Tackle (K19 Security Solutions)

by Heather Slade

  “Same,” he said to the waitress. “Except for the milkshake. I’ll have coffee.” Knox turned to me when she walked away. “You had a question?”

  “How long will you be in town?”

  “Indefinitely. Doc was in Italy too. I told him I was needed at home. He and Tackle said they’d cover me.”

  “Oh. I mean, that’s nice.”

  “Tackle and I already talked about me working for his dad, so that’s covered too.”

  “You already talked about it?”

  “Before I left on this last job. He said there was plenty of work if I wanted it.”

  “By ‘last job,’ do you mean the missing-person case?”

  “Yeah, but it got a whole helluva lot more complicated than that. Does the name Richard Emsworth mean anything to you?”

  “Sounds familiar.”

  “It was his daughter, Tara, who was missing.”

  I raised a brow.

  “Do you know her?”

  I shook my head.

  It took my brother twenty minutes to tell me what had transpired since he left at the beginning of January.

  First, he’d tracked the daughter to Italy, where her father, who had been accused of art forgery as well as wire fraud, was purported to be.

  Then after accusing her of being the forger, Knox had found out that the man he’d believed she was involved with but was actually her half brother, was responsible for the crimes. Something about the way he told the story told me he was leaving a lot out.

  “Knox?” I asked between bites of my cheeseburger.

  “Yeah?” he said, sitting back and wiping his mouth with his napkin.

  “Did something happen between you and Tara Emsworth?”

  He laughed. “Is it that obvious?”

  16

  Tackle

  “Anything you wanna talk about?” Doc asked when he sat in the seat beside me shortly after we’d boarded the plane that would take us back to the States from Italy.

  “Why, do I look like there is?”

  “You have since Halo left.”

  “Did he say anything to you about what the emergency was?”

  Doc shook his head. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

  “Negative. I tried to call before we got in the air, but he didn’t answer.”

  “You can try him again now.”

  “I left a message.” I checked my phone, like I did at least every five minutes, but he hadn’t responded. In fact, the only person I had heard from was the one person I’d hoped to never hear from again.

  “Actually, Doc, there is something I’d like to talk to you about.”

  “Lay it on me, Landry.”

  “There’s a woman…I, uh, went to high school with her. She turned up a few weeks ago, asking for my help. Abusive marriage.”

  “And?”

  “I tried to get her to go to a shelter. She didn’t want any part of that.”

  “What did you do instead?”

  “My dad had a vacant rental property, so I put her up there. Called in a favor from Ranger Messick, who’s been keeping an eye on her for me.”

  “I’m glad she came to you, Tackle. Sounds like there’s more to it, though.”

  “She isn’t the kind of person who likes being alone.”

  “And she wants you for company.”

  “You could say that.”

  “What do you know about the husband?”

  “I think he’s got connections.”

  “Hey, Sharp, got a sec?”

  Razor got out of his seat, walked over, and sat down across from Doc and me. Razor was renowned for storing a computer-like database of criminals in his head. The man was uncanny.

  “What’s the husband’s name?” Doc asked me.

  “Dan Caruso. He lives in Waltham now, but I remember hearing he was from Providence.”

  Razor got up, grabbed his laptop, and came back. He sat with it closed, quiet for a few moments. “This guy about your age?” he asked.

  “Affirmative.”

  “If I remember right, and I always remember right, someone by that name has known ties to Anthony ‘Cadillac’ DeLuca, the current head of the Sabatino family.”

  “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.

  “When she came to you, was it because of a recent incident?” Doc asked.

  “Yeah. He’d knocked her around the night before. Black eye, bruises on her arms and torso.”

  “Pattern of abuse?”

  “Affirmative.”

  Razor opened his laptop. “Did she file a police report?”

  “Negative. Said he had local law enforcement in his pocket.”

  “She was right about that,” muttered Razor, who was typing something on his computer.

  “You may not know this, but my first wife was in an abusive relationship before she and I got married,” said Doc. “I’m going to caution you not to do what I did.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Do not get involved with this woman for the wrong reasons.”

  “I’m trying hard not to get involved with her at all. She isn’t making it easy, though.”

  “You did the right thing by trying to help her. Putting her up in your father’s rental got her out of immediate danger, but it’s time to move her somewhere else.”

  “Where?”

  Doc got up. “Give me a few minutes to see what I can come up with.”

  “Tackle, you need to follow Doc’s lead on this,” said Razor. “The husband is bad news, not to mention he’s practically in your backyard.”

  “Copy that.”

  A few minutes later, Doc returned to the seat next to me. “I was able to reach Ranger. I’ve also engaged Diesel Jacks to jump in on this. I’ve instructed them to move Ms. Caruso somewhere safe. However, according to Messick, the only way she’d agree to it is if he told her you would be meeting her at the new location.”

  “Where is the new location?”

  “They should already be in California by the time we land.”

  “And then what?”

  “I know I told you to remove yourself from the situation, but before you do, you need to convince her it’s in her best interest to take the safe route we’re offering.”

  “Roger that,” I muttered, knowing I had to do what Doc was asking.

  “What else, Tackle? Spit it out.”

  “I’m worried about whatever’s going on with Halo’s family.”

  Doc nodded. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

  “He’s downplaying whatever it is,” Doc said after we’d landed in California and he was finally able to reach Halo. “I’ll keep digging while you convince Ms. Caruso to go along with the plan we’ve made for her.”

  Doc asked Diesel to pick me up at the airfield and transport me to the house he’d arranged for Nick to stay in. While I waited, I called Halo myself.

  “Hey, Tackle. You back from Italy yet?”

  “Affirmative. Just landed in sunny California. How are things there?”

  “Under control. For now, anyway.”

  “Anything I can do?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Let me know if that changes?”

  “Will do. When will you be back?”

  “I have a couple other things to take care of. Maybe another day or two.”

  “Copy that. Take care, man.”

  “You too.” I ended the call, walked over to the airfield’s bar, and ordered a shot, a beer, and another shot, knowing I’d need that and a whole lot more to get through the next couple of days with Nick.

  17

  Sloane

  I heard my brother say Tackle’s name when he answered his phone. As much as I wanted to ask about their conversation after the call ended, I couldn’t without Knox getting suspicious.

  “I’ve been thinking about you saying you don’t really want to go back to Mom and Dad’s right now, but how long can you realistically stay here?” he asked.

  “Bex wi
ll be gone another three weeks at least. Maybe longer.”

  “Okay, well, that buys us some time to figure out what to do next.” When Knox sat beside me on the sofa and put his arm around me, I rested my head on his shoulder.

  “Thanks for all you’re doing. I really appreciate it.”

  He laughed and kissed my forehead. “I haven’t done much of anything yet, peanut.”

  “Just having you here is huge, but if you have to leave, I’ll understand.” I said the words but prayed he wouldn’t have to.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I told you that.” He patted the sofa’s cushion. “Except maybe to an apartment with more than one bedroom. I know you just said you could stay here another three weeks, but I’m thinking we start looking for another place tomorrow.”

  “You don’t have to live with me, Knox.”

  “Sure, I do. It’s not like I have anywhere else to live. We might as well share a place for the time being.”

  I yawned. “You’re the best brother a girl could have.”

  “Making up for lost time, peanut. Now, get to bed.”

  I was so tired I didn’t have the energy to argue that it was only seven o’clock.

  As I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep when only minutes ago, I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I thought about the story my brother had told me about his time in Italy.

  “I fell in love with her, Sloane,” he’d said. “I know it sounds crazy, but I did.”

  He talked more about how he’d gotten to know Tara while undercover at a winery in Tuscany. “Things were so good between us, and then I fucked it all up by accusing her of being a criminal.”

  I wanted to ask Knox how he could believe he loved her and yet get it that wrong, but I knew he was struggling with that question all on his own.

  I also wanted to ask him a number of questions about when Tackle arrived in Italy, why he went, and what he was doing now that he was back. Instead, I rolled to my side and cried myself to sleep.

  After spending over a week looking for a place for my brother and me to live, I sat Knox down and told him I didn’t think it would work. He looked relieved.

  “I have another idea, though.”

  I raised a brow, skeptical at his tone of voice.

  “You know Tackle’s dad owns a lot of investment property—”

  “No!” I said before I could stop the word from flying out of my mouth.

  Knox raised a brow like I had.

  “They’ll tell Mom and Dad.”

  “Hear me out.”

  I folded my arms, and Knox laughed. “You’re so damn stubborn, peanut.”

  “Like you aren’t,” I mumbled.

  “He’s got a place halfway between home and your office. Literally less than eight miles from here.”

  “Where would you live?”

  “A few blocks away, in one of their other rentals. It’s a duplex, which would’ve been ideal, but the other side isn’t inhabitable yet.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “You won’t have to see his parents, or him, for that matter.”

  Tackle hadn’t shown up unannounced since the day I ran out of the restaurant on him, so I doubted he would do that there.

  “I don’t want anyone to know I’m pregnant.”

  “There is no reason they’d have to. You’re twenty-six years old, Sloane. It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that you’ve decided to move out of our parents’ house. I think it would raise more questions if you and I shared a place.” He nudged me and laughed.

  “I guess, but wouldn’t it be just as easy for me to find a place that their family doesn’t own?”

  Knox shook his head. “It’s a nice place in a safe part of town at a price that’s unheard of. It will be impossible for you to find something similar.”

  “I don’t want them to do me any favors.”

  Knox got up from the sofa and stalked over to the window. “Here are your choices. You live there, with the parents, or with me. Which one is it going to be?”

  “Okay.” After everything my brother had done for me, I couldn’t argue with him.

  Knox smiled. “Which one, peanut?”

  “I’ll live in Tackle’s dad’s place.”

  “I think it’s the best option, or I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

  “It’s nice, right?” Knox said two hours later when he took me to see the rental.

  Nice didn’t begin to describe it. Even though it was a duplex, it felt more like a house. It had a front and back yard, and since the two units were separated by garages, it didn’t feel any different than living in my parents’ house had.

  There were three bedrooms, including a master that was larger than any I’d ever seen. The kitchen was bright and sunny with a window that looked out at a tree with a swing hanging from one of its branches.

  When Knox stood beside me and said, “Wouldn’t be a bad place to raise a kid,” I burst into tears.

  He took a step back. “What just happened?”

  I shrugged and grabbed a paper towel to blow my nose. “It’s been happening with greater frequency.”

  Knox leaned against the kitchen counter. “Sloane, I know you don’t want to talk about the baby’s father, but I have to ask—”

  “Don’t.”

  “But—”

  “I mean it, Knox. Don’t go there.”

  “Will you let me speak if I promise not to ask a question?”

  I folded my arms and glared at him. “I don’t think it’s possible.”

  He smiled. “If he knows and is leaving you on your own with this, he better hope I never know his identity. If he doesn’t know, then I have to say, Sloane, you need to tell him.”

  I went out the back door, walked over to the swing, and after pulling on the ropes to make sure it was secure, sat on it. My brother followed.

  “What if I told you I was inseminated?”

  “I wouldn’t believe you.” He rubbed his arms. “Aren’t you cold?”

  I ignored his question about the temperature. “Why wouldn’t you believe me?”

  “You wouldn’t have called me in Italy to ask me to come home.”

  I sighed. “You’re right.”

  “Where are you guys?” I heard Tackle say from inside the house.

  “What the fuck, Knox?”

  He held up both hands. “I didn’t even know he was back in town.”

  “Get rid of him.”

  “You don’t have the words tattooed on your forehead. He isn’t going to know you’re—”

  “Shut up,” I spat.

  Knox walked in the direction of the house when Tackle came out the door. As I watched them embrace and pat each other’s backs, I wondered if I was making the right decision about the baby. I’d have it; there was no doubt in my mind about that. It was my decision to keep him or her that I now questioned. Would their friendship be destroyed once the truth came out, as it inevitably would? I mean, Tackle could do the math.

  Alternatively, with my brother’s help, I could go away for a few months, give birth, find a family wanting to adopt, then come back and resume my life.

  When my eyes met Tackle’s, I knew I’d never be able to go through with that plan.

  “Hey, peanut,” he said, walking over to the swing. “Lift your feet and I’ll push you.”

  “That isn’t a good—”

  “We aren’t sure it’s secure,” I said, shooting daggers at my brother.

  “I hear you’re renting the place,” Tackle said, following Knox and me back inside.

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  He turned to Knox. “And you’re renting half the duplex on Stanley?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I hope my dad gave you the family discount.”

  Knox did a funny thing with his head, and I watched as something passed between the two guys.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” Knox muttered before turning to Tackle. “Did you
get everything taken care of?”

  Tackle nodded, looked over at me, and back at my brother.

  “This is ridiculous,” I muttered, stalking toward the front door. “I’m going home.” I got in my car and drove off. Since this place was so close to my parents’ house, Tackle could give Knox a ride home.

  18

  Tackle

  “What was that all about?” I asked.

  “I wish I could tell you.”

  I turned my head and looked at Halo. He might as well have said, “I know, but I can’t say.”

  “Is she okay?”

  Rather than avoiding a straight answer, Knox didn’t respond at all.

  “What was the deal with the family-discount thing? Why’d you shake your head?”

  “She doesn’t know I’m paying half her rent along with mine.”

  “Why are you?” I had a pretty good idea what Sloane’s salary was, and while this place wasn’t cheap, she could afford the rent. At least more than half of it.

  “I just am.”

  “You want a lift somewhere?” I asked when he locked the front door behind us.

  “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  Why would I mind? God, why did everything seem so off? Things were as fucked up between Knox and me as they were between Sloane and me.

  Could I blame anyone other than myself for that? I was the one who’d started all this in motion the day I asked Sloane to meet me privately. I kept it going by having sex with her and turbocharged it by relentlessly pursuing her. And for what? More sex?

  After spending two days convincing Nick that if she didn’t take K19’s relocation offer, I wouldn’t be able to protect her, followed by another two days getting her settled in California, I had a clear picture of what a pain in the ass I’d been with Sloane.

  Listening to Nick plead with me, even with different words than I’d used, sounded the same. The more she grated on my nerves, the more I regretted every single thing I’d said to Sloane. I’d fucking stalked her, for God’s sake. No wonder she didn’t want anything to do with me. Today, it seemed like she couldn’t even stand being within five feet of me.