Bad Karma (26 page)

~*~

Zach reflected that Sky and Cassie were settling in well, given the circumstances.

Cassie was in the room that was now designated to be hers. She’d taken an armload of shopping bags in there and closed the door. He presumed she was doing the same thing Sky was doing in the room he would be sharing with her.

Sky sat cross-legged on the bed, cutting tags off of her new clothes.

She’d gotten four sets of scrubs and two jackets that would coordinate with them. She arranged them on hangers and handed them to Zach. He hung them in her side of the closet.

She’d gotten two dresses, a couple of pairs of jeans and shorts and some knit tops to go with them. He watched her arrange her new underwear in one of the two drawers he’d cleared for her.

“
It was so nice of you to go to all this trouble for my sister and me, Zach. We don’t need much room at all because we have so little now.” She turned to him, a sad smile on her face.

“
Sky, it’s no trouble. I want you and Cassie to be safe. I can protect you.” She smiled, but he sensed that she didn’t believe him. “Trust me. I will keep you safe.”

She glanced down, bit her lip.

“
I promise, Sky. There’s nothing more important to me than your welfare.”

She nodded. “Just be careful, Zach. This man almost killed my sister. I don’t want to lose either one of you.”

“
Not a chance of that.” He pulled her close, stroking her hair. Tomorrow, he’d consult with Rafael about the best security measures. In the meantime, he’d keep a careful watch over the two women.

~*~

Cassie was the only customer. She’d spotted the small trendy boutique among the strip of businesses when she’d been shopping with Sky, but didn’t suggest they stop in.

With Sky, she’d shopped for the necessities, getting everything from underwear to sneakers and sandals. She couldn’t explain to Sky that her boyfriend wanted to buy her a special dress for their date. Cassie wasn’t even sure that she was okay with Javier’s gift. But she knew that Sky would have something to say about it; something she did not want to hear.

Cassie parked Javier’s truck in front and slid down to the pavement before going inside.

A bell clanked against the glass door as she pushed her way inside. Two sales girls leaned against the counter, watching her with wide eyes and absolutely no expression registering on their faces.

Cassie smiled in their direction and went to paw through the racks. She pulled out several things to try on and looked through the lingerie selection. She chose a silky bra and pair of bikini panties to match, leaving them by the cash register.

She asked for the dressing room and one of the sales girls led her behind a curtain, leaving her without a single word passing through her tightly pursed lips.

Cassie tried on three dresses, concerned that she knew so little about Javi. She didn’t even know his favorite color. He’d liked Sky’s little black dress, but it had been the tee shirt that had driven him wild. She finally chose a silky turquoise dress that skimmed over her body, but had a short skirt. Legs were the commodity that Cassie had the most of.

In the same store, she found a pair of strappy tan sandals with two-inch heels, figuring that she could wear them with other things, whenever she had other things.

She carried the dress and shoes to the cash register to join her other selections. One of the sales girls rang up her purchases and Cassie handed her the credit card.

The girl drew in a breath, staring at the card. The second sales girl looked at the card then shot Cassie an angry glare.

Butterflies swarmed in her gut. “Is there a problem?” she said with as much dignity as she could muster.

“
No, its...it’s just that...”

“
It’s all right,” Cassie said. “It’s my boyfriend’s card. He gave it to me.”

Both girls eyed her suspiciously.

Cassie bit her lip. She should have brought Sky with her. Sky was so much better at asserting herself, and she had no money to pay for her purchases if they refused to let her use the card.

Silently, the first young woman swiped the card and handed her a ticket to sign.

Cassie accepted the bag with the shoes and underwear, carrying the dress bagged on a hanger. She felt their eyes on her as she opened Javi’s truck and tried to get up in it as gracefully as possible. She intended to drop off her purchases at her new residence before returning to the hospital. She sighed as she drove past the rubble that had been their home for so brief a period.

My independent bachelor girl home.

She parked and ran up Zach's stairs to hang her new dress in the almost empty closet and set the shoebox on the floor beneath it. One other dress hung alongside it and that had been purchased after Sky suggested that the Baileys might invite them to go to church again.

Cassie climbed back up into the truck, having gotten the hang of grabbing the steering wheel to haul herself up into the driver’s seat. She returned to the hospital and found that Javier wasn’t in his room. She went to the nurse’s station and was redirected to the Rehabilitation Department.

She peeked through the door and saw Javi working with a Rehab specialist. He grinned when he saw her, motioning her over.

He introduced her to the Occupational Therapist and showed her the small rubber ball he was supposed to use to strengthen his arm.

Even as he flexed his fingers to squeeze the ball the muscles in his forearm and bicep flexed.

Cassie felt a wave of panic when she saw the dressing on his arm, recalling how his injury occurred.

Back in his room she helped him dress in the clean clothes his mother had brought for him. He gazed down at her as she buttoned his shirt. “I could get used to this.”

Cassie stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. “I’ll just bet you could.”

His uninjured arm circled around her and pressed her close.

A tight feeling in her throat prevented her from speaking. She slipped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight.

“
Let’s get out of here,” he said, gruffly.

~*~

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Resurrection

The pretty waitress handed him a menu. She was lovely and slim like Kira, but older. She looked the way Kira would have looked ten years from now.

He smiled at her. “Yes, I’ll have coffee. Thanks.”

The woman walked away, a very female swing to her hips, and her long salt and pepper hair plaited into a waist-length braid.

She returned with his coffee and placed a slim copy of the local weekly newspaper on the table. “In case you want to catch up on the big events here on the island.”

The aroma of hot coffee filled his nostrils, giving a sense of the familiar, of getting back to normal. He gave her a warm smile. “Thanks. I’ll have bacon and eggs over easy with hash browns.”

Since the fire, he’d felt buoyant. He’d brought down the woman who’d killed his beloved wife and child. Now he could get on with his life.

He sipped his coffee and looked at the headlines.
Local Hero Injured in Fire
and just below
Arson Suspected
.

He frowned as the waitress refilled his coffee.

“
Isn’t that something?” She cocked her head toward the paper. “I can’t imagine someone setting a house on fire on purpose.”

He shook his head. “Can’t imagine.”

“
And Javier Rios is such a nice young man. Served in the military before he became a firefighter.”

A wave of bile rose in the back of his throat. “Too bad the fireman got injured.”

The waitress flashed a wide grin at him. “But Javier saved Cassie’s life. He got her out before she was hurt too bad. She works here as our delivery girl. She’s off for a few days, just until she gets better.”

He felt like he was choking. He’d not only caused injury to a fireman, but he’d tried to kill the wrong woman. Kira’s murderer remained unscathed. He gripped the edge of the table. His brain felt like it was on fire.

The waitress returned, placing his order in front of him. He threw a twenty on the table and ran out the door, leaving her to stare, open-mouthed, after him.

~*~

Sky sat on the deck watching Zach install security lighting and an alarm system.

He stood on an aluminum ladder attaching motion sensors that activated the lights and alarms.

It was comforting to learn that Zach was so handy. She should have known that, since he’d installed a ceiling fan in her previous bedroom, a ceiling fan that was toast now, along with the bedroom.

He’d asked her to trust him, telling her that he would protect her. A little shiver ran down her spine.

She could imagine Cassie’s new boyfriend, Javier, taking on the world to protect her, but, somehow, the very qualities that Sky loved so much about Zach, his tenderness and his laid-back personality, kept her from envisioning him as a super hero.

Most of all, she didn’t want Zach to get hurt. This malevolent mystery man was obsessed to kill her. He didn’t care who got hurt as long as he got to her.

Zach grinned down at her from atop the aluminum ladder. She managed to smile in return. “I’ll be finished with this soon and then I’ll take you to lunch before I drop you off at the hospital.”

She nodded. She felt completely dependent and, while grateful for the haven, the idea of being so inert was grating on her. Zach was providing her with food and shelter and he seemed to love doing it. But what had become of the strong, independent woman she had always been?

This wasn’t the real Skyler Danforth. This was some pale reflection of the woman she used to be. Since the accident and the subsequent threats on her life, she had become demoralized. Now she was always in hiding, always looking over her shoulder, always afraid.

Sky drew a deep breath, trying to remember who she had been before the accident. That strong, competent woman with a positive attitude had become a memory, or perhaps a ghost.

~*~

Cassie followed Javier’s directions and pulled into the driveway of a neat two story house situated on a slight rise overlooking the bay. Someone had planted a row of rose bushes along the front, forming a hedge.

She glanced at Javi and turned off the motor. “Wait right there,” she instructed. “Do not open the door with your injured arm.”

“
Yes, Ma’am.”

Cassie ran around to open the door and a smiling Javier grabbed her with his good arm when he alit.

He gave her a quick kiss. “Let’s go inside. You have the key.”

A flutter of nerves pelted her insides.
I’m unlocking Selena Rios’ home.
Stepping inside the quiet living room, Cassie felt like an intruder.

Javier smiled at her, drawing her into the kitchen at the back of the house. He opened the refrigerator. “Want something to drink?” He placed a can of soda in her hand.