Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) (18 page)

Devyn reached over the bar and covered Isaac’s large hand with her smaller one in encouragement. He’d been with her for over eight years, since the first day she’d opened the doors after she’d renovated the place. She’d thought she could handle everything herself at first, so he’d started out cooking and then eventually helped her build up to hiring Erwin. Over the years, she’d started sharing her workload as well as giving Isaac periodic raises to cover his job responsibilities. She hadn’t regretted it and to be honest…Isaac was probably her best friend.

“Jenna seemed somewhat distracted tonight,” Isaac said, pulling out a stool and taking a seat now that the work was done. Devyn wasn’t quite ready to head upstairs without Trigger, not that she was going to evaluate the reason why, and leaned on the countertop to hear Isaac’s opinion of what had happened this evening. “Did she say anything to you?”

“No, not that I remember,” Devyn replied, a little bothered with herself for not having noticed. “Everyone was distracted tonight. Did she say something to you?”

“Nope, but then again, you’re right about everyone acting a little out of sorts.” Isaac tapped his fingers on the countertop as he followed up with his reasoning. “That detective thinks one of us locals had something to do with these killings. That’s bound to cause dissention among the regulars.”

Devyn understood what Isaac meant when he said
one of us
. He wasn’t referring to either of them, but more so someone from Amberton in general. That didn’t sit well with anyone and all it had done was cause each of the townsfolk to regard one another with scrutiny. The gristmill was now primed and ready for grinding. The evening had been particularly quiet for a Thursday. No one stayed very long after the detective and the sheriff finished their inquiry and the crowd had discussed the lack of any outcome.

“What it means is that we should keep a close eye on those around us and make sure we report anything overtly suspicious,” Trigger said as he walked into the bar with Diesel by his side. Devyn itched to walk toward him, but she stayed where she was.
I want you in my life
. Those words continued to ricochet over and over in her head, leading her back to the fact that they led two completely separate lives. “A murderer is always the quiet one—someone’s neighbor, someone’s acquaintance. Most people are always left to wonder why they didn’t see the signs and only figure it all out when things come to a head.”

“This is Amberton,” Isaac said with a touch of sadness in his voice. “Things like this don’t happen here. This isn’t Corinth or Memphis.”

The last paid for song that had been drifting from the jukebox finally struck its last chord, allowing the machine to finally rest peacefully for the night. A silence of deliberation extended until they all just shook their head at the confusion of it all. It didn’t seem real and Joey’s absence was as tangible as the air around them.

“I’ll see you two tomorrow, God willing,” Isaac said despairingly as he pushed himself off of the stool and then bent down to pet Diesel before slowing making his way to the front door. “Goodnight, all.”

“Goodnight, Isaac,” Devyn and Trigger echoed in return, staring at one another as the dust settled around them. He had that look about him as if he were going to bring up something she didn’t want to discuss…which meant either Joey or their situation. He was right. She didn’t want to talk about either of those subjects. “Why don’t you take Diesel out one last time while I finish closing up?”

“Avoiding the issue of what happened between us last night won’t make it go away,” Trigger warned affectionately in a manner she could have done without. He wanted something she couldn’t give and was acting as if he’d found a way around her recent denial. “We both have some decisions to make, but we can agree to postpone them until the investigation is over if you like.”

“Can we?” Devyn asked sarcastically, turning toward the sink where she’d left a couple of glasses to wash. They could wait until tomorrow, and she’d rather settle this thing between them now so he didn’t misinterpret where she was coming from. She left the light over the bar on like she always did as she walked toward him, addressing things head-on while doing her best to keep her heart rate under one hundred and twenty beats per minute. “What we had before worked for the both of us. We’re friends, John. We always have been and I’m sure we always will be to some measure. Joey was our connection, but what we shared was ours alone. I’m more than willing to continue that while you’re here, but this is where my life is and will stay.”

“I’m not asking that you give up the tavern or Amberton, Dev.” Trigger stepped closer, bringing his heat and making it hotter inside than the Mississippi air was outside. His dark eyes searched hers, as if she had the answers he was seeking. She did, but he just didn’t want to listen to reason. “I’m asking that you give us a chance. I never should have left without asking you to go with me. We were both…”

“Content with the way things were?” Devyn finished his sentence, but turned it into a question to make sure she had it right. The nights they’d shared came back like a ricochet. She did her best to maintain eye contact with him instead of gazing at his lips the way she wanted to. “I was and am, John. I liked the way things were, but we both knew it was only going to go so far.”

“Because I always leave?” Trigger asked with somewhat of a warning, watching her carefully. She did her best not to tip her hand, because he could easily take her heart without her ever realizing it. “I love what I do and my unit helps in ways you can’t imagine. You would know that if you wanted to be a part of my life, but you always choose to change the subject when it comes to Red Starr. How do you know we aren’t meant to be together if you always keep me at arms’ length? Did you ever consider there isn’t anything I don’t know about you and yet I’m standing here asking you to take that ride with me to see where this all leads?”

Trigger was confusing her with his psychoanalysis and her defensive walls immediately shot up, but she held them at bay. He waited patiently while she pondered on what he said without immediately reacting like she normally would have. One thing Joey’s death had reinforced was the fact that life could end at any moment. She didn’t want to die with any regrets, so she speculated on what Trigger was trying to get across.

“You think I’m purposefully not getting to know you because your spellbinding charisma will be irresistible to me?” Devyn asked, trying her best to blow off the significance of what he was trying to point out, but he was too close and her thoughts were straying into a dangerous area. “What if you’re right? Can you blame me? Say we’d decided to take things further when the infamous Catori Starr showed up on your doorstep. Would you have asked me to leave Amberton and go with you to Hollywood? Would you have taken me to the West Coast—away from Joey—and then left me in some apartment to twiddle my thumbs while you were out saving the world in some far-off shithole?”

“You’re making it sound more complicated than what it needs to be,” Trigger shot back, startling her when he wrapped an arm around her waist and turned them until her back was against the bar and her front was melded with his. It had always amazed her how easily his disposition could be carefree one minute and so damned intense the next. “Did it ever occur to you that it would have been an adventure? Us…side by side, beyond the borders of Mississippi? We have something special, Dev, and I don’t plan on losing it all over again.”

Devyn still had quite a bit more to say, but all thoughts fled from her mind when Trigger kissed her passionately. His warm lips against hers chased away the world and all its meaningless problems. This was exactly what she needed instead of talking about something that would most likely never happen. This she could handle. This was the present and she didn’t have to think about the future. His hands were now cradling her face in the manner she’d come to crave, but she needed his touch elsewhere.

“Upstairs,” Devyn whispered, tearing her mouth from his and dragging in uneven breaths.

Devyn’s fingers were wrapped around Trigger’s wrists and she’d been about to pull him toward the small hallway when she abruptly stopped. Diesel sat on his hind end, his head somewhat tilted to the side as he tried to figure out why they weren’t taking him out for his nightly walk.

“Go upstairs,” Trigger whispered against the side of her neck. He’d pulled her back against him, moving her hair out of the way so he could press his lips to her already heated skin. His left hand was lying flat on her stomach and inched downward until his palm covered the zipper of her jeans. “I’ll take care of things down here.”

Devyn wasn’t going to argue. She slowly disengaged herself, allowing his hands to finally drift away from her. She wouldn’t feel guilty for taking time to enjoy John Dixon while he was available. She wasn’t meant to live outside of Amberton…this town was all she knew or understood. This was where she and Joey were raised, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be selfish, just as she had on his last visit. Life
was
short and she didn’t want to look back and say she didn’t take what he was offering in this moment. Tomorrow? She would deal with the ramifications when the sun rose on another day.

‡

T
rigger had walked
Diesel—granted, it was a very short one—and then quickly made his rounds to ensure that the tavern was secured properly and the security system, such as it was, was engaged. He’d already made some calls and expected the security firm he’d used for the garage to be here around ten hundred tomorrow morning. Devyn would likely take issue that he’d made such an executive decision without her knowledge, but there wasn’t a chance in hell he was allowing this place to be so vulnerable during a time like this.

There would be no contract per se for a monthly monitoring fee. It was a complete package with cellular backup, including an insurance policy against loss of any property on the monitored premises. The one time purchase price had been paid for. It was not a system that could be hacked by anyone outside a very small realm of professionals and maybe the NSA Go-Teams. It gave him some piece of mind when it came to Devyn’s safety.

The stifling heat was the first thing that hit Trigger when he walked through Devyn’s apartment door. Diesel even hesitated to cross the threshold, giving a small whine of displeasure. The air conditioning unit that cooled the upstairs was separate from the large component that took care of the bar. It must have gone out and he shook his head at the timing of it all.

“Go back downstairs, Diesel.”

Trigger wasn’t about to make the Shepherd stay cooped up inside the apartment with his thick coat and Diesel apparently agreed. He didn’t hesitate to quickly turn and trot down the stairs to where cooler air resided. He took up station in the hall at the bottom of the stairs. Anyone foolish enough to be sneaking through the bar would be very surprised when one of their limbs went missing.

“I’ve opened the windows, but I don’t think that’s helping any. I’ve got a box fan in the window,” Devyn said, coming out of her bedroom while removing her shirt. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail to keep the heavy strands off of her neck, but it wouldn’t help with this humidity. Trigger really should postpone what they’d planned and go downstairs to look at the air conditioning unit, but he couldn’t bring himself to walk out of this apartment after seeing her in only her pretty pink bra. “Damn if this doesn’t happen at least once a year. I was hoping to make it through one more summer, but it looks as if I’m going to have to fork out another chunk of change to replace the damn piece of crap…John, where’s Diesel and why are you looking at me like the wolf from Red Riding Hood?”

Trigger leaned back against the door and purposefully didn’t answer right away. Devyn had tossed her shirt onto the kitchen counter as she’d walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. She’d been coming toward him to go back downstairs, but a little heat wouldn’t kill them if they continued what they’d started in the bar.

“You can finish undressing, if you please.” Trigger waited, his fingers itching to remove the rest of her clothes for her. He slowly reached over for the wall switch, dimming the lights and setting the mood. He could admit to being a romantic at heart, believing it was moments like this that made life worth living. “There’s no rush to fix the air conditioning. We have all night…and the fan, of course.”

“But…” Devyn would have normally argued with him, but she was also taking a minute to look him over. It was nice to be appreciated and Trigger figured she would be even more thankful when he cooled her off. He pushed himself off the door with the back of his boot and then leisurely walked toward her. “Diesel?”

“Downstairs where it’s comfortable for furry friends,” Trigger replied, not stopping until the front of his body touched hers. The heat level rose and adrenaline shot through him that he would once again get to taste her the way he once had. He leaned down and captured her lips as he held her close, walking her backward to where the kitchen table was located. “We have more important things to do right now, Dev. Like me licking the salt off of your skin.”