Golden Trail (91 page)

Then he moved to the elevator.

* * * * *

Layne pulled into Lissa McGraw’s driveway
and the front door on the house was opened before he came to a
complete stop.

Lissa was running out but Layne saw Jasper,
Tripp, Keira and Seth Cosgrove standing in the yard, each with a
can of pop in their hands.

Seth broke away and slowly approached the
Suburban as Ryker hopped down. Layne exited the other side and
watched Rocky wander out behind Lissa, Devin on her heels. By the
time Layne rounded the hood, Ryker had Alexis in his arms. She was
awake but not herself. She slid her thin arms around his huge
shoulders just as Lissa collided with them, her arms spanning them
both, she burst into tears.

Rocky moved to him and took his hand.

“Somehow, Seth heard word. Paige is inside
too. Jasper tried to get him to go but he wouldn’t,” she whispered,
leaning in close.

“He’s a good kid,” Layne whispered back,
eyes on Seth who was hanging back but his gaze was intense on
Alexis.

“Lissa told us she’s okay. Is she okay?”
Rocky asked and Layne looked at her.

“She’s good,” Layne answered.

“Totally good?” Rocky pushed, her eyes as
intense as Seth’s and she was holding her body funny – guarded,
alert.

“She’s fine, baby, she woke up just when we
got to her. She doesn’t even know what happened but no one got a
chance to touch her.”

“Tiffany?”

“Tiffany too, it’s all good.” He leaned down
and put his hand to her neck. “
Totally
good, Rocky.”

Rocky nodded and her eyes moved to Ryker who
was shuffling Lissa back while carrying Alexis to the house. Layne
and Rocky moved with them. Layne nodded to Devin then his eyes cut
to his sons.

Finally, he looked at Seth and stopped.
“It’s good you’re here, Seth, but let me scope this out, yeah? Stay
out here with Jas, Keira and Tripp.”

Seth nodded. Layne nodded back, swept his
eyes through his boys and he and Rocky went inside.

Vi, Feb, Josie and Paige were there. Coffee
mugs were everywhere but Vi was collecting them. Angela was asleep
in Paige’s arms. Jack was sitting on his ass on the floor, sucking
on something purple and edible that he’d gotten all over his face
in a way that gave evidence to the fact it was sticky. Layne could
see through a wide opening and Feb was in the tiny kitchen, doing
something at the sink. Josie was wiping down counters. Lissa, Ryker
and Alexis had disappeared, likely down the back hall.

Layne went to the mouth of the hall and
waited.

Ryker came out five minutes later, walked to
Layne and stopped.

“Your call, brother, you want company,
they’re here for the long haul. You don’t, I’ll get them gone,”
Layne offered.

Ryker stared at him, said not a word, then
turned and disappeared in the room he came out of. Two minutes
later, he was back.

“Liss likes to hear people in her house.
Alexis is asking about Seth. Your crew is in for the long
haul.”

“Right.” Layne nodded. “I’ll call Reggie’s
and order pizza.”

Layne turned to move into the living room
but turned back when Ryker said, “Bro.”

“Yeah?”

“She was wakin’ up when we got to her.”

“Yeah man, I was there.”

“She was wakin’ up when we got to her,”
Ryker repeated.

He had something to say so Layne waited for
him to say it.

Ryker finally spoke. “She had less than an
hour.”

“Ryker –” Layne began.

“You hadn’t called that location, bro…” He
trailed off and stopped.

“Well, I did.”

Ryker held his gaze.

Then he whispered, “Yeah, you did.”

Then he turned around and disappeared back
in the room.

Layne went to the living room, his eyes
going to Rocky.

“Let the kids in. We need to order pizza,”
he said into the room.

Rocky’s eyes locked with his.

Then she gave him the dimple.

* * * * *

Layne woke to his cell phone ringing and
Rocky pinning him to the bed.

Instantly, her head came up.

He reached out to the phone, his eyes
scanning his clock, it was three forty-two. He looked at the
display, it said “Unknown Caller” and he flipped it open, putting
it to his ear.

“Layne,” he answered.

“Heard word from your man, it’s safe to call
you,” a woman replied, it took him a minute to place the voice and
then he did.

He scooted up in the bed and Rocky scooted
with him.

“Marissa,” he said on a squeeze of Rocky who
gave him a squeeze back and pressed closer.

“She didn’t make it,” Marissa stated.

Marissa was right. Nicolette Towers was dead
on arrival. Layne had no problem with this.

Jeremy Goulding had flipped and copped to
Tara, Summer and Hannah, but there were no other girls from the
‘burg. However, he did know of operations in other small town
churches in two locations. Towers held these parties often and the
girls went for top dollar. Jeremy withheld this information because
he knew he was screwed and he didn’t want to be more screwed. He
thought, since the girls hadn’t talked for months, this knowledge
would never make the light of day. Fortunately, he was wrong.

Towers had two stables and recruited her
other girls from out of state. Some were runaways. Some were sold
into her operation. Some were clocked in juvvie and picked up when
they got out, their disappearance put down to running away, none of
them missed. And none of them originally came from Indiana, thus
flying under IMPD radar.

There were so many people involved, from
pimps, to recruiters, to security, it would take the IMPD some
serious time to dismantle the entire operation but it was already
disintegrating. Some of the men they picked up were heavy hitters,
wealthy power brokers, also not all local. And they were all
blabbing like old women.

Rutledge had survived and was currently
handcuffed to a hospital bed. Cal and Ryker had uncovered where he
hid his payoff cash in his apartment and they left it for the ‘burg
PD to find. It was highly unlikely he’d be offered bail. It was
also highly unlikely he’d survive his prison term.

Ballistics matched on the three guns that
shot Layne. Two put bullets in Rutledge, one was found beside the
man Layne shot in the calf who then had Towers run over his legs.
Since she did this driving on rims, one of his legs was cut clean
off.

“No, she didn’t make it,” Layne confirmed
and Roc gave him another squeeze.

“Heard from your man that you took her
out.”

“That’s right.”

There was silence.

Then, “Is it bad that I’m smiling right
now?”

Layne felt his lips twitch. “No.”

More silence then, “Glad you didn’t get
dead.”

Before Layne could reply he had dead
air.

He flipped his phone closed and tossed it to
the nightstand. Then he slid down into the bed, taking Rocky with
him.

“She okay?” Rocky asked.

“Reckon so, considering she told me she’s
smiling.”

Rocky shoved her face in his chest and he
wasn’t sure what this response meant until she lifted her head then
shifted her body so it was on his, her face in his neck.

“Sweetcheeks,” he murmured, his hand sliding
in her hair.

Her lips went to his ear. “Never gave a hero
a blowjob.”

Layne started quietly laughing.

Her head moved and her mouth came to
his.

“Or… maybe I have,” she whispered.

“Well, baby, what are you waiting for? I’m
not gonna stop you,” he whispered back.

He felt her smile against his mouth.

Then she took her time, working her way down
his body before she gave him a really, fucking great, four o’clock
in the morning blowjob.

A Beautiful Life

She moved, her lips sliding up his neck,
over his jaw, to his mouth.

His arm stole around her waist, his other
hand went to her hip as her body moved on top of his.

“Thank you, baby,” she whispered.

“For what?” he whispered back.

The side of her nose brushed his.

“A beautiful life.”

* * * * *

Layne opened his eyes.

Rocky was pinning him to the bed.

He smiled at the ceiling.

Then he rolled into his woman.

* * * * *

Layne walked to the foot of the stairs.

“Sweetcheeks, get your ass down here!” he
yelled.

“Coming!” she yelled back.

“Yeah, Roc, you said that ten minutes ago.”
He was still yelling.

“Well, now I’m coming!” She was also still
yelling. “You can put CeeCee in the car!”

That meant she actually was coming.

Layne turned to the playpen by the dining
room table. Blondie was flat out on her side by the pen. Cecilia
was in it, holding herself up, her baby fists around the bars, her
big blue eyes staring up at her Dad, a little tuft of dark hair in
a mini-ponytail with a little purple bow sticking straight up on
top of her head.

Layne approached and Blondie’s head jerked
up and twisted, the dog glared at him a second like she had no idea
who he was then her tail started banging against the floor. Pretty
much no one got near Cecilia unless they had Blondie’s
approval.

He reached into the pen and hefted up his
daughter who immediately reached up, grabbed hold of his lower lip
and tugged. Hard.

He knew what that meant so he dropped his
head, she let his lip go, he buried his face in her neck and
blew.

She giggled.

Layne pulled his face out of her neck,
kissed her forehead then lifted a hand and gently tugged his
daughter’s fucking ponytail,
and
the goddamned bow, out of
her hair.

He tossed it on the island, rounded it,
nabbed his keys and walked his daughter out to the truck as she
babbled at the same time she slapped his jaw repeatedly.

He strapped her into the seat and was just
slamming the door when Rocky came out. She was carrying a pie plate
in one hand, a huge, but stylish bag over her shoulder and she was
wearing a short skirt, a sweet top that hugged her frame and her
skin was tan. This was because Layne had a below ground pool put in
because Rocky told him the winter before she’d always wanted one.
The second the spring thaw came, the diggers were there.

“Told you I was coming,” she informed him as
she strutted to the truck.

“Get in the car, Roc,” Layne replied,
swinging in himself.

She rolled her eyes. He grinned.

She settled in, put the pie plate on her lap
and buckled up as Layne pulled out. They were accelerating forward
when Rocky turned and smiled at Cecilia.

Then he felt her eyes on him.

“Layne, where’s her bow?”

“In the garbage disposal,” Layne lied.

“Layne!” Rocky snapped. “It took me twenty
minutes to get that looking right.”

“So?”

She turned and faced forward. “I can’t
believe
you.”

Layne hit the button to roll down his
window.

“What are you doing? Turn on the air con,
that’s too much wind for CeeCee,” she ordered.

“You’re cute when you’re bossy,
sweetcheeks,” Layne replied, stopped at a stop sign, turned to his
woman, his hand shot out, fingers fastening on the band in her
hair, he pulled it out, tossed it out the window, checked the way
was clear and turned left.

“Did you just do that?” she whispered
irately as he rolled the window back up.

“Yep,” Layne replied.

“I… I don’t know what to say.” She was still
whispering irately.

“So don’t say anything.”

He felt her eyes on him and heard her
twisting in her seat. “Last week, you pulled out my ponytail holder
and took a knife to it
while I was making dinner
and
your
mother and Devin were there.
”

“Yeah, Roc, I remember, I was there too,”
Layne returned. “Like I keep tellin’ you, you quit wearin’ ‘em,
I’ll quit doin’ shit like that.”

She twisted back to face forward and crossed
her arms on her chest.

Layne reached out a hand and slid it up her
bare leg until she clamped her legs together and his fingers got
stuck between her thighs.

“You’re going to make me drop the pie,” she
snapped.

“So move the pie,” Layne replied.

“You can’t feel me up when I’m mad at
you.”

“Why not?”

She made a noise in her throat that made
Layne chuckle. Then she moved the pie, wrapped her hand around his
wrist and yanked it from between her legs. He twisted his wrist,
caught her hand, curled his fingers around it and pulled it to his
mouth.

He’d done as he’d intended. He’d given her a
huge rock. A few months later, with his sons at his side and Josie
Judd at hers, he’d slid a wide gold band at the base of it.

Right then, he kissed both.

Her fingers curled around his when he did
and behind him he heard his daughter giggle. For some reason,
Cecilia thought it was hilarious when Layne showed her mother
affection.

His daughter laughed a lot.

“You know what’s annoying?” she asked when
he rested her hand on his thigh.

“Nope,” he answered.

“When you’re sweet when I’m angry at
you.”

“Right,” he muttered.

“Stop doing that,” she demanded.

“I’ll get right on that.”

He knew she’d turned her head to the side
window when she murmured, “Big liar.”

Layne burst out laughing.

* * * * *

Layne parked on the street outside Cal and
Vi’s house, a street that was lined with cars. One of those cars
was Jasper’s red Charger. Another one was Tripp’s silver
Camaro.

Layne released his grateful daughter from
the confines of her car seat, Rocky grabbed her big bag and the pie
and he slid an arm around her shoulders as they walked up the side
of the house between the garage and Cal and Vi’s home and hit the
backyard.