Decker (Torey Hope: The Later Years #1) (21 page)

“Really. What exactly do you need to thank me for?” Angela’s skepticism was clear and the hatred written all over her face was scary.

Racking her brain trying to figure out exactly what Kendrick wanted her to thank Angela for, Katie buried her head in his chest; voice muffled, she spoke tearfully, “Kendrick, I’m just too overcome with emotion right now, can you tell her, Kendrick?” A couple sniffles for good measure were thrown in and Katie was reminded just how much she enjoyed theater in high school.

“Shhhh, baby, it’s okay. Of course I’ll tell her.” Kendrick kissed her head and rubbed her back. “Angela, when you confronted Katie and Decker at the wedding it really opened Katie’s eyes to the real Decker. After leaving the wedding, Decker couldn’t talk about anything but you, and Katie realized that the sham of a relationship they had was completely over. They broke up that weekend; she just couldn’t continue listening to Decker pine away for you.” He cast a pitying look upon the top of Katie’s head as she continued to sniffle into his chest. “Honestly, I have to thank you as well. My heart broke for Katie when she had to admit that Decker wasn’t the one for her, but that gave me the opening I needed to let her know how I really felt about her. It will take a while and we aren’t rushing anything, but you coming to that wedding was quite possibly the very best thing that ever happened to me if it means I get to hold this girl in my arms for the rest of my life.”

Angela’s shrew eyes narrowed even tighter. “You and Decker broke up? Because of me? And now you’re dating Kendrick, the biggest male whore I ever met?” She questioned Katie as if she clearly wasn’t buying it. “I thought you two went on a vacation recently?” Angela didn’t seem to realize she’d just given away the fact she was stalking Katie and Decker.

“Yes, I broke up with Decker; we let people think we went on vacation together. I actually went out of town to heal from the break up. Decker took a road trip to clear his head.”
Sniff, sniff
. “I just couldn’t stay with someone who was obviously still so hung up on his ex-girlfriend. He’d told me you were beautiful, but I knew I didn’t stand a chance once I saw you at the wedding. After we left, he spoke of you for hours; it was immediately evident that he wasn’t over you. I guess he’d been fooling himself along with me when he said it was over; one look at you and he was right back under your spell.” Taking a deep breath, Katie shuddered and dried a few tears. “We ended amicably, but it was for the best. And, like Kendrick said, maybe it was all meant to be if it led me to find him.” Leaning up to place a kiss on Kendrick’s cheek, she batted her lashes at him. “I know all about his past, but that’s where it’s going to stay; it’s his present and future I’m the most interested in.” She let out the most ridiculous giggle and rubbed her nose against his.

“Wow, I really didn’t see that one coming. Oh, not about Decker, I knew he’d have to admit he was still attracted to me; what we had was just too special to give up on. I just didn’t see you and Kendrick finding each other, but it almost seems like it was meant to be, so I’m happy for you. Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I need to get back inside.” With a curt nod, Angela took off up the stairs.

Gritting his teeth and talking in a growly whisper, Kendrick grasped her hand in his and began walking her slowly back to his car, “Keep playing it up, Katie-girl. She’s going to be watching. Now, get your pretty little ass in the car; that little stunt just about cost me my balls. Smile sweetie, and pretend like you’re a little in love with me; I’m going to kiss you now.” Still walking, he leaned down and captured her lips with his. His mouth was warm and pleasant, but Katie felt no spark between them at all; this kiss was the very definition of what it would feel like to kiss a brother.

“If I’m going to get my balls busted for letting you get in this situation, I might as live it up while I can; won’t Decker just about shit a brick when I tell him I had to kiss his girl all in the name of acting out a scene in front of his psycho bitch of an ex; here’s an extra little improv to really add insult to injury.” He let his hand move from her shoulder to cup her ass right as they reached the Mustang.

Laughing for real, no longer acting for Angela, Katie faced him and cupped his face in her hands. “Kendrick Jordan, I love you, you wicked man; you just pulled off the perfect little lie. I love Decker with everything I am, but you will always hold a very special place in my heart; even when you lose your balls once Decker finds out about this. Thank you for jumping in and saving me when I acted without thinking.” Kissing him quickly, she opened the car door and climbed in.

Kendrick’s heart fluttered and warmed unexpectedly in his chest.

Driving off to meet up with the whole family, Katie wondered what Angela’s next move would be now that she thought Katie and Decker were finished. She shivered with dread at the thought of Angela watching close enough to know about their vacation; she could only hope Angela bought the story about why they were both out of town that weekend. With any luck, they were one step closer to their problems being over.

“You fucking did what?!” Decker roared at Katie and Kendrick, standing up and slamming his hands on the kitchen table in his grandparents’ home.

“Son, you need to calm down. Let’s listen to the whole story and figure out what the next step should be here.” Nate laid his hand on Decker’s shoulder and forced him to sit down.

“Libby, dear sister, I think some of your calming tea is definitely needed in this situation.” Audrey cocked her head at her baby boy and wondered just what Kendrick and Katie had been up to. She walked with her sister to the counter and began preparing mugs of steaming hot tea.

“Let’s take this to the living room, shall we? I think we’ll all be a bit more comfortable.” Judy Jordan suggested and the clan trouped toward the couches.

Once they were settled, Decker all but barked, “Let’s hear it.”

“Decker…” Katie knew he was mad, or upset, but she needed him to look at her. She needed to feel that connection and see the love in his eyes; right now he was acting as if she wasn’t even in the room.

“Kate, not now.” Decker held his hand up and cut her off.

Hurt and fuming mad, Katie took a deep breath; this would not be something that was worked out or solved within a quick five minutes, she knew she was going to have to be patient. Knowing she’d hurt Decker bothered her, but the childish part of her wanted to stick her tongue out at him and say, “See how it feels to not have any say in someone’s actions? You hurt me, I hurt you, we’re even.” She knew this wouldn’t solve anything and in the end it wouldn’t even make her feel any better, but she had to work hard to control her response.

Decker’s hard, angry eyes drilled into Kendrick’s; the two of them were cousins, as close as brothers, Decker would do anything at all for him, but at this point in time, all he wanted to do was take him out back and beat the ever loving shit out of Kendrick.

“Deck, I know you’re mad, and you have every right to be.” Kendrick spoke sincerely to his cousin. Looking around at the rest of the family, he gave a sheepish half-grin, “You all know I’m the type to act first and think about it later. I’m sorry for doing that yet again.”

“No, Kendrick, you’re not taking all of the blame on this one.” Katie interrupted him and openly made eye contact with each family member, including Decker. “Kendrick and I gathered some information and made a plan; I took a huge detour from that plan, and Kendrick stepped in to save me from what could have been a really bad situation.” Katie finished and looked at Decker; the heat in his eyes was hard to read. Anger? Desire? Fear? All of the above?

“Kate, can I talk to you for just a second?” Decker was on his feet in 2 seconds flat and stalked towards the kitchen.

Katie looked around helplessly, meeting curious expressions, smirks, and wide eyes. Standing slowly and rubbing her hands down the front of her thighs, she gave a small nervous smile and quipped, “Well, I guess I’ll be back in just a second.” She walked to the kitchen with the awkward laughter of Decker’s family echoing behind her.

“If you’re not back in 10 minutes, we’ll send a search party.” Sawyer winked at her as she walked by him.

Feeling defensive the moment she stepped into the kitchen, Katie crossed her arms over her chest and stood with her feet planted wide, as if ready to fight. “What is it Decker?” Her heart was hurting so badly, but she’d be damned if she’d let him try to control her and reprimand her like a wayward child.

Taking a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in his signature
get it under control
move, Decker took a step toward her. His face twisted in pain, he rubbed his hands over his face and then held his hands out to the side as if to surrender.

“Kate, I don’t want to fight. This is all so very hard. I’m scared for you, for us, for The Center+; I’m also angry as hell that you and Kendrick dragged yourselves into a dangerous situation.” He stopped for a moment and looked at her with a strange sad expression. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I can’t listen to you tell this story right now. When this is completely over, you and I can sit and talk things through and figure out where we go from here, but for now I need you to let Kendrick tell the story.”

Katie’s foggy brain cleared slightly as his words sunk in. “What are you talking about, Decker? Talk things through and figure out where we go from here? What the hell? What is there to talk about, where else would we go?” She pinned him with a questioning glare. And then, it began to make sense. “Oh my God, you’re not sure about us? You’ve curled back into that cocoon of tight control and all you can focus on is keeping it. Fine, let’s go listen to Kendrick tell the story, but understand this: I told you I wouldn’t sit idly by and let go of what we had. While you were so busy pushing me away and reigning in your damn control, Kendrick was there to listen and help me. I guess I was wrong thinking you’d welcome me back with open arms.” She shook her head sadly, disappointment with him evident on her beautiful face.

Turning on her heel, she returned to the living room and took a seat next to Sawyer. Noticing her defeated expression, he put an arm around her and pulled her in close. “Give it time, Katie-girl. Remember I told you it would probably get worse before it got better?” He placed a kiss on the side of her head and turned to listen to Kendrick.

“Long story short, those who want a longer version can ask me for it later, I believed Angela was involved the moment Katie brought up her name. I didn’t feel the phone call we made was enough to proof to end the suspicion on her. So, I told Katie where Angela was planning to work after college. She and I called Starsky Enterprises, pretending to be interested employers, and got all sorts of dirt on Angela. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say the psycho we thought we knew has developed into a
stark raving mad
psycho in the last several months. The main information we got to help in this whole scenario is that she’s not been working there for a long time, almost the whole time we’ve been back in Torey Hope. And, here’s the nail in her coffin, the last known address she gave to Starsky was 1341 State St.,
Torey Hope
. Yep, Angela Ford has been living here in Torey Hope almost as long as we’ve all been back home. Which means she’s been watching Decker and Katie; she’s had perfect motive and opportunity to wreak havoc at The Center+.” Kendrick stopped for a moment; that was the easiest part of the story. He knew the hard part was going to be telling Decker about their run-in with Angela.

“Now, here’s the part you’re probably really going to get pissed about. Katie and I decided we’d just drive past Angela’s place and then we’d meet up with the family and take the information we’d found to the police. Angela’s place is that little group of townhomes along the edge of town. She’s got it all spiffy and looking quaint and lovely, total façade obviously; that is one crazy ass bitch. Anyway, we were sitting in the car across the street from her place when we spotted her on the sidewalk. Well, my girl here let her emotion get the best of her, and she bounded from the car and approached Angela.” Kendrick gave Katie a sympathetic smile, knowing she regretted not thinking her actions through.

“I hauled ass out of the car and followed her; I didn’t really have time to plan anything through, I just came up with the most plausible sounding story I could within the 20 seconds it took me to catch up with Katie.” Kendrick gave Decker a look that communicated sorrow, regret, but also a little bit of payback, as if he was rubbing it in his cousin’s face that it was wrong of Decker to push Katie away.

“After a few minutes of conversation, we had convinced Angela that Decker and Katie broke up. Then we headed over here to tell all of you and hopefully head to the police.” Kendrick ended the story so abruptly that everyone in the room cast suspicious eyes upon him.

“I don’t know Angela, but how did you convince her that Katie and Decker broke up? She saw them together at the wedding and she’s seen them together in town since she’s living here. Surely she didn’t just take your word for it?” Nicky spoke slowly, trying to piece together the story without all of the pieces needed.

Zach leaned forward on his knees, “Feels like something’s missing, cousin.” Zach’s eyes gleamed in anticipation, as if he could read Kendrick’s face and knew what was coming. The guys never passed up a chance to give each other a hard time, and Zach was sure the rest of the story was ramping up to be perfect fodder.

Wincing and glancing at Katie, Kendrick hung his head. When he lifted it back up, he spoke regretfully, “Just know, this was a spur-of-the-moment plan, and it sounded much better in my head than it’s going to when I speak it out loud.” Stalling for time, Kendrick stole a look at Decker and steeled himself against the molten anger simmering there.

“Spit it out, fucker.” Decker spoke menacingly, clearly already having a slight idea of where this story was headed.

“So, we told Angela that Decker’s feelings for her were brought to the surface after seeing her at the wedding, and that Katie had refused to be second place and had broken up with Decker.” At Decker’s raised eyebrow seeming to say,
And that’s all?
Kendrick rushed on, “And we thanked her for coming back into Decker’s life because it brought Katie and me together. Angela thinks that Katie and I are taking it slowly, but that we have a real chance at a relationship because Decker still has feelings for Angela.” Deciding to throw it all out there, Kendrick went all in, “And I may have laid it on pretty thick with some kisses and ass rubbing.” He winced and ducked as Decker came across the coffee table at him.

“Decker, that’s enough. Outside, now.” Nate spoke to his son gruffly. He stood and ushered the younger man towards the door. Jeremiah Jordan and Kyle Martin following with the nod of Nate’s head.

**********

Nate shook his head as he watched Decker pace in the backyard. “Decker, get your ass over here.” Decker walked towards the three men he’d looked up to all of his life. Crossing his arms over his chest, he was closed-off and defensive.

“Son, I realize you’re angry with Katie and Kendrick for going after Angela on their own. They made some mistakes, and they’ve owned up to those mistakes. I’m guessing your pride is stinging a bit at the thought that your own actions of pushing Katie away may have actually led her to working with Kendrick.” Nate watched his son’s jaw tighten and knew, even without a confession, that Decker was feeling responsible for a lot of things at that moment.

“I’m sure knowing your cousin was kissing your girl isn’t the easiest thing to swallow; but, Decker, there’s absolutely no spark between those two. That girl is crazy about you. Sure, she loves your brother and cousins, but she’s
in love
with you. I think this is one of those situations where you need to admit you were wrong, let some things go, and move on.” Nate put his hand on Decker’s shoulder.

“Decker, you know that Kendrick loves you with every ounce of his being; I know he doesn’t have the best track record with his dating history, but there’s no way he’d every purposely take your girl from you.” Jeremiah spoke with a sureness of his son.

“Don’t let something like this ruin what seemed to be the start of something really good, Decker. In the grand scheme of life, this is just a bump in the road. Drive over it and don’t look back.” Kyle spoke with understanding; knowing his history, Decker had no choice but to listen to his words.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen with Katie and me. But, I know we need to get this information to the police station.” Nate rolled his eyes and shook his head at the stubbornness of his son.

“Nathaniel, I seem to remember a certain young man who wouldn’t give up on fighting for what he thought was right so many years ago. There’s no question in my mind where Decker got his stubbornness from.” Cindy Morgan had joined them in the yard and touched her son’s arm as she watched her grandson stalk toward the house.

**********

In the kitchen, Decker caught Katie alone for a moment. “Kate, we’re going to the police station. I’d like you there, please.”

“And what happens after that, Decker?” Katie turned sad eyes upon him.

“I don’t know, Kate. Right now I can’t think about that, I need to know that you and The Center+ and my family are safe. We can figure us out when this is all over.” Decker looked at her as if he wanted to reach out and pull her close, but he sighed and turned away.

**********

Kendrick, Katie, Decker, and Nate went to the police station. The officer, Smitson, who had been assigned to the case from the beginning took notes and nodded appreciatively. “Now, this isn’t the way we’d usually advise citizens to gather information; we don’t like thinking that any of our residents are putting themselves in danger, but I have to say this is really good information. Knowing about the break up, her words at the wedding, her behavior at work, and that’s she’s been living here this whole time, all of that is at least enough to bring her in for questioning.”

Taking a sip of his coffee, the Officer Smitson continued, “I don’t want you to get your hopes up too high. There’s a very good chance that the questioning won’t garner enough for us to hold her, and she’ll be released. At this point, we have reason to believe she’s the perpetrator, but not enough evidence for an arrest. We’ll probably question her and then keep close eyes on her, waiting for her to mess up.”

Katie’s heart fell; she had thought that the information they’d gathered would be enough to end this whole mess with Angela.