At Peace (The 'Burg #2)(136)
Twice.
* * * * *
Cal stood, back against his truck, arms crossed on his chest in the Police Station parking lot and he waited.
It took fifteen minutes before Haines came out and when he did, he came out with Colt.
Fuck.
Both men looked to Cal, Haines’s eyes narrowed, Colt’s head dropped so he could study his boots and not give anything away.
Haines turned his head to Colt, said something, Colt nodded and they separated, Haines coming to Cal, Colt going to his GMC.
Cal’s eyes remained on Haines as he walked to him but he knew Colt wasn’t going far. This was confirmed when Haines arrived and Cal glanced Colt’s way, saw his h*ps to the back of his GMC, his eyes on Cal and Haines.
“You got somethin’ to say?” Haines asked and Cal’s eyes went back to him.
“Stand down,” Cal told him.
His mouth got tight then he asked, “You shittin’ me?”
“You’re confusin’ Vi,” Cal explained.
“I am?” Haines asked then clipped, “Yeah, you’re shittin’ me.”
“This isn’t gonna end well for you,” Cal went on.
“No, Vi makes a stupid decision, Callahan, it isn’t gonna end well for her. I’m just positionin’ myself to be there to pick up the pieces.”
At his insinuation, Cal wanted to straighten from the truck but he forced himself to stay relaxed against it. It wasn’t like he hadn’t earned a remark like that with his history with women and his history with Vi.
“You think I’ll f**k her over.”
“You’re Joe Callahan’s son.”
This time it took everything for Cal to keep his back to the truck because his father sure as f**k hadn’t earned that remark but his voice vibrated when he asked, “What the f**k does that mean?”
“It means you’re a one-woman man.”
“Yeah, I am. Hasn’t anyone clued in yet that that woman wasn’t f**kin’ Bonnie?”
He scored, direct hit. He watched it land as Haines’s chin jerked to the side almost like Cal had clipped him.
“I thought she was,” Cal forced his voice to steady, “but she wasn’t.”
“You sure?” Haines asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Cal answered.
“And how can you be sure?”
“’Cause no God is cruel enough to make the only woman you’ll love be the one who kills your kid.”
Another score, another direct hit. Haines’s jaw went hard.
Then Haines changed tactics.
“You’ve torn through practically every f**kable woman in the county,” Haines reminded him.
“Yeah, but none of them were Vi.”
Another score, a muscle jerked in Haines’s jaw, he knew Cal spoke the truth.
“She likes you,” Cal informed him. “She wants what she had back.”
“I’m not Tim.”
“I’m not sayin’ you are. I’m just sayin’ you represent what she had.”
“It isn’t just that, we got somethin’.”
Cal felt his own jaw tighten because he knew Haines spoke the truth.
Haines’s voice also calmed. “And what we got, you can’t give her.”
“Same’s true with me,” Cal returned.
Haines’s voice was actually soft when he asked, “What can you give her, Cal?”
“Everything,” Cal answered and he scored again, Haines blinked.
“She needs –” Haines started.
It was Cal’s turn to soften his voice. “I know what she needs, Mike.”
They stood staring at each other silently.
Cal broke the silence. “She’s gonna come to you, break it off, cut you loose, this time let her even if she tries to hold on at the same time.”
Cal watched Haines’s entire face go hard as the knowledge penetrated as to what Cal was saying and how much he knew of the game Vi was playing. It was a game she didn’t know she was playing, she didn’t have the experience, but she was running roughshod over Haines all the same.
“She was fifteen when Tim asked her out, she’s got no idea what she’s doin’,” Cal defended Vi.
“I know that,” Haines ground out.
“She’s lost, with Sam gone now more than ever,” Cal went on.
“You aren’t helpin’ her get found, Cal.”
“We’re all lost, Mike. The best chance we got is to wander this life with the people who matter.”
He’d scored again and he wasn’t looking for it. Haines went from angry to watchful.
“You don’t want her for her, you want her for you.”
“Yeah,” Cal replied instantly, “isn’t that what you want?”
“I want her because she’s Vi.”
“And I want her for the same but because she is, she can give me what I need.”
“And what’s she get?”
“She gets to give me what I need.”
“Nice,” Haines bit out, back to pissed.
“That’s who she is, man, haven’t you figured that out? Isn’t that what she does for you? Because if it isn’t then you don’t have her, nowhere near. That’s what she is, that’s what those girls are, that’s who she made them to be. They exist to give you what you need. It isn’t selfish, that’s how they get off. Fuck, when I went to the mall with them, Keira tried to be my personal shopper.”