Forever Driven: Forever Bluegrass #4 (10 page)

“Then fight for us, Riley. I’ll always fight for you. Will you do the same for me? You’re not the only one looking for yourself. I told you, I’ve changed and not for the better. I feel lost,” Matt said softly as he ran his hand over her hair.

“You? But you’re always so sure of yourself.”

Riley looked up at him with her damp eyes, and he did the hardest thing he had ever done. He started talking. “My mother was a drug addict. It started with pain pills after the car accident my father died in when I was ten. But then the grief was too much, and the high from the pills wasn’t enough, so she turned to illegal drugs. I was in my senior year of high school, two weeks from graduation, when a state trooper pulled me from class to tell me my mother had died of an overdose.”

“Matt, I had no idea,” Riley gasped, her trembling hand cupped his cheek.

“No one does. The trooper, Simon Walz, worked with children’s services so I could stay with him until I was eighteen. It was only two months, but in those two months, he taught me what it was to be a man, to be a police officer, and he encouraged me to apply for college. I hadn’t planned on going. I was headed for a job in construction like my father. But with Simon’s help, I enrolled in community college and then transferred to the University of Louisville for my junior and senior year. Before graduating, I changed my name to Walz to honor him.”

“What about your father?”

“He was a louse who slept around on my mother and hit us whenever he felt like it. Yet my mother still mourned him.” Matt shook his head. “When I changed my last name, I had hoped to leave the nightmare behind me for good. But you understand it’s never gone. Simon and his wife became my family. At the age of seventeen, I was able to start my life over again. Banish the darkness and fight for good. Protect people like I couldn’t do for myself when I received beating after beating. But then this last job—” Matt took a deep breath.

“The drug ring my dad talked about?” Riley asked softly.

“Yes. It all came back. I had to take meth to prove I was who I said I was. I felt the high. I felt the low. And after doing it enough, I felt the tug that a little more wouldn’t hurt. My mother used to say the drugs called to her. I didn’t have to use all the time I was undercover. Only a handful of times, really. The other times I shot up with saline solution if I was able to use my own product. But I felt it, Riley. I felt the drug calling me as I stood in a room and threatened a man in front of his wife and young daughter to hand over the money he owed to the drug boss. I felt it when I helped sort out the merchandise. I felt exactly what my mother said she felt.”

Riley gasped and shook her head in disbelief. “Why? Why would you threaten?”

“Because it was my job. I had to get in with the dealers and the boss. To do that, I had to take the drugs that were offered, and I had to prove myself. I proved myself through collections and loyalty. It’s over now, but I still feel stuck in the shadows,” Matt confessed.

“And then I drag you into another undercover operation. Why do you do them? You can turn them down, can’t you?” Riley asked.

Of course he could. “I want to protect people. By sacrificing six months of my life, I took down the state’s second-biggest dealer, which, I hope, brought some mothers and fathers back to their children. Did I fix the drug problem? No. That will never happen. Although, in one year I’ve cleared out the top two bosses in the region and that feels like justice to me. I mean, you should see the money trail alone that I cut off. People’s hard-earned savings . . .”

“The money!” Riley said so quickly that Matt’s eyebrows rose. Riley rose up and kissed Matt’s cheek. “Thank you for forcing me to talk and for trusting me enough to tell me what you’ve gone though.”

Riley pulled away from Matt with a peace to her soul she hadn’t felt since that night at the bar she was drugged. She’d confided her secrets and her fears, and Matt hadn’t thought she was overreacting. He hadn’t left. He had his own secrets, and sharing them was a soothing balm to years of worry. But then he had given her an idea.

“I have an idea. Hear me out. Friday, the House votes on the budget. The governor wants this budget fast-tracked, which almost never happens. Why? Because everyone and their mother throw in clauses and amendments to repay those who donated to their campaigns or who can help them in the future. So, what does it come down to?”

Matt smiled as he picked up her train of thought. “Money.”

“Exactly. Now I can worry about Friday, or I can turn over the lobbying to Angela and follow the money. Regardless of how the House will vote, the Senate will muck it all up again, and the real budget won’t get settled until we all get together and hash it out. And what will we use to hash it out and make deals?”

“Money,” Matt smiled again.

“Right. I’ll promise a senator that I’ll support the bill sending jobs to his region or whatever it is he wants in order for him to support getting rid of the highway, which will earn me money and votes from my constituents in return. It all comes down to money and votes. If I can make it unprofitable to vote a certain way, then no one will touch it. And what is so toxic that it trumps money?”

“You got me there,” Matt shrugged.

“Scandal. You think there aren’t laws being broken in all this wheeling and dealing? I just have to follow the money and uncover the skeletons.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Matt winked at her, and Riley wanted to hug him. Well, hugging was the least of what she wanted to do with him, but it would have to do for now.

“First, you need to go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting while I figure out where to start following the money,” Riley ordered before turning to her desk and pulling out the exact language of the bill and her notes on who the supporters of the bill are.

“But I don’t have a problem.”

“You worry about turning into your mother. That’s enough. Drugs affected you enough to feel the pull. Please, at least think about it. I’m going to be locked in my office until tonight. I promise I won’t leave this room without you.”

Riley tried not to hold her breath as Matt thought about it. “You’re right.” Matt took a deep breath and she saw the light lines around his mouth relax. “I should stop it before it becomes a problem. I’ll ask DeAndre to keep an eye on you. I’ll only be gone a couple of hours. Keep your phone on you at all times. And thank you.”

Riley went into his arms then. Sometimes words weren’t needed to convey feelings. They had both felt it—the relief of someone knowing their secrets and loving them anyway. She watched Matt head out of the room and then picked up her phone. “Angela, can you come back to my office? I have an idea.”

T
wo hours later
, Riley had talked to every supporter of the highway to find out why he or she supported it. Some were straightforward with her while others caused her to channel her father’s CIA interrogation skills. It was worth it, because now she had a list of suspects, and she had even more knowledge on how the road building process worked.

The lock tumbled on her door and Matt strode in. “Everyone’s leaving for the day,” he commented as the stream of assistants and policy advisors walked down the hall toward the exits to the parking lots.

“How did it go?” Riley tried to ask casually.

“Well, it was hard to go through, but I do feel better now. They understood what I was talking about. They understood the drug calling to you and shared what worked for them. I feel as if I have a plan now. How is it going for you?”

Matt took a seat on the couch, and Riley grabbed her notepad and sat down next to him. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer. She kicked off her shoes and curled her legs under her as she leaned against his chest. The touch and feel of Matt’s body was so new and exciting. She savored the heat, the feel of the muscles bunched under his shirt, and the way he absently rubbed his thumb on her shoulder.

“Peel and Stanley are the loudest proponents of the highway. However, I found out from another freshman senator that he was approached to support the bill from Luttrell Food Industries, and another supporter of the highway said that LeeRoy Hager pushed for the highway after making a really large donation to her campaign.”

“LeeRoy Hager, as in the owner of Hager Road Construction?”

“The one and only. She said LeeRoy sounded very confident in his ability to get the new highway contract.” Riley paused as a memory tried to surface but she couldn’t grasp it.

“I worked for Hager when I was in Lumpur. They’re based out of Lexington but hire a lot of employees from whichever county they are working in. From what I heard, they usually get any contract they bid on,” Matt told her as he looked down at her notes.

“Why’s that?”

“Because they have their own asphalt processing plant. It allows them to bid lower since they don’t have to pay the trucking fees to import the asphalt. They have so many resources in the area that they pretty much get any job in an eighty-mile radius of Lexington. Each major city has its own go-to construction company. Either that or they could pay off the state-contracted engineer to know what his bid will be. Then they’re guaranteed the contract that way, too. But what does Luttrell Food care about the highway?” Matt asked.

“They moved their corporate offices to Keeneston, close to the Lipston border. With the new highway, they could get a service road connected to it and save a ton of driving time,” Riley explained.

“So, what’s our first move?”

“Let’s go back to Keeneston tonight and have dinner at the café. I’m starving for some good food. We can ask my aunt and uncle to meet us there. Morgan and Miles worked hard on trying to prevent Luttrell’s move to Keeneston and can provide some insight for us. Tomorrow, we can pay a little visit to Harvey Luttrell. After that, I think we need to have a chat with LeeRoy Hager.”

M
att kept
his eyes on the road as he drove Riley toward Keeneston. Miles and Morgan Davies would be meeting them at the café. Miles ran his own company that supported the growth of small family farms through consolidating their voice under his company. If a major restaurant or grocery chain needed a product, they’d place an order with him and he’d organize which farm or farms could fill the order. Morgan, who during her high school years had been the black sheep of Keeneston, now ran a public relations and crisis management firm on retainer with her husband’s company. According to Riley, Miles and Morgan fought against the tax breaks the mayor had given Luttrell Foods since they would threaten the local farmers’ livelihoods.

Riley finished telling Matt what she had found out about Luttrell, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Matt glanced over at her and felt his heart warm. She was here with him.
Him
. She had trusted him enough to tell him of her past, and she was the first person besides Simon Walz who knew his own past. It was freeing to not hide the secret anymore. It was also scary. Riley knew his vulnerabilities. It should worry him more, but it didn’t. It felt good.

They had not talked about their relationship since that morning, and that was scarier to Matt than anything. He was turning into a talker. He wanted to express his feelings. He wanted to tell her he was proud of her for what she was doing. Instead, he reached out and covered her hand with his. Riley smiled at him and went back to looking out the window. Her hand was so much smaller than his. He found it fascinating, thrilling, and comfortable all at the same time.

“If I haven’t told you yet, thank you for being here for me,” Riley said softly as she moved to lace her pinky finger with his.

“Anything for you. Always,” Matt said with the realization that he meant it. He had thought he was over Riley when he left for Lumpur, but even then he had made sure she would have people watching out for her. He never could let her go. Even if he pretended he could forget about her.

M
att pulled
into a parking space near the Blossom Café on Main Street in Keeneston. The lights spilling out of the large plate-glass windows warmed the cloudy night. Matt loved the café. Daisy Mae Rose and Violet Fae Rose originally ran it. Their sister, Lily Rae Rose, ran the bed-and-breakfast up the street. However, they called in reinforcements when they turned ninety. Two very distant cousins from Alabama, Poppy and Zinnia Meadows, now ran both businesses for the Rose sisters. However, that didn’t stop the sisters and their husbands from having a reserved table in the middle of the action.

“I see the Rose sisters and their husbands,” Matt said with fondness as he opened the truck door for Riley.

“Good. Maybe John will have some information for me. I still don’t know how he finds things out, but I’ll be grateful for any little tidbit.”

Matt let his hand rest of the small of her back as he guided Riley to the door. “I think he has bugs in everyone’s houses.”

“I know aliens is the leading theory, but I think he might be psychic. Or maybe he just knows by asking a Ouija board.”

Matt opened the door and Riley walked in. Heads turned as people shouted their greetings, but then grew silent as Matt stepped up behind her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, leaned down, and whispered in her ear that he’d spotted Miles and Morgan. When he looked up, he noticed the stares. Eyes were taking in the placement of his hand on her shoulder, the closeness of his head to hers, the way Riley leaned back into his body. Then chaos erupted.

The Blossom Café wasn’t just the best, and only, place to eat in Keeneston; it was also the headquarters for all gossip and the town’s betting pool. Keeneston gave Vegas a run for its money on all wagers relating to gossip: dating, marriage, and babies. “So, this is what if feels like,” Riley whispered as they both gave the patrons nervous smiles while working their way toward their table.

“Don’t make eye contact. Keep your head down and a smile on your face and whatever you do, don’t stop to talk to anyone. We’re almost there,” Matt whispered.

“Yoo-hoo!” a voice called, though with her over-injected lips she sounded more like a drunk slurring her words.

“Shit,” both Matt and Riley cursed at the same time as Nikki Canter, the fluffed and puffed president of the Keeneston Belles, called out to them.

“Don’t look!” Matt whispered. “She’s like Medusa with those lips. You look once and you can’t look away.”

“And you haven’t seen the newest addition . . . have you?” Riley suddenly accused.

“Of course not. I’ve only slept, alone, and been with you since getting back. Doesn’t really give me time to see anything. What’s the new addition?”

“Butt implants,” Riley giggled as she kept her eyes glued to the ground, moving closer to the table.

“Really?”

“Don’t look! Last month she showed them off by balancing a glass of sweet tea on her ass,” Riley said with a roll of her eyes. “She’s turned desperate after losing out to Mila for the role of Zain’s princess. Even Kandy, the head bitch in town back when my parents were young, questioned her butt implants.”

Matt felt a pull at his arm and gripped Riley’s waist for dear life. He saw one spiked boot and then another. They encased calves, knees, and thighs before skinny jeans appeared and a soft cream shirt covering humongous boobs. Oh god, he couldn’t stop. His eyes rose to the lips, and he was trapped. The lips quivered, and he thought Nikki was trying to smile.

“There you are. I wanted to let you know I’ll be over tonight to help out with the G-string I gave you.”

Matt felt Riley tense under his hands and wanted to plead for Nikki to go away except he couldn’t tear his gaze from her lips. If they stretched any further, they would explode.

“I’m sorry. Riley and I have plans tonight,” Matt said as he forced himself to blink. The lips scowled. Well, kind of. This was it. They were pulled so tight he was sure they would split in the middle.

“Don’t worry, sexy, I’ll wait for you at home while you tuck her safely in at her own house. Then we adults can have the whole night to play. After all, when you have curves like I do it, takes all night to worship them.”

Nikki ran her hands over her large breasts, down her small waist, and then over, over, over her enlarged bottom. Matt’s eyes followed the marathon path her hands were taking. Holy crap. It looked like two beach balls ate some watermelons whole and attached themselves to Nikki’s ass. She would probably be four inches taller when she sat down than when she stood up.

“G-string?” Riley hissed, but it was loud enough for Nikki to hear and pounce.

“Yes, I left it at his house yesterday. Why don’t you run along and let the adults speak now,” Nikki said condescendingly.

“And how about you back off my boyfriend before I flatten one of your tires. It would be pretty hard to sit with one implant deflated.”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Miss Lily asked from across the room, “did you say
boyfriend
?”

Riley nodded. “And I’m not going to let a sore loser mess it up. Let me guess—you set your sights on Gabe, but he’s been traveling so much that you are ready to move onto your next victim.”

Nikki huffed. “Implants! I’ve just been working out. And he’s not yours until he puts a ring on your finger. And even then, he’s not
only
yours.”

“You can cross me off your list, Nikki. Riley is the only woman I’m interested in. Now, please excuse us. We have dinner plans.”

Matt slid past her as Nikki hissed. “I’ll be in your bed in no time. Everyone knows Riley talks a big game but doesn’t put out. Call me when your blue balls need releasing.” Nikki spun, her ass hitting Matt, sending him careening into Neely Grace and her daughter Addison’s table.

Neely Grace shook her head and
tsked
. “Addison, I believe you may need to overthrow Nikki to save the Belles when you move back to town. They’ve lost their way again,” she sighed. Back in her day, Neely Grace had cleaned up the Belles and their boyfriend-stealing ways.

Finally, they made it to where Miles and Morgan sat. Their dark hair was starting to gray together, but Morgan’s violet eyes held amusement as she silently held up a twenty and waited for Zinnia to come take her bet. It would do no good to shout. It was as loud as the opening bell at Wall Street right then as people placed their bets on the potential of a wedding between Matt and Riley.

Maybe he should place a bet just to mess with them. All he knew right now was that he’d liked Riley for over a year. They’d become friends and after their talks earlier, he felt as if they finally understood each other. While that was progress, it wasn’t time to go ring shopping. He had a rather intimidating family to win over, as well as Riley’s heart.

“So, you think Harvey Luttrell is involved,” Miles said with his deep voice and straight-to–the-point attitude. He didn’t like to waste time.

Riley nodded as she sat down. “What can you tell me about him and his politics?”

“He goes wherever he gets the best deal, and he usually gets that by paying people off. I don’t know what the mayor got in return for the tax breaks she gave him, but I notice she has a nice new car,” Miles told her as he slipped a twenty to Zinnia. “Two weeks,” he whispered.

Matt felt his eyebrows rise but he didn’t say anything. Miles gave him a shrug. “Davies family members tend to know what they want and don’t bother waiting for the sake of waiting. Though, I guess you’re not a Davies. Honey, what did you bet?”

“Three months,” Morgan answered.

Miles let out a breath. “Good, we’re covered.”

R
iley felt
herself turn red and was too embarrassed to look at her uncle so she talked to her plate of food. “Luttrell donated heavily to a couple of key congressmen. Why would he be so interested in seeing the highway go through?”

“I think he wants close access for shipping. But with him you never know. He gets grand plans, and if he can’t buy his way into them, he just ups and leaves. He’s moved their corporate headquarters four times in the past ten years. He’s always looking for the better deal. The area that will let him do whatever he wants. That’s why we are so worried about his headquarters being moved here,” Morgan explained.

“I’m going to have a chat with him tomorrow,” Riley told them as the food was delivered. She just didn’t know exactly what she was going to ask him yet.

“You should play to his ego,” Miles suggested. “I know it’s hard to do, but it could get him to tell you more than he should.”

“I just wonder what his connection is to LeeRoy Hager of Hager Road Construction. He’s the other donor pushing congress to pass the highway. I mean, I guess it’s almost a done deal that he’ll get the bid, but it just seems strange that they’re both pushing for it,” Riley told her aunt and uncle.