Bronco blinked several times to adjust his vision, and then blinked several more after spotting Roxana.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Bronco was a large man with a muscular build and a mane of dark blond hair. His eyes were an emerald green, and his back, chest, and arms, were covered in tattoos.
Standing beside Bronco was a nineteen-year-old woman in a tight pair of denim shorts and a halter-top that barely contained her enormous breasts. She watched Bronco stare at Roxana, and after snapping her gum, she pointed at her.
“Who’s the old bitch, Bronco, your grandmother?”
Roxana walked over smiling, and then elbowed the girl on the side of her head.
The girl fell to the floor as if she were suddenly devoid of bones, and the men in the bar broke up in laughter.
Bronco reached over and cupped Roxana’s face in his hand.
“You’re back?”
“I’m back, and I’ve brought a gift.”
Bronco’s hand left her face and he put an arm around her.
“We’ll talk later, right now, we’re heading for the back room.”
As they walked past him, Hombre pointed towards the girl on the floor.
“What about Sophia?”
Bronco slapped him on the back.
“She’s yours if you want her.”
“Hell yeah,” Hombre said, he then walked over, tossed the still senseless Sophia over his shoulder, and headed for the men’s room.
***
New York City, 7:59 p.m.
Chris opened the door of O'Malley's Tavern, and then he held it open to let a young woman pass through.
“Hello, Lauren.”
“Mr. Caliber, it’s nice to see you again.”
“Same here, and call me Chris; Mr. Caliber is my grandfather.”
They entered the bar and Chris spotted his brother, and also two other familiar faces. They were Leslie and Karen, two of the former B-Girls. Chris waved to them as he spoke to Lauren.
“Are you here to meet them?”
“Yes, and I see your brother is here as well.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll see you around, Lauren.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Caliber.”
“Chris.”
Lauren smiled.
“Yes, Chris.”
Chris joined his brother at a table near the back and ordered a beer.
“Was that Lauren I saw you with?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, she’s here meeting Leslie and Karen.”
“I guess the three of them became friends when they all worked at Caliber, but never mind that, what do you want to talk about?”
Chris’s beer came and he took a long swallow, sighed in satisfaction, and then blurted it out.
“I slept with Rayne while we were in Atlantic City.”
Jake nodded.
“I thought that might be it, but where was Velma while that was going on?”
“We had a fight. She’s been keeping certain parts of her past a secret and this weekend it all came out.”
“How did it come out, she told you about it?”
“No, I learned it all from her ex-husband... her first ex-husband, from when she lived in Texas. His name is Peter Gates, and Velma also went to see him at his motel and didn’t tell me.”
“You’re saying she slept with this guy Gates?”
Chris hesitated, but then answered.
“No, I don’t believe so, but she did keep him a secret, along with other things.”
“Hey, Chris, Velma’s always been on the secretive side. How long did we all know her before we learned about her other husband, Michael? And don’t forget, the reason she came here in the first place was to be a sort of undercover agent for Mother. The girl likes keeping secrets, and she may have more.”
“So you’re saying that I shouldn’t trust her?”
“No, I’m just saying that it’s part of who she is. I also think that she really loves you, and up until now, I thought that you loved her back.”
“I do love her.”
“Then why were you in Rayne’s bed last night?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was it just sex... or something more?”
Chris took another long gulp of beer and then grabbed a handful of peanuts from the bowl on the table.
“I’m attracted to Rayne, and... it’s not all physical, but I love Velma and I don’t want to lose her.”
“If that’s true, you’d better tell her about what happened before Rayne does.”
“Rayne told me that she won’t say a word. She said that she wasn’t looking to mess me up with Velma, and I believe her.”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“If she wasn’t lying, then, that means she’s in love with you.”
“You think that Rayne loves me?”
“She’s had a thing for you since you first met and then you saved her life, so yeah, I think she might really love you.”
Chris leaned back in his seat, a small smile playing on his lips.
Jake pointed at him.
“That smile worries me.”
“Was I smiling?”
“Yes you were.”
Chris smiled once again, and Jake hung his head and sighed.
***
Across the bar, Lauren was getting an offer from Leslie and Karen. Leslie was a twenty-one-year-old blonde, while Karen was nineteen, and a brunette.
“You want to start up the B-Girls again?”
“Why not?” Leslie said. “As we reminded Mrs. Caliber, it’s a profitable business.”
“I’m sure it is, but it would take a lot of capital to rebuild it. You would need office space, a management structure, and loads of advertising, and advertising is not cheap.”
“We’ll handle the expenses if you’ll agree to run things and also work as a B-Girl.”
“You have that kind of money?” Lauren asked.
Karen smiled.
“We have enough to start, and we’ve thought up a few ways that things could be tweaked in order to cut costs. So what do you say? We’ll cover the expenses and do the bookkeeping, while you handle the clients and the girls, and we split the profit three ways.”
“It sounds like I would be doing most of the heavy lifting, no?”
“You will be, that’s true, but we have the capital and the business plan.”
“I’ll have to pass. Mrs. Caliber has hired me to work as her assistant.”
“Really?” Leslie said, and then she and Karen exchanged disappointed glances.
“Yes, and so far I like the job, but I’ll be filling in for Kelli Ross for a while.”
“Oh, yeah, she was hurt by the B-Girl Killer, wasn’t she?” Karen said.
“Yes, but she’ll be back to work in a short time. So, what else have you two been up to?”
“Nothing much,” Leslie said. “But I see you move fast, or did you think we wouldn’t notice that you and Chris Caliber came here together.”
“Mr. Caliber and I didn’t come here together, we just happened to arrive at the same time.”
Karen sent her a wink.
“Whatever you say,”
Lauren knew that they were kidding her, but it irked her anyway, she then looked across the bar at Chris, and for the first time, really noticed him.
***
Jake had ordered another round of beers and he and Chris continued to talk.
Jake shrugged.
“Okay, you slept with Rayne once and got it out of your system. Now be honest with Velma, beg her to forgive you, and move on.”
“Twice.”
“What?”
“I actually slept with Rayne twice. We made love again this morning before I left her room.”
Jake threw his hands in the air.
“This is a mess.”
“I know it is, and the truth is, I want them both.”
“That’s not going to happen, Little Brother, and so you’ll have to choose.”
“And you’ll tell her what happened between you and Rayne?”
“I... I don’t know about that.”
“You want my opinion, tell her, or someday Rayne will.”
“Rayne will keep quiet. She’s a woman of her word.”
“And Velma, what’s she?”
“Velma is a woman who likes to keep secrets.”
“If that’s true, then, how can you be so sure that she’s really going to Texas to see her family? Didn’t you say this Peter Gates guy was from Texas too?”
Chris put down his beer, and did it a little harder than was needed.
“She wouldn’t do that, not after promising me that there would be no more secrets.”
Jake held up a hand.
“I’m probably wrong and it’s my suspicious P.I. brain talking. But you know, as long as you keep what happened with Rayne a secret, you’ve got no moral ground to stand on.”
Chris sighed.
“I’ll tell her as soon as she gets back, and hell, I doubt I could live with it anyway.”
“Good man.”
“You cheated on Kelli, and now look at you, you’re about to get married to her, so, maybe Velma will forgive me too.”
Jake held up his beer mug.
“Here’s to history repeating itself.”
Chris clinked glasses and smiled.
“Thanks, Jake, I know what I have to do now. I also feel better after talking with you.”
“That’s what big brothers are for squirt.”
Chris smiled back at his brother, even as the thought nagged at him that Velma might have lied again.
***
At that very moment, Velma was boarding her flight to El Paso, Texas.
The flight was full, and as she made her way down the aisle, she noticed a man staring at her. As a good looking woman, Velma was used to being eyed by men, but the handsome man with the dark wavy hair seemed to be looking at her with something more akin to recognition.
When the man realized that he was staring, he looked down and pretended to be checking his seatbelt. Velma soon moved past him along the aisle and gave him no more thought.
***
Trace Pruitt sighed with relief as Velma went by without saying anything, but then he wondered what she was doing on the flight. She obviously had no more feelings for Peter Gates, but then why fly to El Paso, Texas, which was only a short drive from Gates’ home in Pachaw? Was she going there to look for the drug money too?
Pruitt took out his phone, turned it back on, and made a call.
“Mr. Pruitt? I thought our business was concluded?”
“So did I, Madam X, but I thought you might like to know that Velma Parker is on a flight to El Paso, and El Paso is very near to where Peter Gates lives.”
“She’s trying to find me through Gates, and Gates will lead her to you. By the way, why are you on a flight to El Paso?”
“I have some personal business there.”
“It might be in both our interests if you were to get to Gates first, yes?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I also think that this info is worth another bonus. Hello? Hey, you still there? Aw hell, she hung up.”
Pruitt turned in his seat and spotted Velma several rows back.
That is one good looking woman.
He kept staring, admiring her until she noticed him, and then he sent her a smile and turned back around in his seat. Pruitt wondered just how grateful Velma would be if he were to lead her to Madam X.
Pruitt nodded to himself. He might just have to find out.
CHAPTER 8
New York City
The old man opened his apartment door and let Jake inside, where several men were already settled around a poker table in the living room.
The old man’s apartment took up most of the third floor of the Caliber building and the rooms were all large with high ceilings. The building was old and the windows in the apartment were both wide and long, while the walls were made of real plaster and boasted intricate carved filigree at their tops.
“I thought your brother might be sitting in on a few hands this week,” the old man said.
“No, Chris would lose his shirt with the place his head is in now.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Nothing, but he and Velma have some things to work out.”
The old man sighed.
“He slept with Rayne, didn’t he?”
Jake looked surprised, and then smiled.
“You don’t miss a thing either, do you?”
“I’d have to be an idiot not to have noticed that something was going on between those three during lunch, still, I would have expected Velma to be angrier.”
“She still doesn’t know about it, but Chris plans to tell her when she gets back from Texas.”
“That boy better decide which one he wants, or they might both grow tired of him.”
“Velma is not helping her case; Chris says she’s been keeping secrets.”
The old man made a sound of disgust.
“That’s enough gossip for now; let’s go play poker.”
Jake walked over and saw familiar faces at the table.
There were four other men present. They were all long-time participants, Tommy Delaney, his grandfather, who was also named Thomas Delaney, and who wore tubes in his nose that fed him oxygen from a tank at his side. There was an assistant DA named Carr, who was a black man in his forties, and also another old man named Simon Kruger, who in his earlier years was a world-class thief.
Although from week-to-week the players changed as people had prior commitments or obligations, over the many years that the old man had held the Friday night game, the poker table had hosted politicians, a smattering of celebrities, and even a crowned prince.
Jake grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and then took a seat and anted up.
As the first hand was ending, the elder Delaney looked over his glasses at the old man.
“So, Jake, when do I get to meet this Maggie, and does she have a sister?”
“We’ll drop by your restaurant tomorrow and say hi.”
“Do that, and how old is she anyway?”
“She’s sixty.”
“Sixty? So when you were forty, she was just fourteen? Hell, that almost makes you a pervert.”
That made the others at the table crack up in laughter, but the old man waved it off.
“That’s jealousy talking, boys.”
Delaney laughed.
“No, really Jake, I’m happy for you, and I meant what I said, see if she has a sister.”
“There’s only one Maggie, Tommy, and I ain’t letting her go.”
Simon Kruger threw his cards down in disgust.
“You always were a lucky bastard.”
The old man smiled.
“That’s why I host these games.”
***
Velma had just loaded her luggage into her rental when her phone rang, and when she checked it, she saw that the caller was Chris.
She let it go to voicemail, and when she listened to the message, there were only four words.
“Talk to me, Velma.”
She winced, not liking the message’s tone, and with a sigh, she called him back.
“Hello, Chris.”
“Where are you, and please don’t lie to me.”
“I’m in El Paso, and yes, I came to Texas to find Peter, but only because I want to learn who’s behind him, who was it that made certain that you knew about him.”
There was a pause, and then Chris spoke.
“You think it was Rayne, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“If someone was behind Gates appearance in AC, then yes, it was probably Rayne. Did you ask her about it?”
“No. Why would I? She’d only lie about it.”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“She wants you, Chris, I know she does, and I want you to be on g
uard this weekend, since you’re there alone.”
There was no answer, and Velma spoke his name.
“Chris?”
Still no answer, but when she looked at the phone screen, she saw that the line was still active.
“Chris?”
“I... I slept with Rayne, in Atlantic City, I slept with Rayne.”
“What!”
“I’m so sorry, Velma. I know that it sucks to tell you this on the phone, but I just couldn’t keep it inside anymore.”
This time it was Velma who grew silent.
“Please say something, Velma.”
She did, in a voice that was barely a whisper.
“I thought you loved me.”
“I do! I swear to God that I do, it’s just that I was weak, and, ah, I think I have feelings for her too.”
Chris heard Velma take a deep inhalation, and after she sniffled, she asked a question.
“Do you love her?”
“I don’t know; I only know that I love you and I don’t want to lose you.”
“Sleeping with Rayne is not the way to do that.”
“I know, and I’m so sorry, please, come back home. Even if Rayne was behind Gates coming to see you, it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me, because it means she’s messing in my life, and it pisses me off that it doesn’t make you angry too. She deliberately tried to break us up, Chris.”
“Tried to? Does that mean that you’re willing to give me a second chance?”
“No. Well, yes, I mean, I don’t know. I’m still dealing with it, and I swear I could strangle the bitch.”
“Jake thinks that she’s in love with me.”
“I don’t give a damn if she is, do you?”
“It, it just complicates things, that’s all.”
“It also flatters you. I’m not blind. I could always tell that you liked what you saw when you looked at her, but now that you’ve been with her, is she out of your system?”
“I won’t sleep with her again, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“It wasn’t, not exactly, but it’ll do. I’ll be home Sunday afternoon, and then we’ll talk.”
“I love you, Velma, and I’m so damn sorry that I’ve hurt you.”
“Goodbye, Chris.”
“Wait, I want to say—”
“Goodbye.”
Velma ended the call, tossed the phone onto the seat, and began to sob.
CHAPTER 9
Caliber Detective Agency Box Set 2 Page 19
