Framed (14 page)

Kade looked up and saw the man himself leaning against the open door. Buck started growling within feet of Leroy, so Kade put him in a sit and stay.

“You wanna see me about something?” Kade bit out. The man had balls, that’s for sure. Not many men would try to kill him and then wait for him outside his cell as if they were friends.

“I came to tell you that I’ve called off the hit. It was nothing personal, Kingston. Just business.”

“It felt pretty fucking personal to me.”

“I’m inclined to believe you. But what I meant was, it wasn’t personal between you and me. You have an enemy, Kingston. One with deep pockets and long arms.”

“You got a name?”

“Nope, just know he wants you to stop looking for the real killers.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

Fat Bastard pushed off Kade’s cell and reached into his pocket. “These came in this evening. An incentive, I was told.”

Kade looked down at the envelope in Fat Bastard’s hand and dread crept in. Snatching the envelope from the man, he entered his cell, dropping the envelope on the bed. Moving to Buck’s cage, he opened the door and instructed the dog to get inside. When he was done securing Buck, he turned and stared at the envelope for a moment. It stared back at him like a snake ready to strike. He didn’t have a choice and he knew it; he had to open it and look inside. Reaching for it, he carefully pulled out the contents. He knew it would be bad, but he hadn’t expected what he saw. Picture after picture of Harley naked, touching herself in a way he’d been dreaming about for years. He felt his temper spike instantly at the thought of another man watching, then it erupted when he saw a picture of a man’s swollen cock dripping with cum. With what was left of his control, he unfolded a note that came with his special delivery. “
Do the time, accept your fate, and your lady love lives. Keep investigating, and she ends up like Sutton.”

The whole cellblock was quiet while they waited for him to react. Fat Bastard had waited outside his cell, expecting a reply to the threat. No one could miss the sound of the note being crushed between his fingers, or the pictures being shredded into tiny pieces. When he was done shredding the pictures so no one else saw them, he delivered the reply Fat Bastard had been waiting for. It was swift and painful; he put his fist right into Leroy’s jaw.

No one moved when the big man went down, they just waited to see if Kade would finish him off. Standing over the godfather, Kade reached down, pulled him up by the collar and seethed, “You tell that son of a bitch there won’t be a hole deep enough to escape me if she so much as stubs a toe while I do my time.”

Fat Bastard nodded without hesitation.

“Boy? You’re giving up?” Cooter asked in shock.

Kade dropped Fat Bastard back to the floor and stepped over the man. He neither answered Cooter nor looked back at Leroy lying prone on the floor. He walked over to his TV, jerked at it until he pulled from the wall, then lifted it up, and threw it across his cell as he thundered, “FUCK!” The guards had been watching cautiously as Kade took down Fat Bastard, but they knew he was a powder keg now and came running.

Past caring about anyone’s safety at that moment, he took them all on, one after another, in a state of blind rage. In his mind’s eye, all he could see was Harley’s naked body covered in blood, pale in death just like Sutton’s, and he lost control further. Each jaw he cracked, each punch he threw, was fueled by desolation. For his parents not loving him enough to stick around, for being framed for a murder he didn’t commit, for not being there for his grandfather when he needed him most, and for having tasted something as pure as Harley only to have her ripped from his hands.

He hadn’t lost control like this since he was sixteen and his father came to town looking for money. He knew he’d do a week in solitary for attacking the guards and that was fine with him. It’s where he needed to be. He’d kill someone if he wasn’t locked down until he gained some semblance of control.

Kade could barely walk when they finally beat him back with their batons and hauled him out of the cell. When they passed by Cooter, he grunted out, “Take Buck to class tomorrow and give him back to Harley. Tell her I’m done. Tell Harley to tell the boys, I’m done, to go home.”

“You can’t let them win,” Cooter shouted.

“They already have, old man. Just do what I asked.”

“They won’t stop just because you say so,” Cooter answered back.

“They will when you tell her I’m guilty and decided to quit lying to her and everyone else.”

Cooter kept up with Kade as they walked him across the common area. “I won’t do it, boy, I won’t send them away.”

Kade locked his legs when he heard that, stopping the guards in their tracks. Before the guards could shove him through the door, he turned cold, dark eyes on Cooter.

“You tell her what I said or you’re signing her death sentence, old man. If anything happens to her, I swear I’ll hold you personally responsible, Cooter.”

Cooter stopped, open-mouthed gaping, after Kade and the guards left the room.

Before they disappeared behind the security door, Kade thundered over his shoulder, “You tell her what I said, Cooter. You hear me?”

“He’s not lying, Cooter. They’ll kill her if his friends don’t back off,” Fat Bastard said at his side.

“Threatening women and framing heroes. The world’s gone to piss, Leroy,” Cooter mumbled.

“That it has, old man. Used to be a man got out of line you just shot him in the head. Now people are shootin’ up the hood, putting babies in the grave, and threatening beautiful women to get their way. No honor among criminals anymore.”

“Thieves,” his second corrected. “No honor among thieves.”

“Do I look like a thief?”

“No, boss.”

“Then don’t call me one. Nothin’ worse than a thief,” Fat Bastard replied as Cooter continued to watch Kade being hauled away.

***

Gray clouds hung over Renault like an omen Wednesday morning. When I caught sight of Prez and Mickey leaning against their rental, I knew without a doubt that something was wrong when I looked at their faces. Taking a deep breath as I got out of my Jeep, I braced for whatever was coming.

“What’s wrong?” I blurted out as soon as my feet hit the parking lot.

“Kade’s in solitary. He took on four guards last night,” Prez informed me.

“What? Why?”

“That’s what we’re hoping you can find out. Can you talk to the shrink and see what’s happening?”

“Yeah, sure. Let me talk to Michelle about taking over my class, then I’ll head to Hinkle’s office. Are you gonna wait here?”

“Yeah, we’ll hang outside ‘til you know something. We’re waiting on a call back from an old SEAL buddy who’s gonna do some recon for us on Consolidated.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you back here as soon as I talk to Hinkle.”

I’d left Buttercup at home, so I was able to move quickly through admittance to the prison. I handed over my purse and waited to be patted down. Once they were done checking for weapons, I headed to the classroom. Michelle was already there, so I moved towards her as inmates started filing in with their dogs.

“I need you to cover class today, there’s been an emergency.”

Michelle nodded and took my clipboard. “Sure, no problem,” she answered.

“If I can get back before you’re done, I will, I just have to—”

“—Harley?” a gruff, old voice asked. I turned to find an old man with a bald head and really bad teeth. He was also escorting Buck.

“Hey boy,” I mumbled, reaching down to scratch Buck’s ears.

“Can we talk over here?” the old man asked, pointing to a corner. I assumed that since he had Buck he knew what was going on with Kade. Nodding, I moved with him until we were out of earshot of the other inmates.

“My name is Cooter Hays and I’m here with a message from Kade.”

“What happened to him?

“He, ah . . . he told me to tell you . . . Shit, this ain’t easy.”

As I listened to the old man stammer over his words, a million and one scenarios ran through my mind. But I sure as hell wasn’t prepared for his answer.

“Kade told me to tell you to take Buck home. That he’s guilty and he don’t want you nor his friends bein’ troubled anymore. He’s gonna do his time like he should. He said them boys should just go on back home now, ya hear?”

I actually chuckled when he finished. “What’s the punch line?”

“No punch line, Harley. Kade is done trying to fool everyone. He did the crime, now he’s gonna do the time. So just take this here flea bag home with you and get on with your life.”

Cooter’s face had turned hard as he spoke, and my smile fell as I realized he wasn’t joking. My world halted and I felt my heart skip a beat until it righted itself and began pounding again in my chest. Cooter’s message frightened me and I felt off balance. Tiny shivers ran down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. This wasn’t the Kade I knew; he didn’t give up without a fight.

“He’s lying,” I bit out. “Kade didn’t kill anyone.”

“He killed lots of people, missy. You’re only foolin’ yourself if you think he hasn’t.”

“That was war,” I defended.

“Not this time.”

“I don’t understand. Why is he doing this?” I whispered. A knot formed in my throat; I could feel my eyes begin to burn with unshed tears as I tried to will the man to tell me the truth. “Why are you helping him lie?”

“I’m not doin’ nothin’ but delivering a message from Kade. I’m sorry darlin’, but he don’t wanna see you no more, you hear me? He don’t wanna train no fleabag mutt. He don’t wanna lie no more about what he done. He’s a killer and he didn’t feel right about foolin’ you. He couldn’t live with himself no more and he got in a fight with a man and ended up in solitary for his trouble. He was gonna tell you today ‘til he lost his cool.”

He tried to hand Buck's lead back to me, but I just stood there and shook my head.

“No, you’re lying.”

“I’m not lying,” he bit out. “Just take the damn dog and leave the boy alone. He’s been through enough. You’ll just upset him more if you come back.”

I was numb by the time he finished and barely moved when he handed me Buck’s lead before turning around and exiting the room quickly. I stood there in silence, trying to wrap my head around what had just happened.

Kade was no killer. I’d never believe that.

The boys, they’ll know what to do.

Half in denial and half in hysterics, I took off down the hall with Buck in tow. By the time I made it to security, I was holding back tears. While I waited for them process my release, I stared blank-faced at the guard, running over Cooter’s words repeatedly in my head.

Five grueling minutes later, they opened the door for me to leave, and I started running again, dragging Buck with me. I wound around the halls that lead to the parking lot and hit the glass door hard. Once I made my way down the steps and had the boys in sight, I started shouting. They turned, saw the tears that couldn’t be contained, and went from good ole boys to scary SEALs in a blink of an eye.

“Talk to us,” Prez growled.

“It’s Kade. He sent a man to find me. He’s telling everyone he’s guilty and he doesn’t want to see us anymore!”

Prez sucked in a sharp breath and looked at Mickey. Mickey’s face grew hard and he nodded towards me as some silent SEAL language passed between them. Then Prez turned, looked me straight in the eyes, and smiled as if I hadn’t just told him Kade confessed to being a killer.

“It’s all good, Princess. Dry those tears now; we’ll handle this. Give me the name of the man you spoke with, then get on home to your dad’s house and wait for us until we get back,” he said, wearing a calm expression that spoke volumes.

“What? I’m not leaving until we know what the hell is going on!”

“There’s nothing you can do today,” Mickey placated as he wrapped his big hand around my arm and tried to walk me to my car.

“But—“

“—Run on home and let us handle this,” Mickey continued. “We’ll be there as soon as we get done talking with this inmate you spoke with.”

“What’s his name?” Prez asked.

“Cooter Hays,” I supplied, looking between the two men. They both acted as if it was no big deal that Kade was acting out of character. “What’s going on? Why are you both so calm?”

“It’ll be all right, Harley. Don’t you worry,” Prez smiled again, but it was more of a grimace and it didn’t meet his eyes.

“You don’t actually believe I’m buying this crap, do you?” I replied firmly.

Prez narrowed his eyes at me and Mickey chuckled. Crossing my arms, I stood my ground, not about to leave until I had answers.

“All right, have it your way. No way is Kade guilty. If he is sending us home, then it must be dangerous for us to stay. We can’t worry about the both of you until we know more. So get your ass in the Jeep, go home, and don’t leave until we get back. Does that work better for you?”

“Much, thank you,” I answered snippily before turning on my heel and opening my Jeep door. Mickey loaded Buck in the back while I buckled in. Both men watched as I pulled out, smiling and waving the whole time as if we’d just had a pleasant lunch and caught up on old times. I had one word for the whole thing. Inconceivable! One thing was clear: if those fake smiles were anything to go by, whatever was going on with Kade, it had the boys rattled, and in turn, it had me freaked way the hell out.

Time seemed to stand still as I waited for Prez and Mickey to arrive at my dad’s house. I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling of dread that had settled in the pit of my stomach, so I walked Buttercup and Buck down the shores of the Blackwater River, hoping to burn off the excess anxiety.

Kade had always been like a ghostly figure in the back of my mind. He was that perfect, flawed, unattainable man that haunted my dreams. Considering that, it was no great surprise he’d come to mean a great deal to me in a few short days. From the moment we’d come face-to-face in Hinkle’s office, it seemed like we’d been in fast forward. Though now, we’d come to a dead stop, and the thought of Kade in a dark cell, pushing away those who were trying to help him, made me ill.