At Peace (The 'Burg #2)(72)

Joe had called Colt for me. My stomach did a little flip.

“Um… they were a little excited about a movie star bein’ at the door.”

Colt’s eyes sliced through Kenzie again then they came back to me.

“You better call Cal. He’s worried it was somethin’ to do with your thing,” Colt told me.

He was worried about me. My stomach did another little flip.

“I’m Kenzie Elise,” Kenzie butted in and I looked at her again.

“I know who you are, found out about ten minutes ago you keep callin’ Vi’s house,” Colt said to her, my mouth dropped open at this news and I stared at Kenzie realizing she was nuts. “Gonna have to ask you to stop doin’ that,” Colt went on.

“You have my number?” I asked but she ignored me, her eyes glued to Colt.

“I’m looking for Cal,” Kenzie told Colt.

“How did you get my number?” I asked but she didn’t answer because Colt spoke.

“You want to talk to him, you call his girl. You don’t call Vi’s house and hang up.”

His girl? What girl? Joe had a girl?

I forgot about finding out how Kenzie got my number, the more pressing matter at hand was Joe having a “girl”.

“Lindy won’t give him my messages,” Kenzie said to Colt.

“I’ll let Cal know his secretary is fallin’ down on the job.”

Joe had a secretary?

Joe stayed in hotels with valet parking and had a secretary?

“Now unless you have some business with Violet, might be a good idea you move along,” Colt ordered but did it in a way that sounded like a suggestion except it was a suggestion you couldn’t exactly deny. Kenzie denied it. “It’s important I speak to him.”

Colt stared at her for several long seconds like he didn’t know what to make of her but what he was coming up with wasn’t much. Then he reached into his back jeans pocket, pulled out his phone, flipped it open and hit some buttons.

Then he put it to his ear, his eyes on the deck while it rang then he said, “Yeah, Cal, Colt. Everything’s cool except Kenzie Elise is standing on Vi’s deck. She wants to talk to you.” A second passed and then Colt grinned at the deck and said, “Yeah, I’ll put her on,” then he offered Kenzie his phone.

Kenzie didn’t look at either of us before she took the phone and put it to her ear.

“You let her call you Joe?” she snapped into it without saying hello which, personally, I thought was a mistake.

I watched as she paused, listened, her face grew even paler than her normal pale (there it was, proof her snapping at Joe was a mistake) then it twisted before she said, “I have another situation and only you can help me out,” again she paused then, “I don’t want him, I want you.”

I thought this also was a mistake. Joe didn’t like it much that Kenzie thought she could get what she wanted when she wanted it.

I watched as she was silent for another moment then she said, “No,” another pause then a hissed, “I can’t believe you won’t help me!” Yet another pause while her eyes came to me and she snapped, “I don’t think so!” She listened for about two seconds then she took the phone from her ear, jerked it toward me and bit out, “He wants to talk to you.”

I took Colt’s phone, glancing at her then at Colt then I put it to my ear and announced, “She called me fat.”

“Buddy –”

“I have my own stalker, Joe. I don’t want to have to deal with yours.”

He burst out laughing and I didn’t think anything was funny.

“I have your movie star stalker standin’ on my deck, calling me fat and she’s callin’ my house and hangin’ up. This is not funny.”

Joe’s laughter vanished, he was silent then he said in a soft but scary voice, “What?”

“Your movie star stalker is the one doing the hang ups.”

There was no silence before Joe demanded, “Put Colt on the phone.”

“What?”

“Give the f**kin’ phone to Colt,” he clipped.

I decided to give the phone to Colt seeing as Joe sounded pretty freaking pissed so I sure didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

Colt put it to his ear and said, “Yeah?” then he listened for awhile and said, “Gotcha. Later.” He flipped his phone shut, shoved it in his jeans and looked at Kenzie. “Cal says you aren’t off Vi’s property in five minutes, he calls some guy named Marco. He says you’d know what that means.”

I looked at Kenzie and I could tell straight off she knew what that meant. Her face had bleached completely of color, her eyes had gone wide, her lips had parted and she looked scared.

Then quickly she flicked her cigarette butt in my yard, snatched up her purse and stomped to the stairs.

“Ms. Elise,” Colt called and she turned, foot on the step, hand on the rail and looked at him. “Do I have your assurance that you won’t be callin’ Vi anymore and there won’t be any more visits?”

“Yeah, whatever,” she mumbled and kept going.

“Ms. Elise,” Colt called again, turning fully toward her and Kenzie, now standing in my grass, stopped and looked up at him. “Not whatever. No more calls, no more visits. Yeah?”