Chapter 36

36

The young guy, who went by the nickname of Sonny, was a complete waste of space.Like all the others that populated this kind of world, the kind that didn't matter. Wayne had gotten the call to meet with him while he was in Texas just as he'd left the hospital to find something to eat that wasn't cafeteria garbage.

That hospital had horrible food.

They settled into the back booth of a little diner on Seventeenth Street the clerk at the Super8 had told Wayne about—and Sonny deposited the baby carrier in the booth next to him. Wayne looked at what he thought was a little girl. "Babysitting?"

"She's mine. Mom's dead. Girlfriend took too much OPJ. Had a heart attack a day later." Sonny shrugged, then adjusted something on the carrier. "My mom refused to babysit. Said she's my responsibility."

"Well, do better," Wayne told him before he could stop himself. The baby couldn't have been more than a month old, and her clothing was filthy. Her face, too. "She's your daughter, take care of her better. Keeping her clean is a good place to start."

The baby woke and fussed. Sonny got her out of the carrier and pulled out a small bottle of formula.And tried to feed her while eating himself.

Wayne held out his arms. "Hand her over. You should realize how lucky you are."

He hadn't been there for the birth of their daughters—another man had had that privilege—but Wayne intended to be right there, God willing, when the grandkids came. He fed the baby and delivered his message.

He knew why he had been sent to meet this man. The last idiot whose woman had died because of that damned drug those assholes out of Texas had peddled everywhere had turned rogue. Bruce Tyler was another on the list of men Wayne was looking for.

Wayne was a good little bloodhound, after all. Just as good at tracking a man as he was at executing one.

Bruce Tyler was still out there. Probably watching very, very close.

Wayne could almost guarantee it.

Wayne was there to see if this guy in front of him was going to be a problem for the judge or not.

If he was, Wayne had been given very clear orders. Take him out. As swiftly and efficiently as possible.

Wayne was very good at those kinds of orders.

He'd made himself rich doing those very things.

But for now, a little bit of a test for Sonny whatever his name was, of Finley Creek, Texas. "There is another job ready for you. The...men who pay you want someone to move a few things out of Finley Creek quickly. To a warehouse in southwestern Wyoming. It's very...lucrative."

A damned truck full of their precious drugs just sitting there, waiting. For the TSP to find it. Unless they could move it out fast. Before the cops circled closer, after what had happened the night before. Wayne knew some of the details, but the drugs—that had never been his racket.

"What's that mean? Lucrative?"

"It means...there is a lot of money involved." Did the guy even have an eighth-grade education? Somehow, Wayne doubted it.The baby in Wayne's arms had the cards stacked against her. "What's the baby's name?"

"Kennedy Taylor, my mom named us all after presidents. I figured to do the same. And her mom wanted to have a special name, too. I call her Katie. You know, like K.T. because of her initials." Sonny looked at the baby for a moment, a slightly bewildered look in the guy's green eyes that had Wayne feeling some sympathy for him. "Didn't plan on being a single dad, but her mom's dead. What else am I supposed to do? She's my kid. How much this job pay? I need the money. Like bad. Diapers and formula are shit expensive, and I want to get her a house to live in soon, too."

"Take her with you. Not like she'll get in the way or anything." Wayne turned baby Katie over to her father, and watched the fool put her back in the carrier, then devour his cheeseburger like a damned wild animal.

He felt nothing but pity for that boy. And even more for that baby. But at least the guy was trying. He was a damned criminal at heart. Or was he? Maybe the loser didn't even know what it was he was driving around everywhere like he was. Maybe he just saw the dollar bills and went with it, not even wondering what was in the back of those damned trucks.

Hell, maybe he was just another loser those assholes preyed upon all the damned time. It was sickening.

This kid? This kid was the kind the men who hired Wayne liked to use. Take advantage of. And they knew just what carrots to dangle in front of the boy to get him to do what they wanted. Just the way they knew how to keep Wayne on the leash right now.

The whole exchange disgusted Wayne in every way imaginable.

Yes, Pryor, go retire! sounded better every minute. Here he was, manipulating a desperate kid and following young women he'd known all of their lives—for what? So rich man could get even richer.

Including himself.

It was time—he just couldn't do it any longer.

He waited until the kid was finished eating before turning to his own chicken. The food was as good as the clerk had told him it was in this place. But the company across from him left a lot to be desired.

Sonny picked up the carrier and left. That was when Wayne got back to eating. Food was one of his real pleasures in this life. Nothing compared to his wife's cooking—she was very good at what she did, that woman—but this was good. Made the trip worth it, for now.

That kid wasn't much of a threat. Not like those idiots in Masterson County feared. All Sonny cared about was getting the money to pay for damned diapers for the baby, who would probably grow up to be no better than her father. It was a vicious cycle.

When would it stop perpetuating? He was so tired of this.

Wayne stood, left a hefty tip for the waitress. She reminded him of his second daughter, right down to the sweet grin.

He missed his girls. He was going to call them, check on them, first chance he had. Those girls were his world.And they could be a bit mischievous when he wasn't around.

Wayne had been truly blessed to be a part of their lives.

That was something he'd never forget.

He held the door open for the couple coming in next, not really looking at them closely. At first.

A man's voice said, "Thanks."

Wayne looked at him, then barely resisted taking a step back.It was that Barratt, the one who had been in Masterson County.Up close and personal—he was a damned big bastard. That was for sure.

And right there next to him was that Talley girl. The general's daughter. She had her hair in a sweet ponytail like she almost always had when he'd seen her. It was definitely her—the Talley Inn T-shirt was distinctive. She was staying real close to Barratt. There were two other extremely tall, well-presented young men who resembled Barratt enough to probably be his brothers walking with them. They surrounded her. Like they were protecting the girl and the dark-haired little lady beside her.

The Talley girl was such a sweetheart, but seeing her there, that close, Wayne knew it wasn't good. It could bring problems, especially with the Barratt boy so close to everything right now.

If the idiots in Wyoming knew she'd seen him down there, if she recognized him...

It wouldn't be good for her at all.

She looked at him curiously. "Hello, Mr. King, Are you in Finley Creek on business?"

Wayne froze. Mr. King —that was the alias he had used, of course. A traveling salesman with a limp and recent stroke. He adjusted his hat to cover his gray hair—he'd had salt-and-pepper in Wyoming, after all.

"A bit of business and some visiting family." He deliberately slurred his words just slightly. Sonny had paused at the counter. It was obvious he and Wayne had been together. The girl wasn't stupid. "My sister's son lives…here. His girlfriend just had a baby recently. I'm here delivering gift cards to help him buy diapers and such on my way through to El Paso. You?"

"With Brandt. He had a family emergency. Enjoy your trip, Mr. King," she said. The boyfriend had his hand on her shoulder possessively.He nodded at Wayne politely, then pulled her closer, out of Wayne's immediate path. Hovered.

Of course, he did. This woman was a treasure. A man would be lucky to have her. Wayne had known her most of her life, this girl. And she didn't have a clue.

Wayne nodded at her and her boyfriend. He needed to put some space between them fast. She was looking at him closely, as was the girl next to her. They both looked so damned young, so innocent, just like his daughters—Wayne just felt even older than he had a moment before. Disillusioned, that was what it was.

He was just so tired of this kind of life. It wasn't what he wanted now at all.

No more waiting. He was going to retire.