Chapter Twenty-Four

 

 

 

 

 

Evan

 

 

 

 

“Ready to move on my signal,” Lt. Messer said through the earwig in my ear. No one responded but our compliance was assumed.

I stood in the alley behind the dilapidated warehouse with Dom and a few other members of the New Hope task force. All of us were wearing our vests and guns were drawn, ready to take on whatever we found inside.

In the four days since Victoria had left for Southern California, one of our informants had come through for us big time. We’d taken his information and followed a few leads and were now standing outside the warehouse where the heroin was supposedly stored, separated, and packaged for distribution.

Making this bust would be huge, potentially cutting off a huge supply route for the lower half of Nevada. And if we could turn whoever was inside to help us move further up the chain or if Zero was actually in there… I was almost giddy thinking about the possibilities.

“Blue team, go!”

Almost instantly, the sounds of the warehouse being infiltrated could be heard. SWAT members yelled for people to put their hands above their heads and move to their knees. About sixty seconds passed before my radio sounded again.

“All teams, move in!”

The six of us went in a side entrance and the smell was the first thing I registered once we were through the door. It smelled like chemicals and corpses- never a good combination.

The small room we entered was dark and empty, with two doors. Dom went to the first one with me on his heels. After sticking his head out quickly and looking around, he moved through the doorway but two quick gunshots rang out in succession.

“Dominic!” I grabbed him by the back of the vest and jerked him backwards, back into the room, just as more gunshots sounded.

“Suspect down. Scene’s clear,” someone said into the radio and I immediately crouched down to inspect my best friend. His face was contorted up in pain and he just shook his head.

“I’m good. One shot got my vest, right in the side. Hurts like a mother fucker.”

I helped him inspect the vest and shook my head as he moved to his feet. “Jesus, don’t do that shit. If you died, Becca would kill me.”

“Yeah, she definitely would. She’ll be mad as hell at you if my rib’s cracked.” He grinned at me and rubbed his chest just as someone said our names. “Let’s go see what we have.”

Over one hundred pounds of heroin, what we assumed was Vitratrope, and eight people who’d been working hard to get it processed and packaged is what we had.

Dom and I spent hours on the scene and even longer at the station, interrogating those we’d brought in and identifying the two who’d been killed during the exchange of gunfire. Other than Dom’s hit to the vest, none of our guys had been touched.

Most of the suspects were eager to give up other people but we were still missing Zero. No one seemed to actually know who he was except for one guy, the second in command who’d been in the warehouse overseeing operations. And he wasn’t talking.

“Clayton Jarvis. Thirty-six-years-old, multiple drug and assault charges. Looks like one more possession and intent charge and you’ve hit your three strikes. Here in Nevada that means life in prison.” I dropped the file onto the table and took a seat in front of where Clayton was currently restrained.

Dom was leaning against the wall and he chuckled quietly. “Won’t just be state lock up, either. You’ll be going someplace federal, Clay boy. Someplace where you don’t have friends.”

Clayton looked completely blasé and continued picking at his dirty fingernails the best he could with his wrists in cuffs. I tapped the table to get his attention.

“The bribery and other bullshit you’ve used to get yourself out of things before won’t work this time, Jarvis. You were overseeing the production of over one hundred pounds of heroin and most of your employees have gladly pointed the finger at you. Give us the names of your bosses and see if you can’t make your life a little easier.”

“What a beautiful speech,” he said as he finally looked at me. His blue eyes were sunken in, probably because he did his fair share of sampling the product. His blonde hair was greasy and balding on top of his head, and his face was full of pockmarks. When he sneered at me, his teeth were rotting in his mouth. “I think I’ll take my chances, though. Good luck, guys.”

Dom kicked Clay’s chair, causing him to fall to the ground, and turned to head out of the interrogation room. I stayed in my seat and watched as the dealer in front of me attempted to get off the floor.

“If you change your mind, let us know,” I told him before calmly picking up the file and turning to follow Dom. Once the door was closed, I rolled my eyes at my oldest friend.

“That was a temper tantrum that your kids would be proud of.”

He held up his hand, showing me his middle finger, before running that same hand through his hair in frustration. “There are more players and we’re not going to catch them all until we have this Zero.”

“We’ll get him.” I thumped my friend on the back and jerked my chin to one of the patrol officers next to me. “Transport will be here for him in about an hour.”

The phone was ringing when we made it back to our desk and Dom picked it up. He took notes as he listened and then nodded at me when he hung up the receiver.

“The lab verified that the other ingredient was Vitratrope. It’s definitely Sludge. It looks like they were getting shipments of the pure and doing the processing in that warehouse.”

“Jesus.” I shook my head and fell into my chair. “I didn’t want to believe it but that shit was being made right here in New Hope all this time.”

Dom nodded and let out a long yawn. “I’ll do my report at home. If I hurry, I can catch Bec before she goes to bed. You sticking around?”

“For a bit longer.” I grinned at my best friend and waved when he exited out small cubicle. Once he as gone, I pulled out my phone and sighed when I saw that I didn’t have any missed calls or texts from Victoria.

I missed the fuck out of that woman. I missed sleeping next to her, eating meals with her, hearing her talk about the most random things. I just missed her.

I also regretted not telling her I loved her before she left. Even though she was completely capable out there doing her job, I still worried about her constantly. All of the news sources about the fire told me everything was okay, though. Besides, Megan Owens and Kelly Christos had taken it upon themselves to add me to a group text. They told me that the firewives had to stick together.

It was a good thing I was comfortable in my masculinity or that shit might have sucked.

It was nice to be included on any communication the two of them had with the other members of Victoria’s company. Anytime Simon or Nick contacted one of the two, they let me know and it eased my worries even more.

The private investigator was having a hard time with proving Tristan had sent the video. Apparently it had originated and been sent from Las Vegas while Tristan was in Phoenix. His alibi was solid because he’d been charged with a DUI while he was there.

That made no difference to me. My brother wasn’t smart enough to get it out to all of the fire departments without help anyway. I knew if we found who actually hit send, we would be able to trace it back to Tristan. The department PI was working with Victoria’s independent PI and I just hoped one of them could figure it out.

It was around ten when I finally decided to pack it in. I saved the document on my computer and grabbed my shit before standing up. I waved to those working the nightshift and was just stepping out to the parking lot when my phone vibrated in my pocket.

I didn’t recognize the number when I touched the screen and brought it to my ear. “Evan Coleman.”

“Evan. It’s Warren Jones.” The frantic tone in his voice had my steps faltering.

“What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

“Someone with shitty reception called but I was told I needed to get to Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. Something about an emergency and an airlift.” He paused and I could tell he was trying to keep it together. “Vincent was supposed to be heading out there to join them but I can’t get ahold of him either.”

I forced my feet to move and rushed towards the parking lot. “I’ll be over in ten minutes. We’ll go in my truck.”

A beat of silence passed between us on the phone before Warren spoke. “Thank you, Evan.”

It only took me nine minutes before I was pulling up in front of his house and he was rushing down the front steps before I was even parked in the driveway. He got into the passenger door and glanced over at me, his face full of worry and fatigue.

“She’s okay.”

“Of course she is,” I agreed, glancing over my shoulder as we pulled back out into the street. “Victoria is tough.”

Not much was said during our three and a half hour drive. Warren kept trying to get in touch with Vincent but without any luck. When he called the hospital, they refused to divulge any information over the phone, much to our frustration.

It was two o’clock in the morning when I parked in front of the emergency department at the hospital and we were both out the second I was stopped.

There wasn’t anyone at the reception desk and both Warren and I looked around frantically, trying to find anyone who could help us. I finally spotted someone who was pushing an empty wheelchair and I crossed over to him in three long strides.

“My girlfriend is a firefighter. If she was airlifted here, where would she be?”

“Uh, without looking her up I can tell you that all of our trauma is on the second floor, along with the burn unit. Elevator’s that way.”

We both nodded and I spit out a quick word of thanks before heading in that direction quickly. When I hit the button for the elevator, Warren shook his head and opened the door to the stairwell.

“Let’s go this way.”

I ran up the stairs behind him until we were both walking out onto the trauma floor. There was an information desk right outside the elevator and we headed right to it. Warren immediately began talking to the person behind it, demanding information about his daughter, and I turned to look around. My eyes caught sight of a woman talking to a doctor down the hallway and I immediately headed in that direction.

“Victoria.”

She looked away from the doctor when I said her name and relief hit me hard when it registered that she was okay.

“Evan.”

As soon as I was within range, Tori propelled herself into my arms and I held her as close to me as possible.

“You’re here,” she murmured, pressing her face into my neck and I nodded my head.

“You’re okay.”

She smelled like smoke, sweat, and dirt but I didn’t care. When she pulled back, I got a good look at her beautiful face and immediately frowned.

Around her left eye was bruised and she had several scratches on her right cheek, forehead, and right arm. She looked okay otherwise.

“How did you know to come here?” she asked, reaching out to touch my cheeks. I leaned down and pressed my forehead to hers with a relieved sigh just as Warren called out.

“Vicky.”

I barely let go of her before her father was swooping her into a hard hug that looked almost painful.

“Thank god you’re all right,” he murmured so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him and he inspected his daughter’s face when they separated. “Where is he?”

“In there.” She gestured to the room behind her and her father kissed her cheek before disappearing into it. She watched him go before looking back at me and swallowing hard.

“It’s not me. It’s Vincent.”

“Vincent?” I asked, opening my arms again and silently rejoicing when she moved back into them, pressing her face against my neck.

She nodded and when she spoke, her voice was muffled. “I didn’t even know he was out here. From what I’ve been told, he was holding the line near some chemical spill about ten miles from where I was. Something happened and the flames got by them, triggering an explosion. The blast threw him against the rig they were using.”

A violent shiver ran through her. “I was trying to escape a falling tree when it happened. I hurt so bad everywhere that I thought the tree crushed me but Trujillo rolled us both to safety in time. The pain… God, it was Vincent.”

“Shit,” I whispered, holding her a bit closer. “Is he okay?”

She cleared her throat and I could tell she was trying not to cry. “He’s going to be okay. He broke four ribs, his arm, dislocated his hip, and has a concussion but he’s going to live. They’re going to be taking him back to surgery to pin his arm back together and reset his bones.”

As if on cue, some noise caused us to turn our heads and we moved back slightly so they could wheel a hospital bed out of the room Warren had disappeared into. Laying on top of it, looking like total shit, was Vincent Jones.

His face was dirty and covered in abrasions. His whole body seemed to be wrapped in giant piece of gauze. When he caught sight of me, a big, dopey smile filled his face. That combined with how foggy his eyes were told me he was on an insane amount of painkillers.

“Evaaaaaan,” he slurred, stressing the ‘a’ in my name. “Now it’s a party.”

I chuckled and draped my arm across Victoria’s shoulders. “You feeling good there, Vincent?”

“High as a kite, brother.” He turned his gaze onto his sister. “Get some sleep, Vic.”

“Okay.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to her brother’s forehead. “See you when you get out.”

They wheeled Vincent away and Warren appeared in the doorway with an exhausted expression on his face. Victoria stepped away from me so she could embrace her father again and they stood like that for a long minute.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have a phone and didn’t have a way to contact you until I made it to the hospital. I’ve only been here for about thirty minutes.”

“No need to apologize, sweetheart. Why don’t you and Evan get a room and I’ll stay here with Vince?” Warren pulled back and looked down at his daughter. “You’re dead on your feet. After you get some rest, we can switch off.”

It looked like she wanted to argue but one stern look from her father had her nodding her head. They hugged one more time before Warren let her go and pulled me in for an embrace, too.

“Thank you, Evan,” he said quietly, patting my back once we separated. I nodded my head and stepped back.

“Of course. Let me know if you need us to bring you anything in the morning.”

With Victoria’s hand in my own, we headed to the elevator.