by Susan Stoker
“Koren, seriously, I’m in the middle of—”
“Just look at it,” Koren interrupted. “I know you’re busy, and I wouldn’t interrupt you if it wasn’t an emergency.”
She heard Beth sigh. “Okay. Hang on. Right, it’s a picture of Taco.”
“Read the caption,” Koren told her. She heard Beth reading the caption under her breath.
“Okay, I read it.”
“It has Taco’s name. His real name. I didn’t think anything of it until my friends saw it—and were surprised. He doesn’t tell anyone his real name,” Koren said urgently.
“Shit!” Beth said.
“Exactly,” Koren replied.
“I’m still confused,” Sue said from next to her.
More to her friend than Beth, Koren said, “We thought the only one who really knew Taco’s name was Jen. And probably her minions. But, if it was in the paper, then it opens up the suspect list considerably.”
“Oh!” Vicky exclaimed.
“But it’s more than that,” Beth said in Koren’s ear.
“What?” She turned her attention back to the phone.
“I remember this fire. That kid Taco’s holding died. He’d been inside the burning house too long. He’d been passed out from drinking his mom’s alcohol stash.”
“Oh, shit. I remember that now too,” Koren said.
“Apparently the mother got home just as he was coming out of the house with her son,” Beth said. “She was freaking out and yelling all sorts of threats at Taco. I’m not saying she’s behind this, but she was definitely enraged, and since his real name was in the paper, she could’ve seen it. She wouldn’t know what his nickname was, wouldn’t know that he never uses Hudson.”
“Why was she mad at Taco?” Koren asked. “He risked his life to go in and try to save her son.”
“I have no idea. And maybe this isn’t it, but it’s worth looking into. I gotta go. I need to call Cade.”
“Okay.”
“Koren?” Beth asked before she could hang up.
“Yeah?”
“Good job. This could be huge.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Koren clicked off the phone and brought the picture of Taco back up. Looking at it now, it was even more tragic than before. The child he was carrying was dead. Had already passed away before Taco could get to him. That had to have hurt Taco.
“Kor, what in the world was that?” Sue asked.
She spent the next few minutes telling her friends what Beth had just told her. “It doesn’t mean she’s the one doing this, but it gives Beth someone else to look into.”
“How’re you holding up?” Vicky asked. “I mean, this whole situation is pretty intense.”
Koren nodded. “It is. Taco and I got into a fight about it the other day.”
“You did?” Sue asked.
“Yeah. He tried to break up with me.”
“What? That asshole,” Vicky said with a scowl.
“He was terrified after Moose’s barn was burned down and told me he was doing it to keep me safe,” Koren explained.
“Save us from macho men,” Sue said with a roll of her eyes.
“What did you tell him?” Vicky asked.
“Well, after getting pissed and telling him off, I agreed and told him to get out.”
Both Vicky and Sue gasped.
“You didn’t! What’d he say?” Sue asked.
“He changed his mind and wouldn’t leave.”
“Quit telling us the story in bits and pieces,” Vicky complained. “Spit it out.”
“Fine. After his friend’s barn went up in flames, he didn’t call to tell me, the other women did. I learned all about it, and about Smokey, from them. I called and left a message and he still didn’t contact me. When he did finally show up here, he was remote, cold. I knew he was going to break up with me, and I was so angry that I was fine with it. I was done. He tried to tell me he was breaking up with me to keep me safe, but that was such bullshit. I mean, if he wanted to keep me safe, he would’ve been with me. But instead, he was throwing me to the wolves, at least that’s what it felt like. So I told him that. Then he realized I was right, and when I tried to agree with him that we were done, he said he wasn’t leaving.”
Koren took a deep breath, remembering how hurt she’d been. “We went back and forth a bit more, and finally I gave in.”
“Well, thank God,” Sue said.
“Hey! I thought you’d be pissed on my behalf,” Koren said.
“I am. But, Kor, I’ve never seen you as happy as you’ve been the last month or so. Don’t think we don’t know how much you crave having someone in your life. You’ve never begrudged us our husbands and families, but it’s obvious you want one of your own. And Taco obviously makes you happy. You stood up to him and let him know he was being a dick. Let him know you wouldn’t put up with that bullshit. He reassessed, realized you were right, and fought to keep you. If he’d up and left, you would’ve known he wasn’t the man for you. But he didn’t. He realized he’d fucked up and stayed.”
Her friend was right. She would’ve lost all respect for Taco if he’d left, and she wasn’t sure she would’ve accepted him back if he’d changed his mind later. And now, after time to think about it, him wanting to keep her safe was nice. He hadn’t gone about it in the right way, but the sentiment was nice.
“I really like him,” Koren told her friends.
In tandem, both Vicky and Sue rolled their eyes.
“Duh,” Vicky said.
“But seriously, I’m glad it’s working out,” Sue added.
“Me too,” Koren said with a smile.
Vicky left shortly thereafter so she could get home to put her son to bed. Sue was going to stay longer, but her husband called and started sweet-talking her, so she left not too long after Vicky did.
Koren made sure all the doors were locked before she went upstairs to bed. Feeling paranoid in light of everything that was going on, she peeked out the window before heading to the bathroom to get ready.
Everything looked normal. The streetlights were on and she didn’t see any cars she didn’t recognize. There weren’t any crazy people running around with pitchforks or anything.
Chuckling at her overactive imagination, Koren dropped the curtain and headed into her bedroom. She’d call Taco after she was in bed. If he was able to get some privacy, maybe they could have some fun over the phone.
Nadine parked down the street and turned off her lights. She’d been waiting forever for one of the bitches to leave the girlfriend’s condo. She needed to get to Koren, and using one of her friends was just the way to do it.
After the barn fire, the firefighters had been far more cautious, which was annoying. Nadine was having a hard time finding opportunities to mess with the rest of them. So she’d decided to forgo her plans and just move on to the grand finale.
She was tired.
Tired of living without Stevie.
Tired of doing whatever her dealer wanted so she could get the drugs her body craved.
She was ready to be done with it all.
Her life sucked.
She’d lost her job, had no money, was living in a piece-of-shit trailer, and she was bending over two or three times a day just to get a fix.
She was done.
But before she went out in a blaze of glory, she had to make sure Hudson suffered.
The woman she’d followed home opened her garage door and pulled her yuppie Highlander inside.
Nadine clenched her teeth. She needed to get ahold of the bitch’s cell phone. Had to get her number. The entire plan hinged on it.
She had the perfect way to make Hudson regret he hadn’t tried harder to save her son. But she needed to know either this or the other bitch’s phone number.
Feeling restless, knowing she had a rock in her car ready to be injected, Nadine pressed her lips together in frustration.
&
nbsp; Then, as if a miracle was being delivered from above, a man walked out of the house toward the mailbox. He put a few letters inside and raised the flag before heading back to the house.
Impatiently, Nadine waited another twenty minutes to make sure the occupants of the house were busy. Then she silently climbed out of her car and walked down the sidewalk. She had the mailbox open and the letters in her hand in seconds.
Praying that they were what she needed, she waited until she was back inside her car before glancing at them.
Bingo.
Bills. Three of them. And a check usually accompanied a bill.
Not able to wait a second longer, Nadine tore open the first letter and pulled out the check.
Right there at the top was the bitch’s name and address…and a phone number.
Shaking with excitement, Nadine folded the check and placed it in her back pocket.
It was about time something went right in her life.
Not caring that she was in a middle-class neighborhood and anyone could walk by or look out their window and see her, Nadine reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the small bit of meth she’d been saving. She prepared a syringe to slam it into her vein. She knew slamming wasn’t safe, but since it took only seconds to get a good high when she injected it straight into her bloodstream, it was preferable to smoking it.
Her hands were shaking by the time she got the meth dissolved she shot it into her arm, and almost immediately, the familiar feeling of euphoria washed over her.
Pulling the needle out, she threw it on the floorboard of the passenger side and started her car. Tomorrow she’d go to the library and log into SpoofTel, the website that allowed her to purchase credits to the app. She could then send a text to anyone, masking her number behind someone else’s…namely, Hudson’s bitch’s friend.
Excitement rose up within Nadine. It was almost time. She couldn’t wait.
Chapter Sixteen
“How did we not realize the paper published Taco’s real name?” Squirrel asked as he paced back and forth in the large common room in the fire station.
Sledge had just gotten off the phone with Beth, and she’d told him what Koren’s friends had innocently discovered.
“No clue,” Taco said. “But this isn’t exactly good news. It means that instead of just having Jen and her followers to investigate, the possibilities are practically endless. With that picture on the Internet, literally anyone could’ve seen it.”
“I hadn’t remembered that crazy lady at the scene where we pulled out that teenage boy until Beth mentioned it,” Sledge said. “It could be her.”
“It could be,” Taco agreed. “But we’ve been at other scenes with hysterical family members. Remember that car accident the other week with that drunk driver? That girl’s mom was yelling at us to do something to save her daughter, and when the police tried to tell her it was no use, that it was too late, she still screamed at us.”
“True. But this woman bears looking into,” Sledge pressed.
“I agree,” Driftwood said. “But the question still remains…why you? What are you, specifically, supposed to be sorry about?” Driftwood asked.
“Sorry he didn’t save someone?” Sledge asked.
“Sorry for being too abrupt at a scene?” Squirrel threw out.
“I. Don’t. Know!” Taco bit out. “Look, I haven’t been Mr. Congeniality at scenes, but none of us are, really. We’re too worried about trying to save lives. I’ve also dated a bunch of girls from all those online dating sites, but I wasn’t an asshole. I didn’t promise anyone anything, and most of them were only first dates anyway.”
“Calm down,” Crash said.
“How can I calm down?” Taco seethed, running a hand through his hair in agitation. “I apparently did something I’m supposed to be sorry about, but I have no idea what. Some crazy person is now punishing my friends in order to get back at me. We don’t know what they have planned next and who might be their next target. My girlfriend is having a hard time dealing with all the drama I’ve brought into her life, and I can’t say I blame her.”
He took a deep breath and collapsed onto one of the couches. “I feel as if someone is going to pop out from behind a corner and tell me I’m on candid camera or something. But whoever is behind this is right about one thing. I’m so sorry that this is affecting all of you.” Taco looked at Penelope. “I’m sorry, Tiger. So fucking sorry. If Smokey could understand me, I’d apologize to him too.”
“Stop it,” Moose ordered. “This is not your fault.”
“Apparently it is!” Taco countered. “If not for whatever it was that I did, this wouldn’t be happening. Smokey wouldn’t be traumatized. Penelope wouldn’t be withdrawn and pissed at me. Crash would still have his car, you’d still have a barn and chickens.”
“Beth is gonna figure this out,” Sledge said from a chair across the room.
“Stop with the pity party, man,” Chief threw in.
“I’m not pissed at you,” Penelope added.
Taco took a deep breath and looked around at his friends. “How do we keep our women safe? That’s what’s bothering me the most. What if whoever this is decides to shoot Koren? Or kidnap Blythe? Or somehow hurt any of the others? I feel so helpless.”
“They know to be careful,” Driftwood said. “Unfortunately, we can’t just stop our lives and barricade ourselves at home. I get it, the last thing I want is for Quinn to have to go through anything like what she went through at the hands of that psycho bitch Jen again. But I have to trust her to be smart. To be safe. I know if she feels the slightest bit uneasy, she’ll call me. They all know that.”
“I know, I just…I have this feeling that the shit’s gonna hit the fan, and I hate not being able to do a damn thing about it,” Taco said.
“Try feeling that way for months and months at a time,” Penelope murmured.
Everyone turned to look at her.
Tiger didn’t talk about her feelings. Ever. It was as if she’d become a robot after coming back from Turkey and being held captive by ISIS. This was the first time she’d said anything even remotely about her feelings on the ordeal.
“Every time you walk into a store, you wonder if someone’s watching you. When you go home at night, you lay awake staring at the ceiling, wondering what it was that you did to deserve to be kidnapped and terrorized. I wish I could tell you that the feeling of helplessness goes away…but I can’t,” Penelope said softly.
“Tiger—” Taco said, but she held up a hand, stopping him.
“Koren’s the lucky one. She’s unblemished by the shit life throws at us. She’s got a good family, friends, job…the worst she’s probably suffered in her lifetime is the death of a grandparent or a pet. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. She’s lucky. I’m completely envious. But if something happens, she’ll be okay. She’s got you. And her family.”
“You’ve got us,” Sledge said quietly. “I’m your family by blood, but everyone sitting here is your family as well. Whatever you need, we’ll bend over backward to make sure you have it.”
“I know,” Penelope said.
“I don’t think you do,” Moose said. “You’re shutting us out. We all know it. You know it. Let us help you, Pen.”
“I’m gonna go lie down,” she replied instead, standing and avoiding eye contact with everyone.
“Tiger—” Sledge said, but she held up her hand again and walked out of the room.
“Damn it!” Moose said in frustration.
No one else said anything, as they were just as frustrated as Moose. With Penelope. With the fires. With not knowing who was behind them and why. And about not being able to be with their women so they could protect them.
The next day, Beth called to talk to Taco.
“What do you know about this woman whose son was killed in that fire?” she asked.
“That’s easy. Nothing. Why?”
“I’ve been looking into her. Looks like she got divorced a whi
le ago and was raising her son by herself. In the year or so before he was killed, he’d been getting into more and more trouble at school. At first it was petty stuff, but in the last four months before the fire, he’d actually been suspended twice.”
“And?” Taco asked.
“And nothing. I’m just saying. Her name is Nadine Patterson, and her husband was having affairs. She took him to the cleaners in the divorce and was awarded a ton of money in both child support and alimony. Preston, the ex, was upset, and claimed she would spend it all on drugs, and when he pressed his lawyers to make her do a blood test, they said he didn’t have enough proof of her drug use to get the judge to order one.”
“You scare me, Beth,” Taco said. “I have no idea how you find this stuff.”
“I’m good,” she said without conceit. “Anyway, before the fire, Nadine Patterson looked like your normal single mother on paper. She had a fairly good job, and her credit cards weren’t maxed out, even though they had pretty good balances on them. But…the money her ex paid her every month was withdrawn almost as soon as it cleared. I can’t find any record of where she was spending it.”
“Was she spending it on drugs?” Taco guessed.
“Possibly. She was given a citation for DUI when she showed up at the scene of the fire, but because of the circumstances, I think she was let off easy.”
“And she was the one who was going crazy that night, right?” Taco asked.
“Right.”
“So where is she now?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know. She stopped showing up to work, withdrew all her money from her accounts and disappeared.”
“No one just disappears,” Taco said. “She has to be somewhere.”
“That’s what I thought too, but honestly, Taco, she hasn’t used a credit card, and I can’t find her anywhere.”
“Do you think it’s her?” Taco asked.
Beth sighed. “My gut says yes, but my research says it’s unlikely.”
“What do the cops say?”
“They’re still working on it,” Beth said in exasperation. “It’s a good thing I work for the government and not the local cops or Texas Rangers. They have so many rules and regulations they have to follow. I get it, I do…privacy rights and all that, but it takes absolutely forever to get anything done.”
