by Lenora Worth
Belle froze, her heart dropping like a brick. “Where was this?”
Cara scuffed her pink sneakers against the wooden floor. “Near the old park down the way where you found him the other night.”
“Did Uncle Rico see him?”
“No,” Anita said. “I poked Anita and we both watched him but didn’t say anything.” Shrugging, she looked up at Belle. “We decided to tell you first.”
“You did the right thing,” Belle replied, her mind spinning ahead. “What did the man look like?”
“Like the one you described.” Anita pushed at her long hair. “The same man who came into the café the other day.”
Belle tried to keep the panic out of her voice. “Text me when Joaquin gets home. I want to talk to him.”
“Don’t tell him we said anything,” Cara said in a low voice. “He gets really mad when we mess with him.”
“Well, he can get over that,” Belle said as she fed Justice and gave him fresh water before letting him out back. “I won’t say who told me, though.”
“Oh, and there’s one more thing,” Anita said. “The man got into a car that we think we recognized.”
“What kind of car?”
“One like your ex Percy used to drive. Black. An old BMW.”
Belle’s heart did flip-flops and her whole system went still again. “Are you telling me that the man who tried to choke me to death got in a car with Percy Carolo?”
“It looked like Percy,” Cara told her. “It happened fast while we were stopped at the traffic light by the park so we could be wrong.”
Belle motioned to her sisters and took them into her arms. “You did good. This is very important information. Don’t mention this to Mamá and Papá, okay? I’ll talk to them in private. Joaquin could run away if he thinks we suspect him.”
“We won’t,” Cara said, her hand reaching up to push Belle’s falling hair out of her eyes. “What do you think he’s doing with that man?”
“I don’t know,” Belle said. “But you don’t need to worry. I have a lot of people watching out for us and Justice will protect this whole house.”
She kissed her sisters and sent them upstairs. “I’ll be up for dinner after I freshen up.”
She almost called Emmett after they left but she needed to process this. Why would Joaquin be taking money from Lance Johnson? And why would Johnson have any reason to be hanging out with her vindictive, bitter ex-boyfriend?
* * *
At a tense dinner where Joaquin picked at his food and ignored everyone, Belle tried to keep the conversation flowing while she prayed the whole time that her sisters wouldn’t blurt something out. Her mother watched all of them with a hawk eye but remained quiet. She’d probably question the twins and Belle later. After helping with the dishes, Belle came back to her apartment and immediately did a background check on Percy Carolo.
They’d met years ago at the police academy and had hit it off instantly. Percy was one of those beautiful men who had a lot of charm but no substance. Belle had realized that too late, however. They’d had to be careful while in training, but they’d dated and things became serious pretty quickly. When graduation time came, things took a turn for the worst.
Belle had passed with flying colors but Percy had failed due to a bad attitude and a constant fight with authority.
“I can’t believe this,” Percy had said by way of congratulating her. “You get through and leave me in the dirt?”
“Percy, we both had the same training. You know how hard I worked for this.”
“What about me, Belle? I worked hard and still got shot down at every turn. It’s not fair. I’m every bit as qualified as you.”
“Of course you are,” she’d replied, hoping to soothe him.
But Percy couldn’t be soothed, and he didn’t have the grace to be happy for her.
He hadn’t taken things very well at the time, but because she’d seen his good side when they’d first started dating, Belle believed she could make it work despite how he’d started trying to undermine her and manipulate her. She went on to become a rookie officer while he got odd jobs here and there and finally wound up in security.
But he was never happy being a mall cop or a night watchman and claimed he would have been better at her job than she was. Which made no sense. He had no patience with humans or animals and scorned all of his superiors and coworkers. A lot of talk and no real action.
She’d ended the bad romance when they’d gotten into a fight on the day she should have been celebrating getting on with the Brooklyn K-9 Unit. Angry and jealous, he’d come at her and almost hit her. Taking him down and knocking him flat on his back hadn’t helped matters.
That ended her long run with a confused, abusive, hotheaded man who’d almost ruined her self-confidence and could have cost her a career if she’d stayed with him. Being with Percy had made her distrustful toward other men.
That’s why she’d held back with Emmett. But Emmett wasn’t anything like Percy. Emmett was confident and brave and went beyond the call of duty. He knew his job well and he got along with just about everyone. He just didn’t want to commit to anyone. Especially someone like her.
Belle couldn’t consider anything beyond friendship until she was out from under this cloud of fear for her family and for herself. Emmett obviously didn’t need her in his life. He had to find his cousin. Emmett was closed off and shuttered, maybe because he’d lost both his parents and his grief had hardened his heart. He lived for his work. Period.
Remembering their kiss, Belle tried to clear her head and get back to business.
Now she wondered if Percy had been keeping tabs on her since the day they’d broken up. She hadn’t seen Percy since she’d left his apartment that night. Where had he been for the past two years?
After searching for over an hour, Belle knew exactly where Percy had been. More odd jobs and short stints at various places around Brooklyn. The man couldn’t hold down a job.
Then she found something that set her hair on edge and made her pulse burn.
Percy Carolo was currently employed as a security guard at City Wide Storage. The very storage unit where someone had shot at Belle and Emmett a few days ago.
Her stomach roiling, Belle stared at her laptop screen and wondered if her ex had somehow teamed up with Lance Johnson to harass her and her family. How could that even be possible?
What were the odds?
Then she reminded herself that while she lived in a big city, small neighborhoods had their own grapevines and ways of communicating. Anything was possible.
Unable to sleep, she made notes and set up a timeline to see if she could match a cross section between Percy and Lance Johnson. They could have easily moved in the same circles—the gym, piecemeal work habits, bars where angry bitter men hung out and picked fights with each other. Somehow, she had to find a way to connect them.
And she would definitely plan to do a little surveillance at the park up the street. Because now, they’d possibly gotten her baby brother involved and there was no way on earth she would let Joaquin go down that road.
Not without a fight, anyway.
THIRTEEN
Emmett walked into the 646 Diner and searched among the many NYPD uniforms to find Belle in a corner booth with Justice lying at her feet.
All around, officers sat in clusters in the old booths and chunky tables enjoying the greasy-spoon menu, laughing and discussing life. Some of them noticed him and waved since he’d somehow become a fixture around these parts lately.
Maybe he’d get his photo up on the wall, too, he thought with a wry twist.
“Hey,” he said as he settled down across from Belle in the booth and removed his dark cap. “What’s up? Your message sounded kind of frantic.”
“I am frantic,” Belle admitted, her pretty eyes dark with apprehension.
She told him about her sisters seeing Joaquin taking money from a man in the park. “They said the man looked like Lance Johnson, the same man Anita saw in my uncle’s café.”
“Okay, so why would he give your brother money?”
“That’s the question,” Belle said, staring at her half-eaten eggs and toast. “I didn’t get to corner Joaquin last night, but I explained what was going on to my parents. We’re all on edge. The girls and I were tense and worried at dinner and Joaquin barely ate.”
Emmett didn’t like the sound of this. “The boy’s in trouble, Belle. We need to question him.”
“I am, today, somehow.” She lowered her head and then whispered, “There’s more. The girls saw Lance Johnson get in a car with someone I know.”
“Okay? Who?”
“My ex-boyfriend Percy Carolo.”
“Your ex?” Emmett touched a hand to his coffee cup. “You’ve never talked about him much.”
“And for good reason. The man messed with my head and tried to mess with my career. He didn’t take it well when we got in a fight about my making it in law enforcement when he couldn’t. He came at me and I dropped him on his back.”
A heat flared in Emmett’s gut. “Did he abuse you?”
Belle glanced away and then back to him. “He tried. Not so much physically but he tried to undermine me and make me feel bad about myself, whined at me for getting a promotion and constantly implied he would do better at my job than I ever could.”
“Did he also work for the force?”
She shook her head. “No. We met in the academy and trained together but he flunked out and had to settle for pick-up work here and there—security mostly. From what I’ve gathered, he subs a lot in security and works crowd control at big events, whatever he can find.”
“Okay, so why would he be with Lance Johnson?”
Belle sat still, her eyes holding Emmett’s. She couldn’t seem to bring herself to say the words.
So Emmett did it for her. “You think those two have partnered up to attack you and harm your family, Belle?”
“It looks that way,” she said, letting out a breath. Then she told him what they’d found out so far. “If Percy’s involved, he’ll play Lance Johnson like a fiddle and have the man doing his bidding. And if he’s got my little brother involved, I’ll go after both of them and make them pay dearly.”
Emmett touched his hand on hers in a brief display of assurance. “Steady. Don’t go rogue here. We do this by the book, and we’ll bring ’em both in. Together.”
“You shouldn’t have to deal with this, Emmett. You’ve got enough just trying to find Randall.”
“I’m in it,” he said, his tone firm. “I’m in it for you and I won’t leave you on your own. This is dangerous.”
“Well, there’s one more piece to the puzzle,” she said, her wary expression showing the stress of the last few days. “Percy works at the City Wide Storage warehouse where you keep your parents’ stuff.”
Emmett let out a breath. “Are you kidding me?”
“I wish. He’s either been watching me and saw me there with you or...he saw us and called Lance to come and do us in. I don’t know yet. But...I’m going to find out.”
“We’re going to find out,” Emmett corrected. “Don’t do this without me.”
She nodded, gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you, Emmett.”
He gazed over at her, his own concerns deepening and turning stormy. “Belle, what’s going on with us?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But one day, when this is all behind us, maybe we can figure that out together.”
“If you can trust me,” he said. “This Percy left you in a mess, didn’t he?”
“He did. I haven’t dated much since him because I love my work and some men just can’t handle that.”
“I’m not one of those men,” he said. “I admire you and see you as a valuable part of the NYPD. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“You’re a good man, Emmett.”
“Don’t forget that either, then,” he said, giving her what looked like a genuine smile. “Now, let’s get to work.”
Both of their phones buzzed as if on cue.
Belle answered hers first. “Belle, it’s Lani.”
“Hi, Lani,” Belle said. She liked Lani Jameson even though some thought she got special treatment because she was married to a chief from another K-9 unit. But Lani had joined their team to avoid any conflicts and worked hard to prove herself. Sometimes Belle got together with Lani and Noelle for girl talk. “What’s up?”
“We could use your help,” Lani replied. “We’ve tracked a stray dog who recently had pups to an old two-family brick home not far from the precinct. She’s under the house with her puppies and we’re trying to lure her out since we heard the house has been condemned. I thought you might be able to help since you’re so good with soothing the dogs when they’re in training.”
Belle thought of all the things she needed to be working on but she couldn’t turn down Lani or a hurting animal. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” she said. “Emmett Gage is with me.”
“Oh, okay,” Lani replied. “So you and Emmett—seeing a lot of each other these days?”
“Working on a case, as I’ve said,” Belle reminded Lani, lifting her gaze to where Emmett stood, taking his own call. She could just picture Lani’s blue eyes going bright with interest. “For now.”
“Okay, we’ll talk later,” Lani said. “Thanks, Belle.”
Belle ended the call and took one last sip of coffee. Dropping some bills on the table, she motioned to Justice and they met up with Emmett at the front door.
After explaining that Lani needed some help, she asked, “Do you want to come with me? We can work on these new developments after we see about this stray dog.”
“Yes,” he said. “I told you I’m in this. Unless I get called away, I’m going to shadow you as often as I can.” Then he added, “And that call I got? A friend on the force thinks he spotted Randall at a diner near where he used to live. Couldn’t be sure it was him since it’s been a while since my friend has seen Randall, but I’m going to case the place and see if he shows up again. My source said he was there earlier. Goes there a lot for coffee, if it’s him, that is.”
Surprised, Belle said, “Should you go?”
“No, Randall’s not there now. My source confirmed that. I can help you today. But tomorrow morning, I’ll be at that old diner and let’s hope I see Randall there.”
“Meantime, I’ll let Sarge know,” she said as they loaded up Justice and headed toward the street Lani had named. “He can put someone on the diner, too, for now.”
“Yeah, he’d want to know,” Emmett said on a gritty note. “No reason to give him anything else to chew on while he wonders if he can trust me or not.”
“We all trust you, Emmett. It’s just that trust comes hard when you’re dealing with murder and mayhem.”
“Yeah, well, we both have that problem,” he replied.
But the look in his eyes told her he wanted her to know he was dependable.
Belle believed that, at least. She could depend on Emmett to finish what he’d started. But she couldn’t trust him to start something with her and then not break it off when he decided he couldn’t handle it.
* * *
The noonday heat beat down on them like falling embers, but Emmett was determined to get this dog and her pups out from under this collapsing house. He had a lot to think about and he’d rather be casing the neighborhood where his cousin might possibly be but he’d promised Belle he’d help with this stray and her little family. Only it was taking longer than they’d planned.
“Got any more ideas?” he asked Belle after an hour of sweating and calling and offering treats to the scared, scrawny German shepherd.
Lani told them
she’d named the mama dog Brooke, short for Brooklyn, and that best she could tell from shining a light down in the hole was that five puppies were with Brooke. They could hear the furry puppies yelping and crying out where they were embedded in the deep hole their mama must have dug to protect them.
Belle refused to leave them there.
“It’s supposed to storm later,” she told Emmett. “Look at the sky. Dark. They’ll get wet when the water comes down from the roof.”
“Well, we’re running out of ideas,” he said as he belly-crawled as close to the dogs as he could get. “If I get stuck, you’ll have to ply me with treats, too.”
Belle laughed at that. She looked adorable with her hair falling down and dirt on her sweaty nose. Her love for animals showed in her concern for these little ones and their mother.
That kind of commitment made Emmett want to be around her even more. She surprised him on a daily basis, something his jaded mind couldn’t comprehend. But their conversation last night had set a new pace between them, one that kept things on a professional level. But then he’d gone and kissed her, which had blown away his theory of not getting involved.
“How about we put some dry food in water and soften it?” she said, causing him to come back to the present. “Maybe she’s too weak to eat a chew treat.”
“Whatever might work,” he replied. Like everything else involving her, Emmett was beginning to go all in.
Belle went to her SUV and got water and a bowl. Justice followed back and forth with his eyes but remained sitting where she told him. She didn’t want her partner to scare the frightened mama dog. But Justice was trained to stay on task, so he took it all in with wide eyes and perked up ears.
After she’d soaked the kibbles, Belle slowly slid the bowl close to the tight opening under the crooked porch, brushing at spiderwebs and old wasp nests.
“C’mon, Brooke. Sweet girl, let us help you,” Belle said, her voice soft and reassuring. “We’ll take you and your babies to a safe place where you can all thrive.” Smiling, she kept cooing and speaking in a calm voice. “I think your little fluffy balls of fur can be trained to become some of the best of the best. What do you think? Your five cuties becoming NYPD K-9s? Pretty impressive, huh?”
