Black Dawn (35 page)

He twisted the handle, cracking the door open, then he looked at Lexi. “Stay in the hall until the cops get here. Okay?”

“No—”

“Damn it, Lex.”

“Parker,” Meredith cut in. “He’s banging so hard, the door’s going to break.”

Lexi’s eyes searched the front door as if she could see through it. “I’m going inside too.”

“No—”

“Can you hear me?” Meredith whispered. “He stopped. Everything’s quiet.”

“Tell her we’re coming.” Lexi pushed against the door.

Shit. She was going to do whatever she wanted anyway. “Stay behind me, Lex.”

“Okay.”

“I’m walking in.” But as he said the words, he could tell the phone call had ended. Damn. He slipped the phone into his pocket and withdrew his sidearm. He heard Matt storming back down a hallway that fed blindly into the kitchen. “Get your sister, get out. Wait for the cops.”

“Okay.”

Parker stole toward the kitchen, and Lexi went in the opposite direction. His eyes swept for Matt. Parker had only been in the apartment once before, to meet her sister and scoop up Bacon, but it was oddly laid out. There were alcoves that worried him. He rounded the corner, and damn it, Matt wasn’t there.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

“It’s me,” Lexi said, tapping on the walk-in closet door. “Mere, open up.”

The closet door pulled wide, and her sister tentatively peeked out.

“Come on—”

“
Peaches
.”

Everything in the room turned sideways at the sound of Matt’s drunk voice. Lexi stared at Meredith’s wide eyes, but she snapped to. The ladies jumped into the closet, trying to slam the door.

Matt snatched it before it latched. Lexi tried to shut him out while Meredith shouted for him to go away. Somewhere nearby, Parker surely had to hear what was going on. Matt’s arm snaked into the open space, past Lexi, and hooked onto Meredith. His fingers bit into her hair, and he pulled her through the slice of open door, forcing Lexi to let go in surprise.

“No!”

With a shove, he threw Meredith down. Her sister stumbled face first as Parker burst into the room.

“Help!” Lexi called as Matt’s fist connected with her temple. The world exploded. She lost her bearings and fell back, fighting against the spinning stars and tink of metal hangers falling on her.

Matt pushed her into the closet and slammed the door, making more hangers clink and clamor around them. Her ex hovered over her, his hand extended as though he wanted to help her up. “I didn’t mean to do that, Lex.”

She scooted back until she hit the wall, watching him twist the lock on the door. “Are you insane?”

“Open up!” Parker slammed a fist on the door. “Swear to Christ, Matt, if I come in, you’re not walking out.”

Matt swayed on his feet. “You’re all the time causin’ me to do shit that I wouldn’t do unless you push me, peaches.”

“You broke into Mere’s!”

“I used the key.” He shrugged, drunk and disinterested. “We needed to talk. It’s time for you to come home.”

“I don’t want to be with you! I’ve
never
wanted to be with you. This”—she bounced her finger between them—“isn’t how you have a relationship. You need help, Matt. For a lot of things.”

“Oh, fuck you, goddamn overreacting bitch.”

She threw out her arms. “You have me trapped in my sister’s closet.”

“Back up, Lex,” Parker shouted through the door. “You good?”

Well, not if he was going to shoot through the damn thing. “Yeah!”

Matt’s face contorted. “Don’t talk to him—”

The door exploded as Parker plowed through, knocking Matt over. Parker drilled his fists into Matt, then Parker grabbed Lexi and pushed her out of the closet.

Matt staggered up. “Dick.”

Parker pinned her with a look. “Girls. Hall. Now.” Then he pivoted.

“Let’s go, Lex.”

As Meredith dragged her out the door, Lexi turned, taking a last glance back. Parker had the barrel of a gun under her ex’s chin.
Oh shit.

***

“If it isn’t Prince Charming,” Matt stupidly said with the bad-news end of a Glock shoved under his jaw. “Who’d you come here for: Lex or Mere? Moved from one sister to the next? Classy, bro. Class-ss-y.”

“Dude, you are so far gone, you’re not worth the damn bullet.”

“Aw, fuck you,” Matt slurred, blood running out of his nose and the corner of his mouth.

Parker pulled back from the kill shot but didn’t relax enough to take his aim off Matt. “We’re going to come to an understanding before the cops get here. This is your one chance to fix your life before you ruin it any more than you’ve done.”

“Nah.” Matt threw his shoulders back and stumbled into hanging clothes. “Mere’s gonna tell Lexi it’s time to come home. She’s done with you, cocksucker.”

The angry pulse of his blood thumped in his ears. “I could explain that you lost her, that you should rot for ever having touched her like you did.” Parker shook his head, molars gnashing. “But I’m going to do you one worse.”

Matt cackled, wiping his bloody mouth with the back of his hand. “Yeah, try me.”

“You’ve
never
had her. She’s been mine for
years
, and you didn’t know. Might not be in a way you’ll ever get, but I do. And that”—he pushed Matt—“is why she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. So thank you, you motherfucking asshole, for screwing up the way you did. Because she loves me.” Parker pushed him again.

Matt made a feeble attempt to push back, and Parker nailed him with his free hand, landing a solid left hook, and dropped the bastard.

“Summerland County police, stand down.”

About damn time. Two uniformed officers were in Parker’s peripheral vision.

“Sir, put the weapon down,” an officer said.

Matt staggered up, fortified by the presence of cops.

“No problem.” Parker laid the gun by his foot and kicked it back. “But real quick. One more thing.” His fist flew, knocking Matt back onto his ass. Parker put his hands in the air. “Alright, now I’m done.”

“Back up.”

Parker did as he was told.

Matt moved, and both cops clamored, “Stay down. Sir, stay down.”

But the uniforms’ attention was on Parker’s Glock. Parker turned to leave and saw Meredith peeking into the bedroom as he came out of the closet.

“Thank you,” she said as her sister rushed by.

“Sure thing.” He grabbed Lexi as she jumped into his arms. “Sweetheart, you okay?”

“Yes.” Her lips planted on his.

“Ladies, sir, living room,” the older officer said. “We’ll need to talk.”

The other officer had Matt in handcuffs and on his feet, pushing him past them.

“Fuck you, stupid bitches.”

The cop shook him. “Shut up, man.”

With Lexi still in his arms, Parker growled at Matt, “Never come near them again.”

“Sir!” the older cop snapped at him.

“Right, right.” He nodded. “Living room, let’s go.” Parker set Lexi down, and they followed Meredith.

There was a brief struggle at the apartment door as Matt decided to resist, but the younger cop yanked his arms back and left with Matt cussing.

The older uniform watched until the door shut then shook his head. “Alright, whose apartment is this?”

The next few minutes were a recounting of everything from Matt using the key under the mat to Parker knocking in the closet door. The ladies bounced back and forth as they told their opinions and explained how the events had unfolded.

With his lips pressed into a firm line, the officer stared at his small notebook then flipped it closed. “You’d like to press charges?”

Both women answered in unison, “Yes.”

“And…” Lexi pushed her shoulders back and raised her chin as though she were readying for a fight. “I kept a diary of things I want him in trouble for as well. I have pictures too.”

Parker cringed inwardly that she’d ever had to do that, but it didn’t surprise him that she’d kept details. He put his arms around Lexi and dropped his chin on the top of her head. “Whatever you want to do, we’ll get it done.”

The officer nodded. “A lot goes unprosecuted because of a lack of documentation. That will help.”

Relief spread on Lexi’s face.

As Meredith fell into conversation with the officer, Parker gathered Lexi in his arms, pressed his mouth to her ear, and promised her the world, ending simply with, “I love you.”

“Oh, hey,” Meredith said. “Since you’re here, you should grab what’s left of Lex’s things to take home.”

Lexi’s face turned bright pink. “His home isn’t my home, Mere!”

He laughed. That again. Except she was kind of right. He looked around at Meredith’s place, full of not-overly-girly touches that made the place look as though a woman was invested in everything within the walls. Lex deserved that—they deserved that and more.

“Yeah, we’ll grab the box, and whatever you have over at your old place while Matt’s otherwise detained, then we’ll figure it out.” He dropped a kiss on the top of Lexi’s head. “Lex thinks she’s going to scare me away with a box of clothes and digging her roots into my house.”

Meredith’s protective, sisterly gaze narrowed. “Is she?”

“Not a chance. Where’s the box?” The girls chatted away as he formed his plan about housing. Lexi would either freak out or love it. And even if she freaked, she’d love it five minutes later, so all would be good.

CHAPTER FIFTY

Boss Man grumbled from across the table as Cash and Roman tossed the football back and forth. Nicola, Sugar, and Beth sprinted, field stripping and reassembling AR-15s, timing themselves to see who was better. It was very, very competitive, and pretty damn entertaining to see their pregnant bellies pushed against the table as they raced. Winters was asleep on the floor with Thelma the bulldog lying across his legs and Bacon snoring on his chest. But Lexi’s eyes were locked on the main flat screen, almost unmoving for the last thirty minutes.

Their group was chained to the war room, waiting to see if the malware Lexi had activated worked. They’d had a ping from the DIA that it was moving through the ARO system but then nothing. So they were waiting and watching.

Parker’s chest felt tight. A lot was riding on whether it worked or not. Even if it didn’t, they had broken up a terrorist cell hiding in plain sight in the middle of Pennsylvania Dutch country. Which, obviously, was a great thing. But if the malware did work, they’d gain access to worldwide information on the ARO. That was a big deal. It could save a hundred times the number of lives, civilian and soldier alike.

“Think fast!” Roman snapped the ball at the girls.

Nicola jumped up and snagged it, having a sense that the football was incoming. Call it a brotherly-sisterly vibe. Whatever it was, she moved fast. “Like you’d catch me off guard.” She tossed it back.

Roman threw to Cash, who tossed it back to Nic. She snagged it, spun her pregnant belly around, and lofted it back at her husband.

“Easy there, princess.” Jared paced. “You’re liable to pull something with moves like that.”

“Oh.” She doubled over. “Damn.”

“Haha, very funny.”

“No—ow, damn it.” Nicola’s eyes latched onto Cash, who jumped over a chair before Parker could wonder if she wasn’t faking it.

“Nic?” Concern painted her husband’s voice.

“No, God.” She shook her head, waving him off. “I moved too fast. Baby must’ve—shit.” She doubled over. “I need to sit.”

“Nothing’s wrong. You’re okay.” Cash held her shoulders, easing his not-quite-at-her-due-date wife into a chair. He nodded at Roman, who sprung wheels and sped out the door, no doubt to get a vehicle ready. The room was oddly quiet as worry hung heavy between them.

Beth pressed her phone to her ear, likely calling their shared doctor. Those two shared everything. She whispered into the cell, eyeballing her best friend. After a minute, she hung up. “Cash?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Doc says head in.”

Without a word, he swept Nicola into his arms and headed across the room. Beth ran in front, getting the door as they went. It all happened so fast, Parker couldn’t register the magnitude of something going wrong.

Winters was up and leaning against the wall. Sugar had her hand over her swollen stomach. Parker’s eyes landed on Lexi. There was something innate about knowing she was his family. They might not be at that place in life—maybe their future would never be about babies and things like that. He didn’t know, hadn’t talked to her about it. But what he did know was he wanted to have that conversation. Wanted to figure out what they wanted, more than playing house, and he’d thrown together ideas that constituted one hell of a plan. Tonight, assuming they weren’t visiting a happy newborn in the arms of its parents, Parker would show Lex what he’d spent the recent days planning.