by B. B. Hamel
“Guess so. You haven’t changed.”
“Come in. Who’s this?”
“Hartley, Travis’s friend,” I said.
“Good to meet you, Hartley. Come inside, come on.”
We followed him into the house and I looked around as we walked down the hall. It was a pretty place, immaculately kept, not a speck of dust anywhere. The decorations were simple and tasteful, and everything looked like it was straight out of a magazine.
Including Sam’s wife standing in the kitchen with a pitcher of lemonade. “Drink anyone?” she asked.
“Sure,” Travis said.
I politely declined as she poured two glasses. We followed Sam and his wife out the back door and onto the back porch where we sat down at a little table. Sam’s wife put drinks down in front of the boys and quickly left without so much as a word.
She was like a Stepford wife. It was a little disconcerting, but I didn’t let it distract me.
“How long’s it been?” Sam asked.
“Too long,” Travis said.
“I heard you were in the military.”
“Sure am. I’ve been traveling a lot in the last five or so years. I’m back in town for the first time in a long time.”
“It’s good to see you, man.”
“You too. But listen, Sam, I’m actually here for a reason.”
Sam laughed. “I figured. It’s never just to catch up on old times.”
“I wanted to ask you about Janey Caldwell.”
Sam’s face fell for just a moment before he quickly caught himself. He picked up and sipped his drink to cover his reaction, but I saw it. The mere mention of Janey’s name made him serious, maybe even a little afraid.
“What can I say about Janey?” Sam finally said. “She was popular and pretty. Everyone liked her.”
“I’ve heard some things, man, stuff about the way she was after the accident.”
He shrugged. “Lots of rumors in this town. You know that.”
“Yeah, I do, but I think this one is true. Look, you saw her after the accident, right? What was she like?”
Sam glanced at the door to his house and then spoke softer. “I’m not supposed to talk about this.”
“I need to know. I might be going into business with her.”
Sam shook his head. “That’s a bad idea. She’s not the girl you remember.”
“What happened to her?”
He sighed. “It was gradual. After the accident, she blamed herself for Ray’s death. You can guess how that was.” He glanced at the door again before continuing.
“She got darker as the weeks passed. Couldn’t sleep, stopped coming to class. Her family has always been involved in some shit, but apparently Janey started throwing herself into the business. Scared her parents and her brothers.
“She wasn’t the same girl anymore. On the outside, maybe, but not on the inside. I didn’t recognize her anymore, Travis. Eventually she graduated high school and never looked back. I barely heard from her again until a couple years ago when she came to me looking to buy some land.”
“You’re a developer?”
“Real estate sales, actually, but I had some clients at the time with land around the old mines. She began buying it up, running those ATV tours and getting involved in some scary shit.”
“Why did she change?” Travis asked. “Is she just a completely different person now?”
“Can’t say why she changed. I guess when something like that accident happens to a person, they just can’t go back to normal after that. Janey turned to the dark to find herself again.”
I frowned. That hit home for me. I felt like I understood that idea, turning toward the dark to find yourself. Ever since I realized how deeply in debt my family was, I felt like I was turning toward the darkness. Maybe that was why I came to Knoxville, because I wanted to find and to face that darkness.
But maybe the difference between Janey and me was that I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t stay in that dark place, whereas Janey seemed like she embodied it. A good girl cheerleader turned leader of a local gang. I couldn’t even imagine how that happened.
“Why do you keep looking at the door, Sam?” Travis asked him.
“My wife, Sharon. She’s related to the Caldwells.”
“Shit.” Travis stood up. “Thanks for talking to us.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“Sure am. Hartley?”
I stood up and nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Thanks again, Sam.” Travis walked off the porch and I followed him. Sam just watched us go without saying a word.
We went around front and quickly got into the car. Travis started the engine and pulled away, not bothering to look back.
“Fucking related to the Caldwells,” Travis said as we got farther away. “What are the chances?”
“It’s a small town,” I offered. “Not that unlikely.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he said softly.
“Well, did that visit help with your plan?”
He grunted and shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
“That doesn’t make me feel very confident.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry. This plan or another one, we’ll get through this.”
I nodded and believed him.
“What is this plan anyway?” I asked.
He grinned and pulled his phone out. “Want to hear?”
“Sure,” I said, not sure what he was doing.
He tapped a few things and then held the phone up to his ear.
“Janey?” he asked. “It’s Travis. How’s it going?” Short pause. “Yeah, same. Listen, got any interest in meeting with me later this afternoon?” Another short pause. “How about Maud’s diner? Okay. See you at seven.” He hung up the phone.
I gaped at him, stunned. “Was that just her?”
He nodded. “We’ve got a little date.”
“Are you insane? We just broke into her compound last night.”
“She doesn’t know that. Plus, we’ll be somewhere very public.”
“Why are we meeting with her?”
He stared out at the road, his grin slowly widening. “We’re going to make a deal, Hartley.”
I didn’t know what the hell he meant or what he was thinking, but there was something there in his face and his words. I was going to have to trust him, and we both knew it.
My life was in his hands.
14
Travis
Maud’s diner was always packed later in the day, which was exactly why I had chosen it.
Hartley had a table picked out inside and was sitting already. I made a loop around the outside of Maud’s, just making sure that Janey didn’t bring any extra muscle. If she did, there was nobody hanging around ahead of time.
Reluctantly, I headed back inside, steeling myself for the upcoming conversation.
That meeting with Sam told me a lot more about Janey than he realized. Although we had to leave early, since I was worried Janey would get word that I was snooping around about her, I still felt confident that I was beginning to understand her.
She broke bad, went dark, turned into a criminal. All of that was the truth and obvious, but it was the motivations underneath that transformation that mattered. As soon as I heard about land deals and Sam’s marriage to that Sharon woman, I felt like I understood.
Janey wasn’t just a cutthroat gangster, though she probably was that too. More than that, Janey was a business person. She was in this to make money and to set herself up for power. That was why her cousin married Sam, to get an inside track on any upcoming development and land deals. That was why she continued to run the ATV tours, since they were profitable. She was slowly building a power base in Knoxville to rival and defeat the mafia.
I could work with someone like that. If Janey were just some psycho out looking for revenge for her bad lot in life, I’d have to do something different. But she was smart, and that was important.
I headed back inside a
nd sat down with Hartley. I felt my pulse jump as I saw her looking at me, smiling slightly. I loved that way she looked, her body and clothes. She was wearing this tight sundress that made her curves look fucking incredible. I wanted to lose myself in her breasts and hips, but I had to focus.
“Well?” she asked.
“All clear for now.” I opened the menu. “You order anything?”
She laughed. “I can’t eat. I’m too nervous.”
“Don’t be. This is just a business meeting.”
“Does she know that?”
I smirked at her and leaned across the table. “You need to trust me, Hartley,” I said. “Maybe I can help you relax. Maybe I can take you into the women’s room, peel those panties off, and taste that pussy until you feel okay?”
“I’m not sure that’d be the best thing in this situation,” she said simply, hiding a smile.
“Face it. You’re soaking wet now, thinking about what I could do to you.”
“Hardly.”
“Whatever you say. I’ll fully admit that your little sundress gets me hard as fucking hell.”
“Is this all we’re doing now? You’re going to talk dirty until Janey comes?”
“I wouldn’t mind that, though I’d rather do dirty things to you than just talk it.”
She opened her mouth to reply but quickly shut it. “She’s here,” she said after a second.
I turned and saw Janey coming toward us, smiling. She was wearing jeans and an ATV T-shirt, looking like she’d just gotten off work. I stood up. “Janey,” I said. “Good to see you.”
“Same to you, Travis. I was surprised when you called.”
“Why?”
“You seemed a little distant at the tour place. Thought it might be weird between us.”
I shook my head. “Not weird at all.”
We sat back down and Janey smiled at Hartley. “Good to see you again,” she said.
“Same to you.”
Janey looked at me, still smiling, but I could see something behind her eyes. Something dark and harder than at first glance.
“Well, Travis, what’s this little meeting about?” she asked.
I raised an eyebrow. “Catching up with an old friend.”
“Bullshit,” she said. “I know you’ve been asking around about me. I’ve been doing a little digging myself.” Janey smiled at Hartley. “Little miss Hartley Baker. How much exactly does your family owe the Dixie assholes?”
I couldn’t believe how fast she transformed from the sweet southern girl to being all business. It was like she shape-shifted before my very eyes. Hartley looked completely taken aback, but neither of us should have been surprised. Janey hid behind her pretty looks and her confident, earnest smile, but beneath that mask she was all cold-blooded.
I laughed, shaking my head. “Should have known you’d figure us out,” I said.
Hartley shot me a look, even more surprised.
Janey shrugged. “Not much goes down in this town without me finding out about it.”
“Guess you already figured it was me last night that caused all that noise?” I asked.
Hartley was practically having a heart attack in her seat. I kept cool though, trying not to look at her. She knew the general idea of the plan, but she probably hadn’t figured out the particulars yet.
“I guessed,” Janey confirmed, “though I wasn’t sure. You killed one of my men, Travis.”
I nodded. “I did. He drew down on me first, though. You’ll notice that the other guy is alive and well.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s true. And the man you killed was known for having something of a wild streak to him.”
“Wild streak? More like suicidal. I had a gun drawn down on him and he still pulled the trigger.”
“So. You broke onto my property, killed one of my men, scouted out my operation, and now you want to talk. What’s the deal here, Travis?”
I smiled at her. “Here’s the thing, Janey. You’ve become pretty damn powerful in this town, and you’ve pissed some people off, namely the Dixie Mafia. Right now, the Mafia wants me to steal back the shipment you stole from them originally to pay off Hartley’s debt. But I was thinking you and me could come to some other arrangement.”
Hartley was slowly getting herself under control, but I could tell she was immensely uncomfortable. Janey smiled and leaned toward me.
“Now why the fuck would I do that, Travis Rock?”
“I was hoping out of love for my brother.”
She paused. “Fuck your brother. I’m glad he’s dead. That dumb shithead was holding me back.”
I clenched my jaw for a second. She was testing me and we both knew it. I wasn’t going to rise to the bait.
“Okay then. You should do it because I have an inside track against the mafia. We can help each other here. We have a mutual enemy.”
“I don’t know. It seems like we’re enemies.”
“We don’t have to be.”
“Why would I trust you?”
I spread my hands. “I’m coming to you fair and open here.”
“After sneaking around my property.”
“Point taken, but I had to see for myself what kind of operation you’re running.”
“And?” she asked, an eyebrow raised, a slight smile on her face.
“You’re running some serious shit, Janey,” I said. “I’m very impressed.”
“Well thank you, Travis Rock.” She was smiling, and I thought she might be fucking enjoying this.
“Janey, listen. You can keep chipping away at the Dixie Mafia, keep losing people, keep spilling blood. Or, you can join up with me, help us find a solution to our problem, and strike a big blow against those assholes in the process.”
Janey leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, smiling at me. I glanced at Hartley and held her gaze for a second. Hartley looked calm, the calmest she’d been since Janey walked in the door. I was proud of her for getting her emotions under control.
“Why don’t I just kill you both and save myself the trouble?” she asked.
“You could try that,” I said, “but you’ll find it’s harder than you think.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay, Travis. Here’s the deal I’m willing to make. I want you to get me two thousand dollars to pay for the life you took away from me. He was wild, but he was a good worker. Once you pay me, and we establish some trust, then maybe I’ll play ball.”
“Sounds fair,” I said.
“You have two days, but the sooner, the better.”
“We’ll be in touch.”
Janey stood up and paused. “It really is good seeing you again, Travis.”
“Same to you, Janey.”
She smiled at Hartley before turning and leaving the diner.
I looked at Hartley. “Well?”
“I don’t trust her.”
“Neither do I, but we need her to trust us.”
“Where are we getting two thousand dollars? I don’t have it.”
“We’ll get the Dixie to pay for that.”
She laughed. “No way. Why would they?”
“We’re playing a tightrope game here, Hartley. It’s damn dangerous, but the payoff is big. Can you keep up?”
She blinked at me and then slowly leaned toward me. “I can keep up,” she said softly.
“Damn right you can.”
She was staring at me intently with these eyes, and I knew just what they meant. I pushed my chair back and stood. “Come on,” I ordered.
She stood up and followed me. I led her outside, back out into the parking lot. The car was parked at the far end of the lot, away from the other cars, and we walked fast to cross the empty space to get there. Nobody was around, not a single soul in sight. Once we made it to the car, I grabbed her by the hand and pushed her against the rear driver’s side door.
“Travis,” she said.
I kissed her hard, not caring what she was going to say next.
She kissed me back ins
tantly, wrapping her arms around my neck.
Fuck, I’d needed this since that night. Things had been insane around us, making all these plans and doing crazy shit, but this was what I’d needed the whole time. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, about her body against mine, about the way she tasted. The girl was on my mind, lodged deep in my brain. I was doing all of this for her, and I barely could understand why.
But as we kissed, part of it made sense. I knew she was something important, something special, though I couldn’t tell why. I’d never experienced this with a woman before, but Hartley drove me fucking crazy.
I pressed her back against the car, letting my body push against hers, feeling her lips against mine. We kissed hard, and her taste flooded my mind, becoming the only thing I could think about. My hands explored her body before finally ending at her hair. I took a handful and tipped her head back, making her gasp as I kissed her neck.
“Travis,” she said softly. “We can’t do this. We’re in public.”
“Doesn’t look like public to me,” I said. “Looks like we’re alone.” The nearest car was fifty feet away and we were bathed in darkness. The streetlight in the parking lot was broken, making the whole place black.
“Anybody can catch us,” she whispered.
I slowly pressed my free hand against her stomach and slid my fingers down between her legs. She let out a soft moan as I found her soaking clit. I smirked at her.
“Seems like you don’t care much about that,” I said.
“Shit. Sometimes your body betrays you.”
“Not this time. Your body knows what’s best.”
She moaned as I kissed her again and began to slowly work her clit, that soaking fucking pussy. Her body drove me insane, and I loved the way she responded to my touch. It was like she couldn’t get enough, her soft moans and the way she moved her hips. I was hard as fuck, but I wanted to taste her, to make her come so badly. I wanted to get her off and make her moan my name, over and over.
I couldn’t fucking wait. I wasn’t driving back to the apartment. I wasn’t letting this moment pass. I grabbed her shorts and quickly unbuttoned them.
“Travis!” she gasped. “What are you doing?”
“Trust me,” I whispered in her ear, and then I slid them down her hips. She bit her lip as I opened the door to the backseat and helped her get inside. I pressed her down until she was laying on the backseat, that perfect fucking pussy soaking wet and barely covered by a thin layer of cotton panties.