For a Hero (23 page)

“Our guy?” David took a closer look at it. In the middle of the envelope was his name. “David Conlon - Gabriel.” On the top left-hand corner where the return address should be was just the word, “Carlo.” “Thank you, Hank.”

“We were unable to determine if it was safe or not. We should send it to the police.”

David didn’t hear him. Instead, he quickly walked into his room and closed the door.

Hank looked at Scott and said “Gabriel?”

Scott shrugged his shoulders. “No idea.”

David locked the door behind him, closed the blinds of his windows and cautiously, but eagerly opened the envelope. It was very thin; there were perhaps only a few pieces of paper inside. It couldn’t be anything dangerous, he hoped.

He upturned the envelope on his desk and several Polaroid pictures slid onto the surface. He picked them up like a deck of cards and leaned back in his chair. He glanced through him. A chill crawled up his spine. Each picture was of David and Jenna walking together along the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Some were taken very close to him.

At the end of the stack of pictures was a note. David unfolded it and threw it on the desk.

Only two words were on it.

“I’m watching.”

*****

Jenna’s cell phone vibrated. She grabbed it and put it inside her desk. Her boss was standing over her, looking at her work on her computer screen. What unfortunate timing! Jenna hated ignoring David’s call, but she also hated to be THAT employee. She hoped it wasn’t an emergency.

*****

David drove frantically toward Jenna’s Prudent Advertising. He needed to keep his eye on her, at least until he could figure all this out. He couldn’t believe she didn’t answer her phone. Dammit, woman.

Parking in the lot outside the building, David walked inside. The receptionist at the front desk was so surprised to see him rushing in, that she forgot to stop him and ask what he needed. It was for the best. He wouldn’t have stopped anyway.

He got into the elevator and pressed the button for Jenna’s floor. It didn’t go fast enough. Without moving forward to distract him, the slowness of the elevator began to irrationally eat away at him. He bounced on his toes, his calf muscles flexing and tightening in his jeans.

Before he’d left, he took a picture of the photos with his phone and messaged them to Blaine. He said he would be protecting Jenna and he hoped that Blaine would be able to do some investigating for him. Blaine complained, but of course, agreed to help.

David, who could calmly stride through man-eating fires and under collapsing buildings, was shaking to the point of shock. He just needed to see her. He needed to know she was safe.

The elevator doors opened and David rushed out of them.

Jenna sat quietly, letting her boss examine her work.

“You know, Jenna, these check-ups are really unnecessary for you. Not like some people.” Mr. Cartwright coughed and pointed his face toward Miranda who was filing her fingernails at the desk adjacent to Jenna’s. “Your old boss was an idiot for not promoting you. You would have the Dallas office on the map if you were a manager over there. I’m sure glad he didn’t though. You are going to make a wonderful manager here.”

Jenna looked up at him, dumb-struck. “Manager here, Sir? But, I thought there wouldn’t be an open position here for another two years.”

“There won’t be. I had a long talk with my bosses after you got that deal with Jay-Z. They were planning on expanding anyway. We are making a new position for you. There is going to be a new office on the south side of town. You will be the manager there. If you can teach your ways to the newbies down there, my bosses will throw money at you like darts at a dartboard.”

Jenna hopped up and hugged him. “Thank you, Sir!”

Mr. Cartwright saw David coming over Jenna’s shoulder and let go of her. “I believe you already have the opportunity to share your good news.”

Jenna sat back down and looked over to see David rushing up. Her smile broke out over her whole face. “Hey David! I’ve got great news…”

David waved, but instead of speaking to her, he approached Mr. Cartwright directly. “Excuse me, Sir. Are you Jenna’s boss?”

“For the moment, yes Sir, I am. What can I do for you, Chief Conlon?” The old man spoke of Jenna with pride.

“I’d like to speak with you alone in your office if you don’t mind.”

“Of course. Come on in.” Mr. Cartwright led David into his office and closed the door behind him.

Jenna couldn’t believe her eyes. Miranda’s jaw was open. “What just happened, Jenna?”

“Other than a promotion, I don’t know. That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“A promotion? For you?!? That’s great news!” Miranda jumped from her desk and gave Jenna a hug. Jenna gladly received it.

In Mr. Cartwright’s office, David sat down across from him at his desk. “Thank you for your time, Sir.”

“Anything for the hero of Austin. I’m going to be on the front lines for your parade. You better throw me some candy.”

David smiled. The old man was very charming. “I’ve been hearing a lot about that lately. I’d like to talk with you about Jenna.”

“I figured. Go on. Is there a problem?”

“I believe someone has made a threat against her life.”

“That is serious.” Mr. Cartwright leaned forward, letting his worry show. “Shouldn’t the police be here?”

“Yes, they should. But I have reason to believe someone in my department may be behind it. If the police get involved, my department will get involved. I’d like to keep control of the situation as long as possible. I was threatened, and because of her proximity to me, unfortunately, I believe she is caught up in it as well. I have a private firm investigating the threat, someone that I trust completely. I am so concerned that I brought this upon her.”

Mr. Cartwright stood and walked around to David. “Don’t be, Son. She is a strong woman. I’ve seen her accomplish great things. She is driven and ambitious. She can handle something like this. Especially since she has you.”

David looked up at him. There was gratitude in his expression.

“And you, too, should not be worried. You are a hero. You will be targeted. You let everybody in the city know that they don’t have to be afraid. But there will always be somebody out there that doesn’t like it. There will always be somebody out there that wants the people to be afraid. You deserve to have a woman as wonderful as Jenna. Don’t let these threats scare you. You take care of Jenna. I’m sure both of you will be just fine. If there is anybody that can handle this, it’s the two of you.”

David took a deep breath. He felt a little better. Mr. Cartwright continued.

“Let’s call her in. You can tell her and we can get this all settled. Also, I want you to expect Prudent’s complete cooperation with you and the department.”

“Thank you so much, Sir. That means a lot; however, I was hoping not to tell Jenna about the threat. I don’t want her to worry. I’d like to take her home now, and keep an eye on her. Would that be ok with you? I’ll have her back to work as soon as the person who made the threat is apprehended.”

“Actually, she has some good news for you. I was going to give her the rest of the day off anyway. You do whatever you need to do, Chief Conlon. She deserves a break from work. Take her. Go somewhere safe and have a good time.”

“Thank you.” David rose and shook the old man’s hand. It was a pleasure to see someone who cared for Jenna working with her. He went up to Jenna and gave her a big hug. “I’m sorry about that, Baby. I just talked to your boss. You are going to have a few days off. Let’s go.” David said to her with a smile, hoping to hide the worry in his heart. It wasn’t too hard. She was a comfort to him, and now that he knew she was safe, he could finally breathe again.

She relaxed too. “A few days off? That’s wonderful! Bye Miranda!” She waved as David pulled her away from her desk. “David, my laptop. . .”

“You won’t need it, Hon. You won’t have a chance to get any work done on your days off. I am going to keep you next to me the whole time.”

Her resistance stopped when he said that, and she quickened her pace to catch up with him. She wrapped her arms around his arm, smiled, and let him sweep her away.

*****

“Oh my gosh! We are going to go meet your mom? Right NOW? David, I’m not ready. This is so sudden. I should change my clothes. I should cook something to bring with me. We should stop and buy something.”

“Sorry Baby. We have a schedule to keep. We’re just going to have to wing it.” David spoke while concentrating on the drive. He wasn’t fidgeting, but it was clear that something was on his mind. His brow was furrowed, and his muscles were tense, just like when he was driving her to her apartment before he needed to fight the fire. However, this time, it seemed like he wanted to do something, but he didn’t know what to do. All the passion and strength had nowhere to go, so it just built up in his shoulders and back as tension.

“What’s wrong, Sweetie? You look stressed.”

“It’s not a big deal. It’s just work stuff.”

Jenna got the impression he didn’t want to talk about it. She let it go. She could respect that. Occasionally she had stuff she didn’t want to talk about. She’d just change the subject. “Did my boss tell you my good news?”

David relaxed. Wonderful, a distraction. He was glad to have something to talk other than the trouble on his mind. “No, but he said you had some to tell me. Please, Honey, go ahead.”

“Well, my boss really liked my last presentation and it made a lot of money for the company. He decided that as the company grows, instead of hiring a new manager from outside, they are going to promote from within. They decided it would be me!” She said with glee.

“Damn straight! That’s wonderful! Congratulations!” David pulled over on the side of the road and took her in his arms. “I am so proud of you! Looks like you didn’t have to wait as long for that promotion as you thought.”

“I know. It’s great.” She beamed.

He started driving again. His rush was obvious. “We shall have to celebrate soon. If we didn’t have plans today and tomorrow already, we’d do it earlier.”

“Plans?”

“Yes. Plans. We are seeing my mom today, and tonight, I am taking you to my loft.” Jenna wiggled with anticipation when she learned she had finally earned entry into his fortress. “I will keep you there tonight and tomorrow. In the morning, we will discuss when we can celebrate your promotion.” There, that wasn’t so bad. David didn’t reveal anything bad to her. He’d basically told her he was going to lock her up for safety and she still seemed excited. Good.

They pulled up to David’s mom’s place. Poncho was hopping up and down, kinda. It was as up and down as a chubby dachshund could manage. His ears looked like a parachute that kept him from hitting the ground too fast. His mom must have told Poncho they were coming. It always amazed David that the dog seemed to understand things like that. David hopped out of the truck and scooped the dog up into his arms. “Hey Pal! How are you?” He was greeted with a hundred love-licks to his face.

He started to walk around the truck and let Jenna out. It was important that he introduce her to his ‘brother’. Before he could make it around, his mom had abducted her. She rushed to Jenna’s door, opened it for her, ambushed her with a huge hug, wrapped her arm up in her own and took her off into the house. “I have heard so much about you, Jenna! And you are so pretty!” Their banter continued until the pair had disappeared into the house.

David sighed. “Good to see you too, Mom.”

His mom had prepared all kinds of food. There was fried chicken. There were different kinds of lasagnas and casseroles. Multiple desserts decorated her old, dark wooden dining table with brilliant jewel colors and creamy chocolate browns.

“Mom, how are we going to eat all of this?”

“Stop complaining about the hospitality and give your mother a kiss. Is saying hello to family out-of-style these days?” David rolled his eyes at his mother’s playful jab. He kissed her cheek.

“Good to see you, Momma.”

“Now you sit down and eat. I can see your bones.”

David let his mom do the ‘mom’ thing. She completely took over. She had mastered the art of entertaining house-guests, like all true southern belles. She told anecdote after anecdote and never let Jenna go more than a few minutes without a new snack in her hands.

David was distant. He had other things on his mind. Blaine had yet to answer his message about the pictures. It’s not like he would have been able to get a word in edge-wise, had he wanted to. Speaking over his mother’s constant chatter would have been very difficult. He was happy his two women were getting along so well. It was also a good excuse to pass his quietness off as modest diffidence in the presence of ladies. His mom did so enjoy it when David was a gentleman.

“Ms. Conlon, now that I’ve got you here, would you mind telling me some stories about David as a child? He doesn’t tell me any of his old stories really.” She emphasized the word “David” very strongly so he would know she was digging into his past.

David perked up. “I don’t know, Mom. I don’t really have any stories worth telling. None of them would be embarrassing or even note-worthy at all. I’d talk about something else. Mom, why don’t you tell Jenna about picking up Poncho from the shelter?”

“That’s a good story, David. But don’t sell yourself short. You had some of the most adorable things happen to you as you were growing up.” David hid his face and dreaded what may come out of her mouth. “For example, did you know that David never learned how to ride a bicycle?”

Jenna gasped, it was half-sincere. “Really? Was he afraid?”

David put his hand on his brow, blocking what shame he could.

“I’m not sure why. He just never did. I remember one time he was going along on his tricycle and fell into an ant pile. He started yelling, climbed off his trike and stripped naked, right there in the front yard, picking ants out of his underwear. Everybody waved at him as they drove by.”

“Please, Mom.”

“If you were embarrassed, then you shouldn’t have done it.”