Jack: The Rann Brothers Trilogy Book One: Social Rejects Syndicate

by AM Cosgrove

  Jameson shrugged. “Well, it has been a long day for us already.”

  “It’s half-past eight in the morning. How long of a day could it have been at this point?”

  “All due respect, we’ve been up all-night speaking with folks who might have knowledge in regard to the episode at the pub.”

  “Well, I am terribly sorry to inform you that I, in fact, know less than you do at the moment, so maybe you would like to inform me of what you know?” Jack sat down in one of the chairs.

  “Why don’t we start with what happened to your face?” Shorty answered Jack’s question with one of his own as he wandered around the living room looking at different things.

  His partner looked annoyed. Obviously, Shortstuff was not going with the original game plan on how they were to approach Jack.

  “I fell off my bicycle,” Jack said irritated and looked over at Jameson. “So?”

  “Bicycle, eh? Why do those injuries not seem like something one would have falling from their bicycle?”

  “I hit a tree when I did it, alright? What does this have anything to do with the pub?”

  “Not sure yet,” Shorty answered giving Jack a hard look.

  “Well, you see, we caught wind of a strange thing last night while we were out wandering the streets in search of the person responsible for doing some serious damage to a really nice pub.”

  “Do you go there a lot?” Jack asked, crossing his legs while leaning back. This was going to get interesting, if he played his cards right, and paid attention, he might just get some actual information out of these two. More perhaps, than he had in the night before.

  “No, but from what we gather you and your brothers do.”

  “Well, yes, we do like the barkeep. He is a nice gentleman, and he hires the nicest staff. The food is pretty decent, too.”

  “And the fact that there is a strict don’t ask don’t tell rule in place there for you and your family. From what I understand, your family has been frequenting that establishment for generations.”

  “That may be the case, or we could simply like the food.”

  “Fair enough. But something isn’t adding up for me.” Jameson looked down at his note pad.

  “Oh, really, what’s that? That my family has simply decided to have a tradition of eating at the same establishment for generations?” It was Jack’s turn to roll his eyes, he was toying with them, and they knew it. They weren’t exactly making it any easier on themselves by constantly leaving the door open for him to deftly keep the conversation pointed in a slightly different direction.

  “No, Mr. Rann. See, we heard word that there had been a showdown at your flat and that you had been seriously injured.”

  Jack waved his hand, motioning to the immaculate look of his flat. “Well, as you can see, there is no sign of anything happening here.”

  “Except for your face,” Shorty piped up.

  Jack shrugged. “Well that, I’ve explained, is due to a bicycle accident.”

  “Was your girlfriend on the same bicycle as you? Her name is Mirabelle isn’t it?” Shorty shot back.

  “What do you actually want here, Gentlemen?” Jack sat up straight and glared at the pair of them.

  “Ooooh, a little bit touchy about the girlfriend, are we now?” Shorty sneered, taking a step back and Jack had to hold himself back from wanting to smash the smirk right off his face.

  “There is no need to rile up our friend here.”

  “Well, maybe our friend would like to start telling us what really happened, and then we might start believing him.”

  “I have told you what you want to know about my accident. As you can see, nothing has happened here and we are getting nowhere otherwise. You haven’t asked me anything more about the pub and remain fixated on my accident.”

  “Was your girl with you when you had your accident?”

  “So what if she was? What the fuck does any of this have to do with the fucking pub?” Jack stood up and walked away exasperated.

  He needed to get them focused back on the pub because he did not want to bring Mirabelle into this any further than someone else had.

  Shorty shrugged and made notes. “Well, that is kinda interesting.”

  “Oh, and how’s that?” Jack snarled.

  “I am just trying to understand how a bicycle accident could end up with a woman being raped.”

  Jack froze.

  “Ooooo you didn’t know about that part, did you? She didn’t get a chance to tell you that she had been raped, did she? Or maybe she was trying to hide it.”

  “Is that all you have to say to me or are you going to keep antagonizing me?” Jack growled and looked over at Jameson who looked halfway between annoyed and exasperated with his partner.

  “Someone is a little bit testy for something that happened because of a bicycle accident.” Shorty crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against a wall.

  “Derek, that is enough!” Jameson snapped at his partner.

  “Hey, I’m just doing my job and catching bad guys.” He put his hands up and walked out the front door.

  “Mr. Rann, I’m sorry about my partner. I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Jameson said as soon as the door closed behind Shorty.

  “Listen, Jameson is it? I don’t know anything about the pub situation at all. I wish I did because the guy that runs it is a pretty decent man. More than I can say about a lot of men these days.”

  “I understand that. But you do understand why we have to ask?”

  “Of course, you are just doing your job.”

  “Can you tell me about what happened to you and your lady friend?”

  “I told you everything I am going to tell you. We were on a bicycle ride. End of story.”

  “I understand your reluctance to say anything further, but you have to understand that we are only doing our jobs.

  “I do, but you also have to understand the very fact that I let the two of you in here to talk puts me in a very uncomfortable position, as I am sure you can understand why.”

  “We are aware of your status in the community.”

  “Well, then you must understand, while I have been trying to be nice and fair to you and your partner here, I have simply wasted enough time.” Jack motioned for Jameson to follow his partner out the door.

  “I do wish things had gone differently, Mr. Rann. We are trying to find whoever did this to your friend,” The other man said over his shoulder as he left.

  “Then you are looking in the wrong place because I have no idea who or why. Have a nice day,” Jack said, closing the door behind the other man. He took a deep breath, trying to rein in the anger coursing through his blood. Not only had the stupid copper chapped his ass by walking in his door with a nasty attitude and a chip on his damned shoulder. But the one piece of information he had gotten from them didn’t give him anything but more to be upset about.

  Why hadn’t Mirabelle told him? His mind raced as he paced around the apartment. Was it possible she hadn’t even known? She had to have known.

  The anger boiled in his veins. Someone was going to pay for all of this. He didn’t give a shit what his brothers thought about propriety, and the way that they were envisioning the family. He was going to have his revenge for what had been done to Mirabelle.

  “Fuck the lot of them, and their bullshit”

  He was going to find the ones responsible and then he was going to make them pay. Even if he had to burn London to the ground to make sure they were part of its ashes He didn’t give a shit who stood in his way or thought that they knew how it needed to be done. All he cared about was revenge.

  He walked into his room and got dressed. A few minutes later, he strode out of the flat like a man on a mission. His first stop was going to see Mirabelle. As much as he didn’t want to push her for information, sh
e’d been through enough already, she was probably the only person who would give him the thread of knowledge he needed to figure out who was behind it.

  The engine in his car roared to life as he raced out of the underground parking lot, barely waiting for the gates to open. He cursed the early morning traffic that slowed him down before he got to the expressway. All he could think about was getting to Mirabelle.

  Pulling into the hospital grounds, a half an hour later, he parked in the same place he did the day before. There was a white utility van sitting in the spot next to his. He didn’t think anything of it except for the fact that the driver had not parked straight making it harder for him to squeeze into the spot.

  “Fucking wanker, learn how to park,” he muttered as he got out of his car and walked into the hospital.

  There was a flurry of activity going and alarms were ringing as he went in.

  A security guard stopped him just a few feet inside the door.

  “Sir, you’re going to have to wait here,” he said, placing a hand on Jack’s chest.

  “I’m just here to see my girlfriend.” Jack smiled and took a half step back, so the man’s hand was no longer touching him.

  “I understand that, but you can’t come in any further at the moment.”

  “What is going on?”

  “Seems to be something was going on up on the twelfth floor, a domestic situation, I think.”

  Mirabelle was on the twelfth floor.

  “Really?” Jack said, trying to keep his voice calm as he spoke but he could feel a knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

  “Yeah, some asshole put his girl in the hospital, damned near killed her, and then I guess he didn’t want her talking to the coppers, and decided to come back and finish the job.” The guard shrugged and looked bored.

  “Wow. That’s something. Did they catch the guy?”

  “Nah, they’re still looking for him. That’s why we aren’t letting anyone else in or out of the hospital.”

  Jack nodded. “Well, shit.”

  “Yeah, so we gotta wait.”

  “I get it. Do you mind if I go and have a seat over there so I’m not standing around?” Jack pointed to a bank of chairs sitting along the window by the entrance.

  “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Go ahead.”

  “Thanks so much. I’ll let you get back to your job. try to have a nice day.” Jack smiled.

  He took a seat on the furthest end of the row and sat there looking around as if merely a spectator in the grand scheme of things.

  A few minutes later the guard’s walkie talkie squawked, and he turned his back to Jack. Jack took that opportunity to vanish down the nearest hallway. He needed to get to Mirabelle.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Mirabelle

  Her heart was still racing.

  There were cops everywhere. Everyone was talking at once, both to her and over her.

  She had been sleeping when she felt someone enter the room. She opened her eyes long enough to see the pillow come down over her face. She only caught the slightest glimpse of the man. He was dressed like a doctor or an orderly but she couldn’t see his face.

  Mirabelle had struggled against the attacker, but he had been stronger than she was, and she had almost passed out when the door opened and Gloria swooped in.

  Turns out, the monitors had all been on silent, and when she started to lose oxygen, the alarms began ringing in the nurse’s station. She was still alive because of that.

  Gloria rushed in and instantly dove after the supposed doctor. He sent her flying across the room into a table and chairs at the foot of her bed before tearing out the door.

  She hit the alarm and the security guards came running. The next thing she knew, the room was filled with people. Doctors were there trying to figure out how badly she was hurt as security and police officers tried to figure out what had actually happened.

  Mirabelle could see Gloria sitting in one of the chairs she had been shoved into, rubbing her wrist.

  Mirabelle felt bad. Whatever was going on with her, Gloria was too sweet of a human being to have been pulled into this.

  “Do you remember seeing anything when they came into the room?” the officer standing beside her bed asked, notepad ready to catch anything she said.

  “No, I was asleep and then I woke up and there was a pillow over my face,” she choked. She was still having a hard time catching her breath.

  “So, you didn’t see anything at all.”

  “Not that I—” she started just as the door opened again and in walked Jack.

  “Sir, you can’t come in here,” the officer closest to the doorway put a hand up to Jack’s chest to stop him.

  What was Jack doing here? How did he know?

  Judging by the look on his face, he hadn’t known anything but wasn’t too impressed with the situation.

  “I would like to see my girlfriend,” Jack said, pushing his way into the room past the officer.

  “Sir, you really cannot be here. This is a crime scene.”

  “My name is Jack Rann, and that is my girlfriend,” Jack demanded. “And while all of this protectiveness of yours is nice, unless she tells me that she doesn’t want me here, I am staying right here.” Jack looked at Mirabelle, his green eyes ablaze with slow boiling anger.

  “Please,” Mirabelle whispered, tears filling her eyes, “Let him stay.”

  She had never seen that look on Jack’s face before. There was something almost romantic about it. Like a knight in shining armor charging into battle to save his lady. It was completely different from the man that she had spent the last seven years with. It was definitely something that she didn’t want to walk out the door now that it was here.

  “So?” Jack asked.

  “Fine, but do not touch anything,” the officer grumbled and stepped back to allow Jack to cross the room to her.

  “You’re here,” she croaked.

  “I am.” Jack smiled down at her and picked up her hand, laying a gentle kiss on it.

  Mirabelle’s heart fluttered for an instant before she wondered for a split second if all of this was nothing more than an act for the coppers standing around the room. Then she remembered the look in his eyes, and she sighed.

  “Don’t worry about a thing, Mirry,” he whispered as he leaned in to plant a kiss on her cheek. “I won’t be leaving you again.”

  Mirabelle nodded as tears slipped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

  “Alright, so I want to know exactly what happened here?” Jack said, his tone suddenly all business once again.

  “We can’t tell you anything, Mr. Rann, this is still a crime scene,” the officer who had been standing beside her spoke up.

  “This isn’t going to be helpful, you know,” Jack glared at the other man who shrank back slightly from the stare.

  “You can’t come barging in here demanding answers when we are trying to investigate.”

  Jack crossed his arms across his chest and stood up straight. “So, investigate. Far be it from me to stand in the way of justice being served by law-abiding officers doing their jobs to protect their citizens,” he said with a snarky tone.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” another officer piped up, taking a step towards Jack.

  “You know very well what I am talking about. Obviously, my lady Mirabelle here, has already been through a shitstorm, and there has been nothing done to protect her from any further attacks on her life.”

  “We can’t be everywhere, every single hour, of every day, you know?” one snarled back at him.

  “That is exactly why she won’t be staying here after you lot are done in here. I cannot have her life at risk anymore.”

  “I’m not sure what you are expecting us to say, Mr. Rann, but your girlfriend needs to be in the care of the hospita
l.”

  “I will just hire someone to take care of her at my home. And if she doesn’t want to stay there—”

  The door opened again, and two more coppers walked in. The room went from crowded to worse.

  Mirabelle watched as Jack’s anger threatened to boil over.

  “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the wonderful, Mr. Rann.” the shorter one smirked. “Come to check up on your girlfriend, have you?”

  “What the fuck are these two idiots doing here?” Jack roared, waving his hand at the two standing there. One of which looked mildly embarrassed, while the other just looked like an asshole.

  “Were investigating,” the shorter one responded, looking mildly amused at the ire he was garnering with just his presence.

  “Mirabelle, c’mon, love, it’s time to go.”

  “You can’t take her anywhere. She is a material witness to a crime,” one of the officers in the room spoke up.

  “Wrong. She’s a victim, and if she wants to go home, she can go home,” Jack said, moving around the bed to help Mirabelle up.

  “Ma’am, you don’t have to go anywhere,” the taller officer who just walked in spoke.

  “I want to go home,” she choked out, struggling to find the energy to pull herself to her feet. “I don’t feel safe here anymore.”

  “There, it’s settled. Unless she’s under arrest for something, which even the dumbest of coppers wouldn’t even try to pull some bullshit like that, she’s going home right now,” Jack said, reaching his arms under her legs and around her back, scooping her up to pull her against his chest.

  She winced at the pain from the sudden movement, but it quickly faded. She leaned into him, hearing his heart hammering in his chest. She felt safer than she had in a long time.

  “Now if you don’t mind. We’re leaving,” Jack said, moving towards the door.

  No one said a word or moved for a second, each calling the other’s bluff. Until finally the room parted, and Jack walked out of the room, the door closing silently behind them.

  Jack gently laid Mirabelle on his bed and pulled the covers up over her. “There now, I am going to see about finding someone to care for you and make sure you have everything that you need,” Jack said, brushing her matted hair out her eyes and stroking the side of her face. “And I am going to make sure that there is someone with you around the clock from here on out, at least until we figure out what the hell is going on.