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And the crazy night sweats, the moments he woke screaming for no reason–when he could sleep? Hell, the alcohol could help with that.

He pushed the empty glass away. “I know you’re a sorry son of a bitch who drank my last shot and now wants to tell sob stories. Let’s get the hell out of here. I heard something about unrest at the market and free girls at the square.”

Donovan slipped his last hundred across the bar for penance and tried to ignore the censure in Carlita’s eyes as he headed out the door and away from a conversation about Kacie Jo or the woman whose death had sent him to her arms.

Kacie Jo stood in the bathroom and stared at the stick in her hand. Pure, unadulterated panic hit first then disbelief followed quickly by horror.

Oh my God
.

A baby. She was having a baby. Alone.

Oh God. Her heart broke at the idea.

With shaking hands, Kacie Jo opened the bathroom door and walked to the refrigerator. Opening the milk, she poured herself a tall glass. It was all she could keep down these days.

Eliza didn’t say a word, just watched her with a worried frown.

After a long drink, Kacie Jo topped off her glass and said the words as if they were no big deal. “Looks like I’m going to be a mom.”

For a long silent moment, Kacie Jo believed her best friend hadn't heard. Or maybe she'd misunderstood. Or maybe this was all some horrible nightmare.

But then Eliza's whispered words rang through the kitchen. "Oh my gosh, Kacie Jo. What are you going to do? Grady’s going to hit the roof.”

Way to go, Eliza.
Grady, Grady, Grady.

“Grady’s going to butt out. And I’m going to have a baby and be the best mom I can, I guess.”

“Are you sure?” Eliza sounded anything but.

Kacie Jo understood. What did she know about motherhood? She wanted to give this child a mother’s love. Wanted to be room mother. Wanted to teach him or her all about life.

The way her mom had until she died.

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

And she was. Somehow, she’d make it through this alone. And somehow she’d keep Grady from going off half-cocked after Donovan.

As if her thoughts had conjured her brother, his trademark knock sounded at her door. “Guess we better let him in.”

Eliza didn’t look so sure. “He’s going to flip.”

“He’s not going to know.”

Kacie Jo didn’t like the look on her best friend’s face. “Oh God, Eliza, you didn’t.”

Eliza didn’t say anything just stared at the floor refusing to meet her eyes.

“Well, crap, Eliza. Who's best friend are you anyway?”

Grady knocked again and this time Eliza tried to defend herself. “I tried, Kacie Jo. I really did. But he guessed.”

Kacie Jo put her glass of milk down and blew out a frustrated breath. Her pregnancy wasn’t
Grady's
problem.

In fact, if she had the courage to parent a child alone, she had the courage to tell Grady to butt out.

She stalked to the door, threw it open and went on the offensive.

“Spit it out, Grady. Ask the question. But if I tell you it’s none of your damn business, you better accept my answer and leave me the hell alone.”

After a surprised second, Grady groaned. “Oh Jesus, I knew it. I’m going to castrate him.”

“Oh, that’s good, Grady. That’s just great.”

Suddenly Kacie Jo was angry, furious, and Grady was available. “You’re not going anywhere near him. He’s not to know a thing about this. Do you hear me, Grady?”

As usual, her brother wasn’t listening. “Not going to hear? He’s worth a fortune these days, Kacie Jo. He took advantage of you, and I’m going to make sure he pays.”

Kacie Jo laughed bitterly at Grady's ridiculous notion. “You must’ve been too busy watching hockey, you big idiot. No one took advantage of me. And no one is going to tell Donovan a thing. Do you understand me? I mean it. If you go against me on this, I’ll hate you forever. I promise.”

Grady didn’t look happy, but Eliza strode over to stand beside him and whatever she said calmed her brother down enough that he finally agreed. “Yeah, whatever.”

When he left, he took Eliza with him and finally Kacie Jo was alone in her house with nothing but the memory of a fantasy night and the very real consequence of that evening.

She walked into her room, wrapped the black veil around her hands and pulled it to her nose, inhaling deeply. Wherever Donovan was, she hoped he found solace. And she hoped if he ever did come home to Caldale, he’d understand why she never tried to find him.

Donovan might have landed himself in the biggest mess of his life. He’d been looking for a fight for months, and he’d certainly found one.

In hindsight maybe Mexico wasn’t the best place to go hunting trouble. Mix Mexico with untold bottles of tequila and a mean attitude, and you had a recipe for disaster. Especially with the drug wars.

Well, he’d certainly figured that out.

And Sam, friend that he claimed to be, had just called him a crazy son of a bitch and left him for the police.

So now he sat in a concrete cell permeated with the scent of drunks who’d gone before the law on other occasions.

He didn’t even have a bunk to sit on, so he was sprawled on the floor listening to some inmate whistling love songs and another snoring off the effects of one too many.

Jesus, how had he sunk to this?

A rattle at his cell door brought him back to the present. From a distance Sam called his name.

“Hey there, Tex. I brought you some company. Says he’s your lawyer. Says he’ll get you out of this godforsaken hole if you say the right words.”

Donovan knew only one lawyer who’d have followed him to Mexico. Dammit. He couldn’t escape Caldale no matter how hard he tried.

He didn’t even bother to sit up when he the two men approached outside his cell. Arm flung over his eyes, he tried to envision all his reasons for ignoring Grady. “Go away.”

“See. I told you he’s turned into a mean son of a bitch.” Sam’s voice sounded a little too cheerful to Donovan, and for a second he thought about shooting him the bird, but he decided that took too much energy.

“Yeah, well this mean son and I need to exchange some words, and I can guarantee you they won’t be pleasant.” Grady’s angry voice carried through the cell, and Donovan grimaced. Okay, so he'd screwed Kacie Jo over big time. Used her and vamoosed like she was nothing more than a two bit whore. But dammit all, she'd
known
he wasn't sticking around. Known it wasn't some sort of love affair for a lifetime.

Donovan listened as his former friend’s steps echoed down the long hallway. When he opened his eyes, he found Grady’s shadow minus the guard or his good buddy Sam. He wasn’t a bit surprised about the policia. Enough pesos bought you anything in this place. A few private moments probably hadn’t cost Grady all that much. Sam's absence was another story.

At least it was until Donovan saw Grady's face.

His old best friend stared at him with such loathing, Donovan felt a little twinge of unease. He’d planned on cutting ties to Caldale. He hadn’t planned on turning his best friend into an enemy.

Might as well get this over with. “Hey there, Grady. Fancy meeting you in a place like this.”

“Save it, Nelson. If I were smart I’d let you stew in this hellhole for a couple years. Or I could pay someone to make it forever.”

Donovan's head hurt, and he didn't have the energy to argue. “What’s stopping you?”

"You're the same old whiny bastard you've always been aren't you."

Grady's words weren't a question. And, surprisingly, they hurt.

"You know me. One sob story after another."

He spit a mouthful of bile on to the cell floor, and Grady whistled through his teeth. "Jesus, Donovan, you look like shit.”

“You don’t say? I guess I didn’t come to Mexico for a makeover.”

“Well, you got one. You don’t look anything like the guy who spent two days back home a couple months back.”

Donovan knew that. The guy he’d tried to be that night had been a fake. Right up until he’d taken Kacie Jo’s virginity and walked out the door.
That
guy he knew real well.

He didn't bother trying to say anything. Wasn't worth the energy or the grief.

Grady ran his hand over his eyes and exhaled sharply. “Whatever you’re running from isn’t going away, you know?”

So Grady was going to channel Dr. Phil. Terrific. “Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Grady. You don’t know shit about my life the last year.”

Grady pierced him with a steady, steel gray gaze. “Sam told me some. Carlita at the bar a little more. Some I pieced together myself from junk you told me. I know about the orphanage, and I know about Anaj…”

Enough was enough. “Just shut the hell up. Leave if you want. I don’t give a frack.”

As he said the words, they scared him. Not because he was afraid of spending the rest of his life in this concrete box, but because they were the God’s honest truth. He didn’t give a damn about anything. He wondered when that had happened or if it had always been the case.

“I can’t leave you here. I should, but I came here to take your sorry ass home, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Cold emptiness settled around him and Donovan laughed bitterly. Was this how crazy people felt right before they let go, crossed to the other side of sanity?
 

“I’m not going anywhere near Caldale, Grady. If you’ve come here on a mercy mission, you can go on home. Tell Ike I’m sorry, tell my momma whatever the hell you want, and tell Kacie Jo I quit bothering to live.”

Grady didn't budge. “You’re getting out of here and then you’re going to your hotel to pick up the bags Sam packed and then you’re going back to Caldale with me. I don’t care what I have to do to get you there.”

Jesus. Who did this guy think he was? Donovan figured even in his sorry shape he could take Grady if he had to. No way was he going back. He couldn’t. If he broke, he could be a danger to himself or others. He’d seen it happen before, covered the stories that made housewives cry and earned all sorts of awards from media insiders.

He didn’t get the chance to start his objections. Instead, the guard from earlier walked down the hall and unlocked the cell.

Glory Hallelujah. Freedom for at least a little while.

When he walked out into the sunlight, he winced in pain. Sometime in the last twenty-four hours the day had turned brighter. His body hurt all over. He wanted a drink and he wanted it yesterday. No way in hell was he returning to Caldale. Besides Maria and the kids needed him.

“I guess I should say thanks," he said, wondering if his stash of pesos was still behind the picture in the hotel room. He’d make sure Carlita got it, took it to Maria.

“Ditch whatever you're planning Nelson. First, we’re going to grab a cab to your hotel room. Then you’re going to get in the shower and then I'm going to take your sorry ass to the airport where we're boarding a direct flight to DFW.”

Grady'd always been a bossy s.o.b., but he'd taken the whole General Jenkins thing too far. If
he
had a sister like Kacie Jo, he’d kill the man who’d done what he’d done.

And he'd take that up with Grady as soon as he had that shower. Dizziness washed over him, and he shook his head. Yeah. Definitely get to the hotel first. Then he could do whatever necessary to get Grady to skedaddle back to Caldale and the guilt that was Kacie Jo.

Donovan stepped out of the bathroom as he towel dried his hair. He looked about as bad as it got. Two black eyes, a busted lip. At least he was clean now.

He thought about walking on out the door, but Grady’s voice on a one-sided phone conversation stopped him. Now that he'd cleared his head, Donovan's Spidy Senses were tingling. Grady's insistence that Donovan return to Caldale didn't add up.

“I’m telling you, he looks like death warmed over…

“I thought about leaving him…

“I know, I know. I heard him. But my dad’s wrong here, Eliza…

“No, no. She won’t kill me…

“I know. But he needs to…

“I know I promised…. See you then."

So much for gleaning information.

Donovan walked into the room and shrugged into an old concert t-shirt as if he hadn't been listening.

“You were right about one thing, Grady. I did need that shower.” He ran a comb through his hair as he slipped on his boat shoes. “But I’m not going back.”

Grady stood in front of the door and crossed his arms as if preparing to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse. “Yeah, you are.”

Donovan didn’t want to hit Grady, but he'd do it if he had to. “Whatever you’re thinking is messed up, man. Do you have any idea what I could do to your sister?”

Grady didn’t pause before answering. “Yeah, I do. That’s why you’re going home.”

“You’re nuts, man.”

“And you’re worried. If you’d been the mean son of a bitch you’ve been about everything else, I’d have left you in that cell, but you're worried about Kacie Jo. I can see it. And you’re right. I can’t force you on that plane. But here’s what I’m going to do.”