Hurry Up And Wait (Owens Protective Services #24)

6. Kavanaugh

6

KAVANAUGH

“You grew up with this chick?” Slider asked, grabbing one of the last boxes from the trailer.

I was only half paying attention. Most of my focus was on the woman currently standing on her porch, handing out water bottles to everyone. She was nothing and everything like I remembered. Still funny and crazy as hell, but fuck…that body.

“Hey,” Slider smacked me.

“What?” I snapped.

“I can see you don’t really like her. Maybe I should?—”

I jerked him back by the neck of his shirt as he started to walk around me toward Isla. “Don’t even think about it.”

He laughed at me. Fucking laughed because I was so fucking obviously infatuated with my childhood friend.

“It doesn’t freak you out that she basically stalked you to find you?”

I shook my head. “That’s Isla.”

“That’s Isla,” he said mockingly. “You guys and your fascination with being stalked is weird as fuck. I hope you know that in most states, it’s considered a crime to stalk someone. People get restraining orders over this shit. ”

“Yep,” I answered, my eyes glued to her ass as she bent over and grabbed a bottle that fell to the porch floor. “Holy fuck.”

“Okay, she has a nice ass, but still?—”

I sent him a chilling glare. “No, you don’t get to talk about her ass.”

His chuckle was teasing. Fuck, he was messing with me. “And what about the sister? Is she off-limits too?”

“She’s…”

“Don’t tell me you want both of them,” he scoffed.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Just be respectful. A gentleman.”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “Because that’s what all women want. A gentleman.”

I grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him toward me. “You will be a fucking gentleman to them unless they specifically ask otherwise. If you’re not, I will cut you into tiny pieces and feed you through a wood chipper and spread your remains in the south of Florida where alligators will eat your body parts and remove all evidence of your existence. Am I being clear enough for you?”

His lips twitched comically. “I’m pretty sure alligators like to kill their prey before they eat them. Not sure they’ll eat me in little bits.”

“Do you want my fist planted in your face?”

“Do you think it would earn me brownie points with Riley?”

“What?”

“Come on,” he taunted me. He pointed to his jaw. “Right here. Make sure you leave a nice bruise.”

“You’re a fucking chef. Make her a nice meal instead of showing off your ability to bruise easily.”

He frowned at the suggestion. “You think?”

I rolled my eyes at him. If I had a gift like he had, I wouldn’t be showing off my ability to take a hit. “Just don’t make her something weird like alligator bites.”

“I’m not sure that’s a thing,” he called after me as I stomped toward the house. I was way too fucking angry at the way Isla was showing off her ass for the other guys. Not that she was intentionally doing it. But they could see and that fucking pissed me off.

I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the house. She squealed in protest as I shoved her up against the wall, wedging my knee between her thighs. “Are you trying to make me fucking hard?”

“Is it working?” she asked breathlessly.

I chuckled, brushing her hair behind her ear. Same fucking tempting green eyes and bright fucking red hair. Fuck, a part of me was always in love with Isla, but she was never what my father wanted for me. And then she moved away before I got the chance to grow the fuck up and realize my father was the last person I needed to worry about.

“How the hell is it possible that I’ve been away from you for so long, yet I want you so much?”

Her eyes went wide and her teeth sank into that plush lower lip. I wanted to kiss her so badly, and she only came into my life earlier today. I had to get myself under control. I was already ready to devour her, and I hadn’t even gotten to know who she was all these years later.

“Not to break up the party,” Riley said, standing in the doorway, once again cockblocking me, “but everyone’s hungry. Maybe you could hold off on fucking until after we’ve eaten some dinner.”

I didn’t bother to attempt to drag my eyes away from Isla’s mouth. I was too entranced. “Pizza?”

She quirked an eyebrow at me. “I could go for pizza.”

I dragged myself away from her body and forced myself to gain some control. Hell, the woman had been in town for a day and I was already mauling her. I hadn’t seen her in over fifteen years. There was no fucking reason I should be reacting this way to seeing her. And yet, I couldn’t help myself. There was just something about her.

“Hello? Are we going or should the rest of us leave you two here?” Riley asked, her nose crinkled like it always did as a kid when she was being mischievous.

“We’re coming.”

Isla chuckled under her breath and it didn’t take a mind reader to figure out her thoughts just went in the gutter. Oh, if only she knew mine had been there since the moment I laid eyes on her. I grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the house, only stopping to lock the door, which she didn’t seem too concerned about. Thankfully, she had someone like me in her life to remind her of the dangers constantly surrounding her.

Pizza, coke, cheesy bread… I had to think of anything other than her sexy body next to mine on the drive to the pizzeria. I had to slow the fuck down. Isla was my best friend growing up. I couldn’t just fuck her and walk away like I did with the other women I bedded. Besides, she was just getting out of a serious relationship. Hell, I wasn’t even sure what emotional state she was in.

“Are we going inside?”

I dragged my thoughts away from her marital status, along with her current sexual desires and focused on her lips moving. “What?”

She nodded to the pizzeria with a smile. “Did you want to eat or sit in the car all night?”

Oh, there were so many things I wanted to eat. And when her cheeks warmed, I knew she could read my thoughts.

“Food. We should get food.”

God, I sounded like a fucking idiot. I couldn’t even string words together properly.

“Then we should go get food,” she grinned, opening her door.

I followed suit, ignoring the snickering from Slider and Patrick as I got out. Jason had his hands shoved in his pockets, completely ignoring everyone else. I was surprised he even stuck around, considering he didn’t normally mingle with the rest of us.

Riley, of course, had no problem walking up to him and weaving her arm through his, staring up at him like they were best friends. “So— tall, dark, and broody…what gives?”

Jason looked down at her with a don’t fuck with me gaze, not that it swayed Riley one way or the other.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to talk. I can do enough of that for the both of us.”

Jason shot me a pleading look that I ignored. I wasn’t about to save him, knowing it might ruin things with Isla. I wasn’t sure how, but I wasn’t going to take the chance.

I held the door open for Isla and unabashedly stared at her ass as she walked inside. This was gonna be hell on me. I followed her inside and slid into the booth, not leaving a speck of room for anyone else to crowd around us.

She chuckled, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. “Are you worried someone else is going to sit by me?”

“Maybe.”

“And that would be a bad thing?”

“That would annoy the fuck out of me.” Her green eyes sparkled with mischief as she raised an eyebrow at me. “Where the hell have you been the past fifteen years?”

“It’s been more than that,” she jeered.

“And?”

“I could ask you the same thing. You’re nothing like I remember.”

“Well, I couldn’t stay the nerdy kid forever,” I chuckled, avoiding the perceived question. “So, this husband…”

“Out of the picture,” she said flippantly.

“And why’s that?”

Her eyes narrowed on me. Yes, I was refusing to answer her questions, but I demanded answers from her. I hated discussing my family, and I knew that’s where she wanted to venture.

“He changed.”

“People tend to do that.”

“Not this drastically. I hardly knew him anymore, and I didn’t want to live with a stranger who hated me.”

I tensed at how she described the fucker. Her tone was flippant, but I could see the pain in her eyes. She might be pushing herself past it, but it was under the surface, trying to claw its way out.

“Then it’s good you left him.”

“Well, the divorce isn’t finalized yet, but?—”

“Are you talking about that douchebag?” Riley asked, plopping down across from us and ruining my scheme to garner information. “In the past, right?”

Isla nodded, grinning at her sister, and just like that, the conversation switched to flea markets and garage sale pickings. My chance at finding out the details of why their marriage fell apart was gone, and I’d have to wait until a better time to pull it out of her .

My phone buzzed and I yanked it out of my pocket, my good mood vanishing as soon as I opened the text from the senator.

You’ll need a protection team for events. We can’t have you unprotected. After all, I can’t give the information to you if you’re dead.

I stormed into OPS, my feet pounding on the concrete floors as I made my way to the conference room where I’d called an emergency meeting. Even to my own ears, I sounded like T-Rex. But I was pissed, and there was no point in trying to tiptoe around my anger.

Red swiveled toward me in his chair as I shoved the door open. “Who pissed in your Wheaties?”

“Nope, it’s dinner time. Someone stole his food,” Eli retorted.

“It doesn’t really have the same meaning.”

“Yes, it does. Why do you have to argue with me all the time? Have you been hanging out with Fox?”

“He’s over at the house every fucking day,” Red sighed. “I swear to God, he talks to Zoe’s belly more than I do.”

“Well…maybe try to fix that. You don’t want the kid coming out talking about knives.”

Red snorted in amusement and turned back to me, quirking an eyebrow. “Are you gonna stand there all fucking day or tell us why you called us in?”

I ground my teeth together, still trying to get my anger under control. “I got a message from the senator. He has a stipulation about me attending his events.”

“Okay,” Eli said slowly. “And what would that be?”

“I need to bring a protection team along with me.”

Red looked to Eli, then back to me and burst out laughing. “And he wants us? I don’t think so.”

I slid my phone across the table into Red’s hand. “It’s not a request. It’s the only way he’ll give us the information we need.”

He glanced at the screen and frowned. “He’s stating we need to join you on the campaign trail. For what purpose?” he asked, looking up at me.

“Just to fuck with us. He’s trying to prove he holds all the power.”

“He needs you just as much as we need him,” Eli stated.

“He could win without me.” I slumped into a chair, rubbing my hand over my face. What a clusterfuck. If this didn’t mean so much to Cash, I’d walk away. But this was what we needed to find out who was involved with The Syndicate. I couldn’t exactly tell him to fuck off. “This is all a power struggle to him. If he controls me, then he wins. If he controls you also, I’m really fucked.”

Red nodded, then looked up at me sharply. “Do we have to wear one of those monkey suits?”

“Fuck, I hate the monkey suits,” Eli groaned. “With the tie.”

“And the white shirt. Why is it always white? Why not black?”

“Or blue. I could definitely go for blue.”

“Or gray,” Red countered. “White is so…”

“Pretentious.”

“Exactly, it’s fucking pretentious.”

“You wear white all the time,” I cut in.

“Name one fucking time,” he said angrily.

I quirked an eyebrow at him, nodding to the shirt he was wearing.

He glanced down and cut me a dirty look. “This is a T-shirt. It doesn’t matter what fucking color it is.”

“You can’t see the fucking shirt under the suit. What does it matter?”

“They’re not comfortable,” he snapped. “This is fucking comfortable.”

“So, wear a fucking T-shirt under the suit!”

Eli shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think we can do that. It would totally blow the op.”

“In what way?”

“Well…it wouldn’t look right.”

“Then what the fuck are you bitching about?”

Eli looked at me strangely. “Isn’t that what we do?”

I couldn’t believe this. I was losing my fucking mind, and they were acting like this was some fucking comedy hour. “How the hell am I supposed to go on the campaign trail when I have two of the three stooges with me?”

“As I recall, it was you who freaked out over a mummy.”

“Those things are fucking scary as hell,” I snapped. “And that’s beside the point.”

“What exactly is the point?” Eli asked. “We’re just trying to keep things light. Unless, of course, you want to tell us what this is really all about.”

He kicked up his heels, waiting for me to tell the story, but that wasn’t going to happen. “The story has nothing to do with the job.”

“I beg to differ,” Red grinned. “The story is what has you wadded up tighter than a pair of panties in the washer.”

“Whatever it is, you have to let it go.”

“I can’t fucking do that!” I snapped, losing my shit. I shoved my fingers through my hair, pacing the room. “Fuck!” I shouted, kicking the chair into the wall.

Red let out a low whistle, getting to his feet slowly. “I hate to point this out, but if you react like that in front of the voters, you’re not gonna get the senator’s help.”

Eli shrugged. “Someone might like it.”

“Be straight with us so we can help you. Otherwise, none of this is gonna work.”

He was fucking right. I wanted to shove it aside and pretend like this was one job and then it’d be over, but I knew the senator too well. He’d keep asking for more, and until he got what he wanted, he wouldn’t shell out any information. In the meantime, I’d be losing my fucking mind with every second that passed. If I exploded on the campaign trail, this would all be for nothing.

“You know my brother died.”

“Yeah, gang violence, right?”

I shook my head. “That’s just what the senator wants everyone to think.” I took a seat and recalled the events that led me to fucking hate my own family.

“It started when I was going off to college. My brother Spencer was still in high school and he didn’t exactly get along with my parents.”

“What about you?” Red asked .

“I was…different back then. I complied more. I knew what the expectations were and I went along with the show because I thought that’s what families did. They stood by each other. But Spencer hung out with the wrong crowds and was always getting into trouble. He got hooked on drugs and ended up getting in an accident, t-boning another car. The girl inside was hurt pretty badly and ended up in the hospital for a few weeks.”

“Shit,” Red muttered. “How did the senator handle that?”

“Not well,” I said, flashing back to that night.

“What the fuck were you thinking? Do you realize what could have happened?”

“I could have ruined your perfect election,” Spencer jeered. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

“Listen to me, you son-of-a-bitch, my job is what keeps a roof over your head and food in your stomach. My job is what pays for you to keep up your filthy drug habit!”

I sat in the corner of the room and listened to them trade barbs. It was a mess, and I didn’t have a clue what was going to happen. I didn’t want my brother to go to jail, but that girl was seriously injured.

“I’ll make some calls and have this whole thing taken care of.”

“You can’t do that,” Spencer argued. “This is my life. It’s my responsibility!”

“And you want to go to prison?” Dad shouted.

Spencer backed down, but only for a second. “If that’s what has to happen.”

“No,” Dad snapped. “That isn’t what’s going to happen. I’m going to make this all go away.”

“How are you going to do that? There’s a police report and a girl in the hospital!” Spencer shouted. “I did this! I have to make this right!”

“Yes, you make it right,” Dad sneered. “And then my campaign is over. This house will be gone, along with everything in it. I’ll be sued for everything and probably lose my seat. Your mother and brother will pay the price for your stupidity. Is that what you want? ”

Spencer looked at me, his eyes filled with fear. There was no way to win this argument.

“I’ll have her test results changed. It’ll say that she was drunk at the time of the accident and she caused it.”

“What?” Spencer said in shock. “You can’t do that. That girl is a senior. She has a scholarship to a really good school.”

“Then you should have thought about that before you got behind the wheel.”

“Dad, you can’t do this. I’ll take the blame. I’ll put distance between us. I ? —”

“You won’t do a single fucking thing,” my dad spat. “You’ve screwed up enough. I should have fucking known something like this would happen.”

“Dad—”

“Don’t ever fucking call me that again.” The room went silent as my dad seethed. Spencer had pushed things too far.

I got to my feet, ready to intervene. I always listened to my dad and did as he asked, but this was going too far. “Dad, you can’t do this. That girl is innocent.”

“She’s a problem we have to eliminate.”

I understood my dad was upset, but who was this man standing in front of me? “Dad, what are you talking about? Eliminate her? She’s the victim. She’s hurt and if you switch those tests, she’ll go to jail. She’ll lose everything.”

“Son, you’re going to have to learn that in life, you have to remove the obstacles in your way or you’ll never get what you want.”

“You can’t do that by stepping on people,” I argued. “Isn’t that what you fight for?”

“And who’s going to continue fighting if I’m not there to do it?”

I took a step back, staring at my father in a new light. I always knew he had tricks up his sleeve and didn’t entirely play by the rules, but I never considered he might go so far as to set someone up for a crime like this. It would ruin her life. It would absolutely destroy her.

“I can’t let you do this.”

“You don’t have a choice in it. Everything will be fixed tomorrow.”

“Then I’ll go to the papers,” I argued.

He barked out a laugh, shaking his head at me. “Go to the papers?” Then his face turned deadly and the laughing ended. “This is my world and I will not let either of you screw this up for me. If you think I’m screwing up her life, imagine what I could do to you if you mess with me.”

“I’m your son.”

“We were never his sons,” Spencer muttered. “We’re his pawns. I tried telling you that.”

My brother was sitting now by the fire, staring into the flames. For the first time, I saw what he had all along. My father wasn’t a good man. He was a crook who only cared about himself. And if I went to the college he chose for me, I’d only end up following in his footsteps. Something had to change.

I flung the door open and strode out, determined to come up with a new plan. I would never be like my father. I would carve out my own path in life, and then I’d never see him again.

“So, he set her up?” Red asked.

I nodded. “As expected, she lost her scholarship, her license, and ended up in jail. She was completely innocent.”

“Why didn’t your brother come forward?”

I shrugged. “He was a kid, and Alton Kavanaugh is a powerful man. He didn’t think anyone would believe him. Or that my father had too many people in his pocket to make anyone listen.”

“So, how did your brother really die?” Eli asked.

I swallowed hard, remembering the day I got the news. “Underground boxing match. He pretty much sank into a depression after what happened. And when he graduated, he moved out and got some shitty apartment with some friends. He wasn’t making enough money to pay the bills, so his friend got him involved in illegal boxing matches. I think it was the rush that he got from it. Or maybe he felt like he deserved a good beating. Either way, he started fighting injured and got a few too many concussions. And during his final match, his opponent knocked him out. It was just the right hit and knocked his brain loose.”

“Fuck,” Red muttered.

“The senator covered it up for years, and only acknowledged that his son had died when he needed a good tearjerker for the crowd. He said Spencer died due to gang violence. It was a fucking disgrace to the family.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Eli asked. “I’m not judging, but you could easily get an investigation opened up.”

“I guess because of my mom. Hope that she might see the light and leave him. I don’t know.”

So, that was it. My shame. The whole fucking story for my teammates to mull over. It wouldn’t be long before they’d look at me and see the senator I had gone along with the coverup. It was just as much my fault as the senator’s.

Eli leaned forward in his seat, looking at me in confusion. “So…how does this play into your fear of mummies?”

Red got to his feet and tossed a pencil at me. “Not sure I can work with you if you can’t come up with a better sob story than that.”

I looked at both of them in confusion. “Did you not just hear what I told you? I was involved in a coverup!”

“I was involved in a coverup,” Red said mockingly. “Do you hear him? It’s just like when we had to pick up the sarcophagus. Always whining like a baby.”

“I did not whine,” I argued.

He cupped his ear. “What’s that? Did your voice pitch higher?”

“I think it did,” Eli grinned. “Maybe a little too high. You kind of sounded girlie.”

“I didn’t.”

“See, and right there,” Eli pointed at the ground. “A good foot stomp would go a long way in making your point. Sarah does it all the time.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes, Sarah.”

“What?”

I grinned, thinking of all the ways I’d get my revenge on him. “Sarah would be perfect. I’ll talk to Cash.”

I turned and walked out of the room.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Sarah is the daughter of a secret service agent,” I called over my shoulder. “And a very good pickpocket. If we’re going to take down the senator, we’re going to need someone on the inside. And who better to do that than someone like Sarah?”

“You leave her out of this! She has to look after Horatio and Leonidas!” He ran ahead of me and held out his hands, blocking my route. “I take it back. You didn’t sound whiny.”

“I stand by what I said,” Red said from behind me.

“I take it all back. You sounded manly. Super manly. And buff. And mean.”

“Yeah, but Sarah really is the best for this job. She could go in as a secretary or something.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? She’ll get blown up or something. This is not the job for her!”

“Relax,” I said, slapping his shoulder. “I hear Fox has been training her with knives.”