Page 42 of Renegade

“I’ll stay with her. I have no problem, Raven,” she said. “I could use the overtime to be honest.”

I put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Really? Because that would be great. We have that spare bedroom where Ned used to stay if I had to be out all night. Do you want to sleep over?”

“That’d be fine,” she said, smiling at me. “What time do you have to leave tonight?”

I looked at Miguel.

“Probably around seven, after traffic,” he replied.

I glanced back at her. “Would that be okay?”

“Well, I’ll have to go home and feed Eddie and the grandkids, since my daughter works. He won’t mind babysitting. He adores those kids.” She smiled at me. “I can be back by seven.”

Eddie was Dolly’s husband and since their daughter, Darla, was a single mom who worked nights, they watched her two grandkids when she was at work. “That’s fantastic,” I said. “Thank you so much, Dolly. Miguel and I have to run out to rent suits from a tuxedo place but we’ll be back by late afternoon so you can go take care of things at home.”

“That’ll be fine, Raven, just fine.”

“We’d better get going then.”

He stood up from the table and we headed back to the bedroom to shower and start our day.

We lucked out at the first tux shop we went to. Finding two black dress suits in our size wasn’t easy but the store had come with great reviews from people of all sizes, so we took a chance. They had two suits that fit us almost to a tee, and a tailor on staff who agreed to lengthen the slacks if we wanted to wait around. I told him we’d be back in an hour and we left to find dress shoes. At first, Miguel balked at my offer to buy him a nice pair since we couldn’t rent them, but he eventually gave in. I knew he hated the fact that I paid his way at times like this, but until we managed to close a case and get a fat recovery fee, he knew he’d have to live with it. He was a proud man, but it was one of the things I loved most about him.

Dress shoes in hand, we stopped at a fast-food place in the mall and picked up burgers for lunch. I was pleasantly surprised when Miguel ordered his big, juicy cheeseburger with a lettuce wrap instead of a bun. I couldn’t tell him that it wasn’t the bun that was the problem with his eating habits, it was the greasy mess the lettuce encased. I just didn’t have the heart. He was trying to eat better. What I’d told Miguel was true. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I loved him so much. We returned to pick up our suits and after trying them on for the fit one last time, left the mall with our purchases in hand. I couldn’t wait to see him all done up in one of my white dress shirts.

“I’ll see you two back here at seven,” Dolly said, smiling at us as she walked to the front door shortly after we returned home. “I can’t wait to see you boys all decked out for your date tonight.”

“Thank you, Dolly,” I said, blushing profusely. We’d never discussed the fact that we were a couple with her, but she obviously knew Miguel lived here. I knew she was a church going woman. She had some outrageous stories about her pastor’s wife who was quite a flirt with the younger congregants. When she’d come to the house on a Monday morning about a month ago, she’d laughed as she described how the pastor had preached that Sunday about the story of Jezebel, all the while staring at his wife in the front pew. “I don’t know how to thank you for this. She’s just so comfortable with you.”

“It’s okay, Raven. I enjoy Angelica too. It’s nice to have someone interesting to talk to all day. Your nana is a wonderful woman.”

“Thank you.”

“And the overtime is a bonus.” She burst out laughing and let herself out.

I turned and walked over to Miguel who was standing in the living room holding our suits and bags. “We still have a few hours before we need to get dressed. I’m going to go spend some time with my nana.”

Miguel leaned in and kissed me. “I’ll hang up our things and then I guess I’ll go dig out that bowtie I told you about,” he grumbled.

I smiled at him, then circled his waist and pulled him close. With both hands full, he could be my captive if I wanted him to be. I waggled my eyebrows at him. “I can’t wait to see you all dressed up just like James Bond.”

He grinned. “Bond. Miguel Bond.”

I laughed and kissed him before letting him go and following him down the hall to Nana’s room. She immediately looked up, staring right at me with her beautiful, sightless eyes. She sat in her favorite padded chair, aimlessly running gnarled fingers over her Navajo blanket as she listened to an audio book. I don’t know how she knew it was me coming into the room or how she’d even heard me, but the moment I walked through the door, she plucked the earbuds out of her ears. Stanley was perched on the top tier of a cat tree which sat right beside her chair, keeping her company, and obviously sleeping off a food coma.

“Raven,” she said, holding out both arms.

I walked over to her and bent down, giving her a hug before squatting in front of her. She immediately reached out and ran arthritic fingers over my face. When she frowned, I got nervous. “Hello, Nana. Why’re you frowning?”

“You’re troubled,” she said. “Tell me what it is, grandson.”

How could I tell her about the man with the gun? The problem was, she’d know I was lying if I tried to withhold thetruth. She could read me like a book. “Miguel and I got a threat yesterday,” I said, pulling a chair over to sit close to her.

“What kind of threat, Raven?”

“We were leaving an appointment with the man who does security for the client we’re working for, and a dangerous man stopped us in the stairwell. He…ah…he had a gun.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “This man frightened you, Raven.” She reached out and I put my hand in both of hers. She patted it, holding onto it. “You are very strong,hatsóí ashkiígíí.”

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