by KB Winters
Chapter Nineteen
Madison
After spending the night and more of the next morning in bed with Jamie, it was nice to be back to something that resembled normal. Nothing these days was more normal than watching Calvin pace the length of his living room while he continued to beat himself up over Bonnie’s death.
“Cal, nothing you did or didn’t do can be changed to bring Bonnie back.”
He paused at my words and flashed a loving smile at Ava Rose, currently fascinated with the purple and black comb in my hair.
“I know that Maddie,” the sadness in his voice matching the gloom in his eyes.
“Do you?”
He nodded. “I do, but I just keep thinking of all the signs I missed or just brushed off because I was pissed at her.” He shook his head again and tugged at his hair. “She thought someone was following her, you know?”
I shrugged my shoulder because how in the hell would I know?
Bonnie treated me the way Kat treated her, like I was too insignificant to matter.
“Yeah. At first, I thought she was just being paranoid, but then one day she told me she thought she saw Thomas following her, which was weird because he doesn’t do that kind of work for the family. But that makes him the perfect tail, because who would expect a guy in a three-piece suit to be following them?”
I kept my mouth closed in regards to what Thomas did for the Ashby family. As far as I could tell, he was no different than Terry or Calvin or any of the other people around here doing whatever needed to be done to keep the family safe and rolling in dough.
“Bonnie went to church that day, so I just kept driving, feeling good that she was somehow finding her way back to her faith after the death of Father Eric. That accusation cost her so much, Maddie. I was happy for her sake that she found a way back to church, if that’s what she wanted.”
Cal let out a bitter laugh and stepped out onto the balcony so he could spark up a cigarette. “Makes me pretty fucking stupid, huh?”
“Yeah,” I snorted sarcastically. “So fucking stupid to be happy for your wife who battled her way back from drug addiction and nearly died in the desert because she was finding a way to put it all behind her. To get her shit together. So goddamn stupid to want the woman you fell in love with back.”
As far as I could tell, Bonnie had her flaws, but she was a good woman who wanted to be a good mom and wife, something not all women aspire to.
Ava Rose and I stood just inside the living room watching Cal suck on his cigarette, the slight breeze on the balcony carrying his away his smoke.
“I know and that’s all true. But if I’d been paying closer attention, I would have been there for her. She wanted to be a good mother to Ava and a good wife to me, but she was tired of the gangster shit. She wanted it to stop. She did stupid things like not coming down to Sunday dinner. She couldn’t stand how ruthless Sadie and Jasper were, but worse than that, how much they enjoyed the ruthlessness.”
Well that seemed pretty fucking stupid. “Was she operating under some misunderstanding that you weren’t a gangster when she met you?” I asked him—yes—incredulously.
“Right?” Cal’s eyes went wide and a small smile formed on his lips. “I reminded her that she knew exactly who we are, and she married me anyway. But she made the same mistake plenty of women do, thinking she could change me. Thinking that the baby would change me.”
“Didn’t she?”
“Oh hell, yeah, Ava changed me. She renewed my dedication to my family and to the Organization. I need to be all in with my family if I’m going to keep my girls safe. Bonnie didn’t understand that. She still wanted shit to be like the little girl, princess fairytale she dreamed of back in the day.”
Classic mistake, thinking she could change a man who didn’t want to change. “So you think she went behind your back to end the gangster shit?”
Cal nodded and stamped out his cigarette and tossed it in the trash can. “I don’t want to think that, but it’s the only conclusion I’m left with, Maddie. And when I combine that information with the annoying thoughts that my family knows more about her murder than they’re saying, I’m sure of it.”
“Don’t they just dole out information when they think it needs to be known?”
He nodded absently; his gaze fixed on some point in the distance.
“Yes, but this is different, dammit. This is my wife. My dead fucking wife, and I deserve to know the truth.”
I didn’t bother to point out that maybe they were doing him a solid by keeping the truth from him because Calvin was in no position to hear it.
“Have you tried asking them?”
Cal barked out a laugh. “I did. But with the drinking and all the outbursts and the grief, they think I’m more unstable than I am, so they’re keeping me even more out of the loop than usual. I need answers, Maddie, and I’m going to get them. One way or another.”
“That sounds ominous as hell.”
“Good.”
“Dinner’s ready!” Maisie’s voice called up, and Calvin gave me a look that simply said I told ya so.
“See? Even Maisie is attending the pre-dinner meetings. She doesn’t deal with the underground business at all, but somehow she warrants a spot at the table but not me. And I’m fucking family with a capital F. It’s bullshit, Maddie. Pure fucking bullshit.”
I felt for the man, I really did. He was a friend, and he didn’t deserve this kind of inner turmoil, but I didn’t want him doing anything stupid, either.
“Okay, Cal, let’s just play this out. Say they’re keeping something from you. Do you think going in there half-drunk and emotional is going to get you the answers you need?”
“No,” he sighed, his shoulders dropped in resignation. “And you know what? I don’t give a fuck.”
“Well, give a little fuck. Show them the old Cal, the quiet guy who uses his special set of skills to help the family.”
“I’m not sure that Cal is ever coming back.”
“Fine, then show them the stoic, still-grieving, single father who uses his skills to help the family. Show them the worst of your grief is behind you. Show them you won’t do something rash and start–I don’t know–just showing up for those meetings again. Get the answers you need.”
He flashed an affectionate smile. “Thanks for listening, Maddie.”
“That’s what friends are for. Now let’s go, I’m starved.”
When we made it to the formal dining room, I realized that Calvin was right. Everyone was already gathered around the table, including Emmett and Nessa. Cal’s jaw clenched with anger, and I worried my little talk didn’t help things at all.
He seethed throughout the meal, and I guessed he felt like the odd man out in his own family, but at least he nursed the same glass of whiskey all through dinner and didn’t snap at anyone.
Not during dinner, anyway.
“Boys, Kat, ladies.” Sadie began with her most authoritative smile.
“I’ve been looking into what happened with Bonnie and have learned that she’d met up with Bishop Mueller on several separate occasions.”
“And certainly not for confession,” Kat added with venomous snark.
“She had to have been giving Ashby secrets to him. What else could it be?”
Kat looked around the room with a wide-eyed innocence she didn’t possess, and I realized this was all a dog and pony show. A show put on for the benefit of Cal.
He snorted his displeasure and disbelief at his family’s bad attempt at play-acting. “Shut the fuck up, Kat.”
Terry stood, angry and glaring at his soon to be brother-in-law. “I know you’re grieving, Calvin Ashby, but watch how you talk to my lady.”
Calvin blurted out, “Fuck you, Terry. She’s been my sister longer than she’s ever been your lady.”
“Boys. Shut it. Terry, sit the fuck down. You might be family, but you’re not that kind of family,” Sadie said, the reminder as clear as day that there were Ashby’s and then there was the r
est of us. A reminder I wouldn’t forget anytime soon.
Sadie glared at Terry as he sat back down and gave Calvin the evil eye, an eerily calm anger in her voice. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.”
“Are you?” Calvin snarled back at her. “Is she?”
He aimed the question at Jasper, who held his gaze without answering the question.
“What the fuck secrets could Bonnie possibly have to tell Mueller or anyone else? What did you tell her, Katherine? Or how about you, Ma? Did you get too fucking high or drunk and spill family secrets to Bonnie?”
“Cal. Respect.” Jasper kept his voice lethally calm.
Calvin stood and knocked over his chair as he began to pace the length of the dining room.
“Maybe it was when Bonnie would walk into the room and every last one of you would shut up. Maybe it was when you all treated her like a piece of shit? Yeah, that’s it. That’s when she found out family secrets that Mueller or maybe his buddy, Rhymer, would want to know. That has to be it, right? Right?”
“Calvin, please,” Jasper said as he rubbed his fingers across his forehead.
“What is it, Jas? I’m just trying to figure out what secrets my wife could have possibly told our enemies when you all went out of your way to make sure she never felt as if she belonged here.”
He shook his head, snorting his disgust.
“You’re all so full of shit. I’m outta here.”
Chapter Twenty
Jameson
“So, are you back to being a real cop or are you still playing grab ass with the Feds?”
Leave it to Jenkins to say exactly what was on his mind. He flashed a playful smile and waited for my answer.
“Fuck if I know anymore,” I told him honestly. After the outburst last week and telling Sarge I’d be back in uniform and ready for training, I thought that would be it for my time with the Feds. But Beck or maybe it was Marshall, had pulled some strings. So, I spent most of Monday combing through the trash bins behind Lucky Lopez to help Beck on some hunch she had. Today, though, it was already past noon, and I was still riding a desk, so any fucking thing was possible.
“I just go where I’m needed.”
“Putting your cop skills to use for whoever needs ’em?” Jenkins arched a brow and then let out a loud laugh. “Kid, you are one ballsy motherfucker. I like that about you.”
“Yeah, thanks. I think.” My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I gave it a sly look, wondering who would be texting me, surprised to see the answer was Calvin Ashby.
Meet me on the corner 5 minutes.
His message was easy to understand, but I couldn’t for the life of me, figure out what the fuck Calvin Ashby wanted with me.
“Taking a break for a minute. Want anything while I’m out?”
“Nah, I’m hitting the streets soon. Remember, rookie, keep your head on a swivel.”
“Yes, sir.” I gave a staunch salute that made Jenkins laugh.
“Exactly right. Later, man.”
Two minutes after Jenkins pulled out of the parking lot, I shoved my hands in my pockets and made a casual stroll toward the spot where Cal wanted to meet.
“Were you followed?”
I shrugged at Cal’s paranoid question. “I checked but anything is possible when there’s a room full of Feds in the building. What’s up, man?”
Cal nodded and raked a hand through his hair, blowing out a long breath that told me whatever he had to say next was difficult to get out.
“So, I’ve been digging into Bonnie’s murder, and you can save your lecture about how this is a police matter because I don’t give a shit.”
“Didn’t think you would. What does this have to do with me?”
He let out another breath and then looked at me with clear, sober eyes. “I’ve uncovered some footage of Sadie entering the hotel about fifteen minutes before the murders. What are odds?”
Holy fucking shit. That was a big fucking piece of evidence, and I wondered how Cal managed to find that evidence when three different law enforcement agencies hadn’t been able to discover it. But I didn’t let him see any of that in my eyes. Instead, I met his expression with my most professional cop look.
“It could be a coincidence; your family does own that hotel. Or Sadie could have been following your wife to see what she was up to, and shit went sideways. Or she found out what Bonnie was doing, didn’t like it, and pumped both her and Mueller full of lead. Those are the most likely scenarios, Cal.”
He nodded as if he’d reached the same conclusions. “Which one do you think happened?”
“As a cop, option three is most likely. Option two is just as likely, but you know your family better than I do.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not so fucking sure about that, man.”
Maddie had already told me about the game his family had played with him over Sunday dinner, which I thought was pretty fucking cruel, but Cal didn’t need to know I knew that much.
“Isn’t it possible that Bonnie was trying to renew her faith after everything she’d been through? Madison said she was falsely accused of murdering a priest. That’s got to shake anyone’s faith, even a good girl like your wife.”
Cal blinked. “You knew Bonnie?”
“In passing. She and Maisie were thick as thieves in college, so she spent some time at the house, but she was quiet as a church mouse most of the time. Nice girl, but quiet.”
He flashed a grateful smile at the memory. “That’s what I want to believe too, Jameson, that my wife was with him because of her faith. But she knew he was mixed up with the Crusaders and Rhymer, so why Mueller? Why not go to Father Eric’s church up the street with the new priest?”
I searched my brain or the right words. I was dealing with a man in pain I couldn’t even imagine. “Man, I know you’re looking for answers, and I don’t have any right now. Any other reason she might have met with him? Did she say anything to you about it?”
“Digging for information, Officer?”
“You came to me, dude,” I said. “Mueller trafficked in women and children, and as far as I know, the Ashby’s don’t. I’m just trying to eliminate all other possibilities for this deadly meeting.”
“Right. Shit man, I’m sorry.” Cal shook his head. “My head hasn’t been right lately.”
I nodded. “Understandably.” His shoulders seemed to soften at that. I got the sense he wasn’t getting much TLC. Or, as much as he needed.
“Bonnie didn’t know much about the Ashby Organization and definitely not as much as she thought she did. I mean, she knew we own hotels, have card games, and Sunday dinner, but that’s about it.” Calvin let out a long breath and added, “well, she also heard all of the rumors about the family. Damnit, why didn’t I think of that? Shit!”
“Rumors?”
“You know the history of Glitz and how my grandpa took over the city. Just stupid rumors. It’s nothing, but to Bonnie, it may have been something.” I wasn’t sure if he was hiding something out of guilt or if he was protecting his family out of habit, so I let him keep talking.
“She did try to get me to go to church with her, even knowing my own issues when it came to those soul-sucking perverts. She missed it. Probably from her upbringing. Her parents fucking suck. She felt guilty as hell after her drug use. Shit, I gotta go.”
“Welp, until there’s evidence of wrongdoing, believe what will give you the most fucking peace, man. All right?”
“So you’ll look into this? FBI style? And no one can know.” Calvin held up a red flash drive, eyes eager and pleading.
“Damn right, I will. Everyone at the precinct has their panties in a fucking wad over this crime, and we’re all working around the clock to figure it out. If you think of anything else, let me know, and I’ll do my best to keep you out of it.”
“You will? Why?”
“Because it seems like you have enough shit on your plate right now.”
“Thanks.”
Cal walked away,
and I stood there, about ten feet from the corner, wondering what, if anything, he planned to do about it. I wasn’t naïve or foolish enough to think he’d tossed this intel in my lap only to forget about it. No, he planned to use it somehow, too. I didn’t really give a shit how he used it, unless it meant more dead bodies littering the city.
I turned and strolled back into the precinct.
“I knew you’d end up being more than just a pain in my ass.” Beck’s voice broke through my thoughts, and I fought hard to roll my eyes. “I knew you’d be more asset than ass hat.”
“Ha,” I deadpanned. “Did you come up with that all on your own?”
“Yep. Right off the top of the old noggin,” she shot back and tapped her head with a laugh. “I’m impressive like that.”
“If you do say so yourself.”
Beck shrugged and bumped my shoulder. “So, what did baby boy Ashby want?”
There was still something about the woman that rubbed me the wrong way, so I told her what I wanted her to know, knowing she’d listen because that’s just who she was.
“Seems like there’s a divide in the family. Might be useful to you, for the other reason you’re so interested in this case.”
Surprise flashed in her big blue eyes. “You’re good, Ellison. Really good. And when you tell me what Ashby really said, maybe then I’ll share my secrets with you.”
She flashed a teasing smile and walked off, all the tension from last week seemingly forgotten.
But her words confirmed for me that Agent Beck did have secrets she wasn’t sharing, and I wondered if I could find them out on my own. At least before it ended up biting me in the ass, or worse.
Maybe I’d text Beau for intel on Agent Beck.
Later.
For now, there was actual police work to do.
Chapter Twenty-One
Madison
I had a death grip on the steering wheel—ten and two, thank you very much—as I drove toward northern Nevada.
Not to Reno or some other fun city in Nevada, but some in-between city that non-locals had never even heard of because Calvin had finally come through and told me the location of Molly’s last sighting–alive, that is.