Ryker’s Justice (14 page)

“I
think I’ll sleep awhile if you want to go find Nicole,” the teen said. “But
come back, okay?”

“Sure,”
Jude said. “I will. Sleep well, David.”

He
waited until the kid slept, then left the room. After brushing any remaining
tears from his eyes and schooling his expression to be bland, he joined Nicole
in the waiting room. And they sat in quiet harmony for a very long time.

Chapter Thirteen

After
the funeral, half the
Rykers
showed up at the
hospital to check on David, although a few, Elijah and his wife included, went
to the gathering afterward at Sierra’s church. The waiting room filled with
family and a few friends, each eager to share details of the service. Jude
shook hands and exchanged greetings and a few hugs. Adam stood in the doorway
and inclined his head, an invitation to follow him, so Jude rose. “I’ll be back
in a little while,” he told Nicole, who nodded.

In
the hallway, Adam led him down into the older portion of the hospital and to
the seldom-used waiting room. “What’s up?” Jude asked.

His
brother ran one hand over his
short ,
cropped hair and
grimaced. “A lot, apparently,” he said. “First, the prosecuting attorney
dismissed any charges against Junior for what he called ‘lack of evidence’,
which is bullshit. He showed up at the funeral, which pissed me off. I thought
Elijah was going to deck him and he probably would’ve if Tania hadn’t stopped
him. After the service, we went to the graveyard and I watched a bunch of guys
gather at Junior’s truck. I’m pretty sure they were sipping ‘shine but I didn’t
go over to see. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be welcome.”

“I
doubt it,” Jude said. “And for God’s sake, be careful. I don’t want you hurt.”

A
faint grin tempered Adam’s serious expression for a few seconds. “Me neither,”
he said. “Then at work yesterday, a couple of the younger guys at the mill came
in
hungover
, sick as dogs. One said he was just
hungover
but the other said they’d gotten hold of some bad
liquor. Their buddy didn’t make it to work at all. Sam Younger said
ol
’ Dennis couldn’t see this morning.”

“Shit.”
Jude spoke in a soft voice. “Bad moonshine can damage the optic nerve.”

“I
thought so. It’s a good thing you came clean with us, Jude, or I’d probably
never have thought to share any of this with you. You need to have a word with
Josh, too. Noah thinks you’re right that he was drinking moonshine with the
group and he’s worried sick about it. And Esther thinks you’d better talk to
Mindy, too. She apparently babbled something about meth cooking and moonshine to
someone on the phone and Esther overheard it.”

“Meth?”
Jude said. “Damn, this may be
broader than I thought. Thanks, Adam. I’ll look into all of it.”

Adam
put a hand on his shoulder. “Kid, there’s more. The sheriff wants to talk to
you, too.”

Wary,
Jude asked, “What about?”

His
brother huffed out air. “Don’t be mad, Jude, but I told him who you are and
what you’re working on.”

“God
damn it, Adam!” Nerves jangled and emotions raw, the admission pissed off Jude.

“Now,
wait a minute,” Adam said. “Before you go on a tear, let me explain. He’s been
looking into the same thing you’re here to find. He doesn’t like the fact the
prosecuting attorney let Junior off and has in the past. I talked to him in
confidence and he won’t tell anyone, not even his deputies or his wife. He
thinks you and him might make a good team so at least consider talking to him.”

Jude
managed a low-throated noise, almost a growl. Adam sighed. “Kid, trust me,” he
said. “I know you’ve been gone a long time but I thought you’d still trust me.”

“I
do,” Jude said. “That’s one thing that hasn’t changed.”

He
pondered the situation and shifted his opinion. “All right, I’ll talk to him. Hell,
maybe I’ll even work with him. Thanks, Adam.”

“Don’t
mention it. Go rescue your woman. I think Aunt Tillie’s got hold of her.”

Jude
found Nicole cornered by the old woman. His aunt prattled about Jude’s boyhood
and shared stories, some of them incorrect, about his mother. He worked his way
through the cousins and in-laws and friends to reach them,
then
hunkered down on his haunches. “Hey, honey,” he said. Nicole glanced up but her
lopsided smile indicated she could use a rescue. “Want to stretch your legs and
maybe bring me a soda pop?”

She
grinned. “Sure, Jude, I’d be happy to do it. What kind do you want?”

“Anything
filled with sugar and caffeine,” he told her.

As
she walked out, he watched her, appreciating the way she moved her tight ass and
how graceful she appeared. “Those things are bad for you, boy,” Aunt Tillie
said. “Water’s the best thing to drink.”

“Oh,
I know it,” Jude said. “How’s life treating you, auntie?”

“Good
and bad, but I’m still here,” she told him. “I
didn’t hardly
sleep
a wink last night. Those neighbors of mine kicked up a ruckus
until dawn.”

If
he recalled correctly, her small house sat adjacent to a former nursery,
florist shop, and garden center. The complex of buildings had long sat empty,
although he’d heard there had been a flea market on sight a few years earlier. The
home on the other side of Tillie’s property had been vacant since the old
couple who lived there for decades moved to
Florida
to be close to their only daughter. “I
didn’t know you had neighbors,” he said. He figured he’d hear more of her
ramblings but her answer surprised him.

“Well,
they don’t think I know they’re there but they are,” she said. “They come and
go at the strangest hours, Jude, always sneaking like they don’t want anyone to
see them. At first I thought they would put another flea market in but so far
they haven’t, and it’s been a couple of years. I reckon they use the place for
storage maybe, although I know some of them live there, too. It’s a big place,
as you’ll remember.”

Jude
nodded. “I do.”

“Those
big trucks rumbling in and out, those diesel
dualies
and
such,
are what kept me awake last night,” she told
him. “I don’t know for the life of me what they load onto them and carry off, but
it must be something. Maybe they redo old furniture or something.”

“Why
do you think so?” He paid about half attention as he watched for Nicole and
picked up snippets of other conversations in the room. He had an eye out for
Josh and Mindy, too.

“Why,
the smell of varnish,” she said. “Sometimes it’s so strong it about near chokes
me if I go outside on the porch. That, and I think they do a lot of cleaning ‘
cause
there’s times I smell ammonia.”

Her
account of the smells clicked.
Varnish,
he
thought,
and ammonia.
Meth cooking
had a strong, pungent odor some people described as similar. “Aunt Tillie,” he
said, focused on her now. “Tell me more about these people. I guess they’re not
friendly?”

“Oh,
no, they’re standoffish,” she told him. “I guess they’re afraid an old lady
like me might come over to say howdy because they have a security camera and
alarms to rival
Fort
Knox
. They’re odd. It can
be the hottest day of summer and those black windows stay shut tight but when
it’s bitter cold, I’ve known them to open up a bunch of them. And I don’t know
how many of them are there but they have the biggest pile of trash you ever
saw, bags and bags of it.”

In
her rambling way, she had just described some of the common signs that a meth
lab was in operation. Whether or not it had anything to do with the moonshine
manufacturing was still uncertain, but it would be worth investigating. Jude
decided he would share the information with the sheriff when he met with him
and they could proceed from there. If Sheriff Cole could debunk Tillie’s account,
then fine. If not, it might be the starting place for an investigation, whether
or not it tied into his.

“I
think you should steer clear of them, Aunt Tillie,” he told her. “They sound
like a wild bunch for sure.”

“Oh,
I do, Jude, and I will. I just wish they’d pack up and move.”

“Maybe
they will,” he said. A rush of affection toward the woman he’d known all his
life rippled through him. Concern followed. If anything happened to her, he
would feel responsible.

“Well,
I hope so.”

Nicole
returned with his soda and before she had to wade through the press of people,
Jude came to his feet. He paused long enough to kiss his aunt’s cheek,
then
he went to greet Nicole.

“
Thanks,
honey,” he said. “Are you ready to make tracks?”

“Oh,
yes,” she said. “Let’s go home for a while. Mary invited us both for supper
tonight but if you don’t want to go, I’ll make excuses.”

“We
can, that’s fine,” he said. “What time is it?”

“Almost
three and she said supper’s at six or six thirty.”

Jude
grinned. “Then, yeah, sure we can. We’ll have a few hours to spend at home.”

She
smiled back. “That’s just what I thought.”

The
rain continued as he drove home over the familiar winding roads. At the house,
they dashed together through the downpour and into the house. Jude lit the fire
in the hearth he had laid earlier for warmth and to dry their damp clothing. As
the blaze kindled and the sweet scent of wood smoke filtered into the room, a
sense of comfort mingled with a growing desire. With the rain pounding down on
the roof, the house became an isolated retreat, a space large enough for two. He
offered Nicole his hand and when she accepted, he pulled her close and nuzzled
his lips against her mouth. “I think we’d better get out of these wet clothes,”
he murmured. “We wouldn’t want to catch a chill or anything.”

Heat
flickered between them as she nodded. “Oh, no, we wouldn’t.

He
sneezed and she grasped the bottom of his shirt,
then
pulled it over his head. “You may be coming down already,” she told him. “I
think the best place for you is in bed.”

His
loins tightened. “Yeah, I think so, too.”

She
offered her hand and when he took it, she ran toward the stairs and to his
bedroom. They stripped with unholy haste, hands bumping into each other’s as
they jerked away garments and tossed them to the floor. When Jude removed her
blouse, her breasts greeted him, the nipples already perky. He surrendered any
pretense and took one into his mouth. Its firm hardness excited him and he
sucked at it the way he would a hard candy. He used his tongue to flick the tip
repeatedly and she groaned. Jude transferred his attentions to the other nipple
and did the same.

Bolder
than she had been thus far, Nicole grasped his stiff cock in one hand. She
worked her fist up and down his shaft, the friction an exquisite torture. Each
caress of her fingers, every time she squeezed, Jude thought he would explode. He
lost track of what he intended to do next when she dropped to her knees and
took his dick into her mouth.
That’s a
first for her but I like it.
Jude shut his eyes as she sucked,
then
used her tongue to full advantage. Each time she
licked, he shuddered and his cock hardened. Afraid he might go off into her
mouth, unsure how she might feel about it if he did, he tried to pull back. Nicole’s
left hand clutched the left cheek of his ass in a tight grip to prevent it. About
the time he doubted he could hold out much longer, she backed off and backed up
to the bed. She lay down with pussy exposed and spread her legs wide.

Jude
rammed into her marvelous wet heat and filled her full. He cried out as intense
pleasure claimed him and he worked up and down to keep the delightful friction
going. Each time he thrust into her, she moaned and when she wrapped her legs
tight around his body, he lost any restraint. He came into her, his seed
spilling out in an incredible orgasm. Brilliant light burst and blinded him as
his body convulsed in a series of spasms so sweet, yet so powerful he thought
he’d die from them.

The
moment she joined him, he knew it. Her body shuddered beneath him and she
shrieked. He watched her face flush crimson and tears run down her cheeks. Nicole
raked his bare back with her fingernails, sharp enough to hurt, but he savored
the sensation among all the rest. At the climax, he shouted a hoarse, wordless
cry and rode the intense wave until it ended.

He
crashed hard and rolled to land beside her, panting and gasping. Body
sated,
spirits high, he put his hand between her legs and
rubbed hard. She sobbed and writhed at his touch.

“Oh,
God,” she gasped. “You’re killing me. It’s so sensitive I’ll pass out or die.”

“Never,”
he said. “Relax and enjoy it.”

Nicole
moaned his name but she stopped resisting him. “Jude,” she cried.
“Oh, Jude, oh, Jude.”

Afterward,
when her body became still and he’d caught his breath, Jude cradled her against
his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever had it that good,” he whispered.