Hitman's Creed - 12

 

"Aren't you the tidy one," Glenn commented with a chuckle.

"Not according to mom, but… I mean look at this room. Not a thing out of place."

Glenn did look, and saw it through Joey's eyes. Everything was perfectly placed, books aligned on shelves by author, the television perfectly centered on its table, no knick-knacks, nothing just lying around other than the book he was reading which sat on the seat of his favorite chair. "Habit, I guess."

"From when you were a kid?" Joey sat down on the sofa and looked up at Glenn in question.

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Are your folks still alive and like retired in Florida or something?"

Schooling his face not to show the pain the thought of his parents death still evoked, Glenn replied, "They died a few years ago in an accident before Dad got a chance to retire."

"I'm sorry," Joey said sincerely.

"Thanks."

Glenn hesitated, something he rarely did, before he sat down at the other end of the sofa from Joey. "What about you? Obviously I know your mother's still around because I've talked to her, but what about your father? You seemed a bit reluctant to talk about him last time you were here."

"He's not around," was Joey's tight reply.

"And good riddance from the tone of your voice. You and he didn't get along?" When Joey's face closed down, Glenn said quietly, "Sorry, I'll quit probing."

"Thanks."

Stymied as what to say or do next, Glenn remained silent. Apparently that was the right thing to do because Joey sighed. Glenn cocked an eyebrow in question.

"I…" Joey looked at him then away, saying almost inaudibly, "You'll probably hear about it one way or the other somewhere along the line if you're planning on staying here. My father's on the run because he assaulted his girlfriend and abused their daughter."

"Damn." Glenn reached out a hand with the intention of… he wasn't quite certain what, and drew it back again. "They didn't arrest him?" he asked, knowing the answer but not wanting Joey to know that.

"Yeah they did, but he escaped somehow. Stupid cops."

"No one knows where he ran to I take it."

"No." Joey scrubbed a hand over his face. "We moved away after that because the cops figured it would be safer, in case he blamed Mom, because she's the one who stopped him before he killed his girlfriend."

"That must have been something else, her walking in on that. I presume that's what happened."

"It was… awful." Joey's face shut down again as he whispered, "Awful."

"You saw it?" Glenn asked in apparent surprise.

"Yeah."

"Hell, how old were you?"

"Fourteen."

"So he's been on the run for seven years. Not too good. The statute of limitations may well have run out for both charges if it was simple assault on the girlfriend, which means he'd have no fear of reappearing," Glenn said pensively.

 

Hitman's Creed - 11

 

Very early Sunday morning, two days after the freak snowstorm, Joey was standing at the foot of the lane leading up to Glenn's house. He'd gotten a ride to the side road from a friend then walked up here. He wasn't certain now that this was his brightest move but, for whatever reason, he wanted to see the man again. Somewhere where he couldn't turn around and walk away from him.

'Which is damned well insane. All he has to do is ignore my knocking, or tell me to leave the stuff on the porch. And why does it matter if he does let me inside? I'm a kid as far as he's concerned. A stupid kid who managed to get lost in a storm like a tourist.'

The problem was he found Glenn interesting in ways he never had any other male he'd met. Not that he hadn't looked at other men. Hell, he'd done more than look a time or three. The old barn at the far edge of Mr. Tallon's property had been the make-out site for half the teens in town at one point or another and he’d been no exception. The only difference was he'd made out with a couple of the boys at school who didn't want anyone to know they liked guys more than girls.

He didn't know why Glenn had become the subject of his nighttime fantasies. Hell, he was old enough to be his… well not father, never that. But an uncle or… or something. Whichever, he had to be ten years older than Joey, or so he figured. And yet fantasize he did… in very graphic detail.

Joey sighed, clamped down on where his thoughts were headed, and started up the lane.

* * * *

From his bedroom window on the second floor, Glenn watched as Joey came closer to the house. The young man had a backpack and from what Glenn could see of it, it seemed to be crammed to the gills, probably with all the clothes he'd lent Joey other than the jacket, which Joey had slung over one shoulder.

He shook his head, not quite certain whether he was annoyed or amused by the fact that Joey had gone against his express wishes and come here to return everything. Still, if nothing else it might give Glenn a chance to probe a little into the story of Joey's father, if he could figure out how to do that without raising red flags.

After putting on a shirt, Glenn headed downstairs. He reached the living room just as Joey rapped on the door. He opened to say sternly in lieu of a greeting, "I am quite certain I told you I'd pick everything up when I came into town."

"Yeah, well, I was in the neighborhood and figured what the hell."

"That is the lamest excuse I think I've ever heard. I'm in no one's neighborhood, by choice." Glenn regretted he'd said the last two words seconds later but it was too late to take them back.

Joey tapped a knuckle against his lips as he looked up at Glenn. "Why by choice? You said you used to work security. Did you piss someone off and they're after you now?"

"Yep, the Mafia. I had the goods on one of them and the man's associates didn't appreciate it," Glenn replied, deciding to play along. "So get your ass in here in case they're in the trees trying to get a good shot at me. I'd hate for them to hit you instead."

Joey flinched even though he was certain Glenn was teasing—he hoped. He walked quickly past the man into the living room then stood there, not sure what to do now that he'd achieved his objective.

Glenn solved part of the problem. He held out his hand for his jacket and told Joey, "You can dump the rest of the things on that chair."

Joey did as he'd been told, piling the clothes neatly on the chair with the boots carefully placed in front of it. Then he hung his own jacket on one of the hooks by the front door.

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.'