Page 76 of Clap Back (Carter Brothers)

As long as I didn’t leave with any misdemeanors or felonies under my belt, I’d be fine.

I’d received an email this morning that had hiring paperwork.

And, just sayin’, but the pay increase was worth it in and of itself.

“Sorry, friend, but I’m not interested in that kind of life.” I shrugged. “I was actually on the way to hand in my two weeks’ notice anyway.”

“Just because you quit doesn’t mean there aren’t alternate means of forcing your hand,” a deep, angry voice said from behind me. The chief. “If you want to keep this route, I will make your family’s life hell,” The chief said. “All those newly built houses have to be paid for, don’t they? What’ll happen if I go ahead and get rid of every Carter on this force?”

“You’ll have a lot of issues on your hands,” I heard my father’s unamused voice as well from behind me.

I turned to put my back to the wall, allowing all three players to be in sight.

My dad dragged his gaze up the length of me to make sure I was okay.

I was.

Well, if extreme anger was still considered being okay.

“I guess it’s finally come to a head then, has it?” Chief Austin said. “You’ve been trying for years to keep your ass in the assistant seat but looks like that’s coming to an end.”

“I’m not sure how you think that,” Dad shrugged, “but I’ll allow you to have whatever opinions you desire.”

Chief Austin looked like a tea kettle about to whistle, he was so angry.

“Just fire them, Dad,” Scott so helpfully suggested.

My watch vibrated, and I glanced down at it to see it show the tiniest of photos, then a single name above it.

Maven.

I reached for my phone in my pocket.

A picture came through, and it reminded me why this was all worth it.

I opened the text from Maven and smiled despite the anger and hostility floating around the room right now.

There she was, standing in the middle of a bakery that was already outfitted for her needs, and she was jumping up in the air and clicking her heels together.

Her hair was flying, her eyes were bright and shining.

My heart literally skipped a beat.

“Are you even listening to me, Auden Carter?” Chief Austin’s voice came out like a whip. “Or are we boring you with the fate of your future?”

“My future is just fine,” I said tauntingly. “It’s very bright.”

His eyes narrowed. “I will literally ruin every single one of the people you love if you don’t back off.”

“We all quit, then, and will be saving you the trouble of using us as bargaining chips.” Quaid’s voice from the door had my head swinging that way. “Feel free to find a new gangs unit captain. Also feel free to find a couple of new members of SWAT. Oh, and then there’s me, who coordinates every single beat cop in this station and three others. Quincy also sends his condolences and says that with his superb success rate and skills in solving the murders in this city, he will be more than happy to find a different police department to offer his skills to. Garrett also says that he’ll be taking Boss, since we brought him onto the precinct anyway. And Gable’s next under cover assignment will have to be given to another, even though he fits the bill perfectly, according to the powers that be.”

Damn.

I was getting choked up here.

All of my brothers willing to quit for me.

“And I won’t be working community outreach, or be the department spokeswoman anymore, either,” Mamasauce crooned. “Effective immediately, Germaine and I are on vacation. We’re going to be on vacation until our PTO runs out, then we’re going to retire from the department that we’ve been working at for forty years of our lives.”

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