Kaleidoscope (33 page)

Just turn the dial.

Deck closed his eyes.

McFarland had a piece of his Emme.

That fucking asshole.

He clenched his jaw and opened his eyes.

“How would McFarland know that?” Chace asked.

“How the fuck do I know?” Deck shot back.

Truck running, he threw it in reverse, looked over his shoulder and started backing out.

“Let Mick handle this,” Chace stated.

“I will. Then I’ll handle it,” Deck returned.

“Deck—”

He hit the brakes before his truck hit the street and he focused on his steering wheel but his mind was focused somewhere else.

“He’s followin’ her.”

“You don’t know that,” Chace replied. “He could have followed you there. Stewed on it, got a wild hair, thought to fuck with you, came back, found the security system disengaged and didn’t waste an opportunity. Then he took something that looked like it meant something to you.”

“Either way is uncool,” Deck noted.

“It is, but stand down and let Mick deal with it.”

“He gets him first. I get him after.”

“Is anything else missing?” Chace asked.

“Nothin’. Looked, that’s it,” Deck answered shortly.

“Fuckin’ with you,” Chace stated.

“So I fuck back,” Deck returned.

“Deck, we got a case against this asshole, do not fuck it up for a kaleidoscope.”

Just turn the dial.

He didn’t turn the fucking dial.

Not for a long time.

Then he did. He’d turned the dial.

You’re everything to me.

And found beauty.

“I won’t fuck up the case,” Deck assured Chace, hitting the garage door remote, he reversed into the street.

“You’re pissed and even you pissed, your judgment can be impaired.”

“I won’t fuck up the case,” Deck repeated, disconnected, tossed his phone on the seat beside him and hit the gas.

*    *    *

Five and a half hours later…

Sitting in the middle of the couch, Deck heard the door open.

He didn’t move.

Seconds later, he watched him round the corner from the entry hall into the living space of the condo.

Deck knew he’d been picked up and interviewed while the Gnaw Bone PD searched his house for a kaleidoscope they did not find. During his interview, he likely gave bullshit excuses, and with no material evidence, he was set loose.

Now he was Deck’s.

Rounding the corner, impossible to miss, Dane McFarland saw him.

“Jesus, what the fuck?” McFarland hissed.

“Your life right now is shit,” Deck started. “Your sentence will be a nickel, you’ll do two years.”

“You can’t be in my house,” McFarland declared, taking two steps toward Deck.

Deck straightened from the couch, McFarland’s head tipped back as he did, and he stopped moving toward Deck.

“You give me back what you took from me, we’ll leave it at that,” Deck stated. “You play games with me, that time when you get out and set about puttin’ your life back together will be the time when you really begin to feel the pain.”

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” McFarland snapped.

“You know exactly what I’m talkin’ about and you got three seconds to produce it,” Deck returned.

McFarland leaned toward him. “You can’t break into my house and threaten me.”

“I can. I did. You don’t give me what’s mine, I’ll do more. You do not want to know what more I can do but I’ll give you a teaser. You will never get another job. You will never have another credit card. You’ll never own another car. You’ll never lay another woman. You’ll never find another house. You’ll never have another friend. You will be alone, broke and broken and you’ll wish like all fuck you handed over right now what you took from me.”

“Jesus, you’re whacked,” McFarland whispered, staring up at Deck.

“I’m a man who does not like his house violated and his things stolen. Now you got three.”

“You can’t do all that shit,” McFarland retorted.

“Your ass landed in jail ’cause I got deputized and put you there. Task force investigating for six months, I had you there within days. So you’re wrong. I
can
do all that shit. And trust me, you don’t want to test that. Now, that’s one.”

McFarland’s eyes got big and he murmured, “That’s impossible.”

“County records will show the sheriff had a subcontract. That subcontract was me. Now, that’s two.”

“Sheriff departments don’t subcontract,” he spat.

“They did with me, and, just sayin’, I nailed you and I also got Prosky. Your boss is going down.” He leaned forward. “Now that’s three.”

He was bluffing about Prosky, trying to rattle McFarland.

It was a good bluff.

Not surprisingly, considering he was a fucking moron, McFarland gave it away. His Adam’s apple bobbed and his eyes widened before going shifty.

They still had nothing on him, but now Deck knew the boss of that crew was Prosky.

“Give it to me, I’ll make certain no one knows you ratted out Prosky,” Deck told him.

“I didn’t rat out Jon!” McFarland cried and there it was, panic and proof.

Prosky was the leader.

“He’ll think you did, you don’t give it to me,” Deck said.

McFarland shook his head. “You can’t do that, man.”

Deck’s brows went up. “You took something that means something to me, broke into my house and took it, and you think I can’t fuck with you?”

“It’s just a fuckin’ kaleidoscope.” McFarland was now jittery.

There it was.

Motherfucker.

“Emme gave it to me and I want it back,” Deck returned and McFarland’s body stilled, his lip curled and his eyes narrowed on Deck.

“I know. Followed her to your place, she didn’t lock the door, got in behind her, wanted to know why she was all fired up to jump straight to you after she got shot of me.” His sneer deepened before he finished, “Nice pool, man.”

Deck stared at him, wondering where Buford was during this scenario.

But he knew.

Buford was on the scent of strawberries.

“Saw her clutchin’ it to her chest like it was her baby,” McFarland went on. “So, yeah. I know it meant something to Emme. An Emme you fuckin’ stole from me.”

Deck said nothing. Deck was dealing with this man following his woman, entering his home when Emme was there, and the knowledge that Emme, feeling betrayed by him, held the piece of art she gave him to her chest when she packed her shit and left his house.

But McFarland was still jittery.

“Dude, you cannot tell Jon I ratted him out. You can’t tell any of them that shit. They’re totally pissed about the ring—”

“You need to stop talking,” Deck rumbled.

McFarland took a good look at his face and snapped his mouth shut.

Deck took a breath in through his nose.

Then he ordered, “Right now, get me what you took from me.”

He immediately started looking even more jittery.

Fuck.

“I can’t,” McFarland whispered, and Deck had a feeling he knew why.

Pain seared through his chest.

His voice was low and dangerous when he asked, “Why?”

McFarland took a cautious step back before he answered, “I buried it at the bottom of your trash.”

Deck sucked in another breath, this one sharper, and McFarland took another step back.

That bin had been wheeled out five times since the kaleidoscope went missing.

It was gone.

Just turn the dial.

His eyes focused sharply on McFarland.

“Every day,” Deck whispered, “for the rest of your life, you will remember putting that kaleidoscope in the trash.”

McFarland carefully threw his hands out to the sides. “I didn’t know it was that big of a deal. It’s just a bunch of glass.”

“You knew,” Deck replied.

“I—”

“Shut up, now, or I’ll give you something else to remember.”

McFarland snapped his mouth shut.

Deck stared at him and he did this a long time, utilizing everything he had to stop himself from pounding the shit out of that…
fucking… asshole.

Just turn the dial.

“You’re lucky I have her,” Deck stated. “Now you are gonna call Mick Shaughnessy and tell him every fuckin’ thing you know about Jon Prosky, those robberies and anything you got involving high school kids. When you do, you are not gonna use it to bargain for a plea. You’re gonna do it simply out of civic duty.”

McFarland’s voice rose when he asked, “Why would I do shit like that?”

Deck leaned toward him and he took another step back. This one was quick.

“Because,” Deck started, “you
wanna
be inside. You
wanna
be where I cannot fuck with you and you wanna be there for as long as you can be there. ’Cause when you get out, your years inside are gonna be your last happy memory.”

“Jesus. It was a just kaleidoscope, man,” McFarland said uneasily.

“It was her tellin’ me she needed me and me not hearin’ that shit. It was just
her
,” Deck gritted. “It was all I had of her for nine years, starin’ me in the face, tellin’ me she needed me. And I didn’t fuckin’ listen, asshole. So I wanted that piece of beauty she gave me always to be a reminder to look after my Emme. And I wanted to give it to our daughter’s husband so I could use it to educate him about lookin’ after my baby. And you took all that when you took it away from me.”

“I was… I was just pissed that you—”

“Shut… the fuck…
up
,” Deck growled. “Get on the fuckin’ phone
now
and call fuckin’ Mick…
Shaughnessy
.”

“Prosky will fuck me up worse,” McFarland informed him, but Deck shook his head.

“Oh no he won’t.”

“He will. That guy seems like a nice guy but he’s got a mission, man, and he’s focused. And anyone would think that mission is whacked, but you knew, you’d know it’s a good one and he’s committed to it,” McFarland shot back, now way beyond jittery.

“He might fuck you up. But,” Deck took a long quick stride forward, lifted a hand and shoved his index finger hard in McFarland’s forehead, pushing off, and McFarland went back on a foot, “I’ll fuck with your head. I will not stop until you have nothing and I’ll keep going until you lose the last thing you got, not that it’s worth much, your fuckin’ mind. Now, motherfucker, do not try me further.” He bent in, McFarland leaned back, Deck lost it and roared,
“Call Shaughnessy!”

On the last syllable, they both turned to the door that they heard thrown open.

Not a second later, a scruffy, pimple-faced kid who couldn’t be older than seventeen and looked freaked right the fuck out rushed in.

“He took a girl!”
he shrieked, and Deck’s heart stopped beating.

“Wade, what the fuck are you doing here?” McFarland shouted, eyes going back and forth between the kid and Deck.

“No, dude, no, no, no…” the kid chanted, rushing up to McFarland and grabbing his arm. “Jon’s back, dude, and it’s bad. He’s pissed. He’s pissed at
everybody
. And dude, he’s totally pissed
at you.
He’s off the freakin’ reservation. He totally has this girl! Emmitt and Bryan are totally freaked!”

“A high school girl?” Deck asked.

The kid shook his head even as he looked to Deck and asked back, “Who are you?”

Deck didn’t answer.

He clipped, “Did he take a high school kid?”

The kid looked him from top to toe and wisely decided to answer.

“No, she’s an older lady. Like, your age.”

“Her name?” Deck pushed.

“No clue,” the kid answered. “Too freaked to pay attention. I just wanted to get out of there.”

“What does she look like?” Deck asked.

“I don’t know. She was like, normal. Pretty.”

And dude, he’s totally pissed at you.

Fuck, please God, tell him, because McFarland was gagging for her, Prosky wouldn’t take Emme.

“What does she look like?” Deck repeated.

“I told you. Normal. Pretty.”

“What does she look like?”
Deck barked, and both Wade and McFarland jumped.

“Brown hair, like… long. Some, like, streaks in it. She’s tall. Weird eyes—” the kid started to say fast.

Fuck.
Fuck!

He had fucking Emme.

“Where is she?” Deck bit out.

“She’s… she was at Jon’s place but he was movin’ her.” Wade looked to McFarland. “That’s how I got away. I slipped out when they were movin’ her. You gotta do somethin’, Dane. That’s whacked. You gotta talk to him. When he got intense, you were the only one who could talk to him.”

“Where are they movin’ her?” Deck asked, the kid looked at him and shrugged.

“I dunno. I got outta there.”

Deck looked at McFarland. “Where would he take her?”

“How would I know?” McFarland asked.

Deck moved and McFarland was on his back on the floor with Deck’s knee in his chest and his hand fisted in his collar.

“Where would he fuckin’ take her?” Deck snarled.

“I don’t—” McFarland began.

“It’s fuckin’ Emme. He’s pissed at you and he’s got fuckin’ Emme,” Deck clipped.

“Oh fuck,” McFarland breathed as it belatedly dawned on him, the fucking moron.

Deck took his knee out of McFarland’s chest, lifted McFarland a foot up then slammed him back into the floor.

“Talk!” he ordered.

“Probably… we’ve got… well, this place. Off the access road a mile up Navajo in Carnal, into the hills, goin’ toward the hiking trails.”

Deck knew it so he wasted no time straightening, yanking McFarland up with him and pushing him off.

“You,” Deck pointed at McFarland. “Call Shaughnessy, report this,
all
of this shit, fuckin’
everything.
You,” Deck pointed at Wade then at the couch. “Sit your ass down.”

“Shaughnessy!” Wade squealed. “Like, the cop?”

“Man, I cannot call Shaughnessy,” McFarland said at the same time.

Deck pulled his gun out of the holster at his hip and both McFarland and Wade’s eyes both went to the gun and grew huge.

He pointed it at McFarland. “You, Shaughnessy.” He pointed it to Wade. “Ass. On. Couch.”

McFarland fished his phone out of his pocket.