Normally, this would’ve pissed me right the hell off. Especially when Gordy left the room to have a private conversation with my man about me. But after my last breakdown with Luke, I was figuring stuff out. This included me not pitching a shit-fit when the people who cared about me showed me they cared. And I knew this was Gordy’s way of showing me he cared. He wanted to take care of me and the best way for him to do that was to make sure Luke had me covered.
After that things went back to normal with the guys. They didn’t treat me like I was stupid for not coming to them sooner. They didn’t give me more shit beyond that one day. They were just the guys. My team. My friends.
Now my brothers? Their response was unholy. Or I should say Echo and Phoenix’s reaction was outrageously pissed. Echo made the decision as head of the family not to tell River until he was back from his assignment. So I got it from two brothers and would get it from my third whenever he got back. Luckily after two hours of ranting—yes, two hours—Echo burned himself out and turned back into my loving, but over-protective big brother. Phoenix on the other hand can hold a mean grudge. He was still pissed at me and had no qualms letting me know it every time he called me.
And right then Phoenix was sitting across the table from me, glaring. We were at Balls. Luke was sitting to my right. He’d pulled his chair close to mine and Echo was sitting to my left. They were all drinking beer while I was having a soda. Tonight was my last on-call for three days. My team was still pulling overtime. So much of it, my captain had demanded all of us got three days off. This meant if something went down Bravo would be called in and if they were busy a SWAT team from the next county over would fill in.
I could not wait to have three whole days off. No interruptions. No rolling out of bed—not that it happened every night but it happened.
“Any word?” That was Echo and he was asking Luke, not me.
Annoying. But whatever.
“No,” Luke returned. “Gordy called earlier. He personally went to serve Clive Hutchinson with the restraining order and he wasn’t home. He also cruised by the minimart and the man who was working the counter said he hadn’t seen Clive in two days. And according to the store’s schedule, he won’t be in the rest of the week.”
Gordy had told me the same thing this afternoon before we’d gone off shift. He and the guys were rotating going to Clive’s house to serve him with the restraining order. I thought an official order was a tad overboard and we should’ve started with an unofficial visit to Clive’s home asking him to stop contacting me. I was overruled by every man in my life.
I will admit, it had pissed me off and I slipped back into queen bitch. Unfortunately, this no longer had any effect. My team had basically laughed it off. Luke didn’t laugh, he rolled his eyes. And when I continued to give him attitude he pulled me into his bedroom and commenced screwing my brains out. He’d done this muttering, “gonna fuck the sass right out of you, baby. You don’t like it, don’t be a bitch.”
Sadly, I liked it. This didn’t bode well for either of us. Luke because it wasn’t much of an incentive not to be a bitch if I got him rough and dirty. And me because I had zero chance of pulling out the bitchy attitude to get my way. He had my number, they all did. I’d pitched a fit but my heart hadn’t been in it. I was mad but I couldn’t begin to be mean to my friends. There was no ugliness when I told them to mind their own business and back off. And when they refused I had no recourse so I just gave in.
“Scheduled vacation?” Phoenix inquired.
“Not sure. Ethan stopped in this morning to give me an update on Jeff Shepard. Ethan’s spread thin but he’s gonna do some poking around tomorrow, go back to the store, see if he can get whoever’s working to give us more information. Problem is Hutchinson’s got no family, so his employees are all we got and they sympathize with him. They all worked with Penelope and loved her. So, getting them to talk about their boss is gonna be hard.”
Phoenix’s jaw was set firm and his posture read unhappy.
“Just to say, even if it takes a while before Clive can be served, Luke’s checking my mail. It’s not like I’ll know if Clive sends another letter. It’s all good, big brother. Stop worrying.”
My brother’s eyes narrowed and his mouth opened to say something but at that very moment, my pager shrilled.
Normally I would be grateful for the interruption before my brother went off on a tear. But right then, it sucked. I wanted to sit with the three out of the four most important people in my life and eat my burger in peace.
That wasn’t going to happen. I silenced the pager and pulled my vibrating phone out of my back pocket. When I saw the nine-one-one message I closed my eyes.
“I gotta go,” I mumbled. “Active shooter.”
I heard both my brothers mutter curses but I ignored them and turned to Luke.
“Sorry.”
Luke gave me a terse smile and leaned close to brush his lips on mine.
“I’ll walk you out.”
“No need. I gotta go, as in I actually have to run to my car.”
“Be safe, baby, and come home to me.”
God, I loved when Luke said that. And he said it every time I left.
“I’ll always come home to you,” I whispered.
“Go. My house when you’re done,” he ordered.
After one more lip touch, I stood and looked around the table.
“Love all you bossy men. Stay outta trouble while I’m gone.”
My brothers called their goodbyes which included their demand I be safe then I was out the door running to my car.
My heart was thumping in my chest.
Too close.
Too damn close.
“This shit’s gotta fucking end,” Gordy growled from my right.
I had to agree. Being shot at wasn’t my most favorite thing, even if I was mostly behind the ACP parked sideways in the shooter’s yard.
I didn’t get a chance to express this opinion to Gordy.
“Six-ten, you copy?” My captain’s call rang in my earpiece from the command van parked three houses down.
“Six-ten, go,” I returned.
“Take out those goddamn streetlights behind you.”
“Copy.”
Gordy dipped his chin and moved to cover me as I shifted and took aim.
My gloved finger slipped into the trigger guard, crosshairs dead center on the streetlight, then a volley of gunfire sounded off behind me and I flinched.
Fucking, fucking, shit.
“Get it, Sunny!” Gordy shouted.
On an inhale I lined back up, and on a natural, slow exhale I pressed the trigger. The light exploded and extinguished. As quickly as I could I took out the other three nearby and plunged the surrounding area into darkness.
More gunfire erupted as soon as I took my position and Gordy moved back to his original place.
It sounded like a goddamn warzone.
“Charlie team standby,” Cap came over the radio.
“About goddamn time,” Gordy grouched.
“Alpha team, that’s a no-go on the front door. You have a fatal funnel and no eyes. Brake and rake A-side windows. Standby.”
A moment later Valentine and Mereno were behind the ACP along with Chip and Riddle. Valentine’s rifle hung by the sling at his side and in his hands was the long metal pole he’d use to rake out the window. Riddle and Chip each held the riot shields in case Valentine needed cover.