Fuck.

Fuck!

Rivera went on, “You got the touch, bro, layin’ her shit out then talkin’ Dusty around in a night, cementin’ that shit by sendin’ her flowers. One day, my woman is plotting your murder. Next day, I get asked why she doesn’t get any flowers. I see you got it goin’ on. But f**k, you’re killin’ me. I haven’t bought Jerra flowers since I pissed her off when we were datin’ and fell asleep durin’ some crappy-ass movie she forced me to take her to sayin’ that movie was Hollywood’s version of us. How could I fall asleep watching the story of us, she asks. And, bro, if that was us, we are borin’ as shit. Now, I got LeBrec all riled up ‘cause you’re up in Indiana doin’ the nasty and don’t mind takin’ a call. Fuck.”

“He can’t come to Indiana,” Mike informed him.

“What you want me to do? Sit on him?” Rivera asked.

“Shit just got ugly with the farm. Dusty had a hand full dealin’ with a house full of grief and a bitch of a sister. Now the sister has located a buyer for her quarter of the land who likes to build and he likes it a lot. To build, you gotta have land. And it’s a little sketchy how he changes the minds of farmers who’ve held onto their land for five generations including through the farm crisis, convincing them suddenly to up stakes and walk away.”

He knew Rivera got him when he muttered, “Fuck.”

“So the answer to your question is, yeah. You sit on him. You tranq him. You shoot him. I don’t give a f**k what you do. But you keep that ass**le away from Dusty.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Rivera replied. “My mission fails, I’ll keep my ear to the ground and give you a head’s up he’s comin’ your way.”

“Appreciated,” Mike murmured.

“Right, business out of the way, what I say next is not about Jerra. Dusty’s her girl but she’s also mine. Straight up, I saw the devastation you wrought. I won’t explain it but I hope you get it. I don’t wanna see my girl down here in that state again. You get me?”

“It’s history.”

“I need to know you get me.”

“And I think you know from me callin’ you when I know you know all this shit that I do.”

There was silence then a quiet, “I do. Balls of steel, man. Fuck.” Then, not in a mutter, “You get her in your bed permanent-like, you make her happy. Losin’ her to Indiana will be to Jerra like cuttin’ off a limb. And I gotta listen to her moan about the pain.”

“Pardon?” Mike asked.

“Heard all about it,” Rivera shared. “She likes your townhome. The rooms are spacious. The kitchen’s nice. Some shit about a dog. Lotsa shit about two great kids. Dusty does dogs and kids but she does not do townhomes. That shit means it isn’t about the townhome but the man in it. Far’s I know, she lived with one man. LeBrec. And he moved his ass into her house. She’s extolling the virtues of a townhome, this means one thing.”

Rivera shut up and Mike was silent.

“Oh shit. Fuck me,” River whispered. “Let the cat outta the bag. Now you’re freaked and gonna bolt.”

“No. I absolutely am not,” Mike replied, his voice hard.

Rivera shut up again.

She liked his house. She liked his dog. He already knew she liked his kids.

Fuck, she liked his house.

When Rivera didn’t speak, Mike did.

“I think we’re done.”

“Head’s up, bro. Kids got spring break comin’ soon. Guess where we’re headed?” Rivera asked.

“To donuts,” Mike answered.

“Bet your ass, man.”

“My advice. Fast for at least a week. You’ll want plenty of room.”

He heard Rivera’s laughter before he heard, “No shit. She brought us a dozen after you dumped her ass. You knew what you lost, didn’t delay in gettin’ it back, you’re both gettin’ it regular, obviously, so we expect two.”

“My take, I owe you ten.”

“I like your take better. We’ll swing with that. Later, bro.”

“Later.”

Mike disconnected and stared, unseeing at his desk.

She liked his house.

He shoved his phone in his back pocket as he stood.

He caught Merry’s eyes.

“Lunch,” he muttered.

Merry jerked up his chin.

Mike walked out of the Station and he did it grinning.

*

Violet Callahan laid in the dark with her cheek against her husband’s shoulder.

“Bare feet?” she whispered and Joe’s arm around her got tight.

He remembered. Then again, no way he’d forget.

“Yeah, got to the house, she was standin’ outside, no jacket, bare feet. Her bitch of a sister was geared up to throw down, men in the yard one look at his face, I knew Haines did not like and still, first thing Haines did was make her go in the house and put on a jacket and shoes.”

Bare feet.

Violet smiled.

Then she asked quietly, “Is she pretty?”

“Fuck yeah.”

Vi’s smile got bigger. “That pretty?”

“Oh yeah.”

Vi kept smiling. Then it faded.

“Does he seem happy?” she whispered.

“Got a call from her, listened for a second and he was outta his chair and headin’ to the stairs. Don’t know if that’s happy, buddy. Do know he gives a shit.”

“I suppose that’s good,” she muttered.

“Nothin’ to suppose. It just is.”

Joe was right. It was. She knew it, that feeling. She’d had it three times, men in her life who would listen for a second, know you needed them, drop everything and head straight to the door.

Mike Haines was one of those three men.

Mike had that now. Mike would like having that to give. This was good.

Violet sighed.

Surprisingly, Joe wasn’t done sharing.

“Throw down was over, the bitch sister took a hike, Mike and his woman huddled. They mighta been talkin’ strategy but they did it so close it was a wonder they didn’t fuse.”

Vi smiled again.

This was good too.

Then her smile again died.

“She have trouble?”

“While Mike and his woman talked, so did the boys. I listened. Brace, babe. Shit’s about to get ugly.”

This was bad.

“How ugly?”

“Ugly enough that Mike and his woman want it or not, today, they added four men to their legion.”