Before Reggie could open the truck door, a man walked out of the house. Billy Clyde looked like a Marine. He stood way over six feet and could pass for a body builder.
African-American. She hadn’t expected that. With a name like Billy Clyde and living in the mountains of West Virginia, she’d assumed he’d be a redneck of some sort. A geeky, skinny computer whiz, pale, with black glasses taped in the middle and a pocket protector.
Don’t be so judgmental.
The man wore his hair military style, but it was sprinkled with enough gray to make him appear distinguished, wise, and a decade or more older than Dylan.
“Monroe. What are you doing here, boy?” The man’s booming voice filled the garage.
“We’ve got a little problem.” Dylan stepped out of the truck and walked over. The two men clasped each other by the shoulder.
Reggie hopped out and walked up to them.
“That explains why a beautiful woman is with you. I knew there had to be a logical reason. For a minute, I thought maybe you kidnapped her.” The giant of a man turned to Reggie and held out his hand. “Glad to meet you. My name’s Billy Clyde Addams but you can just call me Billy.”
Billy’s hand dwarfed her own as they shook. “I’m Reggie Meyers. Sorry we just dropped in like this but—”
“It’s not a problem. Have you eaten breakfast yet?”
“No, but we don’t want to be any trouble.” Reggie answered.
Dylan started laughing. “Don’t let her kid you, Billy Clyde. She was just telling me she was starving and hoped you had food.”
Her face grew warm as she glared at Dylan. Didn’t he have any manners? “I never said—”
“Good, I was just about to fix something for myself, anyway. Welcome to my humble abode, Reggie.”
He opened the door and motioned for her to go in, but Dylan put a hand on her arm.
“Where are the dogs, Billy Clyde?”
“Don’t worry, they’re outside.” Billy shook his head and chuckled. Looking at her, he said, “He’s afraid of my cute little puppies.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call those German Shepherds of yours puppies or little.” Dylan removed his hand.
Reggie was expecting to see an old-fashioned cook stove or even a fireplace. Instead, she stepped into a modern spacious kitchen. She smiled to hide her embarrassment.
“What, did you think I was living in some log cabin out in the middle of nowhere like a hermit?” Billy Clyde laughed. “Not me. I like my luxuries.”
“I can see that. I admit I expected things to be a little more primitive, but your home is beautiful.”
“I’ll show you around later. Any requests for breakfast?” He looked at Reggie.
“Maybe an egg, and if you have some high fiber bread, I’ll take that.”
“Reggie’s diabetic. She needs to eat healthy and unfortunately, we haven’t had much time for eating since we found the bomb under my truck.” Dylan explained.
“Dylan, my boy, you draw danger like a magnet.” Billy nodded for them to be seated. “Take a load off. I’ll cook breakfast while you give me every detail, and don’t leave anything out.”
Reggie stared open-mouthed.
Dylan had just told him a bomb had been under his truck and he acted as if they had a flat tire. Who was this man?
Billy motioned them towards the breakfast island in the middle of the huge room.
Reggie and Dylan sat next to each other on stools facing Billy.
“That’s the problem. We have no idea what’s going on, except someone wants Reggie dead.”
She thought Billy would be shocked by Dylan’s announcement, but he nodded and kept cooking. Dylan and Reggie took turns telling him what had happened the day before. The whole thing sounded like a Hollywood film. She couldn’t believe it had happened in one day and to her.
Billy brought over platters filled with toast, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, and set a bowl in front of Reggie.
“Grits. They’re low on the Glycemic Index. Very healthy or so my nutritionist tells me. The bread is multi-grain, as well. My nutritionist is a bully..” He patted his belly, which looked more like muscle than fat to her. “I’ve got to watch my girlish figure, you know.”
“Thanks. It looks great.”She grinned as she spooned scrambled eggs with cheese and some of the grits onto her plate.
Dylan scooped several large dollops of eggs and added bacon and sausage.
Billy balanced a milk carton, a butter plate, and a coffee-filled carafe as he walked back to the kitchen island. He sat and began loading his own plate.
A voice called from the other room. “What smells so good?” A short woman walked into the kitchen. When she saw Dylan her eyes widened, but then a huge grin covered her face. She walked over to him. “Dylan, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see my favorite woman in the world. Well, favorite, after my mama.” He jumped off the stool, bent down and hugged her, then turned back to Reggie. “This is Theresa. Billy Clyde’s wife.”
“And my nutritionist.” Billy laughed.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Theresa reached up, patted Dylan’s cheek, then laughed. While Billy was a bear of a man, Theresa was the opposite of him, petite and slim, with a short haircut that had reddish blonde highlights mixed in with the brown. Her hot pink pajamas and white fluffy slippers completed the picture.
Another stereotype gone. Reggie assumed Billy Clyde, the computer nerd, lived alone in the middle of nowhere, with no social graces. Wrong again. Instead, he had an adorable-looking wife.
Theresa hugged Billy. She turned and looked at the mountain of food on the counter. She looked back at her husband and raised an eyebrow. “If I’m your nutrionist, that doesn’t look like my recommendation.”
“Sure it does, hon. There’s the eggs and the multi-grain bread, and I even have grits.” He held out his plate.
“Yeah, topped with enough butter to kill a cow.” She turned to Dylan. “He’s got high cholesterol. He’s fighting the doctor and me on what he should and shouldn’t eat.”
She picked up the plate of bacon and sausage.
“That’s for our guests. Not for me.” Billy said with a sheepish smile. He looked down at his plate. “I don’t have any idea how those got on my plate, hon. Monroe, must have done it while I was looking at your breathtaking beauty.”
“What brings you here?” Theresa asked, and then laughed at her husband as she hopped on stool and looked at Dylan.
After a quick recap, they settled in for breakfast. As they ate, they discussed Reggie’s dilemma.
“It sounds surreal. You have no idea who’s trying to kill you or why?” Theresa asked.
“Not one.” Reggie admitted. “I haven’t been working long enough to get any real enemies. Plus, I’m only an assistant at this point. The firm insists all new attorneys intern for a full year.”
“I couldn’t believe they found us in Pennsylvania at the motel.” Dylan said. “The only way they could was to have access to Reggie’s credit card information. I thought you might be able to help us out with that one.”
“I can find out who was looking at her credit records but it still might not tell us what we need to know.” Billy nodded. “But who knows, we might be blessed with information.”
“Are you telling me you not only can access my credit records, but you can find out who else has been looking at them?” Reggie stared from Dylan to Billy.
“Just like that.” Billy snapped his fingers. He took his empty plate to the sink and walked back. He picked up the ketchup bottle and butter. “That’ll be the easy part.”
Theresa stood and collected the dirty dishes. “Hey, Dylan, how’s the no smoking thing going?”
“Well,” He drew the word out into two syllables. “After being shot at, knocked over the head, and a bomb on my truck, I had a moment of weakness and bought a pack at the motel. But thanks to Reggie, I resisted.”
“She threw them away?” Theresa laughed and clapped. “Bravo. I guess if you can get through all that without a cigarette, you can get through anything.”
“Guess so.” Dylan pushed out his chest. “I am now officially a non-smoker.” He pulled out a pack of gum and offered it to the group. They all started laughing. Dylan asked, “What’s so funny?”
“I’ll help clean up. The food was terrific, Billy. Thanks, I really needed it.” Reggie looked at Theresa. “I have Type One diabetes.”
“That’s not good. With all that’s been going on, I can’t imagine you’ve been eating right.” Theresa stacked the dirty dishes on top of each other beside the sink.
“Theresa’s a registered nurse. She says I’m her favorite patient.” Billy puffed out his chest.
Theresa snorted and gave him a look. “Billy Clyde, you’re my only patient, except when I volunteer at the hospital two days a week.” Theresa turned on the hot water, spraying dish soap into the sink. After loading the dirty dishes, she turned back to Reggie. “I quit my full time job when we moved out here.
Billy and Dylan made their way to the basement. “She’s gonna love having someone else to fuss over.” Billy shouted over his shoulder. “Reggie, come down after Theresa gives you the lecture I know is coming.”
Theresa playfully slammed the door to the basement. Folding her arms, she gave a tsk, tsk and shook her head at Reggie. “Girl, you’ve got to take care of yourself. Stress, plus diabetes, equals disaster.”
“It’s kind of hard to reduce stress when someone is trying to kill you.”
“That it is, young lady. That it is.”