“So, Thomas, how’s work been going?” Kayla asked.
“I’m glad you asked. I haven’t said anything because it’s not official yet, but I’ve been talking to the Medical Examiner’s office about performing autopsies on my days off,” Thomas explained.
The surprise in Kayla’s voice was evident. “Wow, you’ve got time for that?”
“I need something to do while Cat’s working during the week.” He winked at Cat. She was beaming. “I spoke with Dr. Crosby, the Chief Medical Examiner, just this morning. I’ve heard the old man wants to retire, but I’ve heard that for years. Who knows what’ll happen? I’d have to train with them for a while. See if I enjoy working with dead people. If it’s something I want to do, I’ll have to do a year residency to become a pathologist. I figured it’ll be like medical school all over again. I’ll still have time to check on Mom and Dad, so why not?”
“Why would you want to go back to a residency? I could give you a list of things you could do, and you wouldn’t have to cut anyone open to do them,” Kayla said with a laugh.
Ginger finished her drink and sipped some water. She grabbed the girls’ arms. “I need to use the ladies’ room. Will y’all walk with me?”
When the girls stood to leave, Kayla kissed Mitchell’s cheek. Ginger followed Cat since she knew where they were going. When Ginger was beside Nathan, she appeared to lose her balance. Mitchell swore she’d break her ankle in the shoes she had on. When she looked at Nathan, she said something. He looked down at her, and his smile stretched across his face. He winked at her when it looked as though she said “sorry.” Kayla was behind her and grabbed her arm to steady her. Nathan watched the girls walk toward the restrooms. Just before they turned the corner, Ginger smiled at him over her shoulder. Nathan nodded at her with a cocky grin.
It seemed the girls were gone for hours, but in reality it wasn’t that long. Ginger seemed to have gained her confidence while they were gone. When they walked past the group Nathan was with, Ginger made eye contact with him and smiled. Once everyone was seated and a second round was ordered, Nathan walked to the empty chair beside Ginger. He brushed his hand across the back of it. “Hey, sweet thang. Is this chair taken?”
Kayla looked at Mitchell because he hated that phrase. Mitchell thought she would burst out laughing so he shook his head. That could blow everything.
Ginger looked at Nathan innocently. “I hope it is now,” she said with the sweetest smile on her face.
Nathan sat down and introduced himself to all of them as if he had never seen any of them before. When it was Mitchell’s turn, he said, “I’m Mitchell Riverton. I’ve never seen you around before. What brings you to town?”
“Just riding with some friends. I’m from California, but I wanted to see what the east coast beaches looked like.”
“So y’all just passing through?” Ginger asked.
“We’ve been here for a few weeks. My buddy found someone to tweak his car so we’ll be here a few more to get all the work done on it.”
“Why would he tweak his car?” Ginger asked innocently.
“Sugar, what comes on a car is standard. Some of us want to be high performance so we tweak our engines,” Nathan answered with his cocky grin back in place.
The double meaning of his answer wasn’t missed by anyone, but Cat was the only one in the middle of taking a sip, and she spewed. It didn’t quite make it to Nathan, but it was pretty damn close.
Cat was coughing and trying to apologize at the same time. “I’m sorry. Dude, I can’t believe you said that.”
Nathan continued to smile. The music calmed to a slow song, so he led Ginger to the floor where “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” by Lady Antebellum was playing. Mitchell and Kayla watched them from their seats. Nathan pulled Ginger in close, and they knew Evan would shit a gold brick if he saw it. They were barely moving, and Ginger had her face on the far side of Nathan’s. He seemed to be whispering something in her ear before he drew his head back and looked into her eyes. From her expression, it appeared he’d asked her to leave with him and she’d agreed. As he pulled her in close again his hand roamed down over her ass cheek and back to her hip. Nathan was walking Ginger back to the table with his hand at the small of her back when suddenly Carlos turned his chair to stop their progress. There was a break in the music so Mitchell could hear most of what was said.
“Nathan, I see you found yourself a hot little piece of ass. You gonna share, man?” Carlos took his finger and ran it up Ginger’s leg from her knee to just below the hem of her dress.
Ginger tried to step back, but Nathan was right there. She looked back at him because she didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t prepared for anyone but Nathan to touch her. Mitchell could see her eyes widened with shock then narrowed in anger. She swatted his hand away. “I didn’t give you permission to touch me.”
Carlos busted out laughing. “I don’t need your permission, Red.”
“You do need mine, though. There are a lot of things I share, but women ain’t one of them, dude.” Nathan’s tone was dead serious.
“You think you can handle this one alone? I haven’t seen you get laid in a month,” Carlos said.
“I like ‘em a little feisty, energetic. Makes the ride more fun. It’s like riding a big wave. You never know if it’s going to take you under or not. When you come out on top, you know you’ve tamed it.” Nathan’s cocky grin was in place.
Ginger’s mouth fell open. Mitchell didn’t think she was used to guys talking in double meanings. Evan was going to teach her a lot.
Carlos laughed again, and so did the rest of the table. He tossed his keys to Nathan. “Take my car. I want to know if you tame your redheaded wave. But if you need any help, you know where to find me.”
When they finally made it to the table, Nathan looked Mitchell directly in the eyes. He knew exactly who Mitchell was.
“Hey, y’all. Nathan is giving me a ride to my hotel. I’ll see you in the morning.”
They finished their round of drinks to give them a head start so it didn’t look obvious. Mitchell glanced over to the other table, and for the first time tonight saw Sam. It didn’t appear that Sam saw him, though. Mitchell looked at Kayla. “Since she’s fixed up for the night, how about we head on out now.” She nodded as “You” by Chris Young came on. When Mitchell leaned down to give Kayla a quick kiss, he heard a noise from behind him. Turning, Mitchell saw Thomas scowling at him, so he just smiled back.
As Mitchell and Kayla were walking to the door, she quickly stopped. Standing just a few feet away was Sally, who was staring daggers into Kayla. When her eyes met Mitchell’s, her anger morphed into vengeance. She grabbed the guy next to her and planted a kiss meant to send a message. Kayla hesitantly continued walking toward the door. When they were beside Sally, she stepped in front of them. “Do you like the man I turned him into? I hope you’re happy.”
Kayla started to open her mouth, but Mitchell answered for them, “We are Sally. I’m so sorry I was an asshole.” He focused on the guy she was with. “Treat her right, man. She’s a nice person.” Kayla gave Sally a sad smile as they walked past.
When they got outside, Kayla hugged Mitchell. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I love you,” he said against her temple
“It was fine. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think she made me into anything,” he said when he opened the car door for Kayla. As they were leaving the parking lot he said, “Nathan knows who I am.”
“What makes you say that?”
“The way he looked at me when he and Ginger got back to the table. He actually looked kinda pissed.”
“Do you think he’ll hurt Ginger?”
“No, but he may take a swing at Evan when he sees him.”
“To be a fly on the wall for that.”
They pulled onto the road that ran along the side of the hotel and waited. From this spot, they could see the light in the last window on the third floor. The room.<
br />
22
Evan heard them trying to make the key card work, but couldn’t go help them. They needed to get in themselves. Then he heard Nathan’s voice, “Sugar, don’t be nervous. You want me to help you get it in?” He was gonna kill that motherfucker.
They finally got the card to work. Ginger was the first one through the door. While Nathan put the “Do Not Disturb” sign back out and closed the door, Ginger walked straight into Evan’s arms. She was shaking like a leaf, so he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her head without taking his eyes off Nathan.
When Nathan turned around he said in a stage whisper, “Have you lost your fucking mind?”
Evan pulled back from Ginger. “Darlin’, would ya go into the bathroom and turn on the shower. Ya may want to stay in there for a few minutes.”
She did as he suggested. Once Evan heard the door close, he faced Nathan. “Well, Cap’n wanted me to have my brother start a bar fight with ya. How’d ya liked that? Then ya could end up in the pokey. Even though I hated puttin’ her in that position, Ginger was the best option with the least amount of risk.”
“She yours or just an informant?”
“She’s mine.”
“You put your girlfriend in the middle of a pit of vipers? Just how crazy are you?”
“I need to know what’s goin’ on. Even though I knew it was comin’ to South Carolina, I didn’t expect this shit to end up in my own backyard. Tell me what ya got, and I’ll fill ya in on the local players.”
Before Nathan started talking he looked for a pay-per-view channel. Evan knew what he was looking for, and that was his cue to get Ginger out of there. When he walked into the bathroom, she was sitting on the lid of the toilet. The fear in her eyes was a shot to the gut, and his brother’s voice came back into his head, “I wanted to give her a nickname specific to me.” Evan was surprised by how easily it tried to roll off of his tongue, “Hey Gin-ger, I need ya to do somethin’ before ya send the text to Kayla.”
“Okay. What do you need me to do?”
When they walked out of the bathroom, Nathan was standing there with his shirt off. Evan clenched his jaw a couple of times. “Darlin’, Nathan’ll have to show he’s been with ya. I need you to put scratches down his back.”
She looked at him with the widest eyes. “Like we’ve had sex?”
He nodded his head when Nathan said, “Just like we were slow dancing.”
She wrapped her arms around to Nathan’s back as he lifted his arms out to his sides. Evan thought he heard one of his teeth crack from clenching his jaw. He watched Ginger rake her nails down Nathan’s back. She didn’t draw blood, but Evan could see the red welts swell as she walked back to the bathroom. She was washing her hands when he walked in.
Evan hugged her for several seconds. “I’ve got to let ya leave. I’ll talk to ya all the way to Mitchell’s car.” He took her hand in his and walked to a chair by the little table in the corner. He gave her a pair of sneakers. “Change into these. You’ll break your ankles in those.” He pointed to her shoes. “You’re gonna take the stairs at the end of the hall. When you get to the side door on the ground floor, look out of it before you walk out of it. Understand?” He watched her nod her head as she tied her shoes. “I need to hear the words, darlin’.”
“I understand,” she said as she looked him directly in the eyes.
“Good. You should be facin’ the side street when ya walk out. Once ya clear the building, run. Mitchell and Kayla should be directly in front of ya. Don’t stop runnin’ ‘til ya get to ‘em. Okay?”
She gave him a quick kiss. “Yes.” She sent Kayla the text.
He called her cell, and she held the phone to her ear as she connected the call. He opened the door for her to slip out. When she was a few feet from the stairs he said, “Whisper each floor as ya get there. At the very least, I need to hear ya breathin’.”
He heard her whisper, “Three.” He listened to her feet hitting the steps. A few seconds later, she whispered, “Two.” Again her feet on the steps. When he didn’t hear her footsteps any more, he got nervous. Finally, she took a deep breath and whispered “One.”
“Okay. Open the door and tell me what you see before you step out.”
“A couple of trucks on the left corner. There’s a car to my right with the windows fogged up.”
“Stop. The car. What can you see?”
She was quiet for a moment then she whispered, “Oh shit. The car is rocking. It looks like someone’s having fun.” She gave a quiet laugh.
“Focus. Do you see Mitchell or Kayla?”
“No. Wait. I see movement on the other side of the hedge. Oh, there’s Kayla. She’s at the side of the driveway.”
“Good. Okay, darlin’, one last sprint. I need ya to run as fast as ya can straight to her. Do not hang up the phone ‘til ya get there.” Evan heard her footsteps again and the stairwell door slam shut through the phone. It sounded as though she was right in the middle of the parking lot when he heard an engine crank up and his heart pounded. “Ginger…Darlin’, are ya with Kayla?” He heard more footsteps and heavy breathing. “Ginger, you’re givin’ me a heart attack.”
“I’m here,” she panted into the phone. “I’m here.”
Heavy breathing and Mitchell’s voice in the background was all he heard. Then her sweet voice came through, “I’m in the car.” He heard Mitchell’s car crank up and disconnected the call.
Once Evan knew Ginger was safe, he turned his focus on Nathan, who had a porn movie playing. Nathan turned up the volume so all anyone could hear was sex. Evan sat at the little table and Nathan joined him.
He noticed Nathan had his shirt back on and seemed to be calming down. Evan started, “Look, I know I threw you a curve tonight. Cap’n said to make contact, but didn’t want me in the open. What do you have? What do you need?”
Nathan took a deep breath. “I still can’t believe you put your girl in the middle of this shit.” He shook his head then continued, “Do you remember the military guns that came up missing a few months ago in Arizona? About the time you started figuring out a way to get me in?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, we’ve found them. Masterson Investments is trying to move them. I don’t know where they got them, but Carlos transported them to Nebraska about a month ago. The first job I did with him was a small sale in Nebraska just before we drove out here. The sale was to one of our guys. When ATF ran the numbers, they came up as part of the missing guns. I was only there for muscle. Carlos hasn’t let me conduct a trade on my own yet.”
“Okay, so we know where the guns are comin’ from. Do ya think he suspects anythin’? Which property is MI after? Who’s on the payroll?”
“If he suspects, he’s not letting on, but he’s treating this like a game. He’s not being real careful. The locals he’s using seem to be…reckless for lack of a better word. They even make me nervous.
“Anyway, they’re leaving your neighbor’s property alone. Something about the old man and his sons are too active with it. He wants the ranch, which I assume is yours, and the property next door to Dick Beal. I know the banker, Mr. Jones, and the Chief of Police are on the payroll. The guy in Zoning must be taking money for monitoring the permits. If someone starts asking questions about property that MI wants, he lets someone know. I think he’s reporting to the Chief. After that hearing I’m sure you’ve heard about, I’m not sure about the Judge. That was a complete cluster fuck.” He shook his head.
Evan agreed. “What do they want with the ranch and the Gregory’s property?”
“The ranch they want for target practice and showing off the guns to potential buyers. The other property, I think they want for the drugs. If they’ve got the Chief in their back pockets, why not do what they want?” He shrugged. “Sam has been working that angle. We’re rarely together. Tonight was the first time I’d seen him since the hearing.”
“So the night someone tried to run Kayla over, was that because
she’d been to the Zonin’ Department?”
“Dick saw her the day she met your brother and stayed in the apartment. He told Carlos they could get two birds with one stone. Carlos liked the sound of that. So that night she received a visitor. Dick was the one who banged on her door. Carlos was behind the wheel. The Chief was riding shotgun. I was in the back. By the way, Curtis Taylor is a dog. Hell, I wouldn’t even say the shit he was saying about her. After that, we dropped off the Chief, picked up one of the trucks, and drove to your ranch. Dick cut some of the wires. He said it wasn’t enough for any cattle to get out, just enough to be aggravating. Carlos had me watching the house to make sure no one came out.”
Nathan took a sip of water before he continued, “The next morning, Carlos heard she paid a visit to the Zoning Department. He ordered Dick and me into the car when Dick told this kid to join us. He gave the kid some excuse about seeing if the car ran rough to him. That kid was Harley Youngener. Anyway, we went by the apartment, but she wasn’t there. We rode out by the ranch and didn’t see her little SUV, but we did see your brother, and I’m assuming you, repairing the fencing. That pissed Carlos off even more. By the time we got back into town, her SUV was in the parking lot. I watched the road while Carlos keyed her car and Dick nicked the brake fluid line. The kid stayed in the car. We were in the café when we saw the Chief meet her in the parking lot. My understanding is anytime Ms. Gregory calls the police, it’ll be Chief Curtis Taylor responding. So, she filed the report for the scratch but didn’t know anything about the brake line. Russell confirmed they tried to figure out who this girl was and what part she had in all of this. Thank God her brakes didn’t go out before your brother had her car towed. Needless to say, Carlos was on edge when she made it back with no issues. He even chewed Dick’s ass for it. We watched her turn the corner from the parking lot to the front of the apartment. I don’t know how she didn’t hear the car coming behind her, but she never turned away from your brother. Carlos saw him and decided to play. Who was going to get to her first? He saw your brother break out into a full sprint. When I saw him lunge to tackle Ms. Gregory, I grabbed the wheel and turned the car. Carlos wasn’t happy, but I calmed him down by telling him we didn’t want to kill them with any witnesses. Plus, Mr. Agosta wanted them scared, wanted them begging him to buy their property, not cause a murder investigation.” Nathan sat back for a minute. “I don’t think they expected your brother to pack her up and move her to the ranch, though.”
Unwelcomed Greeting: A Riverton Crossing Novel Page 16