Divorced, Desperate and Deceived

by Christie Craig

Jason’s gut clenched. “Is Kathy okay?”

  “As far as I know.”

  “Something turn up with the guys Bradley fought with?”

  “Don’t think so, I tracked them down at Molly’s Pub. All of them went there to nurse their egos. The bartender vouched for them. That plumber must know how to fight. All four had the crap beat out of them.”

  “So what is it you got?” Jason asked, not caring if his impatience rang out. Getting info out of Danny was like milking a bull.

  “We got some info back on Kathy and…let’s just say I was a tad surprised.”

  “Surprised at what?”

  “For starters, she has a record.”

  “Kathy Callahan has a criminal record? You’re shitting me.” Jason saw Chase’s surprise, too.

  “What kind of record?” his friend asked. Jason held up a finger.

  “I shit you not,” Danny continued. “Which is why I’m calling you. I was going to just drop by, but I didn’t know if…if you wanted Sue and Lacy to hear. Why don’t you and Chase meet me at the What-a-Burger by Chase’s house?”

  “How bad is it?” Jason asked.

  “Bad enough,” Danny answered. “And Cary just called me and said he stumbled across something weird about this Bradley guy. I’ll try to get him to meet us if he can.”

  “It’s about damn time,” Luke answered Calvin’s call. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “I had a family emergency. Wife was in an accident.”

  “Is she going to be okay?” Luke asked, remembering a picture of Calvin’s family on his desk.

  “Yes, but let’s get to your problem. Are you sure Lorenzo is behind this?”

  “They had guns, were big guys in suits. They shot first and didn’t bother to ask questions later. So, hell yeah, I know he’s behind this.”

  “Okay. Where are you now?”

  “Right outside Hoke’s Bluff.”

  “You didn’t leave the area?”

  “I was in a van, very recognizable. And a woman got caught up in it with me. Figured hunkering down might be best.”

  “A woman? Is she still with you?” Calvin sounded nervous.

  “Yes.”

  “Lose her,” Calvin said.

  “Too late.”

  “WitSec doesn’t—”

  “Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?” Luke snapped. “I know the fucking rules. But Lorenzo’s men know who she is. If I could have lost her, I would have. But she’s with me now, and she’s staying put until this is over.”

  Calvin sighed. “You dumped the van?” he said, as if forcing himself to continue.

  “Yes. But the local authorities will be looking for the new vehicle shortly.”

  “Are you out of imminent danger now?”

  Luke recalled that no one had followed them from the café. “For the time being, it appears that way.”

  “Where are you hiding out?” Calvin asked.

  “A second home of one of my plumbing clients.”

  “Right outside Hoke’s Bluff?”

  “Yes.” Luke didn’t offer more info, because that’s not how it was done. He knew that, and so did Calvin. Glancing at the clock, he remembered he should probably cut the call short, just in case.

  “I’ll need to set up a meet. It might be morning before I can get someone there. Is that soon enough?”

  Luke looked at Kathy, who stood by the sink and was hanging on his every word. He thought about spending the night with her, but as much as that idea appealed, the sooner he had reinforcements, the less chance there was of her being hurt. “Sooner would be nice.”

  His contact was silent a moment. “Sooner might not be possible. Do you think they know where you are?”

  “No.”

  “Then you should be safe.”

  He remembered again that no one had followed them. Chances were, Lorenzo and his goons thought he’d left town. “Okay,” he agreed.

  “I’ll have them there as soon as possible,” Calvin promised. “But it’s probably going to be in the morning. I’ll call you back as soon as I have a location.”

  “Then I’ll just have to accept that,” Luke agreed.

  He met Kathy’s gaze, and part of him was thrilled. They would have tonight. He was going to make it count. No doubt, when the US Marshals showed up he’d have to leave, but he sure as hell could give Kathy something to look forward to when he returned.

  “Call me back with a place and time,” he said wanting to disconnect.

  “Might be a couple of hours,” Calvin pointed out.

  “Fine,” Luke said. He hung up.

  “They want you to lose me?” she asked as he set the phone back on the counter.

  “No. He’s going to call back with a place and time to meet some people.”

  “What people?” she asked. Uncertainty rang in her voice.

  “US Marshals, probably.”

  “And what will they do with me?”

  “They’ll make sure you’re safe until Lorenzo is in jail, and then you can go on your way.”

  “And you?”

  “I’ll be taken into protective custody until after the trial.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then that’s mostly up to me.” But for the first time, he’d never been clearer about what he wanted—or who.

  He leaned against the counter and studied her, remembering, I’m pretty sure all I want is sex. A smile pulled at his lips. “You know, I’d like to get back to something you mentioned earlier.”

  She shook her head. “We should forget about that. Your guys are coming to rescue us and—”

  “No, actually, it’s going to take them a while, and I’d really like to get back to it.” He started moving toward her. “Because I have to tell you, I’m hurt. Crushed.” He put his hand over his heart.

  She backed against the counter as if nervous, but he didn’t relent. He kept coming. When he stood right in front of her, he leaned in and put a hand on each side of the counter, trapping her. “So, when you called for me last week—and again when you came over this morning, dressed in that top—you were just planning on using me? For sex?”

  She had her lip between her teeth again, but when she noticed him looking at her mouth, she released it. “It’s not like…I didn’t mean…”

  “Is that all I am to you? A—what did you call Claire—a bang toy?” He enjoyed the blush on her cheeks.

  “No! What I meant was, I didn’t…I don’t want…”

  “A relationship?”

  “Right,” she said.

  “So all you wanted was my body?” He waved a hand up and down his frame, and he had to work hard not to laugh.

  Her mouth dropped open. Her eyes took on a suspicious glint, and she squared her shoulders. “I thought men liked that.”

  “Liked what? Oh, you mean a woman who just wants sex?” He leaned in closer. “Very hot sex with no emotional ties? Very, very hot sex…?”

  She tilted her head to look him in the eyes, as if she was onto his game. He loved the game, too. But he needed a new approach, because he still had a point to make, and he sure as hell planned on making it.

  “You don’t like that?” she asked.

  “Oh, yeah. I love it.”

  He moved his hand around her waist and pulled her to him. Lowering his head, he kissed her—slow at first, but the moment he felt her relax, felt her lips melt against his, felt her soft body lean against him, he went in for real, and it was for the kill. He didn’t hold anything back. He used his lips, his tongue, his hands and his body to make sure she got all the pleasure possible. This was probably his last shot at this.

  He positioned his leg between hers, pressing his thigh between hers, raising it ever so slightly until he found the spot he wanted: the soft juncture between her legs. He knew he’d gauged right, because she ever so lightly moved against him. The rhythm was slow. And that was fine. For now. He wasn’t finished making his point.

  The kiss lasted longer than
he intended; he almost forgot what he was doing. Then he pulled back.

  He had to catch her when he let her go—which was exactly his plan. To catch her. But first he had to let her fall. She had to accept the truth. And the truth was she didn’t want just a roll in the hay. He knew her. Maybe he even knew her better than she knew herself, but there was no way a woman like Kathy Callahan was in it for only the sex.

  Sure, she wanted sex. So did he. It was going to be damn good sex, too.

  They had played this game for two years and nine months. They’d teased, tempted and toyed with each other’s affections. And he didn’t mean toyed in a bad way. They’d had fun. But you didn’t brush up against someone’s life as long as they had without leaving an imprint. If he’d been honest with himself earlier, he would have admitted that, even if today never happened, if he’d left without saying good-bye, he’d have come back. He wouldn’t have been able to walk away forever. Not without really trying to break down her walls.

  And now, when she’d finally thrown open her doors…

  He ran his thumb over her moist lips. “Men love pure sex,” he admitted. Honestly, he had in his younger days. “But let’s get the rules out of the way first.”

  “Rules?” Her voice was breathy, and her nipples pebbled against her tank top. Oh yeah, he had her right where he wanted her.

  “Unfortunately, there are more rules in a purely sexual relationship than in a serious one.”

  “What kind of rules?” she asked.

  “For example: can we bring in other people?”

  Her brow crinkled in that cute way it always did when she was puzzled. “Other people?” she repeated.

  “Yeah. You know, threesomes.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She tilted her head to one side, ever so slightly. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No.” Inside he was howling with laughter, but he managed to paste a serious look on his face. “I’m just trying to figure out the boundaries. When a relationship is just sex, the sky is the limit on spicing things up, but we need to know the boundaries.”

  “No. Not happening,” she snapped.

  “What’s not happening?” he asked, barely holding it together.

  “Us. You. Me.”

  “Why, you chicken?” God, this was fun.

  “Chicken,” she repeated. “Yeah. I’m a chicken and you’re a rooster and guess who’s not going to be making eggs!”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t find out what the crime was,” Chase complained as they jumped into Jason’s Mustang to go meet Danny.

  “You know how he is.” Jason backed out of the driveway. “He can talk for fifteen minutes without getting to the point. Sort of reminds me of someone else I know.” He shot Chase an accusatory glance.

  “Yeah, Sue is like that, isn’t she?” his friend replied, clueless.

  Jason inwardly chuckled, but then his thoughts shot back to Kathy and his wife. Kathy was like a sister to Sue, and while Jason had never bonded with the woman, he’d respected her relationship to Sue. He had to. When Sue loved someone, they were family.

  “It has to be, like, unpaid tickets or something,” Chase said. “Kathy’s not a hardened criminal.”

  “You’d think. But that’s not how Danny made it sound.”

  Jason pulled up next to the fast-food restaurant at the same time as Cary’s black Chevy truck. Jason parked beside a Hoke’s Bluff police car, which meant Danny had invited Turner.

  Danny stood in the parking lot, talking to a couple of women. “Look at him,” Chase said, motioning. “Ink’s not even dry on his divorce papers and he’s already trolling for a replacement.”

  “I don’t think it’s a replacement he wants,” Jason said. “Haven’t you heard?”

  “Heard what?”

  “Cary, Danny and Turner have borrowed the idea from our wives. They started their own club.”

  Chase’s laugh filled the car. “Please! They’re going to take vows of celibacy?”

  Jason laughed and opened his car door. “Well, they’ve got different rules and a different name. They call themselves the Balls-with-no-Chain Gang. Danny said the plan was to always get lucky and get out before you got yourself really screwed or weighed down by a relationship.”

  Chase reached for the door handle. “What you wanna bet that one of them will be married within a year?”

  Jason laughed. “All it takes is the right woman.”

  He got out of the car. As he made his way to the building, he gave Danny’s two women a look-see. Pretty packages, but he wasn’t tempted to unwrap either. As Chase would put it, it wasn’t worth risking the arm.

  Danny waved bye to the ladies and followed Chase, Cary and Jason inside. Turner, in uniform, sat in a booth in the back. He waved at them.

  Danny started to go to the counter, but Chase grabbed his arm. “Talk first, eat later.” They walked over and sat down in the booth, and Chase didn’t waste a second. “What do you have?”

  Danny leaned back in the bench, as if enjoying the limelight. “Well, it’s like this. I was looking around—”

  “Just tell us what you know about Kathy!” Chase said.

  “Terroristic threat. She threatened the life of a fellow officer.”

  Jason sat, dumbfounded. Chase too.

  “Our Kathy?” Cary asked, obviously surprised as well.

  “Yeah.” Danny looked at Cary. “I got the info right before I left. She was arrested in Alabama about nine years ago.”

  “No shit?” Chase said.

  “Did she do time?” Turner asked. “I can’t see her being the type to do time.”

  “No. The officer supposedly went to the DA and had the charges dropped. But this is where it gets even better. According to the desk sergeant I spoke with, Kathy really should have gone down for it, because according to the assaulted cop, she was threatening all kinds of shit. And the desk sergeant informed me that Kathy ‘came by her renegade spirit naturally.’”

  “Meaning?” Chase and Jason said at the same time.

  “Do you remember ever hearing about the Godsend Gang—they’re, like, famous in Alabama.”

  Chase shook his head, but Jason spoke up. “Wasn’t that the gang of men who killed six police officers and a bunch of civilians while robbing banks? I read something about it in a book of famous Southern crimes.”

  “Yeah. Well, Kathy’s old man was part of that gang.”

  “Fuck,” Jason said, and right then he remembered the most disturbing part of the story. “Please tell me she wasn’t the kid who actually witnessed her dad getting blown to bits?”

  Danny pointed a finger at him in acknowledgment. “That would be her.”

  Jason’s chest filled with empathy. He knew all about childhood traumas. Suddenly Kathy’s standoffishness made perfect sense. “Damn! I read it was, like, seven officers shooting at him. The guy took like thirty bullets, and the girl witnessed the whole thing.” He ran a hand over his face. “No wonder she doesn’t like cops.”

  “Oh, I also checked,” Danny said. “She’s registered for a nine-millimeter.”

  “That doesn’t mean she’s involved in this,” Jason said, defending her.

  “No, but it sure as hell sheds some new light on her,” Turner said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “I’m with Jason,” Chase said. “Kathy loves that boy of hers more than life. She wouldn’t risk getting involved with drugs or anything like that.”

  “Her daddy did,” Danny pointed out.

  “Yeah, but we’re not our parents!” Jason snapped. He damn sure was planning on being a better parent than his own mom.

  “Come on, guys,” Chase said. “All three of you have met her. If she’d given any one of you the time of day, you’d have been all over her.”

  “Maybe,” Cary admitted. “But explain to me what was going on back at the Goodwill station. Because I’m telling you, she wasn’t afraid of Stan Bradley. She either doesn’t know he’s into drugs—which would be hard to expl
ain, considering his place was shot to Hell and back while she was there—or there’s something else we’re not seeing. And after what I discovered…well, it could be something else.”

  “What have you got?” Chase asked.

  “According to the records, Stan Bradley lived and worked in Grandsville, Texas, before he moved here. My uncle is a contractor who lives there with his wife. His wife’s family owns and runs a little lumber-slash-hardware kind of store. I called my uncle to just see if he had an opinion of the guy. And guess who’s never heard of him.”

  “What are you saying?” Chase asked.

  “I’m saying the man either lied about where he’s been living, or Stan Bradley is an alias. Hell, maybe Bradley is somehow connected to Kathy’s past.”

  Turner pushed up from the booth. “You guys can shoot the shit all day, but I’ve got to eat before I’m back on duty.” He walked to the counter. Just as he got there, the radio attached to his belt went off, and they watched him speak into his walkie-talkie. He turned and walked back to meet them. “Bradley stole a Dodge Charger.”

  “Was Kathy with him?” Chase asked.

  “I’m going to find out now.”

  “We’re going to find out now,” Jason promised.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Hey, if threesomes aren’t your thing, I’m fine with it.” Luke fought to keep a straight face. “Like I said, I’m just trying to establish the rules.”

  “Not happening,” Kathy replied, looking appalled. She took a step away from him.

  “I didn’t say I had to have them. Threesomes are nice—the third person always being a girl, mind you—but I can live without them.”

  He watched her move across the room and scoop up Goodwill. It was a one-room cabin. Other than the bathroom, she couldn’t run and hide. He took advantage and asked, “What about others outside the relationship?”

  She swung around and stared at him. “Outside?”

  “Yeah. Can we see other people, or do you want an exclusive?” He brushed a hand over his mouth to hide his grin. “Wait. If you were so concerned about the condoms, I suppose you want this to be a strictly sexual but committed relationship, right?”

  Her hazel eyes darkened, telling him he’d hit his target.

  “When are those guys showing up?” she asked, trying to drop the subject.