BECKY (Brothers In Ink Romance Series Book 5)

by Linda Cooper

  BECKY

  Brothers In Ink Romance Series 5

  Linda Cooper

  Copyright © 2015 by Linda Cooper

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Facebook: Linda Cooper

  Table of Contents

  Finale

  Bonus

  Finale

  I took a deep breath, looking behind me. Finally, a little alone time. Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh as my hand slipped into my purse and pulled out a smoke. I slipped it between my lips and lit it, tucking my lighter back into my pocket as I took a deep lungful of smoke and blew it out.

  I looked around, there was no one about. Yet.

  It wouldn’t be long before the boys realized I was gone, then they were going to kill me. They were going to tell me that he would find me.

  I didn’t fucking care. I wasn’t going to hide for the rest of my life because of that asshole. I took another deep drag, my body relaxing.

  As much as I loved the boys and couldn’t thank them enough for taking care of me, I needed this. I needed some alone time.

  Priest

  Sam stared at me, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Guilt welled up in my stomach.

  “I’ll only be gone a couple days,” I promised.

  “Yea, but then you’re …” She trailed off, not needing to finish her sentence. I swallowed dryly.

  I was going to have to talk to my friends about our plans after we killed Jack. “I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered, pulling her into my arms. There was no doubt in my mind that I could leave her. “Now, go make friends, alright? Have a good weekend with the girls, and don’t worry about me. I’ll be back in no time.”

  She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, forcing a smile over her lips. “I’m sure I will have fun. They all seem really nice.”

  The guys and I had thought it would be a good idea to put all our girlfriends up in a hotel for the weekend. Well, we weren’t really sure if ‘good idea’ were the right words to use, but they all seemed excited about it. I’m sure they are going to try to come up with a way to stop us. I forced myself to turn away from her, which was much harder than I wanted to admit, and grabbed my bag. “I’ll call you when I get the chance.”

  “Alright. Be safe.” I glanced back at her; she looked worried.

  “I will be.” It had been two weeks since we got back from Paris. “I love you!” I called over my shoulder as I headed towards the front door. That was where we’d said our ‘I love yous', and I couldn’t dream of taking it back. Of course, I’d spent most of my money there, and now that I was thinking I didn’t want to die that could be an issue.

  I made my way out to the car and dropped down into the drivers seat.

  ***

  The drive wasn’t long. We’d picked somewhere just out of town, a cottage with no one else around so we didn’t have to worry about people getting in our way.

  As I pulled into the parking lot, I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes. Although the drive hadn’t been long, it had been hard. I missed her. Becky and Sam.

  I turned the car off, tucked the keys into my pocket and padded for the front door. Luke and Jacob were already here. I left my bag in the car and took a deep breath. Yup, we were no longer in the city.

  The air was clean; I could smell the pine trees and the dirt. The door slammed open as a small white pit-bull burst through it, her tail wagging. “Jasmine!”

  She skidded to a stop in front of me, her tail continuing to wag as she sniffed my jeans, licking off leftover chip dust from my mid-drive snack. I bent down to pet her as Jacob came into sight, his brown hair tied back in a ponytail. “Come on.” I used my kid voice on the dog as I motioned her to follow me up to the cottage. It looked small on the outside, with a wraparound deck. I let Jacob pull me into a hug as I stepped into the place, which was small. The living room and kitchen were the same room, with a table at one end and two couches at the other end arranged around a fireplace. I hugged my friend tightly as I caught Luke’s eye. Jacob pulled away from me as another car rolled into the driveway. “That must be Dom,” he said stepping outside. Jasmine ran out after him.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Good,” Luke said. “You?”

  “Good.” I nodded. “How is Jade?”

  “She’s … pissed.” He smirked. “Sam?”

  “Worried, pissed, other than that she is fine though.”

  I wasn’t sure how Sam had found out about our plan. I’d told Sam, and I knew that Ashley had figured it out on Jacob, but I couldn’t help but wonder if I was the only one who had told their girlfriend about what we had planned. Somehow they all knew.

  I looked behind me to see Dom and Jacob coming inside, Jasmine still following them around. Dom grinned, seeing me. “Hey.” He made his way over to me, pulled me into a quick hug, then turned his attention to Luke.

  “So,” I made my way around the coffee table and onto one of the couches. “We’re all here.”

  “Does anyone want a beer?”

  “Yes!” We all spoke at once. We were going to need at least a couple beers to get through this night. I still couldn’t stop thinking of my idea. The fact that I didn’t want to end my life. I didn’t want to go back to jail.

  As Jacob strolled to the fridge and pulled out four beers, everyone fell silent. Like none of us wanted to be the first one to say anything. I took a deep breath, praying my voice would work.

  “So, it’s finally time?” I watched them all nod silently, I was forced to do all the work here, so I took a sip of my beer and another deep breath. “Well, then good. Let’s get this over and done with so we can get back to our girlfriends.”

  They all raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re going to turn yourself in?” Luke asked.

  “No.” I took another sip of my beer. “I’m going to run if Sam will go with me.” If not, I didn’t have any point in living. The three guys exchanged looks. “You’re welcome to join us … I don’t want to lose more of my friends, but I won’t make you.”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Dom spoke softly. “But where would we go?”

  I shrugged. “I hear Canada isn’t bad.” I was pretty sure I had a couple connections who could get us the ID that we needed to get over there without a question. “I’ve always wanted to live in the country, we could move to Saskatchewan or Alberta.”

  Jacob snorted. “Really?”

  “Well, we can’t move to Ontario. Pit-bulls are banned there.” I watched his eyes widen a little; he glanced at his dog, then back at me. “I thought somewhere with fewer people would be good. At least until we are no longer suspects for his death; because we will be.”

  Everyone nodded. We all knew it; we’d always known we would be. It was just that we’d planned on killing ourselves—then the girls came along.

  Love complicated everything.

  ***

  I pulled my coat tighter around me, my blonde hair tied up in a messy bun and looked over my shoulder. Nope, no one there yet.

  It wasn’t that I was expecting to get away. I knew someone would find me eventually. I knew I’d either head back to Dom’s, they would find me or Jack would find me, but that was a risk I had to take. I wasn’t going to let him control my life.

  I tossed what was left of the smoke onto the ground and shoved my hands into my pockets as I made my way towards the swings.

  At this hour, my car was th
e only one in the park’s parking lot. I was the only one around. I sat down on the swings and began to push myself.

  “I used to love coming here with you.”

  His voice made my heart skip a beat.

  ***

  “You really want to go to Canada?” Luke sounded like he was thinking about coming with us.

  “Yes.” I couldn’t think of somewhere much better. It would be easy to get there, and from what I heard if we were going to Saskatchewan or Alberta we could easily slip over there through the woods.

  I’d done my research. We had a convict on the same block as us who had escaped to Canada. He’d only been busted when he found out his mom had cancer and he came back over to the US, then went to his old home where some of the people on the street recognised him.

  I’d managed to track his brother down, who gave me the full story. If we could get to North Dakota, we would be set. “There’s lot of work out there from what I hear. It sounds like a lot of it is good pay too, lots of trade work.”

  Dom raised an eyebrow. “You’ve really looked into this,” he stated, “you’re actually going to go through with this.”

  “I am if Sam will go with me,” I repeated.

  “I’ll see what Kat thinks.” He paused. What if she didn’t like the idea and told the cops? I didn’t know her; I didn’t know what she was like. As if he read my mind, he smiled. “Don’t worry, she won’t rat you out if we don’t come.” It must have been written all over my face.

  “I’d go.” Luke nodded. “Jade might come with me …” He didn’t sound so sure.

  “If she doesn’t, you’ll still have a fresh start.” I tried to give him a smile and then turned to Jacob. “Well, what do you say?”

  “I’m bringing both my girls.” Jasmine lay beside him, and he held her tightly. Had he been holding her the entire time?

  “I didn’t think for a second you wouldn’t,” I admitted. The corners of his mouth tilted up.

  We’d never really understood why he was so attached to the dog, although one night, we’d all discussed it when he was gone. I figured it was because it was the closest he was going to have to a kid; Dom thought it was because he could always count on her, but Luke said we were both wrong. He said it was because they had both been through so much; that they both didn’t trust people anymore because of their past; that they were damaged goods. He related to the dog, and he’d saved her, but truthfully, we could all agree that the little snow white 60 pound pit-bull had been the one to save the big, muscular man who would sleep on his couch so he didn’t disturb the puppy when she was sleeping.

  I took a long swing of my beer. I wasn’t sure how Sam was going to handle the idea of moving. She’d liked it when we went to Paris, and she had told me on the flight that she wanted to do more traveling; that she wanted to see the world. But this … this would be a big deal for all of us.

  It would also be a second chance.

  I drained the rest of my beer and straightened up. “Alright, let’s get planning this son of a bitch’s death.”

  Was there any way to make it look like we hadn’t done it?

  Luke perked up. “Alright, I’ve got a couple ideas we can work with.” He sounded a little bit too excited; then again this was a big deal. It’s something we’d been wanting to do for the past 13 years.

  The Girls

  Ashley and Jade had an unfair advantage—they already knew each other.

  The others had only met each other once, maybe real quickly another time, but that was it; they hadn’t really bonded or anything. But their boyfriends had insisted that they do this girls’ weekend when they were off plotting a murder. Kat couldn’t help but wonder if it had been a good idea. She sat on one of the four beds. The girls had all met here an hour ago and so far the conversation hadn’t gone past small talk. Was it because of the company, or was it because they all knew their boyfriends were doing something really stupid?

  ***

  “So, everyone here knows, right? About what our boyfriends are doing?” I’d been wondering that for a while. Priest said he was pretty sure everyone knew. All the girls looked at me, and for a second, the room went utterly tense.

  “Yes,” Sam spoke up.

  Jade nodded.

  “I figured it out,” Ashley said.

  She figured it out? Interesting. I wanted to get to know this girl. Most of all I wanted to hear that story.

  “And just to be sure, are any of you actually on board for this?”

  “Not really.” Ashley looked away, a blush rising to her cheeks as though she thought we would judge her for that.”

  “I’m sure as shit not,” I confessed. “I mean, I get that he needs to do what he needs to do—they all do—but I’m not supportive of them doing this.”

  “I don’t think the man deserves to live,” Jade spoke up. I remembered what Dom had told me. That she’d been underage, and he had been a good 10 years older than her, or something like that. I agreed with Jade, someone who stalked a little girl didn’t deserve to live, as harsh as that may seem. “But I don’t want to see them throw away their life because of it.”

  “Exactly!” I pointed at Jade to empathise that I agreed.

  Sam laughed; it sounded more like a sigh of relief than anything else. As if we were going to think she was crazy. We were all here hanging out together because our boyfriends wanted to kill someone, and they needed to … I don’t know, keep us occupied?

  “Do you think they will actually go through with it?” Sam asked.

  “Yes,” I said it before realizing it. I shouldn’t have. I should have given the other girls hope, but the truth was, I honestly believed they were going to go through with it, as much as I hated admitting that to myself or anyone else.

  The room fell silent for a couple seconds. I regretted saying it, but I couldn’t’ it take it back now. So I took a deep breath and looked away.

  “I do, yes,” Jade spoke softly. “I wish I didn’t, but I do.”

  I could see the love in her eyes as she thought about her boyfriend.

  I smiled. Priest said he’d run into her at the cemetery once. He said she seemed nice, but most of all he said that Luke was already in love with her. I bit my lip. How can someone love a person so much after such a short time together? How can they be so willing to support them through anything? I wasn’t sure if I was thinking about Jade and Luke or myself and Preston. My stomach knotted, and for a second, I thought I was going to be sick.

  ***

  I liked Kat. She seemed nice, utterly honest, but nice. She didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt anyone with her honesty, just be herself.

  I turned to Ashley and Jade. They sat close together still, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were actually enjoying themselves. They smiled and chatted with us, but I wasn’t totally sold. Nonetheless, I pushed myself to my feet and reached for a stack of takeout menus. “Are you hungry?” I asked the room.

  “I could go for something to eat.” Ashley grinned. The other girls agreed, and we all passed around takeout menus, trying to decide what we wanted.

  I bit my lip. I had to admit that I agreed with Kat. I thought the boys were going to go through with it, and honestly, there was nothing any of us could do about it. I wish I didn’t feel that way, I wish I felt like Priest loved me enough to call this all off, but the truth was, I didn’t.

  I bit my lip trying to push the thought from my mind. After all, there was nothing I could do about it. It was hard to accept that there nothing I could do, but then again that was easier said than done. We all hushed as Jade ordered us some Chinese food, which would only take about twenty minutes to arrive. Once she disconnected her phone and slipped it back into her pocket, I looked up from the brochure about the hotel. “They are supposed to have a world-class spa here, we should all go.”

  Everyone exchanged looks with one another. “It would be nice to pamper ourselves,” Sam remarked.

  “That’s true …” Ashley mulled somet
hing over for a couple seconds. “Jacob did give me his debit card for the weekend. He told me to do whatever I wanted with it, and to treat myself.”

  “Dom was very insistent that I treat myself.”

  Slow grins spread across all of our faces. “Alright,” I said. “So it’s settled. The boys want us to have fun; we’re going to have fun. We’re going to go to the spa, we’re going to go shopping; we’re going to do whatever the hell we want to do.” Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea, but I went back to our common dominator. “So, how did you guys meet your boyfriends?” My brow furrowed. “And did any of you have trouble getting them to actually … you know, be around you?” It had been hard as hell to get Priest to even give me a chance. He was more than happy to hook up, but when it came to an actual relationship, or even just seeing each other again, he was dead set against it—hell that was putting it nicely, but since I’d won him over, things had been good. It’s amazing how honest you can be with someone after they tell you they are planning to kill someone and you decide that you will support them.

  “Oh. My. God.” Kat let out a loud breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything harder in my life.” She gave a dramatic eye roll. “He wouldn’t stop going on about how he wasn’t good for me.”

  Ashley gasped. “Jacob did that too! He’d go on about how he wouldn’t be around for long. It’s like, I don’t fucking care!”

  Kat laughed. “I finally got sick of it and told him I wasn’t going to give up. I mean, I wasn’t expecting to get married or anything, I’m still not, but I wanted him to at least give it a fair shot.”

  I laughed. It seemed the four friends were more alike than I had thought all along.

  Jacob

  So, we were all going to run away together? I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but it had to be better than killing ourselves, right?