And that tone said Pena.

Fuck!

He cupped his woman between her legs, released her mouth and arched his back so she wouldn't take his weight when his hand at her neck moved to reach to his back pocket and he yanked out his phone.

"Pena," he muttered to his still-dazed wife and she blinked, not processing this because, just like Lexie, she'd come hard and she was riding the residual wave.

Ty flipped his phone open and put it to his ear. "Please, fuck, tell me this is worth interrupting what I'm fuckin' doin'."

There went the daze, she blinked again then one hand came out of his tee so she could slap his arm and she snapped, "Ty!" but she did it without sound, only her lips formed his name but he knew it was a snap because her eyes were narrowed and her face was pissed. He was hard, he wanted to bury his cock in his wife who was hot, wet and under him but he still couldn't stop from grinning at her.

"Mi amigo, that's just plain cruel," Pena said in his ear but there was a smile in his voice. Ty's words and the frustrated growl he said them with were not lost on him and therefore Ty did not get this fucking guy. If Ty was miles away and knew he was on the phone with a man who was with Lexie doing what he was doing with Lexie, there would be no smile in his voice.

Then again, Pena hadn't tasted her so he only had the dream and did not know the reality was way fucking better than the dream.

"This worth interrupting what I'm doin'?" Ty asked.

"Don't know, is a warrant for conspiracy to commit murder, a successful raid last night that means the evidence locker bought itself a whole fuckload of smack and blow and twelve... I repeat, twelve ladies of the evening walking their Lycra covered asses into my precinct this mornin' after a hard night at work sayin' they're happy to turn evidence and act as witnesses, all of this nailin' Duane 'Shift' Martinez to the wall in a way he won't come unstuck anytime soon worth interruptin' what you're doin'?"

Ty had frozen.

Then he gently moved his hand from between his woman's legs and planted his forearm in the couch beside her to hold his weight off her but otherwise kept his position as he asked, "You got any more detail?"

Pena chuckled.

Then he gave him detail.

"Yeah, well, the angels in heaven above swooped down on Dallas these last few weeks. Started with me walkin' out my front door, at home, I might add which wouldn't have made me happy except that on my welcome mat was a manila envelope full a' shit. Typewritten but, who gives a fuck that God's angels use computers. Suddenly, I got leads comin' out my ass. Now, the borin' stuff is that raid was a raid of Martinez's stash. Far's I know all of it, and there's a lot. Un-fuckin'-protected and all in one place. We're talkin' millions of dollars of dope here. The guy doesn't have a gun on it and he keeps it all in one place. I knew that man was light between the ears but fuck... me."

Jesus, Ty knew Shift dealt but he had no fucking idea he was in that deep.

"Millions of dollars?" Ty asked.

"Yeah, sucks to admit it, ese, but even I didn't know his operation had escalated to that level. But this means his suppliers are not gonna be happy he can't distribute and, shortly, it'll be destroyed without goin' up someone's nose or in someone's veins. Also means, case you didn't know, the more dope, the bigger the operation, the more shit that could hit the streets, the weightier the book gets thrown at the ones who own it. And that kinda operation is makin' the DA salivate. Now, our DA, he's pulled himself up from rough beginnings, stayed clean but had friends who chose dark paths and he watched them get lost down those paths. He's a crusader. This motherfucker is on a mission and has been since he got his ass elected. He's gonna take a dealer with that amount of product he intended to put on the street and destroy lives and he's gonna symbolically shove that product right up his ass. But I got more."

"The warrant," Ty said carefully, not wanting Lexie to catch on, not yet, not until he could give her his undivided attention.

"Yeah. The warrant. Got a boy in holding. This boy was caught with a gun in his possession. And this gun's got a ballistics match on it says it did Ronnie Rodriguez, amongst others. And this boy has a protective instinct so this boy made a deal. And this boy shared the hit he confessed to doin' on Rodriguez was ordered and paid for by Martinez. And this boy ain't dumb like Martinez but he does have a screwy family. And when I say that, I mean, this boy does business, he does it at his Momma's kitchen table, with Momma there. She's lookin' out for her boy, makes sure he don't get screwed providin' excellent service without gettin' paid a good wage. She negotiates the deal, she takes a cut, her boy does the job. Therefore, she's in holding too and she's also facin' time but she's also not dumb and makes her own deal. Her boy goes down, she goes down but so does Martinez. We have the shooter, we have the gun, we have his word and we have his Momma as witness. And I'm not gonna get into the fact that Martinez is not like Rodriguez with his stable. He takes freebies, he takes 'em often and once that boy gets off, he gets chatty. Therefore, he's shared a lot with his girls. A lot. Too much. Stupid much. And another way he is not like Rodriguez, they have a light night, he don't like that and doesn't see that johns may not have a hankerin' for a 'ho with a black eye or busted lip. Therefore, they had it good so they are not big on how bad it's got the last four years and are not feelin' the love for their Daddy."

Holy fuck.

Martinez actually ordered the hit that killed his brother.

He knew it could be true but a part of him didn't want to believe it not of Shift, not of anyone.

Holy fuck.

"So," Pena spoke into his silence, "don't got me a calculator handy but the minimum jail time on possession with intent to distribute, pimpin' and conspiracy to commit murder all added up means Duane Martinez is oh-fish-ah-lee fucked. And since he's an asshole who don't discriminate with who he feels like bein' an asshole to, he gets sent down, there are boys in there who do not like him. I'm not thinkin' good thoughts about his survival rate."

Ty rolled off Lexie so his back was to the couch but his front still pressed to her side and he avoided her eyes which he felt on him and he asked, "You got him?"

"Lookin' for him now. He's got three enforcers, uses his girls in the daytime hours to cut and bag the dope and they're all in interrogation rooms as I'm speakin' to you and they're all yappin'. It shouldn't take long. Now, what I wanna know is, did these angels fly from Colorado?"

"Payback," was all Ty said and he got silence.

Then he got a quiet, "Okay, then, I appreciate it so I hate to do you a dirty after you handed me gold but..." he hesitated and Ty braced then he went on, "It is standard procedure to inform the victim's family when the perpetrator has been caught. I'm makin' this call then escaping this office that right now looks like The Ninth Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And I'm doin' that to get in my car and drive to Ella Rodriguez's house. I reckon about a nanosecond will elapse after the door shuts on me when she'll be on the phone. There is no love lost between the Rodriguez women and Martinez. But that doesn't mean this news is not gonna hit these women and hit hard. It's obviously up to you how you're gonna play it but you gotta know they're gonna know and soon and prepare to pick up the pieces."

"Right," Ty said quietly.

"Now, I got more."

Fuck.

"Right," Ty repeated.

"As much as Dolinski can keep a line to me, he does. That Misty Keaton woman's activities have thrown a freeze on shit at the CPD. These fuckers are scared shitless and don't know which way is up. They are not scrambling. They are immobilized. They are also lookin' to their leader who is actin' business as usual. Now, they don't know if he's got an ace in the hole that's gonna shine the light of the Mother of God on them and save them at the last minute or if he just don't give a fuck and has his own exit strategy planned. My guess would be the latter. What you need to know is it might be the former. That said, the good news for you is, you and Lexie have unofficially been declared off-limits. This is not comin' from the top, this is the boys makin' up their own minds that they don't wanna dig a very deep hole any deeper by fuckin' with either a' you. The ACLU bein' involved, you gettin' an attorney who, apparently, locally has a reputation for being a ball-breaker and a liberal one at that and the entrance of one Samuel Sterling into this hubbub, a man I don't know but I've done some checking on and he's got weight, a fuckload of money and both he earned for himself so this is no dumb motherfucker, he also takes no shit and further takes absolutely no shit due to his skin color and therefore it doesn't take a leap to figure that, if he's in the position to step in when a brother is doin' it, he will and anyone who knows him knows this, all this means you got so much firepower at your back, they won't say boo to you."

"Proof you are Santa Claus," Ty muttered.

"Well, no, 'cause the boys at CPD are scared shitless but Fuller has convinced himself his skin deflects bullets and he don't give a shit who he says boo to. Sayin' that, now I'll prove I'm Santa Claus 'cause there has been a recent occurrence which meant that, on the fly, there needed to be some sharin' and that sharin' is... now wait for it..." he hesitated dramatically, Ty clenched his teeth then he gave it, "Detective Chace Keaton has been workin' undercover for the IA for the last thirteen months."

Ty shot up to sitting and rumbled into the phone, "You are shittin' me."

"What?" Lexie whispered, also sitting up with him, rearranging her legs so they were over his thighs and putting a hand to his chest.

He looked to Lexie, shook his head then touched his forehead to hers briefly before he pulled back and gave a still talking Pena his attention.

"Nope. No shit. This guy was deeper than Dolinski, in the inner sanctum. IA wants a clean house and they wanna make an example and considering how messy this shit is, they're pullin' out all the stops but it is still takin' time. Now, the reason Dolinski learned this is because Keaton was in on a strategy meetin' and the play that was to be instigated was that Fuller wanted you down and out. And to do that, he was gonna light a fire under your parole officer's ass to do a random inspection of your home. Now, they didn't know if they'd find anything so they decided to find somethin' whether it was there or not. And to make certain it was enough not only to get you in hot water but set you to boil, they were going to plant a firearm and dope during that inspection which Fuller was going to make damned sure had his boys involved in it obviously so they could plant the shit. And just because they're dickheads of mammoth proportions, they were also gonna plant dope in Lexie's car."

Ty closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.

Pena kept speaking. "As Keaton was involved in this meeting, he informed IA of this plan, IA told him he had a comrade in arms that he didn't know he had and then Keaton manipulated the situation. He made it so it was Dolinski and him who did the inspection and he leaked the information in a way you'd have a head's up. Luckily, you had your shit together and half the town was in your kitchen. This gave Dolinski and Keaton an excuse not to follow through with the plan seein' as Jackson was there as was Sterling and they'd both sniff that shit out faster than snot. So, they aborted but I say aborted in quotes because they weren't gonna do it in the first place but at least they didn't get their asses in hot water and under suspicion because they didn't."

So Ty had angels too.

And one of those angels was fucking Chace Keaton.

Fuck.

"So, Santa says, while your ball-breaker attorney does her thing, Keaton's got your back. Dolinski tells me that Keaton tells him that Fuller is already making noises about his next play. Keaton is in place to deflect it. I do not know this man's story and I do not have a line to him. I do know his wife recently got dead. I also know she fucked you in the sense that that is the definition of understatement. And I also know she got dead and they think he's still a loyal foot soldier so somethin' is fucked with that. So this man might have your back but you keep an eye to it."

"Always do," Ty told him.

"Good. Don't stop, Ty, and when I say that, not for a minute."

"Like I said, Angel, always do."

"Right," Pena whispered.

"You got more?"

"Just like all the little boys and girls, Santa's generous and they're turnin' their stockin' inside out hopin' for one more piece of candy."

"I'm not sayin' I'm not grateful," Ty said quietly. "I'm sayin' I got news to break to my wife and an imminent visit from my father, a drunk, an asshole the last thirty-six years but now a man who wants to get to know his son and daughter-in-law and try to be a good grandfather, so I got gratitude, Angel, I just don't have time."

Silence then, "Sorry, Ty, never stops for you."

"Not a problem, Angel, and no, it doesn't but I got hope this shit storm will end soon and all I'll have is sunshine."

"I hope so too, ese. Stay sharp."

"Same to you."

Then he heard the disconnect.

"What?" Lexie asked the minute he pulled the phone from his ear.

Ty pressed his lips together. Then he tossed his phone on the coffee table with a clatter and framed his wife's face with his hands, bringing her close as he leaned into her.

And he gave it to her quick and straight.

"They found the man who killed Rodriguez and they also found that hit was ordered by Shift."

He watched up close as her eyes got huge. Then she closed them, turned her head slightly away and pressed her lips together.

Ty slid his hands back into her hair and whispered, "Mama."

Lexie's eyes opened and came back to him.

"I don't believe this. Ronnie loved him," she whispered.

"Yeah," Ty whispered back.

"And I thought Shift loved Ronnie."

He didn't respond because he didn't need to, it was obvious Shift didn't love Rodriguez.

"They were brothers." Lexie was still whispering. "How could he do that?"

"No fuckin' clue, Lex."

She held his eyes, he couldn't read hers.

Then Ty spoke. "Angel is on his way to Ella right now."

"Shit," she said softly.

"'Spect you're gonna have to deal with that," he warned her.

"Yeah, no love lost but still, it'll be a blow."

Watching her face and, for once, unable to read it, he moved his hands forward, taking her hair with them until they were at the sides of her neck and he asked, "This a blow for you?"

Her head tipped to the side and her eyes grew unfocused like she was thinking about it and he then understood why he couldn't read her. She didn't know what to think.

Then she decided what to think and her eyes focused again on his.

"It's surprising," she said quietly. "But, I don't know, weirdly, it's good to know what happened, who was behind it. But it doesn't breathe life into Ronnie and even if it did, it wouldn't matter. That's... it's..." She swallowed, shut her eyes tight for a second, opened them and continued, "All that is gone. All those years, all that feeling I had for him and now this is just, it's just..." she trailed off but lifted her hands to wrap her fingers around his wrists and she finished, "Ty, it's strange to feel this way but it's just... news."

Ty stared at his wife. She was over it. She was over Rodriguez. She'd moved on.

With him.

His fingers squeezed her neck and he bent to touch his mouth to hers. When he pulled back he dropped a hand but used the other one to wrap around the back of her neck and tuck her face in his throat. Both her arms moved to curve around his middle.

Once she settled she sighed.

Then she asked, "Does Angel have Shift?"

"They're lookin'."

She nodded.

Ty kept talking. "Dad's here, Ella calls, you take all the time you need. I'll keep him busy."

She nodded again.

"Lex, we're close," he assured his wife with a squeeze at the back of her neck. "Pretty soon, these hits'll stop comin'."

Yet again, she nodded.

A knock came at the backdoor, Lexie tensed and so did Ty.

His Dad.

Jesus, God, he hoped his father had his shit together and this did not mean another hit.

Her arms slid from around him so she could pull down her skirt.

"You good?" he asked. "I can ask him to "

She shook her head then pulled her face out of his neck to tip it back to give him a small grin she wasn't committed to but she was trying. It wasn't a blow, she wasn't suffering but the news was not good, her family was going to have a past loss made fresh again, she was going to have to deal with that and she wasn't looking forward to it.

Then she whispered, "I made brownies."

Ty studied her face. Then he grinned back.

Then he set his wife aside, got up and went to go let in his father.