by Mimi Barbour
“Why do you want to see him?” The older man’s thick eyebrows met above a frown that made rookies shake in their boots. It had had that effect on Cory back in the day when he’d called this tough guy Sarge.
“It’s personal.”
“Nothing’s personal with my men. Lawson’s gone through a tough time lately. The man will be receiving a special commendation for his outstanding bravery. He went above and beyond. Therefore, I’d stand in the way of anyone messing with him right now, even you.”
Cory’s ears perked up and he relaxed the tightness in his shoulders and inched back from the righteous indignation that swept him every time he thought of the prick. He’d come prepared to play whatever hand necessary to get to the guy and beat the crap out of him. A punishment well deserved in Cory’s estimation.
Playing fast and loose with a cop like Aurora Morelli, not to mention that Aurora was one of Cory’s best friends, then leaving her pregnant and heartsick was as low as a man could go.
It would satisfy the revengeful devil in him to punch the guy’s lights out. Not that he’d mention any of this to the keen-eyed man across from him. Especially after the Captain’s last statement.
“I need to understand, Bob. Trust me. It’s really important.” He suffered the other’s gimlet-eyed gaze and didn’t back down one iota. This had to be settled… now!
“Fine. I’ll tell you what I know but only because you look like a man itching for a fight. What I have to share might change your mind.”
He passed a steaming, strong scented mug of coffee to Cory and set his own down on the table across. Hitching up his pant legs, he sat in the chair opposite.
“When Lawson first came back to L.A. all fucked up, his words not mine, his dilemma took him to one of the seedier nightclubs in town to drown his sorrows. While there, the stepson of a kingpin, an Italian gang we’ve had our sights on for a long time, happened to drop in to the same place. Cutting to the chase, Lawson saved the guy’s life. Stepped into a fight, took down four men to rescue the jerk and won daddy’s deepest appreciation.”
“Must have pissed you off to have one of yours behaving so irresponsibly.” Cory stopped the chuckle after seeing the straight expression on the hard face of the man across from him. “And…?”
“Our boys were new and they didn’t recognize him as one of ours, so along with the other drunks; they pulled him in for disturbing the peace, assault and a few other misdemeanours.” Captain Powers stopped to take a sip of coffee.
Hmmm. This was getting more and more interesting. Cory also sipped the hot brew and watched the captain organize his thoughts before continuing.
“I happened to be in late that night and became aware of the unusual circumstances surrounding his arrest. You must understand, we’d been trying to infiltrate that bunch for quite some time and Lawson’s behaviour that night had given us the most opportune break we’ve had to date.”
Cory slammed down his mug. “You set him up!”
“I gave him a chance to do his job.” Hard and biting, the man revealed his authority in his piercing tone.
Cory looked away and took a deep breath, releasing the burning indignation that had blown up on behalf of the man he’d once loved and called friend. Forced to admit that as mad as he was at Kai, dammit, he still cared about the stupid bastard, he stroked the rage to keep in under control.
“What happened?”
“The mob lawyered him up and bailed him out, along with Sonny, the stepson of the boss who offered him a job as his kid’s bodyguard.”
“And he took it?” Christ! So that’s what happened! At peace now, Cory sat back to hear the rest.
“Truthfully, the man didn’t feel as if he had a choice. His own sense of justice, plus a few pertinent words from me, coerced him into taking it in order to bring down the scum. No one imagined it would go on for so long, though. Thing is, he got deeper into their gang politics than anyone else had ever managed.”
“What’s their names?”
“Father is Dominic Angeli. Sonny is the punk Kai’s been babysitting. You might know them as the Angeli mob. They’re pretty infamous on the west coast for their interests in extortion, money laundering trafficking, prostitution…”
“Not to mention smuggling and counterfeiting. Yeah, I know about them. They’ve been a boil on our backside for quite some time. Thing is, I heard the father disliked the stepson and kept him out of the loop.”
“He did. And Sonny ended up pissed about it. Being that he’s far worse than his old man, and craved leadership in the organization, we’re pretty sure he was instrumental in the old man’s death.”
“Was? Sounds as if there were new developments.”
“Thanks to Lawson, last week we were able to catch them red-handed with a load of young hijacked girls bound for the dens in the east and a shitload of drugs being shipped alongside the human cargo. He set up a sting that worked like a charm except for one thing.”
“What’s that?” Cory sensed the drama and knew he wasn’t going to like the answer. He didn’t.
“Lawson was shot in the line of duty, took one in the arm and the chest. Don’t look so worried, he’s getting better every day, enough to drive the hospital staff crazy. In fact, I received notice a few hours ago that he’d signed himself out and has taken leave.”
“Then he’ll be at his old place?”
“If he’s keeping his ass outta trouble.”
Chapter Six
Weary and heartsick, Kai returned to his apartment to find a dusty, cold shell of a home. Captain Powers had made arrangements for one of the flunkies to periodically check the joint, pick up his mail, which was scattered over his table, and water his artificial plant if the Chinese pot now filled to the brim yielded a clue. Dumber than stumps, some of those guys. He shook his head, sighed and looked around.
At one time, he’d been proud of his place. His man-cave, he had all the guy things that make a residence home for a regular sports-loving, game-playing, popular with a lot of friends kind of dude. A big-screen TV took the central position against the wall and the man-size comfy brown leather couches and chairs circled it.
First thing he tackled—listening to his totally filled answering machine took more guts than standing in front of a maniac firing a weapon in his direction.
The first call had recorded Aurora’s soft voice pleading for him to come back so they could talk. Telling him she had a reason for the actions she’d taken by killing Rhondo. Begging for his support during her ordeal while under investigation.
The inquest had happened quickly and he’d done everything he could from L.A. He’d written a statement to exonerate her, explaining that she’d returned fire and might have saved lives by her actions.
A misrepresentation, but the investigators didn’t need to know that. Both he and Cory had shot to disarm the crazed man; Aurora had taken the final unnecessary shot, aiming for his heart. A traitorous move since just moments earlier she’d begged him not to kill Rhondo, to let justice run its course.
He still had no idea how she justified her actions to the committee. The difference was that he now knew she could and her reasoning would be sound.
Her tear-filled voice during the next few messages, telling him she loved him and needed him, tore away all the armor he’d built up over the last months he’d been forced to stay away. Aware of how tough it would have been for Aurora to lower herself made his shame intensify to where it was hard to contain.
The weepy invitation beseeching him to accept her love bit into his soul, leaving a scorching wound that weakened every bone in his body with regret and self-loathing. He pounded his knees with clenched fists.
Then the final message played. Aurora’s angry sobbing tore into Kai’s wretched conscience and ripped his heart to shreds.
“Kai, in case you give a shit, I’m going crazy trying to put our baby’s crib together. I have no doubt a lunatic—most likely a man—wrote these directions when he was either drunk or high
. You are a piece of shit and if our baby falls when this son-a-bitchin thing breaks, it’ll be your fault. I hope you rot in hell for leaving me alone to deal with all this.”
The slamming receiver made Kai wince. Ruefully, he felt a small sense of relief when the answering device announced it as being the final call saved.
Her angry words left him shaken to the core. My God, I’m a daddy! Aurora had conceived his baby and had been forced to go through the experience without him. Oh God! Could it get any worse?
He slumped down on the dusty sofa and lowered his head into his shaking hands. The vision her voice resurrected gnawed into his sorry soul.
Deep undercover, he’d had no choice but to stick to the plan. To give up all his contacts, all connections to his old life and live the lie he’d taken on since that never-to-be-forgotten night. When he’d stepped in to fight another man’s battle.
He’d won his freedom. The case had ended well for the LAPD. Even though in the final battle he’d taken a couple of bullets, which still hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, the mob now resided behind bars.
The two Angeli men, Dominic and Sonny, were dead and the drug ring completely busted. The last weapon haul had revealed the Mexican connection and they were also squashed.
Eleven months of undercover duty had sapped a lot out of Kai, he knew it. Not only because of the barely healed wound in his chest and the burning pain in his arm, but the aching in his heart made him feel pitiful and lower than a slug looking for a hole to crawl into.
Every day he’d urged the doctors to release him after they’d operated and removed the bullet. Working everything out in his head, he’d planned his strategy in getting Aurora to allow him back into her life. He didn’t hold out much hope that she’d let him love her again, but man, he had to try. Either that or he’d never be able to face himself while shaving again without wanting to cut his own throat.
That had been his plan up until hearing her words—words that delighted and terrified him all at the same time. Christ, he, Kai Lawson, womanizer and total prick, was now a father. A sob clawed at the back of his throat, fighting viciously to be released. Son of a bitch, he’d messed up big-time.
More tired than he could ever remember, he put his head back against the sofa, wiped the rogue tears staining his cheeks and let his exhaustion win. An image of Aurora cuddling his baby made his hand swipe his cheek again before he succumbed to exhaustion.
***
In Kai’s dream Sonny appeared shaken but victorious, blood stained his cheek and the gun clenched in his hand stunk from being recently fired.
To make sure Kai didn’t interfere, one of the new men had coldcocked him with a slam to the back of his head. The same prick he’d seen laughing and drinking with Sonny the day before. Slowly, he lurched to his feet.
“What the fuck are you thinking, Sonny?” Kai’s voice sounded hoarse and weak even to himself.
Sonny turned to him, and for an instant, Kai read the fear in his eyes. Blinking nervously, Sonny scanned the room, moving from one uneasy man to the next. “I’m sick of taking the shit from old Dominic. I’m the man now and anyone who doesn’t like it can leave.”
Earlier, they’d been called into the clubhouse and led to the back rooms where Dominic held council in a space he called his own. Kai sensed a lot of tension. He’d noticed the quivering excitement in his skinny boss who’d strutted and preened more than normal—as if he alone knew something was up and couldn’t wait for it to happen.
Recently there had been a distinct unsettling among the men. Dominic had turned into a brutal dictator, pressured by the Mexicans to either deliver more markets or they’d find someone who could.
And keeping Sonny under wraps over the last few weeks had been more difficult than usual He’d found himself a woman. Secretly, the cold-eyed blonde bitch had tried to put the move on Kai and failed.
Sly, with one priority, Maylene worked Sonny like a lion tamer training a cat. With a lying, pandering tongue for her whip and a body men craved as her hypothetical chair, she had Sonny on his knees as her loyal, adoring worshipper.
In Sonny’s eyes, she could do no wrong. Playing him, she’d filled his head with nonsense about how strong and brave a man she’d found herself and Sonny lapped it up. Kai had no doubt she was behind Sonny’s decision for this takeover.
Obviously aware that Kai would try and stop him for his own good, Sonny had had Kai taken out of the scene while he’d killed Dominic.
Shocked by the unexpected state of events, Dominic’s personal bodyguard stormed to the door. “I’m not working for anyone who kills their own family.”
Before Kai could step in, the bullet from Sonny’s gun now in Maylene’s hand hit the retreating man square in the back. He dropped to his knees, and though he reached for his weapon, his face hit the floor first. That put paid to anyone else making the same choice. Sonny had become ‘the Man.’ With shinning eyes and a cruel smirk, Maylene handed back Sonny’s gun and stepped up to curl herself around him.
Within days, Sonny, between dealing with his hysterical mother who believed her husband had been shot by an opposing gang member, and the men who wanted strong direction for how things were to now work, started unravelling.
He turned to Kai constantly, and in no time, Kai had all the information he required about the times, drop-off zones and the names he’d need to bring the whole operation down.
Also, now that Sonny had Maylene to satisfy, he loosened the reins that had kept Kai tied to him like a pup on a leash. This had given Kai time to make other necessary arrangements which led to the final battle and his new set of nightmares….
The ringing of a doorbell dragged him from his realistic dreams and brought him back to the land of the living. Discombobulated, he looked at his watch and realized he’d been passed out most of the day.
Carefully standing up like a victim of old age, he moved toward the door to check the peep-hole. There were a very few people he’d open for, and after checking carefully, he realized one of them had given up the bell and was reaching with his big hand to fist-thump the door.
He unlocked it and stepped aside, waiting for the shit to fly. His suspicion that his old friend Cory had it in for him couldn’t be wrong. Beside the fact that Ashton’s anger was totally justified, Kai knew there was no way he could or would fight back.
Chapter Seven
On the way to the call, Hampton filled in Aurora with the information he’d gotten. “Highway patrol happened to be at the scales just outside of town when a semi pulled in. Seems the driver panicked for some reason when he was asked to open the back for a search. He shot and killed the cop. Then he drove off in a big hurry.”
“They have a description of the truck and driver?”
“The scale operator dove for cover. He’s pretty shook up and isn’t much help. Truck was white. Driver was a male.”
“Shit! How many thousands of trucks going through town every day fit that description? Any security cameras in place that work?”
“Let’s hope we’ll be so lucky.”
Twenty minutes later, Aurora faced the fact that they had nothing to go on. The coroner arrived and confirmed that the officer been shot with a handgun, most likely a .45.
The security tape only revealed the shooting. Not the face of the shooter nor any markings or the license of the truck. There were no witnesses except for the gibbering idiot whose eyes were glazed with shock. He hadn’t said anything helpful since they’d first arrived and started questioning him.
Aurora stood outside and tried to cool her temper. Stupid fool was less than useless. The ringing in her head began gently, and as she moved to the grass on the side of the road, it increased enough to gain her attention. She scanned the area and saw tracks that had rutted the grass further up the turnoff. They looked exactly like what one would expect from a vehicle that had driven off in a great hurry.
“Hampton!” Gaining his attention, she waved him over. “Whadaya think? Could these be tra
cks from our perp?”
“God love ya, Aurora. I think you’re onto something.” First he called the yellow-shirted officers to tape off the area and then he headed to his car to call in a team to take imprints of the tires. In the meantime, Aurora had her camera and took pictures from every angle. If by some miracle the tires had any distinguishing marks, and they found the truck to match, they’d have evidence to put it at the scene.
Aurora returned to the building and asked them to replay the video once again. This time, on a hunch, she turned up the volume as high as it would go. A very slight head action by the patrolman just before he approached the front of the truck made her aware that he might have heard something. Something that had forced him to demand that the truck driver open the back. Maybe it was that order that had precipitated his death.
“What’s up, Aurora?” Ham stopped beside her while she waited for the tape to restart once again to where the truck had pulled up.
“What kind of a truck is it?”
“Peterbilt, maybe twenty years old,” he answered. They both watched as it came to a stop on the scales. The patrolman stood reviewing a pile of papers in his hands when something made his head jerk upwards. He turned to look at the load, hesitated for a few seconds and put the forms down.
Slowly, unclipping his gun but leaving it his holster, he walked to the passenger window. His lips moved as he issued an order and then his body jerked twice and dropped seconds before the truck sped off with a torrent of black smoke pouring out of the exhaust.
“Turn the volume up as far as possible,” Aurora demanded. Didn’t help. They couldn’t hear anything, but Aurora knew in her gut that the officer on the scene did hear something. And it was enough for his suspicion to be ignited and for him to follow it up with demands.
Ham coughed but heavy emotion still rang in his voice. “Damn I hate watching a good man fall. This scum cop-killer is number one on my catch list from now on. You have any ideas, Aurora?”