Dovie made a noise of concern but before she could ask me anything else about my sudden reappearance an elegant looking blond man materialized at her side and put a protective arm around her slender shoulder. I had never met Dovie’s older brother, Race, and I wasn’t eager to do so now. He didn’t know who I was but he surely knew the hand I had played in getting his sister abducted and setting a ruthless gang of thugs in his direction to deliver a beating that he had barely survived. Race Hartman had every right to want terrible, terrible things to befall me. Everyone who had made it out of Novak’s final massacre alive did.
That knowledge, coupled with the fact that Conner was going to be after me with a vengeance once he found out I had double-crossed him and sold him out, didn’t give me high hopes for surviving whatever fallout followed the events I had just set in motion. Hell, with the way my luck went, it would be a miracle if I made it out of this police station and back to the crappy no-tell motel I was currently calling home.
New me had been a fragile shell. Old me was made of stronger stuff, but even the strongest brick would break when the weight of the entire world decided to rest on it.
Chapter 2
Titus
IT SHOULDN’T HAVE SURPRISED me how well my brother’s girlfriend was taking the news about her father’s murder. After all, she had never met the guy and he had tried to hire the city’s worst and most violent criminal to murder her, but there was something about Dovie that just screamed goodheartedness and sweetness. I often forgot that she had to have a core of concrete, reinforced with rebar, in order to stand toe-to-toe with my thug of a younger sibling and to survive in the Point.
Race was another story. I expected rage, anger, fury . . . I expected anything but the icy indifference that seemed to cloak him as soon as I gave the two of them the news. There was no love lost between Race and his old man. In fact, more than once threats had been tossed around, and had Reeve not materialized out of the blue with her outrageous story, I would have put Race and my brother at the top of my suspects list for the old man’s murder.
Neither man made it a secret that they thought Lord Hartman deserved to take a long walk off of a short pier, but Race’s frozen expression as he shifted his gaze between me and his sister told me that there was also still a part of him that wanted to grieve the loss of his parent, no matter how awful that parent may have been. Dovie must have sensed it too because she reached out a hand, put it on Race’s shoulder, and gave it a squeeze.
“How did it happen? Did Novak’s guys find out where the feds took him?”
I rubbed the back of my neck and turned the cell phone I had in my hand over and over so that the corner tapped on the messy surface of the desk. I was dying to open it and scroll through the messages, not just for the information but also to see if the raven haired beauty was actually on the up-and-up. There was something about her, something that stuck with me the first time she walked into the precinct and told me she had dirt on Novak, that she had made a deal with the gangster to kill her sister’s boyfriend. I’d never seen anyone so calm and collected when admitting to a felony before. I had never seen anyone so composed when they were pretty much throwing the rest of their life away, and I would never forget how endlessly dark and unreadable her navy-blue gaze was as she candidly admitted to relaying Dovie’s location to Novak’s goons as repayment for the hit he had carried out upon her request. Reeve was the reason Dovie got snatched off the street and the reason I had been forced to watch my brother, my only family, put a gun to his head with every intention of pulling the trigger to save not only his lady but me as well. Even with that I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the beautiful backstabber since the feds had whisked her off after she agreed to testify against the rest of Novak’s crew if they could guarantee her immunity and a new life.
“No, we don’t think it was anyone from Novak’s crew. I’m looking into it.”
Race lifted a gold-tinted eyebrow and the corner of his mouth pulled down. “More dirty cops?”
That was what made Race so dangerous and why he had been the clear choice to take over the long-running criminal enterprise once Novak was out of the picture. He was just so damn smart. He could see the dots connecting before they were even laid out.
“I’m not ready to say that yet. I’m looking into it.” I blew out a deep breath. “I called Bax and Brysen. I thought you would want to tell them what was going on in person.” The real reason I had called in reinforcements was because I wasn’t sure how their reactions were going to play out. Bax would protect Dovie from anything that hurt her, including the news of her father’s demise, and now I thought that Brysen was the only person that could snap Race out of the frigid shock he seemed to be encased in. I was a cop. I never underestimated how beneficial backup could be.
Dovie gave a small grin and shook her head at me a little. “You wanted Bax here because you want to make sure he doesn’t go off and do something stupid when he finds out.”
Race snorted and shoved his hands through his shaggy hair. “How does the old man’s murder fit in with everything else that has been going on, Titus?”
RECENTLY, THE POINT HAD seen the working girls scared to do their thing because one of them had taken a beating meant to kill, just as the city’s dirtiest, nastiest club went up in flames, taking too many regulars with it as it burned to the ground. On top of that, Race’s prized, vintage car had been incinerated right in front of this very police station and bodies had begun piling up for no other reason than to prove a point. Novak was gone and that made the city fair game—at least that was what the initial interpretation had been. Now, with Reeve’s revelations and Hartman being taken out, I had a feeling something bigger was at play. Killing Dovie’s old man and attempting to kill Race as well didn’t do anything for the city. They were motivated by revenge pure and simple. Someone didn’t like the fact that Race and his business partner, Nassir Gates, had picked up right where Novak had left off. Burning the club down screwed Nassir and struck right at the heart of what was most important to him, his money and his girls. The same could be said for the destruction of Race’s car. He loved that damn car, and even though his dad was a bastard, it was obvious that Race still cared for him. The attacks seemed more pointed now than they had before.
I sighed again and just gave Race a look that he could interpret any way he wanted. He was bright enough to know exactly what I thought without me having to lay it all out in front of him. I got to my feet and walked around where he and Dovie were sitting.
“Let me go give Bax and Brysen the rundown and then you guys can head out. If I don’t fill Bax in, I have about five seconds before he comes through the security glass anyway.” My cell phone had been buzzing and pinging with impatient messages from my younger brother since he hit the front doors of the station. Nothing, not even bulletproof glass and an army of weapon-packing police personnel, would keep Bax from Dovie if he thought she needed him. “You guys take a couple minutes together if you need it.”
I was at the door when Dovie’s soft voice stopped me.
“Why is Reeve back, Titus? What does she have to do with everything that’s going on?”
I gave her a hard look and pulled the door open. My eyes immediately saw my brother and Race’s pretty blond girlfriend. I cringed when I also saw that Reeve’s timing had been bad and she was currently being caged in and growled at by Bax. My younger brother had intimidation down to an art form, and I hated to admit that I didn’t blame him for the blatant hatred that was pouring off of him as he appeared to be chewing out the slender young woman.
“I don’t know yet. I’m trying to put it all together before the city ends up as nothing more than rubble and ash. I have a really bad feeling that I need her.”
“You can’t trust her.” Dovie’s tone held old hurt and betrayal. She knew better than anyone just how untrustworthy Reeve could be.
“I know, Dovie. I don’t trust anyone.”
Race snorted and reached o
ut to grab his sister in a one-armed hug. I could see by the expression on her face that she knew the gesture was more for him than it was for her. “Isn’t it already too late to worry about this city burning. The people in it can’t help but feed the flames?”
I agreed with him, so I just shut the door behind me and stalked to where Bax was raking Reeve over the coals while Brysen watched with wide, confused eyes. I heard his deep voice bark, “You bitch. I should put your head through that wall after what you did to Dovie. She thought you were her friend.” I wish they were just idle words that he was speaking, but Bax didn’t make threats he wasn’t ready to follow through on. It didn’t matter that Reeve was a girl. To him she was the enemy who had put Dovie in danger. He would treat her like any other threat to his woman.
Reeve blinked those unusually colored blue eyes slowly, and I sighed as she went really pale and still under the onslaught of Bax’s anger. I hated that somewhere deep in my gut a little bit of pride cheered for her when she refused look away from him.
“No one has friends in the Point . . . at least that’s what I always thought. I’m trying to make it right.” I reached the little party just as Reeve’s voice cracked and her lower lip started to tremble faintly.
I intervened just as Bax was gearing up to lay into her some more. I reached up to pop him across the back of the head with an open palm. I rarely got the drop on my brother, his instincts were honed too sharp, so I took the shot because he was so focused on his prey he never saw me coming and also because I didn’t like the way his threatening Reeve had all my protective instincts flaring to life. She was the last woman in the world I needed to feel protective toward, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to shove my brother away from her.
“Leave her alone, asshole. She’s trying to help.” I let both my annoyance and frustration snap at him as he turned around to shift his glare to me.
Reeve looked between the both of us, and was smart enough to bolt while she had an opening. She left without saying anything to either one of us, but I could see the way her hands were shaking as she pulled open the front door to the police station.
“Who on earth was that?” Brysen sounded bewildered and her bright eyes were full of confusion and questions.
Bax retaliated to my smack across his head by tagging me in the gut with a balled-up fist. He never pulled any punches, so the force made me grunt and double over as I glared at him.
Bax turned his dark eyes to Brysen and bit out, “Reeve Black. She’s the person who told Novak that Dovie was on her own the night he had his guys grab her off the street. She got into bed with him over a blood debt and he called it in and used it to hurt Race and Dovie. She should be in jail for capital murder, but she cut a major deal with the feds and went into Witness Protection. She’s supposed to be as far away from here as they could put her. I told this idiot”—he pointed at his finger at me—“if I ever saw her again I wasn’t going to be responsible for my actions.”
“And I told you to stop saying shit like that to me. Remember, I’m a cop.” I warned him about his loose tongue and violent temper all the time. My brother had it in him to kill; I didn’t need to be reminded of it every time his wild nature slipped the chains he had strapped on it since he fell in love with Dovie.
“Why are we here, Detective?” I hated it when he called me that in such a contemptuous tone.
I scowled at Bax and flicked a narrow-eyed look at Brysen as well. I crooked a finger and motioned for them to move closer so that I wasn’t spilling secrets all across the station. It sucked that in a place like the Point even the good guys could be bought if the price was right. I trusted no one.
“I got a call from one of the federal marshals handling all the witnesses in the Novak case. Race and Dovie’s old man was murdered last night in the secure location WITSEC found for him. Hartman was willing to give the names of major arms dealers, drug suppliers south of the border, where the money was stashed, and all kinds of other information the RICO unit was chomping at the bit to get their hands on in this case. He had a full security detail, was located out in the middle of goddamn nowhere, and someone still managed to get to him.”
Brysen made a noise of distress and bit down on her lip. “How are they handling the news?”
I answered as truthfully as I could. “Dovie is a sweetheart, so I think she’s mostly worried about Race since he hasn’t said too much. Her asshole father tried to have Novak kill her, so I think she’s just relieved that that’s one threat she’ll never have to worry about again. Race just kind of zoned out; I’ve never seen him like that before. That’s not all, though.” I rocked back on my heels and put a hand on the butt end of the pistol attached to my belt. “With Hartman being so insulated, we know the hit had to come from the inside. It had to be someone handling his move and relocation.” I didn’t want to admit that part even to myself, but it was clear there was no other explanation.
Bax swore. “A fed?”
I nodded solemnly. “Probably.”
Bax dropped every dirty word he had in his vocabulary. “Not enough we have to worry about the bad guys, now we gotta worry about the good guys too?”
“That’s about the shape of it.”
“Why was Reeve here, Titus?” It was a sharp change in subject but I knew it was coming. Bax wouldn’t be happy that Reeve was back no matter what the reasons for her sudden reappearance were.
“Because she has information I’m going to need if I have any chance of flushing out our dirty fed.”
“What kind of info?”
I had to shake my head and I rubbed my hands over my crop of short hair. I told Bax in a flat tone that left no room for any kind of argument, “That’s the line where brother and cop cross, Shane. Leave her alone, I need her so I can do my job and I will be seriously pissed if you get in my way.” I used his real name so that he knew I wasn’t fucking around.
Brysen had obviously gown tired of the two of us trying to out-badass each other and demanded, “Where is Race?”
“In my office with Dovie.” I stopped Bax with a hand on the center of his chest as he went to maneuver around me. My brother was big, but I had always been bigger, and I had no qualms about throwing around my weight when I needed to. “Look, I need this girl to stop what is happening in the Point . . . the fires, the beatings, the destruction . . . it’s all tied together. She is absolutely necessary. I told Dovie all of this and she gets it, so you need to use your brains and not go off half-cocked, because I will shut you down so fast it’ll make your head spin. You got me, Bax?”
Bax didn’t say anything, just shoved around me and stomped his way across the precinct house toward a glass door that had my rank and last name stenciled on it in black letters. Brysen went to follow him but I reached out to stop her. I felt like I had to give her a heads-up that her man was having a tough time with the news about his dad but doing his best to try and hide it.
“Race is a good man. He’s in a tough spot right now and making some really difficult choices, but he’s always been a lot softer at his center than Bax. His dad was a piece of shit, a murderer and a goddamn oily son of a bitch, but when it hits him, when it really settles, he’s gonna need a hand working through his old man being gone.”
She told me in a haughty tone that she was never going anywhere, as her man, my brother, and his lady all made their way towards us in a somber huddle. I stepped to the side as both the couples embraced, muttered soft words to one another like they weren’t in the middle of a very active police station as they made their way to the front door and acted very much like handling things such as murder, betrayal, and deep personal loss was old hat. It made my chest tight because in a place like the Point those things were indeed an everyday occurrence and all of those young adults were far too familiar with them. At least they had all found someone to lean on, someone else to share the burden of all the constant bad news.
Bonds created in the worst circumstances, love forged in the fire, was bound to
shine brighter and last longer than feelings that weren’t put to the test. Regular people got to love with ease and without thought. People that fell in love in the Point had to do so knowing it was a battle to stay in love. Everything here was a fight, and in a dangerous place full of dangerous people, love was often the only thing people were willing to do the right thing for. My brother was a prime example of that.
Bax’s entire life had been one big house of cards waiting to come toppling down. He spent his youth doing one illegal deed after the other, just bidding his time until he got caught. He wasn’t a good guy, and he never would be, but the fact that he cared about Dovie, that he loved her, forced him to make smarter choices. He knew that if he went back to jail or if he eventually ran up against someone that was just a little bit tougher or a little more ruthless than he was, it would kill her to have to put him in the ground. Bax had always been dangerous, but now, with the sassy redhead in his life, he was also cautious. I never thought I would see it happen, but the day had arrived when my brother actually thought before he acted.
I went back to my office and settled in. I kicked back in my rickety chair that I was sure was going to give out and dump me on my ass before the year was over and turned on the cell phone Reeve had left with me. I was both curious and slightly sick to see what was on it. I had faced every variety of bad guy there was since I started as a patrol officer in the Point eight years ago. There wasn’t much that shocked me, wasn’t much that made my skin crawl anymore. Hell, I was the one that snapped the cuffs on Bax and threw his ass in the joint for five years when his luck had finally run out, and I did it without guilt or regret. The idea of a fellow cop, a fellow officer of the law, being the one behind all the destruction and the bodies piling up in the morgue had fury boiling so hot in my blood I was surprised it wasn’t burning through my skin. You didn’t sign up to serve and protect only to decide that oath was just too hard to keep.
Better When He's Brave Page 3
