Judging Judas (Tarnished Saints Series Book 3) (17 page)

“Of course I knew that, I was just waiting for the right time
to tell you.”

He pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, scowling and shaking his head.

“And when would the right time be?” he asked. “In the middle of sex?”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t plan having spontaneous surprise sex in the attic of the shop. I was going to tell you before we . . . did it again.”

“Well, too late for that now, isn’t it?” He put on his shoes without bothering with socks and headed to the kitchen with Laney following.

“It’s out of my control,” she told him. “And it’s a mistake I made many years ago.
It’s not like it happened since I came to town. If I could do something about removing it, you know I would.”

“Then do it.”

“It’s not that easy to get rid of a tattoo. And nobody can see it, so why are you so upset?”

“You’re asking me why I’m upset?” He grabbed a glass from the cabinet and went to the sink and filled it up with water. “What the hell,” he grumbled. “Isn’t it every man who wants to see evidence of his wife having loved another man written all over her ass?”

J.D. walked into the room just then with a smile on her face and an MP3 player in her hand, and her headphones hanging around her neck.

“J.D.” Laney was horrified
to see her just now, not realizing her daughter was already home. “What are you doing here?”

“I wasn’t feeling
so good so Pete told me he’d watch the kids so I could take a nap. So I came home.”

“Were you listening to music?” she asked, praying she hadn’t heard their fight.

“No, I was listening to you two fight about my dad’s name tattooed on your ass.” She laughed and Laney could see Judas getting more and more upset. He banged the glass on the counter and water splashed out onto the floor.

“
I’m your father, dammit, not some dead guy named Spyder, so remember it. And you seem like you’re feeling just fine to me,” he ground out.

“Judas, please,” Laney begged him, not wanting him to upset J.D. with his words, since she knew how close
her daughter had been with Spyder.

“
He was the only father I’d ever known for the last seventeen years,” J.D. bravely reminded Judas. “And I
was too
feeling sick but I’m better now.”

“Good,” he spat. “Because as of tomorrow, you’re going to be tied to my waist and with me every minute of the day so I know where you are and that you’re not blowing off your community service anymore.”

“What? Mom, tell him I’m not going anywhere with him.”

“J.D. it’s something you need to
do,” Laney told her, trying to keep peace around there tho it was already too late.

The girl rolled her eyes and just shook her head. “I’m pregnant. I can’t be out playing cops and robbers.”

“Well, then maybe you’d feel safer and also be more comfortable behind bars,” Judas told her. “I can arrange that, you know.”

“No! You can’t do that.”

“He can, J.D.,” said Laney. “And I suggest you do what he says.”

“I’ll run away. You can’t make me do it.”

“If I have to cuff you to me to keep you by my side, then I will,” Judas warned her. “And don’t even think you’re going to up and disappear when you feel like it, because I have ways to remedy that as well.”

He took off for the door, and Laney called after him. “Where are you going? I was going to make something to eat.”

“I’m going out for awhile, I need some air. Don’t bother waiting up for me.”

Laney turned back to her daughter, furious with the turn of events. “Why can’t you just accept the fact that Judas is your father already, Judith Delaney?”

“Because he’s not, that’s why.” J.D. ripped her headphones from around her neck and threw them onto the counter along with her MP3 player.

“He’s not what?” asked Laney. “Not Spyder?”

“I miss Spyder, Mom,” she said, the tears turning on like waterworks. Laney walked up to her daughter and put her arms around her, which wasn’t easy since the baby within her had grown lately.

“I know, sweetie,
I miss him too. But you need to let him go. And you have to stop wanting to be just like Spyder, because you know as well as I that it isn’t the right path to take.”

“Why not?” she asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Well, look where it got him. Because of his love for drugs and living in a way that wasn’t healthy physically nor mentally, he’s gone. The drugs killed him, J.D. and I don’t want you to end up like that.”

“I won’t, Mom.”

“You need to start changing, sweetie. Because if you don’t, this baby will never have a chance to grow up right.” She laid a hand on J.D.’s stomach and the baby kicked just then, making them both laugh. “I think the baby agrees.”

“I’m scared, Mom. I don’t know how to be a mother let alone a single mother.”

“What about Salvador?” asked Laney, speaking about the father of J.D.’s baby. “Have you tried to contact him and tell him about the baby?”

J.D. pulled out a chair and sat down, rubbing her belly as she spoke. “I don’t love him,” she admitted. “And I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with him.”

“Well, that’s something you should have thought of before. But I understand how you feel. And I’m here to help you raise this baby. And Judas is here for both you and your baby as well.”

“Judas
doesn’t like me, and I’m sure he’ll hate my baby, so what does it matter?”

Laney sat down across from her and took her daughter’s hands in hers. “Nothing comes easy and no one ever said it did. If you want your father to like you, then you need to try harder. You haven’t exactly been a peach to live with you know.”

“Maybe you’re right,” she admitted. “But I still don’t want to be hanging around with a cop. It’s not cool, you know?”

“Maybe not, but hanging around with your father is cool,” she said with a smile.

“I’ll let you know if that’s true after tomorrow,” said J.D. struggling to get up off the chair. “But for now, I’m dog tired and going to get some rest. Because I think after tonight, Judas isn’t going to let me do any resting from now on.”

Laney smiled to herself, thinking that just maybe things could work out between J.D. and Judas after al
l. Now if only she could feel as confident with her relationship with him as well. She rubbed a hand over her bottom end, wondering how hard it would be to get a tattoo removed.

Chapter 16

Judas woke up at Thomas’s house, lying on the s
ofa with three boys watching him.

“Get up, Uncle Judas,” said Josh, the quieter of Thomas
’s nine-year-old twins. “Want to toss around a football with us?”

“I’m not in a playing mood,” he said, rubbing his
hands over the stubble on his face and trying to get his bearings. He’d come here last night after leaving his own house too upset to even think of returning until he’d cooled down. He’d talked with his brother Pete who always seemed to have a positive way of looking at any negative situation. But all Judas really wanted was someone to listen to his problems, not set him on a road to redemption.

He had laid
down on the couch once all the kids went to bed, meaning to wait just long enough to make sure J.D. and Laney were sleeping before he returned home, but somehow he fell asleep. And by the looks of the sun streaming in the window, it was already morning.

“Damn,” he said, sitting up and rubbing his head.

“Damn,” repeated Levi’s six-year-old son, Vance, standing there with a smirk on his face.

“
Vance?” he asked, surprised to see Levi’s son there as well. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought him
.” He looked up to see Levi walking out of the kitchen with his daughter Valentine hanging on his back and little Eli clutching one leg while Thomas’s red-headed son Zeke held on to the other one, making it hard for Levi to walk. “And I’m glad Laney kicked you out of bed cuz I wanted to talk to you.”

“What the hell does that mean? And she did not kick me out of bed.”

“What the hell,” repeated Vance.

“Vance, what did I tell you about swearing?” Levi asked his son.

“Not to do it when Mom’s around?” he asked, and Judas knew by the embarrassed look on Levi’s face it was true.

“Morning brother,” said Pete walking out of the kitchen with a glass of orange juice in his hand. “Care for some?”

“No,” said Judas, running a hand through his hair. “What I really need is a cigarette.” He pulled the pack out of his pocket and lit up, taking a deep drag, feeling himself relaxing already.

“If you were having marital problems, you should have stopped by the restaurant and had a beer with me last night,” said Levi. “Or were you looking
for a prayer instead?” He glanced over to Pete when he said it.

“You know I don’t drink,” said Judas. “But if I did, I’d have downed a whole bottle of whiskey with the problems I had last night.”

“Go on and play,” Levi told the kids, putting Val on the ground and sending all the kids away. “I need to talk with your uncle.”

“Can we pig-pile you now?” asked litt
le Eli brushing a curly lock from his eye and looking up to Levi.

“Not yet,”
Pete answered for him, putting down the orange juice on the table. He lifted Eli up and shoved him under one arm, causing the boy to laugh. “Come on, kids, lets throw the ball around out front and give Levi a chance to talk to Judas before we go pig-piling so early in the morning.” He headed out of the house with the rest of the kids following him.

“What’s the problem?” asked Levi. “Married life too much for you to handle?”

“No,” said Judas, taking another puff of his cigarette. “Just not used to living with two head-strong women, that’s all.”

“I wanted to say thanks for finding my goats,” said Levi. “Did you ever find out who took them?”

“I did,” he answered, but gave no more information.

“Was it J.D. and her friends?”

“Does it really matter? You’ve got them back and no harm was done.” Judas picked up the glass of orange juice and downed it, then took another puff of his cigarette in aggravation.

“You know smoking is no good for you,” said Levi.

“You’re starting to sound like Laney. And don’t read me the riot act, as we all know drinking is no good for you either, yet you still do it.”

“Fair enough,” said Levi with a nod of his head. “I guess I deserved that. Well, I have to get going or I’ll be late for the town meeting.”

“Meeting,” Judas repeated, realizing he had somewhere to be as well. “Damn, I almost forgot.” He glanced down to his naked wrist. “What time is it? I forgot my watch.”

“You know I never wear a watch, brother. And since I’m always late I’m not the one to ask. But
since Candy left for the restaurant around 7:30 and I got here with the kids not long after that, it’s my guess that it’s at least . . . eight o’clock.”

“Shit! I’m late.” Judas snuffed his cigarette into the empty glass and
jumped up off the couch and hurried to the door. Levi followed him outside.

“Got somewhere to go?” he asked Judas.

“Yeah. A meeting in Paw Paw and I’m supposed to be there at 8:30. And I’m dreading it.”

“Can’t take the cop life after all, can you?”

Judas stopped and turned, wishing Levi would just ease up already. “It’s the company I’m going to have along that I’m dreading. I’m taking J.D. with and I’m not expecting a fun-filled day by any means.”

“Well,
being mayor is no cake-walk either. I’m going to have a room full of noisy women all trying to tell me how to run the town.”

“I’d take that any day over
one very pregnant and mouthy girl who hates my guts and is determined to make my life miserable.”

“Well, if you can’t even handle one daughter, don’t think about having any more kids.”

He knew his brother was right and that maybe Laney was right about wanting to wait to have more kids as well. Judas would never have the skill with kids nor the love of children that just came naturally to Levi. But hell if he was going to admit it to his pompous ass of a brother. “Levi, there’s only one thing I have to say to that,” Judas said with a sly smile, already planning his revenge.

“And what’s that
?” he asked.

Jud
as looked over to the kids who were all watching them intently, pretending like they weren’t.

“Pig-pile!” shouted Judas and quickly jumped into the squad and closed the door.

Nine pairs of feet rumbled the ground as the kids passed by the squad car and rushed toward Levi.

“I’ll get you for this,” he hea
rd Levi call out, just before he fell to the ground under a pile of crazy kids and disappeared.

Judas just smiled and shook his head and headed on home, thinking maybe dealing with one kid wouldn’t be so bad after all.