Hitman's Creed - 10

 

"This is a man who belongs on someone's hit list," Glenn muttered angrily as he read through the information he'd gathered. "No wonder the kid wants to stick around." He stared at the news report again, shaking his head.

 

Local man escapes after being arrested for attempted murder of girlfriend and abuse of the girlfriend's daughter. Steven Fairburn was stopped in the process of beating his erstwhile girlfriend when his wife returned home unexpectedly from an out-of-town visit with her parents. According to police reports Miriam Fairburn and her son walked into their home to find Mr. Fairburn with his son's baseball bat in one hand. A woman later determined to be the mother of his nine-year-old daughter lay on the floor with his foot holding her down. Mrs. Fairburn screamed for help while attempting to take the bat from her husband. A male neighbor heard her screams and came to the rescue. Between them they managed to subdue Mr. Fairburn then call the police. Mr. Fairburn escaped custody as he was being taken to court to be arraigned on charges of abusing a minor child and attempted murder.

 

Glenn had accessed the police reports. He found out that Mrs. Fairburn had had no idea that her husband had a mistress and another child. Joey had been fourteen at the time of the incident, old enough to understand what had happened. It might have ended there if Fairburn hadn't escaped. The police in the town where they’d lived had suggested that Mrs. Fairburn might be safer if she took her son and moved somewhere else. Obviously she'd taken their suggestion seriously. Glenn suspected they'd chosen this town because her brother lived here. Not a smart move if Fairburn really did want to pay her back for what had happened, but understandable on her part.

'I wonder if Fairburn has made contact with her or if Joey's just afraid that he might at some point in time.' He’d found no reports that Fairburn had been seen at any time since his escape, but that didn't mean anything. He was undoubtedly in hiding even after seven years but that didn't preclude his wanting to do something to his wife as payback for her part in his arrest.

Glenn lit a cigarette and leaned back to stare up at the ceiling as he wondered if there was anything he could do about the situation. Then he shook his head. 'Why the hell would I want to? It's not my damned business one way or the other. I'm sure the police here are well aware of the situation and are keeping an eye open for him, as is her brother.' With that thought in mind he closed the file he'd started, and went into the kitchen to fix supper.

Hitman's Creed - 9

 

"So," Joey's mother said as soon as he came through the door, "how did you end up there?"

"I told you when I called, I got lost."

"You don't get lost. You know this area like the back of your hand."

Joey looked at the back of his hand once he took off the borrowed jacket. "I never could figure what that saying meant. I don't know the back of my hand."

"Joey, answer the question," she said in mock exasperation.

"Okay. I really was lost for a while, or at least way off course. But I figured out where I was more or less and started back. Then, well, I was freezing my ass off and I thought I was close to his place and so…"

"You decided to take advantage of the situation and do a little snooping."

"Make friends with a neighbor," he replied with an innocent stare in her direction.

"He's hardly a neighbor, so you were snooping."

"I was getting out of the snow and cold!"

"Joey Fairburn, you were snooping. So what did you find out about the elusive Mr. Glenn whatever?"

"Nothing really," Joey admitted once he'd finished stuffing the borrowed socks into the borrowed boots. "He makes a mean pot roast, from the smell of it he smokes though he didn't while I was there, and his place is totally neat."

"A neat male; I didn't know they existed," she said with a laugh.

"Hey, my room's neat, mostly, usually."

"Sometimes." She glanced at the clock then nodded toward the stairs. "It's late so maybe you should get to bed now? Put everything in the hamper and I'll do a load of laundry in the morning so his sweats are clean when you take them back to him."

Joey was about to tell her that Glenn would pick them up… someday. He thought better of that. After all if his mother wanted him to return them then return them he would.

Hitman's Creed - 8

 

Glenn filed the last half of that away for the moment to ask, "What are you studying?"

"Criminal Justice. I hope to be a cop when I've finished, or on the way to being one."

"Really? Here or some big city?"

"That depends." Joey studied his empty plate. "Probably here if there's an opening when I'm ready, at least until I get my feet wet. The chief's a… well, a friend of the family so I have an in. Can I ask what you do that you can live out here and…? Okay, not my business, sorry."

"It's not, but I'll tell you anyhow," Glenn replied with a slight smile. "I inherited some money and decided to retire."

"From what?"

"Security work." This was at least the partial truth. Glenn figured since he had spent his life making certain that his clients were secure from the problems posed by the people they wanted out of the way, he could consider his work to be in the security field.

"So you were sort of a cop."

Glenn nodded. "Sort of, although the cops probably didn't look at it like that." He decided it was time to change the subject before Joey started to probe deeper. "Does your family own the coffeehouse?"

Joey nodded. "My mother does. She owns it and I work for her, or I guess with her, and for my uncle who has the garage down the street."

"So your family owns half the town," Glenn replied with a chuckle. "Does your father have a business here too?"

"My father's out of the picture," Joey said tightly.

Glenn felt the anger and something else that radiated from Joey's suddenly tense body and figured there was more to it than just the man having divorced Joey's mother. Especially considering that Joey had as much as said there was something keeping him here in the town, something that sounded like more than just love of family.

"That happens sometimes. Any brothers or sisters? Okay, now I'm being too nosy, I suspect. Next I'll be asking about your friends and acquaintances. I suppose that's a hangover from what I used to do."

Joey took a deep breath then chuckled. "It could be, and no, I'm an only child."

"That makes two of us. Have you had enough to eat?"

"More than, thank you." Joey stood and began to clear the table. When Glenn cocked an eyebrow, Joey explained, "Mom trained me well. She cooks, I clear and wash up."

"Then I'll just sit here and let you. When you're finished, I'll see if I can get the car down to the road and take you home."

Joey looked out the window over the sink. "It's stopped snowing finally so maybe, if your car's a tank."

"Not quite, but it's snow-worthy enough, I think, if I run the snow blower one more time first."

"I can do that if you want," Joey told him as he finished rinsing the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

"Are you always this eager to help people?"

"When they help me, sure. Is that so strange?"

"Sometimes it is, yeah. All right, you want to help, you can, but better get dressed more than you were when you got here." Glenn went into the mudroom. When he came back he handed Joey a thick jacket, boots and gloves. "You might need extra socks in the boots. Hang on."

When Glenn left, Joey went into the bathroom to see if his clothes were anywhere close to dry enough to wear, which they weren't. He heard Glenn come back into the kitchen and went to join him. "My stuff is still sopping wet."

"And that's a problem why?" Glenn gave him two pairs of thick socks. "You can return my stuff to me next time I come into town."

"The twelfth of never?" Joey said, chuckling.

Glenn smiled in amusement. "Maybe a bit sooner than that."

* * * *

Between them Glenn and Joey got the lane dug out enough that the car made it down to the narrow side road that led to the main one. It was rough going but Glenn was correct, his car was snow-worthy. By the time they made it to the road into town Joey was asleep, his head resting against the side window.

"Kids, no stamina," Glenn murmured to himself in amusement.

When they reached town, he shook Joey awake. "Where to from here?"

Joey looked a bit bemused until he got his bearings then told Glenn which way to go. When they got to his house, Joey thanked Glenn profusely for everything and promised he'd try to get his clothes back to him sooner than later.

"I told you I'd pick them up next time I'm in town," Glenn reminded him.

"Yeah, but…"

"It won't be that long. Now get inside before your mother wonders what's taking you so long."

Joey got out, bending to thank Glenn one more time before racing into the house.

'Nice kid,' Glenn thought as he drove off. 'It'd be interesting to find out what the deal is with his father.'

Hitman's Creed - 7

 

Joey did as he'd been told. When he came back Glenn chuckled in amusement. "Now you look like a kid in his big brother’s hand-me-downs." Although truth be told, there was something about seeing the handsome boy with Glenn’s sweats hanging from his hips that brought on a predatory urge. One that Glenn decided needed to be ignored.

Joey smiled ruefully. "Better than a snowman, and thanks for the clothes."

"Better than you catching pneumonia. What the hell were you doing out in this weather dressed the way you were?"

"It was barely snowing when I left the house. I was going for a run and, well…" Joey shrugged.

"All snowy hell broke loose. Gotcha. Maybe you should call your mother and let her know you're all right."

"Yeah. Let me…" Joey started toward the door to the kitchen.

"Here, use mine." Glenn took his cell from its holster and handed it to Joey. "You hungry?" When Joey nodded, Glenn went into the kitchen, as much to give Joey privacy to talk as to find something to fix for supper. He looked up from the stove a few minutes later when he heard the door open. "Was she glad to know you found a safe haven?"

"Oh yeah, big time. She was really worried."

"Big shock there. Sit down, this should be ready soon."

"Can I help?"

"Sure. Grab plates from the cupboard," Glenn pointed, "and get out silverware." He nodded to one of the drawers. "You getting warmed up?" he asked as an afterthought.

"Yes, thank you." Joey got everything and set the table. His stomach began growling from the aroma of whatever Glenn was making. "Smells good."

"It is." Glenn put the pan on the table. "Pot roast on the second day is always better than the first. Dig in."

Joey had to agree the food was good, even more than good. When he finished his first helping, he glanced at Glenn for permission to take more.

Glenn nodded that he could and smiled when Joey filled his plate again. "You're at the age when you're a bottomless pit, I think. What are you, nineteen, twenty maybe?"

"Twenty-one," Joey told him, trying not to huff.

"Ah, then you're legal."

"I was legal at sixteen," Joey replied with great seriousness.

Glenn laughed. "Hopefully your girlfriend was as well."

"Yeah, well," Joey looked at him, said, "Never had one of those… and why the hell did I just admit that?" He turned red with embarrassment.

"That's what happens if you're tired, the brain to mouth filter shuts down."

Joey snorted. "It'll do that sometimes even when I'm not tired."

Glenn decided to give him a break instead of teasing him more. "Are you in school, college or whatever?"

"I'm taking courses online. There's no college close enough to commute and I don't want to move away until… well, not yet."

Hitman's Creed - 6

 

Glenn watched the snow fall through the living room window and thanked his lucky stars he'd gotten new tires when he had. Not that he minded the idea of being snowed in but he had sense enough to understand he didn't know the area to the degree that he could make the trek into town on foot should an emergency arise.

Of course having a car which could make it on snow-covered side roads did no good if he couldn't drive along the lane to get to them. Therefore, even though the snow was still coming down heavily he decided it seemed logical to get out the snow blower and take a stab at clearing the first layer off the lane. At least that way if the snow kept up he'd have some idea where the hell it was come morning.

He dressed in layers, sweatshirt, sweater, and a thick coat, then added the boots and gloves he'd had the forethought to buy the last time he was in town, pulled on a ski mask he'd acquired many years ago, and trudged to the garage.

Half an hour later, he wondered if the effort had been worth it as he put away the snow-blower and stepped out of the garage. The lane was visible since there was less snow on it, but it already had at least an inch of the white stuff covering it again.

He let out a few choice words and grabbed the shovel when he realized the walkway to the back door was ankle-deep with snow. He got it cleared then went around the house to do that same for the front walk.

"Damned exercise in futility," he growled out loud when he finished. "Sometimes I wonder what the hell I use for brains."

"Hey," a voice called out from the trees several yards to the west of the house. "Is someone there?"

"Yeah," Glenn called back as he started in that direction. "Holy shit," he said seconds later when the kid from the coffeehouse came into view, covered in snow and obviously freezing from the look of him. "Not exactly dressed for the weather, are you?"

"No, sir," Joey agreed through chattering teeth.

"Come on. Let's get you inside where it's warm." Glenn nodded toward the house then waited for the kid to move. When he didn't, Glenn said tersely, "I don't bite, but if you want to stand out here and become more of a snowman than you already are, be my guest." Then he started toward the front porch.

"I… don't…"

"You don't what?" Glenn asked without stopping.

"Want to… impose…"

"For the love of all that's holy, you're freezing your ass off. Consider this a rescue mission of sorts and get in here." Glenn opened the front door and shot the kid a look of annoyance. "Now, before all the heat leaks out."

Joey hurried past him into the house. "Thank…you."

Glenn closed the door firmly behind them. "Yeah. Welcome. What's your name, kid?"

"Joey." He kept his arms wrapped around himself while he wondered if the man would be pissed if he went to stand in front of the fireplace to warm up.

"A name for the snowman. I'm Glenn. Get out of those clothes. You're dripping all over the floor."

"What?" Joey looked at him in shock.

"Oh hell." Glenn shook his head in amusement. "Not all of them, just the jacket, your shoes." As he spoke Glenn took his own coat and the rest of his outerwear off and hung them on the hooks by the front door with his boots underneath.

"Yes, sir." Joey toed off his shoes, took off his jacket and put it on a hook. "Could I…?" He nodded toward the fireplace.

Glenn eyed him and noted that his jeans were soaked up to the knees and the shoulders of his shirt were damp as well. "Yeah, go ahead." While Joey did, Glenn went upstairs. He returned a few moments later to hand the kid a set of sweats. "You'll swim in them. Go change." He pointed to a door off the living room. "Take a left and you'll find the restroom."