The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (53 page)

“Well, you just better check in. Nikko’s still out, one more week, and Gio just flew to New York.” Blaze noticed the snarl undercutting his words when he mentioned New York and that sent up an alarm to Blaze.

“What? Why?” It was Blaze’s turn to be shocked. What was Gio doing in New York, and why did Andreas sound so unhappy about it?

“Lisa. . .” his voice trailed off in what sounded like exasperation.

“What?”

Lisa was Gio’s ex-girlfriend, his one love, who’d left him to marry another man. She’d eloped and come back married. They weren’t even broken up at the time. It had come as a shock to all of them. They had grown up with Lisa, had been neighbors and life-long friends. Gio dated her on and off for six years, all through high school, while he was in the academy, and through his first year as a police officer. Everyone expected him to propose after she graduated from college.

“Can you believe she tried to off her husband, and who does she call to bail her out of Riker’s Island?” Andreas spat the words out. He was clearly disgusted with the woman and her attempts to lure Gio back into her life expecting him to come to her rescue after nearly ten years.

“Fuck, no way!” Blaze didn’t blame Andreas for being pissed. Hell, he was too. She had really sent Gio on a spin, crushed him, and they thought he wouldn’t recover from it for a while. Surprisingly, it had been his parent’s deaths that brought him back around. He got his drinking under control and cleaned up his act.

“Yes, fucking way. That’s why I’m so pissed right now. I’ve got one brother recovering from a bullet wound and he is in love, and you go missing, Gio in New York getting drawn in to Lisa’s bullshit.” Blaze heard the anger and he felt his own anger level’s rising. Lisa was bad news.

“Well, don’t worry about me. I’ve got this,” he tried to set his brother free from at least one worry even though he knew it was no use. Ever since their parents had been murdered, he’d taken over the family and was the most difficult of watchdogs for all of them, more so than any parent.

“Sure,” he dragged out the word. “I won’t worry, yeah, just get your ass home, and keep me posted as much as you can.”

“Will do. And if you hear anything about Gio, you keep me posted.”

“Okay, talk to you later then. I’ve got to get some work done around here. Stay safe.”

With that both brothers hung up. And both worried.

The phone conversation ended just in time. Blaze had enough on his plate without having to worry about Gio getting screwed up again by being brought into Lisa’s nightmare. They had all once loved her. And, they all resented her for what she had done to their brother. She’d been like a sister to them; they’d been neighbors, the proverbial girl next door, and then she’d gone and married the local rich boy and left Gio seriously fucked up. Only his parents’ deaths had shocked him back to reality. Andreas wanted a united front. They needed to stick together for Nikko, the youngest, who was still in high school when the murder happened and for him too. He’d just started college. But Gio was scarred badly. He’d never had a serious relationship since, and women had become mere toys to him to be used, and then thrown away.

Who was he to argue? He’d done the very same thing, learning from his brother, and going through a very similar experience with Nicole, and Alex, a friend to both of them. Betrayal sucked, and it had taken a lot from all of them.

Ugh.
But he had to focus now. He had a job to do, and as he turned the sharp corner at the end of the long and winding road down from Bella’s, he saw the first houses off in the distance. He also saw what appeared to be Clara’s store, and she lived right next door according to Bella. He’d stop by and fill her in, and hopefully, her husband, Joseph, would not have left for work, and be willing to drive him to a rental car place. He’d make the calls to his own rental car company when he was at the new place to come and pick up the disabled vehicle.

Hopefully all would go according to plan.

*     *     *

Luckily it did,
and Blaze was headed back to Bella’s by three-thirty in the afternoon.

Clara had been quite suspicious at first, seeing this stranger who claimed to be a friend of Izzy’s, and then after having her husband drop him off at the nearest rental agency which was forty-five minutes away, she pointedly told him, she would be driving up to check on Bella herself. He was able to cajole her into good humor, by telling her what wondrous healing properties her balms had evoked in him, and showing her the scars on his hands it had helped to soothe. He’d told her the whole story of Bella finding him, and seeing the scars had added truth to his ludicrous, but very true story.

The car rental situation took longer than expected. There was a lot of paperwork to be done. After that was accomplished, it was noon, and he still had some shopping to do. It had taken an hour to find a place that sold modest refrigerators, and then he wanted to stock it with food. He bought the cheapest refrigerator he could find, and was assured it would fit into the king cab pickup he rented. He’d been tempted to buy her a stove as well, but didn’t want her to think he was overdoing it. After getting the small GE compact refrigerator into the truck and secured, he was directed to a Piggly Wiggly’s to do his grocery shopping.

Arriving at the super market, he found himself whistling softly to himself in his anticipation of returning to Bella. He was glad Andreas had agreed with his plan; it gave him two days with Bella before he had to tell her who he was, and to think of a way to help her. He didn’t know what they had between them, and it still confused the crap out of him, but after hearing her story, he knew she wasn’t really a part of this, and being alone, no family, friends all moved around the country, and her mother gone, he kind of felt a kindred spirit to her. He and his brothers, his one aunt and cousin, well, he knew what it was like to not have roots, and feel lost.

He just couldn’t see her spending her life alone or in prison. He didn’t think it fair for her to be lost in these hills to wither out her days alone, on the run. If he could only figure out a way to clear her name, she’d be able to make some kind of life for herself.

Walking into the grocery store, he was immediately accosted by the sight of the summer display for the fourth of July, and was shocked to realize it was tomorrow. Wow, he’d be spending the holiday with Bella. He decided on the spur of the moment to make it a memorable one.

The display included all the items to grill a barbecue feast. Smiling too himself, he grabbed one of the small boxed grills he could easily assemble, two bags of charcoal and charcoal fluid, and set out to buy the fixings to have a real cook out, amongst the other things on Bella’s list.

Steaks, baking potatoes, tinfoil, corn on the cob, beans, and the fixings for strawberry shortcake all crowded around other staples he picked up at the last minute and threw into the cart with Bella’s meager list of supplies. Blaze knew he had overdone it, but it was a holiday after all.

Blaze headed directly to the checkout eager to get back. A pretty blonde, tall and slender, was standing at the end of her checkout line waiting for a customer. When she saw him approach she beckoned to him. He was glad to not have to wait in line, but he knew that look well. The look the cashier was giving him. He smiled politely, nodded and approached. Her name tag read, Heather Way, and apparently she was employee of the month. Hmm, he thought, wondering how she had gotten that weighty title. She was a looker, and probably very popular with the customers. Very popular if she looked at many of them this way. The woman, definitely hot, was practically undressing him with her eyes, and imagining all kinds of things. He was a man, and normally would have enjoyed her come-on, but Bella was waiting. He couldn’t believe the change that was coming over him.

“Just put it all up here, honey,” Heather purred. “I’ll ring you up.” She somehow made it sound, in her Midwestern accent, like she wanted to tie him up, and he couldn’t believe he wasn’t interested. She oozed sex appeal.

“Thanks,” he laughed acknowledging her flirtation, but shook his head in the negative to let her down easy.

“Oh, cooking out I see. It’s gonna be so, sooo hot tomorrow,” Heather continued, not giving up. She picked up the weekly flyer and fanned herself, causing her blonde hair to be uplifted in the air conditioned store, and fanning her chest, trying to draw his attention to her cleavage. He looked, it was instinct. Nothing happened down south.

“Yes, it is July,” he nodded making small talk, putting the last of his items up on the conveyor belt, as she began to scan the items over the electronic digital bar code reader.

“Sooo, hot,” she continued to shake her hair over her shoulder, and bit her lip seductively.

“Oh yes, so hot,” he mimicked. The girl was a flirt. Reprehensible. He liked her type, normally. He found women with easy manners refreshing. They let you know what they wanted, and it had been simple and easy for him to get what he needed and walk away.

Heather laughed, eyes sparkling with mischief. Mischief he normally would have enjoyed for a few hours, but he wasn’t one to play games, and lead people on. He knew from her eyes she thought she must have hooked him, so he went and let her down easy.

“Sorry babe, I’m just in town for the holiday, and have a pretty girl already waiting.” He winked to soften the blow.

“Oh, poo,” she teased still smiling. “All the hot ones are taken.” She winked in return, but didn’t turn sour. Yes, normally the Heather Way’s of the world were exactly his type. But not now. Not with Bella waiting.

He paid for his purchases, gave Heather one more wink, and left, pushing his cart back to his rented pick up, with the refrigerator strapped down in the back. He felt like a domesticated man running errands. Strangely it didn’t bother him in the least. He knew if any of his brothers could see him now, they’d be laughing their balls off, and Andreas would be fuming. Yep, that didn’t bother him either. The only thing bothering him was that he couldn’t get Bella out of his mind, and he was excited as hell to be returning to her.

*     *     *

On the drive
back to Cherokee, Blaze began to get anxious to return to Bella. He didn’t like leaving her for the whole day, not because he thought she would flee. She was trying to make a life for herself there—but the Romans worried him. He decided to send a quick text to Andreas and pulled off the road so he wouldn’t be distracted.

Blaze:
All done with the rental. Returning to Cherokee. Might be out of touch with lack of service. Just a thought. Keep tabs on the Romans cell phone calls just to see if he is making calls to people in the area. No sign of trouble. Just a precaution.

It took Andreas barely a minute to respond.

Andreas:
Good idea. On it.

Blaze:
Thankx

Andreas:
Be safe. Two days.

Feeling better after he’d done something proactive, Blaze hit the accelerator. He’d left early enough to get everything done and now he could focus on how to help Bella. He had a day and a half to get to know her better and hopefully to get some kind of information he could use to clear her.

When his truck made it up the steep incline of the road to her secluded cabin, he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Turning into her driveway, he noticed his other rental already gone. He panicked momentarily as he knew he’d left his bag in the car, but Bella was sitting in the rocker on the front porch, and she got up and waved when she recognized him behind the wheel. Her smile was welcoming and friendly. His bag was on the porch next to her. His gun, which he’d left in the bag, in a special case he used when he travelled was locked and he had the key on him. The gun was a loaner, one he had been able to get with his special license that allowed him to carry a weapon in several south-eastern and mid-western states. The laws up North were much more stringent even for law enforcement and bounty hunters.

When he parked and got out, she was making her way down the steps carefully, and she was still smiling although a bit shyly.