Tahoe Blues

by Lane, Aubree

  Tanner pulled her close and spooned her back against his chest. Cara snuggled into the last comforting hug she would have from him, and held his arms tight against her breasts. With a heavy heart she began, “I need to say something, but I can’t seem to get the words out.”

  He sighed and kissed the back of her hair. “Just say it. I’ll understand.”

  Cara turned her head and looked into his Tahoe blue eyes. “You think you know what I’m about to say, don’t you?”

  He gave her a tight nod. “I know what I would have to do, if our roles were reversed.”

  She turned her head away and squeezed a few tears from her eyes. “What?” she choked.

  Tanner whispered in her ear. “I would have to let you go, at least for a while.”

  Cara let out a sob. He understood her situation perfectly, and he was making it easy for her. It was a gesture she would hold close to her heart and never forget. “Would you really be able to?”

  “In name only.” His voice was low and comforting. “I’d say the words, and I wouldn’t give into the urge to see you, but I would probably look out my front window several hundred times a day just for the chance to see you walk by.”

  Through her tears, Cara smiled. “That doesn’t sound very healthy.”

  “I wouldn’t be able to help myself.”

  She closed her eyes and drew in a ragged breath. Tanner had opened the door as wide as possible, and Cara couldn’t let the opportunity slip by. “I can’t see you any longer.” Her words were barely a whisper, so low she doubted Tanner had even heard.

  He brushed his soft lips across her shoulder and slipped out of bed. Before he left, Tanner tucked the covers up around her and squeezed her arm one last time.

  Chapter Eight

  Tanner closed the door to Cara’s apartment and hugged his jacket tight. His distraught body shook with loss. It didn’t help knowing the situation was temporary. Ever since his conversation with Martin Langley he’d known this moment was coming. Soon after the savvy lawyer had procured Tanner’s release from jail, he explained the way of Cara’s world. Martin hadn’t pulled any punches, and the picture he painted was bleak. Martin posed three different outcomes of Cara’s arraignment. Each one of them included Tanner’s exclusion until he had been one-hundred percent eliminated as the culprit who had planted the evidence inside Cara’s home.

  For days Tanner had given Cara a multitude of opportunities to break their relationship off but she hadn’t done it. Instead, they had grown closer. He hoped that meant he was no longer considered a suspect, but after his interview with one of the private detectives Martin hired on Cara’s behalf, he knew that wasn’t the case.

  Tanner understood Cara’s reluctance to end their involvement, they were just getting to know each other, and they had been thoroughly enjoying the dance. Each day that passed made the inevitable more difficult. Tanner knew he had to be the strong one. As much as he wanted to have one more day, week, or month with the lovely Cara Lee, he knew it wasn’t possible, or in her best interest.

  ~~~**~~

  Tanner walked next door to Mrs. Grimes. She had also been placed on the exclusion list. If Cara hadn’t been able to break it off with him, he was certain she hadn’t spoken to her grandmotherly neighbor either.

  “TJ,” Mrs. Grimes exclaimed brightly when she opened the door. “You must have been able to smell the fresh pot of coffee I have brewing. Come on in.”

  Tanner dreaded breaking Mrs. Grimes’ heart, but he stepped inside anyway.

  Mrs. Grimes slammed her coffee mug down on the table. “Do you think I’m made of china?” she demanded loudly. “Young man, I am extremely disappointed in you. I wasn’t exactly born yesterday.”

  Tanner was completely dumbfounded. He expected to have to help quell Mrs. Grimes’ tears and comfort her. Instead, he was getting his ass handed to him on a platter.

  “After all the time we’ve spent together, I don’t believe you know me at all,” she continued with her aged face red with anger. “Haven’t you listened to a single story I’ve told you? My late husband wasn’t a saint. He had his run-ins with the law. I bailed his sweet little bum out of the slammer more times than I can count. I am fully aware of how the world works. That’s why I’ve been avoiding Cara since she came home.” Her pale gray eyes glared at him. “Which is more than I can say about you! Traipsing over to her place at all hours of the day and night. It was high time you manned up and did the right thing.”

  Tanner rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Truthfully, he was guilty as charged. He let Mrs. Grimes rage on, he was only able to slip in the occasional appropriate response here and there. When her biting reprimand slowed, Tanner finally asked, “You’ve been biting your tongue for a while, haven’t you?”

  Her eyes narrowed, sending the deep lines of her crows-feet into chasms of fury. “I love you boy, but there is a limit as to how much I will be placated. I’ve lived in this town my whole life, and until I got a hitch in my get-along, a lot of it was on the shady side of the street.” She banged her fist on the tabletop in frustration. “I’m a wealth of knowledge, and you and I are going to use it to help get Cara out of this mess.” Mrs. Grimes wagged her finger conspiratorially between Tanner and herself. “Between the two of us, the guilty party is going to get his just desserts.”

  Tanner leaned back in his chair and realized there was much more to Mrs. Grimes than coffee and muffins. His mind flickered back to some of her musings. It had been hard to relate the gray-haired granny who sat across from him as a Bonnie to her late husband’s Clyde, so he had taken her stories with a grain of salt, choosing to believe they were the inflated reflections of a lonely old woman trying to maintain his interest and keep him coming back for more.

  Right now, he wished he had listened better.

  He leaned forward. “I bet you know why the tunnels under the Cascade Bay Casino were built.”

  Mrs. Grimes rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t everyone? I thought that was common knowledge by now. Those tunnels got Nicky into a lot of trouble.”

  Tanner watched resignation over his obliviousness replace the irritation in her eyes. He assumed Nicky was Mrs. Grimes’ late husband, but he didn’t have the guts to ask and confirm how much he hadn’t listened to her stories.

  “Do you know why Nicky and I never had children of our own?” Mrs. Grimes asked.

  Tanner shook his head as her eyes rimmed in red and filled with tears.

  “I was nearly beat to death down in those blasted tunnels when I was pregnant for the first time. Duncan Alexander’s grandfather was responsible for that. Nicky misappropriated a bottle or two of the illegal hooch they were bringing in from North Dakota. We were so young and stupid. Lord knows we learned real quick not to mess with Viggo Hanson.”

  Tanner reached out and took Mrs. Grimes’ hand in his. “Duncan’s grandfather beat you?”

  She wiped her eyes on her sleeves as she remembered the horror of that day. “Not Viggo himself. He wouldn’t dream of getting his own hands dirty at that point. He didn’t take his anger out on Nicky by kicking him around a bit. No, he took something precious away from him.” Mrs. Grimes grabbed a napkin off the table and pressed it to her face. “He took away our child. Three men dragged me down in the tunnels and kicked my stomach until the blood started to flow. They left me there knowing Nicky would find me when he completed his daily run.” She looked across the table and cold hard steel filled her eyes. “I was six months along. Nicky found me and our baby boy abandoned in a heap on that icy stone floor. I couldn’t hang on to any of our other children after that, and after about ten years, we quit trying.” Mrs. Grimes wiped her eyes with a napkin and continued, “Nicky wanted out, but he was in too deep. Viggo wouldn’t let him go. He spent the rest of his life catering to the whims of that awful man. I loved Nicky Grimes with all my heart, but when he died, I was relieved to be out of the life.”

  Tanner got up and walked around the table. He pulled Mrs. Grimes gently to her feet and hugg
ed her tenderly. Weeping freely on his shoulder, he comforted her for a long time. Throughout their friendship, he would give her a quick hug or a tiny peck on the cheek to thank her for all the kind things she did for him. He knew it wasn’t enough. She was lonely and her life in the Tahoe mob had isolated her in more ways than one. Mrs. Grimes’ neighbors had become her family, but most of them didn’t realize it. She had been more than just a motherly figure to him, she had been his mother. She had taken care of him, checked in on him, and saw to it that he was fed. He didn’t know exactly how he was going to repay her for her caring and kindness, but he knew the next time he hugged her it would be more like this, rather than the fly by hug they were both used to.

  When Tanner’s wife died, it was the daily human contact he missed most. The hug, he learned during his brief stint in group grief counseling, held the power to heal, the power to allow people to hope, and the power to open a person up to love again. At the time he believed it to be a load of crap, but holding Cara in his arms and probably all those little neighborly hugs with his adopted mother had helped bring him out of the darkness.

  He liked having that weight off his shoulders. He was not going to let Cara end up in jail. If Mrs. Grimes had a way of flushing out the person who framed Cara, then he was going to listen to her.

  Mrs. Grimes stepped back and broke their embrace. She patted Tanner’s chest, and her smile thanked him for letting her use his shoulder as a handkerchief. “I’ve never told anyone that story. Back then, we were afraid for our lives, then it just became habit. That rotten family took a lot from me, and I’m not going to let them do the same to that young woman next door. I need your help, TJ. Will you help me?”

  Tanner nodded. “What do you have in mind?”

  “First off, we enlist the help of that new assistant of yours. She was burned by the same family and there’s strength in numbers.”

  Tanner shook his head. “Cara does not want Lisa’s help. She believes Lisa got the job so she could plant those papers in her home, and she thinks Duncan is behind it all.”

  Mrs. Grimes took Tanner by the arm. “I’m a lonely old woman, TJ. I tend to keep an eye on things around here. I don’t know anything about Cara’s ex-husband, but that redhead hasn’t ever been in Cara’s home.”

  He cocked a questioning brow in her direction. “Are you certain?”

  “Quite.”

  David Crandall watched Hunter Henderson’s wild daughter play a quiet game of dominoes with his children. Dakota had brought it over. He was shocked at how engaged the kids were with the classic math based tile game. He was even more surprised that they played with actual pieces instead of on one of their mobile devices.

  It brought back memories of his childhood, sitting around the kitchen table on a Saturday night playing games with his family. His mother had been fiercely competitive and was tough to beat. She hadn’t believed in letting the kids win just to inflate their egos and bolster their self-esteem without merit. Confidence came when you won fair and square, besides the woman flat out hated to lose.

  The first time David beat his mom at her favorite card game at the hormonal age of thirteen, he became so overwhelmed, he almost cried. His mom simply smiled and said, “Let’s go again.”

  She won the next round easily, but soon David hit his stride and was able to beat her on a regular basis. David wished he could play just one more game with the woman. His mom had been tough, fair, and she loved her children with a passion unmatched by any other mom in their neighborhood.

  David walked over to the mantel and picked up a deck of cards. When his mom became ill, he would sit with her for hours playing rummy. Mom had her own set of rules. You weren’t allowed to play three of a kind because that would ruin the runs, and oh how she loved to sandbag. Whenever possible, she would lay down her whole hand and bury her opponent. He fingered the cards lovingly. It was the only thing he kept from his parents’ house. He left the rest for his sisters to fight over. They were sentimental and had a hard time letting go of the family home and all its contents. David knew they would work it out eventually, but being the baby of the family, he knew they wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say. When they finally figured it out, he ended up with a hefty check.

  Like their mom, they too were tough but fair.

  His daughter, Sandy, let out a shriek. “I won! I won! I won!” She danced around the table pointing her fingers at her brother and babysitter. “I beat you. I beat you. I beat you,” she sang happily while rubbing their faces in the loss.

  “Sandy,” he said firmly.

  Jack waved him off. “Don’t worry Dad. She got lucky this time, but she won’t win the next round.”

  David smiled. Jack was just like his grandmother.

  Dakota’s father walked into the living room with his cell phone glued to his ear. He motioned for David to follow him and headed for the front door.

  When they stepped out onto the front porch, Hunter shut the door and pocketed his phone. “We need to get a private place where we can talk. I don’t like that the kids can overhear everything we say.”

  David agreed. The snippets the kids heard were usually out of context, but David found himself having to explain some pretty adult things to his under-aged children. “That should be easier to figure out now that I have a babysitter.” He nodded towards Hunter’s pocket and the cell phone he deposited inside. “What was that call about?”

  “You know that old woman who lives next to our client? She told me that Cara sublet the apartment from a lady named, Beth Rainey. Beth had to leave in a rush. She didn’t know much about Cara, and she worried her place might get trashed, so she installed a nanny cam in the living room.” Hunter punched David on the arm and smiled. “Dude, the woman was brilliant. The front door of this place has this huge eyeball carved into it. That’s where she stuck the camera. The eyeball looks out, but the camera looks in, I love that kind of humor. I told the old lady I want to meet this Rainey person when she comes home.”

  David rolled his hand to get Hunter back on track. “And...” he prompted.

  “I contacted Beth and she told me the battery in the camera will die soon, but she still gets a live feed. She hasn’t noticed anything suspicious, but since she never wanted to invade Cara’s privacy, she has only given it a superficial glance every once in a while. The good news is that every single thing that camera has recorded since the day Cara moved in, has been saved to the Cloud. Beth forgot her password, but as soon as she retrieves it, she’s going to text it to me and give us unlimited access.”

  David shook his head. “If Cara didn’t give her consent to be recorded, no matter what’s on the video we can’t use it.”

  Hunter grinned from ear to ear. “Here is the brilliant part. Beth slipped the consent clause into their rental agreement. Cara signed it without reading it.”

  David blinked. That was one hell of an oversight. “What’s your feel about the best friend Cara lived with before she moved out? That I get, I know without a shadow of a doubt, that if my wife ever left me she’d be on the next flight to Hawaii where her best friend lives. The two of them would sit on the beach drinking Mai Tais and bash me for weeks.”

  Hunter nodded. “Now that I think of it, that’s what Dakota’s mom did when she left us. She moved in with that bitch Maria. That woman hated my guts.” He chucked David on the shoulder. “I guess they don’t run home to mama anymore.”

  David wondered how much more abuse his body could take. Hunter was a physical kind of guy. When he was upset, he would pound a table or the nearest wall, and every small achievement earned David a slap on the back, a punch on the arm, or the occasional bone crushing bear hug. “I’m going to check with Martin and see if he has any office space available. Who knows what’s on that footage. I can’t run the risk of my kids walking in at an inappropriate moment.”

  Hunter looked at his phone and grinned. “Text from Beth Rainey.” He slid his finger across the face of the phone. “I got the password
. Get on the horn to Martin, and I’ll tell Dakota that we are going to be late.” He held his hand out to David. “Fork over some cash daddy-o. The kids are having pizza tonight.”

  David pulled a couple of twenties out of his wallet. “Tell her to have it delivered from the joint on Tahoe Boulevard, and that Jack and Sandy will only eat pepperoni.”

  Hunter’s arm swung in for another affectionate punch, but David was fast. He quickly side stepped to the left, and Hunter’s fist connected with nothing but air.

  Chapter Nine

  Leah brushed her short dark hair out of her eyes. Nate Waters watched her movement with little to no interest. The two were exhausted. They had been talking non-stop since they arrived at her place, and Cara Greene’s best friend had not revealed anything incriminating.

  Knowing he had wasted an entire night, Nate rose from the sofa and made his way to the bathroom. He did his business, washed his hands, and splashed some water on his face. It was time to go. Leah was cute, but he was finding it difficult to keep up the flirtatious charade. Leah’s interest in him seemed to be waning and cutting his losses seemed to be the best move.

  He walked back into Leah’s living room and picked up his coat.

  Leah glanced at him and asked, “You’re leaving?”

  Nate leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Yes, I’m tired and I have to be back at work soon.”

  She closed her eyes when his lips touched her skin. “Drive careful.”

  He flipped the lock on her front door and closed it tight.

  With every ounce of energy drained from her body, Leah collapsed into the sofa and mumbled, “thank god,” into an orange throw pillow.

  Ten hours later, Apollo, the mythical god of truth and light, refused to be ignored any longer. He was starving and Leah had not filled his bowl in a long time. Apollo brushed his tabby paw against his queen’s nose. His ears twitched, and for a fleeting moment he considered raking his claws across her skin. History had proven that to not be an effective strategy. If he hurt her, she would pout and run off to look at the injury in the mirror, the can would not be opened, and he would not be fed. Apollo wisely retracted his claws and gently batted Leah’s nose.