Time for Love

by Lynn Michaels

  Twenty-Seven – Ollie

  Ollie stared at his phone, looking at the results his app spewed out, then stared up at the door. He didn’t like what he saw there. Didn’t like Jeremy’s strange behavior. Damn. Jeremy had called him Scottie and asked him to pick up a watch that he’d showed him only hours ago. If that didn’t mean he was in trouble, Ollie was an idiot. He stepped back from the door and out of the line of sight from the peephole and tapped at his phone.

  It rang on the other end, as obnoxious laughter drifted out from Jeremy’s door.

  “Chief Adams.”

  “Hi, Chief. It’s Mendosa. Listen. I know we’re not on good terms right now and I know that’s one hundred percent my fault. I’m a cocky asshole. But I’m also serious, and I get the job done.”

  “What do you want Mendosa? It’s fucking late.”

  “I’m standing in front of Jeremy Ringer’s apartment.”

  “This had better be good.”

  “No. It’s bad. I ran diagnostics and shit. My app says the people we’re looking for are likely to be right here, and Jeremy is acting very strange. He wasn’t answering my texts and—”

  “So why are you there?”

  “I think they’re here. Right here. Right now.”

  For a moment, Ollie thought he lost the connection, and then a large sigh came over the phone. “I have to tell you something.”

  “What?”

  “We found another case that matched the profile. Came in yesterday, but I didn’t think it fit the MO of our guys. You know? Seems like they harass their targets, threaten them, take what they can and split. Sometimes they circle back around. But this case? There was something different.”

  “What?”

  “We were called in because a landlord found a body. Guy was shot in the head, execution style.”

  “Fuck. These things have been increasing in the level of violence, but that’s a big jump.”

  “It is. I’m sending you backup. Don’t do anything stupid.” There was no mistaking it this time when the Chief hung up on him.

  Stupid? What was stupid? Leaving Jeremy earlier that day was probably the stupidest thing he’d done in his life. How the hell would he top that?

  He walked toward the elevator but couldn’t get on it. No way. He wanted to at least keep an eye on the place until backup came. He walked toward Jeremy’s condo. No more laughter came out—no sounds at all. He moved past the door and down the hall. He turned into the left-hand corridor and stopped. He squatted down, making himself less likely to be seen with a casual glance, but he’d see anyone that opened that door.

  These criminals probably knew Nick had been arrested. He hoped they weren’t taking that news out on Jeremy.

  Twenty-Eight – Jeremy

  “Hey, Sharky. Come help me tie up this asshole.” Dano beckoned to the guy that looked like the wrestler. He’d been quiet most of the night, sitting at the table, leaning back, so two legs of the chair lifted off the floor. He’d been smoking pot. Jeremy recognized the scent. “Seriously, dude.”

  Wrestler-guy put the legs of the chair back on the floor and stood up. Dano cut the power cord from the vacuum cleaner with his big pocket knife and handed it to the wrestler, who used it to tie Jeremy’s ankles together. There wasn’t enough of it to do his hands. The only thing they had left in the empty house was garbage bags. Dano pulled one taut and spun it like wringing a towel, and then he wrapped it around Jeremy’s wrists and worked it until he got a somewhat decent knot. They left Jeremy sitting with his back against the wall in the corner of the living room where, a few days ago, Christy’s things had been stacked and waiting for Bernie to sort out.

  Jeremy let his head thunk back against the wall. He listened to their voices drift from where they’d gathered in the kitchen, but he couldn’t tell what they said. The big dark guy stalked out and left without so much as a glance at Jeremy. Then Star came out of the kitchen and stood in front of him. She kicked his thigh with her toe. “You’re lucky he’s gonna get me so’more alcohol.”

  Jeremy gave her a dirty look but kept his mouth shut.

  “Don’t look at me like that.” She kicked him again. “Is your fault Nick’s locked up. Smug bastard.”

  He didn’t know anything about Nick. Ollie hadn’t told him anything else about the case or any of the others that he entered into his phone app. He hadn’t cared as long as he got to spend time with Ollie, but that had all changed, and Jeremy had let it change. He hadn't spent enough time with his aunt, and she died. He didn't agree to spending more time with Ollie, and now he wouldn't see him again. Maybe ever. He never learned his lesson, and Karma truly was a nasty taskmaster. If he got out of this situation alive, appreciating his family would be a priority on his list. Right up there next to Ollie.

  “Hey, lay off him, Star. Come smoke this.”

  Star leaned in and looked at Jeremy with wide eyes. “You may not live to regret this. Ya know?”

  “Star.” When Dano called her name, she jumped. He handed her a joint, and she puffed on it, holding the smoke in her lungs, before handing it back to Dano. Pot, drugs, it’d never been Jeremy’s thing. Even in college when most of his classmates spent a good bit of their time high, Jeremy hadn’t. He’d smoked a joint now and then, but nothing like this bunch. They seemed determined to fry their brains, getting as high as they could, as fast as they could, on whatever they had.

  “Go sit,” Dano commanded, and she obeyed, heading back to the couch. He scowled at Jeremy. “Want some?” He held the joint out to Jeremy.

  Jeremy glared back at him, and Dano responded with a maniacal laugh. “I think we’ll take ya with us when we blow this pad, Jeremy Ringer. You’re very entertaining.”

  Dano went back in the kitchen and spoke with the other two goons in there. Probably telling them his plans for torturing Jeremy. He didn’t care. Bring it on. Anything, but sitting here waiting for it. Though, he shouldn’t be asking for more trouble than he already had. He didn’t want to go with them, but he sure as hell wanted them to leave.

  He wiggled against his bonds. It didn’t take much to work his wrists out of the garbage bag—poor substitute for rope. Then he picked at the knot in the cord around his ankles. He’d made some headway when he heard Dano cuss. He raised his head up in time to see the back of Dano’s hand swinging toward him.

  Blinding pain.

  Sweet darkness.

  Twenty-Nine – Ollie

  Finally, Ollie’s phone buzzed with a text from Walker, letting him know that Baker and his team were set up downstairs and Walker was on his way up. That was enough for him. Ollie stood and stretched his legs. He’d seen one guy leave earlier but couldn’t do anything about him. That guy would probably get away, simply because backup hadn’t shown up yet—lucky fucker. That meant there were probably still a few guys inside, according to his app, potentially three left. Hopefully, Daniel O’Malley would be one of them. After the analysis he did the night before, he was convinced O’Malley was the leader of the pack—just like Star had said.

  Ollie shook his body and prepared his head. Jeremy had said it before—there was time for everything, and everything had a time. Ollie plastered his ass-kicking expression across his face because it was ass-kicking time. He pounded on the door. “Open up! Fucking now!” He pulled his gun out of his holster and held it up in front of him. He had to be ready. He kicked the bottom of the door.

  It opened to a cute guy with a slim frame, messy, dark, reddish hair, shiny eyes, and a boyish face, but he didn’t fool Ollie. He’d seen the pictures of Dano and read the reports. He had a good impression of how volatile the guy could be. He kicked the door open farther, and Dano pulled up a gun. In a split second, without thought, Ollie grabbed the barrel of the gun with one hand before it could rise higher than his waist and pointed his own gun right in the kid’s face with the other. He might appear young, but Ollie had his number. This kid was lethal, and Ollie wasn’t taking chances. He yanked the gun from his hand and tucked
it behind his back in the waistband of his jeans. He stepped closer, and the guy stepped back. “Daniel O’Malley, I presume?”

  The smile that spread across his face sent a cold shiver down Ollie’s back. “My friends call me Dano.”

  “I call you under arrest, asshole.”

  Two guys stepped out of the kitchen, both towered over Dano and gave off the henchmen vibe. They were big, but not too bright. Dano’s expression didn’t change a bit. “Get out guys. Go!” They listened to Dano’s order and bolted for the door. It slammed behind them, while Ollie two-stepped Dano into the center of the living room. There was a chick asleep on the couch. She didn’t stir, probably passed out, rather than sleeping. He cocked his head toward her. “I’m guessing that’s the infamous Star.”

  “Ahh...now I’m jealous. She’s infamous? What am I?”

  “I told you...under arrest.”

  “So ya said.”

  Ollie stopped walking forward. He didn’t want Star behind him where he couldn’t see her. Regardless of her appearance, if she woke up, if she was faking it, he had to have her where he could keep an eye on her and Dano both.

  “Where’s Jeremy?”

  “Fuck you, cop.” Dano spat his words out like bullets, and his expression finally changed, but not to a better one. His greenish eyes looked hard and cold.

  “You wish, Danny boy.”

  “Don’t fucking call me that.”

  The commotion got Star moving. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What’s going on? What the fuck? Dano?”

  “Get lost, Star. Go on. Get out and shut the door behind you.” Ollie ordered without moving his gun away from Dano.

  Star looked over at Dano, unmoving.

  “Yeah, get out.” Finally, on Dano’s word she moved. Away and out. Ollie didn’t worry about it when she didn’t shut the door.

  He pushed Dano to the far side of the couch. From the new position, he got a glimpse of Jeremy’s body on the floor. “You’re lucky I don’t fucking pull this trigger.” He touched the gun to Dano’s nose. “You better fucking tell me he’s alive, you better do it fast, and you better the fuck not be lying.” Ollie couldn’t ever remember having such a burning rage rush through him like the one threatening to consume him. If Jeremy were dead, there would be no help for Dano.

  “Yeah. Yeah man. Relax. I didn’t kill nobody.”

  “Bullshit. You did. Before coming here. You killed that kid in Summerville. I heard all about that, asswipe.”

  “Nah, man. You got me all wrong. That was...not me...and it was an accident.”

  “Your buddy, Nick, seems to disagree with you.” He was all kinds of outside the lines with this. Plus, he was lying. He had no clue what Nick had said. He also didn’t give a damn.

  “What the fuck? No god-damn-way. Nick shot that dude. Not me. I liked the guy.” Dano raised his eyebrows and leered at Ollie. “Know what I mean?”

  “Shut the fuck up. You have the right to remain silent, and I suggest you do that now, mother fucker.” It took everything he had not to beat the hell out of this guy with the back end of his gun. He kept his eyes on Dano and gripped his gun with both hands. “You also have the right to an attorney. I’m sure you can’t afford one, so we’ll make sure the courts appoint one. I also hope he’s a crappy, fucking old and cynical bastard who’s been doing this a long damn time, and doesn’t give a fuck enough to do anything but let you rot in jail.”

  “I don’t think that’s the Miranda rights.”

  “I don’t think you know who the fuck you were messing with when you decided to attack Jeremy.”

  “Oh, yeah I did. I know he’s your piece of ass.”

  Ollie’s body jerked and tensed. He couldn’t let this asshole get to him, though. He’d never arrested anyone before, though he had the Miranda committed to memory. He didn’t even have handcuffs. He’d been through all the same police training every cop received, but he’d never been in the field, on the street. He was a desk-cop, a specialist. A programmer. That didn’t stop him from wanting to take this bastard out. “Do you understand your rights?”

  “Yeah. I understand everything.” That was the moment his face dropped.

  Walker’s voice came from behind him. “Good. Anything else you want to say, or would you rather keep your smartass mouth shut?”

  Dano looked over Ollie’s shoulder, watching Walker come closer. He grabbed Dano by the arm and yanked him around. “Give me your hands.” Dano complied, and Walker cuffed him with a clank of metal.

  Ollie finally lowered his weapon and dashed over to Jeremy. “J, baby. Come on.” He felt for and found a strong pulse. “I’m gonna need paramedics.” Ollie pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen.

  “Yeah?” Chief’s voice came over loud and clear and gruff as ever. “Talk to me.”

  “Jeremy’s hurt. Send up paramedics. Walker’s on his way with Dano.”

  “Great. We got a couple of his guys fleeing. Wasn’t there supposed to be a woman?”

  “Yeah, Star. She headed out right after the guys. Look for her.”

  Jeremy moved and put his hands up to his head. “Ouch. Ow. Damn...”

  “Jeremy. Hey. You okay?”

  “Oh, fuck. Head hurts. Ollie?” He had his eyes shut in a tight grimace.

  “It looks damn good to me. You had me scared for a minute there.” He ran his hands over Jeremy’s arms. Down his thighs. He needed to know Jeremy wasn’t hurt. “Did they hit you?”

  “Yeah,” Jeremy growled out, sounding more sleepy than anything else. “I’m okay. How the hell did you know to come back here?”

  “We used detective work. I may not have that rank, but that’s what we do. My app was telling me this would be the most probable location. Then there was security camera footage of them outside the building. Then that whole thing about the watch and calling me Scottie. I knew something was up then for sure.”

  Jeremy sat up and moaned. “I couldn’t think of anything else. I hope they didn’t find it.”

  “Your watch?”

  “Yeah.” He moved to get up, but Ollie held him back.

  “Stay put.”

  “I’m fine. Headache. I want to make sure. Where is it?”

  “You can’t touch anything right now. Don’t touch anything. It’s a crime scene now.”

  Jeremy cursed and sat back. Ollie pulled him close to lean against him. He needed Jeremy where he could put his arms around him, comfort him—hell, comfort himself. He buried his nose in Jeremy’s hair. He couldn’t get enough of the tropical tones of coconut and some other fruit, mango or passionfruit, and beneath that, cocoa butter and sunshine.

  “So, did you get them? Arrest them all?”

  “All but Star. For now. We’ll find her soon enough. These guys...they’ve pulled a lot of scams, stolen goods, and drugs. Case solved.”

  “They were doing drugs here. There’s probably some in the kitchen and on the table.”

  Ollie stretched his head up to look but couldn’t see anything from his position on the floor with Jeremy. “Ah, well...the CSI team will be here in a minute.”

  “Okay. Did your app help this time?”

  “It did. It pinpointed the general area but didn't solve the case. Not exactly. It did help to configure the algorithm, so next time it’ll work better. I had to mess with the code. Thankfully, that part was in Python. Great language.”

  “Okay...whatever.” Jeremy’s eyes glassed over.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Did you get my TV back? Scottie’s gonna be pissed.”

  “No...uh, sorry.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll pay him back, somehow. So...you're going back to New York, now?”

  “In a few days, I guess. I have a few things to clear up. Unless there's another case somewhere else to work on. I'd have to go there. But home first, more than likely.”

  “Okay.” Jeremy reached up and entwined his fingers with Ollie’s. He let out a small noise. Like a cross between a
sigh and a squeak, and that small noise cracked Ollie’s heart better than if it were a high note breaking glass.

  Before he could get too comfortable, the paramedics showed up. They checked him out and said he’d be fine but took him out to the ambulance, anyway. Jeremy ordered him to call Scottie before they took him downstairs.

  Ollie made the phone call, and Scottie promised to meet up at the hospital. Ollie had to take care of business first. They’d searched the building, the pool, the surrounding area. Star had disappeared.

  Walker grumbled about the “sneaky bitch.” Ollie was surprised she managed to get away. She hadn’t been sober enough to put one foot in front of the other, much less ditch half the Jacksonville police force. Walker clearly didn’t want to give up. “Let’s get security footage from the apartments and the surrounding businesses. You!” He grabbed a few other detectives and sent them to gather the information. “How far could she get?” No vehicles had left the area, the police had it on lockdown.

  Ollie shrugged. He didn’t want to leave her loose any more than Walker did.

  Baker walked up to them, all smooth confidence, and splapped Ollie on the back. “Nice job, Mendosa.”

  He was a class-A jerk, and that was all the accolades Ollie would ever get from him. He’d take it. “Thanks, man.”

  Thirty – Ollie

  Ollie had hoped to spend a little more time with Jeremy, but that hadn’t happened. Ollie had paperwork for days to finish up. He had the long, tedious task of downloading and reviewing everything from D-TAPPPSS. The analysis was technical and rational. He needed to make sure the program worked properly, but also that the detectives could use the information it returned. He had to lead a few focus groups with the other detectives in the unit to see what they might have done with the information or how they would work their cases differently. He also had to help find Star, who still managed to elude them. It seemed like such a small reward for playing hero.