by J. S. Cooper
“But he has you, Lucky, and maybe now that the case is over, everything else in his life will come back together as well.”
“Yeah.” I wasn’t really listening to him anymore, because I was feeling shocked at the realization I had just made.
“I promise it’ll work out my dear. It’s like my mother used to say, just when you think you’re down to your last bag of rice, Jesus gon’ come and make a miracle.”
“Thanks Sidney. I’ll talk to you later.” I hung up the phone and buried my head in my hands, half-happy and half-shocked.
I made a mental checklist, I was feeling sickly, I had weird food cravings, my breasts felt swollen and tender. I had to be pregnant. But it didn’t make sense. I got my period. Just because you got your period doesn’t mean you couldn’t still be pregnant, a little voice in me cried out. You should have done a test. I grabbed ahold of my stomach and I suddenly knew. I just knew. I didn’t even need to go to the doctor.
I heard the front door opening and I stilled. Zane was home and I wasn’t sure how he was going to feel. With all the emotional turmoil he had been through recently, I wasn’t sure if he was in a good place to be a father. I didn’t want it all to be too much too soon. I stood there debating what to do when I heard a car pull up in the driveway. As I heard his footsteps, I looked up, ready to tell him that I thought we were going to have a baby, but no words came out of my mouth.
Zane was standing at the front door staring at me, but my eyes weren’t on him, they were on the man standing next to him. The man who looked so much like Zane, only different. The man who looked like I imagined his brother would look. I rubbed my eyes, not knowing if I was hallucinating or what.
“Lucky,” Zane walked towards me slowly. “I’d like you to meet my brother, Noah.” His words tripped out of his mouth smoothly and innocently, and as I stared at the other man’s familiar, wide smile, I felt myself feeling woozy and then fell to the ground.
***
“Shit, man, is she okay?” I heard a male voice say, but I was unable to open my eyes.
“I’m sure she just went into shock.” Zane’s voice was worried. “Help me pick her up.”
“I would have thought you’d be the one to faint, not the girlfriend.” The voice was silky and warm. “And bro, you never told me she was hot.”
“Eyes off, Noah.” Zane’s voice held a warning.
“Come on now, bro.” The guy laughed. “I’ve been back a day, I don’t think I’m going to try and steal your girlfriend.”
“You couldn’t steal her even if you tried.” Zane laughed. “And what do you mean a day? Why did I only find out today?”
“Paperwork.” The guy sighed. “You know how it is.”
I felt two sets of arms pick me up and carry me. “Shit bro, what’s this on the couch?”
“I don’t know.” Zane’s tone sounded worried again. “Fuck, maybe I should call the doctor. Maybe she’s sick.”
“Yeah. You don’t want to take a chance.” The other voice sounded worried as well. “Where should we take her? She’s not exactly a feather.”
“Upstairs.” Zane’s voice was firm and I slowly opened my eyes.
“Hi.” I stared up and he was looking down at me with an extremely concerned expression.
“Lucky, are you okay?” He continued staring at me as they walked up the stairs.
I nodded slowly. “I think I fainted.” I looked towards my legs and saw the other voice smiling at me. “Are you, Noah?”
“Indeed, I am.” He grinned at me and I saw that he had the same blue eyes as Zane, only his hair was darker and he was bigger built.
“But you’re dead.” My voice was accusing. “How can you be here?”
“Don’t upset yourself, Lucky.” Zane looked at me and pursed his lips as they set me down on the bed.
“So this is real?” I propped myself up on the pillows and looked at them standing together. “I’m not in some weird funky dream of yours.”
“This is real.” Zane nodded and came and sat down next to me on the bed. “This is my brother, Noah.”
“But how?”
“I guess this is where I come in?” Noah walked towards the bed and looked down at me. “I was in witness protection.”
“Huh?” My head was aching and I stared at him in confusion. “I thought you jumped off of a roof?”
“Have you met Angelique?” He grimaced and I nodded. “Do you think anyone would kill themselves over her?”
I laughed slightly, but saw Zane’s furious expression and I knew he didn’t think it was a joking matter. “But that’s what Braydon said, and the police and even Angelique believed that, and—and even Zane.”
“That’s what I needed everyone to believe.” Noah looked at his brother slightly and then back at me. “We needed everyone to believe I was dead.”
“You should have told me, Noah.” Zane’s tone was angry and he stared at his brother. “You should have fucking told me. Do you know what I’ve been through?”
“Dude, I couldn’t tell you.” Noah looked miserable. “It wouldn’t have worked if you had known.”
“I would have gotten the information.” Zane’s face was obstinate and he shook his head. “You fucking don’t pull that shit on me, Noah. You don’t make me think you’re dead.”
“It was the only way. It wasn’t my choice.” Noah pleaded with his brother and I held my hand up and waved it.
“Sorry to interrupt the love-fest, but I have no idea what you guys are talking about.” I frowned. “And I very much want to know.”
“Yes, Noah, why don’t you tell Lucky your little story.” Zane stood up and walked to the door. “I’m going to go and get myself a stiff drink. Anyone want anything?”
“I’ll have some whiskey, on the rocks.” Noah nodded and I shook my head.
“You sure, Lucky? No wine?” Zane studied my face and I shook my head.
“No thanks.”
“Okay.” He left the room and Noah looked at me awkwardly.
“Do you mind if I have a seat?” He patted the side of the bed and I shook my head, not believing that I was seeing Noah, alive in the flesh.
“I’m glad you don’t take any nonsense from my brother.” He grinned at me and I stared at him in astonishment, surprised at his words.
“Zane’s always been a bit of a worrier, he won’t admit it, but he is. He’s overprotective and thinks he knows everything. He needs a strong woman like you.”
“I don’t know what to say.” My mouth dropped open.
“Don’t say anything.” He laughed. “I just want you to know I’m glad my brother found you.”
“I love him.”
“I can see that.” He looked around the room and sighed. “I couldn’t tell him, you know? You can’t fake heartache and pain, no matter how much you want to. And for him to bring down Braydon and Angelique, he had to be believable.”
“You knew?” I frowned, not really understanding what was going on.
“Yeah.” He ran his hand through his dark hair and he reminded me so much of his brother that it was uncanny. “I got caught up with Braydon and Angelique. Not doing any hard stuff, just smoking some weed, but I guess you could say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We went down to Mexico City one weekend, and let’s just say I saw some things I shouldn’t have seen.”
“Oh yeah?”
“The guy in charge, Sanchez, ordered a hit on one of his dealers that had given the police some information on a shipment from Colombia.”
“Oh, my God.” My face paled at his words.
“I was sitting in the toilet in the next room as he ordered it.” Noah shook his head. “I wasn’t meant to overhear any of it.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, as I sat there, I planned to tell Braydon that we needed to hightail it out of there, but then I heard his voice.”
“Braydon’s voice?” I gasped.
“Yeah, he was the one Sanchez was telling to order the
hit! I nearly shit my pants. I thought we had just gone down for some good weed, I didn’t think all that was going down.”
“So what did you do?”
“I kept my mouth shut and pretended like I hadn’t seen or heard anything. When I got back to L.A., I called a number I found online and ended up speaking to someone in the FBI who was investigating Sanchez and Braydon.”
“Wow.” I looked at him with shocked eyes. His story sounded like something from a movie, and it was all I could do to not make loud gasping sounds.
“Yeah, it was pretty crazy.” He looked at me with direct eyes. “I didn’t want to go away you know. I knew Zane would take it badly, but the Agent told me it was the only way to guarantee my safety and bring down the cartel.”
“Why is that?”
“Braydon found out I went to the cops.” Noah sighed. “I didn’t realize Angelique was involved so deeply, I told her some things. She told Braydon, and when I told the agent at the FBI, he set it up so that everyone would think I died.”
“By jumping off of a roof?”
“I didn’t actually jump.” His voice was irritated and he reminded me of Zane even more. “Braydon was an idiot for believing that. But he was fucking high, he had no clue what was going on. I made him think I was high and depressed, like they told me to do and when he left the roof to go get something, I ran down the emergency exit stairs. The ambulance and police were ready and waiting to go as soon as they saw me make it outside.”
“So, it was a setup?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “They put me on a stretcher and made sure that Braydon saw me being escorted into the ambulance.”
“But didn’t he wonder who called 911?”
“They had a guy with his dog.” He laughed. “They thought of everything. They had this guy pretending he had been walking his dog, and he was there screaming about how he saw me jump. So Braydon just assumed what the cops said was true.”
“Wow.” I paused and sat back thoughtfully. “So that’s why Zane was never able to see your body, huh?”
Noah nodded and grinned. “I see you’re a smart one.”
“And that is why Braydon’s story and the police report didn’t really add up.” I played with my curls as all the inconsistencies came to mind. “Braydon really didn’t witness you jumping off the roof, so he wasn’t lying in the interrogation. He couldn’t have saved you because you never died.”
“Crazy, right, Lucky?” Zane walked back into the room and handed Noah his drink.
“Thanks for telling me about the plan before it went down, Noah.”
“We needed everyone to think that I was dead.” Noah shook his head and sighed. “They told you that man. It wasn’t my choice.”
“You can’t just disappear and make people think that you’re dead, man. You were all I had. You fucking tore me apart.”
“I’m sorry.” Noah’s voice was soft and I could tell he was devastated at Zane’s obvious hurt. “But we did it, man, we got them.”
“You risked my life, Noah, you risked Lucky’s life. If anything had happened to her...” He took a deep breath and I saw his face turning red. “Do you know she went on a date with Braydon?” Zane’s voice rose with anger. “Who knows what he may have tried to do to her?”
“You dated Braydon?” Noah looked at me in surprise and I rolled my eyes.
“I did not date Braydon, we were friends and we went to dinner.”
“He wanted more than dinner from you.” Zane glared at me and downed his whiskey.
“Well, I didn’t want more from him.”
“You thought he was a nice guy.” Zane’s eyes narrowed. “You …”
“Bro, don’t get mad at her when it’s me you really want to punch.”
“I do want to punch you, you jerk.” Zane looked at his brother and then brought him in for a hug. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will kill you myself.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t plan on doing that again then.” They grinned at each other and something hit me. Something I wanted to ask but I didn’t know if I should bring up.
“Did Sidney Johnson know?” My voice was quiet as I asked the question in my mind, a part of me didn’t really want it to be heard, but I needed to know.
“What?” Noah turned towards me with a glint in his eyes and Zane froze still.
“She asked you if Sidney Johnson knew.” Zane looked at his brother and sighed. “You told Sidney Johnson and you didn’t tell me?”
“I could trust him.” Noah sighed and he looked at me. “How did you know he knew? I know he would never say a word.”
“He didn’t tell me exactly, but I think if I had really listened to some of the things he had told me, I wouldn’t be as surprised as I am now.”
“That Sidney.” He laughed and then looked at me curiously. “How did you meet him anyway?”
“We’ve been working on the documentary.”
“My documentary?” He looked shocked and turned to his brother. “You’ve been working on civil rights stuff now? Wow, you must really have missed me.”
“While I did miss you bro, the documentary was for Lucky.” Zane raised an eyebrow at me and I blushed. Noah looked back and forth between us and shook his head. “This is all too much for one day. I need to take a nap. I hope you feel better, Lucky. We’ll talk later?” He smiled at me warmly before yawning and I nodded eagerly.
“I feel awful. I haven’t even asked where you’ve been. Or how you were able to come back. Or if Braydon knows you’re really alive.” I blurted out a bunch of questions. “Sorry, that was a bit much.”
“No problem.” Noah walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m honored that you’re interested. I’d love to tell you more.”
“Back off, Noah.” Zane teased his brother and winked at me. “You can sleep in the room two doors down. You okay to go by yourself? I want to make sure Lucky is okay.”
I felt myself flush at his words. Oh shit, he still doesn’t know that I may be pregnant. I bit my lip and I saw Noah frown as he saw the worry in my face. He gazed at me in concern for a moment before turning back to Zane. “No problem bro, I can find it.”
He reached over and gave Zane a pat on the back and Zane brought him close for another bear hug. They stood there for what seemed like five minutes just hugging and then they broke apart. I could see the love and happiness shining in Zane’s eyes as he stared at his brother and I couldn’t believe I was in this moment. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life.
“Sweet dreams, Noah.” I smiled up at him and he winked before he left the room. Zane watched his brother walking away and then came back to the bed to join me. “Crazy day, huh?” I grabbed his hand as he sat on the bed next to me.
“I don’t think I even know the definition of crazy anymore.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know that I even know which way is up and which way is down right now.”
“Are you okay?” I looked at him, worried that it had all been too much for him.
“I’m beyond okay.” He shook his head. “Today has been the best day of my life. Lucky, when I saw Noah walking towards me, I thought I was going to pass out or that I had died and gone to heaven.”
“I’m surprised that he got to leave the program? On TV, they always make it seem like once you go into witness protection, it’s for life.”
“It was slightly different for Noah.” Zane explained. “The FBI was worried that Braydon would hire someone to take Noah out. They weren’t worried so much that Braydon would do it, but they knew he had a partner that was a lot more coldhearted. The problem is, they didn’t know who, so they didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Oh, my God, Braydon’s partner was Angelique right?” My blood ran cold. “What if something had happened to you that night? What if she got suspicious?”
“She didn’t harm me, Lucky. Nothing happened.” Zane leaned over and kissed me.
“But somethin
g could have happened.” I closed my eyes. “And I never would have known. I would have just been sitting here waiting for you to come home and you would have been laying dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“It didn’t come to that Lucky.” He pulled me towards him. “And I don’t think she or Braydon had a clue that I was working with the FBI. Or about Noah. My grief and hatred was too real.” He shook his head. “In a way, I understand why they didn’t want to tell me that he wasn’t dead. It was the best way for me to get into the group and to do everything I could to make sure I could get the evidence to prosecute Braydon.”
“They used you.” I frowned and we sat there in silence for a few minutes. “So what is going to happen to Braydon?” I was scared he was going to try and come and exact revenge on Zane and Noah now.
“Braydon and Angelique both took plea deals to testify against Sanchez.” His eyes burned. “But they will likely still be in jail for 20 years at least.”
“But what about Sanchez, will he come after us?” I trembled a little at the thought. I didn’t want to be looking over my shoulder every time I went out, and I certainly didn’t want Leo to become a full-time bodyguard.
“Sanchez was murdered last week.” Zane shrugged. “What can I say? Drug lords don’t play fair.”
“That’s really scary.” I cuddled up next to him. “Please tell me we don’t have to deal with this anymore. I don’t want to even think about these things anymore.”
“I promise, Lucky. It’s over.” His eyes gleamed as he looked down at me. “And I have Noah back.”
“He looks a lot like you.”
“Just a bit more handsome,” he laughed and I ran my hands through his hair and down his face.
“No one’s as handsome as you, my love.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” He grinned and kissed me deeply. “I feel so happy Lucky, I don’t know that I’ve ever felt happier in my life.”
“I’m glad.”
“Make it the best day of my life.” He whispered while staring into my eyes. “Say you’ll marry me.”
“What?” My eyes popped open at his words and I thought my heart stopped beating for a moment. “What did you say?”
