Page 26 of Hart of Darkness
9
Dillon
Norma was typing away at her desk when I sauntered in after my drive back from the prison. Her lip ring shimmered as she ran her tongue over it, a habit she had when she was thinking and hard at work. She didn’t even look up as I waltzed in, which wasn’t normal. Her eyes always darted to the door.
Angel, Norton’s spouse, glanced up from the couch. “Dillon,” she cooed.
I pocketed my keys. “Your bruises are healing great.”
She moved a strand of her sandy-blond hair from her face as she gently touched her left eye and cheekbone. “All thanks to you.”
Angel, who had found the shelter through one of Norma’s friends, had been my first guest. She had to know about Norton. I couldn’t risk her getting hurt if she decided to return home. “Norton was here last night. You need to be careful, Angel. He was drunk but also carrying a gun.”
Norma gasped.
Angel paled. “No one got hurt?”
“No. Rafe took him to a home for alcoholics this morning. Let’s hope he wants the help.”
Color returned to Angel’s complexion.
Norma’s shock over Norton morphed into irritation. “I called you.”
I shifted my attention to the one person who had saved me when I was searching for an assistant I could trust. More importantly, I’d needed someone who could help the women as they came in, and Norma had been the perfect person for the job. She’d lived on the streets, pimped herself to put food in her belly, and she had a way of calming people down, me included.
I checked my phone and saw I had two voice mails and one missed call. “What happened?”
“That girl who came in last night took off. She doesn’t happen to be the one that the cops are looking for? Dillon, we can’t have any trouble here. You’ll scare away our guests.”
Motherfucker.
Norma rotated her computer screen before I could open my mouth. The headline blaring at me read, “Witnesses saw a redheaded girl flee the scene last night at a standoff on Bleven and Third.”
I clutched the back of my neck and turned away from Angel so she couldn’t see that I was seething as question after question surfaced. I should’ve had Rafe and Josh watching Nadine instead of Norton. Then again, women who came to the shelter were free to come and go.
Nadine’s situation was different, though. She was running from a gang and from the law. She could end up like that girl I’d seen on the table in the morgue.
“I saw her sneaking out early this morning,” Angel said.
I took in a breath before I pivoted on my heel, nice and slow and calm.
Fuck calm.I wanted to throw that stapler Norma had her hand on. I should’ve stayed instead of running out to see Denim. I could’ve talked Nadine out of leaving.
“Dillon.” Norma used her sweet voice that I’d heard her use on Angel and Debbie, who was probably up in her room. “You can’t save everyone.”
Her last statement was like a blow from a sledgehammer, reminding me that I was a fuckup who couldn’t save his own sister.
“Excuse me for a minute,” I said for Angel’s benefit more than Norma’s.
Norma had seen me in a rage a time or two. Her patience was amazing. She’d watched me beat a punching bag I had in the basement until my knuckles were raw. I didn’t use gloves like Kross Maxwell did. Bareback was my motto, along withfeel the pain,andsee the blood.
I glued on a fake smile as I crossed the room on my way to the basement.
Angel hopped off the couch and caught my arm. “Thank you for helping Norton, and I’m sorry I put you in jeopardy.”
I was dumbfounded. She shouldn’t be apologizing for him. “Norton’s actions aren’t your fault. Please don’t ever believe that.”
Up close, the thirty-year-old woman seemed to have new life injected into her. A soft pink hue pinched her cheeks beneath the fading bruises. Her blue eyes were crystal clear, and her short hair was shiny. She’d made a hundred-and-eighty-degree turnaround since she’d arrived on our doorstep a month ago.
