“One... two... stay the fuck down... four...” Nathan says, and I at least take a little comfort in the fact that he's breathing heavier than he was before. It'd be so easy, giving up. But Katrina would never give up. She's willing to die for her vengeance...
I don't know how I get to my feet, but suddenly I'm up with my fists out, and for some crazy fucking reason, I'm waving Nathan over. “Come on! Is that it, old man?”
Nathan shakes his head and steps forward again, this time back in his typical left-handed stance. His left jab catches me between the eyes, and I eat it, ducking into the punch and throwing everything I have into a right cross that catches him in the side, just under his armpit and causing him to grunt.
He steps back and shakes out his arm. Nodding in respect, he unleashes hell, and I'm forced to just defend again before another sledgehammer explodes in my stomach, and I'm down on one knee.
“Stay the fuck down!” Nathan gasps, stepping back. I hold my stomach and look up at the clock, seeing there's still thirty seconds left. I can survive thirty seconds, hell he’s gasping for breath as much as I am.
I get up, my left hand holding my ribs, and wave him in. “I got a lot more.”
Nathan spits to the side and steps forward again, throwing what he probably thinks is a mercy shot, a looping overhand that if it lands is going to put me into dreamland for quite a while. I weave, coming under the punch and unleashing everything I've got left into a left hook. As weak as I feel right now, it catches Nathan with probably all the force of a sick grasshopper, but still it catches him, and I feel a sense of accomplishment as the bell rings.
He steps back, and wipes a bit of blood from his nose, while I work my jaw and spit, bright red splattering on the mats, but at least no teeth come out. “I did it.”
“You did,” Nathan says, stripping off his glove. He sticks his hand out, and I reciprocate, shaking hands with the man. “I didn't think you had it in you to get up from that second one.”
“Bullshit, you didn't think I'd get up from the first one,” I reply, rubbing my jaw. “Think we can get something to ice this thing? I'm not sure I won't lose a tooth still.”
“Yeah. Let's sit outside, and I'll get you an ice pack.”
We go out by the pool, Nathan going inside and coming back out a minute later with a bag of frozen peas and a couple of bottles of mineral water. I notice that Andrea's still at the dining room table, watching us as Nathan hands me the peas and sits down. He cracks one of the mineral waters and passes it over. “Sorry, no ice packs, but the peas work just fine, too.”
“Thanks. How's the nose?”
“Not bad, didn't break anything. You got my respect for that one,” Nathan says, cracking the other mineral water and taking a drink. “Now... I owe you a story.”
I nod, and swirl some water around in my mouth, washing out what's left of the blood before spitting it onto the lawn. “What makes the grass grow green?” I joke, and Nathan chuckles as I finish the line, ingrained for him but just a movie quote for me. “Blood, blood, blood.”
Nathan takes another drink of his water then leans back. “Samuel Grammercy isn't the saint that his daughter thinks he is. Then again, considering the man left his own daughter behind in this city's foster care system, I guess you already figured that out. But Samuel wasn't even the good cop that the papers made him out to be.”
“What was he?” I ask. “Nathan, I never really got to know the man. And I missed the timeline on his death, which is something I still regret since I missed Katrina going into the system, too.”
“That was Peter's plan,” Nathan says quietly. “The truth is, Samuel worked for Peter, or perhaps it'd be better to say worked for Peter's friends. You see, while Samuel got plenty of busts, the vast majority of them fell into two categories. Either he was busting the guys who were enemies of his employers, or he was doing an end around.”
“What's an end around?” I ask. Nathan smirks and gives me a look. “Seriously. I've been deluded for years, so don't just assume I know fucking everything.”
“Okay. An end around is when Samuel would arrest or bust someone, but then before the case went to trial, something would get screwed up, charges were never pressed, whatever. The key part of an end around though happens in the evidence room. Say that a week ago, the cops made a bust for ten guns. Then Samuel pulls the end around, and in checking in evidence from his bust, things get mixed up, and when the charges are dropped, the evidence is returned to the suspects, but the first case shows only five guns on their bust now. Guess where those other five guns went? Right into Samuel's friends' evidence.”
“And this was profitable?” I ask, surprised. “Seems like a lot for five guns.”
“Oh, Samuel pulled end arounds for more than just five guns,” Nathan said. “He was damn near an expert in doing that sort of evidence tag switch on stolen property, too. Computers, art, currency, anything except drugs. It wasn't that Samuel had a problem with drugs, it's just that NOPD policy is to destroy drugs regardless of whether charges stick or are dropped. He had a whole other funnel system in place for that one.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“He got greedy and lazy. One night, the evidence clerk was some Dudley Do-Right who saw the Detective Lieutenant doing the switcheroo. He went to Internal Affairs, who started to gather evidence on Grammercy. Peter's connections in the NOPD heard about it, but at the time the ADA in town was just as righteous as you could get. Also, this was just a few months after Hurricane Katrina, so the feds were still in town in force. Samuel felt the jaws closing in on him, so he came to Peter for help.”
“A faked death.”
Nathan nods. “We set it up nearly perfectly. The horse show was one of the first big events at the Fair Grounds after the hurricane, and Samuel got his wife to leave her phone behind to give them a reason to send their daughter back and out of the way. Theresa, Katrina's mother, was opposed to it, but Samuel browbeat her into going along with it. Katrina was the perfect witness to leave behind. Young, innocent, and traumatized enough that she didn't notice some of the details. I'd pulled similar jobs faking deaths in the Green Berets, so I was the one tasked with setting it up. I was actually there, although in disguise so Katrina didn't recognize me. After they sent her back, Samuel and Theresa jumped over a concrete wall that was there into a dump truck that was parked below, landing in a giant pile of kitty litter. When Katrina picked up her mother's phone, I hit the switch, blasting the car all to hell. She, of course, didn't see that there was nobody inside, although later two bodies were planted in the wreckage. That was actually done by the first firefighters to respond, a crew that also covers up arsons in that area for Peter and his friends.”
“So what happened to Samuel and Theresa? And how the fuck could they just leave their daughter like that?”
Nathan shakes his head. “That I don't know. I spent weeks unable to sleep after I had to hold that little girl, sobbing in my lap before the cops arrived. She was so distraught she never realized, even though she'd seen me... what, by then it had to be hundreds of times. I took her home more than once, you know.”
“Why was that?”
Nathan sips at his water again, and sighs. “Peter isn't the only DeLaCoeur who has had a few affairs. Not that I blame Maggie, with the way Peter's treated her over the years. But some of those play dates or business meetings... well, Samuel was doing more than having drinks with Margaret. I doubt she knows about the faked deaths. Peter probably wouldn't have filled her in, since it would hurt her more to think Samuel died back then.”
“What do you know about them now?” I ask, sipping my water. Nathan's showing at least a little bit of guilt, and as long as I have that, I'm going to drive with it, trying to use it to the best of my advantage. My jaw aches, but the peas help some. I'm more numbed by the idea of what Samuel did to his daughter, though. “Where's he live?”
Nathan shakes his head. “After the bomb, I only saw Samuel Grammercy one more time. Peter
had gotten him some top-flight fake IDs, good enough to pass anything short of the FBI, and I delivered it to him at the airport. He and Theresa were booked on a flight, but I never troubled myself to find out where. Safer and less guilty to not know.”
“Miami,” I inform him, sitting back on the lounge chair. “That's a hell of a burden to carry for the past ten years, Nathan. I have a feeling it's not your lightest, either.”
“I've seen some things,” Nathan agrees. “Your point is?”
“You said it yourself. Maybe it's time to start balancing your ledger. I know that you can't stop Peter from sending other men against Katrina. But that doesn't mean you can't help us, too.”
“Us?”
I shrug. “Regardless of if she's doing it for the right reasons or not, her cause is noble. I told her I'd help her, too. I'm asking you... whose side of this are you on?”
“Seems like an easy choice,” Nathan says after sitting still for a few minutes, watching the moon reflected in the black mirror of the pool. “On one hand, there's Peter, who's made me a rich man, a lot richer than I'd have been if I'd stayed in the Army, or if I'd gotten a job with a more legitimate employer as a real security officer. He's connected, and one of the most dangerous men along the Gulf Coast. On the other hand, I have a crazy twenty-two-year-old girl, with barely a dime to her name most likely, and my employer's son, who until just about an hour ago, I thought was more or less a spoiled little bitch.”
“Bitch, huh? I would have thought I at least rated being called a spoiled little prick, but all right,” I joke, not as offended by his words as I would have been even a week or so ago. Now, it means nothing to me. I have something more important than my ego to worry about. “It does seem like an easy choice.”
Nathan nods. “It does. So... how best can I help you guys?”
“Let me find out what Katrina wants to do, and I'll be in touch with you. Until then, I'd say just keep trying to distract Peter from finding her.”
“I can do that. Now, if you don't mind, I need some meditation and a little shut-eye. Goodnight, Jackson.”
“Goodnight. Oh, and Nathan?”
“Yes?”
“Would you mind if I joined you for tea tomorrow? I'd like to talk more about... things.”
Nathan nods and gives me half a smile. “I'd say that would be possible. But first, make sure you do your reading for your sister. I'd hate to disappoint her.”
“How'd you know about that?”
Nathan laughs. “I'm the head of security for this house. It's my job to know as much as possible. Goodnight, Jackson.”
Chapter 15
Kat
I've never been to Darcy's house since she and Jeff got married. It isn't that she never wanted me over. In fact, she's invited me multiple times. No, the reason that I've never been to this neat little two-bedroom house in the Leonidas neighborhood is that I didn't want to put Jeff in a bind. He's her husband, but also a good cop. Not that any cop can be totally clean in a town like this, and Jeff's helped out Darcy more than once, but I've never wanted to push it this far before.
So it's with no surprise that Bo, the three-year-old brown and white pit bull Darcy got as, for some reason, a baby shower gift from one of her friends, is wary of me as I stand outside the fence, waiting for Darcy to let me in.
“Hey little mama, you lookin' good enough to eat with a biscuit,” a young guy, maybe my age or maybe a little younger, says as he goes by before stopping to see if maybe he has a chance.
“Not interested,” I say. “I have a man,” I add, before letting him respond.
I’m surprised when he actually moves on, and Bo the pit bull watches the guy for a moment before turning his attention back to me. I think about the lie I just said, chuckling a little to myself. Maybe I do, or I will.
Darcy comes out just after the guy moves on, calling to Bo. “Bo... get your butt up here on the porch,” she hollers, still smiling as she walks down the short concrete walk. Bo immediately turns and runs up, wagging his tail and grinning at his mistress, begging for affection. “Okay, okay, you big puppy, you protected the house. Now, I’m going to let my friend in, and you are going to behave. This is my friend Kat that I told you about, okay?”
Bo wags his tail again like he understands and runs off to the back of the house, while Darcy watches him go. “He looks like a hundred and ten-pounds of badass, but he ain't nothing but a baby,” she tells me as she opens the gate. “You scratch him behind his left ear and he'll love you for life.”
“Hint noted,” I say, giving her a hug once I'm inside the gate. “Thanks for letting me come by.”
“I knew it would happen someday. Just wish you hadn't called when I have laundry in the living room,” Darcy half-jokes as we go inside. I see the basket, but it's mostly folded, except for some toddler's clothes. Henry is napping in a partially reclined chair, his chubby cheeks puffing out with every little exhalation.
“He's even cuter than the pictures,” I whisper softly, kneeling in front. He's a beautiful little boy, Darce.”
“Yeah, but hell in my workshop,” she says with a little smile. “That boy has an unbelievable knack for being able to crack the connections on video cards that I just got lined up.”
I chuckle and sit down in front of the laundry basket, taking out a tiny t-shirt and starting to fold it. “Then I guess I should be glad you haven't brought him by. He'd have a field day with my setup.”
Darcy laughs and nods. “So what's up?”
I start folding another shirt, but the emotions are too much, and I keep fumbling it, turning the tiny little Elmo shirt into a ball. Finally, I give up and toss the shirt back into the basket, and bury my head in my hands. The tears are hot, bitter, and I don't even realize they're flowing until I can't see anymore, and I feel Darcy put her hands on my shoulders, pulling me into a hug. Her casual accent is gone, and she's back to being her normal Darcy, calm and supportive. “Shh, Baby Girl, shh... you just let yourself cry. I'm right here.”
It's been years since I last wept, so long I can't even remember it. I know it was after Virginia took me in, but that's about it. I didn't even know I could cry still, but sitting there, Darcy holding me close like I was her own child, I cry, all the pain and anger of the past twelve hours flowing out into her tank top. I don't know how long I cry, but when it's gone, I feel hollowed out, cauterized. “Thanks.”
Darcy nods and hands me a hand towel from the basket. “Here, wipe yourself down. I'd get you a tissue, but I know you hate those things. Ain't got a handkerchief around, though.”
“This is fine,” I say, wiping my eyes. “I hope Henry won't mind me borrowing it.”
“Oh, that one's Jeff's,” Darcy says with a little chuckle. “But no, he won't mind. Now, what's going on?”
“My parents... they may be alive,” I say, looking up into Darcy's big brown eyes. “At least... my father might be.”
Darcy blinks, absorbing the information. “He faked his death?”
I nod. “That's what it seems like. I got a message from a source last night, and Jackson says he confirmed it with Nathan Black. The bomb that went off, it was a ruse. They... they abandoned me.”
The words start fresh tears, more sad than angry and bitter, and I'm crying for the six years of foster care, of the decade of pitiless training, of obsession that I'm still not free of. I wipe at my eyes again, not letting myself lose control. Darcy hums, then gives me an intense look. “So you want my help?”
I nod and fold the hand towel in half to get rid of the snottiness. “Yeah. According to the source, he's living in Miami under the name Michael Ball. Now, I remember you mentioning you've got some connections in Miami. Familywise, even.”
“I do, a few cousins, an ex-boyfriend, too,” Darcy agrees. “You want me to use my resources?”
“Would you? I mean, I'll work my end, but you've got feet on the ground already in Miami.”
“Sure. For you, I'd go to Miami myself and track your daddy down
. Can I ask you a question, though?”
“Shoot,” I say, reaching into the laundry basket and taking out the Elmo shirt I screwed up before. The words about my parents out, I find that I'm able to actually fold the shirt halfway decently.
“If this is true... what's that do to your plans?” Darcy asks. “You've been gunnin' for blood for a decade, but is it still worth blood?”
I think about it, then shake my head. “I don't know anymore. I know Peter needs to go down still. The entire DeLaCoeur network needs to be dismantled. But...”
“But you've got complications now,” Darcy says simply, nodding. “You're thinking about what this means to Jackson, to Andrea. And I'm going to be blunt, you're thinking more than just about what you did to Jackson.”
“I… I don't know,” I reply honestly. “It's like you said, complicated. He's an ally, that's for certain. Considering he went toe to toe with Nathan last night in boxing, he deserves at least that much.”
Darcy hums knowingly, and I give her a look. “What?”
“Nothin'. Just glad to see that you're maybe considering that there's more to life than death and revenge. Listen, if you've got a few hours, I can get to work on reaching out to my contacts now. We might have something for you by the time Jeff gets home, he's working a double today.”
“Ouch, double shifts? What's up?”
Darcy shakes her head. “Contract talks are coming up, and a lot of guys are calling out sick because they think the new contracts are going to take away their built-up sick days. Jeff isn't mad though, the day shift's doing community outreach at one of the elementary schools, then just catching up on paperwork. His sergeant's looking out for him.”
“When is Jeff going to go for sergeant?” I ask. He’s a year younger than Darcy at thirty-one, and has been on the NOPD for eight years now, so I'm curious. “And yeah, I can hang out a little bit.”
Alpha's Baby: A Secret Baby Romance Page 35