Up In Flames

by Alexx Andria

  It was too late to turn back now. Angel forced a smile past rubbery lips. “You don’t know me but I used to live here. I know this sounds crazy but I just wondered if I could come inside and take a look around.”

  “Why?”

  Her eyes watered. “Because I miss my sister and the last time I saw her, we lived here.”

  The girl’s expression softened and she nodded stepping aside so Angel could come inside. She gathered up the toddler and held him close. “What happened to your sister?”

  “She was killed.” Angel spared the details. She was sure the woman didn’t want to know that someone had died in her apartment. She cast a glance toward the toddler with a small smile. “Is he yours?”

  “Yeah, teen mom,” she answered with deprecating smile as she adjusted the healthy boy on her hip. “But I love him. I don’t regret a minute. Do you have kids?”

  A lump stuck in Angel’s throat as she nodded. “A daughter. About the same age.”

  The apartment looked different but she could close her eyes and picture how it was when she and Ashley had lived there. She gestured toward the second bedroom. “May I?”

  The girl nodded. Angel walked into the bedroom and saw that it was the little boy’s room. The last time she’d stepped into this room, she’d been a 16-year-old girl with posters on the wall and boys on her mind. Angel didn’t even recognize that person anymore. Now the walls were covered with stencils of airplanes and there were toys everywhere. It was obvious this kid was loved. The girl lowered her boy to the floor and he immediately ran to one of his toys to show Angel with a toothy grin. She smiled through a wash of tears. “What do you have there? That’s an awesome fire truck.”

  “He’s kind of obsessed with them,” the girl admitted. “But that’s okay I think there’s worse things to be obsessed with right?”

  Angel modded. “My daughter is obsessed with,” her throat closed. Maybe coming here had been a mistake. She shook her head. “I’m sorry to have bothered you. I thought coming here would make me feel better but it didn’t.”

  The girl nodded and walked her to the door. Angel smiled at the little boy and gave the girl a bit of unsolicited advice. “Never lose sight of the fact that this little boy is the most important gift in the world. I lost sight of that for a while and now I’m paying for it.”

  Then Angel turned on her heel and practically ran away. Tears blinded her but she didn’t stop running until she was so winded, her lungs screamed for mercy. She leaned against a stop sign, breathing hard, wondering how she was going to get herself out of this jam without killing Mila or Pyro.

  It seemed one of them was going to die.

  No matter what she did.

  -11-

  “There’s no record of this kid,” Bronx told Jax and Hunter in a low tone. Things had gotten real, real fast and he wasn’t about to let his best friend die for something that’d happened years ago. “By all accounts, the kid should’ve been taken into custody.”

  Zoe, Jax and Hunter’s woman, looked troubled as she pulled some research of her own. “I did some searching around on my own and I’ve found a distressing pattern, one that probably would’ve been overlooked by most detectives. Five out of the seven recent deaths due to this ‘frazil’ drug had kids but none were logged into the system. None of the kids are in state custody so where are they?”

  Jax and Hunter shared dark looks. “I got a bad feeling about this.”

  Bronx agreed. “Yeah, and it feels like this goes deep. This is more than just a cover up about cops taking drug money. I told Pyro it didn’t feel right. Cops on the take don’t hand out drugs that kill the cash flow. No repeat customers, no cash. However, what if the cash flow wasn’t coming from the drugs but something else? Something more easily lost in the shuffle and hard to track?”

  Zoe looked ill. “Please God, you’re not talking about human trafficking are you?”

  Jax nodded with Bronx. “Sounds like it to me. Jazzy should’ve been logged into the system once the cops found Roxy’s body. The fact that there’s no case file for Roxy, tells me that the officers who took the call, knew not to file the report, therefore leaving no paper trail for anyone to follow.”

  “And then, they could just swoop in and take the kid without anyone batting an eye because they’re cops.” Zoe growled, practically vibrating with righteous anger. “I fucking hate dirty cops.”

  “If this Benton guy is all about the money, then trafficking kids on the black market is a sweet cash flow if he’s got the right people behind him, covering his tracks,” Hunter said.

  “Fuck me,” Bronx muttered. “So what do we do? Pyro’s walking into a death trap and it’s not even over what happened to Ashley. He’s getting ready to fall on the sword for a nonexistent cause.”

  “I have no doubt they want to snip the loose end but it’s really not about your friend,” Jax said. “It’s about the kids. So that brings me to the next logical question…is Pyro’s girl in on it or is she unknowing bait?”

  Bronx shook his head. “I don’t know. She’s definitely hiding something but I don’t know how deep it goes.”

  “Only one way to find out,” Hunter said gravely and Bronx agreed, though he hated to be the bearer of really bad news. Pyro had suffered enough. The man deserved a fucking break.

  “What are we going to do about these fucking dirty cops?” Zoe asked, her fierce stare hungry for justice and Bronx didn’t blame her. Once they were all enemies but a common concern for kids stuck in the system had brought them all together. Since then, he’d gotten to know Zoe and she was a hella cool chick. Not to mention his wife’s best friend. And she was an award-winning journalist in her own right. The woman’s pen was definitely mighty. “I know a few people in Internal Affairs I could call. They’d love to get their hands on a few dirty cops.”

  “We’d need proof,” Jax said. “Something tells me they’re not going to just spill their guts on principle.”

  “Well, seeing as Angel is already playing a part, let’s just let her keep playing,” Zoe said slyly. “Here’s an idea…”

  ***

  Angel returned around midnight and the moment he heard the door open, he was there, a towering, pissed-off, relieved-as-hell, sonofabitch. “Where the fuck have you been?” he demanded as she sidestepped him. “Angel!”

  She refused to look at him and his first fear was that she’d used again but she seemed clear-headed, if not distant. “I told you not to wait up. I had things to do.”

  “Such as meet up with Benton?” he couldn’t help but ask.

  She scowled. “No.”

  “Then where have you been?”

  “Why do you care? Honestly, chill out. We’re not anything to each other so stop acting like you have the right to demand answers.”

  He narrowed his gaze. She was deliberately pushing him away. He recognized the tactic as one of his own. He almost laughed at the irony but he was too riled up. “If you don’t fucking care about your own well-being, then why should I?” he shot back flippantly. “Hell, maybe you’d be doing me a favor. You’ve been nothing but trouble since the day you showed up.”

  It was a split second reaction but he saw the hurt and it only confirmed that she was pushing him for a reason. He shouldn’t care but he did. He cared so hard it left a bruise on his heart and he was both confused and overwhelmed by the knowledge. Times like these called for immediate, brutal action, one way or another. As she attempted to move past him, he pulled her to him, sealing his mouth to hers in a deep kiss that left no room for anything else between them. He sensed sadness and despair deep inside her and it called to the bone-deep guilt that rode him everyday. They were a fucked up pair. He swept her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. He stripped her clothes, practically ripping them from her body and she didn’t resist, in fact, her deft fingers were working on his jeans, just as frantic. Within moments, they were naked and moving against one another. It was rough and urgent, almost painful, but he couldn’t stop.
He had to touch her. Had to taste. He was delirious with the need to know that she was safe even if she was determined to push him away for covert reasons. He framed her face and rained kisses on her face, down her neck, and to her breasts. He sucked on the nipples, hard and wanting, then moved to the dewed lips of her pussy. He buried his nose between her folds, inhaling the unique scent that drove him wild, and then lost himself in the art of driving her fucking wild. He didn’t stop until she was bucking beneath him, crying out and shaking as she came. His cock raged, rock-hard and straining, desperate to sink into that willing, slick heat, and when he did, he nearly lost his mind with the soul-searing pleasure that rocketed through his body. She was everything — everything he shouldn’t want and couldn’t have — and yet, in this moment, she was his.

  “Jesus, Angel,” he groaned as he lost himself, jetting deep inside her, not caring that he hadn’t gloved up. At that moment, he didn’t care about anything but the bliss found between Angel’s thighs. He collapsed beside her, his heart thundering wildly as he fought to slow his heart rate and it was then he realized Angel was crying. Alarmed, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “Baby, I’m sorry,” he said, cursing himself for being so careless. “I swear, if you’re pregnant…”

  “It’s not that,” she said, between giant racking sobs. “I have an IUD. I’m not worried about getting pregnant.”

  Confused yet relieved, he asked, “Then what is it?” She clung to him but didn’t answer and he felt helpless. “Baby, I swear to you, I will rip anyone apart who tries to hurt you. Just let me help. I won’t let you down. I will die before I let anyone put a hand on you.”

  She raised her head and met his gaze, tears still streaming down her cheeks as she revealed, “Benton called” and he tightened his grip on her. She sniffed back more tears. “I’m supposed to meet him tomorrow night at the abandoned shoe factory at eight. I wasn’t going to come back. I got the call and I swear I was going to keep walking so you wouldn’t get involved with this shit but I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave. I had to see you again. It was stupid. I was selfish to come back. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry!”

  Angel was racked with sobs, so much so that he couldn’t help but gather her into his arms like a baby. “I’m glad you came back,” he told her softly. “We’ll face this together. I swear you don’t have to do this alone. This loser is going to wish he’d never messed with you, sweetheart.”

  “You don’t understand,” she said with a hiccup. “There’s things I haven’t told you…things that…” he waited anxiously, hoping this was when she came clean but she choked back whatever she’d been on the verge of sharing and finished with a watery, “I’m sorry. My life is a messed up shit pile and I never should’ve involved you.”

  He lifted her chin to meet her gaze. “I’m the one who messed up your life. Give me the chance to make it right in the only way I know how.”

  Angel whimpered in the back of her throat and gave a minute shake of her head but didn’t say anything more. His heart sank when he realized she still didn’t trust him enough with the full truth but he didn’t press her. All he knew was that he wasn’t going to let her face this asshole alone. He was going with her and he was packing heat. If anyone dared touch Angel, they’d end up eating lead.

  That was a promise.

  ***

  Angel lay awake long after Pyro had crashed, staring at the ceiling, replaying the phone call with Benton in her mind. It was after she’d left the apartment complex and was walking aimlessly down streets she barely remembered when her cell rang. When she saw the number, she answered with her heart in her throat, praying to God that Mila was still safe.

  “Hey baby,” Benton said cheerfully as if he weren’t the devil incarnate. “How’s my girl?”

  “I’m not your fucking girl and don’t ever call me that again,” she said in a low tone. “Where’s Mila? You better not touch a hair on her head or I swear to God, I’ll fucking kill you.”

  He chuckled as if her threats amused him and then said, “Watch your mouth, you dirty whore or I’ll wash your mouth out with my dick. Not that I wouldn’t put it past you to use your teeth.”

  She certainly would. She’d rip it off and spit it out if he ever was dumb enough to put his dick near her mouth. “Where’s my baby?” she repeated in a low tone. “I want to talk to Mila.” Benton sighed and then she heard the sounds of her daughter crying in the background. Instant tears sprang to her eyes as she covered her mouth, trying not to scream. “Why is she crying? What did you do to her?”

  “Relax, mother hen. She’s fine. Now, back to business. Did you manage to fulfill your end of the bargain?”

  She gripped the phone more tightly. “Yes. Pyro is coming with me. What are you going to do to him?”

  “What do you care?” Benton asked sharply as if the question annoyed him. “Your job isn’t to care about what happens after your part of the deal is done. That’s your problem babe, you’re too focused on the shit that doesn’t matter. You should work on that.”

  Bile rose in her throat. If he called her babe one more time… “Let’s get this over with. Where am I meeting you and what time?”

  “The old shoe factory, eight o’clock. I believe you know the place?”

  Her nostrils flared with pure hatred. Benton knew she had bad memories of that place, which is precisely why he’d chosen it. What a fucking bastard. “Yeah, I know the place.”

  “Great. So, yeah, bring your buddy Pyro and I’ll bring the kid, we’ll do the exchange and then we’ll go our separate ways. Sound good?”

  She knew he was lying. He wasn’t going to let her go. She knew too much about his operation. Sweat slicked her upper lip. “How do I know you’ll let us go?” she asked.

  He laughed. “You don’t. I guess you’ll have to trust me.”

  And then the line went dead. Trust him? She’d have much better luck trusting a viper not to strike.

  She had no one to help her. The one person who wanted to help was the one she was about to betray. “I’m so sorry, Pyro,” she whispered, gazing at his profile in the darkness, wishing with all her heart that things were different. She’d give anything to be able to walk away from this situation with Mila and Pyro instead of having to choose between one or the other. Chances were high, they were all going to die tomorrow.

  And she didn’t know what to do to change that.

  -12-

  Bronx told Pyro to meet him at the clubhouse around noon the next day and Pyro did just that, although he was anxious about leaving Angel alone.

  “I’ll be fine, stop hovering,” Angel said wearily when he hesitated to leave.

  “Will you be here when I get back?”

  “Yes,” she answered with a sigh then gestured for him to go. “I promise. Pick up some more crackers when you come back. My stomach is in knots.”

  Pyro pressed a kiss to her forehead and reluctantly left her behind. He could only hope that she wasn’t lying and that she’d be there when he returned.

  He walked into the clubhouse and went straight to the backroom, which served as an office. Bronx was already there, waiting.

  “We have information that you might want to know,” Bronx said, going straight to the point. “We did some checking and Jazzy isn’t in the system. The kid has vanished. There isn’t even a report filed about her mother’s death.”

  Pyro put two and two together, openly speculating. “Why wouldn’t a cop file a report? Unless they didn’t want a paper trail…mom disappears, a junkie, no one notices that the kid goes missing, too. Shit…are we talking human trafficking?”

  Bronx nodded. “That’s the conclusion we came to.”

  Pyro felt sick. “And you want to know what Angel’s connection to all this is, right?”

  “The thought came to mind.”

  “I don’t know but whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not voluntary. She’s been throwing up since this morning. She’s a wreck.”

  “Well, we can both agr
ee that you’re walking into a trap of some sort, so we’ve come up with an idea to spring a different sort of trap on the dirty cops and Benton,” Bronx said but Pyro didn’t want his friend sticking his neck out on his behalf and shot him down.

  “Look man, I appreciate everything you’re doing by nosing around but I don’t want any of this shit to land on you or your family. These people are playing hardball and I’m not going to ignore the danger. I did that once and it got Ashley and my son killed. I’m not about to lose my best friend, too.”

  Bronx clapped him on the shoulder with a smirk that was completely inappropriate given the gravity of the situation and said, “Stop being such a pussy and let me worry about my own ass. Besides, I’m not going in without back-up. We’ve got a pretty solid plan. I have to give Zoe props for thinking of it.”

  “Great! Now Zoe is involved, too?” He glowered. “I think it was better when the Dogs and Kings were mortal enemies.”

  “Stop your whining and listen to this plan…it’s a good one.” Bronx proceeded to detail a plan to save their asses and put the bad guys away but Pyro knew that even the best-laid plans could backfire and that’s when people got killed. He didn’t want another death on his conscience. He didn’t think he could handle the burden.

  “So what time is the meeting?” Bronx asked.