Say It Ain't So (SWAT Generation 2.0 Book 9)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  She was holding a bag that was bright pink with blue stripes, and she was holding up a square of paper in her hand as she and her sister looked at it.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to control my temper.

  She was nearly to me when she looked up and spotted me leaning against her car.

  I looked from her to her sister and back.

  “Have anything you’d like to tell me?” I asked quietly.

  Too quietly.

  I knew she knew instantly that I was pissed.

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “In case you were wondering, I already talked to my sister and compiled a message on what to send you.” She held out her phone and showed me the text. A text that included a grainy black and white photo of a sonogram.

  My eyes went from her to her sister to the phone and then back.

  “You should’ve told me when you suspected,” I growled.

  Her eyebrows went up.

  “I might should have,” she agreed, “but I didn’t because I was still wondering if I needed to worry you over nothing.”

  Worry me?

  I wasn’t worried.

  At least, that wasn’t the dominant emotion I was feeling right then.

  I held out my hand for the photo that she’d been looking at.

  “Let me see it,” I ordered.

  “This is my sister, Aurora. Aurora, the man that knocked me up,” Hastings said.

  She handed the photo over to me, and I studied the small black and white picture that looked like a bunch of nothing.

  “I don’t know what I’m looking at,” I admitted.

  Hastings walked up to me on one side and Aurora on the other.

  Together they pointed stuff out that still didn’t make a lick of sense.

  “That’s the amniotic sac,” Aurora pointed.

  “And that blobby thing right there is the baby,” Hastings said.

  The moment that I closed my eyes, I felt both of them move away.

  My hands were literally shaking.

  And my fuckin’ heart was racing.

  “I need some time to think,” I said, turning to Hastings. “And if I text you, you will answer.”

  She wrinkled her nose at me. “Well, I guess that’s nice and all for you. But the same goes for me, buddy. If I text you, you should answer, too.”

  Anger filled me up at her words.

  I gritted my teeth. “I already told you I never got that message.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Well that’s just not my problem, is it?”

  I didn’t know why her words bothered me.

  But, I had a feeling it had a lot to do with the fact that she’d done her level best to ignore me when I didn’t want to be ignored.

  “Take care of yourself, Hastings.” I started to walk to my bike but turned halfway there. “If you need me, call.”

  I hoped that she called.

  But I could tell by the look on her face that no matter what, she wouldn’t.

  Not even if she needed me.

  Chapter 10

  I’m on a new diet where I eat everything and hope for a miracle.

  -Hastings’ secret thoughts

  Hastings

  One week later

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” my sister asked.

  I looked over at Aurora and rolled my eyes. “I am.”

  “But why do I have to do it with you?” she whined.

  I grinned. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to be all alone.”

  She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t like it when you do stuff alone. You being in Alaska the last month has really sucked. Especially that you were all alone.”

  Which was how I got her here in the first place.

  The city of Kilgore was putting on a new program for their inhabitants.

  A citizen’s police academy.

  The moment that I’d heard about the academy, I’d known that this would be absolutely perfect for me and my book research.

  So, I’d signed myself and Aurora up.

  “How long is this again?” she grumbled.

  “Well, today is the first part of the basic self-defense category. It’s two hours this week, and two hours next week. And one hour the last week. Things that you can and can’t do to help you get out of a sticky situation,” I explained.

  “You know, our father has already taught us basic self-defense,” she pointed out.

  I looked at her.

  “When was the last time that you did anything that remotely had to do with protecting yourself?” I questioned. “With you going out and hanging with your friends, as well as working at the hospital, you should really have this refresher.”

  She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like ‘bullshit’ under her breath.

  My lips curled into a smile as we walked up to the desk where we would be signing in.

  The woman at the desk offered a friendly smile as she said, “Go ahead and sign in, ladies. Welcome.”

  Aurora picked up the pen and signed us in just like she always did when we went out and it was required while I glanced around the room and took everything in.

  We were at a building downtown that the police department owned. My dad had said it was the old strip club when I asked him where it was, but that hadn’t helped me any.

  It sure didn’t look much like a strip club, at least not on the inside. It looked like a large warehouse that’d been renovated into a weight room/workout area with a bunch of obstacles and stuff in it. There were ropes hanging from the ceiling near a large bay door. A large bay door that was open and allowing fresh air in.

  “Do you want us to put our names down using a pen?” Aurora asked as she pointed at some name tags.

  The woman stood up and revealed an extremely large pregnant belly as she bent over and picked up a Sharpie off of the floor.

  “Sorry.” She handed the Sharpie to my sister. “It fell and I was too lazy to pick it back up.”

  I pressed my hand to my belly wondering if I’d look like her when I was that pregnant.

  “My sister is pregnant, too,” Aurora said as she wrote my name down onto a nametag. “How far along are you?”

  “I’m a few months out from being done,” she said. “Twenty-eight weeks and counting.”

  I grinned. “You’re finally in the third trimester, though.”

  The woman fist-pumped the air.

  “Score!” She laughed. “No, this pregnancy has been great. How’s yours gone so far?”

  I grimaced. “Morning sickness from…”

  I trailed off as a familiar face made his way through the crowd.

  Swallowing hard, I whispered, “Pew, pew, pew,” under my breath and squeezed my eyes tightly shut.

  “Ashe,” I heard the familiar voice.

  When I opened my eyes, it was to see Sammy addressing the beautiful pregnant woman.

  “Yeah?” Ashe asked, turning slightly to see the man that made my heart squeeze.

  “Chief said to make sure that you’re asking about any medical problems,” he grumbled, his eyes staying on me. “So the instructors can avoid any exercise that could cause any conflicts.”

  Ashe gave him a thumbs up. “I’ve already been doing that. Noting it on the form that they’re filling out.”

  Sammy nodded once and walked away.

  I could feel my sister’s heated gaze staring at me to make sure that I was okay.

  My heart tugged in my chest at the sight of him walking away.

  I wanted him to come back. I wanted him to talk to me.

  He’d said he’d call, but it’d been a week and I’d heard nothing from him.

  Not that I could blame him or anything.

  “I’ll be noting that you’re pregnant in your form,” Ashe pointed out. “Really it’s just basic self-defense. There shouldn’t be anything over the top when it comes to it. I don’t know that
you’ll even need any special accommodations, but better safe than sorry, you know?”

  I agreed with a smile.

  “I have Tourette’s, too,” I told her. “I don’t know if that’s something that y’all will need to know, but if I get nervous or something, sometimes it can flare up.”

  Anxiety was a bitch.

  I wasn’t too worried about coming here.

  I mean, my father was a police officer. I knew basic protocols and standard operating procedures. My dad had instilled a lot of information in me over the course of my life. So, I hadn’t been nervous at all to come. At least not until I’d seen Sammy was there.

  Then my anxiety had ratcheted up a notch.

  I studiously kept my eyes on the ground or on Aurora as we put our nametags onto our chests and then went where Ashe, the beautiful pregnant lady, had sent us.

  We were just sitting in our seats when a couple more women filed in.

  Soon, the entire seating area was filled with giggling women and old men.

  Seriously, those were the only two demographics. Old men that were way older than the officers that I could see in the room—one of which I’d seriously not looked at since he’d propped himself up against a stripper pole—and women my age.

  There were about forty people in all, including the cops and other helpers that were there to offer assistance where needed.

  “All right!” a booming voice called, momentarily distracting me from not looking at Sammy. “Everyone, all attention over here, please.”

  I looked around the room until I spotted a large, blonde older man who was standing on the counter across the room.

  He was gorgeous and exactly the type of older hero that I’d write into one of my stories.

  As I watched him, I kept surreptitiously glancing at the man leaning on the pole just a few feet away from him.

  Every time I’d look, I’d be quick to dart my eyes away again, convinced that if I lingered on the man too long he’d catch me staring.

  “Today we’re going to start with some self-defense that should help you with everyday life,” the man said. “I’m Luke Roberts, the Chief of Police. These men dotted around the room in SWAT shirts and the police shirts are members of the police force. The man running the show today is standing right there.” Luke pointed to a man that was older than him, but in just as good of shape. “This is Patman. He’s the man that puts this event on every year and has for twenty years. He also teaches at our actual police academy. Patman, the floor is yours.”

  Though the chief had said some flowery things about the man, Patman, it was obvious that there wasn’t much love for the man beyond his grudging respect for his tenure.

  Patman came up and explained what we were going to be doing today, then told us to break up into groups of two and three.

  I looked over at my sister and smiled.

  She held up her finger and I crossed my pinky with hers.

  “Partners for life,” she decreed.

  I rolled my eyes and turned to survey the room, spotting a lone woman that was all by herself across the room.

  She was beautiful and looked as if she’d rather be anywhere but where she was.

  “Let’s go ask her if she wants to be on our supercool team,” I said to my sister.

  Aurora looked up and spotted the woman.

  “Let’s,” she said as she stood.

  Seconds later we were both standing next to the woman’s chair.

  “Would you like to be on our super cool team?” Aurora asked, batting her eyes.

  The woman’s smile was blinding. “I would. My name is Regina, but everyone calls me Reggie.”

  Reggie held out her hand and I shook it, followed by Aurora.

  “Thank you for letting me on the cool team,” she sighed. “My dad suggested that I take this course after… something… something happened. So, he suggested it.” She scrunched up her nose. “Being here makes me incredibly nervous.”

  I could imagine it did.

  “If it makes you feel better,” I said softly. “I have Tourette’s, and it’s likely that I’ll be screaming ‘fuck’ at some point tonight.”

  Reggie’s eyes went to mine.

  “That’s interesting,” she said. “We learned about it in nursing school, of course, but I’ve never met anyone with it.” She paused. “I have to tell you, the only real experience I have with it is off of Boondock Saints where the bartender yells ‘fuck’ and ‘ass’ all the time.”

  My lips turned up into a small smile.

  “I do that, too,” I admitted. “Though, as long as I keep calm, things should stay hidden for the most part.”

  Honestly, I was really fucking lucky.

  Though I had Tourette’s, I had such a mild form of it that it was practically fully controlled with my meds that I took. Meds that, thank God, were okay to take during pregnancy.

  “If you have your group, please separate and our helpers will find you,” Patman called out.

  Since we were pretty close to the back wall as it was, we stayed where we were and waited for someone to come up to us.

  Our extra partner sighed when a tall man with a beaming smile came up to us.

  “Regina,” the man drawled.

  “Nathan,” Reggie snipped back.

  The tall man, Nathan, turned his gaze on us.

  “How are you ladies?” he asked.

  I opened my mouth to say we were well but Patman came up to our group and tapped Nathan on the shoulder. “Go to that group in the far corner. They look like they could use a pretty face.”

  Nathan shot Patman a glare, but ultimately did what he asked and walked away without another backward glance.

  I looked at Regina when she glared over her shoulder in the man’s direction.

  “Aurora and Hastings Hughes. Any relation to Baker and Adrianna Hughes?” Patman asked, his eyes going from me to Aurora and back.

  I grinned. “They’re our parents.”

  That was when Patman narrowed his eyes. “Shame.”

  My brows rose. “Shame?”

  “Shame,” he confirmed. “Now I know that you’re related to someone that’s a bitch.”

  My mouth dropped open as those words fell out of his mouth.

  I looked to Aurora to see her narrowing her eyes at the man in front of us.

  “He did not just say that,” Reggie whispered as Patman walked away and moved toward the microphone.

  Before I could reply, or hell, even react, Patman was once again speaking to the crowd.

  “Let’s work on what we should do if approached by an unwanted individual…” Patman called. “I suspect you all know what to do. Let’s work on the basics and reconvene here in a bit.”

  With that, he once again stepped in our direction.

  “Now, ladies. Let’s get started…”

  ***

  I wasn’t sure how it happened. One second Reggie and I were trading out how to twist out of a hold when someone grabbed our wrists, and the next I was staring at Patman who was scowling.

  “Knew your father,” Patman sneered as he roughly pulled me in his direction with his hold on my wrist. “He still married to that woman?”

  That woman being my mother?

  “Yes, sir,” I said softly. “Still happily married for thirty-five years now.”

  Patman rolled his eyes and let me go as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “You ready for more?” he asked, his eyes glancing in the direction of the room that was beyond the small corridor that we found ourselves in.

  I snorted.

  “Sure. More. Let’s see what you got.” I playfully tugged on his hand and twisted his arm behind his back before he could say another word.

  It was a move that my father and I had worked on a lot when I was a young teen who was also very curious and liked to experience new things. He’d taught me the move when he realized that I wasn’t going to quell my
personality just because I should be scared. So, he’d taught me how to protect myself.

  Or, at least, he taught me a few moves that would work and get me the best results with my size.

  And I’d used it on Patman.

  But just as suddenly as I let him go, he whirled.

  I could see in Patman’s eyes that he didn’t like me. That was right before he body-slammed me to the ground so hard that the breath rushed out of my lungs.

  The crack of my back hitting the hardwood floor was so loud that my sister turned around from Reggie with a gasp.

  Just as suddenly, Patman was standing over me, his foot on my chest as he said, “Now what?”

  That was about the time that I saw Sammy come flying out of my peripheral vision, hitting Patman so hard that they both went down on the ground. Sammy immediately righted himself.

  Moments after he was upright, Sammy had solidly sent one single punch to Patman’s face.

  A sickening crack filled the air as Sammy’s fist connected with Patman’s nose.

  I rolled over as soon as I had breath again, staring in awe at Sammy’s back as he reared back and went to punch Patman again.

  Before he could land the punch, though, a couple of men had Sammy around the waist and were hauling him back, one of those men being Nathan.

  Patman launched himself forward, not going in Sammy’s direction, but mine.

  But before he could so much as stand himself up to his feet, people moved.

  I looked worriedly at the wall of SWAT team officers that were in the small alcove surrounding me protectively.

  And they hadn’t even heard what my sister screeched as I’d been body-slammed.

  The ‘she’s pregnant, motherfucker’ was singed in my brain, though.

  “What happened?” Luke Roberts, the chief of police for Kilgore Police Department, barked.

  I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came.

  Well, things came, just not what I wanted to come.

  “Pew, pew, pew.” I closed my eyes tightly shut and tried not to start freaking out. “Umm…”

  The more I sat there and tried to control it, the more people that I felt looking at me.

  And I was still having a really hard time breathing.

  Was that because I’d been body-slammed, or because of the anxiety at this point?