The Law of Motion (Law Series)

by Di'Nisha Robinson

  I cleared my throat, tugging out the folded piece of paper. I took my time spreading it out and smoothing it in front of me. I locked gazes with Myles, unable to hide my sneer as I slid the paper into his view.

  I grinned when Myles lost his shit. I stood up from my chair, because the young man was fighting the cuffs and chains that held him to the floor and table. I laughed, glancing up at Jackson, who shot me a wink.

  "You leave her the fuck alone!" Myles spat at me, looking almost feral with his temper. "She's got nothin' to do with this shit!"

  I slammed my hands down onto the table. "You answer my fucking questions, and I'll think about it!" I growled back at him. "Answer me honestly and without the goddamn attitude, and I won't need to take a trip.”

  "I should kill you!" he screamed at me, his face garnet as he fought uselessly against his cuffs.

  I wouldn't dare touch a hair on an innocent, but Myles didn't know that, and I was about to use that shit to my advantage. I walked quickly around the table, slamming his head down onto the hard metal surface and holding him there. "You could try. Hell, I'd love for them to take the restraints off of you, because I can't wait to hear the sound of your neck breaking in my hands. You touched my family, you stupid motherfucker," I snarled in his face. "I've killed men for fewer offenses, and as far as I'm concerned, you've lived too fucking long. But I'm not kidding you... Understand me?" I asked, but he didn't say anything. "Are we fucking clear?" I yelled in his ear, slamming his head onto the table again and squeezing his neck harder.

  "Yeah...Yes! Jesus, fuck... What the hell do you want to know?"

  I shoved off of him, barely able to stop myself from killing him right there. "Where the fuck was Terry going next, Myles?" I asked, having to take two steps back in order to maintain my control.

  "I'm not sure," he groaned, flinching when I slammed my hand down on the table beside him.

  "Not fucking good enough," I sneered. "Give me something, asshole."

  I slid the paper closer to him, and he whimpered, his face now pouring sweat. "Look," he whined, breaking his gaze away from the picture of his grandmother to blink up at me. "I'm not lying when I say I don't know where Terry was going. But I know that the bomb is in Neil Tower.”

  “We searched that place from top to bottom, where?” I hissed clenching my fists at the wasted time.

  He looked at me more desperately, “Then you didn’t look hard enough. It wasn’t designed like the one David and I put together. Terry and Boss did it.”

  I repeated once again. “Where.”

  “The grand clock in the main entrance. The guy that hired us has the detonator, he works there.”

  I motioned to Jackson, who was on the phone within the same second making a call to Macon, who was home with the girls. “Go on. Who is your boss?”

  “My boss or his boss?” He spat getting frustrated again.

  I slammed my hand on the table. “You aren’t making sense.”

  He shook his head, “I am making sense. Our boss is the one that put Alyssa on her ass. He goes by Maverick, he’s one of your kind. He was hired as a middle man to keep the guy in charge out of the light.”

  A Merc? Alyssa was dealing with a fucking Merc and we had no idea. “What is his name?”

  “He never gave us his name.” He flinched when I tensed volunteering what info he did know. “He lost a lot of money in a deal Paul Neil fucked up. That’s why he wanted the thirty million, to make up for his loss. Zoe had her own shit to take care of with the money we were supposed to get from you guys. Maverick had a place up north, where it was I had no fucking clue, but he said it would be his hideout until shit cooled down. After the train station, and then you guys showed up on the mountain, he knew he had to chill out for a bit."

  “So that’s where he is…” Hunter hissed looking to him for answers.

  He shook his head. “He is smart enough to clear the fuck out. ..” I stood up straight, turning to Hunter and my father, the latter of who stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

  I exhaled roughly, looking up at my dad, and then back to Myles. Any Merc knows to drop everything when a job gets too compromising. “He’s long gone then.”

  "Maybe," Myles said with a shrug. " Someone on the mountain could have had answers but you'll never know, because you killed them."

  I laughed softly. "Not that you give a shit, right?"

  "Aw, hell, no," he scoffed, shaking his head. "I could fucking care less. I just wanted in on the money." He sighed, looking away from us.

  I leaned into Hunter's ear, whispering, "Whoever his benefactor is will want the loose ends cut before it leads to him, and this Maverick guy will be smart enough run and cover his tracks if he’s a Merc."

  "I think you're right," he sighed, shaking his head. "This Maverick guy is a loss. God, I hope those girls can find out who, hired these guys."

  I smiled, slapping his shoulder. "Have faith, Hunt. Have you never seen all of them at work?"

  Chapter 30- Show Down

  “The bomb has been cleared ladies.” Macon swore coming back into the office of Gravity. When Jackson had called with the location, he’d gone over immediately, despite the building being closed for the weekend.

  Joanne sighed in relief, “Oh thank goodness. I was beginning to think that we would never find it.” She had pretty much been neglecting her design firm to assist us in whatever way she could for the past few weeks and I was starting to feel bad no matter how much she insisted.

  “Well we did.” Macon consoled. “Found it on one of the cogs inside the clock, no wonder we couldn’t find it.”

  I nodded. “Good to know we won’t have that over our heads anymore.” I looked over at Tink, “Any news on the rest of the information.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure which deal Myles was talking about, but I’ll keep looking, there are a lot of accounts out there.”

  “I’ll ask Kris about it when he gets here.” I added hopefully.

  Every single head shot up except for Juan, who was coloring next to his mom. “Kris? I thought he was in protective custody with his mother and sister.”

  I nodded, “I’m tired of waiting, and I had Hunt release him under my care for the duration.”

  “Are you sure that you want that responsibility?” Doc asked looking pointedly at her son, who remained oblivious.

  I nodded, “I’m sure. He was one of the good ones, just give him a chance.”

  Doc looked at me doubted. “Have you talked about this with Adrian?”

  I frowned; I knew I had forgotten something. “I’ll call him before he gets back.”

  “Chance…” Kristen sighed disapprovingly.

  I looked up at her, “What?”

  “You should have talked to him,” Tink finished.

  Before I could respond I heard the sound of the front door opening and I was on my feet and headed that way. Macon, our designated protector on my heels.

  “Hey.” He greeted frozen in the lobby, unsure of where I stood and where he stood with everyone else no doubt. His russet colored skin a shade or two darker than my own.

  I attempted to smile and ease his tension as I greeted him, “Hello Kris.”

  That attempt was thwarted by the boom of Macon rounding the corner. “Where is he?”

  His brown eyes went wide and I could see him attempt to gulp─ fear hadn’t frozen his atoms apple. “Stop being a dick Macon.” I ordered gesturing for him to follow me. “Come on we’ll get you set up in here.”

  “Okay,” He agreed following me a bit too closely. “Is it ok that I’m here? Your guys aren’t going to kill me right?”

  I chuckled at that, “In truth, it depends on if Juan can separate you from the guys that took him away. If not it might be a little tense.” Joanne, Doc, and Juan were no longer in the computer room when I came back. “Where are the rest of us?” I asked after Kris introduced himself to the girls, they greeted him cautiously.

  �
�Going to get Makenna out of my office, she’s up from her nap.” Kristen answered getting back to work.

  “Any luck on the boss?” I asked her taking my seat, directing Kris to the chair across from me.

  Tink shook her head but Kristen gave me a more vocal, “No, we’re looking into that slime ball Wendell, but his money is all over the place. Up then down, up down. Serious amounts of payouts. We need to see what this asshole is into.”

  Kris shook his head.

  “Do you have something to add?” I asked him.

  He nodded silently but Macon came back in a few seconds later with Joanne, who was carrying Makenna in a carrier, sound asleep. And right behind Doc was a happy babbling Juan.

  "Tia guess what!" he burst, his sneakers squeaking on the tile as he ran.

  "What?" I chuckled, grateful for the break in the heavy tension. “What are you up to?” I asked, pulling him onto my lap and looking into his eyes.

  "Helpin' Joanne pick out food across the street. I got us ice cream wif...apple pie," he whispered the last two words conspiratorially, and I giggled at Kristen’s hum of approval.

  "And dinner," Joanne added with a chuckle. "When you brainiacs are ready for a break, I've got enough food to feed you all."

  "Nice!" Macon said with a grin, leaning over Makenna's carrier and popping her pacifier back into her mouth.

  Tink pulled a bunch of paperwork off of the printer and handed it over to Doc. "We need you to take a look at this. We think that maybe some psych profiles will help."

  As Doc studied the file, I whispered to Juan, "Do you want to color, again?"

  "Uh uh," he replied with a shake of his head, before laying it on my shoulder.

  I kept him on my lap, turning back to my laptop. He played quietly with my paperclips as I continued to try and track the origin of all this. Doc and Tink spoke softly, Tink pulling up anything that Doc asked of her. But the throat clearing of the Kris across from me had him frozen.

  I looked up to see Kris picking up his papers, I glanced down at Juan. It wasn't Kris he was staring at. He was looking at the door behind him, looking everywhere around him. He was looking for Myles and Zoe.

  "Juan," I said, making him look at me. "Kris's alone. The bad guys aren't with him."

  Doc's head snapped around as she stood on the other side of the room. She seemed to grow slightly as she walked to us. Kris's face looked heartbroken at the sight of my godson's fear. The last time he'd seen him had been in the hotel room, just before I set him free. He really liked him and had done everything in his power to keep him as safe as he could. I knew this was bugging him.

  Doc knelt beside us, cupping Juan's face. "You ok baby boy?"

  "Is mean man here?" he asked her in a nervous whisper.

  "No, baby," she stated with a shake of his head. "He's someplace he can never get to you, Juan. I promise."

  The whole room came to a standstill, because they hadn't seen his reaction to anything that had happened to him. Joanne had, Doc and Ross had, Adrian and I had, but not his aunts, or uncles. My girls were watching with carefully composed faces—even the guys, who had just walked in with Liam and Hunt—but I could see everyone's anger resurface with this blatant reminder of all that had happened. All eyes were flickering between Kris and Juan.

  "You're safe, baby," I whispered against his head, my eyes locking with Adrian's who was a mixture of confused and bothered. "Look around you, Juan. Do you think anyone here would let something happen to you? Pops? Your mommies? Uncle Macon? Uncle Jackson? Uncle Dario? Me? Hmm?"

  He shook his head no slowly.

  “Good boy," Doc crooned to him, kissing his forehead. "Never, ever forget that, okay?"

  "Okay, Mommy," he sighed, and I could feel him relax a bit.

  He slipped down off of my lap, and walked over to Kris leaning down to meet him. Ross tensed, but Doc shook her head watching him carefully.

  "Hey, Juan," Kris said, and it seemed to echo in the eerily silent room. "I don't have doughnuts this time. I'm sorry," he said with a chuckle.

  He smiled up at him. "Miss Joanne has ice cream and apple pie. It's better!"

  "Oh yeah? Save a piece for me?" he asked, and he nodded profusely. "Cool!" He grinned, shaking his head and reaching in his pocket. "I did bring you something, though. They told me I was coming, so I thought I'd better."

  "What is it?" he gasped his face lighting up like the brightest of mornings.

  "It was my little sister's idea actually," he started with a one shoulder shrug. He pulled out silver dog tag. "She said you'd probably like it, since your family is full of soldiers."

  I grinned, but everyone else watched the exchange carefully. “Look at that, it has your name on it and everything.”

  Juan squeaked happily, letting Kris put it on.

  "What do you say, Juan?" Doc waited, letting her arms fall to her side. Now a little more relaxed and fighting a smile.

  "Thank you!" he sang running back to Ross to show her. “Look Mommy I’m just like you.

  She picked up the tag, and looked at it then planted a loud smooch on his head, which caused another laugh to burst forth from him. The entire room let out a collective breath, it seemed. If anything proved that Kris was trustworthy, it was that brief moment, because if Juan trusted him, everyone else could. He'd proven himself while he was in his care, and he'd just proven it again.

  “Back to work.” I sighed sliding a file over to him. “Tell me if any of those faces are familiar.”

  ———————

  “Come in,” I requested looking up from the work on my desk. It had been a typical Monday at Neil Tower, everyone busy with work. I had already known who was coming thanks to my assistant.

  Roman Maxwell opened the doors with a smile on his face. “Hello Miss Marshall.”

  “Ah, Mr. Maxwell, how are you?” I greeted with a smile standing up to walk around my desk.

  He cradled my hands in both of his, “Just fine Miss Marshall, just fine. I was just stopping by to congratulate you on the benefit. It was more than a success.”

  “Thanks, if only the other board members felt the same way.” I pretended to groan though I couldn’t stop smiling. They had been discouraged by the events that lead to the ending for the party, and the media taking their own spin to it. I received several 'I told you so’s but I didn’t care. I was just thankful that Hunt took my advice to hold out on putting the death of Zoe out there.

  “Yes well, it’s unfortunate that those teenagers set fireworks off at the party, but your response on the news was spot on.” He commended.

  I nodded in agreement, “Yes, all the more reason that the community needed a youth center. Get them off the streets and out of trouble.”

  “Not to mention you rose double the amount you were expecting. It puts Neil Industries in a fine light, let’s the people know that we care about the community.”

  “Exactly!” I burst to one of Paul’s longest friends. “I wish Mr. Neil had a few more men like you. Then maybe this company’s vision wouldn’t be so closed off.”

  He sat in the chair in front of Paul’s desk next to mine. “I see the same drive in you that your father had when he first took over Neil Industries. He had so many plans, and yes he’s achieved quite a few, but he would fold to the board or compromise more times than not.”

  “Well I tend to compromise for no one.” I muttered hating when people found things in common with Paul and me.

  “Which is why you are taking things further in so little time,” he praised putting a hand on mine.

  I waited for a minute wondering how to ask this next question. “Why did you do it Roman, why support me when no one else did?”

  He thought for a moment, and then spoke, “Your father knew you wouldn’t be a favorite right away. He requested that in whichever way you chose to lead I would help you, as I have him over the years.”

  I liked his honesty. “So you helped him?”

  “As best I could.” He nodded. “He
was so nervous when he took the reins of this place, and look what he did with it.”

  I nodded, the multi-billion dollar corporation was doing great long before I got here.

  “I helped support him while he was in charge, I’ll help support you when you take over for good, and hell if health willing I’ll be here supporting when your son takes over this place.” He grinned, “Even though they’ll probably have to wheel me in here to do it.”

  I smiled back at him. “I’m not sure if I’ll want that responsibility.” I told him honestly.

  “You will, you’re a Neil.” He foretold standing up. “Business is in your blood.”

  I stood with him. “Leaving so soon?” I asked slightly disappointed.

  He nodded, “Yes, I have a mountain of investments to look over. I’ll see you at the meeting next week.” He promised as I showed him out.

  ———————

  “I could have cooked.” Adrian protested as I pulled the cash out of my wallet to tip the pizza driver. All of us, Kris included, were pulling an all-nighter at our house.

  I shrugged, “Juan wanted pizza.”

  “And heaven forbid she ever says no to Juan.” Ross teased before mumbling ‘softie’.

  “I’m not a softie, Macon want’s pizza too.” I defended glancing at the monitor to the front gate.

  “Macon will want anything.” Adrian groaned.

  I looked over Tink’s shoulder at her laptop. She was taking a break from work like everyone else, instead looking into everyone’s past. Right now it was on Joanne. "Nice hair, by the way."

  Kristen looked over and barked a laugh from behind me at the feathered statue called hair, but Liam chuckled so hard that he had to sit down on his end of the sofa. Joanne smacked the back of his head and he corrected himself. "You know, you two," Liam started to chastised pointing to Tink and I. "Everyone had a bad style they had to live through. You keep that in mind ten years from now when tousled hair may not be so...cool." He laughed, reaching for his son's head, and Adrian ducked him nicely, putting his fists up.

  "Come on, old man, can't you catch me?" he teased, jabbing lightly at his father.