Page 27 of Brick (Chosen Few #5)

“I want a nana.” The raspy little voice filtered through Brick’s hazy sleep.

He frowned but kept his eyes closed. Damn, that dream had sounded real.

Smack , smack , smack

A small hand patting him square on his face made him jump. He snapped open his eyes to see two brown pools staring back at him. Bray lay on his belly, his hair wild and his eyes bright with the kind of alertness only a toddler could wake up with.

“Nana,” he demanded, a little more loudly. “Pweas.”

Brick rubbed his eyes and glanced over Bray’s head. Natalie lay curled on her side facing them, her cheek resting on her palm, her wheat-colored hair spread over the white pillow.

He wanted nothing more than to kiss her full lips, but if he didn’t take care of Bray’s hunger pronto, Natalie wouldn’t get another wink of the sleep she desperately needed.

Still, a deep comfort swept over him. Bray had woken up and seen him, and instead of being freaked out, the boy had woken him.

If that didn’t tell him his son felt safe in his presence, nothing would.

“I hungry,” Bray said, once again not so quietly.

Brick smiled at Bray’s expectant face and brought his finger to his lips. “Shh. Mommy’s sleeping,” he whispered.

Sliding out of the covers, he pulled on his T-shirt.

He’d slept in sweatpants. Normally, the most he wore to bed was boxer briefs.

He held out his hands and Bray popped up and stretched out his little arms. Warmth spread through him as he lifted his son against his chest. “Let’s get you that banana. ”

“Rocky,” Bray called, stretching toward the bed.

“Shhh,” Brick said gently, as he fished the stuffed animal from under the blanket and placed it in Bray’s greedy hands.

Bray snuggled Rocky as they moved silently into the hall.

Brick closed the bedroom door softly, and they went downstairs.

He headed straight to the bundle of fruit on the counter and ripped a ripe banana from the bunch.

After peeling it, he handed it to Bray, who took the banana eagerly and bit off a hunk.

“Mmm. So dood,” he said, with a mouthful.

Brick chuckled and set him at the kitchen table. “What else do you eat? Eggs?”

“Eggs ’n toast.”

“Okay, coming right up.” He took a pound of bacon and the carton of eggs from the fridge.

Bray watched with large eyes while Brick cracked half a dozen eggs into a bowl. Then he tossed the bacon into the frying pan and the bread—couldn’t forget that specific request—into the toaster. He took out a whisk from the drawer and Bray immediately perked up.

“I help you!” He tossed the half-eaten banana across the table and clambered down from his chair. He ran to Brick’s legs and lifted his arms.

Brick picked him up, grabbed one of the chairs from the island, and set the little guy down on it so he could reach the counter. “You wanna cook? Go ahead and scramble the eggs.”

The boy grabbed the whisk and spun it around in the bowl, breaking apart the yolk. He let out a devious little laugh as he went to town.

“Good job, buddy. You’ve done this before, huh?”

“I help Momma.”

He grinned imagining the two of them making breakfast together. For an instant, he wondered if Keetan had been in the picture. Not that he’d ask Bray. The last thing he wanted was to bring up any bad memories of that cocksucker.

“All done,” Bray announced, dropping the utensil. “Watch a show now.” He lifted his arms again.

Brick chuckled and picked up the boy again. Bray made a face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Potty.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, dude.”

As they made their way to the bathroom, Bray snickered. “Dude!” He belted out a laugh that suggested it was the funniest word he’d ever heard.

Once Brick had him cleaned up, he plopped Bray on the couch and put on the show he’d been chanting for. Five seconds later, Bray was locked in on a puppy cartoon.

Brick returned to the kitchen and picked up his phone. He’d left it charging on the counter overnight. A text from Ghost had come in two hours ago, at 7:00a.m.

Call me.

Flipping the sizzling bacon with one hand, he called Ghost. The line rang twice.

“Morning, sunshine,” Ghost answered gruffly. “Get enough beauty sleep?”

Brick snorted. “Eat a dick.” A splatter of grease jumped from the frying pan, burning his forearm and lessening his patience. “What’s up?”

“Figured you’d want to know what Toth found out from his contact at the Seattle Police Department.” His tone rang with a hint of a taunt.

That got Brick’s full attention. He scooted the skillet from the heat and leaned back against the counter. “Go on.”

“You should be grateful. Toth pulled strings with his brother Cole to have his fiancée call some of her old colleagues.”

“All right. I’ll send him a fucking thank-you card,” he shot back dryly. He would extend his gratitude to his boss, but right now he had to focus on the task at hand, and Ghost’s evasiveness was making him bristle. “What’d they find out?”

“Apparently Keetan’s in hot water with the Detroit department. From the sounds of it, they know nothing of his involvement in his sister’s death. Oh,” he added. “Forgot to mention Zain shared a few details with me regarding Shelby.”

If he didn’t know Zain was working in Natalie’s best interest, he’d be irritated. However, this was his team. There wasn’t much he could keep from them, not if he planned to protect Natalie and Bray.

“If they know nothing about Keetan’s involvement, what’s he in trouble for?”

“Lying, apparently. There wasn’t enough evidence to justify that APB. Looks like he put it out there himself, and when the chief asked for details regarding the accusations, he produced a recording that was flimsy at best.”

Hope made his heart jump. “So he got himself in a world of shit.”

“Yup. I don’t know what he was thinking. I guess he and the chief are close, and he thought he could talk his way out of it, but his boss didn’t have his back.”

Questions burned his brain. That had been a stupid move for a cop. “Sounds like he thought he could get away with it, though.”

“No shit.”

His wheels spun more. “Which makes me wonder if the chief is involved with the gang, too. I mean, hell, why else would Keetan think he could get away with something like that? He put his job on the line.”

Ghost sighed. “Yeah, it’s possible. Either way, I say your girlfriend is safe to turn herself in.”

He grunted. Why the hell didn’t that reassure him?

Because he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. Logic argued that fear, but worry still numbed him.

“All right, thanks.”

“Yeah. Get back home already. I’m getting tired of carrying your workload.” No humor filtered his friend’s voice, but Ghost didn’t have a funny bone in his body.

Brick hung up and immediately called Zain.

“Hello?” Zain said, chewing something.

“Am I interrupting?” He paced toward the couch to check on Bray. The boy sat frozen in front of the TV—the fuck kind of program hypnotized kids like this?

“Just grabbed breakfast with Taschen. Rise and shine. We’ve been up for hours.”

Brick rolled his eyes. “That’s because you’ve got nothing better to do.”

“Guess not since I left Dana at home for your ass.”

“Dude,” Taschen grumbled. “You’d better not hint at anything else about you and my sister. I don’t need that image in my head.”

Zain snickered. “So sensitive. How’s everyone holding up?”

“Good,” Brick said. “The little guy’s watching TV and Natalie’s still sleeping. Ghost gave us the all-clear to turn Natalie in.”

“I heard. Can’t believe that shithead got away with putting out that APB. It wouldn’t have stuck, and he knew that.”

“Yeah, but his objective was to scare and control her—what he’s always done.”

“Well he got himself suspended.”

Brick startled. “Seriously?” Damn, that was good news.

“Yup. You going down to the station?”

“I plan on it. But Natalie has a say in how we handle this.” He turned away from the TV and spotted Natalie standing in the kitchen doorway. “I’ll call you later.”

He disconnected and set his phone on the counter.

The sight of Natalie’s cutely rumpled hair and pouty lips made him cross the kitchen to kiss her.

She grinned and folded her arms across her chest. She wore the oversized black sweatshirt she’d had on the previous night. “What exactly do I have a say in?”

“Morning,” he said, almost unable to contain his fucking happiness. All he wanted was to see her relief when she realized what Keetan, the sonofabitch, had done. “I just got off the phone with Ghost—”

Her gaze darted to the living room. “Hang on one sec.” She patted his chest, then went to the couch and kissed Bray’s cheek while smoothing his hair.

“Hi, Momma,” he said with a giggle, still focusing on his show.

“Sorry,” she said, returning to the kitchen. “I just wanted him to know I was up.”

“You never have to apologize for putting him first.” The gruff note to his tone held back all the appreciation and gratitude that wanted to burst from inside him. He caught her waist as she approached. Natalie let out a little squeal as he lifted her and set her on the counter.

She planted her hands on his shoulders. “What are you doing?”

He leaned down and kissed her again.

“Besides starting breakfast without finishing,” she said with a chuckle, looking at the pan of bacon and the bowl of uncooked eggs. “Let me guess—Bray helped?”

“He sure did. But that’s not why breakfast isn’t ready.”

“Oh, right. You talked to Ghost. What’d he say?” Her fingers roamed over his shoulders and down his biceps before settling on the crooks of his elbows.

“Remember that APB?”

She grimaced. “It’s all I think about.”

He coasted his knuckles over the strands at her temple. The bruise had lightened. It was still prominent, but as it faded, he hoped to hell the memory of Keetan would, too. “I think we can lay that to rest now.”

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?” she whispered.

Brick tucked a knuckle beneath her chin. “It means he put out that bulletin without proper clearance. When Keetan tried to hand over the recording, his plan backfired... leading to him getting suspended.”

“You’re joking,” she wheezed. Wonder sparked in her blue eyes but, dammit, so did hesitation. She shook her head. “I just—Wow. I don’t understand how he could be so stupid. What a reckless thing to do just to scare me.”

“We’ll talk to the police about his involvement with Club East, and hopefully that’ll spark a thorough investigation.”

“That’s it? I’m free? I don’t have to turn myself in?”

He lifted a shoulder. “That’s what I meant when I said you have a say.”

She nodded solemnly and rolled in her lips before lowering her gaze.

He couldn’t blame her. Of course she wanted to do the right thing.

Hell, she probably needed closure so she could move on and put this behind her.

But walking into the police station after her abuser had tormented her into submission with threats would be no small feat.

He reached for his phone and brought up the social media post he’d saved the other day, when her picture showed up in his news feed. Natalie leaned over and watched as he clicked the link that led to the police report. An error message popped up.

Missing page

“Oh my god,” she cried. She met his gaze. “It’s true.”

He pulled her into a hug. “They wouldn’t have taken it down without good reason.”

She leaned back and covered her mouth with her hand. “I can’t believe this. It feels surreal this whole thing is over.” She gulped and shook her head. “I need to talk to the chief. I think that’s the only way I’ll feel good about this. I’m sure they have questions about Shelby’s death.”

“Probably. Remember, Keetan was a cop at the time. That doesn’t mean they can’t consider you an accomplice, but it is significant to how things went down.”

“Let’s hope.” Her tone was thoughtful, perhaps a little worried. “Either way, we need to do the right thing. I don’t want to carry this guilt or look over my shoulder anymore.”

“Me either. You want to go there today?”

She inhaled a ragged breath and drew back her shoulders. “Yeah. I think that’d be a smart move. Ellie’s coming over this afternoon. I called her when I woke up. Hope it’s okay I gave her the address. She’s dying to see Bray.”

“Sure, honey. He’ll love that.” The endearment fell easily from his lips. If she was as surprised as he was, she didn’t show it.

She nodded. “She can watch him while we go to the police station.” A shadow crossed her face. “Maybe that’s not a good idea. We can just take him.”

“It could be long and boring. He might be happier here. I’ll have Zain and Taschen come by, to be safe.”

“They won’t mind? I’m sure they want to get back home.”

“If they mind, I’ll beat their asses,” he said with a grin. “In all seriousness, they’ll be happy to watch him with your sister. Why don’t you get ready and I’ll call the guys?”

“Sure.” She hopped off the counter and he went back to the stove. He picked up the whisk and gave the eggs an extra stir. They were probably room temperature now, but the high heat would cook out any bacteria.

Little footsteps slapping against the hardwood echoed through the kitchen. “I help!”

He shook his head and smirked. This might be his only introduction to dad life, but he couldn’t say he didn’t already love it.