"She doesn't have any friends," I said then pulled in breath and went on, "And she's not a pro. She was in love with Chace and, yes, maybe the promise of his father's money but the woman I met a few weeks before she was murdered was down, beaten. Ronnie had girls and I know that kind of beaten, when life forces you into that. Some of them had just given up but most of them were hard. That wasn't the same kind of beaten as Misty and Misty wasn't hard. She'd had hope. She'd played her part willingly to get what she wanted, screwed in the head how she did it but hoping in the end she'd win Chace around. She didn't. And, after they backfired, clearly she was rethinking her actions with Chace and Ty. She said in her note to Ty that another good man got caught in the net and she didn't want to harm him further. If Trane is a jerk, she meant Chace. Everyone knows she loved him. So, she's not a paid whore, she's a girl who made a play for the man she loves who, if what you said was true, would never tie himself to her any other way. And, since that wasn't her vocation, doing what we saw on that video," I tipped my chin to the monitor, "she'd wanna be with a friend. She pretended she liked it and I don't want to examine it up close but from what I saw, it was pretend. And to do something that gross, she'd want some safety, someone there who she could trust, someone there she was close to. And the only friend I know that Misty has is in Maryland."

Tate nodded and muttered, "I'm on that."

"You need to know," Ty said at this point, "Angel called today. Keaton is also working with IA; he's been with them thirteen months. We know Fuller instigated that inspection on Monday. What we didn't know was the play was to plant shit. Keaton and Frank worked together to derail that plan without losin' their cover. Frank didn't know Keaton was with IA, he knows now and so do we."

Tate stared at Ty in unconcealed surprise a moment before what appeared to be relief moved across his handsome features then he shook his head and whispered, "Jesus, this web is so fuckin' sticky, everyone is caught in it."

That was, unfortunately, true.

Ty gave me a squeeze, I looked up to him and he said, "Give Tate everything you got on the guy you saw delivering the envelope."

My eyes went back to Tate and I told him, "Not small, not huge, a man, plaid, short-sleeved shirt. It was dark, I didn't even get his hair color but "

"Newcomb," Tate cut me off and I blinked.

"No fuckin' way," Ty replied instantly. "Loyal foot soldier for years and that motherfucker makes Fuller look like a poster boy for Affirmative Action. Newcomb had a white hood and robe in his closet, I would not be surprised. He wouldn't scratch an itch he had on his ass if it meant it might in some way help me."

"Newcomb's also got a wife who took off three years ago leavin' him with three kids and one of them is a daughter who has leukemia and it isn't lookin' good. Those kids need him to go down or disappear like they need holes drilled into their heads. He's inner sanctum, caked in mud so, they all go down, he's fucked. He's doin' what he can to divert attention to the higher ups in hopes the buzzards will see him breathin' when they pick over the meatier carcasses and leave him be. He's also a big guy and he doesn't ever wear tees. He's not in a sports jacket and slacks on duty; he's in short sleeves, always plaid."

Ty made no reply.

Tate kept speaking. "I'll get to the girl in Maryland. You said you were savin' this on your hard drive, you do it?"

"Yeah," Ty answered.

"You got a writeable DVD?"

"Yes." That one I answered.

Tate looked at me. "Make copies. Get one to Nina, hand delivered. Express one to Pena, you give him a head's up to look for it and you send it from the post office in Gnaw Bone. Mick Shaughnessy is the top cop in Gnaw Bone, clean as a whistle and, because of that, he hates Fuller's guts. Fuller doesn't step foot in Gnaw Bone, he did, Mick would lose his mind. You'll have no eyes on you there. You put one in your safe and then you spread them around. Krystal and Bubba, Deke, Jim-Billy, Wood. The fact you have it has to be dropped in the right ear, I'll think about which one that'll be and do it. What I'll also do is let people know that they got a lot of work to do if they think they can sweep them all up. That shit heading to Dallas, they'll figure it isn't worth it even to try." Tate then looked at Ty. "But this means two things, one, even the boys in the inner sanctum are turnin' on each other which leads us to two, desperate times, desperate measures. You're close to bein' cleared but you aren't. Somethin' goes down and you got a gun, currently, you're fucked even if it means protecting yourself, Lex, your home. Still, you feel you need that insurance, I'll go get your gun."

I looked at Ty to see him shaking his head. "Not gonna trip on my own feet now."

"Smart," Tate muttered. "Fucked that you can't have that insurance, but smart."

Talk about guns and insurance, anonymous men silently wandering up our stairs to leave envelopes, Ty closing us in, I felt a full body tremble and Ty's arm around me got tighter.

"All right, Tate, again, I owe you but right now, gotta get Lexie home. We haven't had a great day so we need it to be done."

Tate nodded and stood, his eyes coming to me.

"Stay strong, darlin', this'll be over soon."

I nodded too. Tate's eyes moved to Ty, they exchanged a look then Tate led the way out. There was idle chitchat in the kitchen with Laurie but not much before Ty shut it down and got me out to the Viper.

We were winding our way down the hill when he asked gently, "My mama okay?"

I wasn't.

But I hoped soon I would be.

So I lied, "Yeah. Fine."

"Bullshit," he muttered but said no more and reached out a hand to mine, he squeezed firm and warm then he let it go.

As we were waiting for our garage door to open, I was thinking, doors locked, blinds pulled, no gun, anonymous men lurking in the dark with sick-ass sex tapes, I was still glad to be home.

Ty pulled in, shut the Snake down and I was ready for his tee, a beer then bed so I had my buckle off, the door open and was folding out before he hit the button to bring down the garage door.

Again, at the corner of my eye I saw movement, turned my head, froze half straightened from the car with my eyes aimed over the roof and I hissed urgently, "Ty!"

But he'd seen him before me and Ty was already out, standing in his opened door, turned to look in the opened door of the garage where Rowdy Crabtree was standing two feet in.

"What the fuck?" Ty rumbled and it was his pissed rumble that, even not directed at me echoed in my chest.

"Close the garage door," Crabtree ordered.

"Fuck that, Rowdy, get the fuck outta here."

"Close the door, Walker!" Crabtree snapped, taking a step closer.

"Not one more move," Ty growled, Crabtree stopped then his body went completely still and I noticed then he did not look good. Not dirty but his hair was a mess like his hands had been going through it, he had serious stubble that said he hadn't shaved in a good long time, his eyes were bloodshot, his body was frozen but it still communicated he was wired and he, surprisingly but fortunately, held no weapon.

"We gotta talk." Rowdy's tone had changed, wheedling, borderline needy.

"Gonna say it one more time, get the fuck outta here," Ty warned low.

"Got somethin' for you, we need to talk deal," Rowdy told him.

"Nothin' I need from you, no deal I'd make," Ty replied.

"You'll want this."

"Rowdy " Ty started but Rowdy cut him off, talking swiftly, urgent, the desperation coming closer to the surface.

"I didn't do Misty."

Ty scowled at him and asked, "No shit?"

Rowdy shook his head emphatically. "No way, Walker, no motive. Don't barely know the bitch."

"And you think I care about this because...?"

Rowdy shook his head again, this time communicating Ty was getting no more until he agreed to the terms. "We need to talk deal."

"I'm seein' you don't get this but I don't need shit from you. You been to ground so you don't know I don't need you. Right now you need me and I got absolutely no fuckin' love for you so you can go fuck yourself. Now get outta my garage or I make the only call to Carnal PD they want to get from me and that's me tellin' 'em you're in my garage."

"What I have is good, Walker," Rowdy rushed to say.

Ty moved to pull his phone out of his back pocket.

Still rushing, Rowdy informed Ty, "You went down for Fuller's brother in LA."

"Not tellin' me somethin' I don't know," Ty muttered, flipping open his phone then, eyes to it and not to me, he said to me, "Mama, get your ass over here, behind me. Now."

I shifted out from the door, slammed it and moved.

Rowdy spoke. "He's got a partner."

"Know that too," Ty said as he moved out of his door, slammed it and I moved close to his back. He was also hitting buttons on his phone, I could hear the beeps.

"It was about dope," Rowdy quickly put in.

"LA Fuller likes his blow, this too is not news," Ty murmured, lifting the phone to his ear.

"LA Fuller likes his blow and also doesn't like a middle man. Killed that dealer you went down for not because he owed him so much as because he took over his business," Rowdy said, I felt Ty's body get tight and he dropped his phone hand, flipping it closed.

Oh my God!

Rowdy kept talking, taking another step in, Ty's entire body went tight making it look like it expanded and he was bigger than he was which was already big and Rowdy wisely stopped.

But he didn't stop talking. "He owed him, he owed him a whack. But he also learned from that mistake. Distribute, you got a constant supply without havin' to pay for it; just skim it off the top. He had connections all over the place, set up a network of sellers and, as a cop, he could provide them excellent protection. Shit worked great for him, a couple years later, he and his buddy expanded the business, took over another dealer's supplier and territory, same way as you, dealer goes down, another guy gets framed, they take over. They had it sweet. Now they got heat."

"You got any evidence of this?" Ty asked.

"I " Rowdy started.

Ty interrupted him, "Yes or no, Rowdy, you got anything solid behind this?"

Rowdy held his eyes. Then he shook his head.

"Motherfucker, you are wanted for murder and you walk into my garage offerin' me a deal when you really got nothin' and your word is worth shit?" Ty asked.

Rowdy's shoulders went straight and he declared, "I didn't kill Misty."

"Tell someone who gives a shit," Ty returned.

"I just handed you Fuller and his brother and that brother's partner," Rowdy reminded him.

"You didn't hand me shit. Half of what you told me, I know and so do a fuckload of people who actually can do something about it and the other half you got no evidence to support."

At that, Rowdy lost it, leaned in and snapped, "I'm not goin' down for takin' out that gash."

To this, Ty was quiet for several long seconds until I put my hands to him, curling my fingers in the back waistband of his jeans and pressing close with all the rest of me.

Then he spoke and when he did, it was quiet but that quiet still rumbled. "Hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?"

My stomach flipped.

Rowdy's torso shot back and his face went pale.

"Now, you listen to me, you piece of shit," Ty whispered. "You do not breathe my air or my wife's. I don't see you until I see your picture in the paper then I can toss that shit in the trash where it fuckin' belongs. You get near me or my wife again, your shit storm magnifies to epic proportions. I know what you like, Rowdy. Five years ago, you fucked me up the ass but you did it metaphorically 'cause you like ass fuckin' but not men. Boys. The younger they look, fuck, the younger they are, the better." I was peering around Ty, staring at Rowdy who was now white as a sheet but Ty wasn't done. "I know where you do your ass fuckin', I know who you fuck, I know how much you pay for it and I know how often you do it. My guess is, you do not want your buddies to know you like givin' it up the ass to boys. Another guess, once you go down for whatever the fuck they get you for, you do not want to be a cop in the joint who's known for gettin' off on that shit. My wife and I never see you again, that secret stays safe. We do, I spread that shit wide. I'll remind you, over five years ago, you fucked me so I would advise you don't test me because it's takin' all the control I got not to lay you out. Now, nod if you get me then get... the fuck... out of my... fuckin' garage."

Rowdy, eyes wide, face ashen, nodded once, turned and scurried out of the garage.

Ty turned to me, his burning eyes caught mine and he ordered, "You move with me, you are not outta my reach."

I nodded.

He turned again to look out the garage as he opened the door to the Viper, moved into it, turned again, his eyes came to me, he reached in, hit the button and the garage door started to crank down. He moved out of the door, slammed it and we both watched the garage door until it settled.

Then he turned back to me. "Upstairs."

I moved. Ty followed. I watched him turn the lock on the utility room door to the garage then I walked up the stairs. Ty again followed.

I took four steps into the kitchen and turned.

He stopped two steps from me and ordered, "Stay there, don't move."

I nodded again and he moved, I saw him scan the first floor then heard his feet as he moved through the two floors above us.

Then he came back, again stopped two steps from me and held my eyes.

"Are you okay, baby?" I whispered, doing my own scan, seeing nothing, reading nothing, he was blank.

"Two and a half weeks," he replied.

"What?" I asked.

"That piece of shit has had two and a half weeks, tastin' my nightmare."

My breath stuck in my throat.

Suddenly, he smiled his beautiful smile and whispered, "That felt good."

My breath forced through in a rush and I whispered back, "I bet it did."

Then I smiled back.

Then his expression changed and at what it changed to, my nipples got hard.

"My mama owes me some pussy," he said softly.

That was when wet rushed between my legs.

My husband held my eyes a second, two, three, then, I had no idea why, perhaps it was the intensity pulsing off him, I whirled and ran on my high heels to the stairs.

He caught me almost all the way up the first flight and I thought he'd lift me up and carry me to our bed but he didn't. He turned me, planted my ass on a stair, my panties were gone in a whoosh then his big body was on me, his mouth on mine, his tongue in my mouth.