Page 56 of Shephard
No, I couldn’t think of this that way. This was a grilling session.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked, shocked to see his appearance.
“Just some old man.”
With a bottle of wine in his hand, his beard and mustache trimmed close and the man wearing some kind of exotic aftershave, I was no longer certain what this was.
Or who.
I was flabbergasted, unable to take my eyes off him. He was amused as usual at the fact I was uncomfortable. “I hope you didn’t do that for me.”
“I only do shit for myself.”
“There’s the grumpy bastard I remember. You can come in.”
Still, we stared at each other as Pepper jumped on him, something she never did.
“Pepper. Down. I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She knows better.” I backed away, allowing him in and trying not to regret my decision to invite him in the first place.
He said nothing, but it was obvious he was studying my dress. Or me in the dress. I wasn’t certain and I wasn’t ready to get into anything with the man.
We’d bantered easily, but talking was next to impossible. I had a lump in my throat. Plus, his aftershave had already intoxicated me. So exotic and unlike him.
Shephard handed me the bottle of wine and while I suspected he was clueless about vintages, I noticed he’d chosen a bottle from his own reserve, the Foxhead wines something I’d always wanted to try. At least I knew the merlot would be decent.
“Do you want a drink before the wine?” I finally managed to ask like a normal person would.
“Sure. Whiskey?”
“Yeah, I have plenty.” At least getting him a drink allowed me to do something. I busied myself, but sensed he was hovering right behind me. After dropping two ice cubes in, I turned around to hand it to him and he was right there. Far too close.
“Let’s get something straight from the start. We can play the game of twenty questions and continue snarking at each other all you want. I enjoy the intellectual banter. I can tell you everything I’ve learned about you, including some issues you had in Charlotte that I know you’d like to keep as private as possible. Then you can throw out the fact I don’t exist aftermy illustrious military career, grilling me until I’ve finally had enough.”
“Or…”
“Or we can enjoy each other’s company to the best of our ability. We ain’t gonna have a relationship, but what we are sharing is something I think we both need. Who knows. Maybe we can share our thoughts on the recent murders if you can ever learn to trust me.”
He allowed the comment to hang as if waiting for my reply. Trust was next to impossible for me, but I would love to pick his brain. “Maybe.”
“It’s your choice. But if you decide on option one, I’ll finish my drink and while I’d hate to miss a nice dinner, it will happen. I can’t afford to have anyone delve any further into my past. My family is here and try as I do to disown them at times, I refuse to allow them to become targets.”
This was as frank as I’d ever thought he’d be. “Understood.”
“Good.”
“Your brothers did the same thing. Didn’t they?”
“You’re going to pick until you find what you want,” he growled. “Yeah, they did and they’re fucked up too. And given your military background, you know some missions must be left confidential. My parents think all three of us really fucked our lives after retiring from the various military branches.”
“That must be tough.”
He laughed. “We’re not close with our father. He’s always been… difficult.”
“Thank you for telling me that. I’ll try and trust you.”
“Why were you pushing me anyway?”
I grabbed my drink, not entirely certain what I wanted to say in return. I understood danger. His life and the secrets he’d kept were ones that people would kill to keep from coming out in the open. That was similar to how undercover agents managed to stay alive. One slip and their cover could be blown.