Kristen Ashley - Games of the Heart

 Rees finally nodded, slid her arms from around him and got up. He watched her walk to her Dad and brother and when she got there, she burrowed in. Like they did it every day of their lives, they accommodated her naturally into their huddle.

He was watching that so closely, when he felt his hand taken and squeezed, it came as a surprise. He looked to his right expecting to see Gram.

His Ma was shifting her butt into the seat beside him.

He stared at her but she didn’t say anything. She just held his hand tight, resting it on her thigh. About a second later, Kirby came and sat down at her other side. She took his hand too and held it on her other thigh.

Well, she’d snapped out of it. Finally. She was his Ma again. The good one that did Mom stuff all the time, the little stuff and, like now, the big stuff.

At least that was good.

Fin’s eyes drifted to Gram and Gramps who were sitting together, Gram’s head on Gramps’s shoulder, her hand on his stomach, their eyes to Fin, his Ma and Kirby.

Fin jerked up his chin.

Gram smiled a smile she totally didn’t mean. Gramps pressed his lips together and looked at his lap.

Fin’s chest started burning hot.

He looked to the floor. It was the wrong direction but he figured God wouldn’t mind.

Please, please, let her be okay, he prayed.

God didn’t reply. He never did. But his Dad and Ma told him God was always listening.

So Fin hoped He got the message.

* * *

Alec Colton walked into the waiting room and saw Mike standing there, his arm around his daughter’s shoulders, her front pressed to his side, both arms wrapped tight around his middle, his son standing close.

Mike’s eyes came direct to him.

Then he bent his head and said something quietly to Rees.

She looked up at her Dad as Colt approached. Then her eyes came to Colt. Then No moved across the front of his Dad, grabbed his sister’s arm and gently pulled her away.

Colt stopped a foot away from Mike and they both watched as No led Rees to Finley Holliday. She sat down and Holliday instantly draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight to his side. No sat down next to her and, still pressed tight to Holliday, Clarisse took her brother’s hand.

Colt looked at Mike.

“I take it there’s no news,” he said quietly.

“Nope,” Mike replied immediately, his voice tight.

Colt nodded. He didn’t think that was good. It had been hours.

“Well, I got some,” he told Mike.

Mike held his eyes but said not a word. And Colt had to admit, he had to work at holding his friend’s gaze with what he read in it.

“We got Troy Piggott,” Colt said low and watched Mike’s body get tight.

“Yeah?” Mike asked, staring at him closely.

He knew there was more.

“Well, we got him but there’s a situation,” Colt told him.

“What situation?” Mike asked.

“We didn’t actually get him. Ryker and Cal did.”

Mike drew in a long, deep breath.

Then he let it out, muttering, “Fuck.”

“Ryker went fuckin’ apeshit,” Colt went on.

“Jesus, he’s met her once,” Mike stated.

“Tanner says he’s got a jacked sense of justice,” Colt explained.

“How bad is it?” Mike asked.

Colt hesitated before he answered carefully, “He’ll survive.”

Mike’s eyes flared and Colt knew why. Piggott would survive. Dusty, unknown.

Then he asked, “Ryker gonna catch it?”

“Piggott is a minor. His parents are at the Station. They’re freaked. The other two kids, Schultz and Wannamaker, laid Piggott out. They were separated when they made their statements but their stories match. They’re totally flipped out but they talked, they did it fast and they both said the same thing. Piggott went off on one. They had no clue he was gonna do it. They had a plan, jacking around, no one was supposed to get hurt and Piggott went maverick.”

Colt paused and Mike nodded so he continued.

“Don’t know if you know but Layla did a fuckin’ number on his arm. It’s mangled all to shit. This is likely why he dropped the gun and left it at the scene. It’s registered to his Dad and it’s covered in his prints. It’s also likely why Ryker could jack him up so bad. Ryker’s a monster but, his right arm useless, he wasn’t able to defend himself.”

That got another eye flare before Mike nodded and Colt went on.

“Tanner got to Cal and Piggott before the cops. Cal reported he got Ryker off Piggott and Cal subdued the kid with plastic restraints, though the kid wasn’t movin’ too much anyway. Before Tanner even got there, Ryker went to ground probably because Cal advised him to do so. Sully’s executing fancy footwork at the Station and I gotta say not a man or woman in that building is fired up to go out in search of Ryker. And, right now, Piggott’s parents gotta worry about finding an attorney because Sully informed them that an attack on teenagers and a cop’s woman by a kid his age with priors, it is highly likely he’ll be tried as an adult. So I’m not sure they’re thinkin’ too much about what’s gonna happen with Ryker. With time, though, they’ll turn their attention to it so we gotta figure somethin’ out.”

“He shot an unarmed woman who did not one thing to him at point blank range in the chest,” Mike reminded him, his voice blank, his eyes not even close to blank and Colt flinched.

“Yeah,” Colt agreed.

“She’s got friends, those friends are gonna react. No judge in this state, even with Ryker’s history, will look at this and go hard at Ryker.”

“Yeah,” Colt agreed.

“Someone needs to get word to him to turn himself in,” Mike advised.

“Tanner’s workin’ on it.”

Mike nodded and his eyes moved to the doors.

“Mike –” Colt started carefully and Mike’s eyes cut to him.

“Don’t,” he bit off. “I’ve known her twenty-five years, had her for five months and part of that time I pissed away. I get you wanna say the right thing but there is no right thing right now.”

“Right,” Colt whispered.

“It’s appreciated, just not right now, Colt.”

Colt nodded.

Then he lifted a hand, clapped it on Mike’s shoulder and squeezed while holding his eyes.

Then he let him go, scanned the room, locking eyes occasionally then turned and walked out of the room.

He had shit to do. They had a situation.

But his destination was Feb.

Feb and Jack.

Once he saw his woman, held her, took her mouth and laid eyes on his son…

Then he’d deal with the situation.

* * *

Mike was standing in the waiting room, everyone else still was in their seats.

His eyes were to the door.

But he didn’t see the door.

He saw Dusty in their bed with his dog that morning telling him she loved him.

Black day.

He saw it in those kids’ eyes. He knew it.

He missed it.

And it made for a black day.

She knew it was coming, he promised her he’d make it okay and he broke his promise.

A black fucking day.

Then his eyes focused, the room got tense and the man in scrubs approached the door.

He walked through, scanned the room and asked, “Dusty Holliday?”

Everyone moved forward.

Mike got there first.

* * *

Joe came through the side door and Violet dashed to it. She hit his body, one hand curling around his bicep, one resting on his abs.

“Any word?” she asked, her eyes searching his hard, angry face.

“No,” he ground out then his hand closed around her head, he yanked her up and his mouth slammed down on hers.

Then he kissed her, hard and wet and for a very long time.

He lifted his head and looked into her eyes.

“Love you, buddy,” he whispered.

“Love you too, Joe,” she whispered back.

His phone rang and they both went still.

Then Joe pulled it out of his back pocket as Vi stayed close not that she could go anywhere even if she wanted to (which she didn’t). Joe’s arm was locked around her tight.

He looked at the display and muttered, “Fuck, Sully.”

Then he flipped it open and put it to his ear.

“Yo.”

Then Violet watched with a sinking heart as her husband’s expression changed and he slowly closed his eyes.

* * *

Clarisse got close to Fin’s side as he rested his forehead on the window, eyes closed.

“You gotta do it, Fin,” she whispered. “You promised.”

She watched his eyes scrunch tight.

Then he pulled the phone out of his back pocket and didn’t lift his forehead from the window as he held it in front of his face, his thumb moving on it.

Then he hit a button and put it to his ear opposite Clarisse.

She pressed closer, her hand trailing down his forearm until it curled around his.

His curled back so tight it hurt.

She didn’t make a peep.

“Aunt Debbie?” he asked and Clarisse stared at his profile.

Then he said softly, “Yeah, I got news.”

Clarisse pressed even closer.

And when she did, Fin’s hand got even tighter.

Then she closed her eyes and listened.

Three weeks later…

When Mike’s foot hit the top of the stairs, he heard it.

He turned in the direction he was going anyway and moved down the hall to the double doors.

He opened one and took one step in.