Annie on the Lam: A Christmas Caper (18 page)

When Nate spotted Annie, the men's conversation stopped abruptly with a clearing of throats and a cough or two. She narrowed her eyes. “What are you guys talking about, anyway?”

“Just swapping war stories,” Joe answered, and grinned.

She crossed her arms. “More like dirty jokes, I'm thinking.”

As she started over to join them, Coleman stopped talking and gripped the table's edge. His face and bald head turned a purple-tinged shade of red. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he reached a trembling hand toward her.

“He's choking,” Annie gasped and the hairs on her arms stood on end.

The table fell silent and Annie heard a plate clatter against the counter, then Kate's sharp sound of distress as she darted around the counter. Joe's chair squealed against the linoleum floor as he jumped up and ran behind Coleman. He slid his arms beneath the wiry man's armpits, wrapped them around his thin chest. Fisting his right hand, he placed it below the man's rib cage, flattened his left palm over the fist, squeezed in and up in one fast motion.

“Spit it out, Cole,” Nate said, his voice wavering.

Coleman made a strangled sound. A tear rolled down his cheek.

Joe pushed again and a French fry shot out of Coleman's mouth, sailed across the table and landed on Nate's shoulder. Shouts and applause went up around the diner.

“That'll teach ya to keep your hands off my plate,” Nate teased, relief spilling from his voice.

Annie's heart rate slowed to a more normal pace. For the first time, she noticed the group of people who had gathered around the table.

Kate grabbed a glass of water, knelt at Coleman's side and said, “You okay, Dad?” She brought the glass to his lips and he sipped then started coughing again. She glanced up at Joe. “Thank you. You probably just saved my father's life.”

“Glad I could help.”

“Are you two just passing through or are you in Pinesborough for a visit?”

Joe shot a quick glance at Annie and said, “We're spending one night here on our way to the ski area.”

“You picked the perfect time for skiing. I hear the powder's great right now.” Kate shifted her gaze between them, suspicion in her eyes. “Didn't peg you two as skiers for some reason.” Turning, she started back toward the counter with the cook at her side. “By the way, your lunch is on the house.” She nudged the man. “It just so happens, I sleep with the owner.”

Joe patted Coleman on the back and asked if he was okay. Coleman assured him that he was, and Joe and Annie returned to their booth.

Annie propped her elbows on the table. “Well, you were certainly impressive. I think you've made some fans.”

“No more than you.” He wiggled his brows and nodded at the old men. “The boys like your ass.”

“They do, do they?”

“They watched you all the way to the restroom.” His mouth turned up at one corner. “Coleman may not chew worth a damn, but there's nothing wrong with his eyesight.”

Annie laughed, relieved to be talking about something other than the trouble that had brought them here.

When Kate arrived at the table with their food a few minutes later, she said, “I'm sorry, I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Kate Kilroy.” She nodded toward the grill. “That's my husband, Ray.”

Ray looked over his shoulder and said, “Hey.”

“Kilroy…” Annie glanced at Nate.

“Nate is Ray's dad and Coleman is mine,” Kate explained.

“Wow.” Annie laughed as she glanced at the two men. “The whole family's here.”

“Oh, there's a lot more where they came from,” Kate said with a laugh of her own. She looked from Annie to Joe and back again expectantly.

Annie said, “I'm, uh, Anne.” She slid Joe a look, caught the slight narrowing of his eyes. The movie poster of Katherine Hepburn behind his head caught her attention and she added, “Anne Hepburn.”

Kate looked at the poster briefly and her eyebrows rose as she met Annie's gaze and said, “Hi, Anne.”

Annie lifted her glass of tea. “And this is Joe—”

“Hepburn,” Joe finished smoothly. He smiled. “Anne's husband.”

Kate's attention slid to Annie's left hand holding the tea glass, and Annie was acutely aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing a wedding ring. “Well then,” Kate said, “Nice to meet you both.”

Joe broke the awkwardness of the moment by asking Kate questions about Pinesborough.

“Shopping here leaves a lot to be desired. A woman has to drive to the next decent-sized town if she needs something to wear that's not casual. But I guess there's worse things than that. It's a good, safe place to live and raise kids.”

“It's not lacking in friendly folks, that's for sure,” Annie said.

Joe glanced at Nate and Coleman's table. “Or people with a sense of humor.”

“I'm always happy to meet anyone who isn't too uptight to appreciate our local bad boys,” Kate said with a sheepish grin. “You two have made a couple of loyal friends today in Dad and Nate. Not only for what you did, either. They love a pretty woman who'll tolerate them and any man who'll laugh at their bawdy jokes.”

“Aha.” Annie narrowed her eyes at Joe. “So I was right about the jokes.”

“Hiding that fact from you, was he?” Kate chuckled. “As a matter of fact, I think Joe even told one of his own. He fits right in.”

Annie noticed how pleased Joe looked by the woman's comment.

Forty
minutes later, not only were Annie and Joe on a first-name basis with Kate and Ray Kilroy, Coleman and Nate, they also knew the life story of Nadine Milin, manager of Food Queen Market, where they bought four bags of groceries. They knew details about Nadine's migraine headaches, the birth of her first grandbaby, the story of Pinesborough's half-senile sheriff accidentally locking himself in a jail cell overnight, and the gossip about Nadine's hairdresser and the local Presbyterian minister.

And Nadine knew quite a bit about them, as well. She had heard from Janice Ryan, a bank teller who'd been eating lunch at Stars a few minutes earlier, that a couple visiting Pinesborough had saved Coleman Gray from choking on one of his son-in-law's overdone French-fried potatoes. Anne and Joe
Hepburn
were fast becoming legends around town.

Annie laughed as they loaded the grocery sacks into the trunk of Joe's car. “After less than an hour, I feel like I know more people here than I do after living six months in New York City. And I know them
better
.”

“Me, too. That worries me a little. We probably should have tried to stay incognito in case someone shows up asking about us.” He closed the trunk and gestured toward the library. “Ready, Mrs. Hepburn?”

She nodded and smiled. “I can't wait to see what's on that flash drive.”

Joe took her hand and they turned toward the library across the street.

Before they'd taken two steps, the door opened and a man stepped out.

“Get down!” Joe said, tugging her arm and pulling her down with him. They crouched at the back of the car, then scrambled around to the side of it to hide themselves from the library's front doors.

“What's wrong?” Annie whispered.

“Willis and Prine. They just came out of the library with the librarian. They must've spotted my car here.”

“Did they see us?”

“I don't think so.”

He scanned the surrounding area. The street was clear of traffic and pedestrians. The house across from Joe's car was quiet and still.

“Let's try to make it across the yard and around to the back of this house.” Joe squeezed Annie's hand. “I'll be right behind you.” He lifted up just high enough to see the library porch. The two cops were still talking to the young woman who had promised earlier to save them a computer. “Okay,” Joe whispered. “Stay low.” He let go of her hand.

Crouched down, Annie started across the yard.

Joe followed, risking another look over his shoulder at the library porch. His heart jumped when Willis started to turn in their direction.

In that instant, the librarian lifted her eyes to Annie, then shifted to Joe. Their gazes locked briefly, and the young woman turned away and touched Willis's shoulder. Joe feared she was about to point them out, and his pulse shot up to his throat. But when Willis and his partner faced the girl, the librarian glanced quickly at Joe again and something in her expression told him she meant to help them.

He didn't stop to question why a woman he and Annie had only exchanged a few brief words with earlier would come to their aid. Instead, he took advantage of the opportunity she had just given them to run.

Joe caught up to Annie, grabbed her arm, pulled her along until they made it to the backyard.

Gasping for air, she fell against the wall of the house. “That man, the one with the brown hair, he's the cop who was in Harry's office.”

Joe braced his palms against his thighs and sucked in deep breaths of air. “That's Randy Willis.”

He wasn't surprised by Annie's news. Now that she had recognized Willis's face as well as his voice, Joe didn't doubt that their suspicions about Willis and Landau were true. Taking Annie's hand, he set off on a zig-zagging route toward the diner where they'd had lunch, uncertain where else to go.

They ran down snow-rutted alleyways and slippery side streets, ducking behind trees or shrubbery each time they neared the village's main street. Twice they spotted Willis and Prine, who were also on foot.

At the side of an office building across the street from Stars, Annie and Joe paused to catch their breath and wait for a safe time to cross the street. Annie barely felt the cold; she hadn't been this keyed up since Sasquatch shot at her. “How could they have tracked us here?”

“Maybe I didn't lose them when I took that exit off the highway, after all.”

Annie glanced around Joe and down the street. “They're going inside the grocery store.”

He took her hand again. “Let's go.”

When they entered Stars, Coleman and Nate were beside the door zipping into their coats. The lunch rush had ended. Except for the two old men and Kate and Ray, the diner was empty.

Annie's chest and throat burned from exertion and drawing ice-cold air into her lungs.

“We need your help,” Joe said, and closed the door. He stood to the side of the window, peering out.

Nate clasped Annie's shoulder, his worried expression reminding her of her own father. “Sit down before you fall down.” He led her to a chair away from the window.

Kate came around the counter with the ever-silent Ray following close behind. “Are those cops after you? They were in here nosing around.”

“Right after the two of you left,” Coleman added. “Asked Katie and Ray all kinds of questions, then started on us.”

Kate crossed to where Annie sat. “They had your picture.” She nodded toward Joe. “And they gave a pretty good description of you.” Katie crossed her arms. “Ray and I told them we never saw you before.”

Ray nodded.

Nate patted Annie's hand. “I never saw you, either.”

“Or me,” Coleman echoed.

Relief and gratitude rushed through Annie. “Thank you.” Still panting, she looked from one face to the next. “All of you.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Joe said, keeping his gaze on the window. “You just bought us some time.”

Katie narrowed her eyes. “I'm guessing you two aren't really passing through on a ski trip.”

“Sorry about that,” Annie said with a wince.

Joe turned away from the window long enough to say, “My name is really Joe Brady.”

Annie smiled nervously. “And I'm Anne Macy. Call me Annie.”

Nate studied her for a few seconds, then said, “Well, what do you know? I do see a resemblance to Tess. When I dug you out of that ditch this morning I figured you were just renting her place. Are you Tess's daughter?”

“I'm her niece. I'm surprised you didn't know. News seems to travel fast around here.”

“Speaking of which,” Joe added, “You didn't tell the librarian about us, did you?”

“Mary?” Kate chuckled. “She's my daughter. She called after you two finished your lunch and left, and Ray told her about how you saved her granddad from choking on a fry. She figured you were the same strangers who'd stopped by the library earlier to use a computer.”

“Your daughter did us a big favor a few minutes ago,” Joe said, then explained how Mary had diverted the two men's attention so he and Annie could escape.

“That's my Mary,” Coleman said.

Joe returned his attention to the window. “They're a few blocks down and headed this way.” He stepped back, let the curtain fall.

Annie's stomach turned over. No one had even asked why two policemen might be after them. No one seemed to care. But she couldn't expect them to hide a couple of fugitives. And she wouldn't blame them if they called the sheriff. Why would they want to bring trouble down on themselves by helping two strangers? They would be acting on pure instinct, blind trust.

Just as Joe had when he rescued her from Harry.

Annie looked at each of their faces. At Joe's. Suddenly, she realized he had more in common with these small-town folks than she had ever realized.

Coleman pulled off his hat. “Answer me one question.”

“Anything,” Joe said.

“You two didn't murder some poor son-of-a-bitch or rob a bank, did you?”

“No, sir,” Annie said. “Not anything even close to that.”

The old man pursed his lips and studied them closely. “Didn't do something else bad to somebody who didn't deserve it?”

Annie thought of Harry, the way he treated his sister, the way he had tried to force himself on her at the Christmas party. “No—”

“He deserved it,” Joe finished. “And what we did to him wasn't nearly bad enough. We can explain, I promise, but there's no time now.” He cast a nervous glance at the window again then nodded toward a movie poster on the wall of Marlon Brando in
The Godfather
. “Those cops that are after us? They're about as honest as Don Corleone, there.”

Coleman lifted a hand to silence him. “Say no more. Doesn't matter. You're right. We don't got time for explanations. Come here, Annie. I have an idea.”

Annie stood and hurried to him.

Coleman gave Nate his red hat and looked Annie up and down. “You're almost my size,” he said slipping out of his coat. “Take off your jacket and put this on.” He gave her his coat. “Tuck your hair up under my hat.”

“Hurry,” Joe said, staring out the window again.

Katie twisted Annie's hair into a knot and Coleman crammed the red hat on top of her head as she zipped up the old man's coat.

“Toss me your keys, Nate,” Coleman said, as if used to giving orders. “Joe and I are taking your Jeep. You walk Annie to your place.” When Joe looked over his shoulder, Coleman explained, “It's closest and in the opposite direction from where those two are headed.”

Nate reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a ring of keys and threw them to his friend.

Coleman nodded at the door. “Go on. And don't look back or walk too fast. Just act like nothing's out of the ordinary.”

Swallowing past the lump of anxiety in her throat, Annie started for the door. As Nate reached to open it, she glanced over at Joe.

“Don't worry, young lady,” Coleman said. “I'll take care of him. We'll be along soon.”

In any other situation, his calling her a “young lady” and his comment about taking care of Joe would have amused her. A tired little shriveled-up man with a limp protecting an ex-cop still in his prime. An ex-cop whom she happened to know carried a gun beneath his coat. But as she looked into Coleman's pale eyes, saw the shrewd determination in them, she believed him.

Nate said, “Ready?”

Annie nodded.

Behind her, Coleman said, “Katie-girl, put Annie's coat in the storage closet. Ray…”

 

W
EARING
K
ATE'S HUSBAND
Ray Kilroy's sunglasses, Yankees cap and heavy down coat, the collar zipped up past his chin, Joe walked out of Stars Diner with Coleman beside him. He'd had to leave his leather jacket with Kate and she hid it in back.

Joe hooked his hand under one of Coleman's arms and guided the limping older man to the Jeep parked out front. He nodded briefly at Willis and Prine, who were just steps away from the diner, paid them no more attention than he would a couple of strangers he might pass on the street, though his heart rapped against his chest like machine-gun fire.

“I don't need my son-in-law to carry me to the car,” Coleman grumbled, coughing and sputtering, playing the part of grouchy, confused old man to perfection. “I choked on a French fry, not cyanide. I just don't feel like driving. All I want you to do is take me home so you can get back to work.”

Joe sighed long and deep, as if completely at his wit's end. He opened the Jeep's passenger door and waited for Coleman to climb in. To his relief, Willis and Prine entered the diner after only a cursory glance their direction. Still, Joe didn't plan to relax until he and Annie were back together and tucked away safely somewhere out of sight.

Once behind the wheel, he pulled away from the curb and turned to Coleman. “Thanks, buddy. I can't begin to tell you how much this means to Annie and me.”

“My pleasure. Kind of fun, as a matter of fact. We don't get much excitement around here.” The old man ducked low in the seat. “Anyhow, I owed you one.”

“Where we headed?”

“Turn left at the light, then down four blocks and left again. Nate's house is third on the right.” He reached overhead and pulled a garage door opener off the visor. “We'll pull into the garage in back.”

The light turned red. Joe stopped and waited even though no other cars were on the road in either direction. A block down on the left, he spotted Annie and her escort, her limp a fair but passable imitation of Coleman's gait.

“Just wave and drive on,” Coleman said. “No use taking chances. Like your lady friend said, things get around fast here. People have eyes in the back of their heads, and I don't think I could explain how I'm out there walking and in here at the same time.” He gave a rusty chuckle. “Besides, Nate can use the exercise.”