Chapter 20

The police arrived within ten minutes, and within an hour, authorities from all over the city swarmed the scene. Though Shane wanted nothing more than to comfort Holly, there were hundreds of questions to be answered, and they were pulled apart. The cops wanted to know exactly what had happened, where the weapons had come from, and what the hell kind of circumstances had resulted in the death of Kirk Luckston – one of Miami’s most feared names.

It stood perfectly to reason that they would be so damned curious. They themselves had been trying to put the man away for years – just as they were trying to put his older brother away, but none of the charges on the Luckstons ever stuck.

Shane found himself answering the same questions over and over again, until he was growling malevolently at the officers and they reluctantly backed off, only to swarm over Holly. She was in a daze, speaking to the paramedics who tended to her wound on the one hand and the cops on the other. When she was asked why she killed Luckston, however, Holly’s mouth clamped shut and a haunted look entered her eyes. Frowning deeply, Shane shoved through the crowd of authorities to her side, challenging any cop that dared tell him to give her space.

The moment he reached her, Holly rushed into his arms, and it was from the safety of his embrace that her entire, painful story came spilling out.

Shane listened in horror as she recounted being confronted by Kirk after paying Tommy’s debts. How she was forced to give half of the restaurant’s biweekly revenues to the Luckston’s on pain of death or maiming for her and anyone close to her. Stiffly, she told the police how Luckston liked to toy with her during each and every visit – how he humiliated and prostrated her and she took it all without a word, fearing for her livelihood.

The longer she spoke, the more everything made sense. How Holly never seemed to be able to make ends meet, even when the restaurant was doing well. How she was covered in bruises almost constantly and never seemed to get enough sleep. Why she hadn’t gone to the hospital even when she was in near-unbearable pain.

It had all been because of the Luckstons.

And the more the police promised to pursue her case, the angrier Shane became.

They, he knew, would do nothing. Rob Luckston had half the department in his back pocket, and unless they could pin him present during the crimes, he would likely be accused of nothing. When Holly mentioned what had happened to Kelly, however, Shane’s eyes widened in shock. Rob the Trader was Rob Luckston?

And Kelly…Jesus Christ, Kelly…He’d done that to her, what? For fun? To warn Holly of what might happen if she got uppity?

If Kirk had been outright crazy, Rob, Shane knew, was the kind of slow burn crazy that cared little for anyone or anything. The kind of crazy that thrived on power and was willing to wait to cause the most jarring, agonizing impact.

As he’d done with Kelly.

As he would no doubt plot to do with Holly and Maddy once he learned of his little brother’s fate.

When Holly had finally gone hoarse from speaking and the cops turned away reluctantly to write their reports, promising to send officers to the nursing home to check on her mother, Shane left her for precious few minutes to make one of the most important phone calls of his life.

Alex answered on the first ring. “Man, what the fuck is going on downtown. Tommy’s is all over the news.”

Shane took a deep breath, praying for composure. “It’s Kirk Luckston. He was here and now he’s dead. Holly…Holly shot him.’

“….Shit.”

The version he gave Alex was abridged, but it didn’t take more than a few sentences to have his friend just as riled up as he was. Shane told him about how the Luckston’s had targeted Tommy in the wake of his incarceration, how they had driven him into debt, murdered him, and then preyed on his family. Through it all, Alex listened in stolid silence.

At least until he mentioned Kelly.

When Shane explained that the blonde was in the hospital recovering from her vacation with Rob Luckston, Alex answered in an odd, clipped tone he’d never heard before.

“Is she gonna be OK?”

Shane sighed, running a hand through his already mussed hair. “They think so. They’re keeping her unconscious to help with the pain, but from what Holly said, man…Rob fucked her up bad. Real fucking bad.”

There was a long moment of silence before Alex spoke again. “We need to move fast. Rob finds out his brother’s been offed, he’s going to be pissed. Kelly should be safe in the hospital, and I don’t see Luckston shooting up a nursing home, but I need you to bring Holly and the kid to my place right fucking now.”

Shane nodded, his heart kicking into overdrive. “Right. I’ll be there ASAP.”

“Make sure you aren’t followed.”

“Right.”

**

It took Shane roughly another half hour to satisfy the authorities enough to let him and Holly go. She made no protest of him driving her car, staring silently ahead the entire way home, her hands clenched tightly on her lap. She only seemed to snap out of her trance when she reached her house and Maddy came running out of the house to greet her, all smiles and laughter.

When she saw the state of her mother, however, her face fell.

She didn’t stop Holly from scooping her up into her arms and carrying her back to the car immediately to put her in the back seat – but she did ask questions. “Where are we going, Mommy? Is Uncle Shane coming with us?”

Bless her little heart, she was so goddamn innocent she almost broke Shane’s. She knew nothing of what was going on. Had no idea of the danger she was in.

And that was the way they needed to keep it.

Holly smiled at her, brushing a few strands of dark hair from the little girl’s face. She always had a smile for her daughter, no matter how dire the situation. “We’re going on a little trip, hon. To meet one of Uncle Shane’s friends. It will be fun. You just be a good girl and we’ll go for ice cream later this week, ok?”

“Ok!” Despite the gravity of their situation, Shane couldn’t help but chuckle. He was willing to bet money that she would want strawberry. Madison fucking loved strawberry.

And if they lived through the night, he intended to see that she got a truckload of it.