Lethal Affair (19 page)

“
That's my girl.”

*

The day got hectic when three new
orders came in with Kylie's crew rushing to meet them before
closing time. The trucks loaded with crates for delivery, none of
which she'd lifted, Kylie all but forgot that Marge's R.C.M.P. pal
would be waiting.

A familiar face greeted her as he
leaned against her truck. It was the man who had come to her aid
when she'd gotten a flat outside Drew's apartment. The night she'd
gotten pregnant. If this wasn't irony, then what was? Wear a jacket
he'd told her. If only she'd insisted that Drew wear a condom from
the get-go.

Brad straightened at her approach and
registered the same surprise she felt. “Kylie Lambert, damsel in
distress! Thought I recognized this vehicle. When Margie called I
had no idea I'd be doing a repeat rescue operation.”

Kylie scanned the parking area. Drew's
car idled softly near the exit.

His eyes followed hers. “That joker
pulled in and got a tire iron out of his trunk. I put a stop to
whatever he had in mind by standing guard. Margie filled me in
somewhat. In my books, when a guy smacks a woman he loses his right
to see her if that's what she wants. I've seen a lot of cases in my
career where women end up crying wolf, bringing in the law when
they fight with their boyfriends and then kissing and making up
later on. So I need to know, are you serious when you say you don't
want anything to do with this yokel?”

“
You might as well know that
I'm pregnant with the yokel's child. He's got a hair-trigger temper
and is determined to get his way, although I can only imagine what
that is right now.”

“
I can see by your face that
you've already had a sample of what his way is. You go on home now.
I'll see that he doesn't follow.”

* * * *

CHAPTER TEN

Drew fidgeted in his car. His vague
plan to force Kylie to listen to him by threatening to trash her
truck had fizzled thanks to the dude she was talking to right
now.

Who the hell was he?

His knuckles turned white as he
gripped the wheel, watching Kylie speak earnestly to this jerk. Was
he hitting on her? Kind of long in the tooth for that but he'd seen
worse. Old dogs sniffing around young skirts. It was sick
really.

He should take his tire iron to the
old coot. Teach him a lesson. The idea of it made his fingers
twitch, made them want to take a swing at someone.

The intensity of that cold, dark
desire washed over him, and with closed eyes he relished it. Then
for one blinding moment came a flash of clarity and he knew his
mind was tumbling down a slippery slope. Lasting just a second, the
walls of insight closed in, enveloping him again in murky
delusions. Kylie would be his. That was his baby in her belly and
he'd be damned if someone else would lay a claim on either of them.
If she couldn't see that then he'd have to show her how determined
he could be.

He recalled the look of sheer
astonishment on her face when he'd struck her. Eyes wide with
shock, and for a split second, fear.

Delicious, cowering, fear.

And then she'd run. He'd tried to find
her, explain that it had been a knee-jerk reaction, nothing more.
That he hadn't intended to hit her. But then she'd asked for it,
hadn't she? Telling his parents that she didn't love him, had no
intention of marrying him, baby or not. She'd humiliated
him!

Another brief flash of clarity tore
through his brain. He tried to hold on to it but contradictions and
muddled emotions tumbled over one another. With the two sides of
his psyche warring with one another, the dark overshadowed and
smothered the light.

Kylie was getting in her truck. Now
the older man turned and faced Drew's car head on. When he tried to
drive around him he stepped into the convertible's path.

So that was it. He was her defense.
Probably some kind of rent-a-cop. Drew drummed his fingers on the
steering wheel and fought an urge to mow the man down. He spotted
movement in his rear view mirror as employees poured out in search
of their vehicles.

Suddenly the man was at his window,
tapping.

Drew lowered it. “What's up old man?”
Up close he looked weathered but fit, the thick hand resting on
Drew's door capable.

“
Please step out of your
vehicle Mr. Hammond. I'd like a word with you.”

“
Not fair. You know my name
but I don't know yours.”

Brad handed him a card from his time
with the R.C.M.P.

“
You're a cop?”

“
Retired. Please Mr.
Hammond, this will only take a minute.”

It was curiosity that had Drew
climbing out of his car. Face to face, the ex cop towered over him
by a good six inches.

“
Mr. Hammond,” began Brad,
“I understand you've laid hands on Kylie Lambert, an employee
here.”

Drew's laugh was sour. “You some kind
of body guard? I have a right to see her. She's pregnant with my
kid.”

“
Let me fill in some blanks
for you Mr. Hammond. As an unproven father of the child, you have
no rights whatsoever to be near Miss Lambert if she so desires. And
believe me, she desires.”

“
Unproven?” Drew choked out.
“I fucked her, I got her pregnant, and I intend to do right by the
child and marry her. Is that so hard to understand?”

Drew's choice of words did nothing to
phase Brad. He'd heard it all and then some. That Drew was
strutting like a peacock about it brought him a measure of disgust.
Throughout his career he'd heard woman beaters spout off all kinds
of excuses and rationales and Drew Hammond was no exception.
Getting through to these cocky bastards was a monumental challenge
that didn't always pan out for the women in their lives. Sometimes
those women ended up dead. This situation was still salvageable,
and as a favor to Margie and an even bigger one to Kylie, he had
every intention of cooling off this hothead before he did something
really stupid.

Brad took Drew's measure. He knew this
type; they got a kick out of keeping a woman under their thumb.
Made them feel superior, gave them a rush that was better than sex.
Drew Hammond had a violence in him that simmered just under the
surface. Too bad he'd chosen to take it out on a woman instead of a
punching bag in a gym somewhere.

“
Miss Lambert only wants to
be left alone. This establishment is private property. You cannot
seek her out here.”

“
Miss Lambert
needs to hear me out.”

“
Clearly she wants her
privacy. You remember that old saying about letting things you love
go?”

“
Is that your poetic way of
telling me she'll take me back if I just leave her
alone?”

“
Well, there's no guarantee
of that but it's certainly a better approach. A mature approach,
don't you think?”

“
You calling me
immature?”

“
I'm saying you need to
re-think your actions, because they always have
consequences.”

“
Like having sex might end
up in pregnancy?
FYI
, Kylie didn't exactly fight me off in the heat of the moment.
She liked getting it plenty.”

Peacock, rooster, whatever. “How it
happened is entirely none of my business. But it is my business to
make sure you honor Kylie's wish to be left alone.”

“
Oh yeah? What's your deal
with her anyway? Thinking of getting a little action yourself
there?”

This guy really was a piece of work.
“I'm a happily married man with a daughter about Kylie's age. I
wouldn't want to see Kylie get hurt any more than my own flesh and
blood. So you can take that comment and shove it where the sun
don't shine. Got that?”

The menace in Brad's eyes had Drew
wishing he had the tire iron in his hand, glad that he
didn't.

“
Whatever happens between
Kylie and me is out of your hands. So why don't you just go fuck
yourself, old man.”

Brad watched Drew's quick retreat.
Just as well, because it had saved him from ending up on the wrong
side of Brad's fist.

*

The evening was gorgeous, one of those
long summer sunsets that paint the sky an array of electric hues.
This was one of Kylie's favorite times of day and after a light jog
through Beacon Hill Park she came out to Dallas Road and the
waterfront, where a tall totem stood watch over a grassy knoll. She
plunked herself down on a bench to retie her shoelace and watch the
sun dip into the horizon.

Bobbing her head to her blasting iPod,
Will Delaney stepped into her line of sight. Sweat stained his
sweatshirt at the armpits and formed a dark line down his spine as
he came to a halt and bent over to catch his breath.

“
Hey,” he managed as Kylie
took out her ear buds.

“
Right back at ya.” She
watched as a young boy in a Vancouver Canucks cap came running up
with ease and slapped Will on the butt.

“
Hey!” Will yelped, then
laughed. To Kylie, “You must think I have a very limited
vocabulary.”

She giggled, thinking, oh my God, did
I just giggle? That was so unlike her. There was something about
Will Delaney that brought out her girly feminine side.

“
Kylie, this is my son Max.
Max, meet my friend Kylie Lambert.”

Max held out his hand, his shake
solid. “Hi. What happened to your face? Did you get in an
accident?”

“
Max! That's not very
polite,” reprimanded Will, “and it's none of your
business.”

Kylie ran a hand over her cheek. The
deep bruise had risen to the surface and gone through its many
rainbow hues leaving only traces of pinkish yellow. Still
noticeable however, she realized.

“
It's okay Will. He's got a
healthy curiosity. I did have an accident Max. I ran into the back
of someone's hand.”

Max's eyes grew huge. “You mean, like
somebody hit you?”

“
That's right.” She didn't
want to lie but she could tweak the truth a little. “It's getting
better and I won't make that same mistake again.”

Puzzled, Max wanted details.
“But...”

“
And that's all you need to
know,” Will ran interference. “It's a helluva sunset out here,” he
added, changing the subject. “Don't see many like this. Max and I
are headed for the petting zoo. Care to join us?”

“
Aren't they closed by this
time of day?”

“
Probably, but you can still
see some of the animals over the fence. Goats, a warthog I think,
or maybe it's a pig. Couple of llamas.”

“
Sounds exotic. Let's
go.”

They walked now, enjoying the first
stars of the evening as the sun sizzled, then disappeared. Twilight
intensified, purplish blues staining the sky in preparation for the
moonrise.

Max bounced alongside his Dad as they
made their way into the deep shadows of the park.

“
You run here often?” Will
asked Kylie.

“
As often as I can. I try to
pick a different route to keep it interesting. How about
you?”

“
Usually don't make it this
far on foot so I figured I'd drive down, do my run here and explore
the park a little with Max.”

“
Aren't you needed at the
diner?”

“
The staff knows what
they're doing.” He extracted his cell phone from a pocket. “I'm
always reachable in case of a crisis.”

“
Ah. What's considered a
crisis?”

“
There's only been one so
far. A couple got into a fight and started throwing their food at
each other. The other diners caught some of it. Man you should have
seen the dry cleaning bill! It might have been okay but then the
woman stuck the man with a fork in his hand and he had to be
hustled over to emergency. It was pure chaos.”

The twinkle in Will's eye told Kylie
he'd enjoyed every minute of it. She appreciated his sense of
humor. “Well at least she didn't stick the fork up his...” She
paused, aware of little ears listening. “... in his, er, bottom
end.”

Both Will and Max roared with
laughter.

The petting zoo area was devoid of
people and animal feces was pungent in the air. The powers that be
had built little shelters for the animals and most had bedded down
for the night. Two llamas, one black, the other a reddish brown,
sat huddled together on a bed of hay in a corner. A mother goat
nibbled on some kind of feed while her kid playfully rammed his
tiny head against her rump.

Max climbed onto the fence railing
while Will and Kylie leaned against it. “Look Dad, a baby goat.”
They watched as the little creature scampered toward them at the
sound of Max's voice. The kid pushed his nose against the railing
and bleated, looking for a handout.

“
Aw man, I wish we had some
food. What do goats eat anyway?”

“
Hay mostly,” said Will,
“and grains. When they're on farms with pasture land they graze,
like cows. But I think this little guy is still drinking milk off
his mother.”