I blew out a breath and leaned back in the chair. Everything was moving too fast, and it was taking my brain a few minutes to catch up with everything. She was right, though. One step at a time. Get this appointment done, and then I could tackle the rest.
“Here.” Jan passed me the clipboard back. “Fill in the rest.”
I stared down at the paper and she’d filled most things in. All I needed to add was my last name, my birth date, and my social security number. She’d even added herself and Sal as emergency contacts. I focused on my task, filling it in, and I’d only just clipped the pen to the top when someone called my name.
“Do you want me to come in with you?” Jan asked.
“No.” I shook my head. I had to tackle at least one thing today on my own. “I’ll be okay.”
“Good.” She smiled the kind of smile my mom used to give me when I was a little girl and I’d done something to make her proud. “I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
“Thanks, Jan.” I walked over to the woman waiting next to the door that would lead to the examination rooms and handed her my clipboard.
“This way, Miss Martin.”
I wanted to tell her it was Lola. Just Lola. But my words had made a hasty retreat, and my mouth refused to work.
She led me into a room, shutting the door behind us. “If you get undressed, the sonographer will come in and do the ultrasound scan. Then the doctor will come and see you.”
I stared at the bed and the big machine next to it. “O-okay.”
She turned around, opened the door, and exited, leaving me on my own with my thoughts. It was a dangerous place to be right then, but Jan’s words echoed in my head. One step at a time. Step one was to get undressed, and I did so with shaky fingers and a stomach that thought it was on a roller coaster. I pulled on the paper-type gown that was on the bed and stood there, waiting. Should I actually get onto the bed? Or did I—
The door swung open, and a woman with graying hair and light-blue eyes appeared. “Lola Martin?”
I nodded and clutched my hands in front of me as she clicked the door closed. “That’s me.”
“Wonderful.” She moved over to the machine and sat on the small rolling stool in front of it. “Take a seat while I get us all set up.”
Trying to keep your dignity in a paper-like gown and climb onto one of those beds was almost impossible, but the woman didn’t seem to notice. Either that, or she’d seen it several times over.
“I’m Joy Grey.” She clicked some keys and looked over at me. “We’ll be doing an internal ultrasound today. Is that okay?”
“I...yeah.”
She plucked a wand-type thing off the side of the machine and covered it with what looked like a condom and then squirted something on it. “I know this can be scary,” she said, her soft voice relaxing me. “But it’ll all be over in seconds.”
I swallowed and opened my legs when she told me to. I wasn’t sure what to expect when she pushed the wand inside, but it didn’t hurt, and seconds later, the screen lit up. She turned it so I could see it better and moved her fingers on a ball between the two sides of the keyboard, creating lines on the screen.
“There it is,” she announced, a big smile on her face.
I froze, not really sure what I was looking at. “What…”
She chuckled and created a yellow circle around a white blob. “This is baby. From my measurements, I’d say you were around seven weeks along.” She clicked another button, and a thumping echoed from the machine, almost like horse hooves. “And that, Mom, is baby’s heartbeat.”
A lump formed in my throat, tears leaking from my eyes like water from a broken tap, but I did nothing to stop them. “My baby,” I whispered, staring at the screen in awe.
Something happened at that moment.
My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest, and my world seemed to brighten. It didn’t matter what would happen to me from this moment on. It didn’t matter if Hut found me, and it didn’t matter if Brody was only in my life to be a father. All that mattered was that little blob on the screen.
My baby.
Chapter Twenty-Six
BRODY
“It’s happening,” I grunted down the line to Jord. “Suit up.”
I ended the call and leaned against the side of the SUV as I waited for Ford, Hut, and Quinn. The last week had been quiet, at least as quiet as it could get with Hut on the rampage. He’d been sending people searching for Jace and Lola, but no one had found either of them. A couple of people had come close to finding Lola, but I thwarted their attempts before they could get too close.
I may have told her she wasn’t enough for me. I may have walked away from her for good. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t protect her. I was doing what was right for all of us. She didn’t know what it meant to have me in her life. She didn’t understand the danger she was already in, never mind what would come her way. It was the best thing for her. That was what I kept telling myself.
I’d lost my head for a second, but now everything was back in its rightful place. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t smiled in days. It didn’t matter that my chest hurt. It didn’t matter that my heart had been shredded to pieces. All that mattered were the people I’d made a commitment to. I was here to do a job—nothing more.
And today, that job would end.
Footsteps pounded and a door slammed as they all piled out of the house, ready for this exchange. Everything we’d been working toward for the last six months had come down to this. Normally, my body would be buzzing with an energy I couldn’t contain, but today it was absent. I just wanted to get it over and done with, and then to go back to my life. I had some rebuilding to do.
Hut didn’t say a word as he sat in the passenger seat and I climbed in behind him. Ford took his usual spot as the driver and Quinn next to me. A dark cloud had resided over Hut and everything he did since Lola had left, and I’d realized she kept him grounded. She’d kept some of his darkness at bay with her light, but he didn’t deserve it. Had we not been so close to ending this case, I’d have taught him a lesson on how to treat the people you cared about most.
I was a hypocrite.
I’d hurt the people I was meant to care about most by getting closer than I should have with Lola, but I hadn’t cared at the time. I’d done what I’d wanted, not a second thought for the consequences ahead. I wasn’t violent, but I’d hurt people just the same.
I ground my teeth together, shuffling on the seat and feeling my gun at my back. It would be drawn today, that much I was sure of.
“You all ready for this?” Hut asked, a hitch in his tone. He was about to deal with some of the biggest players in the States, and his nerves were obvious.
We all grunted our replies as Ford pulled to a stop in front of Jack’s house, the warehouse Hut had brought me to all those months ago. The product never sat there long, maybe a few hours, half a day at most, so this was the ideal time to do this. Capture them in the midst of the deal.
Jack wasn’t sitting on his wraparound porch like last time, he was probably hiding away in the house until the deal was done, but that didn’t mean he’d get off free. He’d be arrested, just like everyone else in this car.
Tires crunched on gravel, and an SUV pulled to a stop next to us. No one moved for a second, and then Hut jumped out. We all followed after him, Eduardo and his guards joining us.
“Welcome!” Hut said, spreading his arms wide as if he was welcoming them to a show about to take place.
My lips twitched. A show was going to take place, he just didn’t know it yet.
“Hutton,” Eduardo greeted and tilted his head to the side. “The product?”
“Ahhh, yes.” He took a step toward the warehouse. “Right this way.”
We all followed him and watched as he put the code into the lock, scrambling the numbers afterward, and I shook my head. He still hadn’t learned that bolt cutters would work.
Ford and Quinn stepped for
ward and pulled both giant doors open, but it wasn’t until Ford switched the light on that my stomach dipped and my body vibrated. It was the biggest amount of cocaine I’d seen in one sitting, and we were about to take it all away from him. Not only would he be out by a lot of fuckin' money, but his name would be dragged through the mud. You only had to have one buy interrupted by law enforcement, and the trust evaporated.
Eduardo whistled and sauntered forward. “This is a lot of snow.”
“The best snow you’ll find too,” Hut said like he was a proud father talking about his son’s achievements on the football field.
I stayed toward the back, keeping my gaze on them for a second and then flicking it out toward the SUVs. It would only be a matter of minutes until the guys showed up with reinforcements, but I itched to take Hut down. I wanted that fucker all to myself.
“I think I should be the judge of that.” Eduardo raised his brows. “Let’s have a taste.”
Hut grinned and pulled one of the blocks away, piercing his knife into it and offering it to Eduardo. He shook his head and crooked his finger at one of his men.
“I don’t use my own product.” His knowing eyes stayed focused on Hut, letting him know he knew what he did with his product. “It’s detrimental to the business.”
His guy stepped forward, taking the knife off Hut whose nostrils were flared at the obvious put down from Eduardo. I wanted to laugh at the exchange, but I was counting down the minutes until this was all over. Until Hut was in cuffs, locked away, and finally, Lola would be safe—from both him and me.
“It’s good,” his guy said in his deep baritone.
“Great.” Eduardo clapped his hands together and grinned like he was the cat who had gotten the cream. “Go fetch the payment.”
You’d think in the twenty-first century, bags of money wouldn’t be exchanged at a deal. With the technology that was now available, you could transfer it in seconds, but Hut was old school. At least that was what he tried to say. I knew he was full of it and just liked to stare at the green notes.
A couple of Eduardo’s guys walked out of the warehouse and toward his SUV, and we all waited on tenterhooks. My cell vibrated in my pocket, signaling they were close, and I inhaled a breath. All I needed was the money to be handed to Hut, and then I could send the signal.
Ten bags were brought into the warehouse and placed at Hut’s feet, one after another. I pulled my cell out, dialing Jord’s number and letting it ring once.
“Nice doing business with you, Hutton.” Eduardo held his hand out, and Hut grasped it. “Until the next—”
Sirens blasted through the air, and I witnessed as, one by one, they all realized they’d been caught with their fingers in the cookie jar. Eduardo and his men were the first to move, but I didn’t care about them. Not yet, anyway. My main focus was Hut.
Doors slammed, and tires squealed, but I didn’t turn to see if Eduardo had gotten away, I kept my focus on Hut as he ran toward me.
“Quick, get the trap door open!”
I lunged forward, gripped his arm, and halted his forward movement. “No.”
“Brody? What the fuck?” His eyes were wild. “We gotta get out of here.” The sirens were so loud now I could barely hear him, which meant they were right here.
“You’re not going anywhere but lockup.”
“What...” He pulled away, and I let him. I could hold his arm in my grip if I wanted to, but I was begging him to fight me. I’d wanted to slam my fist into his face since he first laid hands on Lola, and this would be my opportunity to do just that. “What the fuck is going on?”
Ford and Quinn had made for the trap door, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan and Kyle heading right for them.
Jord whistled. “Well, shit, B, that’s a lot of goddamn snow.”
“Think it’ll be enough to have him rotting away in a cell?” I tilted my head to the side, tracking each of Hut’s movements, and as soon as his arm twitched at his side, I pulled my gun out and aimed it right at him. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Hut asked a second time. He really was dense, or maybe he knew exactly what was happening and was playing the fool.
“You’re being raided.” I shrugged. “What do you think is going on?”
“What—”
“Jesus, B, you didn’t tell me he was a dumb shit to boot,” Jord growled.
“Maybe I just wanted you to find out for yourself.” I grinned at Jord, finally starting to feel like myself again. I’d lost a piece of me to this operation, and I had to get it back again. “Emerson Hutton,” I growled, stepping forward. “You’re under arrest for—”
“No!”
He dived for me, but I was quicker than him. I lifted the butt of my gun and smashed it into the side of his face. He went down instantly, but I followed him, raining my fist into his face a couple of times for good measure.
“That was for Lola.”
“Lola.” Hut groaned, his gaze finding mine. “Does she know you were using her all along?” He laughed, blood flowing out of his mouth as he did. “She never can catch a break, huh?” He shook his head. “I told her I was the only one that cared, but she didn’t listen. Stupid fuckin' whore.”
I didn’t want to hear another word out of his mouth, and apparently neither did Jord because he smashed his fist down onto Hut’s temple, knocking him out for the count.
“Thank fuck for that,” I groaned out, stowing away my gun.
“His whining was annoying me,” Jord said, placing his hands on his hips as he glanced around the warehouse. “Damn. We actually did it.”
“We did.” I nodded, but the rush I was dying to feel didn’t happen. Hut may have been in custody, but what had I destroyed to get him there?
BRODY
I crossed my arms over my chest as I stood in the room, watching through the two-way glass. Hut was sitting at the table, cuffs on his wrists that were attached to a titanium pole on the floor. He wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
I’d expected him to lawyer up right away, but he hadn’t, so we’d let him stew for a few hours, and now it was time to talk to him.
“You ready for this?” Aaron asked as he sauntered into the room.
I didn’t look away from Hut or the dried blood on his face. “Yeah.”
“You did good, Brody.”
“I know,” I answered, finally turning to face my supervisor. “This case took a piece of me, though.”
Aaron stared at me and pushed his hands into the pockets of his slacks. He’d been there nearly every step of my career. He was the one who had asked me to put together my own unit. “Each one does, Brody, there’s no way around that.” He let out an audible breath and stepped closer to me, flicking his gaze to Hut briefly. “But you have to find a way to work through it. This case was different—more intense.”
“I know.” My head rang with his words when he’d first brought us this case. It was personal to him too, but then, weren’t they all? You didn’t go into this job without having a history and something to prove. We all had our demons. It was just capturing them that was the problem. “I’ll be fine, I just need to get this piece of shit locked up and then we can all move on.” I wasn’t sure whether I was talking about us as a team or my family, but it worked the same for either one.
I stepped out of the room and tilted my head to Jord, who waited in the hallway for me, and together we strolled into the interview room. Hut’s gaze met mine, and he didn’t look away as I sat opposite him. His lips lifted into a smirk, probably because he thought he’d get away with it again. He was wrong, though. We’d taken our time to get him, so we knew he couldn’t squirm his way out of this one.
“Emerson.” I grinned, knowing he hated anyone calling him that. Jord handed me a file and moved to the corner of the room, keeping his attention on us. “I hope you’re comfortable,” I remarked as I opened the file on the table.
“Yeah, but I’ll be out of he
re soon so...” He shrugged. The metal from the cuffs and pole clanging against each other. “Just a matter of time.”
“I’m sure you think that.” I started to pull photographs from the file and placed them on the table. Each one was surveillance from the last six months: deals he’d been a part of, Ted’s dead body, and the raid from today. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that these don’t look too good for you.”
He leaned his arms on the table, scanning the pictures, and grinned. He fuckin' enjoyed seeing them. “Such a shame you don’t have one of Lola on here.” He raised a brow and flicked his gaze over to Jord. “Your friend know you were fuckin' my sister?”
I gritted my teeth together, trying to hold in all the words that wanted to escape. He had no idea what had happened between Lola and me. Hell, I couldn’t put into words what had happened between us, but I sure as shit wasn’t going to let him talk smack about her.
“This isn’t about Lola,” I ground out.
He tutted. The bastard tutted at me like I was a first-grader who’d touched something he shouldn’t have. “Now that’s where you’re wrong.” He leaned back in his seat, a smug look on his face like he’d just won a war. “I see you don’t have any evidence from the meeting I brought her to with Carson.”
“Hmm…” I shuffled some more images onto the table. “Looks like we don’t. What a shame. They must have gone missing.”
Jord chuckled from the corner, and Hut zoned in on the sound. He batted his gaze back and forth between the two of us. “You’re protecting her.” He stood and yanked on his cuffs, but I just leaned back and enjoyed the show. He’d never get out of them, and if he hurt himself, it would be his own damn fault.
“I didn’t say that.” I pointed at my chest and looked over at Jord. “Did you say that?”
Fallen Duet: Brody & Lola: Free Fall & Down Fall (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 1) Page 27