Deadly Expectations (51 page)

“Sure, thanks,” my father said.

“Have a seat, do you mind if I finish my breakfast?”

I heard chairs slide on the
lino
.

“No … I thought I’d be waking up Anna if she was around.
 
I’m sorry for interrupting.
 
Is she going to be here later?”

“Mm
mm
,” Paul said.
 
His mouth was probably full.
 
“I haven’t met her.
 
Bee Desmond upstairs is my grandmother.
 
She asked me to come do some work down here for the owner.
 
I’m … between jobs at the moment so I can stay here as long as I’m working on it.”

“What do you mean?” my father asked.

“I have to pack up her things for storage and get it ready to rent out.
 
Carpet, paint, repairs.
 
I might rent it myself when the work is done if I can get on around here.
 
My grandmother doesn’t have any family nearby and shouldn’t be
on her own
any more,” he paused and spoke more quietly like he was confiding in my father.
 
“She says that the owner met someone in
Nevada
… one of the bikers who picked her up off the road after her accident.
 
She wasn’t in any shape to bus home after they kicked her out of the hospital … she’s living with him now.”

“Anna … with a man?”
I could hear the disbelief in my father’s voice.
 
“Growing up she never slowed down enough to chew her food then she took off at sixteen and I’ve hardly seen her since.”

“That’s what I heard anyway,” Paul said.
 
I could picture him shrug.

“Her sister sent me to check on her … she got a call from some doctor in
California
a few weeks ago about an accident.
 
She said he checked out.
 
But you said
Nevada
.”

“
Gran’s
memory isn’t too good.
 
She gets my name wrong half the time.”

My father laughed.
 
“Anna’s good for looking out for her … but if she’s taking in an old lady she should think about slowing down and being around more.”

“I hear that,” Paul said.
 
I could hear his cutlery on his plate.

“I guess
it’s
good news she might be settling down.
 
Taken me by surprise is all.
 
She and her sister were so much alike until we lost their mother.
 
You have kids John?”

“Mm
mm
,” Paul said, mouth full again.
 
“Oh, that.
 
I keep hoping my ex-wife will change her mind about me.”
 
There was a pause.

“Alina buried herself in school and moved away … workaholic,” my father went on.
 
“Anna just seemed to self destruct.
 
She could have done so much with her life … hands down smarter than Alina who is brilliant.
 
The police stopped calling me to pick her up … eventually they would just bring her home.
 
Usually drunk and starting trouble at some party; she fell in with some bad kids for a while.
 
I don’t know how she pulled off school.
 
Finally she did something she couldn’t talk her way out of and they charged her … when they got her out of the stolen car she was driving she was so smashed she could barely stand.
 
She seemed to stay out of trouble after that but then she rode off one day for good.
 
Didn’t see her for two years … maybe she’s ready to stop running.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“I guess Alina found her own way to run too,” my father said.
 
“Sorry to unload on you … the only news I ever get about Anna is that she survived another season on that damn bike.
 
Maybe the accident was a wake up call for her.”

“No worries, John,” Paul said. I could hear his chair move as he stood.
 
“Gran doesn’t expect to see her here any time soon.
 
Anyway, I have to figure out how I’m going to make room in the garage for the bikes in the house.
 
Sorry to rush you off.”

“I understand,” my father said.
 
“Just two years of cleaning up Anna’s disasters was exhausting … I don’t envy you at all dealing with this place.
 
I’d still do it if she’d let me.
 
I’ll wait to hear from her I guess.”

I heard the door open.

“Thanks for your time John … one day I’d like to shake the hand of the man who could tame that one.”

“Yes sir,” Paul said and I heard the door close.
 

There was silence in the kitchen so I wondered if Paul had walked him out to his car but after a minute I could hear him coming down the hall.
 
Paul found me behind the door.

“I think he worries about you a lot … any reason why you try so hard to avoid him?” Paul asked.

“I’m not,” I said.
 
“He can’t know we’re here … he’ll tell Alina then Damian will find out.”

“I don’t mean now.
 
I meant the last eight years,” he said softly as he put his arms around me.

“I can’t explain,” I sighed.
 
“We all fell apart when we lost her.
 
I’m not the only one who hid … but I guess I was harder on him than Alina.”

“How much trouble did you get in?”

“Officially … once,” I told him.

“Uh huh … .I
guess
it doesn’t surprise me.
 
You don’t drink like that now.”

“No,” I agreed quietly.
 
I could feel my eyebrows pushing together as I looked down.
 
“Not for a long time.”

“I keep learning more about things I already knew about you.
 
I think he’s happy you’ve stopped running.”

“Have I?
 
I’m hiding behind the door.”
 
I felt the sting of tears.
 
Paul hugged me tighter.

“He’s a nice man.
 
I understand how he feels … worrying about his daughter.
 
Think about seeing him more when things settle down, okay?
 
Don’t let it go on too much longer.
 
I’ll owe him an apology when he finally does shake my hand.”

“Okay Paul,” I said as I wiped my cheeks.

He kissed me and relaxed his hold around me.

“So we’re expecting Kenny here?” he asked.

“Sorry … yes.
 
At the same time he arrived at the mall.”

“That man under our roof?”

“I ask too much,” I sighed.
 
“It won’t be like last time.
 
He’ll have some excuse for coming by but he’ll just be here to drop your ID off.”

“You ask an awful lot … now come to bed.
 
I need you for a while before he shows up.”

Chapter 40

I tried to talk Paul into going up to Bee’s while I finished off our business with Kenny but he wouldn’t.
 
He told Ray and Denis that he was coming and he promised not to squash him but I had the feeling that if Kenny provoked him he might change his mind.
 
All I could do if that happened was hit Kenny first.
 
Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
 
It wasn’t that Kenny was all that bad.
 
He just never seemed to get over the crush he had on me when we were kids.
 
Never felt that anyone else was good enough for me.

His friends however were a problem.
 
Kenny should come alone but then he should have met me at the mall alone too.
 
After I thought about it I realized that I should have gone alone to the mall too.
 
Not much I could do about not being alone here in my own house.
 
Since Paul knew he was coming there was no way I could get him out now.

So with that I was nervous.
 
Nothing like sitting on a mountain of testosterone waiting for just the right spark to set it off.
 
Paul and I sat at the kitchen table with a map deciding where we would go when we left in a few days when Kenny knocked.
 
Paul quickly put the map away and I answered the door.
 
The less Kenny knew about us the better.

It was raining hard and Kenny had his hands shoved deep in his pockets, pushing up his collar to keep the rain from running down the back of his neck.

“Hey Anna,” he said.
 
“My brother wanted me to pick up his bike from you next time you were in town.
 
Now a good time?”

“Sure Kenny,” I said.
 
“Come in out of the rain while I get the key.
 
Battery
will need a charge but everything else should be fine.”

Kenny stepped in and closed the door before he noticed Paul.
 
I went down to the spare room to get the key for it from its hook and hoped for the best.
 
Before I got to the room I heard the front door open and close, then a bit of shuffling and quiet voices.
 
Shit,
who
else joined the party?
 
I couldn’t decide which would be worse.
 
Kenny’s friends or mine.

When I came back Ray was at the table with Paul.
 
As I rounded the corner Kenny was quickly doing his pants back up.
 
His coat was undone and his shirt was
untucked
.
 
Denis calmly leaned against the wall like they were waiting for a bus together or something.

I tried not to notice.
 
“Got the key Kenny … you want coffee?”

“Yes,” Denis said.
 
“He would love some.
 
Right Kenny?”

“Um, yeah Anna.
 
Coffee sounds good.”

I tossed Kenny the key and tried to ignore the ridiculous male posturing that had filled the room.
 
Kenny hadn’t taken his eyes off Paul except to catch the key and Ray and Paul hadn’t taken their eyes off Kenny.
 
I was easily two inches taller than Kenny so next to Denis he looked tiny.
 
I made myself busy getting out cups and hoped this would be over soon.
 
If they hadn’t come down Kenny would be loading up the bike while I looked over the ID and he would be gone in a matter of minutes.
 
Now I had no idea what Paul had planned.

Denis took a step toward me.
 
I hadn’t noticed it on the counter before since I was focused on the coffee and trying to ignore everything else.
 
He put his hand out and slid an envelope over to me.
 
On top of it was a gun.
 
I sighed.
 
Paul got up and put his arm around my waist, his lips to my ear.

“Sugar,” he said loud enough for Kenny to hear.
 
Then he slowly dropped his hand to my butt.
 
Out of the corner of my eye Denis elbowed Kenny who quickly looked up at the ceiling.
 
Paul put his hand back up.

“Why don’t you tell your friend who we
are.
 
Perhaps he would be kind enough to keep an ear open … in case anyone asks about us.”

I had an idea what Paul was up to now.
 
Kenny was apparently connected to the same sorts of people Damian might use to try and find us and they’d already found me once through him.