Sacrifice Love: Saints Protection & Investigations (7 page)

Dani used her
security code to drive into the All-Safe Storage facility. As she walked past the office to make her way to her unit, the manager called out.

“Miss? Miss?”

Turning around, she saw the young, scraggly young man hustle over to her. “We’ve got a memo that I’ve been working on but don’t have it out yet.”

She waited patiently while he jogged over to the desk. Picking up a piece of paper, he walked back to hand it to her. Her eyes scanned the letter first, then lifted them to him for further explanation. He simply stood, smiling at her.

“Um, do you want to explain further?” she queried.

His brow furrowed in confusion. “Don’t that letter tell what happened?”

“It says that there was an attempted break-in to the facility and the cameras showed the person making it to Section 2B before the alarms sounded and they left.”

“Yep, that’s what happened,” the young man said proudly.

Lifting her eyebrow, she counted, not so patiently, to ten. “My unit is in Section 2B. Why was I not notified about this?”

“But you are being told. That’s what I’m doing now,” he said, confusion mixed now with irritation on his face.

“Yes, but this letter doesn’t say when it occurred. I should have been told immediately.”

“But it just happened last night,” he protested. “I can’t do nothin’ without the big guys at corporation telling me what to do.”

“Last night? Did you turn the security tapes over to the police?”

“Huh? Well, yeah, I guess,” he answered. “Some man came this afternoon and got ’em. But they were messed up, so I don’t think the tapes’ll do ’em much good.”

“Some man? Did he show identification?”

“Huh?” he asked again.

Oh, fuck. Save me from incompetence.
Sucking in a deep breath, she asked, “How do you know who you turned them over to if the person did not show you a badge?”

“Well, why would someone come in and ask for the tapes if they weren’t no police? Anyway, I ain’t seen no regulation that says I can’t give it out.”

I’m pretty sure there’s a regulation, buddy
, but realizing she was getting nowhere with her investigative, suspicious mind, she smiled and thanked him for the letter.
I’m checking my unit and then I’ll call the police myself. Or maybe one of my FBI buddies.

Her heels clicking along was the only sound heard as she made her way down the long, empty hall of the indoor, climate-controlled storage facility. Turning onto Section 2B, she looked up at the security cameras in the corners.
Unless they are state-of-the-art cameras, my unit in the center of the hall would not be very protected.
Arriving at the door, she realized she had nothing of real value in the unit.
So, why the fuck am I concerned? A thief could walk away with everything and I wouldn’t care!
Convinced it was just the investigator in her, she unlocked the unit and raised the garage-like metal door.

The scent immediately hit her. The smell of musty cardboard…and Adam’s aftershave. She had her possessions and the few bits of furniture moved to her new home last month after two months of living with her parents. The only things left were the few boxes, labeled Adam or Work; she had not been emotionally ready to deal with them then. But now?
I need to go through them, but not here. I need to do this in private.

She pulled her phone out and called the front desk. “I need you to bring a cart to unit 236 in Section 2B, please. I want to take my last boxes and close out my account.” She paused, listening. “Yes, I’m the lady you just spoke to. Please bring the cart now.” Disconnecting, she pinched the top of her nose in frustration.

In a few minutes, she heard the loud sound of squeaky wheels on tile and was grateful to see the young man rolling a long, flatbed cart toward her. As he arrived, he said, “I’m real sorry, but I ain’t supposed to help with any of your stuff. It’s against corporate policy.”

“No worries,” she assured him. “I’ve lifted much heavier boxes than these. Thank you, though, for bringing the cart.”

She walked in and lifted the first box to place it on the cart, then suddenly it was taken from her hands.

“Oh, hell, miss. My momma didn’t raise me to let a lady lift boxes while I stood around with my thumb up my ass.” He set the box on the cart and went back to get the next one.

She smiled and, between the two of them, they made short work of the six boxes. Thanking him, they pushed the cart together and she stopped at the front desk to complete the paperwork to cancel her rental agreement. Tipping him handsomely, she took the boxes to her car. Using the trunk, back seat, and passenger seat, she managed to pack them in.

She pushed the cart back into the office and the young manager looked up sheepishly. “Sorry, you worked faster than I thought. I was gonna come out and take the cart.”

“It’s all good,” she replied. Thanking him once more, she got into her car and headed home. Appreciating the warm, late spring day, she pulled into her new rental home driveway. Glancing at the box sitting next to her, she thought,
Okay, Adam. Time to go through things. For better or for worse…

*

The next morning,
glad for the weekend, Dani sat down in the living room filled with Adam’s boxes and opened the first one, marked
Clothes.
Assaulted by his scent when she began to pull out the articles of clothing, her throat grew tight as she held back the tears. Sucking in a deep breath, she proceeded to pull them out and place them into piles. One for giveaway; one for throwaway; and one for keeping.

His clean pants, jeans, shirts, and suits went into the giveaway pile. Belts, ties, and shoes went there as well. Underwear, socks, and worn-out clothes went into a garbage bag to throw away. She buried her nose in his soft, ATF t-shirts, remembering times she slipped them on to sleep in. Keeping a couple of them, she put the others in the giveaway pile.

Hauling the garbage bag to the trash can outside, she dumped it in without a second glance, before returning to the living room. She sat on the floor for a few minutes, amidst the clothing. Leaning her back against the sofa, she opened her mind, allowing the memories to flood. The ones she normally kept dammed, knowing if she did not the emotions would overtake her.

“We’ll be fine, you and me. I’ll take care of you and it’ll all work out,” Adam promised, taking her hand.

I rolled my eyes at him, wondering how he thought getting married would make things better. After all, he was hardly the marrying kind. “Adam, this is nuts. You can’t be faithful and I can’t accept anything less.”

He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Dani, for you, I promise to stop chasing skirts.”

I peered into his face and, to my surprise, saw sincerity. “Adam, this isn’t how we planned anything to go. I feel like one day you’ll wake up and hate me for tying you down.”

“Nope, not going to happen. Hey,” he joked, “I wanted to bang you the first time I saw you. Now, I get to do it anytime I want.”

“God, you’re incorrigible,” I groused.

“Come on, Dani girl,” his voice softened. “Let’s do it. Let’s make it all legitimate and get married.”

I thought about my options. I had some, but what he was offering made sense. At least at the time. If only I’d waited for a while to see how things would work out. “Okay,” I agreed. “We’ll get married. But,” poking my finger into his chest, “no more girls for you.”

“Promise,” he whispered just before kissing me.

“Oh, Adam,” Dani said in the stillness of my house. “You just couldn’t keep that promise, could you?” In the three months since he died, she had come to the conclusion that she was not as pissed at him as she was pissed at the situation.
We fucked up, Adam, you and me. We tried to make something work when there was nothing to build upon.

Standing up, she rubbed her aching back. Taking the bags of giveaway clothes, she put them inside her car to be dropped off later at the Re-Sale Store. Walking back inside, she grabbed the saved t-shirts off the sofa and carried them to her bedroom. Placing them in the bottom drawer, she did not plan on sleeping in them.
No, they’re for memory-keeping. And one day to give to—

Her phone sounded, alerting her to a text from Melissa, Aaron’s wife.
Don’t forget tonight. Meet at 7pm at Stella’s
.

Going out tonight is the last thing I want to do
, she thought, but then realized that after a day of memories she needed to get out of the house. Texting back,
see you then
, she sighed heavily and began to get ready.
Time to learn how to move ahead.

S
tella’s Restaurant and
Bar was in the newly renovated downtown area of Charlestown. When Dani moved from her parents, she thought about moving into Charlestown, but with her new job northwest of Richland, she wanted to split the difference. Finding a small home in a modest neighborhood near work, she was about twenty minutes from work and about twenty minutes from Charlestown.

Catching a ride with another co-worker, they arrived on time, finding parking easily. Entering the restaurant, Dani immediately appreciated the warm interior. The wall sconces illuminated the reddish tones of the cedar plank paneling. The long bar to the right was of a deeper wood and polished to a high gloss. The crackle glass mirror behind the bar caught the light and refracted it creating a soft glow. She recognized Aaron and Melissa at the far end of the bar, standing with another man.
Not bad looking…if I was in the market for another man.

Plastering a smile on her face, she walked over. Greeting Aaron and Melissa, the introductions followed. “Danielle, this is Simon, my cousin.”

They shook hands and she noticed his eyes lit up at their introduction. Moving to a table already filled with a few of Aaron and Melissa’s other friends she sat down, hoping the evening would go quickly. Ordering a sparkling water, she caught the strange expressions from her tablemates. “Sorry, I’ve had a…stressful day, and feel like the water will be easier on my stomach.” As the conversation flowed, she relaxed. A rather loud group was occupying the back area making hearing difficult. Leaning forward to catch what Melissa was saying, her gaze roved behind her. And caught sight of Chad…staring straight at her. Shifting back rapidly, she tried to still her racing heartbeat, irritated that even after so long the sight of him affected her.

Reminding herself why she was so angry with him, the reason now seemed ridiculous.
If I can separate myself from Adam’s betrayals, how can I not do the same with Chad?
Sliding her gaze back to him, she was assaulted with the realization of how handsome he still was. Broad and muscular, compared to the men at her table, she noted he appeared to fit right in with the others at his table.

Suddenly realizing Simon had been speaking to her, she blushed. “I’m sorry. I seem to be such poor company this evening.”

“No worries,” Simon said smoothly. “We’ll just have to make sure to go out again sometime when you are less stressed.”

Offering him a wan smile, she forced herself back into the conversation with her tablemates.

Chad had seen her walk into Stella’s. He would recognize those titian colored waves anywhere. Her dress was modest although did nothing to hide her figure. A figure he had dreamed about for almost two years. He watched her move to the bar, where it appeared she was meeting her date for the first time.
Good, he’s not a boyfriend.
He had kept up with her secretly. He knew when she landed the job with Marsden Energy Systems and Munitions. He knew it was a good job and she would do well there with her ATF background. He knew when she moved out of her parents’ house and into the rental outside of Charlestown. A drive-by assured him, while the neighborhood was modest, it was safe.
Maybe I can’t have her, but I can sure as hell try to take care of her from a distance.
He watched as she laughed with her friends and grimaced at the emotional kick in the gut.
Fuck, who am I kidding? I want to be the one to make her laugh.

The Saints and their women were rowdy as they laughed, talked, and celebrated the upcoming marriage of Bart and Faith. Jack, Bethany, Cam, Miriam, Jude, Sabrina, Monty, Angel and the other Saints, some with dates, rounded out the group. The wedding reception would take place at Bethany’s Mountville wedding venue and Angel was providing the gourmet cupcakes in place of the traditional cake. The men could care less about the venue, but knew that Bart’s wealthy family would spring for great food and free-flowing alcohol. Chad tried to keep his attention on the Saints’ conversations but to no avail. Dani had his full attention.

Faith, sitting next to him with Bart on the other side, leaned over. “I see you’re staring at the beautiful woman over there. I sense she’s someone important.”

Chad looked down at the dark-haired beauty and smiled. “An old friend, you might say.”

“I think she’s more than that.”

Chad stared at Faith, wondering what she saw. Her gift of sight had helped them before on a case and, while she never exploited it, they all learned it was important to listen to her. Sighing, he said, “Yeah, Faith. She was the proverbial one who got away. Or, rather, I let get away. It doesn’t matter anymore, I’m afraid. She married someone else and is now a widow, but it didn’t end well for us.”