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“Hey, what’s going on? You’ll never guess what Emily dug up,” Diesel said in my ear. It was the first time my cell phone had worked in days.
“Tell me later. Here’s what we’re dealing with,” I interrupted. I told the story as quickly and factually as I could. Diesel was silent on the other end of the line when I finished.
“You still there?”
“Yeah, I was just regretting that egg sandwich. I feel like booting,” he confessed, and let out a long sigh. “That’s brutal. We need to get this guy.”
“We need to destroy this guy, and everyone who has ever been to one of his parties,” I corrected. I took a deep breath, something easing in my chest, knowing that my team would soon be on it. Sigma Squad would see justice done.
“He could be the victim of a home invasion,” Diesel said darkly. I got his drift. It wouldn’t be the first time either of us had killed in the line of duty, and this secret had indeed placed a duty on us. A duty to make the world a better place, by removing Brian Lavin from it.
“That’s Plan B. I need Laura’s name cleared first, and to find out who attended the parties. The cops can do all that easier if we tip them off.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. A woman contacted Emily and said she had information about Brian. She said he wasn’t who everyone thought he was… She might be one of the women,” Diesel said.
My grip tightened on the cell.“Find and her and speak to her, offer her protection, or whatever she needs. I’m also thinking Brian’s wealth is subsidized by this. Look into his financials more closely. We need the right cops. I can’t see how the investigation into Doug Greyson’s attack, presumably in the house's basement, didn’t throw up more red flags, unless the detective in charge was on Brian’s visitor list. Laura mentioned bedrooms in the basement.”
“Did Laura say why she didn’t spill the beans on Brian instead of getting arrested?”
I shook my head, but I could guess. “What credibility does she have compared to him? Her brother. Brian is his paternal father, and she was terrified that he would be alone with Benji. Maybe she would have been happy to stay in jail, as long as her brother was safe from Brian, but some decidedly screwy judge released him into Brian’s care.”
Diesel whistled. “This is going to blow the town apart. How many people are involved?”
I stared out over the surrounding forest, the new dawn stretching fingers of light across the darkness.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll get them. Every single one.”
CHAPTER16
Laura
We didn’t talk again about Brian, the trial, or the future for an entire week. Bennet went into town now and again for supplies, and we hunkered down in the cabin. Benji relaxed, bit by bit, and he practically hero-worshipped Bennet, and together, they shot empty cans with sling shots, set fires, cut wood, and Benn taught Benji things that a father would teach. A father other than Brian.
I cooked, read, and fell into bed with Bennet. I was developing some kind of addiction to the feeling over being pinned under his heavy body and being pressed into the mattress and screwed senseless. I hungered for his touch when we were around Benji and jumped on him as soon as I got the chance. He’d brought up birth control, and I’d told him I’d been getting the shot for years. After that, there was no holding the man back. As soon as we were alone at night, he was on me, sinking inside and coming deep within like he wanted to knock me up. Having a baby in prison didn’t sound ideal, however, so I was grateful for my shot. A life where I could have married Bennet, and become part of the Sigma Squad Bail bonds family, was beyond me. The choices I’d made, whether freely or not, had ruled it out forever.
Then, one morning, on the seventh day, everything changed.
I left the cabin to hang out some hand-washed clothes and stopped as I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck, like I was being watched. As I continued to the clothesline, the feeling intensified, and I whirled to run back inside, just as a man stepped out of the tree line.
He was all too familiar looking. Bennet’s colleague, Diesel. He was dressed in black and looked utterly deadly. Another man, one from the visit they’d made to Brian’s house, stepped out, and then a woman as well. I froze, knowing I was caught. Bennet might be lost in a spell of obsession and desire here, in the woods, playing house with me, but it seemed his team still had their eyes on the bottom line for the business.
I was worth a fuck ton in a bond, and they had to take me in.
“Laura? I’m Emily, Bennet’s sister,” the woman called. I blinked at her. I saw the similarity now.
A poisoned dart of betrayal hit my heart.“How did you find me?” I asked, though I already knew deep down inside.
“I asked them to come.” Bennet’s voice rang out from behind me, standing at the open door to the cabin. I closed my eyes, disappointment and resignation filling me. I nodded as he approached. His team closed in. None of them had their weapons drawn, so that was good. I must have looked like someone who was all out of fight.
I turned my face to Bennet.
“Don’t look at me like that, sweetheart. Let’s hear what they have to say first,” he murmured.He reached for me, but I stepped away. I knew it was coming, but it still hurt like a motherfucker.
“There’s no internet here. We have to hit the road. We will explain on the way,” Emily said, taking charge, as Bennet seemed too out of it to do it.
Benji and I packed out meagre belongings in silence as Bennet spoke with his team outside.
“Are they taking us back to Brian?” Benji asked, his voice trying and failing to be strong.
