That's Not My Baby

by Erosa Knowles

  Max wondered if Jose knew his wife had been raped. He never mentioned it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know.

  “I agree,” Brock said. “Could you talk with her, find out if the rape was a part of this recent assault or from the past. We need to be sure who our target is?”

  She stared at Brock. “Did you kill my husband?”

  “No, Ma’am, I did not.”

  She looked at Max with a raised brow. “What about you? Did you kill Vincente?”

  “No, Ma’am, I did not.”

  “Do you know who did?”

  “No,” Max said.

  “Was Pascale involved with that last meeting you had with Vince?”

  Max continued to hold her gaze. “No. This is my first time ever meeting the man.”

  “Oh? What do you think of him so far?”

  “He is patient.” Max wouldn’t have allowed the scene between her and Pascale earlier.

  She snorted and cut her glance in Pascale’s direction. “That’s an interesting observation. He’s a greedy man who never looked for my husband–”

  “Maria, enough. We will talk later.” Pascale stood, buttoned his lightweight jacket, smoothed his jet black hair from its peak and stepped back. “It’s been interesting, thank you for an entertaining lunch, but I must return to work.” He walked off and three men peeled away from various spots in the restaurant and followed him.

  “Bastard,” Maria muttered and then turned to Brock. “I’ll talk with her.” She pointed at him. “Not for you, for her because she doesn’t deserve this and whoever did this to her needs to be caught and handled.”

  Brock’s brow rose.

  Max stood before the woman gave them orders to kill someone. “Nice to meet you, Ma’am.”

  “Fuck you.” She stood and walked off.

  Chapter 11.

  Max strode through Reclamation, nodding and returning greetings to friends. Crystal nodded and placed a cup of coffee on the bar. Veering toward the cup, he stopped and took a gulp of the hot brew.

  “Thanks. How’s everything going?” He looked around and noticed people were looking at them.

  “Folks a little riled over what happened to Adele.” Crystal met his gaze. “You know right?”

  Max exhaled wanting to put a muzzle on Charlene. When Tamara reached his place last night she told him about the conversation. She was torn up over the rape, and cried during the re-telling. He could imagine how Charlene re-told the story.

  “Yeah. I know.” He took another gulp thinking of all he learned.

  “So what are you going to do?”

  Max looked at Crystal, read the expectancy in her eyes and knew he needed to say something without revealing possible inconsistencies in the story. Until they heard from Maria, he operated on the possibility of rape. Which meant what happened to Adele could happen to Crystal, or Tamara, or Terri, or any one of the female vets he’d come to know and respect.

  “Chief?”

  Max looked at her.

  “We can’t have a rapist around here.”

  He read genuine concern in her gaze. “No, we can’t. I promise I’ll look into it.” He grabbed the cup and headed to his office to check on Tamara. Last night she didn’t get much rest and he knew she had a busy morning with Viola first thing.

  “Hi.” Max straightened at the sound of her voice, it didn’t sound right.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, I’m sitting in Terri’s living room writing a listing agreement, she’s selling Carin’s house.”

  Max leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. Terri hadn’t said anything to him about moving. But then again, it wasn’t his business. He had made it clear that as the sister of his son’s deceased mother, she was his son’s relative, and not his. She hadn’t taken that too well.

  “I should be done here in a few minutes and will call you from the car.” She disconnected before he spoke.

  “What are you up to Terri?” Max whispered as he looked across the room at the picture of him, Brock and Jose. Brothers. The list of people he failed in his life was too long to add another. They made promises to each other and he’d keep his.

  Ten minutes later, his cell beeped, Tamara. “Babe?”

  “Terri wants to sell her house and move closer to Clayton, did you know that?”

  “No. Not until just now. She told you that?”

  “How else would I know?” She snapped and he knew something more happened.

  “Right, my bad. When did she call you about listing the house?”

  “This morning while I wrote Viola’s contract, a full offer, already accepted by the seller. Once she gets back in town, she’ll start on the financing. Why couldn’t they all be that simple?”

  Max didn’t care about Viola or the house but Tamara did so he listened.

  “Terri set a lunch appointment since she just had to do this today,” she said, her tone sarcastic.

  “I’m sorry she interrupted your plans.”

  “That’s not the problem. Listing homes is my job, Max. Didn’t you hear me say she wants me to look for a house for her in Clayton? By living closer, she can spend more time with you and Kevin.”

  He scoffed, although he agreed with Tamara’s conclusions. “Well, she’ll have to make nice with you, because you’ll be there with me.” He waited for her to say something and wasn’t surprised when she didn’t. She warned him before that Terri wanted more from him, and that her objection to Tamara and him living together was personal.

  “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

  He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Baby, I didn’t know any of this, if I did I’d be the one telling you. What else can I say? Do you want me to ban her from my house? From Kevin, her nephew?”

  For a few moments, silence filled the air. Even though he wasn’t sure what he’d do he needed her answer. Ever since Kevin returned home, Max’s main goal had been to stabilize his son’s world. Helen had taken him all over the state, rarely remaining in the same place longer than a week. Terri and Mickey, her daughter, helped Kevin fall into a routine.

  “No. It’s just… she seems to be there all the time. And I think she tells Kevin things.”

  Max frowned. “Things, like what?”

  “I’m not sure, it’s just a hunch, but he’s mentioned Carin twice after returning from Terri’s. Whenever I ask him why he says what he did, he stops talking and gets quiet.”

  “I didn’t know that. He’s never done that with me.”

  “I know,” Tamara said.

  “You think she’s coaching him to say things around you and not me?” He hoped Terri wasn’t playing with Kevin like that, because aunt or not, he’d stop her from being alone with his son. Kevin had been through those games with Helen and he’d never allow anyone to do that again.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Tamara…”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. Sometimes he acts different and other times he’s fine, so I can’t say for sure.”

  He tapped his fingertip on the desk. “Baby, I know you can’t say for sure, I just wanted your opinion.”

  “In my opinion, she wants you. She wants what she thinks Carin had, the house, the family, and the man. That’s my opinion.”

  “You may be right.”

  “Yeah, you think?”

  Max smiled at her wit. “I’ve talked to her, told her we could be nothing more than friends, made it clear you are the only woman I want. She knows I’m not interested so if she’s got some kind of weird fantasy going on in her mind, that’s on her, not me. I’ve been above board with everything.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “It just makes it harder sometimes, that’s all. I mean, it could’ve been me. If Gene and I had a kid and his brother hung around all the time, and he wanted more… it would be uncomfortable for me and you.”

  Red, hot, anger ripped through him at the idea of another man in her house. “No, it wouldn’t be uncomfortable for me,” he g
round out. “I’d kick his ass and tell him he couldn’t pop over to your place all the time. I’d put that mutha-fucker on restriction. No man’s going to walk up in your place all the time, fuck that.”

  “Hmmm. I hope you heard yourself.”

  His clenched hand rested on his thigh. “What?”

  “I’m at my office; think about what you just said and how you felt. Tonight, we’ll have a heart to heart talk about it.”

  Max sat back and stared at the picture with him and his buddies. Damn, his lady hit the nail on the head. He’d never have been as patient and understanding if her former brother-in-law came to her place on a regular basis. Toss in the fact that they both knew the guy had a crush on her… no way and Terri wasn’t his sister-in-law. Max knew he wasn’t built to handle the situation in silence like Tamara had. And she’d done it for him and Kevin.

  “Point taken, dinner?”

  “Yeah, I may be a little late, but I’ll be there,” she said.

  “Good. I’ll pick up dinner from the club after the hospital. Got a call that she’ll be discharged tomorrow, and I need to coordinate things.”

  “So soon? She’s only been there a few days. Is it safe to move her?”

  “According to the doctor, the baby is fine, some of the swelling has gone down and with rest and proper nutrition she’ll recover. So they’re sending her home to do that,” Max said.

  “Home? Not back to that place?”

  “Calm down. She’s not going back there. In fact, you may have another listing soon, we’ll see what she says when she’s feeling better. See you tonight?” Today had been stressful for them both, and he needed her. Hopefully she felt the same.

  “In that case, I’ll leave early and pick up dinner. Meatloaf, right?” She asked.

  He chuckled. “Yes. Could you stop by the daycare and pick up Kevin? I put your name as the other contact that can sign him out or pick him up,” he said

  “What about Terri? I thought she picked him up.”

  “No, I took her off the list when she tried to tell me who should be in my son’s life. I want us. A family. Me, you, Kevin and later another kid.” Max waited hoping she’d see his commitment to what they had. He didn’t always say fancy words or poetry, but he loved her with everything in him.

  She cleared her throat. “Yes, I’ll get him. Thanks, baby. I want us, too.”

  Max exhaled, it would be alright. “Good, see you later.”

  Max pushed away from his desk and headed downstairs to find Charlene, she needed to pack for Adele.

  Chapter 12.

  The next day, Max sat in the back seat of the armored Lincoln Town car, one of Brock’s contract services, security vehicles. He held Adele’s head in his lap, a testimony of how crappy she felt when they left the hospital earlier. Initially, she had been relieved to leave the facility, but as he explained, taking her to a safer place, she’d become agitated and didn’t want to go into hiding. She asked to go to her friend, Maria’s.

  True to her word, Maria visited Adele at the hospital and the two talked. Last night Brock received a call from Pascale. Maria told him Adele hadn’t been raped recently. Tamara cried when he gave her the news.

  After Max explained to Adele, going to Maria’s would put the woman and her kids in danger, she collapsed in his arms crying.

  His phone beeped. “Jace?”

  “Chief, I got a little info on those pins. Seems they’re for a private, select group of former soldiers from different disciplines. Snipers, interrogators, you name it. Hush, hush stuff no one will talk about. I probably triggered all kinds of alarms with my questions.”

  Max watched a silver Ford F250 truck with tinted windows pass them. Concerned, he strained to see if anyone penetrated their small caravan. “Sounds good, Jace. Where are you?”

  “Headed to the club to grab a bite to eat. Do you need me?”

  None of this made any sense. Why go through all this trouble for Adele? Who the hell was the father of this baby? “Yes, head to the safe house, in fact grab a few others, and come in hot. I think we have company.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Max disconnected and punched in another set of numbers. “We got uninvited guests on the road,” he said when Brock answered.

  “One second, let me lock in your co-ordinates.” Max waited while Brock pulled them up on the computer. “Based on the tracking chips in each car, you should be good till you turn off I-95 onto the Feeder Road. If we leave now, we can meet you, and box in the front.”

  “No, you and Charlene stay at the house just in case someone’s watching the place. That may be their strategy, to find where she’s staying and come back later. Is the surveillance equipment in place?”

  “Yes, installed it personally.” He paused. “Skinny driving you?”

  “Yes. Sweet’s in the car behind us and Cody’s in the car in front, along with a couple of regulars from the club. We should be fine.” He clicked off and contacted both Cody and Sweet with his suspicions. Both men noticed the truck and Sweet looked for another vehicle to trail him at any moment.

  Max rubbed Adele’s head while looking out the window for anything suspicious. His phone beeped, it was Tamara. “Baby, let me call you once I get Adele settled.”

  “Oh… okay. Viola wanted… never mind. Call when you have time.”

  He disconnected, pulled out his pistol and continued watching. Popping sounds filled the air. Cody’s car fishtailed in front of them. Skinny smashed on the brake sending Adele flying forward and landing on the floor. Wearing a seatbelt, Max’s head hit the back of the front seat. He twisted right as the car spun before coming to a complete stop. More popping sounds erupted, coming closer.

  “Skinny?”

  “Just winded, Sir. I’m ready.” He rolled down the front and rear windows.

  Max released a breath and tightened his grip on his weapon.

  Adele moaned and tried to get up.

  “Stay down,” Max whispered. “I’ll let you know when you can move.”

  “Max? What’s happening?”

  He placed his hand on her arm. “We stopped for company. Soon as we take care of this, I’ll get you to a bed where you and the baby can rest. Just stay down.”

  The popping sounds came closer. Max peeped out the window and saw five masked men headed toward them with pistols raised. He counted to five in his mind, and then fired. Once he fired, all of his men opened fire.

  Adele screamed and covered her ears.

  Moments after it started it stopped. Another car pulled up behind them. Jace and a few men from the club spread out, looking for others.

  Max’s cell beeped.

  “I’m good, Chief, got nipped, a little blood, nothing major,” Cody said. “Not sure about this loaner though. Bullets had a hard time penetrating the metal, bastards concentrated on the tire, I’ll check for a spare.”

  “Tires can be replaced, you can’t. What about Sweet?”

  “Not sure. I can go check.”

  “No, I’ll call. Stay with the car until Jace says it’s all clear.” There was another popping sound and Max cursed. No way would Adele stay cooped up for four more months. Doctor visits would be a security nightmare. They needed to find whoever was behind this and neutralize them.

  A few moments later, Jace walked toward them with his rifle slung over his shoulder looking more like a cowboy than Cody who was from Texas. He pushed two men with their hands behind their backs forward. Good, maybe they could get some answers.

  Max stepped out the car.

  “Where are you going?” Adele cried scrambling from the floor to the seat.

  “Just to talk to Jace and then we’ll be leaving again.” He waited until she nodded.

  The two men knelt on the ground with bags over their heads. Max waved Jace over and told him to take the men to the warehouse; he and Brock would come later to have a talk with them.

  Sweet jogged over to Max. “My car got hit in the gunfire, steam’s blowing from the hood.” />
  “Cody’s changing his tire now. We’ll wait a bit and you ride with him.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Max waited until Jace had the men in his truck and drove off. His cell rang, it was Brock.

  “We need a cleanup team.”

  “One’s on the way. Another attempt on her life or was it something else?” Brock asked.

  “My bet’s on her life. Soon as we get to the house we need to work at getting a name. She’s the only person who can shed some light on this matter.”

  “Someone doesn’t want her or the baby to survive. Did you get a chance to ask questions?” Brock asked.

  “Not yet, Jace is taking two men to the warehouse, we’ll meet them after Adele is settled.”

  “Finally a break.”

  Max agreed. “Skinny and a team are going through their vehicles and personal effects now. Might get lucky.”

  “Maybe. Jace tell you he couldn’t get much on the pins?”

  “He started but I couldn’t talk, told him to tell me about it later. Skinny’s headed this way. We’ll leave here as soon as Cody finishes changing the tire.”

  “They blew one of my tires?” Brock asked.

  “Yeah, focused on blowing the first car.”

  “Damn, run-flat tires are expensive. Tell him to store the tire in the trunk, I’ll have it serviced.”

  “Will do.”

  “Chief,” Skinny called as Max disconnected.

  “Yeah?” He took a few steps to meet the man.

  “The car was clean. Not one print or piece of lint. These guys weren’t amateurs. The only reason we caught them is their car ran off the road and hit a tree. Must’ve disoriented them long enough for Jace to grab’em. Even at that, he killed one.”