The 'Burg: Hold On Part 17

"Ryker made a difficult job a lot harder today, big man," Garrett pointed out.

"Dig deep and decide if it's worth the effort, Garrett. You make the decision-cut her loose or make that effort. Only you can decide," Tanner replied, then shook his head. "That last isn't true. She's a good woman. It's worth the effort. You wouldn't charge in here, p.i.s.sed as s.h.i.+t, if you didn't know it. You just gotta know, for her sake and for her kid's, that your s.h.i.+t's together before you go for it."

Garrett drew in another breath, dropped his arms, and lifted his chin.

His message relayed about Ryker, with no reason to be p.i.s.sed other than being p.i.s.sed at himself, a ton of work on his desk, and a new problem with Cher to sort, he had no purpose being there.

"Gotta get back to the station," he muttered.

"On your walk, think about how Cher had occasion to have a chat with Ryker."

Garrett's attention turned acute on Tanner.

It came to him and he whispered, "f.u.c.k."

Tanner laid out the realization that belatedly hit him.

"What I heard just now from you, she's thrown up her s.h.i.+elds, fightin' you off. She knows you're diggin' in with her s.h.i.+t and she might've been lookin' for reinforcements to help her out with that so she could untangle you from it. So she's got no call to be p.i.s.sed Ryker knew when she was gonna tell him herself."

Garrett grinned at his brother-in-law.

Tanner grinned back.

"Thanks, buddy," he muttered.

"Don't mention it," Tanner replied, turning toward his desk.

Garrett moved toward the door.

He stopped when Tanner called, "Merry."

He looked back to see the man sitting behind his desk.

"Rumors fly. Don't wanna p.i.s.s you off, but just sayin', before some a.s.shole asks and earns your fist in his face, and straight up, 'cause I'm curious, gotta know so I can shut it down before it blows: Word is, that rack she's got isn't all hers."

"Lots of gifts G.o.d gave Cher she doesn't recognize, that's one of them. If it isn't, her surgeon was a master. But, big man, if Cher ever had money to blow on somethin', she'd use it to give good to her boy. She wouldn't use it to get her t.i.ts done."

Tanner grinned again. "I'll take that to mean it's all hers."

"Don't give a f.u.c.k how you take it," Garrett told him. "Cher and me ever get down to sharin' medical histories, that in itself would be cause for celebration considerin' how things are right now. But, seein' as it's no one's business, you can warn every f.u.c.k who might open their trap to me or her about it to keep it shut or they won't be able to open it since their jaw'll be wired shut."

Tanner didn't miss a beat before he stated, "I'll take that as you already havin' your s.h.i.+t together about Cher Rivers."

Garrett shook his head and muttered, "Whatever."

He turned to leave again when Tanner called his name again.

He looked back.

"Jesus, brother, what?" he asked.

He asked it before he caught the look on Tanner's face.

He braced when he caught that look.

"It'd be good to see you happy. It'd be good to see you give what you got to give to a woman who deserves to get it. And it'd be good Cher's son has a man in his life who isn't an ex-junkie but is a staple and can offer him a s.h.i.+tload of things he needs to grow up and be a good man. That might not be the end for the three of you. But if it is, man, I'll be happy for you."

Garrett fought back clearing his throat before he asked, "You done?"

Tanner grinned yet again. "Yep."

"Rocky's made you soft," he returned.

"That is one thing your sister has never made me."

Garrett felt his lip curl. "Christ."

Tanner burst out laughing.

Not even close to that mood, Garrett muttered, "Later," and took off.

Cher After my s.h.i.+ft, I left out the back door with Darryl opening it for me to keep an eye on me on the way to my car (like he always did, or Morrie did, or Jack did).

I moved down the alley toward my Equinox.

I heard the door close and it did this earlier than Darryl would normally do it.

I knew why.

"G.o.dd.a.m.ned s.h.i.+t," I muttered under my breath, seeing Merry leaning against my driver's side door, his Excursion pulled in against the wall in front of my Chevy.

He didn't move as my heels clicked their p.i.s.sed off staccato on the pavement. He just watched me come to him, ankles crossed, arms folded on his chest.

s.h.i.+t, it totally, seriously sucked he was so hot.

I was five feet away when I snapped my question, "You lose the ability to read?"

The left side of Merry's lips curled up, but that was the only movement he made.

a.s.shole.

I stopped three feet in front of him.

"Move out of my way, Garrett," I ordered.

"So," Merry said softly, "considering Tanner set Ryker on your church lady, meaning he had things to do, I'm guessin' Ryker wasn't in J&J's to shoot the s.h.i.+t over a beer at high noon."

Oh f.u.c.k.

He'd figured it out.

How much-in other words, the Carlito business-I didn't know.

I kept silent.

Merry felt chatty.

"I'm guessin', in an effort to convince yourself of the bulls.h.i.+t you're tryin' to convince me of-that you're happy spinnin' your wheels, lettin' Denny Lowe interrupt your life for good and hunkerin' down in that fortress of yours until the day you quit breathin'-you made a call to the only man you know who could help you out and collect on his debt in a way you could pay."

How I got taken in by Denny Lowe telling me that he was a cop, I had no idea. Lowe might have had computer smarts and criminally lunatic genius that kept him free to chop his way through half the United States of America, but he was no cop.

Cops were far more intuitive and it took them no time at all to connect dots.

Then again, back then, I didn't know any cops.

Now I did.

Which meant I should have known better.

c.r.a.p.

"Move out of my way," I repeated.

"So," Merry said, "you were good to let him in on what was goin' down with you. And since you know Ryker's history and your s.h.i.+t involves s.h.i.+t that might be happenin' in a church, you knew you'd get him fired up. And since you are far from stupid and know how tight Ryker is with Tanner, firing Ryker up, you'd put it together that he'd throw every resource he had at gettin' what you need. So he'd fill in Tanner."

To be honest, I wasn't as smart as Merry thought. I didn't forget that the horrors that almost happened to Ryker's Alexis had originated when a con man infiltrated the Christian church in order to recruit girls for hideously nefarious ends. I just didn't put it together that if I mentioned a church being involved, Ryker would go all out. The only thing I was thinking was that I didn't have to ask for a favor I couldn't really repay.

He could scratch my back, I could scratch his.

I didn't share my train of thought with Merry.

I demanded yet again, "Move out of my way."

Merry didn't move out of my way.

He kept going.

"Which means you were good with sharin' your s.h.i.+t with Ryker and, by extension, Tanner."

That was enough.

"Yeah," I bit out. "I was. I was good with sharin' my s.h.i.+t with whoever I wanted. What I was not good with was you decidin' who to share my s.h.i.+t with, and I did not hide that from you, Garrett. I told you straight up the way it was gonna go. You made me a promise and you broke it knowin' the consequences. Now move...outta...my way."

"You're right, I broke that promise. So, honey, now you gotta know just how p.i.s.sed at me you should be, 'cause Ryker got a smell of somethin' he didn't like and it was somethin' he couldn't sniff out fully. So he pulled in Devin, and Devin decided he had to pull in Vera to get the job done right."

Devin was not only the crotchety, old-guy member of Tanner Layne's ragtag team of crazy people investigators, he was also Tanner's father-in-law, recently married to Tanner's mom, Vera.

In other words, as I suspected, Merry shared and my s.h.i.+t had spread, and it had done this wide.

In that moment, it occurred to me for the first time in ages that alley had seen the grisly murder of a woman who'd caught the edge of Dennis Lowe's ax.

So it was too bad someone was going to have to hose down the skull and brain fragments of my head exploding.

When this didn't happen instantaneously, I was able to force out, "Say what?"

Merry ignored my question.

"Now, diggin' deeper, Ryker got to the bottom and surface proved true-Faith Saves is what it is," he told me. "They got a mission, and while it might be irritating to some, they just wanna do good, even if not everyone agrees with how they're goin' about it."

Since I clearly had no other choice but to hear him out (because he wasn't giving me one), I planted my hands on my hips, beat back the urge to attack him with my purse, and settled in.

"I was also right about the fact that's where Peggy met Trent. They got to talkin' outside an NA meeting and things went on from there," he shared.

"Fascinating," I said acidly when he quit talking.

That left side of his mouth curved up again, but then his humor disappeared entirely in a way that I was no longer settled in.

I was worried.

"And you were right, sweetheart," he said softly. "She wants Ethan."

I swallowed, getting the sense that wasn't all of it.

I was right.

Merry kept speaking softly.

"Feelin' safe, sittin' in a park while her daughter's playin', cuddlin' her son, a nice, chatty lady sits with her, cuddlin' her grandbaby, Peggy Schott let fly. They got a problem with gettin' her husband's kid from his momma 'cause they don't have any money. Trent makes s.h.i.+t, so she's got a job that helps out but not much. She wants to be home full-time for her babies and so she can begin the work of raisin' her man's son right."

His last words were sticking in my craw, choking me, when finally he pushed away from the door of my car, but not to let me get to it.

To get close because he was going to lower the boom.

I stared up at him, heart slamming against my ribs, and waited for the blow to land.

"She's prayed to G.o.d to find the answer, brown eyes," he said carefully. "And according to her, He's given her the answer. She's got lotsa help back home with a big family, brothers and sisters, mom and dad, aunts and uncles. That means they just gotta find a way to get her man's boy away from his momma. Then they can take him down to Missouri, her family can find her husband a job, and she can stay at home, raisin' her brood in the G.o.d-fearin' manner they need."

"f.u.c.k," I whispered.

"Do not send your boy to them, Cher," Merry whispered back. "Vera did not get good vibes from this woman. She's determined and she might not do what she feels she needs to do in a legal way. She might grab your boy, pack up her family, and go."

My legs were trembling, as was my repeated, "f.u.c.k."

"Now, I know you're p.i.s.sed at me," Merry said quietly. "And I know you got reason. I also know right now we got that, and if you'd waited to call Ryker in on it today and shackled him by not lettin' him gather the team the way it was needed, we wouldn't have it. Not ever. So I hope you got it in you to get past bein' p.i.s.sed, because you know I did the right thing for you and Ethan."

I wanted to pull the anger around me to hold Merry back, but I didn't have it in me to do that while fighting back the fear.