“There he is,” Gram sang at me as I walked into her room to wheel her out to the car. Everyone had gone in front of us to either go to my grandparents' house, or to wherever they needed to be. I’d agreed to drive her with Ebru seeing as she’d finished her shift an hour ago.
“Hey, Gammy,” I gave her a kiss on the cheek. I loved this old biddy. “I’m gonna drive you home okay?”
“Ohhhhhhh,” she squealed, and I looked at Ebru who was looking in the bag holding the painkillers that she was to take for her injuries. “Are we going on the horsey?” She started making clip-clop noises and neighing.
“Yes, we’re going in the Mustang.” I’d had it cleaned professionally after Ebru and I had defiled it, although Gram didn’t know that. That was my baby. What it had seen that night…it deserved a deep clean.
“Lead the way, cowboy,” she sounded a bit like Liza Minelli with all of the cabaret style singing she was doing.
“What’s she on?”
“Morphine,” Ebru snorted as she told me. Shit, what if she reacted like I did to painkillers? If I saw her naked, there’d be no coming back from that!
Pushing her out of the room, she sang goodbye to the nurses, doctors, patients, porters, visitors, literally every person that we passed, before bursting out in ‘when you wish upon a horn’. Apparently, a lot of the staff remembered it because they all burst out laughing and pointed at me. Fuck my life.
“I can’t wait to go in the horsey,” she squealed as we rode down in the elevator to the car. “Is it still a unicorn? I loved that idea, that’s why I told them about it…”
I’d switched off to her rambling until she said this, but now she had my attention.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “That was your idea?”
“Of course it was! I had that tail in the basement for ages. Wasn’t it pretty?” she swung her head in Ebru’s direction. “Wasn’t it pretty Eeeeeee buh buh bruuuuu? I love that name. You’re pretty too! My precious unicorn munchkin would have made such a pretty girl don’t you think?”
Ebru was leaning against the wall of the elevator looking at Gram wide-eyed as all of this went on. It was like she’d developed ADD. The fact that she’d told them to unicorn my car, though, had my eye twitching.
As we reached the ground floor and the doors opened, Gram squealed again and started clapping her hands. “Ohhhhh goody, there’s a party!” I looked up and saw that they were raising money for a kids charity and the entire lobby was filled with…clowns. “Let’s go uneeeeeecorn!” There was no fucking way I was going in their direction, ever. Clowns gave me nightmares and my entire family knew it, evil fucking bastards! “You can do wishes with your magic horn. Honk honk!”
Looking in the opposite direction, I saw the fish tank that took up the entire wall and started pushing her in its direction.
“What are you doing, Cole?” Ebru asked, trying to keep up with me.
Stopping in front of it, I made sure that the chair was facing the tank, put ten bucks in her hand and then hit the brakes on the chair so she wouldn’t roll away. “You’re at Sea World Gram, enjoy!”
Grabbing Eb’s hand, I ran towards the back entrance of the hospital while pulling my cell out of my pocket. “Get your ass back here and take her. She’s by the tank,” I told Dad before going out the doors and heading in the direction of the car.
“Don’t you feel guilty just leaving her there?” Ebru didn’t sound like she genuinely meant that, more like it was just one of those things you asked for the sake of it.
“Not one fucking bit!”
“Oh good,” she sighed. “I was thinking of taking her to the soft play area for kids.”
As we drove out of the parking lot, I saw Dad’s truck driving in and gave him the bird. The smirk and the look in his eye gave me an inkling that he knew what had gone down. The evil smile that I gave him in return had the smirk dropping from his face. Good, I hope she made his life hell.
Coleman
I was fucking pissed over what I’d just found out and I was dreading going into Jack Townsend’s house to tell them all.
Pacing back and forth next to my vehicle, I thought of the only thing that I knew would calm me down right now - Amy. I know we were fighting it, at least I was. She seemed to have forgotten that I existed. When she’d been back for Crystal’s birth, I’d managed to get her alone, but…fuck no this was frustrating me even more. I needed to stop thinking and grow a set and go in,
“You okay, fella?” Baz had snuck up on me. No one ever got to sneak up on me; I’d been trained better than that so I needed to get a fucking grip.
Rubbing my hands down my face, I took a deep breath and then looked up at the guy I’d come to like working with. I tended not to trust anyone, but him I trusted completely. Then again, the news from today showed that I needed to remove my trust and feelings from the guys working for us and approach this in a cold and level-headed way.
“We have a rat.”
Baz’s head snapped to the side like I’d punched him. “What?”
“Fucking yeah. We need to go through our men and find out who.”
Looking at the entrance to Jack’s house where they were all waiting for me, Baz’s face took on a level of hardness that, if I’d been a standard Joe, would have scared me.
“Let’s go in.”
Opening the door, we walked into the living room and I saw the twins lying on the floor playing with some frame thing with hanging shit on it, and Ren holding his daughter who was out cold in his arms. Looking over at Linda, who was now back to walking around and trying to escape the confines of whatever house she was in to go out and do shit, I saw her sitting quite happily on the couch smiling at the twins on the floor. She wasn’t super old, but she wasn’t young and some fucker had played on that. Beside them were George and Christie, who were watching the twins with that special look of love that only a grandparent gives a baby.
Brett was standing next to Ren now and kept putting his hand up every time his brother tried to hand him the sleeping baby. Ren just turned around and put his daughter in his brother’s arms and walked away, leaving Brett holding her to his chest, looking terrified. This would happen to him soon enough, at least I hoped it would. The latest news made me worry that no matter what we did, the assholes responsible would succeed in killing one or more of this amazing family. That thought brought out a level of pissed in me that I hadn’t felt since Afghanistan. I would fucking die before that happened.
“What have you got for us, Son?” I almost smiled at Hurst. No matter who or how old you were, he always called all of us son. I didn’t have a family of my own, but they’d all adopted me into this one no questions asked.
“I’ve just inspected the stair that split,” I began. No sense in beating around the bush on this. “It had been cut through.”
They all sat staring at me in shock. Yeah, no shit!
“How the fuck did they get into my house?” Hurst looked like he was ready to take on the world and I didn’t blame him one bit.
“This is what we’re looking into.”
“There’s an insider isn’t there?” I looked over at Cole’s girl Ebru, not at all shocked that she’d figured it out immediately and nodded grimly.
“Fuck me!” Hurst yelled, shocking the babies and making all three start crying. Brett looked like he was going to pass out as he told the crying baby girl in his arms that he’d buy her a pony if she stopped. I was closest to the twins at this point, so I crouched down and started jingling the hanging shit to try and get their attention back on it.
“So, what’s the plan?” Jack said over the furious chatter going on in the room now. He seemed to be too calm; I’d expected him to act like his father was.
“Jack, where’s my goddamn guns?” All of the talking stopped immediately as we all looked at Hurst. There was no way in hell he was getting a weapon. He’d almost taken out three of my guys in the last five months. One had to get twenty stitches in his left ass cheek when
Hurst got distracted when he was shooting cans and accidentally clipped him.
Baz broke the silence. “There’s no need for that, Hurst. We’re going to conduct an internal investigation. We already Vet our men, but we’re going to do it again. Maybe someone got to them or they were distracted, we don’t know, but this won’t be ignored. I know five men that I would trust with my life, and I make it a point never to trust anyone. How many you got?” he asked me.
Thinking about it, I went through my team and knew exactly who I would trust with my own life. “Six.”
“Right, eleven guys and we have Mace and his guys.”
“Don’t forget Neil and his security operation.” I absolutely trusted them.
Nodding his head, Baz turned back to the room. “I’ll call Mace and ask for some of his men so that we have at least twenty. Mace also has a security tech who can get further into records than I can. We’ll get him to run a check on everyone on our teams. For now, though, I think Hurst and Linda should move in here so that we have you all together.”
Jack and Colette sat back in their seats and then looked at each other. Turning back to face us, Jack spoke up. “Please, for the love of God, don’t do that. It’s not that bad, is it? Maybe the stair was rotted? Maybe it was woodworm?” Baz was doing his best not to laugh, but no one else could hold it in. “Oh yeah, you laugh, but why doesn’t one of you open your door to your poor grandparents?”
“Now Jack, it’s not like we’re difficult to live with! You were always so melodramatic as a child. I thought you’d outgrown it, though.” Linda sniffed. “I think that’s a fantastic idea. Hurst, we need to go and get our stuff.”
She walked out of the door with two of Baz’s men trailing behind her as if we hadn’t just told her that someone had intentionally hurt her and we didn’t know who we could trust. Hurst followed behind, bringing up the rear, and muttering as he went.
“There better be cable in my room and a decent sized television,” he said as he got to the door. “And I want soft towels, none of those ass chafing ones.”
“They do realize that someone tried to hurt them don’t they?” Maya asked as the door closed behind them.
“I’m moving to Layla’s,” Jack stood up and went to walk toward the back door.
“You are not leaving me alone with them, Jack Townsend,” Colette yelled at his back. “If you do, I swear to God, to God, that I will castrate you and then divorce you.”
Stopping before he got to the door, his shoulders dropped and he turned and walked toward the stairs at the back of the house that led down to the basement. My men had already done a sweep of the place after I’d called them on my way to tell the family the news, so I knew he’d be okay.
“What’s down there?” Isla asked from her perch on Luke’s lap.
“Aw fuck,” Ren snapped out and then walked in that direction with Maya beside him.
“What’s down there?” Isla repeated.
Sighing, Colette got up and sat down on the floor next to the twins and started playing with them. “That’s where he keeps his moonshine supply.”
“So, Dad’s getting drunk; cool. What about this fu…reaking baby?” Brett was looking like he was about to launch into some sort of panic attack.
“Just hold her, sweetie,” Colette replied, still playing with the twins.
“I have an update on the fire at Ebru’s apartment too,” Baz spoke up, looking at Cole and Ebru. “It was the wiring. It hadn’t been updated and there were rats. They chewed through the cables and boom.”
That was a relief for all of us because even I had been worried that it was linked to whatever asshole was trying to get to the Montgomerys and Townsends. I didn’t doubt that this was aimed at both families though, regardless of what happened a couple of months ago. They may have focused recently on the Montgomerys, but I knew they’d try something with the Townsends again soon.
“Can you take he…oh fu…fudge me,” Brett looked around the room in horror. I had a rough idea where this was going. “What the sh…sugar are they feeding this thing?” He held his breath and pointed his head away from the baby over his shoulder. “Take it, take it.” he begged the room.
“I told you, it’s like napalm.” Cole would know seeing as he’d been covered in the stuff.
“It’s like death,” Brett forced out as he gulped in a breath of air. Taking pity on him, Colette got up off the floor, took the baby and walked towards the basement. No one said a word as she disappeared and then reappeared two minutes later with Ren and Maya following her.
“Oh Jesus Christ,” Jack bellowed from his man cave and then started coughing. The sound of his feet running up the stairs as he wheezed almost echoed around the silent house as we all stared in the direction that he was coming from. Just as he came through the doorway, Colette handed him the diaper bag and went and sat back down on the couch. “Please, no. Please, I’m begging you.”
Colette was one cold customer, though, because she didn’t even look in her husband’s direction as he begged. “Okay, okay, I’ll take full responsibility for my parents while they’re here.”
Smiling, Colette went over to Jack and retrieved the tiny baby and then walked out the room to change her. I had to admit, the little shit knew how to clear a room with her ass. Even I was struggling, and I thought I’d smelt it all on my tours.
There were snorts and chuckles all around the room as Jack stuck his head out of the front door to get some fresh air. Brett had just settled himself into one of the recliners when his phone went off. I watched his face as he looked at the screen and saw the look of confusion.
“Townsend. Yes, I do. Okay. What? She what?” He looked at me and I pulled my phone out and dialed the helo pilot. “I’ll be there in two hours. Yes. No, she’s to get nothing but the best. Do you hear me?”
The pilot answered and I was relieved that we’d put him up for a couple of nights, thinking we’d fly home tomorrow. I had a feeling that I knew who this was about and, although, Brett didn’t realize it yet, she was his forever. In fact, I might place some bets with the rest of his family when we get back.
Standing up, he faced the room. “I need to get back to Houston. S…someone has had an accident and is having surgery, so I’m going to fly back and make sure they’re okay.”
“Would it be a girl?” Cole asked grinning. Brett scowled at him, but I gave a small nod behind his back that most of the occupants of the room saw and smiled at.
Saying no more, Brett turned toward the door and we went to the SUV. The pilot was moving the helo to a different field so that no one was waiting for us at the current hangar. Regardless of how much of an emergency it was, our safety was a priority.
“How bad is it?” I asked as Brett looked out of the window. Initially, you would think that he was calm, if it wasn’t for the constant but subtle ticking of his jaw.
“She’s been having chest problems since the fire,” he started, and I nodded because this was no secret. “She got bronchitis and was trying to leave her apartment block, but the elevator was out of order, so she took the stairs,” he stopped and punched the back of the passenger seat hard enough that I heard something crack. I’d get someone to look at that while we were away. “She started coughing and lost her balance on the stairs.”
“Fuck me!”
“She’s torn her ACL in her right leg, so they’re operating on it now.” His voice was becoming croaky, and I knew from experience that Brett Townsend didn’t show emotions. That one thing, though, gave away how much Sabine meant to him. “She was lying there for an hour before someone found her man.”
We arrived at the field and got into the waiting helicopter. “She’ll be okay, Brett. She’s a tough girl!”
Nodding he kept his face pointed towards the window, and I knew from experience that he wouldn’t discuss it further. I also knew that he was growing more and more frustrated that he wasn’t at her side by the way he started cracking his knuckles and glaring at the pilot as we
flew to Houston. Poor sucker had it bad.
Chapter 19
Cole
I pulled up in front of Eb’s parents' house and cut the engine. I couldn’t say that I was looking forward to this visit. I still had some resentment toward them for how they’d treated her, and no excuse would change that. I’d discussed this with Ebru a couple of weeks ago and she felt the same way, which was a relief. I just didn’t think that it was possible to forgive people who had done what they had that quickly. That said, these were her parents and she was adamant that Louise would have wanted her to make an effort with them. So long as they were decent to her and did right by her now, that’s what I was concerned about. The moment they upset her or did anything to her we were done, though.
I walked around the car to open Ebru’s door and when we looked over at the porch only her Dad there waiting for us this time. Her Mom was still recovering and didn’t have much energy, so it was understandable.
Getting our bags out of the trunk, we both walked up to him and Ebru gave him a tense hug. My heart hurt for her because if that was my dad, she’d be relaxed and hugging him with no problems.
“Hey, Ebby,” Finn grinned down at her. He had to have felt how tense she was, but he was still giving her a genuine smile. That went a long way for me in believing that he actually gave a shit.
“Dad,” she walked around him into the house as I shook Finn’s hand. The sad look he gave me said he hadn’t missed it.
We followed after her and I saw Enya sitting on an old fabric lounger with a couple of blankets over her. She looked so pale and it was a shock to see how quickly the treatment was draining the life out of her. Giving her a kiss on the cheek and a squeeze of the hand, I sat back on the most comfortable couch I’d ever sat on in my life and relaxed.
“So, how are you feeling, Enya?” She looked up at me and I took in the changes in her again. I just hoped that the treatment worked.
“I’m good thanks, Cole.”
“What did the doctor say when you saw him on Wednesday? Ebru has tried explaining it to me, but she talks in medical talk and I don’t speak that double Dutch.” I gave Enya a wink and she grinned at me as Eb rolled her eyes. Even Finn chuckled.
Providence Series Books 1-4 Page 69