Sean

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “I’m taking Lillian home with me. I can’t risk leaving her on her own right now. This is the second threat they’ve made against her.”

  “I know. We’ll get to the bottom of this. If we have to, we’ll put someone on her.”

  I sighed in frustration, knowing Lillian was going to be pissed about the whole situation. “Alright. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I turned and walked out of his office only to stop dead in my tracks. Lillian was hanging out with all the guys and she was..laughing. I was so confused. Shouldn’t she have been upset or angry? I walked closer and understood why everyone was laughing.

  “I hadn’t charged the car because I don’t normally drive it quite so much. When Sean started driving, I had leaves flying off my eco tree on the dashboard. He turned to me and asked why I had a battery indicator on my dashboard, like it was the most absurd thing anyone had ever seen!”

  “It is! No man drives a car that’s powered by a battery,” Bull said.

  Wheeling turned to me with a grin. “So, Donnelly. You got outrun by a suspect because you were in a toy car?”

  “I still caught the guy.”

  “Couldn’t even get the windows to roll down,” laughed Bull.

  “I bet the Flintstones wouldn’t have let the suspect get away.”

  The guys all laughed and Lillian did her best not to, but it was a losing battle.

  “It wasn’t my car!” I said in frustration. They all laughed harder because they were getting me worked up. I grabbed Lillian’s hand and dragged her toward the door.

  “Yabba dabba do!” I heard one of the guys yell.

  “Wiiilmaaa!” Another shouted.

  Lillian was laughing hysterically as I dragged her out of the station. When she didn’t stop laughing, I hauled her up against me and kissed her until she was breathless. There was something about seeing her laugh with all my brothers that made me want her even more.

  “Come on. Let’s get home, Wilma.”

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I walked into the station the next morning after dropping Lillian off with Alex. I wasn’t comfortable leaving her alone until this drug situation was taken care of. I was headed toward my desk when the TV in the corner flipped on and The Flintstones started to play. All the guys started to laugh and I found myself joining them.

  “Meeting in twenty, boys. Donnelly, run over to the fire station. The chief has a file for us. Here, take my car.” He tossed me the keys. “I put gas in it this morning.”

  The guys busted out laughing and I whipped the keys back at the chief, who caught them easily.

  Ramirez came into the station under protection fifteen minutes later and we all went back to the conference room. The story Ramirez told was that he had contacted one of the men, Samuel Marks, in the organization that he trusted. There was a large shipment that was due in tomorrow. The plan was for Marks to change the shipment drop off and then Ramirez and Marks would cut and run with the product. Since everyone thought Ramirez was dead, no one would be looking for him at the location.

  Sawyer and Calloway gave each other furtive glances throughout the whole meeting, which to me confirmed that they were going to try something. Most likely, they would try to arrive early and warn their associates that we would be moving in.

  When the meeting was over, I finished out my work day with several more ribbings from the guys about driving an electric car. I headed over to Cole’s house and picked up Lillian to take back home with me. We stopped off at The Pub and picked up dinner to go. I was just getting in the truck when Lillian peered out her window across the street.

  “Sean, isn’t that Officer Sawyer?”

  I looked out the window to see Sawyer and Calloway in a heated argument in an alley. “Looks like our meeting earlier today really shook things up.”

  I watched as they continued for a few minutes. Sawyer grabbed Calloway around the collar and yelled in his face before shoving him further into the alley.

  “I’m gonna go check it out. Stay here.”

  I got out of truck and ran across the street, sticking as close to the building as possible. They were almost to the end of the alley, so I picked up the pace until I was practically jogging.

  Peeking around the corner, I saw them opening a door and slipping inside. I followed and grabbed the door before it could snick shut. Slipping inside, I slid along the wall into the shadows.

  Ramirez was sitting in a chair with his hands tied behind his back. He looked like he’d already gotten quite the beating at the hands of Sawyer and Calloway.

  “You’d better start talking and tell us what you know,” Sawyer sneered.

  I took out my phone, sent a quick text to Bull, and then hit record. I wasn’t sure how much would be heard at this distance, but I needed this recorded if possible.

  “I told you. It’s exactly what I told the chief earlier.”

  “I don’t buy it for a second. You know why?” Sawyer asked. “We’ve all been left in the dark for months about the case. All the sudden, he brings you in and you’re back from the dead and you have all this inside information.”

  “Nobody was allowed to talk about it, but I wanted this over. We needed to get the top guys in the organization to come out. This was the way to do it. Stealing a shipment from them would make them so mad they would come after me.”

  “No. I talk to them several times a week. There’s no way Marks would turn on the bosses. He’s loyal,” Sawyer said emphatically.

  “He’s more loyal to me. I’ve known him since we were kids. There’s nothing like the bond you form growing up on the streets together.”

  “If you do this, you put us all at risk and I can’t afford to have that happen. That means you have to go before you blow the whole operation.” Sawyer pulled his gun and pointed it at Ramirez’s head. I was going to have to step out, but chances were that I would end up dead unless I could surprise them. I couldn’t just shoot two fellow officers.

  “It’s already going down whether I’m dead or alive.” I was surprised that Ramirez was holding out, but then I supposed if he told Sawyer the truth, he was as good as dead anyway.

  I was about to step out when the door squeaked and then slammed shut. Standing inside the doorway was Lillian with a blush staining her cheeks.

  “Oops. I think I’m in the wrong place.” Sawyer swung his gun to Lillian. Her eyes widened and I could feel the fear rippling off of her. My only thought was getting over to her and stepping between Lillian and the gun that was now pointed at her.

  “You’re Sean’s girl. Get your ass over here.”

  Lillian stood stock still. I stepped toward her, hoping she would play along with my new game plan. I needed to distract Sawyer and move his focus from Lillian.

  “Lillian, what the hell are you doing? I told you to stay in the truck,” I said as I stepped out with my gun aimed at Sawyer.

  “I got worried when you didn’t come back.”

  “So you followed me into a building in the back of an alley without anything to protect yourself with?”

  “I grabbed your spare gun from under the seat.”

  She pulled out the gun from her purse. I rolled my eyes in frustration. Why she thought that she could help me was beyond me.

  “Jesus, you gave your woman your backup piece?” Calloway asked.

  “You wouldn’t be worried if you’d seen her shoot,” I grumbled. Sawyer was moving his gun back and forth between us, not sure where to point his weapon.

  “I’m sorry. I swear, I didn’t think I’d be walking into..this,” she said, waving the gun around. I flinched back as she waved the weapon around the room, hoping she didn’t accidentally shoot someone. I wanted to step in front of her, but I couldn’t make any sudden movements with Sawyer still holding his gun on us.

  “Sawyer, I think you need to put the gun down. She’s got nothing to do with this.”

  “Really? So, you’ve been hiding out, listening to everything I’ve said and then your girl
friend walks in and you don’t think she’s involved in any way?”

  “She doesn’t know anything. How about she walks away and you and I deal with this?”

  “Do you really think I’m that fucking stupid? If she leaves, she’s going to call the chief.” He shook his head in disgust. “There’s only one way the two of you are leaving here, and that’s in a body bag.”

  I saw his hand tighten on his gun and knew he was going to pull the trigger. I didn’t think twice before putting a bullet in his shoulder. His gun fell to the ground as he gripped his shoulder. Calloway stood there with indecision on his face. He had never been the brains behind the operation. In fact, I would say at that moment that he wanted nothing more than to walk away and pretend he had never met Sawyer. Calloway had been a decent cop before Sawyer took him under his wing.

  “Calloway, put the gun down.”

  He looked nervous and unsure about what he wanted to do. Nervous people with guns were dangerous and if he gave even the slightest indication he would pull the trigger, I would put him down.

  The sound of the door opening made Lillian jump and swing her gun around toward Bull, who was now standing in the doorway taking in the scene. I kept my gaze trained on Calloway who was now sweating and looked nervous as hell.

  “Sean, you know I like Lillian, but dude, you don’t bring your girlfriend along to a shootout.”

  “I didn’t bring her. She followed me,” I bit out.

  “Why would you give her a gun? You saw what she was like at the training center.”

  “I didn’t give it to her. Why does everyone assume I would be stupid enough to give her a gun?”

  “Hey!” Lillian said indignantly.

  “Can we please just move on with this? It’s bad enough that Lillian’s here, but Sawyer’s over there bleeding out and Calloway looks like he has a nervous trigger finger.”

  “How about you disarm the lady first. I think we’d all be a lot safer if she wasn’t holding that,” Bull suggested.

  I stepped closer to Lillian and pulled the gun from her hand. “I think that’s enough gun play for you for one day.”

  “Sorry. I really was just trying to help.”

  “I know, but I think we’ve established that you and guns don’t work well together.”

  “Calloway, why don’t you put down the gun? This isn’t gonna turn out how you want,” Bull said.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? It’s better if I just take you both out. If I leave Ramirez here, it’s a drug deal gone bad. You two are pinned for the missing drugs and Sawyer and I are in the clear.”

  “One problem with that. Sawyer is now passed out and bleeding out next to you. How are you going to explain that?”

  “Gunshots were reported and we came to intervene. Sawyer was shot in the process.”

  “Yeah, there are two of us and only one of you. There’s no way you can take both of us out before one of us takes you out,” I reasoned with him.

  “I’ll take my chances.” Yet he didn’t seem to really want to take a shot. His finger hadn’t moved to the trigger yet. I took my chances that I would be able to reason with him.

  “The problem is that there was never a deal between Ramirez and Marks. He never called him to set something up. That was all a trap for you and Sawyer. We knew you’d been stealing the drugs. We needed to push you into making a move and you did,” I said with a satisfied smile.

  “Fuck! I can still take you down with me,” Calloway sneered.

  “Or you could turn state’s evidence. Turn yourself in and maybe you can get a deal. Help bring down a major drug dealer and his whole operation. They might even paint you as an undercover cop that dedicated himself to the job.”

  It was a load of bullshit, but I’d say anything right now to get this guy to put his weapon down.

  “You know the first one to turn himself in is going to get the better deal, and I have Sawyer on record admitting to all his crimes.” I dangled that last little bit over his head in the hopes that he would realize he’d been bested. We waited for a good two minutes for him to finally make up his mind and put his gun down.

  Bull walked over and handcuffed Calloway and took his weapon and the one that was now laying on the ground next to Sawyer. I called everything in and requested an ambulance. When I turned to Lillian, she looked in awe of everything.

  “You’re really good at your job,” she said.

  “I’m even better when my hot girlfriend isn’t with me, distracting me and making me worry that she’s going to get shot.”

  “Or shoot someone.”

  “That’s not very likely.”

  “Care to make a bet?”

  “Lil, with my luck, you’d hit the target every time.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Lillian

  “I JUST CAN’T believe how exciting that was. I mean, it was kind of scary and I’m sure now that I couldn’t do it as a job, but it was such a high,” I said with a sigh.

  Sean was being quiet on the other side of the truck on the way back to his house. My house was still a disaster and I hadn’t been cleared to go back yet. I glanced his way trying to read him, but he just stared out the windshield.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked.

  Silence. He just kept staring ahead. He didn’t glance my way or show any signs that I was even talking. I looked out my window, trying to understand what had made him so upset. He seemed fine when we were at the crime scene. The chief had us go back to the station and he had to fill him in on what happened. He held my hand as we left, but then once we were on the road, he completely shut me out.

  We pulled into his driveway and he slammed the gear shifter into park. I thought we would get out, but he continued to sit there and not say anything. I finally opened my door and headed for his house. I knew where he kept his spare key and I’d use it if he didn’t follow me.

  When I reached his front door, he still hadn’t followed, so I let myself in and sat down in the living room. I waited ten minutes and then decided that I might as well get ready for bed. I went through my night time ritual and then got into a t-shirt and sweats that I was borrowing from him. I would have to go to my house tomorrow and get more clothes since we didn’t do that today.

  The front door opened and closed, so I walked downstairs in the hopes that he was ready to talk. He was in the kitchen pouring himself a glass of what looked like whiskey.

  “May I have one?”

  He got down another glass and poured me a small amount. I picked it up and sipped from it, hoping that he would start talking. He didn’t.

  “Are you going to talk to me or should I just go to bed?”

  He didn’t answer, so I set down the glass and headed for the stairs.

  “You didn’t fucking listen to me tonight.”

  I sighed in relief. We were finally getting somewhere. I turned to face him and prepared myself for him yelling at me.

  “I told you to stay in the truck and you followed me anyway.”

  “I was worried about you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. You had no business following me. You knew that Sawyer and Calloway were dangerous and you still followed.”

  I didn’t have anything more to say to that, so I kept my mouth shut.

  “Then you took my backup weapon with you and pulled it out when Sawyer was holding a gun on you.” He laughed and shook his head. “It could have turned out so much different. Do you realize that he could have shot you when you pulled out the gun? That was beyond reckless. Then, you were waving it around like it was a toy. You could have shot someone. You would have lost your job, not to mention how it would have screwed with your head.”

  I chewed my lip as I thought over what he was saying. I had never done anything so stupid in my life, and I only had one excuse.

  “I know it was stupid and I shouldn’t have done it, but I did it because I was worried about you. I know I took it too far when I brought out the gun. It definitely wasn’t one of my fin
er moments, but I was scared for you.”

  “I know.” He stood in silence for a few minutes staring at the floor. “There are going to be many more times when I’m in dangerous situations and I can’t have you following me, pulling a gun, and going all Lone Ranger on my suspects. This is my job and I take those risks willingly, but you..you’re my girlfriend. I love you more than anything in my life and I can’t ever see you with a gun pointed at your head again.”

  I was still reeling from what he just said, when he walked toward me and pulled me against him. His hand cupped the back of my neck and he brushed his lips to mine.

  “I love you and I want you to be my wife. The whole time we were in that building, I kept thinking this woman is nuts, but I want her crazy and all for the rest of my life. There’s no one like you or that I would rather have by my side, but for you to be by my side, that means that you support me, from afar, when I’m working.”

  I smiled and wrapped my arms tightly around him. “I love you, too. I’m sorry that I interfered, and I promise that from now on, I will sit at home and worry about you from afar.”

  “I would appreciate that.”

  He kissed me again, but this time the kiss became more intense to the point I could hardly breathe. My panties became wet as he ran his hands up and down the sides of my body. He had always respected my wishes and never tried to touch me any place that would make me uncomfortable, but now I found myself wanting to take this further. Maybe it was seeing how he could be gone at any minute with his job. Maybe it was that he told me he loved me and wanted me to be his wife. Maybe it was just that I was tired of fighting my attraction for him. Any way I looked at it, I just didn’t care anymore. I wanted him and I was going to live like it was our last time together.

  I pulled back from him and stared into his eyes. “Sean, I want you to make love to me.”

  He flinched back and shook his head. “No. No, I didn’t say that so you would sleep with me. I just wanted you to know how I feel.”