“Yes, Sam,” I said quietly, “I’m just Kia.”
He held my eyes, his entire face warm, his eyes both warm and intense and I really liked when he looked at me like that.
Then he said, “Lunch is comin’. More good news, got a buddy who’s got a buddy who’s got a place here. He’s also got skills and hardware. He’s retired so he’s also got time. This means he’s okay with bein’ another pair of eyes, you and I do our thing here, he’ll kit me out and have our back.”
I stared at him.
Then I sought clarification.
“Are you saying he’s going to be our bodyguard?”
Sam nodded once. “That’s what I’m saying.”
“And are you saying that he’s giving you a weapon?”
Sam nodded again, his eyes never leaving me and he repeated, “That’s what I’m saying.”
I went back to staring at him mutely.
Sam, being Sam, felt like being communicative.
“He’s good, he knows what he’s doin’ and between him and me, no one will get at you. We can enjoy the rest of our time here and get you home. In the meantime, I got boys doin’ their thing to see about coverage in Indiana. By the time we touch down in Indianapolis, you’ll be golden.”
Wow. Seriously. He was not wasting any time looking out for me.
I didn’t know what to do with that. The only thing I knew was that it felt really, freaking good.
“Okay,” I whispered.
“I’ll be talking to Barney Oswald too, baby, just so you know.”
“Okay.”
He studied me in a way that it occurred to me that maybe I didn’t quite understand his simple statement.
Sam confirmed my assumption.
“When I say that, I mean, I’ll be talkin’ to him to find out what’s up with his search for this guy and I’ll be talkin’ to him to find out why the f**k he didn’t give you a head’s up.”
“He’s a really good Sheriff, Sam, has been for years because he’s a good guy and he’s protective of his citizens. But he’s known me since I was a little girl, he hunts with my father and I know he figured out what went down with Cooter and me.”
“That might be so but it was a jacked decision.”
“Sam –”
“It was jacked, Kia. I know this because you went off to f**kin’ Europe unprotected. The least he could have done is informed your Dad or your brother so one of them could have talked to you, talked you out of goin’ and assessed where your head was at about whether you should know it all or not. Not to mention, you should have had a security system installed in your house even if you’re sellin’ it.”
“Kyle lives in Tennessee, Sam, I told you that. He’s too far away to do anything.”
“What you tell me of your brother, Kia, Kyle lives in Tennessee or f**kin’ St. Petersburg, Kyle will wanna know his sister is in danger then he’ll wanna see to it that his sister is protected and safe. The men in your life should have been briefed. Barney Oswald screwed the pooch. That is not gonna happen again.”
He held my eyes and I thought it prudent to nod seeing as he was a commando, I was not so he probably knew what he was talking about.
Not to mention, he was totally right about Kyle. Dad and Ozzie were buddies; Dad would probably be talked into not being pissed. Kyle was going to freak.
So I nodded.
There was a knock on the door at the same time there was a chime on my phone in my hand.
“Lunch,” Sam muttered.
I looked at the display and muttered back, “Teri.”
Sam looked at my phone, looked at me and grinned.
Then he turned and disappeared on his way to the door.
I flipped my phone open and, learning, I didn’t put it to my ear when I started, “Hel –”
“Oh my f**king God!” Teri shrieked.
I grinned.
“Room service,” I heard in a Greek accented voice.
I wondered briefly what Sam ordered for me.
Then I put the phone to my ear.
Chapter Thirteen
You’re Happy
Three days later…
Sam took the key from my hand, inserted it in the lock in the front door of the soon-to-be-not-my home in Indiana, turned it then opened the door for me.
I shoved in.
I had my overnight bag and purse over my shoulder and both my hands were laden with duty-free shopping bags.
Sam had his bag over his shoulder and was rolling both my huge, stuffed near to bursting pieces of luggage.
I was always grateful that Sam was a gentleman. It was one of the plethora of things I liked most about him.
But at that moment, I loved it.
With a droop of my shoulders that I wanted to do five seconds after hooking the straps on them, I dumped all my stuff on the floor five feet in.
Yes, even my purse.
“Leave them there, baby,” I muttered to Sam as I meandered through the living room to the hall to my bedroom.
I got to the bedroom, flipped off my flip-flops and was crawling on all fours up the bed when I heard Sam call, “Kia, honey.”
“Nap, fifteen minutes then I’ll call Mom and go get Memphis,” I mumbled.
Then I collapsed.
Then I passed out.
* * * * *
Indeterminate hours or minutes later…
I woke up but didn’t open my eyes.
I hated my house but I had to admit, it was cute and this was mostly due to Cooter’s Mom having good taste since, even back then (red flag?) I had no say.
But it was not built of high-quality materials which meant the walls were very thin.
Therefore I clearly heard Sam’s conversation in my living room with an unknown man.
“…set up?” I heard the end of whatever Sam was saying.
“Full coverage, four guys, three shifts. Couldn’t do the alarm but got trips set on doors and windows. You bunk down for the night, last shift’ll set ‘em, anyone trips ‘em, the whole neighborhood’ll wake up.”
“Good,” Sam replied.
Then I heard indistinct noises that sounded an awful lot like the noises people made on TV and in movies when they were expertly fiddling with a gun.
“Know you favor a nine millimeter, we’re on that. Right now, that’s gonna have to do,” the unknown man told Sam, proving me right, Sam was expertly fiddling with a gun.
“How long before you can get your hands on the nine?” Sam asked.
“Tomorrow,” the man answered.
“Good,” Sam repeated.
“You gonna keep both?” the man asked.