Page 27 of F Is for Honey Bee

“I’m not accusing you of anything.” Kijani’s jaw tightened as he watched Arlo get into his car. “But I noticed you tensed up when he walked out, which makes me wonder if he’s making you uncomfortable at work.”

Jonah didn’t want to talk about Arlo. He didn’t want his ex-boyfriend to be the main topic with yet another guy. “You didn’t try to track me down because of Arlo. So, why are you here?”

“I’d prefer not to discuss this in private.” Kijani slid his finger down Jonah’s bare arm, making him shiver.

But Jonah could still see the tension around the deputy’s eyes.

Kijani was caressing Jonah’s arm absently, his thoughts clearly somewhere else. Something besides Arlo was weighing heavily on his mind. Jonah could see it in Kijani’s stiff shoulders, in the frown lines formed around his mouth, and the wrinkles creasing his forehead.

“Is it that bad?” Jonah’s voice hovered around a whisper.

Kijani caught his bottom lip between his teeth, and now Jonah wasn’t sure he wanted to know why Kijani was here. “Why don’t we head to your place?” Kijani asked.

That would give Jonah time to prepare himself for whatever bad news the guy wanted to deliver. Was there such a thing as preparing for something bad? One could try, but Jonah didn’t think it would work.

Knots formed in his stomach. “I’ll meet you there.”

“I’ll follow right behind you.” Kijani looked up at the clouds then at his watch like he was expecting something to happen at any moment. Was he looking for a plane to fall out of the sky or an apocalyptic explosion in the distance to form a fireball big enough for people miles around to see?

Jonah walked to his car filled with dread, even though he had no idea what Kijani wanted to talk about. On the drive home, his fingers gripped his steering wheel tightly, like it would fall off at any second.

Mr. Pritchard was outside watering his dying lawn when Jonah pulled into his driveway. The summer heat hadn’t done the grass any favors. His own lawn was more brown than green and needed to be cut.

If his mind wasn’t shattered after Kijani said what he had to say, Jonah might cut his grass.

He climbed his porch and unlocked his door, the deputy right on his heels, closing the door with a soft click after they entered.

“Flint escaped custody.”

Jonah froze, unable to move a single muscle in his body, positive he’d misheard Kijani. His mind couldn’t accept that Flint, who couldn’t outsmart Jonah’s air fryer, had somehow outsmarted the authorities. “How?”

“There was an accident. While the deputy helped the driver who collided into them, Flint escaped out of a broken back window.”

“And you think he’ll come after me.” That was what Jonah feared. Flint had threatened to make him pay for getting the guy arrested, although it had been Flint’s insecurities and loud mouth that caused the neighbors to involve the police. It had been Flint’s outstanding warrant that had gotten him handcuffed.

Jonah had nothing to do with either incident. He hadn’t wanted to argue in the first place, but Flint had been convinced that Jonah was still fooling around with Arlo, which only fueled his anger.

If he’d shown back up that same night while Arlo had been on Jonah’s porch, blood would have been spilled. Not even Kijani could have saved him since the guy had been unconscious while he healed.

Jonah just wanted both men to leave him alone.

“It’s a possibility,” Kijani said after a long silence. He was watching Jonah, those observant eyes trained on him.

But Jonah wasn’t going to fall apart. He would now be fully aware of his surroundings at all times, but Flint wasn’t going to turn him into a shut-in.

The bastard had taken enough from him.

He looked Kijani right in the eye. “I want you to teach me how to use a gun.”

“Do you own a firearm?”

“No.” Jonah rolled his eyes. “I guess I need to purchase one first.”

“I’ll teach you whatever you want to learn.” Kijani pulled his service weapon from its holster, removed the clip, made sure a bullet wasn’t loaded in the chamber, then handed it to Jonah. “First, you need to learn the basics.”

The gun felt like a cinder block in his hand. Even though he’d just seen Kijani turn it into an oversized paperweight, Jonah was still too scared to point it anywhere but at the floor.

Then, with a dramatic flair, he tilted the gun sideways and pointed it at the wall.

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