Page 13 of Lack of In-between
“And what about the other man who was part of the other ‘trying circumstance’ under which we met?” She moved to Wolf’s side, and he rested one arm across her shoulders. He knew it was a possessive hold and didn’t give a shit. She cut a glance his direction then homed back in on Putnam and continued, “I think it’s pretty clear your man was half of the duo who shot up the diner.”
“Ma’am, with all due respect, he’s not my man.” Putnam shook his head without dropping his gaze. “He ceased being someone I would support or protect when he stepped inside this diner tonight with the intent of committing a crime. Right now, I don’t know anything about his involvement in what happened a couple of weeks ago, but you can bet we’ll be all over that. If there’s a connection to be made, we’ll make it.”
“I hope you’ll keep us updated as you can.” She inclined her head, graceful as a queen acknowledging a subject. “I do understand the requirements under which you work, so I wouldn’t ask you to expose your investigation to suspicion. That said, an off-the-record conversation over coffee goes a long way to rebuilding confidence.”
“Ma’am, I do not disagree with you.” He paused a moment, shaking his head as he gave her a tiny grin. “We’ll need a statement from you. I’m happy to give you a ride if needed.” He cut his eyes to Wolf, his expression growing stony. “Mr. Bailey, we’ll need to talk to you, too.”
“You aren’t gonna like my story any better than Rose’s.” Wolf grinned, then directed his attention to the man being led out of the diner in handcuffs. “But I’ll bet you’ll like it better than his.”
“I suspect we will.” With a nod, Putnam turned and walked out.
“I quit.”
The loud declaration came from beside them, and Wolf turned to see the cook, Gary, standing there, knuckles white around the phone in his hand.
“What?” Rose looked as confused as Wolf felt.
“I. Quit.” Gary held the phone out to her and Rose took it. “This place ain’t safe. Twice now, and both times I was here. This is bullshit.”
“Gary.” Wolf waited until the man looked away from the circus of cars and lights in the parking lot and over to where he stood with Rose. “Did you see Rose today?”
“See her smash the guy in the face with the pot? Yeah. Why?”
“You ever see that kind of badassery anywhere else? I’m thinkin’ this is the safest place to work these days, with Rose on shift at least.” Her shoulders started shaking, and she turned her head to bury it against his chest. “Might wanna reconsider, knowing what kind of security you have right here.”
“Damn, I didn’t think about that. Okay. Yeah.” The man’s head was nodding up and down rapidly, like a flocked chihuahua on the dashboard of a car. “Yeah. Forget the quitting thing, Rose. I’m stayin’ right here.”
Rose lost control of her laughter at that point, and it sounded good, right, giving him hope this wouldn’t add to the weight of her nightmares going forwards. The owner walked in and, after a quick debrief from Rose and Gary, kicked them both out, saying the diner would be closed for a couple of days while he dealt with the attempted robbery.
At home later, Rose cuddled into his side as she put voice to the question Wolf had been asking himself since he’d looked through the door and seen the man with a gun pointed at his woman. Recognizing him had been secondary to getting him the fuck away from Rose and making her safe. But once the scene was controlled, he’d started watching for the second cut. Knowing the men had been joined at the hip during their whole failed time with the club, he couldn’t imagine they’d broken off the toxic friendship after being dumped out. Having two shooters at the first incident had underscored his thoughts. But now this guy had acted alone, and that didn’t fit the pattern.
“Wonder where the other guy was. I kept waiting for him to pop out like a prairie dog from a hole.” Her hand went from splayed flat on his chest to a tight fist. “Gary’s religious about making sure the back door is locked now, so there was no access from that side.”
“Putnam will find out.” Wolf had a lot of faith in the man, cop or not. “He promised to get to the bottom of it, and the man’s motivated.”
“The whole troop is motivated.” She harrumphed softly. “This gives them a pretty ugly black eye. I heard one of the troopers say he was on duty, too.”
“So I assaulted a police officer out of uniform, while he was robbing a diner, on his shift? I hit the jackpot.” Rose’s fist slowly relaxed, and she took up drawing tiny circles in his chest hair. “Had to be scary, having him point the gun at you.”
“No lie, it was.” Her frame shuddered, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I turned around and he’d leaned over the counter, already had the shotgun in his hands. All I could think about was getting him out of there without anyone getting hurt. Then—” She laughed softly. “I got mad. In my gut I was calm and steady. Years of training kicked in, you know?”
Wolf made a sound of agreement, not wanting to interrupt the flow of her talking. She needed to get it out, so it didn’t stay stuck inside and fester. An emotional debrief was just as needed as the situational ones.
“But underneath that, man, was I pissed. It went from zero to a hundred in a breath. How dare he, you know? I’m just working, a job I chose specifically because it had little chance of putting me in that exact position. So I’m working, and this stomped turd comes in and wrecks that little place of security I had.”
Her voice had thickened, and it sounded like tears were close to the surface. He hated hearing it but couldn’t do anything except be there for her. Wolf soothed a hand gently over her hip and side, down then up. Slow and steady.
“And there he was, a threat that I knew in my gut I could neutralize. You were active in tense situations, so I know you understand the split-second decisions.”
“Yeah.” Until he spoke, Wolf didn’t realize he was fighting tears, too. Her pain was so raw, it ripped a hole inside him. “Do-or-die moments.”
“Exactly. But underneath it, I was so pissed. I mean, I’m still pissed.” She rolled slightly, turning into him and lifting up on her elbow. “I saw you coming, storming across the lot and into the diner like an avenging angel, and I was glad you were there. But it scared me, Paul.” Her trembling lips pressed into a bloodless line for a moment as her throat worked to swallow. “I can’t lose you.”
“You’re not gonna, baby.” Both his arms closed around her, and he pulled her tight to him. “You can’t get rid of me that easy.”
“The look on your face.” Her tongue dipped out and wet her lips, leaving them glistening and demanding a kiss. He waited, understanding she needed to finish this. “I thought you were going to kill him.”
“I would have if you hadn’t stopped me.” He shook his head in a short arc. “No question. The man had a gun on the woman I love more than breath. He doesn’t deserve to still be this side of the sod.”
