Summer/Time (The Sunny Sunshine Duet #2)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Bhodi

The emergency room doors fly open, bouncing off the walls. When all eyes turn to me, I frantically look around, but I can’t see her. It has to be a mistake, it can’t be happening, it’s all some sick fucking lie surely.

“Bhodi.”

Pam stands up, her eyes filled with tears and body covered in blood.

I halt, taking in the scene before me. Unable to comprehend what’s going on in front of me. How the hell did I even get here? What the fuck happened? All of a sudden Strode got a call and we were thrown from the apartment into a waiting car, nothing makes sense, I can’t piece any of this together.

I catch sight of him, that fucking slimy piece of shit. A solemn look across his face, blood staining his shirt and suit, his dark hair dishevelled. My body flies towards him but before I can move more than two feet, I feel Axe and Jimmy already holding me back.

“What the fuck is he doing here?”

I shout, everyone in the hospital turning towards me.

“I think we should take this somewhere private; I’ve spoken with the doctors and Summer is in surgery at the moment. Now please, shall we?”

The commissioner flexes his authority, leading us towards a private room away from the prying eyes and ears of the public.

“You have some serious fucking explaining to do, Elijah.”

Strode stands next to me, his eyes burning holes into the side of Elijah’s head.

“I shot the guy before he could rape her,”

he mumbles and I feel the world fall from beneath my feet. “I didn’t get there in time, Summer fought back and he stabbed her.”

Tears fall onto his cheeks, but I feel my eyes pulled towards both Eva and Pam. Their faces are pale, ridden with shock and fear. Eva catches my eye, her stare hardening for a moment before she nods.

“Did. He?”

I push the words out, looking to Eva and Pam.

“No, Bhodi, she fought hard….He didn’t..”

Eva says, with tears in her eyes.

“Who?”

Strode snaps.

“Jay Moore, one of Luca’s men. You’ll find him at the Green-Moore warehouse, in the back room.”

He raises his head and looks towards me. “I need to speak with Bhodi alone.”

“Like fuck, you piece of shit.”

Axe steps forward, but I throw my arm out to stop him.

“It’s OK,”

I mutter. “Give us the room.”

A feel a few stares on me, but I refuse to look their way. Instead I stare Elijah down. Eventually everyone shuffles from the room, leaving just him and I in the quiet room. Elijah looks around the space for a moment, loosening his tie further. A heaviness settles over the room, but my impatience blooms and I can feel my entire body twitch.

“We got Summer here as fast as we could,” he says.

“Save the fucking hero story, if she…”

I feel the knot form tight in my throat. “If she dies, I’ll fucking take your head from your shoulders, you fucking cunt.”

“I know that, and I can’t make amends for all the shit I’ve done, Bhodi.”

He runs a hand over his mouth, his sins weighing his soul down. “But I need to do the right thing.”

“Why the fuck have you grown a conscience now?”

“A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a Carlos Ramirez. He wanted to know why his sister’s rapist wasn’t dead.”

I sit myself down in the chair, leaning forward slightly, listening intently to Elijah’s words.

“Go on.”

“Carlos’s sister was taken from Mexico and driven to New York where she was raped, beaten and fed drugs. Luca wanted to frame Eric for it. Both he and Harry wanted Eric out of the way, but he didn’t think it through and left us in a complete fucking mess, seeing as Eric was in L.A. at the time. She managed to escape, walked straight into Daniel Daly, I mean Luca couldn’t believe his fucking luck, how easy it could be to make this girl just go away.”

“How did Carlos find out about her?”

“Anonymous call, I have no idea, but he managed to get the report. He hasn’t stopped looking for her.”

He shrugs.

Michael.

I smirk, subtly shaking my head.

“Why all the way from Mexico?”

“Luca’s been taking girls for years from Mexico, only a few at a time and maybe only a couple times a year to not raise suspicions.”

“So he’s a fucking human trafficker as well as a rapist, abuser and a murderer?”

I ask sarcastically, before pacing the room. “What the fuck are you playing at? You knew for years what a piece of shit he was, yet you fucking defend him and ruin lives in the process.”

“Like I had a fucking choice!”

Elijah blurts out. “Do you think I like being under his thumb, having to wipe the blood off his hands and mine! I took an oath and each day since I met him I’ve shit all over it! All because my own father couldn’t stop gambling!”

“He’s been blackmailing you?”

“Of course, he fucking has! My father owed his family one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, but it didn’t matter, the first time I defended him and broke my oath, I was fucked, I fell into that fucking trap without a hope in hell.”

He bangs his fist hard into the wall. “So I stayed, I defended him each time, I lied, I manipulated and I fucking sold my soul, Bhodi, do you have any idea what that’s like? To fucking hate what you see in the mirror, to not have a voice any more, to know the devil sits on your shoulder, waiting for you to fuck up so you can be eventually cast aside and killed all because someone else make a mistake?”

“I do, yes.”

I swallow hard. “But I chose differently, I chose to burn those fucking souls to hell and never allow someone to control me again, Elijah.”

“Then you’re a braver man than I am.”

“Maybe so, so why your change of heart now?”

Elijah takes a deep breath, falling back into his chair. A haunting realisation ghosts across his face, he visibly pales and shrinks in on himself.

“The lies...have become too much. Carlos Ramirez is a high ranking member of the Mexican Cartel, Luca has fucked with someone far more powerful and dangerous than himself.”

“You’re scared?”

“Terrified. But I have no choice, it’s me or him.”

“Why did they try to frame Eric twice?”

“They didn’t, the second girl was a local escort. Monica Harper found them together during one of her visits and went insane, she beat the girl so badly. The poor girl was just there to do a job, she didn’t know she was stuck between some toxic relationship.”

“Luca didn’t stop her?” I ask.

Elijah freezes, his eyes narrow on mine and turn serious. “It was Harry she was seeing. They agreed to let the girl go if she gave the same story to the police as the first and then they scooped her off the streets and killed her.”

“What the fuck?”

“Harry’s stolen money from Luca, he planned on leaving with Monica but when he got arrested, he knew he was fucked and had to try and get out of it. Eric probably wised up to it all ...well you know the rest.”

“So, he paid off some people to fake his death?”

“And to have you locked up in the process, but I honestly didn’t know about that until I heard about your arrest.”

“Daly said that was because he was trying to get information from Summer, about how much she’d found out about him.”

“It wasn’t Daly, it was your captain, Bhodi. He’s been the one behind the scenes controlling everything. Daly was just some puppet.”

The look on Elijah’s face back at the precinct now makes sense, the quiet meetings where I was out of ear shot, Elijah was angry yet seemed unfazed, likely happy Harry was no longer a problem for him.

“Not anymore, he was shot earlier tonight.”

I watch the relief flicker across his expression. “So, you know Harry’s still alive?” I ask.

“I found out when Nate Jordan fled with his family. Luca was pissed and sent his men after him, but that guy didn’t stand a chance. He was disposable.”

“What did Luca have on the captain?”

I ask curiously.

“I honestly don’t know, Bhodi, more often than not I’m only called to clear up his mess, I’m not privy to his business interactions whether they’re legal or not.”

“And Harry?”

“Gone, he’s had a few days but I don’t know. My guesses somewhere far away like Mexico.”

“So, what does the cartel want?”

“Access to Luca, what else?”

“What did he want with Summer and the girls?”

“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them. He left abruptly, so whatever he wanted they didn’t have.”

He shrugs. “Probably wants to know where his money has gone? His empire is crumbling and everyone is disappearing or turning up dead.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know, but if he suspects someone is after him, then he’ll run.”

Elijah just shrugs, the shoulders of a worn-down man weighed down by the pressures of his life. Something somewhere tells me I should give him a chance and maybe even trust him, but I can’t. He’s allowed so many people to live in fear, lives have been ruined and some are still suffering. He’s told me all he knows for now, and it’s unlikely Luca is gonna need his lawyer anytime soon, he’ll want to get as far away from the city as possible, alert as few people as possible because now he’s got a serious fucking problem, he’s being pursued by an unknown assailant and half of the NYPD when they finally get wind of what’s happening.

Part of me thinks we should just jack it in, cash in and fuck off. Let this fucking mess play out and see the damage at the end of it, but that’s not what we stand for, even if at the moment our views are a little skewed and tunnelled by our own anger and rage. We can discuss our “happily ever after”

once this is done, not before.

“Where can I find Carlos?”

I turn to Elijah.

He rises from his seat and glances out of the window, his body half turns towards me as he steals glances towards the parking lot.

“He won’t be far,”

he says, gesturing towards the dimly lit parking lot.

Stepping towards the window, my eyes roam across the dark space but it barely takes me a couple seconds to home in on the black SUV, parked up near the trees, smoke flowing from both the passenger and driver’s window, the windows are tinted but I know they’ve spotted us.

“Wait here,”

I command. Stepping out of the hospital room, as I close the door behind me, I feel all bodies rush towards me, their faces a mixture of anger, horror, sadness. “Is there any news on Summer?”

I swallow hard, my heart plummeting as soon as I see the shake of a head.

“Still in surgery, Bhodi.”

Jimmy looks away, gently swiping at his eyes. “I’m gonna take Eva to see Rob, he’s a couple floors up.”

“Sure.” I nod.

Jimmy walks towards Eva, I watch as her face gently softens as I read the words coming from his lips. It’s insane that at a time like this, I can see the awkward nerd Jimmy coming out. He likes Eva, even if he hasn’t said anything, even if no one else has spotted it yet, and in this tough time, I wish them both nothing but the opportunity to explore that. What I would fucking give to hold Summer’s hand right now, kiss her soft lips and tell her how much I love her.

I promise this will be the last time we’re in a hospital, scared and apart from each other. Hell I’ll drag her to the courthouse on Monday and then handcuff us both together if I have to.

“What’s going on?”

Axe approaches, with that cocky swagger he’s had since I’ve known him, but he scratches his face slightly, obscuring it from the view of Callaghan and the police commissioner.

“Jimmy’s taking Eva to see Rob, but I need to head outside and speak with Carlos.”

“Who the fuck is that?”

“Cartel member, his sister was one of the girls that disappeared.”

“The Daly cases?”

he asks, looking a little taken back.

“Yeah.”

“How the fuck did they get mixed up with the cartel?”

“No idea, but I’m guessing they were the ones that were also at the house.”

“But why?”

“The cartel wants Luca and Harry, guess they assumed if they could be waiting at the house they could follow Luca’s men. I guess someone walked straight into a gun.” I shrug.

Personally, I don’t really care about their reasons for wanting Luca and Harry, their reasons are no greater or less valid than our own, however I’m always one for a negotiation.

“Does this mean anything?”

Callaghan asks, thrusting a phone in our faces.

The image initially shows two dead bodies laid dead on the floor of my kitchen, weapons strewn across the floor, blood pooling along the tiles and their eyes wide with horror. But when Callaghan flips to the next image, one of the bodies has burns. I take the phone in my hands and zoom in, flashing Axe a quick knowing look before shaking my head.

“No, who is it?” I ask.

“One of them is Wayne Parker, a former patrol cop but the other guy, we don’t know. No ID, no wallet and whatever is on his arm, they wanted it gone.”

“They?”

“Whoever shot him.”

Callaghan shrugs.

“I need some air,”

I grunt, moving past Callaghan, I ignore his protests and head for the door.

With Axe not too far behind, I finally take a deep inhale of the cool night air and my back presses against the concrete wall. Axe passes me a Marlboro Red, which I gladly accept. Pulling the now lit cigarette to my lips, I stare across towards the black SUV, but when its lights finally go out, I look to Axe who’s also spotted this. When both doors open, I see the silhouette of two men slowly approaching, dressed in black cargo pants and sweatshirts, they mirror us to a tee but it’s not until Axe and I proceed to meet them in the middle that I finally see the difference.

A man of about my height and build, a small intricate tattoo under his left eye and far more that proceed to climb up his neck, his dark hair tied into a top knot, his dark eyes holding far more secrets than one should. The second man stands slightly behind him, with his hand on the pistol on his thigh. His face is scarred, one of his eyes appears damaged. He’s taller than even Axe, a haunted yet unfazed look across his face, his eyes hold no warmth and no redemption. These men have killed for a lot less than family, there’s no rules here and we’re about to step into the lion’s den.

“Bhodi Grey and Axel Raine.”

He looks between us. “I’m Carlos Ramirez, but I think Mr Elom has made you aware of my presence in the city.”

“Do I have you to thank for the new paint job in my kitchen?”

He smirks, running his thumb over his top lip, nodding slightly. “That was unfortunate.”

“The burning?” Axe asks.

Carlos lifts his sleeve, revealing an intricate tattoo on his inner forearm. “I didn’t need word getting back to my father about a shooting in New York, it was better for everyone involved to write the death off as a home invasion gone wrong.”

“How did you know about the house?” I ask.

“The lawyer, he knew about the meet up with that bent captain, apparently Luca wanted you all dead. How’s your girl doing?”

“I don’t know, she’s still in surgery.”

I try to move past the topic quickly.

“We’ll leave you to it…for now.”

Handing me a card, I take it between my fingers, my eyes scanning the handwritten numbers on it. “Call me in a couple days, see if we can come to an arrangement that works for both of us.”

“And Elijah?”

“Fuck him.”

Carlos smirks. “We have no use for him now.”

A chill sweeps through the parking lot. When both Carlos and his oppo head back towards the van, I continue to stare towards the card in my hands. When the van proceeds to head towards the exit, it leaves both Axe and I with an uneasy feeling between us.

“What do we do?”

Axe looks towards me, but the answer is already clear.

“We give them what they want, before they find him.”

“Why?”

“Because if Harry has managed to fuck off to Mexico, I want help getting him back here.”

“Seriously?”

I look to Axe and feel the growing grin cracking across my face. “It’ll be the perfect wedding present for my beautiful bride.”

Axe’s eyebrow momentarily rises, before he subtly shakes his head, but he can’t hide his sick amusement at my plan.

“Do you trust Callaghan?”

Axe’s question takes me by surprise.

When I turn to him, I hold his gaze for a moment before allowing my sight to move along the parking lot in hope of some clarification to come my way, but with everything being dumped on us tonight, I decide to go with my gut.

“Do I fuck.”

“There you are.”

We turn as Jimmy approaches, his arms spread wide in a questioning gesture. “What are you doing out here?”

“Needed some air,” I mutter.

“I overheard Callaghan talking about taking Elijah into protective custody,”

Jimmy states, his tone turning dark. “If they take him in, we may never see him again.”

“He thinks one good deed undoes all the shit he’s done.”

I shake my head. “No, he needs to go too.”

Sliding the phone number into my pocket, I head back up the stairs and into the waiting room. The adrenaline slowly wears off, whilst I continually pace back and forth. My mind is rammed with chaos but I push it all to one side for her, for the one person I love more than anything in this world, the one who gave me passion and hope. My mind tracks back to the memory of last night, sitting on my lap, I teased Summer about my question, but I knew the look in her eyes that she was conflicted with everything. She comes from a privileged background, money, wealth and opportunities. I come from heartbreak, sadness, chaos and squalor. We couldn’t be any more different if we tried and right now it shows. I can’t offer her much apart from love and safety, but I know that’s not what she’s worried about. Her concerns lie with me and my…tastes. We’re not talking about quitting drinking or smoking here, this is something far deeper, something woven into my veins, imprinted onto my skin and cloaking my soul until the day I die.

“Excuse me?”

The doctor warily approaches, clutching onto a medical mask smeared with blood.

I blink a couple of times, my heart beginning to hammer in my chest. Eventually I feel everyone appear from nowhere, all eyes on the doctor who eventually lets out a sigh.

“Summer is going to be OK, the blade narrowly missed her vital organs but thankfully she got here in time.”

“Can I see her?”

I take a step forward, alarming the doc.

He hesitates for a moment, practically craning his neck to look at mine, but he nods. “Yes, but she’s asleep for now, she should wake up in a few hours.”

Without waiting, I drag him by the arm, gesturing for him to lead me towards her. A couple left and right turns, I eventually find myself standing in a quiet hospital room, a low beeping and subtle lights. Closing the door behind me, I stand at the edge of the bed, my fingers wrapping around the bed frame, my heart aching whilst she lays there, looking so peaceful.

Pulling out the chair, I move closer and take her tiny hand in mine. Admiring the vast difference in our sizes, I place her skin to my lips, inhaling her sweet scent. Every memory we’ve had since the moment we met flashes through my mind, each laugh, smile, fear, smart comment, I see it all and I finally understand what I must do. Gently placing her hand by her side, I pull my phone out. Tapping the number into my phone and then firing off a quick message, I push that shit away for now. Lacing her fingers with mine once again, I hold her hand to my lips, studying her beauty like I have done so many times before. This time I begin to look past the bloodshed.