Fallen Duet: Brody & Lola: Free Fall & Down Fall (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 1)

by Abigail Davies

  “I’m on it, sir.” I didn’t say another word as I pushed out of the chair and walked out of his office and into the den.

  The den was a collection of desks surrounded by offices. Each office belonged to a team leader that worked out of this floor, but they rarely got used because the teams were always working on new cases.

  My office was in the far-left corner, and when I stepped inside, I blew out a big breath. A lone sofa sat against one wall, and that sofa had been used as a bed more times than I could count. I may have been married to Moira by law, but my job was my other half.

  I logged on to my computer, catching up with a little paperwork and then grabbed my bag full of the clothes I needed to finish this case. My Mustang was left in the lot, and the shitty car I had to use was grunting to life.

  Within two hours, I was walking in the house and being greeted with the grinning faces of my team. “And he returns!” Kyle shouted, holding his hand out for me to shake.

  “I’m back and ready to get this case done with.” I threw myself into one of the chairs. “There was a development?”

  “Yeah.” Jord reached for a tablet and passed it to me. “Ford wore a wire.”

  “He did?” I scrolled through the transcript that someone had typed up, scanning the words. “They’re doing a deal?”

  “Yeah,” Ryan grunted. “Twice as much as Carson takes, and this new buyer has demanded Hut be there.”

  “But Hut is never there for the exchange.” I flicked my gaze up to the guys. “That’s our in.”

  “Yep,” Jord said. “We’re gonna take this motherfucker down once and for all.”

  “Did he say when?”

  “That’s what we’re hoping you’re gonna find out,” Kyle told me, placing his hands on the back of his head. “’Bout time you got back in there, huh?”

  I should have told the guys what happened—it was protocol, but they’d demand we pull back, and who knew how long it would take to get an inside man again. I wouldn’t do that. I stood, my body buzzing with energy I hadn’t felt since I walked out of Lola’s bedroom over a week ago. I was ready to get this case finished, but more than anything, I was ready to see her face again. I’d brave the storm and hope like hell that she hadn’t already told Hut about me.

  “I’ll call you later,” I threw over my shoulder, my feet carrying me out of the warehouse and to the car.

  The outcomes for what could happen when I walked into Hut’s house were endless, but the need to get in there was overwhelming. Above all, I was doing my job, but making sure Lola was safe in the process was paramount. I had to do everything I could to get her away from him, even if she couldn’t stand the sight of me.

  Having been home for a week, I noticed every little difference the streets here had: the broken streetlights, the graffiti marking people’s territory, the trash lining the cracked sidewalks. We were only an hour or so away, and yet, it was like night and day.

  My stomach dipped as I pulled up behind Hut’s SUV. He was expecting me back because I’d kept in contact with him while I was gone, but I wasn’t sure what reception I’d receive. He hadn’t wanted me to leave, but I hadn’t given him a choice. I knew it had looked suspicious right after what he did to Ted and Jace, but there was nothing I could do about it.

  I pulled in a deep breath as I switched the engine off, my gaze veering to the window I knew was Lola’s bedroom. All that greeted me was an open blind. If luck was on my side, she’d already be at college or work.

  Fuck.

  She’d been under my nose that entire time, working and attending school only a few minutes away from where I lived. How the hell had that happened?

  Shaking the thoughts from my head, I closed my eyes and zoned in. I was Brody, a member of Hut’s crew, not Brody, the cheater and liar that I’d become.

  Each step to the front door felt heavier than the last, and by the time I was pushing said door open, my nerves were haywire. This could be the end. I could be walking into a house full of enemies.

  “Brody!” Hut shouted, bouncing out of the kitchen and toward me in the living room. His lips were spread into such a huge grin I was sure it would break his face. As he came closer, I saw how shot his pupils were, and then it all made sense. Of course, he was high before lunchtime.

  “Hut.”

  He threw his hand at me, doing his stupid “crew handshake” and I gritted my teeth. He was a grown-ass man with his own secret handshake. How sadder could you get?

  He pulled away and turned around, heading back into the kitchen where Ford and Quinn were bagging up white powder.

  “How was the funeral?”

  “It was okay.” I shrugged and leaned on the counter nearest the coffeepot. “Funeral is a funeral, you know?”

  “Nah.” Hut shook his head, sitting at the small table, not fully focusing on anything around him. “Never been to a funeral. Don’t see the point. They’re dead, ain’t like they know what’s happenin'.”

  I gripped the counter behind me, trying to keep my hands under control. It didn’t matter if they knew or not—it was about respecting the person who had died. I hadn’t attended a funeral, but his disrespect was clear. But then, I didn’t think he knew the meaning of respect. He hadn’t gotten to where he was right now by following all the rules, silent or written.

  Ford nodded at me at the same time Quinn waved his hand in the air, and I noticed Jace was missing. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask where he was, but then I reminded myself I’d just walked in the door. I needed to ease back into things, make them forget I was gone in the first place.

  “We’re heading over to Carson’s place tonight,” Hut said, leaning back in his chair. “I’m gonna crash until we need to go.” He stood and stumbled his way out of the kitchen, his footsteps banging on the stairs, and then a door slammed.

  “Jesus.” Quinn ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t think he’s been sober since you left, Brody.”

  “He hasn’t?” I raised a brow, looking at the empty space he’d just been sitting in.

  “Nah.” Ford threw another baggie into a pile. “And Jace is AWOL—ain’t got any idea where he is.”

  I pushed up off the counter, frowning. Had Hut gotten rid of him too? “Maybe he’s recovering after the beating he took.” I hoped I sounded carefree, but I had a feeling I didn’t.

  “His girlfriend doesn’t know where he is,” Ford continued and turned to face me. “For all we know he’s lying in a ditch somewhere.”

  “And Hut knows he’s missing?”

  Quinn rolled his eyes and blew out a breath. “He said he don’t give a shit.” Quinn glanced at Ford and then back to me. “But if he talks, then Hut’s fucked.”

  I nodded, knowing Jace hadn’t talked to anyone, because if he had, I would have been one of the first to know.

  “We’re gonna go and see if we can find him,” Ford announced, throwing a last baggie on the pile and standing to clear everything away. “Hut will be out for at least eight hours, so we have time.”

  Quinn helped clear the things away into a box and hefted it into his arms so he could put it beneath the floorboard under the table.

  “Wanna join us?” Quinn asked. “Three people are better than two.”

  “Yeah, sure.” I stepped forward, already clutching the keys in my hand when light footsteps bounded above us. My heart rate picked up, my palms starting to sweat.

  “I’ll take the south side. Quinn, you take the east, and Brody can take the west.” Ford moved over to the sink, but I could only just hear him over the whooshing in my ears. “We can meet in the north side in a couple hours.”

  “Okay—”

  It was the only word I managed to get out before Lola stepped into the kitchen. She was staring down at something in her bag, a frown on her face that I craved to smooth out. I urged her silently to look up, to stare into my eyes and show me what she was feeling, but she didn’t. She just stood there, rifling through her bag like it held all the answers. />
  “We’ll meet you in a couple of hours,” Ford said, walking past Lola.

  Lola’s head snapped up, her eyes widening, and lips parting. Neither of us said a word as Ford and Quinn walked past her. We didn’t move a muscle when the front door clicked closed. We stood there, caught in a web that neither of us could escape.

  “Brody.”

  I shivered at her soft voice, my body willing me to move forward, but I couldn’t. I was stuck. “Lola.”

  Her body swaying toward me, and her hazel eyes shined, but there wasn’t an iota of hatred in them. Maybe she’d forgiven me, or maybe she’d pushed everything that happened to the back of her mind.

  “Let me explain,” I said, finally getting control over my body and stepping forward.

  Her back straightened, the look disappearing, and in its place a fierce determination. “No,” she ground out, her voice low but deadly. “You don’t get to do this.” She lifted her arms and spread them wide. “Why are you here?”

  “I—”

  Her laugh cut me off. “Never mind, I don’t know why I asked. You’re here for him.” She stepped away. “I’m so goddamn stupid. For a second there, I thought you’d come back for me, but that’d be another lie, huh, Brody?”

  Everything she said was true, even though I didn’t want to admit that part of me had craved to see her, even if it was just one last time. “Please, you don’t understand.”

  “I understand just fine.” Her eyes narrowed, and she let her arms drop, clapping them off the sides of her thighs. “I understand that you lied. I understand that you used me. I understand that you have a wife and kid at home.” Her eyes fluttered closed, so I took another step toward her, hoping that closing the space between us would work in my favor.

  “I never wanted to hurt you,” I said, my voice carrying over to her on a whisper.

  Her eyes snapped open. “Well, tough luck because you did.” She brought her hand to her chest, and I zoned in on her shaking fingers. “I warned you what you could do to me, and you did it anyway. You know what’s worse than a liar?” I opened my mouth to answer, but she beat me to it. “A cheat. You’re a liar and a cheat, Brody.”

  “I know, and if I could do anything—”

  “Is Brody even your real name?”

  I frowned and swiped my hand through my hair. “Yeah, it is.”

  “Well”—she clapped her hands—“congratulations on telling one piece of the truth.” She spun around, and I didn’t waste a second chasing after her.

  “Please.”

  She halted at the door. “Don’t you dare.” She turned her head so she could look at me over her shoulder. “I kept my mouth shut. I told no one what you are. But if you touch me, I’ll scream it from the rooftops.”

  I heard her warning loud and clear.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  LOLA

  The last day of college brought with it another piece of sadness. At least when I was there, I was focusing on my schoolwork, but now I had the whole summer to do nothing but work and think about what a fool I had been.

  All I seemed to be able to do was go over and over every interaction I’d had with Brody, finally able to read between the lines of the words he was saying. I thought he’d meant one thing when it had been the total opposite.

  I was naive. Reckless. Stupid.

  I’d given him a piece of me, and he’d taken it without a second thought, not caring that he was going to destroy every part of it. It would be easy for me to drink my sadness away, to get high and forget all about him, but how was I meant to do that when he was still coming to the house?

  Three days.

  Three days and I’d be out of the house and away from Hut and Brody.

  A sadness had taken root inside me, and no matter what I did to get rid of it, nothing worked. So when I walked into the house I’d called home for the last seven years, and heard the bass of the music, I knew I couldn’t hide away in my bedroom. Not this time.

  One night. I was going to give myself one night where I forgot who I was and what I was going through, and just live for right now.

  The house was full of people dancing, drinking, doing drugs, and for the first time in a long time, I sensed their own sadness. They were all trying to chase their own demons away, but I wasn’t sure they were being successful. Drink and drugs only ebbed the pain for a short amount of time. When you sobered up, it would still be there, chipping away at you like nothing else ever had.

  I ambled through the crowd and into the kitchen, noticing Hut and Brody were both absent. I shouldn’t have felt a pang in my heart at Brody not being here, but I did. Stupid feelings.

  “Hey, Lola.”

  I spun around, coming face-to-face with a smiling Ford. “Hey.”

  “You joining the party?” He raised a brow.

  I shrugged, not really sure what I was going to do. I craved to silence everything running through my head, but the swirling in my stomach was stopping me. “Just for one,” I said, reaching for one of the beer bottles on the counter behind me. The glass was cool to the touch as I wrapped my hand around it. I twisted the cap, the sizzle of the beer breaking free, and then took a swig. I’d never liked the taste of beer. It was a means to an end, but this tasted even worse than I remembered.

  “Your face says it all,” Ford said, chuckling as I screwed up my nose.

  “It tastes like...I don’t even know.” I placed the bottle on the counter, regretting having opened it. I should have gone right up to my room like I usually did, but the thought of sitting on my own, yet again, wasn’t appealing.

  “Come on,” Ford said, moving over to the refrigerator. He pulled it open and reached inside, revealing a can of soda. “We’re playing poker. Come and join us.” He handed the can to me, and I smiled.

  “You know what?” I glanced at the people milling around the kitchen, spotting Quinn at the table shuffling cards in his hands. “I think I will.”

  I followed Ford to the table and sat at the empty seat, telling myself I was only doing this because, in three days’ time, I’d never see these guys again—hopefully.

  Quinn shuffled the cards and handed them out silently, his gaze focusing on anything but me. I got it—I hadn’t been the most welcoming, but they had to understand I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Hut had warned me plenty of times, but my broken heart trumped his warnings tonight, so I picked up the cards and played the worst hand of poker I’d ever played.

  It didn’t matter though because I wasn’t thinking of the million things that were running through my mind on the daily. I wasn’t worrying about how I was going to get my things from here to my new apartment without Hut finding out. I wasn’t fretting about Brody still being around, and I wasn’t wondering why I felt tired down to my bones constantly, or the fact that I hadn’t been able to keep much food down since I found out about Brody. All I thought about were the cards in my hands, and the fake chips in the middle of the table.

  And right now, it was exactly what I needed.

  The party slowed down after a couple of hours and then picked right back up somewhere around 2 a.m., and still, Hut and Brody hadn’t come home. But I didn’t care. I was winning at poker and laughing my ass off as Ford grumbled over a woman beating him.

  “You’re cheating,” Ford accused, his brows pulling down into a frown. “You’ve got to be.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I’m just that good.”

  “Nope. You lost your first hand, and now you won’t stop winning.” He leaned back in his seat and looked under the table. “I bet you’re hiding cards under there.”

  I laughed, so loud and carefree that, if I really thought about it, I’d be shocked. “Yeah, because I carry extra cards with me on the off chance that I’ll play poker somewhere.”

  “Aha!” He pointed at me, his face screaming victory. “You just admitted it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I was being sarcastic, Ford.” I placed my cards on the table facedown and stretched my arms above
my head. “You’re such a sore loser.”

  “No, you’re a cheat—” His ringing cell cut him off, and I glanced over at it, seeing Hut’s name flashing on the screen. He picked it up, his shoulders pulling back as he did. “Ford....yeah, okay. We’ll see you there.” His eyes glazed over as he stared at Quinn. “We gotta shut the party down. The new meet is on.” Quinn stood, already shouting that the party was over as Ford picked up the cards and tied a band around them to keep them together.

  “Next time, I’m gonna beat your ass at poker,” Ford warned me, a slight grin on his face.

  BRODY

  I’d always been good at compartmentalizing. I had the ability to push things to the back of my mind and concentrate on whatever task I’d been given, no matter what.

  But it was different now.

  I couldn’t stop thinking about Lola’s face. I couldn’t stop hearing her words ringing around in my head like constant church bells.

  I should have been in the here and now as I drove Hut from Carson’s to a new meeting point, but I wasn’t. I was in my own head, and I had to get out of it quick. This was a potentially dangerous situation, not only that, but it could mean the end of the case. If the buyer wanted his product tonight, we could take Hut down without a second thought.

  “Did you hear me, Brody?” Hut growled from the passenger seat.

  “Sorry.” I gripped the steering wheel tighter and followed the navigation system’s arrow. We were meeting the buyer in his territory, which meant we had no idea what we were getting into. “What did you say?”

  “I said did you and the guys find Jace?”

  I frowned but smoothed it out as soon as I realized what I was doing. How the hell did he know we’d been looking for him?

  Hut huffed and leaned against the passenger door. “I keep telling you I know everything that happens, but you never seem to believe me.”