Annie's Neighborhood (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Roz Denny Fox Page A

smile as she patted Annie’s hand. “Don’t worry, I’m going to heal and be good as new. I promised the women who helped us today that they could count on my help with their homes. I intend to keep that promise. It burns my you-know-what the way those cowards bully innocent people.” She continued her rant as two of the men wheeled her out.
    Koot took a couple of steps to follow his wife, then stopped and shot Annie a helpless expression.
    “It’s okay.” She waved him on. “I won’t hold her to anything she said tonight.”
    Sky shifted the broom to his left hand and urged Annie toward the door. “I meant what I said about you going along to the E.R. for treatment. And the paramedic expects you to go, as well. I’ll stay and sweep up the glass, and see what I can find in your garage to cover that window until morning. Then you can call a glass company to repair it properly.”
    “Again.” Annie sighed. “Repair the window again. I had it fixed the afternoon of the break-in. I should’ve kept the glass company’s invoice,” she lamented. “Wait—George Gilroy called them. Maybe he’s still got their phone number.”
    “That’s another thing,” Sky said. “I’ll check with the Gilroys and Spurlocks. Maybe they saw more than Dawson. I know your next-door neighbors are skittish, Annie, but I’m surprised they haven’t come over to see if you’re okay.”
    A fireman who’d lingered to escort Annie to the aid car arched an eyebrow. “Cordova, it sounds as if you’re battling something bigger than standard, low-level gang mischief. If it’s a vendetta against this woman, then maybe you should arrange a safe house for her after the docs fix her up tonight.”
    Annie sputtered objections from the doorway as her escort hustled her out. “My poor neighbors are probably huddled in their bedrooms in the dark, afraid for their lives,” she called back to Sky. “Please don’t frighten them more.”
    Sky stepped to the door, assuring her he’d be calm and composed when what he wanted to do was put his fist through a wall. He hated feeling powerless against this gang. He hated the fact that they’d retaliated against Annie for no reason other than her unwillingness to hide. Instead, she cleaned the graffiti off her house and refused to back down from her plan to organize folks and take back the neighborhood. He didn’t like that they were stepping up their crimes. And to have this drive-by happen right under his nose galled him no end.
    After the entourage left, Sky spent a few minutes guessing at the angle of the first bullet. He took photos with his cell phone and experienced some satisfaction when he found a slug in the wall. Leaving it, he went out to his car for an evidence kit. He carefully removed the slug and saw that it bore trace evidence of blood, obviously Sadie’s. He recalled the second shot, which exploded the window, going wide of the table. After a few minutes’ examination, he discovered that slug embedded high in the wooden molding that framed the dining room ceiling. Climbing onto a chair to retrieve it, he then tucked the evidence bag in his shirt pocket and turned to the task of sweeping up glass. He also heeded the words of the fireman who’d warned them about properly disposing of the leftover pizza. Ultimately he decided to put the trash bag in his car to throw in the Dumpster behind the police station. Sky doubted even hungry drunks were stupid enough to rummage through the department’s garbage.
    As bad luck would have it, Annie didn’t own a board big enough to cover her window. Sky visited the homes on either side of hers to see if the neighbors had anything he could use. Neither couple answered his knock. Annie had probably been right that they were hiding in fear. Since he couldn’t force them out, he made do with some two-by-sixes that were in Annie’s garage. He nailed two of them in a big X over the jagged opening and put two others on the inside. Once he’d