The Good and the Bad

A Nuisance Call

Chapter Twenty

*~*~*~*

"What's vodka in Russian?" Herrmann aske Zoya as she helped him hang up a sign announcing the bar's new specials.

"Vodka," Zoya rolled her eyes at the question. Herrmann opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself when he spotted Jay's familiar face making his way towards them.

"Hey, you guys got your cut last week." Herrmann narrowed his eyes at the younger man. His blood practically boiling at the sight of him, a reminder of the hurt the guy had caused Scout— the woman he had always seen as family. "What, do you want to turn me upside down and shake another dime out of my pocket?"

"I'm just here to see Scout," Jay said, ignoring the jab.

"She don't want to see you, buddy. Get lost." Herrmann's eyes narrowed at his words. Jay only shook his head before he walked around him to try and to go inside. Though he was only greeted by Herrmann slamming the door shut before he could get a foot in. "You got a problem, pal?"

"This doesn't involve you, all right?" Jay shook his head.

"When a dirt bag like you comes sniffing around for a friend of mine, I'm involved." Herrmann didn't back down. Still able to picture the heartbroken look Scout had sported after they found out about Jay working for Arthur. How she had left early the night with tears in her eyes— the first time he'd seen her look so broken since they'd learned Isaac had been killed. There wasn't a chance in hell that he was gonna let some punk have another chance to hurt her. "I don't care who you work for or how many kneecaps you break every week. You don't scare me. Stay the hell away from her."

*~*~*~*

"DJ, be careful!" Scout warned her son as she watched him try to run up the slide on the jungle gym at the park she'd decided to bring the boys too before her shift. Her eyes kept glancing towards her older son while she pushed Maclean in one of the swings.

"Scout!" Her attention was pulled away from her own boys at the sound of Diego's voice, finding him hurrying over to her while Antonio and Eva trailed behind.

"Hey, buddy." Scout wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders as he hugged her. "How're you doing?"

"Mom's still at Aunt Emily's house," Diego shared with a small shrug of his shoulders. The young boy oblivious to the seriousness of what was going on between his parents at the moment.

"DJ's over by the slide if you wanna play with him?" Scout suggested, not knowing what else to say to the boy.

"Be careful," Antonio warned his son as he watched him hurry over to the jungle gym. Eva followed along behind her little brother, her hands shoved into her pockets. The girl only offering her godmother a small smile as she passed her.

"How're they doing?" Scout asked Antonio once he reached her side by the swings.

"Diego's fine, but Eva's started asking about Laura. Wondering why she's been gone for so long," Antonio shared as he gave her a side hug. "What about you? Gaby mentioned you were having a bit of a hard time recently."

"Gaby needs to learn to keep her mouth shut," Scout rolled her eyes as she felt her phone buzz in her pocket, as if right on cue. She pulled it out only to frown at the sight of Jay's number filling the screen. She didn't hesitate to send him to voicemail before returning the phone to her pocket.

"I'm guessing whoever just called you has something to do with this?" Antonio guessed, not having managed to catch the name on the caller ID. "Wanna talk about it?"