Page 4 of Kill Me Sweetly

He spared JJ a glance but instead of answering, he continued to eat. JJ wouldn’t be deterred. Nope, not my guy.

“Are you hurt? I see blood on you.”

The man shook his head. “Not mine.”Chomp chomp chomp.

JJ peered around his shoulder at me, and I shrugged. “I guess it’s good that he isn’t hurt.”

JJ furrowed his brow at me, clearly done with my shit. “Not helpful, Shep.”

He faced the cupcake nommer again. “We have a shower here and spare clothes. Would you like to clean up?”

He finished the cupcake and put his frosting-covered fingers on the table, never drinking the water. His stare became vacant once more.

“Interesting,” I said.

JJ came over to me. “Interesting? What’s interesting, Shep? This is weird and scary.”

I cocked my head and took in the stranger, who no longer was moving or talking. I’d seen something like it once and remembered Angel talking about it.

“Your dad’s a doctor; he’d be a great person to talk to about this. It’s like he has catatonia, which fits with the whole not talking, letting you move him around, and showing no reaction to the outside world. But when you gave him the cupcake, it jolted him out of it. That falls into the unusual behavior…not to mention the blood and dirt. But I don’t know if this is a disorder or something more mentally traumatic.”

JJ hummed. “You’re a smarty, Shep. But what does this mean for us—for him?”

I shrugged. “I think it’ll be a good idea to get him cleaned up and checked out, if he’ll let us, and then go from there.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’m going to tell him first, see if he can consent.”

I chuckled. “You’re sweet. But I don’t think he’ll answer you. Unless…” I walked to the cooling rack and handed him a big chocolate chip cookie. “Give him this, and then ask him.”

JJ appeared confused but followed my instructions and placed the cookie in front of the guy.

As if someone had hit a switch, he looked down, smiled so slightly, and began eating.

JJ’s eyes widened. “You’re on to something, Shep. Hey, friend…I’ll call you that since I don’t know your name, and it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. Um, would it be okay if I tookyou to the shower and helped clean you off and put some nice clean clothes on you? We have fluffy socks.”

We had a whole room with a shower and clothes in case any of us needed to wash off a “situation” and they were closest to the bakery. It hadn’t gotten much use, but some.

The man nodded. “Can I finish my cookie first?”

JJ beamed. “Absolutely!”

He returned to his cookie…and I watched him like a hawk.

CHAPTER THREE

JJ

After he finished,I was sure to keep my actions slow. I took his hand again and he followed without resistance. Shep stayed close by, and I knew he was on guard in case the man tried to hurt me. I didn’t know why I wasn’t worried—perhaps I should have been.

He sat on the small bench in the other room while I started the shower and got it nice and warm. I rinsed my now dirty, bloody hand off and turned.

“I’m going to help you remove your clothes. If I do anything you don’t like, say something or…” Or what? He’d said it was okay, and this was clinical.

“Go on, I’m right here.” Shep smiled. His blue eyes sent warmth straight to my heart.

Shep helped me while I removed his clothes. I tried not to look to give him some privacy, but I needed to see if he had any serious injuries. With Shep behind him, I could only see his front.

Shep steadied him as I lifted his leg to remove the pants; then came the shirt. The bloodstains were old—days or weeks, even.

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