7. Tracey
Chapter 7
Tracey
Being stuck in an emergency room in Springfield, Missouri sucked. What sucked more—I’d have to tell Stel that I got hurt on this op.
I wasn’t the only one, but she would only be focused on the bandages I wore. This should have been an easy op. We had two bond jumpers, brothers who couldn’t be bothered to show up for court. This was their second bail jump in as many years. I’d agreed to tag along with Chip because I knew the boys with Davenport Bail Bonds, who had asked for help, well. He’d been offered a pretty penny to assist in this capture too. It was going to be a joint effort, so that should have said more to me than it did. It should have been an in-and-out.
I never expected it to go up in the air the way it had. We got lucky no one died, on either side. Talk about a grade-A FUBAR situation.
“All right, this is what we have. According to the mother, who has now removed herself from this situation, they’re probably inside the building. The images on this tablet are from a week ago, though we’ve had eyes on them since then. They’re going to run and fight. Be on the lookout for weapons, and whatever you do, don’t underestimate these boys. Going to jail for a harder crime won’t bother them. They’ve spent most of their lives in jail. Jail doesn’t scare them.”
We all nodded, looking over the images of the guys we were after.
I checked my gear again. My taser, which was my first weapon of choice in these situations, went on my right hip. I had my Walther PPQ 9mm pistol on my left. It shot rubber bullets, and if I needed, I had a cartridge of chalk balls. They both would hurt like a mother fucker but wouldn’t cause any lasting damage. I had my tactical knife on me, but that was only for a close encounter emergency. It wasn’t my only backup piece. Oh no, my 45 went into its hidden back holster. If these boys were as dangerous in person as they were on paper, I was going in prepared.
I had zip ties, extra cartridges for my taser, a spare clip for my 9mm, chalk bullets, and a clip of .45. A few cans of pepper spray were stashed in various pockets on my vest as well.
The words “Bail Enforcement” were printed on the front of my vest in bright white lettering. The back read “Daniels” and under that the words “Daniels-Jones Investigations old fridges and washers had their own stacks. This place puts off so many shadows with the crappy security lights and their bad angles. I kept waiting for the sound of a dog running at us, but there weren’t any. That was a bad sign in my book.
We rounded one of the many maze-like paths through the scrap yard heading for the back building. Each one of us had an integral part to play if this plan was going to work. The silence had my instincts screaming at me. Something was wrong. There should at least be the songs of the bugs and frogs around here. Right? I mean even at 4:00 A.M. bugs are out. The only time bugs were silent it meant trouble was afoot.
I let out a small, bird-like whistle, attracting Chip’s attention. I gave a hand signal to which he nodded. He had noticed what I had. I ducked and ran to the other side of the aisle. The sound of a big machine turning on drew all of our attention. We were looking around when a big ass wrecking ball swung my way. I dove to the ground and rolled out of its reach.
“What the fuck!” I snarled. I pulled my .45 from its holster and while on one knee called out the only warning this asshole would get. “Bailbondsman, turn off the vehicle! Now, or I open fire!” He didn’t take my warning. I didn’t take into account what would happen when I shot the bastard. It all happened in slow motion. He didn’t back down, the ball swung out at Chip and me again, so I opened fire. He grabbed his shoulder and slumped forward. I jumped up, ready to run for the machine when the ball made contact with the wall of scrap in front of us. We dove toward the opposite side as debris started to fall. Something slammed into me, propelling me into a pile of scrap. Shouts rang out through the night as the world around me exploded in pain only to go dark.
Needless to say, I had a lot of road rash in places where my clothes tore, a goose egg on my temple, half of my face was bruised, and one eye was slightly swollen. I had a piece of metal embedded in my thigh, and if that’s not enough of a kicker, I’d busted a few ribs and my ankle was shot. I had torn ligaments and a hairline fracture. Thankfully it was on the same side as the thigh wound, but it royally sucked ass. Stella needed to stay calm and relaxed right now. Her morning sickness was bad and her emotions were all over the place on top of her freaking out about being pregnant to begin with.
Now, she’d have to deal with this.
“Hang in there, man, the nurse said they have a doctor coming in to remove that metal from your leg. X-ray shows it’s not deep and not up against anything vital. They’ll irrigate the wound, stitch it up, and give you some antibiotics. Possibly more pain meds. Then the ortho doc is coming down to put a temporary cast on your ankle. They’ll make an appointment with the orthopedic office at home for you to be reevaluated, and they’ll handle it from there.”
“Stel is going to lose her mind,” I said, leaning back. The pain meds the nurse had given me were helping, but I still hurt like hell. My eyes closed tight as I fought to stay on this bed. The asshole responsible for this was a few bays down...I just needed to punch him in the face once. Three times, max.
“Eh, at least you have someone to worry over you. She’ll be all right.” Chip shrugged and winced. His left arm was bandaged up past the elbow, and the right was bandaged on the forearm.
“How is everyone else?” I asked him, giving him another once-over. “You alright? What happened anyway?”
“Road rash and a few cuts. No stitches, so I’m fine. Just a little sore. I refused the pain meds.” I nodded, knowing my best friend well. He liked to know what was happening around him at all times. I usually did too, but tonight, I had to have a barrier between me and this pain. I was man enough to admit when I was throwing in the towel.
I just wanted out of this place. The drive home was going to be painful for both of us. “Soon as you’re released, we’re out of here. I have a hotel booked for the night. We’ll head home in the morning.”
“Alright,” I sighed as the nurse came in with a man behind her. His lab coat said ‘Dr. Norton.’ He looked like he was maybe ten. Great. I was in the hands of this generation’s Doogie Houser.
Three hours and multiple shots and stitches later, I was nowhere near high enough to deal with this pain. I’d asked Chip to find me liquor from somewhere. I needed to pass out and try to sleep some of this off, but while I waited for him to come back, I called Stella. It had taken a while to get through to her. I’d finally had to call and text Carter so he could get her to answer me.
My girl had been asleep. I felt bad, but in that same breath, I’d needed to hear her voice. It was the best medicine there was. My only worry now was her reaction to seeing me banged up. Shit was going to get loud and hysterical quickly.
“She’s going to rip you a new one for not telling her about all of this. You know that, right?” Chip looked at me, shaking his head. “Then she’s going to have my balls cut off for not telling her.”
I chuckled. He was probably right. “Don’t worry so much. We have to stop off at the station, that will give us some extra time to plan out what I tell her first. Just relax. I’m just as worried about how AJ is going to take this news.”
My sister was a bit dramatic.
“She’s going to be mad, that’s a promise. I don’t think she’ll be as over the top as Stel though. That one is going to hit DEFCON zero.” I gave him a look. There was no zero. DEFCON 1 was the end—oh, yeah, I see what he meant. She’d hit zero.
“Now who’s being dramatic?” I chuckled, then wished I hadn’t when my ribs protested.
“That serves you right.” He chuckled in reply, pulling into the lot beside the Burke County Law Complex. I got out carefully, using my crutches to guide myself up the long ramp leading into the building. It took a lot more effort than it should have. If this was an indication of what the next six to eight weeks would be like, I was fucked.
Shouts and cursing came through the glass door as soon as it was opened. Chip and I exchanged looks. We walked through the next set of doors and right into chaos.
“You arrest her now! She attacked me!” A woman stood, cuffed and half-dressed, glaring at Jacks and Charlie. My eyes started to scan the office when I saw her, fire burning in her eyes. Stella, her hair a wild mess, her face red on one side, was being held at bay by her brother. Trevor looked murderous. Peter was standing, his back against the back wall, his face pulled tight in anger.
“Attacked you! Bitch, I will squeeze the life out of you for what you did! Ignorant cunt!”
Trevor had to fight to restrain Stel when she lunged for the woman. She was wiggling worse than a fish in a barrel. The doors opened behind us and both Shelby and Dani Lynn came in.
“Boys, what in the hell happened to you?” Dani Lynn asked softly. I shook my head and motioned to my girl being restrained.
“What’s this about?”
Dani Lynn’s face morphed from concern to anger in a split second. “A shitty mom, that’s what happened.” She pulled out a piece of paper and moved toward the crowd. “Derek Landry! Sheriff Cartwright!” Her voice rang out through the room. Everyone stopped mid curse. We all knew that tone.
I watched as Stella seemed to relax. Shelby set her bag on a desk and took out her stethoscope.
“Here, Ma.” Derek came out of the back, a baby carrier in his hands.
“Give me my baby!” the woman who had been facing off with Stel called out.
“Oh, now you want him? You left him on the side of the road like a bag of trash and sped off with no fucks to give. And now that your skank hooker ass has been caught, you want him!” Stel once again fought to get free of Trevor’s grip.
She almost won that fight, even with one arm totally out of commission. She was beautiful when she was feisty like this. Though, I’d never tell her that. It would just encourage her crazy to come out and play more.
“Stel, for fuck’s sake, calm down!” he snarled; it did no good. She was still struggling.
“You don’t know what happened!”
“Bitch! I fucking watched you. I saw it all! It’s on the security camera! Let me go, goddammit! I’ll beat some sense into her stupid ass.” I needed to step in cause Trevor was about to lose his battle holding back the bull. I saw it in her eyes, she was about to completely lose it.
“Enough! Stella Grace, sit your ass down now. If you move from that chair, I’ll tan your hide.” Wayne’s voice boomed through the room as he came in from the back. Stel deflated and did as instructed. Both Trevor and Peter, who had moved within reach of where she stood, looked relieved.
Derek moved to the desk where Shelby was, and the tiny little bundle in his arms started to fuss.
“It’s okay, buddy. She’s just checking you over,” he crooned to the baby and started to bounce him or her. It seemed to settle the baby down. I shook my head and moved further into the room. I needed to know what was happening here. Seeing Stella struggling and everyone looking so grim-faced made my stomach churn.
“Tracey!” Stel gasped. Her face paled as she got up and moved to where I was.
I held up a hand. “Don’t panic, it looks worse than it is. What’s going on here? You all look rather murderous, and it’s never a good thing when my girl has to be restrained.”
“Stella was able to help us track down a baby dumper,” Jackson growled. The look of utter disgust on his face said a lot. Charlie’s mask had fallen as well. Even Gabe, who stood back and watched everyone else, looked ready to crack someone’s head open.
“A baby dumper…Jesus.” I shook my head. So I had heard that right before.
“He wouldn’t stop crying! I couldn’t work!” The woman jumped to her feet again, screaming at the room full of people.
Really? That was her defense?
“Daddy,” Dani Lynn started, then amended her words, “Sheriff Cartwright, I have a court order signed by Judge Jillian Berry giving temporary custody of the infant to me and Open Hearts you look ready to faceplant.”
She helped me to a chair, and I sat, pulling her hand to my lips. I closed my eyes and sighed.
This was going to be bad. I just knew it.