Slow & Steady #2: A Shameless Southern Nights Novel

by J. H. Croix

  He tasted like mint and smelled like soap, his hair wet as I sifted my fingers through it. Our kiss was quick but intense. I poured my worry into it, while he seemed to be trying to comfort me.

  I wanted to keep him here, hold onto him forever. Home, where he was safe and with me, where no one was shooting at him, or whatever else he might face once he got to that call.

  All too soon, he broke the kiss and released me. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

  “Okay.” I leaned with my hip against the kitchen counter, lifting my own coffee and wrapping my fingers around the mug, the warmth anchoring me.

  Before I could even take a sip, I heard the front door shut and the engine on Sonny’s truck start. I sighed, pulling out a stool by the counter. Looking out the window, I watched the sky shift from the wispy light of dawn to the clear morning, bright blue with the sun slowly ascending.

  I bounced my heel on the stool’s footrest, betraying my restlessness. I just couldn’t shake it. My worries from before about Sonny being a cop resurfaced, ten times more concerning than they used to be.

  Being a police officer was his life, and with that life came certain risks, some more serious than others. There were my worries about the threats facing us both as a result of our digging into his father’s case. Tangled up in those were my concerns that this would be my life if we were serious.

  This weekend gave me a glimpse of what that might mean. Waking up in the morning to find out he was going on a potentially dangerous call would become a regular thing. As would falling asleep without him.

  His schedule wasn’t reliable. We weren’t even really, officially together and already, he’d had to cancel or take a rain check on our plans more than once. I didn’t know how I felt about that, whether I would be able to live with the constant worry and uncertainty.

  I finished my coffee, carrying my mug to the sink as I wondered what to do. I was already in so deep. I didn’t even know if I could walk away at this point. But if I was going to, wasn’t it better to do it sooner rather than later?

  My phone rang, distracting me from my thoughts. Marie’s name flashed on my screen, eliciting a smile. We were slowly becoming friends. I liked her.

  “Hey, do you have plans for this morning?” she asked when I answered.

  “Not yet.” Except for pondering my future with her future brother-in-law, my Sunday was looming ahead of me, empty and lonely.

  “Excellent,” she chirped before pulling the phone away to tell Austin to get away from something. “Sorry, he’s helping Jeremy pack their stuff to go fishing. I keep telling him to let Jeremy pack the fishing gear so he can pack the things that don’t have sharp edges, but he’s too excited to stay away.”

  “I can imagine.” Five-year-olds weren’t a subject I knew much about, but boys and fishing? It seemed reasonable Austin would be bursting with excitement. “What’s up?”

  “Since the boys are having a boys’ day out, I’m looking for a girl to hang with for a girls’ day out. What do you say? Could I interest you in brunch?”

  I laughed, already feeling better. Marie’s cheerfulness was a balm to my melancholy. Besides, I didn’t want to be cooped up all day worrying. “Sure, I’ll meet you. Did you have anywhere in mind?”

  “I’ve heard the new menu at Raffles is out. Should we go try it?” Raffles was a local diner with a cook who fancied herself as a bit of a chef.

  “I’m in,” I told Marie, heading to the bathroom for a shower. “See you in an hour?”

  “I’ll be there,” she promised, saying something to Austin again before hanging up the phone mid-sentence.

  I smiled to myself. Marie was one of a kind. At least in my life, she was. Despite everything she’d been through, she always seemed positive, so on top of things. I wondered if I would ever reach that level of just being.

  Marie was already at the diner when I got there, nose buried in a neon pink, plastic covered menu. She looked up when I approached the table, her emerald eyes twinkling in the morning light that streamed through the window beside her.

  “Niki!” she exclaimed, sliding out of the booth to envelop me in a friendly hug. “I’m so glad you could have girl time with me today. I love both my boys to bits, but sometimes you just need a girl, don’t you think?”

  “Absolutely,” I agreed. I wouldn’t have made it through life without Karen, and now Marie. “You order anything yet?”

  “Nope, but it all looks great,” she said, slipping back into her seat. “You, on the other hand, don’t look so great. No offense, but you’re a little pale. You okay?”

  Crap. The girl was astute. I had to give her that. “I’m fine.”

  “No. Don’t give me that. I know what not fine looks like. Lord knows I’ve seen it in the mirror often enough. What’s up?”

  I took a deep breath, wondering how much I could confide in her. She was engaged to Sonny’s brother, after all. I didn’t want my concerns getting back to him, but on the other hand, Marie might have some insights about him I didn’t have thanks to her relationship with his family.

  “I’m not sure about things with Sonny,” I blurted out, wishing I could stuff the words back in as soon as they tumbled out. Unfortunately, words didn’t work that way.

  Marie’s eyebrows shot up, and she tilted her head. “How so?”

  Sighing, I figured I might as well take the plunge now that I’d started. “He got called away to Samuel’s Ridge this morning. I’m not sure what to think about the danger he’s in all the time.”

  “I can understand that,” Marie mused, nodding slowly. “He willingly puts himself on the line every day.”

  “Exactly.” I nodded, relieved that Marie understood. It meant I wasn’t just overthinking things. “And his schedule is so erratic. I guess I’m worried about what life with him looks like.”

  Marie pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowing as she stared out the window. Finally, her gaze cut from the sidewalk she’d been examining to mine. “Life with him looks different to what I’m sure you imagined yours would look like, but here’s the thing. Are you going to be scared away from a wonderful guy because he has a crazy schedule and a job that requires risk?”

  Well, when she put it like that, the situation felt different. She didn’t give me time to answer before carrying on. “Sonny’s as solid a man as they come, despite his job. His brothers all look up to him, even though he’s the youngest. He’s never missed an event I’ve invited him to, and he’s always there for them all. I can’t even begin to tell you how much he helped Jeremy when we were in trouble.”

  “He does take his family responsibilities seriously.” It only added to how much my feelings for him were growing. If he could be there for his family, wouldn’t he be able to do the same for a girl he cared about?

  “He does,” Marie assured me. “I can’t make this decision for you, but I can tell you he’s a first-rate guy. I understand your worries, though. Just keep in mind what I told you when you think about it, okay?”

  “Thanks, it does help to know all that.” Now I just had to figure out what to do. To say my life had taken some unexpected turns recently was a massive understatement. I was still scrambling to adjust. Being swept into all of the chaos was overwhelming at times.

  Smiling at Marie, I pushed my worries away for now. “Should we order?”

  “Let’s,” she agreed, launching into a story about what Austin had gotten up to at daycare that week. I noticed a lot of what she talked about over brunch included times they’d had with Sonny.

  I didn’t know if she was purposefully trying to prove her point about how he was always there for them, or if it was a coincidence. By the time we were done with brunch, I was feeling a lot more cheerful and positive than I had been going in. Maybe, just maybe, this could all work out after all.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sonny

  The station was a hotbed of activity, as busy as it ever was on a Wednesday morning. I took advantage of how busy everyone ar
ound me was to do some digging on Maclin and Chief Harris. A quick search into the mysterious Maclin had me coming across a couple of records I never would’ve looked into prior to his murder. It would’ve drawn too much of his attention to me if my searches had been flagged.

  Now, the only people who would flag it would be the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and they already knew I was looking into him. There was a surprising amount of suspicious records that popped up with my search.

  Bank transfers, fishy receipts turned in by Maclin, call records to numbers that no longer existed. So on and so forth.

  Combined with the fact that someone wanted him dead and made damn sure it happened, this didn’t look good. So far though, I wasn’t able to connect any dots to Chief Harris.

  I believed Zach when he told me something was off and his gut told him it was about Harris, but I wasn’t finding any evidence so far. What I had found, though, was baffling.

  I couldn’t believe there was so much shit about Maclin out there. It was crazy no one had ever suspected him of corrupt behavior before, as far as I knew anyway. I needed someone to bounce my thoughts off of, and Jeremy was my best bet.

  As close as I was to Evan, he didn’t know what went on with Jeremy around the money or that Maclin had been following me. Beau was always working, and he’d tell me to talk to Tyson about it anyway. As for Tyson, well, he would tell me to let the GBI handle it.

  Plus, Jeremy was proving to be a good sounding board about this, so that was my best option. I left the station without anyone noticing and went to Jeremy’s office at the construction yard.

  He was rifling through printed spreadsheets when I got there, his hair mussed, and an actual pencil stuck behind his ear. I heard him cursing almost all the way from the parking lot.

  “Going that well, huh?” I joked, knocking and popping my head into his office.

  Jeremy looked up, frustration lining his features. “I fucking hate this accounting stuff.”

  “Why don’t you get someone to deal with that for you?” I asked, settling into my usual seat across the desk from him. Arcadian was lying in the corner behind my brother, feet twitching as he dreamed.

  “I have someone to deal with it for me, but everyone recommends you look through it yourself anyway,” he grumbled as he plucked the pencil from his ear to roll it between his fingers. I was wondering if he was going to snap it, but then he sighed and put it down. “Please tell me you’re here to distract me?”

  “I might be.” I crossed an ankle over my knee and propped my elbows on my legs. “I’ve been looking into Maclin some more, found some suspicious looking transfers.”

  He pushed the spreadsheets away, placing his palms at the edge of the desk and leaning forward. “Tell me more.”

  I told Jeremy everything I’d learned, about Zach’s suspicions about Chief Harris and what I found with the bank transfers. “More and more, I’m starting to believe I might be able to chase down what went sideways with the investigation with Dad if I keep going down this road. He’s innocent, Jeremy. I’m convinced of it.”

  Jeremy sat back, his hazel gaze on mine. The curious interest in his eyes when I started telling him about all this shifted into contemplative concern. “Forget about that angle. I know that’s what got you started on this road, but you need to let that go now. Focus on what’s in front of you.”

  “Yeah? And what’s that? The way I see it, what’s right in front of me is a plethora of evidence pointing to Dad being a fall guy, not the guy.”

  Jeremy sighed and reached for the pencil again, tapping it against the desk as he caught my eye and cocked his head. “No, Sonny. That’s what you want to see. You know damn well it’s not smart to approach an investigation if you think you already know where it will lead. That will only cloud your thinking. The objective facts that you need to be focused on are that Maclin was murdered, something’s going on with your Chief, and there are a lot of pieces missing in this puzzle.”

  “Pieces that could prove Dad’s innocence.” I knew I sounded like a broken record, but I found all this when I started looking into Dad’s case. It couldn’t be a coincidence. There were too many facts I was uncovering that had never even been mentioned at the trial.

  If all of this was part of the evidence presented during the trial, it was a fair bet there would’ve been reasonable doubt. I certainly had a ton of doubt about my father’s guilt right now.

  Jeremy kept his eyes on mine, shaking his head sadly. “Maybe it could prove his innocence, but I wouldn’t count on it, and I wouldn’t focus on it. Just remember bro, Tyson was the DA. If they had this stuff and it meant anything, he never would’ve let Dad go away in the first place.”

  “Maybe he didn’t have it. Who knows?”

  Jeremy frowned. “Tyson knows. Have you asked him about it?”

  “No,” I answered. “It’s too soon. I need more before I go to him about Dad. Going to him about Maclin was one thing, Dad—”

  “Is something completely different,” Jeremy finished for me.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Our relationship couldn’t handle a blow like me accusing him of not having all the evidence or not presenting it all, not before I know what it all really means and how the puzzle fits together. I can’t just march in there and throw this in his face.”

  “Good point,” he said. “What about Dad, then?”

  “What about him?”

  “If you’re so convinced he’s innocent, maybe you should go visit him in prison,” he pointed out. “You can always ask him if he knows anything about all of this. You don’t need to get his hopes up by telling him you’re looking into his case. Just tell him there’s an Internal Affairs agent named Maclin around and you’ve been looking into him ’cause he’s harassing Zach.”

  “True.” Despite hanging on to the belief that our dad was innocent, I hadn’t been to see him in prison yet. Not once. Only Jeremy had. “You might have a point about that. I don’t know.”

  I still had my reasons for not going to see him, but maybe it was time to reconsider those reasons. Jeremy put the pencil to his temple and leaned his head on it. “You’re going to go see him?”

  “I’ll go when I can.” I didn’t know yet if I would or not, but as I sat in Jeremy’s office, I knew I needed to go see our father at some point.

  A clock on the wall behind Jeremy’s head made me do a double take. “Is that right?”

  Jeremy turned, frowning and glancing at his watch. “Looks like it, why?”

  “Shit.” I stood up quickly, ready to leave. “I have to go.”

  “Wait a second, where’s the fire?”

  “I have to get back to work,” I told him. “But look, I’ll go visit Dad, okay?”

  Jeremy shrugged, pushing to his feet to follow me to the door. “That’s your business, Sonny. You want to go see him, go. All I was doing was pointing out it’s strange you’re such a warrior for his innocence when you don’t even want to go see the man.”

  “I know.” It sucked, but the truth was inescapable. Jeremy was right. I was getting in my own way when it came to visiting our father.

  He eyed me carefully, holding his office door open. “I’ve been meaning to ask, how are things going with Niki?”

  Dammit. I should’ve seen this coming. Jeremy hadn’t forgotten the shit I’d given him for falling for Marie so fast. Now here I was, doing the same thing. “They’re going, I guess.”

  “Wow,” he said dryly. “You’re the most descriptive, romantic guy ever.”

  “Runs in the family,” I teased, knowing Jeremy had pulled out a few stops since meeting Marie. He was being more romantic than I’d ever known him to be. He was suddenly all about the hearts and candles. The man would do anything for his girl.

  Jeremy laughed and shook his head. “Mock me, little brother. Your time will come. You going to give me more than ‘they’re going’?”

  I blew out a deep breath, deciding to go for the truth. “I’m not sure what’s happening between us y
et, man. All I knows is she means a lot to me, and I like having her around.”

  “That’s as good a start as any,” Jeremy told me.

  I saw the moment I lost his attention before I heard Marie’s voice behind me. “Who’s starting with what?”

  Turning to her, I punched my brother in the bicep. “You went all starry-eyed there as soon as you saw her. Quickest way to know Marie’s around is when you zone out.”

  “Ha, tease away. I don’t give a damn,” he replied dryly, pulling Marie close to kiss her. It was brief, but the way Jeremy looked at Marie was so intimate, I felt as if I was intruding.

  I cleared my throat, stifling a chuckle. “And that’s my cue. It was good to see you, Marie. Let’s all do this again sometime.”

  She drew away from Jeremy, winking at me. “If that made you uncomfortable, I feel really sorry for Niki.”

  I rolled my eyes, returning her wink. “No need to feel sorry for Niki,” I said as I turned to leave. “See you around.”

  “Wait,” Marie called out. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Yeah? Need me to help you pick bridesmaids dresses or something?” I joked, waggling my brows.

  She scoffed, looping her arm around Jeremy’s waist. “Never, I wouldn’t want any of my potential bridesmaids near anything you would pick out. They’d all refuse to be part of the wedding.”

  “I have great taste,” I told her, though I had no idea if that was true.

  Laughing, she shook her head. “Nope, you don’t. They’ll all end up in lingerie or nighties.”

  “You know,” Jeremy rubbed the scruff on his chin, amusement lighting up his eyes. “That might not be such a bad idea.”

  Marie elbowed him and glowered up at him, while he burst out laughing and dipped his head to drop a kiss in the curve of her neck. “Joking, just joking. You’re the only woman I even notice.”

  “Oh look, there it is again. My cue,” I told them, giving them both a wave.

  Marie grabbed my arm, causing me to pause again. “Niki. I wanted to talk to you about Niki. I like her Sonny. You’d better be smart about this one.”