Hailey's Truth (3 page)

“And then some,” Sarah said, smiling.

He leaned in and kissed Sarah’s cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m ready to have this baby. How’s your sister? The stork is circling around her place these days, too.”

“Actually, my mom called an hour ago. Christie went into labor. I should be an uncle again by tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t make me hate her, Austin.” Although Sarah’s tone sounded serious, humor brightened her pretty blue eyes.

“Emma will be here before you know it,” he reassured her.

“You’re very sweet. Do you want some cake?”

He eyed the remains of the two-tiered work of art. “It’s tempting, but I’ve gotta run. I told my mom I’d give my great aunt a ride to the airport. She’s getting too old to drive, and I don’t want her on a bus or taxi.”

Hailey all but melted as she walked to the kitchen for plastic wrap and a plate. How could she resist a man who worried about little old ladies? She hurried back, cut a huge section of pink fondant ribbon and white cake, wrapped it, and handed it off to Austin. “Here you go. I would hate to see this go to waste. I’m pretty sure Wren drove the baker crazy concocting this design.” Their fingers brushed as he took the plate, sending skitters of heat along her skin while he appeared completely unaffected.

“Thanks.” He smiled. “This definitely won’t go to waste.”

Sarah yawned. “I hate to be a party pooper, but I’m going to catch a quick nap while Kylee’s still taking hers.”

Ethan rubbed her shoulders. “Can you wait one second? I have some news.”

“Sure. Is everything all right?”

“More than. I got a call before I came in—from the University. The Dean wanted to tell me they’ve accepted Ethan Cooke Security’s bid to oversee Project Mexico.”

Hailey couldn’t help but feel excitement for Ethan and a tinge of disappointment for herself. “Awesome. Congratulations.”

“There’s more. I probably shouldn’t say anything, but I’m going to anyway. My secretary faxed over the student roster, and I couldn’t help but notice Hailey’s name among the winter semester participants. Your letter should be in the mail.”

The trash Hailey picked up fell from her fingers. “What?”

“You’re going to Mexico, señorita.” Ethan winked.

She pressed her lips together as Ethan’s news sunk in. “I’m going to Mexico?” She clasped her hands to her chest as her heart galloped wildly. “I get to go?” She let out a squeal and launched herself into Ethan’s arms. “Oh, my God. This is so great. I’m going to Mexico!” She leaned down and smothered Sarah in a tight hug. Overcome with excitement, she grabbed Austin around his muscular waist and held on. His arm came around her.

“Congratulations, kid.”

“Thanks.” She was too amazed by her stellar luck to acknowledge the inner-cringe that usually accompanied ‘kid’. Austin was barely four years older, yet he seemed to think of her as a pimply-faced adolescent.

Small footsteps padded down the hall, stopping in the doorway. Kylee, with her sleep-pinked cheeks, held Mr. Ruff, her stuffed dog. “Hi.”

Hailey broke away from Austin and scooped her up. “Hi, pretty princess. I’m going to Mexico.” She spun in two quick circles, making Kylee laugh.

“I guess I’ll nap later,” Sarah said, letting out another yawn.

“No way. Go up to bed. Rest. I’ll take care of Kylee for awhile.” Hailey gave Kylee a noisy kiss. “Jeremy’s working at the restaurant tonight, and I have nothing waiting for me at home.”

“Hailey, you don’t have to,” Ethan said, as his cell phone started to ring. He checked the readout. “It’s dispatch. Hold that thought.” He stepped from the room, popped his head back in. “Would you mind staying for a few minutes after all? Spain just called. They’re having an issue.”

“Not even a little. Sarah, go to bed. Kylee and I are going out to play on the swings. I’ll throw some dinner together after.”

Sarah pushed off the back of the seat in her attempt to stand. Austin rushed forward and took her arm, helping her up. “Thanks,” she said to Austin. “I owe you one, Hailey.”

“No, you don’t. Let’s go play,” she nuzzled Kylee, grabbed their jackets from the entryway closet, and headed out the door with Bear and Reece, Ethan’s golden Bullmastiffs, at her heels. There was nothing she loved more than being needed. Right now, she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

Austin caught the door before she could close it. “I’m heading out too.”

“Oh, sorry.” She smiled. “See you around.”

He walked down the steps to his honey of a sports convertible, giving her and Kylee a quick wave. “Yeah, see you.” He got in, started the engine, and drove off.

Hailey huffed out a wistful sigh as she watched the taillights disappear down the long drive.

Two hours later, Austin pulled into his reserved parking spot at Palisades Luxury Apartments. He grabbed his huge slab of cake from the passenger’s seat and headed for the door. He swiped his card, let himself into the posh lobby, with its elegantly draped windows, ornate wood furnishings and potted palms scattered about. He stopped at his mailbox, snagging the free pizza advertisement taped to his box, before the uptight building manager spotted the florescent fliers and threw a fit for dicking with her ambiance. As he continued, he spotted the bright orange paper stuck to Hailey’s box as well. He plucked it up and kept going.

Instead of taking the elevator, Austin started up the stairs, pushing through the glass door to the second floor hallway, contemplating what he would add for toppings to his free large pizza with his order of breadsticks and two-liter soda—chicken and onion or ham and pineapple?

He crouched down next to Hailey’s door, ready to send the flyer under, when he heard a crash.
What the hell?
Austin abandoned his cake as he pulled his gun free and stood.

“What the fuck, man? Why’d you fucking hit me?”

Austin stepped closer, recognizing Hailey’s brother’s voice.

“You’re lucky I’m only hitting you, punk. I should slice your throat. You try to undercut me again, homeboy, and I’ll take your dick too. This is the big time, man. These motherfuckers aren’t fucking around. Consider this your warning—your
only
warning. Next time, you’re dead. You sell what I give you, then you get your cut. That’s how this works. I won’t tell you again.”

Bone cracked against bone and something fell to the floor, shattering.

“All right. Okay. I get the point,” Jeremy said in a groan.

“Not yet.” Another punch was thrown. “I’m still educating you. Hopefully, you’ll learn, or you won’t live very long.”

Jeremy took another blow and coughed.

“You work for me now. There’s no going back.”

Austin’s hand hovered over the doorknob. He wanted to listen to the conversation play out, but they would kill Jeremy if this kept up. He gripped the knob as the room fell silent.

“I think we understand each other now, don’t you, homeboy?”

There was no answer.

“I said, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Jeremy wheezed.

Footsteps started toward the door. Austin holstered his weapon, grabbed the plate of cake.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold up here, brother. Who’s this fine piece of ass? This your girl?”

Silence.

The man landed another blow. “I said is this your ho?”

“No,” Jeremy coughed. “My sister.”

“Well, well, well. You watch your step, man, or I’ll be helping myself to her before I kill you.” Something clattered to the floor and glass broke. “You be at the drop spot tomorrow, and don’t be late. I better see you at two, homie.”

The knob twisted. Austin hustled to his apartment, pulled his keys from his pocket as if he’d just gotten home. Hailey’s door opened. A man as big as he was, wearing sagging jeans and a long basketball jersey, stepped into the hall. Every inch of his exposed skin was intricately inked with devils, skeletons, and words Austin couldn’t make out without staring. A shorter man, dressed similarly, looked over his shoulder, making eye contact before he stared forward again.

Gang bangers.

Austin set the plate on the floor, searched through his keys, stalling, catching small glimpses as the shorter man punched the button for the elevator. A boldly colored S-1 tat extended from his raw knuckles to his wrist. As the elevator slid open, Austin shoved his key in the lock, twisted it, waiting for the door to slide closed.

Alone in the hallway, he hurried to the stairwell, watching from the window until the men got in their car and took off. He doubled back and knocked on Hailey’s door. When no one answered, Austin knocked again. Jeremy opened the door a crack. His curly brown hair stood in wild tufts. His raw face swelled with nasty gashes and severe bruising. “Hey, Austin. This isn’t a good time.”

Austin pushed the door open, ignoring Jeremy’s not-so-subtle hint. Jeremy appeared to be mixed up with the wrong crowd, had dragged his sister into it. Right now was a very good time. “Wow, buddy, what happened to you?”

“I got mugged. I brought in good tips today; somebody must’ve been watching—followed me home.” Jeremy’s lip dribbled blood as he spoke. His eye puffed shut as Austin watched.

“Looks like I’m in the wrong line of work. You must’ve had some wad.” Austin scanned the trashed space. The coffee table leaned haphazardly, two of its legs splintered to bits. Glass vases and knickknacks lay smashed and scattered over the area rug. Amongst the chaos of the living room, the cracked photo of Hailey caught his eye.

“Yeah.” Jeremy coughed, wincing, holding his boot-scuffed ribs. “Look, I need to lie down.”

“We should call the police and report this. Let me grab you a shirt. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No,” Jeremy said quickly. “My boss already took care of it. I called him as soon as this happened. I just need to lie down.”

“You sure?” Did Jeremy really expect him to buy this?

“Yeah.” He grimaced.

“Okay. Oh, this was stuck to your mailbox.” Austin held up the florescent orange flyer. “I wanted to drop it off before Linda took them all down. They make a damn good pizza. Knock if you need anything—2H.”

“Uh huh.” Jeremy hobbled forward and grabbed the paper as the door closed.

Austin stared at the chrome 2E on dark wood for several seconds, rubbing his fingers over his tensed jaw. What the hell was he supposed to do now? That kid was bad news—the scum of the earth. Austin was familiar with his type—saw them every day. Jeremy would suck his sister dry before he vanished again.

He turned, wandered back to his apartment, thinking of Hailey, trying to ignore the tug of desire her striking face and siren’s body always brought with them. All that smooth, golden skin…her top-heavy lip that begged to be nibbled…those enormous honey-colored eyes and dainty nose…an odd combination with mouthwatering effects. He struggled not to notice every time he saw her. And he saw her a lot.

When she had thrown her arms around him in a hug hours before, he’d breathed in her peachy scent, felt her small, firm breasts against his side, and fought to keep things casual. Closing his eyes, he clutched the doorknob, trying to find a grip on his hormones, determined not to let his attraction to Hailey affect him. She was in trouble and oblivious to the whole thing. He was going to have to keep an eye on her until they left for Mexico. Hopefully, when they got back, Jeremy would be long gone.

Steadier, Austin picked up his plate of cake and let himself into his living room. He twisted on the lamp, looked around, sniffing at the hint of lemon scenting the air. The cleaning lady had come. The week’s worth of dust had been swept away from the dark heavy wood. The plants he didn’t bother with, but Wren had insisted on, had sprung back to life with a little water.

Ethan’s sister had more or less taken over his space with her high-end designs, but he couldn’t complain. She’d done a hell of a job decorating his bachelor pad. He sighed a thank you every time he sat in the chunky brown leather couch or recliner. It beat the hell out of the milk crates and cheap futon he’d had before.

Austin set the plate on the coffee table, along with the flyer and his keys, and powered up his laptop. He had one goal at this point: to find out just who Jeremy was.

What was his last name?

He sat against the buttery, soft leather, sighed, punched Ethan’s number into his cell phone.

“Cooke.”

“Hey, what’s Hailey’s brother’s last name?”

“That’s random.”

“I think Hailey’s in trouble. I’ll explain tomorrow. Let me do a little digging first.”

“I think it’s Kagan. Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s Kagan.”

“Thanks.”

“Should I have her stay here tonight?”

He thought of the state of Hailey’s trashed living room, of Jeremy’s battered face and body. It would be better if she stayed away, but she would see her living room and brother eventually. “No, but she’s in for a hell of a shock. I walked by her apartment. Heard a couple of bangers beating the shit out of Jeremy. Her place is trashed. You might want to give her a heads-up.”

“What the hell is he doing with people like that?”

“That’s what I’m hoping to find out. Let me look into this. I’ll get back to you.” Austin hung up, and quickly got to work hacking through firewalls, just the way Ethan showed him years before.

He started by tracking down Jeremy’s date of birth and social security number. From there, he searched court documents, sealed juvenile records, let out a quiet whistle when he hit pay dirt with a police rap sheet. “You’ve been busy, kid,” he muttered. Breaking and entering, multiple drug possession charges with intent to sell, four simple assault convictions, DUI, underage drinking, petty theft, possession of a deadly weapon. “Two visits to the ‘big house’. Looks like you’re on strike two. One more and you’re out, buddy.”

Did Hailey know about this? He couldn’t believe she did. Over the years he and Hailey had become friends. She was a sweetheart with a good head on her shoulders; her brother didn’t fit with the life she’d made for herself.

Rubbing his fingers over his jaw, Austin blew out a long breath. He needed to find out how deep Jeremy’s ties were with S-1. There was nothing more he could do until tomorrow.

He exed out of the files, sat back, picked up his phone again, and ordered a large pizza with grilled chicken and onion. He turned on the TV, flipped to the Raiders highlights, all the while thinking of Hailey.