Golden Trail (75 page)

“Screw you,” she repeated, turned, walked
out the door and disappeared down the stairs.

Rocky threw the door to and turned to look
up at Layne.

“Last Sunday started a whole lot better,”
she noted.

Layne looked into her eyes a beat that led
into two.

Then he burst out laughing.

Rocky pressed into him, her hand going over
his mouth, hissing, “Layne, she might hear you!”

“Don’t care,” Layne said from under her
hand.

“I do, it’s mean!”

One of Layne’s arms went to span her waist,
the other hand went to her wrist and he pulled hers away from his
mouth and down then he pressed it against his chest.

“Live by the sword, die by the sword,” he
muttered.

“She’s mother to your sons.”

“She’s a bitch.”

“Layne!”

“What?”

She stared at him then shook her head but
didn’t answer.

It was, again, time to move on.

“All right, sweetcheeks, my guess is, we got
about ten minutes before the next trauma. We can brush our teeth,
make coffee and barricade the door with your couch or we can go
back to bed. Your choice.”

“Can I suggest an alternate scenario where
we barricade the door, start the coffee, go back to bed then brush
our teeth and have a cup of joe?”

“That’ll take more than ten minutes.”

Her eyebrows went up, her body pressed
closer and her arm wound around his waist. “Are you saying you
aren’t up for the challenge?”

He dropped his head so his face was close to
hers and whispered, “No, I’m sayin’ I’m hungry and I don’t like to
be rushed when I eat.”

Her body melted full into his but it did
this while she shivered.

“Bed it is, then,” she whispered back.

Layne grinned.

* * * * *

“Uh… Layne?” Rocky called hesitantly. She
was sitting next to him while he drove her Mercedes, which, even
though Astley got it for her, Layne had to admit was a sweet
ride.

“Yeah, sweetcheeks,” Layne answered.

The next trauma hadn’t happened. In fact,
he’d enjoyed Rocky, Rocky had enjoyed him, then she’d walked
downstairs to start coffee, came back upstairs and joined him in
the shower, they both enjoyed that then he sat on the counter in
her kitchen while she made poached eggs on toast and hash browns
and he kept sitting there, beside Rocky, when they ate poached eggs
on toast and hash browns. Then Rocky had taken approximately half a
year to blow out her hair and put on makeup while Layne called a
variety of people to check on a variety of things and then they
headed to his office.

He’d been unable to outfit her with a panic
button the day before and he’d learned from Dave that Ernie was on
duty listening to the bugs. He figured he should take his turn even
though he wanted to do this about as much as he wanted to endure
water torture but he might as well do it with Rocky hanging with
him part of the time. She was going grocery shopping and had a few
places to target for silent auction items for the charity gig but
in between times she was going to hit the office. She’d be able to
get him Mimi’s and lunch and he was pretty sure he could make out
with her on his couch and still pay enough attention to the bugs to
hear if anything was going down.

Though, the last part, he was only
pretty
sure about.

“Um… I’m not entirely certain how to say
this,” she cut into his thoughts, still talking hesitantly. “But, I
guess we’d get to this point eventually since you do have two sons
and it would seem I’m going to be in your life for awhile.”

Layne didn’t know where she was heading with
this but he still grinned at the windscreen and muttered, “Yeah,
baby, you’re gonna be in my life for awhile.”

She was silent a moment then she said,
“Okay, well then, um… she could have chosen a more diplomatic way
to make her point but her point was valid.”

Layne was confused, therefore he asked,
“Come again?”

“Gabrielle.”

Oh shit.

“Rocky –”

“Okay,” she said swiftly and he knew she’d
turned to face him and a glance in her direction proved this true,
“I’m in your life and they’re your sons so they’re in
my
life but that said, most of the time, promise, sweetheart, I won’t
wade in unless you want me to but this time, I mean, I’ve seen
Gabrielle around a lot over the years, with the boys, and it seems
to me she’s a good Mom. Being a good Mom, regardless if Jasper is a
boy or not, she probably worried about him last night just as much
as Vi and Cal did about Keira. I know you’re a man and he’s your
son, a boy, and you know how boys are so you won’t get this but I
know she worried and,” she sucked in an audible breath, “you should
have phoned her to let her know he was all right.”

“Sorry, were you not there a couple hours
ago?” Layne asked.

“Yes, but –”

Layne talked over her. “I try to avoid
communication with Gabrielle.”

“Well, I can see that too, but –”

“She’s a bitch.”

“Um… yes, but –”

Layne turned on Main and lucked out, in
Rocky’s Mercedes, with a double spot open in front of the office,
he could pull right in rather than needing to use all of his
attention to steer the Suburban behemoth.

Therefore he was able to continue talking
over Rocky as he parked. “She isn’t a bitch to the boys but she’s a
hard Mom, she’s strict, she’s in their business, I’m not down with
that.” He put the car in neutral, set the parking brake, switched
off the ignition and turned to face Rocky. “That’s her choice. We
discussed it when they were young, we discussed it throughout the
time I was away and we’ve discussed it when I came back. That
wasn’t the first conversation I’ve had like that with her, Roc, but
it was the last.”

Rocky looked directly into his eyes but she
spoke quietly when she asked, “Do you at least see where I’m coming
from?”

“Yeah, I see where
you’re
comin’
from. You’re the woman who got up without a word, without a
judgment, got in the car and went with me to take care of my boy.
You’re the woman I saw grab hold of Jas’s hand last night when he
was freaked and pissed and his girl was passed out in his car and
he was gearin’ up to face Joe Callahan. You think Gabby would do
any of that shit?”

“Um –”

“No, she wouldn’t. She’d lose it. That’s why
Jas called me. That is also why he avoided her last night and went
to bed.”

“But, Layne, he shouldn’t be underage
drinking.”

“You did,” Layne returned and he knew she
did, she didn’t do it with him, but she called him twice when she
was out with friends and got hammered. He’d come to pick her and
her girls up to take them home.

“It wasn’t right when I did it either,” she
replied softly.

“So, I get in his face about it, next time
he fucks up, and there’ll be a next time, Roc, he didn’t like the
consequences of him mannin’ up and callin’ me, he goes it alone.
Like Gabby said, he’s seventeen, he didn’t know what to do last
night, what happens when he doesn’t know what to do but he feels
compelled to go it alone because he doesn’t wanna put up with the
grief he’ll get by comin’ forward and bein’ honest?”

As he spoke, Rocky’s face changed and when
he was done, she whispered, “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

Layne reached out a hand and curled it
around her neck, leaning forward as he pulled her to him.

When they were close, he said gently, “I
tried the lecture gig with Jas, it doesn’t go over as in, it
doesn’t go over
at all.
He’s a learn by doin’ type of kid
and he’ll make mistakes. My only hope is, he fucks up royally,
he’ll call me in for guidance. Last night he fucked up, not
royally, but he called me in for guidance. It was the right thing
to do.” She nodded and he squeezed her neck. “And Gabby earned what
she got last night. That’s the kind of parent she wanted to be,
that’s what she gets. She’s too hard on ‘em. That’s my opinion. I
can’t say it hasn’t worked because they’re good kids. I can say I
don’t agree with all the ways she goes about it. We never found a
middle ground, I was willin’ to give, she was not. This is what’s
left of that.”

“Okay,” Rocky whispered.

“Somethin’ else, sweetcheeks,” Layne went
on.

“What?” She was still whispering.

“You’re in my life, I’m in yours. I come
with them. You wanna talk to me about them, about my decisions
regarding my boys, about anything, you don’t hesitate. You got
somethin’ to say to them, you say it. If I don’t agree, we’ll talk
about it later. But this is your life now and I think you know,
bein’ a teacher, when it comes to kids, you can’t hesitate.”

Her eyes went intense as her lids lowered,
her mouth softened and she leaned in, veering to the side, she
kissed his jaw.

Then she shifted her lips to his ear and
said, “All right, sweetheart.”

His hand flexed on her neck and then slid up
into her hair.

“Sweet kiss, baby, but it’s not enough,” he
muttered.

Her lips moved and she kissed his cheek.

“Enough?” she said this with her lips moving
against his skin.

“Nope.”

She moved again and her lips brushed his,
her eyes looking into his, she repeated, “Enough?”

“Quit fuckin’ around, Roc,” he ordered.

He watched up close as her eyes smiled.

Then they closed.

Then her head tilted.

Then she gave him more than enough.

* * * * *

Layne had his feet up on the desk. He was
eating the reuben Rocky bought him, his mouth over a square
Styrofoam container held up almost to his chin.

Rocky was sitting on his desk, dipping a
curly fry into ketchup next to her half-eaten French dip. They were
listening to nothing but Layne hadn’t heard only nothing. Layne had
heard a showdown between Towers and Jeremy. Jeremy had won, talking
Towers down, earning a few more days to swing Giselle around.
Clearly, they’d motivated him appropriately the day before, he’d
handled it like a pro. Then both of them had left and now
silence.

Rocky had been in and out twice. After he
spelled Ernie, she’d gone to get him a Mimi’s, hung out with him
awhile and then she’d headed out to hit the jewelry store on Main
for a donation (and scored herself a gold and amethyst bracelet, it
wasn’t fit for a queen but it wasn’t shabby either). Then she’d
gone grocery shopping, taken it back to her apartment and come back
with lunch.

“When does Spike come to relieve you?” she
asked, popping the fry into her mouth.

“Three,” Layne answered.

She moved her Styrofoam container from one
hand to the other and looked at her watch. Then her nose
scrunched.

“That’s nearly two hours away,” she
muttered, picking up her sandwich and shoving it into her little
plastic container of au jus. “I’ve never done it but I’m pretty
certain watching paint dry is more interesting. At least it changes
colors. So, maybe it just darkens a shade but that’s
something.
”

Layne grinned at his reuben.

“Told you this investigation shit is mostly
boring,” Layne muttered back, her eyes slid to him and he took a
huge bite of one of many of Frank’s Restaurant’s freaking fantastic
sandwiches and watched his woman smile.

Layne’s phone rang, her eyes dropped to it
on his desk and then narrowed.

“Cal,” she whispered as Layne pulled his
feet from the desk and reached for the phone.

He flipped it open and put it to his ear.
“Yo, Cal.”

“You at a place where you can move
quick?”

Layne’s back went straight.

“Maybe, why?”

“’Cause Keira just came shooting out of her
bedroom. Even though she’s grounded and Vi told her no phone calls
or texts for a week, she found a way to take one from Jasper.
Apparently, he’s been on a mission today. He found out what
happened last night and he’s meanin’ to do somethin’ about it.”

Oh fuck.

Layne put his lunch down and stood, reaching
for his jacket. “She tell you what he found out?”

“Yep. He heard from someone who witnessed it
that Keirry took a shot from a kid named Tyler Berger. Keira says
she doesn’t remember it but if she did it that was the only drink
she had that Jasper himself didn’t hand her. Jasper learned she
took it after usin’ the bathroom right before they were gonna leave
so the timing fits. According to Keira, Jasper is not a big fan of
Tyler Berger mainly because, while he was playin’ it cool and
textin’ her, Tyler asked Keira out. She didn’t go but this made
Tyler pretty fuckin’ unpopular to Jasper. Jasper told Keirry that
he reckons this kid slipped her the drug and he’s itchin’ for
payback for last night and for Tyler tryin’ to move on his
territory. That said, Keira says Tyler’s a slimeball and she
doesn’t put this shit passed him. She says his parents are out of
town and it was his party they were at last night. Jasper is
headin’ that way and so am I.”

He had his jacket on and his eyes glued to
Rocky. “Where is it?”

“The Heritage. Don’t have the house number
but Keira says it’s the second left in the development, at the end
of the street. I figure I’ll see Jasper’s Charger parked out
front.”

“I’ll be there in ten,” Layne stated.

“Good, I’ll be there in five, I’ll deal with
what I find and you take it from there,” Cal replied.

“He was pissed, Cal, and he’s protective.
What you find may be messy,” Layne warned.

“Yeah, why’d you think I went easy on him
last night? He was more torn up about what happened to Keirry than
Vi and I were, and, man, I gotta tell you, your girl gets slipped a
date rape drug, it tears you up. But, Keira is on a mission to live
her high school years to their fullest and is definitely not immune
to fucking up as in taking a shot from a known slimeball and
downin’ it.”

This was not in doubt, the Layne family had
learned Keira was a nut and it was further indication his son was
just like his old man.