Kele Moon - Crossing the line

“I got you.” Tino choked. “But I gotta hang up. I’m on the other line with Nova and—”

“You do not make any phone calls once you get behind that wheel,” Wyatt snapped at him. “If phone calls got to be made, you let Romeo make them, and don’t listen to the shit Romeo is saying. Your only goal in life at this moment is to get your brother to the hospital. Eyes on the road. Drive safe. Drive fast, and we will meet you there. I know you can do this.”

“Yeah, okay, I can do this.” Tino took another deep breath. “I’ll have Romeo call you when we get into the car.”

“Do that.”

Wyatt clicked his phone off. He made the call to dispatch and then dropped the mic in his lap. He doubled over, taking a moment to fight past the nausea and nerves that were making his head throb. He really needed to get a higher dose of his fucking blood pressure medication. His life had been one major drama after another for a full year now.

“What’s gonna happen with Vaughn?” Clay asked as he drove, his foot leaden to the point that they might actually beat Tino and Romeo in the Ferrari. “You said no one can arrest you, right?”

“But Adam’s got to call the DOJ for this. Usually I would investigate an officer-involved shooting, but there’s no one above me. So it has to go to the DOJ. That’s outside Garnet’s jurisdiction. It’s federal.”

“DOJ?”

“Department of Justice.”

“And they can arrest you?”

“Yeah,” Wyatt whispered as he fought past both his medical problems and Jules’s that were the gift from their parents. “They can arrest me.”

“Will they?”

“I don’t know.” He rubbed at his head as he thought about it. “I didn’t call in the stop. I wasn’t on duty or in uniform. I have a personal vendetta against Vaughn, and what happens if the past comes out? I nearly killed him once before.”

“Yeah, but no one knows about it.”

“There was a witness the first time, and my father conducted the investigation,” Wyatt reminded him. “If the DOJ got involved and Vaughn gave them all the details, they could question Jason Wiltkins. They could question Brett too. He’d have a pretty fucking good case.”

“I’m a witness,” Clay reminded him. “I saw him pull a gun on you.”

“Yeah, but that could be considered self-defense on his part. He has a right to defend himself too.”

“What are you trying to say, Wyatt?”

“I’m saying I’m in some serious shit.”

Wyatt’s sister knew a lot of people.

At seven in the morning, Tabitha could not honestly believe how chock-full Jules’s emergency had filled that waiting room. Clay, Melody, Tino, Wyatt, and Tabitha all sat there for the few hours, before a young fighter named Chuito had come in dragging a pretty girl with strawberry-blonde hair named Alaine, who was apparently Jules’s assistant.

Tabitha recognized Chuito from UFC fight footage, but she’d just known him as The Slayer. She suspected Chuito and Alaine might be dating. He had his arm draped over Alaine’s shoulders and was rubbing her arm soothingly.

They’d seen Romeo a few times. The babies were in NICU, but the doctors had assured him they’d be fine. It was just a precaution. He was staying with them while Jules was in surgery. Her uterus had ruptured. Romeo told them it was a miracle any of them lived.

He was still covered in Jules’s blood when he’d walked out, and he had the shell-shocked look of a man who was dealing with so many overlapping problems he didn’t know which one to cry about first. He had to sign papers that allowed them to perform a hysterectomy on Jules if it was medically necessary, and with a sob of emotion he had come to Wyatt and said, “She’ll fucking hate me if they do this to her.”

Wyatt had just shaken his head and said, “Nah, she ain’t gonna hate you. Whatever those docs need you to do to save her life, you do it, and I’ll help ya deal with the fallout.”

Things were very tense to say the least.

“Do you want me to get you a cup of coffee?” Tabitha asked as she rubbed Wyatt’s back. He looked almost as bad as Romeo. In some ways he looked worse. His blond hair stood up in spikes from constantly running his hands through it. His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles of stress and exhaustion under them, and it was horrible to see. “I can get it for you. You’re the only who ain’t had some.”

“Are you kidding?” Wyatt rubbed at his eyes. “If I drink a cup of coffee right now, I will fucking drop dead of a heart attack.”

“What?” Tabitha frowned at him.

“I got high blood pressure.” Wyatt shook his head as if admitting it was difficult. “I shouldn’t drink coffee at all, but with this level of stress. Jesus, no, I can stay awake.”

“You have high blood pressure?” Tabitha repeated in disbelief as she looked at Wyatt’s strong, powerful body. “You have to be the healthiest fella alive.”

“Yeah, you’d think so.” Wyatt let out a bitter laugh. “Jules and I had the shit luck to inherit both of the things that killed our parents.”

“Wyatt—” Tabitha whispered, because that scared her to death. “Are you taking care of it?”

“Yes.” He turned to her and patted her thigh. “I take medication. I exercise. It’s fine, Tabby. I’m just really stressed out.”

“You should have told me. I’m gonna start cooking different things for you.”

“Thanks, darlin’.” Wyatt sat up and draped an arm over her shoulders. Then he fell back against the seat, pulling her tighter to him and placing a kiss against the top of her head. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest as she sat there listening to his heartbeat. She placed a hand on the spot where it was thumping hard and fast, trying to will some sort of peace for him.

Neither of them had talked about what happened when he disappeared into the night a few hours earlier. Everything had been so tense and frantic, it didn’t seem that important at the moment. They could deal with it after they found out how Jules’s surgery went.

They stayed curled together until the sound of boots against linoleum had Wyatt turning toward the intruder on their private crisis as if he expected an attack, but the tension fell out of his shoulders just as quickly as it appeared.

“Who the hell did he have to kill to get a flight from New York that fast?” Wyatt said in disbelief.

Before she could ask, Tino shouted, “Nova!”

“Romeo’s other brother,” Wyatt filled in for her.

“Oh.” Tabitha watched Tino hug his brother as if desperate for the comfort.

Nova kissed Tino’s forehead in a way that was common for New York Italians. Then he patted Tino’s cheek and draped an arm around him, pulling him close. “Where’s Rome?”

“He’s with the babies,” Tino whispered.

“How are they? What have you heard?”

“Romeo said they were doing good the last time he came out.”

“You told me they were in NICU when I got off the plane,” Nova said sharply. “Where are the doctors? Has anyone talked to them? Are they specialists? Who is hacking into Jules? Who is taking care of our nephews?”

“I don’t know,” Tino whispered.

“Merda, Tino, you didn’t ask?” Nova ran his fingers through his hair, making it stand up in dark spikes. “You know Romeo’s outta his mind.”

“What the fuck am I gonna ask them?” Tino threw up his hands. “What do I know about this shit?”

“I know. Not your fault.” Nova patted his cheek again. “You did good. Missed you.”

“Yeah, we’ve missed you too.” Tino hugged his brother, clinging to him once more. “I hope Jules and the babies are okay. You don’t even know how horrible that shit was. I’m gonna have nightmares for life. I thought she was gonna die right there in Rome’s arms.”

“We’re here now. We’ll get it taken care of.”

Nova let go of Tino and pulled off his long trench-coat-style jacket, showing off a thickly muscled chest. He wore a simple black T-shirt and jeans, but they were all obviously designer. He ran a hand through his hair again and looked around the room, as if searching for someone who had better answers. His gaze stopped on her and Wyatt.

He tilted his head, shock showing on his handsome face for one long moment, and Tabitha got the impression not much surprised this young man. She was naturally a people watcher, and Nova Moretti had such a powerful air about him she couldn’t help but be fascinated by him. It was like he demanded everyone in the room look at him if they wanted to or not, and it was doubly strange because he couldn’t be more than twenty-five.

He walked over to them, and Wyatt lifted his head from where he had bowed it, obviously not nearly as interested in the reunion as Tabitha was.

“Moretti.” Wyatt grunted.

“Hey, Conner.” Nova’s gaze darted back to Tabitha even though he was still speaking to Wyatt. “Bad night.”

“Yeah.” Wyatt nodded. “We really got to stop meeting like this.”

Nova let out a little laugh as he reached out and grasped Wyatt’s shoulder affectionately. “It’ll be okay, paisan.”

“They’re specialists,” Wyatt said, as if sensing Nova’s next question. “I wouldn’t let someone hack into my sister unless I was confident they knew what they were doing. Romeo wouldn’t either. She’s in good hands.”

“I still wanna talk to them.” Nova’s gaze darted back to her. “Tabitha.”

She smiled. “Yes.”

Nova held out his hand, and when Tabitha took it, he introduced himself. “Nova.”

“Hi, Nova. It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry the circumstances are so difficult.”

“You don’t remember me,” he whispered.

Tabitha raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Am I supposed to?”

Nova seemed to think about it for a few seconds before he said, “No, you’re not. It’s better.” He wrapped his other hand around hers, holding it trapped between his warm palms as his smile broadened. “It’s nice to meet you too, Tabitha. I bet you like heroes.”

“I do.” Tabitha nodded. “I love them.”

“Yeah, I like them too.” His gaze darted to Wyatt, and he shook his head. “Unbelievable, Conner. I cannot believe you landed T.C. Rennoc. I knew those books were about you. I just didn’t know who actually wrote them. It’s a small fucking world.”

“Now’s the point where you let go of my wife’s hand.” Wyatt eyed Tabitha’s hand still trapped between Nova’s. Then he turned to her and said loud enough for Nova to hear, “He’s strange. He says weird stuff all the time.”

“I’m not even going to hold that against you.” Nova was still smiling. “I know you’re having a shit night.”

“Moretti.” Wyatt lifted his head and let out a broken laugh. “You don’t know the half of it. Let go of her.”

Nova threw his hands up in surrender and then turned to look toward the doors where Jules was having surgery. “Now where are these doctors?”

* * *

Jules made it through the surgery.

They didn’t take her uterus.

The twins were both okay.

Wyatt had a lot to be thankful for, but the DOJ investigators showing up at the hospital when everyone was still there wasn’t one of them. They’d waited until Wyatt had gotten a chance to see his nephews in the NICU. The babies had Romeo’s dark hair and Jules’s lungs. Wyatt could hear them through the glass, and it was a good thing.

Bawling babies were healthy babies according to the doctors.

Wyatt wished he could see his sister too, but she was still in recovery. The only one who’d gotten to see her so far was Romeo, who looked like he was going to drop where he stood from the relief.

“Sheriff Conner.” One of the investigators stepped forward as Wyatt walked out of the maternity ward and inclined his head to him. “Do you have a moment?”

“Sure.” Wyatt lifted his arm off Tabitha’s shoulders and leaned down to kiss her. “Give me a minute. Cop stuff.”

“Okay.” Tabitha nodded. “I’ll just go get another cup of coffee.”

Wyatt had taken two steps with the DOJ investigators before Nova called out from behind him, “Hey, Conner.”

He held up a hand to Jules’s brother-in-law. “It’s fine.”

“Yeah, no, it’s not.” Nova said with a laugh. “You’ve been up all night fearing for your sister and your nephews’ lives. You’re too tired and distracted to properly explain what happened. It would put the investigation in jeopardy, and I’m sure none of you want that.”