Hetch (Men OF S.W.A.T #1)(88)

“Dad wanted to name me Sam Junior, but Mom wanted Liam. Clearly, Mom won. Samuel is my middle name, though. I guess they both kind of won.”

“Yet, both of you went by Hetch?”

“Yeah. He just wanted his kid to have the same name. Mom never understood it. I thought it was cool.”

“I wish I could have met him,” she whispers, and all of a sudden, I do too. Wish he could have met the woman who changed my life, who pulled me out of my own darkness and forced me to see the light.

“Me too, sweetheart. He would have liked you. Not because of your job, just you as a person.”

“Thank you for calming me down.” She doesn’t ask anything else about my dad, and I’m neither relieved nor disappointed. I'm content.

“No problem, I charge by the hour.”

She laughs at my response, and my gut tightens at the sound. My joke, though lame, makes her laugh that carefree laugh of hers I haven’t heard in what seems like forever, so I can’t be too embarrassed with myself.

“I should get to sleep. I have an early day tomorrow.” Disappointment floats over me, but I don’t let it show.

“Miss you, B.” She doesn’t reply right away, so I press on. “You don’t have to tell me you miss me too. I know you do.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“I’m right. Admit it.”

“Goodnight, Hetch.” She ignores my bait, but I don’t let her get away too easily.

“Only one more day, Liberty,” I warn, wishing it would hurry the f*ck up.

One more day and she is mine.



“The boys and I are heading to The Elephant after this. You in or has your woman taken you back finally?” Sterling asks the following afternoon. We’re sitting in the staff room at SWAT headquarters. After a full shift of training today, we were getting ready to call it a day when we were called in by the lieutenant for an impromptu meeting.

No reasons were given.

“I’ll come for one drink. Then I’m out.” It’s the last thing I want to do tonight, but after my first full week back with the team, I should try and make an effort to hang with them outside of work.

“So, she hasn’t taken ya back then?” Tate sticks his jab in. “You’re losing your touch, boss.”

“Shut the f*ck up,” I growl. Yes, growl, because sitting around waiting for some bullshit meeting is pissing me off.

“Jesus, I think she’s broken you,” Sterling comments just as the lieutenant steps into the room.

“Hetcherson, we’re ready for you.” His eyes only come to me and even as he keeps his stare on me, it’s unreadable.

“Coming.” I stand and nod for the boys to follow me.

“You know what this is about?” Hart asks as we make our way down to the briefing room.

“Nope. I’m as clueless as you,” I tell him before stepping into the room we use for briefings before call outs.

“Sergeant, you remember Detective Katie Marsh from organized crime division.” The lieutenant motions to the redhead at the head of the briefing table.

“Good to see you again, Katie.” I keep my annoyance out of my voice. Her presence here tonight means she has a job for us, and as much as I love the thrill of taking down whichever crime boss she has her sights set on, irritation bubbles just below the surface. It looks like my grand plans of knocking on Liberty’s wall one last time are going to have to wait.

“Yeah, I’m not sure you’ll be happy to see me after this.” She clicks a button on the small remote in her hand and brings up the case file on the large monitor.

“Nah, we’re always happy to see you.” Hart enters the conversation, taking the seat closest to her, and I catch Katie’s slight blush.

Hmm, interesting.

“Right. Okay, well, we don’t have much time, so let’s get started.” She shakes her head as if she’s clearing something from her mind and moves her eyes back to mine. “We’ve been gathering intel on Miguel Morales for a couple of months now.” She hands me his file and continues. “Morales started out a low-level drug dealer, cooking in the basement of his mom’s house. Over the last six months, he’s risen up and got ahead in the game by producing an identical, recognizable, and reliable product to match his competitors at a fraction of the cost.”

“Making him a major player in the drug underworld,” I murmur, checking over his rap sheet. Other than a few misdemeanors, they have nothing on him.

“A major player with no ties to any organization. He’s a one-man show and making a killing.”

“Okay, so why the sudden move now?” I press on, wondering what they have on him to warrant a risky bust with no planning.

“He’s stepping up to the next level. Joining forces with Anton Gibson.” She pushes another file across the table to me. “You might know him. The leader of The Disciples.” The man Dominic answers to. Fuck.

“Yeah, we know him.”

“Anton has caught on to Miguel’s way of business and wants in. With ties to international crime syndicates, Anton is a major player in heroin and gun trafficking in this area, making him one hell of an asset to someone like Miguel.”

“That happens?” I can’t imagine two heads of crime joining together.