Shield of Refuge (11 page)

“What did you say?” he asked Nick, trying to focus on his brother's voice instead of the racing of his heart.

“I asked if you're still at Amber's.”

“Yeah, why?”

“There's rumors that the Scorpions and the Snakes are going to face off downtown. I'd suggest you stay put for a while, for your protection, and to make sure Amber's safe.”

“Okay. Thanks for the warning. Be careful, and call if you need anything.”

He checked his gun and made his way through the kitchen. “That was Nick. There's some trouble brewing downtown.” He made a note to start bringing his Kevlar vest home with him.

Amber watched as he tucked his Glock back into his holster, and turned away. “Is it really that bad? I mean, that they'd call you to help.”

“No, they're taking care of it. Nick suggested we stick around for a while. So why don't we lock the front door and then you can let me help wash dishes.” He went to the front window and looked out, seeing little activity except a few stragglers leaving the pub.

“Have they found any leads to who put the rock through my window?” Amber said, following him with the keys for the deadbolt.

“The gang task force is getting a handle on it. I'm still hoping your window was caught in the crossfire of a gang fight. It's not like the gangs of L.A., but it's definitely a concern for Fossil Creek. This used to be quiet farming community. But when the police have to make an arrest at the Harvest Festival, with families all around, we all get a little concerned.”

“Yeah, I was there. It was pretty strange to watch Nick and Sarah in action that night. Were you down here that night, too?”

He nodded. “I know this was your grandmother's shop, but surely there's a safer area of town you could move the business to and find an apartment somewhere.”

“I can't afford to relocate,” she said, pulling the tables and costume racks back to where they were when he'd arrived.

“Is business going okay?”

She nodded. “Foot traffic is slower than it was back in Nana's day, with conscientious people like you who are cutting back on their sweets,” she said with a smile.

“Have you looked in the mirror recently? You obviously don't eat much of your own baking,” he teased back.

“I have my days, but I get tired of the sweets, too. That's why I decided to combine the party planning with the bakery and whole party store idea. Most people are cutting back on sugar, but they are more interested in throwing elaborate parties. And for those who don't have time, I'm here to help with the planning. I learned a few things from my business classes before I dropped out of college. Find something people want, that they don't have time to do themselves, and give it a unique twist.” She spun around and looked at him. “Now, the bakery is only a small portion of my business, and the party planning is taking a bigger bite out of the pie. So, one day, I hope to spend less hours baking at 3:00 a.m. and more hours coordinating celebrations. Speaking of which, Sarah mentioned needing to talk to me about doing something for her on New Year's Eve. Are they…?”

“I'm not sure when the big day is,” he said with a shrug. “I know you have work to get done.” He headed for the kitchen just as they heard angry voices outside. Garrett didn't like the sounds of them.

Garrett pulled his weapon and headed to the front of the shop to look out the window. “You stay right there,” he ordered.

Just as he walked into the front lobby, he heard gunfire in the alley and spun around.

“Get upstairs into your apartment, Amber.”

She grabbed his arm as he hurried to the back door and followed as he continued into the back entryway. “Don't go out there, Garrett.”

He pulled out his cell phone and called Nick, concerned when he didn't answer. “Don't worry, I'm not crazy enough to go out there without my gear. I'm going to make sure you go up the stairs into your apartment.” He heard sirens in the distance and said a silent prayer for the responding officers.

She ran up the stairs and they both rushed inside.

“Leave the lights off and lead me to the window.”

She took his hand and directed him across the room, around a coffee table and onto the sofa. “Let me open the shade a little.”

“I'd rather you not.” He looked out, seeing two squad cars pass each other, searching the area.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed someone in one of the recessed entryways. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. “This is Garrett Matthews, officer number 463, patch me through to the officers responding downtown to the shooting, immediately.” He paused for a few seconds while the dispatcher put the call out.

“Go ahead, Officer.”

“I'm off duty—in the apartment above the old bakery and can see someone hiding in the entry of the five-and-dime. He's moving…wait, it's one of the bartenders from the pub. Someone get him out of there.”

He heard Amber yell to him from another room. “There's someone laying down in the alley.”

“Just a minute, there's someone in the alley behind the bakery. Let me see what I can tell from here,” he made his way toward her voice, trying to avoid crashing along the way. “Amber?”

“Back here. I think they've been shot.”

G
arrett saw Nick and a friend, Jeremy Logan, get out of their cars and an ambulance waiting around the corner until the police had secured the scene. After the gang task force had responded, Garrett went out and shared what little he could with them.

“What's going on between these gangs? Isn't this the third shooting this year?” Garrett directed the question to one of the gang task force officers.

He nodded. “Third shooting, and there's been one stabbing. That kid died. None of them are talking yet. They don't seem at all interested in making a deal for relocation, either.”

“So besides gang affiliation, anything else behind their recent fighting?”

“The usual, wearing their colors, holding down turf, drawing the lines…” The officer lowered his head and shrugged. “I heard this guy mention TS—sometimes means ‘Texas Syndicate,' a prison gang. We'll look into it.”

“We have TS ties up here?”

“Thanks to the nation's prison system, we never know whose family problems and whose gang loyalties are going to show up on our doorsteps. I'm sure your brother can shed some light on the ‘commerce' their families bring with them.”

He nodded. “Let me know what you find out. And I'm not sure if everyone knows, but we do have a fulltime resident living above the bakery. She's a friend of mine, so if you could…”

“We'll make note of that.”

When he went inside, Amber was watching from her bedroom window, her arms wrapped around her. He stood in the doorway, concerned that crime had again, shattered her sense of security. “It's clear. Why don't we go downstairs and finish up the dishes so you can get some sleep.”

She turned away from the window and walked toward him. “Is he, or she, alive?” she asked as she turned out the light and squeezed out the door, pulling him with her.

“Yes, he's alive. He was shot in the leg, looked pretty bad. Seems to be the latest ritual for gangs, maim but leave them alive. Amber,” he said as he turned her toward him and looked him in the eye. “Are you okay?”

She rolled her head from side to side, then pulled her shoulders to her ears. “I think so. Could you stay here for a while longer…please?”

“Awhile. If you'd like, but we should really get back to my parents while there are officers around. I won't leave you alone, but I also don't want anyone to get the wrong impression. It's been okay at my folks, hasn't it?”

“Sure, but maybe all of this would stop if this creep knows you were here…” Her fear was apparent.

“I'm sorry, Garrett, I don't meant that. I'm a little shaky right now, but I need to get over this fear. I have to get used to staying alone. It's not the first time I've heard gunshots downtown.”

“Do you call them in?”

She shook her head. “I haven't wanted to make enemies, since I'm here alone. And there aren't too many people living down here anymore, so if I call in, it's rather obvious.”

“That's crazy.”

“You're out there chasing down armed gangsters, Garrett, and you call me crazy? Someone has to be here in the middle of the night to get the baking done. After Nick and Sarah's warning, I knew it wasn't safe to come to work in the middle of the night. This is my solution. I need to be ready for the morning customers with fresh baked goods or I'm out of business. With City Hall and the courts still downtown, I might just survive until my wedding planning is bringing in the money.”

He couldn't believe running her own business meant this much to her. “At least you have a comfortable place here so you don't have to come and go alone at night, but your phones going out are the third major incident this week.” He looked around at the early twentieth-century architecture, amazed at how well they had been able to renovate it to keep up with all of her modern appliances. “And considering how old the building is, it's pretty well secured.”

Amber nodded. “And we know that works. I'm relieved Papa had the security upgraded the year before he passed away. He was in and out of the hospital, and didn't want Nana here alone, but she wasn't about to give up her business to thugs. My parents pitched a fit, even then, but Papa installed the security system, and Nana ran it another ten years after that. I'll probably have to upgrade it as soon as business is stronger. The security company really wants me to do it now, but I can't afford it right now.”

“The sooner the better.” He had a feeling this was hitting her harder than she thought it would. He didn't want her to be alone here, but he also didn't feel it was appropriate to offer for the two of them to stay here alone. He had to convince her to find somewhere else to work from temporarily. He started in on the dishes, but Amber pulled him away.

“Wait a minute,” she said, turning him around.

“Wait, yourself. I agreed to do the dishes. You can put them away.” Though it had initially surprised him, Garrett liked the way Amber asserted herself and took business into her own hands.

“Oh, don't worry, I'm letting you do them.” She pulled an apron from the shelf and wrapped it around him. “You'd better wear this. It gets pretty sloppy.”

Garrett watched as she slipped the string over his head, then double-wrapped the apron strings around his waist and tied them. “Thanks, this is my good T-shirt, I'd hate to see it get dirty,” he said sarcastically.

She just smiled. “If this cop thing doesn't work out, you look pretty good in an apron.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” he said, sticking his hands into the hot water and fishing around for a scouring pad. “I'm glad your grandfather was aware of what was happening around here. It's not been easy to see the changes in Old Town the last few years.”

“Change is inevitable. God's plans couldn't come true if everything stayed the same. Without the adversity, would we ever feel the need to rely fully on God? I know until this week, I took that shield of refuge for granted.”

Her wisdom was pretty frightening for someone so young. “I agree one hundred percent, but we can't ignore that sometimes that spiritual shield is also tested, and unfortunately, it's typically a high price to pay. I'd rather we didn't have to worry about gangs and guns, but I probably wouldn't have a job in that case. And yet, He called me into law enforcement, so I guess He'll provide a job somewhere for me.” He rinsed another pan and set it in the steel draining rack. He wanted to make this one pile of dishes take forever, but he had to make sure Amber was able to get some sleep and still be safe for the night.

“I know you have a lot to do, but I'd feel better if you were doing this at Mom and Dad's…”

“Most nights I haven't worried, but after tonight I'll admit, I'm a little more nervous…. You probably will think it's naive, but I pray for safety every night when I drive up here alone. I pray for security for my business….” She took the large brownie pan, dried it and put it away. “I haven't had anything serious happen yet. Until the rock came in the window, that is.”

“The police have been watching very closely in the area again, but that said, we had extra patrols in this area for months, and we can't be everywhere at the same time.”

She shrugged. “I know. I'll be safe. I have a guardian angel watching over the place.”

“Everyone needs one or two. Each of us boys carry a set of our grandfather's handcuffs on duty.”

“Him, too? Wow, it really is in your blood, isn't it?”

“Pretty much,” he said with a smile.

“That's so touching. Did he have a long career?”

Garrett nodded. “Thirty years,” he said quickly, then deliberately changed the subject. “How'd you ever decide to go into business for yourself?”

Amber shook her head, a wistful look on her face. “I used to spend summers here with Nana and Papa. When I'd go home to Wyoming, I had all of these tasty recipes and ideas for parties. My friends started asking me for help planning their parties. I went to national cake decorating competitions, and wanted nothing more than to have my own shop. My parents refused to help me unless I got my college degree.”

“You don't look old enough to have gone through college…where'd you go?”

Her cheeriness faded. “University of Wyoming, but I haven't finished. Not sure I will, actually. I'm too impatient to sit in a classroom for four years. What about you?”

“It wasn't easy sitting still, but I managed to make it through.” He pushed her question aside, ignoring the details. He'd only been motivated to sit through seven years of college and two degrees to prove he could do it. “You're the oldest, aren't you?”

“Why?” She lifted her chin and rolled her blue eyes. “Just because I…”

“I didn't mean that in a negative way,” he said, trying to make amends. “It's one of my hobbies, studying people, figuring out what makes them tick.”

He also realized a relationship between an oldest and a youngest had about as bad odds of survival as police officer marriages. Then again, his family all had a long history of happily-ever-afters.

She pulled the huge pan from the rack and moved it to the top row of the baker's racks. “So you think people fit into stereotypes that easily, do you?”

He nodded. “Not perfectly, but there are common traits that are proven pretty accurate in most cases. Oldest children take charge. Good leaders…”

“So now I'm just a case, huh?” Amber smiled, elbowing him.

An hour later, they finished cleaning and Amber packed her wedding coordinating books to take along to his parents' house. He understood that smile, and the woman, now a lot more than he expected to ever understand any woman—despite the short time they'd known each other. He was beginning to wonder if he'd ever be able to leave her alone here at the end of an evening, even after this case was solved.