At Peace (The 'Burg #2)(27)
As he stared at her house, thoughts crowded his head.
Violet had a dead husband, an ass**le obsessing about her and a neighbor who f**ked her over.
Christ, but he was a dick. He should never have touched her.
He walked back through his house, opened the side kitchen door nabbing the key off the hook as he went. He opened the garage door and moved behind his ‘Stang to the back and started digging through his boxes of equipment. It was all shit, that was why it was back there and not in use somewhere.
He went back to the house, locked the kitchen door and went out the front door, locking that.
He walked to his truck, swung in and headed to Indianapolis.
* * * * *
It was the next day and Cal was standing in Colt’s yard by Colt’s GMC, talking to Colt.
“You bought the shit?” Colt asked, his eyebrows up.
“New system, Chip can pick it up, put it in,” Cal answered. “Coupla things on order but they’ll be in soon.”
“You haven’t reconned the house.”
“Been in that house before, Colt, a f**kin’ million times when the Williamses lived there. I know what she needs.”
Colt stared at him a second before he nodded and asked, “Is Chip gonna be able to install your system?”
This was a good question. Cal knew Chip, only boy in town who installed security and his work was good. But Cal had bought some serious equipment for Violet’s house, the like your normal suburban folk couldn’t afford and didn’t even know existed but the people who paid for his services not only knew it existed, they demanded it and they needed it with the sick f**ks who invaded their lives. Chip might not be able to work with it.
“I’ll go through it with him, what he doesn’t know, you get Violet out and I’ll install it.”
“She isn’t Kenzie Elise, Cal, you got her top of the line, it’s doubtful she’ll be able to pay for it,” Colt pointed out.
“I’ll work that out with Chip.”
In other words, words he wasn’t going to give Colt, she wasn’t paying shit.
Colt studied him and Cal let him then Colt nodded again.
“I’ll talk to Vi, then I’ll talk to Chip,” Colt said.
“Let me know,” Cal replied. “I’ve got a job I can’t postpone means I’ll be outta town again in a few days. He needs to put her top of his list and come and get the equipment. If I need to go in, it needs to be soon.”
“Got it,” Colt opened the door to his GMC and explained, “Gotta get to the Station.”
“Yeah.”
“Later.”
Cal lifted his chin and turned while Colt climbed into his truck. He walked across Colt’s yard but his eyes were on Violet’s house. This was because her daughter was standing in the drive, her butt to the door of the Mustang which was parked behind the Fiesta, her eyes were on him.
Fucking great.
He crossed the street, walked passed Tina’s house and was halfway passed Violet’s when her daughter skipped to the end of the drive and called, “Hey, Mr. Callahan.”
Jesus. She called him Mr. Callahan.
He lifted his chin.
“We’re goin’ to the mall,” she informed him and since she was speaking to him and she was Violet’s kid, instead of walking right by her like he would normally do, he stopped.
Even though he didn’t respond, she took his continued presence as indication she should keep talking. “Then we’re goin’ to dinner and then a movie. Mom’s gonna spend Uncle Sam’s money that he gave her when he was here.”
Cal had no response to this and he wanted to be the f**k out of there by the time Violet got out of the house.
He looked to her place to gauge how much time he had and saw the older girl walking out which he thought was a healthy signal to get a move on but he didn’t. Finding himself curious, he looked between Violet’s girls.
Neither of them looked like Violet. They were pretty but they didn’t get their mother’s rich, thick, dark hair with that auburn tint to it, they didn’t get her curves and they didn’t get her green eyes. Their hair was nice, it was also thick and long. They had nice eyes and decent bodies, but they were too thin in a way that, even though they were young, he knew they wouldn’t fill out. They must look like their Dad.
Sucked for them. They were pretty and they’d get prettier but they’d never be knockouts like their mother.
“We already spent Uncle Sam’s gift cards,” the younger one kept speaking and Cal’s eyes went back to her. “Kate and me. I got these shorts and a bunch of other stuff.” She pointed to her shorts but Cal’s eyes didn’t go to her shorts, they went to the drive.
Violet was there and she was wearing that cute, little jeans skirt that fit tight at her ass and h*ps and hit her a couple inches above her knees. It was the one he’d f**ked her in.
Christ.
She had stopped dead, keys in her hand, purse suspended at her forearm, her hand had stilled in the act of draping it over her shoulder. She was staring at him, her lips parted, her face pale, her eyes wide and he felt that look, her stillness, it locked in his chest, it didn’t feel good and he detested the feeling.
She was wearing purple, she was always in purple. This time it was a light purple blouse with little, short, poofy sleeves. The shirt fit tight at her ribs and showed a hint of cle**age because it fit tight at her tits too. Her hair was down, it was long, not as long as her girls, she wore it to just above her bra strap. It was gleaming and sleek but flipped at the layers. He knew how thick it was, how soft and his hand itched to fist in it.