Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

Rose

"Oh, Jesus Christ. What the hell?" John ran for the door that led to the dining room with no explanation, only annoyed panic in his tone.

"What is it?" I raced after him, expecting I might have to call the police because another fight had broken out.

And of course he headed straight to the man I'd been talking to and into a crowd that had gathered around him.

I followed, pushing my way through the wall of people, and came to a stop at what I found. I'd imagined a fight. Or at the very least a heated argument that would eventually lead to blows. I imagined blood spilling...

However, seeing the big angry guy slumped over the table was not something I'd imagined. What the hell was right.

"What happened to him?" John demanded. Everyone spoke at once, but it didn't sound like any of them knew a damned thing. Or at least, they weren't going to say.

"Is he dead?" I asked, searching the area for blood or anything else that might explain why he wasn't moving.

John pressed his fingers deep into the man's neck, and I held my breath, waiting. Already a well of deep regret filling inside me. I'd been angry at him before, letting my hair trigger of a temper get the best of me, but only because I could tell he would be impossible to crack.

Finally he shook his head. "No. He's alive. Strong heartbeat." John pushed the hood away from his face, and I gasped.

Puckered skin criss-crossed his face in angry slashes. Each scar ran deep, creating a map of pain etched into his flesh. It looked as if whenever this had happened, he'd needed stitches but had either not bothered or been unable to have them done. The scars were old, faded to a silvery white in some places, while others remained an angry pink hue. The harsh light only accentuated the damage, casting shadows across the ruined landscape of his features.

The fire I'd seen in his eyes earlier, seemed at odds with the brutality written across his skin, hinting at a story I wasn't sure I wanted to hear but found myself morbidly curious about anyways.

"Pull yourself together, Rose. Or go back to the kitchen. These people here don't need to see you freak out over a few scars."

I closed and opened and then closed my mouth again as I bit back the words I'd been about to fire back in John's direction. He was right. We had an audience and we both needed to appear cool and in control.

Either satisfied I was going to keep my mouth shut, or no longer caring whether I did, John turned back to the unconscious man and peeled his eyelid open, examining him closer. "Pupils are a little dilated, but nothing that says drug overdose." He next patted his hands around the man’s clothes. "No signs of an external wound."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I stepped forward and something crunched underneath my shoe. I bent down to look and found broken shards of one of our bowls scattered underneath his table.

I looked up at John and then back down to the pieces. I gingerly picked one up, making sure not to cut myself and turned to my boss as fear and uncertainty began to take hold. "How many bowls of stew did he eat?"

John shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't counting. Four or five maybe. He seemed hungry, and look at him, he's huge. I wasn't going to question him." He was holding onto the man's wrist while examining his own watch. Checking his pulse I guessed. "Why?"

I wracked my brain trying to picture the exact ingredients I'd put in the stew. I always measured everything exactly. Every single time.

"Rose?" John pressed.

I shook my head, not wanting to say anything more. It couldn't have been the stew. No way.

Either he took that as a sign, or he simply decided it was time to get the situation under control. "Everyone, return to your own tables. There's nothing to see here. He's going to be fine. Just a little under the weather."

I had no idea why anyone believed him, but they all shuffled away and left us to tend to the giant.

"Do you think the stew had something to do with this?" he whispered once everyone else was out of earshot.

It wasn't plausible, but the hard stone now sitting in my gut made me question the facts. “No. Of course not.”

His eyes narrowed. “Then why did you hesitate? What's going on? I need to know, whatever it is.”

I sighed, hating that John was far too perceptive for his own good. At least when it came to me.

“I was just thinking is all.”

“If you think whatever you put in the damned stew has something to do with this, you need to tell me now.”

“It’s not the stew,” I repeated strongly. “It’s just organic herbs. Your joke about it being drugs isn’t funny anymore.”

He glared at me. “I wasn’t laughing,” he practically growled. "And for what it's worth, I never thought it was funny. It was a warning."

"I've never heard of anyone having a reaction like this to a few harmless herbs, but I guess someone could be allergic to it like they are peanuts or something."

"This isn't a food allergy. He's fucking passed out cold."

"The ingredients I use are supposed to be relaxing. They are organic with zero toxins. I grow them myself."

John shook his head, taking a deep breath while pinching the bridge of his nose. "This is a far cry from relaxed."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have given him five bowls." I hissed it under my breath, but from the death glare he shot me, I could tell he heard me and didn't appreciate my sarcasm.

"We should probably take him to the hospital to be sure, though." He glanced around the room. "We'll have to close up early or call for an ambulance."

"You can't close. It's pouring outside. These people need shelter for the night."

He nodded. "You're right. An ambulance, then." He pulled his cellphone from his pants pocket, but before he could dial 911, I covered his hand with mine.

"You know he probably doesn't have insurance. An ambulance ride would cost a fortune. They may not even take him when they realize he's homeless."

"I don't have much choice. Like you said, these men need shelter for the night."

"I can do it." I blurted those four deadly words before I could think about it. If I took him to the hospital what was I going to say? I think he had a reaction to an herbal concoction I'd given him without his consent? Thankfully, John didn't give me long to spiral down that rabbit hole.

"I couldn't ask you to do that. He's not your responsibility, he's mine."

I shrugged. "He's as much mine as yours I guess. You may run this place, but tonight we're in this together."

His brow pinched in concentration, and I swear if he didn't stop doing that his face was going to permanently take on that frown. "I'd rather call an ambulance. You can't handle him by yourself. He's too big."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, for heaven's sake. I'm perfectly capable of driving one man to the hospital. If you help me get him into my car, then I'm sure there will be someone in the emergency room who can help me get him inside. It's not freaking brain surgery."

A snicker sounded from one of the men nearby. I'd raised my voice more than intended.

"Fine," he finally relented. "You pull up your car to the front and I'll load him up."

"Oh shit."

"What?"

"I walked over tonight. My car is out at my trailer. But it won't take me long to get it if I run." Which was kind of laughable. Neither was I wearing anything suitable for running, but it was obvious that this fluffy body had never run a day in its life. Nor did it want to start now. "Or walk really fast," I amended before he could say anything more insulting than what currently ran through my head.

"Forget it. We don't have time. Take my car. I'm not going anywhere until tomorrow at least. You can bring it back later or in the morning. Or I can walk over to your place and get it easy enough if the weather is worse." He tossed his keys in my direction before I could say anything, and I lunged to catch them, just managing to stay on my feet while I did.

"Good catch," he laughed. "Jeep’s out back if you want to go fetch it and bring it around. I'll meet you out front with the big guy."

"You sure? I could help get him out."

He took one look at all five feet two of me and laughed. "I've got this."

I wanted to argue. I might not like to run, but I did enjoy yoga, and he'd be surprised how agile and strong that made me. Sadly, there was no point. John was John, and this man whose name I didn't know, or anything else about him for that matter, was now depending on me for his safekeeping.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I rushed back through the kitchen, grabbed my bag, and quickly exited the building into the back parking lot. It wasn't difficult to locate John's SUV, considering it was the only vehicle parked out here and I rushed over to it, pressing the unlock button as I reached for the handle.

Once inside, I winced a little over the sight of a stick shift. Luckily, my dad had taught me as a teenager "just in case". I only hoped I remembered those lessons tonight without butchering my boss's drive train.

Starting her up, I pressed my feet on the pedals and shoved into reverse. Thankfully muscle memory kicked in and I eased his vehicle out of the parking lot and drove around to the front of the building where John stood at the curb, struggling to hold up the stranger. He unceremoniously dumped him into the backseat as gently as he could and shot me one last glance.

"Last chance to bail. You sure you want to do this?"

I wasn't sure about anything. No human should have been affected by the herbs in my stew to this degree. I nearly winced at the insanity of my thoughts. But I'd seen what I'd seen, and I knew damned well it hadn't been my imagination. There was something off about this guy, and I needed to know what it was. Which meant there was only one thing I could do.

"Yeah, I got this." This man had some explaining to do.

"Okay. Keep me apprised of his condition and I'll see you tomorrow."

I pulled away from the church and glanced back at it in my rearview mirror. The stately old building loomed gray and dark in the swirling mixture of mist and rain. As much as I loved that place, I knew I would never get to set foot inside there again.

For better, or more likely worse, I was taking a new and dangerous road. I turned in the direction of the hospital until we were safely out of site from the church before I took a sharp left and doubled back on the next block.

We weren't going to the hospital. Not only could I not explain what happened to this man with anything close to a reason that wouldn't land me in jail, there was something not right about him that I'm pretty sure he needed kept secret. I had not hallucinated that dragon.

I could only hope that when he woke, he'd understand why I'd chosen to kidnap him.