Center Mass (Code 11-KPD SWAT 1)

Downy leaned forward and withdrew a kolache from the first bag he opened, shoving half of it into his mouth before his back hit the couch.

The rest of the men did the same, and I realized exactly why Luke had bought so much of everything.

These men could eat.

After Downy’s fourth kolache and third donut, I couldn’t resist.

“How are you not fat?” I blurted.

His eyes twinkled as he licked his fingers clean. Slowly.

My face flushed, and Luke, who’d taken a seat on the fireplace, growled. “Downy.”

I turned and saw him staring at Downy with an ‘I’m gonna kick your ass’ look.

“AC’s really into you,” the man on my other side said.

I turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “Who’s AC?”

He nodded his head in Luke’s direction. “Assistant Chief’s too long. We shortened it to AC.”

I blinked.

Luke was the assistant chief?

“What?” He asked, noting my shock.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“That word’s dangerous,” the man said. “I’ve learned with my first wife that nothing means something. But you don’t have to tell me.”

“This is Michael. Or Saint,” Downy said from behind me, tilting his head at the man I’d been speaking to.

“Saint Michael?” I asked, confirming I’d heard him right.

Michael shook his head in exasperation. “The boys like to make me out to be a saint. Let me assure you, I’m not.”

The sexual connotation in those two words was enough for me to be cleared of any and all credence that he was a saint.

That and the look he gave me.

The man wasn’t a saint. Far fucking from it.

“Mommy?” Rowen called from the doorway.

My head snapped around, and I watched as she walked through the throng of men and crawled into my lap.

“Yes, baby?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, mommy,” she whispered.

I kissed her nose. “I know, baby. It’s okay.”

“He said as long as I’m with him, nothing will hurt you.”

Mothers always understood their children. Mothers could understand something that other people would only comprehend as gibberish. And I would’ve thought that that would’ve been the case now, too.

Her words were garbled, and distorted since she was still crying slightly.

Yet when those words left her mouth, I felt all the air being sucked out of the room as each and every man surrounding me inhaled deeply, freezing at my daughter’s words.

“What’d you say baby?” I asked, wanting to confirm what I’d heard.

“Daddy and ‘Nita fight. ‘Nita doesn’t like you,” Rowen said, looking up at me now.

“And did Anita say those mean things?” I asked, smoothing her hair out of her eyes.

She shook her head. “Yes.”

Luke moved, coming to kneel behind Rowen. His large palm laid against her back, touching her from shoulder to shoulder, where he then proceeded to question her like a suspect. A five year old suspect, but a suspect nonetheless.

I would’ve objected if she’d acted hurt or scared, but she was nothing but happy to answer every single one of Luke’s questions. As well as a few from the others as well.

In that half hour Luke spoke with her, I learned everything I ever needed to know about Anita and more.

For one, she liked sleeping with other men. TMI!

Two, she was only with ‘daddy’ because she got pregnant. Way too much TMI!

Three, she had a mouth like a trucker. Something that Weston had sworn to me that he wouldn’t do in front of Rowen. Obviously that same promise hadn’t extended to his wife.

Four, Anita and her father were loud at night. I hadn’t needed anymore explanation than that.

Fifty seven, Weston was in love with someone that wasn’t his wife.

That one hadn’t needed any explanation today, either.

Not when we’d just seen him sealed in a lip-lock with Lydia less than an hour before.

Sadly, only one thing kept working through my mind.

That woman better fuckin’ believe that I’d be talking to her the next time I saw her. And come Monday morning, I’d be filing for custody. Full custody, with no visitation.

That woman’s vileness wasn’t touching my baby anymore.Chapter 19Jingle all the way…’cause nobody likes a half assed jingler.

-Hallmark Card

Luke

“Daddy, you’re light’s bothering me,” Katy murmured, her small hand covering her eyes as she kept her eyes glued on the TV.

I sighed and put the phone down. I didn’t want to watch this. Not again. Although, it looked like I had no choice.

“My daddy won’t watch Princess Anna and Queen Elsa with me,” Rowen said as she laid her head down on my chest.

I kissed the top of her head. “I’ll watch it whenever you want, honey.”

She patted my chest and rubbed her nose on my t-shirt, much the same as her mother did nearly every time I had her in my arms.

I was watching the girls while Reese bought a few last minute Christmas presents before the holiday.

I’d learned over the last couple of weeks that Reese was a major procrastinator. As in, she saved all her shopping until today, the day before Christmas Eve.

She’d been gone for well over four hours now, and the girls had gotten restless. Which was why Downy and I were watching Frozen.

“I can’t believe you have me watching this,” Downy muttered darkly.

I chuckled. “It was the least I could do.”

He lifted his hand holding his beer, and tilted it at the screen. “That bitch’s gonna die.”

I turned my attention to the screen and frowned. “Why do you say that?”

He nodded his head at Princess Anna again. “In real life it’s the creeps that go after the girl and propose that fast. He wants something from her.”

I shook my head. “You’re so cynical.”

He leveled a glare at me. “I’ve earned the right to be.”

I didn’t dispute that. We were all cynical in our own ways, some more than most.

My phone rang from the coffee table beside me, and I answered with the sounds of Let It Go in the background. “Hello?”

“Roberts. I need you down at the station. Now. Bring Downy with you,” The Chief growled into my ear.

No hello, or fuck you. Only business.

“Why and for how long? I’ve got two kids with me,” I said, standing up and dislodging the two girls that were at my sides.