"Thank you. Hopefully the next time you two meet, he won't exhaust you." Amber took a sip of her coffee and glanced at her watch. "Well, Sergeant King, we have to get to work, and you have paperwork to complete with your HR department."
"Don't you mean our HR department?" He chugged a couple scalding hot gulps so he could top off his mug.
"No. I'm DEA. My HR doesn't give a shit as long as I'm not dating someone in my chain of command—" she pointed at him when he opened his mouth "––in the DEA." She pushed her cup across the counter to him. "Will you top me off? I need to go grab my bag and weapon."
"Bring mine?"
"You got it." Amber headed to the living room.
Blayze hissed, "Seriously, you're making this mistake again?"
He spun and glared at his brother. "Repeat that and you're going to be bloody."
Blayze shook his head. "Whatever, man. What are you going to do when she leaves again?"
"I'm not going to do that. I'm not that person anymore." Amber walked into the kitchen and handed him his weapon. "You don't have to take my word for it Blay, but I'd appreciate a chance to prove people can grow up and change."
Blay's eyes bounced between them. "Not sure I can do that, but I'm going to make it easier for you two to figure it out. I'll grab my shit and bunk somewhere else. Don't want to impede the groove."
Brody took his weapon and slid it on. "Amber, grab your bag and we'll head to work."
She glanced between brothers. "All right."
Brody waited until he couldn't hear her footsteps down the hall. "Blay I don't know what crawled up your ass, but you don't have to leave unless you are going to continue to be a dick. This is your home as much as it is mine. Hell, you helped me refurbish damn near every inch of this place. If you don't want to stay with me, take the third apartment. It's yours."
"You're making a mistake, Brody. Just because you have a kid together doesn't mean you need to take her back," Blay whisper-hissed and shook his head.
"Did you ever stop to think that I still love that woman?" He returned the hiss and pointed back toward his bedroom.
"Why? What has she ever done but hurt you? She didn't tell you about your son for ten years, Brody. Ten years! Do you think she's going to stick around when the going gets tough? She's proven she’s a runner. Leopards can't change their spots and become tigers. It doesn't happen," Blay spat but managed to keep the words low and quiet.
"You know what? I was wrong. You can't stay here. Take the third apartment or don't, I don't care, but you're not staying in my home. I really hoped you would support us. We're trying to find a way forward." He grabbed his coffee cup and Amber’s, anger making him spill some on the counter.
"You're not going forward, Brody. You're reaching into the past for something that died. Do you think you can resurrect what you used to have?"
"No! But I can damn sure live in the present and be thankful for what is in front of me. I have a son, and the woman who gave him to me is the woman I have never gotten over. She has always been the one for me." He saw Amber out of the corner of his eye. Her eyes were huge. With no idea how much she'd heard, he headed her way. He grabbed his keys and opened the door for her.
On the stairs heading down she cleared her throat. "He hates me."
"He has no reason to." Brody ground the response through his teeth.
"No, he does. He saw you go through some serious pain. He's not trying to hurt you. He's trying to help you."
"He can keep his help to himself." Brody stomped down the stairs.
Amber turned and stopped him. "Every person in your family, heck in your life, will have an opinion. Everyone. I'm going to have to deal with that. You don't need to draw a sword and chase after windmills for me. They will either accept that I'm back in your life or they won't. You getting into it with them isn't going to change anything. Not a thing."
"What is between us is none of Blay's business." Brody stepped down to the stair above where she was standing.
"He's your brother, and he cares for you. That makes it his business."
He slid his hand around her neck, brought her closer and kissed her. "No, that makes it our business. The rest of the world be damned. This time we're going to make it work."
"We are. When we've been married twenty years and have grandchildren, you can ask those nay-sayers for an apology." She laughed until she saw the look on his face.
He waggled his eyebrows. "Did you just ask me to marry you?"
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "I meant..."
"I know what you meant." He grabbed her hand, tugging her into step with him. She meant living the rest of their lives together, and he couldn't agree more.
Chapter 15
Amber followed Brody to work. Conflicted thoughts flowed as she drove. Brody and Blay's argument today wasn't unexpected. Well, that wasn't exactly true. She’d expected that argument from his mother instead of his younger brother, and wasn't that something? She shook her head. She had been expecting it, but still it hurt. His family had lived the last ten years thinking she ran away... and to a degree she had. The skepticism and doubt were something she'd have to work on, but trust would only come with time.
They parked next to each other, and he waited for her to walk to the building. "I'm sorry again about Blay." He glanced at her and shrugged. "He didn't seem to have any problems yesterday."
"Ah, but did he have any clue we were going to try a relationship again?"
"Probably not."
"So my being with you this morning was probably a big shock."
He slowed, and she matched his gait. "Brie got defensive, too. Maybe it was something I said or did. I don't know, but every time I brought your name up, it was as if they were ready to go to war."
"Is Brie still upset? You said she wanted to be at your parents’ house."
"No, once I told her the entire story, she understood."
"Did Blay know the entire story?"
He glanced at her. "Ahh... I don't know. I assumed Mom and Dad told him."
"But you don't know for sure. He could have been blindsided this morning."
"True." They walked up the steps together. "Last night was really good." He stopped with his hand on the door.
"Better than that." She smiled up at him and waggled her eyebrows.
He smiled and a slight blush rose up his cheeks. "You realize once I complete the paperwork, either you or I will be removed from this op."
"Figured, but I'm new, so I can float, and you're a pilot, so you're the logical one to stay on the case."
The door opened and Terrell stuck his head out. "If you two would stop yakking, we have an update in the conference room." He spun and walked back into the building.
She glanced at Brody, and he shrugged. Obviously, it wasn't anything out of the normal for Terrell. Maybe someday she'd get used to the shouting, goofing around, and friendships that dominated the team atmosphere here. In the DEA, things were more buttoned up. More conservative, polite, quiet, office demeanor ruled during all disagreements, and meetings that could become contentious were held behind closed doors. Hell, wearing jeans to work would have been a quick way to get your ass written up, but not on the JDET team. Thank God.
Amber smiled at Rayburn and Watson who were sitting at the conference room table. The now familiar grease stained bag was in the middle of the table. Rayburn reached in and threw a biscuit to her, Brody and Terrell.
"You're buying tomorrow." Watson pointed to her.
"Deal." Even if she wasn't on the team, she'd make a stop for them. She liked the two men. They were crazy, but their crazies matched hers. She unwrapped the biscuit and dropped into her chair, sending a glance to Terrell who was doing the same thing.
He took a bite of the food and opened the file in front of him. "Good news," he said around his food and swallowed hard. "Thanks to some magic, we've got good fortune heading this way. The FBI is unassigning a confiscated aircraft that won't go to auction for a
while, and we can use that for the undercover op up north."
"What about the house?" Brody asked, probably because he was the only one who didn't have a mouthful of food. Amber chewed and listened.
"We struck gold there. I know a person who owns a real estate brokerage company. He knows the small agency that has the listing for the house we want to occupy. He's gone out on a limb for us and is in the process of purchasing the house from the agent. He assures me it is a good business deal as he is going to update the house, or flip it, as he calls it, and sell it for a lot more than it is currently worth. He's asked for a rent-back situation until closing. The smaller agency has agreed. The only thing we need to worry about is the appraisal, and Cooper doesn't think that will be a problem. He's pulling strings to get that done in the next three days. After that, we have carte blanche to do whatever we need to the house in regard to ensuring observation of the two homes that have recently been sold." Terrell took another bite of his breakfast sandwich.
"Hell of a friend." Watson muttered.
"Relatives are all right." Terrell groused back.
"That covers the plane and the house. What about the man-hours?" Brody took his first bite after he asked.
"We'll work that as it comes." Terrell shrugged. "The board meets tomorrow."
"Board?" Rayburn chimed in.
"Above your paygrade, Rayburn. King, you and I need to talk about a few things. Rayburn, Watson, Swanson, you get the blueprints for that house and head to Briar Hill. Tech should be able to outfit you with wide angle cameras for the outside of the house. Make sure you get enough, and if you have to sign for them, make sure those serial numbers match. Last time I had to pay for equipment Morrow swears we never received."
"Roger that." Rayburn got up and tossed his wrapper in the brown paper bag and held it open for Watson to toss his garbage in. "Come on, woman, you're holding up the show." He jiggled the bag from his fingertips.
"Sorry." She shoved the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth and crumpled the paper. She shot it, and held her hands up in the air as it went into the trash bag. Her exclamation of 'score' sounded more like a toad croaking because her mouth was stuffed full of greasy, cheesy heaven.
Watson gave her a high-five, and Rayburn pitched the bag into the trash can. "Who knew a DEA agent had game?"
She grabbed her purse and headed to the door with her teammates. Damn, it was good to fit in. Too bad she'd be reassigned soon.
Brody tossed his wrapper toward the trash can, rimming it in with ease. "What's up?" He leaned back in his chair waiting for his boss to finish his biscuit. Terrell pushed another folder toward him. He opened it and read the three statements that were stashed inside. Each statement said basically the same thing. He shut the folder and sighed. "Damn it."
"Yeah, that covers it." Terrell leaned back in his chair. "I'm sending those and Swanson's statement up the chain. Anderson has been harassing our females, and they haven't said a word. That shit stops now." His captain slammed his fist down on the table. "I have to talk to him this morning, but I need a sanity break before I do."
"Have you talked to HR?"
"Yeah, I just got off the phone before I saw you two standing at the door. They said he needs to be removed from his supervisory position, and because I can't trust him, I'm transferring his ass off the team. With four corroborating statements, he's going to get paperwork, and possibly a demotion."
"Damn it."
"You already said that."
"Still seemed appropriate." Brody chuckled even though there was no humor in the situation. Terrell's chuff of laughter followed.
"We'll need a new lieutenant." He wondered who was next up on the list with the right credentials.
"You're on the list."
"Yeah, but I'm way down on that list. You'll have to offer it to what, ten or fifteen people before you could reach me?" There was no way that many people would decline a promotion.
"Some don't have the qualifications." Terrell opened another file. "Three have what it takes. One is homicide, but word is that there is an opening coming up. Lt. Davidson is up to fill Captain Reisner’s billet, so the candidate there will probably slide into Davidson's position."
"Okay, that still leaves two above me. They'd be stupid to turn down the promotion. Look, I'm honored, really I am, but if you don't do this by the numbers, people will scream nepotism."
"Yeah, I know. Theron and Brantley are good candidates. Brantley was groomed in the Desert, and Theron has experience with task forces, plus he has five years of SWAT under his belt."
"That could be helpful. Either would be great in that position."
"Yeah, and what sucks, is a year or two from now, after one of those two settle in, a billet will open up for you somewhere else."
"New blood is a good thing, but don't send me down the river, yet. I fought hard to make it here, not planning on leaving anytime soon." Brody leaned forward. "Unless you think it’s for the best."
Terrell's forehead crunched down, and the captain glared at him through narrowed eyes. "Why the hell would I think that?"
"You know that shit I said I was working on last week?"
"I seem to recall that conversation."
"Agent Swanson and I have more in common than a simple past. Turns out she and I are parents." He waited a heartbeat and then launched into the specifics of the last week.
Terrell leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin. "Have you filed the paperwork with HR yet?"
"No, sir."
"Okay. Good. I'm going to ask you not to do that."
The words sat him on his heels. His captain followed every rule, every time. "Excuse me?"
"I'll put it in writing, so you don't take any heat because of it. Don't go to HR and report your relationship, yet. We have this surveillance gig almost lined up. I want you and Swanson to act like a couple and actually inhabit the house. We'll do the remote monitor from the truck. We can park it outside the housing area and still monitor the cameras. That way you and Swanson can sleep, but during the daylight hours, I want you and her out and about and seen by the neighborhood. I need you to be accepted so the occupants of those two houses feel like you're a part of the environment. If you file HR paperwork, I can't put you on the same operation, and I need two people who those suburbanites will believe are a couple."
He and Amber could sell the relationship, but Terrell was putting his ass on the line ordering him not to report a relationship. "That could come back to bite you."
Terrell shrugged. "You get to play house with Swanson for a couple weeks. File the paperwork after you finish. Undercover hookups aren't unheard of and ideally at the end of this, we'll have Peña's supply pipe throttled."
"I'll play ball, Cap." His old man would have a cow if he discovered they were going around the directives, but he'd have Terrell to act as a buffer. Not that he'd ever use it. He was well aware not filing the paperwork was wrong, and he was doing it anyway.
Terrell sighed and leaned back in his seat. The old grey metal groaned under his boss' muscled bulk. "Good. The hot sheets recorded three deaths at the Cardboard Cottages last night. Suspected overdoses. Don't know if those three are related to Grey Death yet but the coroner had two John Does OD this weekend. Both are waiting tox, but according to witnesses, they bought GD, split the buy and died within minutes of toking up. Who do you know in the Southwest District?"
"Detective Kyle McBride. Straight shooter. He's been a detective working Southwest Vice for about five years now."
"Can you trust him?"
"Absolutely." His best friend had always had his back, and he had Kyle's.
"Take a trip, do this in person. I want to know what the scoop is with those three that OD'd and if their deaths are related to what we've got coming in from Peña's airmail delivery."
"You got it. Do we have background on the people who bought the two houses we are putting under surveillance?"
"No. After they pull up the blueprints, I'll put the
three stooges on that." Terrell chuckled. "She seems to have gelled with Rayburn and Watson well enough."
"She's good with people."
"Must be if you're walking up to the plate and swinging that bat again."
"Plan on making a home run this time." Brody was going to do his damnedest to make that happen.
"Well hell, I'm rooting for you, but don't strike out and throw a temper tantrum in my ball field."
"Never happen, Cap." Brody smiled and stood up. "Heading to the Southwest."
"I'll send you that email directing you to stand-by on that paperwork. If you don't need it, delete it."
"Roger that." He watched his captain open the file holding the statements before he headed down the hallway to the bullpen. That email would be deleted the second he saw it in his in box. Standing on his own decisions was a lesson he'd learned early and well. The captain had enough to worry about. HR forms were the least of his issues. There was the upcoming “talk” with Anderson. He didn't envy the man. Being a leader was a balancing act. Balancing respect, authority, both earned and given, and the demands levied upon his shoulders by his superiors wasn't easy. Terrell was an excellent leader, and the pressure he protected the team from was unrelenting. Such stress would lay lesser men to waste.
He made eye contact with Amber. A slight nod in her direction was all he could do, but it was enough. She smiled and turned back to her animated conversation with Rayburn. A laugh from Rayburn and Watson tipped his lips north. The three stooges. Yeah that fit.
He called Kyle as soon as he started his truck.
The man picked up on the second ring. "What up?"
"Hey, do you have any intel on the three suspected ODs at the Cardboard Cottages last night?"
Wind crackled through the phone. "I'm there now. Why?"
"Give me time to get there, and I'll let you know."
"Damn it, Brody, these people don't need any more shit to deal with. Please tell me you're not going to bust up their encampment with some massive multi-jurisdictional sweep."
Brody (Hope City Book 3) Page 15
