THE INNOCENT: A Cowboy Gangster Novel

by CJ Bishop

Wil stared at him. “I have no proof of that. All he told me was that the men were still at the warehouse.”

  Frank nodded. “And the incident at the warehouse, when you were struck…what really happened there?”

  “I was staring down the barrel of a gun,” Wil said quietly. “Seconds from death, when one of his men came out of nowhere and took out the gunman and…saved my life.”

  “One of his men?”

  “I assume so,” Wil said. “It sure as hell wasn’t one of ours.”

  Frank looked at the body of the gunman laid out on the metal table. With gloved hands, he probed the gouged flesh of the dead man’s throat. “Are you sure it’s wise to have personal interaction with these people, Wil?” He raised his eyes and deep concern etched his face. “They are a deadly bunch. I know—I’ve been cleaning up after them for some time now. What if they decide you’re a wildcard or a loose end that needs to be tied up? You are a cop, which makes you their natural enemy.” He looked away, a prominent strain on his face. “I’m not at all comfortable that they came to your house. I’m just not.”

  His anxieties were warranted and understandable. In his place, Wil would’ve surely felt the same. To be honest, Wil didn’t know why he himself wasn’t having the same anxieties…but he wasn’t. His gut told him that, regardless who these men were, they would not turn on him. The care and concern that shown through in the cowboy’s eyes, his voice, when he spoke of the Morgan twins, it told Wil something about the man. And his friend—Axel—his interactions with Tad had been genuine and affectionate. Maybe he was a fool…but he trusted these men.

  Wil reached over and grasped Frank’s shoulder, his eyes warm. “I understand your fears,” he murmured. “And I don’t know how to explain why I’m not afraid of them, but I’m not. They saved my life, Frank. That man, he didn’t have to intervene, he could’ve let this guy paint the concrete with my brains. He chose to save me. And because of him, I’m standing here now, talking to you. Because of him, Tad gets to spend Christmas with his dad. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

  Frank hung his head, his throat working as he visibly battled his emotions. “You know it does, Wil,” he whispered unevenly. “If you’d died today…” His brow pinched, and he closed his eyes.

  Wil moved around to the other side of the table. “I didn’t.” He wrapped his arm around Frank’s shoulder and drew his friend into a hug. Frank clung to him, his arms crushing Wil in his embrace. “I’m damn lucky to have a friend like you,” Wil said quietly. “Not everyone is so fortunate to have someone who cares so much.”

  Frank hugged him harder and buried his face in Wil’s neck, his warm breath erratic against Wil’s skin. That funny little tickle teased Wil’s navel again and this time he couldn’t deny it or ignore it. Neither did he understand it.

  The sudden bark of his cell phone caused both men to flinch and Frank hurriedly pulled back as if suddenly realizing how hard he was holding onto Wil. He turned away and busied himself. Wil stared at him, a little confused and a little curious, as he answered the call.

  Chapter 24

  The detective remained silent while Clint explained what they found at the orphanage. “There’re twenty kids here,” he said. “They’re all severely undernourished and most of them don’t seem to be aware of their surroundings. They’re going to need a lot of therapy or something.”

  “Of course,” Detective Jordan replied quietly. “That’s expected in these cases.” He paused. “Where is this place? I can have people out there right away to pick up the kids.”

  “We’ll bring them to you,” Clint countered. “We need to do this as soon as possible. These kids need immediate care. We had to rush one of them to the hospital, he was in the critical stage of pneumonia. Other ones are sick and may have pneumonia also.”

  “Then bring them to the hospital,” Jordan said. “I’ll wait for you there and alert the hospital staff that they’re coming in.”

  “All right.”

  “The Morgan twins,” Jordan asked, “will they be with these kids?”

  “No. I’ll bring them to you later this afternoon. But they’re in a safe place and being looked after.”

  “Okay.”

  Clint paused. “Before I turn these orphan kids over to you, I need to know that they’re going to get the best possible care. And that any potential adoptive parents will be heavily screened. If I find out that even one of these kids were irresponsibly placed in a bad home where they’re being abused again, I will be pissed…and you don’t want to piss me off.”

  Rather than fear, Clint detected deep compassion and understanding in the detective’s voice when he spoke. “Believe me, I want to protect these kids from further abuse as much as you do. The FBI’s special task force for violent crimes against children are very diligent about screening homes that take in children who have been victims of sex trafficking. They are also committed to putting away the traffickers. If you’ve apprehended the ones at the orphanage, they need to be turned over to the FBI task force.”

  Clint was committed to putting them away as well. Nothing the law could do to these men would be enough in return for the horrors they brought down on these kids. “I said I would turn over the children to you.”

  “And the traffickers?”

  “As far as you know,” Clint said. “The kids were found abandoned in this shithole.”

  Jordan was quiet a moment. “All right,” he murmured. “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “Smart cop.”

  “I try to be.”

  “We will be leaving with the kids right away. It will take about an hour to get there. I don’t want anyone but you at the hospital until the kids are dropped off, do you understand? You tell the FBI whatever you want about how you acquired the kids, but you leave us out of it.”

  “I understand.”

  “Axel is at the hospital now, with the boy that was taken in with pneumonia.” Clint went silent, then warned, “He is not a part of the world I circulate in and has committed no crimes. No one is to question him or even know that he is with me. I know you’re aware of what I’m capable of. If anyone messes with Axel, they’re going to find out, too.”

  Jordan anxiously cleared his throat. “Axel won’t be harassed. I would like to speak to him if that’s all right, but he won’t be brought to the attention of the authorities.”

  “He liked you,” Clint said. “I’m sure he won’t mind speaking with you. But don’t press him for information that he can’t give you.”

  “No. I won’t. You have my word on it.”

  “For your sake, I hope your word is good.”

  The call ended moments later, and Clint returned inside. “The kids will be taken directly to the hospital,” he told Cruz. “Detective Jordan will be waiting there, alone.”

  “I can have a couple of my guys take the kids in,” Cruz said. “But I need to know that you trust this cop one hundred percent. I don’t want my boys detained by the law.”

  “He’ll keep his word.”

  •♦•

  Axel found Kelly and Savannah in the cafeteria, each with a cup of hot cocoa. When the two girls saw him coming their way, they both grew nervous.

  “Raimi?” Kelly whispered.

  Axel sat down. “He’s going into surgery.”

  “Surgery.” Kelly looked worried.

  Axel relayed what Devlin had told him about the boy’s condition. “But they’re hopeful that he will come through it just fine. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

  Savannah squeezed the girl’s hand. “If he’s anything like you,” she said. “then he’s a fighter.”

  “He is.” Kelly trembled and ducked her head. “He stayed strong for as long as he could. But he just got too sick.” She slid one hand over her eyes. “When…when Barron took him to the back room, Raimi…he was crying for me…and I couldn’t stop them, I couldn’t go to him. I-I thought I was never going to see him again.” She raised her head and looked at Axel. “If you and
your friend hadn’t come there today when you did…Raimi would’ve died.”

  If they’d waited one more day…even a few more hours…the boy would be gone. Axel couldn’t take credit for the miracle of their perfect timing; only God knew how to work things out so intricately. Axel didn’t understand why such things happened to children in the first place, but he would take whatever blessings and miracles that were given.

  “I’m just thankful we got there in time.”

  “What’s going to happen to them?” Kelly whispered.

  “Who?”

  “The men at the orphanage.”

  Axel glanced at Savannah; the girl was young but not naïve. By now, most everyone in the extended family was aware of how Clint dealt with men like these. “All I can say is that they will never hurt or abuse anymore kids, not ever again.”

  Lowering her eyes, Kelly whispered with a hard edge, “I wish they would die.”

  They will, sweetheart. They will die slowly and in great pain.

  Axel’s cell rang, and he excused himself from the table when he saw that it was Clint. He walked to a less populated section of the cafeteria. “Clint?”

  “The kids will be brought to the hospital,” Clint said without preliminary conversation. “Detective Jordan will meet them. I told him to come alone. He knows you’re there and will probably want to speak to you. I told him about the boy you took in. Don’t mention the men out here at the orphanage, the ones that were running this place.”

  “Okay,” Axel murmured, his mind stuck on Clint’s last phone call. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  He sounded better, but there remained a remnant of the crippling pain that had been so strong in his voice during the last call. “Cochise and the others are there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good,” Axel whispered with relief. “I don’t like you out there alone.”

  The line went quiet.

  “Clint?”

  “I’m here.”

  The steadiness of his voice from a moment ago wavered and it hurt Axel’s heart. He wanted to be with him, felt like Clint needed him to be with him. But he wouldn’t ask Axel to come back to that place of hell.

  “Would I sound silly to say I miss you?” Axel asked thickly. “Since it’s only been a couple hours or so since I was there?”

  “I miss you, too,” Clint murmured.

  Sudden tears burned his eyes. “I want this day to be over,” Axel whispered. “I want to be home with you.”

  “As soon as I deal with things here and we take the twins to the detective…we’ll go home.”

  The longing in the cowboy’s voice pulled at Axel’s heart. “I’ll be counting the hours and minutes. But as much as I want to be with you…don’t feel like you have to rush.” His throat knotted. “You teach those pieces of shit what happens to people who hurt innocent children.”

  “I’ll give them a lesson they’ll take with them to hell,” Clint assured coldly.

  “That’s my cowboy,” Axel murmured. “I love you so damn much.”

  “I love you, too, baby.”

  Baby. God, he loved it when Clint called him baby.

  •♦•

  Laird’s body was moved into the main room before the kids were brought from the living room. “They don’t have shoes,” Cruz pointed out. “The ground is ice cold.”

  Clint scooped up Luke and one of the other children. “Then we carry them.” He headed the procession out through the front door and down the weed-ridden path to the truck. He got the rear latch unlocked without putting down either kid. The door rolled up into the ceiling of the compartment and Clint looked inside. The mattresses were fitted in there like puzzle pieces and covered with many thick blankets of varying colors.

  “Here you go.” Clint set the two kids inside. “Go on up to the other end and cover up. There’s enough blankets for everyone.”

  Luke lingered as the other boy crawled to the front and huddled into a dark blue blanket. “I’m really glad you were here,” he whispered and blinked. “Especially for Grace. She was really nice. She…” his eyes filled. “She was my friend. If you see her dad, tell him…” his chin trembled. “Tell him she thought about him every day and talked about him all the time. To her…he was a superhero. That’s why she never stopped believing he would come save her.”

  Clint lowered his eyes as his vision blurred.

  “And for her…he did.”

  When Clint looked up, the boy was staring at him through heavy tears.

  “I think…I think he should know she wasn’t alone…that to her, he was here, holding her when she died. I-I think he should know that.”

  Clearing his throat, Clint nodded. “I think so, too. I’ll make sure someone tells him.”

  Luke wiped his eyes. “Will I ever see you again?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The boy surprised Clint when he hugged him. “I won’t forget you. Ever.”

  Clint hesitantly wrapped his arms around Luke and held him for a moment. “I won’t forget you, either.”

  The other men were right behind Clint, loading the remaining kids into the truck. He released Luke and motioned for him to go to the front and cover up.

  Cochise placed a couple little girls inside then glanced at Clint. He didn’t say anything, just squeezed Clint’s shoulder and headed back toward the large house.

  “Rodriguez and Matteo will drive the kids in,” Cruz said, appearing beside Clint.

  Clint nodded.

  “Do you want to take the other ones with us when we leave?”

  The other ones? Clint was confused a moment then understood he was talking about the deceased children. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I don’t want to put them in with these kids. They don’t need to see their bodies.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”

  Rodriguez approached. “We’ll take it from here,” he told Clint. “Once they’re at the hospital, they’ll get the proper care. I’m sure they’ll all be okay.”

  “Thanks.” Clint and Rodriguez exchanged a strong handshake.

  “Drive careful,” Cruz cautioned. “The roads are icy as hell.”

  “I will.”

  Clint reached up and grabbed the strap of the door and gave the kids one last look. Luke offered him a small smile and a look of gratitude that tore through Clint, leaving him in ruins. He nodded at the boy and dragged the door down, securing the latch. He moved around to the side of the truck with Cruz and Sanchez as the vehicle started up and pulled away.

  Cochise was standing on the porch, watching them.

  Clasping Clint on the shoulder, Cruz asked, “Ready to get down to business?”

  Clint nodded, his jaw set and eyes hardening as he released the reins of his rage and fury.

  Outdo yourself, cowboy.

  He would; for Axel, for Grace and Luke, for the kids headed back to the city…and for the ones who hadn’t made it out.

  Chapter 25

  “Wil…”

  “I’ll be all right,” Wil said. “They’re bringing the kids to the hospital.” Frank stood beside the car, worried. Wil paused before opening the door. “Do you think I’m compromising my badge?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “I know you didn’t say it. But is that what you think?”

  Frank shifted. “It’s just that, when you start graying the lines between right and wrong, it can set you on a slippery slope.” He sighed. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Wil.”

  “I’m not engaging in criminal activity, Frank,” Wil said. “I’m trying to help these kids. And if I have to look the other way on a couple things to do that, then so be it. The most important thing to me right now is the kids’ wellbeing.”

  “I know. And it should be.” Concern filled Frank’s eyes. “But we both know what happened to those men at the warehouse.”

  Wil itched his temple and a
rched his brow. “So, I should attempt to arrest the cowboy?”

  “No.” Frank groaned. “Fuck, I don’t know. I just don’t want you to get mixed up in something that might get you and Tad hurt, or jeopardize your career.”

  Wil faced him and gripped his shoulders. “I’m getting the kids back, that’s all. I’m not going into business with these men.” He drew back. “And what you said about graying the lines? The line between right and wrong, and good and bad…they are gray. Sometimes good people do bad things and vice versa. Not all bad guys are one hundred percent bad. Not all good guys are entirely good. These men…maybe they are the bad guys, but they aren’t badmen. No one who cares this much about abused children can be all bad. Do you know what I’m saying?”

  “Yes.” Frank nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply…”

  “I know you didn’t,” Wil murmured. “I told you before, I’m damn lucky to have a friend who cares so much. I haven’t changed my mind about that. In fact, when this long day is finally over, why don’t you come over to my place and have a drink with me, help me unwind.”

  The look that passed through Frank’s eyes resurrected that incessant tingle in Wil’s belly button. This time, it drifted a bit lower, warming his loins, and startling the hell out of Wil.

  “It’s a date.” Frank’s smile hinted with amusement, but behind the humor lingered a serious tone; he wanted it to be a real date.

  “All right, then,” Wil chuckled and opened the car door. “Bring your best stuff.”

  “Ah, I see how you are,” Frank grinned. “You invite me over for a drink then expect me to bring the drink.”

  “Well, you were the one who called it a date, and it is customary to bring wine and roses to your date.” He winked. “Roses are optional.”

  “Shit,” Frank laughed softly, thoroughly enjoying their playful flirty banter. His desire for it to be more than play glowed brightly on his face. “Hell, I can be unpredictable. You never know what I might bring to the date.”

  “I do have a sweet tooth,” Wil hinted.