His Frozen Heart (36 page)

Unamused, Mark answered, “Funny. This
situation,” Mark made a circle in the air pointing at the three of
us, “as of right now, no longer includes Candy. The new players are
you, Teddy and me.”

Grey’s eyes went wide as both his
hands shot further up into the air. “Oh hell, Mark, I’m sorry. Miss
Kane never mentioned the two of you were friends.” Grey made eye
contact with me briefly, then averted his eyes to the ground and
added, “Our misunderstanding is over. I hope your roommate has a
speedy recovery.”

Miss
Kane
? A speedy recovery? The hairs on my
arms prickled. Who was Mark? Why was Grey all of the sudden willing
to let his vendetta drop? Grey began walking backwards away from
us.

Mark’s voice still smooth as silk
inquired, “Medical bills?”

“
Way ahead of you, Boss.
I’ll take care of Miss Merrick,” his eyes glanced back at me, “and
any Miss Kane has as a result of my misunderstanding this
evening.”

I didn’t have to look far for the salt
pellets to pour into Grey’s wound. As a final reminder, I asked,
“What about Mark’s brother? He was shot as part of the same
‘misunderstanding.’”

Mark had kept a completely cool
exterior throughout the exchange, but at the mention of his
brother, his nostrils flared and his eyes widened. Grey saw the
rage ready to break free when he answered in a rush, “Of course.
Yeah. I’ll take care of any your brother has, too.” He looked
humbly at Mark, stumbling, trying to find the words to calm the
fury, “I’ll apologize in person. I’ll make it right. I swear I
will, Mark.”

He was easily ten feet away when Mark
warned, “I don’t want to hear of either of you around Candy or my
little brother again. Leave town. You’ve got two days. If I hear
you’re still here on Monday, we will have a different kind of
chat.”

Grey froze in place at Mark’s words.
As if not believing what had just been said, he pleaded, “Monday?
C’mon, Mark.”

Mark gave a winning smile while
pointing at his own wrist, “Tick tock, Grey. Make sure Teddy gets
my message, as well. I would hate to have to deliver it in person
on Monday.” He turned his attention back to me. “Now, how about
that ride to your car?”

Chapter 26

I was at a loss for words. Grey nodded
his head respectfully and darted back across the street and into
the park. My mind spun. I didn’t know what to think. Mark’s index
and middle finger rested under my jaw as he used them to close my
gaping mouth. Unable to wrap my mind around what had just happened,
I clarified in a whisper, “They’re not going to be coming after me
or Libby any more, are they?”

Mark smiled. “Grey is about as sharp
as a marble, but I left little room for misunderstanding. If you
see either of them, even at a checkout stand at Target, make sure
to glare at them and drop my name.”

Sure that I did not want to know the
answer, I asked anyway, “So, are you a mob boss or
something?”

“
Hmmm, I’m in the ‘or
something’ category.”

Mark took my elbow, guiding me toward
his car. He opened the passenger door for me then walked around to
the driver’s side. He started his warm car, reached over and pushed
a button to turn on my heated seat, then turned the vents on me
full blast. It felt like heaven.

My eyes settled on Mark’s face. He
looked so much like Dave. The two could have been twins. Before he
could pull away from the curb, I confessed, “I told Dave I saw you
Thursday night – in Bank Shot’s parking lot.”

Mark’s tone, which had been almost
playful outside on the street, hardened. “I thought I asked you to
keep that between you and me?”

“
You did. I’m sorry,
especially after what you just did for me out there. But, you have
to understand, Dave is really important to me. He’s been looking
for you forever. Please, can you just talk to him for a few
minutes?”

The hardness in his voice did not
soften, “I told you I had some loose ends to tie up. I’m not
accustomed to anyone ignoring my instructions.”

“
Ignoring your
instructions? Hey, I don’t know what you’re mixed up in, and,
frankly, I don’t care. Neither does Dave. I know Dave’s been
through hell, and he is the most amazing guy. When he told me how
he was taken away from the foster family you stayed with, it tore
him up. Fifteen years later he’s still torn up. He doesn’t care
what’s going on in your life, he just wants you in his.”

Mark pursed his lips together,
“Compelling. But, not now.”

The hurt on Dave’s face yesterday
morning when he left his apartment haunted me. Looking in Mark’s
eyes, they were the same color, but Mark’s held no emotion at all.
I needed him to understand whether he wanted to listen or not. “He
folds his shirts in six by six squares. His apartment doesn’t have
a single speck of dust anywhere. His cabinets are full of items
that are perfectly organized. There isn’t one dirty dish in his
whole apartment.”

Mark’s only answer was a confused
look. Words were spilling out of me whether they made sense or not.
“From the day he was taken away from you, he tried to do everything
perfectly so he would be sent back. He loves you. I can’t tell him
I saw you a third time and couldn’t convince you to see him. The
rejection would crush him.”

Something I said had finally struck a
chord. I could see a flicker of emotion in his eyes. “Candy, as
much as I would like to see him again, now is not the right
time.”

“
Fifteen years ago would
have been the right time. Hell, eleven years ago when he was almost
adopted wouldn’t have been bad, either. Or ten years ago when the
adoption fell through. Or five years ago when I met him and he
didn’t have one single friend in the whole school. All of those
times were the right time, but now, today, I’m telling you, you
don’t have a choice. You’re going to say hi to your brother if I
have to put a knife to your throat and drag you there.”

I wondered if I had suddenly grown
horns, because Mark looked at me as if I were a space alien. When
he didn’t respond to my threat with any threat of his own, I
pointed at the corner. “His apartment is on West Eighth Street, so
take a right at the end of this block.” I buckled my seat belt and
looked out the windshield, waiting to give him the next set of
directions.

He sat in place, both hands on the
wheel, staring out at the street in front of us. “Look, I’m a man
of my word. As soon as I finish a couple projects, I will find
Dave. I’m glad he has a friend who cares about him as much as you
do, but now is not the right time for a reunion.”

Turning toward him, I dug my heels in
further. “Five minutes. Give him five minutes. That’s a hello, a
cell phone number and a hug.” I reached over and put my hand on
Mark’s bicep, giving it a gentle squeeze, “He needs those five
minutes more than he needs air.” When his expression didn’t change,
I clarified, “I’m not kidding about holding a knife to your
throat.”

Mark’s reaction surprised me. He
smiled: not a smirk, or a grin, but a full-blown toothy approving
smile. He didn’t protest. He nodded, put the car in drive and took
a right at the end of the block as I had instructed.

We drove in the quiet for several
minutes. As we approached Dave’s street, Mark inquired, “So, are
you his girlfriend?”

“
I don’t think so. Maybe.
I’m not sure.”

“
For someone who isn’t
sure, you seem to know a great deal about him.”

“
I’ve learned a lot in the
last week. Tuesday night, at the bar? I thought you were
Dave.”

Surprised, he asked, “We look that
much alike?”

“
Yeah. Even Libby thought
you were Dave.”

“
You said something about
he folds his shirts in squares – I don’t do that.”

“
I don’t know the full
story, but you’ll see what I mean when we get there. Dave is
meticulous about everything. Mr. Kravitz, that’s a teacher from
high school, said people come from all over the Midwest to have him
restore their cars.”

“
Really? It’s good to hear
he’s doing well for himself.” Mark eyed me suspiciously. “So, for
curiosity’s sake, where were you planning to find a knife? I have
to assume if you had one, you would have used it on
Grey.”

His question took me off guard. We
were talking about Dave. I had threatened him: given Grey’s
reaction to Mark, that was probably a bad thing. “The way Grey
high-tailed it away from you, I’m guessing there’s one somewhere in
your car,” I offered lightly.

Smirking, “Sadly, no. I try not to
keep weapons in my car. I admire your tenacity, but you need to be
more careful about who you threaten and what you threaten them
with. Grey isn’t the worst man in the city, and you can’t count on
me to run interference for you.”

“
I would have been fine
without your help,” I spat confidently. As if to convince him I
added, “I had outrun him twice. He wouldn’t have attacked me in the
pub.”

“
Your spunk is to be
commended, but spunk is only worthwhile when backed up with brawn.
Don’t pick fights you can’t win, and never threaten anything when
you are unwilling or unable to follow through.”

“
Noted. But Dave needs you.
There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for him. I gooned things up with him
the other night, and I need to make them right.”

Mark’s eyebrows furrowed together when
he asked, “How does one ‘goon up’ something?”

“
I got back from Bank Shot
and didn’t tell him I’d seen you. The next morning when I did, he
was upset with me for lying.”

Mark countered, “An omission isn’t a
lie.”

“
Any form of deception is a
lie. You didn’t see the hurt in his eyes. He had given me a glimpse
of the emptiness in his heart when it comes to you. That’s a void I
can’t fill – only you can.”

Mark took his eyes off the road as if
searching mine for something. He answered back quietly, “I’m
damaged. What happens when he meets me and he finds out I can’t
fill that void, either?”

“
I don’t pretend to know
what you two went through. But you are the only one who can fill
it. You just proved to me that you care. Geeze, you ran the guy who
shot him out of town.”

Mark smiled warmly, “Let’s keep that
bit of information between us, shall we?”

“
I thought that would be my
opening line, ‘Hey, Dave, Mark scared the snot out of my stalker.
Can we keep him?’”

“
You’re funny. I can see
why you’re his friend. Davey was always the funny one.”

“
So, what were you? The
tough one?”

“
I was older. I took care
of Davey. At least until the day that the state of Missouri took
him away from me.”

His hand sat on the arm rest. I put my
hand over his and gave him a squeeze. “I can’t wait for him to see
you.” Still confused by everything that had happened, I wondered if
Mark could tell me why Grey came after us. “So, thanks, by the way,
for running Grey and Teddy out of town. I still don’t understand
how this escalated. It was only four hundred dollars.”

Mark shook his head. “It isn’t the
money. It could have been four dollars or four thousand dollars.
It’s more about position. In their business, neither one of them
can afford for others to think they are suckers.”

“
What business is
that?”

“
Never mind. They will
steer clear of you. Neither will cross me.” Mark drove exactly
where I told him to. When we arrived in front of Dave’s garage, the
place was once again dark. My heart sank. If he wasn’t inside, the
hissy fit I had just thrown to get Mark here had been for
nothing.

I didn’t get out of the car for fear
that Mark might change his mind and I’d never see him again. “Can I
use your cell? Mine’s in the pocket of my coat at work.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t look
like he’s here. I’ve got somewhere I am supposed to be. How about I
take you back to your car and I’ll promise to find him
soon.”

I shook my head. “Not good enough. He
has to be here. Let me use your phone.”

Mark reluctantly handed it over. I
dialed Dave’s number; it went directly to voicemail. I called the
number to the garage; it also went to a recording. I called
Kravitz. “Do you know where Dave is? He’s not answering his
phones.”

“
He’s not answering my
calls, either. I haven’t talked to him since yesterday morning.
Where are you?”

“
I’m outside his place.
It’s dark.”

“
I don’t know where he
would be. If you find him, tell him to call me and let me know he’s
okay.”

I could hear the defeat in my own
voice, “Okay, thanks. If you hear from him, tell him I need to see
him, okay?”

I hung up with Kravitz. Dave had
stopped by the restaurant looking for me today, so he wasn’t
avoiding me anymore. What little time I had spent with Dave, I
learned he was a creature of habit. If he were anywhere in the
city, he was in his apartment. “I’m pretty sure he’s
inside.”

Mark sighed, “It doesn’t look like
he’s here.”