“Yeah, it’s only when
I’m feeling exceptionally good about something. Cheers.” We clanked glasses and sipped.
Kane came back from the office. “Pour me some of that shit. I’m feeling good, too.”
Hayden obliged, and with another surreptitious gesture, Mariah moved to the front door. Hayden took a seat at Chazz’s side, and Kane sat next to Dixon. These assholes were effectively caged in.
Kane threw his drink back and said, “Good shit.”
I took another sip and sat the glass down. “So, I have a question.”
“Shoot,” Dixon said.
Looking him straight in the eye, I said, “Tell me why you were at my place the other night, Dixon? You nearly scared the shit out of my girlfriend.”
The glass he held stopped for a split second on the way to his mouth. It was enough of a pause, and I could see his wheels racing to buy some time. “What are you talking about?”
I scoffed. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m going to ask again. Why. Were. You. At. My. Place?”
“I wasn’t. I think it’s time we go, Chazz. It appears we’ve outworn our welcome.”
Dixon stood, and Kane’s hand shot out to grip his shoulder. “I think you’re just fine in your seat. My brother asked you a question. It’s rude to not answer.”
Begrudgingly, Dixon lowered himself into the seat. I folded my arms over my chest and stared. Chazz looked like he might be sick. He hadn’t tried to move, but Hayden was ready for him. “Now, now, buddy. I think the same goes for you.”
Chazz’s eyes flew open and he looked uncomfortable as hell. Dixon was trying to remain cool and unaffected, but he knew he’d been caught. When the silence was so thick the tension could be tasted, I went on to say, “There’s one of two ways I see this going down. One is you tell me why you were at my place. Or two…”
Kane picked up where I left off. “We take a nice trip out to the woods.”
Dixon tried to push away from the bar, but Kane was faster and clamped down on his shoulder. Mariah growled, her teeth showing, and inched closer to the bar in warning. Dixon looked back and commanded, “Call her off.”
Tsk-tsking, Kane said, “Nah, I don’t feel like it today.”
In one swift move, I jumped over the bar, taking them by surprise. “Get his wallet. I need to ID him and make sure he’s twenty-one.”
Roughly Kane brought Dixon out of the chair. “Hand me your wallet.” Dixon didn’t move. “I’m not asking again. Mariah is one command away from tearing into you. I suggest you cooperate.”
Hell, Kane is a scary motherfucker. Dixon pulled out his wallet and Kane tossed it to me. I pulled out his driver’s license. “Looks like you’re legal, Dixon Samuel Hennington.” He said nothing. The Samuel part stuck out to me. “Samuel? Sam? The same Sam who supplied Teagan with drugs?”
“You can’t prove anything,” he spat.
Chazz shifted, and Hayden put his hand on his shoulder. “Let’s stay comfy in our chairs. We have front-row tickets to the show.”
I decided to bluff. “No, I can’t. But the witnesses at Teagan’s apartment can. They identified a man who seems to resemble you quite a bit.”
With a sinister smile, the calculating man reappeared. “You have no such thing. There are no witnesses.”
Asshole. He was good, but I was better after hiding my feelings for two years. “You sure about that? Think really hard; there wasn’t one time you might have slipped or left something behind?” I turned to Chazz. “You’ll go down as an accomplice.”
Chazz held up his hands. “Let’s be reasonable. We can work this out. Dixon needs the land.”
“Shut up, you idiot,” he yelled.
Chazz turned to him. “I am not going down for this. You promised.”
“They have nothing. And shut the fuck up!”
“You sure about that?” Kane crossed his arms over his chest, and Mariah inched closer. “I hear prison isn’t very fun. They don’t do that froufrou food you had at the party. More like Spam, I would guess.”