Brick (Cooper Construction Book 1)

by Jen Davis

  Her mouth ran dry as she considered Izzy’s words. A million doubts crowded her mind while she questioned her perceptions of the man. Hell, she questioned her perceptions of every man. Everyone. She hadn’t even known her best friend had been lying to her for months. Some judge of character she was.

  She stepped away from the stove to grab a bottled water from the fridge and watched her sister tear the bread pieces apart and add them in with the meat.

  In her head, she knew Jonathan hurt people—killed people. He’d said so himself. It was one thing to know it. It was another to let herself feel it.

  He had taken people’s lives.

  Her throat closed on the water as she tried to swallow, but she forced it down. “He’s so gentle with me. It doesn’t make sense.” She tried to picture him hurting her, and she couldn’t do it. “It’s not who he is. There’s kindness in him. I’ve seen it. I know it’s what he does, but it’s not who he is. He’s protecting his grandmother, Iz.”

  Izzy shot her a glance before spooning the meat into the hollowed green peppers. “For how long? Are you going to live like this forever? Until she dies?”

  “I don’t know, but what happened last night wasn’t even about him. It was all me.” Suddenly, the stress-filled night caught up with her. Exhaustion hit her like a freight train, and she struggled to hold her head up against the protesting muscles of her neck. “I’m going to go lie down for a bit, m’kay?”

  “Okay,” Iz said gently. “Rest. I have a feeling you’re going to need all the strength you can muster to face our big brother.”

  It only felt as though she’d closed her eyes for a moment, but the clock said it was twelve-fifteen when Izzy shook her awake. She’d slept forty-five minutes.

  “Look sharp. He’s on his way.”

  She stumbled to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Her eyes were still a little bleary from sleep, but other than a few wrinkles in the clothes she’d borrowed from her sister this morning, she didn’t think Will would notice anything out of the ordinary. Right as she finished running a comb through her hair, his voice drifted in from the living room.

  No time like the present.

  Will’s gaze zeroed in on her the moment she walked into the living room. He gave her the same assessing look he’d given her in high school when she’d hit the neighbor’s mailbox with her car. Like he had a sixth sense for bad news.

  He folded his arms. “What’s going on?”

  She climbed on the sofa and hugged her knees. “I did something stupid. You’re going to be mad. I need your help, though. Can you please listen?”

  He nodded, but the suspicion didn’t leave his eyes.

  She braced for impact. “How can I protect myself if a really scary guy knows where I work?”

  A vein pulsed in Will’s temple. “Are you talking about Barlow? Why does it keep coming back to that thug?” His hand curled into a fist. “Is he threatening you?”

  “Jonathan would never hurt me,” she murmured, then forced her voice to steady. “I paid a house call to check on one of my students. His brother is a total psycho. I’m lucky I got out of there in one piece.”

  Will shook his head, like he was trying to make his brain catch up to her words. “How do you know this guy’s crazy? Did he put his hands on you?”

  She shivered. “No. Thank God, Jonathan was there. He helped me escape. He told me the guy—Tre—works for Sucre de la Cruz, and he’s really bad news, Will.”

  “Jona—are you talking about Brick?”

  She nodded. “Eduardo says no one broke into my car, so Tre probably doesn’t know where I live, but he knows I’m Devon’s teacher, which means he can find me at work. It doesn’t seem real it would happen, but…”

  “Who the fuck is Eduardo?” Will raked his hand across his scalp. “Liv, I’m about to lose my shit here.”

  She gripped her legs tighter. “He’s my self-defense instructor. Jonathan snuck me out of the neighborhood in his truck and brought me to Izzy’s gym. We sent Eduardo to get my car so Tre wouldn’t see me again. I’m hoping maybe I’ll be out of sight, out of mind, but Jonathan says he’s still a threat.”

  The confusion lifted from his eyes, leaving steely resolve in its place. “He’s right. This Tre guy can still get to you. All he has to do is stake out the parking lot at the high school.” He paused. “They think someone snatched a teacher there a couple years ago, right? I read about it in the paper. What was her name?”

  “Mrs. Muniz.” Her eyes widened in horror, the memory flooding back. She sat up straight. “Oh my God, Tre said something about her while I was there. I didn’t make the connection.”

  Izzy gasped. “They found her a month after she disappeared. The news said she’d been kept alive. Raped. Tortured. She was missing one of her fingers.”

  “I’m scared, Will,” she whimpered. “Part of me thought things weren’t so bad if he didn’t know where I lived. I mean, Jonathan told me Tre was a monster, but I remember when they found Mrs. Muniz. The police chief cried on the news.”

  Will spoke through clenched teeth. “The name Tre doesn’t ring any bells, but if he was the guy responsible for what happened to that teacher, I know enough.” His jaw ticked. “Are you and Brick together, Liv?”

  “Yes. I wasn’t lying to you before. We just—”

  He waved away her nervous chatter. “It doesn’t matter. He cares about you? Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Will nodded resolutely. “He is not the kind of guy I want for you, but if anyone can help keep you safe, it’s a big motherfucker like him. What did he say you should do about all this?”

  “He said I needed to have the security guard walk me to my car every day, and he said I needed to tell you everything.”

  “You have a security guard? Let me guess, they hired him after the teacher went missing.”

  She nodded miserably. “Jonathan can’t come to the school to watch out for me. He’s got the build for the construction company, but the bigger issue is things will get even worse if Tre realizes we’re together. I’ll end up leverage for Sucre. He’ll use me to make Jonathan do whatever he wants. If Tre doesn’t try to keep me for himself.” She covered her hand with her mouth as her stomach churned.

  “It’s not going to happen. You’re going to come straight to me after work every day.” He knelt in front of her. “I’ll make sure you get home safely. I’ll build a fucking fortress around you if I have to.”

  “You can’t protect me forever.”

  “The fuck I can’t.” He gripped her hand. “I’ll do it as long as it takes.”

  ***

  Liv curled into a tight ball on the bed in her sister’s guest room. Even though she’d probably be safe at home, she couldn’t bear the thought of being alone. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the face of Jennifer Muniz.

  She hadn’t been friends with the woman, but they’d spoken a few times in the faculty lounge. What she remembered most about her was the passionate speech the woman had given at a PTA meeting the year she disappeared.

  “These kids need us,” she’d said. “We could turn them toward a real future instead of a life slinging burgers or selling weed.”

  How could she have missed the connection when Tre brought her up?

  She shivered and pulled the nest of blankets tighter around herself. She had stood barely a few feet away from the man who extinguished the light in Jennifer’s eyes. The man who violated her and threw her away like garbage.

  “I’m so stupid,” she whimpered.

  She’d resolved to live bigger, make better choices. What a joke. Last year, she was planning her future by checking off boxes, and now she was doing the exact same thing. Except instead of picking Mr. Perfect or the right vacation spot, she marked boxes off a bucket list she didn’t even make…and still didn’t think about whether her choices would really make her life better. She only asked herself what Old Liv would do, then did the opposite.

  But the
re was no Old Liv—or new one for that matter. Only one Liv existed, and she was long overdue on facing reality.

  Surviving cancer didn’t make her invincible, but maybe a small part of her felt entitled to give danger the middle finger. She lived through her treatment when so many didn’t. But what did it prove? Carol had kicked cancer before, but beating death once didn’t guarantee you could beat it a second time.

  No more jumping out of planes.

  No more home visits in a terrible neighborhood.

  No more being reckless.

  She had to be smart. From now on, she would think things through, consider the end result, and commit to the path to get herself there.

  She wouldn’t keep taking Krav Maga to satisfy Izzy or prove she was tough; she would use it to learn to really protect herself. Starting tonight.

  And she wasn’t staying with Jonathan simply because he was so different than Ryan or because Carol put falling in love on the list. Not even because he made her heart race and her pulse pound. She wanted to be with him because he was a good man and she cared about him. He could make her happy.

  If she had been unsure at all about what a monster looked like before, thanks to Tre Lowry, she knew now.

  Jonathan’s hands may not be clean, but he wanted to change. He would change, and she’d be there with him to celebrate when he did.

  If her mistake with Tre hadn’t already sealed her fate.

  ***

  Two hours later, Liv faced her sister at the gym, warming up her muscles.

  She peeked over at Izzy as she dropped into a lunge. “I’m sorry you got stuck in the middle of all my drama.”

  Her sister sat on the floor with her legs spread, leaning over to hold her right foot. She sat up fully with Liv’s apology. “Are you kidding me? I’m your big sister. I want to help you with your problems. You’ve hardly talked to me at all since we lost Carol.”

  We. The word grated.

  Carol wasn’t your friend. She was mine.

  She almost said it aloud before she realized how awful it would sound. Her grief had consumed her so much, it never even occurred to her Iz considered Carol a friend too. Maybe not the same way, but her death affected every life she touched. “I’m sorry. It was too hard. It’s still too hard, really. I need you, though. I need you to help me be strong. Help me feel safe.”

  Iz resumed her stretching, her face carefully blank. “This Jonathan makes you feel safe?”

  “Someone would have to go through him to get to me. He’s always been worried about keeping me safe. So yeah. But I want to do the same for him. I get the idea no one has ever fought for him before. Hell, he doesn’t even think he’s worth fighting for, but he is.” She clucked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “Maybe it sounds dumb, but Mom said love doesn’t always make sense.”

  Iz switched her stretch to the other side with a wistful smile. “Yes, she did.”

  Giving up any pretense of stretching, she squatted down to get eye level with her sister. “Even though I feel safe with him, Iz, I need to feel safe alone too. Will you help me?”

  Izzy completed her stretch, then gracefully came to her feet. “How about I start with showing you how to escape a chokehold from behind?” Her sister stepped behind her and locked a forearm against her throat.

  Instinctively, her hands reached up to pry it off. No matter how hard she struggled, Iz didn’t budge. When her sister finally let go, she did it because she chose to.

  “You’re never going to free yourself by thrashing around. In most cases, your attacker will be bigger than you. Stronger. You compensate by being smarter and faster.” Iz stood in front of her. “This time, you come behind me.”

  She wrapped her arm around Izzy’s neck the same way her sister had done to her, but in seconds, Iz had escaped her grasp. She had no idea how it happened.

  “We’ll do it again, but in slow motion.”

  She returned to her position behind Iz.

  “Start by bringing your hands up, on your attacker’s hand, the other on his forearm.” Slowly, Iz showed her where to put her hands. “Tuck your chin to the left. Then push your left shoulder into the guy’s chest. It’s going to put a little space between you.” Izzy’s body moved in time with her explanation. “Now step back around him with your left foot and duck out under his arm.”

  Like fucking Houdini, Iz got out.

  “Now you, Nugget.” They went through the steps three more times, until finally she managed to shimmy loose, and Iz called it a night.

  For the first time, she’d learned something at the gym that gave her hope she might be able to protect herself if she had to.

  Iz joined her as they headed for the door. “You said love a minute ago. Love doesn’t always make sense. Are you in love with Jonathan, Liv?”

  “I think I might be.” She hefted her bag onto her shoulder. “But one thing I know for sure—I’m not going to give up the chance to find out.”

  ***

  Brick

  The crowd at El Cabron swelled a little thicker on a Sunday night during football season. Not because many of the guys in Brick’s neighborhood were Falcons fans, but because most of them had a bet on the books over the point spread. Sucre took in as much cash making books as he did pushing drugs or loaning cash.

  Before Brick even settled in his regular chair, Sucre got down to business. “I need a cleanup on Lorenzo.”

  Did he hear Sucre right? Lorenzo was supposed to have one more day to pay off his debt.

  Sucre ran his hand over the lapel of his burgundy suit jacket. “He’s been running his mouth. And he pulled a gun on you.”

  “Yes, sir. I fucked up his wrist and his elbow for the disrespect.”

  “I want him dead. You and I both know he doesn’t have the money. He lost it all on the ponies. I want you to take Tre and make an example of Señor Carpenter.”

  His boss meant for him to leave a mess behind. This shit would never end. “Consider it done.” He returned to his feet, ready to get his dirty job started.

  Tre waited for him by the bar. “Dude is finally gonna get what’s coming to him.”

  “Yeah, but what you’ve got to take away from this is, Sucre made the call to pull the plug on this guy. It’s never our call. You kill somebody when it’s not ordered, and you set yourself up for a world of pain.”

  Tre nodded darkly. “Yeah. I got it.”

  It occurred to him Sucre hadn’t specified Tre’s role for the night. Maybe he could save himself a little more blackness on his soul and channel the kid’s darker impulses at the same time. “Sucre said to make this one dirty. Seems to me, you might enjoy that sort of thing. You want to take the lead tonight?”

  The kid’s eyes darkened with excitement. “For real? Fuck yeah, man. I live for making things dirty.”

  ***

  Dirty didn’t begin to describe what Tre did to Lorenzo Carpenter. Brick was grateful he didn’t have to clean up the mess left behind. He let Tre run the whole operation. Watching it unfold was one of the most heinous things he’d ever witnessed.

  When Tre completed his task, blood coated his skin and clothes. He smiled at the carnage he’d made of what was once a man and smirked. “Now that’s what I call a lesson.”

  The kid pulled out his switchblade and sliced off Lorenzo’s index finger. “You got your tarp, man? I’ll roll him up.”

  True to his word, Tre did all the heavy lifting. They left Lorenzo’s door wide open. No one could doubt he’d died screaming. Even without a body, no one could miss the blood, gore, and other bodily fluids covering the floor.

  He drove to the backwoods property Sucre owned, where he kept drums of sulfuric acid. Tre heaved the wrapped body into one of the barrels, and laughed so loud, it echoed into the night. “I don’t know how to thank you, man. I needed to blow off some steam like you wouldn’t believe.”

  Holding onto the mask he’d perfected with Sucre all these years, he nodded. “Just keep it channeled on the job.” Stay away fr
om my girl. “You don’t want to do anything to jeopardize Sucre’s operation. Follow the rules and this kind of job will come around every now and then.”

  Tre rubbed his hands together, the dried blood flaking off onto the ground. “Guess it would be too much to walk through the bar like this.”

  “Now you’re thinking.” Sick, sick fucker. “I’ll take you home to clean up before we report back in. You can take the lead, make sure you get the credit for the job.”

  Tre rode in the bed, as he had with the body. Brick sprayed it down and treated it with bleach, while Tre showered inside his apartment. It was almost eleven o’clock by the time they gave their report to Sucre, and he could finally head home.

  His security sweep showed no one had been inside. He wanted to fall into bed, but traces of blood dotted his skin, and even though exhaustion dragged him down, the reminder of the night’s brutality would keep him awake.

  He thought of Liv in the shower. He needed to be with her, to take a break from all this shit, even for one fucking day. How he felt about her was the only thing tethering him to his humanity these days. He needed a getaway—even a temporary one—and he needed it with her.

  Rust-colored water circled the drain as he scrubbed off the reminders of what had happened at Lorenzo’s apartment. He’d seen some brutal shit in his life, but what he’d witnessed tonight left him more convinced than ever Tre was a deeply disturbed motherfucker.

  And he would die before he let the sick bastard put one finger on his girl.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-ONE

  Liv

  The smell of freshly cut grass mingled with the thicker scents of motor oil and exhaust, and Liv held back a sneeze. The bright sun, the loud rumble of the engines filling her ears…everything about the race track assaulted her senses.