Keeping What's His: Tate (Porter Brothers Trilogy Book 1)

by Jamie Begley

  “Cut it out!” Tate snapped, leaving them behind. He hadn’t waited an hour to talk to her to miss the chance because of their squabbling. When Greer was bored he inevitably resorted to picking a fight to relieve his boredom. He didn’t care who it was, as long as they would give him a good fight. Unfortunately it usually was his brothers because they were around each other so much, and they liked a good fight as much as he did. Because Dustin was younger and a dirty fighter who usually ended up kicking both their asses, while Tate and Greer were pulling their punches so as not to hurt their little brother. They were going to have to stop that shit, Dustin was ruthlessly taking advantage of it and was gloating afterward. Tate was going to put baby brother in his place one of these days, but first he needed to deliver a message.

  Tate slammed his hand down on the car door before Lisa could open it.

  “You don’t want to say hi?”

  The sound of fake laughter filled the air.

  “I didn’t see you, Tate. How have you been?”

  “I’ve been better.” Tate leaned back against her fancy sports car.

  “Sorry to hear that, I heard the police were looking for you.” Her eyes darted around the parking lot, Tate was sure she was searching for someone to help her escape. She was shit out of luck. Greer and Dustin had both positioned themselves out of view while Greer’s truck kept anyone from seeing them from the other direction.

  “That’s all been straightened out.”

  “Oh.”

  “Don’t sound so disappointed.”

  “I’m not, of course, I’m glad you’ve been cleared.”

  “Sutton’s back in town.” Tate controlled himself from strangling the lying bitch. “She told me that you said you were having my baby.” Her expression became carefully blank as she opened her mouth to respond. “I would think twice about lying if I were you.”

  Her mouth snapped shut.

  “I take it back, you’re not as stupid as I thought you were. At least you aren’t trying to lie your way out of it.”

  “I was pregnant.” Lisa lowered her voice, so that only he could hear her.

  “Maybe, but we both know it wasn’t mine. Why blame it on me? That last night we were together you tried like hell to get me to fuck you without a condom, telling me you had it covered, that you couldn’t get pregnant. That was the only piece of truth you spewed. You couldn’t get pregnant because you already were, weren’t you?”

  “Yes.” She admitted unable to look him in the eye. “I was pregnant, and the father refused to marry me, I thought if you had sex with me I could say it was yours. I knew you would marry me if you believed it was your child.”

  “You’re right about that, there would have been no way a kid of mine would be raised alone with you.” Tate snarled. “You underestimated my intelligence if you believed I would have fallen for that bullshit.”

  “I was young and didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry, I felt terrible right after I said that to Sutton.”

  “Not bad enough to fix it though were you? You’ve let her believe it for years.”

  Guiltily she remained silent.

  Tate straightened from the car. “I’ll thank God everyday for the rest of my life that I was fortunate enough not to fall into your trap. Because of you, Sutton and I lost years that we could have been together. You hurt her in ways you’ll never know because I don’t want you to have the satisfaction. You’re damn lucky you’re a woman, if you were a man I would shoot you dead where you stand.”

  Greer glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll do it I don’t give a fuck if she’s a woman.”

  Tate ignored the tempting offer. “Instead I’m going to take away from you what Sutton lost.”

  Lisa’s face turned a sickly shade of white. “What are you going to do?”

  Tate reached into his pocket pulling out a photograph flinging it at her, uncaring of whether she caught it or not.

  The photograph fell to the ground before she could catch it, she knelt reaching for the photo with trembling fingers. She stared at the picture before glancing back at him.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to give that to the department of child protective services and make sure that pretty little girl you’ve been fostering is put in another home.”

  “Please, Tate, don’t.” No tears filled the calculating women’s eyes, the only thing she was concerned about was how it would look to the town if she had the little girl removed from her home. She stood reaching out to touch his arm.

  Tate jerked back out of her reach. “Be grateful, that’s all I’m going to do. You should pray tonight and give thanks to God. If you ever dare to try to harm what’s mine again, woman or not I’ll make damn sure it’s the last thing you ever do.”

  Tate nodded at the picture clutched in her hand. “You can keep that one, I have plenty more.” Coldly he motioned for Greer and Dustin to leave, she stood, staring after him speechlessly as he strode to his truck. He waited for Greer to pull out of the parking lot before backing his truck up leaving Lisa still standing numbly by the car she was so proud of. She had always been too good to be seen in his truck, but not too good to pose for the pictures smoking weed and being fucked by two men at the same time with her husband watching. As he drove out of the parking lot he saw Shade sitting across the street on his big ass bike. Tate lifted two fingers to his hat tipping it forward in a salute. Shade nodded then started his bike, pulling out onto the street and accelerating out of sight.

  Tate hadn’t questioned why Shade had offered the photos, too happy for the opportunity for his revenge against Lisa. He had a feeling it was for the same purpose different reason. Either way, the little girl that Lisa was fostering had spent her last night under her roof. They may have been at cross purposes, but both had achieved their goal.

  “Damn.” He hated getting along with those fuckers, but for Sutton it had been worth the price of the weed he would be giving them for the next month. They had wanted two months free but Tate had Greer bargain them down after he had figured out they wanted the little girl away from Lisa.

  Greer was a hell of a negotiator, he loved to argue, and he didn’t care who he pissed off. Tate started whistling as he drove home. He really needed to put a stop to Greer’s aggravating ways. He would get on it soon, but right now he was going home to Sutton. His hands curled over the steering wheel, gripping it tightly resisting the temptation to press down on the accelerator. Some things were too good to be true, and his life with Sutton made him realize how close he had came to never knowing true happiness. He had told her if was the most painful word in the dictionary and it was the truth. If she hadn’t came back…if Lyle hadn’t been murdered…if he hadn’t listened when his heart had told him he loved her. He was done looking back. From now on, the only if he had left to deal with was if he could ever get his ring on her finger and finally claim what was his.

  Chapter 19

  “Run Logan! Don’t let him catch you!” Sutton yelled, watching as Dustin chased after his son.

  She laughed as Dustin grabbed Logan from behind, tossing him up into the air then deftly catching him. The squeals coming from Logan brought a smile to her face. She could watch the two together for hours, even if it amazed her that he was a father.

  “They’re just alike, aren’t they?” she asked the woman sitting next to her at the picnic table.

  “Yes.” Holly grimaced. “Sometimes, I don’t know who the child is.”

  “I bet you don’t.” Sutton picked up her beer, taking a drink as she studied the woman.

  When Rachel had invited them over to hers and Cash’s home for the Labor Day picnic, she had worried the police would be watching. However, after the sheriff had stopped by to talk to Tate, she had been relieved as she had unashamedly listened in as Knox had told Tate he had been officially cleared of killing Lyle, Mrs. Stevens, and shooting Rider.

  “I handed over the bullets from your guns to the state police that Greer turned
in to me. They didn’t match the weapon used on the victims. An unregistered gun was used in both instances. The gun you hid, I took to Knox. It was bought at a gunshow, and the seller didn’t pick out your picture as the buyer.”

  “You or the state police have no idea who it could be?”

  “No. Jo let us search through Lyle’s things. He was a drunk, but he didn’t use drugs as far as we could tell. Helen Stevens wasn’t, either, and all Rider does is what Shade buys off you.”

  “So, there’s no connection between the three of them?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah, it makes whoever is doing it damn near impossible to catch unless they make a mistake. It’s freaking everyone in town out because no one knows who could be next. Keep an eye out. If you see anything, call.”

  “I will.”

  Sutton had seen the worried frowns on both men. Everyone in town was in danger until the killer was caught. The men had families they wanted to protect, but how could they do that with an invisible assailant?

  Logan ran up to Holly. “Can I have something to drink?”

  She reached into the ice cooler, taking out a bottled water and handing it to him.

  “Thanks, Holly.”

  The pretty woman let the boy climb onto her lap.

  “He’s getting too big for that,” Greer said, reaching into the cooler for another beer.

  Sutton saw Holly throw him an icy look as her arms wrapped around the five-year-old little boy.

  “No, he’s not.”

  “You’re going to make him a sissy.”

  “Do you even listen to the crap coming out of your mouth?”

  Greer took a drink of his beer before responding to the angry woman. “It’s the truth. If it wasn’t for me, the boy wouldn’t even know how to put his pants on one leg at a time.”

  “Holly, you’re holding me too tight,” Logan whined, jumping down off her lap when she loosened her hold.

  “Go ask Aunt Rachel if she has any more grape salad,” Holly urged him.

  When he ran into the house, she glared at Greer. Neither tried to hide the antagonism between them. Sutton didn’t know if she should intercede or get Tate, who was fishing with Cash.

  “The only opinion that matters to me is Dustin’s. Yours, fortunately, doesn’t count.”

  “I’ve told Dustin that he needs to send your ass packing,” he sneered.

  “How’s that working out?” she retorted.

  “He said Logan’s too attached for you to leave.” Greer crushed the empty beer can in his hand. “I told him you’re going to disappear, anyway, when your boyfriend gets out of jail next month.”

  Holly’s face whitened, filling with hurt. Sutton remembered Tate telling her that Holly and her ex-boyfriend had broken into a law office to find out information on Logan’s biological mother. Diamond hadn’t pressed charges against Holly, but the ex had gone to prison.

  “I haven’t had any contact with Mitch, and I don’t plan to. You know that. You’re just being mean, Greer. I’ve apologized over and over for not going to the sheriff when Samantha died. I was trying to protect Logan.”

  “You were trying to protect your own ass.”

  Holly’s tearful gaze shied away from hers. Sutton could tell she was embarrassed by Greer talking openly in front of her.

  “Cut it out, Greer,” Dustin said, coming out of the house and walking to stand behind Holly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

  “She worked in Diamond’s office for months. I’ve told you not to trust her, little brother. You’re going to find out the hard way that she’s a snake in the grass.” Greer reached into the cooler for another beer.

  “That’s your third one,” Holly spoke up when he opened it and took a drink.

  He raised a brow at her, drinking all of it then crushing it in his hand again.

  “You should have one. You might actually learn how to have a good time.”

  “I’ll pass.”

  “Thought you would. You couldn’t loosen up if you had a six-pack.”

  “If you’re so interested in me having a good time, why don’t you leave? That would make my day.”

  Greer’s mouth snapped open. From his expression, his reply was going to be ugly.

  “Don’t do it,” Dustin warned. “I’m getting tired of the way you treat Holly. You don’t have the right to throw her breaking into Diamond’s office in her face when you were the one who planted that evidence on Knox to take the suspicion off me when Samantha died. We all made mistakes.”

  “Mine didn’t involve kid-snatching.”

  Holly stood up with Logan’s bottled water in her hand. Sutton gaped as she flung it in Greer’s shocked face. He started toward her, but Dustin blocked him.

  “Settle down. You deserved it.”

  Greer pointed his finger at Holly. “One day.”

  “I’m sooo scared. You big ape, why don’t you go get your caveman club and scratch your ass with it? That is, if you can find it. Let me show you where it is.” Holly was shaking in fury as she reached out to pat his cheek.

  Sutton admired her for standing her ground against the formidable man.

  Greer nearly knocked Dustin down trying to reach Holly. They barreled into the picnic table, and Rachel flew out of the house with a gun in her hand.

  Sutton hastily jumped up from the picnic table, ready to scream her lungs out in terror when Rachel took aim, firing it at Greer. Stunned, she could only watch as bright yellow paint exploded on Greer’s shoulder.

  “Shit! That hurt, Rach …” Greer practically fell, trying to move away from Dustin when Rachel shot another paintball at him, hitting him on his butt as he turned to run.

  “He should be able to find his ass now, Holly.”

  The two women burst into laughter while Greer remained silent, too wary of getting shot at again.

  Logan came out of the house. “Can I go next, Aunt Rachel?”

  “No!” Greer stormed off toward the river.

  “Sure. Come on. I’ve got a target set up on that tree over there.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea? I really don’t like him playing with guns.”

  This time, Holly got a reaction from both Rachel and Dustin.

  “It’s a paintball gun, and there hasn’t been a Porter born who hasn’t learned to shoot the eye out of a squirrel at fifty feet.”

  Sutton and Holly both blanched at Rachel’s bragging.

  “Is she joking?” Sutton asked Tate as he and Cash returned with a string of fish.

  Greer remained out of range of the paintball gun.

  “No,” Tate and Cash both answered at the same time.

  “Logan is not going to shoot the eye out of a squirrel,” Holly said empathically.

  “I don’t want to shoot a squirrel.” Logan’s bottom lip began to tremble, and his eyes brimmed with tears.

  “Don’t worry, baby; no one’s going to make you.” Holly picked the little boy up, patting him on his back.

  “See? I told you she’s making a sissy out of him,” Greer yelled from across the yard.

  “Logan, go inside and get yourself a freezy pop out of the freezer. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “She’s gonna make him fat, too!” Greer’s loud mouth made Sutton cringe.

  Holly set Logan back on his feet, waiting until the door closed behind him before turning to Rachel, holding out her hand.

  “Give me the paintball gun.”

  “Why?” she asked suspiciously.

  “Because I’m going to show him who the sissy is.”

  Rachel took a step back, holding onto the gun. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You might hurt him.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Give her the gun,” Tate ordered.

  “Are you serious?” Rachel questioned her older brother.

  “Yes, but give him a minute to get a head start.” Tate looked over at Greer. “Run.”

  Greer took off l
ike a pack of wild dogs was after him when Rachel reluctantly handed Holly the paintball gun. She shot off a couple of balls at him, barely missing the fleeing man. Tate, Cash, and Dustin burst out laughing at Greer.

  Sutton shook her head at the nutcases surrounding her when even Rachel began to urge Holly on. Mumbling to herself, she decided to join Logan inside.

  “Where are you going?” Tate called out.

  “Inside.”

  “Why?”

  “To show Logan that normal people do exist.”

  “We’re normal!”

  “There are people in mental institutions more normal than you all are.”

  “Don’t be that way.” He came to her side, slinging his arm around her shoulder. “We’re just having some fun.”

  Sutton rolled her eyes at him. “You’re all setting bad examples for him. What if he grows up to shoot at people and fight all the time?”

  Tate’s chest puffed up proudly. “Then he’ll be a Porter.”

  “And that’s a good thing?”

  “Could be worse. He could be a Hayes or a Coleman.”

  Sutton turned to Holly who had quit shooting when Greer had finally managed to get out of her sight.

  “Give me the gun.” She held out her hand toward Holly.

  Tate’s arrogant smile slipped when Holly handed her the paintball gun, and she then trained it at Tate.

  “Who’s laughing now?”

  * * *

  “Are you still mad?” Sutton had suffered Tate’s stony silence all evening after she had brought the paintball gun home at Cash’s urging. It seems the man didn’t want the weapon around if he pissed Rachel off.

  She took off her robe and laid it on the chair beside the bed. Placing a knee on the mattress, she prepared to climb into the bed.

  “That last shot was unnecessary, and it hurt like fuck.”

  “You shouldn’t have tried to take it away from me. You were supposed to run.” Sutton’s eyes shied away guiltily from the bruise on his side.

  “A Porter doesn’t run.”

  “Greer did,” she reminded him.

  “We think he was adopted.”

  Sutton couldn’t help falling onto the bed, laughing. “What about the red hair?”