“Now,” he answered.
Shit.
* * * * *
Hank carried his workout bag that he’d emptied for me to pack and held my hand as we walked up some steps to some offices. I had the handle of Shamus’s leash in my other hand. Shamus was beside himself with glee, his doggie body trembling with it. He was on an adventure.
I was beside myself with despair. I couldn’t be left alone without protection.
I’d come without a fight mainly because I’d caused enough worry and mayhem. I didn’t need to have a big argument with Hank when he needed to go to work.
Furthermore, he was right. Uncle Tex was huge and tough but Lee’s boys could be commissioned to keep the Pope safe.
Not to mention, Hank had said “please”.
We walked into some offices. The lights were out in the room we entered, but there was an inside door open, a light from the hal way there lit the space and I could tel it was a reception area.
Hank and I walked down the hal , it had several doors leading off of it.
A man came out of a room halfway down the hal , but stood in the open doorway. He was built like a truck but perhaps slightly more solid.
“Safe room’s open and ready,” he said to Hank then his eyes came to me briefly, then he went back into the room and the door closed behind him.
Not much of a welcome.
Hank took me toward the end of the hal and into a room.
It was sparsely furnished and not decorated. A double bed, a reclining chair, a TV and a bookshelf ful of books and DVDs. Another door led off of it.
I let go of Shamus’s lead and he got busy exploring his new space.
Hank dumped the bag in the chair.
“Sleep,” he said after he turned to me. “I’l be back before you wake up.”
“Okay,” I replied. He was busy, he had things to do, important things that involved crime and justice. I reminded myself that now was not the time to cause a fuss.
He walked up to me. I noticed his eyes were lazy and I held my breath. His hand came to the side of my neck and he gave me a light kiss.
Then he was gone.
I took off my jacket under which I was wearing a pair of jeans and my lilac nightie. I took off my shoes, the jeans, turned off the light and got into the bed. Shamus got in with me, walked around on the bed for awhile, getting the lay of the land, settled on his side, his back pressed to my side and we both fel asleep.
* * * * *
Shamus jerked and jumped off the bed. I rol ed over to see what he was up to but he was already halfway across the room.
I looked toward the doorway and a man was standing there.
For a second, I stared at him, confused, because I didn’t know what was going on.
Then I remembered.
Even so, I continued to stare at the man.
It didn’t take much to know this was another one of Lee’s boys. Not Big Truck Dude, this guy was tal but lean, wearing black cargo pants, a black, skintight t-shirt and black boots. He had black hair, cut close and the absolute best facial hair I’d ever seen on a guy in my life. A thick, black mustache that grew across his lip and down the sides of his mouth, shaved clean and precise. He looked like Harley Man morphed with Just Plain Hot Man.
“Hey,” I said to him.