Against Me (Cedar Tree Book 3) (31 page)

The ring of a cell phone shakes me out of my musings.

"Can you get that, babe? Just got my hands in suds," Caleb calls out from the kitchen and I grab his phone from the coffee table.

"Hello?"

"Ah, the lovely Ms. Acker, no? It is a surprise, but a very pleasant one I must say."

"Mr. Duarte. To what do we owe the pleasure?" I try to maintain my cool, but I have goose bumps all over my skin at the sound of the smarmy thick Mexican accent. Heavy footsteps approaching alert me Caleb has heard and fast clued in.

"I was hoping to speak with Mr. Whitetail about the whereabouts of his brother, since I had the most interesting conversation with Mr. Flemming just moments ago which has left me with a few questions you perhaps can clear up, now that I have you on the phone."

Caleb tries to grab the phone from my hand, but pulls back at my hard shake no. Instead, I lift the phone away from my ear a little so he can hear both sides of our conversation.

"By all means. I will answer whatever I can."

"It has been brought to my attention that the person responsible for the death of that poor nurse at Larchwood Inns has been caught–"

A shiver runs down my spine at the cold, arrogant and mildly amused tone of his voice, but I answer evenly, "That is as I understand it."

"And that any witnesses concede my perceived presence at the facility would have been likely to collect my ailing father, and bring him back to attend a family tragedy?"

"That would be a very likely assumption," I respond, swallowing hard.

"Very well. One or two more questions, my dear, and I will be, how does one say, '
Out of your hair
'." The almost breathless chuckle is bone chilling, as much as his faux endearments and cold politeness is.

"It appears I may have an employee who has taken a few too many liberties. One who seems to have made it a habit to be a tad overzealous, resulting in the unfortunate demise of an innocent woman, I hear."

Caleb's body freezes next to me and I put a calming hand on his knee. Fucking monster doesn't give a rat's ass and I'll bet he knows damn well Caleb is listening.

"This employee was also instructed to pass on a message from me to you, Ms. Acker. One of a rather urgent nature, but at the insistence of my father, who seems to have taken quite a shine to you. There was to be absolutely no violence involved."

I can't help the snort that escapes me. No violence. The man ran me off the road and tried to shoot me.

"Very well. I believe I have my answer. One last question; Was he alone?"

"No, I couldn't see in the truck very well, but someone else was driving; Guzman was doing the shooting."

Duarte hadn't mentioned his name yet, but he doesn't deny it either, simply thanks me and asks to speak with Caleb. I hand over the phone, sit back and let the conversation replay in my head while listening to Caleb's monosyllabic responses.

––––––––

A
knock on the door interrupts and I grab my crutches, which I've opted for in the house. The unmistakable shape of Gus outside the small glass pane in the front door has me unlocking and opening the door right away.

"Couldn't get through," he says as he steps in.

"My phone must be out of juice and we've been busy on Caleb's with one Ernesto Duarte, but you probably already guessed that?" I offer quietly, not wanting to disturb Caleb's conversation, indicating my head in his direction on the couch.

Following my motion, Gus notices Caleb. "I see. Coffee?"

"Kitchen. Only decaf though."

Eyebrow raised pointedly, he shrugs off his coat and heads in that direction to grab a cup.

"You will hear from me within the next two hours." I hear Caleb say as I take my place next to him on the couch. A low growl from beside me has me look over the armrest to see Blue's head up and eyes open. He looks past me at Gus who slowly approaches.

"S'Okay, buddy. Just Gus. He's good people," I coo, stroking his fur with my fingertips.

"The pooch is back. How's he doing?" Gus wants to know, sitting down in the big club chair on the other side of the coffee table.

"Better," Caleb answers for me, "infection's under control and he should be fine. I'm guessing you're here to warn me about Duarte?"

"Guess he got to you before I could."

"Yup. Had some words for Katie first and then wanted to discuss Malachi. Took all of me not to fucking rip his throat out through the phone."

"Coldest bastard I've every had to deal with, but he loves his family."

"How's that?" I ask Gus.

"That plane crash that got us involved? The one that killed his younger brother? Turns out there was originally twice as much meth in that shipment. Looks like it may not have been an accident. Someone set that plane to go down and exactly where it did too. All arranged to point in the direction of Malachi. Only problem is, the only thing they do know from the investigation into the crash is that it wasn't shot down. That would have been a pretty easy tell. And Mal wouldn't have had access to the plane before take off in Mexico, so whoever it was had to be closely connected to Duarte himself. That little bit of insight is what ultimately convinced our friend Ernesto that he is barking up the wrong tree and needs to look closer to home. All I know is I don't want to be Guzman when Duarte gets his hands on him. He's been known to keep his enemies alive for months while killing them."

Gus takes a sip of his coffee, and with a grimace plunks his mug back on the table before turning to Caleb.

"This tastes like horse pee. You on a new health kick?" He asks him, making me snicker, which turns both guys' eyes on me. Oops. Little too much of the attention, making me very uncomfortable. Especially since Gus's eyes have that calculating gleam when he moves them between Caleb and I.

Thank God, Caleb breaks the tension, by ignoring Gus completely and moving right along.

"Duarte basically wanted Katie to confirm Guzman's insubordination to him, but the son of a bitch is not ready yet to let go of Mal. He may be a family man, but he's an even bigger businessman. He doesn't want to lose the gateway for his drugs into the states. He thinks Mal and the Klesh is it. Wouldn't listen when I said Mal was out unless I promise him we'll deliver Guzman. He seems to think a trap with Malachi as the bait will draw Guzman out from under whatever rock he is hiding to salvage his hide and his stash. Duarte wants his drugs back and he wants his pound of flesh, and he wants us to deliver."

Caleb leans his head back against the couch and closes his eyes.

"Okay," Gus says after a minute of silence, "here's what we do."

The rest of the afternoon is spent plotting and planning, and when five o'clock rolls around Gus gets up and slides his phone, which has been in constant use the past few hours, in his back pocket.

"All set. I'm heading home, and Neil is on his way to the diner to pick up some grub and Malachi with his gear. They'll be here within the next forty-five minutes with extra hardware. Joe's gonna keep an eye out on access routes with as little fanfare as possible. Don't want to draw any attention, and you two keep your phones charged at all times. I'll be in touch."

And with that Katie and I are alone again. Well, and the dog, which has been sleeping on and off all afternoon barely moving.

"You think he needs to go out?" I ask her.

"Probably not a bad idea, seeing as the last time he did anything must've been at the vet's."

Grumpy and a little wobbly, Blue lets himself be guided out the sliding doors and off the back deck where he stands nose in the air, his ears perked and attentive, before ambling off to the nearest sagebrush. Sniffing around for a minute he goes to lift his leg, but thinks better of it at the last minute, opting instead to sag through his haunches. Too much weight to carry on his front for now, I guess, but I can't resist teasing.

"Anyone tell you you piss like a girl?"

The ice blue glare in my direction tells me the mutt is not amused at my interference, turning his head back to look straight ahead as he continues to void what is a load of fucking epic proportions. When Katie sticks her head out to see if he's ok I tell her, "Your dog's a fucking camel."

"How so?" she asks, hobbling up beside me on her crutches, and for the first time I notice how small she is compared to me. The top of her head barely reaches my chin and her shoulder fits perfectly under my arm, which is where I tuck her tightly as we watch our dog take his massive piss. Romantic.

"He's been emptying the tank for five minutes straight."

Chuckling she elbows my ribs. "The drugs will do that to you. Believe me I know. Poor puppy."

Finally done, Blue gingerly straightens his legs and slowly ambles back over to where we're standing. For a while we just stand there, looking out at the receding sun over the mountains in the distance. It's peaceful, with my family tucked against my side, my fingers trailing through the coarse mane of the ugly mutt who's slowly burrowing himself under my skin, and the beginnings of a dream home behind me. I manage to stay in the moment, not allowing the nagging worries and fears around the arrangements and potential dangers for the coming hours and days to spoil this moment right here. First the twitching of his ears and then the low growl emanating from Blue is the early alert that someone is coming up the drive. The crunch of wheels on the gravel is next.

Reluctantly I turn to Katie, lift up her chin and brush my lips over hers.

"Love you, Katie."

"I know honey," she whispers back, "and I love you." Pulling back she straightens herself on her crutches and moves inside. "You coming? The cavalry is here." 

By the time I have Blue introduced to Malachi who, surprisingly take to each other right away, Katie and Neil are chatting away in the kitchen pulling out plates and setting out the food Neil picked us up.

"Drinks?" Katie calls out.

"Beer for me. Mal?"

"Sure."

Back in her chair so she can have her hands free, Katie rolls to the table with bottles and napkins in her lap. She looks so... at home. The hint of a smile plays on her lips when she hands out drinks and when she hands me mine I grab her hand and pull her in for a kiss.

"What's that for?" she asks when I let her up for air.

I give a little shrug of my shoulders and try to ignore Neil who is spouting his nonsense to Malachi.

"You know it might not be a bad idea; moving here? Every time I fucking turn around, these people are going at it. Must be something in the water. They screw like rabbits, I swear. Gus and Emma are the same way, and so are Seb and Arlene, it'd be almost sickening if I weren't craving some affection myself,
if
you know what I mean."

For a minute Mal says nothing and just looks at Neil, before responding.

"Well you better not be fucking looking in my direction, pal. I don't do dick."

In the seconds of absolute silence that follow, Neil's mouth drops open, his face hits every shade of red and purple before losing all color completely and I can't hold back anymore and burst out laughing.

––––––––

"I
can't fucking believe your brother thought I was swinging the other way."

Neil is furiously scrubbing the few plates we dirtied while I dry and put them away. We managed to get through dinner although it was clear Neil's usual large appetite had diminished some.

"You run off at the mouth sometimes, Kid. Some of what comes out sounds a little fucked up sometimes. Get over it. Besides, you are kinda pretty,
"
I tease him

I just managed to twist away from his elbow only to have it land in my kidney instead of my gut.
Ouch.

"You had some hardware?"

"Yeah. Lockbox in the bed of my truck. Let's grab it."

Grabbing his keys from the counter, he leads the way out the door.

When everything is inside piled on the dining table, I can see there are not just ammunition and additional firearms but a bunch of Neil's electronic gadgetry as well.

"That gonna keep him out?" Malachi nods at the table.

"I think the idea is not so much to keep him out, but to let us know when he gets in."

Katie enlightens him from her perch on the couch, her fingers back to stroking Blue beside her.

Smart woman.

"H
ey little lady! Whatcha doin' out there?"

It's been a quiet few days since we put our plan to draw Guzman out into the open in place. The guys have been upstairs most of the time, working hard to finish framing in the bedrooms and bathrooms, putting drywall and cement board up and the entire house is constantly covered in a thin layer of dust, despite the heavy duty plastic sheeting we have hanging in the stairwell.

I'm on the deck with Blue and a sketchpad on my lap planning out where I want my garden to go in. It's funny how easily my mind has accepted this as my home as much as it is Caleb's. We haven't even talked about money and finances; how those should be divided or joined, but even that doesn't seem to give me any anxiety. I somehow sense that it will all work itself out once we have our way to the future clear.