Turn It On

Chapter Fifteen

“They’re all a little intense, aren’t they?”

Maxine smiled at her old roommate. “Well, you know guys and their deep inner need to dominate. Playing Risk lets them give in to the urge to be Supreme Commander of the Universe or something.”

Valerie shrugged. “I hope they don’t mind getting their butts kicked by a woman. Natasha is doing her usual ‘poor me, don’t pick on me’ routine. I figure she should have them all beat in another three rounds.”

They laughed together as they grabbed an armload of drinks and chips to deliver to the living room where the game was underway. “You’d think Junior would know by now his wife is a wiz at these games, but he still falls for it.” Maxine held the kitchen door open with her hip to let Valerie enter the living room first.

Contentment filled her as she snuck up behind Ryan. Friends and family lounged around the large coffee table, those remaining in the game intent on the action of the dice. Natasha had a smug little grin starting to appear and Maxine suspected her sister-in-law was up to her usual tricks.

She slid in beside Ryan and he curled an arm around her, tugging her close, without losing concentration on the game. “I think your family should all sign up for a tour of duty. I’ve never played with such cut-throat, sneaky bastards before in my entire life,” he whispered in her ear.

Maxine giggled softly. “Skills honed by years of competition within the family. There’s always someone willing to beat you, at whatever game you want to lose.”

“I don’t like losing.”

A round of groans burst out as Natasha eliminated another opponent and laid down her third set of cards in one hand. “Looks like you have no choice tonight,” Maxine teased.

Ryan grumbled good-naturedly and scooped up the dice to defend himself. She squeezed his arm and rose to let him play. Movement outside the window caught her eye and she wandered over to gaze at the yard.

A large flock of crows was visible in the light from the porch. Maxine wondered what had drawn them, but she was distracted as baby noises rose from the monitor on the side table.

Maxwell leapt up. “And that’s my cue. Tasha, stop playing with your victim and just kill him already. It’s time to head home.” He dropped a kiss on his wife’s cheek and headed to the main-floor bedroom to gather his daughter.

Ryan’s deep laugh filled the room. “I concede.” He held out a hand to Natasha and they shook, the rest of the party heading toward the food and drinks. “You’re a good player.”

Natasha winked at him. “It’s all in getting to know your opponent. Next time I won’t be able to pull the same moves on you.”

It wasn’t until after the party slowed down and the final guest left that Maxine remembered the crows. She walked the porch hand in hand with Ryan.

“Are you staying tonight?” she asked. They’d spent more and more time together but they hadn’t spoken of any formal commitments. There was no way she wanted to leave her house, and she wasn’t sure how Ryan would react if she asked him to move in with her.

“I can’t.” He tugged her to a stop and drew her against him for a kiss. His touch was gentle tonight, teasing and brief, and Maxine melted into him. “I have a couple of installations I need to finish early in the morning and it would be easier to head out from my apartment.” He tapped her on the nose. “I have a beef with you though. You never told me you had another flat tire yesterday.”

The cawing of the birds grew louder and they headed onto the lawn to investigate the racket. “I had a spare, I fixed it. I do know how to change a tire.”

“I assumed you did, but feel free to call me anyway.” He squeezed her hand and she glanced at his smiling face. “I don’t mind coming to your rescue, okay?”

She nodded then groaned in disgust as she spotted the reason for the bird’s presence. “Oh shit.” The contents of the garbage cans from outside her backdoor were spread over the lawn, the cans themselves bobbing in the lake.

“Maxine, get back in the house,” Ryan ordered.

She turned from where she’d squatted to gather the mess into a pile. “Why? I need to clean this up.”

“You need to go inside. I’ll take care of it.” He glanced into the trees and across the property, a stern expression on his face. “Whoever tipped the cans could still be around.”

Maxine sighed. “Good grief. It’s annoying as hell, but it’s just garbage cans. It’s kids, a stupid prank. They’re probably home in bed laughing at the joke they pulled. I’m going to get some new bags. If you grab the cans we can get it cleaned up faster than if you stand there arguing with me.” She stomped indoors.

Frustration rocked her again, mixed with a bit of fear. The vandalism around the house continued, but nothing more dangerous than these childish pranks. Was it a group of teens in the community with too much time on their hands? A couple of days after Thanksgiving she’d discovered all her deck chairs in the lake. She hadn’t mentioned it to Ryan, but her flat tire the previous day was the third that week. Contacting the neighbors to ask them to keep a better eye on their kids hadn’t worked. She was getting tired of dealing with the uncertainty of the mischief. Her imagination continued to suggest something more ominous was at the bottom of it. So many incidents couldn’t be a fluke, but damn if she wanted to run with her tail between her legs just when she was starting to spread her wings.

Ryan shook his head. He hauled the second tire off and popped it into his trunk to take into the repair shop. He’d offered to help her but didn’t think Maxine would have to call the very next day to inform him she had two flat tires. It was past noon before he got away from his commitments. “Did you drive over broken glass?”

“No, I don’t think so. It’s too much of a coincidence I keep getting flats. Is there a way someone is making them go flat? Damn, I need to visit my neighbors again and get them to rein in their kids at night.” Maxine stood and brushed the dirt from her knees. “You want lunch before you head out?”

He laughed. “Nice attempt at changing the topic. No, I don’t need lunch. Yes, someone could be messing with your tires. I’ll visit the neighbors.”

She paused, a frown creasing her face. “Why would you do that? I’ll speak to them.”

“Sometimes having a guy show up will intimidate the kids more. If it is kids, and I’m still not convinced.” Maxine had had more troubles since moving into the house than any one person should experience. Something didn’t feel right and Ryan wanted to get to the bottom of it. He worried about her safety when he wasn’t with her. Worried something serious would occur.

The whole concept of what it meant to care for someone was driving him crazy. Carl needed his time and energy, and now Ryan found he constantly wanted to be around Maxine. She was on his mind most of the day. Not only because they were dynamite in bed, but because he wanted to make sure the strange occurrences were only pranks and not something darker.

By the time the tires were fixed it was after six, so he sweet-talked Maxine into going out for dinner. Sitting by the ocean, some of his concerns receded as they chatted about Christmas plans. He held her hand as they enjoyed each other’s company.

It was becoming clearer someone like Maxine was what he needed in his life. What he’d done before wasn’t living, not like he experienced now. Her attitude encouraged him to look around with new eyes, to appreciate the vibrancy of the moment. She gave so willingly, not even noticing how often she changed her own plans to accommodate others. She joined him when he dropped in on Carl, babysat cousins at the drop of a hat and worshipped her Gramma. Her generous heart floored him, and shamed him. Slowly he began to open up to his brother in an attempt to find a deeper place in his heart for the boy. The concept of family was evolving from an evil memory to a hopeful place—a place where he might be able to see a future beyond being alone.

All because of Maxine.

They returned to the house and even as they drove up he saw the damage.

“Oh my God, Ryan, someone’s torn up the lawn. How could they do that?” Maxine leapt from the car the instant he stopped, and he fought the urge to pick her up and carry her into her house. Deep ridges cut into the turf, the soil laid bare in semicircular tracks.

“It’s not the neighbor’s kids. Your pranksters were pulling doughnuts on the lawn with a half-ton truck or something. Call the police. They can check the tire tracks.” Ryan glanced at Maxine’s car. “Fuck.”

He’d put the repaired tires back on and yet the car now sat impossibly low, the rims resting on the ground. There was glass on the ground in front of the shattered window and when he peeked inside the stereo was missing, cords dangling from the dash.

“Oh shit. Not again.” Maxine continued to swear softly as Ryan debated what to do. One thing was fucking sure, she wasn’t staying alone in the house until he had a chance to do a few more additions to the security system.

By the time the police had come and gone, Ryan had the first part of his plan figured out. “I’m going to install an alarm in your car and I’m adding cameras outside the house as well.”

She stared at him in surprise as they sat at the island in the kitchen, drinking hot tea. They’d just finished covering the car windows with plastic to protect the interior until she could take it to the repair shop. “The outdoor cameras I can understand. I’d love to catch these jerks in the act and the house is too far from any neighbors for them to see the vandals. But an alarm—how would that stop them? It makes noise after they’ve already broken the window or whatever. That sounds a little over the top.”

“Over the top would be not doing everything we can to stop these guys. So far they’ve just been vandals, we don’t want to let them feel like they’ve got the power to make any further moves on your territory.”

Maxine waved her hand. “You make it sound like I’ve got the Mafia moving into the area. I still think it’s likely kids with too much time on their hands caused most of the vandalism. The truck is the part I don’t understand. Add the outside cameras, they make sense, but I don’t want an alarm in my car. I hear them going off all the time in the shopping mall parking lots. All it takes is a good hip check and you’ve got wailing noises. With my luck it would make the kid’s day to have an alarm to set off every morning at three a.m.”

“You’re not thinking reasonably about this,” he complained.

“You’re worrying too much, Ryan,” she insisted. “I know you do security for a living but this is just…I don’t know, bad luck.”

“Like the phone calls before were bad luck?”

She froze. “That’s not fair. The two are not connected at all.”

“You don’t know that for sure, and that’s why I want to do everything we can to make sure the house is safe. That you’re safe.” He rose, walked to her side and pulled her into his arms. “I want to take care of you, don’t you see? Let me take care of you.” God help him if anything happened to her.

And that knowledge scared him almost as much as the idea of her being hurt.