RAINING HELL-To Load

by Kane, Jackson

  “Hello?” Came a soothing familiar voice. “Luca? Are you in here?”

  “Grace?” Luca asked distantly as if being pulled from a daydream. The garage was built in a way that trapped a lot of the late summer heat which made working a sweaty ordeal. Luca peeled himself off the ground grabbing a rag to get as much of the grease and oil off his hands and arms as possible.

  The full weight of the oppressive heat blanketed him now that he wasn’t on the cool, concrete floor anymore. Luca cursed the fan that hadn’t been delivered yet and abandoned his filthy, short sleeve button-down work shirt. Balling it up he used it to wipe the sweat from his eyes, and face, then down along his chest and rippling abs.

  “What’s up?” Luca asked walking over to Grace. “Everything OK?”

  Like every other time he’d seen Grace, she wore a comfortable business casual style with her red hair pinned up and neatly pulled back. This time it was a professional-cut linen blouse and breezy pants that covered her five-foot-nothing curves. The loose, yet well-fitting clothes left a lot to the imagination, but Luca didn’t mind at all.

  He was a creative guy.

  “I—I. Yeah…” Grace stumbled through her words, distracted by the glistening Adonis standing before her. She switched the flat-bottomed canvas bag she was carrying from one hand to the other as she tried not to stare. It was the first time she’d ever seen Luca with his shirt off. From all her previous interactions with him, she’d always been able to tell he was in good shape, but she could’ve never imagined how good.

  Luca had his share of tattoos and scars, all of which told a clear story of the fast and rough life he’d lived. The ripped muscles that lined his torso, chest and arms made him look more like a heavyweight MMA fighter than a mechanic. Breathing heavier than she realized, Grace watched beads of sweat travel between his rock hard pecs, through a latticework of corded muscles along his ribs and abs to eventually catch the defined V in his hips and slide through a tuft of black hair below his belly button until it was finally absorbed by the elastic waistband of his boxers.

  If Luca’s body was a roadmap, the V in his hips was a highway paved with steamy thoughts Grace couldn’t unthink.

  Thumbing the last of the sweat from his eyes Luca caught her staring and mischievous smile split his lips.

  “I—yes.” Grace cleared her throat and looked away. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and dapped the sweat the dotted her forehead. “Um, sorry. It’s really hot in here. I don’t know how you manage.”

  “The shop is pretty new. We’re still waiting on a few things to get delivered,” Luca replied with slightly narrowing eyes, convinced that it wasn’t the heat that got her all bothered. He tossed the shirt onto a work bench that held another’s bike’s motor and stretched, partly because he’d spent so much time on the floor working and he was stiff, and partly because he liked seeing Grace squirm. “It can get pretty hot in here if you’re not careful.”

  “Yes, I can see that. I mean—” She caught herself immediately, flushing with something that had nothing to do with the late summer heat. “Anyways. When you didn’t get back to my text I figured I’d come by. I was in the area and—”

  “You came by just to see me?” Luca’ smile deepened.

  “No. Well kind of,” Grace snapped automatically, then took a breath and focused. “I realized I hadn’t seen your work yet so and I’m required by law to check to make sure it’s a legitimate business and…it looks good. The place you work looks good.”

  Grace did a quick look around and made an air check with her fingers as if marking something off on an invisible clipboard.

  “Is it just you that works here?” Grace asked, pulling one of the buttons of her blouse in a fanning motion to get some air into her shirt and hopefully, cool her off enough to think clearly.

  Luca’s sharp eyes caught a glimpse of the white cotton bra between the flexing fabric of the blouse.

  “Me and another guy who…” Luca finally tore his eyes away from her and scanned his too quiet two-bay bike garage. His only employee and Steel Veins brother, Crab, was nowhere around. Then he looked at the clock on the wall and realized the ornery old bastard had probably just stepped out for lunch. “I guess just me. Right now at least.”

  “So you joining us later for ice cream?’ Luca walked over and grabbed two bottles of water from the mini fridge. He drained one whole bottle on his way back to Grace. He’d been sweating all day doing hard manual labor and it was only when he saw Grace that he realized how thirsty he was.

  Maybe it wasn’t just water he craved.

  “Thanks.” Grace took the bottle saving it for later. “That’s one of the other reasons I came by. As much as I’d love to, I have a meeting tonight that I can’t miss. We might have to pull a little girl out of an abusive situation. Bella isn’t the only child growing up in hard conditions unfortunately.”

  “You want me to come with you?” Luca’s face became as stern as stone. Ever since meeting his daughter, the thought of kids in that kind of trouble made his blood boil. “I don’t mind at all.”

  “No, no. But thank you.” Grace chuckled to herself and shook her head, imagining having a guy the size and disposition of Luca at her side. The key to most potential child removals was convincing the parents not to do anything rash, and Luca didn’t seem like the calming type. “Because I couldn’t make it tonight I brought Bella this.”

  “She’ll love that!” With a growing smile, Luca went to grab the Wonder Woman plushie from Grace, but decided against it realizing he’d probably stain it with his dirty hands. “Can you just leave it over there?”

  Grace followed Luca’s pointed finger to wall of lockers, most of which were empty and ajar.

  “Hey have lunch with me.” Luca grabbed a cleaner rag and vigorously scoured his hands. “You’re already here, and it would give me a good excuse to get the hell out of here for a while.”

  “I ate just before coming over.” Grace closed the locker and leaned up against a clean-looking table next to the wall. She watched Luca saunter over to her and found her that her throat was dry which was weird considering her mouth was watering.

  Luca stopped about a foot away and looked her over, before tossing the rag onto the far side of the long table Grace half sat on. He’d been thinking about her a lot lately, especially these past few weeks.

  Every time the three of them had dinner or went to a playground for Bella, there’d been some tension between them. Luca had been around the block enough to know when a girl was into him. It was the fleeting, yet lingering glances he and Grace shared, or them brushing by one another, or accidentally touching that bristled in Luca’s head. Of course, he’d never act on any of the heady impulses with Bella around.

  But Bella wasn’t there this time.

  Was this the first time he’d actually been alone with her?

  “I’m not all that hungry either. At least not for food.”

  “Mr. Thomas,” Grace said sternly, standing up fully, but the pinching creases in Grace’s mouth betrayed her outrage.

  Completely undeterred Luca took a half-step closer which put them only inches apart. The manly, earthy scents of oil, sweat and hard work filled her nose, cruelly reminding her how long it’s been since she was with a real man.

  “Tell me to back up.” Luca dared her, staring deep into her with eyes full of hard-edged lust. Luca dragged a finger down Grace’s jaw line, then lifted her chin a little higher. He leaned forward and, with his lips close enough to brush against hers as he talked he whispered, “I don’t think you want me to.”

  Grace spiked in air and more of his devilish scent poured into her. She felt warm all over. The skin on her face seemed to crackle where he touched her, and her lips stung with electricity and yearning at being so close to his, but not actually kissing him. There was a tremble in her thighs as the coarseness of his jeans pushed into her. God, she wanted this, but could never justify it. Luca was an ex-con and a case she was working. Everyt
hing about what she was almost about to do was wrong on so many levels and could even get her fired.

  So why couldn’t she say the damn words?

  Maybe because he was right.

  Maybe she didn’t want him to back up.

  “I—” Grace finally started when her phone started going off loudly in her pocket. She dipped her forehead to lightly touch the bridge of his nose and exhaled in frustration. She knew right away she’d have to take it. “It’s work.”

  Luca bit his lower lip and pulled away. Turning his back to her as she answered the call, he adjusted the bulge in his pants so he didn’t tent his jeans. What terrible fucking timing…

  “Is she OK?” Grace’s expression immediately shifted back into work mode. As she listened intently, she gathered herself and got ready to leave. “I’m on my way. No one talks to her until I get there. Got it?”

  “What’s up?” Luca regarded her curiously,

  “That appointment I had later.” Grace frowned angrily. “The little girl is in the damn hospital. I have to go.”

  “Yeah.” Luca nodded, crossing his arms. “Hey. If you see my brother Aiden, swing by and say hi. I’m sure he won’t mind the company.”

  Chapter Ten

  Grace’s footsteps echoed as she hurried down the hall into the Emergency Room. Doctors, nurses and EMT’s were rushing here and there tending patients and family. Over in the corner were two police officers. They were watching over a small child lying on the cot.

  Grace rushed over to her and as she reached the child, one of the officers stepped in her way. Grace glanced up at the officer in front of her, “Excuse me, but I need to see how badly she’s hurt.”

  “Are you a doctor?” he asked. “Or her parent?”

  “No I’m her social worker,” Grace explained.

  “Then you have to wait your turn,” he told her. “We’re waiting for her dad to get here so she can be seen by a doctor.”

  “What? What did you say?” Grace almost exploded with fury. “She hasn’t been seen by medical personal yet?”

  “No ma’am,” the officer assured her. “We’re waiting on her parents to get here so they can give permission.”

  One of the doctors in the Emergency Room came over and glanced at the child, then at Grace. “Are you her mother? We need to hurry and treat her or she could die.”

  Grace glared at the police officers and reached in her bag. “No I’m not her mother but go ahead and treat her.”

  The officer held up his hands. “We can’t allow any treatment without parental consent. That’s the law and you know it Miss Ricco.”

  Grace glared at the officer. “So you know who I am.”

  “Yes ma’am. I know who you are.”

  “I may not be this child’s mother or parental figure but I have a court order that places this child in my custody as of right now.” Grace stomped over to the officer and slapped the warrant into his chest. “Raising up to her full five feet she growled, “And if you or your fellow police officers stop me from doing my job again, I’ll have to lot of you fired. Do you understand? This isn’t a pissing contest, its a little girls life at stake here.”

  The officer turned to glance at the child on the bed behind him. She didn’t look too hurt to him when she first got here, however now he frowned as he looked at her. Her skin had paled and turned almost a sickly grey color. Which of course made her bruises stand out and her arm was bent at a funny angle.

  He stepped quickly out of the way and allowed the doctor to do his job. He and the other officer stepped to the side of the room and had a hurried whispered conversation.

  The doctor yelled out an order and two orderlies rushed over and grabbed the bed the little girl was on and immediately began pushing down the hall.

  The doctor came over to Grace and snapped off his gloves. Glaring at the officers standing not too far away he reported, “That child has internal bleeding, most likely her spleen. We’re rushing her to surgery now. If she’d have been seen right away, it wouldn’t be this dire a situation.”

  Grace stared at the doctor and frowned. “I was only called about twenty minutes ago, how long has she been here?”

  “She’s been here for at least an hour and half. And those officers haven’t allowed anyone to even look at the child,” the doctor gritted out his answer. “Their actions could have cost that little girl her life.” Then he stomped down the hall to get ready for surgery.

  Grace felt the bottom of her heart fall away. They delayed calling her for over an hour? She couldn’t believe it. Was this all just a mix up or was there something more going on here?

  She walked over to the officers and glared at both of them. “Did you at least arrest her father for assault?”

  “Our Captain took him down to the police station for questioning.” One of them told her. “We were waiting on her mother to show up to give us permission for medical care, as we said.”

  “Well for your information, gentlemen, that little girl’s mother is dead. She died three weeks ago from being beaten to death by her husband. That relationship had a long line of abuse from the beginning but we were unable to stop it due to the fact her mother would never press charges. Now the bastard has started beating his daughter and thanks to your incompetents he might have killed her too.”

  “Ma’am, that’s not fair. We were just doing what we were told to do by our superior officers.”

  “And was one of those orders to delay calling in a social worker?” Grace demanded. “I should have been notified immediately, but I got the call twenty minutes ago. That’s over an hour delay. That delay might cost that child her life.” She looked disgusted with the pair of them. “I hope neither of you has children. I pray neither of you has an emergency like this one and find out some stooge has delayed your child from receiving proper medical care one day. If that child dies then your careers in police work will be over. I’ll make sure of that. Now be good little stooges and report that to your superior officers and arrest her father or I’ll call in the state police to do your job.” She turned to walk away then looked back at both of them, “You two make me sick. To allow this to happen you have stained the honor of that badge you’re wearing. That badge is supposed to mean something to those who wear it and you’ve let every single one of them down.”

  Both officer stared at her for a moment and then walked out of the E.R. When they reached their car, Officer Rick Dunham glanced over at his fellow officer Mike Torgenson. “Did you know about that child’s mother?”

  Mike shrugged. “Hey I do what I’m told to do. Captain says delay calling in that bitch then I delay calling her in.”

  “You did know.” Rick growled. “What the fuck is going on here?”

  Mike glared at his fellow officer. “You take your orders from the same man I do. Don’t ever forget that. Peterson advised me to wait, I wait. The girl will be fine. The doctors will make sure of that and we can always claim this was nothing more than a lack of communications.”

  Rick just stared at the other man. Wrenching the car door open, he got in and didn’t say a word all the way back to the station house. Once there he went to his desk and began the paperwork. He didn’t see or speak to anyone the rest of his work day.

  Mike watched his partner for a long time that afternoon. He hadn’t felt right stopping the doctors from examining the girl either but Peterson was the boss. He had just been following orders like he said. He glanced up when he heard someone laughing. He glared when he saw Peterson and the girl’s father walking away from Peterson’s office. The father had been joking and laughing the whole time instead of worried and in cuffs for beating his child. The girl in question couldn’t have been more than four years old. When the doctor began his exam, he had pulled up her shirt and Mike had seen bruises some old some new all over her back.

  It was the cut along her lower back that seemed the worst though. The blood had been there so long it was crusty and dried. That cut was more than an hour old. Blood doe
sn’t dry that fast.

  He started to feel a little sick to his stomach. He knew Rick had two small children. The social worker’s word would have hit home for him, but Mike kept telling himself he was only following orders.

  Peterson wasn’t just his boss; he was soon running for Governor of the state. Mike was trying to show him how loyal he could be in hopes that his boss would remember him and take him with him as he climbed the ladder of success.

  Grace paced the hall outside the surgery wing. She was still fuming over what happened in the Emergency Room. The two officers hadn’t seemed to be the least bit concerned about an injured child. That’s what bothered her the most. The girls’ father, Matthias Benjamin was influential in the political arena but that shouldn’t make a difference to the police.

  All that should really matter was little Maddie’s life. Grace paused for a moment and prayed. If Maddie died from this beating, her father would get away with a second murder.

  Social Services had been called in when neighbors called in screaming and yelling at Matthias’s home. They knew there was a small child living there and this hadn’t been the first time.

  When she knocked on the door, Ellen Benjamin had come to the door. She could see bruises on her face but Ellen lied and told her she had fallen down some steps. She invited Grace inside the house and even showed her Maddie sleeping in her bed.

  Matthias hadn’t been present for her first visit but she knew he was in the house. Over the next few months, she’d been called to the Benjamin house several times but as much as she urged Ellen, the other woman would never press charges against her abuser. Grace wasn’t there though for only Ellen she had filed a situation report for Maddie’s safety.

  Then came the day three weeks ago when she received a call for Barthlow’s Hospital in Taos. Ellen had come into their Emergency Room half beaten to death. She later died from her injuries, as there had been nothing they could do to help her. She waited too long to come in for help.