Unbroken

by Riley Edwards

  Just as I stepped in the door I caught a glimpse of a beautiful, petite blonde. She was kneeling under a popcorn machine, but she moved with lightning speed as she drew her gun and pushed JJ behind her.

  “Shit, Ava, I’m sorry! You scared me pushing the door open like that. It was natural instinct to draw,” she said as she lowered her gun.

  “Why me? Why do people keep pointing guns at me? Oh, I know why. Jimmy Fucking Kelley!”

  While it might have been natural for Miss Badass over there to draw a gun, it was my natural instinct to stomp my foot and throw a tantrum.

  “Swear jar, Mom,” JJ chimed in. “That’s a dollar for the F word.”

  “I’ll give you a twenty and we’ll call it a day.”

  “What’s going on?” the blonde asked, looking over my shoulder.

  Reid was right behind me. “We’re on lockdown, Roni. Would you mind staying in here with JJ while we finish up? It won’t take but a few minutes.”

  “Sure thing. It was nice meeting you, Ava. Again, I’m really sorry.”

  “What’s wrong, Mama? You look scared,” JJ asked, running to me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

  I hugged my son tight and tried to be as reassuring as I could. “Nothing, baby. I’ll be back in a flash. Everything will be just fine. Let me finish up with Reid and Uncle Mac. Are you cool staying in here with Roni?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Roni is super cool. She got the popcorn maker all set up. We were gonna pop some and she was gonna watch me play Minecraft.” JJ pulled away and smiled. All worries were forgotten when he remembered he had popcorn coming up.

  “Awesome. Save some for me.” I kissed the top of his head before he ran to the machine. “Thanks, Roni, I’ll be back in just a minute. And thanks, for… protecting him.”

  “Of course. You guys are family. It’s what we do.”

  There was that word again. Family. I hadn’t thought about family outside of JJ and I for a long time. The thought of having family around gave me butterflies in my belly. The kind that makes you a little queasy. I wasn’t quite sure if it was a good flutter or not.

  By the time we walked back into the conference room, Jimmy was back up in his chair. This time he was handcuffed.

  Dirty, lying, no-good bastard.

  There was so much testosterone in the room I could smell it. I was about to get steamrolled. They wouldn’t be able to help themselves. Fixers. They were all fixers, and today they thought they were going to fix my life.

  “Before anyone says anything, I have a few things to say.” The men in the room stopped what they were doing and gave me their attention. “First. Mac, I am still mad at you about this morning, but we don’t have time for that now. Just know that I’m pissed. Don’t take over my life again. You ask before you trample.”

  This next part was hard. But, in light of what was going on, I knew it was necessary.

  “I know I am about to get bossed around.” I put my palm up to shush both Mac and Reid as they simultaneously started to protest. “Please listen. I now fully understand that Jimmy has put me and JJ in danger. I will not take any chances with my son. I concede. Reid, I will do whatever you tell me needs to be done to protect JJ. I may be stubborn but I am not stupid or reckless when it comes to my son’s safety.”

  I closed my eyes for a moment to gather my thoughts. It stung to look at Jimmy. The Kelley brothers, one a good honest decent man, the other a low life criminal. One dead, one breathing.

  God took the wrong one.

  “Jimmy, I never want to see you again. We are dead to you. You said that to Mac five years ago when I buried my husband. Now I’m saying it to you. We do not exist for you, we are nothing. You’re dead to me. I have never been thankful that Jacob was dead, but in this moment, I’m glad he’s not here to see what you’ve become. This… this would break his heart. I hope you rot in hell, you piece of shit.”

  I turned to leave. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. “Reid, just tell me what you have planned. I’m going to sit with JJ. One more thing. I’m not staying in that shack you call a cabin. That’s a no-go for me. There are copperheads up there. Do you know what happens if you get bit by a copperhead?”

  The room erupted in chuckles. Reid cleared his throat to cover his laugh. I was glad I could be so amusing.

  “No, Ava, I don’t know what happens when you get bit by a copperhead. Why don’t you tell me?”

  Smartass!

  “I don’t know either, but it can’t be good. Your leg probably swells up and it might even eat away at your flesh. I like my legs the way they are. No shack.”

  “Alright, sweetheart. No shack. Let me finish with this trash and we’ll leave.”

  I closed the door behind me and bent at the waist to catch my breath.

  What was I thinking, allowing Reid to make decisions for us? That was so out of character for me. It was like aliens had taken over the earth. My whole life had been turned upside down. I lived a boring life. Hell, I didn’t even speed. Jimmy, that’s what happened. And now I needed to protect JJ. Reid was the best way to keep him safe.

  With one last exhale, I made my way to Reid’s office and plastered my best academy award winning smile on.

  “Hey, guys! Watcha playin’?”

  “Hi, Mom. I was just showing Roni all the new mods in Minecraft. I made a new house. Wanna see it?” JJ set a gigantic bowl of popcorn on the side table and picked up his controller.

  “Absolutely, I wanna see.”

  Roni moved over to make room for me on the couch and patted the seat next to her, inviting me to sit.

  “Thanks,” I smiled at her.

  “You’re doing fine. I know there’s a lot to process. When you need to talk, you come find me. In the meantime, we’ll just chill and eat some good ol’ fashioned popcorn. Extra movie theater butter.” She playfully knocked my shoulder with hers and handed me her bowl. It was worth noting that hers was bigger than JJ’s.

  Extra movie theater butter sounded good.

  12

  Cop Killer

  Reid

  “If Jacob would’ve just minded his own Goddamn business, none of this would be happening,” Jimmy muttered under his breath.

  “The fuck you say?” Mac shoved out of his seat and was on his feet stalking Jimmy.

  “At least uncuff him before you beat his ass,” Austin encouraged Mac.

  “Mac, sit down.” I needed to get control of this before Mac broke Jimmy’s jaw. It’s kind of hard to get someone to talk when their jaw is wired shut. “Jimmy, explain what Jacob has to do with this.”

  I caught Rick’s attention and gave him a nod. We’d worked together for so long he understood my nonverbal request.

  “Nothing. Please just give me my money and let me leave. Everyone’s problems will go away. You’ll never see me again.”

  Mac just growled. He was known around the precinct for having a short temper. The inch of patience he normally had was cut in half when dealing with Ava. This was personal for him. Jacob had been his best friend and he thought of Ava like a sister.

  Rick slid his tablet across the table to me, my notes from Jacob’s murder investigation pulled up on the screen. I quickly scanned the document looking for any names that jumped out at me.

  Alexander Jenkins pled guilty to the murder of Jacob Kelley. The detectives hadn’t been able to find any ties to organized crime, drugs, or even petty theft. He was a drifter. I continued to read over my notes, finding nothing of use. I had kept Jenkins at the safe house for two days trying to break him before I handed him over into custody. He gave me nothing. He immediately admitted that he shot and killed Jacob and after that not another word. He was one tough son of a bitch. I wished I could’ve had another shot at him, but he was killed by another inmate two weeks into his life sentence.

  I swiped the screen, bringing up photographs of Jenkins. White male, average height, and average build. Completely unassuming. I swiped again. The next set of images were of his tatt
oos. I stilled my finger on the screen just as I was about to move to the next page. I enlarged the image and zoomed in on his hand. He had tattoos across his knuckles.

  Earlier I noted that Jimmy now had two full sleeves of tattoos and tattoos on his right hand and knuckles.

  “Let me see your hands, Jimmy.”

  “Let me have my bag and I’ll leave. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. I am begging you, leave it be,” Jimmy pleaded.

  “Not gonna happen. Why don’t you tell me about the tattoos on your knuckles?” I asked.

  “Leave it. Give me my bag. If that money is not delivered by tomorrow, no one is safe. Why the fuck do you think I came to your office? It wasn’t to chat, Reid, I just came here to pick up my bag.”

  “Who is no one? Who won’t be safe?” I needed Jimmy to start talking. We didn’t have time for twenty questions. Jimmy was scared and that meant that Ava and JJ were in grave danger.

  Jimmy remained silent.

  “Austin, pull his hands up onto the table.” Best not to ask Mac, he looked like he was ready to kill Jimmy.

  With Jimmy’s hands on the table, I inspected the markings on his knuckles first. I enlarged the image of Jenkins’ even further and, sure enough, they were the same. A thick outline of a diamond with the center empty on his ring finger. The other three fingers had various designs. All crosses, but different markings around the cross. I was most interested in the diamond. This shit just kept getting worse and worse. How had I not remembered that Jenkins had the diamond tattoo?

  “Who are you dropping the rake off to?” I asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jimmy said. But he did know. His posture gave him away. He was now on alert. He sat up straight, his jaw locked. He tried his hardest to keep his face blank, but he couldn’t control the twitch under his left eye.

  “The rake, Jimmy. You know, the money you’re transporting. The house’s take on illegal gambling. What’s the going rate these days? Ten, twenty percent? Who the fuck are you delivering the motherfucking rake to?” I slammed my hands on the table.

  Jimmy was dumber than I had originally thought. He remained quiet.

  “Okay, you stupid little shit, let me break this down for you. In the five years since your brother’s murder, I’ve learned a thing or two about the Diamonds. Five years ago, they were low-level nobodies trying to make a name for themselves. Naturally, vice would’ve never made the connection between Jenkins and a bunch of thugs in Texas. I didn’t make the connection either. Since then, they have slithered their way up the food chain. You wear their brand. So that tells me that you run with the very men that called a hit out on your brother. That leads to me having to ask, what your role was in his murder? How would a bunch of nobodies in Texas know anything about a San Francisco cop?”

  Mac sucked in a breath and it felt like all the oxygen in the room had been used up. The calm before the storm.

  “Lock that shit down, Mac. A dead bird cannot sing. And Jimmy, I suggest you start singing. This might be your only shot to save your own life. You’ll be lucky if Mac doesn’t kill you himself. If he doesn’t, I’ll put the word out on the street that you gave up Fuentes. That’s who’s runnin’ the Diamonds right now, isn’t it? The dumb little fuck tattooed ‘Thief in law’ across his damn forehead trying to pretend he’s badass. He couldn’t even come up with something original, he had to quote a fucking Russian. Can you believe that lame shit? Stupid ass thinks he’s as badass as the Vor.”

  “You wouldn’t!” Jimmy yelled and started to thrash around in his seat.

  Good, emotion. We were finally starting to get somewhere.

  “Why is that, Jimmy?”

  “You think you’re so smart. You don’t know shit. You won’t do anything you just threatened me with. If you do, Ava and JJ will die. They’re collateral. The Diamonds know everything about them. Fucking Jacob started all of this! I had one delivery to make to Redding, thought it would be nice to stop off and see my brother. Nosy prick searches my car and finds three keys of coke hidden in the trunk.”

  “Holy fucking shit. Three kilos.” Mac was putting the pieces together. “A week before Jacob was killed, an anonymous tip was called in about some cocaine that was found in an alley. Jacob was the first on the scene, which was odd because we were off duty. He said he heard the call and was close by. There were three kilos.”

  “Three kilos of my coke. You don’t steal three keys of coke without being put in the ground. I told him not to do it. That I would not die because he was a goodie two shoes sellout pig. I told him! He knew I would tell my crew who stole the drugs. Jacob just laughed at me. He was a cocky prick and he thought that stupid badge he wore would protect him. All it did was get him dead.”

  Rick interrupted. “You need to hear this, boss. Dustin unwrapped all the money bundles. There were trackers in two of the bundles. No doubt it’s been tracked. Jimmy’s crew knows what a fuck up he is. There is no way they wouldn’t’ve been trackin’ that shit on an hourly basis. I would expect more company soon.” He closed his laptop.

  “Fuck. Just give me the money back.” Jimmy was sounding more and more like a parrot.

  “Have the trackers been disabled?” I asked Austin.

  “Hell, no. Everyone knows better than to disable them here.”

  Mac tried to get Jimmy to give up something. “Hey, dip-shit, do something right for a change. Give Austin the address in Redding where the money is supposed to be delivered.”

  “Go fuck yourself, pig. Remember when Ava and Jacob Junior die, just like Jacob did, their blood is on your hands.” Jimmy sat staring at the wall.

  I had never wanted to kill another man in cold blood before, but at that very moment, I wanted to put the animal in front of me down. He didn’t deserve to be breathing. What kind of man allows his blood to be killed? He might as well have been the one pulling the trigger.

  “Have Dustin drive the trackers up to Redding. Tell him to leave them anywhere that is abandoned. Reformat the security footage drive, smash it, then take the shredded paper bin out back and burn it along with the drive. Lots of lighter fluid,” I instructed Austin then turned to Mac, knowing he was struggling with what he was going to do next. “You do what you need to do. I’m taking Ava and JJ out of here. Roni will be leaving for the day. Austin and Rick are at your disposal. The trash dump is vacant and ready for use. It’s yours if you want it. We all have your back, brother. You know I would love nothing more than to help you, but Ava and JJ are my priority.”

  Mac didn’t answer. He didn’t need too. I knew that within the hour James “Jimmy” Kelley would no longer be breathing. Justice would be served and another rabid cop killer would be put down. Good riddance.

  “One last thing, Jimmy. Who else did you piss off? Vandalizing Ava’s house seems like someone just wanted you to know you’re being watched. If the Diamonds were here already and they thought you had double-crossed them, you’d be dead.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jimmy answered.

  “Piece of shit!” With that, I left. I couldn’t stand to spend another minute in his presence.

  My only concern was protecting Ava and JJ from the shit show Jimmy Kelley brought to town. I knew a way to buy us some time, but I didn’t know if it would be enough. The Diamonds had power in El Paso and it was far reaching. Not to mention there was already a threat in San Fran.

  I had a call to make before I took Ava and JJ to the safe house. I ducked into Rick’s office and shut the door. I needed a burner phone and privacy. I shook my head at all the pictures Rick had taped to the metal storage cabinet in his office. All pictures of him and his girl, April. Them at the park, skydiving, and sailing. I noticed a new one that must’ve just been taped up. The ring. He had finally proposed. Rick was a lucky man, April was a great girl, a great partner to have in this life. I wanted that.

  I powered up the burner and made my call. “Hey, I need a favor. You good with a marker?”


  “Room is secure. I’m putting you on speaker. You know I am, what do you need?” the man on the other end of the phone asked.

  “You know the Diamonds out of El Paso? Fuentes is running them now.”

  “I’m familiar with them, yes. They’ve been moving quite a bit of product out of Juárez, and the eight liners they run are doing well. Illegal poker games are all the rage with the kids these days.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

  A whole new generation of thugs who thought that illegal poker was a new thing that they themselves had just thought up. Fucking idiots.

  “Long story, and I will fill you in another time, but they are after my woman and her son. I need them gone.”

  “How long do we have until they’re in San Fran?” a woman asked. Nightstalker, one of my oldest friends. We served in the Army together. She was human intel as well, and one badass chick. There was no one I would rather have cover my six than that woman.

  “Best guess? Twenty-four hours tops. James Kelley showed up. I have other problems, too. Someone vandalized her house this morning, slashed her tires, looks like a warning. Not the Diamonds style. They don’t warn, they just kill,” I informed them.

  Another voice came on the line. “Motherfucker, piece of shit is like a bad fart. He lingers and stinks up the room.”

  “Always so colorful, Ghost. I’ll send Panther and Breeze out to Texas now, see what they can dig up. You just hold tight and keep that woman of yours safe. I take it you finally claimed Ava?”

  “Damn right, I did,” I answered.

  “’Bout fucking time. No marker. Ava Kelley is off limits.”

  “Thanks, Viper. Appreciate it, man. When all this shit is over, I’ll bring Ava and JJ out to Maryland. I could use a vacation for sure.”

  “You do that. My door is always open. You keeping this phone open?” Viper asked.

  “Yep. My personal cell is powered out. Ava’s will be as well.”

  “Copy that. I’ll hit you back when I have something. Stay safe. Out.”