When Zack opened the door to the cabin, Nicole was sitting up on the mattress, rubbing her eyes like she was disoriented. “I’m sorry, baby, did I wake you up?”

She blinked a few times and said, “No, I just reached for you and you weren’t there. I thought you left.”

Zack slid back onto the mattress next to her and pulled her in close. “I’d never do that. I’d never leave without saying goodbye.”

“I’m sorry – insecure lately.”

“Shh, don’t apologize. It’s completely understandable. I’m sorry. I had to make a phone call.”

“It’s early.”

“Yeah, but I had an idea, one that might put us on the road to being back together.”

“Mm, I like it already.”

He smiled. “Me too, baby. I hate this shit. I don’t understand how I spent thirty years already without you…and the little man…in my life.” He felt her body shake and he pulled back and looked down at her. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry. It’s all I do lately, I know. I’m ridiculous.”

He cupped her chin and kissed her softly. “No, you’re not. You’re stressed out. You know what relieves my stress?”

She giggled. “I can only imagine.”

“Well, now I’m insulted. You thought I was going to say sex, didn’t you?”

“I’m sorry…yes, I did. Tell me, what relieves your stress?”

“Blow jobs.”

She giggled again. “Well, I guess we can relieve your stress at least.”

“And what relieves yours?”

“You,” she said, kissing his bare chest. “Being with you.” She kissed him again, just a little lower. “Touching you, tasting you, feeling you.” She kept kissing down until she reached his abdomen. “I even think giving you a blow job might help. Let’s give it a shot.”

He forced out a sigh and said, “Okay, if you think it will help.”

She gripped the waistband of his shorts and as she rolled them down his already hardening erection popped out. “Mm,” she said when she looked at it. “I think it will.” She took his cock in her hand and let her thumb brush across the tip of it. He sucked in a breath as she used the moisture she found there to lubricate her thumb and massage the entire tip with it as she began to stroke and squeeze his shaft lightly.

“Fuck…” he breathed out. Everything she did to him felt so damned good. She continued stroking him with one hand while using the other one to finish pushing his shorts down and sliding them off his feet, then she dipped her pretty head down and he suddenly felt her warm lips and her wet mouth suck in the head of his cock. His body convulsed and he cursed again, reaching down to wrap his fingers through her silky hair. “Feels so good, baby.”

Nicole looked up at him then and smiled around his shaft. Then, keeping her eyes locked into his, she began to let his cock slowly slide in and out of her mouth. She took him all the way in and then let him slide almost all the way out. Zack was mesmerized by how sexy she looked, and even if it didn’t feel so fucking good, he could come just watching her. He reached down and took one of her nipples between his fingers, leaving the other hand fisted in her hair. He started rolling and squeezing the nipple as she bobbed up and down on his cock faster, making slurping noises that sent thrills racing through his body. While she licked, and sucked, she kept her fingers circled around the base, squeezing lightly. With the other hand, she massaged his heavy balls, gently stroking them with her fingernails, making his head want to explode, both of them.

“God, baby, that feels so fucking good.” Nicole mumbled something with his cock still in her mouth, and the vibrations caused him to shudder. She started sucking harder and faster, and he felt his body racing toward another orgasm at a speed that made him dizzy. He was tempted to just lie back and let it come, but then he remembered that he didn’t know how long it would be before he could be back inside of her again, and he used the hand in her hair to pull her off him. She released his cock with a pop and looked up at him with red, swollen lips and dark pink cheeks. Her breasts were pressing into him too and she looked like a porn star. In a husky, breathless voice she said:

“Not stressed anymore?”

He grinned and reached down to pull her up on top of him. “No, baby, now I’m just horny.”

She smiled as she ground her hips down into his hard cock, letting him feel how wet and hot she was. “Me too,” she said.

“Mm, good. Fuck me, baby.”

She pushed up with her thighs and took his cock back in her hand. She looked into his eyes as she slid down on it and they both moaned when their hips met and every inch of him was buried deep inside of her. Nicole pressed her palms into his chest and began to ride him. Zack loved watching her. Her posture, the look on her face, the lust in her eyes, and even her wild hair was turning him on. The way she felt wrapped around his hard cock was just a bonus. He lay back and let her do all the work, occasionally reaching up to rub her hard nipples or slide a finger in her mouth and watch her suck it. It was only when she began to come, digging her fingernails into his chest and tossing her head to get the hair out of her wild eyes, that he lost it. He grabbed her around the waist with both hands and held her down on his cock tightly as she came and then he quickly followed. Nicole collapsed down onto his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her back and held her there. He loved feeling her heartbeat against his chest and the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. He could feel her breaths become slower and more even as she fell back to sleep. He was exhausted, but he knew they didn’t have much time left together and he didn’t want to waste any of it sleeping. He held her until the sun was completely up and the light filled the old cabin before reluctantly waking her up so that they could get dressed and get her back home before anyone discovered that she was there. Saying goodbye was hard, but Zack at least knew then that she hadn’t given up on them, and that gave him the strength he had felt like he was lacking while they were apart.

* * *

It was almost three in the afternoon before Gunner called Zack back. He had been stressing all day and was almost at the end of his patience by that time. “Hey, finally.”

“You want my help or not?”

“Sorry. Yes. What did he say?”

“I talked to him early this morning and he was…skeptical. But he called me back a few minutes ago and said that there was a big armed robbery about nine years ago at a party down on the Riverwalk. It was a fund-raiser, and a bunch of rich people were there for some kind of auction and then a mini-cruise on the river. Two people with automatic rifles boarded the boat. They had on black masks and they passed around a bag that they had everyone put their cash and jewelry into. The men weren’t ever caught and none of the jewelry was ever recovered. He said they got away with over a hundred grand’s worth of jewelry and about thirty grand in cash.”

“Damn, that’s a lot more than I thought it was worth. So, was he interested in recovering the jewelry, or at least whatever wasn’t fenced?”

“Yeah…but Zack, there’s more. One of the thieves shot two armed guards that night and killed them. They’re not just looking at them for the robbery, but for murder as well. They have DNA from one of them. One of the guards got a shot off before he died and they think maybe it just grazed one of the killers.”

“Okay, hopefully it was the one I think I know. He’s dead, but if they can use his involvement to open the case, and get some of the jewelry back, maybe that will be enough to make me valuable to them.”

“You want me to run it by Angel before you talk to him?” Zack was touched but he wanted as few people involved in this as possible.

“No, I’ll run it by my attorney. Thank you, though.”

“Okay. I have a number for you, for Samuels.” Gunner gave Zack the number and Zack thanked him again before ending the call. He started to call his attorney but changed his mind and made another call first.

“Yo, Zack, what’s up?” Skeeter answered on the first ring.

“Hey, Skeet. I’m sorry to be blunt here but I don’t have a lot of time. Did Randall do anything with Mona’s and Swinger’s suite?”

“Nah, as far as I know, nobody has been in there since we emptied the safe.”

“Good. You still have the leather case in a safe place?”

“Yep. I move it around just to make sure. I can’t say I trust Randall not to be filming us the way your dad was. Things are kind of shitty around here. Randall’s lost a lot of respect and so far, he hasn’t done much to earn any of it back.”

“I’m sorry, man. My offer to put in a word for you here still stands if you ever want to move.”

“I might take you up on it.”

“Good. Now, if you’re not sick of me and my favors, I need another one.”

Skeeter chuckled and said, “You rewarded us nicely last time. I still see that hot call girl from time to time.”

“Just remember that a prostitute is a prostitute, and keep a raincoat on it.”

Skeeter laughed again. “Always. So, what do you need?”

“A couple of things. First, can you get back into the suite?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Okay, cool. Put the leather case back in the safe. Make sure you’re wearing gloves and make sure no one sees you.”

“Okay.”

“Next, go to Randall and tell him that San Antonio P.D. is going to be knocking on the door sometime in the next week. They will have search warrants so tell him to get anything and anyone who shouldn’t be there out, sooner rather than later.”

“Damn. Okay.”

“I’m sorry, man.”

“Hey, if this is on you, then I know you didn’t have any other choices. I’ll get on it as soon as we hang up.”

Zack thanked him again and when he ended that call, he called his attorney. Brendan was very interested in what Zack had to say, but he wouldn’t hear of letting him be the one to call Samuels. Zack’s only problem with that was impatience. He was going to go crazy waiting to hear back from them. He knew after he hung up that he had to find something to keep himself busy, so he did what was almost becoming second nature: he got on his bike and drove to Memphis. Spider would be bringing Liam back to Nicole that afternoon, so Zack parked a few blocks away, took off his kutte, and walked down to the diner across the street from the bakery. He took his usual booth near the window, ordered lunch, and waited.