by Dale Cadeau
“Okay, that settled it. Let’s go,” James said as he opened the door and walked out.
Angel gave Cyn a quick kiss on the cheek. Clay did the same to Laura and they both followed James out the door.
Grant, Gabe, and Tony deposited their plates in the kitchen and shortly followed the men to return to the office.
Chapter Fifteen
Avery and Cyn turned to Laura as soon as the guys left in their trucks. “So why did you want us to stay here? Brad’s parents would call James, at our house, if they didn’t get an answer here.”
“I think we should go over and see Raven now that she is alone. I saw her brother leave about a half hour ago.”
“Oh Laura, I know you think we should give her a chance, but I really don’t think she’s right for Brad. She should have taken his side in all this, not sat there and cried.”
“Not all of us are as brave as you are, Avery. I think maybe she was in shock and now she has had time to think, her opinion might have changed.”
“She’s right, Avery. I think we should go over and see her,” Cyn said as she started picking up the discarded plates to take into the kitchen.
Avery and Laura also grabbed plates and followed her. “Okay, but if we’re going to do this, we better do it now before any of the guys come back. Let’s leave the dishes.”
Avery, Cyn, and Laura picked up their purses, locked the front door, and made their way across the street. They knew Raven was still up because the lights were on in her living room.
Knocking on the door they heard the sound of Raven’s chair making it way to the other side. “Who’s there?”
“Well you don’t know us, but it’s Avery, Cyn, and Laura. We would like to come in and talk to you about Brad.”
“Are you the wives of the guys in Brad’s team?”
“Yes, we were to have a barbecue tonight with you.”
“Okay, just let me get the door. I don’t know what I can tell you. I really don’t know what’s going on either, except for what my brother told me.” Raven undid the bolt and let the girls in.
“Please close the door and bolt it and follow me into the living room,” Raven said as she wheeled herself to the room.
“Do you still think Brad is guilty? Why didn’t you back him up?” Avery blurted out as soon as they stepped into the room before they were even seated.
“Avery, give us time to talk a bit before you get your back up.” Cyn said, as she took Avery by the shoulder and tugged her toward the couch and sat down with her.
“Do you think the same way?” Raven asked Laura, who was left standing.
“I don’t know. I just know that, if it was me, with everything happening so fast today. I wouldn’t have known what to do or think. I like to take my time and think things through, thoroughly.”
“You’re right. I didn’t know what to do. Like you said, it happened so fast. My brother and all the news people waiting around to ambush us. I was overwhelmed. Please take a seat, and I’ll tell you what I know.”
Laura walked over and took a chair that faced the couch and Raven moved her chair closer so they could all see each other.
“You probably all think I should have said something. And you’re probably right, and I’m not making excuses for my behavior. But being in this chair is a disadvantage when you want to assert yourself. I couldn’t go to Brad, a cop was holding my chair. My brother was going on about how he was going to clean up the city, and that Brad was a drug pusher. The news people were all crowding around me, and I just panicked. To tell you the truth, I was truly scared and didn’t know what to do. Now that I’ve had time to think everything over, I’m mad as hell. I know Brad isn’t the type to sell drugs or take them. My brother must be up to something.”
“I thought Brad said you were paralyzed from the waist down?” Avery asked her, sitting up and poking a finger in Cyn’s side to get her attention so she would look where Avery was.
“I am,” Raven said.
“Well, I think you better rethink that.” Avery, Cyn and Laura were now looking at her, with Avery pointing at Raven’s foot.
Raven look down at her foot. Without her knowledge, her foot was taping, on the footrest of her chair.
Raven just looked up, speechless at the girls.
“Do you see that?” Raven’s foot had stopped moving as soon as she had looked down, now aware of what was happening.
Cyn leaned forward, “Yes, we all saw it, your foot was moving. I do that a lot when I’m pissed off at something. Angel tells me it’s excess energy burning off.”
“So I wasn’t wrong.” Raven reached down in wonder and touched her foot.
“I didn’t think I was. But the doctor and my brother told me it was just wishful thinking. That there was no way that I was gaining movement.”
“It happened before?” Laura asked.
“Yes, when Brad and I made love. I was sure that my legs moved. I didn’t say anything to Brad, I was freaked out. I went to the doctor the next day and my brother picked me up. They both assured me that it was my imagination.”
“All of us saw your foot move, so you don’t have to wonder if it was real or not.”
“Wow, things might just be looking up for me. Now, how can I help you ladies free Brad? I take it that’s why you’re here?”
Chapter Sixteen
Brad was going out of his mind with worry about Raven as he paced the cell. Jackson had told him not to worry about the charges, that they would get to the bottom of everything. He wasn’t worried about that, he knew that the guys would come through for him, but Raven had no one, just that brother of hers.
He had to get out of here as soon as possible. Drugs—this was bullshit. He stopped his pacing as he heard the cell door being unlocked and the guard told him he had a visitor.
Walking into the small visitor’s room, he saw James sitting at a table waiting for him.
Taking the seat across from him, Brad could see the frustration and anger in his face.
“What the hell is going on, James? Jackson told me a bit, but you know this is all a crock?”
“Yes, we know. We are trying to figure out who is behind this.”
“It’s Raven’s brother.” Brad sneered the words back at James.
“We think he’s part of it, but not the main player. This was too well planned,” James said, calmly sitting back in his seat.
“So who do you guys think is the main culprit in all of this?” Brad asked, sitting up now, paying attention to James’s words and trying to let his anger go.
“We really didn’t know what to think, but on the way over here, Angel started going over all the cases we have dealt with that had drugs. The one that stand out the most is Carlos. That’s Angel’s bet. I know he is in jail and won’t be seeing the light of day for a long while, but he’s the only one that makes any sense. I know we covered our tracks with Avery’s case, but she is my wife now and we did kill his brother-in-law when we saved Cyn. He could be out for blood, our blood. He hasn’t been away that long, that he wouldn’t still have some pull with the cartels.”
“Shit.” Brad ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not good news. Raven brother, I don’t think would be too hard to take down. But if Carlos has a hand in it, we have our work cut out for us.”
“That’s for sure. Clay called Grant on the way here and he is looking closely at everyone that has paid Carlos a visit in the pen.”
“I can help as soon as they set bail. Jackson told me it probably will be this morning, and I shouldn’t have any trouble getting it. Being a part of Braden Security does have its perks, we are a solid business presence in the community.”
“You’re right, but it probably will be set high, with the city involved. We have a bail bondsman on standby.”
“I have to get out of here, James. I have to be there for Raven. This must have her in shock. You didn’t mention anything about her. Didn’t you guys go and see if she was okay or needed help?”
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p; “No, we didn’t.” When Brad started to rise to berate him, James put a hand on his shoulder and kept him in his chair.
“Just wait a minute. There’s a reason that we didn’t. Clay went to help her while you were being carted off. He overheard her say, ‘Why did you do it?’ So we know whose side she is on.”
“I don’t care what Clay heard. Everything happened so fast, that she probably said it without thinking. How does Clay know she was talking about me? It could have been her brother that she was talking about. Raven knows me well enough to know this is bullshit. She is probably sitting at home worried. Shit, she’s all alone, I have to get out.”
“Maybe we did judge her too fast. Remember, we don’t know her the way that you do. But you have to admit, with her brother milking it for all it was worth, that our first thought is that it was a set up, and she was in on it. I’ll personally go over and see her when we pick the girls up at your place. They stayed there in case your parents call.”
“Shit, I didn’t think about the folks. Can you call them and reassure them that we have everything under control? If you don’t they will be up here as soon as they can catch a plane.”
Just then the guard informed them that their time was up. James reassured Brad on his way out. “I’ll call your folks and look in on Raven.”
Brad went back to his cell, his frustration higher than when he left, knowing now that Raven had been left on her own. He should have made it perfectly clear to the guys that she was his, they always looked after one of their own. He had played it too safe, not letting on what she had come to mean to him. He couldn’t really blame the guys, no, it was his fault. He didn’t want to deal with the razzing he would have got if it had been known. His pride might have just ended their relationship.
James, Angel, and Clay made it to the office about an hour after leaving Brad. They had stopped to pick up the girls at Brad’s but couldn’t see Raven as all the light were off in her home. Telling themselves they would see her tomorrow, they saw the girls up to James’s penthouse, then went to Grant’s office to see what he had found out.
Grant was sitting in his office taking to Gage and Tony when they arrived. Grant had papers spurned out on his desk and was drinking coffee.
“Did you find out anything?” Clay asked as he took a seat on the couch.
“Yes, I did. After you called from the car, I broke into the prison records and found out that Carlos’s niece has been visiting a lot. Other than that, he doesn’t get many visitors. She’s the only one from the family. It looks like the rest deserted him. I also did some digging into Raven’s brother’s campaign contributions. I found out that last month, he has had an influx of cash to the tune of fifty thousand. The cheques were for ten thousand each and the last one was deposited today. They seem to be from an off-shore bank account and from a Victor Headly. I haven’t had time yet to check him out. But one interesting thing I did find while digging in the brother’s campaign, is that Carlos’s niece does volunteer once a week at his campaign office. I think Angel is right, this seems to smack of Carlos’s involvement,” Grant told them as he turned from his computer.
“Is this the Carlos that you took down while looking for the two million in missing drugs for the feds?” Tony asked from his perch on the couch arm.
“Yes, it’s the same guy. We tried to cover our tracks, and we did as far as the trail didn’t lead back to us. But I did marry Avery and Carlos is a smart man, he would put two and two together. We did take down his brother-in-law when we rescued Cyn. So he just might have a beef with us,” James answered with a grimace.
“Good work, Grant. I think we should wrap it up for tonight, it’s almost midnight. Let’s meet back here after Brad’s court appearance tomorrow. At least we know what direction to start in,” James replied as he headed back through the door and the elevator with Angel and Clay following him.
Tony got up from the couch after the guys left. “I think Gabe and I will do some digging on our own tomorrow. The first place we are going to check out is the inner city ball team and how it was set up and who’s involved.” Gabe rose also. “I think that might be the best place for us, as we are not as up to date with Carlos as the rest of you.”
Grant reached out and pulled a folder from his file cabinet behind him. “Here are the goods on Carlos, from when we were working Avery’s case. It will bring you up to speed and give you something to read before we meet tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” Gage grabbed the folder as he followed Tony out of the office.
Chapter Seventeen
At eleven a.m. the next morning, they were all gathered back in the conference room of Braden Security. Brad was with them, as Jackson had gotten him out on one million dollars bail. It was steep, but that had to do with the city’s lawyers more than the judge. They had made Brad sound like the scum of the earth and how he could jump bail if let out. At least Jackson had made the judge see reason and take their argument with a grain of salt, as nothing was proven against Brad yet. Madge came in with coffee for all and James thanked her. Passing around cups of coffee, he took his seat and looked around at all of the men seated at the table.
“Well, we have a hell of a mess. I did some thinking overnight. So, let’s take things one at a time.” James pulled some papers from a folder in front of him.
“Do we really have to do this now?” Brad stood and glared at James, Clay, and Angel. “Can’t this wait until after I see if Raven is okay? You wouldn’t let me stop on the way here. But I know if it was one of your women, you wouldn’t sit here quietly and have a meeting. Raven is important to me.”
“There was a reason for that, Brad. You’re right in saying that none of us would just sit here, if we didn’t know the women were safe. What you don’t know and I didn’t until breakfast this morning, is that Avery, Cyn, and Laura saw and talked to Raven last night. They should be here any minute with her. The girls picked her up in the limo this morning and are bringing her here for you to see. But we also need to ask her some questions.” James picked his coffee up and took a drink.
“Why didn’t you say something? I’ve been going out of my mind with worry,” Brad said running a hand through his hair as he retook his seat.
“I knew you wouldn’t take anything we said about Raven as fact and would want to know firsthand. Since she’s going to be here shortly, I saved my breath.”
“You know, James, sometimes you’re a bastard. Well, let’s get on with it. I want some alone time with Raven, we still have to clear up a few things,” Brad said, giving an evil look at James.
“We’ll try and make it brief,” James said with a grin at Brad. “But we have to be thorough. We have to get on top of this before it goes any further.”
Brad gave James the finger and picked up his coffee.
“We know that they have pictures of you supposedly handing out drugs at a baseball game.” James ignored Brad’s finger and picked up his paper and continued.
“That’s bullshit. Some of the kids asked me about my work and I handed some of them our business cards. That’s it.”
“Well some of these so-called kids said it was small sample packets of heroin you were handing around.”
When Brad would have injected a few choice words, James just kept going.
“We all know that you wouldn’t do that, so the kids must have been in on the whole setup. Second, we know that Raven’s brother is in on it, as the request came from his office. Grant has found a connection between Les and Carlos. Carlos is probably the mastermind behind all this crap. His niece is volunteering at Raven’s brother’s campaign center. She’s Howard’s kid and Howard is Carlos’s brother-in-law. He’s the one you put a bullet in, Brad, when saving Cyn’s life. So now we have a lead, how are we going to go about taking them down? Any suggestions?”
“We thought Tony and I would go to the city center, where the kids meet. They have programs running all the time for inner city youths. We have a good idea of the kids we are looking for, f
rom the picture they had of Brad and the kids, so we’ll do some digging around and find out more about them. The police wouldn’t release their names, as they are all under age. The good thing is we haven’t been with Braden Security long enough for people to know who we work for, which will work to our advantage. What do you think?” Gage threw in from his seat at the end of the table.
“I think that a great idea, just be careful, especially now we know they turned on Brad. If they turned on Brad, you two might end up in the same cell block. But you’re right, you both will be able to interact more freely then any of us. So we’ll leave that to you both.” James picked up a picture from the table before him and handed it down the table to Gage.
“Good luck, guys, keep us informed. As soon as we know something we’ll be back.” Gage took the picture and he and Tony got up and left the room to go to the kid’s center.
“I’m going to work on finding out more about the off-shore account and the person that sent the contribution to Raven’s brother. He’s probably some cohort of Carlos’s,” Grant said as he rose from his seat and grabbed his cup of coffee and left for his office.
“Well that just leaves us,” James started to say, when he was interrupted by Avery, Cyn, Laura, and Raven coming into the conference room.
“Are we late for the meeting? We had a stop before we came here and it took longer than we thought.” Avery walked over to James, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and sat on the arm of his chair. Cyn and Laura weren’t so forward, they just went by their men, squeezed them on their shoulders, and took a seat.
Brad, upon seeing Raven rushed from his seat and knelt in front of her chair and put his hand on her cheek. “Are you okay? God I was so worried.”
The others watched as Raven raised her hand and looked deeply into his eyes. “I’m okay, Brad.”
It seemed a very intimate moment, so they all looked away and Avery poured coffee for all of them, giving them a moment alone.