Colt

by Jayne Blue

  “What’s the climate?” Dex asked. “You got any support with the other club members?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “Kellan and some of the others don’t seem to enjoy what’s going on, but nobody’s stepped up to challenge Catman. And I think they’re straight up afraid of Tommy Lloyd.”

  “That son of a bitch,” Sly said. “And you know he’s probably skimming off the top of what he does collect. Tell me what you want to do, Colt.”

  I sighed. It wasn’t going to be easy to say. It was going to be even harder for them to hear. No matter what was going down, Catman was a Great Wolves chapter president. Hell or high water he’d earned that patch. There were just three ways that could change. The others would have to vote him out, he’d have to leave himself, or he’d have to die. The third option would make whoever did the deed an outcast too, no matter how justified. Club brothers were club brothers.

  “He won’t even listen to the plan about the gym?” Dex asked.

  “Not really. He damn near gave me a pat on the head the last time I brought it up.”

  I could hear Sly’s heavy breathing over the phone. I knew him well enough to imagine him rubbing his chin hard while he decided what to say. “You can’t take him out, Colt. You know that, right?”

  I picked a stone out of my boot and threw it across the empty lot. “It’s more than just the shakedowns, Sly. He broke a code. A big one. There’s a lot of back story, but you need to know. He went after Duke Wyler’s daughter. They were a thing for a while, and he went nuts on her when she wanted out. He beat the shit out of her, Sly. Bad. She’s pretty sure he’s gearing up to do it again. Cops won’t do anything. He’s got the town wired. The rest of the crew except for probably Tommy are in the dark about how bad it got with her.”

  I heard something crash and figured Sly probably threw the phone on the floor. I would have.

  “Take that son of a bitch out.” It was Dex’s muffled voice I heard as one of them fumbled with the phone. That was Dex. He didn’t mince words and he wasn’t afraid to say the shit everyone else was thinking.

  “Colt, you still there?” Sly said.

  “Yeah.” My voice sounded strange to my own ears. Detached. Cold.

  “What do you want to do?”

  I pressed a thumb to my forehead. “I want him gone. He’s killing this town, and if there’s even a chance he tries to kill that girl again . . .”

  “Whatever you need,” Sly said. “You know that, right? You’re boots on the ground out there. You tell me. This whole crew will ride out there starting tomorrow if you need us.”

  I had trouble breathing past the rock of a lump forming in my throat. “That could get real messy,” I said. And it could. The Lincolnshire crew was territorial. Hell, we all were. Even if Catman’s guys could be convinced why he needed to go, they might rally around him if Green Bluff tried to intervene. I said as much.

  “Give me some time,” I finally said. “A week, or two tops. Let me work on Kellan and some of the others. See what kind of support I can muster. But yeah, if Catman won’t go willingly I want to be prepared for what comes next.”

  “You got it,” Sly and Dex said it almost in unison.

  “Thanks, man,” I said, my voice sinking low. These guys meant everything to me. They’d taken me in when I was just a kid and had nowhere else to go. And now, they were willing to drop everything and ride out here just on my say so. In my heart, I knew I could have that again here, in Lincolnshire. But Catman was the cancer keeping that from happening. If it was the last thing I did, I meant to cut that cancer out.

  “We’ll wait to hear from you,” Sly said. “And Colt, you check in. Every day preferably. Things get quiet out there, and I’m gonna start getting nervous. You know I want this to work just as much as you do. That town, those guys, they need us even if they’re too blind to see it just yet. You make them see it.”

  “I will,” I said. “I swear to God I will.” Then I clicked off, feeling more certain of my path than I had since the day I rode out here just a few weeks ago.

  I looked back at the Victory plant. The setting sun reflected off the broken shards of window glass, bathing the whole place in an orange glow as if it were on fire. And I knew that was exactly what it might take. To raise this town up again, I might have to burn it to the ground first. But now, I knew I wouldn’t have to do it alone.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Amy

  I didn’t hear from Colt the next day, and it was as we agreed. The risk of Roy or Tommy seeing us together was too great. I did the best I could to carry on my normal routine. Lindy made that tough. She confronted me in the front office, the break room, and now the hallway.

  “If you don’t spill the beans with how everything went, I’m going to start asking you over the P.A. system, Amy. I swear to God.”

  I wrapped my fingers around her upper arm and led her down the hallway to as secluded a spot as I could find. “You need to lay off, Lind. I’m not trying to be a bitch here, but this is complicated. You of all people know why.”

  She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Tell me anyway. Has you- know-who reached out again? Amy, you need to tell me. I start to worry when you clam up.”

  I shook my head. “Look, Colt and I are trying to figure out how to handle all of this. I met him. We worked some stuff out. It’s probably the worst idea I’ve ever had for a lot of reasons, but I want to see him again. This is new territory, you know? Roy is going to find out one way or the other. For now, I’m trusting Colt to know how to handle that.”

  “Will you just call the police already?”

  “There’s nothing to call them about. Plus that’s the most surefire way of tipping him off that I’m seeing someone. You know exactly why I can’t trust the cops right now.”

  “Does he know how bad it got? Colt, I mean? Or did you sugarcoat everything?”

  I folded my hands in front of me. “He knows, okay? I told him everything. He knows.”

  “And that douchebag Roy is still breathing? Dammit, you sure can pick ’em, Amy.”

  I wished I could tell her everything Colt and I talked about. His vision for the future of Lincolnshire. His vow to take care of Roy. I couldn’t though. As much as I trusted Lindy, I wasn’t willing to stake my life or Colt’s on the hope that she wouldn’t accidentally say something to the wrong person. This town was too damn small with too many ears not to be more cautious.

  “I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing,” I finally said. “I know that’s the last thing you want to hear me say. I know I said the same thing to you right before things got really bad with Roy. But if you love me. If you’re truly worried about making sure I’m okay . . . trust is what I need from you most of all.”

  “Miss Wyler!” A high-pitched, small voice cut through the air. The tone made my heart lurch. I turned to see little Madison Goeder running down the hallway. Madison was the town crier of Lincolnshire Junior High. She’d hit her full stride, pigtails flying. It could only signal one thing: somebody in my third-hour class was having a meltdown. Likely Trevor.

  “I’ve got to get this.” I turned to Lindy. I started walking backward toward Madison. “But swear to me, Lindy. Stay out of it and stay quiet for now, okay?” I crossed my heart and held up my pinky.

  She glowered at me, but she returned the gesture, kissing the tip of her pinky before she held it in the air toward me. Good. Hopefully, that put the lid on her for now while Colt and I figured out what to do. I turned and sprinted off toward my classroom, praying whatever the inciting incident, Trevor wasn’t as bad off as what shall evermore be known as The Morning of the Pencils.

  I caught a lucky break. It wasn’t Trevor this time at all. Instead, my aide had merely cut her finger on the sharp edge of the paper cutter. Madison had been helping her with banners we were making for the walls. I put pressure on the wound and called for the school nurse. That fire put out, I tackled the rest of my day.

  Just before the firs
t fourth-hour bell rang to signal the students’ five-minute warning, my phone vibrated in the back pocket of my jeans. Colt’s number flashed, and my heart leaped. I brought it to my ear; a couple of the students filing in caught the smile on my face as they took their seats.

  “What are you wearing?” His voice was liquid sin.

  “Well, considering I’m staring at twenty-eight sixth graders waiting for a lesson on post-war Germany, I went with jeans and a blouse.”

  “Oooh. I like your blouses. Is it the same one from the other day?”

  A shock of heat rushed through me. I had to turn away from the class. God, the way he affected me. Just the tone of his voice as he reminded me of what he’d done with this very blouse I wore made me tingle in places I wanted him to touch. I hadn’t even realized it was the same one until he mentioned it. My subconscious at work, no doubt.

  “Not a good time,” I said, feeling fifty-six pairs of pubescent eyes on me as I reached down, pretending to fix something on my shoe.

  “I want to figure out a way to see you again, very, very soon.”

  “Yeah. I want that too. Any ideas?”

  He paused, and it gave me the answer right there. My heart sank. “Soon,” he said. “I’ve got a few things in the works. It would be good if we could find some neutral territory to meet. I’m staying with Kellan Carter. It’s probably a bad idea for me to come back to your place, at least for the short term.”

  I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Kellan’s one of the good ones, you know?” It tugged at my heart a little to say it. Before Roy took over, I had gotten such pleasure out of just being around the rest of the Great Wolves. Most of them were great guys. Roy had found a way to get them more money than they’d ever dreamed of and for most of them, they followed behind him lock step. It was that more than anything that kept Roy untouchable.

  Colt let out a sighing laugh. “Yeah. I know. If it weren’t for the two of you, I might have punched out of Lincolnshire already.”

  My heartbeat raced. The idea of him going nearly made the air leave my lungs. I didn’t want to need him this badly, this soon. But I’d been afraid to live my life for so long. Now that I was just starting to get back to it, I didn’t want to stop.

  “Baby, I’m not going anywhere. I promise you that.” He seemed able to read my mind.

  “I’ll see you soon,” I said. “In the meantime, I’ll see what I can figure out as far as a time and a place.”

  “Me too. I’ll call you later.”

  I smiled and clicked off as the fourth-hour start bell rang.

  ***

  I half expected to see Colt waiting for me somewhere on the school grounds as I left at the end of the day. It would have been the worst kind of risk, but I played the scene in my head. I could run into his arms like a normal girl, hugging her normal boyfriend, in front of normal people who would smile then go on about their day. Someday maybe, we’d find a way to have that. For now, though, I gripped my car keys in my hand, holding out one jagged edge as a weapon if I needed it. That was a part of me that would never be normal again. Roy had stolen away any chance I had ever to feel completely carefree.

  The lot was quiet, though. Lindy left early for a doctor’s appointment. Larry Barth and Principal Palmer walked out together and gave me a friendly wave as I got into my car. I threw my phone and purse on the passenger seat and headed for home.

  Colt hadn’t called me again. I was afraid to call him first on the off chance that Roy would be somewhere close by and would see the caller I.D. At almost five, the sun was already beginning to set as I pulled into my garage and hit the door behind me.

  The automatic light didn’t seem bright enough. I looked up and noticed one of the bulbs was out. I made a mental note to deal with it tomorrow morning. With the dim light it left behind, I almost didn’t see it. I almost stepped right on it. But something made me look down at the last second before I put my foot on the step leading to my back door.

  All the blood seemed to drain to my feet as I dropped my phone and purse on the floor. Sitting dead center on the step was a mousetrap, a small brown field mouse snapped dead in the center of it, its body flipped over its shoulder.

  I hit the garage door button and reached down to grab my phone. Who could I call? Colt? The cops? This was exactly what Roy knew I’d have to deal with. He’d been here. Or he’d sent Tommy. But they’d come into my fucking garage.

  The white rose had been one thing; this was something else. The threat was clear. Dead mouse in a trap. I was Mouse. Oh God. Did it mean he knew about Colt?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Things happened quickly after that. I didn’t call the cops but when I stepped out to the driveway one showed up anyway. My heart lurched. It was too convenient, wasn’t it? For an instant, I thought to run. Maybe Roy had sent them too. But when the officer parked and got out of his vehicle, my blood ran cold for a very different reason.

  I blinked twice, trying to clear the haze from them because they had to be playing tricks on me. It was Colt walking up my sidewalk in a blue Lincolnshire P.D. uniform, his badge flashing on his chest, his gun holstered at his hip.

  But when he got close, I could see it wasn’t Colt at all.

  “Miss Wyler?” he said. Again, it was Colt’s voice but somehow not. He must have seen the strange look on my face as I tried to process what I saw and heard.

  “Are you okay?” he said. He got close enough I could read the silver tag under his badge. Officer Reddick. Colt’s brother, obviously.

  Then a different kind of recognition slammed into my brain. When I met Colt for the first time, I thought he’d looked familiar. I’d written it off to seeing him at the club when I was a kid. Maybe that was true, but that familiarity stemmed from something else. This Officer Reddick had been here before. I’d been half out of it from the pain and double vision from where Roy had fractured the orbital bone under my right eye. But he’d been one of the responding officers after my neighbor called 911.

  “I’m okay.” I finally collected myself enough to answer.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but we got a call from one of your neighbors that you might need some assistance.”

  “You what?”

  “Can we talk inside, Miss?”

  Warning bells rang in my head. I remembered this man’s eyes. Tender and full of concern the night they found me. He’d said something to me back then that I’d only now just remembered. “I don’t know how this is going to turn out. I know who hurt you. But don’t be afraid to call me again, no matter what.”

  “Come on in,” I finally said. I led him through the front door, not knowing yet what to do about the mouse trap.

  “You were here before,” I said. “When I got hurt. I remember.”

  Officer Reddick gave me a grim nod. God, he was so like Colt—tall and strong, but his face was kinder somehow where Colt’s had harder edges. I smiled to myself. I always fell for those hard edges every time.

  “Have a seat,” I said. “Can I get you a water or something else to drink?”

  He shook his head and sat on the couch in my living room. The radio on his shoulder squawked. He reached up and turned the knob to silence it. I sat across from him.

  “What neighbor?” I asked.

  He smiled. “It was an anonymous call. I have to confess, I kind of came out here of my own accord. I remember what happened to you. I remember who did it. Your neighbor saw a Harley parked in your driveway the other night. I know it’s none of my business, but I was on patrol nearby and decided just to check in on you.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled. I thought about telling him some lie or cover-up. I’d been burned so many times before by other cops who said they’d do something only to have the specter of the Great Wolves prevent it.

  “Officer Reddick?” I started.

  “Just call me Jason,” he said.

  “Jason. I need you to be straight with me. Do you already know whose bike that was parked here the other nigh
t?”

  He looked down for an instant then looked back up at me. I couldn’t read him. His eyes were Colt’s eyes, but he kept them guarded in a way Colt no longer did.

  “Was it Roy Wade’s?”

  I jerked my head back almost like he’d struck me. He saw something in my eyes and his face darkened. He misread me, thinking I’d just confirmed his suspicions.

  “It wasn’t Roy,” I said. “It was Colt’s. I guess I thought maybe he sent you here. It just seemed too wild a coincidence you showing up.”

  This time, Jason reared back a little with the shock of my answer. No. He had no idea about Colt and me, which meant this might really be some random act of kindness on his part. I had the strange longing to meet Mrs. Reddick. She’d produced two very interesting sons. Then my heart filled with sadness knowing that could never happen. Colt told me he’d lost both of his parents in a car accident years ago.

  “Look,” I said. “I’m going to leave it to you and your brother to sort out whatever you need to. I really do appreciate your checking up on me. I debated saying anything more based on who we’re dealing with. Roy Wade, I mean. But you’re here now, and I’m going to choose to trust you for the time being. Do you have a minute? I’d like to show you something.”

  I took Jason through the kitchen to the back garage door. I showed him the mousetrap and explained how I thought it got there. I told him about the white rose and the anonymous greeting cards and other mementos he’d left throughout the years.

  He rubbed his hand across his chin, another gesture Colt made. God, it was weird standing so close to him. They looked exactly alike and somehow completely different. Colt was all swagger and tough-guy confidence. Jason was more stoic, reserved. He stood rod straight, in almost a military “at ease” position. And yet, they both had the same alpha-male magnetism in the way they looked at me.

  “I hate to say it, but I think you’re right. None of those things probably triggers a C.P.O. violation if there’s no outside proof he’s the one who did it. Plus, we know who we’re dealing with. Getting a judge in this town to hold his feet to the fire is going to be a problem. For now, though, can I get your promise to call me anytime and every time you see something like this?”