“What if they shoot while you’re moving in?” I asked.
“They won’t be able to see us. We have smoke grenades, flash bangs, and knockout gas. If they get a shot off, it’ll be pure luck,” Toby said.
“What if they have gas masks?”
“It’s not on their equipment list, but if they do, the flash bangs and smoke will obscure their vision,” Toby explained.
“And yours.”
He smiled, looking serious but also amused. “Yes. But we’re the ones setting them off so it won’t be as disorienting.”
“OK. Well, let’s say none of that works and they come out shooting?”
“We have Kevlar and riot helmets,” Abbot said.
“We’ll also have guns of our own. And cops don’t get paid enough to risk getting shot over some drugs,” Toby added.
“Are you really counting on that?”
Abbot squeezed my shoulder. “No, blue. We’re not counting on that. It was a joke. But we assure you, we’ve run drills for every fucking scenario we can think of.”
“Including getting caught or killed?”
Toby stood and clicked his fingers at Rogue. “I’ll leave you with this one, brother,” he said, his voice soft as he tapped Abbot on the shoulder and gave me an affectionate touch on top of my head. “I’ll take care of him for you, Sloane.”
I nodded and watched him walk back inside before I turned to face Abbot. “Come here,” he said, holding out his arms. I fell into them, tucking my face into his neck, curling up for comfort. He ran his fingers up and down my back in a slow, soothing motion as he spoke. “We’ve done so many drills for this, blue. Breaker’s guys have been great. They’ve come at us hard and in many different ways, some we hadn’t even imagined. They’ve done stuff like this before, so we’re not going in totally green.”
“Who’s driving the getaway vehicle?”
“Breaker,” he said.
“So, all five of you will be in the back of the truck picking locks?”
He nodded. “There’ll be way more of us than there will be cops. They’re trying to be low-key and aren’t publicising anything about the transport.”
“But you have someone on the inside?”
“There’s always someone willing to talk with the right amount of persuasion.”
“Let’s say this thing goes off without a hitch and you get away. What happens then?”
“We give the drugs to the Grim Order and they take it wherever the fuck they want. It’s out of our hands after that. We’re there to steal the drugs and open the cases. That’s it.”
“There’ll be an investigation.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think there’s a chance they could link any of it back to you?”
“We aren’t people of interest.”
“You don’t think they know who you are? Your dad is in jail for killing a guy, and your mum is dating a Grim Order biker. You have to consider that they’ll look this way, even if it’s just at Jasmine and Breaker. And with Toby and us taking off, we could make the family look guilty. We could have cops looking for us.”
He let out a slow breath. “You’re right. I’ll talk to Toby about a contingency plan for the rest of them.” He looked around before he lowered his voice even more. “But you and I are vanishing, blue. We’ll be off the grid. New identities and everything. No one’s gonna find us.” God, I hope he’s right.
“I trust you. But I’m still gonna question you about our plan.”
He smiled. “Of course you are.” Giving me a gentle tap on the side, he got up and kissed me briefly. “How about you meet me upstairs? I’ll be up after I talk to Toby.”
“Of course,” I said, taking a moment to collect my thoughts before switching off the outdoor heater and heading back inside.
“How you doing, sweetheart?” Jasmine’s voice floated out of the kitchen, and I turned to find her in there with Breaker. She was wearing a burgundy satin robe and he was just wearing some pyjama bottoms, showing a decent-looking chest that was inked to the hilt. Lots of skulls and boobs were drawn on that body.
“I’m OK. Just heading up to bed.” I pointed to the stairs.
“You and Abbot seem real happy.”
I smiled, always careful and wary around her. “As do you and Breaker.”
Breaker lifted his coffee mug to me in acknowledgement.
Moving a couple of steps in my direction, she beckoned me closer. “How does Toby seem to you?” she asked, voice low once I was within whispering distance. Toby? Why?
“Strong, dependable, quiet…” I said, trying to assess what her line of questioning was about.
“Quiet,” she repeated. “He’s always quiet but he’s more quiet than usual I think.” I had a strong feeling about this.
“They’re all under a lot of stress. Perhaps he’s just focused.”
“He hasn’t…” She paused and took a breath, her pink tongue poking out to wet her lips thoughtfully before she spoke again. “He hasn’t mentioned anything about leaving to you has he?” And there it was. She either had an all-seeing eye or someone had filled her in. The latter the more likely of the two.
Since I wasn’t a snitch, I shook my head. “Nothing to me. Is he making plans? Are you worried about him?”
She shook her head then shrugged. “I’m the mother to five boys, I always worry.”
“Men,” I said before I realised I was correcting her.
Her eyes seemed a little sad, or perhaps wistful as she moved her gaze between mine. “Yes.” She nodded. “They’re all men now. But in here,” she said, placing her hand on her chest, “they’ll always be my boys. Just like you’ll always be the little spitfire I knew as a girl. Just because you’re all grown, doesn’t mean I stop caring.” Way to make me feel guilty for lying and hiding my own plans.
“I understand,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t.”
“It’s all right, Sloane. Just…let me know if you notice anything different about any of them. This family is everything to me, and you’re a part of that now. It’s important that we maintain the status quo and don’t make any big changes. Especially when the boys all get home. We want to appear as normal as possible.”
I nodded. Sometimes I wasn’t sure if she was threatening me or just stating a fact. “No big changes. Got it.”
She placed the back of her hand on my cheek in a weird kind of motherly way that reminded me of my time in her care as a child. “You were always a good girl, Sloane. I’m overjoyed you’re back here with us.”
“So am I,” I said with a tight-mouthed smile, stepping back to make my excuses to leave. But then I stopped and blurted, “How well do you know my mother, Jasmine?”
Her brow lifted and fell gracefully. “We practically grew up together. Well, in this life we did anyway.” She gestured at the air around her, so I took that to mean that she’d known my mother for her entire criminal life. How I hadn’t known until recently both baffled and annoyed me. There were too many secrets in these walls.
“So, you worked together?”
“We did. Learned the ropes together. Her strengths were in fieldwork, and I specialised in organisation, negotiation and numbers.”
“She stole things, and you offloaded them and laundered the profits through front businesses?” In a nutshell.
Jasmine smiled and glanced back at Breaker. “You’d think she’d been doing this all her life.”
Breaker nodded in agreement.
“Well, I have. Inadvertently. Pop might have hidden most of what he was doing from me, same as Mum, but I was still running a front, wasn’t I?”
“Yes, I suppose you were,” she said with a Mona Lisa-like smile. “Trevor would have left a comfortable nest egg behind for you and your mother though.”
“I don’t know what he left. After you two used the inheritance to try and force me and Abbot together, my pride kicked in and I don’t want it anymore.”
“Pride is an awful
thing, Sloane. You could really use that money in the coming months.” Coming months? What does she mean?
I looked around the room, wondering if listening devices picked up all our conversations. It seemed like a paranoid thought, but why would she say that if she hadn’t discovered our plans?
“I don’t think I know what you mean?” I glanced towards Breaker who was quietly drinking his coffee and listening.
“It’s rubbish night, Sloane. I saw the test in your bathroom when I was emptying the bins.”
What test?
Wait.
What? “You were in our room?”
“I promise I wasn’t snooping. We were just collecting rubbish from around the house—normal cleaning stuff. It was right there. I wasn’t aware you and Abbot were trying.” Wow. Something she didn’t know.
“We’ve only been trying a couple of months,” I said, getting defensive. What was wrong with her? It was embarrassing enough to have gone through an entire pack of tests without anyone knowing. Quite another to have it pointed out by the person I probably trusted least in this world. “It takes a lot of people months, sometimes years before they conceive.”
Her brow drew together and she shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
“The test, obviously.”
“Yes. But you’re talking like it’s negative when it’s—”
“Whooooo!” The crow call came from upstairs, followed by laughter, hooting and a lot of swearing. Thumping footfalls came running down the stairs. “Blue,” Abbot called out.
“In the kitchen,” Breaker yelled.
Abbot appeared in a flash and came skidding to a stop in front me, a massive grin on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me? Holy shit, blue. Holy shit.”
“Tell you what?”
“I think he saw the test too,” Jasmine said with a smile.
“You know?” Abbot said, frowning. “What the fuck, Sloane?”
Jasmine laughed. “Wait, Abbot, I don’t think she knows yet.”
I thought I knew, but I was really struggling to believe this right now. “Tell me what you saw,” I whispered. “Please. Just tell me.”
“I can do better than that, beautiful blue,” he said with a smile lifting his hand.
When he held the test at my eye level, all I could do is stare and squeak. It was positive. The test was positive. “I’m pregnant?” I whispered, and Abbot nodded.
“I have super sperm and you”—he pulled me against his chest and hugged me fiercely, grabbing either side of my face and touching our foreheads together—“you’re pregnant,” he whispered. Then he kissed me.
“Whooooo!” Another crow call came from upstairs, followed by a female squeal, joint laughter, hooting and a lot of happy swearing.
“What in the world is going on tonight?” Jasmine asked looking up as if she could see through the floor.
I knew. But I just smiled and waited.
“What’s with all the screaming?” Nate asked as he came out of the office.
Sam came down the stairs with Alesha piggybacking on him and laughing. “Put me down,” she said. “I can walk, you know.”
Moving aside as a curious-looking Toby entered the room, Sam set his wife on her feet. “I don’t want to take any chances with you straining yourself.”
“I can walk.” She laughed.
Kristian, Ronnie and Holland came in from the front room. “What’s happening?” Ronnie asked, her curly blonde hair a messy bun on the top of her head.
“We’re pregnant,” Alesha said with a small curtsy.
“Holy shit!” The room erupted in congratulatory cheers and squeals.
“So are we,” Abbot yelled at the same time, his eyes so wide with amazement. He filled my heart with joy. I wasn’t surprised when my eyes started leaking.
“Oh shit. Didn’t you want anyone to know?” he asked, pulling me a little closer.
I shook my head. “I’m just happy. This is a wonderful day.”
“And it calls for a celebration,” Jasmine said. “Everyone order your favourite food. We’re going to feast.”
Taking a moment to focus only on me, Abbot looked into my eyes. “This is the happiest I’ve been since I was ten years old and got my first hard-on watching you change.”
Laughter bubbled up my chest. “That must have been a big moment for you.”
“Well, it wasn’t big at that point, but it certainly had potential.”
I placed my hands on either side of his face. “We’re having a baby,” I whispered. “No backing out now.”
He kissed me softly. “Never. You’re stuck with me, blue. Til death do we part.”
Chapter Forty-One
You Said To Call
“What are you doing with that?” I asked as Abbot took the positive pregnancy test out of the drawer. We’d kept it as a keepsake, because, well, we were both incredibly excited to have made a baby together.
“It’s my good luck charm,” he said, opening his vest pocket, the Velcro too loud for the early hour. “Right next to my heart. Along with this.” He slid the ring he wanted to propose with in there too.
I smiled, even though I’d rather cry. “You’ll be carrying my pee around with you for good luck?” I teased, trying to make light of the situation just a little. Three months ago, this day had seemed so far away. Now it was here and I was so scared. So, so scared.
What if, what if, what if?
“Luckiest pee in the world,” he said with a smile, tapping his pocket.
“It better be, because we have to use that stick to gross our kid out on his eighteenth birthday.”
“You think it’ll be a he?” He grinned while finishing strapping on his body armour. I struggled to keep the smile on my face as I watched his movements.
“Makes sense,” I said, my voice too small. “You’re one of five brothers. I imagine you’ll all make boys.”
“But you’re a girl.”
“Yeah. But the eggs are all X chromosomes. It’s the sperm that decides whether it’s a boy or a girl.”
He slipped his jacket over the top of the Kevlar. “Huh, you learn something new every day.”
“That you do.”
He met my eyes as he did his zipper up. “Go over the plan with me.”
“I wait here with the other wives until you return. We take part in the traditional celebration with the family and wait for everyone to be happy and drunk before leaving. When we go home, we switch out the beautiful Jag with a Corolla.” I grimaced. It was the most popular car in the country and therefore the most inconspicuous. But I loved the Jag and I loved Lizzie, and we had to say goodbye to both. “It’s already packed with our bags and new paperwork. Then we take turns driving in four-hour shifts, switch out the car in Sydney, keep driving until we hit the Whitsundays, dump the car again and boat to Hamilton Island where we’ll go blond and live the island life.” I took a breath. “Did I miss anything?”
“What happens if I don’t come back?”
My breath hitched and I shook my head, unwilling to voice what I’d already committed to memory.
“Please, blue. I need to hear it. Let me leave here knowing you’re ready for anything.”
“I take the paperwork stuck to the top of the glove compartment in Lizzie, set fire to the Corolla and drive straight to airport. Then I fly to Auckland, lie low while I get my new identity and make my way to Switzerland where I’ll live out my days with our child.” My voice wobbled and I needed to wipe at my eyes once or twice. I didn’t want to talk about this at all. I just wanted him to come back.
“Come here.” I climbed over the bed and met him where he stood at the foot of it. “I love you more than anything else in this world. You know that, right?”
“Abbot, don’t,” I started, not wanting to hear him say goodbye. “Just say see you later, OK?”
“Blue.”
“Please, Abbot. Say see you later.”
He pressed a long, slow kiss to my mouth. It held desperati
on, sorrow and regret. “See you later,” he whispered. It felt like goodbye.
“Tell me what will happen when we’re gone.” I refused to let him leave with a heavy heart. He is coming back.
“When they realise we’re gone and start searching for clues, all they’ll find is the stuff I hid in Lizzie pointing to New Zealand.”
“We’ll be sunbathing and they’ll be hunting for us in Auckland. It’s foolproof,” I said. “And you’re going to be wonderful today. You trained so hard for it. I have no doubt you’ll succeed.”
With a nod, he let out his breath and took a step back. “Just promise you won’t hesitate if you need to bail.”
“I’ll promise, but I’ll will see you soon,” I insisted.
His face creased as he swallowed and nodded again. “See you soon, beautiful blue.”
* * *
“Tea?” Jasmine held up a box of Twinings Lemon & Ginger.
I nodded. I didn’t know if I was nauseous from the pregnancy or the job.
“They’re all gone now?”
“A few minutes ago.” Setting a second floral teacup in front of her, she dropped in the teabag and poured the water.
“How did they seem?”
“Focused.” She jiggled the tea bag in the water, eyes down.
“Are you afraid?”
“Afraid? No.” She pushed the tea across the bench towards me. “Worried, nervous—that fits a little better. But I’m confident in their abilities. No one plans a job like my boys do. They’re more than ready.” She opened a tin of biscuits and offered them to me. “These always helped when I was pregnant.”
I took one and nibbled the corner, the sweet crumble touching my roiling stomach without threatening to come back up. Thankful, I sipped the tea. “Thank you,” I said.
Reaching across the bench, she patted my forearm. “He’ll be OK. They always come back.”
“I guess I’m just not used to this…waiting. I’m normally the proactive one in most situations. I don’t sit still very well.”
“You get better at it as time goes by,” she said with a smile. “The nerves don’t really lessen, but I figure it’s no different to the feeling wives and mothers of those cops are experiencing sending their men out into the field. We’re on the opposite side to them, but the danger is present for all of us. We all want our boys to come home safe.”
Fool’s Errand: Cartwright Brothers, Book 4 Page 28
