JUDE: Book 2 The Justice Brothers Series (29 page)

Marion took a hearty swallow of her Maker’s Mark and glared at Sky. “Charlotte’s right. God, what is it about you that men are drawn to? Even that hunk, Jude Justice. You were screwing him, weren’t you? Is he as good as all the women say he is?” She sniffed. “The question is, what could he possibly see in you?”

“Why did you kill Charlie?”

Sky was gratified at the surprised glances the sisters exchanged.

Marion shook her head. “You actually figured that out? Hmm, that explains why Jude kept you around. You really might be a psychic or something, instead of just a freak. As for Charlie, he knew too much. He was threatening to blackmail us.”

***

Jude saw the glint of Jake’s and Jared’s weapons, signaling that they were in position. They had to be to take out each of the shooters. His shot was the most critical. He had Charlotte in his sights. Unlike her sisters, who’d been so consumed by their hideous tale that they’d let their guard down, Charlotte’s Glock was still pressed against the base of Sky’s neck. He knew Sky had seen him. Her demeanor had changed ever so slightly. He had to believe that she understood her task. As if to confirm, she planted her feet firmly on the floor, shoulder-width apart, and twisted her head as if she were stiff.

Jude expelled the air in his lungs and shouted one word, “Sky!”

His pinpoint shot hit Charlotte between the eyes. The bullet from her Glock exploded in the wall beside him. Marion and Alicia’s screams confirmed that Jared and Jake had hit their targets.

Skylar had crashed her chair to the floor. He was at her side in seconds. Kicking Charlotte’s body out of the way, he had Sky untied and in his arms before he allowed himself to take another breath.

Chapter 32

Jude didn’t know when he’d be able to tamp down the adrenaline that had consumed his body. In the flurry of swarming men and frantic activity, he barked out a series of commands and captured Sky against his chest. In minutes, Marion and Alicia were in cuffs, screaming to be released. The medics arrived and tended to Marion and Alicia’s gunshot wounds, then loaded Charlotte’s body onto a gurney. Jared took over the crime scene, shouting orders to the arriving CSI team.

Carrying Skylar in his arms, Jude moved into the front room away from the crowd with Jake at his heels. He stood Sky on the floor, ignoring her insistence that she wasn’t hurt. Running his hands over every inch of her body, Jude finally acknowledged that the only bruises he could find were the ones on her wrists and cheek from where she’d hit the floor.

He picked her up and barked to his brother. “Get the squad car, Jake. Pull up to the back entrance. I want to get her to the precinct before the press arrives. You know they’ll be here any minute.”

Jude didn’t speak to her until they were in the squad peeling away from the mansion. He was holding her so tightly against his chest he wasn’t sure she could breathe. He didn’t care. His arms had a mind of their own and they weren’t about to let her go. As they pulled up to the station he murmured, “You do know, Squirt, that as soon as I get you alone I’m gonna spank your ass so hard you won’t sit down for a week.”

At her slight sob, he was fierce. “Answer me, baby.”

She smiled at him through her tears. “Yes, Jude, I know that.”

***

“God, Jude, they’re literally storming the ramparts. And Christ, man, they know about Sky. I promise you, buddy, I’ll find out who told them.”

Jude raised his hands. “It’s okay, bro, they’d find out soon enough. Is Jake there?”

At Jared’s nod Jude groaned. “Ðamn, I can’t leave him out there by himself.”

Sky spoke up. “I’m going with you.”

Jude turned to her and shook his head. His jaw was rigid. “No, darlin’, you are not.”

“Jude, they know I was there. I need to show them that I’m fine, that we have it under control. That it’s over.”

“They have pictures of her, bro. She’s breaking news on every channel.”

At Jude’s angry growl and Sky’s gasp, Jared grimaced. “Sky, I’m damned sorry, but the headline is that Morton J. Hughes’s daughter had been captured and is now free.”

“Those goddamned motherfucking vultures! I swear to God…” Jude’s face was dark with rage.

Skylar reached for his hand and appealed to him. “Please Jude. Don’t shut me out of this. If I’m not there, my father will believe I was afraid to be associated with something as ‘smarmy’ as a murder. Which is how he described my ‘ill-gotten’ avocation.”

Trying to hide the anger he was sure coated his reply, Jude persisted, “In other words, by making you a spectacle, we’re proving something to your father?”

Sky’s chin shot up. “No, Jude, we are proving that I’m one of the professionals who solved the crime, and that we’re here to answer the media’s questions. Besides, if I could stand up to the Parker women, don’t you think I can handle some wussy reporters?”

“Damn, baby. You know that’s not what I meant. Christ, Skylar, you look pale as a ghost and we’re both still shaking.”

“All the more reason for us to go out there together. I can lean on you.”

Jude conceded with a groan. “Fine, I know when I’m beat. Of course you belong out there, Skylar. One correction, as for standing up to the murdering Parker witches, the last time I saw you standing up to them you were tied to chair with three fucking guns pointed at your head.”

“But I was calm, Jude. I knew you would come for me.”

“Damn straight. How else could I be sure I’d be able to beat the hell out of you?”

She tossed him a saucy smile as she straightened her clothes. “Just a minute, I need to put my contacts in.”

“You gotta look beautiful for the national press?” Surprised at his jealous reaction, Jude tried to make a joke, but it fell flat. “You like the idea of all those rabid reporters lusting after my woman?”

Skylar ignored Jude and winked at Jake. “Do you think I’m going out there with two of the hottest men alive, and stand quietly watching every fluffy reporter-babe lusting after you two?”

Jude snorted. “So you’re gonna prance out there and give the guys some eye candy to feast on?”

Skylar mussed her hair, adding to its sexy disarray. She tossed her head and smiled at Jude as she sauntered to the door. “Damn straight, Detective.”

***

“Hear! Hear!”

Jude pulled Skylar next to him and raised his glass. Turning to the throng of officers and personnel crowding the door, Jude waved them in. Pointing to the bottles of Maker’s Mark lining the conference table alongside a row of glasses, he shouted, “C’mon in, everyone! We have some serious celebrating to do. And every person in this precinct deserves to celebrate.”

After the cheers had settled and glasses were refilled, Jude eyed the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen, every damn one of you is responsible for helping to solve the biggest and most vicious crime this out-of-the-way hamlet of ours has ever faced.”

He raised his glass to his team and singled them out by name, then nodded to Jake and Jared with a grin. “Of course, my brothers had a thing or two to do with our success.”

He waited until the rowdy cheers had died down, then tugged Skylar closer to him, his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

His voice dropped and he swallowed hard to circumvent the lump in his throat. “When Commander Justice and I were getting ready to meet with that horde of buzz-saw media whores, I was furious to learn that someone had told the press that Skylar—Ms. Hughes, had been captured by the murderers. Of course, they were champing at the bit to see her and question her. Being the chauvinistic, insufferable asshole that I am—”

Shouts of “Right on, Jude!”, “You said it, Detective!” and other slams rang out.

Jude joined in the laughter. “To repeat, being the chauvinistic insufferable asshole that I am, I would not permit ‘Squirt’, as I call her, to face that rabid crowd. I knew how vicious they could be. Fortunately, Ms. Hughes persisted, and within the space of two questions she had captured the hearts of press the way she has captured all of ours.”

Jude tugged her closer and tipped up her chin to meet her luminous eyes. “As you’ll see when you watch the news coverage for the next several days, in a word, folks, Skylar was brilliant. She was articulate, professional, and, yeah, fucking brilliant.”

Jared interrupted from the sidelines. “Not to take anything away from the single smartest woman it’s been my privilege to know, who was cogent, confident, and
brilliant, but you weren’t exactly a slouch, bro. Between you and Skylar, you solved an almost unsolvable crime. As for the press conference, the two of you brought down the house.”

Jude acknowledged the appreciative cheers and nodded to his brother. “Thanks, Jared, I don’t have to tell you how much it means to me to have you and Jake as partners and brothers.”

Jude was surprised that his lips were trembling and his eyes felt misty. He pulled Skylar closer. “Back to this Squirt for a moment. I’ve never met a cop or an intelligence analyst with Skylar’s analytical skills. And for God’s sake, she doesn’t even take notes. No, she just stares at the pieces long enough to let her computer-brain sort them into a coherent whole before calmly going to the heart of the question and announcing the answer.”

The crowd hooted in appreciation and raised their glasses, many of them shouting, “To Sky!”

Jude raised his glass in response and waited until he was sure his voice was steady.

“I’ve called the Squirt, I mean, Skylar, a lot of names—most of them unflattering. Like the chauvinistic, insufferable asshole that we all agree I am, I was trying to keep from admitting that in addition to being the single smartest person I’ve known, this young woman is also the most attractive. Yeah, she’s physically gorgeous, but I had trouble admitting that she’d gotten to me in a way and in a place that no woman ever has. Put it this way, I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to convince her that hooking up with an arrogant, overbearing son of a bitch like me will be a hell of a ride!”

Bernice was finally able to be heard over the din of cheers and applause that rang out in response to Jude’s surprising declaration. “Sorry, Detective Justice, but Mayor Jensen is insisting that you and Commander Justice come immediately to City Hall. Apparently, unlike Ms. Hughes, the mayor is terrified of facing the press, afraid he’ll say something wrong.”

Jude shrugged, “Well, hell, Bernice, given his penchant for sticking his foot in his ear, you coulda told him that’s a sure thing. But yes, Jake and I will be right over to make sure that our beloved mayor doesn’t inadvertently un-solve the crime.”

Holding Skylar next to him, Jude signaled for Jared to join them. In an undertone he said, “See that she gets something to drink besides whiskey, and some fruit or some damn thing to eat. Hell, see if you can find her a couple of doughnuts. Give her anything she wants.”

Sky looked up at him and shook her head. “
She
isn’t hungry, Detective, although if
she
was, and there were maple-frosted doughnuts…”

Jude laughed along with his brother but didn’t try to mask his concern. “God, Sky, you gotta be riding on adrenaline. I don’t think you know how pale you are. Give me a few minutes to talk Mayor Jensen off the ledge and I’ll be back to get you.”

Sky shook her head. “I won’t lie, Jude. I admit…it’s beginning to hit me. I’m exhausted…”

Jude pulled her next to him and pressed her cheek against his chest, cuddling her in his strong arms. “I know you are, baby. Hang on a bit longer. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He nodded to Jared over Skylar’s head. “Take care of her, bro, until I get back. And for God’s sake, make sure she eats and drinks something.”

***

An hour later, Jude returned, frantic to see Skylar and to make sure she was all right. Damn, he was still strung out and could only imagine how she felt. To his surprise, Jared, Solly and Mac were sitting at the conference table finishing off the last of the Maker’s Mark.

Jude frowned at his brother. “Where is she, Jared? Please tell me she’s in her office resting.”

Jared shrugged and sighed. “You’re not going to like this, Jude, but Sky insisted that she wanted to go home. Said that she needed to get into her own bed. She’s completely wiped, Jude.”

Jude could barely contain his anger. “Do you think I don’t know that, Jared? But goddammit, man, I need to be with her. I gotta make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s as okay as she can be after what she’s been through.” Jared was firm. “Listen, Jude. Skylar insisted that Hailey take her home. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

He held up his hand when Jude started to interrupt. “Hear me out, man. Hailey said Sky fell asleep in the car. The adrenaline crash took her down. Hailey barely got her into their apartment before Skylar was asleep again. She needs to rest, bro.”

Jude tried to diagnose the anger he was feeling. He knew at some level that Jared was right. He’d been gone for over an hour and of course, Skylar was fucking fried. But goddammit, he’d told her to wait for him.

He surprised himself when he spit out the truth of what he was feeling. “You don’t get it, bro. I told her to do something and once again she did the exact opposite. Christ, Jared, how the hell can I be with someone who is so…irresponsible, who won’t listen, who doesn’t understand how dangerous this world is?”

Jared spoke up. “Someone who doesn’t jump when you tell her to? Who insists that she can take care of herself, even when you’re sure that she can’t? Who’s liable to go off on some dangerous tangent when she’s too absorbed in her thinking to know how risky it is?” Jared faced him. “Those some of the things that got your tail in a knot, bro?”

When Jude glared at him, Jared’s lips quirked up in a grin. He shook his head and drawled, “Welcome to the world of being in love with a headstrong, indomitable woman.” He added, “Seems like you’ve got your work cut out for you, brother of mine.”

Chapter 33

Jude punched on the hands-free phone button on the dashboard of his Z and barked, “What’s up, Jared? And don’t bother to lecture me. I know it’s early, but I’m on my way to get Sky if I have to drag her of bed.”

“You’re too late, bro. Sky’s been up for hours and she isn’t home.”