Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (12 page)

“Just be
thankful for this time,” he reminded himself.

A sadness
stabbed his gut. What would become of Rachel when he left her? Would she move
on? With someone else? Jealousy wrapped a strangle hold around him. He would
not think of Rachel with anyone else. His brain told him she would move on but
his heart refused to accept her with anyone else. As he steered the car onto Phillip’s
street, visions of her with someone else tried to assault him. With a death
grip on the wheel he fought them with everything he had. Yet, he knew, she
would move on.

Without him.

“Deacon,
this is all you can have,” he said aloud. “It’s all you can take with you.”

Deke’s green
Mustang came into view. Pulling past it and maneuvering into Phillip’s assigned
parking space, he accepted his time with Rachel for what it was. Limited. He
left the keys in the compartment Phillip used for sunglasses, sent him a quick
text, and walked to the waiting Mustang. Finding the keys, he started the car
and headed to Houma for yet, another task force meeting. The half-empty pack of
cigarettes on the dashboard called his name. He reached for them, flipped the
box open and grabbed one. With the cigarette perched between his lips he threw
the box back onto the dash.

The scenery
around him was coming to life as the sun began to edge higher into the early
morning sky. Monday was kicking into gear. He came to a stop at a red light. He
still hadn’t lit the cigarette, just toyed with it as it remained perched
between his lips. His fingers itched to grab the lighter in the console but
then the traffic light went green and he drove through the intersection, the
lighter untouched for now. Traffic was hopping for this early in the morning.
Unlike Moss Bayou, Houma was big, sprawling and filled with people beginning
the work week. As he came to the street he needed, he applied his turn signal,
made the right turn with his left hand as he tossed the unlit cigarette into
the console with his right. Two more blocks and he arrived at the location.

When he
pulled into the parking lot of the nondescript gray metal building, he saw
Wyatt was just arriving, too. Wyatt parked Wylie’s old pick-up truck along the
side wall and Gabe pulled in behind him. That old truck was a far cry from
Wyatt’s personal vehicle. He may not speak to his family, but he still spent
money like a Hawke. In his own words, he occasionally remembered he had a trust
fund. Taking from it occasionally seemed to be Wyatt Hawke’s way of needling
his father.

“Morning,”
Wyatt called as he locked the truck’s door.

Gabe nodded
as he locked up the car and silently they made their way to the door located at
the edge of the building. Once the door was shut behind them, Gabe said, “Looks
like we’re here first.”

“Looks like
it.”

“Did you
fill in CJ last night?”

Wyatt looked
away for a moment. “Never made it back to the trailer.”

“Where were
you?”

When Wyatt
didn’t answer, Gabe shook his head. “Lily Quinn?”

Wyatt didn’t
respond.

“What did
you do?”

“Nothing.”
Wyatt shrugged. “I just stayed with her.”

“She lives
on her parents’ estate. Not exactly good. We’re undercover.”

“We weren’t
at her family home.”

Family home?
Only another person of privilege would call it a family home. Hell, his junior
high school wasn’t as big as the Hawke family home. The Quinn Estate was just
as big.

Gabe gave
him a hard look. “Where?”

Wyatt
shrugged. “We never left the hotel. We checked into a room.”

“You spent
the night in a hotel room with Lily Quinn? Nothing happened?”

“It wasn’t
like that, Deacon.” After a moment, he added, “It wasn’t about quick sex. It
was about her needing someone and I was that someone. Me as me, not Wylie.”

He gave
Wyatt a look but said nothing.

“I never
broke cover. I just dropped the Wylie act for a while.”

That eased
his mind. One of them breaking cover was bad enough.

“After what
I saw yesterday, I figured…”

“Said it
wasn’t like that. If it makes you feel any better, Lily was just as shocked as
you are. As shocked as I am. Talk about awkward this morning.”

“Oh, it’s
Lily
now.”

“Lily.
Fancy. They’re interchangeable.” He shrugged.

“Gentlemen,”
SAC Richard Jenkins greeted them as he walked through the door. “Furst is right
behind me.”

“Then let’s
rock and roll,” Wyatt said as he led them to the elevator.

The elevator
ride to the second floor was quick and quiet. The three men stared ahead and
Richard Jenkins led the way when the doors opened. Their assigned private
meeting room was to the left. Jenkins hit the light switch as they entered the
room and turned to face them once they found seats.

“What the
fuck is up with you both?”

Gabe looked
at the man. He stood rigid, his dark eyes sharp.

“What do you
mean?” Wyatt was the first to speak.

“What I mean
is you being at that hotel yesterday.” Jenkins looked at both of them. “You
were seen, goddammit. Luckily for this operation you were seen as a couple of men
associated with Bank Shots. A sheriff’s deputy spotted you both.”

“Shit.”

“Yes,
Deacon. Shit.” Jenkins took a breath. “Want to explain?”

Gabe knew he
should but instead he chose to keep his mouth shut. He would not make Rachel part
of this deal. In any way. He’d just let Jenkins have his say.

“I take it,
you weren’t working,” the voice boomed from the doorway. Mike Furst stood to
look them over before entering the room.

He looked
over at Wyatt who shrugged.

Great.

The door
opened once more as CJ Adams walked into the room. She didn’t look happy. Red
hair flowed wildly around her.

“You working
this without me?”

No, CJ
wasn’t happy, either.

“Of course
not,” Gabe finally answered CJ.

With anger
at an all-time high, CJ’s red hair seemed to glow like fire as she looked from
him to Wyatt and then back to him again.

“Here’s a
flash for you, Ace.” CJ’s finger pointed directly at him. “Deke Johnson has a
girlfriend. It’s not Miss Goody Two-Shoes. Deke is supposed to be hooked up
with Cally Brown.”

This was not
going to be a good meeting. She’d just mentioned Deke’s secret crush in front
of Jenkins and Furst.

“Obviously,
neither of you spent much time doing your jobs last night.” Mike pounded a fist
on the table before him. “You were both supposed to be at Bank Shots all
evening. If you’re not there, you can’t really do any kind of surveillance,
right?”

“Why is your
damned love life on this operation’s radar, Deacon?” Jenkins stared him down.
“Waiting for you to zip up is not part of anyone’s job description. Stay your
ass at the goddamned bar. Do your fucking job.”

“We were
there,” Gabe commented casually. “Then we left.”

“We got a
line on Tyler Devlin’s whereabouts,” Wyatt offered. “That’s part of Deke and
Wylie’s job, isn’t it? Do Denny’s bidding.”

“I think
it’s a load of shit when I have to be brought up to speed by superiors because
the ass wipes I’m working with don’t bother to clue me in.” CJ’s fair skin
pinked up in anger making her freckles stand out. “You’re supposed to be
working with me, here. Not in search of the next local lay.”

“Sorry, CJ.”
Gabe bit out the words. CJ had just crossed the line. Rachel wasn’t just some
local chick he picked up.

“Gabe’s
right.” Wyatt added. “Sorry CJ. You’re right.”

CJ said
nothing more, just gave them each a hard look. She claimed a seat on the other
side of Wyatt. Gabe felt bad in spite of his anger. It wasn’t fair to put her
in this position. He knew Deke had not been acting like a boyfriend. He knew he
was having trouble playing the part. His feelings for Rachel kept him from
being one hundred percent Deke Johnson. That could be a problem. A dangerous
problem if things went south.

“Deacon, you
find women on your own time,” Furst bellowed. “I don’t need you fucking up this
operation. Whoever she is, save it for later.”

Gabe was so
angry he thought he was going to shoot off of his chair like a rocket. Luckily,
assault on a superior law enforcement officer was avoided when Wyatt kicked his
boot and pointed to a map he held. Anger raged, but he fought it.

“Let’s get
this show on the road,” Jenkins barked.

The meeting
was brief and to the point. Information was exchanged, new ideas were tossed
around, and then new additions to the assignment were handed out. They were
dismissed and sent to handle things in the field. No more comments were made
about his and Wyatt’s carelessness although, CJ was still pissed. Her cold
shoulder was a huge chip of ice when they parted ways. As she left the room,
she flipped him off.

Gabe
followed Wyatt back to Moss Bayou. They had to return to Bank Shots before
Denny noticed they’d been away so long. He seemed to be preoccupied with
something and that made dealing with Denny easier than trying to decide how to
handle Furst’s latest order. How in the world was he supposed to talk up Tanner
Cross now? His sister was dead. Her body wasn’t even cold yet. The man did not
need to be taken away from his family for some fact-finding conversation. Gabe
had decided to put that on hold before the town of Moss Bayou came into view.
He would deal with it later.

Once back at
Bank Shots, the afternoon seemed normal, lazy, and even boring. Gabe wanted to
get things moving. The faster this operation went, the quicker he could just be
himself again. The quicker he could be Gabe Deacon again, the quicker he could
be with Rachel. To hold her. Make love to her. Love her.

Love her…

Gabe
mentally kicked himself in the ass. When this operation was over, it was back
to Shreveport and whatever assignment was next. There would be no Rachel in Shreveport.
The only thing in Shreveport was his old, empty life. Life without her.

Without
Rachel.

It was now
almost six. Gabe shook the thought from his head and paid attention to the task
at hand. Rubber stamping hands at the door after a cover charge was paid. The
crowd was beginning to thicken. Even on a Monday night, Bank Shots had a crowd.
Mondays were reserved for pool tournaments and fifty cent draft till ten. The
kitchen special on Monday nights was Buffalo wings. Although, now that Rex
Dupuis no longer ran the kitchen, the menu seemed limited. Rex and his new wife
Lynette had left Bank Shots in a hurry just as Deke and Wylie were settling in.

Wyatt
stepped up beside him. “Denny wants us. Office.”

He looked at
Roy who stood at the register taking money and Roy nodded. He handed the
pint-sized man the rubber stamp and shoved the ink pad toward him. “Later.” Roy
nodded his balding head once, shoved his thick glasses up, and returned to
work.

Gabe in Deke
mode, followed Wylie toward the back. “What’s up?”

“No clue.”

At Denny’s
office door, Deke gave a casual knock. When Denny yelled ENTER, Deke and Wylie
went to work.

Inside
Denny’s office, Denny’s stocky frame filled the space behind his desk and
ever-faithful Mullet sat on a desk corner.

Lap dog.

“What’s up,”
Deke asked.

“Got another
line on Tyler Devlin,” Denny announced with a grin. “Death in the neighborhood
thing going on. The little fuck isn’t bothering to stay out of sight.”

“We heard,”
Wy commented casually as he took the lone chair in front of the desk.

“I want the
two of you to join Mullet,”

“Join Mullet
for what, Denny?” Gabe knew where this was headed.

“We’re going
to go get young Ty and see about taking care of his debt,” Mullet snickered.
The man obviously loved his work.

“What you
have in mind?”

“Deke, you
and Wylie will help lasso that little fuck and make an example of him,” Denny
remarked. “I want him to be reminded for a good while about not paying his
bill.”

“We kick his
ass?” Wy asked casually.

“Kick his
ass, slam his gut, hell,” Denny paused, “mess up his pretty boy face. Just make
sure the little piss ant understands the terms of doing business with
CajunLand. Got me?”

“I didn’t
realize it was that big of a debt,” Deke offered casually.

“It’s not the
size,” Denny ground out. “It’s the message. I don’t want anyone to think they
can screw me.”

“We got you,
Boss.” Mullet stopped short of jumping up for joy. “We can all take my truck.”

“No,” Denny
ordered. “Each of you take your own ride.”

“Why, three vehicles?”
Gabe looked at Denny. “Wouldn’t that put potential problems into the plan?”