Chapter Twenty #7
That voice surprised me. I swung around to find Detective Sparks standing beside Jerry. A deep furrow tugged at his eyebrows, and there was a thin press to his lips.
“Contrary to what you may believe, I do not approve of officers in my precinct roughing up the people we are tasked with overseeing. I don't care if they are simply wrong-place, wrong-time suspects or hardened criminals. Everyone deserves a modicum of respect.”
He was right. I didn't believe it.
“Even if he thought Lany was some run-of-the-mill drug addict, that still doesn't give him the right to hit him.”
“No, it doesn't.” The detective gestured behind me.
When I turned around, I wasn't sure whether to celebrate or stand there in shock. An officer was relieving the one that had hit Lany of his weapon and badge. Another one was putting a set of handcuffs on him while reading him his rights.
“I'm afraid that I will need to get a statement from your husband, as well as a medical report, in order to charge Officer Davis with assault.”
“I'll call Skip and have him meet us at the house,” Lany said as grabbed my cell phone off my belt and dialed, which made sense. His stuff was still locked up.
Detective Sparks glanced between Lany, me, and Jerry. “Skip?”
“Dr. Seamore Jones,” I replied. “He's Lany's personal physician.”
The detective's eyebrow arched. “You have your doctor on speed dial?”
Jerry and I both laughed.
Lany glared.
It was funny.
“The world of Lany Delvecchio is not for the faint of heart.” Jerry patted Detective Sparks on the chest. “How's yours?”
Detective Sparks grimaced as he rubbed over the spot Jerry had just patted. “It was fine this morning, but I suddenly feel the need for a check-up.”
“Might not be a bad idea after we talk,” Jerry said.
The detective looked as if he wanted to whimper.
“I will let you in on a little secret. Junior is a trouble magnet.
If it's out there, it will find him. That being said, he also has a heart of gold and he is very rarely wrong when he gets something in his head.
He routinely consults for the FBI, DEA, and several other law enforcement agencies.
I do not know what he is caught up in at the moment, but my bet would be that it's going to turn into something life altering. It always does.”
“Him?” he asked as he looked at Lany skeptically.
“Kidnappings, assaults, gunfights, car chases, sex trade, child slavery rings, drug rings, attempted assassinations...” Jerry shrugged as if those things were no big deal. “We've seen them all.”
Just then, Lany started walking toward us but tripped. I rushed forward to catch him before he hit the hard tile floor.
“Unfortunately,” Jerry said, “he can also trip over air.”
I kept one arm firmly wrapped around Lany's waist as I set him on his feet. Jerry was right. Lany could trip over air and anything else out there. “This is why Lany has a personal physician.”
Lany's eyes rolled. “I'm not that bad.”
“Oh, really?” I asked. “Who had stitches this month after falling out of a tree?”
Lany glanced away and mumbled something I couldn't quite make out.
“What was that?”
Lany huffed. “The tree was last month. This month it was the banister at the bottom of the stairs.”
And my point was made.
I chuckled as I lifted Lany up and tossed him over my shoulder. I glanced back at Jerry and the detective. “We'll meet you at the house. Can you grab his belongings?”
It was time to take my baby home where he belonged. He'd be lucky to ever see the outside of the gates again. And this time, I was going to make sure there was more than one tracking device. I might not even tell Lany where they were. That way, he couldn’t find them and cut them out.
What had he been thinking to do something like this? That was a question that burned at my mind, but it would have to wait until we dealt with the current catastrophe.
When we got outside, the guys were waiting for us. Clarke raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He just walked over and opened the back door of the SUV. I sat Lany on the seat and buckled him in before walking around to the other side to get in beside him.
The others joined us with Clarke in the driver's seat. “Where to, boss?” he asked as he glanced over his shoulder.
“Home,” I replied. “Detective Sparks and Jerry are going to meet us there.” I turned to look at Officer David Wu.
“Your husband is also meeting us there. One of the arresting officers beat the shit out of Lany. Detective Sparks wants a physical exam and pictures so he has something to charge him with.”
“A police officer did that?” Sam gestured to Lany's face.
“Not all of it,” Lany said. “The asshat I was dealing with at the drug house slapped me around a little. The police officer used my ribcage as punching bag.”
Clarke winced. “Sorry, Lany.”
Lany glared at him before turning to look out the window.
I snorted as a sense of justice rolled through me. “Looks like you're going to be on the couch a little longer.”
Lany was silent for the rest of the ride home, which wasn't like him. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but now didn't seem like the time. I wasn't sure he would tell me the truth with everyone else in the vehicle.
I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and pulled him close to me before pressing a kiss to the top of his head and then whispering into his ear, “Ti amo, caro.”
I heard a small sigh as Lany melted into me.
“I love you, too, Sal.”
“How hurt are you?”
That was a big concern and one I should have dealt with before now.
“I've had worse falling out of a tree.”
I was not reassured.
“We'll have Skip look you over when we get home.”
Lany frowned as he lifted his head. “I thought we were doing that anyway.”
“Skip needs to give you an exam for the injuries you sustained from that officer, as well as take pictures of your injuries, but that is separate from treating your injuries.”
I smiled when Lany snorted.
God, I adored him.
We stayed cuddled up with each other until we reached the gate of our fifteen-acre estate. Surprisingly, Jerry and the detective were waiting for us when we reached the front steps of our mansion. They must have used the sirens to beat us here.
“Be nice,” I warned Lany as we climbed out of the SUV. “This guy has the ability to lock you up.”
“I'd like to see him try,” Lany replied.
“Lany.”
Lany huffed as he turned his eyes to mine. “Is it pick-on-Lany day and someone forgot to tell me?”
I could see where he'd think that under the circumstances, but that wasn't the case.
“No, caro, but we are in a precarious position at the moment. I have no doubt that whatever you have to share with us will drive me insane because you tend to forget about your own safety, but your heart will be in the right place.”
“I'm not sure my heart was in the right place, but I was trying to do the right thing.”
I smiled as I pulled Lany into a hug. “You always do.”
That was one of the things that I loved about Lany…and hated. His heart was made of gold. He had a very strong sense of right and wrong. and he believed in helping others. no matter the cost.
He also tended to ignore the danger to himself if he believed it was for a good cause. I always figured maybe that was why we had met. He needed someone to keep him safe while he saved the world. That worked a whole lot better when he kept me in the loop.
“Just don't keep me out of your crusades,” I whispered into his ear. “How am I supposed to keep you safe when I don't know you are in danger?”
“I don't mean to keep things from you, Sal. I just…”
I leaned back so I could see all of his face, not just his eyes. “You just what?”
“Sometimes I feel like you’re my parent instead of my husband. You’re always having to take care of me and rescue me. How is that fair to you? To me? I'm supposed to be your partner, not someone you have to take care of all the time.”
“Have you ever considered that that makes you prefect for me?”
Lany's golden-brown eyebrows lifted. “Huh?”
“Lany, you've said it before. I'm a cop fantasy on crack. I have an overdeveloped hero complex. Maybe I need a husband that needs rescuing. Maybe that part of your personality meets a need that I have to be the hero.”
Lany squinted at me as if he didn't believe the words I was saying, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Do you remember how we met?”
“Yeah, I was getting my head handed to me by some jerk in a bar bathroom.”
“Do you remember what I did?”
“You beat him up and rescued me and then got me something to eat.”
I smiled at the memory. “I knew the instant I saw you sitting on that floor cradling your bruised cheek that I had found the ideal person for me. Why do you think I latched onto you so hard and so fast? You were perfect for me.”
I reached down and gently caressed the side of Lany's face. “You let me take care of you. You let me be the hero in our relationship. But I can't do that if I don't know you are in danger.”
Lany closed his eyes for a moment and leaned into my hand before taking a deep breath. There was a glint of resolve and an apology in his eyes when he opened them. “So, I probably shouldn't have taken the tracker out, huh?”
I snorted and swung Lany around before leading him up the steps. “You're getting another one.” Or two or three. “I'm sure Skip has a few on hand.”
And I intended to use every damn one of them.
Chapter Seven
Lany
“Hello, Brant,” I said as the door was opened by the man in charge of our security.
Oliver Brant was a rather staid man who never seemed to crack a smile.
He was damn good at his job, however, so who was I to complain?
He kept the estate safe and secure, which meant he helped keep my family safe and secure.
“Welcome home, Mr. Lany.”
“Skip should be here soon.”
“Very good, sir. I'll show him in when he arrives.”
“Are the kids home?”
“Not at the moment, sir. They are visiting your parents for the weekend.”