Tackle (K19 Security Solutions)

by Heather Slade

  Sloane smiled, but it was fleeting.

  “We need to talk,” I said before she could.

  “We do.”

  “Maybe we could ask everyone—” Before I could finish my sentence, my phone rang with the one tone I couldn’t ignore. “I have to get this,” I said, pulling the cell out of my pocket. Halo followed me out into the hall. “Sorenson.”

  “Tackle, it’s Doc. Where are you?”

  “Mass General with Sloane. Halo is here with me.”

  “Somebody got to Nick. I don’t know her condition other than it’s pretty bad. I think they may be bringing her to that same hospital.”

  “Roger that.”

  “I’ll make some calls and confirm it. Wait. You said you’re there with Sloane. What’s wrong?”

  “Something called placenta previa, but the doctor said she and the baby will both be okay.”

  “Bed rest,” he muttered. “I’ll call you back in a few.”

  I didn’t need to relay everything Doc had said. Halo heard it. What I did need to do was fill him in on everything that had happened with Nick since he’d left for New York City the last time. I’d just finished when Doc called back.

  “She should be arriving any minute. I’ve got Cowboy on the scene back at her parents’ house. Ranger and Diesel will be on the next flight out.”

  “Copy that.”

  I leaned up against the wall, dreading having to go in and tell Sloane that I, once again, had to leave her to go check on Nick.

  “I’ll go deal with Nick,” said Halo like he’d just read my mind. “I’ll report back when I know her condition.”

  “Thanks,” I said, gripping his shoulder.

  “Go take care of my sister.”

  “Roger that.”

  “What is it?” Sloane asked when I walked back into the room.

  “Halo is taking care of it.”

  She nodded and turned to her mother. “It’s okay if you and Dad want to head home.”

  “You’re sure, mija?”

  “Positive. I need to sleep so I can come home tomorrow.”

  “We’ll be back in the morning.”

  Once Ben and Carolina were gone, I sat on the edge of the bed.

  “May I?” I held my hand over her belly.

  “What?”

  “Feel the baby?”

  She moved the blanket and sheet away and raised her gown. I rested my hands on her bare skin and closed my eyes, willing our little girl to let me feel her. She didn’t disappoint. When I felt her tiny kick, I opened my eyes and looked into Sloane’s. “Such a miracle.”

  “I know,” she said, rubbing her stomach and then covering it back up with the blanket.

  “You’re planning on going to your parents’ tomorrow?”

  “I think it would be best.”

  “Why?”

  “I know about Nick, Tackle.”

  “You do? How? Did your dad get a call too?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “That’s what the call was about earlier. Someone, from Caruso’s crew would be my guess, got to her. Beat her up pretty bad. Doc doesn’t know her condition but said it’s not good. They’re bringing her here, actually.”

  “Oh my God. What about the baby?” she gasped.

  “Sloane, I honestly don’t believe that you or the baby are in any danger, but I can arrange for more security if it would make you feel more comfortable.”

  “Not our baby; her, and your, baby.”

  “What are you talking about? Nick isn’t pregnant.”

  “Tackle, don’t lie to me. I saw her. She came to the duplex the morning you left for California.”

  “What? This isn’t making any sense. Nick was in Chicago, not Boston.”

  “No, she wasn’t. She showed up at my place midmorning. I was expecting my mother, so like an idiot, I opened the door without looking to see who it was.” Sloane shifted to her side. “Anyway, she took one look at me and said that she’d come to ask me to let you go so you and she could raise your baby together. After she saw me, she said she figured I would ask her the same thing.”

  “Nick isn’t pregnant.”

  “Tackle, I saw her.”

  “So did I. How pregnant did she tell you she was?”

  “She didn’t need to tell me. She was as big as I am.”

  “I saw her a few hours after that. She didn’t look the slightest bit pregnant.”

  “You and Nick aren’t having a baby?”

  “Of course we aren’t. Is that why you disappeared on me again?”

  “I needed time to think. She was pretty convincing.”

  “How so?”

  “She said she could prove it. She was about to call you, but I slammed the door in her face. I’m telling you, she looked pregnant, Tackle.”

  “I can’t explain why. All I know is that when she landed in California, she didn’t.”

  “What happened when you were there?”

  “Nick said she wanted to move back to Boston. I told her I believed it would be dangerous for her to do so. She said she’d made up her mind and that was what she was doing.”

  “What else?”

  “I told her if she did, I wouldn’t step in to help her again. Nor would K19.”

  “I guess she did it anyway.”

  “She probably thought I was bluffing. I guess it didn’t take long for Caruso’s crew to find her.” I shook my head, wishing she’d just listened and stayed in California.

  “He probably thinks it was Nick who got him arrested.”

  I agreed.

  “Go check on her,” said Sloane.

  “Absolutely not. One, I’m not leaving you. Two, your brother is down there, seeing what he can find out. Three, I warned her, and she refused to listen.”

  “No guilt?”

  “More like no regret. Doc told me early on that I needed to separate myself from her, not let her manipulate me. I feel as though that’s exactly what she did.”

  “She didn’t get her way, though.”

  “You’re right. She never would’ve either.”

  “Tackle, can you do something for me?”

  “Of course.”

  “You said Knox was seeing what he could find out.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Have him ask about a baby.”

  Sure, it bothered me that Sloane didn’t believe me when I told her Nick wasn’t pregnant, but asking for that little bit of reassurance for her, certainly wouldn’t hurt me. Instead of texting Halo, I called him and put the phone on speaker.

  “Any word?”

  “Not yet. They won’t let me back there, which isn’t a surprise.”

  “If you’re able to talk to anyone, ask if she’s pregnant.”

  “Pregnant?”

  “She told Sloane she was.”

  “Let me guess. Your baby?”

  “I saw her a few hours after your sister did, and she didn’t look at all pregnant. Sloane said she did.”

  “Easy enough to shove a pillow under your sweater, I guess.”

  Sloane rolled her eyes. “Like I wouldn’t have known the difference, Knox.”

  “Aren’t there costumes or something that you can wear to make you look pregnant?” he asked.

  “I think there are.” Sloane’s eyes were on mine. “Just ask, though, okay?”

  “Roger that.”

  35

  Sloane

  I wanted to believe Tackle. And really, it wasn’t hard to do so. He wouldn’t lie about something that would be so easy to prove otherwise.

  It made me feel like a terrible person that I cared whether or not she was pregnant more than if she was going to be okay.

  “Sloane, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  My stomach sank.

  He leaned forward and caressed my cheek. “It isn’t anything bad. At least, I don’t think it is.”

  “What?”

  He smiled and kissed me. “I overheard everything you sa
id to Halo earlier.”

  My cheeks flushed.

  “There was one thing in particular that made me think more than the others. You said you didn’t know if I’d ever feel the same way about you as you feel about me.”

  I sighed. “I did say that.”

  “That’s exactly how I felt on the plane ride back from Columbia. I didn’t know whether you felt the same way I did, and you wanna know why?”

  “Sure.”

  “Because I never told you how I felt.” Tackle brushed my lips with his. “I love you, Sloane.”

  My eyes filled with tears, and I shook my head.

  “Listen to me. I love you, Sloane. I have for as long as I can remember.”

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “Feel like you have to say it to me.”

  “What if I want to say it? What if I want to say it over and over and over until you believe me?”

  “I guess I can’t stop you.”

  “You know what?”

  I smiled. “What?”

  “Other than by eavesdropping, I don’t know how you feel about me.”

  “You heard me.”

  “I want to hear the words.”

  This was a lot harder than I’d ever thought it would be. Loving Tackle had been my secret since I was a child. Other than Knox, I hadn’t told anyone that I loved him.

  “You won’t lose part of your soul if you say it, peanut.” He smiled and kissed me. “Look, I didn’t.”

  “You can’t see your soul to know one way or another.”

  “That may be true, but I can feel it, and it feels whole.”

  He shifted down my body and kissed my belly. “I love you too, little peanut. See, it isn’t so hard once you practice a few times.”

  I wove my fingers in his hair and stared into his eyes. “I love you, Landry.”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  I moved his hand to my belly and put mine on top of it. “I love you too, baby Landry.”

  “Baby Landry? Not baby Sorenson?”

  I shook my head. “When I was eleven years old, I decided that whether we had a boy or a girl, our first baby’s name would be Landry, just like his or her father.”

  “You knew then, huh?”

  “I think I did. At least I hoped.”

  We heard a knock at the door. “Come in,” I shouted.

  “Hey, sorry to interrupt,” said my brother, looking sheepishly from Tackle to me. “This is going to be weird.”

  “You’ll get used to it, and if you don’t, tough shit.”

  We all laughed at Tackle’s words.

  “Have you heard anything?” I asked.

  Halo nodded. “They’re taking her into surgery.”

  “Anything else?” Tackle asked.

  Halo walked over to the window and looked up at the sky. “I started a shit show.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He turned around to face me. “Her mother was the one to tell me they were taking Nick into the operating room. I asked if the baby was going to be okay.”

  “You didn’t?” I gasped.

  “I did.”

  “And?” asked Tackle.

  “There was a lot of yelling.”

  “Did you get an answer of any kind?”

  “Given their shock, I’d say she didn’t look pregnant.”

  My brother looked out the window again. His expression was troubled. “What else, Knox?”

  “I also talked to Razor. Word is that someone carried out a hit on Caruso.”

  “Do they know when?” Tackle asked.

  “He thinks within the last hour. He’s working on confirmation now.”

  “I’m sorry to sound less than sympathetic, but why does Caruso’s death bother you so much?”

  “It doesn’t, peanut. I just don’t like to talk about stuff like that around the baby.”

  I smiled and held my hand out to my brother. “Get over here and let me give you a hug.”

  After Knox left, Tackle insisted on staying at the hospital with me overnight. “If you’re on bed rest, so am I,” he told me, sitting in what looked like a really uncomfortable chair.

  A little while later, when one of the nurses came in to check on me, she told him the recliner in the corner opened to something closer to a bed. He rolled it over so he could still hold my hand when we fell asleep.

  The next morning, when my parents arrived, I told them I’d decided to stay at the Chestnut Hill house instead of with them.

  “Our house,” Tackle said when he heard how I referred to it.

  “I’ll come over and help, and so will your father.”

  “I appreciate that, Mom, but it’s still being renovated. You might be in the way.”

  “We’re done, except for the exterior,” muttered Tackle, stretching his arms over his head.

  “You are?”

  “My dad had crews working around the clock to finish up what was left of the inside. Pays to own a construction company, I guess.”

  “Tackle, can I speak with you for a minute?” my father asked.

  “Of course.”

  Both men left the room.

  “What’s that all about, Mom?”

  “Your father wants to talk to Tackle about a job.”

  “He wants to do construction?”

  She rolled her eyes. “He’s retiring, and there may be a position with the State Department opening up.”

  “Oh.”

  I didn’t want to appear ungrateful, but I had no interest in history repeating itself. Tackle knew how I felt, and I hoped he’d at least discuss it with me if he was interested in pursuing it. I hated that it felt as though I was testing him, but I was. If he took the job with State or went back to work full time for K19 and didn’t talk it over with me first, we were going to have a problem. There was no way I would agree to live the kind of life my mother had. But what was the alternative? Would I issue him an ultimatum like I guessed my mother had done to my father? If I did, wouldn’t I be showing him the same lack of respect I didn’t want him to show me?

  I thought back to when I drafted my imaginary dating-site listing. Boring homebody, I’d said, but I knew deep down, clipping Tackle’s wings would result in neither of us being happy.

  When they came back in, I held my breath. Tackle looked stressed, which told me everything I needed to know.

  “What do you need at the house?” my mother asked, maybe to break the tension in the room. “We’ll go shopping.”

  Tackle looked at me, and I shrugged. “Food?”

  “Sure.”

  “Let’s go, Carolina,” said my father. “We’ll check with Sloane and Tackle after they’ve had a chance to get settled and better figure out what they need.”

  My mother kissed my forehead and rested her hand on my belly. “I love you, mija.”

  After my father kissed me too, they both left and I turned to Tackle.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “Your father said there’s a job opening with State.”

  “My mom told me. How do you feel about it?”

  “I don’t want to be away from you and the baby.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I told him the only way I’d consider it is if I worked from home.”

  “Home? What about the travel?”

  Tackle’s eyes scrunched. “I’d never take anything that involved travel. God, I can’t even imagine being away from you and our little girl for a couple of hours, let alone days.”

  “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  He studied me. “Of course I am.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I don’t know why you’re thanking me, but you’re welcome. You should know my reasons are entirely selfish, though.”

  “No, they aren’t, and it’s only one of many reasons I love you.”

  The door opened, and the doctor I’d seen in the emergency room walked in. “Ready to go home?”
r />   “So ready.”

  36

  Tackle

  “What are you doing?” Sloane asked when I lifted her from the car into my arms.

  “Carrying you inside.”

  “Tackle, I can—”

  “The doctor was very clear. You have to stay off your feet unless you want to spend the rest of your pregnancy in the hospital.”

  Instead of arguing, she put her arms around my neck. “I’m heavy.”

  I laughed. “You’re anything but heavy.”

  “Did you fight back?” she asked, barely touching the area beneath my still-swollen eye.

  “Only to try to protect myself.”

  “Knox had no right.”

  “We both knew he’d be angry.” As I approached the back steps of our house, the door swung open and Halo walked out.

  “Want me to take her?”

  I tightened my grip on Sloane’s body. “I’ve got you, peanut.”

  She rested her head on my shoulder as I carried her inside and up the staircase.

  “Everything ready?” I asked when I got to the top of the stairs.

  “Sure is,” Halo answered.

  Sloane raised her head when I turned toward the smaller bedroom rather than the master.

  “Close your eyes,” I whispered.

  She looked at her brother, who stood in front of the closed door, and then back at me. “What’s going on?”

  “Close ’em, Sloane.”

  When she did, I nodded and Halo opened the door. I carried her inside and set her down in the rocking chair in the room that had been empty when both she and I had last seen it. “Okay, you can open your eyes.”

  She gasped, taking in the room that her brother had spent last evening and most of this morning decorating. “Oh my God, Knox. It’s beautiful,” she cried.

  “It really is,” I said, walking over to pick up the tiny pink football that sat on a shelf and tossing it to him. “You outdid yourself.”

  “How did you know?” asked Sloane, motioning to the hand-painted lettering on the crib that read, “Landry.”

  “A little bird told me,” he answered with a wink. He walked over to the bedroom door. “Tara, sweetheart? Where are you?”

  “I didn’t want to intrude,” I heard her say from the hallway. When Halo pulled her into the room, I walked over and hugged her. “Thank you,” I murmured.