Sons of Justice 12_Confident in Love

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  Tat grabbed his clothes and headed to the other bedroom to shower and change for the guests that would be coming soon. He still wasn’t thrilled about this. He wanted Talia resting, but it seemed she was pushing to feel better faster than her body wanted to. It was pissing him off as well as the rest of the team. Maybe her brother Nathan could get her to go to counseling. Then on top of all this, Spadaro wasn’t too thrilled about seeing Woodrow or them again. He knew Woodrow had hard feelings about Spadaro shooting him, but it was the guy’s own fault, not Spadaro’s. Woodrow was lucky Spadaro was warned off and had quick enough reflexes to not hit Woodrow in the head. Tat shook his head. They were all going to have to get over the awkwardness of their first impressions of the group of men and that situation. After all, they were trying to hunt for Barishna in order to protect and save Talia, and now they could be moving closer to Repose if what Spartan told him was true. That Flame had asked for the men to be reinstated into SoJ on a temporary arrangement until they could find a more suitable position close to Repose and still part of the organization. They had done some unethical things to find Barishna and his men to take them all out, and Tat respected that. Plus, he knew that if Nathan, Talia’s brother, lived nearby, perhaps it could help to ease her mind and her fears a little more. After all, he was her blood, her brother.

  Tat got into the shower, his mind now on the call from Falzone. He wondered what was up, and hoped he wasn’t looking for Tat and the team to go on some sort of mission. They would refuse. Talia, and helping her get better, and always be protected was their top priority. Keeping her safe, never letting her experience anything like the abuse, the danger, and the injuries she sustained to ever happen again. Women needed protection. There were evil people out there, who preyed on the innocent, and took advantage of people when they were vulnerable and unaware. Just thinking about the pain Talia was in upset him. He exhaled and hoped she would get better quickly, and he could find the right words, the right actions to bring her comfort instead of upsetting her like apparently, he had been doing. At least he wasn’t downright ordering her to rest, or to comply with demands like Spadaro. He chuckled. Those were some doozies of arguments the two of them had recently.

  A little while later, Tat finished up showering, got dressed, and then headed into the home office. Spadaro was there.

  “Falzone called. You know what he wants?” Spadaro asked him.

  “Not a clue.”

  “I hope he knows we aren’t taking on any missions right now,” he snapped, with a mean expression.

  “Spadaro, I’m sure he does. He and the team sent Talia that beautiful bouquet of flowers, remember,” Tat said, and then got on the phone and called Falzone.

  “He’s probably visiting his cousin and his wife, and maybe heading this way to the base two hours from here.”

  Spadaro nodded but didn’t look convinced. Then Falzone’s voice came over the phone.

  “Hey, Falzone, what’s going on? How was the trip?”

  “Sucked, and only got worse when we got to the safe zone and I received a call from home.”

  “What’s wrong?” Tat asked, recognizing that tone of Falzone’s, and Spadaro scrunched his eyebrows together.

  “Meredith, Tommy’s sister, was abducted several weeks ago.”

  “What? Where? Are the police involved? Do you have any suspects?” he asked.

  “They don’t have much, but apparently the local law enforcement, state police, and federal agents believe it could be a serial killer.”

  “Jesus!” Tat exclaimed, and sat down in his seat.

  “It’s fucking bad, and we found out everything when we got here to Louisiana. It’s a mess. My sister, Carry is distraught over it, and her husbands’, Cade and Ben are worried about their sister Meredith. It’s crazy man. She never made it home from work.”

  “How come they didn’t contact you sooner when you were in Guam?” he asked.

  “We weren’t in Guam. That was cover for a covert operation. As you know can’t tell a soul.”

  “Fuck, I know what you mean, don’t need to tell me. What can I do to help? Anything?”

  “We are trying to use some of our SoJ pull here, and I put a call into Spartan. Spoke to him about an hour ago, and then John, and Hans, too. He was going to see what they could do to help. I know it may not be much of anything, but SoJ has resources and can find people. In order to work hand in hand with some connections around Repose and on Campsite, we’re going to be spending some time in the area so we can get quicker access to things. My brother-in-law’s will keep me abreast of updates locally here in Louisiana.”

  “Well, you’re welcome to stay in the cottage out back on the property. It may be a bit tight with you and your team.”

  “Spadaro said you would offer, but he could try to talk to Cesar, the local sheriff, to see if there were any vacancies anywhere.”

  “No need to, man. You’re welcome here. We can help out in any way we can. Been doing a lot from home and then taking turns heading to the campground for training and shit.”

  “I understand. You keep eyes on that gorgeous woman of yours. How is Talia feeling anyway? Is she recovering quick enough for herself?” he asked, knowing from Tat’s conversations with him several times over the phone that Talia was stubborn.

  “She kind of was hiding the pain she’s still in.”

  “Damn, you need to nip that in the bud fast.”

  “Oh, I can assure you I am, as well as Spadaro. He’s been in conflict with her the most over her care.”

  “I could only imagine. Listen, I appreciate your hospitality, and of course the help. I know the team and I have been doing some private missions and operations aside from SoJ, but we’re still part of it, and wish we could go back to solely working missions for SoJ.”

  “Of course, you’re still part of the organization. Your abilities were needed elsewhere. It happened to us several times and we were overseas for almost a year, then six months elsewhere, and it was a relief to finally be back in the United States again.”

  “Where you met Talia. Lucky bastards.”

  “Thanks, man, so when will you be coming in?”

  “Hopefully within a few days. It’s going to be tough leaving Carry. My sister is really upset and can’t seem to stop crying. She’s been having difficulty working. You know how close they are.”

  “I know. Meredith was the maid of honor in the wedding when your sister married Ben and Cade,” Tat said.

  “Yeah, those two are even more protective of Carry than they were before this. Imagine how that is going.”

  “I’m sure they are, and they should be. A serial killer? Imagine that. I definitely want to get as much information as I can on this.”

  “Spartan is gathering it all. I have a lot of files I’ll send you, including access to police reports, medical examiner reports, autopsies, everything, man.”

  “Damn, okay. The cottage will be ready. It sleeps six, so the four of you should have enough room to spread out, and there’s an office and another room that maybe we can turn into a command center to place all the information we have.”

  “Sounds like a game plan. I’ll text you when we’re in Texas and close to Repose.”

  “Sounds good. See you soon.”

  Tat ended the call and exhaled, then rubbed his face and his neck.

  “Serial killer? What the fuck is going on?” Spadaro asked, and Tat explained. Spadaro clenched his teeth. “Some mother fucker took her and could kill her, he’s done this before. The police, and the feds can’t find him?”

  “No. He’s going to send us everything he has. Spartan is on it, too.”

  “Are we going to run into bullshit because of the feds and detectives?”

  “What do you think?” Tat asked.

  “I think I don’t give a shit. We’ll do whatever we can to help find her.”

  “Exactly. Hopefully we can. There are several people living in Repose who have pull in places we don’t as military m
en. Their law enforcement ties and government clearance can possibly get answers faster. We’ll see once we have more info on this,” Spadaro said.

  “I hope it isn’t too late, Tat. You know how these things turn out. A serial killer? What the fuck? How? Why haven’t we heard about this?”

  “The feds are involved,” Tat said.

  “Yes, they are. I wonder if Falzone pissed any of them off already?” Spadaro asked.

  Tat snorted. “I’m thinking possibly, yes. So we’ll have to get through to him to keep SoJ involvement under the radar for a while.”

  “I’m sure Spartan already gave him the lowdown. We’ll do whatever we can.”

  “I’ll talk to the others. Let’s focus on today and making this a happy gathering for Talia. She’s been looking forward to it.”

  “Yeah, and making the damn cake,” Spadaro said, and stood up.

  Tat exhaled. “She’s been snappy. She’s still in pain and I can’t stand it.”

  “Neither can I. She gave me a little bit of the cold shoulder this morning.”

  “Yeah, but it ended well. We all got to make love to her, and hold her in our arms. I will not accept her holding back her feelings and the pain she’s in because she thinks she needs to impress us. It’s like she thinks showing weakness in front of us disappoints us or something.”

  “I think you have a point. She wants to be the strong, capable woman of SoJ soldiers, and she doesn’t need to be. She needs to recover. Maybe Nathan can talk some sense into her.”

  “Yeah, he said he would talk to her.”

  “Well, let’s get started. This place will be rocking before we know it,” Spadaro said, and they headed out of the office. Tat with an even heavier heart than when he first entered. Maybe Falzone would get some news and his sister would be found.

  * * * *

  Avana Mosely was laughing at something Gail’s friend Toby said. She was walking into Sandman’s all-night diner in Cinder. Gail, Bianca, and six of their guy friends all headed inside after a long night of dancing and partying at a bar in town. They stopped in to grab fries and other snacks like chocolate fried Oreo cookies, a staple after a late-night party.

  As she walked inside and headed past the counter she had to do a doubletake. There sat Frankie, who trained her in self-defense, along with his cousin Cole, Nathan, Talia’s brother, and the rest of the team, Spade, Woodrow, and Bronco.

  Frankie gave Cole a slap to his arm, and before she even got close to the counter and round high bar stool table and area where all six men sat, they had their eyes on her.

  “Hey, Frankie,” she said and waved, then felt the hand on her shoulder and another hand on her hip. Gail’s cousins, Merdock and Mickie took a protective position next to her. They had been flirting with her in the beginning of the night, but seemed to realize that she wasn’t interested. Frankie got down off the stool.

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked her, and pulled her into his arms to give her a hug hello. She tightened up, instantly feeling the attraction, but she wasn’t ready to date, or to throw flirtatious comments at Frankie like other women did. So she pulled back, and Merdock and Mickie gave her hip a nudge.

  “They headed back, come on,” Merdock said, looking at her but then glancing up at Frankie. Frankie and the others all stared at the two men, looking annoyed. She felt a little twinge of something. Were Frankie, Nathan, Cole, Spade, Woodrow, and Bronco attracted to her, and perhaps jealous of the fact that Mickie and Merdock were acting protective?

  “Come say hello to the others,” Frankie said, stepping closer and placing an arm around her waist. She was still so petite compared to Frankie, even in the high heels she wore. Plus, he was so muscular and hard, and she felt this wall of heat whenever he was close. It made her body tingle and react, and that sort of freaked her out a bit. However, he was commanding, and not like the other men who flirted with her. Ignoring his request, she turned her head and spoke to Merdock and Mickie.

  “You guys go ahead. I’m fine. Nathan, over there, is Talia’s brother,” she told them, pointing toward Nathan who gave a tilt of his head in such a commanding, hard ass manner, and both men looked at all the men then back at her.

  “Are you sure? We left you momentarily at the bar tonight and there was nearly a situation,” Merdock said, referring to the four guys who decided that she was going to be their woman, and wouldn’t leave her alone for anything. Merdock and the others needed to step in. He sounded like he had a right to still be protective here. Maybe Merdock and Mickie hadn’t gotten her drift that she wasn’t interested in them.

  “It worked out fine, and these are friends,” she said.

  “What situation?” Cole asked, eyeing over the two guys.

  “Nothing to worry about, we had it under control,” Merdock said, and his brother walked toward the back of the diner where the others went and were making a lot of noise.

  “You sure you’ll be okay, sweetie?” Merdock asked her, eying her over.

  “Yes. Thank you,” she replied, and she felt Frankie’s arm pull her snugger against him before he pulled her closer to the others to greet them hello.

  “I can’t believe you guys are in town. I thought you were coming in tomorrow? That’s what Talia told us,” she said to them. One by one she went around the table as they each stood up to kiss her cheek. Cole, slid his hand along her lower back and gave her a squeeze, too. Her heart raced. Then Spade did the same, his hand nearly stroked over her ass and for some stupid insane reason, she wouldn’t have minded at all. She tightened up when Nathan gave her a hug hello.

  “You smell good,” he whispered into her ear; his lips touched her skin. She felt the same attraction to each man, and she knew this was bad because she didn’t mentally feel ready to get involved with one man, never mind six. She knew all six liked her, were attracted to her, but her fears were stronger. Something deep inside of her body and mind made her hold back from taking a chance again. Ben had done a number on her psychologically, besides physically.

  They were all looking her over, and she knew she looked good. She got dressed nicely for the surprise party, and of course knew they were going to the bar afterward and everyone got dressed up to go there. Some people even took limos. She had on a one-piece dress that hugged her body tight, but flared mid-thigh with an almost ruffle in the matching royal blue color. The top was strapless, and her breasts held it up nice and snug.

  “That was the plan originally, but we got a flight in earlier,” Woodrow said to her, standing up before pulling her into a hug. When his lips touched her bare shoulder bone, she pulled back. Their gazes locked. His deep green eyes stared down into hers. “You look amazing as usual, sweetie.”

  She swallowed hard and stepped from his hold.

  “So much so that we arrived at eleven and were starving. Frankie said this place is open twenty-four hours,” Bronco said to her, and took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss.

  That flirtatious look in his eyes, the rugged beard, and firm expression, made her pussy clench. She stepped back before he could pull her into his arms and hug her or kiss her. She had to because right now she was so damn attracted to them she could do something stupid, like flirt back. That thought that she felt more than ready to do that confused her. She had sworn off men until she felt more self-confident and secure, which was something unfortunately she just didn’t fully feel yet. She was trying, but definitely wouldn’t be able to resist these men or their obvious experience seducing women.

  “Yes, it is, and one of the only places around open all night long. You’ll see it get even more crowded, and then shoulder to shoulder as people wait for food to go, or tables to sit at.”

  “So where are you coming from?” Cole asked her.

  “We were at a surprise party and then a club a block away from here,” she told them.

  “Ravens?” Frankie asked her.

  “Yes, you know it?” she asked, stepping back, trying to put a little space between them, b
ut it felt like there was this imaginary pull toward them. She didn’t think she could step back far enough to make it disappear. It was that strong. She swallowed hard.

  Another crowd of people came in, probably from the club, and were passing by. Nathan placed his hand on her hip and pulled her closer between him and Spade. Avana recognized the two girls with the guys and they smiled and said hello to her. She felt Nathan’s hand squeeze her hip as Spade inhaled against her hair. She shivered, totally feeling attracted to these men and that wasn’t a good thing. She didn’t want to date anyone.

  “Want to sit and join us?” Nathan asked.

  She looked toward the back where her friends were laughing and still pulling together some tables.

  “That’s okay. I should head back with my friends,” she said.

  “They look fine without you for a little longer. Join us,” Woodrow said to her, and he stood up from the stool. It was starting to get crowded which the place usually did from midnight to four a.m.

  They rearranged their seats so that she was surrounded by them at the corner and end of the counter and bar area.

  “You look really good in that dress. Those are some high heels,” Bronco said to her, looking at her from head to toe. She placed her hand on Nathan’s chair and then lifted one heel back and up, glancing at it over her shoulder.

  “I’m used to wearing high heels, it helps give me some height,” she said.

  “Makes your legs look really good, too,” Spade said, and winked. She felt her cheeks blush. “Thanks, so are you looking forward to seeing Talia tomorrow? I know it’s been crazy the last couple of weeks.”

  “It sure has been, but things will start to settle down. We’re looking forward to getting to know Repose and Ausberry, and catch up on some much-needed rest, too,” Cole said.

  “I couldn’t even imagine. You all sacrificed so much to protect Talia. I’m sure everyone is relieved that it’s finally over,” she said to them, knowing most of what happened and of course about Talia’s past and her fears.