Colorado 03 Lady Luck (30 page)

I cut him off by whispering, “I’m worried
about him.”

“Why?” Tate asked quietly, sharply and
swiftly.

“I can’t say.” And I couldn’t.

“He thinkin’ of doin’ somethin’ stupid?”
This was Krystal who either had super-powered ears or the gift of
mind reading.

My eyes moved to hers. “He’s not stupid. But
he’s angry.”

“Would be too,” Deke grunted.

“Deke,” Jim-Billy muttered.

Deke’s eyes sliced to Jim-Billy. “You would
be too.”

Jim-Billy looked at his beer. He would be
too. Anyone would be.

“You two tight?” Tate asked and I looked to
him. He’d seen the way Ty was at the party, there and holding me
close but at the same time not there. He’d clocked it and wondered
about it. I knew this. He hadn’t seen us together since. He
couldn’t know how it was before Ty shut down and after Ty let me
in.

“Yes,” I told him and hoped that he’d trust
that.

“How much sway you got?” Tate asked.

“Not enough,” I shook my head, “not enough
for this.”

“Let the man do what he’s gotta do,” Deke
advised and my eyes went to him.

“He had five years stolen from him.”

“Yeah,” Deke agreed on a grunt. “So let the
man do what he’s gotta do.”

I held Deke’s eyes. Then I said firmly,
“He couldn’t take more.” I looked to Tate and stated, “He
shouldn’t
have
to take
more.” My gaze went to Krystal. “They’ve taken enough.”

I felt all their eyes then I saw Tate’s head
turn and tip down to look at Krystal. She looked up at him. Then
she looked at Jim-Billy and Tate looked at Deke.

“
I have to do something,” I whispered into
their eye communication exchange. I looked all around them then
declared, “
Someone
has to
do
something
. I’ve
been living in Carnal eight days and even I know enough’s enough.”
I leaned into the bar and whispered, “What’s happening has to be
stopped. Not just for Ty but for whoever else is getting railroaded
by these assholes.” I leaned back and kept talking, “Someone has to
do something and that someone is going to be me. And the only thing
I have to start with is this Tambo guy.”

Tate’s gaze cut back to me. “I’ll talk to
Tambo.”

My heart leaped. “You will?”

He jerked his chin up. “I will. I’ll also
talk to the boys I trust in the Department. Feel them out. See if
one of ‘em’s a whistleblower or might be willin’ to nose
around.”

My heart started racing then it stuttered
when Krystal hissed quietly, “Tate, you could get jacked just like
Ty.”

“I could also clear his name, get him
restitution at the same time this town learns how to live with a
Force that they can count on rather than question and fear,” Tate
returned and, not done making his point, continued. “You got tits,
you get pulled over for speeding, you don’t gotta get on your knees
to give a blowjob to get outta some jacked up charge just so a man
in a uniform with a little authority can get his rocks off. You got
problems with kids stealin’ shit from your shelves, you don’t have
to pass an envelope of cash over the counter to pay for protection
you’re already payin’ for with your taxes. Your husband’s beatin’
the shit outta you, you don’t have to put up with it ‘cause he’s
got a badge and you got no one clean you can turn to. You make food
for a living, you serve a plate to a man with a badge, you don’t
gotta look the other way when he walks out without payin’ the bill.
A uniform is shitfaced in his cruiser on duty, he crashes that
cruiser, totals it and it needs to be replaced and his hospital
bills need to be paid and they are, on the citizen’s dime, he gets
stripped of his badge not a fuckin’ commendation.”

Wow, seemed like things were worse than I
thought and they were already really fucking bad.

And I made a mental note not to have a heavy
foot in the Charger like I had a tendency to have.

And last, it was apparent Tate had been
burying this for awhile and it was equally apparent he was very
done doing that.

“You tried that shit before,” Krystal fired
back.

“And Ty pulled me back,” Tate reminded
her.

“He pulled you back because it was getting
hot,” she reminded him right back and Tate turned his body to her
and the way he did made me shrink back a bit because I didn’t know
him all that well but I knew he was serious and his serious was a
bit scary.

“Yeah, Krys, and it was gettin’ hot because
I was gettin’ close.”

I felt my eyes get big, so hopeful I was no
longer scared of big, handsome, well-built, serious Tate Jackson, I
leaned in and whispered, “To what?”

Tate turned to me and answered, “Don’t know.
Somethin’. Victim was shot but the murder weapon never found, more
than one source told me the victim was known to Gene Fuller and
Eugene Fuller makes Arnie Fuller look like a fuckin’ Boy
Scout.”

“How was the victim known to Fuller?” I
asked.

“Dealer and, word is, Fuller likes his
blow,” Tate answered.

I sucked in breath and sat back, muttering,
“Cokehead?”

Tate nodded.

I looked to the side, feeling overwhelmed by
this. It was safe to say I was already overwhelmed by the enormity
of what Ty lost but the fact that he lost it to dirty cops and
cokeheads, people who were the dregs and Ty was no dreg, made
something that was already unimaginably unfair something that was
crushingly unfair. He’d had the most precious thing anyone
possessed stolen from him. A chunk of his life. And the people who
stole it from him did shit to deserve worse than he got. Way
worse.

“Lexie?” Krystal called, I pulled in breath
through my nose and looked to her.

Then I shared, “I was at the garage telling
him my news and Chace and Misty Keaton rolled up in an SUV. He had
to stand there and watch them roll up to a garage, free and easy,
not having parole officers and still hearing the clang of barred
doors closing them into a cell. He had to stand there and watch
those fucking two roll right on up. And he says I get her, she’s
fair game after he does whatever it is he’s going to do but I don’t
know if I can wait. And I don’t know what he’s going to do or how
long it’s going to take. So something has to give because there’s a
bitch in this town who needs a lesson and I’m the teacher.”

This got me stares all around.

Then Jim-Billy muttered, “Shit, darlin’,
remind me not to get on your bad side.”

To which I turned my head to him immediately
and said, “Don’t fuck over my husband, you’ll be fine.”

He grinned at me then his eyes slid to Tate.
Mine did too and they went through a lips twitching Deke and a
grinning Krystal to find a smiling so big he looked in danger of
roaring with laughter Tate.

“I don’t know what there is to smile about,”
I declared.

“Then, woman, you don’t got the same picture
in your head as I do,” Deke stated then looked at Krystal. “Lexie
here takes down Misty, you make sure it happens in the bar. Sell
tickets. I don’t give a fuck. I’ll pay whatever you charge. But I
get a front row seat.”

I rolled my eyes at Krystal. She shook her
head still grinning.

“All right, Lexie, back to business,” Tate
said and I looked at him. “You say you don’t got enough sway. You
got it in you to cause a delay in whatever Ty’s schemin’ to
do?”

I thought about it. And what I thought were
good thoughts. So I smiled.

“I might be able to arrange that,” I told
Tate and he smiled back.

“Shit, boy born to bad luck, turns it
around, gets smacked down then turns it right the fuck back around
again. Shit,” Deke muttered and my eyes went to him to see his on
Tate. “I’m in with whatever you’re gonna do. I’m in for Ty but my
payback is knowin’ where he found her.” Then he jerked his head to
me.

“Boy, wake up and look around. Good women
everywhere you just gotta stake your claim,” Jim-Billy informed
him.

“You been outta the game awhile, old timer,”
Deke returned. “Tits and ass and great hair usually come attached
to headaches not loyalty and the good kinda attitude that makes
your dick get hard.”

This was an unusual compliment but
it
was
a
compliment, a compliment coming from Deke no less so I felt the
need to throw out a share, “Ty and I met through a drug dealer
slash pimp so maybe you should expand your search area.”

Deke blinked at me. Krystal audibly stifled
a laugh. Jim-Billy guffawed. Tate chuckled.

“No shit?” Deke asked.

“I’m not a prostitute or junkie or anything,
past or present. Just had baggage from another relationship and
that baggage hooked me up with Ty. He was a pain in my ass but,
obviously, now, if I saw him again, I’d kiss him. That is before I
shot him. Though Ty really dislikes him so I don’t think I’ll see
him again which is good because I dislike him more than Ty, except
of course for the fact he hooked me up with Ty.”

“You put honest juice in her diet?”
Jim-Billy asked Tate.

“You known Ty since his Momma shot him out?”
Tate asked back.

“Yup,” Jim-Billy answered.

“You’ve known him that long, you figure he’d
put a rock on the finger of anyone not the likes of Lexie?” Tate
continued his mini-interrogation but I felt my heart squeeze.

“Nope,” Jim-Billy replied on a toothy
grin.

“Then honest juice my ass,” Tate muttered
and Jim-Billy guffawed again.

But I was feeling warm all over because they
approved of me. I’d laid out some vague but possibly damning
information and they still approved of me. And they were Ty’s
friends so this meant a lot.

My purse chimed, I shoved my hand in it,
pulled out my phone, flipped it open and saw I had a text from Ty
that read, “Rooster seven. Ready six thirty.”

Apparently he was still Taciturn Ty by
text.

I grinned at the phone. Then I looked at my
watch. Then I grabbed my diet, sucked down a huge swallow, fished
out the cherries, plucked them off their stems, ate them and sucked
down another swallow.

Then I jumped off my stool and announced,
“Gotta go gussy up for the celebration. I’ll see you all
later?”

“Yeah, Lexie, congratulations,” Tate
said.

“Later,” Deke said.

“Have fun tonight, darlin’,” Jim-Billy
said.

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Krystal scarily
said while rounding the end of the bar.

I couldn’t see a way to avoid a
somewhat-frightening and I still wasn’t certain what to think about
her Krystal walking me to my car so I said my final farewells and
headed out with Krystal at my side. She didn’t speak and I didn’t
either. But I did stop at the driver’s side of the Charger and
looked down at her.

She was inspecting my car.

“Sweet ride,” she approved.

Well, that was a good start.

“Thanks.”

Her eyes came up to me and her voice was
soft when she spoke. “I see you intend to take care of our boy.
Makes me feel better. Way things were at your party, couldn’t tell
and didn’t like that.”

Maybe she had honest juice before I arrived.
Or maybe she was just the kind of person who put it out there.

“We had a… thing,” I told her quietly.

“Yeah, you’ll have more what he went
through. Don’t give up on him. There’s about two men I’d say this
about, Tate is one, Ty is the other and I’m married to Bubba, love
him to death, he’s pulled his shit together and I’m glad but I
wouldn’t say this even about him but Ty’s worth not givin’ up. You
get him to the other side, you won’t regret it.”

“I won’t give up on him,” I whispered,
deciding I liked Krystal.

She nodded and held my eyes.

Then she said softly, “Be smart. You stick
your neck out, the bunch you’re goin’ up against, they’ll whack
your head clean off.” I sucked in breath but she didn’t quit
talking. “You know that, what they did to your man. A man’s gotta
do what he’s gotta do. Tate and Deke wadin’ into that shit, don’t
got a good feelin’. Ty bein’ pissed and wantin’ to do somethin’
about it, I get. I definitely get that. Don’t got a good feelin’
about that either. But men gotta do what they gotta do and we women
got two things we can do, stand by their side or be smart enough to
do what you just did and find men who know what they’re doin’ to
take their man’s back. Now, you set that ball rollin’,” she jerked
her head back to the bar, “you see to your man and keep your head
down. Ty feels about you like you feel about him, he didn’t survive
that nightmare to come out the other side and watch his woman
enduring her own. Keep yourself safe, if not for you, then for him.
Get me?”

I nodded. I got her.

She nodded back, muttered, “Make him happy,”
then turned and walked back to the bar. She stopped at the door and
called, “By the way, you got grease stains on the back of your
shirt.”

Then she shot me a knowing grin, turned,
threw open the door and entered the bar.

I stared at the door long after she
disappeared behind it.

Then I got in my Charger and drove home.

* * * * *

Ty

You’re far and away the most beautiful man
I’ve met…

The words played in his head once again as
he hit the garage door opener. They’d been playing in his head
since Lexie said them. Over and over. So often, they were all that
was on his mind. So often, Keaton and Misty were long gone before
he thought of them again. He’d forgotten they were even there.

You’re far and away the most beautiful man
I’ve met…

Fuck him but he liked that she thought
that.

He rolled the Snake in, shut her down,
grabbed his workout bag from the passenger seat and hauled his ass
out. He dumped the bag in the utility room as he moved through it.
She’d sort his shit and he wouldn’t have to ask. He knew it. He
gave her diamonds and expensive shoes. She gave him everything else
and she gave it in a way that he knew he didn’t have to give her
diamonds and expensive shoes to get it.