Chapter 23
Precautions.
Annie
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m so serious.”
“I’m going to work, Ben.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“You are not!”
He tilts his head. “Until I find Tara, I am.”
“I appreciate that you want to protect me, I do. More than you can ever understand. And if this were a different situation, I’d listen to you.” I put my hand up when he starts to argue. “But I think we can compromise.”
“I’m not going to compromise when it comes to keeping you safe.”
I try to explain where I’m coming from. “They gave me a second chance, Ben. Take me there and pick me up. I’m not going to sit in here and hide when we know who we’re looking for. If I see her, I’ll call the cops.”
“No, you’ll call me.” He concedes. “I want updates every hour, and not just a text. I need to hear your voice.”
I throw myself into his arms and lay a wet one on him. “I can do that.”
“You’re lucky I love you.”
“Trust me, I know.”
Ben takes me to work, and after another promise to check in every hour, I kiss him goodbye and get started on my day. I go to my first patient’s room and knock softly on the door before slowly opening it. “How are you doing this morning?” I ask Mr. Johnson as I enter his room.
“Better now that you’re here.” He sits up a bit in his bed and, with a bandaged arm and trembling hand, motions toward the floor. “Can you get me that there pillow that fell on the ground?”
“I’ll do you one better and get you one that hasn’t been on the floor.”
He waves me off. “A dirty pillow’s the least of my worries. I used to sleep in foxholes. Did I tell you about that?”
His room is the usual square, beige, and hospital-like, but his family has brought pictures and blankets to brighten it up.
I turn on the lamp in the corner and open the blinds, then stand at the edge of the bed and listen as Mr. Johnson repeats the story he told me last week.
“And that was when I knew the war was over.”
“Wow. Thank you for your service, Mr. Johnson.”
“I didn’t have a choice, but if I did, I’d do it again if it meant you’d eventually be the one fluffin’ my pillow.”
I roll my eyes and give his wrinkly, bony shoulder a light squeeze. “I’m sure putting your head on a pillow next to your wife in your comfy bed every night for sixty years was far better than this.”
“Bullocks. She snored. And she was a hag.”
“Mr. Johnson.” I cross my arms and look at one of the photos of her on his cluttered nightstand. “She was gorgeous.”
“Not as gorgeous as you.” He attempts a wink.
“Okay, Casanova. Are you ready to get up and get something to eat?”
He smiles a toothless smile. “As long as there’s Cream of Wheat today.”
“There’s Cream of Wheat every day.”
“Then let’s go.” I help him get out of bed and ready for the day, then wheel him to the dining room. After that, I move on to the next patient.
I’m enjoying getting to know everyone and have to dab a tear from how happy I am right now. I’m doing what I love, I’m safe, and I have Ben. Of course I miss my dad, but he’s in a better place, and I truly believe that he would be proud of me. I can’t ask for anything more.
Every hour I check in with Ben, and when my shift is over, I clock out and say good-bye to my co-workers. Ben should be waiting for me out front, so I head that way.
Just as I reach the lobby, someone calls my name and grabs my arm. “Hey, wait.”
Turning slightly, I pull away from Noah. “What’s up?”
“Hi.” He keeps hold of my arm. “You’re leaving?”
“I am.”
“Why?”
We’ve crossed paths multiple times today and he barely smiled at me. Now he’s being weird. “Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know. Is it?”
“Yes. Why?”
He puts his finger out and gestures frantically. “You have a new mark on your head. That makes twice I’ve seen you with bruises on your face.”
“What’s your point?” I ask sharply as I pull away. “
“If you need help, I have resources and—”
“Yo, hands off,” Ben is storming toward us, his voice and his face filled with fury.
Noah doesn’t listen.
In a blink, my personal shield is in place. He shoves Noah, his neck snaps like whiplash, and he has no choice but to let me go. Ben advances on him until Noah is pinned against the wall. “You got a problem, asshole?”
“Ben…” I touch his back, looking around, relieved nobody is watching. “Relax.”
Noah grits his teeth, and when his fists clench, Ben pushes me away. Surprisingly, my co-worker doesn’t back down. “Is he the guy who did that to you?”
“What? No!” I shuffle closer, but Ben blocks my path.
“You don’t have to protect him.” Noah moves a few steps to the over. “I can get you somewhere safe.”
Ben’s shoulders relax, and he asks incredulously, “You think I did that to her?”
“Did you?” Noah presses as he skirts around a table filled with pamphlets.
“I’m not gonna tell you again to back the fuck up.”
“You still didn’t answer me.”
Ben is losing patience. “I don’t owe you shit, but for Annie, I’ll tell you I didn’t do that.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes, Noah. Ben is my boyfriend, he would never hurt me.”
“And because I’m in a good mood today, I’ll tell you this as well—your personal interest in her ends now.
This is the only warning you’re gonna get from me, and I suggest you take it very, very seriously.
” He reaches behind him for my hand. As soon as our fingers brush, I feel warm all over. “Let’s go.”
I tuck my hair behind my ear and look at my feet as Ben guides me outside and toward his Explorer.
He helps me up, starts the engine, then leans over and kisses me. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Are you okay?”
I nod. “Yeah, but, was that totally necessary?”
“Yes.” He says over the rumble of the engine starting.
“He’s a social worker. Him being concerned is just an occupational hazard.”
“He’s not being nice out of the kindness of his heart. He wants in your pants, Annie.”
I shoot him an affronted look. “He does not.”
“He does.” His fingers clench the steering wheel.
I love that he defended me, but I’m already starting on not so good terms. “I hope you didn’t piss him off so much that I get in trouble and lose my job.”
“Trust me, that’s not gonna happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Annie. What just happened won’t be an issue for you, all right? He’s my problem now, just trust that I’ll take care of it.”
I do trust him, so I let it go.
A song by Andi Adams comes on the radio, and he twists the volume knob with such force I’m surprised it doesn’t break.
I lift a brow. “Not an Andi Adams fan?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Why?”
“She tore Parker to shreds when she left him.”
Eek. “Oh wow. What happened?”
“They were high school sweethearts, had plans for the future and everything. One day he comes home to find her, and all her shit, packed. She tells him she’s going to Nashville for bigger and better things, then left him.”
My heart breaks for Parker. “Oh my God, that’s awful.”
“Yeah, so he’s a little sensitive about that.”
“I don’t blame him.”
He holds my hand and asks me about my day, and when I tell him, he actually listens. He engages in the conversation, is inquisitive about the details, it’s plain as day that he just cares. I don’t know how I got so lucky.
When we turn onto Meridian, I have to ask, “Do you think we really need to be worried about Tara? Couldn’t this have been just a one-time thing?”
“She’s becoming unpredictable, so yes.” He scans the area as he turns the corner and parks in the alley.
“Fitz found her cell pinging at her parent’s house.
I paid them a visit today, but they swear they don’t know where she is.
They probably shipped her off somewhere until this blows over, but I promise I won’t let it.
Once I get confirmation of her whereabouts I might let up a little, but until then I won’t underestimate her. ”
“I don’t want you wasting all your time on this, though.”
“Protecting you is the most important job I’ll ever have, sweetheart.” He draws my hand closer and kisses my knuckles. “And I don’t care if it takes forever, because every second I spend keeping you safe is another moment I have with you.”
He helps me out of his Jeep and has his hand lightly on my back as he guides me toward the back door. When we get inside, I stop. “Can we go to the bar?”
“No.”
“Come on, Ben. Tara isn’t gonna walk into a crowded bar and drag me out by my hair.”
He looks at his watch and tips his head. “Fine. But just for a little bit.”
“Thank you.” I push open the door that leads to Somedays. When I reach the mouth of the hallway, I’m glad to see Kit behind the bar and a few stools open. “Hi.” I hop up and do that stupid wave thing I can’t seem to break.
“Hey, Annie. And hi to you, too, boss.”
Ben takes the seat next to me, but he turns so he’s mostly facing out. “Hey, Kit.”
“You want a martini again, Annie?”
“Um…no.” It’s time to continue making changes in my life. “Surprise me.”
Her dark eyebrow arches, and she smiles. She whips up a beautiful-looking cocktail and with a jesting curtsey, presents it like I’m royalty. “Tequila sunrise for you.” She slides a glass to Ben. “Water I’m assuming?”
“Thanks. How’s the new girl?” He asks.
I drag my attention to the opposite side where a raven-haired woman is struggling to tap out a beer. “She’ll get there.”
“You hired a new bartender?”
Ben answers me as he monitors the activity around us. “Yeah. Kit’s gonna buy me out and take over.”
I feel…disappointed that I didn’t know that. “Oh, well congratulations.”
The corner of his lip tilts up. “It just happened today, but thanks, sweetheart.”
“I didn’t know you were going to give up the bar.”
“Until a few days ago, I didn’t either.”
I sip my drink and chat with Kit. She’s pouring me a second drink when Ben sits up straight and quietly swears under his breath. I look in the direction of his source of irritation to see Rome and Max coming this way. Shit.
Ben shoots to his feet as Max gets closer.
Max’s frame jerks back like Ben just knocked the wind out of him. He stops a couple of feet away from me and shakes his head. “You really think I’m gonna get in her face?” he questions my forever bodyguard.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re gonna do or how far you’ll go to protect your sister.”
“Not that. Christ.” He looks at me, and I flinch unintentionally.
“Nice.” He scoffs. “I want to apologize to you for what my sister did. I have no explanation except she’s a spoiled brat with mental problems and parents who never got her help because they thought it would make them look bad.
Despite what the Almighty Lawless Brothers think, I have no clue where she is. ”
Maybe I shouldn’t, but I believe him. “I appreciate it, but it’s not your fault.”
“Regardless, she’s family, and apologizing for her behavior is the least I can do.
If you need my help for any reason, please don’t hesitate to call me.
Ben’s got my number.” He offers me a sympathetic smile that is gone before I blink.
“For some reason, I’m not feelin’ a beer anymore.
Annie, pleasure meeting you.” He bumps into his partner when he walks away.
Rome sits in the stool on the other side of mine, unaffected. “I still feel like a beer.”
Kit slides a bottle his way and I slurp the dredges of my drink, then start to slide off the stool. Ben puts his arm out, blocking me. “Where are you going?”
“I need to use the bathroom.”
“We’ll just go upstairs then.”
“I’m having fun.” I pout.
He hooks his arm around my neck and drops his forehead to mine. “You’re having fun?”
“I am. Everyone is so nice and I’m not looking over my shoulder. I can’t remember the last time that happened.” I hold my palm against his scruffy jaw. “I want to stay.”
“All right. We can stay.”
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me later.” He whispers against my ear.
I playfully shove him off me and he follows me to the bathroom. After making sure it’s all clear, I enter. “You can’t stand here while I pee.”
“I’m not moving.”
“Ben. Go away. I’m fine.”
“You have three minutes.” He kisses me hard and quick, then walks away.
He doesn’t go far. I see him leaning on the wall around the corner and roll my eyes as I push the door. But something catches my attention through the small square window on the side entrance door.
A black cat…sparkly pink collar. Joan Wick. She’s outside. On the sidewalk. And she has on a harness. What the hell?
I don’t think, I pivot, shove through the door, and run to her, calling her name. A rope is attached to her harness, and she’s jerked into the alley roughly. I scream, and when I round the corner to where Ben parks, I feel a jolt of electricity through my body.
Before I can fall, I’m being jostled, and a weird voice blows in my ear. “It’s finally time, angel mine.”