Golden Trail

by Ashley, Kristen

  Ryker leaned forward. “You tell your boys at the pig factory about this shit, you got problems… with me. This shit we work, you and me,” he lifted a big hand and motioned between the two of them, “the cops aren’t in this.”

  “Only dirty cop in that Department is the one you saw.”

  “You sure about that?” Ryker asked.

  “Yeah,” Layne answered.

  “Well, I’m not,” Ryker returned. “My guess, that shit comes down from the top.”

  “The Captain?” Layne asked.

  “He’s so dirty, he stinks.”

  “He’s not dirty, Ryker, he’s ambitious, blinded by it.”

  “Like I said, dirty,” Ryker retorted.

  Layne rolled his chair to the desk, leaned his forearms into it and laid it out. “This is my investigation. I don’t like partners, especially partners who keep shit from me, like their woman’s daughter bein’ a favorite of the guy I’m investigating. That said, I’ll work with one when it suits me. Even though it’s uncool you kept that shit from me, workin’ with you suits me. Needless to say, seein’ as I don’t like partners, I don’t like men takin’ over my investigations. I got shit invested in this, I got a plan, we’re workin’ this my way.”

  “You got a girl who’s got that assclown under her skin?” Ryker shot back and before Layne could answer, Ryker did it for him. “No, you don’t. My babe’s worried but she don’t wanna upset Alexis. Alexis’s Dad is a dickhead. Always cancellin’ on his weekends, breaks Alexis’s heart. He pays child support about once every six months, if Lissa’s lucky. She don’t have a lot and she can’t give Alexis a lot but she works her ass off to give her what she can and that means Alexis don’t see her Mom much either. Alexis likes this Youth Group, she likes this guy and has friends there. Alexis hasn’t found much she likes. Lissa wants her to have what she wants. We been talkin’ ‘bout that shit and she’s been callin’ me down but I been meanin’ to look into it for awhile. Now, I’m lookin’ into it.”

  Layne got where Ryker’s woman Lissa was coming from and also where Ryker was coming from.

  Even so, it didn’t matter. “You shouldn’t have hesitated, now it’s too late, the wheels are in motion and both my boys are caught up in it and I’m not gonna have you jack them up.”

  Ryker stared at him then sat back and whispered, “Cosgrove.”

  “Come again?” Layne asked.

  “Alexis has a date tonight, her first, with Seth Cosgrove. You set that up?”

  Layne didn’t answer.

  “Only thing would get her out from under that fuckwad is Cosgrove. Alexis won’t shut up about him. She thinks that Youth Minister is the shit but she thinks the sun shines outta Seth Cosgrove’s ass,” Ryker told him.

  “Lissa religious?” Layne asked.

  “She prays but she don’t pray to a God in a house that let a jackal in,” Ryker answered.

  “Then she needs to suck it up. You and I both know that is not a good place for Alexis to be. Alexis freaks, she freaks, but get your woman to pull her daughter’s ass outta there,” Layne advised.

  “That ain’t gonna work, Alexis is a handful.”

  “Then you step in.”

  “Not my place.”

  “You bangin’ her Mom?” Layne asked and Ryker’s jaw got tight.

  “Not my place,” Ryker repeated.

  “How long you been bangin’ her Mom?” Layne pushed.

  “Bro,” Ryker leaned in warningly, “not my place.”

  Layne held his angry gaze and said quietly, “Don’t give me that badass bullshit. You care about this kid, you didn’t, you wouldn’t have spent the time you spent surveilling Gaines’s apartment. What you’re doin’ isn’t for Lissa so much as it’s for Alexis, you know it, I know it, you deny it, I’m tellin’ you that’s bullshit. She doesn’t have a Dad? Be a true badass, Ryker, and give her one by protectin’ her from what you and I both know is some seriously bad shit.”

  Ryker glared at him but didn’t answer.

  So Layne continued. “I call the moves on this investigation. You make the moves I call. You don’t then you go it alone, but I’m tellin’ you right now, you fuck up what I got goin’ on and you put my boys’ asses further out there than they already are, we got problems.” Layne paused then whispered, “I’m not someone you mess with, Ryker. I think you already get that and my guess is that you don’t want a demonstration of why. Do not make me demonstrate why. Clear?”

  Ryker kept glaring at him but still didn’t answer.

  “I got a meet with Colt in about fifteen minutes. Girls are on the line and we got no choice but to go in hard at every angle we can manage. Colt isn’t stupid and he knows what’s happening in his Department. He’ll take care of that. Now, you got two jobs, one is to do what I tell you to do and the other one is to get your woman’s daughter outta that mess. You with me?” Ryker didn’t respond so Layne prompted, “I need to know you’re with me.”

  Ryker hesitated only a beat before he grunted, “I’m with you.”

  “Then you stay for the meet with Colt. You need to know all that’s goin’ down but you’re gonna hear shit that doesn’t leave this office. I find out it leaves this office then I’ll know who shared and that is not gonna make me happy.”

  “Think I’m done with you threatenin’ me, bro,” Ryker growled.

  “Got two boys, a woman, a dog and nearly three months ago I took three bullets because of this shit,” Layne said softly and Ryker’s brows went up. “Yeah, you heard about it. Two and two are makin’ four and I mean that for both of us. Now, you think I’m gonna go through that again, put my boys and woman through that again, you think wrong. I’ll do what I gotta do to prevent that. So, boilin’ that down, big man, I’m not makin’ threats.”

  Ryker stared at him. Layne sat back, grabbed his coffee off the desk and took a sip.

  When he put the coffee back to his desk, Ryker spoke.

  “One thing,” he said.

  “Yeah?” Layne asked when he said no more.

  “Cosgrove better be into her. This is just a mission and he leaves her crushed –”

  Layne interrupted him and fought back a grin. He couldn’t have been sure Ryker was doing what he was doing for Alexis rather than the best head he ever had that he got from her Mom. Now he knew this was for Alexis. He also knew what kind of man Ryker was.

  “My boys understand there’s no collateral damage. They’ll have briefed Seth. Jasper would have found another way to steer her clear if he thought Seth wasn’t into her. That means Seth is into her.”

  “He better be,” Ryker returned.

  “Relax, brother, he is.”

  Ryker glared at him some more. Then he nodded.

  Then Layne said, “You got just about enough time to get a coffee from Mimi before Colt gets here.”

  “Don’t drink that fancy-ass shit,” Ryker stated.

  Layne took another sip.

  “You’re missin’ out,” he muttered after his sip.

  Ryker looked at Blondie. “Fuck me, bro, a badass who drinks sissy coffee and owns a yellow lab.” His eyes came back to Layne, his attitude shut down and he grinned his ugly grin. “Gotta say, impressed you could pull that off.”

  Layne put his cup down and pulled his phone out of his pocket, suggesting, “Maybe you should get Alexis a puppy.”

  Ryker sat back and stretched his legs out in front of him, still grinning, the showdown was over, Layne was again his bud and Layne relaxed in his chair.

  “They already got three cats and two hamsters. Don’t need no dog,” Ryker told him.

  Layne flipped his phone open, scrolled down to Devin, hit go and looked at Ryker, muttering, “Your call.”

  “What?” Devin answered in his ear.

  “Give me Marissa Gibbon’s cell number,” Layne replied.

  “Why?” Devin barked.

  “Just do it, old man, I’ll brief you later,” Layne told him.

  Devin sighed then gave him the numbe
r that Layne wrote down on a legal pad on his desk.

  “Boys are with Gabby for the week and I’m at Roc’s the next two nights,” Layne told his friend.

  “I’ll inform the President,” Devin replied then disconnected.

  Layne grinned at his desk then punched Marissa Gibbon’s number in his phone.

  “Marissa Gibbons?” Ryker asked as Layne’s thumb hit the buttons.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Layne murmured and put his phone to his ear.

  * * * * *

  “This is the last time we meet,” Layne said to Colt who was sitting by Ryker in his office, his fingers toying with the flash drive with Gaines’s pictures that Layne gave him. “If they haven’t already, Rutledge, Gaines and the woman are gonna start bein’ more vigilant and they don’t need to see you comin’ and goin’ from my office.”

  Colt nodded and leaned forward. “Copy that but I gotta know, man, why am I here and Merry isn’t?”

  “Merry and I got family issues,” Layne answered, Colt’s brows went up and Layne felt Ryker’s gaze grow intense.

  “Rocky?” Colt asked.

  “Yep,” Layne answered.

  “Somethin’ I can do?” Colt offered.

  “Can you pry Merry or Dave’s heads outta their asses?”

  Colt smiled. “Probably not.”

  “Then no, there’s nothin’ you can do,” Layne answered.

  Colt leaned back but kept Layne’s gaze. “We’re goin’ hard means you’re swingin’ your ass back out there again.”

  “Had the head’s up to beat all head’s up on that, brother, this time, also got backup,” Layne replied, jerking his head to Ryker.

  Colt didn’t even look at Ryker. Colt was undecided about how he felt about Ryker.

  Therefore he said, “Stay sharp.”

  Then he stood, glanced through Ryker and walked out the door.

  Layne stood too, picking his keys up from the desk, he walked to his storage room, Blondie following him.

  “You think he’s gonna be able to keep his shit quiet?” Ryker asked Layne’s back as Layne unlocked the storage room door.

  “You live in this ‘burg,” Layne said by way of response.

  Ryker didn’t like that response and told him. “Was that an answer?”

  Layne opened the door and turned to Ryker. “This is a small town but shit goes down in a small town just like in the big cities. It might not be as relentless, but people steal, people deal, people rape, people beat their wives and kids. Colt and his woman caught the attention of a sick fuck who obsessed on both of them since high school and ended up hackin’ through people in four states. He took that guy down and saved three lives. He knows his shit. I think he can keep our investigation of a dirty cop quiet.”

  Ryker nodded.

  Layne walked into the storage closet, turned on the light and started sorting through his collection of bugs while Blondie sniffed the corners.

  * * * * *

  “Have you seen this fuckin’ guy?” Devin asked in his ear.

  Layne was standing outside Conesco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, his dog sitting next to him, breathing heavy, her tongue hanging out, her nose pointing in the direction of anyone who walked by. He was leaning against his truck which was parked three cars down from a yellow Corvette.

  “You can trust him,” Layne told Devin, referring to Ryker.

  Layne had talked to Ryker and given him the equipment. Then he’d called Devin and briefed him about what he was going to be doing that day. He had not, however, shared much about who he was doing it with.

  “This is a delicate operation and this guy is a fuckin’ bull, as big as one and I bet he snorts like one too. He has no idea what he’s doin’. And, I’ll repeat, he’s a fuckin’ bull. I’d rather go in alone than go in with this guy takin’ my back,” Dev replied.

  “You can trust him,” Layne repeated.

  “He’s gonna blow the whole thing. It’s impossible for this guy to be invisible.”

  “The Brendel has twenty-four seven security, guards patrolling, cameras and he managed to surveil the place for seventeen hours without raisin’ alarms. I think you’re good,” Layne assured.

  “I work alone” Devin returned.

  “So do I but twice I trusted him and twice he’s not let me down.”

  “I don’t like it,” Dev clipped.

  “I don’t care. He’s takin’ your back.”

  “Boy –”

  Layne pulled out the heavy artillery. “His woman’s girl is a favorite of Gaines’s.”

  Devin was silent.

  Layne kept going. “I want ears in there and I want them in there today. Plant the bugs, get me a goddamned print for them both, get anything else you can get and get the fuck out. He’ll cover you however he’s gotta do that but trust me, old man, he’ll do it.”

  There was a moment of silence then, “He doesn’t, you get the blame,” Devin returned then disconnected.

  Layne flipped his phone shut and leaned to the side to give Blondie’s head a rub as he shoved it in his pocket.

  He was waiting for Marissa Gibbons to finish Pacemate practice. She told him to meet her there. He didn’t like it, it was too open. He didn’t want people to see them together the day after people could have seen her walk out of his office. But she wasn’t going to miss practice and he didn’t have time to wait, so he was meeting her there. Tonight, he’d tell Rocky about her. He’d wanted to avoid doing that, for Roc and for Marissa, but now he had no choice. If Astley hadn’t called off the dogs, that asshole would use anything to get back in with Roc and Layne had to head him off.

  The girls came out, all wearing varying degrees of tight workout gear but Marissa came out scanning for him. She saw him, said something to her girls then broke off as the rest of them eyed him. When Blondie saw Marissa was on approach, she got up to all fours and her body went in full wag.

  “Cute dog,” Marissa remarked when she arrived, bending to give Blondie a rubdown.

  Layne didn’t reply. He kept his gaze to her girls who were finding reasons to hang so they could watch Marissa with who they wrongly assumed was Astley’s replacement.

  “Get them to go,” Layne ordered and Marissa straightened.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Your friends. Get them to go. Now.”

  “They’ll eventually –” she started and Layne’s eyes sliced to her.

  “I told you over the phone the shit I gotta talk to you about is important. But it’s shit you do not want them to hear. Get them to go.”

  “We’ll get in your truck,” she suggested.

  “Woman, your ass is not in my truck,” Layne returned, “ever.”

  Her head tilted to the side and she smiled at him. Flirting. Fuck.

  It didn’t take much to make her want to wander off her chosen path.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Do not play with me,” he whispered his warning. “I am not a man who likes to be played. Get… them… to… go.”

  She stared at him, she read him then she nodded and turned to her girls, “See you guys later!” she shouted.

  The women went from curious to confused as Marissa didn’t get in his truck, didn’t touch Layne, Layne didn’t touch her and she hinted that they should take off. All of them were used to a lot more attention, the kind they wanted and getting it exactly when they wanted it. This confusion turned to concern and they didn’t move.

  “Marissa,” Layne growled.

  “It’s cool!” she shouted instantly. “This is my cousin’s boyfriend. I’m watching his dog while they go on vacation!”

  The women looked at him then at each other then one shouted, “Right, Riss! See you!”

  “See you!” Marissa shouted back, there were some waves, more yells and the women headed to their cars.

  When the last one slammed her door, Layne turned to Marissa and he didn’t fuck around.

  “I need information from your former life,” he announced and he wa
tched her body get tight so he continued. “I would not ask you if it wasn’t important.”

  Her face had changed. Today’s flirty gone. Yesterday’s attempt at friendly a memory. She was pissed.

  “I see. You find out I sucked dick for the cameras, you got that on me, now I got no choice but to be your rat,” she snapped.

  “That’s not the way it is,” Layne told her.

  “Looks it to me, asshole,” she shot back.

  Layne kept his position, back to the truck and kept his eyes locked to hers. “You read me yesterday, you read me right. Listen to your gut, woman. Like I said, this is important.”

  “Yeah, and in a couple weeks, it’ll be important again and then a month later it’ll be important again and I’ll live that shit over and over because you bought yourself a sneak. Well, I’m not a rat and that isn’t my life anymore so you can go fuck yourself.”

  She turned to leave and Layne spoke.

  “My guess is, there’s a racket in the ‘burg, fourteen, fifteen year old girls, modeling or filming.” She stopped and turned back to him. “It’s either happening now or it’s gonna happen. One thing I know for certain is they’re recruitin’ through the church.”

  Marissa stared at him.

  “You know anyone into that shit?” Layne asked.

  Marissa didn’t speak.

  Layne pushed away from the truck but didn’t move toward her.

  His voice got soft when he said, “Marissa, I haven’t seen your work, don’t want to, but Dev says you were underage. Who do you know that’s into that shit?”

  She looked away but she still didn’t speak.

  “A woman,” Layne prompted, “a woman who runs the show.”

  Marissa’s eyes snapped back to him, her face had bleached entirely of color and Layne took a step toward her to get into her space.

  “They’re recruitin’ from a Youth Group, Marissa. You got anything, you gotta give it to me.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered.

  “You can, you don’t want girls travellin’ down that road you were forced to take,” he replied.

  “She’s,” Marissa swallowed and leaned into him, “she’s a nasty piece of work, Tanner. Listen to me, do not go there.”

  “Let those girls swing?” Layne growled, glaring at her.