Walker watched Lexie push through the door, juggling two, white plastic bags filled full with what he suspected was not apples and bananas and a cardboard container holding two huge-ass beverage cups at the same time flicking the arms out on her shades and shoving them on her face.

“Lexie’s comin’,” he warned Tate.

“Right,” Tate replied.

“Fast, tell me if I got a problem with either Peña or Martinez.”

“Shits me to say it but yes to both. First, Peña says that he’s got the feeling that Martinez has got some hold on Lexie and he’s been in contact with her the last few years after Rodriguez went down, offering help, keeping an eye on things. She’s been, he reports, uninterested and Peña thinks she’s got her head in the sand and just wants to move on with her life clear of that shit. He’s worried about it and he’s in the position to know if he should be worried. Now, whether Martinez’s reach goes outside Dallas, that’ll take me makin’ a few more calls.”

Peña was right. Shift f**ked Lexie. Huge. The question was, setting up Lexie for what she was doing for Walker, did he think he was done with her?

Walker would have to explain to him that he was.

Lexie was halfway to him, smiling bright, her h*ps swaying as she walked not having any idea just how much and for how long her world had been controlled by a piece of shit motherfucker. And now that she was free, he hoped she’d die not knowing it.

He jerked up his chin to her and muttered into the phone, “The cop?”

“Wasn’t in the same room with him but gotta say, his interest was borderline unhealthy. It magnified when I told him she was tyin’ the knot. Though, she’s in Colorado with you and he’s not on her radar so there’s f**k all he can do.”

That wasn’t true and Walker knew it. You got on the bad side of a cop, the reach was long. He knew it because six years ago, he experienced that reach stretching from Colorado to California.

Lexie was at the passenger door looking over the roof at him and aiming the straw of one of the drinks to her mouth. She captured it between her lips and sucked as her head tipped to the side.

“A second, baby,” he murmured to her, watched her release the straw as her mouth got soft, she nodded then juggled her shit as she opened the door and started to fold in. To Tate he said, “He seem frustrated or pissed at this news?”

“Nope, just interested. Maybe relieved but I couldn’t tell. I don’t know dick about this guy, still, he’s holdin’ a torch and that torch is burnin’ bright. Since I don’t know him, don’t know if he doesn’t give a shit he gave that up or if he’s also not the brightest bulb. Could make a few calls, get some inside information and do it on the quiet. See what you got on your hands.”

“Run with that.”

“Right. You want me to look into Martinez?”

“I’ll deal with him.”

Silence then, “Ty –”

“That time I spent in Dallas?” he asked then didn’t wait for an answer. “Became acquainted with him.”

“Right,” Jackson said making guesses that were probably not accurate.

“It’ll be cool,” Walker assured him.

“Okay, brother.”

“Lexie’s back and we gotta hit the road.”

“How much shit she buy?”

“We’ll hit Carnal next week,” Walker answered and Jackson chuckled.

Then he muttered, “Full of shit,” and finished, “I’ll see you tonight at Bubba’s.”

“Bubba’s,” Walker agreed. “And Tate?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks, brother.”

“You got it.”

He heard the disconnect, flipped his phone shut, shoved it in his back pocket, returned the gas cap, angled into the car and shut the door.

“Fritos or Cheetos?” Lexie asked before his ass was fully settled in the seat and he turned to her.

“Neither.”

“Okay. Pork rinds or CornNuts?”

“Babe, please tell me you didn’t buy pork rinds.”

She grinned at him then declared, “Barbeque flavored.”

He shook his head and faced forward, twisting the key in the ignition.

She transferred the cups into the cup holders while he pulled out, telling him, “I got you a Coke.”

“You gonna bitch when I toss it out the window?”

“Yes,” she replied instantly.

He sighed but only to stop himself from smiling.

“Everything cool on the phone?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah, good. Tate, a friend of mine in Carnal. You’ll meet him, good man.”

“Good,” she said, now her sweet voice was soft and, having dumped her bags to the floor, she nabbed the iPod.

Walker braced.

Five seconds later, 50 Cent’s “Disco Inferno” filled the car.

“Baby,” Walker whispered to the windshield through a smile.

And it was a smile that his wife caught, the first one she’d ever seen and he had no idea that seeing it meant that for the next two hours she gave him Outkast, Eminem, Jay-Z, House of Pain and Snoop Dogg somewhat losing her way playing some TLC, Beyoncé and Black Eyed Peas but he didn’t complain about the last.

At least none of them sang about a man called Amos Moses.

* * * * *

Lexie

I rode the high of the beauty of Ty’s smile for at least an hour then my mind reminded me of Ty calling me “Lex” in that casual but immensely sweet way, a name no one called me, a name that was all his so I rode that for the next half hour. After that, I rode the high of the last couple of days, a high so high it felt like I could coast it forever.

Even though these things filled my mind as I endeavored to find as much hip-hop and R&B for Ty as I could on my iPod (I liked it but I couldn’t say I was often in the mood for it so the selection wasn’t all that great, something I needed to rectify), I still managed to see the stunning beauty of Colorado most especially when we drove by the Colorado National Monument, something I decided we had to come back and take a closer look at. I also wanted to go back to Moab. Driving around in a car was one thing but, although I was nowhere near an outdoorsy type of gal, it was the kind of place you had to get out and walk around in order to see as much of it as you could pack in, something we didn’t have time to do.

I was riding so high on all things Ty; it came as a surprise when we passed the sign that said, “Welcome to Carnal”. When I saw it, my mind instantly cleared and I came alert, looking around Ty’s hometown.