by J. S. Cooper
I walked into the backyard and sat on one of the recliners, and looked up at the sky. The sun was about to rise, and it was quiet. I loved the stillness of early morning. The only sounds I could hear were the birds chirping and the sounds of a few cars passing by. I laid back and thought about everything that was going on. I had to change. This was going to be the last time that I lied to Lucky. She deserved better than this. Our relationship deserved better. Our baby (oh God, I hoped there was a baby), deserved better.
I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to Lucky standing in front of me, crying her eyes out. My heart froze as I thought to myself, She knows. She knows about the dinner with Angelique and she’s breaking up with me.
“What’s wrong?” My voice was brusque. I was going to deny it. It hadn’t happened, yet. She couldn’t prove anything.
“I got my period,” she cried and looked into my eyes with sadness.
“Okay.” I looked at her for a moment, wondering if she had lost it. Why was she crying just because she had her period?
“I woke up and I had my period,” she cried.
I gave her a smile. “It’s okay. I don’t mind if you ruined the sheets.”
“I got my period!” she exclaimed louder, and then it hit me.
She got her period.
“You can cancel the doctor’s appointment.”
I felt my heart lurch at the words, but I pulled her into my arms to comfort her. “It’s okay,” I whispered. I kissed her hair, and then all over her face. “It’s okay, Lucky. Maybe right now wasn’t the right time to have a baby.”
“I wanted to have a baby,” she cried into my shoulders. “I wanted us to have a baby.”
“And we still can. You just have more time to finish school and do all those other things you wanted to do.”
I tried not to think about her going back to school and meeting all those other guys, guys without issues, guys who didn’t hold back certain information. She’d leave me. She’d meet a better guy, a man whose mother hadn’t left him, a guy who wasn’t fucked up.
“Are you okay?” This time it was her turn to ask me the question. I guessed that she heard the dejection in my voice.
“Yes, yes.” I nodded and held her close. I didn’t want to let go of her. I didn’t want to be without her warmth and love. Lucky was healing my broken heart, piece by piece, and I was scared that it would shatter into a million pieces if she ever decided to leave me for good. “Don’t leave me, Lucky.”
“Leave you?” She frowned. “Why would I leave you?”
“There’s nothing holding you here, now.”
“Is that why you wanted me to be pregnant?” She sat back. “Because you thought I’d leave you if I wasn’t?”
“No,” my voice was firm and I stood up. “Let’s go inside.” I was done talking about emotions. I needed my head to be in the right place.
“Okay.” She followed me into the house. “Oh, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you, but Leeza is coming to Los Angeles.”
“Okay.”
“Today.” Her voice was low and she wiped her eyes.
“Today?” That was all I needed, her busybody friend in my business.
“Is that okay?”
“It’s fine. I can’t cancel my meeting tonight, I’m afraid, but I’m sure Leo won’t mind if she joins you both for dinner.”
“Yeah, maybe they’ll even hit it off.” She grinned, her mood lightening as we walked up the stairs.
“Unlikely. Leo is picky.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, nothing.” I looked at her upset eyes and brought her in close to me. “I’m sure they’ll get on like a house on fire.” I stroked her hair and kissed her cheek, suddenly happy that Leeza was going to be there.
I knew that Leo went for girls like Lucky - girls who were spunky and beautiful, with hearts of gold. He was like me, in that any girl was okay for a night in the sack, but for the long-term, he wanted a gem. And Lucky was the most sparkling gem out there. I trusted him and I trusted her, but I didn’t want to put anything to chance. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if her friend Leeza was there, even if I didn’t trust her one iota.
“Yeah,” she sniffled. “Don’t worry, I don’t want her rushing into a relationship with Leo after being with Evan.”
“She dated Evan?” I frowned. “I thought they just knew each other.”
“Well, they knew each other intimately, I guess.”
“She gets around fast, doesn’t she?”
“Hey.” Lucky pinched me in the arm.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Uh huh.” She pushed away from me and walked into her room. “I’m getting in the shower.”
“In there?” I looked at her with a heavy heart. Was she mad at me again?
“Yeah, I’d rather bathe in here today.” She nodded and blushed. “It’s a girl thing.”
“Oh okay.” Understanding dawned in me and I grinned. “Sure thing.”
I walked back into my bedroom and inspiration hit me. I grabbed a pen and paper and started writing, furiously. I grinned to myself as I read the words of the poem I had written for her. I had an idea and I wanted to make sure that everything was going to be perfect. I picked up the phone to call a friend, and went into the shower about 15 minutes later, a much happier man.
“One day people shall talk of this day, my love. One day birds shall sing of my joy, my love.” I sang to myself as I changed and I paused as I heard my phone ringing. I answered it, immediately, and my heart stilled as I spoke.
“This is Zane.”
“Zane. It’s Special Agent Waldron.”
“Hello.”
“Is it clear?”
“All clear.” My voice was tight. “Though we need to hurry. I have a guest who may come in the room soon.”
“We’re very close to linking Braydon to a cartel in Mexico. We think he’s trafficking a lot more than we thought.”
“Okay.” My heart thudded in anticipation.
“We think he has a partner.”
“Oh?” Evan!
“Someone who is brokering the deals, someone who has more connections.”
“I see.”
“We need both of them to make an arrest.” The Agent’s voice was firm. “We get both of them, and they implicate Sanchez for us, then we got him.”
“Do you know who the partner is?”
“We have some ideas, but we aren’t releasing any names yet.”
“But I’m helping you—you can’t tell me?” My voice was angry. “Look, I have a girlfriend now and I’m scared she may be targeted.”
“Get her out of town.”
“I can’t do that.” There was no way that I was sending Lucky anywhere, not when I couldn’t be sure she was safe. “She’s staying here with me.”
“We can’t guarantee her safety.”
“I’m getting a bodyguard.”
“Zane, I don’t suggest you bring anyone else into this situation right now. It’s very delicate.”
“I know that!” I shouted. “And she’s already involved. I didn’t want it to happen, but it did. If you won’t protect her, I will.”
“You need to be careful, Beaumont. You cannot share any privileged information with her.”
“She’s not a spy.”
“You don’t know that. You can’t trust anyone at this moment.”
“I trust her with my life.” I spoke the words and knew they were true.
“Zane, you cannot jeopardize this assignment. We have been working too long on bringing this cartel down. Do you want to bring Braydon down? The man responsible for the ending of your relationship with Noah?”
“Do I want to bring down the guy who murdered my brother? Of course I do, you fucking asshole! Don’t you ever question me again! I am helping you!”
“Calm down, Beaumont. We can’t have you ruining this with your emotions.”
“I’m calm.” I wanted to throw the phone against
the wall. “Does Braydon know you’re on to him?”
“That cocky bastard has no idea.” Special Agent Waldron laughed. “And he has no idea about you, so keep it that way.”
“I’m not about to let him know now.”
“Just let him think it’s about the revenge. Mention nothing about drugs.”
“I’m not dumb,” I hissed angrily.
“We know that, Beaumont, but we’re close to the end here. We just need to make sure we catch them both.”
“What do you want me to do if you won’t tell me who the other suspect is?”
“Just follow through with the plan we already have.” The Agent’s voice was rough. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“I won’t,” I sighed. Even if it fucked up my relationship with Lucky, I wasn’t going to mess up this case.
“I’m sure you have an idea who Braydon’s partner may be.”
“Yes.” I thought back to all those nights hanging out with Evan and I couldn’t believe I had missed all the signs. He was such a kiss-ass with everyone, and now I knew why. My heart raced as I realized what Lucky had told me. Leeza was coming into town today - her best friend. Her best friend who had dated Evan. Oh shit! I had to make sure to tell Leo to keep an extra close eye on Lucky and Leeza. I didn’t want her going anywhere with that girl.
“Beaumont, are you there?” The Agent’s voice sounded tired. “Do what we asked and provide us with the information. That’s all we want from you, okay?”
“Okay,” I sighed.
“If all goes well, we may have enough evidence to make some arrests within the next week or so.”
“I sure hope so.”
“I gotta go, Beaumont.” And with that, the agent hung up.
I stared at the phone in my hand, my heart pounding. We were close to the end. I couldn’t believe it. I’d been a part of this case for so long and it was nearly over. I was close to seeing Braydon Eagle locked behind bars. I grimaced as I thought about him. While seeing him in jail would make me happy, it wouldn’t bring back Noah.
***
“So Leeza is your best friend?” I kept my voice light as we drove to the airport.
“Yeah, she’s one of my best friends. She was really there for me when my parents died.” Lucky looked out the window. “We’ve drifted apart recently, though.”
“Oh yeah? Why?”
“After I adopted my rules and stopped partying with her so much, we kind of grew apart. She kept going out and meeting guys and bringing them home, and well, I just worked a lot.”
“She’s like your family, now, then?”
“Family’s overrated.” She pursed her lips and cleared her throat.
“I take that as a no.”
“No, I don’t mean that. She’s a good friend of mine. Sometimes friends are better than family. Sometimes family lets you down and you just don’t know why.”
“You sound like me.” I looked at her, worried. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You wouldn’t lie to me, right? It’s not the baby, right?” I reached over and squeezed her knee. “I know we’re both disappointed, but it’ll be okay. Everything happens for a reason.”
“How did you get to be so wise?” She half-smiled. “But it will be nice to see Leeza. Maybe we can have a girls’ day, and she can tell me what happened with Evan.”
“Are you sure they broke up?” I kept my face looking forward.
“Yeah, that’s what she said.” She played around with the radio and I resisted the urge to keep questioning her. Leeza had tried to cause trouble for Lucky and me, before. Maybe she knew that I had never been stalking Lucky. Maybe she wasn’t trying to be a good friend. Maybe she was just a bad friend, and Evan was using her to get to me.
“Remind me I need to talk to Leo before you all go to dinner tonight.”
“We’ll behave ourselves, Zane. I promise.”
“You’re always a bad girl, Lucky.”
“I suppose you want to bend me over your knee, huh?”
“And give you a good spanking? Yes.”
“I would not be surprised if you tell me you were a Dom in a previous life.”
“You’d like that, huh?”
“Not really.”
“What would you call me? Big daddy?”
“Oh my, Zane.” She burst out laughing uncontrollably. “Please never say those words again.”
“You don’t want to call me big daddy?”
“Hell no, I don’t. That sounds so pervy.”
“I guess you can call me Big Zaney instead.”
“I’ll call you Crazy Zane, more like—or Pervy Zane.”
“At least you’ll be calling.”
“You can’t stop me from calling.”
“Good.” I reached over and squeezed her hand. “I started writing your song.”
“Really?” She turned to me and grinned. “I want to hear it.”
“Not yet.” I laughed at her pout. “That won’t work, baby.”
“But, honey.” She sidled up next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. “Please.”
“Don’t scare me.” I glanced at her face on my shoulder. “You’ll make me think you’ve become a Stepford Wife.”
“I don’t want to get your hopes up.” She moved away from me again. “Well, whatever, I won’t tell you the lyrics I wrote for you either.”
“You did?” I was excited to hear that she had gone through with it. “Are you going to sing it to me?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “It depends on how drunk I am.”
“Tell me the first line.”
“And …?” She raised an eyebrow at me.
“I’ll tell you a first line.”
“Hmmm.” She considered my offer. “I don’t know.”
“Okay, three lines then.”
“Three lines? That’s almost my whole song.”
“Really?” I turned the radio down and cleared my throat and started to sing.
“One day, people shall talk of this day, my love
One day, birds shall sing of my joy, my love
One day, the wind shall scream the truth to the world, my love …”
“Oh, Zane. I love it,” she gasped. “Sing some more. Please.”
“I’ll think about it if you sing some of yours to me.”
“You have to promise not to laugh.”
“I promise I won’t laugh.”
“Liar.” She wrinkled her cute little nose at me and I sighed as I saw we were approaching the airport. I wasn’t ready to share her with her friend. Especially because I had a bad feeling that Leeza wasn’t here just to hang out.
“Okay, now I can’t really sing, but here we go.” She cleared her throat and I looked over and saw that her face was red. I felt bad for asking her to sing when she was obviously not into it, but before I could tell her it was okay, she started singing.
“Zane, there has never been a man like you
Who has taken my heart and swallowed it up
I want you to know that you never have to doubt …”
She stopped and looked at me awkwardly. “I know it’s not as good as yours. I’m not a writer like you.”
“It was beautiful, just like you.”
“Suck up, why don’t you?” she teased me, but I could tell from the pink at the top of her ears that she was happy that I enjoyed it.
She certainly wasn’t a songwriter, but the imperfection of her lyrics hit me hard. I had taken her heart and swallowed it up. The enormity of those lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks. Lucky really loved me. There was no rhyme or reason to it. I couldn’t explain how I knew, but I just knew. A sense of calm filled me. She was in it for the long haul. She was in it for me. She was obviously uncomfortable, but she had sung to make me happy. I wanted to turn the car around and go home. I wanted to forget Leeza and her hidden agenda, I wanted to give up on Angelique, I wanted to forget about bringing Braydon to his knees. I wanted to be able to let go. For a moment I
slowed the car, but then I heard the song that was playing on the radio. It brought me back to reality with a swift kick.
“Yesterday.” I looked at her, stating a fact and not asking for confirmation.
She nodded and smiled. “I love the Beatles. I hope it’s okay.”
“It’s fine.” I pressed my foot back down on the accelerator. I had come too far now. I had to do this for Noah’s memory. I had to do this for the brother I had lost, the brother who had never given up hope. I had to do this for the boy inside of me that still loved to hate the Beatles.
***
“Lucky, this house is amazeballs.” Leeza’s mouth dropped as she stood in the entryway of our bedroom. I tried not to let my annoyance show on my face. She had been talking nonstop since we picked her up, and hadn’t really asked Lucky how she was or what she was doing. Her favorite topic seemed to be herself, and I was mad that Lucky had such a selfish best friend. “And this room. Oh my gosh, could you see me in a room like this? Could you imagine the parties we could have here?”
I glanced at Lucky, who was sitting on the bed next to me, and I shook my head. There was no way in hell I was letting Leeza throw a party in my house. Even if I didn’t think she was somehow working with Evan. She just wasn’t trustworthy.
“Do you want to go downstairs and watch TV, Leeza?” Lucky jumped up and I watched as she walked towards her friend. She had the same swinging hips that she’d had in the diner, but now when I stared at her walking, I just felt a deep sense of contentment, as opposed to lust and wanting. I still felt the lust, but it was about more than that now.
“Not really.” Leeza walked over to the bed and sat next to me, flinging her blond hair back in what I could only assume was meant to be a seductive move. “I want to get to know Zane a bit better.” She smiled at me and I noticed that the smile didn’t quite reach her blue eyes.
“He has a business meeting tonight, Leeza. He needs to get ready.”
“He doesn’t have time for his guest?”
“What do you want to know Leeza?”
“Not much.” She lay back on the bed and sighed, and I looked up at Lucky and she stared at us uncomfortably. I jumped up and walked over to her.