Hunter's Moon.htm (20 page)

Next she showed me the swimming pool. She had been right about the geese. There were droppings everywhere. The large birds ignored Sue completely as we approached, but when I got closer, they milled nervously. I tried to speed up the process and barked like a dog. Except it didn't come out like I intended. I planned on it just being a funny moment. But the sound came from deep in my chest. Low and threatening and just like a wolf. Funny thing. The sound ended with a vicious snarl and I felt my lips pull back from my teeth. Sue looked at me a bit alarmed when the geese suddenly took to the air in a panic. Loud honking accompanied their flight and soon the ground was clear of unwanted visitors. A part of me wanted to go after them. Chase them down until the hunt was over. Fortunately, the moon was far enough past full that I could fight it down.

I must have looked as startled as Sue. Her voice was filled with amazement, "I felt that! How do you live every day feeling those things?"

She felt it? I tried to shrug it off. "I've gotten used to it. Fortunately, I don't like goose. Too greasy." Her eyes widened for a moment. Then I smiled. Once she realized that I was teasing her she laughed.

She hesitated when we stepped onto the wide front porch— no, more a veranda.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'm just a little nervous. I've given you such a negative build-up of Mom that I'm afraid when you meet her you might not want to stay with me."

"I haven't exactly said I would yet, remember? But why wouldn't I?"

She struggled to find the words. "So many people believe her. I'm afraid that maybe I am the one who's nuts and you'll believe her instead of me. Or that you'll see her just like she is and won't want to stay with me with her around." She glanced up at me nervously and then lowered her eyes. She was embarrassed again.

I reached out to her, put a finger under her chin and raised her face. "I've spent a lifetime learning how to read people. It's a necessary skill in my trade." She opened her mouth to speak and I shushed her with a finger to her lips.

"I promise I won't judge you by what I think of her. Okay?"

She got an amazed look on her face. "Every time I think I've got you figured out, you surprise me. You have such strong opinions that it's hard for me to believe that you could sit by and keep quiet if you didn't like something."

That brought a dark smile to my face. "Well frankly, if I dislike her enough I'll probably try to scare her."

She looked alarmed. She grasped my arm frantically. "No, that won't work. If you scare her, she'll call the police. She's done it before. I don't want you to risk that."

I removed her clutching hand with a smile. "I know, Sue. It's okay. I was kidding. No scare tactics. It usually backfires. No, I'll kill her with kindness. It's one of my specialties."

She grimaced. "She'll see right through that."

I chuckled. "Doesn't matter. All she'll have are suspicions. I'll be sweet and thoughtful and very, very patronizing."

"And I'll do my best to keep a straight face." Sue gave me a weak smile and turned toward the door. I stopped her by touching her arm. Then I pulled her back and led her out to near the parked cars.

I made my face serious. I'd met people like Sue's mom before. "You should know that she's going to try to put a wedge between us. She'll make wild accusations. Without knowing a thing about me other than what's printed on my business card, she'll say that I'll put you in danger or that I'm just after your money. She'll tell you anything to scare you off from me. Some of it may even be true. Can you stand up to that kind of pressure? If you can't then it's better for us not to even start this. It'll only get worse if I move in."

"If?" Her voice was several notes higher as she said it. Her scent was a mixture of thick dew and tang.

I sighed. "I gotta tell you, Sue. I have a house and I like it. It might be better to just see each other on the side and not live in the same place. We'll have to see. Especially if you can't handle the pressure."

She listened and while I was speaking her jaw set. The hot metal determination nearly made me smile. She had decided and she would stick by it. "No. I want this. I'll do my best to handle it. If I can't, then we'll make other decisions."

I smiled at her. She would try but I wasn't sure she could do it. "Let's go in and greet the lion, then. But let me do the talking." She nodded.

"Let's start with me as the "security consultant," not your lover. We'll tour the house and I'll let you know what you need to have done. We won't mention the monitors out loud but I'll look them over as we go. Afterward, we'll go to my office to sign the paperwork."

"And where will we go instead?" she asked with a knowing smile.

I looked at her seriously and raised my brows. "To my office to sign the paperwork. So I can get started on repairs."

"Really? I mean… I thought… " I understood her confusion. I reached into my back pocket and withdrew my card case. I don't always carry it with me, but I'd grabbed it for today's visit. I opened it and handed her a white business card with black lettering and a swirl logo.

She took the card and read it out loud. "Specialty Services, Inc., Security Consulting, Anthony Giodone, President. You have a whole corporation?"

I chuckled. "Of course. I really do handle security systems. I rent out an executive suite downtown. Most of my clients are Family but a few are legit. It gives me something to do during working hours. It's also useful to have the run of the town after dark for my other job. Anything I install has a back door built in for my use."

"If you have an office, why did I meet you at that awful bar?" The sourness of her distaste drifted on the breeze.

"I'll tell Jocko you said that." The insult in my voice wasn't all faked. My face probably showed it.

She blushed and fidgeted. Embarrassment and shame replaced the distaste. She keeps forgetting these people are my friends.

"Hey, I'm kidding." But by the flat tone of my voice, she could tell I wasn't and flinched. "I meet clients at the bar to put them at a disadvantage. Keeps them nervous. It worked, didn't it?"

She nodded several times— vigorously.

"My office is in a high-rise downtown. I pay rent to the owner. He hired my company to install and maintain the security system in the building. So if you want me for future services, and we agree on terms, the transaction will be nice and clean."

Normally, I don't work for clients— because of that whole "known to associate" thing. But this one had a built-in cover. Gee, Lieutenant. She was a rich client who paid her bills. Why would I want her dead?

Her eyes grew a little wide right then. "Oh. About that." Her eyes shifted away from me.

My voice took on a sharp edge. "Getting cold feet?"

"Well, actually… I mean… " She looked up at me then and her expression grew warm. There was fear in her eyes along with something else. Something deeper. "I think I might be falling in love with you, Tony."

I recognized the smell. But I couldn't accept it for what my nose told me it was. She looked at me hoping for a reaction. She got one, but probably not the one she wanted.

I shook my head. "Please don't. It's not love you're feeling. It's lust. Or crisis bonding. It's intense but it doesn't stick. Doesn't last through day-to-day life. We can't possibly be in love yet. Not yet." The cold knot of fear that thought put in my stomach made me realize things may have already gone too far. Shit.

"Look." I put hands on her shoulders, deliberately keeping her at arm's length. "Even if there's something there, I'm keeping distance intentionally. I'd never be able to pull the trigger if I let it go too far."

Sadness filled her eyes and my voice softened a bit. "I decided when we first were together that if you wanted to get away from life bad enough to hire someone like me, it would be wrong to deny you. I'd be using you. Just like everyone else. Keeping you around because I wanted something. Do you see?"

She nodded. "But what if there comes a time when I decide I want to live?"

I felt a surge of hope and immediately crushed it like a bug. "Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves?" I deliberately injected a note of dark humor in my voice. "You haven't paid me and I haven't agreed to do the job."

She smiled shakily. I returned the smile, but my next words were serious. "Let's take it a little slower and see, okay? You may decide that you don't like me all that much."

She put one hand over mine on her shoulder. "I won't change my mind. Are you ready to go inside?"

I watched as she steeled herself. A buzzing began overhead and I glanced up to see that the old mercury vapor lamps dotting the yard were just coming on. My brow furrowed slightly as I looked at her. I lifted her chin with one hand and turned her head from side to side slowly in the flat white light. She gave me a puzzled look and I sensed her confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked when I released her chin. I sighed and shook my head.

"We're not going to do this tonight, Sue. I'm going to go home now."

"What! I mean… "

"You've got dark circles under your eyes and your skin is sagging. Neither of us has gotten a good night's sleep for days." I hadn't slept soundly for almost a week. "If we go in there now and get started, it's going to be hours. I get grumpy when I'm sleep deprived, so I'm going to go home and you need to go to bed, too."

"But what about Mom? I can't go back in there alone, Tony. I just can't."

"Sure you can. You just walk right in, ignore her, and go upstairs and go to bed."

"But she'll follow me, yelling. I'll never get a wink of sleep."

I smiled darkly. "Your mom's got hold of a double-edged sword this time, Sue. It cuts both ways. If she follows you to your room, she'll have to get out of that wheelchair, won't she? The nurse will back you up on it to your family. If she stays in the wheelchair, she's stuck downstairs, and you get to sleep. See?"

A shock of scent rose from her and her eyes looked startled in the growing circle of light. "But I don't know if Bekki paid the nurse to stay overnight."

"It's well past 5:00. If the nurse is still here, I'm pretty sure she intends to stay. She must have at least stayed last night, so she's already got a room in there somewhere."

"But I'll still hear Mom. The entryway echoes through the whole house."

"What? You don't have a stereo in your room?" I rolled my eyes. "Please." Then I fished in my front pocket and removed a small plastic packet containing orange pieces of foam. "But if it'll make you feel better, put in earplugs."

She looked at the plugs with delight and squished them through the plastic. She watched as they returned to their original shape and then did it again. I tore open the package and showed her how to compress and roll them and then insert them into her ears. I made her tap lightly until they expanded. One ear took a couple of tries to get it seated correctly. When she took them out and tucked them in her pocket, I continued.

"The plugs don't completely remove sound. They just dull it. You'll still be able to hear muffled loud sounds, but it won't be enough to keep you awake."

She reached forward suddenly and planted a whopping kiss on my lips. A hot wave of need flowed through me. My body was suddenly as hard and ready as the first time I touched her. I wanted more and I reached for her hungrily. But my brain fought the need. I balled my hands into fists before I could wrap her in my arms. No. I was not going to start again. I forced my hands to reach for her shoulders and I gently pushed her away.

"Get some sleep, Sue. I'll stop by first thing in the morning when we're both feeling better."

She backed up and nodded. She was feeling too many things for my nose to sort. I could relate.

Chapter 18

Where is he? He should be here by now.

I opened my eyes slowly and blinked several times. The words that I heard in my mind weren't a dream. I could feel tension and anxiety pushing at me, but distantly. I glanced at the clock and swore. It was already 9:00 in the morning! Damn! The last time I'd slept for twelve hours straight was— well, the last time I'd been awake for a week.

I started a pot of my favorite coffee. French Market blended with flavored fresh ground. Irish Creme works best. The scent of it brewing rode over the steam of the shower. I struggled to free my head of restlessness. I just knew it was Sue's frustration I was feeling. I didn't get why it was happening, but it feels the same as when I touch her and get her thoughts. Maybe I was spending too much time with her.

I booted the computer to check my e-mails and began to pick up the pots and pans scattered around the living room and bedroom. I'd been so exhausted last night that I was afraid that I'd miss the burglar alarm if someone broke in. So, I used a low-tech solution— I stacked three metal pans underneath each of the windows and turned out the lights. Anyone defeating the security system would make a bunch of noise. It's enough to wake the dead.

I was sipping an oversize mug of java and reveling in the scent. It never tastes very good after mint toothpaste, so I just enjoyed the scent for the time being as I sat down at my desk. The software informed me that it was downloading 32 messages. Well, there went my morning! Against my better judgment, I decided to check my voice mail. Let's see, with the Atlantic City job, the moon change, and the trip to Vegas, I'd been gone for nine days. There were probably fifty messages waiting for me. I grabbed a pen and pad and started to work.

After I'd had to re-write a message to a customer for the third time because it sounded arrogant and condescending, I was sick of Sue's frustration pushing at me. I picked up the phone and dialed the number that I'd already memorized.

"Hello?" Sue's voice sounded like she felt in my head. All that was missing was the burnt metal scent of her frustration.

"Would you chill?" I snarled. "I've got to get some work done here. Go read a book or take a hot bath or something. I'll be by when I get business taken care of!"

I could feel her start in my head and then embarrassment washed through me. I hung up without waiting for her to reply into the receiver.