Colorado 03 Lady Luck (55 page)

She gaped at me but I turned and tipped my
head back to Irv.

“
You didn’t give him much more but I get a
sense you get what Ty endured and
why
he endured it and that shook you. You want a relationship
with your son, you build it without her,” I jerked my head at
Reece, “in attendance. And you do
not
show uninvited and unexpected. You ask for his time and he
gives it to you when and if he’s ready.”

Then before either of them could reply, not
that I’d fucking listen to another word either had to say, I
stomped around my new baby, jerked open the door, sat my ass in it,
punched the button on the garage door opener and turned on the car.
Then I drove in. Then I hit the opener again. Then I carted up the
groceries, champagne, cake and my latte, putting the ice cream
directly into the freezer, the champagne in the fridge and, after
that, setting Shambles’s cake on a plate and putting it on the
counter of the island by the tees so Ty would see it the minute he
got home.

Then I called my husband, shared the trip
through the light fantastic that was my first meeting with his
parents, listened to his rumbling disbelief and inadvertently
calmed his anger by ranting through angry sips of my fast-cooling
latte, doing this for some time and with a fair amount of curse
words which, for some bizarre reason, eventually led to him cutting
me off by roaring with laughter. He then told me he had four
college tuitions to earn which calmed my ass down. I let him go so
he could get back to work providing for our future family, walked
out to the back deck and looked down.

They were gone.

I went back into the house.

* * * * *

The chicken breasts were set to marinade,
the salad was prepared, the homemade dressing was fermenting in the
fridge and I was sitting out on a lounge chair with my Kindle,
reading a romance novel and thinking sex with Ty was way better
than what the chick in that novel was getting when something caught
at the corner of my eye.

I looked up and across the deck to the side
of the house and froze solid.

This was because a wiry black man about two
inches taller than me with cornrows in his hair who I’d never seen
before in my life was standing there looking jittery.

Shit! What now?

He took a step forward and I visibly braced
so he stopped.

“I’m Dewey,” he announced and I relaxed,
slightly.

I knew Dewey. Well, I didn’t
know
him
, know him but Ty had
told me about him. I didn’t think he was a threat but his being
there probably didn’t herald good tidings.

I didn’t get to say hi. He took four steps
toward me and started talking, he did it fast and what he said made
me freeze solid again.

“Don’t got much time and can’t be seen here.
But got word that Ty’s parole officer is doin’ a random inspection
of his house. Today. And he’s got Fuller with him. They’re comin’,
don’t know when they’ll get here, could be any minute. Can’t be
seen goin’ to his place of work and someone might be listenin’ in
on my phone so couldn’t call. So I’m here. I ‘spect you’ll tell
him. I also ‘spect, he’s got somethin’ in there they can’t see,
like, say, somethin’ that shoots bullets, you’ll deal.”

Then, right before my eyes, he
disappeared.

Since Ty did, indeed, have something in the
house that shot bullets, I didn’t delay in twisting in the lounge,
dropping my Kindle to the table beside me and snatching up my
phone.

Ty picked up on ring two, saying hilariously
but I was in no mood to laugh, “Jesus, mama, the Pope there
now?”

“No,” I replied quickly. “I just got a five
second visit from your friend Dewey before he went up in a puff of
smoke. He told me your parole officer is on the way, with Fuller,
to do a random inspection of the house. ”

“
Fuck!
” Ty snarled.

“Baby, what do I do?” I whispered. “Can they
ask me to open the safe?”

“They can do anything they fuckin’ want,” he
answered on a growl, my heart sank and he went on. “Right now, get
a bag, fill it with all the cash, the gun, clips and ammo, leave
the diamonds but be sure to get Misty’s letter, you put that shit
into the bag and take it to the trunk of your Charger. Pull the
Charger out and park it in the guest parkin’ spaces down the way.
Those spaces are off my property and the Charger is in your name.
They see it and want to search it, you ask for a warrant. Stand
firm on that, mama, ‘cause they’ll try to push you. I’ll instigate
damage control to sort that shit out but you gotta do that now,
just in case.”

From the minute he started speaking, I was
on the move so I had a bunch of plastic grocery bags, was already
dashing up the second flight of stairs and I breathed, “Okay,”
because I was out of breath from running and fear.

“Okay, lettin’ you go now. Call back if
there’s somethin’ you need to know.”

I was dropping down on my knees in front of
the safe when I said, “Right.”

“Later.”

He didn’t wait for me to reply, he was
gone.

Without delay, I did what he asked, took a
deep breath and rechecked the safe just in case I missed something
then shut it, made certain it latched and raced down the stairs to
get my keys then to my car. I stowed the bags in the trunk, pulled
my new baby out and parked it off our property then I raced back up
the hill. The garage door was cranking back down and I was dashing
up the stairs into the kitchen when my phone in my hand rang and it
said, “Ty Calling.”

I flipped it open and put it to my ear.
“Hey,” I wheezed out.

“We good?” he asked.

“We’re good,” I answered.

“Good,” he said. “Now, Deke’s on his way
and, he gets there before our company, he’s gonna store that shit
in the tool cabinet in his truck. Then he’s gonna stay. I do not
want you in that house alone with that motherfucker there.”

“Okay,” I replied, also not wanting to be
alone in our house with that motherfucker there. I leaned into a
hand and pulled in deep breaths. “Is this… is this expected? I
mean, is this normal? Are they allowed to do random inspections
like this?”

“Yeah. That said, I’m surprised. My parole
officer seems cool. He’s a brother and when I say that, he’s one of
the few brother brothers a brother like me has, half and half. He
did not say it flat out but gave indications he’s not Fuller’s
biggest fan and had an understanding of why I was sittin’ across
from him. But I made parole for a reason and during my visits, he
didn’t communicate he had any concerns. But this shit happens. I
shoulda been prepared, especially with the heat on.”

“It’s okay, it’ll be okay,” I assured him
but I wasn’t feeling assured, I was freaked out. “Team Walker bests
any challenge they face,” I finished more to convince myself than
Ty.

He was silent then he said with a smile in
his voice, “Yeah.”

“The good news is, I threw so much sass at
your parents, I think I’m clean out of it, you know, just in case
Fuller pisses me off.”

There was soft laughter in his voice when I
heard, “Yeah, that’s the good news.” I sucked in a calming breath
then his voice came at me, soft and gentle, “You okay, baby?”

I looked at the clock on the microwave and
saw it said a quarter after three. He was done with work in
forty-five minutes. And I doubted, with my day, he’d do overtime or
go to the gym.

“You coming home right after work?” I asked,
just to confirm.

“What do you think?” he asked back but it
was confirmation.

“Then I’m okay,” I answered.

“Good,” he whispered then still soft he
said, “Now, mama, Fuller is gonna dick with you. Team Walker is in
the home stretch. Stay sharp.”

“I’ll stay sharp, honey,” I whispered
back.

“That’s my Lex,” he muttered. “See you
soon.”

“Right. Love you, Ty.”

“Down to my bones, mama, right back at
you.”

Suddenly, I was perfectly calm.

“Later,” he finished.

“Later, baby.”

Then he was gone. I put my phone down on the
counter, saw the tees and smiled to myself. Then I jumped and
whirled when I heard a knock at the door.

Standing outside was a supremely
well-dressed black man. He was also supremely handsome, bald head,
thick, black, well-trimmed goatee, bedroom eyes. Tall, not as tall
as Ty but a lot taller than me. Great body.

I stared at him thinking that Ty’s parole
officer was hot.

I moved to the door, searching behind him
but seeing no company. I opened it and finally really looked at him
to see he looked surprised.

“Hi,” I greeted and he stared at me so I
asked, “Can I help you?”

“Are you Lexie?” he asked back.

“Uh… yes.” I played the game but found it
weird when I confirmed my name that he smiled, big, broad and
white. “Sorry, have we met?”

“I’m Samuel Sterling.”

Cool name.

I smiled. “Hello, Samuel Sterling.”

His smile got bigger and he noted, “You’re
back.”

Well, that was interesting. It seemed Ty
shared with his parole officer.

“Uh, yeah. Just over a week now. Would you,
um… like to come in?” I invited, stepping aside so he could do
so.

He didn’t move. He simply studied me. Then
he remarked, “You have no clue who I am.”

“Uh –” I started, wondering, if I did say I
had a clue who he was, if that would expose Dewey’s visit when he
spoke again.

“Own a jet, Lexie,” he informed me
quietly.

Oh my God!

I blinked. Then it was my turn to study him
and it hit me that parole officers probably didn’t wear two hundred
dollar, shiny, killer polo necked shirts nor did they have
custom-made Italian loafers.

He smiled again, took three steps into the
house and I turned with him as he did and shut the door behind me.
Then I kept staring at him as his eyes did a sweep of the place and
landed on the tees. Then they came back to me and his smile was
huge.

Then he spoke. “I was close to town on
business. Thought I’d stop by, see how Ty was seeing as how Ty was
the last time I saw him was not good.” He dipped his head to the
tees and commented, “I suspect he’s doing much better.”

“He is,” I whispered.

“Good,” he whispered back.

“Uh… thank you for, um… doing that favor for
Ty and I. But back then I was just,” I threw out a hand, “well
–”

“You don’t know me so you owe me no
explanations, Lexie, I’m just glad you’re back.”

I grinned at him. “So am I.”

He grinned back then his eyes cut to the
door behind me and his body went alert.

I turned around to see Deke at the glass.
Deke didn’t knock. Deke opened the door and I jumped out of the
way.

“He is?” he asked, jerking his head at
Samuel Sterling.

“A friend of Ty’s,” I answered.

“What kind?” he shot back.

“The good kind,” I replied.

He sliced his eyes to Samuel Sterling then
back to me. “Keys. Now.”

I still had my keys in my hand, I held them
out to him, he took them and then he was gone.

I looked to Samuel Sterling who had his
eyebrows raised and I shared, “We, um… have a bit of, uh…
situation.”

His eyebrows lowered but his look turned
sharp before he asked, “Can I help?”

“If you have time, you can stay for a drink
and if the afternoon progresses like I think it will and I give any
indication I might be losing my temper and on the verge of what my
husband calls ‘throwing sass’, you can wrestle me out of the room
no matter how much I fight you.”

He held my eyes. Then he said quietly, “So
it’s
that
kind of
situation.”

I sighed. Then I said, “We have that kind of
situation every once in awhile. But we think we’re in the home
stretch.” My eyes slid to the side and I muttered, “I hope.”

“Team Walker never admits defeat,” Samuel
Sterling said and my eyes shot back to him.

“What?”

He moved to the counter and touched a tee.
Then he looked back at me.

“Never admit defeat, Lexie. No matter the
situation. And no matter what resources you have to call upon to do
it.”

Then he dipped his chin without losing
contact with my eyes and I could swear he was volunteering for
duty.

I smiled at him. He smiled back.

I heard the garage door start to crank open
and I whispered, “Deke’s back with my car.”

And he was. The garage door cranked down,
Deke came up the stairs, looked at me, looked at Samuel then
grunted, “Beer.”

I hustled to the fridge. Then I got Deke a
beer. I gave him the bottle thinking he wouldn’t take offense.
After asking his beverage preference, I also got Samuel one of Ty’s
bottled waters but since he was obviously a millionaire or
something, I poured it into a glass.

Then I got myself a diet and since I wasn’t
on the phone with a Ty who was being sweet, my calm evaporated and
I tried very hard as the minutes slipped by not to start
hyperventilating.

Conversation was scarce and only included
Samuel and me as Deke’s monosyllabic grunts made Samuel give up on
him. Both men were sitting at the stools and I was at the side of
the island when the air in the room started pulsating and my eyes
went to the boys then to the door.

The glass showed another good-looking black
man, light-skinned, close-cropped hair like Ty’s, close-trimmed
beard unlike Ty, as tall as Samuel Sterling, as wiry as Dewey but
in a lean, attractive way not in a jittery, felonious way and, even
though I didn’t know him, he had a face that said he was pretty
extremely displeased.

But he was not what I was looking at. I was
looking at the man in the uniform standing behind and beside him,
glowering through the glass. Older, he had thin, light brown hair
going gray at the temples and beyond, a serious beer gut that fell
well over the belt on his uniform pants and small, mean eyes.