The Reluctant Hero. Lenora Worth

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СКАЧАТЬ He was trying to talk to them, calm them down, when one of them started coming for us.” She wouldn’t tell the cop that the mystery man had then become like a raging bull, all fire and anger. “He saved this man. They would have killed him, I think, if someone hadn’t stopped them.”

      The old man moaned again as the paramedics settled him into the ambulance, the stranger right on their heels.

      “Don’t leave yet, mister,” the cop called after him.

      The stranger stopped, then pivoted back around, while the ambulance zoomed away, its siren blasting.

      The officer scribbled notes, then turned to look up at Stephanie. “Ms. Maguire?” he said, recognition registering in his tired eyes. “Is that you?”

      “Yes, I’m Stephanie Maguire, from WNT. Do I know you, Officer?”

      “No, but I sure know you. See you on the evening news every night. My wife’s a big fan, too.”

      “Thank you,” Stephanie said, acutely aware of the stranger’s dark, disapproving gaze. “Do you have any more questions?”

      “Yes, ma’am,” the officer said, getting back to business. “What were you doing out here, anyway?”

      “I…I had dinner at the restaurant I mentioned,” Stephanie explained again. “I was out front looking for a cab.”

      “And that’s when you saw the attack?”

      “Yes. I heard loud voices, then looked down the street and saw those two attacking this man.”

      The policeman turned to the stranger then. “And who are you?”

      Silence, then a grunt. “Derek Kane.”

      “And you just happened around the corner, Mr. Kane?”

      “Yeah,” the man said, his face lost in the shadows, his hands buried in the slanted pockets of his leather jacket. “I had some business at a law office in the next building.”

      “Kinda late for business, ain’t it?”

      “My lawyer keeps long hours.”

      “I see. So you happened upon this attack and decided to get in the thick of things?”

      The stranger let out a sigh, then lifted his head to glare at the officer. “I happened upon Ms. Maguire here telling them to let the man go. I was afraid they’d turn on her, so yeah, I stepped in then.”

      “To protect Ms. Maguire?”

      “To stop Ms. Maguire from doing something stupid.” The look he gave her told her that he considered her exactly that.

      Appalled, Stephanie placed a hand on her hip and glared right back at the man. He had his nerve. She could have handled things. But, she had to admit, she had sure been glad when his deep voice had boomed out behind her. He had saved both the homeless man and her. She’d give him credit for that, at least.

      “Thank you so much,” she said on a sweet note, her own Southern drawl coming through in spite of all the diction and voice lessons she’d taken in college to get rid of it.

      She was rewarded with another grunt.

      Then Jonathan came strolling up, his chest puffed out, his hands on his hips, not a hair out of place. “Stephanie, everything okay here?”

      “And your name?” the cop asked.

      “Jonathan Delmore,” Jonathan stated with his nose in the air. “I was with Ms. Maguire earlier.”

      “Then you saw the whole thing, too?”

      “No, not really. I…I warned Stephanie to stay away. It wasn’t safe. But she insisted on coming right down here. I…I went back inside the restaurant to get help.”

      He said this with a bit of reprimand, which only fueled Stephanie’s already red-hot opinion of him. He had gone back inside the restaurant to stay safe, and they both knew it.

      “He’s right,” the cop said, nodding his head. “You could have been hurt, too, Ms. Maguire.”

      “I had to stop them from killing that old man,” she replied, her gaze locking with Jonathan’s, and then Derek’s. She refused to let either one of them make her feel guilty or inadequate for helping someone in need.

      Derek Kane glanced from Stephanie to Jonathan, then rolled his eyes. The expression on his face told her everything she needed to know. He thought they were both stupid.

      Thinking she’d gone from a blind date with a self-centered golden boy to running smack into the original caveman, Stephanie made another pledge to give up on the male species.

      “Okay,” the cop said, slapping his notebook shut. “We might need you all down at the station later for a statement. I’ll need your addresses and phone numbers.”

      Caveman grunted again, then pulled the officer to the side. In a quiet voice that Stephanie could barely hear, he gave the officer the information he needed, which he obviously didn’t think anyone else needed to know.

      But years of eavesdropping on conversations had given Stephanie good information-gathering skills. Straining toward the two men, she heard the words landscaper and lake, but she didn’t get the phone number or the precise address down.

      Then Jonathan proudly gave his name and work number, stressing the prestigious address of both his apartment building and his work building.

      Satisfied, the officer turned back to Stephanie. “Can I reach you at the station, Ms. Maguire, if I need anything else?”

      She handed him a business card from her purse. “Sure. And I might need you all for comments. I think I’d like to do a story on this.” She looked straight at Derek Kane then. “After all, Mr. Kane, you’re a hero. You stepped in to save this man when everyone else around here refused to get involved.” With that comment, she once again glared at Jonathan.

      Derek Kane stepped back into the light then, the look on his face catching Stephanie and pinning her to the sidewalk. “No story.”

      “What? But…I have to do a story. Crime is a big issue in Atlanta, and few people want to get involved when someone is being brutalized. People need to know that there are still Good Samaritans like you who are willing to help out a fellow human being.”

      He stepped closer, his face inches from hers, his eyes such a dark gray, she immediately thought about smoke and fog and the granite that formed Stone Mountain. “I said no story, lady. And I mean that.”

      Turning to the police officer, he repeated all of it. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep me anonymous, understand?”

      The officer, although clearly surprised, nodded grudgingly. “If you say so.”

      Derek Kane looked straight at Stephanie. “I say so.”

      Shaking in her pumps, Stephanie nonetheless stood her ground. “So you’re refusing to cooperate?”

      “Yep.”

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