“That’s good, baby,” he replied, dusting his firm lips against my pillowy ones. “Because you’re stuck with me.”
My belly flipped at his words. The thought of him always being around brought me a level of comfort I’d never experienced before. “Ty?”
“What is it, beautiful girl?”
“Exactly how long am I stuck with you?”
Please say forever…
He pulled back and stared down at me as his calloused thumbs caressed my cheeks, making my toes curl. “Like I told you before, until my dying breath.” I inhaled, letting my eyes slide closed. “I’m not in this just for today, baby,” he continued, sealing my fate tighter with each word he spoke. “I want you today, I want you tomorrow, and I want you forever.”
My eyes fluttered open. “Casanova…”
“Yeah?”
“You have me. Now shut up and kiss me.”
With a smile on his face, he did just that.
Twenty-Four
Ty
By the time I made it to Station 24 after dropping Heidi off, I was thirty minutes late for my shift, and Cap, Hendrix, and Kyle were all standing out front, waiting on me.
“Goddammit,” I mumbled, parking my truck next to one of the rookie’s street bike. “I don’t have the patience for their bullshit. Not today.”
Grabbing my duffle bag off the passenger seat, I killed the engine, ripped the key free of the ignition, and jumped out. Trepidation brewed in my gut as I headed toward the three stooges, but I plastered on a neutral expression, refusing to let them see the deluge of mixed emotions consuming me.
“Yo!” Hendrix yelled out from thirty feet away, his arms crossed over his chest. “Heard you had trouble this morning.”
Sliding off my sunglasses, I closed the space separating us and came to a standstill next to him. “Christ, Cole,” I replied, “you and Tuck gossip more than Grandmama and Shelby. It’s downright ridiculous.”
Kyle chuckled but said nothing.
“Tuck wasn’t the one who called me,” Hendrix said, correcting me. “My niece was.”
My entire body stilled.
Ashley hadn’t said much when she’d left my apartment with Anthony, who’d been surprisingly silent. After finding out his eldest daughter had spent the night with her almost-boyfriend and then witnessing the fallout from the scene outside my apartment, I expected him to show his ass and forbid her from ever seeing my little brother again, something that wouldn’t have gone over well.
He didn’t.
Instead, he told me he’d call me later before escorting a visibly shaken Ashley outside to his idling SUV without mentioning Chase or acknowledging him in any way, despite how upset he’d been.
It was jacked up.
But what was even more twisted, was that I didn’t know what Moretti had done with the bag of skin who dared to call himself Chase and I’s father.
Didn’t care either.
All I knew was that when Heidi and I left for work, he was nowhere to be seen. Thank fuck for that because I doubt I would’ve been able to control myself if I’d seen him again.
Walking away once was hard enough.
It was an action I doubted I could repeat.
“Yeah?” I asked. “She alright?’
“She’s fine. Was more worried about you than anything.” His eyes narrowed. “Though I don’t know what the hell for. The way she acts, you’d think she likes you or something.”
“That’s because she does, dipshit.”
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “I’m getting that. But what I don’t understand is why.”
Grasping the strap of my duffle with one hand, I flipped him off with the other. “Are you trying to goad me into popping you in the mouth?”
He shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
That was the damn truth.
If I had a dime for each time he and I had exchanged blows since I was a kid, I’d never have to work again. Add Kyle to the equation, and I’d be a millionaire. “Yeah, no shit,” I replied.
I flinched when a beefy hand cupped my shoulder, and strong fingers dug into my skin. Jerking my head to the left, I met Cap’s gaze head-on. “Your Papaw showed up about twenty minutes ago, wanting to see you.” He nodded toward the metal door that connected the apparatus bay to the back hallway of the station. “He’s waiting in my office.”
My brow crinkled; confusion set in.
The only time Papaw ever left his house was to go fishing each Saturday and to check in at First Defense every Monday. I briefly wondered if he’d heard about the altercation at my apartment. Chase would’ve never told him, but Anthony may have.
“He say why he’s here?” Unease nipped at my spine.
“I think it’s best we ask him that,” Cap answered, evading my question.
“What do you mean we?”
Refusing to answer me, Cap gestured toward the door again, this time using his index finger. “Unless you want to end up on boot duty for the next month, I suggest you start walking. You’ve made the man wait long enough.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
I could count on two hands the number of men I respected, and my Papaw was one. I may not have known the reason for his unexpected visit, but I was sure as hell about to find out.
Without giving the trio of men standing by me a second glance, I headed inside the station, walking twice as fast as normal. Dropping my duffle next to the wall outside Cap’s door, I took a breath and turned the corner into his office.
My eyes instantly found my Papaw.
A second later, they landed on someone else.
“Oh shit,” I mumbled, running my sweaty palms down my face. “If you’re both here, that means I’ve fucked up somehow.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and looked from the man who’d been my saving grace as a kid, to the Crazy Old Biddy seated next to him, a giant fuchsia-colored purse draped across her lap.
“What did I do this time, Grandmama?”
When she didn’t throw one of her legendary smartass remarks my way, I knew something was wrong. Horrendous scenarios, each worse than the last, flashed through my mind.
Is Papaw sick?
What about Grandmama?
Christ, neither of them can die!
“You didn’t do a thing,” Grandmama replied, clutching her purse straps. Her voice was softer than normal, almost alien sounding. “But somebody else sure did.”
“Who?” If somebody had hurt her or Papaw, I’d destroy them with my bare hands. Both of them drove me crazy for different reasons, but I loved the hell out of them. “Tell me.” My temple began to throb. “Else I’ll find out on my own.”
“Sit down, Ty,” Papaw demanded, leaving no room for argument. “The last thing we need right now is for you to get your knickers in a knot over whatever you think is going on.”
Knowing better than to argue, I plunked down in a cheap, blue chair that was wedged in the corner of the office. As soon as my ass hit the plastic, Cap, Hendrix, and Kyle all filed into the small room.
Anthony followed, his signature take-no-shit expression locked in place.
Where the hell he came from, I wasn’t sure.
When I pulled into the lot a few minutes earlier, his SUV wasn’t there.
After stomping across the room, Cap plopped down in the rolling chair behind his desk and placed his elbows on the scarred desktop. “This conversation is about to get personal real fast, but I figured these two knuckleheads”—he nodded toward Hendrix and Kyle, both of whom were leaning against the wall opposite where I sat—“needed to be here since y’all are glued together at the damn hip.”
Quirking a brow, I leaned back in my chair. “Somebody care to fill me in? Cause I’m lost.”
“What’s new?” Kyle, the smartass, quipped.
A snort from Hendrix quickly followed.
I flipped them both off as Cap began to speak again. “It’s past time we deal with this situation,” he said to no
one in particular, his right eye twitching. “We’ve let it go on far too long, and I’m about two seconds away from getting in my truck and driving down to Toluca PD. I don’t give two shits that Clyde Jacobs is a cop.”
I froze at the mention of my father.
So Anthony did call…
“The man has always been a dumbass,” Cap continued, his face tinged red. “But he made one hell of a mistake this morning when he came within three feet of my granddaughter and spewed his bullshit all over her. Now Shelby’s terrified that his nasty remarks are going to make Ashley regress back into the shell it’s taken us three years to pull her out of!”
My skin burned in anger.
I hadn’t gotten the chance to find out what all my father had said to Ashley before Chase and I reached her, but from what I did know, he’d made more than one sick comment about her body and the things she could use it for.
I should’ve killed him…
“Listen here, you overgrown gorilla,” Grandmama said, shooting Cap a look that dared him to interrupt her. “You need to calm down before you give yourself a coronary. We all know Clyde needs a good old-fashioned butt-whooping, but you hollering the station down like a banshee ain’t gonna solve a dadgum thing.”
Reaching up, she straightened the bedazzled sunhat she wore, making the pink rhinestones gleam like the Las Vegas strip as the fluorescent office lights reflected off them. “The only thing it’s gonna do is give me one of em’ headaches that makes my vision fuzzy. And if that happens, how am I supposed to shoot the son of a biscuit? I gotta be able to see to aim!”
“Just use your shotgun and a buckshot-filled shell,” Kyle said, shrugging. “Then all you’ve have do is point and pull the trigger.”
Grandmama snapped her fingers. “And that right there,” she said, pointing at him, “is why you’re my favorite.” After setting her purse down on the floor next to her, she stood and looked Tuck up and down, dragging her eyes over every inch of his clothed body. “Among other things.”
She winked, and I almost gagged.
Christ almighty…
Anthony, who looked two-seconds away from losing it, gritted his teeth together before shoving his fisted hands into his slacks. “Nobody is shooting anybody,” he said, his tone laced with barely restrained rage. “Even if we want to.”
“You may be sexier than sin, Tony,” Grandmama fussed, swinging her head in his direction. “But you do not get to tell me what I can and can’t do. You are not my dadgum daddy.” Placing her hands on her hips in a move I’d seen Heidi, Carissa, and the rest of the ladies emulate more than once, she quirked a brow. “Well, not unless you wanna be.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Hendrix said, mirroring my thoughts. “Come on, Grandmama, damn!”
“Alright, youngin’s,” Papaw said, standing next to the biggest perv I’d ever met. “We’re getting off track here.” He gave Grandmama a pointed look. “The only thing we need to be discussing is how we’re going to deal with my wayward son and the trouble he’s stirring up.”
“I told ya…” Grandmama tapped her foot against the linoleum. “We need to shoot his sorry behind and bury him where nobody ain’t ever gonna find him. I’ll supply the bullet and the shovel.” She looked at Hendrix. "You supply the muscle to dig the hole.”
“Doris—” Papaw started.
“Don’t you Doris me, Roscoe Jacobs,” she interrupted, sounding like Heidi. “That man is a crooked cop, a lying sack of rat turds, and worst of all, he’s a child abuser!” Fire filled her eyes as she stared Papaw down, daring him to speak again. “I have forgiven a lot of things in the past”—she cut her eyes to Cap before glaring at Papaw once more—“but I will not show an unremorseful man leniency, especially one who continues to hurt my grandbabies.”
Fisting her age-spot covered hands at her sides, she puffed her chest out. “I know Clyde is your son, but he’s also an egg-suckin’ dawg who deserves to burn for the all the hurt he’s put other folks through.”
Tears filled her eyes as she continued fussing up a storm, her voice growing louder and fiercer with each word that rolled off her tongue. “He hurt Ty in a way that no child should ever be hurt,” she said, acknowledging the pain my father had thrust upon me. “And because of that, Ty hurt Maddie.”
My heart twisted.
Hearing about the things I’d done…
Of the pain I’d cause.
It was agonizing.
I didn’t even give a fuck that Grandmama was spilling my shame for everyone in the room to see; shame I had no idea how she knew about to begin with. The only thing my brain could focus on was the faces of my past victims, and the many tears they’d shed.
Because of me.
Placing a palm on her chest, Grandmama tapped her flowered blouse three times, her gaze still locked on Papaw. “My Maddie… my beautiful, sweet Madelyn Grace was hurt, because of him, the son you should’ve put a bullet in the moment you found out he was hurting those boys.”
Hendrix exhaled and dropped his gaze to the floor. As much as he loved his wife, I knew he was ready to rip my head off after being reminded of the hell I’d put her through as a kid.
I didn’t blame him.
If I ever found out the names of the people who’d bullied Heidi, causing her pain…
Don’t go there, I told myself.
“You think I didn’t consider it?” Papaw said, his tone tortured. “Clyde may be my only son, but I have no illusions about who or what he is. Far as I can tell, he is beyond redemption. My only concern is getting him out of my grandson’s lives before he ruins them.”
Done speaking to Grandmama, he swung his gaze to Anthony. “Tell me what to do, Detective Moretti,” he said, taking off his worn ball cap and slapping it against his leg. “You know what needs to be done more than anyone.”
“Papaw,” I said, standing. “Let me handle it. I can—”
“You’ve handled it long enough,” he interrupted, shaking his head fiercely. “Even when you were too young to realize the evil you were fighting against, you handled it. But that ends now. I may have been ignorant to the harm you and Chase faced growing up, but I no longer am, and I will not sit here and let anyone harm my boys; whether it’s my son doing the hurting, or someone else.”
Eyes glassy from unshed tears, he stood taller, uncurling from the hunched position his aged shoulders had taken on over the past few years. “This nightmare ends,” he stated with finality. “Today.”
“Papaw—”
“No, Ty,” he barked, cutting me off yet again. “Don’t argue with me. Not over this.” Placing one hand onto Cap’s desk, he leaned to the side, letting it take some of his weight and reducing the strain on his arthritic hip. “You are my firstborn grandson, and the bravest man I’ve ever met.” Pride-filled eyes bored into my own. “I failed you and Chase as children, but I refuse to fail either of you as adults.”
Ripping an embroidered hanky out of his pocket, he wiped away the tears that streamed down his cheeks, followed by his running nose. “Now,” he said, shoving the cloth into his pocket once more. “Back to the task at hand.” His eyes met Anthony’s again. “Tell me, Moretti—how do we stop the monster that is my son?”
Anthony took a step forward. Clearing his throat, he looked around the room, making eye contact with each person. “Only way to stop someone like Clyde is to send him away.”
“You best be talking about to the morgue,” Grandmama huffed. “Cause if not, you may be removing my foot from your behind.”
“No,” Anthony replied, shaking his head. “I’m talking about prison.” I sucked in an audible breath. “The man is a dirty cop and an even dirtier civilian. I know it, Internal Affairs knows it, hell, even the Mayor knows it. The only problem is, none of us can prove it. If the department could get their hands on enough evidence to verify what we already know to be true, he’d never see the light of day again.”
“Jesus,” I hissed, unsurprised. “What kind of shit is he into?”
/>
“Intimidation, witness tampering, spoliation of evidence, unwarranted surveillance, unwarranted search and seizure, bribery, sexual misconduct, selective enforcement—”
“That’s enough, Detective.” Papaw looked madder than I’d ever seen him. “Your point has been received loud and clear.”
“So what’s the plan, Tony?” Cap asked, leaning forward in his chair. “I know you’ve got something up your sleeve.”
Moretti smiled. “I have a solution, but it’ll require us to straddle the line of what we know to be right and what we consider to be wrong.”
“You talking about breaking the law?” Kyle asked, arching a lone brow.
“No,” Anthony replied. “I’m talking about bending it.” His focus turned to me. “You prepared for that?”
“Hell yes.” There was no hesitation on my part. I would do whatever it took to keep my family safe, whether it be illegal or legal.
“Alright,” he said, pulling his cell phone free of his pocket. “Then let’s get to work.”
Hendrix stood straight, leaning away from the wall as Anthony tapped away on his phone. “I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed,” he said, stating the obvious, “but would somebody care to explain this to me?”
“It’s better if you don’t know the exact details. That way you can claim plausible deniability if this goes bad,” Moretti replied, still working on his phone. Lifting it to his ear, he cupped the back of his neck with his free hand. “Come on,” he mumbled, “answer the damn—”
An unfamiliar voice echoed through the speaker.
“Ari, this is Detective Moretti,” Anthony said, speaking to a woman I didn’t know. “You remember that favor you owe me?” The entire room was silent as we waited for him to continue. “This is me calling it in.”
“Da?” she replied, speaking a language—Russian maybe?—that I didn’t understand. “And what is it you wish for me to do exactly?”
“I need information,” Anthony told her, his eyes locked with mine. “The man’s name is Clyde Jacobs. He’s one of my officers.”
“I see,” she said, her voice devoid of all emotion. “Tell me, what type of information is it that you seek?”
Every Wrong You Right: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 6) Page 19
