Then Ty heard a deep chuckle.

Ty was not amused.

Pena kept talking. "Seein' as I got an interest in Martinez and all his dirty deeds, he was flagged and sent to me. So, he made this report to me. Now, make no mistake, Ty, I take my work seriously but I gotta admit, he gave this report, I lost my pen. Swear to God, don't know where I put that fucker."

And at that, Ty was amused. Therefore he dropped his head and grinned at his boots.

"Sucks, man," he murmured into his phone.

"I know. Don't worry, I found it since. I also called up to Carnal and found out you were down with the twenty-four hour flu so no way you could be violatin' parole, drivin' your ass into the Lone Star State to deliver a message with your fists. Got a statement from a Tatum Jackson confirming the state of your health and Jackson would know because his wife brought you chicken soup. Heard that did that trick and was glad to hear it, ese."

Ty lifted his head and looked out of one of the bays, still grinning. "It was a quick recovery."

"Good news," Pena muttered then went on. "So, I've reported this to Mr. Martinez, asking him if he wants to amend his statement. To say he was shocked as shit would be an understatement. He had neglected to include the information that there was a man with you that apparently you referred to as 'Tate' but he included this information when I spoke to him again. I asked if Mr. Jackson's wife was also in attendance during his recent ass-kicking, considering she stands as both your and Mr. Jackson's alibi, but he said no. I then reminded him that it was an unlawful act to make false statements to the police, that he had no evidence of said ass-kicking as he, nor his esteemed colleagues who also got their asses kicked, had any medical attention where there were actually records made. And last, the only three witnesses were the three who allegedly got their asses kicked and I explained, since their three rap sheets could be used as a set of encyclopedias detailing the wide array of crimes available to commit, not one of them was a reliable witness and I further informed them that the man they were accusing of being accessory to a crime was an ex-cop and current highly-respected fugitive apprehension agent, something else that I could tell shocked the shit outta him. I then reminded Mr. Martinez that it is 'hood lore that a Tyrell Walker wiped his ass at poker some years back and Mr. Martinez was not exactly quiet when he crowed about Mr. Walker being sent down for manslaughter seein' as he still owed him a whack. I suggested that perhaps he was using the police force to extricate him from this debt and that such an endeavor would be frowned upon. He saw the wisdom of retracting his statement which was lucky for me because I had no record of it and my Cap is not big on that shit."

Jesus, Shift wasn't only a piece of shit motherfucker; he was also seriously fucking stupid.

And Ty was still grinning when he noted, "What you're sayin' is I owe you."

"No," Pena's voice got low, "what I'm sayin' is, don't know what shit brought Lexie back Dallas way, but thank you for provin' me not wrong you give a fuck about your wife. Martinez spread wide he was recruitin' Rodriguez's pussy for his stable and was already takin' orders. You took care a' that so I didn't have to. And also what I'm sayin' is, the message you sent was not received. He may leave Lexie alone but he is one pissed off black man and that rage is directed at you. You got some experience, I bet, watchin' your back. Use it and stay diligent."

Ty's grin died and he muttered, "Fuck, what I do not need is another fuckin' problem."

"Well, now you're makin' me feel like Santa Claus," Pena replied and Ty turned and walked deeper into the garage.

Then he asked, "You gonna share?"

"Well, I wasn't seein' as I want your nose clean with all that I'm doin' though I may be in Dallas but my karma must be in Carnal since I got a message for you this morning from one of your neighbors. First, I'll tell you that, when I was up there, I walked into the Carnal Police Department and flashed my badge. The officer on duty at the desk, not a very bright bulb, took one look at it, opened the doors wide and gave me his code to the copy machine. Considering those fuckwads have been gettin' away with murder, literally, I figured they all couldn't be as dumb as the man they got guardin' the door so I also figured I didn't have much time. But I did use my time at the copy machine wisely before someone cottoned onto my activities and I was cordially and collegially ousted. I will not share with you what I found. I will also not share with you what some of Carnal's citizens I spoke with in a variety of establishments readily shared with me. What I will share with you is that, after spending some time since leaving the beautiful state of Colorado acting on some of the things I learned during my vacation, my activities have been noted. And this morning, an Officer Frank Dolinski phoned me wanting to have a cop to cop chat. Now, Officer Dolinski told me that he heard word some time ago that you were being paroled and, seeing as he's either one smart motherfucker or clairvoyant, he knew your release could mean good or bad things but, good or bad, he told me you got a lotta friends in that 'burg, all of 'em been nursin' not a small amount of antagonism for over five years, so it was gonna mean something. Further, Officer Dolinski's father was a cop as was his grandfather and he actually likes his job, wanted to follow the family tradition since he could remember and earned his badge to protect and serve and not doin' both to cover his own ass. So, he's been payin' a lot of attention and when I say that I mean a lot and when I say a lot I mean for a fuckin' long time."

Ty was listening, his gut tight and his chest squeezing and when Pena didn't continue, he prompted, "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Pena replied. "So, Dolinski set the ball rolling prior to your release but shit like this goes slow and you were out before things could get sorted."

"What shit goes slow and what things are gettin' sorted?" Ty asked.

"Dolinski's deep cover mission for an internal investigation into pretty much the entirety of the Carnal Police Department with specific interest in Police Chief Arnold Fuller," Pena answered.

Ty's body went solid.

Holy fuck.

Pena continued. "This investigation centers around a variety of things including Fuller's mishandling of a case when a serial killer was hunting his patch after which a complaint was lodged by a Special Agent Tambo of the FBI not only about Fuller's department fumbling the case but also Fuller's manner and professional approach, questioning his suitability to be in his job. Tambo's complaint was added to complaints from Carnal's citizen that were piling up and IA started sniffing around but could get nowhere seein' as tracks were covered and nearly every cop in the department was dirty so they needed an inside man and, mud's so deep at Carnal PD, they couldn't see clear of it and find one. Dolinski's coming forward as a whistleblower and willing undercover agent set the ball in motion for an intense investigation into the entire Department but centering on the aforementioned fuck up with the serial killer as well as the possible corroboration of local law enforcement officers in the cover up of the murder of a drug dealer in Los Angeles and the extradition of a Carnal citizen to stand trial for that crime. IA in LA, who are working joint with your local IA on that particular concern, apparently has some information that the dealer murdered was allegedly dealing blow to one Detective Gene Fuller, who happens to be Police Chief Arnie Fuller's brother, and ole Gene reportedly likes his blow, enough to get in deep with a dealer and, on a cop's salary, the only way to cover that debt was for the dealer to go away."

Holy fuck.

Pena kept talking. "As you know, two dealers dead in California by the same gun, a .38 but what you don't know is that Detective Chet Palmer has a .38 registered for personal use. But, when questions were asked, Detective Palmer was requested to produce this gun and couldn't do so saying, when he went to get it, he noticed it was missing and, belatedly, reported it stolen and says that it's been years since he's touched that gun so it could have been years ago it was stolen. Two and two began to make four and the person making four in Carnal for IA is Officer Frank Dolinski."

Holy fuck.

Pena wasn't done. "See, the problem Dolinski has now is that there is a very clever Carnal ex-cop whose friend went down for a crime he didn't commit and, if you don't mind me sayin', a very clever current cop in Dallas who's got an interest in that man's wife who are both nosin' around. Makin' matters worse, for some reason I'm sure you know nothin' about, although some time has gone by, Special Agent Tambo and his superiors have suddenly started asking questions about the complaint Tambo lodged and they haven't been real thrilled with the answers they've been receivin' but instead of shruggin' their shoulders and movin' on, they've decided to start leaning and they got a lot of weight. All this and Dolinski's already got his ass swinging way the fuck out there. It is not lost on all concerned that two black men in two states framed for murders they didn't commit, one taking his life, one losing five years of his, if uncovered, will make national news. Dolinski says because of this things are in-tense at the Carnal Police Station and he wants me to be aware that if these outside factions keep up their activities, some twitchy people may get seriously fuckin' twitchy and Officer Dolinski says he's this close to askin' his girl to take his hand in marriage and he'd actually like to get the chance to ask her not to mention marry her and make a family with her and not get his head blown off and some random black guy who's unlucky enough to look at one of these assholes funny servin' time for that crime."

Ty was silent and he was silenced by surprise.

Then he asked, "You backin' off?"

To that, Pena was also silent for long moments before he said quietly, "Been chewin' on that." He paused then continued, "And, see, I wanna help Officer Dolinski out. Only got a very long phone call to get to know this guy but I got the feelin' he's a good man. Know, doin' what he's doin', he's a moral man and a brave one. Problem is, he shared with me that someone got the idea that all this started with you gettin' out, it was all quiet before you came home so they felt the best course of action was to make a statement and get you back in. And seein' as you weren't helpin' with that, not barrelin' into Carnal, guns ablaze, metin' out retribution, but instead enjoying your newlywed status, they felt it was necessary to draw you out. And they felt the best way to do that was to fuck with your wife. So, Officer Dolinski told me they put that plan into action and he promised me he'd do what he could for Lexie but I'm not feelin' good about that promise or how long it'll take for this shit to get done and if shit's so buried that wrongs will never be righted. I'm not big on wrongs not bein' righted, wrongs bein' righted are kinda why I got in the cop business in the first fuckin' place, so I still feel I gotta do what I can do to make that happen."

Ty made no response.

So Pena asked, "You gonna talk to Mr. Jackson?"

To that, Ty answered, "Yeah, but we're not backin' down either. Frank's a good man and I feel for him. He's already taken Lexie's back. The thing is, I don't wanna go back in and Lexie and I wanna start a family and I want my kids to have a father who doesn't have that kinda shadow hangin' over his head. The mission is to stay free and clear my name and I trust Frank but one man against many isn't gonna do shit. I cannot say I'm not smilin' inside that these guys are feelin' the heat enough to get twitchy so not sure I wanna turn down that heat. We'll do what we can to have Frank's back but it's not only his future that's ridin' on this."

Silence then Pena exposed he'd honed in on one thing in all that Ty said, "You and Lexie tryin'?"

Fuck.

Ty didn't want to answer but he did. "Yeah."

Then a surprised, "Already?"

"Angel, I lost five years. You think I'm big on pissin' away anymore?"

"Got a point," Pena muttered.

"Anyway, Lex wants four kids. She's thirty-four, she wants that, we gotta get started."

He listened to Pena roar of laughter before, "Madre de Dios, ese, you just cured me. Tu esposa es muy linda but four kids? That's about three headaches and definitely three college tuitions I'm glad I'm gonna miss."

Shit. That wasn't something he'd thought about.

He was rethinking his vow never to sit a game of poker again, and definitely the coffee table shopping expedition when Pena finished it.

"All right, Ty, don't expect an invitation to the baby shower but you got my number now, you need me, she needs me, I'm a phone call away. I'll keep an eye on Martinez and give you a head's up, I hear anything."

"Thanks, Angel and a little payback, not for you but just in case Frank calls you, we haven't been sittin' on our hands. He needs to lean on someone to flip, he leans on Crabtree."

"Crabtree?"

"As in Officer Rowdy Crabtree."

"What you got for him to use on Officer Crabtree?"

"What I got is that Officer Crabtree visits Denver every other weekend and he does this because there's a certain service he can get in Denver he can't get out here in the mountains. And this service is provided by men who look like boys and it's provided for a fee."

A low whistle then, "How solid is this?"

"Very."

"Ole Frank gave me his number," Pena told him.

"'Spect you'll find time to call."

"He's not on your speed dial?"

"Frank's givin' me and Tate a wide berth these days."

"Probably smart," Pena muttered.

It probably was and now Ty knew why. Before, he thought Frank had gone to the dark side which meant his stepping in for Lexie didn't make sense. Now, it made sense.

"One thing," Ty added. "Frank's gonna use this, he needs to do it soon. If he doesn't, Crabtree is gonna have a talk with someone else. He sits a cruiser, he's not gonna be pullin' my wife over for bullshit and he was involved in my shit so I got a desire to watch him squirm. This info is new, we've not been sittin' on it long and we won't sit on it much longer. He flips for Frank or he flips for me but he's gonna flip."

"Right," Pena whispered.

"Right," Ty confirmed.

"You got more?" Pena asked.

"We do but what we got is shit I'm gonna keep. Crabtree isn't the only one needs to squirm."

Silence then, "Right. Okay then, Ty, again, stay sharp."

"Same to you."

"Keep her happy."

Jesus.

"That's another mission, Angel."

This got a chuckle then, "I'll bet. Later, amigo."

"Later."

He flipped his phone shut.

Then he flipped it open and called Tate.

Then he flipped it shut again and got back to work.

At twelve thirty, Ty was standing with Wood just outside a bay when the Viper turned into the garage and growled down the forecourt.

Ty and Wood stopped talking in order to watch and so did every single man on Wood's payroll and Ty didn't even have to turn to confirm. Lexie had visited him in the forecourt of the garage twice and once was incentive enough for any man to stop what he was doing and pay attention.

But watching her park the Viper, throw out a long, tanned leg and fold out of his car wearing a pair of black short-shorts, the tight, berry-colored, halter-topped tee she was wearing that day by the pool in Vegas, high-heeled, black sandals on her feet, a pair of classy, black-framed shades covering her eyes and her long, soft, shining hair falling over her shoulders could cause even Rowdy Crabtree, with his closeted tendencies, to have one motherfucker of a wet dream.

Ty grinned.

Wood muttered, "Shit."

Ty's grin got bigger.

Lexie shouted excitedly across the forecourt, "You left me the Snake!" and then she did it.

Racing across the forecourt, he braced and she launched herself in his arms. This time, she wrapped her long legs around his hips and when he caught her, he did it with hands to her ass.

She gave him a hard kiss then pulled away and gave him a huge smile, her light beaming bright and blinding.

Good.

She'd flipped on the switch.

And she liked the Viper. A lot.

"Babe, I'm at work," he reminded her but didn't even twitch in an effort to put her on her feet.

To this, she turned her head to Wood and greeted, "Hey, Wood."

"Hey, Lexie. Welcome back."

"Thanks," she replied. "Happy to be back."

Wood's eyes did a sweep of them while his lips twitched and he noted, "That actually wasn't lost on me."

She shot him a smile then asked, "Do you mind your mechanics engaging in public displays of affection?"

Ty shook his head, not in denial, because he found it amusing his wife was a goof.

He'd missed that too, as in missed it.

Wood answered, "Just as long as you keep your clothes on."

"Can do," she muttered then looked back at Ty. "Soooo," she drew this out then went on, "the bad news is, Dominic hired someone."

She didn't look too broken up about it but, still, he knew she liked that job so he murmured, "Sorry, mama."

Her smile flashed and she continued, "The good news is, he caught her with her fingers in the cash register only two days after she started and fired her ass so..." her arms that were curled around his shoulders disappeared as she threw them in the air and Ty had to lean back so his wife wouldn't topple the other direction as she shouted, "I'm back in!"

Ty turned his head to Wood and explained, "My wife's a goof."

Wood chuckled.

"I'm not a goof," Lexie protested, winding her tanned arms around his shoulders again.

"Baby, you're a goof. Total goof," Wood declared. "But you stick with that, you work it."