The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) (19 page)

I laughed, “No, just someone who won’t take no for an answer.”

His brow knit together,
“You should call the cops.”

“Thanks,” I breathed, rushing out into the alley, “But I can handle it myself.”

“No problem,” he called after me, watching me race away down the alley.

I stopped before going back up to circle around the front, reaching into my bag and getting out the gun. I checked the clip, turned off the safety, and kept my hand on it inside my purse. I was ready to shoot it right through the designer leather if I had to.

When I came to the corner I held the glasses out ahead of me, and was rewarded by a view of the trench coated man going into a
camera store
just across from the surf shop. I waited until he was inside and darted across the street, hugging the wall until I was right next door. I squeezed my body into a small alcove between the two storefronts to wait.

I could see the blonde boy from the surf shop step out front and look up and down the street suspiciously. I cringed, stepping back into the shadows. At that precise moment
my
stalker came out warily, looking up and down the street and backing up into the same niche right in front of me. I couldn’t believe my luck; I stood within three feet of him.

“Put your hands up,” I said in a low voice
.
“O
ne step and
I swear to God I’ll shoot you right in the back.”

He nearly jumped out of his skin, and then I saw his shoulders shake as his hands slowly came up. I pulled the gun out of my purse and pointed it at him with two hands.

“Who sent you?” I asked harshly, “What do you want with me?”

His shoulders started shaking even harder and I realized he was
laughing
.

“Turn around!” I barked. My hands started shaking.

“Take it easy,” he said. He reached up to remove his glasses, holding them up. When he slowly rotated around, both of our eyes flew open wide with
surprise.

“Paul?”

He was staring at the gun in my trembling hands with shocked eyes. I lowered it slowly.

“What are you doing following me?”

He drew a breath, dropping his hands and pulling off his cap, “I was testing you,” he exhaled, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I almost shot you,” I said numbly.

He started to explain, his eyes following my every move as I engaged the safety and slipped the gun back into my purse.

“I thought since you missed this week’s lesson I’d check on you… see how careful you were being… I figured I’d tell you all the places you went– just to make you think… I thought I’d point out your carelessness…” He smiled
faintly, “Nice work.”

I heaved a sigh, my shoulders slumping, “Don’t do that again! I could have killed you.”

“Hey– I thought the worst that could happen would be a mild Tasing!”

Our eyes met and we both cracked up
with
relieved laughter.

“Come on,” I gestured towards the street with my head, “Help me carry some paintings.”

Paul followed me out into the street, and we walked past the surf shop. Both of the clerks stood in the doorway with incredulous eyes and open mouths. I wondered if they had seen me pull the gun on Paul. I shrugged as we passed by.

We went around the back of the coffee shop and up the metal staircase. I opened the door
to let us
in, busying myself with gathering a few canvases.

“This is a good defensible space,”
Paul
said, looking around with strategic eyes, “But the one way in also makes it a trap.”

“I’m aware of that,” I grimaced. I still couldn’t forgive myself for leading Cruz here on that fateful day. I handed Paul a couple of paintings to carry and tucked a few under my arm as I locked up.

“So… where did you get the gun?” Paul asked as he followed me down the steps.

“Yuri gave it to me
.
” I looked back up at him
,
“He overheard me asking Boris and surprised me.” I set my jaw in defiance, “I’m not giving it up.”

He pressed his lips together in irritation, “Alright, but Marina…”

“What?”

“Never draw it unless you’re prepared to shoot it.” His eyes met mine with a question.

“I didn’t,” I said steadily, adding, “It’s a good thing you didn’t
make any sudden moves
.”

We walked into the coffee shop to find Bill sitting down with Ruby at a table. She looked up at me and her eyes flicked over to Paul.

“Who do we have here?” she smiled flirtatiously.

“Ruby, Bill, this is my friend Paul,” I introduced him and took the paintings to start putting them up to fill in the bare spots on the wall. I could see Paul and Ruby talking, noticing how she twirled her hair flirtatiously. Somehow, I didn’t think that Ruby was his typ
e, and her lips tightened with irritation when his gaze kept returning to me.
Paul
finally
excused himself, and I walked him to the door.

“See you next weekend,” I told him, holding out my hand.

He flashed me
his
charming lopsided grin, surprising me with a sudden close embrace, bringing his lips close to my ear, “Listen… You be extremely careful with that firearm,” he whispered gravely. I nodded to reassure him, and he turned briskly and marched away with purpose in his step, like a soldier going off to do battle.

I turned back to see Ruby watching me with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

When
I finished with the paintings,
I looked
at the clock on the wall, “Ethan should be done at the farmer’s market,” I said, thinking I was finally off the hook. We thanked Bill, and he slipped me another wad of cash for the paintings that had sold
.
I
t did not go unnoticed by Ruby’s gimlet eye.

We climbed into the car and she turned to me, “So… Does Ethan know about your…uhm…
friend?
”

“
Paul
works for my aunt,” I explained.

“
Oh
r
eally?”
s
he said sarcastically.

I ignored her tone, pulling out into traffic, “Really.”

“Exactly what does he do?”

I paused, “He’s a personal trainer.”

“Well, he could train me anytime!” she said with a laugh, “That Paul is one tall drink of water.”

I didn’t want to discuss my weapons training, or the reasons behind it, so I tried to change the subject, “You and Bill seemed to hit it off.”

“That guy?” she was dismissive
.
“What a total looser! Skinny hippie guys don’t do it for me. I only go out with the high rollers.”

“Wow,” I recoiled. I didn’t know what to say.
Try as I might, my face couldn’t come up with a look to conceal my distaste.
The more time I spent with her
,
the less I liked her.

“I suppose he was alright,” she said, trying to walk it back.

We drove along in silence. I don’t know what I expected from her, but Bill was my friend, and I didn’t appreciate her unkind remarks. I was exhausted from my sleepless night, and tired of keeping up the façade of pleasantness. I stopped trying to make small talk.

My mind was racing, running over and over everything that had happened in the
past
few days. I was certain that I was missing something, but I couldn’t quite pin it down. I was relieved to
see Ethan’s truck parked at the
apartment; I sighed as I pulled in and parked.

“I wasn’t born yesterday you know,” she snarked.

I turned to face her, “What?”

“I’m aware of how the game is played…” she smiled
cynically
at me
.
“I know what’s going on with you and that Paul guy.”

I’d had
just
about enough, “You don’t know anything at all about me.”

“I know more than you think,” she said cryptically
.
“I’ve been around the block a few times.
Where there’s smoke there’s fire.
”

“I told you,” I was exasperated, “He works for my aunt.”

“
Yeah, right
,” she s
miled
smugly, climbing out.

I trudged up the stairs behind her, completely drained.

“Sweetheart!” she threw her arms around Ethan when he came to the door, launching into a tale of what a fabulous time we’d had. She gushed about how nice I was, showing him the glasses I’d bought for her and praising my good taste. Ethan looked so pleased to hear it that I wished it was true.

I set my purse down on the counter and Ruby set hers right next to it, digging into it for a phone. She excused herself to go into Ethan’s room, saying she needed to put a call in to the office. The second she left, he was all over me, pulling me close and kissing anything I had to say completely off my lips.

He drew back and took my face in his hands, “Thank you.” He kissed my forehead, “I was so worried you wouldn’t get along. Thanks for being so nice to her.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded, “Sure.”

“What should I make us for dinner tonight?” he asked.

“I can’t stay,” I blurted out
.
“I have to get ready to
get ready to
go back to school tomorrow… I’m going to be really far behind.”

His face fell, “Just for a little while?”

The thought of watching her suck up to Ethan all
night
made me shudder, “No, I’m really tired, and I have a lot of things I need to take care of.”

Right then Ruby came out of the room sneezing theatrically, “Can you take that… thing… out of here? I can barely breathe!”

“She’s allergic to Stumpy,” Ethan explained, “But we can’t seem to keep him out of the bedroom.” He went to get the kitten, bringing him into Dutch’s now empty room. I followed, sitting on the floor and playing with him for a minute. His food and litter box were the only things in the room.

“She puts him in here while I’m at work,” Ethan explained.

I thought about Ruby abandoning Ethan when he was a helpless child and felt a sudden rush of anger. It was as if all the terrible things she’d done in the past were symbolized by the poor little quarantined kitten.

“I’ll take him with me until she’s gone.”

“
Are you sure?”
Ethan
asked
.
“Her allergies are really bothering her.”

“
No problem
,” I
tried
not to sound as aggravated as I was. “I’ll just need to pack
up
a few things.”

Ethan started boxing up
Stumpy’s
bowls while I went to the kitchen to get the cat food, surprising Ruby with her hands in my purse. She withdrew them quickly, pretending that she looking through hers.

“What are you looking for?” I asked.

“My allergy medicine,” she wailed.

“Don’t worry,” I said coldly, “I’m taking the cat.”

She smiled at me with a triumphant gleam in her eyes, and Ethan came in the room with Stumpy trailing along behind him. I snatched my purse, picked up the cat, and made for the door.

“You’re not leaving so soon… Are you?” She was as sweet as pie.

“I’m afraid so,” I said without looking back. Ethan followed me down to the Rover with a box of the cat’s things, and I made plans to meet him at school. He seemed puzzled at my haste to get away, but I knew I had to leave before I snapped at Ruby. She was doing a great job of making me look like a crazy person. I got in the car, gave Ethan a
quick
hug, and pulled out in a hurry.

Once I got a good distance away, I turned to look at the little cat sitting in the passenger seat,
my fellow refugee. I
smiled wryly, “Looks like it’s just you and me, kid.”

He squeaked out a tiny meow, and I didn’t feel quite so alone.

~

C
hapter
T
hirteen

DOUBT

~

I woke up early the next morning, a soft little black and white cat curled up next to my ear. An autumn chill hung in the air, and I pulled the throw blanket tighter around me. After hightailing it out of Ethan’s, I’d taken Stumpy to the studio, deciding Abby had enough to take care of with one new baby. The kitten was my responsibility, and I could use the company while I painted. Until Ruby was gone, I planned to make the studio my home.