Chapter 10
10
T he steam clouded her vision. Jordan turned around and let the prickling spray of hot water rinse the dirt and grime away. After a long day of police work, she was bone-tired. After she and the team had returned to the precinct, she had headed straight to the showers. There was no time for her to go home as she had somewhere special to go. A small smile graced her lips but soon died as the image of what she had witnessed on that wall back in that mansion entered her head.
She stood, confused as to what she had seen earlier that day.
Her initials.
Her fucking initials painted on the wall with what appeared to be blood. She reached up and wiped the water away from her eyes. She had hoped to put her past behind her. Moving to Columbia was to give her a new start. Not only had Omara and Jason needed her, but she needed them. She was the protector. She was the one who stood up for the person who couldn’t.
Jordan didn’t need anyone to fight her battles for her. Bravon had thought he could twist and mold her into something she was not. She was much stronger than she looked, and he had been a fool to think she would roll over and let him walk all over her.
But standing up for herself had cost her everything back in Atlanta.
The trust of her fellow officers.
Her career.
Jordan stood tall and spun around to rinse the rest of the soap and suds off her toned body. Anger boiled inside her as she thought of everything he had cost her. How had she been so na?ve? So gullible and blind to what had been in front of her? Like a moth to a flame, she had been drawn to Bravon. He had been handsome, charming and attentive.
Everything that she had wanted in a man.
And she’d fallen for it.
There were signs that she’d ignored. The first being whenever there was an event with the precinct she worked at or for the city, Bravon always had an excuse for why he couldn’t attend.
“Baby, I can’t. I’m going out of town for business. Why don’t I give you the money for a new dress. You’re going to be the coldest woman there,” Bravon murmured. He tilted her chin upward. His smooth, dark-brown skin, perfectly trimmed mustache, and big brown eyes drew her in.
Disappointment filled Jordan, but she swept it aside. Again, he wasn’t going with her. A few of the girls thought she had an imaginary boyfriend.
“Are you sure you can’t make other arrangements? Can’t someone else go?” she asked. She wrapped her arms around his waist. She loved the feeling of him against her. She breathed in his cologne and sighed. She already knew what he was going to say.
“I can’t. It’s something I have to do.” He gently unwrapped her arms from him and reached behind him and took his wallet out of his jeans. He opened it to reveal a wad of notes.
Jordan kept her face neutral as she took in the amount of money. She never questioned why he always had so much cash on him. He pulled out a stack of hundreds and handed them to her.
“But I’m hoping this will make up for it. Buy you something nice to wear—not a new gun.”
Jordan smirked. She did love dressing up fancy when the time called for it, but there was nothing like purchasing a new weapon. She’d had her eye on this one Glock that had her name on it. Her dress wouldn’t cost nearly what he was giving her. She’d buy her outfit, get her hair done, then that Glock would be hers.
A little voice in the back of her head screamed a warning, but Jordan pushed it away. Bravon had a good job. He said he was old school and just didn’t do credit cards and online banking.
Hell, her father had grumbled about the same thing and how everyone shouldn’t trust the computers and technology with all of their money.
“Fine, but you have to come to the awards dinner next month.” Jordan folded her arms in front of her. She took the money he held out to her and went over to her table by her couch. She opened the drawer and stashed the money there.
“I’ll clear my schedule for you. I promise.” He grinned.
Jordan rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to hold her breath on this promise. He strolled over to her, a warm glint in his eyes. Her pulse spiked as she knew what his intention was. She bit her lip and allowed him to pull her into his embrace.
“Matter of fact. Why don’t we go on a trip. Pick a place and we’re going.”
He nuzzled her neck and nipped it. A moan slipped from her lips before she could hold it back. He knew all of her spots and never shied away from them. His large hands slid along her hips and cupped her ass, bringing her flush to him.
“Bravon,” she sighed, falling for his charm.
He lifted his head and brushed her lips with his.
That alarm in the back of her head continued to go off, but she ignored it. She tilted her head back and offered her lips for his.
Jordan blinked away the memory. She reached over and shut off the water. There was no use to her going down memory lane. The past was just that.
The past.
She grimaced and reached for her towel resting on the hook outside her shower stall. A few voices echoed through the locker room. She quickly dried off and wrapped the towel around her body. She snagged her belongings and held them to her chest, stepping out of the shower and into a pair of flip-flops.
Jordan made her way over to her locker and opened it, tossing her items onto the top shelf. It was always a plus to be able to shower at work before heading out. Her locker was stocked with all of her necessary items she needed when working long shifts. Today she had brought a few extra clothing items to wear. She glanced at her dress she had hung up and rolled her eyes. She was going to catch shit if any of the guys saw her.
“Hey, Jordan. I knew I’d find you in here,” a familiar voice announced.
Jordan slid on her panties while keeping her towel in place. She glanced over to find Dana in civilian attire leaning against the edge of the lockers. Dana was a longtime member of the force who was moving up the ranks. She had been one of the first to welcome Jordan when she’d arrived. Jordan considered her a friend. The woman had taken her under her wing as a fellow female officer. There wasn’t that many of them, and they had to stick together in the male-dominated profession.
“What’s up, Dana.” Jordan turned back to her task of getting dressed. She unwrapped her towel and dropped it on the bench behind her. She reached up on the top shelf where one of her favorite scented lotions was.
“A few of us were going to catch a bite to eat after work, and I figured to ask you if you wanted to go with us?” Dana tried her best to put on her pleading face.
Jordan chuckled at how horrible her colleague was failing. Everyone thought Jordan was a badass, but Dana took badassery to a whole new level. She was a little older than Jordan in her late thirties with flawless brown skin and long hair she always kept up in a high ponytail.
“I can’t. I have somewhere to go,” Jordan replied. She finished applying lotion to her arms then rested a foot on the bench so she could moisturize her legs. She had to try to put Bravon out of her head, but something was nagging in the back of her mind. She was going to have to up her security.
And tell Rhys.
There was no way in hell she would risk his safety. She would go to the end of the world to protect that man.
Not that he needed it.
He and Honor were a force to be reckoned with, but Jordan’s nature was to protect, and she didn’t want Rhys to have a target on him. If Bravon wanted to come for her, then he needed to come for her and leave everyone she loved dearly alone.
“With whom? Your SWAT buddies? Why do they get to hog you all the time? Us women want to spend time with you, too.” Dana folded her arms with a scowl dropping in place.
This wasn’t the first time Dana had complained. Jordan would have to admit that it felt good to be wanted. Her last precinct, she had thought she was friends with a bunch of the cops, but then when she’d needed them the most, they had turned their backs on her.
“No, I’m not going out with the guys.” She returned the lotion to its place and began to slide the rest of her clothes on.
“Wait? Is that a dress?” Dana gasped. A silly smile crossed her face. “If not with the guys, then who? Are you going on a date or something?”
Jordan rolled her eyes. People acted like she never wore dresses. She had more clothes than her uniforms or fatigues. Did they seriously think she had no life outside of being a police officer?
“Where I am going is none of your business,” Jordan quipped. She slid on the soft cotton dress. It was a snug fit and showcased her curves while dipping low in the front to put the girls on display. The sleeveless dress had caught her eye when she’d been shopping recently. It was a light-blue color, and it reminded her of his eyes. Jordan’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of the man she had left in bed yesterday morning.
“Okay, well, be like that. We didn’t want you to come with us anyway.” Dana stuck her tongue out playfully.
Jordan laughed and waved her off. She grabbed her sandals and popped them onto her feet before tossing her flip-flops into her bottom of her locker.
“Whatever. Next time, though. I promise,” Jordan said.
“I’m going to hold you to it.” Dana winked and spun on her heel, muttering as she walked away.
“You do that.” Jordan chuckled. She would make sure that the next time they invited her out she’d go. This was one of the reasons Jordan loved where she worked. Not that everything was perfect, and there were some assholes who worked there, but the women truly supported each other here, and her SWAT family was just that. Jordan had inherited seven brothers who would go to hell and back for her.
Jordan finished getting ready. Twenty minutes later, her hair and makeup were done. She slammed her locker shut and blew out a deep breath. She picked up her purse and threw the strap over her head so it could rest across her chest. It was a little heavy due to the Ruger she’d stashed in it. Her dress wouldn’t allow her to strap anything to her inner thigh, so a purse it was. She snagged her duffle bag and walked over to one of the floor-length mirrors to take in her outfit.
Jordan had to admit she looked damn good.
“My office was just notified that Mr. Bravon Huff was released from prison a week ago.”
She inhaled and tried to push down this weird feeling that was settling in the pit of her stomach. She closed her eyes and breathed out deeply. Her gut was telling her something, and she had to listen to it.
When in the midst of danger, she had always listened to it.
For some reason, she knew she had to go home first. She had plans to meet Rhys, but that inkling she was getting was that she had to go home. She hadn’t been there in a while, having spent the night out at the farm and then working. She just needed to make sure everything was okay there.
And grab a few extra weapons to keep on her. Jordan was always a woman who wanted to be prepared for the unexpected.
Jordan made her way to the locker door and sent up a prayer that she wouldn’t run into any of the guys.
Especially Iker and Zain.
Omara was already on her about this secret person she was seeing, and if Zain saw her leaving work cute, he’d tell on her to Omara. Her sister officially hung around too many cops and was becoming a little detective with her lines of questioning she’d been throwing at Jordan. She’d had to admit to Omara that she was seeing someone, but she just hadn’t shared who.
It just about killed her to keep the secret from her, but then Jordan thought of how Omara and Zain had kept their budding relationship from her. Jordan would admit she may have overreacted, but it didn’t help her short-fused temper to find her fellow officer half naked in her sister’s kitchen one night.
Jordan arrived at the door and cracked it opened slightly. The bustle from the precinct floated through the air. She eyed the men’s locker room which was closed.
She’d better hurry before someone came out.
Jordan beelined it out of the locker room and kept her head down. She tossed her duffle bag’s strap on her shoulder and sent up a prayer that she could make it to her car without incident. Not wanting to increase the chance of being seen, she kept to the back hallways and avoided the main area. She could sneak out the back door and just walk around the building to the parking lot.
A few minutes later, the door came into sight. Her pace automatically quickened. She was going to make it. Jordan’s hand landed on the door, but before she could push it, the damn thing swung open.
“Knight?” Iker’s incredulous voice bit through the air. A sharp whistle rang out behind it.
Jordan sighed and eyed her two SWAT teammates. A slick smile spread across Iker’s face while Ash’s eyebrows rose high.
“Where in the hell are you off to?”
She had almost made it. Jordan sighed again and waited for their jokes. Had she been on the other side, she was sure she would be giving one of them shit about something. She had already been vocal with Iker and Zain about how they had abandoned her to leave her as the only single person on the team.
“Whoever she’s meeting must be special.” Ash chuckled. He slid his baseball cap around before folding his arms in front of his chest.
The two of them were covered in sweat and must have been on a run.
Without her.
Dammit.
She would have loved to go running with them. Had she known, she might have pushed her plans back a little, but then again, she thought of Rhys and shook her head. Nope, he was more important.
“Looking good, Knight.” Iker winked at her. “And is that makeup I see on your face?”
Jordan rolled her eyes again. He wasn’t going to let her live this down. She was sure by tomorrow everyone would know exactly what she was wearing.
“Fuck off.” Jordan pushed past the two of them. She held her head up high and ignored the fake catcalls and laughter that echoed behind her. She had to fight to keep the smile off her face. Her teammates could be idiots at times, but dammit if she didn’t love them for it. She raised her hand in the air and gave them her infamous flip-off. She spun around and shouted, “You didn’t see me!”
Jordan ignored them and turned back around. It had been a feeble request. Iker would be telling everyone. She would deal with it later.
She put a little more pep in her step and headed toward her car. She did have a date and she couldn’t wait to see his reaction to her outfit.
Better yet, she couldn’t wait for him to peel her out of it.
But first she had to make the stop at her place.