by K. C. Crowne
Adam’s neighborhood was blocked off by a gate, of course, the road past that leading up into the woods. The scenery wasn’t all that different from my part of town, but instead of tiny cabins among the trees, there were hints of the massive homes off the beaten path.
One more gate later, and I was on the winding road that led to Adam’s place.
The place was impressive – I had to give him that. It was a log cabin, but one on steroids. The place was three stories high, with tall glass windows that gave visitors a look into the modern, sleek interior. A pair of high-end SUVs were out front. As I parked, the door opened, and Adam stepped out to greet me.
“Come in,” he said, his expression all business, as usual.
He was dressed in sharp, dark slacks, a crisp, white button-up, and a pair of shiny, black loafers. I stepped past him, catching the scent of expensive cologne, getting the impression that, whatever the true point of the meeting, he’d dressed to impress.
His place was amazing as always, reminding me of a cross between an Apple store and a log cabin – sleek and modern but a bit rustic.
“Let me get you some coffee,” he said. “Why don’t you wait for me on the back deck?”
“What’s this all about?” I asked, wanting to get right to the point. “Why the seriousness?”
He stopped, glancing aside, as if wondering how much he should tell me. “It’s about Hunter.”
I sighed with exasperation. “Of course it is. Listen, I know you and he aren’t exactly the best of friends, but you don’t need to--”
“It’s not about how well he and I get along. Or how we don’t get along. It’s bigger than that.” He nodded toward the deck. “Wait for me. I’ll be out in a second.”
Before I had a chance to respond, Adam turned and went into the kitchen. My stomach twisted as I walked out onto the deck. Did he really have information I needed to be worried about?
The view from the massive deck looked out onto the woods, a swimming pool on the ground level below. It was quiet and peaceful, and totally luxurious. I wondered if Adam was trying to tempt me by showing me the kind of life I could have with him.
I sat down and let the silence wash over me. Adam came out a couple minutes later, two cups of coffee in his hands and a manila folder tucked under his arm. He sat down across from me and passed me one of the mugs.
I wasn’t interested in coffee. I set the mug down and spoke. “What’s this about, Adam?”
He sat back in his chair, placing his own mug on the small side table next to him and setting the folder on his lap. He sighed, as if he were pained by what he had to say.
“I had a feeling about Hunter, that there was a reason he’d come out here to live the way he does. A normal man…has roots. Packing everything up and moving out into the middle of a place where he has no connections is strange, a sign that there’s something more to him than he might be letting on.” He opened the folder and set it on the table. “So I hired some men to do a little research. And what they found was…interesting. Worrying. Look.”
I gave Adam a quick, skeptical glance before turning my attention to the contents of the folder. They were clippings from what appeared to be police reports with a few newspaper articles mixed in. And they all told the same story, that Hunter was a crooked cop.
The police reports listed infractions, disciplinary incidents involving drug and alcohol use on the job, of him being reprimanded for getting caught using. But his record seemed otherwise impeccable.
“The impression I’m getting is that Officer Anderson had a bit of a substance abuse problem. He couldn’t seem to work without it, but his skill for the job managed to save his butt over and over again. But look at this.” He took one of the articles and turned it to face me. I read the headline.
“Local Detective Caught Working with Drug Kingpin.”
I scanned the contents, reading a story of Hunter working with some local dealer, getting busted turning a blind eye in exchange for a cut of the product.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “That can’t be true.”
Adam leaned forward. “I don’t know what’s going on between you and this guy. And it’s no secret that he and I don’t get along.” He tapped the papers. “But this…this is beyond any of that. It shows that he’s a man with serious problems who had to go some place where no one knew who he was, what he’d done.”
“It’s not like that,” I said, shaking my head. “He had problems with his wife and—”
“I’m sure he did. No way you can be a crooked cop and not have problems like that. But this is worse than marital problems. You can’t be around a man like this, nor can you let your son be around a man like this. He’s trouble, through and through.”
I swallowed hard, not knowing what to say.
“Take these – I have copies. Take them and look them over. Then think about whether or not I was right.”
I was stunned. Without another word, I grabbed the folder and hurried out. Adam didn’t follow me.
I drove home confused, torn. Had I really let a man into my life who was that dangerous? Had I put not only myself, but my son at risk?
Hunter
We need to talk.
I stepped out of the auto shop, the smell of motor oil still in my nostrils, my hands greasy as I held the phone with the text from Mandy.
What’s up?
I dropped into the seat of my truck after firing off the text. Something was wrong. I could feel it.
Don’t plan on seeing Parker today. I’m bringing him into work today after school.
I hated texting. One-on-one conversations about serious shit were bad enough, but at least you could be there for it. You could see their face, react to their words. You didn’t have to send little notes and wait for a response – if you ever got one.
Everything ok?
Maybe this is something better done over the phone.
Not a chance. You want to talk, we do it in person.
A few minutes passed before the response came.
Fine. I’ll have Lizzie watch Parker tonight. Come by my place around eight.
Sounds good.
Parker. She’d mentioned him twice, talked about how I wasn’t going to see him, how she was going to make sure he wasn’t there when I came over.
Was she worried about him? If so, what the hell had happened between the other night and now?
After driving straight home, I grabbed the axe from my tools and set to work on chopping the wood I’d cut for the fireplace. I went at it for a good couple of hours, chopping until my muscles burned and I’d sweated through my work jumpsuit.
What the hell was wrong with me? I didn’t like uncertainty, sure, but there was something more. It was the idea of something going wrong between Mandy and me, of her not being in my life any longer.
I hated it. I didn’t even want to think about it.
The sky grumbled overhead, a chill wind cutting me to the bone. It was going to be a cold night, and I had a feeling Mandy could use some of the wood I’d just chopped. After putting my axe away, I bundled a cord of wood, wrapped it, and tossed it into the back of my truck. By this point I was a sweaty mess. The sky lit up with a flash of lighting, and I hurried inside to take a quick shower.
It was a little before seven when I was dressed and ready, and I didn’t waste any time grabbing my things and going over to Mandy’s. I had a bad feeling, a feeling that it had to do with my past.
But how the hell could she have found out the rest of the story? There were a few articles here and there, sure, but had she really gone to the trouble of sifting through years of LA Times issues for information on me?
I took a deep, steeling breath as I pulled up to her house. Scattered droplets of rain pattered on the windshield, and I hurried to the truck bed to grab the wood before the downpour started. The bundle under my arm, I approached the front door and knocked.
For a moment, I feared she might not answer, that she’d decided between whe
n we’d last talked and now that she didn’t want anything to do with me. And I hated the feeling, hated how much power she had over me.
The door opened, and the second I laid eyes on her I knew the shit was about to hit the fan.
“Hey,” she said, her voice surprisingly soft. “Come in.” She stepped aside, glancing down at the cord of wood I had with me. “What’s that?” she asked, raising her arm under the tartan blanket she had wrapped around her body.
“It’s gonna be a cold one,” I commented. “Thought I’d bring you over a little wood to keep the place warm.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s done. Let me get this started and we can talk.”
“Okay.”
I picked up the wood and stepped into the chilly cabin. Mandy was wrapped in a blanket, and a mug of steaming hot tea was on the coffee table. “I meant to pick up some in town,” she said as I filled the fireplace. “Got other things on my mind, I suppose.”
“Well, forgetting about staying warm isn’t a luxury you’ve got when you live like this.” I positioned the wood, stuffing some scrap paper under the stack. “You might get away with a warm blanket when it’s the fall and chilly, but you’re risking your life if you try this in the winter.”
I took my silver Zippo out of my pocket and set the wood to burning. It didn’t take long before it the fire was on its way, heat radiating out. I stood up and turned to Mandy, who was seated on the couch.
“I’m serious. You need to stay on top of this shit. Living up here like this isn’t some non-stop vacation.”
“You don’t need to scold me like a child,” she griped. “I can take care of myself.”
We were both right – me for giving her the business, and her for telling me I was out of line. I realized I was angry, frustrated. I felt out of control. And I didn’t like it.
“Just want you to be safe up here,” I said. “That’s all.”
She nodded, and I could tell there was still tension in her. It was time to get to it.
I put my hands on my hips. “What’s the story? What’re we talking about?”
Without another word, she tossed off the blanket and got up, storming into her bedroom and returning with a manila folder. She set it on the table and plopped back down on the couch, turning the folder toward me. If there was any doubt in my mind what it was, that dispelled it.
I sighed, sitting down in the easy chair across from her and taking the folder. The fire crackled behind me as I leafed through the pages. My work with the LAPD narcotics unit filled the pages inside. From the perspective of someone who didn’t know the story, it looked bad.
Once I’d seen enough, I set the folder back down and leaned forward.
“You’re an addict,” she stated as if it were fact. “Or a recovering addict. Or whatever you are.”
“Where’d you get this?” I asked. I already knew the answer. Finding that information would’ve taken money and skill, not to mention the desire to rifle through the skeletons in my closet. Only one man fit the bill.
“It doesn’t matter where I got it. What I need to know is if it’s true.”
“Let me ask you this,” I said. “Do you believe it?”
The question was enough to give her pause. She sat back, biting her lower lips as she thought it over.
“Tell me,” I said. “Do you believe I’m the man this says I am?”
More hesitation. Finally, she shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. Maybe you’re damn good at lying – I don’t know. But I don’t get corrupt-cop-drug-addict from you at all. But it says it right here.”
I leaned forward and clasped my hands together between my legs. “I did lie to you. That much is true.”
“Hunter, if we’re going to have…whatever this is, then you have to be honest with me. About everything. Because it’s not just my life I’m letting you into. It’s Parker’s too.”
“What I told you about what happened with my partner and my ex was the truth, but there was more to it than I led you to believe.”
“Then tell me. Make me understand. Make me see you’re the kind of man I don’t need to worry about my son being around. Make me believe you’re the man I’ve started to fall for.”
Her words cut me to the core. And I knew they were just as true for me. I was falling for her too. And hard.
“All of this,” I said, reaching forward and tapping the papers. “It was cover. When I was working with the LAPD, I did deep cover work, my partner and I. He and I worked to disrupt the drug trade in the city by getting in good with one of the biggest organizations in the area – The Dupree family.”
I shook my head, unable to believe I was revisiting it all. “Ruthless fucking family, cold-blooded. James, my partner, and I got in from the bottom. But they don’t let just anyone in – we had to prove ourselves. That’s what all this was about.”
“What do you mean?”
“Cop comes to a gang and asks to work for them, they’re going to think something’s up. So my team and I worked with the LA Times to put out a couple of bogus articles about James and me getting into trouble for messing with drugs, getting booted off the force. The police records were there to back that up. When they looked into me, they’d see that I was just as bad as I’d said I was.”
“This sounds too crazy to believe.”
“I know it does, and that’s the nature of deep cover work. It requires layers upon layers of deception.”
“Then what happened?” she asked.
“The thing about deep cover is that it takes up all of your life. It’s not some job you can just leave at the office. My wife and I started to grow apart, right as she and James started to get closer. That’s when this happened.” I lifted my shirt and placed my hand on my scar.
“He shot you?”
I nodded. “He wanted me out of the picture, wanted my ex all to himself. And she wanted the same. There was more to it, of course. James always felt like I stole his thunder, that I was the star of the force instead of him. Jealousy’s ugly like that, makes you do shit you thought you’d never do.”
She said nothing, waiting for me to go on. The fire warmed the room more and more with each passing moment.
“He let it slip to some of the members of the Dupree gang that he didn’t think I was on-the-level, that I couldn’t be trusted. So they decided on a little loyalty test for him. They brought the two of us in front of the top brass of the gang, told James that if he wanted to show he was with them and not the LAPD, he’d shoot me. Guess what he chose?”
I tapped the scar.
“Two slugs right here. Just like that, he managed to get in good with the Duprees and get my ex all to himself. Or so he thought. They dumped me out by the water, leaving me for dead. Maybe I was too damn pissed off to die, but I managed to make it to the hospital.”
Her eyes were wide as she said, “Sounds like a movie.”
I grunted assent, nodded. “When I recovered, I told my superiors what he did. And that’s when my entire life came crashing down around me. I learned some hard-as-hell lessons about how much you can trust anyone or anything – the woman you loved, your partner, they could all turn on you the moment you let your guard down.”
Silence hung in the air, a silence only broken by the crackle of the fire. The air was warm, toasty even.
“Come here,” she said. Mandy placed her hand on the couch.
Not sure what she wanted, I got up and sat down next to her. “What?”
“This.”
Then she kissed me. It was all I’d wanted from the moment she opened the door.
Mandy
Maybe he was lying. Part of me wanted to stay on guard in the event he’d just fed me the biggest load of bullshit anyone had ever served up in the history of bullshit. But my gut told me he was telling the truth.
“You sure about this?” he asked, taking his lips from mine for a moment.
I grinned. “I wouldn’t have kissed you if I wasn’t sur
e.”
He smirked in response before leaning in and continuing the kiss.
I wasn’t stupid – I knew the real question when he’d asked me if I was sure was whether or not I believed him, if I trusted him.
I did. And all I could do was hope it wouldn’t bite me in the ass.
“What about Parker?” he asked between kisses along my neck.
“He’s with Lizzie. And she told me she’d watch him overnight, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Not just that.” He didn’t say any more. Again, I knew what he meant.
He was asking whether or not I was going to let Parker be in his life.
But I didn’t answer, and he didn’t ask again. The kiss went on. Hunter took control as he always did, moving my body underneath his.
I opened up his shirt and yanked it off over his shoulders. My eye went down to the scar again, and I found myself wondering what it’d be like to have a wound like that, one that he saw every damn day, one that reminded him of the betrayal he’d gone through.
I could only imagine.
Hunter took hold of the hem of my shirt and pulled it up, his eyes locking onto my breasts as she reached around me. I arched my back and within seconds he had my bra off. He scooped one breast into his hand and brought the nipple into his mouth, sucking and licking it as I moaned, running my hands through his thick hair.
H ow was it possible that he could make me feel so damn good with just his touch?
When Hunter was done with my breasts, he opened the button of my jeans and his eyes locked onto mine, as he pulled down the zipper.
He grabbed the waist and yanked them off, my body writhing as he helped me out of the tight denim. Then Hunter tossed them aside, his eyes drinking in the sight of my body, nothing but a pair of skimpy panties between me and total nudity.
“Can’t ever imagine getting tired of this,” he said, shaking his head as he devoured me with his gaze, his eyes burning like the fire on the other side of the room.
Hunter slipped his fingers under the waistband of my panties, rolling them down my legs. When I was bare as could be, my pussy soaking wet, he dropped onto his knees in front of me.
