The Focaccia Fatality (8 page)

“Well, that’s Scotland. Our country has a different mindset altogether. These people wield power like a sword, cutting a path anywhere they darn well please without regard for who gets hurt. They often use stealthy methods to eliminate what might be seen as a problem, as well.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Aidan murmured as his gaze flicked toward the door.

I turned in my seat and stared. A mean-looking biker dude had entered Mack & Mutts. He gave the shop a narrow-eyed once-over before he settled a cold-eyed stare on me and sauntered over.

“You Melina Cameron?” he asked.

Shaking in my shoes, I gave a slight nod. Who would send this type of person to find me? “How c-can I help you?” I stammered.

“Your gran sent me. She’s in trouble. You better follow me,” he said with a hasty glance at Aidan.

I gasped. “Seanmhair? She sent you to find me?”

When he nodded, his long, greasy hair fell forward and grossed me out like I hadn’t been in ages. My skin crawled as I took stock of this badass. His worn jeans were covered in leather chaps that had seen better days, just as he had. Shoulder-length, scraggy brown hair lay thin across his scalp. The jacket he wore had patches of leather missing and was a sad, faded black. The dude looked mangy. I’d noted his teeth were as much a mess as the rest of him. One front tooth was missing, and the others were stained as though he chewed tobacco and had little use for a toothbrush or dentist.

“How do you know Sean?” I asked as Aidan and I stood.

“She’s my BFF on Facebook,” he said with a smile that sent shockwaves from my head to my toes.

“Really?” I asked and gave him a look of disbelief with a raised brow.

“She’s been trying to call you, and got worried when you didn’t answer,” he said with a nod. “I think she seriously needs you now. You comin’ or what?”

I gave Aidan a glance and then slipped my jacket on. Billy Badass led the way. We left the pizzeria after Aidan tossed enough money on the table to cover the bill. The lawless looking dude loped in long strides toward a stripped-down Harley Davidson, and I hurried to keep pace.

“Why did she call you, and what did she say?” I asked.

Over his shoulder, Billy Badass replied, “She didn’t explain what the problem was. She just said to bring you to her. Her voice is all wobbly and she sounded kinda hysterical.”

Aidan’s hand clamped onto my wrist. I glanced up and saw his headshake. “We would ask you to wait a moment,” he said to the man.

The guy stopped, turned on his heel, and stepped closer to us, though his attention was solely on Aidan. “What did you just say?”

“I said we want you to wait a moment,” Aidan repeated succinctly.

The words came out as ‘aye sayed we won’ted you to wheat a moomaint,’ and I smiled.

At the look on the stranger’s face, I stepped between the two men. “We’d like you to wait so we can ask you more questions,” I said and gave Aidan a wink. He appeared affronted by the fact that Billy Badass hadn’t understood him. With a narrowed glare, Aidan looked him straight in the eye and nodded.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” the dude answered.

I interrupted before Aidan could utter a word and asked, “Exactly where is Sean?”

“She’s hiding in an alley off Water Place Park. I wanted to pick her up, but she insisted I come find you. Good thing you hadn’t gone too far from the bakery.”

I nodded. We began hurrying toward the motorcycle again and I asked, “What’s she doing there?”

“Spying,” he spit the word out.

“On who?” I asked.

Abruptly, the dreadful man stopped short, gave us both a look of disgust, and barked, “How the hell do I know? She’s a wild one, that one, and it does no good to ask questions. You oughtta know that by now.”

“Where on Water Place Park?” Aidan asked.

“Up a ways from the courthouse.”

I stumbled on the pavement, and Aidan grabbed my arm before I hit the ground. Holy crap, my worst fears were realized. Seanmhair was up to her armpits in no good. Hells bells, this was the last thing I needed, or wanted. Sean, known for her spirit and feisty attitude, had, on occasion, been in more than one tight place. She’d now found herself in that same spot once again. At the thought, I puffed like a dragon and tilted my head toward Aidan’s car.

“We’ll follow you, just wait, okay?” I instructed Billy Badass.

A nod and grunt were his answer as the dude swung his leg over the motorcycle seat and started the engine. It rumbled to life and he waited at the curb until Aidan and I were ready to roll. Billy Badass swung the bike into traffic and motioned for us to follow him. We took Benefit Street, wove through a few side streets and shortly hit South Main Street. The motorcycle slowed and the dude pointed to the alley where Sean supposedly hid.

I held my breath as Aidan pulled to the curb. With a backhanded wave, Billy Badass roared away on his Harley. We left the car, walked slowly toward the alley, and heard Seanmhair’s voice. Her fear lay in the sound of her words.

“You get out of here, right now. I’ve no business with the likes of you,” Sean said in a worried tone.

“Give me your bag, old lady, and you can go on your way.”

“I’ll do no such thing,” she answered.

The crash of metal and a sudden
oomph
brought me to a run. I yelled, “Sean, where are you?”

Footsteps pounded the hard surface of the alley’s pavement, echoing off the brick walls. When I didn’t hear Sean, I groped around for her. Though the alley wasn’t completely dark because of the street lights, Sean lay in shadow. My fear mounted as I reached her. Aidan held his phone near Sean while the small light from the instrument showed she was alive and shaking.

She grasped my arms and said, “I thought you’d never get here, Melina. Eddie said he’d find you for me.”

“Sean, can you get up?” Aidan asked as he hovered awkwardly over us.

“I can, I was just frightened.”

“I’ll help you up,” I said and hauled the plump little woman to her feet.

As she tried to stand, she yelped in pain, and I quickly put my arm around her. “She needs to go to the emergency room, Aidan. Help me get her to the car.”

We’d set her in the front seat and I rode in the back as Aidan wended through traffic to the hospital. While I prepared to rush inside to get an orderly to help Seanmhair, Aidan spoke softly to her. Grateful for his ability to calm us both, I hurried indoors and returned with a young man in a white uniform, pushing a wheelchair.

We’d gotten Sean out of the car and into the wheelchair without causing her much duress when Aidan said, “Sean’s either got a bad sprain or she broke something. I think she might be happier if you stay with her until she’s been seen by the doctor.”

“I think you’re right. Are you coming in?” I asked him.

Aidan assured me with a sweet smile and a nod. “After I park the car. I’ll be in the waiting area should you need me.”

I left him to handle that and followed the orderly through the automatic doors. He’d gotten Seanmhair into a curtained cubicle and was assisting her onto a gurney while I watched. Adroit at his handling of the sick and elderly, the man knew his stuff, and I smiled in thanks when he said we’d be seen shortly.

The wait seemed to take forever, but as triage is handled, Sean’s injury wasn’t life-threatening, just painful for her. I stood next to her as she lay waiting and asked softly, “What were you doing in that alley?”

Her look was one of pleading. Clearly, Sean didn’t want me to be angry.

“I’m not upset, I’m worried. Now, tell me what you were doing there.”

“I was on my way home from a card game and remembered I’d forgotten to pick up a gift I’d ordered for you. When I parked near Miss Esposito’s shop, I saw two men walking up the street and into a pub. One of them was that Mr. Gallagher fellow. I followed and watched from the alley across the street. They sat in the window, so I got a good look at what was going on.”

I sighed and asked, “What
was
going on?”

“They were arguing. Mr. Gallagher seemed to be making a demand and the other man kept shaking his head ‘no’. What do you think it was about?”

With a mental eye-roll, I whispered, “I don’t have the slightest idea. Don’t you think it would have been wiser to go about your business instead of putting yourself in a dangerous position?”

A shiver shook her stout body as Sean nodded. “That man was a beggar. He tried to rob me, imagine that? I wasn’t giving him my purse or anything else. He can get a job like the rest of us, and make do the best he can,” Sean said with a sniff.

Before I could make a remark, a nurse stepped into the cubicle and asked Sean a slew of questions, scribbled the answers on a sheaf of papers, and then said, “Right. Let’s talk about how your ankle is feeling.”

Sean tried to move her foot and grimaced with pain. I laid my hand on her arm to soothe her.

The nurse gave me a glance and said, “Don’t worry, the doctor will take care of this momentarily.”

No sooner had she said so when the curtain was thrust aside and a man in a white coat, with a stethoscope around his neck, strode to Sean’s bedside. He took the chart the nurse handed him, perused it briefly, and then set it aside in order to check Sean’s ankle. He twisted and turned the foot, pressed the bones and flexed Sean’s toes. Her face grew bright red and then darker red as he continued to cause her excruciating pain.

“Is that necessary?” I asked.

The doctor gave me a glance, turned back to Sean, and said, “I’ll order an x-ray and then we’ll determine how to handle this ankle.” He turned and dismissed me with, “You can wait in the waiting room until we’re done with this patient.”

My mouth fell open and I gaped at him. A colder man, I’d never met. So much for caring about the people he’d taken an oath to help. In a snit, I marched toward the waiting area as Sean was wheeled toward the x-ray department.

Wandering through the crowds of people who awaited news of their loved ones, I found Aidan in a corner, a magazine in his hand. He glanced up, smiled at me, and asked, “How’s Sean?”

“She’ll be fine, I’m sure. I think she has a sprain, a bad one. The doctor isn’t saying and acts as if he could care less.”

“Medical people do become immune to the pain people experience. At least, that’s how I see it, lass. They become less sympathetic sometimes due to the amount of pain and suffering they deal with. Give them some leeway and you’ll find Sean will be treated well,” Aidan offered in a gentle tone. “Did Sean say how she’d found herself in that alley?”

I leaned in close, whispered her story in his ear, and watched him shake his head.

He snickered and said, “You and Sean share the same need to be in the mix of things, for sure. I don’t understand it, but find you two are quite adventurous.”

“She won’t be able to get around very well if her ankle is sprained. If it’s broken, she might be in a worse spot than she realizes. We’ll wait and see what the x-ray results are and then I’ll have to decide how we’ll handle what needs doing.” The door swung open and a tall white-haired man stood gazing around the room. I smiled and motioned Connor forward.

He’d taken a seat across from us when an attendant approached and asked if I’d join him in Sean’s cubicle. I left the two Scots and hurried to catch up. As we entered the emergency area, I asked, “Is Sean okay?”

“Sean? Your gran?”

I nodded.

“She’ll be right as rain in no time. The doctor has left instructions for her care.”

The doctor stood at the opening where Sean was being treated. He laughed with her as she made a remark. I wondered if she was telling him an off-color joke and shook my head, dismissing the idea.

I peered around the curtain and saw her leaning on a pair of crutches. Her ankle had been wrapped and secured. “Are you all set?” I asked and then glanced at the physician.

“She’ll be fine. It’s a serious sprain, so she’ll need to stay off her foot for some time. I’ll see her in a day or two. Should she have any complications, call my office immediately.” He handed me a card and said goodbye. On his way out, the doctor winked at Sean and gave her a bright smile. “You take care, now, Sean.”

Her grin brought a smile to my lips.

“I will, you can bet on it,” she answered.

Her trip to the exit was done by wheelchair and much hovering of the two Scotsmen along with the orderly. I walked slowly behind, giving them a chance to make a big deal of my grandmother and allowing her to soak up their attention. Billy Badass was right, Seanmhair was a wild one.

Delivered to her apartment, Seanmhair promised to behave and allow Connor to care for her. I insisted on hiring a nurse to come in and check on her, but Sean insisted she’d have none of that. I think she basked in the attention she received from the man of her dreams. I knew that feeling well when Aidan fawned over me.

I finally left Sean with a promise to come by later. Connor smiled and walked me to the door.

He stood outside in the corridor and in a kind tone, he said, “Sean will be fine. You run your shop, and I’ll take care of what needs doing here. When you have an opportunity, come on over. Not to worry, Melina. Should you be needed, I’ll call you straightaway. How’s that?”

“If you’re sure? I’ll be here right after the shop closes, then. Thank you for looking after Sean.”

With a slight sweep of his hand, he brushed my thanks away and told me to go home.

I glanced at my watch and headed for home. Aidan dropped me at the door and watched while I entered my shop and locked up. I waved before he drove away and then wandered upstairs to my own digs. I flopped on the sofa, dragged the afghan up to my neck, and didn’t hear a thing until the automatic alarm on my bedroom clock blared.

Seconds later, I was in the shower. It was the fastest shower I’d ever taken and getting dressed took less time than it ever had before. I was on my own today, no Sean to pick up the slack, unless Samantha decided to show up for work. I raced downstairs, packed up breads and rolls for Bill Mutton to pick up, and then hauled baskets full of fresh bread and rolls into the shop.