Page 23 of Protected By West (San Antonio S.W.A.T. #1)

JACK

There was something about working without fifty pounds of heavy gear on.

Sure the boots were heavy as fuck, but she wore the same kind of boots most days, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

She walked up the front steps of the house and onto the porch, keeping her stride to someone out for a stroll. She didn't see any cameras. Nothing on the door and nothing above in the rafters.

Although she wasn't sure the wood up there would support even a little one if they tried.

The windows were dirty, although it looked like someone had made an effort to clean it.

From what she read, Carly was a single mom.

Sure her scum of a boyfriend... on and off again when he wasn't in prison for one charge or another... came by every once in a while, Jack doubted that the asshole ever did any chores around the house if he wasn't nagged into it. The type of guy he was didn't stick around for chores.

He wasn't even in the 'love em and leave em' category.

She bet he only stuck around because he was hiding out or too damn lazy to do much more than shit and piss and stuff his damn face.

Oh, Jacklyn Marie, she heard her mother's voice in her head, that's enough .

Get out of my head, mom.

A moment before she rang the doorbell, Jack spoke loud enough for the team to hear her. "All right, fellas. Here we go."

She rang the bell and listened for it inside the house.

If someone was alive in there, they heard it. It was loud and shrill. It sounded like they'd wired the fire alarm to the doorbell.

Even if she was dead inside, she felt like she would have been resurrected by the scream of that doorbell.

In their case, it was likely a good thing.

The front room was empty of people.

She could see that since the curtains weren't closed at all in the front room.

She gave it a twenty count before she muttered under her breath. "And again."

She pressed the doorbell and held it longer this time, hating the sound with a passion.

She gave it a few seconds after she let go before she knocked on the door this time.

"Carly! Carly! Come and open the door!"

She put a little bit of a whine into it.

Knocking again before she gave the door a kick.

"Darlene sent me over to pick up the money you owe her!"

Jack heard some laughter in her earpiece.

The team was getting a bit of a show.

She heard something deep in the house. A door opening. Or at least a creaky hinge.

She was kind of amazed that her hearing was still good after all the scolding her mother had done over the years.

Then she heard what sounded a bit like whispers to her.

Or maybe it was behind the door that had just creaked open.

"Get rid of 'em."

Deep enough to be a man.

The sounds died out after that. She wasn't going to give them a chance to retreat back into the room.

She banged on the door again.

"Carly! Come on! I ain't got all day!"

"Go away!"

Ah, signs of life.

"Carly! Just give me the money!" Jack bit into her lip. It was hard not pushing it too much.

She had to get her to the door and then work on getting her outside.

"I'm not feeling well. I don't want to get you-"

"Look, I'm sorry, but Darlene really needs that money you owe her. Can you just come out and talk?"

Jack put a little desperation in her voice, but hopefully not too much.

The frustrated huff that finally answered her?

Jack knew that one like family.

They definitely weren't strangers.

She saw the shadow of Carly before the woman herself.

And when she saw the door move in the frame, she cleared her throat.

The door cracked open, and Jack could see that it was indeed Carly on the other side of the door.

A quick look down told Jack that Carly hadn't brought her son with her.

The look in Carly's eyes was hard, but she also looked exhausted.

"Look, I don't owe Darlene anything. She was the one who borrowed from me last time. So you should just go, okay?"

"What?" Jack pulled back frowning like Carly was trying to sell her ocean front property in Arizona. "That's not what she said."

Her mind was working overtime.

This wasn't the kind of 'sting' she'd done before. Busting 'johns' on the hunt for cheap sex? Sure.

Getting a woman and kid out of trouble?

It wasn't something she had a lot of experience with.

She liked the idea of it, but she'd like it better after it was over.

She needed to find out if Jenner was in the back or behind Carly. But she couldn't just ask about it.

"Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "She said you could ask your man for it. She doesn't care how it comes from as long as she gets it."

Jack put her hand on the door above Carly's and put some pressure on it.

She wanted to see the reaction.

Carly's eyes darted toward the back of the house. "You've got to go. Just walk away. This... this isn't the time."

Jack had heard that kind of desperation before. She'd heard it in her work with domestic violence victims. It's the sound a soul makes when it's cornered.

She knew that she might regret the next few moments, but her instinct was telling her that this was a chance worth taking.

Reaching down into her pocket, Jack saw the other woman flinch.

"I'm not here to hurt you."

"Damn it." She heard the voice in her com but didn't recognize it.

"Look down," then she watched as Carly lowered her eyes. Jack pulled out her badge from her pocket. "We're here to help."

The look in Carly's eyes when she raised her eyes was a mix of hope and abject fear.

"He has my son in the bedroom with him."

Jack nodded but leaned to the side to raise her voice. "Look, Carly... just come with me. Explain it to Darlene! I'm sure we can straighten it out."

"What are you doing?" Carly grabbed her arm.

Jack dropped her chin and whispered back. "Getting you and your boy out of here. Just follow what I'm telling you."

"Look, honey. Darlene's drunk, she probably forgot you paid her. Why don't you grab your kid and come with me. We'll straighten it out and then we'll get something to eat."

Carly's grip on her arm tightened noticeably. "I dunno." Her voice was cracking, her eyes wide with fear. "My man's in the room trying to sleep."

"Well, look, girl. If we don't go and see her- Hell! She's likely to call the cops! You know how she is about money!"

Carly let go of her hand and Jack didn't rub her arm to take away the sting.

"Come on, babes! Let's go!"

Carly nodded, but leaned in. "Why did you talk about-"

"Cops?"

Carly nodded.

"I want him to let you go, talking about cops-"

Carly nodded, an almost desperate shake of her head.

"Yeah." Again, she spoke at the same volume that Jack had. "I better go with you."

Carly nodded and started walking back toward the bedrooms.

"Don't forget your kid! We'll go get some nuggets or something!"

Then she was left standing at the door, waiting.

She heard West in her ear. "What do you think, Jack? Is this going to work?"

She hummed and felt a bead of sweat roll down her spine. "I sure hope so. If we can get Carly and her son out of the house-"

Jack heard a door close out of sight and a heartbeat later she saw Carly walking across the open space with her son's hand in hers.

Her purse slipped off of her shoulder, but Carly didn't even try to grab it, she just kept walking, half-dragging her son along with her.

"We'll be headed out in a second, West."

Just shy of the door, the little boy tripped over his own bare feet and before he could hit the ground Jack reached forward and scooped the boy up in her arms, using her back to hold the door open she lifted her chin. "You go first."

Carly turned. "I can carry him."

Jack was suddenly short of breath, and she felt something prickle against the skin at the back of her neck. "Run."

Carly looked around her shoulder and her eyes widened. "Jenner-"

"Run, Carly!" If her heart hadn't been thundering in her chest, she might have said something more, or even tried to lift the other woman up, but instead, Jack wrapped her arms around the little boy and tried to shield his mother with her body. "Run..."

Carly finally came around as Jack heard heavy footsteps pounding the old floor behind her.

"West?"

"Coming, Jack! Head for the-"

"The fence, Carly. Go for the fence!"

Halfway to the fence line Jack saw the team emerge one after another around the corner, rushing past her, with the final uniformed SWAT officer turning back to stand between her and the house.

A hand touched her shoulder, and a voice reached her ears. "Go. I've got you covered."

It wasn't until she reached the safety of the van down the street that she realized who it was that had her back.

She handed the little boy to his mom and turned back around, staring into a pair of ocean blue eyes.

"Blue?"

He smiled... a little.

"That was kind of crazy."

She shrugged, trying to get herself back onto both feet. "The nature of our job is crazy," she could finally breathe again, "thanks."

WEST

West was the last one inside, standing by the door as Duval and Dally wrestled Jenner Folsom to the ground.

They could have all piled up on the man, but the two men, currently hauling him to his feet with a set of silver cuffs on his wrists were the best hands-on people they had.

An ambulance was on its way to the scene to see to Carly and her son.

Not to mention the shiner that was going to be on Duval's face later on in the day to go with the split lip on the suspected bail jumper, armed robber, girlfriend beater-

Oxy's voice came through the coms. "I’m headed in your direction. As a heads up, we've got press on scene."

Weston met Fox's gaze and tipped his head to the front door. "You got this covered?"

Fox sighed. "This is not my favorite part of the job."

"You're the one trained for it." Weston smiled at him.

Another comment by Oxy came through the coms. "Transport van is here. Chief's car, too."

"Thanks, Oxy."

West looked at the group. "Is he ready for transport?"

Duval huffed. "He's cuffed, but I'm not sure if he's going to be good or if we have to convince him to be a good boy for a few minutes."

Jenner pulled on his arm, but Duval's hold didn't slip at all.

Oxy walked in, still wearing his borrowed lineman clothes. "Are we stopping by the site to give this back, or-"

"Don't anyone rush off. Especially on my account."

Weston turned and saw Chief Fagan walk up from his car. The only vehicle allowed past the CAUTION tape.

The Chief looked around at the group. "I'll have to make a statement sometime today. I'd rather not do it here at the scene. Likely back at the office in the briefing room. I'd rather not make more of a scene out here than we've already caused."

Weston nodded. "Good idea."

The Chief nodded. "We've turned their whole street upside down. This time of day folks are likely headed home. So, let's get Mr. Folsom his ride to holding so we can get all of these official vehicles off of the street."

"Yes, sir." Weston nodded and picked up his radio handset and relayed the information."

The officers and Rangers on scene all cleared the way for the SWAT team to move their apprehended bail jumper to the transport van.

This one looked more like the old Paddy Wagons of the past. Reinforced doors and a more armored feel to it.

They'd have a police escort to lock up so that there wouldn't be any more surprises.

The Chief looked at Weston. "You going to walk with them to the transport?"

Weston shook his head. "My team has it handled."

The chief nodded his agreement and stepped back beside Weston as the men walked Jenner Folsom away.

When the attention of the crowd was further on down the street, the Chief turned to face Weston. "Who was that woman who got the girlfriend out of the way? Is she the one on your team?"

Weston nodded. "That's Jaclyn Morgan."

"Morgan..." The Chief had a faraway look on his face. "Don't we have another Morgan associated with the Rangers?"

Weston thought about it. "There's bound to be. Morgan is a pretty common name. Guessing there has to be one somewhere."

"Hmm... Probably." The Chief looked over at the ambulance they'd brought up along the side street. "She have a family? Husband? Children?"

Weston hadn't expected that question. "Parents. No family besides that."

The Chief nodded, looking a little lost in thought.

"Glad she was okay."

Weston agreed. "Jack was ready for whatever came her way. She had two firearms on her and a knife. She was prepared and didn't need it."

The Chief nodded and offered a smile at his report. "Good to know. Smart and talented. Another good choice."

"When do you want to have the final assessment?"

Chief Fagan frowned a little. "I'm waiting to hear back from the team in Austin. Their major is coming over for the assessment."

"Sounds like a plan. Just let me know. They'll be ready."

"Until then we can plan to use you in situations like this."

"We'll fill whatever spaces you need us to do. All of my people are highly trained and they're eager to help where they can."

The chief put a hand on Weston's shoulder. "It's been a while since we've had a talk about anything outside of the job. If you have some time, come on by my office. We'll have some lukewarm coffee and whatever baked goods are around the office that day."

Weston smiled. "That's a plan."

Chief Fagan nodded with a satisfied smile. "The earlier in the day the better if you want good pastries. Anything after noon... Well, you're taking your taste buds into a dangerous place."

"Thanks, Sir."

"No need to thank me, son. You've done great work, which is exactly why I picked you to be the head of this group. I hope to God we don't need SWAT all that often, but it's nice to know we have the group to call on if things..."

"I hope we spend more time doing community outreach than catching bullets. Quiet shifts..."

"We never... never say it while it's happening."

Weston took the warning with a sober nod. No one liked to tempt fate.

Even law enforcement, who you'd like to think didn't rely on superstition.

"We're happy to do whatever we're called to do. We'd just rather spend it not at the receiving end of firearms or other... interesting things."

"That's what we all hope for, West." Chief Fagan gave him a little wink. "We both know I'm not a fan of... of nicknames on the job. We just used our names back in the day."

Weston nodded. He'd heard this a time or twenty during the time he'd known the chief.

"But the practice might be... rubbing off on me." He started to walk away and turned to look back over his shoulder. "But let's not say anything about it."

Weston saluted the man and then turned to go and check on the little boy and his mom.

It wasn't until he got back to the Ranger office that he realized he was in a lot of trouble. He got his phone out of the locker and saw that he'd missed a few calls.

He was going to have to do some explaining.

And probably a lot of groveling.