Page 48 of Copper

My jeans are almost halfway down my hips when another sound from the kitchen door distracts Geoffrey. The sound of loud banging and pushing on the door fills the room. The chair at the doorknob is sturdy, not a cheap wooden thing, and even Aaron can’t push it away. As I watch the door, a hatchet blade comes through the wood. Aaron’s voice is talking to someone on the other side of the door, probably explaining the situation to backup, and he grunts with each swipe at the door.

Geoffrey will leave now. He’ll flee through the kitchen door and run away. The police are coming. Aaron’s on the other side of the door with a hatchet.

But Geoffrey laughs. Is he so manic he’s not thinking straight? Is he high on the product he’s probably involved with pushing around town? I don’t know, and my brain can’t focus on that now. All I can focus on is staying alive and keeping Ruby safe until Aaron gets through that fucking door.

Aaron hacks a small, jagged square in the wood, enough for him to see into the room and know what’s happening. When I look up as Geoffrey fumbles with his pair of dingy briefs, Aaron’s face pales, and there’s an expression on his face I’ve never seen. His nostrils flare, and his eyes widen through the rectangle.

Fear.

I’ve seen him pissed off. I’ve seen him orgasm. I’ve seen him disappointed, and I’ve seen him smile with sheer joy. I’ve never once seen him scared.

Geoffrey grips my throat and looks over his shoulder at Aaron. “Glad you could join us in time to watch me sample your favorite pussy, Sheriff.”

Aaron’s eyes meet mine, and there’s a loud thud as the hatchet hits the floor in the hallway. He flexes his jaw and shows me the new object in his hand at the same time he releases the safety. He doesn’t yell or draw attention. He doesn’t insult Geoffrey or frantically cuss. He looks me straight in the eyes and says two words.

“Our thing.”

Trusting him and understanding Aaron’s direction, I bring my knees to my tits, opening my legs as much as I can with my jeans halfway down my hips as I build my strength. “Yeah, bitch. You want it now, don’t you,” Geoffrey leers, not understanding the reason for getting my legs into position. “You like him to watch, huh?”

I push.

I send every bit of force I can muster into my thighs as I plant my feet on Geoffrey’s chest and push so hard that his eyes widen in confusion as he’s pushed back like I’m doing a leg press. It wouldn’t be enough to get him away from me permanently, but it’s enough to give Aaron a clear shot for a split second. A second is all Aaron needs to know he won’t accidentally get me. I’ve never seen Aaron shoot, but I trust that he’s a good shot because he’s Aaron Dwyer. He’s good at everything.

“Go to hell,” I grunt as I roll to the side and press my body on top of Ruby, covering her face before the blood splatter and brain matter even hit the counter above us.

Ruby screams as her dad’s gun goes off again and again, and I shield her head, aiming for her ears but unsure if I’m covering them as Aaron doesn’t stop shooting until the clip empties like he’s been trained. “It’s OK, sweetheart. It’s OK. Daddy got him,” I coo to Ruby, stroking her hair as she trembles and sobs under me. “Daddy’s here, baby. Your dad will always protect you.”

I stay where I am as Aaron makes a larger hole in the door with the hatchet. Soon, he has it where it’s enough to get his arm through the old wood and push the chair from under the knob. As soon as he’s in the room, he points the gun at Geoffrey, quickly checks the man’s pulse to make sure he’s not getting up, and then slinks next to me on the floor, throwing his arms around us. Ruby buries her head in his neck as Aaron hugs us both, a tear sliding down his left cheek. After a few minutes, another set of arms snakes around us. Pearl. I look up into her tear-stained face and smile as she holds on to Mickey’s collar. That amazing dog stayed with Pearl in the closet, protecting her the whole time.

Aaron squeezes his eyes shut and rocks all three of us like he’s never letting go as sirens blare in the distance.

Chapter 24

Aaron

“Ican’tbelieveIagreed to this,” I say, placing another board on the sawhorse and bringing down the electric saw. “I hope you know this was my football room.”

Lucy smiles at me from her place hammering a nail into a board. Her hair is swept back, and her black sweatpants are covered with paint and dust. “I need an office. Since you insisted on kidnapping me here forever, I need a place to do my work now that I’ve got my own business.”

And what a place it’ll be. Pole fitness is booming, and there’s not anything like it in our county. Women have been making the drive into Chicago for pole and lap dance classes. My Lucy will make a killing at what she does. We already rented the space with some of the money she had saved up to pay the mafia. A small loan I cosigned for to establish some credit for her is going to lighting, poles, installation, and office supplies. The look of pride on her face as she gets her own financial life in order makes me hate her ex-husband even more, if possible. She also needs a home office. I don’t like the idea of her working late nights at the studio. We’ve been working on the room all week.

I smile as I measure because this room being an office may be temporary. Maybe we’ll add on to the house, but we’ll need more room for other reasons soon enough. Lucy and I have discussed it. She wants a child, and I want one more while Ruby and Pearl are still young. I don’t want them spread out too much in age. Maybe it’s too soon, but she’s going off the pill after her next cycle. It’s not like we need to get to know each other better. I’ve known her for so long that it seems like we were born at the same hospital on the same day and had a secret code from the beginning.

Lucy’s belongings are in storage in my basement since I already had furniture, and we didn’t need two coffeepots. After the shooting, Lucy would go down there at night when she couldn’t sleep, and I’d wake up to a lonely bed. When she’d pad back tour room, I’d ask her where she was. She said just looking at her stuff in storage to make sure she won’t need anything. I know she’s thinking about things. Maybe her old life. Maybe she’s worried there’s another henchman out there with a low bank account balance.

It’s been a month since Geoffrey’s body was carried out of the house. Since then, Lucy’s filed for divorce, citing abandonment in the marriage, and she has the police reports and investigation to back it up. Together with my report to Chicago, the case should move faster than it normally would in these cases. The girls are seeing a counselor, Lucy moved the rest of her stuff in, and I’ve been a happy man because I have all the women I love safe under one roof.

Mickey skips around at my feet, yipping to get attention, and Lucy drops the hammer to bend down and pet the dog. Lucy’s face has been lighter for the past week. There’s nothing pulling the smile down. It’s like she’s finally allowing herself to breathe.

“I’ll be back,” I say, throwing the pencil that was in my mouth on the table and playfully smacking Lucy on the butt as I pass. “Don’t break anything while I’m gone.”

She ignores me and turns up the music in her headphones, teasingly flipping me off as I saunter from the room.

When I get to the basement, I pull the string to turn on the single overhead lightbulb. The basement is only partially finished – that’s next on the list after Lucy’s office – and the lightbulb casts a dim light across the area as it flickers until it eventually springs to full life. I really need better lighting if I’m going to keep things I’ll regularly need down here.

I cross to my tool bench, stepping over Lucy’s opened boxes and half climbing over an end table. When I get to my tool bench, I open my drawers, looking for what I need.

Levels. I know I have them here somewhere.

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