Wise Moves (11 page)

Sunday, May 20, 8:46 a.m.

“K
risten!” Sheridan’s clear voice drifted through the building. Kristen, who’d been in the studio meditating in the lotus position, opened her eyes. Despite the fact that she’d only known Sheridan a couple of weeks she was happy to hear her voice.

“I’m in here.” She rose and moved into the outer reception area.

Sheridan set down her bags, crossed the room to Kristen and gave her a hug. “How are you doing?”

Kristen still had not become accustomed to Sheridan’s open style. “Doing well. How is the baby?”

“Gabrielle Elizabeth is doing wonderful. My sister’s mother-in-law arrived last night and I decided there were too many cooks in the kitchen. I’ll go back in a few weeks.”

“And your sister is well?”

“Yes. She goes home tomorrow.”

“I’m glad for you.”

Sheridan glanced around the reception area. “So give me an update. Dane gave me his version, now I want to hear yours.”

“We’ve been busy on getting your tearoom ready.”

“We?”

“Dane. Mr. Cambia and I.”

Sheridan stared at her. “You’ve been helping him.”

Kristen wasn’t going to lie to Sheridan. “He said he needed the help and was willing to pay.”

“Good.”

“I want you to know I got all the work done you needed done. All the winter registrants have been entered into the computer and the flyers mailed.”

“I knew you would get it all done.”

Kristen shook her head. “Why do you have such faith in me?”

Sheridan shrugged. “You have a pure soul. I can sense it.”

Kristen didn’t agree. If her soul was pure she’d have stayed in Miami and testified against her brother. She’d have tried to save Nancy Rogers. She’d done neither. Instead, she’d run like a coward. “Let me show you the room Mr. Cambia and I have been working on.”

Sheridan rubbed her hands together. “I can’t wait. Is it beautiful?”

“It is.” She and Dane had spent yesterday afternoon painting. They’d touched a lot, kissed each other and in the late afternoon had made love again. “Mr. Cambia and I had our doubts about your color choices but they look wonderful.”

Kristen opened the door. The room, painted a soft robin’s-egg blue, was no longer dark and cramped. Now connected to the front room, it was twice its original size. Sunlight streamed through the bay window, glistening on the freshly painted walls. The room was cheerful.

Sheridan gasped. “It’s lovelier than I ever thought it could be. You and your Mr. Cambia have done a wonderful job.”

“He’s not
my
Mr. Cambia.”

Sheridan chuckled. “Of course, he is. I can tell by the way your eyes light up when you speak about him and the slight blush in your cheeks.”

Kristen placed her hand on her cheek. “It’s not what you think.”

“But I sense it could be very soon.”

Her intuition was always dead-on. “Why do you say this?”

“I could tell from the first moment he saw you.”

“What do you mean? You weren’t here when we first met.”

“No, but I saw Mr. Cambia when he first saw you. You were heading out for lunch, walking on the other side of the street. The look in his eyes was very intense. As if he’d been searching for you for a long time.”

Kristen shifted, uncomfortable. Dane had never mentioned anything about seeing her earlier. “He didn’t tell me.”

Sheridan studied the sharp neat edge of paint where trim met drywall. “Don’t worry about it. He has a good soul. A warrior’s heart, I think.”

Unwanted seeds of doubt took root. “I suppose you are right.”

Kristen didn’t have time to worry about Dane. The yoga supplies Sheridan had ordered arrived and there was a good bit of unpacking to do. After an hour of work, she could see Sheridan was exhausted. The time spent at her sister’s house had drained her. After much cajoling from Kristen, Sheridan agreed to go to the shelter for a nap.

Sweat trickled from her brow, and she wiped it away. She liked working, liked having a job and making her own money. Antonio had hated the fact that she had wanted to work. He’d felt it unseemly—that people would think less of him if he allowed his sister to work. But she’d begged and pleaded. The endless hours in the stunning house by the sea had nearly driven her mad with boredom.

Finally, he’d relented and allowed her to volunteer at the library. Dignified, he’d called it. She’d only worked eight hours a week, but she’d loved it. The simple act of shelving the books, listening to the children laugh during story hour or recommending a book to someone looking for a good read.

Most women her age were out looking for real jobs and building careers. She’d wanted to be among them, but understood that as Benito’s sister, her life would always be limited. But no more. She could work wherever she wished and live her life as she chose.

It wasn’t until ten o’clock that she looked up and realized how late it had gotten. And that Dane hadn’t arrived. His tardiness worried her. He’d been so punctual these last few days. Odd that he was late. She thought she knew him; realized she didn’t.

Kristen shook off the ominous thoughts. “Borrowing trouble is your style.”

Dane was late, she remembered, because he had supplies to pick up so that he could install the shelving in the new tearoom.

The thought of Dane brought a smile to her lips. In such a short period of time, he had truly transformed the room, making it bright, welcoming and warm. He’d done the same to her as well. He’d drawn her out of her shell, brought her back to life.

She hefted a stock of packing boxes she’d just broken down and started out the back door to the Dumpster. She was beginning to think that maybe life was going to turn around for her.

No more hiding.

No more loneliness.

A real life.

And maybe, just maybe Dane would share his life with hers. Neither had been willing to talk about the past but in time that would come. She dragged the boxes across the alley. She slid back the door on the Dumpster and deposited the boxes inside.

She wiped her hands and turned. Halfway back to the back door she heard the sound of footsteps. Whirling around she searched the alley. She didn’t see anyone. Tamping down the anxiety, she started to ease toward the studio’s back door.

“Who’s there?” she said. Her voice was even, firm, but her pulse galloped in her chest.

No answer.

Kristen swallowed. Her thoughts turned to Benito. Had he found her? Her mind raced through all the things she’d done in the last month. She’d been so careful not to leave any traces of her existence anywhere. But had she made a mistake?

Her pulse galloped. “Who’s there?”

Seconds passed as fear clutched her belly. And then out of the shadows, she saw her. “Crystal.”

The girl stood, still clutching her backpack. She looked thinner and her clothes needed cleaning. Dark circles smudged under her eyes and she could see bruises on her pale arms. Whatever anger Kristen had harbored for the girl died.

“Come inside,” Kristen said.

Clearly suspicious, Crystal didn’t move. “You’re not mad?”

Kristen met her gaze. “I was, big-time, but I got over it.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed and she sniffed. She obviously didn’t believe people dished out forgiveness quite so easily. “Why aren’t you mad? I took your money.”

Kristen laid her hand on her hip. “Cleaned me out, took every cent I had.”

The girl’s shoulders slumped. Instead of denial or attitude, she said, “I’m sorry.”

Kristen sighed. “Is there any money left?”

Tears welled in Crystal’s eyes. “No.”

“What’d you use it for? Did you give it to Tony?” That would make her angry.

“No, Tony didn’t know anything about the money. Rent. I used it for rent. Mom was gonna be evicted.”

She had no reason to believe her, but she did. She thought about Crystal’s thoughtless mother, a woman who didn’t value her own child. “Come inside. You look tired.”

Crystal didn’t move. “You aren’t going to give me the third degree or call the cops?”

“No. I can make you a meal if you are hungry.” She started to walk back into the studio, not even sure if Crystal would follow.

The girl did follow, most likely out of curiosity. “Why didn’t you call the cops?”

Kristen couldn’t share her secrets, so she exchanged one truth for another. She closed the alley door behind her and locked it. “I know what it’s like to scrape to survive, to make desperate choices. I’d like to think I’d never steal, but who’s to say?”

“Yeah, but I ripped you off. My mom would have beat the crap out of me if I’d stolen one cigarette from her.”

But it was okay for her child to steal rent money from someone else? Bitterness twisted inside her. “Then you better not tell her you took my money.” She started toward the stairs that led to her apartment. “I have bagels and juice if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks.”

The girl sat down. She set her backpack beside her and accepted the bagel and juice without comment. As Kristen put a cup of water and a tea bag in the microwave, Crystal ate the first and second bagels without hardly taking a breath. She was halfway into the third when she paused. “Thanks.”

After the microwave dinged, Kristen took out her green tea and sat across from the girl. She glanced at the bruise, inwardly cringing. “So, where’s Tony?”

“He got arrested. But he didn’t want anything to do with me since that guy chased him off.”

“You mean, Dane?”

The girl’s gaze snapped up and locked on hers for an instant before she dropped it back to her plate. “Yeah, that’s him.”

There was a hint of something in Crystal’s voice that had Kristen raising her eyebrow. But she chose to let it go, chocking it up to their rocky first meeting. “So where do you go from here?”

Crystal tore a piece of bagel off but didn’t eat it. “I was hoping I could stay here.”

“The last time I said yes to that, I got ripped off.”

“I won’t steal from you again.”

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

There was no anger, but hard honesty. “I don’t trust you.”

The girl winced, surprisingly hurt by the comment. “Right. I deserved that one.”

Crystal needed someone to look after her. As tough as she appeared, she was just a kid. “Why’d you come by?”

“I was hungry. I figured you were a soft touch and you’d feed me.”

Kristen sipped her tea. Her heart ached for the girl. Dane would call her a sap for what she was about to say. “I keep my money tucked in my bra now,” Kristen said. “And Sheridan has all studio valuables locked in the safe. There is nothing for you to steal.”

She looked very tired and fragile. “I’m not going to steal.”

“Good.” The downstairs door opened and she heard Dane’s steady footsteps. Yesterday, she’d given him a key.

Crystal tensed. “Who’s that?”

“Dane.”

“What’s he still doing here? I figured he’d be gone by now.” The girl looked panic-stricken.

“You’ve nothing to be afraid of. He won’t bother you as long as you don’t try to steal again.”

Crystal looked ready to bolt. “I don’t like cops.”

“Cops?” Kristen almost laughed. “Dane isn’t a cop.”

Crystal shook her head. “He isn’t dressed like one but he acts like one. I’ve seen enough cops in my life to smell one a mile off. I’d bet my school-books he’s a cop.”

Kristen’s smile faded a fraction. Pieces to the Dane Cambia puzzle tumbled into place. The way he’d handled Tony. His military swagger. His stark attention to detail. His questions about her past. They all filled the cop profile. “That’s ridiculous.”

Dane’s purposeful steps moved up the stairs toward her apartment. Involuntarily, Kristen tensed.

When he appeared at the door, he was holding a bag of groceries and wearing a smile. The instant he saw Crystal, his smile vanished. The girl’s gaze skittered away.

Dane shifted his attention to her. The surprise was gone, the smile had returned. “I’m surprised you let her back in. She’s a thief.”

The assessing look in Dane’s eyes caught Kristen short. Cop’s eyes, she thought. She’d seen that look enough times when she’d been in police custody.

Crystal rose, her agitation growing. “Look, I got to get to school. I’ve got an exam today.”

“Will you be back for supper?” Kristen said, shaking off the shadow of worry.

Crystal glanced briefly at Dane and then back at her. “Yeah. About five.”

“Good.”

Kristen wrapped up another couple of bagels and handed them to Crystal. The girl took the bag, glancing at Dane one last time before she hurried outside.

After he heard Crystal leave through the front door, Dane turned to her. “This is not smart.”

Her defenses slammed into place. “Smart, no, but it’s right.”

“She’s a thief.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve done things I’m not proud of, either.” She thought back to Nancy Rogers and the murdered Churchmen. She hadn’t saved any of them. But maybe she could save Crystal.

He stared at her as if he had a dozen things to tell her. Instead, he nodded toward the door. “We’ve got a truck to unload and shelves to put up.”

“Right.” It felt good to shift the conversation to work. Much safer.

She followed him down the stairs and out the front door. She pushed whatever niggling thoughts she had about Dane and Crystal to the back of her mind.

He carried in a stack of two-by-fours and she reached for a stack of molding. As she turned, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked up and saw a man standing on the street corner. Hair slicked back with dark sunglasses, he was dressed in black slacks and a cream-colored shirt. He looked so much like Benito’s thug, Manuel, a man who never strayed far from her brother.

White-hot panic tightened her chest and for a moment her head swam as she stared at the car. Her heart thundered in her chest, slamming against her ribs. Her limbs started to tremble. The wood slipped from her hands and hit the ground.

Dane whirled around, his gaze razor sharp and alert. “What’s wrong?”