“The blonde one?” I asked in surprise.
He shook his head. “No. The brunette.”
I sneered at him. The brunette was a hoe. The blonde looked promising, but of course Downy went for easy instead of worthy. That was his way, I’d found.
Easy and uncaring of his activities. That was our Downy.
“What was that look for?” Luke asked.
I shrugged. “It’s gross, that’s all.”
I’d seen the brunette flirting with the nearly every man in her line while I’d deposited my check last week. She didn’t care about Downy. She cared about money, was my guess.
And Downy had money, even if he didn’t act like it.
From what I gathered, Downy had a sizeable monthly income from his father’s life insurance policy. When he’d passed, Downy had gotten nearly a million dollars from his insurance, as well as quite a bit of money from some estate that Downy hadn’t even been aware had existed.
Downy had been flabbergasted from what Luke explained.
Apparently, they’d lived small and simple when Downy was growing up, and it’d been a surprise to him to find out that his mother had money all that time.
The walk proved to be a long one, and by the time we finally made it to the auditorium where it was being held, I was exhausted.
Luke never said another word to me other than the off handed, ‘sit there’ he’d muttered upon arriving in the seating area.
Luckily, it was by my sister, so I wasn’t as snippy about it as I wanted to be.
I gave her a kiss on the cheek when I scooted in close.
“Hey,” I whispered softly.
She hugged me back. “Hi.”
I waved to my mother and father who were two rows in front of us, and my mom’s face went soft when she saw us embracing.
I blew her a kiss and settled in as the ceremony commenced.
The awards that Radar had received over his time with the Benton Police Department were staggering. He was a true hero in this small town, and always would be.
“A lot of years ago, when I made the decision to become a K-9 handler, I never thought I’d be in this position. I guess I was just kidding myself, I suppose. It’s hard to think about death, especially in one so full of life like Radar was. You’d never think that he was eleven years old.” Trance shook his head, then smiled. “It feels like I’m going to wake up,” Trance croaked. “It feels like he’s just outside, and I’m waiting for him to come back in at any moment. But he’s not.”
“When I first got Radar, he was a puppy. He had no training whatsoever. At the time, I’d thought that I’d taken on a Herculean task, trying to train him. However, the joke was on me. He was eager to learn and eager to please. It was me who’d had to do all the learning. And learn I did. I learned that he snored. I learned that he got overly excited when I got up in the morning, and if I valued my toes, I best be putting shoes on. I learned that his tail hurt when it was wagging at a hundred wags a minute. I learned that he was as warm as a heating blanket when he was draped over you at night. And he was worse than the kids when it came to stealing the covers. I also learned what it was like to love someone so much it hurts. Because right now, it hurts so bad,” he said, pressing his palm down over his chest.
Trance looked down. “My wife took about eighteen million pictures of Radar hopping into the bath with our son last week. What eleven year old dog do you know that would play in bubbles as if he were a puppy?”
I smiled warmly, thinking about our childhood dog that used to do much the same.
“My wife’s life was in danger a few years ago, and Radar saved her. I owe him my whole life for that one act, because if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have Viddy. And I wouldn’t have my children. And for that, I’ll forever owe him. I hope when I pass on from this life, that he’s there waiting for me. It breaks my heart to know he’s not here anymore, but I knew he died doing what he loved. Serving and protecting. He’ll be missed by everyone, but no one more so than me. I love you, Radar; wait for me.”
My throat felt like a ball had been caught in it, and I leaned my head against Luke’s shoulder.
My other hand was taken up by my sister, who sat on the other side of me.
I clutched her hand tightly as we watched Trance walk down the stage’s steps and take a seat next to his weeping wife.
She curled into his arms, and my eyes closed, not wanting to witness the devastation in her sobbing form. It felt like the moment was too intimate, as if I wasn’t meant to watch it.
Luke’s lips touched my forehead gently, and my eyes opened again.
With that one touch, I was okay.
My hair shifted off my shoulder as I looked up to him and smiled. He didn’t look down, but there was a small smile at the corner of his mouth, acknowledging me.
I settled back into my seat as one by one, officers from all over the Ark-La-Tex said their final goodbyes.
Kosher held up vigil at the base of the doggie sized coffin at the front of the room, a soldier protecting the fallen until he was laid to rest.
Soon, it was our row’s turn, and we followed the wave of people.
I said a silent prayer when I got up to the coffin, and also thanked Radar for his sacrifice.
If he hadn’t done what he’d done, I might not have the man that I love at my side, and I’d forever be thankful to Radar for the sacrifice he made.
Chapter 25
Do all things with kindness, you fuckers.
-Coffee Cup
Luke
My eyes lingered on Reese’s ass as she walked out of the house with the girls two weeks later.
She was going to school and taking the girls as she went.
She was taking my truck because I was putting the finishing touches on repairing her car before I took it to get painted later in the day.
I was meeting her father in less than two hours, so as soon as she waved and pulled out of the driveway, I locked the front door and headed to the garage.
She’d been using my truck for two weeks now, much to my consternation. She wouldn’t have had to if she hadn’t moved back home.
I’d tried talking with her until I was blue in the face, but she wasn’t having it. She wouldn’t even listen to a word I had to say.
Although we spent most nights together, either her place or mine, it wasn’t enough. I wanted her here with me permanently. Which was the most shocking.
I wasn’t usually so needy when it came to women, but Reese really had a way about her that called to some deep, dark place inside of me.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I answered it before I looked at the caller ID.
Because if I had, I wouldn’t have answered it.
And I would’ve died.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Luke, don’t hang up,” Lydia pleaded.
There was a certain amount of desperation in her tone that really kept me from hanging up.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you. The other day…when the dog died…it wasn’t random. It was meant for you.”
***
Reese
The plan worked out perfectly.
Luke fell for the entire charade: hook, line, and sinker. All I had to do now was surprise him.
I pulled his truck to the side of the road about a quarter mile away from his house before I shut it off and got out.
I slammed the door shut and started walking quickly to Luke’s house.
All sorts of scenarios were playing through my head as I rounded the corner of Luke’s driveway on how we’d spend our day off. What I hadn’t planned on was finding someone there when I arrived. I mean, geez, but it’d only been less than thirty minutes since I’d left!
A ball of worry started to take root in my belly, and my fears were confirmed as I walked up to the open garage door.
I stopped outside the opening, listening.
“She needs me. You don’t
. It’s nice to have a woman whose father doesn’t emasculate me around every corner,” Luke said to somebody.
That somebody being Lydia.
“She can’t give you what you want. I can. And you know that,” Lydia insisted.
I heard something shuffle behind me, and I turned just as Weston rounded the corner of the garage, his eyes on me.
I met him halfway, eyes full of hatred.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
He grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me until we were back where he’d been standing earlier. There was a window there, and you could see Luke and Lydia speaking, as well as where I’d been standing prior.
“I said,” yanking my arm away. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving your ass, if you’d shut the hell up,” Weston snapped, raising his finger to his lips.
I snapped my mouth shut and glared at him, raising my eyes for him to get on with it.
“My wife’s a fuckin’ psycho,” he said without preamble.
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean really; she’s fuckin’ psycho.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, and started tapping my foot.
He sighed. “She found out I’d been seeing someone, but she thinks it’s you; not Lydia. She’s the one who shot at Luke the other day.”
My mouth dropped open, and I started to yell. Except I found my mouth covered my Weston’s hand.
“Shh,” he hissed.
I bit his hand, and he yanked it away with a growl. “Listen, you stupid little bitch, I’m trying to save your fuckin’ life!”
I snorted. “Then go to the authorities.”
His fists clenched. “I am the authorities.”
I scoffed. “You’re full of it.”
In answer, he pulled something flat out of his pocket. A wallet.
He flipped it open and showed me a badge that read ATF on it.
I couldn’t fucking believe it. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
He shook his head. “I’m not.”
I stepped back until my back hit the brick wall. “I can’t believe this. How long have you been with ATF?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “Since before I met you.”
I smacked him. Hard.
His face turned with the blow, and he turned back to me slowly. “That’s all you get.”
I wanted to beat his face in.
All this time!
“I just can’t believe it. All this time I thought you were some deadbeat dad, and you’ve been lying to us both!” I said, my voice raising an octave.
He grimaced. “I didn’t have much choice. I’d been working undercover when I met you. Nothing was supposed to come of our relationship. I didn’t have any control of how everything went down.”
I let my head fall back against the brick. “You’re a douche. Why string us along at all? Why not leave and never come back?”
I opened my eyes to find him clenching and unclenching his jaw. “I didn’t have a choice.”
I sneered. “You always have a choice.”
“Not this time I didn’t. Not if I valued your’s or Rowen’s life at all,” he said cryptically.
“How about you both tell us what you’re talking about,” Luke’s dry voice said from behind us.
I looked over at him, feeling nothing. I was numb.
For Rowen’s whole life, the man in front of me had been lying about who he was.
All this time.
“Tell us what the fuck is going on, and let’s do it quick. I’m on a deadline,” Luke snapped when Weston continued his silence.
They both looked at each other, at a loss for words, apparently.
My eyes went down to the ground as I worked my teeth, clenching and unclenching them.
My eyes lit on the shovel that was leaned up against the wall of Luke’s garage, and I thought, I wonder if I smack them upside the head with that if they’d suddenly find their tongues.
“Anita’s gone a little cuckoo since she found out that Weston was seeing somebody around town,” Lydia blurted, her face going red in agitation.
“So what are you doing here?” Luke asked, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
When neither one of them spoke, Luke looked up and pinned his glare on Lydia.
“Anita thinks that Weston’s seeing Reese behind her back,” Lydia said when Weston continued keeping his mouth shut.
Lydia apparently couldn’t withstand the glare. I was proud to say that I could. Most of the time.
It was intimidating to have the full force of Luke’s anger directed at you. He wasn’t a small man, and he had a huge personality to fit his body. He had the power to pin anyone with his stare.
He’d be a good bouncer. Nobody would try to fuck around with him nearby.
“In the beginning? It was because my mom spoke of this ‘majestic,’ small, Texas town like it was the best place on earth. She spoke about how life was slower down here, more peaceful. And I needed to get out of there. My father was smothering me. So I moved here. It was never because of you. It was for me,” she said softly.
“And how did you two end up together?” Luke wondered.
“Rowen asked to go to her shop one day. She said they had really good cookies. That’s how we met.” He pointed at Lydia.
That would be my fault. I’d brought Rowen cookies from there on multiple occasions before I realized it was Luke’s ex’s place. That stopped, at least from my end.
“Why are we even in this at all?” Luke questioned.
I had that same exact question.
Why? What were we to all this?
Then a thought struck me, and I got a tad hysterical.
“So you took our child around a known criminal?” I clarified.
Weston’s head snapped around, looking at me warily. “She’s not dangerous. Fuck, I’m more responsible than that. She only had a suspected connection with the mafia.”
“The mafia?” I shrieked. “The motherfucking mafia?”
Weston winced, rethinking on what he’d said. “She was never proven to have a connection. In fact, we were only sitting on her because her father was arrested for money laundering. They could never prove that it was the mafia’s money they were laundering. I’ve been ‘married’ to her for a year now, and haven’t found a thing on her.”
I launched myself at him, my hands going forward to claw out his eyes.
Luke caught me just as my hands were inches away from the stupid man’s face.
“Shhh,” Luke soothed. “That won’t help right now.”
“Maybe not,” I said, kicking out with my foot. “But it’d make me feel a fuck of a lot better.”
I connected with Weston’s hip, and he glared at me. “Crazy bitch.”
“I’ll show you fucking crazy, you goddamned piece of shit. I cannot fucking believe you’d put our baby in harm’s way,” I snarled, curling up on Luke’s forearm to kick at Weston again.
Weston, however, did the only smart thing he’d done all day, and that was to step back.
“She’s never even said a mean word to me until she found out about the affair. Don’t you think I’d know better than to put our daughter into that kind of situation?” He fumed.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You’re stupid if you think Anita wasn’t a threat to Rowen. You’re wrong. Rowen told me she said your wife was threatening me. Why would she do that if she wasn’t a ‘threat?’ ” I asked testily. “And you just fucking said she was the one who shot Radar!”
He sighed. “The whole thing got to be a mess. We have what you would call an ‘open’ relationship. She did her own thing, and I did mine. We stayed together because of the kid, though. The operation was shelved six months ago, but then I found out she was pregnant, so I stayed with her.” His look at me told me somehow it was my fault that he’d decided
to stay, but I couldn’t figure out why. “I used seeing you and Rowen as an excuse to leave and do other operations during that time. It was only about two weeks before you moved here that she got suspicious. I would’ve left her then, but we started to get more chatter through a couple of sources saying that the accountant was still on the job and using a go between to do it. The only person I ever saw was my daughter, so there was no option of leaving her at that point. We moved here, and I kept doing what I had been doing.”
I wanted to pull my hair out. That stupid, stupid man.
“I don’t see how we’re any part of that situation. Why did you pursue a relationship with your child if you didn’t have to?” Luke rumbled.
I nodded, wanting to know the answer to that one, too.
“She thought I had a really good relationship with Rowen. I had to keep up the act,” he explained.
“Why the whole ‘filing for custody’ hoopla, then?” Luke asked.
“Same. She wanted me to, and I was being accommodating because my bosses felt there was a need to,” he answered.
My hands clenched on Luke’s muscular forearm and Luke stepped back, knowing that my control was slipping again.
I wanted to kill him.
“So let me get this straight, you getting the goods on the mafia people you speak of is more important than our child’s safety?” I clarified.
He shook his head. “She was never in danger.”
“That’s not good enough. I want you to get her out of this. Now. Leave and don’t come back.”
“It’s not that simple. Anita saw us out to eat, and saw Lydia and Luke at the same time. We have to play the game a little bit longer,” Weston sighed.
“Why?” Luke barked.
“Because I asked them to,” a new voice sounded from behind us.
Chapter 26
Once upon a time, fuck you. The end.
-T-shirt
Luke
My gun was aimed at the newest arrival’s head.
The man was old. Like eighties old. Tall and lanky, barely filling out the suit that hung off the old man’s bones.
His eyes, though, were sharp. They took it all in in one glance, settling on me as the biggest threat.
Center Mass Page 17
