Page 27 of Hart of Darkness
“I’m working on it.” She let go of my arm. “I tried to stop the redhead since she looked frightened out of her mind. She said something like ‘I’m not safe here. And I don’t want to put anyone in danger or get Dillon in trouble. Tell him thank you for me, though.’”
Man, I could have kicked myself in the ass over and over again. I should’ve done something more to convince her that she would be safe here.
Norma rolled back her chair. The sound clicked along the wood floor. “Angel, can you see how Debbie is doing?”
I whipped my head at Norma. “Did something happen to her?”
Debbie had shown up a couple of days after Angel. Like Angel, Debbie had come to the shelter on the advice of a friend of Norma’s. Unlike Angel, Debbie hadn’t been beaten, but she had been sleeping on the streets.
“I’ll poke my head into her room.” Angel regarded Norma then left.
When Angel’s footsteps faded, I sat on the arm of the couch.
Norma took my hand. “Debbie isn’t feeling well. We’re not sure if it’s the flu. Come on, you could use some coffee instead of the punching bag.”
I followed Norma into the kitchen like a little boy following on his mom’s heels. I barely remembered tailing my mom as she promised cookies and milk right before bed.
“The punching bag will take the edge off,” I said.
She giggled. “I’m sure, but let’s chat first.”
Norma poured coffee. I set my phone down on the wood-block island then slid onto a barstool. We had a modest kitchen with secondhand appliances that didn’t match, scratched-up stools, and a round metal table near the sliding glass door.
“Where’s Rafe?” I’d spoken to him on my two-hour drive back from the prison earlier. He’d mentioned that he’d had no problem carting Norton over to Manny’s. I’d raised an eyebrow at that, although as the booze had vanished from Norton’s system, he was probably a different man. My father sure had worn a different persona the morning after he polished off a bottle of Jack Daniels—grumpy, quiet, and moving slowly.
Regardless, I would’ve suspected that Rafe would have been back by now.
Norma stirred sugar and milk into both cups, the spoon dinging the ceramic mugs.
She carried them over and took a seat to my right. “Rafe stopped at the store to pick up some cold medicine for Debbie.”
As soon as the caffeine hit my tongue, I sighed. Maybe the caffeine would kick the frustration and anger out of me. I didn’t think so, but I kept drinking as though the coffee was my bottle of Jack.
Norma eyed me over her cup. “Slow down. You might get a little tipsy,” she teased.
“If I ever get drunk, please dunk my head in ice water and then lock me up.” I wasn’t kidding.
“You drink beer. Are you saying you’ve never been tipsy?” Her cute little eyebrows rose.
“I don’t get drunk. I’ve only touched the hard stuff a couple of times, and I stopped. Drinking reminds me too much of my old man.” As boys, Denim, Duke, and I would steal bottles of liquor from the cabinet. We’d wanted to see what the booze was all about since our father was addicted. After puking my guts out, I didn’t go near liquor for a long time. “I’m worried about Nadine, the girl that came in last night.”
“She’s the one that fled the scene?”
“A girl I know brought her here. She ran into Nadine shortly after the standoff ended between the cops and a couple of gang members.”
Norma lifted her chin. “Who’s the girl you know?” Her tone was even.
We’d never dated—my choice, not hers. She was a pretty girl, blond hair, but not exactly my type. I liked women with meat on them. Maggie was a perfect example.
“Her name is Maggie Marx, and she’s a girl I knew from my days in a gang.”
She held her coffee cup close to her mouth. “I’ve never heard you talk about your gang days or a girl from your past.”
My childhood wasn’t something I reminisced about. “She’s a reporter, and she’s going to check her files for stories she’s written on girls. Who knows? Grace might be one of those girls. Right now, though, Nadine isn’t safe out on the streets. Anyway, you might see more of Maggie around here.”
Norma’s face blossomed into a cheeky smile.
I tapped in Rafe’s number then hit the speaker button.
