I’ve seen and done things that still haunt my dreams. I don’t deserve a normal life—I don’t deserve her. When I walked away, I destroyed us, fracturing any hope of a future. But when her past rears its ugly head, I’ll do whatever I can to help her, even if it means telling her mine.
Because a life without her in it… isn’t a life at all.
Formerly Broken Truth (Crossroads Heroes Book Two) While each book is a standalone, it is recommended that you start with Heroes Heart, Book One. Characters from the first book will be mentioned and spoilers could occur. If you want to start at the very beginning, check out Heroes with Heat and Heart (a 9/11 Charity Anthology) and read Broken Promises. The prequel that started it all! There are adult situations in this book, i.e. sex, alcohol and swearing. If you are offended by those things, you’re in the wrong romance category. Each book has a HEA and no cheating or cliffhangers.
Excerpt
MY EYES narrow at Chris as he saunters into the patrol room. I haven’t spoken to him since seeing him and Mia at the bar. They’d had their date on Saturday, and I tried to avoid him since. I didn’t want to know how it went. I know I’m going to need to get over it because we work together. But for now, I am fine with being pissed off.
The tension between us is so thick, I’m pretty sure the guys can feel the fog surrounding us. Kerrigan stands off to the side, his eyes flicking between us as Chris shoots me a smirk and takes his seat across from me. Shortly after everything that happened with Lorelei, Kerrigan’s wife, he was promoted to lieutenant over the day shifts. At the start of every shift, the team gathers here for a debrief of the shift the night before.
While I’m not on a specific patrol shift, I sit through them to listen out for information that might be pertinent to any cases I’m working. As small as our town is, we’ve been dealing with an influx of drug related deaths.
“What the fuck is going on between you two?” Kerrigan glares at Chris and me, his eyes moving back and forth between us.
“The whole team can sense there’s an issue—so out with it. We don’t need your personal bullshit to get in the way of doing our jobs.”
Chris snorts as he glances over at me. “Brady is pissed at me because I took Mia out on a date.”
The entire room goes quiet and I’m pretty sure everyone can hear the rapid fire of my heart as it beats against my chest. I swallow the rage simmering at the surface and narrow my eyes at him.
“Is that so?” Kerrigan slides into a chair and leans back. His eyes bore into mine as he watches for my reaction. “Chris—“ He turns toward his brother-in-law and smiles. “Do you have a death wish?”
“No sir. In fact.” He taps his fingers across the table. “I’m doing this for his benefit.”
My temper explodes out of me, and I jump to my feet, knocking the chair over. “For me?“ I point my finger at him, my body vibrating with unadulterated anger. “How in the fuck is dating the only woman I love, possibly for my benefit?”
“There it is…” Chris grins and I swear it takes all my restraint not to punch him square in the jaw. “The truth.”
I blink, his words hitting me like a ton of bricks. “What?” I bend over and pick up my toppled seat, then plop down into it.
“You’re finally admitting what we’ve all known. Now… what are you going to do about it? Don’t get me wrong, after the kiss Mia and I shared, I would love nothing more than to continue seeing where it goes… but she doesn’t want me.”
“As enlightening as this conversation is—“ I turn my head to find Captain Ashley Stevens staring at us with an amused grin. “We have bigger issues to deal with other than Brady’s love
life.” He tosses a folder down on the table and I snatch up.
Flicking open the page, my gut hits rock bottom when I see the eyes of a young woman staring back at me. “What’s this about?” I set the folder down and shove it across to Kerrigan, who picks up to inspect it for himself.
“That is the third victim to end up in the morgue in twenty-four hours.” He walks to the whiteboard and scribbles some names. “The first was Austin Pritchard, twenty years old. He was dropped off at the entrance to the ER where he subsequently collapsed. The staff tried to revive him, but the damage was already done. He was pronounced dead exactly fifteen minutes after losing consciousness. But it didn’t stop with him. Twelve hours later, Mark Standpoint, nineteen, was brought in by ambulance after dispatch received a call for an unconscious male at the park. He was dead when they arrived.” He writes the last name on the board and turns to face us. “This morning Kimberly Hawthorne, a twenty-year old female, collapsed in line at the coffee shop on the square. An off-duty fireman on his way into work attempted CPR, but like the other two—she succumbed to the drugs in her system.”
“Captain,” Kerrigan’s voice cuts through the silence. “We need to bring Gunnar in on this. One overdose could be considered a college kid experimenting… but three in twenty-four hours sounds like an epidemic about to explode in our tiny community.”
As if being summoned to life, Gunnar steps into the room. “It’s already exploding.” He tosses two more folders down on the table. “Maximus and I have been working round the clock for weeks. We received a tip from a female that attends the college here that someone was pushing a new drug. She didn’t want to give her name out of fear, but she was concerned her roommate was going down the path to becoming an addict.”
“Shit.” I palm my face as thoughts of Mia’s sister being involved somehow pound against the depths of my mind. Glancing toward Chris, I see him watching me. “What?”
“I think I may have to betray her trust, after all.” He closes his eyes and blows out a breath.
My eyes flick to Kerrigan, who looks over at Chris with confusion as he questions him. “What are you talking about?”
Chris shakes his head. “Mia asked me for help with a personal matter. But—“ he looks at me again. “I worry this may involve her somehow. I don’t know, I could be completely wrong and it’s coincidental… which means I’ll be pissing her off for no reason.”
“Whatever you tell us can stay between us, unless it’s pertinent to this case.” Stevens nods his head, encouraging Chris to continue.
“Mia received a call from her mother yesterday. Mia’s older sister has a drug problem—has for years. It’s part of the reason she left home and moved here. Apparently, her sister, Melanie, is missing.”
“How does that play into this?” Gunnar’s brow furrows.
Chris closes his eyes and sighs. “Melanie’s boyfriend, a known dealer where she lives, was found dead. Melanie is a person of interest in the case, but they don’t know where she is.” He cuts his eyes to me. “Which is why she called me. She wants me to find her sister. Mia doesn’t think Melanie killed her boyfriend, but she knows with her history of drugs, she probably had a role in what happened.”
“Where does Melanie live?” Gunnar pulls out a notebook and clicks his pen.
“Mia wasn’t sure. They haven’t spoken in about nine years. Last she heard Melanie was holed up with her boyfriend somewhere in Kentucky. Mia’s family lives in Franklin, Kentucky.” Chris pulls out his phone as and stares down at the screen. “It’s Mia.”
My body stiffens as I watch him press the phone to his ear. “Hey Mia.” He stands and leaves the room.
“You gonna let him steal your woman from you?” Gunnar grunts, causing me to turn my head in his direction. “Seems to
me you should be the one dealing with this, not him.”
“If she’d let me help her, I would. But Mia has made it pretty clear that I am not the person she wants or needs help from.” I lean back in my chair.
Hayward walks through the door, pausing to glance back at Chris who is just outside the patrol room. “He’s talking to Mia?” Hayward glances at me. “You good with that?”
“Yeah, Chief. I’m absolutely over the moon that Chris is speaking to her.”
He slaps the back of my head. “You’re a fucking idiot. A damn good detective, but when it comes to that woman—dumb as fuck.”
“You know why.” I cock my brow at him.
He is the only person who knows why I walked away from her. After carrying the secret around with me for nearly fifteen years, I had to tell someone. I was fully expecting him to treat me differently, but he said he would have done the same thing in my shoes. Unlike the only other person who knows, he didn’t think it meant I was a bad guy. I’d just been a kid faced with a serious decision that would leave permanent scars no matter what I had decided.
“And I’ve told you it doesn’t matter. Mia loves you. Anyone with eyes knows that. You didn’t give her a chance to show you she’s strong enough for the both of you.” I ponder his words. The memory of the moment I had to make it right hits me like a lightning bolt. Maybe if I hadn’t been a coward all those years ago when I had the chance to tell her why I was running, she’d be mine right now.
***
I stand beside my car door, contemplating whether I should go inside. Allie called me frantic, saying she was rushing Mia to the emergency room. A part of me knew Mia didn’t want me here, but like a moth to a flame, I let my feet carry me forward. Before I know it, I’m standing at the nurse’s station.
“Can you tell me where Mia Davenport is?” I flash my badge, knowing it’s the only way I’m getting back to see her.
“Detective.” A nurse, whose name I can’t remember, gives me a flirty grin. “She’s just been moved to a room on the 3rd floor. Room 308.”
“Thanks.” I spin on my heel and head to the elevator. The ride to the third floor feels like my descent to hell, and when it comes to a halt, I force down the vomit burning my throat.
Allie is standing outside the door to Mia’s room. “Brady.” She steps in front of me. “I made a mistake calling you.” She bites her lip and looks down. “Mia doesn’t want to see you. I’m sorry—I just panicked.”
My head nods on autopilot. I know this was a possibility coming here. “I understand. Can you tell me what happened?”
Allie glances back toward the closed door. “I can’t. I promised her I wouldn’t say anything to you.”
“I see. Will she be okay?” I take a deep breath, holding it until my chest hurts.
Allie shrugs her shoulders. “In time, yeah.”
Her response is strange, making me flick my eyes to the closed door as if it will give me answers. “What does that mean?”
Allie tilts her head. “Brady… I’m sure if you think about why you two ended things—you’ll figure it out.”
My eyes widen with the realization of what Allie is trying to tell me. “Did she…” I swallow. “Did she get rid of the baby?”
“Wow… you really don’t know her at all, do you? No—Brady. Mia didn’t have an abortion. Sometimes things are out of our control. But that doesn’t make it any less painful.”
My face burns with shame at my assumption. “I’m sorry, Allie. I know Mia would never do something like that—but why else would she be here?”
Allie shakes her head and grips the knob to Mia’s room. “You don’t deserve her—so God knows why she still loves you. Brady… Mia was over the moon when she confirmed she was having your baby. But like your relationship, it wasn’t meant to be. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my best friend needs me because her heart is breaking for the second time this year.”
***
“BRADY?” The sound of Chris’s voice snaps me from the memory. Turning my head, I see he’s standing in the doorway.
“What?” I narrow my eyes at him. “Come to rub it in that you’re the man Mia calls?”
He glances toward the others, who are watching me with sympathy. “No. Actually—I told her that I couldn’t help her anymore and that she needed to speak to you. I told her about what’s going on, without compromising the case.”
“Why’d you do that?” I shake my head, knowing she would rather do it on her own than ask me.
Chris hooks his thumbs into his gun belt. “Because I know what it’s like to walk away from someone because you think it’s the right thing to do—even when it’s not. Mia and you have unfinished business, but right now she needs the detective—not the man she wants, but can’t have.”
I watch in utter disbelief as he spins and leaves me staring at the space. “What the fuck just happened?” Kerrigan stands and starts out after him.
“I have no clue, but you better get over yourself and go find Mia. Whatever that call was about can’t be good if Chris told her she needed you.”
Getting to my feet, I tug out my keys. “Let me know if you find any more information.” As I make my way into the hallway, Kerrigan and Hayward stop me.
“Listen.” Hayward grips my shoulder. “Tell her, Brady. Then you’ll know if holding on to her is worth it. If she can’t accept your past, all of it—then she isn’t the woman for you.”
“What if I’d rather live in denial? Having her look at me with disgust is better than disappointment.”
“I don’t think she’ll look at you like that.” Hayward turns toward Kerrigan. “Meet me in my office. We need to discuss this shit with the command staff further.”
Kerrigan watches as the chief heads off. His eyes come back to me, and she forces a smile. “I shouldn’t have been given a second chance with Lorelei… what I did was immature and should have been unforgivable. But love supersedes all the bullshit when it’s real. Do you love Mia?”
“Yes.” I don’t have to think about it. I know, down to the very fiber of my soul, she’s the only woman I’ll ever love.”
“Then give her a chance to prove she loves you, too.” Kerrigan turns, leaving me with his words.
