by Nico Rosso
She slipped under the covers and stared at the ceiling. Yeah, she tried to convince herself, adrenaline keyed her body up and it was easy to focus that energy on Ty. He’d stepped in when no one else had. Now that her body sank into the mattress, exhaustion dragged her into a warm darkness. But, her mind objected, you were taken by him when he first walked into the shop. Before the trouble. Ty was trouble. She knew that. And as she fell asleep, a long-dormant need inside her was waking up.
* * *
AFTER STARTLING AWAKE what felt like every ten minutes, Mariana finally gave up trying to sleep near dawn and left her bed. There had been no more threats that night. Toro rose, much sprier than she was feeling. Mariana went through her morning movements, pausing every few moments to listen for Ty on the ground floor. All seemed silent there.
She dressed and walked downstairs. The sun crested the far hills. Yellow light sliced in through the side windows. At least it would be a clear day, even if she couldn’t predict what the next few hours would bring.
As soon as she reached the ground floor, Ty stepped from the guest room. He wore jeans and a hoodie, and looked as fresh as if he’d slept twelve hours after a spa day. Her tired body immediately responded with a surge of energy. Their connection had gone untested last night, and parts of her wanted to find out just where it led. Instead she maintained her distance and her equilibrium.
Ty eyed the rifle in her hand. “You going to hunt up some breakfast?”
“Yeah.” She nodded and moved toward the kitchen. “California moose chorizo.”
“Just like Momma used to make.” He followed her, and both of them came to a stop at the large island.
She rested the rifle against the side. “I just feel safer having it in the room.” The same feeling she discovered with Ty.
“I get it.” He turned to reveal his pistol in its holster on his belt. “Get any sleep?”
“Who needs sleep when there’s coffee?” She collected the necessary elements to brew a pot. “How long have you been up? I didn’t hear you.”
He checked his watch. “An hour?” She felt him collecting her details as his gaze tracked her movement. “I figured out most of the creaky floorboards and walked around them.”
“Stealthy.” She cut up a crusty loaf of bread from a local baker into slabs for toast. “You would’ve made a good burglar.”
“What do you think I did before I was a cop?”
“Really?” She started to assess him completely differently.
He smiled easily and shook his head, more relaxed than she’d seen him before. “Nah. I worked in a couple restaurants through college.” He took a couple of slices of bread and put them in the toaster.
For months, her morning routine had been the same. Toast. Coffee. Work on the orchard and work in the shop. Nothing was normal this day. Ty’s presence shifted everything. The sunlight came through the windows differently, making her see aspects of her house that had gone unnoticed in...forever. “Was the guest room okay?”
Ty found the plates for the toast in a cabinet and stacked them at the ready. “Upper sash on one of the windows is loose and wouldn’t close. A little drafty, but no problem.”
“Really?” It felt like everything was falling apart around her as she broke her back trying to keep all the pieces together. “I’m sorry. There just hasn’t been time to work on the house. Or enough money.”
“It’s not your fault those bastards have been after you.” He pulled out his phone and set it on the island. “I was reading comments and reviews for your shop this morning.”
“Oh, God.” She rolled her eyes and shuddered. “So many fake accounts trashing me.” The coffee was ready and she brought two mugs to the pot. “And they’ve been leaning on the harvesters. No one’s willing to come out here to work the trees.”
“And still your local PD didn’t do anything.” Anger heated his voice.
She poured coffee into the mugs, the aroma helping to bring her more into the present. “They just kept saying there was nothing concrete to move on.”
Ty finished with the toast and brought the plates to the island. “Last night will put everything on the books, but I don’t think they collected a lot of actionable evidence.”
Her frustration with the police department didn’t have the same bite it used to. Ty was there, bringing Frontier Justice from outside the system. “Cream and—” Her phone rang. The screen indicated it was her insurance agent and she answered immediately. “Thanks for calling back so early, Brenda.” The woman’s concerned voice was just waking up, but she was diligent in explaining the next couple of steps and agreed to meet Mariana at the store within an hour. Mariana related all this to Ty after she hung up.
He nodded with understanding, drinking his coffee black and making mental calculations. “I won’t be there for that. The fewer official reports I’m on, the better.”
She threw back some of her coffee, hoping it would ready her for whatever was coming this day. “You’re only here for the action.”
“Until you tell me to leave...” He found a pad and pencil on a counter and scrawled a number. “I’m never farther away than a phone call.” Bringing her the piece of paper closed the distance between them. Her body drank in the heat of his intensity. “Usually, I’m much closer than that.”
She took the paper and stepped away to enter the number in her phone. Now that she knew she had to meet Brenda, the clock ticked on the day. She and Ty gathered their things and headed out. Hearing and believing what he’d said had taken the cold edge away from being alone in this fight. But as she drove to town followed by Ty, an unsettled question burned into her. How much closer did she want him?
Chapter Five
He still felt her near his skin. It had been an hour since they’d left the kitchen. The drive to town hadn’t helped cool him down. Pretending to be interested in a revolving rack of comic books at the front of the small local bookstore still couldn’t shake the resonance of her in him. She was standing down the block on the far side of the street, outside her boarded-up shop. She and the insurance broker had gone inside, come back out and now discussed several pages of paperwork on the Asian woman’s clipboard.
Even from this distance, the warmth on his chest that had started in her bedroom persisted. It had come as a quick shock. He’d been so focused on the danger outside there’d been no time to assess where in her house he was or what that might mean. Once the car had left, though, the intimacy of standing so close to Mariana in her bedroom bolted, hot, through him. He was in her house to protect her. He was there for Frontier Justice, and following through with the attraction he felt was beyond a bad idea. There was no certainty she was feeling it, too. The way her hand had lingered in his when he’d helped her up had definitely encouraged the idea, though.
Sleeping lightly in the drafty guest room had calmed his body down, but not his mind. The boldness of the Hanley Group’s attacks and follow-up intimidation only showed just how hard it would be to dislodge them from getting what they wanted. Mariana had to be safe. Ty had to stay sharp. Could he maintain that edge while giving in to a sudden desire for the woman he was there to protect?
The questions continued to stab at him while he watched her from the window of the bookstore. The insurance broker was wrapping up her business with a handshake and a hug with Mariana. Ty pulled a comic from the rack and took it to the front counter, cash already in hand.
The white woman behind the counter smiled genuinely. “I like that one. It’s dark.” She rang him up and handed over the change.
“Sweet.” He pocketed the change and gave her a wave with the comic as he headed out of the shop. So far, from what he’d seen of the small town of Rodrigo, there was nothing to support the sinister business that had come down on Mariana. People were generally open and nice. A couple of locals had given him hard looks, but that was expected everywhere.
He hurried across the street and down the block. Mariana turned from the direction the insurance agent walked away to face him. She was tired—he could see the exhaustion—but still strong as hell. He wanted to put his arm around her shoulders, give her something to lean on, but couldn’t risk invading her space. Instead he would support her how he could. He moved close enough to tell her, “You’re doing amazing.”
Her thin smile barely registered. “It doesn’t look good in there.”
“Can I check it out?”
She nodded and swung the door open with a bracing breath. “No power, so we have to use flashlights.”
The floor was still wet and the room was close with the smell of damp wood and paper. He ditched the comic book to the side and used the flashlight on his key chain to sweep across the space. Everything he could see was either burnt or soaked.
Mariana’s voice shook. “The refrigerator went off with the power. All the apple butter and pies have to be scrapped.” She coughed, but he heard it as a cover for a sob.
Immediately he was at her side, shoulder to shoulder, giving her as much of himself as she would take. “I saw how many apples are on your trees. This can all be built back.”
Her eyes squeezed shut and she leaned into him. “There’s no one to harvest.”
“There will be.” Determination rose in him. “We’ll push the Hanley Group back.” He hated seeing her bullied, and feeling her pushed this close to defeat drove him to rage. “They’ll be so scared of you they’ll never set foot in this county again.”
She opened her eyes and searched his face. “You’d better be telling the truth.”
He promised through a clenched jaw, “This is no lie.”
Her hand coiled around his. He held her tight, hoping to tell her everything with the touch. She whispered, “Tell me again.”
“I’m with you to the end.” No matter if the electricity that passed between them was real or just his imagination, if she bridged the gap to come closer to him or never approached, his resolve was set. And he couldn’t wait to punch a hole through the Hanley Group and send them running.
“You’d better mean it.” A deep fury heated her voice. “Because if we’re going to fight, I’m going to burn them down.”
Her energy fueled his. “All the way down.” The two of them balanced on an edge. They’d said all they could with words. He needed to taste her strength. Was he drawing her closer, or was she stepping to him? Her gaze flicked to his mouth. Her lips parted. He knew this wasn’t a good idea and refused to stop. Their faces grew nearer.
The front door of the shop opened with a blast of sunlight. He and Mariana immediately parted and his hand instinctively hovered near his sidearm. A silhouette took a cautious step into the shop. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw the curious expression on the black woman’s face as she glanced from him to Mariana and back.
“Sydney.” Mariana immediately walked to the woman in her midthirties. Ty remembered getting a glimpse of her last night, when he was watching the front of the store as the firefighters were wrapping up.
“I hope it’s okay I came by. I saw you around...” Sydney scanned the burnt and soaked shop with concern and hurt in her eyes. She stroked a hand down Mariana’s arm.
“Of course.” Mariana squeezed her friend’s shoulder. The front door remained open, illuminating the genuine caring between these two women. “This is Ty.” Mariana turned toward him. He approached and shook Sydney’s hand.
The woman inspected him carefully. “You helped her last night?”
“I did.” It was easy to tell that Sydney’s sharp perception would crack through any attempts at evasion.
“Did you know trouble was coming?” Sydney tilted her head, still wary. Mariana stood by, watching.
“I knew there’d been trouble for a while, but I didn’t know it would be that bad.”
The woman assessed him up and down. He’d thrown a light jacket on over his hoodie and knew his pistol didn’t print through. Still she pierced him with “Cop?”
“San Francisco. But,” he added quickly, “I’m here on vacation.”
Sydney chuckled. “You really know how to relax.” She clicked her tongue and walked deeper into Mariana’s ruined shop. “What station in San Francisco?”
She clearly knew the deeper workings of the city. “Tenderloin.”
That got her to raise her eyebrows. “Tough spot.”
“Where I grew up.” It had gone through a lot of changes since then, and continued to transform as the city evolved.
“I did junior high in Oakland.” Her shoulders loosened up and she appeared like she wasn’t squaring him up for attack or defense.
“I’ve got a cousin out there.”
Sydney looked over a half-burnt table covered with goods Mariana had hoped to sell on it. “Your whole family’s out here?”
“California.” He nodded.
“And before?” She looked back at him, sharing a history.
“Georgia.”
“Alabama,” she answered. Now that they’d covered all the basics, she looked over the table and talked to Mariana. “Is any of this salvageable?”
Mariana joined her and picked over the wares. “Jars of jelly, no. Dried rings, no. The apple peelers can be sold at a discount once they’re dried.”
Sydney separated two of the devices. “I cleared a table at my place. We’ll fill it with anything you can sell, and I’m not taking any commission.”
Mariana objected. “A table of my stuff means lost sales for you. I can’t—”
Sydney raised her hand to cut off her friend’s concern. “They burned your place. This is the least I can do.” She strode toward the back. “Did the jugs of cider get damaged?”
Mariana followed and Ty trailed after them. Soon they were all sorting through what could be sold and what had to be trashed. Mariana’s eyes welled with tears as she separated out all the losses, but she pushed through and filled three plastic tubs with good merchandise.
They carried them across the street to Sydney’s shop, where Ty was instantly surrounded by the aromatic warmth of wax and honey. The bright store was decorated in natural light woods. Sydney exhibited the same personal connection to the place and the goods that Mariana did with hers.
Sydney saw Ty looking about and explained, “I’m just working for the bees. They do the heavy lifting.”
The three of them organized Mariana’s wares on an open table. After a brief debate over who had the worst handwriting, Mariana settled down to write up all the signage explaining what was on sale. Sydney stayed at her side. “You need anything else, let me know. If the local cops aren’t helping and we have to hire a private detective...”
Mariana looked up from her work with a serious expression. “Ty is staying to help.”
Sydney took a step back, staring at him quizzically. “I thought you were on vacation.”
“Officially.” How much would he have to tell her before she trusted him with her friend?
“Shady business.” She shook her head, but luckily left it at that.
Mariana stood, face set with determination. “That’s what they brought, so that’s what it’s going to take to stop them.”
Sydney glanced out the front windows of her shop, as if they were being watched. “I’m in it with you.” Her conspiratorial lips barely moved.
Ty saw how good her view of Mariana’s store was. “Can you keep a log of anyone unusual around Mariana’s place? Date and time, clothes, body type, cars, behavior.”
Sydney took out her phone. “I’ll create an online document and share it with Mariana. She can share it with you.”
He put a fist out for Sydney. “I like the way you think.” She bumped it.
Mariana brought her in for a tight hug. “Thank you for everything.”
; “Be safe.” Sydney gave her friend a final squeeze, then released her. She waved pointedly with her phone at Mariana and Ty as they headed out the door.
Ty paused on the sidewalk. The tallest structures on this side of town were only two stories, but that still provided plenty of protected vantages to anyone lurking. Mariana’s shop was one of five in a long brick building that took up the entire block across the street. None of the other stores had been touched by the fire. She was the only target. He asked, “Anyone around here get an advantage if you’re forced out?”
She thought a moment, scanning their surroundings. “I can’t think of someone. We all look out for each other. And there are empty storefronts a block over if someone wanted to expand.”
“Okay.” He crossed the street with her, watching who might be watching them. No one seemed particularly interested. “But something’s not clicking. Hanley Group has developments all over Northern California. Businessmen in expensive suits.” They reached the front of her shop, where some shattered glass still gathered at the base of the exterior wall. “These tactics are brutal.”
“There’s been no contact from anywhere else.” She swung the door open and stepped in. He watched her posture hunch under the burden of what had happened.
“Sydney did great to set you up.” He was rewarded by Mariana straightening.
Her warm smile transformed the room. “She’s a goddess.”
He walked toward the back of the store. “I’m going to crawl that parking lot.” But when they got out the rear door, he saw that no one had cordoned off the space and several cars had already parked on the blacktop. He gritted his teeth.
Frustration made him want to just quit the search, but he steadied himself and set about scanning the ground as he paced back and forth. Mariana moved about the space as well, focused down. She concentrated around the area where her truck had been parked. He’d noticed that this morning she’d parked farther from her store and closer to the side street.
