Free Sin's Haven by Carlene Love Flores Page A

light and he puffed out some
smoke, sneering. For one second, Ben considered going after them and returning
the favor to one of their backs but another noise caught his ear and another
shot of pain came alive in his side, reminding him why that probably wasn’t a good idea . A large man came into view. Not another one, he thought. Ben balled
up his fist, knowing he was outnumbered, prepared to do his best at defending himself. God keep Haven inside. Please.
    ****
    “Hey Manny, you
ready to head out?” Hazel asked, trying not to yawn. “ Mmm ,
my neck,” she said to herself as she tried stretching the kinked up, tight
knots out. Manny came up the hallway from the back and handed her the keys.
    “Back door’s
locked, alarm is set. Let’s get home.”
    “Sounds
good, buddy.” And it did sound good. Three straight days of
double shifts, self-inflicted as they were, had her feeling stiff. But she
wouldn’t complain too much. She’d dodged a lot by staying busy. The physical
aches and pains were easier to deal with than the wayward emotional ones. “Oh,
did we lock the side door?” she asked Manny.
    “I’ll go see.”
    While Manny went
to check the lock, Hazel pulled the drapes closed to the front of the club and
then the sides, blacking out any view from the outside through the club’s large
windows.
    “All set. We’re
good.”
    “Another night
put to rest, my friend.”
    Manny just
smiled and held the front door open then exited behind her.
    She loved the
month of March at night. The calm before the heat of summer
and the occasional revisiting of winter. There was rarely a cloud in the
sky at midnight and whether it was just habit or intentional, Hazel always took
one glance up at the stars. Sometimes it was to question and often it was to
appreciate. Tonight, there were clouds. She twisted her mouth at that and
bundled up her apron in the crook of her arm as she and Manny made their way to
the parking lot. Manny had a small bag of trash to dump. So she gave him a
quick hug and waved him off as she went to her truck.
    Not a few
seconds later, she heard him curse.
    “Ah shit. Hey
man, are you okay?” he asked someone in his husky voice.
    Who was Manny
talking to? Who wasn’t okay?
    She ran over to
meet him at the trash bin.
    What she found
when she caught up was Ben, leaning against the hood of a Mini Cooper, with a
busted, bleeding lip. His wool hat was barely holding on to his head but he
straightened up as soon as he saw her. It was obvious he was hurt when he
winced.
    “Oh my God, what
happened?”
    He refused to
look at her.
    “Ben? Do you
need to go to the hospital?” she asked while Manny stood on guard. If whoever
had done this to Ben was still hanging around, they would know they’d have a
fight on their hands. Manny’s face showed a fraction of what Hazel knew he was
capable of. Ben on the other hand, had a bleeding lower lip that had swollen to
the size of an orange slice. The way he was grabbing his side, however, worried
her that he could have something internal going on.
    “Mm, I just
needed to talk to you.” His voice sounded rough as he pushed himself off the
hood of the car. If it was his, she hoped he’d consider leaving it here. Which surprised her because for the first time in a year, she had
absolutely no qualms about bringing a man to her apartment.
    “Okay.” She
didn’t want to push him. The way he kept his head tilted down worried her. That kind of gesture could mean too many things like he was
embarrassed or in denial. Maybe it was a guy thing and admitting he’d
been beaten up in front of Manny was just not going to happen. Unwilling to let
him go on alone, she offered, “Ben, we could talk at my place, if that’s okay?”
    He probably
didn’t mean to grunt but when he tried to push the rest of the way off his car,
he let one out.
    “If you’re okay
with it, I’ll drive us in your car,” she said, not wanting him to worry about
leaving it and knowing her 4-Runner