Double Shot to the Heart (Brewed Moon Book 2)

by Critch, J. Margot

  Mitch’s movements became quicker and more erratic, his force increased and he took her hard, his jaw tensed and she knew that he was trying to hold off his release until she found hers. She was close, and his consideration touched her. “I’m right here with you, Mitch, just let go.”

  “Not without you,” he groaned. He put his hand on her hip, and his fingers curled tightly over it. He shifted their position, slightly changing the angle of their connection, so that he hit that magically sensitive spot, setting off fireworks inside of her. It was enough. She cried out and shook in his arms, as she tried to regain her breath. Mitch followed suit with a hard, relieved grunt, and every muscle in his body tensed as he came, emptying himself into her. He lowered her carefully, and she had no idea how he remained in such strict control of his muscles while she was a quivering mass.

  Her knees buckled a little but she steadied herself by putting two palms flat on the mirror behind her. Mitch took a step back from her, but he also seemed to be holding his weight with his hands on the mirror, still locking her in place in front of him. But there was nowhere else she wanted to be.

  Mitch shook his head. “Juliana, I don’t know what you do to me. Oh, shit,” he rubbed his chin with his hands, and his eyes widened. “I didn’t use anything. It didn’t even occur to me to use a condom.” He gestured to the selection made available by the club.

  “Yeah, I realized that,” she said. “If it means anything, the last time I was tested, it was clear, and I’m on the pill.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I had a physical recently for work. I’m fine too.” He took a deep breath. “And this is what I was talking about. I can’t even think straight around you. I’ve never been so far gone as to forget protection.”

  “You’re welcome,” she grinned.

  He sobered. “You shouldn’t have left the house tonight.”

  Juliana shrugged. “Probably not. But I did. You know, you can’t just live for the job, Mitch,” she told him, fastening her jacket around her waist. “You need to make time for yourself, to enjoy the beauty of life instead of just being surrounded by violence.”

  Mitch pulled his t-shirt over his head. He stopped and looked at her. “I think you’re right.”

  Chapter 28

  “You went there alone?” Peter asked Mitch, incredulous, his voice raised. They were in his office, and he had just told them about his late-night/early-morning meeting with Declan. “Do you know how stupid that was?”

  “I do. It was stupid. But I know that this is the only option to take down Petrova. We’re on our own with this. No one in the department will give us the time or the resources to take him out. He’s got some kind of hold on this city, and I’m pretty sure it’s high-reaching.”

  Peter sighed. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t really know yet,” Mitch started. “But it started when I hassled Roberts and Smith about getting nowhere with the safe house shooting. Then Lewis stopped me to tell me it wasn’t any of my concern. He also told me that he knew someone had accessed their personnel files,” he said with a look in Steve’s direction. “Look at everything that’s happened to us. There’s something weird going on, and as long as there is, we’re on our own. We all know we won’t be able to take down Petrova without help.”

  Joe nodded. “I get it. I don’t see another way around this, either. It’s better to have the devil you know than the one you don’t.”

  “Exactly.” He turned to Steve. “What did you find out about Smith and Roberts.”

  “Luckily, I was able to access their personnel files before PD locked them down. They’re both five years from retirement, and their solve rate is only okay. They aren’t exactly turning any heads. But they have been picking up just about every case involving Petrova and his goons. Each case was closed quickly, and in every case, someone other than Petrova ended up in jail and charged.

  “Son of a bitch,” Peter muttered.

  “But wait, there’s more,” Steve told them. “What did interest me were their bank accounts.”

  “Do tell,” Mitch said quietly.

  “For the past 14 months, they’ve each had steady payments deposited into their bank accounts. No small amounts either.”

  “Who are they from?”

  “It doesn’t say. They’re done by wire transfer. But when I tried to chase the paper trail, it ended up nowhere. There is no solid information whatsoever about the sender.”

  “Who’s paying them off?” Joe asked out loud. “It’s also curious how they’re picking up all the cases involving the Russian mob.”

  “They’re obviously being assigned to them,” Peter added. “Could be the captain is just happy with their performance on those cases, or maybe Captain Lewis is on the take too. But could three of them be in Petrova’s pocket?”

  “It certainly looks like these two are being paid handsomely to make Petrova’s problems disappear,” Mitch said, scanning through the bank account information of his fellow officers. “Okay, you guys watch Roberts and Smith, see if there’s some connection between them, Captain Lewis and organized crime. Why don’t you report back tonight and let me know if you find anything?”

  In Mitch’s living room, Juliana drummed her fingers on her thigh, and blew out a long sigh. She’d been sequestered inside of Mitch’s condo for too long, and even though she was grateful for his protection, and she appreciated having him around, his constant breathing down her neck was starting to wear on her.

  The door to Mitch’s office opened and he and his team filed out of the room. Mitch said goodbye to the men at the door, and walked to meet her in the kitchen.

  “Mitch, I need to go to my apartment,” she told him. “I need to pick up a few more things. Can you drive me?”

  “Why don’t you tell me what you need? I can get one of the guys to pick it up.”

  “Mitch, I just want to see my apartment, water my plants, grab some more clothes. I’ll be quick.”

  Mitch watched her, and she knew that he was debating to himself whether or not he would take her. “Yeah sure, no problem,” he said, grabbing his keys. “Let’s go.”

  After the short drive to her place, Mitch and Juliana exited the truck, and made their way up the exterior staircase to her apartment door. She was walking next to Mitch, the backs of her knuckles brushing against his. She wished that he would reached over slightly and take her hand in his. But he probably didn’t even notice the light contact, as he was too busy looking around them, watching the surrounding area. And plus, she couldn’t forget the moratorium on physical contact he’d established between them, rolling her eyes.

  He took her keys and unlocked the door, walking into her apartment first. He looked around, keeping her behind him, as he checked each of the rooms, and around corners, until he confirmed that her apartment was clear.

  Juliana stepped away from him, and went to her bedroom. “I’ll just be a couple of minutes,” she called out to him over her shoulder. “Unless you want to come in here with me,” she winked.

  He laughed, and shook his head at her brazenness. “Just get your stuff,” he said, but she knew from the fire in his eyes that he was fighting a battle with himself against accepted her offer.

  She walked into her room, and was brought back to the day when she’d packed her bag to go to the safe house. So much had happened since that night only a week ago. Here, in the quiet sanctuary of her own room, she sat on her bed and took a moment for herself.

  Her life was in shambles. She was living in hiding, her café had been blown up, she’d witnessed a murder, and there had been multiple attempts made on her life. There were only so many things that a human being could take and she’d endured it all in just over a week. She felt her eyes water and gave into a sob as the emotion bubbled from her chest, rising in her throat. She cried into her hands, hoping that Mitch didn’t hear her. But if he did, he didn’t come to her. In fact, she heard him speaking to someone. She didn’t recognize the two other voices. And Mitch didn’t
sound happy.

  Looking in her mirror, Juliana composed herself, wiped the tears from her cheeks. She left her bedroom and walked down the hallway to the foyer where Mitch stood. He was standing in profile, his jawline firm and tense, arms crossed. She couldn’t see who he was talking to, as they were standing in the porch, out of her view.

  She frowned. Her intuition told her that something was wrong, but Mitch’s presence comforted her, and she was grateful he was there. She approached Mitch, and put a hand on his bicep, turning the corner and came face-to-face with the men who she would never forget as long as she lived – the killers she’d seen through the peephole.

  Mitch had only been inside of Juliana’s apartment for a couple of minutes before there was a knock on the door. He went to it and looked through the peephole, scowling when he saw detectives Roberts and Smith. He’d opened the door. “Can I help you guys with something?”

  Roberts answered first. “We were wondering if we could see Ms. Lark. We saw the light on, and figured she’d be home. What are you doing here?”

  “You’re only now getting around to interviewing the witness of a murder, and the owner of the café that was bombed, the woman who was almost murdered at a police safe house? That’s some good detective work fellas.”

  He sensed Juliana come up beside him, and felt her stiffen. Her hand on his arm tightened. When he looked down at her, he saw that her face had turned ashen.

  “Jules, are you okay?”

  She parted her lips, but no words came out.

  “Juliana?”

  “It’s them,” she whispered.

  “Who?”

  “Those men,” she pointed at them, her voice was bewildered. “They were the murderers that morning, behind the café.”

  Mitch did a double-take, looking from Juliana to the detectives, and back to her, but in a split second, he felt the cold steel of the muzzle of Roberts’ gun against his temple. He looked to see Smith clap his palm over Juliana’s mouth, silencing her scream. His gun pointed at her, causing Mitch’s fury to surge. He struggled against Roberts, trying to get to Juliana, but the bite of the gun at the side of his head stopped him.

  “Mitch, buddy,” Roberts said. “If I were in your situation, I’d try to fight too. But I wouldn’t recommend it. Smith has no problem putting a bullet between her eyes if you don’t cooperate.”

  “You motherfuckers,” Mitch said with a glare. “I know you’re both working for Petrova. You’re behind the murders of the O’Connell gang, aren’t you?”

  “You’re smart,” Smith muttered. “You must be a detective. Come on, let’s go,” he pulled Juliana toward the door.”

  “Wait,” Mitch said, hoping to stall them. “Why? Is it the money? Is that why you abused your badge, killed people? Is that why you didn’t even try to solve any of the crimes linked to Petrova? Was the money really worth it?”

  “It seems like you already know all of the answers to those questions,” Roberts sneered, pushing the barrel of his gun into Mitch’s temple. “We’re going.”

  “What do you want from us?”

  “I want you both to walk downstairs, and get in the back of that van, and then we’ll deal with both of you.”

  Mitch caught Juliana’s frightened eyes and tried his best to silently reassure her. He wanted to let her know it would be okay. He wasn’t sure how at that moment, but he would get them out of this dangerous situation. Her nod was imperceptible, and he could see that she trusted him, whether she looked convinced, or not.

  Roberts cuffed Mitch and Juliana’s hands behind their backs using plastic zip ties, and escorted them to a white cargo van that was waiting across the street. Mitch would have fought them to his dying breath, but he couldn’t risk leaving Juliana alone and at the mercy of these maniacs. He had to cooperate until he could be sure he could remove her safely from the deadly equation.

  The van looked exactly like the one that had blown up in front of Brewed Moon. Smith opened the back door, and with guns trained on them, Mitch and Juliana climbed into the empty back, and sat on the bare floor. The doors closed and Mitch felt the van start moving.

  “Mitch,” he heard Juliana whisper in the dark. “What’s going on? Who are those men? Why did they kill that man behind my café? Where are they taking us?” her questions were rapid fire in the darkness. He could tell that she was panicking.

  “Just breathe, Jules,” he told her. Mitch wished that he could see her, put his arms around her to comfort her. He flexed his wrists, testing the strength of the plastic securing his them. “Take deep breaths. They’re detectives. We had a hunch that they’re dirty, and I guess this confirms it.

  “What are they going to do with us?” her voice held a chill, and he wished that he could help her.

  Mitch slid his left foot against the gun that still sat in the ankle holster over his right. He hadn’t worn his shoulder holster that afternoon, but he never left home without the small pistol strapped to his ankle, and he was now thankful for its comfortable weight. Smith and Roberts, the lazy idiots that they were, hadn’t bothered to frisk them. “I won’t let them do anything to you. It’s going to be okay. I promise.” She didn’t respond, but he heard her deep breaths in the darkness, and he hoped it was keeping her calm.

  After a short, bumpy, uncomfortable ride, the van came to a stop. When the doors opened again, Smith and Roberts stood by, as they were pulled out of the back by three men. Nobody spoke, but Mitch assumed they were Petrova’s goons. Two men held Mitch’s arms and one held Juliana as they dragged them into a building, bringing them to the center of large, dirty room. Mitch recognized that the place looked like a long-closed bar, or nightclub of some kind.

  The goons tied Mitch and Juliana to chairs in the middle of the empty dance floor. The lights trained on them in the center of the room were bright, and cast in a circle of illumination that left the rest of the club in darkness. Everything outside the light was lost invisible in the murky darkness. Their captors walked away, leaving them alone in the halo of light. He couldn’t tell what they were doing, but he didn’t like it.

  “Jules, are you okay?” he whispered.

  “I’m okay,” she responded, her voice was strong. He admired her strength. She was holding together remarkably well.

  “We’re going to get out of this.”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Do you believe me?”

  She nodded and looked over at him. “I do.”

  He heard a door slam somewhere in the distance, and he sat rigid to attention, trying to see through the darkness, straining his ears to hear anything other than the footsteps that approached them. He pulled against his restraints. If only he could free his hands, he could easily reach his gun and level the playing field, at least a little. Mitch twisted his wrists behind him, trying to loosen the plastic tie that bound him, as he heard the heavy foot steps get closer to them. Soon a man stepped into the circle of light.

  “Detective Swanson,” he said, a slick smile playing on his face.

  “Yuri Petrova. You know, if you wanted to chat, you could have called me, set up a meeting.”

  The man shrugged “I find the phone so impersonal. You know, you’ve been a thorn in my side for a while now. Picking up my men, serving warrants, disrupting my networks. Why am I paying people in your department if not to keep those kinds of things from happening?”

  “Well, that’s the thing, when you hire dirty cops, at least make sure they’re good at their job. Smith and Roberts, aren’t exactly that.”

  “You fucking asshole,” snarled Smith, who had been somewhere in the darkness as he came into the light, and punched Mitch hard in the face. “We got your ass here easily enough.” He punched him again.

  Light exploded behind Mitch’s eyes as he took the punches, and heard Juliana’s scream echo throughout the empty space, his vision blurred, but Mitch fought to stay conscious. He couldn’t leave Juliana alone. He needed to stay with her.

  “That’s enough,�
�� Petrova scolded Smith. He turned back to Mitch. “You know I’m going to kill you. And then your team. And then,” he cast an appraising look at Juliana, “I have a plan for this lovely woman. She’s beautiful and would do very well overseas.”

  “You’re not going to fucking touch her,” Mitch muttered through clenched teeth.

  “You don’t have much say in that,” Petrova smiled. “But I was wondering if you had any idea what Declan O’Connell was doing in town? I hear he’s come to pick up where his father left off.”

  “I guess he’s taking advantage of good timing,” Mitch slurred through the blood that filled his mouth, and trickled down his face. “You’re on a downward slide. You don’t have quite as tough a hold on St. John’s as you think you do.”

  “It sounds like someone in a position of power brought him here, and is giving him the tools to succeed at the expense of all of my hard work. Namely you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Yuri sighed. “Maybe you don’t want to talk to me,” Petrova said, walking over to Juliana. “But I have ways of making you talk.” He roughly cupped her jaw.

  “Get away from her!”

  Yuri smiled, and looked at Mitch. “And there’s your soft spot. Everyone has one.” He stood in front of her, and using the muzzle of his gun, he slid it down the side of her face, as if her were caressing her with it. But the way she tried to flinch away from him, made Mitch’s blood run cold. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.

  “Such a pretty mouth,” Petrova cooed, as he smoothed the gun over her lips. “I know just what you can do with it. I should try the merchandise before I accept it.”

  Mitch heard the metal of Yuri’s belt buckle clang as he undid it, and a rage that he’d never felt before pumped through Mitch’s body. He struggled against his restraints, rocking the chair in its place. Through some miracle and a strength that he didn’t know he possessed, he snapped the plastic tie, kicking the chair backwards as he lunged up for the gun on his ankle. Juliana’s screech was lost in the blur of his lightning speed, as he aimed and shot Petrova, clean through the head, killing him.