AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cadence fumbled in her purse, finally yanking out her wallet and carefully removing a picture. “You said the Grand Canyon, but we went to every single national park.” She held it out to him. “This is hands down my favorite picture of her.” A woman who did look remarkably like Cadence stood under a massive rock arch, her arms thrown out and a huge smile on her face. I couldn’t help but smile back that was how infectious her grin was even in a photo.
“Moira,” Johnny murmured, his thumb rubbing over the woman in the picture. “Thank you for showing me this,” he continued, reluctantly handing the photo back to Cadence.
She shook her head. “Keep it.”
Johnny swallowed hard. “How about we trade?”
A hopeful look crossed her face. “You have a picture of my mom?”
“A few, but one you might like,” he answered, walking over to the wall and taking a frame down. “We have a family picnic every year. Your mom was big into planning it. This was supposed to be a picture of your mom and her parents, but she begged me to join them.” He handed it to her. “That was taken two weeks before she left. Cash is the one who took the picture.” He snorted. “I guess it’s the very first picture of you too.”
“She looks,” Cadence paused, her finger tracing the picture. “In love. I never saw her look like that.” Moira was standing between Leroy and Johnny, but her face was upturned and she was staring at Johnny when the picture was taken, and I could see what Cadence meant. There was no denying Moira had adored Johnny. “Are you sure you want me to have this?”
“I want you to always know….I loved your mom and she loved me. I would have moved mountains for her,” Johnny said thickly.
“Or killed police officers,” Cadence quipped in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood. She glanced at me. “That’s probably not funny.”
I shrugged. “If I’d known, I would have killed him myself.”
Cadence hugged the framed photo. “We should go. We still need to stop by your mom’s,” she mentioned, looking at me and missing Johnny’s arched eyebrow.
“Yeah, I wanted to see what she had for me,” I answered, standing up.
“I have one more question,” Johnny interjected and Cadence gave him a sour look.
“I think you got more questions than I did,” she retorted and his eyes widened innocently. She sighed. “Go ahead.”
“Who did that to you?” He didn’t need to point to her arms for both of us to know what he was asking, and I glared at Johnny warningly. I didn’t want to push Cadence. Johnny had lost Moira and I didn’t want to lose Cadence the same way.
Cadence stood up. “You already know,” she answered surprising me while Johnny only narrowed his eyes. “Dwayne was here. He told you.”
“I didn’t believe him,” Johnny admitted, shaking his head. “I need a drink.” He walked to the bar and grabbed a bottle of whisky, pouring two glasses and then handing one to me.
“I don’t –” I started to say.
“You will when you hear who is after her,” he assured me, downing the whisky in one gulp. “Roy Demarcus.”
My fingers froze on the glass as my gaze cut to Cadence, unable to believe it was true. Her fingers curled over the back of the chair and she finally nodded. I tossed the whisky back, feeling the burn all the way down as I contemplated another round.
“I didn’t know who he was when I took the job,” she offered, like that would somehow make it better. “He hired me to work on a couple of websites. Eventually, I figured out they weren’t exactly legal, in fact they were criminal.”
“Yes, yes, criminals create criminal websites,” I testified, needing something to wash the bitter taste from my mouth. “Especially the really bad criminals.”
Cadence cringed, “I know. I wanted to tell you, but then I really didn’t want to tell you?”
“Can’t imagine why,” Johnny drawled, walking back to the bar and I handed him my glass. “At this point I want to know how you only escaped with scars on your arms.”
“I didn’t betray him. These were a warning not to ever betray him,” she answered, confusing both of us.
“Then why is he after you? And how did Dwayne know who you worked for?” I questioned, rubbing my eyes.
Johnny shoved a glass in my hand. “That damn bird.”
“Nico?” I asked dumbly, gripping the whisky glass.
“Dwayne recognized him,” Cadence said, glancing at Johnny for confirmation. He nodded and I drank the whisky in one gulp. “Nico belonged to Roy and he wasn’t nice to him,” Cadence said critically. “But I didn’t steal him!”
“I’m very confused. Why does Roy care so much about a bird?” I asked. Cadence gave me an indignant stare, and I hastily added, “A very smart bird, but still Nico is a bird.”
