Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2) Read online

  They looked at each other before turning their attention back to me. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I was thinking twenty a game.” I sat my drink down and pulled a house cue off the wall.

  “You some kind of shark?” The married guy asked.

  I chuckled. “Hell no! Just like playing for a reason.”

  His buddy grabbed the balls on the table and started putting them into the rack. “Let’s play for ten.”

  I pulled a coin out of my pocket and held it out under the pool table light. “Flip for the break? Heads or tails?”

  “Heads.”

  The coin flew into the air and landed on the felt of the table. Once it was done spinning we leaned in to see the result of the flip. It landed on tails, giving me the break, so I grabbed the cue ball and lined it up to break out all of the balls.

  The break was always the most important shot. It could make or literally lose the game. Luckily, I made two balls and was able to make another four before giving the guy his first shot. I was no pro, but I knew how to hide a ball to prevent my opponent from being able to make a good shot.

  I won my first ten easily, but as the games continued, I was still up only ten dollars, after losing a few then winning some more. By the time I started getting tired, and my friends for the night got drunker, I was up a whopping twenty bucks. I shook hands with both of the men and handed Sue my winnings. She hugged me and waved as I headed out.

  Morning would come fast and I knew that I hadn’t had enough drinks in me to be able to sleep.

  My little cabin in the woods was so far off the beaten path that late at night even I had trouble finding the driveway. I’d thought about putting some reflectors out, but I kind of liked the idea that if I couldn’t find my place, nobody else could either.

  Once inside, I threw my keys down on the table and headed into the kitchen for a beer. On most nights I just slept right in my recliner. There was no sense of even having the four bedrooms that the place had. I kept the doors closed and only went into my room to shower and change. After being married and sharing a bed for so long, I hardly moved from my side of the bed. Waking up and seeing that empty spot was just too much to take every damn day.

  I must have fallen asleep shortly after getting comfortable. When I woke up my phone was ringing on the table. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and got up to answer it.

  This is Sheriff Towers.

  Sorry to call you so early, Sheriff, but we got a big wreck out on the main highway. I hated when my deputy called me with that information.

  How bad is it? I couldn’t go if there was a fatality. I just knew I couldn’t.

  A mother and a couple kids were hit by a tractor trailer headin’ out of town, sir. The driver of the truck was unharmed. He said he must have fallen asleep at the wheel and crossed over the double line. The ambulance is on its way for the mother. She’s breathin’, but isn’t responsive. The kids seem to be more shaken up, but I’m goin’ to have them sent out to get checked out too. Since I need to stay here at the scene, I’m goin’ to need you to transport the kids.

  I’m on my way. Text the coordinates.

  The whole time I was putting on my boots and getting myself together, I knew that being around children was going to be hard. If the mother didn’t survive, it would be my job to tell those kids.

  I was in the wrong line of work.

  The scene of the accident was chaotic. I spotted my deputy leaning down to talk to two little kids. My first thought was my girls and how I wished that we hadn’t been on the road that night. The little boy turned and looked right at me. I took a deep breath and approached them.

  My deputy stood up and looked right at me. “I was able to locate the victim’s cell phone and use it contact the last number she called. They were on their way to a family member’s house to stay. The aunt is goin’ to meet us at the hospital. I let her know that the children are alright, but we just want them to get checked out for precautionary reasons.”

  The kids were wrapped in one of our blankets that we carry in our trucks, in case of emergencies. They both were looking right at me. Being around kids was so difficult for me. It only reminded me of my sweet little girl that I would never be able to hold again. I sighed and gained enough composure to do my job. “We’re going to take a ride now.”

  The little boy’s eyes got big. “In your police truck?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can we use the siren? I bet it’s real loud.” He was obviously too young to understand that this was a serious situation.

  “Sure, kid.” I waited for him and his sister to stand up and follow me over to my vehicle.

  The little guy was busy looking around the front of the vehicle at all of the gadgets, while his sister remained quiet with her hands folded on her lap. When I went to make sure they were both buckled she grabbed my hand. “Is my mommy going to be okay?”

  It was heartwrentching to hear her asking. I honestly had no idea if their mother was going to make it. All I knew was that these two children were depending on me to be the hero and I didn’t know if I was capable of even having a conversation with them. “As soon as I hear something, you will be the first to know.”

  “Mom said that we were going to love our new life. I hate this place. I hate that Mommy is hurt. I just want to go home. I want my daddy!” The little boy cried.

  I clenched my jaw as I started on our way to the hospital. The more I tried to not think about my own accident, the more I couldn’t get it out of my head. By the time we pulled up at the emergency room doors, I had played out the entire accident once again in my head.

  We no sooner made it into the emergency room doors when I saw a familiar face heading in our direction. Sue, the owner of the bar I frequented, came over and bent down in front of the kids. She pulled them in for hug and looked up at me. “Thanks for bringing them here, Ramsey…ah Sheriff.”

  “You know these kids?” Sue never mentioned grandchildren, but then again, I never asked about anyone’s business when mine was locked up from anyone knowing.

  She patted the boy on the head and stood up. Her cough was intense. “These kids are my great niece and nephew. Their mother was my sister’s only daughter. She passed a while back and we lost touch. I got a call yesterday that she was in trouble and needed to start over. She’s the only family I got left and I ain’t about to turn my back on her.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. “They’re worried about swelling around the brain. These poor kids don’t even know me. How am I supposed to tell them she may not wake up?”

  I put my hand on Sue’s shoulder. As much as I wanted to go home and forget about these people, I knew I wouldn’t be able to abandon someone when they needed help. It was all I had ever wanted to do. This woman needed to survive. “Why don’t you take the kids and get them checked out, then take them home. I will have someone bring all of their things from the car to your house. If it will make you feel better, I will stay here until we know something more about your niece.”

  She wrapped her arms around me, taking me back to the funeral of my wife and child, where everyone wanted to hug and console me. I pulled away without even realizing how cold it seemed. I could tell that she knew I had withdrawn from her. She put on a fake smile and held her hands out for both children. “I will be waiting for your call, Ramsey. You’re a good man. I hope you know that.”

  I stood and waited for the woman and the two kids to walk in the direction of triage. The last thing I wanted to do was be involved in something so emotional. Sure, I’d been there before and could probably be great in dealing with pain and grief, except I hadn’t been able to let go enough to use my experience for others. Sometimes I didn’t even know if I wanted to.

  After grabbing a coffee, I made my way to the room where the injured mother was located. I could hear the beeps of the machines as I entered. A nurse smiled, recognizing who I was from my uniform. I gave her a nod and sat down in a nearby chair. “How is she?”
r />   She finished writing down something before answering me. “Right now we have her stabilized. Because of the head injury, the doctor is worried about swelling. As of right now, we are just waiting. Her vitals are improving and if we can get through the next twenty four hours, she has a good chance of fully recovering. It could go either way with a brain injury.”

  I was afraid to look at the bed, where the mother was lying lifeless. I knew she was breathing, except looking at her put a face to the victim. I couldn’t let myself get attached to a case, especially one that was so close to my past.

  When the nurse left, I started to get up and request that they contact me if anything changed, except my eyes glanced over at the poor mother fighting to live. Her blonde hair was a mess and dried blood made some spots appear red. She had a bandage over her nose and a stitched up spot over her eyebrow. Even with all of that mess going on, I could tell that she was an attractive woman. Her body was covered up with blankets, but her arm was hanging out enough for me to see the artwork that went from her wrist to her shoulder. It was done well and I continued to stare, I thought about the tattoos on my own body; the ones I got after I lost my girls.

  Sadness overwhelmed me again, forcing me to sit back down in the chair. This was those kids mother. I had to know that she was going to pull through. I couldn’t just walk away. Something wouldn’t let me get out of that chair.

  I put my hat over my eyes and leaned back to try to rest. Some would say that prayers were all that could be done. I’d lost faith in that. This woman’s will to live was what would decide whether she ever opened her eyes again. I owed it to Sue to stick around and wait.

  I’m not real sure how long I’d been sleeping, but I woke to someone touching my arm. I grabbed my hat and placed it back on my head as I sat up straight and looked around for the nurse. Instead, the arm with the tattoos was reaching over to touch me again. I stood up, partly in shock, and looked down at the awake woman. She was struggling for words and I knew what she was going to ask before the words could come out. “You’re kids are fine, Ma’am. They’re with your aunt. You’ve been in an accident. I’ll go get you the doctor.”

  I rushed out of the room, leaving the woman all alone. As I passed the nurse’s station, I alerted them of the patient waking up, and left the hospital.

  The woman was going to make it. My involvement was over.

  Case closed.

  Chapter 4

  Vessa

  I hated men and everything they stood for. All they’d ever done was lie right to my face. I just wanted a new start. I wanted my kids to not have to see the constant bickering and whatever riffraff their father was going to be bringing home.

  He’d made it clear that he didn’t want to be a full time father and now, all of the sudden, he was trying to get them back. I knew it wasn’t because he missed them, or even because his mother put him up to it. No. This was about getting back at me.

  I knew what I did when I left was wrong. It was a moment of temporary insanity. I’d given that man so many faithful years and in return he was living some secret life right under my nose. How was I supposed to react to something like that?

  I guess the shit hit the fan two weeks before I had made the decision to leave town. It had come to my attention that my husband was hiding something from me. It didn’t take long for me to decide to catch him red handed. After he left for work one day, I took the kids to school and went back to his tattoo shop. This time, I didn’t go in the front door.

  I snuck around the back and followed the sounds of music coming from the other side of the window. It was difficult to see through the tiny cracks of the mini blinds, but I was able to spot Gavin. He was sitting on a cheetah print couch with a little young thing straddling him. She was rocking her body back and forth over him as he grabbed onto her ass.

  At first I felt sick from the pit of my stomach. That bastard was going to work and getting laid, while I was at home taking care of our family. My sadness turned to anger and soon it was hard for me to control any of my emotions.

  I blame what happened on temporary insanity. I never meant for things to go as far as they had. I surely didn’t want to break laws. Things happened that became completely out of my control.

  After leaving the tattoo shop, I went straight home. It took me a matter of ten minutes to rip out every single article of his clothing and toss them into a large bin in the back yard. I grabbed a bottle of bleach and doused the clothes with it. When they didn’t all turn white right away, I grabbed the bathroom cleaners and dumped them in the bin too.

  Still feeling like it wasn’t enough, I went into his closet and ripped his pictures out of every single photo album. Then I drove myself right to the bank and withdrew all of our savings. I opened up a new account at a different bank in just my name.

  I knew it was going to cause problems. I just didn’t care. He’d broken my heart; torn it into a million pieces and I wanted him to pay. He didn’t deserve to be happy. No, I was going to leave him with nothing.

  I left the kids at my mother-in-laws house while I sat at the kitchen table, completely naked, waiting for him to come home.

  I can’t describe the look on his face when he came in that door and expected to get laid.

  Instead, as he approached me, I took a bottle of beer and threw it right at him. “Fuck you! Do you see this body? You will never touch this again. I hate you. You’re nothing but a liar. I gave you my heart and you ripped it into pieces. You deserve that little slut and whatever diseases she might be carrying.”

  He put his hands up. “Hold up! What the fuck are you talking about, baby?”

  “I saw you, Gavin. I saw you with that little bitch. I know you’ve been fucking her.” I couldn’t cry. I wouldn’t let him think he’d crushed me. I needed to stay furious.

  He put his hands into his face and sank down into the chair. “Vessa…I…”

  “Don’t, Gavin! There isn’t anything you can say to make things better. This was the one thing I said I could never go through again and you did it anyway. Obviously, I meant nothing to you.”

  He looked up at me and had tears running down his cheeks. “Please don’t leave me.”

  “It’s going to take me a few weeks to figure out where I am going to live and how much I can afford on my own. In the meantime, the kids and I will stay here. It’s up to you to explain this to the kids. I refuse to be the bad guy here. You did this! You remember that!”

  “Vessa, they’re going to hate me. I can’t tell them.”

  I pointed right at him. “You should have thought about that when you were sticking your dick into some little hobag! I can’t even look at you without wanting to gag. You make me sick!”

  I didn’t wait for him to reply or get up, before I got dresses and headed out to get the kids. When I walked out the door, I could hear him crying. I’d heard it all before and nothing had changed. He’d cheated again, and this time, I wasn’t going to forgive him. My marriage was over.

  I took the kids out to dinner, but chickened out when it came to telling them what was happening. This was Gavin’s mess and he would have to be the one to break their hearts. I didn’t want to come out smelling like roses. I just didn’t want to be blamed for something that I didn’t do.

  Gavin slept on the couch for the next two weeks. Every time he tried to talk to me, I shot him down. Words meant nothing to me. It was actions that mattered. He never even got mad about what I’d done to his clothes or pictures.

  I only cried when he wasn’t around, and even then, it wasn’t as extreme as I would have thought.

  It wasn’t until I went to work one night, where I finally hit rock bottom.

  It was business as usual at first. My regulars were sitting at the end of the bar, complaining about their day. A pool league was getting ready to start and some girls were picking out eighties ballads on the juke box. I started washing a couple glasses and noticed two emo looking chicks walking into the bar. They looked young and I was
n’t about to be fined for serving a minor.

  “You got I.D.?”

  They looked at each other and laughed. “We ain’t here to drink, bitch!”

  I think I was shocked at them calling me a name. Nobody ever disrespected me in the bar. I sat the glass down slowly and looked from one girl to the other. They were both covered in tattoos and piercings and I should have known right away why they were paying me a visit. “You can turn your little asses around and leave, right now!”

  “You think you can just dictate Gavin’s life?” The chick with the longer black hair started shaking her head as she talked. “He was going to leave you anyway!”

  I raised my eyebrow and tried to control the steam that was about ready to start blowing out of my ears. “I guess you got what you want then. Gavin and I are over. You can do whatever you want with him.”

  The other chick, with the black pixie haircut, stepped forward. “That’s just it. He doesn’t want to see her anymore, because of what you did. You ruined everything!”

  I’d had enough. These girls had a lot of nerve. Without backing away, I looked right at them. “Gavin had responsibilities to not only me, but also his kids. If anyone is at fault it is him. He had the affair and he knew what the consequences would be. Get your little skank asses out of my bar, now!”

  “I’m having his baby!” The long haired girl cried out.

  I shook my head. Sure, I wanted to freak out. I wanted to rip Gavin’s dick off and hang it to the town’s flag pole. “I guess you got the family you wanted then.”

  “He wants me to have an abortion. He says that we’re through. He’s blaming me for losing you.” Honestly, the girl looked heartbroken. I couldn’t feel bad for her situation. She spread her legs for my husband, knowing damn well what his situation was.

  “Look, you made this bed and now you have to lay in it. This is what happens when you sleep with a married man.”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Get out, now!” I pointed toward the door. I was done being cordial.