Chapter Three
COLE
After placing my knife and fork on my empty plate, I say, “Dinner was delicious. Thank you, Theresa. I can’t remember the last time I had a home-cooked meal that wasn’t a frozen meal.”
She stands, reaching for Harry’s and my plate.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. You know you’re always welcome to join Harry and me for dinner when I’m not on duty.”
She turns to head to the kitchen sink and rinses the dishes. Following behind her with the other dishes, I hand them to her one by one as she rinses them off and stacks them in the dishwasher.
Heading back to the table, I grab the bread and butter and head to the kitchen counter. She sees what I’m doing and huffs. “You’re my guest, Cole. I can do that. Harry, can you please wash up for bed?” she calls out, then opens the refrigerator and places the butter in there.
“But, Mom, we have company. Can’t I stay up a little longer?”
She inhales and reaches for the wine that she opened earlier, taking a sip.
“I knew he would do this. He’s been so excited to see you all day.”
Theresa turns her attention back to Harry, shaking her head. I like seeing Theresa this way, her hair up in a messy bun, wearing a Colorado sweatshirt and casual blue jeans, and not in her usual work attire. This is the Theresa you don’t see often. In her line of work, she could get a call at any time, including in the middle of the night, and she always looks immaculate in her suits and tied-up hair. Not as relaxed as she is tonight.
“We spoke about this, Harry, not on a school night. Now be a good boy, go upstairs, and get ready for bed.”
“But, Mom.”
She turns to me.
“Since Keith’s death, he’s been playing up and testing the boundaries. I’ve given in a lot, knowing that this has been a hard time for him, but I have to get him back into some kind of routine, which I’m struggling with.”
Placing a hand on her shoulder, I look over at Harry, who’s still sitting at the kitchen table. His yellow and red cars are in his hands.
“Harry, what if after you wash up for bed, I come in and read you a story?”
His eyes light up. “Really? Oh, yes, please,” he says, excitement in his voice.
Harry jumps out of the kitchen chair and runs toward the stairs leading to the second floor while calling out, “I’ll meet you in my room, Uncle Cole.”
“Thank you, Cole. I really appreciate this,” Theresa says before she places her wine on the counter and wipes the sink down.
“Theresa?” I say in a low voice.
She looks up at me with curiosity on her face. “Yes?”
“I said you can ask me for anything, and I meant that.”
She straightens. “I appreciate your kindness, and after you’re finished with Harry, I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Anything,” I reply with no hesitation.
She bites down on her bottom lip. “We’ll see. This favor is not an easy one.” She folds the dish towel and stands at the counter. “Go finish up with Harry, and we’ll talk.”
***
“The End.”
Before the words are out, Harry’s eyes shut. Looking up at the sound of footsteps, I find Theresa walking in with a warm smile.
On a whisper, I say, “He’s out like a light.”
She leans against the bedroom doorframe, and I notice she looks relaxed, probably the red wine she’s been drinking. I take a moment to examine her. She is quite beautiful and breathtaking. I can understand why Keith fell so deeply in love with her. Shit, any man would be out of his mind not to. Her smile could light up a room, and for some reason, I find myself making a promise to see that she smiles more often.
“Yeah, he had a big day. I wanted to keep him home, but he insisted on going to school, and they had an excursion to the zoo. He’s beat.”
Nodding, I turn to look down at his relaxed facial expression as he sleeps. Standing with the book in hand, I place it back into the kid-size bookshelf covered with car stickers, and then I take one last look at Harry before leaving the bedroom.
Theresa tiptoes over to the bed and kisses him on his forehead before she tucks the sheets up under his chin. “I love you, Harry.” She turns on the lamp beside his bed, walks out of the room, and switches the light off before she closes the door.
We make our way down the stairs and into her living room once again. Two full wine glasses sit on the coffee table, so I take a seat on the couch and grab one glass, taking a mouthful.
Photographs of Keith surround me, and my eyes land on one to the left that is in a silver frame. It’s a photo of Keith and Theresa on their wedding day. Wanting a closer look, I pick it up and bring it to my eyes.
As Keith explained it, he proposed to Theresa straight out of college, and they married young. He couldn’t wait to start a family. When Harry was born, Keith wanted another baby right away. However, Theresa wanted to wait because her career was taking off, and she didn’t want to lose the opportunity. She was one of the youngest police officers to pass the exam—something that Keith was very proud of. Placing the photograph back down on the table, I take another sip of the wine as Theresa sits beside me, grabbing her glass. She faces me, so I do the same, giving her my attention.
She brings the glass to her lips, takes a sip, and says, “What I’m about to ask of you, Cole, is hard for me to do. But I wouldn’t ask this if I didn’t think you were the right person.”
Her words interest me, so I put my glass down and give her my full attention.
“Whatever you need from me, Theresa, my answer is yes...”
She smiles, tilting her head.
“You might not say that when you hear what I want to ask.”
I shrug. “Doesn’t make a difference to me. You know I’m always here.”
She nods, then sits up against the armrest of the chair.
“What are your plans at the moment? Are you taking another mission?”
For some reason, I get the impression that she’s trying to lighten the mood before she tells me exactly what she wants.
Shaking my head, I explain to her how the military thought it best to take some time off, and I decided to take their advice. I tell her how I am working on my bike and just taking a break.
“But if I know you well, Cole, and how I knew Keith, you need the military. Life without it is lonely.”
My eyes look around the room, and I think about her words. She’s right. I do need it, but being here for her and Harry is something I need more.
I want to tell her that, but I don’t want her to think that I’m giving up my needs for hers. I promised Keith I’d look after them, and I’m going to follow through on it.
“You’re right. The military is my life, and yes, it can get quite lonely, but I have friends here that I’m catching up with. I’ve even gotten my Harley out of the garage and started working on it again. I hope I can take a ride now and then with my boys who have left the military too.”
Her eyebrows raise. “You have? You’re going to ride again? I remember how you and Keith used to take those rides with Cayden, Luke, and Bryce. The expression on your faces when you returned was pure happiness,” she says, smiling and taking another sip of her wine.
I smile with her, remembering those days. I will treasure them forever. Luke, Cayden, and Bryce are three of my closest friends who were either discharged or served their time in the military and got a job elsewhere, but Keith and I continued on.
Even when we had a break and would come home, we would still catch up and take rides around Toronto with our motorcycles. Sometimes, we would go away for weekends camping, fishing, and enjoying the open road. Something I am going to miss sharing with him.
Being home after serving was a hard task. Keith at least had his wife and baby at home. However, I had no wife or kid to come home to. My mom and dad are still alive and live four hours away. I visit now and then, but my life is here in Toronto.
Prior to my life in the military, I owned a mechanic shop with Cayden. He and I went to college together. We had the same interest in cars, and Cayden grew up working at his father’s garage. Since I knew a lot about them, we saved some money and opened our own business.
We met Luke and Bryce on our second mission, and they ended up in my squad, where they served under me. Once I learned where they were from and found out they only lived fifteen minutes away, we made sure we kept in touch. We were close, and if they weren’t at my house, they were at the garage visiting and helping work on some cars.
My thoughts return to the present when Theresa says, “I’m working on a case at the moment.”
My ears pick up. She takes a sip of her wine and continues, “The Royal Bastards MC.”
My eyes widen. The RBMC is a notorious motorcycle club known for a lot of bad shit that goes on here in Toronto. I’ve heard stories about murders that have happened due to the RBMC, but the RCMP has never had enough evidence to bring them down. Last I heard, they were involved in trafficking women, and the RCMP was close to bringing the president of the MC down, but at the last minute, one of the main witnesses was killed while they were under witness protection.
I swallow hard, knowing what danger Theresa would be faced with in this line of work. I don’t know how Keith handled her constantly being in danger. I know he worried about it, especially when he would confide in me, but he always knew that this was her dream, and she was living it.
“Theresa,” I whisper. “These are dangerous men. You have Harry to think about.”
She sighs. “Don’t you think I know that? I’ve stayed up nights thinking about what would happen to Harry if something happened to me, but I need to do this.” She sits up, reaches over to place her wine on the table, and then looks into my eyes. “So this is where you come in.”
I brace myself for what’s to come.
“I need you to go undercover for the RCMP. I need you to get close to the club, especially the president, Vinney.” Oh, yes, Vinney, whose club name is Sparky—short for Sparkplug—because he’s a hothead.
“I need you to be our eyes and ears… you need to get in close. Get them to trust you, and when they do, they’ll bring you in as a member. If that happens, you will have access to all the information we need.” She pauses and then looks at me dead in the eyes.
“Cole?”
“Yes,” I reply, waiting for her to speak further.
“We need you as our informant.”
She stands, grabs her wine, finishes it off, and then places the empty glass back on the table. She paces the lounge room floor, deep in thought.
I won’t lie. What she’s asking of me is some deep shit. Shit that will get me killed. If the club gets a whiff of me being a snitch and working for the RCMP, they won’t just kill me, they will make me suffer a gruesome death. But that doesn’t stop me from answering her with the one word I know I would give without hesitation.
“Yes.”
Her head whips around to face me, and her eyes widen.
“You’ll do it? No getting back to me and taking a week to think on it?”
Nodding and smiling, I stand and walk toward her, placing my hands on her shoulders.
“I don’t need time to think, it’s yes . You just tell me when and where.”
She leans in and hugs me, her apple scent reaching my senses, a perfume I’m sure is from her shampoo because every time I’m in her presence, I can smell the fresh-fruit scent.
She pulls back, looking up at me, and before I can say anything, she kisses me. What the fuck! I want to pull back, but I know she needs this. She’s missing Keith, and I’m the closest thing to him. Sure, I’ve imagined kissing her in the past. Who wouldn’t? She’s gorgeous and intelligent. Did I mention beautiful? But she’s my best friend’s wife, and I know he’s not here anymore, but this is still all too fresh.
Tasting her tears on my tongue, I realize she’s crying. Pulling back with my hands still on her shoulders, I take her in, noticing her eyes are looking at the floor. She knows that kissing me was a mistake—she’s in mourning and doesn’t even know what she’s doing.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpers, pulling back and walking toward the couch, crying in her hands as she sits. I let her sit there, getting her emotions in check. When she finally looks up at me, she wipes away her tears with the back of her hand, her cheeks pink with embarrassment.
“I’m so sorry, Cole. I didn’t mean to kiss you. I don’t know what came over me.”
“Hey,” I say, taking a few steps toward her and kneeling in front of her. I can’t help but tuck away a strand that’s gotten free from her bun.
“You don’t need to ever apologize to me, Theresa,” I explain with a smile. “You know I’ve got you, right?”
She nods in reply.
“We’re all mourning Keith, and because of that, we do things we don’t mean. So don’t worry about it, okay?”
Theresa blinks away her tears and nods once again with a warm smile. Her hand reaches up to the top of my head, running her fingers through my hair.
“Your hair is growing,” she states, lightly pulling on the ends.
“And you have one of these, too,” she adds, scratching at my facial hair.
My fingers follow hers, running over my new beard. “Yeah, well, I guess now that I’m not serving, there’s no need to keep my hair short and no need to shave. Don’t you like it?” I tease, moving in to scratch her face with my facial hair.
“Stop.” She giggles, standing and running away. Smiling, I stand to face her, happy that she’s in a lighter mood. Our eyes connect, and she clears her throat.
“Meet me at the Maple Cityside Diner this Friday. I’ll bring you more details on the MC, and Ben will be able to meet you. He’s the only other RCMP officer who will know you’re on the case.”
Her face straightens as she takes a couple of steps toward me. “Cole, we need to protect you. You can’t tell any of the boys what you’re doing. You can’t tell anybody, not even your parents. The fewer people who know about this, the better chance we have of getting you out safe.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I reply, “I understand.”
She shakes her head. “Cole, I’m serious. This could get you killed if the Royal Bastards get word you’re working with the RCMP.”
Staring into her eyes, I repeat, “I understand.”
Her eyes stare into mine for a minute as if she’s trying to decide on something, but then she continues, “Okay. I’ll see you on Friday at ten a.m. Don’t be late.”
Smirking, I reply, “Have you ever known me to be late?”
She understands there’s no such thing as being late when you’re in the military. It’s just not in our vocabulary.
“No, I haven’t,” she replies, leading me to the front door and opening it.
Leaning in, I kiss her on her cheek.
“Goodnight, Theresa.”
“Goodnight, Cole.”