Lady Luck (Colorado Mountain #3)(133)

Three rings then, “Mama.”

“Ty,” I breathed, moving back to the letter and then I couldn’t figure out what to say.

“What?” he barked in my ear, I jumped at his harsh tone and realized he’d mistaken mine.

“No, no, it’s not bad, baby, it’s not…” I sucked in breath. “Okay, now, listen. I was thinking about paint chips and curtains and going to La-La Land to get you some dessert for tonight and so I wasn’t –”

“Babe,” he bit off, clipped and impatient.

“Right,” I whispered, sucked in more breath then went on. “I accidentally opened your mail and what I accidentally opened was a handwritten letter from Misty Keaton that lays it out that she lied about not being your alibi.”

Silence. A very long silence. A very long, very heavy silence.

So I called, “Ty?”

“You’re shittin’ me.” That was a whisper.

“No,” I whispered back.

“You’re shittin’ me,” he repeated.

“No, honey.” I kept whispering. “Do you want me to read it to you?”

“Yeah.”

I picked it up, my hand still slightly shaking and I read it to him.

My hand dropped to the counter when I was done and he murmured, “Shit.”

“You okay?” I asked.

“Fuck,” he murmured in answer.

“That’s not an answer, honey,” I said gently.

Silence.

“Ty? Honey, talk to me.”

“Right now, Lexie, take that upstairs and put it in the safe.”

I grabbed the envelope with the letter and immediately started walking to the stairs saying, “I don’t know the combination.”

“Twenty-four, fourteen, thirty-three, sixty-seven.”

“Um… is there a bunch of right and left rolling with that?”

“Mama, it’s a keypad.”

“Oh,” I whispered.

“Twenty-four, as in, two then four, then hit the enter key, one then four, enter key and three then three, enter then six then seven, enter and open. You with me?”

“I think I can negotiate a keypad, honey lumpkins, but my locker at school you had to do all this winding around, back and forth and eventually I had to learn how to pop it because I could never get the f**king thing open.”

“This isn’t your locker at school. It’s a f**king expensive fireproof safe with a keypad.”

“Whatever,” I muttered then said, “I’m here, hang on.” I squatted, punched in the numbers then turned the handle and it opened. I put the letter in on top of Ty’s wads of cash, his gun, clips, ammo, the envelope with our marriage certificate and my boxes of diamonds then I closed the safe. “It’s there.”

“Good, baby. Gonna call Tate and see how to play this. Obviously, I can’t waltz into the Carnal Police Station so it needs to be safe until I know what to do with it.”

“She said she sent other stuff.”

“Well, I’m not feelin’ like waitin’ while that shit processes it’s way to someone who’s gonna pull their thumb outta their ass and turn the wheels of justice so my name is cleared. I’m a priority to me. She sent that shit in the mail, who knows what the f**k’s gonna happen to it but whoever reads it isn’t gonna know who the f**k I am and since they don’t know, they aren’t gonna care as much as me.”

I grinned into the phone and muttered, “I see your point.” I listened to his soft laughter then asked, “Do you think this will do it?”

“Don’t know.”

“I think we should send a copy to Angel,” I suggested.

“Definitely one of the plays we need to make. But I wanna talk to Tate and I want him to have a look at it. Sit tight, mama, I’ll call you.”

“I was going to go to the grocery store and, um… other stuff.” I didn’t elaborate because I was thinking Ty was not in the mood for a paint chip and new curtain discussion. “Do you need me to stay at home or close to town, just in case?”

“Close to town but you don’t gotta stay home. Do what you gotta do in town. The other stuff can hold. Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He didn’t say anything and he also didn’t disconnect.

So I sat on my ass in the closet and asked quietly, “You okay?”

“This could be it.”

“Yeah, baby, this could be it,” I whispered.

“Toxic pu**y knew her number was up, spurred her finally to do right. Took that to finally make that bitch do right. Still, she did right. So I guess I can lose that sour taste in my mouth every time I remember I slid my c**k inside her.”

“Another bonus,” I muttered and heard him chuckle.

“And she’s dead and I’m alive and breathin’ and able to slide my c**k inside you.”

That got a couple of tingles but I ignored them and on another mutter said, “A bigger bonus.”

“Got that right, mama.”

I smiled at the phone.

Then I ordered, “Go, call Tate, let’s get the wheels of justice turning to clear my man’s name.”

“Right. Later, babe.”