Close To Home (Westen Series) (33 page)

“Think about it long and hard, Emma.” He walked to the door and stopped. “Besides, if this plan doesn’t work, you’ll still have to deal with Hazard the next day at the custody hearing.”

An idea popped into Emma’s head. She held her oldest pair of jeans to her chest, and studied Clint a moment. “Once the judge rules the new blood tests a match and Dwayne the boys’ father, the old ruling for no child support will be nullified, right?”

Clint nodded. “I’d have to ask Wade, but I think so.”

“Good.” She said with confidence. “Ask your brother to draw up papers suing Dwayne for past child support along with alimony for the past seven years. Once I win this case, I intend to make him pay big time.”

S
eated in the Wagon Wheel Tavern’s back room, Clint adjusted the headphones to reduce the background noise. He wanted to hear every word Hazard uttered when he tried to buy Emma’s life tonight. It would take all his willpower to keep from tearing off the headset and storming into the bar’s main room to meet the piece of refuse as he entered. Right now, he’d like nothing more than to ram his fist into the man’s face.

A hand settled on his shoulder.

He looked into the face of Gage’s father. Understanding and patience etched the lines of his now gaunt features. Despite the pain of his progressing cancer, Sheriff Justice insisted on being part of tonight’s operation. He’d said his sister would want him to help protect Emma any way he could.

“Keep your cool, Doc.” He squeezed Clint’s shoulder once then took the seat next to him.

To be sure Hazard couldn’t claim entrapment, Gage and his father had called in the State Police. Two State Troopers flanked the door leading from the back room into the bar itself. As soon as Gage gave the signal that his mark had entered, more officers would fill the bar’s parking lot and prevent their prey from escaping.

“No matter how much we’d like to beat the man to a bloody pulp for everything he’s ever done to our Emma,” Sheriff Justice said, “what we need tonight is information and evidence. Enough to put him behind bars for a long, long time.”

“I know, Lloyd. What kind of man puts a woman through hell, then tosses away one son and plans to use the other one to further his own greedy needs? The guy’s a complete waste of oxygen.”

“Yep. It’s a shame we can’t bury the bastard six feet under.” The Sheriff put on his own earphones and tested the recording equipment. “Doc?”

“Yes, Sheriff?” Clint listened to the noise from the bar in his ears as he studied the older man.

“You and I both know I don’t have long left on this earth.” Lloyd held up his hand to stop Clint’s attempt to argue with him. “I want to know that you’ll take care of my sister, my niece, and her boys.”

This time it was Clint who gripped the older man’s shoulder. He understood the sheriff’s need for some reassurance that Emma’s life would be easier from now on. “I plan to keep them all safe for a long time.”

“Good. They deserve a good man in their lives now.”

Clint hoped he could live up to his promise and the other man’s opinion of him. If things didn’t work out tonight, he could’ve just promised the impossible.

The sound of the bar door opening and closing sounded in the headphones. Next came two short taps, followed by a long pause and then one more tap, Gage’s signal that Hazard had arrived.

“Looks like the game’s on.” Lloyd turned on the tape machine. A third agent put on his headphones, his cell phone at the ready to bring in the troops.

* * *

Emma paced the length of the house, front door to the kitchen door, for the thirtieth time that evening then stared out the back door into the cold night. The waiting was intolerable.

What if Dwayne didn’t show at the bar? What if he figured out Gage was taping him?

She needed to do something. The boys had gone to sleep over an hour ago and Mama sat dozing on the couch in front of a sitcom rerun. Now she only had her worried thoughts to keep her company. It felt like she was waiting for a piano to drop on her.

Determined to get her anxiety under control, she grabbed the new lightweight mop from her closet and put fresh wash pads on the bottom. She refilled the fluid canister and started mopping the kitchen floor.

Things just couldn’t go wrong this time. Fate couldn’t be so cruel as to let Dwayne win again. Dammit, it was her turn. She wanted to see his face when they put the cuffs on him and carted his sorry behind off to jail, but she’d promised Clint she’d stay safely at home.

Forcing her mind away from her ex-husband and what might be going on at the Wagon Wheel, she concentrated on running the mop across the floor in long steady strokes. Every so often, she slowed and scrubbed extra hard on the black scuffmarks the boys continually left behind.

Her breath caught in her throat and she paused her mopping. Would there be half as many if Brian left?

Just stop it! Negative thoughts won’t help anything
.

Once she finished the floor, she leaned against the mop and looked at the clock. Only fifteen minutes had passed.

What was taking so long? Why hadn’t Clint called her? What if something had gone wrong and somehow Clint had gotten hurt?

A knock sounded at the front door.

She stashed the mop in the closet once more and hurried to the door. Maybe the trap for Dwayne was finished and Clint had come to tell her what had happened.

Only it wasn’t Clint who greeted her at the door.

“Harriett? What are you doing here this time of night?” Emma opened the door and Harriett bustled inside, carrying her overnight bag and knitting.

“I came to stay with your mother and the boys while you go down to the Wagon Wheel.”

“I’m not going to the Wagon Wheel, Harriett. I promised Clint I’d stay here.”

“Now that’s just nonsense, Emma. “ Mama said from behind her. “Men always
think
they know what’s best for us. But sometimes a situation just calls for a woman’s touch.”

Emma stared openmouthed at her mother. Did she really understand the situation going on around her? Was this a rare moment of clarity? Or was she giving advice from some fantasy reality? Looking for some divine intervention or explanation, Emma clamped her mouth shut and swung her gaze back to Harriett.

“She called me.” Harriett set her things down, then pulled Emma’s coat from the closet and handed it to her. “Besides, she’s right. It’s all good and well for you to tell the Doc you’ll stay out of the way, however we all know you’ll go stir-crazy waiting for news.”

Emma slipped on her coat. “How did you know about the meeting? It’s supposed to be a secret.”

“Honey, you know there’s no real secrets in a town as small as this.” Harriett ushered her to the front door. “You be careful down there, and don’t worry about Isabelle or the boys. They’ll be fine here with me.”

For a few minutes Emma stood on the porch, slightly stunned and debating whether to go or stay. No matter how much everyone reassured her, she didn’t trust things to go off without a hitch. She knew Dwayne better than anyone. Lord knew she ought to, she’d been married to the jerk for eight years. If there was any loophole for him to slip through, he’d find it.

She buttoned her coat against the late autumn cold, and headed to her car. Seated in the driver seat, she hesitated again. Clint had asked her to trust him. She’d even promised to stay home.

Get a grip, Emma. Make a decision. You can stay home and let others control your destiny, or you can go to that bar and be damn sure things turn out like they’re supposed to this time.

Emma stared at herself in the rearview mirror.

Clint said he loved her. If he truly loved her, he’d know why she had to be sure, why she couldn’t just sit on the sidelines this time. And if he didn’t understand how important this was for her to do, then maybe losing him would be for the best—now, before things went too far.

Her mind made up and her future on the line, Emma put the car in reverse.

* * *

Gage sipped his whiskey at the table in the corner furthest from both the jukebox and the pool tables. He wanted to get the cleanest tape of this transaction as possible. Brian’s future might depend on it.

It was nearly an hour after the scheduled meeting time when the door opened and in stepped a man as out of place as a beauty queen at a pig wrestling contest.

Without raising his hooded gaze from where he studied his whiskey, Gage tapped the transmitter beneath the table twice. The signal that Hazard had arrived.

Hazard scanned the room. His gaze wandered over the few pool players in the side parlor, the lone couple necking on what passed for a dance floor and the two old men seated at the bar. He dismissed each one without a second glance. Finally, his attention riveted on Gage’s table in the corner. His decision made, he approached.

“You the man I’m looking for?” he demanded, standing opposite Gage’s seat. Arrogance dripped off him like sweat from a cold beer bottle in July. What had Emma ever seen in this guy?

“Depends on what your business is.”

The weasel pulled out a chair and sat despite the lack of invitation. “I was told if I met with someone bearing your description tonight, I could arrange the execution of a certain business matter.”

Gage sipped his drink. “That’s not all you were told.”

“I have the money.” He set a briefcase on the table then slipped a folded note toward Gage. “That’s the address. I need both parties wrapped up.”

The guy was clever. If Gage didn’t get him to incriminate himself on tape by saying exactly what he wanted, this whole ordeal was for nothing. “You’re going to have to tell me the names and the address, mister.”

“Why? You can read it all for yourself.”

“Can’t read.”

Hazard swore under his breath, something about the local school system’s success, then leaned in closer. “The address is 2517 Main Street. The woman is Emma Lewis and her son Benjamin Lewis. I need this done tomorrow. And be sure you get the right kid. There’s two of them.”

* * *

Clint couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. The guy wanted him to kill Emma
and
Ben? He wanted to storm in there and beat the hell out of this bastard.

“I don’t do kids.” Gage’s tense voice came through the headphones. He was probably fighting the urge to take out his gun and blow the guy away.

“There’s an extra ten thousand in it for you if the lady and her son cease to be a problem to me.”

“An extra ten thousand?” Gage sounded as if he were considering the added money.

“Paid once the death certificates are filed.”

Greed and something like decaying flesh oozed off this guy. Clint was glad Emma wasn’t here to hear this. What had she ever seen in this creep in the first place? How could she have believed herself in love with him?

Clint studied the scene in the bar on the closed circuit television. Hazard had the audacity to smile, then stood and held out his hand.

Static came over the two-way radio on the Sheriff’s hip, followed by Deputy Cleetus’ anxious voice.

“Sheriff, you’re not gonna like this.”

“What’s wrong, Cleetus?” Lloyd asked.

Clint’s attention wavered from Gage to his father.

“Emma’s car just pulled into the parking lot.”

“What the hell is she doing here?” Clint whispered to the sheriff.

“Cleetus, try to stall her and keep her outside.”

Don’t come in here, Emma.
His heart pounding, Clint stood, watching the scene in the bar play out.

Gage drained the last of the whiskey in his glass instead of shaking Hazard’s hand. It took the other guy a moment to realize the slight. He blustered with embarrassment before he turned and strolled toward the door.

Clint threw off his headphones and slammed his chair back. No way was Hazard leaving here in one piece! He stormed through the back door into the bar, just as the front door opened, and Emma stepped in.

Silence fell on the room for a moment.

“You! No. You can’t be here.” Dwayne stopped in his tracks, looking around the room like a wounded animal in a cage. “This is a setup? You’ve ruined everything. It’s all your fault!” Then he lunged for Emma.

Gage grabbed him by the collar and shoved him onto the nearest table. “Dwayne Hazard, you’re under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder,” he said, as he cuffed Dwayne from behind.

Emma watched in a sort of dazed numbness. He’d really done it. Somewhere deep inside her she’d hoped Clint had been wrong, and her ex hadn’t really deemed her life so worthless he’d try to throw it away so easily. But he’d really tried to buy her death.

Her disbelief quickly turned to white-hot rage with the realization. As she looked into the sputtering face of her ex-husband and vaguely listened to Gage read him his Miranda rights, the undeniable truth hit home. The undercover troopers at the pool table were dismantling the hidden cameras and recorders. The police couple who’d been dancing were taking eyewitness reports from the other patrons and bartender.

Then she heard what Gage was saying.

“…for attempting to arrange for the deaths of Emma Lewis and Benjamin Lewis…”

Emma’s attention focused entirely on Dwayne as Gage hauled him off the table.

Her hands clenched in fists, she stalked to block the exit between the door and Gage and his prisoner. When she heard her cousin say Dwayne had tried to buy Ben’s death, as well as her own, her self-control snapped. She took a step forward.

“Emma, get out of the way,” Gage warned softly.

“You bastard!” Without thinking, she hauled her arm back and punched Dwayne in the stomach.

He grunted, bent over, then came up gasping for air and sputtering even more. “She hit me. I want you all as witnesses. This is police brutality.”

Gage hauled him to the door then stopped. “Anyone see anyone other than me touch this guy?”

Everyone in the bar shook their head.

“No one here left a mark on him.” A familiar voice sounded from behind Emma.

She turned and saw Clint standing in the rear door, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression hard and angry. Gage slammed the door open and dragged the whimpering Dwayne from the bar. The remaining officers filed out carrying equipment. Yet, Clint made no effort to come to her or speak to her. He just stood there watching.