Shakedown

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  “Souls Chapel is sort of weird, though.” Belle moved until she was practically tucked into my front when one of the kids broke off from standing next to her mother to crowd in close to the candy where Belle was standing.

  I saw the man tense, as did Belle.

  He wanted to grab the kid and run. I could see that all the way from over here.

  My own muscles tensed, my body stiffening impossibly as if readying itself to explode into motion if the man so much as twitched toward the kid.

  But the man slowly allowed his muscles to relax, which then caused me to control my breathing in reaction.

  My eyes flicked up over the entire line to see Sin standing next to a toy grabber machine.

  He had one eye on the grabber and the other on the man in the line.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something pink and sparkly come up with the grabber and drop down into the bin.

  Sin bent down, retrieved it, and then handed it to some little girl that’d been staring at him with awe.

  She already had two others in her arms.

  The line moved quickly, and when the man’s turn came up after the woman and the kids walked away, the man cursed, comically patted his pockets and declared, “Oh, shoot. I forgot my wallet. I’ll be right back.”

  Then he too was gone.

  I watched as Sin followed him out.

  “I’ll be outside, babe,” I said to Belle, absently leaving her behind before she could so much as agree or disagree.

  When I arrived outside it was to find Sin walking two paces in front of the woman, behind a row of cars and mostly out of sight, while the mom tried to corral her unruly children into some semblance of control.

  The man doing the following had his phone to his ear, and everyone was walking toward a mini-van with two adult stick figures on the window, as well as three small children characters. Next to the mini-van was a white panel van that had my insides tensing in anticipation.

  Sin walked up from the opposite end of the lot, taking an immediate right beside the van on the opposite side of the one I could see.

  Just as the woman reached the doors of her van, the ones of the other van burst open and men started to pour out.

  I came off the curb and started to run, hitting the guy that’d been doing the following with a right hook to the back of his head.

  The kids started to scream as one of the attackers caught the oldest and started to pull her away from the mother who’d finally caught on that something wasn’t right.

  Sin came out from the side of the van like an avenging angel and took that man in the mouth with a fist.

  I saw two front teeth fall out to the dirty parking lot ground before the rest of the man’s body joined them.

  The kid was yanked down with the body but quickly got back up and ran to her mother.

  The mother who was busy trying to keep another child out of another kidnapper’s clutches.

  I arrived just in time to snake my arm around his neck and choke him out.

  The man let go of the kid quickly and started to clutch at his neck.

  Most people in this particular situation didn’t stop to think. Didn’t plan out how to get away. No stomping on the insole of someone’s foot. No using the elbow that was close enough to use. Nope, they panicked. Just like this guy was doing.

  It helped that I was at least a foot taller, and probably a hundred pounds heavier than him. So there wasn’t much fighting he could actually do at this point.

  The moment he stopped fighting, I dropped him to the ground, too.

  He landed with a meaty thump right beside the stunned mother.

  Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, but I didn’t spare her the time or my attention.

  I backed away and looked around to make sure that I’d gotten them all.

  “You missed one.” Belle absently reared back and kicked the one I’d punched in the back of the head. The man slumped back to the ground, unconscious all over again.

  I looked backward and grinned. “Thanks.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Never ask a woman who’s eating ice cream straight from the carton how she’s doing.

  -Pro tip

  BRUNO

  “Looks good as new, Bruno,” the doctor informed me as he patted my chest.

  I patted my chest where my pacemaker—the new one I’d just gotten a few months ago—lay underneath my chest.

  It didn’t feel weird to me anymore.

  Hadn’t since I had first gotten it when I was fifteen.

  But it still looked weird as fuck.

  “I can return to regular exercise?” I asked.

  I’d already returned, but it was good to make sure, just in case.

  “Yes, sir,” Dr. Haygood responded. “Just don’t be dumb.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  I wasn’t going to be dumb. At least not on purpose anyway.

  After offering my hand and settling my bill, I walked out into the hallway and nearly ran right over a pacing brunette female.

  My heart skipped a beat when the woman—Belle—jumped back like she’d been burned.

  “Oh.” She placed her hand over her heart. “What are you doing here?”

  She looked at the sign behind me that read ‘Dr. Lawrence Haygood, Cardiologist’ and raised her eyebrow.

  I patted my chest. “I have a pacemaker.”

  Her head tilted. “I realize that young people need them, but I didn’t realize that you had one. You don’t look sick.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not. Anymore. But I was at one point in time. I got one when I was fifteen.”

  Her brows rose. “Interesting. You never would know.”

  I shrugged.

  “What are you doing here?” I countered.

  She crinkled up her nose.

  “Well,” she hesitated. “I need to see a gynecologist. My yearly was due about three years ago. You know how I am with touch?” She looked at me as if I would understand. And I did. If regular touch was bad for her, then what must a touch like that be like? Torture, likely.

  “I do,” I confirmed.

  “Well,” she hesitated again. “I made this appointment months ago and forgot about it. The only problem is, I really need one. Three years is too long. And then I found out that the doctor is someone I know. So now I’m out here weighing the pros and cons of going inside.”

  I frowned. “Someone you know?”

  She winced. “Benji. My date that stood me up. Kind of. He’s the gynecologist.”

  Understanding dawned. “Yeah, I’d totally skip that one.”

  She sighed in frustration.

  “I would. I really would. But my periods have gotten so heavy over the last six months that I think I need to see someone about them. Get something for them. Anything, really. It brings me down for like days every month now. And everyone else in the area is either booked solid for a half a year, or they’re a woman. And I don’t do women.”

  “You don’t?” I wondered.

  She shrugged. “I think it’s a man’s firmer touch that I’m more okay with. Women tend to have delicate touches. Which weird me out.”

  That I sort of somewhat understood.

  “So go.” I paused.

  “You would?” she asked.

  I thought about that for a moment and then shrugged. “I mean, it’s not like you have much of a choice, do you? You either go, or you don’t.”

  Belle grinned. “So you can go with me… right?”

  • • •

  I wasn’t sure why I’d gone to her doctor appointment with her.

  I’d known what it was for, and honestly, I would’ve probably been more inclined to stay outside had the man that wouldn’t take no for an answer not been her doctor. Apparently, over the last few days that had passed since the bar incident, Benji hadn’t taken a hint. He’d only tried all the harder to make up for his mistakes.

  The man that had missed his date, called to apologize a few hours later, and gotten tol
d in no uncertain terms by Belle that he was rude and needed to learn proper phone etiquette skills. She then refused to answer every call after that.

  And, just like me, that attitude had turned the doctor on, and now he wouldn’t take the hint that Belle wasn’t interested.

  That had to be why I’d tagged along to a gynecologist appointment.

  Had to be.

  There couldn’t be any other reason.

  It was as we were sitting in the waiting room that I realized what, exactly, a ‘pap smear’ entailed.

  “I’m not sure I should go in with you,” I admitted. “We barely know each other.”

  And this would be incredibly awkward.

  “Just stay behind my head. There’s a draped sheet. There’s nothing that can be seen from that end.” She paused. “My dad had to go with me to my first appointment. For some reason I was in such a frantic state about it when I first went that nobody but my dad would do. I realized after the fact that it wasn’t that bad, but yeah. My dad is my go-to in situations that freak me out.”

  That had to be awkward.

  “How old were you?” I asked curiously.

  Before she could answer, her name was being called.

  And before I could try to get out of going in all over again, she grasped me by the fingers—her whole hand fit around two of my fingers—and pulled.

  She was surprisingly strong, and though I could’ve protested, I didn’t.

  I stayed with her and all but dragged my feet all the way into the exam room.

  “What’s that look for?” she asked as she started to strip her shoes and socks off.

  I shook my head, something weird forming in my stomach when I saw her bare toes.

  They weren’t painted like normal girls.

  They were multiple colors. And some weren’t painted at all.

  They were cute. And I’d never in my life thought toes were cute before.

  But there I was, thinking it.

  “You sure don’t talk much, do you?” she asked.

  I shrugged.

  She snickered and started to unbutton her pants.

  I promptly closed my eyes and waited for her to fully undress.

  I heard each article of clothing fall to the floor.

  Pants. Undies. Shirt. Bra.

  When she finally said, “You can open your eyes now,” I was practically panting.

  That’d been the single most erotic thing I’d ever been exposed to, and the only thing that she’d done was strip.

  Wonderful.

  I had it bad for the girl that didn’t even like me.

  Wasn’t that just my luck?

  Then again, she would never know that I had it bad for her.

  It would all stay locked up in a tight vault buried down deep in my chest, never to be found or examined.

  At least, that was what I thought.

  But the moment that the doctor all but fell into the room moments after she’d donned the gown—barely giving her time to get undressed and put it on—I felt a protective instinct start to surge inside of me.

  One that demanded that I mark my territory so that other males knew what belonged to me.

  “Belle, hi.” The doctor tried to act cool once he closed the door, but he didn’t accomplish it.

  “Hey,” the nurse who’d followed him in squeaked. “Dr. Knight. Ow. You hit me in the face with the door. Watch it!”

  During all of his flourishing entrance, not once did he turn to look at me leaning beside the door.

  He walked right up to Belle and offered her his hand.

  For some reason, that pissed me off.

  I moved, walking to Belle’s opposite side, and drawing Benji’s attention.

  “Uhh.” He paused, hand midway stretched out between himself and Belle. “Hello.”

  “Belle isn’t comfortable with touches,” I said blankly. “Today, during this exam, you will announce everything you are about to do before you do it. Do you understand?”

  Benji dropped his hand. “I’m very professional.”

  I shrugged. “It’s not about being professional.”

  “I have touch/sensory issues,” Belle said. “As well as a minor case of OCD. Which is why I’m going to ask you to wash your hands where I can see it. Otherwise I’ll obsess over it over and over again until you do. I’m sorry.”

  That ‘I’m sorry’ was directed toward the nurse whose smile was soft.

  “My daughter has autism,” she said as she walked over to the sink. “I’ll do whatever makes you most comfortable.”

  My head tilted toward Belle, studying her.

  Was that what she had?

  If she did, it was a very minor case.

  Or she was very adept at hiding it.

  Whatever. She was good.

  It was just another ‘I want her’ moment in my head that I tried to tuck away, but couldn’t.

  Benji also went and washed his hands, and then did as asked, announcing every single move before he made it.

  Five minutes into this exam, I finally moved away so that I was at the head of the table and couldn’t see what was beneath the sheet. But it really didn’t matter. I had one hell of an imagination, and what I imagined was almost worse than being shown.

  I saw the way her smooth, tanned thighs parted, almost as if they were waiting for me.

  The way her toes rested on the cloth-covered stirrups at the end of the bed.

  Then I got to thinking about how fuckin’ perfect this table would be for what I wanted out of her, and how far out the stirrups could be pushed.

  The doctor rolled his stool up between her legs, catching my attention, and I stared at him hard.

  The nurse that was with him held out a plastic cup with a plastic wand with a pointy edge inside of it.

  “This is just going to be a bit uncomfortable,” Dr. Benji Knight said. “This is going to be inserted into your vagina, and I’m going to scrape the end of your cervix with it.”

  Sounded awful.

  “It’s already uncomfortable because some man that I’d originally thought about letting into my vagina is about to stick his fingers up it for medical reasons,” Belle quipped. “Just do it. I don’t want to be here all day.”

  My lips twitched.

  From the vantage point I was at, I couldn’t see any of Belle’s goods, but I could see the doctor’s hands disappear underneath the sheet that was covering her waist.

  The nurse who was standing there now only holding the plastic cup looked confused.

  Then the girl I was quickly coming to like a whole lot started to hum the JAWS theme song.

  My mouth all but fell open. Dun dun. Dun dun. Dun dun.

  The doctor looked up and paused.

  That’s when I couldn’t stop the laughter.

  Using my hand, I all but covered my entire face as whatever happened, happened.

  And when the doctor announced that he was done, Belle finally stopped humming.

  “I need to check your breasts for lumps,” the doctor explained as he covered her up more thoroughly with the shittiest paper sheet I’d ever had the experience of seeing.

  “Okay,” Belle said as she watched him come up to the side of the table.

  “Arm up and relax,” he said. “I’m going to go in a circular motion…”

  I wasn’t fast enough.

  One second, I was wondering if he’d announce that he was moving the paper gown, and the next he was pulling it to the side.

  I closed my eyes, but not in time.

  I saw the tip of one dusky areola before I looked up at the ceiling.

  And, as they say, that was the areola that broke the camel’s back. Or however the fuck that saying goes.

  CHAPTER 7

  Never blame someone else for the road you’re on. That’s your own asphalt.

  -Text from Belle to Bruno

  BELLE

  “Oh my God,” I said as I walked into the kitchen later that night.

  My mom, who was
for some reason in my kitchen cooking dinner, looked up and said, “What?”

  “I had the weirdest freakin’ day,” I told her.

  Then I went about telling her everything that happened.

  “You showed him your boob?”

  That was Bourne’s wife, Delanie.

  I looked over to find her and Booth’s wife, Dillan, sitting at the kitchen table.

  I frowned. “You didn’t bring any kids with you, did you?”

  “No,” they both answered as Dillan added on, “It’s mother’s day out. So we brought your momma over here to cook for us. We’re going to have margaritas and talk about how much we’re stressed.”

  “Oh.” I paused. “I’m okay with you being here for an hour and a half, but no more. I got this new Whoop strap, and it tells me that to reach peak potential tomorrow, I have to go to bed at eight fifteen. And, since I stayed up late last night editing Hastings’ latest book, I really could use it.”

  “What’s a Whoop strap?” my mother asked.

  I showed her the monitor that I wore on my ankle.

  “That looks like you’re under house arrest,” she teased. “Which I would understand more than you wearing a fitness tracker when you don’t do fitness anything. Unless you count fitting donuts into your mouth.”

  She had a point but…

  “I’m trying to get better about my sleep habits,” I admitted. “I started getting really bad headaches, and when I did research on them, I determined it was due to the blue light from the computers. So I got some blue light glasses, stopped playing on the computer after a certain time, and essentially stopped my headaches. But there are some times, when I get rush editing jobs, that I realize I can’t totally just stop the blue light. But last night was a special occasion. Hastings has been working on this particular book for like a year. And I wanted to see if it was as good as she kept hinting at. It was, by the way. You should both read it. It’s about the SWAT team and all that jazz.”

  Hastings was married to another member of the SWAT team that my brothers were on, and she’d gotten ‘inspired’ last year.