I made a noise under my breath acknowledging his weak joke. "Well, same guy. He's trying to block Southwind from re-opening."
"Wait." Cyan blew out an annoyed breath. "Tall guy, looks like some bad 80s western porn star?"
This time, I laughed. "Yep, that's the one."
"Well, shit. I don't even need to dig to know that. You and Magenta were in Paris or something when that blew up, but Chartreuse and I were there. Whole big deal about graffiti in town. Real novice crap, too. Not a known tag or sign in it, but they tried to pin it on Crimson and me. Said punks from Southwind were sneaking out at night and defacing the town."
"And since Darnell was the only one with known gang affiliations, and you two were probably hanging out," I finished, "all eyes looked at you two."
"Yeah." He didn't sound impressed. "Lucky for me, I'd already gotten into shit and was up at the house getting put in my place. But yeah. Come to find out, it was his son, and the kid ended up with a record because of it."
"Whoa."
Cyan kept going. "So, cow-guy tried to sweet talk Vera into getting the kid off. Said he'd pay well if she'd get him into the school, but Bea was having none of it. You remember that skinhead-looking punk that was there for a while? Billy, or something?"
"Blaze," I supplied.
"Yeah, him. I remember him saying the neighbors tried to threaten Vera back then, too. Said if she didn't work with them, he'd have the whole lot of us punks tossed in a real jail where we belonged. Said we were the criminals, not his kid."
"And now he's got a hate-on for us." I was nodding my head, putting all the pieces in place. "Thanks, Cy. That's exactly what I needed to know."
"Sure. Glad I could help."
"So how are things going for you?"
He groaned. "I'm between jobs at the moment. Thinking about moving, actually."
"No," I breathed. "What happened to, um… What was his name?"
"Kindle," Cyan grumbled. "Caught him with another guy a couple months before the funeral. Kinda packed my shit before he made it home, and I've been in this craptastic studio apartment for five and a half months. Lease is up in two weeks, so I guess I need to figure out my shit pretty fast, huh?"
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.
He huffed like I should know the answer. "Because it was Gran's funeral, and Magenta was pretty much permanently attached to your side. It's fine though, Vi. I'm basically over him."
"I'm so sorry," I told him. "Lemme know if you need anything, hun. Always here for you."
"Nah." His chuckle sounded almost embarrassed. "Not unless you need the services of a shrink for some good reason. Figured I'd just ask Cobalt for a reference, and try again."
"Actually…" I did need a psychiatrist. "You know I have a few spare rooms here, right?"
"I'm not going to make things harder on you down there, Vi. I mean, sure, I can pass, but I just don't want to."
"But if you're thinking about moving anyway," I tried, "then why not come take a vacation, right? Are you licensed to work in Texas?"
"Not exactly, but could be in about ten days. They passed some mental health law that expedites the process." He chuckled. "You need some help, don't ya?"
"Maybe," I admitted. "I need to look at a few things, but the offer for a room comes without strings. Can I call you back in a couple of days?"
"Always," he promised. "And if you do need me, I'll be there."
I thanked him and hung up just as a squeal pierced the air, with a giggle right on its heels. A split second later, I heard the splash. Massaging my head, I looked up at the clock and realized just how many hours had slipped past. Not that I could complain. Things were finally starting to move forward. If Ashton got back to me with good news, I'd start hiring people next week. The contracts would probably take a while to come back, but still. This was happening.
And now, I deserved a little play time. Peeling off my top layer of clothing, I grabbed a towel on my way to the back door, and stepped out. Then paused. Not only had Faith taken me up on the offer for a swim, but so had Luke. And damn. Teetering on the edge of the cheap diving board, he was on full display. From his ripped body to those muscular but pale legs, I got a real nice view, and his royal purple swim trunks made me bite back a laugh.
He still heard, and looked up. Whatever he was about to say got lost as his eyes landed on my perfectly white one-piece. For a little too long, he just stared. Beneath him, treading water, Faith noticed. She looked back, following her dad's eyes, and giggled.
"Get in, Violet, or he's gonna be stuck like that."
