by Ronica Black
Table of Contents
Synopsis
What Reviewers Say About Ronica Black’s Work
By the Author
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
Books Available from Bold Strokes Books
Freedom to Love
Brynn Williams is out of prison, no thanks to Sergeant Kat Vander, who arrested her four years earlier. But Brynn is hopeful for a new future and excited to see her sister, who pulls up in a stolen car, high as a kite. Brynn feels used and trapped as they drive back to more family drama. But something happens on the way home, testing not only Brynn’s core as a human being, but her loyalty to her family as well.
Sergeant Kat Vander is one hell of a cop. She turns heads and leaves suspects shaking in their boots. So when she and her partner are ambushed and shot, the department is up in arms. But more surprising is who helped them after the attack. Brynn Williams belongs to the town’s most troubled family. She helped Kat, but now she’s on the run. Can Kat find her, and more importantly fight her feelings for a known criminal?
What Reviewers Say About Ronica Black’s Work
“Ronica Black’s debut novel In Too Deep has everything from nonstop action and intriguing well-developed characters to steamy erotic love scenes. From the opening scenes where Black plunges the reader headfirst into the story to the explosive unexpected ending, In Too Deep has what it takes to rise to the top. Black has a winner with In Too Deep, one that will keep the reader turning the pages until the very last one.”—Independent Gay Writer
“…an exciting, page turning read, full of mystery, sex, and suspense.”—MegaScene
“…a challenging murder mystery—sections of this mixed-genre novel are hot, hot, hot. Black juggles the assorted elements of her first book with assured pacing and estimable panache.”—Q Syndicate
“Black’s characterization is skillful, and the sexual chemistry surrounding the three major characters is palpable and definitely hot-hot-hot…if you’re looking for a solid read with ample amounts of eroticism and a red herring or two you’re sure to find In Too Deep a satisfying read.”—L Word Literature
“Black is a master at teasing the reader with her use of domination and desire. Black’s first novel, In Too Deep, was a finalist for a 2005 Lammy…With Wild Abandon, the author continues her winning ways, writing like a seasoned pro. This is one romance I will not soon forget.”—Just About Write
“The sophomore novel by Ronica Black is hot, hot, hot.”—Books to Watch Out For
“Sleek storytelling and terrific characters are the backbone of Ronica Black’s third and best novel, Hearts Aflame. Prepare to hop on for an emotional ride with this thrilling story of love in the outback. …Wonderful storytelling and rich characterization make this a high recommendation.”—Lambda Book Report
“This sequel to Ronica Black’s debut novel, In Too Deep, is an electrifying thriller. The author’s development as a fine storyteller shines with this tightly written story. …[The mystery] keeps the story charged—never unraveling or leading us to a predictable conclusion. More than once I gasped in surprise at the dark and twisted paths this book took.”—Curve Magazine
“Ronica Black handles a traditional range of lesbian fantasies with gusto and sincerity. The reader wants to know these women as well as they come to know each other. When Black’s characters ignore their realistic fears to follow their passion, this reader admires their chutzpah and cheers them on…These stories make good bedtime reading, and could lead to sweet dreams. Read them and see.”—Erotica Revealed
“Ronica Black’s books just keep getting stronger and stronger. …This is such a tightly written plot-driven novel that readers will find themselves glued to the pages and ignoring phone calls. The Seeker is a great read, with an exciting plot, great characters, and great sex.”—Just About Write
“Ronica Black’s writing is fluid, and lots of dialogue makes this a fast read. If you like steamy erotica with intense sexual situations, you’ll like Chasing Love.”—Queer Magazine Online
Freedom to Love
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Freedom to Love
© 2017 By Ronica Black. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-978-5
This Electronic Original is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: August 2017
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Cindy Cresap
Production Design: Susan Ramundo
Cover Design By Melody Pond
By the Author
In Too Deep
Wild Abandon
Deeper
Hearts Aflame
The Seeker
Flesh and Bone
Chasing Love
Conquest
Wholehearted
The Midnight Room
Snow Angel
The Practitioner
Freedom to Love
Acknowledgments
This book is an example of what happens when a short story continues to grow and evolve. I just couldn’t stop at 30,000 words!
A big heartfelt thanks to my Caitie, for reading at all hours of the day and night and simply telling me whether or not it was awful or doable.
Another thanks to the BSB team who still took this even though it went well beyond the short story proposed. Thank you all!
Cindy, as always, you rock. ;) Thank you for your continued support and belief in me.
For family. Blood or not. Love is love. Do it unconditionally.
Dedication
For my family in North Carolina…the true definition of unconditional love.
I love you all.
Chapter One
Dare Creek County Correctional Facility
Dare Creek County, North Carolina
“Williams, move your ass.” Mary Jo, an ancient prison guard, jerked Brynn to attention as if she could read her mind about somehow surviving the old concrete hellhole unscathed. She gave Brynn one last shove for good measure, knowing she wouldn’t dare protest. She tossed Brynn’s bag of belongings to her and signaled another guard to open the last locked door. Brynn held her bag full of goods from the canteen with one hand, while the other was tucked firmly behind her back. She knew it was a habit that would die hard, having been forced to walk that way for four years.
“Don’t come back,” Mary Jo said.
“Yes, ma’am.” The door buzzed and Brynn stumbled through backward, nervous eyes still on Mary Jo. But as she walked out the final door, she smiled. No one was stopping her; no
one was asking her questions or searching her.
She was free.
She pushed out into the press of new summer humidity. But damn, it felt good; free air was definitely different from confined. The bright sun was on her skin, the teasing heavy breeze playing with her hair. This was heaven. She closed her eyes for a moment taking it all in. Then she opened them and looked around.
The fences and the walls seemed enormous, and the grass beyond that, beyond the free road, seemed endless with hills of rolling green for miles. It was far different from the white glow of light she saw through smeared windows, or the fading scent of freshly cut grass as it crept over the walls. Rec time had been on cement, the sun slanting at an angle so you had to huddle in one area if you wanted to feel the rays and get a little vitamin D. A less restrictive cell block would’ve allowed her more freedom. But she’d been put where she was the most protected, and though she’d hated it, she was alive and unscathed and that was all that mattered.
She held out her arms and inhaled deeply. She could finally breathe without wincing from the smell of mold, body odor, and urine. She could not only breathe in the freshly cut grass, she could reach down and touch it.
Jesus H. Christ, it felt good.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” Mary Jo said from the open door behind her. “Go. There’s no loitering here.” Her hard face was crinkled with anger. She turned her head and spat tobacco as if Brynn had thoroughly gone and ruined her day.
“You’ll be back,” Mary Jo said. “Williamses always come back.”
The words stung, but Brynn was used to them. She shrugged it off and bobbed on her anxious feet as a car pulled up along the main road. Large, rusted out, and loud, fumes billowed and the radio was so loud it was eating the speakers causing static. A hand rested on the doorframe holding a cigarette. It raised in a wave.
Brynn took off at a trot, then a jog, then a full-out run. Her jeans were loose from weight loss and her sneakers had seen better days. Her sister, Bea, was laughing as Brynn stopped at the car and yanked on her pants to keep them up.
“How ya doin’, Sissy?” Bea asked, knowing she was irritating Brynn with her nickname. She looked her up and down and blew smoke through her nose. “Well, you’re skinny, but you’re alive.”
Bea looked like hell herself with skin hanging off bones and dark dents beneath her wide eyes. By the look of her, no one would dare guess she was eight years younger than Brynn. A hard twenty-eight Bea was. And she looked as though she’d been drug by a horse through every single damn one of those days in those years. Her pupils told Brynn she was high and so did her laugh. It was loud, high-pitched, and wicked. She planted the cigarette in her mouth and leaned over to open the massive passenger door.
“Get in.”
Brynn rounded the car, tossed her bag in the back, and climbed in. The door protested when it shut, and Brynn saw the wires hanging from the steering column.
“You pinch this car?”
Bea shrugged. “You said come get you. What did you expect?” She threw the car in gear and peeled out. Brynn thought about Mary Jo choking on the smoke and smiled inwardly. Instinctively though, she looked behind them, ready for the law to be right there on their ass. Thankfully, there was no one. She reached over and turned down the radio, preferring to hear the wind rushing at her rather than an old metal band.
“What happened to Papaw’s Ford?” Brynn asked. Their grandfather had left them a nice F150 when he passed. They’d used that truck for everything.
“Traded it,” she said, blowing out more smoke.
“What? For what?”
Bea didn’t look at her, and Brynn knew whatever she was about to say was a lie.
“We had bills to pay. With you put away it hasn’t been easy.”
“Bullshit. All you had to pay for is power, water, and food.”
“Yeah, well, a lot’s changed, Sissy. You’ve been gone. So don’t preach to me. I been doing what I can.”
“Yeah, and let’s not forget why I was locked up.”
Bea flicked her cigarette out the window. “Don’t start with me, Brynn. I didn’t ask you to do it.”
Brynn clenched her jaw, wanting to argue, to bite into her, but she held back. She held back just as she’d always done. “You didn’t have to ask. And besides, you bawling like a baby…that was worse than asking.”
Bea didn’t respond and Brynn didn’t push it. Her great-aunt had written a few times warning her of trouble at home. But a part of her had hoped Bea and Billy would get their shit together before she got out. But as usual, that was wishful thinking. And though Brynn had hated being locked up, honestly, it had been nice not having to take care of anyone. Imagine…discovering independence while locked up. Who would’ve thought?
Now she was free and she felt trapped again. Bea was driving her straight back into lock-down on Williams Lane. Brynn sighed and rubbed a suddenly aching temple. She’d kill for a Coke and a Goody’s Powder, but it would be a while before a gas station. She settled back in the vinyl seat and stared ahead. Bea was still on drugs, snorting, smoking, maybe even selling. Who knew? Had Brynn going to prison taught her nothing? Hadn’t it even scared her a little? It seemed not.
They drove for a long while, out into the country, pastures and rolling hills as far as she could see. Rolls of hay dotting the landscape here and there. But no people. Not a single damn one. She knew it should comfort her after being locked up like rats inside hell, but she felt a little panicked at all the open space. She willed her eyes to close, and as they did, she heard a distant siren. It was far away so she tried not to panic. But her brain fired off and she imagined them coming up behind, running the plate, pulling them over, throwing them up against the car, tightening those cuffs until they bit into their bones.
“Slow down,” Brynn said, eyes still closed. She could feel Bea slow the car and the siren grow closer. When Bea’s breathing changed, Brynn’s eyes flew open.
“What is it?” she asked, turning in her seat to look behind.
“That SUV. It’s coming up fast. Too fast.”
Brynn saw the black vehicle bearing down behind them. “Fuck.” She shrunk down in the seat and her heart nearly beat out of her chest. “Is it the law, undercover in one of those Tahoes? It could be, but there are no flashing lights in the grill.”
“Here it comes,” Bea said, gripping the wheel.
Brynn peeked over the seat and gasped with fear as the SUV nearly slammed into them. But at the last second, it swerved and flew past at an insane amount of speed. She watched it fly by and swerve back into their lane. Then her attention was behind them once again as the siren, which was incredibly loud now, came up on them going just as fast as the SUV. The police cruiser, lights flashing, siren wailing, was far from interested in their stolen car.
Brynn yelled at Bea “Get out of the way!”
Bea pulled off the road at full speed, allowing the cruiser to speed on. They watched, amazed and confused as their car bounced in the dirt shoulder. Suddenly, the SUV screeched and turned, facing the cruiser head on. The cruiser slammed to a stop just as shots rang out from the SUV. Pieces of glass flew up from the front of the cruiser, and Brynn could tell it was being hit with gunfire. The officers were trapped inside.
Brynn threw open the door as Bea screeched to a stop. “They’re getting shot!”
“Brynn, wait!”
Bea reached behind the front seat and tossed her a handgun. Brynn didn’t think, didn’t process, she just lowered herself and ran toward the cruiser. Behind her, she heard Bea fire off a few rounds at the SUV.
Brynn kept moving. She could see two men hanging out the windows of the black vehicle. She fired two shots, hitting their windshield as she came to the back of the police car. She crab-walked up to the passenger door as each shot deafened her, causing her ears to ring. She looked inside and saw a male slumped behind the wheel, bleeding from a wound to the head, and another officer, a female, leaning to the left in the passenger seat.
Brynn opened the door and the rounds continued to come from behind, from Bea, but they stopped from the SUV. Brynn tugged on the female’s wrist. She moaned. Brynn climbed in and released her seat belt. Warm blood seeped into her T-shirt as she pressed against the officer. The woman was hit, somewhere in the upper shoulder area. Brynn reached out and pushed at the male. He didn’t move and his shirt was torn with bullet holes.
“Shit.” Brynn backed out and tugged on the woman again, sliding her from the car. When Brynn saw the blond ponytail and then her face, her mind flashed with recognition. It was Sergeant Vander, the officer who had arrested her for possession four years earlier. She had put Brynn in prison. But it didn’t matter. She was shot and needed help. Brynn checked her pulse. Slow but steady. She heard the SUV peel out and speed away. Hoping it was safe, she half carried, half drug Vander back to their car. Bea stood still with her gun at her side.
“What are you doing?”
“We gotta get her to a hospital.” Brynn was breathless and now covered in blood. “Help me get her into the car.”
Bea didn’t move.
“We can’t do this, Brynn. We’ve already done too much.” She walked over and looked at her face. “Shit, is that Vander? That bitch put you away, Brynn. Wanted me too. Do you know how much hell she’s given me the past few years?”
“We can’t let her die.”
Bea turned away. “Not our problem. She’s not our problem. We did our best. Now it’s time to go. She’s on her own. Which is more than she’s ever done for us.” She looked up and down the road, pacing. “What about the other one? I bet it’s that son of a bitch partner of hers.”
