Page 25 of Creed

“I’m not in the mood, Axton.” I warned him.

“Then you better get in the mood. You just treated Cold Spring’s pride and joy like she was trash.” He sat back with his arms crossed, glaring at me.

“I guess you didn’t see the looks the men were giving her?”

Axton leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. “This is about your mom and cousin, isn’t it? You’re taking your anger out on someone innocent, Creed.”

I let out a sarcastic laugh then leaned in to speak quietly. “Innocent? Look around you, Axton. She sure as hell doesn’t look innocent to me in those posters. She is fucking my asshole cousin and has been for years. Don’t call her innocent to me. The last thing I need is for her to mention me to her fuck buddy. I dread the day my mother ends up on my doorstep. I’m better off with Nicole Meadows Powers never learning of my location.” It wasn’t that I went out of my way to hide from her, hell she never asked, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to give her access to me.

“From what I understand she’s only friends with that guy, and Drakos said she’s leaving her career. I don’t think she’s the woman you think she is and maybe you should let up on her some. It’s fucking obvious what you really think of her and you’re allowing your mom of all people to cloud your judgement. You want that girl, and you’re pissed about it. From what I saw today, she might just feel the same way.” He reached over and put his hand on my shoulder, making me look straight at him as he gave me a serious warning. “We owe Darren favors, and I can guarantee he will be calling them in soon. You should probably try to figure out how to tolerate that girl.”

He was right. We did owe Darren favors. Over the last few years a few of our prospects got in a little trouble. He helped the prospects, and we helped him on a few cases. To be honest it wasn’t just the prospects. Several of my men let loose in other towns on a few occasions and Darren helped us out with them too. My men were not saints, and they fought some serious demons. I had a bad feeling Morgan’s friend, and her daughter would soon be one of those favors Darren would cash in.

“Tomorrow night’s the deadline. If Shane doesn’t bring the girls, Darren will send us in before they raid their compound. They’ll get a search warrant since nobody has seen the child.You know as well as I do the state boys will get involved and use the child for the warrant. Darren won’t want her or Callie there when the raid happens.” Normally, we wouldn’t talk shop outside headquarters, but it wasn’t the kind of case we normally took. Our work was outside the country, not in our own back yard. “Send Bolton and Fischer out there in the morning to do some recon. I want eyes on that child before tomorrow night. Don’t let Magnus near that place, he’s too recognizable.”

Axton tapped his fingers on the table and gave me a nod. “I’m on it, but I still think you need to make peace with Cold Spring’s little princess. Just because the media says she’s involved with that Meadows actor doesn’t mean she’s actually fucking him. You need to let go of some of that resentment. You don’t even know the guy, he might be a better man than you think.”

I wasn’t sure why Axton kept pressing the issue. He was the only one that knew of my relations in California and I was regretting ever telling him. The chances of a man like my father having ties to the rich and famous were pretty high, so it was not a wild coincidence that Morgan had ties to my family. Jonathan Powers directed several box office hits, so of course Morgan knew him. My uncle was a musician my dad met when they were both young. Dad grew up in Chicago where his dad owned a hockey team. Kenny liked hockey and was doing a concert in Chicago. My grandfather asked Kenny to sing the Star Spangled Banner at a game and that’s where he met dad. They became friends and Kenny introduced dad to his older sister. Mom got pregnant with me right away and two weeks after they learned she was pregnant they got married. He didn’t know her well and that was why my grandfather insisted on a prenuptial agreement. My grandfather warned my dad to stay away from my mom. He said she was a gold digger and once she got whatshe wanted, she would toss him away. My dad on the other hand, never regretted his relationship with my mother. He loved her until the day he died.

The bell above the door rang and in came the main reason we had lunch at that place once or twice a week. It was the liars club, a group of old retired men that gathered for coffee, and it was typically where we got the county gossip. I made it a point to always know what was happening around us. We couldn’t give a shit about most of the crap they spewed, but we did want to know the rumors flying around about us. Well, that and it gave my men a sense of belonging. My men weren’t your typical soldiers. They had demons before they ever even joined the military. A few had shit stains for dads or no dad at all. Their moms were either addicts and prostitutes or they had stories of home similar to Magnus. Some lost their parents or were raised in foster care. If they had happy homes waiting for them when they got out, they sure as hell wouldn’t have been with us. I couldn’t say it was that way for all of them, but it was for most of them. We were all programmed to be soldiers, and none of us had any hope of ever being deprogrammed. I couldn’t say it was the same for all of them. Some had loving parents and great childhoods, but something broke them. Magnus was a good example of that, and I thought a few others knew heartbreak. For one reason or another they didn’t want to start a new life back home after retirement. For me it was a sense of belonging. I was never good enough for my mother and her family and all my dad’s family was gone. He was an only child just like me, and when we lost my grandparents all we had was each other.

Henry Smith, a man with bushy gray eyebrows and always wore a pair of jean bib overalls took a seat next to me. Then came Bill Warren, a farmer just a few years younger thanHenry took a seat next to him. Before long I was at a table with five very stubborn old farmers.

“I saw old man Rossi's granddaughter outside. Haven’t seen that girl in ages.” Henry said.

Bill shook his head. “She’s the sweetest little thing that ever came out of Cold Springs. Its too bad some young man around here didn’t snatch her up years ago.”

“Sweetest?” I almost laughed.

Bill gave me a straight and serious look. “That girl has done more for this county than anyone. Hell, her entire family has done nothing but serve the greater good. She’s too good for Hollywood, that’s for sure.” He paused then looked to Axton then at me again. “I heard she had some car trouble.”

I nodded. “Yes, but it’s been handled.”

Henry chuckled. “I heard she’s retiring, saw Patrick just this morning. He’s bragging about it all over town. That boy has caught so much hell about his sister and those movies she’s made.”

All the old men laughed. “Imagine that torment.” Mike Knoll said.

“She’s a damn good kid. Damn proud she never sold her soul out there in California. Can’t imagine too many escape that place in one piece.” Wilford smiled proudly.

I just listened to the naïve men speak. I wondered if she had the entire county fooled or just a select few. If they knew the kind of people she interacted with out there they probably wouldn’t say such things. My mom was the perfect example.

Bill sat back in his chair, crossed his arms and bounced his knee. “I ran into old man Meadows at the swap meet in Corbinville a few weeks back…”

That perked my ears up, but Mrs. Hoffman approached and stood behind Bill.

“He said he’s retiring, and his boy Kenny is buying the farm. He’s building a real nice house on the property. I wonder if that son of his will be moving home as well. Maybe that’s what prompted Morgan to retire back home. Maybe she and that Meadows boy will finally settle down.” Bill continued.

Mrs. Hoffman shook her head. “Now boys, don’t be starting rumors. Jenny has made it quite clear those two kids are not and have never been involved that way. Morgan is here to take a break and to find out what’s happening to Callie, that’s all. It has nothing to do with the Meadows family.”

Wilford shook his head. “It’s a damn shame what happened to that oldest daughter. Money and fame went straight to her head. The old man hasn’t seen her in years, but Kenny keeps him updated. He hinted there’s a rift between the woman’s husband and the old man. There’s some real hard feelings there, I guess.”

Frank spoke up. “What was that girls name? Damn, she must be what, in her fifties now?”

Mrs. Hoffman scoffed. “Nicole, and I remember her all too well. She’s far from a girl now, she is my age. She dated that Summers boy before she left town and broke him all to pieces. Head cheerleader, and the typical bully in my opinion. Thank God she didn’t go to school in Clarity. She would have been in my class.”

That made sense. I could certainly see my mom as a mean girl.

“Meadows liked the first husband, but he said she chose fame over a businessman. Life was too boring, and she needed more excitement. Then she went off and had three kids with that Hollywood director. It’s a damn shame people treat marriage like an inconvenience. Has the woman ever done anything for herself or just taken from those men?” Bill asked.

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