I drove home to an empty house and settled into the couch, my tablet and laptop at hand. My eyes kept wandering to the windows in the living room. I knew David and Grant would be out, they were on some kind of special task, but it didn’t stop my body from longing to be over there.
I moved, noticing a soreness starting in my thighs I hadn’t felt earlier. A sign that it was all real. Every moment of it.
I smiled to myself. I wasn’t embarrassed by any of it, which was surprising for me. I felt brave, grown-up even. Most of all, I felt like I had a secret of my very own, a very special secret that was mine and theirs.
For the first time in my life, I was doing something for myself. The guy I’d had sex with in high school had led me along, made me think he needed me. Then he’d coaxed me into something I hadn’t really wanted to do but, ultimately, he’d made me feel sorry for him. He kept going on about pain, how much pain he was in, how much he loved me, and gave me puppy dog eyes that had brought out the desire in me to take it all away.
I’d thought having sex with him wouldn’t be a big deal, and in the end, it wasn’t. It was such a non-event I walked away from it with an eye-roll. I’d wondered for a long time why people got so twisted up about sex. Maybe it was different for men but all I’d felt was awkwardness, pain, and discomfort. After, I’d felt embarrassed about what we’d done.
I hadn’t felt ashamed, just embarrassed that I had been so stupid. As soon as he’d rolled off me I knew it had all been a farce. His grin of satisfaction, of triumph, had told me all I needed to know. I’d never spoken to him again after that. He’d tried, he’d certainly tried, but I wasn’t interested. Not if that’s all I was going to get out of it.
Now I knew just how much I’d been missing out on. I hadn’t just felt sexual and physical pleasure from the things we’d all done together, I’d felt a bond forming between us all. I’d felt emotional pleasure and satisfaction in their pleasure.
I opened my laptop, needing to write my thoughts down. I’m a writer, after all, a journalist and a writer. I opened a blank document and started to write.
I described how I’d come to town, a single parent for all intents and purposes, hoping for a brighter future for my brother and me. We’d been through more rough patches than I would have liked, I’d even hated David at one point, but now I knew I had two men in my life that were far more than my lovers, they were my friends. For the first time since my parents died, I had real friends.
In school, people had drifted away from us after a while. Eric and I didn’t have any aunts and uncles, so we’d been totally alone when Mom and Dad’s friends started to drift away. That had hurt, but they had their own lives, their own children to raise. I looked like I was handling it so we’d been left to our own devices. Good old, reliable Toni.
Now, well, now I felt like a little bit of a rebel. I wasn’t ready to scream out to the world that it could go fuck itself, but I was definitely going to start using that word more often. Mainly in the context of the moments when I was with David and Grant. I didn’t look down on swearing, I just tried to shelter Eric from all things that grown-ups were supposed to keep from children.
He was almost eighteen though. Soon he’d be on his own in a dorm, living it up. I thought it was time to start acting more like a sister than a parent. Not in all ways, Eric only had me, but when it came to life, I knew I’d only just started my own journey to find out exactly what life had to offer.
I looked at the words I’d typed and smiled. I had no idea what I’d do with them, but I’d figure it out later. Right now, my eyes wanted to close. I settled onto the couch, kicking back for a nap. I was exhausted from the night spent doing far more than sleeping. I was hoping for another night just like it.
11
David
I followed Grant, the soles of our tactical boots barely making a sound on the gritty pavement beneath our feet. We moved swiftly, staying close to the building as we moved to the gap between the mill and the bakery. I took out my weapon, a standard issue 9 mm given to me by the department when I started, and waited for Grant’s signal.
There was never any arguing about who would lead and who would follow in this relationship, we did whatever was needed to get the job done. Like with Toni last night. Grant started, but I ended up leading, only to give over and follow again. We flowed like that. I’d follow him into Hell, the same as he’d do for me.
He held up two fingers and I knew he meant there were two guards by the car. I’d spotted them earlier. I shook my head in acknowledgment and waited for his signal. We were in our usual paramilitary gear, but we had our black facemasks on, along with body cameras to provide evidence.
Most of our operation had been approved by our chief. He knew what we had planned and had help on standby if we should need it. We wanted to do all of this the right way, even though we were treading a very thin line between totally legal and completely illegal.
Grant stuck his head close to the wall again and gave me a signal to move. Without speaking I knew we were heading for the car parked five feet from us and went for it. We hunkered behind it together, no shouts or shots breaking the relative silence. He gave me one of his patented grins of triumph and we bumped fists before he stuck his head around the edge of the bumper. Another hand gesture, another move, and soon we were in a running crouch for the end of the other building.
Grant gave me a gesture to stop, looking back to make sure I had obeyed before he checked what was around the edge.
He gave me a thumbs up and we moved again.
My heart was pounding, anxiety not a constant companion, but something new. I knew the anxiety wasn’t for my own safety but for Grant’s. Because we had Toni now and I didn’t want to have to go home and give her bad news. I could see Grant was focused, that the distraction of earlier was gone, but fate could fuck us over at any time and I didn’t want it to. This was new, this fear, and I didn’t like it, but it was something I was going to have to live with if I wanted the dream that was already forming in my mind.
“Move.” Grant intruded on my thoughts and I followed him again, entering the building quietly, seeking out the shadows and moving into them.
We were in a back office, empty and without a guard. The ceiling had collapsed here long ago and the room was dark. They’d left it unguarded thinking nobody would come back here then. They didn’t know us.
Grant and I moved, walking through a hallway until we heard voices in another room. Grant pointed at a set of stairs and I followed once more.
We made it up the rickety stairs, old wood not exactly inspiring as we walked up, but we made little noise and found a room above the one Avery and his guests were using. We couldn’t just go storming in, guns blazing, we had to do this right.
“Here,” Grant called quietly as he found a hole in the floor. Once used as a way to heat the upstairs, and to provide an outlet for a stovepipe, the hole was big enough to see some of the room below but not the area we needed. We could hear what was happening though.
“I’m going to go down, see if I can find a spot where we can get some footage of this with the bodycams,” Grant whispered to me. I didn’t like splitting up, so I went after him.
We made it down the stairs and were crawling along the wall, heading to the main part of the factory. I could see that the inside of the building was much different. This one had a hole in the first floor, rooms on each side, but empty in the middle to allow for the height of the machinery once used inside. Grant and I had missed this when we first came in because we’d been looking for Avery, not at the interior.
“If you’ll come this way, gentlemen, you’ll see that Jeremy has brought the required payment. If the quality is as pure as you say it is, then I’ll be happy to give you every penny.” Avery came out of the room and Grant and I scurried behind some of the ceiling beams that rested in a pile on the damp floor.
Avery, a tall white man with graying blond hair, sun-damaged skin, and greedy green eyes walked out
of the room and into the open area. I’d seen two suitcases in there earlier, the tall kind that could be pushed or pulled. I’d made sure the camera caught them, but then Avery came out and interrupted me.
I felt for the camera again, adjusting its position to make sure it caught Avery with the two other men in the room. A tall pale man, so pale I knew he must have albinism, especially with those pink eyes, followed Avery, alongside a normal version of himself. The pair were obviously twins, but only one had been born with a total lack of pigmentation in his skin, hair, and eyes. The other one had dark hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes.
“Ah, here we are.” Avery stopped at the two cases and opened one. Money was stacked on each side, straps holding each stack in place. “And the other.”
He opened the next one, and I could see the exact same thing. “Now, about that product?”
Avery rocked back on his heels, his face smug with the future he had planned.
I wanted to wipe that smugness off his face.
“In here, Avery.” The pale man took out several packets wrapped in Christmas gift wrapping paper from a box I hadn’t seen earlier. “There are five more boxes waiting for you at your home, in a rented trailer that is being delivered as we speak.”
“Good, good. I don’t like having it delivered like that, but what can you do? If that’s your rules, that’s your rules. Can I see the product now?” Avery was all but rubbing his hands together in a way that made me wonder if he was using his own drugs. Or if he just couldn’t wait to rake in the cash from whatever the packets contained.
The pale man handed the packet to Avery and he tore into it, throwing the wrapping away. Black plastic covered the contents, and once that was gone, a layer of aluminum foil was revealed.
“Your boys are thorough,” Avery chuckled.
“It is the only way to be.” The pale man opened his palms as if in supplication, his voice a monotone that gave me pause. Either the man was totally unemotional or something was wrong that Avery had yet to notice. It put me on edge and I shifted in place, my foot kicking at a beam.
I stilled, my heart pounding as I watched the men, waiting for the world to explode into gunshots and screams.
Nothing happened, so I relaxed, and looked back at Avery. He had the packet open, at last, a final plastic zipper bag holding the contents secure. White powder. From the way Avery eagerly dug a finger into the bag before wiping it on his gums I knew it had to be cocaine.
“Damn that’s good. It’s working already! How pure is this?” Avery seemed to be reacting to the drug far too quickly, a sense of urgency entered his voice, and the way he shifted from foot to foot told me something was up. My hackles rose again immediately. That shouldn’t have been enough to hype the man up so quickly, that little dab on his finger.
“As pure as you can get it without cutting down the leaves and processing it yourself.” The pale man whispered, his hands shifting to his waist. Did he have a gun? Was this about to all go wrong? “Now, Avery, we want to talk to you about that attention you drew to our… association… not long ago. I hear your son was brought in for questioning?”
Cold shot down my spine, yes, this was about to head south.
“That bullshit! Man, I was trying to deal with one of my dealers who thought he’d try and take over. My boys and I showed him the error of his ways though. There wasn’t nothing left of him to find when the police finally came.” Avery chuckled and wobbled a bit, the coat of his black suit opening to reveal a girdle holding in the man’s gut. “And my kid will keep his mouth shut, don’t you worry.”
“See that it stays that way.” The pale man backed away from Avery and clasped his hands in front of himself. “I’ll see you around, Avery.”
“Just a minute there, Casper,” Avery called out to the retreating figure. From the way the man stiffened I knew he wasn’t called Casper and didn’t like being hailed in such a way.
That’s when two things happened. Avery pulled out a gun and shot Casper and his brother, and Grant slipped and caused one of the ceiling beams to slide down on top of him. Grant screamed, one of Avery’s goons shouted and started firing, and I ducked down.
“Shots fired, shots fired!” I called into the radio clipped to my belt.
I started firing at the goon in a red t-shirt aiming at Grant’s head as Avery turned to me, firing in my direction.
“Kill whoever the fuck that is!” I could hear over the sounds of guns going off over and over again.
I tried to pull Grant down, and almost succeeded but the world slowed down and sound disappeared as I saw his eyes go wide and blood sprayed from his chest straight into my face!
“Grant!” I shouted, his body slumping to one side.
“Officer down, officer down!” I called into the radio, still struggling to try and get Grant out of the line of fire. Luckily, the idiots shooting didn’t have very good aim.
“Let’s get out of here!” Avery yelled to his goons. “They’ll be dead soon enough! Come on!”
I wasn’t sure what the bastard meant, and I wanted to go after him, but Grant was barely breathing and his eyes were closed. I knew where the bastard lived, let him run.
A whooshing sound filled the air when I stood, and heat coursed through the building suddenly. Fire!
I covered Grant’s body with mine, trying to protect him from a wall of flames.
Sirens filled the air; police, fire, and rescue, as I pushed at the wooden beam, trying to get Grant out of the building.
“Police, lower your weapons!” I heard voices calling, and called out.
“It’s David! They’re gone! Send in the fire units and the rescue squad! Grant’s been hit! He’s bad.” He might even be dead, I thought as I stared down at him. I couldn’t see his chest rising or falling, and smoke was starting to fill the air. The crackle and pop of flames started and I looked around. “Get those bodies out before they burn! They’re evidence!”
I saw water from a fire hose starting to pour into the building just as two paramedics ran in, stretcher between them. We all worked together, the flames not dying as the fireman worked to hold it at bay. Two more stretchers carried out the dead men as we continued to work to move the beam. It was wedged in too tight.
“Fire crew! Bring in a saw!” One of the paramedics screamed into his radio, but there wasn’t time. Grant was still bleeding and growing pale. Deathly pale!
“No time!” I yelled and rammed my shoulder into the beam forcefully. Something popped in my shoulder, but I screamed it out. Grant was not going to die in here because of pain! “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” I screamed as I felt something give in the wood and pushed at it with my last reserves of strength. “Fucking shift!”
The beam broke into two, the piece over Grant fell away, and the paramedics yanked him onto the stretcher before the beam could fall back on him.
I collapsed but somebody pulled me up and frog-marched me out of the building before forcing an oxygen mask over my face.
I looked up to see the chief standing over me.
“Not quite to plan, eh?” he asked, face grim.
“Not quite, no. But we have him this time, Chief. We have him.” I handed him my bodycam. “Have somebody analyze this, or whatever they do. It’s all on there. Drug trafficking and murder. He’s never getting out of prison.” I sighed as I sat on the edge of the ambulance, my head pounding.
“Grant?” the chief asked, watching as the other ambulance drove away.
“I don’t know, Chief. Your guess is as good as mine. He was shot, crushed, and maybe shot again. I didn’t see everything in the confusion of it all. I just know if Grant doesn’t recover, there won’t be anyone to arrest tomorrow. There’ll be a body to bury.”
I felt a burning hole of coldness growing in my chest, an aching spot I hadn’t known was there. Grant wasn’t like my brother, he was my brother. If anything happened to him, I would lose my shit. I didn’t even have to think about it. The chief knew that too and walked away without another
word. The question was if I did take it out on Avery, what would the chief do about it?
I decided I didn’t give a fuck as the paramedics came back and released me. I’d torn a muscle in my shoulder but I’d live. I walked to the car I’d driven here in and headed straight for the hospital. I needed to know whether I had to kill a motherfucker tonight and the only way to know was by being at Grant’s side. That’s where I headed.
Toni
Something was wrong. It was after nine o’clock. They should have been back by now. I stared at the glowing blue numbers on my alarm clock, rubbing at the bottom of my lip again. Eric was in his room, writing a paper for school, and I’d managed to get the report done for work. Now I was staring at the numbers on the clock, dread making my heart pound.
I couldn’t explain it, but something had me on edge. Grant told me they’d be late, that maybe I wouldn’t see them for a day or two. Why was I on edge then?
I was on the verge of calling David or Grant, but stopped myself. What if they were in a situation where a ringing phone could give away their location? Or what if my phone call distracted them and they missed something? No, I couldn’t call them.
The piercing sound of emergency service vehicles filled the air and I stood up, reaching for my work phone. I knew it, I just knew it!
I wasn’t surprised when my phone lit up and started to buzz, what did surprise me was that it was Barbara.
“I’m sending you the coordinates for an address, get over there now if you can. If not, tell me. Something big is going down.” Her voice was tense but filled with excitement. She must have been reading something else as she talked to me. I’d come to know how she operated and I’d seen her do that before, talking on her phone and staring down at her tablet.
“I’ll head out there now.” I hadn’t been able to take the first big assignment she’d offered me, mainly because I was involved with that story, but I had a feeling I was going to have a personal stake in this one too. This time, though, I’d cover what I could of the story.
Dirty Cops Next Door Page 9
