by Jody Klaire
Somehow I had to get her back so I sat on the sofa and looked at the pen. It was heavy for a pen. I guessed it was more gold plated than the real stuff. Judging by what Hal had said about schooling, I guessed he didn’t have the funding to buy expensive pens.
Martha caught my eye as she hovered in the doorway so I shooed her away. She had customers to serve and folks to feed and standing around gawking at me weren’t gonna help nobody. When I was alone, I unfolded the napkin, slunk back into the squishy leather, and rubbed my thumb over my necklace.
My hands were clammy, the dread hummed through me, burning a hole in my stomach. Seeing things, touching things, using my burdens was a real energy sucking process and I wasn’t sure how much of it, energy I mean, I had.
“For Renee,” I mumbled, trying to shake off the nagging worry wrapping its tentacles through my gut.
Not much use for me with all this damn snow. Not like McKinley will trust me with no good jobs neither. There ain’t no real policing for a dumb Louisiana boy, well . . . I ain’t dumb and just ’cause I ain’t all proper schooled don’t mean I can’t be a good cop.
Where’s my burger? Wait, Ronny is fixing up another order, where’s Martha? Wish I could thank her in some way for taking pity on me. Wish I could do something for her . . . but what?
Who is that guy?
“Hey, buddy!” What does he think he’s doing charging round like that, he coulda hurt somebody . . . he coulda hurt Martha. I’m gonna haul his ass in, that’s what I’m gonna do.
“Hey, Martha!”
“I’ll get it for you, hun, just wait a second.”
What? No, forget the damn burger, I’m more worried about you. Wish I could just say it.
Oh back off, buddy. Earl is looking at me like he wants to skew me like a skillet. I ain’t after her you dumb oaf . . . I just wanna make sure she’s okay. Guess it ain’t my place anyhow.
“Thanks, Martha . . . I just got to hurry.”
“No problem.”
She’s always looking after everybody else. Mamma was the same. Man, I miss her.
Bill Hick in a hurricane! Marie . . . She looks as hot as ever. I love her eyes, I love her somethin’ terrible. Got to make somethin’ of myself . . . that way, maybe she’d look at me?
“Hey, Doctor.” She got a bee in her bonnet this morning that one. What is with her mood? Why do women get like that? It ain’t like it helps nobody. “Doc?”
She just damn walked straight past me . . . some mood she got.
Who is that guy?
“Hey, Ice Queen, where’s your knight?”
Oh, if it ain’t the jackass of the century. “Hey, Brad . . . How’s your paw. Heard Ice Queen showed you her moves.”
“You want me to fix that face of yours, hillbilly?”
“You want me to slam your ass in a cell?”
Whoa! He’s got a—
BAM.
BAM.
Whoa, you got a shot on you, lady . . . can’t get my damn gun out . . .
“Out the way, Hal.”
Yeah sure, Charlie, don’t pay no mind to me. You wear the same badge, you son-of-a—
“Told you she was a lunatic. Screw loose.”
“Shut your hole, Jewel.”
Great, Charlie. Now your loopy woman is crowding the scene. “Joyce, step aside.”
That’s blood? Lord, I hate blood. Where’s the gun? Did he have one? “Joyce . . . You can’t help him . . . step away.”
Great, now Aeron’s lurking over him. He ain’t got no chance against her.
“Will he be okay?”
Does she really care? Where’s the gun? There was a gun. I know there was.
“Will . . . I mean . . . did she?”
Maybe I should move the doctor away. The guy could still be packing. “He has a good chance if I can get him in the hospital . . . with a little help?”
Where’s the damn gun? I swear he had a gun. What, Doc? What you looking at? Oh, you want me to move him? “Right.”
I hate blood, I hate blood. There ain’t no gun, no holster . . . maybe I just saw it . . . ah, shoot . . . What kind of a deputy can’t even tell if there was a gun. I shoulda stayed home like the rest of them.
“Up the steps, quickly.”
Oh, yeah, you just walk on up, don’t mind me. I’ll just haul this guy up on my own.
“Let me help.”
“Thanks, Mark.” Least one guy has a soul in this place.
“And me.”
Evan, well, you would help. If anything needs to be sorted in this town, it’s you two. I swear, there ain’t a better pair. “Thanks . . . just watch the blood . . . you ain’t sure what he got.”
“Right.” Evan’s got a good soul. Hope he gets somewhere. Kid deserves a good future.
I sat for a moment rerunning what Hal had seen. A flash in the man’s waistband, his arm reaching back. Martha and Earl had thought they saw the same thing but I had watched Hal search through the snow around the body, there was nothing there. So maybe it was just the light?
“Anything?” I heard Earl ask and I opened my eyes.
I was surprised to see that I was still on the sofa and I looked like I hadn’t flailed about like salmon in a stream.
“You thought you saw a gun,” I said. “So did Martha . . . and so did Hal.”
“But there wasn’t one when he was on the ground.”
I rubbed my hand over my eyes. “No, but the three of you thought the same thing. That’s got to mean something.”
“It could just mean that Renee saw it too and that’s why she fired?”
I looked down at the pen. “I need to get this back to him and I need to see her . . . I need to touch her.”
“You think McKinley will go for it?”
Shaking my head, I stared at the pen. “No, but maybe Hal will.” I got to my feet and thanked him, hugged Zack in the yard, and headed on over to the station.
Damn slippery steps . . . what . . . No!—
“Hal!”
I hurtled across the street. People turned to gawp at me as I sped past. Hal’s foot slid on the top step and I charged into him, sending him hurtling forward. We clattered to the ground. He grunted at the impact. At least he didn’t bounce backward on his head like I’d seen.
“You okay?”
Hal looked up at me with wide eyes. “How . . . I . . . how did you do that?”
“It’s easy,” I said, hoping to cover his real question. “Just got to tackle you in the right place.”
He blinked at me. “You were calling, you knew.”
I tried to look as innocent as I could. “What?”
Hal took my offered hand and I pulled him up. “You knew I was gonna fall.”
I laughed, it sounded shrill. “Like that could happen . . . I was calling you . . . for your pen . . . I have your pen.”
I pulled out the golden pen and handed it to him. “Saw you sliding as I got to the step.”
“Your voice,” he said. “Your tone . . . you were warning me.”
“Nuh uh,” I said. “I’d have to be psychic or something for that, right?”
He nodded. He wasn’t convinced by my dismissal but I wouldn’t dare say a word. I followed him into the station, feeling his eyes tracking me, looking for some indication that I would reveal my secrets.
“I just was on my way to see Serena. Can I see her?”
Martha and Earl had to know because I needed them, but Renee’s warning about the truth putting people in danger rattled around in my brain. I couldn’t take a chance, especially with a guy like Hal who would go looking for answers and end up getting hurt.
He glanced around and then nodded. “Sure, I’ll take you.”
The station was staffed by the rescue team today. They were deep in conversation about how to fix the cell tower that could help them to reach the outside world. It didn’t sound all that promising and it buoyed me. I needed more time to get Renee out.
“She’s through there,” he said as we
got to the cells. “She ain’t eating nothing. She won’t drink nothing either.”
“Open it up.”
It sounded like an order and Hal opened the cell door. I walked in and knelt down in front of Renee. She was pale. She was giving up.
“Hey,” I whispered. I put my hands on her face. She was clammy. I brushed the hair away. “I’m here now. I’m here, you ain’t alone.” I took some slop from the plate and put it on a spoon. “You need to eat, okay?”
She stared out at nothing and my heart ached like I was having some kind of attack. If we’d been back in the institution, she would have been in observation on a drip and constant care.
I placed the spoon to her lips, and she took the food and ate it. No one was in there, but at least the body still remembered that it needed to feed itself. I got her to drink a load too, but I was worried as to how well they were looking after her. My hands trembled as I fought to keep the tears back. I couldn’t bear seeing her like this.
“Can you get the sheriff, Hal?”
He nodded, and the second he was out of the door, I placed my hands on top of hers. Like I expected, there was no memory to find as her mind was off someplace I couldn’t reach. Still I pulled her to me, wrapped her up in my arms, and prayed that somehow she could take energy off me. I couldn’t do this without her.
“I need you to eat, drink, take care of yourself while I fix this,” I told her, holding her tight. “I need you back enough that you’ll do that, okay?”
I took my necklace off and placed it on her, sending every bit of energy I could into it. The second it touched her skin, she got up, kinda like a robot and went over to the bathroom stall. I was thankful for the partition. The cell that I’d been in had no such luxury. Dignity was one of those funny things that could get you through most situations and a loss of it could be a nail in any chance you had at surviving. She deserved dignity.
She stepped out of the stall and went back to sitting on the bed, staring at the wall. I sat beside her and noticed something in her hand. The napkin eagle I’d made was snug in her palm. The sight of it made it hard to swallow.
“That’s it. Hold on. I’ll fix it. I’ll fix everything.” I leaned my head to hers as we waited for the sheriff. I hoped that wherever she was, she could sense me being near.
“You aren’t meant to be in there.” McKinley’s tone was blunt and considering I’d saved his leg, not to mention his life, his attitude stank.
“She ain’t been eating or drinking,” I snapped. “You know you gotta call in the doctor when a prisoner is like that.”
Procedures involving mentally unstable folks were an expert subject.
“She’s fine.” He sounded like an arrogant ass.
“No, she ain’t.” I glared at him. “And your gratitude sucks.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Excuse me?”
So he thought he was better than me ’cause he wore a damn badge. Where had I seen that before? It didn’t work for my father and there was no way this fool was getting away with it.
“You heard. You and I both know that stomach of yours is feeling a load better since I fixed your leg.”
His eyes flickered along with his aura. He was freaked. I damn well wanted him to be.
“I give you another chance at living and you repay me by neglecting the one person I care about most?”
He tried shaking off my comment and rested his hands on his gun belt. “Thought she was a doctor.”
“I don’t give a damn what you think she is or isn’t.” I stood up to my full height. He looked like he wanted to hide. “She’s a human being and you are a crappy man.”
He had the good grace to lower his eyes. Yeah, he’d been wandering around in a bitter, terrified state for heaven knows how long but he was fine now, and there were no more excuses.
“I get that you been through hell,” I said. “I get that you faced how human you are.”
“Alright . . .” He held up his hands. “Alright . . . I’m sorry.”
“Martha is gonna bring her food from now on,” I told him. “We’re gonna make sure she’s okay. I’m gonna prove to you that she had a very good reason for shooting that guy.”
He sighed. “Doubt that you will. I saw the smirk on the guy’s face before she shot him.” He shrugged. “And Brad pretty much said that she was shooting at him.”
“At him?” I was pumping with fury. The guy needed to be pummeled with something large and spiky.
“Yeah. He was standing behind him. It’s not like they have been friendly.”
I snorted out my exasperation through my nose. “Are you freaking kidding me?” My voice filled the cell and my temper was close behind. “She proved her point to him the night before by cracking his wrist. Why the hell would she go and shoot him?”
McKinley didn’t know what to say but I did.
“You always listen to the bullies in your town?”
His eyes locked on mine. A flash of anger rippled through them. I stepped forward. The fury and worry mixed into something potent. “You think it’s okay for a man to touch a woman who don’t want him to?”
“No.”
I took another step. His anger changed to fear. “No? Are you sure? ’Cause I didn’t see nobody having a quiet word with him for his actions.”
McKinley scowled. “Look here—”
“Treat her like the hero she is.” There was gonna be no messing on this. “Martha will bring her food between my visits.” I fixed him with a glare. “I’m gonna go see Brad Jewel and if I so much as get a sniff off you or your deputies, you’ll get why you really don’t wanna see me mad.”
With that I planted a kiss on Renee’s forehead. “I’ll be back, promise . . . don’t leave me . . . please,” I whispered to her.
I turned and marched out of the cell. Brad Jewel had better hope he could apologize faster than he could run because I was all set to impale him on something sharp.
IT WASN’T HARD to find Brad. He was nursing a beer at the bar in The Ice Cooler. Not surprising, the dimly lit place was his. Pictures of barely dressed women were on the walls. Old fashioned and on tin or something. Sports gear was next to truck memorabilia. A large TV screen hung from the ceiling at one end of the wooden bar and I spotted Brad glued to some sports show. The guy on the door tried to put his arm out to stop me but I was in too bad a mood to let him bar my way. He ended up rubbing his yanked arm as I stormed over to the sneering piece of crap.
“You want to join your friend in the cells?” he asked.
I grabbed hold of the back of his stool and spun him around so hard he gripped the wooden bar just to stop from flying off. I could smell the stale beer on his breath and it only made me want to wring his neck more. The barman fled. The swinging door behind the bar clattering in his wake.
“You been lying about her,” I growled. “You think it’s funny to go around targeting women?”
Something in my brain said, “Uh oh.” I still had issues from my experience back in Oppidum and right now they were not only roaring to the surface, they were threatening to break free. Thing was, I never got mad. I was just not one of those people who possessed a short fuse. It took something pretty damn crappy to get me raging but when I did, it was not something most folk liked to witness.
“Where will it stop?” I asked, seeing his pupils shrink as his fear billowed from him. “Next time a lady doesn’t want to look at your sorry ass—”
“Leave it!” a voice called.
I glared at Simon as he and Mark stepped into the bar.
“You ain’t nothing but a coward,” I snapped at him. “You can’t even admit that you seen everything.”
“I didn’t see a thing,” he protested but his aura jumped a mile. “I swear.”
“Aeron . . .” Mark began.
“No,” I said, turning back to Brad. “I ain’t done. He is saying that she tried to shoot him.”
“What?” Mark sounded as angry as I felt. “Brad?”
“So,”
Brad said.
He laughed in my face.
Not clever.
I leaned over him.
He stopped. “She asked for it. Besides, I was right there next to the guy.”
“No you weren’t,” Mark snapped. “You were nowhere near.”
Brad went to push me out of the way. He was a lot weaker than me but his hand touched my arm . . .
Stupid dumb bitch thinks that she can do that to me. She’s lucky that I looked at her, stupid, ungrateful—
“Hey, you going to the bar?”
Simon, you smell like fish all the time. What do you wash your crap in?
“Yeah, where else.” Not like there’s a lot going on in this stupid place.
“Mark, you coming?”
Mr. Perfect? Drink in the day, oh come on, the guy is wetter than my mother.
“Nah, heading to the café though.”
Oh, look. It’s the ungrateful bitch. “Hey Ice Queen, where’s your knight?” If it weren’t for the freak, I would have taught your pretty face a lesson.
Bang.
Bang.
Save me! Oh God, I don’t want to die, please save me . . . I promise I won’t gamble anymore, I promise . . . Where’s the gun? . . . Help!
My roaring laughter made Brad yank his hand away. The guy was pathetic.
“You scared of a little gunfire . . . Braddy.”
He glared at me for using the name his beloved, overbearing mother called him.
I leaned in, gripped him by his collar, and glared into his eyes. “The freak here will rip your head off the next time you say a damn thing about her.”
He nodded. I shoved him back. His fear so clear to everyone now that Mark’s grin lit across his face even though he was trying to stop it.
“I know now,” I said, leaning in to glare at him. “Not. Another. Damn. Word.”
With that, I turned on my heels and stomped out of the bar, heading for the café. Putting one Jewel in his place made me feel better but I hoped Martha could help me look after Renee until I figured out if the guy really had a gun like a few people thought. What had really happened and who was this guy anyway?
I GOT TO the café, and it seemed like a few folks had already gotten word about my threatening Brad. It was funny how news in such a small place travelled so fast, even faster than it had taken me to walk the distance from the bar.
