Bernard DeLeo - Cold Blooded

“Your house in Pacific Grove has two safe rooms,” Tim stated.

Uh oh , Nick thought, trying to keep his face in neutral.

Grace put an arm around Nick’s shoulders. “Now what would a cute writer-type like you need with not one, but two safe rooms? Bet you’re wondering how we found out you have them, aren’t you?”

Nick shrugged. “It’s public knowledge. Any two-bit hack could get into city planning.”

“You’re one of those damned computer nerds too?” Grace pulled her arm back and pretended to pout.

“Want to tell us why you have two?” Tim asked quietly.

“One’s downstairs, one’s upstairs. I’m a little paranoid.”

“What would you have to be paranoid about?” Grace eased up over the table until she was smiling in Nick’s face, resting on her arm in front of him.

“No reason. I’m just naturally careful.” Nick smiled back.

Grace sighed and slid into her seat again. “I told you he’d say that.”

“We’d like you to take Kim with you, Nick, until we get this leak business straightened out,” Tim explained. “Grace and I will go down with you, while some people we trust implicitly find the leak.”

Yeah, that’ll work.

“You two are out of your ever lovin’ minds.” Nick registered the right amount of shock and awe. “Kim and I just met. I don’t even know her.”

“Ah…but would you like to?” Grace laughed at her own play on words. “C’mon Nick. It’ll be fun. You have a huge house. Tim and I will stay in Monterrey so we’re near if you need us. US Marshalls put people in places where other bad people can’t find them. We aren’t exactly bodyguards. It’ll only be for a couple weeks.”

“Does Kim know about this?”

“She’s very excited about it, Nick. Kimmy loves the idea.”

“You want me to what?” Rachel cried out in astonishment, with Grace trying to shush her, while Nick tried not to laugh.

“For the record, I knew you lied about Kim knowing all about this idea.”

“Shut up, you,” Grace ordered, pointing a warning finger at Nick. She turned to face the enraged Rachel. “It’s the best we can do until we clear this up, Kimmy. No one knows about Nick. He has those safe rooms you can run into and lock behind you like a people vault.”

“You agreed to this?” Rachel stared at Nick in amazement.

“He’s very excited, Kimmy. I -”

“I want you to be safe,” Nick cut in. “Like Grace says, I have a huge house you can get lost in. Tim and Grace figure it’ll only be for a couple weeks. It would be very easy for you to avoid me at my house. The living room and kitchen are really the only communal areas. There are three bathrooms. If Grace and Tim manage to keep your whereabouts secret, you could move around outside without a problem. I’m not much of a bodyguard either. The way to keep you safe depends on my address remaining secret.”

“You haven’t told him, have you?” Rachel stared accusingly at Tim and Grace.

“Just like you, we were waiting for the proper time.” Grace smiled confidently over at her increasingly distressed partner.

“I have a seven year old daughter named Jean, alias, Sarah,” Rachel blurted out, still staring at Grace.

Oh shit! I’m well informed .

“The more, the merrier,” Nick stated without hesitation. “I’ll put you two up on the other side of the house.”

“And…and an Australian Sheppard dog named Deke.”

“I love dogs.” Great God in heaven, I am so screwed .

“Do you mean that?” Rachel, tears running freely down her cheeks, met Nick’s unwavering gaze.

“Absolutely,” Nick answered. I’m a dead man if Frank finds out about this .

Nick’s Chevy Malibu, loaded with bags in the trunk, also had a pile behind the driver’s seat. Jean and Deke sat on one side of the rear passenger seat, with Deke’s head out the window and body spread over Jean. Rachel sat on the front passenger side looking around the dark parking lot worriedly.

“You have yourself a low rider, Nick.” Grace stepped back, assessing how low the Chevrolet was to the ground.

“Don’t come to my house with the rest. Leave a message at the number I gave you when you come down with the other stuff. I’ll meet you,” Nick replied, standing with his hand on the driver’s side door handle.

“Will you know if you’re being followed?”

“Yeah, for all the good it would do me. If they have my license number how long would it take to find out where I’m headed? Our advantage is if no one knows about me. When will you and Tim be following? Did you put the block on my DMV records.”

“Yes, yes, yes, and we’re coming tomorrow night. We won’t approach unless you call the code,” Grace promised, trying to hug Nick. “You’re my hero…my widdle bunny…my…”

Nick grabbed Grace’s hand and in seconds Grace was standing on her tip toes dancing around. “Ow…ow…ow…ow…ow…”

“Don’t touch me.” Nick released her and opened his door to laughter from both Rachel and Jean. “I’m writing you into my next novel and it won’t be flattering. I’ll make it so bad – yet exactly like you – your whole family will sue me even though they won’t be able to win.”

“No need to get nasty.” Grace held the hurt look until Nick was behind the wheel and then she waved happily at Jean. “You be good and do what Nick says.”

“Okay, but what’s in it for me?” The seven year old asked, staring out at Grace over Nick’s shoulder with a serious face. Deke barked on cue, sending Grace into peals of laughter.

“This is like you’ve entered the Twilight Zone, isn’t it?” Rachel asked, when Nick drove away from Grace and out of the underground parking garage.

Shit, she reads minds.

“No, I’m not like the writer Jack Nicholson portrays in As Good As It Gets . Very little bothers me when I write – except for women, kids, and dogs.”

Rachel laughed so long, Deke began to bark, with Jean giggling. She slapped Nick’s shoulder in a way that reminded him of Carol’s affectionate scolding of Dan. Rachel calmed down and leaned back in her seat with a sigh.

“It wasn’t that funny.” Nick smiled over at her.

“Why didn’t you quote the line from that movie you really like? Go ahead and say it. I’ll give you the lead in…‘How do you write women so well?’”

“Okay…‘I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.’”

“Feel better now?”

“Surprisingly, yes. How about you?”

“I’ll be okay.”

“I’m hungry,” Jean spoke up from the back.

“Sarah!” Rachel whipped around. “I asked you if you were hungry before we left.”

“I wasn’t hungry then.”

“Give me about forty-five minutes, Sarah, and we’ll stop, okay?” Nick checked his rear view mirror every few seconds. He had swept the Malibu for bugs before they left when he had been alone.

“Okay,” Jean agreed.

“It won’t be safe to stop, will it?”

“If it’s not safe in forty-five minutes, it won’t be safe at all,” Nick stated matter-of-factly.

“I’ll have to start reading your novels. Your main character, Diego, must be like a superhero.”

“He’s a cold-blooded psychopath with only a thread of humanity left.”

“Oh…”

“You’d be surprised how many people read the novels and start rooting for Diego as Tim admitted to doing. We have a mean streak in us and sometimes a character like Diego touches the black part of our souls. There are other readers who would like to have a book burning with my novels as the guests of honor.”