Man Of Steel (4 page)

“
Stryder
,
any word on the brother yet?”

“Nope, fucker’s in the wind.”

“That’s cool he won’t get close
anyhow.” The
perp’s
brother was rumored to be picking
up where his brother left off, since the law had decided it was easier to keep
the fuck safe behind bars than it was out here in the open. After we’d gotten
involved, life for Dwayne hadn’t exactly been going too good.

“What about that other thing I told
you to do, where are we on that?”

“It’s being taken care of as we speak; chill Blade
everything’s being handled.” There was a slight pause as he looked back at the
house.

“You think she’ll be able to
sleep tonight?”

Sometimes I
forget how young some of my guys were. They tended to be such hard asses that
it was easy, and it wasn’t often that you got to see the soft side of any one
of them. But to a man, each and every one of these cases we’ve worked so far,
they’ve given a hundred and ten percent. I’ve seen more heart in these ex cons
and delinquents than in all the do
gooder
politicians
who’re always running around spouting air out their ass.

“She’ll be fine
Stryde
,
our girl is tough.” I could hear the soft timbre of the others as they
patrolled the perimeters of the house. Not that we expected anyone to actually
show up here. Dwayne was in the pen for his own protection and we had our guys
in the surrounding counties on the lookout for his brother Sid.

My phone rang and I grabbed it on
the second ring. “It’s me.”

“Yeah Blade, just wanted to let you know I’ve partially
barbecued old Sid.”

“You did what? Deke…”

“Hey I was torching the woods
behind their house like you said, not my fault his ass was hiding out back there.
Besides I said partially, there’s still some of him left...hey shut the fuck up
I’m on the phone here.”

I could hear what sounded like a
pig squealing in the background. “Is that
him
screaming in the background?” Fucker sounded like something out of Deliverance.

“Yep.”

“Deke get that boy to a hospital.”

“The fuck would I wanna do that?”

“Deke…”

“Fine, fine, fucking cop.”

I hung up the
phone on that pithy remark. Deke and I had come a long way since his days as a street
tough. We were cool like brothers as were the rest of us, but he never let me
forget that I was once a ‘stinking cop’ as he puts it, and what he thinks of my
past profession.

“
Stryder
are you fucking insane, you sent Deke to torch the woods?”

“Yeah and? What did he do, did he torch the farm?”

“No he torched Sid. That shit’s
not funny you know what the sheriff said. Next time he’s hauling all our
asses
in.” I wasn’t too worried about the empty threat
because there was no way it was
gonna
happen, but the
old man thought it was a good way to keep the boys in line. I didn’t have the
heart to tell him that it didn’t work; that these
fuckers
were
a whole other breed from what he was accustomed to
dealing with
.

Not long after
that the nightlight in the room went off. That was our cue that Stephanie had
finally gone to sleep. Good, at least she’ll have one more night of rest. The
way things had been going we were starting to get worried about her health.

When we took a
case we didn’t just show up and hang around like henchmen, no we went the extra
mile. That meant following her to and from the house, making sure she did all
the normal things a kid her age should be doing.

Her mom had
reported that she’d been dropping back at school, lack of sleep and stress was
weighing on her young mind so much that she couldn’t keep up her grades. Where
before she’d been a better than average student, she was now barely keeping up.
Part of our job was to give her back the confidence she needed to get back to
where she was before all of this happened.

Lily was a
part of the crew now, she was the only doctor I trusted to look after our
charges after I’d seen the way she handled herself with little Amy that first
night we met. So even if we came to a situation and there was already a doc
involved, which was about ninety eight percent of the time, I still had them
checked over by Lily. In most cases the families ended up using her as their
primary after the dust had settled. My girl was that good.

Lily! Damn,
the thought of her still makes my heart pound and my dick hard. Almost two
years down the road I’m thinking it might be time to take that next step. I had
no hang ups because of the demise of my first go around, one woman was about as
different from the other as two people could get. Besides, I wasn’t one to hold
onto to bullshit baggage.

Deanna had
been a hard lesson, I was young, horny and dumb when we first met but it hadn’t
taken long for the shine to wear off. Still I’d made a commitment and I
intended to see it through. Then she’d fallen pregnant eight years after we
were married. I’d lost that loving feeling for the selfish, self centered woman
who’d hidden her true self for the first few years of our marriage, but the
knowledge that I had a kid coming had me on the moon.

I started
planning for my seed from the moment I heard those two words, ‘I’m pregnant’. I
didn’t care if it was a boy or a girl I just knew I wanted it. I’d tried back
then to relight that spark that had been there in the beginning but too much
had passed by then and I couldn’t do it.

 
For my kid though I decided to stay. I’d
been raised in a loving family with both of my parents, aunts, uncles, grand
parents and an abundance of cousins and extended family. I wanted my kid to
have the same. Things hadn’t worked out that way so now we were all making the
best of what we had.

Deanna still
tries every once in a while to get back into my bed but that was never gonna
happen, and now with Lily in the picture there was no way in hell. Lily was
just what I needed in my fucked up life. At the time we met I’d been in the
middle of turning my life completely upside down. I had a new business and was
part of something that filled the void left after I’d quit the force.

I was still a
little raw and angry from the shit that had went down in my marriage, not to
mention the shit that was going on in the force and life just seemed to be
thirty shades of fucked up. She’d blazed into my life with her fiery attitude
and her fuck me body and I haven’t been the same since.

Lily has one
of those pinup girl figures, heavy on the tits and ass and little on the waist
with a yard of raven colored hair that brushes the top of her ass when she
walks. And boy what a walk! She’s all of five two, olive skinned, big brown
eyes and lips that made me think of sinning every time I look at them.

Her voice
makes me want to fuck her into the wall hard and furious, and her sweet smile
makes me want to wrap her up in cotton balls and protect her always. Yeah, I
think it’s time I put my ring on her finger. I know she wasn’t going anywhere
but still, women needed that shit to make them feel secure and loved or some
fuckery. Plus if I put a ring on Deanna’s trifling ass it would be a grave
insult not to marry the woman who was truly the owner of my heart.

I was brought back to the present
by the beeping of my phone. “What’s up
D’Angelo
?”

“You call Jake?”

“No, why?”

“He’s headed this way.”

“No problem.” I closed my phone
and waited.

Jake was an
old buddy of mine; in fact he was the only cop still on the force that I could
say I was truly impressed with. He was honest to a fault and always went the
extra mile. He didn’t suffer fools lightly and had a rep for facing down anyone
who got in his way no matter
who
.

He had his own
division in the force that was rumored to be some type of elite top-secret
outfit that dealt with the more dangerous shit that went down in our neck of
the woods. He’d offered me a place on his team when I’d walked but I’d already
set my sights on the bar and forging a different way.

When I fell
into this little sideline, he was one of the first people I’d tapped for help.
It was always good to have someone on the right side of the law for all that
the department was full of crooks and assholes. I knew that Jake was like me.
He could be trusted. I didn’t know what he was doing here tonight though, since
I hadn’t called him in since I’d asked him to be on the lookout for Sid.

He came around
the side of the building like smoke and I couldn’t hold back the smirk. Fucker
thinks he’s cool. I can’t see where having a wife and kids have softened him
any, but he didn’t have that ‘I’d skull fuck you for breakfast and then piss in
your eye’ look about him anymore.

Before I could
open my mouth to ask him why he was here he beat me to it. “Where’s your boy
Deke?” Oh shit. I wasn’t about to show my hand, there wasn’t anything I
couldn’t get my guys out of and I’m pretty sure that Jake wouldn’t burn Deke
for a piece a shit like Sid, but it never hurt to be careful. “Who wants to
know?” He cocked his brow at me with a ‘don’t fuck with me’ scowl and I was
hard pressed to keep my laughter in check.

We both know
his intimidating tactics wouldn’t work on me though I felt
Stryder
shift nervously in his chair. Jackass, that only brought him to Jake’s
attention and the other man turned one of his glares his way. “Cut that shit
out Jake, now what do you want with my boy?”

“I’ve been
keeping an eye on the Carter place since you told me about asshole number two’s
threats against our girl. I figured you’d have eyes over there as well, but
what I was not expecting was to be saving Sid from crazy ass Deke. You’ve got
to do something about that one Masters he’s not wrapped too tight.”

“
Deke’s
cool, he just gets a little jumpy every now and then.”

“Frogs get jumpy, this one’s
something else altogether. I had my guys run Sid to the hospital because Deke
wasn’t looking too excited about doing it himself.”

“Where is he now?”

“I left him there watching the
flames so they don’t get out of control. Couldn’t you come up with a better
idea than torching the woods?”

“Nah, that
place has been used to hide too much evil over the years, it was time someone
took care of it. Now no one can use it as a cover to hide dark shit.” Dwayne
had kept his victims hidden back there in a makeshift underground bunker he’d
built.

Men had
scoured those woods for days without a trace of anything and the whole time
Stephanie had been buried under there. She could hear people going by overhead
calling out to her, so close and yet so far away. I’m sure that had only added
to her torment, and was now feeding her fear that no one would ever hear her or
come when she was in distress.

It was by
sheer luck that she’d survived after he’d taken her out and left her for dead
elsewhere. No one knew why he hadn’t killed her there in his drop sight but we
were forever grateful that he hadn’t. When she’d been found badly beaten and
bruised with her head barely on her shoulders no one thought for a minute that
she’d live let alone live to tell where she’d been kept.

She was one
strong little angel. It was because of her that they’d been able to close at
least three cold cases of other young girls who had gone missing over a ten
year period from the area and there were believed to be even more who’d found
their demise at his hands.

When the
bunker had been unearthed there’d been DNA from the three cases that were now
considered closed and they were still sifting through the shit they’d found
down there. “I figure burning the shit would serve two purposes, he can’t use
it anymore provided he ever sees the light of day again and the way the justice
system works I’m not too sure that’s not an option. And two, when I drive
Stephanie by there later she can see that her hell hole has been destroyed.”

He just nodded at me and with that
I guess the conversation was over. “You bringing your girls by this weekend
right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it, Holly’s
already looking forward to destroying your place.” My daughter’s an angel but
for some reason whenever she gets around Jake’s kids she turns into the
Tasmania devil or some shit. I never knew little things that size could do so
much damage but there you have it.

“I got them one of those bouncy
house things that I staked into the ground in the backyard they can destroy
that shit and please heaven leave my shit alone.”

“Good luck with that. What about that other thing everything
still on?”

“They’ll be there.”

We exchanged bullshit small
talk for a little bit before he headed back out.

The next
morning as the others showed up, we headed for our respective homes and women.
Some of the guys had families of their own that they needed to get back to. I
wondered if Lily would be up waiting for me as she’d been doing every morning
for the past week and a half. No matter how much I told her not to do that shit
she didn’t listen.

 
She had her own shit to take care of
since she’d opened her own private practice, and I didn’t want her losing sleep
over me, and fucking up her shit. That little lady thought she was super woman
or some shit but I wasn’t about to have her running herself into the ground.

I don’t think
I’ve had anyone worry and fuss over me the way she does since my mom. She just
has that natural nurturing thing going on and I’m man enough to admit to
enjoying that shit every now and again. It’s not cool to compare the two but
the difference between Lily and Deanna couldn’t be more glaring. I know now
that Deanna was a selfish self- centered man-eater who was thrilled at the idea
of fucking a cop; something about a man with a gun did it for her.

There’s no
telling if she would’ve cheated had I not left the force or not or if that was
in her all along, but what I do know is that once was enough. “Speak of the fucking
demon.” I was not at all pleased to see Deanna’s car outside my place so early
in the morning. Anytime I had to deal with her ass was bad but this early could
only spell trouble.

I hopped off
the bike and took off my helmet before running my hand over my head. Holly was
okay or she would’ve called me instead of sitting out here like this. Walking
over to the car I schooled myself for whatever bullshit she was going to throw
my way today. Coming up on the back passenger side I bent down to the window to
see my kid. Her bright half sleepy smile was all I needed to reassure me that
my little princess was okay.

Deanna saw me
and got out of the car while I helped Holly out of the car seat. She clung to
my neck in that way that made my heart hurt, and made me wish I could be there
for her always. I brushed the momentary sadness aside and headed for the house.
No point in going there, I just have to make it up to her in other ways.

I put her down
on the top step before turning to her mother to see what it was that she
wanted. She pulled on my pants leg to get my attention.

“Dad did you see Stephanie?”
That’s what she was trying to say but it came out in her baby speak. “Yeah
princess I saw her, you’re gonna see her again this weekend when we go to
Jake’s.

“Yeah.” She
squealed and clapped her hands in glee making me smile in wonder. Sometimes it
was hard to believe that I had done this, that she was actually a part of me.
Fucking miracle.

Her mother was
twitching from foot to foot and huffing. What the fuck was her problem now?
Ever since her last attempt to crawl back into my bed and I’d rebuffed her ass
she’s been getting worst and worst. I ignored her ass and concentrated on my
kid.

“Give me a
minute lil bit let me tell Lily I’m home.” I opened the door and walked in, the
scent of coffee and breakfast hit me as soon as I got through the door. I found
her in the kitchen puttering around with the music blasting as she turned what
would most likely be turkey bacon on the grill.

She was just
as I expected and that’s why I didn’t bring Holly in with me. Lily is an
exhibitionist, if she could get away with going naked twenty-four seven she
would. How anyone could be comfortable cooking in
their
birthday suit was beyond me but she looked right at home.

I walked up
behind her and wrapped my arms around her naked waist pulling her body back
into me. My cock was already on the rise from the feel and smell of her. She
jumped a mile high and tried to escape. “Hey it’s me babe.”

“Hayden you
jerk you almost gave me a heart attack.” She was fussing and lifting her mouth
for my kiss at the same time. “Holly’s here with her mother. I just wanted to
let you know I was here, I gotta go see what Deanna wants.” I snagged a piece
of cardboard masquerading as breakfast meat and headed back the way I came
after tossing her the robe she had hanging on the back of a chair for just such
an occurrence. Somebody was always at my damn door these days. I was barely
back out the door before Deanna started her shit. I knew it wasn’t going to be
long in coming, it never was.

“I don’t have time for this shit I
didn’t come here for this. How dare you leave us standing out here like this?”

“Hey, not in front of my kid.”
I kept my voice low and even. If there was one thing I know it’s that parents
fighting in front of their kids fucks with their little heads. I never want
that for my kid. Her mother and I might be fucked up but there’s no way I’m
going to let that touch her.

“Is your
little whore in there? I don’t want her anywhere near my kid.” I could see that
look in her eye that I knew only too well. She was ready to show her ass but
good. The thing that got me is how she could’ve lived with me for so many years
and not
know
me at all. She should know by now that
her attitude was only going to piss me the fuck off.

“Hey princess
why don’t you go on inside while I talk to mommy for a minute?” I lifted my
daughter’s chin and looked into her eyes so I could be sure that she wasn’t
affected by the little drama unfolding.

“Okay daddy.”
She grinned and ran through the door, her head was probably full of chaos and
mayhem. If her mother ever knew how much she liked Lily there would be hell to
pay, but that was not my problem. I waited until she was out of earshot before
turning to the pain in the ass in front of me who was hell bent on causing my
ass grief.

“First of all,
that’s not gonna work.” She swallowed audibly because she knows my looks too,
and she knows damn good and well that I wasn’t about to play that game. “Let’s
get something straight okay, the only reason you still have my kid is because I
have a mother, I know what that shit means to a kid. You’ve also never given me
any reason to doubt your ability to take care of my kid. And lastly who I have
in my home has nothing to do with you, you burned that bridge when you decided
to ride some other dudes dick.”

“It was a stupid mistake…”

“Not going there with you again, it’s done, we’re done. The
only thing we have to say to each other is about our kid. Now what was it that
you wanted? Is Holly sick?”

“No.”

“Is there food in the house?”

“Of course there’s food in the
house; I need some cash…”

“No. My kid’s
taken care of, I don’t owe you shit. I gave you this month’s money, I just took
her to the doctor and dentist, Pre-school’s paid up and she went shopping with
mom two weeks ago.”

“Is that all you think about is
her, what about me? We were married for ten years how can you be so cold?”

“You fucked someone else in my
bed while my kid was in her crib crying, be glad that your ass isn’t the one
that’s cold and in the fucking ground. And the next time you disrespect my
woman things are only
gonna
get worst for you. I don’t
disrespect whoever you choose to shack up with.”

“No you just run background checks
on them and threaten me with custody if you don’t like what you find.”

“You bet your ass, if anyone’s
gonna be around my little girl they better not even have a speeding ticket. I
don’t care who you fuck as long as they’re not a danger to my kid.”

“What about her, your precious Lily?”
She flung her hand out towards the door.

“I ran her ass too and she
knows it, besides she doesn’t come with any baggage, I was her first.” I knew
that would cut her deep but what the fuck did I care? Any feelings I’d had for
her had died a long time ago. If not for my daughter I wouldn’t even say hi to
this beast on the street. But because I love my kid immeasurably there wasn’t
anything I wouldn’t do to make sure she was happy.

Holly loves
her mother no doubt about that, and she loves me. I can’t give her everything
she wants, like a solid home with her mom and dad, because dad would end up
decapitating mom over the breakfast table and that shit wouldn’t be good for
anybody. But everything else, daddy had it covered.

I didn’t even
feel sorry for her ass; she’s been running from man to man since the divorce.
She kept that shit discreet and didn’t bring that shit around my kid or I
would’ve taken her a long time ago. I wasn’t about to tell her how to live her
life but she wasn’t going to fuck up my kid’s life. Lily wasn’t the first fuck
I’ve had since the split but she’s the only one that Holly has ever met. That’s
because she was more than just a fuck and as soon as I realized what she meant
to me and would mean to my life I knew it was okay to introduce her to the
woman in my life. My daughter.

Deanna was out
in the cold and she knew it. While I was moving on with my life she was still
floundering around looking for what the fuck I don’t know. But I know she was
sure that what I had with Lily was serious, and that there was only one place
for us to go. She probably knew that shit before I did.

It had been
almost two years and we were going stronger now than in the beginning; anyone
with eyes could see where the shit was going. I had no doubt that shit was
throwing my ex into a panic. For some fucked up reason she seemed to think
there was a chance we could get back together. Yeah!
About as
much as a snowball’s in hell.

“If that’s all
you came for, I need to get going. I just pulled an all
nighter
.
I need some rest before I go see about my place.” I had management opening the
bars these days so I didn’t have to run that shit myself. Plus with two more
that needed my attention I was stretched pretty thin.

 
I usually split my time between the three
on different days just making sure that things were running smoothly. No one
messed with my shit because my new acquaintances didn’t exactly give people the
warm
fuzzies
. So I didn’t worry about stealing and
shit, but there were other concerns when running a business that I liked to
stay on top of. Funny that the fact that I was an ex- cop didn’t deter bad
behavior, but the fact that my boys were bad
asses
did. It’s the world we live in I guess.

She wasn’t happy about being
dismissed but that was nothing new. It couldn’t be easy to have to live with my
indifference after having been under me for so many years and bearing me a
child. But that shit she pulled had literally soured me against her for life.
If I’d been a vindictive prick I would’ve cut her out of my kid’s life and be
done with her but I won’t do that to my little princess unless shit got
drastic.

I had a quiet word with my girl
before giving her back to her mother, making sure that all was right in her
world.