AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hello,” Marley says. “It’s nice to meet you all…officially.” She giggles, and I can’t keep the smile off my face. I motion for her to sit on the lounger where she’d been resting before. Removing her hand from my shoulder, she walks around me to take her seat. My hand wants to reach out and take hers again, but I resist, not sure if she’s ready for PDAs or not.
“So…” Enos comes over to me. “I think we need to dig deeper into this Wilson case. Something just isn’t adding up. I went over to the stash house this afternoon.” He stops talking. I look at him expectantly, waiting for him to disclose what he found when he went, but he just looks down at me.
“And?” I prompt. He continues to look at me expectantly as if I’m the one who’s supposed to fill him in on the information.
“Dammit, Enos, fucking spit it out man!” Bo is obviously as frustrated with Enos as I am. I look over at him, wishing I could give him a high-five, but then I’d be the one acting like a child, so I reign in my reaction and look back at Enos, who has the nerve to look over at Bo like he’s being an ass.
“Something ain’t adding up,” Enos says, finally, again without elaboration.
“Could you be more specific?” I ask as calmly as I can muster. “You keep saying it, but you aren’t giving me reasons as to what isn’t adding up.”
“So, this guy gets pot shots taken at him in broad daylight,” Enos reminds us all of the case. “Yet, we haven’t found any evidence that would link him to the gang, he claims is out to get him. The ‘Stash house’”—Enos makes air quotes as he says the words—“which he claims to have seen all the drugs in was an abandoned building that nothing but rats and roaches have set foot in for years. There’s zero evidence that place has been used recently.” I begin to run the possible reasons for this through my head. Did Wilson get the address wrong, or is he intentionally leading us in the wrong direction?
“I’ve been running the CCTV footage in all the surrounding areas from the day of and a few days before the incident.” Kelvin jumps in to the conversation. “The only thing strange I found is Wilson and his buddy, Dexter, were casing the area for two days prior to the shooting. They made multiple trips to the area in a vehicle and on foot. On the day of the incident, I didn’t see anyone suspicious lurking about the area where we deduced the shooter was located. However I did see Dexter on camera leaving the area about two blocks from the incident, going in the opposite direction. He circled around and came to the scene from theother end as if he hadn’t been in the area the whole time. I can’t prove it, but I think Dexter is our shooter. The question is why?”
We all sit in silence as we comb over this new evidence. Movement to my right catches my attention. Marley is getting to her feet.Have we scared her with our work discussion? Fuck!We shouldn’t be talking about things like this in front her. She’s scared enough already without us talking about someone being shot at. I shake my head at our cluelessness.
“Marley?” I question her as she starts to walk around the end of the lounger. Her gaze lands on me, and I can see the fear on her face, but she tries to hide it with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
“I’ll just go check on the vegetables and macaroni,” she says softly. “I’ll be right back.” I nod and watch her make her way to the sliding glass doors. Once she’s inside, I turn back to my brothers and friends who are watching me like I’m growing wings or something.
“What?” I demand. The group all chuckles. “Seriously? What’s wrong with you all?” More laughter.
“Just never seen you so enthralled with a woman.” Bo shrugs his shoulders casually. The rest of them nodding their heads in agreement.
“Enthralled?” I ask incredulously. “When the fuck did you start using such big words oh brother of mine?”
“Hey!” Bo exclaims. “I read…sometimes.” This causes more chuckles and laughter from the group.
“Listen all joking aside,” I say as I glance toward the doors to see if Marley is on her way back out. “We need to watch what we’re saying in front of Marley. I think we freaked her out with talk of the shooting. She’s had a really bad day, and I know the way her house was tossed she’s afraid of what could have happened if she’d been home when that shit went down.”
“I’m sorry, Luke.” Enos joins the conversation. “I wasn’t thinking when I brought it up. How bad was it?” I can see he’struly remorseful that he played a part in upsetting Marley, but this is on me. I invited her here. It’s my duty to keep her safe.
“It wasn’t the worst I’d seen,” I begin. “But bad enough. They tossed the place and ruined everything. The only shit they didn’t destroy was the walls and flooring. She literally has nothing. That reminds me, can one of you get her some basic clothing and essentials until I can take her shopping?”
“Dude!” Rosco moans, “You know none of us know the first damn thing about buying women’s clothing. What the hell are you thinking?” I glare at him. Marley is going to need some essentials.
“I’ll go, boss,” Dalton speaks up shocking all of us. He’s always been a team player, but anything touchy feely is off limits with him. “Text me a list of what you want.”
“Thanks, man,” I reply. “I owe you big time.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and quickly type out a list of things I think she’ll need tonight. I send it off to Dalton. He looks over the list quickly, then heads off the patio toward the driveway. I will take Marley shopping as soon as possible. I look toward the house, concern over how long Marley’s been gone. I should go check on her. I begin making my way to the house as I see Rosco and Enos taking up the chicken from the grill.
MARLEY
The men are speaking so causally about someone being shot at. I can’t imagine such a thing. It dawns on me; had I been home when whoever broke into my home, I could have been shot, or worse. A shiver runs through me as the possible outcomes flash in my mind. I need to get away from them discussing this. I can feel the panic rising in me. I need to distract myself from all of this. I’m a simple person who leads a quiet life. In this moment, I can’t handle the turn my life has taken.
Rising to my feet, I force myself to move and try to take a calming breath. Luke notices me getting up. He looks over at me with concern and calls to me. I scramble to give him something. I don’t want to admit I’m freaking the hell out. The vegetables and noodles. I need to check on them anyway. I use that as my excuse for walking away. I quickly make my way to the safety of the kitchen far away from the men and their talk of shootings and stash houses.
I manage to make it to the kitchen before I break down into a blubbering mess again. Through my tears, I stir the vegetables, cutting into them, testing their doneness. I drain and rinse thepasta, then begin to make the cheese sauce from milk, butter, and three kinds of cheese I find in his fridge: cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Colby. While the cheese is melting, I put the enormous tray of rolls into the oven. I had protested at the number of rolls Luke wanted to cook, but he knows better how much food he and his men will eat. I let my tears fall while I’m preparing the food, until I feel cried out again. Once the food is done and I have the everything in serving dishes, I go in search of the downstair bathroom Luke had shown me on the tour of his home.
I enter the half-bathroom and splash some cool water on my face, hoping to hide the evidence of my tearful outburst. I’m still trembling as I can’t turn off the repeat scenario running through my head of someone hurting me in my home. Some faceless stranger raping, beating, or shooting me all for what? I don’t have anything valuable. What have I done to deserve what’s happening to me? Taking a deep breath, I stare at my red face in the mirror. A soft knock jars me, causing me to spin toward the door in fear, my heart pounding.
“Marley?” Luke’s voice asks. I exhale the breath I’ve been holding. I quickly unlock the door and open it. Luke is waiting in the hall. His handsome face colored with apprehension. “Hey,” he says, holding his arms out to me. “Come here,” he commands. I allow him to pull me onto his lap again. He pulls me to his chest, and I lay my head on his shoulder. I shake all over as my fears overwhelm me again. His kindness my undoing. His hands rub soothing circles on my back as he murmurs comforting words to me. I relax into him, letting his warmth and strong arms hold my uncertainties at bay for the time being. When my trembling body finally relaxes, he lifts his head from where it’s been resting on top of mine. “I’m sorry,” Luke’s voice rumbles in my ear where it’s resting against his broad chest. “We shouldn’t have been discussing a client’s situation in front of you. We didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s fine.” I sigh not bothering to raise my head and look athim. “I’m just overwhelmed with everything. I’m sorry you are constantly having to comfort me, but I really do appreciate your kindness and concern for me.” His arms tighten around my body.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Luke rumbles. “I’m happy to be here for you.” His hand runs through my hair, smoothing it out of my eyes. I glance up to see him peering down at me. “I’m just sorry you’re having to go through this.” His lips descend to press against my forehead. My eyes drift closed as I soak in the comfort he’s providing me. “Thank you for trusting me to care for you.”
I do trust Luke. I know we don’t really know each other that well, but having seen and spoken with him nearly every day the last year or more, I feel like he’s at the least my friend. After the couple of heated kisses we’ve shared, a part of me hopes we can be more than friends, but deep down, I know I could never be enough for a man like him. He deserves someone who has their shit together. Some faceless successful business woman who is model gorgeous. I swallow hard as I realize just how far from all those things I am.
