Convicted

  Lisa sighed and forced her attention away from the computer screen. "I'm not sure."

  Allegra pouted. "Why not?"

  Stay calm. It wasn't worth getting into a fight. "Al, please don't start."

  "But you'll be back before it gets dark, right?" Allegra's voice came dangerously close to a whine. She leaned against the filing cabinet, her fingers restlessly playing with the coffee maker on top of it. The glass carafe clattered.

  "The lights come on automatically at dusk," Lisa said patiently. "Al, I have to get these proposals done by the end of the week. That means I might have to stay late."

  Allegra muttered something under her breath, but didn't explode as Lisa had feared she might. "Okay."

  It was as good a time as any to tell Allegra about her other plans. "And when I'm done here, I'm going to the movies."

  Allegra sighed heavily and thumped the top of the cabinet. "With him, I suppose?"

  "With Terry, yes."

  Her sister stalked out of the office without another word, slamming the door behind her. Lisa bent back to the keyboard, trying to concentrate, but it was all too much. First Deacon Campbell had returned to town, and now Allegra was getting worse.

  Every family had its own craziness, Lisa's father was fond of saying. In the Shadd family, the craziness was Al. She was dramatic, moody, flamboyant. She could be intensely loyal and incredibly self-centered.

  Lisa didn't resent that her sister managed to get away with everything she herself had not. She didn't even mind that Al was tall, thin, and gorgeous whether she spent hours in front of the mirror or just rolled out of bed. What bothered her was Allegra's increasingly irrational behavior.

  The sisters had been roommates for four years, since Al had turned eighteen. Back then, it had seemed like a good idea. Neither of them could afford to live on her own and living with family was better than finding a stranger to share space with. Now, however, Lisa's salary was ample enough to pay for her living expenses. The problem was, Al refused to break up the arrangement.

  Since childhood, Allegra had been plagued with fears. Fear of the dark, fear of large dogs, fear of open water. Doctors had assured Lisa's parents that Al's fears were normal, and they would go away in time. They had not, and though to the outside world, she functioned as normally as any other young woman, her family knew that Al was...special.

  Thanksgiving dinner had to be set on the table at precisely noon or Allegra refused to eat it. Laundry had to be sorted according to a strange, elaborate system that included clipping matching socks together with plastic tags. No room could be entirely dark until she went to bed.

  These were the things Lisa had to live with. Now she had to contend with Allegra's jealousy as well. Her sister didn't want her dating. Dates were time away from the house, from Al, who enjoyed dragging Lisa out to bars and clubs, but went into dark rages if more men happened to pay attention to Lisa than to Al.

  It hadn't been anything more than annoying until about three months ago when Officer Terrence Hewitt had asked Lisa out to the movies. Though they'd known each other since high school, Lisa hadn't seen much of Terry since the night he'd arrested Deacon in the Circle K parking lot. The night her entire life had changed.

  She accepted the date, if only to prove to herself that she could. They'd had a surprisingly nice time. One nice night had led to another, and Lisa suddenly discovered herself with the first boyfriend she'd had in three years...since she'd dated Deacon Campbell.

  Lisa shook herself, focusing again on the words she was typing. Reminiscing about Deacon and her bad luck to get mixed up with him wasn't going to get the marketing plan finished by this afternoon. She curved her fingers back over the keyboard and blinked the blurred screen back into clarity. She'd completely lost her train of thought.

  Sighing, she pushed away from the desk, forgetting she'd locked the chair to keep it from twisting. Instead of turning around, she sailed across the room backwards and ran into the row of metal filing cabinets lining the back wall. Luckily, the crash was loud enough to cover her cursing.

  "And the new world record for clumsiest dismount goes to...Lisa Shadd!"

  "Not funny, Kevin." Lisa got out of the chair and walked it back to the desk. "I was just getting some coffee. Want some?"

  Her older brother patted his trim stomach and shook his head. "Nope. Gives me gas."

  Despite herself, Lisa began to laugh. Kevin could always make her smile, no matter her mood. "What doesn't?"

  He shrugged and stood aside to give her access to the coffeepot perched unsteadily on the filing cabinet. "Not much."

  "That's what I thought." She held out a mug to him anyway, and he took it. "Just leave before that gas catches up with you."

  Kevin looked around the windowless closet that masqueraded as her office. "C'mon, Lisa. Even I wouldn't do that to you."

  Lisa grimaced at the foul brew in her cup, but drank it anyway. "Did you see Allegra?"

  Her brother downed his coffee and handed her the empty cup. "Yep. What bug crawled up her--"

  "Kevin!" Lisa rolled her eyes. "The usual. She's upset because I have to work late."

  "And because you and Terry have a date."

  "She told you?" Still wincing at the bitter coffee, Lisa looked for the sugar, but it was gone.

  "She muttered something to that affect." Kevin didn't seem concerned.

  "Do you think she can go over to your place tonight? Maybe just until I can get home?" She asked the question casually, but Kevin wasn't fooled.

  "She's a big girl, Lisa."

  Lisa sighed. "You don't have to live with her."

  "Thank God!" Kevin laughed.

  Her brother's humorous response quelled Lisa from pursuing the subject. Nobody else in the family seemed to see Allegra's problems were escalating, not retreating. It was easy to ignore if they didn't have to witness it first hand, easy to explain away as just more of "Al's silliness." When, Lisa thought, did it stop being silly and become sad?

  "Did you know Campbell's back in town?"

  "Yes." Lisa sipped the bitter coffee, grimacing. "We saw him yesterday at the Evergreen. He...he's a waiter."

  Kevin let out a laugh that ended up in a snort. "Bucky Sherman over at the plant said Campbell's put in an application there. They'll never hire a loser like that."

  "He's not a loser," Lisa said and bit down on her tongue. Hard.

  Kevin chucked her under the chin, something she loathed, and ducked out of the office. "Face it, Lis. The guy is a loser, he's a waste of space, and you made sure he got what he deserved. Besides, that was a long time ago."

  If what she did was so admirable, Lisa thought morosely, then why couldn't she stop feeling so guilty about it?

  Chapter 2

  * * *

  Deacon turned the water on the hose to a fine mist and gently sprayed his Harley clean of the muck and dirt it had accumulated, along with a generous bunch of soapsuds. Taking a soft cloth, he wiped the now-gleaming paint. Cleaning the bike soothed him. Mindless work.

  "You touch that bike like it's a woman."

  The voice startled him, and when he looked up, Deacon cursed under his breath. Lisa's sister Allegra tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and smiled at him. The slow, sultry grin left Deacon completely cold. He wiped his hands on the cloth and tossed it into the bucket of soapy water.

  "What do you want?"

  She pouted and took her hands out of the pockets in her black leather jacket. She wore black from head to toe, and the dark color enhanced her beauty. She looked a lot like Lisa, but without the warmth. Deacon pushed away the thought. He didn't want to think about Lisa.

  "Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

  "What do you want?" He repeated, bending to gather up his cleaning supplies. "It can't be good."

  "Deacon," Allegra said in the I'm-a-naughty-little-girl voice that he hated. "You hurt my feelings."

  He paused to raise his eyebrow at her. "Too bad."

&nbs
p; "So...is that how you touch a woman?" Allegra walked closer, then trailed a finger along the bike's seat. She tilted her head to look at him, though she was a tall women and they nearly saw eye to eye. "Like that? All...smooth? Or are you rough? I'd expect you to be rough."

  Deacon stepped away from her and dumped the bucket of water. Allegra jumped back to avoid getting the chill water on her black leather boots. Her lazy smile turned to a scowl for just a moment, and he saw her visibly struggle to regain the grin.

  "That wasn't very nice."

  "What are you doing here, Allegra?" Deacon didn't really care very much, as long as she went away.

  She must have realized her seductive manner wasn't impressing him, and just like that, it changed. Now she was all cool and haughty indifference. "I like to walk. I walk a lot. I didn't know you lived on Dippold Avenue."

  Somehow he doubted that. Her manner and dress suggested she'd taken this route on purpose, and if there was one thing he remembered about Lisa's sister, it was that she didn't do things by accident. If Allegra did something, it was with intent, and usually one that solely benefited her. "So go walk."

  "What was it like?" Allegra asked abruptly. All pretense of seduction had vanished. Her eyes glittered with unconcealed interest.

  "What was what like?" Deacon spoke against his better judgment. Dealing with Allegra was like picking up snakes. You never knew when one was going to turn around and bite.

  "Jail," Allegra cooed. Incredibly, she licked her full mouth, so like her sister's in shape, but cruel instead of kind. Kissing that mouth would be kissing poison.

  He turned to go back inside the house without even saying goodbye.

  "Deacon!"

  He ignored her, and headed for the back porch.

  "Don't you walk away from me," Allegra called after him. "Don't you ignore me!"

  He couldn't keep the smile from his face at the sound of anger in her voice. Lisa's baby sister had been nothing but a thorn in his side from the first moment they'd met. So now he'd ticked her off? Good.

  His mother stood in the living room, peering out through the sheer blue curtains to the driveway. "Deacon, who's that girl?"

  "Nobody," Deacon said from the back porch door. He stashed his bucket of cleaning supplies under the bench and took his boots off. "Don't worry about it, Mom."

  His mom shook her head, still looking. "She looks pretty mad."

  Deacon chuckled at that. "I'm sure she is."

  "She looks a little bit like that girl you used to go around with. What was her name?" Bertha let the curtain slip shut to turn and look at him.

  "Lisa." Any good humor he'd felt at riling Allegra vanished. "That girl out there is her sister."

  "Oh." His mom pursed her lips. Deacon could see the questions whirling in her mind, but he had no answers for them.

  "I'm going to take a shower," he told her, to fend off the inquisition. "Gotta go to work."

  Bertha nodded, still watching him thoughtfully. Deacon kissed her cheek. "Don't worry about it, Mom."

  She flapped her hands at him. "Go on. Take your shower."

  Not even the steaming water could rinse away the feeling his meeting with Allegra had left with him. There was no way she'd just happened to be walking along his street, not by accident. It wasn't her style. So why, then? Why come to see him, and why come dressed to kill?

  The phrase, as clichéd as it was, made a sudden chill sweep over him. That's exactly how she'd looked when he walked away. Like she was ready to kill.

  * * * *

  The main office at The Garden Shadd was far more lushly appointed than the sad excuse for a workspace Lisa used. It was also a lot busier. Looking around at the bustle and hustle, Lisa was glad for the cramped office she called her own.

  "Dad?" She called, winding her way through desks and boxes toward the door at the back that led to her father's private office. "Are you in there?"

  "Where else would I be?" her dad asked with an exasperated sigh. "It's month end, Lisa. I'm chained to this desk until the figures work out."

  She looked at her father fondly, noting the way his deep blue eyes sparkled even as he complained. "You love month end and you know it."

  Doug Shadd leaned back in his chair with a grin and laced his fingers behind his head. Though he'd reached retirement age just the year before, he looked as fit and vigorous as Lisa's older brother Brian, who'd just turned forty. Doug's head of thick blond hair was only just beginning to glint silver in bright sunlight, and the wrinkles around his eyes and bracketing his jaw were clearly laugh lines more than signs of age.

  "What's up in the marketing department?" As if he didn't know.

  Lisa briefly ran down the list of coupons and promotions The Garden Shadd would be running for the next few months. She ticked off the weekly coupon clipper magazine, the radio spots and the newspaper inserts, then stopped. Dad was still grinning.

  "Why are you really here?" he asked finally. He knew her too well.

  She decided to get right to the point. "I have a favor to ask."

  "Anything, my darling daughter. Name it."

  "I'd like you to hire Deacon Campbell."

  Doug's grin faded rapidly and he set his chair down on all four legs with a thump. "Why on earth would I do that?"

  Lisa moved closer to perch on the edge of his desk. "Just listen to me--"

  "The man's a criminal," Doug said in the no-nonsense tone Lisa dreaded. "You, of all people, should know that."

  "And I, of all people, helped him get that way!" She slid fingers along the desk's smooth, curved edge.

  Her dad sighed. "He made himself what he is. You just helped to see justice served. You saw the surveillance tapes. It was Campbell. You testified to the fact."

  "And my testimony sent a man to jail for three years." Lisa didn't mention that her statements had cost her endless sleepless nights fraught with guilt and anxiety.

  Yes, she'd seen the video tapes that showed Deacon Campbell entering The Circle K convenience store, and the scenes in which a helmeted man helped himself to the contents of the cash register setting off the alarm. She'd sworn under oath that the man in the tape was the same man she'd ridden with on the back of his motorcycle to the Circle K. Her eyes had told her it was Deacon, but her mind and her heart had never been convinced.

  "You want me to hire him?" Doug asked. "After what he put you through? You're lucky you weren't charged as an accessory to the crime!"

  Just because she'd been there with him, waiting in the parking lot. Lisa knew she'd gotten off lightly, and that in other circumstances her innocence could have been smeared as easily as a thumb rubbing fresh ink. But she hadn't been charged and hadn't gone to trial. She hadn't gone to jail.

  "Dad, please," she said. "Deacon has a wonderful talent. He's got a way with plants and design that would be a great asset to The Garden Shadd. You know if all of that hadn't happened, you'd have been happy to have him on staff."

  "But all of that--" Doug waved his hands in perfect mimicry of her gesture. "--did happen. Honey, I know you were sweet on the guy--"

  "That has nothing to do with it," Lisa protested hotly.

  Her dad frowned. "But I can't hire a man convicted of robbery and assault. What would my customers think?"

  "Most of them wouldn't even know," Lisa said. "He'd be in the creative design department. You wouldn't have to send him out on site."

  "St. Mary's is a big small town," Doug told her. "Everybody knows everything that goes on around here."

  "He's got to get a job somewhere," Lisa said stubbornly, not sure why she was fighting so hard for this. Unless it was a way to assuage her guilt? A way to...to see him again? "Now he's waiting tables down at the Evergreen. Why not have him work here, where we can benefit?"

  At that, her dad let out an incredulous laugh. "Benefit from a man who tried to rob The Circle K for two hundred bucks?"

  "He's served his time." Lisa rubbed the smooth edge of the desk again, knowing the nervous gesture wasn'
t helping her case. "Aren't we supposed to help him rehabilitate or something?"

  "This is important to you, isn't it?"

  She nodded, relieved for once that her dad could read her mind without her having to speak aloud. Doug sighed, louder this time and drummed the desk with his fingers. She could tell by his down-turned mouth that he didn't want to give in to her plea.

  "I feel like him going to jail was all my fault," she said quietly. "And I'd like to help him out somehow."

  "It's not your fault the man's a crook, Lisa."

  Silently, she met her father's gaze without wavering. Doug sighed, still tapping the top of his desk with his fingers. Lisa waited, knowing she had no better argument to give.

  Doug groaned, then shook his finger at her. "I'm holding you responsible, Lisa! If anything goes missing..."

  "It won't." Lisa slipped off the desk and went around it to give her father a hug. "You won't regret this, Dad. I promise."

  "And I want to install a surveillance video in his office. Just to be sure."

  "Okay," Lisa said, glad the battle was won.

  "I'm just an old pushover."

  "Pushover, yes," Lisa teased. "But old? Never!"

  "Now you're just trying to flatter me. Get out of here. I'll call Deacon Campbell and tell him you've convinced me to offer him a job."

  "No!" The word rang out in the small room, embarrassing her with its unexpected vehemence. "I mean, no, Dad, don't. I'd rather you didn't tell Deacon I had anything to do with you hiring him."

  Her dad just looked at her with upraised eyebrows, but he shrugged. "And you think he won't figure it out?" He continued before she could answer. "Okay, I won't say anything about you."

  Lisa gave him another squeeze and went back out into the main office again. As she picked her way through the chaos and back toward her tiny but tidy broom closet/office, she thought about the night her life had turned upside down.

  Lisa and Deacon had only dated for three months before the decision to stop at The Circle K had changed both of their lives forever. In that short time, she'd thought she'd grown to know the man with the bad boy exterior and talent for making things bloom. Apparently, she'd been wrong. Even now her face flushed hot at the memory of why they'd pulled into the convenience store parking lot instead of heading on back to his place.