Chapter 15
Brooke felt somewhat sorry about sacrificing Jack. He was the first man who she felt actually might do some good in the world.
He wasn’t very interesting though, droning on about his job as a lawyer. That had counted against him. In the end, Edmund had been thrilled with her pick. Well, maybe not thrilled, but at least satisfied.
Jack had also made a beautiful sacrifice sitting strapped to the wall, completely nude, harnessed to the winch. The St. Francis medal hung around his neck glinted in the light as the belt tightened.
Edmund explained how his contraption worked once, but the physics had been lost on her. All she knew was that the more the men struggled, the tighter the belt got.
He told her a smart man would understand that. The only way to beat it was to remain calm. So far, none of the men had tried to remain calm. It proved that the only man smart enough for this world was Edmund. She wondered vaguely if Fox would beat it. Maybe someday she’d get to find out.
She shivered with the memory of being pressed against the glass separating her from Jack while Edmund pounded into her from behind. Jack continued to cry and beg as he gazed at her naked breasts pressed against the translucent wall. She climaxed as his life slipped from him. It was glorious.
“Mommy?” Ethan’s little voice broke into her musings. “Is Daddy coming?”
“Yes, but we can’t talk to him,” she answered. “Just be quiet and play with your truck.”
Her idiot ex-husband had finally been busted with enough methamphetamine and fentanyl to require prison time. They were currently waiting at his bail hearing.
He’d called her from the holding cells to inform her of when the hearing was so she could pay the bail if necessary. He promised to pay her back, but she would be surprised if that happened.
All she knew was that there would be no hope of any more child support if he went to prison. Chances of that happening, based on what he told her, seemed high.
He claimed he had been set up. That the drug taskforce seemed to know exactly when the drugs were in his apartment.
Just a couple hours later, and they would have been gone.
No doubt in the hands of teenagers out on the street somewhere.
Not that she cared. If those brats wanted to fry their brains, what was it to her?
Since she couldn’t guarantee she could get back to Boston to pick Ethan up from daycare in time, she’d had to drag him along. Fox was tied up on the townhouse job until late every night, so he was no help and she’d rather do anything than ask her scheming sister to keep him.
It would probably do Ethan good to see what being stupid, like his father, would get him. She didn’t care if her ex sold drugs, but he should know better than to get caught. It’s why Edmund had her change up the bars she visited. Routine bred familiarity, and familiarity would make you lazy.
If her ex was nothing else, he was lazy. She looked down at her son. He was kneeling on the floor in front of the bench playing with his truck. A soft motor noise escaped his lips.
She wondered if he would turn out to be just like his father. At least he took after her in the looks department. Edmund hated kids. He had made that perfectly clear to her. She wouldn’t be taking Ethan with her when she left Fox for Edmund. That was for sure.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the current group of prisoners were ushered out and the next group brought in.
Ethan popped his head up just in time to see his father walk through the doors in a white T-shirt, gray scrub pants, and handcuffs.
He smiled and waved. His father waved, as much as the cuffs allowed, back.
She had to sit through three cases before it was his turn. All of the cases before him involved drugs, but his sounded the worst.
“This hearing is just to determine if bail will be set and how much, if allowed. James Vargas is charged with possession with intent to distribute. I understand this is his third offense. How does the defendant plead?” the judge said.
“Not guilty,” Jimmy answered.
“What does the prosecution say on bail?”
“We ask for remand, your honor,” a man said from the other lectern. “This is a repeat offender with no ties to the community. The prosecution plans to ask for the maximum sentence possible.”
“Your Honor,” Jimmy’s attorney responded. “The defendant has a small child in Boston. He has no wish to flee the area and plans to prove his innocence.”
“The defendant is remanded. Next case.”
Brooke stood and took Ethan’s hand. There was no reason to hang around since Jimmy would be heading right back to holding.
At least she didn’t have to pay for bail.
She wasn’t sure how that would work anyway.
She had nothing to put up for collateral, nor would Fox lend her the money.
She could always have stolen it from him, but this way she didn’t have to worry about it.
She was moving to the back of the room toward the exit when her gaze landed on someone she knew.
Sitting in the last row in the back corner was Fox’s long-lost half brother.
She couldn’t quite remember his name. She just thought of him as the giant one, as opposed to, the pretty one. Her eyes narrowed as their gazes met.
He didn’t look away but continued to glare at her as she continued down the aisle. Why would he be here? He must have something to do with this. It was the only explanation as to why he was here.
She pulled Ethan through the door before he recognized the man. He already went on and on about how amazing he was. Her head churned with the possibilities of how he was involved.
Pulling open the back door of her borrowed car, she waited impatiently while Ethan climbed into his car seat.
She quickly buckled him in and slammed the door closed.
By the time she reached the driver’s side, she was positive Fox had something to do with that man being here.
Knox. That was his name. It rhymed with Fox. The whole family had stupid names.
A thought hit her so hard, she paused with her hand on the door handle. Did they all have something to do with Jimmy being busted for possession?
She jerked the door open and slid into the hot seat. The blast of cold air was a welcome relief once she got the car started. It did nothing to cool her temper though. She needed to get to the bottom of this.
“Momma’s going to take you to a friend’s house to play. Fox and I need to talk. Undisturbed.” She checked the rearview mirror. Ethan was watching her, but he stayed silent.
She raced the car through town, dodging around cars going too slow. The car horn got a workout as she wove through traffic. Finally, she pulled up in front of a walkup in Dorchester.
She unhooked Ethan from his car seat, grabbed his hand, and marched him up the stairs to the stoop. Locating the correct apartment number, she pressed the buzzer. “Yeah?” answered a few seconds later.
“I need you to watch my kid for a couple of hours,” she answered.
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t report you when you brought yours to work.
” She heard a door close somewhere upstairs before a face appeared at the glass a few minutes later.
The door opened and Brooke pushed Ethan forward.
“Just a couple of hours. Here’s his backpack,” she added, handing over a small dinosaur pack.
“Sure,” the woman answered. Brooke turned and walked to the car before her coworker could change her mind.
She was going to have it out with Fox about his fucked-up family, and she didn’t need Ethan in the way.
“Hey,” the woman called as Brooke opened the car door. “Am I supposed to feed him supper?”
The car door closed before she could answer. The woman could figure it out on her own. If she wasn’t back by dinner, then feed him. It wasn’t rocket science. She drove into the nicer neighborhood they lived in and found a parking spot not far from the building.
Fox’s apartment was one of the reasons she stuck with him.
It was in a decent neighborhood with better neighbors.
It just sucked it was so close to his sister’s office.
It also didn’t have an elevator which was ridiculous.
That wasn’t worth giving up the apartment for though. Sometimes the good outweighed the bad.
She walked in the door to find the place still empty. She had at least an hour before he got home.
It was closer to two hours before Fox arrived home. Brooke jumped up from the couch where she had been stewing over the afternoon. “Where have you been?” she snarled.
“At work,” he answered. “I was at the townhome I told you about.”
“Sure you weren’t in Lowell setting Jimmy up?” She crossed her arms over her chest so he would know how mad she was.
“What are you talking about?” He looked around the living room like he would find the answers hidden somewhere among the furniture. “Where’s Ethan?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said, poking him in the chest with her forefinger for good measure. “I had to spend the afternoon waiting in a courthouse to see if Jimmy would get bail. Guess what? He didn’t.” Her voice rose in pitch the angrier she became.
“Where’s Ethan?” he said louder this time.
“None of your fucking business. Did you set Jimmy up?”
“Brooke, listen to me,” he said, taking hold of her arm. “I don’t know anything about Jimmy. Tell me where Ethan is.”
“If you don’t know anything, then why was your overgrown brother in the courtroom? Don’t tell me he just happened to be there. I don’t believe you.” She was yelling.
Fox narrowed his eyes and stared at her. It only made her angrier. She was positive he knew what happened, he just wouldn’t tell her.
“Calm down,” he said in a soft voice.
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down.” He took a step back in surprise. She wondered if he was surprised that she wasn’t doing what he wanted for once.
His eyes narrowed once again as if he was trying to mesmerize her. That’s when she slapped him. It was hard enough to make him back away, but when he looked back up at her, blood poured from his nose.
“Brooke—” he started.
“No. I know you had something to do with Jimmy being arrested.”
“I can find out what happened. Just, please.” He reached for her, but she batted his hand away. Blood dripped onto his shirt.
“That’s disgusting,” she said, stomping to the door.
“Wait.” He looked around the living room, then disappeared into the kitchen. He returned shortly with a kitchen towel held up to stop the blood. “Let me make some calls. Then we can go get Ethan.”
“How about this,” she said, opening the door. She threw her bag over her shoulder and turned back to him. “You call me when you fix things with Jimmy. Then I’ll tell you where Ethan is. Until then, I’m going out. Don’t wait up.”
She stepped through the door and slammed it closed behind her. Seconds later, she was almost to the stairwell when Fox jerked it back open.
“Brooke,” he barked. She turned and stared back at his gaze for a few seconds. He gagged as blood began flowing again. Without a second though, she stomped down the stairs and out the door. She would find a bar to unwind in for a couple of hours.
Crossing the street, she hurried to the T stop. She pulled out her phone and texted her work friend where to find her car before shoving her phone in her purse.
She looked back one last time, relieved to see Fox hadn’t followed her.
Maybe she would text Edmund when she got to the bar.
With the mood she was in, it would be a good night to hunt.
It would be even better if she could find someone who had the same features as Fox to lead out the back door of the bar.
There was a smirk on her face as she ignored the stares from several men on the train.
None of them held her interest; they never did.
Pulling her phone back out of her purse, she sent a quick text to Edmund.
Her smirk turned into a smile as the train headed for downtown.
Tonight was turning out to be a good one.
She wasn’t really that concerned with her ex-husband’s illegal activities or his impending sentence. Nothing surprised her when it came to him. She just couldn’t abide someone thinking they could interfere in her life.
Whether Fox had anything to do with it or not was immaterial. She would let him stew over Ethan for a while as punishment anyway. Next time, they would all think twice before crossing her.
The T came to a stop not far from one of her favorite bars. She entered and looked around. It was overflowing with young, handsome professionals.
A tall man with brown hair, a well-trimmed beard and mustache, and light-colored eyes smiled at her. It wasn’t quite Fox, but then no one else she knew of had green eyes quite like his. He would do though. He would do perfectly.