Читать книгу The Harbor of His Arms - Lynn Bulock - Страница 9

“You don’t look glad to see me.” Alex Wilkins figured that was the understatement of the century. Holly Douglas looked horrified. She had barely kept from dropping the leatherette case holding her order pad, and the pen she had grasped in her other hand slid to the floor.

He almost wished her dark hair hadn’t been swept back away from her face. Maybe if she’d had the luxury of letting it cover her flushed cheeks she could have pretended to be more glad to see him. Even that was doubtful.

Sitting in the cushy booth in this romantic restaurant, reducing a woman to tears by his very presence, Alex decided he definitely hated his job. Nobody was ever glad to see him. It was like being a dentist who only did root canals. No, they all knew it was bad news or an arrest warrant when he was there. Even his own superiors weren’t that happy to see him most days. Since as one of their lead investigators they handed him only the complicated stuff, they were usually in foul moods even before he got to them.

“You’re right. I’m not glad to see you.” Holly’s soft voice, choked with emotion, broke into his thoughts. “This can’t be a social call. Nobody drives over sixty miles in January just to visit in this neck of the woods.”

“Sounds like you’re fitting in with the locals real well. Wish I could tell you that a social call was all I was here for. I’d love to be able to say I made this drive just to check up on you.” Alex watched her face while he spoke to her.

The woman might have been married to a cop, but she hadn’t picked up a cop’s habits. She still wore her emotions for all to see. Including that flutter of hope when she thought for a split second that seeing him didn’t mean more bad news.

“Of course you didn’t. That would make my life too easy. And life right now is never easy.” Holly snapped open that order pad again. “But you better be on the county’s expense account, because I can’t stand here and chat all night with somebody who’s not ordering dinner.”

“Steak. Medium rare. With a baked potato—none of that trendy garlic-mashed, goat cheese stuff.” That got the first ghost of a smile out of her he’d seen. “And a salad, if it’s going to be made up of things I can recognize.”

“For you, I’ll have Jon-Paul put together his famous NWS special.”

“Okay, you have me interested. What’s that?”

This time the smile flashed into an honest grin, and Alex was reminded that Holly Douglas was a young woman, not even thirty. Only the care and trouble of the past few years had dimmed the natural beauty in the planes of her face. “The No Weed Salad. A nice chunk of iceberg flat on a plate with Thousand Island dressing.”

“Make it blue cheese and you have a deal.”

“Will do. And Alex? I have plenty to do for the next three hours. So don’t expect any more attention than the rest of my customers.”

“Don’t worry. I’m a good tipper, even when the county isn’t paying. And things are mostly okay, Holly. I just have a little news you’re not going to want to hear. It will keep until you get done with your shift.”

She looked visibly relieved. Alex felt bad for a split second for trivializing what he’d been sent here to tell her. Holly wouldn’t look that happy again for quite some time once she heard what he had to say. Still, there was no sense upsetting her when she had work to do. Having another three hours of blissful ignorance of the latest happenings in Cook County, Illinois, wouldn’t change Holly’s life in the long run. And it would give Alex a little more time to figure out how to break the news that this new life they’d set up for her might all be tumbling down.

While he thought about what he was going to say, Alex scanned the large room that made up the main dining area of The Bistro. He wondered how Holly went to work here every day. The place was designed for couples to sit at the tufted leather booths, leaning over flickering candlelight. At some of the larger tables there were family groups, or bunches of friends, all of whom would have reminded him on a daily basis of what he was missing as a single adult. And Holly wasn’t single by choice.

Kevin Douglas should still be doing his job on the force, coming home at night to his pretty wife and active kids. They had twins, didn’t they? It was what Alex remembered, and he struggled to recall how old the boys would be now. Old enough to realize that their daddy wasn’t coming back, that was for sure. And old enough to realize something was up when he came home with their mother tonight. Alex hoped they’d be tucked into bed before he went home with Holly. That way there would be one less scene in the course of the evening.

“Tell Jon-Paul that his salad was superb. Almost as good as his steak,” Alex said two hours later as he stretched his legs out under the table.

“I will. Does all this praise mean you don’t have any room for a piece of apple pie?”

“Nobody ever said that. Think you could swing a scoop of ice cream on top, too?”

“Sure. We even have homemade cinnamon ice cream. I know it’s not the traditional vanilla, but you have to let Jon-Paul have his flourish someplace, don’t you? He gets cranky if all his artful touches are denied.”

“Cinnamon ice cream I can handle. Especially after he went to all the trouble to make the rest of the meal as fuss free as possible.”

“Coffee? For most folks I’d suggest decaf this late at night, but I don’t suppose you’re interested.”

“High-test or nothing,” Alex informed her. “And yes, I’d take a cup. Please.” His manners were awful. Maybe he just wasn’t used to dining anywhere as pleasant as The Bistro. He’d better get used to it, he thought. It was probably going to be his home away from home for a few days, or maybe even weeks.

Holly came back with the pie and coffee, setting them down in front of him. “Okay, the worst of the rush is over. I need to know what this visit is all about.”

His heart sank. She looked so happy. But he couldn’t put his news off much longer. It would be nice to try, though. “How about I tell you at home?”

Her look went from serious to stern. “I don’t remember inviting you home with me.”

Here it went. There was no putting things off any longer. “When I’m done talking, I’ll be inviting myself home if you don’t do it. Our friend Rico Salazar is out on the street. A combination of a good lawyer and a bad ruling. By the time we could convince the judge that he really, really shouldn’t be released no matter what the bail, he’d slipped through our fingers.”

He watched Holly’s face pale to the color of the walls around him at the knowledge that her husband’s killer was free. Lower lip trembling, she fled, leaving him to contemplate his melting ice cream and cooling coffee. His appetite for either wasn’t very high right now.

Before he could decide what to do, the young woman who had seated him when he came in was standing before him, and she looked very angry. “All right, what did you say to her? Holly’s crying. And Holly never cries. Even the night when we got the whole table of jerks from Milwaukee, who had too much to drink, Holly didn’t cry. Not even when Jon-Paul threw them all out personally after they said those mean things to her. So what did you do?” His accuser waved a long finger in his face, curls bouncing around her glowing face. What could he tell this baby virago?

She wasn’t going to take silence as an answer. Wild curls still bouncing, foot tapping in impatience, she stayed planted right in front of him. “Well? You looked okay, and I was glad to see somebody that Holly knew for a change, but I’m beginning to change my mind. Should I have Jon-Paul out here? He played pro ball for a little while before he opened the restaurant. Does all the bouncer work around here himself.” She narrowed her eyes in determination, and Alex knew he had to talk fast.

“No, really, things aren’t that bad. I had to give Holly a bit of bad news. But I’m on her side, honest.”

“It sure didn’t look that way when she came back in the kitchen just now.” This young woman still needed some convincing. “She looked upset. And like I said before, she never gets that upset over anything.”

“Felicity? Are you looking out for me?” A trembly voice came from behind Alex’s tormentor. “That is so sweet, but really I’m okay. And Alex is all right. Just barely, but it isn’t his fault that I’m acting like this.” Felicity turned toward Holly and put her hands on Holly’s shoulders.

“You sure? Because we can have Jon-Paul take care of him.” Her tone of voice told Alex it would be no trouble, either. He made a mental note to stay on this young woman’s good side whenever possible.

“I’m sure. And he’s more dangerous than he looks, Felicity. But at least he’s one of the good guys. He used to work with my husband, and he’s here to look after me.”

Alex was surprised to hear Holly admit to that much. He was pretty sure that nobody in this little Wisconsin town knew much about Holly’s past. With every word she spoke she looked more composed. She used one slender hand to push an escaped lock of her dark hair away from her face, and perhaps remove the last traces of tears from her cheek. “Besides, Alex won’t be a problem for much longer. I’m back out here to thank him for his concern and send him back to Chicago where he belongs.”

So that was what she was up to. Well, Holly Douglas had more than one surprise coming tonight. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, Holly. But maybe we can discuss it in a less public environment. We’ll have the time, because I’m not leaving town before our mutual friend is back in police custody.”

Alex didn’t know which expression he liked least on the lovely faces in front of him. From his limited experience he would have said Felicity would be more trouble in the short run, with her amazement and anger blending. However, he’d known Holly quite a bit longer, and so knew her a little bit better. And he knew just enough to tell that in the long run, the look of determination narrowing her eyes and drawing tight lines in her face was going to mean much more trouble for him.

It was going to be a long night. He prayed it wasn’t going to be the first of quite a few. Maybe luck would be on his side for a change and they’d have Rico back in the fold soon. Right. And maybe they’d solve all the world’s problems while they were at it and he could get a great job teaching third grade because nobody would need the services of a cop with a law degree anymore.

Meanwhile he was stuck here in Safe Harbor, Wisconsin, with a woman who didn’t want to be looked after, a cold cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie floating in melted ice cream. As he’d said before, it was going to be a long night.

So what could she do with this guy? Holly paced the kitchen of The Bistro, trying to decide how to gather her thoughts, and what to tell her boss and Felicity. They had both been so kind to her for all these months. They deserved some kind of explanation for her behavior. They also deserved some more information about what the slightly menacing-looking stranger was doing in the dining room. She hadn’t thought of Alex Wilkins in a long while before tonight, and had never looked at him with the eyes of a stranger.

For her he’d always been Kevin’s friend on the force, first in his role as an undercover officer, then later as an investigator with the district attorney’s office. Sure, he’d looked a little rough around the edges. But most of Kevin’s friends and co-workers had looked that way. Kevin had called the drug enforcement officers that he’d mostly dealt with “the wolf pack,” and it had been an apt name. They had a lean, ragged look about them that seemed to suggest they were on the fringes of society and liked things that way just fine. Kevin had always stuck out with his boyish Irish good looks, earning him the nickname of “The Choirboy” and getting him some desperately dangerous assignments just because nobody suspected him.

He’d loved every minute of it, she knew that. And from what Alex and others had told her, what they could tell her after Kevin’s death, he’d been very good at what he did. Why couldn’t those who followed after him have been as good at what they did so scum like Rico stayed in custody? It certainly would make her life easier. Or at least she would have been without this latest complication. Nothing was particularly easy about life right now. Raising two active little boys with no father, and limited income, put a daily strain on Holly’s patience and her bank account. Now to add looking over her shoulder again was the last thing she needed.

Jon-Paul walked away from the range where he was supervising a sous-chef with half a dozen sauté pans going and stood in front of Holly. “Okay, you ready to talk? Felicity says that guy out there made you cry. Is she right?”

Holly managed what she knew was a wan smile for her overprotective boss. “Not exactly. He didn’t make me cry the way she thinks he did. I’ll admit I was crying, but it wasn’t exactly Alex’s fault. He’s just an old friend of my husband’s, and he had a little bad news for me. Nothing I can’t handle. And nothing you need to get involved in.”

“You sure?” There were times when Holly thought that Jon-Paul missed the action he’d gotten playing football. He certainly didn’t seem to shy away from confrontation.

“Positive. But thanks for caring.”

His scowl lightened into a grin. “Hey, you’re my best server. I can’t have you upset.” He looked around the kitchen at the chefs and assistants who were finishing up the last of the late dinner orders. “Why don’t you take off a little early and take care of your business with your friend.”

“Sounds like a good idea. You sure you don’t mind?” Holly minded a little herself, just because taking off early meant less income in tips. But the dining crowd was thinning, and there wouldn’t be that much more income to be had anyway. Alex’s presence would have her so rattled that she wouldn’t be that effective to begin with. As usual, Jon-Paul had a good idea.

“I’m positive. See you for lunch tomorrow, right?”

“Bright and early.” Holly tried to sound more cheerful about the prospect than she felt. She went back to the dining room to try to make Alex see things from her perspective. It wasn’t a likely prospect, but she was sure going to try.

She knew she was going to lose the argument when he wouldn’t even consider her offer of dinner on the house. “No, I’m going to be here a while,” he argued, ignoring her pointed looks that tried to tell him otherwise. “No sense in getting off on the wrong foot. I intend to start out as a paying customer and stay that way. Besides, the one perk to being with the D.A.’s office is that I do have an expense account. It might not be the world’s most liberal one, but it will suit my needs well in a little town like this in Wisconsin.”

“If you insist.” Holly tried to sound as pleasant as possible. It wasn’t easy. She hated losing arguments. And lately it seemed as if she got in more arguments every day, and seldom won one. This one had all the earmarks of being a major defeat already.

“And I do insist. I insist on paying for my dinner, and I insist on staying here in town. The closer I can stay to you, the better.”

“Well, that might present a little problem, because Safe Harbor isn’t the kind of place where a woman in my situation can just take in a guy off the street without a lot of talk.”

“So tell them the truth.” Alex could be just as argumentative as she was. “Tell them I’m your bodyguard because of the situation Kevin left you in.”

“He didn’t leave me in any situation,” she fired back. “And I can’t tell them the rest of the truth, anyway.”

“Why not? Surely it would be better than having your fine, upstanding small-town friends think you were taking in strays.”

“It really isn’t any of your business what my friends will think. And surely that expense account will spring for a hotel room if we can find one. Your timing is at least a month off. If you could have held off until after Valentine’s Day I could have got you a room at the new bed-and-breakfast.”

“Sorry the bad guys weren’t paying attention to your social calendar.”

“Oh, stow it, Wilkins. I know you’re sorry about a lot of things, but I’m sure that isn’t one of them.” Holly knew she sounded unkind, but she felt unkind right now, and anxious to get rid of Alex Wilkins and the problems he posed.

He wasn’t cooperating. Alex sat still, folding his arms over his chest. “You’d love it if I just walked out of here, wouldn’t you? Well, get used to having me around, because no matter how much you protest, or how many reasons you have to the contrary, I’m staying. And for tonight I’m camping out as close to you as I can get. If you’ll let me have your living-room couch, I’ll take that. Otherwise I’ll sleep in my car in the apartment-complex parking lot. But I’m not going away, Holly.”

The light in his eyes told her he meant every word of what he said. That was a shame, because now Holly was stuck. She had no desire to let Alex Wilkins into her apartment for any reason. But only a heartless monster would let anybody sleep in a car in January this far north. Of course Alex knew that. It was why he’d played that trump card to begin with.

“Don’t get comfortable on that couch, Wilkins. Because you’re spending one night, and one night only, there. And you can be the one to come up with an explanation for my boys about who you are and why you’re on that couch. Remember they’re only five.”

Alex looked thoughtful while he took a credit card out of his pocket to settle his bill. “Now you make sleeping in the car sound attractive.” He’d lost that challenging grin. “If I thought I wouldn’t freeze to death I’d stay there. Five years old, huh? I’ll have to dredge back in the distant past and try to remember what I thought about when I was five. Maybe I can come up with something convincing that will satisfy them and make you happy at the same time.”

Holly picked up the credit card and headed toward the kitchen. “Don’t bet on it. You might convince the boys, but nothing you say will make me happy until you say goodbye.” She was pretty sure that was the truth. Why didn’t it feel much like the truth when she said it?

Holly puzzled the question over in her mind while she got Alex’s receipt and prepared to give him directions to her apartment. Surely any sane, respectable person would be glad to have someone like Alex out of her life as quickly as possible.

Why, instead, did it seem as if he was the cavalry riding up to rescue her? She didn’t need rescuing from anything, did she? Most of her said no, but there was a sliver of common sense that told her yes, she needed rescuing in ways that Alex could probably provide. It was only a few blocks back to the apartment, not nearly enough time to answer a question that complex, so Holly wasn’t surprised when she pulled up in the parking lot with no more answers than she’d had at The Bistro.