The Hero (Thunder Point #3)(44)

“It’s me.”

She opened the door. He stood there in sweatpants and a sweatshirt that had the sleeves and neck cut out; his hair was all spiky and he had a shadowy beard. He smiled at her, showing those excellent white teeth and she nearly melted into a puddle of goo. She was about to ask him what he was doing there when she saw he had a toolbox in one hand and a couple of big sacks from Home Depot in the other.

“Sorry—it’s kind of late. And I have a couple of things I think you’ll need.”

“What?” she asked.

“Well, let’s see. Some of these paper shades. They’re supposed to be temporary while you’re waiting for your fancy custom blinds or shutters to be installed—but here’s a secret. They last a long time. My last neighbors—young couple living on a shoestring—had them in their windows for two years. They don’t look bad, either. And you can’t see through them. If you stand between the window and a bright light, there’s a slight silhouette.” He handed her a second, smaller bag. “Better locks. Really good locks. But this is the most important thing.” He handed her a box. “An iPhone. With a GPS and all kinds of bells and whistles.”

“Oh, Spencer...”

“That black car really scared you. I thought these were the few things that could make life simpler and more secure for you.” He leaned aside to smile at something. Mercy was peeking out of the bedroom door to see what was going on. He grinned at her.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” Devon asked her. And Mercy scampered back to the bedroom. “Where’s Austin?” she asked.

“Home. I have my phone and I’m just down the street. He’s locked into some computer game that’s slowly destroying his brain cells. He’ll call if he needs me and I’ll be back in an hour. I’m taking him to Dallas tomorrow and his grandfather is meeting us there to take him the rest of the way to San Antonio. He’s going to visit with his grandparents, cousins and friends from our old neighborhood before school starts. Oh, I also have this,” he said, pulling a bottle of wine out of a big bag. “You might need a little sleeping aid. Trust me, when I’m done here, no one’s getting inside without making a lot of noise.”

“I don’t think anyone will try to break in, but this is all so...perfect. But that phone—it must’ve cost a fortune.”

“Listen, you have to have this, even if no scary black car is looking for you. You have a child, a job, friends...you live alone.”

“I’ve been taking care of business from the clinic on the office phones. I check in with Rawley. I make calls for Scott. It’s been working, but now...”

He put the box in her hand. “Now you should have this. It’s a safety precaution. I already programmed my number into the phone. I’m just down the street. I can be here in less than a minute.”

Her eyes drifted over him and she hoped he didn’t see the attraction there.

He smiled. “I saw that. You like me.”

“Don’t think just because you buy me presents...”

“Isn’t this better than grass cutting? It’s very practical. I’ve always been a practical guy.” He put down all his stuff and got out his drill and tools. “I’m the kind of guy that always changes the oil when it’s supposed to be changed. I put the toilet paper on the roll. I pay the bills on the due date. I think it’s the teacher in me.”

Why was that so sexy, she asked herself.

He knelt before her front door, getting started, measuring. “Do you have a pair of scissors? You can cut those paper shades to fit—there’s a tape measure in my toolbox. Put ’em up where you need ’em most. And when we’re done here, you should call Rawley, let him know you have a phone now and the doors and windows are reinforced. Is it a little stuffy in here?”

“I was nervous about having windows open, even though I haven’t been threatened or approached or anything....”

“Ah. I got some window locks you can adjust—you can have your windows open a few inches. Safely.”

With her arms full of paper shades, she sat down on the couch. “I talked to Mac. He was very nice. He’ll be looking into that...situation. But I’m not supposed to talk a lot about the details...some of the details, anyway.”

“I’m not going to ask you any more questions, Devon,” he said, working on the door. “I just wanted to do something that would help you feel safer.”

She didn’t say anything to that. He had voiced the thing most on her mind every day—how to feel safe.

She got the tape measure and scissors and went to work cutting the blinds to fit the biggest window in the duplex. She measured and cut, then Spencer said, “Before you put that up, let me get the locks on that window.” After about forty minutes Spencer was almost done. The doors and the windows all had strong locks on them and the windows were covered.

After checking on the sleeping Mercy she found Spencer sitting on the couch, packing up his toolbox that sat on the floor in front of him.

“You look like you just came from a workout,” she said.

“In a way. Football practice starts in the morning. I’ve already been over at the high school most of the day getting ready for the year ahead—inventory equipment, settling in my office, that sort of thing. You’re probably going to be seeing a boatload of high school boys come in for physicals this week.”