At Peace by Kristen Ashley Page A

talkin’ about this.”
    Colt disagreed. “Bonnie was a long fuckin’
time ago.”
    “Colt, stand down, this isn’t your goddamned
business,” Cal warned, his control slipping.
    Colt stared at him, his mouth tight, his eyes
angry. Then he shook his head in a way that made the point he
thought Cal was an asshole and an idiot. This pissed Cal off but he
let it alone. He liked Colt, respected him, lived across from him a
long time, knew him before Colt moved across the street. Colt had
even been there during Cal’s nightmare. Cal had always liked and
respected him.
    “I’ll let you know when you can slip in and
I’d appreciate it, you stay alert,” Colt was letting it alone
too.
    Cal nodded.
    Colt nodded back, lifted the water in a
gesture of gratitude and said, “Later.”
    Then he left.
    Cal put his beer to the counter and walked to
his second bedroom. It was practically empty. His Dad’s old medical
bed was in there from when his Dad was sick, not much else.
    He opened the curtains and looked out the
window at Violet’s house.
    Her Mustang wasn’t there, her daughter’s
Fiesta was. It was four thirty, Violet was probably at work but her
daughters were home from school, likely alone and he hoped to
Christ her alarm was programmed for doors and windows and her girls
armed it when they got home.
    As he stared at her house, thoughts crowded
his head.
    Violet had a dead husband, an asshole
obsessing about her and a neighbor who fucked her over.
    Christ, but he was a dick. He should never
have touched her.
    He walked back through his house, opened the
side kitchen door nabbing the key off the hook as he went. He
opened the garage door and moved behind his ‘Stang to the back and
started digging through his boxes of equipment. It was all shit,
that was why it was back there and not in use somewhere.
    He went back to the house, locked the kitchen
door and went out the front door, locking that.
    He walked to his truck, swung in and headed
to Indianapolis.
    * * * * *
    It was the next day and Cal was standing in
Colt’s yard by Colt’s GMC, talking to Colt.
    “You bought the shit?” Colt asked, his
eyebrows up.
    “New system, Chip can pick it up, put it in,”
Cal answered. “Coupla things on order but they’ll be in soon.”
    “You haven’t reconned the house.”
    “Been in that house before, Colt, a fuckin’
million times when the Williamses lived there. I know what she
needs.”
    Colt stared at him a second before he nodded
and asked, “Is Chip gonna be able to install your system?”
    This was a good question. Cal knew Chip, only
boy in town who installed security and his work was good. But Cal
had bought some serious equipment for Violet’s house, the like your
normal suburban folk couldn’t afford and didn’t even know existed
but the people who paid for his services not only knew it existed,
they demanded it and they needed it with the sick fucks who invaded
their lives. Chip might not be able to work with it.
    “I’ll go through it with him, what he doesn’t
know, you get Violet out and I’ll install it.”
    “She isn’t Kenzie Elise, Cal, you got her top
of the line, it’s doubtful she’ll be able to pay for it,” Colt
pointed out.
    “I’ll work that out with Chip.”
    In other words, words he wasn’t going to give
Colt, she wasn’t paying shit.
    Colt studied him and Cal let him then Colt
nodded again.
    “I’ll talk to Vi, then I’ll talk to Chip,”
Colt said.
    “Let me know,” Cal replied. “I’ve got a job I
can’t postpone means I’ll be outta town again in a few days. He
needs to put her top of his list and come and get the equipment. If
I need to go in, it needs to be soon.”
    “ Got it,” Colt opened the door to his GMC
and explained, “Gotta get to the Station.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Later.”
    Cal lifted his chin and turned while Colt
climbed into his truck. He walked across Colt’s yard but his eyes
were on Violet’s house. This was because her daughter was