“What’s in the back?” Max asked.
“That’s what I want to know,” Bobby responded.
“Want me to get a camera on it?” Tut asked. Now I knew why Bobby didn’t invite J.D. to the meeting. There was no way to get a camera on the back of Garrison’s building without trespassing.
“What do you think?” Garrett asked the room. “Do we see what’s back there or do we focus on what’s being delivered to the warehouse?”
“I say we do both, but since Garrison’s is closer, let’s start there,” Adam suggested.
“I’ll plant the camera,” Tut volunteered.
“Go in tonight after the party,” I told him.
Max stood. “If we’re done here, I need to get back to MMG.” He stared pointedly at me and said, “It appears Meltdown arrived earlier than expected and our wives have taken it upon themselves to provide lunch for them.” It took me a minute to register what he was saying.
“Fuck,” I stated. Sarah had totally played me. No wonder she’d done an about face this morning.
“My sentiments exactly,” Max drawled.
“I’m never getting married,” Adam commented. Bobby and Garrett both agreed. I shot them both the bird as I followed Max out of the room.
As I pulled up to MMG, I almost didn’t recognize the place. The entire parking lot was covered by a giant, white circus tent.
“Fuuuuuck,” I whispered as I followed Max around the side of the building to a make-shift parking lot. As I pulled in next to Meltdown’s tour bus, I had the sudden urge to get the hell out of there. Shit like this reminded me of my parents, and the life I’d led before Sarah.
Max and I both exited our vehicles and stared at the bus.
“What happened to flying in at five?” I questioned.
“Blane something or other called while you were in Vegas and told Ellison that the band was doing a three month mini tour and had decided to kick it off in North Carolina with our party. They’re playing somewhere in town tomorrow night.”
“So you did or didn’t know they were arriving this early?”
“I had no clue until Ellison texted and told me.” Max gave me a contemplative look before asking, “Why?” Instead of answering him, I headed around back to where I’d hopefully find my sneaky little wife. I pulled up short when I spotted the stage. First a tent, and now a stage? Max had missed his calling in life because he clearly had a knack for event planning. Beside the stage sat a table, and on it was enough food fit for a king. Ellie, Sarah, Piper, Cole, and several people I’d never seen before were lingering around the stage. My wife had on a pair of skin tight, black pants, a white flowy blouse, and a pair of sexy-as-hell heels I’d never seen before. Her hair piled on top of her head showed off her neck. My neck, I thought. She threw her head back and laughed at something one of the guys said and I wanted to kill the dude.
“Fucking hell,” I quietly muttered.
“Tell me about it, “Max grumbled behind me.
Ellie spotted Max and gave him a huge smile. Brushing past me, he strolled right up to his wife and practically sucked her face off. Leave it to Max to make an entrance. When Sarah saw Max heading their way, she immediately started looking for me. She smiled when she spotted me. I crooked my finger at her and she shook her head no. Smart girl. I wanted to spank her ass.
“Hey, man, good to see you again,” a voice next to me said.
“Hey, Grant. I take it life is treating you better than the last time I saw you?”
“Fuck, yeah it is. From what I hear, life’s treating you better as well.” He nodded his head at Sarah, who was laughing as something Cole was saying.
A few months back we were called in on a case concerning Meltdown’s lead singer, Grant Hardy. It was a complicated case that ended with the dissolution of Meltdown’s management team and the death of the band’s keyboardist.
“It sure as hell is,” I mused. “Have you grabbed lunch, yet?” He shook his head, no, and we made our way over to the buffet table. While Grant piled food on his plate, I stepped up beside Sarah. She tensed when I gently cupped her ass with my hand, and whispered in her ear, “I see now why you had a sudden change of heart this morning, darling. Oh, and nice outfit, by the way. You purchased those fuck me heels just for me, right?” My caustic tone told her exactly how I felt about her damn outfit. A look of surprise, followed by one of hurt, and then anger flitted across her face, before she turned her back on me and walked inside.
I could tell from her response that I’d just seriously fucked up.
Nice move, Cas.
* * *
Sarah
The man is unbelievable! I thought as I stepped inside the kitchen and slid past the caterers. On the way to my office, I passed by the fully stocked bar. While no one was looking, I snagged one of the bottles of red wine and a glass from the shelf. I already had an opener in my office. I wasn’t quite sure what the arsehole had just accused me of, but whatever it was, I didn’t like it one bit. Who else did he think I was dressing for? With a huff of frustration, I stormed into my office, plopped my ass down on my comfy chair, and stared down at my heels. These were the heels I’d bought in Vegas. Nice of my husband to notice. I opened my desk drawer to retrieve my bottle opener. As I wedged the bottle of wine between my legs, the door opened, and in walked Max. Shit! From the look on his face he was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. I waited for him to lay into me, but after he took in the scene, he simply held out his hand. With a loud sigh, I handed him the bottle. When he held out his other hand, I rolled my eyes and handed him the opener.
“Come,” he said. I grabbed my glass and followed him into his office.
I took a seat while Max opened the bottle. He poured wine into my glass, and then reached behind him, snagged a glass from the shelf, and poured some for himself. Right as we were about to toast, Cole walked in. I gave Max an oh-shit look. I wasn’t sure whether I should chug the wine or pour it into the plant on Max’s desk. Without missing a beat, Max snagged another glass and poured some wine into it. Then he motioned for Cole to join us. My heart swelled with love for my big brother. Max shot me a questioning look, and I knew exactly what he was asking. It was time to tell Cole. I nodded my head, yes, and he dove right in.
“Before we toast, I want to show you something,” Max told Cole. He reached inside his desk and pulled out a manila envelope. He slid it over to Cole and Cole tensed.
“What’s that?” Cole asked.
Max nodded to the envelope. “Take a look and see.” Cole grabbed the envelope and tore it open. I held my breath while he perused the test results. When he reached the conclusion, his head shot up and his eyes connected with Max’s.
“You’re my brother?” His surprised tone made me tear up.
“Even better,” Max said, smiling over at me, “she’s your sister.” Cole’s eyes hit mine and the hope in them was almost too painful to bear.
“I wanted it to be true, but I…” Cole’s voice cracked and his eyes dropped to the floor. Max and I gave him a minute to collect himself.
“Ellison, Mac, and I want you to live with us,” Max told him.
“But you can spend the night at my house anytime you want. Cas is already talking about teaching you all about security systems,” I interjected.
“When you’re ready, we can sell your old place and put the money into savings,” Max added.
“You’d do that?” Cole asked.
“It’s your home,” Max stated.
“But he was your dad, too.” Max looked at me and I shook my head. If it was up to me, Cole would never know the depths of our father’s depravity.
“He was our father, but that is your home,” Max reiterated.
Cole finally nodded in agreement. Then he laughed, and held up his glass of wine. “I can’t believe you’re letting me drink this.”
“So we’re good?” Max asked.
“Hell yes,” Cole responded, and smiled when I leaned over and hugged him.
“Lock the fucking door behind you,” he growled at Cas.
Cas stared at me as he flipped the lock. Instead of sitting on the floor, which was just fine with me, Cas lifted me up and plopped back down on the chair with me in his lap. I glared at him and he rewarded me with a quick kiss.
“To family,” Max said, and held up his glass.
“To family,” we repeated. Then we touched our glasses together and drank.
“I’m sorry,” Cas whispered in my ear. I’m an idiot.” As I melted into his arms, he kissed the side of my head. It really was hard to stay mad at the guy, even if he acted like a goof sometimes.
Ten minutes later we heard a knock at the door, followed by Piper’s whiney voice. “C’mon guuuuuuuys, let me iiiiiiiin.” Instead of letting her in, we joined everyone for a drink on the back lawn. I made sure Cole had a soda this time.
Max and Ellie drifted off to deal with party stuff around five. Cas and I hung out with the band. It was then that we met Evan Walker.
A few months ago, something awful happened and Meltdown lost their keyboardist. Cas couldn’t give me all of the details, but he did say that Luke was a seriously messed up individual. According to Meltdown’s lead guitarist, Nash Bostwick, the band had been hosting auditions for a new keyboardist. Evan was the last to audition, and the most promising prospect so far, so the group decided to give him a trial by fire by taking him on tour with them.
Evan Walker had short, dark hair, full lips, and dark eyes. His beard was full but he kept it trimmed short. Black ink peered out from the collar of his long sleeve tee. I could tell by Piper’s goo-goo eyes what she thought of Evan. He was good looking, but nothing compared to my husband.
“Wow, Luke was hot, but you blow him clean out of the water,” Piper blurted. I wanted to slap my hand over her mouth.
“Uh, thanks, I think,” Evan responded.
“Don’t mind her, she has no filter,” Cas teased.
“Ha-ha,” Piper mocked. Gage slid in behind Piper and wrapped his arms around her as she introduced him to the band. Gage apologized to Evan for his wife’s big mouth and laughed when Piper elbowed him in the gut. It was great to see those two laughing again.
“Show time!” Max announced. This meant the guests were arriving. Meltdown took the stage while Cas and I started to mix and mingle.
All of our closest friends showed up, including Joss and Kurt as well as Isabella and Dillon. Joss said the doctor released her from bed rest earlier that morning and that she was finally okay to go into labor. Isabella looked a million times better than the last time I’d seen her. I assumed it had something to do with sleep because that’s all she talked about the entire night. Cas’s sister turned up with a date. Thankfully his parents’ stayed away. Ellie’s dad was there with Nexi and all of the guys from LASH came. A few of them even brought dates. At some point I could have sworn I saw Sally in the crowd, but decided it was only my imagination. The biggest surprise of the night was when Harry and Polly strolled in holding hands. Harry didn’t even look like the same person.
Aside from our wedding night, it was the best night ever. Meltdown was phenomenal, all of our friends showed to support us, my brothers were both there, and Cas and I got rip roaring drunk.
Max drove us home around three, and the phone woke me out of a dead sleep around eleven.
“Hlo,” I groggily answered.
“Hey, babe, it’s me,” Cas said. “I bailed without leaving a note this morning, and wanted to check in.”
I sat up and tried to get my bearings. “What? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Bobby found Sally last night, and I’m heading to her place right now.”
“It was her last night,” I whispered.
“What was that?” Cas asked.
“Never mind. Is she okay?”
“She’ll be fine. I just wanted you to know where I was.”
“Do you want me to come over and help?” I didn’t know whether to be happy or angry that Sally was back. I was definitely relieved.
“I’ve got it. Go back to sleep. I look forward to waking you when I get home.”
We hung up and I flopped back onto the bed. The infamous Sally had finally returned.
Chapter Seventeen
Sally
‡
I woke to the sound of someone humming. The song sounded strangely like Jimmy Buffet’s Why Don’t We Get Drunk, or was it Garth Brooks? I couldn’t remember. The name of the song wasn’t the point. The point was that someone was in my kitchen. I slowly peeled open my eyelids. Whoever invented mascara needed their heads examined. As I stared at the back of my sofa, the smell of coffee wafted through the air. I took a deep breath in and inhaled the rich, nutty aroma. Coffee would dissolve the fur on my teeth. It would also help to alleviate my pounding head. Nausea roiled in my belly as I tried to recall last night’s events. I was beginning to think that coming home wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Yesterday was the end of the road. I’d finally depleted my cash reserves and was down to my last twenty dollars. This meant I either needed to go home and get a job, or I needed to go home and pack my bags. On the drive back to North Carolina, I made a plan. No more getting drunk. Who was I kidding? I so planned on getting drunk. I just didn’t plan on getting drunk at three in the afternoon. I was turning over a new leaf, which meant new rules. No alcohol until five in the Wilder household. I could just hear my mother now, “Five o’clock is cocktail hour, Sally Sue. To drink before that is simply trashy.” I was many things, but trashy wasn’t one of them. So, five o’clock it was. That is, until I opened my mail and saw Max and Ellie’s invitation. Then trash queen reared her ugly head and my five o’clock rule flew right out the fucking window.
Well, well, well. The happily married Cas and Sarah are having a fucking party.
At first the invitation made me sad, but after thinking it over, I decided I was more pissed off. Cas and Sarah wanted me at their party about as much as they wanted genital warts. I almost got them both killed. No, this was the evil machinations of Ellie, or maybe even Isabella. After stewing over it for five or so minutes, I made myself a cocktail.
As always, the first few drinks burned going down, but the third…the third was smooth sailing. I tried to focus on other shit besides the invite, but it kept taunting me. Finally, not able to stand it any longer, I poured myself a drink for the road, and carried both it and the invitation to the bathroom. Placing the invitation on the vanity, I sat the drink on top of it.
“You sit here, my pretties,” I told them. Then I stripped off my clothes and hopped into the shower. Actually, I more or less slid into the shower. As the hot water cleansed away my sins, I thought of Isabella and Leo. I’d wanted to be there for his birth, but Izzy didn’t need me anymore. She had Dillon now. Once I was clean, I slid back out of the shower and towel dried my hair. While on the road it was easier to let my hair grow than to find a stylist, so instead of my usual pixie cut, I was sporting a jaw length bob. Right now it looked as if I’d stuck my finger in a light socket. Nope, this would definitely not do. After another sip of my drink, I pulled out the blow dryer and whipped my unruly locks into shape. The entire time I was drying my hair, the invitation beckoned to me.
“What do you think, Horace? Should I stay or should I go?” Horace was the giant octopus I’d gotten tattooed on my body after a wild night of drinking and debauchery with a guy named…Horace. His body sat on my left ribcage and his vibrantly color
ed tentacles slithered up my back and chest. One snaked up the side of my neck and ended behind my left ear, while another wound halfway down my arm. I loved Horace the octopus. Horace, the man, however, was a different story. He was great in bed, but a bit long winded. In fact, the guy was downright verbally exhausting. The only time he shut up was when he was pounding me into the mattress. He kept talking about his friend, Shephard, and how he wouldn’t say the word f-u-c-k, but he would spell it. It was when he talked about monsters with tentacles that I got the idea for the tattoo.
“I think I’m going to do it,” I said to my reflection in the mirror. As I lifted my drink from the vanity, I noticed the invitation was stuck to the bottom. Before I could peel it off, it popped off and dropped right into the toilet. “Foreshadowing,” I whispered. On my way to the kitchen for a refill, I decided I was definitely going to the party. “I might even wear a little makeup…oh, and maybe even a dress. The fuckers won’t even recognize me,” I cackled with glee.
Three drinks later, I was dressed and ready to go to the party. I was also completely wasted. Fun times! My Uber driver was a dead ringer for Tony Danza. I serenaded him on the way to MMG with my own personal rendition of Tiny Dancer, only, instead of tiny dancer it was Tony Danza. He pretended to laugh, which earned him a blow job. Wait, did I actually blow the Uber driver or just consider it? I remembered him dropping me off, but the rest was a bit…dark.
A hand appeared over my shoulder, and in it was a cup of coffee. I immediately recognized the hand.
“What are you doing here, Bobby?” I took the cup and slowly rolled over to face him. He flinched and I laughed. “That bad?”
“You’ve got black stuff–” he pointed to his eyes.
“Be right back,” As I stood, the blanket dropped to the floor, exposing my bra and thong. I looked around for my dress, but it was nowhere to be seen. Oh well. I shrugged, and headed for the bathroom.
The Last Call (MMG Book 5) Page 15