What I've Done (14 page)

“I’ll be back in an hour or two,” she tells me over her shoulder. “My cell phone number is on that list of contacts. Call if you need anything.”

I turn back to see her leaving in one direction just seconds before Eli and his friend are arriving from the other. Eli looks borderline scrumptious as he approaches in a white button down shirt and khaki board shorts that accentuate his tan. I don’t know how it is even possible, but he looks even more alluring than the first time we had met.

I am grateful for the extra time I spent on my hair this morning with Svetlana’s curling iron. The soft, light purple colored ruffled top and capris I wear are another addition to my new wardrobe and once again I am thankful for our trip with the social worker. I feel like I am looking the best I have in a long time.

Eli’s bright smile instantly warms me inside and out. “Hey. I brought my friend Alec.”

His friend could maybe pass as decent looking if he had greeted you by himself on the street, but standing next to Eli he appears unremarkable. He pushes his hand out in front of me and smiles, his small green eyes shy behind angular glasses. It is obvious right away Alec is the type who feels awkward in his own skin. I take his hand for what turns out to be a sweat-filled, overly firm handshake. Discreetly, I try to wipe my hand off on my capris.

“Alec can help your friend get whatever she needs.” Once again, Eli places a little too much emphasis on the word friend. I glance at him to see if he is hinting at something, but his expression remains neutral.

“How much will it cost?” I ask, chewing on my lip nervously.

“Eli took care of it,” Alec blurts, speaking for the first time in a high-pitched tone. His eyes dart nervously between me and the clock, making me wonder if he is all there mentally, or if he is simply feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation.

Looking to Eli, I wonder what it really is about these strange guys that want to take care of me. My thoughts become instantly lost when he reacts with another slow, but sweet and even more warming smile.

“Thank you,” I say.

Everything around us seems to disappear as our eyes hold on to each other.

Alec clears his throat and shifts his weight. “I just need the new name and a picture of your friend. I can make up the rest. It will take just a couple days to get the information embedded in the Internet and get a new social security number. I can even get a driver’s license and a high school diploma in her new name.”

The thought of driving in California is a bit frightening, but it would be nice to have the picture identification. I had never taken a driver’s test in Minnesota as there wouldn’t have been any point in it; we had not owned a car since my father was alive and had always taken public transportation.

“Can you come back later? I can get you the picture by the end of the night.” I bite down on the skin of my lip for a moment, hoping I am not about to push my luck. “She has a six year old sister with her, too. Would it be a problem for you to get more than one social security number?”

Alec lifts his shoulders with great ease.

“Piece of cake. I just need the picture of your friend for the license. By the start of next week your friend and her sister will have completely new identities.”

A good sized group of middle school-aged boys swagger into the shop as if they are many years older. Their wet suits are pulled off their arms and hang at their waists, dripping trails of water as they walk. A couple of them give me confident nods or smirks but ignore Eli and Alec before they split up to look around.

“Kalia is not here,” I tell them, figuring they are only here to gawk at my boss.

“We’re just here to browse,” one of them calls back.

I turn back to Alec. “Come by at seven and I will have the picture.”

“See you then,” he answers, an odd little smile playing on his lips.

“Thanks, man,” Eli tells him, giving his friend a smooth type of hand shake. “I’ll meet you back down here.”

We watch Alec leave before Eli and I turn to stare at each other, unsure of what to say next. Judging by the way he looks back at me, I know he also feels the intense draw we seemed to have to each other.

The juvenile delinquents make a bunch of noise behind me and I turn to see them huddled around a display. Most likely they are up to no good.

I sigh deeply before looking back to Eli. “Do you have to go now?” I hope we can spend more time getting to know each other since Kalia isn’t coming back for a couple of hours.

“No.” His hands are deep inside his pockets. He is clearly in a hanging-out kind of mood.

I grin happily. “Good. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

I confront the group of boys and discover them to be ogling over a surfing magazine with scantily clad women in the centerfold. Somewhat embarrassed, they agree to purchase the magazine and begin filing out. A minute after they are gone and I am putting the money in the cash drawer, there is a ding at the entrance announcing the arrival of a new customer.

 “I’m wondering if you can help me find someone,” a gruff voice asks from the front of the shop. When I look up from behind the register, I have to reach out to steady myself on the countertop as everything begins swirling around me.

Standing at the entrance of the shop beside Eli is the scumbag of a man who I once thought was going to kill my mother.

CHAPTER 7

At first I am in so much shock at seeing the man I can’t move, but seconds later I duck behind the register, hoping like hell he hadn’t seen me. My heart beats so wildly I hold a trembling hand over it, thinking I am about to have a heart attack. The man my mother had called Johnny is a known drug dealer back in Minnesota and I guess the money stashed away in the locker has to be his. My worst fears are coming to light with his arrival in California. I can’t shake the visions of the time he had drug my mother out of the apartment by her hair as she kicked and screamed wildly.

“I am looking for my daughters,” Johnny tells Eli. “They ran away a few days ago and I think they might be in the area. Do you recognize either of them?”

He must have heard in the news that my mother was found in San Diego. It would have been easy for him to find pictures of us in our abandoned apartment. I shut my eyes as I wait for Eli to answer. What if he recognizes me in the picture? Other than the slight change of hair color and length, I probably don’t look much differently.

Eli seems to pause long enough to study the pictures. “No, sorry.”

I let out my breath, unaware that I had been holding it in the first place.

“Is the owner of this place around?” Johnny asks. “Maybe they’ve seen my girls hanging around on the beach or something. I’ve been up and down the shops hoping to find someone that has maybe seen them.”

It makes my stomach clench to hear him pretending to be our father. It makes me even sicker to consider any possibility that he could be Rose’s father since my mother never knew who the real father was.

“I’m the owner,” Eli answers smoothly. “I haven’t seen anyone like them around. Maybe you should try the shelters in town.”

I am relieved that Eli is lying to protect me, for whatever reason. He must know I am in some kind of danger for a man like Johnny to come searching for me.

“I already tried that.”

“Sorry, man. I hope you find them. If you want to leave me a number or something I can call if they show up later.” Eli continues to sound sympathetic, despite Johnny’s impatience.

There is a moment of silence between them. I picture him sneering at Eli, which isn’t difficult to do by the sharp edge in his voice when he finally answers. “No. Thanks anyway.”

“Good luck,” Eli replies, his voice oozing with sincerity.

The ding in the front of the shop sounds again before all is once again quiet. My heartbeat pounds in my ears and I try to breathe calmly as more time passes. I squeal in surprise when a pair of tanned legs appears beside me. Fortunately, they are attractive and I know they belong to Eli. I look up to see his face is etched with concern.

“Is he gone?” I whisper, my voice shaking.

He dips his head in affirmation. “For now, anyway. But let’s get you in back for a while until we know for sure.”

“Thank you,” I whisper before beginning to cry.

He reaches down to slide my hand into his and pulls me onto my feet before leading me to the only door in back of the shop. Once the door shuts behind us, I allow myself to completely break down for the first time since arriving in California.

* * *

“Are you ready to tell me who that man was?” Eli asks once my crying has let up.

He had held me against his chest and stroked my hair with the greatest of compassion as I shed the tears that were finally able to fall. It reminded me of how it felt to cry on my mother’s lap when I was a little girl. It feels so wonderful to be held by his large, muscular arms and I don’t want him to let me go.

I lean back to look up at him. “How did you know he wasn’t my father?”

The moment between us is so intimate and intense I want to bury my hands in his sandy hair and bring my lips up to meet his. My body tingles happily at just the thought of it, even if he is still a stranger.

He grins with a hint of playfulness. “Someone that unattractive couldn’t possibly have made something as beautiful as you. That and he didn’t quite seem to be the fatherly type. Not the kind of father someone like you would have, anyway.”

My cheeks grow warm with his hidden compliment. “My father was a wonderful man. He died when I was little.”

A weak smile plays on my lips and Eli reaches up to put his hand on the side of my face. There is a flicker of hope that wants him to take the initiative to kiss me at this moment, but I remember that I am falling into a crazy fantasy with this guy I have known for less than twenty-four hours.

“You are obviously running from something, Tasha, and I know the documents you want are for you. What does this guy want from you? Whatever it is, I will do everything I can to help protect you.”

He searches my eyes with his, a pent up anger gleaning behind them. Eli seems the type that would physically resolve things with anyone that had done him wrong. My lower lip trembles when I am overwhelmed by his determination to help me.

“Why is it you want to help so badly when you don’t even know me? You don’t know what you’re dealing with. I wouldn’t be too quick to step forward if I were you.”

“I want to, but it’s…complicated.”

Surprisingly, there is apparently something more involved behind his intentions. He pauses like there is more he wants to say but doesn’t know how to tell me. He finally opens his mouth to speak but no words come out.

“Hell-o? Anyone working here today?” a woman’s voice calls impatiently from inside the shop.

Eli takes his hand from my face. I sigh deeply, deciding the customer has the worst timing ever. Whatever it was that Eli was about to confess will have to wait for another time.

I wipe my tears from my face. “I need to go help her.”

Eli shakes his head with firm movement. “You’re staying here. I can muster my way through it for a while. Are you here by yourself all day?”

“My boss had to run to Ocean Beach. She said she would be back in a couple of hours.”

My track record for actually working at this new job isn’t fairing so wonderfully. It seems impossible that I will make it through an entire week before being fired.

It is strange how easily I am able to throw my trust into Eli’s hands, having just met him. I had done virtually the same thing with Gabe, only now my suspicions toward his intentions continue to grow.

“I won’t be far away,” Eli says before disappearing behind the door.

* * *

A quiet knock wakes me from my nap on the couch. I sit up still groggy from my short slumber when Eli pokes his head through the door.

“It’s been over an hour since that guy left. You’re probably safe to come out now. Hopefully I haven’t messed up the register too badly. There were only a few little transactions.”

He shoves his hands in his shorts and grins modestly. He is so unbearably gorgeous when he does that. I look away before my flushed face gives me away again.

“Thank you,” I say, standing up and stretching my arms to the ceiling.

I catch him watching me closely with a look of slight regret.

“I have to go, but I’ll be back to meet you and Alec later. I trust him and everything, but I would feel better if I was around.”

Feelings of panic and dread mix inside me; I do not want him to leave. He must sense this as his expression softens significantly. “You’ll be okay. I’m guessing your boss will be back any minute.”

I nod without saying any more, hoping he is right. It terrifies me to think of Johnny returning when I am all alone. Eli steps forward and presses his lips to my forehead as goodbye. The gesture is shocking, welcome and pleasant all at the same time. I give him what probably looks like a drunken smile before he leaves. He is out of sight for only a few minutes when Kalia returns. She has a long, light blue surf board tucked under her arm and puffs out a breath of air when setting it down.

“Now that was a lot of work,” she says, brushing aside the dark curls that have fallen into her face. “Everything go okay?”

“Yeah. There were only a few customers.” What exactly they bought, however, I hope she doesn’t ask as I have no idea.

Kalia boosts herself up so she is sitting on the counter. She swings her legs like a school girl as she talks to me. “Gabe is coming down to check out the new surfboards and help me unload them, but I have no problem with you stealing him first for your break, if you want.”

“Actually, I have a quick errand to run,” I tell her.

I need to get the picture taken of myself and remember seeing a photo booth in the more touristy area of the beach when walking through with Gabe; that and I am in no mood to see Gabe right now.

Kalia stops to assess me with narrowed eyes. “Are you trying to avoid Gabe for some reason?”