Out of Time (Nine Minutes #2) (37 page)

Chapter Sixty-Four

2000, Nashville, Tennessee,

Three Days Before Grizz’s Execution

Blue studied the
woman sitting in front of him. He hadn’t seen her in fifteen years. On some level he knew she was still attractive, but somehow she disgusted him. She still wore the same perfume. It used to make him hard. At least it had early in their relationship. Now it only nauseated him.

“Just so you know, I left an envelope to be opened if I don’t return.” She held his gaze. “I wrote that I was meeting you.”

She swallowed then and looked away from him. She was afraid of Blue. If she never returned from this meeting, she wanted someone to know he was responsible.

“Jan, if I wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”

“I’m in the Witness Protection Program. After you called, all I had to do was dial a number and I’d have been immediately relocated. You would have had to start looking all over again. But I didn’t. I believed you, and I want you to get to know Kevin and Timmy again.”

“I know you dialed the number. I know you thought you’d be relocated immediately. Witness Protection isn’t completely without its flaws. It just took longer than I wanted to find its weaknesses.”

She wriggled uncomfortably in her seat in the hotel room, a low tremor starting. Of course. Blue had someone on the inside. The quick jolt of fear caused her heart to begin racing. A lot of people had seen her walk into the hotel lobby. There would be plenty of surveillance footage. She knew he knew that, too. She was safe. But she also wasn’t stupid. That’s why she’d left the note.

“I told you I wouldn’t stop you from seeing the boys.” Jan folded her hands. “Why did you need to see me?”

“We’ll get to the boys later. You’ve done well for yourself. Divorced your rich husband. No kids from that marriage to have to take care of. Ours are grown.”

She didn’t say anything, just stared at him.

He looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He’d driven thirteen hours straight to have this conversation in person. He was tired, but still focused. A flash of wild red hair and passionate green eyes invaded his thoughts.

He had a half smile on his face when he finally said, “Tell me more about Grunt.”

Blue drove all this way to ask about Grunt?
Jan cleared her throat, “What more do you want to know?”

“For starters, how long was he fucking you?”

Blue hadn’t wanted to ask this question, but he’d blurted it out before he could stop himself. It wasn’t his main objective for having this meeting, and truth be told, he really didn’t care who his ex-wife had screwed. He was more curious than anything.

Jan stiffened. She couldn’t tell Blue the truth. What was she going to say? I was pissed that you were screwing women at the motel so I drugged your little brother and handcuffed him to our bed?

She remembered when she’d first found out Blue was sleeping around. She’d had her suspicions, because their lovemaking was becoming less frequent. It was after she’d had their first child, Timmy. She purposely stayed close to Willow after Blue insisted a couple of the girls stay with her when she was pregnant and not taking her medication. Blue had been careful about not letting her have any connection to the gang, so it came as a surprise that he allowed Willow, Chicky, and Moe to spend time with her. She knew she would need a friend at the motel. Someone to keep her clued in as to what was going on there.

After Timmy was born she stayed in regular contact with Willow. If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought Willow actually took some pleasure in telling her Blue was sleeping around.

None of that really mattered now, anyway. Yes, she’d been angry with Blue, and her way to get back at him was to sleep with his little brother. She never actually did it for Blue to find out. She was afraid he would’ve killed them both. She did it because she could, to get back at him. It was her only way of feeling like she was getting some kind of retribution for his infidelity.

She recalled how she’d tricked Grunt into coming to the house while Blue was at work. She made up some excuse about needing Grunt to help her set up a household budget. She’d said Blue was giving her a hard time about her spending and she wanted to surprise him with a financial plan. Of course, it was a lie. If there was one thing that Jan did like to do, it was spend the money that poured in as a result of Blue’s active participation in the gang.

Grunt was only too happy to offer his services. He had Moe drop him at his brother’s house, and Jan said she’d make sure Blue drove him back to the motel later after dinner. Grunt was so unsuspecting then. He had been hardened somewhat by living at the motel, but there was still an innocence about him.

Grunt sipped on the drink she offered him while they chatted and she told him what she thought she needed help with. Then she told him she kept all their receipts in shoeboxes in the master bedroom closet. Would he mind helping her get them down?

When he woke up, he was groggy, naked, and handcuffed to the headboard. She flushed now when she recollected it hadn’t exactly gone like she thought it would. She thought she would have this teenager eating out of the palm of her hand. She needed that. Needed some kind of validation. She would be any man’s dream.

But that’s not what she got from Grunt. He was angry.

“Unlock the cuffs, Jan,” he’d growled after he regained conscious.

She had been fondling him while he was knocked out. It didn’t take long for him to be fully aroused after he woke up. She couldn’t understand why he was mad.

“Why don’t you let yourself just enjoy this?” she’d asked him seductively.

“Get your fucking hands off me!”

She looked him in the eyes. “I don’t think you want me to take my hands off of you.”

She caressed his erection.

Grunt struggled. “This isn’t right, Jan. It’s not fair to Blue. Uncuff me and we’ll forget it happened.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This little shit was turning
her
down? No way. Quickly she straddled him. He wouldn’t look at her as she gently lowered herself on to him and started gliding up and down. She knew the minute she’d won. She felt his seed filling her and slowly came to a stop.

“I was your first, wasn’t I?” she cooed. He still wouldn’t make eye contact.

“Uncuff me,” was all he said.

She bent down and started to nuzzle his neck. His next words made her stiffen.

“Get these fucking handcuffs off of me now, you sick, psycho bitch!”

That’s when it started. The more repulsed he was by her, the more obsessed she became with him. She couldn’t understand it. She was an attractive and sensual woman. She was offering herself freely. Any male would’ve taken the opportunity in a heartbeat to be with her.

She was certain that after they had sex, he would be finding all kinds of excuses to spend time with her when he knew Blue wouldn’t be around. She’d even fantasized about how she’d let him down easy.

She never expected the look of revulsion she’d seen in his eyes. Yes, that was when her obsession with him started. She didn’t remember how long it was before she realized she didn’t give a shit anymore what Blue was doing at the motel. She started asking Willow about Grunt. Of course, she disguised it as sisterly concern for his well-being, but she wanted to know everything that concerned him. His rebuffs only made the fascination worsen.

And then she heard about that girl. Kit.

Willow didn’t realize she was fueling Jan’s fixation about Grunt. “I don’t know why Grizz just can’t let Grunt or someone else have her!” Willow had angrily confessed to Jan one afternoon. “I mean, Grunt is always looking at her. A lot of the guys look at her, but she’s perfect for Grunt. They’re the same age. I really don’t know what Grizz sees in her.”

Jan knew the story. Something about the girl being presented as a “thank you gift” to Grizz. She didn’t remember seeing anything on the news or in the papers about a missing girl. She was probably a runaway. Nobody knew for certain.

“Why don’t you just call in a tip to the police? Maybe if they come out to the motel they’ll check in to who she is or something.”

“It would never work,” Willow huffed. “For starters, it would get back to Grizz. I showed my ass the first night he got her. I was going to strangle her. He would know in a second it was me.”

This was interesting. Jan would file that information away for later. In case she ever had a bone to pick with Willow. Jan could call in a tip of her own, but she wouldn’t. If Kit was returned to her family and Grizz went to jail for her kidnapping, it would just make it easier for Grunt to actually be with the girl.

Jan had no way of knowing then that a call to the police announcing Kit’s presence at the motel wouldn’t have gotten past the person who answered the phone. Grizz owned so many people back then. Besides, she didn’t need to call the police. She had just given birth to Grunt’s child. He would be hers one day. Somehow, some way.

The day Kit spent with her was agony. Especially when she saw how Kit filled out the bathing suit Jan had given her. Jan remembered herself at that age. She was an awkward, gangly teen and flat as an ironing board. Kit had curves. And she was genuinely sweet. Smart. She helped with the boys and doted on them. They loved her too, which only made it worse. No wonder Grizz had wanted her. Their time together was pure torture.

It was all too much for Jan to handle. She was ready to explode by day’s end. And she did. In her anger, she was careful not to mention it was Willow who’d told her she saw Grunt watching her. She told Kit that Blue had said it. But it didn’t really matter anyway. She could care less if she got Blue in trouble. He was screwing everything with tits and all she wanted was Grunt. And she couldn’t have him.

Grunt avoided going to their home as much as possible. He never accepted a drink from her again. She wondered if anybody ever noticed that besides her. Probably not. Grunt was never around enough for it to be obvious. He flat-out ignored her when she told him Kevin was his son. He had been quite the creative tormenter.

If she let herself be honest, Grunt didn’t actually do anything to torment her. She tormented herself. She had never been able to accept his rejection.

Now, sitting across from Blue, she decided yes—she was glad Blue had found her and discovered Kevin was Grunt’s son. Maybe it would help destroy Grunt’s little happily-ever-after with Kit. Jan may have been in Witness Protection, but that didn’t stop her from doing some snooping of her own. She knew they had married before Grizz even went to trial. She also knew Grizz was about to die and Blue was angry. Maybe she could exact even more revenge for Grunt’s denial of Kevin.

“He raped me,” she blurted. “He had Moe drop him at the house when you weren’t there. He made up some excuse about wanting to see Timmy. Of course, I never suspected what he really had in mind. You must remember it. It was that time you came home and he was there. We told you we were trying to set up a budget. You didn’t really seem to care.”

Blue looked at her sideways. “He raped you and you got pregnant with Kevin? Just that one time?

Blue didn’t question a teenager’s ability to rape a grown woman. Grunt was big for his age, and he’d learned how to handle himself. He wouldn’t have had a problem overpowering Jan. But he just couldn’t see Grunt doing that. Blue knew she was lying.

“Once is all it takes, Blue,” she answered, looking at her lap. “I couldn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to kill him. After all, he is your brother and I knew you cared about him. I couldn’t ruin that.”

Before Blue could respond, she quickly added, “I don’t know if you ever noticed, but he stayed away after that. I guess he got what he wanted and that was the end of it. Maybe he felt guilty every time he was around me so he just stayed away as much as he could. I really hated him after that, Blue. I tried not to. I tried to forgive him because he was your brother, but I was always afraid that he might show up again when you weren’t there. Especially after he got his license and started driving.”

She looked up at him then. Was she convincing him?

“How was he involved with taking down Grizz?” He’d already disregarded the rape story. It didn’t matter anyway. He thought he already knew the answer to this question, too, but he had to let her talk.

“I take responsibility for the whole affair thing. Yes. I did cheat on you, but let’s be honest, Blue, there was no love lost between us. It was over long before it was over.”              

If she threw a little confession of her own guilt in there, Blue might be more easily convinced.

He nodded and urged her to continue.

“He came to me during the custody battle.” Jan sighed. “Told me he’d been waiting to be with Kit and he was tired of waiting. Said maybe we could help each other. That’s all. He just started the ball rolling, but left me and Froggy to carry the weight of it. He got what he wanted, her, and he was done.”

This, too, was a lie, but Jan would never tell Blue who had really been instigating everything from behind the scenes. The man who’d come to her during her custody battle had said that he could offer a solution. The perfect solution. By then, she’d moved on from her obsession with Grunt. He had moved on from Kit, too. Or so she’d thought. He always brought that rich bitch, Cindy, to the few gatherings she attended. She didn’t care. She was dating attorneys and even a judge behind Blue’s back. Let both of them screw whomever they wanted. She wanted to get as far away from the gang as possible by then. She wasn’t “old lady” material. She was too good for that low-life group of degenerates.