Waves of Reckoning (The Montclair Brothers)

by Terri Marie

  Vincent went out to his secretary’s office when his brother’s left. “Elissa, you’ve been here all day. There’s nothing pressing tomorrow, so go ahead and take the day off. You’ve been busting your butt.”

  “I don’t mind. My mom has the boys, and I could really use the hours.” Elissa smiled, but Vincent could tell she’d rather be at home. She lived with her parents and he knew she wanted to get a place of her own. Not one dime of child support ever came her way.

  “Okay, take the day off tomorrow and it’ll be paid. Do you want an apartment or a house, Elissa?” Vincent had already tried to get her moved, but she wouldn’t hear of it.

  “Vinnie, thank you for your offer, but I just wouldn’t feel right.” She lowered her face.

  He pulled up a chair and moved it over beside her. “I know what it’s like to worry about the next day. I was in foster care, separated from my brothers, remember? I’m horrible at guessing. I don’t know what you’d like in a home, so let’s go shopping this weekend.” Vincent put his hand under her chin and lifted it. She was older than him by a couple of years, but yet, way too young to be seeing the hardships she’d had to suffer through. He didn’t learn until later that the address she’d listed on her application was to a safe house. Moving in with her parents wasn’t what she’d wanted to do, but her allotted time there had run out.

  Elissa’s parents charged her a ridiculous amount for rent, and it seemed to him that they wanted to make sure she didn’t succeed. They took most of her money, so she had very little left. Vincent wanted to go shake the hell out of them, but he knew that’d do nothing but cause problems. He’d get her out of there, one way or another. Miles was two and Noah had just turned four, and they deserved more…they deserved to have their mother happy and successful.

  “Thank you, Vinnie. Call if you decide you want me to come in tomorrow.” She gathered her purse and sweater, before leaving the office.

  Elissa had saved up enough money to buy herself a car. It was an old Ford Escort. Vincent really worried about her driving that damned thing, especially in the winter. This weekend, her life is going to change, thought Vincent. No matter what.

  As he drove home, his phone rang.

  “Vinnie, its Carrie. Are you busy?” Her voiced seemed a little stressed out.

  “No, I’m just heading home. Are you okay?”

  “When I called to confirm my interview in Southfield, they told me that there was now a hiring freeze in place. I’ve been living here amongst a ton of boxes. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find work around here? The precincts are all pretty small, and no one is hiring right now.” Carrie sighed heavily and Vincent could hear her plopping herself down on a bed, or something else with springs.

  “Do you have any favors to call in?” Vincent could hear the panic starting to rise in her voice.

  “No. It’s not like I’ve been on the force for years and years. I’m going to have to find another big city to move to just so I can get a job. I could always try Detroit.”

  “Oh, hell no! That’s out of the question. The city is way too volatile right now, and they’ve run out of money. Just move to Southfield.” He probably shouldn’t encourage her to come to a place where she couldn’t get a job. No matter where she went, she’d have to start at the bottom, but walking the streets of Detroit wasn’t an option.

  “I have to have money to live on…you know, food and shelter?” Carrie softly blew her nose. “I have exactly nine hundred and twenty dollars in my account, Vinnie. That’s not going to get me very far.”

  “You can stay at my house until you get back on your feet. Besides, I’m not home very much, so you’ll have the place to yourself most of the time. You’re not a cat hoarder or anything, right?” He laughed, trying to lighten her mood, but it wasn’t working.

  “I’ll feel like a freeloader. I can’t do that.”

  “Get your things packed and move here. I’ll text you my address. In the meantime, I can make some phone calls and see if I can help some with the job search.”

  Vincent was finally able to convince her to come back to town as he pulled up in his driveway and stared at the large empty house. It had four bedrooms, and only one person living in it. Having someone to share it with would be kind of nice.

  But then again, did he know anything about living with a woman?

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Carrie Oliver was getting ready to do the one thing her parents had warned her never to do…Rely on a man. Not that she ever had in the past. She’d had exactly two relationships since she made the force. One had a problem with her being a cop when he saw her gun; the other had a little drug issue which, of course, meant he also had a problem with her being a cop. Carrie had steered clear of men after that. There was a sensitive woman under that uniform, and if they couldn’t see it, well…screw them.

  Vincent Montclair wouldn’t be a threat though. Like he said, he was very busy and hardly ever home. Carrie would be fast asleep by the time he was done working, and he’d have to leave early, so there’d only be chance encounters. Hopefully it’d only take her a week or two to get a job lined up, and she had every intention of paying him rent. She definitely didn’t want to come across as some sort of pitiful, needy woman.

  Tomorrow morning Carrie would make sure she got up early and rented a U-Haul. Looking around at all of the boxes and furniture in her living room was making her feel exhausted. She made her way through her bedroom and bathroom, gathering up her possessions, and thought it’d be way easier to just leave everything behind. But there’d be no way she could afford to replace all of this stuff, right now, or anytime really; a cop doesn’t make that much money.

  She scraped the last bit of coffee grounds from the can, and then set the coffee maker to begin brewing at five the next morning. As she was walking back to her bedroom to sleep on the bare mattress that was lying on the floor, she thought she’d better call Vincent to make sure he had room for all of her things.

  Vincent sounded breathless when he answered the phone. “This is Vincent.”

  “Did I catch you in the middle of something?” Carrie looked at the time and instantly felt bad.

  “I was just getting out of the shower,” he laughed.

  “You know, I’m moving the contents of a one bedroom apartment. Do you have enough space to store everything, and do you have a spare bedroom for me?” Carrie felt like an idiot for making assumptions.

  “I have plenty of room. Just come on down. Are you heading out tomorrow?”

  If Carrie didn’t know better, she’d think he sounded a little excited. That made her feel more at ease.

  “Depending on how long it takes me to load everything up, I should be there late afternoon’ish.” She hoped that wouldn’t be a problem.

  “I can have some guys come by to help you unload the truck. Do you have anyone helping you there?”

  “I’m not a weakling. Thanks for the offer though. It might not be a very attractive sight, watching me sweat like a pig while hoisting boxes, but I’m pretty dang strong…for a girl.” Carrie worked out often, knowing that when shit hit the fan on the streets, she had to be depended upon to hold her own.

  “Well, we’ll see. Call me when you get into town. I’ll bring home some Chinese takeout or something.”

  Carrie hadn’t had good Chinese food in quite a while. There weren’t any decent places close by, and it wasn’t like she could splurge right now. Bread, peanut butter, jelly, and bologna were the only things on the Menu at the Oliver house these days. Ramen noodles was the closest thing she came to eating Chinese food.

  She let herself fall down onto the mattress. Carrie had disassembled her bed the night before, when she thought she was leaving for a job in Southfield. It’d been a real pain to take apart, because it was old, but it’d belonged to her grandmother. Her sheets were even packed, but at least she had a blanket. It was pretty worn out, but it was soft and she’d had it for years. When it started to look like Swiss cheese, sh
e’d think about discarding it, but then again, it was her favorite.

  As she lay there in her dark apartment, she made a mental list of everything she’d have to do in the morning. She’d already taken care of this last month’s rent, so hopefully she’d be getting a check for her security deposit. Oh, and she couldn’t forget to call the cable company to disconnect service, and get her mail forwarded to Vincent’s. He hadn’t texted her with his address yet. Maybe he was going to chicken out. Maybe she’d drive to his house and he’d greet her at the door to say he didn’t want a house guest after all. What if she got lost? What if she couldn’t reach him? She’d feel like a fool if she had to go to Montclair Pharmaceuticals and ask him for a key in front of everyone.

  Her stomach was tightening. She picked her phone up off the floor and called him back.

  “Vincent?” she asked, without giving him time to answer.

  “Carrie?” She could tell he’d been in a deep sleep.

  “Are you sure it’s okay if I come there? I don’t have your address yet and how will I get in?” She hurried to the kitchen to look for a pen and something to write on.

  “Yes, you can come here. Call me when you get to town and I’ll meet you at the house. If you get twisted around, I’ll come and get you. I need to get some sleep, though. I have an early meeting with a client.”

  Now she really did feel like an idiot. “I’m sorry, Vincent. I’m just nervous.” Her eyes began to sting.

  “As soon as you hang up, I’ll text you the address. It’s not that easy to get to, so don’t be surprised if you don’t find it. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Vincent yawned.

  She said goodnight and then waited. Finally, the text came through. This was either going to be the best move of her life, or the worst thing she’d ever done. One thing that Carrie hated was unknowns, and right now, her life was full of them.

  Chapter 9

  Vincent strolled into Tyler’s office at six the next evening. His brother looked as wired as he felt; both men looked like they hadn’t slept in a couple of days.

  “You look like shit,” said Tyler as Vincent plopped down on the sofa.

  “Back at ya. How’s Renee?” Vincent kicked his shoes off and stretched out on the cushions.

  “Not that great. I mean, the symptoms of the panic attack are gone, but she’s lost in her own world. She won’t talk to me about it.” Tyler reached up and loosened his tie. “I think my presence is just irritating her.”

  “I understand, Bro. I’m lying in my own bed of worms right now. Carrie’s moving in today.” Vincent stared up at the ceiling. He’d kept their conversation to himself all day.

  “Oliver? Why is she moving in with you?” Tyler let out a small laugh.

  “She’s really nice, and you can’t tell me we don’t owe the woman for protecting us. Due to cutbacks, she’s lost her job. None of the local precincts are hiring, and she’ll lose her apartment soon. Carrie has no place to go. It’s my way of paying her back…” Vincent was proud of his answer.

  “So now you look like shit and you’re full of shit. Don’t give me the civil duty line. You want her to come to Southfield, and move in with you, because you like her.” Tyler stared at him with a smirk.

  “I thought she’d be here by now. She was supposed to call me when she got into town, but I haven’t heard anything.” Vincent checked his watch.

  “Why haven’t you called her? I have her number around here somewhere.” He began digging around in his desk when Vincent stopped him.

  “Oh, trust me. I have her number. That woman has no problem calling me, regardless of the time. I think I may have stepped on a hornet’s nest.” Vincent sighed and then sat up on the sofa.

  “She’s a woman, Vinnie. Get used to it. You’ve escaped attachment for all your life, and now you’re going to jump into the fire by having her move in with you. You thought that’d be a good idea? Good job!” Tyler said sarcastically, as he gave Vincent a thumbs up.

  “I’m not getting attached to anyone, Ty. She’s just a friend who I’m helping out. Really, it doesn’t matter if she’s a female or not.” Vincent was getting irritated.

  “Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, Vinnie.” Tyler didn’t hide his smile. “Go on home and make sure she didn’t get lost on the back roads. I’m out of here within the next fifteen minutes myself. Let me know how it goes. This is gonna be better than watching a movie.” He winked at Vincent before turning his attention back to his laptop.

  Vincent picked his shoes up off the floor and walked to his office in his socks. After locking his desk, he slipped his shoes back on and headed for the door. There was nothing more he could do but wait. If she didn’t show up before he went to bed, well, she’d just have to find a room somewhere for the night. Vincent knew he’d never be that cold the moment the thought entered his head. He checked his phone for any missed calls or messages, but there weren’t any. He tossed the idea around in his head a thousand times before dialing Carrie’s number.

  “Vincent, I was going to call you in about a half-hour.” He could hear the truck motor over the phone.

  “You’re close to town then?” He felt his throat tighten.

  “Yep! To save time, you can meet me somewhere and lead me to your house.” Vincent thought she sounded way too chipper and demanding.

  “I’m at Montclair Pharmaceuticals. You know where that’s at, so just come here. I’m in the parking lot, but stay out on the street, and I’ll see you. You wouldn’t have too much fun trying to manipulate a moving van through here.” Vincent looked at the clock and wanted to groan. He’d had a very long day, and he certainly didn’t feel like sitting in his car for the next half hour.

  “Okay. I’ll see you in thirty.” Carrie hung up the phone, sounding like she was having the time of her life.

  What the hell, he thought, as he leaned back and closed his eyes. Tyler was right; he shouldn’t have jumped into this fire. Vincent sighed. What is this frenzied woman going to do? Wake me up every ten minutes to ask me something?

  “Mr. Montclair,” the voice was accompanied by a gentle tapping on his window. It was the guard.

  Vincent lowered his window. He immediately saw the large U-Haul out on the street, flashing its lights.

  “Thank you, Justin.” Vincent rolled his eyes but returned the light display. He pulled out of the parking lot and waved at Carrie to follow him. Even with the sun setting, he could see her huge smile. God…he thought, as his mood plummeted.

  Vincent parked out on the street so Carrie could back the truck up to the garage door. It certainly beat dealing with the steps out front. He walked towards the house, just as Carrie was jumping down from the driver’s seat. When she landed, her jacket swayed and her sidearm was clearly visible. He hated guns, so she was going to have to keep it away from him.

  “I love your house, Vinnie! Thank you for letting me stay here for a bit.” Carrie threw her arms around him. She smelled of cardboard, sweat, and more sweat. He patted her back and stepped away.

  “I’m going to call a couple of guys I know and see if they want to make a few bucks. They can unload the truck into the garage, and then tomorrow we can unpack whatever you need from the boxes. The things you aren’t going to use right now, we can leave alone.” He took his phone out of his pocket.

  “We don’t need any help, Vinnie. I loaded this all up by myself in just a couple of hours. With the two of us, that time will be cut in half!” She smiled, went around to the back of the truck, jumped up on the bumper and opened the door.

  Vincent peered inside. Shit, he thought. Wall to wall boxes and furniture…”We should really call my guys and have them help us out. They’ll have this thing emptied in no time.” He was trying to keep his voice calm.

  “Go change out of that suit, mister, and let’s get on this!” Carrie climbed up into the back of the truck and lifted a box. “Here, take this one. I’ll hand you stuff and you can set it in the garage. Once the truck’s emptied, I’ll go through them in
the morning.”

  Vincent took the box from her and carried it into the garage, sitting it on the floor. From what he could see, he wouldn’t be able to park his car in there for a while. “Let me change real quick.” He turned his back so she wouldn’t see his temper rising.

  Throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt, Vincent walked back through the garage to the truck. Carrie lifted another box as soon as she saw him.

  “Let’s hurry up, Slow Poke!” She laughed, but he didn’t see one grain of humor in this situation.

  “Why did you pack the boxes so full? They’re heavy, Carrie. What do you have in here, bowling balls?” he groaned.

  “You’re totally out of shape, Vinnie. I’m going to have to get you to the gym!”

  Vincent wanted to fold her up inside of one of these boxes and lock it in his trunk. This is what he got for trying to be a nice guy.

  After almost two hours of unloading the truck and stacking boxes in the garage, while she made her little comments, Vincent was more than done…with her. “We’ll return the truck tomorrow.” Without waiting for her to respond, he went inside the house, tossed his keys onto the kitchen table, and then headed for the shower. He definitely had to cool off before he lost it. He should have run this bright idea past his brothers first, instead of jumping the gun. Now he’d have to suffer the consequences. Two weeks, Vincent mumbled. He could definitely find her a job before then. Suddenly he felt a cool draft inside of the shower.

  “Vinnie? Sorry to bother you. I was going to order some food. Where’s a good pizzeria around here?” Carrie asked as she opened the bathroom door and stuck half her body through it.

  Hell, thought Vincent. The pizzeria is in hell. Right where I’ve been banished to.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Tyler felt instant relief when he walked into his house and saw Renee and Brian chatting away while making dinner. He sat his briefcase down on the floor and quietly closed the door. She was smiling while sharing a story with Brian, and he was laughing. He’d give anything to keep those smiles on their faces forever, but with the news he had to share, anger and worry would soon take the place of their joy.