by Lexi Blake
Nate stared down at her, giving her the same look Caleb had seen him give speeders and other minor irritants. “Look, Marshal, here’s what I know. I know that someone deliberately tampered with Dr. Burke’s truck.”
“Don’t let Long-Haired Roger discount my Sasquatch theory. I think they’re rising up against industry and big business, Sheriff. I don’t think they like gas-guzzling trucks,” Mel said seriously.
Nate’s expression never changed. “I will keep that in mind. Cam, be sure to place environmentally friendly Sasquatches on the board of suspects.”
Cam grinned. “Will do, Sheriff.”
“What is wrong with you people?” Jessie asked.
“Not a damn thing,” the sheriff replied. “Now, my second problem is that I have US marshals in my town who don’t do me the courtesy of informing my office that they’re here and working a case. Don’t give me that bullshit about caring about him. You’re carrying a gun, and you’re more than willing to use it. You owe me the courtesy of letting me know what’s going on.”
“Yes, we do, Sheriff.” Michael seemed to be the more reasonable of the two. “We’re sorry. We honestly didn’t think anything would happen to him. We’ve been keeping tabs on him from a distance. This town seems pretty good about protecting its own. We didn’t even have to step in when Ms. Lang’s son showed up. He almost immediately had six men on him.”
“I liked that part.”
Caleb looked to his left. Mick stood there with a cup from Stella’s. He took a long drag from the straw. Caleb noted that the Farley boys were with him.
Mick grinned at him. “Look, I made friends. They’re showing me all the cool spots.”
“Like the place where all the girls bathe naked because they think no one can see them,” one of the brothers said.
Mick shook his head. “Yeah, I wasn’t so interested in that one. And the nudists are way funkier than I would have thought. But I liked the Feed Store Church. And there were a couple of people miming their distaste for Wall Street on the square. That was pretty awesome.”
So that’s what Nell and Henry were up to this afternoon.
“What’s up with the feds?” Bobby Farley asked.
“They’re here about Alexei.” Will looked over and waved at the Russian. “Hey, man! We’re glad to see you. We need a coach for little league hockey. I should warn you, it’s only me and Bobby. You wouldn’t have much of a team.”
Alexei warmed immediately. “We do not need many peoples. We merely need to be meaner than the rest. This I can teach you. If I am not dead.”
Bobby looked to the sheriff, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Yeah, the sheriff is worried about that, too. Though he also thinks it could be Holly’s ex-husband, because he’s a son of a bitch, or Caleb’s family. He has a whole board of suspects.”
Nate Wright’s eyes widened. “You two little shits. Did you bug my station house again? I swear to god, I am talking to your mother.”
Neither boy looked particularly intimidated. Will shrugged. “We didn’t bug the station house. We just invented a machine that amplifies sound. We didn’t even have to use the full range. You can be really loud, Sheriff.”
Mick pointed to both kids. “I love these kids. If only I’d had you on my side a year ago. But there’s no way Dad would hurt Mom. He’s a dickhead, but he wouldn’t hurt her.”
Just as Mick said the words, there was a horrific boom and fire shot to the sky. It came from the parking area not fifty yards away. The sound cracked, splitting the air with a terrible roar. That sound seemed to be everywhere—invading his consciousness and making the world seem unreal.
Caleb’s ears flared with pain. Too loud. And then everything was muffled by an odd ring. They would be ringing for hours.
Alexei leapt into action, covering Holly with his big body, and Caleb took the kids. He felt the blast from the explosion heat his skin as he tugged at the kids, trying to protect them with his own body. He covered Mick’s head with one hand and pulled the twins in with the other.
When it was over, he looked to Mick, who had lost his “perpetually amused with the world” expression. His eyes were wide with terror. He stood and tried to brush away the smoke that seemed to be everywhere. An acrid smell permeated the air.
Caleb was well aware he was speaking far too loudly as he talked to Mick. “Take care of the boys. I need to check on your mother.”
Holly’s son nodded and immediately took the twins under his wing. He moved them away from the site to the other side of Main Street. Logan was moving Jessie and Michael to the other side, too. Cam checked on Mel.
Nate was already on his radio. “Hope, get the fire department out here. Yes, we had a bomb go off. Try like hell to keep people away from the area.”
But they were already streaming out of homes and businesses. Well-meaning citizens were suddenly everywhere. Chaos. It was chaos. Caleb was far too well acquainted with chaos. Holly. He needed to get to Holly.
“I don’t think the Sasquatch did that, Doc,” Mel yelled. “They’re not real good with electronics!”
Caleb ignored him and moved to Holly. Alexei had her on the ground, his big body covering every inch of her. She was struggling beneath him, but he wouldn’t budge.
“Is danger passed?” Alexei asked, yelling a bit.
It was a good thing because Caleb’s ears were still ringing. “We’re good.”
It was also good to know that Alexei had her back even when she was fighting him.
Alexei let her up.
“Micky?” She looked around for her son.
He finally got his hands on her, assuring himself that she was all right. “He’s fine, sweetheart. I think we’re all fine.”
“My ears are ringing,” she said, calming visibly once she could see her son.
“Mine, too,” Alexei said, pulling at his ears.
Caleb slapped at his hand. “It’s tinnitus. It’ll go away. Don’t pull at them.”
Nate walked over. “I think we need to take this to the station house. Logan and Cam are going to stay here and see if we can get anything off the car—once it’s not a flaming ball anymore. We need to talk. All of us.”
Mick stepped up, his face white as a sheet. “I should come, too. I’m worried maybe my dad might be more involved than I hoped.”
“What?” Holly asked, taking his hand.
“Well, I might be blackmailing him, and he might be really pissed off.”
Yeah, it was definitely time to talk.
* * * *
Vince was almost ready to call it a job. A fucked-up job. A big, old pile-of-shit job. He’d never before screwed up the way he had in this town.
He trudged through the woods, cursing nature at every turn. Where had he parked his Jeep? He’d seen an opportunity to get at one of the vehicles the target used. It seemed to be the only car left between the three of them, and if he got one of the others, his employer was okay with that. Collateral damage.
But he’d been made. Oh, they might not know exactly who he was, but they knew someone was after one of the townspeople. It wouldn’t take them too long to figure out who was the target. They only had three fucking choices.
And the sheriff seemed much smarter than a local yokel. The whole fucking town was a bastion for former feds and conspiracy nuts, and every goddamn one of them had a gun.
Life was easier in New York.
He’d blown the car because he was afraid he’d left something behind. He knew he’d done a hack job on it, but he couldn’t get at the damn car while it was parked at the woman’s cabin. Last night had proven that. He’d watched as six huge men had shown up to take care of one skinny-ass kid.
No way. No how.
The parking lot of the clinic was away from the street. It was surrounded by a concrete wall. He’d watched the three of them enter the clinic after his botched attempt to take out the target with the car he’d stolen after hiding his Jeep on the mountain. He’d listened and heard the freaks all
having sex. After deciding they would be occupied for a while, he’d decided to give it a go.
And that dumb bitch had found him. He’d barely gotten the device in place when she’d called out to him like they were old friends or something. She’d said hi and he’d taken off.
He’d barely made it over the wall when the sirens had started up.
He felt sick to his stomach. He wasn’t this guy. He wasn’t the guy who screwed up. He should never have taken the job. He should have known how many goddamn eyes would be on the target.
But he wouldn’t quit. He would simplify finish the fucking job. No more accidents. No more close encounters.
The target was getting a bullet to the brain the next chance Vince got.
He was going to end this.
Chapter Fourteen
Holly stopped her pacing long enough to stare down at her only child.
“Dad told me to get a hobby.” Micky sat back in his chair with a shrug. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and looked distinctly uncomfortable to be sitting in the Bliss County Sheriff’s Office.
They occupied the main room, all of them. It was getting crowded. The US marshals Alexei had neglected to mention to her sat together watching the scene play out. They leaned against the back wall, talking to each other in low tones. Alexei looked as uncomfortable as Micky did, though Holly was sure it was for different reasons. The last time Alexei had been in this room, he’d nearly died. He’d been shot in the gut, and only Caleb’s sure hands had saved him. She remembered how it had felt to clutch him and know she couldn’t hold him together. It had been horrible, and she hadn’t even been in love with the man then.
Now she wasn’t sure she would be able to survive it. She tried to give him a reassuring smile before she turned back to her baby boy. She didn’t smile at him. “Please explain to me how blackmailing your father is a good hobby. I think he was talking about something like stamp collecting or reading. I doubt he meant for you to dabble in crime.”
Micky leaned forward. “It was photography. It seemed like a good idea. And Dad made an excellent subject. I mean, he didn’t know at the time that he was the subject, but he was good.”
She put her head in her hand. He was so stubborn. “Please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”
“I think the boy catches father with many womens.” Alexei sat back in his chair and gave Micky a look of deep respect. “This could ruin career. How much did you get?”
“Don’t encourage him,” she said Alexei’s way. The last thing Micky needed was a partner in crime. He seemed to be doing quite well on his own.
Caleb leaned forward, joining the other two men. “It wasn’t money, was it? You wanted out. You wanted to be free of the whole ‘political family’ thing. I can understand that. It’s hard. Everyone’s always looking at you. You can’t be yourself. You have to live up to the family name.”
Micky pointed to Caleb. “He gets it. I did it to get away from my dad, but I also took a lot of money. Hey, I wanted to be free, not dirt poor.”
“Holly, I know you want to throttle the boy, but how about we hear him out?” Nate asked, sitting on Hope’s desk.
Micky seemed to suddenly remember they weren’t alone. “Crap. Is that really a crime? Am I going to be arrested? I don’t look good in orange.”
Oh, she hadn’t even thought about that. “You can’t arrest him.”
Nate waved her off. “If what I’ve heard about your ex is true, then I should give the boy a medal. But this is a serious situation. Someone blew up your car. If the congressman is involved, I want to know.”
Marshal Michael Novack shook his head. “If this is about Ms. Lang, the US marshals would leave this completely in your hands, Sheriff.”
Jessie gave Micky a thumbs-up. “Give ’em hell, kid. I never did like politicians.”
At least Micky had the law on his side on this one. It didn’t look like anyone would be hauling her baby boy off.
“I think it probably be me. Not Holly,” Alexei said. “Many peoples wish to be killing me. I should not have come to town. I should have stayed and been Howard.”
Michael crossed his arms over his chest. “You wouldn’t have been happy. We knew that.”
Nate sighed. “Okay, so it could be Holly or Alexei.”
Caleb’s hand came up slowly. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to kill me.”
That was news to her. “Who would want to kill you?”
Caleb’s face went oddly blank. “Have you met me?”
Every damn man in her life was made of sarcasm.
She turned to the marshals. “Do you guys think this is about Alexei?”
“I would bet on it,” Michael said. “He put a lot of dangerous men in jail. Two of those men are trying to wrangle their way out of convictions. If they get their cases overturned on appeal, well, it would be better for them if Alexei couldn’t testify again.”
“But just so you know, we haven’t received any specific threats,” Jessie continued. “We’re playing the odds here.”
“Marshal Wilson gave a detailed description of the subject to Hope. Turns out she’s a hell of an artist. We should know something soon. Zane is coming in because he got a bad feeling about a guy who hung out at Trio the other day. I’ve learned to trust his instincts. We’ll see if the two match up,” Nate said. “Although I wouldn’t bet on it. She says the guy was short and very pale. I don’t think they’re going to match. The man Zane talked about looked Italian American to him.”
“Scott is the only person who might want to hurt me. But I don’t get it. I didn’t even know about Micky’s side business, which is going to stop now.” She couldn’t have her son blackmailing his father. The three men in chairs all started talking at once.
“Holly, you need to listen to the kid. Do you have any idea how hard this could have been on him?” Caleb’s face was earnest, his hands tight on his thighs.
“Boy is tough. Boy does what he needs to do.” Alexei went on praising her son.
“Mom, I can’t go back. I won’t.”
She held a hand out to silence them. To her great surprise, they all fell in line. Maybe she was missing something here. She got to one knee in front of her son. “What happened? Have you been thinking about this for a while?”
Her son’s face flushed with emotion. “I thought about it all the time growing up. Don’t get me wrong. There was a lot I loved…still love…about being incredibly wealthy. And Dad isn’t the world’s worst dad. He’s a terrifically horrible human being. Seriously, don’t vote for him. But he loved me.”
“He didn’t kick you out.” She took an odd comfort from that. Guilt had been gnawing at her ever since Micky had shown up. When she’d been thrown out of his life, she’d at least thought that Scott loved him. For all his douchebag ways, he’d genuinely cared for their son. Just not for her.
Micky sighed, putting the coffee down. “No, Dad didn’t throw me out. And when I threatened to leave, he threw a fit. He told me if I stepped one foot out of his house before college, he would make sure I didn’t touch my trust fund.”
That sounded like Scott. “Baby, what did he do that made you want to leave?”
“I met a boy.”
Her heart ached. She knew where this story was going, but he needed to tell it.
“His dad worked for mine,” Micky said. “Not as anything big. He was on security detail, but they lived in the guesthouse. His name was Tristan. Mom, I think I loved him. I know I never felt that way before. I know I joke about how hot guys are, but it was different with him. I could talk to him. I could tell him everything. He was my first kiss. My only kiss.”
She reached up and wiped the tears at his eyes. She didn’t bother with her own. “Baby, I’m so sorry. Did your dad fire his?”
Micky shook his head. “No. It was worse. Dad gave him a promotion, but only if Tristan never contacts me again. They moved to DC two months ago. Tristan is a good boy, at least. He won’t return my c
alls or my e-mails. I guess he’s enjoying his dad’s newfound wealth.”
Caleb’s face had gone red. “You can’t let that get you down. You have to push those types of people out of your life. They’ll just use you.”
“Well, he didn’t seem that way before my dad bribed his family.” Micky took a deep breath and shook it off. “Anyway, I realized I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get out. I’m not stupid. I know all about Dad’s penchant for sleeping with his aides. All I had to do was follow him for a day or two and I had everything I needed. I presented it all to him in a beautifully polished PowerPoint presentation. I even made a graphic representing how his dick was going to cost him voters.”
Scott must have been livid. For the first time, she had to consider that he might have been mad enough to come after her. He might have suspected she was the one behind the scheme. After all, he’d done the same thing to her once.
A steely look came into her son’s eyes. “Mom, I won’t take it back. I can’t go back to being that person. I need to be me. I need to be whoever I turn out to be. I can’t play the game anymore. Not one more second. I love you. I want to spend time with you. I want to find a nice liberal arts college and get a degree that wouldn’t get me a job at a fast food restaurant. I’m thinking creative writing. I want to do stupid shit because I think I’ll figure out who I am. Not Mick Lang, the congressman’s son. And not your little Micky. But me. Just me. I hope you’ll let me do that with you. But I’ll do it without you, Mom.”
God, he wasn’t a kid anymore. He’d made a decision it had taken her most of her adult life to make, and he hadn’t needed two lovers to do it. She nodded. “Blackmail the son of a bitch until he can’t see straight.”
Caleb slapped his hands together. “Yes!”
Alexei sat back, crossing one foot over his knee and looking very much the dangerous mobster. “We need to make sure your master negatives are in safe place. We will talk.”