was out and she slapped Johnny hard across the face. The bar fell deathly silent and her hand stung, but it was worth the slight pain to see the red mark on his cheek.
“Don’t you dare talk about my dad,” she snarled. “Now, get the hell out of my bar, and if you step foot in here again, you’ll know what it’s really like to take a beating from me and my slugger.”
Johnny lifted his chin high and sniffed loudly. “I’ll remember you said that when I speak with the detective again about my case. Stop whatever game you’re trying to play, Anna, and maybe I’ll reconsider ruining you completely.”
“Out, Johnny.” Aiden and the rest of the regulars at the counter stood to block Anna from Johnny’s view. “Or do we have to get nasty?”
Anna smiled, crossing her arms. Johnny’s face paled and he stepped hastily backwards. Most of the regulars either rode with Winston Crawley or were retired Marines. They would take care of their girl, and Johnny knew it.
“Fine, have it your way. I’ll see you in court,” he yelled and left the bar, slamming the door hard behind him so the walls trembled and a few framed pictures fell to the floor.
Glass cracked and Anna sagged, holding her face in her hands. “Bastard. I should have smacked him harder. Broken his nose.”
“You leave that to us,” Aiden told her as she walked out from behind the bar to pick up the fallen pictures. “What’s he talking about with the contract? The one you and your daddy signed?”
“Don’t worry, Aiden, he’s not going to get his hands on this bar. Not while I’m around.”
Once the glass was picked up and the pictures rehung, a few of her and her dad, she hurried to the back room to the safe and opened it as she called Harold.
“Anna? How’d it go?”
“Well, on the bright side, he believed you,” she said, pulling out the money she had stashed in the safe. They planned on catching Johnny and his friend before they got this far, but she wasn’t going to chance the cash she’d stashed away over the years.
“Is there a downside that you’re not telling me about?”
“I may have smacked him,” she said, cringing.
Harold sighed. “Did he deserve it, at least?”
She set the last stack of cash in the smaller safe she would take to Harold’s house and rolled her eyes. “How is that even a question?”
“Good point.” Papers shuffled on the other end of the line. “Okay, stick to the plan. I’ll swing by and pick you up, and later, we’ll sneak back over there and hopefully catch them in the act.”
“And your detective friend is cool with this?”
“I’m calling him right now. I’ll see you soon, doll face.”
The pet name warmed Anna right to her core. He used to call her that when they were first together, and she hadn’t realized how much she missed hearing it. “Later, killer.”
His warm chuckle was the last sound she heard before he hung up. She tucked her phone in her butt pocket and closed the safe, tapping her fingers on the top. She had most of the day left to kill and decided today was as good as any to take inventory. At least that would keep her mind occupied.
Harold counted the rings on the other end of the line until a gru
ff voice finally answered. “Detective Leven, here.”
“Gary, it’s Harold, how are you?”
“If you’re calling me about your girlfriend’s case, I can’t tell you anything new,” he replied.
“Actually, I’m calling because I have a way to solve both our problems,” Harold said. “Do you have a few minutes?”
“And what exactly do you have in mind?”
“I’ve been digging around and I believe Johnny Tory is in fact guilty of setting up Anna Crawley. And I can even prove it,” Harold said firmly.
“You’re a lawyer, not a damn detective,” Gary reminded him.
Harold shifted the papers on his desk as he said, “I’m calling in my favor.”
“Of course you are,” he grunted. “Fine, what do you need from me?”
“All I need is you and a few of your officers to hang out with me and Anna at her bar tonight. That’s it.”
“That’s it? Harold, what exactly did you do?”
“Nothing much. Will you do it or not?”
“If it gets a lawyer off my back, yeah, yeah, I’ll do it. What time?”
Harold told him to meet him and Anna around the rear of the building at closing time and to be sure no one saw them. And not to bring a police cruiser. He didn’t want to risk losing their only chance to catch Johnny and his friend in the act. He hung up with Gary and texted Anna to let her know the plan was a definite go. As long as that bastard showed up, they could put this mess behind them for good. Then he and Anna could spend their time doing what any couple in love should be doing. He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and walked out of his office.
“I’m taking a long lunch, Walter,” he told his assistant. “Do you want me to pick you up some food while I’m out?”
“A sandwich from the deli would be a lifesaver,” he confessed. “If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. See you in a little while.” He waved and hurried out into the cold. The deli was in walking distance, but he had another errand to run that took him to the old jewelry store beside The Crawler. When he was with Anna the first time, she had mentioned that the owner was friends with her dad and always gave him discounts for her mom. Her dad, in turn, gave out drinks and meals on the house. He messed up the first time with Anna. He wouldn’t do it again, and he wasn’t giving her a chance to run away.
“Ah, good afternoon, sir,” the man behind the glass case said as Harold waltzed in after parking his car a block away so Anna wouldn’t see it.
“Thank you. I’m hoping you could help me.”
“Certainly. What are you in the market for today? A ring perhaps?”
Harold smiled and the clerk laughed excitedly, clapping his hands together. “As a matter of fact, I am. It’s been a very long time coming. I need something for a very unique woman.”
“May I ask her name?”
“Anna, Anna Crawley.”
The clerk’s smile fell for just a second before his face brightened. “Hold onto that thought one moment, sir. I’ll be right back.” He bolted into the back room, leaving Harold staring after him, confused. When he returned carrying a tiny velvet black box, his curiosity piqued. “This is something I have held onto for a very, very long time for my dear friend Winston.”
“What is it?”
“His wife and he always wanted Anna to have her grandmother’s ring,” the clerk explained. “I offered to shine it up and keep it safe and sound until the day might come when she found herself a man. I hoped it would be her father who would come to collect it from me, but you will do just fine.” He smiled as he opened the box and turned it around.
Harold admired the subtle beauty of the white gold band and the two small clusters of diamonds surrounding a princess cut stone, but it was not a diamond. “Is that an amethyst?”
“It is. Winston’s mother was a rather unique woman, or so Winston told me.”
“This is perfect. I’ll have to bring it back to have it resized, but this…this is more than I expected to find.”
“I look forward to seeing this ring on her finger.” The clerk closed the box and slid it across the counter. “Good luck, Mr. Jenson.”
“Thank you. Are you sure I don’t owe you anything for holding onto it?”
“No. Winston was a dear friend, and he and his wife were taken far too early from us all. If I can help put a smile on Anna’s face, that will be payment enough. I do, however, look forward to seeing you both back here to pick out a ring for you,” he added, tapping the side of his nose.
“I will be certain to tell her so.” Harold pocketed the ring. He wanted to rush over to the bar and ask her right away, but he wanted the matter with Johnny over with so they could focus only on their future together.
A few more hours from now and hopefully, that would be the case.
Chapter 11
Anna fidgeted at her place in the kitchen. She peeked through the window again.
“Will you stop it? You’ll hear them,” Harold whispered behind her.
“What if they don’t come in through the front?” she replied.
“The back door has four locks on it and is too heavy to break down easily,” Harold reminded her. “We went over this with Detective Leven, too. If Johnny is going to break in, he’ll come through the front.”
She pursed her lips, knowing he was right. “I’m glad I never got around to putting in that security system,” she muttered and shoved her hands in her butt pockets to stop from wringing them.
Harold moved closer, his body a comforting presence at her back. Leven and the three officers he’d brought with him were scattered around the bar, hiding well. Anna told them about the back stairs that led to the bar from the upper apartments, and Leven covered that area as the officers stayed closer to the front doors. Every entrance was covered, but knowing it did little to relieve the anxiety flooding through Anna. If this went wrong—and it very well could—she stood a chance of facing jail time and losing her bar.
“Listen,” Harold whispered right against her ear.
Anna glanced through the window from the kitchen as a loud bang resounded around the bar. The door to the back stairs was not as sturdy as the back door. Three more hits and she heard it slam open and smash into the wall. She heard whispering voices, and Harold pushed her gently behind him. She wanted to argue, but making noise would give away their position.
“Where is it?” a man asked roughly. The voice was familiar but wasn’t Johnny’s. It had to be Josh. “Johnny, where is it?”
“Back room,” Johnny replied tersely. “Just get on with it.”
“You better have the money you promised me for all this shit.”
Anna cringed as their heavy steps drew closer, but they didn’t enter the kitchen. Harold’s body tensed in front of her, and when he glanced over his shoulder, he placed a finger to his lips and nodded. They had gone into the storeroom. They kept arguing, and Anna wanted to run in there and open the damn thing for them just to get this over with, but that would defeat the purpose.
“Finally,” Johnny groaned and a scuffle followed.
“This is what you were looking for? A damn file folder?”
“You don’t understand what this means.”
“I understand I’m going to kick your ass for real this time if you don’t pay up.”
“Hold on, I have to see,” Johnny muttered.
Anna held her breath, waiting for them to leave the storeroom, but they stayed in there.
“Damn it! That lying bastard! I knew it, I knew he was trying to set me up!”
“What do you mean?” Josh snapped. “You mean we came here for nothing?”
“No, not nothing,” Johnny corrected. “I knew he was lying. They were all lying.”
“Great, now where the hell is my money, Johnny? You said this safe was filled with cash, so where is it?”
Johnny mumbled something Anna couldn’t hear, but he was cut off by a pained grunt following what sounded like a fist connectin
g with a face. Another hit followed and another, and lights flipped on all throughout the bar.
“Concord Police!” Detective Leven hollered. “Back away from the man and put your hands on your head. Do it now!”
Harold and Anna exited the kitchen to see Johnny and his friend, Josh, standing in the bar where Leven and the other officers dragged them so they were out of the tiny store room. Johnny spotted her and spat blood from his mouth to the floor, snarling at her.
“You bitch,” he snapped. “You set me up?”
“Payback’s a bitch,” she replied with a wicked smile.
Josh grunted as the two officers grabbed his hands and pulled them behind his back, cuffing him. “Damn it, Johnny! I never should have listened to you, you fucking dumbass!”
“Be quiet,” the cop muttered and shoved Josh forward. “You’re under arrest.” He read the man his rights as he marched him out the front door Anna hurried to open. She heard Harold speaking quietly with Detective Leven, but her mind was too distracted by what this night meant for her to even hear. The man who had attacked her and broke into her place might be in handcuffs, but they had no proof yet that it was him.
She walked over to stand beside Harold as Detective Leven took the contract from Johnny and handed it back to her. “Thank you.”
“This isn’t over,” Johnny snapped. “You’re not keeping this damn bar. You can’t afford it. You’ll go out of business in a few months.”
“Maybe,” she said, shrugging as she stared around her dad’s bar. “But you’re going to jail.”
“Ha! You don’t have anything on me! This was entrapment,” he yelled. “You broke into my place first, remember? You beat me up with a damn bat!”
