assured Mrs. Walker all was well, and then opened the door.
“What’s going on, man?” Ransom asked his former classmate and good friend. “Y’all fools have so little to do that you’re harassing old ladies now? What, is Kristy’s closed or out of donuts?”
Carlos gave an all’s clear to the other officers. His partner walked to the patrol car to make a report, shaking his head as he did so.
“We got a call, ma’am,” Carlos directed his comment to Mary. “One of your neighbors thought they saw a burglar on your roof.”
“That was me, fool,” Ransom said. “Miss Mary has squirrels getting in through a hole in the attic window. I found the culprit of the break-in, an old tennis ball. One of the kids probably threw it when Miss Mary wasn’t home and the hole’s been there ever since. I guess it’s good the neighbors are being vigilant, though. Who called you?”
“That’s confidential.”
Ransom snorted.
Carlos once again directed his words to the home owner. “You have good neighbors,” he said with a smile. “It’s nice to know that you’re all looking out for each other. You can’t be too careful. And even though this was a false alarm, you might want to consider taking additional measures since you live alone. There are affordable alarm systems available, and dogs not only make good pets and companions, they’re great protectors too.”
“Well, I sure do appreciate it,” Mary murmured shyly. Getting attention from the handsome man had her blushing like a teenager. Still fit and feisty at sixty-two, she often wondered who the old woman was staring back from her mirror, and what happened to the thirty-something she thought she’d see forever.
“Some company will be moving in soon.”
“A relative or somebody?” Ransom asked.
Mary gave him the once-over. “Or somebody…” she answered in a that-is-none-of-your-business voice. Her sparkling eyes and pursed lips showed there’d be no further explanation.
To underscore that fact, Mary walked over to the table and picked up the aluminum tray of cookies and a stack of napkins. “For you and the other officers,” she offered Carlos.
“Oh, thank you, ma’am. But we couldn’t take all your sweets.”
“I insist, you handsome devil. Give them to your boys out there.” Mary gestured to the street where the other officers lounged between the two parked patrol cars.
“Well, thank you, ma’am. Since it appears everything is under control here, we’ll be on our way.”
“I appreciate your looking after me,” Mary called out to the officer’s retreating back.
He threw back a wave and within minutes, the cars were gone.
9
Gwen stood in the shadows of her front porch, waiting to see the perpetrator marched off in handcuffs. She’d ventured just outside her door as soon as the officers drove up, had watched two of them walk up the front sidewalk while a third had disappeared around the side of Mary’s house. Muffled voices followed. Gwen couldn’t make out the conversation but since there was no shouting or gunshots, she breathed a sigh of relief that the criminal would be taken away peacefully.
Gwen came to full alert as two officers walked back to their patrol car. The officers could be seen clearly under the streetlights, and while they seemed intent on doing their business, there was no sign of stress that she could pick up from their body language. Gwen couldn’t believe they were being so casual at the scene of a crime.
When the third officer came away from the shrubbery laughing and holding what looked like a cookie tray, Gwen’s curiosity could take no more. Where is that low-down gangster thug? How could he have escaped? The police cars had barely pulled away from the curb when she came out of her hiding place and marched across the lawn.
“Miss Mary! Miss Mary?” she said as she rapped the door’s knocker. “Miss Mary, it’s me, Gwen.”
Gwen turned to see if the police had indeed left their block. Maybe they’re circling, making sure the area is safe and the assailant isn’t still lurking behind some bush. When she heard the door open, she spun around.
“Oh, thank good…”
The rest of the words died on her lips as she looked up into the eyes of goodness, looking commanding and a bit intimidating dressed in black: fitted black T-shirt and black jeans that showcased his thick thighs and long legs. When she kept staring silently, Ransom widened his stance and crossed his arms, a slight frown crossing his brow.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
“Me…who…what?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me. You called the police.”
His look was piercing now, coal black eyes boring, it seemed, to her very core. Gwen shuddered, as if just now aware of the tremendous power he exuded. He was not only extremely handsome, even more than she remembered, but he also exuded virility, sexuality, authority. Ransom reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled her inside Mary’s home. It would have been silly of her to try and resist.
“I think we have our whistle-blower, Miss Mary,” Ransom said as he walked them farther into the living room. He placed his arm firmly around Gwen’s shoulders while a thumb drew a lazy line up and down her bare arm.
Gwen thought she’d faint from the contact; no man before in her entire life, on television or in person, had left her as breathless as did the man beside her. She focused on Miss Mary like a lifeline, and as much as Chantay aggravated her at times, Gwen wished at this moment she could “phone a friend” to divert her attention and stop her nana from tingling. You are not interested, Gwen thought, then continued her silent chastisement. You’re focused on work and your mother, period, not the opposite sex!
Ransom leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Miss Mary is talking to you.”
His breath felt hot and damp against her earlobe. She tried to ease away from Ransom so she could think and talk at the same time, but he held firm.
“Uh, yes, what was that, Miss Mary?”
“I was thanking you for watching out for me, calling the police and all. Of course, it was Ransom here who climbed into my attic.”
Gwen’s eyes widened as she looked up. “You?”
Ransom shrugged. “Squirrels.”
“In the attic,” Mary patiently explained, as the bewildered look on Gwen’s face continued to grow.
“There’s a hole in her window. It looks like an entire family has been making their home there for quite some time.”
“Ransom here…he’s so nice. He’s a businessman with his own company, you know, but still gets around to helping us older people in the community.
“Where are my manners? Do you two know each other? Gwen, as I said, this is Ransom. Ransom, this is Lo’s daughter, Gwen.”
“You’re
