That woman’s vileness wasn’t touching my baby anymore.
Chapter 19
Jingle all the way…’cause nobody likes a half assed jingler.
-Hallmark Card
Luke
“Daddy, your light’s bothering me,” Katy murmured, her small hand covering her eyes as she kept her eyes glued on the TV.
I sighed and put the phone down. I didn’t want to watch this. Not again. Although, it looked like I had no choice.
“My daddy won’t watch Princess Anna and Queen Elsa with me,” Rowen said as she laid her head down on my chest.
I kissed the top of her head. “I’ll watch it whenever you want, honey.”
She patted my chest and rubbed her nose on my t-shirt, much the same as her mother did nearly every time I had her in my arms.
I was watching the girls while Reese bought a few last-minute Christmas presents before the holiday.
I’d learned over the last couple of weeks that Reese was a major procrastinator. As in, she saved all her shopping until today, the day before Christmas Eve.
She’d been gone for well over four hours now, and the girls had gotten restless. Which was why Downy and I were watching Frozen.
“I can’t believe you have me watching this,” Downy muttered darkly.
I chuckled. “It was the least I could do.”
He lifted his hand holding his beer and tilted it at the screen. “That bitch’s gonna die.”
I turned my attention to the screen and frowned. “Why do you say that?”
He nodded his head at Princess Anna again. “In real life it’s the creeps who go after the girl and propose that fast. He wants something from her.”
I shook my head. “You’re so cynical.”
He leveled a glare at me. “I’ve earned the right to be.”
I didn’t dispute that. We were all cynical in our own ways, some more than most.
My phone rang from the coffee table beside me, and I answered with the sounds of Let It Go in the background. “Hello?”
“Roberts. I need you down at the station. Now. Bring Downy with you,” the Chief growled into my ear.
No hello or fuck you. Only business.
“Why and for how long? I’ve got two kids with me,” I said, standing up and dislodging the two girls who were at my sides.
They murmured their discontent, but their eyes stayed glued to the TV, enraptured.
“Just get down here. Bring them with you, you can set them up in your office. It won’t take long,” the Chief said, then hung up, not allowing me to question him any further.
“Fuck,” I sighed, eyes lifting to Downy. “The Chief wants us to come in.”
He grimaced and finished his beer. “Sounds like I’m not going to like what he has to say.”
I had a feeling I wasn’t going to, either.
***
“You’re shitting me,” I said, my head all of a sudden pounding.
The Chief shook his head. “No, unfortunately not. They found him this morning after the man’s kids asked if they could get into the room to remove the valuables from the house.”
Fuuuuck.
Jesus, this was just what we needed right now.
And I’d known that that operation stunk.
I should’ve known it was going to happen.
Every fucking thing that Pierson Howell worked on went sour.
And after weeks, I still hadn’t found the connection that I knew was there.
Instinct was telling me that there was something about the operation that connected to Reese.
I hadn’t figured out how, yet. But I would.
“So how’d he die? Was it in the explosion?” Downy asked from his position across the table from me.
“The autopsy hasn’t been done yet. We’ll know in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours,” the Chief said, standing.
We stood, too.
We weren’t stupid.
“Try to be accommodating to Pierson. I know he’s hard to work with, but he’s good at his job,” the Chief chided.
We both nodded and walked out of the Chief’s office, knowing damn well and good that Pierson fucking Howell was about to become a pain in our asses.
When the door shut behind us, Downy looked back to make sure the Chief hadn’t followed us out before he started. “They’re going to blame us for fucking the op up, then we’ll have to hear about how Pierson was the better man to run SWAT. Then he’ll get his cronies to start in. It’ll be like a fucking soap opera.”
I agreed. “Yep.”
We’d just rounded the corner to my office when I heard Katy’s favorite part start to blare through the station’s conference room.
I found the two girls in the midst of nearly three quarters of the police station, all of them watching Frozen as if they’d never seen it before. Men and women alike, with Rowen and Katy in the middle of it all, stretched out on the conference’s table with their blankets and pillows.
“That’s not something you see every day,” Downy muttered, a small smile kicking up the corner of his mouth.
I nodded. “No, it’s sure not.”
Rowdy, the KPD’s oldest and fattest, sat in the middle of the room, snacking on a donut while he watched Elsa turn the large mound of snow into a massive ice castle.
Then there was Nico, the last person I would ever expect to see watching a Disney movie, propped up against the back wall, eyes glued to the TV.
Michael was at his side, and Bennett’s head poked up over the standing crowd across the room.
“You think they’ll get pissed when I take the movie with me?” I asked as I walked into the conference room.
Downy shrugged. “Maybe. Just leave it here.”
I shook my head. “I’d rather kill myself than not have it just in case one of the two of them wants to watch it. It sits on repeat in my DVD player. All they have to do is turn the TV on now.”
Downy smiled and lifted the remote, pointing it at the screen and pressed stop.
Groans and boo’s filled the air as every pair of eyes in the room turned to glare at Downy, even my two girls.
“It’s bedtime,” Downy said, gesturing to the two girls. “And they have to have their movie to go to sleep.”
That seemed to console most of them, but I had to promise to bring it back the day after Christmas so they could finish it, which I would.
“Alright, ladies. It’s time to go home,” I said, gathering dolls, blankets, and cups.
They came down dutifully, each grabbing onto a hand as we walked out to my truck.
They waved goodbye and promised to return, making some of the most hardened cops on the force smile.
“You two girls have my men wrapped around your fingers, don’t you?” I teased as we got into the car.
Rowen, the one I was helping in first, smiled. “Mommy says all I have to do is smile and I get what I want.”
I didn’t doubt that one bit.
The ride home was quiet as both girls fell asleep as soon as we pulled onto the main road.
By the time we pulled into my spot in the garage and shut the engine off, both girls were snoring.
Juggling two girls, instead of just one, was quite difficult, but I managed it as I took each of them to their perspective bedrooms, covering them up, and closing the doors.
I found Reese in my bedroom again.
I quite liked her making herself at home.
This time, she was wrapping presents on the floor with the phone held in between her ear and her shoulder.
“No, he hasn’t invited me to Christmas dinner yet,” she teased, making a face at me.
I shook my head and started stripping out of my shirt, shoes, socks, pants, and underwear before heading to the shower to wash the day off my skin.
She followed me, watching my progress as she continued to speak to my mother, which was incredibly unnerving to think about.
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“I’m invited, you say? I’ll come as long as there’s an apple pie,” she quipped.
“And pumpkin!” I yelled just before turning the shower on.
She watched me step in, and I watched her watch me.
“Alright, well I’ll see you Christmas Day. I know, thanks for calling. Sure. Bye,” she said quickly.
She placed her cell phone down on the bathroom counter before hopping up.
“Where were you?” she asked.
There was no worry in her tone, just curiosity.
I quickly explained what the Chief had told me, and I watched her face take on a hint of sadness.
“That’s awful,” she said, hands worrying the hem of her shirt.
I nodded. It was.
“But I don’t understand why they had to call you in to tell you that. Couldn’t they have just said that over the phone?” she asked.
I shook my head. “The Chief wanted to warn us that there was going to be an investigation into the op, and if we could’ve done anything different. They’re waiting on an autopsy report to find out cause of death before they do anything drastic, though.”
Her eyebrows raised, and her eyes tracked my hand as I took the bar of soap and started running it over my body.
I started under my arms, and by the time I made it down to my lower stomach, she was squirming on the counter.
I liked what I saw, which in turn only made her squirm all the harder as I soaped up my rock-hard erection.
The soap made my hand slippery, reducing the friction of my rough palm on my sensitive dick.
She licked her lips as she crossed and uncrossed her legs.
“You play dirty,” she accused.
I smiled. “Only way to play, baby.”
Chapter 20
Luke
My eyes snapped open revealing the blue screen that signaled the end of the movie.
Frozen, for the third time in one day, was not fun.
What was also not fun was waking up to a knock on your front door on Christmas Eve at ten o’clock at night.
I eased myself out from under the pile of woman and children who’d made my chest their pillow and walked to the front door, picking my Glock up from the hallway’s top shelf as I went.
Flipping the light on, I glanced out the peephole.
For some reason, I wasn’t surprised to see Detective Pierson Howell standing on my front stoop when I looked out the peephole.
Annoyed, I opened the door quietly, then stepped out on the cold stone steps, closing the door behind me.
“Can I help you?” I asked, raising my brow.
The frigidness of the stone underneath my feet was extremely cold, seeping into my feet and causing goose bumps to break out over my shirtless body.
Pierce stared at me with contempt for a few long seconds before his cop face slid into place.
I heard my cell phone ringing from inside and I cursed, “Hold on.”
I didn’t let him come in, shutting the door before he even realized I was moving.
Moving hurriedly to my phone, I answered it as I saw Rowen stir.
Her eyes fluttered but fell still after she repositioned her little body.
“Hello?” I answered quietly.
The Chief’s voice, just as quietly, said, “He was murdered. And he had a note. It was addressed to your woman.”
I gritted my teeth and walked away from the pile of sleeping girls to the front door. With my hand resting on the knob I asked, “So that’s why Pierson is here?”
He sighed. “I told him to go home. Goddamn him, but yes. That’s probably why. The note wasn’t specific. It was a note from the old man. Said he was sorry he couldn’t do more than what he did. When the man started shooting at his door, he went to hide. Apparently, though, he’d gotten hit by a ricochet. Bled out in the six by six by six compartment. He had to remove all the stuff he had in there, which was why it was gone. In the note, he detailed exactly what was in there in case he didn’t make it. Nearly a million bucks, some family jewels, and a shit load of bonds that he couldn’t remember the number of right off hand.”
I listened carefully to the Chief’s hesitant reply. “He saw a glimpse of whomever it was from the window of his room. He said it was a really short, fat person. Whomever it was, was all in black, covered head to toe. He said it was an AK-47 that the suspect shot the house up with. And whomever it was had military experience. The way the person acted and moved. It fits with the professional way the charges in the bedroom were set. The rest he figured out through a phone call that the suspect placed during the time he was in his room. He said that he heard your name being said more than once, and that it sounded like either a deep woman’s voice, or a high-pitched man’s voice.”
A knock sounded at the door, impatient and rough.
“Alright, thanks for calling. I’ll want to read the note myself Monday. Anything you want me to relay to Pierson?” I asked, stepping back out onto the porch.
“No. Have a good one,” the Chief said, then hung up.
“Sorry about that. How can I help you?” I asked Pierson tersely.
He had his arms crossed tightly over his chest as he glared at me for a few long moments before answering.
“The autopsy for…” I held up a hand, stopping him.
“I know about the autopsy. What do you need?” I asked impatiently.
His mouth thinned. “I need to ask Ms. Doherty some questions.”
I shook my head. “Not possible. She’s asleep, and it’s the night before Christmas. You can ask whatever you need to ask come Monday.”
I heard the door opening behind me and cursed silently in my head.
When I turned around, though, it wasn’t Reese. It was Rowen and she was crying.
I stooped down, keeping my side to Pierson, until I could see her eyes. “What’s wrong, sweet pea?”
“Missed you,” she said, throwing her little arms around my neck.
I wrapped my arms around her little body, gathering up her and her blanket and situating it before I turned back to Pierson. “If that’s all?”
He didn’t answer, instead pinching his lips between his teeth and stomping down the steps.
“You’re warm,” she said, snuggling into my chest.
I laughed and walked back inside to find Reese awake and heading toward the door.
Like a mama bear she was.
Her cub was gone, and she knew almost immediately.
When she saw me with Rowen she visibly relaxed.
“She used to do that all the time. I found her outside our old backyard one night, and it scared the absolute shit out of me. She was just swinging along on her swing without a care in the world while I was inside nearly about to call the cops.” She shook her head.
I grinned. “I got your back, now.”
She smiled. “You do.”
I didn’t tell her about her neighbor. Not yet.
I didn’t want to ruin Christmas for her, and I needed a few more days to think about it before I started explaining it to her.
I, at least, needed to read the note myself.
I knew one thing, though, I needed some information. I needed John Amos to work his magic.
Chapter 21
Reece
Luke and I haven’t fought very much. In fact, we’ve only had two minor arguments to date since we’d started seeing each other and I’d temporarily moved into his place.
I say temporarily because my place was ready for me to go home, but he told me I wasn’t allowed to go. And after I’d learned about my neighbor, hearing about the letter he’d written, I knew it was in Rowen’s and my best interest to stay, even though I was reluctant to put him and Katy in danger.
He assured me, though, that he could take care of us. And I trusted him.
The first argument we’d had was over me not staying the night with him in his bed.
The second had been
over Weston.
He’d told me repeatedly that Weston still had a ‘thing’ for me. Telling me continually that I was the one that Rowen had been talking about, not Lydia.
After I’d filed the for full custody of Rowen, Weston had gotten a lot more persistent, and it was taking a toll on not just me and Rowen’s relationship, but mine and Luke’s as well.
I’d told him he was fucking nuts, that there was no way Weston was still interested in me.
At least my ex wasn’t overtly obvious about it like his was.
“You told him you’d think about it,” he growled, yanking his shirt over his head and shoving his arms into each arm hole with a viciousness that eluded to his lack of control.
“I did,” I said calmly. “But only because I knew you’d help me. I didn’t realize by saying yes, I was declaring something. Which I still don’t believe I did.”
He glared at me and buckled his utility belt back in place. Armored in full.
Perfect.
“What else did he say?” he asked carefully, crossing his large, bulky arms across his chest.
Weston had called me that morning, two weeks after Christmas, pleading for me to talk to him.
And one week since a temporary motion to have full custody of Rowen without visitation had been granted.
I shook my head. “He didn’t. Said that he needed help with the wife, and that was it.”
My thoughts went back to earlier that morning when Luke had told me he’d seen Weston and Lydia, his ex, hugging outside her store again.
And the multiple times we’d seen the two of them out to eat in the past month, or at the movies.
We saw them together all the time; which in and of itself, was odd. Especially since Weston wasn’t being discreet about it…you know, since he had a psycho Sally for a wife.
Then, it’d been a surprise. More of an ‘Oh, wow. That’s weird.’ Kind of thing. Now, though, it was on the verge of being a, “What the fuck is going on?” Kind of thing.
“You think something more is going on than what they’re letting on, don’t you?” I asked, sure that I was reading him right.
He shrugged. “It makes sense. When was the last time you saw his wife?”
I thought about it for a few moments, then shrugged. “I hear her all the time on the phone, screeching about this and that. Rowen hasn’t mentioned her lately, though.”
Code 11- KPD SWAT Box Set Page 14
