Slow Hands (7 page)

"Not quite. We still need to establish my reason for returning to Freedom."

"You told Franny you'd just been discharged from the army, though personally I thought the grenade-exploding story was overkill."

Alec grunted. "It won a lot of sympathy."

"Fine. So there's your cover." She shrugged. "I don't think anyone in town will question it. The last anyone heard, you had joined the army. No one's known—or cared—what you've done since."

She hoped he'd volunteer the information. Yeah, she was curious what he'd done all these years, but darn if she'd ask.

"It's not that simple. I need a compelling reason to stick around. Something with substance. Ian Griggs will be looking for weak links." He paused. "For starters, you need to hire me. Then you and I have to pretend we're involved again."

Keira nearly fell out of her chair. "What? That's as ridiculous as it is insulting."

He grimaced. "I understand how you'd feel that way. And believe me, I've tried to come up with an alternate. But given our past, nothing else fits. And it has to be 100 percent convincing. Griggs will find anything less suspicious. He'll be expecting traps, looking for the unusual, so we have to make it look sincere. Which also means making everyone in town think we've buried the hatchet and have rekindled our relationship."

Keira shut her eyes against the cruel bite of his explanation. She'd known from the beginning Alec would need a cover, a reason to justify his return. She would have never guessed this one.

And even as part of her recoiled in objection, part of her recognized the truth: Alec returning for her had the sort of fairy-tale quality people naturally wanted to believe. Which ticked her off.

"So you just show up out of the blue and beg my forgiveness, huh? And just like that"—she snapped her fingers—"I forgive you?"

"We'll let people think we've been corresponding by e-mail," Alec said. "I contacted you. You told me off, but in spite of the harsh words, we made a connection. And I've come back to prove myself."

How many times had Keira played that scenario over in her head ten years ago? It hurt just recalling it.

It also bothered her that everyone assumed she was available to play the part.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What if I'm sort of involved with someone?"

"Sort of?"
He scoffed. According to Scarlet, Keira hadn't had a steady boyfriend in over a year. Yes, he'd pumped Scarlet for information while they danced. "You'll need to
sort of break
it off for a while."

"What if I don't want to?"

Tough,
he wanted to say. "It's temporary, Keira, remember?"

The words stung. "You and Scarlet were pretty chummy last night. She might make a believable cover." God knows she'd be willing.

"Not as believable as you and me."

Tina interrupted, coming across on the intercom. "Walt Pelter's on line two. Growling like a bear."

"I need to take this call," Keira said.

Alec stood, picked up his coffee cup. "One last thing. You've sworn Franny to secrecy, right?"

She would have loved to throw an indignant
"How dare you"
in his face. Instead, she nodded.

"We might need to clue Franny in so she can back up our story about the e-mail."

Franny would love that. "We'll see. I need to think about this."

"Fine. We'll talk more tonight."

'Tonight?"

"The reunion bowling party," he clarified.

Scarlet had no doubt invited him. "Maybe." She shrugged, noncommittal, and grabbed the phone.

And maybe she needed to have her head examined for agreeing to Miles Ostman's request in the first place.

It was dark by the time Keira pulled into the bowling alley. Judging by the lack of parking, she was probably the last to arrive.

The Pin Palace II was Freedom's sparkling new bowling alley. The original Pin Palace had met its demise two years earlier when a fire burned it to the ground, taking with it a small strip mall that housed the Church of Good Souls.

The church fathers and the bowling alley patrons had been feuding for months over the Pin Palace's desire to expand. The bowling alley wanted a bigger, full-service bar. The church wanted the alley's current beer-and-wine license revoked.

Under city law, no alcohol could be served within one city block of a church or school. But since the bowling alley had been there first, they were grandfathered in by a special proviso. Which the Good Souls' pastor claimed rankled the Lord.

Keira smiled. The Lord must have really been pissed when that same pastor was arrested for arson.

The new Pin Palace was twice the size of the old. A game room and pool tables had been added along with the new bar. Monday through Thursday, the senior citizens' bowling leagues ruled.

But on Friday and Saturday nights, the place converted as
Cosmic
bowling took over. The standard-issue, black house balls were replaced with neon-colored balls in pink, blue, yellow, orange, and green.

Panels painted with psychedelic Day-Glo designs unfurled from the ceiling. The fluorescent lights were shut off in favor of black lights and flashing strobes. Tiny racing lights chased up and down the side of the lanes, at different speeds and colors. Even the pins glowed under the black lights.

Short-skirted waitresses went from table to table on Rollerblades, while music videos blared from the same monitors that aired CNN during the day. The effect was electrifying, like stepping into a futuristic world.

That night the place was packed with the class reunion attendees. Several people wore fifties-style bowling shirts. Scarlet and Cissy had matching shirts, unbuttoned low, with the collars high.

Scarlet made a beeline for Keira. "Have you seen Alec?"

"Nope."

The other woman looked relieved, then checked her watch. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"That's what he said earlier."

"You did see him." Scarlet's brows drew together. "I'm only going to tell you this once.
Back off.
I saw him first." Then she stormed off.

"Knock yourself out," Keira muttered under her breath. Then she turned and headed for the far side of the alley.

Franny came up, looped an arm around her shoulders. "What took you so long to get here? Mabel was afraid we'd have to forfeit the game." Franny tugged her toward their lanes.

Bowling was Mabel's religion. She bowled on the women's senior league. Her booth at the salon sported a huge state championship trophy, plus several small trophies from league play.

"I had to write up a job for Walt Pelter."

"Walt Pelter? What kind of job?'

"He gave me the Chevy dealership."

"That's the second time this week hell froze over." Franny shook her head. "I thought the Barry brothers had that one?"

"Guess they tried to shake Walt down for more money."

"I'd love to see Eddie Barry's face when he hears
you
got the job," Franny crowed.

"He already knows, and Walt warned me he's pissed."

Keira bid regularly against the Barry brothers, another electrical contractor in town. They seemed to be personally affronted by a woman in their line of work and took special joy in harassing her.

"Any word from Alec?" Franny asked.

Keira filled her in on Alec's visit to her apartment the night before and to her office that morning.

"He wants to pretend you're lovers?" Franny rubbed her hands together. "Awesome."

"Not. I told Alec I was sort of involved."

"With who?"

"I didn't say."

"That's even better." Franny grinned. "Leave that part to me."

"Oh no you don't."

"Oh yes I do. I think it's an omen Alec's returned."

"Yeah. A bad one."

Mabel interrupted, tapping Franny's shoulder. "You're up next. Change your shoes."

Relieved Franny was distracted, Keira watched as Sally rolled a strike.

There were eight of them bowling on two adjacent lanes. Girls versus boys. Thanks to Mabel and Sally, the girls were ahead.

"Watch that hook," Mabel yelled, as Franny moved to take her turn.

Franny nodded and grabbed her ball.

All male heads within a ten-lane radius swiveled to watch Franny line up for her approach.

In keeping with the fifties theme, she wore a pointy Jane Russell bra underneath a tight, white cashmere sweater. She had on black pedal pushers cinched at the waist with a wide red belt. A red chiffon scarf at her neck completed the picture.

As a bowler, Franny could hold her own. However, her new designer nails wouldn't fit in the holes, so she simply tossed the ball with two hands.

The ball wobbled down the lane, barely taking out one pin. Everyone clapped. Her second ball hugged the gutter, but still everyone applauded. Especially the guys next to them.

"We needed the break," Fred, Mabel's husband, confided. "We're losing."

Sally's fiancée, Stan, and his brother were bowling on the men's side. Keira's employee, Reggie Reeves, filled the fourth male spot. Reggie had been shooting pool and agreed to fill in for Darryl, who'd been detained at the fire station.

Both Keira and Reggie picked up their balls at the same time. Grunting slightly, he indicated she should go first

Wiping her hands on her jeans, she lined up, found her mark, and tossed the ball. She took out seven pins.

While her lane reset, Reggie moved in to take his turn. Keira studied his profile, thoughtful.

As a worker, Reggie was reliable. More importantly, he did quality work. He had moved to Freedom the previous month when his lease expired in Hot Springs and had caused quite a stir among the town's single female population.

It was easy to see why. Reggie had shoulder-length blond hair and—as Franny called them—bedroom blue eyes. He also had a great tan and an equally great physique. Without a shirt, he was the penultimate fantasy construction worker.

Next to Alec.

Frowning at the thought, Keira narrowed her eyes, studying Reggie's shoulders. Maybe Franny was right Maybe it was time to break a few rules, broaden her horizons. Reggie might not be a bad place to start.

Reggie's ball split the pins, leaving the two corner ones standing. He swore, then shrugged. "Your turn, boss lady."

Keira took her second turn, picking up a spare. She did a little victory dance as Sally and Mabel applauded. Franny waved from the rear booth, catching her attention. Keira nearly tripped when she saw Alec leaning down, talking to Franny.

"Alec was just telling me he's your new neighbor," Franny said.

Keira glanced suspiciously at her friend. Why was she acting like this was news?

"Maybe you and Reggie could invite Alec to a cook-out one night. Oh, there's Darryl!"

Finished causing trouble, Franny scooted out of the booth and took off toward the entrance. Keira knew exactly what Franny was doing—inventing her
sort
o/boyfriend.

"Reggie?" Alec questioned.

"Reggie Reeves. Works for me."

"Surfer dude? Not your type."

His response irked her. "What's it to you?"

"Just checking the turf, babe."

"My turf is none of your business. Reggie's turf either."

Alec smiled. "Fifty bucks says you're not involved." He leaned in close, brushed the hair back from her face with a single finger. "I saw you checking out his ass, and it wasn't a gee-I-know-that-ass kind of look. It was a gee-is-that-as-good-as-other-asses-I’ve-known look."