Ring of Fire (7 page)

“Yeah, I’m a lucky son of a bitch and don’t think I don’t know it.”

Nate stood for a moment staring at the closed door then turned to the Chief with a look of wonder.

“But damn, Chief… Mama D?”

The grey-haired man nodded in amused agreement.

“Scary, isn’t she?”

~~~

The banter at the dinner table was filled with one outrageous story after another from Nate’s growing-up years. Egged on by Connor and the Chief, Nate had to suffer through retelling every embarrassing escapade from his young life. Erin noted with a smile, that there were a lot of them. Sam chipped in with stories from his own youth. He told how he’d done everything he could to embarrass his important father, one outrageous thing after another, determined to prove how bad he was. He admitted he eventually gave in and became the bright outstanding superstar he’d been programmed to be.

At one point, Sam glanced over at Nate with an apologetic smile.

“Not that I want to pile on, Nate, but I learned something today about you that I wouldn’t have believed in a hundred years.”

At the shouts of ‘do tell’, ‘c’mon, Sam, tell us’, Sam put up his hands in mock surrender.

“Okay, since you’re forcing me. I learned from Jeb that the Big Dog was the Sophomore Homecoming King! Can you believe it? Damn, Nate, what kind of a badass cop was once in the homecoming court?”

At the chorus of laughter, Mama D broke in with an excited smile.

“Oh, just wait until I get my photograph albums. You won’t believe how handsome Nate was in his tuxedo. And Sarah Mueller? She was a beauty. Why, she was the prettiest girl in the whole school. Even so young. Their picture was on the front page of the Chicadia Falls Sentinel and it was a full page photo in the Sophomore class yearbook. Both of them were so blonde and so good-looking. Everyone was convinced—”

Mama D stopped in the middle of her sentence when Nate interrupted. Trying for levity, he scoffed, “Admit it Mama D, everyone was convinced that I’d paid off the class so that I could win.”

Mama D looked surprised, then as if seeing Erin’s troubled expression for the first time, rushed in. “Now, honey, don’t you look like that. If you’d been in that school
you’d
have been the Queen. You’re three times as pretty as Sarah ever was.”

Nate put his arm around Erin and gently gave her a loud peck on the cheek.

“You’re right about that, Mama D. No offense to any of the rest of you gorgeous women, but there isn’t a more beautiful woman in the world than the one sitting beside me. The only problem is I’m not sure how smart she is.”

At the startled gasp from around the table, Nate grinned and tipped up Erin’s chin and looked into her eyes.

“She did agree to marry me. You did, right, Erin?”

Erin nodded and gave him a brave smile.

“Yes I did, Nate. And even after
everything
that I’ve heard tonight, I’m holding you to it.”

Amidst a round of applause, the Chief rose and raised his glass to Erin.

“Thank you, Erin, for making my de facto son the happiest man in the world. He’s too much of a rascal to deserve you, but I’m glad that you are at least partially blind and are overlooking all of his faults. For that I thank you.”

Erin felt the heat rise up in her face and she did her best to smile and thank everyone. She bit the inside of her lip to keep it from trembling. She didn’t want to hurt Mama D’s feelings or the Chief’s. She’d enjoyed listening to all the stories of Nate’s teenage years. But his successes, his ‘star’ status, reminded her where she was when she 16 years old. She’d been living on the street for two years supporting herself with money she made stripping—among other things.

~~~

Connor’s three sisters had joined them at the dinner table. As everyone stood to leave, Amy, the oldest, wormed her way next to Nate. As the noisy conversation continued around them, Amy touched his arm. When he looked at her questioningly, she flushed and lowered her voice.

“Nate, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, honey, what’s up? One of the twenty or more guys who are after you forget who your cousin is? Whose ass do I need to kick now? Damn, when is that pack of hound dogs gonna learn that I’ve got you in quarantine until you’re at least thirty-five?”

When Amy didn’t smile, Nate got serious.

“C’mon, Amy, let’s you and I go out back and bring in some of those dishes for your mom.”

When they were alone, he asked. “Okay, honey. Spit it out. What’s up?”

Amy sighed.

“Nate, it’s about Melanie. Melanie Jones.”

Nate pushed at the cold dread inching its way up his spine.

“What about her?”

Amy’s pretty face twisted in a frown. Nate gave her a reassuring smile and waited for her to continue.

“I know… that you and Melanie are close, Nate. You mean the world to her. She is always bragging about the fact that Detective Nate Stryker is her godfather. Melanie and I are in a lot of the same classes at the college and we’ve become friends.”

When she hesitated, Nate gave her an encouraging nod.

Amy took a deep breath then continued. “It’s like this, Nate. Melanie has told me about some of the things her father is doing.”

Nate stiffened. “To her?”

Amy quickly shook her head.

“No. He leaves her alone. At… at least like
that
. No, I mean about the other things he does. The drugs… the meth… and all the bad men in that awful group. Melanie stays away from him as much as she can but I know she is afraid of him.”

Nate was quiet letting her talk at her own pace.

Amy sighed. “This is going to sound weird, Nate. But Melanie seems truly happy for the first time since we’ve been friends.”

“I don’t get it. Why is that a problem, Amy?”

“Well, because… because I think it’s because she has a boyfriend.”

Nate hooked his thumbs in his jeans and quirked a questioning brow. “Hmm. I see, And?”

Amy continued in a rush. “Because… well, because Melanie’s told me a bunch of times that her father warned her that if he ever caught her going out with some guy, he’d kill him.”

“Oh, honey, fathers say that a lot.”

Nate gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile but he couldn’t squash the anxiety he felt.

Amy shook her head.

“But Nate, her dad seems like the kinda guy who would really
do
that. Melanie as much as said that her mother has warned her, begged her not to go out with this guy. But Melanie doesn’t seem to care. She… she thinks she’s in love.”

Seeing the genuinely troubled expression on Amy’s face, Nate hugged her.

“Tell you what. I’ll speak with Melanie. She and I talk a lot. I’ll see what’s going on. And honey, don’t worry. I’m not minimizing your concerns. They’re legitimate. Jeb Stuart Jones is a bad man. But I’ve got him in my sights. And Amy, I have Melanie there too. I’m not gonna let that asshole do anything to hurt her. Okay?”

Amy gave a relieved sigh.

Nate hugged her.

“Thanks, honey, for telling me this. I’ll keep you posted.”

Amy’s face lit up in a smile.

“Thanks, Nate. I sure am glad you’re my cousin.”

He chucked her under the chin. “Me too, short stuff.”

~~~

As the group was preparing to leave for their Friday night get-together at Kieran’s Pub, Nate looked for Erin. As much as Amy’s caution about Melanie concerned him, he had another woman to think about at the moment.

Erin was standing back from the others a distant look in her eyes. Nate had seen that look before and knew what it meant. He grabbed for her hand and tugged her down the hallway into Marcus’s office.

Nate closed the door behind them ignoring Erin’s surprised frown and attempt to pull back.

“Uh uh, Erin. You think I’m going to take you to Kieran’s Pub with the rest of this rowdy group when you’ve got that look on your face?”

“What… what look?”

He shook his head and lightly touched her cheek.

“The look that must have been there for a lot of years before I met you. The one that reminds me that you had a hell of a childhood and it didn’t stop there.”

When the tears welling up in her eyes threatened to spill over, he pulled her into his embrace.

“C’mere honey. Let me hold you.”

Erin shook her head and tried to push him away. “Don’t, Nate. I’m… okay.”

Nate ignored her feeble gesture and pulled her closer. When he raised an eyebrow and didn’t respond, her words tumbled out.

“It’s just, Nate, when I hear about all the wonderful things you did when you were a kid, what a star you were, I can’t help but compare it to what I was doing at the same time. Sometimes I just feel so… inadequate.”

Nate forced his voice to be calm, not show the pain he felt at her words.

“Erin, listen to me. You learned the wrong lesson today. You heard us talking about Jeb and me. We both came from crap and Jeb went downhill from there. I didn’t because I was
lucky
. First Mama and Marcus took me in and then the Chief practically adopted me. And I still could’ve gone bad.”

“But you didn’t, Nate. And… and I did.”

Nate was incredulous. “You
did
? That’s not how I see it, Erin. You were raised by a whore who sold you to her boyfriends as soon as you hit puberty. Somehow you got away from that pitiful excuse for a mother and supported yourself when you were a kid not even sixteen years old.

Erin sniffed. “Yes—by stripping.”

“Yes, Erin. You did. You did what you had to do to survive. Then against all odds because of your courage, you got away from your abusive psychopathic husband. Christ, honey, you were on the run for three years with his thugs after you! Jesus, Erin. I had Mama, Marcus, the Chief and hundreds of other people pulling for me. And who did
you
have? You had yourself.”

He put his thumb under her chin forcing her to look at him.

“Erin, you are the bravest, smartest and most honorable person I know. I am in awe of you. I pray on a daily basis that you won’t wake up some day and know that I’m not worthy to kiss the soles of your feet.”

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her mouth fighting with the tears in her eyes.

“Nate—”

He scrubbed at the tears that leaked down her cheeks and grinned.

“Okay fine. I’ll admit it. I love kissing the soles of your feet, and sucking on your toes, and licking every other part of your delicious body. But Erin, don’t think for a minute that I don’t know how lucky I am. Actually, how lucky we both are. I love you, Erin.”

Erin swallowed visibly and brushed at the tears on her face with the back of her hand. They both started at the sound of a knock at the door.

Connor opened the door and poked his head inside.

“Are you guys coming? Mama D said she’d watch the baby so Kait and I can go…”

He frowned. “Hey, everything okay?”

Nate pulled Erin up against his chest and nodded to Connor over her head.

“Yeah, we’re good, Cuz. Just reminding each other how lucky we are to have each other.”

Connor nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, we all are. C’mon Erin, if you think I’m gonna let my bad boy cousin monopolize you, you’re crazy. Remember, your boss gets at least one dance with you tonight.”

Erin pushed away from Nate and gave Connor a teary smile.

“Okay, but just one. You know how jealous Nate gets.”

Nate allowed Connor to pull Erin away from him and give her a hug. He was grateful. Like everyone who knew Erin, Connor loved her. His cousin was in awe of what the beautiful woman had survived. Thinking about the danger they were facing, Nate fought a combination of fear and fury. It wasn’t fair. After everything Erin had been through, she didn’t deserve this, to be in the middle of a hideous situation caused by evil men who were out to get him. Nate swallowed past the lump in his throat and sent a little prayer to a god he didn’t call on much. He wasn’t sure it was the kind of prayer God appreciated but at least it was heartfelt.

Please God let me kill any bastard who so much as threatens her. And please, help me make his death as painful as possible.

Chapter 7

“Glad to see you got most of your crew here tonight, Nate.”

The big Irishman’s grin was as broad as usual, as he pulled on the tap filling the frosty mugs in front of him. But the tension in his voice mirrored the rigid set of his shoulders.

Nate leaned back casually against the bar and swept his gaze around the crowded pub. He made sure his question reached Kieran’s ears only.

“Expecting trouble, Kieran?”

Without looking Nate’s way, Kieran shrugged.

“Have to be crazy not to—see’n who’s here.” He added with a grimace. “Trouble’s as sure as stink on shit when those two show up at the same time.”

Nate kept his gaze as casual as his smile. It wasn’t hard to see what had the burly bartender’s panties in a bunch. Nate’d spotted Jeb’s Jag in the parking lot and thought he recognized Cougar’s truck. Even before they entered, he’d rounded up his men and laid out a preliminary plan in the event there was trouble. Not exactly an unexpected outcome.

“You got your trusty enforcer polished up and ready to go, Kieran?”

Kieran managed a passably genuine smile. He reached down behind the bar and pulled out a gleaming Louisville Slugger.

“Hell, Nate, Killebrew here is as ready as he was when your cousin Luke threw me one of his spit-laced fastballs. And just like then, I’m ready as ever to catch a piece of any ball or guy who thinks he can take on Kieran Mallory.”

Nate guffawed.

“I respect that bat of yours as much as Luke did, buddy. Just know that we got your six, me and all of my men.”

Glancing at the group in the corner, Nate huffed.

“Hell, looks like Jeb and his band of Neanderthal idiots brought their wives tonight. Maybe they’re looking for no more than a chance to get drunk and show off their fancy two steps.

Kieran chortled. “Well, they got the drunk part covered, that’s for sure. Swear to God, Nate, Jeb’s turning into a bigger drunk than his daddy ever was. And he’s meaner than old man Jones was. At least the old guy just ranted crazy shit until he passed out. Jeb’s quieter. But a hell of a lot meaner. More dangerous, if you know what I mean.