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An Honorable Man

Page 9

by Margaret Watson


  Two dull spots of color burned in Raul’s cheeks. “Thank you, my friend. I will keep your words in mind.”

  Luke nodded then slipped out the door, pulling Julia with him. As they walked down the alley he didn’t let go of her hand. She was ridiculously grateful as she eyed the decrepit garages that seemed to press in on them.

  “He has an amazing talent,” she said tentatively.

  “Raul? Yeah, he’s something, isn’t he? I wonder why he won’t apply to study at the Art Institute? He ought to know how good he is.”

  “I’m sure he does,” she said dryly. “Didn’t you see? He can’t afford to go to school at the Art Institute and he knows it.”

  He stopped in his tracks and looked at her, amazement on his face. “Why do you think that?”

  “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Does he ever display his birds at craft shows or art fairs?”

  “Not that I know of. He’d have no way to get to one.”

  “Do you think he lives in a garage by choice?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that he doesn’t have any money and he’s too proud to admit it,” she said impatiently. “Honestly, Luke, you’re supposed to know him. Why haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  He looked at her, dumbstruck, and she almost laughed at his expression. She’d known immediately what the look in Raul’s eyes meant. “You mean he’s hiding in that garage because he doesn’t want to ask anyone for the money to go to school?” he asked slowly.

  “I’m sure he is.” Her voice was gentle. “He’s too proud to ask for that kind of help.”

  Luke stared at her for a moment, then his lips curled up in a smile. His grip shifted on her hand and he started down the alley again. “If you’re right, I know just the cure for Raul’s kind of stubbornness.” They turned onto the side street again and headed for the block where they’d left their car. He smiled again and got a faraway look in his eyes.

  A strange warmth flooded through her as she watched him. Just as she opened her mouth to ask him what he was going to do, he jerked to a stop and let go of her hand. Slowly she turned her head to find a group of five youths in orange-and-green jackets blocking their way.

  Chapter 6

  One of the boys flicked open a switchblade knife and began to clean his fingernails. All of the others crowded closer to him, forming an impenetrable wall on the sidewalk.

  Julia felt Luke tense beside her as she beat down the panic that wanted to bubble up to the surface. Think, she ordered herself fiercely. They wouldn’t win this fight if they relied on brute strength or her badge or even the gun she’d glimpsed under Luke’s jacket. They were outnumbered, and the punks in front of them stood too close and watched too carefully.

  “Thank goodness,” she gushed, looking at the group in front of them. Her hand clamped on Luke’s, willing him to be quiet. “You don’t have any idea how glad we are to see you.”

  The gang members watched her, an excited, predatory expression stirring in their eyes. “Yeah, well, that’s good to hear. Because we’re real glad to see you, too.”

  It was the one with the switchblade who spoke. Apparently he was the leader. She addressed her next remark to him, ignoring the way he was testing the blade of the knife against his thumb. “Oh, good, you must have been looking for us.” She reached inside her briefcase and pulled out a piece of paper at random, proud of the fact that her hand barely shook. “Is Sylvia Mendenez related to one of you?”

  She looked from one face to another expectantly. The excited expression slowly faded from their eyes and they simply looked wary now. “You said you were glad to see us. I assumed one of you must be related to Sylvia.” She let her voice take on a petulant tone as she watched them. “Well? Which one of you is it?”

  The five boys looked at one another, bewildered. Finally the leader took control again, stepping closer. “We don’t know anyone named Sylvia.” His voice was low and menacing.

  “Well, then, maybe you can tell us how to get to her house. Her address is 2612 Evergreen Street.” She paused and looked at them expectantly.

  “We don’t give a damn about Sylvia Mendenez.” The knife glittered and the leader took another step toward them. “There’s only one thing we’re interested in.” His eyes raked over her, lingering at her breasts. “Maybe two.”

  Julia prepared to swing her briefcase as she felt Luke gathering himself. She let her hand slide from his hand up his arm in what she hoped looked like a casual gesture. She gripped his sleeve and held on tightly, hoping he understood. “If you don’t care about Sylvia, you should care about your own relatives.” She took a step forward, pointing her briefcase at the leader. “Do you have a sister? Or a girlfriend?”

  He frowned, and the knife was briefly still. “What do they have to do with anything?”

  Julia nodded at Luke. “We’re visiting nurses. It’s our job to make sure that the people in your neighborhood have good medical care.” She paused and glowered at him. “If it was your sister I was visiting, I’m sure you’d want to help. And if you can tell us where 2612 Evergreen Street is, we would appreciate it. Sylvia is expecting us, and we’re already late.”

  Luke must have figured out what she was doing, because he gently disengaged his hand and rested it lightly on his hip. His relaxed appearance didn’t fool her at all. She knew he would spring into action if the gang leader took another step forward, and as she waited she held her breath, praying she’d done the right thing.

  “Remember when one of them visited Yolanda last year?” It was one of the boys who stood behind the leader, a child who couldn’t have been older than fourteen. “The nurse took real good care of her.”

  The leader turned around slowly. “Are you saying you want to let them go?”

  Julia heard the menace in his voice and prayed silently. She didn’t dare look at Luke.

  “Tell her where this Sylvia lives and leave them alone. My mama hasn’t been feeling too good lately. Maybe they’ll come back and help her.” It was another of the boys who spoke, and Julia slowly let out the breath she’d been holding.

  The leader turned back to them. He watched them for a long time, then suddenly flicked the knife blade back into its case with a fluid motion. “Since you are here to help our families, we will help you.” He gave them directions to the fictitious address on the street Julia had remembered seeing, then stood aside so they could pass. All the other boys fell into place behind him.

  Julia inclined her head. “Thank you for your assistance. Perhaps we’ll meet again if anyone in your family ever needs help.”

  Luke nodded curtly to the gang as they walked past them. The hairs on the back of Julia’s neck stood straight up as they walked away. Every muscle in her body tensed, expecting to be grabbed from behind at any moment. When they had put a half block between them and the gang, she started to walk faster. Luke took her elbow and made her slow down, muttering, “Don’t blow it now. If it looks like you’re panicking, they’ll be on us in an instant.”

  When they turned the corner onto the block where they’d left his car and were out of sight of the gang, she took a deep shuddering breath and let her shoulders sag. Luke looked down at her, then put his arm around her.

  “It’s just a few more feet to the car. Come on, Julia. Don’t fall apart on me now.” His voice was low and soothing, and she wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and lose herself in its comfort.

  “I am not falling apart. It’s just a reaction to the adrenaline.” Gritting her teeth, she fixed her eyes on his car and forced herself to put one foot in front of the other.

  When they got to the car, Luke yanked open the door and practically pushed her into it. In another moment he was behind the wheel, pulling away from the curb and heading for the nearest busy street. Neither of them said a word until he pulled up at a small park in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

  Luke turned and looked at Julia. She sat rigid on the seat, staring out the wi
ndow. When he reached over and touched her hand, it was ice-cold.

  Unbuckling his seat belt, he slid across the bench seat and curled his arm around her shoulders. She went into his embrace willingly, burying her face in his shoulder.

  “It’s all right, Julia,” he murmured into her hair. Her subtle scent drifted up to him and he tightened his hold on her. “We’re okay. We got away and nothing happened.”

  She leaned back and looked at him. He felt the tremor that ran through her. “I’ve seen some horrible things in my years with Internal Affairs,” she whispered. “But do you know what got to me? Their eyes.” She shuddered. “Did you see their eyes? They were only children, and their eyes were dead. They would have killed us, Luke, and not thought anything of it.”

  They wouldn’t have been killed, he thought grimly, pulling her close once more. But he wasn’t sure Julia needed to know what it was they had in mind. Thinking about the way the leader of the gang had looked at Julia’s breasts brought the fury bubbling up in Luke all over again. He still wasn’t sure how he had managed to restrain himself.

  “They didn’t do anything to us,” he said again. “And it was because of the way you handled them.” No thanks to you, McKinley. He eased her away from him and looked down at her, his face grim. “It’s a good thing one of us was awake.”

  She shrugged and looked away. “I knew it wouldn’t be a fair fight with five of them against two of us. It was the first thing I thought of.”

  She obviously had dismissed the gun tucked into the small of his back, and rightly so. A hell of a lot of good it had done since he’d let those punks get too close to take a chance on pulling it out. If he hadn’t been so preoccupied with her and Raul, he would have noticed that group of hoodlums earlier and been ready to handle them.

  That’s what happened when you let yourself be distracted on the job. One small slip could have big repercussions. If it hadn’t been for Julia’s quick thinking, it could have gotten very messy. The last thing he’d wanted to do was advertise their presence in that neighborhood today.

  His hand curled around Julia, pulling her close for the space of a heartbeat, then he set her away from him. Forcing himself to move away from her, when all he wanted to do was pull her back into his arms and hold her there, he said, “Why don’t we go for a little walk?”

  Before she could answer he was out of the car and around to her door. When he opened it, she looked up at him and got out without a word. Shoving her hands into the pockets of her blazer, she headed toward the playground where several children ran and played on the elaborate equipment.

  “Thank you,” he said as he caught up with her. “You saved my neck back there, and I know it.” He bit the words off one by one.

  She slanted him a look and kept going, her toe kicking up small bits of gravel as she walked. “You don’t sound real happy about it,” she murmured.

  “Of course I’m not happy about it,” he snapped. “If I’d been doing my job, it wouldn’t have been necessary for you to play out that little charade.”

  She turned to him, a flare of anger in her eyes. That was good, he told himself as he looked away. If she was angry enough, there wouldn’t be room for her fear.

  “Your way would have left bleeding bodies behind. Is that what’s necessary for you to feel you’ve done your job?”

  He met her gaze and held it, thankful for the anger that now swept through him. It was better than the guilt. “That’s certainly been the case in the past, hasn’t it? The drunken driver who killed my wife would attest to that.”

  As he watched, her anger drained away, replaced by a softness in her eyes that he didn’t want to see. Turning away from her, he marched toward the center of the park, not bothering to see if she was following.

  Picking out a bench that stood in the early spring sunshine, he lowered himself down and looked at the children playing. Women sat in small groups on the other benches, keeping a watchful eye on the children climbing on the playground equipment.

  She slid onto the bench next to him. Watching the children for a while, she finally murmured, “You’re not a comic book hero, you know. You can’t always save everyone.”

  He wondered if she was talking about what had just happened, or about the accident that had killed his wife. It didn’t matter, he thought bleakly. Nothing could ever change what had happened that night, or the responsibility he felt for it.

  “I didn’t have to be a hero of any kind to see the problem with that gang coming,” he retorted. “I just needed to be paying attention.” He turned to look at her then. “That’s a dangerous neighborhood, Julia. There’s no excuse for allowing something like that to happen.”

  “A lot of things happen that you can’t control, Luke.” Her voice was very gentle, and again he wondered if she was talking about that morning or a rainy night two years ago. “What matters is that we survived and handled it. Can we forget about it and go on?”

  “Yeah,” he muttered. “It’s not something I’m going to want to remember, anyway.”

  “At least you could give me some credit, instead of brooding about the fact that you weren’t paying attention,” she said with asperity.

  He watched her indignant face and felt something loosen inside of him. She was right. Instead of brooding about his own failures, he should be giving her the credit she deserved. In spite of himself he smiled. “You did a hell of a job, Julia. It was a brilliant idea.” His smile widened until he almost found himself laughing. “That gang leader didn’t know what had hit him.”

  She grinned. “Apparently he’d never run into a determined woman before.”

  “Apparently not.” Luke’s smile faded as he looked at the woman beside him and thought about what might have happened to her today. Slowly he reached out and pulled her toward him. “Thank you, Julia,” he whispered. “Thank you for saving both of us.”

  She didn’t resist as he lowered his mouth to cover hers. Her lips were cold and tasted of the fresh spring air, and they trembled as he brushed his mouth over hers. Closing his eyes, he told himself to stop. This couldn’t happen, not with this woman. But when he deepened the kiss and she opened her mouth without hesitation, he knew he was lost.

  Her hands on his chest clenched into fists, but she didn’t try to push him away. Instead she slowly uncurled her fingers and pressed them into his chest. His skin burned, even through the flannel shirt he wore. With an inarticulate murmur, he let go of her shoulders and pulled her into his arms.

  As he held her close he felt her struggling against him. He immediately loosened his hold, but she pulled her arms free and wrapped them around his neck.

  She leaned into him, uncapping a volcano of need inside him. He burned with it, his muscles tightening and his blood pounding until he could think of nothing but the need for her driving inside him. He wanted to bury himself inside her, sink into her softness and claim her as his.

  He tore his mouth away from hers and trailed kisses down her neck. Her blazer was an intolerable barrier and he pulled it aside, crumpling the soft material in his fist. Vaguely he felt her hand in his hair, holding him tightly. As he dipped his tongue into the hollow of her collarbone she whimpered once, into his ear. Blindly he began to unfasten the tiny buttons on her blouse, until she pulled back and looked at him with startled eyes.

  Her eyes were as full of passion and desire as he knew his own had to be. Letting go of her with one hand, he brushed the hair back from her face, noticing that his hand shook. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I forgot where we were.”

  He watched as desire fought with common sense in her eyes. It seemed like a long time before the common sense finally won, and he groaned and pulled her back to him. She resisted stiffly, and he bent down to her ear.

  “It’s okay. I just want to hold you for a minute.” He slipped one hand under her wool jacket and stroked down her back. The silk of her blouse was hot, heated by her skin. His hand hovered near her waist, and when he felt the shiver she tried to
hide it took all his strength not to pull her close again.

  Finally he pulled away from her. When he looked at her, he found her watching him with equal parts desire and fear in her eyes. Her emotions so closely matched his own that he closed his eyes and with a supreme effort of will forced the shuddering need into a box and slammed down the lid. He tucked it away in a dark corner of his soul where it could stay untouched. He couldn’t allow himself to want anyone this way, especially not Julia Carleton.

  “Reaction makes you do funny things, doesn’t it?” Her voice was too bright, and her cheeks were a dull red as she plucked at the material of her skirt and refused to meet his eyes. “Release of tension and all that, I guess.”

  “Right.” He stared at her averted head and felt a perverse kick of anger. “God knows it would be completely unthinkable that you could actually want me.”

  At that she raised her head to look at him. “Just like you would rather die than want me,” she agreed. Her cheeks still flamed, but she met his eyes squarely.

  “I’m glad we have that straight.” He stood up abruptly. “We’ve given these women here enough of a show. Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes.” She stood up and brushed her hands down her skirt. “Where are we going?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair and thought for a minute. There wasn’t actually any place where he was sure they’d be safe. “I’m not sure,” he answered reluctantly. “But since we’re in your neighborhood, we might as well go back to your apartment for a while. It’s probably safer than my house right now.”

  She nodded wordlessly and began to walk back to his car. She’d managed to draw that mantle of cool disdain around herself again, and he swore under his breath as he looked at the aloof expression on her face. Dammit, he didn’t like the ice princess persona of Julia Carleton.

  But the ice princess was much safer than the vulnerable woman. At least for him.

  From now on he’d damn well keep his hands to himself. He watched her walk around to the other side of the car until he realized that his hand hurt. Looking down, he saw that his fist was closed over his keys and they were cutting into his palm.

 

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