Down Fall: Fallen Duet: Book Two

by Davies, Abigail

  “I need to see if she’ll help with a baby shower, I—”

  “Already in motion,” he answered, and then the line went dead.

  “The fuck.” I stared down at my cell, blinking several times.

  “He hang up on you?” Jord asked. I looked up at him and frowned. “Probably thought you were after his woman.”

  “Him and Jan?” I asked. Sal hadn’t said anything to me about them, but then, I hadn’t really spent any time with him lately.

  Jord shrugged. “I get that kinda vibe.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Anyway, looking forward to your last day of not being the big, bad boss?” He grinned over at Ryan and Kyle. “I say we put super glue on Aaron’s chair and—”

  “And I think you all need to get your asses down to Cresthill,” Aaron growled as he walked into my office. It was just after lunch, and his tie was already skewed to the side, his top button undone, and his hair a mess from running his hands through it.

  “What?” I frowned and stepped from around my desk. “Why?”

  “Quinn Baltera was found this morning.” His chest expanded on a breath. “With a single bullet wound to the head.”

  I planted my hands on my hips. “Fuck.” We hadn’t heard anything from Cresthill since Hut’s funeral, and Quinn had made sure to stay away from both Lola and me that day. What the hell had happened? I nodded and stepped toward Aaron. “We’ll go check it out.”

  “Should have known my last day wouldn’t go by without something happening,” he groaned. “Keep me informed.”

  “Will do.” We filed out of my office, all the jokes and baby talk pushed to the side. We were in work mode, and when something like this happened, it was all you focused on. If Quinn was dead, then we had to get to the bottom of it.

  We silently made our way out of the building and split into two cars—Jord with me, and Ryan and Kyle together. We didn’t know what had happened, and we never came up with any conclusions, not until we knew what we were faced with. What I didn’t expect was for Quinn to be laid out in the middle of the road outside Hut’s house. Aaron had said a single shot to the head, but he’d left out the fact that he was naked with “traitor” carved into his chest.

  “Jesus Christ,” I snapped, looking away from his body as they covered him back up. “Do we have any witnesses?” I asked one of the detectives on the scene.

  He sneered at me. “Don’t know what the DEA is doing here. This ain’t your juris—”

  “You wanna start that game?” I asked, already fed up with how they were treating the crime scene. They hadn’t even cornered off the area. “I trump you every day of the week. Now, witnesses.”

  He huffed out a breath, his eyes narrowed on me. “We don’t have any, but my officers are looking at surveillance in the surrounding area back at the precinct.”

  “Good. I’ll head there now.” I pointed at Ryan and Kyle. “Those two are staying here, keep them informed.”

  I walked away from the crime scene, my gaze batting over to Hut’s house. There was a time when that was the main place to be, but it looked sad and empty now, much like the people who used to live there. We’d been successful in our operation, but I couldn’t help thinking of the number of people who had been hurt in the process.

  “This ain’t good,” Jord said when we were back in my car and heading to the local precinct. “Traitor? That could only mean Hut, right? But Hut is gone so—”

  “Let’s just wait and see what we find here,” I told him, pulling into the precinct and double parking. I didn’t have time to find a space, and I didn’t give a flying fuck if they bitched about it. We were here to do a job.

  We headed inside, and after some back-and-forth, finally got into the room where a detective was going over surveillance. “You found anything?” I asked.

  “Just this,” he said, bringing up some footage and rewinding it. “I can’t get a good look at the face, only the back of him and the way he walks. But he’s definitely holding a gun, and the time stamp matches up with the statements of when the gunshot was heard.”

  I nodded, pushing closer to the screen. “Rewind that again.” I narrowed my eyes, looking for any kind of trait I knew, but all he had was a slight limp. There was nothing significant about the grainy image, and that just meant we were trying to find a needle in a haystack.

  “Keep searching,” I told him. “You find anything, you forward it to me.” I pulled out my card, handed it to him, and walked out of the room. This wasn’t good. It was really fuckin' bad.

  “What do you think?” Jord asked, darting his attention left and right to make sure no one was around.

  “I don’t know.” I huffed out a breath. “The only people who Quinn was involved with were Hut and the crew. Ted is dead, Ford is away at the academy, Jace is missing, and Hut is dead.”

  Jord frowned, staring down at the floor. “What about that Carson guy?”

  “Possible,” I replied. “Especially after what happened with Lola. He could be looking to take them all out, but it’s not his style. If he were going to do it, he wouldn’t take the time to carve traitor into his chest.”

  “True.”

  “Call Ford’s training officer. Make sure he’s still out of state and doing what he’s meant to be doing. Put him on alert just in case. He’s the last member of the crew, which means he’s a potential target.”

  “On it,” Jord said, pulling his cell out and walking away.

  The day had started out better than any other, but it had gone to complete shit in a matter of hours.

  Chapter Seventeen

  LOLA

  I’d always been waiting for the bad to take me down right after the good had made an appearance. I was so used to it being that way, that just living in the moment was hard to do. It was getting easier, though.

  Having Brody at the ultrasound with me was something I wasn’t sure would happen, but we were in a place of peace, a place where we were both happy. Now all I needed to do was tell him I would move in with him and take that final step. It was a step I was scared to take, but nothing ever came if you didn’t take risks, and Brody was a risk I was willing to bet on.

  Working at the diner and pulling doubles was getting harder and harder to do the further along I got, but at least I wasn’t running for the bathroom several times a day now. Instead, tiredness would slam into me when I least expected it, and my feet would swell to ridiculous sizes after being on them for six hours. I was thankful Brody was picking me up when my shift finished because the thought of walking home didn’t appeal to me at all.

  I grabbed my notepad and moved over to a booth four women had just sat down in, smiling up a storm even though it felt like hard work to do so.

  “Can I take your order?” I placed my small pencil against the paper and glanced up, the smile dropping off my face as soon as I did.

  “I see the whore is still working here,” Moira sneered, flipping her perfectly styled hair over her shoulder. “Sal really needs to background check his staff.”

  I hadn’t seen Moira since the day she’d confronted me, and that had been nearly three months ago. A lot had happened in that time. A lot had changed. Mainly me.

  The woman sitting opposite her clutched her necklace, her eyes narrowing on me as she looked me up and down. “You can practically smell the Cresthill scum on her.” Her nose wrinkled, and I pulled in a calming breath. I would not let these women get to me. I would not— “Do they even have running water?”

  “I’ll come back when you’ve taken a look at the menu.”

  I started to turn, but halted when Moira screeched, “Are you refusing to serve us?” Fuck. Me.

  “No,” I said carefully, turning back to face the table. This was not their usual scene, that much was clear. They were all wearing clothes more suited to a country club, so I could only guess they’d come here for me and not the food. “Are you ready to order?”

  “Did we say we were ready?” the woman opposite her asked, an
d I was starting to realize these two were the more vocal of the foursome.

  “If you’re not, then I can come back—”

  “We’re ready,” the woman closest to me with auburn hair said. “I’ll take the omelet and salad.”

  I wrote it down, and thankfully, they all reeled off what they wanted in turn, letting me make a hasty exit away from them. I’d been to hell and back—quite literally—so I wouldn’t allow a gaggle of bitchy women to get to me, but I could take the verbal shit from her. I understood she was hurting, and that her husband had done the unimaginable. I hadn’t known who he was, but I did now, and for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.

  I waited for the minutes to tick down. Only ten left until Brody would be pulling up outside and my shift would end. Hopefully, their order wouldn’t be ready until then and—

  “Order up.”

  Shit. Not so lucky after all.

  I grabbed two plates, placing them on their table, and then headed back to the pass. The last two plates were Moira’s and her bitchy friend, so I had to lean over the table to place them in front of them.

  “What’s that?” Moira asked, her voice higher than I’d ever heard it.

  I pulled back and frowned. “Erm…your order?”

  “No.” She stood, knocking over her glass of water in the process. “That.” Her arm was extended, her finger pointing at me. “What the fuck is that?”

  “Moira!” the auburn-haired woman gasped. “Don’t curse, it’s unbecoming.”

  “I don’t give a shit, Layla. Move the hell over.”

  The auburn-haired woman—Layla—pushed out of the booth to let Moira out, and I stepped back, my eyes widening. This would have been the perfect time for Jan to have been on this shift with me, but she had a meeting at Aria’s school, so we’d swapped.

  “Well?” Moira asked. “What the hell is it?”

  “I don’t know…” I trailed off and followed her gaze, realizing she was staring at my small bump. “I…”

  “He knocked you up?” Her face was pale, but when she looked me in the eyes, I saw the burning anger behind them. “You fuckin' whore!”

  She dove for me, but I sidestepped her. “Stop,” I told her, holding my hand up in front of me. “Just stop.” I could tell she was gearing up to dive at me a second time, but I wouldn’t let myself be put in that kind of position again. I’d taken enough of that from the people who were meant to love me, so there was no way I’d take it from her.

  “You trapped him!”

  “No, I didn’t.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry he hurt you—we hurt you—I’m sorry, Moira.” I placed my hand on my chest, my fingers tingling to go lower and press against my bump, but I forced myself not to. “I really am sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. This is not the time or place to—”

  “Are you kidding me? You’re telling me to leave? You think because you stole my husband that you can—”

  “She didn’t steal anything,” a deep voice rumbled from behind me, and a second later, a hand curled around my hip.

  Moira’s eyes narrowed, her gaze flicking from Brody and me to her friends who were staring at us in shock. “Brody, please—”

  “I warned you,” he said, his front coming flush with my back. “I warned you what would happen if you didn’t leave Lola alone.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “I would.”

  The silence swirled around them, and I closed my eyes, wishing I wasn’t the center of this, but I was. We’d caused this. No one ever said the road to happiness was one without any rocks blocking the way. Life was hard, full of hurt, anger, and heartbreak. It had made us stronger, but it wasn’t easy to navigate.

  “I hate you,” she sneered at him.

  “Good.” His hand gripped my hip tighter. “You’ll have the restraining order delivered within the hour.” I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but I was tired. And not just because I was growing a human inside me.

  “Let’s go,” Brody whispered in my ear, and I nodded, letting him lead me out of the diner. I didn’t change my uniform, and I didn’t even get my bag. I knew Brody had a key to my apartment, and right then, all I wanted was to go home and curl up in bed.

  “I’ll do it,” I told Brody when we stopped next to his car. It was now or never. There wouldn’t be a right or wrong time to tell him, so I figured just telling him would work as well as anything.

  He pulled the passenger door open and glanced at me, questions burning in his eyes. “You’ll do what?”

  I stepped closer, wrapped my arms around his waist, and looked up at him. “I’ll move in with you.”

  “You will?” He flashed me a small smile, and I glanced at the light dusting of hair on his jaw.

  “I will.” I lifted up onto my tiptoes, stared into his eyes, and whispered, “I’m taking a leap with you.”

  “I’ll never let you go,” he said.

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  * * *

  LOLA

  “You sure about this, Lola-Girl?” Sal asked, for what felt like the thousandth time. “I know you’re pregnant, but it doesn’t mean you have to move in with him. And—”

  “Sal.” I placed my hand on his arm and smiled gently. “I’m sure. I’m surer than anything.”

  He rolled his eyes and huffed out a breath. “Well, just know that if he hurts you, he’ll have me to answer to.”

  “And me!” Jan shouted from the other side of the room. She was helping me pack away the little knickknacks I’d collected over the last few months. “I can be a badass bitch when I wanna be.”

  “We know,” both Sal and I told her at the same time.

  I planted my hands on my hips, the tips of my fingers touching the bottom of my growing bump as I looked around the apartment. It had never felt like a place where I’d settle forever, but it had done its purpose.

  “So, this is it then?” Jan said, coming to stand next to me.

  I nodded, nerves settling in my stomach. “Yeah. I’m staying at Brody’s place tonight—”

  Hands wrapped around my waist from behind, and I stared down at the long fingers that could only be Brody’s. He spread his fingers over my bump and pressed his chest against my back.

  “It’s not my place,” his deep voice said in my ear. “It’s our place.”

  I tilted my head back, looking at him upside down. “That sounds so weird.”

  His lips lifted at the corner, and he planted a kiss on the end of my nose. “You’ll get used to it.”

  He was right, we would get used to it, but it would take time. In the space of six months, I’d gone from having my life turned upside down, to being with the man I loved way too much to be considered normal. I’d deferred my second year of college, just until I’d had our baby, but then I’d be right back to it, gaining the career Cade had shown me I wanted.

  A throat cleared behind us, and we both looked over at Sal. “I gotta get back to the diner and make some money considering it’ll be closed for the afternoon on Thursday.”

  “What?” I frowned at him. Jord, Ryan, and Kyle had come inside and filled the space with their huge bodies. “Why are you closing the diner?”

  “Dammit, Sal!” Jan threw her hands up in the air, her red hair flipping back and forth as she shook her head. “You’ve got a big mouth.”

  He widened his eyes at her and pointed at his chest. “Me? I have a big mouth.” He stepped toward her. “Jan, you have the biggest mouth I’ve—”

  “You don’t complain about my big mouth any other time, Sal.” She pursed her lips and raised her brows, waiting for him to say something back, and all the while, all five of us stared at them like they were a sitcom in the making. “Now you’ve ruined the surprise.”

  “Surprise?” I asked, still not understanding what they were talking about.

  “Yes!” Jan shouted, turning her wrath onto me. “Your baby shower, dammit!”

  “My baby shower?”
I asked, my voice a mere whisper. “You’re throwing me a baby shower?”

  “Ugh!” Jan grabbed her purse and flung it over her shoulder. “No one knows how to keep a secret around here. You men can help Lola with all her things. I’m going home to google diaper trees for the centerpiece.”

  I blinked as she walked out with Sal on her heels. “You do realize that you were the one to spill that secret, huh?” he said to her, closing the door behind them.

  “What the heck is a diaper tree?” I asked to no one in particular, not expecting an answer.

  “It’s a tree made out of diapers. Kind of like a cake in a way,” Kyle answered, opening and closing my kitchen cupboards and then moving on to the refrigerator. “You got anything to eat? I’m starved after today.”

  I stared at him like he’d grown two heads. How did he know what a diaper tree was? “I can order takeout?”

  “I vote Chinese,” Kyle said, slamming my refrigerator door shut and holding his hands out in front of him. “Anyone else?”

  “Jesus, Kyle, do you ever just stop?” Jord asked, sitting on my sofa and taking up practically the whole thing.

  “What? She’s pregnant and eating for two, so we should get twice as much to be sure.” Kyle nodded as he walked past me. “Right?”

  “Erm…”

  Kyle continued on to the sofa and sat next to Jord. “Besides, don’t tell me you don’t want any. You know you do.”

  “Hell yeah, I do,” Jord answered. “I never said I didn’t.”

  I turned to face Brody. “What is happening right now?”

  “They wanted to help move things, but apparently, they need to be fed first.” He grinned and cupped my face in his hands. “You want Chinese?” I nodded in reply and lifted up onto my tiptoes. “I’ll order it as soon as…” He trailed off and dipped his head down, placing a gentle kiss on my lips. “I’ve done that.” He winked as he let me go and stepped into my bedroom.

  “Lola?” Ryan called. “What needs to be taken to the truck?”

  “Oh.” I stepped over to him and halted in front of the boxes he was looking at. “Just these few boxes.”