“Now I gotta ask you to stop threatening Ms. Malone and remind you that not only are you doin’ that in front of witnesses but an officer of the law.”
Uncle Davis turned to the sheriff. “You think I give a shit?”
“I think you aren’t very smart if you don’t,” the sheriff returned.
Uncle Davis opened his mouth to speak but I did it before him.
“Bring it on.”
I felt all attention come to me and stepped from behind Mickey so Uncle Davis could see me clearly. Mickey wrapped his fingers around my wrist but that was all he did before I started talking again.
“Do you honestly think I’m still frightened of you?” I asked.
“I think you never learned that lesson from your father like you should,” he answered.
Highly inappropriate.
So Uncle Davis.
“Yes, I did, Uncle Davis,” I told him. “I absolutely did that last time when he put me in the hospital.”
I felt Mickey and the sheriff go alert but I wasn’t done.
“But I’m older now. Wiser. And you’re older too. Weak. And not very smart. And all this is just what you do. Making people’s lives miserable because you’re a sociopath and you enjoy it. I think it’s only fair to warn you that you can put a good deal of effort into trying to make me miserable but you won’t succeed. It will end being quite frustrating so I’d advise you to cut your losses now.”
“I got a hankerin’ to put a fair amount of effort into it, Josephine,” Uncle Davis replied and I shrugged when he did.
“My invitation still stands. Have at it. It’ll be your time and money that you lose.”
His eyes narrowed on me, something shifting in them before they did, and he offered, “Make things easier for you. You give me a check, I’ll get outta town.”
And I knew precisely what that meant. I remembered the way I grew up. I remembered the way he and my father were. How they lived. How my father living that way meant I lived. Even as I kid, I knew it because, especially as a kid, you couldn’t miss it.
“What you’re saying is, Boston Stone paid for your trip here and now he’s washed his hands of you, you don’t have the money to get wherever home is.”
He glared at me but shifted on his feet.
This meant I was correct.
“You won’t get a penny from me,” I told him.
“Then I’ll get it all from you by takin’ that house and Ma’s money,” he fired back.
“If you honestly think you can win that fight, bring that on too,” I retorted. “It’s not me who’s seventy-two years old and out of money in a place without a friend.”
“We’ll see,” he returned.
“We most certainly will,” I agreed. Then I dismissed him and looked to the sheriff. “Lovely to see you again, sheriff.”
“Coert,” he corrected, grinning at me.
Another unusual name. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but it was better than Boston.
“Coert.” I smiled at him then looked up at Mickey. “Thank you, Mickey.”
“No problem, babe,” he replied.
“Maybe you’ll come to dinner soon?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Good,” I murmured then looked between the two men, ignoring my uncle, and decided to get on with my day. “Later, gentleman,” I said as I started toward the door.
“Later, Josie,” Coert called.
“Later, darlin’,” Mickey said.
I lifted a hand in a wave and walked out the door.
I was halfway back to Lavender House when my phone rang. I took the chance to glance at the screen as it was sitting face up on my passenger seat. When I saw who was calling, I broke a rule I normally always kept, grabbed my mobile and put it to my ear.
“Hello, darling,” I greeted.
“Seriously?” Jake replied.
Again, I thought this word was overused, and further, particularly in this instance, I didn’t understand it.
So I asked, “Seriously what?”
“Just got off the phone with Mick.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Oh?” he asked. “That asshole pins you against a Redbox, you don’t call me? Then I call you and all you say is ‘oh?’”
“Jake, darling,” I started soothingly. “He’s quite elderly. Boston Stone has withdrawn his assistance. I’m relatively certain he’s destitute. Although that encounter was unpleasant, he’s hardly a threat and anyway, Mickey and Sheriff Coert were there.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t and that shit happened to my woman. And I gotta know when shit like that goes down.”
“You can hardly beam yourself to me on a whim should you get a sense I’m in danger,” I pointed out.
He said nothing so I went on.
“And furthermore, it’s over. I’m fine. And he did impart on me a good deal of news that was not good for him but is very good for me, that being that Boston Stone has washed his hands of Uncle Davis and Arnie is on the case so he’s finding it difficult to hire alternate representation.”
“Babe,” he said low and not soothingly. “Hear me. Shit goes down with you that’s unpleasant, I don’t care how unimportant you think that unpleasant is, you tell me.”
“I dislike speaking on the phone while driving,” I shared. “But just so you know, I did plan on sharing this with you over dinner.”
“Dinner is five hours away.”
I said nothing for there was nothing to say. This was true.
Jake, however, said something.
“Remember what I said about you even feelin’ funny about a look you get in the grocery store?”
Oh dear.
I did remember that.
“Yes,” I answered quietly.
“So, next time something unpleasant happens to you, what are you gonna do?”
Apparently, I was going to share this with Jake without delay.
“Contact you,” I replied.
“Good answer, Slick.”
I gave it a moment, kept driving and when he said nothing more, I shared, “I was able to acquire all Ethan’s viewing selections for him and his friends this evening.”
His voice was a strange combination of exasperated and amused when he replied, “Excellent news.”
“I was worried at least one would be checked out but that’s not the case,” I informed him.
“I’ll bring the champagne.”
I grinned at his quip.
Since he was quipping, I decided to share news he would like much less than me getting all the videos his son wanted for that evening.
“Amber has a date with Alexi that starts after school. She’ll be home late.”
“Great,” he muttered unhappily.
“And reportedly Conner behaved like the hero from a romance film when Sofie dashed away from him, took a tumble and he picked her up off the floor.”
There was a moment of silence before, “Jesus, boy Taylor’s got a big mouth.”
“He keeps me informed.”
“He fuckin’ does,” Jake agreed before querying, “Con get in there with Sofie?”
“Alas, she burst into tears and ran away.”
“Good for him to have a challenge,” Jake murmured as if to himself. “Don’t appreciate it unless they make you work for it. You win it, you know what you got, you know to take care of it.”
This was when I was silent but I was this way with my belly feeling very warm.
Jake broke into my silence to say, “Right, see you later.”
“Okay, darling. See you later.”
“Bye, Slick.”
“Good-bye, Jake.”
He rang off.
I tossed my phone to the passenger seat when he did and finished driving home.
* * * * *
The mattress moved and I felt a blast of cold as I lost Jake’s body because he was exiting the bed.