Iron Cross: The Dartmouth Cobras #6 (34 page)

“What kind of an asshole do you take me for? I came here to check on you. I wouldn’t call her without knowing you were—” Ryan scowled and pressed on the small of her back. “You can call her on the way to the hospital.”

“I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

“Fuck that! You’re still fucking bleeding, and his blood is all over you! Don’t make me carry you into that goddamn ambulance, because I’ll do it!”

“Fine, I’ll go to the hospital!” Laura shook her head at the EMT before he could open the back of the ambulance. “But I’m driving myself there.”

“I’m driving you, little sister. Best fucking compromise you’re gonna get.” Ryan waved the EMT away and put his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. “I checked the shift you took over after Chicklet called me. I wasn’t worried because I know you’ve dealt with Pepper before. But then I heard the call on the radio and—”

“I’m okay.” A simple call. It shouldn’t have come to this. Not to her having killed a man. “He freaked when Pallet kicked in the door. But we heard the baby—”

Ryan opened the passenger door of his unmarked unit, standing there, staring at her even after she’d settled into the seat. “I never once doubted that you’d do everything by the book, Laura. But tell me, would ‘I’m okay’ be enough if you heard that call? If you heard ‘Officer down’ and knew I was one of the officers at the scene?”

“No.” Laura stared at her hands, numb and crusted with dirt and blood. Ryan closed the door. Got in behind the wheel. “And it’s not okay. Pepper is dead.”

“I won’t tell you how I feel about that right now—you don’t need to hear it.” The steering wheel creaked as Ryan tightened his grip on it. “But you’re right. It’s not going to be okay for a while. But we’ll deal with this together.”

Laura leaned against the door and pressed her eyes shut. She kept seeing that moment when Pepper had jumped on her, kept seeing the knife. The throb in her arm brought back the moment he’d cut her. The instant she’d chosen to pull the trigger.

The world was a crazy place. Things changed so fast. She needed the one thing that would never change. Her solid, safe place to land.

“You can call her and tell her I’m all right. Don’t scare her.” Laura swallowed hard. Watched the scenery flash by as Ryan turned on his dashboard lights and the siren to get them through traffic. She had to trust that her brother would bring her Mistress to her without any drama. But most importantly, that he’d bring Chicklet to her. Because she needed her now.

* * * *

“If I have bruises on my wrists, Mister, you’re so going to pay.” Chicklet shot Raif a lazy smile as she stretched her arms over her head. She knew very well any bruises would be partially her fault, since she’d twisted free every time he caught her, latching on to him just as roughly when she wrestled him to his back. Every single inch of her body was sore, much like after an intense workout, but the awesome sex had been worth the lingering aches and pains. She rolled over and nipped lightly over a dark red mark where she’d bitten his chest earlier.

He let out a husky laugh and tried to pull her onto him. “How do you plan to make me suffer, Mistress?”

“I’ll think of something. And don’t call me Mistress unless you plan on wearing my collar one day.” She shoved him away from her and hopped off the bed, more relaxed and energized than she’d been in a long time. A hard-core scene might have done the job, but she couldn’t play that way with Laura until the mess between her and Tyler was straightened out, and she wasn’t in a good headspace to test Tyler’s limits as much as she’d like to. She’d needed to let loose, and exerting control forced her to keep herself in check. Playing with Raif had her nice and level.

“I’ll do many things for you, Chicklet. But I won’t do that.”

Chicklet snorted and tossed a pillow in Raif’s face. “Got it, Meatloaf.”

Raif tossed the pillow aside and arched a brow at her. “Meatloaf?”

Laughing again, Chicklet went around the room, gathering her clothes and heading to the bathroom for a shower. Even with condoms, sex was sweaty and messy and she had to freshen up. And get back to reality. Hopefully Laura wouldn’t come home too late and they could discuss what had happened that afternoon. As a couple.

Would probably go over better if Raif wasn’t around. Chicklet didn’t like the idea of kicking him out after spending most of the day in bed with him, but she had a feeling he’d understand. She showered quickly, abandoning her clothes and grabbing a towel from behind the door when she heard her phone ringing.

Recognizing the number, she answered with a sigh. “Look, Hamilton, I know you told me not to let her work so much. And I—”

“Chicklet, I need you to listen to me without panicking. Laura’s okay, but—”

“
But
?” Chicklet’s shoulder hit the doorframe as she swiveled to snatch her clothes from the bathroom counter. Laura’s brother telling her not to panic had her doing just that. “Explain. Quickly.”

Hamilton paused, then cleared his throat. She could picture him, trying to choose the right words. “She needed a few stitches in her arm. I brought her to the General Hospital and they’re checking her out. She’s demanding to be released, but she’s in shock and the doctor wants to keep her for observation.”

“Keep her there. Pull the big brother caveman act, I don’t give a fuck what you do, but she’s not to leave that fucking hospital. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Chicklet hung up and dropped her phone on the counter so she could get dressed. She looked at Raif in the mirror, where he was standing in the doorway. “Can you stay and wait for Tyler? He needs to know…
fuck
!”

“She won’t want him at the hospital.” Raif probably didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he was well aware of how the situation between her subs needed to be handled. For a second, it looked like he might come over and do something stupid like hug her. Instead, he stood a little taller, his eyes hard. “She doesn’t need the stress of pretending for him, and he will be hurt if she finally falters in her act.”

“Don’t fucking start, Raif. Right now I couldn’t care less what kind of games she’s been playing. She needs me and that’s all that matters.”

Raif inclined his head. “Agreed. So we shall work together to protect them both.”

Chicklet nodded, heading for the front door to put on her shoes and jacket. She hesitated before walking out. “I should call him…tell him…” She rubbed a hand over her face. “I’ll tell him you’re waiting here and to stay with you until I find out more. The doctor won’t want too many people there.”

“All true. Go, I will be here for him.” Raif put his hand on her shoulder then. “Will you punch me if I hug you?”

She released a strained laugh and wrapped her arms around him, allowing herself no more than a second to soak in his comfort. “No. I’m liking having you around. Take care of our boy. We’ll worry about the rest later.”

On the way to the hospital, Chicklet used her Bluetooth to call Tyler, but there was no answer. So she called Raif and told him to keep trying to get ahold of Tyler. She hated having someone else pass on the message, but she had to focus on Laura. Hopefully, Tyler would understand.

There were a lot of cops hanging around the hospital, which gave her a feeling of dread. But one day, the call might not be that Laura was injured on the job. It could have been so much worse. What if the argument had distracted her girl and that was why she’d gotten hurt? She approached the private room the nurse had directed her to, her bottom lip trembling as she stared at Laura, looking so small and pale, lying on those blue sheets. Her brother stood by her, holding her hand, watching her sleep as though he needed to see her breathing to assure himself she was really all right.

Chicklet could relate. She went in and took Laura’s other hand. She wished she could convince Laura to retire, to find a job where she wasn’t risking her life every day. But she didn’t dare suggest it, because being a cop was part of who Laura was. Part of what made up the woman Chicklet loved.

But she could find a way to make sure what happened at home didn’t make Laura’s job more dangerous. Only…she had no idea where to start.

* * * *

Tyler sat alone at Silver’s kitchen table, listening to the sounds of Luke and Scott playing with Casey in the living room, trying to stay calm as he heard shouts coming out of the phone. The noise faded as his mother moved to another room.

“Sorry about that, sweetheart. Jules is watching the game with some of his friends. He’s a big Preds fan. I told you he went to school with one of their players who retired last year?”

Right, because being a hockey fan made him a stellar guy. Tyler fisted his hand on the table. “Cool.”

“Please don’t be like this, Tyler. He’s a wonderful man. He can’t wait to meet you. And I think…we’ve been discussing
our future—”

The other line sounded. It had been Chicklet before. This time it was Raif. He never took calls when he was on the phone with his mom, but he was tempted. After they’d caught up on everything that had happened since last night’s game, she’d started going on and on about her new man.
The guy hadn’t been there when Tyler had visited her, so Tyler had been able to take her out to dinner and just spend time with his mom. She looked good, happy, which was a relief.

But she’d been able to talk about other stuff, friends and neighbors and her work at the library.
Apparently, she’d reached her limit of topics not revolving around the man. They’d be celebrating their one year anniversary in Hawaii next week—okay, so maybe he wasn’t
that
new—and his mom was so excited. She’d started giving him sappy details about their plans, but he changed the subject, telling her about how Amia was standing on her own now.

Which had distracted her for a bit, but she was back to talking about “Jules.”
What kind of fucking name is Jules?

“Tyler, are you listening to me?” His mother sighed. “I said he wants to talk to you first.”

“First?”

“Before he asks me to marry him.”

Tyler almost dropped the phone. He stood and paced away from the table. Paced back, raking his fingers through his hair. This would be husband number…damn it, he’d lost count. But he remembered every single fucking bruise, the dead look in his mother’s eyes when she’d been verbally beaten down one too many times.

“What the hell is with everyone wanting to get married? First Luke, now—”

“Excuse me?”

Eyes wide, Tyler looked to where Richter was standing by the fridge, with a sippy cup open in one hand, the milk container in the other. And most of the milk on the floor.

This was not good. He chewed on his bottom lip, wincing as Luke and Scott and everyone in the freakin’ house stood in the kitchen doorway, staring at him. And his mom was still talking.

“I love him and he makes me very happy. If you can’t support me—”

“I do support
you
, but I don’t want to see you hurt again.”

Luke came forward, shooting Tyler a hard look before turning to Richter. “Ah, this isn’t how I wanted to do this. You know I love Jami.”

Richter shook his head, putting the milk away and grabbing a dishcloth from the stove to dry his hand. He went to the pantry, returning with a mop. “Your timing is horrible, Carter. Save it.”

“Tyler, are you still there?” His mother sounded close to tears. “You have to give him a chance.”

“I will.” Tyler stopped, realizing what he’d just said. He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t give another man a chance to finish what so many others had started. “I mean—”

“Thank you, baby! This means so much to me! Now get back to your friends, it’s very rude to talk on the phone while—Jules!” His mother laughed. The line went dead.

He was tempted to throw the phone across the room, but the room had gotten crowded and he’d probably hit someone with it. Casey was tugging at Scott’s hand, demanding his attention while Scott was pulling Luke’s arm, trying to get him out of there. Bower was standing in the kitchen now, arms folded over his chest, looking amused as Silver spoke quietly to Richter.

Luke jerked away from Scott. “Why’s it a bad time? I have a stable job and so does Seb.”

“You were arrested last week! Damn it, boy, what’s complicated about you being the
last
man I’d ever give permission to marry my daughter?”

“Why isn’t Ramos marrying her if she wants that?” Bower shrugged when Luke glared at him. “Sorry, pal, but I agree with Dean. If Scott had been the one wanting to marry Becky, I—”

“You’re a fucking asshole.” Tyler stood and moved to stand beside Luke. Who probably hated him right now, but he needed backup. So did Scott, because he looked like he’d just gotten speared by a hockey stick. “You’re lucky there’s a kid in here.”

“Not for long.” Becky weaved around everyone, picking up Casey with a bright smile on her face, her tone sugary sweet. “Go with Demmy,
mon chou
. I have to speak to Uncle Landon for a minute.”

Everyone got real quiet as Casey fussed and Scott forced out a laugh, throwing her up in the air and catching her. He tickled her until she was giggling and squirming in his arms. Then he carried her out of the kitchen, sounding like everything was perfectly normal. “You’ve been a grumpy puss a lot today, dollface. Behave and I’ll read you two whole chapters of your new book tonight.”