Chapter 5
WILLA
She woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing on the nightstand beside her bed, turning over and struggling with the blanket that she”d wrapped around herself like some kind of burrito. Willa managed to get a hand out and snagged the phone from the night stand, opening one eye to see the name on the display.
MRS. PEREZ
Tapping the screen with the point of her finger she connected the call.
”Missus Perez? Is everything okay?”
”There”s a man in a big black SUV watching your house.”
A big black SUV?
The words triggered a memory in her mind.
When Landon left, she”d seen his vehicle outside. It certainly looked like a big SUV.
”Willa, dear?”
”Sorry, Missus Perez, I was just thinking.”
”Mmmhmm. Do you want me to call 911? They”ll come right out.”
”No. No... I have a feeling that I know who it is.” Willa used her legs to kick off the blanket that she”d tangled herself up in. ”I”ll go outside and see.”
Willa slid to the edge of the bed and touched her feet to the hardwood. The floor was cool and Willa got up on her feet quickly.
”Don”t worry. I won”t go outside if I don”t know who it is. And if it is who I think it is,” she smiled sleepily as she realized how repetitive her words were, ”then he is the police.”
”Oh?”
Willa heard her neighbor”s voice tremor a little. Likely more titillated than timid.
Mrs. Perez sounded almost giddy. ”That’s exciting.”
Willa rolled her eyes as she quickly made her way into the main room of the house and crossed to the windows along the front wall facing the street.
”Can you see him yet?”
”No, Miss-”
”Stay out of sight,” her neighbor cautioned, ”stand off to the side of the windows.”
Willa was nearly laughing out loud.
It did quite a bit to lighten the mood and put her a little more at ease knowing that someone had her back.
“I have my son’s bat.”
Shaking her head, Willa peaked out at the street and saw the dark shadow of a large vehicle on the opposite curb.
In their little neighborhood there weren”t that many street lights. The first one that she could see was about three houses down from Mrs. Perez”s house, and the light wasn”t all that bright, but it was enough at night.
Willa didn”t go out after dark so she didn”t worry about it.
“It’s okay, Missus Perez-”
“I think I can get the jump on him.”
“No, Missus Perez, I-”
“If you want, I can call Mister Taylor from down the street. I think he’s still got that pickaxe he used to dig the irrigation ditch-”
“No. No, please. Missus Perez. I think I know who it is.”
Willa swore she could hear the older woman’s questioning look even though they had a couple of walls between them.
“I think you should call 911, Willa-”
“He is 911. Or rather, he’s with the Texas Rangers.”
“Ohhhh,” she heard the soft rasp of the other woman’s voice, “Like Chuck Norris?”
Willa shook her head. “I’m sorry, who?”
“You’re too young, Willa. Now, you want me to go and bust a tail-light?”
“No, Missus Perez. I have his cell phone number, I’ll take care of this.”
And she’d meant to do it from the comfort of her home. Willa dialed the phone number that Landon had given her. As soon as she heard the first ringtone from her phone, a soft light illuminated the cab of the Navigator.
The light showed her the silhouette of Landon’s face.
She was struck again by the changes that his face had gone through in the almost eight years that had passed since the night he saved her life. The harsh light from the cell phone screen could have made him look hard or put dark shadows across his face. Instead, she was struck by the way the light from his phone gave his features an almost sculpted look. Like a marble statue created by a master and put on display in a museum.
Brushing aside her own fanciful thoughts, she realized that as much life as she’d lived during the years since she lost Kimmy, Landon had likely gone through troubles of his own.
She watched as he touched his screen to accept her call with a smile.
A smile.
“Willa?”
“Hey. I, uh… I have a neighbor who called me about you.”
“About me?”
She watched as he sat up in his seat, wincing a little as he turned and looked out both windows of his SUV.
“Yeah.” She left her phone on the side table, slipping her earbuds in. Willa moved to the front door and unlocked it, stepping out onto her porch. It was late and the wood was cool to the touch under her bare feet but she didn’t want to go back inside to get them. “She has her son’s bat at the ready and is willing to take a few swings at you.”
Willa walked down the front steps, watching Landon’s expression.
His smile was a full grin and she grinned in response.
“Like, a baseball bat?”
She answered his question when she was a few feet away from him. “No, a vampire bat.”
He shook his head and started to roll his eyes, but that’s when he must have caught sight of her.
The call ended and he set his phone down as the driver’s side window lowered between them. “Vampire bat, Willa?”
She shrugged. “What other bat would she have to swing at you with?”
His mouth twisted at the corner. “This almost sounds like Red Riding Hood.”
“What big eyes you have, Grandmother?” She shot back and they both laughed softly.
“Basically.” He sighed and shook his head. “But in this case, I’m supposed to be the good guy, not the wolf in the dress.”
Willa stepped back as she tried to hold in a laugh while he got out of his SUV.
The door closed with a heavy thump, and she looked up to see Landon standing just a few feet away from her.
Smiling even more, she shrugged. “I dunno. I think you might not look all that bad in a dress.”
Landon’s gaze dropped down to his button-down shirt, silver buckled belt, down to his well oiled boots. “I don’t think I have the legs for it.” He looked up, snapping his gaze back to her own. “Then again, I know a few women on the VICE squad who would love to have us play the bait when we’re doing solicitation stings.”
“You won’t catch me griping about equality on something like that,” Willa folded her arms across her chest. ”When you do it, I’d love to see the bodycam videos on that from the officers doing the backup stuff.”
She shifted her balance to one foot when she felt a chill go up through her leg. She hadn’t expected the asphalt on the street to get so cool.
Her movement wasn’t something that Landon missed.
His chin dropped down toward his chest and a moment later, she heard him hiss.
“Where are your shoes?”
She bit the inside of her cheek, biting back a quick retort of her own.
Landon didn’t wait for an answer. He shrugged off his suit coat and stepped closer, wrapping it around her.
“Hey! You!”
Willa’s shoulders raised in a wince as the light outside of Mrs. Perez’s front door blinked on and her screen door banged shut.
“You step back from her!”
Landon didn’t step back, but he caught her eye when she met his gaze with her own. “Is that-”
“Missus Perez, the one who was watching you sit in your car.”
Another door swung open and a flash of light came on a few doors down the street.
“And that?”
She gave him a grin. “Mister Taylor. He’s Missus Perez’ backup.”
Landon chuckled. “Maybe I should give them applications for the Rangers.”
Willa gave his chest a swat and tried to hide her own reaction to the muscle she felt under his shirt. Struggling to ignore the strange feelings that continued to stir up inside of her, she stepped away from him.
LANDON
He made sure to keep an eye on the street to see if there were any suspicious glints of light that might indicate glass on the road, but the street was dark. A quick look showed him that the nearest street light was a few houses down. ”This is an older neighborhood.”
”Yes,” he heard a light humorous tone in Willa”s voice, ”are you thinking of buying something on this street? Nothing”s for sale.”
Landon turned to look at her, shaking his head. ”Sassy.”
”Who, me?” She laughed and waved at a woman who stepped off of the curb. ”Missus Perez, this is Landon Cooper.” She turned her head and gave him what might have been an impish grin. ”Landon, this is Missus Perez. She watches out for me and everyone else on this street.”
The older woman waved off Willa”s words but she lifted her chin in the air and turned her face toward the light from her own porch. It gave her skin a golden glow that made her look like she was in the soft light of a classic movie. ”No need to gush, dear. I”m a woman who cares. Nice to meet you, Walker Texas Ranger.”
Landon felt her words hit his funny bone at an odd angle. ”Ranger Cooper. I”m a far cry from Chuck Norris, ma”am.”
Mrs. Perez shot a look at Willa. ”Did you hear that, Willa? The way he called me ma”am?”
Willa looked confused.
Mrs. Perez preened and pressed her hand against her chest. ”He”s quite the gentleman, isn”t he?”
Willa”s mouth twitched up at the corners. ”Yes. He is.”
It took a moment, but then the older woman gave him a nod that looked a bit like approval.
”I think you just might be one of the good ones, Ranger Cooper. Now, take our Willa back inside her house before her feet get cold.”
Landon lifted his hand and gave her a salute. ”Yes, ma”am.”
Mrs. Perez pulled Willa in to her side and gave her a wink. ”You want me to tell him to carry you?”
It was too dark for him to see slight color variations, but there was something about the expression on Willa”s face that said she was more than a little embarrassed. ”I”m fine.”
Landon shrugged. ”I can carry you if you like.”
Willa”s eyes opened wide and she stared at him. ”No.”
Mrs. Perez nudged Willa”s shoulder with her own. ”I”d like him to carry you.” Her eyes brightened and then she wiggled her index finger at Landon. ”You”ve seen An Officer and a Gentleman, right?”
Landon was afraid to say he hadn”t. ”I, uh-”
Willa stepped closer to him, holding his jacket around her body. ”If it”s okay with you. I”d like to go inside and find my socks.”
Landon saw Mrs. Perez fold her arms across her chest and nod with a broad smile on her face.
”Sure. I”ll walk you to the door.”
They walked beside each other across the street and up onto the curb in front of her house. Willa didn”t stop to talk to him, but she turned to look at him at her shoulder. ”How long have you been sitting out there at the curb?”
”I came back just after dark.” He saw her steps falter and realized what his words must have sounded like. ”I went home and got a bag and something to eat. I can go to work from here.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. ”I can bring you to the taskforce meeting and drop you back here after it”s over.”
Willa twisted the knob on the door and started to push it open. She lifted her gaze back to his face. ”You were going to sleep in the SUV all night?”
He shrugged, hoping that they could move off of the conversation soon. ”I wasn”t planning on sleeping much. Can”t watch out for you if I”m dead to the world.”
He tensed up as his words replayed in his head.
”I”m sorry, I didn”t mean-”
She shook her head, but it was a little too hard to be an easy denial. ”No. Nothing to apologize for.” Willa stepped inside, her gaze hidden from him.
It was dark in the main room, but when he stepped inside he thought he could see some tension in her shoulders in the low-light of the room. ”Willa, please.”
”It”s fine.” The door shut and she worked the lock with a decided click. ”I can”t expect the world to change the way it talks just because of what I”ve been through.”
He heard the hardness in her voice, but he didn”t think it was anger. He had a feeling that it was more frustration. And perhaps rising emotions and sadly, memories.
”No,” he agreed, his voice softer than normal with the knot that was forming in his throat, ”you can”t expect the world to change, but I should know better. I do know better.”
”Well,” she turned her back to the door and leaned against it, ”I”m not expecting you to treat me with kid gloves or lead ones either. I”m not usually so sensitive.”
Willa pushed away from the door and gestured at the couch off to the side. ”You can sleep here if you want. If you”re worried about me, it might be easier to be inside of the house. Or,” she looked away again, ”you can go back outside, but I can”t guarantee that Missus Rivera won”t spend the night sitting on her porch with that bat, or standing outside your window.”
”I”m not sure which would be scarier.” Landon reached up a hand to work at the ache at the back of his neck. ”I”m glad you have folks that care about you, and watch over you like this.”
He looked up in time to see a smile cross her face. ”It”s an older neighborhood. I started coming around because I was doing some work with a bunch of guys that were trying to scam scammers. You know, the ones who call people and try to take their money with... Target or Walmart gift cards?”
He nodded. He”d heard about it. ”How did you get involved?”
”I saw a video online and one of the guys was local to San Antonio. I messaged him and I helped them out with some of their calls to phone banks. They were using voice modulators to sound like women, but after awhile the men they were investigating started picking up on the voice distortion, so I offered to help out and play the pigeon on the call. They”d do the hacking and while they did, I got to learn a little. It was how I met Gus in a round about way.”
Landon walked beside her, giving her a few feet of space between them and when she flopped down onto one end of the sofa, he sat down on the other end. ”How round about are we talking?”
”Hackers are solitary for the most part, but they do like to chat and gossip when they can. During one of those gab sessions Gus mentioned that he”d tried to do the bait conversations with predators online but he was getting pegged as guy within minutes.”
”Well,” Landon hedged his words, not wanting to make a misstep with Willa, ”he is kind of... I mean-”
”He”s a dude.” Willa wasn”t really trying to hide her smile. ”Yeah. That”s what I told him. So that”s why we started to work together. At first, he thought he could just learn what to say by watching me, learning from me, but after a while he decided that it was just a better thing to work on the web searches to find the predators and leave the honey stuff to me.”
Honey.
Yeah. He didn”t like that idea.
”You look more lemon than honey, Lan.”
He tried to smile and only ended up twisting his lips into a grimace.
”See?” She pulled her legs up onto the sofa, tucking one beneath her. ”Sour lemons.”
”Well, I”m just not all that excited about the idea that you”re putting yourself into a position to have men... to have them think of you that way.”
”They think I”m a preteen girl. That should be hitting me in my femininity, right? Really, it”s not all that scary. There”s a world between me and the guys that are looking for... you know. I”ve got protection. Safety.”
”Now you have more of it. I want you to know that in the next few days, outside of the meetings that we”ll be having with the rest of the taskforce, I”m going to be going over your security here both physically and on the web. I”m not going to allow any of these... sickos to get close enough to hurt you.”
He didn”t hear a response from her. He didn”t see one either.
Landon sat there on one side of her sofa and wondered if he”d gone way over the line on his own.
The light that had been softly glowing across the street from Mrs. Rivera”s porch went out and left them both in near darkness.
As they sat there in silence, he wondered if he should say something.
Or offer to move away from her.
He didn”t want to elicit any kind of fearful response.
It was Willa who broke the silence between them.
”You know,” he heard a soft exhale of breath, ”I thought about you over and over through the years. I wondered if I could hold my own or if my memories would come flooding back and reduce me to a sobbing mess. Now I know.”
He didn”t move.
He could barely breathe.
”It”s been good to see you, Landon. It”s really good to know that I”m all grown up now. That I can stand on my own two feet and hold my head up. And it”s really good to know that while you”ve changed, you”re still the same good guy I never knew I needed in my life.”
Landon stayed right where he was until he heard the door to her bedroom close.
He sat there, in the dark, struggling to understand the way he felt hearing her words echoing in his head.