42. Essex

42

ESSEX

The sound of the shot stops my fucking heart. I start running. Shouts surround me, but I don't stop. I run towards the house.

Nico swerves in front of me on his bike. "Get on," he shouts.

I jump on behind him, wondering why the hell I didn't think of my bike. I wasn't thinking. I'm not sure I am now.

At the top of the driveway, Anders and Harding already have three men on the ground while Jesus takes great pleasure in cuffing their hands behind their backs.

Nico curses, his eyes on Anders. "Sexy as fuck!"

Gunshot!

I give my brother a quick look as I jump off the bike and rush into the house. I pause in the office doorway, my heart about to pound out of my chest. I grab my chest and drop to my knees behind Bea. My arms slip around her waist as Joker pulls her hands away from a bleeding David so he can apply thick gauze to stop the bleeding.

Bea sags against my chest and I whisper, "I love you," before burying my face in her neck. I'm so damn relieved that she's okay. It kills me that her father is lying at her knees, bleeding and unconscious.

The room is getting crowded, so I get up and take Bea with me. The paramedics come in and do their thing. "Is he going to be, okay?" Bea asks Joker, who moves out of the way of the paramedics.

"I honestly don't know."

The paramedics move David as we back out of the room.

"I want to go with him." Bea says. "He’s, my father."

The paramedic nods.

We follow them to the ambulance, where Ed meets us. "He shot Judge, then he called David my father and shot him before he left. I don't know where he is," Bea says, watching what's going on in the ambulance.

"We have the recording of everything that was said. He won't get away with it!" Ed winces.

"Why the bunker? What's the deal with it?" I ask because no one has mentioned it.

Ed grimaces. "It started out as guns with the odd...girl."

Bea's head snaps around, horror on her face. "Are you saying that the man I thought was my father was a trafficker?”

"From what the team that raided the bunker found; we think so. There is still a lot to work through." He pauses. "One good thing that has come out of this is that we can give closure to the families of the missing men. Impeccable records were kept. We know why they were killed and where their bodies are. Lincoln told the truth about who the father of Deedee's baby was and how she died." Ed holds my gaze. "I'm sorry about your father, Essex. The only thing I can offer is that he died trying to get justice for Deedee."

I swallow hard and close my eyes, trying to control myself. I feel Bea's hands on my face and open my eyes to meet her worried ones. I drop my forehead to hers and whisper. "I'm fine, Bea. Don't worry." I give her a quick kiss on the lips. "Let's go be there for your dad." I offer a weak smile.

"One more thing," Ed says once we're in the ambulance, "David only knew about the arsenal, that's why he contacted me in the first place."

"Find him, Uncle Ed. Please."

"We will. If not today. Tomorrow." Ed closes the doors, and the ambulance pulls away, lights and sirens blaring.