Make Me Melt(31)

Jason didn’t shake the other man’s hand, but he didn’t object when Eddie gave him a swift, hard embrace. He reeked of some expensive cologne that stayed in Jason’s nostrils even after they stepped apart.

“I’ve been okay,” he replied stiffly. “But Judge Banks is a friend of mine. Somebody shot him on his own front steps, and I intend to find out who.”

Eddie frowned, staring at Jason with an affronted expression. “And you’re pointing the finger at me? Man, I am highly offended by that. It really grieves me to have you believe I would do something so cold-blooded.”

“Not you, Eddie. Your boys. Like you said, Judge Banks sent two of your men to death row. That’s gotta hurt.”

Eddie sniffed and looked away. “Yeah. One of them is my baby brother. But whatever you think of me, you know I got a code of honor. I don’t kill cops, women or kids.” He gave Jason a sly smile. “So you see, you’re safe—I protect the weak.”

Jason ignored the insult. “What do you hear on the street? If it wasn’t your boys, you must know who was responsible.”

Eddie shrugged. “I don’t hear anything, at least not about the judge. But I saw on the news that he has a real pretty daughter.” His expression grew sly. “I saw you on the news, too, all protective and shit, carrying her out of the house. I’ll bet that uniform gets you all kinds of nice perks, huh? You banging the judge’s daughter?”

Jason had to put a choke hold on his gut reaction to Eddie’s crude suggestion. He wanted to smash the other’s man mouth, but instead he ignored the gibe and kept his expression carefully neutral.

He had tried to shield Caroline from the television crew that had lined the street in front of her father’s Sea Cliff house, but there’d been no way to avoid the cameras after she’d fainted in his arms. He’d had to carry her back to the waiting SUV, and the reporters had eaten it up, capturing the footage on film. The last thing Jason wanted was Eddie Green expressing any kind of interest in Caroline. He regretted that Eddie knew she even existed. But he realized the damage had been done, and all he could do now was downplay it and hopefully divert Green’s interest elsewhere.

“What about Sanchez’s men?” he asked. “I hear they’ve moved into your neighborhood. That can’t be good for business.”

He watched as Eddie’s hand curled into a fist, and then he abruptly turned around and busied himself cooking breakfast. “Yeah,” he threw over his shoulder. “What about Sanchez’s men? Why don’t you ask them about it? Them sons of bitches been bringing down the real estate value around here. Someone needs to put a stop to their illegal activities. I hope you intend to pay them a visit while you’re in the area.”

“Maybe.”

“You want me to find out if they was involved?” he asked.

Jason knew what that would entail, and he didn’t want anyone getting hurt. Eddie’s form of interrogation could be deadly. “No, thanks. I’ve got it covered.”

“Sure. Whatever.” He turned around and leaned back against the counter. “So look at you. The last time I saw you, you were just a kid. You got picked up for breaking and entering, right?”

“Car theft, actually.”

“And now you’re a damned cop. Unbelievable. You never came back after they hauled you in. What happened to you? My boys said you went to juvie.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Jason didn’t want to talk about himself, especially not to Eddie. After the car-jacking incident, he’d ended up in Judge Banks’s courtroom. The sentencing had involved sending him to a residential school for at-risk youth. At first he’d been resistant, but it hadn’t been long before he’d understood that he’d been given a second chance. Judge Banks had made that possible.

“You still see your old man? I hear he’s living over on Griffith, at one of them treatment centers. He must be so proud of you.”

Jason hadn’t seen his father in over twelve years. The last he knew, his father had been unemployed, subsisting on welfare and had been in and out of rehab.

“I don’t see my father anymore,” he said shortly. “Thanks for your time.”

“Yeah, you take care.” Eddie’s mouth twisted in a semblance of a smile. “It was good seeing you, man. I mean that sincerely. And I’m glad you’ve done good. I mean, who knows where you’d be if you’d hung with me, right?” He gestured toward his surroundings. “Maybe if things had gone differently—if you hadn’t been pinched jacking that car—you’d be the one living here.”

Jason withdrew a card from his wallet and handed it to the gang leader. “Here’s my number.” He paused. “I know you have no reason to want to help me, but—”

“It’s cool,” Eddie said, taking the card. “I’ll keep my ears open.”


He slid Jason’s badge back toward him, and then scooped up his two guns. “My boys will walk you out. Sure hate for anything to happen to a U.S. marshal right outside my front door.”

Jason arched an eyebrow and fastened his badge to his belt, then followed Eddie’s men back to his SUV. It took a moment before he turned on the ignition, however. His heart was pounding, and his old associate’s words reverberated in his head.