Chapter 45

LYNN

"And, for your information, I don't have a goat fetish!" Sunny shouts after Jeremy as he's being led off in handcuffs. "If anything, I have a gnome fetish, but even then, it's only a casual interest, not a sexual preoccupation!"

"You tell him!" Hollis encourages her, barely hiding her smile.

We're all watching Jeremy Rossi's walk of shame after having spent the last hour talking to the cops and piecing together everything that's happened over the previous eighteen months.

"Don't forget to book him for attempted murder!" Miller shouts, his jocular tone belying the seriousness of the situation. But I suppose that's the Brooks way. What doesn't kill us makes us… laugh inappropriately.

Thanks to the security cameras the boys installed after Larry's disappearance, every word of Jeremy's deranged confession was being witnessed by Mama and the cops over at Hollis's dog salon next door. Since Mama knows everyone in town and is equally good at talking their ears off, she was the obvious choice to rope the cops into our plan without overtly calling them in through normal means. She just happened to be sitting in front of the taproom's live feed when an officer stopped by the salon to pick up the donation Mama had for his wife's charity.

As for my brothers, there was no trickery there. I meant it when I said we're all stronger together, so I knew as soon as Maisy and Rosie alerted them that I was at the brewery with the guy who stole Larry, they'd all come running.

Jeremy played the victim when the cops first arrived, but after I mentioned Guy Taylor and Mama shared how truly screwed he was in a way only Mama could, he lost all his defiance and crumbled. Knowing him—and all the evidence stacked against him—he's counting on striking some kind of deal. But that's hard to do when you're flat broke and can't even afford a lawyer.

The other thing that's hard to do when you're broke, it turns out, is engage in an effective revenge plot. Since Jeremy hadn't been counting on losing his job—or his sugar daddy—when Cody and Hopkins were taken down, he got a little desperate. The fire was a cheap attempt at hitting Carter where it hurt—namely Mama—but Jeremy turned out to be a terrible arsonist. He really should have stuck to politics.

Stealing Larry, on the other hand, was not only a middle finger to us Brookses but a way for Jeremy to eke out a living while he resurrected a low-level job in the state legislature. The year of peace we enjoyed was merely the result of Jeremy being broke as he moved on to devising cheaper ways to get back at Carter now that Cody wasn't around to bankroll his efforts.

"Hey, bruiser, how's your hand?" Cash yells over to me, where I stand in front of the building with Joey.

I don't miss the smiles each one of my brothers tries to hide. "Better than Jeremy's face," I respond, earning several hoots and hollers.

"Who taught you how to swing like that, sis?" Denny asks, looking down at the towel full of dripping ice I'm clutching.

"The same person who taught all of you," Mama answers for me before sending me a wink. Yeah, Dad taught me how to throw a punch too. He said every girl should know how to defend herself if she needed to. Lucky for me, I've never had use for the skill before today. Well, I suppose I didn't need to punch Jeremy, but I can't say I'll ever regret it.

Joey leans down to whisper in my ear. "Remind me never to make you mad."

"Does Martel need to be standing so close?" I hear Carter ask, but when I whirl around to give him a piece of my mind, he's wearing a shit-eating grin, his beefy arms crossed over his chest.

"Ha ha," I deadpan.

Miller opens his mouth to add his two cents, but Maisy beats him to it. "You'll never experience ‘close' again if you open your mouth right now, Miller Brooks."

Joey almost pees himself laughing at Miller's chagrined expression in response.

"I think Lynnie has proven her point," Cash finally says after a few more jabs are exchanged. He walks over to Joey and me. "What can I say? It's hard letting go. I'm sorry it's taken me so long."

Since I'll never be able to stop loving those big lug brothers of mine, no matter what they do, I throw myself into Cash's arms and hug him just as hard as I'd hug our dad if he were standing in his place. "Love you, big brother," I say into his shirt.

"Love you more," he responds, squeezing me one more time before he lets me go. "Joey." He holds his hand out, and the two men shake. "Thanks for your help, man."

"Anytime," my boyfriend says.

"Well, now you're all just trying to make me cry!" Mama accuses, causing all of us to crowd her for a big group hug as she dabs her eyes.

When we all let go a minute later, Cart reminds us, "A few of us need to get down to the station. Who's staying here to open?"

"I can," I volunteer.

Joey's brow furrows. "You need to get that hand looked at."

"It's fine."

"It could be broken," he argues in that rumble that usually gets me.

"But it's not."

"How do you know? Did you have it x-rayed while I was grabbing that ice for it?"

I prop my good hand on my hip. "I just know."

Miller claps a hand on Joey's shoulder, saying, "Good luck, man," before he turns back to our brothers and declares, "I'm driving! And none of you assholes are allowed to argue now that my reputation has been restored!"

"One lousy brake-line redemption and he thinks he's Mario Andretti," Denny grumbles to Cart as he tosses him the keys instead. But Mama snatches them from the air before Cart can catch them. She throws them in a perfect arc to Rosie's waiting hands.

"Come on, boys, pile in," Rosie instructs.

With no other choice, they file in behind her and head for Denny's ride.

I turn to Joey and sigh. "Okay, fine. I'll get an X-ray." He starts to smile one of those lopsided grins that makes me want to do dirty things to him, but I manage to resist as I turn to the front door, adding, "After my shift," over my shoulder.