Chapter 9
Cole smiled as he helped Mrs. Harper to a table and set her food tray before her.
“Here you go. Can I get you anything else?” he asked.
“No, you’ve done your job. I’m sure Ida Henkins will tell everyone she saw me with you. Maybe it’ll get Frank off his bum and he’ll finally ask me out. A girl my age can’t wait around forever.”
“No ma’am. I’m sure you’ll hear from him soon,” he said, before heading back to the kitchen.
“Cole, sit down and eat some lunch. Kassie didn’t send you here to work yourself to the bone,” Edie chided.
“I hoped if I skipped lunch, I might leave a half hour early,” he explained.
“Oh, have you met a girl? Tell us who, and we can give you all the deets,” Barb demanded.
“No. I’m volunteering at the hospital later. Do you know where I can pick up some flowers?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s one of the nurses from the Winters Foundation,” Barb deduced. “I knew it wouldn’t take long before they sniffed you out.”
“Actually, I’m visiting a patient. I wanted to bring something to cheer up her room,” he said, wiping down the counter. “I’m not sure why Kassie asked me to help you. It seems like you have everything under control.”
Edie shook her head. “We’re only serving about half the people we used to. I have to say, Kassie said she’d send someone down to help everyone feel safe. She didn’t tell us she planned on sending down a model. A few more days of this and we’ll have to work overtime to feed everybody.”
“The flowers, ladies?” he asked, trying to keep them on track.
“Oh, honey, bouquets seem overdone. Why don’t you get her a box of candy or a trinket of some sort?” Barb told him.
“I don’t know her good enough to pick out something she likes,” he admitted.
“Then wait until you do,” Edie advised. “It’ll make it feel more special.”
“No. I’m not courting her,” he rushed, hoping Kassie Winters didn’t overhear the conversation.
“Why don’t you go over to Ty’s and bring her a chocolate lava cake or Bryanna’s for her harvest cookies. They’re a big hit in the fall,” Edie advised.
A large man with black and silver hair entered and gazed about the room. Cole noticed the hidden gun inside the holster under the stranger’s coat. The man’s eyes narrowed as he caught sight of Cole, and he proceeded toward him.
On instinct, Cole placed Edie behind him and used his arm to move Barb out of the way. The man appeared menacing as he watched Cole move the ladies.
“Don’t come any closer,” Cole barked, pulling his gun.
The man scoffed, then grabbed Cole’s weapon two seconds later. Cole charged the man, determined to take him down. A fist connected with his jaw as he slammed the intruder in the gut with his. Both of them fell down and Cole rolled to his feet. “Everyone, clear the premises,” he ordered.
A few seniors headed toward the door while others peered on.
The intruder launched himself toward him, and Cole skirted out of the way, shoving the perp into a wall.
The man went down and Cole struggled to retrieve his weapon as Brody bit the man’s leg.
The man growled as he threw the dog off him.
Brody’s hackles grew higher as he growled and snapped at the man.
Cole stepped back, held his gun up, and turned to the two women who stood with their mouths open in surprise. “Call Leo, ladies. He’ll want to know about this and call the police,” he said, panting and motioning Brody off.
Cold, hard steel butted against his side. “I suggest you lower your weapon before I take my knife to your gut,” a woman warned.
“Now, Victoria, he’s Leo’s new man. It all happened so fast. We didn’t have time to tell him it was only Ivan,” Edie chastised. “You’re scaring the poor boy.”
“He hurt my Ivan. Nobody gets away with harming what’s mine,” Victoria’s voice came out deadly.
“Tori, put your knives away. If you didn’t make me see the blasted eye doctor, I might’ve disarmed him,” the man said in deep Russian.
Cole felt a moment of stark cold fear. They told the truth about the Russians on the mountain.
“If you touch Ivan again, I will chop you up into tiny pieces and cook you on the grill over there. Do I make myself clear? Leo will have to find another man. You’re no longer welcome here,” the woman called Victoria said, completely calm.
Cole signaled for Brody to stay, positive he could handle the woman on his own. He turned slowly, pretending he didn’t pose a threat. He stared at the beautiful redhead, old enough to be Kassie’s mom.
“I think we have a misunderstanding here,” Cole began as Victoria’s foot caught him in the nuts. All speech left him as he barely held onto his weapon. Cole struggled to breathe as his knees hit the floor.
“Oh, dear,” Edie tittered. “You’d better call Kassie and have her send an ambulance. Ivan and Cole are both impaired. I’ll call Saint.”
Victoria slid her knife back into a sheath, which appeared invisible before bending down to check her husband’s leg. She muttered in Russian as her eyes narrowed on Cole.
A few minutes later, Saint and Shadow showed up and held a garbage can as Cole threw up.
“Don’t feel bad,” Shadow assured him. “I’ve felt the Victoria special before, too. I’m convinced I can’t have children.”
Cole groaned.
“I can’t wait until Kassie hears about this. We may need to run down to the store and buy him a cup,” Saint suggested, making Cole’s stomach roll again.
The one woman he wanted to impress will undoubtedly see him as a jerk. What if she revoked his privileges to see Hannah?
The ambulance arrived and loaded Ivan first. Victoria glared in his direction, making it clear he needed to find alternate transportation.
Saint led him into his truck with Shadow’s help and Brody followed.
His new teammate whistled low. “Boy, you know how to make an impression. You’ve managed to hurt Ivan. Nobody has taken him down besides Victoria. You’ve humiliated the man, not to mention your dog attacked him,” Saint said before turning to Shadow. “Did you reach Leo?”
“Yeah. He’ll meet us at the ER,” Shadow informed him.
They drove up to the entrance and Kassie stood with her hands on her hips. Fire shot from her eyes. Leo walked toward the vehicle, motioning for them to wait until he spoke with her before removing Cole.
They watched as Kassie pointed toward the truck and stomped her foot. She shook her head furiously as Leo reasoned with her.
“Maybe I should get out and apologize. I didn’t mean to cause trouble,” he said, reaching for the handle.
“Stay there. Leo hasn’t calmed her down and Ivan’s right hand man arrived,” Shadow ordered. “Uh oh, Aleski joined Victoria.”
“Man, when you screw up, you don’t waste time,” Saint said, shaking his head.
“Ughhh,” Cole groaned. “For the record, he appeared threatening.”
Shadow huffed out a laugh. “Ivan always appears dangerous. It’s Victoria and Kassie you need to worry about.”
“Damn, I’ll need three bouquets now,” he mumbled under his breath.
Shadow and Saint laughed. “Flowers won’t cut it. You pissed off Kassie and Victoria. Bro, start groveling and cover your balls,” Shadow advised.
“I made an honest mistake. Do you think Leo will be pissed?” he asked. Brody whined beside him.
As if Leo heard him, the leader turned and his eyebrow raised in Cole’s direction as Kassie animatedly said something to him.
“Shit,” he murmured. “We’re gonna be fired before we even start.”
Saint chuckled. “Don’t sweat it. Kassie’s a miniature version of Victoria, but Leo and Doc will talk her down. If you can manage to get back in her good graces, she’ll handle Victoria.”
“Does she appear like she’s the forgiving kind at the moment?” Cole asked. “Have either of you made her this angry?”
Shadow grunted. “No. We’re not fucking idiots.”
Saint rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the scene before him. Leo raised his hands in the air, indicating he surrendered to Kassie’s tirade.
The leader turned and headed toward their vehicle.
“Don’t show fear. Nod your head and agree to whatever he says,” Saint advised.
Leo opened the back door and narrowed his eyes.
“You’re in deep shit,” he growled.
“Yes, sir,” Cole agreed.
“You made my team appear like a bunch of idiots. Do you think I hire morons?”
Cole swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
Leo hung his head. “All right, assholes. Did you tell him to agree with everything I said?”
Saint and Shadow gazed at Leo as if surprised. Shadow pointed to his chest. “Us? Why would we do that?”
“Because he looks like he’s pissing himself right now,” Leo said, exasperated. “Come on, Cole, let’s get this over with.”
Cole climbed out of the vehicle and waited for Brody to jump down. His dog ran to Kassie and nuzzled her hand as if sweet-talking her. Kassie leaned down and gave him a scratch behind the ears as Cole approached her with his hands in his pockets.
When she straightened, she glared at him. “Do you know you scared half the citizens of Serenity?” she demanded.
“Edie said over half of them stayed home, technically I terrorized a quarter of them,” Cole made his case.
Kassie glanced at Leo as if to tell him he must be suffering from buyer’s remorse.
Leo cleared his throat. “What Cole means to say is he’s sorry for the way he responded.”
“Ivan entered and narrowed his eyes as he stalked toward me,” Cole explained. “I saw his weapon at his side and jumped to conclusions. When I told him to stop, he still kept coming.”
“I asked him to drop by and introduce himself. Didn’t I send you to the community center to get to know everyone?” Leo said, his voice sounding deadly.
“Yeah. But Kassie said you recently experienced some crime there, and she wanted everyone to feel safe,” Cole defended himself.
“They’re senior citizens. Two have already visited the ER, complaining of chest pain,” Kassie spat.
Cole rubbed his forehead, trying to figure out how to talk himself out of this mess.
“I apologize profusely. I didn’t mean to cause a commotion. I acted on instinct,” he explained.