CHAPTER THIRTY
Havoc
“Last night was fun,” I growl into Leighton’s ear as she stands at the counter, grabbing coffee this morning.
“It was fun,” she agrees, turning around to put her arms around my neck.
I hold her there for a long time.
“Maybe we could do that again? You know that putting my hands behind my back with your cuffs?” Her face is red as she buries it in my chest.
“You like that?”
“I did.” Her voice is muffled.
“Fuck.” The word is ripped from my throat. “I’m going to think about that all day today.”
“Trust me,” her brown eyes glance up at me, “I’m going to be thinking about it, too.”
Leighton
Stella and I are slowly making our way up main street from where we’ve been playing at the park. Whitney had a meeting, and asked me to watch her. Violet’s been working half-shifts the past couple of days, and sent me off with an encouraging smile, telling me she had to watch the place by herself at some point. Which leads me to where we are right now.
“You thirsty?” I ask her. It’s still a mile before we get back to The Café, and it’s a scorcher today. We’d taken some bottles of water with us, but we’d drank them dry about thirty minutes ago. I know if I’m thirsty, she probably is too.
“So hot,” she pushes her hair out of her face from where she stands next to me, as she nods.
“I know, Stellbelle,” I pull us into the shade of a building’s awning, reaching into her diaper bag to see what I can find. “Oh yeah, here we go,” I grab out a hairbrush and a ponytail holder. Having a seat on the sidewalk, I motion for her to stand in front of me. “Let’s get that hair up off your neck, you’ll feel better.”
She turns her back to me, patiently waiting while I pull her thick, darkening hair up into a ponytail and secure it with the holder I found. “Better?” I stick the stuff back in the diaper bag and stand up, placing her on my hip. She likes to walk on her own, but we’ll get to the store sooner if I carry her.
“Yeah,” she nods, hugging her arms around my neck, laying her red cheek against my shoulder.
“Let’s get out of this heat,” I hoof it quicker.
Within minutes we’re in the Quick Mart, and I’m thanking sweet baby Jesus for air conditioning. “Hey Myra,” I wave to the older lady behind the counter. She’s a regular in The Café.
“Hey Leigh, what are you and Stella doing?”
“Dying in this heat. We need some water,” I joke as I put Stella down on the ground and watch as she runs back to the water and juices. She grabs a bottle of water, and her favorite juice out of the cooler, jerking the bottle open, sitting down in the aisle and drinking it dry.
“I think she was thirsty,” Myra laughs, as we watch her going into the cooler and grab another one.
“I think so too,” I laugh along with her.
Walking back to where she sits against the cooler, I bend down. “That bottle of water for me?”
She nods, still sucking on the juice. I reach down, grabbing, and popping the seal on it. Just like she did, I drain the bottle, before reaching in and getting another. As she and I are enjoying our drinking party, the bell above the door rings. I get a weird feeling when I see Myra’s ex-husband, Dale walk in.
“What are you doing here?” Myra stands up straighter behind the counter, glaring at him.
“It’s hot, in case you haven’t noticed, and I’m thirsty,” he walks to the opposite side of the cooler from where we sit, grabbing a six-pack out. From where I stand, I can smell the alcohol coming off him.
“I’m not selling you that, Dale,” she threatens.
“Didn’t say I was buying it. I figure since you got this place in the divorce, you can afford to give it to me.”
“You can’t steal it!”
“I can, honey bunches,” he taunts her. “Just watch me,” he nods at me and Stella as he gets a bag of chips, some donuts, and a package of toilet paper. “At least allow me the decency of being able to wipe my ass,” he holds up the package at her.
A smile plays against my lips as I watch this, but I can see Myra is starting to fume.
“I’ll call the cops, Dale.”
“Go ahead, I don’t care,” he shrugs as he continues filling the basket he’d grabbed on his way in.
I pick Stella up and we walk over to where Myra has a few tables set up for some of the old timers who like to play the lottery and drink gas station coffee. No matter what happens, I want us to stay out of the way. As I see Myra with her cell phone to her ear, I have a feeling we’re going to be here for a little while longer.
“The police are on their way, Dale. Put the stuff back and get out of here.”
“You’re gonna call the police on me for taking a few items, that rightfully should be mine? I put up the money for it, added on that addition with my own bare hands. If I wanna take some beer and some toilet paper to wipe my ass, I should be able to do that.”
“The divorce settlement says you can’t,” she fires back at him.
I hear police sirens in the distance, and breathe a sigh of relief. The car parks at the front door, and Lord help my heart when Holden hops out, wearing his authority, his uniform, and his badge. I reach in, grab that bottle of water, and drink it down. This situation just got a lot hotter and I’m watching with rapt attention.
Havoc
I’m riding by myself today, which I haven’t done since Tank was injured. My mind keeps going back to what happened last night with me and Leighton. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it, the way she gave herself to me, the way she trusted me with those cuffs. Fuck, I’m hard thinking about it right now.
“Holden, we have a nine-one-one call from the Quick Mart.”
Shit. “Myra and Dale?”
“Affirmative. You wanna take it? You’re the closest,” dispatch shares with me. This couple will never stop arguing over anything. “Yeah, show me as responding. Mark me as arriving, I can see the Quick Mart from where I am.”
I see Dale inside, as soon as I park the squad car. Walking inside, I take stock of my surroundings, seeing Leighton and Stella sitting back at the table area. They seem to be comfortable and not scared. I offer my wife a smile, waving at Stella.
“Daddy!” She squeals, and that word kicks me in the gut. She knows her Dad wears clothing like this, and from far away, it’s probably kind of confusing to her. But there’s a piece of me that wants to explore that word at some point. Never before have I wanted to do that.
I watch Leighton grab her as she tries to run towards me. Leaning down, she says something in Stella’s ear, causing her to giggle and bury her face in Leighton’s shoulder. Turning my attention back to the problem at hand, I question Myra.
“What’s going on?”
“He’s stealing stuff and won’t leave,” Myra points at him.
“She won’t let me have my beer and my toilet paper. You know she stuck it to me in the divorce, I should be able to come in here and get what I want, since I have no more income,” he argues.
While I kind of agree with him, that’s not what the law states. “Dale, you and I both know that’s theft.”
“Bullshit, Holden.”
“Put it back, and you can leave with a citation. Will that be acceptable to you?” I ask Myra.
“I want a no contact order with this place,” she starts. “But I won’t press charges for theft if he puts it back.”
“No contact?” He starts to spout off.
I put my hand up in front of him. “You’ll need to go down to the station and go before the judge on that. I’m not getting in the middle of it. Dale, put the shit back, and get out of here.”
“The hell I will, Holden.”
Fuck me, he’s gonna make me arrest him. “I’m giving you two minutes to put it back, Dale. If not, I’m taking you into custody.”
“I wanna talk to the supervisor, Holden.”
Placing my feet further apart on the floor, I put my hand on my gun, rolling my eyes. “Dale, you now I’m the damn supervisor. Put the merchandise back, or I will arrest you.”
“Good luck,” he gives me a flippant wave as he turns to leave.
I’ve had enough. Grabbing him around the collar of the shirt, I drag him around, knocking the merchandise basket to the ground, pushing him up against the counter. “Hands on the counter, Dale. You’re under arrest,” I put my leg in between his, kicking his feet out, as I search him for weapons.
“You got anything on you?”
“Fuck you, Holden, this is uncalled for. You know I don’t have anything.”
Ignoring him, I start reading him his rights, snapping the cuffs at his back. Turning my head, I see Leighton watching me with interest in her eyes. “See you at home tonight, gorgeous, maybe we can have a repeat of last,” I wink as I push Dale through the door and load him into my police car.
Our eyes meet as I look back through the plate glass of the store, seeing her and Stella sitting there. She mouths I love you to me, and I know no matter what I have to do with my job, what she and I have is completely solid. It’s the best feeling in the world, because I know the day is coming when I’ll be taking her dad down, and I know now, she’ll understand.