No Good Deed - Marie Sexton Page 0,78

with only one. What had he been thinking?

Charlie held him as he cried, rocking him a little. “It’ll get better. It takes time for your body to adapt, that’s all.”

At that moment, Jonas didn’t believe him. But two days later, he woke feeling better. For the first time since the surgery, his first thought wasn’t about how lousy he felt. It wasn’t about how much pain he was in. His very first thought was that he was ravenously hungry.

A day after that, he felt almost as good as usual. His back and side were still tender. He had to be careful not to move too fast. But overall, he felt normal again. It amazed him how two or three days could make such a huge difference. His return to normal hadn’t been a day-by-day improvement so much as a sudden jump from bad to good.

He was just relieved to know he wouldn’t feel that lousy forever.

“I’m supposed to help Warren and Taylor move tomorrow,” Charlie said to him that night as they sat on the couch, Charlie knitting and Jonas doodling in his sketch pad. “I’m not sure how I feel about leaving you alone all day.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jonas assured him. “Besides, you go back to work on Monday.” Urgent Care had taken Charlie back once they realized there were no charges and no evidence of Charlie having stolen from them, but by then, they’d reached the ten-day vacation Charlie had put in for in order to play nursemaid for Jonas.

But he couldn’t stay home forever.

“I’ll have to take care of myself like a grown-up starting next week,” Jonas said. “May as well start a couple of days early.”

Charlie left around ten the next morning. Jonas spent the morning working on his latest commission. Now that the surgery was over and he knew he wasn’t returning to Seattle, he was ready to get back into a daycare too. Seeing those little kids each week kept his spirits up and gave him tons of artistic inspiration.

He ate a late lunch and was cleaning up the dishes while Buttercup wound in circles around his ankles, almost tripping him at every turn, when somebody knocked on the back door. Nobody had come by since the cop had gone up and down the street, asking questions. And now, when somebody needed Charlie again, he wasn’t here.

Jonas opened the door, using his foot to keep Buttercup from escaping. “Hi. Charlie isn’t here right now.”

Buttercup bolted as the man plowed into Jonas, knocking him to the floor. Pain lanced through him, making him scream. His hand instinctively went to his scars. No blood, but the pain brought tears to his eyes. He groaned, rolling to his hands and knees as the man slammed the door shut and set the dead bolts.

Jonas breathed deep, willing the pain to let up. “What do you want?”

The man whirled on him, his eyes wild. But Jonas’s focus wasn’t on his eyes or his unkempt beard or his dirty hair. It was on the pistol, pointed directly at his face. The rest of the room receded. He no longer felt pain. He knew only that gun and a paralyzing, gut-clenching fear. His lunch threatened to make a reappearance. Charlie had talked to him about Warren’s brush with his neighbor. This could only be Jeremy.

“Charlie isn’t here,” Jonas said, his mouth dry. He couldn’t take his eyes off the barrel of the pistol.

“I know he has pills here.”

“Okay.” Jonas’s mind reeled for options. “Hang on. I can get you some.”

It took him a second to stand up, the pain flaring through him again. Jeremy held the gun out with both hands, his arms straight and shaking. Not like somebody who knew how to handle a gun, but like somebody who was desperate enough to try anything. “Hurry up!”

“Hang on. I just had surgery.”

“What kind of surgery?”

Jonas had never spent much time with his father, but at that moment, one memory jumped into his head. His father had been planning for a playoff game. The star running back had returned from injury two days earlier.

“Why can’t we do it like the NHL?” his dad had asked. “‘Lower body injury.’ ‘Upper body injury.’ That’s all you get from them. But in the NFL, they make us divulge everything. Now the other team’s entire defense knows my guy has bad knees.” He’d shaken his head at Jonas. “We shouldn’t have to reveal our biggest weakness to the enemy.”

For possibly the first time in his