Just Exes

by Charity Ferrell

  Thank God.

  The landlord won’t be blessed with the same destiny when I get my hands on him.

  Her brown eyes water as she stares up at me and nods. “I’m fine. Just a little shaky, is all.”

  Typical, strong-willed Lauren.

  My lips smack into hers before I take another scan of the room. “My dad?”

  “He’s in the bathroom,” Lauren’s dad says, standing up from the couch.

  Lauren’s father, John, has his legs planted wide when he stands and loosens his collar. Rory, Lauren’s mom, is next to her with wet eyes.

  Kyle moves away from the corner of the room and smacks John on the back. “We’ll get the dude. I promise you that, sir.”

  “The fucker will pay for it. I can promise you that,” I bite out, not caring about my language in front of them.

  Typically, I’m a respectful dude but not when a man has hurt two people I’d die for.

  Lauren’s lips tremble, and she winces, like it pains her.

  “We have guys out looking for him. You don’t need to worry about this,” Kyle tells me.

  I help Lauren when she struggles to get up, and she wraps her hand around my arm.

  “Let them deal with Ronnie, okay?” she says. “Please don’t go after him.”

  “I’ll never stop stressing over someone hurting my family.”

  He will pay, and he will pay at my hands.

  She sighs and nods. It’s not an agreement. It’s a promise that we’ll be having this conversation in private at a later time.

  I kiss her cheek when my dad walks in, and I march across the room to pull him into a hug.

  “Thank you,” I say before doing the same inspection I did with Lauren.

  As with Lauren, I can tell he’s been roughed up, but he’s okay. Physically at least.

  We stayed in contact when I was in Chicago but haven’t broached his admission that he was the one to ask Lauren to break up with me. That conversation won’t be held tonight either. It will happen, but causing more chaos than we have going on isn’t smart, and as pissed as I am, I can’t get angry with him.

  Who knows how much time we’ll have to work out our problems?

  We’ll talk, but there will be no grudges held.

  We stay at Lauren’s until it grows dark, and Kyle drives us home. We don’t go to the loft. It’s part of an open investigation. Plus, I might snap if I see the evidence of the destruction Ronnie caused. I pace in the kitchen, and Lauren makes herself and my dad each a bowl of ice cream before they walk me through what happened with Ronnie.

  Later, I do another inspection of her while we shower. My nails bite into my knuckles as I eye the bruises on the backs of her thighs and back. I help her dry off, and we sleep in my old bedroom.

  Ronnie will go down for this.

  “You sure you don’t want to stay home?”

  I’m spread out on the floor next to Lauren in my childhood bedroom. The twin-size bed we started the night in proved not to be big enough for the both of us. After I rolled off twice, I moved to the floor. Lauren joined me after waking up to an empty bed. We ended up snuggling in a build-a-fort made of blankets and pillows.

  “I’m positive I don’t,” she answers. “You know we’re short-staffed.”

  “They’ll understand if you explain to them that you were assaulted.”

  Not that she would tell them.

  I know I’ve lost when she gets up and starts to rummage through the overnight bag she packed from her parents. “They’d absolutely understand, but sitting around, thinking about the suit-wearing creep putting his hands on me, isn’t what I want to do today. Work will rid my thoughts of him.”

  We both shudder at the thought of Ronnie.

  I lift myself up onto my elbows. “Then, let me take you.”

  She shakes her head and leans down to kiss my lips. “I’ll be fine, babe.”

  I grab her elbow and pull her back down next to me. “The lunatic who assaulted you is on the loose.”

  I already feel like a piece-of-shit boyfriend for not being there to protect her the first time. It can’t happen again.

  The final decision is made during breakfast. News to me, Lauren arranged for my father to volunteer at the hospital when she worked. He’ll assist people with directions and be with her if she needs anything.

  My goal today is tracking Ronnie down.

  I’ve been stalking Ronnie’s recent transactions and GPS locations from his phone records since I walked into the station. He has multiple rental properties, and I plan to visit each one. If he’s not there, I’ll question the tenants.

  My time is saved when I spot his most recent location is fifteen minutes out of Blue Beech.

  Appreciate your making it easy for me, dumbass.

  I stop by Kyle’s office before leaving for my manhunt and knock on his door. “I need to run a quick errand. Be back in an hour.”

  He stands and snags his wallet from the desk. “I’m coming with you. I need some fresh air.”

  “Nah, I’m good.” I hold my hand up to stop him. “It’s a dry-cleaning pickup for Lauren. Nothing fun.”

  His lips press into a thin line. “Sorry, partner, but you’re on the clock, which means, I’m by your side during every move you make. I’ll maybe even follow you to the urinals today.”

  I turn around and walk away without saying another word, and he follows me to the cruiser.

  Not another word leaves him until he’s buckling his seat belt. “I know you got a hit on Ronnie’s whereabouts.”

  Kyle can’t be dragged into my shit. I can’t have him losing his job if trouble arises with Ronnie. I’ll be the only one facing the consequences of my actions. I need to find a way to blow him off and pray to God that Ronnie doesn’t change locations before I do.

  “You don’t know shit,” I mutter, failing to meet his gaze as I shove the key into the ignition.

  “I beg to differ, liar face. Let me and the guys handle him, and I’ll keep you updated. I fucking swear it, Gage. You’re not in a sane state of mind to be handling this. I can’t risk your doing something stupid, like killing the predator asshole.”

  “He’d deserve it,” I grit out.

  “Good point.” He snags the keys before I can stop him. “Promise me you won’t leave any marks on the dude, okay? Give me your word, and I’m your wingman.”

  “Can’t do that, brother. I’m sorry.”

  “There goes that idea. Hopefully, Sierra will know how to cover up any bruises with all the makeup she has.” He throws the keys into my lap. “Let’s find this asshole.”

  Ronnie’s shiny red BMW is parked in the driveway of the rental.

  The idiot couldn’t even hide out from the cops right.

  Even better, the front door is unlocked.

  Guy might as well have left us a breadcrumb trail.

  The entire ride, I attempted to talk Kyle out of coming with me, but there was no changing my best friend’s mind. He has my back, no matter what, and the way he loosened his collar when we parked down the street told me he shared the same hatred toward Ronnie not only assaulting my family, but other women as well.

  I don’t see Ronnie as a threat, but my gun is still in my hand. And Kyle takes the same precaution. I carefully open the door, and he follows me in. It’s quiet, and the place reeks of alcohol, drugs, and piss. The living room is clear. So is the kitchen … with the exception of the meth lab set up inside.

  Kyle glances back at me with a glare and shakes his head, mouthing, Piece of shit, before we hang a left down the hall. With the amount of drugs, I’d expect to see more people here, protecting the supply.

  Dumbest drug dealer in history.

  We find him passed out, naked, in a bedroom that has the door torn off the hinges with a woman next to him in the same position.

  Disgust spirals through me.

  Did he drug her? Rape her? Is she here by choice?

  Dirty needles and more drugs litter the nightstand. I stal
k around the bed and watch him sleeping soundly with not a care in the world after he nearly destroyed my girl’s and my father’s lives. That seems to be the problem with so many people. They don’t think of the impact their actions have on other people.

  My anger takes over, and before I can stop myself, I snatch him from the bed. He grunts, and the wall shakes when his naked body slams against it. It’s a sight I wish I could bleach from my eyes. My hand immediately goes to his throat before he even has the chance to open his eyes.

  “Good morning, motherfucker,” I say, spitting in his face.

  He opens his mouth to talk back, but my grip is too tight. I get a rush of satisfaction at the sight of his face turning red. My eyes stay on him until his bedmate screams and covers herself with the sheet.

  “Don’t worry,” Kyle assures her, stepping further into the room. “We won’t hurt you.”

  Her attention flickers from him to the array of drugs in the room. She’s worried about being busted for possession.

  Ronnie no longer looks like the man I met at the apartment. His cheeks are sunken in. His pupils are dilated, and his body is frail. The drugs have taken the best of him. Not saying his best was much.

  “Gage,” Kyle finally warns at the realization that Ronnie is on the verge of passing out at my hands.

  Ronnie grabs his throat while trying to catch his breath when I release him, and you’d think he’d be smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

  His words only prove further that he’s the dumbest motherfucker in the room.

  “I see you’re here about your cunt of a girlfriend,” he says, spitting at my feet.

  I respond by swinging my fist back and punching him in the face. He staggers back against the wall, but that doesn’t stop his mouth from talking. Asshole must not value his life.

  “Did she tell you how hard I rubbed my big dick against her?” he taunts. “She said it felt better than yours.”

  I grab him by the hair and throw him down on his knees. My gun goes straight to his temple while I grit my teeth and try to talk myself down from blowing his brains out. The chick screams while Kyle rushes to my side.

  “Okay, that’s enough!” Kyle cries out.

  I’m conflicted about my next move. The gun stays in its place, biting into Ronnie’s head, and the anger inside me can’t dim enough to convince me to pull back.

  I can’t shoot him.

  I’d lose everything.

  It’s also not who I am.

  I’m not a killer.

  “Goddamn it,” I hiss when Kyle slowly takes the gun from me.

  Seconds later, a deep pain thrums through my head when the naked junkie chick strikes me in the side of the face with a candlestick.

  Thirty-Nine

  Lauren

  “Barnes, your hunk of a police boyfriend is here,” Jay announces, throwing open the break-room door and waking me up from my nap. A conflicted look flickers across his face.

  I rub at my tired eyes. It was nice, being in Gage’s arms last night, but our pillow fort was far from comfortable. “Huh?”

  Am I still dreaming?

  “Gage is here,” he clarifies.

  I jump up from the couch. “To visit me?”

  He had a full shift at work today, so for him to be here this early means something is up.

  “Nope. He’s in the ER.”

  “The hell?” I shove past him and run down the hallway, my heart on fire.

  Jay stays behind me while relaying information. “From what it looked like, he got himself into an altercation. There’s blood but no broken limbs or trauma.”

  Of course he did.

  “Even though he’s fine,” Jay goes on, “he’s insisting you’re his nurse. Word is, he and your landlord threw blows at each other.” He pats my back. “He’s waiting for you in Lavender.”

  I stop to look at him. “Lavender? We never send patients there.”

  Lavender is a room the size of a closet that wasn’t given a second chance during the hospital’s latest remodel. It got its name because everything—the walls, the decor—is a dingy purple. The overstock supplies are stored in there, and we only use it as a last resort, so I’m confused on why he’s in there. We’ve been slow today and nowhere near crowded.

  “Your man isn’t in much need of medical attention, to be honest. Therefore, he was sent to Lavender.” He shoves the iPad we keep our charts on into my hands. “I’ll give you some time, and I won’t come in until you call me and tell me it’s safe.”

  “It’s safe?” I repeat.

  He elbows me. “In case he needs you to care for him.”

  I slap his arm. “I’m at freaking work, Jay! Not at some porn shoot!”

  He walks away, laughing, and I run down the hallway to Lavender. I swing the door open to find Gage in a gown, sitting in a chair, holding a piece of gauze to the side of his face. His cheek is caked with blood, and his lip is cut. Other than that, he seems to be untouched.

  A sense of déjà vu rams into me from the last time he came into the hospital.

  “Jesus, stitches again?” I hiss, storming into the room. “What the hell happened?”

  My question is dumb because I already know. There’s no doubt in my mind that Gage hunted down Ronnie today. I could see the fury in his face when he left this morning but didn’t think it’d end up with him in the hospital.

  “Ronnie’s junkie girlfriend thanked me for taking her sleazy boyfriend away by smacking me with a candlestick,” he says.

  “Are you nuts?” I screech. “Ronnie is a dangerous drug dealer. You could’ve been killed.”

  “But I wasn’t. The fucker is weak sauce, Dyson. No one is scared of him. Hell, I had him pinned against the wall, and he didn’t do shit. It was his fuckmate who took matters into her own hands.” He stands and grabs me around the waist, no pain in his eyes. “Trust me, he looks worse than I do.”

  He pushes into me, and I shiver at the feel of his erection brushing against my scrubs.

  “I came here for some TLC, Nurse Barnes.”

  I wrap my arms around his neck and laugh. “Oh, really?”

  A smile tilts at his lips. “I told you my favorite porn was patient and nurse.”

  “That porn dream will have to wait unless you want to get off while I give you stitches.”

  He nuzzles my neck. “The stitches can wait.”

  My blood runs hot when I look down and see the length of his manhood under the thin gown.

  “Right now, I have something else I want you to heal.”

  I expel a long breath. “I can get fired for this, you know?”

  I untie the back of the gown, revealing his throbbing cock, before dropping to my knees. I’m not sure who’s more turned on—him or me.

  Gage’s fingers wrap around my ponytail. “Jay said he’d give us plenty of time for you to make me feel better.”

  His dick twitches when I wrap my fingers around it and start stroking him.

  “I’m so going to hell for this.”

  I grunt when I’m picked up and tossed on the ancient medical bed. He strips off my scrubs and climbs over me.

  “If this is what brings you there, I’ll be right by your side.”

  I take a good look at his wound while he tilts my hips up and places his erection between my legs. “I do need to examine your wound and most likely give you stitches.”

  “Examine something else first.”

  With one swift motion, he’s inside me, and the bed creaks with our every movement.

  Forty

  Gage

  “Are you Gage?”

  I lose my breath upon looking up from Andy’s grave and seeing the woman standing next to me.

  A single rose is in her hand while a tear runs down her cheek. She’s a skinny thing, barely any meat to her bones, and her hair is pulled back into a sloppy ponytail.

  I know who she is, but I’ll let her do the introducing.

  I stand up and wipe the dirt off the knees of my jeans.
“Yes?”

  “I’m Darla Long … Andy’s birth mother.”

  Darla Long is a mother to four other children who were put in the system. She has had six drug overdoses, has been admitted into three different rehab facilities over the course of ten years, and has a record a mile long, full of shoplifting, solicitation, and possession charges.

  As much as I should hate this woman for abandoning Andy, I can’t.

  I can’t because, just like her, I let him down.

  She shoves her feet against the grass. “I’m sure you hate me for what I did. I was young, an addict, and his father kicked me out on the streets when he found out I was pregnant. Another homeless woman told me that my baby would be safe if I dropped him off at the station. I stood in the shadows when you picked my baby up and rescued him. I watched him from afar while you gave him a better life than I ever could.”

  “Yet I failed him.” I scrub my hands over my face and sigh.

  Pain strikes across her face. “We all failed him.”

  She’s right.

  She did. I did. Missy did. The system did.

  Why is there no better way to protect our children?

  “I want to thank you,” she goes on.

  Her words are like a smack in the face.

  “For what?”

  “For giving my son love for the time he was here. He had someone who put him first, who fed him and gave him a warm and comfortable home.” Fresh tears stream down her cheeks now. “I wish I could’ve met him before he went to heaven.”

  My neck goes stiff, and my gaze turns watery. “I’m sorry you were never given that opportunity.”

  Anger surfaces over the hurt. “And, that woman, I hate her. As much as I want to be angry with you, I can’t because I see your heart, and I know it was with Andy every day you had him. It’s still there. I want to thank you for trying to save my son when others, myself included, didn’t give a damn about him.”

  I nod, choking back a sob, and open my arms.

  She doesn’t hesitate before hugging me.