her pickup to the only available parking spot at the rear of the convenience store. As she paused to toss yesterday’s newspaper into the Dumpster, she noticed a familiar figure jump down from the passenger seat of a RoomStore furniture truck.
Their eyes met over a row of industrialsized trashcans. Edward Crosby smiled and strutted over to where she stood.
“You following me?” he demanded, popping a stick of gum in his mouth.
Cooper looked over his khaki pants and blue long-sleeved polo bearing the RoomStore logo.
He pointed at the embroidered letters on his chest. “Do I look better in this than in the last uniform you saw me wearing?”
Remembering the beige scrubs he’d worn in jail, she nodded. “Blue suits you. How do you like the job?”
Edward shrugged. “The money’s crap compared to what I made before.” He snorted. “I could make this kind of paycheck in a single day without moving a muscle. Now I gotta carry entertainment centers up three flights of steps while some woman warns me not to get her carpet dirty.” He shrugged. “But I’ve got another job I like better.” Without elaborating further, he gestured at the store entrance. “If you’re going in to buy something, let’s go. This man needs a coffee and I gotta be back on the clock in thirty.”
Inside, Cooper poured coffee into the largest cup Wawa sold. As she fitted on a lid, Edward leaned toward her and whispered, “What happened with that dude? The one in your sister’s crib?”
Cooper avoided looking into Edward’s shimmering gray eyes as she passed him the coffee. “No one knows. Or at least I don’t. Neither Ashley nor her husband have received an update from the police.”
“Pfft!” Edward blew away a curl of steam escaping through a hole in his cup lid. “The men in blue ain’t gonna report to your sister or to you. Shoot, girl. They forgot about you before the sun came up the next day.” He shook his head in disdain. “Probably stuffed that Mexican boy’s file into a drawer and moved on to bigger and better cases. They got things going on in my part of town and folks are watching them. That’s what’s important. You following what I’m saying?”
“They’re all important!” Cooper retorted heatedly. “Justice is important!”
Edward stared at her, his jaw clenched and his eyes flashing. “Whatcha gonna do with that anger, girl? Let it go to waste? Or are you gonna use it? Change the world with it?”
Cramming a lid onto her own cup, Cooper shot back, “I’m doing something, don’t you worry!”
“Glad to hear it.” Edward’s hard look instantly softened and he gave her a satisfied smile as they joined the checkout line. “That’s what’s so amazing about you,” he continued, his smile dissipating. “You felt that kind of anger on behalf of my daddy. When he died, nobody else gave his death a second thought. Nobody gave a damn, but you wouldn’t let it go.” He put his hand on her shoulder and turned her toward him. “Because of what you did—the way you fought for righteousness—I’ve got your back ’til the day I die. I owe you, and a Crosby never forgets his debts.”
Cooper didn’t know what to say. She dropped her eyes and murmured her thanks.
“What was the Mexican boy’s name?” Edward inquired as he picked up a package of Hostess cupcakes. “I could ask around—see if he was in my old line of work.”
“This is a fake name, but it’s what he went by.” After scribbling Miguel’s full name on a napkin, Cooper passed it over to Edward. “Shouldn’t you avoid those places?” she asked carefully. “What if . . . you get drawn back in?”
“Nice to know you care.” Edward returned the napkin to her. “Put your digits on here, too. In case I dig up anything in my spare time.”
Cooper added her cell phone number to the napkin. She held it out to Edward and his hand shot out and closed around hers, forcing her to lose her balance and careen into his chest. “Of all the people in this town,” he whispered into her hair, “I need you to believe I have the power to change. Understand?”
Once again, Cooper felt as though she could simply melt into Edward’s chest. She wanted to linger in the moment, his breath stirring her hair, his hands capturing hers in a warm, strong grip. “I believe in you, Edward,” she whispered back, her voice more husky than she’d intended.
“Now that’s worth the price