Chapter 19
SARGE
“Brick, you’re up!” the guard announced just before the door to my cell opened.
Since I wasn’t sure what exactly I was “up” for–and I’d slipped right back into my old habit of passive-aggressive irritation with every guard I encountered–I didn’t get up off my bunk.
He scowled at me from the doorway and said, “You’ve got an hour with your lawyer, and time’s ticking. ”
That was interesting, and a little terrifying once I had a second to think about it.
Jacoby, my brother Jack’s son, had a law degree, but it was in business, not criminal defense.
The boy was smart–probably one of the smarter Bricks, if I was being honest–but he wasn’t nearly hard enough to fight the justice system.
And if he tried, I’d be fucked.
I turned and put my hands behind my back for another round of “cuff the dangerous felon,” then lurched forward when the guard shoved me toward the end of the hall.
It took every ounce of self-control not to turn and headbutt the fat fuck, but I resisted.
Giving them a real charge to hold me on would be about the dumbest thing I could do, because I was almost positive they didn’t have a damn thing right now.
Almost was the most important word in that sentence.
I’d been lying on my bunk for hours going through every detail of the disposal my club brothers and I had handled that morning, and I couldn’t think of a single thing we’d missed.
We’d even laid a trail of breadcrumbs for anyone sniffing around to follow, and in the end, it would lead them absolutely nowhere.
I was sure about that.
The door buzzed before it slid open, and I was nudged down another hall with the surly guard behind me. Finally we reached another closed door. As soon as we heard the lock click, he opened it and shoved me inside. “You’ve got fifty-four minutes.”
“As a matter of fact, we’re allotted two hours with each of our clients, and your inability to lumber along faster than a dehydrated snail is not a reason to shorten that.”
I was grinning by the time Matalie finished tearing into the guard, and I burst out laughing when he slammed the door and Captain yelled, “Get these fucking cuffs off him!”
The door opened again and the guard was breathing hard as he unlocked my cuffs. I turned and smiled at him before he walked out and slammed the door again.
“Captain, Matalie, what brings you to Leavenworth on this fine day?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Sarge. We’ve got work to do,” Captain said with a scowl.
“It’s a pleasure to see you, too, Sarge. It’s been too long,” Matalie added.
“I’m guessing Ma called. Is she okay? Is Starla?”
“She did not call, and both of them are fine. We left them at home canning green beans with two extra, very worried helpers, but we assured them we’d be back in time to help at least a little.”
That told me Frog and Lurk were still out and free, so I asked, “Duke?”
“We’ll be meeting with him when we’re finished with you, so let’s get to work.”
◆◆◆
STARLA
The radio on the end of the table crackled before one of the guys out in the field said, “We’ve got the drone up, and there are visitors cutting fence in fifty-one. They’re hauling heavy equipment.”
Ma giggled like a kid before she picked up the radio. “Thanks for the update, Paxton. Keep me informed.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll keep an eye out and have the guys make sure none of the livestock are grazing near that section.”
“We’ll have to make sure they’re finished before we take on any repairs. Have you seen anything else that might be interesting?”
“She’s sitting on her back porch with binoculars.”
Ma signed off with Paxton and muttered something under her breath that sounded an awful lot like a death threat.
“Fabiella’s watching the show?”
“Of course she is, which is another nail in her coffin as far as I’m concerned.”
“I’d almost forgotten she was my target, but thanks for the reminder.”
“An ass-whippin’ from you is the least of her worries, sweetheart. She needs to start reading the fine print, because her sons gave me the green light to turn those details into reality.”
“What are you talking about?”
Ma waved off my question. “I’m going to get dinner started.”
“Should I go into town and see if I can visit Sarge?”
“You should stay right where you are and stay busy so you don’t worry yourself to death,” Ma snapped before she walked into the house.
I knew she wasn’t angry at me. She was probably even more worried and upset than I was, since Sarge was her son. But keeping my hands busy didn’t keep my mind from drifting off into a cell with him. I knew exactly what it felt like to be locked up after getting a taste of freedom.
“Stop frowning.”
I was so startled by the voice a few feet away that I screamed and splashed hot water all over the table. I got even more flustered trying to decide whether to clean the mess before it dripped on the floor or shut off my goddamn watch that was chirping like I’d just had a heart attack.
“Would you stop doing that?” I yelled angrily. “Where in the hell did you come from this time?”
“I haven’t left since I saw you last night.”
“You scared the shit out of me then too!”
Lurk shrugged. “Maybe you should get your hearing checked, because I’m not exactly trying to be quiet.”
I took a calming breath. “Where’s Frog?”
Lurk simply tilted his head. “He started irritating me, so I pushed him out the window.”
I blinked at him for several seconds before I managed, “You’re kidding, right?”
“He wouldn’t shut up.”
“Is he okay?”
“He finally stopped screaming, so I guess.”
“Oh. My. God.” I rushed to the door and hollered for Ma. “Have you seen Frog?”
“He’s upstairs in his room, I believe,” she said as she peeked her head around the corner.
“No, I mean lately. Has he come through the house in the last little bit?”
“No. Why?”
I spun around and glared at Lurk. “He probably broke his damn neck, Lurk! What the hell were you thinking?”
“That he should shut the fuck up.”
Ma stood in the doorway now, and I asked, “Is this what it was like raising your boys?”
“Did he push him out the upstairs window?” Ma asked calmly. When Lurk and I both nodded, she said, “Yes. This is exactly what it was like.”
“I’m gonna go check and see if he’s out there in the grass,” I said as I hurried to the door. “Will you watch the canners?”
“I will,” Lurk assured me.
I all but growled my thanks as I jogged across the grass to the end of the house, but stopped cold when I saw Frog lying in the yard. He wasn’t moving, and I was breathing too hard to stay still enough to see if he was breathing, so I sprinted the rest of the way and dropped to my knees beside him.
“Frog!” I yelled, afraid to touch him in case he had a neck or spinal injury. “Oh no! Frog! Can you hear me?”
Frog didn’t open his eyes as he answered, “Of course I can fucking hear you, woman. You’re yelling like a crazy person twelve inches from my damn ear.”
“You’re okay! Thank God! I thought . . .”
“If I was okay, do you think I’d be out here napping in the blazing sun?”
“What’s wrong? Is it your neck? Can you feel your toes? Wiggle them for me.”
“I’m wearing boots, Starla.”
“Can you feel your goddamn legs?”
“Yes, especially the broken one.”
I looked up at the sky, relieved and irritated at the same time, but grateful enough to say, “Thank you, God, for making sure Sarge got a vasectomy before we met, because I’m really not cut out for this sort of shit!”
“No, hon, you’re really not.”
◆◆◆
“I’m not cut out for this, Ma,” I said as I rested my arms on the table and watched the bubbles settle in the drink I’d just poured. “Poor Frog. I know he had to be in pain, but I wasn’t about to ask Lurk to help get him to the truck because he’d probably have just made it worse.”
“They do have a way about them, don’t they?” When I nodded, she assured me, “But you did just fine, sweetheart. Think of it this way–today’s adventure is training for when the boys start becoming parents to wild boys of their own.”
“I will nail the windows shut.”
“Doesn’t help. My oldest two were arguing over a girl when they were in high school, and Frank pushed Paul through the glass. He didn’t break bones that time, but he got quite a few stitches.”
“That time?”
“He fell off the roof trying to sneak out to meet a girl when he was a sophomore. That’s when he broke his arm.”
“Oh, good grief!”
“Pa and I considered getting bars installed, but decided they’d grow out of that phase before we could pay off the cost of all that iron.”
“There were more incidents than those two?”
“Well, between fighting with each other and sneaking into and out of the house thinking we’d never find out, yes, I’d call those years a phase.”
“It amazes me that you don’t have a drinking problem.”
Ma hooted with laughter and winked. “I’ll admit that some days a little rum in my afternoon soda helped take the edge off.”
“I guess Lurk and Frog accomplished one thing–or two, considering Lurk finished the canning for me.”
“What’s the other thing?”
“I was too worried about getting Frog to the emergency room and sitting with him while they x-rayed and set his bone to worry much about Sarge and Duke.”
Ma stood and walked to the pantry. After a few minutes of rummaging through the top shelf, she came back with a dusty bottle of rum. “Even though neither of them are your children, it seems you might need one of my special afternoon sodas, my friend.”
“Just one?”
“Someone’s gotta cook dinner,” Ma said with a shrug.
“I would say have Lurk do it, but we might end up eating squirrel brains or something equally gross.”
“Then let’s sip instead of chug and cook dinner while we worry together.”
I watched her pour a healthy amount of dark rum into my glass. “I think that sounds like a fine idea.”
◆◆◆
SARGE
“I can’t wait to get some decent food and a shower. No. Shower first, then the food.”
“You were in for twenty-four hours, Duke. Get a grip,” Captain said as he turned down the lane toward the house.