Lucky 13 (Deadlines & Diamonds) (24 page)

“Got it.”

“Okay, come on
.
”

Ricky knew the moment Matt saw his mother’s face. His shoulders stiffened then set. “
Hey, sexy mama.”

Shayne laughed and then coughed. And coughed. Ricky hustled over
,
worried a lung—or a toe—might come up with the next
hack.
She
shoo
ed him away. “Okay.” Cough. Cough. “I’m okay.” She patted her chest. Cough.
She waved at Matt. “Really okay.”

“What happened, Mom?”

She laid back against the pillows and sighed. And actually looked like she might answer the question. This time. It shouldn’t piss Ricky off that she’d all but refused when he queried. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying something he might regret.

Turned out the self-restraint wasn’t needed. A knock preceded the entrance of two police officers. “We’d like to get your statement now.”

As soon as the tap on the door sounded, Shayne opened her eyes and started the shuffle of getting herself more upright. She smil
ed at the officers. “Okay. But
don’t want
…
him…
here.”

For a
sickening heartbea
t, Ricky’d thought she meant
him, but she pointed at Matt.

“No, Mom, I’m old enough—”

She shook her head. “Out. Please.”

Matt began to protest again. Ricky put the kibosh on it by a jerk of the head and a hand on his shoulder. He
leaned
down to whisper in the kid’s ear. “It’s better this way. Go hang with X for a while. If there’s anything you need to know, I’ll tell you.”

Matt’s hazels narrowed. “Promise?”

Ricky dipped his chin. “Promise.”

Matt opened the door and ducked out into the hall. Ricky turned. “Let’s do this.” It was about damn time he learned what happened to his wife.

“I’m Detective Black and this is my partner—”

“Detective White.” The big guy with a brush cut extended his hand. “We’ve heard ‘em all.”

Ricky shook the man’s hand, too numb to
find humor at the partner
s
’
names.

Black went over and
sat
in the chair next to Shayne’s bed. “We’ve lis
tened to the nine-one-one tape. We’ve watched the prison surveillance and read the transcript of the conversation…”

911 tapes.
Prison surveillance. Transcripts. What the hell?

He watched Shayne. She fidgeted, folded the sheets into pleats. The words obvio
usly made her uncomfortable.

“We have a pretty good idea of what happened,” White told her. “But we need to hear your side of things. Can you do that?”

She no
dded, then went about to disclose
a rape
..
.

His jaw clenched, his molars cranking closed. Fury
blazed white-hot, scorching him from the inside out.

A
conception
…

Matt
. His stomach churned with compassion.

A convicted felon
..
.

The murderous rage he’d felt when he thought the bastard had left her high-and-dry was nothing to the lethal aggression consuming him now.

Until she talked about her trip to the prison. To see the
asshole
. Accompanied by…Xavier.

Sonofabitch!

“They broke through the back door. I ran. He tackled me. I fought
,” she sobbed, “I fought as hard as I could, but they knocked me out
.”
She
then
tied
up the little
fairytale with the bastards putting her in the bathtub and turning on the water.

Ricky couldn’t breathe. He put his hands on his knees, leaned over and gasped like a fish. Instead of the detectives caudling his ass, they pretended he hadn’t flipped into a full-fledged, balls-in-a-vise panic attack.

“You’ll be happy to know we have
all three of
them in custody.”

“Three? There were only—”

“Isabelle Boreno.
”
Black patted her leg through t
he blankets. “From what we can tell, she was the head of the operation.”

“The theatre.” Panic choked Ricky.

White nodded. “Yeah. She’s in custody and should go away for a very long time.
We’ll keep you apprised of the situation as it progresses.”

The officers each shook his hand. Not that Ricky had anything to offer in return. Numb. Lost. Dumbfounded. Pissed!
  

As the door closed behind them, Ricky took hold of the anger and stomped over to
the
chair. He stood behind it, putting his hands on t
he back. “Care to explain to me?
”

“What’s to explain?” S
he coughed. “Told them. You heard
.”

Stone cold anger turned his blood to ice. “Yeah, I heard every
sonofabitchin’
word.
How dare you keep something like this from me?”

“Sorry, busy getting murdered.” More coughing.

“Don’t give me that shit!” He slapped his hand on the back of the chair. “I’m talking about the other stuff. I never would have insisted on adopting Matt if I’d known that man would have to be made aware of him. I’m going to have X’s balls for this.”

He turned his back on her
, stalked over to the window and looked outside. “What else are you keeping from me, Shayne?”

“Nothing.”

His shoulders couldn’t hold his head another moment. It dropped, his forehead coming to rest on the cool glass. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. “I thought we could talk about anything.”

“We can.”

“Bull
shit.” Weary, he turned back to face her. She wiped at her cheeks, but he was too near tears himself to care. “How could you put yourself—” He shook his head. “—my son—”

“He’s not your son!” she screamed and began to cough.

He wasn’t sure which hurt worse, the words gouging at his eardrums or the ice cold dose of reality
pierc
ing his heart.

Her message, delivered loud and clear, came without a chance of stamping it return-to-sender. He blinked. And got the hell out before she
found her voice again
.

***

Shayne fought the urge to scream her head off. She might have tried it if she hadn’t feared triggering another episode of coughs she couldn’t control. She hated being alone, in the quiet. She’d tried the TV, but couldn’t stand the monotony of reality shows and nighttime soap operas. Her life had pulled out all the stops. Her reality check had almost killed her.

Since walking out of her room nearly three hours ago, Ricky had been MIA. From what she’d gathered from Matt and the black eye X wore, Ricky muttered a few curse words, cold cocked her brother and stomped off.

Matt wen
t home with Xavier and Frankie, which was for the best. Despite Ricky’s whereabouts, it wasn’t
like their home was inhabitable at the moment anyway. Their home. Ha. Did she even have a home anymore? If the roles were reversed she wasn’t sure she could ever forgive Ricky. She’d lied to him. Big time. She kinda wished her brother were here so she could curse at him herself. She hated that he was so very right.

Exhaustion enveloped her. She decided to channel her inner Scarlett O’Hara and worry about her problems tomorrow. She closed her eyes, praying the nightmares would resist the need to bother her tonight.

26

Shayne wasn’t sure what pulled her out of her slumber, but her calm and collected assured her it wasn’t a nightmare. She opened her eye
s. And screamed.

“It’s okay,”
the looming shadow said. “It’s me.”

“I thought…you’d…
left.” Dang, her throat hurt.

“I’m pissed, Shayne. I’m not
gonna front. Seriously, frickin’
pissed.” He dropped down into the chair. “But I’m not leaving.” He didn’t clarify or quantify the statement. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Matt went home with—”

“X, I know. I talked to him a little while ago.” He rubbed his face. “Go back to sleep.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But—”

His fingers ran through his hair. “If you don’t shut up right now, I’ll leave until you’re out cold. Your choice.”

“I’m shutting…
up now.” She coughed a bit.

“Do you need a drink?”

She only nodded, not taking the chance of the question being a trick one.

He smiled. “Good girl.”
Bracing his hands on the armrests, he lifted his big body out of the chair. He kissed her cheek, a tender press of his lips to her tender wounds.
“Go to sleep. I’ll be here in the morning.”

True to his word,
she woke the next morning to find Ricky asleep in the chair, his head and shoulders resting on her bed, his hand on her leg. She didn’t know what the future held for them, but was pretty sure some serious mending needed to happen. Dammit, she was all out of duct tape and chewing gum. But, she did have some household twine and bailing wire.

With a single finger
,
she traced over the tattoos on his forearm. He’d told her the stories of some of them, but not all. Not yet.

The door opened and the nurse bumbled in with her breakfast. Ricky sat up with a jerk. He rubbed at his eyes. Sh
ayn
e smiled. He didn’t. She frowned. His face shifted into neutral.

Shayne didn’t pay much attention to the nurse as she settled the breakfast on the rolling tray
over
her
lap
. The only thing on her mind:
Ricky.

She so
badly wanted to climb into a DeL
orean, put the pedal to the floor and hit her eighty-eight miles an hour.
After the flash and she skidded to a stop, s
he’d tell Ricky everything. From the very beginning. Okay, maybe not
the
very beginning. D
amn X to hell, her brother had been right.

Her mistake
,
no matter how good her
intentions, may have
cost he
r the man she loved. Cost her thei
r marriage.

After the nurse left the room on her squeaky white shoes, Ricky cleared his throat. She prepared for battle. Actually, she readied herself for surrender.

“Ricky, I—”

“Yeah, um, I’m gonna take off.” He stood
,
lifted his arm up and bent it behind his back. “Grab a shower and check on Matt.”

“Okay.” Not wanting to fall apart, she locked her jaw and her emotions. “Will you—”

“According to the doctor, you’re set to be discharged later today. As long as all your tests come back okay.” He walked toward the door. Her heart clenched. He paused, turned around. Almost. “I’ll be back to take you home if that’s where you still want to go.” He blinked a couple of times. And left.

***

Good hell
, he’d
really
like his mancard back!

Ricky ran the back of his hand over his eyes. He’
d turned into a
damned
pussy! She’d done this to him.
Kane
always said women lived to bring men to their knees. Ricky’d called him a hater. Now, he had to agree.

Shayne had
most definitely
brought him to his knees. Hell, forget his knees, he wanted to curl up in a ball and cry like a baby. His wife, his
very reason for living
,
refused to
talk to him. He’d asked her so many damn times what was wrong
. He’d felt the distance.
And that single day roadtrip had turned into a freakin’ jaunt around the world.

Walking through the hallways of the hospital, he wanted to take off on a sprint. Unfortunately, every little old lady in all of Nevad
a felt the need to try out her
new cane or insist she could wheel her chair her “own damn self”.

Ricky got off the elevator and took the straight shot out the front doors. The
other side of this effed up
coin just happened to be twelve years old and even more messed up in the head.

Last night on the phone,
Matt sounded just as confused as he should be. Ricky wanted to step in and do the dad thing, offer comfort he didn’t feel, but he wasn’t sure where things stood. The two were attached already. Ricky couldn’t bear to lose Matt. He was pretty damned sure Matt felt the same way.

Some things, though, were out of their control. Shayne called the shots on this little merry-go-round.

Grateful for the solitude of his truck
,
he cranked the radio and allowed Pitbull to dull his senses, his feelings
. He lost himself in
the thump, cranking the tunes s
o loud he’d be surprised if he didn’t hop home instead of drive.

He turned onto the pavers of his driveway and frowned at the cars.
Dammit,
couldn’t they understand he wanted to be
alone?
He didn’t need Mason’s calm reason or Kane’s I-told-you-so or Xavier’s give-her-time.

He reached up to hit the garage door opener, then eased into his spot. He turned off the radio, itching to scream to fill the silence. His frayed seams were ready to come apart. Last thing he needed was to lose it in front of those three guys.

The garage door opened and Matt stuck his head out. He smiled, a big ass grin that had Ricky’s chest tightening. Matt waved. Ricky returned the gesture, reached for the door and got out.

“Hey.” Matt came out to greet him with a weird hug, like he wanted the contact
,
but didn’t quite know how to pull it off. He stepped back, all awkward teenager. “I thought I heard the door go up. Mom okay?”

“Yeah, she’s…
okay.” That’s what
the tests said anyway.
“I really need a shower and wanted to clean up the place so your mom can…” He couldn’t say the words. He wasn’t sure whether or not Shayne still considered this her home. Besides
,
after
what happened here, he wouldn’t be surprised if she took her son and left.

The train came. The whistle blew. And he couldn’t get his car off the damn track.

You know what?
Screw
this! He’d done nothing wrong. He’d been a dam
n good husband for the whole freakin’
three months they’d been man and wife. He’d been a great father to Matt and if she left, it’d be
her
frickin’
loss!

So why’d his chest
feel like it caved in on itself?

H
e followed Matt inside
. He’d not been home si
nce leaving to go to the movies
…

Wow,
it seemed like forever ago.

In hearing the police talk about it, he’d expected destruction, devastation, a big ass mess. The kitchen, however, was spotless.

Zzzzt! Zzzt! Zzzzzt!

“What the hell?”

Matt
rolled his eyes
. “
Kane
loves that thing.”

Ricky double-timed it into the family room to see
his buddy
grinning
like a fool, screw gun in hand. He looked up. “Oh, hey man.” He put the gun to good use. “We could have had the glass replaced, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to use this thing.” He held the gun up, using the
Zzt! Zzt. Zzzzt!
to punctuate his sentence.

Mason chuckled from where he rolled up the area rug in front of the television. “Hey, X!”

“Yeah,” came from the bedroom.

“You give me a hand out here?”

“Be right there.”

Ricky
did
a
ridiculous jump/leap thing that made him feel like an idiot, especially when Mason frowned. “Nope. We got this.”

“I can put my own damn house back together.”

Kane
’s hand on his shoulder caused him to jump. “You got more important things to concentrate on. Where’s your lady?”

“He came home to take a shower,” Matt put in helpfully.

“Frankie’s just finishing up in there.” X strolled into th
e room. “Whatcha need,
James?”

Mason grabbed the end of the huge roll and Xavier hefted the other end into the air. The two guys headed outside with it.

Ricky’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He fished it out.
Just f
rickin’
perfect!
“Hello?”

“
You
self-absorbed
ass
hole
! Mama is beside herself!
She had to hear about what went down with Shayne on the
news
!
”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

“That’s the problem
,
you never do.”

Something inside Ricky snapped. Like an enormous tree struck by lightning. “Get of
f my ass. Okay? Yeah, I
probably
shoulda called
M
ama.”

“No probably
about it.”

“But I
’ve
been a little busy takin’ care of my wife. Who was nearly killed. By intruders. Who wanted my son. So excuse the hell outta me, if I had a lapse in who I shoulda called.”

Long, long pause. “She’s worried.”

“So am I.” He hung up. Dealing with his brother right now would only end up in alotta words better left sealed up in his internal vault.

Besides, as he looked around his house, he had his family around him. He loved his mother and his brother, but these people standing in his house right now they loved
him
. Unconditionally.
When the shit hit the
fan.

Forget the proverbial, they’d cleaned up his house
, put the physical part of his life back together
.

Frankie came out of the master bedroom, carrying a bucket and a mop. “Oh, hey, Ricky.”

Kane
rushed over and took the stuff from her. “Laundry room?”

She nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” She waited a few moments before asking, “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You frontin’?”

“Yeah.”

Before he knew it’d happened, Frankie had him wrapped in a hug. Her
rock hard, pregnancy bump
pressed into his abdomen, making it hard to breathe. But he held onto her. His eyes burned. He blinked, fanning her with his lashes. And still he held on. She didn’t loosen her hold even a bit. He got the impression he could have hugged her forever and she’d have been okay with it. X, on the other hand, would probably have
voiced a bit of opposition
.

He ste
pped back. “Thank you.”

“Sometimes that’s all a person needs to get their feet back on the ground.”

“True that.”
He
scanned his house, humility choking him. “You should
n’t have called the guys.”

“We didn’t.”

“How…?”

Frankie shrugged. “They saw it on the news and called X. Grayson called with a heads-up. Jane did a great job covering the story.”

“Jane covers sports, not homicidal maniacs.”

Frankie laughed, putting Ricky at
ease for the first time in… Damn
, he couldn’t remember when. His
eyes were drawn to the open bedroom doorway.
Weariness weakened his body. Mentally and physically he was flat-out exhausted. Going into his bedroom wouldn’t make his sleepy-sleepy any better either.

“You wanna do that part alone or would you like me to hold your hand?”

He was just about to tell her where she could stick her hand-holding when she threaded her fingers through his. “Come on, it’s not so bad now that we’ve got all the water cleaned up.” She tugged gently. “Luckily it didn’t get on the carpet. They said it didn’t get over the top of the tub. Only about half full actually.”