He jammed his truck into a parking slot and slammed his door closed as he stalked to the building. He drew a deep breath. Was it just yesterday he'd bounced into the building wearing a tux? Yeah, yeah it was. He hadn't been home since yesterday morning. Hadn't eaten since the wedding yesterday afternoon, or slept since the night before last. They'd spent the night planning the op, reviewing the plans, and working assignments. He'd managed to avoid talking directly to Amber for damn near twenty-four hours. Now he was back at the precinct, where if he was lucky, he had every intention of avoiding her again.
She yelled at him from beside the truck, "Brody, wait!"
He stopped and glared in her direction. Luck wasn't on his side. Obviously.
"What?"
"I really do need to talk with you."
"Amber, there is nothing you need to tell me you haven't already said. Why did you come back here? Why? There are hundreds of places you could have landed. Did you know I was assigned to this team?"
"No! I had no idea until I walked in that door yesterday."
"Right. How long have you been back in Hope City?"
"I... I never left."
He stared at her for a moment and internalized the razor-sharp syllables which sliced his soul into tiny pieces... again. She'd dumped him to fulfill her grand plan of a life that didn’t pass her by, and yet she'd never left Hope City. So, it was him she didn't want. Had she been playing him the entire time they'd been together? What a moron he'd been. He turned and headed into the building.
"Brody, it's not what you think."
He didn't dare stop. He'd been raised to respect women, all women, even the one who had ripped out his heart on her way out the door. Stopping now would be a very bad thing. He'd say words he couldn't take back. Words which would be meant to shred her as deeply as she'd lacerated him.
"Brody!"
He swiped his badge and walked into his building, leaving her outside. She had a badge; she could get in.
Derek pounced as soon as he walked in the door. "Sarge, I separated them. The guy in number three is the weakest link. He's sweating bullets and glancing around. His knees are bouncing. The other three are cold as ice." Derek fell into step with him. "When are we talking to them?"
"Captain wants them on ice while we clean up a bit. Have you started your report?"
"Yep. I hate paperwork, so I get it done and out of the way. Man, the leap to the top of the truck was fucking awesome. One day, though, you're going to land on your ass."
"Nah, that's what all those box jumps at CrossFit are for." He motioned Derek toward his desk in the bullpen. "Send me the prints for these guys, and I'll see if I can get some magic help to identify them."
"Dude, who do you know? No one else can get anything pushed through quickly." Derek plopped his ass behind his desk as Amber entered the bullpen.
He pinned her with a glare. "Do you have a desk yet?"
She shook her head no. Her jaw was clenched shut, and from the flush on her cheeks, she was pissed.
"Derek, put Agent Swanson at Harrison's desk. He's on vacation for the next two weeks. By the time he's back, we'll have a computer for her, and we can pull a desk up from the basement next door. Get her logins and show her how to print."
Derek's face lit up. "Absolutely, I've got her covered."
He didn't doubt it. Derek was a notorious flirt, and if you listened to the man's claims, he never slept alone, although he wasn't strapped down with a relationship. Whatever. He spun on his heel and headed to his office. He needed time to breathe without looking at the woman he loved. Used to love.
Chapter 2
Amber stopped in front of her sister's small Craftsman style cottage and put her crossover SUV into park. She pushed the remote to open the garage and watched it slowly roll to the top before she turned off the engine and slumped back into the vehicle's seat. The last thirty hours had been one shock after another, Brody King being the biggest surprise. She’d known he worked as a police officer in Hope City. She should have stalked his mother's social media. It would have kept her up to date on most of the King family's notable moments, but she'd unfriended all the Kings after everything that had happened.
She'd been so very careful not to be noticed by his powerful family, and he’d disappeared from her life, but nothing would ever eradicate him from her heart. Oh lord, why had he been wearing a tux yesterday? He'd changed so damn much. Not physically, although he was bigger, more muscled, and his hair was longer, but he used to be so happy, open, and approachable. Now? The man she'd tried to talk to today was closed off, bitter, and angry.
She sat in the SUV and closed her eyes. Brody King. Of all the people in the city, why did Brody have to be on this elite team? She opened her eyes and stared sightlessly at the back wall of the garage. It seemed like yesterday. The emotions were as raw today as they had been when he'd asked her to marry him. His proposal had come as such a shock. Shock? That day was like being at the epicenter of an 8.9 earthquake. Devastating, confusing, and absolutely terrifying. They'd never had serious talks about marriage. She’d had plans. Plans she'd described to him in detail. Marriage? Maybe, someday, but she hadn't been ready. She’d had her entire life in front of her, and she was getting out of Hope City. She’d wanted to experience things her mother never could. With her education, she’d had the world at her fingertips.
Enough. She grabbed her purse and headed into the garage where she locked her service weapon in a small handheld gun safe. The small safe entered the house with her, but only after she locked it. Safety wasn't something she'd ever compromise.
"Long day?" Dawn's voice came from the front room.
She kicked the door shut and put her purse on a hook in the small kitchen. "Exhausting." Her fingers dragged the elastic band from her hair and she slipped it onto her wrist so she wouldn't lose it. "Where's Gage?"
"He's at Johnny's. Birthday sleepover, remember?" Her half sister strolled into the kitchen and headed to the refrigerator. "Wine?"
"Please." She glanced at her watch and sighed, "Damn, it is Saturday, isn't it? I'm sorry. This case went down so fast, and there were complications..." She grabbed two wine glasses from the cupboard and sat them on the counter for her sister to fill.
Her sister's head snapped up. "Was someone hurt?"
"No, not those type of complications." She grabbed the glass of chardonnay and waited for her sister to put the bottle back in the fridge before they both headed to the sectional. She sat down and toed off her boots, wiggling her toes in relief.
"What type of complications?" Dawn aimed the remote and muted the program she'd been watching.
"I met my new team." She took a sip of the wine and shook her head.
"What? Are they misogynistic assholes?"
"No, everyone except the sergeant was very welcoming." She leaned forward and put her wine on the table.
"What crawled up his ass?"
She chuckled at her sister's comment. She was the office manager at one of Hope City's largest trucking companies, and the woman had learned to swear from the best.
"I believe that would be me."
"Huh? What are you talking about?”
"The sergeant? It's Brody."
Her sister's mouth dropped open and then snapped shut. "No. Oh, hell." Dawn stood up and started pacing, her hand clasped over her mouth. "What are we going to do?"
"Nothing. Sit down, Dawn. I'm too tired to watch you pace."
"But he could––"
"He could, but I'm not going to let it happen."
"How are you going to stop him?"
"By telling him the truth and working with him?"
"Right, okay. So, what? You're going to walk up to him and say, 'Oh, hey, listen after I walked away from your marriage proposal, I discovered I was pregnant with your child, and oh… gee whiz, I decided to keep it from you. Sorry, I was young and frightened and didn't think you'd mind not knowing you had a son!’” Dawn's voice reached glass-shattering levels by the
time she'd finished her rant.
"Wrong! I went to that hospital. Over and over. I had to wait until after his family left—they weren’t exactly welcoming—but I sat with him until the ICU nurses forced me out of the room. You know I did. He was the one who refused to see me after he'd regained consciousness. I was standing in the hall outside his room when he told his brother there was nothing left between us, and he didn't want to see me! Months later, I went to his house. His mother told me he'd contact me if he wanted to talk.
“What was I supposed to do? Should I have pushed myself on him because I was pregnant, after I ran out on his proposal? After he'd almost been killed because he was chasing after me? After he told Brock he never wanted to see me again? Yeah, that's a hell of a way to start a family." She leaned forward and ran her hands through her hair.
"You should have told him, Amber. God, this is horrible."
"I tried; you know I did! I broke us when I freaked and left, but I had to have time to think. I love Brody, but when I saw the ring, I saw my dreams grinding to a halt."
"Love Brody?"
Her sister's question sent her mind through what she'd just said. "Loved. Past tense." Oh, God, their relationship was very much a past tense. Ancient history.
"That other shit was your mother talking. The woman messed with your head."
"I know. I thought I explained it to Brody. No, I know I did! Why did he spring the proposal on me? God, I was such a mess. Then when Gage was born... I couldn't lose him. Family has always been everything to the Kings—and Hannah King’s first grandchild? I couldn't risk Brody would try to take him away. We were so broke. I didn't have a job, and you were still in school. We had so much debt. Hell, if it hadn’t been for your mom's insurance paying off this house and your student loans buying food, we'd have been living on the streets. You know how powerful his father was, even back then. He'd just have to show up in a courtroom, and any judge would have given the Kings custody of Gage. They would have taken him from me. The Kings had money; they had status. They still have all of that, but now I can fight back. I'm a damn good mom. I'm doing well, and he's a great kid. Well adjusted, smart, and so damn much like his dad." She shook her head. "But I do agree. I've made mistakes."
"Yeah, and they're all coming back to bite us in the ass." Dawn dropped back onto the couch. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know. I mean, it isn't like we'll be visiting. He won't come here. He doesn't even want to talk to me. Maybe I won't push the issue and not even tell him?" She rolled her eyes. Yeah, like it would be so easy. She was going to have to face this.
Dawn shook her head. "You’re the smartest woman I know, but in this, you are absolutely, one hundred percent, wrong. You owe the man a full-on explanation, and he needs to meet his son. Like you said, you tried to tell him. Gage deserves to know his father and his side of the family." Her sister grabbed her wine and downed the contents. "I love that boy, you know I do, but you're hurting everyone in this situation if you do nothing. It's time to face the music."
"I know! I did try to talk to him today. Several times in fact. He won't even look at me. I think he hates me."
"Then get to him through his family."
Amber crumbled back into the couch cushions. "They'll close ranks."
She’d gone to his childhood home. Brody's mom had met her at the front door.
"Hi Amber." Mrs. King came out onto the porch and pulled the door closed. The fact she hadn't invited her in spoke volumes.
"Hi. Would it be possible to talk to Brody?" Her voice cracked, and she blinked back the tears she had in her eyes.
Hannah wrapped her arms around her waist and smiled sadly. Then came the look. Pity. Sadness. Disapproval. And all wrapped up in a motherly concern that almost gutted her. "Honey, I know you will probably have a hard time understanding this, but I do think it would be better if you waited until he was ready to talk to you. He's just home from his second surgery, and he's in a lot of pain. Now really isn't a good time for him. He'll come around.” She couldn't prevent the tears that brimmed over her lashes. "I'm so sorry for... everything."
"Honey, you didn't cause the accident, but what happened before that? One day when you're a mother, I hope you understand. He didn't deserve that reaction. You hurt him. He can put on a mask of indifference, but his heart is so big. He feels things very deeply. Maybe someday he'll be in a better place and reach out to you."
She was right but hearing it from a dynamic woman she could never hope to impress... God, she'd been devastated. She'd no idea what to say or how to say it. So, in the end, she turned away and left.
"Do you blame them?" Dawn sat down beside her. "Look, you aren't that scared girl any longer. You're a fantastic mom. You've got a career you love, and we have a good life here, but keeping this secret even a day longer is wrong. You need to call him and tell him you have to meet. Hell, invite him here or take Gage to his mom's house! Once they see Gage, they’re going to know. That boy is an exact copy of his father!" Dawn pointed to the wall where Gage's pictures were on display. She stared at her son's photos and almost cried. His mischievous laugh came from Brody. The smile, a little crooked but so damn endearing, and those beautiful eyes, were exact duplicates of his father’s. Every King sibling had those vivid blue eyes with a dark navy ring on the outside and so did Gage. His hair was a little lighter than Brody's, and his coloring was fairer, but there was no mistaking Gage for anything other than a King.
"Gage asked about his dad a couple days ago. He asked why his dad wasn't with us. He asked if we were divorced." Amber dropped her head into her hands.
"Damn. What did you say about that?"
"I told him the truth. That his father and I never got married, and I moved away when I was pregnant with him. His father didn't know about him."
"Yeah, and if I know Gage, he asked if he could go meet his dad, right?"
She nodded. "He jumped up and grabbed my laptop and said, 'You can find him and tell him about me.'"
"Girl, you've got a mess on your hands." Dawn walked into the kitchen and came back with the open bottle of wine.
She stared at the wine left in her glass. "He's never asked such a pointed question before."
"Well at least you didn't lie to him." Dawn filled the wine glasses again, draining the bottle.
"I'm so screwed."
"Yup." Dawn agreed and took a swig of her wine.
Brody opened the door. The top floor of the warehouse he'd purchased and converted into an apartment was ablaze with lights. He'd renovated the downstairs and divided it into three smaller apartments. Two were currently rented to great tenants whose rent paid his mortgage on the entire building.
"Blay do you have to turn on every fucking light?"
His brother popped out of the kitchen. "I'm cooking for you. Stop being a dick."
"Right, I'm the dick stuck with the electric bill," he grumbled to himself, flicking off lights as he walked through the apartment.
Blay, his baby brother, was his on again, off again roommate while he was saving enough for a down payment on his own place. Blay stayed at the firehouse during his shifts but was normally here when he wasn't working, although there were plenty of nights when he went MIA. He lived the life of a young man without obligations and his whole future ahead of him. Brody rolled his shoulders and squelched the envious feelings.
The aroma of onions and garlic made his stomach rumble. "Damn, that smells good. What are you making?"
"I'm testing a new recipe for the station. I'm on rotation to cook for the next shift. This is Cajun risotto." Blay smiled at him as he poured red wine into whatever was in the massive skillet on the stovetop.
"I'll be your crash test dummy any day. Want a drink?" He reached up and grabbed a rocks glass.
"Yeah, that'd be good." Blay stirred the pot and glanced at him. His brow furrowed and he angled his head. "What's up with you?"
Brody chuckled. Blayze was the youngest son of the family, and he'd learned to g
age his older brother's moods while growing up. The little prankster knew to run fast when he pushed his practical jokes a bit too far. "I'm tired, man. Thirty hours straight. Went from the wedding to the precinct and then straight into an op with the DEA."
"Did you return your tux?"
Brody blinked at him. "Ah, that would be a no." The damn thing was still hanging up in his office tucked behind the door. He sighed and poured them each a fat finger's worth of bourbon.
"You're going to pay through the nose for that."
"What else is new?" He placed Blay's drink beside him and then slid his ass onto the countertop and leaned back against the upper cabinets.
"How did it go? The DEA thing? Did you catch the bad guys?" Blay ladled what looked like beef stock into the rice and meat mixture.
His stomach rumbled at the tantalizing smells. "Yeah, the bust went down. One of the DEA dicks grandstanded, trying to pull all the credit, but Terrell wasn't backing down." That and Amber had snipped the agent's credit snatch in the bud.
"Good bust?"
"Yeah, coke, guns and money, and we have a bird who's singing. The interrogators were putting him on ice for the night, and we'll be back at him in the morning. The DA is willing to play, to a degree. So far, we only have him on weapons charges, but ballistics isn't back yet. There've been several drug related hits still open and the Uzis those four were carrying could very well be the weapons involved."
"You skipping the family dinner tomorrow night?"
"No, I'm taking the seven to three shift. I'll be there." Getting his ass up as six in the morning would suck, but these dinners meant so much to his parents.
"Thank goodness, with Brock on his honeymoon and me at the station, Mom would be upset if you didn't make it." Blay continued to stir the mixture.
Brody (Hope City Book 3) Page 2