Slow & Steady #2: A Shameless Southern Nights Novel

by J. H. Croix

  His eyes flicked across mine, searching. “You know anything about that?”

  Definitively? “No. Not about anything linked to police officers.”

  Accepting my explanation, for now, he sighed and tugged at his tie, loosening it some. “That’s our cover for being here and investigating the murder. Something is going on around these parts for sure, the evidence of fraud gave us a plausible in to investigate.”

  “Why are you telling me all this?” Hanson was being far more forthcoming and honest than I expected the GBI to be about their investigation. I appreciated the info, and that he’d answered some of the questions I hadn’t gotten around to asking, but there had to be a catch.

  Inter-departmental cooperation was a front and a rumor. We could provide each other with offices and back up, share certain information and reluctantly work together when the case called for it, but transparency as upfront and genuine as what he’d just shown me wasn’t something you came across often.

  “You witnessed the murder, son. You brought us this case.” He bent his arm to undo the buttons on his shirt cuff, rolling up his sleeve as he kept talking. “I wouldn’t have told you any of it if you weren’t the witness, but you are. You’re also a cop who works in the police department linked to some of the accounts we found. You and I are going to be talking a lot during the next few weeks, being honest seemed the most productive way to get us off on the right foot.”

  “You’re not worried I’m in on it?”

  Hanson shook his head, getting to work on his other sleeve. “I’ve already checked you out. Besides, you would have to be the densest cop ever to call for an independent investigation into something you were involved in when the murder happened in your jurisdiction. Much harder to cover anything up if you get us involved when we wouldn’t have been if not for you.”

  “Maybe I’m not good at my job,” I pointed out. I needed to sure about where I stood with him before I left this office. I was looking over my shoulder, and Niki’s, enough as it was. I didn’t need to be checking there for him, too. “Or maybe I am just that stupid.”

  “Right, and that’s also why the call came in from the DA’s office and not through any official channels here?” He tapped his temple with his index finger. “I’m not an intellectual or anything, but it seems to me you didn’t want anyone here to know about your tipping us off.”

  “The DA is my brother.” I took another swing at pointing out the obvious, but the steel bands of tension knotting my stomach were slowly coming loose. I didn’t think I was in this guy’s crosshairs.

  “Yes. Another tick in your favor, going to a man known for upholding the law no matter who happens to be on the wrong side of it.” He didn’t need to explain what he was talking about. I had yet to forget Tyson was the lead DA in our father’s case. “I’ll do a formal interview about what you saw, but not right away. I don’t want to arouse suspicions by spending too much time talking only to you immediately.”

  “Noted.”

  “Plus, like I said, I checked you out. I think you’re going to be able to help me with this investigation when the time comes.” He pushed off the table and patted his rolled-up sleeves. “But for now, you want to help me haul in the boxes I have waiting in my truck?”

  “At your service, just like the Chief asked,” I told him, following him out the door. I felt lighter knowing he was here, the burden of Maclin’s murder wasn’t mine alone anymore. The GBI was looking into it, and I knew it was connected somehow to my father’s case.

  Finally, there was real movement happening that would hopefully help me find out what really went down with my father’s investigation. I had a feeling Hanson was the right man for the job.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Niki

  Shielding my eyes from the bright morning light as I stepped out of Sonny’s house to leave for work, I rummaged around in my purse for my sunglasses. I slid them on, stopping in my tracks when I looked up to see the same car from before parked a few spaces behind mine on the street.

  Not wanting to alert whoever was inside that I’d seen them, I dove back into my bag and pretended to be looking for my keys. I pulled them out, along with my phone.

  My hands trembled as I walked to my car and climbed inside. It wasn’t that hot yet, but tiny beads of sweat dotted my forehead and feverish heat pebbled my skin even as a cold chill ran down my spine. I felt sick suddenly. My stomach roiled in protest when I pulled away from the curb, the nausea spreading.

  I knew I needed to text Sonny to let him know the car was back, but I needed to get away from it first. On my way to the library, I checked my rearview mirror every other second. My knuckles were white from my tight hold on the steering wheel.

  Circling the parking lot at work twice to satisfy myself the car hadn’t somehow made it here before me and that its driver wouldn’t be waiting to follow me inside, I pulled into a space close to the door and checked all my mirrors again.

  No one approached my car, but I kept an eye out anyway as I tapped out a quick text to Sonny.

  The car was there again when I left for work this morning. Safely at library now. Doesn’t look like I was followed.

  I stashed my phone back in my purse and double checked my surroundings before unlocking my car and darting into the building. There was no way I could keep the doors locked here, no barrier I could put up between myself and absolutely anyone who wanted to come inside.

  My gut churned, my anxiety levels climbing through the ceiling. It was easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when I was at Sonny’s, or when he was around. As much as I fought to come back to work, I was starting to wonder if it had been the best idea after all.

  I was way out of my element. Being faced with such an obvious threat as an unmarked car waiting and watching the house after Sonny left made me feel downright stupid for not admitting it earlier. I’m not a spy.

  What was I doing getting involved in all this? Even if I was lonely before, my life was stable and predictable. Perfect, as far as I was concerned. Maybe not perfect, but safe at least. It definitely wasn’t that anymore.

  Stress and anxiety followed me around like two loyal dogs all day long. By the time I could go home, I was exhausted and feeling paranoid as hell. Neither the car nor whoever was driving it showed up all day—not that I saw. I was starting to wonder if I was losing it when Karen’s blond curls bounced into view as she came into the library.

  “Ready to go home?” she asked, smiling until her gaze swept mine. Her cheerfulness dropped like a stone. “What’s wrong?”

  “Just tired.” I had to be vague. I still didn’t want to tell her too much about the stuff with Sonny, no matter how badly I wanted her to tell me if she thought I was finally losing my marbles, or if my extreme paranoia and stress were justified. “Just let me grab my stuff, and I’ll walk out with you.”

  “You look like hell,” she commented, trailing behind me to my desk.

  I hadn’t looked in a mirror since this morning, but if I looked half as bad as I felt, I had no doubt it was terrible. “Thanks.”

  After grabbing my purse, phone, and the library’s keys, I shut down my computer and crossed the space with Karen in tow. “You don’t look only tired. You look like something’s wrong. What is it?”

  “It’s just been a long day.”

  Karen frowned, her head swiveling as she looked around the empty library. “No offense, but it doesn’t look like it was that busy. You guys have another fundraiser I didn’t hear about or something?”

  Or something, like the threat of the scary men coming back, or a certain forest green sedan waiting for me outside. “No fundraiser. There’s a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

  “Man troubles?” She reached for my arm and squeezed it gently to get my attention. “I’m here to listen if you need it.”

  “It’s not Sonny,” I objected, then thought the better of it. “Not really, anyway. It’s hard to explain.”

  For once, words were
n’t going to help me. Not only couldn’t I explain because her life might depend on my silence, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t want to explain.

  No one could change the situation Sonny and I were in. No one but him, anyway. And he was doing everything he could. Talking about it wasn’t going to make it better. It would only focus my attention on the danger we faced even more if that was possible.

  The corners of Karen’s lips turned down, sympathy shining her eyes as she waited for me to finish locking up. “If it’s too hard to explain here, why don’t we go grab a drink at Kiki’s while you think? I have time, and it looks like you really need to talk.”

  A drink wasn’t a half-bad idea. I wasn’t one to drown my sorrows or look for answers in the bottom of a bottle. Yet, a couple of cocktails might do the trick to help ease the massive ball of stress I was turning into. “No talking about it, but I’ll take you up on that drink.”

  Karen’s eyebrows hitched, but her lips curled into a surprised smile. “I can handle that. Hurry though, happy hour starts in ten minutes, and I’d like to grab a table before they all fill up. If you have to stand around with your drinks in your hand, people always bump into you. I don’t feel like getting home with more alcohol on my clothes than in my body.”

  I shuddered. Never having experienced what she was talking about, I couldn’t comment on it, but I could agree. “Are you driving with me, or meeting me there?”

  “With you. My car’s at the apartment. I walked over here.”

  “Let’s go get us a table.”

  Karen filled me in on her day on the drive over to Kiki’s, making me laugh by telling me the antics about the kids in her group.

  I diligently watched my mirrors, but I didn’t notice anything out of place. The closer we got to Kiki’s and the more Karen chattered away, the better I felt. My tension slowly started to unwind.

  This was exactly the injection of normality I needed today. Bars weren’t really my normal, but Karen and her bubbly personality were, along with driving around and spending some time with her after work.

  When we arrived a Kiki’s, the parking lot was packed, but I managed to snag a spot in the back. True to Karen’s earlier warning, the neighborhood bar was filling up fast.

  We got one of the last tables, and I people-watched while Karen went to the bar. She said waiting on a server would take more hours than were happy around here. Guys in suits sucked down beer at the table next to us. Their pitcher was disappearing so fast I wondered if happy hour came with prizes.

  Girls carried around brightly colored cocktails with wedges of fruit floating in them. Laughter filled the air as the working-class twenty-somethings of Cypress Creek relaxed. I felt myself relaxing right along with them.

  Until I saw a hulking figure push through the door. My entire body tensed, and nausea hit me faster than it had that morning. I gripped the table, my knuckles and fingertips turning white. I knew that guy.

  He didn’t seem to notice me, but there was no missing him. He towered over half the people in here. Even surrounded by people, I could still feel his cold, menacing stare seeping into my bones.

  He was one of the men who had come to the library to take our files on Sonny’s dad and to warn me to stay away from him. Only then he’d been dressed in black and looked like a vampire hunter. Today, however, he was wearing a police uniform.

  “Holy Chronicles of Narnia.” I blinked, but the image in front of me didn’t change. Trying to get a closer look, I leaned forward as Karen’s slid into the seat across from me, blocking my view of the man, and victoriously held up two drinks.

  “Guess what I got?” she asked in a sing-song voice, but for the second time that day her humor dropped instantly. “You’re even paler than you were when I left. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I muttered. Reaching blindly for the cherry red cocktail, I took a huge sip and angled myself to the side so I could peer past Karen, but the man was gone.

  The liquid running down my throat was ice cold and sickly sweet, but it left a nice burn in its wake. I took another sip, Karen’s watchful eyes widening as she scanned my face. “I was going to say I got us each a Kamikaze Kiki. You should take it slow. It looks pretty, and it tastes good, but that’s what makes it lethal. It creeps up on you, slowly, but then it jumps up and punches you right in the face.”

  I needed to be punched in the face. Metaphorically, of course. I had to have been hallucinating. Surely those men couldn’t be cops, not in Cypress Creek. If they were though—I swallowed past a lump lodged suddenly in my throat. Tension bundled in my neck and chest, and I forced myself to take a deep breath.

  If those men were cops, there was every possibility that there were risks to Sonny inside his own police station. The tightness in my throat moved downward, my chest aching and my stomach feeling like lead. My lungs constricted. This wasn’t good.

  Sonny could be in trouble from some of the people he trusted most, those he would lay his life down for because they wore the same uniform he did. Blood rushed from my cheeks at the possibility.

  I was freaking out, and I knew it, but I had no idea how to stop it.

  Karen snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Niki. What the hell, girl?”

  “I’m sorry, I just zoned out.”

  “You don’t say,” Karen mused. Her eyes narrowed, and she cocked her head to the side. “I’m worried about you. I don’t like seeing you like this.”

  “You don’t have to be worried.” I forced a smile, sticking the straw between my teeth and sucking down more syrupy sweetness. “I’ll be fine again tomorrow.”

  Karen’s brow scrunched, and her lips twisted. “Maybe, but if this thing with Sonny is making you this tense, then maybe you should take a break for a while. You’re supposed to be in the honeymoon phase. I don’t know what’s going on, but that’s not what this is.”

  “It’s not him,” I insisted. Bending over to gulp my cocktail, I realized the glass was empty when the straw made a slurping noise. “Damn, I need another one.”

  Karen lifted an eyebrow, worry as clear as a bell on her features. “We said we were going to have a drink, and we’ve had one now. You sure you want another before we head home?”

  I nodded, not having to think about it. The alcohol sent a fuzzy warmth through me. My head was already spinning slightly. But spinning was okay just now. It was too hard to grab onto a thought to worry. “I definitely want another.”

  “Coming right up,” she said, standing and making her way to the bar through the crowds.

  Two cocktails later, I realized it was time to go home. I felt light and woozy, although I wasn’t worried anymore.

  Karen’s drink was still on the table and looked watered down. I hadn’t been paying much attention to her drinks as I plowed through mine, but I thought she might’ve stopped after the first. She confirmed my suspicions when she said, “Come on, boozy. I’m driving you home. You’ve had way too much to drink.”

  “You’re so sweet,” I smiled dopily, grabbing onto her arm to keep myself steady as I swayed when I stood. “Whoa.”

  “Whoa is right. You’re a lightweight.” She eyed me from the side, folding her hand over mine to keep it tucked in the crook of her arm. “Just hang onto me. I’ll get you home.”

  The drive to Sonny’s was a blur, but Karen got me there as promised. She walked with me to the door, keeping my hand on her elbow again. I leaned against the wall, squeezing one eye shut as I dug through my purse for my keys.

  Before I could find them, the door swung open. Sonny stood in the doorway, all big and tall and strong as he frowned down at me. “Are you okay?”

  “Why’s everyone asking me that?” I didn’t know why it happened, but I giggled. Jeez, these people were all such worrywarts. “I’m fine.”

  Kicking off my shoes as I pushed past him into the house, I stumbled down the hall to our bedroom. Our bedroom. The thought made me giggle again.

  Sonny c
ame into the room as I collapsed onto the bed, my fingers digging into the comforter to try to stop the darn thing from spinning so much. I felt the mattress dent, then a familiar smell drifted to my nostrils.

  “Mmmm.” I sighed, breathing in deeply. “You smell like a manly ocean, you know that?”

  “A manly ocean?” He sounded confused, but my eyes drifted shut, and I nodded. A gentle hand brushed hair from my forehead. I turned my head into his touch. So comforting. “What happened tonight, Niki?”

  “I don’t want to be alone again. I’m always alone,” I murmured. My tongue felt heavy. Swollen. “My parents are gone. Everyone else left.”

  “You’re not alone, baby. I’m right here.”

  “For now, but I’m not ready for this.” I waved my hand limply in the direction I thought he was sitting. “I don’t know how to deal with everything that’s happening, but then you’ll be gone too.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, I promise. Why don’t you get some sleep? It will all be okay. I’m right here.”

  Sleep sounded like a good idea, especially with Sonny’s gruff voice lulling me. It felt like I was safe here. And not alone. For now.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sonny

  Gunshots rang out, shifting the air at the indoor range almost imperceptibly as they did. Niki stood next to me, her feet slightly apart as she took aim. She was getting good at this.

  I brought her to the range again more for my own peace of mind than for hers. I needed to know she knew how to defend herself, how to use a gun. It wouldn’t come to that, it couldn’t, but on the off chance it did, she needed to be ready.

  We’d both been on edge all week after that car showed up outside my house. The rest of the week was uneventful. She worked, I worked, and there were no more suspicious cars or people. But it had served as a jolting reminder that someone out there was still watching us, even if it was from afar.