Golden Trail

  “You might not wanna light that, brother, since I intend to talk to you about Mia,” Layne told him and Merry’s eyes cut to Layne.

  “Don’t go there,” he warned.

  “Sorry, I’m gonna,” Layne returned.

  “None of your business, Tanner.”

  “She cheat on you?” Layne asked.

  “Tanner –”

  That meant no.

  “Bust your balls?” Layne cut him off.

  Merry looked away and lit his cigarette.

  “Was she shit in bed?”

  Merry exhaled and then his jaw got tight.

  That meant no too. A big no.

  “You think about her when you fuck your other women?” Layne pushed and Merry’s eyes sliced to him.

  “Shut it, Tanner.”

  “You do,” Layne murmured.

  “Fuck off,” Merry clipped.

  “Not doin’ any of those other women a favor, closin’ your eyes and thinkin’ of Mia,” Layne remarked.

  Merry was silent.

  “You can fuck your way through the ‘burg, you care about her and can’t get her outta your head, you’re never gonna find that again,” Layne told him.

  “Roc’s had a tough weekend, brother, don’t think she’ll wanna rush out to your backyard and wade into a fistfight between her brother and her man,” Merry threatened.

  Layne ignored him and advised, “Get back in there.”

  Merry didn’t respond.

  “Look around and learn, Garrett, don’t waste time.”

  Merry took a drag from his cigarette.

  “You did me a favor, brother, you took a chance and pushed me into makin’ the right decision. Now, I’m returnin’ that favor,” Layne stated.

  Merry wrapped three fingers around his bottle of beer, lifted it and took a pull.

  “It’s all around you, Garrett, wake the fuck up,” Layne whispered and Merry didn’t turn his head but his eyes slid to Layne.

  “What?” he asked curtly.

  “Colt and Feb, Cal and Vi, Roc and me. Jesus, just look at Cal. Fuck, what happened to him? Now I see him laughin’.” When Merry made no comment, Layne went on. “I remember Mia had a wicked funny sense of humor.”

  Merry looked away.

  “This is what I know,” Layne started. “Life was what life was for me and after Rocky, it was never great. What sucks more is knowin’ that Rocky led a life that also wasn’t great. That sucks more, Merry.” Layne stood and looked down at Merry who kept his eyes to Layne’s yard and he fired his parting shot. “If Mia feels the way you feel, don’t you wanna stop that?”

  Merry closed his eyes and swallowed.

  Layne turned and walked into the house.

  * * * * *

  Layne’s eyes shifted to Devin, who was sitting in an armchair, his head nodding. He needed the couch.

  “Dev,” he called and Devin’s heard turned to him. “Try the sectional,” Layne advised.

  “Will do, you get your woman upstairs,” Dev returned.

  Layne looked down at Rocky who was stretched out with him on the couch, half on him, half off.

  He curled up, taking her with him, her head came up, she looked around, pulling her hair out of her face.

  Her eyes semi-focused on Devin.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “I fell asleep.”

  “No problem, girlie,” Devin whispered back.

  She looked at Layne then climbed over him, got to her feet and Layne rolled off the couch right behind her. She lurched toward the stairs, Layne got close and put his hands to her hips, guiding her while calling behind him, “’Night, Dev.”

  “’Night, boy.”

  They got to the stairs, Rocky bent double, mostly crawling on hands and feet up them while Layne tried not to laugh. She lifted up at the top and staggered into the bedroom. He let her go, closed the door and turned to see she was at her side, reaching under her pillowcase. He watched as she tugged her clothes off, put on his tee, threw back the covers and did a face plant in the bed.

  Layne changed, joined her there and turned out the light.

  Rocky shifted into him.

  “’Night, baby,” she mumbled into his chest.

  “’Night, sweetcheeks.”

  Her arm tightened for half a second around his stomach and then she was out.

  Layne stared at the dark ceiling while his hand moved, sifting into her hair, he pulled it out of her face, off her shoulder and neck, so it all fell down to the bed and on his arm.

  Lying there, it occurred to him that life was now just life.

  Therefore Tanner Layne smiled before he closed his eyes and fell asleep with his lips tipped up.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Sheer Evil

  Saturday, 1:37 p.m., two weeks later

  “I can’t believe Gram’s movin’ back here, that is so cool,” Tripp remarked from the back of the Suburban. He was sitting behind Layne, Keira was in the middle, Jasper behind Rocky.

  They’d just seen Vera off at the airport. She was going home to put her condo on the market and sort her shit out. When she came back, she was taking over Rocky’s rental because, even though The Brendel had a waiting list, they were not fond of letting people out of their rental agreements. To get out, Rocky would have to pay through the nose. The market was good in Vera’s area but she wasn’t going to wait it out, just sort her shit, put the stuff she couldn’t pack in at Rocky’s in storage and she was going to take her time finding a place to settle in the ‘burg. The Brendel’s rent was a little steep but Layne was going to help until the agreement ran its course and Vera was in her own space.

  Rocky was moving in the minute Vera returned, sooner, if Layne could talk her into it. She, however, didn’t want to move in until she’d signed the divorce papers, an event that was scheduled to happen late next week. He could see why she wanted that which was why he was letting her make that play.

  Layne’s eyes went to the rearview mirror to look at Tripp then they looked out the back window to see the Calais peel off. Devin had followed Vera to return her rental car and driven her to the airport where Layne and his family met them, Vera checked in, they had a drink and they all waved her off as she headed through Security. Now, they were still on I-465.

  Layne had no idea where Devin was headed and he’d probably never know. Though it wasn’t home to Ohio. Devin had stayed put on Layne’s couch for the last two weeks and helped Layne with some of his cases. He seemed in no hurry to head back to Cleveland. Layne expected there would be a conversation later on down the line considering Vera and Devin had grown tight but he was glad that conversation had not yet happened. Things were settling. Roc was seeing a therapist twice a week. She liked her. The good life was shifting to beautiful and Layne didn’t want anything to rock that boat, such as having his best friend and mother officially hooking up.

  “Your Gram is cool,” Keira noted. “One of my Grams is really shy, the other one is not very nice but Joe’s Aunt Theresa is totally awesome, a complete blast. When your Gram gets home, I should call Aunt Theresa and ask her to come down. They could have, like, a bake off or something.”

  Layne’s eyes slid to Rocky to see she was smiling at the windscreen.

  “I thought girls weren’t supposed to like to eat because they didn’t want to get fat,” Tripp stated, Layne rolled his eyes and Jasper exploded.

  “Tripp, don’t be a dick!”

  “What?” Tripp asked.

  “Joe says skinny girls don’t do anything for him,” Keira put in, obviously not offended in the slightest. “He says for a woman to be a woman, she’s gotta have curves.”

  “Joe’s right,” Layne muttered and Rocky’s hand shot out and she flicked his bicep with the backs of her knuckles.

  “What’d you say, Dad?” Tripp asked.

  “I said,” Layne said louder, “Joe is right.”

  “Layne!” Rocky hissed.

  “Baby, a woman without a great ass?” He shook his head.
r />   The trio in the back laughed but he felt Rocky’s glare.

  “Don’t know why you’re pissed, sweetcheeks,” Layne told her over their laughter. “That’s precisely how you got your nickname.”

  “Layne!” Rocky repeated on a hiss.

  “What was that, Dad?” Tripp asked.

  Rocky’s head whipped around to look in the backseat. “Nothing, Tripp, your father is being tactless.”

  “What’s tactless?” Tripp asked.

  “Indiscreet,” Rocky answered.

  “Indiscreet?” Tripp sounded confused.

  “Rude” Rocky said, putting great stress on that one word and Layne chuckled.

  “Dad’s never rude,” Jasper put in, “he’s just honest.”

  “I think boys think rude is honest and girls think rude is rude,” Keira proposed.

  “Exactly,” Rocky muttered, turning to face forward again.

  Layne found himself rethinking his desire to give Rocky a daughter because by the time she reached Keira’s age, his boys would be gone and he’d be outnumbered and he was still rethinking this when his cell phone rang.

  He pulled it out of his inside jacket pocket, looked at the display and saw it said, “Ryker Calling”. He flipped it open and put it to his ear.

  “Yo,” he answered.

  “Alexis is gone,” Ryker growled in his ear and Layne’s neck muscles contracted.

  “Come again?”

  “Alexis. She’s gone. Lissa had a half day shift at the restaurant, got home at one and Alexis was gone. No note, no nothin’. She’s just gone.”

  “I take it she didn’t have plans?” Layne asked.

  “Yeah, her plans were to get her chores done, which means stayin’ at home, cleanin’ the house and then when her Mom got home, they were goin’ shoppin’ and to a movie.”

  “She with a friend?”

  “Negative. Lissa has called all her friends. No one has seen or heard from her.”

  “Her chores done?” Layne asked.

  “Who cares?” Ryker answered.

  “We care, brother,” Layne said quietly. “We need to understand how long she’s been gone. Now, are her chores done and, if they are, what time does she normally get up and how long does it take her to clean the house?”

  “Don’t know,” Ryker answered, “but the house is cleaned.”

  “All right, talk to Lissa, let’s get a time line here,” Layne advised. “Once you talk to Lissa, you call Colt, I’ll call Devin but after you call Colt, you start knocking on doors. Did anyone see her leave? If they did, what time? Did she walk? Which direction? Was she with someone? Did she get in a car? If she got in a car, what kind of car was it? Did they see who was driving? Was anyone else in the car? Get a description. They probably didn’t get a plate but they might have seen if it was Indiana plates or something else. Did you get that?”

  “Got it,” Ryker growled.

  “You hear anything before I get there, report back,” Layne ordered, flipped his phone shut and opened it, scrolling down to Devin.

  “Layne,” Rocky whispered and Layne felt the air in the car had changed from cheerful to tense.

  “Tripp, on your phone, call Giselle, yeah?” Layne ordered, ignoring Rocky.

  “Right, Dad,” Tripp replied.

  He put his phone to his ear and heard Devin answer, “Miss me already?”

  “Alexis McGraw is gone,” Layne told Devin and heard the hiss of Rocky taking in a breath. “She’s supposed to be shoppin’ with her mother but Lissa came home and she’s gone. No note. I’ve got Ryker started. I need to drop off Keira so I need you to get to him.”

  “Copy that, out,” Devin said and disconnected.

  “You can take me wherever you need to go, Mr. Layne. I can get Mom or Joe to come pick me up,” Keira offered quietly from the back. “I’ll call them now and they can meet me there.”

  “That’d be good, honey,” Layne replied. “It’s thirty-four Easton Street.”

  “Okay,” she whispered and he heard her digging through her purse.

  “Hey Giselle, what’s up?” Tripp said into his phone and Layne held his breath. “Oh, cool. Yeah, we got Gram off okay…” he went on and Layne let his breath go.

  Rocky’s hand came to his knee and squeezed, he covered hers with his and squeezed back. Then he drove carefully with precious cargo, the whole time his foot itching to press down the accelerator.

  * * * * *

  The minute they got to Lissa’s house, doors opened, all of them on his truck and the front door of the house. Ryker prowled out first, followed by Devin, Colt, Sully and Merry, Lissa coming out last to stand on the little stoop. She didn’t look good; she looked terrified out of her mind.

  Rocky hustled Keira to Lissa; Layne, Jasper and Tripp went to the men, Jasper stopping a few feet away. He was on his phone, Layne didn’t know why and he was focused on the matter at hand so he didn’t pay attention.

  “Around noon,” Ryker stated before Layne even stopped. “A silver BMW. That bitch was behind the wheel.”

  Towers.

  Fuck.

  “Who saw?” Layne asked.

  “Neighbor across the street. Bitch is nosy as hell, ugly too, but, swear, bro, her info helps, I’ll fuckin’ kiss her,” Ryker answered. “Said she didn’t think anything of it because Lexie walked right up to the car, seemed excited to see her, got in and they went.”

  “No one else in the car?” Layne asked.

  “Nope,” Ryker answered.

  Layne’s eyes slid through the group. “What else we got?”

  “Not much, man,” Colt muttered, his eyes on Ryker, his body alert for Ryker to blow. “Lissa’s been calling Alexis’s friends. No one knows about any plans. This is a sneak attack.”

  Layne’s phone rang, he pulled it out, saw the display said, “Dave Calling”, he flipped it open and put it to his ear.

  “Dave, I’m in the middle of –”

  “Somethin’s goin’ down,” Dave cut him off. “I’m on duty at your office, listenin’ to Rutledge. He just had a conversation with someone, tellin’ them it’s too hot, he was freaked, though he didn’t provide details. Whoever it was, they didn’t listen. Now I got silence and I’m watchin’ his car move. Looks like he may be headin’ out of the ‘burg.”

  Devin had planted the bugs and then Layne had planted a tracking device on Rutledge’s car. Even though things had cooled down to the point they were ice cold, both were still monitored in the office twenty-four seven.

  “Where?” Layne asked.

  “He’s on Green and looks to me he’s on his way to 74,” Dave answered.

  “Right, two hours ago, Alexis McGraw got in a car with Nicolette Towers,” Layne told him.

  “Shit!” Dave hissed.

  “Keep an eye on him,” Layne ordered. “Got some of the boys here, we’ll get someone on his ass.”

  “Right, out,” Dave said and disconnected.

  Layne flipped his phone shut and looked at Merry. “Was anyone sitting on Rutledge?”

  “The investigation is ongoing but wrapping up since we don’t have enough. Just shitty police work so he’s not gonna get a good performance evaluation but it looks like he’s gonna be cleared. He didn’t bolt which looked good for him. Cap rescinded the unit on his tail,” Merry explained.

  “You need to call it in, he’s headed to Indy, looks to hit 74. He needs to pick up a tail on his way. He just had a conversation with someone, tryin’ to convince them it’s too hot then he took off,” Layne told them and Sully had his phone out before Layne was done speaking.

  Sully stepped away and Layne heard Jasper’s phone ringing behind him. He turned and swept his son with a glance to see Jasper was still hanging back, body partially turned away, eyes to the ground, focus intense.

  Before he could ascertain what Jasper was doing, he sensed Ryker was on the move and he turned to see Ryker heading toward his bike.

  “Ryker,” Layne called, moving behind him.

 
“I’m headed to I-74,” Ryker grunted.

  “Ryker,” Layne put a hand on his big arm but Ryker shook it off and kept moving.

  “Call me, you got info on where he’s goin’,” Ryker swung a leg over his bike, settling as he put his key to the ignition.

  Layne’s hand shot out and he yanked the keys from his friend.

  Ryker’s head turned to Layne and he had that scary look on his face.

  “Not a bright idea, bro,” he growled.

  “Not a bright idea to get on your bike, pissed and lookin’ to do damage. We can hope nothin’s happened yet. It does, it doesn’t, Alexis and Lissa are gonna need you right here, not have to find their time to visit you and talk to you through glass,” Layne returned.

  “She has my girl,” Ryker growled.

  “I know and it isn’t helpin’ matters, us spendin’ time havin’ this conversation. Get off your bike,” Layne ordered.

  Ryker glared at him.

  “Dad,” Jasper called, Layne took a chance and turned his back on scary, pissed off Ryker to see Jasper was jogging up to him.

  “Tiffany’s not answering her phone,” Jasper told him when he got close.

  Fuck!

  “I got her number after the last thing and I’ve been callin’ her. Know someone who’s got some of her friends’ numbers and her home number and they called. She’s not at home, parents said she was goin’ to hang with some of her girls. None of her friends have heard from her and they didn’t have plans.”

  “I’m on that,” Colt muttered, pulling out his phone.

  “Dad,” Jasper called his attention.

  “What, Bud?”

  Jasper looked funny and Layne knew that look. He hadn’t seen it from Jas in years. It was hesitant, unsure, like Tripp looked when he had to say something he thought might sound stupid.

  Jasper sucked it up and said softly, “Okay, Dad, stick with me, yeah?”

  “I’m with you,” Layne spoke softly back as he felt Ryker getting off his bike and Tripp, Devin and Merry got close.

  “I know we don’t have a lotta time but will you let me talk this out?” Jasper asked and Layne nodded.

  “Okay,” Jasper whispered then took a big breath. “I’ve been thinkin’ about all this stuff and somethin’ never sat right with me ‘cause that Youth Group guy has been around for ages, like, months, right?”