Chapter 32 #2
I picked out the sounds of an engine and knew they were in the car.
“Are you high again?”
My stomach twisted
“Gregor called, said you quit. There you go fucking up a good thing. Everything has been handed to you, and you continue to mess it all up. The fact that the Chief of Police offered you detective was your one moment of luck, and you pissed on it.” He cleared his throat. “Anything to say for yourself?”
I looked up in time to see an old burgundy Cadillac had pulled into the parking lot. As clear as day was Henry Caster with the phone to his ear and a woman beside him, crying.
“You’re doing that shit again, aren’t you?” he growled over the line. “You made your mother cry. We aren’t going through this shit again.”
I said nothing. He hadn’t noticed me yet. I slipped the rest of the way out of the car and gently closed the door. I kept the phone close to my ear, listening to him.
“Nothing to say for yourself? Well, I’m here. If I have to beat it into you, I’ll straighten you out like I should have done when you were a kid.”
“Henry, he’s tired. It was a hard case,” Tex’s mother pleaded.
“You don’t know what it’s like! The boy needs to toughen up. I saw ten times the amount of shit he did.” The door of his car swung open, and he angrily got out. He wobbled with his cane, not finding good purchase on the gravel.
I hung Tex’s phone up. Before Henry could so much as take a single step toward the building, I stepped behind him and caught his gaze in his side mirror.
He had the same blue eyes as Tex, but his were far duller. They widened, and his face went ashen. The passenger side door opened.
“Kate, stay in the car!”
She glanced over at us, wiping at her face. I smiled at her.
“I’m an old acquaintance, and seeing Henry again, I couldn’t help but come over.”
She looked at her husband again. “Oh, um—”
“Kate, get in the car,” Henry said through clenched teeth.
Her face reddened, but she followed his instructions.
“Are you here for my family?” Henry asked.
I closed the car door and walked around him.
I made my way toward the back of the small building in case Tex came out earlier.
Henry Caster followed behind me, limping as he made his way to the back.
He attempted the tough guy act but old age and time off the force made him soft in certain areas.
Fear peeked through the cracks, but it wasn’t enough for me.
“You’ll let my wife go,” Henry said.
With a single step forward, I snatched the cane up. He staggered but caught himself and leaned against the wall. Good enough. I inspected it. Of course, he’d cleaned Tex’s blood off of it. Good thing, I don’t think I could have held back if I’d seen it.
His mouth opened to spew something I had no time to hear. Before so much as a syllable could be uttered, I whipped the cane around, and it smacked against his cheek.
I tisked. It wasn’t the exact same. Henry crumbled down to the ground, groaning in pain.
“Stand up.”
The old man wheezed as blood dripped down his cheek. His eyes were unfocused as he continued to lie on the ground.
“I said get up.”
Henry attempted to get up twice, his leg giving out on him each time. I watched, unmoving. There was so much I wanted to do to him. I could easily spend weeks torturing him, bringing him nothing but suffering and it would still be only a drop of the anguish he’d caused Tex.
“If you’re going to kill me, get it over with,” Henry spat.
“If I was going to kill you, we’d be somewhere I could have fun.” I stepped closer to him. He was more than likely taller than me in his prime. However, with his hunched-over posture as he fought to stand up, I dwarfed him. “This is personal.”
His eyes flicked around me, and I brought the cane back down. It cut through the air, making a soft whistling sound. The hardwood against flesh echoed around us. Henry crashed to the ground, scrapping the other side of his face.
“Uh, fuck.”
I grabbed a fistful of his hair and held his head up, inspecting it. It mirrored the cut I’d found on Tex’s face perfectly. Killing him would anger Tex. Although I knew Henry Caster deserved it, I couldn’t.
Henry groaned as I helped him up, too dazed to pull away. I handed his cane back. His fingers shook as he took it away from me and leaned heavily on it.
He blinked rapidly as he stared at me. “What makes this personal?”
I tapped his cheek, pressing against the wounds there. He winced. I wiped his blood from my fingers onto his checkered button-up.
“Know any time you hurt him, I will return the favor to you.”
“Who?” Henry asked. His head snapped up before I could speak. “Tex? What does this have to do with my son?”
“He’s mine.”
I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as my words settled in his mind. A look of distraught morphed into one of anger. His face reddened as he bared his teeth at me.
“Being with you, he’s going to end up just like Brycen Grennan.” Henry shook his head. “That boy—”
I took a step closer, and his mouth snapped shut. “Respect him, or I’ll make it so he will never have to hear disrespect come out of your mouth again.” Cutting out his tongue wouldn’t kill him.
“You will stay away—”
I cut off his pathetic attempt at a demand. I needed to wrap things up. I had a date to continue. “This stays between us. I’d hate for you to meet your end in some tragic accident. Freeing your wife and son of the plague that is you.”
The idea sounded more pleasing the longer I thought about it.
“You’re not a cop anymore. Stop with the heroism. We both know you’re no warrior of justice.”
Henry glared at me. “I still have connections.”
“The last time you came after us didn’t work out so well, did it?” I pointed to his leg. “Do I make myself clear?”
Henry ground his teeth. “Crystal.”
There was still a visible fight in his eyes that I planned on snuffing out. I gestured for us to go back toward the cars. He leaned heavily on his cane as he headed toward the parking lot.
“Tex is nothing like Brycen.” I didn’t look at him as I spoke. I owed this man nothing, and neither did Tex. But I found my lips moving on their own. “He is loyal, headstrong, ambitious, and a far better man than you.”
Henry scuffed. “He is a drug addict who made nothing but messes for me to clean up.”
“It’s a shame that is all you see out of him when I see someone who, regardless of their hardships and shortcomings, has made something of themselves. Could you say you’d be able to do the same in his shoes?”
Henry was silent next to me as we approached the cars.
“He still ended up with a murderer.”
I caught his gaze. “Don’t worry. You’re safe from me for now. We’re going to be family.”
“Everyone knows I wouldn’t have anything to do with you or that vile family of yours,” Henry spat.
“It would be a simple task to change that opinion. The headlines would read: Hero cop, crooked and corrupt. All his achievements connected back to the mafia.”
Henry went stock still.
“Just as you have connections in the NYPD, so do I.”
I opened the car door and stared at Henry as he moved toward it.
He glanced at the building as if hoping Tex would come down.
A man like Henry Caster was all about his reputation.
On paper, he was the perfect man; a hero, a family man, and an all-around good samaritan.
To have that tarnished would ruin everything he held dear.
“I look forward to meeting you on more official terms as Tex’s partner.”
Henry visibly bristled as he slipped into the car. He attempted to yank it closed, but I held it firmly.
“Henry, oh my goodness, your face. What happened?” Kate reached out to her husband.
he batted her hand away, never taking his gaze away from me. “I’m fine. Slipped.”
Henry cleared his throat and tugged at the door handle. I let it go, sufficiently happy that the last bit of spark in his eyes was gone. He knew I’d follow through. I’d do anything to protect Tex. Henry pulled out of the parking spot and was gone in a matter of seconds.
I think I handled that well. Tex’s father was still alive, and I managed to return the favor.
I deleted the call history from Tex’s phone and placed his phone back in the cup holder. The cigarettes were crumbled, and there wasn’t one I could salvage. The door opened, and Tex stepped out, drawing my attention.
He smiled the moment our eyes met, and he raced down to meet me. “I didn’t like the suit, so I went with a plain button-up and slacks. Fancy enough?”
He looked good enough to eat. I snatched up his wrist and yanked him close. I smoothed my thumb over the scar left on Tex’s cheek.
“What?”
“I’d kill for you.”
Tex stared at me. Silence blanketed us for a few heartbeats. “I know, but I don’t want you to.”
I brought our lips together, and our tongues tangled in what I could only describe as perfection. Tex tasted divine. I wanted to take him back home and taste every inch of him. To own every inch of him.
“From now on, I’m the only one allowed to hurt you or make you cry. Every inch of you belongs to me.” I bit his lip. “Even your life.”
Tex groaned. “Yeah. Where do I sign, Satan?”