Lyon's Heart

by Jordan Silver

  By the time her father showed up, I had calmed own a little. They were doing some type of investigation on the tire tracks on the road, skid marks I guess. The jeep wasn’t totaled but the back had a pretty good sized dent in it, one of the lights was out and the bumper had been torn off. That had to be a pretty hard hit. One of the cops came from under the car and went over to where her father their boss was standing with another cop. I stood with my guys formulating in my head what I was going to do next. I was just waiting on their report before I did anything. If this was some accident, I didn’t want to be going after someone wrongfully but I don’t believe in coincidence.

  I pulled my phone and called my guys again.

  “Did the strange woman return yet?”

  “Five minutes ago.”

  “Was she carrying anything like maybe she’d gone shopping or something?”

  “Nope, empty handed.

  “What about her car?”

  “She’s on foot. If she was driving, we wouldn’t know the garage is on the other side and since we weren’t watching her, we didn’t take notice.”

  “Okay thanks.” I still had that niggling feeling in my gut something was not right.

  “Colt, did you put a tracking device under Kat’s jeep?”

  “No. Why?” All her trackers were inside hidden in the dashboard.

  He opened his hand to show me the tracker in the evidence bag.

  “Son of a bitch.” This wasn’t my brand, someone had placed a tracker on my fucking wife. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to figure out who and when.

  “That bitch did this the day of the accident. That’s why she needed to get under Kat’s car.”

  “But why there, why didn’t she do it while Kat was out shopping or something? That was a bit risky and the question still remains if you’re right why?”

  “Fuck if I know but I’m going to find out.”

  “Colt, I don’t think that’s a good idea, stay with the girls. I’ll handle it.”

  “No way, my family, my deal.”

  “Son, I’ve pretty much kept my nose out of things but you can’t handle everything this way. If this person has done this, then we’ll figure it out. We might have her prints on this since we’ve retrieved them in the process of a crime. I can get it taken care of faster.”

  “They won’t be of any help to you. I’ve already tried that.”

  “What how?” I just looked at him without answering. He got the message and sighed in defeat.

  “Look, just promise me you won’t do anything stupid okay. You have a young child who needs you.”

  “I’m good Drake. Can I get them out of here now?”

  I saw Jared pull up with one of my trucks. It was time to get my family home behind closed doors. I went and got them from the back of the cruiser.

  “Let’s go baby.” I took the baby from her and with my hand in the small of her back, led her to the truck. Buckling her in, I went back to get the baby seat since there wasn’t one in this truck. After I got them situated, I drove us home leaving my crew behind to watch over shit until the last cop left. I wanted to know everything.

  “Colton.”

  “Not now Kat.” I looked back at my daughter to make sure she was okay, she was nodding off but there was never going to be a time when she saw her dad yelling at her mom. Not fucking ever.

  I know my wife had already been through a lot. I know she’s scared but I also know that if she’d done what I told her to, none of this would’ve happened. She doesn’t get it, I tell her one thing, and she does another. I don’t care if it was my mom calling, she had no right, and she damn sure had no right taking my kid.

  Back at the house, I let them in and headed to my office.

  “Colt, talk to me.”

  “Go put the baby down Katarina.”

  I wasn’t doing this with her right now. I didn’t even want to turn her over my knee for being stupid I just wanted her out of my face. I know that that too would hurt her but right now, I didn’t really give a fuck. I could be standing over both of them at the fucking morgue right now because of her stupidity. It was finally settling in what could’ve happened to them. That’s a lonely stretch of road, no one hardly ever drives there. What if this nut had been carrying a fucking gun and had got out to finish the job?

  I have to figure this shit out and fast. The thought of her being in the same room as my family tomorrow was no longer acceptable. I had to get into her apartment, but how? I didn’t want her anywhere near my mother and sisters either or I’d ask Elena to take her out shopping or something. How the fuck do I get her out of the apartment?

  I sat with my head in my hand trying to figure it out but nothing came to me. It wasn’t long before I heard the bikes piling into my driveway. I went downstairs to let the guys in and they filed in one by one.

  “The heat tested the skid marks. It was a definite hit, no accident. The girls were run off the road. The guy who saw the whole thing says the person slammed into them once and when that didn’t work, they pulled back and gunned it. That’s what sent them over the side. Apparently, Kat has some skills, because she kept it from flipping.”

  “Yeah, her father and I taught her defensive driving. We’ve got something to do. I can’t wait for tomorrow for this shit. I know it’s this chick doing all this. I’m not giving her another shot at my family no fucking way.”

  “What are we doing, going in?”

  “Yeah Jared I’m going in. I need to find out who she is.”

  “What if we’re wrong?”

  “I don’t think so. The guys said they saw some new chick going in and out of the building, someone they don’t know. What are the odds of two unknowns in our vicinity in a week? I don’t trust it.”

  “Okay let’s go.”

  “I’m not leaving my girls here alone, Caitlin’s asleep. I have to wait until she gets up and take them to my mom and dad’s. Shoulda thought of that before I brought them here but I wasn’t thinking straight, fuck, I need a drink.”

  I walked over to the bar and got a shot of whiskey, my head was fucked up. All I wanted was to give my little girl the best first Xmas I possibly could but this shit was taking precedence when I didn’t want it to. And what the fuck am I doing? This bitch came into my territory and fucked with my girls and I’m doing what? Nothing, waiting for fingerprints and shit. I know for a fact that she’s the one behind this shit. I should’ve taken care of her the first time my gut warned me, well enough of this shit.

  “Listen, I need to get into that apartment. I don’t care if she knows it or not. I’m just gonna go over there and take care of this shit.”

  “We’re with you Lyon. So how do you want to do this?”

  “I’m just gonna go over there and turn that place upside down until I find out who the fuck she is and what this is all about.”

  “Should we call Drake and get him in on this?”

  “Nah no law. Who the fuck is that?” There was someone at the door going crazy on the bell.

  “Drake what are you doing here?”

  I stepped back to let him in, he’s the last person I wanted to see right now.

  “Hey guys what’s going on?” He looked around the room at the guys scattered around the room.

  “Hey Drake, what’s good?”

  “Everything’s cool. Colt, I need to see you.” We walked to the other side of the room.

  “What are you guys planning Colton, you know you can’t go all crazy here. Cy is already getting his shotgun and talking crazy and I’m sure Jared isn’t too far behind. I need you to calm this situation down. They’re your guys they’ll listen to you. There was a young kid there. I’m sure your guys already told you since they questioned as many people as we did. He saw the whole thing and you’re right, it wasn’t an accident, at least not the way he described it.”

  “It’s that bitch, I told you people there was no accident. If you’d listened to me, we could’ve avoided this shit. Now my kid is scared out h
er fucking mind and my wife is a wreck.” And you’d left her up there alone Colt because your anger was more important than taking care of her, fuck.

  “Who is this person? You still don’t have any ideas on that?

  “That’s what I’m about to find out.”

  “Wait what do you mean?”

  “Nothing, stay out of it Drake.”

  “No I won’t stay out of it, that’s my kid and grandkid. Listen Colt I love the way you take care of them, the way you watch over them but this is something best left to the law. We don’t have any idea who this chick is or who else might be involved in this thing whatever it is. Let me do my thing, tomorrow is the holiday you should be looking forward to spending time with your daughter for her first Xmas let me handle this.”

  I heard what he was saying but there was no way I was leaving my family’s care and protection to someone else. That’s not what a man does. No one is going to fuck with what’s mine and get away with it.

  “You know I can’t do that. I appreciate the offer but I have to handle this shit. She ran my wife and kid off the fucking road.”

  “Okay, tell me what you plan on doing. How are you going to take care of it?”

  “I think it’s best. You don’t know anything about that.”

  “See, I can’t let you do that son. We have to handle this legally. You can’t go off half cocked like some vigilante and take matters into your own hands. I told you to give me some time and we’ll get on it. If we go after her now without all the facts we could screw everything up.”

  “We’re looking at this thing from two different angles. You’re talking about the law and doing shit the right way. I’m talking about this bitch coming here and fucking with my family, fuck the law. She brought this shit to my front door, there’s no fucking way.”

  “Colton listen to me son, you can’t deal with things this way, there has to be a better way to handle conflict.”

  “That’s your deal not mine, do you think she ran them off the road for sport? She was trying to fucking kill them, what the fuck?”

  “I understand that but what I’m telling you, is that there’s a better way than just leading with anger. What do you plan to do, off her?”

  I didn’t answer him but I’m pretty sure the look I gave him was answer enough.

  “Son, you can’t, you just can’t. And I can’t know anything about this. I’m the law for crying out loud.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Colton, stop and think. You don’t want this on your hands, just please give me time to look into it.”

  “Are you going to arrest her for what happened today?”

  “We can’t because we don’t have any evidence. The one kid who saw the whole thing got scared and drove off, he only came back when he heard the sirens but by then the perpetrator was long gone. All he remembers is a dark four door sedan, no plates no model, nothing. Now we could drive around the city looking for a car that fits the description but I’m pretty sure this person already ditched it. We’re checking the data base for stolen cars fitting the description and the rental places here and the next town over but that’s all we can do for now.”

  I could stand here and argue with him all day but what’s the point? He had his own ideas about how to handle shit and I had mine.

  “Thanks for stopping by, I’ll talk to Cy.”

  He looked at me like he knew everything he said went in one ear and out the other. My only concern was making sure that whatever the fuck I did never got on his radar.

  “Where are the girls?”

  “The baby’s asleep and Kat’s upstairs with her.”

  “She upset?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’m gonna go up and see them, you and your guys stay cool. I don’t want to have to arrest anyone.”

  “We’re cool, no worries.” My ass.

  My boys waited until he was gone to start talking again.

  “What’s up boss?”

  “Nothing new really, except I forgot to mention the tracker she put on my wife’s jeep.”

  “Damn, who is this chick?”

  “That’s what we’re going to find out.”

  Cy showed up not long after and Drake was right, he was pissed. I had to calm him down because my man went into military mode. He was usually the level headed one in the bunch. A good influence, I guess you could say on the rest of us hotheaded young’uns as he calls us. Not this time.

  “I dropped the ball last time Colt, not this time. I was there when the kid was giving his report, sent chills down my spine. Someone intentionally ran them off the road, a young mother and her baby. What’s this world coming to?”

  “I know Cy but I don’t want you worrying about this Drake’s already on my ass about keeping my crew calm…”

  “He’s her dad but he’s the law, his hands are tied. She’s as much mine now Colt, do you understand? Not many young women would’ve done what she did for me that day on the side of the road. Look at my life Colt, I live in that nice home your mother calls a guesthouse that could sleep six easy. I have food in my belly and a nice warm bed to lay my head down at night and it’s all because of that little girl upstairs. You’ve been a big part of that too but we both know if your Kat hadn’t stopped that day, I wouldn’t even have registered on your radar.”

  “I know how you feel Cy, but what you don’t understand is that you’re mine now too, like Daniel and Elena. I wouldn’t let them get involved in this shit either. I take care of my own. Let me and the boys work it please, if anything happened to you it would destroy Kat.”

  “What’s going to happen to me? You think I’m afraid of one little girl who’s lost her damn mind?”

  “No, but we don’t know what we’re dealing with yet. We have no idea who she is, why she’s here and if she’s working alone. You can keep searching online for missing persons that match her description. You’ve seen her right?”

  “Nope, haven’t seen her yet but I can go from a general description I guess.”

  “Okay, that’ll help me out a lot.” I gave him what he needed and he hung around with us for a few before shuffling off home to do what I asked.

  Drake hung around upstairs for about an hour while we kicked around ideas about how to get the mystery woman out of her apartment. As much as I would like to just go over there and cut her fucking head off, that would be a shit fuck thing to do with Drake onto me. I couldn’t get my boys involved in that shit and there was no way they were going to let me do this shit alone now. Fuck.

  “Look, it’s Xmas eve, why don’t we have your mom and her girls call her under the pretense of going shopping?”

  “I don’t want her around my mother.”

  “Yes, but if your mom knows what you’re doing, she would be careful. Besides, she’ll have her girls with her there isn’t much the chick can do.”

  “I don’t know, too much could go wrong.”

  “It’s either that, or have her invite her to the house.”

  “Fuck that. I don’t want her there either, this shit is fucked.”

  We were still throwing around ideas, when Drake came back down and said his goodbyes. Not once did I give his idea of waiting a shot. She wasn’t spending one more night in my fucking town that was too close for comfort.

  “Let’s go. Let me go tell Kat we’re leaving and I’ll be right back.” I found her in the nursery sitting in the rocking chair next to the crib. She had tears in her eyes and the saddest face I’d ever seen her wear. I wanted to hug my wife and tell her everything was going to be okay but I was still too pissed at her. What the fuck have I been telling her? It’s the holidays, let’s just concentrate on our kid and forget everything else. She never fucking listens to shit, the fuck.

  “I’ll be right back, don’t let anyone in the house, and don’t leave. I’ll try to get back in time for you to not lose your fucking mind again.”

  “Colt, I’m sorry I didn’t think…”

&n
bsp; “I’m not doing this shit with you right now, just please look after my daughter until I get back.” I know that’s fucking harsh but so the fuck what. I’m over her shit.

  I didn’t wait around to hear any more of her excuses. I had shit to do, plus I couldn’t bare that look on her face. Let me deal with this crazy bitch and then I can concentrate on making her feel better about fucking up. Shit this marriage fuckery is a minefield.

  Chapter 16

  In the end, we went with something simple. I had the super knock on the door and tell her there was a gas leak in the building and she had to leave. Of course we had to tell the other tenants the same thing to make it look legit but what the fuck. Most of them weren’t home anyway. Most normal human beings were out getting ready for the holiday. According to the guys who were on her, she headed for the mall. I decided to go in alone, the place wasn’t that big anyway. I could toss it in an hour tops. I went in and headed straight for the bedroom. Everything was neat and nothing looked suspicious. The computer was sitting on the bed and left on. There was nothing there but some shopping site. She had a cup sitting next to the bed and her clothes were folded neatly on a chair. I opened the closet door and that’s where I got my first break. She had three different wigs in there in different shades. Red, black and some crazy looking shit with spikes and colors. What the fuck did she need that shit for, unless she was up to no good? I went through the drawers but there was nothing in there but clothes. I went back to the computer and tried getting into her email and shit but of course everything was pass coded. I should’ve brought Paul with me. He would know how to break into that shit. I could always steal it but then she’d know someone was in here. This shit was beyond frustrating. Char said she’d been acting suspicious and the wigs were a dead giveaway for me but there was nothing here I could use. As I was about to turn away the computer screen changed and my heart dropped. Gotcha. I had what I came for but it just posed a whole other set of problems fuck.

  I called the guys that were on her.

  “Where is she?”

  “Shopping.”

  “Do you have eyes on her?”