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“You know what I always say, Star.” I unhooked his vest, dried his feet, and filled his food bowl. “I can’t make her feel better about my disability. That’s a her problem not a me problem.”
I rolled down the hallway to the bathroom, and couldn’t help but wish that wasn’t true. It didn’t fill me with the same sense of flippancy when I said it about Hazel Cane. It filled me with sadness. If there was one woman I expected to understand, it was her, but that hadn’t been the case. While that was disappointing, I couldn’t say it was unexpected. “Better now than later,” I reminded myself, but that platitude sounded just as hollow as my empty life.
∞∞∞
I threw my keys and purse on the table and sank into a chair, lowering my head to my hands and letting the tears fall. It had taken every ounce of strength I had not to cry all the way home, but I couldn’t do that in front of Irving. I couldn’t let him see how his poem broke my heart into a thousand pieces. He didn’t need to see my tears and think they were pity tears for him. They were anything but pity tears.
A muted ringing reached my ears and I ignored it. I didn’t want to talk to anyone right now and if Irving needed help, he’d send Star. I remembered that my phone was in my pocket, not my purse, which meant it was Cliff calling. With a sigh, I stood and walked to my bag, digging around until I found the phone and answered.
“Cliff, to what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked, cringing when I heard my voice.
“Hazel? Are you okay? Are you sick?”
“I’m fine, Cliff,” I said, trying to force cheerfulness back into my voice. “I was outside in the cold and my nose is plugged. Why are you calling? It hasn’t been a week.”
“I’m checking in since Thursday is Thanksgiving and I’m off for the next two days. I didn’t want to interrupt your holiday, so I’m calling tonight instead with an update.”
“I hope the update includes you having Felding in custody.”
“It does not,” he said with a heavy sigh. “He’s still in the wind, but we’re close to him.”
“Your update isn’t much of an update, Cliff. How did the FBI bungle this so badly?”
“I wish I could tell you that,” he answered, sighing again. “That’s above my paygrade, though. For now, keep a low profile and you’ll be fine.”
My mind went to the invite from Mayor Tottle for the tree lighting ceremony on Friday. That wasn’t keeping a low profile, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Who do I call if I have a problem before Friday?” I asked, rather than address his earlier statement.
“If you have a problem, call my number. I’m off, but still on call. If anything happens, call me, don’t worry about interrupting my holiday.”
“Trust me, I wouldn’t,” I said, my eyes rolling. “I’m not the one who did anything wrong, Cliff.”
“I know, Hazel. I’m sorry this has become such a circus, but all I can do is my job. If you do the same, we’ll get through it.”
“I sure hope so because my regrets are multiplying by the minute. No good deed goes unpunished.”
Even though I was sequestered in the Midwest, I wondered if that saying was true for me anymore. If I hadn’t turned Felding in, I’d still be in Sarasota and never have met Irving or found satisfaction in my career again.
“I know it feels like you’re being punished, but I promise you, once this is over, you can return to Florida and pick up your life again.”
“Let’s face it, Cliff, that yacht sailed,” I said, walking to the bathroom and flipping on the light. “I’m a pharaoh in Florida and will never work there again. I’m tired, so I’d like to get on with my night if you have nothing else.”
“Check-in moves to next Wednesday night at nine p.m.,” he answered. “Have a good Thanksgiving, Hazel.”
“That’s going to be a little difficult knowing there’s a guy out there who wants me dead, but I’ll give it a shot.”
“We don’t know that, Hazel,” Cliff corrected me.
“I’m not a protected witness for no reason,” I retorted. “We both know that cornered dogs bite, Cliff. Find him.”
Rather than wish him a good holiday, I slammed the phone shut and set it on the sink. I couldn’t care less if he had a good holiday. I wanted him to do his job and find the guy who threatened to feed me to the sharks at his last hearing. I stripped out of my clothes and threw them in the hamper. After Friday, I’d have to start following Cliff’s orders and lay low until they had Felding back in custody. I couldn’t risk the people around me getting hurt because of this fiasco.
When I stepped into the shower, I reminded myself that I had done the right thing, even if the right thing had upended my career and put my life at risk. I refused to do anything but the right thing, and that included the man next door. I didn’t do the right thing tonight, so he was next on my list of wrongs to right.
Chapter Fourteen
I walked down the hallway to Irving’s door and rang the bell, standing back so he could see me in his doorbell camera. When the door opened, the look of shock on his face was honest and unfiltered.
