24. Logan
24
LOGAN
I don’t follow her because I can’t breathe. Not only do I have to explain to every single man whom I trust with my life why I haven’t trusted them with the truth, but I also have to see the look on Poppy’s face when she realizes that I really am the reason she was shot.
I can’t force my feet to move in her direction. Even when I hear the sound of her starting my truck. Or when I listen to her drive away.
Instead, I do the only thing I’m good at.
I plan my revenge.
“He came to the hospital,” I tell the men who will have my back no matter what. “During Poppy’s OB appointment. He had to have been there before I got there. Maybe he followed Sam when he dropped her off. Maybe he has someone working with him, but I doubt it. No one is going to cross Dean or his club.” I run a hand though my hair, trying to keep a tight grip on my control.
“Did he threaten her or you?” Dom watches his wife standing on the other side of the sliding glass door and pulls out his phone. “I’m ordering pizza to have it delivered. That woman is gonna murder me because we’ve been out here for a half hour and she was already hungry when we left the house.”
“Better order a BBQ pizza, too.” Remy sighs deeply. “Parker was really looking forward to it, if her texts are anything to go by.”
“He said that he wanted to get Poppy in bed, phrased in a cruder way. And he made the insinuation that he sexually assaulted Lettie before she died.” I hold up a hand when I can see that the guys are about to lose their shit. “No, he didn’t. I know he didn’t because I’ve seen all of Lettie’s case. I saw the autopsy report from the medical examiner. There was no sign of sexual activity, let alone sexual assault.”
That works to deflate their anger, at least for the moment.
“He told me that he didn’t get what he wanted the first time. Obviously, he meant that he wanted to kill Poppy. I just have to stop him before he can make a move.”
“Do you really think anyone would care if we let Dean get rid of him and dispose of the body?” Linc crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m pretty sick and tired of psychos and dumbasses coming after us through our women. At this point, we might as well build a fuckin’ compound so we can keep them all safe.”
“Right?” Remy looks over at the sliding glass door where Parker and Chloe have joined Emma at the window. The only one missing is Kennedy, who is working.
“I can’t believe Kennedy’s still working,” I tell Linc. “How’d she get that out of you?”
He shrugs. “She sits in the most secure building in the county for work, with her feet up, surrounded by the Birch County sheriff and all his deputies. How was I going to tell her that she couldn’t go to work?”
He has a point. If Poppy hadn’t been put on bed rest, I know for a fact she’d have gone to work until she popped.
“Well, shit.” Dom gets off his phone. “At least Poppy got the paperwork protecting her from Ortega harassing her. ”
“Yeah,” I answer sarcastically. “Because a piece of paper stops the bad shit from happening.”
While they continue to talk around me, I pull out my phone and send a text to Dean.
Logan: Poppy left. In my truck. One of your guys on her?
Dean: Yup. He already told me you fucked up.
Logan: Keep her safe.
Dean: I told you. You hurt her this time, I’m gonna handle it.
Logan: I know.
I do know, too. I almost look forward to the fact that Poppy will no doubt tell Dean exactly what I did.
Maybe then, I can earn a little bit of redemption.
Instead, my phone starts to ring. Along with Remy’s and Linc’s and Dom’s, too.
“Oh shit.” Ian laughs. “Good luck going back to work, guys. I’ll make sure to leave you a few slices of pizza.”
Remy’s eyebrow hits his forehead. “You’re staying here, with three pregnant women and two babies. Where Nox is gonna be back anytime from my parents’ place because he doesn’t want to spend the night.”
Linc shakes his head. “You’re a crazy man, Ian. If I were you, I’d pretend that you got called in too.”
The sliding glass door opens, and Emma stands there with an irate look on her face while she stares at Dom.
“I saw that,” she hisses loudly. “If you leave and that pizza isn’t here within ten minutes, you might as well sleep at the station, Dominic . All I wanted today was to get grilled chicken and pickles. You knew that. You owe me.” She turns around and almost has the door shut before Chloe grabs the handle from her.
“Ian.” She says his name calmly. “Go ahead and go with them. Otherwise, they’re gonna come up with any excuse under the sun to not come back after whatever is going on.”
“I gotta catch a ride with one of you,” I say to no one in particular. “Let’s go, so I can try and win back my pregnant woman before it gets too late.”
By the time we make it to the station, opting to fit all five of us into Parker’s SUV, I realize that shit is hitting the fan in a terrible way.
Birch County Sheriff’s Department vehicles line our lot, along with Maine State Police and the Emergency Management Agency. Plus, there may have been a few black federal vehicles there as well .
When I step through the back door after punching in my code, I wait for the others before walking into the bullpen.
“Men.”
Chief Townsend stands there with Jake Findlay, the Birch County sheriff, at his side. On his other side is one of the troopers whom I don’t recognize. And there are a dozen other officers in the room as well.
“There’s been an accusation.” Jake cuts right to the chase. “The four of you have been accused of tampering with evidence, harassment, and the attempted murder of a civilian.” He turns to Ian. “You don’t need to be here, Keller.”
Ian stands his ground, coming up directly to my right. “If you’re accusing them, you’re accusing me. I may only be part-time here, but these men are part of my unit.”
My blood runs cold as all of what Jake says filters through the shock. “Ortega,” I hiss, bile rising in my throat. “It was Ortega.”
The trooper purses his lips and crosses his arms over his chest. “How did you know that, Officer Pierce?”
“Detective Pierce.” I can’t help being a smart-ass and correcting him. “But you can call me Logan, sir. And I know it’s him because he’s been harassing me and the mother of my child since he got out of prison. Where he spent fourteen years out of a thirty-year sentence in the negligent homicide of a minor.”
“Yes.” The trooper nods. “I’ve read his file.”
“Then you know,” I go on, stepping in front of the others, hoping that I can take the grenade I can feel heading our way. “You know that he spent those years in prison for killing my little sister.”
The trooper nods again, clearly not giving a shit that he is wading into a world that he will never understand.
“Mr. Grimes’ complaints are valid, and he has corroborating evidence and surveillance to support his claims.”
“Bullshit,” Remy snaps from behind me. “And I’m sorry, but none of us will be stepping foot out of this bullpen or answering any questions until our lawyer gets here.”
I turn and look at him over my shoulder. “Benton?”
Remy nods, holding up his phone while he shakes it. “Already sent him a message. He said he’d be here in less than five.”
“Why would you need a lawyer if you’re innocent?” The trooper just won’t shut up, and I am on my last straw.
I’m not the one to snap, though.
That is Dom.
I almost feel bad for the trooper, whose name I don’t even know.
“Listen here, douche.” Dom moves around me, stepping forward until he is practically nose to nose with the other man. “I served for years, still serve as a matter of fact. And in my chain of command, you don’t mean shit. Jake? Yeah, he’s sheriff. Alex? Yeah, he’s chief of police. But you? You’re nothing but a peon sent down here to follow up on a claim made by a convicted drug dealer and murderer, whom none of us will take seriously because we all know it’s a lie. A lie spun by the man who tried to kill my friend and his girlfriend fourteen years ago. A man who did kill his little sister.” Dom doesn’t take a single breath that entire time.
The tension vibrating off him is enough to send even grown men scurrying. But none of us move.
He has my back; the least I can do is have his.
“Now, you listen here—” Trooper Douche, as I’m going to forever refer to him as, tries to get control of the situation. He just doesn’t have a clue who he is dealing with .
“No.” I put a hand on Dom’s shoulder, letting him know that I’ve got this. “You listen. Our lawyer is on his way here, more for your protection than ours at this point. I know Ortega. He was a sniveling little shit when he killed my sister all those years ago. And while we wait for our lawyer, maybe you should contact Birch Memorial Hospital and get the surveillance footage from two weeks ago on Wednesday at four p.m., where he cornered me in the middle of the lobby and admitted to me that he wanted to rape my pregnant fiancée. That, and he claimed to have sexually assaulted my underage sister before her death.”
We’ve gained an audience. Not only the deputies and troopers who are there to handle any incoming calls, I’m sure. But also the BPD officers who aren’t privy to my private life and all the bullshit that we’ve been going through with Ortega.
Amie Lee, the only female officer with BPD besides Emma, gasps and then turns a heated look on our chief.
Silence fills not only the bullpen, but the entire station, and I wait. Either for the trooper to open his mouth again or for Benton to get there.
“ Awkward ,” Linc whispers in a singsong voice a few seconds later. “Imagine how bad it’s gonna be when he finds out exactly how bad of a guy Ortega is.”
“The evidence is substantial,” Trooper Douche says snidely. “I’d like to see your good ol’ boy system get you out of it.”
But he does prove that he isn’t entirely worthless by putting in a call to the hospital and requesting the surveillance footage be sent over immediately. So, I can hate him, but I won’t plan on burying his body just yet.
When Benton Mays walks in thirty seconds later wearing a suit and tie that definitely announces his profession, I don’t think anyone knows what’s coming. At least, not until we sit around the screen in interrogation, watching what looks like a gang of police officers beating the shit out of Ortega.
“Those aren’t even BPD uniforms.” Ben pauses the video and then uses a pencil to point out the patch on the officer’s arm. The one that clearly says security.
“Look at the arms on those men, too,” Amie chimes in, having forced her way into the room with the determination of a pit bull.
“What about it?” Trooper Douche stares at the video with inquisitive eyes.
“None of these guys have tattoos in the video.” She waves at us. “All of our guys have them. Hell, these guys wouldn’t be able to function if they didn’t have tattoos at this point.”
That just serves to piss Trooper Douche off even more.
And we spend the next two days in the station, but only after he officially arrests all five of us. Without cause or charges.
By the second day, two hours before he has no choice but to release us, I’m ready to tear him apart at the seams. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to get my phone call.
Ben walks into holding with duffel bags full of clothes that he hands through the bars.
“Don’t worry, guys,” he says with an evil grimace. “We’re definitely gonna sue.”
“I don’t give a fuck about that,” I snap as I strip down right there and change into something clean. “Is Poppy safe?”
His eyes flash and his mouth moves but I don’t hear the words over the racing of my heart and the blood pounding behind my eyes. It has to be bad, though, because suddenly everyone is there, holding me back.
“Something happened,” he says again, when it is clear that I don’t know what is happening .
“Wha—?” My voice breaks. I look at Ian, hoping he’ll say Ben is wrong. But his eyes don’t hold anything but fear.
“Poppy’s gone, Logan,” Ben says again slowly. Carefully. “The men from her father’s club who were guarding her were shot. Bax… Bax was there, too. He’s… not gonna make it.”