Page 55 of All of Me

He gave the suitcases to Dixie and followed me back to Tammy’s room to get her in her car seat, which he managed without waking her up. I grabbed her small elephant and Maxie. I didn’t want a shitty long goodbye, and he seemed to get that, so he planted a fierce kiss on my lips, made sure both Tammy and Maxie were secure, and walked back inside.

I turned to Dixie. I didn’t really know her. “I’m sorry about all this hassle.” She grinned.

“That’s okay. Life was getting a bit boring. There’s only so many witnesses you can make sure sleep safe in their beds.”

Drake

It felt like I was losing them. Or had I just thrown them away? What the fuck had gotten into me? Jay came inside. He was on the phone but looked up at me. “Danny says the cops are all over the two SUV’s. It’s completely shut down the road.” He put the phone on speaker.

“Update,” Rawlings snapped out, so I knew he was on the call as well.

“I’ve watched the feed from two cameras,” Danny said, “and either the suicidal idiots had better timing than Swiss watchmakers or it was remotely detonated.”

“What the hell?” Jay whispered. “This is more like some CIA shit, not a land deal.”

I agreed. “What are Ryan’s financials like?”

“Tight,” Danny said. “Very tight. Doesn’t look like all his recent deals made the sort of money he got from Dearden. His expenses are high, designer everything and likes to party with high class escorts. He needs some urgent cash for certain. I’m looking now, and I can’t see anything except a withdrawal the day before the fire for five thousand, which fits in with what Jethro thought Lee had been given. I haven’t found another account yet, but there has to be one if he’s responsible for tonight.”

“Makes zero sense,” Jay muttered. And I agreed. I could see Ryan having his fingers in everything with two exceptions. The shooting in the parking lot which we still didn’t know if it was linked to my dad and remotely detonating two SUVs and passengers. That took serious, serious, money. He must have another bank account.

We’d checked all the property for another fifty minutes. Shae texted me to confirm they were at the apartment, and I blew out a sigh of relief. The cops hadn’t come near, and I thanked fuck that both cars had detonated far enough away. We quickly mended the fence the SUV’s had broken through and scoured the area for bullets. If the cops came nosing around tomorrow there would be no sign there had been any problem here. We were damn lucky. Apart from the fright, Jay and Dixie had reacted so quickly the SUVs hadn’t had time to do any damage. It must have been a nasty surprise to have people firing back at them.

Rawlings arrived then, his face grim. "Talk to me," he said as he strode in.

Everyone else was outside while I filled him in on everything that had happened.

“Surprised you didn’t insist on taking Shae yourself.” He knew what a protective asshole I was.

I didn’t reply, but there must have been something in my expression.

He folded his arms. “What did you do?”

I deflated. “Fucked up.”

“And are you going to un-fuck it or is Shae finally going to see sense and dump your sorry ass?”

My head shot up and I glared. What the actual?

“For some unknown reason, Shae loves you. I have no idea why because you’re a sorry stubborn bastard who doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it.”

I opened my mouth to retort but he talked over me. “Just do me a favor, do us all a favor. Make up your fucking mind, and if you’re walking away, this time stay gone.”

I didn’t reply. To say I was hurt was putting it mildly. Rawlings leaned forward. “That boy is like a son to me. I liked you for him. He needs a steady hand, not some kid that fucks off when he finds out Shae isn’t a party boy. Someone that’s already been around the block and can protect him. I thought because he needed you, you’d step up. If I didn’t think you felt the same way I’d have never sent you to get him the day you got back.” Rawlings looked at me like I was something he’d scraped off his shoe.

But he was right. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I know."

"Good. Now that we've established that, let's focus on the immediate problem. This is escalating way too fast. Ryan's desperate."

I blinked because going from business to being reamed out for being a crap boyfriend to business again was tying me in knots. I took a breath and focused on what I could at that moment. "Iguess the thought of sixty mil makes you do stupid shit. But he’s gone from sloppy amateurs to Rambo wannabees."

Rawlings nodded. “We need to work that out and find out where the hell they came from. We’ll meet tomorrow and we’ll try to hash everything out. Jay says everything is secure.”

“I’m leaving after I check on Albert and Moira, and before you ask I’m going to the apartment and I’m going to grovel.”

Rawlings smirked. “About fucking time.”

I stood in the empty kitchen for quite some time after Rawlings had left because this time, I really thought I’d screwed up permanently. I also needed to go check on Albert and Moira and I hoped they didn’t answer. I hoped they were both asleep and I couldn’t believe the stress I’d brought down on them both. I should sell my place just for that, except I knew without me as some sort of backup, they’d both be too exposed.

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