Chapter Fifteen Brad #6
I nodded a few times. “Yeah, it’d better be a really good one.” I gathered up my things. I left the photos of the dead women face up in front of him, but he didn’t bother to glance at them.
“Mr. Hank Brown?” a voice asked. His lawyer had arrived.
She carried a briefcase and an armful of paperwork and sat down in front of him.
“Sorry I’m late. I had meetings across town.
” She handed him a pen, and I noticed Hank hesitated before he took it.
She put the paperwork down, and I scanned what she had.
I noticed the file number, but she flipped it over when she caught me looking, and I frowned.
“Do me a favor and sign here and here.” She pointed, and I noticed Hank stayed quiet.
Everything happened in slow motion. Hank’s gaze moved up to mine, he jumped to his feet, and he shoved the table forward, sending Bree and me backward in our chairs.
We both hit the floor, and I scrambled up quickly as he held up the pen.
His thumb spun something around the top, before he swung an arm around his lawyer’s neck, pulled her in close, and then jammed the pen into her shoulder.
An audible click sound could be heard as a tiny puff of green powder released in their faces.
“No!” I cried, not wanting our last suspect on this case dead. I shoved Bree behind me without a second thought.
“What the hell!” His lawyer cried, then she started to cough before he released her, and she dropped to her knees. I went to help then, but he raised a hand, and I froze.
Hank struggled to keep his composure as he kept his focus on me for another brief moment, then he started to shake and turn blue as he clutched his throat. I saw the life drain from his eyes and knew he was gone. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Why would he do this?
I whirled around and grabbed Bree’s hand, and we quickly shimmied back against the far wall.
So many things flickered through my head, but the biggest one was making sure Bree was safe.
I glanced over and saw that her expression matched the horror in my own.
We knew exactly what had happened. I pulled her up as the guard opened the door, and we dashed out.
Once we were outside of the room and I knew we were safe, I grabbed Bree’s head and made her look at me.
Her eyes were wide. “I’m good. Are you good?”
“Yeah.” The grip around my heart loosened when I saw she was all right. I slowly let her go as the enormity of what had happened sank in.
“Detective Stone”—the guard removed the piece of cloth he had covering his mouth—“they’re both dead.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and cursed internally. What a fucking shit show! I fought the urge to punch the wall and instead kicked a chair down the hallway, making Bree jump.
“Sorry.”
She ran a hand through her hair. “Okay, so was the lawyer in on it?”
I didn’t answer her as my anger spiked to a dangerous level. Once again, we were left with so many unanswered questions.
As we stood there in the aftershock, Cap and Kennedy ran toward us. They’d been watching through the two-way mirror.
“What the fuck, Stone?” Cap shouted as an alarm went off. “How am I going to explain this?”
“He shoved the table at us. He made sure we didn’t inhale it.
Shit, he even stopped me from helping the lawyer!
He wanted me to know what he was doing when he held up the pen right before.
” I looked at Cap. “Why would he do that? Why let us live? Why take down the lawyer? Was she in on it too? I mean, she did give it to him.” My head spun in multiple directions as I ran my mouth.
“They both went down so fast, way faster than the girls did.”
“What a fuckin’ mess,” Cap said as we looked through the small window at the two bodies that lay on the floor.
How could such a monstrous event happen? It made no sense to me. I was so twisted up inside by the entire thing that I couldn’t focus. I was usually good at separating myself from a suspect, but this was on a whole new level.
“Clearly he had demons.” Cap gave me a sad face, then rubbed his mouth as he turned to the guard who was quietly speaking with Kennedy. “Get someone in here to clear the scene.”
“Yes, sir.”
Later, after endless questions and many cups of coffee, Bree came in to gather her bag and coat.
“You need a ride home?” I turned off my laptop and tucked it into my bag.
I’d been studying everything Hank had said to us for the second time.
None of it made any sense, and I was dead tired.
Bree pulled at the sleeve of her jacket like she, too, had something on her mind.
The last forty-eight hours had been wild.
“You know what really bothers me?” She must have been mid-thought. “What were those numbers he gave us? They have to mean something.”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I’m just too tired to care at the moment. At this point I’m just glad a killer is off the streets, the families got closure, and the department has stopped breathing down our necks for answers. Those numbers can wait for another day.”
“I guess so. That was a long night for you. Are you going to stay in town?”
“I have to stop by my parents’ place.”
She tapped her nail on the side of her purse buckle, and I could tell something was on her mind.
Her chin jutted out and her eyes formed into slits as she looked at me.
“For the record”—she crossed her arms—“I’m seriously angry at you for not bringing me in on this.
I really am, Brad. I feel like you didn’t trust me. ”
“I know.” I went to explain but couldn’t find the words. Sheer exhaustion had a tight hold on me.
“I’m not sure why you did what you did, and we have to talk about it before we move on.” Her hurt expression brought acid to the pit of my stomach.
“I hear ya, but I had my reasons at the time.”
“Which were?” She put her hands on her hips, but I saw she fought to control her emotion. I had to give her credit. If the situation were reversed, I know I wouldn’t have handled things nearly as well.
“Maybe I was wrong. I don’t know, but I’m really sorry, Bree. I think we need to talk it out.” I reached for her and put a hand on her cheek. “Can we wait on it, though? I have to leave for Florida for another case.”
“I’m not letting this go.”
“I know.”
She studied me for a moment, then sighed. “Guess I need to find a ride home.”
“I’m going that way first. I can take you.”
We started to walk toward the door. “So, Florida?”
“Cap asked me to help a fellow detective out on a case. Their perp did some stuff here before he moved to Florida. Long story.” I paused. “I really need some coffee.”
Her lips twisted, and she made a face, then chuckled.
“What?”
“Just you.”
“Me?” I followed her out of the office.
“Yes, you. Acting like you love coffee the way I do.”
I scoffed at her. “I do like coffee.”
“Yeah, but not like I loooove coffee.”
“I do.”
“You’re such a fucking liar.” She elbowed me playfully, and I laughed to add a bit of fuel to the shit giving.
I mimed being shocked by her language. “Breanna Nina Jaminson, such a foul word you just used.” I tossed an impressed look her way.
She opened the car door before I could get to it and waited until I opened mine. “Don’t even get me started on how you settle for dealership coffee.”
I stumbled. “They’re not very good, but sometimes I just need a kick.”
She buckled herself in. “Do you think that lawyer knew what was in the pen she gave to Ford?” Bree’s voice was suddenly serious. “I bet she didn’t. I mean, he grabbed her neck and pulled her in before he set it off.”
“I dunno, but from what Hank said, it sounds like he was working for someone else, part of something bigger. We can only guess, but maybe that person ordered her to give it to him. She lost her life for it, right alongside Hank. Makes you wonder, though, doesn’t it, if there’s someone else calling the shots, why isn’t he doing the dirty work himself? ”
“True.” She sighed. “The world’s better off without Hank or Ford, that’s for sure.”
“Well, I know one thing.” I looked at her. “If I see even one little puff of powder anywhere, I’m hightailing it out of there.”
She laughed.
We laughed the entire way out of town as we came up with more and more funny lines to describe getting the hell out of a situation.
That was what Bree was for me, someone who could take the bad and find a way to live with it.
Humor was our way to cope, and it worked for both of us. At least for most things.
When we arrived at her cabin, she gathered her things but stopped when she reached for the handle. “I meant what I said today. Thank you for saving me, twice.”
“I will always protect you.”
“I’m still pissed,” she added.
“I know.”
She pushed a smile onto her lips as she reached for the door, then pulled her hand back. “Brad?”
“Yeah?”
She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek, her soft lips sending a wave of warm goose bumps across my skin.
The delicate trace of her perfume lingered in the air, sweet and intoxicating.
It made my head feel blissfully light. As she slowly pulled back, her eyes caught the soft glow from the cabin lantern, and they sparkled like stars in the night. “Thank you for the ride.”
I licked around my dry mouth and somehow formed a sentence. “I’ll see you in a few days.” I waved at her as she walked away. I took my time to relive the moment before I drove away.
Once I hit the city limits, I heard a text come through. I pulled over and dug my phone out of my bag.
Captain: Change of plans. You’re not needed for the case. The guy took a deal. Take the day tomorrow and we’ll see you next shift.
Brad: Copy that.