Undercover Protector

Her anger was completely disarmed. Having Michael pay a visit might be sheer agony for her, but his presence seemed to have had a positive effect on her grandpa. It had gotten him moving. “Grandpa, what is Michael doing here?”

“First things first,” Lionel said. “Who was that guy on the street?”

“Drew Bateman,” she said.

Lionel exchanged a meaningful glance with Michael. “I haven’t heard that name in a while.”

“He’s an ex-convict,” Annie said, “and he seems to blame you for keeping him in jail.”

“Well, he’s right about that. If it was up to me, I’d lock him up and throw away the key.”

“I didn’t recognize him.” And she surely would’ve remembered somebody so ugly. “Is he from Bridgeport?”

“He’s from Wayside, over on the coast.”

“Why does he blame you?”

“I helped get him convicted.”

That didn’t make sense. As municipal judge, her grandpa hadn’t dealt with felony crime. A serious criminal like Bateman wouldn’t have been arraigned in Lionel’s makeshift courtroom at the back of the police station. So how was he involved with a case that included aggravated assault on a cop? She drew the obvious conclusion. “You were a witness at his trial. You testified against him.”

“That’s right.” He held out his right hand toward her. “Come here, honey.”

She went to him and perched on the arm of his chair, gazing fondly at him. Though his cheeks were sunken and his body ravaged from the stroke, she still saw him as the strong kind man who’d taken her in and raised her after her parents were killed in a boating accident. She’d been only ten years old. If it hadn’t been for Lionel, Annie didn’t know what would have become of her. He’d been her solace and her inspiration. Everything she was she owed to him.

He gently patted her arm. “Did he scare you, Annie?”

“Grandpa, I’m a cop.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

She wouldn’t tell him about the flashback of rain and fear. Annie didn’t understand the sudden panic attack herself, and she surely didn’t want to worry her grandpa. “I’m all right.”

“Did he threaten you?”

“He did the opposite. He said he wouldn’t touch me because that might get him arrested. At the same time he promised to always be around, watching.”

“I’m sorry, Annie. Bateman is my problem.”

Once upon a time she would’ve left all the worry to him. She’d believed her grandpa could do anything. He could chase away the monsters under the bed and keep her safe. But it was her turn now. She was the caretaker.

“Bateman is our problem.” She lifted his hand to her lips and planted a little kiss on the knuckles. “Tomorrow morning I’ll stop by the police station and take out a restraining order. Is Derek Engstrom still running things?”

“For the past six years,” he said. “You’re a good kid, Annie.”

“So are you.”

“By the way,” her grandpa said, “Michael is going to be staying with us for a couple of days.”

“What?” She bounced to her feet.

“Or maybe a week,” her grandpa said.

A week? She couldn’t stand to have Michael here for a week. It would be too strange. Though she didn’t want to push Lionel or dampen his positive mood, Annie had to be direct. “Since you’ve mentioned Michael, I’d like very much to know how you happened to get in touch with him.”

“Well, that’s an easy question. We talked on the telephone.”

“Just like that? After all these years?”

“I’ve kept track of Michael,” her grandpa admitted.

If Annie had heard those words eleven years ago, possibly even eight or seven years ago, she would have been devastated. Michael had meant so much to her. He was the only person, other than Lionel, she’d trusted after the death of her parents. When Michael had abandoned her without a word, she’d lost her first true love and her best friend.

But she’d made her peace with the past and had moved on with her life. If her grandpa and Michael had been pen-pals, and kept it from her, she wouldn’t let it matter. But she still didn’t want him staying at the house, raking up old memories. “Grandpa, this isn’t a real convenient time for Michael to visit.”

“You misunderstand, Annie. He’s not here for a visit. Michael came here to help take care of me. Just until I get rid of this dang clumsy walker and can stand on my own two feet.”

She glanced at Michael, who stood with infuriating calm, observing their conversation. Annie tried to equal his cool detachment. She knew nothing about him. They’d been apart far longer than they’d been together. “Are you some kind of medical professional?”

“No,” he said.

“Not a doctor or a male nurse?”

“No.”

She turned back to Lionel. “We don’t need Michael. You have a physical therapist coming by three times a week, and I’m here. Grandpa, that’s why I took a leave of absence. To help you.”

“Well, honey, I’m just not comfortable with you doing some things for me. It needs to be another man. I got to have help getting dressed. Getting in and out of the bathtub.”

“I can do those things,” she protested. “My arm is going to be healed in no time, and I’m plenty strong.”

“That’s not the point, Annie.”

It sure as heck was! “We don’t need—”

“I want Michael to stay.”

Too agitated to stand still, she crossed the room to his rumpled bed and began pulling the covers together. “If you really need a man to help, we can hire somebody. Maybe one of the football players from the high school.”

“No,” Lionel said firmly. “That’s not who I am in this town. I can’t have folks thinking of me as a helpless old codger. I got plans for the future, and they don’t include being tended to by some teenager I don’t even know.”

“I won’t get in the way,” Michael said smoothly. “Lionel says you have a guest bedroom downstairs.”

Viciously she plumped the pillows on his bed. Their plans were made. She had no choice but to accept Michael’s presence, but she didn’t have to like it.

The telephone on the bedside table rang, and Annie snatched up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Hi, Annie. I heard you were back in town. This is Jake Stillwell. Remember me?”