by B. B. Hamel
“That’s him,” I say.
“Where are they going?” Avery asks.
The three guys head around toward the back of the bar. They disappear down a little alley.
“Come on,” Slick says. “With me.”
We all get out of the car. We hurry across the street and toward the bar. Slick motions for us to hang back as he steps down the alley a little bit.
“Come on,” he says to us.
Avery and I follow him. We walk down the alley slowly. It’s dark and cramped with garbage and random detritus. Wooden pallets are stacked up against one wall and the ground is damp.
Ahead, I spot the three guys. They’re huddled around something, and suddenly I catch the flick of a lighter.
“Eli Walker?” Slick calls out in his best cop voice.
The three guys instantly freeze and stare at us.
“Who the fuck’s that?” one of them asks.
“Eli Walker, my name’s Jason Slick. We need to talk.”
“The fuck you want?” The three men turn toward us. Eli hangs back a bit, looking nervous. He’s holding a little pipe in his hand, and I immediately realize that they’re smoking crack.
Slick flashes his badge again, which isn’t a police badge. It’s a nifty trick, making people think he's a cop. “You two can go. We just need Slick.”
The two guys, both of them, fucking high on crack, give Eli one look before they abandon him. They hurry past us, back down the alley as fast as they can.
Eli’s tweaking out. He backs up against the wall. “Who are you?” he asks. “I didn’t do shit.” He realizes he’s holding the crack pipe and drops it.
“Eli Walker,” I say, stepping up to him. “Do you know me?”
He stares at me for a second before his eyes go wide. “Are you real?”
“I’m real,” I say softly. “I see your sobriety hasn’t been going well. Why is that, Eli?”
“What?” he asks.
“I know you go to AA meetings. Maybe it’s just to make your folks happy. I don’t care about the reasons you go, though. I just want to know why you lied.”
He stares at me. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You lied, Eli. All those years ago. Now you’re drowning yourself in crack and booze, trying to forget. Is that right?”
His eyes go wide. “No,” he says.
“Yes, it is,” I say softly. I can feel Avery and Slick watching me, but this is my moment. This is what I worked for. “We know everything. We talked to Chance, to Dominic. We know what your family did for you.”
“No,” he says more weakly. “Chance?”
“He told us you weren’t with him that night. You were drunk, weren’t you?”
He stares at me, and suddenly his face contorts into a mask of pure pain. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It’s like the true Eli suddenly comes out from beneath his skin for a moment, a demon that’s locked deep inside of him. He shoves his hands in his face and lets out a strangled sob.
“You were so drunk you smashed into that woman’s car. You killed her, and you drove away after. Didn’t even know you killed her, I bet.”
“No,” he says through his sobs.
“Then your daddy stepped up. He got your truck fixed in a hurry. He bribed your friends, bribed some witnesses. Avery’s father convinced him to pin it all on me, get me to go down for it. You didn’t have anything to do with that, I know.”
“Please,” is all he can say.
“You didn’t send me to jail, Eli. But you did kill that woman.”
“Oh, god.” His sobs get deeper.
I glance back at Slick and he nods. I turn back to Eli and speak softer.
“This is your chance. To atone for what you did. You killed her and lied, and now it’s eating you up, destroying you.”
“I can’t,” he says. “I can’t, please.”
“You can. Admit the truth. You killed her and your family covered it up.”
“Oh god,” he says, and looks up at me, tears streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Say it,” I whisper to him.
“I killed her.”
I look back at Slick and he nods again. “We got it.” He turns off the recorder he has in his jacket.
“Okay, Eli,” I say. “Okay. Good.”
His eyes are wide. “Did you record that?”
“Of course,” I say. “You and your family are going down.”
His face changes in an instant. One second he’s pathetic, and the next he’s filled with rage.
But I see it coming. He lashes out at me, but I shove him back against the wall, crack his head against the brick. He grunts and tries to punch me again, but I duck it and punch him in the jaw. He drops to the ground, a pathetic mess.
He starts sobbing again and I just walk away.
“Come on,” I say.
Avery and Slick follow behind me. My hand aches from where I hit Eli.
I thought this would feel better, but it doesn’t. We get back into Slick’s car and we’re totally silent. Finally, he speaks.
“I can go to the cops with all this now,” he says softly. “Are you sure you want that?”
“Yes,” I say. “I’m sure.”
“Okay. Good.”
Avery looks back at me. “Are you okay?”
I meet her gaze. “I thought this would feel better. I thought… I would feel happy.”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry. But it’s over now.”
Slick drives us back to my place. The whole time I’m trying to figure out what the fuck went wrong, why I feel this way. Avery goes up and relieves the babysitter, a woman that Slick recommended. We pay her, Avery checks in on Max, and I stand by the window, looking out at the parking lot.
“You okay?” Avery asks me, coming up from behind.
“I’m okay,” I say. “It just feels… strange.”
“I know. I don’t understand it, either.”
I turn to her and look her in the eyes. I pull her close against me and kiss her slowly and deeply.
Just then, it occurs to me. It hits me all at once.
Getting Eli locked up, ruining his family, that won’t give me my time back. None of it will help. And the truth is, that’s not what I’ve really needed.
“This is what I need,” I whisper to her, pulling her tight against me. “I love you, Avery. That’s all I’ve needed. I didn’t see it until now, but you and Max are what I wanted, not revenge.”
“I love you too,” she whispers. “I’ve been dying to hear those words.”
“I love you more than you can guess. Every single day I thought about you.”
“Every day,” she says. “I thought about you, too.”
“We don’t have to be apart anymore. We can be a family. A real family.”
“That’s all I want,” she says. “All I’ve ever wanted.”
I have my son. I have my girl. I have what I’ve always dreamt of. I found my revenge, but it nearly cost me everything. I was so focused on solving this case and clearing my name completely that I forgot to just live in the moment with the people that I want to live with. I forgot what’s truly important to me, the things that matter the most.
It’s love and family. It always has been. That was stolen from me, but I got it back. I don’t need hate anymore. I have love, I have Avery, I have Max.
I kiss her again, and finally, I feel like I’m home.
26
Avery
Two Years Later
I tip the watering can forward and watch the brown soil turn black. I smile to myself and glance up as Max laughs and throws a tennis ball for our black lab Larry.
“Careful,” I say to him.
“It’s okay,” Max says. Larry grabs the ball, brings it back to Max, and he throws it again.
I smile to myself and go back to watering the flowers. We have a nice little bed in the back, mostly thanks to Luke. I don’t have all that much time these d
ays for planting and gardening, though I suspect I’m going to be back home a lot more often sooner rather than later. I put my hand on the swell of my stomach and my smile gets bigger.
“Watch, mom!” Max gets the ball from Larry and throws it as far as he can. I laugh as Larry goes chasing it.
“Good throw, bud,” I say.
He grins at me and I put my watering can down. My phone starts ringing and I grab it from my pocket.
“Hello?”
“Look at you, answering right away on your day off.”
“Hi, Slick,” I say, grinning to myself.
“You busy?”
“Not really.”
“Good.” He laughs and I can see him sitting in his office, smoking a cigarette, looking at case files. It’s Saturday, but he never takes a day off. Jason Slick has no other life, but I don’t think he’d want it any other way.
“You talk to Mrs. Moraine yet?” I ask him.
“Not yet. Actually I was hoping you’d do it.”
“You can’t pass off the crap work on me.”
“Guess not anymore.” He sighs. “I liked it better when you weren’t a partner.”
“I bet you did.”
He grunts and I can hear papers shuffling. “All right. I’ll take the old lady if you hunt down her grandson. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Fine. And don’t let the slippery bastard get away. He’s a snake.”
“I know,” I say. “And listen, we should talk.”
“What?” he asks, distracted.
“You know I’m pregnant.”
He pauses. “You’re what?”
I grin. “Cut it out. Look, I can’t be doing this too much longer, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. When you’re ready to take a break, just say the word. We can find stuff for you to do that’s not out in the field.”
Okay, perfect. And when the baby comes…”
“And when the baby comes,” he says overtop me. “You’ll take as much time as you need before you come back.”
“You’re too good to me, Slick.”
“I know. Tell that idiot husband of yours hello.”
“Will do. See you tomorrow.”
“See you.”
We hang up and I slip my phone back into my pocket. Max is still rolling around on the floor while Larry tries to lick his face. I grin to myself and head inside.
We live in a little house at the end of a dead- end street, which works perfectly for us. Our yard is surprisingly big and bordered by woods, which is a great place for Max to get in trouble with his friends, at least when he’s a little bit older. We got Larry last year, a month after Luke and I got married and moved into this place. Before that, we toughed it out in Luke’s old apartment for a while, making it work.
I got a job with Slick, and quickly I took to the whole thing. Within a couple of months, I was going out on jobs with him, staking out cheating husbands and all that. About three months ago, he finally made me a partner in his little PI business after I got my PI license. He’s still adjusting to that, but I think it’s working for both of us. I’m bringing in more jobs and the money’s been great
Still though, I’m five months pregnant. I’ve got maybe a month or two more in me before I have to cut it out and work a desk for a while. That’s fine, I can handle it, but I already know I’m going to miss the field. I love tracking people down, questioning them, following their cases through to the end. We mostly get cheaters, liars, and thieves, easy and simple stuff. But every once in a while, we get a real interesting case.
Now I understand why Slick stuck with us through that whole ordeal. He’s used to doing odd jobs, boring stuff mostly, and Luke’s case was far from boring. Plus, he has a strong sense of justice. He’s actually a good guy. I learned that he left the police force, not because he did something wrong, but because he lost his partner and couldn’t face being involved anymore. He left that job and never looked back.
As I go to wash up some dirty dishes, I look out the window at Max. He gets up and brushes himself off, running around as Larry chases him. I can’t help but smile. He’s grown so much over these last two years, and he’s taken all of the changes in stride.
He hasn’t seen my parents since that day my father stopped by. I didn’t bring him to court. I didn’t want him to see his grandpop like that, although I have no sympathy for my father. Two years' probation and a fine is getting off easy, as far as I’m concerned.
Although Eli Walker didn’t get off easy. He’s in prison for homicide and a bunch of other stuff, along with his father. His brothers got away, but Eli won’t be seeing the light of day anytime soon. And I think his father got ten years as well, which he deserves.
Luke didn’t say much about it. I thought that was odd at the time. I asked him last year, after it was all over, if he felt like justice was served.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said to me. “I have my family. That’s all I need. What happens to the Walkers is beyond me now.”
He looked so at peace that I haven’t asked him about it since.
As I finish up, I hear the garage door open and shut. “Hello?” I call out. “Luke?”
“Hey,” he says, poking his head into the kitchen. “Lemme get my boots off.”
I grin and dry my hands off. A minute later he comes into the room, walks right up to me, and kisses me deeply. That’s how he greets me every time he sees me, and it never gets old.
“How’s it going?” he asks, hand on my small but growing bump.
“Good,” I say. “Max is out back with Larry.”
He looks over my shoulder, out the window. “I’m glad those two have each other. I don’t think anyone else has the energy to keep up with them.”
“You’re not kidding.” I smile at him and he kisses me again. “I thought you were working all day?”
“I was,” he says. “But I have a surprise for you.”
I raise an eyebrow. Luke coming home in the middle of the afternoon is surprise enough, even on a Saturday. Sunday is normally his day off.
After everything finished, Luke started actively bringing in more work to his uncle’s garage. Because of his experience restoring classic cars, he’s been building a name for himself in the restoration world, and about a year ago things really took off. In the last few months, his uncle made him a co-owner in the garage, and they’re actively hiring new guys to help out with all the extra work they’re getting. Things are looking incredibly good for them, and I can tell Luke’s really happy.
“What is it?” I ask him.
“Come with me.” He takes my hand and leads me back through the garage. We stand in front of the closed door and he puts his hand on the button. “Ready?”
“Ready,” I say.
He hits the button and the garage slowly opens. I gasp and laugh when I see what’s sitting in the driveway.
It’s his old truck, the one that we thought was destroyed. I knew he’s been working on it from time to time, but I had no clue that it was finished.
“Ta-da,” he says. “She’s back.”
“Oh wow.” I walk up and go over it. “It looks amazing.”
“I did some upgrades to the interior. Tried to modernize it a bit. What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful, Luke,” I say. “Really.”
“Good. It’s yours.”
I raise an eyebrow. “What?”
“It’s yours. I don’t want it anymore.”
“Come on, no way. This is your truck. You’ve worked hard on it.”
“Listen,” he says, pulling me toward him. “I know you’re going to step back from the investigation stuff soon, with the baby, but after that you’re going back to work. I know you will. And you’ll need a car if you’re going to do it.”
I bite my lip. “Red isn’t exactly the best color for going on a stakeout.”
He laughs. “I’ll paint it black. So you’ll take it?”
“I can’t,” I say.
<
br /> “You can. It’s yours. You need it more than I do.”
I bite my lip. I’ve been driving a crappy second-hand Honda Civic from like ten years ago. It’s falling apart and awful, but this is Luke’s truck. It’s a classic, it’s beautiful.
“It’s yours,” he says again. “Go ahead. Get inside.”
I slowly climb in behind the wheel. The interior is all brand new, with a new stereo and navigation system built in.
Luke leans up against the door. “Can’t exactly drive the baby around in that, but for your job… what do you think?”
“It’s perfect,” I say. “Seriously, Luke. I love you.”
He grins. “I love you too. I’ll get it painted black as another post-baby gift. How’s that sound?”
“You’re too good to me.”
He opens the door and pulls me down into his arms. I laugh and kiss him full on the lips, letting my body press against his tough chest.
“Gross!”
We break the kiss off to see Max standing near the basketball net, making a face. Larry starts barking and runs over to greet Luke, jumping up at his legs.
“Okay, hey boy,” he says, letting me go to pet Larry.
I smile to myself, watching him. Max grabs a basketball and starts shooting, and I couldn’t feel happier. This is my family, my real family. It’s finally put back together after years of being broken. We have a home, we have jobs that fulfill us, we have a perfect son, and soon we’ll have another baby.
This is what I always dreamed about, and for a long time I didn’t think it would happen. I was convinced I would always be alone, miserable and broken, with Luke just out of my reach. But this, this is perfect.
This is what being home feels like. I can’t give it up, not for anything.
Second Chance SEAL
Prologue: Piper
I never thought I’d see him again, that bastard, that player. I never thought I’d see his cocky smile peer over the edge of the covers at me, never thought I’d feel his muscular arms wrapped around my body.
We met at a wedding, and I thought it was over after that. Maybe I wanted more, maybe there was more between us, but as soon as we got back home, he disappeared without a trace.
