Chapter 13

13

“There’s no place like home!”my dad bellowed. “Call Mellie Kate and invite her to dinner tonight.”

I knew I’d been living on borrowed time the last five days. I had managed to avoid her by working with Cash during the day and visiting my dad after I knew she’d left the rehab center. This was strategic. Two nights in a row I’d snuck into her house. One of those nights I’d slept next to her after baring my soul. Avoidance was for her benefit, not mine. I’d unloaded a lot on her, and I needed to give her a few days to digest it before I laid on more.

And more was coming.

Tomorrow, she’d meet Kira and Cooper.

Tomorrow, I’d take her advice, but I’d do it with her by my side.

“She’s busy,” I told my dad.

“How do you know?”

For once I couldn’t read my dad’s tone. I wasn’t sure if he was fishing or if he thought I was trying to get out of dinner.

“She’s at her parents’ house visiting with her niece and nephew.”

At least she was the last time I drove by Jeremy and Katherine’s house before I picked up my dad to bring him home.

“That’s right, your mom mentioned that.”

My mother’s laughter filtered into the living room from the kitchen.

Dad mock-frowned. “That friend of yours better not be hitting on my wife again.”

“Cash has a way with the ladies,” I muttered through a smile.

“Well, don’t go making any plans on him being your stepdaddy, boy. I might be old, but I still got good aim.”

I belted out a laugh that drowned out my mother’s and watched my dad smile.

“Always did love hearing your laughter fill the house,” my mom said as she made her way to my father. “What’s so funny?”

“Dad was wondering the same thing when he heard you laughing,” I told her.

“Cash was just telling me about a vacation y’all took in Belize.”

My gaze darted in the direction of the kitchen to find Cash walking slowly while holding a tray of glasses filled with iced tea.

“You’re telling my mother about Belize?” I asked incredulously.

“Just the good parts,” he volleyed.

The good parts?

There weren’t any good parts. There were shitty parts and shittier parts.

“What good parts?”

“The part about the donkey.”

My eyes flared and my jaw clenched.

“What’s this about a donkey?” my dad asked.

“Nothing,” I gritted out.

“Garrett had a fight with a donkey,” my mom wrongly announced. “And the donkey pooped on him while he was trying to get it to move.”

That wasn’t even a little bit true.

“Seriously?”

Cash shrugged.

“There was poop involved, Garrett,” Cash reminded me. “Lots and lots of poop. And it was your idea to ride donkeys.”

“Out of all the stories you could’ve told you picked that one?”

“Now that you mentioned it, I should’ve gone with the one about that woman in Bosnia.”

I was going to kill my friend.

“Yeah, how about story time is officially over?”

“Why? That one’s hilarious.”

“Cash—”

“Is king,” my mother cut in.

What the hell is happening?

“Did my mother just say Cash is king?”

Cash didn’t answer so I looked at my father for confirmation.

“Would you like the combination to my safe?”

“No, your cane is closer,” I answered. But before I could reach for it to beat the hell out of my big-mouthed teammate my phone rang.

I dug it out of my pocket, saw it was Melissa, and answered.

“Hey.”

“I need you,” she wheezed.

My heart immediately started pounding in my chest. Not from the fear I heard but because it was me who she called.

“Are you still at your parents?”

“Yes.”

I jerked my head to the door. Without question Cash headed that way.

“We need to go to Mellie’s,” I told my parents. “I’ll call you later.”

We were out the door and Cash was beeping the locks to his rental, again without question.

I, however, needed to know what we were headed into, so I asked, “Tell me what’s going on.”

“There’s this car that’s driven by a few times. The first couple I didn’t think anything about it. You know people go and come out of a neighborhood. But then I thought it weird when it parked across the street. But it left. Now it’s back and there’s two men in the car.”

I was pulling on my seatbelt as Cash backed out my parents’ driveway.

“Everyone inside and the doors locked?”

“Yes,” she huffed like I was an idiot for asking such a stupid question.

“Are the men still in the car?”

“Yeah.”

“Are they taking pictures?” Cash asked.

Melissa obviously heard his question. “No. They’re just sitting there.”

“Go upstairs to your mom’s sewing room and take a picture of the car. Get one of the license plate if you can. And zoom in on the driver. It can be grainy, but I can’t run it through facial rec if it’s blurry.”

“Facial rec?”

Cash blew a stop sign and took the corner at a high rate of speed. My free hand shot to the dash, and I was rethinking allowing him to drive.

“I assume you don’t know who the men in the car are.”

“I don’t recognize them,” she confirmed.

“Right, then if they’re gone by the time we get there I’ll need to run a picture to get a name.”

“Oh. Of course. I forgot you know how to do that. Well, I didn’t actually forget since I didn’t know you knew how to do that. But it makes sense you do. I mean you’re…okay, I’m blabbering because I’m nervous. I’m gonna shut up now.”

Fuck she was cute.

“No need to be nervous, Mellie, we’ll be there in less than five minutes. Cash is driving like we’re dodging bullets in Fallujah.”

And that was only a slight exaggeration.

“Have you been to Fallujah?” Mellie whispered.

Fuck.

I wasn’t touching that question.

“Go take the pictures, then stay away from the windows. Tell your mom and dad to stay away, too. And under no circumstances is anyone to answer the door for anyone but me or Cash.”

Cash took another turn and I actually feared for my life.

“Christ, you’re a horrible fucking driver,” I grumbled.

“ETA two minutes,” he announced like he was radioing in his whereabouts. “So quit your complaining.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Mellie sighed.

“No, I didn’t. But I gave you a job, baby, and it’s an important one.”

“I’m already upstairs.”

“Good. I’m hanging up now so I can hold on with both hands. We’ll be there in a minute. Remember, stay away from the windows.”

“I’m not…holy shit, the driver got out of the car.”

“Get your parents and the kids upstairs,” I ordered, then turned to Cash. “Driver’s out of the vehicle.”

I heard the engine whine, Cash muttered a string of expletives, and I hoped to God I didn’t just sign my death certificate as he fishtailed around the turn into the Rivers’ neighborhood.

“Garrett, he’s coming to the door.”

“I’m on your street, baby. Stay calm and get everyone upstairs.”

“Should I call the police?”

“Not yet. But after I get there, you see or hear something you don’t like, call 911.”

“Kay.”

“Gotta go, Mellie.”

I disconnected, tossed my phone onto the floor, and reached for my sidearm.

“I’m on the driver, you’re on the car,” I ordered.

“Copy.”

The Rivers’ house came into view and I braced for the maneuver I knew Cash was going to execute. The car went from upwards of sixty to a skidding stop. He cut the wheel at the last second, spinning the car to face the opposite direction while also blocking the car in.

The passenger scrambled to get into the driver’s seat and that was the last I saw before I jumped out and sprinted across the street.

A dark-haired man in his mid-forties turned, and one hand went to his hip. I saw the holster and immediately lifted my pistol.

“FBI,” the man shouted. “Lower your weapon.”

I didn’t lower my weapon, but I did slow to a jog.

“Show me your credentials,” I demanded.

“That’s not how this works, sport,” he returned and leveled his pistol at my chest.

I came to a stop a few feet from the man, positioning myself between him and the door.

“That’s how it’s gonna work today, sport,” I retorted.

“Lower—”

“There’s no chance I’m lowering my weapon until you show me your badge and I verify who you are and why you’re in front of this house.”

“So the rumors are true,” the man muttered.

“I don’t have the first fuckin’ clue what you’re taking about,” I returned.

“If I reach into my pocket, are you going to shoot me, Garrett?”

What the fuck?

“Depends on what you’re reaching for,” I told him honestly.

The man didn’t reach into his pocket. He glanced across the street instead.

“Is Cash Phillips going to shoot my partner?”

Again, what the fuck?

I continued to ignore the guy’s use of our names.

“It’s possible.”

“I hoped like hell the small-town rumor mill was wrong,” he said and reached behind him.

The guy shoved his pistol into his holster and flipped open a wallet showing me a badge and an ID card. A quick look at the picture matched. The ID number matched the number on the badge but without my phone to call it in I had to go with my gut.

I took in the man who according to the ID was Derrick Jenkins. Nothing about him gave me a bad vibe other than he’d been casing the neighborhood.

“What’s your business?” I asked.

“Slater Boone and Randal Henderson.”

I holstered my weapon and called out to Cash.

“Yo!”

Cash gave me his attention.

“All clear.”

He jerked his chin in acknowledgment and stepped away from the car.

No hesitation.

No assessing.

Nothing but trust.

Jesus Christ.

“Now that we’ve given the neighborhood a show, you think maybe we can go inside before my operation’s blown?” Derrick asked. “And maybe Cash can move his car out of the middle of the street.”

I was interested in hearing about his operation. However, I needed to check on Melissa first.

“Cash? Park and grab my phone, yeah?”

I didn’t wait for a reply before I went back to Derrick.

“I’m gonna go in first, check on the family, and let them know why you’re here.”

The man looked like he either wanted to argue or roll his eyes.

He did neither.

“I seriously hoped the rumors weren’t true,” he muttered under his breath.

Curiosity got the best of me.

“What rumors are those?”

And this time it was me hoping rumors weren’t flying around town about Melissa trying to find dirt on Slater.

“That you and Melissa Rivers were back together.”

The joys of small-town gossip.

“Yeah? And why the hell would that matter to you?”

The guy wasn’t bad-looking but if he thought he had a shot at Mellie he was sadly mistaken. She was way the fuck out of his league. I’d spent a lot of years attempting to forget seeing Melissa with her ex-husband but as hard as I tried, I could never erase the guy from my memory, and as much as I hated to think about it, they’d fit. Melissa was gorgeous, her ex was tall, built, and good-looking.

Thisguy?

No way.

“Because you and her back together means you’re looking into Analise’s death.”

“And that’s a problem, because?”

Derrick sighed and shook his head.

“Can we please go inside?”

I needed to get to Mellie. But before I went into the house and assured her she was safe I needed to make sure that was the case.

“Before you go in there I need to know if you’re here to deliver a blow.”

“A blow?”

“Analise.”

“Yes, I have news about her death.”

I heard my phone ringing and watched Cash jog across the lawn holding it out.

“Melissa,” he told me.

When Cash got close I grabbed my phone, connected the call, and looked toward the house.

“It’s all good, Mellie.”

“Who’s out there?”

“It’s all good. Send your dad out and I’ll be in in a minute.”

“My dad?” she whispered.

Fuck, I hated the panic I heard in her voice.

“Trust me, yeah?”

“Okay. I’ll send my dad out. But you’re safe, right?”

Fuck, that felt as good as the panic had felt bad.

“Wouldn’t ask for your dad to come out if I wasn’t.”

“Right. Yeah. Okay. I’m just…babbling again.”

She hung up and I turned back to the huddle.

“This is my partner, Ross Dellenger,” Derrick said.

He quickly introduced himself to Cash as Jeremy was slowly walking down the front porch stairs.

“Garrett, son, good to see you,” he greeted.

“You, too, Jeremy.”

After another round of introductions, I cut to it.

“These men have some news about Analise.” As gently as I’d delivered the news Jeremy still flinched. “Before they go in and talk to Mellie and Katherine…”

I let that hang hoping I wouldn’t have to spell it out for a father and husband.

“Yes, of course,” he said. “What news do you have about my daughter?”

The muscle in Derrick’s jaw clenched. He didn’t hide that he was pissed we were still outside in view of the nosy neighbors.

“Mr. Rivers, we have reason to believe that Randal Henderson had something to do with your daughter’s death. If we may please go inside I’d like to discuss this further. However, like I explained to Garrett I’d like this to be a private conversation.”

Randal Henderson?

I caught Cash’s eyes, and I knew he too was shifting the players around the board.

Slater was into both Steve and Ran. Steve had been letting Slater float with minimum payments but that was likely because they were buds. Ran was not a friend and Slater kept getting deeper and deeper in the hole with Ran. Something we hadn’t been able to figure out—why the hell did Ran keep extending credit to Slater?

“I don’t know who Randal Henderson is,” Jeremy remarked.

“Let’s take this inside,” I cut in. “Where are the kids?”

“Gracie’s in her room taking a nap and Christian was asleep on the couch but Mellie took him upstairs.”

Hopefully the boy stayed asleep, or Cash was going to have to keep the kid occupied and that could lead to disaster.

Jeremy turned and headed back to the house. Ross followed closely behind him, but I stopped Derrick as he passed me.

“Whatever you got to say, go gentle.”

“Seeing as you and Cash here aren’t in cuffs for that Dukes of Hazzard shit you pulled means you don’t need to say that to me. I know what this family’s been through. I also know there are children involved. But just to say, Garrett, I get where you’re coming from so I’ll explain where I’m coming from. I’m this close.” Derrick lifted his hand and extended his thumb and pointer finger, leaving the tiniest separation between them. “From putting that piece of shit behind bars. You fuck with my investigation or get in the way, you’ll find yourself in lock up.”

I clenched my molars and reminded myself I was at this fucker’s mercy.

I wasn’t working a case in conjunction with the authorities. I wasn’t sitting in a war room planning a mission. I wasn’t at the White House briefing the President. I was standing in front of Melissa’s parents’ house in Montana, and I had zero fucking power.

The irony.

“Glad we got that clear,” I bit out.

“I know who you are,” he reminded me. “I know who you both work for. This shit gets done fast if we work together. But we are not turning rural Montana into the O.K. Corral.”

With that, Derrick followed his partner.

I waited until Cash was at my side and quietly said, “Text Kira. We need to dig deeper into Ran. We’re missing something.”

“Copy.”

This wasn’t my first rodeo working with the Feds. Their idea of working together and information sharing typically meant the flow was one way and that way would not give me what I needed to make sure Jeremy and Katherine got what they needed to get their grandchildren safe.

Though if Slater was in jail, their path would be clear.

We were on the porch when Cash asked, “Should I text your mom?”

“Come again?”

“Should I text your mom and tell her that everything’s okay, but we won’t be home for dinner?”

“You have my mother’s phone number?”

The motherfucker smirked.

“Stepdaddy has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

Cash and his superhuman hearing.

I drew in a breath, counted to ten, and decided it was easier to play along than beat the hell out of my friend.

“Sure, it’s only fair I call you Stepdaddy since your momma’s been calling me Daddy—”

“Not cool, asshole,” Cash grunted.

Yeah, maybe I could do this.

Maybe I was ready to have that talk and start to heal my team.