by Naomi West
“Good work, Detective Reynolds. We’re on our way.”
“It’s PI Reynolds now, and it always will be.” She hung up and slid her phone back into her pocket.
There was no way she could go back to the force. Operating like this, without all the rules that cops had to follow, was much better. She could work for the police indirectly, as a citizen, helping them out like this.
Chapter 24
It took several seconds for Hawk to realize it was the police who were pulling Rucker away from him. He’d had him in a choke hold, keeping him under his control so he could continue to punch him. For such a badass drug dealer, the guy was a pansy. He’d gotten his gun away from him easily enough and punched him enough times that Rucker had simply crumpled.
Hawk’s jaw hurt and his eye was swelling a little, but he felt good. He’d heard Alexa say she had Damian, he knew what Rucker had been after, and as long as one of the guns was the weapon that killed his brother it meant that bastard would finally pay.
Hawk let go of the other man and heard the cuffs close over Rucker’s wrists. He half expected cuffs to close around his next. He looked at the cops, watching them read Rucker his rights. One turned to him.
“You must be Hawk,” he said. “I’m Joe, Alexa’s former partner.”
Hawk nodded once and shook the guy’s hand.
“Thanks for all your help today,” Joe said. “We’ve been trying hard to nail this guy, but didn’t have what we needed until you and Alexa stepped in. I hope you can help us out again in the future.”
Hawk knew somewhere deep inside that the guy was genuine but he couldn’t stop his lip from pulling into a snarl and his eyes from narrowing. Because of guys like him Hugh had been put in a position to be in extreme danger as an informant. And clearly the police didn’t do much to protect their informants. Still, he was glad they’d finally got the guy, but he had no reason to help them again.
“Oh right,” Joe said. “I forgot. You don’t like cops.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Alexa said you were wrongfully accused.”
“Served years for it, too.”
“That’s what they all say, you know.” Joe gave him a challenging look. “No one ever did it.”
Hawk fought the urge to punch the guy. “I don’t care if you believe me or not. Just because everyone claims innocence doesn’t make the real innocents any less a victim of the system.”
“Fair enough.” Joe stuck out his hand.
Hawk glared at him for a moment, then relented and shook his hand.
“Can I get a formal statement from you? The more we have, the better we can nail this guy, and since you’re one of his victims, we’ll need your testimony.”
“Whatever I can do to help. I want this guy away for life. He’s hurt way too many members of my family.”
“I understand.”
Hawk’s attention went across the room for a moment. He watched several officers drag Rucker out in cuffs and load him into a cruiser. He had a limited view from inside the house, but he watched as they drove out of sight. Though he was happy he’d been caught, there was still a slight disappointment. His plan all along had been to find a way to kill him and make it look like self defense. He figured with Alexa on his side and his MC as witnesses there’d be no chance he’d do time. But the cops had come faster than he expected, and Rucker fought harder than he thought he would. He’d almost strangled him a few times but the asshole had somehow stayed conscious.
It was probably better this way. For all his distrust of the system and the police, he probably would have ended up getting himself in trouble. And Alexa was right. Damian needed him. If he went away, the kid would probably end up in foster care and bounce around from place to place for the rest of his life. That would be horrible. But there was still the small pang of regret that came with watching Rucker get up and walk, even if he was walking in cuffs with cops pulling him along.
Rucker’s old lady was also taken out. He didn’t have the same sort of beef with her. He didn’t want her dead at least, but he figured that’s because he had always felt sorry for the real Jessica, even though she’d been less than a suitable mother.
And then there was Alexa.
“Hawk?”
He jerked his attention back to Joe, who stood in front of him with a waiting pen and notepad.
“Yeah?”
“Are you ready?”
“Sure.”
“Start at the beginning. Tell me everything that lead up to this moment.”
Hawk took a deep breath. “I guess it started with Hugh’s murder.”
In the end, it felt like he talked for hours outlining everything he saw the night of the murder, then the night he saw the car, including everything Alexa had found out and up to his encounter with ‘Jessica’. When the topic swerved around to the diamonds he smirked.
“They belonged to my brother and they were meant for Damian,” Hawk said. “I need to make sure they remain his property.”
“So long as we don’t find out that they’re stolen or part of a crime,” Joe said. “We know he received them from somewhere.”
Hawk thought about how he could separate them. Keep at least one or two for himself and hand over the rest if he needed to. It would be enough to take care of Damian for life, maybe even give him a good college fund, and it’d let him the chance to cut back on his repo job in order to take care of his nephew more.
Hawk finished his testimony with the full detail of the fight with Rucker. How he’d come in threatening them and wouldn’t back down when Alexa aimed her gun at him. He finally got to the moment that the cops had shown up.
“I think we have everything for now,” Joe said. “I’m sure as things come up in the investigation, we’ll have more questions for you. You will be willing to testify?”
“Of course,” Hawk said. He would love nothing more than to stare that asshole in the face in a court room and tell them all what he’d done to his brother and nephew. “I’ll help however I can to make sure that guy is put away.”
“Glad to hear it.” Joe smiled at him and shook his hand. “And you know, it’s the funniest thing. Seems like during the fight the diamonds got lost somehow. And we just haven’t been able to find them. I suspect that Rucker hid them somewhere during the altercation.”
Hawk pulled his eyebrows together for a moment. Was Joe really doing what he thought he was doing?
“Look.” Joe leaned in close and whispered. “Those diamonds will just sit in our evidence locker for months and months. There’s no other case that I know of that they’re part of. We’ll just chalk it up to missing evidence. You can still testify that you saw them, and that’s enough. They’ll do you far more good than they will anyone else.”
Hawk’s mouth fell open. He could hardly believe the officer was going out on a limb like this, especially given his own history, regardless of whether or not the charges were false. He couldn’t help but think that Alexa had something to do with this. “Thanks,” he muttered.
Outside the interrogation room in the main bullpen he found Alexa talking to another cop, but she didn’t have Damian. He looked around and saw an EMT holding him down the hall near an idling ambulance. “Is he okay?”
Damian heard Hawk’s voice and twisted in her arms, whining until she let him go so Hawk could hold him.
“I’d say he is now,” the EMT said, smiling. “We checked him over. He seems just fine. Might need a new diaper, but that’s about it.”
“Thank you.”
Hawk bounced Damian in his arms, then held him close. He felt the tears in his eyes, but blinked them away. Too many people around, too many of his guys still there. But it was good to feel his nephew’s weight in his arms again. He hadn’t realized the depth of his worry until he’d seen Alexa holding him earlier and knew he was okay.
He went back inside and found the diaper bag. He pulled out a fresh diaper and laid Damian down on the bed. The baby watched him and cooe
d at him as Hawk got to work taking off his pants and wiping him clean. He got a fresh diaper on, got him dressed, and stood there for a long moment, just looking at him.
What would he have done if something had happened to him? He’d never have forgiven himself. But here he was, safe and sound. And a lot of it was due to Alexa. A pang of pain hit his chest again. He picked Damian up and cradled him against his chest. It was time to get home. They could both use a nice long nap. After all that had happened, he was exhausted.
Hawk slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out to his car. Blade was there on his bike. He held out a fist to him, and Blade bumped it back with his own.
“Thanks for all your help,” Hawk said.
“Any time. Glad to see the little guy is okay.”
“Me too. I’ll be in to headquarters in a few days.”
“Take your time.”
Hawk got Damian tucked safely into his car seat and drove home, glancing in the mirror constantly to make sure he was still there and still okay.
Chapter 25
When the police were done collecting evidence and taking statements, it was time for them all to go home, including Alexa. The ambulance had left after checking everyone and cleaning a few cuts here and there. They’d all been lucky. Things could have been so much worse.
She walked through the house, looking for Hawk. He wasn’t there. She went out to see if he was with his MC members and saw that his car gone. Blade was still there with one other King.
“Have you seen Hawk?” she asked.
“He left a while ago with Damian.”
“Oh. Thanks. And thanks for your help.”
Blade nodded. “You’re alright, Miss Reynolds. You stop by headquarters with Hawk anytime you want, okay?”
She smiled. She knew enough about MCs from Hawk to know that the invitation for someone like her was a big deal. “I’d love that. Thank you.” Even if it would never happen because Hawk wanted nothing to do with her, she appreciated the offer.
She went back inside to find Joe and get a ride. She tried not to be stung by Hawk’s leaving her there. Maybe he’d forgotten that he’d driven her there and she had no way to get home. Maybe he’d just been so focused on getting Damian home that he hadn’t thought about it. Or maybe he was just done with her and that’s how things were going to be from now on.
All the same, she bit her lip as she pulled out her phone and quickly texted him. “You guys make it home okay?”
It took several minutes before he responded. Just a single confirmation. “Yup.”
Her heart twisted a little.
“Hey, can I get a ride for old time’s sake?” she asked Joe.
“Not unless you agree to come back. I don’t have a new partner.”
“Not going to happen. And this whole mess is just proof. I like helping out from the outside. And we wouldn’t have gotten him otherwise.”
“Yeah, yeah. I guess I can give you a ride anyway.”
She punched him playfully on the arm. “Gee thanks.”
She slid into the front seat of his cruiser, much like she’d done many times before when they were on duty. “So, how’s it all looking?” she asked.
“Well, we got him on the kidnapping for sure. So many witnesses and having the victim directly to speak to. Hawk said he’d testify and everything, so nothing to worry about there. When we searched the place, we got a few guns. Looks promising. Found some drug paraphernalia and, the biggest of all?” He looked over at her and gave her a half smile.
“What else was there?”
“We brought in the drug dog. Just before we left, he made a hit. And look at this text I just got.” Joe showed her his phone.
There was a message from the K9 unit officer. “20 bricks of coke, 30 pounds of weed.”
She sucked in a breath. That was plenty to lock him up on charges of distribution for years. “Wow.”
“If we can also nail him on the murder, this guy is never getting out.”
“Let’s hope you do,” she said.
“Guns are heading to forensics as we speak.”
“Pretty sure the one in the bedroom could be a match.”
“Yeah. I hope so. That would make my job real easy. And since I don’t have a partner and all, I need easy.”
Alexa rolled her eyes. “Are you ever going to let it go?”
“Oh, sure, eventually. Like a few weeks after you come back.”
“No going to happen.”
“So, this Hawk guy. You, uh…”
“Don’t ask.”
“Uh oh. That bad?”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. She really didn’t know and that was the problem, since she doubted she’d be able to move on without something definitive, something that felt like closure.
“We sort of had a thing,” she admitted. “But it looks like it’s over.”
“The stress of all this was too much?”
“That’s not it. More like he hates cops and didn’t know I had been one until recently. I guess now he’s lumping me into the cop category, even if I’m not anymore.”
“Hates cops? Even after today?”
She shrugged. “I haven’t really talked to him much today, but I don’t see why things would suddenly change.”
“Well, because we’re locking up his brother’s killer and his nephew’s kidnapper.”
“But we messed it up the first time. I don’t know. Maybe he changed his mind. Who knows? I’m sure right now he’s focused on making sure Damian is okay and safe.”
“Right. And I wouldn’t be too torn up about. He’s got one heck of a record. Not really your type anyhow.”
She turned in her seat to raise an eyebrow at him. “And you know my type?”
“Sure. Wears a tie, works in an office, doesn’t mind housework or a wife with a strong will.”
She grew quiet for a moment. “I used to think that was my type. But those guys left me bored and unsatisfied. Hawk and the danger he comes with gave me a thrill like I’d never felt before.” Quite literally, she thought, and her face went warm. “He made things interesting and he challenged me. He doesn’t just accept the crappy parts of the world. He tries to have a good life despite them and does whatever he can to live around them. It’s a different way of life, but I like it. Maybe that’s why I know I’m done for sure on the force. I like being the rebel, playing by my own rules, not answering to anyone, but still catching the bad guy at the end of the day. It’s a rush like I never felt. And I have Hawk to thank for that.”
Joe looked over at her. “Oh wow. You got it bad. I had no idea. Fell for a biker ex-con. Man. Never thought I’d see the day.”
Joe pulled into Alexa’s driveway and she couldn’t help but look next door. The living room light was on.
“Well, I don’t know if you have seen that day. Like I said, he hates cops, and he might hate me, too. We’ll see.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and paused with her hand on the door handle. “Thanks for the lift. Felt kinda like we’re still at it.”
He nodded slowly. “I’ll let you know when I hear something.”
“You better.”
She wasn’t quiet about closing the car door or her house door. She wanted Hawk to hear her. She wanted him to call or text. Something to let her know what was going on. She sat in her living room for over an hour, eating ice cream, hoping and waiting. When she finally got up to put the empty carton in the trash, she saw that his lights were all out. She picked up her phone and tapped it so the screen came on. No missed calls or texts.
She trudged up the stairs to bed, feeling discouraged despite all that had gone right that day. She tried to keep her focus there. Damian was home safe. Hawk was home safe. Rucker Marshall and his “Jessica” were in jail and would stay there a long time. And for a moment she felt selfish for wishing that things hadn’t turned out better, at least between her and Hawk.
She’d solved a huge case. A case that she’d been working on for months that had been closed unex
pectedly. Now they had pulled a huge drug pusher off the streets. They’d taken down a murderer. It was her biggest case as a PI and if she leveraged this right, she’d have a ton of business.
But none of that seemed to matter much right now. She wanted to be curled up in Hawk’s arms instead of alone in her bed. She wanted to know he would be there for her like he had been, that he would take her into his arms and kiss her and make love to her. She longed for him, and the more she thought about it the more it tore her apart.