At Peace

by Kristen Ashley

  “I’ll call.”

  “Ben, you don’t wanna talk to me, fine. I get it, it’s cool, been livin’ with that for years. I’ll get the news from Sal or one of the boys.”

  His hand tightened on her arm and he brought her closer to his body, close enough to smell that perfume again and in a moment of lunatic honesty he had to admit he liked it.

  “I’ll fucking call.”

  She went still for a moment that seemed to stretch for a long time and she stared up at him and all he could see were her eyes, her hair and all he could smell was her perfume and his hand automatically tightened further on her arm.

  When it did, she whispered, “Suit yourself.”

  She yanked her arm from his hand and he watched her walk two paces then for some reason she started running. He stood still as he listened to his back gate open and close and he stayed still as he heard her start her car and drive away.

  The current situation hit him, his body jolted, he cleared his mind of Frankie, turned and jogged into the house.

  * * * * *

  I felt Joe’s hand on the small of my back and his hip pressed to mine in bed.

  “Buddy, girls need to get to school,” he said into my ear.

  He was sitting on my side of the bed. I was lying on my stomach in it. He’d been up for awhile. I had not.

  “Mm,” I replied and didn’t open my eyes because my eyelids weighed three tons.

  “They’ve had breakfast and they’re ready to go,” Joe went on.

  I continued to ignore him and made no reply.

  Joe sounded like he was trying not to laugh when he finished. “Don’t you want to say good-bye?”

  “Go away,” I mumbled into my pillow.

  “Baby –”

  “Away,” I partially repeated myself.

  I heard Joe’s laughter and if I had it in me I’d glare at him. Lucky for him, I didn’t have it in me.

  His lips were back at my ear. “Best part about last night was you comin’ home.”

  At this point, if I had it in me, I would have rolled my eyes.

  “And then you makin’ me come,” he continued, his voice lower. “That is, after you made me watch you makin’ yourself come.”

  “Leave me alone,” I muttered not wanting to remember even as good as it was. I’d been out-of-control. No inhibitions, none. It had been wild and considering our sex life, that was practically unbelievable. Even Joe had been surprised, I could tell. He didn’t complain nor did he resist, but he’d been surprised.

  “Gotta get you drunk more often, buddy,” Joe decided.

  “Alone,” I begged.

  “Every night,” Joe kept at me.

  I forced my eyes open, shifted only my eyeballs to him and declared, “No more drink. No more sex. Ever.”

  He burst out laughing which shook the bed and made me hold onto the pillow tighter and close my eyes against my stomach roiling.

  “Colt’s bachelor party tonight means I’ll be home drunk,” he told me and I groaned. It was Feb’s bachelorette party last night that set the scene for my drunken sex attack on my boyfriend. When he spoke again, his mouth was again at my ear. “So you better rest up, honey.”

  I wasn’t hungover enough not to get a little thrill at what Joe might dream up drunk. I liked what he could do sober and I liked what he let me do when I was drunk. Joe drunk was probably going to be awesome.

  Nevertheless, I asked the pillow, “Didn’t I say go away?”

  “Yeah,” he answered and I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Then go,” I demanded.

  I felt his lips on my shoulder then I felt his fingers tuck my hair behind my ear.

  “I’ll tell the girls you said good-bye,” he offered.

  “Thanks,” I muttered.

  “I’m goin’ into the office.”

  “Great,” I said.

  “You feel up to it, we’ll go to Frank’s for lunch.”

  I groaned again and burrowed into the pillows.

  “Don’t talk about food,” I whispered, he chuckled and his hand slid from the small of my back over my ass.

  “Get rest and then get fluids in you,” he advised.

  “Mm,” I mumbled.

  “Only you could be cute hungover,” he muttered as I felt his weight leave the bed.

  “Don’t be nice when I’m hungover,” I demanded.

  “Why?” Joe sounded surprised and amused.

  “I like to be nice back when you’re nice and I can’t move,” I explained.

  I felt his lips hit my neck and then they went back to my ear. “You can be nice tonight when I come home drunk. We’ll start with that thing you did when you climbed astride my stomach and move on from there.”

  I closed my eyes tighter as memories invaded of me drunk and naked, climbing on top of a just awake Joe and then giving him a one-woman show. A show he liked so much he turned the light on to watch.

  My body trembled with embarrassment.

  “Ugh,” I grunted.

  “Fuck, baby, never forget that. That beats you wrestlin’ wet and in a skirt with Susie Shepherd.”

  I lifted and turned my head, opening my eyes to glare up at him. His head moved back with my movements and I saw he was smiling huge which meant he was laughing inside.

  “Go away, Joe!” I snapped and winced but his hand wrapped around the back of my head, he lifted me up further, kissed me hard and closed-mouthed and then he let me go.

  “Rest,” he ordered.

  “I would if you’d leave me alone,” I informed him and he just grinned.

  Then he smacked my ass lightly over the covers and walked out of the room.

  I collapsed into the bed and listened to Joe talk quietly to the girls. Then I heard them leave. Then I fell into blissful sleep having no idea that shield Joe had built around me was about to collapse.

  * * * * *

  Colt climbed the stairs of the Station and saw Sully’s head come up when he hit the top. Then he watched Sully smile.

  “Was Feb as shitfaced as Raine when she got home?” he asked before Colt even made it to his desk.

  Colt smiled. Feb was beyond shitfaced. Feb was so wasted she could barely move. However, she wasn’t so wasted she couldn’t use her mouth, which she did to spectacular results after which she kissed his chest, grinned up at him like she’d just succeeded in climbing Mount Everest instead of sucking him off and then promptly passed out.

  “Too bad Feb only gets one bachelorette party,” Colt muttered as he shrugged off his blazer and hooked it around the back of his chair.

  “Yeah,” Sully grinned, “bachelorette parties are my favorite part of my friends gettin’ hitched.”

  Considering Sully’s wife Lorraine got smashed after a daiquiri and a half, Colt figured Sully had a pretty good night.

  “I’m doin’ a Meems run,” Sully told him, straightening from his chair as Colt sat in his, “you want a coffee?”

  Mimi’s Café was two blocks away and her coffee was so good, you never said no when someone offered it.

  “Yeah. Cappuccino,” Colt replied as his phone rang.

  He reached for it and Sully reached for his blazer.

  “Colton,” he said into the receiver after he put it to his ear.

  “Colt? Pryor. We got a situation,” he heard Barry Pryor say, he sounded far from happy and Colt’s eyes cut to Sully. Sully saw the look in them and stopped moving.

  “What?” Colt asked.

  “Last night was a bloody one for Chicago,” Pryor answered.

  “What?” Colt asked again.

  “Someone tried to whack Daniel Hart. This whack failed to take down Hart but it took down two of his top boys. Hart didn’t hesitate with retribution and a drive by at Sal Giglia’s favorite haunt saw four of his soldiers buy it not to mention a waitress and the bartender is critical.”

  Colt closed his eyes and sat back in his chair muttering, “Fuck.”

  “You know about our friend?” Pryor ask
ed and Colt opened his eyes to see Sully sit in the chair by Colt’s desk.

  Colt knew. He knew that Cal’s grandfather’s sister married a Giglia. He knew the Giglias were big time mob, not low level, upper echelon and they had been for a long time. He knew Cal had briefly worked security for Giglia during the last war Giglia had with Hart. He knew Cal had lost his cousin to that war and took a bullet protecting Giglia during it. And lastly he knew that Cal was impatient enough to act reckless and activate the family.

  “Yeah,” he answered Pryor.

  “Well, my guess is, Hart does too. My guess is Hart knows that our friend is losin’ patience. My guess is Hart’s gonna know what our friend’s up to,” Pryor stated.

  “What have your boys been doin’?” Colt asked.

  “As you know, Captain agreed and Fed’s approved so we been gettin’ in his business. He hasn’t been likin’ this much,” Pryor replied.

  “He put that two with the other two and get four?”

  “He’s a psychopath but he isn’t stupid.”

  “Was Sal Giglia at that restaurant last night?” Colt asked.

  “Yeah, he’s fine but I’m guessin’ he’s also pissed which means the earth under Chicago shifted last night and we all gotta hold on,” Pryor answered.

  Colt suspected he wasn’t wrong. He just hoped that quake wouldn’t hit his town.

  “Any more to report?” Colt asked.

  “Last night was busy. Feds got the books,” Pryor told him.

  Finally, good news.

  He looked at Sully and said, “They got the books.”

  Sully’s brows went up but Pryor kept talking.

  “They got forensic accountants combin’ ‘em and a judge on hold for a warrant.”

  “How long’s that gonna take?”

  “They’re fast-tracked.”

  “That isn’t an answer,” Colt told him.

  “My gut?” Pryor asked.

  “Lay it out,” Colt answered.

  “Make some calls. They’re workin’ fast but Hart’ll work faster. This isn’t about Vi anymore. This is about retaliation.”

  “Right,” Colt said.

  “I’ll keep you briefed. You do the same,” Pryor ordered.

  “Yeah. Later.”

  “Later.”

  Colt put the receiver in the cradle and then twisted to his blazer to get his cell asking Sully, “Someone on Vi this mornin’?”

  “Chris,” Sully answered. “What’s up?”

  “Call him. A hit on Hart went bad last night, two down, Hart survived. He retaliated against Sal Giglia and five were killed and the kills were sloppy, they took out a waitress and the bartender’s critical. Giglia’s gonna move back. They got the books. It’s goin’ down.”

  “This gonna blow down here?” Sully asked, moving quickly back to his desk.

  “My guess, Pryor’s gut? Yeah. You call Chris, tell him she needs to be home behind Cal’s security fortress and Chris is glued to her. Then you call who’s on the girls. They’re taken out of school and they’re home. We got someone on Cal?”

  “Adam,” Sully answered, his phone to his ear.

  Colt scrolled down to Cal and hit go. He put the phone to his ear and waited, getting voicemail. He disconnected and called again and again got voicemail.

  “Fuck,” he hissed as he waited for the message to clear and heard the beep. “Cal, Colt. Minute you get this, call me. Shit went down in Chicago last night. You, Vi and the girls need to be home. Sully’s talkin’ to Chris who’s got Vi and we’re movin’ to get the girls.”

  He disconnected and scrolled up to Adam.

  “Chris isn’t answering,” Sully said and Colt looked at him.

  “What?”

  “Called twice. No answer,” Sully said, the receiver still at his ear he spoke into it. “Connie,” he said to the woman who was working dispatch, “get a callout to Chris. You connect, you tell him to move on Vi, take her home, batten down the hatches and call me in that order. He can brief her after he gets briefed.”

  Colt stood and grabbed his blazer, hitting go on Adam on his phone. He started to move to the backstairs and saw Mike alighting them so he stopped and lifted a palm to Mike who took one look at his face and halted.

  Colt got voicemail.

  “Fuck!” he clipped, flipped his phone shut and turned to Sully. “I’m goin’ to the high school. You get a callout to whoever’s on the girls. I’ll meet them there.” He turned to Mike. “Shit’s blowin’ down from Chicago. You need to go to the garden center.”

  “Fuck!” Mike hissed, turned without a word and sprinted down the stairs.

  Colt looked back at Sully. “Find Cal.”

  Then he ran after Mike.

  * * * * *

  “You get Cal?” Sal asked his boy.

  “Voicemail,” was the answer.

  Sal stared at him and then quietly said, “Take a hike. Keep at him. Tell me when you’ve connected. ‘Til then, my eyes don’t see you.”

  Sal took in the nod from his boy who missed his hit, that boy disappeared and then he was alone.

  Sal picked up his phone, scrolled down and hit go.

  “Yeah?” he heard a groggy Vinnie answer.

  “You’re comin’ to me or I’m comin’ to you but we gotta meet and we gotta do it ten minutes ago.”

  There was silence.

  Then Vinnie said, “I’m comin’ to you.”

  Sal flipped his phone shut.

  * * * * *

  Kate disarmed the alarm and opened the door. She walked in, Keira followed and Colt followed Keira.

  “Stand there,” Colt ordered gently.

  The girls were just inside the door. He looked over his shoulder at Eric who had tailed the girls to school and stayed for awhile to make sure things were okay. Eric was in plainclothes, standing on the front porch and Colt gave him a nod.

  Eric nodded back, stood sentry at the front door and Colt did a walkthrough of the house.

  Vi and Joe’s bed was unmade, something that nagged him considering both the girls’ beds were made, there were no dishes in the sink, no crumbs on the counter and only a glitter purple laptop was sitting on the coffee table and a pair off flip-flops were in the corner. Other than that everything seemed in order. Vi kept a tidy house. No signs of struggle.

  “Mom here?” Kate asked when he hit the living room.

  “She’ll be here soon,” Colt said even though he’d learned from the girls she wasn’t at the garden center. She had the day off preparing for the possible aftermath of the bachelorette party. She wasn’t at home but her Mustang was in the drive.

  Colt looked at Eric again and Eric moved out of the door.

  “Settle in, I’ll be back,” Colt said to Kate and Keira and followed Eric. Once he got the door closed and walked Eric into the yard, he turned his back to the house and got close. “Call it in. She’s gone. Bed’s unmade, car’s in the drive. All eyes peeled for her. I want officers here. Plainclothes in case the girls see them canvassing. Door to door. Did they see Vi leave the house, what was she wearing, what was she driving, was she with someone? Did they see anyone suspicious? Every house. They’re not home, you get to Feb, get their phone numbers and call them at work. Copy that?”

  Eric nodded and headed to his car. Colt jogged to his house. Feb had the door open before he was halfway across the street. She looked tired and not well, wearing her hangover on her face which to Colt made her no less gorgeous and at any other time he would find this hilarious. Now, he did not.

  When he made it to her he didn’t say hello.

  “Call Jackie. She comes to get Jack. You go over and wait with the girls.”

  Feb’s face got even paler and Colt watched the line of her body turn static.

  “Wait for what?” she asked.

  “Feb –” he started but didn’t finish. Her eyes sliced to Vi’s house before she nodded and without a word hustled back into the house.

  Colt started to jog back across his yard when his
phone rang. He slowed to a walk, pulled it out of his blazer, looked at the display, flipped it open and put it to his ear.

  “What you got for me, Sul?”

  “Chris and Adam down.” The words sounded like they’d been dragged out of his partner’s throat and they made Colt stop dead right in the middle of the street.

  “Down how?”

  “Don’t know. They’re both breathin’ but they’re also both in ambulances.”

  “Vi isn’t at her house,” Colt informed him.

  “Mike called. She isn’t at the garden center either.”

  “She didn’t have a shift today.”

  “Yeah, Mike talked to Bobbie,” Sully said then hissed, “Fuck, why did we not know this?”

  “Where was Chris found?”

  “Car on the side of the road outside town found by a Good Samaritan. Door open. Radio smashed. Chris unconscious in a ditch.”

  “Any idea why he was there?” Colt asked.

  “No clue, but it looks like he didn’t make his shift,” Sully answered.

  “Adam?”

  “Mike found him.”

  “Where?”

  “Mike left the garden center, went to Cal’s offices. He found Adam in his car outside.”

  “Cal?”

  “No sign and his girl isn’t there either.”

  “Struggle?”

  Silence and Colt started walking again, his eyes on Vi’s house, both girls looking out the window at him.

  “Sully, were there signs of a struggle?”

  “Colt…” Sully stopped speaking and Colt stopped on the sidewalk, turned with his side to the girls but faced away, across the street so the girls couldn’t see him when he reacted to what he was about to hear.

  “Sully, tell me.”

  “You’re friends with Cal.”

  “Sul –”

  Sully sighed then spoke fast. “Mike says it’s bad. Boys are goin’ to the scene. Two men at the scene shot dead. Mike doesn’t know either of them but says there was no muss no fuss with the gunshot wounds. Mike says prelim looks like warning shots fired meant to incapacitate, not meant to take them out, kill shots fired when they didn’t stop. But he says there’s lots of blood, place is a mess, looks like it was bad and there’s no Cal.”

  “Cal said he’d keep his gun on him, he wasn’t with the girls,” Colt muttered.

  “Any chance he’d have Vi with him?”