Better When He's Brave
Page 71
I growled because I couldn’t help in, and my fist flew out of its own accord and smacked into his cheek. His entire head cranked to the side and he took a step toward me vibrating with rage as I shook out my now throbbing knuckles. “What’s the rest?”
He worked his jaw back and forth and lifted his fingers to poke at his now red and swollen cheek.
“As soon as Zero was in the building, I got a call from a blocked number. I knew by the accent it was Roark. He told me he always rewarded a job well done. He offered me three hundred thousand for letting Zero in and another ten thousand if I agreed to lure you to him. I told him it was a deal.”
“Were you supposed to bring me here?” My mind was already spinning. I needed backup. I needed more firepower. I needed to calm down because I had to do my job when all I wanted to do was shoot first. I couldn’t believe Roark was finally close enough to touch, and I really wanted to knock Booker around some more.
“He didn’t say. He gave me a number to call once I had the package secured.” He lifted an eyebrow at me. “You’re the package, cop.”
I snorted. “I figured that. So what? We pound the hell out of one another and then you throw me in the back of the truck and take me to some secret location? What’s to prevent Roark from putting a bullet in both of us the second we arrive? That’s what I would do in his shoes.”
Booker shook his head again. “I’m telling you he has a majorly sick and twisted thing for your girl. He wants you to suffer and he wants her to know you are suffering because of her. As for me . . . that’s just a risk I’m gonna have to take.”
I snorted again. “It’s a stupid one. If he kills you, then you aren’t a threat and he doesn’t have to pay you. You’re a dead man.”
“So be it. It’s the only way to end this.”
“I need to call for backup. We can’t try for a takedown alone.” I was regretting not calling the station the second I left the house. Part of me had to make sure I finally finished the puzzle. Finally had all the pieces in place before I called. I was tired of being a pawn. It was time to be the king.
“No more cops. If he knows it’s more than us, he’ll just sink back underground and we’ll never get a shot at him. Remember, he was a cop. He doesn’t play by the rules, so he’ll know what to expect. He has the entire police station wired. He’s been watching you guys scramble around to find him and he’s laughing at all of you. Video, sound . . . he knows every move you make. He’s fucking everywhere. We’re all fortunate Novak didn’t hand him the reins . . . I think he knew the guy would’ve killed him off just to be number one. He’s insane.”
“So we just roll in like Butch and Sundance? You know they died at the end of that movie, right? This is a terrible plan, Booker. You think you’re gonna get a shot off before he does?”
“Well, it’s the only plan I got and I only need one shot to make it count. You need to let me kick your ass some more, cuff you up and toss you in the truck. Your phone has to go since it can be used to track where you are. I’m supposed to toss mine too after he gives me the location. I’m telling you the guy thinks of all the angles. He even told me to disable the LoJack in your GTO so that it couldn’t be tracked.”
I swore, dropping every dirty, ugly word I could think of while trying to come up with some kind of a plan. Nothing was clicking. Booker was right, Roark was too good at this game. I shoved my hand through my hair. I had asked Reeve to offer herself as bait since the very beginning of this game. It was now my turn to hang myself out there like a worm on a hook. If she was strong enough to do it, brave enough to risk her neck time and time again, then I could be too. I could do it for her, to prove I was worthy of her strength and her bravery. “Fine. Let’s go get shot. But I need to call Reeve and tell her what’s going on. If we don’t make it back from this . . .” I trailed off. If I didn’t make it back she was going to wrap herself in vengeance and the need for blood. She was going to go back to where she had been before she came to me, and feel like it was her sworn duty to take Roark down to avenge me. I couldn’t let that happen. She’d just gotten her soul back where it belonged. I couldn’t be the reason she lost it again.
She answered on the first ring sounding breathless and scared. “Hey. It’s me.” I didn’t let her speak before launching into what I was doing and the role Booker played in it all. I could tell she was crying by the time I was done talking.
“That’s a terrible plan.” Her voice was husky with tears.
“I know, but what choice do I have?”
She was silent for a long moment. “You can give me to him instead.”
I barked out a laugh that had no humor in it. “No. I can’t.” She was crazy if she thought that was still an option after everything we had fought through to get to more.
“You have to be okay, Titus. I can’t be here, I can’t be someone good without you.” That made my heart feel like it weighed a thousand pounds.
“Don’t be good, then. Just be you, Reeve. Don’t worry because you know what they say, you can’t keep a good man down.” She was crying in earnest now and I could almost taste every single tear through the phone. “It has to end, you know that.”
She sniffled a little. “I should be the one to finish it. I’m the one he really wants to hurt. I should be able to take care of you, Titus.”
“You already have, so much better than anyone else ever did.” I should tell her I loved her but it felt wrong, cheap. She needed to hear the words when there wasn’t a very strong chance that it was the only time I was going to be around to say them. “Trust me, and my initial order stands: if you don’t hear from me in an hour, call the marshals and tell them where I’m at.”
I hung up as she was sobbing my name. I took the battery out of my phone and handed it to Booker. He dropped the device to the ground and smashed it under the heel of his boot. I unclipped my gun from my belt and handed that over as well. He pointed to my ankle and stood there watching me while I bent down and released my backup weapon. I pulled my badge off my belt and tucked it into my pocket.
“Let me disable the antitheft device on the car and I’ll grab my cuffs from the glove box.”
I didn’t want anyone else to put their hands on my baby. I just hoped that whatever happened, someone got her back to Bax in one piece. She deserved better than being left abandoned in this wasteland. I scooted under the frame and tugged on the wires that would send out the location signal should I need to find her if the pretty machine ever went missing. I also fished my handcuffs out of the glove compartment and handed them over to the other man. He tossed them up and then caught them with his hand with a smirk.
He worked his jaw back and forth and lifted his fingers to poke at his now red and swollen cheek.
“As soon as Zero was in the building, I got a call from a blocked number. I knew by the accent it was Roark. He told me he always rewarded a job well done. He offered me three hundred thousand for letting Zero in and another ten thousand if I agreed to lure you to him. I told him it was a deal.”
“Were you supposed to bring me here?” My mind was already spinning. I needed backup. I needed more firepower. I needed to calm down because I had to do my job when all I wanted to do was shoot first. I couldn’t believe Roark was finally close enough to touch, and I really wanted to knock Booker around some more.
“He didn’t say. He gave me a number to call once I had the package secured.” He lifted an eyebrow at me. “You’re the package, cop.”
I snorted. “I figured that. So what? We pound the hell out of one another and then you throw me in the back of the truck and take me to some secret location? What’s to prevent Roark from putting a bullet in both of us the second we arrive? That’s what I would do in his shoes.”
Booker shook his head again. “I’m telling you he has a majorly sick and twisted thing for your girl. He wants you to suffer and he wants her to know you are suffering because of her. As for me . . . that’s just a risk I’m gonna have to take.”
I snorted again. “It’s a stupid one. If he kills you, then you aren’t a threat and he doesn’t have to pay you. You’re a dead man.”
“So be it. It’s the only way to end this.”
“I need to call for backup. We can’t try for a takedown alone.” I was regretting not calling the station the second I left the house. Part of me had to make sure I finally finished the puzzle. Finally had all the pieces in place before I called. I was tired of being a pawn. It was time to be the king.
“No more cops. If he knows it’s more than us, he’ll just sink back underground and we’ll never get a shot at him. Remember, he was a cop. He doesn’t play by the rules, so he’ll know what to expect. He has the entire police station wired. He’s been watching you guys scramble around to find him and he’s laughing at all of you. Video, sound . . . he knows every move you make. He’s fucking everywhere. We’re all fortunate Novak didn’t hand him the reins . . . I think he knew the guy would’ve killed him off just to be number one. He’s insane.”
“So we just roll in like Butch and Sundance? You know they died at the end of that movie, right? This is a terrible plan, Booker. You think you’re gonna get a shot off before he does?”
“Well, it’s the only plan I got and I only need one shot to make it count. You need to let me kick your ass some more, cuff you up and toss you in the truck. Your phone has to go since it can be used to track where you are. I’m supposed to toss mine too after he gives me the location. I’m telling you the guy thinks of all the angles. He even told me to disable the LoJack in your GTO so that it couldn’t be tracked.”
I swore, dropping every dirty, ugly word I could think of while trying to come up with some kind of a plan. Nothing was clicking. Booker was right, Roark was too good at this game. I shoved my hand through my hair. I had asked Reeve to offer herself as bait since the very beginning of this game. It was now my turn to hang myself out there like a worm on a hook. If she was strong enough to do it, brave enough to risk her neck time and time again, then I could be too. I could do it for her, to prove I was worthy of her strength and her bravery. “Fine. Let’s go get shot. But I need to call Reeve and tell her what’s going on. If we don’t make it back from this . . .” I trailed off. If I didn’t make it back she was going to wrap herself in vengeance and the need for blood. She was going to go back to where she had been before she came to me, and feel like it was her sworn duty to take Roark down to avenge me. I couldn’t let that happen. She’d just gotten her soul back where it belonged. I couldn’t be the reason she lost it again.
She answered on the first ring sounding breathless and scared. “Hey. It’s me.” I didn’t let her speak before launching into what I was doing and the role Booker played in it all. I could tell she was crying by the time I was done talking.
“That’s a terrible plan.” Her voice was husky with tears.
“I know, but what choice do I have?”
She was silent for a long moment. “You can give me to him instead.”
I barked out a laugh that had no humor in it. “No. I can’t.” She was crazy if she thought that was still an option after everything we had fought through to get to more.
“You have to be okay, Titus. I can’t be here, I can’t be someone good without you.” That made my heart feel like it weighed a thousand pounds.
“Don’t be good, then. Just be you, Reeve. Don’t worry because you know what they say, you can’t keep a good man down.” She was crying in earnest now and I could almost taste every single tear through the phone. “It has to end, you know that.”
She sniffled a little. “I should be the one to finish it. I’m the one he really wants to hurt. I should be able to take care of you, Titus.”
“You already have, so much better than anyone else ever did.” I should tell her I loved her but it felt wrong, cheap. She needed to hear the words when there wasn’t a very strong chance that it was the only time I was going to be around to say them. “Trust me, and my initial order stands: if you don’t hear from me in an hour, call the marshals and tell them where I’m at.”
I hung up as she was sobbing my name. I took the battery out of my phone and handed it to Booker. He dropped the device to the ground and smashed it under the heel of his boot. I unclipped my gun from my belt and handed that over as well. He pointed to my ankle and stood there watching me while I bent down and released my backup weapon. I pulled my badge off my belt and tucked it into my pocket.
“Let me disable the antitheft device on the car and I’ll grab my cuffs from the glove box.”
I didn’t want anyone else to put their hands on my baby. I just hoped that whatever happened, someone got her back to Bax in one piece. She deserved better than being left abandoned in this wasteland. I scooted under the frame and tugged on the wires that would send out the location signal should I need to find her if the pretty machine ever went missing. I also fished my handcuffs out of the glove compartment and handed them over to the other man. He tossed them up and then caught them with his hand with a smirk.
