“Are you sure about this?” Parker speaks, looking over to Slade.
“Yes,” he snaps. “Just play the fucking thing,” he mumbles.
Parker sighs and his shoulders slump, but he pushes a button on a remote and the screen in front of us comes to life.
The first thing we see is the back of Slade’s Chevy truck that Sam is driving. The brake lights come on as if she thinks the light in front of her is going to turn red.
She starts to go through the intersection and then bam! It happens so fast, Slade jumps back as if someone shoved him. I stand there, heart pounding and knees shaking, as a black truck comes speeding across the intersection and hits the back driver side of the truck. It sends the truck’s rear end to the right, where the back tire catches the high curb. And it starts to roll. If the truck hadn’t been lifted, it might not have rolled. But with it being so far off the ground and with the momentum from the other truck, there was nowhere for it to go but to turn over.
We all stand silently, watching as his truck rolls several times. We can hear Parker’s voice yelling inside of his police car as his tires squeal and he comes to a quick stop.
He jumps out and then Parker is running in front of the police car, in view of the camera. He runs up to what is left of the truck, stomping on glass and pieces of debris.
He kicks in the already broken back glass and disappears into the truck. You can hear his ragged breathing, and he continues to talk to someone from dispatch on the radio connected to his chest.
“Samantha?” Parker yells. “Hang on, Sam.”
We all stand there as he continues to speak. From the angle of his cop car you can’t see them inside of the truck but you can hear every word from the microphone on his uniform.
More glass breaks. “Christ,” he hisses. “Sam, open your eyes,” he demands. “Come on, Sam, look at me.”
“You have to look at me,” he pleads with her.
“Sam,” he shouts. Then he lets out a deep breath. “Good. Very good, Sam. I need to get you out. Do you understand? I’m gonna have to pull you out through the windshield.”
I want to be relieved that she is looking up at him but I’m not. All I can do is stand here and watch the screen. Thinking she is going to die the same way that we lost our dad. By a car wreck. “I need a fucking jacket,” he yells all of a sudden.
Someone tosses a jacket into the cab and then he speaks. “I’m going to place this over you, so I can kick the windshield out.”
She still hasn’t said anything. But seconds later I hear him grunting and the sound of his boot hitting the glass.
“Stay with me, Sam,” he yells.
And then it happens, she screams. Her voice comes through the audio, and it makes sweat bead on my forehead and my chest tighten. It’s a cry of pain. He must have tried to move her because her scream is followed by his frustrated voice.
“Where in the fuck are the paramedics?” he snaps.
“On their way. Get her out of there,” someone yells.
“I’m trying, the steering wheel is crushing her,” he says through gritted teeth.
Crushing her? Can she not breathe? Why is he taking his fucking time? Why isn’t anyone else in there helping him?
“Sam?” I hear him rustling around, then I hear a tearing sound. “Don’t pass out on me!” he demands. “Stay awake. Can you do that for me?”
I run a hand over my unshaven face and swallow the lump in my throat. This can’t happen now. I am just now getting the chance to be her brother. I’ve gone all this time letting her only think that we are friends. I can’t lose my little sister now.
“I’m gonna make this as fast as I can,” he says sounding determined. We hear other voices talking to him. He barks off some orders, and I sigh in relief when I hear a faint sound of sirens in the distance. “Just a few seconds,” he says. “Open your eyes goddammit!” he demands again frantically.
There are some more grunts, and he curses a few times, but then he’s there, on the screen once again, walking her away from the truck. By this time you can see black smoke coming from the distance and people screaming things off in the distance as he lays her on the ground.
He places his fingers on her throat and then leans down placing his ear on top of her lips.
He pulls back quickly and then his hands are on her chest as he starts compressions. My heart stops. I’m witnessing my sister lying on the street in front of me dead and I can’t do a fucking thing about it. I’m her big brother. I’m supposed to be able to protect her. “You have to stay with me, Sam. They are almost here,” he yells.
“Come on, Sam. Don’t do this. Come on,” he pleads with her as she continues to lie there; not moving.
The room continues to fill with his heavy breathing and then he’s sniffing. He does it for about half a minute when he checks her pulse again.
I continue to stand motionless as an ambulance arrives and they work on her as well. A medic places a breathing tube down her throat while another works squeezing a bag. Another places a collar around her neck. Once they all finish they roll her onto a flat board and strap her down. They all help in lifting the board and placing in onto a stretch before loading her into the back of the ambulance.
My jaw tightens as I remember that scene. She was also pregnant at the time of that accident. We are very thankful that she and my niece survived. The only thing that makes me not want to go postal is the fact that the guy, Jeremy, who hit her, died in that crash. Parker was too busy helping to keep my sister alive that he burned up in his truck.
“Like what?” Parker asks, walking in and placing his cat on the kitchen floor.
What were we talking about? Oh yeah, his father getting a threatening letter.
“Well for one thing, Officer Howard is still missing.”
I sigh. We’ve known this. And this had also been another reason why Missy has been on my mind.
Jeremy—the guy who died crashing into my sister—was working for Officer White. He had drugged my sister when Slade and she went to a bar and then at one point he also tried to drug Missy. Officer White and Officer Howard were the two officers who came to arrest Jeremy. Come to find out, they are both as fucking crooked as a corkscrew. One cop was after my brother-in-law and is now dead, thanks to Parker. But the other one is still missing. No one has a fucking clue where he is—or anything else about him for that matter.
“But I guess Mayor O’Hare received a letter, and he thinks it’s from Officer Howard.”
“So he thinks he’s in danger?” I ask looking over to Parker and he rolls his eyes. It’s no secret that he and his dad don’t get along. “Are the girls in danger?” I ask getting concerned.
“I don’t know.” Slade sighs. “You know how protective I am over Angel and now Sadey as well. I thought everything had been finished and was behind us, but things keep replaying in my head.”
“Like what?” I ask.
“Angel had said that Jax told her he knew about your secret.”
I shake my head. “There’s no way he could have known.” I kept it a secret that I was Sam’s brother for years. The only reason she found out was because Slade had hired someone to dig up information on me when I informed him that Tate was not my legal name. Which I don’t blame him—I would have done the same thing, but it wasn’t like the guy found much. Sam had read the email, though, and it did mention that her father was also mine—making me her older half-brother.
“Then are you hiding any other secrets for him to know about?” Parker asks arching a dark eyebrow.
“No,” I snap at his question. “But if he knew then why didn’t he tell her?” I throw at Slade.
He sighs heavily. “Maybe he did and she just can’t remember.”
Her ex-boyfriend, Jax, had kidnapped and drugged her. When the three of us found her, she had been beaten and was close to death. I still have the scar across my chest to remind me of that day when he pulled a knife on me. Thank God that bastard is dead now, too.
“But,” Parker starts in getting my attention, “Officer White did say that he had a secret that we would find out soon enough.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I ask. “And why am I just now hearing this?” I demand.
Slade leans up placing his forearms on the kitchen table. “At the time I just thought he was talking shit, trying to keep me from killing him. Now the more I think about it maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe he did know more than what we thought he did.”
“But what could he possibly know that could cause trouble? Parker shot and killed the guy,” I say pointing to Parker.
“He said that he knew things and when I questioned them he said I would find out soon enough.”
“Well that was like, what, three months ago?” Maybe longer. Sadey is almost two months old now and all this went down when Sam was still pregnant.
“We think it’s you,” Parker says loudly.
“What?” I ask looking at him confused.
He sits up straighter in his seat and looks me in the eyes. “We think it’s you he was talking about. He said he heard and saw more than just Sam and Slade having sex.” Slade flinches from his words.
“Why would that matter?” I say waving it off.
“He had a device in my office,” Slade says angrily. “That is where Angel found out that you were her brother and called me to verify. He had to have heard the entire conversation.”
“So? The guy is dead. How can that have an effect on me? Plus,” I add sitting back in my chair, “everyone knows my only secret now. It’s not like it was a life or death secret to begin with.” Lies. It’s all lies.
“What are you running from?” Parker questions.
“Nothing,” I scoff defensively. But in all honestly, I’ve been running for years.
Parker’s not buying it. “Then why don’t you go by Jonathan, your legal name?”
I hate that fucking name! My mom named me after the man who used to beat the shit out both of us. “So what if I prefer to be called by my middle name? It’s not like I legally changed it.” Yet.
“What about your past?” Parker digs deeper and I narrow my eyes on him. “You had a big contact in the drug industry in this town and you two took him down,” he says referring to when Slade and I used a drug dealer I knew to find Sam. We ended up beating the shit out of him until he gave us the info we needed. Now the man is in prison.
I shrug but don’t offer anything further. They both know I had a past in drugs. I should have tried to hide that but Sam, my sister, was in danger and my past was able to save her at the time.
“Was that the only guy you used to buy from?” Parker continues to drill me.
I give him my best ‘fuck you’ look I have. “What the fuck do drugs have to do with this?” I snap. “Is your father into drugs? Does he need me to help him too?” I demand.
I expect him to get mad or defend his father, but he just shrugs carelessly. “I wouldn’t put anything past that man to get what he wants,” he says dryly.
“This is ridiculous,” I growl sitting back in my chair.
“I won’t use this information against you,” Parker offers.
That makes my anger flare. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I ask standing from my chair.
“Whoa,” Slade says standing as well. “I think we are getting off topic.”
“No,” I say walking over to Parker’s chair and stare down at him. “What the fuck did that mean?” I demand again. “Gonna use shit against me?”
He slowly stands and his light brown eyes narrow on mine. “I’m your friend, Tate. The fact I’m a cop is irrelevant.” Then his eyes soften some. “Slade and I are the only ones who know about your past. And we know so little at that. But the guy that you and Slade tortured in order to save your sister. He may be in prison, but he is still very much alive. He could be talking to anyone and everyone. If you have dealt with someone else in the past, we need to know.”
I turn around and start to pace. There was a time in my life that was so fucking dark, I can’t even tell you what I had done. What I had seen. Drugs. Women. Violence. It all ran together. One leading me to another.
I pace back and forth in my kitchen as they both stare at me waiting for me to say something. “He was not the only one I had dealt with,” I finally say after the silence and their stares get to me.
Parker nods his head and Slade sits back in his seat, thinking I don’t want to punch Parker in the face anymore.
“What all did you buy from him?” Parker asks.
I shake my head with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know, Parker,” I say honestly. I look over at him. “There were times I didn’t care what I got my hands on as long as I got something,” I admit with shame. I hate to tell them anything but especially Slade. He knows just as much as I do, I’m not the type of guy who loves others. But I care for my sister and my niece. I would hate for him to take them away from me. I spent too much time away from Sam already.
“Well, I will need their names.” Parker gets my attention.
“No,” I say firmly. “I won’t be the reason you get yourself killed,” I say looking from him to Slade. “You either.”
“I’m damn fucking good at my job,” Parker says defensively. “And I can’t do it if you don’t tell me what I need to know,” he says voice rising. Parker is very touchy when it comes to being a cop. He believes they’re all good and that they all abide by the law. I know better.
I arch an eyebrow. “Thought this didn’t have to do with you being a cop?” I ask and he lets out a sound of irritation.
Slade picks this time to speak up. “We don’t need to know anything right now,” he states. Parker goes to speak, but Slade holds up his hand to stop him. “I just think you need to be careful. Like I said, Howard is still missing. I thought that maybe Officer White had killed him and stashed his body somewhere to never be found. But I could be wrong.” He takes a deep breath before he adds, “And I think you need to start hanging around Missy.”
“What the fuck does she have to do with it?” I bark; just the sound of her name has my dick hardening and my mind wandering.
“Jeremy tried to drug her once,” Parker adds before he looks down at the table, avoiding eye contact with me.
Yeah, but Jeremy is dead as well. It was supposed to have been a hit and run but the bastard’s truck had caught on fire and he burned to death. “We don’t know who all is involved at the police station, like you once said.” He swallows hating to say those words. “And that’s why I’m still there. We need someone on the inside to know when sketchy shit happens. But I feel like if someone knows something about you that the way they will get that information will be through Missy. Like White tried to use Sam.”
Even though I’m a bastard, I would never allow someone to physically hurt her, especially because of me. I would fight to save her life. I walked away from her after Vegas so she could live a happy life. Not be weighed down by me.
“No one in this town knows about Missy and me,” I state. “Not anyone who would try to hurt her, anyways.”
“You don’t know that,” Parker says.
“When did you become such a pessimist?” I snap. My irritation for him is growing by the second.
“When my friends started getting attacked,” he snaps back, looking up at me from his seat. “You think I want to look at things this way? It’s like every time I turn around someone’s life is being threatened.”
I ignore him as I make my way back over to my seat and sit down. “What do you want me to do?” I finally ask as I look over to Slade.
“I already told you. Watch your back and stay close to Missy,” he says matter-of-fact.
“How am I going to get close to her all of a sudden after pushing her away for so long?” I run a hand over my unshaven face. Fuck me, I’m tired.
Parker smirks and I want to punch it right off of his face. “Try being a little charming,” he offers. “Open the door for her. Take her
to dinner…”
“Dinner? You think fucking dinner will work?” I ask dryly. I fucked the girl and then cussed her out the following morning as if the fact that I slept with her was all her fault. I still remember the tear running down her beautiful face when I told her it was a mistake. She was a mistake. But truthfully, I have always been the mistake.
Slade lets out a laugh and raises his hands to him. “Let’s get him to just talk to her first.” And then he turns to face me. “Do not take advice on women from Parker.”
I shake my head at them trying to figure out what they’re saying. “So let’s get this straight. You want me to pretend to like her? Then what? What if Officer White had been talking shit and no one is after me? How long do I pretend to play this fucking game?” What if I hurt her again? What if what they say is true and someone tries to hurt her? I can’t be everywhere at once.
“As long as it takes,” Slade says with no argument, and I find myself leaning back in my seat and closing my eyes.
I need a fucking drink.
******
MISSY
I stand in the back half of the bakery just finishing up icing a cake for a kid’s birthday party that Angel’s Dream is catering tomorrow when I hear Courtney walk through the door that leads out to the front.
Courtney is the type of girl that you envy. Not only is she a beautiful, tall blonde, she is also funny and doesn’t take any crap from anyone. She’s been Sam’s best friend since they were young. She quit her job in Oklahoma and moved here to be with her after Sam’s mother died. And it just so happened that she fell in love with Slade’s best friend, Josh. They got married and have twin boys. Once Sam opened the bakery, she hired her as well.
She walks up behind me and smiles as she looks down at the cake. “It’s done, Sam,” I announce to her as she stands over by the sink. “I just need you to write the message on it.” Sam has much better handwriting than I do. So she does all of the writing.
“So Missy,” Courtney starts as I walk away and go to wash my hands. “I wanna know who’s better in bed. Tate or Braxton?”
The UN Series Complete Box Set Page 132