Love Against the Law

by Justine Klavon

  Trying to keep his cool, Mack made an attempt to return some phone calls pertaining to his case for almost twenty minutes before giving up and going into this Captain’s office. Hobbs wasn’t surprised to see his best but most problematic detective as he sat down on the other side of his desk.

  “I’m not telling you where she is,” Hobbs said right away. “I know you staked out her location the last three times she was on the street. You’re going to blow her cover, Johnson.”

  “Then just get her out of there already,” Mack argued. “Vice shouldn’t be using her as their personal prop.”

  “Look, Sammi has proven herself to be a pretty great cop and she seems to enjoy being able to help wherever she is needed,” Hobbs explained. “You’re going to have to loosen your grip if she’s going to stay on the force.”

  “I don’t want her on the force if all she’s doing is pretending to be a sex worker every day,” Mack mumbled as he got up to leave, and Hobbs pretended not to hear him.

  Mack went back to his desk and pouted for the rest of his shift. His partner on their current case was Detective Andrew Palma, previously Officer Palma. Palma was all too familiar with Mack’s situation and knew better than to get involved. He was the newest detective in the unit and had a ton of respect for Mack but sometimes wished Mack were more open to showing him the ropes of Homicide.

  As it reached the end of his shift, Mack still hadn’t heard from Sammi nor anything about her. He never left the precinct to go home without her, so he created busy work for himself to give him a reason to be there. Less than an hour later, Sergeant Tanner from downstairs entered the squad room and walked right to Mack’s desk.

  “I need someone to transport the witness in Interview Room 1A,” Tanner directed Mack. “And for God’s sake, use discretion, Lieutenant.”

  Then the Sergeant turned and headed back downstairs. Mack tossed his paperwork into a drawer and rushed down to the ground floor. Interview 1A was closest to the front door of the building, which Mack knew they had done on purpose to keep the “witness” from being seen on their way out. Mack slipped into the room and stood by the door, looking at his lovely wife sitting at the metal table in a tiny purple rave dress and fishnet stockings.

  “You ready to go home, party animal?” Mack teased with a warm smile.

  Without a word, Sammi stood up from the table and crossed the room to Mack. She gently pushed him into the walls of the corner and kept her hands on his broad shoulders as she pressed her lips to his. Mack put his hands in her soft, golden hair while he returned her kiss.

  “I love you,” Sammi breathed against his lips.

  “This doesn’t make up for you going undercover again,” Mack mumbled, moving his face into her hair as he smirked.

  “Then take me home, detective,” she taunted and kissed the warm, soft skin of his neck.

  Mack removed his jacket and placed it over Sammi’s shoulders before steering her out of the interview room and out of the building. Anyone who didn’t know the couple would easily assume they were just a cop and a civilian.

  *

  It was a bit of a long drive home to Mack’s and Sammi’s new place on Long Island. The couple had moved into the adorable little split-level house right before they got married and the peacefulness outside of the city made the hour-long commute more than worth it. They also enjoyed the guaranteed time alone together in the car to talk about their day without distractions.

  Sammi knew that Mack didn’t really like that she was a cop. He was proud of her, but he worried too much about her on the job. She wasn’t totally crazy about it either and would much rather still be stealing money for a living, but this was the only way she knew how to make herself feel worthy of a man like Mack Johnson. She hadn’t forgiven herself for leaving him and almost getting him killed three years ago, and probably never would.

  When they got home that night, Sammi darted into their bedroom to change out of the obnoxiously tight party dress. Mack leaned against the doorframe and watched her while she dug through a drawer for sweatpants. He had nothing but pure love in his heart for his beautiful wife, but it was sheer lust that Sammi saw in his eyes when she turned around.

  “Want to help me out of this?” Sammi asked seductively.

  “Leave it on,” Mack told her as he removed his shirt and closed in on her.

  *

  The next day was Saturday and both Sammi and Mack had the weekend off. Sammi always spent her free Saturdays in the city so she woke up after sleeping in a little bit, showered, and put on jeans and t-shirt before kissing her husband goodbye and grabbing her car keys off the kitchen counter. She drove to Mack’s old apartment building and headed up to the apartment that was still leased under Mack’s name. It took a moment longer than usual after she knocked on the familiar door for it to open, and she was wearing a dramatic frown on her face by the time Kodi greeted her.

  “What were you doing?” Sammi asked, judging Kodi as she walked into the clean apartment.

  “Sleeping! I wasn’t expecting you for another thirty minutes!” Kodi defended herself.

  “Oh, sorry.” Sammi pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. “I missed you.”

  “You’re hopeless without me,” Kodi laughed and stuck her head out into the hallway. “No Romeo today?”

  “No, he’s spending the day with his kids,” Sammi told her.

  Kodi closed the apartment door and the friends sat at the kitchen island to discuss how they should spend the day. Neither of them minded when Mack tagged along, but they definitely preferred having some time alone together to talk freely, either about Mack or about their old life. Bringing up their criminal past had become taboo around Mack, but the girls weren’t about to forget any of it ever happened.

  “Want to do something crazy?” Kodi asked, getting up and walking to the refrigerator. “Want to go check out the mall where you first met Mack?”

  “You mean the mall we robbed where Mack and I literally tried to kill each other?” Sammi replied with a grin. “Sure! Let’s go!”

  Kodi grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge and handed one to Sammi before hurrying upstairs to change out of her pajama shorts. She came back downstairs wearing jeans and a cute orange tank top with her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had begun to come out of her shell and show off her beauty more lately, but no matter what she did, her attempts always fell flat compared to Sammi.

  “You look cute! But I think you should wear your hair down,” Sammi said, looking her best friend up and down. Kodi scowled but let her hair down anyway.

  “I wish the academy had made you shave your head,” Kodi hissed, still scowling as she followed Sammi out of the apartment on their way to Sammi’s car.

  “Bite your tongue!” Sammi cried out after a theatrical gasp, shaking her head to readjust her own golden locks.

  The girls laughed as they exited the elevator in the lobby and took a side door into the parking garage. The garage was dark and Sammi noted that it was much quieter than when she had arrived. There was no one around to be seen and no vehicles with engines running to be heard, but Sammi felt someone watching them. About twenty feet from her car, she stopped and took a good look around. She didn’t see anybody, not a single soul, but the feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that they weren’t alone.

  “Get to the car,” Sammi ordered strictly but calmly.

  Kodi picked up her pace and hurried to the passenger side of Sammi’s black Nissan. Sammi continued walking slowly and took in every inch of the parking garage within her sight while keeping her hands at her sides and ready to grab the handgun from her waistband if needed. Even though she didn’t enjoy being a cop, she had taken her training seriously and was proud of her ability to protect and serve when necessary. She had actually chosen to not carry her weapon when off-duty for the first year she was on the force, but Mack had talked her into it, at least when he wasn’t around.

  Sammi made it to the car without seeing anyone a
nd unlocked the vehicle for Kodi. Kodi slid into the passenger seat while Sammi took one last look around the dark garage before finally getting behind the steering wheel. Then she calmly started the engine and drove away.

  “What was that about?” Kodi asked, not comfortable with seeing her best friend act like a real cop.

  “I think someone was following us,” Sammi told her with a relaxed straight face as she kept her eyes on the road.

  “Should we be worried?” Kodi replied, immediately thinking about Eli and Shay.

  Shay had been arrested on the scene in the hotel room following their final heist but had been released eighteen months later. And Eli had never been caught nor ever heard from again.

  “No, relax,” Sammi said with a calming smile. “I was just looking for an excuse to go into cop-mode.”

  “I think a part of you enjoys it,” Kodi teased and laughed.

  *

  When the girls got to the mall, they pretended to shop for a bit but they both knew why they were really there. Without discussing it, they made their way to the spot on the second floor where the shootout with Mack had taken place. Sammi found where she had fallen to the ground after taking the shot to her thigh and stood over it, wanting to feel something from it. The flooring had been replaced at some point over the past few years, and it seemed as though any connection she should’ve had to the memories there had been removed with the blood-stained tiles.

  Instead of the desired connection to the past, Sammi’s skin tingled in the present. She froze in the moment, moving only her eyes to look at the people around her. Almost everyone passing by were just regular shoppers carrying bags or chatting lightly with companions. But while Sammi stood by the railing, facing away from Kodi, someone walked by her and casually bumped into her arm. The person wore a hooded sweatshirt that was baggy enough to hide their body type and the hood was up to hide their face. They kept walking and Kodi didn’t seem to notice them so Sammi thought it best not to pursue. But she wasn’t going to ignore that this stranger and the parking garage stalker were not just a coincidence.

  “Do you remember where you took the second shot?” Kodi asked, breaking through Sammi’s thoughts.

  “Honestly, I don’t even know which direction we went from here. I could hardly walk and was in a panic about being arrested,” Sammi told her.

  “I know I was scared of Mack taking you away from me, but I’m really grateful for him and everything he’s done for us,” Kodi admitted.

  The friends then finally moved on from their historical location and completed their lap around the mall. They shopped a little but mostly talked as best friends tend to do. Sammi kept an eye out for the hooded stranger the entire time but never crossed paths with them again. She never mentioned it to Kodi, even as she dropped her off alone at home.

  During her hour-long trip home, Sammi debated whether she was going to tell Mack about the weird occurrences or not. She hadn’t told Kodi because she didn’t want to make her worry. And she knew Mack would worry and get super overprotective of her. For her own sanity, she decided to keep it to herself unless weird things continued to happen.

  By the time Sammi got home, Mack had dinner almost ready for them. She kissed her husband and asked him how his day was while she filled her NYPD-logo-adorned travel mug with water from the fridge. They talked about Mack’s day and about his kids while they ate, and it became somewhat awkward. It always got awkward after Mack saw his kids because he was intentionally keeping Sammi separated from that part of his life. Sammi wasn’t totally crazy about kids, but these were her husband’s kids and she didn’t enjoy feeling like a dark secret.

  Feeling put out, Sammi had no more appetite and got up from the table to clean her dish. Then she headed to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed to remove her shoes. Mack appeared in the doorway only seconds later and leaned against the doorframe.

  “So, what did you do today?” Mack asked.

  A wave of déjà vu washed over Sammi as nausea spread from the pit of her stomach. She gripped the comforter beneath her in both fists and hung her head until the feeling passed. Mack, realizing quickly he had unintentionally come across as intimidating to his scarred wife, took a step toward her, wanting to comfort her. But she threw up her hand to keep him at bay and he stopped in his tracks.

  “Space,” Sammi said quietly without looking up. That was all she had to say, and without a word, Mack grabbed a pair of sweatpants to wear to bed and retired to the guest bedroom for the evening.

  Chapter Twelve

  Heroes

  The next morning Sammi woke up early, feeling bad about banishing Mack to the guestroom. They had this rule in place for a reason, but Sammi never felt good about enforcing it. Deep down she knew that Mack never meant to do or say anything to upset her, but she could only feel free and safe in the relationship if she had this little bit of power over it.

  Sammi slipped quietly into the guestroom and found Mack still asleep. She softly climbed onto the queen-sized bed and crawled over top of Mack so she could lightly kiss his nose. Mack scrunched up his handsome face before opening his eyes. Seeing Sammi, he wrapped his arms around her body and held her against him.

  “Babe, I am so sorry. I should’ve paid more attention to how I talked to you,” Mack said, hugging Sammi tighter.

  “No, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Sammi told him and kissed him on the mouth. “I just reacted to my past.”

  “I really did just want to know how your day was,” Mack replied, smiling under Sammi’s lips.

  “And I’d love to tell you. After I make you breakfast!” Sammi jumped off the bed in excitement.

  “So, scrambled eggs and toast?” Mack teased, knowing Sammi couldn’t cook anything else.

  “You’ll eat it and you’ll love it,” Sammi taunted back and stuck her tongue out at her husband before skipping out of the room.

  After Sammi left, Mack sunk deeper into the bed with a huge grin on his face. He couldn’t think of a time in his life when he was ever happier. He reveled in this joyful feeling for a few minutes before finally dragging himself out of bed and into the shower.

  The couple enjoyed their breakfast even though Mack insisted on continuing to tease Sammi about her cooking skills, or lack thereof. Sundays were their usual day to relax and prepare themselves for another week of their stressful jobs.

  “You still owe me a story,” Mack said kindly and kissed Sammi after clearing the table from breakfast.

  “Okay, but don’t get mad,” Sammi replied innocently as she took Mack’s hand and led him over to the couch where they both sat down facing each other. “Kodi and I took a field trip to the place where you and I first met.”

  “Why did you do that?” Mack asked, sincerely curious.

  “I don’t know. I thought I would feel something,” Sammi told him with a vague shrug of her shoulders.

  Mack made a face of confusion and concern as he stared at Sammi. This was the first he was hearing about Sammi lacking feelings and had to wonder if she wasn’t as happy as he was in the relationship. And that thought terrified him.

  “What…did you want to feel?” Mack asked cautiously.

  “Mack,” Sammi said sadly, looking down at her hands in her lap, “I miss it. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help it.”

  “Sammi, you’re allowed to feel how you feel,” Mack replied as he reached over and pulled his wife toward him.

  Mack held Sammi in his arms while they sat on the sofa and Sammi snuggled into him. They were both quiet for a bit and enjoyed the comfort of each other. Sammi’s mind was racing with thoughts of fear from finally opening up to her husband while Mack’s mind was calm because he had always known.

  “You are who you are,” Mack continued to ease his wife’s guilt, “and you are a thief. I’m sorry that I’m not more comfortable with that, but I love you for everything that you are. It might be a longshot, but if you wanted to quit the force, maybe every so often you could get out of town a
nd do what you love to do.”

  “You would be okay with that?” Sammi asked, surprised, as she tilted her face up to look at Mack’s.

  “To be completely honest, I think you’d be safer,” Mack admitted and kissed the top of her head.

  “I guess I have some things to think about.”

  *

  Returning to theft wasn’t something Sammi was going to decide overnight, nor did she want to make the decision without discussing it with Kodi first. So, she returned to the precinct with Mack on Monday for another week of being the good guy.

  What Mack couldn’t seem to understand about the unit Sammi was a part of was that they didn’t belong to any specific squad. Their job was to be flexible and comfortable in different units throughout the precinct. Sammi liked working with Vice because she had gotten to know those guys and trusted them. But as she walked through the door on Monday, Sergeant Tanner informed her that she was needed to fill in for a patrol officer for a shift.

  Disappointed, Sammi headed into the locker room and changed into her patrol uniform. Sammi was the least experienced officer in the unit when it came to this part of the job because her skills kept her busy in other departments most of the time. And her least favorite part of this gig was getting partnered with a patrol officer she’d never met. These shifts were nothing but awkward and uncomfortable, sitting in the patrol car while her temporary partner issued speeding tickets. If fate had anything to do with it, it was definitely pushing her away from the force and back into the arms of robbery.

  Reporting to the front desk in proper uniform and her long, blonde hair tied back in a tight ponytail, Sammi saw the lone patrol officer waiting for his fill-in partner for the day. As soon as he saw Sammi, he didn’t have time to hide the disappointment on his face. It was no secret that most patrol officers in the unit preferred male patrol partners and didn’t feel nearly as comfortable relying on a female officer. This was precisely why Sammi preferred working with her Vice unit and wasn’t feeling so encouraged to stay on the force.