Colorado 03 Lady Luck (42 page)

I watched Ty’s jaw clench.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Was that
wrong?”

“She ain’t stupid pussy, she’s just toxic
pussy. She’s gotta know I’m gonna tell my wife that shit so, no, it
wasn’t wrong.”

I took in a deep breath and relaxed, not
even realizing I was as wound up as I was with worry that I’d
fucked up.

Then it hit me so I asked, “She’s not stupid
pussy?”

“Fuck no.”

I felt my brows draw together. “Really?”

“Uh… yeah, babe. Really. Outta her deal she
got Chace Keaton’s ring. He didn’t mind dippin’ into that twat but
he didn’t wanna put a ring on it. He’s a cop but his Daddy is not.
Aspen money. Moved out from under his father’s thumb to be his own
man. Doesn’t mean he’s not gonna accept his inheritance when Daddy
dies, seein’ as he’s an only child.”

I shook my head. “If he’s got money, he’s
got connections. Are you saying they leaned on him,
made
him marry Misty? Are you saying
that’s what she got out of the deal?”

“
She spread for me but she was a girl
who’d
never
take black
home to Daddy. Never. She spread for Keaton with her sights set.
So, yeah. That’s what she got out of the deal.”

“You know this for sure?”

“Only word I got on that is Tate’s so,
again, yeah, I know this for sure. Don’t know how he got it but I
know whatever his source, he wouldn’t repeat it unless it was
solid.”

“Why would Keaton do that?” I asked.

Ty’s face dipped closer. “Because, baby,
he wanted to be his own man, he became his own man and when he did,
he made a dirty bed. That doesn’t mean Daddy doesn’t loom. That
motherfucker is dirty and they know just exactly
how
he’s dirty. And they would not
give one shit about settin’ one of their own blowin’ in the wind,
they needed to do that. He does not want Daddy to know that shit,
he does not want to take that hit from Daddy and he does not want
Daddy to find a nice charity to give his cake after he dies because
he’d rather save some fuckin’ near-extinct bird than give his dirty
cop son who shit all over the family name his money. So Keaton
either took one for the team or they let him blow. He took one for
the team and bought a lifetime of toxic cunt.”

“Wow,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” his lips twitched then, “wow.”

Well, there you go. That explained why
things at home for Misty weren’t so hot. He might have taken one
for the team but he hadn’t promised he’d spend his lifetime
pretending he liked it.

“Just FYI, hubby, Misty gave some things
away at the salon and I’m not sure it’s all hearts and flowers in
chez Keaton,” I shared.

That got me a grin. “Good news, mama.
‘Specially since things are exactly hearts and flowers at chez
Walker.”

My heart flipped and it felt good because
his words felt good and I whispered, “Ty.”

His hand came up and curled around my neck
just as his head dipped closer. “You made my day, baby,” he
whispered then finished, “And not just because I got to watch you
struttin’ your sweet ass through the forecourt in those shoes and
shorts.”

I grinned at my husband then I whispered
back, “Good.”

His hand gave me a squeeze. “That all you
got?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly she, uh… well,
Ty, no joke, after I told her we were happy and it was all good,
bitch-face Misty asked if you were mad at her.”

Just like me, he blinked.

Then he asked, “No shit?”

I shook my head. “No shit.”

He kept his hand where it was but lifted his
head and looked over mine, muttering, “Fuck me.”

“I’m thinking, the last five years, a bleach
blonde with an unhappy home life is rethinking the deal she made
and which man she left blowing in the wind,” I noted, his eyes
tipped down to me and I noticed instantly he was no longer feeling
in a warm and squishy mood.

His growled, “Don’t give a fuck,” confirmed
it.

“Me either, except I hope every day she
wakes up to a man who doesn’t want her and every night she goes to
bed beside him, that bitch-face chokes on her decision until the
bile she forces down grows so much it cuts off her air forever and
leaves doctors stumped at her untimely but deserved demise.”

After I was done, Ty blinked again. Then his
fingers at my neck got super tight as he threw back his head and
roared with laughter.

I smiled but didn’t laugh since I was
watching him.

Then he looked back at me but again dipped
his face close, “Shit, mama, remind me not to piss you off.”

“Okay, don’t piss me off.”

He grinned and I returned it because I was
pleased I’d brought back his good mood.

Then I said, “I gotta get back to work,
honey.”

His hand at my neck brought me closer while
he muttered, “Yeah.”

Then his mouth was on mine, he kissed me
short but it was wet and it was hot. Then his mouth broke from mine
and he whispered, “Later, mama.”

“Later, Ty,” I whispered back and he smiled
at me, straight out, no lips turned up, no grin, a big, beautiful
one and I loved that, I loved that those were coming more often,
more relaxed, more natural.

I loved it.

Then he gave my neck one last squeeze, let
me go and turned away.

If I’d have known what was going to happen
that night, I would have taken my chance to watch him go. I would
have made him kiss me longer. I would have tried to make him laugh
one more time.

But I didn’t know.

And since I didn’t know, I, too, turned and
walked away.

* * * * *

I was on my way home from work after
popping to the store to pick up some stuff for dinner and the
elaborate dessert I had planned (whipped cream and chocolate
pudding parfaits
with
chocolate
sprinkles) and just in case Julius needed snacks while we were at
work.

And I was just outside of Carnal when I saw
the police lights flash and heard the short, warning whir of the
siren before it was shut off.

I looked to my rearview mirror, felt the
adrenalin rush then my eyes instantly went to my speedometer.

After what Tate said at Bubba’s, I’d
memorized the speed limits in and around Carnal. Thirty in town.
Forty on the stretch I was on between town, the turn off to our
condo and beyond for another half mile. Then fifty-five all the way
to Chantelle.

I was careful, super careful, always.

As I was now. I was going just under
forty.

Shit.

I pulled to the side and the cruiser pulled
to the side behind me.

Then I watched in my mirror as Officer Rowdy
Crabtree sat in his cruiser for a couple of minutes talking on the
radio. Then my rapidly beating heart slid up into my throat as he
opened his door and folded out of the vehicle.

My window was already rolled down so I
didn’t take my eyes off the mirror until I lost sight of him at the
side of the car. It was then I turned my head to the window.

I got him when he arrived at my window where
he immediately bent at the waist, his shades hit mine and I
smiled.

“Hi Officer,” I said.

“Miz Walker,” he did a mini-dip of his chin,
“license and registration.”

“Can you tell me why you stopped me? I was a
mile under the speed limit,” I replied.

“License and registration.”

Shit. Shit. Fucking
shit!

I turned to my purse, grabbed my license
then bent to the glove compartment and found the registration. Then
I turned back to him and handed both out of the window.

He studied them, as cops do. Then he looked
down his nose at me while I peered out my window up at him.

“My understanding, Miz Walker, is that you
are now a resident of the state of Colorado.”

“Um… I am.”

“Plates on your car say Texas.”

Shit. Shit. Fucking
shit!

Was that bad? Could I get a ticket for that?
A fine? Didn’t I have a window to get that shit done?

I didn’t know. I wished I knew.

“Driver’s license is from Texas too,” he
went on.

“Uh… well, I just moved here not too long
ago –” I started but he cut me off.

“I do know that, Miz Walker, but vehicle
registration, plates and driver’s license should declare the proper
information, including address. You live in Colorado, these should
state Colorado.”

“Okay,” I told him. “I’ll see to that on
Monday. I have the day off. Won’t be a problem.”

“Monday isn’t now, Miz Walker,” he
replied.

Dick.

He was fucking with me; I knew it, just
because I was married to who I was married to.

The thing I didn’t know was just how much he
intended to fuck with me and from what happened to Ty and what Tate
said, the how much could be a whole lot and none of it I would
enjoy.

And worse, Ty would lose his mind.

I opened my mouth to speak but saw another
cruiser heading our way and I didn’t like that. Carnal wasn’t a big
town when it came to it but the town was one thing and the city
limits another. The Police Department had a big area they covered
that went beyond the town proper, out across the valley and up into
the hills where there were quite a number of developments, homes,
ranches and even some businesses. This meant the Department didn’t
just have Andy and Barney keeping an eye on things. They had
manpower and seeing as they’d played Ty the way they’d played him,
I’d paid attention to this manpower and noticed there seemed to be
a lot of it, not just cruisers but also plainclothesmen with badges
on their belts I saw in the grocery, at La-La Land coffee, in the
bakery, in the sandwich place.

They were all over and they seemed to make a
suffocating point of being very visible.

Like now.

It made matters worse when the second
cruiser slowed and swung a wide u-ey to come to a halt behind
Crabtree’s.

This did not bode well. One Carnal uniform
and that uniform being Crabtree was bad enough, I didn’t want to
have to deal with two.

My heart started racing harder as the
adrenalin surge spiked and my hand inched toward my purse with my
mind on my phone as I kept my eyes out the window then I looked up
to see Crabtree had his head turned to the cruiser and his jaw was
hard.

Hmm. That was interesting.

I looked to my side mirror and saw a uniform
get out, one I’d seen but didn’t know.

“Got this, Frank,” Crabtree called but I
kept my eyes to the mirror and watched the second officer continue
to approach.

“Need a quick word, Rowdy,” he stated when
he got closer.

“In the middle of somethin’, man,” Crabtree
replied.

“Need a quick word,” the one called Frank
repeated.

“I said, in the middle of somethin’.”
Crabtree was getting impatient.

Frank came to a halt a couple of feet from
Crabtree and I turned my head to look at him.

“And I said, need a quick word,” Frank
returned, his voice low and tight.

Crabtree made an irritated noise and Frank’s
shades dipped down at me then he gave me a chin lift.

“Ma’am,” he said.

“Officer,” I replied.

“We’ll have you on your way in a minute,” he
informed me and I hoped that meant good things.

At that, Crabtree stalked angrily back to
the cruiser and Frank followed him.

I turned forward and waited, eyes glued to
the mirror because they were nose-to-nose and it didn’t take a
behavior specialist to see the conversation wasn’t about who was
going to bring the beer to the Department picnic that weekend.

This lasted awhile, long enough for
Crabtree’s face to get red and my heart, already hammering,
hammered harder and my skin, already tingling, tingled faster
because he was already a dick, I didn’t need to be dealing with
an
angry
dick.

Then Crabtree stepped back, thrust my stuff
at Frank, Frank took it and Crabtree stomped to his cruiser. He was
in and had it fired up, reversing and nearly clipping Frank who was
walking to me as he squealed out and my head turned to watch as he
drove thirty yards then did a hair-raising u-ey and sped back into
town.

By this time, Frank was at my door and I
stopped craning my neck out the window to stare after Crabtree and
tipped my head back to him.

He was offering my license and registration
to me.

“There you go, Lexie,” he said quietly and I
blinked behind my shades at his use of my name but my hand drifted
up and I took the documents. “May wanna see to gettin’ to the DMV
soon’s you can.” He was still talking quietly.

I nodded and whispered, “Okay.”

“
On top
a’ that is my card. You get…” he paused then finished, “any
further attention, I’m askin’ you to call me. Not Ty. Not Tate.
Me.”

What the hell?

“Uh….” I mumbled.

“Smart way to play it,” he kept talking
quietly, “not to rile your man or the ones got his back.” I stared
at him, stunned he had this info as he paused then finished, “I
think you get me.”

I didn’t.

“I can’t keep things from my husband,” I
told him.

“They play with him, he’ll deal. They branch
out to you, what’s he gonna do, Lexie?” he asked, gave me a second
and then advised, “Think about that.”

What I thought was, if Ty knew they were
playing with me and I didn’t tell him, he’d lose his mind. He
would, of course, lose his mind that they were playing with me but
he’d lose his mind more if he knew I’d endured it, didn’t tell him
and contacted Officer Frank, a man in a Carnal PD uniform I did not
know but I did know I couldn’t trust.

Ty knew I could take care of myself, he knew
I knew the score and he knew I had his back. He wouldn’t like it if
this continued happening but he’d deal. If I kept something from
him, he might not.