Chapter 29
"Is it morning already?" Shayde asked, noticing Brian was dozing by the door "Some protection you are." she snickered."Sleeping on the job, Mr. Open Carry." She said, rubbing her eyes.
"I had the boys posted up outside." Brian grinned, his eyes still closed.
"Why's it so damn bright in here?" Shayde asked, hating how Kaidyn always wanted the curtains open to watch the weather.
"You already know." Brian said, watching Roman come in. He put his finger to his lips to make sure he didn't wake Kaidyn up.
"What up, you guys have a nice sleepover?" Roman asked, grinning, making Shayde roll her eyes.
"Total slumber party up in here." She replied, yawning. She squinted, her head throbbing. "I'm gonna go get something to drink. You hungry, Brian?" she asked, getting up to stretch.
"Sure, surprise me." He nodded, settling back in his chair.
"Hey, hey, hey I'm hungry." Roman held out his hands, offended she hadn't asked him. "Girl, you know I love food. How you not gonna offer me nothin?" He asked, holding out his hands still.
"You got legs, last I checked." She said with a laugh.
"You right, that's why I'm goin with you." He nodded, following her out the door. "I'm starvin." he laughed, bumping fists with Tej outside the door.
"I'll bring you back food, Tej." Shayde promised, making Roman's mouth drop with jealousy. Tej gave her an appreciation nod.
"Why you wanna give everyone else food but me?" He asked as they got on the elevator. "That's messed up, Homie." he shook his head.
"You are too needy." Shayde shook her head, laughing at Roman's offended look.
"You know, 80 percent of arguments start because someone's hungry." Roman rubbed his stomach. "I am pretty hungry right about now." he rubbed his stomach.
""I'll be right back." Shayde gave him a push and headed to the restroom that was in front of the cafeteria. There was a flower stand right to the side of the door she had disappeared behind and Roman got an idea to get some flowers for Kaidyn. He took his time looking for the brightest colored ones and picked up some that were very colorful.
"Sure looks like some nice flowers you got there. Must be for someone real special." A voice said, making Roman almost drop the vase. He turned around real slow and was sure he was gonna see Carter Verone. He turned around and saw no one. He put the flowers back and shook his head.
"Shayde, we gotta go!" Roman grabbed her arm and ushered her back towards the elevator, after waiting for her impatiently to come out of the bathroom.
"Slow down, Roman. What's up?" Shayde asked with concern and confused by how he was acting.
"I am telling you I am not losing my mind, but I swear to you I just heard Carter's…." Roman said, his voice louder than he intended.
"DON"T you EVER say that name ever again, Roman Pearce" Shayde said, looking around to see if anyone was listening.
"Shayde, I am serious." he said, pointing behind him.
"Stop it, you're not funny."Shayde said, angry he had dared to bring up the mention of that name. She started to walk off. Then she came back. "I don't ever want to hear you ever say that name, mutter it, hint at it, nothing. Especially around Kaidyn. You got me? She asked, pointing a finger in his face.
"Shayde, I am not trying to start nothin. I am telling you that was his voice." Roman whispered, shaking his head at a loss.
"Where's he at then because if he was here, we'd know about it." Shayde said, looking around. "I promise you we'd know." She said, grabbing for her cell quickly, praying they were okay upstairs. They looked at each other and both took off for the stairs.
"Everything okay in there?." Shayde raced down the hall barely beating Roman.
""Yo... everything aight?" Tej asked, looking up from his phone, startled. Just then they heard a scream from the room. Tej, Roman and Shayde ran in the room to find Kaidyn laying in the bed with a pillow over her face. Brian looked very unsure of what was even going on.
"What happened?" Shayde asked, going straight to Kaidyn.
"I look like a raccoon." Kaidyn said, not wanting to look at anyone, burying her head deeper in the pillow.
"Come on, K. Raccoons are cute and you are too." Tej tried to joke, trying to make her smile.
"It's not funny,"Kaidyn replied. Brian walked over to Shayde by the door.
"What happened, I thought you had this all under control." Shayde asked smugly, a twinkle in her eye.
"She asked for my phone...I was just trying to let her relax.." Brian said, looking apologetic.
"She's been in pageants, she's 18, she's a girly girl . The first thing she's going to do is try to look at herself." Shayde said, rolling her eyes. "Of course she's gonna be upset at how she looks right now." She spelled it out for Brian.
"Well, I wasn't thinkin." Brian said, shaking his head, mad at himself.
"If that is the worst you do, you really are golden." Shayde grabbed his side and laughed. "It's okay. It's just Kaidyn being Kaidyn. She'll be okay. I promise." Shayde assured him, making him breathe a sigh of relief. "She'll get distracted and forget hopefully." Shayde sighed, having already expected this to happen at some point. It was the least of her worries at the moment.
"Brian, Can I see you outside, homey?" Roman asked, his eyes motioning to the door.
"Yeah, bro. What's up?" Brian asked, watching Tej coax the pillow off of Kaidyn's face.
"Oh this is good, you can't wait to hear this." Shayde promised, shaking her head with an amused expression. Roman shuffled Brian outside and looked at him.
"We in some trouble, I think." Roman said, his eyes squinting as he looked around to make sure there was no one he needed to watch for.
"Ro, what's up" Brian asked, rubbing his eyes, not sure if he was ready for this.
"Ca…" He stopped and looked at Shayde who had slipped out of the room and was leaning on the door frame, raised eyebrow and folded arms just waiting for him to say it.
"You know the one I told not to drop the soap…" Roman shook his head, flicking Brian in the back of the head for giving her a once over look. "Focus, homeboy." he growled.
"Yeah, I might know of him" Brian laughed, wondering what was up with Shayde and Roman.
"I heard him. I know It was him. You can't mistake that voice." Roman said, making Brian look at him.
"Ro, you sure about this?" Brian asked, all smiles gone.
"Pos-i-TIVE." Roman drew out his words. " I had some flowers and he said those sure are some pretty flowers or some shit like that. Cuz, I'd know that voice. You know I would know." Roman folded his arms looking very sure of himself.
"I think your boy, here, Mr. Pearce is a bit paranoid to say the least." Shadye said, making Roman roll his eyes at her. Shayde did the 'he's crazy' symbol to Brian, indicating he had lost his mind.
"Hardy har har, yeah, okay. Sure. I took him once I can do it again." Roman scoffed. "It's fine, I got this if he comin for us." He paced.
"We took him, we, not you." Brian corrected, grabbing Roman and putting him in a headlock.
"Yeah, yeah. You guys, I am serious. We know he's after us all. What makes you think he wouldn't have the balls to come up in here?" Roman asked, his concern evident.
"One way to know for sure. I'll call in some favors and see if we can't get the cameras checked." Brian nodded, knowing this would put an end to whether Roman was just being paranoid or if they were really in danger.
"Fine. You do that. You'll see." Roman nodded. "I know what I heard." he nodded.
"Great idea, Brian. Hey Rome, Tej is getting awfully close with her in there." Shayde said, looking in the small rectangle of the door, patting him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, a'right. I can't let that happen." Roman nodded, heading back in the room.
"So, favors huh? This gonna be the FBI, customs, or local pd? Fuentes?" Shayde asked, looking up at Brian.
"I got friends. I can have friends. Doesn't mean I am a cop." Brian defended himself, already knowing what she was thinking.
"Uh-huh. I am just waiting for that badge to be pulled out. You better tell me now if there's something else I need to know." She warned.
"There's not. I promise." Brian held her gaze, not looking away and not flinching. "We gonna keep on doing this, Shay?" he asked, sighing
"I don't know, depends on how determined you are." Shayde shrugged. Brian grinned and shook his head.
"Oh, I can be pretty determined. I thought Dom told you all about me." Brian asked, leaning on the wall over her, making her look up at him.
"Yeah, he told me some stuff." She nodded. He stopped staring at her when the phone rang.
"Gotta get this." Brian looked at it and answered. "Come on, they were able to pull footage." he said, taking off down the hall. Shayde hesitated, looking at Kaidyn's room.. "She's safe with Tej and Roman." he promised, giving her a confident nod. They headed off to where Brian's source was and down into the basement, making her shiver a bit. It was cold.
"Let them in, they are with me" Monica Fuentes said to the person manning the door. Brian held the door open for Shayde to go in first and the guy closed it behind him. They were in a room with a bunch of televisions with different screens and were obviously in the security room. "Long time no see, O"Connor." Monica said, flashing him a smile. Brian's smile dropped, he hadn't been expecting to see her. Shayde rolled her eyes and she felt her heart light on fire. She was right, he was still in contact with customs and most likely the FBI too.. Brian must have felt her eyes burning a hole through him because he turned to Shayde.
"Shay…" He said, gesturing for Monica to hold on.
"It's Shayde, thank you very much.' She said, her voice low and he could tell she felt very betrayed. She was no stranger to Monica, she knew her too. She didn't like her and didn't want any part of her.
"Shayde, let's put our differences aside, can we? I can help you." Monica said, extending her hand.
"I don't need anyone's help, thank you.. What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice so cold Brian got chill bumps.
"I think we both know I am looking for the very person you are all trying to avoid. Come on, Sutton, you didn't think that I wouldn't have my people watching your people to find him? This has nothing to do with you or Mr. Brian O'Connor. This is for my job and to prove I am not letting him go. My career is on the line. So it's not about you." She said, rolling her eyes.
"Did you know she was here?" Shayde asked Brian, talking in sharp, short annoyed breaths."Better ….be… very….careful….and tell me the truth…" She warned.
" Not until I asked Bilkins to reach out to someone at the hospital to try to see if Roman's losing his mind. I swear." Brian said, knowing Shayde probably wouldn't believe him. "Come on, Shay, If I wanted to lie to you I could have very easily. I am being honest,I had no idea.I swear on everything." he said.
"Oh are you two a thing?" Monica asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"Nope, he's single and ready to mingle" Shayde replied, not missing a beat, giving Monica a sarcastic smile.
"Aye, okay. We never had a thing, it's not like you are thinking. Let's check these tapes. What time did Roman tell you it was?" Monica asked, rolling her eyes at the two of them.
"9:05 -930?" Brian asked, looking at Shayde for confirmation.
"There's nothing there. Your boy losing it? " Monica asked, as they scanned over all the tapes. "He's there, no one's there." She shrugged.
"It's not like he's crazy, I don't get it." Brian scratched his head. "I believe Roman. He has no reason to lie." Brian said.
"Carter's not here. He's not dumb. It would be crazy to think he would risk being caught on camera just to come settle a score with you guys. He is more calculated than that, you and I both should know this." Shayde growled, shaking her head. " I have to get back to my sister." Shayde said, heading for the door.
"She's touchy." Monica said, shaking her head. "What did you do to her?" She joked,
"She don't like cops and thanks to you showing up here now I gotta start back over. So thanks for that." Brian nodded.
"Always a pleasure to help. You should really go after her. You want me to go talk to her?" She offered, shrugging.
"Nah, it would just make it worse on me." Brian sighed. "Thanks for the favor." He nodded, running out after Shayde.
"Good luck with that. My money's on her." Monica said unapologetically.
"Shay, Shay, please wait up for me." he jogged, trying to be discreet in the halls and not run a full fledged run. He was glad to see the stairs were blocked off and the elevator was showing it was up the higher floors.
"Just stop. Just stop it, okay? I have enough going on without having to worry what you want or what your motive is." Shayde said, heading onto the elevator.
"What do you mean?" he asked, not getting it. She got off the first floor and headed outside, not really caring if anyone was outside or not. She was over all of the running.
"What do I mean? I mean, I don't have time for this kind of stuff. I got that kid upstairs to take care of, I got to be on the run constantly all the damn time and I don't have time for games and being lied to or being someone's latest crush." Shayde said, raindrops hitting her face. She was thankful it was helping hide her tears of anger.
"Whoa. Whoa. It's not what you think and you need to chill out and slow down and let me help." Brian said, sighing. He knew she was in need of some rest and a break. He grabbed her shoulders. "We have been over this many times, Shay. I am just trying to help. I am not trying to do anything for anyone and I damn sure am not trying to lie or hurt anyone. I have done enough of this. I learned a lot from Dom and from all the shit Rome and I went through and I wouldn't do that. Is it so hard to believe that you deserve some happiness too?" he asked, looking at her in the eyes. He took a thumb and wiped away a tear. "I know what it is like to be hunted and to be the hunter but most of all I know what it's like to never be able to relax and just be. It sucks. I just want to help you get to where you can just be. If that makes me a bad guy, then I am the bad guy I guess." he shrugged. "If you can honestly tell me you want me to walk away, then I will. I will leave but I am not gonna let you try to fight Carter on your own when he's after us too."Brian said, shaking his head.
"I am going to give you one last chance to back out. You don't know the danger..you ..are in." Shayde said, now shaking.
"I am not going anywhere. We can argue over this all day. In the rain or inside but I am not giving up until you tell me you want me to leave you alone." he said in a softer tone. It was starting to pour now.
"I don't know what I want." She admitted, looking down. "You wouldn't understand. I don't have a choice in the matter even If I did know."She sighed.
"SO you'll let me help then.. That is all I need." He grinned, only half joking. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text and put it back up quick. "I am not lying to you, I am not a cop." Brian pulled her into his arms to hold her, expecting her to struggle and smiled when she didn't. "No more nonsense and no secrets, okay? I wont keep them from you if you don't keep them from me, Do we have a deal?" He asked, lifting up her face. "Besides, do you want Monica to feel like she caused a fight between us?" he asked, not really a fan of hers.
"Def not." Shayde tried to laugh.
"Good then kiss me because I know she is watching." Brian grinned, joking and not expecting Shayde to reach up and kiss him.
"You weren't expecting that, were you?" She asked, looking around. She knew Monica was likely watching and she wouldn't be shocked if Carter or his boys were watching.
"Come on let's go inside before you get sick." he picked her up and carried her inside.
"Just so you know, if he was here, his boys would have the capability to erase those tapes or get around it. So don't get too relaxed that he wasn't on the tapes." Shayde said quietly, wondering if her slipping and kissing him was a mistake as they walked back to the elevator.
"You think he'd go to that much trouble?" Brian asked, seriously intrigued. Shayde nodded.
"I know him better than anyone knows him, trust me. He loves the mind games and making people think they have lost it.' Shayde said. "But lets not let Roman know this because I can't have him asking questions or slipping up around Kaidyn."She said, putting her hands in her pocket. "I honestly don't want to think about him at all." She sighed, feeling suddenly overwhelmed and tired.
"You okay? You don't look so good." Brian asked, concerned as Shayde's legs bucked. She hadn't been feeling the greatest and Brian barely caught her.
"Shit." He scrambled to catch her. She had passed out cold. He felt her forehead and she seemed a bit warmer than she should for just coming in from the rain.. He looked around trying to find a place to set her down and debated if she would kill him if he rushed her downstairs to the emergency room. He had to think quickly but wasn't sure what would be the best to do given the circumstances of being on the run.
