She’d marched out to have the confrontation and didn’t feel safe leaving her sister and the four men standing with her to go back in and put on shoes.
She had no jacket and bare feet.
No jacket and bare fucking feet.
“Angel, go inside and put some shoes and a jacket on,” Mike ordered, prowling up the walk.
He then fully took in the men that were with Debbie and his anger increased right alongside his concern.
Bernie McGrath.
Over the last twenty years the man had been responsible for adding two strip malls and three massive housing developments to The ‘Burg. And that was just The ‘Burg. He’d built copiously throughout Hendricks County and was responsible for the fall of numerous farms. Some of them, if the families didn’t want to sell, he either threw money at them to make it impossible to say no or, unconfirmed word was, he found other ways that were a fuckuva lot less nice to do the same thing.
His attention was taken away from McGrath when Debbie spoke.
“Angel,” Debbie hissed his way, “I haven’t heard that in a while and wish I still hadn’t.”
Mike stopped four feet away from Debbie. “How long’s your sister been outside with bare feet?” he demanded to know.
“She walked out here on her own, Mike. We didn’t force her. She could have just let it alone, allowed us to do our business and then we’d be gone.”
Mike scowled at her then he noticed Dusty hadn’t moved and he cut his eyes to her.
“Inside,” he growled. “Shoes. Jacket. Now.”
She glared at him and he saw in an instant she was seriously pissed. Not at him. At her sister. Then she turned and stomped into the house.
“I’m seeing where I went right now. No way I’d let you speak to me that way when we were together,” Debbie informed him and his eyes moved from the door that was closing on Dusty’s ass which, incidentally, looked so good in those jeans he was seriously having trouble stopping from getting hard, to Debbie.
He suddenly had no trouble at all.
“You were my high school girlfriend. You put out at fifteen. I put up with a lotta shit back then I would not put up with now. You had eyes on your sister at least the last fifteen minutes. I think you can see why I’m pretty fuckin’ pleased I got the chance to make the switch twenty-five years later.”
“Harsh,” he heard Sully mutter from behind him. “True, but harsh,” he added.
“You didn’t just say that to me,” she snapped.
“You opened it up, I walked in. I find out this whole thing you’re pullin’ with Dusty, Rhonda and the boys is you bein’ pissed your sister’s in my bed,” he leaned in, “twenty-five years later,” he leaned back, “this is not gonna make me happy.”
He saw it then.
Fuck him, he saw it.
She tried to hide it and failed.
This whole fucking thing was that she was pissed he was with Dusty.
“You’re shitting me,” he whispered, staring at her hard.
“This land is worth a fortune,” she hissed to cover. “Rhonda would be fool not to sell it. Those boys would be set up. College paid. Residuals in trust, interest payments would significantly augment earnings. Life would be good.”
“Fin wants to work this land,” Mike informed her.
“Fin’s seventeen,” she stated dismissively. “He has no idea what he wants.”
“You don’t know your nephew very well,” Mike returned.
“I know Darrin filled his head with the same garbage Dad filled Darrin’s with. We sold back in the day when the developers started looking at The ‘Burg, I wouldn’t have had college loans to pay off.”
“Working this land made your brother happy. He built a family on this land,” Mike reminded her and she leaned in.
“Yes, and it killed him.”
“You’re jacked,” Mike murmured, still staring at her and seeing the real Debbie Holliday for the first time in his life. It was written all over her, the bitterness that twisted her mouth, shone from deep in her eyes. She’d made it her religion and she wasn’t just devout, she was a fanatic.
“You think I’m wrong?” she threw out. “How could that be? He was dead at forty-four.”
“Rhonda approved an autopsy, Debbie, and they found he had a heart condition since birth. Undetectable unless you know what you’re lookin’ for but usually by the time you figure it out, it’s too late. He was dead the minute he hit the snow,” Mike stated. “I’m pretty sure the way you stuck your nose in everything after he died, you learned that.”
“Hard to have a heart attack if your feet are up at the beach or you’re working behind a desk,” she shot back.
“You can challenge your heart by shoveling snow and you can challenge it by stressin’ it out havin’ a job you fuckin’ hate. At least he had a short time doin’ somethin’ he loved, sharin’ it with his family. Instead of a long time doin’ somethin’ he hated because his sister is a greedy cow who wanted to go to law school but didn’t want it enough to pay for it herself but ride through on the lost legacy of her family,” Mike returned.
“Oh my God, were you this much of a dick when I was dating you?” she asked, her voice pitching high.
Jesus, was she serious?
“For fuck’s sake, Debbie, I dated you when I was seventeen. That’s more than half my life ago. I wasn’t a dick but considering you were a manipulative bitch even back then I should have been,” Mike fired back.
“Right, this is gettin’ us nowhere,” Sully broke in, stepping between Debbie and Mike. “Someone wanna tell me what’s goin’ on?”
“I see a badge on four belts. I’d like it explained why he’s here,” Debbie demanded, eyeing up Cal.
“Mostly ‘cause there’s nothin’ on TV,” Cal replied, Debbie’s eyes narrowed and Merry chuckled.
“Considering you’re not an officer of the law, I’d like you to leave the premises immediately,” Debbie commanded.
“I’ll take my orders from the pretty one who looks like she actually belongs here,” Cal returned, jerking his chin up to the porch and Mike’s eyes went there to see Dusty in cowboy boots and a jacket smiling at Joe Callahan.
Jesus, fuck.
“I don’t know who you are but you’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” Dusty invited.
Cal grinned at her.
Jesus, fuck.
“That’s Vi’s husband, Dusty. Joe Callahan,” Mike explained, Dusty blinked and her grin faded.
“Yup, I’d say she knows all about Vi,” Merry muttered under his breath.
“You’re still welcome here,” Dusty announced, just like Dusty, powering through it and straightening her shoulders. “And your wife’s welcome here. In fact, the entirety of The ‘Burg is welcome here,” she added magnanimously if dramatically then she looked down at Bernie McGrath and his boys. “Except, not to be a bitch or anything, you. This land is not for sale. Not any of it.”
“I beg to differ since a quarter of it belongs to me and my quarter is for sale,” Debbie returned.
“Okay,” Colt stepped in. “Readin’ this situation, Darrin left family land to family. You got a disagreement about what to do with that land. You can’t sort it amongst family, you sort it in front of a judge.”
Colt looked to McGrath and his men and Mike saw Colt had the same concerns as he did. All cops knew McGrath. He’d got rich fast with no one knowing where the initial money came from since McGrath sure as fuck didn’t have it. But he was so slick he was slippery and even though rumors of his primary investors who could still be involved in his business and his tactics were troubling, they’d never had a complaint or anything to go on.
“Until that happens,” Colt continued, “there’s nothin’ you can do. So we’ll be askin’ you to wait until that time comes, take your equipment and leave. We’ll also ask you not to return and disturb this family until this has been sorted by the Hollidays or the courts.”
“It takes four plainclothesmen
to ask two developers and two surveyors to leave?” Debbie asked Colt cuttingly and Colt looked at her.
“Miz Holliday, you might not have been payin’ attention a minute ago but this situation is hostile. These men can do nothin’ here today but waste their time. They can’t survey what they don’t know they can purchase. And the occupant of this land does not want them here. I see you got a family fight goin’ but the bell has been rung. You need to be smart and take your corner.”
Debbie glared up at Colt.
McGrath shifted and said quietly, “It would appear Lieutenant Colton is correct. Why don’t you contact us, Ms. Holliday, when plans for this land are more firm?”
Debbie transferred her glare to McGrath and Mike knew she had no idea who she crawled into bed with, the hassle she’d opened up to her family. But McGrath missed her glare as he was giving chin jerks to the others to clear out.
They moved. No one else did.
As car doors were slamming, Dusty spoke.
“You knew that was a total waste of time and you brought them here hoping to fuck with me and, probably, Rhonda. You’ve stooped low, Deb, but not this low. Even I’m surprised your belly is so close to the ground. I feel like asking you to stick your tongue out just to see if it’s forked.”
That was a throw down if he ever heard one so Mike instantly moved to the foot of steps at the porch to position himself between the two sisters and he did this stating, “We’re not doin’ this.”
“Fuck you, Mike. She had her words, I’ll have mine,” Debbie snapped.
Mike took his position, turned to Debbie and replied, “I’ll repeat, we’re not doin’ this.”
“And I’ll repeat, fuck you, Mike –” she started.
Mike cut her off as the cars rolled down the lane. “That’s Bernie McGrath.”
She crossed her arms on her chest. “I know who it is.”
“You haven’t been around The ‘Burg much but that is not a man you do business with,” Mike informed her.
She threw an arm out toward the lane then tucked it back in while saying acidly, “Oh, I see. Mr. McGrath is interested in this land, he’s willing to pay more than fair market value to see his vision come to life and what? Is he a mobster, Mike? Does a small burg in Indiana have the mob crawling through it?”
“You’re all fired up to break up this land, there are others who’d give you a fair deal and understand the rest of the farm is off-limits. It’s been known through these parts by developers that the Hollidays are stayin’ so they long since have left the family be. By entering negotiations to make a deal with the devil, you opened that up to McGrath and put your family at threat,” Mike replied and Debbie rolled her eyes then rolled them back.
“Bullshit drama,” she snapped. “I see Dusty’s rubbing off on you.”
“It isn’t,” Colt put in and Debbie’s eyes sliced to him. “McGrath doesn’t intend to build on a quarter of this land. He doesn’t do small ventures. That amount of land is a parking lot to him. Whatever McGrath’s intentions are, his vision includes this entire farm.”
“Well good,” Debbie fired back, “considering the money he’s offering will make my family very comfortable.”
“You may think you are, but you are not doin’ them any favors,” Sully put in quietly and Debbie transferred her glare to him.
“Explain to me why a sister’s visit to her family home requires four police officers and,” her scathing glance slid over Cal, “whoever he is.” Then her eyes narrowed on Cal and she her memory opened up. “Oh my God. Joe Callahan. Now this is a surprise considering you and that girlfriend of yours would do anything to stay away from cops. Not do ride alongs on Tuesday mornings when real men are working.”
“It’s good she got the business from Mike when they were teenagers ‘cause I’m seein’ she doesn’t get laid very often anymore,” Cal muttered to no one, eyes on Debbie then he addressed her. “Advice. You might wanna see about gettin’ you some. It might improve your disposition.”
Debbie’s face got red.
“Cal, you’re not helping,” Colt murmured.
“Haines got a call from his woman and shot outta the Station like someone yelled fire,” Cal returned. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Colt, shit goes down in this burg and when it does, it tries to drag good women down with it. That happens, it’s all hands on deck.”
Terrific. Cal was throwing down for Dusty.
“I can say as definite you’re not invited to participate in my family’s business, Mr. Callahan,” Debbie stated snidely.
“Knew your brother, not well, but I knew him and respected him,” Cal returned softly and Debbie’s red face immediately paled. “Doesn’t matter how well I knew him, since he died, lotta talk about him around town. Know he’s got two good kids. Know they now gotta look out for their Mom. And know they do not need this shit. You feel this is truly a good idea and have their best interests at heart, you approach them when their Dad isn’t under fresh dirt. You’re doin’ this because you’re alone, bitter about it and your ex-boyfriend has hooked up with your sister, then you got some soul searchin’ to do, woman, before you mark it so deep it sends you straight to hell.”
And there it was. Violet Callahan and her daughters, Kate and Keira might not have managed to modify Joe Callahan’s wardrobe but the man they made it safe for Cal finally to be didn’t need any further modifications.
It was then Mike decided to get things in hand.
“Debbie,” he called and her eyes came to him. “I don’t know how long you’re in town but how about you go somewhere, cool off and you, Dusty and me sit down and talk tonight. Get some things sorted.”
Her color came back and her eyes grew sharp when she declared, “I’ve already got what I want sorted, Mike, and I don’t need to sit down with you and Dusty to sort it or explain it. I think I’ve made my intentions clear.”
“What we need to talk about isn’t Dusty and me. It’s Rhonda, Finley and Kirby,” Mike explained, seeking patience.
“Right, and Dusty’s woven her golden web around you, singing her angel song, dancing her bullshit dance until you’re deaf and blind to anything but what Dusty wants to manipulate you to believe,” she retorted and Mike lost his way to patience so he decided to shut this down.
“Right, you wanna believe that, you’re clearly gonna hold onto it. So do it.”
“I don’t need your permission, Mike Haines,” she returned.
“Well you have it anyway,” Mike muttered. “Now you mind we end this scene?”
She glared at him then proclaimed, “I’ll be wanting to talk to Rhonda before I go back to DC.”
“No way in hell,” Dusty hissed from behind Mike.
“That’s not happening,” Mike stated.
“I don’t need your permission for that either,” Debbie snapped.
“Actually, you do,” Dusty replied.
“What are you going to do? Tie her up in the basement and stand guard with one of Darrin’s shotguns?” Debbie threw at Dusty.
“If I have to,” Dusty tossed back meaning all four words literally.
Christ.
“Why do you have to make everything a pain in the ass?” Debbie asked.
“Why do you have to think that everything’s a pain in your ass simply because you aren’t getting your way?” Dusty asked back.
Debbie’s eyes narrowed, her mouth twisted and the look on her face made Mike brace.
“Darrin’s dead, Dusty. You can’t take care of his weak wife and his two boys to crawl up his ass and try to convince him you’re sugar and spice.”
There it was. The straw and the camel’s back broke.
Dusty went flying down the stairs. Mike caught her at the waist and pulled her back to his front, keeping one arm around her waist tight and wrapping his other one around her chest.
“Go,” Mike growled at Debbie.
“You can’t order me away from my own home,” Debbie bit back.
“He just did,” Dusty po
inted out. “And by the way, this ceased being your ‘own home’ the minute you brought developers to the front door conniving to sell it.”
Debbie took them in, lip curled, bitterness not even close to being hidden. Then her eyes focused on Mike.
“God, sick,” she whispered. “Did you use me to get to her because you had a thing for her when she was twelve?”
Mike’s body got tight. Dusty strained to get out of his hold.
Colt moved forward declaring, “Think with that you’re done.”
Her eyes sliced to him. “I haven’t even started.”
“Your prerogative but right now, regardless of the legal hold you got on a quarter of this land, your behavior can be construed as intimidation, threats and harassment,” Colt returned. “You want me to start construing it that way to the point I feel as an officer of the law I need to do somethin’ about it, you keep standin’ there diggin’ your hole. You wanna cut your losses now so you can fight another day, you get in your rental and leave them be.”
Debbie held Colt’s eyes then hers moved through the men standing in the front yard of her childhood home and finally they settled on Mike and Dusty. They stayed there while her face worked.
Then, having spewed what venom she had, she turned and walked away.
Motionless, five men and Dusty watched her go.
When her car was halfway down the lane, Mike called to the men, “Give me a minute.”
He got chin jerks and the men drifted away.
He turned Dusty in his arms and tipped his chin down to see her eyes were already on him.
“Where’s Rhonda?” he asked.
“Grocery,” she answered.
“She gets home, you sit on her. No calls. No visits. From anybody,” he ordered.
She stared at him closely for a moment then she nodded.
“Okay. Now where are we with your Dad?” Her eyes slid away. Shit. “Procrastinating,” he muttered.