Games of the Heart (The 'Burg #4)(182)

“Fuck…you,” she replied.

“You droppin’ the suit?” he asked.

No answer.

“Debbie,” he prompted.

“Yes,” she hissed.

“We gonna have any further problems with you?”

“Uh…sorry, Mike, that farm is not worth getting disbarred.”

“Good to know,” Mike returned. “Somethin’ else, that shit is not goin’ away. It’ll stay buried but you f**k with Dusty, Rhonda, those boys, any of that family or that farm in any way you can, it sees the light of day and you face disbarment and jail time. This is not a threat, Debbie. You need to take me seriously because I’m being very serious.”

“I hear you,” she snapped.

“And, time goes by, you see that shit you pulled for the shit it was, you give it even more time. You scored some wounds that run deep. Not one single soul who shares your blood whose feet hit Indiana dirt wanna hear from you anytime soon. You give them that, no matter how much you want salvation.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath for that,” she retorted.

He didn’t think so.

“We done?” she bit out.

They f**king were, thank God.

“Yep,” he answered.

She disconnected.

Mike hit a button on his phone and dropped it on his desk, his eyes going across it to Merry who was also on the phone.

“Yep,” Merry said into his phone. “Yep,” he repeated. “Got it,” he went on. “When’s this goin’ down?” He paused to listen. “Yep.” He said again, nodding to a person he couldn’t see. “Thanks for the info. Right. Thanks again. Later.”

He put his phone in the cradle and his eyes went to Mike.

“Seems our afternoon load just lightened, brother,” he announced.

They were heading out to visit with McGrath so Mike’s brows went up.

“How’s that?”

“Well, Fire and Building Safety have deemed a shopping center in Danville, a restaurant in Avon and a whole f**king housing development outside of Pittsboro unfit for use. Owners and occupiers are being notified. There’s a building inspector who’s bein’ picked up by IMPD for questioning for bribery and corruption. Danville PD and Hendrick’s County Sheriff’s Department both have obtained warrants for Bernard McGrath’s arrest. I think he’s gonna be too busy to have a chat with us.”

Mike grinned.

Merry grinned back.

“Better call Dusty and get her ass in the kitchen. She’s got a lotta cake bakin’ to do,” Merry remarked.

“Yeah,” Mike agreed.

“And I know someone, get you a f**kuva deal on one helluva bottle of Scotch for Devin.”

“Make the call, man,” Mike ordered.

Merry nodded and reached out to his cell on his desk.

Mike did the same with his. He went to his contacts, found Dusty and hit go.

Then he told her the news.

The he held his phone away from his ear as she shouted with joy.

That was when he smiled.

*

That Friday night…

“We’ll be back around ten, Dad,” Reesee called from the hall she and Fin were heading down.

Mike’s head was leaned back over the couch so he could watch them go. They were heading to a movie. Mike had lifted the ban but Fin hadn’t gone for it for a week. Now he was going for it.

“Have a good time,” he called back, saw Dusty appear in the doorway to the kitchen where she was still baking cakes and he saw her grin at the couple.

They grinned back then they were out the door.

It was then Mike watched Dusty wander down the hall.

No and his band were at some kid’s house setting up to play a gig they were each getting paid twenty dollars to play for a party. His curfew was midnight. It was their first paying gig and they were beside themselves even though they were playing for hours for pretty much nothing.

This meant Mike had three and a half hours alone in his house with his woman and his dog.

This was not lost on Dusty and he knew this when she hit the living room, rounded the couch, came direct to him and deposited her ass in his lap.

Her arms circled his shoulders. His arms circled her waist and his eyes dropped to her mouth.

“Please tell me you’re done bakin’ cakes,” he muttered.

“Got one more to go,” she told him and his eyes moved to hers. “But I’ll do it in the morning.”

Damn right she would.

She tipped her head to the side. “You get time off next week?”

The next week was the kids’ spring break.

“Half day Wednesday then Thursday and Friday.”

She scrunched her nose. It was something but since the kids went to Audrey’s the next Friday night, it wasn’t much. Audrey was supposed to have them Monday through Wednesday afternoon but she’d made a deal with them since she couldn’t get much time off work. She’d been able to get Tuesday off to do something with them so they were spending the night Monday and coming home Wednesday morning. But they were back with her on the weekend and she had something planned.

“We’ll figure out somethin’ to do that they’ll like,” Mike assured her.

“Next year, No’s last year, we should plan something fun. Florida or Mexico or something,” Dusty suggested. “Give Audrey a head’s up now and maybe trade something out with her so we can have that time.”