Unseen (Will Trent / Atlanta Series)

the semidarkness. “Damn, Bud, ain’t your balls freezin’ on that thing?”
    Will shrugged, though the man was right about the cold. He nodded toward the truck. “Where’d you get that?”
    “Borrowed it from a friend.”
    “Nice friend,” Will noted. The truck was a considerable step up from Tony’s impounded Kia.
    “Hope you weren’t plannin’ nothin’ romantic tonight.” Tony tucked his hands into his pockets as he walked toward the house. “I kinda invited myself over. Cayla’s gotta faucet been leakin’ for a while, so I said I’d come by and fix it.”
    “She knows you’re going to be here?”
    “Sure,” Tony said, but his voice went up a bit higher than honesty would dictate. “You get off work early?”
    “Little bit.” His boss was six months from retirement and had a lady on the side. Will was about to say something derogatory about Salemi’s work habits, but then Tony Dell stood under the porch light and Will was rendered speechless.
    The man had gotten the shit kicked out of him. There was no better description. His nose was sideways. Both eyes were bruised. A long, open gash on his cheek had been sewn shut with thick black stitches.
    Tony smiled, despite the pain it must’ve caused. “Cop caught up with me.”
    “Vickery?” Will guessed. He’d joked about it with Faith before, but now that he saw Paul Vickery’s handiwork, it wasn’t funny. “What the hell happened?”
    “We’re cool, Bud.” Tony held up his hands in defense. “I didn’t tell him a damn thing. I think that ol’ boy just needed to give somebody a beat-down. Coulda been you. Ended up bein’ me.”
    Will couldn’t believe the man’s cavalier attitude. “You gonna file a report on him?”
    He practically guffawed. “Shit, that’s funny, Bud. Like they work for us or somethin’.” He raised his hand to knock on the door. “Act like you invited me, all right?”
    “Like—”
    Cayla had a huge grin on her face when she opened the door. And then she saw Tony Dell and looked like she wanted to murder him. “What’re you doin’ here?”
    “Bud invited me.” He patted Will on the back. “Didn’t you, Bud?”
    Will mumbled, “Yeah.”
    Cayla didn’t seem concerned that Tony had been beaten. She sneered at him, saying, “You sneaky little prick.”
    “Aw, don’t be like that.” Tony pushed himself into the house. He had to slither under Cayla’s arm to do it.
    For the first time since he’d met Tony Dell, Will was glad to have the little freak around. Cayla had obviously prepared for their date. Her makeup was so heavy that it clumped in the corners of her eyes. Her jeans cut her into two separate parts and her white lace blouse clearly showed the dark purple bra underneath. Even from the porch, Will could smell her perfume. He didn’t know enough about these things to guess whether the scent was cheap or not, but going by how much she used, Will hoped she got a volume discount.
    Tony made a show of sniffing the air. “Damn, girl, you smell pretty.”
    “Shut up, Tony. I told you not to talk to me that way.” She gave Will a tightly coiled smile as she motioned him inside. “He’s my brother.”
    “Stepbrother,” Tony corrected. He winked at Will. “Not by blood.”
    Cayla groaned as she shut the door. “His daddy married my mama when we were in junior high. Ever since then, he’s been a sticky turd I can’t scrape off my shoe.”
    Tony’s laugh said he took this as a compliment.
    Will grunted, not out of any Bill Black response but because he was at a complete loss for words.
    “You look nice,” Cayla said, though Will had specifically dressed down for the occasion. His jeans were torn at the hem.His blue Oxford shirt had been nice two years ago, but the collar was frayed. The black T-shirt he wore underneath had holes in the armpits.
    “You wanna beer?” Cayla asked.
    “I’m good.” Will didn’t drink or smoke, which presented a serious handicap as far as his con cred was concerned. “Maybe later.”
    Tony said, “I could do with a cold one.”
    “Then get your scrawny ass back in that truck and go get you one,” Cayla suggested. Tony grumbled a response. They certainly talked to each other like brother and sister.
    Will looked around the room as he waited out the argument. The house was clean if not tidy. Cayla liked her figurines. Large dolls in fancy dresses were on almost every available surface. Some were under glass like wheels of cheese. Others were