The Long Road Home Job
Chapter Five
Kenna leaned against the car and looked at the house she practically grew up in. Winchester had fallen on bad times before but if they went under this time there was no saving it. Good people would lose their jobs and maybe everything they had.
"That was defiantly meth I smelled." Eliot leaned on the hood next to her. He chewed on the stem of grass. Kenna looked at him. "Not hard to take care of a few crank addicts."
"When the crank addicts and dealers are connected to the mayor and his officials it could make it a little difficult." Eliot looked at Kenna.
"He could have shot you today."
"Tanner couldn't hit the broadside of a barn if it was right in front of him."
"You know the kid?"
"He's my sister Devon's kid. He lived in Denver with his dad till about a year ago. The kid got out of control so he sent him back to my mom. Last time I was here he tried the same thing after I took the old ladies boyfriend out."
"You left that out of your story." Eliot smiled.
"Kinda though you would have gone through the roof at that one." Kenna looked at Eliot's mom sitting on the front porch swing with Sophie and Nate. "What do you think Sophie's mom is like?" Eliot shook his head.
"Grifters are born to grifter." He looked at his mom. "I used to think my mom was just as bad as Billy."
"So did I and then I married Jimmy." Kenna stood up. "Eliot I need you to promise me you won't do something stupid."
"Why?"
"Just promise me."
"I never do anything stupid Kenna." Eliot turned to see the sheriff's car pulling into the driveway. "But there's a first time for everything." Nate and Sophie stood on the porch next to Eliot's mom as the car came to a stop. "Go on the porch with Nate and the others."
"I'm not leaving you with him." Billy Callahan wasn't a big man by any means but he was a man with a temper. He stood only five foot nine but he always seemed much bigger. He got out of the car and Kenna knew that life had not been kind to the man. He looked far older than his sixty years and far more vulnerable then he had ever been.
"Spencer." Eliot looked at the old man.
"Callahan." Kenna knew better than to step between the two men but she was afraid for Eliot.
"Kenna's mama says you paid her a visit."
"The girl had some questions…that's all."
"Her mama is not someone you want to mess with anymore Eliot." The older man looked at Kenna then up to the porch. "You mama doesn't need that kind of trouble when you're gone."
"She left you so I thought maybe all her troubles were gone." Billy chuckled.
"That sounds about right. Till you came home. Stay out of Joelle's business Eliot. This is your only warning." Billy touched the brim of his hat toward the people on the porch and got back in the car. He backed up and headed down the drive. Nate came off the porch.
"I hate to say this but we are way out of our league on this one." Kenna looked at Nate.
"We don't really know how deep the corruption runs. If Billy was on the take he would have run us out of town instead of just warning us about Joelle." Eliot looked toward the west.
"Maybe a call to the DEA or the FBI will shut her down and save us the hard work."
"How many kids do you think are in that house Kenna?" Nate asked.
"At least four. The girl, Conner and two other teenagers. I saw the other two near the barn when we were walking away." Kenna looked at Eliot. The coldness was back. If it was Billy or Joelle that put it there she didn't know.
"Alright, we need a plan that takes out the bad guys and get's this town back on their feet." Nate looked at Eliot's mom on the porch. "They did a core sample where the four parcels of land meet. There is nickel and copper."
"Who paid for the sample?" Eliot knew his mom couldn't afford that kind of testing.
"Sinclair Davis."
"So the meth is paying for the soil samples." Eliot didn't like where this was heading.
"We need to get back to the hotel and see if we can connect all these pieces before we go head long into a trap or worse." Nate looked at Eliot. "Your mom is a great lady by the way." Nate headed back to the porch to say his good-byes.
"I for one need a drink." Kenna started back toward the house. Eliot watched his friends say good-bye to his mother. He waited till she was alone on the porch before he headed to say his own farewell.
"You don't plan on coming back do you?" She looked at him.
"You wouldn't be safe if I did." He looked out at the land around him. "I'm not proud of some of things I've done mom but right now I'm doing a lot of good for a lot of people. Someday I want to sit on this porch and tell you everything but right now I have to go." He turned to her. "You know I love you right?" He bit his lower lip.
"I know. And I know you love this land because you paid off the bank note."
"I knew Kyle would want to be part of this." He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head. "You stay safe."
"You should talk. Kenna should be the one you should be worrying about. Joelle isn't the push over she used be son. She will eat that girl for dinner."
"You don't Kenna very well then. She can take care of herself and then some mom." Eliot looked at his mother. "I promise not to stay gone this time." He hugged her one last time and headed to the car.
/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o
Hardison was busy while Kenna and Eliot were burning bridges. He was already set up at the hotel when the other four got back to the room. Parker had made everyone hot chocolate even though it was nearly a hundred degrees outside.
"I was board." She said when Nate walked in and she handed him a cup. Nate looked at her and smiled. What else could he do? The other three entered and she handed them each a cup.
"Okay this is what I got. The mayor is clean as a whistle. Sinclair Davis on another hand is a big fish in a little pond. He was on the fast track in Lexington elite till a bad divorce took him to Winchester."
"How does ones marriage get so bad they need to run to Winchester?" Sophie asked.
"She took everything including his political contacts. So when Chester Reed was looking for some juice they hired Davis. He knew how to play the game. Reed was small time but Davis took him to the bigs." Hardison clicked to the next screen. "Which brings us to Joelle Hawks. She's been everything from barmaid to the town meter maid. She has gotten nothing more than a barking dog citation. She has twelve…" Hardison looked at Kenna. "Twelve? Really, twelve kids. Our client Shane is the oldest, y'all knew that. None of the other's pop up on the radar. The three youngest Sierra, fourteen, Nadia, twelve and McKenzie, seven live with her along with Tanner Blain, fifteen and Kelly Jackson, seventeen."
"Kelly is my sister Mia's daughter from her first marriage. Her dad was in Iraq and was killed. My sister had a break down and sent her to live with my mom. I guess they don't check before they place kids now a days." Kenna stood behind the couch and looked at the screen. "Sorry Hardison."
"You know the family stuff better than I do." Hardison smiled. "She's come into some money the last few years. Seems some of her baby daddies have been found. She's getting nearly ten thousand dollars a month from the state of Kentucky for back child support." Eliot watched Kenna. The anger in her eyes was unmistakable.
"Take a breath Kenna Shane and shake it off." He turned to her. He wanted her angry, needed her pissed.
"Eliot that's enough." Nate looked at his hitter.
"She can't be here Nate. She'll only trip us up." She glared at him.
"Just let Hardison finish and I'll do what needs to be done to make this work." She crossed her arms over her chest. Hardison clicked to the next screen.
"The whole Winchester Sheriff's department is mostly clean. Billy Callahan has over looked a few infractions in his day. Mostly drunks and a B and E now and then. The rest of the force seems clean. Now let's play connect the bad guys. Davis is in bed with a meth dealer from Lexington. He thought he could raise some funds cooking up meth in the back woods. The money he gets is siphoned though the mayor's office and the city budget." Hardison clicked to the next screen. "This is Jarrod Kane. Bad man. White supremacist with a Harvard law degree and enough business men in his back pocket to buy up the whole county. He's controlling a whole lot of these land sales. From what the soil samples say the land under Joelle's land had the most copper in it but the other three parcels are nickel and zinc based."
"So why aren't they buying those out those?" Parker looked confused.
"There is no amount of money that they could offer these people. The potential fortune buried there is astronomical." Eliot answered. "Davis is already in bed with Joelle so if she thinks he's her savior she will do what she has to, to make him stay even if it means signing away mineral rights to her land."
"Well they're not going to wait out the others." Nate said. "We need to get into city hall and see what Davis has up his sleeve. Sophie I think this calls for the Mulberry Bush." Eliot shook his head.
"Now I know you made that one up." Eliot looked at Nate.
"Oh I know this one." Parker jumped up and down. "You run circles around the mark till they're so dizzy the give up." Eliot looked at her.
"Some days Parker…."
"She's kind of right. We run scam upon scam on the whole bunch of them till they turn on each other." Nate answered. "We just need to plant a few seeds of doubt in all their minds." Nate looked at his team. "Where's the best place to start a little gossip around here?"
"The Rolling Ace's. It's in the middle of town and most people stop there sooner or later." Eliot answered.
"Then let's go plant some seeds." Nate stood and led the way out the door.
o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o
The bar was busy for a Thursday and Eliot was afraid they would run into more than one person he knew from his old life. He knew the chances were slim to none that they would get in and out without anyone recognizing him.
"Can you handle visiting the old haunts?" Nate asked as they found a table.
"Hell yeah, I just need a beer to do it." The waitress came by and took their order. "We're getting some nasty looks." Eliot commented.
"Well when they hear what we have to say they may not get any better." Kenna came in with Sophie and looked around finding Nate and Eliot in the back. You'd think the men in the place hadn't seen a woman in a month the way the two women dodged advance from a dozen different men. But the hooting and hollering stopped when Kenna slid into the booth next to Eliot and kissed him.
"Guess a girl can't be lonely for too long in this place." She smiled. Eliot grabbed her waist and pulled her close.
"Did they get off okay?" He whispered in her ear. She nodded as he kissed her neck.
"The four of them are on their way to Disneyworld as we speak." She curled into him and looked at Nate. She felt Eliot relax knowing his sister and her family and their mom was safe and sound. "I have my mom on the hook. She wants in on our little deal." Kenna's voice wasn't loud but her tone carried over several tables. "She said not to worry about Reed because he's clueless about everything and she's got Davis under her thumb."
"What about the police?"
"I have a whole lot to hold over their heads if they decided to give us a problem." Kenna looked around. She knew a lot of these people when she was younger but now they were strangers. Strangers involved in things she didn't want to think about. Sophie brought a round of shots.
"Eliot the bar tender says these are on the house but you owe her two pool cues, a cue ball and thirty-seven steel tip darts." Eliot looked up and Ruby Broderick was still behind the bar. Same welcoming smile, same don't mess with me style. He raised his shot glass and nodded, drinking it down.
"I wonder if she knows her son tried to kill us." Eliot ground out though his teeth.
"He's in the corner watching us if that's any consolation." Kenna smiled.
"Not making me feel any better baby." He answered. Kenna stiffened. He had always called her baby and darlin' even when they were just friends, but something about the way he said it just then sent a chill down her spine.
"I'm going to play some pool. Anyone want to join me?" Kenna got out of the booth.
"Yeah, rack 'em up Kenna." Eliot watched her leave the table. "And three, two, one." A man stepped in front of Kenna. "She's a walking, talking, breathing bag of trouble." Eliot watched her closely. She was relaxed and stood strong when the man tried touching her. Eliot held his breath.
"Are you just going to sit here?" Sophie asked him.
"She's doing just fine." She pushed passed the man and went to the pool table and deposited the quarters in the table and began to rack the balls. Eliot slid out of the booth and headed to the bar. He slapped a hundred dollar bill on the bar. "Ruby, this is for you and I need two bottles of Bud Light darlin'." He put another twenty on the bar. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Kenna chalked up her pool cue. The vultures were watching her as well and she knew it.
"Here ya go sugar." Ruby handed him his beers. "It's good to see you again." She smiled. "Your mama has been missing you something awful." He took a swig of his beer.
"I went out to see her today. She looked good."
"She's good at hiding her grief. Don't stay away so long this time kid." She smiled at him and went to wait on other customers. Eliot turned back to the pool table and Kenna was leaning over breaking the balls. It had gotten really quiet so when the cue ball hit the others it sounded like thunder. Eliot grabbed a stick off the rack and watched Kenna sink four more balls before she finally missed. He handed her a beer and she took a step back. She was wound tight and he wasn't sure if it was from the surroundings or something else. He leaned over and sunk ball after ball until he finally missed. He looked up to see Storm Broderick standing in front of Kenna. He straightened and leaned against his pool stick and watched the interaction.
"You can't have what's mine."
"Well big brother you just might have to share." She glared at him. "There's enough for both of us."
"You think we're the only ones who have dibs on LaForce's life. He slept with half the county." He looked at Eliot. "I suppose you're going to sick your guard dog on me?" Eliot shrugged.
"She's big girl." Eliot stood straight. "But you did damage my rental and made me throw my best stop strip out the window." Storm looked at Eliot and then at Kenna.
"This isn't over." Ruby had come from behind the bar.
"Yes it is, Storm. Leave the poor girl alone. Get the hell out of here and I will deal with you later." The old woman looked at Kenna up and down. "I don't know if I should tell you that you remind me of him or not."
"That might be a little hard to swallow." Kenna took a deep breath. "I hope he was better to you than he was to the rest of us." Eliot could see her knuckles turning white around the pool cue.
"Not better, just different." Ruby looked at the young woman. "Just be proud of what you've become Kenna forget where you came from." She turned back and headed back behind the bar. Kenna slammed the last of her beer and put the empty bottle on the shelf and made the next six shots without missing a beat. She sunk the eight ball and stood up. Eliot watched the storm brewing. He walked over to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. Kenna shrugged him off and replaced the stick in the holder and headed out the door.
"You got her?" Nate voice asked in Eliot's ear.
"Yeah, make sure Hardison has Broderick." Eliot put his stick on the table and headed out the door. He was only a few seconds behind her but she wasn't anywhere near the entrance. He looked up the street and down. "Kenna!" Eliot hoped she still had her ear bud in. "Kenna, answer me!" He jogged down the street and found her ear bud on the ground in front of the post office. Then he heard her.
"You really don't want to do that." Eliot saw the glint of a knife in the ally a hundred yards away.
"You're really not so tough without your muscle." The man standing in front of Kenna slurred.
"Just go home Leo." She sounded like he was pushing her to her breaking point.
"You heard the lady. Go home and we all have a good night." Eliot said. The man turned.
"She's just like her mama Spencer. Flaunting her crap all over town."
"Having a drink at the bar isn't flaunting anything Leo." Eliot started skirting around the man so he could get between him and Kenna.
"Look at her…just like her mama. All legs and ass." The man turned and looked at Kenna. She hadn't moved. "Does she put out like her old lady Spencer?" Neither Eliot nor Leo saw it coming. Kenna grabbed Leo's arm and twisted it making him drop the knife. She drilled his head into her knee and tossed him to the ground. Eliot looked at her and the warmth he was used to seeing in her eyes was gone. Stepping over Leo she pushed passed Eliot.
"I'm going home. You'll have to clean up this mess without me." She headed back to the hotel. Nate and Sophie found Eliot in the ally a few seconds later.
"Eliot?" Nate looked at his hitter.
"If she wasn't broken before she is now." He looked at his boss. "Now she is really like the rest of us and I don't know how to fix it."
"Give her time Eliot. She'll get over it."
"Get over it, Nate. In the last ten minutes she's been told she looks like her pedophile father and shakes her ass like her slut mother. Tell me how you fix that. This was a job and now it got personal and it hurt the one person in the world I can't stand to see in pain." Eliot turned and headed after Kenna.
"This isn't good Nate." Sophie said.
"You think I don't know that? Neither one of them deserves this and I don't know how to make this work without them. We need them to fix this. Both of them."
"Neither of them can do what they came here to do Nate. We need to move on." Sophie stormed out of the ally. Nate looked up at the dark Kentucky sky and ran his hands though his hair. Coming home was never easy and now home was destroying the two people he need the most to make it all come together. Taking a deep breath Nate headed back to the hotel to see if he could put his team back together again.