Cole in My Stocking

by Jessi Gage

  I staggered back until my butt hit the workbench. I raised a hand, palm out, to ward off his coming any closer while my brain caught up to the question he’d asked. Cole thought Dad kept the MC’s dirty money a secret. But Brock seemed to know. Unless it was some other kind of money he was talking about. Maybe Dad owed him for something and didn’t have a chance to pay him back before he died.

  “What money?” I asked, even though I was ninety percent certain it had to be the MC money.

  He stopped a yard away from me. Too close for comfort, but I’d take it. At least he wasn’t trying to grab me. I could have done without his sneer, though. “You’re a terrible bluffer, Mandy. You know damn well what I’m talking about. It’s written all over your face.”

  Guess I wouldn’t be bluffing my way out of this. Maybe I could buy myself time with questions. Cole was on his way, after all. “How do you know about it? Dad kept it secret.”

  “Yeah. Grip didn’t tell a soul about it, not even me. But my little brother was in Air Raid. He told me how much the club paid out for your dad’s work. It wasn’t chump change. Also know that your dad never spent that much money. Didn’t buy nice stuff. Didn’t put it into the business. Didn’t put it in the bank.”

  “How do you know all that?”

  “I know it because I paid attention.” He tapped his temple. “And because your dad gets chatty when he’s drunk. Never told me about that money, but he liked to offer all kinds of advice, like how a smart man would never spend dirty money or trust a bank with it. Like how the only sure way to protect a secret is to lock it in a safe.” He narrowed his eyes on me. “I been in both safes now. This one before you got back—” He nodded at the shop safe behind me. “The one in the trailer on Christmas. Guess what I didn’t find in either one?”

  “It was you. You burned down Dad’s trailer.” I couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d shown up in a clown costume and started juggling. Brock and Dad had been tight. And Brock had always been friendly to me. Hurt curdled my stomach.

  “Thought I bought myself a few days with that fire. But the rumor mill has it you knew the combo and had Glenmore open it up. Now the heat’s on, and I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit miffed with you, especially since it’s obvious you moved the cash. Where’d you put it, Mandy?”

  Anger distracted me from the fear. “How dare you? Dad trusted you. You burn down his place and steal from him? What kind of person does that to a friend?”

  He frowned at me. “What, no thank you? Saved you a lot of hassle burning down that crap heap. Wasn’t worth the water the FD used to put it out. You would have had to pay to have it hauled away.”

  “You stole Dad’s guns.”

  “Had to. Didn’t touch the customer guns—had to get in and out of the shop without a trace since I didn’t find the money up here. Knew I’d have to keep looking and didn’t want to put you on guard. But those beauts in the house safe—couldn’t pass those up. Besides, I had to pay the safe cracker. Guy didn’t come cheap.”

  He must have used the in-case-of-emergency key dad gave him to the trailer to obtain the keys to the shop. That’s why Cole hadn’t found any signs of forced entry. With the alarm not set, Brock would have had the run of the place before I got back. I had a sudden urge to make sure nothing was missing from the shop.

  “You son of a bitch.” How could he do this to his deceased friend? How could he do this to me? He’d been our neighbor ever since I could remember.

  “That’s right, honey. And I’m going to be a rich son of a bitch soon. Now, I hope you’re listening good, because I’m only going to say this once—”

  A ringtone came from his pocket. He cursed and answered it, keeping his eyes on me.

  I slipped my trembling hands into the tube pocket in the front of my sweater. My fingers itched to get a hold of Cole’s .45, but Brock had a piece in a hip holster similar to the one Cole wore on his utility belt. He’d get to his faster since he didn’t have clothing in the way. I could draw and click off a safety quickly thanks to Dad’s drills, but I wasn’t willing to gamble I could do it quicker than Brock.

  Instead, by feel, I woke up my phone. Since the last thing I’d done was call Cole, a quick slide of my thumb should bring his contact up. Keeping my movements as subtle and slow as I could, I tapped where I thought the call button should be and then flicked the mute switch so no sound would come from my phone.

  Brock made no sign that he’d noticed. His gaze wandered away from me as he listened to whoever had called him. “Thanks for the heads up,” he grunted into the phone. “I’ll be done here before then. Anything changes, you call me.”

  Please let the call have worked. Let Cole be listening on the other end. If anything happened to me, I wanted Cole to know Brock was the one after that money.

  “Looks like your boyfriend took off on an early lunch. Bet I know where he’s headed, which means I got about ten minutes to make my point before I hightail it out of here.”

  “How do you know where Cole is?”

  “Got a friend listening to the state police band on the scanner.”

  I had to keep him talking, especially if Cole was listening. The more I could get him to admit to, the better.

  “How did you know I was gone on Christmas? What if I’d come home while you were breaking into the safe?”

  “Had eyes on the place. And did the job quick. Now, with Plankitt headed this way, I’m going to have to insist you don’t interrupt again.” He brushed his fingers over his holster. “Got it?”

  I swallowed and nodded.

  “You’re not going to tell Plankitt I was here. If you do, two things will happen.” He ticked off fingers. “One. I’ll torch your boyfriend’s house just like I torched your dad’s shit hole of a trailer, and instead of leaving a message on his garage, I’ll burn that down too, send his truck and that precious Harley of his up in smoke.”

  Please be listening to this, Cole. Please get here quick.

  “Two. On my laptop I’ve got a hot little video of a truck-bed ménage circa two thousand eight. Want to guess who the star is? I’ll give you a hint. She was drunk off her ass and needed a lot of convincing.”

  No. No. No. Nausea hit me in a crashing wave. I grabbed Dad’s workbench to stay upright.

  “One click of a mouse, and that video goes to every contact in your address book, including one Marybeth Carter.”

  Oh, God. My boss. All my friends. Everyone would see. Everyone would know. I felt lightheaded.

  “To prevent these things from happening, all you have to do is bring that money here tomorrow. Come alone and be here thirty minutes before you’re supposed to meet Glasby. No Officer Plankitt. Leave it on the far side of the berm out back. I get the bag, I delete that video from my laptop and Plankitt gets to keep enjoying that nice house of his over on Junction Road. Do we have an understanding?”

  “H-how did you get that v-video?” My teeth were chattering. I was shaking like a leaf. Inside my pocket, I was gripping my phone like a lifeline, aiming the face toward Brock.

  “Got a complimentary copy from Air Raid for recommending your dad to them when they needed a gunsmith. Now be a good girl, and tell me we’ve got a deal. Say no, and you won’t like the consequences. I’ve never been a bluffer, and I don’t intend to start now.”

  Brock had been in it from the start. If not for him, the MC wouldn’t have approached Dad. That made him partly responsible for my assault.

  Bile seared the back of my throat. I gulped to keep my Dunkin’s down. “I don’t have access to the money,” I said truthfully. It was in Cole’s safe, and I didn’t have the combination. Also, Cole was planning to meet with Stacey’s FBI contact tomorrow morning to hand the duffel bag over. There was no way I could sneak it past him, even if I’d wanted to.

  “Then get access. You have a day to figure it out.” He tipped his head and strode for the door.

  As he pulled it open, I heard the faraway wail o
f a siren.

  Cole.

  He’d either broken the sound barrier to get here in just over ten minutes or he’d sent another unit ahead. That meant he must have heard everything Brock said.

  Brock glared at me. “What. The. Fuck.”

  “Had Cole on the line,” I told him, pulling the phone from my pocket. A quick glance showed the call to Cole’s phone was live and had been for the last six minutes and some change. “Look at my face. Tell me, am I bluffing?”

  His face turned red. “Fucking bitch,” he spat and ran down the stairs.

  I stepped onto the landing outside and saw him turn right at the bottom to head for the woods instead of toward his car in the driveway. He tore into the trees, angling along the alley Dad had clear-cut into the woods when he’d built the berm.

  The siren grew deafening. Gravel sprayed the front of the garage as the cruiser must have skidded to a stop. I heard a door open but not close.

  Cole ran around the edge of the garage with his pistol drawn, coming toward the stairs like a freight train. In two strides, he made it halfway up the flight.

  I pointed. “He went that way. He has a gun.”

  With a curse, he leapt over the railing. The second his boots made contact with the frozen ground, he took off into the woods, yelling over his shoulder, “Get inside. Call nine-one-one. Didn’t call it in since he mentioned the scanner.”

  I obeyed, ending the call to his phone and dialing the emergency number. But I wasn’t about to cower in a corner while my boyfriend faced down an armed criminal.

  While I waited for an answer, I went to the window where Dad used to stand to fire repaired weapons into targets on the berm. I threw it open, and a burst of chilly air rolled over me.

  Holding the phone to my shoulder, I gave Dad’s address to the operator. At the same time, I drew Cole’s .45 and clicked off the safety—Brock knew Cole was onto him, which meant he’d be desperate to get away. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

  Squinting into the woods, I looked for movement while I summarized the situation for the operator. There! Forest green body, tan hat. Cole, sliding through the winter-bare growth of trees, head swiveling for any sign of Brock.

  Movement to my right caught my eye. I tore my gaze from Cole and spotted Brock. He had circled around the two-hundred-foot berm and was scrambling up the side. At the top, he settled on his stomach and drew his weapon. Oh God, he was taking aim at Cole.

  The phone fell from my shoulder and tumbled out the window. Without thinking, I raised the .45, lined up the sights, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger.

  Bang!

  The recoil sent a shock up my arms into my shoulders. I absorbed it with my stance and lowered the gun just enough to see Brock roll out of sight over the back of the berm. I couldn’t tell if I’d hit him. He might have just heard my shot and rolled for cover.

  “Cole, he’s behind the berm! That was my fire. He was taking aim at you.” I was probably shouting louder than I needed to, but my voice was muffled in my ears, which were ringing from the blast.

  I kept my weapon aimed at the berm, prepared to take another shot if Brock reappeared.

  Through the cotton feel in my ears, I couldn’t hear Cole’s footsteps as he entered my peripheral vision. I refused to look his way and miss another shot at Brock if I got one. It was enough to know Cole was still moving.

  “Shut that window, honey. Get down and stay down.” Cole’s voice made it through the cotton.

  “Not a chance.” A bullet-proof mound of dirt was the perfect place for a person to get the drop on someone. I wasn’t going to let Brock get Cole in his sights again. “You said you didn’t call this in. I’m your only cover until the operator gets someone else over here.”

  He didn’t argue. He was busy keeping his piece aimed at the berm while he brought his radio to his mouth. I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

  My heart lunged into my throat when he stalked past the outline of the berm and out of sight.

  Please don’t get shot. Please don’t get shot.

  “Drop your weapon!” Cole’s shout came from behind the berm. “Don’t make me shoot you, Brock.”

  I heard a muffled reply. My arms shook. The weight of the .45 was too much to hold my stance any longer. I lowered the weapon but kept my eyes glued to the side of the berm where Cole had disappeared.

  I prayed I wouldn’t hear shots.

  “All clear!” Cole called. I became aware of multiple sirens, but my attention was all for Cole. He reappeared around the edge of the berm with a wave toward me. “You hit him, but he’ll live. He’s cuffed and unarmed. Stay put while the cavalry does their thing. I’ll be up soon as I can.”

  Two cops in Newburgh PD blue jogged around the garage and headed for the berm. A few minutes later, two medics wheeled a gurney down the clear-cut alley. When I saw the medics place a groaning Brock on the gurney, I put the safety back on and holstered the .45.

  Then I sank to the floor, shaking. I don’t know how much time passed, but Cole’s voice broke through the fading ringing.

  “I’ve got you, baby.” He crouched in front of me and pulled me between his legs so he could wrap his arms around me.

  I closed my eyes and inhaled his scent, like a beach in winter. His uniform was chilled, as was the skin of his neck. I clung to him while he stood up. Someone put a blanket around my shoulders. A bottle of water appeared in front of me. I drank.

  “You did good, honey. So proud of you. You probably saved my life. Had no idea where he was ’til you told me.”

  I stared at his handsome face. The fear of losing him had made me shoot a man. “You said Brock will live?” I prompted.

  “You got him in the shoulder. He’ll be out of commission a while, but yeah, he’ll live.”

  “He’ll live to see the inside of a jail cell,” said a gravelly voice I recognized as Chief Glenmore’s. He clapped Cole on the shoulder and looked at each of my eyes in turn. “Think you’re in shock, Ms. Holcomb. Should probably let your guy here take you to the hospital to get checked out.”

  “I’ll take her over to Exeter,” Cole said, and he walked me toward the door. “That was good thinking with the phone, honey. When you’re feeling better, you’ll have to tell me how you managed that. Easy does it.”

  We stepped down the stairs side by side. He took most of my weight.

  “What about that video? Your house?” I asked as he loaded me into his cruiser.

  “Don’t worry about that. Hear me?” Leaning through the open door, he fastened my seatbelt. “You did the right thing. He was probably bluffing. He didn’t know what would work to convince you he was serious, so he went with the shotgun approach. Soon as I get you checked out, we’ll change the password on your email account. Glenmore’s crew will search his place and confiscate any computers. No worries, yeah? We got him. He can’t hurt you now.”

  He pecked my cheek and walked around to get in the car. As he threw on the siren and sped us to Exeter Hospital, I stared out the window and tried to figure out whether it was relief I felt or anger at Brock or worry about his threats. In the end, I decided to just be thankful. Cole was alive. Nothing was more important than that.

  Chapter 24

  “That’s it, honey,” I encouraged Cole. “You’re doing great. Just keep your eyes on me.”

  “This feels so frigging awkward. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. My body wasn’t designed for this.” He shuffled forward on his ice skates, big hands clutching mine with a grip just this side of bone crushing. “Guess that’ll teach me to admit I suck at something. From now on, I feign competence in all things.”

  I laughed, but his glare silenced me. He’d had more than his fair share of falls at the indoor skating rink I’d taken him to this afternoon. Tall and solid as he was, I knew he had to be feeling bruised in body as well as ego.

  “You’ve done so much for me since I’ve been back, I had to do something
for you. Teaching you a skill you lacked seemed the perfect way to thank you.” I gave him a cheeky grin.

  “You’re lucky I love you.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “I am.”

  Surprising me, he scooped me close, plastering me to his stomach.

  “You better not be planning to fall in a second.”

  “Honey, I never plan to fall.” He wobbled but recovered when I made my stance strong and curled my fists in his sweatshirt to steady him. “But when I do, I get back up.”

  “Small comfort that will be if you squish me.”

  “Mmm,” he purred. “You didn’t mind being pinned under me this morning.”

  No, I hadn’t minded. A shiver passed over my skin as I remembered the way he’d held me as we’d woken together today. Yesterday had been Cole’s first day off after three twelve-hour days, but he’d spent most of it with me at Newburgh PD, making statements and discussing the arson and theft case with Chief Glenmore and Detective Vance. I’d had to postpone my meeting with Harold Glasby that was supposed to have happened that day. I’d cancelled another commitment too, one I didn’t know for sure whether I would reschedule or not.

  After a quiet dinner, he’d thrown in a movie and lain down with me on his sectional. I’d been too exhausted to contemplate pushing any more of my physical boundaries. Cole had known. He simply held me through the movie and then through the night as we’d curled up together in his bed.

  Cole’s guest room was back to being a guest room. His bed was now our bed. At least for now. Thankfully, after hearing about everything that had happened, my boss was fine with me taking whatever time I needed in New Hampshire. Content I had a good job waiting for me when I felt ready to return, I could focus on dealing with the mountain of estate and insurance paperwork that had piled up. Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with it alone.

  By this morning, the shock of Brock’s betrayal and of shooting a man I’d known all my life had faded to a manageable level. Upon waking, my libido became fully aware of the large, docile male lying beside me. I’d pretty much tackled Cole with kisses, and we’d ended up in a position that would have been rated R if we hadn’t had clothes on.