Meow Or Never: BBW SEAL Shifter Surprise Pregnancy Romance (Chicago Catastrophe) (16 page)

H
ailey slept
in until way after noon, blissfully snuggled into Troy’s chest. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks, so when she woke up refreshed, it felt a little odd at first.

This is how every day should start,
she thought, stretching against Troy’s warm body.

His eyes fluttered open and fixed on her with a smile dancing on his lips.

“Hey,” he said, gently brushing the hair out of her face.

Hailey pressed her cheek against his chest with a deep sigh, listening to the deep, resounding thuds of his heart.

“Hey,” she murmured against his skin, listening to the steady thumping coming from within.

“Are you ready to put this all behind you?”

“Yes. I feel bad for whoever gets in our way,” she replied, earning a chuckle from Troy.

“Damn right.”

Troy leaned in for a kiss, but the mood was quickly ruined by curses and clatters from the kitchen. Hailey fell back onto her pillow with a groan.

Perfect.

“Rogers must be awake,” she said with a sigh.

“I don’t know what he could be cooking out there, I’m pretty sure he already cleaned the fridge out last night.”

“I don’t think even he could eat through all the stuff The Firm has left here with one night. He’s a big guy, but not
that
big.”

Hailey laughed through a yawn and rolled over to her back, rubbing her eyes.

“Do you think it’s time we fill him in on the plan?” she asked.

Troy leaned on his elbow and glanced at the bedroom door.

“I guess now is as good a time as any,” he answered, not sounding particularly sure if it was the right thing to do.

“You don’t trust him?” she inquired, sitting up.

“I trust he’ll do what’s best for his survival. As long as our plans align with him keeping his life, we should be good. But I still wouldn’t turn my back on him.”

“Right.”

Hailey reluctantly got out of bed and dressed, her hand lingering on her stomach as she did.

This is the life I want,
she thought, glancing over at Troy, also putting on clothes.
A life of waking up next to him, except there would be no life and death situations on the horizon. And no criminals in the kitchen.

She could already picture her and Troy and their little bundle of joy, a happy family. Lazy Sunday mornings and going to the park, running on the beach with sand between her toes. A white picket fence and all that.

But she still had a fight ahead to make those dreams a reality.

Nothing good ever came easy.

They stepped out into the living room together, where Rogers was busy chowing down on what looked like a sandwich topped entirely with canned meat and condiments.

Now that’s seriously gross.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted them around mouthfuls. “What’s on the agenda today?”

Hailey hoped the man would be on board with their more or less crazy idea, since she was less than thrilled about leaving him here unsupervised if he wasn’t. Though he seemed like a nice man overall, she knew he was still a contract killer for the mob, no matter how much he talked about his son.

She snuck one look at Troy. Maybe she was judging Rogers too harshly? After all, Troy wasn’t the most innocent man around either…

Troy draped an arm over her shoulder and stared at the man.

“We’re going to break into the district attorney’s house.”

Hailey’s eyes were glued to Rogers’ face as he waited for his reaction. The man only arched a single brow before taking another bite of his breakfast sandwich.

“Okay,” he shrugged.

* * *

T
hey waited
until nightfall before piling into Troy’s truck and heading to the suburbs, where D.A. Marie Solomon lived with her husband of ten years.

Hailey had met Marie at some fundraiser or another a couple of years back, and had run into her at the courthouse a couple of times after that, but she didn’t really know the woman. She knew
of
the woman, though.

Everybody did.

Marie was known for her ruthlessness and relentless drive, and doing whatever it took to build her case. Hailey wasn’t thrilled about the fact they were about to invade her privacy and probably scare the woman half to death, but if she ever wanted to feel safe again, she had to come to terms with it.

Besides, from what she had heard, Marie Solomon wasn’t one to be easily frightened.

Troy pulled up near the Solomon home and cut the engine. The windows of the two-story house were dark. The whole neighborhood seemed to be slumbering peacefully, if the quiet was anything to go by.

Troy got out a little black box with antennas shooting out of it. Hailey knew it had to be a signal jammer, as he had explained its function to her before they left the safehouse. Rogers was excitedly bouncing up and down in the backseat, way too comfortable with breaking and entering for her tastes.

“Finally, some
action
,” he muttered, eyes gleaming.

Troy went over the game plan one last time. The professional side of him was out in full as he made sure everyone knew their part.

So this is what it’s like to be on a mission with him. It’s kind of sexy, listening to him give out orders, all authoritative and confident.

“We make our way to the back door, fast and quiet. I pick the lock, you guys stand guard. Hopefully their alarm system is wireless and this thing will stop the cops being on us before we get Solomon to hear us out,” he said, turning the jammer over in his hands.

Fear bubbled up in Hailey’s throat.

Hopefully?

“Wait a minute, are you saying your little gadget might not work?”

“It’ll work. Just be ready to run if it doesn’t,” Troy replied, unconcerned.

How very comforting.

Hailey took a deep breath and nodded at Troy, indicating she was ready to go.

“Okay, let’s do this,” he said, and they piled out of the car, careful to close the doors as quietly as possible.

They made their way to the back door, footsteps soft and measured on the Solomon’s well-kept lawn. Hailey kept her eyes open for nosy neighbors, even though she knew Troy or Rogers would be able to spot any onlookers way before she ever could.

Rogers was surprisingly graceful during the whole thing, taking his large frame into consideration, but then again, he was a tiger after all.

Troy placed the jammer on the doorstep and got out his lock picks. It only took him a minute of fidgeting around with the keyhole until the door popped open and they all tiptoed inside. Hailey sighed in relief as everything remained silent.

At least the alarm didn’t go off. That’s a good start.

There were no lights on, which didn’t seem to bother Troy or Rogers any, but made Hailey afraid she was going to bump into something and ruin the whole enterprise. Luckily, Troy reached out a hand, so she could follow along in his footsteps.

The trio made their way upstairs, slowly and cautiously. A soft snoring led them to the correct door, which Troy opened with the utmost care. They didn’t want to give Marie or her husband a chance to scream and wake the neighbors.

Rogers made his way to the husband’s side of the bed while Hailey followed Troy to Marie’s side. They were both fast asleep, features relaxed and chests heaving up and down. Hailey almost felt bad for waking them, before she remembered her life was on the line. And the one of her unborn child. And Troy’s.

They’ll get over it
.

Troy and Rogers shared a look before both clamping a large hand over their victims’ mouth. Marie’s eyes flew open immediately, alarm spreading across her face when she realized what was going on.

Her husband, a thin, lanky man with bushy eyebrows, took a bit longer to wake up, as he shook his head and mumbled against Rogers’ hand. But he shot up as soon as his eyes opened enough to see Rogers standing over him.

Pushing the man back down, Rogers gave Mr. Solomon a warning growl, stilling him almost immediately.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Hailey whispered urgently, looking from Marie to her husband.

Marie’s eyes narrowed as she looked at her, probably trying to place where she’d seen her before. She didn’t seem particularly convinced by Hailey’s words. The D.A. was taking this far better than her husband was, though, unflappable even in a dire circumstance. She was impressive, to say the least.

“Don’t scream and we won’t hurt you,” Troy amended, an edge to his voice.

He looked downright scary, a sharp coldness in his voice she hadn’t heard before and his eyes burning with something dangerous and barely-contained. Hailey felt uneasy, seeing this side of him, but she understood why the threatening demeanor was necessary. They needed to get control over the situation before they could have a calm discussion with Marie.

She could easily see why The Firm trusted him with missions as difficult as infiltrating the Claws, now. He was not only physically capable, but deadly sharp and dangerous to boot when he switched into work-mode.

And damn sexy, too,
her treacherous mind rushed to add.

“Be quiet or my friend will snap your wife’s neck,” Rogers warned before removing his hand from the husband’s mouth.

That was taking it a bit too far, but since this was Hailey’s first misdemeanor, she decided to keep her mouth shut and let the professional take the lead.

Rogers got out some rope from the pack on his belt and tied the man’s hands to the bedpost. With her hands trembling, Hailey got out the duct tape from the pocket of her black sweatshirt and ripped off a piece, handing it to Rogers. He placed it over the husband’s mouth and stood back with a satisfied look, as if admiring his handiwork.

“Will you cooperate? We just want to talk,” Troy asked Marie as Rogers fussed with her husband.

The woman glanced at her trussed up husband and nodded. She looked more angry than scared, and both of those emotions were overshadowed by surprise when her gaze finally fixed on Rogers long enough for her to recognize him.

“You?” she asked as Troy let go of her.

Her husband looked confused, glancing from one strange face to another.

“As you can see, we have a lot to discuss,” Hailey said, standing up straight.

H
ailey
, Troy, Rogers and Marie sat at Marie’s kitchen table, eyeing each other with curiosity and suspicion. A low rumble emanated from Troy’s chest as he kept close watch over Marie’s every move.

Marie’s husband was still tied up upstairs. Hailey could only imagine what was going through the man’s head. He must be worried sick, having his wife led downstairs by a group of intruders.

She
knew they weren’t going to harm Marie, but he couldn’t possibly know that.

“So, Rogers, I’m guessing you didn’t escape the hospital to go back to the Crimson Claws as I first thought,” Marie said, folding her hands in front of her.

Ripped out of her sleep by intruders and clad in only a nightgown and some slippers, she still managed to look authoritative and calm. Her face was very thin, with small, sharp features, surrounded by a halo of straight blond hair.

Rogers gave her a mirthless chuckle.

“I was attacked in my room and the guys you got to protect me didn’t do shit about it. This guy saved my life, so I went with him. He seemed a better option at that point. I’m sure you understand.”

“And why are you here instead of hiding out in whatever hole you could crawl into?” Marie asked, leveling Rogers with her gaze.

Mouthing off to the man that broke into your house in the middle of the night. Bold move,
Hailey thought.

“I still want the deal you offered me. You promised you could keep my family safe. I’m ready to tell you everything I know, but you have to hide me better this time,” Rogers replied, unaffected by the disdain evident in Marie’s voice when she talked to him.

“And you thought breaking into my house was the best way to accomplish your goals?” Marie scoffed.

“Okay, can we get down to business here?” Hailey interjected, getting impatient.

Her whole life was riding on this, Marie and Rogers could bicker amongst themselves later.

“We all know your deal with Rogers is still on. You wouldn’t have put so much effort into getting him on your side if you had a case without him,” she continued, as Marie pursed her lips and considered her curiously.

“I know you,” she commented tapping her nails on the table, all but admitting what Hailey said was right on the money.

“Hailey Molloy, I work for Forrest & Williams. I can help you take down the Crimson Claws.”

Troy was being uncharacteristically quiet as he watched the women size each other up.

“I’ve heard of you. You’re supposed to be pretty good. What are you doing associating with criminals, if I may ask?” Marie inquired, looking down her nose at Hailey.

Hailey took a deep breath before rattling off the summary of her situation.

“I’ll keep this short. The Claws forced me to work for them, I investigated them, they want me dead. I’ll give you what I have in exchange for protection.”

Marie sat back in her chair at that, looking at all of her uninvited guests in turn.

“And who’s he?” she asked, pointing her chin at Troy.

“None of your business,” Hailey answered quickly, hoping Troy would remain quiet.

He did not, of course.

“I’m the one that will come back here and rip out your throat if you double-cross us,” he said flatly, his expression unchanging from the stormy annoyance that had played across his features since they’d gotten Marie out of bed.

Hailey sighed. The less Troy was involved, the better. He already had an exit strategy and Hailey didn’t want to mess that up. Marie definitely didn’t need to know he had been a lieutenant for the Claws, or she might demand his testimony as well.

“Let’s talk about what you have first, before I can make any promises.”

Hailey explained the connections she had made, what case files she had been able to tie together and how her and Rogers’ statements combined could not only prove the existence of a criminal enterprise, but send many of the people involved in it behind bars.

The Claws had been very good about splitting up their business so far, making it look to the authorities – the ones they didn’t control, anyway – like there were several gangs moving around, not being controlled by anyone. Hailey could show that this wasn’t true.

Marie listened quietly, her expression not giving anything away. When Hailey finished, she still wasn’t sure if the woman was pleased with what she offered or bored by her whole story.

What if she already knows everything I do?

“Interesting,” Marie finally uttered. “And I presume you have documentation to back up everything you just said?”

“Of course. I don’t have it with me right this very moment, but…” Hailey answered.

Marie’s cold laugh interrupted her train of thought.

“So you’ve come to me with stories and little else?”

Hailey could hear Troy growling beside her. If Marie didn’t take it down a notch, she wasn’t sure what he might do. His patience had been running thin since seeing Morrison get wounded as badly as he did.

“I have the proof and I can get it to you, but I’m not going to just hand it over with blind trust. I need your written guarantee you’ll get me and my parents into witness protection.”

Hailey crossed her arms, mirroring Marie, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. Snake and Troy would be able to hear how fast her heart was beating, but fortunately Marie had no such abilities. With everything riding on what the D.A. said next, Hailey could feel her stomach grow hollow.

If things didn’t work out as planned, she didn’t know what she was going to do. Go on the run and force her poor parents to do the same? That definitely didn’t sound particularly appealing.

“Fine. I’ll have my people draw up the paperwork. You give me everything you’ve promised and I’ll get you and your family relocated with new identities,” the woman conceded finally, bouncing a fuzzy slipper on her toes.

“And me?” Rogers piped up.

“Relax, you still have your deal,” Marie confirmed with a dismissive wave. “Now can you people please leave my house so I can untie my husband and go back to sleep?”

Marie stood up, giving them all a stern look like they were guests who had outstayed their welcome. One thing was certain, she was definitely a hard nut to crack. Chicago was lucky to have someone like Marie Solomon on their side.

“I’ll be back with the files. Have the paperwork ready,” was all Hailey said in response as the three of them stood from the table and turned to leave.

“Not so fast, Rogers, you’re staying with me,” Marie called out to the massive man.

“And why exactly is that?” Troy demanded, looking about ready to follow up on his earlier promise.

“The Crimson Claws are after both you and Molloy. If you’re together when they catch you, my case is dead with you,” she explained with a graceful roll of her shoulders.

The woman was nothing but pragmatic.

Troy’s lips pulled back, revealing his teeth in a snarl. Hailey bumped her elbow against his, a not so subtle hint for him to dial it down. He rolled his eyes at her, but conjured up a slightly less deadly expression nonetheless.

Hailey got the feeling his idea of negotiating involved a lot less talking than hers.

“Easy,” she whispered to Troy.

“I can have officers here in five minutes. Now that we know his life is in definitely danger, we’ll take better precautions, I promise,” Marie explained, seeing Hailey and Troy weren’t exactly enthused.

Getting the impression arguing with the woman wasn’t going to do much good, Hailey threw Snake a questioning look. Since he was the one that had almost gotten killed under Marie’s watch, it was up to him if he was going to stay or nor.

“Fine by me,” Rogers said, plopping back down on his chair. “I hope you have better food than the canned shit he had,” he said, pointing a finger at Troy.

Hailey grabbed hold of Troy’s arm and tugged him in the direction of the exit before he could snap back a reply. She was feeling both apprehensive and hopeful, but there was a glimmer of light on the horizon and she didn’t want anything to happen to it if she could help it.

“I’ll see you soon,” she said to Marie as she led the man out the backdoor they’d entered through.

“I don’t particularly like her,” Troy muttered as they stepped into the cool night air.

“I gathered as much from all the growling.”

“Do you think she’ll keep her promise?” he asked as they walked to the truck, hand in hand, unconcerned by who might see them now.

“This is a career-making case for her and without me, all she has is the testimony of a career criminal. Trust me, she’ll keep her promise.”

“So, where have you stashed this proof of yours? We need to go get it,” he said, some of the tenseness leaving his body.

Right. The files.

“There’s just a tiny little problem with that,” Hailey admitted, scrunching up her face.

Troy’s placed a hand on his hip, already unhappy.

“It’s at my apartment.”

Troy groaned, eyes turning towards the sky.

Yep. This is bound to get interesting.