Maria followed the direction of his gaze. “Is that what I think it is?”
Noah took the key ring and turned it over in his hand. “I don’t think Sharon would have much use for one of these, living here in the dorm. I think we may have just solved another little mystery.”
Ethan pulled his car to the curb in front of the flower shop. Along the wall on the sidewalk were several large white buckets full of colorful bouquets. Maggie could smell their sweet scent as she got out of the car.
“Let me handle this,” he said. “I didn’t want you to come along in the first place.”
“That makes me all warm and fuzzy inside,” she said, trailing behind him. A small bell jangled overhead as he pushed open the door.
“Can I help you?” an elderly man stepped out from behind the counter, an apron covering his jeans and polo shirt.
“I’m Ethan Townsend. I phoned earlier about a delivery for Dr. Levine.”
“Didn’t Todd get that to you?” The man muttered something about “new kids” under his breath.
“I got it just fine,” Maggie said, stepping around Ethan with a smile. Ethan groaned, but she refused to look at him. Her mother always told her you could catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Ethan was definitely exuding more sour than sweetness lately. But then, the poor man hadn’t had much sleep either. “The arrangement was beautiful, Mr….”
“Maurice,” he said, his attitude doing an abrupt about-face. He extended his hand. “Just Maurice is fine. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Levine. My wife listens to your show all the time.” He leaned forward as if sharing a secret. “She has bouts of insomnia.”
“Thank you. Tell her I really appreciate that. My friend and I are looking for the person who sent the bouquet.”
The man’s furry, caterpillar-like brows slammed together. “I thought that was on the card.”
She looked to Ethan, but he gave the “go-ahead” gesture with his hands that meant he would be no help. She was on her own. Well, she’d defied his orders. She’d have to deal with his grumpiness.
She faked a sheepish smile. “It seems I have a secret admirer. And I’d really like to figure out who it is.”
The man chuckled. “Now that’s a different story.” He grinned at Ethan. “Jealous boyfriend, huh?” He moved back behind the counter, speaking again before Ethan could correct him. “Now I understand. Let me see if I have any receipts. But,” he said, arching a thick brow at Ethan, “I wouldn’t want to get this person in trouble. I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm.”
“Oh, if this person is innocent, I’m sure my, um, boyfriend will restrain himself,” she said, grabbing Ethan’s hand and squeezing. He squeezed back, but grumbled something under his breath.
“Here’s the receipt.” Maurice pulled a slip from the shoebox he’d lifted from under the counter. “But it just says ‘Deborah’ and she paid in cash.” He scratched his chin. “I remember now. That was Kenny that came in. Kid from the neighborhood, always playing basketball on the court across the street.”
“Yes, that’s the name Todd mentioned. Kenny.” Maggie’s heart pounded, and she felt Ethan’s hand squeeze hers again. She’d forgotten she was holding it. Was it possible they’d find someone who could provide a description of Fearmonger? Or had Kenny met the same fate as so many other people in this mess?
“Unusual, but if you have a secret admirer, I suppose the secrecy was to be expected.” Maurice eyed Ethan. “Especially if you have a boyfriend who’s built like a fighter.” He chuckled again as he replaced the box under the table. “Although…a woman admirer. And a funeral bouquet. That’s odd, isn’t it?”
She kept her smile frozen in place. “All part of the mystery I’m trying to solve. Thank you for your help, Maurice.”
“Anytime.”
“And I’ll say hello to your wife on my next show.”
His face lit up. “That would be great. Her name’s Regina.”
The bell jingled again as they left the shop. Ethan pointed to the courts across the street and a little farther down. “Over there. There are some kids there now.” Still holding her hand, he tugged her along behind him. The summer heat warmed her feet through her sandals as they moved across the pavement.
“Do you think Kenny’s still alive?” she asked, relieved when he slowed his steps so she could walk beside him. “If he’s seen Fearmonger…” She bit her lip to keep from voicing her fear.
“So far the killer’s targeted females, but he’s also escalated in his killing. Then again, he’s not being as cautious as he once was, so maybe he let Kenny go. Or maybe he used a disguise.”
Maggie hadn’t thought of that. The man had disguised his voice when he called the florist’s shop. Barely. For the sake of the investigation, she hoped Fearmonger hadn’t thought to use a disguise, even as she hoped, for Kenny’s sake, that he had.
About a dozen kids populated the basketball court that had been fashioned out of a concrete slab wedged between two buildings. The boys, who ranged from preteen to adolescence, looked up as Ethan and Maggie stepped onto the court. Suspicion had their open expressions instantly closing down.
“I’m looking for a kid named Kenny,” Ethan said.
Maggie winced at the hardness in his voice. A couple of the boys looked to the side, where another boy, about twelve years old, shifted from foot to foot. She was about to step forward, presenting herself as a shield between Ethan and him when Ethan beamed a smile and walked over.
“Hey, Kenny,” he said. “Saw your jumpshot. Pretty good.”
Some of the suspicion in Kenny’s gaze lifted. “Yeah? You play?”
Ethan chuckled. “Not in a while, but I used to. Used to play with Jared Knight.”
His eyes widened. “From the Bulls? No way.” His voice held a significant amount of awe as his friends gathered closer.
Ethan shrugged as if it were no big deal. “We went to the same high school. We’d play almost every afternoon, kind of like you guys do.” The group clearly thought that was extraordinary—that Jared Knight had once spent his afternoons just like they did.
“Kenny, do you think I could ask you a question?”
“Sure.” He wiped his sweaty forehead on his sleeve. “What about?”
“Did a man approach you recently about buying some flowers?”
His nose crinkled. “Yeah. Yesterday afternoon. Told me to go into the flower place this morning. And I did. I delivered the money like he said. I didn’t do nothin’ wrong.”
“I didn’t say you did,” Ethan said, “but we need to find that man. What did he look like?”
Kenny shrugged. “About your height. White.”
“Did you recognize him from your neighborhood?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“He wasn’t from around here,” another kid said.
Ethan turned his gaze to him, squinting against the sun. “What makes you say that?”
“He had a White Sox cap on,” Kenny explained, then puffed out his chest with pride. “This is Cubs territory.”
Maggie laughed. Wrigley Field was just a few blocks from here. “Very clever of you guys to notice what he was wearing.”
Kenny shrugged. “Around here, White Sox stuff stands out.”
“Did any of you happen to notice anything else?” Ethan asked. “Hair color? Eye color?”
“Nope. He had that ball cap pulled down tight. Dark sunglasses. I couldn’t see much. Just handed me the envelope and said he wanted to surprise his girlfriend. Paid me twenty bucks to help.”
Ethan clapped Kenny on the back. “Thanks for your help. If the guy comes back, do me a favor and don’t talk to him. Go home immediately and call this number.” He handed Kenny a SSAM business card.
“Sure.” He cocked his head. “Did you really know Jared Knight?”
Ethan winked. “I’ll get you an autographed picture.”
“You really know him?” Maggie asked in a hushed voice as they left Kenny, surrounded by a group of excited boys, on the court.
“Played ball with him almost every day of our sophomore year in high school, before he became a star.” His eyes sparked with humor as they found hers. “Mom still has him over for dinner on occasion, now that he’s back in town. He’s just one of the boys to her.”
“What if Fearmonger comes after Kenny?” she asked when they were headed back down the sidewalk and out of hearing range.
“Then we’ll catch him. I’m going to have an unmarked car watching the kid’s house.”
“You amaze me,” she said, shaking her head. “You’ve already thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“Well, don’t get too excited. I have a hunch Fearmonger’s not coming back to this one. He’s just trying to taunt us. He’s getting too cocky to care that some kid can provide a vague physical description. He disguised himself enough that we have little to go on.”
Maggie tried not to be disappointed. “At least now I know you can be nice when you want to be,” she teased instead. “I was afraid you were going to shove Maurice up against the wall earlier, but with these kids…” She shook her head. “You were a different person.”
As they approached his car, he aimed a thumb over his shoulder. “That, back there? That was just getting information.” He opened her side of the car.
“Bullshit,” she accused as he swung her door closed.
His chuckle trailed behind him as he made his way around the car.
“Leave her alone,” Becca murmured to Ethan as Maggie entered the restaurant ahead of them. She’d made up a reason to pull him aside, and Ethan, tired of her uncharacteristic glares, was actually relieved she’d finally decided to confront whatever was wrong between them head-on. Becca hadn’t said a word while Maggie had packed what few things she had at Becca’s, but something was ready to boil over.
“I beg your pardon?” Ethan unlocked his car and retrieved the lightweight sweater she’d used as an excuse to get him alone. He crossed his arms expectantly until she shrugged into the thing, obviously not needing it in the ninety-degree summer heat.
At his incredulous look, she pulled a face, looking much more like her playful self. “I get cold in restaurants.”
“We haven’t even gone inside yet,” he ungraciously pointed out. “If you have something to say, then out with it.”
Her glare returned. “I know Dr. Levine likes you.”
He raised a brow at that, a ridiculously pleasant heaviness filling his stomach. “She does?”
Becca mimicked his stance. “She does.”
“How do you know?”
“We were passing notes in class.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s the way she looks at you. She obviously finds you attractive.”
More ridiculous heaviness, but this time it was in his chest. He frowned in annoyance. “So?”
“So
leave her alone,
” she repeated. “I like her. I don’t want you to hurt her.”
His scowl deepened. “What makes you think I’d hurt her?”
She gave him a look of disbelief. “Do you feel like you’ve got your act together? After shoving anyone within arm’s length of you away, tell me you suddenly feel ready for a relationship. Convince me you’ve put your past behind you.”
She’d hit him in his weak point. No, he did not feel like he had his
act
together. But recently, he’d felt like he could maybe get it together. To think only three nights ago, he’d been trying to forget his past in a dingy bar. Now, he was actually thinking about living his life. He was thinking about a future for the first time in years.
All because of Maggie?
He didn’t know, but after three years in a tunnel of darkness, he’d like the opportunity to explore that bright point of light up ahead.
“It’s none of your business.” He turned on his heel to leave.
Becca hurried after him. “She’s been through a lot, Ethan. Leave her be.”
And what if he could actually be good for her? Why was that so hard for Becca to grasp?
Because maybe I wouldn’t be good for her.
The thought had him walking faster. Suddenly, his starched collar itched. He resisted the urge to reach up and scratch his neck.
“I won’t hurt her.” He said it as much for his benefit as for Becca’s.
Becca shook her head, unconvinced. “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it, since she’s staying at your place tonight.”
He stopped and held the door to the restaurant open for her.
As she sailed past, she added one more thing, just to shove the bamboo shards a little deeper under his nails. “And I’ll be staying with the two of you.” She smiled sweetly. “Can you say
pajama party?
”
Inside the dark interior of the steakhouse, Ethan waited for his eyes to adjust. Maggie was embraced by a smaller woman with the same rich red hair and profile. She had to be Nancy Levine, Maggie’s mother. Beside them was a smiling woman with darker hair, more brown than red, whose features more closely resembled the man who watched from beside Maggie. Her sister and father, he guessed, Julia and Walter.
Becca started forward, having located the table. “See, it’s like a freezer in here.”
Ethan chuckled as he followed. “You can drop the pretense. Your cheeks are flushed. Just take the damn sweater off. It’s done its job. I received your message loud and clear and I’ll tread carefully. Are we okay now?”
She glanced back over her shoulder with a grin. “Yeah. I forgive you for being a hard-ass. You can’t help it.” She timed her comment to end as they arrived at the table, leaving him without an opportunity to respond. With a chuckle of appreciation, he shook his head.
Smiling at them as they approached, Maggie introduced them to her family. As expected, he was thoroughly assessed, both covertly and openly depending on the assessor. Walter was less obvious than his wife, Nancy. And Julia—well, he was surprised she didn’t point a finger at the floor and twirl it, commanding him to spin so she could inspect the whole package.
Catching his frown, Julia grinned. “Maggie’s never brought a man to meet the family before.”
“Or a bodyguard,” Maggie muttered, her creamy skin blushing beautifully as she snatched up a menu from the table. “Make that two bodyguards,” she said, adding a smile for Becca.
As dinner progressed, Ethan enjoyed watching Maggie with her family. And Becca seemed to fit right in like a third sister. The family was comfortable with Ethan, joking with him and asking about his parents and three brothers. He entertained them with a story or two of sibling rivalry. The night was relaxed, but there was ground that needed to be covered, and the arrival of coffee and dessert reminded them the evening was almost over.
“Come home,” her mother said after Maggie had laughed at some story her father had just finished telling. And just like that, the mood changed.
Maggie’s smile froze, then slipped. The light in her eyes dimmed. “I can’t.”
“We miss you.”
“I miss you, too, but I can’t do anything until this is over.”
Nancy set down her spoon. Suddenly, nobody had the stomach to finish off the slice of cheesecake they’d opted to share. She crossed her hands in front of her like a schoolteacher about to reprimand a student. “We need each other. Now, more than ever.”
“Mom.” Maggie’s voice broke on the word.
“You’re just hurting
yourself
,” Julia tossed out, her gaze boring into Maggie.
Ethan shifted in his seat. His unease at getting caught in the midst of a family squabble warred with the familiar need to protect. He wanted nothing more than to take Maggie away from here, back to his place. Where she’d be his for the evening.
Except that Becca seemed determined to tag along. She looked as uncomfortable as he felt, sitting in on a personal and private family conversation.
“No.” Julia tossed her napkin onto the table in disgust. “I take that back. You’re hurting all of us. You’re hurting the family.” She shook off the hand her mother laid on her arm. “She needs to hear this. We’ve let her go off and sulk for a year now, but this family is broken. She needs to get over what’s been done and move on. With us. We need each other.”
“Get over it?” Maggie’s temper flared. “Get over what that woman—someone I tried to
help
—did to me and Brad?”
“She’s dead now.”
“Yeah. But what she did stays with me. With all of us. Always.”
“Because you let it. We all miss Brad, but he wouldn’t want us to hold on to bitterness. I think about him every day, but I choose to focus on the good times. You only seem to remember the last instant of his life. That’s not who he was.”
“And what about Fearmonger? He’s still out there.”
“And you’ve got protection.” Julia jerked her head toward Ethan and Becca. “You’d think, after what you’ve been through, you’d want to live life to the fullest. Instead, you hide away at the university and at your house, making excuses not to see us. I, for one, refuse to hide.”
“That’s enough,” their mother intervened. “Stop it, Julia. Maggie will come back to us soon. I know it.” Her gaze found Maggie’s. “And when she’s ready, we’ll be waiting.” Nancy looked up as a shadow fell across the table. “Damian. What are you doing here?”
Walter rose to shake the man’s hand. “Good to see you again. Can’t thank you enough for all you’re doing for Maggie.”
Nancy’s eyes filled with tears. “No, we can’t. Please,” she said, waving a hand, “join us. We were just having coffee and dessert.”
“Thank you,” Damian said, his smile warm but not quite reaching his eyes. Something was wrong. “I think I will have a cup. But first, I need to speak to my team members.” His gaze went to Ethan and Becca.
“Can’t you tell us all? Please, we don’t like being left in the dark.”
After a moment, Damian nodded. Ethan moved over so Damian could squeeze a chair in at the table. After the waiter had brought him a cup of coffee, he got to the point.
“I don’t mean to intrude on your evening.” His face was drawn. “Detective Crandall called. They think Fearmonger had been targeting Sharon for weeks. He may even have been dating her.”
Maggie gasped. “Poor Sharon.”
Damian’s tired gaze met Ethan’s. “It’s looking more and more like our guy’s been targeting Maggie for a while now. Months. Carefully and methodically planning to hurt those around her. And we still haven’t located the guard who helped Deborah escape.” He turned to the rest of the group. “I think Nancy, Walter and Julia should come stay at my place for a few days. I have excellent security.”
“That’s a generous offer,” Walter said. His wife nodded. “We’ll take you up on it, especially if it makes Maggie feel better.”
“It does,” Maggie replied. “Thank you, Damian.”
“What about you?” Julia asked.
“I can’t. I don’t want to bring this guy any closer to you all.”
Julia clearly wasn’t happy with her response, but she didn’t argue. She turned to Ethan. “You won’t let anything happen to my sister. Do you hear?”
“I hear. And I promise,” he replied, intent on doing everything he could to protect his client. Maggie looked exhausted.
“I think I’d like to go now,” Maggie said. “Even though I don’t have a radio show tonight, I have class tomorrow.” Becca and Ethan rose with her as they said their goodbyes. Maggie hugged her family and whispered words of caution, urging them to be safe. Julia scowled, but returned her sister’s hug.
“I’ll see that they get settled in,” Damian promised.
On the way to the car, Becca took the lead, leaving Ethan to walk with Maggie. Perhaps she sensed that Maggie could use an encouraging word from him. Otherwise, he had no doubt his protégé would be watching his every move.
He took Maggie’s hand and squeezed. “You have a nice family.”
“I know.” She sighed. “I haven’t appreciated them lately, I guess.”
“They were a bit hard on you about separating yourself from them.”
“They were honest.”
“Because they love you.”
She nodded. “Because they love me.”
Maggie entered Ethan’s home as if it were her own, feeling an immediate sense of familiarity and…comfort? Yes, she was feeling comfortable.
Well I should. After all, I took a nap on the man’s couch.
Despite the weariness that weighed on her, she smiled at the memory of waking up to find his gaze on her. Though she’d just been having an incredible dream about him and wasn’t fully awake at the time, she didn’t think she’d imagined the flash of heat she’d seen in his eyes before he’d quickly masked his feelings.
Becca nudged her. “You look like the cat that swallowed the canary. Want to share?”
Grinning like a loon, Maggie shook her head. “Nope.”
“Well there go my fantasies of a pajama party and sharing stories of our first kisses.” Becca shrugged. “But I’ll still braid your hair if you want me to.”
They both laughed. Ethan came in behind them, frowning as he set down their overnight bags at their feet. “Tell me again why I’m doing all the work. And what about Sigmund? Who’s taking care of him?”
“Sigmund has food and water and a clean litter box. He’ll be fine for one night, and we are your guests,” Becca said pertly, then linked arms with Maggie and pulled her toward the kitchen. “Let’s see if the man has cookie dough in his fridge.”
A moment later, Becca shot a disgusted look at Ethan as he entered the kitchen. “No cookie dough? What kind of bachelor are you?”
He reached past Becca into the open fridge and snagged a beer. “The kind that works too many long hours to bother with a grocery store.”
Maggie laughed, feeling relaxed and safe with these two. She’d sensed some tension between them when they’d entered the restaurant earlier, but that seemed to have cleared. She suspected part of their friendly banter was for her benefit—to put her at ease after the stress of the day.
“How about movies?” Becca grabbed Ethan’s beer and ignored his frown as she sauntered into the living room.
He reached into the fridge and grabbed a couple more, handing a bottle to Maggie.
She arched a brow. “She seems to have forgiven you.”
He scoffed. “Forgiven me? For what, doing my job and making her the best she can be?”
“And for being overprotective.”
“It’s my job to protect you, Maggie.”
“I meant
her
. You’re worried about her becoming a full-fledged SSAM agent and she knows it. She’s trying not to let it hurt her feelings that you don’t trust her ability to do her job. After all, her job is
security.
If you don’t trust her to know her job, how can you trust her to keep others safe?”
Ethan looked away. “Maybe I have been hard on her. She called me a hard-ass.”
Maggie laughed but quickly sobered. “When Becca and I were talking the other night, she mentioned your past. She thought the way you acted had something to do with it, though she wouldn’t say what
it
was.”
He picked at the label on his bottle, avoiding her gaze. “Then she’s more perceptive than I gave her credit for.”
“Is it about that agent you saw die?”
“No, it’s something else. Something…more.”
She cocked her head. “Want to talk about it?”
He took a gulp of cold beer before replying. “No.”
Maggie couldn’t hide her disappointment, so she turned away. It was his right to keep his past to himself. Still, she’d felt so close to him these few days they’d had together. Something in her thirsted for more of that closeness. Somehow he’d gotten past her walls, and now she wanted to scale his.
She felt the warm, gentle pressure of his hand on her arm, turning her to face him. “When I’m ready to talk, you’re the person I want to talk to, okay?”