“You don’t tell me to cool it. And don’t tell me what my son can and cannot hear.” Scottie reached out and snatched Brandon’s collar to rip him from the bike.
Cain saw red. He grabbed Scottie’s shirt with both hands and shoved him to the ground. The impact of hitting the ground knocked the air out of Scottie’s lungs. “You better cool it, Scottie, or I’m going to put you to sleep right here!”
Elise ran over to Cain and tried to pull him away from Scottie. Brandon pleaded with him. “Mr. Cain, please stop. You’re hurting my dad.”
When Cain heard Brandon’s words, he released his grip. He couldn’t believe how enraged he had gotten. Professionally, he was used to being in control of his actions. The navy and the Secret Service had once trusted him with the most important missions. But with his firing from the Secret Service, his personal life continued to spiral. He was like a wild dog without a pack.
Scottie coughed and gasped for air. “You think you can come into town and steal my family?”
“I’m not stealing anybody’s family.”
“You’re drinking with my wife!”
“Ex-wife!” Elise interjected.
“And my son is on your motorcycle.”
“I’m not stealing anything, cochon. I’m moving to Japan.”
“Japan?” Elise asked. She looked disappointed. “I guess you’ve made up your mind. And it’s all my fault again, you running off to Bonnie. Please stay.”
“Let him leave, Elise,” Scottie said, clearly embarrassed and still regaining his breath.
“Thanks for the picnic, Elise.” Cain looked at Brandon. “You’re a good kid. Listen to your momma.” He turned to Scottie. “If you hurt either one of them, I’ll come back and deal with you myself.”
“You threatening me? I’ll call the sheriff.”
“It’s not a threat. It’s a promise.” Cain swung his leg over his Harley and fired it up. He stomped on the gear and took off.
During the ride back to the family farm, Cain struggled to make sense of how things had gone down at the picnic. Why did I say I was going to Japan? I don’t even know if I want to go all the way over there. I’m finally back home, and I’m enjoying it, and then this shit happens. I thought I might be able to come back home and settle in. But it never works out for me.
When he arrived home, Cain headed straight to the rotary phone on the kitchen wall. He dialed zero and an operator answered.
“I’d like to make a collect call.”
“What’s the number?” the operator asked.
“It’s going to be an international number.”
A few moments later, he heard Bonnie on the other end of the line. “Moshi moshi.”
“Hey, sis.”
“Hey, brother. It’s really early here. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it was just my turn to wake you up.”
She half giggled in her groggy state. “Are you still enjoying being back home?”
“I was.”
She cleared her throat. “Was? What happened?” Her voice was suddenly much clearer, as if she had sat up in bed.
“I was at a picnic with Elise.”
“Elise LeBlanc? She’s got a lotta drama. You can do so much better than her.”
“In all fairness, you’ve never liked any of my girlfriends.”
“That’s not true!” she fired back. “I loved Claire.”
At that moment, Cain heard his cell phone ringing. Without even looking at who was calling, he hit the button to silence and send the call directly to voicemail. He figured it was Elise, and he wasn’t interested in speaking with her right now. He went back to talking to his sister, and the phone started ringing again. “Hold on one sec, sis. Let me turn this damn thing off.” He saw the caller ID. It was a Washington, DC, number: LeRoy Hayes. Why the hell would he be calling me? he thought. “Bonnie, can you hold on just one more second? It’s LeRoy. Let me see what’s so important he’d be calling me on a weekend.”
Cain answered his cell. “I got Bonnie on the other line. It’s an international call, so make this quick.”
“Nice to hear from you, too,” LeRoy said sarcastically. “I just thought you’d like to know. Figured I owed you that much.”
“Know what?”
“Who turned state’s evidence and ratted on the other agents.”
Cain wanted to say he didn’t care, but that would have been a lie. “Indulge me.”
“None other than Tom Jackson.”
“You’ve gotta be shittin’ me—he caused this whole storm, and then wore a wire to incriminate the others?”
“Yep.”
“Unbelievable.” Cain ended the cell call and put the handset back to his ear. “Bonnie, I’ll take that job.”