When Summer Comes (26 page)

“You looking for trouble?”

“If trouble is what it takes.”

“What the hell’s
that
supposed to mean?” Powell demanded.

“It means I know you guys did it,” Levi said. “I know you started the fire at the farm night before last.”

“No, we didn’t,” Powell argued, but the expression on Denny’s face led Levi to believe he was dying to take credit for what he’d done, to convince Levi that he was as big and bad as he liked to act.

When Denny’s lips curved into a taunting smile, Levi supposed ego had won. “Even if we did, there’s nothing you can do about it, asshole,” he said. “Not unless you can prove it.”

Levi grinned and kept grinning until Denny exchanged an uncertain glance with his buddy.

“What?” he said. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“I’m just waiting for you to realize your mistake.”

“I haven’t made a mistake,” Denny said, but the satisfaction he’d exhibited earlier was gone. These words came out sullen and dark.

“Yes, you have,” Levi told him. “There’s nothing
Chief Stacy
can do. He’s the one who faces the burden of proof. Not me.”

“Go to hell!” Denny shoved Powell out of the way and started to slam the door, but Levi stopped it with his foot.

“I’ve already lost everything I care about,” he said.

“So?” Denny sneered.

“So I’m not the kind of guy you want to provoke. Now do you understand the situation a little better?”

“Get your foot out of my damn door!” Denny cried.

Levi didn’t remove it. “Not before I have my say. You set any more fires, or harm Callie or anything that belongs to her, I’ll make you sorry you were ever born.” He shifted his attention to Powell. “That goes for both of you.”

Powell ripped the door out of Denny’s hands. “Are you threatening us?”

Levi didn’t bother denying it. “Yes, I am.”

He blinked as if he hadn’t expected an admission. Now that he had one, there was nowhere to go. He immediately began to backpedal. “Denny was just messing with you, man, making you think we set that fire. But we didn’t. We didn’t do anything.”

Levi shook his head. “We both know better than that, so don’t insult me by lying. Tell me I’ve made myself clear. That’s all I’m looking for today.”

“You can’t come over here like this, trying to pick a fight,” Denny said, but Powell spoke at the same time. “I’m going to call Chief Stacy!”

Levi chuckled. “Damn, those are great costumes.”

They glanced at each other. “What are you talking about?” Powell asked.

“Those bodies you’ve worked so hard to build. They put up a nice front.”

Denny finally rallied. “Get out of here before we kick your ass.”

It was a weak threat, but Levi wasn’t about to let him get away with any more than he’d already done. “I’m not opposed to letting you try.”

“You son of a bitch—” Denny started to come after him, but Powell jerked his friend back.

“He’s not worth it, man. For all we know, the hillbillies in this town will take
his
side and we’ll wind up in jail.”

“By way of the hospital,” Levi said. “I may not be good at too many things, but I do have talent in certain areas.”

“And if I have a gun?” Denny muttered. “What can your talents do against that?”

Levi lowered his voice. “Either one of you comes at me with a weapon, that takes this to a whole new level.”

“Meaning...”

“I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re the one who doesn’t survive,” he said, and walked back to his bike.

* * *

Chief Stacy called while Callie was driving, so she had to use her Bluetooth to answer. “Hello?”

“You think that friend of yours is a law-abiding citizen, do you?”

Callie gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. Had Stacy come up with Levi’s true identity? If so, what did it reveal?

“Which friend?” she said, trying to play it as if she wasn’t worried. “I’ve got a lot of them.”

“None of them concern me like the man who’s currently living under your roof.”

“I’ve told you not to worry about Levi.”

“It’s my job to worry. And he’s giving me plenty of reason.”

Slowing, she pulled to the side of the road. She didn’t want the stress of driving on top of having this conversation. “How?”

“He threatened Denny Seamans and Powell Barney.”

She wasn’t surprised. Not really. Levi wasn’t the type to sit by and allow Denny to behave the way he did without reacting. “Who told you that?”

“Denny just filed a complaint.”

“Are you going to arrest him?” she asked with a laugh that said doing so would be preposterous.

This seemed to take Stacy off guard. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because it’s his word against Levi’s!”

“Powell’s backing him up. Said he was there and heard the whole conversation.”

“But Powell would say anything Denny wants. And Denny’s a known liar.”

The volume of Stacy’s voice went up. “I think Levi’s been doing his share of lying, too, Callie. You heard what I told him at your place. My background search turned up zilch on a Levi McCloud from Seattle. No parking tickets, no speeding tickets, no military service, nothing.”

“So? There could be a mistake.”

“There’s no mistake. He’s not being straight with us. I’m convinced of it.”

She nibbled at her bottom lip while watching the other cars on the road. “Post-traumatic stress disorder affects a lot of our soldiers, makes them do things that might seem crazy to us.”

“Using a false name isn’t crazy. It’s a willful deception, an attempt to hide his past.”

“Maybe it’s nothing like what you’re thinking.”

“What else could it be?”

She’d already created an alternate scenario. She’d needed
some
way to justify continuing to associate with him. “I know he has an abusive father. Maybe he wanted to leave his past behind to prevent his father from ever contacting him.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“No. But it’s plausible.”

“If that was it, he would’ve said.”

Not necessarily. Levi wasn’t at all forthcoming. What she’d learned about him had come out in bits and pieces. “Everyone’s different. I think you’re missing the bigger point here.”

“Which is...”

Her friend Riley passed by with his son, Jacob. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve flagged him down so she could ask him whether or not he knew for sure when Phoenix would be getting out of prison. Callie realized that day would be difficult for him. It would be difficult for Phoenix, too. How would she ever make the transition to regular life, especially since she’d be returning to a community so united against her?

But Callie didn’t honk or wave. Instead, she hunkered down in her seat and hoped he wouldn’t notice her. Lately, she hadn’t been good about returning his calls, either, couldn’t cope with any more accusations of neglect and questions about what was wrong with her.

Fortunately, her car was a popular make and model, and there were enough tourists streaming through town. He drove by without even slowing.

“Denny lied about the night of the attack,” she said into the phone. “We know that for sure. We also know he blames me for the loss of his dog and that he’s been making noises about doing something to punish me for it. That leads me to believe he’s got to be the one who set fire to the barn. There isn’t anyone else who has it in for me. So...how does a liar and a possible arsonist have enough credibility to convince you that you need to arrest
Levi?
”

There was a long pause. “You won’t listen to me on this guy, will you?”

She didn’t respond to that directly. “Even if Levi did threaten Denny, you can’t blame him for wanting to defend himself.”

“Are you sleeping with him?”

This was the last question she’d expected from the chief of police. “Does that have anything to do with the barn-burning or anything else we were discussing?” she asked.

“It could explain your behavior, why you’re so blind when it comes to him.”

The air-conditioning was too cold. She adjusted the vents so they wouldn’t blow on her. “I think I’m seeing well enough, Chief. I know Levi has problems. But he’s a good person, someone who’s worth helping. I’ve already noticed how he’s begun to relax since he’s been here, that he isn’t walling everyone out anymore.”

She could’ve expounded on that statement, could’ve told him she didn’t know many people who would’ve taken care of a two-day acquaintance as well as he’d cared for her the night she was sick. He was also a man of his word, or he would’ve moved on the second his bike was fixed. Even with the barn burned, he was sticking around, trying to look out for her. He had a tender heart. What would he be like with consistent kindness and a stronger sense of safety and security? There was no telling. But she was afraid revealing all of that would only confirm what the police chief had already inferred—that she cared about him and, therefore, saw only the best.

“Callie, I’ve known you since we were kids,” Chief Stacy said. “Maybe I’ve got a few years on you, but we grew up together. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

She felt guilty for being so defensive. He was just trying to do his job, a job he was good at. “I appreciate the sentiment. Really, I do. But Denny is the only threat to me. If you really want to help, make sure
he
keeps his distance, okay?”

He spoke over the blare of a radio in the background. “I’ve got a cruiser going by your place every hour, starting at eight in the evening.”

Putting her X3 back in Drive, she waited for a break in the traffic streaming past her. “I’m grateful. Thank you.”

“I have to admit, though...”

“What?” she said when his words drifted off.

“I never expected you to fall for someone like Levi. A woman like you...you deserve more. A guy with a job, at least,” he added with a chuckle.

She had a chance to merge onto the highway, but the chief’s words—or rather, the telltale self-consciousness in his voice—shocked her so badly that she missed it. “I’m flattered,” she said. “I really am.”

“My divorce will be final soon.”

Where was he going with
this?
If it was what she thought, what any woman would think, she regretted saying she was flattered.

“Will you keep that in mind?” he asked before she could respond to the divorce statement.

Callie shoved her transmission back in Park. Was he serious? So what if he had a steady job? She’d never looked at him as a possible love interest. He seemed much older, had been married since she was in high school. But the divorce changed nothing on her part. She didn’t find him remotely attractive.

Since when had he decided he’d like to date her? Was it just because he’d recently become more aware of her, thanks to the dog attack and Levi?

Obviously, he assumed that if she’d be interested in a vagrant, he should have a much better chance.

Intending to let him down easy, she opened her mouth to say that she appreciated the kind of person he was. It was the beginning of her own version of the clichéd “I just want to be friends” speech. But then she realized she might not need to state her feelings one way or the other. If she didn’t get a liver soon, dating
anyone
would be a moot point.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she promised.

* * *

The first thing Callie saw when she arrived home was a worn leather jacket tossed over Levi’s bike, which was parked out front instead of in the back, as usual.

He’d been over to Denny’s, all right. He must’ve found his jacket there. She couldn’t see any blood on it, but the dirt ground into one sleeve suggested it’d been in a ditch or a field.

“Hello?” she called when she entered the house. “Anyone home?”

A tantalizing aroma drifted out of the kitchen.

“Hey!” Levi answered as Rifle trotted into the living room to greet her. “It’s about time you got here. Dinner’s almost ready.”

“Smells great.”

“You hungry?”

“Famished.” She’d skipped lunch for fear it would make her nauseous. She was afraid of eating, but her hunger prevented her from avoiding it now.

“Come on, then.”

“Be right there.” First she wanted to hide the advanced directive she’d printed off the internet when she stopped by the studio after Baxter’s. Since Tina had finished getting the slide shows of her recent shoots ready for the clients who were coming in tomorrow, Callie’d had the place to herself. Her doctor had advised her to fill out a directive several weeks ago, but she hadn’t been able to make herself face the decisions involved. What did she want her parents to do if she ended up on life support? At what point should they pull the plug? What other decisions would she want them to make if she could no longer decide for herself?

At thirty-two it seemed macabre to even consider those questions. The panic she felt at the thought of losing control over such basic things, even to people she trusted as much as her parents, nearly made her break into a cold sweat. But she figured she should be clear about her wishes while she had the chance, otherwise, she’d leave herself vulnerable to having
no one
in control.

“Can I pour you a glass of wine?” he called.

“No, thanks.” She dropped her purse on her bed, slipped the directive into her top drawer and hurried to the kitchen to see that he’d grilled salmon, steamed asparagus and prepared wild rice. “Wow, fancy.”

“Healthy. That’s how you eat, right?”

She wondered if he’d added any salt. Because of her liver problems, she had to be careful not to build up ascites, or excess abdominal fluids. She didn’t want to have to get a shunt to drain her abdominal cavity. She’d been warned about the danger. The excess fluid invited infection, which made it doubly bad. “You didn’t use much salt, did you?”

“No. Why?”

“I avoid it as much as possible.” She could rinse her asparagus and scrape off the fish....

“I went easy,” he assured her.

“Great. Thanks.”

He carried two plates to the table. “Anything exciting happen today?”

She smiled at how domestic it felt to have him cooking in her kitchen and serving her dinner. “Not really. I hear yours was eventful, though.”