14. Mandy
14
MANDY
I slammed the front door shut, then opened it back up and slammed it again. The pictures on the walls rattled, but I didn’t care.
“Of all the…” I stomped into the living room and began pacing up and down.
“Mandy?” Pepper hustled from the bathroom and stopped well out of range. She only had one eye made up, and her hair was in rollers. “What happened?”
I continued to pace.
Pepper put her hands on her robe-clad hips. “Your dentist is going to kick your butt if you don’t stop grinding those teeth.”
“Walter came by the garage,” I snapped, pausing at the end of the couch.
The color drained from Pepper’s face. “Chance. Is he okay?”
I snorted. “You should be asking if Walter and his two thugs are okay.”
Pepper blinked, then a slow grin spread across her face. “Chance kicked their asses?”
“Completely.” I rubbed my throbbing temples. “When I walked in, one was down, screaming and clutching his knee. The other was holding his crotch, with blood pouring from his nose.” I wrinkled my nose at the memory. “And Walter’s probably going to have a black eye tomorrow.”
“Oh my.” Pepper fanned her face. “That is so frickin’ hot. I’m having a delicious fantasy right now imagining those muscles rippling while he beat them up to protect your honor.”
“This isn’t funny,” I barked, straightening.
“I didn’t say it was.” Pepper dropped her arm. “But, come on, you were there. You can’t tell me you didn’t find it even a little bit hot that your man took out three thugs with no problem.”
“Fine,” I begrudgingly agreed. “It was a little hot.”
Pepper hummed.
“Okay, a lot hot. But that’s not the point.” I drove my fist into my palm. “He promised he’d talk to me before he did anything. And he did, technically , but he left out a lot. Like he thought I couldn’t handle it. Like he didn’t trust me at all.” I jabbed my finger in the air. “You know what he did instead? Erased a text from Walter and met the weasel himself.” I couldn’t keep still, so I paced some more. “I’ll be lucky if Walter’s boss doesn’t have him firebomb the garage. I mean, seriously. What was he thinking?”
“He was thinking of you,” Pepper said. “The man’s a decorated SEAL . Of course he’s going to protect the woman he loves.”
“I never said he couldn’t. But he promised…”
“He knows you’re in trouble,” Pepper went on. “He’s going to do what it takes to make you safe.”
“By lying to me and going behind my back?”
Pepper took my arm, forcing me to stop. “And if he had told you everything, you’d have tied his hands. Forced him to do nothing while Walter continued harassing you and taking all your money.”
“Not nothing,” I said. “I said he could call the FBI agent I talked to before.”
“What, the one who left you high and dry?” Pepper guided me over to the couch. “Remember that time Chance nearly broke Wade’s arm because Wade threw a rock at Lee’s head?”
I snorted. “Yeah, freshman year. The whole school wouldn’t stop talking about it for months.”
“Yeah, and this is way bigger than a rock to the head.” She took my hands. “Your father’s debt is not your fault, nor should it be your responsibility, but you’ve been paying the price since he died. Chance is not going to sit by and watch you suffer.”
I looked down. My next words came out small. “But I couldn’t live with myself if he got hurt.”
“And he couldn’t live with himself if he did nothing to help you.” Pepper squeezed my hands. “Mandy, he’s got training and skills in warfare . He probably knows fifty ways to kill a man with tweezers. It’s not such a bad thing that Walter knows you’re not alone anymore. That you’re not going to be an easy target.”
“But going after them like this won’t do anything but piss them off.”
“And placating them the way you’ve done for two years hasn’t done anything but cause you misery and fear,” Pepper shot back. “I applaud Chance standing up for you. I think it’s time these thugs got the message you’re done playing by their rules.”
“Chance did talk to Butler,” I admitted, still hating that Chance had put himself at risk. No , that my father had put us in this situation in the first place.
“See?” Pepper clapped her hands. “He wasn’t lying. He has a plan. He’s trying to do this the smart way. Now, what are you going to do to help him?”
Book him a one-way ticket to Paris? God, I wanted him safe. But that couldn’t happen until we’d resolved this debt issue once and for all. Together. As a team. If I could just get him to remember I was a partner in this and keep him from going behind my back again, then I’d do my best to get on board with whatever scary plan he’d cooked up.
Hugging Pepper tight, I whispered, “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
“Damn straight.” Pepper returned the hug, then pulled back. “Let’s de-stress with a mani-pedi and maybe some Mai Tai’s at Lunar Brewery for happy hour. Or,” Pepper wiggled her eyebrows, “we skip the drinks and hit the mall in Columbus for lingerie. Your man deserves some extra special sexy times after beating up three guys for you.”
I rolled my eyes, then stopped. “Okay. Maybe I could use your help with sexy underwear. Your taste is amazing, and I would love to see Chance’s tongue hit the floor.”
“This is going to be so much fun.” Pepper squealed and clapped her hands. “I can’t wait to get you out of those ugly, economy-pack, cotton panties.”
I flipped through the gossip magazine, not really interested in the pictures. My mind continuously chewed on Pepper’s words at the house. Crystal, the middle-aged pedicurist, patted my foot, and I dutifully dunked it back into the swirling hot water.
Pedicures were a luxury I rarely indulged in, but I had to admit, I didn’t mind being pampered. Maybe the Barbie-bots were onto something with all their primping… nah . I had no desire to stand in front of a mirror slathering on makeup and spending hours taming my hair. And wearing sandals with heels . I shuddered.
“So, Jack switched my schedule,” Pepper announced, resting her magazine on her tanned thighs. Her tiny red shorts and matching red and white flowered tank put my T-shirt and plain khaki shorts to shame. “Which is total BS,” she continued to rant. “I have seniority. I should be working tonight . I get way more tips on a Saturday than a Sunday.”
“That’s good,” I replied absently.
“You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?”
“Not really,” I admitted sheepishly.
“It’s new love,” Crystal inserted sagely. “Well, I guess in your case it’d be rekindled love. But it always addles the brain when it first hits.”
I blinked. Did everyone already know Chance and I were in love?
“And what’s this I hear about Chance stocking up on condoms?” Crystal looked up from shaping my toenail. “If you ask me, she’s lucky if she can remember her name.” Crystal licked her lips and made yummy noises.
“Right?” Pepper laughed and slapped her thigh. “All three McCallisters are too hot for their own good. And Harris…” She fanned herself with her magazine. “Dear Lord in heaven. Those muscles—I’m melting.”
Taffy, the woman working on Pepper’s feet, wagged her file side to side. “Harris is hot,” she said. “But if you ask me, Lee takes the prize. Have you seen the eyes on him? Gorgeous…intense. Like a wolf locking onto you.”
Taffy had been two years behind me and Pepper in school, which meant she was only a year younger than Lee. Privately, I agreed about Lee’s eyes. The color was so unusual, that striking amber. Yet they didn’t fascinate me the way Chance’s did every time I?—
The bell rang at the front of the store, and for some reason the hair rose on my arms.
“Hey!” Wanda, the owner of the salon, shouted. “You can’t barge in here.” A chair scraped across the tile. “Hey! I’m talking to you.”
I snapped my gaze toward the front of the store and blanched.
Two men in black suits barreled past the stylist’s chairs, heading straight toward me.
Wanda raised her arm and chased after them. “You need to make an appointment if you want to be back here.”
They ignored her.
I swallowed hard and the magazine crinkled in my tightening fists. Shadows loomed, blotting out the florescent lighting overhead, and they stopped beside my chair.
“I’m talking to you,” Wanda snapped, worming her way in front of the men.
The first thug pushed past her and got in my face, “Mr. Nickel would like to have a word with you.”
“Who the hell is Mr. Nickel?” Pepper barked, jerking forward.
Thug One ignored her, focused solely on me. “He’s a busy man. We’ll take you to him now.”
“Who do you?—”
“It’s okay, Wanda.” I cut her off gently, my heart lurching to my throat. “Pepper, it’s okay. I’d love to talk to Mr. Nickel.”
I smiled through the urge to retch from terror. I had a feeling I knew exactly who Mr. Nickel was. And it was time we had a face-to-face. Besides, it was clear that I’d be going with these men whether I wanted to or not. If I went quietly, maybe no one else in the salon would be harmed.
And maybe I’d at least come out of this alive. My garage was still worth something. I could offer to sell it. Sell the house, too. I could reason with Nickel, strike some kind of deal.
And maybe I’d find a ’63 Corvette Stingray convertible in my garage when I got home. That seemed just as likely.