JC’s eyes went wide for a moment before he nodded in understanding. His friend Johnny was already gone.
Kane released his grip, but continued to hold JC up until he regained control of his limbs. With seconds they began to shake uncontrollably. “And JC? If you fuck up, I will find you.”
––––––––
Kane sat in the back corner of the vintage coffee shop, his back to the wall. From this vantage point he could see the entire place, as well as have a panoramic view of the intersection at which it sat. In the center sat the town square. Across the way was the bookstore he’d taken Rebecca to in the fall. To the left was the little deli where he’d gotten the sandwiches for their picnic lunch; around the corner was the mom and pop bakery where he’d picked up the whoopie pies on a sudden whim.
Very few patrons, if any, noticed him there in the shadows. Those that did met his hard glare for only a few fleeting seconds before turning away uncomfortably.
The little bell over the door tinkled again, signaling the arrival of the one who had requested this meeting.
*
Without as much as a glance toward him – she knew exactly where he would be – Nicki paused at the counter and greeted the proprietor with the casual air of someone who spent a good deal of time here and ordered a coffee.
A few minutes later Nicki slid in across from Kane without acknowledgment. In ritualistic reverence, Nicki raised the mug to her nose and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes, letting the corners of her mouth tilt slightly upward. Without bringing it to her lips, she placed it back on the table. While Kane watched in silence, she added a teaspoon of sugar and another creamer. Only after she had stirred precisely four times to the left and three times to the right did she lay down the spoon and take a sip.
“JC Davis showed up at the shelter this morning with a thousand dollars cash,” she said matter of factly, her light silvery eyes finally meeting Kane’s. He showed no response.
“He and his friend, Kenny, were seen a short while later loading some bags into Kenny’s POS Honda for what looked like some kind of extended road trip.”
Kane blinked slowly, lazily, reminding her of a great black panther with icy blue eyes. His eyes moved toward the window and he looked out, bored.
“Johnny Fielding, the usual third to their unholy trinity, wasn’t with them.”
Kane’s gaze drifted back to hers, so hard, so cold, she unwittingly sucked in a breath. Nicki swallowed and looked quickly back down to her coffee. “So it’s like that, is it?” she whispered.
“Like what?”
Nicki nodded. She was no shrinking violet; she had seen more violence and evil in her life than most people. And she was married to Sean Callaghan. She knew what he and his brothers did, what she now did beside them. She’d even heard the stories about Kane; the hushed comments about his capacity for coldness, his sheer unbreakableness. But she’d never quite believed it.
Not until now.
The look in Kane’s eyes was one she would never forget. It was like icy fire, a promise of painful, tormented death. But this was even harder, even colder, because the punishment had already been meted out. She knew then that Johnny Fielding would never be seen or heard from again.
Kane’s gaze flicked back to the window. For the briefest of instances, Nicki saw a spark in his eyes. His nostrils flared, and he seemed to grow right before her eyes, though she was sure he hadn’t moved. She turned her head toward the window and saw what had grabbed his attention so fully. A small, fragile-looking figure, bundled up in a full-length down coat. Traces of honey-colored hair fanned out from the faux-fur lining of the hood, pulled up and over to obscure the face of the wearer. The woman walked slowly, hesitantly, with a decided limp. A great beast walked beside her, a mass of untidy fur that resembled a shaggy black bear. Outside the bookstore, she leaned down and said something to him. The creature immediately sat on his haunches while she disappeared inside.
It was exactly why Nicki had chosen this particular coffee shop at this particular time. She knew Rebecca would be making her weekly trip there.
“You really love her, don’t you?”
When the woman was no longer visible, Kane turned back to Nicki. The eyes, so cold and lethal only a few moments earlier, now held immense pain. Nicki glimpsed it only briefly before it was shuttered away again. She doubted anyone else would have noticed, but she had been trained to recognize even the slightest changes in a person’s bearing. The skill had saved her life on more than one occasion.