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Angel rubbed his face. “I tried to check on Sonny but his cell’s off. You know it bothers me when he does that.”
She sympathized with his worry about his nephew. Sonny had come to Pointe Judah because he needed a strong hand if he wasn’t going to end up in jail. “He and Aaron were out riding bikes,” she said. “You know how that goes. They always go farther than they say they will.”
“That’s fine for Aaron,” Angel said. “Sonny’s got limits. He’s got to be where I can reach him at all times.”
She took out her phone again and placed a call.
Angel moved closer, so close she could feel him. “You calling Aaron?”
She nodded. Pick up the phone, Aaron.
“So Aaron’s gone dark, too?”
“Don’t put it like that,” Eileen said. “They’ll check in just as soon as they’re close to home. You’ve got them scared stiff.”
He tapped his chest with spread fingertips. “Me? Crap, I’m a pussycat. I care, is all.”
She believed the last bit, but he was no pussycat. “Sonny’s likely to stop by my place before he goes home. He likes the food. I’ll make sure he gets back in one piece.”
The following silence unnerved Eileen. She took a deep breath and put the phone away.
“Eileen,” Angel said, his voice softening, a little raspy. “I’m sorry I came on too strong. I was worried.”
She avoided looking at him. “Forget it.”
“I will when you do. You’re mad.”
“No. Edgy is all.”
He put a hand beneath her hair and held the back of her neck. “You said you weren’t worried.”
Eileen held quite still. Her scalp tightened and she felt as if a subtle breeze lifted her hair. They might be trying to pretend they had no physical effect on each other, but it was a lie.
If she told Angel about Chuck, how would he react? He’d never understand that she couldn’t just brush it off. “I’m not worried,” she told Angel. He rubbed her neck and she shivered. When she glanced at him, he was frowning.
“Is there anything you’re not telling me?” he said.
She looked at the floor.
“Eileen?”
“Leave it. When I can talk about it, I will.”
He took her by the hand and led her into the stockroom. Once there, he turned her to face him and held her shoulders. “Not good enough. What is it?”
She kept her gaze on his chest.
“C’mon,” he said quietly. “Don’t do this to me.” He kissed her cheek, pushed her hair away from her left ear and stroked his thumb across it.
“Stop it,” Eileen said, without conviction. He had bad timing, choosing tonight to make moves on her.
“I’d rather not stop.” He pulled her against him. “I’ve already waited too long.”
“Christian, don’t.” He was a big man. If he decided to hold you, you were held.
“Sorry—I think we both need a little warmth sometimes.” He stepped back at once, but still held her arms and made it uncomfortable to look at him. It would be more uncomfortable to look away. “You’ve got a gun in your pocket,” he said.
She felt her face heat up. “Yes, I have.”
“I didn’t know you owned one.”
“You’re the one who’s always saying that even people in quiet places like Pointe Judah should take precautions.”
His fingers tightened on her arms. “Do you carry all the time?”
This was the problem when you hung around with a man who had interrogated people for a living. “No.”
“You keep a gun in the shop?”
She tried to wrench away but he didn’t let her go. “Yes. Are we done now?”
“And tonight you decided you needed to be armed when you went out to do this business in your van you talk about?”
Eileen looked him in the eye. She felt the prickle of tears and blinked several times. “This conversation is over.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Leave it, okay? Just leave it.” Chuck had driven away. What if he’d come back and was skulking around outside, hoping she’d leave on her own?
“I’m sorry I’m so snappy,” she said.
“Me, too.” He looked at her mouth. “Do you want me to leave?”
She shook her head. He was sending her messages he’d kept under wraps before. Or perhaps she subconsciously wanted that to be true.
“You sure you don’t want to tell me what’s on your mind?” he said.
She wasn’t sure, but she’d wait anyway.
“Eileen, would this be a bad time to talk about us, too?”
He’d done a great job of behaving like Aaron’s strong, benevolent uncle and her friend. And he’d done the things a woman wished for when she wanted to know a man.
He dropped his hands.
“No it’s not a bad time,” she told him, lying. She laughed a little. “We are so grown-up about things. I’m proud of us. We should get a prize for being reasonable.” And if she concentrated on something else, she wouldn’t keep trying to figure out what Chuck might or might not plan to do.
“As soon as we’re sure the boys are at your place, why don’t we go to the Boardroom for a drink?” Angel said. “And something to eat. The music’s good. We might even dance.”
“Dance? You told me you can’t dance.” Going to a club didn’t appeal to her much, but she said, “Yes. Looks like Delia and Sarah Board have a success on their hands with that place.” He was asking her out on a date. They’d had meals together before, in places like Ona’s, but there had never been any planned dates.
Located in the middle of Pointe Judah, the Boardroom had been open just a few months. It revved up when the town revved down and there was nothing else like it around.
Delia owned a cosmetics firm with offices and labs around the country but liked living in Pointe Judah. Her daughter, Sarah, was a chemist at the local lab and the club had been her idea.
Eileen hitched her bag over her shoulder and turned out the lights in the stockroom. “I’ve got extra help coming in tomorrow and I need it. It’s easy enough to get part-time people but I need someone full-time.”
“You’re working too hard,” Angel said. “Why don’t you put the gun in your purse if you’re going to keep on carrying the thing? It could fall out of your pocket.”
She did as he suggested without comment.
“Give me a couple more minutes,” Angel said. “If you don’t want to say anything, at least listen.”
In the darkness, piles of boxes loomed all around and unpacked merchandise was piled high on tables. Much of the stuff on the tables sparkled, even in the gloom. Eileen glanced at the high windows but all she saw was rain speckles heavy enough to make the glass look pebbled in the glow of the icicle lights at the roofline.
“Eileen?”
“Okay. Sorry I got distracted.”
“Something’s wrong—something you’re not telling me.”
When he nailed her like this she felt trapped. “And I told you I’ll talk about it when I can.”
“What’s changed?” he said, ever persistent. “If there’s something to be worried about I need to know what it is or I can’t help.”
“There’s nothing to worry about.” Yet. And there probably wouldn’t be. “Angel, has Sonny done jail time?”
A silence followed and went on so long she wished she’d kept her mouth shut.
“No, he hasn’t,” Angel said, opening the door again. “What made you think he had?”
“Oh, forget I said anything. He’s a lot more mature than Aaron and sometimes I worry there could be things Aaron doesn’t need to know yet, that’s all.”
Angel propped himself in the doorway. Behind him, colored lights blinked on and off on display trees. “How did you make the leap from Sonny being mature to his having done jail time?” Angel asked.
She felt ashamed, and judgmental. “He was sent to you for some reason. You told me he needed extra discipline.”
“I said he needed a man’s hand, a man’s guidance. He doesn’t have a father.”
Like Aaron didn’t have a father. Or hadn’t. And Eileen wanted Chuck out of town again. Now.
“Look,” Angel said. “I don’t want to say this but I’ve got to. You give me the impression you think Sonny’s no good for Aaron. You’ve pegged Sonny as a bad boy.”
“No!” Was she that transparent? “Aaron got in his own trouble. He’s not perfect.” She hadn’t told him how silently belligerent Sonny often was with her.
“But Aaron was just acting out and he did it quietly. You told me that and I believe you. He got muddled up after his father left. Finn told me all about it. He tried to fill in but Aaron got the idea it was his fault his dad ducked out.”
Finn Duhon was Eileen’s brother. His wife, Emma, used to own Poke Around but sold it to Eileen when she came into money from the sale of the Duhon family home. Finn had insisted she take all the proceeds because he didn’t need them. That money had changed Eileen’s life.
“Say something,” Angel said.
She thought she saw movement outside the front windows of the shop. Her heart missed a beat, then another, then pounded rapidly. She was getting too jumpy. “Leave it, I said,” she told him, hearing her voice rise. “I can’t do this now. You’re pulling me apart like you’re suspicious of everything I say. Let me be.”
“Eileen, please—”
“No. I’d better go home on my own. I’m not good company.”
“I’m coming with you.” He reached for her but she tried to evade him. Angel caught her as she backed into a file cabinet. “Hold it,” he said quietly.
She began to shake and she had to stop it. Some things had to be dealt with on her own. “I’m fine,” she told him. “I’m just overworked.”
“You’re not fine,” he said. He pulled her against him. For an instant she resisted, but then she softened and leaned into him. “You’re making too many excuses and you’re trembling. If I’m not scaring you to death, something else is. Now tell me because I won’t quit asking until you do.”
She wanted to close her eyes, breathe him in, hold on tight. How many times had she dreamed about this moment? Now she couldn’t relax and enjoy it.
The phone in his pocket rang and he switched it off.
“That could be Sonny,” she said.
“We’re going back to your place now. I’ll deal with him when I get there. Hold my hand. You’re important to me. Let me be here for you.” He held her hand and led her into the shop.
Nobody had ever told her such things, and he said them without pushing for anything more intimate.
Hammering on the front door made her jump so hard her teeth ground together.
“It’s okay,” Angel said, but he shoved her behind him and opened the door. “Hell, will you look at this!”
Sonny just about fell inside. Drenched, covered with mud and, unmistakably, smeared with blood, he staggered and Angel stopped him from tripping.
“What’s the matter?” Angel said.
Eileen rushed to him. “Where’s Aaron?”
“I gotta get back,” Sonny said, dragging in breaths, not looking at Eileen. “You gotta come with me, Angel.” He looked into Angel’s face, a hard stare as if he was sending a silent message.
“Where’s Aaron?” Eileen felt herself losing it. “Sonny—”
“Hush,” Angel said, but his face wasn’t expressionless now.
“It’s all my fault,” Sonny said. “I shouldn’t have been…I went where I shouldn’t have and talked to the wrong people. They kind of dared me. I got Aaron and me into trouble. It’s bad.” His big, dark eyes stretched wide and she could feel his fear. “Angel, do you think someone—”
“Let’s go,” Angel said.
“Tell me where Aaron is,” Eileen begged.
“Oh, God,” Sonny moaned, hanging his head. “He’s in the swamp. North of town. I know how to get back. Chuzah made sure. I hope he made sure. He sent me in his, er, car.”
“Stop it,” Angel said. “Calm down, both of you. Chuzah is?”
