Fugitive Heart - By Bonnie Dee Page 0,12
wild mane silhouetted against the window.
She raised her hand in a cheery wave, then bounced down the stairs to meet him. She wore cutoff jeans and a T-shirt and carried a blanket over her arm and a large bag from which delicious smells wafted. Goddamn but she was pretty.
A second later, a thin woman with dark hair and bright red lips stepped out onto the porch. “You going to introduce me?” the woman asked in a husky voice. Eyeing him, she pulled a cigarette from her apron pocket and lit it. “I’m Marty. You must be Sam.”
“Nice to meet you. We have to get going, or we’ll be late,” he said to Marty, who squinted through the smoke at him. He didn’t want her grilling him, and she looked all set to do that.
“You already are late. Have fun, kids. Be back before midnight, or I’ll tell Gopher.” The woman gave him another obvious up-and-down examination. “Get some info about this one, Ames. I’ll pay for the details.”
“Closing for a week and half your tips or no deal, Marty.”
Another reminder to keep his goddamn mouth shut and get out of this date as soon as possible. These people had no reason to keep secrets. He’d thought the dark would be enough to keep him and Ames safe from prying eyes. He should have known better than to suppose people would mind their own business.
Nick steered Ames to an empty spot, and she spread the blanket onto the grass far from the crowd or a decent view of the makeshift screen. This might be okay. He could talk to her here—except everyone who’d glanced at him as he’d crossed the park to the restaurant now strolled up to their blanket, demanding an introduction to him.
He had a red ball cap shoved into his back pocket just for this reason. He yanked it out and pulled it down as far as he could over his face. He smiled and nodded and agreed that the weather was fine. He twisted away a little and pretended to be watching the movie while the police chief strolled past, and when anyone’s questioning got too personal, he’d take another bite of the potato salad or apple pie Ames had provided.
The latest arrival, Mrs. Greely, or Greedy, beamed down at him, blocking the view of the screen. She did a great job blocking too. The woman had to be at least six feet tall with shoulders like a fullback. She was somewhere between forty and sixty, with gray hair, and planted her feet shoulder-width apart as she settled into interrogation mode. The fifth cross-examination since he and Ames had settled on the blanket.
“New York? So you’re a friend of Elliot’s?”
He’d swallowed the last bite of pie and had no excuse not to talk. “It’s a big place.”
She laughed as if he’d said something hilarious. “My boy Jakey and he were best buds.”
Nick stopped pretending to watch the movie. He leaned close to Ames and murmured, “You said you were looking for your brother. Maybe this Jakey guy knows where he is.”
She nodded and twisted her bottom lip with her fingers, drawing his attention to her mouth. Again.
Ames picked at some grass and fiddled with it. She didn’t look at the older woman as she asked, “Mrs. Greely, is Jake still working at the Feed and Seed?”
“No, honey. He decided to go back to school. He’s taking a few classes in business administration.” Beaming, the big woman plunked down on the edge of their blanket. “He’s finally doing something with his life—it took a while to recover from all those years of bad influences.” She covered her mouth with her hand and glanced at Ames. “Oh, sorry.”
Nick pretended not to understand the older woman’s implication that Ames’s brother was a negative influence.
“That’s wonderful,” Ames said after a noticeable silence. “Where’s he studying?”
Nick hadn’t heard of the community college, but that was no surprise. He found it fast enough when he casually clicked on his brand-new phone. Head bowed, he shifted so his back was to the two women. They talked as he pretended to text messages but actually did a quick search about the community college.
He pressed buttons and listened to Ames and Mrs. Greely. The subject soon shifted from Jake Greely to other town gossip. Only a couple of decibels lower than she’d been speaking, Mrs. Greely said in a hoarse voice, “Richard says that this guy went to bed with Jenny, just to…well, you know, get