Chapter 3
Anika
I’m still vibrating with anger when Hog follows me into the salon.
My aim is for Kim, who I told to wait inside my office while I got rid of Chris.
Already my morning coffee routine was disrupted when Kim came in the back door the moment I arrived at the salon. She’d had a rough night and was eager to see a friendly face. By her account, the calls and messages were nonstop, and she ended up turning off her phone altogether.
Chris started yelling and banging on the front door not long after.
“Gimme a minute,” I aim over my shoulder at Hog, before ducking into my office where Kim is bunched up in a tight ball in my chair.
“Is he gone?”
“He’s in cuffs. The cops are here, Kim. He was making such a ruckus; he drew the attention of a passing detective. Hog is here too. Chris took a swing at him. The cops are going to be asking questions.”
She lets out a small whimper and covers her face with her hands. I feel for her, I do, but she can’t hide here forever.
“Look, this is not going to go away. The only way to the other end of this is to go through it.” I crouch down in front of her to catch her eyes. “Kim, the evidence of his fists is still visible all over you. Press charges, tell them about the abuse, let them take pictures for the record, get a restraining order.” I take her hands in mine and give them a squeeze. “There is only one person who can stop this, and that is you. You can stay here, you have all of us to support you and help you get back on your feet, but you have to take this first step. You can’t put it off any longer.”
It feels like I’m badgering her, but I’m afraid if she doesn’t push through now, she never will.
“He’s gonna be so mad.”
She sounds so small.
“Honey, he’s already pissed off, that’s why it’s better to get ahead now. Talk to the police. We’ll get a restraining order.”
Her, “Okay,” is barely distinguishable, but I’ll take it. I give her a quick hug before getting to my feet.
“Hang tight here for a minute, okay?”
I quickly slip out before she changes her mind, only to find Hog standing right outside the door.
“Everything okay?” He wants to know.
It’s only now I notice the small cut on his cheekbone.
“You’re bleeding.”
His hand immediately goes to the left side of his face where Chris’s fist connected.
“Come with me,” I instruct him, grabbing hold of his arm and pulling him to my station.
I motion for him to sit and duck down to grab the first aid kit from the cupboard. When I turn, I catch him leaning toward the mirror, checking the cut.
“It’s fine,” he mumbles when I dig up some gauze and a small bottle of saline solution.
“It will be when I’m done with it,” I snap.
Hog is a conundrum to me in every sense of the word.
The man is huge, looks like he could seriously hurt someone, but he’s the calmest and most even-tempered individual I know. In fact, I’d go so far as to call him unflappable, and believe me, I’ve tried to shake him up a time or two.
Then there are times when I don’t know how to read him. Like when he suddenly dropped off the face of the earth after helping my brother and some of the other guys with the work on my house last year. It left me feeling like I lost a good friend. I saw him almost every day and then suddenly he stopped coming. In fact, until he walked in here yesterday, I hadn’t seen him in a long time.
Then he surprised me this morning when he showed up again and jumped between me and that asshole, showing more aggression than I’ve ever seen from him. I was handling the guy just fine, but I have to admit it was kind of sexy when Hog took him down in two seconds flat.
But now—not fifteen minutes later—he’s meek as a lamb again, and it’s starting to piss me off. I can’t get a bead on him, and the fact that has an impact on me annoys me even more.
“Ouch.”
He winces when I’m not as gentle as I could be.
“Sorry.”
“You’re good,” he rumbles.
I glance away from his injury and catch his eyes closely observing me.
“What?”
He folds his big hands around mine and pulls them away from his face.
I don’t think I ever noticed his eyes are multicolored. I knew they were a gray-blue, but with my face this close to his, I can even see flecks of brown. He has these lines that fan out from the corners of his eyes and sometimes when they show up, it’s the only sign he’s smiling.
I can see them clearly now.
“It’s fine, Anika.”
I can feel his breath on my skin and shoot upright, pulling my hands from his hold.
“I should put something on that,” I mutter, turning around to dig through the first aid kit.
“Better to let it air dry,” he suggests.
I hold my breath when he places his hands on my hips to move me aside as he gets to his feet.
“She’s in your office, isn’t she?”
A bucket of ice water couldn’t have been more effective in snapping me from wherever my mind went for a moment there. Kim is locked in my office and her bastard of a husband is outside in police custody.
Never mind I liked the feeling of Hog’s hands on me.
Jesus.
The soft chime alerting the front door opening draws attention away from my momentary state of fluster. Bill Evans walks in.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he says, glancing from Hog to me. “I have a few questions.”
I take a deep breath. “Happy to answer them, but you may want to talk to Kim Cooper first. She’s married to that asshole and is waiting in my office.”
I try not to look at Hog as I lead the way to the back, but hear Bill tell him to hang around to answer a few questions after.
Kim is on her phone when we walk in.
“Mom, I’ve gotta go. Yeah, I promise. I’ll let you know.”
She ends the call and shoves her phone in her pocket, wiping her palms nervously on the legs of her pants.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to run the risk of her finding out from someone else somehow,” she apologizes as she glances over at Bill. “Her health isn’t the greatest.”
I remember Kim took some time off at the beginning of the year when her mother had a stroke. I’m instantly ashamed I stopped asking how she was doing.
“Understandable,” I assure her, even though I’m convinced the apology wasn’t aimed at me. “Do you remember Detective Evans? Vic’s husband,” I clarify.
Vic Evans is one of my regulars and Bill has come to pick her up a few times before.
“Of course.”
“Good. I’ll leave you to it then, while I make some coffee.”
I duck out of the office only to find Hog already doing battle with my espresso machine.
“Do any of these buttons actually make it work?” he grumbles, and I have to bite off a smile.
Typical guy. Bodhi has long given up trying and just asks Molly to make him a coffee when he pops by.
I bump Hog out of the way with my hip and as I explain every step of the process, clamp the portafilter under the grinder. Then I tamp down the precisely measured grounds, clip the filter to the group head, slip a paper cup underneath, and hit the button for a double.
“Isn’t it easier to put on a pot?”
I throw him a look over my shoulder.
“If you like dishwater.”
He ducks his head, but not before I see the crinkles beside his eyes make an appearance.
“Anika? Do you have a minute?” Bill pokes his head out of my office. “I need to take some pictures.”
I nod in understanding and before following him inside, I turn to Hog.
“Don’t break it.”
Hog
I’m on my goddamn knees, wiping coffee grounds I spilled on the floor because I can’t find a damn broom, when the front door chimes sound.
“Well, I’ll be…” Landon announces, stalking toward me with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Gotta admit, what started off as a shit day after discovering my favorite jeans shrank in the wash, is looking a whole lot more promising now.”
I hear the clicking of heels before I see Monique poking her head over Landon’s shoulder.
“Look, Mo, it’s our favorite fantasy come to life.”
Monique’s grin matches his. “I see that…”
“All right, that’s enough, guys,” Anika snaps behind me as I get to my feet.
When I turn around, I catch sight of Evans and a visibly upset Kim standing behind Anika in the doorway. The poor woman looks like she’s still wearing her husband’s handiwork. Makes me wish I’d taken him down a lot harder. Too bad I can’t have another go at him.
“What did that bastard do now?” Monique asks, obviously aware of the state of Kim’s marriage.
“Oh, honey…” Landon walks over to Kim and wraps an arm around her shoulders.
“Well, I should get to the station.” Evans turns to face Kim and hands her a card. “I’ll be in touch, but here’s my number just in case. He’s not going anywhere this weekend.”
She offers a watery smile. “Thank you.”
Then Bill taps my shoulder. “Walk out with me?”
Shit. My window to catch Anika by herself never materialized.
Change of plans.
“Give me one minute,” I tell him, reaching for Anika’s hand and pulling her a few steps toward the back door.
“What are you doing?” she demands to know.
“What time are you done?”
She looks a little startled as she answers me. “Hoping to close up at six. Why?”
“Because I stopped by to see you this morning, hoping we could have a chat. But we can have one over dinner, I’ll be here at six.”
Before she has a chance to object, I slip past her, ignore the curious looks her employees throw me, and follow Evans out the front door. He’s waiting for me, leaning against the side panel of his cruiser.
He points at my face. “You wanna press charges for assault?”
“Is it gonna help her case?”
Bill shrugs. “Not gonna hurt it.”
“Okay, then I’ll press. Whatever it takes to get that cocksucker what he deserves for what he did to that woman.”
“I hear you, brother. The bastard worked her over good. Her whole body is one big fucking bruise.”
I shove my clenched fists in my pockets, afraid I’ll take a swing at the side of the police cruiser otherwise.
“You’re gonna keep him locked up?” I grind out.
“Yes, at the very least until his arraignment hearing on Monday. He’ll likely be out on bail, but the judge will automatically slap a restraining order on him.”
I tilt my head toward the salon. “Is that restraining order gonna include the salon and those who work here? Because when I pulled up this morning, it was Anika he was ready to put his hands on. It wouldn’t surprise me when he comes out on Monday, he’s gonna take out his anger on her.”
“Yeah, it would. Not just because it’s her place of work, but also because she’s apparently staying in the apartment above.”
I look up at the building and the two windows on the second floor. I wasn’t aware Anika had offered up her old apartment. I guess it’s been empty since she moved out last year.
“Well…” Evans pushes away from the cruiser and digs his keys from his pocket. “I should head into the station and have a chat with Mr. Cooper. Will you have time to come in for a statement today?”
“I’m around this morning. What time is good?”
May as well get this over with while I’m in town.
“Can you give me two hours?”
That’ll give me time to pick up Franco’s coffee, a few things for myself, and stop in at the dealership.
“Sure.”
I’m just getting behind the wheel of my truck when a text message comes in. It’s from Anika.
About dinner; it’s been a long week and all I really want to do is go home and relax.
It doesn’t really surprise me. I had a gut feeling she might try to avoid me and I have no one but myself to blame. It serves me right for avoiding her for almost a year. But I’m not going to be that easily put off.
Even better. I’ll meet you there and I’ll bring dinner.
Her response doesn’t come right away. I’m at the traffic light, waiting to turn left toward the dealership when my phone chimes with an incoming message.
Fine.
I can feel the annoyed vibes coming off that single word, and it makes me chuckle. Giving in, but making sure to let me know she’s not happy about it. That feistiness is one of the things I like about Anika.
Within ten minutes of pulling into the GMC dealership, my good mood is fast evaporating.
Nick, the salesman who was quick to zoom in on me when I walked over to the slate-gray Suburban on the lot, is really starting to piss me off. He’s pushing hard for an upgrade package I already told him I wasn’t interested in, and now he’s trying to sell me an extended warranty I don’t want. I haven’t even taken the damn vehicle for a test drive.
“…for a very limited time. You can’t beat the additional three-year, bumper-to-bumper coverage. You’d be a fool not to grab the opportunity.”
Aside from the fact his nasal, whiny voice is supremely annoying, the way he’s rapidly clicking the back of his pen as he talks is grating on my nerves.
“Right. Well, you just convinced me to go check out the Tundra at the Toyota dealership across the road,” I let him know, as I prepare to head back to my truck.
To his credit, he doesn’t bother trying to call me back or chase me down, which is probably a smart move. I’m not planning to come back here so I may have to go into Farmington to the dealership there. I’ve had my fill of car salesmen for today though.
I still have some time to kill before I’m supposed to meet Evans at the police station. When I’m about to pull out of the parking lot, I spot the awning for the real estate office in the strip mall across the road.
I should probably start thinking about where I want to live after I sign the farm over to Franco. It’ll be weird, I’ve always lived on the farm, either in the house or the trailer home on the property. That place gave me a little privacy while still being close enough for when Mom needed me. Franco lives in the trailer now, but when his name is on the deed, his ass should be in the house.
I’m not even sure what it is I want, but it wouldn’t hurt to look.