Colt didn’t answer this time, just stared at him.

“And I’ll keep an eye out,” Cal finished.

Colt returned to their earlier subject. “It’s done with her?”

“What?”

“You done with her? You finished it?” Colt pushed.

“Yeah.”

Colt stared at him again then shook his head and took a drink of water.

Then he looked back at Cal. “Not my business but, man, are you f**kin’ crazy?”

Cal’s body got tight again.

“Yeah, it’s not your business, Colt.”

“Known you awhile, Cal.”

“Still, not your business.”

“She’s sweet, she can be funny when she forgets to be sad. She’s good to her girls, a great Mom and f**kin’ gorgeous. Her ass is nearly as fine as Feb’s.”

He was wrong about that. Violet’s ass was far superior to Feb’s. Feb had a sweet ass but Violet’s entire body was built to make a man want to f**k her, want it so much, made it hard to think of anything else.

No, it wasn’t only that, it was built to make a man want to f**k her and it was built to be f**ked. Her tits, her ass, her cunt, pure f**kin’ heaven.

“Noticed that,” Cal remarked.

“And still, you f**ked her and moved on?”

Cal was getting angry. “Like I said, not your business.”

It was then Colt made a mistake.

“She’s not Bonnie.”

Cal straightened and his body got even tighter.

“We’re not talkin’ about this.”

Colt disagreed. “Bonnie was a long f**kin’ time ago.”

“Colt, stand down, this isn’t your goddamned business,” Cal warned, his control slipping.

Colt stared at him, his mouth tight, his eyes angry. Then he shook his head in a way that made the point he thought Cal was an ass**le and an idiot. This pissed Cal off but he let it alone. He liked Colt, respected him, lived across from him a long time, knew him before Colt moved across the street. Colt had even been there during Cal’s nightmare. Cal had always liked and respected him.

“I’ll let you know when you can slip in and I’d appreciate it, you stay alert,” Colt was letting it alone too.

Cal nodded.

Colt nodded back, lifted the water in a gesture of gratitude and said, “Later.”

Then he left.

Cal put his beer to the counter and walked to his second bedroom. It was practically empty. His Dad’s old medical bed was in there from when his Dad was sick, not much else.

He opened the curtains and looked out the window at Violet’s house.

Her Mustang wasn’t there, her daughter’s Fiesta was. It was four thirty, Violet was probably at work but her daughters were home from school, likely alone and he hoped to Christ her alarm was programmed for doors and windows and her girls armed it when they got home.

As he stared at her house, thoughts crowded his head.

Violet had a dead husband, an ass**le obsessing about her and a neighbor who f**ked her over.

Christ, but he was a dick. He should never have touched her.

He walked back through his house, opened the side kitchen door nabbing the key off the hook as he went. He opened the garage door and moved behind his ‘Stang to the back and started digging through his boxes of equipment. It was all shit, that was why it was back there and not in use somewhere.

He went back to the house, locked the kitchen door and went out the front door, locking that.

He walked to his truck, swung in and headed to Indianapolis.

* * * * *

It was the next day and Cal was standing in Colt’s yard by Colt’s GMC, talking to Colt.

“You bought the shit?” Colt asked, his eyebrows up.

“New system, Chip can pick it up, put it in,” Cal answered. “Coupla things on order but they’ll be in soon.”

“You haven’t reconned the house.”

“Been in that house before, Colt, a f**kin’ million times when the Williamses lived there. I know what she needs.”

Colt stared at him a second before he nodded and asked, “Is Chip gonna be able to install your system?”

This was a good question. Cal knew Chip, only boy in town who installed security and his work was good. But Cal had bought some serious equipment for Violet’s house, the like your normal suburban folk couldn’t afford and didn’t even know existed but the people who paid for his services not only knew it existed, they demanded it and they needed it with the sick f**ks who invaded their lives. Chip might not be able to work with it.

“I’ll go through it with him, what he doesn’t know, you get Violet out and I’ll install it.”

“She isn’t Kenzie Elise, Cal, you got her top of the line, it’s doubtful she’ll be able to pay for it,” Colt pointed out.

“I’ll work that out with Chip.”

In other words, words he wasn’t going to give Colt, she wasn’t paying shit.

Colt studied him and Cal let him then Colt nodded again.

“I’ll talk to Vi, then I’ll talk to Chip,” Colt said.

“Let me know,” Cal replied. “I’ve got a job I can’t postpone means I’ll be outta town again in a few days. He needs to put her top of his list and come and get the equipment. If I need to go in, it needs to be soon.”

“Got it,” Colt opened the door to his GMC and explained, “Gotta get to the Station.”

“Yeah.”

“Later.”

Cal lifted his chin and turned while Colt climbed into his truck. He walked across Colt’s yard but his eyes were on Violet’s house. This was because her daughter was standing in the drive, her butt to the door of the Mustang which was parked behind the Fiesta, her eyes were on him.

Fucking great.

He crossed the street, walked passed Tina’s house and was halfway passed Violet’s when her daughter skipped to the end of the drive and called, “Hey, Mr. Callahan.”

Jesus. She called him Mr. Callahan.

He lifted his chin.

“We’re goin’ to the mall,” she informed him and since she was speaking to him and she was Violet’s kid, instead of walking right by her like he would normally do, he stopped.

Even though he didn’t respond, she took his continued presence as indication she should keep talking. “Then we’re goin’ to dinner and then a movie. Mom’s gonna spend Uncle Sam’s money that he gave her when he was here.”

Cal had no response to this and he wanted to be the f**k out of there by the time Violet got out of the house.