Cowboys & Angels

Twenty Two

Fighting 'til the end when it's getting rough
Bringing all you got and never giving up
Guess they never knew that you were made for this
You're dangerous

Dangerous x Jesse McCartney

Beckham

That fucking voice.

"Aren't you supposed to be rotting in a cell somewhere, Karrie?" I ask, my eyes rolling unintentionally.

"Contrary to your efforts, it pays to have connections. My how the tables have turned," she smirks at me.

"I would ask how, but I guess it really is almost impossible to kill a cockroach. Where's your philandering husband?"

Karrie scoffs, "Like I could give a shit. We had a mutually beneficial agreement, I let him whore himself around and I got to be the trophy wife I'd always dreamed of. It worked out fantastically until you and your gang of morons rolled in."

I don't try to stifle the giggle that escapes me and Karrie snarls at me. "What?"

"And you would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for us meddling kids! Just missing the Mystery Machine and sweet dog," I grin wryly.

"Oh I forgot you were a fucking comedian!" She snarks before the back of her hand lands across my face. "Listen up, you little bitch. You took everything from me, now I'm gonna take everything from you. Everything is right there at your fingertips, and I'm going to revel in snatching it right away."

The impact of her hand snapped my head to the side, but her comment hit harder. My arms instinctively move to protect my belly and that's when I realized they're knotted behind my back. Shit.

Karrie leans back onto the table in front of me, much like she did back at the hotel so many months ago, and a wicked smile crosses her face.

"For as smart as you think you are, you're really stupid. So blinded by your own selfishness, you completely missed what's been in front of you the whole time. You see, I dropped little hints here and there, thinking you or your stupidly hot fake husband would pick up on them. You were so focused on keeping me away from him, that you completely overlooked it."

She pauses and tilts her head, as if she's laid her entire plan out in front of me and I'm still not getting it. I scrunch my eyebrows in thought, trying to focus and think back to what she's referring to, but she spewed so much bullshit in conversation that I pretty much never listened to what she had to say. She tsks in fake disappointment before she continues.

"Aw, I guess I'll have to spell it out for you, honey. Oh baby brother, why don't you go ahead and make your presence known?"

The sound of the floorboards creaking behind me has me turning, or at least trying to turn, my attention to where the sound came from. Heavy footfalls stalk closer at an unhurried pace before a broad figure appears in my peripheral vision. My eyes snap up to scan his face and my jaw drops.

"Carter?! What the fuck!" I exclaim. My back decides to spasm in pain at that moment and I fight the wave of nausea that brings with it.

Suddenly, snippets of Karrie's nasally voice flash through my mind.

"Oh yeah, my older brother Carter would so be your type!"

"My brother is a cop in a big city out of state."

"Carter is my fiercest protector."

Mother.

Fucking.

Shit.

"Ahhh, there it is! The realization that I've known exactly who you were this whole time, and that I've always been at least 5 steps ahead of you. I knew all about you before you even moved here, Carter just couldn't stop talking about you. You clearly didn't measure up to the image he painted of you."

"Wait a second. Carter, you never even told me you had a sister. You told me you grew up shitty and that made you wanna be a cop. To help fix what's broken in the world," I turn to him, clearly taken aback by the new information. "Was everything a lie, then?"

I'm annoyed by the fact that it stings a little that I was clearly lied to. Could also be the fact that I missed all of this shit, or that I'm fucking starving. Who knows at this point? The only thing I'm clear on is that I'm pissed, uncomfortable, more than a little dizzy, and need a damn nap.

Carter's gaze lands on me and he sends a withering look my way.

"What, like you told the truth the whole time? Always swearing up and down that there was nothing going on with that perfect little pretty boy, that you weren't ready to settle down, that you didn't want to put your career aside? I never lied, I did grow up in a hellhole and I do want to fix what's broken. I didn't mention Karrie because of what she was involved in, and we could never be traced to each other because we're half siblings that didn't know the other existed until our 20s. Karrie's mom was the one my dad cheated on my mom with, she had the silver spoon because my dad paid her mom hush money and left me to fend for myself in poverty when my mom died. I never said we had the same concept of what was and wasn't broken, what needed fixing."

I feel the blood drain from my face once the realization washes over me.

He was in on it. He knew the whole time.

"I was mad, but understanding, when you said you were 'deploying.' I was ready to wait for you to get back and we could make it permanent. Imagine my surprise when my sister sends me a picture of you and Seresin all cuddled up and loving on each other, wondering why my girl was all over another man. Even still, I thought we had a chance. I told myself it was just a cover, that you wouldn't lie to me like that. Did you ever stop to think about why you were separated from everyone else that night, why you were with Karrie when she had the place rigged to blow? I protected you, wanted you safe so we wouldn't lose the opportunity to finally make it work. I was ready to swoop in and save you, be the hero you desperately needed and bring in the criminals you couldn't catch. I'd be the shoulder to cry on over the loss of your team. But no! You had to go and ruin it all by having another man's baby and marrying him for real!"

He slams his hand down on the table Karrie is sitting on, the sudden outburst startling me and making me jump in my seat.

"It's ok though, I'll love your baby like she's actually mine once that sorry excuse of a man is finally out of my way. We can be happy, Becks. I can give you such a good life, love you the way you need to be loved. You can be by my side as I take over. What do you say, love? Want to be my Dark Queen?"

Carter's hand traces down my face and I have to resist the urge to bite his finger off. I'm hit with another back spasm, this one stronger than the last.

Oh fuck.

That's when I realize I'm sitting in a puddle.

One that is not made of water. Or sweat. Hell, I'd even take sitting in my own pee at this point.

But, nope.

That would be amniotic fluid.

My water just broke.