“Can’t an old friend join in the party?” He took another step closer and pulled something from behind his back. “I figured it was about time we caught up, no?”
His dark-blue eyes narrowed, and my stomach lurched as he lifted his hand and scratched the side of his head with a gun. Cade’s hand reached out, grasping mine, and I wasn’t sure if he was seeking comfort or trying to give it.
“I…we could catch up,” I managed to croak out, hoping Brody would turn up any second.
“Good.” Jace grinned. “I take it this is Brody’s spawn?” he asked, pointing the barrel at Cade. “And that one too?” He aimed it at my stomach, but I couldn’t get a word out. “Answer me!” he roared.
“Yes,” I replied, the word coming out in a rush. “Yes.”
Jace nodded, but I got the feeling he already knew that. “See, this funny thing happened after Ford killed Ted.” Ford had killed Ted? “Hut didn’t trust anyone but me.” Jace raised a brow and leaned against a booth. “He didn’t trust you most of all.” He shook his head. “So he had me go…hmmm…undercover I suppose.” He winked. “Oh the irony.”
My pulse thrummed, whooshing sounding in my ears. I wasn’t sure if I was swaying or if the ground was moving beneath me.
“Some interesting things have happened over the last few months, don’t you think?” He didn’t give me a chance to answer. “First, you disappear. Then Brody arrests Hut, and Hut is killed by some mysterious person.” My breath caught in my throat, and from the look shining in Jace’s eyes, I knew he knew. “Then Ford goes missing, nowhere to be found.”
“I’m not sure what—”
“But you know what’s even more interesting? The fact that I was there every step of the way.” He grinned. “How did you think Hut knew where you were and about your DEA boyfriend, huh?” He chuckled, but it sounded off. “I watched you plunge the knife into Hut’s neck. I wanted to kill you there and then for taking him away from me, but then they turned up.” He sneered, his nose screwing up. “And then I put it all together. You were in on it.” He pushed up off the booth and pointed his gun at me. “You knew what was happening all along, and so did Ford and Quinn.”
I shook my head and stepped forward, letting my palm slip from Cade’s hand. He tried to hold on tighter, but I yanked from his grip.
“We didn’t know,” I told him. “I swear, Jace—”
“Yeah, you did.” His voice was calm, too calm. “But no matter. I took care of Quinn.” He winked. “Did your boyfriend show you my handiwork?”
“I—”
“No, he probably wouldn't have, not with all the secrets he likes to keep.” He shook his head and stepped forward. “Ford is next on my list. He knows I’m coming for him now. It’s just a matter of time. But you…” He took one last step, only ten feet separating us. “You were worth the wait. You took the one person I loved more than anything in the world away from me.” He loved Hut?
I frowned at him, trying to piece it all together. He’d always been there, in the background, watching the way Hut interacted with people. I’d thought he hated the way Hut tried to keep the crew away from me, but I was starting to realize it wasn’t that at all. He didn’t like me around Hut.
I stumbled back a step at the realization, and his body tensed, causing everything to slow down as he growled out, “This is for Hut.”
The loud bang resonated in the diner right before I was knocked to the ground. My back hit the hard floor, but I didn’t feel pain anywhere. I couldn’t feel blood seeping from any part of my body, and when I finally looked over, I saw Cade next to me, holding onto his shoulder as he groaned in pain.
“Fuck!” Jace stomped over to us. “Goddamn kid!” He lifted his gun and Cade tried to move in front of me, but Jace’s swift kick to his ribs stopped his forward momentum.
“Let’s try this again.” He pointed the gun at me, his eyes sparkling with some insane pride, and pulled the trigger.
I lunged out of the way, but the bullet pierced through my thigh. Cold, wet blood spurted from the wound, and I gripped my leg, trying to hold the blood in but it poured through my fingers. I had to get away, I had to move. But my body wouldn’t allow me. It was stuck in a place of unbearable pain.
“That’s just the starter,” Jace threatened, stepping toward me a second time.
He raised the gun again, and there was nothing I could do but squeeze my eyes closed as a final gunshot rang out.
* * *
BRODY
I grabbed my jacket off the back of my office chair and gripped my cell in my hand. I was just about to shoot off a message to Lola when my office phone rang out. I puffed out a breath, knowing I should have left ten minutes ago for the baby shower. The guys were waiting for me so we could all go over together, and now I’d have another thing to deal with before I could leave. Being the boss of a whole department was more work than I’d thought it would be.
I picked up the receiver, placing it next to my ear, and said, “Brody Easton.”
“Special Agent Easton?” There was a pause. “This is Detective Montgomery from Cresthill.”
My back straightened, and I caught Jord’s eye where he was waiting outside my office, leaning against a desk. I tilted my head for him to come inside as I said, “Yes.”
“I managed to get some more footage from the Quinn Baltera murder. I’ve just emailed it to you.” I clicked my mouse to bring my computer to life, opened up the new email, and pressed play on the video as he continued, “We’ve put it through facial recognition but couldn’t come up with anything.”
I stared at the video, leaning closer to the screen as Jord came to stand beside me. It was grainy at first but cleared up the closer the figure got to the camera. I frowned, feeling like I recognized him...
“But,” the detective continued, “we had a hit on his face not five minutes ago near Sal’s Diner in—”
“Motherfucker!” My nostrils flared as I slammed my hand on the spacebar to pause the video and pointed at the screen. “It’s Jace.”
“Jace?” the detective asked.
I shook my head and looked at Jord, who was staring at the screen with a frown on his face. “Did you say you’d just gotten a hit on him?”
“Yeah, about five minutes ago at Sal’s Diner—”
I didn’t answer him. Instead, I slammed the receiver down on the handset and ran out of the office, Jord on my heels. “What’s going on?” he asked, tapping Kyle and Ryan on the shoulder as we ran past. I didn’t have time to wait for the elevator, so I took the stairs two at a time, trying to get out of the building as fast as I could.
“It’s Jace,” I managed to get out between breaths. “And he was spotted by Sal’s.”
“Shit!” Jord swore, his long legs nearly catching up with me, but he wouldn’t be able to. There was nothing like the determination that lit a fire under your ass when your loved ones were in danger. Lola and Cade were at the diner, and that could be the only reason he’d been spotted there.
“He’s going after Lola,” I said as we made it to the front doors, but my legs didn’t stop sprinting me toward my car. “He’s behind it all.” I pressed the button to unlock my car when I was around fifty feet away, and within seconds, I was yanking my door open to slip inside. The engine roared, and just as I was about to reverse out, Jord pushed into the passenger side.
I didn’t have a siren to put on the top of my car, but I raced through the streets and hit speed limits I’d never gotten to before. If I didn’t get there in time…
I couldn’t think about what would happen if he hurt her. I couldn’t comprehend what my life would be like without Lola in it.
As I pulled in front on the diner, I slammed my foot onto the brake so hard I thought it might go through the metal. I pushed my door open just as a shot rang out, and my body jerked. My stomach dropped, and anger like I hadn’t felt before washed through me.
It took ten steps to get to the door, and in that time, another shot rang out. I was
pulling my gun from my belt and raising it before I knew it. It took me only seconds to take in the scene in front of me.
The diner was decorated with everything pink, but it was Cade lying on the floor with red seeping from his shoulder and Lola half lying, half sitting as she held her leg that had me squeezing my trigger, aiming right for the back of Jace’s head as he loomed over them.
His body swayed, the gun he held clattering to the floor, and then he went down, missing Lola’s body by inches.
People were shouting, footsteps cracking on the floor as the guys rushed to Lola and Cade, but I couldn’t move. My entire family had been shot at: my son, the woman I loved, and my unborn baby girl. I could have lost them all in one fail swoop, and there would have been nothing I could have done about it.
“Brody!” Sal shouted, his hands pressed against Lola’s leg. “Get your ass over here.”
I stumbled forward, not knowing who to go to, but Lola’s eyes sprang open, and she begged, “Make sure Cade is okay.” I thought I loved her even more at that moment.
Sirens rang out, help on its way to save my family, as I collapsed to my knees between them both. Jord was checking Cade’s shoulder, and he said, “It’s through and through.”
“Lola’s isn’t,” Sal grunted. “And she looks like she’s about to pass out.”
I lunged toward her, falling on my ass as I tried to wrap my arms around her. Her back leaned against my chest, her pale face glancing up at me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Brody.”
“No, darlin'.” I shook my head and placed my hand on her cheek, feeling wetness trailing down mine at the same time. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I didn’t protect him,” she managed to get out. “I’m sorry.”
I gripped her tighter as she closed her eyes, people running into the diner and heading toward us. Paramedics stopped next to us, one pair going to Cade and the other to Lola.
They worked fast, checking their wounds and, all the while, I sat there, not able to do a thing. I was stunned, my anger having flushed right out of me, but then I glanced over to Jace’s still body, and it returned tenfold. I wished he was still alive so I could cause him the pain he’d been trying to cause me.
They lifted Lola onto a stretcher, and one of the paramedics asked, “Are you coming with her?”
I looked over at Cade who was being wheeled out, Jord at his side. “Go,” Cade said. “Go with Lola and my baby sister.”
My stomach bottomed out, and all I could manage was a nod as I followed them and got into the back of the ambulance with Lola’s still body.
* * *
LOLA
I’d been awake for ten minutes according to the clock on the sterile wall. Each second that went by was announced with the tick of the second hand, and for some reason, I found it comforting.
I was still here, taking breaths, and staring at the man who slept beside me. From the dark circles under his eyes, and the scruff on his face, I’d say he hadn’t left the hospital in days. The calendar on the clock told me I’d been in here for two days, which meant I’d lost an entire block of time.
I was desperate to wake Brody up, but I needed to work through everything that had happened in the diner. Jace had been about to shoot me a second time, but the shot that rang out was from Brody, destroying the person who had come to harm us. He was always there, ready to take on anything he could. There’d been a millisecond where I doubted if he’d get there in time, but my gut knew the truth. It knew he’d never leave us in danger.
He groaned in the chair, moving around to try and get comfortable as his eyes opened a little. He stared right at me, closed them back up, and then sprang into action. He stood, pressing the button on the back of the bed to call the nurse, his hands hovering over me.
“Lola?”
“Hey,” I tried to say, my dry throat making it hard to talk properly.
He reached for some water, holding it to my lips, and it was pure heaven. “Take it slowly,” he warned, and I did as he said when my stomach churned followed by a kick.
The relief at feeling the baby almost had my chest caving in. “What happened?”
“Jace—”
“No.” I shook my head and rested back against the pillows, taking Brody’s hand in mine and bringing it to my chest. My heart was pounding, and I needed his touch to center me. “What happened after?” I paused. “Cade?”
“Is home and living the high life thanks to Jan and her daughter, Aria.”
I snorted. “He’ll hate that.”
Brody’s lips quirked. “Yep. He’s already threatened to go on hunger strike.”
I laughed, the sound throaty, but the more we talked, the easier it was to breathe. “How long did that last?”
“About the same amount of time it took Jan to make grilled cheese.” His grin turned somber, and his other hand clasped the side of my face, his rough fingertips clutching me. “I thought I was going to lose you.” His eyes shined with unshed tears. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
I wanted to crack some kind of joke and bring light to the situation, but I couldn’t manage to bring it forth. I’d been too close to death that time. Nothing compared to having a gun pointed at you and a bullet piercing your skin. The pain was one thing, but the terror of losing your life in the blink of an eye was another.
“I’m sorry,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks. I couldn’t have stopped them even if I wanted to. “I’m so sorry.”
“No.” He leaned down and placed his forehead against mine. “You have nothing to be sorry for, darlin'. Nothing at all.” He inhaled a breath, but it stuttered back out of him. “I love you so much it hurts.”
I placed my hand on his cheek, loving the roughness of his stubble. “I love you, too.”
“Marry me,” he croaked out, his voice rougher and deeper than I’d ever heard it before. “Marry me so you can be by my side every day for the rest of my life.”
“I’ll be there every day anyway.”
“I don’t care.” His dark-brown eyes met mine, promises shining in their depths. Promises I craved to hold on to and make him keep. “Marry me. Be my wife. Your soul is half of mine, and they need to be joined forever, or I think I may just die.”
“You’re so dramatic.” I laughed.
“Is that a yes then?” he asked right as a nurse came into the room.
“Ah, the famous Lola Martin is finally awake.”
Brody pulled back, but he didn’t glance away from me. I wanted to stare into his eyes all day long and never look away, but the nurse pushing in front of him broke my connection.
“Let’s get this blood pressure tested, huh?” Her kind smile put me at ease as she pulled out a cuff to wrap around my arm.
“Is the baby okay?” I asked her.
“Yes.” She glanced down at the monitor when it beeped with my blood pressure results. “The doctor will be around in a little while, but baby is doing great, and by the looks of things, so is Mom.” She wrote something down on a clipboard. “The bullet was removed from your thigh, and with any luck, we’ll have you up and walking around like normal within six weeks.”
I swallowed, already trying to calculate how much time I’d need to take off work and how far along I’d be. “Okay,” I said. “And when can I get out of here?”
She looked back at me, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “I’d say a day or two. There’s only so much distraction the nurses can take from the men who refuse to leave the waiting room.”
“What—”
“The guys won’t leave,” Brody said as the nurse pushed the clipboard in its holder on the side of the bed. “And Sal has been wreaking havoc.” He scrubbed his hand down his face and glanced at the nurse. “Can I tell them they can come in now that she’s awake?”
The nurse rolled her eyes. “Fine. But you tell them to keep it down. It’s like having a bunch of teenage boys on my ward.”
; “Will do,” Brody replied and took a step toward the door after her.
“Wait,” I called, reaching my hand out. He frowned at me and hesitated. “I…” I worried my bottom lip, my stomach bottoming out. “Yes.”
“Yes?” Brody repeated, moving toward me and taking my hand. “What do you mean?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
His breath whooshed out of him and flowed over my skin, causing goose bumps to prickle. “You will?”
“Yeah, Brody.” I tried to lift up but groaned when my leg throbbed. He leaned down, stopping a few centimeters from my face. “I’ll spend the rest of my life with you as your wife.”
His lips slowly morphed into a grin. “Hell yeah, you will.” And then he kissed me, the kind of kiss that only he could give me.
Epilogue
LOLA
I pressed the tissue to the corner of my eye, trying to stem the flow of tears that threatened to escape. Only this time, they were happy tears. The kind of tears you didn’t mind crying in front of the people you considered your family.
They called out Ford’s name at the same time Brody wrapped his arm around my waist, his other hand pressing against my once again swollen stomach. His fingers spread out, and a thrill ran through me at seeing the wedding ring on his ring finger.
“How you feeling?” his deep voice asked in my ear.
“Happy,” I told him. And it was the truth. One word could sum up the last four years of my life. Since the moment we left the hospital, things had gone from good to great. Brody didn’t want to wait to “put a ring on it”—his words, not mine. So we were married within a week, our closest friends attending the small ceremony.
Sal had walked me down the aisle, and Cade had been Brody’s best man. Things had been perfect. And then came Princess Belle—little baby Belle, who had made an entrance into this world after thirty-two hours of hard labor. She’d caused a dramatic appearance, and nothing had changed since.
Down Fall: Fallen Duet: Book Two Page 20