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.He didn t seem the type to do kitchenchores.Neither said anything about whathappened seconds before, but a subtleawareness had crept into the air. Thank you, John.You didn t have to help. He shrugged. I ate the food.It sonly right I help clean up. Nothing more was said as herkitchen was set right.John went overand, after a last, thorough look at thetrash can, lifted the bag from the can.Shannon was thankful that he did that,too.It was one less reminder thatsomething wasn t right in her home.Herolled to the garage door and tossed itinto the wheeled refuse can. I should probably go, and let youhave your evening.Will you be okay? Shannon knew he had to leave, but itstill made her sad.She liked having Johnin her house, for whatever reason. Yes, I ll be fine, she sighed. I really appreciate you coming over. John waved a big hand in dismissalbefore he powered himself through thedining room.He was almost through theliving room by the time she caught upwith him.He stopped suddenly andleaned over a picture frame on an endtable.Shannon knew it was a group shotof her family. This is my dad Charles, she said,pointing to the strapping gray-haired manwith his arm around an older woman. My mom, Elizabeth.My sister Abigail.And my younger brother Chris. Herfinger brushed lovingly over the smilingyoung man in the wheelchair. I m fiveyears older than he is.He was kind of a surprise.My parents planned on havingjust us two girls.Mom was in her fortieswhen she got pregnant againunexpectedly.When they found out theywere having a boy, they were so excited.And we were too. Shannon smiled at John and foldedher arms under her breasts. I owe mybrother my life.He was there the nightGerbowski tried to kidnap me, at myparent s house.We used to live outsideof Columbus.Mike was holding mehostage when Chris found us.Luckily,my parents were away on a trip, or itcould have been so much worse.Chrisgrabbed my dad s pistol out of the truckwhen he saw Mike s car in thedriveway.And when he realized what was going on, Chris shot at him, butMike fired back at the same time.Mike sbullet entered Chris s spine, paralyzinghim.Chris s bullet went center mass,nicked an artery, deflated a lung.Enoughto make Mike let me go.After dealingwith months of his obsession, we allhoped he would die before theambulance got there, but he didn t.Wegot Chris to the hospital within minutesof the injury, but he was still paralyzed.The bullet is still in his spine.Theydidn t want to take it out for fear theywould damage him more.Mike, on theother hand, is fine.Three square meals aday and all the cable he can watch inprison. Shannon looked at John. Isn t that asad thing to say, wishing death onanother person? He terrorized me formonths, and if he was here, I wouldblow him to pieces in a heartbeat. You can t help how you feel, Johngrumbled. The guy put you through hell.Your whole family.Of course you dwish him gone.If he is responsible, Ipromise you, he won t hurt you again.Not with me watching. Shannon smiled sadly. Thank you,John.I appreciate that. She watched as he slipped on thejacket he had discarded on the back ofthe couch, covering the shoulder holster. Did you carry a Beretta in the Marines? John s sat back in his chair,surprised. Yes. Shannon nodded her head. It s avery good gun. She laughed at the look on his face. I have the same gun in my bedroomsafe.Though I prefer my little BerettaBobcat,.25 caliber.Dad made sure Icould protect myself if I ever got intothat situation again. John smiled slightly as he turnedaway. Remind me never to piss youoff. She laughed and watched as herolled down the ramp to his black truck.He pulled a remote from his pocket andpressed a button, and the whole side of the truck seemed to move! He rolled intothe contraption and it lifted him up, thenslid him inside behind the wheel.Fascinating.She watched until he dpulled away, then shut and double-locked the door.As she wandered back through thehouse, Shannon felt decidedly bettersince John had gone through it.Theviolation she had felt was eased,replaced by a warm spot in her heart thathe had created.She appreciated that hehad come to her house, though he hadn tstayed nearly long enough.*****John cursed as he clutched his jacket around himself and rubbed his handstogether.If he d known he was going tostake out her house, he d have preparedbetter.Warmer jacket, thermos of coffee.NoDoz pills, maybe.Since he d been outof the military, he d gotten used tocomfort.And regular schedules.It was 3a.m.and sleep dragged him down, bad.Hell, he may be out here for noreason.Shannon could have drunk thePepsi herself, and just didn t rememberdoing it.Though he d only ever seen herdrink Diet at work.He sighed as heremembered the call.No, she waspositive she hadn t.And he believedher.She couldn t have known he wasgoing to call, and the fear was evident inher voice on the phone.That kind of fear was difficult to duplicate on the spur ofthe moment.He knew, intimately, thesound of fear.The pop can had definitely beenplaced to grab attention.As soon as wasdecent tomorrow, he would take it overand see what Ralph Jamison could findon it.The ex-FBI forensic criminologistwas a boon to the Denver area.Definitely worth his weight in gold.Buthe wouldn t like being woken on aSaturday.John thought about the picture he hadseen in her living room.It explained somuch
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