Billy walked into the diner and took a seat at his usual table. He ignored the dirty look Joy shot in his direction from the counter where she was sitting. She was wearing a knit hat with her hair stuffed up inside of it with a few wisps of dark hair falling out and a pair of glasses—the kind girls wore just for looks. They had dark red frames and matched the knit hat. She thought she was in disguise, he supposed. He thought she was sexy as hell.
“Hey, Billy Joe! Long time no see.” Tammy, the waitress that Billy had dated way back in high school before she got married and had kids, came over to his table. “How are you, love?”
“I’m as good as ever,” he told her with a wink. He wasn’t sure, but he thought Joy glanced over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. He smiled and said, “I heard a rumor that y’all had some of the best peach pie in Texas.”
“Well you got here just in time, darlin’. I’ve only got one piece left.”
“I’ll take it, and a cup of coffee.”
“It’s awfully late in the evening for you to be drinking coffee. Come to think of it, we usually don’t see you this late. Won’t that coffee keep you up all night?”
He glanced at Joy again and said, “I got some things to look after tonight. Sleep won’t be on the agenda.”
“Alright, then, I’ll be right back.” Tammy headed back behind the counter and Billy watched as Joy pushed up from her stool and headed for his table.
When she got to the edge of it he said, “Well, howdy, neighbor. Fancy meeting you here.”
She sat down across from him without waiting for an invitation, and with her gorgeous green eyes narrowed through the lenses of those sexy glasses, she said, “We didn’t meet here. You followed me.”
“I reckon you can think whatever you like. I just happened to have a hankering for a piece of peach pie.”
“You can keep your cute little Texas colloquialisms to yourself. They’re not working on me.”
He grinned. “I don’t even know what that word means, but I did get that you think something about me is cute. I don’t get called that often.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll bet. So are you going to deny you followed me?”
“Nope. The pie sounds great, but I did follow you.”
“So what’s it going to take to convince you to get lost?”
Billy looked up to make sure Tammy wasn’t around and then he said, “You asked me not to come back around the cabin, so I’m respecting that. But you can’t honestly tell me that you think it’s safe for you to just walk around alone, especially in an unfamiliar area.”
“Why shouldn’t it be safe? I mean, other people do it all the time, right? I’ll bet that waitress over there brought herself to work and will take herself home when her shift is over and no one will think anything of it. Why should it be different for me?”
“It shouldn’t be, but it is. You can’t be that naïve.”
She scoffed. “I’m not naïve. I’m just sick of it. I’m sick of being a prisoner. That’s what it feels like. I feel like I can’t breathe because there are always too many people around, sucking all the oxygen. I can’t make my own decisions. I can’t buy my own clothes or shop for my own groceries. I’m sick of people thinking just because they see me on television or hear me on the radio, that they deserve to know everything about me.” She was getting worked up and Billy saw the change in her expression as soon as she realized it. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not your fault and you’re just trying to the job you were hired for. But Sam shouldn’t have hired you behind my back.”
He nodded. “I will give you that. In a perfect world, everyone should be in control of his or her own life. But you and I both know this is not a perfect world.”
“When I think about spending the rest of my life being followed around…” she trailed off, shuddering.
“I wish I had a solution for you,” he said sincerely. The pain in her eyes bothered him and he wanted to do something to take it away. Unfortunately, he was just going to make it worse. “I’m sorry to add to it, but the sheriff called and he’d like to talk to you tomorrow if you have the time.”
She set her jaw almost purposely and said, “Fine. Tell me where to go and I’ll go meet with him.”
“He said he’d come to you.”
“Okay…” Her phone made rang once and she pulled it out of the little knit purse she was carrying. She read whatever was on the message and that didn’t seem to affect her much, but then she clicked on the next one and the color drained from her face. Her hand was shaking as she stared at the screen.
“Joy, is everything okay?”
She looked up like she’d forgotten he was there. “Don’t call me that,” she said in a harsh whisper.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
She had to clear her throat. “I’m fine.”
“Whatever you just read on that text…”
“Is my business.”
He held up his hands again. “Fine. Don’t slap me. I don’t know if I can take another hit.”
That got him another dirty look but before she could respond, Tammy appeared at the table with his pie and coffee. He didn’t think she knew who Joy was, but he could tell that she was curious at the new face. She offered to bring Joy’s pie and tea over and even after Joy told her no thank you, she hovered.
Finally, Billy took a bite of his pie and said, “Shit, Tammy, that’s good. You closing up soon?” That seemed to remind her that she had other things to do and she left.
Joy sighed and asked him, “Is everyone in this town nosy?”
He laughed. “Yep, pretty much. It’s the curse of living in a small town. There’s not much else to do around here.”
She looked at the phone again and then back up at Billy. “I have to make a phone call. Can I expect to step outside and do that in private?”
He took another bite of his pie and washed it down with coffee before smiling and saying, “As long as you stay in sight.”
She rolled her eyes but he thought he detected a reluctant smile on her pretty lips as she stood up and stepped outside. It was dark out, but she stood near the big picture window where there was light and he could see her…at least her back. He was curious about who she was calling since she obviously didn’t want anyone to know where she was. He told himself it could be a million different people and about a million different things, but he couldn’t get her initial reaction to the text out of his head. Whatever it was had frightened or upset her in some way. He watched now as she talked, using her free hand to accentuate whatever point she was trying to make. He wished that she would trust him and let him in. She tried to be so tough, but something about her struck him as so vulnerable.
Ten minutes later, she was still on the phone. Tammy was beginning to look at her watch and give Billy that, “Are you leaving soon so I can close up?” look. He was stalling because he didn’t want Joy to think he was going outside so that he could hear her conversation.
“Sorry, Tammy,” he finally said. “It’s your pie’s fault. I couldn’t just shovel it in. I had to savor it.” He got up and handed her a twenty and said, “For the lady’s, too.”
“So, who is that cute little lady?”
“Her name is Hope. She’s here in Texas on vacation. That’s about all I know.”
Tammy put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, right. That conversation the two of you were having looked awfully intimate for two people that just met.”
“Hmm, did it? Well, thanks for the pie, Tammy. You have a good night.”
She smiled. “You want your change?”
“Nope, you keep it.”
“Hush money?”
He stopped and tried to look surprised. “Hush money? What would I want to hush you up about?”
“The fact that Joy Casey is in town.”
Shit.
“She’s not very good at disguising herself and she’s lucky I was on shift and not Vera; that girl is a fanatic.”
Billy shook his head. “Glad Vera wasn’t here, then, and thank you for being so discreet, Tammy. And yes, you can call that hush money,” he told her with a wink. “You want another twenty?”
“No, I’m more than good with the ten-dollar tip. I won’t say nothing. I got a job, a husband, and three kids under seven years old. I got no time for gossip or drama—not anymore, at least,” she said with a chuckle.
“How are those kids and George?”
“They’re all a pain in my ass,” she said with a grin. “But I love them. Night, Billy.”
He smiled. “Night, Tammy. Thanks again.”
Thankfully when he stepped outside, Joy was finished with her call and hadn’t taken off on her own. She had her hands shoved in her pockets and she was pacing back and forth. She looked up at Billy when she saw him, like she was going to say something but stopped herself.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Do I not look okay?”
He grinned. “You always look better than okay.” Her lips quirked slightly like she wanted to smile, but she didn’t. “You look upset.”
“What time does that sheriff want to come by tomorrow?”
“I can tell him anytime you’d like me to.”
“The earlier the better,” she said. She turned toward her car and before she reached it she turned back and said, “Billy?”
“Yeah?”
“You may as well sleep on my couch tonight.”
“Excuse me?”
“You can’t keep sitting up all night staring at my cabin in the cold. If you’re going to be watching me like a creep, you might as well sleep on my couch tonight and after we talk to the sheriff tomorrow, I’ll make some decisions about what to do.”
********
The look on Billy’s face was almost comical. Joy honestly wasn’t trying to send him any mixed signals. The picture the warden sent her and the phone call had convinced her she had more to worry about than anyone knew. The damned warden was trying to gloss over the fact that his staff had done a shitty job and that he hadn’t done his at all. Even though he knew he screwed up, she still had to threaten to call her attorney to get him to agree to do a DNA test on the inmate in the infirmary. She hated how some people had to be threatened just to convince them to do their job. Then there were those who did their job no matter how many times you told them to stop. She looked at Billy and almost wanted to smile again. He was persistent, she had to give him that. For some bizarre, unknown reason, she trusted him, and that was huge for her because it usually took her years to decide she trusted someone enough to let them get close to her, especially men. Maybe it was that she was just so terrified that she didn’t want to be alone. But she didn’t think so. She’d been there before and would still choose solitude over being with someone she didn’t like or trust. She wasn’t ready to open up and tell him everything just yet…but she could use a good night’s sleep and she thought she might get that with him on her couch.
“Really?” he said finally.
She laughed. “Yes, really. I’m tired. Should I expect you or not?”
“Um…yeah. Yeah, I’ll just go home and change and then I’ll be there.”
“Okay. I’ll see you then.” She could feel him watching her as she got into her car. He waited until she was in and buckled up before leaving to get into his truck. He followed her all the way back to Canyon Lake and pulled up behind her when she got to her cabin. As he was getting out of his truck she stepped out of her car and said, “I thought you were going to change first.”
“I will. I just wanted to make sure you get inside okay.”
She smiled. His eyes were bloodshot red from lack of sleep. His short, trimmed beard had grown a bit haphazard and she didn’t have the heart to tell him that he’d buttoned his flannel shirt crookedly. He was as big as a mountain, but something about him was so much like a little boy. Maybe that was why he made her feel so safe.
“Thank you,” she said. He stood in front of his truck and watched her walk up the porch. She was still smiling as she pulled open the screen door, but the smile fell and her mouth opened in horror as soon as she saw the gruesome calling card left on the inside door. She backed away from it and let out a sound that was somewhere between a cry and a scream. Billy’s hands were on her shoulders within seconds, and he pulled her further back, away from the small animal that had been nailed to the door. She turned into him and took a deep breath of the fresh, woodsy scent he carried around with him. She was trying desperately to drown out the smell of blood and death clinging to her nostrils. She didn’t cry this time. She knew she needed a clear head. She had a decision to make. Either she had to tell Billy and the sheriff what was going on, or leave Texas behind and keep running.