Last night, after I’d left Maria, I went to the room I was sleeping in and climbed in bed. Sleep evaded me as I worked through the things I had recently found out. I needed closure, Noel needed closure, it was the only thing holding me back from making Maria mine. As I looked at my son’s face in sleep, the peacefulness in his features, and thought about how long it had been since I’d seen he look like that. I know in the last couple months he had improved from the boy who even in laughter his eyes held sadness, to a boy whose eyes showed the emotion of happiness. Something I wonder if we’d ever find again. I knew who was responsible for it, and it wasn’t me. No it was the woman beside him in bed and the rest of the Roark family along with the others who had seen two people who needed them and took them into their family fold.
Yeah, wondered how the Roarks would feel about me if they knew what I wanted to do to their daughter. I pulled the door shut softly and headed toward the stairs. When I reached the landing I heard voices coming from the kitchen along with the smell of coffee and bacon. I walked in and found Mrs. Honeychil at the stove and Sonia Roark putting items into the refrigerator and when I turned my head, Mr. Roark sat looking at me over the coffee cup he was taking a drink out of. He set it down.
“Morning, son. Sonia, get the boy some coffee, woman. He’s got a big day ahead of him.” I looked between Anthony Roark and the two women who just realized I had entered the room. They had been too busy talking to hear me walk in.
“Oh my, sit, Ranger, and I will bring it to you. Velma’s just about got breakfast finished. We knew there would be no food in the house, so Anthony and I got up early and went to the grocery store. Should be enough for a week or so,” Sonia talked while she moved in the kitchen with ease to put the last of the grocery items in a cabinet. Then she poured me a cup of coffee and brought it to the table and sat it down in front me.”
“Where’s Maria?” I jerked my head in Anthony’s direction.
“Huh?” I was a grown man acting guilty like I did something because I was in a house with their daughter. Did they think I would take advantage of her? Maybe I was wrong on how they felt about me?
“You know, short, dark-haired girl whose house burned down,” Anthony said and smirked. What the fuck was that about?
“Anthony, leave him alone and let him enjoy his coffee and breakfast,” Sonia said just as Velma set down a plate of bacon and eggs. Then Sonia set down a plate with toast on it.
“She is going to need to get up so she can get this business started. I have faith my girl will do what is required and put some of those hoodlums behind bars.” Mr. Roark took another drink of his coffee.
“Not sure what time she needs to go in but I have to get going.” I went to stand and Mrs. Honeychil put her hand on my shoulder.
“Eat. You can spare five minutes. I know you will get busy and not eat lunch and you need your nourishment.” She moved to sit down with her own coffee.
“Rucker is still asleep. So...”
“I will take care of him when he gets up. Don’t worry about him. I’ve got it under control. And if you aren’t home tonight before he has his class at Fin’s gym, Anthony and Sonia said they would come and take us. You can’t do your job if you are busy worrying about us,” Mrs. Honeychil said and reached for the toast. She was right, but it didn’t stop me from feeling guilty.
Everyone ate in silence. When I was done I took my plate to the sink and rinsed it and the coffee cup.
“Nonna and Nonno! What are you doing here?” Rucker ran into the kitchen, his hair sticking up.
“Come give your Nonna a hug,” Sonia said and as I watched, Rucker never hesitated. He ran right into her opened arms. When Sonia let him go he went and sat in the chair by Mr. Roark and Mrs. Honeychil fixed him a plate while Sonia got up and poured him a glass of juice. It was like a normal family going about their day. And exactly what I wanted for Rucker. I walked over, kissed his head, and told everyone bye.
“Be safe, son,” Anthony Roark said and I nodded, patted him on the back and went out the door. Jet was out front when I walked around to the driveway to get in my car. He lifted his chin in hello and I did the same back. Jet would stay with Mrs. Honeychil and Rucker today while Mace ghosted Maria.
The ride to the precinct was short from where we were staying. Once there, I parked and noticed there was a lot of extra unmarked vehicles in the lot along with several marked cars from other precincts. The captain said they had a few things going down and he would brief me when I came in but hell, with this amount of vehicles it seemed ‘a few’ just didn’t cover it.
I shoved open the door and stepped into mayhem. I didn’t stop to talk to any of the officers, instead I headed straight for the captain’s office. I knocked and then heard him yell, “Enter,” and opened the door and walked in. Agent Briggs was sitting in a chair in full FBI gear.
“Out there,” I pointed over my shoulder with my thumb the way I came, “looks like a lot more than you suggested was going down today.” I waited for him to reply.
“Yeah, tell that to the Commissioner. Seems the DA’s office got a bunch of warrants signed last night. Judge Wilson was rousted out of bed for them. Agent Briggs called in a few agents to help us out. We were able to pull from every precinct a few officers. Fifty to be exact and that is just from the NYPD. FBI is contributing fifteen and the Commissioner is giving us a SWAT team.”
“How many warrants got signed?” Maria was awfully calm last night for all this coming down the pipes.
“Eleven. I sure hope the DA’s office knows what they requested because shit, this could start a fucking war.”
“This have to do with the prosecutor’s house being torched?”
“Some but damn, DeAngelo said the prosecutor not only wanted 8-3-0’s clubhouse hit. We are hitting the leaderships’ families so I will give the woman this, she has balls.” Agent Briggs chuckled.
“Trust me, Mouler, there’s no way she is a man, ‘cause just damn. That woman has curves in all the right places and is a knock out on top of it.”
“Shut the fuck up, Briggs. Maria Roark is an officer of the courts. And a damn good one too.”
“You got something going on with her, Marshall? Something that’s going to come back and bite you and this precinct in the ass?” Captain Mouler asked and Briggs smirked. I glared at Briggs and spoke.
“No disrespect, Captain, but the last time I checked, personal lives weren’t brought into question unless there was an issue. You telling me you have an issue?”
“No, but I am warning you, I don’t want one. Now back to the business that brought us all together today. I don’t want you involved in this. And hold off yelling, let me finish. I don’t want to taint any evidence we might find. However, I know you and if you’re told not to go, you will go anyway and that will cause problems. So, don’t make me regret letting you be a part of this operation.”
“I won’t. I got it worked through yesterday and an opportunity today to put it to rest or start the process. Not going to fuck that up. How do we know they haven’t been tipped off from the inside since we don’t know who they are?”
“That is why I am going too. None of the precincts in the Bronx had officers pulled from them. We know the cop is in the borough, we just don’t know from which precinct. That’s why the officers came from outside the area. Everyone has been told this is an exercise and why none of our own guys out there are going to be involved either. It’s also why the commissioner called. Since we don’t know who, we have no way of telling if it is a beat cop to the captain, so... They too were told to pic the officers who would represent their precinct in the training exercise. Until we pull out from here, no one will know. We are going to a vacant area close to each of the warrants’ addresses. That will be where everyone is told what is really going down. Then we will split to our designated address and once everyone is in place we will hit them simultaneously.”
“Okay, you know shit is going to come down from the other precincts. Hel
l, our own guys here are going to be pissed, Captain?”
“Then they can blame the dirty cop for it when he’s outed. Now get your gear. I don’t want to be late to the meet up point with the prosecutor.” I was already at the door when his words registered.”
“The prosecutor is coming with us.”
“Yeah, it was one of the stipulations set by the DA.”
“She does not need to be there. Why would we allow her to be near the ones who are trying to take her out for fuck’s sake?” I ran my hand over my head. I had every intention of calling Maria when I went to get my gear on.
“You want to call the commissioner up and ask him, Detective?” Captain Mouler said and Briggs who had been silent snickered. Asshole.
“Not particularly but why the hell would he agree to it?” I shook my head and was glad I would be going. “I want on the team that she is accompanying.” Briggs and Captain Mouler looked at me.
“Okay, you can go with team one. It will be you, Briggs, and myself with that team.”
“What warrant are we serving?” I asked.
“The 8-3-0 clubhouse.”
Son-of-a-bitch.
Chapter Eight
Maria
As I walked down the stairs I heard the voices of my mother and father and I groaned. Why today of all days? If I didn’t want to say goodbye to Rucker, I would have slipped out the front door to avoid them. I should have known they were the ones to bring the clothes over, last night Tony said the girls, but no, my mother would never have allowed that. At least she had made sure I had work clothes, and at least I had more sleep clothes as well, I didn’t have time to shop.
“There’s my girl. Morning, Maria.” My dad rose from his seat and walked over and hugged me.
“Morning, Dad.” He released me and as I walked to Rucker, who sat in his chair eating the last of his breakfast, I said the same to my mom and Ms. Honeychil. I bent over and kissed Rucker’s head. “Morning, sweetie.
“You should be taking the day off, not going into the office. You were hurt,” my mom said and I inwardly groaned. When I had my back toward her while I poured a cup of coffee, I may or may not have rolled my eyes.
“Thank you for the clothes, but I’m fine,” I said and took the seat across from Rucker.
“I have more clothes coming, Olivia and I are going shopping again, you know to make sure you have everything you need. Oh, you just missed Ranger.” I looked over at my dad and found him looking back at me with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. I squinted my eyes at him and he smiled wider. Anthony Roark came across as laid back and quiet, if people only knew he was just as bad as my mother, just more subtle about it.
“Mom, are you going to be gone all day like Dad?” I looked away from my dad to Rucker who seemed not to notice that the kitchen had gotten quiet enough to hear a feather hit the floor at his question, specifically the mom part.
“I’m not sure how long I will be today, sweetie.”
“Okay.” His easy acceptance and ability to bounce back was proof of the resiliency of children.
Mrs. Honeychil stood and cleared Rucker’s plate and glass and carried it to the sink, then she smiled at me over his head when she walked back to the table. “Let’s go get you some clothes to put on, Rucker. Tell, Maria, goodbye.
Rucker jumped out of his chair and came around the table and I opened my arms and he stepped right into them. “Be good for Mrs. Honeychil, okay?”
“Okay, Mom,” he said and ran out of the room to catch up with Velma. I counted off, one...two...three...
“Is there something you would like to tell your father and I?” I really was surprised she lasted long enough for Rucker to even get out of hearing distance.
“Sonia,” my dad said but was looking at me.
“What? All of our children feel the need to keep things from us. Tony did it with Brooklyn, and you saw Sofia and Georgia, they hid the fact of being mechanics and this one, she tells us nothing at all.”
“Did you ever think that it is because once you get ahold of anything it spirals out of control?” I said and she just looked at me.
“That is absurd. We just want our children to be happy. We aren’t getting any younger and I want to be able to enjoy my grandchildren.” I burst out laughing and stood and took my cup to the sink, then grabbed my purse and the keys to Kink’s car. When I looked up my mother was glaring at me.
“Oh stop glaring. You will get wrinkles around your eyes.” I kissed her cheek and then did the same to my dad. “Gotta go, stay out of trouble, I have a hard enough job,” I said
“Be safe and put away some bad guys, honey.” My dad had been saying that since the first day I became a prosecutor.
“Don’t worry about Velma or Rucker. Your father and I will watch over them. Have a good day.” My mom got up and reached for the empty plate in front of my dad as I headed toward the door that led to the garage. I had just stepped into the garage and was about to close the door when I heard my mother and father speak.
“She dodged my question.”
“Does that shock you, love? She does it for a living—best prosecutor around.”
I smiled as I closed the door and when I turned around and got my first good look at Kink’s restored ’69 black Mustang; then my smile widen so much my cheeks began to hurt. I was now really glad I’d changed my clothing choice for today. The jeans, t-shirt, and boots fit the car so much better. I opened the driver’s side door and got in. I put the garage up, turned the key, and the sound of the duel pipe exhaust could probably be heard down the block. Fucking sweet!!! It was going to be a beautiful day. I could feel it.
I pulled the Mustang in the secured parking area. I got out and looked around and across the street I saw the SUV window going down and then the scowl on the man’s face who had been driving it. Well shit!! I had been so in to testing out the car, I’d forgotten Mace was to follow me around. I was so busted. I smiled and waved and Mace’s expression never changed. I turned toward the building and almost mowed over Lt. Eva Reynolds from the 45th precinct.
“Oh my God, Lieutenant, I am so sorry!” I grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.
“In a hurry, are you, Ms. Roark?” she said and looked toward the street where Mace was parked. “Looks like you got protection, that is good. Sorry to hear what’s happened to you lately but that’s what happens when you deal with gang members, especially in your job of prosecuting them. They don’t take to kindly to that,” Lt. Reynolds said as we walked toward the front doors to the building
“Yeah, you know, all in a day’s work. What brings you to this part of town, Lieutenant?” I asked as I walked through the door and stepped up to the security check and placed my purse on the belt to take it through the x-ray machine while I walked through the metal detector. I cleared and waited for my purse. When I looked over the Lt. was talking to one of the officers, she finished and looked at me and shook her head.
“Guess I’m going to make the trip here twice today. I forgot to pick the file up I needed to bring. Take care, Counselor.” The lieutenant turned toward the doors and walked out before I could answer. Oh well.
“About time you got here,” Alan said and turned.
“I have plenty of time, Alan.” No way was I telling him I had took the long way ‘cause I had to test Kink’s Mustang out and it didn’t disappoint. “You said this morning it wasn’t happening until ten because we had to wait on the police department to assemble the teams. Are they going to have enough to hit all eleven places at once?” I asked as we walked toward the offices. I reached my door, opened it, and walked in. At my desk, I dropped my purse in the bottom drawer and locked it, pocketing the key.
“Damn, you’re awfully calm to be going into the den of the ones after you. Especially since they just tried to take you out yesterday.” Alan ran his hands through his hair.
“What better time to hit them? The assholes won’t be expecting it. They probably spent the night celebrating, think
ing they scared us off. Fuck them. We live here, work here, this is our home to. They don’t own the Bronx. And after today, they are going know it.”
“Well, I hope they find something, anything because the commissioner threatened to lead the mob to have us removed from our positions if one of his men gets hurt for nothing.”
“We’ve had this discussion. They’ve got evidence proving they are guilty; we just have to find it. We have some of the best police officers in the country. They will do their jobs and I have faith in them to find what we need to take those bastards down a notch. I want the shooter of that gun, then I want the name of the cop who is involved in this. The two of them can be cell buddies at Rikers.”
“You know, Maria. You’re a little scary when you get fired up,” Alan said, then chuckled when I glared at him.
“Trust me, have to deal with my mother first thing in the morning and I’d like to see your ass cheery.”
“No thanks. I don’t have to tell you to be safe out there. And I want to hear from you the minute it is over.”
“You got it, boss,” I said and Alan walked out, giving me time to prepare. I sat in my chair and pulled the first file from the stack and flipped it open. Miguel Martinez’s picture was on top followed by his rap sheet. I went through every folder, memorized faces, and anything else I thought would be useful to know.
After I was finished, I looked at the time on the clock that hung on the wall. Thirty minutes till I had to meet them. Nervousness was palpable but I refused to focus on it. Too much depended on this being a success.
When I walked out the front doors, the SUV pulled up and the passenger door was pushed opened. “Get in. I’ll be driving you,” Mace said.
“How do you even know where I am going?” I looked in the truck but hadn’t made a move to get in. Mace cocked his eyebrow.
“Ranger called. Now get in, Andretti, or you are going to be late.” I was surrounded by bossy men.
Cuffed and Briefed (KO Ink Book 4) Page 6
