by Jessie Cooke
He nodded. “I’m okay. I waffle back and forth between focusing on this big job we’ve got going this evening and thinking about Scar. His mother called me earlier…” His voice trailed off. He looked around like he suddenly realized they weren’t alone.
“You have time to take a walk?”
He looked at his watch. It was just about two o’clock. Angel didn’t want him to know that she knew he didn’t have to be in town for a few hours. “A short one,” he said. He looked at Handsome and said, “I’ll be back in a few.” Handsome nodded at them both, and Dax took her hand and led her out of the shop. They turned right and walked away from the buildings on the ranch and out toward one of the pumpkin fields. The pumpkins were small and green, about the size of softballs, but destined to be big, round, and orange in time for the fall season. They walked along a path that had been carved out by tractors and other farm equipment, silently for a while. When Dax broke the silence, he said, “Scar’s mother cussed me up one side and down the other.”
“Oh! I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be. She didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. She said he died for nothing and she’s right. The guy that killed him was working for the Sinners before he went in. He wasn’t part of the club, just one of their little street dealers. If he’d been affiliated, they never would have celled up him and Scar in the first place.”
“What was he in jail for?”
“Awaiting trial on drug trafficking and murder. He was sitting on about thirty grand worth of meth that he was supposed to be transporting to New York for Hawk. But, apparently, he wasn’t able to keep his big mouth shut. A couple of thugs he’d bragged to about it showed up with guns and took it from him. He tracked them down and took it back, killing both of the thugs in the process, in front of witnesses. He was arrested the next day.”
“I don’t know much about this,” she lied. “But since he was affiliated with the Sinners, and Scar the Skulls, what were they doing in the same cell?”
Dax shook his head. “Technically he wasn’t affiliated. Hawk uses these meth heads on the streets because if they get caught, he and his club have no connection to them. Whoever celled them up at County either knew who the guy was working for and thought it would be fun, or just had no idea since he wasn’t formally affiliated.”
“Damn.”
Dax nodded. “Yeah. So, when Scar’s eighty-five-year-old mother told me that we were a bunch of losers and her son died for no reason, I had to admit that she was right. It seems like the harder I try and get us out of ‘illegal’ activities, the more shit we get from the Sinners and the more interested the cops are in us too.”
“Well, you didn’t force Scar to be a part of the club, so I think maybe she’s being a little harsh. Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, baby.”
“Why do you do this?”
He stopped walking and looked down at her. God, she loved those sexy blue eyes. She almost forgot everything she was going to say anytime he looked at her the way that he was now. “This is my life. This is who I am. I don’t think of it as something I do. It was what I was born into.”
“Please don’t take this wrong, but people are born into things all the time, and they choose to do other things instead.” The little voice in her head was saying, “Look who’s talking.” But she was going to choose to do something different, and soon. She felt selfish, but she couldn’t help thinking that if Dax would choose something else too, things would be a hell of a lot easier.
“These people, Angel, this place, they’re my family and my home. I’ve never even wanted anything else. What I want is for this place to thrive and my family to stop being killed off one by one. This all started with Hawk and what he did to my dad, and it’s time for it to stop. After we get paid for this security job we’re doing tonight we’ll have the money we need to get this ranch and the motorcycle shop built up to a place where they’re both turning a profit. Eventually we can get out of the porn business too. But in order for this club to go anywhere except prison or the grave, we have to get rid of Hawk. I’m working on a plan to do that.” He squeezed her hand and said, “Then, baby…then everything is going to be okay.”
She wished that the task force, namely her brother Kyle, would believe her when she told them how hard Dax was working to go legit. But even if he managed to get rid of Hawk…especially if Hawk turned up dead or disappeared…they’d never leave Dax alone. Not as long as he wore that patch on his vest. She smiled up at him and then stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m not sure if I told you lately, but I’m really glad I stopped in the bar to have a drink that night.”
He pulled her in tightly and in that sexy voice that sends chills racing down her spine, he said, “It was the best thing that ever happened to me.” She hoped that it would end up that way. She couldn’t wait for the day when she could be a real part of his life, and him, hers.
24
Angel knocked on the door of the white van. When it was pulled open by her brother David, they were both surprised. “Angel? No one told me you would be here.”
“Well, we’re even then. No one told me you would be here either.” She reached up for the handrail and started to pull herself up inside, but David stood in her way. “Excuse me,” she said.
“I’m sorry, sis, but I should run this by Kyle first.” David wasn’t anywhere near as pushy as Kyle…but he did bend to Kyle’s will most of the time.
“Kyle? He’s not my fucking boss. He’s not in charge of this task force. I am an intricate part of this case and I’ll be damned if I don’t even get to watch this go down. Now get out of my way.”
“Just let me call Matheson, then.”
“David Michael Brady, I swear to God…”
He laughed.
“Oh, she said my middle name. I’m scared.” While he was still talking, Angel grabbed hold of his arm and using the fact that he was leaning out of the door and off-balance as her momentum, she pulled him out, into the dirt, on his face. She was climbing into the van when he grabbed her from behind.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
She kicked him hard in the thigh and he yelped and dropped her into the dirt. She scrambled back to her feet, ignoring the shocked look of the other police tech who was now positioned in the door. Doubling up her fist, she turned around and swung it at her brother. He grabbed her wrist before it contacted his face. She brought her other hand up, fully intending to sock him in the face with that one, but before she did, the sound of a familiar voice caused them both to freeze in their tracks.
“What the hell are you two doing?” Angel and David both tore their angry eyes off each other and turned them toward their dad. “Have you both lost your minds?”
David gave her a warning look and let go of her fist. “Sorry, Dad. Angel’s the one who’s lost her mind.”
“I’m trying to do my job. I’m so sick of having all of these bossy men around that think they run my life.”
“It wasn’t your job to be in the van. Last I heard, you weren’t supposed to be anywhere near here.”
“Who did you hear that from, Kyle?”
“Knock it off!” Sean Brady rarely raised his voice, but his kids had known since they were two years old that when he did, he meant business. They both stopped talking. “David, get back to work. Angel, walk with me.”
“Dad…”
“Cecelia Catherine Brady!” She almost rolled her eyes, but she didn’t. Instead, she gave her brother one more nasty look, dusted herself off, and as her father walked away from the van, she followed him. When they were a few feet away from the van he said, “Now, tell me what the heck that was about?”
“I’ve given up my life for this investigation. Breaking open this platinum coin case is because of me. Whoever we collar today will be because of the work that I’ve done. I’m sick and tired of my brothers acting like I’m still five years old, always telling me what to do and acting like
I need them to protect me. I’m sick of it, Daddy!”
He put his hand on her shoulder and said, “I’m sorry, baby, but you do know it’s only because they love you.”
“I could do without their love quite nicely most of the time.”
Her father smiled. “You think that, but you are all so lucky to have each other. After your mother died I was depressed for so long. Because I missed her, of course, but I also worried about what would happen to you kids if anything ever happened to me. But I’ve paid more attention since then and I’ve seen how you take care of each other. Sure, you disagree and you fight. You’re siblings and that’s what siblings do. But you never stop loving each other. You’re all so strong and smart. I’m one of those lucky people that will die knowing my children will be okay without me.”
“I don’t like it when you talk about dying.”
He smiled. “I’m sorry, baby, but it’s going to happen someday. You know as well as I do that this job we do…it could happen today.”
“Stop it!”
“Okay, but my point is that your brothers are a pain in the ass, but they love you. Don’t forget that. Also, don’t forget that no matter who thinks they know better, your life is yours to live as you see fit, and I have always trusted your judgment.”
She put her arms around him and gave him a hug. “Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”
“I love you too, my Angel. Now go on back over there and tell that stubborn brother of yours I said to move over and let you in.” He winked at her and she smiled and headed back toward the van. “Oh, Angel?”
She stopped and turned back toward him. “Yes?”
“Speaking of brothers, Mickey’s and Sam’s boat is coming in on Sunday. Can you be there with me to meet them?”
“What time?” Mickey and Sam had been out to sea for almost four months. They always came back smelling like fish, telling wild tales, and drinking like beer was going out of style. They were wild and crazy and they wore her out in a weekend…but she did miss them when they were gone.
“Nine a.m.”
“I’ll be there.” He winked at her again and she went back to the van. This time David didn’t try to stop her.
Brian, the young tech with David, parked the van on Main Street, facing Culberson. They had a perfect view of the cemetery and the limousine as it pulled up. Angel hadn’t seen Dax, or any of the other guys for that matter, but she had a feeling they were probably lying low down one of the side streets until the limo was ready to leave. They watched as the limo drove up and David used the high-powered binoculars to confirm it was Vince Miller driving. The family got out and walked toward where the pallbearers had just sat the casket. Everything was quiet while the funeral took place, save for some chatter on the radio as everyone took their places and checked in. Vince Miller stayed in the car, which was curious since everyone had been convinced that the coins were somewhere at the cemetery.
After a short service, the family filed back toward the limo and the rest of the mourners headed for their cars. David had eyes on the family and just as he said, “None of them are carrying anything,” Angel saw it.
“David! Look over by that tree there. That bag wasn’t there a few minutes ago.”
“Shit!” her brother said as he moved the binoculars in that direction. “Where did it come from?”
“There was a crowd of mourners there a few seconds ago. One of them must have sat it down.”
“Miller’s getting out of the car now. Get on the radio,” David told his young partner. They watched and let everyone else know what was going on as Miller jogged over toward the tree and picked up the bag. It was a brightly colored beach bag and from the way he picked it up, whatever was in it was heavy. He carried it over to the limo and put it in the trunk before getting back into the car. That was the moment that Dax and Handsome appeared from a residential street about two blocks down. The stakeout team heard them before they saw them. “Who is that?” David asked Angel. She wanted to be sarcastic and say, “Oh, now you want me here.” But she decided to be a bigger person. Instead she lied and said:
“I can’t see their faces. I don’t know.”
David raised an eyebrow like he didn’t believe her, but he let it go and simply reported that two of the Skulls were on the move. As Vince Miller pulled the limousine back out onto the street and began to accelerate, Dax and Handsome fell in behind. There was all kinds of chatter now as the team began watching the Skulls at each checkpoint—they had been wrong, the club members were all falling in behind the limousine. Angel started to panic a little, worried now that Dax would be there when things went down at the office. It made her chest hurt just to imagine something happening to him, even if he only went to jail and she couldn’t see him, or touch him. She hadn’t realized until that very moment that she was no longer just falling for him. She was in love with him, and the thought of living without him made it hard for her to breathe.
The van followed at a discreet distance, stopping about a mile back from where Miller would drop off the family. Dax and Handsome stopped as well, turning off onto a side street of the upper-class neighborhood where the deceased son had lived. They all waited and only minutes later, Miller was back on the move and so was everyone else. They were just about five miles from the office when everything went completely bad. She heard her father’s voice on the radio saying, “We’ve been made.” Then a few seconds later, “We need backup at Garfield and…” The communication went dead. She and David exchanged a worried look as they waited for something else. It was Kyle’s voice they heard next.
“Detective Brady, what’s your 10-20?” There was nothing but silence on the other end. “Dad?” Angel’s heart hurt when she heard the panic in her older brother’s voice. When he came back, he was all business again. “Detective Richards, 10-20?” That was the detective who had partnered up with their father. There was still no answer, at least not at first. Then suddenly a panicked voice came over the airwaves.
“This is Car 2-5-5, Officer Duncan, we have an officer down at the corner of Garfield and 10th Avenues. We need backup and a bus!” The distinct sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.
“Turn around!” David told the guy driving the van.
“But…”
“I said turn around!”
“David,” Angel said, quietly. “We can’t help him right now. We don’t even know it’s him. We need to keep everyone else informed about what’s going on…”
“Angel! If there’s even a chance it’s Dad we should be there. What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing is wrong with me. But you’re not used to being out here on the street. We can’t abandon the rest of them to go back and see about Dad. He’s been a cop for a long time. He knows what he’s doing. We have to trust that. We have a job to do still. We don’t know if one of the bikers headed for the office has been notified by text or phone call that this is a setup. We have to think about Kyle and Micah and the rest of the team.”
“The limo just pulled into the lot,” Brian said. “I can see the bikers parking along the street now.”
“Shit! If one of these bastards shot Dad…”
“Don’t think like that, David,” Angel said. “Dad’s okay.” At that moment, she really believed that. She’d grown up believing he was invincible, and even now it was hard for her to believe he’d ever not be around. What she knew for sure at that moment was just how pissed off he’d be at them for abandoning the rest of their assignment. He told her when she first became a cop that police work was kind of like show business. No matter what happens, the show must go on and the actors must see it through, all the way to the end.
25
The chatter on the radio was almost too much. Angel could hear them talking about the officer down. Someone had been shot, but they wouldn’t ever say who it was across the airwaves. Then suddenly Chris Matheson was on the radio:
“He knows we’re here, he’s taking off. We’re moving! Let’s go! Go!
” Angel was itching to get out of the van. She had her hand on her weapon, her bulletproof vest was in place. She could hear the squeal of tires and the faint pop of gunfire over the radio but she couldn’t see what was going on. The bikers that had parked along the side of the road about a mile in front of them were taking off and a few more bikes sped past them at almost frightening speeds, making their own paths between the cars that had just been stopped by the black and white units rolling up and blocking traffic. Staying put was one of the hardest things she’d ever done—so hard, in fact, that she started to open the door of the van and David stopped her by saying:
“Who was it that just gave me a lecture on seeing it through to the end?”
“What if they need help?” she said. Suddenly Dax wasn’t the one on her mind. She still prayed that he was safe, but now she was thinking about her brother and Micah.
“They’ve got four black and whites and ten men on the task force. What they need from us is to stay here and let them know what’s coming up on them, and for you to not blow your cover just yet. Like you said about Dad, sis…Micah and Kyle know what they’re doing.”
Angel nodded. She knew he was right. She was already pushing the limits of what Matheson had told her to do just by being there. She’d not only blow her cover but she’d put her entire career in jeopardy if she did what she was aching to do, so she waited, and it was excruciating. It was probably only twenty minutes or so, but it felt like hours before they got the okay to go in. As they drove through the police barriers Angel looked out the tinted window at the mess around them. There were Harleys down in the street, wrecked cars and police everywhere. Before they made it all the way up to the lot an ambulance came screaming by with lights and sirens blaring, and then another…and then one more.
Brian parked the van in the street near a squad car and once again David stopped her from jumping out the door. “I promise, I’ll let you know what’s going on the second I find out, okay? Stay here unless Matheson tells you different.”
