Golden Trail

Chapter Three White Hat

At two o’clock that morning, Layne stood outside Merry’s condo door and knocked, loudly.

He’d gone home, he’d made certain the boys had their homework done and he’d gone to bed. He was going to sleep on it, think on it, consider his strategies after he fucked things up so royally that morning with Raquel.

Then he couldn’t get it out of his head. None of it. Her husband fucking around on her. Her sleeping on her brother’s couch for two months. Her going in to do whatever the hell she was going to do to find dirt on Rutledge but mostly whatever the hell she was going to do to get Rutledge to trust her.

So he got up, got dressed, got in his truck and went to Merry’s.

Merry’s car wasn’t in the lot; he was sleeping elsewhere that night, as usual.

Rocky’s Mercedes was there.

When she didn’t answer, he knocked louder.

He heard her at the door before he saw her, hopefully checking the peephole. Then the outside light came on and the door opened. She was standing there and with one look at her, the breath went clean out of him.

First, because she was wearing a big t-shirt. She’d worn big t-shirts to bed, his, when they were living together (and before, she’d confiscated several while they were dating). This one was a blue, Indianapolis Colts tee and he knew it wasn’t Jarrod Astley’s because the man was taller than her, but slim, and she swam in it. If he thought about it, he’d have guessed she’d graduate to silk, satin and lace. She had not. Something about this hit him and it hit him hard.

Second, because she had her hair down. He hadn’t seen much of her the last year he was home but it wasn’t exactly a bustling city they lived in. He saw her – at Mimi’s, at Frank’s, coming out of Reggie’s with a pizza, at the grocery store. She always had her hair up, in a ponytail, a twist, a clip, a bun. Now it was down and it was longer than he expected. Longer even than when they were together. Long and thick and tousled around her face, over her shoulders, down her chest. Christ. Gorgeous.

“Is everything all right?” she asked, her voice sounding funny, scared and he knew she was worried about Merry.

And he took advantage of that fear. Instead of answering straight away, like she had that morning, he walked right through her but he stopped close, closed the door and locked it before he moved into the condo and saw the bed pulled out of the couch, the covers mussed. Merry had a multitude of beds he could choose to sleep in; he should let Rocky have his.

Once he successfully gained entry, he turned to her. “If you’re worried about Merry, he’s fine. He’s probably a lot more than fine just about now.”

She stared at him unblinking then she turned to the door then she looked back at him.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“Why’d you come to the hospital?” he asked back and watched her body lock. There was only one lamp lit in the living room but he saw it lock to statue-still as the confusion and sleep swept out of her face and she went on alert.

“Sorry?”

“When I was shot, why’d you come to the hospital?”

She straightened her shoulders. This took effort, he could tell, but she did it. It also took time. Just a bit of it but enough for her to come up with a believable lie.

“You were at Jarrod’s hospital and I just happened to be –”

He cut her off. “Bullshit, Roc, you left Jarrod two months ago.”

He watched her lips thin and she glared at him.

Then she whispered, “Merry,” and he knew he’d thrown Merry right under the bus. He also didn’t care.

“Why’d you come to the hospital?” he repeated.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

“Answer me, Rocky.”

She crossed her arms on her chest. “Go home, Layne.”

“Okay, you don’t wanna answer that,” he shrugged, took a step toward her and stopped, “then why’d you come by this morning?”

“I think you ate the reason why tonight,” she answered.

“Bullshit again, Raquel. You know Merry and I talked tonight.”

“Yes, well,” she threw a hand out and then crossed it right back on her chest, “I had an alternate reason for coming to your house this morning. After your fond farewell, however, I decided I no longer have that reason.”

He took another step toward her and she held her ground but her eyes flashed their warning and he stopped.

“We should talk about that,” he said softly.

“Oh no. No we shouldn’t. I think you said enough this morning.”

“Rocky, you showed up out of the blue, stormed into my house, fed my dog, made me a cup of coffee, gave my boy advice on what to have for breakfast and I haven’t spoken to you in eighteen years except groggy in a hospital bed after being shot three times,” he reminded her.

“Yes, I can see that’s reasonable, now that you explain it. I can see why you’d speak to me that way considering I…” she leaned in and finished on a hiss, “made you a cup of coffee.”

“You’re bullshitting me again,” he told her. “You get what I’m sayin’ to you.”

She shook her head and said, “Go home, Layne.”

“We gotta put this behind us, for your Dad and your brother.”

“I tried to do that this morning. It didn’t work. Once bitten, twice shy. I think the avoiding each other tactic is a better strategy. Let’s go back to that.”

“You didn’t try to do that this morning, Rocky. You came by, olive branch extended, but only so you could soften me up for the blows you’d deliver later.”

Her upper body jerked back. “What?”

“Rutledge?”

She looked away but when her eyes came back to him, they were narrowed. In that second, she’d braced for attack and she’d dug in. He knew it.

“That’s none of your business.”

“That wasn’t what Merry told me tonight. He told me you were looking for firepower.”

“Yes, but like I said, after our chat by my car, I’m no longer looking for that. Not from you.”

“And who’s gonna take your back in this crusade, Roc? ‘Cause trust me, sweetcheeks, you go in without backup, you are gonna be fucked.”

Her face turned to marble before her lips moved. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be fucked.”

She leaned in again. “I’ll be fine.”

“Lotsa reasons a dirty cop goes dirty. But unlike a criminal, he’s got more reasons not to get caught. He gets caught, he loses everything. He loses face, he loses family, he loses respect, he loses his badge, he loses his career and he goes to a place he does not wanna go. Boys in prison, they don’t like cops. He’s either dead or he’ll wanna be. That means a dirty cop who hasn’t made all he needs to break away clean and disappear is gonna get antsy when he feels heat. And by antsy, I mean desperate.”

When she replied, she did it quickly and quietly. “I know that.”

“I know you know that which makes me wonder, your Dad uses a cane when it rains but is reminded every day when he wakes up alone, why you’d put that shit out there for him to experience again.”

He heard her suck in breath.

Merry told him to go easy on her but he had no intention of doing that. Too much was at stake.

“Carson Fisher was dead three days after he was sent down,” he reminded her.

“Layne –”

“Shiv to the gut, they didn’t twist it, they yanked it straight through him, straight through his heart. He bled out about a second after he hit the ground.”

“Be quiet,” she whispered.

Layne wasn’t quiet. “Your Mom went down so he could avoid that.”

“Be quiet,” she whispered louder.

“Your Dad went down for the same reason.”

“Stop it, Layne.”

“I went down six weeks ago for the same fuckin’ reason, Rocky.”

Her arms uncrossed, she leaned forward sharply and she yelled, “Stop it, Layne!”

“Merry doesn’t want you out there with Rutledge and I figure your Dad doesn’t know about this but if he did, he wouldn’t want you out there either.”

“You forget, Layne, that Dad knew exactly what you’re telling me and he still stayed on Fisher,” she shot back.

“True enough but he had no idea he was puttin’ more than his ass on the line. You asked him now, I bet he’d tell you he’d stand down.”

“Then you don’t know my father very well,” she returned.

He had to admit, she was probably right about that. She was also wrong about it.

“He fucked up,” Layne told her.

“He did not, he did the right thing. Shit like that happens to cops every day. He knew the score, so did Mom.”

“You sure about that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Got yourself all talked into it, then,” he noted.

“Go to hell, Layne.”

“Sweetcheeks, your Dad thought Cecilia or you were in danger, he would have done things differently.”

“He wouldn’t stand down.”

“No, but he would have made you safe.”

She tossed her hair then said, “You’re right. That’s a good idea, Layne. I’ll let Dad in on this. He won’t like it, it’ll probably piss him off, but, like Merry, and you, he won’t stop me but at least he’ll be in the know and he can do what he wants with that knowledge.”

“Merry’s right, you’re smart. None of us can out you which means none of us can stop you. You got us all cornered.”

She didn’t reply, just stood there and glared at him.

“Problem with that is, if I remember the story right, your Dad talked to your Mom. The deal was, something happened to him, she took what he left her to the cops. That’s why, after Fisher dropped your Dad, he went for your Mom.”

He watched her face get pale as she swallowed but she didn’t speak or lose the fire in her eyes.

“Now, it’s the other way around,” Layne continued. “See, he’s guessin’ now, which boy enlightened me. He can’t be sure and he can’t ask questions. So he’s off-balance. But he makes you, he knows Merry’s made him. So he drops you then goes after Merry. Maybe your Dad. Maybe me too.”

Rocky remained silent.

Layne went on. “I was in surgery, then unconscious. Tell me, Roc, what were Tripp and Jasper like when you saw them at the hospital?”

She spoke then. She whispered, “Shut up, Layne.”

“You recognize the look in their eyes?”

“Shut up.”

“See that somewhere? The mirror, maybe?”

“Go to hell!” she shouted and whirled, her hair flying out behind her, she stomped to the door, unlocked it and yanked it open. Standing there holding it, she turned back to him. “Get out.”

He walked right up to her, wrenched the door out of her hand and slammed it. Then he moved into her, she retreated and he backed her up until she was against the wall and he kept going until their bodies touched. Then he caged her in, one hand flat against the wall at her waist, the other one at her shoulder.

She put her hands on his chest and then she put pressure there.

“Step back!” she demanded.

“All that worth it to you? You think your Mom would be proud?”

She stared in his eyes and she did this awhile.

Then she answered softly, “Yes.”

He felt his brows shoot up. “Yes?”

“Where’s Daddy going?” she asked in a high-pitched, fake little girl voice. Then she went on to answer her own question in her normal voice. “Out to get the bad guys, baby. Your Daddy wears the white hat, makes the world safe for all the mommies’ precious babies…” her hand slid up his chest, his neck, to rest curled around his jaw, “just like you.”

Jesus. Cecilia said that to her, touched her like that.

Jesus.

“Roc,” he whispered.

“She was proud of him.”

“Rocky.”

“She was proud of what he did.”

“Roc –”

“He goes to work, every day, sits down by Colt, Mike, Sully, Sean… Merry. He sits down and puts on the white hat and pretends he’s a good guy. Those boys, they face danger every day. They get to wear the white hats. He doesn’t get to do that, Layne.”

“He’ll go down,” Layne assured her. “Give Merry and me time to regroup.”

“You’re exposed.”

“Give us time to regroup.”

“There isn’t time.”

“There is.”

“This spreads,” she told him the truth. “One goes down, others will follow. If they don’t, a dirty cop taints the whole team. Word gets out –”

“Let Merry and I get our bearings.”

“No.”

“Fuck, Rocky!” he exploded, pounding his palm against the wall by her shoulder. “You have no fuckin’ clue what you’re doin’. Merry’s already swung his ass out on this one and you know what happened to me. We need to cool it. You’re putting the entire operation in jeopardy.”

She again fell silent and did it apparently forgetting she still had her hands on him.

He didn’t forget, both of them burned right into his skin.

He didn’t say a word.

They went into stare down and he realized he’d forgotten this. When she left him, he’d glorified every memory of her. He’d forgotten she could be unbelievably fucking stubborn and he’d forgotten just how incredibly annoying that was.

Back in the day, he had several outs to a stare down with Rocky. The one he used most frequently was to tickle her. His second top runner was to kiss her. Once, he’d been so pissed, he’d caught her up in his arms, walked to the couch, turned her over his knee and spanked her. The first two he enjoyed and, if he stuck with it, which he always did, she eventually did too. The last served to piss her off to such an extreme, she attacked him, which eventually ended with them doing something a whole lot different than fighting, something they also both enjoyed. It had been the best sex they’d ever had. To the point where it gave him option four, when they were in stare down, to break it, he’d ask if she needed a spanking. The memory cut through the stubborn, her breath would start getting heavy just thinking about it and she’d end up kissing him.

He didn’t have any of those options open to him now, she wasn’t backing down and he had to get her hands off him or he’d put his on her.

“Merry’s out on a date, Roc, I think it’s safe you use his bed,” Layne remarked, pushed away from the wall, walked to the door and tugged it open, turning to her to see she was still pressed against the wall where he left her. “Lock this after me,” he ordered then he walked out, slamming the door behind him.