It was something I'd cooked up just in case, but never thought I’d use it. Today was that day. To be frank, I should’ve spent more time on it because the circles and arrows went to nothing in particular. They were only there for show. Hopefully these two wouldn’t see it that way.
There was one for the clubhouse too.
“Any of you know who did this?” the cop to the left asked. He had a potbelly that went over his buckle and hung down. No doubt this one couldn’t chase someone if he tried. Guess that was what the other guy was for.
Cruz stepped forward and in front of them, blocking them from Buzz and me. “No. But this is my kid’s house, and we want to know who it was. Do you know? Do you know how it started? How did it happen?” He kept firing question after question to the two officers and didn’t let them get a word in edgewise at first.
I let out a burst of coughing and turned to try to get it under control, then back to the men.
The pudgy man took a step back, and I held in my smirk. Cruz was an intimidating man. He was solid, and there was no doubt he could throw both of these cops out of his way. The uniform would shit his pants in front of us if Rhys was in his face. Made me want to call him over just to watch the man squirm, but I didn’t. It wasn’t the time for fun.
“We got no clue who woulda done this. Was hopin’ you could give us some information for the investigation. Who was here?” Pudgy cop asked, his eyes sweeping over all of us.
While I could speak up that I was, I didn’t. My mouth stayed shut. We hadn’t discussed how any of this would be handled, and I wasn’t going to be the one to fuck whatever the plan was up. Not only that, I didn’t want Ensley and Remy involved with anything.
“We got a call sayin’ the place was on fire and raced here,” Cruz answered for me.
“Who made that call to you?” the lean cop questioned.
My eyes were lasered on Cruz, wanting to know exactly what he said because Ensley was the one who called 911. She couldn’t be involved in any of this shit. And I was the one to make the call to my dad.
“No clue. It came up private. They just said there was a fire, and we came as fast as we could,” Cruz responded, and only then did I feel myself breathe.
Both cops eyed us warily which was normal. We were lying, of course, but face cleared of emotion I paid attention to everyone and everything around us. Every detail committed to memory. The breaths the one officer was inhaling and exhaling. The bead of sweat running down the other’s forehead. The way the lean cop tapped the butt of his gun as if he didn’t like what was said to him. All of it.
I made a mental note to go in and swipe Ensley’s phone then switch it out. Hopefully she had a burner phone so it wouldn’t be a problem. If not, I’d have to hack the phone company and get all that data erased. Either way, I made a mental note to handle this shit because I wouldn’t put her on anyone’s radar, cop or not.
“You mean to tell me, you don’t know how it started, no one was here, and you got some anonymous call that there was a fire? Bullshit,” the lean cop announced as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Cruz shrugged like he had all the time in the world, not giving a single inch to the men.
“Do we need to haul all of you down to the station?” Pudgy cop asked, his eyes narrowed. I looked on his name plate, and it read Brooks. Might have to look him up when he left and see what skeletons he had in his closet.
Cruz looked around at all the men around him and held his arms out wide. “We had nothin’ to do with this shit and want to know who it was more than you fuckin’ do. You wanna waste your time bringin’ us in, that’s up to you. But we got no more information to give ya.”
The two cops looked at each other in this goofy ass way, then to Cruz. “I want all your names in case we have more questions,” Pudgy Brooks ordered.
“Just look up the Ravage MC in your database,” Deke grumbled out, obviously way over these two. Hell, we all were. They knew who the MC was and were just taking up our time when they could be looking for the assholes who did this. Instead, they were dragging their feet just trying to stir up trouble in hopes of nailing one of us or all of us. They’d prefer the latter.
Don’t get me wrong, we needed cops to help when issues arose. Just like we needed military to do the hard shit many people couldn’t even comprehend. What we didn’t need were two cops trying to make a name for themselves and getting in the way of something the Ravage MC could and would handle on their own.
The cops took their sweet time going around and asking all of our names, even having some spell it out, pissing them off royally. Were these two fuckers new on the force or something, because they were dumber than a box of rocks.
When the lean one took mine, I noticed his badge read Corey. Another name to look up.
After giving mine, the cops took off to talk to the fire department, who was able to get the flames down to a smolder. Not enough water could get it to go out completely.
Buzz and I got back to work, flipping the screens back to the video tapes. Hopefully something would come up in these damn tapings.
It had too. Too many lives I cared about were at risk.
This mission was too important to fuck up because that was what it felt like. A mission. Something I excelled at.
A sting of pain hit my arm, and I knew I’d done something to it. Not to mention my lungs. Fuck, it was going to be a long day.
2
Ensley
Fear. Trembling uncontrollably, terrified, fear raced through every inch of my body, my hands especially. Holding Remy close to me and feeling her little baby warmth didn’t help quell that emotion one bit. Instead, it kept growing, my insides cold and unforgiving. My ears were ringing from the blast no matter how many times I’d tried to pop them, and if I moved too quickly dizziness grabbed me momentarily. I wasn’t even near the fire, at least not like Austyn was.
All the what-ifs came on repeat into my head, giving me a headache, or maybe that was the blast. Hell, it could’ve been all the emotions hitting me at once and my brain telling me to calm down.
Austyn almost burned alive, and Micah had to fight his way in and out to get her to safety. Not to mention Remy and I were just in that house talking to Austyn. It could’ve blown when Remy was there.
My baby girl.
The emotions were too much. I had to clench my jaw to stop the scream that wanted to come from my lips at just the thought.
There were no words to describe the utter terror in the thought of losing my baby. It could never happen. Ever. I’d never recover from that. The hole inside of me would never heal.
Everyone is okay…
Even knowing we were fine, just the fact of living through the experience had me rattled. Who in this world would set two homes to explode like that? Why? I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around the bombardment of questions that no one seemed to have any answers for.
Thinking about what Micah had to do to get Austyn out made me sick to my stomach. I listened when she told the story of her rescue. The thought of him in danger was almost too much to bear. We’d only spent a short amount of time with him, but he was Remy’s dad, and it pained my heart that he almost got hurt.
He could’ve died. Remy just met him, and I couldn’t imagine a life where they wouldn’t see each other again. I’d planned on raising Remy by myself, but Micah wanted to be a father and, in my gut, call it instinct, Remy would miss out on a great man.