Double Tap (12 page)

“Yeah, beast is a good word for it.” I shook my head, th
en sighed. “Where’s Ace? I have
a wayward youth in the back of my truck, and I need to relinquish him,” I said.

I didn’t really have to relinquish him, per say, but I needed to let him know the situation, and explain what would happen if the kid decided to assault another police officer. The person to do that was the eldest, and since Georgia was currently at work, Ace would have to do.

Callum’s eyes narrowed and he turned a glare on the young man in the car.

“That little prick,” Callum growled, then yelled. “Ace!”

Ace appeared out of the barn moments later, wiping his hands on a paper towel.

Built like a body builder, he looked like he could bench two of me. His blonde hair was covered by the usual cowboy hat that all of the Valentine boys wore from the moment I first saw them.

He was the spitting image of his father, Ace Senior.

Which I’m sure bugged the absolute shit out of him every day when he looked in the mirror.

“What can I help you with?” He asked.

Then his eyes narrowed, and a grin much the same as Callum’s split his face.

“Nico! How ‘ya fuckin’ been, man?”
He asked, offering his hand.

I took it and shook it, giving the man a clap on the back.

“I’m okay,” I said tiredly.

He frowned. “You sound like shit. You looking for Georgia? She’s at work today.”

I shook my head and sighed. “Nope. I have something for you.”

I walked to my cruiser and opened the backdoor.

When the youngest Valentine refused to come out, I sighed and hauled him out by the back of the shirt.

As his head hung in defeat, I sighed. “Move boy.”

He did so, albeit reluctantly.

Ace’s disappointed gaze stayed glued to his little brother.

When we were close enough, he let out an exasperated sigh. “Darby Alexander Valentine, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

I wanted to laugh at the way Darby wilted at his brother’s harsh reprimand.

“But-” Darby tried.

“Silence,” Ace snapped. “You’re eighteen fucking years old. Georgia doesn’t have to let you live here. You keep pulling this shit, and you’re gonna find yourself out on your ass. Then what’ll you do?”

Harsh, but true. The farm was left to the eldest, Georgia. She’d
deeded a fifth of the ranch to each boy as they reached their twenty first birthday
.
Darby was the last one not to reach twenty one. He still had three years to go, and if he kept it up, he wouldn’t be getting much from his sister.

“I don’t like it here,” Darby said petulantly.

Ace looked at his younger brother, concern morphing his angered face.

“You’re not the only one it hurts, you know. We hurt just as much as you do,” Ace said softly.

Darby hung his head.

“I wish I could see them one more time. I want to wake up and realize it’s all a bad dream. Sometimes I think I can manage it, but then you brought me here. And here everything is worse. At least there I could pretend that they were all at home waiting on us to come
back. Now I wake up and see that house gone…see their graves…and I can’t breathe,” Darby said roughly.

“That doesn’t give you the right to break the law. I miss them just as much as you do. The same pain fills me day and night. What did you do?”
He asked.

Darby shook his head. “I…I threw a bottle of coke at his back.”

Ace and Callum both hissed in a breath.

Callum was the one to snap, “What the fuck, Darby?”

He shrugged.

I let Darby’s arm go when Ace stepped forward, getting into Darby’s face.

“One more chance. That’s all you’ve got. One more chance. That’s why we moved here, asshole. Because you couldn’t handle yourself in Houston anymore. You and your fucking gang. Get the fuck over yourself. Either help us or get the fuck gone,” Ace
growled, then he turned to me. “I’m sorry that he did that. It won’t be happening again, I guarantee it.”

I nodded.

I believed him.

I didn’t plan on letting it happen again, either.

Plan being the operative word. I’m sure he’d try to make it happen, but it sounded like Darby was a repeat offender, and it usually took an act of God to get them to see their wrongs.

An act Darby had yet to see.

“Banks is going to kick your ass when he gets home,” Callum said as Ace and I walked to the truck together.

Ace snorted, and I silently agreed.

Banks was currently deployed overseas. He was in the Air Force serving the
second month of a twelve month deployment, according to Georgia.

He probably wouldn’t be too happy returning home to his brother acting a fool.

“So, it’s good that you saved me the trip,” Ace started.

I suppressed a smile. “Yeah?”

He nodded. “If you hurt her, I’ll fuck you up. This isn’t me threatening an officer. This is my promise to you as a man. Georgia’s our world. If you do anything to hurt her, I’ll make it my life’s mission to make sure I do everything in my power to ruin your life.”

I looked at him, studying his features for a few long moments, and nodded. “I understand.”

He exhaled in relief. “You know if you sleep with her, you better marry her, right?”

I frowned even though I was amused.

He scowled. “S
he’s a devout catholic. She
won’t even let us eat meat on Friday and makes us participate in lent even though I haven’t been inside a church in eight years. I’ll let you connect the rest of the dots.”

It wasn’t until I was driving down the road towards my house that I realize what he’d meant.

Birth control.

Shit!

Always keep your chin up. Otherwise you’re just looking down at your own boobs all day.

-T-shirt

Georgia

“I can’t feel my feet,” I sighed as I collapsed onto my bed.

My cat meowed at me, butting her head into my nose.

“Get off me. I’m trying to recover,” I said breathlessly.

Another run down the hatch.

And I was exhausted.

Nico was a slave driver, waking me up at oh-dark-thirty so we could have our daily run.

He’d run the two miles to my house, pick me up, run the other one mile to the end of the road with me, and then we’d run back. After he dropped me off at my door, he’d finish his other two miles back to his own place where he then proceeded to lift weights, or do something at his house for the next hour before he was expected at work.

Today, though, he’d walked home once he’d dropped me off at my door.

He was still somewhat recovering from his upper respiratory infection, and it showed in the pace he ran at.

I, for once, was able to keep up with him.

I’d nearly died doing it, but I’d kept up nonetheless.

My phone rang, and I rolled over to glare at the bastard.

It was all the way across the room, and I wasn’t sure if my legs would hold me.

So what did I do?

I crawled.

Rolling onto my hands and knees, I moved painfully to the table and snatched the phone. I answered it just in time.

“Hello?” I answered.

I rested my head on the chair beside the table, eyes closed as I listened to the deep cadence of Nico’s voice say, “I need a ride.”

“I can’t walk,” I explained.

He snorted. “They need my cruiser because one of theirs broke down. I need to take it in, and they can’t come get it or they’ll be short on patrol. Would you mind meeting me at the station in fifteen minutes?”

I sighed. “But I smell.”

He laughed. “I’ll take you home and get you clean. No worries.”

“That means nothing to me. Chocolate means more to me right now,” I informed him.

He chuckled quietly.

“I’ll see you in fifteen minutes. I’ll stop by the new bakery and buy you some cookies,” he bargained.

“Make it a burger and then the bakery, and you have a deal,” I retorted.

“They don’t serve burgers until ten. It’s a quarter
until eight,” he laughed. “I’ll see you in fifteen. I’ll find you a burger.”

With that he hung up, and I walked to my car with noodle legs.

I pulled into the police station just as what I’d come to think of as Nico’s cruiser pulled out. A young man at the wheel.

It looked weird to see the man that was supposed to be in it not in it, but I shrugged off the bad feeling and waited for the man I now saw in front of the station talking to two men I didn’t know.

One was a tall man that reminded me of Richard Geer in his younger years. He had nearly white hair with a few stray hairs of gray interspersed throughout the white.

His eyes were the color of mud, but they were extremely animated, and curious as he caught site of me.

The other man was dressed in black slacks and a royal blue shirt. His arms were crossed tightly across his barrel chest, and although short, his personality was huge.

His stare intimidated me. I knew he was a cop without even being told. I’d found that cops had a certain ‘air’ about them. You could definitely see the integrity on the way they carried themselves. The way they held themselves in higher regard to society. They’d give you the shirt off their back if they felt a person was in need of it.

They also saw things that normal civilians did not. Could sense danger.

They were also very curious, because much the same as the other man, I could see interest in the older man’s eyes.

I got out when Nico’s attention turned to me after the older man gestured in my direction.

I got out of my car and walked towards them, extremely aware that I wasn’t dressed to meet people. I was still in my skin tight running clothes, and I was fairly sure that my hair was still plastered to my forehead, having dried from the massive amount of sweating I’d done.

When I got close, I smiled at the two other men, stopping a few inches to the left of Nico’s shoulder.

“Georgia, I’d like you to meet Chief Rhodes,” he said gesturing to the barrel chested man, “and Detective O’Keefe.”

I nodded to them, “Gentlemen. It’s nice to meet you.”

Their stares were unnerving as they both stared at me. It went on so long that I nearly took a step back, but then they both stepped back and laughed.

“Told you she wouldn’t flinch,” Nico muttered, amusement very clear in his voice.

The Chief snorted, “It takes a strong woman to put up with our shit, darlin’. I just wanted to see what you were made of.”

Detective O’Keefe nodded his head at me, and I tilted my head. There was something very familiar about him.

“Do I know you?” I asked curiously.

He smiled sadly at me. “Yeah, honey. Well, not know me, per say, but you’ve seen me before.”

Although I thought that comment weird, I turned my attention to Nico as he discussed who was going to pick him up in the morning for his shift.

It was when we were leaving that I finally placed Detective O’Keefe’s face.

It hit me in a flash of memory…where I’d seen him before.

I panted, drawing shallow breaths to keep the pain from becoming too severe.

My brothers were all looking to me, knowing that my hands had become loose enough for me to slip free.

The fire raged around us, and I fell face first into the floor when I tried to stand.

The explosion of pain in my midsection was nearly debilitating, but I went to my hands and knees anyway.

I crawled straight to my father, knowing he always had a knife in his pocket.

I ignored the fact that half his face was missing as I reached into his pocket and removed the Old Timer pocket knife he kept there at all times. He, of course, had to have a way to open all those beers.

I found it easily and went to Darby, cutting his hands free in swift movements. Callum, Banks, and Ace were next.

It killed me, but I didn’t even bother to check my other two brothers.

They were dead, and had been for some time now.

They’d died within minutes of my father shooting them. The same with my mother.

“Can you get out by yourself?” I heard my brother ask Banks.

I heard Banks croak, “Yes.”

The next few minutes were a blur.

We went out the side door that led to the mudroom, and then finally to the carport.

Our father had set fire to the front and backdoor, as well as the stairs that led down to the root cellar. We only had the one option, even though it was the furthest to get out through.

I think we all passed out once we reached the driveway, and my last thought had been how dark our blood was when it puddled on the white concrete beneath us.

I’d come to with a man standing over me. One with white and gray hair.

“You’re gonna be okay, sweetheart,” he said.

“You were the one who found us first,” I said in awe.

He looked pained as he agreed. “Yes, I was.”

I walked up to him, staring him in the eyes as I went.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He nodded and touched the top of my head with the tips of his fingers. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

I was glad I was okay, too.

When we left ten minutes later, I wasn’t aware I was lost in my head again until Nico’s voice cut through my thoughts. “You okay,
niña
?”

I smiled sadly at him. “Yes. I just never really put much thought into the fact that someone might still be around after what happened.”

“There’s actually quite a few of the cops around still. At least ten that I know of.
Niña
,” he hesitated. “That was a big thing for our small community. That changed the course of many people’s lives. Y’all were missed after
you
left. And it broke
nearly everyone’s hearts.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess I just tried not to think about it.”

I didn’t really want to talk about it anymore. I didn’t like remembering. It was easier that way.