Slow & Steady #3: A Shameless Southern Nights Novel

by Ali Parker

  People used to refer to him as a silver fox, back when he was a rising star in Georgia politics. Women clamored around him, but he never got into another serious relationship after Mom. I was still convinced, as were my brothers, that it was our mother’s death that had sent him into the path of this mess. They’d had a strong marriage, and he’d adored her. Always. When she died, it was like his internal compass had broken. Even though I had strong doubts about his guilt, I knew he wouldn’t have even crossed paths with corruption if our mother had been around.

  He sank onto his seat, lifting the phone on his side of the partition. I pressed the cold plastic of the receiver on my side to my ear. Dad’s light blue eyes were sharp on mine, alert and curious. “Sonny. This is a surprise.”

  He never was one to beat around the bush. None of us were, thanks to him. “It was about time I came to see you.”

  “Why?” He cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing. Outsiders might have thought he was being rude or mean, but he wasn’t. This was the way he was. He hardly ever wasted time on small talk and always cut right to the chase.

  He would get to the chitchat once the main issues were addressed. “We need to talk, Dad.”

  “Clearly.” He brushed his hair back, out of his eyes. I noticed even his eyebrows were going gray now. “What’s this about? Don’t get me wrong, I’m always happy to see you boys, but we only have so much time before the keepers of the keys to my cage kick you out.”

  “Chief Harris has been arrested,” I told him, ripping the band-aid right off. My father’s jaw slackened ever so slightly. If I hadn’t known to look for that tell, I wouldn’t have noticed a thing. He didn’t show any other reaction.

  And that right there, ladies and gentlemen, is why he was such a great politician. It was also why I never played poker against him. The slack jaw thing was only a tell when he was truly surprised, like when the doc told Jeremy he couldn’t ever play football again, or when Tyson appeared at the prosecution’s table in court.

  “The GBI have him in custody. They’re pressing him to give up the others involved in whatever is going on. We’re making progress on finding out who the real mastermind is behind all of this.” I kept a close eye on my father, but he didn’t so much as flinch. Not even once.

  Wishing I could put my hand on his shoulder to tell him the news, I curled it into a fist in my lap. “Dad, once we find out who’s behind it all, I can prove your innocence. I can get you out of here.”

  His head snapped back like I slapped him. “How do you plan on proving that? I’m not innocent, Sonny. Far from it.”

  “But—” I started to protest.

  My dad held up his hand to stop me, as commanding as ever. Shoulders pulling back, his spine straightened. “There’s nothing you can do to prove me innocent because I did what I did. Where is all this coming from suddenly?”

  “It’s not sudden,” I told him firmly. “This isn’t a spur of the moment thing for me. I’ve been looking into it for months. I’m working with the GBI. I know there are others involved, and I plan on finding them all.”

  “Good for you,” he replied dryly. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you need to move on with your life. Stop spending all your time on this. There’s nothing there.”

  Anger clouded my vision and made my blood feel thick in my veins, my heart pounding in my ears. “That’s not true. I know it’s not. There’s already evidence against Harris, and the dominoes are falling as we speak. Don’t lie to me.”

  “I’m not lying when I tell you I’m not innocent,” my dad said. There was an edge to his voice I hadn’t heard for a long, long time. Determination and obstinacy were contained in his tone. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew what was coming next. “You need to leave this alone, Sonny. Now. That’s an order.”

  I glared at him through the glass, imagining shaking some sense into him. He gave me a look, tucking his chin to his chest like he used to when we were kids and he was waiting for us to tell him we understood what we’d done wrong.

  Only this time, I didn’t do anything wrong. What I was doing was right. I was rooting out corruption in the town I was sworn to protect while at the same time correcting an injustice done to my family.

  I came here to confront him, to ask him if he was guilty. The investigation would continue, either way. There were too many people involved who weren’t going to get away any longer now that the GBI was conducting an investigation into them all. But I needed to look my dad in the eye and know whether there was any chance the investigation would absolve him of guilt.

  He was telling me there wasn’t, but I didn’t believe him. There didn’t need to be a tell for me to know he was protecting me from whatever this was. It was all in his demeanor—how fast he’d shut me down and his choice of words.

  “Leave it alone, son. You hear me?”

  “I hear you.” Hearing him didn’t mean I was going to listen, but he didn’t need to know that. Sighing, I changed the topic. I hadn’t seen the man in years; I might as well make the hour-long drive out of town worthwhile. “How’re they treating you in there, Dad? Do you need anything?”

  Chapter Twenty

  Niki

  “Girls’ day out,” Karen squealed when I picked her up. She slid into my car, wearing an excited smile and a soft blue sundress. Her blond curls were pulled up into a high ponytail, her face clear of any makeup. “I really need this. I’m so glad you could come.”

  “Me too, we haven’t done this for too long.” Things like shopping and pamper days didn’t hold any appeal for me before I met Karen. They still didn’t really. I just appreciated getting to spend some time with my friend doing something that made her happy.

  Plus, despite my misgivings about a day out doing girly things, I always ended up having fun with her. “Where to first?”

  “I made appointments for us to have our nails done at the new salon in the mall.” She turned her wrist and glanced down at her watch. “That’s in about an hour. Want to grab a coffee at the food court first?”

  “Sure.” I smiled. Her excitement was infectious. By the time we got to the mall, I was singing along to the radio as loudly as she was.

  “What’s on the agenda after our nails?” I asked, driving around the packed lot to find a parking spot.

  Karen saw one first and pointed it out to me. “Shopping. Retail therapy at its best.”

  “What do we need therapy for today?” I pulled into the space. It was tight, but we just made it. Karen and I hopped out, shimmying carefully between the cars on either side of us. “Trouble in paradise with Clive?”

  “No trouble really. Just growing pains.” She linked her arm with mine. “Last night he wanted to stick his—”

  “Karen!”

  She laughed, bumping her hip against mine. “I was going to say stick his laundry in with mine. Jeez, your mind is in the gutter.”

  My cheeks flushed. “I never thought you would be one accusing me of that.”

  “Me either.” Still giggling, we ordered two coffees from our favorite place at the food court. Once we had them, we strolled along the mall and did some window shopping while we talked and waited for our appointment time at the nail salon.

  “So these growing pains, tell me what happened,” I prompted, burning my tongue when I took a big gulp of my sweet coffee.

  “Oh. Yes. He put his laundry in with mine, but he didn’t separate the colors. When I pulled it all out and started putting only the dark stuff back in, he looked at me like I was crazy.”

  “Imagine that someone thinking you’re crazy,” I teased, bumping into her as I sidestepped a hasty shopper. “Sorry, that woman was about to bulldoze me.”

  Nodding, she laughed. “Probably. This is why you need to shop more often, so you can learn how to become the bulldozer. We’ll work toward it. If both you and Clive already think I’m crazy, wait ’til you see me when it’s time for the big sales.”

  I shuddered. “Oh, I can imagine. I’m
guessing you just throw everyone out of your path.”

  “Something like that,” she agreed, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. “I’m not even going to deny it. Anyway, so Clive gives me this look, and when I ask him what’s wrong, he says he didn’t know I was so anal about washing.”

  “Anal?” I scoffed. “He actually called you that?”

  “He did.” She rested her head on my shoulder as we walked. “It’s not a big problem. We just have to work through all these little niggles, but—”

  “Growing pains,” I finished for her. I never thought much about how quickly and seamlessly Sonny and I got through so many of the little things couples go through when they first get together. We were practically living together, and we hadn’t had one fight about it yet. The closest we came was when we disagreed about what we felt like for dinner.

  Karen and I drew to a stop outside the nail salon. I pulled the door open and followed Karen inside. The smell of polish and remover nearly overwhelmed me as we approached a punky looking receptionist. She had spiky red hair, and her nails were painted black. Smiling, she pulled two of their “menus” from a stack beside her and slid one over to each of us.

  “Hi. What can we do for you today?”

  Karen took the lead, jabbing her finger at the spiral appointment book lying open next to the phone. “We’re Karen and Niki. We have an appointment.”

  The girl’s eyes darted down to look at the book. “Right. Welcome ladies. Your technicians will be right with you. Can I get you some water while you wait? We’ve also got some wine, but you’ll have to drink it out of plastic cups.”

  She winked. I held up my coffee to show her I was fine, but Karen put her hand on my arm. “We’d love some wine.”

  “I’ll bring it right out.”

  “Thanks.” The receptionist disappeared through a door in the back of the salon. She was hardly gone long enough for me to tell Karen I didn’t really want wine when the same door opened and two other women walked out.

  They were dressed in white uniforms; their hair pulled back into neat buns. One wore a name tag that read “Mandy” and the other one that said “Sandy.” Seriously?

  They smiled when they saw us and each walked to a station already set up, waving their hands to the chairs when we were done introducing ourselves. I settled into a soft armchair across from Mandy, who immediately started preparing some concoction for me to soak my nails in.

  Mandy continued with her preparation, lining up equipment that looked like mini versions of medieval torture devices, while Sandy did the same thing.

  Karen pretended like we were alone, apparently not concerned at all with either Mandy or Sandy overhearing us. There were a couple of other customers in the salon, but they were seated on the other side.

  She kept telling me about Clive. She was a lot less gushy and dreamy about him now, but she still sounded happy. She tried a couple of times to get me to talk about Sonny, but I didn’t want to talk about him where we might be overheard.

  Karen seemed to get the message eventually. She didn’t ask again until we were out of the salon, each sporting a new look on our nails. Karen’s were fire engine red, while I stuck to a classic French manicure.

  She admired her gleaming nails while we walked. “I thought they were joking about their names at first, but those girls sure know what they’re doing. Clive’s going to love these. Am I allowed to ask if you think Sonny will like yours or are we not talking about him at all today?”

  “We are. I just didn’t want to talk where people could overhear us.” I spotted a dress the same color as her nails in a window nearby and dragged her over to it. I didn’t always support her shopping habit, but we were here for her retail therapy. “You should get that.”

  “Oooo, I like it. Let’s hope it fits into the budget.” She laughed at my disbelief, swatting my shoulder. “What? I’ve been trying to stick to that budget talk we had. It’s really working.”

  “Glad to hear it,” I told her. We waited for a gaggle of girls to exit the shop before we went in. “Did I tell you Sonny got a promotion?”

  She made a beeline for the dress, looking at me over her shoulder. “That’s great news.”

  “He made detective.” I couldn’t hide the pride in my voice. Although I wasn’t trying to. It was an achievement to have been promoted to detective at such a young age. “I’m really excited for him. He’s worked really hard.”

  “Hard work always pays off in the end.” She held the dress up in front of her, turning to a mirror mounted on the wall. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’ll look beautiful. Clive will definitely love it. Want to go try it on?” I hated dressing rooms. The lights were always awful, but Karen nodded. She had super self-esteem.

  She changed quickly and emerged through the thick, textured curtains, turning in a slow circle to show off the dress. “This is stunning. I’m so getting this.”

  I cringed when I caught a glimpse of the price tag, but I kept my mouth shut. “You look like a million bucks in it. Do you have anything planned with Clive tonight?”

  She gave me a coy smile, slipping back behind the curtains. “I didn’t, but I think I do now. What about you? We should totally get you a new outfit too.”

  “I think we’re going to stay in and relax.” There was no one else in the changing area, but I lowered my voice anyway. “Sonny went to see his dad today. I doubt he’ll want to go out to celebrate my nails or a new outfit.”

  Her eyes were wide when she came out of the dressing room, back in her own clothes with the dress slung over her arm. “Really? I thought he didn’t visit Roy.”

  “This was the first time.” While I’d been staying at Karen’s during the brief period Sonny and I were apart, I told her a little about his relationship with his family. She knew he was close to his brothers but didn’t visit the prison-like Jeremy did. “Speaking of which, I should probably be home when he gets there. I don’t think today was an easy day for him.”

  “I agree,” she said, briskly walking over to the checkout queue. Luckily, it wasn’t too long. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask if you’d heard about Harris's hearing on Monday.”

  A chill ran down my spine. “Hearing?”

  “Yeah. I overheard someone talking about it at the Coffee Bean yesterday. Apparently, he’s being given an emergency hearing at the courthouse.” Karen kept her voice low, then took her turn to pay for her dress.

  While she took care of that, I wondered whether Sonny knew about the Chief’s hearing. He was being kept in the loop by the GBI, but he hadn’t mentioned anything to me. It was possible he didn’t know yet, especially since he’d been really good about sharing information with me.

  “When was the hearing set?” I asked Karen when she was done. We made our way back to my car, my mind racing.

  Karen shrugged. “No idea, but I thought you guys would want to know. I think it’s supposed to be all hush-hush since he’s the Chief and all. The guys I overheard were sitting in the corner. They both wore suits, didn’t look like they were from around here. Could be lawyers.”

  “Could be,” I agreed. Suddenly even more eager to get home, I increased my pace and had to remind myself not to speed too much once we got on the road. “Sonny and I will be there on Monday. I’m sure he’ll want to be there, and I’ll go with him for moral support. It’s going to be really hard for him to see another man he looked up to sitting in that dock.”

  She shook her head, blond ponytail bobbing. “I can’t even imagine what that must feel like. Thanks for coming with me today, I hope you make it home before he gets there. He’s definitely going to need some TLC tonight.”

  I nodded, pulling up outside her apartment. “I think so. Thanks for understanding why I wanted to rush home. I’ll talk to you later, okay.”

  Blowing me a kiss, she got out of the car and stuck her head back in before closing the door. “Good luck, Niki. I’ll be thinking of you guys. Give that man a hug from me.”r />
  I had a feeling he was going to need a lot more than a hug; I just had no idea what that might be. Even if everything went well with his father, seeing him in a prison uniform and for the first time in so many years couldn’t have been easy. And if I’d learned anything through this whole ordeal, it was that things probably hadn’t gone well. They never seemed to the first time around.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sonny

  The house smelled delicious when I got home. Like hamburgers and fried onions and—I took another whiff—was that cake? I followed soft music flowing from the kitchen, knowing if it was on Niki was still in there.

  After I left the penitentiary, I wasn’t prepared for how hard knowing I was leaving my father locked in a cage was going to hit me. Whatever else could be said about the man, he was my dad. Leaving like that fucking sucked. I had no idea how Jeremy did it over and over again. I honestly didn’t know if I would go back.

  For hours, I just drove around aimlessly. I called Evan, gave him the basic details and ended up at the garage for a little while, hammering around under the hood of a classic Mustang he was restoring. He didn’t ask too many questions, thank God.

  When I got there, he passed me a wrench and told me what he needed done. It was exactly what I needed. I stayed until I felt the anger toward my dad and his blatant lies ebb and eventually mellow out to a simmer.

  Niki turned as I walked into the kitchen, licking frosting off the tip of her finger. Dropping her hand, she wiped it on her apron and smiled. “You’re home. I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to eat all this by myself.”

  She shifted so I could see the cake she was frosting behind her. “It’s white chocolate so it wouldn’t have been the absolute end of the world to have to eat it all myself, but I’m pretty sure I would’ve gained at least five pounds.”