CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Havoc
“When does this end?” she questions as we lie in bed a few days later. I’ve had to report my findings to the state, and while I want to keep her name out of it, I have to figure out a way to do so. We haven’t come this damn far in our relationship for me to have to lose her over something like this. “When are we allowed to be happy?”
“We are happy,” I remind her, pushing her hair out of her face as she leans against my chest. “It’s the other bullshit we could do without. The outside influences, and the people who want to make things difficult for us.”
“My dad,” she sighs. “It’s always going to come back to him. He’ll always want me under his thumb, under his control. Until he’s out of the equation, we’ll never be able to let our guard down, Holden.”
I know she speaks the truth, but I have a plan. One I happen to think is foolproof and will get this bastard away from us for the rest of not only our lives, but his as well. I’m scared to tell her, afraid that she may still have some loyalty to him. I mean, it’s her dad, how could she not? Not to mention I don’t want her caught in the middle of this. She’s been caught in the middle of too much in her life. This is one thing I want her to be out of.
“We’ll get through this,” I promise. “I’m working on a way to take your dad down without your name being mentioned.”
“How are you going to do that? I’m the one that pointed the finger. I identified the moonshine. When you arrest him it’ll be because of me.”
“You let me worry about it. I’m telling you, I’ve got this.”
She looks like she doesn’t want to believe me, and honestly, that’s okay. I’ll prove it to her, my plan will work. It has to, because I refuse to live my life without her in it. We’ve come too far, and she means too damn much to me.
“Go to sleep.” I kiss her nose. “Tomorrow is a new day, and we never know what it’s going to bring.”
She giggles. “Sometimes you’re so corny, Holden.”
“It’s my old man coming out.”
“I happen to love that old man,” she whispers as she snuggles in next to me.
As I hold her tonight, I hold her with strength and with a hope I haven’t had before. A hope we can get out from under this shadow. We have a chance, and I’d be dumb not to take it.
* * *
Coming to the state pen isn’t my idea of a good time. It especially isn’t on my day off when I could be spending it with my wife, but I’m here for a reason today.
“We’ll go get him for you, Havoc,” the officer working the front desk tells me as I show him the paperwork I have which allows me to talk to a prisoner.
“Can you tell me what room we’re going to be in? I want to be there when he comes in.”
He points to a room two doors down the hallway on the right. I’m nervous as I go in. Which is odd. Not many things in this life make me nervous, but this means more to me than most things in my life do. As I hear the clangs, beeps, and bangs that signify they’re releasing the prisoner into the room, I sit up straight and look ahead. When the door opens, the person throws their head back and laughs.
“Holden Thompson, what the fuck are you doing here?”
Holding out my hand, I indicate the seat in front of me. “Have a seat, Brooks. We have a few things to talk about.”
“We don’t have shit to talk about,” he shakes his head.
“That’s where you’re wrong – we do.”
There’s a battle of wills that ensues between the two of us. We stare one another down, and I can see Brooks trying to piece together why I’m here. I know Leigh’s come to see him before, but I’ve never stepped foot in here to see him. As far as I know, no one else besides her has either.
“You’ve got five minutes before I ask them to take me back to my cell.”
“Five minutes is all I need.” I have a bag at my feet, but I won’t put it on the table until I’m ready. “Do you love Leighton?”
“What the fuck kinda question is that? She’s my sister. Of course I love her.”
“Then I need you to listen to me closely. I need you to man up and be the person you should have been for her, her whole life. I need you to stop being selfish, and I need you to want to be a better person. Want something else for yourself, want something else for her. If she and I have kids, I want you to be able to see them as babies, and not in here like this.”
“What’s your fuckin’ point?” he interrupts me.
I lean forward, so we can look each other straight in the face. “I can get your time reduced.”
“What do you want from me? That shit doesn’t come for free.”
Now I seem to have his attention. “Leighton clued me in to something, and I know you can clue me in, too. I need someone to testify for the DA and it’s sure as fuck not going to be my wife. She’s not going to have that bull’s eye on her back. I want you to share some knowledge with me. And if you do, I’ll make sure you’re out of here in two years tops. Trevor Trumbolt agrees with this. You being honest with us will get a lot more off the street than just your dad; it’ll shut down the entire Strather operation.”
“What about my grandfather?”
I know he asks this question because he’s worried about the old man. But Merle is stubborn – he’ll hold on to the old ways until he’s dead and buried.
“He’s not up to me. And he’s not up to you. He’s picked the life he’s wanted to live for the past seventy-five plus years, Brooks. You have your whole life ahead of you, and so does Leighton. Want to live it? Help me.”
I let my speech sink in and hope Brooks has some common sense left in his head. “I know you hate it in here, I hear things. Let me help you, by helping me.”
Eventually I see him close his eyes, mouth the word fuck. And I know I have him.
“What can I do?”
It’s the most grown-up question he’s ever asked, and believe me, I know what it cost him to ask. Reaching over, I pull the jug out of the bag and set it on the table. “Two things – how do I know who’s that is and what batch it is.”
Watching as he flipped it over the same way Leighton did, I see the minute he recognizes what he has in his hands.
“Did he sell this?”
“Yeah,” the laugh I left out is harsh and dark, “to a bunch of high school kids having a field party. Two are still in the hospital, one is dead, and a class of incoming seniors won’t be graduating with someone they’ve been going to school with since kindergarten. It’s a fucked-up situation that could have been prevented had your dad not sold a bad batch.” I lean forward. “I want him on this, but I don’t want it to come back to Leighton. You feel me?”
He knows as well as I do how much trouble she would be in, how big of a betrayal it would be if anyone knew she talked to me.
“For one time in your life, Brooks, do the right thing and protect her. She’s spent her whole life trying to protect you. You do this, and I promise I’ll get you out of here; I’ll help you when you get home, and I’ll show you that you can change. This doesn’t end you, man. Lots of people come back from shitty situations, but help me put an end to Jefferson.”
“It’s this.” He points to the two etchings Leighton showed me. “This one means it’s the Strather brand, and this one means it was a bad batch. We mark it so we don’t get them mixed up. Because of the methanol they have to be dumped. And we don’t want to dump good batches.”
“He knew exactly what he was doing?”
“Exactly what he was doing,” he confirms. “He didn’t want to waste any money. Times must be hard.”
“Yeah, I imagine they are.”
I can’t help the feeling of triumph I get from knowing I’ve made it hard on them. Good. They’ve ruined everyone’s lives they’ve touched. Including the one sitting in front of me and the one who sleeps in my bed every night.
“I’m gonna take them down, Brooks.”
For the first time, the kid looks like a man to me, with the harsh set of his jaw, the growth of beard on his face, and the experience in his eyes.
“I know, and I’m glad to have helped you. Now don’t fuck me over.”
I put my hand out to his for a shake. “I’ll send the DA here with the deal and to talk to you about testifying. Please don’t share this with Leighton if she comes to see you. I don’t want her to know until it’s done. I don’t want her in danger. Right now I’m going to get the warrant to take your daddy down.”
He nods and gets up, his shackles clanging as he makes his way back to where he’s been destined to live for now. But he helped me, and I’ll gladly help him. Tapping my knuckles on the table, I get up with a spring in my step.
I’ve promised Jefferson that I will rain down hell, and that’s exactly what I’m about to do.