Page 51 of Freeing Hawk
“Yes, I do.” I exhaled. “I really, really do.”
The fear in Castel’s eyes was hard to miss. He glanced over at Dude then back at me.
“I want you to know this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you.” I began, softly. “What you’re capable of, what you’ve done. As this bullet tears through you, I want your last thoughts to be of the people you’ve hurt, the people your drugs have hurt. Think of the children, the women, the men—think of the mothers, the fathers, the sons and daughters. I want you to remember every face of every woman you’ve put into the life, the ones you preyed on because they were too poor or too stupid to know better—to do better.”
“Forgive me?”
“No.” I shook my head. “You won’t get that from me. Ask God to.”
Standing, I aimed for his head and fired.
Dude and I left his body there and we exited the building to find Angel with Keegan and Cadmus. We cleared the area and headed back toward El Hogar. Though no one spoke or asked me any questions, Angel lifted the back of my hand to his lips and kissed it. I kissed his lips then crawled across the space to frame Kingston’s face.
“I’m so mad at you.” I told him.
“I know.” He replied.
“Like so mad!”
“I know.” He repeated himself. “But this was a fight I thought I had to fight on my own. It’s going to cost me my badge and I didn’t want that for you.”
“You think I care if I lose my badge over this?” I snapped. “You’re not only my partner—you’re my friend. You’ve had my back when everyone else in that precinct wanted me out. You stood up for me, made sure I had everything I needed, and you think you have the right to do something like this alone? How dare you!”
“Hawk.” Romeo called to her.
“No.” I shook my head. “You don’t be this good to those around you then expect them to sit back and watch as you get hurt—or worse. Do you know how scared Mia is? Do you know how worried she’s been? Have you thought of what that does to her and the baby?”
“Hawk.” Kingston touched my cheek. “I know you love me. And I know you’d have had my back. But I didn’t want you to lose your livelihood because of this. They’re going to give you a new partner—and you’re going to complain and fight. But you’ll get used to it.”
“I have a new partner.” I looked over to where Angel was sitting. “And I don’t need a badge to be with him.”
“And if they take your badge, Romeo and I can help you with a job.” Angel spoke up. “You’ll have to move to California. But the money is good.”
Kingston smiled and touched my cheek. “I’m sorry. But something was wrong. I didn’t know what it was until it was too late and by then, I was in too deep to reach out.”’
“Don’t do it again.” I told him. “Ever. Got it?”
Kingston nodded while smiling.
I hugged him, tightly. He grunted in pain.
“You should have thought about that before you did this mess on your own.” I told him. But I released him.
Cadmus carried us back to El Hogar and got a doctor to look Kingston over. He was battered and bruised. A couple of his ribs were bruised but not broken. After some pain medication and some food, we found a somewhat comfortable place for him to sleep it off. While the others decompressed, I walked over to where Keegan sat, legs brought up to his face and his arms wrapped around them.
I handed him a bottle of juice and sat beside him. “Hi Keegan,” I said. “I haven’t had a chance to introduce myself. My name is Sasha. I’m a cop from Oklahoma.”
He didn’t look up. “Can I ask you something?” He wanted to know. “And I know I’m just a kid, but I want you to tell me the truth.”
“If I can.”
“Did my father really refuse to send them money to save me?”
“Well, it’s a little complicated.” How do I tell a child his father would rather him dead than try saving his life? “Even if your father had paid the money there’s on guarantees it would have saved you.”
“That’s not answering my question.” He looked up, his brown eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry, Keegan.” My voice cracked. “But—it is true.”
