Part 6 (1/2)
Deke had almost forgotten what a primo memory Jer had. Tell the man something once, and he practically had it in his brain forever.
He sometimes wondered why his friend's brain didn't f.u.c.king explode with all the c.r.a.p he had to have in it.
”Okay, yeah.” He continued to scan the area as Jer pulled out into mid-morning traffic. ”The b.i.t.c.h in charge, her name is Mary Jane. I think she maybe had a soft spot for Ginny. At least that's how it seemed to me. Anyway, you'll recognize her straight off. She's gotta be seventy if she's a day, with hair that looks like straw, sticking out of the black hairnet she always wears.”
Mary Jane had never liked him. Anytime he'd come into the coffee shop, she'd avoided him-and that was before he'd hooked up with Ginny. She sure as h.e.l.l hadn't liked it when he'd started sweet-talking Ginny, either. His b.i.t.c.h had never said, but he was pretty certain Mary Jane had bad-mouthed him from the first moment he set his sights on her.
Waco traffic typically crept and sputtered along. Deke flexed his hands, making fists, relaxing them, imagining he had someone to vent his growing temper on.
He'd been so sure finding Ginny was going to be easy. h.e.l.l, he'd figured by this time, those d.a.m.n charges would have been dropped and he'd have his life back.
Finally Jer managed to snag a parking spot about a block south of the cafe.
”I won't be long,” the man said. ”I'm going to pretend to be her cousin, on her daddy's side. You said she hadn't heard from her daddy in years. Well, cousin Jerry here is bringing bad news about the pa.s.sing of old Joe Rose.”
”f.u.c.k, Jer, that's f.u.c.king brilliant. I can't imagine even that hard-a.s.s Mary Jane would refuse to help you out under those circ.u.mstances.”
Jerry gave him a big smile. ”Just leave it to me, Deke. I'll find out where your b.i.t.c.h is. Tell you the truth, I'm starting to get p.i.s.sed off at her, myself. I think when we finally get our hands on her, I'm going to give her a.s.s a hard and fast reaming with my c.o.c.k that she won't soon forget.”
”We get our hands on her, I sure as h.e.l.l will not only let you, I'll help you. Woman has to learn her place. And that place is to not have her man charged and put him through the wringer like this.”
”You were too easy on her,” Jerry said. ”I hope this has been a lesson for you.”
”f.u.c.king A.” Deke had already been planning on how things were going to be different. He had no love for Texas. He was going to move them to Louisiana. But first, he'd find a buyer for the kid. He knew a guy who'd give him top dollar for a good-looking kid like that. Have the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d out of the country before Ginny came to.
Yes, then he'd get her cooperation for a while telling her that following his commands to the letter would be the only way for her to get her son back. By the time she learned the truth, it wouldn't matter to her anymore.
Jer would help him see to that.
Deke let his thoughts dwell on Ginny Rose, on what he was going to do to her as soon as he caught up with her. He let himself imagine the pleasure he'd take from her body, both with his c.o.c.k and his belt. He'd make her suck him off while he watched Jer take her a.s.s. That would be sweet. His c.o.c.k started to get hard, and Deke grinned. Yeah, Ginny was going to spend a lot of time on her knees trying to make up for all the s.h.i.+t she'd pulled on him.
He kept his gaze fastened on the rearview mirror, to the spot down the street when Jer had disappeared into the coffee shop. Wasn't anyone he knew could sweet-talk the way Jerry Stone could. Sometimes, it was a real pleasure to watch the man work.
Deke blinked, because Jer had appeared on the sidewalk. He wasted no time heading for the car and-c.r.a.p-his bud did not look happy.
”That f.u.c.king old c.u.n.t.” He slammed the door and looked over at Deke. ”Get down. I'm getting us the h.e.l.l out of here.”
”What?”
”Do it. She said she was going to call the cops, and I sure as h.e.l.l wouldn't put it past her to do just that.”
Deke swore as he scrunched down, half kneeling on the floor of the front seat.
”What the h.e.l.l went wrong?”
”d.a.m.ned if I know. She accused me of being in cahoots with 'that p.r.i.c.k Deke Walters.' The b.i.t.c.h sure doesn't like you, buddy. Of course I tried to act appropriately confused. I could see things were going for a s.h.i.+t, so I brushed her off. When she threatened to call the cops, I told her that I'd probably have better luck finding my cousin Ginny if I went to the cops myself, and that I should have done that in the first place instead of thinking some old woman would help me out. I even hinted that I'd tell them she was, in my opinion, acting suspicious. They'd likely end up coming around wondering what she had to hide. I think that gave her pause, but I'm not sticking around to find out.”
True to his word, Jer maneuvered the car with precision, the swift motions of the vehicle tossing Deke left, and then right. Jer sped for a few minutes, and then cut his speed back.
”Okay, I think we're clear. I'm driving us back through your old neighborhood. Maybe you can think of somewhere else, or someone else, might be able to give us some info.”
Deke shoved himself off the floor and back onto the pa.s.senger seat. ”The only other place I can think of is the bar where I used to hang.” Deke looked at his watch. ”This time of day, a few of my pals should be there. Old Mac tends bar, most nights. He also knows everything about everyone. If he don't know where she is, no one does.”
Deke argued long and hard and finally won the right to go into the bar with Jer. He agreed to keep on the ball cap he'd been wearing, and the pair of shades Jer had pulled out of the glove compartment.
”Old Mac will never rat me out to the cops, and if he knows anything, he'll tell his good buddy, Deke.”
”From your lips to G.o.d's ears, Deke. Because so far, we ain't got jack s.h.i.+t.” Jer rolled down his window and spat.
Deke knew he was right. They'd go in, grab a beer, and chat with old Mac. Then they'd head to wherever that b.i.t.c.h, Ginny Rose, had run away to.
Adam held her chair for her, helping her to get seated comfortably while Jake preformed the same service for Maggie.
Maggie thanked Jake for the courtesy, and then chuckled. ”I just realized that I've brought a couple of Texans to a steakhouse. What was I thinking?”
Ginny hid her smile behind her menu. Having worked in several different eateries, she'd felt completely at ease when they entered the Blue Water Grille. She also liked the way her new relative seemed to be getting along with her men.
Ginny's heart thudded in her chest when she realized that she really did consider Adam and Jake Kendall to be her men.
”Texans don't think there's any such thing as too much steak,” Jake said. ”Although I will allow that we do tend to think that ours is the best.”
Maggie tilted her head to the side. ”Well, it did seem to me that you just said the word 'Texans' as if it was written in all uppercase letters.”
Ginny laughed. ”Our men do tend to have more than their share of pride.” She looked from one Kendall to the other. ”In the case of present company, it's pride that's well justified.”
”Texas is the best state,” Benny said. Then he looked at Maggie. ”But I like New Jersey, too. Mom and me had fun on the beach today.”
”I looked out now and again, and I could see you were having a lot of fun.”
A server came by and poured water into everyone's gla.s.ses. Ginny looked back down at the menu. ”They seem to have a lot of other selections here, too, including seafood.” Which Ginny would expect every restaurant in this seaside town to offer. She'd rarely had the opportunity to try any. Kelsey had told her that she'd tried to serve seafood chowder on Friday nights when she first opened l.u.s.ty Appet.i.tes, but the dish hadn't fared very well.
The good people of l.u.s.ty didn't mind a bit of freshwater fish caught in the local streams, lakes, and rivers now and again. Many of the denizens liked to fish themselves, especially on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and most ate what they caught-ate it or released it. But in general, they hadn't yet cottoned to ocean fish overmuch.
”It may come as a surprise to you, Miss Ginny, that Jake and I both, on occasion, eat seafood.”
Ginny felt one eyebrow go up, a reaction she couldn't easily prevent. She was surprised to learn that.
”Mama says it's good to try new things. Maybe it sounds funny when you hear what it's called. But you can't judge a thing by its name. You have to give it a fair try.”
”Is that right?” Jake's voice, filled with amus.e.m.e.nt, matched his devilish grin. Oh, the light in his green eyes-eyes that were so much like his mother's-let her know what thoughts were on his mind, and they sure weren't about food.
”I'd say that was an exceptionally good, forward-thinking tenet.” Adam's grin, similar to Jake's, stirred her, arousing her when all her life she'd been convinced that s.e.xual arousal was just something she'd never be able to enjoy.
Benny's father had called her frigid, and so had Deke. She'd long accepted the truth of the matter.
Benny's voice pulled her back to the present. ”What's a tenant?”