Casey (The Seven Brothers of Elko: Book Five), page 35
“I won’t, bubba. I’m done. No more,” he said as he met Michael’s eyes and then Bo’s.
Michael nodded and lit two cigarettes and handed one to Casey. “Now. I want to know what it was that she said that made you think she was trying to come between you and your family.”
Casey just watched him silently for a few seconds. “You did a lot of talkin’ while you were out. I want to know what she said. It took Jake, Davis, and Lonnie to get your hand from around Jake’s throat when you told her she couldn’t come between you and your brothers.”
“I don’t remember doing that,” he whispered.
“You were out of it. But I need to know what she said,” Michael said again.
Casey shifted his eyes back to the landscape and said, “I told her I was thinking about leaving the Sheriff’s office. She wanted to know why and I told her I was gonna be spending time with you and Lonnie to see if I wanted to work with you. And that I might go in partners at the ranch. She got upset. She said that none of you wanted me to see her and were trying to manipulate me into being where you could keep an eye on me, to keep us apart.
“I told her that none of you would do that. And I told her that no woman comes between me and my brothers. Not even her,” he finished quietly.
Michael nodded and took a drag off the cigarette. The knot in his stomach was getting tighter and tighter. “Okay. How did you get on the subject of an abortion?”
Casey blew out a long breath and said, “I really did some talking, huh? She... she wanted to have sex, without a condom. I asked her if she was using anything and she said no. I told her I couldn’t do that. Asked her what if she got pregnant. She said she could have an abortion. It was easy.”
Bo swore under his breath and Michael just shook his head. “Michael, do you know who Billy is?”
He shook his head and said, “No, son. I don’t.”
Casey nodded and took another drag off the cigarette then turned to look directly at him. “She shouldn’t be working long hours, Michael. I think she’s trying to prove herself to you, but she shouldn’t be working long hours right now.”
He narrowed his eyes when he saw the slightest ripple cross Michael’s face but his overall expression didn’t change and he didn’t turn to meet his eyes.
“Michael? What the hell was that?”
Michael dropped his head and said, “What was what? What are you talking about?”
“Michael, don’t lie to me. What was that look?” Casey said seriously. He turned his head to look at Bo and saw his set jaw as he looked into the distance.
“What the hell’s goin’ on? Why won’t either one of you look at me?” he asked lowly as he looked back at Michael.
Michael blew out a long breath and shook his head. “The office closes at five, Casey. She called Phillip at five and told him she was coming out to see you.”
Casey frowned and looked from Michael to Bo then back again. “But... she didn’t call me until long after that. Where was she from five until then?” he asked. When Michael didn’t answer him he looked at Bo. When Bo dropped his head, he looked back at Michael again as the thought started to take shape in his mind.
“No. No, she didn’t do that. You’re wrong. She didn’t do that,” Casey said angrily.
Michael shook his head and said, “We don’t know where she was. She could have been shopping for all we know. We just don’t know.”
“But you’re thinkin’ it. You think she picked up some guy and had sex with him before she called me. She didn’t do that. Michael, she couldn’t have done that.”
“You’re probably right, son,” Michael said softly but still didn’t meet Casey’s eyes.
Casey was silent for a few seconds then closed his eyes and moaned, “Noooo. Billy. His name was Billy. Goddammit. How could she do that? I told her, I couldn’t... I told her to just tell me if she was gonna see other guys. How could she come to me after... ”
Bo laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed and Michael pulled his head over to his shoulder and held it there as the tears came.
When Casey finally lifted his head and wiped his face he said flatly, “Well, it looks like I’m done with a lot of things today, doesn’t it? Okay. That’s the way it is. Let’s go home, guys. I wanna see the kids. Thanks. Thanks for bringing me out here. And thanks for telling me the truth. It’s time to move on.”
Michael hesitated and then said, “Casey, we still don’t know that’s what happened, son.”
Casey shook his head and set his jaw. “Sure, we do. And I just keep right on settin’ myself up. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Casey walked through the back door to find the rest of the family there. And judging by the look on Tommy’s face, they had filled him on what happened. He looked around the room and then shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I know I scared you guys. It won’t happen again. I won’t be drinking for at least a while. I promised Michael and Bo that I wouldn’t and now I’m promising you. And Jake you keep those guns. I won’t be needin’ them anytime soon,” he said quietly then walked over to Jake’s chair. He reached down and turned Jake’s head to the side and groaned softly when he saw a bruise on his neck.
“I’m sorry, bubba. It won’t happen again. And thank you guys for comin’ to get me,” he said quietly.
Jake stood up and hugged him then held him back. “Told you we’d always be there for you. I meant it.”
Casey nodded the leaned down and kissed Brinley on the cheek. “Where are the boys?” he asked.
“They’re in their room,” she said.
He nodded and walked down the hallway.
Michael quickly filled them in on everything they’d learned. He’d hesitated to tell them about Casey putting the gun to his head, but he decided they had a right to know. When he saw the tears in each man’s eye and heard all four women sob quietly, he stopped. He didn’t want to tell the girls that Casey had figured out what they all thought about where Dakota had been between the time she had left the office and when she’d called Casey. He’d told them everything else, but he didn’t want to tell them that.
“How long? How long will it take him to get past shootin’ this guy,” Tommy asked quietly.
“There’s no way to tell, Tommy. He’ll never forget it. He just has to learn to be able to live with it and move past it,” Lonnie said.
Davis quickly started a conversation about Ditto when they heard Casey coming back down the hallway. He walked to Lonnie and asked, “I know it’s kind of late, but are we going into the office today?”
Lonnie shook his head and said, “Not today. That architect is gonna be out here in a bit. I thought we’d ride over to your place with them and see what the guy says.”
Casey nodded and said, “Okay. I’m gonna go take a shower. Don’t run off without me.”
* * *
The architect had just left and all of the men were standing on the front porch discussing what the man had told them. Casey caught Bo’s eyes and jerked his head to the front door and waited for Bo to follow him inside. He walked silently over to the refrigerator and pulled out the bottles of beer that were still there and set them on the counter. And together they opened each one and poured them down the sink. When they were done their eyes met and they both nodded then walked silently back outside.
Michael had seen them walk in and eased over to the door to see what they were doing. He smiled slightly and caught Jake’s eyes and imitated pouring something out to let him know that Casey was getting rid of the rest of the beer.
Jake nodded and walked to the end of the porch and lit a cigarette. When Casey came back out and joined him, Jake glanced around at the others and said, “What do you think about taking a vacation, Casey? I’ve been thinking about taking Brinley somewhere before she gets too far along. Maybe we could go to Texas for a couple of weeks. See the sights.”
Casey grinned slightly and said, “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, bubba. But to tell you the truth, there’s nothing left for me in Texas. I’ve got my memories. I’ve got pictures. And I’ve got that container full of soil that Carley gave me that I can touch and go back in time. But there’s nothing left down there. Just a lot of memories and three graves.”
He stopped and looked across the landscape in front of the house and said, “I don’t belong there anymore. I belong here. This is where I’m supposed to be. Where we’re all supposed to be. I don’t need to go back to Texas.”
He turned back to Jake and grinned. “But now if you wanna take me to Disneyworld, we’ll talk.”
Each man there burst out laughing and Casey shook his head. “I don’t need to go anywhere, Jake. I need to be right here with all of you. Besides, how am I gonna find out what Lonnie and Michael do if I run off all across the country. And you’ve got eleven horses stacked up back there waitin’ to be trained. Let’s just get back to doin’ what we need to do. Let’s stay home.”
Jake nodded and said, “Okay. If you’re sure.” He was hoping Casey would agree. His main purpose wasn’t to take him back to Texas. It was to get him away from Dakota for a while.
“I’m sure,” he said then unclipped his phone when it rang and looked at the number. He set his jaw and turned the phone off then clipped it back to his belt without saying anything. They all knew who it was without having to ask.
“What do you think about the rough sketch the architect drew out?” Davis asked.
Casey nodded and said, “I think it’ll be just fine. I’ll have to move my picture wall, but that’s okay. Once the staircase is in, I can run them up the side of that. It’ll work out well. Just so long as they don’t mess up my boards.” He grinned when they all laughed at him.
“Yeah. I think he got that. He went to great pains to make sure you understood that he wouldn’t design anything that would touch that hallway,” Lonnie said still laughing.
“Okay, if we’re done, I called the counselor earlier and he said he’d work me in today. I’m gonna head that way. I thought I should go on in and talk to him again today instead of waiting until Thursday like we had it scheduled,” Casey said as he put the cigarette out then held it a few seconds before tossing it away.
“Okay, be careful, son. We’ll see you for supper?” Jake asked.
Casey nodded and said, “Yep. I’ll be there.” He grinned and said, “I smelled beef stew cookin’ when we left. Can’t miss that. See you later.”
* * *
“Hey, sis. What are you doing here? I thought you guys were working in the sweat house this week?” Dakota said when she looked up and saw Trisha standing in the doorway.
“We are. We didn’t go in today. The guys have it under control. We’ll check in with them tomorrow. How’s your work going?”
“Fine. I haven’t found anything more than what the original investigation showed, but I still have some more things to go through,” she said as she turned back to look at the pictures she’d been painstakingly going over.
“That’s good. I thought we might go up to Mom and Dad’s for dinner tonight. Have a real family dinner. Are you about ready to go?” Trisha said quietly as she leaned back against the wall.
“Um—actually I was gonna do some shopping before I head home. I need some warmer clothes. I only have a few sweaters and sweatshirts,” Dakota said without meeting Trisha’s eyes.
“Why don’t you wait and do that tomorrow? I’d really like for us to all be there,” Trisha said carefully.
Dakota turned back around and met Trisha’s steady gaze and hesitated but then said, “Okay. Sure that’s fine. I’ll meet you there.”
“We’ll wait on you. There’s no point in us straggling in one at a time. We’ll follow you home. I’ll just call Mom and warn her that we’re all on the way,” Trisha said then flipped open the phone without waiting for Dakota to respond.
Dakota watched her thoughtfully for a few seconds, trying to figure out what Trisha was up to. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes. I just need to put all of this up and I want to call Casey. I haven’t been able to reach him all day.”
Trisha shook her head and said, “Don’t call him. You can’t talk to him today.”
Dakota’s head jerked up. “What do you mean I can’t talk to him today? What’s happened? He’s okay, isn’t he?”
Trisha hardened her gaze and said lowly, “No, Dakota, he’s not. He’s trying to cope with having to take a man’s life. A man who had two little kids. A man who decided his life was worth forty-two dollars. A man whose eyes Casey sees in his head over and over again. He doesn’t need anything else dumped on him right now.”
“Wait a minute. What do you mean anything else dumped on him? I just wanted to talk to him to see how he’s doing? What gives you the right to tell me I can’t talk to him today? What makes you think that talking to me wouldn’t help him? Maybe I could help him work through the shooting,” Dakota said angrily.
Trisha shoved away from the wall and started for Dakota when Michael stepped in the door and caught her arm. “Sugar, are you girls ready to go?”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what this is about. Why can’t I talk to Casey?”
Michael lifted his head and leveled a gaze at her. “Dakota, you better believe me when I tell you that it wouldn’t do for you to piss me off right now. We’re going to your parents. We’ll talk there. If you don’t get in that truck and drive there yourself, so help me God, I’ll put you over my shoulder and put you in the truck with us. You are going home and you’re going now. And you can’t talk to Casey because he’s got his phone turned off. Because he’s got all he can handle right now. He can’t take anything else. Now get your stuff... right now,” Michael said lowly.
Dakota shifted her eyes to Trisha. “Don’t look at me. I’ll strap you in the goddamn truck after he puts you in it if I have to. Get your stuff, Dakota. Let’s go.”
* * *
Phillip had watched the silent anger between Dakota and Trisha all through dinner and had met Lilah’s eyes warily more than once. When they were through eating, he sat back in the chair and said, “Would you two girls like to tell us what’s going on now?” he asked quietly.
Trisha shifted her eyes to Dakota and said, “Why don’t you tell them what’s going on Dakota?”
“Because I don’t know what’s going on. All I know is that you demanded that I come straight home, that you follow me, and that you insist that I can’t talk to Casey,” Dakota hissed without looking at her parents.
“Who’s Billy?” Michael asked quietly.
Dakota jerked and pushed up out of her chair. “I don’t know anybody named, Billy. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sit down, Dakota,” Phillip said quietly. When she didn’t move he lifted his eyes to hers steadily and said sternly, “I said sit down, Dakota.”
Dakota slowly sat back down in the chair without looking at any of them.
“Where did you go yesterday after work?” Michael asked.
“I went to see Casey. I told you Daddy. I told you I was going,” Dakota said innocently.
“What time did you get there?” Michael asked as he lifted his eyes to hers, waiting for the lie.
“I went—I went... I don’t know exactly. I... I stopped... I stopped at a store and did some shopping,” she finally managed to get out.
Michael shifted his eyes to Phillip’s and waited until he knew that Phillip understood that it was a lie. He saw him close his eyes and drop his head into his hands.
“Why don’t you tell us the truth now? You didn’t call Casey until after seven. And when you were there you called him Billy. Who’s Billy?” Michael said softly.
“I told you I don’t know anybody named Billy. I don’t know what Casey told you, but he’s lying. I didn’t do that,” she insisted.
Michael exploded out of the chair and strode to Dakota’s and leaned down right in her face. “Don’t you dare try to put this off on him. You knew that he would be struggling to deal with the shooting. And instead of giving him the space to do that, you went there last night and first you accused his entire family of trying to manipulate him into not seeing you. And then you called him by another man’s name.
“Would you like to know how we know this, Dakota? Would you like to know what happened after you left? He got drunk. He got so drunk that he walked into his office and he got a gun. And he loaded that gun. And that boy put that gun to his head. And the only thing that kept him from pulling the trigger was hearing J.D. crying, wanting Jake to call him on the phone because he didn’t come home.
“And when they found him and took him home, he spent the rest of the night having flashbacks to the shooting and hearing you tell him how easy it was to have an abortion if you happened to get pregnant and telling him his family was trying to manipulate him. He had Jake around the throat at one point and it took three of them to get him to turn loose.
“Now you look me in the eyes, and you tell me that my brother is lying. Go ahead,” Michael said in a low dangerous voice that didn’t change when he saw the tears or heard the sobs.
“Oh, my God,” Lilah whispered and burst into tears.
“I... he was okay when I left. He... said... that it... was okay. He said... it was okay. He... told me... to call... him,” she managed between sobs.
“Well he wasn’t okay. What the hell did you expect him to say? Did you think he wouldn’t be sensitive enough to hide his own feeling to keep from upsetting you? If you did, you don’t know him at all,” Michael snapped and then straightened up and walked to the other side of the room to try to get his temper back under control. He had snapped. He hadn’t meant to get in her face. He hadn’t meant to handle it this way.
Phillip wiped his face and took Dakota’s hands in his. “Where did you go yesterday, Cupcake? You went to a bar? You picked up a guy? And then you went to Casey?”
“I didn’t mean to, Daddy. I didn’t mean to. I just wound up there. I didn’t mean to do it. And then, then I just needed to be with Casey. I just wanted to see him,” she wailed and then fell in her father’s arms.
