by Evelyn Glass
“You’re crazy!”
He chuckled. “Trust an old man on this. I can tell by the way he looks at you.”
“Sure he is. He almost kicked my ass out this morning.”
“But he didn’t, did he? And I’m sorry to have to say this, but you haven’t been treating him fairly.”
That stung. “I know,” she said softly. “I apologized to him this morning.”
“I think you needed the wakeup call.”
“I did. But why do you think he’s sweet on me?”
“Despite opinion to the contrary, women aren’t the only ones with intuition. He may not even know it himself, but when he looks at you, when he talks about you, there’s a softness there I have never seen before. I may be wrong, but I don’t think I am.”
“He’s never said anything to me.”
James shrugged then chuckled. “He’s still a man, Daisy. I’m too old now to worry about such crap, but men aren’t supposed to show their feelings and all that. If I’m right, give him time. He’s a smart guy. He’ll figure it out.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
He shrugged. “Then I’m wrong. You’re no worse off than you were before, are you?”
“No, I suppose not. But what about you? Why do you care? You’ve dodged the question both times.”
He grinned. “Me? I’m easy. I want to keep you around so I can look at you.”
She barked out a laugh. “Is that so?”
His smile softened. “Actually…I always wanted a little girl. But after Kyle was born, Susan developed Adenomyosis and had to have a hysterectomy.” He paused, but he hadn’t answered the question so she waited him out. “If we were to have a daughter, I would like to think she’d be a lot like you.”
Her face twisted and she whimpered as she struggled not to cry. “Thank you, James.”
He shrugged and kissed her on the forehead. “You asked. So, now answer my question.”
“What question is that?”
“Do you need help with them taters or not?”
She grinned and picked up the potato again. “No, I’ve got it. Go do some manly stuff.”
His face twisted as he hiked up one hip and let loose with a raucous fart. “How’s that? Or was I supposed to do that on the couch?”
She stood over the sink, potato in one hand, peeler in the other, laughing until she cried.
***
“How’d it go?” Daisy asked Dix as he stepped into the trailer.
“Not good. They’re afraid.”
“Who wouldn’t be?”
“We’re doing all we can!”
She made placating gestures with her hands. “I know. But getting a phone call threatening to kidnap your daughters…I know exactly how she feels.”
He sighed. “I know. We’re stretched to the breaking point now. Covering OMP and Terrill’s, plus all their wives, plus their kids, we simply don’t have the manpower to do that for long.”
“Which is probably why they’re doing it.”
“Probably,” he agreed. He’d just returned from pulling his two-hour shift watching the Wells family. Donna Wells had received a phone call while Cale was there threatening to kidnap her daughters while at school. Donna had a come apart and it had taken all of Cale’s and Randy’s persuasion to keep her from pulling the kids out of school, packing a bag, and leaving town.
“There’s only one more week of school, then you won’t have to cover that anymore.”
“If we can hold it together that long,” he said as his phone began to ring. He checked the screen but didn’t recognize the number “Dixon.”
“Let me speak to Daisy.”
“Who’s this?”
“Just let me speak to Daisy.”
“Not until you tell me who you are.”
“Leo Watson.”
“Leo! You fucking bastard! Where are you?” he raged.
“Let me speak to Daisy.”
Dix gripped his phone so tight his knuckled turned white, then tapped the speaker button. “She can hear you,” he growled. Try to find out where he is! he mouthed and she nodded.
“What do you want, Leo?”
“I just wanted to let you know Riley is sick.”
Her heart nearly stopped. “Sick how?”
“A cough, a bit of a fever. He’s been calling for you.”
“Where are you? Have you taken him to the doctor?”
“No, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“Where are you?”
Leo chuckled. “I’m sure your pet gorilla would love to know.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she cried.
“If you want to see Riley again, you’re going to have to ask me to forgive you.”
“Fuck you, Leo!”
“I want you beg me to forgive you and to take you back. Hey, Champ! You want to say hi to Mommy?”
They heard a young voice cough. “Mommy?”
“Yes, baby?” she said as tears began to stream down her face.
“When are you coming home?”
“Soon, baby. Mommy will see you soon. Do you know where you are?”
“Daddy’s house.”
“Where’s that? Can you tell Mommy where Daddy’s house is so Mommy can come home?”
“It’s by the—”
Dix could just make out “park with the ducks,” as Riley’s voice disappeared. A park? It was something, at least.
“That’s enough, Champ. Why don’t you go play with Nikki, okay?” Leo said taking over the phone. “Go someplace without your bodyguard and give me a call. We’ll talk about you coming home.”
“You broke my phone, remember? How am I supposed to call?” she snarled.
“Sucks to be you. You’re supposed be so fucking smart. You figure it out.”
When the phone bleeped, he slid it off the table as Daisy rose without a word and walked to the bedroom. With a sigh he rose and followed her. If I ever catch that sadistic son of a bitch, I’ll kill him!
***
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Donna! You need to calm down!” Cale said. There were cops everywhere trying to get a handle on the situation, and Donna’s histrionics weren’t helping.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” she screamed. “You said you could protect us! You said we would be safe!”
“You need to go,” Randy said firmly.
“Randy,” Dix said, drawing him away. Cale wasn’t getting anywhere so he thought he’d try. Not that the Cutthroats had a leg to stand on. If someone had ridden up and shot up his house, he’d be pissed off, too. “We’re doing the best we can. Rog took a bullet for you tonight. What else do you expect us to do?”
“I don’t know, but what you’re doing isn’t enough!”
“If you want to take your family and leave town for a few days, I understand. But if you knuckle under now, the Firechrome will know they’ve gotten to you. If they organized a hit, they have to be in town. We’ll find them.”
“You’ve been saying that for two fucking weeks!”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Dix barked. “We’ve been following up on every sighting that could even remotely be the Firechrome!” He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. “Look, I know this shit isn’t supposed to happen in Douglas. But this is what it’s going to be like if the Firechrome move into town. You know that. So unless you plan on selling your house and relocating your business, you need to work with us on this.”
“You expect me to sit around and do nothing while thugs are shooting at my family?”
“I expect you to man the fuck up and help protect not only your family, but the families of your friends and neighbors. That’s what we’re trying to do!”
Randy glared at Dix. “What do you expect me to do?”
“Get your wife calmed down and have her stop making wild accusations to start with. I’ll talk to Cale. You’re obviously their prime target, so we’ll put an escort on you and your family. But we have to start lo
cking your family down as much as possible. No more piano lessons and dance recitals until we get this problem resolved, okay? If Roger getting shot trying to protect you isn’t proof of our commitment, I don’t know what will be.”
Randy glared at him a moment then sighed. “Okay. I’ll talk to her. How is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“When you find out, let me know?”
Dix slapped Randy on the back. “You got it.”
“Let’s go,” Dix said as he walked past Cale.
“We need to—”
“We need to go!” Dix said, talking over him.
Cale followed Dix out to the curb. “What the hell’s your problem, Dix?”
“Look, Randy’s scared, Donna’s scared, and Libby and Melissa are scared. How would you like it if someone came by your house in the middle of the night and shot it full of holes? I talked to Randy and he’ll come around, but not with us in there stirring up the shit with his wife.”
“Goddamnit, this isn’t our fault! What does he expect from us! Roger got shot because of them!” Cale snarled.
“I know it, and Randy knows it, and Donna probably knows it, too. But they need time to calm down before they’ll see that, and you trying to convince them everything is going to be okay is only pissing everyone off because it not fucking okay!”
“Don’t you think I fucking know that?” Cale yelled, getting into Dix’s face, before backing off. “Sorry, brother. It’s not your fault either. We’re overmatched here and I don’t know what to do. They have unlimited resources compared to us and they have us on the defensive. We don’t know when, where, or how they’ll hit next.”
“This will wake up the cops,” Dix said. “Maybe they’ll start taking us a little more seriously now.”
“The Firechrome are turning us into the bad guys,” Cale growled, “and I don’t know how to stop it.”
“I know, but we better figure out something, and fast, before somebody breaks. Once that happens, and they get a toehold, we’re going to be in a world of shit.”
***
After Dix returned in the wee hours of the morning she hadn’t gone back to sleep. Leo’s call last night had upset her to the point she’d slept little, and after he went to sleep, she spent the rest of the morning, sitting in the dark, thinking. She knew Dix and the Cutthroats were trying, but it was time for her to step up. Dix had told her to believe in herself and act when the opportunity presented itself. As she heard the alarm beeping in the bedroom she made up her mind. If she were going to get Riley back, it was up to her.
While Dix and James worked, she drove into Douglas and bought a prepaid phone, then sat in her car as she called Leo. She knew what she was doing was stupid, but she had to see Riley and this appeared to be the only way.
She did as Leo asked, and begged to come back to him, playing her part to the hilt. He’d agreed to meet her, but she was to come alone, he’d be watching, and he’d call her on the way and tell her where they were meeting.
She’d just crossed the Siuslaw River Bridge when her phone rang. “Turn into the motel on your left then stop in front of the office,” Leo said then hung up. She barely had time to slow and make her turn. She did as instructed and a moment later, Leo rode up.
“Nice car,” he sneered as she rolled down her window.
“Is he here?”
“Phone,” he ordered holding out his hand. He took it then threw into traffic.
“I just bought that, you asshole!”
“Follow me,” he said as he moved off.
She followed him as he wound and weaved through town before arriving at a slightly seedy motel on the west side of town. As he dismounted she stepped out of her car.
“Give me a kiss,” he ordered and she did as he demanded, though the feel of his tongue in her mouth was almost enough to make her gag.
He opened the door and Riley was there, alone, lying on the bed watching cartoons. “You left him alone in the room? Are you stupid?” she cried as she moved to Riley.
“He’s fine,” he said waving off her concerns.
He smiled when he saw her, but he wasn’t his normal boisterous five-year-old self. “Mommy!”
“Leo, he’s burning up!” she said as hugged him.
“It’s just a cold.”
“I don’t feel so good,” Riley said then barked out a wet sounding cough.
“I know, baby. Leo, we need to get him to a doctor.”
“I’m not taking him to the fucking doctor over a fucking cold.”
“This is more than a cold, Leo!”
He gave her a dismissive wave. “He just started coming down with it a couple days ago. Jesus, stop being such a pansy ass. We can take him to the doctor when we get to Eugene.”
“Eugene?”
“Yes, Eugene. You and Riley can stay at the clubhouse until I get this thing in Douglas finished. This is my big break, baby. I get this done and I’m a shoe-in for the VP position.”
She had to work hard not to roll her eyes. It was the same shit all over again. “Leo, let’s just take Riley to a doctor and have him looked at, then we can talk about Eugene, okay?”
Leo shook his head. “You think I’m stupid? Is that it? The minute we get to a doctor, you’ll start screaming your head off. I’ll have the club doctor look at him at the clubhouse. He can give him a shot or something.”
She turned her attention back to Riley. She didn’t like the slight wheeze when he breathed. “Leo, this is more than a cold, and I wouldn’t trust that quack to treat my dog, much less Riley.”
“Just shut up about the fucking doctor! The answer is no, and I don’t want to hear another fucking thing about it!”
She could see the rage coming and cringed back. “Okay, anything you say. But when we get to Eugene, right?”
“Yeah. When we get to Eugene.”
“Can we go now? Riley can ride in the car with me.”
Leo smiled, an ugly, cruel, smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “There you go, thinking I’m stupid again. He rides with me.”
“Okay, Leo, okay. But can we go now, before it gets dark? I don’t want him out in the night air.” She decided to lay it on with a trowel. “That’ll give us, you know, more time for other things, too,” she said as she sauntered up to him.
“What’s the matter? Dixon not enough of a man for you?” he asked as he pulled her in for a hard kiss.
“Nobody can satisfy me like you did,” she cooed. “If you’ll get Riley ready to travel, I’m going to go pee.”
“You got it, baby,” he smiled, slapping her on the ass. She always hated that, but said nothing. She didn’t really have to go, but she wanted the time to think of a plan. Finished, she flushed. “Riley, you want to pee-pee before we go?” She waited while Riley did his business, getting her keys into her hand.
“I’m going to go, then we can leave,” Leo said.
The moment she heard the sound of running water she grabbed Riley and dashed for the door. She had to unlock the safety chain and the deadbolt before the door would open.
“What are you doing?” Leo roared, rushing out of the bathroom as she jerked the door open and ran for her car.
She made it to her car and threw Riley inside, slamming her door and locking it just as Leo arrived. Riley was crying in fear as she tried to get the key into the ignition with shaking hands. The door window shattered when Leo smashed it with his gun, shards of glass flying into the car. She shrieked in terror, trying to turn the key as he grabbed her hair and banged her head against the steering wheel, which left her seeing stars, then unlocked her door and dragged her out.
“You thought you could steal my son, you bitch?” he snarled as he backhanded her hard across the face, before squeezing her face painfully tight. “I’ll show you what I do to someone who tries that shit!”
She tried to tear his fingers from her face, kicking and scratching at him as he slammed her backwards into the side of her car. He grabbed her by the hair again
and hauled her off the car before slapping her with his open palm. She went hard to the ground, sobbing.
“Please! You’re hurting me!” she sobbed as she crabbed against the car.
He hauled her to her feet by the hair, putting his face only inches from hers. “I’ll do a lot more than hurt you if you try something like that again,” he snarled before shoving her to the ground again, then kicking her once in the ribs for good measure.
