Page 46 of Not Part of the Plan
Beckett joined them in the kitchen and pulled a baby bottle from the fridge. “It was my idea to fuck with Carter over it,” he said proudly.
“So this is what having brothers is like?” Niko asked.
“Pretty much,” Jax grinned, handing him a cold beer.
It actually made Niko a little sad to be an only child.
They got back to the game with Carter still glowering at Beckett. Aurora had lost interest in cards and was under the table painting Valentina and Meatball’s toenails with sparkle polish.
Niko spotted headlights from the driveway.
“Is that Cardona?” Beckett asked, making a show of stroking his beard when Carter looked up.
Franklin poked his head out of the window and frowned. “No. It’s… Fitz? But he’s going into the barn, and he’s dressed like a cop?”
The table emptied as the men crowded around the window.
“What the hell is Fitz doing dressed up like a cop—” Beckett began.
“Emma did mention they hired ‘entertainment’ for Phoebe,” Niko said.
“There is no fucking way on the face of this earth that they purposely hired Fitz to strip for them,” Jax said, staring in fascination as Fitz pulled a patrolman’s hat down lower on his head.
“Wait. Someone paid Fitz money to take his clothes off?” Evan asked, looking more than a little confused.
“There’s no way,” Carter shook his head.
“Do those pants have snaps down the leg?” Franklin asked, squinting.
They all watched as Fitz knocked on the side door of the barn and walked in.
“Oh, this is going to be amazing,” Beckett predicted.
“I’ll get the baby monitor,” Carter said.
“I’ll get the beer,” Niko volunteered.
They piled out of the house and grabbed chairs off of both porches and set up in the driveway. It took about four seconds for the screams and shrieks to start.
“My eyes!”
“Put it back on!”
“Why would you do that?”
The men were in tears as the police cruiser eased down the driveway. A tired-looking Donovan Cardona got out of the car. “What the hell’s going on in there?”
“Get out!” Someone shrieked from inside the barn.
“Hey, Cardona, isn’t it illegal to impersonate a cop?” Jax asked.
Another set of screams erupted from inside.
The sheriff sighed and settled his hat on his head and stomped toward the door. He knocked, but no one inside could hear him over the chaos. He shoved the door open and went inside.
“For the love of God! Put your pants back on,” Cardona shouted from inside the barn.
Franklin cracked open a new beer as the brothers gasped for breath.
