Guns 'N' Tulips

Chapter Four

The perfect end to the perfect fucking day.

Connor lay face down in the dirty slush covering the sidewalk. He looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of Lily, but all he saw were boots. Boots that were approaching his face, his ribs, his legs. Oh Jesus.

“Stand back,” a familiar voice shouted. Connor clenched his teeth, biting back a groan when he spotted Paul weaving through the crowd of officers. He could only imagine the razzing Paul had taken when Connor had been jailed on bribery charges. They’d been partners, best friends, and it must have felt like being slapped in the face. No. It would have felt like being stabbed in the back.

“Well, well. If it isn’t Connor ‘Conman’ Kavanagh,” Paul said, contempt coating each word. Connor grunted when a well-placed knee sank into the middle of his back. Paul grabbed one of his arms, angling it sharply behind him and snapped a cuff around his wrist so tightly it dug into his skin. Okay, Paul was pissed. He got it. His former partner made short work of cuffing Connor’s other wrist, then dragged him to his knees using only the cuff chain. It was a wonder his arms weren’t pulled out of their sockets.

“Take it easy, Paul. I’m not going anywhere.”

“News flash, asshole. You’re going to prison. No getting off on a technicality this time.”

Everyone laughed and jeered. Connor didn’t recognize all of them, but it was obvious from the angry faces of his old unit that none of them knew about his mission. He had to keep it cool if he didn’t want his teeth kicked in. Or his head blown off.

Tugging on Connor’s elbows, Paul pulled him to his feet. “You know what they do to cops in prison?” Paul asked, his mouth pressed to Connor’s ear. “Remember Benny? He’s waiting for you. Needs a new bitch.”

Shit. Just the thought of Benny Pumoni, the mobster henchman Connor had collared last year, touching him anywhere below the belt made Connor want to puke. But he wouldn’t give Paul the satisfaction of seeing the horror he felt. Instead, he asked the question he most wanted answered. “Where’s Lily? Is she okay?”

Paul jerked him around, anger contorting his face. “Like you care? If you wanted to protect her, why did you bring your new friends to rob her bank? She’s the fucking loan manager. Did you want her dead?”

“Of course not, I had no idea she’d be here.” The thought of what could have happened to Lily left him cold. He needed to see her, needed to know she was all right. Oh God, the baby. What if all this stress hurt the baby?

The crowd of officers surrounding them parted like the Red Sea, revealing not Moses, but Captain Morris. Hallelujah. After a moment, Morris nodded to Paul. “Uncuff him, Officer Thorten.”

“But, sir, he’s one of the Bandits.”

“Now.”

Paul undid the cuffs and shoved him forward. Captain Morris shot Paul a narrowed glare, then turned to include the rest of the officers. That’s when Connor realized many of them still had their guns trained on him. He looked around, studying the faces of his closest friends—masks of disgust and disapproval. Everyone seemed to be waiting for him to make a wrong move.

“Put away your weapons,” Captain Morris barked, reaching into his pocket. When he pulled his hand out, something glinted in his palm. It was the right size and shape. Every molecule of air in Connor’s lungs seized. Was that his badge? His heart pounded and his vision tunneled as he eyed the shiny metal. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he’d handed his badge over to the captain as part of the cloud of lies and innuendo that made up his cover. His gaze rose to Morris’s face, almost not daring to hope.