Page 42 of Evidence of Truth

He’d see Anne and Silas tomorrow night and wondered if this was a thank-you or a date. Although he’d never been on a date with a woman who had a kid before, so it was a thank-you dinner. He could work with that—for now.

His biggest concern was that Anne would freeze if someone attacked her. Although she had fought the man that broke into her house and she did hair-spray him, which almost didn’t count since she was hiding under a pile of clothes.

Killian drove home wondering how to get Anne in the mindset of being aware of danger all the time.

She needed to be prepared. Because for sure, the man hadn’t found what he was looking for, wasn’t afraid to hurt people and most definitely would be back.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“So, rumor has it that you and Anne are dating,” Danny said as he leaned in with a sly grin on his face.

It was Friday night, and the guys were at Dirty Pete’s, a newly opened brewery in an abandoned one-story warehouse not far from KnightGuard Security.

They were sitting at a table by an open garage door. Behind them, there was a crowd seated at the wooden bar facing a row of taps. The bartenders were hopping. Joke there. Hops? Hopping? Killian smirked.

It was busy tonight. Later, a band would play, although he would probably be gone by then.

Killian glanced around the large room. There were long tables set up in the middle and smaller ones placed around the edges. In one corner, several couples were taking turns throwing beanbags into the cornhole. Darts were set up in another corner. Several large, round stainless-steel containers that contained the finished product looked like sentinel guards and were located at the back of the building.

Through the open doors, the scent of grilled meats and sauteed peppers from the Mexican food truck competed with the tantalizing spices coming from the Chinese food truck. No food was served inside, but food trucks lined the parking lot. There were two outdoor patios. Sounds of laughter from outside carried to their table. The place was packed, but conversations were muted.

It was nice to have a neighborhood location to get together. The best part was they brewed their beer right on the premises—can’t be any fresher than that, plus everything he’d tried was excellent.

Rumor? “What rumor?” Killian sure didn’t want to get into his relationship with Anne with any of the guys. “Who’s spreading that?”

Danny and Ben chuckled and shook their heads.

“Man, you don’t understand. The girls talk,” said Ben. “They think we’re not listening, but I’ve perfected my ninja ‘I’m not listening’ skill. Marlee never suspects that I’m eavesdropping.”

“So what? You guys have all turned into a bunch of gossips, too.” Killian huffed and shook his head. “You must have better things to do.”

“I know I do,” said Joe. “That’s why I never listen to Claire when she’s talking to her friends.” The taciturn man had finally consented to join the group after work for a beer.

Hank rolled his eyes. “I call bullshit. You know more than what you let on. You just don’t repeat it.”

Joe shrugged. “Believe what you want, but I’m not sitting here gossiping like a gaggle of girls.”

Killian laughed. He never had to worry about what was happening with the women in the guys’ lives.

It was interesting that Marlee picked up on what was going on with him and Anne. Not that he was entirely sure what it was himself.

Ever since he stayed at Anne’s house the first couple of nights after she got out of the hospital and they kissed and would have continued if Silas hadn’t interrupted them, he wanted more. They’d had dinner several more times, which always ended with Silas going to bed and Killian sitting on the sofa kissing Anne.

He enjoyed her company and loved being around Silas, who was starting to really come into himself. The boy was funny, curious, and finally asserting himself at school.

“I made some new friends at school,” Silas told him.

“That’s great,” replied Killian. “Are you still playing with Alex?”

Silas nodded. “She’s my bestest friend.”

“It’s good to have a best friend,” said Killian. They talked a while about best friends until dinner.

Killian was thinking of asking Anne if she and Silas would like to go to Legoland sometime, since Silas was really into building things. Not that he was into amusement parks, but Silas would be.

Then he wondered if Anne would like to go out to dinner with him one night.

They hadn’t been alone together yet, and Killian thought she might enjoy doing that. Anne didn’t go to many places after work. He wasn’t looking for a relationship or anything, but he liked Anne—a lot. He didn’t know if she felt the same. It was scary thinking about being with another person—someone who couldn’t physically hurt him but could destroy him in other ways.

---