The Combative Read online

  “No. We didn’t.”

  “Well, that’s disappointing. What the hell are you two kids waiting for?”

  “Why do you care?”

  “Because you’re my friend, ain’t ya?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Well, I want you to be happy. And it looked to me like you and her were heading in that direction.”

  Jacobs shook his head. “We’re not.”

  “What the hell’s wrong with you, man?”

  “Nothing.”

  “There’s a fine, pretty young thing living in your house for two months, and you haven’t done anything about it?”

  “Uh, yeah, that’s about it.”

  Franks shook his head and sighed. “Man, are you ever gonna get back on that horse?”

  “What’d I tell you about that?”

  “OK, fine, whatever. Point blank, man, what the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Why does something have to be wrong with me?”

  “Because you’ve been living together for two months, and she’s obviously into you, you like her, so I don’t understand what the holdup is.”

  “Because I’m not ready.”

  Franks put his hand on Jacobs’ shoulder and lowered his head, shaking it for a second before looking back up at him. “Then why do you look so relaxed?”

  Jacobs shrugged. “Beats me. As a matter of fact, we just had an argument an hour or so ago.”

  Jacobs then walked away, heading toward the backyard as if it were no big deal. Franks quickly followed after him. They eventually found themselves on the back deck, leaning on the railing, watching Tiffany play fetch with Gunner. She eventually noticed them standing there and waved, with Franks waving back.

  “I dunno, man. Maybe you know what you’re doing, but I sure have my doubts about it.”

  “And what was with all that talk about getting back in the saddle, anyway?” Jacobs asked. “I’ve had sex before.”

  “Yeah, but not since the missus, god rest her soul.”

  “Are you just forgetting about…”

  “Don’t even bring up her name, man. Don’t even do it. Because I’m just pretending like that whole episode didn’t even exist. Besides, she drugged you, knocked you out, tied you up; you didn’t even know if you were coming or going. So that don’t even count.”

  “It doesn’t, huh?”

  “No, it don’t. So don’t even bring up her name. I don’t ever wanna hear about that woman again.”

  Jacobs finally let out a smile. Franks seemed like he was still more upset about that situation than he was.

  “Let’s get back to what I called you over here for.”

  “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that. What did you call me over here for, anyway?”

  “I need help keeping her safe.”

  Franks looked at him curiously. “Seems like you’ve been doing a pretty good job so far.”

  “Yeah, but she wants to get back to her own place.”

  “And you’re gonna let her?”

  “I don’t wanna let her. But she’s given me two days to find a solution, otherwise she’s going back to her old apartment.”

  “Well, that’s not safe.”

  “I know that. That’s why I want you to help figure something out.”

  “Why can’t she just continue to stay here? Why you kicking her out?”

  “I’m not kicking her out. I want her to stay,” Jacobs said. “But she doesn’t want to stay if we’re just gonna continue what we’re doing.”

  “So you want your cake and eat it too, huh?”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

  “You want the benefits of her staying here, but you don’t wanna give her the old grease monkey, is that it?”

  Jacobs shook his head. “I’m just gonna pretend you didn’t say that.”

  “Say what?”

  “Forget it.”

  “So why can’t you just give her what she wants and be done with it?” Franks said.

  “Because Ames is still out there. I can’t walk away from that.”

  “You can. You just don’t want to.”

  “Eddie, I just had the same argument with her. And I really don’t want to go through it again. And I also don’t wanna be lectured about my private life. If I don’t wanna move on, that’s my business, OK?”

  “OK, man, OK.”

  “Now, do you wanna help keep her safe or don’t you?”

  “Well, of course I wanna keep her safe, man. What kind of question is that?”

  “OK, so help me figure out a way to do that.”

  “Well, you could let her go back to her old place and just sit outside her apartment twenty-four seven to make sure she’s OK.”

  “Something practical. I can’t just sit outside her apartment all day,” Jacobs said.

  “Well, you won’t have to when she’s at work.”

  “Something practical, Eddie.”

  “That is practical. Even if you don’t wanna do it yourself, you could always hire someone else to do it. Plenty of guys would take that money.”

  “Money I don’t wanna pay.”

  “Well, you asked.”

  “Eddie, if you don’t have…”

  Franks put his hands up. “All right, man, all right, I’m still thinking. Just give me some time.” Franks looked at Tiffany again. “You mean to tell me you’re not willing to…”

  “Focus, Eddie, focus. We’ve already been through that. No need to do it again.”

  “Oh. Yeah. Um, let’s see. Well, we could set her up in a different place, put it under a different name and all, of course. I mean, that would solve that problem fairly easily. Just give her a fake name and some docs, I mean, we could do that no sweat. But that wouldn’t solve the other problem, and that’s the big one.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Ames knows who she is. That means he knows where she works.”

  “I know.”

  “And considering she’s not a professional hitman, she ain’t got the training to avoid being followed home from work one day, which means all that planning on a new place will get thrown right out the window.”

  “I know.”

  “Of course, there is another solution.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We ship her out of town. If she’s in a new city, Ames ain’t gonna care about her anymore.”

  Jacobs looked at Tiffany playing with Gunner. “I think that’s gonna be a tough sell. I don’t think she’s got an interest in doing that.”

  Franks scratched the side of his face as he continued to think. “Well, there’s one final thing I can think of at the moment.”

  “Which is?”

  “She stays here.”

  “Uh, yeah, I think that’s gonna be a tough sell too.”

  “Think about it. The safest place for her right now is here with you.”

  “I know that.”

  “You can still take her to work and pick her up.”

  “I know.”

  “And you can spot a tail if there is one.”

  “I know that too.”

  “And she wouldn’t be safer anywhere else,” Franks said.

  “I know.”

  “So in my opinion, the safest place for her is to stay here.”

  “I know that too.”

  “Well, if you know all this, then what are you asking me for?”

  “Because she doesn’t know it,” Jacobs said.

  “Oh. Well, you want me to have a crack at her?”

  Jacobs raised an eyebrow. “A what now?”

  “Don’t be getting dirty on me, man, you know what I meant. I’ll have a talk with her.”

  “If you think you can reach her, be my guest.”

  “I certainly can’t do any worse than you did, huh?”

  “No, I guess not.”

  Franks tapped his friend on the arm. “Let the old master have a shot at her.”

  “Let me know when he gets here.”


  “Very funny, man, very funny.”

  Franks walked down the steps from the deck into the backyard. Gunner went right by him like he wasn’t even there.

  “Oh, I see how it is now. You got somebody better looking here, and now I get kicked to the curb, is that it?” Tiffany looked at Franks and laughed. Franks kept his attention on Gunner. “You know there used to be a time when I was your number two, man, what happened? Just because she’s prettier than I am, and you gotta up and leave me?”

  Gunner lay down and barked once at him.

  “I see how it is.” Tiffany smiled at him. “Hey, Tiff, how you doing today?”

  She shrugged. “Same as most days, I guess.”

  “Brett told me you and he had a bit of a tussle in there.”

  “It was nothing, really.”

  “He cares about you, you know.”

  “I know he does.”

  “And you care about him?”

  “You know I do,” Tiffany said.

  “Then don’t put any added…”

  “Eddie, if you’re going to tell me that I’m gonna make him more worried or something if I’m living somewhere else, then you’re wasting your time. Or if you came to talk me out of leaving, you’re also wasting your time.”

  “Awe, come on, honey, at least let me finish what I came here to say.”

  Tiffany tilted her head as if she still didn’t want to hear it. “Eddie, I like you. You’ve been nice to me.”

  “And I like you too. That’s why I’m here. I don’t wanna see anything happen to you.”

  “And nothing will.”

  “You don’t know that. The safest place for you to be is right here,” Franks said.

  “Why is that fair to me? Why do I have to stay someplace where I don’t want to be?”

  “You don’t wanna be here?” Franks gave her a distrustful eye. “Really?”

  “Not like this. You know how I feel about him. But I’m not gonna be one of those women who waits years for a breadcrumb.”

  “And I don’t blame you there. I don’t. The man is obviously insane and doesn’t know what’s best for him. But that’s why you gotta stay here. So you and I can continue working on him.”

  “I’ve been here for two months, Eddie. If he’s not worn down by now, he’s not gonna be.”

  “We just need a little bit more time, that’s all.”

  “I don’t have any more time to give.”

  “You couldn’t give a few more tough weeks for a possible lifetime of happiness?”

  “A few more tough weeks?”

  “Just hear me out. How about you give him a few more weeks? A month or two at the most.”

  “Now it’s a month or two?”

  “Just until we’re able to get rid of Ames. Then the problem will be over,” Eddie said.

  “Until a new one comes along, and he latches on to that.”

  “Can you just do me one favor? Just promise me you’ll stay here until one of two things happen.”

  “Which is?”

  “Either we find you another place that we know is a hundred and fifty percent safe for you to stay in, or until Ames is gone, whichever is later.”

  “Whichever is later?”

  “Yeah, I mean, these things take time.”

  “It doesn’t take any time for me to go back to my old apartment,” she said.

  “No, see, that’s the wrong thing. Ames’ bunch already know you’re there. They took you out of there once already. Are you really gonna feel safe going back there again? I mean, really?”

  Tiffany sighed. “I can’t keep living like this. I feel like I’m on house arrest with someone who doesn’t want to be with me. I mean, it’d be one thing if we were intimate or something, or he showed some type of interest in me, but he doesn’t.”

  Franks nodded, understanding her frustration. “I hear you there. I gotcha. But if you go back to your old place, and something happens, do you really wanna put the both of you back into that situation again?”

  “No.”

  “Now, the only other possibility is… He talked to his old police buddies, and they said they could get you a new identity in another city if that’s what you wanted.”

  “A new identity?”

  “Yeah, but that means you could never look back. Never talk to anyone from here again. Now is that what you really want?”

  Tiffany looked up at Jacobs, who was sitting down in a chair, looking away from them. She then looked back at Gunner. She then faced Franks again and sighed. “Fine. I’ll give you a few more weeks, but that’s all. You better figure out another living situation for me, because we both know, he’s not changing anytime soon.”

  Franks gave her a smile. “You’re doing the right thing. I promise you I’ll start looking into things. But don’t give up hope.” He looked up at Jacobs for a second as well. “There’s a piece of him in there that wants to go back to his old self. It’s a small piece, but it’s there. We just have to find it.”

  3

  Jacobs strolled across the field on the way to his family’s graves. It’d been too long since he’d been there. But with Franks staying with Tiffany for the moment, it seemed like a good time to visit. About halfway there, though, he noticed something strange. There was something on Valerie’s grave. Jacobs couldn’t quite tell what it was yet, but it was white and looked rectangular. It could’ve been a piece of paper or an envelope. He couldn’t figure out what was holding it to the grave.

  As Jacobs got up close, he could see that it was an envelope taped to the grave. He slowly peeled it off and looked at it. It had “Brett Jacobs” written in cursive on the front. He didn’t recognize the handwriting. He opened the envelope and removed a small piece of paper that was folded. He unfolded it and read what was written, the letters also in cursive. It simply said, “call,” and then a phone number. Jacobs examined both the piece of paper and the envelope. They were both written in the same ink, and though none of the letters matched, it looked like the same type of handwriting. He stared at the phone number for a few moments. He didn’t know it. He then took a look around, getting the feeling that he was being watched. Nothing jumped out at him, though it wouldn’t have been the first time someone surprised him while he was there.

  Jacobs continued spinning in every direction for a few seconds, looking at every tree, every car, every window that was in sight, just waiting for that slight movement that indicated someone was nearby with a gun, pointed right at him. He never saw that movement though. He stood there, still expecting something to happen. When nothing did, he eventually turned his attention back to his family. He put the paper back in the envelope, then put that in his pocket. Jacobs knelt down on one knee and let out a loud sigh.

  “I’m sorry it’s been so long. It’s been… it’s been a crazy couple of months. I’ve still been thinking about you guys every day, though.”

  Jacobs reached out and touched the grave, wiping off a few pieces of dirt and grass.

  “I guess you know what’s been going on. I dunno. I don’t know what to do anymore. I thought I did. I thought after I got rid of Mallette, that’d be the end for me. I’d avenge what happened to you guys, I’d get my revenge, then I’d come up to join you. I was ready.”

  Jacobs looked away and sighed again. After a few moments, he turned his attention back to the graves.

  “I was ready. Then Ames came along, and then there was something new to fight for, and… I think I kind of lost my way a little bit. But through it all, I still had every intention of joining you.”

  Jacobs looked away again and wiped his right eye, feeling like a tear was coming on. Getting his emotions under control, he continued talking.

  “But now… I don’t know. I just really don’t know. Now there’s Tiffany, and right away, right away, the day I met her in that park, I just knew she was different, you know?”

  Both of Jacobs’ eyes started tearing up now. He wiped both of them.

  “I mean, she’s everyth
ing you were. Pretty, smart, funny; she’s got that warm personality, you know? And I’ve been trying to push her away, and no matter what I’ve done, it’s come out wrong. I didn’t want to get involved, but it happened anyway.”

  He looked down at the ground and shook his head, getting his emotions in check again.

  “I dunno, I guess I didn’t try hard enough. Maybe I really didn’t want to. Maybe I was hoping for something else, even if I knew it was unlikely. I don’t know. I don’t know much of anything anymore. I don’t know what I want. I don’t know what I feel. I just don’t know. It’s not fair what’s happened to her. What if I let her get closer, and the same thing happens to her that happened to you? I don’t know if I could handle it again.”

  He reached over and swiped a few more pieces of grass off the grave.

  “I guess I’m just afraid. Afraid of getting hurt again. Afraid of getting someone else hurt. Afraid of what will happen if I let my guard down again. I don’t know what to do anymore. I could really use your guidance. What should I do?”

  A voice then rang out from behind him. “Well, I can tell you what you shouldn’t do.”

  Jacobs spun around, landing on his back, reaching down for his gun. Before he pulled it out, though, he got a good look at the man’s face. He took a deep breath, then got back to his feet, brushing the dirt off him.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Buchanan shrugged. “Just passing through.”

  Jacobs laughed. “Yeah, likely story. Just happened to be passing through. The first time I’ve been here in two months, and you’re just passing through at that moment?”

  Buchanan grinned. “I guess I’ve got good timing, huh?”

  “Yeah. So how much of that did you hear?”

  “Oh, not much. Just that last part, really. This is your own time, and I don’t like to intrude on it.”

  “But you will anyway.”

  Buchanan shrugged again. “So what’s this about letting your guard down?”

  “Thought you weren’t listening?”

  “Just to that last part. Honestly, I thought you’d have heard me walk up on you long before I got here. I was surprised you didn’t. Guess you were too deep in thought.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So what do you need guidance for? Maybe I can help.”

  “I’ll, uh, I’ll keep that to myself.”