A Real Bad Boy(65)

"You." My father glared at Michael. "What the fuck? On what charge?"

"Thirteen counts of murder."

"You can't prove that," he said as he stood and struck out his hands.

"We don't need to prove thirteen. We only need to prove one. But thirteen is the number of bodies we got."

I swallowed hard. I'd put more than five times that into the ground in  the last ten years. I knew one day they'd be coming for me.

But today wasn't that day. I just stood there gape-mouthed. "Father,  what can I do?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes at Michael. I still had a  part to play in all of this. In the family. I would never blow my cover.

"You need to call the family lawyer, son. And take over my duties.  You've been trained. I'm sure this will all get cleared up soon." He  pushed the hands of the FBI officer away. "I will come willingly. You  don't need to touch me." His composure gained, he started walking down  the hall. Then he looked at Michael. "You will pay for this. Don't  fucking forget it."

"I look forward to it," Michael said in a sneer. He didn't even look at me. It was like I didn't exist in his mind.

But I relished the moment when my father was taken away, the moment I  had been fighting for my whole life. It may not be because of all of the  things he did to me, but it was still justice.

Now, we just had to make sure that we made it worth it. That we raised  our children in a better world than the one we were raised in ourselves.

All I needed now was my woman at my side and I knew everything was going to be all right.





Kathryn



"How do you feel?" Janson asked me. I'd been back in the condo for a  week and I still couldn't get enough of it. The fresh air, the view of  the night sky. It was so gorgeous. I loved this part of Baltimore.

I loved anywhere that I could be with him.

"It's beautiful tonight," I said as I looked up at him. I'd put some  rustic string lights up on the balcony and a few candles blazed in mason  jars. It was just the right touch.

"You are beautiful tonight," he said. We had dinner delivered and were  spending what was probably the last viable night outside before the  weather turned.

"So it's all over?" I asked as I looked up at the stars. I could see  Orion in the night, the sword blazing through a normally polluted  atmosphere. It was the perfect night for stargazing.

"No, not yet. It's just begun. They have to get lawyers, go through processing, get a trial date, and then we'll see."

"Bond?" I asked.

"I've been told it won't be offered under any circumstances." He grabbed  my hand and looked across the table at me. "But I don't want to talk  about that tonight."                       
       
           



       

"You don't?" I asked.

"No, I want to talk about the baby. What did the doctor say?" he asked. I  had another appointment today with a new doctor. The best one money  could buy, Janson claimed.

"Everything looks great. I'm four weeks along, and they even checked. There is a heartbeat, Janson. A heartbeat." I smiled.

"Will you let me go now?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I was just so scared. I didn't want it to be false and  then have to see your face like that. I wanted to be able to have time  to deal with it then tell you."

"I understand."

"We're going to have a baby," I said as I looked into his eyes. Nothing could be more perfect.

"We are," he said as he looked me over. "It's not going to be easy."

"Oh, I know. Joanna has informed me."

"How is she doing?" he asked.

"Well! She's been writing like a mad woman. I'm glad she's gotten back  into the field. Writing textbooks seems like it is exactly what she  needed. Greyson offered to provide care if she wanted to go back to  school, but that isn't what she wants. She wants to stay home with  Jessica and work on affordable textbooks for college kids."

"Sounds noble."

"I think she is going to be all right," I confirmed. "I think we are all going to be all right."

"We are going to be just fine." Janson stood and then got down on one  knee. I knew what was coming, but I couldn't help but gasp.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"We are going to be more than fine," he amended as he pulled a small box  out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal a ring. It was gorgeous.  Princess cut with sapphires to accent. Exactly what I'd always dreamed  about.

"Janson," I started, but he interrupted.

"Kat I've loved you from the first time I kissed you, I was just too  stubborn to admit it. But I know now that I'll always want you. I'll  always be there for you. But I want you to be my wife. Will you marry  me?" he asked.

"I will," I said. I held out my ring finger and bit my lip. I wanted this for us. For our family.

He would always be the one to me. No matter what. I was sure that with him next to me, everything was going to be all right.

"Great, now your brother can take the price tag off my head," he joked as he stood. "I love you, Kat."

"I love you, too." And I always would.





Epilogue



Kathryn



I stared at Janson as he walked through the door, a straight face his  mask against the world, but not with me. I could tell from the look in  his eyes that he was smiling.

"What happened?" I asked as I sat on the couch and looked up at him. I  was just beginning to show, four months had flown by, and I looked up at  him.

"It's not good for our fathers, I'm afraid. DNA evidence was found on  two of the thirteen and they linked it to them. The other bodies were  without, but the execution style and the markings they left all match up  with the two confirmed cases."

"How did they find these bodies?" I asked, curious. It was me, but I wanted to know what the federal prosecutors were saying.

"Anonymous tip. I think they think it was Michael, but that man was  never actually privy to that sort of information. He never rose that  high. Still, my dad is convinced that he was snooping around."

"He was," I said as I looked at him. We were relishing this. It was  sick, but it was so fucking deserved. They always said revenge was best  served cold. Cold hard prison was pretty damn just.

"He was," he confirmed. "But it doesn't look good for them."

"What does Greyson think?" I asked.

"He's got a similar story for our father. Who is so angry that they've  had to put him in solitary twice. Apparently your mother has refused to  visit him."

I kept down a twisted smile, trying not to show just how satisfied I was with that claim.

"Do they suspect anyone for turning them in?" I asked.

"They have ideas, but nothing that I am aware of." We were being  cautious. We promised never to admit the truth. Not even to ourselves.  It was too easy for someone, anyone, to overhear. "So far, it's Michael  and possibly Henry. They blame the Butcher for this."

"What happens next?" I asked.

"More of the same. Evidence gathering, waiting for trial, if it goes  that far. They might get a plea deal, but it won't be good. Probably  twenty to life with no death sentence," he explained. It sounded like a  fair deal to me, more than they actually deserved. We wanted them behind  bars, we wanted them away from us, but even in prison, they could run  the family.                       
       
           



       

"Will they take it?" I asked. I didn't want any more deaths on my hands, but these were two men that deserved whatever they got.

"I don't know, but I do know that my father looked me in the eyes today  and told me that I was in charge now. That it was my responsibility to  be Greyson's right hand man. I'm guessing that means they have resigned  to their fate." Janson still looked too somber to be happy, but I knew  the potential was there.

"Did you tell him about the baby?" I asked.

"I did," he confirmed. He sat down next to me and put his arm around me.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"That I better fucking make an honest woman of you before James has  someone murder me." He grinned. We both knew that he asked me weeks ago.  I just looked down at my ring and smiled. I loved this man.

"I don't think that's a bad idea," I said as I grinned up at him. I'd  wanted as far away from the family as possible once upon a time, but now  Janson was my family. I couldn't think of anything I wanted more than  to be with him for the rest of my life.

"Everything is going to work out. We have our whole lives ahead of us.  We can make this family, this organization, anything we want," he said  as he held me close. For him, that meant less murder, less corruption. A  real, viable business. "I'll be there with you through it all. The good  and the bad."