She folded her arms. “It’s okay. I understand.”

I wasn’t sure if she did or not, but I knew she was better off not knowing about me and that was all that mattered. I didn’t like her thinking that I was lying to her or being secretive after she’d been so nice to me, but I didn’t feel like I really had a choice.

I braced myself with my arms and slowly moved my legs over the side of the bed. “Do you have any ibuprofen?”

She nodded and left the room. She was back a moment later, with several pills in her palm and a glass of water in the other. I swallowed the pills and downed the water.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’re welcome. Are you hungry?”

“No,” I said. “Tell me something. Do you need to make that run today?  The one I interrupted?”

She glanced at the door, probably nervous that Jackson would walk in. “Yes. David texted last night. He’s expecting me to.”

“Okay. I’ll go with you.”

Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“I’ll go with you.”

“I am not involving you in this.”

“You already have.”

“But I don’t need to make it worse,” she said, shaking her head. “Absolutely not.”

“Bella, I...”

“No,” she said. “No way. I told you more than I should’ve anyway. I don’t want you to get involved. You have no idea what drug dealers and buyers are like. It’s awful.”

I smiled, then laughed. Pain pulsated in my temples, but I kept laughing.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, her mouth twisted with irritation.

“I’m not laughing at you,” I said. “But it’s just kind of funny.”

“What is?”

The laugh died off and faces and consequences flashed through my mind. “I’ve been around far worse.”

“What does that mean?” Bella asked.

I stood and my legs felt solid. I was going to be just fine.

“It means maybe I’m hungry after all,” I said. “And we can discuss your run over breakfast.”

TWENTY-FOUR

Actually, we couldn’t discuss it over breakfast because Jackson sat in my lap the entire time.

He seemed oblivious to my purple, swollen cheek, instead focusing on the Lego people he brought to the table. He climbed in my lap as soon as I sat down, paying no mind to Bella’s protests. I waved her off, indicating it was okay. I liked the fact that the kid liked me.

He wolfed down bites of pancake in between chattering about the figures on the table.

“This one is my favorite,” he said, pointing to one with a small helmet. “Well, other than this one.”  He pointed to a fireman. “And I really like this one, too.”  He pointed to a football player. “I like all of them, I guess. Did they have Legos when you were a kid?”

I nodded. “They did.”

“But were they old-fashioned?”

“Yes. Horse and buggies.”

“What are those?”

“Nothing,” I said. “I’m kidding.”

He shrugged, finished the last bite of pancake and jumped down. “Oh. Okay. I’m gonna go get some cars. Don’t leave.”  He scampered out of the room.

Bella shook her head, failing to hide a smile. “He is not a lap-sitter. Just so you know.”

I finished the food on my plate and the last of the orange juice in my glass. “No?”

“No. He’s affectionate, but not like that.”  She paused. “I hope that’s okay. I can have a talk with him.”

“It’s fine.”

“Now that I’ve fed you, are we going to discuss the…stuff?”

“You need to pick it up, right?”

She nodded.

“Okay. Go do that. Then come back and get me,” I said. “I can’t go with you to get it.”

“Obviously.”

“Then we’ll go do it. And we’ll figure out how to get you out of it.”

She eyed me closely. “This is going to sound weird, but you aren’t a cop are you?”

I smiled, wincing at the stiffness in my cheek. “Hardly. No, I am not a cop.”

“I didn’t think you were, but I thought I should ask,” she said. “What exactly are you?”

I pushed back from the table and stretched my legs. “I honestly don’t know. And that isn’t some sort of answer to put you off. But I don’t know what I am anymore.”

She nodded, her eyes solemn, watching me. “Okay. What did you used to be?”

I hesitated, then said, “A private detective.”

“But you aren’t anymore?”

“It’s complicated.”

“It always is, isn’t it?”

I chuckled. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“So why aren’t you anymore?”

“You should’ve been an attorney, all these questions.”

“I’ve heard that before,” she said. “It’s a polite way of saying I’m nosey.”

I didn’t blame her. I’d been with her for a few days straight, she’d invited me into her home and taken care of me, and I’d told her nothing. I would have been curious, too.

“Maybe I still am,” I said. “I really don’t know.”

She chewed on her thumbnail for a moment, who knows what running through her head. I wouldn’t have trusted me if I were her. She was probably contemplating whether or not to check the FBI’s Most Wanted list for my picture. For all I knew, I was on it.

“Answer me honestly,” she finally said. “Should I be afraid of you?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s not like that. It’s just…”

“Complicated,” she said.

“Complicated.”

“My kid likes you,” she said, her eyes drifting toward the bedrooms. “I need to make sure…he’ll be okay.”

“You don’t need to be afraid of me, Bella,” I said. “Either of you.”

She thought about that for a long time, then finally nodded. “I believe you, Noah. And thank you.”

“Thank you?  For what?”

She stood and walked over to me. She placed her hand lightly on the bruised side of my face. I felt uncomfortable under her gaze, but didn’t move.

“For helping me,” she said. “It’s been forever since anyone wanted to help me.”

TWENTY-FIVE

I stayed with Jackson while Bella went to make the pick up. We built a Lego beach in the living room. Or rather he did, while I sat on the sofa and watched.

Jackson had seemingly limitless energy. He bounced around the living room just like he had at the beach, talking as he went, describing and giggling and imagining. He was fun to watch and I liked spending time with him. He made the pain in my face far more tolerable.

Bella was back in a half hour, a navy blue knapsack slung over her shoulder. Tension invaded her body, the easy-going demeanor from earlier in the morning long gone. Her eyes were darker, sadder, frustrated, even as the cut under her eye and the bruises on her skin were fading.

She nodded at me. “We’re good.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, Jax,” she said, forcing a smile on her face. “We need to get going.”

He spun on his knees to face her. “Where are we going?”

“You’re going to the restaurant to hang with Allison,” she said. “Noah and I need to run an errand and then we’ll be back.”

“I wanna go with.”

“You can’t.”

He hopped to his feet and came over to me. “I wanna go with.”

I looked at Bella.

“Jax,” she said. “We won’t be gone long.”

He grabbed at my knee. “Please.”

“Jax,” she said. “Enough.”

Tears formed in his eyes and his lip quivered.

“We won’t be gone long,” I said to him. “When we get back, we’ll go down to the beach or something.”

He touched my knee with his finger. “You promise?”

I glanced at Bella, then back at him. “I promise.”

A smile cracked his face. “Okay.”

“Go get your dude,” Bella said. “We gotta hustle.”

He flew out of the room and back toward his bedroom.

“You don’t have to promise him things,” she said.

I pushed myself off the couch. “It’s fine.”

“Don’t make him promises you won’t keep,” she said.

“I won’t.”

“I mean it.”  Her eyes were hard now and her appearance changed completely. She was no longer the pretty girl from the beach. She was a pissed off mom who would defend her kid at all costs.