Layne had always loved that picture. She’d been smiling, it was a little smile but the dimple in her right cheek had popped out. At seventeen, she’d made it to far beyond pretty, her sitting there, in her tight pink t-shirt, that smile on her face, young, the promise of a good life ahead of her, it was captivating both in person and in the photo. That smile, that t-shirt, her long legs exposed by her jeans shorts, ankles crossed, the promise on her face, it all defined why he’d fallen in love with her. He’d known her three weeks and in that instant, when he snapped that photo, he remembered looking through the lens and he’d lost his heart or, more to the point, gave it to her.
“That was taken about three weeks after we started going out. She was seventeen,” Layne told his boys.
“Wow. She’s pretty,” Tripp mumbled and his head came up to look at his Dad. “But she’s prettier now.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“Seventeen?” Jasper asked, his tone biting. “That’s sick, you were twenty-one.”
Jasper wasn’t wrong either. Twenty and twenty-four was okay, nineteen and twenty-three was still good, anything below that, the guy in his twenties, the girl in her teens, was frowned upon in that ‘burg.
But he didn’t give a fuck then and, thinking about it for the first time in over a decade, he didn’t give a fuck now.
“Look at her Jas,” Layne urged quietly and Jasper held his eyes, Jasper’s belligerent, then he looked down at the photo.
“It’s safe to say, her brother and Dad weren’t all fired up that she caught my eye,” Layne continued. “She was in high school, I’d graduated Ball State and was at the Academy. The first six months I was with her, every date we had happened at her Dad’s house. He wouldn’t even let me put her in my car. He got to know me and that changed. We moved in together a month after she graduated from high school and we lived together for two years.”
He knew Jasper would do the math, he already did. Layne’s son was far from dumb.
Layne carried on. “She went to Butler. She’d drive into Indy every day to go to class, worked at Frank’s as a waitress on the weekends. I worked for the ‘burg’s PD.”
Jasper looked from the photo to him and Layne went on.
“You see her?”
“Yeah, I see her,” Jasper replied.
“Three weeks before that photo was taken, I saw her, took one look at her and I knew. She was it. I didn’t care if she was seventeen. She was it. You want something bad enough, you know it’s right, you know it’ll be worth the wait. So I waited and I was right, Rocky was worth it. Until you two came along, she was the best thing that happened to me in my whole goddamned life.”
Tripp was staring at him, his mouth had dropped open. Jasper was shielding his response.
“Look at that picture, Jasper, and tell me that girl wasn’t worth the wait,” Layne said quietly.
Jasper licked his lips and then sucked them between his teeth.
Layne waited.
Then Jasper showed him that he had broken through.
“I know it because she’s the coolest teacher in school,” Jasper informed him.
“Yeah?” Layne asked, curious, even though he told himself he did not want to know.
“Yeah,” Tripp put in. “She’s like, that Dead Poets Society dude except a lady. She even shows that movie in her class. Kids are always hearing that she’s gettin’ into trouble with the principal because of something she’s done. Half the time, they aren’t even in the classroom but doin’ all sorts of shit all over the school. You get in her class, you got so many field trips, it’s awesome. I hope I get her. She even lets kids read comic strips for credit.”
Yes, another indication that Rocky was a nut.
“You have her yet?” Layne asked Jasper.
“Had her when I was a sophomore and she was awesome so I’m takin’ Advanced English Lit next semester. I hope I get her because Mr. Halsey is a moron,” Jasper replied.
Layne hoped he got Rocky too. Jesus, Halsey had been there when Layne had been at that school. He must be a hundred years old.
Jasper cut into his thoughts. “If she was the best thing that happened to you, how’d it go bad?”
Layne answered without hesitation. “She left me. She didn’t say why. One day it was good, really good, the next day she was gone. Everything that was hers was out and she was gone. She didn’t talk to me, she didn’t explain it. We weren’t fighting. It wasn’t turning bad, and you know when that happens even though sometimes you don’t admit it when it’s happening. But it wasn’t. It was good one day and she was gone the next. I reckon she had her reasons but the right thing to do was share them. She never did that. To this day, I have no clue why it ended; all I know is that it did. Whatever happened I might not have been able to fix but after what we had, she should have showed me the respect of tellin’ me where it went wrong.”
“Did you ask?” Jasper asked.
“Yep, about a hundred times, on the phone, when she didn’t hang up on me. Showin’ up at her Dad’s house, at her school, at Frank’s. She shut me out. Eventually, I had to man up and move on. So I did.”
“To Mom,” Tripp guessed.
“To your Mom,” Layne confirmed.
“But Mom wasn’t the best thing to happen to you,” Jasper noted, his eyes locked on Layne and Layne gave it to him straight.
“No, Jas, she wasn’t. She’s a great Mom and a good woman but she was not a good wife.”
Jasper surprised the hell out of him when he nodded.
Then, always sharp, Jasper noted, “Word is, Mrs. Astley is gettin’ a divorce.”
“Word is correct,” Layne affirmed.
“She want you back?” Jasper asked, clearly having spent some time considering why Rocky was there yesterday morning.
“No,” Layne answered.
“So why was she here?” Tripp put in, also clearly having thought about Rocky’s visit.
When Layne answered, he did it honestly but he didn’t do it fully.
“Her brother is a good friend, so’s her Dad. She and I are connected. We’ve been tryin’ to avoid each other but me gettin’ shot made that less easy for her to do. We’re workin’ shit out.”
“You gonna go for it?” Jasper asked.
“Can’t tell the future, Jas, if I could, we’d be livin’ in Rio and you’d each have your own jet,” Layne answered, hoping to inject humor into the discussion which, already not the most comfortable, was getting even less so and Tripp laughed.
Jasper’s lips twitched and he shook his head.
“You should go for it,” Tripp suggested and Layne’s surprised eyes cut to his younger son.
“Tripp, don’t, Pal. Okay? Whatever happens, happens but Rocky and me, we may sort it out so she’ll be over at her Dad’s when Dave has a barbeque but she won’t be ironing your boxers.”
Tripp kept his eyes on his old man then he nodded and whispered, “Right,” but, fuck him, Layne still saw hope there.
Deciding their conversation was done, Layne indicated their bowls with a dip of his head. “Get those in the dishwasher, get your books, get to school.”
Tripp moved instantly. Jasper stayed where he was and studied Layne for awhile before he followed his brother.
Layne timed his next for when Tripp was in the garage heading to Jasper’s Charger and Jasper was almost at the utility room door.
“Jas, a second,” Layne called, Jasper stopped, looked at him and Layne got closer. “You’re stayin’ with me next week but when you talk to your Mom and when you go home, I want you to keep your eyes and ears open.”
Jasper’s body went tight as did his face. “Why?”
“Don’t know, not yet, but I need you to be my ears with your Mom.”
Jasper’s eyes narrowed, not in anger at Layne, but in understanding. “Stew?”
Layne nodded and gave his son the truth. “He’s an asshole. I don’t like him with your Mom. She’s got her sister in town, friends and she’s also got you, your
brother and me. Of all of those, all she’s really got to look out for her is you, your brother and me. We gotta look out for her. I’m gettin’ a bad vibe and I want you to keep sharp. You hear anything or even feel anything, you tell me. Yeah?”
Jasper stayed silent and stared at Layne for a long time. Then something lit in his eyes, something Layne hadn’t seen since Jasper was a little kid. Something Layne missed like he’d been breathing half the amount of oxygen any other human needed and the other half just came whooshing into his lungs.
Then he muttered, “Yeah, okay Dad.”
Layne wanted to touch him, Christ, his hand itched to curl around Jasper’s neck but he checked it.
“Do me a favor and keep this conversation from Tripp. Right now, you and me are workin’ this. We need Tripp, I’ll let you know.”
Jasper nodded.
Layne jerked his head to the door. “Go to school.”
* * * * *
“Can’t do it, Drew, wish I could but I gotta focus on shit that pays,” Layne told Drew Mangold.
He was at the Station because he wanted to talk to Colt, Sully and Mike about Stew.
He’d been to the Station a couple of times since he’d been released from the hospital but Rutledge had not been there any of those times.
Rutledge was there now. Layne had locked eyes with him as he’d walked up the stairs ten minutes ago. He’d buried the burn seeing that asshole ignited inside him. Then he’d tipped up his chin, lifted a hand and gave him a flick of two fingers. Rutledge had visibly tensed when he’d seen Layne but his face went slack when Layne greeted him like he always did if he was at the Station when Layne walked up the stairs.
Layne knew a lot of the men in that Department, most of them he knew well, some of them had worn a uniform at the same time Layne had.
Rutledge was not one of those men. He hadn’t been around for very long and most of what Layne knew about him was that he was dirty so he didn’t want to know much more. Unfortunately, since he was dirty, Layne had to investigate him so Layne knew Rutledge a lot more than he wanted to and none of what he knew was any good.
Layne couldn’t begin to guess what was going on in Rutledge’s mind after Layne behaved like normal. He could think it was indication that Layne had learned his lesson and backed down. He could wonder if he’d been wrong about what he suspected Layne was doing before he told whoever was pulling his strings to order the hit thus wondering if he acted rashly. He could be considering both or something else. Layne hoped he was considering both. They needed him off-balance and guessing not only the extent of their knowledge and who held it but also what they’d do next.
Colt, Sully and Mike weren’t there and Drew had corralled him to tell him about some weird shit that was happening at the Christian Church. Drew wasn’t wrong, it didn’t sound good, but Layne couldn’t look into it.
About two days after Layne came home and set up shop over Mimi’s, Merry punted him a case. Something the cops couldn’t stick their noses into and something that the interested party couldn’t pay a private detective for, especially not at Layne’s rates. It wasn’t a big deal, doing some searches, printing out credit history, it took him ten minutes. But he’d done it, he’d done it gratis and he shouldn’t have. It was the beginning of what Merry called Layne’s “Robin Hood Caseload”. Merry regularly punted shit he knew needed looking into, people he knew who needed help; all of them unable to pay for it, and Layne took them on and took care of their shit. The problem was, shit like that spreads so Sully and Sean jumped on the bandwagon. Then Drew.
The only ones who didn’t do it were Harrison Rutledge, Alec Colton and Mike Haines.
Rutledge didn’t because he didn’t know Layne and because he didn’t give a shit if someone was in trouble and needed help.
Layne figured Colt and Haines knew it was happening and didn’t interfere but they also didn’t participate. What Layne didn’t know was if it was because they disagreed with him doing it or they didn’t want to take advantage of a friendship.
Gabby didn’t lie, he charged top dollar because he gave quick, efficient, confidential service on any matter you could possibly need a private investigator for. He’d travelled a lot, had an extensive and varied set of skills and people all over the country knew of him or had worked with him. He came highly recommended. Because of that, his reputation had preceded him and he had clients even before he’d located office space.
Most of his clients came from Indianapolis which meant most of his work was there. He had some clients from the ‘burg but they lived in developments like where Rocky used to live.
With a healthy bank balance and money coming in, this meant he could carry a Robin Hood Caseload. Being out of work for five weeks and his nest egg depleted, this meant he needed to focus.
This sucked, especially after what Drew told him about what he suspected was happening at the Church.
“Seriously man, this is what I think it is, and I got a bad feeling it is, then…” Drew was trying to persuade him but Drew trailed off when his eyes went over Layne’s shoulder and his face grew distracted.
Layne turned to see what caught his attention but he heard her heels on the floor before he saw her.
Rocky was walking across the room.
Strike that, Rocky was strutting across the room wearing a skirt much like yesterday’s, this one the color of cranberries, just as tight but there was a sexy slit up the front so you saw a hint of her inner thigh every other stride she took. She had on a black blouse, this one almost see-through, a black camisole under it and it fit her perfectly, too perfectly, like yesterday’s blouse. She also had on a pair of shoes the color of her skirt, the leather shiny, the heel high and thin, no strap this time and they were the absolute definition of fuck-me shoes. Her hair was twisted in a complicated knot at the nape of her neck and she had a little leather purse that matched her shoes on a short strap that tucked it under her pit.
She strutted through the room smiling, giving little waves to men she knew and also giving absolutely no indication that she knew all the men watching her, and every man in that room was watching her, was struggling to control his dick getting hard.
She rounded Merry’s desk and Layne watched, with no small amount of irritation, as she stood there looking at it for a moment as if searching for something. Then she found it, reached for a piece of paper and pen and leaned over, ass in the air, skirt stretched tight across it – and her hips and upper thighs, leaving nothing to the imagination – and she started scribbling.
Layne tore his eyes off Rocky and looked at the desk next to Merry’s, separated by a three foot aisle, where Rutledge was sitting, his eyes glued to Rocky’s ass.
Fuck!
In the second she’d bent over, she’d cast her net and, even with Merry one of the prime suspects of who’d pegged Rutledge as dirty and sicced Layne on him, Rutledge wasn’t struggling even a little bit against the net.
Layne looked back at Raquel and saw she’d turned her head toward Rutledge and then she straightened. She smiled at Rutledge and moved toward him.
The instant she did, Layne made a decision.
“We’ll finish later,” Layne told Drew on a mutter and he strode, fast and with purpose, right to Rocky.
She had her back to him and didn’t hear him coming, was intent on what she was doing or intended to ignore him having no idea what he was about to do.
He heard her saying, “…not answering his phone so it’d be a big help if you could tell him…” when he got up close. Without hesitation, he swung his arm back, hand open and then smacked her lightly, but the sound carried, right on the ass.
Her body jolted and she whirled as he said loudly, “Sweetcheeks.”
He looked down at her stunned face, wrapped an arm tight around her neck and yanked her right into his body. Again without hesitation, his head came down and his lips hit hers, hard, where he kissed her, just as hard. Then his head came up and he tried to ignore her soft body pressed to him,
her tits crushed against him, the scent of her perfume and the fact that the vibe in the room had electrified.
He also tried to ignore the fact that her face showed she was openly struggling against being dazed and being really, really pissed.
“What you doin’ here, baby?” he asked before she could speak.
She blinked.
Then she asked back, “What?”
His arm around her neck tightened and she was forced to press closer. His other hand hit her waist and slid around to the small of her back, pulling her even closer.
“You didn’t tell me you were comin’ to the Station,” he informed her.
“I –” she started, belatedly struggling by pushing her neck against his arm.
Before she could say another word, he looked at Rutledge.
“Best thing that happened to me, gettin’ shot, man, I cannot tell you.” He grinned at Rutledge as Rutledge’s mouth dropped right open, Rocky’s body turned to stone and then he looked back down at Rocky who was now glaring at him, her eyes full of fire. “Reunited me with Roc,” he muttered to her then looked back at Rutledge. “Take another three bullets if I knew that was what I was gonna get.” He kept grinning. “Luckily I didn’t have to.” He again looked at Rocky and asked softly, “Did I, baby?”
“You –” she began, her eyes sparking, beyond pissed and he dipped his head again and brushed his mouth on hers.
He lifted his head and saw the fire in her eyes was muted and she had fallen silent.
He looked back at Rutledge. “Never know what life’s gonna bring. Lyin’ there, blood oozin’ out of me, thinkin’ that’s the end and, weeks later, I find out it’s actually the beginning. You get what I mean?”
Rutledge kept staring at him, seemingly frozen, then his eyes darted back and forth between Rocky and Layne and he nodded.
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