Saving the Best for Last Read Online Free PDF Page B

the phone. “Call 911 and stay inside,” he instructed, shielding her body with his when a third blow sounded against the other window.
    He crossed the floor and stepped outside. A younger man lay unconscious in a pool of light from the street lamp, an aluminum bat on the sidewalk a few feet away. As George moved closer, he recognized the kid as the server Red had left with the week before she’d shown up and come after him. There was a huge welt starting to form on his forehead.
    He bent and pressed his fingers to the kid’s throat cautiously, afraid of finding nothing. When he felt a strong pulse he breathed out a huge sigh of relief, and then he started to laugh.
    The dumbass must have knocked himself out when his bat ricocheted off the window.
    He was still trying to pull himself together when Red joined him outside. She must have gone up to his apartment because she had his coat with her.
    “I think we’re going to need an ambulance too,” she said, obviously talking to 911, handing him his coat. She finished the call and came to his side. “That’s the guy from…”
    “I know.” He nodded, still trying to compose himself as he pulled on his jacket.
    “You didn’t…”
    “No, I didn’t. He did that to himself.” George gestured to the bat that must have rolled out of the guy’s hand when he fell, and then to the window. “Bulletproof glass.”
    She looked at him.
    “I had it installed years ago after one of my regular’s wife came by and shot out all the windows with a twelve-gauge shotgun,” he explained. “She thought he was coming here every night after work to meet another woman. It turned out he just liked to have a couple of beers before he went home because she was batshit crazy, and him being a little buzzed was the only way he could handle being around her.”
    She was looking at the kid on the ground, who appeared for all the world as if he was merely sleeping.
    “Any ideas on why this guy would’ve wanted to blow my house down?”
    She tucked her hands into her coat pockets and hunched her shoulders so her collar came up higher around her neck.
    “I couldn’t go through with it after we got to the motel room that night,” she said, giving him a shy glance. “He was really angry at first, then he calmed down and got…” She shook her head like she was trying to come up with the right word. “He was almost too nice about it. His reaction was just strange.”
    ”Strange enough that he might’ve seen you coming in here the next week and taken out your car window, then tried mine when he saw you back tonight?”
    Her lips pressed into a tight line and she nodded, proving his hunch about the glass he’d found on the street that morning was right.
    “Go on upstairs,” he said gently. “I’ll wait here to make sure he doesn’t get up and try to leave before an ambulance comes to look him over.”
    She shook her head. “This is my fault,” she said quietly. “I’ll wait with you.”
    He got a handful of fake sheepskin from the lapel of her coat and pulled her close. He touched a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to his. “This is not your fault.”
    “Of course it is,” she said. She moved backward ever so slightly and he let go.
    “At least go inside and get out of the cold until the police get here. There’s a fairly fresh pot of coffee behind the bar.” He caught her by the lapel once more when she moved to do as he’d suggested and said, “Thanks.”
    She frowned. “For what?”
    “For bringing me my coat.” He smiled. “It’s cold as hell out here.” He held tight when she tried to move again, clearly not amused. “Hey.” He gave her the smallest of shakes, then kissed her, her mouth soft and still a little swollen from earlier, when she looked up again. “Stick around later and let me beg your forgiveness for what I just did to you.”
    That prompted a smile from her.
    The police cruiser that pulled up to the curb—no lights or sirens,