Blood Red Rage (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 1)

by Morgan Kelley

  Tori grinned at the minor loophole. “She’s on payroll and thus a Fed.”

  Julian closed his eyes. “Why does this whole thing make me want to be sick to my stomach?” he asked.

  “Probably because we’re going to lie our asses off and bend a whole shitload of rules,” Justin replied. “It’s like being in the military and out in the war zone. Anything goes.”

  Vivian sat back and grinned. “Well, are we doing it?”

  Julian wasn’t happy. “Christina, when you and Kane get arrested, make sure you call my wife. She’ll be the one bailing you out and explaining this to Elizabeth Blackhawk.”

  Tori laughed. “When you two go in, just confuse the hell out of them to cover your trail. If you have to, throw down big words.”

  “Do you want records too?” she asked.

  “NO!” stated Julian, emphatically. “No, that’s crossing too many lines. Victoria Rose Littlemoon!” he objected.

  She only grinned at him.

  “Hey,” Vivian said, as she just noticed something. “We have exactly the same initials- Vivian Rachel Littlemoon and Victoria Rose Littlemoon.”

  “Great, you can write them on your socks in jail and share them when you’re cell mates,” Julian mumbled.

  “So do Justin and Julian,” Tori added. “Looks like you boys can share too.”

  Justin laughed while his brother just dropped his head to the table. Yeah, they were definitely opposites.

  Tori ignored him and slid the two pictures across the table towards Christina. “Here is one of each of the paramedics. When you go in, look tough and try to ask questions that are open ended so that they have to give you an answer.”

  She saluted and winked at her new boss. “This is going to be fun.”

  Kane rubbed the bridge of his nose. “No, this is going to come back to bite us in the ass.”

  “Do you want me to take a picture of Officer Jersek with me? He might be a patient there.”

  That was a damn good idea. “We don’t have one in the file,” Tori said, regretfully.

  Reaching over, Vivian took the tablet from Christina. “If we go out to the police department website, they have pictures of all the cops. You might find a good one of him. All you have to do is print it out.”

  She scrolled through the pictures until she found the right one. It was of him in his full uniform and smiling at the camera. “That was easy,” she stated, as the printer beeped to life and spit out the picture.

  Suddenly, Vivian paused and went blank.

  Everyone at the table watched her. It was like she had slipped into some sort of trance.

  “Viv?” Justin reached over, touching her arm. “Where did you go, baby?” he asked.

  Vivian slipped back into her dream and began to relive it. Something was there, and she needed to find it once more. The picture had pulled a memory from the recesses of her mind. As she lay on the ground staring up at him in the moonlight, there it was again.

  It was a glint of gold.

  As quickly as the dream came, it was gone. The next thing she knew, Justin was on his knees beside her, calling her name.

  “I’m okay,” she answered. “I just had a flashback to the dream.”

  Tori looked concerned. What she just witnessed resembled a blackout. She should know, since she had a few of them herself over the past few years.

  “Gold cuff links or buttons.”

  They all stared at her.

  Vivian elaborated. “In my dream, I saw a flash in the moonlight. My vision was impaired straight on, so I couldn’t see his face, but I had my peripheral. I saw his wrists. There were gold cuff links on a dark blue shirt.”

  “Are you sure?” Julian asked.

  She nodded and rubbed her temples. There was a wicked pain in her head. “Yeah, I am.”

  Christina took the tablet and zoomed in on the photograph of the police officer. His buttons on the shirt weren’t gold. “They don’t match,” she stated.

  Kane made a suggestion, “Head online to the social media site for the paramedics. I bet they have lots of pictures there.”

  She did what he asked, as everyone stood behind them and stared over their shoulders. Christina’s fingers moved quickly as she navigated the social media site until she found what they needed. It was a picture of two paramedics in dark blue uniforms, much like the police, but this time the patches and buttons were different.

  “Are they gold?” Vivian asked.

  She zoomed in and found the answer. “Yes, they are.”

  Tori thought about it. “Zoom out.”

  Christina did what her boss asked, and she waited.

  “Focus on the shoes,” Tori stated.

  It drew all of their attention. The boots that they were wearing looked hardcore and for tough terrain.

  “Crosscheck it against the ones in the police photos,” Tori suggested.

  Christina split the screen and pulled up the police website once more, until it showed a few pairs of shoes. “They’re the same ones.”

  “This makes it feasible that it’s one of our paramedics,” Julian stated. The evidence was mounting against them.

  “So, we dig into their lives and find the common thing that will show how this person knows the victims.”

  Julian glanced at his watch. “We start tomorrow.”

  At least they had someplace to start.

  “Everyone call it a night,” he said. “We’ll start up again in the morning.”

  Kane and Christina walked out together.

  As Vivian and Tori were off talking, Justin approached his brother. “I need a huge favor from you,” he whispered, as he glanced over his shoulder.

  “What?” Julian asked.

  “Can you take Vivian home and make sure that she’s safe for a little while?”

  Julian knew his brother. “What are you planning?”

  “I have a detective to visit.”

  There was no way in hell he was letting his brother do anything stupid.

  Or alone.

  Of course, he was going to jump right in and have his back. It was what twins, and brothers, did. This situation wouldn’t be any different.

  “If I end up in jail, I need you to bail me out,” whispered Justin.

  He shook his head. “No freaking way.”

  “Come on, Jules. When you needed me to follow Tori, because you thought she was cheating on you, I did it without thinking twice.”

  He stared at his brother. “I’m not sitting here while you go to jail or worse, get shot.”

  “Please?” He couldn’t believe his brother wasn’t going to help him out with this. It wasn’t like he was totally surprised. Julian was the more level headed of the two and liked to be rational.

  “No way. I’m going with you. If one of us is going to jail, then we’re both going in together. I’ll get Tori to take her home.”

  “Will she bail us out?”

  He started laughing and the women looked over at him. “Yeah, she will, but then she’s going to kill us or kick both of our asses.”

  Either way, it was well worth it.

  The entire way back to Vivian’s apartment, she was asking question after question about what ‘secret mission’ the men had planned.

  Tori wouldn’t give her anything.

  “We’re supposed to be sisters now. You’re obligated to tell me!” she demanded.

  Vivian’s bossiness made her laugh. “You just pulled the sister card on day three? Maybe you should hold onto that one until you do something and don’t want Justin to find out about it.”

  “Come on, Tori!”

  Pulling into a parking spot, she motioned to the building. “We head up, and then I’ll spill it all.”

  It was all it took. Vivian was out of the SUV and up the stairs pretty damn fast. It was obvious how desperate she was to find out what was happening.

  Tori followed and met her at the elevator.

  At the door, Vivian shook her head. “I don’t get why I
need to have a babysitter.”

  After locking up, Tori leaned against the wall. “Yeah, well, you do.”

  “What the hell is going on?” she demanded once more.

  “Our husbands went to go kick Detective Lester’s ass for the stunt he pulled today.”

  That one sentence shocked the hell out of her. Tori had to be yanking her chain. That couldn’t be where they were going. Surely, the brothers knew better than that. “Seriously, where are they?”

  “Have a seat,” she stated.

  Vivian did what she asked, but only because she was feeling sick and dizzy. “Please tell me that you’re kidding. This is a family hazing, right?”

  She shook her head.

  Vivian didn't know if she should be outraged or scared out of her mind. “Are they insane?”

  Tori tried to rationalize it for her. “No, they aren’t, but they have a different code, in which they live by, and we’re not going to interfere.”

  “Are you insane?”

  She took Vivian’s hand in hers. “The men we married are strong willed, independent, and very Native. When it comes to the women in their lives, they’re loyal and fiercely protective. If we try to stop them, it will be an affront to their manhood. Trust me on this. It will only cause more issues down the road.”

  “Are you serious?”

  Tori laughed. “Yeah, unfortunately I am.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “The good news is that my husband is very even tempered and more than likely to talk Justin out of doing anything crazy. So, put your faith in that.”

  Somehow, that didn't make her feel better. All she could think about was Justin’s temper and her partner’s willingness to hurt a Littlemoon.

  Tori understood her fears. After all, she had watched her husband fight the sheriff of his home town and end up with a gun pointed at his head.

  This was scary stuff.

  “So, we’re really just going to sit here like two kept women and let the men fight our battles? Really? The last time I looked, it wasn’t the dark ages.”

  Again, she said it. “We’re going to let our men be men, and get it out of their systems. Then, when they get home, or we bail them out of jail, we’re going to kick their asses. With the Littlemoon men, it’s about timing. Trust me on this.”

  “I don’t know what to do with all this,” Vivian said honestly. Part of her was furious that her husband was out there acting like an idiot and the other part was flustered by the emotions welling up in her. Wasn’t this what she always craved and wanted, a man who would stand up for her and protect her?

  It had been a long time since anyone did that.

  “It’ll be okay,” Tori reassured her.

  “How do you know?”

  “Bail shouldn’t be too high, and we can afford it.”

  Vivian leaned back and closed her eyes. “When the hell did I lose control of my life?”

  Tori laughed. “About the same time I did. It was right about when you said, ‘I do’.”

  * * *

  They sat on his porch waiting for him.

  Both Julian and Justin knew that surprising an armed cop was a very bad idea, but when it came down to masculine pride, common sense generally went out the window.

  Yeah, when they got home, they were both going to get their asses handed to them by their wives. There was no doubt that it was going to be ugly, so it was best to get the testosterone out here and not later.

  Julian was going into this prepared. He told the team not to burn all their bridges with favors, but he knew when it came to his brother, he’d do it in an instant. Calling Callen, he spoke to the man briefly.

  This favor was big.

  As they sat there, his phone beeped, and he read the incoming email.

  Now, they were ready.

  It didn't take long for Detective Tom Lester to pull up into his driveway. When he did, they both knew when he spotted them. Together, they stood.

  “What do you two want?” he asked.

  Justin stepped forward. When Tom’s hand went to the butt of his gun, he grinned ferally. “Neither of us is armed, so if you do anything rash, you’ll have a damn hard time explaining why you shot two civilians, so I’d rethink it.”

  The man knew he was right. “Again, what do you want?”

  “I just have a message for you, Tom. I could have called and told you, but unlike you, I’m a man and like to do it face to face.”

  “Say it and get out of here.”

  Julian moved closer to his brother’s side.

  “You’re a coward. Instead of dealing with me, you went after a woman. I know that you’re the one who stalked Vivian to get those photos, so let’s cut to the chase. It’s on. You want a war? You picked the right man to start it with.”

  “I’ll call the beat cops, right now, and have you arrested for threatening me.”

  Julian started laughing. “Really? I doubt that. See, we know a few things about you too, Tom. It seems your wife didn't just leave you because of your long work hours. We have the report that you bribed someone to bury.”

  He stared at him.

  “Ah, the pulse in your throat just throbbed,” Julian said. “We know you put your hands on your wife, and she called the cops. While they may have buried it from your bosses, we dug it up.”

  “So?”

  “So, they’re going to have issues when they find out that you interviewed a potential suspect in this case. It seems that Officer Jersek was the one that came to your house the night you struck your wife. I wonder how they’re going to view that,” Julian asked.

  “Ouch,” stated Justin. “That looks really bad for both of you then. I’d love to be the fly on the wall when the commissioner sees this. If he thinks that Vivian should have recused herself, I can’t imagine what he’s going to think of this. Did you take it easy on the detective because you owed him one?”

  Julian continued, “I bet you have something on him too. Is that what’s going on, Tom? Is it typical boy’s club bullshit?”

  The man flinched.

  Bingo!

  Julian grinned at the detective. “Checkmate.”

  “You’re going down now too, Tom,” Justin said. “You took down my wife for being married to me, and I’m going to take you down because you’re a vile, spouse abusing asshole.”

  “Are you blackmailing me?” he said, nervously.

  “No. We’re just telling you what’s coming. Only, we aren’t handing it over to a cop. They’ll bury it again. This time, we’re going to give it to the media.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  Justin laughed. “Oh yeah, we would.”

  Julian dropped his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Except Tom, you won’t know when it’s going to happen, but I’d expect it as soon as you’re in the spotlight for a promotion, big case, or anything that makes you look good.”

  The man looked sick to his stomach. “What if I got Vivian her job back and covered for her.”

  The men turned and headed for the trees.

  “You can start there but don’t expect miracles, Tom. Mercy is given where mercy is shown, and you were a dick.” Justin said.

  Julian glanced at the man. “Play nice and we’ll see what we can do.” He wasn’t above using this to his advantage in the long run.

  Tom watched them head into the trees, and he wiped his brow. He needed to fix this. He was only four years away from full pension retirement. In all of his life, the last fight with his wife had been his biggest regret.

  God, how he wished he could take it back.

  Shit!

  This was a disaster.

  Julian and Justin headed into the trees. They had parked far enough from the detective’s property, so that no one could say they were there. Now, it was time to get to the truck and head home.

  “Where did you get that information?” Justin asked. “That was a pretty damn powerful leverage in our favor.”

  “We got lucky, I guess,” Julian ans
wered.

  “Seriously, Jules, where did you get it?”

  “Callen is covering for Ethan, since the abduction, and he’s more than willing to dig around.”

  Justin paused to stare at his brother. “But you said…”

  He cut him off. “When it comes to my brother or family, what I said doesn’t apply.”

  “I love you, Jules.”

  “Back at you, bro. Now, let’s go face the very irate babes and accept our punishment.”

  Justin grinned wickedly. “At least they aren’t armed and dangerous…”

  That had Julian’s attention. “Uh, mine is.”

  He snickered.

  “Yeah, I know. It sucks to be you.”

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  He watched her.

  She was his angel.

  From the first day she came into his life, he knew that she was meant to be his.

  From her gentle smile to her reassuring words, she was the one.

  He fondly thought back to the times where he would wake up and see her there. She would hand him coffee and greet him with her sweet disposition.

  Then one day, it was all gone.

  This was all his mother’s fault. She was the one who made her go away. If only she didn't ruin everything all the time. It was the story of his life.

  He shook with anger as he thought back to it.

  Then, he recalled how the second woman in his collection had made him mad, and how that had ended. This time, he wouldn’t let the anger get to him.

  He couldn’t.

  This would be the jewel in his collection.

  He could almost feel the silky red strands of her hair running though his fingers.

  Yes, she would be his.

  Tonight, he would wait for the perfect moment, and then he would take her back to where it all began. Then, she would remember what they once had. Her husband wasn’t the one she belonged with, he was.

  Happiness filled him.

  All it would take now was for the man she lived with to leave the house. It was the same routine every week. He had made sure of it. By sitting in the shadows, he could set his watch by it.

  It wouldn’t be long now.