Chapter 22 #2
Brooklyn busted out laughing. I took a moment to enjoy the sight and the sound before I answered Remy.
“Breakfast, son.”
“Why is breakfast a problem?”
“Because we haven’t eaten it.”
Holding my boy, I left the room with my woman laughing herself sick.
I was halfway down the stairs when Brooklyn’s words from yesterday hit me.
This mountain is magic.
She was more right than I’d realized.
It was after pancake making which left the kitchen looking like a science experiment gone wrong.
Flour dust covered the counter along with baking powder and sugar.
Remy had smashed an egg when he’d tried to crack it.
The goo mixed with the spilt flour, baking powder, and sugar on the counter.
Batter had dripped onto the floor, on Remy’s pjs, and again—all over the counter.
Brooklyn had wandered into the kitchen, smiled, shook her head at the mess, and promptly exited the war zone.
We sat and ate and I learned my boy didn’t care what was put in front of him; he’d eat it.
SpaghettiOs or pancakes smothered in syrup—the kid could eat.
I also learned my son liked more than just fishing.
He also loved comic book movies. His favorite was Captain America.
His favorite color was green and he thought he should be allowed to eat popcorn every day.
Remy was also easily distracted which worked in my favor when he once again asked me my nickname.
Still not having come up with a good one, I changed the subject to his best friend Serafina and he was all too happy to tell me story after story about her.
He hadn’t asked when we were going back to CDA, he hadn’t asked about school, or his toys. Remy seemed perfectly happy being with me and his mom. I loved how chill he was—until bedtime that is. Then he was having no part of sleeping on his own.
Little cockblocker.
I was fairly certain calling my kid a cockblocker was frowned upon in a parenting handbook somewhere, but damn if it wasn’t true.
I was convinced he had a finely tuned radar that pinged every time I got close to Brooklyn.
Twice he’d walked in on me kissing his mom and once I’d been copping a feel, which required skill and stealthy maneuvers to get my hand out of Brooklyn’s shirt without him seeing.
I left Brooklyn and Remy in the living room playing checkers and went out to the back patio to check in with Wilson.
It sucked because I didn’t want to leave them alone but I also had to check in and give Wilson the bad news that the internet was so spotty up here I couldn’t get a secured connection to run the searches he’d asked me for.
And as much as I didn’t want to leave the mountain I was wondering if new leads were found and if we should move locations.
The phone rang twice before Wilson picked up.
“I was just getting ready to call you.”
“What’s up?”
“Coupla things. Shep called.” I figured by the tone of Wilson’s voice I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“Yeah?” I prompted when he didn’t continue.
“Money that was set up for the reward is gone.”
“What do you mean gone? Did Michael close the account?”
“Brother—”
“Where’d it go?”
“As far as Shep could track it, a bank in Canada.”
My gaze shot to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that looked into the living room.
The afternoon sun was already high in the sky and no longer casting rays onto the glass so I could see in.
Remy and Brooklyn were both on their knees, elbows to the coffee table.
Remy’s face lit, with a big smile. I couldn’t see Brooklyn’s face but I would bet she was smiling at her boy.
Bet she wouldn’t be smiling when she found out the life savings she’d given to the Welshes to help with Kiki’s reward was somewhere in Canada, not in the account Michael had set up with The Bank of Coeur d’Alene.
“Rhode, you there?”
“Please tell me Shep’s got a lock on that money.”
“Not yet. This morning the local PD got a warrant for the bank records. Wire transfer was a forgery. Michael Welsh has already been in to give his signature and affidavit. Shep’ll find the money but it might take some time since his time is limited.”
“Brooklyn doesn’t have time, Wilson. All her money was tied up in that account.”
There was silence, then, “I know you’re not gonna like this, brother, but she gave that money for the reward obviously hoping not to get it back. So—”
“Yeah, Wilson, she gave her money to the fund. Gave it at a time when she was scared Kiki, who’s essentially her sister, was missing. Since then that bitch has been found and Brooklyn’s not feeling real sisterly toward her. But even if she was, she didn’t put up her money to be stolen.”
“I hear that. What I’m saying is, Brooklyn gave it thinking she wouldn’t get it back, so obviously she’s not hurting financially.
And she will get it back. Shep’s working on it.
But that had to hit the back burner when an anonymous call came in about a shooting.
Make and model of the car, where it could be found, and names. Guess where the call originated from?”
Fuck me.
“Canada.”
“Bingo. Two suspects are in custody. Thomas Brady and Chet Brown. Guns found in Chet’s house.
Both are convicted felons, neither is supposed to be in possession of firearms. The PD’s running ballistics right now to see if any of the bullets pulled out of your Jeep or from the house match one of the ARs.
Once that’s a match you’ll be able to bring Brooklyn and Remington home. ”
Home.
Fuck.
“Not all that fired up taking my boy back to the scene of the crime when he’s refusing to sleep anywhere but between me and Brooklyn,” I told him. “But I need to come down the mountain. The internet up here’s extra shitty this week and I’ve got searches to run.”
“Use the safehouse, it’s empty.”
Shit. I hadn’t thought about the house in Spokane Wilson had secured.
“You sure?”
“We’re not using it. You’ll have internet and if you need I can send Davis—”
“No,” I rushed out, not wanting any company on the off chance we could get Remington into his bed.
“I hear that.” Wilson chuckled. “Last order of business and I’ll let you get back to your family.”
Jesus.
Sock to the gut.
“Kiki and Lawrence.”
“Kiki and Lawrence,” he confirmed. “I think our best play is to have a sit-down with the fucker and lay it all out.”
“Kiki’ll be dead in less than twenty-four hours.”
“Not if we bring in local PD. Detective named Brasco said he’d sit in, officially put Kiki on the radar. She comes up missing, Lawrence is his prime suspect. He’ll also remind him, the cops are watching the Horsemen. One fuck-up and the PD’s ready to take ‘em all down.”
Fuck, that might work.
It also might not.
“Lawrence thinks he’s got brass balls,” I reminded Wilson. “Men like that are unpredictable. And men like Lawrence like a challenge. He might take her out just to fuck with this detective.”
“Thought about that, but you’re forgetting we got intel from the inside. Lawrence makes a move, we’ll know before he has time to execute it and we’ll cover Kiki. This is our best play.”
Goddamn, but Wilson was right. Lawrence had to be neutralized, and with an ongoing DEA investigation, our hands were tied. Even if, and there was strong evidence suggesting we could dig up something on Lawrence to get him off the street and behind bars, we’d fuck the DEA’s case.
But there was one problem with Wilson’s line of thinking. “Kinda hard for the team to cover her from Arizona. So it’ll be me covering Kiki’s ass.”
“Yeah, we’ll talk about that, too, when you come down the mountain.
Oh, and before I forget, Davis is on the verge of tying up and duct-taping Letty and I’m on the verge of shooting Davis if I have to hear him bitch about Letty one more time.
Please, have your woman call her friend before there’s bloodshed. ”
“Cell service sucks up here,” I reminded him.
“Yet, you manage to get calls through.”
My gaze went back to the windows and I saw Brooklyn walking Remington up the stairs.
Naptime.
Time to get off the phone.
“You got anything else for me?” I asked.
“You’re not gonna have your woman call,” Wilson correctly surmised.
“She can call her when we’re down the mountain tonight.”
“I’ll get Davis to stock the house. It’ll give him something to do besides argue with Letty.”
“Hey, real quick, the Welshes doing okay?”
“Michael’s pissed. Beyond angry-dad pissed.
His daughter’s fucked up with a dirty MC, his money’s been stolen, his other daughter’s hurt and mad, his wife is a mess, and he loves Brooklyn something fierce so he’s pissed as fuck Kiki’s shit has bled into her and Remington’s life.
So, no, they’re not okay. But once we get Kiki clear of the Horsemen and the money back I reckon he’ll go back to being a plain old angry dad and some of the violent tendencies he’s feeling right now will subside. ”
Fuck, Brooklyn had to call Letty.
I’d update her on everything after naptime.
“I’ll call you when we’re on our way down.”
“Talk then.”
Wilson disconnected but I didn’t move.
I stayed where I was and cast my gaze on the mountains in the distance.
Nothing but beauty as far as the eye could see.
A different kind of beauty than Arizona had to offer.
I couldn’t say I’d miss the sweltering Scottsdale heat, but neither was I looking forward to cold, snowy winters.
What I was looking forward to was spending the snowy days taking Remy sledding and those cold nights bundled up with Brooklyn.
But while the weather was still nice we’d have more time on the lake. More time playing ball.
We needed a house, and soon. Remington and Brooklyn weren’t going back to her old place.
I wasn’t worried about a job; that wouldn’t be hard. Before I went to work with Takeback I’d kept myself busy as an investigator. Easy work, mostly boring, and totally unrewarding. But I’d have my family.
On that thought, I wondered what the hell I was doing staring at scenery I’d stared at a hundred times before when I had a beautiful woman to take care of.
And hopefully a sleeping son.