The Enforcer - Kelli Callahan Page 0,27
my bearings again. I slide my hands into my pockets and trying to dispel the awkward silence between us. I am flooded with relief, hearing the knock on my door.
“Hey perfect timing!” I say, opening the door where I’m met by a skinny redhead with acne.
“Good. Maybe that means you’ll tip me too,” the kid says, passing me the boxes.
“Oh yeah, aren’t we a bold one?” I murmur, pulling out my wallet and passing him a fifty.
“Keep the change,” I say, closing the door in his face.
“Did he seriously ask you for a tip?” she asks with a laugh, her eyes on the pizza.
“Yeah, he did,” I chuckle.
“How much do you tip him?” Diana asks, taking the top box from me, and opening it.
I turn the receipt over before answering, “This was twenty bucks, so I guess I gave him a thirty dollar tip.”
She chokes on the bite of cheese pizza.
“You tipped him more than the cost of the pizza?” she asks eyes wide.
“Yeah, I guess I did,” I chuckle, sitting down with the supreme pizza in my lap.
“Why would you do that?” she asks.
“I figure if the kid is bold enough to ask for a tip, he probably needs the money. Also, I’m so hungry I don’t feel like digging through my wallet looking for fives and singles.” I shrug. “It’s not like we’re hurting for cash either.” I nod back to the safe.
“I guess that’s true,” she says taking a large bite of pizza. “God this is good!” She groans.
I turn to her, raising an eyebrow.
“What?” she asks. “We haven’t eaten in twenty-four hours!”
Looking at the clock I do the math in my head. “I didn’t even realize it, sorry, I probably should have stopped for food or picked you up something at Walmart…” I say trailing off.
“No, it’s fine,” she says. “You’ve done so much for me already.”
I nod.
“So, how long are we going to sit here?”
“I will sit here,” I say, “until five am, then I’m driving to Greensboro, and meeting up with Noah and we will try to figure out a plan of attack for this.” I pick up a new piece of pizza and take another bite.
“What am I going to do I wonder?” she says.
“You are going to stay here and sleep, and not open the door for anyone.” I pause trying to think of the best course of action all the way around. “God forbid, there’s another fire,” I say, trying not to shudder at the thought, “use the fire escape and wait for me at the local police department. The arsonist is not likely to have connections. You should be fairly safe here, or as safe as anyone is.”
“I don’t like the idea of staying here alone,” she admits, staring at me.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would. But if you look at this more like a vacation,” I take a bite and chew before continuing, “a vacation, where you sleep in, with the blinds drawn and try to relax, meditate or something, read a book, whatever. It won’t be so bad.” I continue to eat and watch her as she thinks of a response.
“I didn’t bring any books,” she says.
“Well, we’re in a hotel, you can probably get the Bible.” I shrug.
She stares at me.
“There’s television. Look, I don’t really care what you do as long as you don’t leave this room or open the door for anyone. I’ll drop off breakfast before I leave,” I say, “and there’s a coffee pot in your room.”
“Okay,” she says with a sigh. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be difficult. I just have a hard time being still, I need to do something. I have to be a part of it in some way. I don’t want to be a victim or a damsel in distress.”
“I want to go home,” I say. “But we can’t always get what we want. We just have to take things a day at a time and follow my lead.” I nod.
She looks down at her plate, her slice of pizza, and closes the box.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She rises and walks to the window, staring out over the shrub to the dimly lit parking lot.
“Yes, I’m okay,” she whispers. “You don’t think…” she trails off.
“You don’t think what?” I ask, walking over to stand beside her wiping my hands on my jeans.
“You don’t think that Michael has anything to do with this do you?” she asks.
I stare down into those soft brown eyes.
“It’s a possibility,” I reply.
“Even