Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2)(49)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I didn’t understand until she climbed on the air-conditioning unit and looked in a window. I saw her waving and soon Asha was at the window. She was crying.

I stepped in front of Vessa I held out my hands. She ran away from the window and came back with a baby and Logan. I grabbed the baby and handed it to Vessa, while lifting her two out, one at a time. The screaming was getting louder and with someone’s baby, we couldn’t exactly drive away.

I pulled out my phone and called the police, then handed her the phone to give the address. We got the kids in the car, including the baby. She was asleep and oblivious to what was going on. When something came flying out the window, I reached for my gun, instinctively. Of course, it wasn’t there. It was laying on the floor in the pool table room. I had another gun locked away in the back of the truck, but there wasn’t time. The screaming was louder and we could hear thing being thrown. Vessa looked petrified. She ducked back in the car and checked on the kids.

I ran up to where the broken window was and put my cell phone down to record it. If that bastard wanted to screw me over, I was going to play my own.

When I saw Vessa coming toward the window, I yelled at her to get back in the truck. The screaming in the house stopped. All of the sudden the front door flew open. Gavin stood there looking at the both of us. He pointed at me. “What the f**k is he doing here?”

I’d been around enough people to know he was drunk or on something. His eyes could barely stay open. “What’s going on in there?” I asked. “Is everything alright?” I didn’t want him to know we had the kids.

He started laughing. “Are you for real? Get the f**k off my property, before I claim self defense again and shoot your ass.”

I almost wanted to smile because I was recording him, but I could tell that something else was going on. “Where are the kids?”

“Fuck you, cop. I’m not telling you shit. Get off my property.” He could barely stand up.

“Look, I didn’t come here to start trouble. Why don’t you calm down and tell us what’s going on. We only came to pick up the kids. Vessa’s aunt is in the hospital.” It wasn’t his business, but I needed to get in that house. Something wasn’t right.

Vessa just stood there looking at him with a shocked look on her face. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but it couldn’t be good. “Hey, get in the car, honey.”

Yeah, that was a dick move. I didn’t care. He needed to know that she was mine.

“You can just turn around and go home. The kids aren’t going anywhere with you. Ask your honey about our agreement.” He started laughing and waving his head around. “You can’t have her,” he sang.

I rolled my eyes, still waiting to hear the police sirens.

Gavin came down two of the three steps on the porch. He looked from me to Vessa and then back to me again. “You want a piece of me, man?”

It would have felt real good to beat his ass again. I shook my head. “Not here for that. Who’s in the house Gavin?”

“Nobody.”

I knew he was lying.

I could see someone moving around in the window. “Who’s in there?” I called into the window.

“Get away from my house, dude.” He took another step and was on the sidewalk.

The sirens were in the distance, but they weren’t close enough to help me with this situation. “Where is your girlfriend?”

“She’s sleeping.” He laughed again.

I looked at Vessa and she returned my concern. “Did you hurt her?” She asked.

He laughed and started walking back in the house. “That little bitch is fine.”

I waited for him to get in the house and I handed Vessa my truck keys. “Take them down the street and stay there until I come for you. No matter what, you promise me that you’ll stay here.”

She took the keys and nodded. “What are you going to do? He’s never acted like this before, I swear.” She followed me to the back of my truck. I grabbed the carpet and opened up the hidden panel where my gun and vest were. She pushed the small box out of my hands. “No! You can’t!”

I leaned my head in the truck. “Asha, I need you to tell me what is going on in the house, sweetie. Can you tell me what you saw?”

She looked at her mother and then back to me. “They were fighting. She gave me the baby and told us to hide. Some other people came and she never came back in the room again to get us. That’s when you came.”

“Good girl.” I pulled Vessa away from the truck. “You and I both know he has a handgun. Get the kids out of here. The police will be here any second. There could be someone in trouble inside. This is what I’m trained to do. I won’t hurt anyone if I don’t have to.”

She was crying again. I put my vest on and put my gun behind my back. Vessa climbed into the truck and started it. She leaned out the window and let me kiss her. “Please be careful.”

“Go.”

I imagined Gavin coming out with his gun firing. That’s how a cop movie would play out. Instead, it was much like every other domestic situation I dealt with. Until we talked to everyone involved, we had to be prepared for the worst. Whatever came out of the house, I didn’t want Vessa or the kids around it.

I put my back up against the house and listened for movement.

I could hear him yelling. “What do you mean the kids are gone? Well, look again. They didn’t just run away with a baby.”

A couple minutes passed. “Gavin they aren’t in there. We need to get out of here. You know they called the cops. They can’t arrest you for anything if we leave.” It was a female’s voice.

“I can’t leave without my kids. Find them!” I heard screaming again. “Tell me where they are? You sent her here didn’t you? I knew you’d f**k this up for me. I never should have f**ked you!”

The girl continued to cry.

More muffled sounds were close to the window. I ducked to the side, just in time for him to peek his head out. Without my badge, I could put myself in harms way. I saw them pulling in and around to the side of the house. I waved down the officers and they came over to meet me.

“My name is Ramsey Towers. I’m a sheriff in West Virginia. Look me and my girlfriend showed up to pick up her kids this morning. They were hiding in a room, with a baby. We managed to get them out of a window, but…”

“Wait. Are you dating Vessa?”

I shook my head. “Yeah.”