by Ali Parker
"Can we just bury him in the back by that old oak tree you use to fuck girls against?" Jax chuckled as I gave him a warning glare. "Alright. I'm just saying. The world would be a better place without him. He's fucking trash."
"I agree, and his little sister is too." I rolled my shoulders, and I thought back to how good it felt to fuck her hard and fast. It wasn't passion, but anger. She was a whore and one that had ripped my heart from my chest. I'd repaid the favor a few times too. We were no good for each other. Never had been.
"What's up with the cop comment earlier? You into Jason's new parole officer?"
"No." I finished the beer and walked toward the door. "I'm headed back home to sleep. See you guys later."
"Ryder," he called after me, but I ignored him.
My love life, or lack thereof, wasn't something I was discussing with anyone, and they all knew that. We were grown ass men for shit's sake. The fact that we were all sitting at a bar together on Wednesday afternoon was more than enough to know we were bachelors. Sadly enough, some of us didn't have to be.
Chapter 8
Dani
"Dani." Margie's voice made me jump the next morning as I sat at my desk, studying a new file.
"Sorry." I smiled and stood. "I must have zoned out there for a second."
"I have no clue how." She smirked and glanced around. "It's loud as shit in here right now."
I glanced around, noticing all the busyness for the first time that day. I had a way of diving into my own world when I was working.
"What's up?" I turned back to her and started to point out that her thick blue eyeshadow was smeared, but maybe she meant to do it in that fashion? You never could tell with Margie.
"Someone is here to pick up the kid you brought in last night."
"Oh good." I grabbed my wallet off the desk and slipped it into my back pocket as I followed her to the front. My pulse spiked at the idea of seeing Johnny again, though it was so far beyond wrong.
The walk to the front took a little while due to them wrestling a toked up asshole in the main lobby. I stepped back and crossed my arms over my chest and scanned the room for Johnny.
My dream the night before left me breathing a little off kilter. We had been back at the auto shop, but it was just him and me.
"What are you thinking about Danielle?" He moved around the old refurbished Mustang in front of me, the game of cat and mouse we were playing leaving me more than excited. I love the way he whispered my name. Seductively. Reverently.
"You," I mumbled and slid my hands up the hood of the car. "And all the things I want you to do to me."
"List them out." He moved closer, and I stiffened, my skin covered in goose bumps at the mere anticipation of him touching me. I wanted him to grip my hips, to lick my neck, to spread my legs and see how badly he turned me on.
It was his power. His edge of danger.
"I want you to taste me." I arched my back and pressed my breasts to the hood. The white cotton dress I had on wasn't me at all, and yet, it left me feeling pretty, girlie, beautiful.
"Dani? You fade out again?" Margie stood in front of me, a concerned look on her face. "You're a little pale, and you're panting. Let's get you to sit down for a minute sweetheart."
"No. I'm good." I pulled out of her hold and walked toward the receptionist desk. "Who checked in to pick up Jason Moretti?"
"I did." A big guy that had to be almost seven feet moved toward me.
I lifted my eyebrow and took his file from one of the ladies at the desk. "And you are?"
"A good friend of his. I'm Cade." He extended his hand and offered me a smile.
"Right, and he's a minor." I closed the file. "You're not his guardian, so try again."
"I have a note from Ryder. He's dealing with some other shit right now. He's not going to be able to come up here." The guy handed me a note.
"Who's Ryder?" I glanced down at it. Oddly enough, it was made out to me, but he used my full name. Why not just call?
"That's Jason's Uncle Johnny." He smiled. "I'm taking Jason right back to his house. Seriously."
I read through the note and shook my head. "Alright. Fine." I glanced back. "Bring Jason up."
"Sure, Markum. No problem." One of the girls got up and walked over to talk to a group of cops eating something near the back of the room together.
"Who are you again?" I turned to the guy, not sure I felt comfortable with the exchange we were about to make, but Jason was almost eighteen. He wasn't a child.
"A family friend. I have been for years." He slipped his hands in his pocket. "Here, you wanna call Ryder. Give him a buzz and talk to him."
"Yeah. I do." I reached out and took the guy’s phone. It was already ringing by the time I held it up to my ear.
"Ryder." The voice was gruff, and I realized I didn't know Johnny's voice nearly as well as I'd thought I did. Hell, I had only met the guy once.
"It's Dani Markum, NYPD."
"Danielle. You letting Jason go with Cade?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I can do that. Everything okay?"
"Yep. Thanks so much." The phone clicked, surprising me a little.
"All good?" Cade asked as they brought Jason around to the front.
"I guess so." I turned to face the kid. He looked a little like Johnny, which was enough to have me worried for him. "Don't fuck up again. You understand me? You're running out of options, and I know you don't want to live behind bars for the entirety of your twenties, right? Or do you?"
"I don't." He rolled his eyes and walked to the door. "Thanks, Danielle."
"Dani, and it's Officer Markum to you, Jason," I yelled after him, but it was no use. He was already half way out the door and headed back to his bad choices. Some part of me wanted to care, but it was hard to give a shit about kids that were making horrible choices. There were plenty of young girls being sold into sex slavery that weren't give any choices, and here I was trying to help kids that were. It was fucked up on far too many levels to let myself think about it.
So, I didn't.
*
After visiting another parole family, I returned to the station and walked the long hallway to the cafeteria. Oliver moved up beside me and pressed his shoulder to mine.
"You grabbing something to eat?"
"How did you figure that out?" I smirked and glanced over at him. He was handsome, but not at all the kind of guy I wanted in my life. I'd gone from Seth who was a rich prick to a painful divorce. The last thing I wanted to do was date a cop who could quite possibly be a little crazy and who owned a bunch of guns. I'd seen it happen too many times.
Not only that, but I wasn't at all attracted to him.
I wanted a touch of danger in my life. I yearned for it, and yet the starched blue uniform I wore said that it would never happen. Not without completely throwing caution to the wind and becoming a different person, one I wouldn't recognize.
What do you have to lose?
"Hey. You alright?" Oliver stopped at the opening to the cafeteria and moved in front of me.
"Yeah. Just a long day. I'm good." Something dark caught my eye near the door. Johnny. His black leather jacket looked good on him, and his dark sunglasses fit his persona perfectly. Thick muscles lined his arms under his jacket, and they pressed against the material as he moved. His jeans hung low on his hips, and the bulge at the front of his pants had me imagining all the wrong things by the time he made it to me.
"Where's my nephew, cop? I came to pick him up, and he’s fucking gone," he barked in my face.
"Hey. Back the fuck up." Oliver put his hand on Johnny's chest and pushed him back a little.
Johnny reared out and popped Oliver in the face. "Don't."
"Johnny. Stop. Come on. Let's go talk, and we'll figure this out. You're going to get your ass in trouble assaulting officers." I glanced over at Oliver. "Sorry. It's okay. He's just upset."
"Yeah. I am." He growled and moved toward me.
Every cell in my body lit on fire. I
t was disturbing how badly I wanted a night with him. What the fuck was wrong with me? I was a cop. He was a bad guy. Or was he?
"Come on." I turned and walked out of the cafeteria, assuming he would follow.
"Dani. Where is Jason? I asked about him up front, and they said you released him this morning." He gripped my arm and pulled me back, forcing me to turn.
"Markum?" One of the other cops nearby turned and gave me a look of support. "You alright?"
I lifted my hand. "Yeah. I'm good. Just a friend."
A friend? Why would I grant Johnny that title? I growled and swatted him again.
"Back the fuck off," I bit out through clenched teeth. I turned and walked toward the back door. I pushed the door open and walked into the darkening parking lot before whirling around. "I let him go with Cade. You gave him a note, and I fucking called you, and you okayed it."
His brow drew tight, and his eyes darkened. "I didn't send a note, and you didn't call me. Where is he, Dani."
"It's officer Markum."
"No. It's Dani for now, and be lucky of that." He gripped my arms and turned us, pressing me to the back wall of the precinct. The hard press of his strong body against mine left my mind spinning. I had to get my shit together. I'd obviously released the kid to the wrong person. Fuck.
"I have a tracker on him." I glanced up at Johnny. He didn't look anything like the man I'd met the day before. He was emotional and unruly. Fear fluttered through my chest for the first time in a long time. "We'll find him. Okay?"
"You're coming with me, Danielle." He leaned down and pressed his lips to my ear. My eyes fluttered shut. I was in deep shit.
"How do you know my name?" I whispered and pushed at his hips to keep us as far apart as we could be. The intimacy of him pressed against me made me weak.
"It's not hard to find out." He breathed in, and I moaned.
"Don't."
"You want me to as bad as I want to." He brushed his lips by my ear, and fuck me if I didn't moan again. "You're lucky you're a cop."
"Why is that?" I hated how hard my heart beat against my chest, how wet my panties were because of him. I needed to get Captain to reassign Jason's case. I couldn't fall for a man like Johnny, and yet my body already had.
"Cause I'd turn you around and fuck you right here in front of all your boy toys if you weren't." He nipped at my ear again and pressed his hips forward. "Help me find Jason. This is your fucking fault."
"Move and I will." I pushed again as the air whooshed from my lungs. He moved, and I sagged against the building for a second before getting my legs beneath me. I walked past him toward my cop car. "I'm driving this time."
"I'm not riding in a cop car. Period." He moved toward his bike and glanced over at me. "And you aren't either. Get on. Now."
I looked around. What the fuck was I doing? I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it off, leaving the white one beneath it. "I shouldn't be doing this."
"I'm sure there are lots of things you want to do that you shouldn't be doing. Just make this the first of many." He extended his hand to me as his eyes moved down my chest.
Where I'd normally want to cover myself, I didn't this time. I wanted to pull the t-shirt off and let him see me, really see me. It had been too long since anyone had seen me.
No. I couldn't do it. "I'll drive in front of you. I'll get the tracker on my phone."
He smiled, and my stomach tightened. "You sure about that?" He took off and left me running for my car.
"Dammit, Johnny," I mumbled as I got in the car and took off after him.
A soft voice inside of me chanted the same two things over and over as I finally caught up with him.
This is so fucking wrong.
But if feels so right.
Chapter 9
Ryder
I was sick with worry as I drove out to Jason's normal spots. I'd played it off in front of the cop, but knowing that Cade had Jason was enough to make me want to puke. He was Tanner King's right-hand man and a big motherfucker. He'd do anything Tanner wanted. Why the hell did they have my nephew? What did they want?
Was Dani that ignorant that she would let the kid go with a stranger? Or were they that good in pulling one over on her?
I knew the answer. Maybe it was a bit of both.
She wasn't a parole officer. She didn't fit the bill. Most of those guys actually cared about saving the kids they were paired up with or seemed to. It was a mixture of a social worker and a cop, Danielle Markum wasn't either. She was a bleeding heart from what I could tell.
What drove her to become a cop? Was her father one? Did he get killed on the force?
I pulled up to the playground where Jason usually was and paused for a second to check his usual spot one more time.
Dani pulled up beside me with her window down. "If you would have left me go first, we would be there. Follow me and stop being a dick."
"I like the way you bare your teeth when you say dick." I winked at her and turned back to the field. "If you know where he is, then lead the way, Princess."
"Oh, now I'm a princess?" She laughed sardonically and drove off, leaving me in a cloud of dust.
"Bitch," I growled and moved in behind her, riding her ass. It was her fault we were in the middle of the shit we were in. I was supposed to be at home drinking beer, eating tacos and then jacking off to the thought of her fucking me reverse cowboy, but instead, I was looking for my fucking nephew -- again. And with a cop.
The guys would lose their shit if they knew I involved the law. Unfortunately, there was no other way to find the fucking kid so quickly. She had the tracking device, I didn't, and Jax's contact had turned up useless.
We pulled up to a warehouse near the city, and I parked the bike. I put my helmet up and got off before pulling my gun from my back pocket.
"Johnny."
"It's Ryder, cop." I glanced over at her and nodded. "Don't play the good guy tonight. If you want to do that, then leave and come back in about ten minutes. I live in a world where good and evil don't exist. Good got its ass whooped a long time ago."
The look on her pretty face almost caused me to chuckle. She was torn between two worlds, which was a little odd. Did the good guys struggle with wanting a taste of the dark side from time to time? Were some of them less than straight laced?
Seemed like she was.
She pulled out her gun and moved up toward the building, ignoring me and my comments.
There was something insanely hot about her courage, her confidence that she was going in to take care of whatever was happening with Jason with or without me. Without backup.
My cock thickened in my jeans, but I forced myself back into the moment.
Jason was in danger, and as much as I couldn't stand the little prick, he was still mine.
"Just take one hit, you dumb fucker." Jason's voice was faint, but I could hear it from under the door of the warehouse door where we stood in silence.
"I've got this." She glanced over her shoulder.
"No. I do." I pulled her back and lifted my gun before walking into the warehouse. "Hey, bitch. Party time is over."
Cade glanced over his shoulder and scrambled to his feet. "Ryder."
"Get up," I barked down at Jason. "Now."
"Fine. Shit. I was just having some fun." He scrambled to his feet and fell back over. "Cade is a friend of mine. You know him, Uncle J?" He chuckled. The little shit was teasing me.
"Yeah. I fucked his mom a few times when I was a kid." I smiled over at Cade.
"No, you didn't. Take that shit back." He moved toward me.
I lowered the gun and fired. It skimmed his thigh like I wanted it to and he screamed and knelt down.
"Fuck you, Johnny. I'm going to get you back for this. You can't run forever, you bitch."
"I'm not running anywhere." I pointed my gun at Jason. "Get on the fucking bike, now. You and me are going to have a talk when we get home. You're not hanging out with these assholes. You have no clue who you're gett
ing involved with."
Jason crawled toward the door, sniffling. The little shit was crying. Excellent.
I glanced over to see Dani help him up and walk back outside with him.
"Tanner's going to fuck you up, Johnny." Cade laughed loudly and dropped on his ass before rolling on his back.
I walked over and dropped my knee against his chest as I leaned down. Pressing the barrel of the gun to the bastard's head, I gritted my teeth and narrowed my eyes. Fury raged through me. Tanner King was a sickness that our city had endured for far too long. Where there were mafia, drug Lords and every other kind of villain in the world walking the streets, Tanner took the cake.
Selling women on the black market was unforgivable.
"You tell Tanner that I'm coming for him, Cade. He's been playing with the wrong people for far too long. Tell him his time is up and I got his fucking number."
"Tell him yourself." He spit at me and laughed.
I reared back and smacked him in the face with my gun, knocking him out. The ugly bastard slumped on the floor in front of me. I wiped off my face and found his phone, dialing Tanner's number from Cade's contacts.
"You got the boy?" Tanner's voice filled my ear.
"No, mother fucker. I got the boy."
A soft laugh. "Ryder. Of course. I was hoping that you'd come out to play soon. It gets so dull without you."
"I'm done with your shit. We'll be coming for you soon. Just a fair warning from an old friend."
"You were my best friend. Not just any friend. You were supposed to be my brother."
I snorted and stood up. "Enjoy your last few days, Tan. I'm going to finish this thing between us."
"Yeah, I get it." He cleared his throat. "Don't delay, okay? I've got plans for Jason to bring him into the fold as one of our kidnappers, but even better, that hot little piece of ass standing out by the cop car with him?" He laughed as he paused and my stomach grew sick. "Danielle Markum. Oh yeah. I know her well too. She's cost me a lot of money and time. I'm going to take it out on her myself. I need a new toy."
