“I hung out. I waited,” Alex continued. “Carter finally showed up.” He chuckled. “I think I actually scared him on your patio because I was just sitting there. Anyway, he tried to blow me off, said he didn’t know where you were, some bullshit. But I sniffed it out, you know? I knew he knew where you were.”
I tried to picture them having the conversation on my patio, but I had trouble even recalling what my home looked like.
“So I badgered the shit out of him,” Alex said, turning to me. “Because I wanted a piece of whoever killed my sister.”
Landon Keene’s face flashed somewhere on the horizon and I turned away from it.
“Carter tried to put me off, but I was relentless,” he said. “I wouldn’t leave him alone. I found his house. Basically camped out. Finally, he caved. He told me. About you and Keene.”
The words hung there in the air and it felt as if they were lit up in neon for the entire world to see. I wasn’t sure I cared.
“So before I forget…thank you,” Alex said quietly.
I didn’t move or respond. Wasn’t sure that I could do either.
“But Carter and I started talking,” he said, shrugging. “He helped me line up a couple of construction jobs, lent me the money to start the classes at Mesa.” He smiled at me. “Don’t worry. I paid him back two weeks later.”
I nodded.
“So, then he needed to get outta sight,” he said. “Cops started breathing down on him a little bit, you know? I knew a couple people, I gave him the names. We’ve stayed in touch. Two days ago, my cell rang. He said you needed some help, told me where you were.” He shrugged. “So here I am. Because I owe you.”
“Owe me? How do you figure?”
Alex folded his arms across his broad chest. “Three reasons, Noah. One, you bailed my ass out when you had no reason to. Helped get my head on right.” He glanced at me. “Two, you took out the motherfucker that killed my sister.” He turned all the way to me, shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “And, three, you made Liz happy. Really happy. She loved you, Noah. Really loved you.”
I blinked hard, letting the words surround me, swallow me up. Images of her face flashed out on the horizon, faster than I could look at them.
“So, thank you, Noah,” Alex said. “Thank you.”
There was nothing to thank me for and I couldn’t imagine anyone feeling grateful to me for what I’d brought to Liz’s life. I’d have given anything to have her back, to have no one feel the need to thank me.
“Okay,” I said, because there was nothing else to say.
“So I’m in,” Alex said. “Whatever you need, whatever you want, I’m in.”
“Okay.”
Bella ushered Jackson over to the water, had him bend down and wash his hands off.
“Carter,” I asked. “How is he?”
“He’s alright,” he said. “Heat’s on a bit, so he’s staying quiet.”
“What kind of heat?”
“Those two cops that found Keene’s body.”
“Klimes and Zanella?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Them. They’ve been all over him.”
The tide was starting to roll in and the waves were crashing harder.
“Tailing him, pulling him in for questions, just staying on him,” he said. “He told me that he heard they were working on warrants for him. And for you. So he decided to make himself scarce for awhile.”
“What about Wellton?” I asked. “Where’s he at?”
“He’s kind of a mess,” Alex said. “Took some time off. He’s back now, but he really hasn’t been in any shape to help or run interference.”
It was hard for me to picture Liz’s old partner imploding. As much as he and I didn’t get along, I respected him as a cop and after she died, he was the one who gave me the heads up that Keene’s body had been located. But it sounded as if both he and Carter were suffering in different ways.
Because of me.
Jackson chased Bella down the shoreline, both of them giggling as the water splashed around their ankles. I couldn’t stay much longer. I didn’t want them to be hurt because of me. I needed to figure out her situation and move on to wherever I was going to move on to.
“You really up for helping me?” I asked.
“Anything,” he said. “I’m in.”
“May mean getting your hands a little dirty.”
He smiled. “Done it before, I can do it again.”
Bella scooped up Jackson and swung him around, his legs flailing as he screamed and giggled above the water.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s figure some shit out.”
THIRTY-THREE
“Alex and I will take David the money,” I said.
“You’re nuts,” Bella said.
We were still on the beach and Jackson had passed out on a towel next to us. I’d grabbed a couple more chairs and the three of us were sitting there, discussing our options. Or rather, I was throwing out options and Bella was discouraging them.
“He’ll freak,” she said. “Absolutely freak. And come after me.”
“No, he won’t,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m going to tell him not to.”
Alex chuckled, but Bella just shook her head, her mouth set in a line of agitation.
“I’m not going to let him hurt you, Bella,” I said. “You need to trust me if you want my help. Remember?”
The line softened, but didn’t disappear completely. “I remember. I do trust you. But he isn’t some neighborhood dealer and I think that’s how you’re looking at him.”
“He’s capable of more?” Alex asked.
She nodded.
“Like?” Alex prodded.
“Like a lot more, okay?” she said. “He’s killed people. He’s just like Evan was.”
“Who’s Evan?” Alex asked.
I waved him off.
“They are so much alike,” she continued. “I know him. And it won’t be about losing the deal. It’s going to be someone telling him what to do. That’s the stuff he can’t take. The stuff that will piss him off.”
Which I already knew. Guys like David got off on the control far more than the money or deals. But I could understand why she was scared.
“Fair enough,” I said. “But there are two of us here now. Alex is going to help. You won’t be left alone until it’s settled.”
She glanced at Alex and he smiled at her. She looked away. “What exactly does ’settled’ mean?”
“It means that until I’m comfortable knowing David will leave you alone, one of us will be with you and Jackson.”
“But you just said the two of you were going to take the money to David.”
“I changed my mind,” I said. “Alex will stay with you and I’ll take the money.”
She turned her gaze to me. “You didn’t fare so well with him last time.”
I smiled. “I wasn’t ready for a fight. I will be this time.”
