Ryker’s Justice (12 page)

For
the first time in more years than he cared to count, the table had been set
with his mother’s ancient blue willowware dishes. He had managed to find a
tablecloth, too. Thanks to Nicole’s efforts, the delicious aromas of a meal in
the making floated throughout the house. A large roast ringed with potatoes and
carrots would come out of the oven soon and she had also baked a ham. A large
pan of corn simmered on the stove and Nicole had made a double batch of
biscuits, ready to bake when the roast finished. On the countertop, an oatmeal
cake with coconut icing waited for dessert.

“I’ll
make the gravy last,” Nicole said. She pushed back a few stray tendrils of hair
from her face. “What time are they coming?”

“I
told them one or
one thirty
.”
Jude had invited his brothers over for dinner so he could talk to them without
interruption. After debating whether or not to include his sisters and the
families, he decided to wait. First, he’d share with the men,
then
they could tell the rest of them if necessary. Since
his culinary skills were minimal, he’d enlisted Nicole’s help. Besides, she
knew the truth. “It shouldn’t be more than a half hour or so now.”

Jude
expected three different vehicles but his brothers arrived together, riding in
Elijah’s Dodge truck. Country fashion, they came around to the back door and
didn’t bother to knock but strolled inside as Nicole pulled the biscuits from
the oven. Noah whistled his appreciation.

“Shit,
the old place looks nice, Jude. I didn’t know you’d cleaned it up this much.”

“Had
to,” Jude said. “Come on in, you all, and grab a seat.”

They
took their places at the table as Jude helped Nicole carry the food. Steam rose
from the various platters and bowls as he settled into the end seat. Without
thinking about it, he asked a brief blessing, an old habit he thought he’d
grown out of a long time ago, and they filled their plates.

“So, Jude, what’s the story?”
Elijah asked. “You’ve called us
over and we’re here.”

“Don’t
you want to eat first?” Jude grinned.
Rykers
hated
bullshit—must be in the
DNA
.

Adam
swallowed a bite of roast beef. “Damn, that’s good,” he said. “No, we can talk
and eat at the same time, if you don’t mind. I’m curious to know what’s going
on, and a little worried, too.”

Jude
shook his head.
Guess I’ll always be the
little brother and the blackest sheep of the clan. Funny, I don’t mind the way
I used to.
“No need to worry, Adam,” he said. “Here’s the deal—I’m not in
the Navy any longer.”

After
a moment, Noah snorted. “Well, that’s not news. We all know that or you
wouldn’t be home. I don’t know what happened, but…”

“I
haven’t been in the service for more than five years now,” Jude said. This
time, they went silent. “I wasn’t in the Navy when I came home to bury Daddy.”

“Now
you’ve got my attention,” Elijah said. “So what in hell have you been doing,
Jude?”

“I
work for the DOJ,” he told them. “I’m a special agent for the ATF division. I
live and operate out of
Washington
,
DC
, but I’ve been just about
everywhere these past few years.”

The
three other
Rykers
at the table exchanged glances. Adam
spoke first, his voice soft and even. “I’ll be damned, Jude. I never figured.”

Noah
whooped aloud. “I told you he was probably some kind of cop or something,” he
said. “I said that a long time ago and since he’s back.”

Elijah
put down his fork. “Now I understand you talking about justice, Jude,” he said.
“Tell me this, are you back home on a case?”

“It’s
why I came, yeah.” Jude said. “I’m here to find and bust a major illegal
moonshine operation in this part of the state. And since May, I hadn’t found a
lead until the other night.”

Adam’s
eyes widened. “Junior Wetzel, I bet.”

“Yeah.”
Jude sketched how he’d come
across
Junior
passing around a jar of moonshine and
described their conversation. Noah’s expression soured when Jude mentioned that
his son, Josh, had been one of the
group
, although
he’d left when he saw his uncle. Everyone knew Junior’s role in David’s
accident and as he explained how they could help, the brothers nodded.

“I
need your eyes and ears,” Jude told them. “Someone around here knows damn well
what’s going down, or at least suspects it. I don’t imagine Junior’s acting
alone. I’m pretty sure he’s not the brains behind the operation. It’s too big
for that but he’s a low-level player and he can lead me to the whole shooting
shebang. I’ll do the investigation and tromping over the hills to find the
still, but you can help me do it a hell of a lot faster. Will you?”

“Yes,”
Adam said.

“Hell,
yes,” Noah chimed in.

“You
bet we will,” Elijah told him.

Jude
smiled. “I knew you would.” Brothers, he thought, you could count on them.
“Let’s eat.”

After
the meal, the
Rykers
lingered. They asked questions
about Jude’s work and offered insights into the community he’d missed after
years away. Jude learned who had drinking problems and who ran on the wrong
side of the law.

“Sierra’s
funeral is Tuesday,” Elijah said as Nicole cut generous slabs of cake. “Half
the county will be there. I bet
Junior
shows up and I
wouldn’t doubt whoever else may be involved does, too. David wants to go but he
won’t be able to so I told him Tania and I would be there in his place. Jude,
since as far as anyone knows, you don’t have a regular job, I thought I’d ask
you to stay with David at the hospital to keep him company.”

“I
can do that, sure. How’s he doing?”

“He’s
healing. It’s
gonna
be awhile, though, with his
busted leg and the emotional damage. He thought the sun rose and set on that
girl so he’s having a hard time with her death. He’s been blaming himself and
I’ve told him he shouldn’t.”

Talk
turned to the past as they shared memories. After Elijah and Noah headed off to
the barn in search of some of their dad’s old fishing lures, Adam turned to
Jude with a worried frown.

“Kid,
tell me the truth,” he said. The old nickname, familiar during childhood and
unused for decades, put a warm glow around Jude’s heart. “Is your work as a
special agent dangerous?”

Jude
shrugged. He made a mental tally—shot twice, stabbed once, beaten hard enough
to require medical care six times in five years—and he nodded. “It can be,
Adam.”

“Is
that why you didn’t tell any of us why you’re back?”

“It’s
a big part of it, yeah,” Jude replied.

Adam
pondered his answer but he looked troubled. “What happens after you finish
here, if you find the moonshiners? You leave and go back to
Washington
,
DC
,
and don’t come back for another five or ten years?”

Although
that had been his plan when he returned, Jude wasn’t certain. “I don’t know,
Adam.”

“Or
do you want to stay and build something with that woman?”

He
wanted to, very much. If he’d learned nothing else by coming home, Jude
realized he belonged here. He fit, like the right size shoe to a foot. And he’d
reinforced his beliefs in the power of family. His love for Nicole provided a
powerful persuasion, too. She might fit into his life in DC, but he had trouble
visualizing it. “I’d like that, Adam, but I just don’t know. First, I have to
get through this investigation before I can think about it.”

“Fair
enough,” Adam said. “I’m glad you’re back for whatever reason, and I’d like to
see you stay. But for Christ’s sake, be careful, Jude.”

“I
plan to.” He would—there was too much to lose if he wasn’t.

After
his brothers had gone, Jude fiddled with the old stereo from his teenage years
until he tuned in a country music station. He settled into his recliner and
Nicole joined him, sitting in the other one at his side. The aroma of the meal
remained in the air, providing a comforting sense of home. “So, do you think it
went well?” he asked.

“I
do,” she replied. “They weren’t mad and promised to help.”

“Yeah,”
he said with a long sigh of contentment.

“So
what happens now?”

“Tomorrow
I start nosing around to see if I can find out anything about where Junior’s
getting his supply, but I have to be low-key about it. Then Tuesday I’ll sit
with David at the hospital while everyone else attends his girlfriend’s
funeral. It’s
gonna
get busy now.”

Nicole
reached over and put her hand in his. “Did you mean it? Would you like to
stay?”

“You
heard me and Adam, I guess.”

“Yes.”

“Then
you know I would, honey. I need to get through this investigation first,
though,
then
see what happens.”

“I’m
good with that,” she said. They sat, hands linked, in a comfortable silence for
some time.

Although
it wasn’t evening, the sunlight faded and the sky viewed through the windows
darkened. Jude hadn’t bothered to check the weather forecast but when he heard
the first patter of rain, he grinned. He enjoyed rainy days when he had time to
do nothing but enjoy. They listened to the radio and sometimes spoke. He
savored her hand in his and dozed, he thought, in a brief nap.

Long
after dark, he roused to the sound of Nicole’s voice lifted in song. She sang
with the radio, her voice blending with Randy Travis in his classic hit, “
Forever And Ever, Amen
.
”
Although he had never been much of a fan, the simple, yet poignant lyrics did a
number on Jude’s heart.
That’s what we’re
talking about here,
he thought,
forever
and ever.
The idea appealed on a deep level and her voice played inner
chords, music for his soul alone. His emotions kindled his ever-smoldering
desire into open flame and he had to take her, make her one with him now.

Jude
pushed back the recliner and stood. He grasped both Nicole’s hands and pulled
her to her feet. “I need some
lovin
’,” he said.

Without
hesitation, she came to him and linked her arms behind his head as if they were
about to slow dance. Nicole lifted up on tiptoe and kissed the hollow in his
throat. The impact of her soft, warm lips against his flesh sent sharp,
delicious shivers through his body. His cock tightened and turned to stone.

He
reached up and undid her ponytail. Her hair cascaded free in waves, the scent
of her balsam shampoo entering his nose and mingling with her rose perfume. Jude
thrust one big hand into the mass of her curls and wrapped his free arm around
her. He lowered his lips onto hers and kissed with slow fervor. Her lips
matched his and melted against his mouth like warm honey. Nicole shifted her
hand until her fingers stroked his face with such light
caresses,
they teased his need into a new level of agony.

Every
muscle tensed as he ached for more. Jude pulled his mouth from hers and used
his lips to place a series of kisses down her throat. He paused when he reached
her hollow and shifted until he nibbled her upper shoulder. When she made
yipping noises, he knew she liked it and ramped up his efforts. He enjoyed the
texture of her skin against his teeth and the taste of it, too. Jude bit with
gentle motions until he knew he’d leave a mark, low enough that it’d be hidden
by her blouse. Once he finished the love tattoo, he undid her blouse and
removed her bra. Then he licked a path down to the valley between her breasts
as she writhed in his arms with apparent appreciation.

When
Jude cupped her breast in his hand, admiring the fullness and weight of it, she
moaned. He parted his lips and took the nipple into his mouth. When he suckled
it, Nicole cried out in wordless ecstasy. He didn’t rush, took his time, and
repeated it with the other one. When the fabric of her blouse brushed his
cheek, the sensation created an erotic wave of sheer pleasure.

“Let’s
go upstairs,” he whispered. If he owned a couch, he thought he would just take
her where they were but he’d rather not put her down on the floor or rug.

“Yes,
please.” Nicole took a few steps and stumbled. Jude suspected her legs might be
as shaky as his so he swept her up in his arms. He cradled her against his
chest as he mounted the stairs. At the top, he put her down,
then
kissed her with a blinding fury, tempered with tenderness. Still kissing, hands
roaming and caressing, they stumbled into his bedroom and undressed with
abandon. His shirt hit the floor, her blouse falling beside it. Jude undid his
jeans and stepped out of them in a hurry. Nicole managed to remove hers and
Jude used both hands to slide her silky panties down to her ankles. When she
stepped out of them, he placed her on her back and took her with swift, savage
strokes.

He
couldn’t have waited any longer and from the wild cries she made, he doubted
Nicole could have either. Jude pumped into her with a powerful rhythm as desire
surged through his body, as intense as an electric charge. Nicole clung tight
to him, her fingers raking over his back hard enough to hurt, but he welcomed
the pain. In a wild, wonderful rush, they climbed together toward the pinnacle
and then climaxed. His excitement erupted and poured into her, unhampered by a
condom or any device. Somewhere in the dim reaches of his mind, Jude remembered
he should ask her if she used any protection.
Surely, she’s on the pill,
he thought. He made a mental note he
doubted he would remember later, to buy a box of condoms.