“He ain’t working anymore,” I replied. “Why can’t we do it? Hell, I’ll do it.”
Cope lit a cigarette and shrugged as he stared out at the old house I’d been instructed to watch. “You’re right. But this is his problem. We tracked them and made sure he knew, because Benedetto takes care of his own. Captain might be out, but he’s still got blood on his hands for DeCarlo. We have his back, but he knows the kill is his responsibility.”
Seemed screwed-up to me. I still didn’t understand all the inner workings of this thing. What I did know was that DeCarlo wasn’t completely on the up and up. There was something else going on, other than offing men who deserved it. All I got was orders from Cope, and so far, I hadn’t been able to close a deal on my own.
“The girl you’re watching is who you need to focus on. We think she knows what we need. I’ll give you the details tomorrow. Tonight we end this for Cap.”
The job I was sent here for was getting more and more complicated. I wasn’t even sure what the details were yet. Just that there was a man we were searching for who had abducted a kid ten years ago and gotten away with it. I’d been told nothing more.
Cope reached for his phone and checked the screen. “He’s there. Alexa has armed him, and he’s going in. Let’s move that way in case he needs more backup,” Cope said, dropping the lit cigarette and stomping on it. He began moving toward the forest behind us.
“What about the house?” I asked, when I turned to follow him.
“Ain’t no one there of importance. Just needed you in a prime location, and I figured this would keep you busy,” he replied in a bored tone.
Fucker. He really was annoying as hell. I’d been out here watching this house for three hours and had about a million mosquito bites to show for it.
“When you planning on giving me more credit?” I asked, annoyed. Everyone was so scared of Cope, but he only killed those he was told to kill. He followed orders, same as everyone else.
“When you do the fucking job you’re given,” he replied, as he continued to move forward. “Now, shut the fuck up, and stop bitching like a woman. Focus. Cap might need us.”
I wanted to argue or at least call him a motherfucker, but I kept my mouth shut. I hadn’t actually been given a job that was easy. Being told to stalk my cousin’s sister was messed-up. Didn’t help that I’d already had my eyes on her before I signed on for all this shit. Nan was a hot piece of ass. But if she was fucking around with someone DeCarlo wanted, then she was in danger.
And I couldn’t even tell Mase about it if I wanted either of us to live.
Addy
After the most amazing morning of my life, I had woken up to Captain being distant and awkward. I hadn’t been expecting him to withdraw like that. When we were younger, we had become more attached every time we slept together. This experience was completely different.
His thoughts had been elsewhere. When he had given me an excuse that he had to get to work to deal with some things, his eyes said something else. I felt like I’d been given the brush-off. My stomach was twisted in a knot for the rest of the day.
Franny coming home had helped brighten things some. Having her talk about her day and hearing her laugh at her favorite television shows was a definite distraction. I didn’t have to work that night, and for that I was thankful. Facing Captain now seemed impossible.
I wasn’t sure what to say to him or even how to look at him. He had kissed me goodbye and said he’d call me soon. That was it. Then he’d just gotten out of here as fast as possible.
Franny’s constant talk about how much fun she’d had when he took her to school that morning didn’t help. When she finally stopped talking about him and started on her homework, I was relieved.
I focused on making dinner, even though I didn’t have an appetite. I hadn’t had one all day. There was no room in my stomach for anything but that knot he’d left there.
When Franny’s bedtime finally rolled around and I hadn’t even gotten a text from Captain, I was devastated. Smiling and tucking her in like my heart wasn’t slowly breaking open was hard, but I’d managed it.
It wasn’t until I knew she’d fallen asleep that I curled up on the sofa with my phone in my hand and let the first tear slowly fall. I knew he was busy, and I knew what his work was like, but I also knew that if he’d wanted to, he would have found a moment to at least text me something, anything. Anything at all would have been nice.
A knock at the door startled me, and I jumped up and wiped my eyes. Maybe it was Captain, and he’d come to see me and explain why he hadn’t called all day. I hurried over to the door and opened it, expecting Captain, but froze when an extremely tall and terrifying man, with the widest shoulders I’d ever seen, locked his cold, steel-blue eyes on me.
I gripped my phone tightly in my hand. I had no idea who this man was, but I had a feeling that I’d need the phone to dial 911. I wondered if I could do it fast enough.
“Stop hatching an escape plan. I’m not here to hurt you. Get your neighbor over there to watch your kid, and come with me. Captain needs you.”
What? I stared up at the man, wondering how he could be that attractive and scary as hell all at once. And how he knew about my neighbor and my kid.
“We need to go. Get your girl taken care of, and let’s move,” he said with authority.
“Excuse me, but who are you?” I asked, taking a step back, with my hand on the doorknob.
He sighed as if I was exhausting him. “Knew I should have sent Alexa,” he grumbled. Then, with an irritated glance, he pointed to the bedroom where Franny was sleeping. “Your daughter needs your neighbor to stay with her. I need to take you to the fucking hospital, because Captain had some bad shit go down tonight. When he wakes his ass up, he’s gonna want to see his woman. Now, would you please do as I tell you, and stop asking me a million damn questions?”
Two things I never wanted to hear in my life were “Captain” and “hospital” together in one sentence. Maybe it was stupidity, or maybe it was fear for Captain . . . or maybe I just couldn’t imagine that someone who wanted to harm me would talk to me like a disobedient child, but I pulled out my phone, keeping my eyes on the large man the whole time, and dialed Mrs. Baylor’s number.