Chapter Fifteen
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Keeley walked through the back door of Easy Money for her evening shift. She stowed her bag and tied on her waist apron. Owen was in the kitchen changing the CO2 tanks. He gave her one of his all-encompassing looks then went back to his task without a word.
Which was pretty much the way the evening went. Keeley was determined to keep their relationship firmly in the employer/employee camp and he seemed to feel the same. The Friday night crowd was enjoying the country rock band performing popular covers, and were having a good time dancing.
“ Hey, there. When’s your break?”
Keeley took a step back from the big man who’d stepped into her path. Jay Berringer was the assistant manager of Sisters Hardware and was generally a good guy. Unless he’d been drinking. She’d had her eye on his table as he and his two friends had become increasingly loud. Time to cut them off. But first she’d have to deal with the big guy.
“ Not for a while yet, Jay. Can I get you anything?”
“ Oh yeah, sweet thing. You can get me something.” He gave her a leering, gap-toothed smile while he puffed out his chest and adjusted his belt. “Always thought you were a looker. How about you take your break now and we have ourselves a get-to-know-you-better dance.”
“ Nope, no get-to-know-you-better dance for me, Jay. But thanks. ”
“ You don’t need to play hard to get. I’m a friendly guy. I can show you a good time.” He slurred the word “show” so it sounded more like he’d slow her a good time.
“ I don’t need a guy for that. How about I get a round of Cokes for your table, on the house?”
A hand on her shoulder drew Keeley back and Owen stepped forward. “Hey there, Jay.” He kept moving, his hand going to Jay’s shoulder as he turned the man and had him headed back to his table. “Heard a shipment of that new siding came in. I’ll be in to take a look at it.”
Keeley had never fully appreciated Owen’s skill in diffusing a situation. He could certainly get in someone’s face if circumstances warranted, and he did. But he adeptly maneuvered Jay back to his table with his buddies while keeping it nonconfrontational.
Behind the bar, she filled three glasses with Coke, added a fresh bowl of bar mix, and when she would have lifted the tray, Owen was there.
“ I got it.” He hefted the tray to take to Jay’s table.
A vibration had her digging her phone from her apron pocket. The notification showed a voicemail from an unknown number. Phone to her ear, she listened as she transferred clean glasses from the wash rack to the shelf, arranging them by type. Message over, she stared at the screen, trying to make sense of what she’d heard.
“ What’s up?”
“ Listen to this. Jaxon left a message using a different number.” She tapped speaker so Owen could hear and pressed play. Sounding agitated, Jaxon spoke, voice shaking.
“ Keeley, I need help. I’m in trouble. I wouldn’t call if it weren’t an emergency. Something bad’s gonna happen, and only you can help me. There’s these bad dudes and they want to hurt me. Or they could hurt you. Police questioned me about that woman’s death. I had nothing to do with it. Come to that gas station past the Welcome to Sisters sign tonight when you get off work so we can talk. Come alone.” His voice dropped. “I think they’ll kill me. You’re my only hope.”
“ There’s no way in hell you’re meeting that fucker.”
“ Gee, Owen. I’m so glad you stopped me from meeting a man of questionable character, by myself, at a gas station that’s closed for the night. Also note I played the voicemail for you.”
“ Right, sorry. That was knee-jerk.”
“ Forgiven.”
“ Send the voicemail to me.” While she was doing that, he said, “You have any idea what trouble he could be in or how you could be involved?”
She shook her head. “Nope, no idea. It’s weird. I know I’ve said Jaxon and I didn’t have much of a relationship, but we really didn’t. I never met his family, he never met mine. That holiday party was the only time he met any of my friends. I never brought him to Sisters. We weren’t that involved.”
“ He thinks you were involved.” His gaze went sharp. “Did you sleep with him?”
“ That’s none of your business.”
“ Maybe not, but it tells me something about your relationship.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. The answer is no, we didn’t sleep together. I was waiting for more of a spark between us, and it never happened.”
“ Good.” He motioned to Jen. “You’ve got the bar. I’ll be in the office.” He turned to Keeley. “I need your phone.”
“ You could ask nicely,” she said, even as she handed it to him.
“ Thank you very much for handing me your phone.”
She couldn’t help grinning at his overly polite tone. “He can’t believe I’d meet him.”
“ I have no idea what he believes. I don’t trust him. Back in a minute.” Owen disappeared through the swinging door.
The band had finished their set and began dismantling their equipment. Keeley helped bus and wipe down tables and seats, and Jen closed out tabs as customers wound down their evening .
Owen returned, handing Keeley her phone. “I called the number he used. No answer. I’m taking you home. Sawyer’s not on duty, but he’ll meet me. We’ll take your car to the gas station to meet Romero. We’ll see if he shows.”
“ Why take my car?”
“ Catch him off guard. He won’t be fooled for long, but maybe we can catch him by surprise if he thinks it’s you.”
***
Keeley rinsed and put her toothbrush back in the cup. She wondered if Owen and Sawyer had met up with Jaxon. He said he was in trouble, but she couldn’t figure out why he thought she could help him other than thinking she’d give him money. Once Jaxon saw Owen and Sawyer, he wouldn’t stick around. He was confrontation-averse, especially with larger and stronger men.
She’d pulled a long-sleeved sleep shirt over her head when a loud knocking sounded from her front door. She rushed to the door anxious to hear what Owen had to say. With her hand on the dead bolt she paused, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She backed slowly away from the door.
“ Who is it?”
“ Keeley, it’s me. Let me in. I need to talk to you.”
Jaxon.
He knocked again, louder this time.
She scurried back to the bedroom to grab her phone and dialed 9-1-1 on her way to the kitchen. The heavy weight of a chef’s knife in her hand gave her a marginal feeling of security. She let out a startled yelp, the knife clattering to the floor when a sharp rapping came from the sliding door to the patio. Jaxon was a shadowy shape through the glass.
“ 9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
Keeley scooped up the knife, and hastily flipped off the indoor lights and turned on the patio lights to make it harder for him to see in. She backed up to the wall and slid to the floor. With the knife in one hand and her phone in the other, she recited her address to the operator. “My name is Keeley Montaigne. Jaxon Romero is outside my house, pounding on the doors. He’s scaring me.”
The dispatcher assured her the call had gone out and officers were responding. Keeley answered several questions: No, Jaxon had not threatened her. Yes, she could see him, he was peering through the glass door. No, she didn’t see a weapon.
Jaxon’s voice sounded muffled through the glass. “Keeley, let me in. I knew you wouldn’t meet me at the gas station. I bet that’s where you sent that asshole you’re with. I had to get him away so we can talk. I need your help. You’ve got something of mine I need back, and I need to borrow some money.”
Jaxon paced back and forth across the tiny patio, pausing to peer through the glass, cupping his hands around his eyes. It was her first good look at him. His face looked like it’d been used as a punching bag. One eye was swollen shut, his lip was puffy and split, and his jaw appeared to be the color of a ripe plum.
“ Stay on the line with me, Keeley. Officers are seven minutes out.”
A lot could happen in seven minutes. She texted Abby to tell her that she was safe, asking her also to call Owen, and to stay in her house, adding that the sheriff’s department was responding.
She hated that her parents were once again being affected by whatever this mess was she somehow found herself in.
Jaxon’s voice carried through the window. His movements were becoming agitated. He was running his hands through his hair, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and kept looking over his shoulder into the darkness edging the patio.
“ Talk to me, Keeley. I could end up dead and you don’t care. I could die .” He paced back and forth, at times using both hands to grab his hair and pull. “Open up, dammit.” Spittle flew from his mouth. He kicked a clay pot she’d bought to plant with geraniums, shattering it and sending shards flying .
He shoved a chair, sending it into the window, but luckily the glass didn’t break. Keeley scrambled to her feet when he grabbed the chair and hoisted it up, holding it cocked over his head. He turned toward the sliding door. She caught her breath, sure he would throw it through the glass.
Then he froze with the chair over his head, his attention riveted on something to the left of the patio.
Owen entered her range of vision, gun steady in his hand.
Jaxon stood motionless. It was like watching a balloon deflate as he seemed to shrink before her eyes. Owen’s voice was a low rumble through the glass. Whatever he said convinced Jaxon to slowly lower the chair to the ground. He turned his back to Owen and went to his knees, raising his hands behind his head and lacing his fingers together. Keeley drew in a deep breath as what felt like a fist around her lungs eased enough for her to breathe.
In uniform, Sawyer appeared in the circle of light as he moved behind Jaxon and cuffed him. Owen set the safety on his gun and tucked it into a shoulder holster under his jacket. He searched Jaxon, pulling a wallet from his back pocket as well as keys, and a phone from the front, placing all items on the patio table.
“ Keeley, are you there?” The dispatcher spoke in her ear.
“ Yes, yes, I’m sorry. We’re good. Deputy Sawyer McGrath is here along with former police officer Owen Hardesty. They have Jaxon in custody.” Feeling lightheaded, she breathed deep to get oxygen to her brain. “Everything’s fine.”
Keeley heard the faint wail of a siren and spoke hurriedly. “Would you ask the deputies to come in without sirens? My dad is an Alzheimer’s patient and he’ll get agitated if they wake him.”
“ Sure thing.”
Keeley ended the call with the dispatcher and the sirens cut off a moment later. She tossed the knife into the sink and then opened the sliding glass door. Owen spoke over his shoulder to Sawyer as he approached the doorway, his gaze locked on hers .
He didn’t stop until his arms circled around her and he’d pulled her into him.
She released a ragged sigh and breathed him in. “Jaxon thought you’d go to the gas station and he’d be able to get to me here,” she murmured with her face pressed to his neck.
He dipped his head, his mouth next to her ear. “I figured. He’d have to’ve known you’d never meet him at a gas station at night, and he knows we’re together. I’d gone up the road only a quarter mile before I realized his plan. Felt like an idiot I didn’t figure it out sooner.
“ I called Sawyer to let him know and circled back. Jaxon parked his car to block the driveway and I had to park on the street. It took me too damn long to get to you.” His hand went to the back of her head. “I’m sorry he scared you. I should’ve never left you alone.”
“ You came back and you stopped him.”
He dropped his forehead to rest against hers, eyes closed. He seemed to need her touch as much as she needed his.
“ I’m so damn tired of fighting this thing between us,” he whispered.
Then his mouth was on hers and she felt like he’d thrown off whatever restraints had been holding him back.
He kissed her with an all-consuming urgency that found an answering need in her. With her body fused to his, it was impossible to ignore his response.
His lips moved along her jaw to the slope of her neck. “Tell me to stop. I can’t fight you any longer and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“ I don’t want you to stop.” Her voice sounded breathy.
Voices from the patio had Keeley peering around Owen’s shoulder. More officers had joined Sawyer.
Owen loosened his hold, his hands sliding down her arms to tangle his fingers with hers. “Did you tell Abby you’re okay?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. The cops will want a statement from me. I’ll text Mom an update and get shoes, then come out. ”
She didn’t want to leave the security of Owen’s arms, but forced herself to let him go when Sawyer approached. Jaxon sat in one of the patio chairs, hands cuffed behind him, his head hanging dejectedly to his chest.
After reassuring her mom everything was under control and there was no danger, she retrieved her Uggs from her bedroom. Two deputies were escorting Jaxon away in cuffs when she stepped onto the patio and pulled the glass slider shut behind her.
Sawyer had his arms crossed and a serious look on his handsome face. “Tell us what happened.”
Owen moved behind her, a hand on her shoulder as he stayed close. She recounted what Jaxon had said. “He really thinks his life is in danger.”
“ Not liking you being targeted again, Keels. You have any idea who it is your pal Jaxon thinks wants to kill him?”
She shook her head. “He’s not my pal, and I don’t know. Maybe this has something to do with his work. He was always secretive about what he did and who he worked for, so maybe it was something shady? I don’t know how he thinks I could save him.” She frowned. “Though he did say I have something of his he wants back.”
Owen’s hand on her shoulder tightened. “What does he think you have?”
“ Maybe the cops can ask him because I have no idea. It’s not like he ever stayed over and left things at my apartment. I would’ve noticed anything of his when I moved.” She paused, considering. “I wonder if he’s delusional.”
“ Sacramento PD didn’t get anything when they questioned him?” Owen asked Sawyer.
“ They’re trying to figure out the connection between some interesting facts: A woman’s dead. She knew Keeley, and she’d met Romero. As far as they know only that one time, but it’s still a connection.”
“ Keeley is the link between the two of them. ”
“ She is, and neither of us likes that. Romero’s under arrest so he’s not a threat for the time being.”
“ Did you notice his face?” Keeley asked. “Someone beat the crap out of him.”
“ Yeah, I noticed. I’m heading to the station so I can talk to him.” Sawyer gave a nod as he prepared to leave. “We’ll touch base tomorrow.”
Owen and Keeley gave their statements, photographs were taken of the patio, and when Keeley brought out a broom and dustpan, a deputy took it from her to sweep up the broken bits of pottery. All the while she was aware of Owen frowning, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze locked on her, his blue eyes burning.
She felt like the other cops couldn’t clear out fast enough. She wanted Owen, and that he wanted her as badly made her nervous and ravenous.
A cool breeze picked up and Owen disappeared into the house, returning with a coat to drape over her shoulders. It took some time before all law enforcement was gone and the patio was clear. Moths flew erratically in the glow of the patio light. Keeley absorbed the quiet as a light gust stirred the pines. She let it soothe the anxiety left over from the incident with Jaxon.
Owen took her hand and pulled her into her cottage, locking the sliding door behind them. They stood with their fingers linked together, staring at each other, the air between them charging with energy.
While waiting for the cops to be done, Keeley’d been feeling the weight of exhaustion, but now with Owen’s gaze burning on hers with a heat that threatened to sear her skin, her heart thrummed and anticipation replaced drowsiness.
“ I don’t do relationships.” It sounded like the words were forced past his teeth.
She nodded slowly.
“ I’m a risk. We do what I want to do tonight and I’ll likely end up hurting you. I’m a bad bet. ”
“ Are you warning me off, Owen?”
“ No. I want you too much for that. But I can’t promise anything. You need to know that.”
“ Maybe you are worth the risk.” She stepped closer, bringing up his hand and pressing it between her breasts where her heart beat heavily. She went onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’m not asking for promises.”
“ You want a husband and family. I can’t give you that.” The pain in his eyes arrowed straight to her heart.
“ You’ve been hurt. Badly.”
He tipped his head back, eyes closed, his thumb stroking between her breasts. “I’ve been something.” When he brought his gaze back to hers, she recognized regret. “I care about you, and it would kill me to hurt you. That’s why I want it clear that whatever we do tonight, it’s not the beginning of something more.”
She thought her heart would break for him. “I have these feelings for you, Owen, feelings of need and desire that have no place to go. When I’m with you, when we kiss, those feelings consume me, and they get tangled up in yearnings for more.
“ I hear you when you say you can’t give me a future. But you can give me the present. Give me something of you, even if it’s only for tonight.”