Blood Ties (19 page)

I scoured the bar for kung fu man without it seeming like that was what I was doing. It didn’t work and Tony laughed again.

“Don’t worry. He’s not here. Helen either.”

“If you’re expecting an apology for what happened Friday night, you’re wasting your time. It was self defense, plain and simple.”

His already dark eyes blackened further and he bestowed on me another killer grin. “Funny, that’s the same thing I tell my lawyer.”

I lit a cigarette. “What do you want? Since you’re not here for my apology, are you off ering me yours?”

He twisted the top off the tequila bottle, breaking 196

the seal and poured two shots, placing one in front of me.

“Why would I apologize?”

“For the way I was treated in your fi ne establishment?”

Tony barely nodded a “no.” He knocked back the tequila. And waited.

I raised the glass. Th

e sweet sting crawled down my

throat and curled in my belly. My cigarette smoldered. I waited. I played the game too.

Only not as well as Tony Martinez. We studied each other until I squirmed. “So? I doubt you’re here to re-evaluate my worthiness as a patron.”

“You really are a smart ass.” His low chuckle sounded menacing, but strangely sexy too. “I fi nd that intriguing, but I’ll get right to it. Harvey said you were asking Dick questions about Samantha.”

I

nodded.

“Why?”

“Th

at’s what we were paid to do.”

“Find out anything?”

“Besides what Dick’s right cross feels like?”

He shrugged, Mr. Cool, settling back against the fake leather like it was a tufted, gilded throne. “It could’ve been worse.”

“How

so?”

“If it’d been Harvey that hit you, we’d be having this conversation in the hospital.”

I plucked my cigarette from the ashtray and inhaled.

197

Exhaled. “Are you here warning me off about asking Dick more questions?”

“No. I’m here mostly out of curiosity.”

“About

me?”

He shook his head. “Why you’re digging into things that oughta be left alone. Samantha is dead. Nothing Dick can do to change it.”

“Yeah, but did he cause it?” Tony blanched for a second. It was brief, but I saw it. And he knew it. Not so cool after all. Point for me.

“What does Shelley hope to gain from this?”

In the ashtray, I rolled the cherry around the spent ashes, stalling. Tony didn’t know any more about this situation than I did. How did I play it? Tell him Shelley hadn’t hired us? Or see how far his knowledge extended to Dick’s part in the screwed up mess? I smiled coyly. “You know I can’t get into the details. Besides, Dick didn’t tell me a thing except that he doesn’t believe Meredith and RJ are his kids either.”

Tony leaned in close enough that I got a whiff of his cologne. Nice.

“Do you believe him?” he asked.

“Doesn’t matter if I believe him.”

He raised his left brow lazily and drawled, “But you’re willing to believe, on Shelley’s say-so, that he had something to do with Samantha’s death?”

I lifted a shoulder and reached for the bottle of tequila.

198

When his rough palm closed around mine, every nerve ending in my body went on high alert. Our gazes collided.

His didn’t falter; mine threatened to under the intensity with which he held my attention and my hand.

“Let me tell you something,” he said. “I’ve known Dick for years. Sure, he cheats customers, lies about his income, taxes, and anything that suits his purpose. He fucks around on Shelley, gets his jollies out of beating on people smaller than he is, and drinks too much. But he’s not a killer.”

“How do you know?”

He paused and released my hand. “He doesn’t have the balls.”

“Maybe he . . .”

“Listen.

Th

e only reason Dick isn’t beat to shit on a weekly basis is because he’s under my protection.”

“Why is he under your protection?” For a moment I didn’t think he’d answer, but he spread his hands wide and shrugged.

“Simple business decision. I need his expertise. He’s a mechanical genius and the only one I’ve found that doesn’t give a damn about moving up in my organization. He does what I tell him without question and I make sure no one messes with him.”

“Sounds suspiciously like you’re defending him.”

“I’m not. He’s a fucking weasel. He’d screw his own mother for a buck. Everybody in town knows it.”

199

I cocked my head. “And yet you’re friends?”

“Business associates. Th

at’s it. Whatever he is or does

in his off time doesn’t concern me.”

“Doesn’t it concern you when shit happens in his off time in your bar?”

Something dangerous fl ickered in his eyes. “Momentary lapse in his judgment. Trust me, it’s been handled.”

Th

at statement and Tony’s hard expression pretty much guaranteed I wasn’t getting an apology for his pal Dick’s behavior, yet I was confused. “How can you trust
him
knowing what he is? What he does? You’re telling me he’s never double-crossed you?”

His teeth gleamed white in the dark bar. “He’s alive, isn’t he?”

“Unfortunately. Might as well be dead as much good as he does for Meredith and RJ.” I tipped the last swig of the beer into my mouth.

“Is that what you’re trying to do? Prove he’s unfi t?”

I didn’t answer.

“Dick’s never been the family-type man.” He nudged another Coors in my direction. “But then again, Shelley isn’t up for Mother-of-the-Year.”

He’d get no argument from me. I smoked and pulled the soggy yellow label from the beer bottle in lieu of drinking from it. Faith and Tim warbled a sappy duet from the jukebox; the electronic voice of the dart machine signaled the winner. And I waited.

200

“No doubt she’ll get full custody of those kids even after being in treatment. What do you think of her lawyer?” he said in a tone that couldn’t be misconstrued as conversational.

I hesitated, seeming intent on removing the label in one piece because I didn’t want Tony to know I wasn’t privy to Shelley’s legal choices. I did have my suspicions on who she’d hired.

Th

e door burst open, arcing light across our table. I tried not to jump when Tony’s low voice drifted to me, breaking the silence.

“He came into the bar three weeks ago.”

“Who?”

“Her lawyer, Charles LaChance.”

Th

at got my attention. “For what? To talk to Dick about the divorce?”

“No. For a meeting.”

I hid my surprise that anyone besides drug dealers willingly conducted business meetings in Fat Bob’s bar.

Didn’t share that observation with the owner, however.

“Who did he meet?”

Tony distractedly swung his empty beer bottle back and forth above the table. Although he looked right at me, he didn’t see me. Hell, I recognized that look, but I was used to seeing it on Kevin. Tony was weighing whether he was going to share information.

Finally, he sighed. “Fuck it. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

201

“What? Tell me and let me decide.”

Th

e bottle stopped moving. “Not if Shelley will use it against Dick.”

“She

won’t.”

“How do you know?”

I almost admitted that I wasn’t working for Shelley.

Instead I gave him my best “Scouts honor” pose and said,

“Trust me. It’ll stay between us.”

“It had better,” he said slowly, “’cause if I hear you repeated this, Harvey will stop by for a chat and he ain’t nearly as subtle as I am. Be a shame to mess up your pretty face.” He exchanged the empty beer bottle for a full one.

“LaChance met with my attorney.”

“Your attorney?” At least that explained the meeting place. “Why?”

“Because his specialty is child support.”

“Child support?” I frowned at the rip at the bottom of the label. “Really?”

“What?” Tony mocked. “You were expecting me to cop to having a criminal defense lawyer on retainer?”

I raised my eyes to his and nodded.

He laughed. “You don’t go for the bullshit answer. I like that. Let’s just say I’ve got a greedy ex-wife who thinks child support means bleeding me dry. Christ, if I thought I could get away with offi

ng her, I’d gladly pay the exorbi-

tant criminal defense fees.”

“Need I remind you I work for the sheriff ’s offi ce?

202

I’m obligated to report anything I hear involving criminal intent.”

“Bullshit. You’re a
secretary
. Not the same as a lawyer, or even a cop. If you had any power, my bouncers would’ve landed ass fi rst in jail Friday night, right?”

He had me. And he knew it. Point for him. Guess we were even.

His forearms bulged on the table. “You wanna hear this or not?”

I nodded, trying not to stare at the bloody dagger tattooed up his wrist. Nice work, though. I wondered if the local tattoo artist gave him and his employees a discounted group rate.

“Anyway,” he continued in a low baritone that caused an odd fl icker in my stomach. “I recommended my attorney to Dick. Figured Shelley had sicced that low-life LaChance on him early, in hopes they wouldn’t have to take the custody and support issue to court.”

I wasn’t drunk, but I wasn’t following him. “Back up.

You said this happened weeks ago. Before they found Samantha?”

“Yeah. Turns out I was wrong, but it was ballsy move of LaChance to have the meet in Dick’s hangout and let him sweat.”

“You were wrong? About what?”

“Th

e reason LaChance was sliming up my bar.”

Frowning, he traced the metal grooves of my lighter. “Bob 203

told me . . .”

I grabbed my lighter; his caress of an inanimate object was making me nervous and jealous. “Who is Bob?”

“Bob Lindt. My attorney.”

I whistled. Bob Lindt was an impressive attorney. I didn’t bring up that his specialty was family law that bordered on criminal defense. Somehow, I assumed Tony already knew.

“Anyway, Bob was puzzled. Said that LaChance hadn’t been interested in the Friel kids or the support issue.”

“Not at all?”

“Didn’t even bring it up.”

“Th

en, what did they discuss?”

“Mostly, LaChance grilled him about his success rates on the cases he worked involving back child support.”

“Back child support?”

“Yeah.

Stuff like proving paternity, suing for years worth of missed support. Evidently, if the claim can be made and proven with blood tests, the man in question has to make full restitution, even if he was unaware of the pregnancy.” Tony leaned back. “So, I’m curious. Who cares about all that shit? Unless Dick is right and none of those kids are his.”

Everything inside me spun. Tony’s voice and the bar sounds whirled into a vacuum of nothingness inside my head. Shelley. She’d lied, but hers wasn’t a little white one like Meredith’s; it was a fucking whopper. She’d known 204

her attackers. With the statute of limitations on rape, that angle was worthless. But back child support? Reached far into the realm of disbelief. Who was devious enough to come up with that idea?

Charles

LaChance.

Where did he enter the picture? Or when? In our meeting, Shelley hadn’t hidden her feelings about him.

Why? Because he’d guessed the truth? Or, because he was slow in fi nding a solution? Tony’s voice roused me.

“And as far as I know, Dick hasn’t heard a word from LaChance.” He closed the distance between us. “What has Shelley said?”

“Not a helluva lot. I hadn’t a clue that she’d hired him.”

“Sounds like you need to pay Shelley a visit.”

Lifting the bottle, he fi lled the shot glasses again.

I’d had plenty, but fi gured declining Tony’s hospital-ity wasn’t in my best interest, especially after what he’d just told me. I drank quickly and sunk my teeth into a lime. When I met Tony’s heated gaze, I wished I’d come fully armed.

“What?” I dropped the spent fruit into the ashtray.

“Just wondering how you’d look on the back of my bike.” His voice turned silky, “Or, in my bed.”

“I thought we were discussing the Friels’?”

“Discussion over. On to a more interesting topic. You.”

He knocked back a shot. “And me.”

I poured another slug, readying myself for this con-205

versation. “Too bad you’re not thinking about how I’d look hanging out in your bar.”

“Sorry.”

His wavy hair brushed his shoulders, making me wonder how it would feel to have those dark locks drifting over my body. Would the heat from his body increase the potency of his cologne?

“Fat Bob’s is off limits. Harvey banned you and there’s nothing I can do. Gotta have rules, or chaos rules.”

Martinez wound a tendril of my hair around his palm, separating the golden strands over the calloused pad of his thumb. “But, you are welcome any time at Bare Assets.”

“Bare Assets?” I resisted jerking my head back and leaving Tony with a hank of my hair as a souvenir. “As in the strip club downtown? You own that?”

“It’s good to diversify.” His gaze lingered on my mouth before he raised those coal black eyes to mine.

A punch of pure lust overloaded my system, which was immediately followed by fear. Hell fi re and damn my libido. Tony Martinez was a complication I never needed in my life, especially now, no matter how physically appealing. I shook out a cigarette. He struck a match before I touched the lighter.

“Th

anks,” I managed through a puff of smoke.

“You didn’t answer me.”

“Didn’t realize it was a question.”

“Mmm.” He folded his rough-skinned hands. “You’re 206

hedging. So, you avoiding the issue? Or just me?”

“Both.”

“Why?” He gaze zeroed in on my bare ring fi nger.

“You involved?”

“No.” I paused, thinking of Ray. “Th

at’s not it.”

“Th

en, what?”

“You scare the shit out of me.”

He

smiled.

Guess it didn’t bother him that prospective paramours were panicky, so I bent my head close to his. “Look. I think you might have gotten the wrong idea about me.