Games of the Heart

Chapter Eleven Right Next Door

Tuesday morning, Mike was sitting behind his desk at the Station, the phone to his ear when he saw Joe “Cal” Callahan saunter up the steps to the bullpen wearing his winter uniform of faded jeans, tight black t-shirt, black motorcycle boots and black leather jacket.

Incidentally, this was the same as his summer uniform except in the summer he lost the jacket.

Since they hooked up, Violet Callahan and her daughters had wrought a number of miracles as pertained to Cal. But even in a house full of women who liked to shop, getting him to deviate from his uniform was not one of those miracles.

His eyes hit Mike the minute his boot hit the top floor.

Mike held eye contact as Cal strode through the bullpen and he kept it when Cal settled himself in the chair beside Mike’s desk.

Cal, being Cal, throughout this gave him nothing.

Cal being there at all meant Mike was alert.

Cal was around. If they were there at the same time, Mike would sit and drink beers with him at J&J’s Saloon. Cal was tight with Colt. And Cal’s stepdaughter was attached at the hip with Tanner Layne’s son so they’d grown necessarily close seeing as it was without a doubt the Laynes and the Callahans would one day be family. Tanner, as a local PI, was at the Station often. But a visit to the bullpen from Cal was unusual.

“We got the same,” Mike said into the phone to the detective working the same burglary case for IMPD. And when he said that what he meant was they had absolutely fucking nothing. “Somethin’ pops, keep me briefed.”

“Copy that. Expect the same. Later.”

“Later,” Mike muttered and put the phone in its base.

He lifted his brows to Cal then he watched a slow, wide grin spread across Joe Callahan’s face.

Just a few years ago, Joe Callahan had a quota of a smile and a half every five years.

Now with Violet in his bed, Cal’s smiles came a fuckuva lot more often.

“Wanna explain the grin?” Mike invited when Cal just sat there smiling at him and not saying a word.

Though, seeing that grin, he did not want to know.

“Girl next door,” Cal muttered through his grin and, getting it not to mention annoyed as fuck by it, Mike sat back in his chair. “What’d I say?” he went on to ask.

“Are we seriously doing this?” Mike asked back.

“What’d I say?” Cal repeated.

Fuck, they were doing this.

“Mine moved in right next door, man. Sounds of it, yours did too,” Cal stated.

“Fuck me, The Lone Wolf is gossiping,” Mike muttered and Cal’s grin got bigger.

“You gotta know, unless you keep it wrapped up tight like you have all the other ass you’ve been tappin’, small town, word flies. My woman’s tight with Cheryl. Cheryl works at J&J’s. Cheryl caught sight of you and your woman Friday night and she was on the phone faster ‘n lightnin’ sharin’ that shit. Then Mimi kicked in, providin’ the info you and your woman were cozy over coffee at her place. This means Vi, Cheryl, Feb, Mimi and Jessie been peckin’ over you and your woman all weekend. Jessie even did drive-bys of your house and yes, that’s plural. Reportedly, you didn’t come up for air all weekend.”

“Jesus,” Mike muttered, sensing an already annoying situation deteriorating when, from the desks opposite the narrow aisle, Colt’s attention came to the conversation and Sully, across from Mike, actually swiveled his chair to face them. It was worse because Merry was returning from wherever Merry disappeared.

“Vi’s a mess,” Cal went on and Mike looked to him. “Feb, Jessie and Mimi reported that your girl in high school took a walk on the bitch side. She’s convinced history is repeating itself. You gotta give me something, man, so she doesn’t hunt her ass down and ask her to state her intentions.”

Mike held his eyes and returned, “Dusty just lost her brother. I know Vi gets that and I hope she doesn’t do somethin’ stupid that’ll piss me off because, fair warning, she does, I’ll let her know it.”

“Dusty Holliday?” Colt asked and Mike looked to him.

Colt was Feb’s husband. Colt had lived this all weekend just like Cal. But Colt was a man who let you share when and if you were ready rather than forcing it. That said, if it was out there, Colt wouldn’t hesitate to jump right in and his next words verified this.

“You finally tagged Darrin’s sister?” he finished knowing Mike did since his wife had been talking about it all weekend and some of this talk was undoubtedly directed Colt’s way.

There it was, the floodgates had opened. And Colt of all people opened them.

Fuck him.

Mike had been a cop a long time and a man all his life. He’d seen this before. Often. So he kept his mouth shut, his body leaned back in his chair and let it ride.

“Holy fuck,” Sully murmured, his eyes on Mike. “Funeral hook up. Didn’t know you had that in you. Impressed.”

Mike closed his eyes. He opened them again when Merry spoke.

“What’s that mean, ‘finally’?” he asked Colt, sitting with his ass on his desk.

“Jackie said more than once back in the day that Mike was impatient,” Colt explained. “Dated the wrong sister. At the time, Dusty was too young. He waited a few years, according to Jackie, he’d get his soul mate.”

Jackie was Colt’s mother-in-law. Jackie was one of the J’s in J&J’s Saloon. Jackie now spent some of her time down in Florida, most of it up in The ‘Burg spoiling Colt and Feb’s son and her other two grand children rotten. And Jackie Owens had for years been The ‘Burg’s resident sage.

“Soul mate,” Merry murmured not hiding the fact he found this amusing. Also clearly not remembering not three fucking months ago, shitfaced, Mike at his side waiting for the time he could pour Merry in his truck then take him home and pour him in into his condo, he’d called his ex Mia the same fucking thing.

“Jesus, man, you had the sister too?” Sully asked, eyes wide, now visibly impressed.

“Don’t think I’ll tell Vi that shit,” Cal muttered.

“She already knows,” Mike told him. “If Feb, Mimi and Jessie didn’t share, which they probably did, the first time I had her in my bedroom, I showed her Dusty’s farm and told her about Debbie.”

Cal’s smile died and his eyes got hard.

Score for Mike. Cal didn’t like a reminder his wife had been in Mike’s bedroom at all much less more than once.

Served his ass, walking up to the bullpen knowing full well he’d be instigating this shit just with a grin.

For the record, after playing games of the heart, Mike had an uneasy détente with Joe Callahan. Cal won Vi, he was enjoying the spoils and his getting her pregnant and vocally intending to do it again soon was proof of that. At the time though, Cal had screwed the pooch and he’d done it huge giving Mike a viable shot and Cal knew it. He also didn’t like it

“Only thing I remember about Dusty Holliday back in the day was that she could sing,” Merry noted. “Dad said the only part of church he missed when we quit goin’ was that Holliday girl and her golden pipes.”

“She still sing?” Sully asked.

Mike didn’t get the chance to answer, not that he would have. Merry butted in.

“Don’t know if Dusty still sings but Mike was whistlin’ a tune when he jogged up those steps yesterday mornin’, rarin’ to take on the week,” he said, grinning at Mike like the asshole he could be.

“Never heard you whistle,” Sully said to Mike.

“I meant figuratively, Sul,” Merry muttered but Sully ignored him.

“This one, you think, maybe, someday in his decade or the next, you might introduce to your kids?” Sully asked.

“She practically threw Rees’s birthday party,” Merry shared something he’d been sitting on for use at the right moment, namely this one.

Mike closed his eyes again as he heard the men pull in a collective breath.

They knew what that meant.

“No shit?” Colt asked and Mike opened his eyes again.

“No shit,” he told Colt.

Sully whistled then, “I gotta tell Raine this right away. I wait to get home tonight, she’ll tan my ass. She’ll want more daylight to spread the heartbreaking news around The ‘Burg that another prime bachelor has fallen. She loves that shit. Dashing hopes, killing dreams.”

Sully was not joking. He made that call, which he would or his wife Lorraine would bust his balls, the entire ‘Burg would know about him and Dusty by sunset.

“Fuck me,” Mike muttered.

“Had a weekend of that by the sounds of it, man. You should be topped up,” Cal remarked to chuckles all around.

Mike didn’t even crack a smile.

He locked eyes with Cal. “I appreciate the sacrifice you’re makin’ for your wife, Cal. But in case you don’t get it, Dusty bein’ at Reesee’s party, this is not ass I’m tappin’. It’s not a funeral hook up. It’s Dusty. Therefore I’d advise you to be careful with your words.”

“I know you appreciate my sacrifice, Haines,” Cal fired back. “So I know you know Vi cares about you. Jessie’s a fuckin’ nut. She said some shit that tipped Vi. She hasn’t forgotten, I know you haven’t forgotten and I sure as fuck haven’t forgotten. So you layin’ the heavy on me to lay off your Dusty means this woman means something to you. Carryin’ that through, you might wanna see about doin’ somethin’ that’ll make my woman feel better you ended up with somethin’ that’ll make her rest easy.”

Jesus, fuck. Violet. Mike didn’t get how a good woman could jack you up and the results were more long lasting than when a bitch did it.

“She can rest easy,” Mike told Cal.

“Then I ‘spect, when she calls you to ask you and your woman over for dinner, you’ll say yes seein’ as she intends to do that sometime today,” Cal returned.

Jesus, fuck. Violet.

“You might wanna waylay that considering Dusty knows about Vi and she’s not chompin’ at the bit to sit down to pork chops at her table,” Mike replied.

Cal held his eyes and he read what was in them.

So he muttered, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Smart call,” Mike muttered back.

His cell on his desk rang, his eyes went to it and it said “Dusty Calling”.

“There she is,” Merry announced, seeing it too. “The woman of the hour.”

Terrific.

Hours after a funeral, he’d somehow got catapulted back to high school.

Dusty was getting off on it, loved every minute.

Mike couldn’t say their time by the watering hole was shit but the rest of it was a pain in his ass.

Mike tagged the phone, hit the button and put it to his ear.

“Hey, Angel,” he said with four men listening.

“I know you’re working, gorgeous, but if you don’t want one of your colleagues to be investigating sister-a-cide, you might wanna get to the farm.”

Mike’s straightened out of his chair immediately, ordering, “Talk to me.”

“She’s here. With a bunch of men. They’ve got some kind of equipment so they can survey the land. She’s informed me that if Fin, Kirb and I don’t want to sell our parts, she’s still selling her quarter and she’s got buyers.” She paused, gearing up he would know when she ended on a near shriek, “And get this! Mini-fucking-strip mall!”

Mike was already moving to the backstairs.

“Stay calm,” he told her.

“Calm is history,” she shot back.

Mike stopped at the top of the stairs. “Dusty, honey, listen to me. Are you listening to me?”

“Oh I’m listening,” she snapped and he knew she wasn’t. She was pissed and losing it.

“Deep breath, Angel, and focus just on me.”

There was silence then he heard a breath then, “I’m listening.”

“We’re gonna sort this.”

“Mike –”

“We’re gonna sort this.”

He heard another breath then, “Okay.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

“Okay.”

“Stay calm.”

“Okay.”

“I’m letting you go now.”

“Okay, honey,” she whispered.

“Later,” he said.

“Later.”

He touched the button and, his voice no longer filled with humor but completely serious, Mike heard Merry offer, “You want company?”

Mike’s eyes cut to his partner and his mind conjured an image of Debbie. Then it conjured an image of Dusty strangling Debbie.

Then he answered, “Yeah.”

Merry grabbed his jacket.

Mike jogged down the stairs.

Therefore, he didn’t see the three other men in the room follow Merry.

“Slow day for The ‘Burg’s PD?” Debbie called sarcastically, her makeup free face twisted with distaste as Mike and Merry with Colt, Sully and Cal bringing up the rear, walked up to the huddle outside the front of the Holliday farmhouse.

“I don’t know what she was like back in the day, bro, but seriously, you picked the right sister in the end,” Merry muttered under his breath.

He’d given Merry the rundown on the way there. And Merry only had an afternoon with Dusty but Dusty was standing on the front porch, appearing to be barring the door, facing down Debbie and four men and the evidence Merry was right was laid out before them.

Debbie was in a power pantsuit, sturdy pumps and a wool overcoat that was good quality but its hints that it was actually made for a woman were few.

Dusty was wearing supremely faded jeans that had a slit in one knee and fit her in a way that, even though he was pissed and concerned, he had to fight his dick getting hard. She was also wearing a dusky pink sweater that was falling off one shoulder so you could see her bra strap, which was also pink. The sweater was slouchy at the top but started fitting her around the midriff and was snug there down to her hips. Her masses of hair were caught up in a slipshod knot at the top back of her head with locks spiking out, tendrils falling around her neck and down her chest.

It was late February, the day was relatively warm but it was still fucking February and his woman’s feet were bare. He could see her toenail polish again matched her fingernails. She’d somehow found the time to change it since she was over last night having dinner with him and his kids. It had gone from a green so dark it was nearly black to a lilac so pale it was nearly sheer.

She’d marched out to have the confrontation and didn’t feel safe leaving her sister and the four men standing with her to go back in and put on shoes.

She had no jacket and bare feet.

No jacket and bare fucking feet.

“Angel, go inside and put some shoes and a jacket on,” Mike ordered, prowling up the walk.

He then fully took in the men that were with Debbie and his anger increased right alongside his concern.

Bernie McGrath.

Over the last twenty years the man had been responsible for adding two strip malls and three massive housing developments to The ‘Burg. And that was just The ‘Burg. He’d built copiously throughout Hendricks County and was responsible for the fall of numerous farms. Some of them, if the families didn’t want to sell, he either threw money at them to make it impossible to say no or, unconfirmed word was, he found other ways that were a fuckuva lot less nice to do the same thing.

His attention was taken away from McGrath when Debbie spoke.

“Angel,” Debbie hissed his way, “I haven’t heard that in a while and wish I still hadn’t.”

Mike stopped four feet away from Debbie. “How long’s your sister been outside with bare feet?” he demanded to know.

“She walked out here on her own, Mike. We didn’t force her. She could have just let it alone, allowed us to do our business and then we’d be gone.”

Mike scowled at her then he noticed Dusty hadn’t moved and he cut his eyes to her.

“Inside,” he growled. “Shoes. Jacket. Now.”

She glared at him and he saw in an instant she was seriously pissed. Not at him. At her sister. Then she turned and stomped into the house.

“I’m seeing where I went right now. No way I’d let you speak to me that way when we were together,” Debbie informed him and his eyes moved from the door that was closing on Dusty’s ass which, incidentally, looked so good in those jeans he was seriously having trouble stopping from getting hard, to Debbie.

He suddenly had no trouble at all.

“You were my high school girlfriend. You put out at fifteen. I put up with a lotta shit back then I would not put up with now. You had eyes on your sister at least the last fifteen minutes. I think you can see why I’m pretty fuckin’ pleased I got the chance to make the switch twenty-five years later.”

“Harsh,” he heard Sully mutter from behind him. “True, but harsh,” he added.

“You didn’t just say that to me,” she snapped.

“You opened it up, I walked in. I find out this whole thing you’re pullin’ with Dusty, Rhonda and the boys is you bein’ pissed your sister’s in my bed,” he leaned in, “twenty-five years later,” he leaned back, “this is not gonna make me happy.”

He saw it then.

Fuck him, he saw it.

She tried to hide it and failed.

This whole fucking thing was that she was pissed he was with Dusty.

“You’re shitting me,” he whispered, staring at her hard.

“This land is worth a fortune,” she hissed to cover. “Rhonda would be fool not to sell it. Those boys would be set up. College paid. Residuals in trust, interest payments would significantly augment earnings. Life would be good.”

“Fin wants to work this land,” Mike informed her.

“Fin’s seventeen,” she stated dismissively. “He has no idea what he wants.”

“You don’t know your nephew very well,” Mike returned.

“I know Darrin filled his head with the same garbage Dad filled Darrin’s with. We sold back in the day when the developers started looking at The ‘Burg, I wouldn’t have had college loans to pay off.”

“Working this land made your brother happy. He built a family on this land,” Mike reminded her and she leaned in.

“Yes, and it killed him.”

“You’re jacked,” Mike murmured, still staring at her and seeing the real Debbie Holliday for the first time in his life. It was written all over her, the bitterness that twisted her mouth, shone from deep in her eyes. She’d made it her religion and she wasn’t just devout, she was a fanatic.

“You think I’m wrong?” she threw out. “How could that be? He was dead at forty-four.”

“Rhonda approved an autopsy, Debbie, and they found he had a heart condition since birth. Undetectable unless you know what you’re lookin’ for but usually by the time you figure it out, it’s too late. He was dead the minute he hit the snow,” Mike stated. “I’m pretty sure the way you stuck your nose in everything after he died, you learned that.”

“Hard to have a heart attack if your feet are up at the beach or you’re working behind a desk,” she shot back.

“You can challenge your heart by shoveling snow and you can challenge it by stressin’ it out havin’ a job you fuckin’ hate. At least he had a short time doin’ somethin’ he loved, sharin’ it with his family. Instead of a long time doin’ somethin’ he hated because his sister is a greedy cow who wanted to go to law school but didn’t want it enough to pay for it herself but ride through on the lost legacy of her family,” Mike returned.

“Oh my God, were you this much of a dick when I was dating you?” she asked, her voice pitching high.

Jesus, was she serious?

“For fuck’s sake, Debbie, I dated you when I was seventeen. That’s more than half my life ago. I wasn’t a dick but considering you were a manipulative bitch even back then I should have been,” Mike fired back.

“Right, this is gettin’ us nowhere,” Sully broke in, stepping between Debbie and Mike. “Someone wanna tell me what’s goin’ on?”

“I see a badge on four belts. I’d like it explained why he’s here,” Debbie demanded, eyeing up Cal.

“Mostly ‘cause there’s nothin’ on TV,” Cal replied, Debbie’s eyes narrowed and Merry chuckled.

“Considering you’re not an officer of the law, I’d like you to leave the premises immediately,” Debbie commanded.

“I’ll take my orders from the pretty one who looks like she actually belongs here,” Cal returned, jerking his chin up to the porch and Mike’s eyes went there to see Dusty in cowboy boots and a jacket smiling at Joe Callahan.

Jesus, fuck.

“I don’t know who you are but you’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” Dusty invited.

Cal grinned at her.

Jesus, fuck.

“That’s Vi’s husband, Dusty. Joe Callahan,” Mike explained, Dusty blinked and her grin faded.

“Yup, I’d say she knows all about Vi,” Merry muttered under his breath.

“You’re still welcome here,” Dusty announced, just like Dusty, powering through it and straightening her shoulders. “And your wife’s welcome here. In fact, the entirety of The ‘Burg is welcome here,” she added magnanimously if dramatically then she looked down at Bernie McGrath and his boys. “Except, not to be a bitch or anything, you. This land is not for sale. Not any of it.”

“I beg to differ since a quarter of it belongs to me and my quarter is for sale,” Debbie returned.

“Okay,” Colt stepped in. “Readin’ this situation, Darrin left family land to family. You got a disagreement about what to do with that land. You can’t sort it amongst family, you sort it in front of a judge.”

Colt looked to McGrath and his men and Mike saw Colt had the same concerns as he did. All cops knew McGrath. He’d got rich fast with no one knowing where the initial money came from since McGrath sure as fuck didn’t have it. But he was so slick he was slippery and even though rumors of his primary investors who could still be involved in his business and his tactics were troubling, they’d never had a complaint or anything to go on.

“Until that happens,” Colt continued, “there’s nothin’ you can do. So we’ll be askin’ you to wait until that time comes, take your equipment and leave. We’ll also ask you not to return and disturb this family until this has been sorted by the Hollidays or the courts.”

“It takes four plainclothesmen to ask two developers and two surveyors to leave?” Debbie asked Colt cuttingly and Colt looked at her.

“Miz Holliday, you might not have been payin’ attention a minute ago but this situation is hostile. These men can do nothin’ here today but waste their time. They can’t survey what they don’t know they can purchase. And the occupant of this land does not want them here. I see you got a family fight goin’ but the bell has been rung. You need to be smart and take your corner.”

Debbie glared up at Colt.

McGrath shifted and said quietly, “It would appear Lieutenant Colton is correct. Why don’t you contact us, Ms. Holliday, when plans for this land are more firm?”

Debbie transferred her glare to McGrath and Mike knew she had no idea who she crawled into bed with, the hassle she’d opened up to her family. But McGrath missed her glare as he was giving chin jerks to the others to clear out.

They moved. No one else did.

As car doors were slamming, Dusty spoke.

“You knew that was a total waste of time and you brought them here hoping to fuck with me and, probably, Rhonda. You’ve stooped low, Deb, but not this low. Even I’m surprised your belly is so close to the ground. I feel like asking you to stick your tongue out just to see if it’s forked.”

That was a throw down if he ever heard one so Mike instantly moved to the foot of steps at the porch to position himself between the two sisters and he did this stating, “We’re not doin’ this.”

“Fuck you, Mike. She had her words, I’ll have mine,” Debbie snapped.

Mike took his position, turned to Debbie and replied, “I’ll repeat, we’re not doin’ this.”

“And I’ll repeat, fuck you, Mike –” she started.

Mike cut her off as the cars rolled down the lane. “That’s Bernie McGrath.”

She crossed her arms on her chest. “I know who it is.”

“You haven’t been around The ‘Burg much but that is not a man you do business with,” Mike informed her.

She threw an arm out toward the lane then tucked it back in while saying acidly, “Oh, I see. Mr. McGrath is interested in this land, he’s willing to pay more than fair market value to see his vision come to life and what? Is he a mobster, Mike? Does a small burg in Indiana have the mob crawling through it?”

“You’re all fired up to break up this land, there are others who’d give you a fair deal and understand the rest of the farm is off-limits. It’s been known through these parts by developers that the Hollidays are stayin’ so they long since have left the family be. By entering negotiations to make a deal with the devil, you opened that up to McGrath and put your family at threat,” Mike replied and Debbie rolled her eyes then rolled them back.

“Bullshit drama,” she snapped. “I see Dusty’s rubbing off on you.”

“It isn’t,” Colt put in and Debbie’s eyes sliced to him. “McGrath doesn’t intend to build on a quarter of this land. He doesn’t do small ventures. That amount of land is a parking lot to him. Whatever McGrath’s intentions are, his vision includes this entire farm.”

“Well good,” Debbie fired back, “considering the money he’s offering will make my family very comfortable.”

“You may think you are, but you are not doin’ them any favors,” Sully put in quietly and Debbie transferred her glare to him.

“Explain to me why a sister’s visit to her family home requires four police officers and,” her scathing glance slid over Cal, “whoever he is.” Then her eyes narrowed on Cal and she her memory opened up. “Oh my God. Joe Callahan. Now this is a surprise considering you and that girlfriend of yours would do anything to stay away from cops. Not do ride alongs on Tuesday mornings when real men are working.”

“It’s good she got the business from Mike when they were teenagers ‘cause I’m seein’ she doesn’t get laid very often anymore,” Cal muttered to no one, eyes on Debbie then he addressed her. “Advice. You might wanna see about gettin’ you some. It might improve your disposition.”

Debbie’s face got red.

“Cal, you’re not helping,” Colt murmured.

“Haines got a call from his woman and shot outta the Station like someone yelled fire,” Cal returned. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Colt, shit goes down in this burg and when it does, it tries to drag good women down with it. That happens, it’s all hands on deck.”

Terrific. Cal was throwing down for Dusty.

“I can say as definite you’re not invited to participate in my family’s business, Mr. Callahan,” Debbie stated snidely.

“Knew your brother, not well, but I knew him and respected him,” Cal returned softly and Debbie’s red face immediately paled. “Doesn’t matter how well I knew him, since he died, lotta talk about him around town. Know he’s got two good kids. Know they now gotta look out for their Mom. And know they do not need this shit. You feel this is truly a good idea and have their best interests at heart, you approach them when their Dad isn’t under fresh dirt. You’re doin’ this because you’re alone, bitter about it and your ex-boyfriend has hooked up with your sister, then you got some soul searchin’ to do, woman, before you mark it so deep it sends you straight to hell.”

And there it was. Violet Callahan and her daughters, Kate and Keira might not have managed to modify Joe Callahan’s wardrobe but the man they made it safe for Cal finally to be didn’t need any further modifications.

It was then Mike decided to get things in hand.

“Debbie,” he called and her eyes came to him. “I don’t know how long you’re in town but how about you go somewhere, cool off and you, Dusty and me sit down and talk tonight. Get some things sorted.”

Her color came back and her eyes grew sharp when she declared, “I’ve already got what I want sorted, Mike, and I don’t need to sit down with you and Dusty to sort it or explain it. I think I’ve made my intentions clear.”

“What we need to talk about isn’t Dusty and me. It’s Rhonda, Finley and Kirby,” Mike explained, seeking patience.

“Right, and Dusty’s woven her golden web around you, singing her angel song, dancing her bullshit dance until you’re deaf and blind to anything but what Dusty wants to manipulate you to believe,” she retorted and Mike lost his way to patience so he decided to shut this down.

“Right, you wanna believe that, you’re clearly gonna hold onto it. So do it.”

“I don’t need your permission, Mike Haines,” she returned.

“Well you have it anyway,” Mike muttered. “Now you mind we end this scene?”

She glared at him then proclaimed, “I’ll be wanting to talk to Rhonda before I go back to DC.”

“No way in hell,” Dusty hissed from behind Mike.

“That’s not happening,” Mike stated.

“I don’t need your permission for that either,” Debbie snapped.

“Actually, you do,” Dusty replied.

“What are you going to do? Tie her up in the basement and stand guard with one of Darrin’s shotguns?” Debbie threw at Dusty.

“If I have to,” Dusty tossed back meaning all four words literally.

Christ.

“Why do you have to make everything a pain in the ass?” Debbie asked.

“Why do you have to think that everything’s a pain in your ass simply because you aren’t getting your way?” Dusty asked back.

Debbie’s eyes narrowed, her mouth twisted and the look on her face made Mike brace.

“Darrin’s dead, Dusty. You can’t take care of his weak wife and his two boys to crawl up his ass and try to convince him you’re sugar and spice.”

There it was. The straw and the camel’s back broke.

Dusty went flying down the stairs. Mike caught her at the waist and pulled her back to his front, keeping one arm around her waist tight and wrapping his other one around her chest.

“Go,” Mike growled at Debbie.

“You can’t order me away from my own home,” Debbie bit back.

“He just did,” Dusty pointed out. “And by the way, this ceased being your ‘own home’ the minute you brought developers to the front door conniving to sell it.”

Debbie took them in, lip curled, bitterness not even close to being hidden. Then her eyes focused on Mike.

“God, sick,” she whispered. “Did you use me to get to her because you had a thing for her when she was twelve?”

Mike’s body got tight. Dusty strained to get out of his hold.

Colt moved forward declaring, “Think with that you’re done.”

Her eyes sliced to him. “I haven’t even started.”

“Your prerogative but right now, regardless of the legal hold you got on a quarter of this land, your behavior can be construed as intimidation, threats and harassment,” Colt returned. “You want me to start construing it that way to the point I feel as an officer of the law I need to do somethin’ about it, you keep standin’ there diggin’ your hole. You wanna cut your losses now so you can fight another day, you get in your rental and leave them be.”

Debbie held Colt’s eyes then hers moved through the men standing in the front yard of her childhood home and finally they settled on Mike and Dusty. They stayed there while her face worked.

Then, having spewed what venom she had, she turned and walked away.

Motionless, five men and Dusty watched her go.

When her car was halfway down the lane, Mike called to the men, “Give me a minute.”

He got chin jerks and the men drifted away.

He turned Dusty in his arms and tipped his chin down to see her eyes were already on him.

“Where’s Rhonda?” he asked.

“Grocery,” she answered.

“She gets home, you sit on her. No calls. No visits. From anybody,” he ordered.

She stared at him closely for a moment then she nodded.

“Okay. Now where are we with your Dad?” Her eyes slid away. Shit. “Procrastinating,” he muttered.

“Mike –”

“Call your Dad.”

“Babe –”

He gave her a squeeze. “Call…” He squeezed harder. “Your…” He dipped his face close to hers. “Dad.”

“Oh all right,” she mumbled.

Then he watched something shear through her face, something that was difficult to witness before she dropped her chin and did a face plant in his chest.

“This is about me,” she whispered.

She had it half right.

Mike bent his neck and pressed his cheek to the hair at the side of her head.

“This is about you and me,” she went on.

There she had it.

“I knew it, when she saw us after the funeral, lost it, the way she lost it. I knew it. And I knew it because it was way worse than ever before.” She heaved a sigh. “She always hated me. Now she’s latched onto a reason that’s real and she’s never gonna let it go. And she doesn’t care what collateral damage she creates.”

“That reason isn’t real, Dusty.”

She turned her head slightly and Mike didn’t lift his so her face was less than an inch away. His gut got tight at the pain stark in her eyes.

She wanted to love her sister and she didn’t understand bitterness. She got on with life. Hell, she’d even been molested by Denny Lowe, survived, dealt with it and put it behind her. She did not get Debbie. But she felt the pain of losing a sister every time this shit happened.

“She’s seventeen or she’s forty, Mike, you’re the type of guy a girl does not want to lose. Not even the memory of what had been. We’ve tarnished what she’s held golden for years.”

“If she wasn’t such a bitch, honey, she’d have something more than money to fill that hole I left that she clearly never filled. That’s on her. Do not take any of this shit on you. She was fuckin’ seventeen when I broke it off with her. She holds onto that, onto me, thinkin’ she can lay claim when decades have passed and she doesn’t even live in the same goddamn state, you gotta get that…is…whacked.”

He watched her eyes work then her mouth moved then he got a partial smile before he got a soft, “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” he whispered.

She sighed again.

Then he watched her brows lift and she said, “Your, uh…Violet is married to Joe Callahan?”

“Yeah,” he repeated.

“Didn’t he marry his high school girlfriend and then she –?”

Mike cut her off with another, “Yeah.”

“Whoa,” she breathed. “Shit like that breaks a man.”

“He was broken all right. Vi fixed him.”

“Clearly quite a woman,” she muttered.

“I had a fifteen year lesson to settle for nothin’ less,” Mike muttered back.

Her face grew suddenly soft and something sweet flashed in her eyes.

And the pain was gone.

Mike grinned.

She continued, “Darrin told me Alec Colton and February Owens finally pulled their fingers out.”

“That would be Alec and February Colton who have a son named Jack so, yeah to that too.”

“That’s cool,” she whispered. “Finally.”

She was not wrong about that. Still, he didn’t know the particulars so he couldn’t do the math but he was thinking he waited for Dusty longer than Colt waited to have February.

“Uh, you gonna introduce me to your boys?” she prompted.

“This would require me ending our huddle. And the reason I got a chance to have this huddle fuckin’ sucks but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it now I got it,” he returned and got a grin.

“This is true,” she muttered, her arms around him getting tighter telling him she wanted to let go as much as he did. Which was to say, not at all.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’ll survive.”

“You call your Dad, minute I leave. Then we need a powwow.”

She nodded.

“I’ll feel the kids out and you’re back for dinner.”

She nodded again then asked, “You like sandwiches for lunch?”

He felt his brows draw together as he answered, “Yeah.”

“How do you feel about eating them in your bed? Walk’s short for me, I’ll meet you there and bring the sandwiches.”

At that, his arms got tighter.

“I’ll be careful with crumbs,” she whispered.

“Sweetheart, by the time I get from the Station to home and then have to get back on the road to get back to work, we’ll have half an hour.”

“I’ll wrap your sandwiches up. You can take them with you.”

Lunchtime quickie.

He could do that. Fuck yes, he could do that.

“Works for me.”

That got him a smile.

Then the smile faded and her eyes, already holding his, locked tight.

“You dropped everything, shot out here to take care of me. That doesn’t say dirty, that says sweet. But it’s your payback so you get to pick.”

Fuck, it was like she wanted to make his dick hard.

“I’ll decide at lunch,” he said and got the smile back.

“If I don’t let you go, they might be moved to call for the jaws of life to pry us apart,” she told him.

He laughed softly before he replied, “Then I best introduce you to my boys.”

“Yeah,” she whispered.

He leaned in and took her mouth. Too short but his lips left hers with the taste of her on them.

It would work in a pinch.

Then he separated from her and walked her across the yard to introduce her to his boys.

And while he did it, Mike Haines experienced something profound. Watching Dusty with her hair in a messy knot, cowboy boots on her feet, a slit in the knee of her jeans and a gorgeous smile on her face, his arm around her, he did it proud.

Audrey was pretty. When he met her, she was funny. When he made her his, he thought he was happy. But even back then, when she stood at his side, he didn’t feel lucky.

Watching Dusty charm his boys with a natural ease that was all her, he felt both.

Proud and lucky.

Merry at his side, Mike driving the unit on the way back to the Station from the farmhouse, Merry muttered, “McGrath. Not good.”

“No,” Mike agreed.

“Haven’t shined my crystal ball in a while,” Merry remarked.

“Don’t ‘spect you need to,” Mike replied.

He knew from his voice Merry had turned to face him when he asked, “How do you think he’ll come at them? Money?”

Mike nodded. “He’ll try that first. But Dusty’ll stake herself to that land before she’ll allow Fin to lose his birthright. And that’s just Dusty. No tellin’ what her Dad’ll do.”

He knew Merry had turned to face forward when he asked, “They got a weak spot?”

“Boys’ Mom isn’t fighting fit, never was, never will be and Darrin’s death brought right out in the open a woman who hid behind a man her entire adult life. She’s a huge target. Way she is, she’s got no business managing their affairs but both boys are minors so she does. McGrath gets to her, he’ll hit a bulls-eye.”

“Fuck,” Merry mumbled.

“Yeah,” Mike again agreed.

“How bad does the boy want the farm?”

“Bad enough, he got wind of this shit, made one call to his aunt, she put her life on hold and moved home to take his back.”

“Works for you.”

“Wasn’t the reason she came home.”

“Still, works for you. And seein’ as it works for you, that works for him.”

Mike made no reply because this was the truth.

“While you two attempted to become surgically attached at the everything, the boys and me had a chat,” Merry threw out.

“And?” Mike prompted.

“Time to visit Ryker.”

Terrific.

Ryker, if he was in the mood, was an informant of Colt’s. Ryker was known to be a hardass, a badass and not to give a shit about anyone. No allegiances. Ryker was a free agent.

But Ryker’s woman’s daughter got caught up in some recent bad business in town. Shocked the shit out of everybody when Ryker made it clear he was prepared to lay the smackdown for her. In an effort to do this, he wheedled his way in and worked the case with Tanner Layne. More shock on the heels of that as Ryker and Tanner got tight.

However he did it, Ryker knew everything that was happening on the west side of Indianapolis, primarily Speedway, The ‘Burg and their satellites. Ryker would know about McGrath and his movements and if he didn’t, he’d find out.

Still, Ryker only traded information for money or markers and only if he was feeling sassy. He was a pain in the ass. And he was not a man you wanted to owe a marker.

Mike thought of the farm he spent time at as a teen. How he liked it. The tranquility of it. The quiet pride the family took in its commonplace beauty. He thought of the times he sat on his balcony and saw Darrin with Fin and Kirb out working that land. And he thought of sandwiches in his bed with Dusty.

And he decided he didn’t mind so much owing Ryker a marker.

“Now I know you got balls, doin’ the dirty on Dusty then callin’ my ass.”

This was how Hunter Rivera answered Mike’s call.

Mike didn’t exchange pleasantries. Instead he informed Rivera, “LeBrec phoned her.”

“Uh…I know.”

“Pardon?”

“Dude got wasted. Totally. Hammered. Shitfaced. Blotto. Loaded. Wrecked. The dude was so polluted, he was pickled. And seein’ as he was in that state, he had no problems sharin’ with anyone who would listen at Schub’s that he’d called his woman while some asshole was in the act of doin’ her and didn’t mind sharin’ that. He also shared how he intended to get his ass up to Indiana to kick this asshole’s ass and take hold of his woman. And seein’ as it was a Friday night, Schub’s was packed, there were a lotta people there to listen.”

Fuck.

Fuck!

Rivera went on, “You got the touch, bro, layin’ her shit out then talkin’ Dusty around in a night, cementin’ that shit by sendin’ her flowers. One day, my woman is plotting your murder. Next day, I get asked why she doesn’t get any flowers. I see you got it goin’ on. But fuck, you’re killin’ me. I haven’t bought Jerra flowers since I pissed her off when we were datin’ and fell asleep durin’ some crappy-ass movie she forced me to take her to sayin’ that movie was Hollywood’s version of us. How could I fall asleep watching the story of us, she asks. And, bro, if that was us, we are borin’ as shit. Now, I got LeBrec all riled up ‘cause you’re up in Indiana doin’ the nasty and don’t mind takin’ a call. Fuck.”

“He can’t come to Indiana,” Mike informed him.

“What you want me to do? Sit on him?” Rivera asked.

“Shit just got ugly with the farm. Dusty had a hand full dealin’ with a house full of grief and a bitch of a sister. Now the sister has located a buyer for her quarter of the land who likes to build and he likes it a lot. To build, you gotta have land. And it’s a little sketchy how he changes the minds of farmers who’ve held onto their land for five generations including through the farm crisis, convincing them suddenly to up stakes and walk away.”

He knew Rivera got him when he muttered, “Fuck.”

“So the answer to your question is, yeah. You sit on him. You tranq him. You shoot him. I don’t give a fuck what you do. But you keep that asshole away from Dusty.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Rivera replied. “My mission fails, I’ll keep my ear to the ground and give you a head’s up he’s comin’ your way.”

“Appreciated,” Mike murmured.

“Right, business out of the way, what I say next is not about Jerra. Dusty’s her girl but she’s also mine. Straight up, I saw the devastation you wrought. I won’t explain it but I hope you get it. I don’t wanna see my girl down here in that state again. You get me?”

“It’s history.”

“I need to know you get me.”

“And I think you know from me callin’ you when I know you know all this shit that I do.”

There was silence then a quiet, “I do. Balls of steel, man. Fuck.” Then, not in a mutter, “You get her in your bed permanent-like, you make her happy. Losin’ her to Indiana will be to Jerra like cuttin’ off a limb. And I gotta listen to her moan about the pain.”

“Pardon?” Mike asked.

“Heard all about it,” Rivera shared. “She likes your townhome. The rooms are spacious. The kitchen’s nice. Some shit about a dog. Lotsa shit about two great kids. Dusty does dogs and kids but she does not do townhomes. That shit means it isn’t about the townhome but the man in it. Far’s I know, she lived with one man. LeBrec. And he moved his ass into her house. She’s extolling the virtues of a townhome, this means one thing.”

Rivera shut up and Mike was silent.

“Oh shit. Fuck me,” River whispered. “Let the cat outta the bag. Now you’re freaked and gonna bolt.”

“No. I absolutely am not,” Mike replied, his voice hard.

Rivera shut up again.

She liked his house. She liked his dog. He already knew she liked his kids.

Fuck, she liked his house.

When Rivera didn’t speak, Mike did.

“I think we’re done.”

“Head’s up, bro. Kids got spring break comin’ soon. Guess where we’re headed?” Rivera asked.

“To donuts,” Mike answered.

“Bet your ass, man.”

“My advice. Fast for at least a week. You’ll want plenty of room.”

He heard Rivera’s laughter before he heard, “No shit. She brought us a dozen after you dumped her ass. You knew what you lost, didn’t delay in gettin’ it back, you’re both gettin’ it regular, obviously, so we expect two.”

“My take, I owe you ten.”

“I like your take better. We’ll swing with that. Later, bro.”

“Later.”

Mike disconnected and stared, unseeing at his desk.

She liked his house.

He shoved his phone in his back pocket as he stood.

He caught Merry’s eyes.

“Lunch,” he muttered.

Merry jerked up his chin.

Mike walked out of the Station and he did it grinning.

Violet Callahan laid in the dark with her cheek against her husband’s shoulder.

“Bare feet?” she whispered and Joe’s arm around her got tight.

He remembered. Then again, no way he’d forget.

“Yeah, got to the house, she was standin’ outside, no jacket, bare feet. Her bitch of a sister was geared up to throw down, men in the yard one look at his face, I knew Haines did not like and still, first thing Haines did was make her go in the house and put on a jacket and shoes.”

Bare feet.

Violet smiled.

Then she asked quietly, “Is she pretty?”

“Fuck yeah.”

Vi’s smile got bigger. “That pretty?”

“Oh yeah.”

Vi kept smiling. Then it faded.

“Does he seem happy?” she whispered.

“Got a call from her, listened for a second and he was outta his chair and headin’ to the stairs. Don’t know if that’s happy, buddy. Do know he gives a shit.”

“I suppose that’s good,” she muttered.

“Nothin’ to suppose. It just is.”

Joe was right. It was. She knew it, that feeling. She’d had it three times, men in her life who would listen for a second, know you needed them, drop everything and head straight to the door.

Mike Haines was one of those three men.

Mike had that now. Mike would like having that to give. This was good.

Violet sighed.

Surprisingly, Joe wasn’t done sharing.

“Throw down was over, the bitch sister took a hike, Mike and his woman huddled. They mighta been talkin’ strategy but they did it so close it was a wonder they didn’t fuse.”

Vi smiled again.

This was good too.

Then her smile again died.

“She have trouble?”

“While Mike and his woman talked, so did the boys. I listened. Brace, babe. Shit’s about to get ugly.”

This was bad.

“How ugly?”

“Ugly enough that Mike and his woman want it or not, today, they added four men to their legion.”

Joe was going to take Mike’s back.

Vi’s body melted into her husband.

“You back off,” he ordered.

Vi’s body went stiff.

“What?”

“She knows about you, Mike, me. She was cool with me but Mike laid it out she’s not ready for you. She just lost her brother. Impression I got, she’s hurtin’ and not just knowin’ shit’s goin’ down with her family’s land. You and your girls, you all back off. You wait for me to give the all-clear.”

“She knows?”

“Yep.”

Not good.

“She lost her brother?” Vi whispered.

Joe’s arm grew tight and his voice got low, “Vi –”

“All right. All right. I’ll wait for the all-clear.”

She gave in but she didn’t like it.

Violet was curious, sure.

But she’d also lost a brother. Vi knew how that felt.

“Can we stop talkin’ about Mike Haines?” Joe asked.

She smiled again then whispered, “Okay, Joe.”

His arm got tight again, this time with intent, pulling her closer to him.

“Thinkin’ it’s time to make another baby, Vi.”

She stopped smiling but forced herself to do it. Inside, she still was.

This was because this wasn’t the first time Joe informed her he was thinking about this. Approximately one week after she gave him their daughter Angela, he started sharing these same thoughts.

“Already gave you one, Joe.”

“Want a boy this time.”

Vi rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think my womb produces boys,” she informed him.

“We’re gonna see.”

“Joe –”

He rolled into her, she saw his face and even in the dark she saw the determination.

“We’re gonna see,” he repeated firmly, his voice a rumble.

Yes, they were definitely going to see.

“All right, after my next period, I’ll go off the pill,” she agreed.

“Too late. I dumped what you got in the toilet before comin’ to bed.”

She blinked at him through the dark.

Then she burst out laughing but she stopped abruptly because her husband’s mouth came down on hers hard and, just like Joe, he did not delay in getting busy practicing to make more babies.

Though, truthfully, he needed no practice.

He was already an expert.