2000, Nashville, Tennessee,
Three Days Before Grizz’s Execution
Blue studied the woman sitting in front of him. He hadn’t seen her in fifteen years. On some level he knew she was still attractive, but somehow she disgusted him. She still wore the same perfume. It used to make him hard. At least it had early in their relationship. Now it only nauseated him.
“Just so you know, I left an envelope to be opened if I don’t return.” She held his gaze. “I wrote that I was meeting you.”
She swallowed then and looked away from him. She was afraid of Blue. If she never returned from this meeting, she wanted someone to know he was responsible.
“Jan, if I wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
“I’m in the Witness Protection Program. After you called, all I had to do was dial a number and I’d have been immediately relocated. You would have had to start looking all over again. But I didn’t. I believed you, and I want you to get to know Kevin and Timmy again.”
“I know you dialed the number. I know you thought you’d be relocated immediately. Witness Protection isn’t completely without its flaws. It just took longer than I wanted to find its weaknesses.”
She wriggled uncomfortably in her seat in the hotel room, a low tremor starting. Of course. Blue had someone on the inside. The quick jolt of fear caused her heart to begin racing. A lot of people had seen her walk into the hotel lobby. There would be plenty of surveillance footage. She knew he knew that, too. She was safe. But she also wasn’t stupid. That’s why she’d left the note.
“I told you I wouldn’t stop you from seeing the boys.” Jan folded her hands. “Why did you need to see me?”
“We’ll get to the boys later. You’ve done well for yourself. Divorced your rich husband. No kids from that marriage to have to take care of. Ours are grown.”
She didn’t say anything, just stared at him.
He looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He’d driven thirteen hours straight to have this conversation in person. He was tired, but still focused. A flash of wild red hair and passionate green eyes invaded his thoughts.
He had a half smile on his face when he finally said, “Tell me more about Grunt.”
Blue drove all this way to ask about Grunt? Jan cleared her throat, “What more do you want to know?”
“For starters, how long was he fucking you?”
Blue hadn’t wanted to ask this question, but he’d blurted it out before he could stop himself. It wasn’t his main objective for having this meeting, and truth be told, he really didn’t care who his ex-wife had screwed. He was more curious than anything.
Jan stiffened. She couldn’t tell Blue the truth. What was she going to say? I was pissed that you were screwing women at the motel so I drugged your little brother and handcuffed him to our bed?
She remembered when she’d first found out Blue was sleeping around. She’d had her suspicions, because their lovemaking was becoming less frequent. It was after she’d had their first child, Timmy. She purposely stayed close to Willow after Blue insisted a couple of the girls stay with her when she was pregnant and not taking her medication. Blue had been careful about not letting her have any connection to the gang, so it came as a surprise that he allowed Willow, Chicky, and Moe to spend time with her. She knew she would need a friend at the motel. Someone to keep her clued in as to what was going on there.
After Timmy was born she stayed in regular contact with Willow. If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought Willow actually took some pleasure in telling her Blue was sleeping around.
None of that really mattered now, anyway. Yes, she’d been angry with Blue, and her way to get back at him was to sleep with his little brother. She never actually did it for Blue to find out. She was afraid he would’ve killed them both. She did it because she could, to get back at him. It was her only way of feeling like she was getting some kind of retribution for his infidelity.
She recalled how she’d tricked Grunt into coming to the house while Blue was at work. She made up some excuse about needing Grunt to help her set up a household budget. She’d said Blue was giving her a hard time about her spending and she wanted to surprise him with a financial plan. Of course, it was a lie. If there was one thing that Jan did like to do, it was spend the money that poured in as a result of Blue’s active participation in the gang.
Grunt was only too happy to offer his services. He had Moe drop him at his brother’s house, and Jan said she’d make sure Blue drove him back to the motel later after dinner. Grunt was so unsuspecting then. He had been hardened somewhat by living at the motel, but there was still an innocence about him.
Grunt sipped on the drink she offered him while they chatted and she told him what she thought she needed help with. Then she told him she kept all their receipts in shoeboxes in the master bedroom closet. Would he mind helping her get them down?
When he woke up, he was groggy, naked, and handcuffed to the headboard. She flushed now when she recollected it hadn’t exactly gone like she thought it would. She thought she would have this teenager eating out of the palm of her hand. She needed that. Needed some kind of validation. She would be any man’s dream.
But that’s not what she got from Grunt. He was angry.
“Unlock the cuffs, Jan,” he’d growled after he regained conscious.
She had been fondling him while he was knocked out. It didn’t take long for him to be fully aroused after he woke up. She couldn’t understand why he was mad.
“Why don’t you let yourself just enjoy this?” she’d asked him seductively.
“Get your fucking hands off me!”
She looked him in the eyes. “I don’t think you want me to take my hands off of you.”
She caressed his erection.
Grunt struggled. “This isn’t right, Jan. It’s not fair to Blue. Uncuff me and we’ll forget it happened.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This little shit was turning her down? No way. Quickly she straddled him. He wouldn’t look at her as she gently lowered herself on to him and started gliding up and down. She knew the minute she’d won. She felt his seed filling her and slowly came to a stop.
“I was your first, wasn’t I?” she cooed. He still wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Uncuff me,” was all he said.
She bent down and started to nuzzle his neck. His next words made her stiffen.
“Get these fucking handcuffs off of me now, you sick, psycho bitch!”
That’s when it started. The more repulsed he was by her, the more obsessed she became with him. She couldn’t understand it. She was an attractive and sensual woman. She was offering herself freely. Any male would’ve taken the opportunity in a heartbeat to be with her.
She was certain that after they had sex, he would be finding all kinds of excuses to spend time with her when he knew Blue wouldn’t be around. She’d even fantasized about how she’d let him down easy.
She never expected the look of revulsion she’d seen in his eyes. Yes, that was when her obsession with him started. She didn’t remember how long it was before she realized she didn’t give a shit anymore what Blue was doing at the motel. She started asking Willow about Grunt. Of course, she disguised it as sisterly concern for his well-being, but she wanted to know everything that concerned him. His rebuffs only made the fascination worsen.
And then she heard about that girl. Kit.
Willow didn’t realize she was fueling Jan’s fixation about Grunt. “I don’t know why Grizz just can’t let Grunt or someone else have her!” Willow had angrily confessed to Jan one afternoon. “I mean, Grunt is always looking at her. A lot of the guys look at her, but she’s perfect for Grunt. They’re the same age. I really don’t know what Grizz sees in her.”
Jan knew the story. Something about the girl being presented as a “thank you gift” to Grizz. She didn’t remember seeing anything on the news or in the papers about a missing girl. She was probably a runaway. Nobody knew for certain.
“Why don’t you just call in a tip to the police? Maybe if they come out to the motel they’ll check in to who she is or something.”
“It would never work,” Willow huffed. “For starters, it would get back to Grizz. I showed my ass the first night he got her. I was going to strangle her. He would know in a second it was me.”
This was interesting. Jan would file that information away for later. In case she ever had a bone to pick with Willow. Jan could call in a tip of her own, but she wouldn’t. If Kit was returned to her family and Grizz went to jail for her kidnapping, it would just make it easier for Grunt to actually be with the girl.
Jan had no way of knowing then that a call to the police announcing Kit’s presence at the motel wouldn’t have gotten past the person who answered the phone. Grizz owned so many people back then. Besides, she didn’t need to call the police. She had just given birth to Grunt’s child. He would be hers one day. Somehow, some way.
The day Kit spent with her was agony. Especially when she saw how Kit filled out the bathing suit Jan had given her. Jan remembered herself at that age. She was an awkward, gangly teen and flat as an ironing board. Kit had curves. And she was genuinely sweet. Smart. She helped with the boys and doted on them. They loved her too, which only made it worse. No wonder Grizz had wanted her. Their time together was pure torture.
It was all too much for Jan to handle. She was ready to explode by day’s end. And she did. In her anger, she was careful not to mention it was Willow who’d told her she saw Grunt watching her. She told Kit that Blue had said it. But it didn’t really matter anyway. She could care less if she got Blue in trouble. He was screwing everything with tits and all she wanted was Grunt. And she couldn’t have him.
Grunt avoided going to their home as much as possible. He never accepted a drink from her again. She wondered if anybody ever noticed that besides her. Probably not. Grunt was never around enough for it to be obvious. He flat-out ignored her when she told him Kevin was his son. He had been quite the creative tormenter.
If she let herself be honest, Grunt didn’t actually do anything to torment her. She tormented herself. She had never been able to accept his rejection.
Now, sitting across from Blue, she decided yes—she was glad Blue had found her and discovered Kevin was Grunt’s son. Maybe it would help destroy Grunt’s little happily-ever-after with Kit. Jan may have been in Witness Protection, but that didn’t stop her from doing some snooping of her own. She knew they had married before Grizz even went to trial. She also knew Grizz was about to die and Blue was angry. Maybe she could exact even more revenge for Grunt’s denial of Kevin.
“He raped me,” she blurted. “He had Moe drop him at the house when you weren’t there. He made up some excuse about wanting to see Timmy. Of course, I never suspected what he really had in mind. You must remember it. It was that time you came home and he was there. We told you we were trying to set up a budget. You didn’t really seem to care.”
Blue looked at her sideways. “He raped you and you got pregnant with Kevin? Just that one time?
Blue didn’t question a teenager’s ability to rape a grown woman. Grunt was big for his age, and he’d learned how to handle himself. He wouldn’t have had a problem overpowering Jan. But he just couldn’t see Grunt doing that. Blue knew she was lying.
“Once is all it takes, Blue,” she answered, looking at her lap. “I couldn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to kill him. After all, he is your brother and I knew you cared about him. I couldn’t ruin that.”
Before Blue could respond, she quickly added, “I don’t know if you ever noticed, but he stayed away after that. I guess he got what he wanted and that was the end of it. Maybe he felt guilty every time he was around me so he just stayed away as much as he could. I really hated him after that, Blue. I tried not to. I tried to forgive him because he was your brother, but I was always afraid that he might show up again when you weren’t there. Especially after he got his license and started driving.”
She looked up at him then. Was she convincing him?
“How was he involved with taking down Grizz?” He’d already disregarded the rape story. It didn’t matter anyway. He thought he already knew the answer to this question, too, but he had to let her talk.
“I take responsibility for the whole affair thing. Yes. I did cheat on you, but let’s be honest, Blue, there was no love lost between us. It was over long before it was over.”
If she threw a little confession of her own guilt in there, Blue might be more easily convinced.
He nodded and urged her to continue.
“He came to me during the custody battle.” Jan sighed. “Told me he’d been waiting to be with Kit and he was tired of waiting. Said maybe we could help each other. That’s all. He just started the ball rolling, but left me and Froggy to carry the weight of it. He got what he wanted, her, and he was done.”
This, too, was a lie, but Jan would never tell Blue who had really been instigating everything from behind the scenes. The man who’d come to her during her custody battle had said that he could offer a solution. The perfect solution. By then, she’d moved on from her obsession with Grunt. He had moved on from Kit, too. Or so she’d thought. He always brought that rich bitch, Cindy, to the few gatherings she attended. She didn’t care. She was dating attorneys and even a judge behind Blue’s back. Let both of them screw whomever they wanted. She wanted to get as far away from the gang as possible by then. She wasn’t “old lady” material. She was too good for that low-life group of degenerates.
Blue just looked at her lazily as he asked some more questions. She answered them as best she could. There was a lull in the conversation. The air conditioning unit kicked on, breaking the silence in the hotel room.
“I don’t know what can actually be done about any of it now.” Jan shrugged. “I mean, it’s water under the bridge, Blue. It’s been years. Grizz is supposed to die in, what, two, three days? Why does it matter?”
Blue shot her a scornful look. “If you hated Grunt so much for raping you, why didn’t you turn him in when you turned in the rest of us? Why wasn’t Fess on the list?”
He was just playing with her now. He wanted to watch her squirm.
This caught her off-guard. She didn’t remember who was or wasn’t on the list. The person she’d been working with said he’d take care of it all. She remembered that neither Grunt nor Fess had been questioned or interrogated early on, but she thought it was because they weren’t really hardened criminals like the others. And after Grizz cut that deal, they were left alone, anyway. She wasn’t supposed to know all of this. She had been whisked away long before the trial, but her contact had kept her updated. He, too, must have had an insider. He’d stopped contacting her after Grizz was sentenced to death. She hadn’t heard from him since.
She stuttered then. “Isn’t it obvious that he wasn’t on the list because he was working with someone on the inside? Of course, he would’ve kept himself off the list.”
“And immediately raised our suspicions? I’m telling you, Jan. I know it wasn’t Grunt, and I know it wasn’t Fess who helped you or got you to help them.” He cracked his knuckles and leaned way back in the seat. He was just as big, just as strong as she’d remembered. “Who was it?”
She was really starting to shake now. She was scared, knew she’d backed herself into a corner. “Why don’t you find Froggy?” she blurted. “Why don’t you ask him?”
“I did find Froggy, but I was too late. Drank himself to death about two years ago.” Blue switched tactics. “Look, Jan, you’re telling me my kid brother raped you. I believe you. I knew he always had a crush on you. But I know he didn’t set up Grizz. I know there is a bastard out there who is responsible for taking my boys away from me. If you tell me who it is, maybe we can help each other.”
The words hung between them. She stared at him, eyes wide. She wondered if he knew she’d already spent the large divorce settlement from her second husband. She needed money, and she knew that the man behind Grizz’s arrest was very successful. At least he’d been back then. She knew Blue would kill him, but maybe they could work together to extort some money first.
“Okay, I’ll tell you.” She said quietly as she chanced a glance at his face. “But you have to help me, too. I could use some—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re broke. What’s his name?” Blue already knew, but it had to be played this way.
“I’m not ready to tell you. I’m not sure I completely trust you, Blue.”
“You can trust me, but I understand why you’re afraid. You want to hold on to that until I can show you I mean business. It’s okay. So we work together. We both get revenge on Grunt and the man responsible for breaking up my family.”
“You’re not going to kill your own brother, are you?”
“I don’t have to kill him, but he’ll pay. He’ll pay in a big way. We’ll work it so that he goes to prison and gets a taste of his own medicine. He may be my brother, but he raped you when you were my wife. That won’t go unpunished.”
She smiled thinly now. “So what do you need me to do?”
“I need you to come back to Florida with me. Maybe for just a week. Maybe a little longer. We should be able to get enough money out of the guy, assuming he’s still alive and still lives there.” Blue already knew the guy was alive and living a very comfortable life in Florida. “If not, we can still come up with a plan for Grunt.”
“What if we find him and he’s not successful? I’m just assuming he is.”
“Who do you think has been taking care of Grizz’s money while he’s been in prison?
She frowned. “If you have Grizz’s money, why do we need to extort the guy?”
“It’s not about the money for me. He’ll pay for taking my kids away. If we can get you some money before I deal with him, then it’s just icing on the cake.”
She smiled and actually licked her lips slightly, like a cat stalking a bird.
He looked at her seriously then. “If I find out you’re lying about any of this, I will kill you.”
“I have just as much reason to hate them as you do, Blue. Witness Protection wasn’t exactly good to me. I had to scrape by as a receptionist at an advertising agency. They wouldn’t let me work in a law office because it was too close to what I used to do. If I hadn’t met Richard or he hadn’t been able to take care of me, I don’t know what would’ve happened to me or the boys. I was a week away from applying for welfare. No, Witness Protection is not a good place to be. Whatever it is, I’ll help you.”
It was true. She couldn’t care less about the guy who’d convinced her to help him go after Grizz. She wanted some money, and she’d be happy to let Blue do whatever he wanted to the man. But Grunt was a different story. Grunt had rejected her. He would pay for that. She listened to Blue’s plan.
Then she opened her cell phone and made a call.
“I keep the key hidden in the fake rock. Just water them every couple of days. Maybe you could turn a light on at night. I’m in such a hurry I didn’t have time to plan.” Jan waited while the person on the other end of the phone said something. “Oh, you are a gem, Connie. Thank you. I’ll see you in a week or so.”
Jan closed her phone and looked at Blue. “All taken care of. My neighbor will water my plants and make sure the house looks lived in.”
Blue nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a wad of cash. He’d convinced her to leave with him without going home to pack. The promise of a new wardrobe was too enticing for Jan to pass up. He knew she was on the brink of losing her house. Instead of getting a job when she divorced, she lived the life of a socialite and believed she would be able to snare another wealthy husband before her money ran out. She was wrong. That’s why she was jumping at this chance, and Blue knew it.
He also knew she hadn’t had any contact with the boys in over a year. She wouldn’t be missed.
“We’ll take my car and leave yours here. I’ll fly you back next week. This hotel is pretty fancy. Why don’t you take yourself downstairs to that boutique I saw in the lobby and buy yourself something nice to celebrate our new partnership.”
She actually squealed when she grabbed the money from his hand. “You want to come with me and help me pick out some expensive lingerie? I know they have it.” She batted her eyelashes.
It was all he could do not to roll his eyes. “I’ll be down in a sec. I have to take a piss.”
She picked up her purse and headed for the lobby. He knew she couldn’t resist the green stuff.
Alone, he looked around the room. Nobody would ever trace her back to this room or this hotel. The credit card he’d used to hold the room was stolen. The room would be cleaned and used over the next week, anyway. He pulled his own cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.
“It’s a go. You’ll need to get in the house. Key is under a fake rock. The lady next door will be keeping an eye out, so be careful. You need to find some kind of envelope or note she left saying she’s meeting with me. She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, so it’s probably on the fucking counter.”
He paused then. “No, the keys won’t be in it. I’m sure they’re in her purse. Just get her car away from this hotel. Strip it, dump it, I don’t care what you do with it. As long as it can’t be traced back to her.”
The person on the other end of the line said something else. Blue replied, “I already swiped her phone. She didn’t even notice. I’ll get rid of it.”
He snapped his own phone shut then and went downstairs to find his ex-wife.