Sinful Love (Sinful Nights #4)

by Lauren Blakely

  That would be like walking into…well, into target practice. The shop was the center of their gun trade, and if John wanted to keep this arrest as quiet as he possibly could until he had T.J., too, he needed a different way in.

  Food was the path.

  * * *

  When evening rolled around, John’s partner headed inside the grocery store, strolled around the aisles, and reported back via text.

  John nodded to himself with a small sense of satisfaction. Luke Carlton was indeed a man of routine. That routine was his camouflage. It had shielded him for years. His clockwork schedule had made him appear one way to the world, and that masquerade made it possible for him to live a life of crime undetected.

  John waited by the automatic doors of the supermarket—ready.

  Tension coiled in him, but a kind of excitement, too. This was why he did what he did. The chance to clean up the streets. Put the bad guys behind bars.

  After his best friend had been paralyzed by a drive-by gang shooting when he was fourteen, John had vowed to always do his part to keep this town safe. Sure, Luke Carlton had done so much more than sell guns. But all John needed was probable cause to take the man in. Thanks to Michael’s tip, coupled with the weeks of investigation, John and his men had been able to amass the necessary evidence.

  He could taste the possibility of justice in the air.

  The doors slid open, and his partner crossed from the tiled floor of the grocery store onto the sidewalk.

  Briefly, a small knot of guilt wormed its way through John as he thought of Marcus, the courageous boy who’d helped them start down this path. Marcus and the rest of his family would be safer, though, he reminded himself. The sooner John could dismantle the Royal Sinners, the better off everybody in this town would be.

  Sixty seconds later, Luke Carlton neared the exit of the grocery store. It was a little after six on a Tuesday evening. He carried two bags of groceries. He wore jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. His gray hair was freshly combed, as if he’d taken a shower before he ran his errands.

  Luke didn’t notice the two men in slacks and button-downs loitering outside the local market. He kept walking, his keys in one hand, whistling under his breath. Sounded like Beethoven, something he’d probably taught to a young student recently.

  John burned with frustration over the freedom this man had enjoyed for so many years. But it was also Luke’s Achilles’ heel. He thought he could keep it up indefinitely, living like an average guy.

  John stepped away from the brick wall he’d been leaning against and stopped in the path of the head of a dangerous street gang. An average, ordinary guy.

  “Pardon me,” he said, shifting to the right to avoid John, as if he’d truly just bumped into him. Funny how Luke didn’t even look up. If he had, he might have recognized the detective he’d lied to a few months ago.

  Fucking mild-mannered piano teacher, my ass. But the guy had pulled it off, living a double life for years. That was about to be blown wide open.

  “Good to see you again, Luke Carlton. You’re under arrest,” John said.

  The second the words left John’s mouth, Luke dropped his grocery bags and bolted. It was an instant reaction—he took off along the sidewalk of the cavernous store, running like hell.

  John went after him, sidestepping the bunch of bananas, the trail of cans, and the chicken that had spilled from the bags. Luke had more speed than John would ever have expected. He ran past a line of shopping carts, grabbing the handle of one and yanking it out onto the sidewalk.

  John dodged the cart, and his partner was right behind him as Luke rounded the corner into the back lot to the side of the store. Luke seemed hell-bent on escape, and John completely understood his drive. The man had lived a scot-free life for two decades. That could drive a man to run like hell. But so could the pursuit of justice, so could dogged determination, and so could years of running every morning before the sun even rose.

  John had all that in his favor.

  Even though the bastard was fast, he wasn’t fast enough. No fucking way was John letting Luke Carlton get away from him in the back parking lot of a grocery store.

  With his heart pumping, his feet pounding, and his breath coming in fast, powerful spurts, John neared him. Ten feet, five feet away now. John closed the distance across the asphalt, stretched out his arm, grabbed the back of his shirt, and tackled him.

  Luke twisted in his arms. “Let me go. You’ve got the wrong man.”

  He was like an eel, flinging and swishing and desperately coiling his body. But John wasn’t letting go, and as his partner reached them, the cuffs were ready.

  John yanked Luke up, pinned both wrists, pushed him against a dumpster, and slapped on the handcuffs.

  He breathed out hard. “As I was saying. Good to see you again, Luke Carlton. You’re under arrest for illegal gun trafficking.” Then he rattled off a litany of violations that this man had committed over the years, from selling guns without background checks, to peddling weapons to convicted felons, to giving firearms to fugitives.

  And at last, they took him in.

  * * *

  The next morning, John paid a visit to Lee Stefano, to see if he could get that punk to serve up some details on T.J.’s whereabouts. Weeks in jail had worn him down. He wasn’t so keen on “protecting their own” anymore, so he named a few spots that T.J. had been known to frequent. An interesting list, to be sure. John had a hunch where they might be able to nab the guy. Bringing in T.J. would require some stealth. The man was already wanted, so John would need the element of surprise on his side, and he knew how to pull it off.

  He called Michael Sloan to ask for his help. Michael said yes, then John cleared his throat, shifted gears, and asked him for the number of the cute blonde. He’d had Mindy on his mind since the night he met her.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “You want us to set a trap?”

  “Yeah. I would really like that,” John said, his tone somehow casual but also intensely serious.

  Michael’s eyes swept from John to the two men he was making this request of. Leaning against the back of a royal blue lounge chair, Curtis scratched his square jaw with his thumb, glancing at Charlie before answering. “So we’ve got to bring those fuckers back into our business?” he asked, arching an eyebrow skeptically as he waved a hand around the club, quiet now during the day. Jazz music hummed from the same speakers that played dance music after midnight.

  John nodded. His arms were crossed. “I know it’s not what you want, but if we bring him in, and I’ve got the warrant for his arrest, we can take the gang apart. He’s the last linchpin left, now that we’ve got their head guy. One of my witnesses has named the places he’s been seen.”

  Curtis shook his head. “This isn’t one of them.”

  “No. But by using the guy who started trouble here a few weeks ago with the knife in the bathroom, we think we can lure him. That guy is willing to invite T.J. here. Make it look like just a regular night out. Once he’s here, you make the call and we’ll take him in.”

  Charlie blew out a long stream of air. “I don’t like bringing them in here. We’ve been trying to keep guys like that out. I don’t want any guns in my club.”

  “I hear you loud and clear,” John said. “But we’re close, so close to blasting them apart. We’ll have plainclothes cops here. They will be the only ones with weapons, besides my men and myself. We’ll do thorough checks at the door to make sure. And Michael’s team will ramp up security. We will keep your business safe.”

  Charlie hummed and raised his chin at John. “I heard you talk at the benefit a few months ago.”

  Michael’s ears pricked. He hadn’t attended that event, but both Ryan and Colin had. It was a fundraiser for the local community center where Colin volunteered. His girlfriend Elle ran it. Colin’s company was one of the main donors, and so was White Box. These guys were committed to cleaning up the city, and Michael hoped they’d take this chance, even if i
t put them at risk.

  “You had a friend who was injured when you were younger,” Charlie said, meeting John’s eyes.

  The detective nodded.

  “I know what that’s like,” he said through tight lips. “I lost one of my brothers when I was younger. To street crime, too. That loss changed me. Led me to make some choices I wasn’t so proud of. Now, I’m trying to live a better life, in his name. He would have wanted this.”

  Curtis nodded and patted Charlie’s shoulder. “He would have. He really would have.”

  Charlie turned back to them. “We will help you.”

  * * *

  The waiting was miserable. Minutes ticked by as if they were hours. The days were elongated, like melting Dali clocks. Michael walked through town as if in a surreal dream. He was glued to his phone, and his phone was stuck to him. Just in case there was news. In case Morris, or Mindy, or John, or Ryan, or Annalise, or his White Box guys called.

  Waiting sucked. Waiting was torture. But he understood this was the safest way to bring in T.J. The fucking mastermind of multiple hits had gotten away with so much, but with Luke now behind bars and facing a possible trial, and T.J.’s cousin arrested, and many of his guys on the streets locked up, too, the power structure of the Royal Sinners was cratering. They were caving in on themselves. T.J. was the last man standing, and once he was down, Michael would breathe again.

  He was slated to fly to Paris in a few days, and he had half a mind to cancel the trip. But that was silly. He wasn’t the guy who’d make the arrest. He was simply the man waiting for justice. Justice would happen, one way or another, he was sure.

  He went to the gym late one night, hoping a workout would burn off some of his tension. At the end of his weights session, his phone rang.

  * * *

  John was playing pinball when the call came. He’d just sent a silver ball screaming up the board and into the waiting maw of Jabba the Hut at his favorite game in the arcade hall not far from White Box. The phone trilled.

  Mindy eyed his back pocket. It was their second date, and the first had gone exceedingly well. “Want me to grab it? So you don’t miss a ball?”

  He nodded, his eyes focused on the game. Turned out she was a tenacious competitor. Turned out she kissed like she’d never wanted anyone so much before. He felt the same for her, and he sure as hell liked her hand in his back pocket, grabbing his phone.

  “You might need to take this,” she said, her tone serious.

  Immediately, he let go of the buttons, saw his colleague’s name flashing across the screen, and answered the call from his guy on site at the club. “He’s here.”

  John wanted to punch the sky. “I’m on my way.”

  “You want us to arrest him?”

  “If I can’t get there in time, yes. But I’m five minutes away. Don’t let him out of your sight.”

  Soon he walked through the door of the club, the neon lights bright and beckoning. Once inside, he nodded to Curtis, who watched the joint like a sentry. Curtis tipped his forehead to the cigar lounge.

  John sent a silent thanks with his eyes, found his colleagues, and made his way to the lounge, two men behind him. He peered in through the glass window into the small room. A cloud of smoke engulfed three guys, and one of them laughed.

  The man was bigger, brawnier, and tougher than the rest of them, and even though John had never laid eyes on him before, he knew T.J. Nelson in seconds. The gold earring. The arms the size of barrels. The missing tooth now capped with a gleaming white one. And the tattoo on his right bicep.

  Protect our own.

  The last puzzle piece. The last man standing. A sense of calm descended on John, mixed with the thrill of victory. This was why he’d dug into this case. He’d known he could solve it. Known he could find the accomplices. Months ago, as soon as the shooter’s ex-girlfriend had come to tip him off that two more men were involved, he’d been determined to hunt them down and put them behind bars. Three, it had turned out, since those two accomplices the night of the murder had operated under the tutelage of Luke Carlton.

  Inhaling deeply, John reached for the door handle, turned it, and entered the dark, smoky room. There was no way out. Three pairs of eyes met his, and T.J.’s were the hardest—dark brown, cold, and full of hate.

  He didn’t say a word, just raised his chin, waiting for John to go first.

  “T.J. Nelson?”

  “Maybe. Depends who you are,” the man said, his voice deep and menacing.

  “I’m the man you’ve been avoiding for eighteen years. But your lucky streak ends tonight,” John said, moving quickly, drawing his gun from his holster and aiming it. T.J.’s hands darted behind his jacket, but John was faster, and since the other men had helped to lure him in, he was sure T.J. didn’t stand a chance—even when the broker brandished a long, gleaming knife.

  His eyes turned to slits, and he raised the weapon. For a second, John’s blood went cold. The club had a metal detector for guns, but somehow T.J. had managed to slip this knife through. This was precisely why John had needed to trap the guy, capture him in a corner, someplace his suspect could let down his guard.

  This was as far down as John suspected it went—T.J. with a knife instead of one of his precious guns.

  “You don’t know who you’re messing with,” T.J. hissed as he lifted the weapon higher.

  “But I do. I absolutely do,” John said coolly, keeping the gun trained on the man he wanted behind bars.

  T.J. tried to stand up from the leather couch, but in a flash, John’s partners moved in, quickly overpowering him, each man pinning an arm. One grabbed the knife, and the other cuffed him.

  Then, as John tucked his gun away, he said the words he’d wanted to utter for so long. “I have a warrant for your arrest for the murder of Thomas Paige. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”

  T.J.’s eyes widened. The expression on his face was white-cold fear.

  Good.

  As it should be.

  As it absolutely should be.

  * * *

  Many glasses of champagne were raised. In the kitchen of his grandparents’ house, the very home that Michael and the other Sloan siblings had bought for them a few years ago as their way of saying thanks, Michael lifted a glass. Cleared his throat. Said words he’d longed to utter.

  “To justice. At long last,” he said.

  “Hear. Hear.” It was a chorus sounded by everyone.

  His grandmother nodded as a tear slipped from an eye. They clinked glasses, Michael with Brent, Ryan, Sophie, Elle, his grandparents, even Mindy. He tapped his glass to the flute of Diet Coke Colin held, and to the water glass in his pregnant sister’s hand. He suspected John would be in attendance at the next event, by Mindy’s side, but for now he was still busy, still working, and Michael was glad of that. He hoped that Marcus would come back soon enough to join them. Maybe for Christmas.

  “At last,” Victoria echoed, and they all drank.

  There was something incredibly odd about celebrating an arrest. And yet, it wasn’t the least bit bizarre.

  Since his world had been wrenched upside-down and shattered eighteen years ago, he’d grown accustomed to the unexpected moments. In a family that had seen a father killed by a mother, that same mother in prison, and a half-brother born behind bars, life became unexpected.

  Celebrations could take on the strangest forms, moving well beyond the usual festive occasions of birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings.

  Michael knocked back a hearty gulp of champagne and wrapped an arm around his grandmother. She looked up at him and flashed a smile rich with relief.

  That was what this feeling was.

  The long, overdue exhalation.

  It was blissful relief, hard-earned justice, and delicious victory. Nothing would ever change the course their lives had ta
ken that fateful night, but at last, at long fucking last, there was the promise of peace once again. It tasted so good.

  Shannon beamed, and Brent rubbed his hand on her belly. Sophie began slicing the cherry pie she’d made for the occasion, as Ryan once again thanked her for the key part she’d played in helping decode the names of the accomplices. Colin wrapped his arms around Elle and kissed her cheek, then whispered something in her ear. She shot him the sweetest smile, and for a moment Michael found himself wondering if Colin would be down on one knee, too, popping the question to the woman he loved.

  Love.

  There was so much of it here in this house. It was a surplus. They had an embarrassment of riches when it came to love. His brothers and sister. Their husbands, girlfriends, and fiancées. His grandparents. Even the dog had joined in, rubbing his side against Michael’s grandmother’s leg.

  After he’d taken a bite of pie, his phone buzzed. Grabbing it from his back pocket, he felt his heart warm as he found a new photo from his girl.

  A shot of her legs. She looked to be sitting at a sidewalk café, and he pictured her perfectly—watching the world go by, observing it all, drinking it in, and thinking of him.

  The caption read: Waiting for you. Not much longer.

  He’d be seeing her in mere days. The past was behind him. The present was free of its weight. The future was in his grasp, on the other side of an ocean, waiting for him. He could have it, taste it, touch it, love it.

  Love her, if she’d let him. He hoped, and he hoped, and he hoped that she was ready.

  She was the love of his life, and he’d been given a second chance with her.

  Perhaps that was part of this newfound peace.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  A blue and white teapot called out to her. Ceramic, with a line of blue ivy snaking along the top, it was pretty and artsy at the same time. Her hand darted out, carefully avoiding the mass of kitchen items crowding it on a table at a sidewalk vendor. Grabbing the teapot, she held it in front of her, brandishing it for Michael’s opinion.

  “I need this, don’t I?”