"Thank you," I said to the clerk as she handed me the bag with the gold hoop earrings and opal studs, I'd purchased for my two sisters.
"My pleasure." The saleswoman grinned. "My name is Claire. If you change your mind about the matching necklaces, be sure to ask for me." Then she did a little flip with her hand in her hair. I knew that move well. A year ago, I might have taken the invitation, but today it only served to piss me off.
"I won't be changing my mind but thank you anyway." I put a hand on Casey's back and then turned toward the mall entrance. Zero was only a couple of steps behind.
"Merry Christmas," the woman called out to our retreating backs.
"Merry Christmas," I said over my shoulder, not caring if the woman heard me or not. This was the second time in less than an hour a sales associate decided to flirt with me in front of my girlfriend and it was starting to piss me off.
Casey's giggle had me turning my head to look at her. "What's so funny?"
"The fact that she was flirting with you, and you were completely oblivious to it."
"I wasn't oblivious," I replied as we exited Macy's. "I was aggravated that she had the nerve to openly flirt with me with you standing right there. She was acting like you didn't exist." Honestly, the woman was lucky I didn't walk away from the transaction completely.
Casey's smile disappeared. "I'll admit at first, I felt a bit jealous and hurt, but then when I thought about the situation it kinda makes sense."
Her statement had me jerking to a stop so quickly that Zero nearly ran into us. I couldn't hide my frown as I turned to give her my full attention. "What do you mean it makes sense?"
She shrugged. "For all that woman knew, I could have been your sister or cousin or just a friend."
"Or my girlfriend," I said, trying and failing to keep the growl out of my voice. "Which is what you are."
"Yes, but she had no way of knowing that," Casey replied, apparently unphased by my grumpy mood.
"The fact that I had my arm wrapped around you when we walked up to the jewelry case would have been a good indication," I argued.
"Still," she started to reply before I pressed a finger against her lips.
"Please don't defend her or attempt to put yourself down."
She kissed my finger, but I should have known by the glint in her eyes that she wasn't done, because much to my surprise she opened her mouth and bit down. "Hey!" Shock rippled through my system as I yanked my hand back and looked at her. "What was that for?"
She cocked her head to the side and shot me a look that clearly said I should know why she bit me. "I don't appreciate being shushed and if I want to put myself down, that's my right."
In an instant, my grumpy mood flipped, and it was everything I could do not to let free the smile fighting to get out. Every time a bit of that hidden fire of hers peeks through, it makes me happy. Yet I couldn't deny that it bothered me that she was still so quick to put herself down. While I didn't want her to squash that fiery personality, I wasn't going to let her comment go by without telling her how I felt about it. "It might be your right to do so, but I don't like it when you do, and it pisses me off that you can't see how amazing and beautiful you really are."
Silence met my statement as she stared at me, and I couldn't help but wonder if I'd pushed too hard.
"She's right," Zero said from behind us, causing me to spin on my heel to face him. "Not about her putting herself down," he went on to clarify. "About the clerk. With three of us standing there, the saleswoman could have thought we were just friends or that Casey was my girlfriend." Before I could respond to his statement, he then turned to look at her. "Lester is also right. You're more beautiful than you give yourself credit for and it's upsetting to hear you say otherwise." He glanced between us. "Now, we're supposed to be having a fun afternoon and you're allowing some stranger to ruin it. So, kiss and makeup, and let's put this behind us."
Damn! When did Zero become the voice of reason? I reached out to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry I let that woman get to me and I'm sorry I snapped at you," I said to Casey.
"I'm sorry, too," she replied. "I didn't mean to make you mad."
I slid Zero a sidelong look before turning my attention back to Casey. "It's just like Zero said. Hearing you put yourself down is upsetting."
"I'm still working on my self-esteem issue," she replied.
And I'd be working post haste to address the issue of making sure the world knew she was my woman. "I know you are. Just be prepared to be bombarded with compliments until you believe every one of them about yourself."
That endearing smile of hers returned. "It might take a while."
"That's okay," I said as I shifted to tuck her under my arm. "We have the rest of our lives to work on it."
We made it through two more stores when I realized Casey was once again looking sad. "What's wrong?"
She sighed. "I'm a bit frustrated."
"Why?" Zero and I asked at the same time.
"Well-" She glanced between us. "After the way Lester's family just took me in and made me feel like part of the family at Thanksgiving, I'd like to get them presents for Christmas as a way to say thank you."
"Okay." Zero shrugged. "We're at the mall to shop for presents. So, what's the problem?"
"The problem is, I want what I give them to be special, but nothing I see seems to fit. If I were back home and wanted to give someone a gift, I'd be making something for them. That way it would be meaningful and maybe even practical."
"I thought you said your family didn't do Christmas presents?"
"They don't," she replied. "But that doesn't mean we never gave gifts."
The idea that she wanted to give my family presents pleased me on a level I hadn't thought possible, but the last thing I wanted was for her to be stressed over picking those gifts. "If you were going to give them handmade gifts, what would they be?"
A contemplative expression crossed her face. "Well. Since we're heading into winter, I might crochet a scarf with a matching hat or quilt them a blanket." She sighed as she shook her head in defeat. "But Christmas is three weeks away. Even if I wasn't working, I wouldn't have time to make enough gifts for everyone."
"If you like, I can add your name to my presents and easily make them from both of us."
Before I even finished my sentence, she was shaking her head. "Thank you. That's very generous, but no. I want them to look at the gift and know it was from me and see my appreciation."
"So, what else could you make?" Zero asked. "Maybe you could bake cookies or make special candies, or something."
Her eyes widened as if she'd just generated an idea. "Are there any craft stores around here?"
"I think so," I replied, then motioned to her bag. "Did you bring your cell with you?"
She nodded.
"Good, so use it to find one in the area that has what you need, and we'll take you there."
She reached into her bag, pulled out her phone, and began looking as we started walking again. We'd only taken a few steps when Zero tapped me on the shoulder. I glanced back at him and noted the look of warning in his eyes. "We're being watched," he silently mouthed.
I arched a brow in question. He gave a nod to our right and I slid a sideways glance in that direction. A tall man wearing a dark hoodie stood near the closed entrance to what used to be the Lord and Taylor anchor store. His height and body shape led me to believe it might be the same person we'd seen at Penn's Landing. This time I'd be damned if I was going to let him get away.
Zero slid up next to me. "That corridor to the mall exit is long and doesn't have a lot of places to take cover. Plus, it puts him to our backs."
"And we don't know if he's working alone," I replied.
Casey stopped looking at her phone and glanced over at us. "Is something wrong?"
Since I didn't want to worry her, my knee-jerk reaction was to tell her no, but she wouldn't appreciate being lied to. "We don't know for sure," I said as I guided her past the corridor leading out of the mall. "Zero believes we're being watched, and we don't know if it's just the one person we see or if there are more."
Much to my surprise, her eyes widened, but she schooled her features, keeping her fear hidden. "So, what's the plan?"
Her reaction caused pride to course through me. My brave girl had already come so far from when we first found her. Even now, when facing a potential danger, she managed to remain strong.
I nodded to the jewelry store near the JC Penney. "Let's head into the jewelry store. Zero, you wanted help picking out an engagement ring for your girlfriend, right?"
His brows went up in response, but being the trained professional he is, he played along without missing a beat. "Um…yeah, I was. Casey, can you help me?"
"I guess," she replied.
"Good." I nodded. "I'm going to stand guard at the entrance and call for reinforcements."
"What about going to the craft store?" she asked.
There wasn't any way around this situation. We were going to have to cut our trip short due to the possible threat, but that would screw up Casey's plans if we did.
"Maybe we can talk Kristina or Stephanie into going for you. Or you can place an online order for everything you need, and I'll send someone to pick it up."
"I suppose that would work," she replied, and I was thankful she wasn't as stubborn as Stephanie.
We stopped in front of the jewelry store and Zero guided her inside while I pulled out my cell and called the control room.
"Rangeman control, Gene speaking."
"Gene, it's Santos."
"Hey, Les. What's going on?"
"Zero and I have a possible situation. We're at the Quaker Bridge Mall with Casey and it appears as if we're being followed." We'd briefed the entire team about what happened at the rehab center. Then, after finding Izzy's body yesterday, everyone was now on alert as to the potential threat to Casey.
"How many?" he asked.
"One for sure, but there might be more. We have Casey protected inside the Jewelry store next to the JC Penny entrance, but I'm reluctant to leave the building with her without more backup. Who's on patrol that would be closest to our location?"
The sound of Gene typing drifted through the speaker. "Zip and Slick are only about ten minutes from you. I'm sending them your way."
"Tell Zip to call me when he gets here, and I'll direct him in."
"Copy. Oh…uh…Brown just said to let you know he and Binkie are leaving now to head that way too. They'll be about fifteen minutes out."
"Good. We'll be waiting." I disconnected the call and then took a position just outside the entrance to the Jewelry store to wait. The man in the hoodie hadn't moved from his post, and he appeared to be people-watching. Probably hoping to make me think it wasn't just us he was stalking. When he turned his gaze in my direction and held there, I knew Zero's instincts were right.
Eight minutes after my call, I spotted Zip and Slick heading my way. I hadn't finished briefing them on the situation when Bobby and Binkie appeared. "Damn, did you guys fly here?"
"Let's just say it was a good thing we didn't run into any Trenton or Lawrenceville PD," Binkie said.
"I called the head of mall security while en route," Bobby said. "I told him one of our men was Christmas shopping with his girlfriend when he spotted an FTA we have on our books. That way, if anything big happens while we're here, they're aware."
"That was a good idea," I replied. "Why didn't I think of it?"
"Because you were only worried about protecting Casey," Binkie said.
"FYI," Bobby added. "I also pulled Hector and Ramon in on this too. They're circling the outside of the mall, waiting for instructions."
"Okay." I glanced over my shoulder where Zero had Casey completely engrossed in trying on rings. "Since there's so many of us now, our priority is to get Casey out of here and back to the security of Rangeman, but I want to grab that guy and interrogate him too."
"The mall is pretty busy," Bobby said. "It might be hard to give chase without risking injury either to us or a civilian."
"True," I replied as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. It only took a second for me to palm my credit card. "Let's get Casey out of here first and see what happens after that."
Everyone nodded in agreement. I held up a finger, signaling them to wait. "Hang tight." Then I turned and headed into the jewelry store. "So, what did you decide on?" I asked as I walked up behind Casey and Zero.
"Casey likes this one," Zero said pointing to the ring she was currently wearing. It appeared to be a single-carat princess-cut ring with two smaller diamonds flanking it, then a small swirl of tiny diamonds on either side. They were all set in white gold. It looked perfect on her finger, and I couldn't wait until I'd be able to put it back there for real.
"The lady has excellent taste," the clerk behind the counter said. "That particular ring is on sale right now. It's twenty percent off."
"So how much?" I asked.
"Forty-seven hundred," the clerk said, her smile growing wider by the minute.
I didn't blink at the price, but Zero visibly paled, despite it not being his money or ring. I guess there's a reason why he's still a bachelor. "Is that before or after the discount?" he asked.
"After," the woman said.
"Um…" he glanced between me, and Casey, a deer in headlights look lit in his eyes. I took that as my cue to step in.
I reached between them and handed the woman my credit card. "Let Rangeman take care of the initial purchase. Then you can pay us back," I said to Zero.
His brows went up in surprise even as he agreed. "Thanks. I just wasn't expecting to spend that much today. So, I'll need to move some money around."
"No worries," I said as the woman took the card from me. She returned a couple of minutes later with my receipt, warranty, and authentication paperwork, a ring box, and bag. Casey slid the ring off her finger and handed it to the clerk to place in the box. I didn't miss the look of longing on her face as she did. Patience, Precious. It won't be long before you'll be wearing that ring again.
"Your girlfriend is very lucky," Casey said to Zero, then looked at me. "Are the guys here?"
"They are and I want you to go with Binkie and Bobby. They're going to take you out through the JCPenney exit and put you in a vehicle with Hector and Ramon. They've been instructed to take you straight back to Haywood."
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"I'm going to see if we can catch that guy."
She frowned. "What about your ribs?"
"I'll do my best to be careful. Plus, Zip and Slick are here too. So, I won't be taking him down alone."
