by Emilia Finn
“Oh, and you wouldn’t jump for Jules?”
“That’s different!” He points a dangerous finger, once again declaring himself superior to the rest of us. “She’s my wife. She’s carrying my baby. She asks me to jump, I pick her up and bring her with me.”
“She wasn’t always your wife, X. She wasn’t always carrying your baby. You don’t get to claim the world’s most loving relationship and pretend no one else measures up. Scotch and Sammy beat you to it two decades ago.”
“They’re married, too!”
“Right, but most relationships don’t start out with a wedding ring on day one. Just because it’s not you, doesn’t make it not real. There’s a man in your cages right now, and he’s a good man. You cannot convince me otherwise. You think you’re right; so often, you think you’re right. But not this time. Yes, he knows bad people, but he’s not a bad person. He doesn’t deserve to become Hayes’ new target. If you arrest him, if you send him away, you sign his death warrant. If he wasn’t here, I would be dead.” At his denial, I nod. “I would be dead. That’s not a catchphrase, not a euphemism, not an exaggeration. You’d have a dead sister. You’re all about family, X. How is he bad, when he saved your family?”
“You’re looking for loopholes! You’re looking for gray area. Robbing a bank and then handing a twenty to a homeless guy doesn’t excuse you for robbing the bank!”
“No, but that twenty might’ve saved that homeless man’s life. How can that be discounted? Not only aren’t we talking about a random homeless guy, but we’re talking about me. Will you trade me for an arrest simply because you’re a stubborn ass?”
“I’m not being stubborn! I’m upholding the law. How am I the bad guy here?”
“Because you’re not listening to me! This isn’t black and white, Alex. Just like that time Oz shot Thomas. He put a bullet in his brain to protect you, when he could’ve easily shot him in the arm and disabled him. Just like you could’ve charged Marc for hurting Luc, but you didn’t. You pretend to live oh so fucking proper–”
“Don’t swear at me, Jessica! Don’t disrespect me.”
“You pretend to be so proper, but you find loopholes all the time. Marc should have been charged for what he did to my brother. Luc should have been questioned at the very least for attacking fuckface Drew with a plank of wood. But nothing! Oz should have been investigated, but he wasn’t. Because they’re family, and we trust they made fair choices under pressure. Kane is my family, and I trust him! You don’t know him, and that’s fine. But you know me. Trust me! Believe me!”
“He won’t sell Hayes.”
No, he won’t. “But we could at least make the offer. Help me, Alex. Don’t kill him just because you’re set on pigeonholing him into a monochromatic world. You don’t know him, but I do. He’s the most protective, most loyal, and the kindest man I know. I won’t let him die because you’re in a bad mood. And if you get what you want right now, he will die. Abel won’t let him live.”
He scrubs broad hands through his hair and bites off an oath as he resumes lapping the boardroom. Stopping at the end of the long table, his bright eyes come back to me. “He shot at me!”
“If he shot at you, you’d be dead. I’ve spent the last week at a shooting range with him. I watched him hit target after target. He never misses, X. Never.”
“He was holding the gun.”
I shrug. “He could’ve been holding a rocket launcher with your name painted on the side, I don’t care. If he wanted you dead, you’d be dead. He knows who you are to me. He might not give a damn about your feelings, but he cares about mine. Killing you would piss me off.”
“Piss you off? Really, Jessica?” His eyes flare. “Not sad. No mourning. Just piss you off?”
“The way you’re acting right now? Yup. In fact, I’m tempted to shoot you myself. I’ve been practicing and I have surprising accuracy.”
“Oh, nice.” He throws his hands up. “Way to show your loyalty.”
“You threatened Luc with a gun once. I thought that was the game we were playing.”
“I wouldn’t have shot him!”
I roll my eyes. “That’s convenient for you to say right now, now that you’re up on your soapbox. But the jury’s still out on whether I pull the trigger. Your bad attitude pisses me off.”
“Bad attitude? Bad att…” He turns to Oz. Then to Jules. Turning away, he throws his hands up again. “Someone else have a go. I can’t deal with brats. I’m going to find my criminal and give him three seconds to sing. If he doesn’t, he loses the opportunity.”
“No!” I push my chair back until it slams against the wall, sprint around my sister, and crash into Alex in the doorway. “You don’t give him three seconds. And you don’t give him ultimatums. He won’t respond to those. Let me talk to him.” Before Alex finishes shaking his head, I push him back and risk thirty days in lockup for assaulting the chief.
I need to get to Kane first. I need to talk sense into him.
I’d move to Bumfuck Kentucky with him. I’d live on a chicken farm and raise goats and llamas. I’d do anything if it kept him safe and out of Abel’s hands.
Two sets of heavy boots race to catch me as I sprint down the hall. I slide along the smooth concrete near the cell door and cry out at the empty space. I spin to search for him, as though he might be hiding behind a bar.
But it’s empty.
He’s gone.
“Nice, Jess.” Chest heaving, hand on his hip, Alex glares. “He cares about you. He cares how you feel. He’s not a bad man. Did you plan a prison break together?”
“No.” My hands shake.
“Did he tell you where he was going?”
“No.” My chest crushes my heart.
“Did he tell you he loves you back? Ever?”
“No.”
Turning, Alex shakes me until my teeth snap together. “He’s not a good man, Jess! He shot at an officer tonight. He’s a killer. He works for criminals.”
“No.”
“He. Used. You. He’s been playing you all along. Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. He used you. How does that feel?”
Worse than death.
30
Jess
Involuntary Leave
The station fills with bodies – men and women, officers that I know, others I’ve never met. Special Agent Douchecanoe walks around like he’s been riding a horse for a week. His glittering eyes come back to Laine and me over and over again, but as far as I know, Alex hasn’t told him of the traitor in the ranks.
Just that they lost their man.
Units are set up. Teams split. Firearms loaded.
Each time a gun is clipped into a holster, my heart hitches and leaves tears in my eyes. Each time they discuss takedown procedures, my lungs fold in and refuse me oxygen.
Each time the words ‘we want him alive’ passes someone’s lips, my jaw wobbles. But not nearly as bad as when someone counters with ‘but only if you can manage it safely. Officer safety comes first. If he’s armed, you do what you’ve gotta do to make it home to your family.’
They’re going to kill him.
Either my brother will kill him, or Abel will kill him.
This is what Kane said all along; he’ll die before he goes to prison. He knew where this was going. He’s been saying goodbye all week, which is why he taught me to defend myself. Someone is going to shoot him tonight, and he went into the job knowing he probably wouldn’t come back out safely.
And he never told me he loves me.
Three hours after Kane’s grand escape, when the sun breaks over the horizon and my ass has officially turned numb, when Jules’ glare makes me want to roll into the fetal position, and my cell remains ominously silent – because I’m still a gullible fool, and I find myself hoping he’ll text – the police station empties but for a few clerical staff and one junior deputy.
It hurts. Every breath I take feels like razor blades in my lungs.
“I though
t you wanted your career, Jess.” Jules stops in front of me and my sister. “I thought the sixteen-hour days proved how hungry you were for this.”
I nod at the floor and sigh. “I do, Jules. Nothing has changed.”
“Everything has changed.” The opposite to her husband, Jules chooses silence and reasoning over Alex’s shouting. Jules’ approach is way worse. The ‘I’m disappointed’ talk always hurts. “You’re risking your career over this.”
“He’s not a bad person, Jules.” I look up and meet her sad eyes. “There’s more to this. There must be stuff I don’t know, because he’s not a bad person. Sometimes he does bad things, but we all do what we have to do.”
“Selling illegal firearms and drugs is not what we have to do.”
“I’ve never seen him sell anything. Not once. I’ve seen him hurt people, but they were bad people.”
“You don’t get to be the jury here, Jess. That’s not for you to decide.”
“I’m not deciding for the courts. I’m deciding for me. I trust him. I know him. And I know he’s a good man. He didn’t ditch to hurt me.” He’s doing it to protect me. I don’t know how or why, but whatever he’s doing, it’s to protect me.
“I need you to step back from this.” Jules’ whisper breaks my heart. “I’m not firing you, but you will take leave until this is straightened out. If I knew this was how it would go, I wouldn’t have handed that file over. You’re so overworked, so tired and stressed; you have your bar exam sneaking up, you’re studying and working, and I only compounded the issue.”
“I’m not delusional from exhaustion, Jules! Sure, I’m tired, but so are you. I’m overworked, but so is every single other person I know. That doesn’t mean I’m making decisions that aren’t me.”
“You have exams to study for. Do that. I need you to stay away from the office for a little while. Not only are you risking your career, but you’re risking everything I’ve worked for. If it was still Arthur’s firm, you’d be on your ass.”
“If I was anyone else, anyone except your husband’s little sister, would you fire me?”
Rubbing her belly, she chews on her bottom lip. “Yes.” Releasing her lip, she sighs. “Yes. If it was anyone else, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. I’d have thrown your office plaque into the street already, because what you’ve done is wrong. This is bigger than just you, Jess. This is everything I ever worked for, and you’ve put it all at risk. You’re forcing me and Alex into that gray area; he didn’t tell the special agent asshole about you dating their mark yet. That’s pretty damn black and white. I didn’t mention it either, and you bet your ass I won’t be making a public announcement. My firm has a reputation to maintain, and my best staff dating a criminal is kinda frowned upon.”
“It’s not how it seems, Jules. I swear it’s not. I don’t have all the puzzle pieces yet, but I can’t be wrong about this. I feel it in my stomach. If he was bad, I’d have run already. He’s not bad.”
31
Kane
Work To Do
It takes everything in my body to slide out through the back dock of the police station rather than run into the boardroom and snatch Jess up. She argues with her family – shouting my innocence and pleading for my freedom.
She’s so sure I’m a good person, but I’ve never shown her that. I’ve committed crime after crime in front of her, and yet, she so vehemently believes I deserve freedom.
I slip into the darkness without bothering to hide my face – the security cams will see me leave, and they already know it’s me. I simply run through the garage door and hit the street at a sprint.
I have ten minutes before they figure it out.
I have a lot of work to do tonight.
I sprint through moonlit front yards without a single weapon on me. Alex took them all when I was arrested, and without them, I feel naked. Vulnerable. Way too fucking exposed.
I duck under a mulberry tree and jump a low fence. I outrun a snapping dog and swear when house lights flicker on.
Alex will be able to follow my trail so fuckin’ easily, I may as well tie myself to a tree in Main Street and wait for them.
But I won’t, because I have men to kill. I have work to do. I have to find Jay. And I have to find Abel, because I bet my left fucking nut he’s right here in town.
His passport says one thing, his flight itinerary backs it up, but I know better.
I race through a well-kept front yard on a street that every mid-income family lives in, dash up the front stairs, push through the front door, and start collecting supplies.
Every step through the home I take, I pray I’ll stumble across Jay. Like maybe he’s been here all along. Like maybe he’s still hungover and resting, and my Jess-filled brain just didn’t see him.
But that’s not true.
My brother is dead, and I don’t know where Abel put his body.
I’ll find that out, too, before Abel is dealt with.
Jay deserves a proper burial. He deserves somewhere safe to rest. Somewhere Jess can visit on my behalf and send him love.
“Bishop?”
Spinning, I glance up the stairs and stop when my eyes meet Eric’s. With a silver and wood grain Sig Saur clasped in his large hands, he watches me. “Are you ready to move?”
I shake my head and keep going. “Not yet. I have loose ends to tie up.”
“The girl?”
“Is none of your business. She’s safe for now. She’s at the cop shop.” I stop at the safe with my backpack in one hand and work the combination, sliding guns and magazines in when it opens. “She’s a fuckin’ twin, Eric. Did you know that?”
“Ah, nope.” He lazily moves down the stairs and stops beside me. “Can’t say I knew that. I didn’t look her up, since you so stubbornly told me she’s none of my business.”
“Identical! They’re fuckin’ identical.”
“Abel doesn’t know that.”
“I dunno. He never mentioned it. But now he has two targets. I gotta make it safe for them first.”
“You said she’s with the cops. She’s safe.”
“She’s not safe!” I slam the now empty safe closed and begin working guns into my clothes. I strap holsters to my thighs and think of her. “She’s not safe. Turner will do his best, but he doesn’t know what we know. He doesn’t even know she’s truly in danger.”
“Why’d you leave her there?”
“Because I can’t do shit from behind bars. I couldn’t snatch her, because Turner would’ve put a bullet in my brain before I moved an inch.”
Nodding, he scratches his leg with the butt of his gun. “Who let you out?”
“Riley. As soon as they moved into the boardroom, he switched the security feed off and let me out.”
“He’s still on our side?”
I push a magazine into the gun I keep on my back – the gun Jess used to shoot at me – then reaching into my pocket, I toss the stack of photos of Jess’ sister into his hands. “Destroy these. Don’t look at them, just destroy.”
I attempt to move away, but he reaches out and pulls me to a stop. “Kane! Is Riley ours or Abel’s?”
“He gave me my cell, the pictures, and a ten-minute window to run. He’s not on Abel’s side, anyway.”
“Is Turner? Is he dirty?”
“No. He’s not in Abel’s pocket. Not a chance in hell. He’s dirty for his family. He’ll break the law to keep them safe, but he doesn’t belong to Abel.”
“So what’s your next step?”
“I’m out. I was arrested, so Abel’s gonna have me taken out. I need to deal with him, with Jess, with another fuckface I’ve still gotta find.”
“Who’s the fuckface?”
Swinging the bag over my shoulder, I jog toward the kitchen and pull the fridge door open. “The twin’s boyfriend.” Not Jess’. Those pictures weren’t Jess. She wasn’t with him yesterday. “He’s gonna kill her.”
“He’s gonna kill the twin? Which one?”
“The other one! He’s been selling her, Eric. She was a club whore and I didn’t even know it.”
Eric stops in front of me and snags the bottle of water from my hands before I can chug it down. “You’re gonna take a man down because he’s pimping his girlfriend?”
“I’m going to take him down because she belongs to Jess.”
“And Jess is yours?”
“Yup.” I snatch the bottle back and fling the cap off.
“You’re compromised, Bishop. We need to get out of town, not go on a vigilante mission to beat up your friend’s boyfriend. You’ve been under too long. You’re losing your grasp on reality.”
“Nope. I know exactly where I am. I know who I am. I know what I’m doing. And I’m not just gonna beat him up. I’m gonna pull his nut sack out of his asshole.” I point with the bottle and nod. “I’m going off script. You can tell the brass whatever the fuck you want, but I’m not coming in until it’s done. There’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
“I can stop you, Bish. I have seniority.”
“Fuck your seniority, Cap. Did you find Jay yet?”
The man in front of me – the third on my list of three trusted people on this planet – watches me through stormy eyes rimmed with sandy blonde lashes. “No. I’m calling in favors. I’m calling everyone I know that might be able to help.”
“He’s gone?”
He nods. “He’s somewhere. I promise we’ll find him.”
“That’s on you. I need you to find my brother, because we need to give him peace. Abel doesn’t know about you. He doesn’t know about this place. So you need to stay low and find Jay, and I’ve gotta go find a real estate agent and show him what happens when he fucks with mine.”
Eric follows as I push away from the fridge. “I can’t believe where your priorities are right now, Bish! You have other work to do. You have a job to do, an empire to tear down, a fuckin’ kingpin to put away, but you’re stepping up for a girl you’re not even with.”