The Pattels

by S. K. Hardy

  With his eyes never leaving her, Hawk threw back the shot of tequila and slammed the shot glass down on the bar. “Start talking.”

  Raven’s chin lifted a notch at his abrupt tone. Outwardly, she was cool and unaffected but her tightly clenched hands belied her nervousness. “What happened? Down in the lobby, I mean.”

  The muscles in Hawk’s body stiffened. He knew what she was doing. It came second nature to her, finding out all of the pertinent information before mapping out how she would proceed with an argument. But tonight was the wrong night to try and use those tactics with him. The wrong got damn night.

  “Let me tell you how this is gonna go. I ask a question, you answer. Not the other way around. Understand?”

  “Yes, of course. I...I just don’t know where to start.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. How ‘bout the part where you tiptoed around the room like a damn thief so you wouldn’t wake me up.” The sarcasm was thick in Hawk’s voice. “That would be an excellent place to start. And don’t lie to me, Raven. I want the truth.”

  “I never lied. At least not in the way you mean.” Raven’s eyes faltered away from his when he lifted a brow at the spin she was trying to put on things. Swallowing hard, she took a deep breath before beginning. “I was asleep when I heard my phone buzz. Out of habit, I reached for it to check the message. It was Chief. He...he sent me a text from a number I didn’t recognize and told me to meet him down in the lobby or else he–”

  “Wait, he sent you a text?” Hawk cut in and repeated her statement. “How the hell did he get your number?”

  “I asked him the same thing because I certainly didn’t give it to him. Once I went down he told me that Valencia gave it to him. She also told him where we were staying.”

  “She did what?” Hawk snapped. That. Little. Bitch.

  “Apparently she overheard him getting fired. She caught up with him to find out why. They got to talking, and that’s when she discovered he and I knew each other from way back. I have no idea why she gave him the information to contact me but she did.”

  Hawk’s blood pressure rose a degree with every word that revealed Valencia’s involvement, but he pushed the anger away for now. He’d handle her later. By the time he finished with her, Valencia Alvarez would be left with nothing. No business, no livelihood, and no reputation. Nothing.

  “Keep goin’. After he sent you a text instead of waking me up, you snuck out to meet him alone. Why? What is he holding over your head, Raven?” When she still hesitated, Hawk watched her closely. “He said you and he were involved when you were younger. Is that true?”

  Raven’s head shot up. “He told you that?”

  “Yeah. But you said you barely knew him. Which is it?”

  Raven tried to keep a brave façade but once her chin trembled with the effort her face crumbled as if in pain. Biting her lip she looked upwards and shook her head. “It’s not what you think. Chief was just a means to an end back then. A way for me to right a wrong.”

  Now Hawk was even more confused. Right a wrong? “I don’t understand.”

  Raven brought a hand up and wiped away the tear that rolled down her face. Sniffling, she cleared her throat and brought her eyes back to Hawk. “It means exactly what I said. I used Benny to help me get close to the men who murdered my brother. Once I did...”

  “Once you did...what?” Hawk asked when she took a long pause.

  Her shoulders lifted in a careless shrug. Her expression was now eerily blank, almost detached. “Once I did, I killed them.”

  CHAPTER 31

  Raven said the words so casually that it took Hawk a minute to digest them. Even when he did he shook his head and rejected their meaning. He couldn’t have heard her right. “You mean you had somebody kill them?”

  Raven frowned. She hadn’t stuttered or misspoke. “No. I killed them. I killed them myself.”

  There wasn’t much that surprised Hawk, but this left him uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Raven continued. “I’ve made a career out of putting people who commit crimes behind bars, but I’m no different. I mean, I killed two men and went on with my life as if it was nothing.”

  “I’m sure there was a lot more to it than that. How old were you again?”

  “Seventeen.”

  “Start at the beginning. You told me Thompson and Jacoby ran the streets together. He knew the men who killed Jacoby?”

  “Yes. Several people did, but no one would talk, especially to the police.”

  “The code of the streets,” Hawk said, referring to the culture’s set of informal rules that governed life on the street.

  “My parents tried to keep my brother’s case alive but it was no use. A drug dealer killed by other drug dealers was low on the cops priority list. I tried to let it go, but I couldn’t. It ate away at me everyday, almost destroyed my family. I knew we couldn’t go on like that, living a shadow of a life, the future looking so bleak.” She looked at him with eyes welled full and close to overflowing. “So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I started asking around, trying to find out who might know something about Jacoby’s murder. Chief’s name kept coming up again and again.”

  “Did you know who he was?”

  “Everyone knew who Chief was,” Raven answered with a wry grimace. “He’d been sniffing around me for years, but Jacoby warned him to stay away from me. The fact that he was attracted to me made it easy to get close to him. But as I’m sure you’ve figured out, that information didn’t come for free. He agreed to tell me who killed my brother but he wanted something in exchange.”

  “Let me guess. You.”

  A violent shudder ran the length of her body. As if suddenly chilled, Raven folded her arms and hunched her shoulders. She closed her eyes tightly as if to block out the unwanted memories. “I’m not proud of the things I did. I hate him and I hated every second of him touching me! He made my skin crawl but...I did what I had to do.” She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Hawk with a disassociated stare. “But I hated the men who killed my brother more. Eventually he told me who was responsible for my brother’s death and why. It turns out the men who did it owed Jacoby money. A lot of money. They were supposed to bring it to him that night. They didn’t have it so they decided to kill him before he could get to them.”

  “Rae...” Hawk took a step towards her, but Raven quickly moved back and held a hand up to stop him.

  “Don’t. I’m okay. It’s just that...if you had seen what they did to him. We couldn’t even have an open casket because...” Blinking rapidly, Raven stared at Hawk with a fiery look. “Right before I pulled the trigger I made sure they knew who I was. I don’t regret it, Hawk. Not one bit. If I had a chance to do it all over again I wouldn’t change anything.”

  “Nor should you. I would’ve done the exact same thing.”

  “I was so broken inside. My whole family was. Almost as if we were stuck and couldn’t move on. My mother tried to hide it from me and Nikki, but we heard her crying when she thought we were asleep. As for my father, he shrank in front of our very eyes until he was a shell of the man he once was. After those bastards paid for what they did, it didn’t bring Jacoby back, but at least we were able to start the process of putting our lives back together.”

  “I understand.”

  Her body rigid as if bracing herself, she asked, “Are you going to tell me what else he said?”

  “Not much. Just that he had safety precautions in place in case something happened to him and that he would make sure your life was ruined. He didn’t get much out after that. It’s hard to talk when your throats been punched into the back of your neck.”

  “Hawk! You didn’t!”

  Ignoring her look of censure he asked, “How much does he want to keep quiet and hand over any evidence he has?”

  Raven blinked in surprise. “H-How do you know he wants money? Did he tell you that?”

  “He didn’t have to. It
’s not hard to figure out now that I know what the hell’s goin’ on. How much?” He asked again.

  Raven shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll handle it.”

  Hawk’s eyes narrowed. He took several slow steps until he stood in front of her. “How. Much.”

  “Hawk, I–”

  “Got dammit, Raven, answer the question!”

  “Stop yelling at me!” She screamed.

  “Jesus.” Hawk stared down at the floor while forcing himself to take several deep breaths to calm his temper. He’d never met a woman who frustrated him as much as this one. “Why are you so stubborn?”

  Raven threw her hands up. “Look who’s talking!”

  “All of this could’ve been avoided if you’d just been honest with me when I asked you about this! You do realize that, don’t you? You should’ve trusted me!”

  “So now you wanna preach honesty and openness and trust? Where was all this energy a few months ago when you were lying and screwing half of the women in New York just so you and your family could get away with deceiving me about your true intentions!”

  “Stop right there. See, what you not gon’ do right now is throw up what happened in the past as a means of justifying what you did tonight. Correct me if I’m wrong but just a few hours ago I thought we decided to start over with a clean slate.”

  “We did, but–”

  “There are no buts! You know what, never mind. We not doin’ this.” Turning around, he snatched Raven’s cell phone off of the coffee table. “If you won’t tell me what I want to know I’ll get answers from Thompson.”

  “Hawk, no! Give me my phone!” Raven jumped to try and grab it out of his hand but he easily held it out of reach. “Hawk! Give it to me!”

  “For the last time, how much?”

  Glaring fiercely, Raven reluctantly gave him an answer. “One million but that’s only because he thinks I’ll get it from you... which I won’t.”

  “What evidence does he have?”

  Raven’s lips tightened as if she’d said all she intended to say, but then she eyed her phone and changed her mind. She knew if she didn’t tell him he would call Benny. “He says he recorded our conversations.”

  Hawk exhaled. Now that he knew what he was working with he could take steps to handle the situation. “Okay. When is he supposed to contact you again?”

  “I don’t need your help. Plus, he’s probably bluffing. It’s been fifteen years. He’s been in prison ten of those. If he ever had anything to blackmail me with to begin with, I doubt if he has it anymore. Even if he does, if he implicates me he implicates himself.”

  “Are you prepared to take that chance? Because I’m not.”

  “Paying him off is only a temporary fix. Once he gets the money he’ll just come back for more.”

  “I never said we’re payin’ him off.”

  Raven immediately got his meaning and shook her head. “Hawk, no. No.”

  “I wasn’t asking.”

  “After fighting with him if anything happens to him now you’re going to be the first person they look at.”

  Hawk’s frown came quick. He took that as an insult. “As fast as his ass went down I’d hardly call it a ‘fight’.”

  Clearly irritated, Raven stomped her foot. “You know what I mean!”

  “Rae–”

  “Let me talk to him again, find out exactly what he has or doesn’t have. Once I do–”

  Hawk shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

  “You don’t know him like I do. When his back is against the wall–”

  “I said no.”

  “Hawk, please. I promise I’ll be careful. I can meet him in a public place and–”

  “I said no! Stay away from him, Raven, I mean it! I’ll handle this.”

  “I don’t want you to get any more involved than you already are.”

  “I’m already involved, got dammit! If it involves you, it involves me! What don’t you get about that?” Hawk looked away in frustration. The thought of anything happening to her scared him shitless. “I knew something was going on the second he came up to you yesterday. When I saw you arguing with him just before you left I was sure of it.”

  “You saw me? But how?” As soon as Raven asked the question the answer immediately came to her. “The cameras! I knew it! I didn’t notice them until I got in the elevator. You were spying on me!”

  “I wasn’t ‘spying’ on you. I thought you were going straight down to the car. When I saw that Tony was still waiting on you to come out, I looked to see where you were. That’s when I spotted you arguing with Thompson.”

  Raven’s features shifted in understanding. “That’s when you fired him.”

  “Yeah. If I’d known what the hell was going on then, he never would’ve left the building alive.”

  Raven lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I...I should’ve told you.”

  “Yeah. You should have. Is there anything else? Because if there is, tell me now.”

  “No. Nothing.” When he continued to stare at her expectedly, Raven gazed at him pleadingly. “I swear. There’s nothing else.”

  Hawk’s jaw ticked repeatedly as he studied her closely, looking for any signs of deception. Finally, he nodded. Making an effort to ease the tension he softened his tone. “Look, why don’t you go lie down. You haven’t gotten much rest since we left Connecticut.”

  “Neither have you. Are you coming with me?”

  Hawk was too wired to sleep. Plus, he expected Tony to call at any minute. “Not right now. You go on.”

  Raven looked as if she wanted to push the issue, but thinking better of it, nodded reluctantly. “Okay. And Hawk? I am sorry.”

  When he just stared at her in silence her eyes fell away from his. She was almost out of the room when he caught up with her with three long strides. Sensing him behind her, Raven swung around with wide eyes. Hawk walked her backwards the couple of steps needed until the wall stopped her.

  “You’re absolutely sure there’s nothing else. Nothing else you haven’t told me, nothing else I should know about anything.”

  Raven slowly shook her head from side to side. Her voice came out a thin whisper. “No. I swear to you.”

  “I plan on taking care of Thompson and when I do you’ll never have to worry about him again. But afterwards, you need to decide once and for all whether or not this is what you want. If you don’t, I’ll let you go, no strings attached. You have my word.”

  “Hawk, I already–”

  Hawk placed a finger over her lips to quiet whatever she was getting ready to say. He didn’t want her to talk right now. He wanted her to listen, to hear what he was saying and understand that he meant every single word.

  “If you decide you want to do this, you need to be all in. I’m trying everything in my power to show you that I gotchu no matter fuckin’ what, but I gotta know you got me too. You understand what I’m sayin’?”

  Raven hesitated then slowly nodded. “Yes. Hawk I–”

  The crushing pressure of Hawk’s mouth over hers swallowed the remainder of her sentence. He was angry at her yes, but angrier with himself because no matter what she did he couldn’t control his desire for her. It assaulted him the moment he came in contact with the sweet taste of her mouth and the unbelievable softness of her lips that parted demurely to allow his tongue entrance. Hawk was torn between wanting to savor her bit by bit yet devour her all at the same time. As always, the former won out. His mouth lost some of its harshness as he deepened the kiss. His touch gentled, letting his thumb move in a slow, lazy caress against her skin.

  Raven ran eager hands down his spine and pressed herself closer to his body. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest as the kiss turned more urgent. “I love you, Hawk,” she murmured against his lips. “I love you so much. Please don’t hate me. Please.”

  A low groan rumbled from Hawk’s chest. He could never hate her. Never. If he could, it would probably be easier to let her go if it came to
that. He was moments away from scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to the bedroom when his cell phone rang. It took a moment to penetrate the foggy recesses of his brain. Pulling it from his back pocket he reluctantly tore his mouth away from Raven. Glancing down at the screen he connected the call and brought the phone up to his ear after seeing that it was Tony.

  “Hold on,” Hawk told him. He leaned down and gave Rae one last kiss. “I might be a while. Go get some rest, okay?”

  Raven’s eyes went to the phone. Her lips parted to ask the questions that burned brightly from her eyes, but somehow she refrained from doing so and turned to leave.

  Hawk watched her until she rounded the corner. Once he heard the bedroom door softly close, he brought the phone back to his ear. “Yeah.”

  “I’m sitting outside his apartment. What do you want me to do next?”

  “Just watch him for now. If he tries to leave make sure you have eyes on him.”

  “I will. His apartment is on the second floor. There’s only one way in and one way out.”

  Suddenly Hawk heard Raven’s phone vibrate from the chair where he’d tossed it. Frowning, he walked over and looked at the caller ID. The area code was local. Hawk’s lips tightened. Thompson

  “Hold on a sec,” he told Tony. Thoroughly peeved, Hawk answered Raven’s phone. “What the hell do you want?” He growled. The other end remained silent. “Look mu’fucka I know it’s you. Either talk to me or hang up because you not talkin’ to Raven.”

  “You really think you the shit, don’t you Pattel?”

  Hawk smirked when he heard the gravelly tone in Thompson’s voice. “Speak up. You sound like a frog croaking in water. What was that again?”

  “You gon’ pay for what you did, you son a bitch!” Thompson wheezed. “Your perfect life is gettin’ ready to blow da’ fuck up. Yours and that bitch’s.”