Nicholas Cocker (Cocker Brothers Book 16)

by Faleena Hopkins

  “Yes.”

  “Fuck it, we’ll bring him.” Snatching the leash from a hook on my wall, he attaches it to my dog’s collar and looks at where I’m frozen, watching. “Ready?”

  Springing into action, I grab my keys and follow the guys out.

  CHAPTER 38

  N ICHOLAS

  Beams of sunlight through tall windows warms the popular Corner Cafe on Piedmont Road NE. Professionally dressed people on their lunch breaks plan business strategies in colorful booths of striped sea-green, orange, and sunflower yellow.

  Normally Nate and Wyatt would eyeball the tarts, eclairs and scones on bakery shelves that take up much of this cornerstone, neighborhood establishment. Right when you walk in, the display is hypnotic to a sweet tooth, and we’ve been here as a family many times over the years—Matthew with us. But do they give a shit about them today?

  Those pastries can fucking wait.

  Wyatt asks, “He here?” staring at me to see if I recognize Dane.

  “Can’t see from here yet.”

  The four of us are like something out of the Wild West, fists ready to whip imaginary guns from dusty holsters, moonshine still on our breaths.

  And it’s only noon.

  As we walk into the main dining room, on the far wall I see Dane with his smarmy smile, seated facing us in a half-booth, a single, empty chair opposite him. He’s talking to a pretty waitress.

  “That’s him.”

  She turns to go and Dane’s so focused on her ass that he doesn’t see me coming. He grabs her wrist like he forgot to tell her something. She doesn’t like it, and his lascivious gaze travels down her body as he says, “Get me a water, too, while you’re at it.”

  “Let her go, Dane.”

  His sick-fuck eyes slide to me. He drops his hand. But only because now people are watching.

  “Nicholas,” he greets me with an irritated blink as he sizes up my crew. We didn’t leave on good terms and this approach isn’t friendly. But he relaxes and throws an arm over the back of the bench.

  “Allow us,” Wyatt smirks as he and Nathan take hold of the table.

  Matthew whips the chair out of the way, causing a bus boy to scramble in the other direction.

  My brothers slide the table into the aisle and give me room.

  We’ve got everyone’s attention now as I lunge forward, grab Dane Schweis by his expensive lapels and stand him up. “This is for Madison.” I punch him, but hold on with one hand so he doesn’t fall back. Rage takes him over but I dodge his reaction, and hit him again, snarling, “And this is for all the women you’ve creeped the fuck out!”

  There are audible gasps, but other than that, silence. Even the music stopped playing.

  I toss him backward onto the booth.

  He charges at me, swearing, “Cocker, you snot-nosed piece of shit!”

  Kicking him back with my shoe, I give an amused look to my crew. “Do I have a booger in my nose?”

  All three of them answer with a smirk, “Nah,” shaking their heads.

  “Didn’t think so.” Swatting his attempt at a punch I slam my fist into his profile as I move to the side. He falls onto his table, salt and pepper shakers sliding off. My brothers watch them go, and turn back to me.

  “We’ll get those later,” Nate chuckles.

  Grabbing Dane by his lapels again, I growl in his face, the entire restaurant watching. “I always hated you.” Louder I call out, “This piece of shit tried to force himself on his nanny and when she screamed and the children came running, he told his wife and their entire community that she was the one who made a pass at him! He purposefully ruined her reputation.”

  Murmurs fly throughout the seated crowd.

  “I also know for a fact that he cheats on his wife and thinks he can use his money to take advantage of girls who don’t have any. He says all women want is someone else to pay their way. How do I know?”

  My punch comes so fast it’s a blur. He bangs onto the seat, stunned.

  “Because he told me.”

  Turning to the crowd I see phones pointed at us. We’re being videoed. I give the cameras a wave as we stroll out. “And now you know it for a fact, too.”

  Matt raises his voice to add, “A real man stands up for good women.”

  The restaurant breaks out in applause as we continue our satisfied journey to the exit.

  Wyatt taps my shoulder. “Nicholas, look.”

  The four of us stop to witness that pretty waitress Dane grabbed, pouring the water he sleazily asked for, right onto his head.

  People whistle over more applause and cheering. And fuck if that doesn’t feel good.

  Down with evil bastards.

  Down with them all.

  CHAPTER 39

  M ADISON

  I n an enormous backyard in Buckhead, I’m seated under a brick-red umbrella with the dignified and kind-spirited Nancy Cocker—or as Nicholas calls her, Grandma Nance.

  “Madison, those women sure can be vicious when they want to be. There’s a good and a bad to that. If the rumor was true, and you had made a pass at Mr. Schweis, then of course they should rally together and keep you away from their husbands. But that man! I tell you—one look at him and you know he’s a dark soul. And that viper of his, she is toxic! Always spreading dirt wherever she walks. I try not to get involved with the gossip—I’m too old for all that useless drama—but some just love to live in muck, don’t they? Sometimes it’s just the mob mentality, too. Everyone getting all excitable over nothing! It makes them feel good as pigs to swim in filth. It never does anybody any good, and the feelings you get from that sort of thing never last. Plus, who do you trust when you surround yourself with snakes? Oh…pigs, snakes…I’m mixing my metaphors, aren’t I? Well, this sort of thing just makes me mad.” Her warm brown eyes light up as the screen door clatters on the house. “My husband and I prefer a quiet, happy life, don’t we, Michael?”

  Ex-Congressman Michael Cocker strolls out with his hands comfortably in the pockets of wrinkle-free khaki slacks. His crisp white, short-sleeved button-up shows off the age spots on his sinewy arms. He must still work out, but I can tell he’s not the intimidating size he once was, despite his height. But he’s still quite handsome. And of course it gets me to thinking of what Nicholas will look like when he’s that age.

  Sharp green eyes flit to the sun as he descends three steps that take him from the porch onto a large expanse of lawn. He’s thinking about her question, and she’s patiently awaiting his response. It’s an interesting display, especially for someone like me who enjoys observing the dynamics of personal relationships in action. All of those child psychology courses taught me many things about people in general. But these two have left their immature years and impulses far behind them.

  “Well, my dear,” he begins, regally standing beside her chair as she admires him. Resting his thumb on her shoulder, he caresses it through the long-sleeved blouse she wears. I notice his ring, a solid gold band. “When you’re younger the world appears boring. But what you don’t realize is everything you need is right there in the ones you love.”

  Her happy smile is instant and she squeezes his hand. “So true.” Returning to me, she asks, “How do you feel about our Nicholas?”

  “Um…”

  “Nancy, don’t make her nervous,” Michael chuckles as he heads off down the lawn. “You think it’s time to get this fountain working again?”

  His wife glances to a dry old dolphin sculpture in the distance, bleached white with age.

  “Oh, I’d love that, Michael! Do it for the boys, please!”

  He laughs, “They’re not boys anymore.”

  Shrugging she faces forward. “They will always be, to me. So, about Nicholas…”

  “I like him very much, Mrs. Cocker.”

  Pleased and a little mischievous she reaches for the pitcher and fills up my half-full glass. “Tell him to come visit us more.”

  “Not sure if I have that pull.”

&
nbsp; “You will,” she winks. “And when you do, tell him we won’t be around long.”

  Frowning at the fresh memory of Denise’s lost Nana, I tell Mrs. Cocker, “Don’t say that.”

  “I’m just living in reality,” she sighs. “But while I’m still here I can use my pull when I need to, now can’t I? I stopped that gossip-train in its tracks. While my grandson is off teaching your boss a lesson, I let it drop in the right ears that it was he who’s been doing the chasing. That got them talking!”

  On a gasp, I ask, “You did that for me?”

  With a gleam in her warm brown eyes she nods, glancing back to the house. “May, what are you doing up? I thought you were having your nap?”

  I look over to find a frail woman accompanied by an attentive nurse, gingerly walking onto the porch. The screen finally closes behind them as the two make their way toward the steps.

  Michael Cocker hurries back to help his mother. “Mom, wait there!”

  She’s the only one with a Southern drawl. “I’m capable of three darn steps on my own, I thank you!” She swats at the nurse’s attempts to help her, and uses the wooden handrail to make the short journey down as Michael holds his hands out to his mother. With her free hand, she swats at him, too.

  “She woke up hungry, Mrs. Cocker,” the nurse informs Nancy.

  “Had no breakfast to speak of, so I don’t blame her.” Michael mutters offering his mother his arm. She takes it, glances up to him with sharp blue eyes in nearly translucent skin. He guides her to join us, and she takes her place on two cushions that prop her up to a height where the table isn’t quite so tall for her tiny body.

  He frowns, “I’ll get sandwiches.”

  Nancy smiles to him. “Thank you, love.” As he heads inside, she tells me, “Grams was staying in a senior living facility but Michael wanted her closer to us.”

  Grams sighs, “I miss my bingo!” adjusting her shawl. It’s warm out, but with skin like hers I’m sure she gets cold easily.

  Nancy offers, “We could have bingo here if you’d like. Invite some of your friends over.”

  Grams perks up. “Would there be sherry?”

  “Of course!”

  “Well what are you waitin’ for?” Glancing to me she tilts her head. “I don’t recognize your face.”

  “This is Nicholas’s girlfriend, Madison Greeley-Smith. She’s a nanny, May.”

  “Our Nicholas?”

  “Well, of course our Nicholas!”

  The screen door clatters behind Michael Cocker as he approaches us with a tray. “These were in the refrigerator.”

  Nancy calls back, “Yes, I made them after I spoke with Nicholas this morning.”

  Grams leans in, blue eyes scanning me. “Hmm.” Leaning back she sighs, “I wish I had a body like yours when I was younger!”

  The Cockers both laugh, “Mom!”

  “Well, I do!” Grams watches tidy sandwich triangles set down in front of her. “Those look delicious! May I have the roast beef?”

  “You may have any one you’d like,” her son smiles.

  “Mrs. Cocker?” The two matriarchs look over at me. “Sorry, I was talking to May.”

  “Yes, child?”

  “On the ride over, Nicholas told me that you met your husband after World War II.”

  Wagging a frail finger at me with one hand, she picks up her sandwich with the other. “Well, that’s not exactly true now. My Jerald was the son of one of my father’s friends. I was just a young girl when we met. Oh, how I loved him. Those green eyes, dark blonde hair, just like my son Michael had. And Jett, too.”

  “Jerald,” Mr. Cocker corrects her, but there’s a twinkle in his smile.

  “Jett!” she insists, chiding him with a reproachful look before returning to me and picking very small pieces from her sandwich to nibble on. “My Jerald was so handsome, Madison.” Taking a bite her eyes fade off. I’m impressed she remembered my name—it makes me feel kinda special that it stuck in her mind. Not because of her age, but because she thought it was worth remembering.

  I’m on the outside of this family, looking in. But they don’t make me feel that way. It’s really nice, actually. And it gives me more faith in Nicholas’s character that he comes from good people like these.

  May stares into her history with love glowing from her. “He wrote to me when he was overseas fighting that terrible war. How I waited for those letters! My father forbade me from communicating with him. Can you imagine that? But my momma was a romantic at heart and she saw how much I adored him. She snuck all his letters from the postman and brought them to me. Asked him special to hide ‘em for her!”

  Leaning on my elbow, I smile on a whisper, “That’s so sweet!”

  Nodding, she stares off, then her gaze darkens a little. “It was torture waitin’ for those love notes sometimes. Absolute torture.” Glancing to me, she pops a bit of beef into her mouth. “We got married when I was only seventeen, did you know that?”

  Charmed, I shake my head. “No, I didn’t know that.”

  “We did.” Her eyelids gently close, then squeeze tightly shut as she smiles and sways just a little. Coming back to us, she sighs, “I miss him so.”

  Michael reaches over the table to touch his mother’s hand. She gives him a pat on a loving but sad smile. “He was a good man, Mom.”

  “He was an imperfect man!” she corrects her son, tapping his hand before returning to her sandwich. “But yes he was good. He was so many things, and that’s what made him my Jerald. Nancy, honey, would you mind pouring me some of that wonderful ginger-ale of yours? Thank you!” May Cocker looks at me, and I can see the years washing away from her. “My Jerald was the light of my life. I was lucky to have known him, to have felt the strength that came from his character and from his heart. I knew when I met him that he was meant to be mine.” Leaning forward a little she asks, “But you know true love must be fought for, don’t you? Don’t you? It’s a miracle and must be treated as such.”

  Quieted, I nod.

  As lunch progresses, the Cockers tell me about their sons, and they spend extra time talking about Jeremy, Nicholas’s father. I learn that he’s the only one who followed in Jerald Cocker’s military footsteps. The pride they have when they speak of him is something to behold.

  When Nicholas arrives with his brothers and Matthew, I feel like I know him a little better. He’s strolling down the steps with a bounce in his, and I gaze at him without even hiding my adoration.

  “Grams!” he grins, so handsome he takes my breath away. “What d’ya think of my girlfriend?”

  “She’s a delight, Nicholas, and this figure!”

  “Fucking sexy, right?”

  At the same time she shouts with his brothers, “Language!”

  A little quieter, and with a smile in her eyes she repeats, “Language, Nicholas!”

  Mr. Cocker shakes his head and Nancy Cocker covers her face with her hand, sighing. “I swear.”

  “Actually, I swore,” Nicholas laughs, reaching for a sandwich and sitting down next to me.

  His brothers keenly eye me as they help themselves, too. We only had a few minutes to talk before they all headed off.

  Matthew snatches up a turkey sandwich and takes a seat by May. “Grams, when are you going to marry me?”

  Patting his arm she reminds him, “I’m already married.”

  “I missed my chance then. You excited about Sofia’s wedding next week?”

  “I think of all of my great-grandchildren, her wedding is the one I look forward to the most. All that leather!”

  “Grams!” Wyatt and Nathan laugh, while Michael Cocker rolls his eyes.

  Nicholas leans over to kiss my cheek. “How’re you doing?”

  “Great. We’ve had a nice lunch and I learned a little about your great-grandfather, Jerald.” Scanning his face I ask, “How’d it go?”

  Grandma Nance asks, “Yes, Nicholas, what happened?”

  Taking a bite with a grin on his face, he chews w
hile we all wait. “Let’s just say the rumor mill is spinning around him now.”

  CHAPTER 40

  M ADISON

  We’re in South Vacherie, Louisiana at the Ciphers’s plantation, a property they’ve kept in its dilapidated state out of respect to the days gone by when slavery still existed. They don’t want to wash away the horrors of our nation’s past. I’ve been told it’s their mission to remember it so that the atrocity never happens again.

  Nicholas explained to me that the Ciphers travel the states fighting for the innocent and taking down evil wherever they find it. That could range anywhere from human trafficking to a lone rapist terrorizing a community—and everything in between. They do what the police cannot, and stop the cycle.

  “So, they’re heroes,” Denise said to him.

  “Pretty much,” Nicholas proudly replied.

  Their gang lives here together in this old mansion with its ghostlike furniture and enormous paintings of people no longer living and of no relation to them.

  The Ciphers exist as a modern family, sharing a communal living space, raising their children to fight so that they will join the battle and help those who cannot help themselves.

  I’m in awe of that, because all of the grown-up children I’ve met so far here, are powerful people. Nothing like how I was raised.

  I wish I knew how to fight.

  I’d have taken Mr. Schweis out myself—and he never would have tried that shit with another woman again.

  Nicholas’s cousin Sofia is the sole child of Jett Cocker, President of the Ciphers and son of Nancy and Michael. Jett was originally named after Jerald, Michael’s father and May’s deceased husband who I recently learned about.

  But like society’s rules, a birth certificate could not confine this man.

  The younger Jerald changed his name to a more fitting “Jett” when he joined this club. It was a point of major contention for decades between father and son. Michael helped pass laws in Washington and his rebellious offspring broke them.

  And I bet he did it with the smirk he had on his handsome face today, when Nicholas introduced me to his biker uncle.