by CJ Bishop
“Oh, I’m not arguing that point,” Cruz said. “The kid is a bona fide badass. I just know how protective you are of him.”
Clint sighed. “I can’t say I don’t have some reservations taking him out there, or that I wouldn’t prefer it to be him watching over our kids. I keep telling him we’re equal partners—now it’s time to prove it.”
CHAPTER 11
“Did you come by to say you’ve changed your mind about taking Axel?” Cory stood in the apartment doorway, barring entrance to Clint and Cochise. “Because otherwise, I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Well, I have something to say.” Clint shoved past him and the Egyptian followed.
Cory closed the door, rankled by their intrusion. Colton lingered in the kitchen entryway and held his peace.
“You need to get over this,” Clint told Cory. “Axel is going—period. And trying to make him—or me—feel guilty about it isn’t going to change it.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel guilty,” Cory snapped. “I’m just trying to keep my best friend out of danger. When did you stop wanting the same for him?”
His face twitching, Clint growled, “Never. And you damn well know it. When did you stop believing he could take care of himself?”
“I haven’t,” Cory said with a bite to his tone. “But Shay could take care of himself, too—and he had a hell of a lot more experience in the field than Axel.”
Clint stared at him, feeling his pain and fear. He dropped the edge in his voice. “Losing Shay was a tragedy none of us will fully recover from. But we can’t let it chain us down, either. Shay wouldn’t want that. He’d be the first person to tell you not to live in fear because of him.”
Cory swallowed. “It doesn’t really matter what he would or wouldn’t tell me, does it? Because he isn’t here.”
“Cory…”
“If Axel is going—I’m going too.”
Colton tensed. “Cory… no… we agreed—”
“I didn’t agree to anything.” He stared hard at Clint. “I have a shit ton more experience than Axel and I can help watch his back. You can work the job—I’ll watch Axel.”
“No,” Clint stated bluntly.
“Why? Huh? Because you’re worried something will happen to me—like it did to Shay? Isn’t that a bit hypocritical, Uncle Clint, after you just told me—”
“Drop it, Corrigan!” Cochise boomed, startling everyone. He loomed over the young man, eyes blazing. “You’re not fucking going!” He jabbed a finger in Cory’s chest. “Get a new fucking career—because your days as a gangster are fucking over.” He stormed from the apartment, slamming the door after him.
Clint—along with Cory and Colton—stood in stunned silence a moment longer before Clint faced the younger man. “You heard the man. Now, do yourself a favor.” He glanced at Colton. “Marry that man, settle down, and find a job doing something you enjoy and are good at.” Cory remained rigid as Clint stepped forward, cupped the back of his neck, and kissed his head. “And don’t worry about Axel—I’d take on this whole fucking world to protect him. We’re all coming home—alive and well.”
• • •
Cochise waited by the car for Clint. When the cowboy emerged from the apartment building, he looked at the Egyptian and asked, “You all right?”
Cochise walked around to the driver’s door and pulled it open. “He needs to let Shay rest in peace.” He climbed into the car as Clint slid into the passenger seat.
“True.” Clint cleared his throat. “But he was right there when it happened.” A haunted look came over the cowboy’s face. “That shit stays with you.”
Cochise understood—too well. Months after the fact, he couldn’t close his eyes without seeing Shay’s dead body laid out on the coroner’s table… the glaring bullet hole in his forehead.
“But I don’t have to tell you that,” Clint said as if he’d looked into his mind and read his thoughts. Maybe he had.
“No,” Cochise mumbled and started the car. “You don’t.”
“He’ll be all right. He has Colton. And his dad and Angelo. He’s upset now, but he’ll be okay.”
Trying to convince yourself, cowboy?
Despite his outburst on the young man, Cochise understood the difficulty of this transition. He’d grown up in the gangster world—grew up as a gangster. It was all he knew and now everyone in his life was telling him to be something different. Cochise believed Cory could have a life outside their world… eventually. But the change would be difficult and slow.
• • •
“Look how much it snowed, Grandpa!” Beth pressed her face to the cool windowpane, eyes bright. “I bet it’s taller than me.” She giggled. “I’d disappear.”
Braden smiled. “That’s a good possibility. So, you better stay inside. I don’t want to have to go tunneling through the snow looking for you.”
“You could put me on your shoulders like you did when I was little.”
When she was little. Braden’s smile stretched; she was still little.
And innocent… vulnerable.
His thoughts darted back to the cowboy’s request for his help—and those they were trying to save. Children… sold like property into a nightmare life. Braden stared at Beth, sick in his gut at the thought of someone putting their hands on her… and worse.
Even back in the old days, he’d had a soft heart toward children. He could slide a man open and watch his insides drain out—but hurting a child was never an option.
He sighed and ran his palm over Beth’s head. “Go get your snow clothes on.”
“We’re going outside?” She grinned.
“Yep.”
“I can ride on your shoulders?”
He nodded.
“Yay!” She sped away.
Braden chuckled and looked out the window again. His smile wavered. If he took the job—he would have to leave Beth behind. She couldn’t come with him, not on this type of job. It was too risky. If something went wrong and he was caught—Beth could not be with him. He wouldn’t allow her to get within hundreds of miles of child sex traffickers. He had no intentions of engaging them, but things didn’t always go as planned.
Beth returned a few minutes later, bundled up. “Let’s go!”
Braden nodded. “Okay, okay.” In the alcove just inside the front door, he pulled on his snow pants, boots, and slipped into a thick coat. He tugged on his gloves, then opened the front door. The drifts reached to the porch rails and buried all but the top step.
“Whoa!” Beth ran out on the porch and halted at the edge. “Look how deep it is!”
Snow was nothing new, but it didn’t typically get this deep.
“You really want to go wading through that?”
“Yes!” Beth squealed. She ran over to Braden and held up her arms, hopping up and down and reminding him of when she was a little, little girl.
“The things I do for you,” he grumbled and scooped her up onto his shoulders. He moved to the top step. “What have I gotten myself into?”
The child giggled and patted his head. “Go, horsey! Into the snow!”
Braden shook his head, grinning. “Aye, aye, cowgirl.” He tromped down the steps and landed in waist-deep drifts when his feet hit the ground. “Which way?”
“To the barn!”
“That’s a long walk.”
“We have to check on Rainbow.”
Rainbow. Beth’s Welsh pony. “Okay. But I’m sure he’s fine, he was inside last night. He’s got his nice cushy stall with lots of warm straw.”
“Are you gonna let him out in the paddock?”
“Probably not. He would get lost in the snow, too.”
His granddaughter giggled again. “Huh-uh.”
“Well, maybe not completely lost—but we could only see his back and head, I bet.”
“That would be cool!” She laughed.
“Yeah, real cool for Rainbow—his legs would freeze off.”
“Huh-uh. He’s
used to the snow.”
“Not this much snow.” Braden waded through the drifts along the familiar path to the small barn. “Good thing these are sliding doors,” he said as he shoved open one of the wooden panels. “Or else, we couldn’t get in.”
The pony whinnied excitedly as soon as they entered and shoved his head over the stall door. Braden set Beth on the ground and she ran over and rubbed the animal's velvet nose.
“Hey, Rainbow,” she cooed. “Did you look outside? See how much snow there is?”
“His window is closed.” Braden walked over and leaned on the stall. “He couldn’t look outside.” He scratched the pony’s head and played with his soft ears.
Beth looked up. “Can I ride him around the paddock? Just one time around? It’ll be fun!”
“Mmm.” Braden crinkled his brow and cocked his head at the horse. “You really want to go out there, boy?”
Rainbow tossed his head. Braden and Beth laughed.
“See?” Beth said. “He wants to get out of this stuffy old barn and play in the snow.”
“Yeah, well… maybe we should let him out by himself first, in case he gets excited.”
“Okay!”
They entered the stall and Braden crossed the short space to the outer stall door and released the latch. “Come here, honey, out of the way.” He shoved against the door until it opened enough for the pony to get through. Rainbow started to run out, then hesitated, sniffing the high drifts.
“Go on, Rainbow,” Beth urged. “It’s just snow. You like playing in the snow.”
“Here.” Braden grabbed the lead rope and hooked it to the pony’s halter. “I’ll see if he’ll follow me outside.” He waded into the snow, and after another brief hesitation, Rainbow went with him, plowing through the drifts.
Beth giggled and clapped her hands, hopping in place.
Braden removed the lead and stepped back toward the barn. Rainbow went forward at a walk, then a trot… then faster as he began whipping his head, flipping snow in the air with his nose. Beth stood at the door, laughing.
Braden lifted her up and they watched the pony weave patterns in the snow, managing to kick up his heels a time or two. When he finally calmed, Braden whistled, and Rainbow came back to them.
“Can I ride him now?”
“Yeah.” Braden put the bridle on over the halter and placed Beth on the pony bareback. “Just walk him.” He followed them out and stopped a few feet from the stable door as Beth walked the pony around the perimeter of the paddock, her feet and calves dragging through the snow.
She looked back at Braden, a huge grin on her face. “This is fun!”
He laughed. “It looks fun.”
“It’s like we’re swimming in snow!”
“It sure does!” He let her make a second lap, then called her back in. “Come on, honey—we don’t want his legs to freeze!”
“Okay!” She brought the pony back around to the stable and rode him inside, then slid off his back. “That was so cool!”
Braden chuckled. “Let’s brush the snow off him.”
Together, they brushed him and wiped him down with a dry cloth.
“Wait till I tell Judy I rode in the deep snow. Can I call her when we get back to the house?”
“Don’t see why not.”
After throwing in some fresh hay for the pony, Braden returned the little girl to his shoulders and left the barn.
“So, I was wondering…” Braden said on the way back to the house. “… what would you think about spending a few days with Judy?”
“Yeah, that’d be fun.” Always the perceptive one, Beth leaned down, her cheek brushing Braden’s face. “Why?”
“Well… I may have to go away for a few days. Sort of a job.”
Beth rested her hands on his head, then her chin on her hands. “How long will you be gone?”
“Like I said, just a few days.”
“Promise it won’t be longer?”
“Well, I can’t promise, promise—it might take me longer than I expect. But I do promise to call you every day and also let you know if I won’t be home on time.”
“What’re you gonna do?”
He rubbed his chilled lips together. “Help out some old friends.”
CHAPTER 12
“I don’t want Cochise to leave again.” Tae sat on Luke’s bed, knees drawn up to his chest. He hugged his legs, his eyes damp. “I know he has to, but… I still can’t help feeling this way.”
Luke sat beside him. “I know. I feel the same about Clint. And this time, Axel is going with him. Sometimes I cry because I’ll miss them so much, but I don’t let them see me. It’ll make them feel bad for going, and they have to go. I just wish Axel didn’t have to go, too.”
“Yeah,” Tae whispered. “At least, with us, Kane will still be there. I-I don’t think I could handle it if he left, too.” He sniffed. “I know he thinks I love Cochise a little more than him, but I don’t. I love them both the same. Don’t you love Clint and Axel the same?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah.”
“How long do you think they’ll be gone?”
“Clint said maybe two weeks. But they don’t know for sure.”
Loosening his grip on his knees, Tae leaned against the wall at the head of the bed. “This won’t be the last time, will it?”
“Probably not. If kids need help, they’ll help them. If they weren’t like that… you and me wouldn’t be here.”
“I know,” Tae whispered. “And I don’t want them to change. I just wish…”
“We had more time with them?”
Tae swallowed, his eyes filling. “Yeah.”
A soft knock on the door silenced the boys. Axel spoke from outside the bedroom. “The men are home.”
The two boys crawled off the bed and went out to the living room as Clint came through the front door.
“I’m… I’m gonna go home,” Tae said quietly.
Axel nodded. “Okay. I’m sure you want to spend some time with Cochise before we leave.”
“Yeah.” Tae said goodbye to Luke and slipped out the back door.
“How is he doing?” Axel asked Luke.
Luke shrugged. “He doesn’t want Cochise to go, but he knows he has to.”
Clint slipped out of his jacket and hung it up by the door. “We’ll be back before you know it. He’ll be all right.”
“I know,” Luke whispered, holding back his emotions. He wanted to be strong and not cry anymore, but it was hard.
The cowboy came over and laid his hand on Luke’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “When we get back, we’ll do something as a family, okay? So, you be thinking about that while we’re gone. Whatever you want to do—we’ll do it.”
Luke smiled uncertainly. “Really?”
“Really.” Clint cleared his throat. “As long as it isn’t something scary, like… skydiving.” His mouth quirked. “If God wanted us to fly—he’d have given us wings.”
“You fly on a plane.”
“That’s different—we’re inside the contraption, not out in open air trying to flap our way to the ground.”
Luke laughed at the image he got of the cowboy frantically flapping his arms as he plummeted toward the ground.
“Yeah,” Axel spoke up. “I veto the skydiving thing, too. Or bungy jumping. Anything where I have to jump off something high. Not a fan of heights.”
“Keep our boots on the ground and it’s doable.” Clint nodded pointedly at the boy.
Luke grinned. “Okay.”
• • •
Kane was at work when Cochise arrived home. Donald and John met him as soon as he came through the door.
“Can we borrow your car?” Donald asked. “We want to check on a job in town.”
“Aren’t you still working at the club?” Cochise handed over the keys.
“A couple of days a week,” Donald said, “but this is for John, not me.”
“What kind of job?”
“Not sure. It’s at t
he Zodiac Club. Zoe said they were looking for help but didn’t know for what.”
Cochise nodded.
The boys left and Cochise found Zoe in the kitchen. He glanced toward the hall. “Is Tae here?”
“No, he’s over at Luke’s. It’s just us.” She grabbed her purse and took out a piece of paper and gave it to Cochise. “Here is the info.”
He looked at the paper. “Thank you.”
Zoe smiled. “Thank you. Uncle Kane hit the jackpot with you—and I don’t mean money-wise. You’re the greatest thing to ever happen to him.” Her smile morphed into a grin. “And after tonight, he’ll understand that better than ever.”
“You and the boys are the best things to ever happen to him,” Cochise mumbled.
“He doesn’t put one above the other,” Zoe said. “We’re all at the top of his list. And I think we’d all agree that he is the greatest blessing in our lives.”
Cochise nodded slowly; if not for Kane—Zoe and the boys wouldn’t be a part of his life, either.
“He’s always been there for me,” Zoe said quietly. “Even before my dad… died. Uncle Kane was always more of a father to me. He’s a born nurturer.” She smiled. “But you’ve figured that out by now, right?”
Cochise sighed. “Yeah.” If he were any good at putting his thoughts and feelings into words, he would have a hell of a lot more to say about Kane. But he wasn’t “wired” the same as Kane—or Zoe—and had no fucking clue how to get what was inside, on the outside… in spoken word.
Figure it out—because Kane needs to “hear” it. Tonight.
• • •
“When are we leaving?” Axel asked. “Shouldn’t we be packing?”
“Day after tomorrow,” Clint said. “I thought it might be tomorrow, but Cochise said the next day.”
“Why?”
“Not sure. He has something to do tonight and won’t be ready to go by tomorrow morning.”
“He didn’t say what he was doing?”
Clint shook his head. “Wouldn’t tell me.”