Damage: The Men of Law (The Men of Law Series Book 2)

by Casey Clipper

  He immediately dialed back.

  “Dean?” Roy asked before he said a word.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Hannah. She’s in the hospital and Jason’s not answering his phone. Mr. Campbell and Jason went to stake out the one brother,” Roy said, his voice cracking. “Dean, she fell so hard. She tripped and fell down the steps.”

  “I’m on my way. Keep trying to get a hold of Jason.”

  Dean disconnected the call, shoving his feet into his shoes, and ran out of the house while grabbing his jacket. He put on his police lights and rushed to the hospital, arriving within ten minutes. He was directed to Hannah’s room.

  She looked up as he barged in, her eyes filled with fear, her hands on her stomach.

  “Dean,” she choked.

  He flew to her, embracing her against his chest, Hannah clinging to him as if her life hung in the balance. “It’s okay. You’ll be fine. The baby will be fine.”

  She had a gash on her head, stitches already in place.

  “Have you reached Jason?”

  She nodded, wiping her nose on his shirt. “Him and his dad are rushing back. They were in Ohio.”

  Josie’s brother was in Ohio?

  “What happened?”

  “I was so stupid. I was playing around at the top of the steps with Roy. Just being dumb, nothing really, and I fell back. I tumbled the whole way down, except when I landed, my body contorted and I landed on my knee, my stomach hitting off it so hard I threw up. It hurt so bad,” she said, her breath hitching. “Oh god, Dean. What if I hurt the baby? What if I lose the baby?”

  “The baby will be fine. You’d be surprised how resilient pregnant women’s bodies are,” he said, cringing at his own words. If only that statement had been true with Erin. But no pregnant woman could take on two thousand pounds of metal the way his wife had and walk away.

  Uncontrollable tears ran down her face. It was the first time he’d ever seen Hannah in such a vulnerable, unsure state. Normally she possessed the epitome of girl power, to an obscene extreme at times.

  Dean perched himself on the edge of the bed, holding his best friend’s wife, rubbing her back, soothing her. She continued to release her distress, gripping his jacket tightly. Helping Hannah was the very least he could do for his penance, his karmic way of taking care of Erin beyond the grave, when she had needed him the most. He lived with the guilt daily of not getting that gallon of milk. He would drop everything to comfort Hannah in her time of need, to make amends for his wife. Without question.

  “Everything will be all right,” he murmured. Everything had to be all right for her. He couldn’t handle another woman he cared for suffering a massive loss.

  ***

  “What do we have on the Conley investigation?” Chief demanded, his arms crossed, looming over the conference table in the white board room.

  “Not much. We’re kind of at a standstill,” Jordan said, shuffling through paperwork. “The brother, Harry, was in Ohio the other day. We’re trying to figure out who he was visiting. We don’t know why he’d be in the state. The family has no relatives and he didn’t go to college in Ohio. All the background information we have suggests no former coworkers live in the state now, either.”

  Chief turned to Nick and Dean, his eyes narrowing. “What do you have on the employee?”

  “She’s going to have federal charges brought against her. She didn’t steal just a little bit of money. We’re waiting to see if Judge Waters will give us a search warrant for her house. He’s been dragging his feet on signing off on it,” Nick complained. “I want into her house. I think there’s far more there than we probably realize.”

  “I agree.” Chief nodded. “Do we know anyone who can help us out with Judge Waters?”

  Dean slid Nick a knowing side glance and cleared his throat. “No one currently employed.”

  Chief groaned, his head falling back, picking up on his reference to Jason and Hannah having an in with the judge. “How about O'Neill?”

  “Tyler may have some pull, but Jason’s contact is better,” Dean said.

  “How is that possible? Tyler’s family is nothing but a political poster lineup.” Chief snatched the paper Jordan pushed his direction.

  “It’s Hannah. She knows someone who knows Judge Waters well.” Dean shrugged.

  Chief looked up, his eyes softening the tiniest fraction. “How is she?”

  Dean blinked, surprised. Chief sounded almost concerned.

  “She’d doing good. The baby is fine. She’s fine,” Dean answered.

  Chief nodded.

  “I’m surprised you asked,” Nick bluntly said.

  Chief lasered a glare at him. “I may be unhappy with what went down between Campbell and his wife, but I would never wish harm on her or Campbell’s unborn child.” His gaze flicked to Dean briefly and back. “Been there before, don’t want to ever see that happen again to one of my men. Even if he did betray our unit.”

  Dean found his shoes very interesting. Chief had been by his side when he’d lost Erin. The man had stayed with Dean for days afterward. Afraid of what course Dean would take. He had hidden all of his firearms, for fear of a dire reaction. Dean would be forever grateful for Chief sticking by him during those dark days.

  Nick rolled his eyes. “He didn’t betray our unit. He protected the woman he loved.”

  Chief held up a hand. “We are not rehashing this again. How about this Marc guy from Miss Conley's work? What do we have on him?”

  Jordan sifted through more papers and handed them around the table. “He's nothing more than a low level scam artist to married women.”

  Chief frowned. “An arrest should be made?”

  Jordan shook his head. “No, he's not stolen any money. He's extremely suave at getting these married women to hand over cash willingly. He's not breaking any laws.”

  Nick added, “And he's clean when it comes to the salon. He likes Josie. He gives her credit for helping him make a healthy living. Marc is off persons of interest list. He has a solid alibi as well. He was at the gym, confirmed by surveillance video.”

  Dean didn’t like it. Marc was clearly lying to Josie about enormous details of his true identity. Dean wasn’t thrilled about a man with a hidden agenda being close to Josie. He’d have to continue to monitor the man’s activities. But, that would have to put on the back burner until they caught Josie’s attacker.

  “How's Miss Conley?” Chief asked.

  They all focused on Dean. He shrugged.

  Nick’s brows slanted down. “You haven’t been staying with her?”

  “Excuse me?” Chief said, cursing a few expletives under his breath. “He’s what?”

  “I had been staying with her for a few nights when she first returned to her home. She was scared to death to be alone in the house.”

  Chief blinked, staring at him as if he’d grown a second head. “What the hell is the matter with you men? Do I have to bring in a human resources representative to explain appropriate behavior for detectives?” He started to tick off fingers. “Don’t fall in love with a jewelry thief. Don’t sleep over an attack victim’s house. For fuck’s sake.”

  “What do you mean you had been staying with her? You stopped?” Jordan asked, his pen dropping to the table with a clack. “Because the two of you were looking quite serious on New Year’s Eve.”

  “What?” Chief bellowed. “She was your New Year’s date?”

  God, he so did not want to get into this. With Chief or Nick or Jordan.

  “It was a mistake and I realized it and stopped spending the night.” He refused to get into further explanations.

  Nick stared at him dumbfounded, his steely gaze burrowing into him. “You got freaked.”

  Dean didn’t respond, staring him dead in the eyes to drop the subject.

  “You started to fall in love with her, didn’t you?” Nick said.

  Chief dropped a few more expletives and capped off with a, “Damn it.”

&
nbsp; “No.” He had absolutely not started to fall in love with her.

  “The hell you weren’t.” Jordan pegged him. “We all saw it. And she was falling for you.”

  Dean jerked up from his chair, it flying back, hitting the wall. He growled at Chief. “Are we finished here? We don’t have anything new for you with the case. As soon as we do, we’ll report it.”

  Chief’s brows hit the ceiling. He looked to Nick. “Are we done?”

  Nick sighed. “I suppose.”

  “Fine.” Chief slapped the table. “All of you get your dicks out of your hands. I’m tired of this falling in love with women you shouldn’t be falling in love with shit.”

  “Nice,” Nick said sarcastically. “Is that going to be in the next office memo?”

  “It should be. Get out.” Chief pointed to the door.

  Dean fled from the office, wanting to avoid Nick and Jordan.

  “Dean,” Nick called to him.

  Fuck.

  Nick grabbed his arm and yanked him into an empty room. Jordan slunk in behind them and shut the door.

  “What the hell is going on with you? Do you even know how Josie is doing? Have you checked on her?” Nick’s expression was hard, stone cold.

  “No.”

  “No?” Jordan said surprised. “That’s kind of dickish.”

  “Not kind of,” Nick spat.

  “Listen, I don’t need this. I can’t get involved with her.” He spun away from his two LEO brothers, running a hand over his tired face. He said the words, but there was no conviction behind them. He had to will himself to stay put at night and not drive over to Josie’s to check in on her. God, he missed her. He missed her small, unsure smile. The warmth of her home. The vibrancy of her presence. The joy of her giggle, her green, expressive eyes. Hell, he couldn't smell vanilla without thinking of her. He just plain missed her.

  Nick’s features morphed into sympathetic. “You do know it’s okay to love another woman, right?”

  Dean spun on him. “Really. You’re giving me this advice? Of all people? Because the last I saw, you have no intention of ever finding another woman. One raked you over the coals financially and you shut down. You decided to never get involved with another woman again because she just might take what’s left of your inheritance.”

  Nick straighten, his eyes darkening black as night. “You watch yourself, Rooney.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Jordan stepped between them, holding up his hands. “Stop it.” He turned to Dean. “Quit goading him. He’s your friend. Don’t shit on him.”

  “Fuck you both. I don’t need advice from either one of you when it comes to my personal life. Neither of you can say you’re experts in relationships. At least I damn tried.”

  “But you didn’t,” Jordan bellowed. “You pushed her away when your feelings decided to take over.”

  “Dean,” Nick said, his voice going reasonable, further annoying him. “Erin died five years ago. You didn’t die in that accident, but you sure as shit have crawled into the grave.”

  “I wish I had died with her,” he snapped.

  Jordan stepped back, shocked. “Holy shit. I had no idea how bad off you really were.”

  “Fuck you.” Dean stormed out of the office, slamming the door open behind him. He didn’t need their shit. He didn’t need their goddamn advice. He didn’t need them, period.

  26

  Josie stared at her dark house from inside her vehicle, the car radio turned down low. She hadn’t been home since Dean left days ago. She’d been so petrified after he walked out that she practically ran to her mother’s house and been had staying there.

  She glanced at the clock. The sun would be fully set soon, within minutes. If she was going to head inside, she needed to buck up and enter her front door immediately. But she remained frozen, her hands white-knuckling the steering wheel.

  She remained confused by Dean leaving her. Well, except for the fact he was a broken man. She didn’t know if he would ever recuperate from his wife’s untimely death. She’d never experienced such heartache for another human being as she did when Dean admitted that his wife had died, along with his unborn son. And here she’d considered the loss of her father tragic. At least her mom had thirty-five years of marriage with her husband, having three children, building a home. Dean and Erin had begun the process of starting a family, only to have it ripped from his arms. She couldn’t imagine the pain that plagued him. It explained the deep agony in his eyes. Or how anything light and joyful didn’t really touch him. There was always a hidden barrier that any form of happiness just couldn’t penetrate.

  Josie missed a man she never had in the first place. And that hurt. Yes, she had stupidly fallen in love. Again. And with a man who didn’t and couldn’t truly love her in return. Her track record stunk.

  She swiped angrily at the tears that leaked over. She had no right to mourn the loss of a man who didn't truly exist. One kiss didn’t mean a happy-ever-after. Not even close.

  But she couldn’t understand why Dean had gone out of his way to protect her. He had gone above and beyond the call of duty. Was she really just a case for him to work and solve? Or was it that he decided that she got too close and had to make certain she didn’t fall for him?

  Either way, she had no right to be saddened by the ending of a relationship when there had been no beginning.

  A knock on her car window startled her. She screamed and not in a civilized manner. If there was such a thing.

  Steve stood outside her window, his eyes wide with surprise, his hands up.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice muffled through the glass. “I thought you would have seen my car pull up behind you.”

  Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she sucked air back into her lungs.

  “Are you all right?” he asked quickly.

  She shook her head. She wasn’t all right. She didn’t know if she’d ever be all right again. She couldn’t be alone in her own home. She couldn’t even make it to the front door without being accompanied by someone. Worse, just when she’d started to open herself up to the man who tried to help her through the gut-wrenching fear, the one who seemed interested in protecting her and enjoyed being around and didn’t want to run her life or take over her business, he left. He couldn’t handle being with her. Another disappointment. Another heartbreak. One she shouldn’t have experienced in the first place. But her guard had been down as the fear of being alone had controlled her rational thought processes. She’d been too concerned with getting back into her house. Trying to get back into her routine. Internally fighting the natural progression that she should have worked through with her therapist. And because she’d been so focused in on that, she’d allowed herself, in her mentally and physically weak state, to lean heavily and fall for Dean. She hated herself for it.

  Steve tried the door handle. “Josie, it’s locked. Let me in. I need to make sure you’re okay.”

  She hit the lock on the door, the loud click echoing throughout the car interior. Steve hustled around the back of her vehicle, sliding into the passenger’s seat, shutting himself in with her.

  “Are you hurt?” He looked her up and down.

  “No,” she whispered. Not physically.

  She continued to stare at the white steel front door, Steve following her gaze.

  “How long have you been sitting here, waiting to go inside?” He wasn’t an unintelligent man.

  “About forty-five minutes.”

  “Why so long?”

  “It’s the first time I’ll be alone,” she admitted. “In my own house. Since the…”

  “Who’s been staying with you?”

  “Detective Rooney.”

  He sighed. “I see.”

  She gnashed her teeth, irritated with the typical response from anyone who found out Dean had stayed with her. “It’s not what you think. He’s been sleeping on the sofa or in the spare bedroom. I had to leave Mom’s place. The boys were driving me crazy.”
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  He snorted. “I can understand that.”

  Yeah, her brothers never liked Steve, making that very clear, even in his presence. And he wasn’t a fan of her siblings.

  “Do you want me to go inside with you?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I know I have to do this on my own eventually. But it’s all still so…fresh.”

  “It wasn’t that long ago you were attacked, Josie,” he said empathetically.

  She hated herself for what she was about to ask him. “Would you mind coming in and looking around for me?”

  He smiled warmly, touching her hand. “Of course.”

  They made their way inside, Steve doing a search of her home before she shut the door. She switched on the living room and outside lights, including the flood lights that Dean had installed outside the garage and around the sides of the house. More than likely, she’d receive complaints from her neighbors about the new spot lighting, but she would not-so-kindly remind them that a man who had attacked her remained on the lamb.

  When Steve made his way back downstairs, he lingered, wiping his hands on his khakis, dancing from one foot to another. It occurred to her he had to have come by for a specific reason.

  “I’m so sorry. I’m being entirely selfish. Did you need something?”

  He grinned, goofy. “I did want to check in on you and see how you were doing. I was afraid to stop by earlier. In case you weren’t up for guests. But I also wanted to tell you that I got married last weekend. I didn’t want you to hear the news on the streets.”

  “Congratulations. I wish you all the best,” she said, quietly happy for him. She hoped that his marriage would finally put to rest any feelings he harbored for her.

  “Thank you.” His gaze dropped to the floor. “I did tell her about making a pass at you. I didn’t want anything lingering out there. Just in case.”

  “I would have never said a word to her,” she said. She wasn’t a home wrecker.

  His head snapped up. “I know. But it wasn’t fair to her. I explained where I was coming from and my state of mind at the time. She is quite understanding. More so than I deserve. I knew then that she was the one meant for me.”