“You aren’t the only one lookin’ into this,” Colt returned, he was ticked, not angry, irritated that Layne would even think that. “I understand why Merry didn’t go to the Captain because, bein’ how the Captain is, that’s not a great play and that’s the reason I’m not makin’ that play either. I’ve never seen this shit before but I’ve heard of it. That small of a Department, this small of a town, that shit leaks out, we’re all tarred with the same brush and Cap will f**k it up and it’ll be sure to leak. If we take care of this internal, private, that doesn’t happen. But it’s gotta be taken care of.”

“Colt, I was shot because of this shit,” Layne said.

“Yeah, Layne, I remember,” Colt returned.

“This is dangerous. You and Feb got a young son,” Layne reminded him.

“And you got two older ones,” Colt shot back.

Layne shook his head. “Let me work this.”

“My Department.”

“Colt, I’m tellin’ you, let me work this.”

“Sean’ll go down. This shit with his sister, it’s been goin’ on a long time. It’s not good, the whole family’s strugglin’.”

Layne stared at Colt and got an idea.

“Rocky,” he said.

Colt shook his head. “I gotta hope you know what you’re doin’, sendin’ her in there, her gettin’ close to –”

Colt had noticed that too.

“Not my choice,” Layne cut him off firmly. “She wants to do something, there’s no talking her out of it. I got her back, so does Merry. What you see with their little chats is as close as she’s gonna get. It makes her feel like she’s doin’ something and I’m givin’ her that. But that’s all she’s doin’.”

“Then what do you mean, ‘Rocky’?” Colt asked.

“What I mean is, she does those charity gigs. She helps set them up. I tell her about this, she’ll be all over it. Something else to focus on, not that piece of shit in the Department.”

Colt grinned. “Cop’s sister goin’ all out for a cop’s sister.”

Layne grinned back. “All in the family.”

“It’d be good around about this time, that dirt in the office gettin’ up in his face, Sean’s reminded about family.”

“Yeah, it’d be good,” Layne agreed.

Colt grin turned into a smile. “Hear she’s raised a f**kwad of cake.”

Layne had no idea. He knew she did them because he’d heard about it in passing. He didn’t know how successful she was at it. Though, this was Rocky, if she could talk the School Board into letting her kids listen to rock ‘n’ roll for a week in English Lit class, she could probably raise millions.

“I’ll talk to her, get her to talk to Sean,” Layne replied.

“Like that idea, Tanner,” Colt said and Layne nodded then Colt brows went up at the same time the ends of his lips tipped up and he asked, “What’s for dinner?”

“Hot beef sandwiches,” Layne answered then smiled, “with cheese.”

“I don’t even know what the f**k that is and it sounds good,” Colt returned.

It did and Rocky had cooked both nights at his house. She’d come to his place Wednesday night with enough grocery bags in her car to feed twelve for Thanksgiving dinner. The first night was roast chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. The second night was pork roast with fried potatoes and fresh baked rolls. Gabby wasn’t much of a cook, she hated doing it and her food tasted like she hated doing it. Devin had been single since his third wife took off with his baseball card collection fifteen years ago and he’d been that way because he was the kind of man who missed his baseball card collection more than his wife. Devin could pour a helluva mixed drink but he wouldn’t know a spatula from a frying pan. Jasper, Tripp and Devin were in ecstasy because Rocky loved to cook and she made roast chicken and pork taste like heaven on a plate.

Layne sure as f**k liked her food but he liked her cooking in his kitchen for him and his boys better.

And her being around meant the boys didn’t bitch when they had to clean up.

Yes, Layne was looking forward to hot beef sandwiches with cheese. But he was hoping that he’d have them with a Rocky, happy and excited to see him.

“I gotta get to Rocky, brother,” Layne told Colt.

Colt straightened from the chair saying, “Yeah. See you at the game?”

Layne palmed his phone and stood too, replying, “Yeah. You goin’ to an away game?”

Colt smiled at him. “Cal came over yesterday. Over what sounded to be a much-needed bourbon, he told me he was takin’ Keira and Heather because she’s fired up to support her new boyfriend while he plays ball and since she’s had three fender benders since she got her license, Vi isn’t letting her drive outside the city limits and Vi doesn’t trust Heather’s driving any more than Keirry’s. If Cal didn’t say he’d take her, he’d be forced to put duct tape on her mouth and tie her to a chair because she wouldn’t shut up about it. He didn’t think Vi would like that overly much so he said yes. I’m goin’ for moral support.”

That was about a quarter of the reason Colt was going. Colt was a ‘dogs fan too. He’d played for them years ago and was good enough to get a partial ride to Purdue. That team did good things for him and he remained loyal to the end.

But the reason Cal told Colt he’d said yes was total bullshit. Joe Callahan was a pushover for that girl. He’d kill for her, her sister and her mother, Layne knew this because Cal got that chance, he pulled the trigger and didn’t blink.

Layne walked Colt to the door and they shook hands and clapped each other on the arm before Colt took off. Then Layne closed down the office and left, setting the security alarms as he went. He drove home and lifted the garage door but didn’t pull inside then he walked through the garage and into the house.

Blondie greeted him and if his son’s dog could cross her legs, she would. So Layne unarmed the alarm and let her out back. Then he turned and jogged up the stairs, going direct to his drawers, he pulled out a thermal and then went to the walk-in closet, flipping on light switches as he went. He unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off, throwing it without looking in the direction of the mound of dirty clothes. He pulled on the thermal, yanked a sweater off the built-in shelves in the closet and then tugged that on. He grabbed the scarf his mother bought him for Christmas last year and his leather jacket and headed back to the bedroom, putting them on, and stopped dead, staring at the bed.