Rachel Lee - Defending the Eyewitness

She blinked. While she wasn’t up on all the details, she’d heard how dangerous it could be for undercover agents. “My God!”

“And I don’t know whether he was involved in trying to stem the drug trade or the arms trade, but I guess it doesn’t matter. Two sides of the same coin.”

She looked up as she heard more footsteps. “That must have been hell.”

“Life on a tightrope, for sure. Anyway, he shouldn’t give you any problems, but if you have any, just call me. I’ll make other arrangements.”

She nodded, feeling a trickle of relief. “I’ve never taken a man as a roomer before.” For good reason. While she couldn’t remember her mother’s murder, she had had a problem with men ever since, especially men she didn’t know.

She returned her attention to Gage. “I take it you’re doing a favor for this friend?”

“Sorta. I just suggested it would be hard to get a bigger change of pace. We’re mostly quiet and peaceful and don’t have the kind of triggers that could set him off.”

“You would know. What do you mean, set him off?” She didn’t like that phrase.

“Nothing violent. Just that there isn’t much around here that ought to make him edgy. He should be able to start letting his guard down and maybe even take a few steps toward remembering who he used to be.”

She shook her head and looked down. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s that you can never be who you used to be. Somehow you have to try to stitch all the changes into a new you.”

Gage fell silent and drank his coffee. Corey supposed he was the last person on earth she’d needed to say that to. After all, this man had lost his entire family, a wife and two kids, to a bomb intended for him. Somehow he’d put himself together, remarried and built a family and a life here.

She wasn’t sure she’d really finished stitching herself together. Nor was she sure that traumatic amnesia had helped with that one bit. The doctors said it was okay to forget, but she didn’t always believe it. Yet it remained a horror she didn’t want to look at.

Heavy footsteps on the stairs.

“We’re in here,” Gage called.

Austin Mendez appeared in the door and hesitated.

“Coffee?” Corey asked, determined to be polite no matter how uneasy he made her.

“Thanks.”

She motioned him to a chair at the dinette and got him a cup. “Milk? Sugar?”

“Black’s fine, thanks. That’s a nice space you have up there.”

Corey brought him his coffee and sat again, across from him and Gage. Somehow she was going to have to get used to this, at least for a few months. She decided to try to be chatty.

“Part of that has to do with my tenants over the years. They’ve fixed it up in various ways to suit them, from painting the rooms, to furnishings. When they move on, they leave a nicer place behind.”

“I’m not sure I can do that, but I appreciate it.”

He looked as if he was making an effort and it didn’t come easily. South of the border? She’d bet he was more comfortable with Spanish than English right now. Unfortunately, her Spanish was more like Spanglish. But maybe that’s the last thing he needed to hear now, fluent or not. How would she know?

He spoke again. His English was slightly accented, as if he’d picked up a new habit. Or maybe it was an old one. The longer she sat here, the more questions she had about him. “Gage told me the rent, Ms. Donohue. I’d like to pay a little more.”

“Why should you do that?”

“Because Gage also told me you prefer to rent to women. I feel you’re doing me a favor.”

She blinked, then looked at Gage. “And what else did you tell Mr. Mendez about me?”

Gage smiled into his coffee cup. “Not much. I just told him that in case you said no. I didn’t want Austin to take it personally.”

That made sense, she supposed. She returned her attention to the male question mark beside Gage. “It’s true, but making an exception isn’t a favor. Just the regular rent, please.” Maybe it wasn’t a favor or maybe it was. But it certainly wasn’t a favor to Austin. She owed Gage.

Austin Mendez nodded. “Okay. So what are the house rules?”

She hadn’t really thought about that because she hadn’t exactly needed to make rules before. “Buy your own food, clean up after yourself. That’s all I ask. I’ll give you a key so you can come and go as you like. I’m gone most days all day, so we shouldn’t bother each other.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. And I’m not looking to throw any parties.”

“I’ve survived even a few of those,” she remarked. She was almost grateful when he smiled faintly. Not much of a smile, but she was beginning to get the feeling that whoever this man was, or had been, right now he was very much on edge and uncertain. Since she couldn’t imagine him doing what he had done without at least a fair amount of confidence, it must be the total shift in gears that was bothering him.

Well, she could understand that. She’d spent a lot of her life trying to shift a gear that seemed to be stuck.

She also couldn’t think of another thing to say. She’d never been one for small talk with strangers. So she looked at Gage. “How are the kids? I know how Emma is, I see her often.”

“Ever since you got her into that quilting,” he agreed, his eyes twinkling a bit. “Are there ever too many quilts?”

“Never.” She laughed.

Gage turned to Austin. “Corey here owns the local sewing shop and gives classes in how to do all kinds of stuff from knitting to needlepoint to quilting. Emma’s even talking about learning to make lace, though whatever for I can’t imagine.”

“There’s something soothing about busy hands,” Corey answered. “And when you get done, there’s a sense of achievement.”

“There’s also a lot of kids in this town running around with hand-knitted caps and a lot of beds covered by Emma’s quilts.” His eyes danced. “It’s kind of fun to watch her give one away. People are so overwhelmed by it and go on about how she couldn’t possibly want to part with so much work. They should only see the stack in one corner of our bedroom.”

At that, Corey laughed outright. “She did really get into it.”

“Understatement,” Gage pronounced. “You unleashed an obsession.” He glanced at his watch again. “I gotta run. I know the boys are old enough to be by themselves, but every so often I still have to unplug them from their games and remind them there’s a real world out here.”

“Is there?” Austin’s question fell into the conversation almost like a bomb. As if he realized it, he shook himself visibly. “Sorry.” He stood up. “I need to go to the bank and get your rent. No checking account yet. If I could have that key?”

She rose immediately and went to get it for him. He thanked her and vanished out the front door and into the gloaming.

Gage stood in the kitchen. “Are you going to be okay with this?”

“You seemed to think I would be.”

“That’s no answer.” He sighed. “I swear he’s on the up-and-up. And if you want my guess, you’ll hardly know he’s here. But if you have any doubts, I’ll find another way.”

She hesitated. Part of her definitely wanted to say no. Since her mother’s murder, she had trouble trusting men, especially strangers, even though she couldn’t remember a thing about what had happened. Still... She thought of what Gage had told her about Austin Mendez and figured he’d earned some help with his return to regular life. Someone owed it to him, and she seemed to be the someone available right now.

“It’ll be okay,” she said firmly.

“But if it’s not, let me know?”

“Promise.”

He seemed content with that and took his departure after thanking her for the coffee. It was Saturday night, the classes at her shop were done for the day, and tomorrow she’d be open for only a few hours.