Edge of Danger (San Antonio Security #2)

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Weston. Come in.” Brax adjusted the earpiece, setting it deep inside his ear.

“I hear you, brother. Loud and clear. ETA?”

Brax checked the GPS on the console. “Five minutes.”

“Great. We’re ready and waiting out here. You know what you’re doing once he shows?”

“I’ve been through it a hundred times in my head, beginning to end. Believe me.”

“Remind me anyway.”

Brax rolled his eyes. Weston, ever the cop. “I have to get Robert to confess to what he did. Trust me. I know. I have my wire, and there’s recording equipment all over the warehouse. Chance will watch the exterior. Tessa will meet Hawkins outside the warehouse so he knows—”

“Tessa?”

Right. He didn’t know. “Believe me. I don’t want her involved. Hawkins insisted she show her face so he’d know she wasn’t lying.”

“Wonderful. I should have guessed he wouldn’t let it go that easily.”

“I have to get as much information from Hawkins as possible. He has to admit he’s been tracking Robert because he intends to kill him. I’m telling you, I’m on it.”

“All right. Just checking. We have everything covered on our end, as well. You focus on your part, and we’ll take care of the rest.”

Sure. It would be easy.

Brax didn’t believe it for a second. Nothing about this went easy. Ever.

Then again, maybe this meant they were due a little good luck. It would certainly be welcome.

He reached the warehouse a minute earlier than the GPS had predicted. He’d beaten everybody else, which was a good thing. The car seat was in the back, and he made a big deal of unloading it and carrying it into the warehouse.

He even talked to the doll and bundle of blankets inside, just in case Robert was watching from somewhere nearby. Not that he’d give Robert credit for thinking that far ahead, but anomalies happened, and now would be the worst time to get caught in a lie.

He had barely stepped foot inside when Chance’s voice rang out in his ear. “He’s coming. Just about to reach the warehouse.”

Brax took one deep breath after another, forcing himself to relax. Telling himself he was there to give the baby to Robert—the way he was supposed to be. That he cared about his half brother and only wanted what was best for him.

A sick joke, but one he had to at least pretend to believe if he had any hope of coming off believable.

“We’re a go,” Weston announced. “You’ve got this, Brax.”

“Yeah, and now I just have to figure out what to do with it.” The fact that he could make a joke had to be a good sign. He hoped.

Robert stepped through the open door, his head sweeping from side to side. “I had half an idea you brought me here to set me up,” he giggled like a little girl once he found they were alone.

“This is too serious for anything like that.”

Robert shrugged. “So? Hand him over.”

Brax took a step back. “Not until you tell me how things turned out this way. You’re still my brother. I can’t let you walk out of my life again without knowing how you got into this situation. And what you plan on doing after this.”

“Why does it matter all of a sudden?”

“Call me sentimental. Now more than ever, since I happen to have formed an attachment to your son. I want to know what his father’s planning on doing after he leaves this warehouse.”

That greasy smile. “I’m gonna stay alive, bro. You know me. Always one step ahead of the bad guys.”

Brax withheld comment. He had to keep things moving in the right direction, ideally before Hawkins showed up. “You said Walker’s mother is dead? Is that true? Be honest with me now, please. This might be the last time we see each other for all I know. I think after you dropped your kid on my doorstep and disappeared, you owe me that much.”

Robert’s eye roll was visible from the open door and the dim light filtering through the few filthy windows lining the walls. “What do you want me to say? She was a loser. She didn’t know how to handle herself, much less our kid.”

Brax stopped short of snarling, but just barely. “It doesn’t say much about you that you were hooking up with a loser who couldn’t handle herself.”

“She was cute. What can I say? Anyway, she was no good, so I got custody.”

“You must’ve had proof of her being no good. Judges don’t up and grant custody to a professional gambler—no offense—over a baby’s mother.”

“Like her being a waitress at a casino was any better?” Robert scoffed. “Please. It took no time. My cousin, you remember. He’s a judge.”

He was making it so easy, it was hard not to laugh. “Oh, so it was like that? You got him to fix things for you?”

“Listen, Brax. Don’t get up on your moral high horse now. I did what I needed to do.”

“What does that mean? Did you steal this baby from his mother? Does she even know what’s going on with you and the Solomon family?”

“No, why would she? For all I know she’s in a hole somewhere. What does it matter? The important thing is I got Walker and that’s that.”

“Even though you had to lie to do it?”

“What do you want me to say? Yeah. I did what had to be done. I had my cousin fix things. He told me what to tell CPS, what they would listen to, and I told them. Bing, bang, boom, I got full custody of my son.”

“You lied to Child Protective Services?” Always good to have clear confirmation.

“Yes, okay? I told them she was an addict and fixed it so CPS would show up while she was high on something. She didn’t even know I had a buddy inject her as she was leaving work that night. I called CPS and had them go to her place, and they saw with their own eyes what a waste she was. It was easy after that.”

He had just signed his own arrest warrant. Brax took pains to calm himself. “And the judge who helped you get away with it is the same cousin who accepted my forged signature on those guardianship documents?”

Robert sighed. “Why do you have to make it sound the way you do? ‘Forged.’ I mean, come on.”

“I never signed those guardianship documents, yet he approved and signed them. He granted me guardianship sight unseen.”

“He knew you’re my half brother.”

“It doesn’t matter. I never met him, yet he was on board with doctoring those papers.”

“This is a waste of my time. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be enough for you to hand the kid over and be done with it. You had to let me know what a scumbag you think I am and how much you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Brax insisted. “I feel sorry for you, if anything.”

“Spare me your pity.” Robert strode over to him, hands out. “I need the kid. I have places to be.”

“Brax?” Chance murmured in his ear. “Tessa and Hawkins are on their way in.”

Perfect timing.

Brax handed the car seat to Robert, watching with pleasure as his expression changed from snide arrogance to confusion. “What is this?” He peeled back the blankets, revealing the doll in Walker’s place. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m protecting people who aren’t scum,” Brax fired back.

A moment later, Hawkins walked in with Tessa behind him. Robert’s mouth fell open. He dropped the seat, the sound echoing in the empty space.

He turned to Brax, snarling. “What have you done?”

Meanwhile, Hawkins let out a satisfied breath. “You were as good as your word.” He turned to Tessa with a grin. “Thank you. And sorry for all the trouble I put you through. You can go.” He handed her a fat envelope.

Tessa withdrew a wad of cash from the envelope, counted it and exchanged a look with Brax before glaring at Robert. She didn’t say a word, only stood there with her arms wrapped around herself, hate burning in her eyes.

Brax let out a relieved breath when she backed out of the warehouse. A moment later, Chance reported, “She’s safe. She’s cleared the building and gone to her car.”

Robert turned on Brax, sweating like he’d just run a marathon. “Why would you do this to your own brother?” he snarled.

“You stole your son from his mother and used him as a pawn,” Brax snarled back. He didn’t have to pretend anymore. “You did everything you could to destroy her. How am I supposed to have sympathy for you? You deserve everything you’re going to get.”

“I agree.” Hawkins advanced, but Brax held up a hand to stop him. This wasn’t over yet.

“You can’t get the money he owes the Solomon family if you kill him,” Brax reminded him.

Hawkins shrugged, then took Robert by his shirt collar and drove a fist into his face once, twice. Robert dropped to the floor.

Hawkins turned to Brax. “If you wanted your brother alive, you shouldn’t have brought him to me. You probably know better than most how much he deserves to die—hell, what you just said now about his kid is reason enough. I’ve got my own personal issues with Robert.”

He kicked Robert in the ribs to punctuate his statement. “Don’t I?” he shouted, the sudden change making Brax jump. “I warned you I’d kill you if you didn’t quit saying the things you were saying. Making a fool out of me. Then you made a fool of the family. Of Gabrielle. That was all the reason I needed to go after you. They know I’m gonna kill you, Robert, and guess what? They don’t care as long as they never have to set eyes on you again.”

A chill ran through Brax.

Weston broke in. “That’s all the police need. We’ll pick them up once they’re out of there. Chance will follow them.”

“On my way out to meet them on the main road,” Chance confirmed.

“Then get him out of my sight.” Brax turned to Hawkins. He needed to keep the man from killing Robert right now. “Just do me a favor? Call it what I’m owed for giving you what you want.”

“What is it?”

“Get him far from here before you do what you plan to do. He’s still close enough to San Antonio that there could be blowback on me just because we’re related. I’m trying to run a business, you know?”

It was a risk, but Hawkins appeared to appreciate this. “Fair enough. I’ll get him far enough from here that the blowback won’t fall on you. Seems he made your life difficult enough already.”

“Don’t get me started.” Brax removed his earpiece when neither of the other men were looking and glanced down at the empty car seat.

Was this all that was left of his life? An empty car seat? The memory of what had brought him indescribable happiness and contentment? Even if it was, Tessa and Walker would be together and safe. The way it was meant to be. He could take that with him wherever he went.

His family would be safe. Brax might be alone, but they would be safe.

“Who are you?”

His head snapped up at Hawkins’s question.

And everything turned upside down.

“Wow,” Prince Riviera chuckled as he dragged a gagged Tessa into the warehouse with a pistol to her head. “I thought you were supposed to be a good guy, Patterson. But you just sold your brother out even though you know he’s gonna end up dead.”