CUL-DE-SAC (On The Edge Book 1) (43 page)

***

Catalina tried Xan’s cell, but all calls
were going straight to his voicemail. She glanced at her watch, trying to
estimate where he would be at this time of a day but there were simply too many
possibilities.

She sighed, deciding she was simply going
have to check them one by one.

She reached the gym first, but found Kelton
alone and as much as she liked the man, he was not the one she was looking for
right now.
“Catalina.” He looked surprised and pleased both to see her and she thought it a
strange combination.
“Hi Kel, any idea where I might find Xan?”
“He rushed out around ten minutes before you got here. I assumed he went to see
you since he was unable to focus on anything but talking to you,” he informed
her.

He wanted to believe that was the direction
Xan took off to, but he doubted it more and more with every passing moment. Kel
saw Noah and knew the two of them talked, but whatever the subject was, Xan
seemed pissed beyond limits when he left the gym in a hurry. But there was no point
of sharing this little gem with Catalina, he decided.
“I heard you encountered some… hiccups,” he said instead and noticed he made
her uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, not my business.”
“No, it’s okay, just… it’s complicated.” She made a face when she realized how
vague it sounded.
“Complications are part of this deal, I suppose, but I’ve heard it can be worth
it in the end,” Kelton stated. “There is one thing you should know though, and
I don’t think he is going to share it with you.”

It wasn’t his place to tell her this, but
contrary to Xan’s beliefs, he didn’t agree that protecting meant keeping
someone in the state of unawareness.
“Your grandmother is trying to block our boy’s project.”
“What? How?” She paled and looked at him, shocked, although how anything that
Florence did as of late still had the power to surprise her, Catalina couldn’t
tell. “I will take care of it. Thank you. I have to run though.”
“You do that, but let him catch you,” he murmured when he was sure she was out
of a hearing distance.

Cat tried Xan’s cell few times more but
with the same result as before. At least her grandmother answered the call
after the first ring and Catalina didn’t waste time on pleasantries.
“I am having lunch with my friend today who is working for a newspaper. I bet
she would love to hear how a pillar of community and the latest charity award
recipient is trying to stop a project that could benefit the youth of Santa
Monica and who knows; maybe the whole L.A. area too,” she told her in a
conversational tone, and the fraction of shocked silence told her that Florence
was considering the seriousness of her threat and potential after-effects as
well.
“Blackmail is beneath you, Catalina,” Her grandmother informed her coldly.
“Why? It doesn’t seem beneath you. Call off your dogs,” Cat told her and ended the
call, wondering if she had just severed their relationship as a side effect.

She tried Xan’s mobile once again and was
happy she was alone in the car and nobody could hear her uttering one of those
words she was uncomfortable using. It was entirely his fault really, she
decided, but the thought, instead of appalling her, caused her lips to twitch.

Cat decided that since she couldn’t reach
her warrior and she was already in the neighborhood of the club, she might
check there as well. Gabriel’s words kept replaying in her head and she had to
admit they sounded urgent.

Perhaps she could collect Xan’s stuff
herself and be over with it. With the thought on the forefront of her mind, she
stopped the car in the vicinity of Cul-de-sac and went on a mission.

CHAPTER 53

Xan was fuming when he left the gym. So
much for keeping his temper leashed and contained from spewing over, he mocked
himself. Noah’s words reverberated in his head, causing him to see red.

All those years spent believing he was a
killer like his old man, only to learn he was just a sucker who fell victim to
a vile misdemeanor.

And to think he considered Tony Boden his
savior, while he was the perpetrator of Xan’s misery. Apparently not only his,
but that didn’t make the offence any less significant.

What kind of a man would come up with a
nefarious plan to stage a fight between an unsuspecting man and his own lackey?
Why would anyone agree to be beaten within an inch of life just to trap someone
else in the same hell he was undergoing himself?

He was sixteen years old at the time, Xan
thought, a kid really who was convinced he had it all figured out. But he knew
shit because it never occurred to him even for a second that he was being set
up.

Xan had many questions and the need to hear
answers was burning in his gut like a lethal wildfire. If he had ever been
close to committing a murder, now was that moment, he thought and clenched his
hands around the steering wheel of his car. He wanted nothing more than to wrap
them around Tony Boden’s neck and squeeze the life out of him. But he forced
himself to breathe through the wild roar of blood in his temples.

Twelve years of his life wasted on regrets,
on despising himself.

His personal prison.

It didn’t matter if he was free to walk the
streets and lead a life that many envied him, a life that looked exciting on
the surface. Whenever he tried to loosen the shackles, Tony was tightening his
leash instead by reminding him about that one damn night and how he put his
neck on the line as well by covering Xan’s crime.

A crime that had never taken place.

He wanted him dead, plain and simple, Xan
admitted. But no matter how horrid a death he kept imagining for the club’s
owner, Tony could die only once. It was not nearly enough to pay for the twelve
fucking years Xan had been serving his sentence.

For the first time in life he decided to go
against all his instincts and turn to the police.

Perhaps it was Catalina’s influence or
maybe his own common sense coming back to life, but it didn’t really matter, he
supposed, as long as Tony was going to get what he deserved.

He wasn’t fond of Santa Monica’s Lieutenant
and really, who could blame him after the guy seemed hell-bent on pinning
something on him?

However, the stakes were much higher here
and personal feelings of players couldn’t affect the game they all had to play.

No matter how much he wanted to go straight
to Catalina and explain to her that he was not the killer she thought him to be,
he told himself to drive to the police station first.

He ignored the instinctive reaction when
all in him bucked against it and gritted his teeth when he was forced to waste
twenty minutes waiting for the Lieutenant to get back to his office.
“Well, that was fast,” Gabriel commented after they measured each other.
“What would that be?” Xan raised an eyebrow.
“I told Cat I want to talk to you. Did you get your stuff out of the club like
I suggested?” Gabe wanted to know.
“Whoa… I haven’t seen or spoken to Catalina today at all. What does she has to
do with anything?” He didn’t like the other man got to see her while he didn’t
dream about anything else the whole damn night and day.
“She came here with a picture of a man, asking me to run it in a facial
recognition program. She was very vague about how she came into possession of
the image but it seemed important to her enough so I did it anyway. Imagine my
shock when it turned out to have something to do with you,” Gabriel smirked and
Xan told himself he couldn’t punch the Lieutenant no matter how much he wanted
to.
“How come?” He asked calmly instead.
“Are we continuing to play this game, really? It might shock you, but I have
actual work to do.”
“Indulge me.”
“Clay Forley aka The Wall. Rings a bell?” Gabriel looked at him.
“Motherfucker!” Xan jumped to his feet, feeling lightheaded.
“So you do know him. What an unexpected turn of events,” the Lieutenant
commented ironically, and Xan thought that under different circumstances he
might have even liked the guy.
“I was led to believe I killed him and I was convinced of it for twelve long
years,” Xan said.
“Okay, now you got my full attention.”
“And it is going to be worth your while trust me, but let me call Cat first,”
Xan reached to his pocket and swore under his breath when he saw it switched
off. “Shit, no juice.”
“Here, use mine while I make a phone call of my own,” Gabe handed him his cell
and left the office.

When he returned it was to find Xan
frowning at his mobile and he thought it couldn’t mean anything good.
“What now?”
“She is not picking up and Kel said she came over the gym searching for me.”
“She wouldn’t happen to have gone to the Cul-de-sac looking for you there,
would she now?” Gabe glanced at him.
“We are talking about Catalina; sure she would.” Xan pushed his hands over his
hair and breathed out heavily.

That was
exactly
what his tenacious
and stubborn Kitten would have done, he thought. That’s what she did today
after all, trying to clear his name while he was twiddling his thumbs and
wallowing in his misery.

Fucking shaming and pathetic, Xan admitted,
although tenderness filled his heart when he thought of her. He wanted to
cherish and worship her the way she deserved to be. To be the one person in her
life who would give her everything.

Right after spanking her ass for placing
herself in harm’s way, he decided.
“I might need a gun… just saying.” Xan looked at the Lieutenant when he was done
snapping orders.
“Please. All I can offer you is riding shot
gun
,” Gabriel said and Xan
thought he might have laughed at that if he had not been so worried about
Catalina right now.

***

Cat decided that luck was on her side when
she found the door leading to Xan’s room open. But when she walked inside, she
thought she should have questioned
why
it was open before she stepped in,
because apparently someone preceded her.

The man whom she interrupted snooping
around seemed as surprised by her presence as she was by seeing him. But then,
she recognized the bald, tattooed head from the manila folder burning a hole in
her purse and she barely stopped herself from pointing at him and saying;
you
.

Up close and personal, he looked even
scarier than on the picture, and she thought even she couldn’t find anything
appealing in his face; no amount of light would have softened his features.

She swallowed hard and forced her lips to
form into something that perhaps could pass for a smile.
“I’m sorry, I was looking for someone else.” She swiveled on her heel, more
than ready to leave the place, but she collided with a man’s chest that stopped
her.
“Ah… Miss Bennett. We didn’t expect such lovely company.” Tony Boden smiled at
her, but for some reason the grimace gave her chills.

There was something in his eyes, something
cold, and she thought he could have given frostbite even to Florence.
“Hello, I was hoping to meet Xan; I think I might have mixed up the time or
place.” She smiled apologetically at him, expecting him to step out of the way
but he didn’t budge.
“Aren’t we all looking for him lately? I’ve heard he’s been rather busy. Not
very nice of him to make us all wait, wouldn’t you say?” He moved slightly but
it was enough that she was forced to step deeper into the room and her alarm
spiked.

The solid obstacle behind her informed her
that the silent so far fighter moved closer as well. Now she understood why
they called him The Wall.
“I really need to go,” she protested weakly when a coppery flavor filled her
mouth.

She recognized the taste of fear, even
though the last time she experienced it so strongly was when she was ten years
old. But fear was the kind of sensation that left behind an indelible
impression.

It was one of the biggest liars and thieves,
robbing people of all that they were, peeling their humanity off, layer after
layer, leaving a handful of illusions in its wake. Because fear was never as
big as it threatened to be… it was usually much bigger.
“I think not.” Tony smiled at her, pointing at her purse. “Let’s call Mr.
Thorpe and invite him to our closed-circle party after hours. I have a question
or several I could ask him and I bet he knows the answers as well. Like to this
one; does he have something to do with people sniffing around my business for
no good reason? I am sure he will be more… inclined to join us after receiving
a distressed call from his girl.”
“I am not distressed,” she lied and gasped when the man behind her ripped her
purse out of her hold and handed it over to his boss.
“Let’s see what we have here. Tsk, tsk, tsk Miss Bennett… playing a detective?”
He laughed when he spotted the file, but there was no amusement in his eyes.

The cold in there turned frigid instead.
“That’s ironic, considering your boyfriend is a criminal, don’t you think?
Clay.” Tony looked behind her but they were never going to learn what he was
about to say or do because Xan’s voice and words stopped him.
“Put a hand on her and I’ll lay you out.”
“Xan,” Cat nearly sobbed his name in relief.
“Oh, how chivalrous of you,” Tony laughed. “But also quite stupid to think you
can come and go as you please. Have I taught you nothing?”
“You did, and more than you think; for example: never arrive at a party empty
handed.” He smiled coldly at the man whom he had been delusional enough to
consider his savior.
“I wouldn’t,” Gabriel’s quiet warning stopped Tony as he reached under his
jacket.

Catalina’s knees threatened to buckle after
she realized he was probably carrying a gun.
“Xan here would love nothing more than to wipe the floor with Mr. Forley and
rip you a new one, Boden, while I would probably enjoy a bit too much putting
one or two holes in you myself. By all means; feel free to make us prove it to
you.” There was nothing friendly in Gabriel’s smile and Cat thought this was
the side of him she had never witnessed before and all she could feel was gratitude
for that.
“Hands behind your head!” Gabe snarled and all of a sudden the darkened
interior burst with police.

Xan moved so fast all Cat saw was a blur of
motion, heard an audible crack and a moment after, Tony was on the floor.
“He should be happy it ends only in a dislocated jaw,” he said vehemently,
looking at Gabriel as if daring him to make a big deal out of it.
“Considering all you told me on the way here… I agree.” He nodded. “Sweep the
whole place. Start upstairs from his office,” he ordered as officers slapped
handcuffs on the two men. “That should give you enough time to collect any
personal items from the place,” he said and for the first time there was
nothing but a total understanding when they looked at each other.

“Right after you are done, of course,” he
muttered when Xan enfolded Cat in his arms as if he were not planning on
letting her out of his sight ever again.

If anyone were to ask about Gabriel’s
opinion, it didn’t seem like Catalina would protest the concept overly much.