“Poison ivy? Seriously?” Cade flops down beside me, his expression horrified, but also relieved that Hayes didn’t have some mutant STD. “How the hell did he get poison ivy down there?” He reclines his legs over the armrest, forcing a scowling Theo over in the process. Beer in hand, he takes a long pull from his Corona, sighing into the neck of the bottle.
That’s odd, Cade only drinks on rare occasions. Long day, I guess. He’s been holed up with Lawson for the past three hours after they got back from work.
Theo snorts out a laugh at Cade’s ridiculous question before I have the opportunity to answer.
“Cade, stop me if I lose you.” There’s a mean-ass gleam in Theo’s eye. Whatever he is about to say is most certainly going to piss Cade off.
Oh, hell, here we go.
“Hayes,” Theo motions out the window, “had some chick grinding down on his dick in the middle of the woods. Those of us whoaren’tprudes call it fucking.” Theo’s smile clearly reflects that he disapproves of Cade’s abstinent lifestyle.
I elbow him, needing him to reign it in before an all-out brawl ensues but Cade beats me to it and stands, taking an intimidating step forward to do who knows what. Theo doesn’t budge from his place on the sofa. Instead, he stays cool, his leg bouncing across his knee with a smug-ass smile that turns to a glare in seconds.
Locked in a stare-off, ripping each other to shreds with their scathing expressions, I intervene, pushing at Theo’s chest, encouraging him to relax and knock it off as Cade settles down, retaking his vacated spot. These two have a hair-trigger of a temper today. “By the way, how was your community service?”
“Fine,” they both say in unison, eyes still locked on each other.
I know good and darn well something went down. The purple discolorations on Cade’s arm and face are not from a fall he took off a ladder today, no matter what he tells me. Neither are the bruises on his ribs. I know what fist marks look like.
What confuses me is that Lawson has a couple bruises, too. He wouldn’t allow me to look as he stormed up the stairs and slammed the door, Cade hot on his heels and in a fury. Lawson hasn’t come out of his room since.
I look back and forth at the men glaring death rays at each other from their opposite ends of the sofa.
“What’s going on with you two? What happened out there today?”
Cade breaks first, taking another swig of his beer before answering. “Lawson lied.”
I’m stunned, my mouth opening and closing like a fish. “What do you mean, he lied? About what, exactly?”
Cade swallows thickly as Theo scoffs behind my back.
“Well,” he sighs, scrubbing his hand along his five o’clock shadow. “Lawson is different from the rest of us.”
Cade’s cryptic sentences are wearing down my nerves and pissing me off by the syllable. “Just spit it out, Cade.”
Cade nods solemnly as Theo chuckles at his scolding. “Lawson isn’t a druggie like we thought.”
My head cocks to side as I encourage him to continue.
“He was fucked up when we found him, yes—” He takes another long pull from his beer. “—but, not under the circumstances we thought. He was undercover, trying to find a kidnapped girl. Nicole is her name.”
“He’s a cop!”
Shaking his head, Cade looks to Theo for help.
Theo laughs incredulously, “Don’t look at me. I told y’all to stop adopting these strays.”
I pinch the side of his leg, in no mood for his bullshit I told you so’s.
“He’s not a cop. He’s a Marine. His term was up four months ago. Apparently, he intercepted a call six months ago while trying to call out to his family. He got Nicole, the woman he found today in the subdivision we were working in. She told him she needed help—”
“Why didn’t you help her?” I cut him off, up and ready to grab my keys to go help this poor girl, except Theo holds me close in hug, restraining me.
“I didn’t know at the time she needed help. Besides, I need to investigate this more. I can’t just go running off, snatching random women from their home just because Lawson said so. So far, he hasn’t been very honest with us. Anyway, Lawson has been tracking this man for four months, finally gathering enough intel to track his drug supplier. That’s why he was high when we found him. But he doesn’t have a problem like we suspected.”
My mind spins with this new information. Lawson let us believe he was an addict in need of refuge. I can’t decide if I’m pissed or impressed that he would go to any lengths to get this guy.
“Why hasn’t he gone to the police with this information?”
