When Mira's phone rang, she honestly expected it to be her boss asking when she was getting back, since she couldn't think of anyone else who'd be calling her. A glance at the Caller ID showed her the call was blocked, which she knew her boss did with his home phone, so she answered.
"Mira," a well-remembered voice said, "before you hang up on me, we have to talk."
She glanced at Kevin. He was deeply immersed in a book for one of his classes, but she still went into the kitchen before replying, "About what?"
"Kevin, and his safety," Will replied.
"The police are watching the place."
"That's not enough." There was a long pause. "Look, is there some way for you to leave him alone for a few minutes. I'm… I'll meet you in the lobby."
"Perhaps," she said slowly. "Give me five minutes."
As soon as she'd hung up, she began to regret her decision. She wasn't sure she could handle being alone with Will, even in a semi-public place. Still, she had promised.
"Kev." When he looked up she told him, "I'm going to run down to the store I saw on the corner. I'm dying for some coffee."
He nodded distractedly. "Get me some too?"
"Of course. I'll be back in a flash, more or less."
After another nod from him, she grabbed her coat from the small closet by the front door and left, making certain the door was locked behind her. Two minutes later she was in the lobby. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Will standing there. Other than the fact he was almost twenty years older, he looked just the same as she remembered him from when they had been a couple.
"You…you have real clothes and no beard," she said, feeling foolish a moment later.
He smiled then chuckled. "For the moment, yes. Do you want to sit down?" He nodded toward a bench along one wall.
"I promised Kev I'd bring him some coffee, since that's why I told him I was leaving. So if you don't mind, can we walk and talk?"
"Of course." He held the door for her then joined her when she was outside.
"So what's so important you needed to talk to me?" She knew the question came out more angry than inquisitive because she was feeling defensive.
"Kevin. Keeping him safe until they catch whoever attacked him—among other things."
"And you're going to do that?"
Will nodded. "At the moment Mick and I are in an apartment down the hall from his. The problem is explaining why."
She looked at him in surprise, saying tartly, "Yes, that could be a big problem. Do you have an answer for it?"
"Perhaps. When I saw him at the hospital, I told him I was an old family friend."
"Yes, you lied with a straight face, but then you were good at that, once. I doubt it's changed since." She took a deep breath. "That's past history. How are you going to explain you looked like a bum yesterday and now you look like a… a normal person? And who is this Mick?"
"A homeless kid I saved from a couple of punks. He kept following me around after that and in time we became friends."
"A substitute son?" she spat out.
"How could he be a substitute? I didn't know I had a real son until two days ago."
No comments:
Post a Comment