Fall Gently (Red Light: Silver Girls series) (15 page)

"Are you getting hungry?" asked Dawson, interrupting her daydream.

"I'm okay." She looked out the front of the windshield. "Where are we?"

"Almost to the Columbia River Gorge." He glanced at her. "Ever seen it?"

She shook her head. The whole world remained a mystery, and yet she'd seen more things than any one person should have to see.

"Look up ahead. Over on the right." Dawson pointed.

She gazed outside at the small rock cropping. As Dawson drove, she got a view of a large river deep in the canyon. "It's how I imagine the Grand Canyon."

"Not as big, but it's impressive." He slowed down around the curve and drove over a bridge. "We'll stop in about twenty minutes and grab something to eat. We can always get something to take with us on the road and that way we don't have to stop again for a meal. I should've planned better and bought some snacks at the store before we left."

"It's okay. I don't eat much, and it's only an eight-hour trip," she said.

"You might not need food, but I'm starving." He chuckled.

She lowered her gaze to his stomach. Underneath his shirt, he packed a solid, hard body. If he had fat on him, he hid it behind muscles.

"Hey..." He glanced from her to the road. "Are you okay?"

She practically rolled her eyes. He caught her looking at him and thought something was wrong.

How wrong he was. She leaned forward and picked up her purse by her feet, retrieved a Lifesaver and popped it in her mouth. "No, nothing is wrong."

He never questioned her again. She continued watching the scenery go by, counting the white slashes painted in the middle of the road, and curiously examined the license plates of vehicles that passed them in the left lane of the interstate.

To keep her fingernails out of her mouth, she ate three more mints and never offered Dawson one. He probably never even noticed.

T
he waitress brought the check for Dawson and Roni's late breakfast. Dawson eyed the half eaten plate of pancakes across the table. She'd been too caught up in watching everyone else in the restaurant and him, she hadn't had time to eat.

"Sweetheart?" He leaned forward. "You haven't eaten enough to keep yourself alive."

She laid her fork on her plate. "Dawson, I'm half your size. Trust me. I'm not going to wither away and die on you."

His gaze dropped to her breasts. She was right. Though slim, she had plenty of padding in the important areas.

"Oh, I didn't mean anything by that," she whispered, covering her cheeks. "I'm sorry."

He snapped his gaze off her body. The sadness in her eyes brought him back to the conversation.

She glanced at the table full of people beside them. "It was inconsiderate of me to joke about...you know."

He reached over and held his hand, palm up, on the table. She placed her hand in his.

"I wasn't thinking about my sister, Roni. You don't have to be afraid to say what's on your mind." He gave her a half grin. "I also know you're not close to starving, so we're good, yeah?"

She squeezed his hand. "Two more bites, and that's all I can eat."

"Six pancakes too much for you?" He leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach.

"This early in the day? Yes." She put a bite in her mouth.

"You finish up, and I'll go pay the bill." He scooted his chair away from the table. "There's a gas station next door where we filled up before eating. I'm going to walk back over there and buy some snacks. Do you want anything special?"

"No, I don't need anything." She wiped her mouth on the napkin. "I'm going to use the restroom, and I'll meet you at the car."

He glanced around the restaurant. Everyone seemed to concentrate on their food, and he walked to the cashier. Roni would be okay, and the car was parked right outside the door.

After he had paid their check, he walked over to the gas station. Guessing Roni liked food that kept her busy going by the number of times she pushed her pancakes around the plate and in the car she ate the mints, he bought sunflower seeds in the shell, jerky, chips, and a six pack of Pepsi.

At the counter, he bought two rolls of wintergreen Lifesavers in case she got nervous the closer they got to Seattle. He needed her calm. He had no idea how temperamental her flight or fight response was to changes.

"Do you need any gas?" asked the female cashier.

"No, I'm good." He handed over fifty dollars. "Thanks."

"Have a good day, sir." The woman checked him out.

He walked out and headed toward the Cadillac he'd chopped before going to prison. A once in a lifetime chance at driving in class, he'd babied the car through every step and barely took it out of the parking garage to drive around the streets of Seattle.

Roni had slid into the passenger seat early this morning and never blinked at the kind of car he owned.

Her lifestyle before joining the Network centered around survival. Even the few clothes she brought with her fit in a regular sized suitcase. When he'd questioned her about how little she owned, she shrugged off the lack of possessions as if it was unimportant. She seemed to appreciate the little things. Designer clothes and fancy cars never even registered on her radar.

He looked ahead at his car and found two men standing with their backs facing him. He stepped off the sidewalk and cut between the parked cars when he realized it wasn't his ride they were admiring. Unable to see Roni, he hurried past three car spaces until he found her pressed against the passenger side door.

"Hey," he barked, coming up behind the two men. "Problem?"

"Just talkin' to the lady, man." A heavy-set man wearing a do-rag widened his stance. "Go make a hit with someone else."

The big guy's friend, a man wearing a baseball cap backward over his afro, turned his attention back to Roni. Dawson's hand curled into a fist. Roni stood staring at the ground. Her scared posture enough warning that she was uncomfortable and the men were up to no good.

"The lady belongs to me." He stepped between the two men, shielded Roni, and opened the door. "Take the sack and get inside, sweetheart."

Roni grabbed the groceries and practically fell into the Caddy seeking shelter. Dawson shut the door and turned to the two men. He looked them both in the eyes, judging if they'd jump him.

The man rotated the hat on his head around, pulling the bill down, and backed away. Dawson turned his gaze on the big guy. When the other man held his ground, Dawson walked around the car and slid behind the steering wheel.

"Put your seatbelt on." He started the car wanting to put some distance between the men and Roni.

He'd have no problem taking both of them out, but he wouldn't risk Roni looking at him as if she couldn't trust him. Unfortunately, he only had his hands to fight with while traveling because of being a felon. He wouldn't risk carrying a pistol if he got caught for speeding and the cops pulled him over and searched him and the car.

He was lucky enough he walked out of prison without any probation that held him to Washington state.

Down the block, he pulled over next to a vacant lot. He shut off the engine, turned in the seat, and hooked her neck, bringing her head forward.

He laid his forehead on hers. "You're safe."

"I didn't see them walk up to the car," she said. "Honest."

"Whoa, wait, sweetheart." He pulled his head back and held the back of her neck firmly. "Those two guys were assholes. You did nothing wrong."

"I should've waited inside the restaurant until you come back."

He shook his head. "No, you should've been safe outside. I'm only sorry that I wasn't there to stop them from talking to you."

"Vince hated when—"

"Fuck Vince." He kissed her forehead. "Listen to me, and listen closely. I don't give a shit about any rules Vince had set up for you or what he blamed you for doing. You could walk down the fucking street naked, and it would still be a man's fault if he touched you without permission. Just because you're a woman doesn't mean you need to put up with that shit. Do you hear me?"

She nodded.

"I will protect you, Roni." He let her go and watched her sag in her seat. "I never planned to take you back to Seattle and dump you out on your own. You're going to stay with me, and when you're comfortable, I'll take you anywhere you want to go or help you find a nice place to stay in a good area."

"I'll need to get a job eventually." She inhaled deeply. "Maybe I made a mistake. This all seems too hard and such an inconvenience to you."

He started the car, infuriated at what Vince had done to her. He'd made her scared of being alone, and her fears multiplied by the fuckheads outside the restaurant.

"First thing we're going to do is get you a gun," he muttered.

She gasped. "I'm not going to carry a gun."

"Then you're going to carry mace or a stun gun in your purse." He drove away from the curb and headed for the on-ramp. "You carry something with you at all times and when, or if you're ever in a situation where you're scared, you'll have something for protection."

"Is that legal?"

He glanced over at her. Her brows raised in interest. He grinned. "Yeah, it's legal. I'm also going to teach you how to fight back."

"I know how to kick someone in the balls."

He laughed, the comment a refreshing change than the fear he'd seen in her eyes. "That's a good start. When I'm done with you, you'll also learn how to break someone's nose."

He pressed the accelerator and drove onto the interstate. The faster he got her home, the sooner he'd build up her confidence and make her more comfortable living her new life. With a plan set in motion, he felt better about his job of helping her.

Maybe with his mind focused on something he was good at, he'd stop enjoying the way she looked at him for security, attention, and interest.  The hardest part of fulfilling his promise to Jacqueline was the unexpected desire to be more than Roni's guardian angel.

T
he two story, half brick, half wood building sat on the busy street with only a sidewalk between the traffic flying by constantly. Roni peered down the block at the people walking toward them on their way to the shops, bars, and even further away, the Pier, and grabbed Dawson's hand.

"I told you it wasn't much," said Dawson.

She held on tight. "It's fine."

Any home was better than living on the street. Her stay wouldn't be permanent, only temporary until she found a cheap place where her money wouldn't run out or a job.

Dawson looked down at her hand in his. "Are you okay?"

No. She wanted to run away from the people headed her way. Used to fighting her way through the dangers of the city and spending all her time trying to escape the attention of others pressed in on her.

She stepped closer. "C-can I hold your hand, so everyone believes we're together? Only when we're outside. I wouldn't do it inside the apartment."

He brought her hand up, kissed her knuckles, and squeezed her hand making her feel better. "You do what makes you feel more comfortable. If you want me to hold your hand, I will."

She turned to him as people walked past them on the sidewalk. By all outside appearances, she belonged to Dawson, and that brought her security. Pimps, gangs, and strange men wouldn't approach her if they believed she belonged to another man.

She smiled up at Dawson. He'd proven he was a force that made other men, big men, back off and leave her alone.

"Let's get inside and you can check the place out." He led her to the street-side door and put his key in the lock.

She glanced behind her. Nobody watched them. Everyone concentrated on going about their day and not on where she would live for the unseeable future.

A narrow staircase led to the second floor. With only room for one person at a time, she followed Dawson and watched his butt, his legs, his swagger take each step. He never let go of her hand, and she held on comfortably with the arrangement. His confidence gave her a boost that she could make her time with him work to her advantage, and she'd be out on her own soon.

"I've got the end apartment down the hallway." He kept his voice low in the barren passageway.

Their footsteps echoed, and she'd need to remember to whisper inside the hallway so as not to disturb the other occupants of the apartment building. She looked at the door. Apartment Seven.

"Lucky," she whispered.

Dawson pushed open the door. "Huh?"

"The apartment number is seven. That's a lucky number," she said, following him inside.

The musty smell hit her first. She gazed around the living room. An older style couch sat in the middle of the room facing a flat-screen television on a makeshift stand built out of concrete blocks and shelf boards.

A picture frame lay face down on the shelf. She moved over and picked up the picture, holding the frame in her hand. Her chest pounded and her struggle to breathe deeply brought tears to her eyes.

In the photo, Jacqueline looked away from the camera laughing. Her gorgeous brown hair half whipped around her shoulders as if she was in motion. She stood by a picnic table. The kind you find in the public parks around town. The absolute joy and carefree attitude etched in Jacqueline's face shocked her.

Roni pressed her hand against her chest, holding in the mass feelings one picture brought her. In their time spent together with Vince, she'd never once seen the radiant happiness on her friend's face that she witnessed in the picture. This was the happy and innocent sister who Dawson loved.

Instead of putting the picture down the way she'd found it, she set it up. Jacqueline should be a reminder of how precious life was to everyone who met her, including Dawson. She'd draw strength from knowing, despite everything, Jacqueline wanted her to be strong and happy.

She turned and found Dawson studying her. Her stomach pitched. He held himself still, the emotions wiped clean from his face. The only sign that he was deeply affected by seeing a picture of his sister came from the way he clenched and unclenched his hand.

"I like seeing her," she whispered. "I can put the picture back down if you'd like."