Holly came back with the pie and coffee, setting them down in front of him. “Okay, the worst of the rush is over. I need to know what this visit is all about.”
His heart sank. She looked so happy. But he couldn’t put his news off much longer. It would be nice to try, though. “How about I tell you at home?”
Her look went from serious to stern. “I don’t remember inviting you home with me.”
Here it went. There was no putting things off any longer. “When I’m done talking, I’ll be inviting myself home if you don’t do it. Our friend Rico Salazar is out on the street. A combination of a good lawyer and a bad ruling. By the time we could convince the judge that he really, really shouldn’t be released no matter what the bail, he’d slipped through our fingers.”
He watched Holly’s face pale to the color of the walls around him at the knowledge that her husband’s killer was free. Lower lip trembling, she fled, leaving him to contemplate his melting ice cream and cooling coffee. His appetite for either wasn’t very high right now.
Before he could decide what to do, the young woman who had seated him when he came in was standing before him, and she looked very angry. “All right, what did you say to her? Holly’s crying. And Holly never cries. Even the night when we got the whole table of jerks from Milwaukee, who had too much to drink, Holly didn’t cry. Not even when Jon-Paul threw them all out personally after they said those mean things to her. So what did you do?” His accuser waved a long finger in his face, curls bouncing around her glowing face. What could he tell this baby virago?
She wasn’t going to take silence as an answer. Wild curls still bouncing, foot tapping in impatience, she stayed planted right in front of him. “Well? You looked okay, and I was glad to see somebody that Holly knew for a change, but I’m beginning to change my mind. Should I have Jon-Paul out here? He played pro ball for a little while before he opened the restaurant. Does all the bouncer work around here himself.” She narrowed her eyes in determination, and Alex knew he had to talk fast.
“No, really, things aren’t that bad. I had to give Holly a bit of bad news. But I’m on her side, honest.”
“It sure didn’t look that way when she came back in the kitchen just now.” This young woman still needed some convincing. “She looked upset. And like I said before, she never gets that upset over anything.”
“Felicity? Are you looking out for me?” A trembly voice came from behind Alex’s tormentor. “That is so sweet, but really I’m okay. And Alex is all right. Just barely, but it isn’t his fault that I’m acting like this.” Felicity turned toward Holly and put her hands on Holly’s shoulders.
“You sure? Because we can have Jon-Paul take care of him.” Her tone of voice told Alex it would be no trouble, either. He made a mental note to stay on this young woman’s good side whenever possible.
“I’m sure. And he’s more dangerous than he looks, Felicity. But at least he’s one of the good guys. He used to work with my husband, and he’s here to look after me.”
Alex was surprised to hear Holly admit to that much. He was pretty sure that nobody in this little Wisconsin town knew much about Holly’s past. With every word she spoke she looked more composed. She used one slender hand to push an escaped lock of her dark hair away from her face, and perhaps remove the last traces of tears from her cheek. “Besides, Alex won’t be a problem for much longer. I’m back out here to thank him for his concern and send him back to Chicago where he belongs.”
So that was what she was up to. Well, Holly Douglas had more than one surprise coming tonight. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, Holly. But maybe we can discuss it in a less public environment. We’ll have the time, because I’m not leaving town before our mutual friend is back in police custody.”
Alex didn’t know which expression he liked least on the lovely faces in front of him. From his limited experience he would have said Felicity would be more trouble in the short run, with her amazement and anger blending. However, he’d known Holly quite a bit longer, and so knew her a little bit better. And he knew just enough to tell that in the long run, the look of determination narrowing her eyes and drawing tight lines in her face was going to mean much more trouble for him.
It was going to be a long night. He prayed it wasn’t going to be the first of quite a few. Maybe luck would be on his side for a change and they’d have Rico back in the fold soon. Right. And maybe they’d solve all the world’s problems while they were at it and he could get a great job teaching third grade because nobody would need the services of a cop with a law degree anymore.
Meanwhile he was stuck here in Safe Harbor, Wisconsin, with a woman who didn’t want to be looked after, a cold cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie floating in melted ice cream. As he’d said before, it was going to be a long night.
So what could she do with this guy? Holly paced the kitchen of The Bistro, trying to decide how to gather her thoughts, and what to tell her boss and Felicity. They had both been so kind to her for all these months. They deserved some kind of explanation for her behavior. They also deserved some more information about what the slightly menacing-looking stranger was doing in the dining room. She hadn’t thought of Alex Wilkins in a long while before tonight, and had never looked at him with the eyes of a stranger.
For her he’d always been Kevin’s friend on the force, first in his role as an undercover officer, then later as an investigator with the district attorney’s office. Sure, he’d looked a little rough around the edges. But most of Kevin’s friends and co-workers had looked that way. Kevin had called the drug enforcement officers that he’d mostly dealt with “the wolf pack,” and it had been an apt name. They had a lean, ragged look about them that seemed to suggest they were on the fringes of society and liked things that way just fine. Kevin had always stuck out with his boyish Irish good looks, earning him the nickname of “The Choirboy” and getting him some desperately dangerous assignments just because nobody suspected him.
He’d loved every minute of it, she knew that. And from what Alex and others had told her, what they could tell her after Kevin’s death, he’d been very good at what he did. Why couldn’t those who followed after him have been as good at what they did so scum like Rico stayed in custody? It certainly would make her life easier. Or at least she would have been without this latest complication. Nothing was particularly easy about life right now. Raising two active little boys with no father, and limited income, put a daily strain on Holly’s patience and her bank account. Now to add looking over her shoulder again was the last thing she needed.
Jon-Paul walked away from the range where he was supervising a sous-chef with half a dozen sauté pans going and stood in front of Holly. “Okay, you ready to talk? Felicity says that guy out there made you cry. Is she right?”
Holly managed what she knew was a wan smile for her overprotective boss. “Not exactly. He didn’t make me cry the way she thinks he did. I’ll admit I was crying, but it wasn’t exactly Alex’s fault. He’s just an old friend of my husband’s, and he had a little bad news for me. Nothing I can’t handle. And nothing you need to get involved in.”
“You sure?” There were times when Holly thought that Jon-Paul missed the action he’d gotten playing football. He certainly didn’t seem to shy away from confrontation.
“Positive. But thanks for caring.”
His scowl lightened into a grin. “Hey, you’re my best server. I can’t have you upset.” He looked around the kitchen at the chefs and assistants who were finishing up the last of the late dinner orders. “Why don’t you take off a little early and take care of your business with your friend.”
“Sounds like a good idea. You sure you don’t mind?” Holly minded a little herself, just because taking off early meant less income in tips. But the dining crowd was thinning, and there wouldn’t be that much more income to be had anyway. Alex’s presence would