Chapter 16
16
J ordan smiled at Honor’s antics as she was led away by Rhys. Her heart was working overtime at the look in his eyes when he was questioning Craig’s intentions. Her man had a jealous streak, and Jordan had to admit, it was downright sexy.
“Now why hasn’t that man been scooped up yet?” Amber murmured.
Jordan blinked and switched her attention back to the girls. Amber and Dana had cornered her since they hadn’t seen her in a while. Jordan had to admit she’d been busy as of late. It felt good to laugh and gossip with her female officers. Sometimes she needed to get away from all of the testosterone of her team. She loved her SWAT brothers, but sometimes she needed a female companion just get some things off her chest that the guys wouldn’t understand.
“Who?” Jordan asked.
Amber and Dana had wide grins on their faces. They turned back to Jordan, chuckling.
“Girl, Rhys. You know all the women here would give their left boob to have a chance with him,” Dana said.
Jordan was taken back. She had been so wrapped up in her job, her love life with Rhys, and everything else that had been haunting her that she had never realized that other women had their eye on her man. She beat down that green monster brewing inside her chest. She certainly didn’t like other women looking at Rhys.
“How do you know he isn’t with someone?” Jordan asked casually. She leaned back against the wall and folded her arms in front of her. At the moment, she was two seconds from chucking her own rule and shouting to them and whoever else in the precinct could hear.
Rhys Newman was hers.
But she couldn’t. Not that there were any rules against them being together. He wasn’t her superior nor was she his. There were plenty of people who had relations or had even gotten married.
She had wanted privacy. She wanted to enjoy Rhys all by herself. What she had with him was rare, and she didn’t take it for granted. The minute word did leak that she and Rhys were together, there would be millions of questions and everyone would be up in their business.
“You’re right. He might be. A man that fine wouldn’t stay single for long.” Amber grinned and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You and Honor seem pretty close.”
Jordan froze for a moment. How would she explain how Honor knew her and had practically dragged Rhys to her?
“Rhys and Honor helped a few times with SWAT. Honor was the officer who took down my nephew’s father,” Jordan said. She cleared her throat and tried to push the memories of that day behind her. It had been one of the worst days of her life. The fear that had crept up inside her at the thought of never seeing Jason again still haunted her.
“Oh, I did hear about that.” Dana nodded. She reached over and rubbed Jordan’s arm.
Jordan smiled at her and blew out a deep breath. She could get over this jealous feeling. If Rhys could beat his down, then she could, too.
“Hey, Knight!” a deep voice called out.
Jordan swiveled to see Zain waving to her. It was apparently time for their weekly team meeting. There was no telling what news Mac and Declan would have for them.
“Looks like I’m being summoned,” Jordan said. She gave both women a hug and promised to call them later to set up a night out for dinner and drinks. She made her way over to Zain, happy that neither Dana nor Amber had picked up that there was something going on between her and Rhys.
“What’s up?” she said, arriving at Zain’s side.
They began walking down the busy hallway toward the conference room they used.
“Nothing much. Your sister’s cravings are starting to drive me insane. Did you know she sent me out at two in the morning to the grocery store to get her some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream?” He ran a ragged hand through his hair.
Jordan chuckled at the thought of her sister sending this big tough guy out in the middle of the night to do her bidding.
“What’s wrong with that?” she asked casually.
“We already had ice cream in the freezer, but it wasn’t the flavor she was needing.” He put up air quotes.
She laughed even harder. Imagine that, a pregnant woman getting what she wanted. Jordan couldn’t help but be happy for her sister. Apparently, she had found the right man for her and Jason.
“Well, you just make sure you get my sister whatever she wants.” Jordan bumped him with her shoulder.
Omara deserved the best in life. That woman had been through some shit, and Jordan would ensure her little sister was taken care of.
“I don’t need you riding my ass, too.” Zain groaned.
They arrived at the conference room door. He held it open and waved her in. She shook her head and knew there was nothing she would have to worry about. Zain was a good man and was crazy in love with Omara.
Jordan entered the room and found several of their teammates already seated. She made her way toward the back where her unofficial assigned seat was. It was funny how a group of tough policemen needed to sit in the exact same seats. When she’d first joined the team, she had made the mistake of sitting in Brodie’s chair. One would have thought that she had taken his favorite toy away from him.
Jordan nodded to Myles, Ash, and Brodie who were already in the room. She took her seat just as Iker came sailing in. The man’s blond hair looked as if he had combed through it with his fingers.
“How’s it going?” Iker muttered. He plopped down in his seat with a heavy sigh escaping him.
“Everything good?” Jordan asked.
“Just living the dream,” he replied dryly.
Jordan glanced over at Zain who just shrugged. There was no telling what was going on in that crazy bastard’s head. Jordan had befriended Jessica, Iker’s fiancée, as she had pretty much all of the women who were with the guys. They were a great group of girls, and she loved hanging out with them. The last time she had spoken with Jessica, she hadn’t mentioned any problems in paradise.
Jordan didn’t know what to say, but if Iker needed to talk, she would be willing to lend her ear.
Small chatter filled the air as the guys fell into conversations while they waited for Mac and Declan to arrive. Jordan pulled her cellphone from her pants pocket. She glanced down at it and didn’t see any text messages from Rhys. Even though she had recently seen him, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he had messaged her. He always had a way of making her feel special with just a simple text.
Instead of waiting for him to send the first one, she figured she’d go ahead and do it.
I can’t wait to come home to you.
It was corny, she knew, but it was the truth. She actually did like driving home to his farm. She had some serious decisions to make. She was going to have to do something about her house. Jordan had been avoiding it. Knowing that someone had invaded her personal space left a bad taste in her mouth.
Would Rhys be fine with her just moving all of her things into his place?
She bit back a snort. Of course he wouldn’t care if she moved in completely with him. She would bring it up tonight when she got off work. Her skin on her arms prickled. She glanced up and found Zain, Myles, and Ash all staring at her.
“What?” She sniffed. She set her phone down.
“Nothing. Who you texting?” Zain asked.
“None of your business.” She rolled her eyes. They were all like hound dogs when it came to her personal business. Just because they were boo’d up now, they were suddenly interested in her love life.
“It’s whoever she been sneaking around with,” Iker drawled out.
She stuck her tongue out at him and leaned back. Mac and Declan strolled in, saving her from their teasing. She never understood how they could be so nosy. They were almost worse than the women she used to work with.
And they say women gossiped .
Nope, men were way worse. They just did it in a different way, but it was all the same.
“Afternoon,” Mac said. He stalked over to the podium while Declan shut the door.
The other sergeant moved over to his chair he usually sat in at the front. The conversations ceased as the focus fell on Mac. What would he have to discuss with them today? Jordan secretly hoped this meeting would be short and to the point. She’d worked the day shift today and would love to be able to go home early.
“I’m sure everyone has heard from the captain that we are going to be required to help fill in open shifts until they can recruit more cops,” Mac began.
Collective groans went around. Jordan blew out a deep breath. They had been handing out mandatory overtime to everyone, and today she was one of the lucky ones to escape. Everyone was expected to pull their weight. Crime wasn’t slowing down, and neither could they.
“How much more can we work? We are already doing at least eight to twelve hours each and we get called out for our own shit,” Myles grumbled.
Jordan nodded in agreement. Who was going to cover their shifts if they got hurt or sick or something? It was only a matter of time before all of this mandatory overtime caught up to people. They seriously couldn’t expect cops to work around the clock. That’s when mistakes were made.
“The captain states they have a plan in place. We have just done a massive hiring of officers straight out of the academy,” Mac replied.
Jordan rolled her eyes again at that announcement. Not that she hated new recruits. She was once in their shoes, it was just the fact that they had to be trained on everything, and some of them tended to think they knew everything being straight out of the academy. Little did they know, a lot of the training was hands-on.
“Don’t tell me they are going to be assigning us with the rookies.” Ash leaned back and folded his arms.
Ugh, she hoped she didn’t get assigned a new cop to mentor. She had done it a few times in Atlanta, and it had been frustrating. The last new cop she’d partnered wanted to do everything by the book because that’s how they were trained. She didn’t think they had updated any of the police procedures in the academy. It had been a hassle to coach him. Jordan shook her head at the memories that surfaced.
“He hasn’t said yet that any of us will be teaching since we have to answer to SWAT calls during our shifts. They won’t be SWAT trained and won’t be following us in that capacity. You may be asked to ride around with some here and there until they have been assigned an appropriate preceptor.” Mac shuffled through a few of the papers he had placed on the podium.
“Can I volunteer to not have anyone ride with me? I’m better off by myself,” Jordan said.
Chuckles went around. Declan turned around and smirked.
“Didn’t you know we volunteered you first?” he said with a straight face.
“Are you shitting me?” Jordan said. She sat up straighter and eyed him. He had to be joking. They wouldn’t do something like that to her.
Or would they?
“Calm your horses, Knight. No one has been submitted for anything,” Mac said. The corners of his lips curled up slightly.
Jordan relaxed back. She blew out a deep breath of relief. She was just not up for hand-holding anyone.
“If they did assign someone to her, I’m sure they’d quit after Jordan was done with them,” Zain said.
Chuckles and laughs went around at his statement. Of course they had to tease her.
Jordan burst out laughing and flipped him the bird. They could bust her balls all they wanted. She could take it.
“Well, I guess you have a point. I do have a way of weeding people out,” she murmured. After dealing with Bravon, she had learned to listen to her gut when it came to dealing with people. It had never led her wrong since.
“Moving on.” Mac raised his hand, gaining control of the room.
Everyone had some sly remark about Jordan training the newbies. She grinned at her team, loving the camaraderie. She knew they didn’t mean what they said. Hell, they might even be right. The room fell silent. Mac’s neutral face was always difficult to work out. It was always hard to read him.
The sounds of vibrations and dings filled the air. It was all of their cellphones going off at the same time. Curses rang out. Jordan’s heart rate increased as she lifted her phone from the table in front of her.
Your twenty-four hours are up.
Jordan swallowed.
“What the hell is this?” Declan held his phone up. He turned around and scanned the room. Everyone’s attention was on theirs. “Everyone get the same text?”
“There’s a traitor amongst you?” Brodie read aloud.
Nods went around. Jordan’s stomach sank. She swallowed hard to keep the bile from erupting from her.
Oh God.
Bravon was making his move. She had tried to ignore the fact that he had given her a deadline. She had prayed and hoped he would leave her alone.
But it would seem that was not the case.
Why did she have to be so na?ve? The last few days at Rhys’s farm had been wonderful. It was her little slice of heaven. This day was bound to come.
“How the hell did they get all of our numbers?” Ash asked.
Jordan shook her head. She didn’t want to alert them that she hadn’t received the same text. This was putting her in a bad spot. Now if she came clean about what had happened back in Atlanta, would they believe her? Or a random text they received.
“There’s no fucking traitors on this team,” Myles said.
“There sure as shit isn’t,” Iker said.
“Brodie, can you trace this?” Mac asked silently.
The deadly glint in his eyes made Jordan glad that they were on the same team. She wanted to strive to be like the sergeant. He was a good man, cared for his team as if they were family, and he always had their back. Mac was a true leader, and Jordan appreciated everything he had done for her. She couldn’t lose his trust.
That would certainly almost kill her.
“I can try.” Brodie opened up his laptop.
His ball cap got turned around backward which signaled he meant business. The guy was a whiz when it came to computers, and if he couldn’t figure it out, he had some friend who had tech money who lent a hand when he could. Jordan didn’t know if that was a legal thing, but his buddy had provided the police department with some cool state-of-the-art equipment in the past.
“Well, I hope there isn’t a traitor in the room right now,” Mac growled. He gripped the podium.
Jordan exhaled, almost forgetting to breathe. She placed her phone down on the table, unsure of what to say. She didn’t want to draw any attention to herself.
What the fuck was she to do?
Tell them that Bravon wanted her to turn them over to him?
No. She would face Bravon on her own. If he wanted her, then she would give herself up to him. She had said it before, but now seeing how riled up they’d all got at the thought that someone was a traitor, it broke her heart.
“What the fuck are y’all doing? You know there is not one traitor in this damn room,” Zain said. He pushed back from the table and stood. “We all have been to hell and back with each other. We know each other. Someone is fucking with us.”
“Who the hell would do this?” Declan stood and faced the room.
Jordan’s eyes widened. What the fuck was going on? He casually slid his hands into his pants pockets, but she could easily read his actions. There wasn’t nothing casual about it.
“Why would someone send us all a message when we are together? Fuck that. How did they know to send it right now? We don’t publish our meeting times or anything.”
Jordan swallowed. He was correct. How did Bravon know that they would be meeting now? She looked around. Was there a mole in the room? Was this message not about her?
Jordan pushed that thought out of her head. There was no fucking way that any of these men would turn on each other. Iker had a point. They had been to hell and back with each other. There wasn’t one time that any of them had backed out of going into off-the-book missions that could have gotten them in hot water with the captain.
They were a true team.
“Let’s see what Brodie can find out.” Jordan stood from her seat. She hated that they were even considering what was sent to them. “I’m with Iker. Someone is fucking with us. How many enemies has SWAT made?”
“Too many,” Ash muttered.
“So it could be anyone. And I’m sure this was just a coincidence with the timing.” Jordan swallowed. She hated to have their attention on her. She knew who was behind the texts.
“I’ve learned there are no such things as coincidences when it comes to bullshit like this,” Mac growled. His infamous scowl was currently in place.
“We are a team. I know you.” Jordan pointed to Mac.
He would be the last person to turn on anyone. Mac was a bulldog and would take anyone down for even thinking of messing with one of them.
“There’s no way I’m going to believe this random text,” she said.
“She’s right. Let’s see what Brodie can find out,” Declan said. He relaxed slightly and moved over to the wall near him and leaned against it.
“I didn’t have much else for the moment but just wanted to check in with everyone. Make sure your gear is ready to go. I’m hearing a few things that may call for us in the day or two,” Mac said. He ran hand along his jawline as he, too, relaxed slightly.
Jordan breathed out air of relief. She wouldn’t stand for her brothers to start side-eyeing each other. When they went in on missions, they had to one hundred percent trust each other.
She glanced down at her phone and saw the time. She had less than two hours left of her shift and then she could clock out. She’d go out and do some traffic duty. That would make the time go by fast. Hopefully, they would assign her close to the precinct since she was almost done.
“Brodie, the minute you have something—” Mac was cut off by Brodie.
“You’ll be the first person I call,” Brodie said without looking up from his laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard. The man was absorbed in whatever was on his screen.
Jordan hoped he found who it was, even though she was ninety-nine percent sure it was Bravon.
“You all are dismissed. Just watch your six,” Mac said.
Everyone began standing and dispersing from the room. Jordan snatched her phone up and slid it in her pocket. She gave a nod to Mac then left.
That was rough.
She hesitated in the hallway and froze. Did she go back in and speak with Mac alone? He would believe her. If she laid it out on the table for him, she was sure he would know what to do.
“You good, Knight?” Ash stopped next her.
She pulled out a small smile and nodded. Myles came to stand behind Ash with a curious look in his eyes.
“Yeah, I was contemplating something,” she replied. She stood straighter and tried to act as if her whole life wasn’t about to possibly implode.
“If you need something just holler,” Myles said. He patted her on the back and moved past them. The big man strolled down the hall away from them.
“He’s right. If you need something, let us know.” Ash grinned at her before jogging down the hall after Myles. “Yo, Myles. Wait up.”
Jordan glanced back at the door but didn’t see Mac or Declan leave. They must still be in there with Brodie. Someone pushed the door shut. Jordan backed away before turning on her heel.
Tomorrow.
She’d take Mac aside and spill her guts to him first. The captain wanted her to do it on her own time, and now would be best. She would face whatever backlash she would receive from the team.
She just hoped that they still wanted her around. Joining SWAT was a career dream for her. If they shunned her, then what was she to do?