Golden Trail

Chapter Twenty-Two Nothing Means Everything

“Layne,” she whispered, pressing into him, her fingers digging into his neck.

Layne opened his eyes, dipped his chin and saw her staring up at him, her eyes burning.

“Tripp.” She kept whispering, her body pushing into his, hard, like she wanted him to absorb her, her fingers digging into his tense neck so hard he felt pain. “Tripp,” she repeated, her voice scared.

Layne’s eyes opened and he heard his cell phone.

Rocky shifted and then came up on an elbow.

Another dream. Another fucking, shitty, fucking dream.

“Baby,” Roc whispered, “your phone.”

Layne rolled, putting a hand to the floor, reaching out with the other one, he yanked his jeans toward the bed and pulled his cell out. He pushed off the floor, rolling again to his back as his eyes slid across Rocky’s clock to see it was ten after eight.

They’d seriously slept in.

The phone stopped ringing by the time he settled back. He flipped it open and looked at his received calls, Rocky moving into him again.

Tripp. Tripp at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning. The boys had to be at the pool with the team but not this early.

Fuck.

“Who was it?” Rocky asked.

“Tripp,” Layne answered, scrolling down to his son’s phone number in his contact list, he hit go.

Rocky pressed closer as Layne listened to it ring, his body tense because of the time and because of a phone call from his son at that time and because of his fucking dream.

It rang twice before Layne heard Tripp saying in his usual Tripp way, “Yo Dad!”

Layne pulled in breath.

Then he let it out while replying, “Yo, Pal. You called. What’s up?”

“I was actually calling Rocky but she wasn’t picking up. I thought you might be with her.”

Rocky’s phone was likely in Rocky’s purse which was downstairs on the bar in the kitchen.

“Why’d you want Roc?” Layne asked, shoving an arm under Rocky, his forearm going up, his fingers beginning to play with her hair.

“Need to check somethin’,” Tripp answered.

“What?” Layne asked.

“Girl stuff,” Tripp answered.

Layne looked down at Rocky who was gazing up at him.

“Girl stuff?” he repeated and he watched his woman’s lips form a small smile.

“Yeah, see, she’s a girl and I need to ask her girl stuff,” Tripp said.

“What kind of girl stuff?” Layne asked.

“The kind where she’d tell me why Giselle wasn’t out for pizza last night and why she isn’t textin’ me. That kind. I figure she’s playin’ hard to get. She’s shy but she goes out for pizza, everyone does. I used to see her there all the time and we’ve been hangin’ the last coupla Fridays. She wasn’t out last night and she always returns my texts and she isn’t so… is Rocky there?”

While his son spoke, Layne’s body, which had relaxed, got tense then he sat up, taking Roc with him. She got tense against him and her arm didn’t leave his gut as she pressed tight against his side.

“Yeah, Tripp, Roc’s here but I wanna know about Giselle. When’s the last time you saw her?” Layne asked.

Tripp was silent and Layne felt Rocky’s body go still.

“Tripp,” Layne said carefully, “when was the last time you saw her?”

“At school yesterday,” Tripp stated quietly.

“Was she at the game last night?” Layne pushed.

“Don’t know,” Tripp answered and Layne looked at Rocky.

“You see Giselle at the game last night, baby?”

Rocky stared him in the eyes then shook her head.

Layne went back to Tripp. “You talk to her at school yesterday?”

Tripp hesitated a beat then answered, “No, she was bein’ weird. Kinda closed off. Avoiding me. I thought –”

Layne cut him off. “Text me her home number.”

“Dad, do you think –”

“Do it, Pal, now, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tripp whispered.

“I got this covered, Tripp, okay?” Layne assured gently. “Me and Roc got this covered. It’ll be okay. I’ll call you but before you hang up, I wanna know you know your old man has this covered.”

“I know.” Tripp was still whispering.

“It’ll be okay.”

“Okay, Dad.”

“Text me the number.”

“Right.”

“Talk to you soon, yeah?”

“Yeah, later, Dad.” He was talking quickly, in a hurry to get the number to Layne.

So Layne said without delay, “Later, Pal.”

He flipped his phone shut and Rocky moved slightly away from him but when he looked at her, her eyes were drilling into him.

“What?” she asked sharply.

“Get dressed, baby, I need you to call Giselle Speakmon’s parents. Find out if she’s actin’ okay.”

“Why?” Her voice was still sharp.

“She’s cut Tripp out. Sudden. She –” Layne started to explain but didn’t finish because Rocky was on the move. She threw the covers back, jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom.

Layne’s phone chimed in his hand. He flipped it open and saw Tripp sent him Giselle’s home number and cell number.

Layne got out of bed, grabbed his jeans, tugged them on and then followed Rocky to the bathroom only for her to come out before he got there. She skirted him and went directly to her underwear on the floor.

Layne turned to face her while he advised, “Sweetcheeks, brush your teeth, wash your face, make coffee. Settle, sort your head out before you make the call.”

“They got to her,” Rocky hissed while she tugged on her panties under her big nightshirt. Then her head flew back and her blue eyes pierced him. “We waited too long.”

“We don’t know that,” Layne replied and Rocky glared at him so he went on. “Settle, Roc, you need your shit together to make this call.”

“We waited too long,” she repeated, her face so filled with worry it was twisted.

“Raquel, settle,” Layne ordered low.

She stared at him. Then she walked to him, around him and back into the bathroom. He went to stand in the doorway and he watched her preparing her toothbrush.

“What do I say?” she asked then shoved the toothbrush in her mouth.

“In this scenario, you’re not Ms. Merrick, high school Lit teacher. You’re Rocky, Tripp’s Dad’s girlfriend, Tripp’s your boy and your boy likes their girl, their girl likes your boy. You’re equals. You’re makin’ a special dinner for a special occasion, it’s a surprise and you want Giselle there.”

She pulled the brush from her mouth and through the foam demanded to know, “What special occasion?”

“Doesn’t matter. Make it up. Anniversary. Birthday. They don’t know and won’t care. Then you lead the conversation another way, is Giselle okay? She was actin’ funny at school yesterday. You didn’t see her at the game last night. She and Tripp are tight, you and her are tight, but you’ve noticed a difference.”

She nodded, bent, spit, rinsed and wiped. Then she walked to him, snatched his phone from his hand and walked out.

Layne used the toilet, brushed his teeth with the toothbrush she’d given him the morning after the night Astley came to visit then he walked down to the kitchen to see the coffeepot filling and Rocky getting down mugs.

She didn’t even look at him when she whispered, “I want this done, Layne, all of this done. I want it to be you and me and the boys and Blondie and the worst thing that could happen is Jas burns the pasta bake.”

“I get that, sweetcheeks.”

Her neck twisted fast, her hair, that she hadn’t taken the time to put up, flying over her shoulder.

“You need to make that so, Layne,” she ordered.

He grinned at her because she was cute when she was bossy, because he loved it that her concern ran that deep about a kid she didn’t know all that well and it ran deeper because that kid meant something to his boy and because she ordered it because she knew deep down he could do it and that meant she believed in him.

“Aye, aye, captain,” he muttered, her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth, probably to yell, but he lunged toward her, hooking her with an arm around her waist and stepped back, pulling her into his body. She tilted her head back and he looked down, speaking before she could get a word out. “It’ll be okay,” he assured her softly.

“They hurt her, I’ll kill them,” she whispered fiercely.

“It’ll be okay,” Layne repeated.

“It better be,” she snapped.

“If it isn’t, it will be, baby. Shit happens, you know that better than anyone, and people deal. We just gotta move now to make certain, if it’s already happened, nothin’ more happens.” She opened her mouth to speak but Layne kept talking. “I’ve given you a job, Roc. Quit fuckin’ around and do it.”

She went stiff in his arm then she nodded.

Then she turned toward the coffeepot.

“Hello, Adele?” Rocky said into her phone, she was tense and she’d taken three big breaths before she’d dialed the number.

Layne was sitting on the counter, holding a mug. Rocky was standing on the floor, her waist pressed to his knee, her hand resting lightly on his thigh.

Then it squeezed as Layne watched her face go pale and her eyes go unfocused.

“What?” she whispered. “Yes, sorry, of course, I’ll let you go. If you need anything…” She trailed off and Layne put a hand to her chin, gripping it between thumb and finger, he forced her eyes to his and he sucked in breath at what he saw. “I’m… yes, I’m with him. He’s right here. You want to talk to him?”

Shit, shit, fucking shit.

“Just hang on one second, okay?” Rocky said into the phone.

She took her phone from her ear and wrapped her other hand around it.

“Giselle was supposed to go to the game last night. They live close to the school. She walked there but her friends say she never showed and she never came home,” Rocky whispered, her eyes bright, the tears not forming but they were threatening.

This was unexpected and definitely unwanted. Withdrawal was one thing, missing another.

Layne put his mug down, jumped off the counter, grabbed the phone she was holding out to him and put it to his ear.

“Adele?” Layne said into the phone.

“No, Tanner, you’ve got Wade, Wade Speakmon,” Giselle’s father spoke back and his voice was tight.

“Wade, Rocky told me Giselle didn’t come home last night,” Layne said.

“The cops know, we called them already. They’ve been here. Still, I know what you do, I want you to look for her and I’ll pay you. I’ll pay you whatever you want. You come over right now, I’ll give you a thousand dollars.”

He had called the cops but Layne didn’t get a call.

A young girl from Youth Group missing, Merry would hear or Colt, Layne would get a call.

Fuck.

“That won’t be necessary,” Layne stated quickly and went on. “Which uniforms did you get?”

“Sorry?”

“Who were the cops who came out on the call?”

“He didn’t wear a uniform. They sent a detective. I figured they weren’t messing around, seeing as she’s a…” He stopped talking and Layne visualized him swallowing, struggling to keep it together and Layne struggled with him, trying to keep his patience. Then Wade continued. “They sent a detective right off.”

Fuck!

Layne looked at Rocky then he was on the move, moving swiftly toward the stairs, speaking and walking. “What was the detective’s name?”

“Rutledge. Harry Rutledge,” Wade answered.

Fuck!

Layne took the stairs two at a time.

“Only Rutledge?” he asked.

“Sorry?” Wade answered.

“Was it only one detective? Did they only send Rutledge?”

“Yes.”

“I want the names and phone numbers of all her friends. Every one. You get your wife to write them down. You call the police, you talk to Garrett Merrick, Alec Colton, Patrick Sullivan, Mike Haines or Drew Mangold. You don’t talk to anyone but one of those men and you absolutely do not talk to Harrison Rutledge.”

“Why?”

“No time to explain. I’m hanging up now. Do it. Someone will be over to get that list.”

“Okay,” Wade Speakmon whispered.

“Don’t worry Wade, I’ll find your girl,” Layne promised then flipped his phone shut.

He was in Rocky’s room and he bent to pick up his t-shirt as he flipped his phone open.

“Layne,” Rocky called and his neck went back to see her standing in the door, face pale, dark hair framing it, she was holding her body carefully.

“Not now, baby,” he whispered, straightened, pulled his shirt over his head then he scrolled down to Ryker in his phone and hit go.

It rang once then Ryker answered with a, “Yo.”

“You listening?” Layne asked.

“Yep, to nothin’,” Ryker replied. “Relieved Dev, who, by the way, is a pain in the ass.”

Layne was moving while bent, grabbing his boots and socks. “Dev get anything?”

“Nope, that’s why he’s a pain in the ass. Pissed and left while bitchin’ about spendin’ all night listenin’ to nothin’. Don’t think they’re even there. Silence.”

“I want Gaines,” Layne stated, sitting on the edge of the bed, he put the phone between ear and shoulder and Ryker finally read his tone.

“What?”

“You got any clue where he’d be?”

“Why?”

“Speakmon girl is missin’ and has been since last night. She left to go to the game, never made it there, never made it home. I want Gaines. You leave my office, you get on your bike and you find that fucker. You got friends, you get on the phone, you mobilize their asses and they find that fucker. I want him in my office.”

“Blows your operation, bro,” Ryker said softly.

“We’ll worry about that later. Find that fucker,” Layne replied, yanking on a boot.

“Blows everything, you take him,” Ryker returned.

“Find. That. Fucker,” Layne repeated, flipped his phone shut and yanked on his other boot.

“Layne,” Rocky whispered and Layne didn’t look at her.

He flipped his phone open and called Devin.

“What?” Devin clipped, Layne stood and moved to Rocky.

“Giselle is missing,” Layne answered.

“I’m on it,” Devin declared and disconnected.

Layne stopped at Roc and finally looked down at her.

“It’ll be okay,” he whispered.

Her hands came to his tee at his sides and fisted.

“Layne,” she whispered.

He wrapped his hand around the back of her head, pulled her to him and kissed the top of her hair.

Then, his lips still there, he whispered, “It’ll be okay. Get to my house. Now.”

He felt her head nod.

Then he let her go, pulled gently away and took off.

He was out of the gate and on the road when his mind cleared of everything except trying to shut it off from thinking he waited too long.

He was trying but he was failing.

The door to the reverend’s house opened and Layne looked at Pastor Knox.

“Well, Tanner Layne!” He smiled big. “What a surprise, you here, you and your Ma back at church, bringin’ your boys and Raquel into the fold –”

Layne didn’t smile and cut him off. “I need the whereabouts of TJ Gaines and I need them right now.”

Pastor Knox’s smile faded, his brows drew together in confusion and he asked softly, “What?”

“Your Youth Minister, TJ Gaines, is not a Youth Minister. He’s the recruiting agent for an underage sex racket,” Layne laid it out and Pastor Knox’s face went as white as his hair. “Giselle Speakmon went missing last night and I need Gaines.”

“That can’t be,” Pastor Knox whispered.

“It is,” Layne returned. “Now I got a girl missin’ and I don’t have time to convince you this is true. You know where he is, where he might be or how I can get in contact with him, you need to tell me and you need to do it right now.”

“I… we… we check out all of our employees. He checked out.”

“TJ Gaines checked out, sure. But the man you got workin’ for you is not TJ Gaines.”

“I –”

“Reverend, you can freak out later, “Layne cut in impatiently. “Now, I need everything you can tell me about TJ Gaines.”

Pastor Knox stared at him then he stepped back from the door, turning sideways and Layne didn’t hesitate, he walked right in.

Layne’s boots made noises on the tile around the high school swimming pool but no one could hear it because all the noise the boys were making while swimming their laps was reverberating around the huge room.

But Nick Fullerton saw him, he pulled his whistle out of his mouth, smiled big and walked to Layne.

“Tanner,” he called while walking. “Jas tell you? He picked up another one last night. Purdue.” His smile turned huge but it would, Nick Fullerton was a Boilermaker. “They’re real interested.”

Again, Layne didn’t smile back.

Instead, when Nick stopped close to him, he ordered, “I need my boys out of the pool, showered and their asses in Jas’s car. Giselle Speakmon went missin’ last night.”

Fullerton’s eyes got wide and he whispered, “No shit?”

“No shit. Tripp and Jas know Giselle. I need my boys.”

“Dad!” Tripp yelled, he was out of the pool and running as best he could on the grips on the tile toward Layne and Fullerton.

Layne glanced at his son then his eyes went back to Fullerton. “Any boys want to help find her, it would be appreciated. They find anything, they call me. Tripp and Jas have my number. She isn’t alone, they don’t go in, they stay clear and they call me. No one else. Not the cops. Me.”

“Dad,” Tripp repeated but Layne didn’t look at him. He lifted his hand and curled it around his son’s wet shoulder but he didn’t take his eyes from Fullerton.

“That understood?” Layne demanded.

“What do you mean, she’s not alone?” Fullerton asked.

“Someone might have her,” Layne answered.

“This someone dangerous?” Fullerton asked.

“Absolutely,” Layne answered.

“Shit,” Fullerton muttered.

“Dad!” Tripp yelled and grabbed his father’s forearm so Layne looked to him to see Jasper was at his back, Seth, Jamie and Mitch at Jasper’s back.

“I can’t send high school students on a girl hunt if it’s dangerous, Tanner,” Fullerton said, calling Layne’s attention back to him.

“Then don’t but my boys are huntin’,” Layne returned and his eyes went to Jasper. “Shower. Charger. You go to Giselle’s house, you get a list from her Mom and Dad I asked them to make, you call and you visit every one of her friends. You make those girls talk. They heard anything from Giselle, anything, you report it back to me.”

“Right,” Jasper said instantly.

“You see TJ Gaines or his car while you’re out, you report it to me. You don’t go in. You don’t follow him. You get the fuck out of there, call and report where you saw him or his car, get me?” Layne went on.

“Got you,” Jasper replied.

“I fucked up,” Tripp whispered and Layne’s eyes cut to his youngest.

“Get that outta your head,” he ordered.

Tripp shook his head, taking a step back, pulling from Layne’s hand but running into his brother so he stopped. “I fucked up. I was bein’ stupid. Selfish. I thought she was playin’ games with me. I shoulda said something. I thought she was –”

Layne hooked his son behind the neck and pulled him forward, bending slightly to get in his face. “I fucked up, Tripp. I did it. I knew better than to finesse this. You’re fourteen years old and you were doin’ what you were told. You did good, you did right and now you gotta keep your shit together and help me find your girl.”

Tripp didn’t believe him. Tripp liked this girl. Tripp was scared as shit. Layne knew it and seeing it in his boy’s eyes, it tore him up.

But he couldn’t dwell. He needed to move.

He gave Tripp’s neck a squeeze, straightened and looked at Jasper.

“Shower. Charger,” he ordered, his eyes sliced through Fullerton, he turned and he walked out of the natatorium.

Layne was in his Suburban, making his fourth pass around the Christian Church when his phone rang. His neck was tight, he was pissed he had so little intel on Gaines he had no clue where to look.

He grabbed the phone off the passenger seat, looked at the display and put it to his ear.

“What you got for me, Dev?”

“Cell number the reverend gave you binged. We got his location. Ryker rendez vous’ed at the office to report in, he was here when I locked on the GPS signal and we moved out, on our way now. Ryker says ETA is ten minutes.”

“Give me a location,” Layne ordered.

Devin gave him the location and the location surprised him, since it was on Colt and Cal’s street, not only on their street, next door to Cal, directly across the street from Colt, then Dev stated, “We’re not waitin’.”

“Don’t,” Layne returned, cutting through the parking lot to do a uey to the alley so he could hit Main and back up Devin and Ryker. “I’m five minutes behind. See you there.”

“Copy that. Out,” Devin grunted and Layne heard the disconnect.

He flipped his phone shut and was in the process of tossing it to his passenger seat when it rang. He twisted it in his hand, looked at the display, flipped it back open and put it to his ear.

“Sweetcheeks, now is not a good time,” he said into the phone.

“Your Mom and me are on our way to Giselle,” Rocky said back and Layne’s chest seized.

“No you’re not,” he growled.

“Yes, we are, Layne,” she shot back. “I’ve been calling her all morning, leaving messages. She picked one up and she called me back. She says she’s alone, hiding out, scared to death. She says she only wants me. No one else but me.”

Good news was, Giselle was alive and able to make calls on her phone. Bad news was, Layne’s woman was a nut.

“Where is she?” Layne asked.

“Two two three Rosemary Avenue. A girlfriend’s house. I know this girl, her parents took her out of school, her Grandma’s sick and not going to make it. They all flew to Florida to be with her, their house is empty.”

Two two three Rosemary Avenue was not where Devin and Ryker were heading.

“You know this is where this girl lives?” Layne asked.

“No, but that’s where Giselle says she is and we’re headed there,” Rocky answered.

Fuck.

“Where is it?” Layne asked.

“The Sunny Hills development, toward Clermont.”

Layne knew it.

“I’ll go, you go back to the house,” Layne ordered.

“She told me not to tell anyone. She’s scared to death, Layne. She told me she’ll only open the door to me.”

“I’ll go, you go back to the house,” Layne repeated, clipped this time.

“She’s terrified, Layne!”

“What did I tell you about doin’ stupid shit?” Layne bit out.

“She’s alone and she’s scared,” Rocky snapped back.

“You think, maybe, she isn’t alone? You think maybe she’s sayin’ somethin’ someone’s tellin’ her to say?” Layne gritted through his teeth.

Rocky was silent.

Then she said, “We won’t approach. We’ll recon the area and stop at a side road. Your Mom’s driving because my car is a two seater. They won’t know the car even if they see it. You go in first. She’s not alone, that’s yours. She is, I come in and that’s mine. Deal?”

Recon the area? Jesus.

“Deal,” Layne replied because he had no time to talk her out of something she was determined to do and, making matters worse, Vera was acting sidekick which meant Layne had zero chance of talking both of them down.

He was rethinking his maneuver of reuniting his Ma with Roc when he flipped his phone shut, opened it and called Dev.

When he flipped his phone shut on the call to Dev, he opened it and called Merry.

“You don’t have backup,” Rocky whispered through the window.

“Merry’s on his way, not five minutes out,” Layne said back, glanced at Vera then his eyes went back to Rocky. “It’s all good, I’ll take it slow and won’t take chances.”

“Layne –” Rocky whispered.

“Keep your phone in your hand, your eyes peeled.” His gaze went to his mother. “Car on, Mom, hand on the gearshift, anything goes down, you’re gone.”

Vera, eyes wide and lips pressed together, nodded.

“Layne –” Rocky repeated, still whispering.

Layne locked eyes with her.

“Be back, sweetcheeks,” he whispered back, turned away and started to move through backyards.

It was broad daylight but it was cold, overcast, the air heavy with an impending rain that was going to be chilly – no one was out barbequing, mowing their lawn, gardening, playing with their dogs. That didn’t mean no one saw him. It was doubtful if they did they’d confront him. They’d call the police. Layne was counting on that. Confrontation would be bad, a waste of time. Cops he could handle.

He counted down the house numbers and as he did he thanked God that no one in this development had put up fences, undoubtedly an HOA restriction, open space was attractive, a variety of fencing not so much. Rosemary Avenue’s numbers started on the opposite end of the street, Rocky and Vera had done a drive through and reported they ended in house number two thirty-five. Two twenty-three was seven houses in, no cars in the drive and no movement they could see when they drove by.

Layne approached two twenty-three keeping out of sight behind a big pine tree. He skirted the tree and looked in the windows. Blinds and curtains pulled.

Fuck.

He waited seconds and did so as he watched for movement, the blinds flipping up or the curtains pulled back for someone to look out.

Nothing.

He moved around the tree and quickly to the house. Back to it then he ran bent double under the windows to the French doors that led to a low patio.

Curtains pulled on the doors, he moved to them and silently tried the doorknob.

Locked.

He crouched, pulling his kit out of his back jeans pocket, he picked the lock.

The owners needed a new lock. It took him less than thirty seconds.

He put the kit back in his jeans and pulled his gun out of the holster at his belt.

The flashback hit him and it hit him hard.

Ambush.

When he got shot, he’d infiltrated one of Rutledge’s crime scenes. He was looking for evidence Rutledge missed in his report. Merry said the work had been shoddy, every cop in that Department knew it, but none of them could go back to the scene to follow up on Rutledge’s work without Rutledge knowing he’d been made.

Rutledge set him up. Fucked up the case because he knew someone would feed it to Layne and Layne would be looking.

This could be the same thing with Giselle Speakmon caught in the crossfire.

Fuck.

He flipped off the safety, sucked in breath, slowly turned the handle and opened the door just enough for him to get through.

Nothing. No alarm, no sound, no movement.

He slid in, swiftly and silently closed the door and crouched low.

Still nothing.

Quietly, he moved through the family room into the living room seeing they were clear, through to the front, across the foyer into the dining room. Clear. Back into the kitchen. Clear.

No noise. No movement.

Back through the family room, living room and into the foyer, putting his back against the wall, gun up, eyes up, he crept up the stairs.

He made it to the top, doors all around, all of them closed. Sitting duck.

Fuck.

A door opened slightly, Layne’s gut squeezed and he pointed his gun to it, crouched low and moved to the opposite side of the landing, shoulder to wall.

He waited.

Nothing.

Then it flew open and Giselle Speakmon darted out of it. She ran straight to him then tried to get around him. His arm went out, he caught her at the waist, she screamed and he straightened, picking her up, clean off her feet, he strode to the door closest to him, opened it, entered, gun up, then he slammed the door, went down to the ground, Giselle in front of him, still screaming, he rolled over her and came up, scanned the room, eyes and gun pointed at each corner.

Empty.

Giselle was on the move behind him he turned and grabbed her, pulling her to him.

“No!” she shrieked.

“Giselle, honey, it’s me. Mr. Layne. You here alone?”

She was struggling against his grip and he was having trouble controlling her because he didn’t want to drop his gun.

She got free, planted a foot to run but he caught her forearm, pulled her to him and got in her face. “Giselle, calm down. Are you here alone?”

“I won’t do it again!” she cried, shaking her head, twisting her arm against his grip.

Shit.

“Honey, calm down, you’re safe. Your Dad sent me.”

“I won’t do it again! I won’t! I won’t!”

Layne yanked her close, wrapped an arm around her and backed up, keeping her close and pulling her away from the door.

“You don’t have to do it again, honey, you never have to do it again. I promise. It’s over. Never again,” he whispered.

He heard movement in the hall and so did Giselle. Her head whipped toward the door and Layne pushed her behind him and trained his gun on the door.

Slowly the door opened, Layne aimed, the door opened further then he saw Merry’s head jump in view as he cased the room then it disappeared.

Then it came back and Merry slid into the room, closing the door.

Giselle pressed into his back.

Layne dropped his gun and whispered, “Got Giselle. We need to check the upstairs is clear.”

Merry nodded.

“I’m alone,” Giselle whispered from behind him and Layne turned, dropped into a crouch and got close to her face.

“You’re alone?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Why are you here alone, Giselle?” Layne asked.

She shook her head, stepped back and ran into the bed. Her body got still and she stared at him.

“Rocky,” she whispered.

“I’ll call Roc,” Merry murmured and Layne stood.

“No, Merry, we gotta check the house. I want to make sure it’s clear before Rocky gets here.”

Merry nodded.

“I’m alone,” Giselle repeated and Layne looked down at her.

“We’re just going to check,” Layne said as he heard Merry moving through the room, opening the closet doors. “You stay here, keep that door closed, don’t go anywhere, stay quiet, yeah?”

She nodded.

Layne’s eyes moved to Merry then they moved out.

“I want eyes on this door, Merry,” Layne whispered after they closed it. “She could make a break for it.”

“Why?”

“Don’t know. Somethin’ tweaked her.”

Merry nodded. “I already checked down.”

“I did too.”

“You in or out?”

“In, you’re on the door.”

Merry nodded again and Layne nodded back.

Layne opened doors and Merry didn’t leave the landing. He entered the rooms, checked closets and bathrooms and came back out.

“Clear,” he said after the last one. “Call Roc. Then call Colt.”

Merry nodded, holstered his weapon and reached for his phone.

Layne went to Giselle.

“He’s in your office,” Devin said into Layne’s ear.

Devin and Ryker picked up TJ Gaines.

“Good,” Layne replied, his eyes on Rocky who was crouched in front of Giselle and Giselle was sitting on the bed in the room he’d taken her to. He was standing with Merry and Vera out on the landing, his mother slightly removed. She was talking to Wade and Adele Speakmon, telling them their girl was safe.

Layne couldn’t hear anything from the room. All he could see was Giselle whispering and Rocky nodding.

“You get her?” Layne asked Devin.

“Not her. He was with another her. He was gettin’ a blowjob from some woman Ryker says is named Tina Blackstone. You know her?”

Tina Blackstone. Shit. Everyone knew her and everyone knew to avoid her.

But Tina Blackstone wasn’t Giselle’s age. Tina was older than Rocky.

“You sure it was Tina Blackstone?” Layne asked.

“Don’t know her, boy, but Ryker does. He called her that, she answered to it so, yeah, sure enough.”

“Tina Blackstone’s got a big fuckin’ mouth, Dev,” Layne told him.

“And your boy Ryker has a persuasive way about him, Tanner. Trust me, the bitch won’t talk.”

Well, at least that was good.

“You want us to sit on him or you want us to get him to talk?” Devin asked.

“Sit on him. Let me see what’s happenin’ here,” Layne answered. “But forward thinkin, you need to make him talk, use Ryker. Let him loose. No rules. Scare the piss out of him. He needs to be more afraid of us than that bitch he works for but no visible marks,” Layne instructed.

“Tanner,” Merry whispered and Layne’s eyes cut to him.

“You didn’t hear that,” Layne whispered back.

“We makin’ a double agent here?” Devin asked but he knew, he was clarifying.

“That bitch know we got him?” Layne asked.

“Far’s I know, no,” Devin answered.

“I’ll call when I know more. He may walk out of there in cuffs or we may need him. We need him and you can’t break him, again, he walks out of there in cuffs. You can, he’s just switched sides.”

“Oh,” Devin whispered, “we’ll break him.”

Disconnect.

Layne flipped his phone shut.

“Brother,” Merry murmured and Layne looked at him.

“We rush this, we take him down and him alone. We turn him, we get her and Rutledge.”

Merry got close. “This may have escaped you, Tanner, but we got a tweaked teenaged girl in there. Her parents are gonna blow this and you do not want your end messy.”

“I know her parents are gonna blow this, Merry, that’s because it’s blown. But if I make a mess, you gotta do what you gotta do to clean it up and you gotta keep a close eye on Rutledge if he hasn’t already disappeared. He intercepted the missing person call last night. Went to the Speakmons’ house alone then sat on it.”

Merry’s brows went up.

“Yeah, you haven’t heard about it means he didn’t share. You got a teenaged girl missin’ in this ‘burg, every cop in the Department will know and every one of them would be on the hunt. Whatever happened, they thought she was gonna blow them. He intercepted that call means he knew the Speakmons would call it in. That means he was waitin’ for it. That means somethin’ happened last night with at least Gaines, maybe the woman. He can’t hide his shit anymore, Merry. That proves he’s linked to at least Gaines. We got them both. Gaines comes in limpin’, that’s the least of your worries.”

Merry got closer, “I want Rutledge out now.”

“I got no problem with her losin’ her protection,” Layne returned. “But you call it out now, you have to open an investigation. You got dirt, he’ll need to explain, boys’ll be lookin’ over their shoulders, whisperin’ but that shit takes a long time, Merry. And he’ll bolt but, like I said, he could have already bolted. You hold out, we get what she’s got on him, he’s never seen again.”

“Then no investigation, I’m just swingin’ my ass out on this right alongside yours, brother. I want him just as tweaked as that girl is in there,” Layne studied him and Merry nodded. “Yeah, brother, I heard her.” He leaned in closer and his voice dropped lower. “I fuckin’ heard her.”

“Means you could get dead and I could get dead,” Layne whispered back.

“His desk is beside mine,” Merry hissed.

Jesus, the Merricks.

“Patience, Garrett.” Layne kept whispering.

“She said, ‘I won’t do it again,’.” Merry reminded him.

“Patience, brother. We’re close.”

“I want this done,” Merry repeated his sister’s words of that morning.

Layne leaned to an inch away from his friend. “I do to, Merry but cool it. Let’s see what she has to say. Then we’ll decide the way to play it.”

Merry stared in his eyes then he nodded.

Vera approached. “Parents are coming over now,” she whispered.

Layne nodded to his mother and wrapped an arm around her.

“I don’t think I want to be your receptionist anymore, honey,” she said when she rested her weight into his side.

“Didn’t think so,” Layne murmured, giving her a squeeze then going alert when Rocky stood, she rested a hand on the side of Giselle’s head then slid it down to cup her cheek. Then she bent low, said something, turned and walked out of the room.

“Vera, would you –?” Rocky didn’t finish, Layne’s mother hustled into the room toward Giselle.

Rocky’s eyes went to Layne then to her brother then she walked down the stairs.

Layne and Merry followed her.

She was in the kitchen and they barely got close to her before she started whispering.

“He came after her last night, when she was walking to the game. Gaines. Said he’d give her a ride. She said no. He stopped and got out of the car. She said no again. He made a grab for her and she took off. At first she hid. Then she waited. Then she came here thinking he might go to her house. She broke in through a window.”

“Why didn’t she call her parents?” Layne asked and Rocky locked eyes with him.

“They took pictures of her.”

Layne’s stomach pitched and Merry jerked away, probably looking for something to throw and Rocky moved forward, her hand curling around her brother’s bicep and he stilled.

“Not like that but it still wasn’t good and she didn’t like it,” Rocky whispered quickly then her eyes went back to Layne. “She said they were pictures with her clothes on. She says they told her they were recruiting models, she’d go to New York City, she’d be in magazine ads. She did it with Alexis and another girl. Tiffany Emmerson. She didn’t say anything about the pictures because Alexis and Tiffany were excited about it, talked her into keeping quiet but she still didn’t like it. But him being alone, making a grab for her, that’s what freaked her out. She said even a Youth Minister should know not to offer a ride to a girl alone and definitely not push it when she declines.”

Smart girl, thank fuck.

“Tiffany Emmerson sixteen, long, dark hair?” Layne asked and Rocky’s eyes got wide.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Drive a red Ford Focus?” Layne went on.

“I don’t know. Why?” Rocky answered.

“Hunch,” Layne muttered, knowing exactly who Tiffany Emmerson was, too old but up for it except she didn’t know what “it” was. Fuck. He looked at Merry. “That’s a blonde, a redhead and a brunette.”

“Collecting types,” Merry murmured and Layne nodded.

Layne looked back at Rocky. “She place the woman there?”

Rocky nodded to Layne. “Yes. Said she was touchy.”

Layne bet she was.

Jesus.

“Said she gave her the creeps,” Rocky continued and got closer to Layne. “She said she didn’t have a problem with Gaines until he took her to that woman and she definitely has a problem with him after last night. He was just the Youth Minister and she didn’t really think much of him, except he was the Youth Minister and he was cute. But she didn’t like that woman.”

“Was the touching inappropriate?” Layne asked and Rocky shook her head.

“No, just familiar and frequent. She played with their hair, positioned their bodies for the photos, put makeup on them but it was all normal photo shoot stuff as far as Giselle knew. Except Giselle said it was a lot of makeup and Giselle didn’t like the poses.”

Christ.

“So why didn’t she call her parents to come and get her?” Layne asked and Rocky shook her head again.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. She’s fourteen and she was freaked. She said if her parents knew she did the photo shoot, they’d be angry. They’re overprotective, especially after her sister got sick. That’s why she didn’t phone them. She thought she’d be in trouble if they found out. She wasn’t thinking straight, just got scared and hid. Tripp called and texted and her parents called and texted and the more they called, the more scared she got. But she got my call and she thought she could trust me so she called me back.” She paused, Layne nodded and Rocky continued. “The photo shoot was about a month ago but nothing after that even though Gaines offered it, Giselle wouldn’t do it and she doesn’t think Alexis or Tiffany did either but they were trying to talk her into it. They’d made a girl pact, it was an all or nothing thing. Then she said Gaines spent a lot of time with her after that, talked to her a lot, tried to make friends and she felt weird about it because he was pushing another shoot. She said she’d swear she’d sometimes see him, when she left school, in his car outside her house but she’d look again and he wasn’t there so she thought she was seeing things. But last night, she wasn’t seeing things.”

No, she wasn’t seeing things.

Ryker needed this intel, if they were doing it to Giselle, they could be doing it to Alexis.

“This happened last night, why’d she cut Tripp out at school yesterday?” Layne asked.

Rocky’s expression cleared and her lips twitched. “Alexis’s advice. Told her she was making it too easy on Tripp. Told her to play hard to get. That was nothing to do with Gaines or any of this. She’s almost more worried that Tripp is going to be mad at her than she is about her parents or Gaines.”

Jesus, teenagers playing games. Starting young. It felt like Layne had a lifetime of that and he sure as fuck was glad that shit was over.

“They change clothes?” Layne asked and Rocky’s face grew confused.

“Change clothes?” she repeated and Layne moved close to her, putting his hand to her neck.

“Change clothes, Roc, at the photo shoot. Even alone, if they did it, they could have had cameras on them,” Layne explained and Rocky swallowed.

“I didn’t ask,” Rocky whispered.

Layne jerked his head toward the ceiling and whispered back, “Ask baby, hurry, before her folks get here.”

“Shit,” she muttered, looked at her brother then walked out of the room.

Merry moved to Layne.

“So, what’s the play, brother?”

“He’s out,” Layne stated instantly, looking at Merry. “I outed him to the reverend as exactly what he is. He doesn’t know it yet but he doesn’t have a job anymore. Pastor Knox would not let him work undercover and we’re not workin’ that angle with that perv. No more recruiting. This model business is out too. We tell the Speakmons, we tell Ryker, who’s seein’ Alexis McGraw’s mother and we tell the Emmersons.”

“Then they’ll flee, they’re outed and got no way to recruit.”

“Maybe and maybe not. We turn Gaines, we may be able to get him to talk them into trying to play it another way. They’re dug in, set up, they spent a lot of time on this and they were goin’ in for the kill. They got a lot invested and, because of that, there’s a lot to keep them here. They need to dismantle the operation, they lose big. We turn Gaines, we get him to get them to cool it, convince them he’s still got the girls, he leads us to them and we take them all down.”

“Rutledge?”

“We don’t get what she’s got on him, we find him, you’re gonna hafta flip Rutledge in the interrogation room.”

Merry smiled.

Layne didn’t return his smile. He pulled out his phone and called Ryker.

“Yo,” Ryker answered on the first ring.

“Alexis safe?” Layne asked.

“Yeah,” Ryker answered.

“How sure are you of that?” Layne asked.

“Sure enough, since I been callin’ my babe probably every fifteen minutes since I heard that girl was missin’. Alexis is at home. Ticked. She’s grounded because she mouthed off bad when Lissa cut her off from Youth Group.”

Every fifteen minutes and cut off from Youth Group. Layne believed it. Proof Ryker was the man Layne thought he was.

“Right, they’re keepin’ an eye on the girls. Don’t know why but they’re followin’ them. You need to brief your babe and you got a friend you can trust, you put a man on her house.”

“Shit,” Ryker muttered then said, “roger that.”

“Gaines sweating?”

“He’s tied to a chair watchin’ your man clean his gun. He’s findin’ it fascinatin’, bro.”

Layne didn’t laugh.

“All right, Ryker, I need you to get me four things from this guy. One, why’d he go after Giselle last night? Two, are Towers and Rutledge still in town? Three, are they lookin’ for Giselle? And four, if they are, why’s he gettin’ a blowjob from Tina Blackstone?”

“You got it,” Ryker replied.

“I’ll want more later, start with that and anything else you wanna know.”

“Ditto on the you got it,” Ryker repeated.

“Keep listening to the apartment. If he’s gettin’ head from Tina because they’re not tweaked by Giselle running then the woman might go back to the apartment. We’ll need to hear what she has to say.”

“Devin’s all over that,” Ryker told him.

“Right,” Layne replied. “Tell Devin he’s on clean up. He needs to make sure the Reverend doesn’t talk. Youth Group is suspended for the time being, no explanation, that’s it. Nothin’ else leaks.”

“I’ll tell ‘im.”

“Later.” He closed his phone and flipped it open to call Jasper.

Jasper answered on the second ring.

“What’s up, Dad?”

“We have Giselle. She’s fine. Totally fine. Tripp with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Tell him now.”

He listened to Jasper say, “Dad’s found Giselle. She’s cool, Tripp-o-matic. It’s all good.”

“Where is she?” Layne heard Tripp ask.

“Her parents are coming to pick her up.” Layne answered but didn’t wait until Jas relayed this information before continuing. “You boys finish gathering intel from Giselle’s friends. We need everything we can get on Gaines. When you’re done, you can go home to your Mom’s. And Jasper, I need you to locate Tiffany Emmerson. If you don’t have her number, find someone who does. I want you to call in to me when you know she’s safe then I want one of your boys glued to her until I can get to her parents.”

“Another favorite,” Jasper muttered.

“You got it, Bud,” Layne muttered back. “Closin’ ranks, son.”

“Gotcha,” Jasper replied. “Later.”

“Later, Jas.” Layne flipped his phone shut and looked at Merry. “I need your Dad. We’re spread thin and I gotta have ears on that apartment. Can you call him and get him to the office?”

Merry nodded, pulled out his phone and stepped away.

Then Rocky walked into the room.

“They didn’t change clothes,” she announced when she got close. “They told them what to wear to the shoot. It was skimpy and Giselle doesn’t do skimpy. Alexis told her she could borrow something but Giselle wouldn’t do it. She told me Alexis and Tiffany did but the woman, the photographer and Gaines didn’t make a big deal out of it that Giselle didn’t.”

“Good kid,” Layne muttered.

Rocky got close and slid an arm around his waist so he slid his around her shoulders.

“She’s feeling a bit foolish, sweetheart, thinks she made a big deal out of nothing. Worried her parents are going to be angry, Tripp… I didn’t know what to say.”

Layne had looked down at her while she was talking and when she stopped, he asked, “What did you say?”

“I said always go with your gut, you get a bad feeling, you get safe and then you find someone you trust, which was what she did. I didn’t get into Gaines, I just told her she did the right thing and everyone would understand.”

Layne squeezed her shoulder and muttered, “Good answer, sweetcheeks.”

“Probably be a good idea you get Tripp to text her, say he heard she’s all right, he’s glad and she should give him a call when she can.” Rocky pressed closer and whispered, “She likes him, baby, like, a lot.”

Merry moved back to them, he was off the phone, his head tilted to listen to the car pulling into the drive and then he looked at Layne. “Parents,” he murmured then started to the front door.

“You call him, Roc, he’ll like to hear that from you,” Layne told her and she nodded, smiled up at him and her arm got tight around him.

Then her head turned to the door they heard Merry opening.

“We better talk to Adele and Wade,” she whispered, eyes still pointing in the direction of the door.

“Yeah,” Layne sighed and he kept his arm around his woman as he led her to the door.

When Layne arrived at his office, Dev met him at the outer door.

“You got here just in time for the good part,” Dev whispered on a scary smile.

“He talkin’?” Layne asked.

“Yeah and I’m wonderin’ ‘bout her now, she picked this guy,” Devin answered. “First, that boy is stupid as shit. I reckon he got by on his looks his whole life and that worked for him so he uses about a quarter of the eleven percent of the brain that other people use. Second, he’s scared of her, he’s scared of us, he’s scared of everything. Last, he don’t care who he works or who he works for, he just wants to stay pretty.”

“Pretty isn’t gonna serve him very well in the hole,” Layne observed.

“Yeah, I explained that to him. That’s one of the reasons why he’s scared of us,” Dev replied.

“You get my answers?” Layne asked and Devin nodded.

“First, the woman is gettin’ impatient. She’s got clients all lined up, a party, big money, they need those girls but can’t get a lock on ‘em because of Giselle. The girls have made it clear they move as a unit and Giselle’s doesn’t feel like movin’. Towers is unhappy as in un… hap… pee,” Devin answered then grinned at Layne. “This is not only ‘cause Giselle doesn’t want shit to do with them but also because Giselle found herself a boyfriend and they couldn’t find any time with her away from Tripp.”

At that, Layne grinned back. It was a small grin but it was a grin because Tripp had done good and because his son would be pleased he did his part to keep Giselle safe.

Devin continued. “Now she’s runnin’ outta excuses for her clients who are chompin’ at the bit after seein’ the girls’ photos. The two other girls are good to go, his words, words, I’ll add, that made your boy Ryker go a bit scary, Tanner, and when I say that, I mean he scared me, he got so fuckin’ scary.”

“He cares about Alexis,” Layne muttered.

“Well, that’s plain to see,” Devin muttered back then kept talking. “Anyway, Giselle was muckin’ up the works. Towers was puttin’ on the pressure and he was gettin’ desperate, started followin’ her and acted on his own. He found his opportunity, Giselle alone without Tripp at her side, and he took it. When she bolted, he freaked, told Rutledge. According to Gaines, Rutledge is nearly as scared of this bitch as Gaines is. Told him he’d take care of it and keep it quiet. The woman doesn’t know shit. Gaines, bein’ what I know now of Gaines, shrugged his shoulders. Once he handed off to Rutledge, he went his merry way and his way is paved with all things merry. Apparently, when he isn’t spreading the word of God while workin’ at settin’ up teenagers to get gang raped, he’s been bangin’ this Tina person for months, amongst others.”

Layne nodded, thinking briefly of Tina Blackstone. Tina would open her legs for anyone but she’d make a world record of it if that someone was good-looking. And she didn’t care who they were or what they did. He seriously doubted Tina would blink if she learned she was getting hit by a guy who was recruiting for a child prostitution racket. To be fair, she might shiver a bit but then she’d shake it off and move on.

Devin got out of his way and Layne set aside thoughts of Tina and walked into his office. Dev followed him and Layne saw TJ Gaines or, as Layne knew him now from the phone call he’d made getting his identity from his prints, Jeremy Goulding, tied to one of his office chairs and looking about ready to piss his pants.

“You,” he whispered when he looked from Ryker sitting in Layne’s desk chair and cleaning his fingernails with his huge, freaking knife to Layne.

“How’s it goin’, Jeremy?” Layne asked, walking to his desk and leaning on it.

Jeremy’s head jerked.

“Yeah,” Layne said softly. “I know who you are. Got solid evidence you’re guilty in the State of Indiana of identity theft and know you got a warrant out on you in Tennessee too.”

Jeremy’s eyes slid beyond Layne to Ryker then to the side to take in Devin then they shot back to Layne.

“Big step up,” Layne remarked, “Movin’ from small time cons, all women, to child prostitution.”

Jeremy’s pale face turned gray. “That isn’t part of my deal.”

Layne’s brows went up. “No?”

Jeremy shook his head.

“Saw you kiss Tiffany Emmerson’s neck. Saw Alexis McGraw put her hand on you. Heard you shared gum with Alexis, mouth to mouth, after it had been chewed,” Layne noted and he felt the sudden wall of rage coming off Ryker slam into his back, just as he’d intended.

Jeremy felt it too and he bucked his body, scooting his chair back, his eyes locked on Ryker.

“Sit still, Jeremy,” Layne said quietly as Dev moved in behind Jeremy.

Jeremy’s eyes didn’t move from Ryker but he did as he was told.

“I didn’t... I didn’t,” he stammered, “I didn’t do that.”

“You callin’ Alexis a liar?” Layne asked.

Jeremy’s eyes darted to Layne. “No!” he cried.

“So you did share gum with her,” Layne pressed.

“I… no, she shared gum with me,” Jeremy amended.

“Okay,” Layne said then lied, “I see the difference.”

“It’s just a job,” Jeremy explained quickly as Layne heard and felt Ryker move behind him. “I didn’t like it, I’m not into girls, I’m into women, you know, like your lady.” Layne’s back straightened and his face changed and Jeremy’s body bucked again. “No! No! I mean, she’s pretty. I’m complimenting her. I’m just saying I’m not into girls. But that was my part of the job. And Nic said she’d take care of the girls, she said she always takes care of the girls.”

“Takes care of them how?” Layne asked.

“Every way. Money, clothes, attention. Girls love that shit and Nic loves them. She’s good with them. It isn’t as creepy as you think,” Jeremy explained and Layne had trouble controlling his sneer and the urge to open up the flesh of Jeremy’s face with his fist.

“You’re wrong,” Layne whispered. “You are way wrong. It’s as creepy as I think. Fuck, Jeremy, it’s creepier.”

“They’re not as young as you think either,” Jeremy quickly went on.

“Sorry, man, but you’re wrong about that too. Giselle’s datin’ my son and she’s fourteen, she’s exactly as young as I think,” Layne told him.

“Yes, I mean with Giselle, yes, she’s… she, I’m sorry about her, okay? She wasn’t the right one. Nic told me who to pick and I knew Giselle wasn’t the right one but I had to do what Nic said. But the other two, they’re fourteen and sixteen goin’ on thirty,” Jeremy replied.

Ryker moved again, Layne knew he’d been standing, now he was making his way around the desk.

“Ryker, stand down, brother, he can’t talk if he’s got a broken jaw,” Layne said quietly not taking his eyes off Jeremy who was staring, eyes-wide, body inert, at Ryker.

“That’s my girl,” Ryker growled.

“I… I know, but you gotta know what she’s like,” Jeremy replied, proving just how stupid he was because that wave of rage burst out of Ryker again and Layne stood.

Layne turned to Ryker and whispered, “Focus, brother. This guy is not our end game.”

Ryker’s eyes didn’t move from Jeremy and Ryker’s body also didn’t move. He held it taut. He was struggling. And Devin was right, Ryker pissed was pretty, fucking scary.

Finally, his gaze slid to Layne and Layne watched as Ryker forced his body to relax.

Time to move on.

Layne turned back to Jeremy.

“You’re goin’ down,” he informed him and Jeremy’s eyes cut swiftly to Layne. “Now, though, now you gotta decide how far down you’re goin’.”

“I –” Jeremy started but Layne cut him off.

“I’m not done talkin’.” Jeremy snapped his mouth shut and nodded. “We’re workin’ with the cops on this and now you’re workin’ with them too.” Layne watched Jeremy gulp and he kept at him. “You’re gonna leave this office and you’re gonna convince Towers and Rutledge that everything is just fine. You’re gonna tell them you’re close, Giselle is breaking, they gotta give you some time. A week, they don’t go for that, a few days. In the meantime, you gotta know, you’re blown. Pastor Knox is changin’ the locks on the church as we speak. The Speakmon and Emmerson families know what you did and they’ve both agreed to hold fire and wait for Towers and Rutledge to go down. You’re blown but you convince your partners you’re not even though you don’t get near any of those girls, any kids from Youth Group or anyone under the age of eighteen in this town or out of it. You work with us, you don’t go down all on your own and trust me, man, Towers and Rutledge get a whiff that their scheme is goin’ south, they’ll bolt and they’ll leave you to swing.”

“What… what do you want me to do?” Jeremy asked.

“You get me what she’s got on Rutledge and in about fifteen minutes, you and Ryker are gonna take a ride. At the end of that ride, there’s gonna be a cop. You’re gonna tell him everything you know about Rutledge and Towers. Then, we’re gonna let you go. You get them talking in the apartment about what you’re doin’, where you’re doin’ it and when it’s gonna go down.”

“I… they’re… she’s not stupid. She’s –”

“I don’t give a fuck what she is. You’re not a good actor now, you got an hour to learn to be one and you stay in character all the time. When you get up, when you go to bed, when you eat, when you take a shit, when you’re fuckin’ sleepin’. All the time. Towers gets tweaked, we’ll take it out on you.”

Jeremy didn’t move, didn’t nod, didn’t blink. He just stared at Layne.

Layne continued. “What you gotta know is, we let you go, you try to disappear, we’ll find you. We find you, we’re not cops, we don’t have rules and when we find you, we’ll do you a favor. We’ll make it so you won’t be so attractive, and we’ll make that permanent, so when you do time you won’t be instantly made into somebody’s bitch.”

“I –” Jeremy started, that one syllable a squeak but he stopped when Layne bent over him, getting in his face.

“You’re good, we’ll talk to the cops, see what we can do since you cooperated. You’re not, Towers and Rutledge disappear, this gets fucked in any way, our sole focus, our only reason for living, is to find you and fuck you over so bad, Jeremy, swear to God, you’ll regret bein’ born. You get me?”

Jeremy didn’t answer, he just stared into Layne’s eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“You played with girls, young girls, you fucked with their heads, you freaked them out, you betrayed their trust, you took advantage and you did it through a church,” Layne whispered. “Young girls who should be worried about a pop quiz of if some boy is into them not worried about bein’ caught up in the shitty, creepy, fucked up games you’ve been playin’. That’s some fucked up shit, you asshole, and you’re gonna pay for that. But I’m givin’ you a break, a break you don’t deserve, and you get to decide how much you’re gonna pay. Now, I asked you, do you get me?”

“I get you,” Jeremy whispered.

Layne straightened away from him but looked down at him as he crossed his arms on his chest. “I’m glad to hear that, Jeremy. Now, I know you’re not too bright but I want you to concentrate real close on what I’m sayin’. We got you covered. We know your every move. We know where you live, what you drive, where you hang and who you fuck.” Part of this was, of course, a lie but the look on Jeremy’s face said he bought it. “So, just to repeat and make sure you get it, you are on our radar and there is no hope of camouflage. You’re playin’ our game now.”

“Right,” Jeremy was still whispering.

Layne stared at him a second then he cut his eyes to Devin and Ryker and walked out of the room.

On the landing outside his office, he turned to both men when the door closed behind Ryker.

“Find out everything you can from him,” Layne ordered Devin. “Dave Merrick should be here soon. He’s going to be listening to the bugs and he’s got two friends by the names of Ernie and Spike who are gonna be helping him. They’re all ex-cops, they know what they’re doin’ and they’ve been briefed.” Devin nodded and Layne carried on. “And I want a device on his car. You’ll find them in the storage room.”

“Key,” was Devin’s answer and Layne dug his keys out of his pocket, twisted the key to the storage room off his ring and gave it to Devin.

Then his eyes went to Ryker. “You’re gonna get a call from Garrett Merrick in about five minutes. He’ll tell you where to meet him. You take Jeremy there. You don’t have to handle him with care. He falls down half a flight of stairs, shit happens.” Layne watched Ryker smile his ugly smile and kept talking. “He’s scared but I want him shit scared. You stay while he talks with Garrett then you take him back to his car and turn him loose.”

Ryker nodded.

“Game on, men,” Layne whispered.

“Fuckin’ A, bro,” Ryker grunted.

Devin just stared at him then nodded.

Layne turned away and walked down the stairs. The Bachelor Auction Powwow would be done soon which meant Rocky would be alone soon and he needed to get to his woman.

“How together are you?” Layne, standing outside on Rocky’s balcony, his phone to his ear, asked his youngest son.

“Today freaked me, Dad, but I’m cool,” Tripp replied. “I did what Rocky said, texted Giselle to tell her I was glad she was all right, Giselle called me back and Giselle’s parents are lettin’ me go over there tomorrow to watch football then have dinner. It’s all good.”

Layne scanned the landscape as he repeated to his son, “How together are you?”

Tripp was silent then he asked, “I don’t know what you’re askin’, Dad.”

“You’re fourteen, Pal, and I got somethin’ I wanna tell you. But I gotta know you can take it.”

“Is it bad?”

“It could have been.”

More silence then, softly, Tripp said, “He was gonna hurt her.”

“Yes,” Layne answered, “but he didn’t and part of the reason why he didn’t was because you made it impossible for him to get to her. That’s the part I wanted you to know.”

Complete silence.

“You did good, Pal.”

More utter silence.

“You took care of your girl.”

Another beat of silence then, “Thanks, Dad.”

“Nope, Tripp, I gotta thank you. This is all gonna be over soon and you and Jasper made that happen.”

“Cool,” Tripp whispered but he didn’t sound like he thought it was cool. The word was heavy, he’d felt the weight of what could have gone down and even though that weight was lifted, the memory of it was fresh.

The door opened, Roc stuck her head out and said, “Sorry, sweetheart, dinner’s almost ready. Do you want me to put it to warm?”

“I’ll let you go,” Tripp, obviously hearing Rocky, said in his ear.

“Give me a minute, Roc,” Layne said to Rocky, she smiled and closed the door.

Layne watched her strut through the living room and into the kitchen as he asked Tripp, “You okay, Pal?”

“I’m good, Dad.”

“This shit starts fuckin’ with your head, you call me, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” Layne muttered.

“Dad?” Tripp called.

“Yeah?”

“Jas told me you and Roc aren’t fake anymore,” Tripp informed him and Layne pulled in a deep, silent breath.

Then he replied, “Thought you figured that out yourself.”

“I did, Jas just confirmed it, said you told him it wasn’t.”

“Well, it isn’t,” Layne confirmed it again.

Another beat of silence then, quietly, “I’m glad.”

He knew that but it was still good to hear it.

“That’s good, Pal,” Layne said quietly back, then, “I gotta go eat dinner.”

“Wish I was eatin’ Rocky’s food,” Tripp muttered, Layne knew that too and he grinned.

“Next week, Tripp.”

“Okay,” Tripp replied then called again, “Dad?”

“Right here, buddy.”

“I don’t know how to say this,” Tripp told him and the muscles in Layne’s neck got tight because Tripp sounded like he didn’t know how to say whatever he had to say but also that he didn’t want to say it.

“You can be straight with me on anything, you know that,” Layne returned.

“Well, it’s gonna sound stupid.”

“Nothin’ you say sounds stupid.”

“This will,” Tripp shot back.

“No, Tripp, it won’t. What’s on your mind?”

“It’s just…” he paused, “Rocky.”

Layne’s entire body got tight. “What about her?”

“I’m glad you got her back,” Tripp said on a rush and the tightness left Layne’s body but it stayed completely still as Tripp kept talking. “For you, ‘cause you’re my Dad but mostly for her.”

Layne was silent.

Tripp filled the silence. “Is that weird? I mean, you’re my Dad and I should –”

Layne cut him off. “It’s not weird.”

“I mean, I’m glad for you but Rocky –” Tripp was still talking fast.

“I get it, Pal,” Layne whispered.

“Is she…” Tripp hesitated, “is she going to be okay?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because… well, I don’t know but when I talked with Giselle today, at first, she was bein’ weird and then I realized she thought I was mad at her and I felt bad because she felt bad and I didn’t want her to feel bad because she didn’t do anything wrong. And that got me to thinking that maybe Rocky, because of what happened with you guys a long time ago, would feel bad because she thought you were mad at her but that was big, bigger than what happened with Giselle and that… that kind of thing… well, I guess I just think it would be hard to let that go.”

Christ, but his kid was sharp.

“I’ve let it go, Pal,” Layne assured him.

“Has she?”

“We’re workin’ on it.”

“Good,” Tripp whispered.

“Got anything else on your mind?” Layne asked.

“No,” Tripp answered.

“World peace? Starving nations? The state of the economy?”

He heard Tripp’s laugh then, “No, Dad, jeez.”

“That shit starts weighin’ on you, boy, I’m only a phone call away.”

“Right, I’ll call when I start worryin’ about world peace,” Tripp returned.

“I gotta eat,” Layne told his son through a smile.

“All right, see you later.”

“Later,” Layne said then called, “Tripp?”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Love you, Pal.”

“Love you too.”

“Later.”

“Later.”

Layne flipped his phone shut and turned to the door. He opened it and was assaulted with the fumes he’d left behind ten minutes ago. Chicken tacos. Rocky had been stewing the meat all day, anxious about Giselle and turning her mind to cooking rather than worrying so she’d put it on that morning before she headed over to his place. This was another recipe she’d perfected in their kitchen years ago. Stewing in the crockpot all day meant the meat would be tender and shredded and after cooking in its spices for the last hour, full of flavor.

Rocky was at the counter, her back to him and didn’t turn when she asked, “You need a fresh beer, baby?”

“I’ll get it,” Layne replied but he didn’t get it. He walked up to her back, fitted his front to it and slid his arms along her belly, looking over her shoulder to see she was grating cheese.

She didn’t stop grating when she noted, “Don’t keep beer in my stomach fridge, Layne.”

“Mm,” Layne replied through a smile, dropped his head and kissed her neck.

Then he lifted a hand, yanked her ponytail holder out and her hair tumbled to her shoulders.

She stopped grating and her neck twisted so she could glare at him. “Seriously, stop doing that.”

Layne was still smiling when he replied, “Seriously, no.”

Her eyes narrowed then she went smack into stare down. Layne held her stare as his other arm wound around her again and when he was done with the stare down, his arms tightened and he tickled the sensitive skin at her sides.

Her body jerked and twisted as her head shot back, her hands dropped the cheese and the grater, went to his wrists and put pressure on as she shouted through annoyed laughter, “Stop it, Layne!”

“Nope,” Layne returned.

“Stop!” she yelled, still twisting in his arms, putting pressure on his wrists and now she was giggling.

Layne was relentless and he kept at her because he missed this. He knew he missed it but having it back, hearing Rocky’s laughter, feeling her body against his, doing something normal like preparing to eat dinner together, he realized he didn’t miss it, he missed it.

And when that feeling threatened to overwhelm him, he stopped tickling her, his arms went around her tight and hard and he buried his face in the hair at her neck.

When he didn’t speak and after she controlled her body and laughter, she called, “Layne?”

“Right here, baby,” Layne said into her neck, not lifting his head but giving her a squeeze.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah,” he replied.

Her body relaxed but her hands tightened on his wrists.

Then she asked, “Is Tripp okay?”

“Yeah.”

Her hands at his wrists slid along his arms so they were crossed on his.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

He lifted his mouth to her ear and answered, “Nothin’, which means everything. I forgot that, I forgot how nothing meant everything.”

“Layne,” she breathed.

“Love you, baby.”

Her hands squeezed his arms. “Love you too, sweetheart.” She was quiet then she said, “But Layne?”

He lifted his head. “What?”

“New rule. You can’t make me cry into grated cheese again.”

He turned her around to face him and saw the tracks her silent tears left on her face. His hands moved to her jaws and he used his thumbs to wipe away the wetness.

“Or any foodstuffs,” she went on and his eyes went from his thumbs to hers.

“Right,” he whispered. “No making you cry into… foodstuffs.”

She grinned up at him, put her hands to his jaws, lifted up on tiptoe and touched his mouth with hers.

She didn’t take her mouth from his when she whispered, “Tacos.”

Then she pulled gently away and opened the cupboard to take out the flour tortillas.

Layne went to the fridge and got himself a beer, he got her a fancy-ass one and then he sat in front of the TV with his woman leaned up against him and ate heaven, Mexican style.