Layne stood and Merry tensed.
Then Layne spoke. “Rutledge is providing safe haven to a Caucasian female in her mid-forties named Nicolette Towers. The shit goin’ down at Youth Group is her game. She likes girls, she likes pimpin’ ‘em any way she can and she just plain likes ‘em.” Layne ignored Merry’s face twisting with disgust and continued. “Colt’s in on this as is a guy named Ryker who I ‘spect you know. Ryker and me, we’ve partnered up and my man Devin is workin’ this too. We’re goin’ in hard, her boy is goin’ down, Rutledge is goin’ down and Towers is goin’ down. Of that cast of characters, the one with the most to lose is Rutledge. She’s got dirt on him and it’s not just dirt. It’s filth. Only thing the boys in the hole hate worse than a cop is a pedophile. He’s both and he’s fucked.” Layne crossed his arms on his chest and kept his eyes locked on Merry. “I got intel that says what we suspected, that ambush was a warning. If they meant to kill me, they’d have done it. They won’t give me a second warning. That said, I’m not *footing around with this shit. I want Rutledge scared, I want Gaines freaked and I want Towers on alert. And all that shit is gonna come from me, not you, not Colt. Me. Colt’s workin’ it but he’s not swingin’ his ass out there. I am. What I don’t want is any of them to run. They run, we’re fucked, they’ll go out of your jurisdiction and they’ll do it after they drill a round in my skull. This operation is gonna require skill and it’s gonna require teamwork and I gotta know, right now, if you’re out because you disappear off radar like you did this week, I’m dead.”
“I’m not out,” Merry clipped.
“Good, welcome back to the team,” Layne returned.
Merry scowled at him then asked, “You done?”
“Nope,” Layne answered. “I’m guessin’ you know Roc and I are back together.”
“Yeah, forgot to send my congratulations bouquet,” Merry retorted sarcastically and Layne pulled in breath.
They watched each other and Layne waited. Merry couldn’t take a stare down, didn’t have enough control, therefore he broke the silence first.
“I figure, since you aren’t movin’ toward the door, you got more to say,” he prompted.
“No, I’m not movin’ to the door because I’m waitin’ to hear what you have to say,” Layne replied.
“Think we had this conversation before, brother,” Merry reminded him.
“And I think I made it pretty clear I didn’t like the way that one went,” Layne shot back.
“Seems you liked it enough, since my sister’s keepin’ you warm at night again.”
“Don’t piss me off,” Layne whispered his warning.
“You aren’t already pissed?” Merry returned.
“Good you could read that, Garrett.”
“Not hard, Tanner.”
“Okay, then I’ll keep makin’ it easy for you. You and your Dad, you’re scared shitless of whatever the hell it is your scared shitless of that would make Rocky cut you out if one or the other of you grows a pair and pulls your head outta your ass –”
“Okay, now you’re pissin’ me off,” Merry growled.
“I’m not done,” Layne told him. “To finish, I find out you sat on somethin’, somethin’ that kept her from me when I wanted her and she wanted me, somethin’ that meant we lost eighteen years, somethin’ that kept her livin’ in fear, led her to a dickhead who treated her like shit, then you better stop worryin’ about her cuttin’ you out and start worryin’ about me. Because, brother, there is nothin’ that is gonna tear us apart, not again, she’s mine until she dies. And I find that shit out, I hold a mean grudge and, God’s honest truth, Garrett, you’ll lose us all and not one of us is ever comin’ back. Do you get me?”
Merry smiled and it was nasty. “Don’t play that game, Tanner. You pit yourself against me and Dad, when it comes to Rocky, I promise you, you’ll lose.”
“You seem sure.”
“That’s because I am.”
“She’s thirty-eight and still embarrassed about her periods and scared shitless of the dark. Tell me, Garrett, you two handled her with care, how can that be?”
Merry’s face changed and Layne couldn’t read it before he hid it.
So Layne bluffed, “That’s what I thought, you’re not so fuckin’ sure, are you?”
Layne won his bluff, he knew it when Merry whispered, “Fuck you.”
He looked at his watch and back to Merry. “You got fifteen minutes before I gotta go pick her up for the game. You got anything for me?”
Merry was silent and Layne waited.
Then Layne warned quietly, “This is the last time I’ll ask you, brother, you got anything for me?”
Merry kept his silence.
Layne nodded and whispered, “Right.”
Then without looking at his friend and without another word, Layne walked right passed him and out the door.
*
“Oh my God,” Rocky whispered, her face white, she was staring at him.
Layne was at one end of her couch, his feet on her coffee table, the mostly empty pizza box and several bottles of beer scattered on it. Rocky was at the opposite end of the couch, her feet were in his lap and he’d just told her Marissa Gibbon’s entire story.
“Sorry, sweetcheeks,” Layne said softly. “I woulda kept that from you but if Astley still has someone watchin’, he could have been takin’ pictures and that could get back to you. Forced my hand. You needed to know.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She was still whispering.
“Nothin’ to say except try to find the silver lining and that is that Marissa Gibbons learned how to be a good woman today. She tried it on and it fit. You know Devin called me when we were at the game. She set the meet. Now, she gets to move on, leave this shit behind and maybe find a good life.”