“Honestly? I’m not sure. It’s great that the bastard is going to get what’s coming to him but I’m not looking forward to seeing him in court.” Actually he hadn’t been able to think of anything else for the last 24 hours. He’d had a dream the night before that he’d somehow managed to take a gun into the courtroom and had shot him between the eyes. “I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to remain calm.”
“You’ll do it because you have to, for your family.” Frank’s voice was firm. “You can’t give the defence anything, any tiny little thing that could possibly work in his favor, you know that.”
“Yeah, I know.” He turned and looked out of the window at the familiar sights. Johan had not only taken his family from him but he’d taken his job, his friends and his home.
“We’re here,” Frank’s voice interrupted his thoughts as they pulled up outside his house.
Grabbing his bag from the trunk, he followed him up the path to the house. He was looking forward to seeing Patti. She’d been a rock when he’d first lost his family. For days he’d refused to come out of his house or answer his phone, not wanting to see anybody. She’d come by every day and left a dish outside his front door with a home-cooked meal. More often than not it had gone eaten but eventually he’d grown hungry and he’d started eating. After that she’d deliver the dish and stay awhile, talking to him through his front door even though he didn’t reply at first, just sitting on the other side, listening. She’d saved him, he was sure.
“Elliot!” And there she was, standing at the open front door with her arms open wide.
“Patti.” He took her in a bear hug and squeezed her tight.
“Come in, it’s so good to see you!” She ushered him in through the front door.
“I hope you don’t mind, but there’s a few people here to see you.”
A lump formed in his throat as he walked through to the living room and found his old squad all there.
“There he is, late as usual!” Ted punched him in the shoulder. “Good to see you, buddy.”
“You too, Ted, how’s the bunions?” Elliot laughed.
“Great to see you man,” Phil, one of the younger detectives, came and shook his hand. “It’s not been the same without you.”
He looked around the room, overcome with emotion. “I can’t believe you’re all here.”
“You still owe me 10 bucks; no way I’m missing out on the chance to collect.”
Elliot reached into his pocket. “Here you go, Ted, never let it be said that I’m one to welch on a bet!”
The rest of the afternoon and late into the evening was spent catching up and sharing a few beers and by the time he turned in he felt much stronger about what was to come over the next few days.
***
Elliot nodded and waved at several familiar faces as he made his way up the courtroom steps. The DA hadn’t been able to tell him when he’d be called so he had to be ready and available at the start of the day, every day. He wasn’t able to go in and sit in the courtroom until after his testimony, so he found himself a quiet corner and sat with a book he’d been meaning to read for a while.
He couldn’t focus, though. His mind kept straying to thoughts of the trial, and what was happening behind the wooden double doors just a short distance away from where he sat. He was just contemplating going to the courthouse cafeteria when one of the doors opened and someone stepped out.
The jolt of recognition was immediate. Luis.
Luis Romero was one of Johan’s right-hand men and Elliot had worked closely with him when he was undercover. He hadn’t seen him since the bust that led to Felipe’s arrest and now he was stood just a few feet away.
He didn’t think for a minute that he would do anything stupid in the courthouse but Elliot was still thankful for the reassuring bulge of his weapon in its holster.
“Well, if it isn’t Felix,” Luis said as he spotted him. “Oh wait, that’s not your name, is it Detective?” He gave him a thin smile as he walked over to him.
“Luis,” Elliot nodded an acknowledgement cautiously. He felt at a disadvantage as Luis stood in front of him with his thumbs casually hooked in his jeans pockets, his eyes narrowed. Not prepared to be intimidated Elliot stood up, looking him in the eye.
“So, you’re here to testify, eh? Tell all those people in there what you learned while you were pretending to be one of us?”
“Look, I shouldn’t even be talking to you.” Elliot went to step round him, wanting to avoid the confrontation that Luis was obviously winding up to.
“Hold up there,” Luis matched his step, keeping himself in front of him. “What’s your rush? I think we need to have a little talk first.”
“You’re in a courthouse full of police officers. I don’t think even you’re stupid enough to try anything in here.”
Elliot saw Luis’ eye twitch at the insult and felt himself tense and his hand get ready to move for his holster.
Instead of aggression though, Luis suddenly smiled widely. “You always were a funny guy.”
Elliot watched, still uneasy, as Luis checked his watch. “Oops, looks I better run, got somewhere to be.” He winked at him before leaning closer and whispering in his ear. “You’re son’s a really cute kid.”
The words turned Elliot to stone and stilled the breath in his lungs leaving him unable to breathe as his world turned on its axis. The seconds he stood frozen gave Luis enough time to throw him a salute before all hell broke loose.
Thirty-Nine
The first explosion blew the doors of the courtroom off their hinges and sent shards of splintered wood hurtling into the waiting area. A big cloud of dust quickly followed carrying on it the screams from the people caught in the blast. It knocked Elliot off his feet and he was just coming to his knees when the second blast hit.
This one had come from somewhere else in the building and from the way the floor shook, Elliot assumed it was on the ground floor.
Shaking his head to clear the ringing from his ears, he stumbled over the debris that had been flung out of the courtroom and went inside.
The devastation was complete. The blast had destroyed the court, bringing down masonry from the ceiling and walls on to those below. He could hear people crying and saw at least three bodies lying on the floor, unmoving. Spotting Ted lying on the floor near what had once been the witness stand he rushed over and dropped to his knees. He was face down so he gently rolled him over onto his back.
“Ted? Ted, you okay?”
His eyes were closed and Elliot feared the worst before a flicker of his eyelids told him he was alive. “Ted, thank God. Help is on the way, hang in there.”
Ted opened his eyes and looked up at him. “Where’s Johan?” He croaked.
A quick glance around the courtroom told Elliot he wasn’t there. “He’s not here.”
Ted shook his head, wincing. “No, he refused to come out of the holding cell. He’s downstairs.” he coughed, dust from the explosion having got into his lungs. “Go.”
“I’m not leaving you here like this.”
“Go.” Ted was insistent. “I’ll be fine. Don’t let him get away.”
They both knew what the explosions meant. Security around the trial had been high, everyone knowing that there might be some kind of attempt to break Johan out.
“Okay,” Elliot agreed. “Then I’m coming back.” Standing up he took off in the direction of the holding cells fearful of what he was going to find.
***
He’d gone. By the time Elliot had managed to get down to the cells through the rubble of the second explosion on the ground floor, it was already swarming with police and rescue personnel and they confirmed his worst fears. Johan was gone. The explosions had been a distraction and while everybody’s attention was diverted, he’d been broken out.
“You’re gonna be fine.” Elliot walked alongside the stretcher that carried Ted out of the devastated building. And he was. According to the paramedic he had a slight con
cussion and some cuts and bruises but otherwise, he would be mend. The same could not be said for the seven people killed in the explosions. They would never be going home to their families, never again hold their loved ones. All so that one man could continue to run his drug empire.
Once he’d seen Ted safely into the back of an ambulance and on his way to hospital the words that he’d been refusing to think about pushed their way back into his brain.
You’re son’s a really cute kid.
He knew that Luis was playing him, torturing him. There was no chance that his son was still alive, he knew that. Didn’t he?
They’d never found the bodies of his wife and son but they had an eye witness to their murders. He’d revelled in telling the story in great detail. Detail that he couldn’t possibly have made up. Could he?
One thing Elliot knew for sure as he stood in the dust outside the ravaged courthouse. If there was any chance that his son was alive, even the smallest sliver of hope, then he wouldn’t stop until he found him.
Forty
She felt sick. The room had suddenly started spinning and she had to put out her hand and steady herself on the bathroom wall. Taking a few deep breaths, Sarah steadied herself and gradually the spinning stopped, and only the nausea remained.
Standing up she went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass out of the cupboard. Running the tap, she poured herself a glass of water and took it through to the living room.
She hoped it was the side effects of the weeks of stress and then the overwhelming joy of finding Jennifer alive that had made her feel so odd, so exhausted. The emotional strain had been extreme and it wasn’t surprising that she would feel drained. That’s what she’d put it down to until this morning when she walked past a coffee shop and nearly been violently sick.
The stick with the twin blue lines sitting on the table in front of her confirmed her worst fears.
How could you have been so stupid? She hoped that she was wrong, had peed on three more sticks, but the result was the same. She was pregnant. With Mike’s child. Now what?
The End
Thank you and I hope you enjoyed True Deceit. True Lies, the next book in the series, will be out soon.
In the meantime please read on for your FREE copy of To Kill For, the first book in the McKays series.
To Kill For
A.J. Carella
PUBLISHED BY:
A.J. Carella
Copyright © 2014
One
What was she supposed to say? Every person in the room had their eyes glued to her, smiles on their faces. As Jamie glanced around at them all, she spotted her mom and dad. Dad had his arm around her mom’s waist and both were beaming proudly as they looked at her, dressed in their finery. The invitations had been very clear. This was a black tie event and the guests were dressed up to the nines for this, her 21st birthday party.
As one of the wealthiest families in Brecon Point, entertaining was something they regularly did. For tonight’s festivities, they’d taken over Faraday’s Tennis Club, a place where you didn’t usually get in unless you had a bank account in the seven figures. But tonight, just about everybody had been invited and social differences had been set aside. Now they were all standing around, looking at her.
As she peered down at the young man kneeling on one knee in front of her, Jamie was hit by a sudden wave of panic. She loved him. Well, she thought she did but she was only 21, far too young to get married. But what was she supposed to say? If she said no her parents would be devastated, not to mention completely embarrassed in front of all their guests.
He was starting to look a bit uncomfortable now and, with a jolt, Jamie realized that at least a full minute had passed since he’d presented her with the ring and asked her to marry him. She’d not said a word.
“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.” What else could she say?
***
Ted hadn’t left her side since he’d slipped the ring on her finger. She had to admit, it was stunning and undoubtedly expensive, a cabochon cut yellow diamond, which fit perfectly on her left hand and flashed every time it caught the light. For the past hour, people had come up to them, shaking Ted’s hand and admiring the ring. It was gorgeous. Ted was gorgeous. So why did she feel as though she’d just been put on a leash?
Ted Coleman, one of the Kentucky Colemans no less, had set his sights on her when she’d still been in high school. They’d met at one of the many social functions both their families had attended on one of his visits home from college and they’d started dating straight away. It had become serious once he had returned home and gone to work for his father. Her parents had been thrilled. He was from a good family and had excellent prospects, things that were still important to them, even in this day and age. Jamie knew they’d harbored hopes that the two of them would marry one day, but tonight’s proposal had completely taken her by surprise.
“Did you know about this?” she whispered to her mom after finally giving Ted the slip for five minutes.
“Of course, darling. Ted came to see your father last week and asked for his permission.” She beamed. “Isn’t it wonderful? I’m thrilled for you both!”
“I guess.” Jamie shrugged.
Her mom placed a hand on her arm. “Aren’t you happy?”
Jamie looked into her mother’s face and saw the question there. Not wanting to upset her, she forced herself to smile widely. “Of course I am, Mom. Still just a little shocked, I think.”
Her mom wouldn’t understand. She’d married her father at about the same age as Jamie was now. Theirs hadn’t been a marriage of love, but more of an agreement between two families that it would be a good match. Not that they’d been unhappy, not at all. But her mom had taken on the role of good little wife, subservient to her husband, and that was not something Jamie had ever envisioned for herself. She wanted more out of life, wanted to see the world.
“Oh, good! Don’t worry me like that!”
“Sorry, Mom.” Jamie looked around. “Where’s Jake? I haven’t seen him since we got here.”
“I don’t know, darling. I saw him go outside with that Parker girl.” She sniffed with distaste. “I just don’t know what he sees in her.”
Jamie knew exactly what her brother saw in her, but she didn’t think it was something she should share with her mom. She loved her mother to pieces but she was a complete snob in some ways and Carrie Parker did not fit with what she had in mind for her only son.
“There you are!” a voice boomed, and Jamie turned to find Ted standing behind her. “Come on, my parents want to see the ring.” Taking her by the elbow and making his apologies to her mother, he led her away.
Two
“Come on, baby.” Jake pushed his hand up under Carrie’s dress. The lights from the party shone on the bench where they were sitting and the sound of music and laughter drifted out across the lawn.
“Not here. Someone will see!” With a giggle, Carrie took him by the hand and led him away from the main club house and into a stand of trees a couple of hundred yards away.
Pushing her up against a tree he pressed himself against her, his hand once again lifting the hem of her dress.
“Careful! I saved up for ages to buy this!” she squeaked as he pushed her against the rough bark.
He didn’t know why she’d bothered. The dress looked cheap, just like she did. Which was just the way he liked her.
“Well, there’s one way to deal with that.” he told her, reaching up behind her and undoing her zipper. Tugging the dress from her shoulders, it slithered to the ground with nothing left to keep it up. That was more like it! he thought to himself, as he looked her over, naked except for a tiny black thong.
She was an attractive girl, not classically beautiful, but not bad. Her light blonde hair with natural waves hung down to her shoulders and her eyes, wide like a doe’s, were dark brown. It was her body, though, that was her best feature. He took it all in by the moonlight, her body slim and firm, w
ith large perky breasts. The fact that she was always willing was what kept him coming back for more though. That’s why he’d brought her to his sister’s party tonight. He’d known full well that he would need his own entertainment and, looking at her now, he was glad he had.
***
“You do love me, don’t you?” she asked him, as he was closing his zipper.
Here we go. “Would I have invited you tonight if I didn’t?”
He avoided the question. It was not that he didn’t like her but, let’s face it, she wasn’t wife material. She was the kind of girl you kept hidden away in an apartment somewhere to satisfy your needs at the drop of a hat. No, any wife of his would have breeding. And more importantly, money. His father had instilled that in him from a very early age.
He supposed he’d better go and show his face at the party or his parents would have his hide. He didn’t want to give them yet another reason to remind him about how damned perfect his sister was.
She wasn’t his biological sister. His parents had adopted him as a three-month-old, after years of trying to have children of their own. What they hadn’t expected when they’d brought him home was to find out that, in a twist of fate, his mom had already been pregnant with his sister. Jamie had been born six months later.
He’d found out the truth shortly after his sixth birthday and he hadn’t taken it well. His mom had since told him that she’d thought it was too soon, that he’d been too young, but his father had been insistent, telling her that it would toughen him up.
They’d sat him down and explained that his parents hadn’t been able to take care of him properly so they’d chosen him to be theirs. Looking back, he knew that was when the first stirrings of discontent had settled within him, but it wasn’t until later that these formed into something more.
He’d found out years later that his biological parents, whoever they were, had, in fact, abandoned him in a basket by the side of the road, unwanted and discarded like trash.
True Deceit (Blindsided Book 1) Page 15
