Eyewitness

Chapter Four

Her words sucked the air out of Kieran’s lungs. He’d seen it coming at him like a runaway train, at first far away on the horizon, a faint light, a wisp of a dream. Then as the reality drew closer and closer, he’d tried to dodge it until he decided to turn and face it head-on.

He sipped in a short breath to test the pain. He gulped in another. He slipped a glance at his…son, now stirring from the makeshift bed where Kieran had placed him with a gentleness he could’ve sworn he’d forgotten. A gentleness borne from the fact that the boy belonged to her…and now him.

“I’m sorry, Kieran. I didn’t mean to break it to you like that.”

He trained his eye on Devon, her blond hair gathering the light from the single lamp. Her eyes sparkled with tears. She’d tried to hide her emotion from him all day, but he could see that his reappearance had thrown her into turmoil.

“Sorry?”

“Mommy?” Michael rolled from the love seat and padded toward Devon on bare feet. He crawled into the chair next to her and stared at Kieran.

His son.

Did the boy fear him? He had every right to fear him-a stranger more scarred on the inside than the outside.

“Are you hungry, Michael?” Devon ruffled her son’s dark hair, so like his own.

He’d seen the resemblance almost immediately. How could he not? He’d pushed it away, denied it, almost hoped Devon would lie to him and send him on his way.

But Devon didn’t lie. He knew that about her. He could always trust Devon.

And now? Could he trust her to do the right thing for her son and keep him away from a damaged man so filled with rage he had no room for love? A man whose civility had been ripped out of him, tortured out of him?

“Yeah, I’m hungry.”

She spread her hands. “I suppose Colin didn’t leave any food in the house, and I don’t think it would be edible after a month, anyway.”

Kieran cleared his throat. “You don’t have a car.”

“Do you?”

He shook his head. You needed a credit card to rent a car, and all he had were a few pieces of ID from the army. You also needed your full vision.

“How’d you get to Coral Cove?”

“Planes, buses.” He held up his thumb. “Car.”

“What have you been eating? Because I know Columbella doesn’t have any electricity or gas.”

“Fruit, beef jerky, energy bars.” He shrugged. “It’s a feast compared to what I’m used to.”

The air between them sizzled with unasked questions and unspoken words, but Michael’s intelligent dark eyes switched from his face to his mother’s while they talked.

The boy didn’t need any more traumas.

Devon dragged her cell phone out of her pocket and waved it. “We’ll call for pizza. I already have the number for Vinnie’s on speed dial.”

“Does pizza sound good to you, Michael?” Hunching forward, Kieran gripped his knees.

Michael snuggled in close to Devon’s body but nodded his head.

One small step.

“Then pizza it is.” Devon punched a few keys on her phone. “We’re pepperoni fans, Kieran.”

She placed an order for two large pepperoni pizzas, salad, garlic bread and soda. Did she think she had to fatten him up? He must look gaunt to her. His appearance in the hospital had shocked him. He would’ve never been a star football player at this weight. And with one eye.

“Are you sure that’s going to be enough food?”

Devon laughed and it sounded like wind chimes tinkling in the breeze. He’d heard those wind chimes many times outside his prison walls, the sound shoring him up, giving him strength.

“Michael eats a lot.” She pinched Michael’s nose. “At least he used to.”

Her bright smile drooped, and Kieran felt as if he’d do anything to bring it back just so he could bask in its warmth.

“Seems like you and I both have some catching up to do in the food department, Michael.”

The boy shot him a quick glance beneath a lock of dark hair and Kieran’s gut knotted. What was wrong with him? Hearing about the death of a neighbor, even a friendly one, shouldn’t have such a strong impact on a kid. Hell, he remembered when his favorite dog died and he’d grieved for about two weeks, which was a week longer than Colin did.

He sucked in a breath. He remembered. He remembered the dog, Duke, and he remembered the day he died.

“Are you okay?”

He glanced up at Devon’s face, lines of worry bracketing her mouth. Hell no. He couldn’t do this to her. Couldn’t take her along on this ride.

“I just had a memory.”

She clapped her hands. “That’s great. I’m sure being in this house will help, much more than being at Columbella.”

“So why did I head there first?”

A pretty pink tide washed over her cheeks. She shifted Michael and jumped up. “I know there are dishes in the house. I’ll get some bowls for the salad, anyway.”

“Let’s help your mom, Michael.”

The boy scooted to the edge of the chair and hopped off, running ahead of Kieran to join his mother in the kitchen.

“We’ll eat at the coffee table and sit cross-legged on the floor. We’ll make a picnic in the house.” She handed Michael a stack of bowls with a handful of paper napkins on the top, and he turned and took measured steps back to the living room.

Kieran sidled next to Devon at the sink, inhaling her floral scent. “When did you find out you were pregnant?”

The shoulder touching his pulled away. “Soon after you left on your mission. There was no way to reach you then.”

She finished rinsing the forks and stuck them in the dish drainer. “I thought I’d have a surprise for you when you came home.”

“Did you tell my parents? My brother?”

“No. I wanted to wait and tell them with you. When we heard, when we thought… Your parents were devastated and Colin just about broke down. I couldn’t tell them about Michael then. I didn’t know if it would make things better or worse for them.”

“Were you alone?”

She sniffled and then grabbed a paper towel to dry the forks. “Oh, no. My mom had come in from Florida and Dylan was nearby. Do you remember my twin brother, Dylan?”

“Nope.”

“Plates.” Michael had returned to the kitchen, holding out his arms.

Devon dropped a hand to his head. “Tell you what, sweet pea, let’s use the paper plates from Vinnie’s. That will be more fun…and less work.”

Michael tugged on Devon’s arm and she bent over. He put his lips to her ear and cupped his hand against her face, which flushed with color.

“Kieran’s my friend, sweet pea. This is his house.” She handed him the forks. “Now go put these on the napkins next to the bowls.”

As he scooted out of the kitchen, Kieran turned to Devon. “Is he afraid of me?”

She looked down, her long lashes shielding her eyes. “Just a little confused. I-I didn’t, don’t date much.”

“Maybe it’s too much for him, Devon. He’s a very troubled boy.”

“No.” She smacked her fist on the counter. “He’s not a troubled boy. He’s happy and curious and friendly, he’s just…he’s just…”

Instinct took over. He gathered Devon into his arms, stroking her silky hair, his fingers remembering the path down each strand. She trembled against his chest and he rested his cheek against her head. He’d been wanting to hold her ever since he’d spotted her walking down Coral Cove’s Main Street. He curled one hand around her neck.

“Stop!” Small fists pummeled his legs.

“Michael!” Devon broke away from his embrace and grabbed Michael’s shoulder. “Michael, stop.”

The boy wrapped both arms around Devon’s thighs, nearly knocking her over with the force of his small body.

“Apologize to Kieran.”

Kieran took two steps back from Devon and his son clinging to her. His gut wrenched. “It’s okay. I wasn’t hurting your mom, Michael, but you’re a good protector.”

Devon peeled Michael from her legs and tilted his head with her finger beneath his chin. “Is that what you thought? That Kieran was hurting me?”

Michael nodded, his hands still curled into white-knuckled fists.

“Oh, no.” She pulled Michael back into her arms for a hug. “Kieran would never, ever hurt me…or you. Not ever.”

Kieran closed his good eye, welcoming the darkness. How could Devon be so sure of that? How could he?

DEVON BRUSHED HER fingers together and flipped the empty pizza box closed. Another half pizza remained but they’d done a fair amount of damage to that one, too. Michael had eaten more than he had in weeks. Maybe it was the sea air. Maybe it was his burst of violence against Kieran.

Her son had never before hit anyone or anything in his life. And he had to start with his own father.

And what a moment he’d picked.

Kieran had finally taken her in his arms, held her close, shown some emotion. She’d wanted to melt into him, somehow bring him back to his former self with her energy. But the wary stranger with the closed-off face remained.

Kieran tossed a piece of crust onto his paper plate. “That was the best pizza I’ve had since the last time I had Vinnie’s. Do you want another piece, Michael, or are you as stuffed as I am?”

Michael picked up a crust from his plate and ripped it in half. Then he scrambled to his feet and scampered toward the bathroom.

Devon sighed. “Believe it or not, he seems to be getting a little better.”

“I was blunt in the kitchen, Devon, but Michael needs help.”

“I know. Like I said, he has his first appointment with Dr. Estrada tomorrow. The offer still stands if you want to come along.”

Her cell phone buzzed and she held up one finger. “Hello?”

“Devon, it’s Gary from the garage. I got your tires on, but I didn’t have a window. I covered it with a piece of cardboard and I put in an order online tonight. You going to be here for a few weeks?”

Her gaze trailed to Kieran, picking up the pizza boxes and paper plates. “Yes, I’ll be here for a few more weeks.”

“Good. I can install it for you then. If I drive over in your car, can you give me a ride back to the shop and my car?”

“Sure. I’m at the Roarkes’ house on Coral Cove Drive. You know it?”

“Yeah, across from Columbella House, right?”

“That’s it. We’ll be waiting for you.”

Kieran strolled out of the kitchen, hands in pockets. “Is your car ready?”

“Yeah, he’s bringing it over. You’re going to stay here, right?”

“I need to pick up a few things I left at Columbella.”

She shivered and glanced at the closed bathroom door. “Stay out of that burned room. A man died there.”

“I was reading about that when you got back from talking to the cops. Apparently, Colin saved Michelle Girard from a maniac.”

“Mr. Brunswick. Didn’t you have him for algebra?”

He lifted a shoulder and the corner of his mouth twisted. Is that the closest he could get to a smile?

“Leave it to my brother to save the day.”

“He wanted to save you, too, Kieran. He can’t quite forgive himself for leaving you.”

“He needs to get over it.”

“Can you?”

“I don’t blame Colin. I don’t remember when he and the others escaped, but when the army told me about it, I never faulted the other guys.”

“I didn’t mean…”

Michael burst back into the room, and Devon sealed her lips. She didn’t want to talk about Kieran’s ordeal in front of Michael. She needed alone time with Kieran. She needed to know where he stood. Was he ready to be a father? Did he even want the job?

“Is your place close?”

“It’s my mom’s place. Nothing’s too far apart in Coral Cove, but it’s on the east side of town, past downtown.”

“And the auto shop is on the way?”

“Yeah.” She tilted her head. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. At least I have two new tires. I’ll take care of getting a new license tomorrow.”

He dug a cell phone from his pocket. “I have one of those prepaid phones. Put my number in your phone and give me a call when you get home.”

Her heart fluttered. Was he making a stand? Did he care enough to want to protect them? She entered the phone number taped to the back of his phone into her cell, and a glow touched her heart as she typed his name.

Kieran Roarke was back, and even if he wasn’t the same man who’d left her side and left her bed, she’d take what she could get right now.

When Gary pulled up in her car, Devon touched Kieran’s forearm. “You know Gary. You might as well get started now.”

Kieran nodded and flicked on the porch light before swinging open the door. Gary exited the car and nearly tripped over the curb.

“Is that Kieran Roarke?”

“Back from the dead.”

“Son of a…” Gary swept the grease-stained cap from his head and charged forward, arm outstretched. “So you made it out of there. Just like in the old days on the football field. Nothing can keep you down.”

The two men pumped hands, and Gary pointed to his own eye. “Did you lose an eye over there, man?”

“Not quite, but I’m not sure I’ll ever have use of it again.”

“What the hell. You’re alive, right?”

“Yeah, I’m alive.”

“Devon, good to see you, too, and this is your little guy?” Gary bent over and waved at Michael, who had shrunk behind Devon, clutching her hand.

Great. Another stranger. Like father, like son. Michael was going to have to relearn a few things, too.

“Yes, this is Michael.” She knelt beside her son. “This is Gary. He fixed Mommy’s car and now we’re going to give him a ride back to his car.”

She said an awkward goodbye to Kieran, promising to call him when she got home. After dropping off Gary, she drove back to her mother’s house, checking her rearview mirror. There were a few cars on the road, probably tourists heading from dinner to the few bars in town or making their way to the coast for more action. No white vans.

Why had someone broken into her car just to get a purse? Maybe he slashed her tires after discovering how little money she had in that purse.

She turned off Main Street and cruised past a development with a big warehouse store, an office supply store and a linens store along with the requisite coffee place and a couple of fast-food joints. A pair of headlights had followed her through downtown Coral Cove and stayed with her past the stores on the right where she’d expected him to peel off.

She continued on to the next streetlight and pulled up next to a car filled with teens, the bass from the car stereo thumping so loud it reverberated in her chest. She shifted her gaze to her rearview mirror and studied the car behind her-a sedan, not a van.

Her pulse ticked faster. Was that the same sedan at the lookout? She’d been focused on the van, but maybe the occupant of the silver sedan had been the one who broke into her car.

With her heart thumping along with the bass from the hip-hop song, Devon pulled in front of the teens’ car and barreled through the red light. The teenagers got a kick out of her move and honked and flashed their lights.

She careened around the next corner and then took a few side streets to backtrack to the shopping center. The box store was closed for the night but a steady stream of cars flowed through the fast-food drive-through windows, and a few caffeine junkies had parked themselves at the coffee house.

She backed into a parking slot in front of the coffee house, her nose pointing toward the main road. She didn’t know what she was looking for-plenty of light-colored sedans criss-crossed the parking lot, pulling in and out of spaces.

“Where are we going, Mommy?”

“I thought we’d stop for some ice cream. Do you want an ice-cream cone?”

The phone in her pocket buzzed and she jumped. She checked the display and seeing Kieran’s name almost made her jump again until she remembered her fiancé was no ghost.

He was no fiancé, either.

“Hi, Kieran.”

“Aren’t you home yet?”

“N-not quite.”

His voice sharpened. “What’s wrong?”

“We stopped at the local Mr. Frosty for an ice-cream cone because we didn’t get enough pizza.”

“Is it safe?”

“There are tons of people here, or at least tons for Coral Cove.”

“I still want you to call me when you get home.”

“Will do.”

When she ended the call, she felt Michael’s eyes boring into her. She tapped the phone. “That was Kieran checking up on us. Too bad he can’t join us for ice cream.”

And to escort them the rest of the way home.

As she turned from the counter, two cones in her hands, she almost bumped into the teenage boy who lived next door to her mom’s house.

“Sorry, Ms. Reese.”

She looked past him and his two friends punching each other in the arm. All too young to drive. “Is your mom here, Casey?”

His freckled face reddened up to the roots of his hair. “No. She’s going to pick me up later.”

“Do you and your friends need a ride home now? Or at least when my son and I finish our ice cream?”

“Yeah, sure. We’ll take a ride.”

And just like that, she had her escorts home. Not that she wouldn’t still be checking her rearview mirror for silver sedans.

But why should she? If someone broke into her car, stole her driver’s license and twenty bucks, and then slashed her tires, what would he still want with her now?

Maybe he’d grabbed her license so he could see her address and follow her home. Of course, he’d have a long drive up to San Francisco. Maybe that’s why he was following her now-to see where she was staying locally.

She shook her head and dragged her tongue across the soft-serve vanilla ice cream. She’d been on edge ever since Mrs. Del Vecchio’s murder and Michael’s strange reaction to it. Now in one day, someone had broken into her car and her dead fiancé had materialized in front of her. Those two events had done nothing to calm her down.

Crunching on her cone, she wiped a napkin across Michael’s mouth. She pointed to the melted ice cream dribbling down his fingers. “Are you done with that?”

He nodded and she tossed the remainder of the cone in the trash. She stepped outside into the cool night air. The boys were lounging at a table with a red-and-white-striped umbrella hanging over it.

“Are you guys ready? One of you can sit up front, and the other two can sit in the backseat with my son, Michael.”

Apparently, teenage boys were not as scary as grown men since Michael didn’t make a grab for her when she settled him in his car seat next to one of the boys.

She glanced around the parking lot, hoping for a glimpse of the sedan.

I hope you’re watching me load all these boys in my car. I’m not alone anymore.

Pulling out of the parking lot, she switched radio stations to something the boys would appreciate and hit the road.

She wasn’t alone anymore. Kieran Roarke was back in town, and that man had a protective streak a mile long. It didn’t seem as if four years as a prisoner of war had done anything to weaken it.

If anything, his protectiveness had grown fiercer. He’d grown fiercer. Would a man like that, honed to a hard granite, take to fatherhood?

One thing she knew for sure. Once he decided to take on the job, he’d be father of the year.