Chapter 26

URIAH

One week later…

Brickstone was quiet. All of the patrons kept to themselves while they enjoyed their beers. It was the middle of the day and workers from the docks were just enjoying their breaks. It was the perfect kind of atmosphere to relax in.

Nobody was relaxing more than Bryce was.

“Yeah… That’s it… Right there…”

He moaned softly. I worked harder and he groaned even louder.

“Take it easy,” I said with a laugh. “You can’t be enjoying it that much.”

“Believe me, I am. It feels so good…”

“We’re in public…”

I couldn’t see the enthusiasm on Bryce’s face but the sounds he was making were enough for me.

I dug my hands into his shoulders. No matter how hard I squeezed, he was still moaning with a pleasure that made you wonder just how much he was enjoying it.

“This baby,” he sighed. “It’s like my whole body is getting exhausted just carrying it around. Two weeks pregnant and I feel like I’m carrying a stone in here.”

“You’re halfway there,” I said. “It’s to be expected you’d get a little bigger.”

“I expected getting bigger. I figured I could handle the weight. There’s something about it being all centered in your stomach though. It’s like my center of gravity is off. My shoulders. My back. My feet. Every inch of my body is sore. I might need a massage all over me…”

“Either that or you can take a day off work.”

“Can’t take a day off. I’ve been sitting around too much. Besides, you like fast food just as much as you like my cooking.”

“Yeah… I need to stop spending so much time around Sanders…”

“Don’t try to change the subject. Keep going, Mr. Kennedy.”

“I’m going, I’m going…”

Bryce lounged in his seat while I continued to massage his shoulders. The mostly silence in the bar was broken when the front entrance opened up. A familiar-looking gang walked in. The man in front of them looked at us with a big smile on his face.

“The Chargers are back,” Cade announced.

The bartender got to work serving Cade’s boys while Cade walked right up to us. Bryce finally gave me a break from having to massage and walked up to greet his brother.

“How are you doing?” Bryce asked.

“Doing just fine. The cops questioned me and all of my boys. But there was nothing they could do. Rivera was the biggest fish they wanted to fry and they got him.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“I told ‘em I was doing my part to take Rivera down. They were skeptical. And they’re not a big fan of rogue justice but sometimes you have to do whatever it takes. It helped that they didn’t have much evidence on me…”

Cade looked at me and winked. I gave him and nodded in understanding.

Bryce hugged his brother again.

“What about this?” Bryce asked as he put a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Cade looked down at his arm in a sling and shrugged.

“What? This? Just a flesh wound. I lost a little blood.”

“And a little bit of money…”

There was some disappointment in Bryce’s voice when he said it. He couldn’t look his brother in the eye.

“What were you thinking?” Bryce said. “Why would you tell me to leave you behind like that?”

“Because I was doing all of this for you. Rivera. Uriah. I was working all of them. Once I convinced Rivera to give me the money for killing Uriah, I knew I had everybody right where I wanted them to be.”

“I was just a pawn in your plan,” I said. “This whole time, you were setting me up.”

“I needed you to play the part. If I was really setting you up, I would’ve checked you for weapons and taken your piece off you.”

“Funny why you didn’t do that…”

“If I could convince Rivera that I was loyal, then I could get close to him. But there was only one person I was loyal to.”

He looked at Bryce right in the eye and smiled.

“I was always listening to you,” Cade said. “You got through to me a long time ago, brother.”

“It’d be nice if you told me about it,” Bryce said. “What I don’t like about it is you taking that kind of a risk. A man like Rivera is capable of anything.”

“Rivera might be rich and powerful but that’s exactly what led him to his downfall. He got arrogant. He thought he could just throw money at everybody and make them loyal. That’s why he did what he did. He panicked. I shot his men and he decided to burn the whole place down. Went running like a coward.”

“He should’ve never come to Snow Falls.”

“He should’ve never tried to mess with me or my brother,” Cade added.

Bryce squeezed his arms around his brother again. I watched in silence as the two of them shared their moment together, just happy to see that everybody was all right.

“The money,” Bryce said. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that for nothing.”

“The money would’ve been nice. I should’ve taken a few bucks and stuck ‘em in my pockets.”

“No. You don’t want that money. Knowing where it came from. Knowing how much blood was shed for it. Dirty money. We’re better than that.”

“I was with you on the streets this entire time. We’ve made it through everything. What’s a million dollars gonna do for us that we can’t do for ourselves?”

“There he is. There’s the Cade I’ve always known. The Cade I’ve always loved.”

“I’m not going anywhere, bro. I’ll be on your side forever. And speaking of that…”

Cade looked up at me.

“I need to talk to you for a second,” he said.

“Now what?” Bryce said.

“Don’t worry. Just wanna set the record straight.”

“Fine,” Bryce sighed. “Don’t do anything stupid now.”

“Hey, you know me.”

“Exactly. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Bryce got up from his seat and helped to serve Cade’s gang while Cade and I moved over to the side of the bar. I leaned up against the wall and crossed my arms.

“What’s up?” I said with a shrug.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you anything. I’m sorry I put you in danger like that. But I was never planning on shooting you.”

“That’s good to know,” I said, smirking at him.

“Rivera offered me all of the money in the world. The best way to get the money from him was to show him how truly loyal I could be.”

“There’s no more loyalty than killing a cop.”

“I never cared too much for the bastard. Thanks for taking him down.”

“Sorry you didn’t get your money.”

“Me, too…” he sighed.

He looked over at his brother on the other side of the bar.

“…But all of this made me realize what’s really important. The Chargers will get more chances and more opportunities. We’ve never backed down from a challenge.”

“Good. Then I have one for you.”

“Is that right? What you got for me, cop?”

“In two weeks, Bryce is becoming a father. It’s a big responsibility. Not just for him. Not just for me. For you, too.”

“I’m ready to be the best uncle I can be.”

“The best uncle you can be is one that makes this place better for him. Snow Falls has a lot of problems. It’s not perfect but I like it here. It wouldn’t be fair to my child if they weren’t surrounded by all of the love they could get.”

“I get what you’re saying… The Chargers and I plan on cleaning up this place. It won’t happen overnight. We might not even get there at all. But you can count on me to do my job.”

Cade held his hand up toward me.

“For Bryce.”

I looked down at his hand and smiled before shaking it.

“For all of us.”