I stared at the blackened hunk of bread that used to be a bagel. I wasn’t sure what I should address first, the fact that Pyre had dropped off sex supplies to the assisted living home, or the fact that Norma had mangled a bagel to near unrecognizable proportions. Before I could decide the fire alarm started blaring.
People all around me reached up and began turning off their hearing aides, as if this happened all the time. Meanwhile, my ears were ringing and my brain was melting the alarms were so loud. “We should go outside!”
Margaret waved off my suggestion. “Then we’d miss the show!”
“...show?” I looked at them in confusion.
Henrietta looked at her watch. “Any minute now… Ah, right on time.”
Turning in my seat, I followed their gazes, then groaned as six young, good-looking, muscular firemen waltzed into the building. There were smiles on their faces, as if this wassomething that happened often. Considering what I knew of Norma and the others, I had a feeling it did.
I bit the insides of my lips as the alarms shut off abruptly and the women began to crowd around the young men and flirt shamelessly. This was just another fun, unexpected day at the Sentinel Serenity Assisted Living Home.
The next morning,I poked my head just inside the hospital room. I stepped fully inside when Owen lifted his head then smiled at me.
“Well, if it isn’t my guardian angel.”
My face flushed hot as I went and set a vase of flowers on the nightstand next to him. There were flowers and balloons on nearly every surface of the room. Owen was well loved in this town and it showed.
“I really wouldn’t say that,” I told him.
He frowned. “I’m so damn sorry about everything that happened.” He reached out and took my hand as I sat in the chair next to his bed. “This type of stuff is never supposed to reach the citizens. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“I’m gladyou’reokay,” I replied, shaking my head. “I was terrified they were going to find you.”
“Warrant filled me in on what happened out there while I was taking a little nap.” His smile was rueful.
I highly doubted he’d gotten the full version of the story.
“I owe you my life, Rae.”
“Trust me, if it wasn’t for the guys we both would’ve been in big trouble in a hurry.” I tried to keep the explanation vague since I didn’t actually know what Warrant had told him, but I was sure he knew the club had gone to help since the deputieshad seen them out there that night. “I’m just glad we both walked away from it.”
“Same. Thanks for the flowers, though I’m pretty sure I should be sending those to you.”
I dismissively waved a hand at him. “I’m not planning on sending thank you flowers to the clubhouse every day even though they all helped save our lives. I don’t expect you to send them to me either.”
He sighed, squeezing my hand, then letting go. “My damn crime scene got trampled to hell.”
I laughed. Of course that was what he’d be worried about. “I don’t think anyone is going to blame you for that.”
He made a face. “DEA is coming into town. As it is, they think we’re shit kicking bumpkins out here. Guaranteed someone will say something as we try to piece together everything that happened.” His eyes strayed toward the door. “I haven’t told anyone else…but I have a couple…gaps.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Gaps?”
“I don’t exactly remember everything that happened before those assholes bounced a bullet off my head.”
“That’s not exactly surprising,” I told him. “Are you missing anything else?”
“Not that I know of… Would I know if I was?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Things like birthdays, names, what the date is?”
“That’s easy, today is grorkday, nineteen oh five.”
I stared at him blankly. “Um, what?”
He lightly thunked the side of his head like you would a TV. “Just kidding. It’s Sunday."
