Yet, here I was, sitting in the living room of Kink’s fully furnished nineties style home, looking around and wondering if I could run away somehow, maybe go to Bermuda. The places I could run and hide were endless really. Surely she couldn’t find me if I ran, but then of course who knew, my mother had powers I had yet to figure out.
“Hey, sis,” Tony said from the doorway leading to the second floor. “Rucker picked Kink’s old room, which leaves you with either the master, or the guest. Ranger said to take your pick, the master has its own bathroom though.”
“Then the master!” I said quickly, at least maybe I could take a bath without worrying someone would barge in on me.
Tony chuckled and said, “I figured, listen, Brooklyn, Zoey, and Petal said they would come over and bring you some clothes in the morning. You are gonna need to call your boss and arrange for a pass into the building for Mace, he is your guard for the foreseeable future.”
I nodded and then looked at my brother and said quietly, so Rucker wouldn’t be able to hear, “I pissed them off.”
Tony smiled and shook his head and said, “Sis, you didn’t piss them off.”
“Yes I did, I got one of their own to turn on the others. Trust me, they know, I made sure they did. I wanted them to know we were coming for them,” I said and Tony chuckled.
“Maria, you are so far down the list for people who have pissed them off it is ridiculous. They are responsible for what they do, not you and not me.”
I nodded and then sighed, “Whatever.”
“Come on, we have a lot to do before we leave, I will show you the alarm, and hopefully Mace will be here soon with at least a new phone and a shirt for you to change into, so you can get outta the scrubs.”
I nodded and stood tiredly, I was gonna sleep for a week if possible, all of this shit has really taken its toll. I realized I had only taken a two-hour nap in forty-eight hours, they were gonna have to prop me up in a chair soon. “Let’s get to it, don’t know how much longer I can keep my eyes open.”
My brother walked me through the house, and then showed me out back where Mrs. Honeychil was already settling into the spacious little house. He showed me the keys to the Mustang that was now in the garage, and warned me with a promise of a painful death if I got a scratch on the damn thing, and then told me to drive carefully. I nodded appropriately and followed him as he was pointing out the rest of the system, including panic buttons which were installed in almost every room.
I heard a knock on the front door and followed my brother as he went to answer it. He pointed at me to stay in the dining room while he checked things out. I nodded and remained where I was, tense, hell was this my life for the next few weeks? ‘Cause I gotta say, this is gonna suck. Being worried about my shadow was not gonna be fun.
I heard the murmur of voices and peeked my head around the corner. Mace was here and I smiled and waved at the large, usually grumpy, very quiet man who worked for my brother. He had long hair, and he was somewhat of a computer geek, but trust me, he was so much more. He gave me a head nod, which I assume meant ‘Hello, nice to see you again, Maria’. And held out a box. I walked and smiled at him gratefully.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Same as your old number, phone has GPS locator on it, do not turn it off at all. Downloaded all your numbers to it, and made sure that no one, and I mean no one, can trace you unless we allow it, so do not lose this phone, you got me?” Mace said and my eyes narrowed.
“Pretty sure I know English,” I snapped and grabbed the phone and stalked into the dining room and glared at the two of them over my shoulder. Mace just stared back at me while my brother chuckled. “Not cool!”
I turned on my new phone and saw it was fully charged, of course. I pulled up the contacts and found my boss’s home phone and pushed his number, if I waited until morning to inform him of what was going on, I would be lectured, yet again, about informing him of important things that happened. So tough shit, I was gonna wake him up.
Everyone left, thank God. Well, except for Mace who was currently walking around outside. Mrs. Honeychil was settled in the MIL house and Ranger had put Rucker to bed and then went into the guest room. I sat on the bed and looked around the master bedroom. The room was large but like the rest of the house it needed updated and brought into the 21st century. I contemplated what I would do with it if I owned it. Shit, I still hadn’t gotten around to calling by boss and I needed to do it before he found out through the other channels. I reached for the cell Mace had given and as I did it rang. Great, no need to look at Caller ID, seemed I procrastinated too long. I swiped my finger across the screen and put the phone to my ear.
“What the fuck, Maria? I come home, have dinner with the family, take my ass to bed, have a little tickle feast with the wife, and then roll over and turn on the TV to watch the news before I crash. Want to know what was on the news?” I didn’t get to answer because the man kept answering his questions. “It was a house in the process of burning to ground and the news people were talking about the heroic efforts of the fire department and how brave and lucky the owner was, the picture changed and guess who I see jumping off the roof from the second floor of the house—none other than my lead prosecutor. So again, Maria. What. The. Fuck.”
It was quiet for a few minutes so I took that as a sign he was done and waiting for me to say something.
“Maria?”
“I’m here.”
“This is the second time you have been targeted. I think Mitch should take this case over...” the DA continued explaining that it had nothing to do with me being a woman, blah, blah, blah. That it was his job to make sure his people weren’t put at risk and how if Mitch took over for now, which was a nice way of saying ‘you are permanently off the case’. I stopped listening to him when I heard Rucker yell out for his dad. I knew what happened to me had brought on the nightmare he must have just had. I heard the door down the hall close and faint whispers could be heard if I strained hard enough to pick them up. This was all bullshit and it needed to end. The man and boy down the hall had lost so much already and I’d be damned if they lost anymore. My career had always been first and last in my life. I’d had no plans to marry or have children, I was going to leave that to my siblings. But as the whispers stopped, I realized that father and son had somehow snuck into my heart. I worked hard as a prosecutor. I’d taken the job with the DA’s office because I wanted to make a difference in my community. Now, I wanted to make a difference for Rucker and Ranger. I didn’t expect to take the place of Noel or to even push her memory to the side, she would always be a part of them. But she would be their past, I wanted to be their future. To share milestones in their lives. Shit, I sat there, the DA going on and on in my ear, and it hit me that if it was reversed and I had been the one to have had them first but was taken from them, I would hope that someone would come along to help them live and love again.
I looked at the window when I felt a soft breeze blow over my skin to make sure it wasn’t open. It wasn’t. But as quick as the breeze came it was gone and my mind cleared, it was the mental push I needed and I said a thank you to Noel for the shove, then tuned back into my boss.
“I think it would be for the best—” Not if I could help it.
“No!” I yelled into the phone, cutting my boss off.
“What?”
“No, you are not giving my case away. Bullshit. You think because Mitch is a man they won’t come after him? These people care about no one. They have done enough. They wanted a war, fuck them, they got one!” I yelled.
“Maria, you cannot push them, they will retaliate again and the next time you might not be as lucky.”
“No, they are the ones who are not going to be lucky. Alan, you want to change the tides?” I asked my boss and waited for him to answer. I worked with Alan DeAngelo for some time now. I knew what drove him, like me, family. “Come on, Alan. I’ve never known you to play it soft. In the years we’ve worked together, the 8-
3-0 has been in and out of the court system in one aspect or another. They’ve ruled the Bronx for years, I say it’s time to crumble that rule. And make it safe for our families to live here. It will won’t happen overnight but we can get it started.”
“What do you have in mind?” Yes! I had him.
“First, get the judge up. I want warrants signed for 8-3-0’s hangout and warrants for each member in their leadership’s families’ homes. I don’t know what favors you are going to have to call in but I want enough officers ready in the morning to serve the warrants and toss the places.”
“Maria, this will be huge and if nothing is found our office, my office is going to look incompetent.”
“Assholes like them keep trophies, they always do. We just need to find them. And before you say anything else, I want to be present when they toss Miguel Martinez’s family’s home and when they hit the clubhouse. He’s the snake that heads 8-3-0 and gives the orders. And, Alan, how do you get rid of a snake?” I waited and he chuckled.
“Cut the head off it.”
“Exactly. So if we cut the head off 8-3-0, then the body will be left to squirm a little before it finally dies. I’m going to get off here, Alan. I need some sleep because I’m going to have a busy day and you need to make some calls now so I can have that busy day.”
“You realize if this blows up in our faces, you and I are going to be looking for new jobs, right? I don’t want to have to find a new job, Maria, so make this work. The DA’s office is going to owe so many favors when this is over, but I will get what you need and, Maria?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know what has brought the fire back into you, but the Maria Roark I just talked to, reminds me of the fresh out of law school girl who interviewed for her first law clerk job. See you at eight in the morning,” Alan finished and I was left with a dial tone. I went to put my phone on the table when I heard the light knock on the bedroom door.
“Come in,” I yelled and the door opened and Ranger stood in the doorway, shirtless and in sleep pants. His short sandy blond hair was sleep messed and he looked around and then turned to look at me.
“Christ, who the hell were you yelling at on the phone? Rucker woke up with a bad dream and I was laying with him when I heard you yell. Shit, I almost fell off the bed but then I caught pieces about warrants and snakes and realized you had to be talking to work. What are you up to, Maria?” Ranger asked, then leaned his shoulder on the doorframe. It was like he didn’t want to step in the room. Interesting. I got off the bed and walked across the room. When I reached the door, I stopped and stood in front of him. A short arm’s length away.
“The DA. He found out before I had a chance to call him. How is Rucker?” I asked and took a step closer, his brown eyes following me.
“Do you always yell at your boss?” he asked and cocked his brow.
“Not always, just when I am right and I want something done.”
“And that’s what?” I took another step closer and now stood so close to him that I could feel the heat radiating from him.
“The 8-3-0 is going to get a rude awakening tomorrow morning. They are going to learn that the DA’s office can’t be intimated. They wanted to push, well tomorrow, I’m pushing back.”
“Have you lost your mind? Did you not end up in the hospital from inhaling smoke from your house burning down around you? I want you around so we can figure this thing out between us, Maria.” Ranger ran a hand over his face.
“It’s my job, Ranger.”
“Christ, I want you so damn much it scares me? I haven’t felt that way in a long time,” he paused, removed the hand from his face, and looked down at me. “Sounds like you have a big day tomorrow, so do I. With that said, tonight can’t happen in the way I want it to, but I can do this.” I saw the change in his eyes as he pushed away from the frame and closed the gap between us by pulling me into his arms.
Had I really thought that I could push this man by making the first move. How wrong I’d been, I realized when he bent his head and crushed his lips to mine. I placed my hands on his hips to keep my balance because when he pushed his tongue into my mouth and our tastes mixed, my legs trembled. Time stopped as he tasted every crevice in my mouth with his tongue and I did the same to his mouth. If he would have pushed the moment, I would have let him join me in my bed and it wouldn’t have been fair to him. He had to reach the decision himself and I would support him in whatever it was.
He broke the kiss and stepped back far enough that he stood in the hall, both of us breathing a little heavier.
“I knew it would be like that. I might have to start taking vitamins, ‘cause if that was the start of how it could be between, I’m going to need to be at my best.” I smiled up at him and placed my hand on the door readying to close it.
“Are you saying you are not fit, because I think I will argue that,” I said and moved my eyes to his bare chest that was peppered with just the hint of hair and then ran my eyes down to the trail of hair that disappeared in the waist of his pants. Pants tented by his harden cock, showing his desire for me. I raised my eyes back to his and in the glow of the nightlight in the hall I could see the sparkle in them.
“Not at all. I’m saying I’m going to need the extra energy because once I do lay you down in bed—I gonna need a lot a strength for everything I want to do to you.”
“Promises, promises,” I said and smiled. He ran his eyes down my body and back up.
“There are other reasons we carry cuffs, Counselor.” He smirked and I chuckled.
“Is that supposed to scare me, Detective? Because really, you’ve met my mother.” I started to push the door shut.
“Night, Maria. Sweet dreams,” he said through his laughter.
“Goodnight, Ranger,” I said as the door made the soft click sound at being closed.
I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then looked through the clothes the women had brought for me. The black pants and the red blouse would go nicely so I laid them out for the morning, then slid into bed.
The sound of the door being opened and then closed pulled me from the beginnings of sleep I was falling into. I knew it wouldn’t be Ranger and that was verified when my eyes adjusted to the dark and the small figure stopped beside the bed.
“Maria?”
“Yeah, sweetie?” I asked as if I didn’t know what he wanted.
“Can I sleep with you?” Rucker whispered.
“Sure,” I said and held the blankets up so he could slide in the bed under them. Once he was settled in the bed, I tucked the blankets around him. “Night, Rucker.”
“Night, Maria,” he said on a yawn and I closed my eyes with a smile on my face. “Dad said that my mom watches over me in heaven,” he whispered and had my eyes opening again.
“Yes, sweetie, she does. She will always watch over, even when you are a grown man like your dad. She will only be a thought away.” The smile I had just minutes ago left and my eyes filled with tears for this little boy fighting to understand things no child should ever have to deal with. He was quiet for a moment and I thought he had fallen asleep but his next words had tears running down my cheeks.
“Will you be my mom who watches over me here?”
Oh my God, if I hadn’t already loved him, I would have then. But his dad and I were still finding our way and I didn’t want to say anything to have it come back and hurt him later. Because if I didn’t care, I would have hugged him and given him the yes that he wanted to hear.
“I think we should talk about that when we are fully awake and with your dad present too. I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to be your mom here. I just think we need to discuss it a bit first.” But I could give him something because even for some unknown reason Ranger and I didn’t work out, I couldn’t imagine my feelings for Rucker would go away.
“Okay,” was his only reply and it carried a little disappointment in it.
“Rucker, I love you.” I waited and he rolled a
nd launched himself at me, wrapping his arms around my neck.
“I love you too, Mo... Maria” Yeah, he was going to be mine whether Ranger and I worked out or not. I would just have to explain to Ranger and hope he didn’t get mad.
“Rucker, I would love if you thought of me as your mom here watching over you, like your real mom does from heaven.”
Rucker let go of my neck and pushed himself up so he could look at me and then asked, “Really?” His voice held so much hope.
“Yes, really.” The biggest smile spread across his face and he flopped back on the bed in the spot he had be in before and snuggled in.
“I love you, Mom.” When I heard those words directed at me, I wondered how ever I thought I could go through life without ever experiencing them.
“Love you too, sweetie. Now let’s get some sleep, okay?”
“Okay.”
I laid there a few minutes to make sure he was falling asleep and when he didn’t say anything else, I allowed my eyes to close and sleep to consume me.
Chapter Seven
Ranger
I woke up and showered, then went to check on Rucker before going downstairs in search of coffee. When I got to the room he was sleeping in the bed was empty. I didn’t panic, I knew where he was. I walked down the hall and stopped in front of the door and turned the knob as easy as I could, then pushed the door open. There he was.
Maria laid on her back with one arm raised and curved above her head, the other laid on the bed beside her, pinned by the small body. Rucker was on his back too, except sprawled out with an arm and leg laid across Maria. Both he and Maria slept soundly.
Cuffed and Briefed (KO Ink Book 4) Page 5