The Town Of Pearl: Badge Of Honor Part 1

BADGE OF HONOR.

The Town of Pearl.

Dixie Lynn Dwyer.

Lauren Michaels is a homicide detective on the run. Thanks to Mary Higgins, a family friend with connections with the Russian mob, she finds a way to save her as she lies helpless in a hospital bed recovering from gunshot wounds. Lauren lands in the town of Pearl, and smack in the middle of paradise. But she can't let her guard down despite the appealing aspects of this town and all it has to offer. Including Galvin, Gus, Harper, Orin, and Mace. Five best friends, retired Navy Seals, and the only men to make her want the things she thought she could live without. Like love, companions.h.i.+p, and an equality most men failed at. But her badge of honor has turned into her mark of death. The 10th Street gang seeks revenge, and they'll stop at nothing to find Lauren and make her suffer.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

Dear Readers, Thank you for purchasing this legal copy of Badge of Honor. As many of you know, First Responders are dear to my heart. Having a calling, a vocation and desire to become a First Responder requires something extra special deep inside. Their uniforms and jobs may make them experience terrible things as well as amazing things, like the love, compa.s.sion, and kindness of others. Sometimes that uniform, that badge makes them the target or prey. But they don't focus on that. They focus on ensuring right over wrong. Abiding by the laws of this land, each city, each community and town.

They are all special.

Lauren depicts a character of independence, intelligence, determination, and sacrifice. She lays her life on the line to save her family, to bring justice to other officers' families, and to ensure that the criminals get identified and captured. But when she becomes the prey, when she begins to lose the sense of authority and knows there is a price on her head, she doesn't give up, and she trains even harder. She cuts off her emotions, and it's in that darkest hour, that time of fear, she meets five men who can change her life forever.

Enjoy Lauren's story, as her badge of honor could be her ticket to her grave.

Happy Reading.

Hugs!

*Dixie*

Prologue.

New York City, 2000.

"Is he sure about this?"

"Yes, Miguel. He wants them dead. Are the others in position?" Rico asked.

"Yes. As soon as the alarm is disarmed and we have the all clear, Al Michaels won't know what hit him," Miguel replied.

"The boss must really dislike this guy. To wipe out his entire family. Are you certain there aren't any other weapons or guards inside the estate?"

"Just his wife and three young girls. A piece of cake," Rico whispered as he checked his weapon.

They were standing in the wooded area right behind the private estate. An upscale neighborhood in the suburbs, and the Michaels home sat alone in a cul-de-sac, acres and lush woods apart from the surrounding neighbors. No one would hear a thing. Rico and his team of nearly a dozen men would be in and out in a flash. Hits like these fed his ego. He'd already achieved his reputation as a notorious gun for hire, but with Maxwell he no longer needed to do side work for money.

They waited for the signal, and Rico thought about Maxwell, his boss. He really was a slimy b.a.s.t.a.r.d and a man to never underestimate. Most people didn't even know how powerful he was or the connections he had. But Rico knew. Had been working for him for the past seven years and things had gotten more intense and more violent as time pa.s.sed by.

He was headed for the grave or for ultimate success and power in the underworld, as Maxwell liked to call it. Black market stuff that most wouldn't touch because of the danger level.

Rico knew this businessman Michaels was standing in the way of a business merger between Maxwell and a large construction firm. The Russians and the Cubans all wanted to get their hands on this company, but Michaels seemed to have some connections of his own with this one guy. Connections that had the owners of the construction company withdrawing their interest in Maxwell's proposal.

Rico wouldn't be surprised if Maxwell asked them to go after those people next, and to put the pressure on them.

"Let's do this already," Miguel said, and Rico could tell that he was getting antsy. Miguel had no patience, and was definitely made to muscle people around and threaten them to the point of beating them to death.

Rico was similar but his curiosity sometimes got the better of him. Like now, he wondered why Maxwell wouldn't take the girls and sell them off on the black market. There were definitely men willing to pay for such young girls who could be trained.

"He gave the signal. It's a go," Miguel whispered and then began to make his way toward the house. Rico followed, and he gripped the gun and headed inside with Miguel and the others.

This was what he lived for. Michaels and his family were going to die tonight.

Chapter 1.

It came upon the midnight hour when there was no one left to see. Just a young girl, on top of the world, who thought there was nowhere else she'd rather be. But then came the sound of thunder, bright lights, and rumbling earth, an invasion into the sacred ground, and the destruction of her hearth.

The howling screams, bullets flying, there was nowhere safe to go.

The echo of voices deep, combined with curses, threats, and blows.

Her mother's scream, her father's roar, an invasion in the night. She'd been well trained, but could not move until she heard her sisters' fright. Taking action, running to the safe, she gripped the metal with her hand, then turned and ran within the shadows. Her sisters' screams were her command.

There he stood all dressed in black as others yelled, fought, and destroyed.

Her sisters tried to stop him, but his forcefulness they couldn't avoid.

More shots rang out, abundant screams as she faced death head-on.

The blood, the screams, the terror in the night. She cried for them to all be gone.

The touch, the grab, the growl of anger, strong arms pulling her back and down, the tear of clothing. Her sisters' tortured screams made her whirl the gun around.

There he was, the devil himself, the man responsible for their pain. She didn't think twice as he ripped her dress, as her sisters called out her name.

One shot, two shot, three shots, dead, the memory crisp and clear.

Her sisters crying, her parents dying, the hollowness and the fear.

How will we survive? Where do we go? How can we make it alone?

"I've got you both. I'll take care of us. I promise you're not alone."

Lauren Michaels stared at the old sheet of paper. What was once a daily ritual had turned into nights when she was overwhelmed with emotion from a call, or an upsetting circ.u.mstance on the job. The poem she wrote months after the home invasion had been an idea her therapist thought might help her. It hadn't helped her sisters Carly and Daisy. The circ.u.mstances of their parents' death had made them timid and shy. They were only young girls when it happened. Lauren was twelve, Carly was ten, and Daisy was eight. They had years of counseling, a.s.sistance from their wealthy Aunt May, and help from some family friends. But once Lauren graduated from the police academy at twenty, she took over as provider, and they left their aunt's house to live in their own place.

Lauren had seven years on the NYPD police force. Five and a half of those years were spent becoming a knowledgeable homicide detective. She thought about that as she prepared to get out of her car.

She'd worked some seriously sick cases. Things most people would shudder at or become sick from, she embraced. She wanted justice. She sought closure for victims and their families because that was what Commander Jonathan Mathews had done for her and her sisters. Lauren had killed three men that night, and two others got away. She saved her sisters, but she hadn't been able to save her parents. That was something she had lived with her entire life. But she was always on edge. She tried hiding it from her coworkers, her sisters, and friends, but that edginess was doing a number on her. She was getting tired. Tired of the violence, the smell of death, the sight of blood, and the gore and evil abilities of mankind.

The badge of honor was wearing her down. She was questioning the legal system, and becoming angry at how the most violent, repeat offenders continued to slip through the system or get off with a slap on the wrist. Politics. She f.u.c.king hated politics.

As she sat outside her aunt's house preparing to get together with Mary Higgins, an old friend of her aunt's from Texas, she wondered how much longer she could go on like this. The small house in the city had never really become a safe haven. Lauren was always waiting, antic.i.p.ating something bad. Her sisters were busy with their lives, their hopes of opening up a coffee and sweets shop somewhere, and they were trying to finish their schooling.

Lauren, as their eldest and their main provider for many years, was still working to raise money they needed. It was a lot of pressure, but considering she didn't have much of a social life, she could afford overtime and even walk the beat like some rookie cop.

She took a deep breath as she looked at the old home in Bayside, Queens, New York. It was all brick, with a fancy front entryway from the sidewalk. It had three bedrooms and a large yard, but was so very different from their parents' estate in upstate New York. But quickly, the brick-style home in the city had become their new home, and a new way of life. From learning the streets and subway routes to taking ma.s.s transit busses and taxis, her and her sisters learned the hustle and bustle of the city and all it had to offer. Talk about becoming street smart, Lauren embraced the city life, and the people both good and bad. Her sisters avoided them as much as possible. They rarely went out and attended private schools with the help from Aunt May who knew that Lauren couldn't afford the tuition on a cop's salary.

Lauren loved being a cop, and once she graduated from the academy she was like a sponge for knowledge. She asked Commander Mathews to take her under his wing and help her to be the best cop out there. Here she was, seven years later, still feeling that need to serve but getting tired of the violence. For every case she helped to solve, another dozen or more stood in line to be handled. It was never ending, like a pile of quicksand slowly draining her of everything else. Homicide had become her life, her every breath, and she was slowly going under. The badge felt heavy lately. Especially now with the undercover case her and her partner were working on. One undercover officer had turned up dead. Another was beaten into a coma. She shook her head. Aces and his crew of s.h.i.+t from Tenth Street gang were behind it. She just knew they were. But without proof, and with an ongoing investigation including the state police and Feds, her and Frankie couldn't do a thing about it.

She got out of the car, taking a deep breath of air. She locked her car door and headed up the walkway. She could hear the music coming from the house and she smiled. Her aunt had a special way about her. She reminded her so much of their mother, even though Aunt May had brown hair and their mom, Louise, had blonde hair. They shared the same smile, the same blue eyes, and that cla.s.siness and sophistication Lauren fought from showing. As a cop, a detective in New York, she needed to be tough. Talk tough, walk tough, and act like she could kick the world's a.s.s if someone messed with her. She was getting tired of fighting. Tired of being on edge, and not knowing what was coming next. She was getting burned out.

When others turned to alcohol to clear their minds of the gruesome acts of violence, she turned to exercise and running, working out. She took a deep breath and released it as she reached for the doorbell.

Before she could ring the bell her aunt was there, a huge smile on her face.

"There you are. Come on in, we're just about ready for lunch," she said as she gave her a big hug h.e.l.lo and then took her hand and smiled at her. Then Aunt May's face went serious.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" she asked immediately, knowing her niece so well.

"I'm okay, just a lot on my mind."

Her aunt smiled. "Well, come on in. Mary has been waiting patiently to see you." Her aunt held Lauren's arm and brought her into the living room.

May Salsbury watched her niece closely. She'd seen so many changes in her over the last several years. Lauren looked tired, overworked, and stressed. Her niece wanted to save the world from violence and violent people. She couldn't fault her for that. But in her attempt to be a modern day superhero, she was losing time for herself. Lauren was obsessed and she would hate for such an obsession to cost her her happiness.

"There you are. We've been waiting for you," Daisy said as Mary, Daisy, and Carly stood up and greeted Lauren.

Lauren gave Mary a huge hug and Mary smiled.

She held Lauren by her shoulders and stared into her eyes. "You look tired, honey. Rough case?" she asked.

"They're all rough, Mary. No worries, I'm fine," she said and then greeted her sisters.

May watched them all begin to converse as she grabbed Lauren a bottle of water. She knew her niece was working and on call. She'd seen the unmarked police cruiser outside.

"Where is Frankie? He could have come with you," she said about her partner. Frankie was a character, and came from a family of law enforcement officers. But there was something about him that always made May ask how he was doing. She didn't know what it was. Perhaps the way she would catch him watching Lauren. Not like a partner would, but like an admirer. A man interested in the physical.

"He had his own lunch engagement to go to. I have to pick him up in about an hour."

"Well in that case, we should start lunch. Come on, your sisters made dessert and it looks to die for," May told Lauren and they all headed into the dining room.

"So, how are the cla.s.ses coming along? Were you able to kick b.u.t.t on that souffle thing?" Lauren asked Daisy.

Carly chuckled then pushed the long strands of her blonde hair behind her ear. "That's kind of a sore subject right now, sis," Carly said and then Daisy gave her a mean look.

"Oh quit it. I didn't tease you this much when you kept making lopsided angel food cakes," Daisy countered, her blue eyes sparkling with annoyance.

May laughed. "It takes time and lots of practice to make those perfectly. Cut each other some slack," May told them. They smiled.

"Well, if you ever decide to come to Pearl and open up shop there, you can both make the things you know how to make perfectly. You know there isn't a sweet shop in Pearl. That would go over really well. There are so many functions and events. Plus the town is so perfect," Mary told them.

"It sounds perfect every time you describe it when you visit. But it's also so far from New York. We're just not sure about moving," Carly told her.

"Besides, unless Aunt May is planning on selling this house and moving with us, we're not leaving her," Daisy added.

"Don't forget the money needed to start up the sweet shop. I'm working on it, but we still have some time to go. We'll get there and know where to establish the business when the time is right," Lauren said and they all agreed.

May felt her chest tighten. She worried about all three of them, and especially Lauren. She lived on the edge, always risking her life. May often wondered if it stemmed from the fact that she'd killed three men that night their home was invaded. It was like she felt guilty for it. A twelve-year-old shouldn't have had to live with such a burden. In her career as a police officer and detective, she'd killed only one other time and because it was her life or his. She took a bullet to her shoulder but survived. Then of course there was the lunatic on LSD that came after her and Frankie with a butcher knife. Cost Frankie thirty-five st.i.tches to his back and cost Lauren twenty to her side over her ribs. She still had the scar to show for it. But Lauren was tough. Tougher than she needed to be. May worried about her, but police work was her vocation, her calling in life, and the danger was part of the job.

She listened in as the women all talked about what they were up to until after they finished lunch and Lauren's cell phone went off. May watched as Lauren pulled the cell off the belt on her black dress pants as she stood up. The sight of the badge on her waist, the large black gun on her hip in the holster, and her conservative attire made her appear like a typical homicide detective.

"No problem, I'm on my way," Lauren said. "Sorry, but I need to go. There's this case we're working on and our informant just got a lead. I'll see you guys tonight. It was good seeing you, Mary." Lauren hugged Mary and then her sisters before making it around the table to May. May took her hand.

"Be safe."

"Always," Lauren replied like she always did.

They said good-bye and May watched her go. Her heart felt heavy, her concern grew a notch more, and she prayed that Lauren would be okay. She was worried about her.

May glanced at Mary, who gave her a soft, knowing smile. Before the girls had arrived she shared her concerns about Lauren and about the needs of Carly and Daisy. Mary understood. She knew all too well about handling loss and being alone. Mary knew about a lot of things. Including things about the girls' father neither of them ever shared with them. May closed her eyes and prayed to G.o.d to protect Lauren. There wasn't anything more she could do. Fate was in control of all of their lives.

"So what's this meeting all about?" Lauren whispered to Frankie as they stood outside their commander's office. Two Federal agents were there and a couple of the State Trooper investigators who were working the Tenth Street gang case. As Hercules came into view, along with his crew of big shots from the gang unit, she knew something big was up. Hercules eyed her over and then licked his lower lip. He was a hard a.s.s, but good at his job. He and his team did a lot of crazy s.h.i.+t.

"Something is up and we're part of the in crowd apparently."

Lauren didn't reply as Hercules and four of his team approached.

"Detective Michaels. Nice to see you." He reached his hand out for her to shake. She did, and she gave a firm squeeze. He winked.

"You remember the guys." He waved a hand toward his crew, and the four men looked her over and didn't even look at Frankie. She felt on display. Like a piece of meat which was so unlike these guys. They respected her, or so she thought.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and eyed them back. Felix, Roach, Mangle, Turk. All four nodded their heads.