Baker’s Law (7 page)

Marissa fidgeted with the edge of the little apron she had tied around her waist.

Jax had said what he needed to for his apologies. He didn’t want to watch her squirm
any more. He slapped his hat back on his head. “Have you given much thought to getting
a security system?”

“Thoughts, sure. All the time.”

“You might want to consider getting something installed. I can ask around for a recommendation.”
His cell phone vibrated on his hip, but he kept his gaze pinned to hers. “There have
been some other break-ins around town.”

Her dark eyebrows pulled down. “Other break-ins?” She took a step closer to him. “Where?
Who? What was taken?”

He named off a few of the local companies that had been burglarized over the past
few months. “It was in the paper.”

She shifted her gaze from his for a moment. “I’ve been working almost nonstop for
months on end. I…it’s easy to lose track of what’s going on around you.”

“The other shops lost money and merchandise. You got off pretty lucky.”

The V of her eyebrows pulled down farther and she shook her head slowly. “I don’t
think it was the same guy.”

“You can’t know that.” He shifted. “Two of the other stores had holes in their doors
just like yours.”

“That doesn’t mean he did it. That just shows how he got in. Assuming that’s how.”

The two locked eyes, neither saying anything.

“Mar, there’s someone up here to see.” Her sister Marlie poked her head into the back.

“Coming.” Marissa said without taking her eyes off Jax. “I appreciate you coming out.
I think you’re wrong about the young man who was here and I will see what I can do
about getting better security.” She waved him toward the front of the store.

He was dismissed.

There was only so much he could say and do as the police chief. If Marissa didn’t
take his concerns seriously… He’d send the extra patrols around when he could. He’d
check up on her, too. Past that, he’d almost have to wait for her to have a break-in.

His cell phone vibrated. He unclipped it from his hip. It was his mother. For someone
who’d decided he wasn’t her son anymore, she sure did call a lot. “Do you mind if
I answer this here?”

“Go right ahead.” She headed out to the front of the store.

Jax put the phone to his ear. “Chief Carlisle.”

“Jackson, I have been calling you all afternoon. Why haven’t you answered my calls?”
His mother’s shrill voice echoed through the phone.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m working.”

“What if I had an emergency?”

“Then you should call in to the station like everyone else.” Even though she was “humiliated”
by his new job, Bunny Carlisle still wanted preferential treatment. Typical.

“I need you to come by the club tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t know that I can.” He’d been by his parents’ home once since he’d been back
in town. And that was only to see Callie. On a day when his mother was in the middle
of one of her social obligations. He’d been avoiding the club.

“Your sister is getting married and we need to coordinate with you as one of the groomsmen.”

Had his mother asked him to be in the wedding party, he’d have turned her down flat,
but when Callie asked… He’d never been good at denying his baby sister anything. “I’ll
see what I can do.” He hit the end button on his phone before she could make any more
demands. He was walking through the kitchen when he overheard Marissa.

“… he breaks into my shop and you want me to give him a job?”

Marissa stared at Lexi. The girl had dragged Hill—and it was clear he didn’t want
to be there—into her shop. Through Lexi, Hill admitted that he’d broken in, taken
cupcakes and who knew what else but now he was sorry and wanted to make up for it.
By working it off. Lexi wanted her to give him a job.

When Lexi and Hill had come in, the girl had bought them each a drink and a cupcake.
Hill was partial to the red velvet, she’d learned from the wrapper he’d left on the
table the other night. While Hill ate, Lexi had pulled Marissa aside and dropped her
little bomb. But there was more.

“I know he broke into your store. But it was only on nights when it was too chilly
or he had homework.” The teen worried the edge of her shirt.

“I don’t understand.”

Lexi leaned in. “He has no place to go. Like nowhere.”

There were few things in the world that could make the bottom drop out of Marissa’s
stomach; homelessness was one of them. Many years after her mother left, Marissa,
Marlie and their brothers had been in downtown Fort Worth with their father at the
big library. It had been such an adventure when she’d entered the grand building with
its white columns. Her dad had helped her get her first ever library card. She was
so proud, checked out three books all by herself. As they were leaving, Duff pointed
at a woman up the street. She was wearing tattered clothing, pushing a shopping cart.
It was all her father could do to stop him from running down the street.

Marissa could remember Duff’s contorted face as he looked up at their dad and said,
“But it’s Mom.”

Marissa had wanted to get a closer look. She barely remembered what her mother looked
like. But the dirty woman, the one who was talking to herself, looked nothing like
the image she’d formed from a few aging photos.

Glen Llewellyn had gathered up his children, shuttled them back to their van and driven
away without so much as a comment. Later that night, Marissa had overheard him talking
to Mr. Humphries. Their mother had a drug problem. When she’d run off it was to avoid
going into rehab—she’d chosen God knows what over getting the help Glen was offering
her. Apparently she’d come back from time to time to ask for money, and the last time
Glen had refused. He’d told her no, and until that day at the library it’d been three
years since he’d seen her.

Her father was devastated and so confused. Marissa had been mad at the woman for upsetting
him. They’d never gone back to that library—as a family. When Marissa was old enough,
she’d gone looking for her mom. She’d wanted nothing more than to find her mom, help
her, get her off the streets, but no matter how many times she’d gone back to that
library she’d never found her mom. She always feared her mother had finally succumbed
to either being on the streets or drugs themselves.

Marissa lowered her voice as her stomach continued to pitch. “He’s homeless?” Her
voice carried and the young man’s cheeks turned red.

Hill set down the drink he’d just pulled up to his mouth and gulped heavily.

A deep throat cleared from behind Marissa and she jumped. “Oh, Chief, hey.”

Hill stood suddenly as Lexi gasped. “We’ve gotta…”

“No.” Marissa held her hand up. “You’re not going anywhere.” She turned to Jax. “Was
there something else you needed?”

He opened his mouth, but the cell at his hip chirped again. When he looked at the
screen, he shook his head. “I’ve got to go.” He glanced back up at Marissa, then to
Hill. “Will you be here a little later? I think you and I need to talk.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” Marissa hurried Jax to the door. “I’m here ‘bout another hour.”
Once she got him out of the shop, she turned to face the two teens.

“What’s going on?” Marlie stood behind the counter, her gaze volleying between the
three.

Marissa turned to her sister but decided not to tell her who Hill was. Not until she
could figure out what to do. “Don’t you have an appointment at the club?”

Marlie jumped and checked her watch. “Oh, I do. I’ll call you later with the details
for the wedding—”

“I don’t know.”

“You promised you’d do it,” she said in a singsong voice as she waggled her pinky
and gave Marissa the sisterly you-owe-me stare.

“We’ll see…” Marissa tried to get the words out before her sister made it out the
front door, but she blew past so fast, she wasn’t sure Marlie had heard her. She had
pinky sworn, though, so even though Marlie had tricked her, she couldn’t wiggle out
of it.

When she turned back to the teens, they were quietly arguing over the half-eaten cupcakes.
“Okay, so let’s talk.”

The pair jumped apart, both wide-eyed. And suddenly mute.

Marissa smashed her hands on her hips. “Which one of you is going to go first?” She
waggled her finger between the two.

Both teens looked at their feet.

“Lexi, you seem to be the one with all the ideas and plans. You go first.” Marissa
pulled out a stool and leaned up against it, then slid the one across from her out
with her foot. “Sit. Start over from the beginning.”

Lexi walked over to the stool and only glanced back over her shoulder at Hill once.
She hopped her five-foot frame up on the tall stool, took a deep breath and the words
tumbled out of her. “You see, it’s like this. Hill’s mom passed away a few years ago.
He was living with his dad. Who is a real loser. Sorry, Hill—” she looked back at
him for a moment “—but he is. One day, his dad up and leaves.” She held Marissa’s
gaze without blinking once. “No one seemed to notice there was this kid living all
by himself. Hill’s a good student so it didn’t affect school or anything. But a few
months later the bank forecloses on the house. He didn’t have a way to float a mortgage
on top of school and his part-time job. He did have a job.” She said it so earnestly,
as if to score a few extra points in Hill’s favor. “But the company folded and everyone
lost their jobs.”

Lexi took a long breath and continued. “He lived with friends here and there. And
no one asked questions or seemed to notice he had nowhere to go.” She gave a quick
little growl of disapproval. “I’d totally let him stay with me, but my mom’s so provincial
I can’t. He’ll be eighteen in two months and then it won’t matter, but until then…”
She shrugged. “He needs a little help here and there.”

Hill shifted. He hadn’t said a word. Just let his friend Lexi plead his case.

“So like I told you, he only snuck in here when it was too cold or he had a lot of
homework. He didn’t really hurt anything or anyone by doing it.” She folded her hands
in her lap and straightened her shoulders. She’d said her piece.

For a moment, all Marissa could do was try to catch her breath. She glanced at Hill.
He stood next to the other table, his food and drink still half-finished. He’d turned
three shades of red under his tan complexion and looked ready to bolt at any moment.

Marissa’s head swam with the information. The most she could muster up at the moment
was a simple question. “Is that all true?”

“Yes ma’am.”

It was the first time he’d spoken. He had a deep, smooth voice that while polite held
an edge of mistrust.

There were so many people who’d failed him. She didn’t know the first thing about
where or how to help, but there were also services and organizations for that. None
of which had come to take care of him when he needed it the most. He could have gone
to them, but he was still a kid. He’d been taking care of himself any way he could.
Until he’d gotten caught.

And what had she done?

Sure, she’d called the police initially, but when he’d run and she could have identified
him, she hadn’t. Was she as guilty as the others? Even when Jax had come face-to-face
with Hill, she hadn’t turned and pointed to him. She’d kept quiet. Now the teens trusted
her for it and were asking for her help. Sort of. It wasn’t like they were necessarily
asking her to help him into the system, though. They wanted her to overlook the fact
that he’d broken into her shop—several times—and helped himself to her food.

Food that was going to go to waste, a little voice in the back of her head whispered.

She shook herself and asked, “And somehow all this parlays into a job offer from me
to him?”

Lexi’s face brightened. “Yes. You could let Hill work here. He could clean up and
maybe you could let him sleep on the sofa in your office. It’s not all that comfortable,
but it beats under the bridge on the far side of town.”

Marissa let that sink in. It sucked that she’d been right. It sucked worse that Hill
had been basically tossed aside and made to fend for himself. What must it be like
for a teenager—whether he was soon to be eighteen or not—to be completely on his own?
She’d never been alone since the moment of conception. She’d always had Marlie, her
older brothers and her dad. Not to mention a slew of extended family all over Texas
and beyond. She’d never once worried about being alone.

Lexi wasn’t done yet. “If you agree, it will give you an added layer of security having
a warm body here at night. So no one can break in.”

“No one
else
can break in, you mean,” Marissa pointed out.

If Hill’s face had been red before, now it was about-to-stroke-out red. He rolled
his head back and stared up at the ceiling.

“How many times have you…” Marissa motioned to the back of the shop.

“Not that many,” Lexi said at the same time as Hill lowered his head and said, “a
dozen or so.”

Marissa pinched the bridge of her nose. A dozen times someone had broken into her
shop. A dozen times a lone, teenage boy had slept in her office, on her sofa, to keep
from sleeping under a bridge. She’d only noticed a couple of times when things seemed
off, and only once was it obvious that food had been taken.

The bell over the door clanged as a woman with three little girls came in chattering
away.

“How are y’all?” Marissa stood. “I’ll be right with you.” When they passed and made
their way up to the counter, she turned to the teens. “I’m not done talking with you
two. Sit. Finish your snack and I’ll be right back.”

She wasn’t entirely sure they’d listen to her. She half-expected them to be gone when
she finished with her customers. But Lexi and Hill were at the table. Hill had finished
his cupcake and Lexi sat picking at hers. Marissa grabbed another red velvet from
the case and headed back over to the teens. She set the cupcake in front of Hill.
He stared at it for a long moment, then peeled back the paper and took a bite.