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Chapter Twenty Three - June 19

The waiting was the hardest part. We knew Hunter would strike; we just didn’t know when. Luckily we didn’t have to wait too long. Nick and Angel had formulated a plan. Two days after Nick returned home, he received a mysterious phone call and quickly put the plan into action.

“I don’t know about this,” I said nervously as Angel slipped into a pair of my jeans and a hoodie. The hoodie was way too big for her; it hung low over her eyes. All you could see was a few strands of her dark hair.

“It’ll be fine,” Angel said calmly. Nick walked into our bedroom.

“I’ve got the stroller ready,” he said in a calm equal to Angel’s. I sighed.

Their plan was to have Angel take “Brooklyn” out for a stroll along the new beach walk that had just been installed. Nick was counting on Hunter seizing the first opportunity he encountered to get “me” and “Brooklyn” alone. Nick would be hiding nearby. The whole thing had me breaking into a cold sweat.

“What’s in the stroller?” I asked.

“The teddy bear Baylee gave Brooklyn,” Nick said.

Angel gave a hard tug on the drawstrings, tightening the head of the hoodie even more.

“I’m ready.”

“I’ll be hiding behind the big drum,” Nick explained. He lifted the bottom of his shirt. I let out a gasp at the barrel of a gun tucked into his waistband. “He’s not getting away.”

“Nick…”

He turned to me. “Liv, I’m not going to shoot to kill. You remember your part of the plan right?”

I nodded. As soon as Angel and Nick left the house I was supposed to wait five minutes and call the police.

“What if we do this and Hunter’s not around?” I asked. “The police will have our asses for calling in a false emergency.”

“I don’t care,” Nick said. “It’s because of them that we have to do this anyhow. Plus, I trust my source.”

The three of us walked downstairs. Every single curtain and blind wad drawn; the house was like a…morgue.

Nick glanced at his watch. “I’m heading out.”

The plan was that he’d leave through the front door and take off in the car. He’d park a couple blocks away and then circle around. Angel and I stood in tense silence. Tears sprang to my eyes.

“It’s going to be okay, Liv,” Angel whispered. “I’m going to add bad-ass superspy to my modeling resume as soon as this is over.”

I gave a weak laugh. The minutes ticked by. Finally her hands wrapped around the stroller and she took a deep breath.

“I’m off. Don’t forget. Call the police.”

She opened the door leading towards the beach. Before I had a chance to say a word, she closed the door behind her.

I was greeted with dead silence. Brooklyn was asleep in her bassinet in Nick’s studio; all doors leading into the room were locked.

I looked at my watch. The minutes ticked by slowly. Finally, as five minutes elapsed I walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone, dialing the number that the officer had left with us. I was sent to voicemail. Cursing, I immediately hit redial. Again, voicemail. I was about ready to call 911 when a hand clamped over my mouth. I fought against it, but I was yanked back forcefully.

“Looking for me?”

My eyes widened even as I fought for breath. It was the officer that had blown us off about Aaron. His hand dropped from my mouth in order to yank my arm painfully behind my back.

“You?” I gasped. I didn’t even know the officer’s name; I would have had to look at his business card. It hadn’t seemed to matter. The police were all the same…right?

“You think the precinct pays well?” he asked with a laugh. “Honey, like I told Carter. He’s in the public eye. He reeks of cash. I do a little favor for his crazy brother and I’m set. I’m tired of getting shot at.”

He twisted my arm even harder so that I was braced against him.

“Let’s take a walk. Where’s the baby?”

“What baby?”

“Don’t fuck with me. Where’s the baby? Brooklyn, right?”

Before I could respond I heard a gunshot coming from the direction of the beach. I started to cry out, but his hands smacked into my face hard and I stumbled. The next thing I felt poking into my back was unmistakably a gun.

“Let’s stop playing around, huh?” he said. “Carter thought he was so smart with this little plan, but see, as a cop I knew something was fishy. I let your dumbass ex-husband believe it was you leaving the house and I snuck back here. Good thing I’m so great at security systems. Carter has a great one.”

I was pretty sure my heart was tripping over itself; I had never hyperventilated in my life, but now seemed like a good time.

“Now, where’s the baby?”

My mind focused again on the feeling of the gun. “The nursery,” I said. I prayed he would leave me to check, but he nudged the barrel against my spine.

“Let’s take a walk then, huh?”

As we ascended the stairs I tried to guess how much time I had left before he shot me. I figured as soon as he saw the empty crib that my hourglass would run out. I stepped onto the landing and paused. He pushed me forward.

A large tear ran down my face. I didn’t know if that had been Nick’s gun or a gun aimed at Angel or Nick…or both. My shaking hand reached for the doorknob.

The sound of a gunshot rang loud in my ear.

I was sure that I had been shot. I screamed louder than I ever had in my life and crumpled to the floor. Only after a few seconds had passed and I didn’t feel excruciating pain did I open my eyes and turn. The officer was lying on the ground, a dark red pool of blood spilling out on the floor.

I looked up to see a woman dressed in head to toe black still holding the gun at the ready. She looked at me.

“You okay?”

I was seconds away from swallowing my tongue. I nodded weakly.

“Your husband’s a good singer but he’s a lousy action hero,” she said.

“Nick?” I croaked. “Is he okay?”

The woman nodded. “He’s fine. A little wet but fine.”

I blinked. “Who are you?”

She reached into a black pocket and pulled out a badge. When she flipped it open I could clearly see the FBI badge.

“Justine McKenna. FBI.”

“How—“ I began to say, but she cut me off.

“We’ve been after Aaron since December. Unfortunately his stupidity got way too many people involved. This wasn’t the way we planned on taking him down.”

The toe of her boot nudged the officer. He was clearly dead.

“Of course cleaning out the local police department is an added plus.”

The full impact of what just happened hit me hard. The smell of blood, sweat, and fear overwhelmed me.

Before she could ask me if I was okay again, I vomited all over the carpet.

-----------------------------------------

Like Agent McKenna had told me, Nick was soaked, but fine. His shot had clearly missed Hunter and they had gotten into a drag out fight that ended with both of them splashing around in the ocean. While that was taking place, Aaron had appeared practically out of thin air and begun struggling with Angel. During the altercation, the hood of her sweatshirt had fallen back revealing her true identity.

Aaron might not have had a soft spot for Nick, but he still had a soft spot for his twin sister. As angry as he was to be tricked, he had only pushed Angel down on the sand and tore off down the beach. Fortunately, he ran in the direction of four waiting FBI agents. Hunter was in police custody and Aaron had been taken away by the FBI. The beach and our house were crawling with detectives. I sat on the couch with Nick; I turned my head as the body bag was carried by us. Nick’s arms were locked around me tightly. Angel was in the kitchen with Brooklyn.

“Olivia?”

I looked up to see an older agent standing in front of me. He was tanned, blonde, and incredibly handsome. His eyes were a deep cocoa brown and when he smiled he had dimples.

“My name is Michael Tanner. I’m the senior agent assigned to this case.”

He held out his hand. I reached forward and shook it; he had a firm, confident handshake. He turned and held his hand out to Nick. Nick let go of me for just a second to shake his hand, then turned his complete attention back to me.

“I want to assure you that these men won’t be bothering you again,” he said kindly. “I also want to apologize for the turn of events. We hadn’t been contacted about your meetings with the officer. We actually thought your fiancée here might have been helping his brother.”

“How could you think that?” Nick said coolly.

“Well, you gathered more information in four days than we had in months,” Michael said with a smile. “We figured you were in on it or you just got lucky.”

At that moment I heard a commotion at the door. Before Nick or I could stand up and see what was going on, my mom flew into the room.

“I was just coming by to drop off some brownies and I saw the police cars. What the hell is going on here? Are you okay? Where’s Brooklyn?”

Her eyes were wide, her face a mask of panic. I stood up; I was surprised to find that I had stopped shaking.

“It’s okay mom. Everything’s okay.”

“I saw a body bag. Nothing’s okay when a body bag’s involved. I’ve watched Law and Order and CSI. I know.”

“Everything’s fine Carrie.”

Upon hearing my mom’s name, I looked over at Agent Tanner in surprise. My mom, just now noticing that there was someone else in the room, looked shocked.

“Michael what are you doing here?”

I shook my head.

“Wait. You know him?”

My mom pointed. “He’s the guy I’ve been dating!”

I pointed at him too.

“I thought you said he worked at the grocery store!”

“That’s what I thought,” my mom said slowly, dropping her arm. She turned to glare at him. His eyes widened, he held up his hands. For a big bad FBI agent, he sure looked worried.

“I can explain.”

My mom folded her arms. I looked between the two of them. I couldn’t help but think they’d make a cute couple. Except that he lied to her. Mom hated liars.

“When this case heated up I was assigned to stay undercover in the area. I worked in a grocery store when I was younger and thought that would be the best hideout. I didn’t expect to see such a gorgeous woman coming into the store every day. When I found out you were Olivia’s mom it made it easier for me to ask you out. I was able to get to know you and keep close surveillance.”

“So you used me,” my mom said. Michael shook his head.

“No. I wasn’t using you. I was protecting you.”

I knew this wasn’t going to end well. I had done a good job of keeping mom oblivious of the whole Aaron situation. Now her boyfriend was going to rat me out. Nick pulled me back down.

Michael quickly explained the situation. My mom’s mouth got smaller and smaller as the enormity of the situation was laid out for her. She glanced down at me.

“Are you telling me,” she said slowly. “That my daughter and granddaughter were in danger?”

Michael shook his head. “They weren’t ever in real danger. As the case started to heat up I pulled in all my best men.” His voice softened. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to them. I know how much your family means to you.”

The scene made for a very twisted Disney-esque moment. I imagined little woodland critters coming out of the corners of the room and singing as the Prince declared his love for the Princess.

“Yes they do,” my mom said softly, lifting her chin proudly. She sniffed. “So, does this mean you’re leaving?”

“Actually,” Michael said. He stepped closer to her. The scene was getting weird; I wished I could turn into a pumpkin. I hadn’t seen any guy that close to my mom except my dad. I shifted on the couch; Nick put his hand on my leg to keep it from bouncing nervously. “This was my last case. I’m retiring.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure where I was going to end up, but a lovely lady told me that Tampa’s nice this time of year.”

My mom smiled. Like a school girl. It was really embarrassing.

“Really?”

Michael laughed. “Yes, really.”

The next thing I knew they were hugging tightly. I closed my eyes wondering if maybe being shot would have been the better option. Nick cleared his throat.

“Hey mom?” Nick asked loudly. I opened my left eye to see my mom looking over at Nick happily.

“Yeah?”

“Can we assume that Michael’s your date to the wedding?”

My mom pulled back and studied Michael’s face.

“Would you like to come to my daughter’s wedding? It’s in a few weeks.”

Michael grinned.

“I’d be honored.”

He kissed her hand; she beamed. Somehow I doubted she would be smiling so broadly if she knew that my upstairs carpet was soaked through with blood and her ex son-in-law had gone apeshit.

But I thought I’d save that information for another day.