Текст книги "Addiction"
Автор книги: Shantel Tessier
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Текущая страница: 24 (всего у книги 27 страниц)
“Anything,” he answers without thought.
After I give him instructions, I hang up the phone and make my way to the bathroom. Steam covers the mirror and I reach down to remove my shirt. “That was Miller,” I announce as I push my sweatpants down my legs. My hard cock reminds me what we were about to do moments ago.
“How is Brecken doing?” she asks from behind the shower door.
“Better.” I open up the door as she rinses out shampoo with her back to me. “Miller will be here soon. He’s going to go with us to see your father.”
She spins around quickly the water causing shampoo to cover her face. “Why?”
“Usually, in cases like this, you would only be able to see your father with Plexiglas separating you two, but I can make a call and get you a meeting with him in an interrogation room. That way I can stand behind the mirror and watch the exchange.” She cups the water from the showerhead and washes the suds from her face.
“Why don’t you go in with me?”
I shake my head. “I can’t. He knows me. But I will not let you go without someone in there with you.”
She frowns. “You think he’ll hurt me?”
I honestly don’t know what this man will do. “I’m not willing to take that chance,” I decide to say.
She gives me a slow and sexy smile. “Always looking out for me.”
I chuckle. “That has been the plan all along.”
Leaning her head back, she closes her eyes and finishes rinsing out her shampoo. I reach down and slowly run my hand the length of my cock as I imagine fucking her in this shower. Each stroke has me getting harder and less patient for her pussy.
Once I know she is done, I grab her arm and pull her over to me. She squeals as I spin her around and shove her into the glass shower door. “Case …” She breathes as she pushes her ass back onto my hard cock.
I groan as I reach up and remove her wet hair from the side of her face. I lower my lips to her shoulder and kiss her softly. The water from the shower, wetting my lips. “I wanna hear you come, baby,” I say before I bite down on her shoulder. Her body shudders as she lets out a whimper.
I can feel how tense her body is. I know it has to do with her seeing her father. And I wanna help her with that. Help relieve the tension.
I slide my hand around her hip and then between her parted legs. I spread her pussy and roughly push a finger into her and she lets out a cry as she bucks her hips. “I love it when you’re wet like this.” Her pussy tightens around my finger, and I growl deep in my chest. “When you’re ready for whatever I wanna give you.” She places her hands on the glass and pushes herself backwards, pushing her ass into me.
She arches her back and her head falls back to my chest, and she sucks in a deep breath. “Please …” I lower my head and close my lips over hers, cutting off her words. I remove my finger from her pussy and grab a hold of my dick. I spread her legs more with mine and then guide myself into her. She rips her lips from mine and sucks in breath after breath. She cries out as she bangs her head into the shower door as I stretch her to accomodate me.
“Fuck!” I hiss as I drop my head to her shoulder. He pussy tightens around my aching cock, and I pull back before thrusting my hips forward. I growl at not being able to get deep enough. She’s much shorter than I am, and my legs strain from having to bend down. “Fuck it!” I growl as I pull out of her.
She whimeprs as her shoulders sag. I reach around her and shove the glass door open. “Step out,” I order and she does as I say. I grab her upper arm and pull her over to the counter. I place my hand in her wet hair and shove her forward so she’s bent over. I don’t waste another second as I get back to fucking her.
Her skin is broke out in goosebumps from her wet body being in the cold air. Her soft cries of pleasure fill the bathroom. I look up to watch her in the mirror, but it’s fogged over from the shower. So I look back down as I watch my glistening cock move in and out of her tight pussy.
It doesn’t take her more than a few mintues to come as she cries out my name. And I’m not far behind her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
TAYLOR
I haven’t seen my father in over three years. Do you know what it feels like to see him in person? It literally rips my heart out. It feels like I have a hand around my throat cutting off my oxygen. It’s just him and me and well, Miller, but I feel like I’m in a crowd of a thousand people, and they’re crushing me from all sides.
I take a deep breath and open the door to the interrogation room. My heart pounds in my chest as I see him sitting in a chair at a table. He has an orange jumpsuit on and his cuffed hands rest on the table. “Taylor.” His blue eyes widen. “I … uh, I thought …” He clears his throat. “They said I had a visitor. I just figured it was Blane.”
I shake my head as I remain standing by the door. I wish I could leave it open. It already feels so stuffy in here. “Sorry,” I say softly. “It’s just me.” Blane and Savannah aren’t here. Case suggested they stay back, and thankfully, Blane didn’t fight him about it.
“No. I didn’t mean it like that.” He gives me a warm smile, and I feel my shoulders relax some. “Please. Sit down. I’m glad you’re here.” He gestures to the chair across from him.
I look over at the glass Case stands behind, and I take a deep breath. I wish he could be by my side, but this is what I wanted. I wanted to see my father, and here he is.
I square my shoulders and take the few steps that separate me from the chair. I pull it back and the legs squeak along the linoleum floor before I sit down. “Hey, Dad,” I say softly.
He looks up as I hear the door shut behind me and his eyes narrow at Miller while he stands in the corner. But he doesn’t say anything about him.
He looks back at me and smiles. I hate that it gives me hope. Hope that he isn’t high at the moment. “How have you been?” he asks with excitement. “How’s school going?”
I actually let out a laugh. “It’s good. Glad to be on summer break at the moment.”
“That’s great,” he says.
I nod in agreement. “How are things with you?” I know it’s a stupid question, but I have to ask.
He leans in; the cuffs that bind his wrists clank as they move across the table. “I’m going to be out of here soon, Taylor, and things are going to be different.”
The smile drops off my face at that statement because I know it’s not true. He won’t be out soon. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen, Dad,” I say softly.
He frowns. “What do you mean? Hasn’t Blane told you about the deal he made?” His lips thin. “Some stupid cop had me thrown in here, and Blane is working with him to get me out.”
I swallow nervously and my eyes slide over to the glass for a quick second before I return them to my father. “I did know about the deal. But it’s no longer …” I pause to think of the right terminology. “ … in play,” I decide to say. Case told me not to mention this to him, but I’m not gonna lie to him. I’m not like Case; I can’t keep secrets. Not ones this big. My father truly believes he is going to get out, but he should know the truth.
“What do you mean? No longer in play?”
I sigh. “They found out Blane was working for that cop,” I say, and his eyes widen in shock, which isn’t a total lie. The others don’t know Case is a cop as far as we know. They just know Blane isn’t really a drug dealer. “They beat him up pretty badly. The officer who Blane was working for called it off.”
“Son of a bitch,” he hisses. He leans back in his chair and blows out a frustrated breath. His eyes harden, and his jaw tightens. He lifts his cuffed hands and places them on his head. “What about you?” he asks quickly.
“Excuse me?” I choke out the question, and I can see Miller’s body stiffen out of the corner of my eye.
His tight face relaxes, and he actually smiles as he looks at me. “What about you? You can talk to the cop, and you can finish what Blane started.” He makes it sound so simple.
“I … uh … I …” I shake my head real quickly as I try to process what he just suggested. “You want me to sell drugs?” I ask. Even as I say it, I look around the room and cringe knowing that everything in this room is recorded.
“Yes!” he says simply. “Have Blane put you in touch with the guy he was working for …”
“I can’t do that, Dad,” I interrupt him still half dazed by his new idea.
His face tightens once again, and he growls. “Why the hell not? You just plan on leaving me in here?” He looks behind me at the door and starts to yell. “Blane! Blane, I know you’re out there …”
“Mr. Williams …” Miller growls and starts to walk toward us.
“Who the hell are you?” my father demands. “Stay out of it. I’m talking to my daughter.”
“Dad …” My throat tightens.
The door swings open, and I spin around in my chair to see a very pissed off Case storm into the room. He grabs me by the arm and jerks me out of my chair. “Get out,” he orders as he shoves me toward Miller. Before I can even say anything, Miller pulls me through the door and slams it shut.
CASE
“You have some fucking nerve,” I hiss to the man sitting in the chair across from me.
“You.” He narrows his eyes at me. It takes my breath away how much they look like Taylor. That same blue but only his look tired. “You son of a bitch. You’re supposed to be getting me out of here,” he snaps.
I tilt my head from side to side, needing the movement to release some tension. The second I heard him offer her up in order to save his ass, my body went tense. And I stormed out of the room and into this one. “Sorry about your luck but it looks like you’re staying here,” I say flatly.
He stands quickly and slams his fists on the desk. “She’ll do it. Taylor will get me out of here. Won’t you, hunny?” he calls out. “Your mother would want you …”
“Shut the fuck up,” I demand, and he growls at me. “Even if she agreed and offered, I wouldn’t let it happen,” I inform him. “No information you could give me would be worth her life.”
“Why the fuck would you care about her life?” he demands.
I should be surprised, but I’m not. To be honest, I’ve heard worse. “The question should be why don’t you care?”
His lips thin, and his eyes narrow on me. “She won’t leave me in here like this.”
“That choice isn’t up to her,” I say truthfully. I saw the look in her eyes. At that very moment, her world shattered. He is willing to put her in harm’s way just so he can get out to get another high. Fuck him and his addiction.
He stares at me for a few long seconds before he bursts into laughter. “She thinks she’s better than I am,” he says through another spurt of laughter. “She thinks she can have a better future than what I have? She can go out. Find the man of her dreams. Get married, have children, and will still have an addiction.”
“No, she won’t,” I argue with him.
“It runs in her blood. She thinks I got this addiction after her mother died.” He chuckles. “I used to get high with her mother after Taylor and Blane would go to bed. Her mother died of an overdose. Blane was the one who chose to tell her it was a heart attack.”
I hear the door swing open, and I close my eyes as I take a deep breath. “Quit lying,” Taylor’s voice screams out.
I open my eyes and spin to face her. I go over to her and grab her by the shoulders. I try to push her back without just shoving her like I did just minutes ago.
“It’s not a lie, sweetheart,” he calls out. “Ask Blane. Tell him to quit treating you like a child.”
“Mom would never do something like that.” She shakes her head quickly as tears roll down her face.
“Taylor,” I say softly trying to get her attention. I knew this was a bad idea.
She looks up at me with a tear-streaked face. “She wouldn’t …” She swallows. “My mom wouldn’t have done that to herself. She loved us.” It breaks my heart. I wish I could tell her she’s right. I have no doubt her mother loved her, but I can’t speak for her. “She also loved herself.”
“There’s no greater love than addiction,” her father spits.
I feel her body stiffen under my hands, and her dark blue eyes narrow on her father as she looks past me. “You’ve proven that time and time again, Father.” She yanks her body out of my hands and takes a step toward him. He has the audacity to smirk at her. As if he truly believes he’s winning an argument with her. “You know, Blane thinks you can change. He thinks there is still hope for you, but I know the truth.” The smirk drops off his face. “I know you’re never going to change. I know you will always place yourself ahead of anyone else.”
“I have to!” he shouts.
“But you didn’t,” she cries out. “I tried so many times, Dad. I ran to you when you called at two in the morning. I drove hours to pick you up when you had no one to call.” She reaches up and wipes the tears from her face. “I gave you money when you called crying that you owed someone and they were after you. Where were you, Dad? Where were you when Blane and I needed you? You missed graduations. You missed birthdays. You were never there when I needed you after Mom passed,” she cries.
He hangs his head and takes a deep breath. When he looks back up at her, he has tears in his eyes. And I wanna punch him in the fucking face. He’s playing her. She’s the only one in this room who doesn’t see it. “Your mother was my world,” he whispers. “When she died, I didn’t want to live anymore.”
I feel a tightness in my chest at his statement. It reminds me of my parents. And that makes me want to punch him twice because I know he’s full of shit. He may have loved her, but like he said, there’s no better love than addiction.
“Not even for Blane and me?” she whispers.
He shakes his head. “You two were a constant reminder of what I lost.”
A sob wracks her body, and she places her hand over her mouth. “I want you to change, Dad. Please,” she begs. “Prove me wrong and show us that you want to change.”
“I can’t,” he says without hesitation. “And I don’t want to.”
She shakes her head in disappointment and then squares her shoulders. “Then I have nothing left to say. Good-bye, Dad.” She spins around, and with tears rolling down her face, she walks out the door.
“Taylor!” he yells as he chases after her. I slam the door shut, and he runs into it, pounding his chained fists on the metal door. “You little bitch …”
I grind my teeth as I fist my hands down by my side. “She’s done with you,” I announce flatly. He spins around on me. “But I’m not done with you.” I bring my fist back and punch the fucker in the face.
***
“You punched a cuffed man in the face?” Jones yells in my ear. “What in the fuck were you thinking?” he demands.
I slide a glance over at Taylor as she sleeps in the backseat of my truck. Miller snorts from the passenger seat, and I glare at him. “I did what needed to be done, sir.”
“Godammit, Case,” he snaps. “You always say that, but it always seems to cause more fucking problems than good.”
“You’re welcome,” I say with a smirk, and Miller throws his head back laughing.
“Case! Stop being an arrogant son of a bitch! What if he wants to press charges?”
“He won’t,” I say matter-of-factly.
He sighs. “Do I wanna ask how you know that?”
“Better if you don’t, sir.” I know all the men who work at Pekin. He doesn’t stand a chance against what I can have done to him. And if he ever tries to contact Taylor again, I may just make him disappear … just because I can.
“Jesus Christ,” he hisses. “Just get your ass back here and I expect you and Miller in my office tomorrow at noon.” The line goes dead, and I throw my phone down in the center console.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned.” Miller sighs.
“It went about as good as I had imagined it would.” I look at her again, and I can’t help but feel proud of her. I know her heart is hurting, but she stood up for herself. She went and saw for herself what she needed, and she didn’t back down. I was afraid she was going to fall for his shit, but she held her own. That’s my girl!
“Do you think he’ll talk? Rat you out?”
I shrug. “If he does, he’s done. I don’t think he wants to die,” I say in all honesty. “I’ve killed before, and I don’t mind doing it again. Especially someone who is willing to put his daughter’s life in danger. A woman I’m in love with.”
“Shit, son.” Miller whistles. “I can’t say I’m surprised. I saw it coming.”
I chuckle. “Could have warned me.”
“Nah. Where’s the fun in that?”
It takes us a total of three hours to get back to my house. And as soon as I get home, Miller hops in his truck to head back to the hospital to see Brecken. And promises to see me tomorrow at Jones’s office.
I open the back door and pick up a very sleepy Taylor out of the truck. I carry her into my house and put her on my bed. She doesn’t even move as I cover her up. I leave her there as I walk into the kitchen to get a drink. My hand fucking hurts, and I have a headache.
“How did it go?” Blane asks walking into the kitchen.
I unscrew the cap on the gin. “Not good.”
“What happened?” he asks with a frown.
I look over at him. “Well, I punched your father in the face.” I tighten and release my fist. It may be sore, but it feels good.
“You what?” he demands.
“He asked Taylor to offer herself as a drug dealer in order to set him free. After she informed him our deal was off.” I fill him in as his eyes widen. “I felt he deserved it.”
“Son of a bitch!” he yells out.
“My thoughts exactly,” I say as I tilt back the gin and swallow a good size gulp of it.
“Can you guys keep it down in here?” Savannah asks walking into the kitchen as she rubs her eyes. I’m surprised Blane was even up. It’s almost eleven. Today has been a long ass day and the fact I spent six hours driving, three hours to and from Pekin, isn’t even the exhausting part of it.
“Sorry, baby, go back to bed,” Blane says as he bends over and grips the countertop.
“Blane.”
We all turn to see a very shaken up and sleepy looking Taylor standing in the hallway. She wraps her arms around herself and rubs her upper arms.
“I’m so sorry, sis …”
She lifts one hand to stop him and then goes back to rubbing her arms. “You can save it, Blane,” she mumbles as she looks up at him with puffy red eyes. “I just need to know one thing.”
“Anything.” He nods to her.
I take a deep breath and hold it because I know what is it she is about to ask and it’s gonna kill her.
“How did Mom die?” She sniffs.
His face falls, and he swallows nervously. “Taylor, you know …”
“No!” she shouts, and her small body shakes as she interrupts him. “Quit treating me like I’m twelve and tell me the truth.” She takes a deep breath. “How did Mom die?”
He reaches up and rubs his hand over the back of his neck. He takes a few deep breaths of his own before he lowers his head to look down at the floor. He can’t even look her in the eyes when he says it. “An overdose,” he whispers. “Mom died of an overdose.”
Her shoulders shake, and her eyes well up in tears. A sob comes out and she doesn’t even try to disguise it. My heart breaks for her. This beautiful woman has been filled with nothing but lies for as long as she can remember, and I hate that I was part of that.
She looks up at me with a tear-streaked face. “Did you know this?” Her voice shakes just as much as her body does.
“Yes,” I say straightening my back. “After I found out Blane had a sister, I pulled up every bit of information I could get on your family.” She sucks in a deep breath. “I didn’t know you weren’t informed of the cause of death until our first date that night at the restaurant. I didn’t feel like I should be the one to tell you.” I have lied to her and held information from her. But I’m laying it all out on the table now. Anything she wants to know, I will answer to my best ability.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
TAYLOR
I feel so broken. So lonely! My mom was a druggie? Died of an overdose? How is that even possible? No memory I have of my mother involves drugs of any kind.
Blane takes a step toward me and I hold up my hand. “Don’t,” I cry out. I don’t want them to feel sorry for me. I don’t want them to baby me. I wanted the truth. Is that too much to ask? Is it that hard to be fucking honest?
I turn around giving them my back and make my way back to Case’s room on shaky legs. I come to the end of the bed and fall down onto it, sobbing into the comforter.
I feel the bed dip and then small arms wrap around me. I look up to see Savannah lying next to me. Tears slowly run down her face and she whispers, “I’m so sorry, Tay. I didn’t know …”
I wrap my arms around her cutting her off and squeezing her tightly as I cry into her shirt. I just wanna go back to sleep. I just wanna forget this day and move on with our lives.
It’s been a week since I saw my father. A full week since I learned about the true cause of my mother’s death. And it’s gotten a little easier. I still cry, but now, I only cry when I know I’m alone and no one can hear me. Like when I’m in the shower or bath. When everyone else leaves me alone. Case has been busy trying to find out who shot up Seven Deadly Sins, so he’s gone a lot. Blane and Savannah keep to themselves and I have been spending time alone with Brecken at the hospital. I think they know I prefer to be alone, and I welcome the silence. The numbing, deafening silence I allow myself to live in.
I know it’s my fault. I’m the one who needs to get over it and move on. But it’s hard to look my brother in the eyes. I understand why he didn’t tell me when I was twelve. I mean what kind of twelve-year-old would understand what an overdose meant? I remember watching my father do drugs after my mom passed, and I couldn’t comprehend his behavior. Or why he did them. But I’m twenty-one now and Blane has had plenty of chances to tell me since then.
I haven’t spoken much to Case either. Not because I’m mad at him, but because I don’t know what to say. I feel selfish. Immature. How can I be torn up about my mother’s death when I know what he went through when he lost his family? How he lost his parents? He hasn’t tried to touch me. He kisses me on the forehead in passing, but that’s all. Even when we’re in bed, he makes no move and I hate it. Maybe I need him to take away the hurt I feel.
I open my eyes as I hear the door to his bedroom open and shut quietly. It’s gotta be past midnight. I heard Blane and Savannah get home earlier when the sun was still up. I took a long bath and then crawled into his bed.
I keep my eyes closed as I hear him get undressed and then I feel the bed dip as he gets in behind me. He leans over and kisses my bare shoulder and then I feel him roll over giving me his back. I open my eyes and stare at the darkness for several minutes before I hear him softly snore. I sigh heavily as I close my eyes. Maybe tomorrow will be the day I crawl out of my hole.
***
I wake to a smell of something burning. I cough as I place my hand over my mouth. I open my eyes, but they sting and all I see is a cloud-like substance. “Case,” I say, coughing again.
I open my eyes again, and this time as I look around, I see that it was not clouds I was seeing, it was smoke. And the thing that is on fire is Case’s house.
“Case!” I scream out as I turn and start hitting his body. I can’t see much, but I can feel him. “Case, wake up!” I scream out.
His body moves under my hand, and then I no longer feel him. “Taylor!” he responds, his voice filled with panic.
“The house is on fire,” I say trying to look around, but all I see is smoke. I place my hand over my mouth and cough into it.
“Get down on the floor,” he orders in a rush.
I roll off the bed and lie flat on my stomach. I try to take calming breaths, but my chest is tight and my body shakes nervously. “Case?” I call out frantically.
When he doesn’t answer, I start to crawl on my hands and knees toward the end of the bed. I close my eyes and fall flat down onto my stomach when the smoke enters my lungs. It burns. The smoke takes my breath away and my chest tightens. I close my eyes as tears run down my cheeks.
I hear glass shatter in the distance, and I figure it’s the fire breaking things in the house. My chest heaves as I try to take in another breath. But seconds later, my arm is grabbed and I’m dragged to my feet. I try to speak, but all that comes out is coughing. I’m lifted into the air and then the next thing I know, my side hurts as I hit the ground.
I roll around as my lungs inhale fresh air sharply. “Case?” I call out as I position myself up on my knees. “Case?” I yell as my vision starts to clear, and I see that he had broken his bedroom window and threw me out of it. Moments later, he jumps through it, carrying his sheets from his bed. “Wrap this around you,” he rasps.
I look at him confused and still sucking in fresh air. When I don’t do as he says, he wraps it around me himself. And I finally realize that I’m naked. I had been sleeping naked last night. I thought that I was gonna be able to get over my mother and have sex. Now, I wish I would have worn clothes to bed.
“I have to go back in.” He places his hand over his mouth and coughs.
I shake my head frantically and let the sheet fall to the grass as I grab a hold of him. “No!” I shout, panic gripping me.
“I don’t have time to argue with you,” he growls. “Blane and Savannah are in there.”
“Oh, my God.” I inhale sharply and a pain shoots up my chest.
He doesn’t bother saying anything else. He lets go of me, spins around, and jumps back into his window. I reach down, grab the sheet, and cry out placing a hand over my mouth. He lives out in the middle of nowhere. He doesn’t have any neighbors. I need to call 9-1-1, but my phone is inside the house.
“Case?” I call out as I go over to the window. I place my hand up and step back as the fire burns my skin. The room is now up in flames.
I turn and run to the front of the house on shaky legs and heart hammering in my chest. Just as I come around the front of the house, the front door is kicked out. “Oh, thank God.” I breathe as I see Case dragging Blane behind him as he holds onto Savannah. I run to them, and she falls into my arms. I wrap the sheet around her, shielding us both as much as I can. She has panties on, but no top.
Blane falls to his knees as he coughs. “Blane,” she cries out, and he lifts one hand to signal he’s okay.
I go to speak to Case, but he turns and runs back into the house. I go to run after him, but Savannah stops me. “You can’t go back in there.”
“Case is in there,” I declare.
I can hear sirens in the distance. And my heart beats wildly in my chest as I hear them coming to help us. Why did he go back in there? “He’ll be okay,” she says roughly as she rubs my back.
My eyes dart back and forth between the front door and the front windows. Smoke pours out of the house and I can feel the heat from here. I know we should move away from the house, but I find myself moving closer and closer one small step at a time.
“Case?” A strangled cry comes out. “Where is he?” I cry. What could he have needed so bad to go back in and get?
I’m just about to throw the sheet and Savannah to the ground and run in when I see him come out of the house. I drop the sheet and run to him as tears run down my face. I wrap my arms around him, and he grips me tightly. His body burns mine from how hot he is from inside the house. His legs give out on him and he falls to the grass. I fall down with him. He sucks in breath after breath and he leans over coughing out loud. I rub his back as I look at the house now completely engulfed in flames.
I look away, not able to watch his memories go up in smoke. As I look down at the grass, I see the reason for his last trip in his left hand. And I feel the tears start to sting my eyes again for a different reason. It’s the picture from his mantel. The one of him and his family.
I let out a sob as I place my head on his shoulder thankful we all made it out alive. “I’m so sorry, Case,” I whisper.
He repositions himself, wraps his arms around me, and pulls me into his lap. I feel his heart pound against my chest, and he hugs me tightly. He buries his head in my hair, and I can hear his ragged breathing in my ear. “I’m so sorry,” I repeat because I don’t know what else to say.
He coughs, and it causes his entire body to shake mine as well. “We’re gonna be okay,” he rasps, gripping me tighter to the point of pain. “You’re okay.”
I wiggle myself loose and look up at him. “What about you? Are you okay?” I reach up and place my hand on his face, and my heart stops. It’s the first good look I get at him since he ran back into the house. His face is covered in black ash and sweat drips from his body. His eyes are sad, but his jaw is tight.
“I’m fine.” He pulls me back into him. “I have you. I’ll be fine.” I don’t point out the obvious. That he ran back into a burning house in order to get a picture. But I know how important that picture is to him. It’s all he had left of a family who left him.
***
“Who could have done it?” Brecken asks as he sits up in his hospital bed.
He’s been in the hospital for nine days now and is gonna be released soon. We’re all hoping tomorrow. The doctors say he has made a remarkable recovery.
Case shrugs as he stares out the window that looks over Chicago. “No one knows where I live,” he replies flatly. My heart hurts so much for him. He lost everything he had in the fire yesterday other than that one picture he was willing to risk his life in order to save.
“I don’t understand why this is all of a sudden happening,” Miller wonders. “We’ve been doing undercover cases for over four years now, and we’ve never been this close to death this many times on one case before.” He chuckles at his own words, and my chest tightens for them; Case hasn’t gone into detail about his job, but is this what he goes through on a day-to-day basis? I didn’t know being an undercover cop was so hazardous to their health.
Case sighs heavily. “I don’t know. It all started that night those guys attacked Taylor in the alleyway. The guy said he had gotten a call earlier that evening about Taylor but didn’t know who it was from.”
“How did you get him to tell you that?” Miller asks.
He continues to keep his back to us. “I just started breaking bones,” he replies with no emotion, and I cringe. “I broke one for every question he didn’t answer. A broken nose. Broken arm and some broken ribs …” He shrugs. “He started talking. And then I broke them just because.”
