No Coincidence

by Tiffany Patterson

  “I know, but just listen,” I demanded, holding my hand up when it appeared as if she was about to interrupt me again. “All right, yes, it is bad. But I didn’t think it was really a big deal at the time. Not before the break-in. I get weird messages often on the blog or in my DMs from random guys. Most of the time, it turns into nothing. They’re just lonely dudes who have nothing better to do than to be creepy on the internet. I block them and move on.”

  “But this wasn’t one of those times.”

  I nodded and shrugged, agreeing with my cousin, before looking over at Connor. “We’ve been working with the police to figure out who this guy is.”

  “The police?” Destiny turned to Connor, with a raised eyebrow.

  “As well as other avenues,” he added, arms still folded over his broad chest.

  “So, you’ve been living with Connor for safety reasons.” She nodded as if saying it out loud to herself. “Okay then, you’ll come and stay with me and Tyler. We have state of the art security and—”

  “That’s not happening,” Connor interrupted, voice low but firm, instantly cutting my cousin’s declaration off.

  Destiny blinked, looking between Connor and I.

  “Resha’s staying right here.”

  “You don’t know how long it’s going to take to find this guy, and—”

  “Doesn’t matter how long it takes.” His voice was full of so much finality I found my stomach muscles tightening from being turned on.

  “Resha, you—”

  “He’s right,” I stated, staring into his eyes, and swallowing the lump in my throat, preparing for what I had to say next.

  “But what if you have to travel, or if Connor needs to travel out of town for work?”

  “She’ll go with me,” Connor answered, staring at me.

  “I’ll go with him … unless, of course, I’m too far along to travel,” I admitted.

  Connor’s brows dipped and he cocked his head to the side.

  “Too far along for what?” Destiny questioned.

  Peeling my eyes from Connor, I turned to Destiny, who as soon as she saw the expression on my face, her eyes fell to the hand that covered my stomach. I hadn’t even realized I placed it there until she noticed it. Looking back to Connor, I saw his eyes were pinned to my abdomen as well.

  “Are you …”

  Nodding, I answered, “Pregnant? Yes.” With the hand that wasn’t covering my stomach, I pulled the pregnancy test I’d just been staring at upstairs in the bathroom out of the back pocket of my jeans. I looked at the two pink lines that were present as day before handing the stick over to Connor.

  He moved closer, taking my wrist into his hand, holding the stick in front of his face. “I see two pink lines. What the fuck does that mean?” His hold tightened on my wrist, not causing any pain at all, but I could feel the tension in his body as his eyes shifted from me to the test and back to me again.

  Grinning, I responded, “It means you’re going to be a father.”

  His entire body stiffened and his eyes bore into mine, a blank expression on his face.

  The fear that I’d felt up in the bathroom as I saw those lines for the first time returned.

  You did it again. Moved too quickly. Now you’ve got a child to raise on your own, my own mind began mocking me.

  “I know it’s way too soon, and heck, we’ve only been living together for like, barely two months. We haven’t even solidified what this relationship is or where we want it to go. I mean … yeah, sure, we’ve told each other I love you, and it’s true for me, I hope it is for you, but adding a baby into the mix brings a whole new element into—”

  “Resha?”

  “Yes?”

  “Shut the hell up. I’m going to be a daddy!” Connor whooped, just before grabbing me by the face and crushing his lips to mine.

  The laughter that bubbled up my belly, through my chest, and out my lips was infectious, effectively breaking our kiss but causing Connor to laugh also as his hands moved down my body, to cover my stomach.

  “Holy shit!”

  I blinked, remembering that Destiny was still standing there. Moving away from Connor, I went over to my cousin, the second most important person to me in the world.

  “You probably have opinions about this. I went from celibate to living with Connor, to pregnant in only a matter of weeks, in your eyes, and—”

  “You two are in love?” she questioned.

  I looked at Connor and smiled before turning back to Destiny. “Yes.”

  “And you’re going to be a mommy,” she gushed, pulling my into her arms, hugging me. “You’ve always wanted this,” she whispered in my ear.

  I had to wipe away the tears that threatened to form once she released me from the hug. She was right, I always had wanted this. And it all felt like it was too good to be true. Even as Connor pulled me back into his arm, using his free hand to rest over my belly, it felt as if everything I ever wanted was coming to life, and nothing scared me more.

  ****

  Connor

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Brutus questioned as he pulled into the parking space in front of the abandoned building.

  “Never been surer of anything in my fucking life,” I affirmed before getting out of the dark Suburban and slamming the door shut behind me.

  Moving toward the door, I pulled out the key, unlocking the door and shutting it once Brutus entered, locking us inside. Across the dimmed basement room, I could make out three figures. One was sitting in a chair, still dressed in the orange jumpsuit most criminals wore even when being transported from one jail to another.

  Approaching the three men, Joshua’s grim face came into view first and he nodded in my direction before his eyes lowered to the man sitting in the chair in front of him, Oliver Westbrook.

  The other man to Joshua’s right was on Brutus’ security team. He’d also acted as the driver for the Williamsport Correctional Facility, that brought Westbrook all the way out here to this abandoned building, so that I could have a one-on-one conversation with him. This wasn’t the same building we used for the Underground fights that took place in Williamsport. Much darker fights happened in this building. Ones that most opponents often couldn’t get up and walk away from.

  How Joshua and Brutus were able to get Westbrook all the way out here, given the legal entanglement due to him still being in prison, were beyond my scope of knowledge. But that didn’t concern me either. All I knew was that this son of a bitch had information that I needed and I was going to get it out of him, one way or another.

  “Do you remember me?” I questioned, coming to stand over Westbrook, who still had his handcuffs, his wrists bound behind his back.

  He looked up, blinking, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light that hung over where we were standing.

  When his eyes bulged, fear entering those dark pupils of his, I knew he remembered.

  “Good. No need for introductions.” Crouching low in front of Westbrook, I began, “You have some information about that night you attacked my woman and you’ve refused to speak to the police. So, you’ve been brought here.”

  He started shaking his head. “I’m not— owww!” His refusal was cut off by a swift jab to his stomach.

  Another louder and sharper howl of pain was heard a second later when my right hook connected with his left-side kidney. He crouched over in pain, but just before he could fall out of the chair, I stood, grabbing him by his hair at the top of his head and yanking him to stand as well. His cries of pain fell on deaf ears.

  “I don’t know who you think you’re fucking with here, Westbrook, but I’m not the motherfucking one to try it with. All the laws and constitutional rights that allow you not to talk or incriminate yourself don’t apply down here.” I paused and looked around the nearly empty basement, turning his head to follow my gaze, so he knew what down here meant.

  “You can scream as loud as you want and no one will hear you. And those of us that do …”
I spun him to face Joshua, the other security guard, and Brutus, before finally turning him back to face me. “We don’t give a shit about your pain.”

  I shoved him back into the chair.

  “Now, let’s start again. That night you attacked my woman, who the fuck was it that paid you to do it?”

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Owww!” he yelped when my open-palm smack across the face sent him to the floor.

  “Try again.”

  “I-I don’t know. Honestly. He came up to me in a dive bar I was hanging out in, looking for my dealer,” he confessed.

  “Keep talking,” I growled, standing over him with my fists clenched.

  “I c-couldn’t see much of his f-face. He had on dark clothes and a low hat. All h-he said was that he wanted me to follow and rob s-some chick.”

  “And your stupid ass didn’t bother to ask questions?”

  “I just needed the money, man! B-But I remembered he said his name started with an S, and he had a funny walk.”

  “How so?”

  “L-Like his feet stuck out to the side and he w-wobbled a bit. I-I thought he was high when he first came up to me because everyone at that bar was high or looking to get high.”

  “What else did he say?”

  “H-He said there was a woman who lived in a building, he gave me the address. He wanted me to follow her when she left the building that night. He said she always went to the same grocery store Saturday nights. He wanted me to follow her down the alley as she walked to a store, and take her bag, maybe smack her around a little bit. Ahhh!” he yelled after I stomped him in the abdomen.

  Stepping back, I watched him writhe in pain due to my latest blow and I had to tamp down on the urge to do it again. The image of him hitting Resha, or even just accepting money to do so, pissed me the hell off.

  “Piece of shit,” I growled, spitting on him. “What the fuck was his name?”

  He shook his head and tried to scoot away from me as I barreled down over him again, but the handcuffs on his wrists made it difficult for him to properly maneuver himself around.

  “I-It started with an S … l-like Santa or something. I just wanted the m-money. Didn’t want any more details beyond how much he was gonna pay me.”

  “And that was supposed to be it? You were just going to rob her, smack her around a little bit, and then what?”

  Westbrook shrugged. “I-I don’t know. He said he’d be there to console her or something. Look, I didn’t ask for details. I just nee—”

  “Needed the money. I fucking heard you the first time you said it,” I growled and kicked him again for good measure, ignoring the cries of pain as I spun around, turning to Brutus and Joshua.

  Joshua’s scornful eyes moved from the piece of shit on the ground, up to me. “Santa?”

  I shook my head. “The letters and emails she got all were signed off with the letter ‘S’.” I turned to look at Brutus. “We need to look into her building’s property management company and their security staff.”

  Brutus nodded. “The key.”

  I grunted in agreement.

  “Key?” Joshua questioned.

  “The video footage Brutus picked up showed the fucker entering Resha’s apartment with a key. Not picking the lock or shouldering his way inside. He had access through a key. I’m thinking it may have been some sort of master key or a copy he made specifically to Resha’s home. Someone with that type of access likely worked in the building or lived there.”

  Joshua nodded. “Makes sense.”

  “We’ll start with current employees of the management company who have access to the building. Checking everyone whose name starts with the letter S.”

  Brutus pulled out his phone and started typing a message to someone.

  I looked to the asshole on the floor, scowling at how pathetic he was. For a fucking high he was willing to attack a woman he didn’t know.

  “How much did he pay you?” I questioned, moving closer to Westbrook. When he tried to scoot away, I crouched down, grabbing the hair at the top of his head, securing him in place. “How fucking much?”

  “A hundred bucks … b-but I never got the money. He said he was gonna pay me after the job was done, but—”

  “You got the shit knocked out of you and sent to jail,” Brutus chuckled, as he stood behind me, looking down at us.

  “Waste of fucking life,” I growled, disgusted, pushing Westbrook away and stepping back.

  “P-Please don’t k-kill me,” he begged when Brutus nodded to his security guy, who then moved closer to us.

  “You’re going back to the shithole you belong in.”

  I watched as security picked Westbrook up off the floor, reminding him that he was to keep his mouth shut as he dragged him out of the room and back into the car that would deliver him to the Williamsport Correctional Facility bus. The same bus that just so happened to have had a breakdown on the side of a long, country road while transporting an inmate.

  I kept watching as Josh moved beside me to stand. “He won’t last long in prison,” he stated.

  Nodding, I wasn’t shy about not caring of the fact that Joshua just confirmed that there was a hit already put out on Westbrook. I wasn’t the only one who wanted him gone. Apparently, he’d stolen some valuable items from a dealer he used to work for. Good riddance.

  “I think that was the first time you hit anything besides a punching bag in at least a decade,” Joshua remarked, turning to me.

  “Hasn’t been that long, but it was worth it,” I admitted with my arms folded over my chest, my fingers still itching to punch the shit out of Westbrook. But he wasn’t my final target.

  “We’ll find out who this asshole is,” Josh assured, but even the determination I heard in his voice didn’t make me feel any better.

  “We need to speed this along. The longer he’s out there the more emboldened he’ll become, and I won’t have Resha’s life in danger much longer.” Or that of my unborn child. Knowing that Resha was carrying my child upped the ante on everything. There was no way I was going to let my son or daughter be born into a life where their mother was endangered, for any reason.

  “I know that look,” Joshua stated, catching my attention.

  Blinking, I looked down on him.

  “A father, huh?”

  I scowled at him, narrowing my eyes. “How the fuck did you know?”

  “Intuition.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Joshua chuckled before slapping me on the back. “I’m just fucking with you. Destiny was so excited, she couldn’t keep the news to herself, so she told all the women. And Kay …” He shrugged. “My wife doesn’t not tell me anything,” he added cockily.

  “Yeah, well, your fucking gift better be the biggest one at the shower.”

  “Oh, I’ve already planned the gift. Speaking of presents, the property around the corner from me is still for sale.”

  “Here the fuck you go.” The subdivision where Joshua and his brothers lived was just outside of Williamsport and he’d been trying to get me to buy a house there for at least a year.

  “I’m just saying, you can’t expect to raise a kid in your loft. What? Are you going to put the baby upstairs while you both sleep downstairs or vice versa?” He grunted, looking disgusted at his own question. “And I know you aren’t going to move into Resha’s condo even once you catch this son of a bitch.”

  Oh, fuck no, we aren’t. Hell, I’d all but had Resha’s stuff moved out and had that damn place on the market over the last few days. I’d only stopped speaking with a realtor once Resha asked if we could hold off on the sale for a few months while she sets up her things at my place. Figuring that the stress was probably not so good for the baby, I agreed.

  “Exactly,” Joshua continued, answering his unasked question. “It just makes logical sense that you two move into our subdivision and let me be the one to sell you your home. Resha would love being so close to her family once the baby’s here and so will you.�
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  “Lay off, Townsend. Let me talk to my woman and think about it,” I responded out loud but inwardly felt touched at Josh alluding to the fact that he was my family.

  He chuckled as we started for the door, indicating he knew my thoughts.

  A father. Knowing that I had a family to look forward to and take care of had me considering things I’d never thought of before. Caring for my father and brother had been different. They were my family, and in many ways I’d been responsible for them, but this was just different. Resha, in such a short period of time, had become my world. The baby she was carrying would become our world. Every time I looked at her, I saw the hope blossoming in her eyes, with each passing day. She wanted this so badly it almost frightened her.

  That was what made me more intent on getting to the bottom of whoever the fuck thought they could impede on her life. I wanted this fucker to know that she was taken and I would spend my last breath ensuring that she was loved, cared for, and protected.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Resha

  I glanced over my shoulder at the burly man who was following me down the long hallway, and rolled my eyes.

  “Hey,” Destiny greeted as she was the first to exit the conference room of the women’s shelter.

  “Hey,” I greeted, gloomily.

  “What’s the matter?”

  I glanced over my shoulder again at the man in the dark suit, with his hands clasped in front of him as his eyes kept scanning the hallway. “Him,” I grunted, nodding my head in his direction.

  “That’s Abe. He was once our security,” Patience announced, as she entered the hallway from the conference room as well. “Hey, Abe.” She waved and he nodded back at her, before scanning the hallway again.

  I sighed. “Yeah, well, you can take him back. I told Connor I didn’t need to be followed around by some big, burly dude all damn day but did he listen to me? No, of course not.” I threw my hands in the air, feeling exasperated, especially since I was overly tired due to first trimester pregnancy symptoms.

  Destiny and Patience shared a look before bursting out in laughter.