Chapter 19 Knight
KNIGHT
It’s late on Thursday night as I sit at my desk, thumbing through papers while organizing the next field training day for my team. There are certain requirements we have to meet, but I ensure that my team works far beyond that.
Their bullshit requirements, while impressive at an entry level, are a joke to my team now. We’re simply too good, the best of the best, and that’s not my ego talking. There’s a reason why we’re the most sought-after team across the country.
I sit back in my chair, hearing the sound of Ace and Diesel beating the shit out of each other in the gym, and as I run my hands through my hair, I can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy.
I’m not exactly fond of paperwork, and while I understand the importance of it, I hate this part of my job.
I’d give anything to be in there with the guys, fucking around and training, but this is what reality looks like for me.
I knew this was part of the gig when I accepted the role. I just fucking hate it.
It was always my goal to get here, and I don’t regret stepping up and filling the position, but there’s no denying that being at the top comes with a few painful downfalls.
But someone’s gotta do it, right? Diesel would be great leading the team.
He’s already proved that time and time again, but he’s crafted the same as me.
While he’d love the physical part of the job, he’s never envied me for the amount of paperwork I’ve got to complete to keep the suits satisfied.
On the other hand, Ace would be more than capable of stepping up; the only problem is, he doesn’t want it bad enough.
He’s content where he is, happy to chill and let the world pass him by while the responsibility rests on somebody else’s shoulders.
Letting out a sigh, I get back to work, but as soon as I put pen to paper, my phone rings.
When I scoop it off the desk, Harper’s name staring up at me makes my chest tighten.
I accept her call and lift the phone to my ear.
She’s been through a lot, but ever since she blocked her mother’s number, something seems to have eased within her.
She seems happier, carefree, and I fucking love it.
“Hey, doll.”
“Hi,” she says, a smile in her tone. “Thought I’d check to make sure all that paperwork wasn’t kicking your ass.”
“You know it is.”
“Damn. And I thought I was the only one allowed to kick your ass.”
I laugh at the absurdity of Harper thinking she could possibly beat me and flick the pen between my fingers. “You wish you could kick my ass.”
“Actually, speaking of that, I was actually thinking that maybe you could teach me.”
“Teach you?” I ask, my brows furrowed. “Teach you what?”
“How to defend myself,” she tells me. “With everything going on . . . I don’t know.
I guess I’m tired of feeling weak all the time.
I don’t want to have to steal scalpels from work just to feel safe walking to my car.
I don’t think I need to know how to beat someone almost to death, but I think it’ll be good to know how to escape as a bare minimum, you know?
Give myself a chance to get free so that there’s something left for you to swoop in and save. ”
“I can get down with that,” I tell her, pride sweeping through me.
“Don’t get me wrong, doll. I will always be there if you’re in trouble, but knowing you were capable of defending yourself would go a long way in making me feel better.
I’ve always been an advocate for learning basic self-defense, especially for women. ”
“So you’ll teach me?”
I grin. “It depends. Will you be a behaved student?”
“Oh, I don’t know. If I’m not, will you call me a bad girl and spank me?”
“You don’t need to misbehave for me to do that,” I tell her. “I’m more than happy to bend you over my knee and spank you until you’ve learned a lesson.”
Harper sucks in a breath, pausing for a moment before groaning. “Shit, Knight, you got me right in the daddy issues.”
“It’s fucking on when you get home,” I warn her. “You better come prepared.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” she murmurs, her voice low. “I’m already wet.”
“Goddamn it, Morticia. How the fuck am I supposed to focus on this shit now?”
Harper laughs, and the sound seems to wrap around me like a warm hug, refusing to let go, but I don’t want it to. If I get the pleasure of hearing that laugh every day for the rest of my life, I’d die a happy man. “That sounds like a you problem.”
I grin and roll my eyes, leaning back in my chair. “What are you doing, doll?”
“Just had a break, but I’m heading back in and trying to convince myself to get started on this next autopsy,” she tells me.
“It’s a young mom, and from what I can tell of the markings on her skin, my guess is that this is an extreme domestic violence case, and it breaks my heart.
I’ve been avoiding starting it all night. ”
She lets out a heavy breath, loud enough that I hear it through the phone, and I can’t help but feel for her.
Just like me, there are parts of her job that aren’t always the easiest, but she faces them with courage because at the end of the day, all she wants is justice for the victims on her table.
“You can handle it, doll,” I tell her. “Be thorough. Dot all the i’s and cross the t’s so you can help put this bastard away.”
“Yeah, I know, I just . . .”
Everything goes quiet, except for the sound of her accelerated breathing in my ear. “Doll, you there?”
“I . . . I think there’s someone in here,” she murmurs, her voice low but filled with fear as I sit up straighter, my hand already hovering near my keys. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
“You sure?”
“I don’t know,” she murmurs as I hear her making her way around the morgue. “I just . . . I have this weird feeling that I’m being watched.”
I get to my feet, already pacing my office as my hands ball into fists at my sides. “Doll?” I say, my heart racing, hoping that she’s just screwing with me as her breathing becomes shaky, her fear coming through loud and clear.
“Knight,” she whispers. “I—”
A petrified scream tears through the line, and my blood runs cold. “HARPER?”
“KNIGHT!” she screams, the terror in her tone like nothing I’ve ever heard before. “KNIGHT! NO. KNIGHT, HE’S HERE. HE’S HERE.”
Fuck. I take off at a sprint as a scuffle comes through the line. “HARPER!”
“DON’T TOUCH ME. DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
My feet pound against the cheap linoleum when I hear a familiar tone behind me. “Knight?” Diesel demands. “What’s wrong?”
I glance over my shoulder, seeing both Diesel and Ace barreling out of the gym. “Call hospital security,” I roar as I continue toward the stairs that lead down to the underground parking garage. “Harper’s in trouble. Someone’s in the morgue.”
They bolt after me, and as we run, I hear Ace on the phone, shouting orders to the hospital security team. We reach the door that leads down to the parking garage, and I throw it open, skipping down three steps at a time.
“Doll, speak to me. What’s happening?” I demand. “Are you hurt?”
I hear Harper’s cries of pain just moments before the sound of a man’s cold laugh cuts through the line. “HARPER?” I roar, but the line goes dead. “FUCK!”
I barge through the door at the bottom of the stairs, the metal hinges screaming with my force, but I don’t have a second to spare. As I barrel toward my truck, my whole fucking world flashes before my eyes.
I throw myself into the truck, not bothering to wait for the boys. Diesel barely manages to get into the passenger seat and close the door while Ace has no choice but to launch himself into the bed and hold on for dear fucking life as I hit the gas and sail through the parking garage.
Not having a second to waste, I take out the fucking boom gates at the entrance, knowing I’ll have hell to pay for that, but I couldn’t care less. All that matters is getting to my girl.
Pulling out onto the main road, I push my truck to its limits.
It’s only a short drive from the station to the hospital, but right now, it’s never felt longer.
I try Harper again and again, but her phone is off, and as the frustration and panic eat me alive, I throw my phone down, not giving a shit how the screen smashes into a million pieces.
Arriving at the hospital, I drive my truck right up onto the curb at the main entrance before the three of us bail out onto the pavement and race straight in through the automatic double doors. “Update?” I demand from Ace.
“It’s not good,” he tells me as my heart races. “Security is with her now. It seems their presence scared off whoever did this. She was left beaten in the bathroom, but they got to her quickly. I’m not sure how hurt she is.”
“FUCK!”
I push myself faster, guilt tearing at me with every second I’m not by her side. I have preached to her that I will always be there when she needs me, and yet I can’t stop failing her. I can’t stop letting her down.
Bypassing the hospital elevator, we skip straight ahead to the emergency stairwell, tearing the door open before hurrying down the stairs, and before I know it, I’m breaking out onto the basement floor and racing toward the morgue.
The big double doors are wide open, hospital security surrounding the room, but I push ahead, continuing down the hall to the women’s bathroom and pushing past the array of security personnel surrounding my girl.
“Harper?” I call out.
“Knight?” she cries from deeper in the bathroom, the sound of my voice forcing whimpers from her lips.
“Don’t try to get up,” a familiar tone says. “The doctors are coming.”
There are people everywhere, and the more that stand in my way, the more frustrated I become. “Clear out,” I hear Diesel say from somewhere behind me. “Blackstone SWAT. We’ll take it from here.”