by Brynne Asher
I huff a laugh in the midst of my life falling apart around me. “Next time, baby.”
I hear her tapping away at the keyboard as she mutters, “Yes. I need to get back to the gym. I’m ready.”
“The doc said six weeks—you’re hardly ready. I don’t have time to discuss this now. You’ve got eyes on us, you’ll know when we’ll be on our way.”
“Cole,” she calls.
“Make it quick, sweetness. I need to help.”
“I’m going to reach out to Gracie and Keelie first thing in the morning. Abbott didn’t bring much to stay at Crew and Addy’s. We need to make her as comfortable as we can after this. If there’s anything special you think she’ll want replaced right away, we need to make it happen. I don’t know her well enough to know of any special trinkets or lovies she may have.”
I drop my head to look at the ground under my feet. I have to clear my throat to get the words out. “Thank you.”
“Ha,” she spouts. “I do believe it’s the first time you’ve ever thanked me for anything, Cole Carson, even after I gave you my virginity. One for the record books.”
“Baby, don’t piss me off right now. You doing that for Abbott means a lot. You even thinking about it needing done means even more.”
Her tone softens. “You’re welcome. Now, go finish. You gents have three men to abduct.”
“See you soon.”
“Cole, wait.”
“Baby—”
“If you can find my Louboutins, that would be lovely.”
“I’m sure that would be fucking lovely.” I shake my head and kick a charcoaled toaster that landed in the front yard all the way from the kitchen. “I’ll do my best.”
I hang up, more annoyed I have to deal with this than it happening in the first place. I head back through my entryway and to the family room. That’s when I decide we’ll rebuild this fucker bigger and better than I ever imagined I’d have. And since there’s a chance my sperm could be flirting with Bella’s egg at the moment, we’ll need it.
Chapter 27
Windmill
Cole
It was easy.
Which kind of sucked since I don’t work in the field anymore. I was looking forward to traveling back in my operative time machine to kick some asses for a change, instead of ordering everyone else to do the fun shit.
We assumed they weren’t holding a bible study in there, so we went in prepared. Helmets, shields, vests … your basic ballistic wear. Bella used to say firepower and flashbangs were perfect accessories. She was not wrong.
They didn’t see it coming.
Now they’re blindfolded, hogtied, and lying on the mat in Crew’s barn. I must note, this place is the shit. More workout equipment than these men could ever use at one time, enough weights for the Jolly Green Giant and Goliath to spot each other, and a mat—the one Crew uses to kick every new recruit’s ass to put him in his place. Jarvis confirmed this since his ass was, in fact, kicked on it.
They haven’t seen our mugs and we’re going to keep it that way.
“Who gave you the wad of cash and what was it for?” I demand even though I know. I’m actually more curious to know if they know who they’re dealing with.
The one on the left has been crying since we pulled him out of the back of Crew’s old truck, which for some reason smells like cows. “I don’t know! Please let me go. I needed the money. I had no idea we were building a bomb!”
“Shut the fuck up, you spineless prick!”
Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. The one on the right is in charge.
“What about you?” Grady’s boot connects with the guy in the middle. “Who paid for the fireworks you shitheads arranged tonight?”
“Fireworks?” the guy on the left asks as his voice cracks.
“You know what we’re talking about,” Crew steps forward and stoops, elbows to his knees. “What’s your name?”
The guy on the right yells, “Shut your fuckin’ mouth!”
“Don’t listen to him.” Crew is calm and cool. “He’s tied up tighter than you—can’t do a thing to you. But do you know who can?”
The kid in front of Crew breathes, “Who?”
“Me,” I interrupt. “The motherfuckers who tied you up like sheep at a rodeo don’t have a dog in this race, but I do. The way I see it, you have choices. Tell me who you’re working for and there’s a chance we’ll dump you in the middle of nowhere. You won’t die, so this is the path I suggest you choose. Or,” I pause and watch them sweat. “You do what your friend over there insists and keep your mouth shut. If you take that road, you’re no good to us, which means we’re not going to take the time to dump you anywhere—we’ll get it done here.”
“Oh shit.” The kid starts crying again.
“Shut your fucking mouth, Jace.”
“Jace.” Crew starts in again. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“Please. I only wanted to make some quick money—”
“Tell us who visited you at your camp tonight, Jace.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know her name. Gary said we didn’t need to know.”
“Gary,” Jarvis belts and gives the one on the right a kick to the gut with some force behind it. Gary groans. “Gary, Gary, Gary. You’ve heard your choices. Tell us what you know.”
“Tell them, Gary!” Jace begs. “Please, tell them!”
“Fuck you,” Gary seethes.
“We should separate them,” I announce.
“No!” Jace and Gary yell at the same time.
“You’ve been quiet.” Asa toes the guy in the middle on the tip of his Air Jordan Classics—a throwback, but still a nice choice. He winces and I sense the fear rolling off him in waves. “Don’t let your friend scare you. We want information on the person who paid you to do what you did tonight. We don’t have time to fuck around—someone needs to speak up.”
“If you open your fuckin’ mouth—”
The kid in the middle talks. “He made me do it.”
Asa tips his head. “How old are you?”
“Sev-seventeen.”
“Seventeen?” Asa whistles and the kid shudders. “I bet you wished you were hanging out at the pool with a bunch of girls rather than being tied up and blindfolded right now, huh?”
“Shit,” I mutter. I do not need a child’s life on my conscience—arsonist or not. I look over at Crew. “Do you have a way to ID them?”
“Dammit!” Gary yells.
Crew stands and crosses his arms, looking to Jarvis. “Get the scanner and print them.”
“Oh fuck, they’re police,” Jace sobs.
“Trust me, kid. You’ll wish we were the police,” I mutter, losing patience with this shit.
“What’s your name?” Asa demands.
Jace’s morals must be kicking in. “Leave Ben alone. He didn’t know what he was getting into. This isn’t his fault.”
I see Asa drag a hand down his face. “You still in high school, Ben?”
“He is!” Jace gives Ben up, proving I only need thirty seconds in a room alone with this guy and I’ll have all the info I need plus his life story and that of his ancestors. “Let him go. This is my fault—seriously, it is!”
“It’s your fault you got involved making a bomb and now could end up in federal prison?” I clip.
“No, that’s Gary’s fault. It’s my fault Ben’s here,” Jace admits.
“Fuck me,” Asa mutters. “Where do you go to high school, Ben?”
When he tells us, we all look at each other and Asa drops his head before he shakes it.
The kid is local.
And I’m pretty sure Keelie works at his school and Asa’s kids go there too.
Isn’t this the shits.
“You still in high school, Jace?” Asa keeps on.
“No way. I’ve been out for a year.”
Asa looks up at Crew and tips his head to the ringleader.
Crew sighs. “Let’s separate them.”
> “No!” Ben and Jace scream at the same time but we don’t move to them.
Jarvis and Grady have Gary up and are dragging him out of the barn. I have no clue where they’re taking him and I don’t really give a shit because these two are the ones who will talk. If they turn out to be young and stupid like it seems, we’ll drop them and they can make their way home and will never know where they’ve been or who we are.
“Here’s how it’s going to go,” I start when I know Gary is out of earshot. “We found the fuel cans in your building. The arson investigator already traced the ammonium nitrate. That shit put together is lethal.”
“I didn’t know it was going to be so big,” Jace admits. “I thought we were going to blow up a mailbox or something. He didn’t tell us what was really going to happen when we filled the box. I mean, shit. It was small.”
“How do you know Gary?” Asa demands.
“He’s my cousin,” Jace says. “What are you going to do to us?”
“Who was the woman who came to your camp tonight?” I demand.
“They didn’t introduce us, but Gary called her Wendy when they were fighting. She didn’t pay up like she said she would. She found out no one was at the house. I’m glad no one was there. I don’t want to hurt anyone. Gary told us this chick only wanted to send a message. Can you at least take this thing off my head?”
“No. And trust me, you do not want to know what happens if you see our faces,” Crew says.
Ben whimpers, “Was anyone hurt?”
“No.” I roll my eyes. “Ease your conscience, kid. You only blew up a house; you didn’t kill anyone.”
“I’m so sorry,” Jace chants.
Apologies aren’t going to replace my Nationals T-shirt collection, which was practically vintage. Thank fuck I have Abbott’s pictures stored in the cloud. “I’ll think about forgiving you if you start talking. Who else have you seen there who might want to create havoc in people’s lives and blow shit up?”
Ben says nothing and I wouldn’t be surprised if he pisses himself soon. I’m also not surprised Jace keeps running his mouth. “Some guy, but that was a week or two ago. If they said his name I can’t remember. He was older, sort of balding but trying really hard to make it look like he’s not. Sort of talked through his nose. It’s the only thing I remember because he reminded me of a cartoon character.”
If that wasn’t Nick Peterson then I’m not a-fucking-mazing. I look to Crew and nod.
“Was he with the woman who was there tonight?” Crew asks.
“Yeah.”
A modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, trying to fuck with my already-complicated life.
Those two cannot support that bankroll on their own. “No one else has been there? Did they mention any other names?”
“No one, I swear. I’d tell you because I really want to get out of here,” Jace says.
“This is what we’re going to do,” Asa states. “We’re going to drop you two shitheads off somewhere. As you find your way home, do it knowing we have your fingerprints on the ammonium nitrate and the fuel containers. We also have footage of you fucking around at the house you blew to smithereens. On top of that, we’ve got enough footage for a ten-episode series on Netflix of you two coming and going from that place. If you don’t think that’s enough to throw each of you into federal prison, you’re more stupid than we gave you credit for. And Ben, there’s almost a hundred percent chance they’ll try you as an adult. And all the shit you hear about prison is real. Given your boy-band look, they’ll love you.”
Not surprisingly, Ben starts to whimper again. “I promise. I’ll never go back.”
“What about Gary?” Jace asks.
I shrug. “Not sure. Depends on what he can do for us.”
“Oh, shit.”
“We don’t fuck around, guys. In the last three minutes, we found your addresses, parents’ names, know how many dogs you have, and if you skipped class during your sophomore year. This is your only chance so don’t fuck it up.”
“No.” Ben shakes his head. “I won’t. I swear. You’ll never see or hear from me again.”
Asa looks at me. “I’ll stay with them. Go see what they’re getting from the ringleader.”
I turn and head for the door. When I get out in the dark of night, I go to the only other building that’s lit up. Unlike how we went easy on young Jace and Ben, Jarvis and Grady have taken a different tactic.
Gary’s wrists aren’t bound by zip ties anymore. They’re wrapped so tight with duct tape, his fingers are now a nice shade of indigo. They remind me of my favorite suit which I’ll never get to wear again because this asshole blew up my house.
I have no sympathy for him.
He’s hanging three feet off the ground from a meat hook attached to a chain on a pulley system. I’d wonder why Crew needs a device like this if it weren’t for a punching bag lying on the floor. Sure, Crew and his men are killers but I don’t think they’re in the business of torturing people.
Until Bella and I walked into their lives.
Before I have a chance to say shit or punch Gary in the balls, Jarvis looks at me and says one word. “Randolph.”
I stop in my tracks and his balls get a reprieve for at least a minute. “What the fuck?”
“Let me down,” Gary begs. His tough-guy act is gone and I see blood dripping from his nose and mouth. It seems Jarvis and Grady haven’t wasted any time.
“Randolph is funding the party,” Grady adds. “This guy,” he points to Gary, “has been managing the church. He hasn’t seen Randolph since they registered as a religious nonprofit. It took Gary losing a tooth but he finally spilled. We knew they were connected from the text, but this explains more.”
I let out a whistle on my exhale.
“Proves circles in the district run tight,” Jarvis notes.
I nod and think we won’t be able to find the money trail fast enough. “You’re on the wrong guy’s payroll, Gary.”
“What do you want to know?” he pleads. “I’ll flip—work for you. I won’t even charge you.”
I almost laugh. “If you’re worried about money right now, you have no idea how serious this situation is. You’re hanging from a meat hook, Gary. Only dead shit hangs from meat hooks.”
His shoulders give out and his body stretches another few inches. “Please. Don’t hurt Jace and Ben. I’ll do anything.”
“Tell me about Sisson. Why were you blowing up houses tonight?”
“She said someone was in their way and needed to be taken care of sooner rather than later. She does whatever Randolph says ‘cause he pays well. I guess Sisson has connections all over the world. She was fuckin’ manic cause Randolph was on her ass about planting that bomb. She said my money would dry up if we didn’t make it happen. I had no choice—”
“No,” I interrupt. “You did. What do you know about Randolph that caused him to resort to murder?”
“I told you what I know. I don’t ask questions—I do what they want and take the money. It’s too good not to.” He arches and groans. “What are you gonna do? This fuckin’ hurts.”
I’m about to work a little bit of aggression out on this guy’s face, thinking about how every possession I own is now ash, thanks to this piece of shit who doesn’t want to put any effort into making a buck the honest way, but I’m stopped when Bella’s cell vibrates against my ass.
I pull out the phone and find a text from Ozzy.
Ozzy – It’s me again. I would not have to text you from Ozzy’s phone if you wouldn’t steal my cell every other minute of the day.
Ozzy (really Bella) – Are you about done doing the things I’d rather be doing myself?
Bella (but really me) – Can’t be without a phone, baby. We’re about to finish up.
Ozzy (Bella) – Then hurry your yummy arse back to me.
Bella (but me) – Do you know how weird it is that Ozzy thinks my ass is yummy?
Ozzy (sweetness) – You know how much I love your arse. I
haven’t seen nearly enough of it since I’ve been back.
Bella (me) – Who’s fault is that?
Bella – You’re seriously going to go there?
(me) – Baby, if naked is what you wish, I’ll gladly windmill my cock for you twenty-four-seven.
Bella – Mmm. Finish up.
(me) – Okay, but you know I’ll do it for you.
Bella – I know you will.
(me) – And since we’ve pulled the goalie, I can’t wait.
Bella – We did not pull the goalie, love.
(me) – Pretty sure it was you I fucked bareback. We pulled the goalie.
Bella – I know my body. I’m nowhere near ovulating. It was not careless. It was calculated.
(me) – Wait. Are you saying you told me to pull the goalie because it was unlikely my sperm would mate with your egg to create superhumans?
Bella – We will make beautiful superhumans someday.
(me) – Damn. You really owe me a blow job.
Bella – I don’t owe you a thing. But you know I’ll gladly take you in my mouth. It’s been a long time.
(me) – Yes, it fucking has. Make sure you’re hydrated—I’m on my way.
Chapter 28
Treasure Forever
Bella
“I’ve had enough. The whole thing began with Penn Simmons before we knew it was related to Randolph. I’m going to Geneva to get to the bottom of it.”
Everyone in the room looks to Cole, but I’m the first to speak. “In the last few days, your boss and his boss have tried to silence you permanently—not once, but twice. Not to mention, Randolph tried to kill a reporter. Do you really think that’s the best course of action?”
Cole crosses his arms and his eyes penetrate mine. “I want to look Penn Simmons in the face when I ask him why someone wants him dead. Then I want to see what he does when I inform him they want me dead when I wouldn’t make him dead. You know there’s no better tell than body language. I want to witness each twitch on his face and every uncomfortable shift of his feet. I can be out and back in thirty-six hours and the C-I-fucking-A can kiss my ass. They left me out to dry when I refused to be their puppet. If I don’t check in for a few more days, they can assume I blew up with my house.”
