“I’ll be back next week,” he whispers as another final warning alarm goes off and all the visitors start walking out of a door. “I’m gonna get you out of here, it’s all in the works.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I warn, my stomach rolling when I see the determination in his eyes.
“I’d never do that.” He grins, standing up and swaying toward me before he rights himself. “You’ll be out of here soon, Lex.” He stops for a beat before that grin makes an appearance again. “And back in my bed.”
I gasp as my hand flies up to my throat before he winks and walks backward, not taking his eyes off mine as he walks into a wall and curses.
I chuckle and shake my head as he lifts his hand in a wave and dips out of the door.
I hand the team the new earpieces in the back of the van, explaining to them that they record everything and have trackers inside. They’re all different colors for each person: Kitty’s is pink, Kay’s purple, Ty’s is green, Luke’s blue, Dean’s yellow, and mine is orange.
They all start to leave the van: Kay and Ty together, then Luke, and then Kitty and Dean together as they get into position.
I lean back in my seat, watching all of the screens through the surveillance that is being broadcasted live.
Being in the town that Lexi grew up in has a warm sensation running through my veins. I want to be able to go to all of the places that she used to go to. See the house she grew up in, see where she went to school. But most of all, I want it to be Lexi that shows me them.
It’s been a week since I saw her in the prison, and although she looks a lot better than she did when she left the hospital, I still don’t feel like she’s safe.
All I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and tell her that it would all be okay, but instead I had to sit across from her and not touch her. It killed me to stare at her skin that I knew would be silky smooth and not run the pads of my fingers over it, knowing that goose bumps would rise from my touch.
“In position,” Kitty says over the line. I look at the camera and see her and Dean sitting outside of a coffee shop.
“In position,” Luke says, stretching out and jogging on the spot outside the steps of the courthouse that we’re parked by.
“In position,” Ty says, his arms wrapped around Kay.
They all look like normal people, nothing giving them away that they’re here to be part of a takedown to aid the police department.
We didn’t know who was on Aaron’s payroll or under his thumb at first, but when we figured out that it was the majority of people apart from a couple of sergeants, we had to be part of the takedown so that he wouldn’t get wind of it. If he knew what was happening we knew he’d either shut it right down using his connections, or disappear.
My heart hammers in my chest as I watch the camera that is directed at the door to the courthouse, waiting for him to come out.
It didn’t take much to find all of the evidence against him, all of the payments that he received into offshore accounts for doing people “favors.” He left a trail that he should have covered, not that any normal person would have been able to find that trail. But I’m not a normal person, and I’d do anything for the people I love.
That added with the phone calls that I have recorded gave us more than enough evidence to bring him down. My fists clench as I think about Darrell. He’s in the wind, disappeared just like he did all of those years ago, only now he’s going after Daley. Getting in touch with Daley wasn’t easy, he’s dark again but Kay got a message to her brother, Corey, who said he would pass it on.
I only hope that whatever Darrell is doing won’t come back to bite us all on our asses.
A woman walks past Luke, pushing a stroller and my stomach drops. I haven’t told the guys about Lexi being pregnant. There isn’t a big reason behind it, only that I want her to be there standing beside me when we tell everyone. Pop and Dad know, but they're the only people.
I watch as the woman leans down and fusses over the baby; I can’t help the surge of adrenaline that zaps through me. That will be Lexi soon: she’ll be pushing a stroller and tending to our baby. Our baby.
“Got eyes,” Luke says and my gaze flits back to the doors of the courthouse on the screen. I get ready to jump out of the van as I watch Kitty and Dean stand up.
This is it. This is the start of getting Lexi out of that place and back into my arms.
Aaron is looking down at his cell, his brow furrowing before he looks up, pushing his shoulders back and walking down the steps of the courthouse. I wait until he’s halfway down and then push out of the back of the van, drawing up to my full height.
Jogging across the road, I head right for him.
“Hey, asshole,” I growl.
He startles for a second but quickly covers up his shock and smirks.
“If it isn’t the slut’s boyfriend.” My nostrils flare at his words but I tell myself to keep cool. It won’t serve anyone if I knock him out. He looks around, seeing no one else, thinking that he’s safe. If only he knew. “What do you want, huh? You’re in my territory, I can get you arrested for harassment and put in a hole just like your little girlfriend.”
Hole. I push past his choice of words, not willing to let him see how much that affected me. Though he wouldn’t know why.