“That’s really nice. I think I’d like that.”
Her expression shifted, her regard of me did too.
She then dug in her purse, came out with a little, monogrammed, leather covered notepad, slid the small pen out of the attached holder and flipped it open.
She tore off what she wrote and handed it to me.
I took it.
“I’ll leave it up to you to call me.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“It’s not my place but I’m going to say it anyway, I know you’re worried.” She jerked her head to the coffee shop. “Will’s a good boy. But he’s a boy. And now he’s a boy who’s hurting. He has no business dating right now.”
I held her gaze steady.
I wasn’t sure what she meant by “he’s a boy,” but I was sure she knew why I was fretfully standing outside Aromacobana, staring at a mural.
“Also, you should know, this Alice thing?” She shook her head. “Anomaly. It’s safe here. I’ve lived here my whole life. I promise you. It’s safe here. If you need a place to disappear, be around real people, you found your spot. And we’ll protect that for you. You know how people are wherever Harrison Ford lives in Wyoming? That’ll be how we are for you. No one will breathe a word you’re here.”
“Thanks again.”
The things she was saying were making me feel good in all that seemed to be going bad.
Until she carried on.
“Except Leland. He’s running scared and you’re high-profile. Bigger media gets wind of Alice, and his bungling of that, no telling what he’ll do. Be careful.”
“I appreciate the warning.”
She nodded, glanced to the paper in my hand and back to me.
“I hope you call.”
I nodded this time and promised, “I will.”
She started to walk away but turned back.
“I don’t have to like it, and I don’t like it. But they got more signatures. Do you know what I mean?”
At that, I gave her my full smile.
“I know exactly what you mean, Megan.”
She gave me a full smile back, and she was very pretty.
“See you at book club,” she said.
“See you there,” I replied.
Twenty-Eight
Warm and Fuzzy
As a mother, semi-stalking your children was a highly sensitive operation.
As the new-semi-woman-in-a-kid’s-life, it was almost impossible.
However, after Megan left me, I did my best to saunter casually, and very slowly, in front of the windows of Aromacobana, glancing in to find Celeste and Will.
I did.
They didn’t notice me.
But I got a good look at him.
And…
Well.
Shit.
Let me take you back…
Last night, Bohannan got into my bedroom.
That would be to stand, leaning against the jamb of the door of my closet while I packed light to move to his house, doing it light because it was late. I was going to come back in the morning to pack heavier.
He did this after he whistled low when he saw the closet.
He’d been pensive and careful with his expressions since he’d shown up that night, but his eyes were twinkling when he said, “My closet is better.”
Even though I knew it was because he gave it to Grace, I still felt that sexually.
I had a feeling on the drive to his place, which was in my car, which meant I drove, Bohannan suffered a hit to his manhood that he wasn’t behind the wheel, but he let his brooding fill the cab of the car without making it verbal.
He also told me on the short ride to his place, “I want you in my bed because I want you in my bed, I also want you close. But you’re going to stay in our guestroom. Celeste knows we’re a thing. She’s nearly grown up. But it’s too soon. And we both got tension to release, and I’m far from high school, but you that close, I’m not feeling testing my control.”
How he managed the marvel of being a good father, a protective boyfriend-ish-type person and sexually charging one short speech, I did not know.
But he did it.
Regardless of the fact I was freaked out that I was moving in with my boyfriend-ish-type person I hadn’t even kissed yet, and mostly why I was, a mixture of euphoria and excitement and a deep-down warmth that couldn’t be denied filled me when I added my Volvo to their collection of vehicles.
Celeste, he also shared as we walked into the house, had been briefed.
As an aside, he’d commandeered my bag, which held a pair of pajamas, face cleanser, moisturizer, deodorant, a clean pair of panties, jeans and a sweater, so it probably weighed less than ten pounds. But he strong armed his way to it so I suspected his manhood got revived at least a little bit.
When we arrived, Celeste was in bed, so after Bohannan got me sorted, he hung out in my bedroom with me.
This being, we cuddled in the armchair across from the bed.
But I got to be in his lap.
He had a very comfortable lap and a long arm reach, so I also got to use him as a kind of cocoon.
It was lovely.
He shared I had not read it wrong.
For whatever reason, they were thinking Alice’s killer was prowling Bohannan land.
Which led to a more in-depth questioning for me.
What he looked like. Age. Height. Weight. Race.
(Dark hair. I couldn’t tell age or height, but at a guess, between twenty and forty, and average. He didn’t appear overweight, or under it. Last, white.)
What was he wearing?
(It looked like a light blue sweatshirt that was wet. No hat. No umbrella. No slicker. In the rain.)
Did he appear interested in my house?
(No, he didn’t even look up at my house, but I had him in my sights mere seconds.)
Did I get a look at his face?
(No, alas, I did not.)
It also led to more questioning for Bohannan.
He seemed hesitant, but in the end, he gave it to me.
“It isn’t unusual for someone like him to want to play with someone like me.”
This just kept getting worse.
He continued speaking.
“That said, it wasn’t yesterday we found Alice. With this kind of thing, there’s no telling what his actions might be. Some like him could take years to start playing games with investigators. Leaving a definitive trail the way he did says something, though he chose a day it was raining, and if you hadn’t seen him, that trail could have been gone before we saw it. And you said he didn’t look to your place to see if you saw him. But he could just know there’s activity at your house, and hope he was seen. That seems thin. So my read on that might be wrong. I would think there would be something. Something concrete. A sign. Him leaving a present. Something to announce he’s going to dick with me. So maybe I’m being hyper-sensitive.” He gave me a squeeze. “But we’re not taking any chances.”
“I’m guessing that with where I am,” I noted.
Another squeeze and, “We’ll be giving you some Taser lessons. Once we do, I’d like you to carry one with you. Hawk’s got your GPS fob still tracking. He’s sending one for Celeste with Billy. Billy is going to help us keep an eye on the property, you and Celeste. David has been briefed, and he’s going to go about his business at your place but keep an eye out. I also told Moran, but not Dern. He knows who the good deputies are, and who they aren’t, and he’s already formed a loose, unofficial team who are working this themselves, but we’re coordinating. He told me he’ll do what he can. As for you and Celeste, you live your lives. You do your thing. You do it knowing you’re covered, one way or another, though do that smart and watchful. But when we take downtime, I don’t want our resources scattered.”