Code 11- KPD SWAT Box Set

by Lani Lynn Vale

  I winced.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I also meant to tell you about this tonight.”

  He snorted. “Not sure why it was some big to-do. It’s a common disease. And I already knew you had it. Your father told me about it offhandedly. I just didn’t realize you didn’t pay attention to what your body was telling you.”

  I shrugged. “Well, I don’t like it; however, it makes men freak out. Usually, I do listen to what it tells me.”

  He sighed.

  “I’m not those assholes you dated, Lennox,” he said through gritted teeth. “And maybe you should figure that out before we go any further.”

  He didn’t say another word as he walked with me to the bleachers. Not even when I had to explain to them all that I had diabetes, and this happened from time to time.

  Not when we went to dinner afterward, and I followed in my own car.

  Not when we were saying goodbye afterward.

  And not even when I said goodbye to him personally.

  With only a quick kiss and a muttered, ‘See you later.’ He was gone.

  And I was left standing in an empty parking lot watching him drive away.

  Chapter 13

  Men suck. And most of the time not in the good way.

  -Coffee Cup

  Lennox

  “What’s your fucking problem?” I screamed to my phone.

  I was in the driveway of my work, watching my phone and willing the fucker to light up when I damn well knew it wouldn’t.

  He’d been ignoring me for three days now, and here I sat thinking that today would be different.

  Well, fuck that!

  He could kiss my lily white ass.

  Tonight, I’d enjoy myself if it was the last thing I’d do.

  And fuck Bennett and his asshole self.

  When I was about to pull out of the lot, Paxton came barreling out of the exit toward my car and slammed himself onto my hood dramatically.

  I blinked as two nurses and a couple paramedics laughed at Paxton’s theatrical fall.

  So what did I do?

  I turned on my windshield washers and sprayed him with it.

  He scrambled off my hood quickly, brushing his face and shirt off as if he could will the water away with swipes of his hand.

  Then, just for good measure, I sprayed him again as he walked to the passenger side of my car.

  “You’re such a bitch,” he said as he dropped down onto the seat next to me.

  I smiled.

  “What’re you doing?” I asked, looking down at his clothes that were now stained yellow with the pollen that had previously been covering my hood.

  “My car won’t start,” he said tiredly. “Take me home with you.”

  “I wasn’t planning on going home,” I muttered darkly.

  His eyes flared, and a smile started to slowly grow on his face.

  “So… what were you going to do?” he asked casually.

  I smiled back. “Get drunk at a bar.”

  Not really. Maybe just a few drinks.

  “Excellent,” he said, running his hands together briskly. “Let’s do it.”

  Two hours later, and we were most definitely drunk.

  And I was barely holding onto the seat with my ass.

  “Why do you have such,” I hiccupped. “Loud sex?”

  Paxton, who was drunk, but wasn’t to the point where he was hiccupping or slurring his words, replied with, “Because it feels good.”

  I shook my head exaggeratedly.

  “That’s just so wrong. You know Cola barks as loud as you moan. And nobody can have sex that feels that good,” I muttered.

  My mouth didn’t seem to have any control to what was coming out of it, so I said stuff that I never would’ve said under normal circumstances.

  “Oh, don’t play all St. Lennox with me, sister. I heard you and tall, dark, and badass. I know he gives it just as good as I get it,” he snickered loudly.

  I winced.

  Had we been loud?

  Not that I would know since it’d been well over a week since I’d had it from him.

  Had he moved on?

  “What’re you doing?” Paxton asked in alarm when I got out my phone.

  “Noneya,” I hiccupped.

  “Oh, no. You can’t call him when you can barely get your words out!” Paxton made a half-assed grab for the phone, but it was futile. I had a good grip on the sucker, and Paxton was apparently drunker than he looked because he was now trying in vain to pick himself up off the floor where he’d fallen between the wall and the barstool.

  I scrolled through my names, picked the devil, and hit go.

  It rang six times before it went to voicemail, and I heard that sexy, smooth voice said, “Leave a message.”

  I left a message.

  “Hello. My name is Lennox Jane. You call me Nox. I’m twenty-six. I have brown hair with auburn highlights, and I wear makeup because it makes me happy. You are Bennett Alvarez, the man that had good sex with me. But I just wanted you to know, that that is over. No more Nox nookie for you. Say bye bye to the pussy, because you’ll never see it again. And you suck. And I’m keeping that t-shirt I stole from you. And I have your shoes at my place, but I let Cola chew on them because you’re mean. Bye.”

  With that well thought out speech, I dropped off the barstool, and barely caught myself on the ledge of the bar before I fell to the ground beside Paxton.

  “Are you sleeping?” I asked worriedly as I looked down at him.

  “No, I think you need to call a fireman and tell him I can’t get up,” Paxton moaned.

  His voice came out muffled by his arm where he had his face buried, and I started to laugh.

  Poking him with the toe of my clogs, I asked, “Why can’t you move?”

  “The stool won’t move.”

  I rolled my eyes, and my gaze caught that of a group of men in the back of the room watching the spectacle in front of them with amused eyes.

  I reached forward and hooked my fingers underneath the lip of the chair, and drug it away from him until he could roll completely to his back.

  “You’re drawing attention to us,” I whispered worriedly.

  I hadn’t realized it before, but there were men in the back of the room that I surely didn’t want calling their buddy, the man who shall not be named.

  The man who was going to hate himself in the morning when he got that message telling him how stupid he was.

  “Get up, quick!” I urged Paxton with my boot. “They’re coming!”

  Paxton rolled over quickly, knowing when my voice got shrill like that that it meant I was about to lose it.

  He got up onto his hands and knees, then, as if in slow motion, made it to his feet.

  He wasn’t quick at all, and that was proven moments later when the tattooed god in all his glory, strode up to us with a smile tilting up the corner of his lips.

  “Hey, Lennox. How’s it shaking?” Michael asked with amusement.

  I narrowed my eyes at him and his silent laughter. He may not be showing it outwardly, but I knew damn well and good he was doing it in his head.

  I hated it when people laughed at me.

  “Michael,” I said stiffly. “What do you want?”

  His lips twitched at my forwardness, but he didn’t comment.

  Instead he looked at Paxton who’d managed to regain his stool.

  “Who’re you?” Michael asked.

  “I’m Paxton Jedidiah Johansen,” Paxton said, holding out his hand to the other man. “It’s nice to meet you. And I love that shirt. It really compliments your forearms. And those biceps are stupendous.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  Could Paxton be any gayer?

  I mean, the least he could do was act like he wasn’t gay. Maybe make these guys think that I’d moved on from Bennett. But ohhh, not Paxton. He couldn’t even pretend!

  Michael’s s
atisfied smile turned to me, completely ignoring Paxton and his come on.

  “Are you two going home?” He asked, looking pointedly at my purse that was hooked on my arm.

  I nodded. “We were.”

  No explanations from me, Mister!

  “Are you two going to drive?” He asked after I didn’t continue.

  I raised a condescending eyebrow at him. “I’m twenty-six, Michael. I know how to take care of myself. Which was why we’d planned to walk since our house isn’t but five minutes from here.”

  He pursed his lips, and I assumed it was so he wouldn’t laugh, but what did I know?

  The man could be pissed.

  I didn’t know Michael well.

  Then a thought struck me.

  And my mouth got away from me.

  “You know,” I said hurriedly. “Joslin’s a bitch. Nikki’s wayyyyy,” I exaggerated the ‘way’ with an exaggerated sweep of my hand. “Nicer. And prettier. And less of a bitch. By like, nearly a hundred times or more. And Joslin cheats on her boyfriends with every man in the hospital. I’m pretty sure that Nikki is a virgin. And if she isn’t, then really, really inexperienced.”

  Michael’s face completely shut down.

  No more Mr. Nice Guy.

  Uh-oh.

  Time to retreat.

  “Well, I’ll see you later,” I said, taking Paxton’s hand on the way past him.

  Michael’s energy seemed to sear my skin as I moved past him, dragging Paxton the entire way.

  My legs felt super light as I walked to the door, very aware that I still had the attention of the other four men in the back of the room, as well as the one still at my back.

  “Oh, my God, Paxton. Hurry up or they’ll make us stay!” I urged hurriedly.

  Paxton stopped smiling and waving at people as we passed, and started forward as he said, “I don’t know why you’re hurrying. Wouldn’t it be better to act like you’ve moved on? What will running away accomplish?”

  “It’ll accomplish me not seeing Bennett when he gets here. Something I know they’re going to make happen. I already see one of them on the phone,” I snapped.

  I’d nearly made it to the door when he stepped through the door.

  Dressed to the nines in his police uniform, my heart skipped a beat.

  But then it restarted the next moment when I caught the sight of the woman he was holding the door open for a beautiful blonde woman that I’d never seen before.

  He was on the phone, and his eyes were downcast.

  But his hand was placed possessively on her hip, and he was holding the door open with the other while his phone was squeezed between his ear and his shoulder.

  My heart stopped, and I gasped.

  He looked up, saw me, and didn’t show the least bit of understanding.

  He looked surprised to see me, but that was it.

  Not regretful that I’d caught him with someone else.

  Not anything.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Not now, and not ever.

  Turning around on my heel, I dashed around Paxton and made a break for it down the back hallway. Then straight the fuck out the door.

  And I can’t say that what I did next was very nice of me.

  In fact, it was downright mean and bad. And possibly very illegal.

  Taking my keys from my purse, I unfolded my Swiss Army Knife and sank it into Bennett’s front tire as I passed.

  The air escaped the small hole with a low hiss, and I giggled before I started hurrying down the sidewalk that would lead me to my house three blocks away.

  My mind was a whirlwind as I walked, which was why when I got on my street, I didn’t realize that there was something wrong with my house until I’d nearly made it two houses down from it.

  And the current reason there was something wrong with it was due to the stupid bitch on the front lawn with a can of spray paint in one hand, and a jug of bleach in the other.

  “What the fuck?” I yelled, sprinting forward until I came face to face with the stupid bitch who continuously made a fool of me. “What are you doing at my house?”

  ***

  Bennett

  “Thanks for bringing me, Bennett. I appreciate it!” Iris said, smiling sweetly at me.

  Iris was the wife of Detective O’Keefe, another one of the men receiving an award at tonight’s police banquet.

  I’d had to stay for pictures, as had she for being the event coordinator, while the other members of the SWAT team had gotten off nearly an hour before.

  “Your phone’s beeping,” Iris said pointedly.

  I’d ignored the call from Lennox, knowing what she had to say to me probably wasn’t going to be nice.

  I didn’t doubt for a second that she was mad.

  Hell, I was still mad.

  But I was also busy, and I should’ve called but it’d been the farthest thing from my mind. Especially when Corrinne did the one thing I knew she was going to do.

  File for partial custody of Reagan, even though I’d had her money returned within a day of them taking it.

  “No problem,” I muttered. “Although, I wouldn’t have minded taking you home,” I said tiredly.

  Iris sniffed delicately. “OK knows where I’m at. He’ll come for me when he’s ready.”

  OK was short for O’Keefe, and a nickname she called her husband.

  I had dinner with the couple and their kids multiple times since I’d joined the department, and their daughter and mine had become really good friends.

  Effectively making it to where we saw a lot of each other.

  “Check your phone.” Iris laughed when it beeped again.

  Three calls in the last twenty minutes.

  What the fuck?

  Sighing, I took the phone out to listen to the voicemail messages.

  “You better get down here. Your woman’s with another man,” Michael’s deep voice rumbled before he abruptly hung up.

  Brow’s lowering, I listened to the next one.

  “Hello. My name is Lennox Jane. You call me Nox. I’m twenty… something. I have brown hair with auburn highlights, and I wear makeup because it makes me happy. You are Bennett Alvarez, the man that had good sex with me. But I just wanted you to know, that that is over. No more Nox nookie for you. Say bye bye to the pussy, because you’ll never see it again. And you suck. And I’m keeping that t-shirt I stole from you. And I have your shoes at my place, but I let Cola chew on them because you’re mean. Bye.”

  I laughed. Flat out. Full force.

  That woman.

  The last one was from just moments ago when I was getting out of my truck.

  As I opened the door to the bar where I was meeting the men from work, I started listening to the last voicemail.

  “Your girl’s leaving, and if I had to guess, she’s pretty pissed at you. If you don’t want her to walk, let me know and I’ll give her a…”

  I lost my train of thought when I looked up to a broken-hearted gasp.

  Lennox, with Paxton at her back, was staring at me in horror.

  She looked like I’d ripped her heart out and stomped on it in front of her.

  When I went to reach for her, Iris stepped into my path inadvertently and started jabbering about what she was going to have to eat.

  All the while she didn’t realize what was happening right in front of her.

  I placed my hand on her hip to move her and tried to get a word in, but she just spoke over me about the hamburger she was going to devour.

  Lennox’s eyes went down to my hand on Iris’ hip, and her eyes welled with tears before she turned and ran in the opposite direction toward the bathroom.

  Paxton looked at me like he wanted to kill me, and I held my hands up.

  “She’s only a friend! She’s married to someone else who’s meeting her here in an hour!” I yelled at him before he said something that
’d get him into trouble.

  Paxton finally stepped aside which allowed a very confused Iris to walk into the bar.

  “What?” She asked in confusion.

  I caught Downy’s eye who’d just gotten to the bar for a refill and said, “Can you handle that?” As I passed.

  I didn’t wait for him to answer yes or no.

  I knew Lennox must be pissed, or hurting. Or possibly both.

  And I wouldn’t let her live that lie. Not again.

  I’d just gotten into a snit with her on Friday because of her comparing me to her other boyfriends; there was no way I’d let this go any further without setting her straight.

  Except when I finally got to the bathrooms in the back hallway, both were open.

  Meaning Lennox had taken the backdoor and not gone to the bathroom at all.

  There hadn’t been time.

  So I bailed out the back, following the brick sidewalk around the back of the building until I got to the place where I parked my truck.

  Then I heard the shallow hissing sound coming from my feet, and I bent down next to the front tire to examine it.

  What I saw made my blood boil in my veins as I saw the tiniest of puncture marks in the top of my tire.

  That little shit!

  Really mad now, I started down the street toward Lennox’s house at a fast clip, a mixture between running and walking.

  I was hot, tired, and angry. The idea that Lennox just walked down this street when she had a stalker was really making it to where I couldn’t see straight.

  Which was also why I didn’t see what I should be seeing until I was nearly in Lennox’s yard before I saw her.

  Well… them.

  Lennox was squaring off with someone with a ski mask covering half of her face, and the rest of the blonde hair tumbled out the back, totally defeating the purpose of it.

  “Why don’t you leave me the fuck alone?” Lennox screamed loudly.

  “Because you fucked my man, that’s why!”

  A blast from the past had my body jolting in surprise, and my eyes narrowed on the woman’s hair.

  And a sick knot of fear tore through me.

  Not fear of her, but fear for my daughter. For the woman that I loved.

  Because I knew this woman.

  I knew how relentless she was.