Golden Trail

Chapter Twenty-One Don’t Get Dead

She moved against him, he felt her sliding up and both his arms went around her.

He turned his head just in time for her lips to hit his.

But she didn’t kiss him.

Instead, she whispered, “This is the beginning.”

His eyes opened, looking into hers.

“Yeah, baby,” he whispered back and watched her eyes darken, sorrow and fear mixing in them before she went on.

“The beginning of the end.”

Then his arms were empty.

She was gone.

Layne’s eyes opened, his body tense, and he stared at the ceiling.

Rocky was dead asleep against him, her arm a heavy weight on his gut, her knee cocked, thigh on his, he could feel her hair on his chest.

It was a dream.

“Christ,” he whispered, his hand moving up her back, fingers sliding in her thick, soft hair.

She didn’t rouse, didn’t even move, didn’t make a noise. She was out.

He turned his head to the side and looked at the clock. It was 6:29. She didn’t wake him early this time.

He was still looking at the clock when the digits changed and the buzzer sounded loud. Rocky’s body twitched then she pulled up to an elbow, her other hand going to her hair and moving it from her face.

“An alarm,” she whispered into the dark room. “God, I forgot what that sounded like.” Then she plopped back down, landing on his chest, her arm going back around him and curling tight as Layne’s arm moved out to hit the off button. “Can we snooze?”

Layne hit the snooze button instead, the buzzer died and he replied, “Yeah, baby, when do you need to get up?”

“Quarter to,” she muttered, snuggling into him.

Layne was surprised; she was always out of bed early, considering it took her an age to get ready. Maybe she had a late start today.

“Quarter to seven?” he asked, just to be sure.

“Six,” she mumbled.

“Baby, it’s already six thirty,” he replied and her body tensed, she shot back up to her elbow and peered at the clock.

“Fuck!” she hissed, threw the covers back and crawled over him. “Fuck!” she repeated and darted from the bed.

“Roc,” he called as she raced across his room.

“I’m late!” she cried, the bathroom light went on and she disappeared.

Layne didn’t move. He lay in bed trying to shake off the dream.

It was nothing, he told himself. Just a dream. It wasn’t surprising he had it. Things were good, Rocky was back, he was happy but he’d had that before and it had gone bad before. He knew that subconsciously just as much as consciously. It would fuck with his head and it was. He had to find a way to sort her out and until then he just had to deal.

He was out of bed and tugging on a pair of pajama bottoms when he heard the faucet go on in the bathroom and he headed that way.

Rocky was in his tee, her hair in a messy knot at the top of her head, standing at his sink brushing her teeth.

He leaned against the arched doorway, her neck twisted and her eyes came to his.

“Do me a favor?” he asked, her eyebrows went up but she kept brushing and he went on. “Kiss me before you leave my bed.”

She took the toothbrush out of her mouth as her brows drew together. “Wha? Why?” she asked, her mouth full of foam.

“Just do me that favor,” he answered.

She stared at him a second, bent and spit then looked back at him. “You okay?”

He gave it to her honest. “My dream wasn’t so good this morning.”

Layne watched some of the color run out of her face. “What?”

“My dream, about you, it wasn’t so good this morning.”

Her gaze didn’t leave him for three beats then she turned, bent over the faucet, rinsed out her mouth, turned off the faucet and grabbed the towel from the holder. She wiped her mouth and dried her hand then came to him. She put a hand on his chest and leaned in.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Sweetcheeks, you’re late,” he reminded her.

“Yeah,” she replied but didn’t move except to fit herself to his front and curl the fingers of her other hand at his waist. “What happened?”

Layne put both hands to her hips. “You gotta get a move on.”

“In a minute, tell me about the dream.”

“It’s just a dream.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Rocky.”

“Layne.”

He looked down at her seeing she was prepared to go into stare down if she had to therefore his arms curved around her, one staying at her waist, the other one drifting up her back, her exposed neck, to glide his fingers in her pulled up hair.

“You woke me up, in the dream, to tell me it was the beginning of the end,” he told her.

Her eyes stayed locked to his then her chin dipped and she pressed her forehead against his chest.

His hand cupped the back of her head. “It’s just a dream.”

“I did that,” she told his chest.

“What?”

She tipped her head back again and repeated, “I did that.”

“Did what?”

Instead of answering his question, she informed him, “That freaked you out.”

“Like I said, Roc, it’s just a dream.”

“Right,” she whispered, her hand at his waist curling around his back and her hand at his chest sliding up so she could wrap her fingers around his neck. “Just a dream that made you get that look you’ve got right now and tell me to kiss you before I get out of bed.”

“Not an odd request, sweetcheeks.”

“I’ve been waking up next to you awhile, Layne, you’ve not made it before.”

“Until this morning, I didn’t need to.” And this was true. He’d fucked her every morning she’d been back in his bed for real, and the one he’d woken up in hers, excepting the morning his mother had come calling.

She held his eyes and didn’t respond. Then she lifted up on her toes and touched her mouth to his.

She moved back barely an inch to whisper, “I’ll kiss you before I leave your bed, sweetheart. Promise.”

“Thanks, baby,” he whispered back.

Her arm and hand gave him a squeeze, she lifted up to touch her mouth to his again then she pulled away and moved to the faucet.

Layne watched her start to wash her face, his eyes moving around the basin, seeing all her stuff scattered there. All of her stuff around his sink. She didn’t claim the other one, she used his.

Or you hold it so close, it can’t ever go away but, if it does, you got as many precious memories as you can bag. Devin had said.

You hold it so close…

You hold it so close…

Rocky rinsed her face, Layne still watching, knowing, using his sink instead of claiming her own, it was one of the ways Rocky was holding him close, being at his sink, around his shit, just his toothbrush, his razor, but she was holding him close, even with little shit like that.

Holding him close.

He let that settle and, doing it, he let the after effects of the troubling dream slide away. He moved in behind her and kissed the skin at the nape of her neck.

Then he went to the toilet.

He opened the door to the Suburban just as his phone rang. He jumped down and held the door for Blondie to trundle out behind him as he pulled the phone out of his pocket, looked at the display, flipped it open and put it to his ear.

“Hey sweetcheeks,” he greeted.

It was third period time; she had it free so she could make calls. Even so, he was mildly surprised to get one since this was the first time she’d called since that day he’d visited her at the school to tell her what he found out about Gaines.

“Hey baby,” she whispered back in a breathy voice.

Hearing it, Layne decided that the next favor he was going to ask of her was that she call him on her free period every day.

But he’d do it later. Now, he wanted to know why she was calling.

He slammed the door to his truck and, with Blondie beside him, he walked up the sidewalk toward Mimi’s.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Just wanted to tell you that the girls are having a Bachelor Auction Powwow tomorrow afternoon at my apartment. Is that cool with you?”

“Yeah, you comin’ over after?”

“No, I thought I’d make you dinner at my place and you can stay the night with me.”

He smiled into the phone as he opened the door to Mimi’s and walked in, leaving Blondie outside. “Works for me.”

“Anything special you want?” she asked.

“Surprise me,” he answered.

“I can do that,” she replied.

“Just a sec, sweetcheeks,” Layne said into the phone then ordered from one of Mimi’s employees, a kid with three piercings in her bottom lip, two in her nose, one in her eyebrow and she had pink hair.

Layne didn’t understand piercing nor did he find it attractive and it went without saying that pink hair was not his gig but this kid had made him coffee before and she was even better at it than Meems, which was saying something. She also had a great smile and she learned his name early and used it whenever she had occasion to do so, making him feel a member of the Mimi’s Coffee House Family. This was a nice touch and the way she did it was real, not ingratiating. Therefore, he found he liked her hair and didn’t mind the piercings because under all that shit was a genuine person, not one who wanted attention but just one who got off on that shit.

To each their own.

He went back to Rocky after got his, “What’ll it be this time, Tanner?” he’d placed his order and as he pulled out his wallet to pay.

“You get to work on time?” he asked Raquel.

“Ten minutes late but no one noticed since Adrian was in and cleaning out his office with Principal Klausen and Nick Fullerton in attendance so everyone was jabbering about that.”

“You see him?” Layne asked.

“No, Sharon told me about it then I went to my room. I’m thinking avoiding Adrian Cosgrove is a good strategy.”

There she was, his good girl.

“You’d be right,” he told her.

“Did you set a meeting with one of the boys?”

He had, with Colt. Merry still wasn’t returning his calls even though the subject of his messages had changed. Dave now also wasn’t picking up, even on the home phone which didn’t have caller ID and this meant he was making it his mission to avoid Layne. So it was Colt and it was also a study in patience not to hunt the Merrick men down and get in their faces.

“Colt, he’s comin’ to my office in half an hour,” Layne answered.

“Good,” Rocky replied.

Layne had paid and was standing at the other end of the counter waiting for his coffee when he heard Blondie bark three times and his head turned to the door to see Ryker come in. And it was a Ryker with a serious look on his face and this look was aimed with pinpoint precision at Layne.

Layne held Ryker’s eyes as Ryker stalked through the coffee shop toward him.

“Baby, gotta go,” Layne said into the phone. “Ryker’s here.”

“Oh, okay,” she replied. “Are we still going to the game tonight?”

“Yeah,” Layne answered. “I’ll pick you up. Get a snack, sweetcheeks, we’re havin’ pizza and beer at your place after.”

“Oh, okay,” she repeated, this time softer, breathy again. She remembered weeks ago, she liked what they shared weeks ago, she wanted it back and she wanted it to have a different ending, just like him.

“We gotta talk,” Ryker growled, he’d made it to Layne, he was impatient and Layne nodded.

“Be at your place at seven,” Layne said to Rocky.

“All right, sweetheart, see you then,” Rocky replied.

“Later, baby.”

“Later.”

He flipped his phone shut, shoved it into his pocket and asked Ryker, “You want a coffee?”

“We gotta talk,” Ryker repeated.

Layne studied him until his coffee was up; he grabbed it and led the way out of Mimi’s. Blondie barked at Ryker again but followed close to Layne the short distance to his office, not taking her eyes off Ryker and not leaving her man. She didn’t know what to make of Ryker and she wasn’t sure what she was reading from Layne, but she did know what she was reading from Ryker, so she was being vigilant.

Layne let them into his office and he’d barely taken off his coat and settled in his chair, Blondie sitting sentry beside his desk, when Ryker spoke.

He was sitting across from Layne and his posture wasn’t lazy, it was alert to the point of being wired.

“You used to be a cop,” Ryker stated bizarrely, this not being the opening Layne expected, not that he knew what to expect.

“Yeah,” Layne returned guardedly.

“On the ‘burg’s PD,” Ryker growled and Layne studied him a moment before he nodded. “Still close with those pigs?” he asked and Layne’s neck muscles contracted.

“Yeah, Ryker, I am and you already know that. I gave that comment a pass once but head’s up now that I’m not a big fan of my boys bein’ called pigs and I’m not likely gonna give that comment a pass again,” Layne replied softly.

“They’re pigs,” Ryker shot back and Layne leaned forward, not a deep lean, enough to show Ryker he, too, was on alert and he was losing patience.

“I get you’re a badass, Ryker, but this is my place, my office, you show respect here, do you get me?”

Ryker didn’t hesitate before he went on. “One of ‘em in particular.”

Layne stared at him, understanding, and he went hyper-alert.

Then he growled, “Stop fuckin’ around, what’s got you tweaked?”

“My babe’s got a daughter,” he stated.

“And?” Layne prompted.

“Name’s Alexis,” Ryker told him.

Holy fuck.

It was Ryker’s turn to study him and he did, then he nodded. “I think you get why I was willin’ to be all over that shit.”

“Talk to me,” Layne ordered low.

“Yesterday, last night, this mornin’, I was all over that shit,” Ryker said.

“What’d you get?”

“Man and woman, comin’ and goin’, no schedule, but they’re both busy. The Youth Minister and his woman. Though, not sure she’s his woman. They walked to their cars together, no touchin’, just talkin’. He’s either whipped or she’s the one with the balls. He’s not the big man with her, she was the one with the ‘tude. She threw a stick and told him to fetch, he’d run.”

When he stopped talking, Layne urged, “Keep goin’.”

“Late night visit, bro, around eleven thirty, one of the tenants of The Brendel took a walk.”

Layne’s entire body got tight but he didn’t say a word.

He didn’t have to, he knew it when Ryker stated, “You get me.”

He got him. Rutledge.

Rutledge went to church every Sunday. Rutledge lived at The Brendel. Gaines acted like he was untouchable because he was, he had a dirty cop in his pocket, or, more to the point, whoever the woman was, she did.

Ryker leaned forward. “You tell your boys at the pig factory about this shit, you got problems… with me. This shit we work, you and me,” he lifted a big hand and motioned between the two of them, “the cops aren’t in this.”

“Only dirty cop in that Department is the one you saw.”

“You sure about that?” Ryker asked.

“Yeah,” Layne answered.

“Well, I’m not,” Ryker returned. “My guess, that shit comes down from the top.”

“The Captain?” Layne asked.

“He’s so dirty, he stinks.”

“He’s not dirty, Ryker, he’s ambitious, blinded by it.”

“Like I said, dirty,” Ryker retorted.

Layne rolled his chair to the desk, leaned his forearms into it and laid it out. “This is my investigation. I don’t like partners, especially partners who keep shit from me, like their woman’s daughter bein’ a favorite of the guy I’m investigating. That said, I’ll work with one when it suits me. Even though it’s uncool you kept that shit from me, workin’ with you suits me. Needless to say, seein’ as I don’t like partners, I don’t like men takin’ over my investigations. I got shit invested in this, I got a plan, we’re workin’ this my way.”

“You got a girl who’s got that assclown under her skin?” Ryker shot back and before Layne could answer, Ryker did it for him. “No, you don’t. My babe’s worried but she don’t wanna upset Alexis. Alexis’s Dad is a dickhead. Always cancellin’ on his weekends, breaks Alexis’s heart. He pays child support about once every six months, if Lissa’s lucky. She don’t have a lot and she can’t give Alexis a lot but she works her ass off to give her what she can and that means Alexis don’t see her Mom much either. Alexis likes this Youth Group, she likes this guy and has friends there. Alexis hasn’t found much she likes. Lissa wants her to have what she wants. We been talkin’ ‘bout that shit and she’s been callin’ me down but I been meanin’ to look into it for awhile. Now, I’m lookin’ into it.”

Layne got where Ryker’s woman Lissa was coming from and also where Ryker was coming from.

Even so, it didn’t matter. “You shouldn’t have hesitated, now it’s too late, the wheels are in motion and both my boys are caught up in it and I’m not gonna have you jack them up.”

Ryker stared at him then sat back and whispered, “Cosgrove.”

“Come again?” Layne asked.

“Alexis has a date tonight, her first, with Seth Cosgrove. You set that up?”

Layne didn’t answer.

“Only thing would get her out from under that fuckwad is Cosgrove. Alexis won’t shut up about him. She thinks that Youth Minister is the shit but she thinks the sun shines outta Seth Cosgrove’s ass,” Ryker told him.

“Lissa religious?” Layne asked.

“She prays but she don’t pray to a God in a house that let a jackal in,” Ryker answered.

“Then she needs to suck it up. You and I both know that is not a good place for Alexis to be. Alexis freaks, she freaks, but get your woman to pull her daughter’s ass outta there,” Layne advised.

“That ain’t gonna work, Alexis is a handful.”

“Then you step in.”

“Not my place.”

“You bangin’ her Mom?” Layne asked and Ryker’s jaw got tight.

“Not my place,” Ryker repeated.

“How long you been bangin’ her Mom?” Layne pushed.

“Bro,” Ryker leaned in warningly, “not my place.”

Layne held his angry gaze and said quietly, “Don’t give me that badass bullshit. You care about this kid, you didn’t, you wouldn’t have spent the time you spent surveilling Gaines’s apartment. What you’re doin’ isn’t for Lissa so much as it’s for Alexis, you know it, I know it, you deny it, I’m tellin’ you that’s bullshit. She doesn’t have a Dad? Be a true badass, Ryker, and give her one by protectin’ her from what you and I both know is some seriously bad shit.”

Ryker glared at him but didn’t answer.

So Layne continued. “I call the moves on this investigation. You make the moves I call. You don’t then you go it alone, but I’m tellin’ you right now, you fuck up what I got goin’ on and you put my boys’ asses further out there than they already are, we got problems.” Layne paused then whispered, “I’m not someone you mess with, Ryker. I think you already get that and my guess is that you don’t want a demonstration of why. Do not make me demonstrate why. Clear?”

Ryker kept glaring at him but still didn’t answer.

“I got a meet with Colt in about fifteen minutes. Girls are on the line and we got no choice but to go in hard at every angle we can manage. Colt isn’t stupid and he knows what’s happening in his Department. He’ll take care of that. Now, you got two jobs, one is to do what I tell you to do and the other one is to get your woman’s daughter outta that mess. You with me?” Ryker didn’t respond so Layne prompted, “I need to know you’re with me.”

Ryker hesitated only a beat before he grunted, “I’m with you.”

“Then you stay for the meet with Colt. You need to know all that’s goin’ down but you’re gonna hear shit that doesn’t leave this office. I find out it leaves this office then I’ll know who shared and that is not gonna make me happy.”

“Think I’m done with you threatenin’ me, bro,” Ryker growled.

“Got two boys, a woman, a dog and nearly three months ago I took three bullets because of this shit,” Layne said softly and Ryker’s brows went up. “Yeah, you heard about it. Two and two are makin’ four and I mean that for both of us. Now, you think I’m gonna go through that again, put my boys and woman through that again, you think wrong. I’ll do what I gotta do to prevent that. So, boilin’ that down, big man, I’m not makin’ threats.”

Ryker stared at him. Layne sat back, grabbed his coffee off the desk and took a sip.

When he put the coffee back to his desk, Ryker spoke.

“One thing,” he said.

“Yeah?” Layne asked when he said no more.

“Cosgrove better be into her. This is just a mission and he leaves her crushed –”

Layne interrupted him and fought back a grin. He couldn’t have been sure Ryker was doing what he was doing for Alexis rather than the best head he ever had that he got from her Mom. Now he knew this was for Alexis. He also knew what kind of man Ryker was.

“My boys understand there’s no collateral damage. They’ll have briefed Seth. Jasper would have found another way to steer her clear if he thought Seth wasn’t into her. That means Seth is into her.”

“He better be,” Ryker returned.

“Relax, brother, he is.”

Ryker glared at him some more. Then he nodded.

Then Layne said, “You got just about enough time to get a coffee from Mimi before Colt gets here.”

“Don’t drink that fancy-ass shit,” Ryker stated.

Layne took another sip.

“You’re missin’ out,” he muttered after his sip.

Ryker looked at Blondie. “Fuck me, bro, a badass who drinks sissy coffee and owns a yellow lab.” His eyes came back to Layne, his attitude shut down and he grinned his ugly grin. “Gotta say, impressed you could pull that off.”

Layne put his cup down and pulled his phone out of his pocket, suggesting, “Maybe you should get Alexis a puppy.”

Ryker sat back and stretched his legs out in front of him, still grinning, the showdown was over, Layne was again his bud and Layne relaxed in his chair.

“They already got three cats and two hamsters. Don’t need no dog,” Ryker told him.

Layne flipped his phone open, scrolled down to Devin, hit go and looked at Ryker, muttering, “Your call.”

“What?” Devin answered in his ear.

“Give me Marissa Gibbon’s cell number,” Layne replied.

“Why?” Devin barked.

“Just do it, old man, I’ll brief you later,” Layne told him.

Devin sighed then gave him the number that Layne wrote down on a legal pad on his desk.

“Boys are with Gabby for the week and I’m at Roc’s the next two nights,” Layne told his friend.

“I’ll inform the President,” Devin replied then disconnected.

Layne grinned at his desk then punched Marissa Gibbon’s number in his phone.

“Marissa Gibbons?” Ryker asked as Layne’s thumb hit the buttons.

“I’ll tell you later,” Layne murmured and put his phone to his ear.

“This is the last time we meet,” Layne said to Colt who was sitting by Ryker in his office, his fingers toying with the flash drive with Gaines’s pictures that Layne gave him. “If they haven’t already, Rutledge, Gaines and the woman are gonna start bein’ more vigilant and they don’t need to see you comin’ and goin’ from my office.”

Colt nodded and leaned forward. “Copy that but I gotta know, man, why am I here and Merry isn’t?”

“Merry and I got family issues,” Layne answered, Colt’s brows went up and Layne felt Ryker’s gaze grow intense.

“Rocky?” Colt asked.

“Yep,” Layne answered.

“Somethin’ I can do?” Colt offered.

“Can you pry Merry or Dave’s heads outta their asses?”

Colt smiled. “Probably not.”

“Then no, there’s nothin’ you can do,” Layne answered.

Colt leaned back but kept Layne’s gaze. “We’re goin’ hard means you’re swingin’ your ass back out there again.”

“Had the head’s up to beat all head’s up on that, brother, this time, also got backup,” Layne replied, jerking his head to Ryker.

Colt didn’t even look at Ryker. Colt was undecided about how he felt about Ryker.

Therefore he said, “Stay sharp.”

Then he stood, glanced through Ryker and walked out the door.

Layne stood too, picking his keys up from the desk, he walked to his storage room, Blondie following him.

“You think he’s gonna be able to keep his shit quiet?” Ryker asked Layne’s back as Layne unlocked the storage room door.

“You live in this ‘burg,” Layne said by way of response.

Ryker didn’t like that response and told him. “Was that an answer?”

Layne opened the door and turned to Ryker. “This is a small town but shit goes down in a small town just like in the big cities. It might not be as relentless, but people steal, people deal, people rape, people beat their wives and kids. Colt and his woman caught the attention of a sick fuck who obsessed on both of them since high school and ended up hackin’ through people in four states. He took that guy down and saved three lives. He knows his shit. I think he can keep our investigation of a dirty cop quiet.”

Ryker nodded.

Layne walked into the storage closet, turned on the light and started sorting through his collection of bugs while Blondie sniffed the corners.

“Have you seen this fuckin’ guy?” Devin asked in his ear.

Layne was standing outside Conesco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, his dog sitting next to him, breathing heavy, her tongue hanging out, her nose pointing in the direction of anyone who walked by. He was leaning against his truck which was parked three cars down from a yellow Corvette.

“You can trust him,” Layne told Devin, referring to Ryker.

Layne had talked to Ryker and given him the equipment. Then he’d called Devin and briefed him about what he was going to be doing that day. He had not, however, shared much about who he was doing it with.

“This is a delicate operation and this guy is a fuckin’ bull, as big as one and I bet he snorts like one too. He has no idea what he’s doin’. And, I’ll repeat, he’s a fuckin’ bull. I’d rather go in alone than go in with this guy takin’ my back,” Dev replied.

“You can trust him,” Layne repeated.

“He’s gonna blow the whole thing. It’s impossible for this guy to be invisible.”

“The Brendel has twenty-four seven security, guards patrolling, cameras and he managed to surveil the place for seventeen hours without raisin’ alarms. I think you’re good,” Layne assured.

“I work alone” Devin returned.

“So do I but twice I trusted him and twice he’s not let me down.”

“I don’t like it,” Dev clipped.

“I don’t care. He’s takin’ your back.”

“Boy –”

Layne pulled out the heavy artillery. “His woman’s girl is a favorite of Gaines’s.”

Devin was silent.

Layne kept going. “I want ears in there and I want them in there today. Plant the bugs, get me a goddamned print for them both, get anything else you can get and get the fuck out. He’ll cover you however he’s gotta do that but trust me, old man, he’ll do it.”

There was a moment of silence then, “He doesn’t, you get the blame,” Devin returned then disconnected.

Layne flipped his phone shut and leaned to the side to give Blondie’s head a rub as he shoved it in his pocket.

He was waiting for Marissa Gibbons to finish Pacemate practice. She told him to meet her there. He didn’t like it, it was too open. He didn’t want people to see them together the day after people could have seen her walk out of his office. But she wasn’t going to miss practice and he didn’t have time to wait, so he was meeting her there. Tonight, he’d tell Rocky about her. He’d wanted to avoid doing that, for Roc and for Marissa, but now he had no choice. If Astley hadn’t called off the dogs, that asshole would use anything to get back in with Roc and Layne had to head him off.

The girls came out, all wearing varying degrees of tight workout gear but Marissa came out scanning for him. She saw him, said something to her girls then broke off as the rest of them eyed him. When Blondie saw Marissa was on approach, she got up to all fours and her body went in full wag.

“Cute dog,” Marissa remarked when she arrived, bending to give Blondie a rubdown.

Layne didn’t reply. He kept his gaze to her girls who were finding reasons to hang so they could watch Marissa with who they wrongly assumed was Astley’s replacement.

“Get them to go,” Layne ordered and Marissa straightened.

“What?” she asked.

“Your friends. Get them to go. Now.”

“They’ll eventually –” she started and Layne’s eyes sliced to her.

“I told you over the phone the shit I gotta talk to you about is important. But it’s shit you do not want them to hear. Get them to go.”

“We’ll get in your truck,” she suggested.

“Woman, your ass is not in my truck,” Layne returned, “ever.”

Her head tilted to the side and she smiled at him. Flirting. Fuck.

It didn’t take much to make her want to wander off her chosen path.

“Why?” she asked.

“Do not play with me,” he whispered his warning. “I am not a man who likes to be played. Get… them… to… go.”

She stared at him, she read him then she nodded and turned to her girls, “See you guys later!” she shouted.

The women went from curious to confused as Marissa didn’t get in his truck, didn’t touch Layne, Layne didn’t touch her and she hinted that they should take off. All of them were used to a lot more attention, the kind they wanted and getting it exactly when they wanted it. This confusion turned to concern and they didn’t move.

“Marissa,” Layne growled.

“It’s cool!” she shouted instantly. “This is my cousin’s boyfriend. I’m watching his dog while they go on vacation!”

The women looked at him then at each other then one shouted, “Right, Riss! See you!”

“See you!” Marissa shouted back, there were some waves, more yells and the women headed to their cars.

When the last one slammed her door, Layne turned to Marissa and he didn’t fuck around.

“I need information from your former life,” he announced and he watched her body get tight so he continued. “I would not ask you if it wasn’t important.”

Her face had changed. Today’s flirty gone. Yesterday’s attempt at friendly a memory. She was pissed.

“I see. You find out I sucked dick for the cameras, you got that on me, now I got no choice but to be your rat,” she snapped.

“That’s not the way it is,” Layne told her.

“Looks it to me, asshole,” she shot back.

Layne kept his position, back to the truck and kept his eyes locked to hers. “You read me yesterday, you read me right. Listen to your gut, woman. Like I said, this is important.”

“Yeah, and in a couple weeks, it’ll be important again and then a month later it’ll be important again and I’ll live that shit over and over because you bought yourself a sneak. Well, I’m not a rat and that isn’t my life anymore so you can go fuck yourself.”

She turned to leave and Layne spoke.

“My guess is, there’s a racket in the ‘burg, fourteen, fifteen year old girls, modeling or filming.” She stopped and turned back to him. “It’s either happening now or it’s gonna happen. One thing I know for certain is they’re recruitin’ through the church.”

Marissa stared at him.

“You know anyone into that shit?” Layne asked.

Marissa didn’t speak.

Layne pushed away from the truck but didn’t move toward her.

His voice got soft when he said, “Marissa, I haven’t seen your work, don’t want to, but Dev says you were underage. Who do you know that’s into that shit?”

She looked away but she still didn’t speak.

“A woman,” Layne prompted, “a woman who runs the show.”

Marissa’s eyes snapped back to him, her face had bleached entirely of color and Layne took a step toward her to get into her space.

“They’re recruitin’ from a Youth Group, Marissa. You got anything, you gotta give it to me.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“You can, you don’t want girls travellin’ down that road you were forced to take,” he replied.

“She’s,” Marissa swallowed and leaned into him, “she’s a nasty piece of work, Tanner. Listen to me, do not go there.”

“Let those girls swing?” Layne growled, glaring at her.

“No.” She shook her head and did it hard. “She’ll have a front, a guy, probably not too smart, definitely hot. He lines ‘em up, pulls ‘em in. You take him down, she’ll move on.”

“Not too far considerin’ you know her,” Layne noted. “Means she’s worked Indy at least, what? Ten years?”

“You want your reunion with your sweetheart to last more than a coupla weeks, you steer clear and let the next place she hits deal with her.”

“What do you know about her?” Layne pressed.

“She’s a nasty piece of work,” Marissa repeated.

“What do you know?” Layne pushed it.

“I know you do not want to go there.” She wasn’t giving him anything.

“God damn it, Marissa, what do you know?” Layne bit out.

“I know she’s got two markets but only one she takes real good care of. That one, the girls are fresh and young. Fresh and young. She didn’t want me for that, she wanted me for somethin’ else. I did not like it but I did not do shit about it because I learned early how to stay in one piece. Another girl with me who was in her stable, she wasn’t so smart. This bitch cut that girl up, Tanner, cut her up on the inside. Cut her up so bad, nothin’ll feel good down there. Ever. Not in her life. She did it herself. She didn’t get one of her boys to do it. She did it herself. The girl was thirteen and even after she sliced her, she pimped her.”

“Jesus,” Layne whispered.

“You do not want to go there,” Marissa reiterated.

“How’d you get out?” Layne asked.

“She worked the foster home angle then, got me through that then I hit sixteen, too old for her clientele,” Marissa answered. “I made no trouble, I did my job, I didn’t complain, I gave good head, I did as I was told and she let me loose when she couldn’t use me anymore. Let me loose as in sold me, Tanner. She sold me to the producers who’d work me until I was eighteen. And I got outta that because I give great head, I’ve had enough practice and a lotta men get stupid when they get great head. I wanted a boob job, I asked right before I made him come, I got a boob job. When I wanted to move on, I asked right before I made him come, I got to move on. Then I took off some weight, changed my hair, gave more head to get a new identity… exit Anita Dewmeyer, enter Marissa Gibbons.”

Layne looked over her head and he did this in an effort not to touch her. It wasn’t his place. He didn’t know her. That was not where their relationship could ever go. But he reckoned she’d never been held in an act of kindness, not in her life. And knowing a lot more about her life than he ever wanted to know, none of it good, all of it the worst it could be, he felt compelled to kindness.

He beat back the urge and looked at her.

“I’m sorry, honey,” he whispered, he meant his words and her torso lurched like he’d punched her, sock to the gut.

Nope, Marissa Gibbons hadn’t experienced much kindness.

Layne ignored the look in her eyes that seeped into her face and went on. “If you gave me names, would your ass be out there?”

She sucked in breath and answered quietly, “They found out it was me, my ass would be in the White River.”

“Then get the fuck out of here, now,” Layne returned just as quietly and her look intensified.

“What?” she whispered.

“Go, now. And you let it be known to someone who talks that all you got from me is coachin’ to fuck over Astley. What you do not know is dick about what’s goin’ on in the ‘burg.”

“You…” she paused, took in another breath then asked, “you’re gonna leave it at that?”

“Right now, I’m spread thin. I don’t have the resources to watch your back, not in the short term and not in the long term should something blow back on you and anyone else in that business thinks to fuck with you. So, yeah, I’m gonna leave it at that.”

She held his gaze and she did it too long.

“Go,” he ordered then turned toward his truck.

“Nicolette Towers,” she called and Layne’s head turned to her.

Fuck.

“No more, Marissa,” he warned.

“She’ll be usin’ another name. Her rap sheet, though, will be under Nicolette Towers.”

“Go,” he ordered.

“She likes to play,” Marissa went on and Layne turned to her as his stomach churned.

“Go,” he repeated.

“That’s how you’ll get her. She lets her boy enlist but she’s hands on, Tanner. As hands on as she can get.”

“Honey,” Layne whispered, “go.”

“She buys immunity from local cops. Keeps ‘em happy with money but gets them under her thumb because they like to watch her play. She gets that shit on them, they’ll do anything but she keeps them fat and sassy by puttin’ them on payroll and givin’ them as much of their kink as they can stand. Just for that, they’d do anything for her.”

Layne swallowed the saliva that filled his mouth and growled, “No more, woman, go.”

“She’s got muscle and she’s got firepower. She even thinks you’re gettin’ close, she does damage but she likes a first warning. It’s about power, control. Someone thinks to fuck with her, she likes knowin’ they’re livin’ and knowin’ she got the best of ‘em. They come back after her, they’ll go down.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

“How do you know this shit?” Layne asked.

“I did my job, I didn’t complain, I wasn’t fresh but I was a favorite. She knew I was a survivalist. She knew I would never do what I’m doin’ right now. So she didn’t hide her business from me when she was of a mind to keep me close. And, bein’ a survivalist, I learned to keep quiet and listen. So I did.”

Layne stared at her.

Then he made a decision.

“How tied to Indianapolis are you?” he asked.

“What?” she asked back.

“How do you feel about LA?”

Her lips parted and she stared back.

“Dev’s got a job today,” Layne said. “Tonight, he’s got another one. You make contact, you make a meet, you pick up your new identity tomorrow from Dev. You sell that fuckin’ car and you get your ass to LA. I got a friend out there, he’ll help you get set up and he’ll watch your back until he knows no shit is gonna blow west. You do not check in direct, you check in with him, he’ll get word to me.”

“I got school here,” she stated.

“They got universities in LA,” he returned.

“The Pacemates –”

“Are a memory. You are no longer visible. You do not veer from your path. This shit gets done, you find a decent guy, you give him great head, you get him hooked, you settle and you keep that shit from him. You put your ass on the line for me just now so in return, I’ll give it to you straight. Do not share with him, no matter how decent he is, about Anita Dewmeyer or Marissa Gibbons. You were in the system. You lived a shit life. You had a social worker who showed you the way but other than that, you don’t wanna talk about it. Ever. You wanna look ahead, never behind. You keep him facin’ forward, Marissa, don’t you, and don’t let him, ever look back. But you find you need to talk about that, work things out after this is over, you contact me or Dev. You do not lay that shit on your man. Yeah?”

“If I disappear, especially from the Pacemates, they’ll know –”

Layne cut her off. “I told you, I got a guy who’ll watch your back.”

“He got twelve eyes? Because they can come from all directions,” she returned.

He knew that even better than she did. He got hit with three bullets and each of those bullets came from different guns. Ambush. The only things Marissa had given him were who was behind it and why they didn’t drill a round in his head after he went down.

“You trusted me to do the right thing with that shit you just shared, now trust me to do the right thing by you,” Layne told her.

“I’ve been takin’ care of my –”

He stepped back into her space and she clamped her mouth shut. “I know you have, Marissa, so I know this won’t be easy, since no one has ever looked out for you but I’m not like the trash that’s been twistin’ around you your whole life. You know it. This guy knows what he’s doin’ and if I didn’t think he did then I wouldn’t send you out there.” She’d closed down, he could see it, she was giving him nothing and she wasn’t buying one word he said. That was how terrified she was of what she’d just done. And fear could make you do some seriously stupid shit. So Layne pushed, “Your life just changed. You had an opportunity to turn your back on a bunch of girls you don’t know who’re either livin’ nightmares or goin’ to. You didn’t do that. You did the right thing. Now you leave the wrong life behind and look, the fuck, forward to an entirely new experience.”

She gazed up at him and he knew she was undecided.

So he decided for her.

“Dev doesn’t get a call, you make me hunt you down, which I’ll do, Marissa, no fuckin’ joke, that’ll piss me off. But I got too much to worry about to worry about you and if something happens to you, I’m not livin’ with that on my conscience. So you make me take time out to take you to LA and make you safe, like I said, that’ll piss me off. You don’t wanna piss me off. So, tonight, pick up the phone and call Dev.”

He didn’t know how he got to her but he got to her and he knew that when she whispered, “I’ll call Dev.”

“Eyes and ears open until you reach LA. You don’t turn that ‘vette, just leave it,” Layne pressed.

She nodded.

“Until you’re with my man, you get a bad feeling, you call Dev.”

She nodded again.

“You got friends; they’re not your friends anymore. You’ll make new friends in LA.”

She swallowed then she nodded again.

Layne examined her face then he toned it down. “You did the right thing.”

“Right,” she whispered and Layne knew she didn’t believe him but instead wished she could turn back time and keep her mouth shut.

“Before it turned shit for you, how would you feel if some woman saved you from that life?”

“They’ll never know it was me,” she returned.

“You wouldn’t have either but you also wouldn’t have had that life. Isn’t knowin’ that enough?”

She pulled her lips between her teeth and pressed her teeth together. Then she nodded again.

“You did the right thing,” he repeated.

She nodded yet again then her teeth released her lips so she could say, “Do me a favor?”

“What?” Layne asked.

Her face changed, she gave him that look with her mouth going soft and Layne hoped for her that she’d direct that look to the right guy, a guy who would show her the life she should have had.

“Don’t get dead,” she replied on a whisper, bent and gave Blondie a quick rub and then without looking at him again, she turned and jogged away.

Blondie woofed her excited good-bye.

In case they had an audience, Layne didn’t watch her go. He immediately opened the door to his truck, Blondie jumped in, he slammed it, rounded the hood, folded into the driver’s side and pulled out of his spot. He scanned the area as he did so and he drove home with his eyes on his mirrors just as much as they were on the road.

He’d wait until the planned meet later with Devin and Ryker to give Devin his next assignment.

Layne was sitting in Merry’s armchair in his living room, facing his front door as Merry walked in.

“You’re a hard man to get hold of,” Layne remarked, Merry turned quickly, his hand going into his jacket toward his gun before he saw Layne and stopped.

“Jesus, fuck, shit, Tanner, what the fuck?” Merry clipped.

“Been callin’ you, brother,” Layne reminded him.

“Yeah, so, I’m busy and you break into my goddamned house?” Merry asked, coming into the room shrugging off his leather jacket and throwing it on the back of the couch.

“You’re busy?” Layne asked, not making the slightest move in his chair except to raise his eyebrows.

“Yeah, brother, busy,” Merry bit off then asked, “How’d you get in here?”

“Picked the lock,” Layne answered.

“You’re tellin’ me you picked the lock of a cop’s apartment?”

“Nope, I’m tellin’ you I picked the lock of the apartment of the man who’s supposed to be my partner in an operation, one that got my ass shot. He’s also the man who’s supposed to be my goddamned friend and he knows I got all sorts of shit goin’ down, some of it with my boys on the line. He’s also the man who’s brother to my woman who –”

Merry lifted a hand and interrupted. “I get it.”

“You do? I don’t think so. See, if you did, you’d return my goddamned phone calls.”

“I’ve been busy, all right?” Merry lied.

“That’s fuckin’ lame and you fuckin’ know it,” Layne growled, having trouble keeping his seat.

Merry moved straight off the defensive to take the offensive. “You been busy too, brother.”

“Yeah, I have,” Layne agreed.

“So, let me help you with that. Lay off Dad,” Merry returned.

Layne stood and Merry tensed.

Then Layne spoke. “Rutledge is providing safe haven to a Caucasian female in her mid-forties named Nicolette Towers. The shit goin’ down at Youth Group is her game. She likes girls, she likes pimpin’ ‘em any way she can and she just plain likes ‘em.” Layne ignored Merry’s face twisting with disgust and continued. “Colt’s in on this as is a guy named Ryker who I ‘spect you know. Ryker and me, we’ve partnered up and my man Devin is workin’ this too. We’re goin’ in hard, her boy is goin’ down, Rutledge is goin’ down and Towers is goin’ down. Of that cast of characters, the one with the most to lose is Rutledge. She’s got dirt on him and it’s not just dirt. It’s filth. Only thing the boys in the hole hate worse than a cop is a pedophile. He’s both and he’s fucked.” Layne crossed his arms on his chest and kept his eyes locked on Merry. “I got intel that says what we suspected, that ambush was a warning. If they meant to kill me, they’d have done it. They won’t give me a second warning. That said, I’m not pussyfooting around with this shit. I want Rutledge scared, I want Gaines freaked and I want Towers on alert. And all that shit is gonna come from me, not you, not Colt. Me. Colt’s workin’ it but he’s not swingin’ his ass out there. I am. What I don’t want is any of them to run. They run, we’re fucked, they’ll go out of your jurisdiction and they’ll do it after they drill a round in my skull. This operation is gonna require skill and it’s gonna require teamwork and I gotta know, right now, if you’re out because you disappear off radar like you did this week, I’m dead.”

“I’m not out,” Merry clipped.

“Good, welcome back to the team,” Layne returned.

Merry scowled at him then asked, “You done?”

“Nope,” Layne answered. “I’m guessin’ you know Roc and I are back together.”

“Yeah, forgot to send my congratulations bouquet,” Merry retorted sarcastically and Layne pulled in breath.

They watched each other and Layne waited. Merry couldn’t take a stare down, didn’t have enough control, therefore he broke the silence first.

“I figure, since you aren’t movin’ toward the door, you got more to say,” he prompted.

“No, I’m not movin’ to the door because I’m waitin’ to hear what you have to say,” Layne replied.

“Think we had this conversation before, brother,” Merry reminded him.

“And I think I made it pretty clear I didn’t like the way that one went,” Layne shot back.

“Seems you liked it enough, since my sister’s keepin’ you warm at night again.”

“Don’t piss me off,” Layne whispered his warning.

“You aren’t already pissed?” Merry returned.

“Good you could read that, Garrett.”

“Not hard, Tanner.”

“Okay, then I’ll keep makin’ it easy for you. You and your Dad, you’re scared shitless of whatever the hell it is your scared shitless of that would make Rocky cut you out if one or the other of you grows a pair and pulls your head outta your ass –”

“Okay, now you’re pissin’ me off,” Merry growled.

“I’m not done,” Layne told him. “To finish, I find out you sat on somethin’, somethin’ that kept her from me when I wanted her and she wanted me, somethin’ that meant we lost eighteen years, somethin’ that kept her livin’ in fear, led her to a dickhead who treated her like shit, then you better stop worryin’ about her cuttin’ you out and start worryin’ about me. Because, brother, there is nothin’ that is gonna tear us apart, not again, she’s mine until she dies. And I find that shit out, I hold a mean grudge and, God’s honest truth, Garrett, you’ll lose us all and not one of us is ever comin’ back. Do you get me?”

Merry smiled and it was nasty. “Don’t play that game, Tanner. You pit yourself against me and Dad, when it comes to Rocky, I promise you, you’ll lose.”

“You seem sure.”

“That’s because I am.”

“She’s thirty-eight and still embarrassed about her periods and scared shitless of the dark. Tell me, Garrett, you two handled her with care, how can that be?”

Merry’s face changed and Layne couldn’t read it before he hid it.

So Layne bluffed, “That’s what I thought, you’re not so fuckin’ sure, are you?”

Layne won his bluff, he knew it when Merry whispered, “Fuck you.”

He looked at his watch and back to Merry. “You got fifteen minutes before I gotta go pick her up for the game. You got anything for me?”

Merry was silent and Layne waited.

Then Layne warned quietly, “This is the last time I’ll ask you, brother, you got anything for me?”

Merry kept his silence.

Layne nodded and whispered, “Right.”

Then without looking at his friend and without another word, Layne walked right passed him and out the door.

“Oh my God,” Rocky whispered, her face white, she was staring at him.

Layne was at one end of her couch, his feet on her coffee table, the mostly empty pizza box and several bottles of beer scattered on it. Rocky was at the opposite end of the couch, her feet were in his lap and he’d just told her Marissa Gibbon’s entire story.

“Sorry, sweetcheeks,” Layne said softly. “I woulda kept that from you but if Astley still has someone watchin’, he could have been takin’ pictures and that could get back to you. Forced my hand. You needed to know.”

“I don’t know what to say.” She was still whispering.

“Nothin’ to say except try to find the silver lining and that is that Marissa Gibbons learned how to be a good woman today. She tried it on and it fit. You know Devin called me when we were at the game. She set the meet. Now, she gets to move on, leave this shit behind and maybe find a good life.”

Her eyes stayed glued to him until her mouth got soft, her lids lowered then she pulled her feet out of his lap, twisted her hips in the couch and crawled on all fours until she had her hands on his shoulders and she was face to face and chest to chest with him.

“You’re a good man, Tanner Layne,” she said quietly then her eyes dropped to his mouth.

His arms went around her but he pulled his head back an inch and her eyes went back to his.

“Want your mouth on mine, honey, but we’re not done talkin’,” he murmured.

“I don’t like the look on your face,” she replied, losing her look, that look he liked so much and Layne would be seriously fucking happy when all this shit was over and life was just life.

So he didn’t waste time, wasting time would mean a delay in getting to the good part of the evening and he didn’t want that for him or for Roc.

He’d briefed her about the day’s events, all except his chat with her brother, but he still had a few things he needed to make clear. So he set about making them clear.

“We got a lot done today. Devin, Ryker and me are gonna be takin’ turns listenin’ to the bugs. We know who she is and Dev’s got prints from the apartment that an independent lab is runnin’, we’ll have results tomorrow, so we’ll know who he is and hopefully get confirmation on her. We know who’s pocket Rutledge his in. This means it’s gonna get hotter. I told Jasper and I’ll tell you. You keep sharp. You stay smart. You don’t talk to Josie, Violet, Feb, anyone about this shit. You lock your doors when you’re in your car and you drive with your eyes on your mirrors. You see the same car more than once, you call me immediately. Tomorrow, I take you to the office and get you a panic button and you carry that with you everywhere. You don’t go anywhere unless someone knows you’re goin’, where you’re goin’ and when you’re expected to get there. You don’t sleep alone. I’m not home, you stay awake. I’m not in this apartment; you’re not in this apartment. Those vultures live close and my security system at home is solid, they still haven’t fixed this one.”

“But, the girls are coming over tomorrow to –”

“Yeah, and I’ll leave when they get here and come back before they’re gone. Colt’s wife and Cal’s wife will both be here. Someone might be dumb enough to fuck with you, and, baby, that’s the truth even if I can see it freaks you out, but no one would be dumb enough to fuck with the three of you.”

He stopped speaking and she didn’t say anything, just held his eyes so his arms gave her a squeeze.

“You get all that?” he asked.

Rocky nodded.

“You freaked?” he went on.

Rocky kept nodding.

“You think I’d ever let anything hurt you?”

Rocky stopped nodding, her mouth got soft, her lids lowered and she shook her head.

“All right, baby,” he whispered, his hand travelling up her back, her neck to cup her head. “I’m gonna clean this shit up,” he told her quietly, tipping his head to the table. “You go upstairs and get ready because I’m hungry.”

“Layne,” she breathed, her tits pressing deeper into his chest and his cock started getting hard.

“Go get ready for me,” he growled.

“I have to ask you something first,” she said, her hands moving up his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair and curling around at the back.

“Yeah?” he prompted when she said no more.

“That night, after that first game we went to together, do you remember?”

“It was only a month ago, sweetcheeks.”

“So you remember,” she pushed.

“Yeah, Roc,” his arms tightened, “I remember every second.”

She smiled, she’d liked that night but she liked that he liked it too then she shared, “I didn’t want you to leave.”

“I know.”

Rocky kept smiling and she kept sharing, “Before Merry came, I was going to make a move on you.”

Layne smiled back. “Yeah, I know.”

Her smile got even brighter before her face went strange, uncertain and she started, “Would you have… um,” she pulled in a breath, “caught my move or deflected it?”

Layne felt his smile fading and he answered honestly, “I don’t know, baby.”

She nodded, her eyes slid away and he used his hand on her head to bring her attention back to him.

“It didn’t happen and I don’t know what I would have done if it did, but I do know that it would have killed to turn you down.” She studied his face and he repeated, “It would have killed, Rocky. I wanted you to make that move and even thinkin’ then that we’d never again be where we are right now, I wanted you and I wanted you to want me.”

One of her hands came out of his hair to cup his jaw.

Then she said, “You know, one of the reasons I fell in love with you was because you were always honest. With everyone, including me. I loved that. It made me feel safe. I still love that about you, especially knowing it takes courage to be honest. Your courage, I love that about you too.”

And he loved her words, fucking loved every one of them but what he didn’t love was what they might mean.

And he had to know what they might mean.

“In your life, was someone not honest with you?”

She pulled back an inch and her hand dropped to his chest. “What?”

“What you said made me think that maybe you meant that it was refreshing, someone being honest because you had someone not honest in your life.”

Her eyes drifted over his shoulder but she wasn’t hiding from him, she was thinking.

Still, he ordered, “Roc, eyes on me,” and her eyes came back.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I don’t think so but…” She trailed off, her face going unfocused, she was still thinking.

Fuck.

He knew, looking at her, he was standing in a field full of mines, he’d put himself there, and now he had to find a way to get the fuck out or purposely jump on a mine which might cause damage but do it with the hope his body didn’t blow to smithereens taking Rocky with it.

“Sweetcheeks,” Layne called and she focused on him. “Did your Dad ever talk to you about the facts of life?”

A startled giggle erupted out of her and she asked, “What?”

“Sex. How men’s bodies work. How women’s bodies work, that kinda shit?”

“I learned most of that in school, Layne.” She was still smiling.

“So he didn’t,” Layne surmised.

“Well, no, not exactly. He did say when I told him you asked me out, and he knew who you were and how old you were, and after we fought when he said I was not going out with you and I told him I was, that if you laid a hand on me, he’d rip your heart out. After he cut your hands off, that is. But, other than that, he pretty much steered clear of the facts of life.”

Layne had heard that story, not only from Rocky but also from Dave and Merry. After they started living together, it was a favorite tale for the three of them to cackle over.

It was also not where he was leading her.

“So, he left you to it,” Layne stated.

Rocky cocked her head to the side. “Left me to it?”

“To learn that shit yourself.”

“Well,” she whispered as her hand started to fiddle with the collar of his shirt. “I did, relatively young, find myself a good teacher.”

Automatically, Layne’s arms gave her a squeeze but he stayed on target. “What about your period?”

Her eyes shot to his and her fingers arrested mid-fiddle. “What?”

“Who taught you about that?”

Her body started to tense and edge away so his arms got tighter, Rocky read his message and gave up.

“Who?” he pushed.

“I learned that in Sex Education in Health class in junior high,” she answered.

“When did you start your period?” Layne asked.

For some reason, her eyes saturated with fear, Layne braced and she asked back, “Why are we talking about this?”

“I wanna know everything about you,” he answered, it was lame but he hoped it would get them where they needed to go.

“Well, I don’t remember,” she lied, every girl remembered.

“Was it before your Mom died or after?”

Her body locked.

Fuck.

“Baby, was it before your Mom died or after?”

“I don’t get why you want to know,” she whispered.

“Tell me, Rocky, was it before your Mom died or after?”

“Who cares?” Her voice was pitching higher and the fear was stark on her face.

Fuck!

“Why won’t you answer?” he asked gently, pushing carefully but unfortunately not treading cautiously.

“Because I don’t get why you care,” she answered. “And anyway, it’s private.”

“Nothing is private between you and me.”

“That’s private,” she returned.

“It isn’t.”

“It is.”

“Baby, I’ve had my mouth down there, I know you there, better than you know you there. I know how you taste, how you feel, how you look –”

“Stop it,” she whispered.

“Why?” he asked.

She shook her head, both her hands going to his chest and she tried to push away. Layne locked his arms, trapping her torso just as he shifted and threw a leg over hers, trapping her lower limbs.

“Why?” he repeated. “Why do you want me to stop?”

She looked across the room still putting steady pressure on his chest that fear on her face.

So Layne called up the courage she loved in order to explore something that had been festering insidiously in his brain since the secrets started and he asked, “Baby, what happened that night?”

“Layne, let go.”

“Did Carson Fisher get to you?”

Her eyes cut to his and Layne’s chest seized at the look of terror on her face as she started fighting him.

Fuck. Fuck. Jesus, fuck, no.

“Did he get to you?” Layne pushed even though he really didn’t want to know, he had to know but more importantly, Rocky had to face it.

“Let me go,” she whispered.

“You didn’t tell the cops, it’s not in the report. I pulled it and I read it. But you told your brother and he told your Dad. He got to you, didn’t he? He got to you and he hurt you.”

It was then, she heaved at the same time she let out a grunt and made it to her feet. Layne was up right after her, he caught her at the waist before she could run and he turned her into his arms. She pulled back at the same time she pushed at his chest with her hands.

“Layne!” she shouted, “Let me go!”

“You can tell me, baby, honest to God, you can tell me. It changes nothing. Not one fuckin’ thing.”

“No!” she yelled. “No! He didn’t get to me. Do you think my mother would ever let him get to me? No! I didn’t even see him.”

“Swear it,” Layne pushed.

“I swear,” she hissed. “And I started my period after Mom died. The week after Mom died. Dad was in the hospital and I couldn’t ask Merry so Gram took me to the grocery store and she helped me pick what I needed and she was sweet about it but I didn’t want her there. I wanted Mom there. I could talk to Mom about that shit. Mom would have known what to do, what to say. The cramps hurt so goddamned much and I bled a lot, it lasted a day. It scared the fucking shit out of me. I didn’t want a lifetime of that. Gram tried but she wasn’t Mom. She’d never be Mom. I couldn’t talk to her about it, ask her questions. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it except my Mom and she was dead. Until I was thirty, my periods were the worst. They made me feel like shit, they brought on a lot of pain and I bled out fast. I hated them so much I dreaded them. They’re still not my favorite things to have nor are they my favorite things to talk about. But there you go. The story of my fertility. Happy?”

“Yes,” Layne replied honestly, her body jerked with surprise at his answer then went still in his arms.

“Yes?” she asked.

He dipped his chin and put his face close to hers. “I’m a guy, a guy who grew up without a Dad. Shit happens to you, you want someone to talk about it with. So, I get what you’re sayin’ more than pretty much anyone would get what you’re sayin’. You needed your Mom and she died the week before you needed her. That would suck, baby. What I need you to know is, growin’ up without a Dad, I get it and that means you can talk about it with me.”

She stared him in the eye for long moments before her body relaxed and she whispered, “Layne.”

“You don’t have to hide anything or be embarrassed about anything, not with me. Yeah?” Layne stated.

“Yeah.” She was still whispering.

Layne took in a breath. Then he let it out.

Then he realized he’d made it through the minefield without getting blown to pieces, Rocky was safe and in one piece in his arms and he relaxed.

When he did, he noticed Rocky watching him with a look he couldn’t read on her face.

“You okay, baby?” he asked.

“I don’t really need to process my period anymore, Layne,” she said softly. “I’m kind of used to it by now.”

“You get embarrassed,” he told her honestly.

“I lived with two men, one of them a teenager, they avoided any of my period paraphernalia like the plague. And, newsflash, sweetheart,” she put her hand to his jaw, “you’re also a man.”

“Yeah,” Layne smiled, “but I don’t have any hang ups about that shit. I grew up alone in a house with a woman.”

Her mouth got soft.

“And I just want you to know you’re safe with me, always safe with me, with anything,” he told her.

Her lids lowered but not to half-mast, they closed and when they opened, her face was openly troubled.

“You’re worried I’m going to leave you,” she whispered, surprising Layne by taking it right to the point.

“Yeah,” he whispered back, his arms getting tighter around her, her hand slid from his jaw and both her arms closed around his neck.

She pressed into him and she did this deep, getting up on her toes so her face was close to his. He looked in her eyes and there was an intensity there, so strong it felt like her eyes were burning into his.

“Don’t let me leave you,” she whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear her.

But he heard her, he not only heard her, he understood what she was saying and his chest seized, his gut twisted but his arms got even tighter.

“I won’t,” he whispered back, his voice was quiet too and thick.

“No matter what.” She was still talking low.

“No matter what,” he replied.

“Promise.”

“I promise, baby.”

She held his gaze then she asked softly, “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“You told Marissa, when she found another man, not to tell him about her past.”

Oh fuck.

He wasn’t out of that minefield yet.

“Yeah,” he answered carefully.

“Honestly? Do you think, even if she finds a good guy, a really good guy, she shouldn’t tell him?”

“What are you really askin’, baby?”

“I’m asking about Marissa.”

“Then, if you’re askin’ about Marissa, yes.”

Her head moved back half an inch. “Because you think he’d think less of her? Judge her?”

“No, because she deserves to be loved for who she should have been, who she’ll be, not despite what was forced on her.”

He heard Rocky suck in breath and her eyes went back to intense and seeing it, he decided he’d managed not to get blown to bits yet again, he’d managed to hold her together and she’d made him promise never to let her go. He could do that. He could make her stay. He had her permission. Whatever it was, when they finally faced it, he had her permission to do what he had to do to make her stay.

Thank Christ that was done.

He also decided she’d had enough for one night, so had he, and it was time to move, the fuck, on.

So he lowered his head to take her mouth but her head went back another half inch and he stopped.

When he did, his eyebrows went up and Rocky whispered, “I need to go upstairs and get ready. My man’s hungry.”

And before he could say a word, she pulled out of his arms but she did it with both her hand trailing along his neck and down his chest before she turned and strutted up the stairs.

Layne watched until she was out of sight, going so far as to move to the foot of the stairs to enjoy the whole show.

Then he cleared away the pizza and beer, checked that the apartment was secured, turned out the lights, went upstairs and ate dessert.