The Fighter’s Block: Cole, Book Two

by Hadley Quinn

  “You’re claustrophobic?”

  “No, it’s more like…I hate not having the option of leaving—being kept somewhere without being able to walk away if I want. I just don’t like that loss of control.”

  She slowly nodded. “I can understand that. But…it’s just a few hours. You’ll be okay.”

  She laid her head against his shoulder. That personal contact made him feel uneasy again, but he didn’t ask her to move. He just wanted this damn case to be over so things weren’t so complicated. He had to tread lightly way too often these days. It wasn’t what he was used to.

  Touching down in Miami gave Cole mixed feelings. He felt like this was a turning point. Everything in the case was going to converge together in this one trip.

  Leah was mostly quiet. She answered a few questions he had about Alex—not necessarily learning anything more, but just so he could get her talking. She admitted to being nervous about seeing him. After learning what she had, her entire life had changed.

  After a few minutes of bullshit from the precinct commander, Cole was finally allowed to see Alex Mills. He left Leah with a pair of detectives and an FBI field agent and was led to an interrogation room. Walking in and facing Mills was no surprise to Cole. The guy looked exactly like the pictures he’d seen of him, and his attitude was precisely how Cole had assumed.

  Overconfident and smug.

  “If it isn’t the wrench himself,” Alex spoke smoothly. He was sitting in a chair with his hands cuffed in front of him, but he looked as if it were a calm day in paradise.

  Ha, interesting analogy. So the guy thought of him as a hindrance to his plans?

  Mission accomplished.

  “Is Leah here?” he asked.

  Cole sat down in the seat across from him. There was a detective and another FBI agent in the room, but Cole knew he was given free reign over this interrogation. Thank God for having the right connections through Jack. If they wanted information from this prick, they were going to hear it.

  “Leah’s here,” Cole answered. “But she’s not too excited to see you.”

  Mills scoffed. “You can do whatever you want to pit her against me, but in the end, you’re not going to get in the way of two people wanting to be together. I’ve given her a life out of foster care and made her worth something. She knows that.”

  “Oh, spare me the false concern for her wellbeing. I know exactly why you want to be in Leah’s life and it’s not going to happen. And you can drop the fucking savior act. She was worth something way before she met you.”

  Alex met his eyes and narrowed them.

  “Face it, Mills. There is no fucking way you are getting out of this to have your financial ‘happily-ever-after.’ First of all, you’re in a shit ton of trouble with the law. And second of all, Leah wants nothing to do with you.”

  “Empty threats mean nothing. And there is no charge against me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “We’ll see about that when we go pick up Emilia Denton. And the raids on the clubs? You’re tied to each and every one of them.”

  “First of all,” Alex said as he leaned forward with a cocky smile. “I don’t own a single business in Miami. Those were Damien Glenn’s establishments, not mine. And second of all, I know nothing of this ‘Emilia Denton’ that you speak of.”

  “Really? So when the FBI checks out all the addresses associated with Harold Westman, you have nothing to worry about?”

  Mills offered a smile. “Not worried a bit. And I believe they already did.”

  “Even the ones listed under Grant Miller?”

  Even though the expression on Alex Mills’ face didn’t change, Cole could see it in his eyes.

  Boom.

  “Don’t fuck with me, Mills,” Cole spoke coolly. “I’m not here to get information out of you because I already know what I need to know. Grant Miller was your father. He was business partners with Damien Glenn, under the table. They had a falling out—a pretty big one at that—and your father lost a lot of money because of it. He’d put in a lot of years working with Damien only to be kicked to the curb.

  “Now enters Alexander Miller, the son that had also worked with Damien for many years, even as a teenager. You were twenty years old when you stumbled upon some information; information that you could use to your advantage. I suppose you could have blackmailed Damien, but I’m sure you realized what I realize—he’d have you killed before you ever got a penny out of him. So instead, you changed your last name to Mills and headed for New Jersey to capitalize.”

  He paused, just to gauge Mills’ reaction. He looked a little flushed about now but he was still maintaining eye contact.

  “Leah was only sixteen years old. You got close to her, got her to trust you, to fall in love with you; took advantage of the fact that she basically had no connection to anyone, and more directly, made sure she believed she had no one. You promised her a happy life when she turned eighteen. You didn’t tell her everything about your father and Damien Glenn, but you manipulated her enough to believe you had her best interest at heart. When she wanted to give the baby up for adoption, you pretended to support her. All you wanted was some kind of leverage so you could contend with Glenn, but you didn’t want to get too pushy too soon.

  “But then your father died. It took you back to Miami, and essentially back into Glenn’s life because he was there at the funeral. I can only imagine how fucking pissed you were to see him there; the guy that had essentially cheated your dad out of millions and cut you out in the process. Maybe it was that very moment, maybe it was another, but at some point you knew that you truly needed Leah on your side. But because she said she didn’t want to get married, it was all you could do to not take some kind of extreme action.

  “You were in Miami to have it out with Damien about the information you had, and that’s when you met up with Scarlett. His girlfriend became an even better opportunity for you. How nice it was that she was so willing to be seduced by you after Damien dumped her, but you didn’t expect Leah to follow you so quickly. And you weren’t ready for her yet. You still hadn’t set your plan in motion because you’d wasted time screwing hookers.

  “I’m not sure at which point you two started conspiring together, but your plans slowly shifted. You were trying to avoid Leah since you didn’t want her to know you had Scarlett, but then you found out that twenty million dollars of Damien Glenn’s estate had been willed to his biological daughter… Leah. Marie. Kemp.”

  Alex Mills finally swallowed. Cole was impressed by how long he’d kept still as a statue so far, but he wouldn’t be for long.

  “Whatcha think?” Cole grinned facetiously. “How’d I do? Pretty good, huh?”

  Alex shook his head at him. “Fuck you.”

  “Ahh, the infamous ‘fuck you’,” Cole laughed animatedly. “I love it. You know what it means? It means I WIN. You lose, and I WIN. ‘Fuck you’ is just music to my ears.” He leaned forward on the table. “So guess what, asshole. Leah knows everything, Emilia Denton is going to be returned to her rightful parents, and you better hope that Scarlett loves you enough to visit you in prison because I guarantee she’s using whatever she can to throw you under the bus right now.”

  Alex clenched his jaw tightly. “Where is Leah?”

  “Oh, you ready to see her now?” Cole stood and hit the table with his hands. “Good luck. She is one pissed off female.”

  One of the detectives left the room to retrieve her.

  Cole leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. “Did you really think kidnapping her daughter was a good idea? I mean come on, man. You seem charming enough, but not that charming. You think she’s that dumb and gullible? Do you really think she would have gone along with it? Married you? Share her inheritance with you?”

  There was a tiny hint of a smile on his face, which made Cole have a quick debate in his head. He came to one conclusion and it made him sick to his stomach.

  Holy shit…

  He r
eturned to the table and leaned across it so he was towering over Mills. “You’d better pray to God right now that what I’m thinking is not what you had planned for her.”

  Alex didn’t respond until after his smile grew some more. “You really think she’s that great of a catch? I mean look at the women I can get. I’m sure Scarlett gave you a boner now and then. I’m fine with it. I’m sure it was needed—”

  Cole grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him out of his seat. “You’re a piece of shit.”

  Mills laughed. “Oh God, don’t tell me you have a thing for Leah. Well congrats for boning the daughter of the dirtiest criminal in Miami. I’m sure you’ll have fun helping her spend all that blood money after the will is read. Did I kill Glenn? Nope. Did I gain anything from it? Nope. You have nothing on me.”

  Cole threw him back onto the chair, just as Leah entered the room. She looked confused at first, glancing from Cole, to Alex, to the FBI agent, to Cole again…

  “Baby, you don’t seriously believe this bullshit, do you?” Alex asked her. “This needs to end so we can start our life, sweetheart. The big house we talked about, anything you want I will make happen because I love you that much.”

  Leah cautiously walked across the room as she took her time studying him. “Where’s Emilia Denton?”

  He released an exaggerated sigh. “Honey, I don’t know where that little girl is. How would I?”

  “You do know where she is, so let her go home. Were you going to use her as leverage against Damien but then found out he was dead? Jesus, Alex! Who are you?”

  He paused for a few seconds to brood with false concern. “What do you think about your new family tree? I’m so sorry to hear about that.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about my family tree right now,” Leah told him. “Tell me where she is so she can be reunited with her real parents.”

  He smacked the table with his fists. “We are her parents! You took that right away from me!”

  “You never cared about her! She was just a pawn in your sick game of retribution! You didn’t care that I gave her up! I fucking hate you, Alex! I HATE YOU!”

  She got a little piece of him when she lunged at him and decked him in the face, but Detective Chavez was quick to pull her off.

  “You never were much on the sweet side, stupid bitch,” Alex scoffed, rubbing the side of his face.

  “Yeah? Well at least I don’t have a cruel bone in my body!” she retorted. “Abusive father, foster care and all, I came out okay. You grow up with money and look at you. Nothing to show for it, you dickhead!”

  “Sounds like you were meant to have a murderer as a father, no matter which one you claim to belong to.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Chavez told him. “Not sure what’s funnier, the fact that you’re sitting here spouting off stupid shit like that in the situation you’re in or your lovely girlfriend next door singing like a jaybird. I think you’re pretty fucked.”

  Alex shook his head and shrugged. “You don’t have anything on me. I can sit here listening to this wannabe cop tell me stories all day long. I haven’t confessed to anything; I haven’t told you a damn thing. You have nothing.”

  Cole smiled at him as he led Leah to the door. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Leah was beyond fidgety. She was beginning to understand what it felt like for Cole to be stuck on an airplane. She felt quite helpless at this point. She’d gone through questioning for almost two hours, drank three cups of coffee, and was now waiting for Cole to come out from speaking with the FBI.

  This entire situation was just…so unreal.

  She stood from the seat she’d been occupying next to a sergeant’s desk. He had tried to be accommodating but she was no longer able to stay still. No one knew what she’d been going through for the past few weeks; no one seemed to understand. She felt like it was all just filling up inside of her, ready to overflow.

  Foster care was challenging. Being separated from her brothers had been the hardest part. She hadn’t cared a thing for Donny Kemp, even when she’d thought he was her father. When her mother died, Leah shut down and wouldn’t talk to anyone. The cops, the lawyers, child protective services… They were all big, scary people that made her feel like a burden.

  The truth was, she felt she should have known. Of course looking back now, it was pretty obvious. Her mother was very secretive. Yes she was scared shitless of Donny Kemp because he was a drunk and an abuser, but Leann Kemp had been hiding another life she had with another man. That secret was the reason Alex came into her life; that secret was the cause of a series of events that Leah had no control over.

  She recalled the day her mother died. She and Darren were outside when she heard her parents fighting again. Well, it was usually her dad making the most noise. Her mom hardly ever said a word. But on this particular day, she had, and it caught Leah’s attention.

  “How can you possibly even care!?” her mother had shouted. “You don’t give a shit about any of them! It’s done, Donny. Done!”

  “You can take your kid and get the fuck out of my life! You leave my boys, do you hear me!?”

  Leah had been standing near the front door at this point. Darren was in the street playing basketball with a couple of older neighbor kids, and Van hadn’t even come home yet. He usually made sure he got home just before their father did, but this time Donny had come home early.

  “What the fuck are you doing, Leann… Put that away, goddamn it!

  “I am not leaving my children here with you, do you understand!? So help me God, I will not put them through this any more!”

  “Give me that!”

  Leah heard a scuffle, a lamp crashed to the floor. She was hugging herself tightly, wondering if she should yell for Darren. But Darren never cared what was going on with their parents. He’d take his beating about once a week and lock himself in his room for the rest of the night. Any time he could avoid their father, he always did.

  A gun went off and Leah jumped. She was only ten years old, but she knew what that sound was.

  Darren heard it too, and he stopped what he was doing in the street. “What the fuck did you do, Leah?” he demanded. Eleven years old and he cussed any chance he could get.

  Leah shook her head as Darren slowly came up to the house. “It wasn’t me,” she barely whimpered.

  Darren looked confused but opened the door to the house and went inside. Leah didn’t hear anything at first so she followed him in. She stayed behind Darren, just in case.

  “It was an accident,” she heard her father say.

  Darren didn’t reply, so Leah peeked around him. Her mother was lying on the floor, blood slowly pooling from her body.

  She even spoke.

  “Babies,” she gasped. Her hand moved on the floor toward them. “Where’s…Van…?”

  Leah didn’t understand, but her mother was bleeding. “Daddy help her,” she cried. “What’s happening? Mommy?”

  “Le-Le,” she whispered, her hand still reaching for them. It suddenly stopped…and then there was nothing.

  “Mommy?”

  “Dad, call someone,” Darren said, his voice wavering.

  Donny just stood there, which was all Leah could do as well. She was frozen. Paralyzed. Unable to comprehend anything.

  The front door opened behind her. “Hey, what’s—”

  Van came to an abrupt stop right next to them. “Mom?” He looked at their dad and back to their mother again. “What happened? Mom!?”

  Van was the only one that even attempted to do anything that day. He dropped to his knees next to their mother and tried to help her. “Call someone!” he shouted. “Mom?”

  Leah started to bawl. Donny yelled at her to shut up, it wasn’t his fault, it was an accident. Eventually the police and ambulance showed up. She wasn’t sure who called them, everything after that was hazy…

  “You grip that cup any tighter you’ll have a mess everywhere,” Cole’s voice c
ut in. “Leah?”

  She looked up, totally startled from her reminiscing. “Huh?”

  Cole stood in front of her with that I’m-reading-you-like-a-book-right-now look. She was getting used to it, but it was still daunting.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, concern showing across his eyes. “Talk to me.”

  Leah’s heart was thumping wildly in her chest. From the memories that had just resurfaced to her present situation, she was a bundle of nerves.

  “I, uh… I was thinking back to the day my mom was killed,” she said.

  He arched an eyebrow. “What about it?”

  She slowly reached for a desk to mindlessly put her paper cup of coffee down, but Cole had to intercede before she dropped it on the floor. “It makes sense now,” she shrugged. “I didn’t understand back then, but I get it now. My mother was leaving him. And he somehow knew about me, that I wasn’t his kid. He told her to take me but leave his boys, but my mom wouldn’t leave them. I just…I totally understand now.”

  Cole led her to a bench and sat down with her. “Hindsight… It sometimes fucks us up for a bit.”

  Wasn’t that the truth? She’d given up her daughter because she felt it was the right thing to do. Now and then she regretted the decision, but deep down she knew it was right. She hadn’t been ready to be a mom. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be ready to be a mom. But despite everything that had happened, she still felt it had been the best decision.

  And now there was one other thing she needed to face… Donny Kemp.

  “I think I need to talk to my father eventually,” she said quietly. “Well, Donny. Whatever I’m supposed to call him.”

  “And what about Van?” Cole asked. “When are you going to talk to him?”

  She sighed. “When some of this simmers down, I think. It’s not important now. He needs to focus on his family.”

  “You are his family.”

  “Well, his wife, I mean. They need prayers.”

  “What’s going on?”

  She knew she didn’t have to ask, but she did anyway. “Can you keep it to yourself?”