Chapter 34
34
Brad leaped from the vehicle, but Mark clapped a hand on his shoulder before he could move forward. “Go in easy. You getting killed won’t help Bess or your sister.”
Colt had radioed that Brad needed to step back, but he didn’t listen. No one would threaten what was his and get away with it. He’d face the consequences of his actions proudly.
Shouts of “Halt,” “Stop,” and “Drop your weapons” were heard, and then it seemed as though all hell broke loose by the time they arrived at the corner of the barn. Shouts and screams broke out from inside, and two shots were fired by the deputies just outside the door. “Clear!” one of them called out, and they moved forward.
Rounding the tumble-down barn, Brad made it to the entrance and looked in, his mind barely taking in what his eyes were seeing. A large, dark metal structure was directly in front of them. Light coming down from the holes in the roof illuminated, but if someone had passed by, the barn would have appeared dark and uninhabited. And with the fence built next to the entrance, it kept anyone from driving too closely.
His gaze swept the area, seeing three of the gang members on the ground, weapons being taken from them. One had been wounded by deputy fire, and the other two appeared to be knocked out.
Artie turned to Carol and cackled, “We got ’em! Hit ’em with crowbars!”
Shocked to see her standing with a crowbar in her hand having hit one of the men now on the floor, Brad rushed to Carol, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in tightly. He didn’t focus on Artie’s gleeful pronouncements but just wanted to ensure she was unharmed while he found out where Bess was.
“Bess. Carol, where’s Bess?”
Carol was already pushing against his chest to loosen from his grip. “She’s o-ver there,” Carol said, pointing at the other side of the van. “She’s hurt. It was dark, and she fell.”
Suddenly, Artie called out, “Where’s Flip?”
A shot was fired, and Brad’s weapon was in his hand instantly as he pushed Carol to the side. “Get her out of here!” He dropped to a squat at the back of the van, then looked behind him to see Jonathan, Sheila, and Mark taking positions with their weapons. A deputy was covering Carol with his body as he hustled her out of the barn.
“You got nowhere to go, Flip,” Brad called out. He leaned down to peer underneath the van. From that low vantage, his heart nearly stopped again at the sight of Bess crumpled on the floor, blood covering one of her legs. Flip was nearby, but he didn’t appear to have a gun in his hands.
“You come out, and no one shoots. You stay where you are or attempt to hurt Ms. Crowder, you’re a dead man,” Brad promised.
Mark moved silently around to the side where BeBe was located. He signaled to Brad that he had a clear shot. Brad needed this to end. He knew enough about injuries to know with the amount of blood covering Bess’s pants, she’d lost a lot. Too much.
“Come on, Flip. You gotta make a decision and make it the right one,” Brad called out, shifting slightly to the back corner of the van closest to where Flip was hovering near Bess.
“Fuck you all. I want a clear path out of here. I’ll take the bitch with me in the van?—”
A shot rang out, and Flip’s voice was cut short but quickly replaced by his cry of anguish. Mark rushed forward, his weapon trained on Flip after shooting him in the shoulder. Brad rushed forward, dropping to Bess’s side, spying what he assumed was Carol’s shirt acting as a tourniquet, now red with blood.
The offending object was close by—a large saw for cutting through metal, with its jagged blade sticking up.
With a wound that deep and the amount of blood she had lost, he didn’t waste any time scooping her up and carrying her outside, where thankfully, an ambulance was ready. He held her hand for the ride to the hospital, but she’d passed out, not even knowing she’d been saved.
Brad sat in the chair in the ER bay. Bent forward with his forearms on his knees and his hands clasped, he looked like a man in prayer. And in reality, that wasn’t far from the truth. He had ridden with Bess in the ambulance, anger firing along every nerve in his body. But even his anger had to share space with all-consuming fear.
They had rolled her to get a CT scan and have the ER surgeon determine if there was nerve damage. The nurse had just come in to tell him that she would receive blood and be taken to surgery to have the wound properly stitched. He knew he needed to leave the room but wondered if his legs would hold him. Then he thought back to Bess’s strength when she’d been in the same position when Belinda had been shot.
He turned to see his dad standing at the ER bay doorway. The air rushed from his lungs as he stood and moved forward, unashamedly wrapping his arms around his father. It didn’t matter that he was a couple of inches taller and heavier. His dad’s arms offered the strong embrace that Brad had always remembered since childhood.
Neither spoke, simply letting their embrace offer and receive all the care needed at that moment. Finally, his dad leaned back and held his gaze while his hands continued to hold on to Brad’s shoulders. “What’s the news, son?”
Blowing out a shaky breath, he replied, “They’ve taken her back for a scan to see if the nerves in her leg were damaged. Because the cut was so deep and long, and she lost a lot of blood, he’s going to stitch her up in surgery and have her spend the night.”
“And how are you?”
Brad scoffed. “Me? I’m not the one who nearly severed my leg falling on a saw in filthy conditions.”
“No, but you’re the one who carried the woman you’re in love with who was attacked and injured. Don’t discount your own fear or anger. Get it out.”
If he had been with anyone else other than his father, he would have attempted to brush off their suggestion. Instead, tears welled in his eyes, and his voice shook as he said, “I couldn’t believe it when I heard they had Bess and Carol. Besides Mom, those are the two women in my life who mean everything to me, and to know they’d been taken by gang members who wouldn’t blink at killing them nearly undid me. If Artie Williams hadn’t gotten curious about what was going on, we wouldn’t have gotten that call. We were heading there anyway because the evidence pointed at something happening, but we might not have made it in time.”
His dad continued to hold his gaze. “Son, we cannot live our lives thinking about what could have happened. From what I understand in talking to the detectives in the waiting room, the only people at fault in any of this were the filth who put their hands on my daughter and your woman. But Artie was curious, and he called it in. So you got to them, and they’re safe, and that’s what you’ve got a hold on to.”
Brad shook his head. “Dad, you wouldn’t believe it. Old Artie Williams came up behind one of them and hit him with a crowbar. Dropped the asshole to the ground. And inside, Carol had managed to get hold of another crowbar and did the same. My mind didn’t process what had happened at first, but looking back, Carol and Artie gave the deputies enough time to fire on the last two gang members before they could get their weapons out. What could’ve been a shoot-out at the O.K. Corral was actually ended quickly.”
His dad ruefully chuckled. “We always said that people shouldn’t underestimate your sister, and she proved them right. And God knows, we shouldn’t underestimate someone older like Artie.”
Brad nodded, realizing it was easier to breathe now that his dad was there, giving him a safe place to talk. Squeezing his dad’s shoulder, he asked, “I haven’t even been into the waiting room. I assume people are there?”
“Lot of people. Detectives. Friends. Belinda. Carol and your mom. You probably ought to go out there. Bess is going to be in surgery for a little while. You should go talk to your friends, hug your sister, and let your mom know. Give your mom assurances.”
“Assurances? I’m not the one in surgery.”
“To your mom, when her child is hurting, she needs to see for herself how you’re coping. She was upset to hear how Carol was in danger, and she cares for Bess and is upset for her. Plus, I think you could use some of your friends right now.”
He nodded slowly, the pressure on his chest easing. “You’re right. Which reminds me, I need to get out of here since she’s now gone upstairs to surgery and get to that waiting room.”
By the time he made it to the surgical waiting room, most of the crowd from the ER waiting area had also made it upstairs. He did exactly as his dad asked—held Carol, telling her how proud he was of her. Allowed his mom to wrap him in her arms, both offering reassurances. Hugged Belinda, reminding her how tough the Crowder girls were.
Then he moved to Aaron, Sam, Hunter, Colt, and Mark, who all greeted him with concern in their eyes. Giving them an update on Bess, he asked, “What’s happening with the case?”
Mark chuckled, then winced. “Sorry, it’s not funny, but I spent almost an hour with Artie Williams, who is pissed as hell and cussin’ a blue streak. It seems he was fine with the guys who were working on cars. But they were careful to keep him from having a reason to suspect anything.”
“How’d they get tangled up with him anyway?”
“One of the gang members was doing work in a junkyard in Maryland. When asked about any older auto shops on the Shore, the owner remembered working with Artie. They did a little checking and discovered Artie was alone. He still had a shop that was nearly closed; he was hard of hearing, and his vision wasn’t good. It’s like he was perfect for what they wanted to do.”
“And recently?”
“The guys started getting bolder. He said he had a conversation the other day with Flip that gave him suspicions that they weren’t the nice boys he thought they were. Spent a couple of days pretending to be sick so he could stay at home and spy on them out the windows with binoculars?—”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope. He realized they were using the barn and couldn’t understand how. So when he saw what they were doing today, he snuck over to find out. Like the rest of us, he was stunned to see they’d used the backroad to bring in materials to build a chop shop. Painted black, it was undetectable from the outside. With some soundproofing materials inside, they could work and Artie wouldn’t hear. No neighbors around to get nosy, either.”
“Why the fuck did they grab the women?”
“It was the van. They’d fixed it to carry drugs for the Bloods, but Artie sold it to Bess. They’d planned to steal it back, but then she drove it right to their doorstep.”
Shaking his head, he glanced over at his sister and then kept his voice lowered. “Why did she and Carol go to Artie’s?”
“Carol said that Bess couldn’t get the back seats to fold down. Turns out, of course, they had been altered for drug bins.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” he groaned, thinking how much worse the day could have turned out.
“And there’s more,” Colt said.
Lifting his brows, he wondered what else occurred. Hunter added, “Turns out Flip was carrying almost ten kilos of cocaine in his vehicle. According to the girl who was to be the driver to Florida with scheduled stops along the way, he was going to use the van. She was waiting for his call when he got the van back, and he’d called right before all hell broke loose. She showed up in the middle of the bust.”
“And she talked?” Brad was incredulous, knowing how gang members notoriously kept quiet when asked about their deals.
Hunter nodded. “She was young. Scared. She shut up quickly when one of them threatened her, but the FBI is sending someone down to talk to her more. They think they can get these guys on more than what we’ve got them on since they carried the drugs over state lines. Anyway, it’s early days, but they are enjoying the confines of our jail, and the judge has already indicated there will be no bail.”
Brad looked at the clock on the wall, noting only two hours had passed since they’d arrived at Artie’s place. “Shit, you’ve got a lot in a short time.”
“And that’s why I need to get back to the station,” Colt said. “But I wanted to make sure I was here to offer support. Take what time you need to get Bess sorted.”
“Thank you,” he said, then watched as Hunter, Sam, and Colt left after another round of hugs and handshakes. Aaron and Mark stayed behind. He knew Aaron wanted to be there to support Belinda, but Brad turned to Mark.
Before he could ask if Mark also needed to leave, Mark shook his head. “Nope, not leaving now. We’re partners. I’ve got your back in everything.”
Sucking in a deep breath through his nose, Brad just nodded. Letting his breath out slowly, he said, “Thanks, man. That means a lot.”