CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The shop door slid open smoothly. Eddie flipped on the flashlight and looked around. Neat and clean, like a workshop should be. He pulled one wrench after another off the peg board and dropped it onto the ground, then moved to the screwdrivers, and hammers. He hefted the rubber topped mallet in his hand and left it laying on the work table.

He turned his head at the sound of a door opening, a screen door squeaking and slapping shut. He clicked off the flashlight, walked calmly to the back door of the shop and through it. It snapped shut at the same time the main shop light went on.

“What the fuck?”

Eddie walked around the shop and back through the front bay door.

“Grant.”

Brian Grant wheeled around, holding a baseball bat. He lowered the bat, no doubt hoping Eddie didn’t notice the nervous tremor in his hand. “McBride. What the fuck are you doing?”

Eddie closed the bay door and walked toward Brian. “Visiting you. Like I promised.”

Brian scoffed and shook his head. “You’re a real son of a bitch.”

“So I’ve been told.”

When Brian saw Eddie wasn’t going to stop, he lifted the bat and readied a swing. Eddie neatly ducked beneath it and, when Brian was twisted around on his follow through, punched Brian in the kidneys three times quickly. Eddie jerked the bat out of Brian’s hands and took a swing at the back of Brian’s thighs. He dropped to his knees like a stone. Eddie walked behind him, grabbed his hair, and pulled his head back.

“Did I stutter last night?”

The whites of Brian’s eyes were huge as he tried to look back at Eddie. “What the fuck do you care?”

“Wrong answer.” Eddie released Brian’s head, stepped back, and kicked him in the middle of the back. Brian fell forward, his face hitting the concrete floor. Eddie placed his boot on Brian’s right hand with enough force to get Brian’s attention.

“I could break your hand right now and sleep like a baby in thirty minutes. But I won’t. You need to be able to support your family. The beating I’m going to give you will be between us. No external bruises, but inside you’re going to be screaming in pain.”

“I’ll press charges.”

“If you do, you’ll have to explain why I beat the shit out of you.”

“I didn’t break her hand.”

“Bullshit. I know guys like you. I’ve served time with guys like you.” Eddie squatted on the ground. Brian inhaled sharply through his teeth as the pressure increased on his hand. “In fact, I served time with this one man. Reminds me a little of you. Jesse was his name. Boasted about how he used to keep his wife in line. He was so good at it, he rarely had to use fists, but when he did, he meant it. Went a little too far with the second wife.” Eddie leaned forward. “Sound familiar?”

“You were in jail with my father?”

Eddie nodded. “I stood by and watched him bleed out. He begged for his life. In the end, he was a pussy. Like all wife beaters are.”

“I don’t beat my wife. Or my kids.”

Eddie stood and released Brian’s hand. He picked up the bat. “Stand up.”

Brian got to his feet gingerly. The left side of his face was scraped from his fall. “Sorry, that might leave a mark. Tell Susan a squirrel got in your shop, messed up your tools, and you tripped over them in the dark. Stupid-ass excuse, but she’s probably familiar with lame excuses as cover stories.” He stepped forward so he was inches away from Brian. Eddie gave him credit—Brian didn’t flinch. Eddie lifted Brian’s chin with the end of the bat. “I hear Susan is accident prone. You better pray to God she keeps her feet while I’m around. If I even suspect you’ve raised your voice to her, I’ll make you regret it.”

“What’s with the white knight bullshit? You don’t even know Susan.”

Eddie thought back to his childhood, the tension in the house when his father was home, how his mother did everything possible to make sure Sean McBride’s life went smoothly. He’d wondered more than once if his father hadn’t died when he was young if he would have turned into him. He feared he would have—that the fury he’d seen in his father sat coiled somewhere deep within him, ready to strike if set free.

“If you think you’re somehow going to get in her pants with your chivalry, you’re out of your fucking mind. Even if she was the type to cheat, she wouldn’t get within a thousand feet of you after you’ve been sticking your dick in Michelle Doyle’s pussy.” Brian pushed Eddie away and laughed. “Everyone saw her follow you into the woods. I think Chris even looked up from his phone to see it. There’s only a handful of men in this town she hasn’t sucked off or fucked, so don’t think you’re anything special.”

Eddie laughed. “You think I care?”

“No. You’re as trashy as she is. You’re perfect for each other. I told Chris he better watch out or she’d trade him in. Having the chief’s brother in your bed and on your payroll is a trifecta any crook like her would want. And whaddya know? My suspicions were confirmed two hours later.”

Eddie went still. “What are you talking about?”

Brian sneered. “I was there last night, at the truck yard. I saw Matt pull in and wanted to talk to him. To apologize for jumping him, the things I said. I parked by your truck, as a matter of fact, walked back and heard the yelling. Michelle and Matt. I heard her threaten her own brother. I mean, what kind of woman does that?”

Eddie stepped forward. “What else did you see?”

Brian’s confidence returned. “Why, you worried your brother might find out the kind of people you’re associating with?”

“Brian, listen to me carefully. You need to forget what you heard.”

“Forget it? It’s my ticket to solvency.”

“Don’t be an idiot. Michelle Doyle is a dangerous woman.”

“More dangerous than you?”

“Yes.”

Brian’s smug smile faltered.

“Haven’t you considered the possibility she had Matt and Amy killed? I mean, you heard her, too. If she did, do you think she would have one qualm about wasting you? Hell no. You’re nothing to her. If you go to her with this threat, or the cops, you’re signing your own death warrant, and probably your family’s.”

Brian paled. They turned their heads at the sound of the bay door sliding open. Susan stood in the door, in flannel men’s pajamas, holding her broken hand across her stomach. She looked small and vulnerable. “Eddie? What are you doing here? What’s going on?”

Eddie smiled and walked to Susan. “I came to check on you. Heard you had an accident. Brian was giving me the update since you were asleep.”

“It’s two in the morning.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I was delivering an earth mover to Houston for Doyle. Just got home. Anyway.” He lifted her hand gently. The ends of her fingers were bruised. “How are you feeling?”

Susan shifted away from him, glancing in Brian’s direction. “Spacey. Why do you have Brian’s bat?” Her voice was small, her face a mask of exhaustion.

“He’s letting me borrow it so I can go to the cages with Ethan. You need to get some rest. Brian, thanks for the bat.” He dropped his voice to a murmur only Susan could hear. “Call me if you need anything. Ever.”

He walked out of the shop, placed the baseball bat behind his seat, and got into his truck. He drove off, hoping against hope Brian Grant listened to his warning. He didn’t want to have to get rid of another body.

The warm water streamed down Eddie’s neck, across his shoulders, down his chest and splattered onto the bathtub floor. He rolled his neck from side to side, trying to work out the tension that had settled there six weeks earlier and refused to leave.

He closed his eyes and turned around, letting the water patter on his face. This was it. He was done. Stillwater was his last job. He couldn’t take the lying and manipulation any more. And, Jesus Christ, what he wouldn’t give for a full night’s sleep in a soft bed. Preferably with a warm body nestled against him.

A knock on the bathroom door startled him.

“Jack? Is that you?”

“It’s me. Eddie.”

There was a pause and Eddie thought Julie’d returned to her bedroom. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.” He squirted soap onto the loofa, turned his back to the door and soaped up, hoping his erection would go down and not up at the thought of Julie being on the other side of a thin shower curtain. At least it was opaque.

He heard the medicine cabinet open, the faucet turn on, and the sound of Julie brushing her teeth.

“You’re up early,” Eddie said.

“Going running,” came the muffled reply.

“With Ellie?”

Spit, rinse. “If I can catch her. I don’t think she wants to run with me.”

“I wouldn’t take it personally. Some people like to run alone.”

“Yeah. I guess.” The medicine cabinet opened and closed. Eddie waited for the bathroom door to do the same. When it didn’t, he stuck his head out of the shower and caught Julie pulling her shorts down to pee. He pulled his head back in before she saw him.

“You know, I didn’t only suggest you get your own place because I don’t like you. One bathroom with three adults and a teenage boy isn’t the best set up.” The toilet flushed.

“You’re right.” Eddie watched the water fall from his fully erect dick like a curtain. “I’ll be out of here in a week.”

“It’s probably for the best.”

Eddie knew Julie was batshit insane, narcissistic. He’d watched her torture his brother for years. Eddie had always wondered if she would have been different with him. If he hadn’t gotten picked up on the bogus drug charge that set him on his path, if they would have made a go of it and been happier together than she had been with Jack. Now, they were different people than the two twenty-three-year-olds who had an instant connection and a perfect night together. He didn’t want anything from her, hadn’t wanted anything in years. She was nothing more than any of the other hundreds of women he’d fucked since. A means to an end, only this time, the end result wouldn’t benefit Eddie, and it would most likely alienate him from the one person he loved unconditionally.

Eddie inhaled and pulled the shower curtain back. Julie washed her hands and watched him in the medicine cabinet mirror.

“Why don’t you join me? We may never get another chance.”

She wiped her hands on a towel, turned, and leaned against the sink. Julie appraised him, head to toe, eyes lingering on his erect dick, before moving back to his face. “What about Ellie? And Michelle?”

“Do you really care?”

He held out his hand and she took it, without hesitation. He pulled her shirt and sports bra off while she wiggled out of her shorts. His hands were between her legs before she kicked them out of shower.

He lifted her off the ground, pressed her against the shower wall, and entered her in one smooth, practiced movement. She clung to him as he fucked her, heedless of the water running down her face and across his back.

“You were always the one I wanted, Eddie.”

Any qualms Eddie had about what he was doing evaporated. He pushed into her harder.

She never mentioned her husband.