by Shayla Black
Pain exploded. Darkness tunneled his vision. As he fell back, his unsteady gaze landed on Trees, whose eyes widened with horror. He seemed to be shouting, but Zy heard nothing. His panicked friend grabbed him, moved him. All Zy knew was that he suddenly had something solid at his back, something warm trickled down the side of his face, and he’d probably fucking die a failure.
Then…nothing.
March 16
* * *
Tessa Lawrence sighed as the doorbell rang. She set down the spoon she’d been using to stir her potatoes and kissed her infant daughter, cradled in one arm, as she lowered the heat on the burner. “Hopefully that’s your diaper delivery, sweet pea. You’re running low.”
Hallie slept on, blissfully unaware that being down to a handful of Pampers was something close to an emergency—at least as far as a new single mom was concerned. But it wasn’t the end of the world. Would she have liked to have an extra set of hands to hold Hallie while she cooked? To keep the baby calm while she took a few precious moments for a shower? When her daughter woke up for the third time between midnight and four a.m.? Of course.
But Cash Bennett apparently had better things to do than be a dad to the baby girl he’d unexpectedly fathered on one of their handful of dates last May.
No time to wallow now. Grab the diapers, stir the potatoes, make it through another day. Tomorrow will be better.
At least that’s what Tessa told herself.
As she neared the front door, she peeked out the peephole. No one. The delivery driver must have dumped the box on the porch and left. And honestly that suited Tessa anyway. She’d probably scare everyone but the blind right now. She was still wearing yesterday’s leggings. Her hair was piled on her head in a messy bun. The dark circles under her eyes attested to her lack of sleep. And since Hallie was a few minutes past due for her feeding, her breasts were leaking milk, which must be obvious on her blue shirt.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she opened the door and looked down for the box she so desperately needed. But it wasn’t there. Instead, a familiar man peeled away from the wall beside her front door with a groan and wobbled onto the mat as he faced her.
“Hey, babe.” He looked her up and down, then gave her a glassy-eyed frown. “You look like shit.”
This was just one of the many reasons she’d stopped seeing Cash. She’d mistaken him for someone attractive, kind, and marriable for their first couple of months together. As soon as he’d proven unreliable and irresponsible, she’d dumped his ass. Unfortunately, she’d realized she was pregnant after that.
“What do you want, Cash?”
“Shouldn’t I get to meet my daughter?”
“I gave you chances, and you didn’t take me up on any of them. I don’t want you here when you’re drunk.”
“Drunk? I’ve had a couple but…I’m not drunk.”
“Your words are slurred and you smell like a distillery. You’re drunk. You should go.”
“What? No. I haven’t seen my daughter yet.” He directed his unsteady stare at Hallie. “Is this her?”
How many babies did the idiot think she was capable of having at once? “Yes.”
Something on his face softened. “Can I come in and hold her?”
She held back. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen or heard from you in two months. I called the day she was born. I called when I left the hospital. I called when I set a baptism date.”
“I know, babe. I’m sorry. If you’ll just let me in, I’ll explain.” He tried to step inside, staggered, and ended up pushing the door open as he lurched.
When Hallie started, Tessa guided him back onto the porch and blocked the entrance. Thankfully, the baby settled back down. “I already said I don’t want you here. You couldn’t be bothered to go with me to childbirth classes. You couldn’t be bothered to show up when Hallie was born or when I needed you after I came home from the hospital. You definitely haven’t bothered with child support.”
“C’mon, babe. You know too much responsibility freaks me out. And before the baby was born, you were beginning to look like the side of a barn. Big ol’ pregnant.” He made an exaggerated gesture, showing a rounded belly, and grimaced as if he found it all horribly distasteful.
Apparently, he didn’t grasp that he’d been the one to make her big ol’ pregnant. “It’s time for you to go, Cash. Next time you want to see Hallie, call first.”
“Aw, babe. Don’t do this. I’ve missed you. You’re getting your body back, and look at those tits.” He lifted his hands to her as if he had every intention of squeezing them.
She jumped behind the door and tried to slam it shut. His foot, wedged into the opening, kept her from closing the portal. “Don’t, Cash. Say goodbye and move your foot. We don’t have anything else to discuss tonight.”
“Fine. You don’t want me to touch your tits. Whatever. I just want to see you and hold the baby.”
“Maybe when you’re sober.” When he still didn’t budge, she tried to nudge his foot out of the doorway.
“Babe, c’mon. Ten minutes. I’ve missed you.” He swayed closer and leaned in, lips puckered. “I’ll make you feel good again…”
He hadn’t done a spectacular job the first time, and Tessa was done messing around with his drunk ass. She kicked his shin.
He cursed and hopped back, removing his foot from the threshold. Quickly, she slammed the door shut and locked it.
Predictably, he pounded on the door. “Don’t shut me out. I know I didn’t show up when I should have, but I’m here now. Doesn’t that mean anything?”
Nope. Whatever emotional capital he’d had by virtue of being the father of her child he’d pissed away by being absent when she’d needed him most. And she wasn’t about to rely on his good nature when he clearly had lost his in an alcohol haze. She reached for her phone. “Try being sober, respectful, and sincere. Make a child support payment or two. Then I’ll reconsider.”
“So you’re going to squeeze money out of me before I can see my own daughter. You know, my first impression of you was right. You’re a bitch.”
Tessa watched through the peephole as he missed the front step and stumbled to his hands and knees. Slowly, he straightened up, wobbled, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys.
Shit, she couldn’t let him drive. He was a danger to himself and others.
She dialed 911 and reported the make and model of Cash’s ride. Since there was a police station about four blocks from her duplex, it wouldn’t take them long to get here. They’d undoubtedly find him in his vehicle, and at the foot-dragging rate he was moving now, probably before he could even pull away from the curb. She didn’t want to see him arrested or have to dig himself out of legal trouble, but he didn’t belong on her porch or on her property, where he could harass her. If he wanted to talk when he was sober, she might consider that.
To her shock, he stopped suddenly and whipped his head around, catching sight of a piece of siding that had come loose during last night’s crazy thunderstorm. She’d called her landlord to fix it. Tessa wasn’t shocked that, so far, he was a no-show.
Was Cash delusional enough to think he was going to prove what a good guy he was by fixing it for her?
Tessa rolled her eyes at that—until Cash picked up the board and swung at the window, which overlooked Hallie’s crib.
A scream slipped from her throat as glass shattered.
“That’s right. I’m not leaving without holding my daughter. Let me see her!”
He shocked her all over again by knocking more shards out of the casing, then clutching the sill and swinging a leg over like he intended to hop inside.
Thankfully, a pair of vehicles with flashing lights appeared at her curb, and an officer from each squad car hurtled from the vehicle and sprinted for Cash, hauling him away from the window before he could climb inside the house.
“You called the cops?” her ex shouted in accusation, like he was shocked she would do that to him.
She yanked the door open. “I don’t want you in the house and you shouldn’t be driving.”
“Cunt! I’ll be back…and you’ll be sorry.”
“That’s enough, buddy,” a cop snarled as he cuffed Cash. “You’re coming to the station.”
“What? No. Fuck that. Fuck you!” He struggled to no avail as one cop took him away. Another exited his vehicle to assist.
As the sounds of his struggles dimmed, Hallie stirred again, this time seeking food in her sleep. The cop remaining on her porch flashed her an understanding smile. “I’m Officer Mills, ma’am. My wife is breastfeeding our newborn, too. You need a few minutes?”
“I think so. She’s past due.”
“I can wait. Then I’ll need to ask you a few questions. Until then, I’ll go, um…help with him. You know this guy?”
“Ex-boyfriend.”
Mills nodded. “I’ll let the others know.”
Tessa shut and locked the door. Did that matter with a front window now wide open? Sighing, she turned off the potatoes. Dinner would have to wait. Quickly, she fed Hallie, her head spinning all the while. How the heck was she going to board up that window with dusk coming so quickly? Hell, she didn’t even own any tools. Wasn’t that what she had a landlord for?
Once Hallie seemed sated and had given her a good burp, Tessa set the infant in a jumper seat, quickly changed her shirt, then opened the door again to find Officer Mills. There he stood…along with the man who had been next on her list of people to call.
“Colonel Edgington. You’re here?”
He gave her a fatherly smile. “I know most of the guys at the station, and they know you work for me. Can we come in?”
“Of course.”
“While Mills asks you some questions, I’m going to figure out how to patch up the window.”
“Thank you so much.” Tessa would be forever grateful if he could figure out how to keep her safe tonight so she could get it repaired tomorrow.
The colonel patted her softly on the shoulder, then headed into the kitchen and down the hall, to the first bedroom on the left.
Ten minutes later, Mills had asked her all the questions he had and was apparently satisfied with her answers. “That’s all for now, Ms. Lawrence.”
“I appreciate y’all coming so quickly.”
He nodded, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “You didn’t hear this from me, but I doubt the charges will stick. When I stepped outside so you could feed your daughter, one of the other officers told me your ex is the nephew of a city councilman.”
So the local wheels of justice were selective and the system was two-tiered. Tessa closed her eyes against rising defeat. “So he’ll be out by tomorrow?”
“If they lock him up at all.”
Just then, Tessa glanced across the open space to see the colonel standing there, listening. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you out. I’ve got an idea.”
Zy sat on the stiff sofa of his budget, all-suites motel off the side of the freeway, absently watching a college basketball game and grimacing at the scent of leftover Chinese takeout when his phone rang.
He lifted the device. The colonel. He should have guessed, since Trees had already called about thirty minutes ago. Those were the only two people who called with any regularity these days. What did that say about his social life?
With a sigh, he answered. “Evening, sir. I’m fine. No more effects from the concussion, and the stitches are healing up.”
“Good to hear, but that’s not why I’m calling. I—”
“Wait. Before we move on, I’ve had dozens of hours to sit alone and replay that mission in my mind. I have some questions.”
“All right. Hit me.”
“Everything seemed right on schedule, and then suddenly it wasn’t. I don’t know how Emilo Montilla and his thugs figured out they weren’t alone or knew exactly where to find us, but that mission went south for a reason.”
The colonel sighed. “I’d like that answer, too. It was a shit show, despite the fact none of you did anything to compromise it. But now Walker is seething at Bryant for yanking him out and aborting the whole thing. Trees was a wreck for two days. And until your banged-up body heals, I’m short an operator. But the only explanation that makes sense is they had eyes somewhere we couldn’t see.”
Zy didn’t like it, but Edgington was right. In the dusty town they’d had to skirt to reach their compound? Along the long, bumpy dirt road to their hideaway? Any of that was possible. He just didn’t like not knowing.
Twenty minutes later, Zy was out the door, speeding on his black Ninja through the inky night toward the address Edgington had given him. But beyond telling him to pack up and check out of his motel, the man had been short on details.
The ride through the chilly, humid night revived him and cleared the last of a nagging headache. Yeah, he hadn’t been completely honest about the injuries he’d sustained in Mexico not bothering him anymore. But they didn’t bother him enough to bitch, and he’d be damned if throbbing temples and a few stitches were going to keep him from returning to action. This sitting-around shit bored the hell out of him.
He pulled into a working-class neighborhood and stopped in front of a traditional brick building with two doors, one on either side of the structure. He parked his bike at the curb, hopped off, secured his helmet, and headed up the long, concrete driveway.
The colonel met him halfway, hand outstretched. “Thanks for coming so quickly. You look way better than the last time I saw you.”
Which had been as he was getting discharged from two days in the hospital. “I feel better, sir. Mind filling me in?”
“Come with me. It will make more sense once you see the situation.”
Whatever. Edgington was the boss, and he was trusting him with this assignment. “Should I grab my gear?”
He scanned the street. “It should be fine for now. Come in and see if you think you can handle this.”
Handle it? “Sir, I’m trained to handle most anything. You wouldn’t have hired me if I wasn’t.”
“This is…different.”
When the colonel turned away and headed up the walk along the left side of the house, Zy followed, wondering where the hell he was and what the hell was going on. Halfway up the path, he saw a busted-out window with a big sheet of plywood propped up beneath it. Zy studied it as he continued following his boss to the door.
After a perfunctory knock, he let himself in. “He’s here.”
“Thank you,” a soft female voice with a hint of a Southern accent said from just inside the duplex.
The colonel entered, then turned to motion him inside.
Zy followed, stepping over the threshold onto a little tile foyer that immediately gave way to a great room with white walls and high ceilings. An oatmeal-colored sofa, a pair of soft gray chairs, accented by a multitude of decorative pillows and a TV mounted to the wall gave the place a homey vibe. But what caught his attention was the young blonde looking as if she held herself together by a thread. The sight of her, bare-faced and tense, was a gut punch as his heart banged against his ribs.
“Tessa?”
She blinked in surprise, nodding as she looked Edgington’s way with a question in her wide green eyes. “Yes. How did you—”
“Your pictures at the office.”
That didn’t sound too creepy, dude. Way to go…
In her photos, she’d been perfectly made up and smiling. And he’d thought she was gorgeous. Now, she looked real and vulnerable, with her hair piled on her head and cheeks pink—and damn if she wasn’t somehow still beautiful to him. Even dressed in sweats when she was obviously sleep deprived, Zy felt himself staring like a fidiot.
“Ah.” She sent a welcoming smile. “You must be the new operative. Chase Garrett, right?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Call him Zyro
n,” the colonel cut in with a laugh.
“Or just Zy.”
Tessa sent him a confused frown.
“Stupid nickname. Long story,” he explained.
“Zy, sure. Um, come in. Sit down.”
“We’ll explain the situation,” Edgington assured in answer to his unspoken question.
Together, they made their way to the seating area. Zy held back, waiting to sit until his boss took a recliner and Tessa settled on the sofa.
He slid into the remaining chair. “What’s going on?”
Tessa and the colonel exchanged a glance, then she spoke. “My ex came by tonight, intoxicated…”
Zy listened to the whole story, getting more pissed with every word. Cash Bennett sounded like a dipshit of the first order, and the fact that his uncle would lift his crooked finger to have the douche freed before he even made it to the station annoyed the fuck out of him.
“I’m worried he’ll come back,” the colonel said. “Drunk is one thing, but the kind of anger it took to bust in the window with a flimsy board worries me. And he threatened her.”
That sent Zy’s temper soaring. Sure, he’d always hated assholes who bullied women, but this felt somehow personal. “Absolutely. What would you like me to do, sir?”
Hopefully, beat the shit out of her ex. That was a public service he could feel good about.
“You two can help each other for a bit. Zy needs a place to stay temporarily. He didn’t get to look for one before he got injured in Mexico. He also needs someone to help him change bandages and check the gashes on his back. As you can see, Tessa needs help repairing the window, protection, and a deterrent in case this asshole returns. What do you say? You up to hanging here for a few days?”
Zy looked Tessa’s way. She nibbled on her plump pink lip, and he swallowed back lust that didn’t belong in this conversation.
“Are you okay with that?” Tessa looked worried that he’d object. “I only have a sofa for you to sleep on and a newborn who still has her days and nights confused…”
