“OK, I mean, just in theory, I agree,” Quinn said, still slow and cautious, “but is there any sort of specific situation right now where you might be thinking of doing something that you think is right but that may not be strictly above-board? You’re not trying to break Oliver out of jail or something right now, are you?”
Well, no. I wasn’t. But he knew me too well to explain his concerns away believably, so I picked to say nothing.
“Nico, what are you going to do?” Quinn asked again.
“Whatever it takes, man. Whatever I have to do,” I sighed and answered tiredly before I faked a headache and promised Quinn we’d talk later.
I didn’t want to say too much, and I had already said more than I meant to say. Whatever happened, if anything did happen, I didn’t want Quinn to know more than I could absolutely help. The last thing I wanted now was for him to get called in to testify against me or anything like that which, more and more, was seeming like a real possibility, depending on how things went down.
The truth was, in trying to make nice with me, Case had fucked up. I could tell that he was trying to talk me down and trying to apologize to me. Maybe if the conversation went on long enough he would try to go into that dom-headspace to try to calm me down that way, but I hadn’t had it yesterday and I wasn’t having it today. He had tried to act surprised and excited that he’d found a new lead, as if all of yesterday wasn’t a long discussion on how he wasn’t sure that my uncle was innocent. But he had fucked up when he’d dropped the suspect’s full name.
Andrew Jay Hudson.
Case had the said the name and suddenly I knew.
Now, there was the possibility that I had a name to go with the mysterious figure which I’d known for years had really killed Nora Grant. Now, I had a name for the person who was maybe walking free while my tio served his time for him in prison. Now, I knew what I had to do.
As soon as I knew the name, Case’s words from our argument came floating back to me:
“Fuck you, Nico. That wasn’t the point of all this and you know it. You came on to me. You came out of the shower, you teased, you started it. In fact, why didn’t you just run a people search for Nina?”
Why didn’t I just run a people search for Nina? Probably, if I was honest, because I wanted a reason to talk to Landon. But I didn’t want a reason to talk to him now. Case was the last person I wanted to talk to right now. So, what was stopping me from running people search for Andrew Jay Hudson right now?
Amazing what a $3.99 people search will pull up about someone. My credit card information entered into the website and a confirmation email later, I knew everything I needed to know about Andrew Jay Hudson. I knew his previous addresses, I knew his phone number and I was even offered a list of people who were likely relatives and associates of his. I confirmed what Case had said, after all. Hudson had moved to Worthington right before Nora was killed, though, his current address in a town called Seville.
That was more tempting than anything. Seville was only a few towns over.
Well, I had a name, and I had an address. There was only thing missing, and I knew where to find that, too. I went to my bedroom and opened the bottom drawer. There, beside old clothes that I hardly ever used anymore, was a black case made of hard plastic that had hardly ever been opened. Literally, I think the last time that I opened it was right after I’d bought the gun. I remembered buying it right after my uncle had been arrested. I wasn’t sure exactly why, I think I needed something to make me feel secure in the face of something that had completely up-ended my world. Maybe on some level, I knew then that I was buying the handgun for the reason that I was intending to use it now.
It was all settled, then. I was all ready to meet Andrew Jay Hudson in Seville.
On the way to Seville, I tried to keep myself steady and my thoughts calm. Was I about to kill Andrew Jay Hudson? I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure. Whatever Hudson would say when I got there and talked to him wasn’t the kind of thing that would be admissible in court. Maybe the cops would investigate to see if I was telling the truth. Or, maybe the cops would assume that I was the same kind of thug vato that everybody loved to confuse me with and wouldn’t listen to anything that I had to say. Maybe I’d be the one in prison next. Maybe Landon would be in trouble for helping me, too.
As much as my head told me this could get everyone I cared about in serious trouble, a part of me argued that maybe this was the best we could hope for. Maybe trying to get my uncle out of jail or trying to stay out of jail was a lost cause. Maybe as fucked up as this was, this kind of vigilante justice was the only kind of justice left for people who weren’t going to be protected by the system.
My uncle was innocent. Hudson was most likely not, and maybe this was the only kind of interrogation he’d ever face at all. Regardless, I couldn’t sit back and refuse to do anything. I was going to find out the truth once and for all.
I pulled up to the driveway and drew a folded piece of paper out of my pocket. A picture of Hudson I’d downloaded and printed out from his social media, I took one last look at it and tried to hold it in my head as best as I could as I fished around in the passenger seat for the gun case. I opened it, threw it behind some clothes in the backseat so it wasn’t laying out in the open and tucked it into my waistband behind me.
All right, last chance. Now or never. I psyched myself up and headed for the door, knocking firmly three times.
My heart beat against my ribs so hard that it was the only thing that I could hear as I waited for someone to answer, sometimes looking around myself to make sure that no neighbors were watching.
Easy, Nico. A voice that sounded suspiciously like a certain police officer I knew said in my head. Easy. Be smart. How many Andrew Jay Hudsons do you think there are who have ever lived in Worthington? It might not be the guy. Careful. It might not be the guy.
Rattling behind the locked door made it clear that someone was about to answer it, regardless, but I kept my hands at my side, just in case.
“Can I help you?” He answered the door, vaguely suspicious, vaguely disgusted at whatever a stranger might want from him at this time of night. Hudson might have answered the door, but as far as I was concerned? Every cop who’d ever frisked somebody I knew for no reason, every teacher who’d tried to send me to a different English class based on what I looked like, every time Landon had failed to get something that was obvious to someone like me, every moment that I’d missed my uncle while he was in prison everything that Nora’s parents must have felt stood in the doorway in Hudson’s shoes. This was about the only comeuppance I could ever see anyone getting in my uncle’s case. This was it.
“You sure can, puto,” I said, pulling out the gun from my waistband and forcing myself inside. “You sure can.”
18
“Case, I’ll be honest, it’s not a lot,” Attorney Gadwell explained. I was grateful that she’d been willing to meet with me so quickly, but now, it felt like all of this was for nothing.
My heart dropped. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“But,” she continued. “It’s enough for me to give it a shot. This Andrew Hudson? He sounds like a real gem. Part of what we struggled with at trial was explaining how someone like Oliver Suarez, with no record whatsoever, wakes up one day and puts a bullet in Nora Grant. But someone like Hudson? This is more in line with what I’m used to seeing. I’m willing to do this for you, but I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything,” I agreed instantly.
She tilted her head. “This must be important to you if you’re this willing to undo an arrest you did, Case.” It wasn’t said with any animosity, but I knew her well enough to know that she was adept at reading between the lines.
“You’ve got no idea. Besides, I wanted to do this job because it was the right thing. I wanted to be one of the good guys. Locking someone up who may not have done anything doesn’t really fit with that,” I explained.
She nodded as though I had passed some sort of se
cret test. “I agree. All right, I’ll do it, I’ll revisit the case and see if it should be reopened, but only if you can get a warrant for Hudson and bring him in for questioning.”
It didn’t take me long after leaving Gadwell’s office to call Judge Thompson and get a warrant for Hudson. I went back to the office to grab some things, and I was about to walk out the door when I heard Wolfton’s door slam open.
“Case!”
Fuck. Oh, well. My mind was made up, and the wheels were already in motion. There wasn’t a whole lot Wolfton could do now. It was already over his head, and I wasn’t the type of man to run away from the fallout of my decisions.
“Yeah?” I asked. There was no point in playing dumb. He knew what this was about as well as I did.
“What in the fuck did I just see come across my desk?” he asked.
“I believe it was a warrant from Judge Thompson for Andrew Hudson to be brought in for questioning.”
“You’re goddamn right it was. On a fucking murder charge that there’s already a fucking scumbag in jail for!” We were in the middle of the bullpen, and I could see deputies and detectives peering over the top of their cubicles to see what was happening.
“Yeah, well, the DA didn’t seem to agree with your analysis of things,” I explained.
“What? The DA didn’t… Gadwell? You went to fucking Gadwell!? Boy, I told you to leave this shit alone, and instead you went behind my back to get this fucking warrant to go chasing after ghosts. You got a death wish in this department or something? Wanna fucking retire on patrol? Is that what it is?”
“No, not really,” I said, crossing my arms. I’d stared down bullies like him in the army, and it wasn’t any different now. Like hell I was going to be pushed around. “But I’d rather do that then watch someone who might be innocent rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life all because you’re more concerned about winning a local election than you are about the possibility that we put an innocent man in prison. In fact, you should put that in your next soundbite for the local news right after you talk about how vet-friendly your force is.”
“You think I’m gonna hang for this, is that right, boy? Do you not remember who the hell arrested that Cuban piece of shit?” he asked. Whatever. I wasn’t going to listen to any more of Wolfton’s stupid rant. I turned to make my way out the door as he continued to sputter along. Now, people were standing, not trying to hide as they watched the drama unfold. “If anyone’s gonna be hung out to dry over this if it goes south, it’s gonna be you. I hope for your own sake you know what the fuck you’re doing, Case,” he called to my back.
I was at the door when I looked over my shoulder.
“I always do, sir.” And finally, it felt like I did.
* * *
“Come on, Nico. Pick up, baby.”
I knew I was blowing his phone up, but I needed him to answer. His place was on the way out of Worthington on the way to Seville. I needed to let him know what was happening, that finally, I’d gotten my head out of my ass and made a decision. That all of this was for him, for us. I imagined how relieved he would be, and I hoped more than anything that it wasn’t too little, too late. But, even if it was, even if Nico didn’t want to have anything else to do with me, I’d at least know that I’d done the right thing, made a decision I could live with. That was worth it, even if it wasn’t what I wanted.
There’s no answer, and impulsively, I took a turn down the street that led to Nico’s house. I couldn’t wait to tell him. If I told him now, I could go, bring Hudson in, and find a way to persuade Nico to let me drag him back to my bed. At first, it didn’t look like anyone was home, but after pounding on the door for a minute it opened. However, instead of the warm, brown eyes I was expecting, I was met by a curly haired blond.
He looked me over from head to toe and licked his lips before speaking.
“Please tell me you’re not Landon Case,” he said.
“I’m Landon Case. Where’s Nico?” My mind was already supplying lots of roles for the man in front of me. After everything we’d shared, it seemed ridiculous that he might have already moved on, maybe picked up someone at the bar to bring home and have his way with.
“Oh, of course you are. Boy gets all the good ones, doesn’t he? Total bullshit,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Look, uh, what’s your name?”
He extended a hand, “Quinn. I’m Nico’s best friend. Charmed, I’m sure.” Things started clicking into place now, and I was relieved. At least the jealous monster in my chest could calm the hell back down.
“Sure. Quinn, where is Nico?” I asked again. “I have good news.”
“You mean you don’t know?” Quinn seemed surprised, nervous.
“No, I’ve been calling him all morning. I have a search warrant to go pick up the guy I think may have killed Nora. I wanted to tell him what was happening before I went.”
Quinn turned pale. “Oh shit. Landon, you’ve got to get there now. You have to.”
“What? Why?”
“Oh, shit, oh shit.” Quinn seemed truly panicked now. “He went up there, all right? Andrew Hudson, right?”
My blood ran cold. “What do you mean, Quinn?” My voice was demanding, deep. “Tell me everything, now. Quickly.”
He explained, and as he did it felt like someone had filled my guts with cold lead. I listened as he described finding Nico’s door unlocked. He’d been concerned about him after Nico had called him, all cagey. He’d found Nico’s computer still pulled up with a man’s profile up and upon further discovery, realized that the dresser drawer where Nico had told him he kept a handgun was open, the weapon was nowhere in sight. Fuck, no. As far as I knew, Nico had never even shot a fucking gun and he was going to confront a man who’d possibly murdered at least one person in cold blood. My head was pounding, all I could think was to get to Nico as soon as possible.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I thanked Quinn from over my shoulder, already making my way back to my cruiser.
“Please take care of him, okay?” Quinn called. It was enough to pull me up short as I whirled back around to look at him. “He’s a pain in the ass, and he’s stubborn as hell, but he’s like a brother, okay? So, get him back here in one piece so I can kick his ass real quick and then, you know. You have to take care of him, okay? Promise?”
It was a silly thing to ask, but Quinn looked concerned, like he cared about Nico. Anyone that cared about Nico was okay in my book.
“Yeah. Of course. Once you kick his ass, I’ll kick his ass, and then I promise I’ll take care of him.”
“Ooh, kinky.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not the time.”
“Right, right. Go on, now. Go save him.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I drove to Seville in full lights and sirens, blowing by anyone and everything I could to get to where Nico was. What the fuck was the kid thinking, pulling a stunt like this? Somewhere, deep down, I felt more than a little guilt for this. If I hadn’t waited so long to make up my mind, maybe Nico wouldn’t have felt the need to take this into his own hands. It was easy enough between what I’d seen in the army and what I’d seen on the force to imagine all the ways in which Nico’s plan could go wrong. My brain wouldn’t let me go there completely though, refusing to imagine the outcomes that could be waiting for me when I got to Hudson’s home.
I pulled up to a seedy house on the edge of Seville, the paint chipping, the lawn overgrown. I made sure, even with my growing panic, to pull alongside two neighboring houses and approach on foot. I wasn’t sure what I was going to find, and I didn’t want anything to make Nico or Hudson get trigger happy. My heart raced, but I’d learned a long time ago to take those nerves and channel them into focusing. My breathing slowed as I approached the open back door, my weapon drawn with the safety off.
I stepped inside silently, and I felt relief, sweet and short, flood my system at the sound of Nico’s voice.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin
g about, kid,” an unfamiliar voice stated.
“Bullshit!” Nico answered. I’m in the living room, and the sounds seemed like they were coming at the end of a long, narrow hallway. “Tell me, all right? I know it was you. What the fuck kind of person are you? Jesus. You’re gonna tell me you did it and then I’m gonna take your sorry ass to the police and you’re going to tell them the same goddamn thing.”
“Is that what you think, you little shit? You don’t know what the fuck you’re doing, do you?”
This didn’t sound good. Whatever was happening, I needed to put a stop to it before Nico strayed way beyond where I could reach him.
19
“You’re the one who doesn’t know what the fuck is going on,” I yelled back at Hudson’s accusation. “You’re going to sit down and you’re going to answer every motherfucking question I have, and then we’re calling the cops. I don’t give a shit what happens to me.”
“Are you fucking dumb? You’re going to call the cops on yourself?!” Hudson was leaned up against his kitchen sink with one arm out in front of him as if to shield himself from the gun I had on him.
“I’ll ask the questions, pendejo!” I shouted, shaking the gun at him. I needed a plan. I needed the plan that I had been too royally pissed off to think about before I came down here. I needed Hudson to realize he wasn’t going anywhere, to comply before things went any further than they had. “Move away from the sink. Sit the fuck down and shut up!”
Hudson was trying to move away from the sink but wasn’t going towards anywhere that I could imagine him sitting down. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going? Sit the fuck down and put your hands where I can see them!”
Hudson stopped and slowly stood up. He held his hands up in the air and then went back to using them to hold himself up against the kitchen counter.
Worth A Shot: Worth It: Book 5 Page 12
