Thanks so much to those readers who reviewed the last chapter! (And I'm totally startstruck that Muses Own My Mind is reading one my fics, lol. If you guys are looking for a REALLY awesome fanfiction writer, go check out Muses' stories. They're GOOD.) I wasn't planning on anyone finding out that Jaime was keeping quiet about Kate, but there were several people saying they were looking forward to that so... And Marjannabarnes, thanks for telling me who you wanted to find out about Jaime keeping the secret, I went with your request. :)
There's been a little debate about whether Hux or Johnny (or someone else) is the father of Kate's daughter. I had an idea in mind, but would like to know if there's someone you'd like it to be (for better or for worse, I'm all in for some angst)
Chapter 8
Kate avoided looking at Lacy. But then, Lacy wasn't really trying to make any contact with Kate either.
The apartment was tense besides the sound of tiny footsteps running for the ball Kate rolled across the living room rug. A happy shriek of, "Dot it!" was at odds with the tight silence between Kate and Lacy.
"You got it," Kate repeated back to her daughter with a small smile. "Good job, Frannie."
She reached out to get the ball when Frannie kicked it back to her awkwardly. Frannie came charging after the ball on unsteady legs, dark curls bouncing and crashed into Kate's arms with a squeal. Kate held her tighter than she needed to, pressing a cheek against her soft cheek.
Frannie squirmed to get away and reach for the ball again and Kate met Lacy's eyes.
"You don't have to go back to Doubleshots," Lacy said.
Kate looked back at Frannie, worried the pain and fear in Lacy's eyes was mirrored in her own eyes at the mention of the bar. "You know better than anyone that I have to."
Her fingers curled against her palms and pressure built in her chest. She had no idea what she was going to find at the bar, in the back room with the shipment of guns, with Johnny and Wes, without Hux's iron rule to keep things steady in the gang.
"You shouldn't have to," Lacy insisted, though they both knew what they thought should or shouldn't happen didn't matter in their lives. It hadn't for a long time.
"If they come looking for me because I don't go back there…" Kate started.
Frannie let out a squeal of laughter and Kate and Lacy both looked at her. They both knew what Johnny had threatened. He had only had to make the threat once.
Lacy's lip quivered like she was going to cry, but she blinked quickly. "I'll bring Frannie to the park later. Maybe you can get over there if things are slow at the bar."
Kate didn't answer. Her first time back after disappearing for four days, no way was Johnny going to let her out of his sight. Or Wes. Or whoever was running things.
Kate reached for her long sleeve t-shirt and pulled it on over her short sleeve shirt, grimacing at the pain in her ribs.
"I'll try to be home before tomorrow morning," she said, shoving back thoughts of not making it home at all. She had no idea what anyone in the gang was thinking of her disappearing. Or of Hux being shot and killed while she was there.
"Have you heard from Johnny at all?" Lacy asked.
Kate shoved a sweatshirt and her phone into her backpack. "He knows I'm out of the hospital. He texted and let me know I better show up today."
"Be careful," Lacy said quietly.
Kate gave a short nod and knelt down, holding out her arms to Frannie. Her baby willingly came over and pressed a slobbery kiss to Kate's nose. Kate felt her lips curve in a small smile even as her heart squeezed painfully. She studied Frannie's rounded cheeks, cupid's bow lips, and dark eyes framed with upswept lashes. She would do anything for her daughter. Anything.
Which meant she had to go to the bar and work for Johnny like she had for Hux.
She heard Lacy lock the apartment door behind her when she stepped out into the hallway. Two guys at the far end of the hall exchanged cash and a small baggie and Kate made sure to keep her eyes away. She didn't risk the elevator and went down the three flights of stairs, the smell of marijuana and stale beer in the air making her want to gag.
She didn't take a breath when she made it out the doors of the high rise apartment. She would only get a lungful of cigarette smoke from the crew loitering there. She ignored their catcalls and made it out of the fenced yard around the Bitterman housing project. She hurried the three blocks from the apartment complex further into the streets that were overrun with drugs and violence.
In her backpack, her phone buzzed with a text. An unexpected wave of gratitude for the excuse to delay going toward the bar washed over Kate. She unzipped her bag and took out her phone.
Carlos. She wanted him and Joe to be at the bar. She didn't realize how much she had come to rely on their presence over the past months until she faced going there today, knowing they wouldn't be there.
She swiped to read the text and the corners of her mouth twitched with the hint of a smile.
Throw us under the bus if it keeps you safe. Call when you can.
No way was she going to let anyone know Carlos and Joe were cops. And she was pretty sure Carlos knew that. But him giving her permission to give him and Joe up in exchange for her own safety was more than an empty gesture. She knew he meant it. And she knew she would never do that. Reagans didn't have it in their DNA to turn against police.
Another two blocks and she was in front of the gritty brick building that housed the bar in front and arms dealing in back. She took out her key to unlock the front door, not willing to go through the back and face the full measure of what she was going back into.
She opened the door and immediately the memory of four nights ago slammed against her. Hux pulling gun, his knife. Watching him slash at Joe, seeing Joe go down. Waking up after surgery, not knowing what had happened to Carlos or Joe.
She blinked in the dim interior. But that wasn't today. Today the floor was clean, no evidence of Hux bleeding out there. No sign of where Joe fell back against the wall. She willed her breathing to level off.
Movement at a back table had her tensing up, increasing the pain in her ribs and shoulder.
"You're back."
Kate held back a shiver at the sound of Johnny's voice. Her eyes adjusted to the light and he stood, making his way toward her. A tiger moving stealthily toward its prey.
He stopped directly in front of her and looked her over.
"I came back as soon as I could," she said, hoping he bought the lie.
Johnny's eyes glinted and he jerked his head toward the table he had been at. She saw Wes seated there, his gun on the table, agitation keeping his feet, his fingers, his shoulders moving. Next to him was Rico, eyes narrowed, watching her.
"Sit and talk," Johnny said. He didn't give Kate a chance to move, but put his hand on her back and pushed her roughly toward the table.
Kate bit back any reaction. She sat in the open seat across from Wes, not flinching or pulling away when Johnny sat next to her.
"Talk," Johnny ordered again.
She wanted to ask what they knew, or thought they knew, but knew that would sound like she was gathering information to put her story together. Which she was. Instead, Kate set her jaw and let the anger she usually held back show.
"You want me to talk?" she asked, seething. "After what Hux did? After he almost got me killed, you want me to explain it all to you?"
That stilled Wes' movements and caught Johnny off guard.
"What are you talking about?" Wes demanded. His fingers moved closer to his gun.
Kate scowled at him. "I'm talking about your boss finally letting his paranoia get the best of him. Those two buyers were here, ready to spend serious cash, and Hux blew the whole deal."
The mask of anger on Johnny's face slipped before he locked it back into place. "No way did Hux do that. He found something out about those two and they shot him. And you—what? You tried to take their side? I saw how you were getting friendly with them the last few weeks."
"You saw how I was trying to salvage the deal," Kate spat at him. "Hux was losing it, thought they were lowballing him. This was going to be the most money he ever saw, any of us ever saw, and he lost it."
"How much money?" Wes asked.
"Hundreds of thousands," Kate answered. She hoped Carlos and Joe, and the NYPD, could get together the necessary money to back her story. She was pretty sure the Dimeboys were a big enough takedown to get the brass to approve the money.
Rico cursed under his breath. "And Hux shot them?"
"Knifed them," Kate corrected.
Johnny exploded with his own curse, slamming a hand on the table. Kate jumped before she caught herself.
He swung his attention back to Kate. "With Hux gone, you think those two will come back to the table? Be willing to move ahead with the sale?"
Kate frowned, pretending to be doubtful. "You think they want to risk getting slashed open again?"
Johnny reached over and grabbed the seat of her chair, pulling it closer to him and pressed his face close. "You think Hux is the only one with a knife? Get them over here."
She held his gaze, willing herself not to flinch. "Do you have their numbers?"
#
Danny strode through the door of the 12th precinct. He flashed his badge at the desk sargent and strode toward Jaime's office. He could hear Baez, following behind him, apologize to at least one officer that darted out of his way.
Unlike Erin, Jaime didn't have a secretary to stand guard, and Danny entered the cluttered office without knocking.
Jaime looked up from his computer, eyebrows raised. "You're pretty far from the 5-4," he commented. "Hey, Baez."
"Hi Jaime," his partner responded.
"Erin said she talked to you and nothing is going on," Danny got to the point of his visit, dropping into the chair across from Jaime.
Erin would have missed the quick tic in Jaime's jaw, but Danny didn't.
"Because nothing is going on," Jaime said.
Danny had played poker with his little brother and saw the slight lift of his eyebrow. Either Jaime had the worst hand of cards and was trying to up the ante, or he was flat out lying about something.
"What is it?" Danny asked, ignoring Jaime's protest.
Jaime shook his head. "It's nothing, Danny."
"Danny," Baez started. She had already protested this whole idea of going to see Jaime, but had come along with Danny anyway. Danny assumed to try to keep him steady.
"What is it?" Danny asked again. "We both know it's something. You may have fooled Erin, because she's going to believe whatever her little brother tells her, but I don't think you're cute the way she does. You and Katie could always pull it over on her, but not me."
At Kate's name, Jaime looked away.
Danny straightened in his chair. "What?"
Jaime spread his hands in front of him like he still didn't know what Danny was talking about. "Nothing. There's nothing to tell."
"Why does me saying Katie's name make you flinch?"
"It doesn't," Jaime insisted. He looked to Baez for help. "Look, I've got two patrolmen on overtime already and a stack of paperwork. Did you come just to interrogate me?"
"Come on, partner," Baez was saying, and Danny felt the nudge at his shoulder, but he didn't look away from Jaime. "We're sorry, Jaime. We're going."
Danny didn't budge. "Did you hear something about Katie?" he asked. Even asking the question made his gut roll. If Jaime heard something and hadn't told the family, it could only mean bad news. He braced himself, every muscle tightening while he waited for Jaime to say the words.
Again, the tic in Jaime's jaw gave him away.
The air hung heavy around Danny, smothering any sound filtering in from the hallway while he waited for Jaime to say something.
"Come on," he said. His voice was rough with emotion, not wanting to hear what Jaime was going to say, but not able to avoid it. "Tell me."
Jaime took a long breath. "She didn't want me to tell anyone I saw her," Jaime said.
"You saw her?" Everything froze. His heart, his lungs, the entire precinct outside the door.
"Yeah."
"You saw her?" Danny repeated himself, the words drawn out more slowly as he tried to wrap his brain around his sister being ok and Jaime not telling anyone he had been face to face with Katie. He shoved his chair back and leaned over Jaime's desk, hands planted over the papers. "You talked to her? You were with her and didn't tell anyone?"
"Danny," Baez said, trying to drag his attention, his anger, away from Jaime. "That's good news. He saw Katie."
"No, good news would be he brought her home," Danny spared Baez a glance, his voice rising. He turned back to Jaime and pushed off the desk, storming around to Jaime's side. "Where is she? Where did you see her?" he demanded.
Jaime didn't back down. "She didn't want anyone to find her," he said. "What was I supposed to do, drag her back to Dad's?"
"Yes!" Danny finally exploded. "That's exactly what you were supposed to do!"
"Back off, Danny!" Jaime's temper rose to meet Danny's. "Don't you think I wanted—"
"What I think is you let Katie make a stupid decision to not come home! If anything happens to her now, it's on you!"
"Hey!" Baez finally wedged herself between the two of them, shoving Danny back. "Cool off, Reagan," she said. When Danny didn't move, she shoved harder until he looked down at her. "Take a break," she said.
But Danny shook his head. He wasn't taking a break. He wasn't letting this go until he knew Katie was safe.
"Jaime, what do you know about Katie? Where did you see her?" Baez asked, remarkably calm and controlled compared to her partner.
Jaime shook his head. "She's in a pretty rough situation, but she doesn't want me to tell the family anything. I don't want to break my word to her, not when I'm trying to get her to trust me enough to come back home."
Baez nodded and gave Danny a look. "That makes sense," she said.
Danny shook his head. It wasn't enough. "Where did you see her? I'll go talk to her. I'll get her home."
Jaime was drawing himself up and Danny could see he was bracing for a fight, if that's what it came to. "No, Danny. No way. This is the first chance we've had with her in four years. I'm not going to risk scaring her off."
His blood was pounding in his ears. He was so close to information about where Kate was and there was nothing he could do to get it.
"I think if we take it slow, she'll maybe come around," Jaime said, not looking like he fully believed what he was saying.
"Oh you think so, do you?" Danny asked, sarcasm sharpening his words. "We'll just sit back, like we have for the last four years and hope for the best? Great plan, Jaime. Really great idea." If he stayed, he was going to lose it. He stormed out of Jaime's office, the lack of any control in this situation threatening the lid he was trying to keep on his temper.
It was his fault Katie had left in the first place. If he let this go now and anything happened, it wasn't going to be Jaime's fault. It was on him. It had always been on him.
#
